Friday, April 29, 2016

The Light in the Ruins

The Light in the Ruins
by Chris Bohjalian

Genre: Historical Fiction, Mystery

Synopsis: 1943: Tucked away in the idyllic hills south of Florence, the Rosatis, an Italian family of noble lineage, believe that the walls of their ancient villa will keep them safe from the war raging across Europe.  Eighteen-year-old Cristina spends her days swimming in the pool, playing with her young niece and nephew, and wandering aimlessly amid the estate's gardens.  But when two soldiers, a German and an Italian, arrive at the villa, the Rosati's bucolic tranquility is shattered.  A young German lieutenant begins to court Cristina, the Nazis descend upon the estate demanding hospitality, and what was once their sanctuary becomes their prison.

1955: Serafina Bettini, an investigator with the Florence Police Department, has her own demons.  Serafina carefully hides her scars along with her haunting memories of the war.  But when she is assigned to a gruesome new case-a serial killer who who is targeting the Rosatis and murdering the remnants of the family one by one in cold blood-Serafina finds herself digging into a past that involves both the victims and her own tragic history.
from the back of the book

Review:  I listened to this as an audiobook and got through one and a half cds.  This book was completely different than I thought it would be.  I really like historical fiction books but this one was much more mystery than I like.  It was gruesome at parts and I just couldn't listen to it.  The historical aspect to the story didn't keep me interested enough to keep listening to the murder mystery parts.

Rating: abandonded

Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Pax

Pax
by Sara Pennypacker

Genre: Juvenile Fiction

Synopsis:  Pax and Peter have been inseparable ever since Peter rescued him as a kit.  But one day the unimaginable happens: Peter's dad enlists in the military and makes him return the fox to the wild.

At his grandfather's house three hundred miles away from home, Peter knows he isn't where he should be-with Pax.  He strikes out on his own despite the encroaching war, spurred by love, loyalty, and grief, to be reunited with his fox.

Meanwhile Pax, steadfastly waiting for his boy, embarks on adventures and discoveries of his own...
from the book jacket

Review:  I had heard such good things about this book and unfortunately this book just didn't grab me.  I was looking for a heart grabbing emotional read about an animal and while parts of this book were somewhat moving, it fell flat for me.  My favorite part of the book was the relationship between Peter and a woman named Nova who he unexpectedly meets.  Nova has some wisdom for Peter and he in turn helps her out.  The chapters alternate between ones about Peter and ones about Pax and I found myself putting down the book during the Pax chapters and looking forward to the chapters about Peter.  There was so much talk about how humans destroy things and this was repeated in the chapters narrated by Pax.  It got repetitive and I just wanted something else to happen.  The end seemed a little anticlimactic for me.  I am not sure that middle grade students are going to get as much meaning out of this book as the author wants them to get out of the book.

Rating: 3 stars

The Fate of Ten

The Fate of Ten
by Pittacus Lore

Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Fantasy

Synopsis:  For years the Garde have fought the Mogadorians in secret. Now all of that has changed. The invasion has begun. If the Garde can't find a way to stop the Mogs, humanity will suffer the same fate as the Lorien: annihilation.

There is still hope. When the Elders sent the Garde to Earth, they had a plan—one which the Garde are finally starting to understand. In the climax of The Revenge of Seven, a group of the Garde traveled to an ancient pyramid in Mexico known to their people as the Sanctuary. There they awoke a power that had been hidden within our planet for generations. Now this power can save the world . . . or destroy it. It will all depend on who wields it.
from GoodReads

Review:  This book had more profanity than I would like to see in a young adult book.  There was one character in particular who liked to use profanity but there were other characters who used some as well which was a change from the previous books.  I like what happened when the Garde went to the Sanctuary and how it created a major twist in the story.  I wish the next book was already released so that I can see how everything gets resolved but this book made me hopeful for an ending that I would like to see.

Rating: 3.5 stars

To see my review of I Am Fourclick here.
To see my review of The Power of Sixclick here.
To see my review of The Rise of Nineclick here.
To see my review of The Fall of Fiveclick here.
To see my review of The Revenge of Sevenclick here.
To read my review of I Am Number Four, The Legacies: Lost Files 1-3click here.
To read my review of I Am Number Four; Secret Histories: Lost Files 4-6click here.

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

The Cranes Dance

The Cranes Dance
by Meg Howrey

Genre: Fiction

Synopsis: Kate Crane, a soloist in a celebrated New York City ballet company, is struggling to keep her place in a demanding world, a world she can't help satirizing even as she balances injury and self-doubt to maintain her place within in.  At every turn she is haunted by her close relationship with her younger sister, Gwen, a fellow company dancer whose career quickly surpassed Kate's but who has recently suffered a breakdown and returned home to Michigan.  Alone for the first time, Kate is anxious and full of guilt about her role she played in her sister's collapse.  As we follow her on an insider tour of rehearsals, performances, and partners onstage and off, she confronts the tangle of love, jealousy, pride, and obsession that are beginning to fracture her own sanity.  Funny, dark, intimate, and unflinchingly honest, this book pulls back the curtains to reveal the private lives of dancers and explores the complicated bond between sisters.
from the back of the book

Review:  I listened to this as an audiobook so my review and rating of this book are also based upon the narrator of the story.  The first two chapters of this book are Kate's cattiness about the ballet and it made her seem really bitchy and ungrateful. The beginning was boring and there seemed to be no plot except for Kate complaining and making fun of the ballet.  Luckily the plot picked up in the third chapter but it still didn't move very quickly.  There were a lot of looking back and reflecting on what Kate could have done or should have done in regards to her sister, Gwen.  Kate's mental state is questionable throughout the book and it made me wonder if she herself was the one who had the breakdown.  Unfortunately, the book doesn't pick up that much and the plot goes nowhere until the very end of the book.  The book was somewhat interesting but also a little dull.  There was also enough vulgarity and profanity in this book that it made me cringe a bit at times.

Rating: 2.5 stars

Monday, April 25, 2016

Secret Histories: The Lost Files #4-6

I Am Number Four: Secret Histories: The Lost Files #4-6
(The Search for Sam, The Last Days of Lorien, and The Forgotten Ones)
by Pittacus Lore

Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Fantasy, Short Stories

Synopsis:  You know our stories are true.

You know why we fight.

You must discover their secrets.

You must learn from our mistakes.

They are hiding, just like us.

They plan to destroy your planet.

They destroyed ours.

We cannot let this happen again.
from the back of the book

Review:  I like reading these back stories and interim stories about the characters that play a part in the novels.  "The Search for Sam" and "The Forgotten Ones" are both about Adam. He comes into play in the novels but we don't know that much about him from the novels, we find out most everything we need to know from the short stories written about it and they help piece his story together.  The "Last Days of Lorien" was a weaker story in my opinion than the other two.  It was about Sandor, Nine's cepan and didn't contain that much about what happened on Lorien nor did it make me like Sandor as much as I liked him from the novels.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Monday, April 18, 2016

The Revenge of Seven

The Revenge of Seven
by Pittacus Lore


Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Fantasy

Synopsis:  The Garde have suffered an unbearable loss.  Number Five has betrayed them.  Eight is gone forever.  Ella has been kidnapped.  The others are now scattered.  In Chicago, John makes the unlikeliest of allies: Adam, A Mogadorian who turned his back on his people.  He has invaluable information about Mog technology, battle strategies, and weaknesses.  Most important, he knows where to hit them: their command base near Washington, D.C.    During the assault, however, John learns the unimaginable truth: it is too late.  The Mogadorians have commenced their ultimate invasion plans.  With a front-row seat to the impending invasion, Ella finds herself in the hands of the enemy.  For some reason, she's more valuable to them alive, and they'll stop at nothing to turn her.  Meanwhile, Six, Nine and Marina make their way through the Florida Everglades, hot on the trail of the traitorous Five.  With the development of a new Legacy, Marina finally has the power to fight back-if her thirst for revenge doesn't consume her first.  The Garde are broken and divided once again, but they will not be defeated.  As long as one still stands, the battle for Earth's survival is not lost.
from the ebook

Review:  This series has dragged me in.  This one in particular makes me want to read the next book right now and I don't have it on hand.  The plot development really moves along and I can see the end in sight.  I just can't wait for Setrakus Ra to be defeated (I'm going to assume that he does or else this series would have a terrible ending!)  There was a bit of romance in this book which I glossed over because it was a little sappy and very teenager-ish in those moments.  The ending of this book isn't much of an ending though.

Rating: 4 stars

To see my review of I Am Fourclick here.
To see my review of The Power of Sixclick here.
To see my review of The Rise of Nineclick here.
To see my review of The Fall of Five, click here.
To read my review of I Am Number Four, The Legacies: Lost Files 1-3click here.

Thursday, April 14, 2016

The Fall of Five

The Fall of Five
by Pittacus Lore

Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Fantasy

Synopsis:  The Garde are finally reunited, but do they have what it takes to win the war against the Mogadorians?  John Smith-Number Four-thought that things would change once the Garde found one another.  But he was wrong.  After facing off with the Mogadorian ruler and almost being annihilated, the Garde know they are drastically unprepared.  Now they're hiding out in Nine's Chicago penthouse, trying to figure out their next move.  The six of them are powerful, but they're not strong enough yet to take one an entire army-even with the return of an old ally.  To defeat their enemy, the Garde must master their Legacies and learn to work together as a team.  More important, they'll have to discover the truth about the Elders and their plan for the Loric survivors.  And when the Garde receive a sign from Number Five-a crop circle in the shape of a Lorien symbol-they know they are close to being reunited.  But could it be a trap?  Time is running out, and the only thing they know for certain is that they have to get to Five before it's too late.
from the ebook

Review:  This book continued to format of multiple narrators without any headings which made it quite confusing.  It took me a while to even figure out which of the several characters were narrating the story from the beginning.  I do appreciate that each book in the series moves forward and major events happen that seem to be leading to a major confrontation with the Mogodorians to defend Earth.  I am looking forward to see where the next books head and how the conflict is going to be resolved.

Rating: 3.5 stars

To see my review of I Am Fourclick here.
To see my review of The Power of Sixclick here.
To see my review of The Rise of Nine, click here.
To read my review of I Am Number Four, The Legacies: Lost Files 1-3click here.

Sunday, April 10, 2016

The Rise of Nine

The Rise of Nine
by Pittacus Lore


Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Fantasy

Synopsis:  In Pittacus Lore's The Rise of Nine, third in the New York Times bestselling I Am Four series, the stakes are higher than ever as John, Six, and Seven try desperately to find the rest of the Garde before it's too late.

The Mogadorians who destroyed the planet Lorien continue to hunt down the Garde, the small group of Loric survivors who have taken refuge on Earth.  The Garde must come together.  They are Lorien and Earth's only hope.

During the dangerous mission at the Mogadorian base in West Virginia, John found and rescued Nine.  But even with their combined powers, special abilities known as Legacies, the pair barely escaped with their lives-and they lost Sam in the process.

In order to save our world and their own, John and Nine must join forces with Six and Sever who have been battling the Mogadorians in Spain, and who are now trying to locate Number Eight in India.

Power in numbers will save us all.
from the ebook

Review: I read the Lost Files #1-3 before I read this book where we meet Number Nine.  I liked him in the novella about what is life was like before this book.  In this book I found him to be arrogant and not a likable character.  I don't really care for the shift in his personality.  Like the last book, this one has multiple narrators.  This time there are three of them, John, Six and Marina (Seven).  Because Six and Marina are together various times throughout the book, I found the switch to be really confusing.  Their voices weren't different enough to make the the shift obvious.  I wish, as I did with the second book, that the authors would put a heading when they switched characters.  I'm not looking forward to the next books if they are going to keep adding one more narrator with each book.  This book had a lot of action but the action is getting repetitive-there are only so many ways that the Lorien are able to fight off the Mogadorians.  Perhaps if I wasn't reading these books right in row, it wouldn't seem so repetitive but each book seamlessly flows into the next book that it makes sense to read them all together.  At this point I'm anxious to see how problems are going to resolved but I know there are still quite a few more books so I don't think I'm going to get any resolution any time soon.  I think this is a series that could be less books. 

Rating:  3.5 stars

To see my review of I Am Four, click here.
To see my review of The Power of Six, click here.
To read my review of I Am Number Four, The Legacies: Lost Files 1-3click here.

The Power of Six

The Power of Six
by Pittacus Lore


Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Fantasy

Synopsis:  I've seen him on the news.  Followed the stories about what happened in Ohio.  John Smith, out there, on the run.  to the world, he's a mystery.  But to me...he's one of us.  Nine of us came here, but sometimes I wonder if time has changes us-if we all still believe in our mission.  How can I know?  There are six of us left.  We're hiding, blending in, avoiding contact with one another...but our Legacies are developing, and soon we'll be equipped to fight.  Is John Number Four, and is his appearance the sign I've been waiting for?  And what about Number Five and Six?  Could one of them be the raven-haired girl with stormy eyes from my dreams?  The girl with powers that are beyond anything I could ever imagine?  The girl who may be strong enough to bring the six of us together?  

They caught Number One in Malaysia.

Number Two in England.

And Number Three in Kenya.

They tried to catch Number Four in Ohio-and failed.  I am Number Sever.  One of six still alive.  And I'm ready to fight.
from the ebook

Review:  This book was so much better than the first book.  There was hardly any teenage problems except for a little teenage romance triangle which wasn't really a triangle but the authors tried to make it be one.  This book was full of action and really got into the meat of the story as well as introduced a twist.  A lot happened in this book.  There are two narrators in the book, Number Seven, Marina, and John who we read about in the last book.  There was nothing to indicate when you were changing narrators, like a chapter title, so you had to pay attention to what was going on in the story to realize who was the first person narrator.  It would have been better if they had included headings.  I managed to read this book in several hours and did not want to put it down.  I also would recommend having the next books on hand because you will want to keep the momentum going in the story.

Rating: 4 stars

To read my review of I Am Number Four, click here.
To read my review of I Am Number Four, The Legacies: Lost Files 1-3, click here.

Saturday, April 9, 2016

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
by Kate DiCamillo

Genre: Juvenile Fiction

Synopsis:  Once in a house on Egypt Street, there lived a china rabbit named Edward Tulane.  The rabbit was very pleased with himself, and for good reason: he was owned by a girl named Abilene, who treated him with the utmost care and adored him completely.

And then, one day, he was lost.

Kate DiCamillo takes is on an extraordinary journey, from the depths of the ocean to the net of a fisherman, from the top of a garbage head to the fireside of a hoboes' camp, from the bedside of an ailing child to the streets of Memphis.  And along the way, we are shown a true-miracle-that even a heart of the most breakable kind can learn to love, to lose, and to love again.
from the book jacket

Review:  This was a beautifully written story about learning to love and learning the meaning of love.  Edward Tulane is a rabbit who has everything.  He is pretentious even though he is just a stuffed china rabbit.  Throughout the book terrible misfortunes befall him that make his heart start to soften until he realizes what love is and realizes that people care about him.  This book brought me to tears with his heartfelt message.  Kate DiCamillo is such a talented writer who knows how to make difficult scenarios accessible to children through marvelously crafted stories.

Rating: 4 stars

I Am Number Four

I Am Number Four
by Pittacus Lore

Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Fantasy

Synopsis:  Nine of us came here.  We look like you.  We talk like you.  We live among you.  But we are not you.  We can do things you dream of doing.  We have powers you dream of having.  We are stronger and faster than anything you have ever seen.  We are the superheroes you worship in movies and comic books-but we are real.

Our plan was to grow, and train, and become strong, and become one, and fight them.  But they found us and started hunting us first.  Now all of us are running.  Spending out lives in shadows, in places where no one would look, blending in.  We have lived among you without you knowing.

But they know.

They caught Number One in Malaysia.  Number Two in England.  And Number Three in Kenya.  They killed them all.

I am Number Four.

I am next.
from the book jacket

Review:  After reading the short stories about Six and Nine, I was intrigued by the concept of the story and I wanted to read about what happened to the Four and the other Lorien characters.  The short stories moved pretty quickly and contained information about the back story.  I thought the novel, the first in the series, would be the same way.  While it did contain the history of what happened before the books open, it was not full of action at the beginning.  This book started off slowly and was full of teenage angst.  I really didn't care about the characters and what was going on in their high school and the conflict between the new kid and the jocks.  It was much too juvenile for me.  But I kept reading and I was rewarded with the book shifting directions and becoming much more focused on Four's legacy and the search for information.  The end was full of action that was hard to picture (but I learned that there was a movie made about this book that might help me understand what the end action looked like).  While I didn't rate this book that high, I enjoyed it and am caught up in the story.  I have already started reading the next book.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Wednesday, April 6, 2016

Escape

Escape
by Carolyn Jessop with Laura Palmer

Genre: Memoir

Synopsis:  When she was eighteen years old, Carolyn Jessop was coerced into an arranged marriage with a total stranger: a man thirty-two years her senior.  Merril Jessop already had three wives.  But arranged plural marriages were an integral part of Carolyn's heritage: She was born into and raised in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS), the radical offshoot of the Mormon Church that had settled in small communities along the Arizona-Utah border.  Over the next fifteen years, Carolyn had eight children and withstood her husband's psychological abuse and the watchful eyes of his other wives, who were locked in a constant battle for supremacy.

Carolyn's every move was dictated by her husband's whims.  he decided where she lived and how her children would be treated.  He controlled the money she earned as a schoolteacher.  He chose when they had sex; Carolyn could only refuse-at her peril.  For in the FLDS, a wife's compliance with her husband determined how much status both she and her children held in the family.  Carolyn was miserable for years and wanted out, but she know that if she tried to leave and got caught, her children would be taken away from her.  No woman in the country had ever escaped from the FLDS and managed to get her children out, too.  But in 2003, Carolyn chose freedom over fear and fled her home with her eight children.  She had $20 to her name.

Escape exposes a world tantamount to a prison camp, created by religious fanatics who, in the name of God, deprive their followers of the right to make choices, force women to be totally subservient to men, and brainwash children in church-run schools. Against this background, Carolyn Jessop's flight takes on an extraordinary, inspiring power. Not only did she manage a daring escape from a brutal environment, she became the first woman ever granted full custody of her children in a contested suit involving the FLDS.  And in 2006, her reports to the Utah attorney general on church abuses formed a crucial part of the case that led to the arrest of its notorious leader, Warren Jeffs.
from the book jacket

Review: I found this book to be such a (guilty) fascinating look into the lives of people in the FLDS religion.  I say guilty because I feel a bit like a voyeur reading  into a culture that tends to be secretive and guarded.  I also say guilty because I feel like I shouldn't have enjoyed reading so much about her story because she had such an awful experience. But Jessop did air it out for all of us to see so maybe I should feel guilty about looking into her life.

I had a hard time putting this book down because I was so intrigued by the lifestyle.  At times it was hard to remember that this book is a memoir and not fictional.  There were many times that I just couldn't believe what was happening and how people were, in my opinion, completely brainwashed by their doctrine into believing things that make no sense to outsiders.  It was also hard to read about how women and children were treated and how much backstabbing and disrespect there was between husband and wife, between sister wives and between children and mothers.

I appreciated that Jessop included sections about the FLDS religious beliefs so that the reader can attempt to understand why people would stay.  I feel much better informed about FLDS and its break from the Mormon church.  I am so glad that this book moved chronologically through Jessop's life and ended with their life after their escape.  It is good to know what has happened to her family after leaving the FLDS compound.

Rating: 4 stars

Sunday, April 3, 2016

Louisiana Saves the Library

Louisiana Saves the Library
Emily Beck Cogburn

Louisiana Saves the Library

Genre: Cozy Southern Fiction

Summary (from Goodreads): For Louisiana Richardson, desperate times call for crazy-like-a-fox measures. As the new librarian at Alligator Bayou Parish's struggling library, she’s returning to her Southern roots and facing trouble hotter than fresh cornbread out of the oven. Somehow, she's got to draw readers back in and prove the library is still vital—even as domineering parish board head Mrs. Gunderson plans to shut it down for good. If that means Louise has to resort to some unconventional methods—like outrageous inter-library Zumba classes, and forming a book club that’s anything but Oprah-approved—well, it wouldn’t be the first time she went out on a limb…

Soon Louise is doing everything she can to rally the whole community. Before she knows it, she's sparking welcome changes—and uncovering surprising secrets—throughout her new town.  And between glasses of sweet tea, bowls of mouth-watering gumbo and the warmth of a tantalizing new love, the newly single Southern mom might find a life she never imagined—and a place to finally call home.

Emily Beck Cogburn crafts a novel full of charm, delight and acres of heart about the enduring joys of storytelling and the ways hope can write life's most extraordinary moments.


Review: A sweet story about two librarians who work to bring a small rural library back to life.  The author does a good job describing Louise's life as a single mom to two rambunctious toddlers; the challenges of parenthood were particularly realistic.  The author also did a great job with the southern setting; the scenery, food and behavior helped to make the story come to life.  The dialogue could have been a little more fluid, and the interpersonal relationships could have been a little more fleshed out.

Rating: 3 stars

Silent Sentry

Silent Sentry
by Theresa Rizzo

Genre: Thriller, Romance

Synopsis: The Scarfilis and Donnatellis love deeply and protect fiercely. “Family takes care of family” is the code they live by.

So when a hacker threatens Gianna Donnatelli’s life, Dr. Joe Scarfili is determined to keep her safe, only he has no police or tech experience, and Gianna’s penchant for aiding Detroit’s underprivileged is the same kind of altruism that got his wife killed. Gianna protects Joe with the same unyielding resolve. 

Gianna pushes all his insecurity buttons. Joe tries her patience like no other. But together they’ll fight to save each other and their love… Or die trying.
from GoodReads

Review:  This book is not in the normal genres that I read but I enjoyed its fast paced nature and suspense.  Right off the bat we know that terrible things will happen in Gianna's life and that she is in danger.  However, we do not know who but someone is watching out for her and trying to protect her while someone else is trying to manipulate her.  There are a lot of unknowns in this book and at times I just wanted to know right then and there who was behind everything but that didn't happen until the end.  While Gianna is being threatened, her old family friend, Joe swoops in and tries to protect her.  Some steamy romance happens in the midst of the danger.  This book had the right amount of action, suspense, and romance.

I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.  Thank you Ms. Rizzo for the book.

Rating: 4 stars

Up from the Blue

Up from the Blue
by Susan Henderson

Genre: Fiction

Synopsis: Tillie Harris's life is in disarray-her husband is away on business, the boxes in her new home aren't unpacked, and the telephone isn't even connected yet.  Though she's not due for another month, sudden labor pains force Tillie to reach out to her estranged father for help, a choice that means facing the painful memories she's been running from since she was a little girl.

An extraordinary debut from a talented new voice, Up from the Blue untangles the year in Tillie's life that changed everything: 1975, the year her mother disappeared. 

Review:  SPOILER ALERT.  Don't read my review if you plan to read this book.  The synopsis really does not tell much about the book and there is no way to write a review without giving something away.


At first I really liked this book about a little girl who has to deal with a hard family life between a mother who clearly had mental health issues and her father who was militant.  I was looking for the plot to move forward and for Tillie and her family to grow closer together.  I wanted to see characters grow.  But that didn't happen.  This book was depressing because it didn't seem like anyone's lives changed for the better from when they were kids to when they were adults.  They couldn't overcome the burdens that their early lives put upon them.  I kept reading until the very end because I was hoping that Tillie would grow closer to her father in the present day.  I was upset that there was no adult in Tillie's life who would help her since she was clearly calling out for help.

Rating: 3 stars

Saturday, April 2, 2016

In Good Company

In Good Company
Jen Turano

In Good Company (A Class of Their Own, #2)

Genre: Historical Fiction, Christian Fiction. Romance

Summary (from Goodreads): After growing up as an orphan, Millie Longfellow is determined to become the best nanny the East Coast has ever seen. Unfortunately, her playfulness and enthusiasm aren't always well received and she finds herself dismissed from yet another position.

Everett Mulberry has quite unexpectedly become guardian to three children that scare off every nanny he hires. About to depart for Newport, Rhode Island, for the summer, he’s desperate for competent childcare.

At wit’s end with both Millie and Everett, the employment agency gives them one last chance–with each other. As Millie falls in love with her mischievous charges, Everett focuses on achieving the coveted societal status of the upper echelons. But as he investigates the suspicious circumstances surrounding the death of the children’s parents, will it take the loss of those he loves to learn whose company he truly wants for the rest of his life?


Review: I categorized this as Christian fiction because it has a few mentions of praying to God, but it is almost like the Christian elements were an afterthought to the story.  There is some light romance in the story, but no bad language or adult content.

This was a cute, fun-filled light read about a Mary Poppins-esque nanny who brings joy to a household of unruly children and snobby adults.  I enjoyed Millie's positive attitude, quirky habits and love of literature just as much as I despised her evil high society romantic rival.  I'm not usually a fan of Jane Austen take-offs and rewrites, but this one was a fun read.
 

Rating: 4 stars

A Dictionary of Mutual Understanding

A Dictionary of Mutual Understanding
Jackie Copleton

A Dictionary of Mutual Understanding

Genre: Historical Fiction

Summary (from Goodreads): In the tradition of Memoirs of a Geisha and The Piano Teacher, a heart-wrenching debut novel of family, forgiveness, and the exquisite pain of love
 
When Amaterasu Takahashi opens the door of her Philadelphia home to a badly scarred man claiming to be her grandson, she doesn’t believe him. Her grandson and her daughter, Yuko, perished nearly forty years ago during the bombing of Nagasaki. But the man carries with him a collection of sealed private letters that open a Pandora’s Box of family secrets Ama had sworn to leave behind when she fled Japan. She is forced to confront her memories of the years before the war: of the daughter she tried too hard to protect and the love affair that would drive them apart, and even further back, to the long, sake-pouring nights at a hostess bar where Ama first learned that a soft heart was a dangerous thing. Will Ama allow herself to believe in a miracle?


Review: An interesting twist on a World War II historical fiction novel....

Written from the perspective of Amaterasu, a Japanese woman living in Philadelphia in the 1980s, this novel delves into the emotions of one survivor of the bombing of Nagasaki.  Amaterasu reflects on her complicated relationship with her daughter, who perished during the attack, and revisits secrets that were kept in the days leading up to the bombing.  The possible discovery of her missing grandson is almost secondary to the letters she reads from her daughter's lover.  Exquisite depictions of life in Japan in the early 20th century are intermingled with realistic descriptions of emotional turmoil.  A well-written and thought-provoking novel.
 

Rating: 4 stars

The Bollywood Bride

The Bollywood Bride
Sonali Dev

The Bollywood Bride (Bollywood)

Genre: Women's Fiction, Romance

Summary (from Goodreads): Ria Parkar is Bollywood's favorite Ice Princess--beautiful, poised, and scandal-proof--until one impulsive act threatens to expose her destructive past. Traveling home to Chicago for her cousin's wedding offers a chance to diffuse the coming media storm and find solace in family, food, and outsized celebrations that are like one of her vibrant movies come to life. But it also means confronting Vikram Jathar.

Ria and Vikram spent childhood summers together, a world away from Ria's exclusive boarding school in Mumbai. Their friendship grew seamlessly into love--until Ria made a shattering decision. As far as Vikram is concerned, Ria sold her soul for stardom and it's taken him years to rebuild his life. But beneath his pent-up anger, their bond remains unchanged. And now, among those who know her best, Ria may find the courage to face the secrets she's been guarding for everyone else's benefit--and a chance to stop acting and start living.

Rich with details of modern Indian-American life, here is a warm, sexy, and witty story of love, family, and the difficult choices that arise in the name of both.


Review:  I loved getting a glimpse of life as an Indian in the United States; the author did a lovely job describing the Indian customs involved in a wedding, and provided all kinds of fascinating little details about all the preparations that must be made.  I felt like I was part of Ria's large and loving family getting to experience the excitement leading up to a huge wedding celebration.

The character of Ria was a tad over the top, though.  She seemed to feel her emotions like a teenage girl, very very dramatically, and I got a little tired of reading about how her tears were pouring down her face for hours because her heart was just completely broken.  The entire conflict in the story stemmed from the fact that she had a big secret that she didn't want anyone to know about, and I spent the entire novel wishing she would just let her childhood soulmate in on her secret already.  Because you knew he'd find out eventually, and everything would turn out fine.  But I guess that wouldn't have made for a very long story....

Rating: 3.5 stars

11/22/63

11/22/63
Stephen King

11/22/63

Genre: Historical Fiction

Summary (from Goodreads): Life can turn on a dime—or stumble into the extraordinary, as it does for Jake Epping, a high school English teacher in Lisbon Falls, Maine. While grading essays by his GED students, Jake reads a gruesome, enthralling piece penned by janitor Harry Dunning: fifty years ago, Harry somehow survived his father’s sledgehammer slaughter of his entire family. Jake is blown away...but an even more bizarre secret comes to light when Jake’s friend Al, owner of the local diner, enlists Jake to take over the mission that has become his obsession—to prevent the Kennedy assassination. How? By stepping through a portal in the diner’s storeroom, and into the era of Ike and Elvis, of big American cars, sock hops, and cigarette smoke... Finding himself in warmhearted Jodie, Texas, Jake begins a new life. But all turns in the road lead to a troubled loner named Lee Harvey Oswald. The course of history is about to be rewritten...and become heart-stoppingly suspenseful.

Review:  I loved this historical fiction novel by Stephen King!  He has this amazing ability to take a hypothetical question (in this case, what would happen if someone could go back in time to try to stop the JFK assassination?) and turn it into a fascinating and impossible to put down story.  Sure, there are a few creepy references to something devilish, and a few disturbingly gory descriptions of violence, but overall this was the unbelievable story of an ordinary man trying to live an ordinary life while trying to do something quite extraordinary.  I didn't know too many of the details around the assassination, so it was interesting and educational to learn more about Lee Harvey Oswald's life and King's take on the conspiracy theories surrounding JFK's assassination.

Rating: 5 stars

On Folly Beach

On Folly Beach
Karen White

On Folly Beach

Genre: Women's Fiction, Historical Fiction

Summary (from Goodreads): Folly Beach, South Carolina, has survived despite hurricanes and war. But it's the personal battles of Folly Beach's residents that have left the most scars, and why a young widow has been beckoned there to heal her own...

To most people, Folly Beach is simply the last barrier island before reaching the great Atlantic. To some, it's a sanctuary for lost souls, which is why Emmy Hamilton's mother encourages her to buy the local book store, Folly's Finds, hoping it will distract Emmy from the loss of her husband.

Emmy is at first resistant. So much has already changed. But after finding love letters and an image of a beautiful bottle tree in a box of used books from Folly's Finds, she decides to take the plunge. But the seller insists on one condition: Emmy must allow Lulu, the late owner's difficult sister, to continue selling her bottle trees from its back yard.

For the most part Emmy ignores Lulu as she sifts through the love letters, wanting to learn more. But the more she discovers about the letters, the more she understands Lulu. As details of a possible murder and a mysterious disappearance during WWII are revealed, the two women discover that circumstances beyond their control, sixty years apart, have brought them together, here on Folly Beach. And it is here that their war-ravaged hearts can find hope for a second chance...


Review:  I chose this book to bring along on my vacation to South Carolina thinking that it would be a perfect beach read.  While the setting of the beach house on the salt marsh was in keeping with the area we were visiting, and the history around the bottle trees was interesting, I found this book too easy to put down.  The characters were flat, especially Maggie, the main character in 1942, and I found myself getting frustrated by her naivete and the way she let herself be treated by Cat.  The love story between her and Peter seemed to come out of nowhere, and I couldn't understand why she thought she was in love with him.  The story seemed to be building up to a great big surprise ending, and while there certainly were some twists, I had figured out the main one pretty early on in the story.  Emmy, with her grief over her KIA husband and her reluctance to make huge changes in her life, was a more relatable heroine, but I felt like her story took second place to the story set in the 1940s.

Rating: 3 stars

Evergreen Falls

Evergreen Falls
Kimberley Freeman

Evergreen Falls

Genre: Women's Fiction, Historical Fiction

Summary (from Goodreads): From internationally bestselling author Kimberley Freeman comes a captivating new novel about a scandalous attraction, a long-forgotten secret, and a place where two women’s lives are changed forever.

It’s 1926 and Violet Armstrong is a waitress at the grand Evergreen Spa Hotel, where Australia’s glitterati are spending a winter vacation. Among the guests who remain are Sam and Flora Honeychurch-Blacks, a wealthy brother and sister ensconced in the hotel for an extended stay. Violet and Sam have an attraction that is as passionate as it is forbidden as the hotel closes down for the winter season. When a snowstorm moves in, trapping them all, no one could have imagined what would unfold. The group must let their secrets be buried by the snow, but all snow melts, exposing the truth beneath…

Eighty-eight years later, Lauren Beck takes a job at a cafĂ© in the Blue Mountains, built as the first stage of the Evergreen Spa Hotel’s return to grandeur. There she meets Tomas, the Danish architect overseeing the project. As their budding relationship grows, Lauren discovers a series of passionate love letters dating back to 1926 that allude to a whirlwind affair—and a tragic secret. Lauren begins to unravel this long-forgotten mystery, but will discovering the truth finally make her brave enough to take a risk that could change her entire life?

Inspired by elements of her grandmother’s life, Kimberley Freeman has created a complex tale of mystery, heartbreak, and love that will keep you guessing with every twist until the very last page.


Review:  I really enjoyed reading two of Freeman's previous novels, so I went into this book with high expectations. Sadly, this book didn't hold my interest anywhere near as much as her other books.  I actually put this book down in the middle and read a completely different book before picking this one up again, something that I rarely ever do. 

This book follows the growing trend in women's fiction of telling the story of two women living in two different time periods.  I was interested in learning about how the wealthy and the servant class interacted in 1920s Australia, and the descriptions of the grand hotel rooms and guests were beautifully written. But the characters just didn't come to life for me like they normally do in Freeman's novels.  I found Violet too naive, and Lauren too wishy-washy.  By the last third of the book, I was feeling more interested and invested in the characters, and I did enjoy the ending.

Rating: 3.5 stars