Book: The Secret Wife

 Book: The Secret Wife

Author: Gill Paul

Pages: 418

This is my 136th read for the year

What Amazon says:

1914: Russia is on the brink of collapse, and the Romanov family faces a terrifyingly uncertain future.  Gran Duchess Tatiana has fallen in love with cavalry officer Dmitri, but events take a catastrophic turn, placing their romance - and their lives - in danger.

2016: Kitty Fisher escapes to her great-grandfather's remote cabin in America, after a devastating revelation makes her flee London.  There, on the shores of Lake Akanabee, she discovers the spectacular jewelled pendant that will lead her to a long-buried family secret.

I really liked the start of this book.  I thought it was going to be a 5 star read for me for the longest time.  But then near the end it fell apart in my opinion.  I do not like the direction it took.  Until the last 1/4 of the book it is well written with great characters and good story movement.  It flowed well between the 1914 and 2016 parts of the book - I liked them equally.  I liked the writing style.  I liked the plot for most of the book.  I just wish she would have taken the ending another way - and if you read this book you might agree with me.

Stars: 4

Book: Danse Macabre

 Book: Danse Macabre

Author: Stephen King

Pages: 512

this is my 135th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

This i a vivi, intelligent, and nostalgic journey through 3 decades of horrow as experienced through the eyes of the most popular writer in the genre.  In 1981, years before he sat down to tackleOn Writing, Stephen King decided to address theb topic of what makes horror horrifying and what makes terror terrifying.  Here, in 10 brilliantly written chapters, King delivers one colorful observation after another about the great stories, books, and films that comprise the horror genre.

This was a pretty good book.  It is from 1981, so I would have loved to read a more updated version from King now as the horror genre has evolved in the last 44 years.  A lot of his references are still favorites that we still enjoy in the tv/movie/film horror genre, but 44 years futher on, I wonder if his list would change.  But this book is well written and delves deep into the details on how he feels about different aspects of horror from the 50s-80s.

Stars: 4

Book: The Final Gambit

 Book: The Final Gambit

Author: Jennifer Lynne Barnes

Pages: 386

This is my 134th read for the year

What Amazon says:

To inherit billions, all Avery Kylie Grambs has to do is survive a few more weeks living in Hawthorne House.  The paparazzi are dogging her every step.  Financial pressures are building.  Danger is a fact of life.  And the only thing getting Avery through it all is the Hawthorne brothers.  Her life is intertwined with theirs.  She knows their secrets and they know her.  But as the clock tickets down to the moment when Avery will become the richest teenager on the planet, trouble arrives in the form of a visitor who needs her help - and whose presence in Hawthorne House could change everything.  It soons becomes clear that there is one last puzzle to solve, and Avery and the Hawthorn brothers are drawn into a dangerous game against an unknown and powerful player.  Secrets upon secrets.  Riddles upon riddles.  In this game, there are hearts and lives as stake - and there is nothing more Hawthorn than winning.

This is the 3rd book in the Inheritence Game series.  While I am still enjoying it, I found this book the weekest one so far  I think Barnes was having a hard time advancing this story along.  This one I found harder to follow - a lot of characters and a lot of knew family members made it is a bit convoluted.  The puzzles and mystery were just as good as the past, but all the other stuff got a bit tiresome.  And the love story is a bit bigger in this one.  There are three more books in the series, but I think they are more off shoots than continuation, so I might take a break and come back to them later.

STars: 3.5

Book: Buried In The Sky

 Book: Buried in the Sky

Author: Peter Zuckerman

Pages: 320

This is my 133rd read for the year

What Amazon says:

When 11 climbers died on K2 in 2008, 2 Sherpas survived.  Their astonishing tale became the stuff of mountaineering legend.  This white-knuckle adventure follows the Sherpas from their remote villages in Nepal to the peak of the world's most dangerous mountain, recounting one of the most dramatic disasters in apline history from a fascinating new perspective.

This was an interesting book.  I found it when researching something else and did not know there was a tragedy on K2 like there was on Everest (which I read in John Krakauer's book Into Thin Air).  This is a book about the Sherpas and others who help the hikers up and down these mountains as much as it is about the tragedy.  We learn the backstory of many of the Sherpas and climbers that lead to the fatal hike.  Glad I found this one.

Stars: 4

Book: The Spymaters: How The CIA shaped History and the Future

 Book: The Spymasters

Author: Chris Whipple

Pages: 400

This is my 132nd read for the year

What Amazon says:

Only 11 men and 1 woman are alive today who have made the life and death decisions that come with running the world's most powerful and influential intelligence service.  With unprecedented, deep access to nearly all these individuals plus several of their predecessors, Chris Whipple tells the story of an agency that answers to the US president alone, but whose activities - spying, espionage, and covert action - take place on every continent.  At pivotal moments, the CIA acts as a break on rogue presidents, starting in the mid 70s with DCI Richard Helm's refusal to conceal Richard Nixon's criminality and continuing to the present as the actions of a CIA whistleblower have ignited impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump.  Since its inception in 1947, the CIA has been a powerful player on the world stage, operating largely in the shadows to protect American interests.  For The Spymasters, Whipple conducted extensive, exclusive interviews with nearly every living CIA director, pulling back the curtain on the world's elite spy agencies and showing how the CIA partners - or clashes - with counterparts in Britain, France, Germany, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Russia.  

This was a pretty interesting book.  It is well written and quite thorough coverage of the CIA over the years.  Each president form Nixon to Trump are covered in this book and how the CIA worked with them.  (I can give you a pretty good idea how that last one is going).  I learned a lot about the CIA in general and new information related to different difficulties each President faced.  Good book.

Stars: 4 

Book: Home is Where The Bodies Are

 Book: Home is where the bodies are

Author: Jeneva Rose

Pages: 288

This is my 131st read for the year

What Amazon says:

After their mother passes, three estranged siblings reunite to sort out her estate.  Beth, the oldest, never left home.  She stayed with her mom, caring for her until the very end.  Nicole, the middle child, has been kept at arm's length due to her ongoing battle with a serious drug addiction.  Michael, the youngest, lives out of state and hasn't been back to their small Wisconsin town since their father ran out on them 7 years before.  While going through their parents' belongings, the siblings stumble upon a collection of home videos and decide to revisit those happier memories.  However, the nostalgia is cut short when one of the VHS tapes reveals a night back in 1999 that none of them have any recollection of.  On screen, their father appears covered in blood.  What follows is a dead body and a pact between their parents to get rid of it, before the video abruptly ends.  Beth, Nicole, and Michale must now decide whether to leave the past in the past or uncover the dark secret their mother took to her grave.

This book is fine.  It moves along just fine, but there is a lot of "hate/love" back and forth that always drives me crazy in books.  Especially short ones.  I didn't care much for any of the characters, but I was curious to see what the end result was going to be.  And the ending did surprise me, so kudos to that.  

Stars: 3.5

Book: A Slow Fire Burning

 Book: A Slow Fire Burning

Author: Paula Hawkins

Pages: 400

This is my 130th read for the year

What Amazon says:

When a young man is found gruesomely murdered in a London houseboat, it triggers questions about 3 women who knew him.  Laura is the troubled 1 night stand last seen in the victim's home.  Carla is his grief-stricken aunt, already mourning the recent death of yet another family member.  And Miriam is the nosy neighbor clearly keeping secrets from the police.  3 women with separate connections to the victim.  3 women who are - for different reasons - simmering with resentment.  Who are, whether they know it or not, burning to right the wrongs done to them. When it comes to revenge, even good people might be capable of terrible deeds.  How far might any one of them go to find peace?  How long can secrets smolder before they explode into flame?

I found this one an easy read and highly entertaining.  It moves along pretty well and I am left wondering who the killer was for a long time.  It was easy to pick up on who it wasn't, but not so much on who it was.  It was a mild plot twist as is, I was a bit surprised, but not overly so.  I would say my negative for this book is the names of the characters - which I know is silly.  So may characters that end with the letter "a" it started to get a bit hard to follow (I listened to this one).  Overall, a solid read.

Stars: 4

Book: The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise

 Book: The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise

Author: Dan Gemeinhart

Pages: 352

This is my 129th read for the year

What Amazon says:

Five years.  That's how long Coyote and her dad, Rodeo, have lived on the road in an old school bus, criss-crossing the nation.  It's also how long ago Coyote lost her mom and two sisters in a car crash.  Coyote hasn't been home in all that time, but when she learns that the park in her old neighborhood is being demolished - the very same park where she, her mom, and her sisters buried a treasured memory boy - she devises an elaborate plan to get her dad to drive 3600 miles back to Washington state in 4 days - without him realizing it.  Along the way, they'll pick up a strange crew of misfit travelers.  Lester has a lady love to meet.  Salvador and his mom are looking to start over.  Val needs a safe place to be herself.  And then there's Gladys.... Over the course of 1000s of miles, Coyote will learn that going home can sometimes be the hardest journey of all - but that with friends by her side, she just might be able to turn her "once upon a time" into a happily ever after".  

This was a pretty good book.  It has a sweet understory - a family picking up people who needed a place to be for a short while all while Coyote and her dad figure out how do deal with the worst kind of grief.  It has some silly parts, and some odd parts, but over all it is well written and flows nicely.  Good ending and a good lesson.

Stars: 4

Book: Bury our Bones in the Midnight Soil

 Book: Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil

Author: V.E. Schwab

Pages: 544

This was my 127th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

This is a story about hunger.  1532.  Santo Domingo de la Calzada.  A young girl grows up wild and wily - her beauty is only outmatched by her dreams of escape.  But Maria knows she can only ever be a prize, or a pawn, in the games played by men.  When an alluring stranger offers an alternate path, Maria makes a desperate choice.  She vows to have no regrets.  This is a story about love.  1827.  London.  A young woman lives an idyllic but cloistered life on her family's estate, until a moment of forbidden intimacy sees her shipped off to London.  Charlotte's tender heart and seemingly impossible wishes are swept away by an invitation from a beautiful widow -but the price of freedom is higher than she could have imagined.  This is a story about rage.  2019 Boston.  College was supposed to be her chance to be someone new.  That's why Alice moved halfway across the world, leaving her old life behind.  But after an out-of-character one night stand leaves her questioning her past, her present, and her future, Alice throws herself into the hunt for answers....and revenge.  This is a story about life - how it ends, and how it starts.

This was a pretty good book.  The writing was spectaular.  There is no doubt in my opinion that VE Schwab is a talented writer.  A was a little disappointed with the subject matter (I won't give it away because it felt like it was supposed to be a surprise) - so overdone.  Didn't love a lot of the characters - but not sure you are meant to.  They are pretty self absorbed, but true to most stories about this particular subject....it tracks.  I liked the back and forth of the story lines.  Didn't have a favorite of the three. The beginning and the end were solid and the middle was okay.

Stars: 4

Book: Ordinary Grace

 Book: Ordinary Grace

Author: William Kent Kreuger

Pages: 336

This is my 126th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

New Bremen, Minnesota, 1961.  The Twins were playing their debut season, ice-cold root beers were selling out at the soda counter of Halderson's Drugstore, and Hot Stuff comic books were a mainstay on every barbershop magazine rack.  It was a time of innocence and hope for a country with a new, young president.  But for 13 year old Frank Drum it was a grim summer in which death visited frequently and assumed many forms.  Accident.  Nature.  Sucide.  Murder.  Frank begins the season preoccupied with the concerns of any teenage boy, but when tragedy unexpectedly strikes his family - which includes his Methodist minister fathr' his passionate, artistic mother; Julliard-bound older sister; and wise-beyond his years kid brother - he finds himself thrust into an adult world full of secrets, lies, adultery, and betrayal, suddenly called upon to demonstrate a maturity and gumption beyond his years.  Told from Frank's perspective 40 years after that fateful summer.

This was a great book.  He is a great writer.  There is great character development and the story flowed well.  There is a mix of everyday life in a small town and heartbreak that works well together.  The mystery was a little hard to figure out, but as we got nearer to the end, it started to pull together the "who done it".  Loved the epilogue.  I listened to it and it was a good book to listen to - easy to keep engaged.

Stars: 4.5

Book: Never Flinch

 Book: Never Flinch

Author: Stephen King

Pages: 448

This is my 125th book for the year

What Amazon Says:

When the Buckeye City Police Department receives a disturbing letter from a person threatening to "kill thirteen innocents and one guilty in "an act of atonement for the needless death of an innocent man", Detective Izzy Jaynes has no idea what to think.  Are fourteen citizens about to be slaughtered in an unhunged act f retribution?  As the investigation unfolds, Izzy realizes that the letter writer is deadly serious, unhinged acto of retribution?  As the investigation unfolds, Izzy realizes that the letter writer is deadly serious, and she turns to her friend Holly Gibney for help.  Meanwhile, controversial and outspoken women's rights activist Kate McKay is embarking on a multi-staet lecture tour, drawing packed venues of both fans and detractors.  Someone who vehemently opposes Kate's message of female empowerment is targeting her and disrupting her events.  At first, no one is hurt, but the stalker is growing bolder, and Holly is hired to be Kate's bodyguard - a challenging task with a headstrong employer and a determined adversary driven by wrath and his belief in his own righteousness.  

This was a pretty good book.  It took quite a bit of concentration because there are a lot of story lines in this one.  I was happy to see another Holly Gibney novel - she is such a fun character.  The story had me hooked for the longest time, but near the end it started to get really confusing with all the characters who were getting their turn in the sun.  The worst characters were the Chris/Chrissy story line - that could have been left out.  I would have liked Holly to have been more central.  It isn't scary as much as a long build up to the final blow.  

Stars: 4

Book: The Stolen Marriage

 Book: The Stolen Marriage

Author: Diane Chamberlain

Pages: 416

This is my 124th book for the year

What Amazon Says:

It is 1944.  Pregnant, alone, and riddled with guilt, 23 year old Tess DeMello abruptly gives up her budding career as a nurse and ends her engagement to the love of her life, unable to live a lie.  Instead, she turns to the baby's father for help and agrees to marry him, moving to the small, rural town of Hickory, North Carolina.  Tess's new husband, Henry Kraft, is a secretive man who often stays out all night, hides money from his new wife, and shows her no affection.  Tess quickly realizes she's trapped in a strange and loveless marriage with no way out.  The people of Hickory love and respect Henry but see Tess as an outsider, treating her with suspicion and disdain.  When one of the town's golden girls dies in a terrible accident, everyone holds Tess responsible.  But Henry keeps his secrets even closer now, though it seems that everyone knows something about him that Tess does not.  When a sudden polio epidemic strikes Hickory, the townspeople band together to build a polio hospital.  Tess knows she is needed and defies Henry's wishes to begin working at there.  Through this work, she begins to find purpose and meaning.  Yet at home, Henry's actions grow more alarming by the day.  As Tess works to save the lives of her patients, can she untangle the truth behind her husban'ds mysterious behavior and find the love - and the life - she was meant to have?

This was a pretty good book.  I do like Chamberlain's books.  She is a great writer.  This one fell a little short for me based on her other novels.  Still an interesting story.  I really didn't love the main character.  She was fine, but not great.  I knew what the outcome was going to be - it was a pretty neatly wrapped up story to come out positive for Tess.  Happy ending which I do like, but it wasn't surprising.  Tess worked as a nurse for a bit and I found all of her skills a bit unbelivable as a new nurse.  However - overall, good story, good writing, just wished for stronger characters.

Stars: 4

Book: People of the Book

 Book: People of the Book

Author: Geraldine Brooks

Pages: 372

This is my 123rd read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Inspired by a true story, this is a novel of sweeping historical grandeur and intimate emotional intensity by an acclaimed and beloved author.  Called "a tour de force", this ambitious, electrifying work traces the harrowing journey of the fames Sarajevo Haggadah, a beautifully illuminated Hebrew manuscript created in 15th century Spain.  When it falls to Hanna Heath, an Australian rare-book expert, to conserve this priceless work, the series of tiny artifacts she discovers in its ancient binding - an insect wing fragment, wine stains, salt crystals, a white hair - only begin to unlock its deep mysteries and unexpectedly plunges Hanna into the intrigues of fine art forgers and ultranationalist fanatics.

This was an interesting book.  It jumps around in time -from the 1990s where our main character is working on the story of the book, to back in time to the 1400s-1600s.  I did enjoy the 1990s sections a lot more than the flashbacks - they felt a little unfinished.  Even though those were the longest chapters in the book, we never learned more about the people - (except one) - so it felt like we were missing an ending to a story.  It does jump into the future of the early 2000s with the main character to resolve the mystery of the book, and I liked that.  Overall it is very well written - I just wish I felt like the past and present fit together a bit more.

Stars: 4

Book: Warcross

 Book: Warcross

Author: Marie Lu

Pages: 416

This is my 122nd book of the year

What Amazon Says:

For the millions who log in every day, Warcross isn't just a game - it's a way of life.  The obsession started ten years ago and its fan base now spans the globe, some eager to escape from reality and others hoping to make a profit.  Struggling to make ends meet, teenage hacker Emika Chen works as a bounty hunter, tracking down Warcross players who bet on the game illegally.  But the bounty-hunting world is competitive and survival has not been easy.  To make some quick cash, Emika takes a risk and hacks into the opening game of the international Warcross Championships - only to accidentally glitch herself into the action and become an overnight sensation.  Convinced she's going to be arrested, Emika is shoked when instead she gets a call from the game's creator, the elusive young billionaire Hideo Tanaka, with an irresistible offer.  He needs a spy on the inside of this year's tournament in order to uncover a security problem - and he wants Emika for the job.  With no time to lose, Emika's whisked off to Tokyo and thrust into a world of fame and fortune that she's only dreamed of.  But soon her investigation uncovers a sinister plot, with major consequences for the entire Warcross empire.

This book was okay.  I liked the idea of the book, and most of the writing.  I had mixed feelings about the main character, and didn't care one way or another for the side characters.  Pretty good action scenes with a lot of details.  The romance was subpar. The twist ending wasn't that shocking.  And of course it ends on a cliff hanger because there is a second book.  I won't be continuing.

Stars: 3

Book: The Witcher

 Book: The Witcher

Author: Andrzej Sapkowski

Pages: 352

This is my 121st read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Geralt is a Witcher, a man whose magic powers, enhanced by long training and a mysterious elixir, have made him a brilliant fighter and a merciless hunter.  Yet he is no ordinary killer.  His sole purpose: to destroy the monsters that plague the world.  But not everything monstrous-looking is evil and not everything fair is good - and in every fairy tale there is a grain of truth.

This was a pretty good book.  I didn't watch the show on TV, but found this book for a reading challenge I was participating in.  Interesting story, and I liked the main character.  It is a book of short stories, which isn't my favorite style, but I stuck with it.  The stories are tied together, sothat helped.  There are a lot of books in The Witcher series, but I do not think for now I will continue.

Stars: 4