Best Books of 2015

Here are the best books that I read in 2015 in no particular order. 

The Same Sky by Amanda Eyre Ward

A tragic story about a Honduran child trying to emigrate to the United States illegally and her connection to a Texan woman suffering from infertility.  You can read my review here.

Clara's War by Clara Kramer

Although this book is the heartrending story of a young Jewish girl's struggle for survival during the Nazi era, it is her message of hope and courage that is the main message.  You can read my review here.

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

A really fun dystopian novel about a young man living his life inside a video game.  You can read my review here.

Lost & Found by Brooke Davis

A quirky book about two old people who befriend a child in her time of need.  You can read my review here.

The Rent Collector by Camron Wright

A beautiful story about literature, friendship and redemption, even though it is set in a Cambodian garbage dump.  You can read my review here.

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

At times sad, but often funny, this feel good story about a curmudgeonly Swedish man was a delight to read.You can read my review here.

Another Place at the Table by Kathy Harrison

A book about a family opening their home to foster children; tragic and yet inspiring.  You can read my review here.

The Last Days of Rabbit Hayes by Anna McPartlin

A beautiful and heart-wrenching novel about a young mother in hospice care, and her relationship with her quirky family members and friends.  You can read my review here.

A Walk Across the Sun by Corban Addison

The descriptions of life in India were beautifully written, revealing both the exotic charm and the seamy underside of life in Mumbai.  You can read my review here.

Hector and the Search for Happiness by Francois Lelord

A really quick and easy read, written at times like a children's novel, about a Frenchman traveling around the world.  Interestingly, it encouraged thoughtful contemplation about happiness.  You can read my review here.  

Whistling Past the Graveyard by Susan Crandall

  A Southern coming-of-age story about a spunky, sassy, adventurous nine year old, who ends up learning some tough lessons about family, race and segregation in pre-civil-rights era Mississippi. You can read my review here. 

The Invisibles by Cecilia Galante

A group of women with tragic backgrounds come together as adults to support each other during trying times.  You can read my review here.

In A Perfect World by Laura Kasischke

An unusual apocalyptic novel about an ordinary woman, her relationship with her new stepchildren, and her ability to make do during a mysterious pandemic flu.You can read my review here.

I figured that since it was 2015, I should pick my 15 favorite books of the year, but I guess I can't keep expanding my list every year or pretty soon it will encompass all the books I've read.  As of December 16, I only have 11 that really stood out, plus the last two that I thought were also very good.  So maybe that will be it for the year.

Or not!  I just finished this book, and really enjoyed it:
Happiness for Beginners by Katherine Center

A feel good, easy to read book about a woman discovering her strengths and learning to find joy in her life.  You can read my review here.

Someone Else's Love Story

Someone Else's Love Story

Joshilyn Jackson

Genre: Fiction

Summary (from Goodreads): At twenty-one, Shandi Pierce is juggling finishing college, raising her delightful three-year-old genius son Natty, and keeping the peace between her eternally warring, long-divorced Catholic mother and Jewish father. She’s got enough complications without getting caught in the middle of a stick-up in a gas station mini-mart and falling in love with a great wall of a man named William Ashe, who willingly steps between the armed robber and her son.

Shandi doesn’t know that her blond god Thor has his own complications. When he looked down the barrel of that gun he believed it was destiny: It’s been one year to the day since a tragic act of physics shattered his universe. But William doesn’t define destiny the way other people do. A brilliant geneticist who believes in science and numbers, destiny to him is about choice.

Now, he and Shandi are about to meet their so-called destinies head on, in a funny, charming, and poignant novel about science and miracles, secrets and truths, faith and forgiveness,; about a virgin birth, a sacrifice, and a resurrection; about falling in love, and learning that things aren’t always what they seem—or what we hope they will be. It’s a novel about discovering what we want and ultimately finding what we need

Review:  Hmmm, this was truly a weird story and I'm having a hard time describing exactly how I feel about it.  It started out bizarre and confusing, with strange characters falling in love during an armed robbery (really?), but as I got to know the characters, I started to really enjoy their individual voices and histories.  William's character seemed to drift a little towards the end of the book, though.  Even the minor characters were delightfully quirky and realistic, and as you should know by now, I love characters with eccentricities.  However.... it did seem like a young teenage mom with a genius child, falling in love with a brilliant Asperger's biotechnologist, with a perfect poet male friend and a loud-mouthed blunt female friend, a reserved and judgmental Catholic mother, an unfaithful and doting Jewish father, and a cold and pretentious stepmother was really A LOT of coincidental character quirkiness in one book. 

On to the story, then.  On one hand, it was oddly compelling, and I didn't want to stop reading it, even though it dealt with my absolute least favorite subject to read about.  But there were parts that didn't feel quite right.  First, Shandi had two separate major epiphanies about her life in this book, and while I felt like the first was possibly plausible due to being in a life-or-death situation, the second seemed a little too quick and convenient a way to wrap up the book.  Don't get me wrong, this second epiphany seemed completely right and a good fit for her character, it just happened much much too quickly with absolutely no explanation of how her mind got there.  Second, (and I can't figure out how to say this without it being a spoiler, but if you have any common sense you'd have figured it out really quickly anyway), I just didn't feel comfortable with the description of the date rape.  The author did a great job presenting how both characters felt, and making both characters seem sympathetic and real, but I think that was my problem.  Overall, I felt like what the boy did was wrong, and I didn't want to feel sympathetic towards him, but I couldn't help it.  Third, there is quite a twist towards the end of the book that relied solely on the author's wordplay throughout the book, and it felt a little cheap.  Don't get me wrong, I quite liked the twist, it just felt like the author was saying "HA HA!  I tricked you with my cleverness!"  But perhaps I am reading way too much into her motivations.

So, to sum up, I really enjoyed reading this book and debated putting it on my list of best books of the year, but decided that the lack of explanation around the ending caused me to knock it down to 4 stars.

Rating: 4 stars

Best Books of 2015

Here are the 10 best books that I read in 2015 in no particular order (they were not all published in 2015 but I read them all this year).  I decided to stick with either young adult fiction or adult fiction and did not include any juvenile fiction even though some of the juvenile fiction books I read were very good!

Little Mercies by Heather Gudenkauf

I know that I will always like Heather Gudenkauf's books and this one did not disappoint.  This book is emotional and face paced.  You can read my review here.

Whistling Past the Graveyard by Susan Crandall

A great historical fiction novel of a young girl and an African American woman in the 1960s.  You can read my review (and Marcie's) here.

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

This book is dark, painful and emotional but such a good read.  It takes a toll on your emotions but you will be glad you read it.  You can read my review here.

The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd

A look into slavery by the perspective of an abolitionist who's family had slaves and from a slave.  You can read my review (and Marcie's) here.

Before I Go by Colleen Oakley

This book was a teary read about a woman who has terminal cancer.  Sad but very good.  You can read my review here.

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

This book is about mothers who have school age children.  It's quirky, a little humorous and drama filled.  You can read my review here.

The Lives Between Us by Theresa Rizzo

Theresa Rizzo is a new author for me and I really liked her writing style.  There was some romance, an ethical dilemma and plenty of drama that keeps you reading.  You can read my review here.

Still Alice by Lisa Genova

What a poignant read!  A heartbreaking story about a woman struggling with early onset Alzheimer's.  You can read my review here.

Five Days Left by Julie Lawson Timmer

Tragic books seem to be my thing this year.  This is a book about a young woman struggling with a disease and how it affects her family.  You can read my review here.

Magic Hour by Kristin Hannah

The psychology of this book very much intrigued me.  There was a feral young girl who the main character becomes attached to and is trying to help.  You can read my review here.

Between Friends

Between Friends

by Kristy Kiernan

Genre: Women's Fiction

Synopsis:  There was a time when Ali Guiterrez would have been forced to give up on her dreams of motherhood.  But thanks to modern reproductive technology-and the gift of her best friend Cora's eggs-Ali is the mother of fourteen-year-old Letty.

Now, yearning for a second child, Ali asks her best friend's permission to use another of the frozen embryos that have been stored away in anticipation of this decision.  But Cora has a secret that could change Ali's plan for the future-and tear apart her life right now...

from the back of the book

Review:  This book is going to be difficult to review based on the synopsis as it gives nothing away as to what happens in the story.  It also isn't a great summary of what the book is about.  Based on the synopsis I thought this book was going to be more about the trials of having a baby and about friendship between Ali and Cora.  But not's not entirely true.  This book is told in three perspective: Ali's, Cora's and Letty's.  Adding Letty as a narrator changes the story to include much teenage angst.  I was not looking for a book about that and I just wanted to shake Letty at times and tell her to grow up.  I also wanted to knock some sense into Ali and make her realize that she needed to do something about her errant daughter.  There was also quite a bit of the story about Ali's relationship with her husband, Benny.  There was not a lot about Ali trying to have another baby.  It was brought up but that was not the main story.  There was a secret about Cora but she didn't come out and tell Ali about it right away.  It was this thing we knew about but we had no idea when she was going to tell Ali.  In fact that seemed to be a common thread with many of the characters-no one would just come out and say what they wanted to say.  That drove me nuts a little bit.  Once all the secrets came out the book moved along at a much quicker pace.  The last quarter of the book was emotional and heart wrenching.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Happiness for Beginners

Happiness for Beginners

Katherine Center

Genre: Fiction

Summary (from Goodreads): A year after getting divorced, Helen Carpenter, thirty-two, lets her annoying, ten years younger brother talk her into signing up for a wilderness survival course. It's supposed to be a chance for her to pull herself together again, but when she discovers that her brother's even-more-annoying best friend is also coming on the trip, she can't imagine how it will be anything other than a disaster. Thus begins the strangest adventure of Helen's well-behaved life: three weeks in the remotest wilderness of a mountain range in Wyoming where she will survive mosquito infestations, a surprise summer blizzard, and a group of sorority girls.

Yet, despite everything, the vast wilderness has a way of making Helen's own little life seem bigger, too. And, somehow the people who annoy her the most start teaching her the very things she needs to learn. Like how to stand up for herself. And how being scared can make you brave. And how sometimes you just have to get really, really lost before you can even have a hope of being found.

Review:  While this story does have a bit of romance, it's really more about a woman figuring out what is important to her while on a survivalist hike.  I loved the characters, although I felt like they should have done a little more communicating instead of hiding their feelings from each other.  But I guess people don't even do that in real life, so why should they in books?  I enjoyed watching Helen discover her strengths, and I especially enjoyed reading about Helen learning to find joy in her life.  What good lessons that I should apply to my own life!  A feel good, easy to read, fun book to read on a cozy sleety day.  (Although I did think that surely the survivalist company would have stressed safety a little more when taking a group of novice hikers on a three week long backpacking expedition.)

Rating: 4.5 stars

I Was Here

I Was Here

Gayle Forman

Genre: Young Adult Fiction

Summary (from Goodreads): 
Cody and Meg were inseparable.
Two peas in a pod.
Until . . . they weren’t anymore.

When her best friend Meg drinks a bottle of industrial-strength cleaner alone in a motel room, Cody is understandably shocked and devastated. She and Meg shared everything—so how was there no warning? But when Cody travels to Meg’s college town to pack up the belongings left behind, she discovers that there’s a lot that Meg never told her. About her old roommates, the sort of people Cody never would have met in her dead-end small town in Washington. About Ben McAllister, the boy with a guitar and a sneer, who broke Meg’s heart. And about an encrypted computer file that Cody can’t open—until she does, and suddenly everything Cody thought she knew about her best friend’s death gets thrown into question.

I Was Here is Gayle Forman at her finest, a taut, emotional, and ultimately redemptive story about redefining the meaning of family and finding a way to move forward even in the face of unspeakable loss.
 
Review:  I definitely enjoy Forman's writing style, even when I find some of her subject matter disagreeable.  This was another book that I couldn't put down, and I really cared about the main character even though she was nothing at all like me.  When Cody's best friend Meg commits suicide, Cody feels guilty for not being able to stop her friend, even though she had no idea that Meg suffered from depression.  The thought that Forman put into Cody's emotions regarding the death of her best friend and her own feelings of guilt made Cody seem so real; I cried several times imagining the pain that Cody was feeling.  The problem I had with this book was the romantic relationship between Cody and Ben, a stereotypical bad boy who had slept with her best friend and then ditched her.  In my mind, a good friend wouldn't start a romantic relationship with her best friend's ex for any reason at all, and especially if the ex was a total jerk.  While I understand that young adult books seem to need a romantic premise, I think this would have been a stronger book if the romance had been nonexistent, and it had focused solely on the grief, guilt and suicide.

Rating: 4 stars

Everything Everything

Everything Everything

Nicola Yoon

Genre: Fiction

Summary (from Goodreads):My disease is as rare as it is famous. Basically, I’m allergic to the world. I don’t leave my house, have not left my house in seventeen years. The only people I ever see are my mom and my nurse, Carla.

But then one day, a moving truck arrives next door. I look out my window, and I see him. He’s tall, lean and wearing all black—black T-shirt, black jeans, black sneakers, and a black knit cap that covers his hair completely. He catches me looking and stares at me. I stare right back. His name is Olly.

Maybe we can’t predict the future, but we can predict some things. For example, I am certainly going to fall in love with Olly. It’s almost certainly going to be a disaster.
 
Review:  As I was reading this, I thought it was going to be one of my favorite books of the year.  While definitely a young adult novel, as evidenced by the typical self-centered teenaged behavior, the characters were surprisingly sympathetic and entertaining.  Both Madeline and Olly had interesting personality quirks and even their digital communications were fun to read.  I found myself having a hard time putting the book down, and thinking about the characters while going about the rest of my day.  The major flaw in the first 99% of the book was that the romance between Madeline and Olly blossomed too quickly; she saw him, she immediately knew her life would change.  Then she met him, and she seemed to experience a complete personality change because she fell in love.  Maybe that happens to some people, but I prefer novels where the getting-to-know-each-other stage happens BEFORE the falling-in-love stage.

But then I got to the end, and I was furious.  The author has built an entire story around Madeline being stuck inside of her house; her entire personality and history are based solely on her bubble-boy disease and the beautiful relationships she has with her mother and her nurse.  Even the romantic relationship between Madeline and Olly was predicated on the fact that the two teenagers would never really be able to be together because of Maddy's disease.  And the end was a total cop out.  The novel would have been much stronger if the ending was in keeping with the rest of the book, in my opinion.

Rating: 4 stars

Saving Max

Saving Max

by Antoinette van Heugten

Genre: Fiction

Synopsis: Max Parkman-autistic and whip-smart, emotionally fragile and aggressive-is perfect in his mother's eyes.  Until he's accused of murder.

Attorney Danielle Parkman can't deny her son's behavior has been getting worse-drugs and violent outbursts have become a frightening routine.  Still, the diagnosis she receives from a top-notch adolescent psychiatric facility that Max is deeply disturbed-and dangerous-is too devastating to accept.

But then she finds Max, weapon in hand, at the bedside of a fellow patient who has been brutally stabbed to death.

Trapped in a maelstrom of doubt and fear and barred from contacting Max, Danielle's maternal instincts snap sharply into focus.  The justice system is bearing down on them, so she must use her years of legal experience to find out the truth, no matter what that might be.  But has she, too, lost touch with reality?  Is her son actually a killer?

from the back of the book

Review: This book is a fast paced story about a mother trying to figure out the truth about what happened to her son and another patient.  It definitely kept me reading once the mystery was being investigated.  I did find the beginning a little confusing and the character development flat.  Danielle takes her son to a topic psychiatric clinic because of his emotional state.  He quickly becomes violent and Danielle becomes aggressive.  The characters hadn't been developed enough by this point to warrant this behavior and it left me wondering if I missed something.  But when you keep reading you realize why Max was acting the way he was acting and it makes more sense.  There were also many times when you have to remember that the book is fiction and that everything isn't based in reality.  There are quite a few problems that you see with the psychiatric hospital and the treatment of patients but the book is fiction and must be treated as fiction.  You need to suspend your belief in reality for the sake of action and suspense.  This was a fun and fast book to read albeit not very realistic.

Rating: 4 stars

Just Destiny

Just Destiny

by Theresa Rizzo

Genre: Romance

Synopsis:  What would you do if your whole world fell apart?

Jenny Harrison made some poor choices in the past, but marrying Gabe was the best thing she'd ever done.  They had the perfect marriage, until a tragic accident leaves Gabe brain dead and her world in ruins.

Devastated by by grief, she decides to preserve the best of their love by conceiving a child, but Gabe's family is adamantly opposed, even willing to chance exposing long-held family secrets to stop her.  Caught in a web of twisted motives and contentious legal issues, Jenny turns to best friend and attorney, Steve Grant.  Steve wants to help Jenny, but he has reservations and secrets of his own.

When something so private and simple turns public and complicated, will Jenny relent?  What is Steve willing to sacrifice to help Jenny?
from GoodReads

Review: It was hard to put this book into one genre. This book started out as a lighter romance novel but then got into a much more serious book about ethics but still continued the romance throughout.  It could be considered women's fiction as well but there was a romance undertone through the whole book.  I think I would have liked the book better if the romance throughout would have been taken out.  The book had enough other story line to keep it going if it was expanded a bit more.  I thought some of the characters lacked depth such as Gabe's ex-wife and Gabe's uncle.  The supporting characters supported Jenny without question and I think that was unrealistic.  I know this may sound strange seeing as how there was a court battle about whether Jenny should be allowed to have her deceased husband's baby but there wasn't enough conflict among characters.  Everything was a bit too nice.  I had previously read a later book by Rizzo and I can tell her writing has evolved quite a bit since this book.  I liked her later book a lot more and I look forward to reading what she has coming up next.

Rating: 3 stars

We Were Liars

We Were Liars

by E. Lockhart

Genre:Young Adult Fiction

Synopsis: A beautiful and distinguished family. A private island.  A brilliant, damaged girl: a passionate, political boy.  A group of four friends-the Liars-whose friendship turns destructive.  A revolution.  An accident.  A secret.  Lies upon lies.  True love.  The truth.

from the book jacket

Review:  This book was meh.  I didn't dislike it but I didn't like it.  The author's writing style was a little too poetic and floral for me.  There didn't seem to be too much of a plot but yet the book is 225 pages long.  At first I was intrigued by what happened that caused Cadence's accident but then after jumping back and forth in time and hinting about something, I got bored.  I needed more of a story.

Rating: 2.5 stars

Goodbye For Now

Goodbye for Now

Laurie Frankel

Genre: Fiction

Summary (from Goodreads): In the spirit of ONE DAY, comes a fresh and warmhearted love story for the 21st century. Sometimes the end is just the beginning . . .

Sam Elling works for an internet dating company, but he still can't get a date. So he creates an algorithm that will match you with your soul mate. Sam meets the love of his life, a coworker named Meredith, but he also gets fired when the company starts losing all their customers to Mr. and Ms. Right.

When Meredith's grandmother, Livvie, dies suddenly, Sam uses his ample free time to create a computer program that will allow Meredith to have one last conversation with her grandmother. Mining from all her correspondence—email, Facebook, Skype, texts—Sam constructs a computer simulation of Livvie who can respond to email or video chat just as if she were still alive. It's not supernatural, it's computer science.

Meredith loves it, and the couple begins to wonder if this is something that could help more people through their grief. And thus, the company RePose is born. The business takes off, but for every person who just wants to say good-bye, there is someone who can't let go.

In the meantime, Sam and Meredith's affection for one another deepens into the kind of love that once tasted, you can't live without. But what if one of them suddenly had to? This entertaining novel, delivers a charming and bittersweet romance as well as a lump in the throat exploration of the nature of love, loss, and life (both real and computer simulated). Maybe nothing was meant to last forever, but then again, sometimes love takes on a life of its own.
 
Review:  Wow, this was truly a strange book.  I found the general concept of RePose difficult to believe in, but it was a very interesting idea.  Mostly, I'd say this book was light on the romance and heavy on the grieving, and I may have liked it more if I hadn't just finished another book about grieving.  I think it was just too much for me.

Rating: 3.5 stars

The Invisibles

The Invisibles

Cecilia Galante

Genre: Fiction

Summary (from Goodreads): In the vein of Meg Donohue and Jennifer Close, comes Cecilia Galante's adult debut about the complicated and powerful bonds of female friendship--a compelling, moving novel that is told in both the present and the past.

Thrown together by chance as teenagers at Turning Winds Home for Girls, Nora, Ozzie, Monica, and Grace quickly bond over their troubled pasts and form their own family which they dub The Invisibles. But when tragedy strikes after graduation, Nora is left to deal with the horrifying aftermath alone as the other three girls leave home and don't look back.

Fourteen years later, Nora is living a quiet, single life working in the local library. She is content to focus on her collection of "first lines" (her favorite opening lines from novels) and her dog, Alice Walker, when out-of-the-blue Ozzie calls her on her thirty-second birthday. But after all these years, Ozzie hasn't called her to wish a happy birthday. Instead, she tells Nora that Grace attempted suicide and is pleading for The Invisibles to convene again. Nora is torn: she is thrilled at the thought of being in touch with her friends, and yet she is hesitant at seeing these women after such a long and silent period of time. Bolstered by her friends at the library, Nora joins The Invisibles in Chicago for a reunion that sets off an extraordinary chain of events that will change each of their lives forever.

The Invisibles is an unforgettable novel that asks the questions: How much of our pasts define our present selves? And what does it take to let go of some of our most painful wounds and move on?
 
Review: While these four women crammed more emotional baggage, tragic backgrounds and current trauma into one novel than any two novels should have contained, I couldn't put this book down because I needed to know what happened.  I guessed what the tragic secret was, and the dramas were at times cliched, but the characters were well-drawn and the writing was well done.  I generally like books about female friendships undergoing the test of time and supporting each other during tough times, and this book was an enjoyable one.

Rating: 4 stars

Where Angels Go

Where Angels Go

Debbie Macomber

Genre: Christmas Fiction

Summary (from Goodreads): Christmas is a time for angels.

Shirley, Goodness and Mercy are back! These three irresistible angels love their assignments on Earth. They especially love helping people who send prayer requests to Heaven (even though the Archangel Gabriel, their boss, knows they're going to break his rules)!

This Christmas, Mercy is assigned to bring peace of mind to an elderly man, who discovers an unexpected answer to his prayer.

Goodness is sent to oversee the love life of a young woman afraid to risk commitment a second time. And Shirley has the task of granting a little boy's fondest Christmas wish.

Shirley, Goodness and Mercy go wherever they're needed. These three charming angels often find themselves in trouble, but somehow things always work out for the best - especially at Christmas.
 
Review:  I always enjoy Macomber's Christmas angel stories, and this book was no exception.  Shirley, Goodness, and Mercy are funny and entertaining, and the people they help are always sweet and well-deserving.  This book had a bit of a more serious note than her previous angel stories, which was welcome amidst the general fluffiness of Christmas novellas.  A very nice book for cozying up on the couch with a cup of hot chocolate while watching the rain pour down.  Stupid El Nino.

Rating: 3 stars

The Christmas Hope

The Christmas Hope

Donna VanLiere

Genre: Christmas Fiction

Summary (from Goodreads): Perennial New York Times bestsellers and Audie Award finalists The Christmas Shoes and The Christmas Blessing have become inspirational holiday classics, and THE CHRISTMAS HOPE is poised to become a seasonal favorite in its own right

Patricia and Mark Addison have long given up the hope of having a meaningful Christmas. But this year, Patricia’s job as a social worker will lead her to a very special five-year-old. Against her better judgment, Patricia bends the rules and takes the little girl to her own home. Through the presence of Emily in their house, and her penetrating questions about heaven, the Addisons learn that there is no sorrow so great that faith cannot help you find your way through. And Christmas will once more be a time of joy in their home. THE CHRISTMAS HOPE is a story of love in the face of loss, joy when all seems hopeless, and how light can shine into the darkest places.
 
Review:  This book was a cute little story, with sweet characters and a predictably happy ending.  Although it may have been a little too idealistic at times, it was a  nice Christmassy story that made me happy while reading it.

Becky, do you like this review better since it has two sentences instead of only one?

Rating: 3.5 stars

Unwrapped

Unwrapped

Erin McCarthy
Donna Kauffman
Kate Angell

Genre: Christmas Romance

Summary (from Goodreads): From the streets of Chicago to the back roads of Kentucky to the wild dunes of a Scottish isle, mistletoe and mischief are this season’s hottest gifts...

Blue Christmas
ERIN MCCARTHY, New York Times bestselling author
While a blizzard blankets the world outside, Blue Farrow burrows into the arms of her highway hunk at the No Tell Motel. The road might be closed for dangerous conditions, but the couple navigates their own Kentucky Christmas curves. Nice and oh-so-naughty, Blue and her man open up to each other as they keep the Yule log burning.

Santa in a Kilt
DONNA KAUFFMAN, USA Today bestselling author
The wind-whipped December sands of the isle of Kinloch invigorate Kira McLeod as she sets out to tame rugged Shay Callaghan, a Scottish bachelor as wary of a wedding ring as a snowman is of the hot sun. It’ll take all the wiles of the canny islanders to weave a perfect Celtic Christmas for all...

Snow Angel
KATE ANGELL, National bestselling author
Snowed under in Chicago, free spirit Allie is trapped in Dutton’s department store on Christmas Eve when the lights go off and the holiday romance heats up. Our snow angel finds herself face to face with the dashing Aiden, the heir to the retail riches and her host for a night of winter wonder...

 
Review:  I generally love cozying up with a Christmas anthology in the middle of December, but I guess I have grown out of sexy Christmas romance short stories.  (Although I never liked romance stories where the characters jumped into bed too quickly.)  In the first story, the two main characters seemed quite likable, but then they jumped into bed together for no really good reason, and made me lose all respect for them as people.  The second story seemed to be part of an ongoing series, and since I had never read the first part of the series, I was left feeling confused and uninterested.  I gave up before the third story.

Rating: abandoned

The Perfect Christmas

The Perfect Christmas

Debbie Macomber

Genre: Christmas Romance

Summary (from Goodreads): WHAT WOULD MAKE YOUR CHRISTMAS PERFECT?

For Cassie Beaumont, it's meeting her perfect match. Cassie, at thirty-three, wants a husband and kids, and so far, nothing's worked. Not blind dates, not the Internet and certainly not leaving love to chance.

What's left? A professional matchmaker. He's Simon Dodson, and he's very choosy about the clients he takes on. Cassie finds Simon a difficult, acerbic know-it-all, and she's astonished when he accepts her as a client.

Claiming he has her perfect mate in mind, Simon assigns her three tasks to complete before she meets him. Three tasks that are all about Christmas: being a charity bell ringer, dressing up as Santa's elf at a children's party and preparing a traditional turkey dinner for her neighbors (whom she happens to dislike). Despite a number of comical mishaps, Cassie does it all --- and she's finally ready to meet her match.

But just like the perfect Christmas gift, he turns out to be a wonderful surprise!

Review:  This was a cute little story about a woman looking for the perfect man at Christmas time.  I knew exactly what was going to happen in this story just by reading the blurb, and I was right!  Contrary to the book's description, there weren't any surprises in the book; but even worse, the main romance was completely inexplicable.  I generally like Macomber's quick, light, fluffy little stories, but this one could have used more depth to bring it up to the level of her other quick, light, fluffy little books.

Rating: 2 stars

The Spy Who Came for Christmas

The Spy Who Came for Christmas

David Morrell

Genre: Christmas Thriller

Summary (from Goodreads): It’s Christmas Eve in Santa Fe, but among the revelers on Canyon Road, a decidedly unholy scene is taking place. A desperate man, dressed all in black, feverishly seeks refuge for himself and the squirming bundle he holds tightly against his breast. Agent Paul Kagan’s bundle is a baby who has the power to change the course of global events. His pursuers are his former colleagues—members of the Russian mafia who will stop at nothing to accomplish their mission. Now Kagan is a spy on the run—he must ensure this baby’s survival, even if it will cost him his own life.Just a short distance away, Kagan will find an unexpected pair of allies—a mother and her young son, who huddle together after a horrible episode of domestic violence leaves them home alone, with no means of transportation.

And so, with the exquisitely honed skills of his profession and the help and good faith of a weary woman and a disillusioned boy, Kagan must take on forces that will stop at nothing. In the course of a wild and violent night, the unlikely trio learn lessons of generosity, courage, and selflessness, discovering within themselves the luminous strength of the true Christmas spirit.

Review:  It was interesting to read a thriller book set at Christmas time; I've never read a book by this author before, and I think I'll look up one of his regular books to see whether I like it.  As a relatively short holiday book, the story felt a little rushed, and I would definitely have preferred more of a backstory and more detail about the characters.  The mother and son especially could have used more fleshing out.  But it was the end of the book that caused me to knock my rating down a star; it had a creative ending that I quite liked, but the book was over to quickly and too incompletely for me to truly enjoy it.

Rating: 3 stars

Make Me

Make Me

Lee Child

Genre: Fiction, Thriller

Summary (from Goodreads): “Why is this town called Mother’s Rest?” That’s all Reacher wants to know. But no one will tell him. It’s a tiny place hidden in a thousand square miles of wheat fields, with a railroad stop, and sullen and watchful people, and a worried woman named Michelle Chang, who mistakes him for someone else: her missing partner in a private investigation she thinks must have started small and then turned lethal.


Reacher has no particular place to go, and all the time in the world to get there, and there’s something about Chang . . . so he teams up with her and starts to ask around. He thinks: How bad can this thing be? But before long he’s plunged into a desperate race through LA, Chicago, Phoenix, and San Francisco, and through the hidden parts of the internet, up against thugs and assassins every step of the way—right back to where he started, in Mother’s Rest, where he must confront the worst nightmare he could imagine.

Walking away would have been easier. But as always, Reacher’s rule is: If you want me to stop, you’re going to have to make me.
 
Review:  Not as good as the earliest Reacher books, but much better than the last few.  I prefer thriller books where the hero discovers a problem and spends the book trying to solve it; this was not that type of book.  Instead, Reacher stumbled across some suspicious behavior in a shady little town and has to try to figure out what is wrong about the town.  He makes some phenomenally good guesses given the lack of information he has.  There also seemed to be some technical inaccuracies concerning the geography of the US that were needed as plot devices, for example, having to drive two hours out of the town before getting cell service, and having to drive another two hours before reaching a highway, in what appeared to be Oklahoma or Kansas.  Minor things, but annoying.  I still love Reacher as a character, but I am losing interest in the newer books of the series.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Chasing Sunsets

Chasing Sunsets

Karen Kingsbury

Genre: Christian Fiction

Summary (from Goodreads): From #1 New York Times bestselling author Karen Kingsbury comes the second novel in the Angels Walking series about divine intervention and the trials and triumphs of life: the dramatic story of a woman desperate to find deeper meaning in her life.

Growing up in a comfortable home, Mary Catherine wanted for nothing. Though she loves her wealthy parents, their lifestyle never appealed to her. Instead, Mary Catherine pursues meaning through charity work, giving away a part of herself but never giving away her heart.

Now Mary Catherine lives in Los Angeles with her roommate, Sami, and volunteers at a local youth center with baseball coach Tyler Ames and LA Dodgers pitcher Marcus Dillinger. Despite Mary Catherine's intention to stay single, she finds herself drawing close to Marcus, and their budding romance offers an exciting life she never dreamed of. That is, until she receives devastating news from her doctor. News that alters her future and forces her to make a rash decision.

Inspirational and moving, Chasing Sunsets is the story of one woman's deep longings of the soul, and the sacrifices she's willing to make in search of healing.
 
Review:  I was getting bored with this book, so I put it down and picked up a different book instead, thinking that I just needed a break from the unrelenting goodness of the main character.  Well, three months later, I had to return it to the library because I couldn't renew it any more, and I had never wanted to pick it up again.  The characters seemed pretty stereotypical, and it was obvious how the story was going to end, but I have felt that way about other Christian fiction books and still enjoyed them.  So I'm not quite sure why I couldn't get into this one, except to say that it seemed to be missing a spark.

Rating: abandoned

We Never Asked for Wings

We Never Asked for Wings

by Vanessa Diffenbaugh

Genre: Fiction

Synopsis: For fourteen years, Letty Espinosa has worked three jobs around San Francisco to make ends meet while her mother raised her children-Alex, fifteen, and Luna, just six-in their tiny apartment on forgotten spit of wetlands near the bay.  But now Letty's parents are returning to Mexico, and Letty must step up and become a mother for the first time in her life.

Navigating this new terrain is challenging for Letty, especially as Luna desperately misses her grandparents and Alex, who is falling in love with a classmate, is unwilling to give his mother a chance.  Letty comes up with a plan to help the family escape the dangerous neighborhood and heartbreaking injustice that have marked their lives, but one wrong move could jeopardize everything she's worked for and her family's fragile hopes for the future.

Review:  This book begins with some very questionable parenting which made me feel very uneasy about the book.  I wanted to shake some sense into Letty.  Even once Letty came home, she needed a huge dose of reality.  I know that her transformation was the point of the book but I found it very hard to understand Letty's motivations and struggled to connect with her through the beginning.  With that being said, I still did enjoy the book very much.  Watching Alex grow up, make mistakes and be a teenager was compelling and a heart wrenching story.  Alex was such a genuine boy who wanted acceptance and love.  He did what he thought best and had to learn about consequences.  I loved reading how everyone came together to help and how relationships grew and blossomed throughout the story.

Rating: 4 stars

The Girl Without a Name

The Girl Without a Name

by Sandra Block

Genre: Mystery

Synopsis:  In what passes for an ordinary day in a psych ward, Dr. Zoe Goldman is stumped when a highly unusual case arrives. A young African American girl, found wandering the streets of Buffalo in a catatonic state, is brought in by police. No one has come forward to claim her, and all leads have been exhausted, so Zoe's treatment is the last hope to discover the girl's identity.

When drugs prove ineffective and medical science seems to be failing, Zoe takes matters into her own hands to track down Jane Doe's family and piece together their checkered history. As she unearths their secrets, she finds that monsters hide where they are least expected. And now she must solve the mystery before it is too late. Because someone wants to make sure this young girl never remembers.

The Girl Without a Name is a powerful novel of memory and forgetting, of unexpected friendship and understanding...and of the secrets we protect no matter the consequences.

from GoodReads

Review: The synopsis of the book intrigued me because child psychology really interests me.  I normally don't pick up a lot of mystery books so I've never read anything by Sandra Block before and I wasn't sure what to expect.  Her writing style is very simple and at first I felt like the sentences were short and disconnected.  The writing wasn't lyrical and didn't flow but it did get better as I kept reading and I stopped noticing her writing style.  The medical jargon got in the way and I wasn't sure what things meant.  It almost seemed like the author had taken a medical class about psychiatry and wanted to show how much she knew in the book so she found many opportunities to talk about medications and medical terms.  So much of it seemed out of place and unnecessary and made the dialogue choppy.  Again this didn't bother me later in the book and I think this is because Block used the same terminology throughout the whole story.  I was engaged in the story for the most part but once the mystery was resolved I didn't buy in anymore.  The motivation of the "bad guy" just didn't seem realistic and it seemed to come out of nowhere.

Rating:  2 stars

The Art of Crash Landing

The Art of Crash Landing

by Melisa DeCarlo

Genre: Fiction

Synopsis:  From a bright new talent comes this debut novel about a young woman who travels for the first time to her mother’s hometown, and gets sucked into the mystery that changed her family forever

Mattie Wallace has really screwed up this time. Broke and knocked up, she’s got all her worldly possessions crammed into six giant trash bags, and nowhere to go. Try as she might, Mattie can no longer deny that she really is turning into her mother, a broken alcoholic who never met a bad choice she didn’t make. 

When Mattie gets news of a possible inheritance left by a grandmother she’s never met, she jumps at this one last chance to turn things around. Leaving the Florida Panhandle, she drives eight hundred miles to her mother’s birthplace—the tiny town of Gandy, Oklahoma. There, she soon learns that her mother remains a local mystery—a happy, talented teenager who inexplicably skipped town thirty-five years ago with nothing but the clothes on her back. But the girl they describe bears little resemblance to the damaged woman Mattie knew, and before long it becomes clear that something terrible happened to her mother, and it happened here. The harder Mattie digs for answers, the more obstacles she encounters. Giving up, however, isn’t an option. Uncovering what started her mother’s downward spiral might be the only way to stop her own.

from GoodReads

Review:  I probably should have given up on this book early on based on the language on the first page and on how immature and irresponsible Mattie was.  But I kept reading and while Mattie grew up a little in the book and the story got better, I still didn't particularly like the book.  I finished it because I have a hard time abandoning books.  The time jumping confused me for a while because it wasn't clear cut when Mattie was thinking about the past or if she was in the present.  I think my biggest gripe with the story was Mattie.  She was pretty obnoxious but so was so many other characters.

Rating: 2 stars

The Last Days of Rabbit Hayes

The Last Days of Rabbit Hayes

Anna McPartlin

Genre: Fiction

Summary (from Goodreads): Mia 'Rabbit' Hayes is a fighter, and the heart of her adoring, chaotic family. The cancer that's slowly taken over her body may be resolute, but Rabbit is stubborn too - she will not acknowledge that her diagnosis has just rapidly plummeted, or share this news with her twelve-year-old daughter, Juliet. It would mean the beginning of saying goodbye, and neither is ready for that just yet.

As Rabbit's family rally round her, armed with black humour and relentless optimism, they can see she's fading away. Soon the truth is clutching at them all: that against every fierce hope and heartfelt instinct, they will have to let her go.
 
Review:  If it weren't for the overuse of vulgar language and the proliferation of Irish idioms (do all Irish people really say "me ma" every time they talk about their mother?) I would have given this book 5 stars.  But based on the language alone, I don't feel like I could recommend this book to absolutely everyone, like I like to do with  my very favorite books.

The story was so tragic that it made me cry at least seven different times, but it also had moments that made me laugh out loud.  Although the blurb seems to indicate that the story is entirely about family relationships, there is also a very unusual love story intertwined with the emotions and goings-on of the various members of the Hayes family.  While the dying-mother-leaving-young-daughter premise made it almost impossible to read, it was strangely almost impossible to put down. A beautiful and heart-wrenching book.

Rating: 4.5 stars