2015 Book #57 – The Light Between Oceans by M. L. Stedman

Posted in Book Clubs, Book reviews, Fiction, Historical fiction, Terryville - Fiction Lovers by rebeccabook17

Title: The Light Between Oceans
Author: M. L. Stedman
Date finished: 6/14/15
Genre: Historical fiction
Publisher: Scribner
Publication Date: July 31, 2012
Pages in book: 343
Stand alone or series: Stand alone

Blurb from the cover:

After four harrowing years on the Western Front, Tom Sherbourne returns to Australia and takes a job as the lighthouse keeper on Janus Rock, nearly half a day’s journey from the coast. To this isolated island, where the supply boat comes once a season, Tom brings a young, bold, and loving wife, Isabel. Years later, after two miscarriages and one stillbirth, the grieving Isabel hears a baby’s cries on the wind. A boat has washed up onshore carrying a dead man and a living baby.
Tom, who keeps meticulous records and whose moral principles have withstood a horrific war, wants to report the man and infant immediately. But Isabel insists the baby is a “gift from God,” and against Tom’s judgment, they claim her as their own and name her Lucy. When she is two, Tom and Isabel return to the mainland and are reminded that there are other people in the world. Their choice has devastated one of them.

My rating: 4.5 stars out of a scale of 5

My review: I read this book for the Terryville Library’s Fiction Lover’s Book Discussion group. I have been thinking about joining the group for awhile but even though it is only one night a month, I always find it hard trying to add one more thing into my schedule. I realized a couple months ago though that I have such a passion for reading and that I get such joy out of discussing good books with other people that I really should be making this group more of a priority. I had planned to start going with the May meeting (the book was one of the Liane Moriarty books and she’s been on my to read list for awhile) but we were on vacation when they were meeting in May so I decided to wait for the June meeting. And when I saw what the book for the June meeting was, I was excited since this book is on my to read list as well. And thank goodness I was able to finish the book since the meeting is tomorrow! (I’m writing this on Sunday 6/14 and waiting to post it until after the meeting tomorrow so I don’t give away my thoughts!)

I was hooked on this story from the very beginning. And though it was a tiny bit slow to start up in the beginning, the last half of the book just flew by for me, I couldn’t put it down. I could barely convince myself to look away from the pages long enough to eat my dinner. The characters of the story will completely draw you in and you’ll feel as if you’re there living on Janus with the Sherbournes and you’ll be a witness to everything that happens through the story. The emotions that are woven into the story will take your breath away. When you’ve raised a baby its whole life, even if that baby isn’t biologically yours, is it right to have that baby taken away? What is really right and wrong in a situation like that? What is fair? The contents of this book and the questions it brings up in the reader’s mind are just so thought provoking. What would you do if you were in this exact situation? Though for much of the book I was mad at Isabella for some of the choices she made, once she fell in love with that baby, I can’t say that I can know whether I would have done anything differently.

For those of you who would like to have your own book discussion with this book, here is a site with some reading discussion questions you can use.

The bottom line: I loved this book so so much. It was amazingly touching and moving and just so great. Everyone should read this as soon as possible, be ready though it’s going to tug hard at your heart strings.

Favorite quotes:

“He struggles to make sense of it- all this love, so bent out of shape, refracted, like light through the lens.”

“You only have to forgive once. To resent, you have to do it all day, every day. You have to keep remembering all the bad things.”

“I’ve learned the hard way that to have any kind of a future you’ve got to give up hope of ever changing your past”

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

13Jun2015

2015 Book #56 – Lightning by Dean Koontz

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

Title: Lightning
Author: Dean Koontz
Date finished: 6/12/15
Genre: Fiction – Thriller
Publisher: G Putnam Sons
Publication Date: 1988
Pages in book: 355
Stand alone or series: Stand alone

Blurb from the cover:

In the midst of a raging blizzard, lightning struck on the night Laura Shane was born. And a mysterious blond-haired stranger showed up just in time to save her from dying.
Years later, in the wake of another storm, Laura will be saved again. For someone is watching over her. But just as lightning illuminates, darkness always follows close behind.

My rating: 2.75 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, #3 on the list I set for myself at the beginning of this year. One of my friends (technically my best friend’s mom and my mom’s best friend) wanted me to read this book to try something new and to see if I would like something a little darker/scarier. She originally wanted me to read something by Stephen King (if I remember correctly) but gave me this book instead since it is one of her favorites and not quite as scary as Stephen King. Being delinquent in my duties as reviewer, I have had the book for probably close to a year and so earlier this year I thought it would be a good encouragement to put it on my TBR reading challenge listing.
So this story is about a lady named Laura and I’m going to spoil it for you, time travel. Laura has a “guardian” who pops in and out of her life at important moments, saving her from dying over and over again from the moment she’s born right up until the end of the book pretty much. Laura goes through life not knowing that she’s really living in an altered timeline since Stefan (the guardian) keeps jumping across the time stream to fix things for her. Living in ignorance, Laura grows up and forms relationships and sustains significant losses in her life, all the while surviving as best she can. Eventually though, she comes face to face with Stefan and he asks her to help him save the world.
Overall this was not my favorite book. The book itself was good enough but it is not my usual style/genre of book and I had some trouble getting into it. There was a lot of complicated discussion on time travel and I (like Laura) got a massive headache trying to keep track of the paradoxes of people traveling through time. Also the main character lived through such heavy losses through her life, it was depressing. And poor Chris going through this experience as an 8 year old. I don’t think I found it too scary necessarily, but it was darker than I usually like and I had trouble connecting with Laura. I would probably try another book by Koontz in the future to see if it was just this plot I wasn’t a huge fan of. I want to thank my friend Sandy for recommending this book to me. I am trying hard to expand my horizons and try books that are outside of my comfort zone and this book definitely fit the bill! Thanks Sandy!

The bottom line: I don’t think I would encourage or discourage readers to try this book. It was a good book just not my style.

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

9Jun2015

2015 Book #55 – The Duke In My Bed by Amelia Grey

Posted in 2015, Book reviews, Book series, Historical Romance, Pop Sugar Reading Challenge 2015 checklist, Reading Challenges, The Heirs' Club of Scoundrels by rebeccabook17

Title: The Duke In My Bed
Author: Amelia Grey
Date finished: 6/8/15
Genre: Historical romance
Publisher: St. Martin’s Paperbacks
Publication Date: December 30, 2014
Pages in book: 306
Stand alone or series: #1 in The Heirs’ Club of Scoundrels series

Blurb from the cover:

HERE COMES THE GROOM
As a notorious member of the Heirs’ Club, Bray Drakestone can’t resist a challenge from one of his well-heeled colleagues-especially when it involves money and horses. But the friendly wager takes an unexpected and deadly turn. Bray is forced to agree to marry one of his challenger’s five sisters-sight unseen. Now gamblers all over London are placing bets on whether Bray will actually go through with it…
THERE GOES THE BRIDE
Miss Louisa Prim, the eldest sister, doesn’t care a whit what the reckless rogue at the Heirs’ Club promised her brother-she has no intention of marrying the future Duke of Drakestone. Bray, however, sees her rejection as another challenge. He bets that the fiery Miss Prim will not only agree to marry him, she will propose to him! With four sisters behind her, Louisa knows she can’t lose. But why does her opponent have to be a divinely handsome scoundrel? And so sweetly, irresistibly seductive…

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 book by a female author” check box since it was written by a woman. I saw this book at the Bristol library and I have read a couple books by her before, but really it was the cover that grabbed me (I love the purple flow-y dress) so I thought I would give it a try. And I have to say I picked this one up for reading at the perfect time, because after the devastation that was the Hunger Games series, I needed something more light and sweet. This book was exactly what I needed!
Louisa Prim is everything her name suggests: prim and proper, as she must be since she is the main caretaker for her four younger sisters, ranging in age from eighteen to six. Her mother passed away shortly after her youngest sister, Bonnie’s, birth and her father passed away only a couple years after her mother. Her brother inherited her father’s title and proceeded to discover all that London had to offer to a young and slightly wealthy man. It was because of this that her brother, Nathan, was in a curricle race once dark and foggy night, which that led to his untimely demise. The race was with a young heir to a dukedom, Brey Drakestone. Nathan coerced Bray with his dying breath to marry his oldest little sister and take care of his family. Bray protested at first, but with so many onlookers it was really quite difficult to deny this dying man’s last request. Cut forward to two years later, and Louisa thinks that she and her sisters are managing just fine without the scandalous Duke. So when he suddenly shows up and basically says “Well I guess I could marry you now” she wants nothing to do with him.
I very much liked this book. I liked Bray’s character a lot and I have to say it was different for the woman to be the one in the wrong for a change. Bray and Louisa’s relationship was interesting to watch evolve, and I liked Louisa’s big and boisterous family. There were some characters in the book that I would have liked to see get scolded a little more but I guess that wasn’t necessarily central to the plot. Overall was a good read though and relatively quick/easy.

The bottom line: I would recommend this book, I liked it a lot. I think this would make a great beach read! If you’re looking for something heavy and thought-provoking, I wouldn’t say this is the book for you though.

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

5Jun2015

2015 Books #52-54 – Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins

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

Title: Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay
Author: Suzanne Collins
Date finished: 5/31/15, 6/3/15, 6/4/15
Genre: Young adult – dystopian
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Publication Date: September 14, 2008; September 1, 2009; August 24, 2010
Pages in book: 374, 391, 499 (large-print)
Stand alone or series: Series (trilogy to be specific)

Blurb from the cover:

Hunger Games
In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she is forced to represent her district in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before – and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

Catching Fire
Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has won the annual Hunger Games with fellow district tribute Peeta Mellark. But it was a victory won by defiance of the Capitol and their harsh rules. Katniss and Peeta should be happy. After all, they have just won for themselves and their families a life of safety and plenty. But there are rumors of rebellion among the subjects, and Katniss and Peeta, to their horror, are the faces of that rebellion. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge.

Mockingjay
Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has survived the Hunger Games twice. But now that she’s made it out of the bloody arena alive, she’s still not safe. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge. Who do they think should pay for the unrest? Katniss. And what’s worse, President Snow has made it clear that no one else is safe either. Not Katniss’s family, not her friends, not the people of District 12. Powerful and haunting, this thrilling final installment of Suzanne Collins’s groundbreaking The Hunger Games trilogy promises to be one of the most talked about books of the year.

My rating: 4.25, 4.5 and 4.0 stars out of a scale of 5, respectively

My review: This book will be counting towards my goal for the Pop Sugar Reading Challenge 2015 checklist under the “trilogy” check box since it is a trilogy. I know everyone is astounded I haven’t read this series yet given its popularity and the fact that there are now three movies out based on the series with the last movie coming out in November of this year. To be honest when I first heard about the books and even the first movie, I couldn’t get into it. The idea of kids killing kids was so abhorrent to me that I couldn’t imagine how I would end up liking the books. So I avoided it. And then it became wildly (and I mean wildly) popular and I tend to avoid that as well (not really sure why but fads seem to put me off). So we get to this year and after watching the movies for books 1, 2, and Part one of 3 and loving all the movies, I decide its finally time to read the books.
And it turns out I should’ve read them a long time ago. I absolutely loved this series, though I have to admit I cried so hard at the end of the third book that I felt hollowed out and empty when it was over. I’m writing this right after finishing the third book, only giving myself enough time that I can finally see through the tears again. I think the glass of wine helped but I feel absolutely devastated. I loved the series but so many people die in the third book, a lot of people that I really liked too, that I just can’t find the wherewithal to continue forward (to normal people this will sound pathetically crazy, but I know my fellow book nerds will understand). What I thought was weird when I considered it was that I didn’t feel this way in the first two books even though plenty of characters I felt I knew died in those books too. But I think the difference is that I knew people I liked were going to die in the first two books because of the Hunger Games.
I can’t talk about my emotions too much without giving away spoilers but in some ways the third book ended exactly how I wanted it it. I felt almost like the ending was a little rushed though. The whole book was a little confusing, I think because we were seeing everything through Katniss’s fractured mind. I found the difference in Katniss’s voice as it develops between books 1, 2 and 3 very interesting. You can feel her character growing and changing through the series by the way she talks. I loved the series though and I think everyone should read it immediately, if nothing else but to warn us all of what could happen in the future if the government goes all whack-a-doo. Go! Read it now!!!

The bottom line: I would highly recommend that everyone read this series. It will ensnare you and drag you under but it is an excellent series.

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

3Jun2015

Quilting Retreat 2015

Posted in For the love of books by rebeccabook17

This past weekend was the yearly Quilting Retreat that my mom and I attend. The above picture is our faithful alarm clock from retreat, we call him Pickles the Peacock. He lives at the camp where we stay for Retreat and he is a very vocal peacock, especially at 5am. For those that don’t know the background, my Mom is part of a Quilt Guild (here is their Facebook page) and every year they go on a retreat the weekend after Memorial Day weekend and spend the whole weekend quilting. For the past few years I come along and spend the whole weekend reading. Here is my post from last year’s retreat. You can also read about retreat on my Mom’s blog, joann94wquilts.

So this year I think I was a little overzealous when packing because I brought 8 books with me, not including the one I had already started. I was bummed though because I didn’t get to start reading until about 5 pm on Friday. By the time we got to the Incarnation Camp in Ivoryton, CT, unpacked the car, and got my Mom’s sewing station set up it was about 11am. At that point I ended up having to do something for work (blah) that took me a little over an hour. Then we had lunch and I started reading after lunch but only got about 4 pages in before I promptly fell asleep. I had been up until 1:30am Thursday night doing laundry and packing for retreat and then I was up at 5:30am to drive over to my Mom’s, so by 1pm Friday I was dead tired. I took a two hour nap, then when I woke up it was time for our daily walk (Mom and I take a walk every day to make sure we are getting some exercise). We saw the adorable baby goat (see pictures below) and then I did some additional exercises and took a shower. Could barely believe it but it was already 5pm and almost time for dinner. Suffice it to say I didn’t get as much reading done on Friday as I would have liked. Luckily, I was able to read all of Saturday as we didn’t go out anywhere this year like we usually do. And then Sunday I read for most of the morning in between getting things packed up into the car when I could.

So that being said, I started reading Pride and Prejudice on Friday afternoon/evening and finished it before dinner on Saturday. After doing my blog post on it, I started reading the first book in the Hunger Games series and finished that book by Sunday before lunch (blog post to follow, I’m just doing one blog post after I finish the whole series). I started reading the second book in the Hunger Games series next but I didn’t get too far since we had lunch at noon and then we did final clean up and packing before we had to be out by 2pm. Overall I still consider the weekend a success but I wish I had planned my reading choices differently. Besides reading, I also spent some time assisting the ladies with IT items and helping my Mom with a few quilt related decisions.

I’ve included a collection of photos from the trip below. Some I took, and some are from other people’s Facebook pages.

I would encourage any reader to try this. Taking a whole weekend away just to read is great fun and I think it is a real treat to be able to devote your time for a whole weekend to reading.

3Jun2015

Waiting on Wednesday (9): Friction by Sandra Brown

Posted in "Waiting On" Wednesday, Book memes, For the love of books by rebeccabook17

“Waiting On” Wednesday” is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine that spotlights eagerly anticipated upcoming releases.

This week’s spotlight is on:

Friction by Sandra Brown (unfortunately no cover has been released yet)

Release Date: August 18, 2015

Blurb from the cover (Amazon):

Crawford Hunt wants his daughter back. Following the death of his wife four years ago, Crawford, a Texas Ranger, fell into a downward spiral that left him relegated to deskwork and with his five-year-old daughter Georgia in the custody of her grandparents. But Crawford has cleaned up his act, met all the court imposed requirements, and now the fate of his family lies with Judge Holly Spencer.
Holly, ambitious and confident, temporarily occupies the bench of her recently deceased mentor. With an election upcoming, she must prove herself worthy of making her judgeship permanent. Every decision is high-stakes. Despite Crawford’s obvious love for his child and his commitment to being an ideal parent, Holly is wary of his checkered past. Her opinion of him is radically changed when a masked gunman barges into the courtroom during the custody hearing. Crawford reacts instinctually, saving Holly from a bullet.
But his heroism soon takes on the taint of recklessness. The cloud over him grows even darker after he uncovers a horrifying truth about the courtroom gunman and realizes that the unknown person behind the shooting remains at large . . .and a threat.
Catching the real culprit becomes a personal fight for Crawford. But pursuing the killer in his customary diehard fashion will jeopardize his chances of gaining custody of his daughter, and further compromise Judge Holly Spencer, who needs protection not only from an assassin, but from Crawford himself and the forbidden attraction between them.
FRICTION will keep you on the edge of your seat with breathtaking plot twists and the unforgettable characters that make Sandra Brown one of the world’s best-loved authors. It is an extraordinary novel about the powerful ties that bind us to the ones we love and the secrets we keep to protect them.

Why Am I Waiting?

I am a huge fan of Sandra Brown’s suspense thrillers. They are riveting, exciting, often unpredictable, and just fantastic. I just found out how much I love her books within the past year or so, and I am really exciting for her upcoming release since I’m sure its going to be great.