4.27.2018 - Everything That Follows

Many thanks to NetGalley, Mira Books, and Meg Little Reilly for the opportunity to read and review her latest work.  I really liked We Are Unprepared and this was another good read.

Set in Martha's Vineyard in the off-season, the story begins when 3 people go out in a boat after a night of drinking.  Bad weather sets in and one of them goes overboard under somewhat confusing circumstances.  Was it an accident?  When he doesn't resurface, the other 2 head back to shore and make a fateful decision - to wait and see if he reappears before going to the authorities.    But, as Kat and Hunter soon realize, doing nothing was a choice in itself and a choice that they must now learn to live with.

This is a good mystery - I was anxious to find out what happened.  It would also be a wonderful book club selection because of so many themes - truth, loyalty, secrets, class differences, forgiveness. 

4.25.2018 - The Pursuit of Ordinary

Many thanks to NetGalley, Roundfire Books, and Nigel Jay Cooper for the opportunity to read his new novel.  I was a fan of his debut work, Beat the Rain, and this book was just as compelling - 4.5 stars and highly recommended.

Dan, a homeless man, witnesses a car crash where a man is killed.  He watches as the man's wife screams and cradles his body.  He exchanges looks with the man's wife and then later can't get them out of his mind.  He soon believes he is possessed by the dead man (Joe) and is compelled to find the wife (Natalie).  When he does, she easily lets him into her home and her life.  So is he possessed?  Why would Natalie do this?

This may seem like a farfetched premise that you wouldn't want to read about but you need to read this book.  There are so many issues addressed here but especially the one of mental illness.  How do we perceive others with mental illness and how do they perceive themselves?  Bravo to Cooper for exploring these themes with dignity and respect.

4.23.2018 - The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell

Thanks to NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing, and Robert Dugoni for the opportunity to read and review his latest novel.  Loved it!!  I'm a huge fan of Dugoni's Tracy Crosswhite mystery series but this novel is a different genre and it is wonderful.

Sam Hill was born with ocular albinism which presents as red eyes.  His very devoutly Catholic mother told him continually that he was extraordinary.  However, that did nothing to stop the bullies in all forms once he started at the local Catholic school.  Years later, Sam is again faced with one of those same bullies.

This is truly an extraordinary book.  I loved all of the Catholic traditions, beliefs and sayings in this book as well as the amazing lessons of faith, family, friendship, love, forgiveness.  Told in short chapters alternating between Sam's childhood and adulthood, this was a story that hit all your emotional buttons - even more so when you read the acknowledgements. 

Highly, highly recommended - don't miss it!

4.20.2018 - Jack Frost

Many thanks to NetGalley and Christopher Greyson for the opportunity to read and review the latest installment in the Jack Stratton mystery series - another great one!

This book finds Jack and fiancée Alice working for an insurance company investigating a hit tv show, Planet Survival, after a death of a crew member.  While Alice begrudgingly stays at home to do the computer forensic investigating, Jack heads out to Mt Minuit where the show is filming to work as an undercover gofer on the set.  A huge blizzard is bearing down on the mountain which adds another element to the fact that a killer is among the cast and crew.  Back at home,  Alice also works on solving the mystery of her family's death in a car crash when she was a toddler.

While you would probably enjoy these books more if you had the background of reading the series, they work perfectly as well-written, stand-alone mystery novels.  I love these books - and if you haven't read his stand alone psychological thriller, The Girl Who Lived, do so!

4.18.2018 - Polly Diamond and the Magic Book

Thanks to NetGalley, Chronicle Books, and Alice Kuipers for the opportunity to read and review this adorable chapter book!

Polly Diamond is a young girl whose mom is expecting a new baby, requiring Polly to share a room with her sister, Anna.  Polly gets a magical book that makes everything that she writes come true - which means that Polly has to be very specific about what she asks for.  A club sandwich could be a literal sandwich with a club in it, for example! 

This is such a cute book with a wonderful message too about language and the magic of words.  Illustrations are adorable and young children would love all the magical things that Polly makes happen.

4.18.2018 - The Little Clan

Thanks to NetGalley, Park Row Books and Iris Martin Cohen for the opportunity to read and review this debut novel!

Ava is in her 20s yet in her mind she firmly belongs in another era, one that is reflected in the old-fashioned books she loves to read.  She's even taken to wear the clothing of another generation and is happiest in her small room with her cat, reading and trying to write a novel.  She works as a librarian for the Lazarus Club - a beautiful old building occupied by elderly eccentric people.  When her college friend, Stephanie, comes back into her life, she convinces Ava to open up a literary club within the Lazarus Club but it quickly takes on a life of its own in a direction that Ava isn't happy with.

I love books about books and books about people who love books!  So I really wanted to love this book more than I did.  The setting for the Lazarus Club was amazing - I could picture it totally in my mind from reading the descriptions.  But the characters just never gelled with me - the main characters of Ava and Stephanie weren't extremely likable.  However, the writing and descriptions were spot on and made for an enjoyable read.

4.16.2018 - The Comedown

Thanks to NetGalley, Henry Holt and Co., and Rebekah Frumkin for the opportunity to read and review this book.

At its heart, this is a story of two families - one black and one white - told by different members of those families and their friends in chapters ranging from the 1970s to 2009.  These families are forever linked by one night of violence in Cleveland.

This is less a story of figuring out what happens in the end and more of looking at these two family trees and see how events shape them.  The author does a great job of really getting into each character's story.  And the drugs, lots of drugs in this story!

It was a tad confusing with all the character switches but so interesting to see how the world views changed in dealing with so many issues (besides all those drugs!) - like race, poverty, weight, homosexuality, religion.

4.14.2018 - Then She Was Gone

Many thanks to NetGalley, Atria Books and Lisa Jewell for the opportunity to read and review her latest book - SO good!  I have read and enjoyed Jewell's past books but this one is the top of the heap!

It's been 10 years since Ellie, a 15-year-old girl who was the bright spot in her family, disappeared.  The police feared she was a runaway but her parents held fast that she wouldn't.  Or would she?  Ellie's disappearance of course affected her whole family and they've all gone different directions trying to cope and move on.  Mom Laurel meets a new man one day and finds herself feeling hopeful and excited about this new relationship.  When she meets his girls, she is shocked to find the youngest, Poppy, looks just like Ellie.

You will probably figure out the mystery but it won't take one thing away from the magic of this book.  It literally draws you in until the final page.  Highly recommended - a great read!

4.12.2018 - The New Neighbors

Many thanks to NetGalley, Penguin Random House and Simon Lelic for the opportunity to read this great psychological thriller - 4.5 stars!!

This book was written in such a clever manner.  A young couple, Jack and Syd, are house hunting in London, where long lines to view homes are common and prices reflective of that seller's market.  Syd falls in love with a house whose owner just abandoned it, so it's full to the brim of stuff.  Then Jack discovers something in the attic and Syd discovers something wrong in the house behind her - but they keep their findings secret.  Until a body is found nearby.

In hopes of being able to tell their story, Jack and Syd sit down independently and write their versions of what happened.  This is presented in alternating chapters so you get the entire story from 2 different points of view.

Lots of twists and turns in this one that I didn't see coming - a great book - highly recommended!

4.10.2018 - We Own the Sky

 

Many thanks to NetGalley, Park Row and Luke Allnutt for the opportunity to read and review his debut book - stunning.  This book will tear at your heart and is so beautifully written. 

Rob and Anna are two parents who aren't unfamiliar with loss or sadness.  But they aren't prepared for  the diagnosis they received for their son, Jack.  This book follows that journey but is so much more.  It's a love story - between parent and child, especially between dad and child, and between husband and wife.  How far would we go to save someone, to have just one more minute of hope?
It's hard to believe that this is Allnutt's first novel but when you read that he is a cancer survivor, you know this is written from a place of truth.  All of the characters were so real and the situations so realistic.

I loved the beginning notes of some of the chapters, which you won't fully understand until the end.  Highly recommended but have tissues nearby!

4.8.2018 - Go Ask Fannie

Thanks so much to NetGalley, GP Puntnam's Sons, and Elisabeth Hyde for the opportunity to read her novel - a really good story with intriguing, realistic characters.

The story takes place over one weekend when Murray invites his 3 children to his New Hampshire farm.  Ruth is a married attorney from Washington DC; George is a nurse who lives just an hour away; and Lizzie is a professor at a college nearby her dad's home.  Besides having the family all together, he has an ulterior motive to have Ruth talk to Lizzie about her relationship with a much older married man.  With all that, he just wants his kids to get along for the weekend.  We all know that sibling relationships take on a life of their own and how far do we really get from this ingrained childhood patterns?  Ruth is still in charge and wants to control everything; George has always taken care of Lizzie to the detriment that he's scared of another relationship like that; and Lizzie lives up to her reputation as being the wild one
.
Intermixed with the weekend's happenings, including Lizzie possibly contemplating a jail stay because of an incident with her boyfriend involving the loss of the family copy of the Fannie Farmer Cookbook, the backstory of the family as well as the mom and other brother Daniel, come out.
Just an enjoyable read with lots of family dynamics to ponder.  Would be great for a book club - I'm sure lots of sibling stories would come out of that discussion!

4.6.2018 - After Anna

Many thanks to NetGalley, St Martin's Press, and Lisa Scottoline for the opportunity to read and review her latest book - loved it!  I love everything Scottoline writes - thank goodness she is a prolific writer so I can get my fix!

The book centers on a family unit - Noah and Maggie are both on their second marriage and are happy; Caleb is Noah's son and Anna is Maggie's.  Maggie lost custody of Anna when she was an infant and she hasn't seen her since then.  When Anna appears in Maggie's life as a 17-year-old and moves in, things change quickly for the family.  Maggie is so desperate to have Anna back in her life that she allows Anna to do whatever she wants, setting up conflict between Maggie and Noah.  Then Anna is found brutally murdered and Noah is charged with the crime.

This was a very twisty book and presented in a clever format - Before Anna and After Anna.  In the Before Anna segments, it is the courtroom trial counting down backwards from the verdict.  The Before Anna is the rest of the story of the family and how everything came to be.

Couldn't put it down; loved the twists and turns.  Highly recommended!

4.3.2018 - Flying at Night

Thanks so much to NetGalley, Berkley, and Rebecca Brown for the opportunity to read and review her debut novel - I loved it.  I think I'm a sucker for books that really delve into characters and quirky characters to boot - this one was all that and more.

Piper was raised by a strict, controlling, verbally abusive father, Lance.  Her brother left at the earliest opportunity and has very little to do with the family.  Piper was always mad at her mom for not leaving her dad and putting up with and excusing his behavior. 

Piper went away for college but ended up married and back in the same town as she grew up, which means right back into her parents' world too.  But Piper quit her career and devoted herself to her son, Fred, who was difficult, quirky and all-consuming.  When a diagnosis comes to her, it throws her for a loop.  Then her father has a heart attack and is left brain damaged.  All these events and characters come together for a great read.

The best part of this book is that it is told in chapters voiced by Piper, Lance and Fred.  Each voice is so spot on that we really get to delve into their feelings.

4.1.2018 - School for Psychics

Many thanks to NetGalley, Simon & Schuster, and KC Archer for the opportunity to read and review this book.

So I loved all the Harry Potter books and this to me is the start of another fun series bending towards magic.  I can also see this being a good YA read.

Teddy is in her early 20s, smart and skilled at reading other people enough to win so much playing cards in Vegas that she gets herself kicked out of all the casinos.  Which is a problem because she is in major debt to her bookie and has no way of getting that money back.  Just when she needs it most, someone swoops in and offers her a chance at a new life - he tells her that what she thought were epileptic seizures were actually psychic happenings.  He promises to wipe away her debts if she will attend a highly-secretive School for Psychics. 

Once at the school, Teddy finds herself in with a group of so-called Misfits.  They are put through rigors of physical and mental training and challenges and Teddy begins to hone her abilities.  But mysteries begin to surface and Teddy finds herself in a position where she has to decide who she can trust - and it may be with her life.

This promises to be the start of a great series.  I read this quickly and it kept me interested and intrigued.  Book 2 please!