Okay, enough rambling... I read eight books in January and they are as follows:
1.) The Aquariums of Pyongyang by Kang Chol-Hwan and Pierre Rigoulot (Memoir)
2.) The Wave by Susan Casey (Non-fiction, Science)
3.) Confessions of the Sullivan Sisters by Natalie Standiford (YA contemporary)
4.) The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett (Historical fiction)
5.) Across the Universe by Beth Revis (YA science fiction)
6.) Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready (YA urban fantasy)
7.) The Cinderella Society by Kay Cassidy (YA contemporary)
8.) Getting Revenge on Lauren Wood by Eileen Cook (YA contemporary)
There are some fantastic books in the above list---for instance, I loved learning about rogue giant waves in The Wave---but there was one book that I simply devoured because it was so deliciously written. Without further adieu, the best book I read in January was...Confessions of the Sullivan Sisters!
Here's the product description from Amazon:
The Sullivan sisters have a big problem. On Christmas Day their rich and imperious grandmother gathers the family and announces that she will soon die . . .and has cut the entire family out of her will. Since she is the source of almost all their income, this means they will soon be penniless.
Someone in the family has offended her deeply. If that person comes forward with a confession of her (or his) crime, submitted in writing to her lawyer by New Year's Day, she will reinstate the family in her will. Or at least consider it.
And so the confessions begin....
The book is broken into three main parts in which each of the Sullivan sisters confess their sins to their Grandmother. Norrie, the oldest, confesses how she meets an older guy who makes her want to throw her cautious nature out the window. Jane, the middle sister, confesses that she started a blog, MyEvilFamily.com, to chronicle the sins and transgressions of her family. And Sassy, the youngest sister, confesses that she may have super-powers and that she has been hiding a terrible secret.
This novel could have easily fallen into trap of certain YA contemporary novels---too slick, too unrealistic, and too shallow. But Confessions is none of these things. This book is clever and funny and wonderfully written to capture the rich-yet-eccentric lives of the Sullivan family. The pacing moves along steadily and I simply had to find out who had offended Almighty. (Everyone in the family addresses the grandmother as "Almighty." Ha! Isn't that great?)
A fun and fantastic read!
