I probably only have myself to blame for this, but I was let down by The Girl on the Train. Everyone I know that had read the book before me raved about how it was this year's Gone Girl. So let me stop anyone right there. If you're going into this thinking it's the next Gone Girl you're probably like me going to be disappointed. However if you go into this novel hoping for a good mystery then that is exactly what you're going to get. 

When Jenn was growing up her family read Lord of the Rings together. It's something that she talks about a lot because It meant a great deal to her. Not only did it give her a deep love of JRR Tolkien but it also made her want to bring that tradition over to our family. And since we don't have kids we both decided it would be fun to read together. Picking the right book to read together was extremely tricky. But we wanted something in the fantasy realm that had enough books to get into. What better then Harry Potter a series that Jenn and I have never seen or read but that is beloved by millions? So we dived in. 

As of right now I'm a little behind on my quest to read 27 books this year. I've now completed the first ten novels of that challenge (books 1-5, and books 6-10). My last five picks weren't the best. So I'm hoping to turn things around and get some better books added to the library this go around. Out of the first ten novels only one of them has truly resonated with me (The Universe Versus Alex Woods) otherwise they've all been middle of the road. 

A couple years ago I read one of my favorite biographies, Steve Jobs by Walter Isaccson. It was a little long winded but I thought it captured the essence of Steve Jobs and was a really engaging read. As a tech enthusiast the idea of learning more about beginning of the digital revolution sounded great. And the fact that it was written by someone who I've read before made jump right in for it.

Over the last couple of years I've moved away from the mainstream action genre. Sure I've enjoyed things like Gone Girl and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, but they very rarely do novels reach the levels of those two. However I'd heard great things about Jo Nesbo and his recent novel The Son, so I thought I'd give it a go.

I'm so conflicted on Mightier Than the Sword. After loving the first two novels in the Clifton Chronicles I felt there was a major drop off in books three and four. To keep things as simple as possible I didn't understand why this was such a long series. Harry and Emma have always been the draw for me into these novels and as the cast expanded and contracted I just began to lose interest. However since I'm already four books invested I felt like I had to continue my trek into this series.