Taft 2012: A Novel By Jason Heller

William Howard Taft pulls a Rip Van Winkle and wakes up 100 years later just in time for the 2012 presidential election.

I really enjoyed the premise behind this. I learned a lot more about President Taft. It was fun to see our country and century through his early twentieth century eyes. I also would love to truly have a legitimate third party in America. I think it really would balance the political spectrum out more.

The one thing I had a hard time with was the flow of the story. It feels like the author had an idea he felt passionately about and then used the story to further this. Thus the characters felt a bit two-dimensional.

But overall, it was a fun read and had a lot of insight. Yeah to Quirk Books for offering another fun story to the mix.

*I received this book from the publisher.

For more information visit the Taft2012 website.

Best and Worst of 2011

Happy New Year, everyone! Yeah to the wonderful books of 2011 and on to the wonderful books of 2012! Everyone's gotta do the list, so here are mine.

Here are my top five best reads of the year 2011:

1. Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by Jessica Day George. It was one of the first reads of the year and it was enchanting.

2. The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly. A wonderful coming-of-age story.

3. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins. Perkins just had a way of making France and her characters come alive. Anna was fun and real, and the story was just adorable.

4. Hounded by Kevin Hearne. This was such an amazing surprise! An urban fantasy adventure that made me laugh, cry...maybe not cry, but lots of adventure, action, and humor that you won't want to miss. Go read it. NOW!

5. Looking For Alaska by John Green. This is a modern classic. Heart-breaking, but it asks a lot of questions and doesn't have easy answers.

Top Two worst books...(pretty good year if I only had two!)

1. Across the Universe by Beth Revis. Too much preaching along a semi-decent sci-fi back drop...annoyed.

2. Jane: A Modern-retelling of Jane Eyre by April Lindner. Started off great and then got bogged down by literally transferring every detail of classic story to modern-day. DID NOT work.

Hope everyone enjoys a wonderful year of reading!