The Book Bit: May 2016 Ed.

#blogtunes
I Will Not Bow- Breaking Benjamin
Feather- X Ambassadors
Polaroid- Imagine Dragons
Hold Back the River- James Bay
Way Down We Go- Kaleo
Loveless- X Ambassadors

  I know what you're thinking, "Oh my Gosh!  Alyx actually got her book blog up before the end of the month!"  Hold your enthusiasm; I only got two books in this month.  In my defense, again, I have been doing some traveling and working on some more projects around the house.  Because, obviously, I have nothing better to do with my time.  If you would like to see what I've been up to instead of reading books, which is always preferable but doesn't always happen, check out my Instagram (@alyxandraramos) and see for yourself.  Honestly just looking for sympathy points right now.  So, without any more bs, here are my two books for the month.

  "The Good Girl"- Mary Kubica

  This book was a gift (aren't books honestly the best gift ever?) and I couldn't wait to read it.  I was not disappointed, actually finished it in a few days.  It swims around this woman, Mia, who was abducted and then found, but can't remember anything about herself.  Not even her name.  I read another book having to do with dissociative fugues that I also loved not long ago, if this is your thing (sort of repressed memories and books where different pieces of the main characters life reveal itself over time in a mystery-esque way) then I recommend to you "Love Water Memory" by Jennie Shortridge and "Blood Memory" by Greg Iles.  Ok, now that I've recommended even more stuff to read, back to this book.

  It takes place in two different times, the "Before" when Mia is actively missing, and the "After" when Mia is returned home.  The details of Mia's life are not seen through her eyes or her mental perspective, but from those closely associated with her during the time she was gone and came back.  The story is told through her captors perspective and also the perspectives of the detective assigned to her case and her mother; though the book is about Mia's disappearance and her steps towards recovery, we never actually hear from her until the very last chapter.  I love this aspect of suspense and suspicion it builds throughout the book as we slowly work towards why she was taken and how she ended up back at home.  This book keeps you intrigued every step of the way as the scandalousness (declaring it a word) of this family is revealed chapter by chapter and you finally get the big finale you always want from a thriller.  Could not recommend this one more.  If you liked "Gone Girl" by Gillian Flynn, this book has a similar edge to it.


  "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl"- Jesse Andrews

  Holy humor!  You have to read this book just for the laughs.  I know you think it's probably a lot like "The Fault in Our Stars" or other YA books about life lost too soon, but you would be wrong.  The voice of this book is hilarious and really feels like the voice of a teenager.  A lot of times I read YA that seems way too mature for the age of the characters (love young adult by the way, read a lot of them), but this one holds true to the age and you really feel like this is how you would feel when you were a senior in high school.  This is probably the way you would react to your mother and her insistence and the way you would act about a sort-of-friend who happened to be diagnosed with leukemia.  I love that it's not the typical young romance, "I'll-stay-by-your-side-until-the-end-because-I've-suddenly-fallen-in-love-with-you" type of story.

  It focuses around Greg Gaines who has made living "under the radar" in high school a profession.  He knows everybody, but doesn't belong with anyone, therefore completely avoiding getting bullied, liked or laid his entire high school career.  Then Rachel (a friend he quickly dismissed many years before) gets cancer and his mother insists he go make her feel better (leave it to Moms to fly to the rescue) insuring Greg's carefully devised system of being friends with nobody (except Earl) come to a screeching halt.  Hands down this book has made me laugh more than any other I have read in a loooonnnggg time; it has it's tender moments, but there isn't this deep, meaningful, thrown-in-your-face message running throughout it.  Simply the story of one boy, his friend and his new/old friend who is struggling through the end of her life.  Read it.  Laugh hard.  Then give your kid a big kiss and call it a success.

  Hope you guys enjoyed the reviews, though it's mostly just me telling you to read them (because I have a serious problem when it comes to loving books), but you should totally read them!  I would love to hear what you are reading or some of your favorite books.  Feel free to leave me a comment or always come find me on Instagram (sort of have a small addiction with this specific type of social media) and we can chat it up.  Read on; catch you guys next time.