Fall Book Favorites

I'm a binge reader. When I have the time, I can spend hours reading, and it's one of my favorite things to do. I've challenged myself to read a book each week for a year. I started in November so I'm giving myself until the end of November to complete 52 books. That being said, I've done quite a bit of reading lately. Here are some books I've enjoyed the last couple months...

The Girl with All the Gifts by M. R. Carey
This book was a huge surprise. It was recommended in a video by Fleur de Force and I was in search of my next book so I downloaded this and was immediately hooked. I devoured this book in a few days. It's a little creepy in a post-apocalyptic virus-killed-everyone kind of way. It reminded me a lot of The Scorch Trials from The Maze Runner series, but a little more adult and with a lot more science behind it. It's a page-turner that keeps you locked in from the first chapter. I love books that grab you as soon as you start reading them and I could not put this one down. I even found myself wanting to pull out my iPad to read during class - it's that good. I can't tell you what it's about without giving too much away but just from hearing Fleur read the back cover I was dying to know what the book was about. This was definitely my favorite of the list.

If I Stay and Where She Went by Gayle Forman
You are probably familiar with If I Stay from the movie that's currently in theaters. I wanted to read the book before I saw the movie and then I realized it has a sequel. I was in need of a light-hearted, easy read after the intensity of The Girl with All the Gifts. I read the reviews on this book and the reviews were similar to those of Twilight and the like. These are Young Adult novels; they're easy reads, they're not meant to be deep or existential or make you think for months after you finish reading. They're entertaining, but cliched and predictable. That being said, I still enjoyed both books... I think Where She Went was my favorite. They keep you interested without being too heavy and they're very short reads but I enjoyed them both and look forward to seeing the movie(s).

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed
If I judged this book by its title, I wouldn't have ever started it. Luckily, however, I read the Amazon reviews and decided to give it a try. I'm so glad I did because I really loved this book. Again, it isn't a typical book that I would pick up - it involves hiking, camping, hitchhiking, and lots of nature. I don't hold an interest in really any of those things but the story is more about her journey and it sucks you in and you fall in love with the characters and Cheryl's story. It follows the author on her quest to hike the Pacific Crest Trail and her journey through grief while she finds herself. By the end of the book I was seriously considering adding "hike the PCT" to my to-do list.

What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty
I haven't finished this book yet, but I can already tell I'm going to enjoy it. Again, it grabs you from the beginning and makes you want more. Definitely a page-turner. The main character, Alice, wakes up from a fall to find she has lost a decade of her memory and her life is in a completely different place than it was in 1998. Very good so far, I would definitely recommend it to a friend. I downloaded this based on its position on the iTunes most popular books list.