Books Read Week of January 7th, 2019

Winter is the best season for reading!  I know I accomplished tasks this week outside of flipping pages, but somehow I did manage to pack in four diverse books.  
Also, Jeff told me today that he will build me a reading nook!  I'm very excited, and looking forward to keeping you posted on this exciting development.
This week I read:

Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke
I enjoyed the imagery and the concept, but I really didn’t care about any of the characters.  Plus it was fairly disjointed in terms of having some characters, then jumping 50 years into the future and having some other characters and then popping another 80 years into the future.  The whole book foreshadows the end of humanity and then humanity ended and that was that.  Welp! 
I’ve dipped my toe in science fiction, and usually am pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoy it.  Not in this case.  I’ll keep trying.

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Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper by Diablo Cody
I have so much to say on this one.  Luckily, it was our book club choice and I can chat about in in person with several trusted friends before long.  However, I’m concerned that some of my fellow book clubbers are going to want to kick me out, since I was the one who was like, “Hey guys, this book popped up on a ‘Great Book Club Books’ list!”
I have to be careful what I put out here in the universe, so I’ll say this: 
I was repulsed but fascinated.
Ignorance is bliss.  I don’t want to know that some of the things she described actually happen in real life.  I pray that at least a few details she provided were made up.
Well-written.  Incredibly entertaining and hilarious.  Gross, in places.

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Unraveling Oliver by Liz Nugent
Some authors have the amazing ability to present the point of view of multiple characters within a story, and keep those voices unique and accurate.  That's what Liz Nugent was able to do in this novel.  She also gave her villain multiple layers, which I was looking for immediately.  I get so tired of one-note characters.  Additionally, I was hooked from the first sentence and flew through to the satisfying ending.  Five stars!  
Just know, that this is billed as a psychological thriller and it's much heavier on the psychological than the thriller.  

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Factfulness:  Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World --and Why Things Are Better Than You Think by Hans Rosling
So as you may remember, one of my reading resolutions was to read more nonfiction so that I could learn some things!  This fascinating book was an excellent first step in achieving that goal.  I learned a good deal about global poverty, the population boom, worldwide mortality rates, global warming, and more.  Hans sensibly, clearly provides tons of good information as well as tips for how to process/question/analyze what we're being told about the world.  (Plus there are pictures and graphs!)
I loved it, and would recommend it to all of you.  Let me know what you think!

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Next up:  I just started a newly released post-apocalyptic novel, and on my phone I've recently started some crazy madness that I haven't yet sorted out.  Soon - my mother and I agreed to read a classic together.  I looked at it today and it is LONG.  But I'm hearing rumors of another Snowpocalypse next weekend so maybe I'll get a good bit of it knocked out.
​Have a great week!