2015 Book #51 – Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Posted in 2015, Book reviews, Literary Greats, Reading Challenges, TBR Pile Reading Challenge (Roof Beam Reader) by rebeccabook17

Title: Pride & Prejudice
Author: Jane Austen
Date finished: 5/30/15
Genre: Literary classics
Publisher: Dover Publications
Publication Date: 1813
Pages in book: 262
Stand alone or series: Stand alone

Blurb from the cover:

One of the most universally loved and admired English novels, Pride and Prejudice was penned as a popular entertainment. But the consummate artistry of Jane Austen (1775–1817) transformed this effervescent tale of rural romance into a witty, shrewdly observed satire of English country life that is now regarded as one of the principal treasures of English language.
In a remote Hertfordshire village, far off the good coach roads of George III’s England, a country squire of no great means must marry off his five vivacious daughters. At the heart of this all-consuming enterprise are his headstrong second daughter Elizabeth Bennet and her aristocratic suitor Fitzwilliam Darcy — two lovers whose pride must be humbled and prejudices dissolved before the novel can come to its splendid conclusion.

My rating: 4 stars out of a scale of 5

My review: This book will be counting towards my goal for the Roof Beam Reader TBR Pile Reading Challenge, #1 on the list I set for myself at the beginning of this year. I can say with complete honesty that I have no idea how its possible that I haven’t read this book yet. I started it a few years ago and never finished it, which in itself is not all that surprising, though it is rare for me to do that. But this combined with the fact that the movie is probably one of my all time favorite movies and that I have at this point watched it well over one hundred times makes the fact that I haven’t read the book simply boggling. Therefore when I was lining up my list for the TBR Pile Reading Challenge at the beginning of this year, this one was the first to go on my list.
I expected this but I absolutely loved the book. The prose is magical and beautiful in and of itself, I was forever drawn into the way Austen would describe certain scenes and marveled that simply the way the words were strung together could give my heart such joy. The story I’m sure everyone is familiar with so I will not go into detail on the plot. I will comment that both Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy evolve so much as characters in the book, it is interesting to see how they grow and change as people through the story.
This is an excellent love story, exactly as it is purported to be.

The bottom line: I would definitely recommend this book, everyone should read it. I think this is one of the staples of a well-rounded young reader.

Link to author website
Click on the cover to go to the book’s Amazon page

28May2015

2015 Book #50 – Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Posted in 2015, Book reviews, Pop Sugar Reading Challenge 2015 checklist, Reading Challenges, Young Adult by rebeccabook17

Title: Eleanor & Park
Author: Rainbow Rowell
Date finished: 5/27/15
Genre: Young adult – romance
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
Publication Date: February 26, 2013
Pages in book: 325
Stand alone or series: Stand alone

Blurb from the cover:

Eleanor… Red hair, wrong clothes. Standing behind him until he turns his head. Lying beside him until he wakes up. Making everyone else seem drabber and flatter and never good enough… Eleanor.
Park… He knows she’ll love a song before he plays it for her. He laughs at her jokes before she ever gets to the punch line. There’s a place on his chest, just below his throat, that makes her want to keep promises… Park.
Set over the course of one school year, this is the story of two star-crossed sixteen-year-olds – smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try.

My rating: 4.25 stars out of a scale of 5

My review: This book will be counting towards my goal for the Pop Sugar Reading Challenge 2015 checklist under the “a book set in high school” check box since it is in fact about two high school students. I had heard a lot of good things about this book and after reading Fangirl recently, I definitely wanted to get my hands on this one. I saw it a couple weeks ago at my local library and snatched it right up. Almost from the very beginning I was hooked on this book. I have to be honest in saying that I find some young adult romance novels overwhelmingly frustrating because everything is so angst-y all the time and it ends up feeling like the characters are just whining a lot. I have never in my life before had a book make me feel what this book did. I had a high school love, most people do, and even if you didn’t necessarily have a love, most people have felt the thrill of having a crush. Does he like me too? And then once you think he does, there is the thrill of the first time he holds your hand and the first time you kiss and just the thrill of being young and in love. This book dug deep inside my memory banks and brought back all those feelings I experienced in high school to the forefront. It really was astounding for me.
Eleanor has a lot of family issues (Park has some too I guess but Eleanor has way more and they’re more serious) that are discussed in the book. An abusive stepdad, a mom that won’t stand up for herself or her 5 children, an absentee dad, I could just go on and on. She doesn’t have a toothbrush until halfway through the book for goodness sake. Eleanor’s life and her family as it is described in book added a darkness to the book. The harshness of Eleanor’s life really was a great contrast to the joy and light blossoming inside her as she develops her relationship with Park. I mean her home life is awful and I was frustrated with her mom for pretty much the entire book but the fact that Eleanor was able to trust Park was unexpected and it shows how her character grows throughout the novel.

Overall I very much liked this book. I couldn’t put it down, it was one of those that sucks you in and two hours you look up and think “where am I?” The feelings that will consume you while reading this book are overwhelming, so just be prepared. They’re good feels though so don’t panic. The characters both grew a lot in the novel, Park specifically learned that you shouldn’t care what everyone else thinks, which I think was a great life-lesson for him. There are many parts of their relationship that seemed so realistic, especially for high school students, like Park being embarrassed about the way Eleanor dresses only because of how other people think of it. The ending I think is as it should be but I can see how some might like a more neat and defined ending. I like to think that in the future, Eleanor and Park end up together forever and get married and are happy throughout their marriage like Park’s parents.

The bottom line: I would definitely recommend this book. Falling in love for the first time all over again is not something that can usually be duplicated, but this book does a damn good job. Go buy it now, you want to have these emotions!

Link to author website
Click on the cover to go to the book’s Amazon page

26May2015

2015 Book #49 – The Tempting of Thomas Carrick by Stephanie Laurens

Posted in 2015, Book reviews, Book series, Cynster family series, Cynster Next Generation, Historical Romance, Pop Sugar Reading Challenge 2015 checklist, Reading Challenges by rebeccabook17

Title: The Tempting of Thomas Carrick
Author: Stephanie Laurens
Date finished: 5/26/15
Genre: Historical romance
Publisher: Mira
Publication Date: February 24, 2015
Pages in book: 456
Stand alone or series: Cynster family series #21, 2nd in Cynster Next Generation series

Blurb from the cover:

Thomas Carrick is driven to control all aspects of his life. The wealthy owner of Carrick Enterprises, located in bustling Glasgow, he is one of that city’s most eligible bachelors and intends to select a wife from the many young ladies paraded before him. He wants to take that next step along his self-determined path, yet no one captures his eye, nor his attention…not the way Lucilla Cynster did.
Thomas has avoided his clan’s estate because it borders Lucilla’s home, but disturbing reports from his clansmen force him to return. His uncle, the laird, is ailing, a family is desperately ill, and the healer is unconscious and dying. Duty leaves Thomas no choice but to seek help from the last woman he wants to face.
Strong-willed and passionate, Lucilla has been waiting for Thomas to return and claim his place by her side. She knows he is her fated lover, husband, protector, and mate just as she is his one true love. Though his return wasn’t on her account, Lucilla is willing to seize whatever chance Fate hands her.
Thomas can never forget Lucilla, or the connection that seethes between them, but to marry her would mean embracing a life he does not want.
Lucilla sees that Thomas has yet to accept the inevitability of their union. But how can he ignore a bond such as theirs—one so much stronger than reason? Lucilla is as determined as only a Cynster can be to fight for the future she knows can be theirs. And while she cannot command him, she has powerful enticements she’s willing to wield in the tempting of Thomas Carrick.

My rating: 4.0 stars out of a scale of 5

My review: This book will be counting towards my goal for the Pop Sugar Reading Challenge 2015 checklist under the “a book published this year” check box since it was published in February of this year. I have been eagerly awaiting this novel as it is a continuation of one of my favorite series I started reading in the last couple years, the Cynster series. This book marks the first of the Cynster Next Generation series which will chronicle the stories of the children from the characters in the past 20 books of the series. The overall Cynster family tree can be found here, Lucilla is the oldest offspring of Richard & Catriona (from book #3 in the Cynster series).

Lucilla is destined to be the next Lady of the Vale, her childhood home. This is highly unusual for this time as the estate would usually pass to the oldest son. However, this estate in particular is governed by the Lady (a deity) and so the oldest daughter of the current Lady of the Vale is to inherit the lands. Lucilla has always known this to be her destiny and saw no reason to fight against what would ultimately fulfill her purpose in life. For the past 10 years she has known that Thomas would be her consort (we saw the preview for this in By Winter’s Light) but the Lady instructed Lucilla to be patient and so she has waited and waited for Thomas to re-enter her life in a more permanent way. Circumstances throw them together at last and they team up to try and solve a mystery of sorts.

The ending leaves some issues open for me. Whatever happened to Nigel? Where did he go? I’m not sure if these are meant to remain open or if they will be addressed in Marcus’s novel (released TODAY! And FYI Marcus is Lucilla’s twin). I am very much looking forward to reading his story as the heroine was also introduced to us in this novel.

Overall I liked this book a lot. I was intrigued throughout and honestly once I started it I couldn’t seem to put it down. The ending felt a tad anti-climactic but I’m hoping that there is some follow-up in the next book. And it was a bit too steamy for me but I muddled through that part because I really loved the plot and the story. Lucilla is such a strong character and I really just adored her. It did end up being a tad bit wordy, hard to avoid at over 450 pages, but it wasn’t so wordy that I lost interest in the story, just that a couple points i was like “Alright let’s get on with it already, they both think the other is hot I get it.” Overall though I was immensely pleased at this continuation in an already very long series.

The bottom line: I would recommend this book, it was intriguing throughout. I love the Cynster series and I am excited that it is continuing with the Next Generation.

Link to author website
Click on the cover to go to the book’s Amazon page

23May2015

2015 Book #48 – The Wonder of All Things by Jason Mott

Posted in 2015, Book reviews, Fiction, Reading Challenges, TBR Pile Reading Challenge (Roof Beam Reader) by rebeccabook17

Title: The Wonder of All Things
Author: Jason Mott
Date finished: 5/23/15
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Mira
Publication Date: September 30, 2014
Pages in book: 303
Stand alone or series: Stand alone

Blurb from the cover:

On the heels of his critically acclaimed and New York Times bestselling debut novel, The Returned, Jason Mott delivers a spellbinding tale of love and sacrifice.
On an ordinary day, at an air show like that in any small town across the country, a plane crashes into a crowd of spectators. After the dust clears, a thirteen-year-old girl named Ava is found huddled beneath a pocket of rubble with her best friend, Wash. He is injured and bleeding, and when Ava places her hands over him, his wounds disappear.
Ava has an unusual gift: she can heal others of their physical ailments. Until the air show tragedy, her gift was a secret. Now the whole world knows, and suddenly people from all over the globe begin flocking to her small town, looking for healing and eager to catch a glimpse of The Miracle Child. But Ava’s unique ability comes at a great cost, and as she grows weaker with each healing, she soon finds herself having to decide just how much she’s willing to give up in order to save the ones she loves most.
Elegantly written, deeply intimate and emotionally astute, The Wonder of All Things is an unforgettable story and a poignant reminder of life’s extraordinary gifts.

My rating: 4.25 stars out of a scale of 5

My review: This book will be counting towards my goal for the Roof Beam Reader TBR Pile Reading Challenge, #10 on the list I set for myself at the beginning of this year. I had seen this book featured in a lot of different places last year towards the end of the year and after reading the description of the book, I really wanted to give it a try. There were a lot of things going on in this book, and so many feels. Word gets out to the world that Ava can heal people almost as if by magic. People start flocking to the small town of Stone Temple, almost all of them wanting something from the girl who can perform these miracles. Ava can’t just heal people with no consequences though, and the more times she has to use her “powers” the worse her health deteriorates.
What amazes me is that even as people realize that helping people in this way makes Ava sick, they still expect her to use her gift to heal people. This astounded me. It was very thought-provoking, realizing that people in desperate situations expect a little girl to give up her health in order to save people she doesn’t know. It is overwhelmingly depressing at the same time thinking that there is so many things in the world that are unfair, like the little boy that the Reverend wanted Ava to heal in the book who was dying of brain cancer. To think of this little boy’s parents, if I were them yes I would demand that Ava do everything that she could to help my boy. But would I want her to hurt herself to help my family? I can’t honestly say what I would do in that situation. Its easy to claim that I would do the right thing but at the same time I would do anything possible to save my son.
I loved Ava’s character, and Wash’s too. Their friendship was pure and innocent and would’ve grown into something more at some point I’m sure. This story’s ending was a bit tragic to be honest but I found it both touching and moving. It was overwhelmingly emotional, I ended up crying for pretty much the whole last chapter. There were a lot of characters in this story, and I wouldn’t necessarily say they were good or bad people but most of them had their own agendas and they were just acting within that scope. Overall I thought this was a great story and was interesting and very moving.

The bottom line: I would recommend this book, I would have a box of tissues handy though.

Link to author website
Click on the cover to go to the book’s Amazon page

22May2015

2015 Book #47 – Lethal by Sandra Brown

Posted in 2015, Book reviews, Reading Challenges, Romantic suspense, TBR Pile Reading Challenge (Roof Beam Reader) by rebeccabook17

Title: Lethal
Author: Sandra Brown
Date finished: 5/21/15
Genre: Romantic suspense
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Publication Date: September 20, 2011
Pages in book: 472
Stand alone or series: Stand alone

Blurb from the cover:

When her four year old daughter informs her a sick man is in their yard, Honor Gillette rushes out to help him. But that “sick” man turns out to be Lee Coburn, the man accused of murdering seven people the night before. Dangerous, desperate, and armed, he promises Honor that she and her daughter won’t be hurt as long as she does everything he asks. She has no choice but to accept him at his word.
But Honor soon discovers that even those close to her can’t be trusted. Coburn claims that her beloved late husband possessed something extremely valuable that places Honor and her daughter in grave danger. Coburn is there to retrieve it — at any cost. From FBI offices in Washington, D.C., to a rundown shrimp boat in coastal Louisiana, Coburn and Honor run for their lives from the very people sworn to protect them, and unravel a web of corruption and depravity that threatens not only them, but the fabric of our society.

My rating: 4.25 stars out of a scale of 5

My review: This book will be counting towards my goal for the Roof Beam Reader TBR Pile Reading Challenge, #6 on the list I set for myself at the beginning of this year. I discovered my great love for Sandra Brown’s romantic suspense when I read Deadline in 2013. She always seems to include just enough good plot twists to keep readers interested but not so many that you start to get confused (or whiplash). And Brown definitely did not disappoint with this novel. I was riveted from the beginning and I couldn’t put the book down.

I have to say I didn’t expect the bad guy to be who they were revealed to be at the end. Sandra Brown is a great story-teller and I always devour her books. I was drawn into this story and the characters. Honor specifically really became alive to me as a person and I thought it was really interesting that we see her grow as a person through the novel.

The only character that I actually had trouble delving into their psyche was the main villain of the story. I would have liked more insight into why they resorted to this extreme amount of violence to make their way in life. Other than that though, I loved the story and would definitely encourage everyone to read something by Sandra Brown!

The bottom line: I would definitely recommend this book, I didn’t want to put it down. It was great!

Link to author website
Click on the cover to go to the book’s Amazon page

22May2015

2015 Book #46 – Moriarty by Anthony Horowitz

Posted in 2015, Book reviews, Fiction, Mystery, Pop Sugar Reading Challenge 2015 checklist, Reading Challenges by rebeccabook17

Title: Moriarty
Author: Anthony Horowitz
Date finished: 5/20/15
Genre: Mystery
Publisher: Harper
Publication Date: December 9, 2014
Pages in book: 285
Stand alone or series: Stand alone, though there is a related e-original short story

Blurb from the cover:

The game is once again afoot in this thrilling mystery from the bestselling author of The House of Silk, sanctioned by the Conan Doyle estate, which explores what really happened when Sherlock Holmes and his arch nemesis Professor Moriarty tumbled to their doom at the Reichenbach Falls.
Internationally bestselling author Anthony Horowitz’s nail-biting new novel plunges us back into the dark and complex world of detective Sherlock Holmes and Moriarty—dubbed the Napoleon of crime” by Holmes—in the aftermath of their fateful struggle at the Reichenbach Falls.
Days after the encounter at the Swiss waterfall, Pinkerton detective agent Frederick Chase arrives in Europe from New York. Moriarty’s death has left an immediate, poisonous vacuum in the criminal underworld, and there is no shortage of candidates to take his place—including one particularly fiendish criminal mastermind.
Chase and Scotland Yard Inspector Athelney Jones, a devoted student of Holmes’s methods of investigation and deduction originally introduced by Conan Doyle in “The Sign of Four”, must forge a path through the darkest corners of England’s capital—from the elegant squares of Mayfair to the shadowy wharfs and alleyways of the London Docks—in pursuit of this sinister figure, a man much feared but seldom seen, who is determined to stake his claim as Moriarty’s successor.
A riveting, deeply atmospheric tale of murder and menace from one of the only writers to earn the seal of approval from Conan Doyle’s estate, Moriarty breathes life into Holmes’s dark and fascinating world.

My rating: 4 stars out of a scale of 5

My review: This book will be counting towards my goal for the Pop Sugar Reading Challenge 2015 checklist under the “a book with a one-word title” check box since the book has one word for its title. I picked this book up because of the description on the inside cover. I love the Sherlock Holmes movies that have been produced in the last couple of years and every time I watch the second movie I am left with the same burning question, what happened to Sherlock Holmes and Professor Moriarty after they plummeted down into Reichenbach Falls!!??
And so begins our tale. We begin in the place where the last story ended, Reichenbach Falls. Our narrator, Frederick Chase, and his soon-to-be friend, Athelney Jones, first meet here and Chase enlists Jones’ help in bringing down a notorious American crime lord who has recently arrived in London to take over the crime world. Trying to save the streets from the viciousness of Clarence Devereuxx, Chase and Jones team up to put a stop to his madness.

I cant say much more about the book without giving away the ending but I just have to say I was completely floored by the twist of events at the end of the book, I never saw it coming! The ending really made the book for me, I liked it ok right up until the second to last chapter, and then I loved it!

The bottom line: I would definitely recommend this book, it was extremely interesting and had a great unseen twist at the end.

Link to author website
Click on the cover to go to the book’s Amazon page

18May2015

2015 Book #45 – Running for Women by Kara Goucher

Posted in 2015, Book reviews, Non-fiction, Reading Challenges, TBR Pile Reading Challenge (Roof Beam Reader) by rebeccabook17

Title: Running For Women: From First Steps to Marathons
Author: Kara Goucher
Date finished: 5/17/15
Genre: Non-fiction
Publisher: Touchstone
Publication Date: April 5, 2011
Pages in book: 291
Stand alone or series: Stand alone

Blurb from the cover:

KARA GOUCHER is crazy, madly, head-over-heels in love with running, and she wants to help you feel that love, too. Whether you’re just getting started or already a seasoned runner, this is the book that will take you to the next level. Kara Goucher’s Running for Women contains her expertise, tips, and tricks targeted specifically at female runners to help you become a better, happier, healthier, and more fulfilled runner. She’ll teach you how to:
• GET STARTED WITH THE RIGHT GEAR
• BUILD A SUCCESSFUL SUPPORT TEAM
• FIND THE RIGHT TRAINING PROGRAM FOR YOU
• OVERCOME PSYCHOLOGICAL SETBACKS
• BALANCE RUNNING WITH FAMILY AND WORK
• AND MUCH MORE
Designed to fit your busy lifestyle, Kara Goucher’s Running for Women is packed with quick tips, pearls of running wisdom, and sample training schedules and nutrition plans, as well as sections dedicated to running during and after pregnancy, managing the special challenges of the female athlete’s body, and maintaining a balance between sporting and family life. Kara Goucher’s Running for Women is the ultimate guide for women who want to train for the gold or simply discover their personal best.

My rating: 4 stars out of a scale of 5

My review: This book will be counting towards my goal for the Roof Beam Reader TBR Pile Reading Challenge, #7 on the list I set for myself at the beginning of this year. I actually started this book last year and I’ve read it off and on over the last year or so. This has been a very motivational book for me. I’ve struggled with my weight most of my life and I’ve always had issues with exercising. I just find it so boring and honestly I hate being sweaty and just being out of breath and the whole thing. But this book really inspired me to try running and I like it better than most. And more than that, reading this book encouraged me to try harder to be healthy.

This book includes a lot of great tips for both beginners and experienced runners. Kara does an excellent job at interweaving her own personal experiences and background with tips and also with workout plans, meal plans, and other useful items. Whether you’re already in love with running or you’re looking for a new way to get in better shape, this is a great book!

The bottom line: I would definitely recommend this book, it is a great motivational book for runners or even just people who are thinking about starting running as their main exercise.

Link to author website
Click on the cover to go to the book’s Amazon page

16May2015

2015 Book #44 – The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo

Posted in 2015, Book reviews, Non-fiction, Pop Sugar Reading Challenge 2015 checklist, Reading Challenges by rebeccabook17

Title: The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing
Author: Marie Kondo
Date finished: 5/16/15
Genre: Non-fiction
Publisher: Ten Speed Press
Publication Date: October 14, 2014
Pages in book: 204
Stand alone or series: Stand alone

Blurb from the cover:

Despite constant efforts to declutter your home, do papers still accumulate like snowdrifts and clothes pile up like a tangled mess of noodles?
Japanese cleaning consultant Marie Kondo takes tidying to a whole new level, promising that if you properly simplify and organize your home once, you’ll never have to do it again. Most methods advocate a room-by-room or little-by-little approach, which doom you to pick away at your piles of stuff forever. The KonMari Method, with its revolutionary category-by-category system, leads to lasting results. In fact, none of Kondo’s clients have lapsed (and she still has a three-month waiting list).
With detailed guidance for determining which items in your house “spark joy” (and which don’t), this international bestseller featuring Tokyo’s newest lifestyle phenomenon will help you clear your clutter and enjoy the unique magic of a tidy home—and the calm, motivated mindset it can inspire.

My rating: 3 stars out of a scale of 5

My review: This book will be counting towards my goal for the Pop Sugar Reading Challenge 2015 checklist under the “a book that was originally written in a different language” check box because it was originally written in Japanese and was translated into English by Cathy Hirano. This book presented an interesting approach to decluttering your house, and provides the reader with some helpful instructions to guide them in their efforts to revitalize and organize their home.

What I found interesting is the way Kondo describes talking to inanimate objects, such as your home and your clothes. She states that thanking these objects makes them feel appreciated and that they will last longer. I’m not sure how true that is since I’ve never tried it but I think it is an interesting concept.

Kondo has been studying the art of tidying since she was a young girl and she has devised a method to help her customers shed that excess weight from their houses and discover a less stressful way to live. As an avid fan of tidying myself, I very much enjoyed reading Kondo’s ideas and tips. While I might not necessarily agree with every piece of advice in the book, overall it was a well written book and it has motivated me to work harder to declutter my home. The whole point of the book is that Konda wants to help you turn your home into a haven for yourself, which is something that I strive for continuously.

The bottom line: I would recommend this book if you are interested in decluttering, it has some good tips and directions.

Link to author website
Click on the cover to go to the book’s Amazon page

13May2015

2015 Book #43 – Garden of Lies by Jayne Ann Krentz

Posted in 2015, Book reviews, Historical Romance, Pop Sugar Reading Challenge 2015 checklist, Reading Challenges, Romantic suspense by rebeccabook17

Title: Garden of Lies
Author: Jayne Ann Krentz
Date finished: 5/13/15
Genre: Historical romance, Romantic suspense
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Publication Date: April 21, 2015
Pages in book: 359
Stand alone or series: Stand alone

Blurb from the cover:

The Kern Secretarial Agency provides reliable professional services to its wealthy clientele, and Anne Clifton was one of the finest women in Ursula Kern’s employ. But Miss Clifton has met an untimely end—and Ursula is convinced it was not due to natural causes.
Archaeologist and adventurer Slater Roxton thinks Mrs. Kern is off her head to meddle in such dangerous business. Nevertheless, he seems sensible enough to Ursula, though she does find herself unnerved by his self-possession and unreadable green-gold eyes…
If this mysterious widowed beauty insists on stirring the pot, Slater intends to remain close by as they venture into the dark side of polite society. Together they must reveal the identity of a killer—and to achieve their goal they may need to reveal their deepest secrets to each other as well…

My rating: 3.75 stars out of a scale of 5

My review: This book will be counting towards my goal for the Pop Sugar Reading Challenge 2015 checklist under the “a mystery or thriller” check box because I thought the main point of the story was really the mystery they were solving. I thought that this was a good book. I haven’t been thrilled by a couple of Krentz’s recent releases because I found them too predictable but this novel was interesting throughout and actually took me by surprise at a couple points. I found the characters to be interesting and I admired Ursula’s courage at many points. The conversation did sometimes feel stilted or rehearsed but the relationship between Slater and Ursula in all its awkwardness felt genuine. I don’t want to say too much about the plot because I don’t want to give anything away but basically Slater and Ursula come together to solve a mystery. It was a good story and probably would have been a quick read if I hadn’t had the concentration of a gnat for the past week.

The bottom line: I would recommend this book, it was interesting and was a good read.

Link to author website
Click on the cover to go to the book’s Amazon page

8May2015

Friday Finds (May 8)

Posted in Book memes, For the love of books, Friday Finds by rebeccabook17

FRIDAY FINDS is hosted by A Daily Rhythm and showcases the books you ‘found’ and added to your To Be Read (TBR) list. Whether you found them online, or in a bookstore, or in the library — wherever! (they aren’t necessarily books you purchased).

My finds this week include a fiction, a mystery, a young adult historical fiction, a thriller (I think?), and a historical fiction:

1. Whiskey & Charlie by Annabel Smith

I thought this book just sounded really interesting. It is about twin boys who become estranged as adults, citing their irreconcilable differences as the reason why they haven’t talked in years. But when one of the brothers is in a terrible accident, the other twin must come to terms with the past and find a way to move forward. Whole thing just sounds like a winner to me. I’ll probably end up balling my eyes out. “A compelling and unforgettable novel about rivalry and redemption, Whiskey & Charlie is perfect for anyone whose family has ever been less than picture-perfect.”

2. Every Secret Thing by Laura Lippman

This book was made into a movie starring Diane Lane, Elizabeth Banks, and Dakota Fanning. When I saw the trailer for the movie I thought it looked really interesting so I will probably try to read the book first. Its about two sisters who do some unspeakable crime and get sent to juvie and then when they get out a similar crime happens so we have to figure out if they did the second crime too. Movie comes out next Friday I think (May 15th).

3. The Revelation of Louisa May by Michaela MacColl

This book is about Louisa May Alcott. It has a few facts thrown in there but is mostly fiction. I love Alcott’s story Little Women and I think it would be interesting to read about her, even if the story is mostly fiction. From Amazon, “Intertwining fact, fiction, and quotes from Little Women, Michaela MacColl has crafted another spunky heroine whose story will keep readers turning pages until the very end.”

4. Where They Found Her by Kimberly McCreight

This book was actually recommended to me by a quiz I took online, I think it was a BookPage quiz but I can’t remember, about what book I should read next. I just love the last paragraph in the description on Amazon, it sounds like this is going to be a really good novel. “Told from the perspectives of three Ridgedale women, Kimberly McCreight’s taut and profoundly moving novel unwinds the tangled truth behind the tragedy, revealing that these women have far more in common than they could ever have imagined: that the very worst crimes are committed against those we love. And that—sooner or later—the past catches up to all of us.”

5. Swimming in the Moon by Pamela Schoenewaldt

I have found a new love for historical fiction lately, and this one sounds too good to pass up. It starts off in Italy and then moves to America and just sounds like it is going to be full of tension and drama and lots of the feels. It has a ton of great reviews on Amazon. I am excited to read it!

So those are my finds this week! Please feel free to share your finds or leave a link to your own “Friday Finds” blog posting below! Happy Friday!