Book: Deadwood

 Book: Deadwood

Author: Peter Dexter

Pages: 365

This is my 95th read for the year

What Amazon says:

Deadwood, Dakota Territories, 1876:  Legendary gunman Wild Bill Hickcock and his friend Charlie Utter have come to the Black Hills town of Deadwood fresh from Cheyenne, fleeing an ungrateful populace.  Bill, aging and sick but still able to best any man in a fiar gunfight, just wants to be left alone to drink and play cards.  But in this town of played-out miners, bounty hunters, upstairs girls, Chinese immigrants, and various other entrepeneurs, and miscreants, he finds himself pursued by a vicious sherriff, a perverse whore man bent on revenge, and a besotted Calamity Jane.  Fueled by liquor, sex, and violence, this is the real wild west, unlike anything portrayed in the dime novels that first told its story.

This was a pretty boring book.  I think part of the problem is that I listened to it and the guy who read it was pretty monotone.  I read this one for two reasons - 1) for a challenge - I needed a book that took place in the Dakotas and 2) Because years ago I watched the Deadwood series on HBO and really enjoyed it.  This was barely like it.  There doesn't seem to be a ton of plot - it seems more like a collection of stories with Wild Bill in the center.  There are a few characters from the TV show in the book, and when I read the reviews, I see that it is pretty unrelated to the story.  Ah well.  There isn't much development, and the writer is long winded on needless details (in my opinion).  

Stars: 2.5

Book: The Hope Chest

 Book: The Hope Chest

Author: Viola Shipman

Pages: 317

This is my 94th read for the year

What Amazon says:

The discovery of one woman's heirloom hope chest unveils precious memories and helps three people who have each lost a part of themselves find joy once again.  Ever since she was diagnosed with ALS, fiercely independent Mattie doesn't feel like herself.  She can't navigate her beloved home, she can't go for a boat ride, and she can barely even feed herself.  Her devoted husband, Don, doesn't want to imagine life without his wife of nearly fifty years, but Mattie isn't likely to make it past their anniversary.  But when Rose, Mattie's new caretaker, and her young daughter, Jeri, enter the couple's life, happiness and the possibility for new memories return.  Together they form a family, and Mattie is finally able to pass on her memories from the hope chest she received from her mother.  With each item - including a favorite doll, family dishes, an embroidered apron, and an antique Christmas ornament - the hope chest connects Mattie, Don and Rose to each other and helps them find hope again in the face of overwhelming life challenges.  A beautiful story about the unconditional love and support of family. 

This book was just okay.  I was originally excited to find it because I enjoyed her more recent book "The Receipe Box" very much.  But this one just wasn't as good.  It was overly frilly and sweet to the point of trite..  Instead of actual dialogue and story developement and character development, we got a lot of "I love yous" and weak chapters that felt disjointed.  Full of plot holes.  Sad because I really did enjoy her most recent book, so I would say she has improved.

Stars: 3

Book: Disappearance of a Scribe

 Book: Disappearance of a Scribe

Author: Dana Stabenow

Pages: 336

This is my 93rd read for the year

What Amazon says:

Alexandria, 47BC.  Cleopatra- seventh of her name, avatar of the goddess Isis, ruler of the Kingdom of Egypt - watches over her city.  The war is over, but Alexandria has suffered in its wake.  Caesar has returned to Rome, and the queen must restore her city and her kingdom to their former greatness.  But now a body has been found floating uprigth at the bottom of the sea, anchored by a weight around its feet.  It's the second corpse to be found this way, and with a city to rebuild and a kingdom to keep in line, Cleopatra cannot allow any more murders to interfere.  So she sets Tetisheri- her Eye and closest confidant - to make things right.  As she delves deeper into the mystery, Tetisheri will discover sercrets, consipracy, and danger far beyond her ken.

When I saw this book at the used books store, and read the inside cover, it sounded like something I would like.  But this book was terrible.  I finished it just because I hate not to finish books, but it was a struggle.  Not at any point would I have thought this book took place in ancient Egypt if it wasn't on the cover.  The writing was juvenile.  There was no character development.  It was written way too modern for what it was supposed to be.  The dialogue was silly and immature.  This one will be donated.

Stars: 1

Book: The Hawthorne Legacy

 Book: The Hawthorne Legacy

Author: Jennifer Barnes

Pages: 384

This is my 92nd read for the year

What Amazon says:

The Inheritance Games ended with a bombshell, and now heiress Avery Grambs has to pick up the pieces and find the man who might hold the answers to all of her questions - including why Tobias Hawthorne left his entire fortune to Avery, a virtual stranger, rather than to his own daughters or grandsons.  Thanks to a DNA test, Avery knows she's not a Hawthorne by blood, but clues pile up hinting at a deeper connection to the family than she had ever imagined.  As the mystery grows and the plot thickens, Grayson and Jameson, two of the enigmatic and magnetic Hawthorne gradsons, continue to pull Avery in different directions.  And there are threats lurking around every corner, as adversaries emerge who will stop at nothing to see Avery out of the picture - by any means necessary.

This was a great book.  I enjoyed it almost as much as the first one.  There are a lot of surprises, great puzzles, a lot of mystery, and it makes you think.  Avery still remains a good main character, and I even like some of the side characters.  It did lose a star for me this go around for 2 reasons.  1) there seemed to be just a bit too much going on.  It felt like the author wanted to got a few different directions and I started to lose track of the story line.  2) The love story - while mild - was a lot more prevalent in this book.  Yes, I know it is YA and I appreciate that the author keeps it very PG, but it was more central this go around.  Otherwise - strong read and Barnes is a really good writer.

Stars: 4

Book: The Poppy War

 Book: The Poppy War

Author: R.F. Kuang

Pages: 545

This is my 91st read for the year

What Amazon Says:

When Rin aced the Keju - the Empire-wide test to find the most talented youth to learn at the Academies - it was a shock to everyone: to the test officials, who couldn't believe a war orphan from Rooster Province could pass without cheating; to Rin's guardians, who believe they'd finally be able to marry her off and further their criminal enterprise; and to Rin herself, who relized she was finally free of the servitude and despair that had made up her daily existence.  That she got into Sinegard - the most elite military school in Nikan - was even more surprising.  But surprses aren't always good.  Becasue being a dark-skinned peasant girl from the south is not an easy thing at Sinegard.  Targeted from the outside by rival classmates for her color, poverty, and gender, Rin discovers she possesses a leathal, unearthly power - an apitutde for the nearly-mythical art of shamanism.  Exploring the depths of her gift with the help of a seeingly insane teacher and psychoactive substances, Rin learns that gods long thought dead are very much alive - and that mastering control over those powers could mean more than just surviving school.  For while the Nikara Empire is at peach, the Federation of Mugen still lurks across a narrow sea.  The militarily advanced Federation occupied Nikan for decades after the First Poppy War, and only barely lost the continent in the Second.  And while most of the people are complacent to go about their lives a few are aware that a Third Poppy War is just a spark away.  Rin's shamanic powers may be the only way to save her peoplle.  But as she finds out more about the god that has chosen her, the vengeful Phoenix, she fears that winning the war may cost her humanity - and that is may already be too late.

This was a pretty good book.  I almost didn't read it because I have not enjoyed the author's other books.  But the idea of the book drew me in ao I gave it a chance.  The story moved along at a pretty good clip.  The action scenes are well written and there is pretty good character development.  The book is gruesome though - espeically near the end.  Also - I should have read it instead of listening to it.  I do not like her chosen reader - she made Rin seem weaker than I think the author intended.  This is a first book in a series, but I don't think I will continue.

Stars: 4

Book: Everything is TB

 Book: Everything is TB

Author: John Green

Pages: 206

This is my 90th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Tuberculosis has been entwined with humanity for millennia.  Once romanticized as a malady of poets, today tuberculosis is seen as a disease of poverty that walks the trails of injustics and inequity we blazed for it.  In 2019, author John Green met Henry Reider, a young tuberculosis patient at Lakka Government Hospital in Sierra Leone.  John became fast friends with Henry, a boy with spindly legs and a big, goofy smile.  In the years since that first visit to Lakka, Green has become a vocal advocate for increased access to treatment and wider awareness of the healthcare inequitites that allow this curable, preventable infectious disease to also be the deadlist, killing over a million people a year.  John tells Henry's story, woven through with the scientific and social histories of how tuberculosis has shaped our world - and how our choices will shape the future of tuberculosis.

This was a good book.  I learned a lot about the history of TB and how it is still such a prevalent threat in many parts of the world.  I liked how Green continued the story of one kid - Henry - throughout the facts about TB.  It is an easy read and I got through it in an evening.  I was a little surprised he didn't mention Gates and his work with TB, but otherwise a solid read.  I also enjoyed that he included Henry's social media handles so I could look him up.

Stars: 4

Book: In Our Likeness

 Book: In Our Likeness

Author: Bryan VanDyke

Pages: 224

This is my 89th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Graham Gooding is a leader at a tech start-up when his brilliant coworker - and work crush - Nessie Locke asks for help testing a new algorithm.  Graham jumps at the chance to impress her, and to improve his floundering personal life.  He soon discovers that the algo is more powerful than Nessie - or anyone - realizes.  It was built to detect lies on the internet, but when Graham makes a small edit to Nessie's online profile, hoping to see if the program will catch the lie, Nessie changes in real life.  The algo can alter the real world.  Now, so can Graham.  No one knows what Graham has done, except his boss, enigmatic tech guru David Warwick.  Graham is racked with guilt, but Warwick thrills to the possibilites of what they can do next.  This promises to be the innovation that will make Warwick a household name.  Drawn by the power of the algo but terrified by its potential for chaos, Graham must decide what to do and whome to trust in a world where one true reality no longer exists.  As love, trust, memories, and what it means to be human begin to slip away, Graham and Nessie work together to resotre the past - before it's lost to the anarchy of a world without truth.

This book was okay.  I got it free from Amazon first reads and it fit a reading challenge category.  I liked the beginning.  I liked where the story was going when an algorithm was changing things in real life.  But then it got very convoluted and hard to follow and I started to lose interest.  It wrapped up fine.

Stars: 3