4.29.2016 - Behind Closed Doors

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this great book!

I totally raced through this fascinating book. The story of Grace is told in alternating chapters - Past and Present. Grace is a woman who is yearning for a family of her own - one that would include her sister, Millie, that has Downs Syndrome. Grace's parents never wanted children and are happy to leave Millie in the care of Grace. Enter Jack. Jack is the ultimate man that Grace never dreamed she would find - handsome, rich, devoted to both her and Millie.

No spoilers here - but the title says it all - we never know what's going on Behind Closed Doors!

Don't miss this one if you like psychological thrillers - great!

4.28.2016 - First Comes Love

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this advanced copy!

I'm a fan of Emily Giffin and this book doesn't disappoint. The story is divided into chapters switching between the voices of two sisters, Josie and Meredith. A tragedy strikes their family when the girls are still in their teens. Fast forward to present day and everyone in the family is still trying to cope with the tragedy as the anniversary date approaches.

The sisters have a very volatile relationship. Josie is a teacher and tired of the dating scene and waiting for her perfect life. Meredith has the perfect family and life but isn't sure it's what she wants.

This is a totally enjoyable read with lots of good wisdom about what's important in families.

4.26.2016 - The Unseen World

Thanks to NetGalley and especially the publisher for granting my wish!!

This book started out a little slow for me but once it picked up, I was hooked and couldn't put it down!

Ada is an only child, conceived with a surrogate and raised by her father, David. The book begins in Boston in the 1980s, when the computer world was expanding by leaps and bounds. David ran a lab at the Boston Institute of Technology. David raised Ada in the lab and the science world was her everything. She didn't go to school - David taught her to exist in his world. She was a prodigy and didn't fit or socialize with peers of her own age. As David succumbs to illness, Ada finds out things may not happened as David told her.

The book flips through time periods, mostly between the 1980s and 2009, when Ada is an adult. I really liked this book - loved hearing about the progression of computers, code breaking, artificial intelligence in the middle of figuring out the real truth.

Don't miss this one!

4.24.2016 - Most Wanted

I typically love Lisa Scottoline's books and while I enjoyed this one, the plot line just seemed a bit too unrealistic for me.

The premise is great - a young couple, Christine and Marcus, have trouble conceiving a baby and turn to infertility treatments. They choose a sperm donor and Christine becomes pregnant. Marcus isn't totally dialed into the pregnancy; he is too focused on the fact that he is infertile.

Christine is only 2 months pregnant when she sees a news story about a serial murder and becomes convinced that the suspect is their sperm donor. She takes on the mission of finding out whether that's true.

While this could be a great nature/nurture discussion, it mostly involved Christine becoming a detective and delving into the case. It was just too implausible that she was able to investigate the crime scene, interview neighbors and witnesses and basically solve the mystery herself.

It was still a good read but just maybe not up to the hype.

4.21.2016 - Missing Presumed

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book - I really enjoyed this one!

The story is based in Britain and centers around the search for a missing young woman, Edith. The case falls to Detective Sergeant Manon Bradshaw and her team of investigators to solve. The story is written in short chapters with points of view from Manon, Davy (another investigator), Miriam (Edith's mom), and Edith's friend. In this way, we learn the backgrounds of these characters.

The investigative world seems very real - politics, budget and press issues - and you really get a feel for how an investigation comes about. And how involved the investigators become in their case.

There were lots of interesting story lines - Manon's exploring of the internet dating world, for example, offered some laughs in between the investigation.

I believe this is going to be the start of a new series - if so, I can't wait for it! I really liked these characters and can't wait to read more about them.

4.17.2016 - When I'm Gone

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book!

This was a very good read. I had not read the author's previous work, but this one as well as the good reviews for it make me want to add it to my to read list.

The story opens with Natalie, a young mom who just died from a rare cancer, who left behind a grieving husband and three children. Luke, her husband, starts receiving letters from Natalie after her funeral. While they initially are very comforting, the fact that he doesn't know who is sending them along with some questions they raise become very troubling. He starts questioning how well he knew his wife.

Although some story lines are predictable, there's a lot that you won't quite see coming. A very enjoyable read.

4-15-2016 - As Time Goes By

I've been reading Mary Higgins Clark's books since I was a teenager. They are like comfort food to me and I can't resist it when a new one comes out. It's amazing to me that she can put out so many books after all this time and they still don't disappoint.

This is the story of Betsy Grant. She's married to a wealthy doctor who develops early onset Alzheimer's. He's getting worse and increasingly violent and she is contemplating putting him in a nursing home. The night that she throws a birthday party at her home for him, he is found dead and Betsy is put on trial.

This is typical Mary Higgins Clark - always a fun mystery. Plus this one continues the characters of Alvirah and Willy - always fun.

4.13.2016 - Lily and the Octopus

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book!

First, a caveat. I am not a dog person. I have been known to cross the street to avoid them. I live near a very dog-friendly downtown and always roll my eyes at all the pet owners who treat their dogs like humans.

Until I met Ted and Lily. Ted takes us on his journey with Lily, a dachshund who came into his heart at 12 weeks old. We also learn all about Ted - from his break-up with a serious boyfriend and his attempts at online dating, to his relationship with his mother. We also learn all about Lily - through her voice, no less!

Without giving too much away, this book will make you laugh out loud and shed a few tears. But most of all it will make you feel - you feel the love Ted has for Lily and the love that Lily gives back. How Ted learns to feel love again because of Lily. Throw in some forgiveness of others and of self and you have lots of life lessons in this book.

Dog lovers (and even non-dog lovers!) will treasure this book and want to visit Ted and Lily again. It's hard to believe that this was a first novel, unsolicited and presented without an agent. Shows that we all love a good story!

4.12.2016 - Keep Me Posted

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book - I thoroughly enjoyed it!

This is the story of two sisters - Cassie, living in NYC, and Sidney, in Singapore. When they meet in Ohio for a family Christmas, Sid was dismayed to see Cassie spending so much time on Facebook. She said that Cassie knew more about her "friends'" lives than she did about her own sister. So they came up with a plan to be pen pals - to actually write letters to each other for a year. No other communication - no emailing or phone calls.

Both sisters were going through issues in their marriages, dealing with parenthood, etc., and these letters became a way to share these confidences. Until a mistake lands them public.

There is so much about this fun book that I liked. Because I'm more like Sid in being old-fashioned when it comes to communicating, there was just the forgotten joy of finding a handwritten letter in the mail, of mailing a letter, of waiting for a response. Today's generation (ugh...I sound old!) doesn't get that. Plus, this book was just fun. You could sympathize with Cassie's feelings of inadequacy on the playground comparing herself to the mommy bloggers who only feed their children handmade, organic baby food.

A fun way to lose yourself - and maybe make you decide to pick up pen and pencil and write to someone!

4.10.2016 - Lilac Girls

First, thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher, Ballantine Books, for the opportunity to read this amazing book.

Each time I read a book about the atrocities that humans did to other humans during the Holocaust, I'm amazed that there are so many stories that I had never heard about. Which makes me feel ashamed and glad that there are people like Martha Hall Kelly to tell the stories of these women.

This book is written in the voices of 3 women over two decades beginning in 1939 when Germany invaded Poland. Caroline Ferriday (a real person) who worked tirelessly to provide aid to victims of the war; Dr Herta Oberheuser (another real person) who conducted horrible trials on Polish women imprisoned at Ravensbruck, an all-female concentration camp; and Kasia, one of the "Rabbits," or victims of the tortures done by the doctors at this camp.

I couldn't put this book down, as hard as it was to read. But the human spirit is always so amazing and you feel so much admiration for all war victims and what they endured.

Do not miss this book - I'm grateful to the author for enlightening me.

4.7.2016 - I'm Thinking of Ending Things

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book - wow!

Full disclosure - I finished this book tonight during a power outage. That's right, just me in a dark apartment with no lights reading this incredibly creepy, you just know something is going to happen to freak you out, book!

This is the story of a girl going to visit her boyfriend's parents for the first time. They live in a very rural, deserted town. On the trip, the girlfriend is contemplating ending the relationship but is waiting for the right time.

If you want a neatly tied up ending, this book may not be for you. Because the ending will really blow your mind. I actually went back and reread parts!

It's a quick read and definitely worth it if you like a creepy story - just make sure you have the lights on!

4.6.2016 - The Girls

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the opportunity to read this amazing book.

Wow - hard to believe this is a debut author. The writing is just amazing - every sentence makes you really feel as if you are in Evie's world.

Evie is a 14-year-old whose parents are divorced and too busy with rewriting their own lives to worry much about Evie's. A random glimpse of a group of girls at a park leads to an obsession with one of the girls - Suzanne. When Evie runs into Suzanne again, Suzanne takes her back to the ranch - a loose portrayal of Charles Manson's commune. At the ranch, Evie begins to feel that she finally belongs and all her insecurities begin to fade.

Emma Cline truly gets into the mind and life of a 14-year-old girl. The friend drama, the boy drama, the next beauty product that will transform a girl's life - all of the vulnerability feels very familiar. Yet there is that damage and yearning in Evie that draws her into a cult - and of course the cult exploits all that. This book is mostly based in 1969 but shifts to a present-day Evie to show us the aftereffects.

Truly a masterfully-written book. A scary coming-of-age story but definitely not a young adult read. I raced through this one.

4.2.2016 - Leaving Blythe River

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read the latest book from one of my favorite authors! You're always guaranteed a quick read - her stories pull you in - with a feel good, moral but not preachy vibe.

This book centered around Ethan - a small for his age 17 year old living in Manhattan who never quite lived up to his parents' very athletic lifestyle and never felt like he fit in. After his parents separate and his mom needs to leave to take care of her ailing mother, Ethan is forced to go and live with his father in the mountains. Without giving anything away, Ethan is forced to confront all of his fears and find courage that he never dreamed he had.

This would be a great young adult read also.

4.1.2016 - All Things Cease to Appear

I'm a fan of Elizabeth Brundage - loved The Doctor's Wife. So I was anxious to read her latest - and it didn't disappoint.

The story opens with a gruesome murder of a woman - her husband goes to the neighbor's for help. The remaining bulk of the book is spent on character building. We learn the back story of everyone - the children who previously lived in the same house where the murder took place, the wife, the husband, friends, neighbors, family. Some might think this is too slow reading, but I loved learning all about these characters - to see where they were and how they came to be who they now are.

In the end, it's kind of a sad story - women sticking out marriages and lives that could have been for the children or for what's the right thing to do.

I'll be thinking of these characters - and women - for quite awhile. Highly recommended!