Book: Deathless Divide

 Book: Deathless Divide

Author: Justina Ireland

Pages: 560

This is my 56th read for the year

In the second book in the Dread Nation Series, Jane McKeene and Katherine Deveraux are allied against the dead.  Summerland has fallen and they are on the run to a new safe haven.  However, they are quickly finding that there is no where they can run where the dead won't follow.  When the mystery of why comes to be know, but Jane and Katherine set out on a path to stop it from becoming worse.  However - their paths diverge unexpectadly, and when they find each other again, the women find they are not the same.  Jane is single mindedly focused on getting the person responsible for endless tragedy, and Katherine just wants to keep everyone safe.  It takes a chance encounter for Jane and Katherine to realize how much they need each other.

This was a good second book.  It is well written and moves along at a good pace.  I would say it probably was a bit more disconnected than the first.  There are a lot of characters and it jumps time (not a ton), so I had a harder time feeling for any of the characters besides Jane and Katherine.  Katherine does get more of a voice in this book and at first I thought it would distract from Jane's lead in this story, but it didn't.  I enjoyed her chapters as much as I did Janes and glad they gave her more of a central focus.

I am glad there was a follow up book.  The end left me a bit wanting or more wondering if there will be a third.  It could go either way.

Stars: 4

Book: Covenant of Water

 Book: Covenant of Water

Author: Abraham Verghese

Pages: 736

This is my 55th read for the year

This is the story of a family in Kerala Indian that spans from 1900 to 1977.  A 12 year old  girl is married off to a man whose family has an affliction where at least one person every generation dies by drowning.  The little girl becomes a part of this family treated with kindness and respect and over time becomes the matriach known as Big Ammachi.  As her family grows, her life becomes extrodinary with ups and downs, love, joy, hardship, loss, and tragedy that comes for all families.  When finally Big Ammachi's granddaughter figures out how to fight the affliction, this family's future is changed forever.

This was a fantastic book.  There is no doubt that Verghese is a talented writer.  From beginning to end I was captivated in this huge novel.  I cried when Big Ammachi died - wishing that she had made it to the end of the book because her life was so full.  The tragedies are huge but intertwined with them is a loving family that expands over three generations held together by the land in Kerala.

Verghese's book - Cutting for Stone - is among my favorites, and when I saw he finally put another book out there, I couldn't wait to read it.  It was just wonderful.  Do not miss the writings of a truly magnificent story teller.

Stars: 5

Book: Dread Nation

 Book: Dread Nation

Author: Justina Ireland

Pages: 464

This is my 54th read for the year

This is the story of Jane McKeene.  When the Civil War ended and instead of the people killed in battle being dead and buried, they rise up and become a hoard of zombies praying on those who were still alive.  Jane, a young girl who was trained at the Miss Preston's School for Negro Girls at the age of 17, has been told her whole life will be to put down "shamblers" and be an attendant to a white woman to keep her safe.  Jane and a classmate Katherine are sent away from the school after being caught helping their friend, Jackson, get answers about where his sister was.  They are sent to a walled city called Summerland far from hom, wondering if they will ever see their families again.  While there, Katherine is mistaken for a white lady, and Jane convinces her to use this to her advantage to figure out what the secrets are in this town and how they are going to get out.  Jane is sent to work to defend the wall, and she meets a scientist named Gideon who is working on a vaccine to help protect people from shamblers.  Jane realizes that the shamblers seem to be getting smarter and more organized and she tries to convince the heads of Summerland to flee or band together to fight.  In the end, the citizens of Summerland will have to make a choice.  And Jane realizes she can only look out for herself.

This book was terrific.  It was a definite 4.5 star read for me -writing is wonderful, the story engaging and interesting, and I looked forward to listening to it every day. Jane was a terrific character, as was Katherine and Jackson - the other two main characters of the story.   What pushed it to 5 stars for me was the narrator.  She was perfect.  

This is a clever, unique and creative take on a post Civil War world, and I am glad I found this book.  I have already started the second book.  

Stars: 5

Book: Red Hail

 Book: Red Hail

Author: Jamie Killen

Pages: 356

This is my 53rd read for the year

This is a story that starts in 1960 with a small town of Galina.  A mysterious illness has taken over several people in the town after a red hail fell.  People start staring and repeating words of objects around them.  Then they become statues in weird positions.  Then they start to speak as if they are answering questions.  The town is frightened, and as more people fall victim of this illness, two groups form.  Those who want to find out what is causing it and those who believe that God has brought these among a certain group on purpose.

The other half of the book takes place in 2020 where people who have decendents from Galina start to show symptoms that occured in 1960.  As a group of researchers try to figure out the mystery, the reason for the illness comes to light.  

Both groups race to figure out if this will spread or if it will stop.  And both groups are surprised to figure out the reason.

This was a fair book.  I love a good mystery/supernatural story.  I was drawn in to the idea and curious where it was leading.  In the end, it was just okay.  It was pretty well written, but endings are always tricky and this one was just so/so.  Not sorry I picked it up though - it was entertaining.

Stars: 3.5

Book: Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers

 Book: Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers

Author: Jesse Sutanto

Pages: 352

This is my 52nd read for the year

This is the story of Vera.  Vera is a widow who owns a tea shop in Chinatown that only gets one customer a day.  As much as she looks forward to her friend coming in for tea every day, she knows it won't be long until she can no longer keep her shop open.  Even her only son is begging her to close it down and sell it.  One morning, Vera comes into her tea shop to find a dead man laying there.  Thus starts an adventure where Vera takes it upon herself to find out what happened to this man after she declares the police "useless".  Along the way as she searches for suspects, she finds love in the most unlikely places and even once the murder is solved, her life is changed forever by the new people in her life.

This was a really cute book.  I really enjoyed it from beginning to end.  I got a few chuckles out of Vera and her antics, and the found family part of this book was really sweet.  I listened to it, and it was and the reader did a great job.  The characters are likable and the trek along the story to discover the murderer leaves you wondering who did it.  Good summer read - check it out.

Stars: 4.5

Book: Weyward

 Book: Weyward

Author: Emily Hart

Pages: 336

This is my 51st read for the year

This is the story of three women across three timlines.  Altha - from 1619, who is on trial for being a witch.  Violet - whose mother has died and now she is trapped in the house where her Father hopes to keep her from turning out like her mother.  Somehting Violet doesn't even understand.  And then Kate -in 2019 who flees a brutal marriage in hopes of starting over.  All three women have one thing in common, but it takes time for Kate to put it all together.  Violet is her aunt and she left Kate her house  and Kate isn't even sure why.  She only met Violet once.  But as she digs deeper into her family's history, it becomes clear.

This book wasn't for me.  I want to start by saying that I did think it was well written.  But I really do not like books about domestic violence and rape. And this book had both.  I thought at first it might just be the begining of these women's stories and it would grow into what they became when they got out of the situation, but it lasted the whole book and I should have quit reading.  The only good male character is Violet's brother.  The rest were horrible.  

If these are triggering for you -do not pick up this book because it is the central theme throughout.

Stars: 3.5

Book: The Forever Witness - How DNA and Genealogy Solved A Cold Case Double Murder

 Book: The Forever Witness- How DNA and Genealogy Solved A Cold Case Double Murder

Author: Edward Humes

Pages: 384

This is my 50th read for the year

This is a non-fiction book about the murder of two teenagers in 1987 - Tanya Van Cuylenborg and Jay Cook.  They went on an overnight errand from their home in Canada to Seatle Washington and never returned.  Days after they went murder they were both found - brutally murdered and not together.  Thus started a manhunt for the killer. But with no witnesses and very little clues, the case quickly went cold.

Then 30 years later, as Detective Jim Scharf was combing through cold case files, he decides to pull the evidence for DNA analysis and sends it to Parabon Nanolabs and CeCe Moore, and they soon find that due to the advanced in DNA databases they might have found their killer.

This was a pretty good book.  It was interesting to see how DNA has been used to solve cases and where the controversies lie.  I always think it is amazing that they can take hair or samples from even 30 year old cases and still get a DNA match.  The only downside of this book I would say is it was a bit dry in places and the language a bit flowery in the begining which didn't really fit the story.  It was almost as if the author was just trying to stretch the pages.  It wasn't anything that took away from the general story though and I am glad I read this one.

Stars: 4

Book: I Have Some Questions For You

 Book: I Have Some Questions For You

Author: Rebecca Makkai

Pages: 448

This is my 49th read for the year

This is the story of Bodie  - a woman who has become and successful podcaster and film professor.  She was invited back to her high school boarding school- Granby - to teach a course and gets sucked into a past murder that happened to her roommate while she was a student at the school.  The class wanted to investigate the man who was accused of the murder because many believe he was falsely imprisioned.  Bodie reluctantly agrees knowing that this will dredge up a past that is many years in the past.  As new evidence of the crime comes to light, many people who were involved and at the school at the time of the murder are brought back into the investigation - many against their will.  But Brodie is determined to figure out what happened.

This was an okay book.  Actually - I think it started really strong.  I was really invested in the story for about 50% of it.  Then - it started to drag.  This nearly 500 page book seemed way too long in my opionion.  It started to get convaluded especially during the end 100 pages or so.  I usually love when a book does a timeline jump at the end and wraps up the story, but this was just a bit of a slog with an unsatisfying conclusion.

Stars: 3.5