Book: A Spindle Splintered

 Book: A Spindle Splintered

Author: Alix Harrow

Pages: 126

This is my 61st read for the year

What Amazon Says:

It's Zinnia Gray's 21st birthday, which is extra-special because it's the last birthday she'll ever have.  When she was young, an industrial accident left Zinnia with a rare condition.  Not much is known about her illness, just that no-one has lived past 21.  Her best friend Charm is intent on making Zinnia's last birthday special with a full sleeping beauty experience, complete with a tower and a spinning wheel.  But when Zinnia pricks her finger, something strange and unexpected happens, and she finds herself falling through worlds, with another sleeping beauty, just as desperate to escape her fate.  

Stars: 1

Book: The Greatest Sentence Ever Written

 Book: The Greatest Sentence Ever Written

Author: Walter Isaacson

Pages: 80

This is my 60th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

To celebrate America's 250th anniversary, Walter Isaacson takes readers on a fascinating deep dive into the creating of one of history's most powerful sentences: "We hold these truths to e self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness".  Drafted by Thomas Jefferson and edited by Benjamin Franklin and John Adams, this line lays the foundation for the American Dream and defines the common ground we share as a nation.  Isaacson unpakcs its geniums, word by word, illuminating the then-radical concepts behind it.  Readers will gain a fresh appreciation for how it was drafted to inspire unity, equality, and the enduring promise of America.  With clarity and insight, he reveals not just the power of these words but describes how, in these polarized times, we can use them to restore an appreciation for our common values.

This was a great book.  I have read several books by this author, and he is an itellegent writer who well researches everything he writes.  As I read this short novella, all I could think is that every American should pick this one up right now and really familiarize themselves on the Constitution, what the founding fathers actually meant, and the letters they wrote on WHY they developed the Constitution to break away from the king.  I think a lot of people in this country would find some familiar tones in today's environment.

Stars: 4.5 

Book: Death To Anyone Who Reads This

 Book: Death To Anyone Who Reads This

Author: Hugh Howey

Pages: 101

This is my 59th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

This is the sequel to The Balloon Hunter.  If you haven't read that yet, do so first.  If you have read it, try not to make the same mistake over and over....like I keep doing.

This was a good follow up to The Balloon Hunter.  Fast read - able to finish in under 1 hour because it is short and just journal entries.  This wasn't as good overall as the Balloon Hunter, but the ending was really good.  Hugh Howey has the ability to really make you think and draw your own conclusions.  Bravo

Stars: 4

Book: The Balloon Hunter

 Book: The Balloon Hunter

Author: Hugh Howey

Pages: 136

This is my 58th read of the year

What Amazon Says:

Shoot anything you don't understand.  That's been my motto, and it's kept me alive.  So when I saw something drifting about the fog, I lined it up in my sights and tookit out.  Only realized after that it was a balloon.  With a note attached.  Rita.  Who are you?  Where are you?  Hang tight. I'm coming.

This was a great novella.  It is written all in postcards, so I finished it in less than an hour.  I really like Hugh Howey (he is the author of the Silo series), so was exctied to find this book.  It is a clever and face paced dystopian and the ending still has been realing a bit.  Tried to even do a deep dive after I finished reading to see what other people thought.  There is a sequel, so of course I read that too.

Stars: 4.5

Book: The Test

 Book: The Test

Author: Sylvain Neuvel

Pages: 112

This is my 57th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Britain, the not-too-distant future.  Idir is sitting the British Citizenship Test.  He wants his family to belong.  25 questions to determine their fate.  25 chances to impress.  When the test takes an unexpected and tragic turn, Idir is handed the power of life and death.  How do you value a life when all you have is multiple choice?

This was an interesting novella.  I listened to it and it was under 2 hours to complete it.  It was a good book to listen to because it is a fast pace hostage situation book with a twist.  About half way through is when the twist is revealed, and it continues to be interesting until the end to see where it ends up.  Glad I found this one.

Stars: 4

Book: Edge of Collapse

 Book: Edge of Collapse

Author: Kyla Stone

Pages: 318

This is my 56th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

No electriciy.  No cars or phones.  And no way to call for help.  The country is plunged into instant chaos. But for Hannah Sheridan, it's the best day of her life.  For the last 5 years, she's been the captive of a sadistic psychopath - until the electromagnetic pulse releases the lock of her prison.  Battered but not broken, she emergest from her underground cell into a hostile winter wilderness with nothing but the clothes on her back and the determination to survive.  Reclusive Spec Ops soldier Liam Coleman is headed nowhere fast.  He believed he was prepared for any disaster until the EMP took everything he cared about in a matter of seconds.  200 frozen, perilous miles stand beteween them nd their destiation in rual Michigan.  But the killing cold and desperate survivors aren't the only threats, for Hannah's captor isn't about to let her go.  When the country goes dark, ordinary people find themselves facing the end of the world as they know it.  With society collapsing before their eyes, they'll have to risk everything to protect their home and the people they love.  

This was a great book.  I got it free from Amazon a year or two ago, and have no picked it up.  Glad I finally did.  It is well written, and just scary enough that I almost wanted to flip through to not subject myself to what was coming.  It is a fast read, and is engaging from beginning to end.  I liked both Liam and Hannah - they are easy to root for.  She is smart and not a damsel in distress during any part of this book which was refreshing.  Each chapter is divided into Hannah, Liam, and the captor.  I found out that this is quite the book series, and a lot of positive reviews for the whole thing, so I will continue reading to see where it is going.  Ends on a cliff hanger.

Stars: 5

Book: The Personal Librarian

 Book: The Personal Librarian

Author: Marie Benedict

Pages: 368

This is my 55th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

In her 20s, Belle de Costa Greene is hired by JP Morgan to curate a collection of rare manuscripts, books, and artwork for his newly built Pierpont Morgan Library.  Belle becomes a fixture in NYC society and one of the most powerful people in the art and book world, known for her impeccable taste and shrewd negotiating for critical works as she helps create a world-class collection.  But Belle has a secret, one she must protect at all costs.  She was born not Belle da Costa Greene but Belle MArion Greener.  She is the daugher or Richard Greener, the first Black graduate of Harvard and a well-known advocate for equaltiy.  Belle's complexion isn't dark becasue of her alleged Portuguese heritage that lets her pass as white - her complexion is dark becasue she is African American.  This book tells the story of an extraordinary woman, famous for her intellect, style, and wit, and shares the lengths she must go to - for the protection of her family and her legacy - to perserve her carefully crafted white identity in the racist world in which she lives.

This book was pretty good.  It is a historical fiction based on real people about a library.  Drew me right in.  I loved learning more about JP Morgan and his family and how they built their library over the years, but the star of this story is Belle de Costa Greene who was a brilliant librarian and art historian who made the collection what it was.  I read about her after I finished this book, and while the book took some liberties with the details, a lot of it was spot on.  What I did not like about this book is the amount of time the author spent on a romantic relationship between Belle and Bernard Berenson.  In my opionion, the amount of time spent on this affiar (Bernard was married) took away from what Belle actually did for the library and her true legacy.  It soured me on her, and it shouldn't have.  I wish the author would have brought it up - because it did happen and it was a long affair - but sprinkled it among the true reason Belle was known.

Stars: 4

Book: Cleopatra's Dagger

 Book: Cleopatra's Dagger

Author: Carole Lawerence

Pages: 364

This is my 54th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

New York, 1880.  Elizabeth van den Broek is the only female reporter at the Herald, the city's most popular newspaper.  Then she and her behemian friend Carlotta Ackerman find a woman's body wrapped like a mummy in a freshly dug hol in Central Park - the intended site of an obelisk called Cleopatra's Needle.  The Macabre discovery takes Elizabeth away from the society pages to follow an investigation into NYC's darkest shadows.  When more bodies turn up, each tied to Egyptian lore, Elizabeth is onto a headline-making scoop more sinister than she could have imagined.  Her reporting has readers spellbound, and each new clue implicates NY's richest and most powerful citizens.  And a serial killer is watching every headline.  Now a madman with an indecipherable motive is coming after Elizabeth and everyone she loves.   She wants a good story?  She may have to die to get it.

This book was fine.  I got it free with Kindle First Reads, and I am desperately trying to make my way through all those books in my library.  There was too much going on in this plot, and some of the main characters reactions to each other seemed overdone.  It started out strong and I was interested to see where it was going, but it quickly fell apart.  They did wrap up the ending fine, but I would not recommend this one as a good mystery.

Stars: 2.5

Book: Lady Chatterly's Lover

 Book: Lady Chatterly's Lover

Author: DH Lawerence

Pages: 354

This is my 53rd read for the year

What Amazon Says:

This book explores the intesne affair between the sexually frustrated Connie- whose husaband Clifford, is paralysed from the waist down - and Oliver Mellors, the family gamekeeper.  First published in 1928, the novel challenged the social and sexual taboos of its time and was immediately banned as obscene.  

I read this book for the Rory Gilmore reading challenge.

Stars: 3

Book: Like Lions

 Book: Like Lions

Author: Brian Panowich

Pages: 293

This is my 52nd read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Clayton Burroughts is a small-town Georgia sheriff, a new father, and improbably, the heir apparent of Bull Mountain's most notorious criminal family.  As he tries to juggle fatherhood, his job and his recovery from being shot in the confrontation that killed his 2 criminally-inclined brothers last year, he's doing all he can just to srvive.  Yet after years of carefully toeing the line between his life in law enforcement and his family, he finally has to make a choice.  When a rival organization makes a first foray into Burroughs territory, leaving a trial of bodies and a whiff of fear in its wake, Clayton is pulled back into the life he so desperately wants to leave behind.  Revenge is a powerful force, and the vaccum left by his brothers' deaths has left them all vulnerable.  With his wife and child in danger, and the way of life in Bull Mountain under siege for everyone, Clayton will need to find a way to bury the bloody legacy of his past once and for all.

This was an okay book.  I picked it up for $2 at a library sale while on vacation.  It was slightly confusing and maybe a bit too much going on for a book under 300 pages.  I should have read the comments on this book before I picked it up to realize it is a sequel to the author's first book (which apparently was quite the hit).  Might have to go back and read that one.

Stars: 3

Fagin The Thief

 Book: Fagin the Thief

Author: Allison Epstein

Pages: 336

This is my 51st read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Long before Oliver Twist stumbled onto the scene, Jacob Fagin was scratching out a life for himself in the dark alleys of 19th centur London.  Born in the Jewish enclave of Stephney shortly after his father was executed as a thief, Jacob's whole world is his open-minded mother, Leah.  But Jacob's prospects are forever altered when a light-fingered pickpocket takse Jacob under his wing and teaches him a trade that pays far better than the neighborhood boys could possibly dream.  Striking out on his own, Jacob familiarizes himself with London's highest value neighborhoods while forging his own path in the shadows.  But everthing changes when he adopts an aspiring teenage thief named Bill Sikes, whose mercurial temper poses a dnager to himself and anyone foolish enough to cross him.  Along the way, Jacob's found family expands to include his closest friend, Nancy, and his greatest protege, the Artful Dodger.  But as Bill's ambition soars and a major robbery goes awry, Jacob is forced to decide what he really stands for-and what a life is worth.  

This book was just okay.  My husabnd bought it because we both have been enjoying "The Artful Dodger" on Disney for a few seasons.  However, Fagin is my least favorite character on that show, and this book is a replication of that.  Also - the Artful Dodger is only a very small part of this story.  I finished it, but found it dry and boring.

Stars: 2.5 

Book: The Dressmaker's Gift

 Book: The Dressmaker's Gift

Author: Fiona Valpy

Pages: 287

This is my 50th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Paris, 1940.  With the city occupied by the Nazis, 3 young seamstresses go about their normal lives as best they can.  But all 3 are hiding secrets.  War-scarred Mireille is fighting with the Resistance; Claire has been seduced by a German officer; and Vivienne's involvement is something she can't reveal to either of them.  2 Generations later, Claire's English granddaughter Harriet arrives in Paris, rootless and adrift, desperate to find a connection with her past.  Living and working in the same building on the Rue Cardniale, she learns the truth about her grandmother - and herself - and unravels a family history that is darker and more painful than she ever imagined.  In wartime, the 3 seamstresses face impossible choices when their secret activities put them in grave danger.  Brought together by loyalty, threatened by betrayal, can they survive history's darkest era without being torn apart?

Stars: 3.5

Book: Lisa and David

 Book: Lisa and David

Author: Theodor Isaac Rubin

Pages: 144

This is my 49th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

2 stories about children who are emotionally different.  Jordi has trouble trusting others and is afraid of a lot of things.  With the help of a committed teacher he learns to trust and to distinguish between things that are harmless and those that may not be.  David is an aloof child who isn't interested in other people, but he becoems fascinated with Lisa, who speaks in rhyme and appears to have a second personality.

I read this book because it is on the Rory Gilmore list that I am working my way through.  It was decent.  IT is very short - read it in a few hours.  It says at the beginning of the book that Jordi wasn't a person but a representative of children who were like how he is represented in this book.  Lisa and David story was interesting and I understand it was a movie.  Might check it out.

Stars: 3

Book: The Women of Arlington Hall

 Book: The Women of Arlington Hall

Author: Jane Healey

Pages: 335

This is my 48th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

1947: Adventurous Radcliffe graduate Catherine Kileen cancels her wedding and upends a future that no longer suits her.  At the behest of her professor and hungry for a challenge, Cat arrives in Virginia to work on a confidential military project.  A student in cryptoanalysis, Cat is already ahead of the game - to assist in rooting out Soviet spices who have infiltrated the US.  Joining the government girls of Arlington Hall, Cat gains the respect of her superiors and the friendship of her peers.  Then, on a night out in DC, Cat runs into Jonathan Dardis, her arrogant and privileged Harvard rival and newly minted agent for the FBI.  What Cat and Jonathan share is a competitive drive and an attraction that's becoming just as spirited.  They're also united in the same critical goal for America.  Together, they're diving deep into the shads of espionage.  The stakes of the codebreaking operation grow ever higher, and Cat's relationship with Jonathn opens her heart.  Amid dangerous intigue and grave secrecy, Cat is ready for every risk - no matter how personal the stakes get 

This book was fine.  I wanted to like it more than I did.  I really liked the parts of the book where the Arlington Hall goverment girls worked closely on an espionage case.  Reading the author's note she based a lot of her characters on real people and some on actual people and their actual work.  Where the book lost me was two places.  One - I didn't find it overly well written.  And 2 - this became much more of a relationship/love story book than a work of the Government Girls.  More time was spent on this book with their activities outside of work than in, so it wasn't what I was hoping for.

Stars: 3

Book: Waiting for Godot

 Book: Waiting for Godot

Author: Samuel Beckett

Pages: 128

This is the 47th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

The story revolves around 2 seemingly homeless men waiting for someone - or something - named Godot.   Vladimir and Estragon wait near a tree, inhabiting a drama spun of theirown consciousness.  The result is a comical wordplay of poetry, dreamscapes, and nonsense, which has been interpreted as mankind's inexhausitble search for meaning.  Beckett's language pioneered an expressionistic minimalism that captured the existential post-World War II Europe.  His play remians one of the most magical and beautiful allegories of our time.

This was better than I expected.  I read it for the Rory Gilmore challenge, and really didn't know much about it except that Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves recently performed it on Broadway.  I listened to it, and it was a good way to absorb this little book.  Quick listen with less than 2 hours of ime and a fun yet tragic story.  Glad I read it.

Stars: 4

Book: The Ferryman and his Wife

 Book: The Ferryman and His Wife

Author: Frode Grytten

Pages: 176

This is my 46th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Nils Vik wakes up on November the 18th and knows it will be the day he dies.  He follows his morning routine as voices from his past echo in his mind, and looks around the empty house one last time, before stepping onto his beloved boat.  His dog, dead these many years, leaps aboard with him, and then the other dead begin to emerge - from the woods along the fjord, from eah of the ferry stops along the route, from his logbook full of memories and quotations and jotted-down notes about the weather conditions.  The people from the past accompany him now, prodding him, showing him what he might have missed before, as he waits for his Marta, his late, remarkable wife, to finally join him on the boat again.  This is a novel about what we take with us - those moments that might seem insignificant as they happen but prove to be the most meaningful, in the end.

This was a really good little book.  I had seen it recommended for a reading challenge and decided to give it a try and I am glad I did.  Very well written with a great message about who and what we will remember when our life is near its end.  It is a quick read, and this version was well translated.  Check it out.

Stars: 4.5

Book: Snow In Love

 Book: Snow In Love

Author: Aimee Friedman

Pages: 222

This is my 45th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

What's better than one delicioiusly cozy, swoon-worthy holiday story?  4 of them, from some of today's bestselling authors.  From Kasie West, a snowy road trip takes an unexpected detour when secrets and cruses are reveals.  From Amiee Friedman, a Hanukkah miracle may just happen when a Jewish girl working as a department store elf finds love.  From Melissa De La Cruz, Christmas Eve gets a plot twist when a high school couple exchange surprising presents.  From Nic Stone, a scavenger hunt amid the holiday crowds at an airport turns totally romantic.

For people who read my reviews, you will find that I read some off the wall stuff to fill challenge categories on book challenges I am working on for the year with various people.  Sometimes I find some really good books that I would have not read otherwise.  Othertimes....I find these kind of books.  I needed a book with a fireplace that also took place in winter.  So - here we are.  The first story was actually pretty good.  Then they went downhill and the last one was remarkably bad.  Ah well.

Stars: 2.5

Book: An Elderly Lady Is Up To No Good

 Book: An Elderly Lady Is Up To No Good

Author: Helene Tursten

Pages: 184

This is my 44th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Maud is an irascible 88 year old Swedish woman with no family, no friends, and no qualsm about a little murder.  Ever since her dralig father's untimely death when she was only eighteen, Maud has lived in the family's spacious apartment in downtown Gothenburg rent-free, thanks to a minor clause in a hastily negotiated contract.  That has how maud learned that good things can come from tragedy.  Now in her late 80s, Maud contents herself with traveling the worlds and surfing the net from the comfort of her father's ancient armchair.  It's a solitary existence, and she likes it that way.  Over the course of her adventures - or misadventures - this little bold lady will handle a crisis with a local celebrity who has her eyes on Maud's apartment, foil the engagement of her long-ago lover, and dispose of some pesky neighbors.  But when the local authorities are called to investigate a dead body found in Maud's apartment, will Maud finally becoem a suspect?

This was an interesting book.  I found it when looking for a book for a reading challenge.  This one was very short - and I finished it within a few hours.  It is a wild story.  Fun read with an 88 year old woman who has the whole town fooled with her "poor little old me" story.  Meanwhile, she is quite the killer.  Glad I found this one.

Stars: 4 

Book: Black Panther Vol: 1 A Nation Under Our Feet

 Book: Black Panther Vol 1: A Nation Under Our Feet

Author: Ta-Nehisi Coates

Pages: 132

This is my 43rd read for the year

What Amazon Says:

A new era begins for the Black Panther.  This graphic novel confronts T'Challa with a dramatic upheaval in Wakanda that will make leading the African nation toughter than ever before.  When a superhuman terroist group calling itself The People sparks a violent uprising, the land famed for its incredible technology and proud warrior traditions will be thrown into turmoil.  As suicide bombers terrorize the population, T'Challa struggles to unite his citizens, and a familiar villain steps out of the shadows.  If Wakanda is to survive, it must adapt- but can its monarch, one in a long line of Black Panthers, survive the necessary change?  Heavy lies the head that wears the cowl.

I read this to fullfill a reading challenge category, but I enjoyed it.  Big Marvel fan - have seen all the Black Panther movies.  I know this is a newer series for Black Panther, but it was well written and a quick read.

Stars: 4

Book: Dungeon Crawler Carl Book 2

 Book: Dungeon Crawler Carl - Carl's Doomsday Scenario

Author: Matt Dinniman

Pages: 384

This is my 42nd read for the year

What Amazon Says:

The aliens have come, and they've transformed Earth into a multilevel, video game - like dungeon.  It's the newest season of the galaxy's most watched game show, Dungeon Crawler World.  Now on the 3rd floor, Carl and Donut have to fight harder than ever.  They've already proven that a Coast Guard vet and once-and-forever feline royalty are an almost unstoppable team.  Their ratings are off the charts.  Viewers can't get enough.  But the dungeon gets more dangerous each day, and now there's a whole new problem to deal with: Quests.  They call it the Over City.  A sprawling, once-thriving metropolis devastated by a mysterious calamity.  But these streets are far from abandoned.  An undead circus trawls the ruins.  Murdered women rain from the sky.  An ancient spell is finally ready to reveal its dark purpose.  Can Carl and Donut solve the mystery in time?  And can Carl finally find some pants?

This was another great installment of the Dungeon Crawler series.  As always - to those who want to get into this series and like audiobooks - this is a fantastic listen.  The voices and characters are brought alive with the readers, and it has made it all that must more enjoyable to delve into this world.  However - my husband is reading them and they are quickly becoming a favorite series.  This book is well written, and the story line and characters are really wonderful.  There is good world building, and the story moves along and a good clip.  If you have not tried this series yet, and like sci-fi/fantasy - don't miss this.

Stars: 5

Book: The Invisible Library

 Book: The Invisible Library

Author: Genevieve Cogman

Pages: 352

This is my 41st read for the year

What Amazon Says:

One thing any Librarian will tell you: the truth is much stranger than fiction.  Irene is a professional spy for the mysterious Library, a shadowy organization that collects important works of fiction from all of the different realities.  Most recently, she and her enigmatic assistant Kai have been sent to an alternative London.  Their mission: Retrieve a particularly dangerous book.  The problem: By the time they arrive, it's already been stolen.  London's underground factions are prepared to fight to the death to find the tome before Irene and Kai do, a problem compounded by the fact that this world is chaos-infected-the laws of nature bent to allow supernatural creatures and unpredictable magic to run rampant.  To make matters worse, Kai is hiding something - secrets that could be just as volatile as the chaos-filled world itself.  Now Irene is caughtin a puzzling web of deadly danger, conflicting clues, and sinister secret societies.  And failure is not an option - becasue it isn't just Iren'es reputation at stake, it's the nature of reality itself.

Stars: 3

Book: You weren't meant to be Human

 Book: You weren't meant to be Human

Author: Andrew Joseph White

Pages: 336

This is my 40th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Festering masses of worms and flies have taken root in dark corners across Appalachia.  In exchange for unwavering loyalty and fresh corpses, these hives offer a few struggling humans salvation.  A fresh start.  It's an offer that none refuse.  Crane is grateful.  Among his hive's followers, Crane has found a chance to transition, to never speak again, to live a life that won't destroy him.  He even met Levi: a handsome ex-Marine and brutal killer who treats him like a real man, mostly.  But when Levi gets Crane pregnant - and the hive demands the child's birth, no matter the cost - Crane's desperation to make it stop will drive the community that saved him into a devastating spiral that can only end in blood.

Stars: 2

Book: The Antique Hunter's Guide to Murder

 Book: The Antique Hunter's Guide to Murder

Author: CL Miller

Pages: 304

This is my 39th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

What antique would you kill for?  Freya Lockwood is shocked when she learns that Arthur Crockleford, antiques dealer and her estranged mentor, has died under mysterious circumstances.  She has spent the last 20 years avoiding her quaint English hometown, but when she receives a letter from Arthur asking her to investigate - sent just days before his death - Freya has no choice but to return to a life she had sworn to leave behind.  Joining forces with her eccentric Aunt Carole, Freya follows clues to an old manor house for an advertised antiques enthusiast's weekend.  But not all is as it seems.  It's clear to Freya that the antiques are all just poor reproductions, and her fellow guests are secretive and menacing.  What is going on at this estate and how was Arthur involved?  More importantly, can Freya and Carole discover the truth before the killer strikes again?

This books wasn't great.  I had picked it up (and its sequel) at a used book store after reading the inside cover.  Sounded interesting, but it really was a bit dull and convoluded.  Not well written.  Story was choppy and with no flow.  I am not sure I will pick up the sequel, but I do have a problem not finishing things I bought, so we shall see.

Stars: 2.5

Book: The Little Lost Library

 Book: The Little Lost Library

Author: Ellery Adams

Pages: 323

This is my 38th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

When an elderly Miracle Springs resident, Lucille Wynter, arranges for Nora to deliver an order of books to her creepy, crumbling Southern Gothic mansion on the outskirts of town, Nora doesn't expect to be invited in.  An agoraphobe, Lucille doesn't leave Wynter House.  But when Lucille doesn't come to the door to collect her books, Nora begins to worry.  Forcing her way into Lucille's dilapidated home, Nora is shocked to find rooms bursting with books and a lifeless Lucille at the foot of her stairs.  After reading a note left behind by Lucille, Nora wonders if her death was an accident.  Did she fall or was she pushed by someone seeking a valuable item hidden within Whynter House?  Lucille's children are clearly confident the house contains something of value, because they hire Nora to sift through the piles of books.  Nora's obsession with Lucille's colleciton becomes cause for concern among her friends in the Secret, Book and Scone Society - she's even neglecting her bookshop!  But Nora does find something valuable deep inside Wynter House - a revelation about Lucille's terrible past - and a secret worth a small fortune.  But there's someone who'd do anything to keep the truth buried amid the moldering tomes, and it's up to Nora and her friends to track down a murderer before Wynter House's lost library claims another victim.

This book was fine.  I think I am just tired of them.  I have now read this whole series (a bit out of order), and the last few I have just not enjoyed.  The main character is easily offended and I have grown a bit tired of it.  Her snark -in my opinion - does not fit with what I invision for a bookshop owner in a small town.  

Stars: 3

Book: His and Hers

 Book: His and Hers

Author: Alice Feeney

Pages: 320

This is my 37th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

When a woman is murdered in Blackdown, a quintessential small town, reporter Anna Andrews is reluctant to cover the case.  Detective Jack Harper is suspicious of her involvement, until he becomes a suspect in his own murder investigation.  Someone isn't telling the truth, and some secrets are worth killing to keep.

This was a pretty good book.  I did watch the TV show first, and then found out it was a book, but it followed it okay.  The gist of the TV show was in here - same characters, same ending, but there were some details they changed.  The book is decently written, and I liked how the chapters went back and forth between Jack and Anna.  It is a fast read, and I think most people might be surprised by the ending (if they have not seen the show).

Stars: 4

Book: Challenger

 Book: Challenger

Author: Adam Higginbotham

Pages: 576

This is my 36th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

On January 28, 1986, just 73 seconds into flight, the space shuttle Challenger broke apart over the Atlantic Ocean, killing all 7 people on board.  Millions of Americans witnessed the tragic deaths of the crew, which included New Hampshire schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe.  Like the assassination of JFK, the Challenger disaster is a defining moment in 20th century history - one that forever changed the way America thought of itself and its optimistic view of the future.  Yet the full story of what happened, and why, has never been told.  Based on extensive archival research and meticulous, orginial reporting, Challenger follows a handful of central protagonsits - including each of the seven members of the doomed crew - through the years leading up to the accident, and offers a detailed account of the tragedy itself and the investigation afterward.  It's a compelling tale of ambition and ingenuity undermined by political cynicism and cost-cutting in the interests of burnishing national prestige; or hubris and heroism; and of an investigation driven by leakers and whistleblowers determined to bring the truth to light.  Throughout, there are the ominous warning signs of a tragedy to come, recognized but then ignored, and later hidden from the public.  Higginbotham reveals the history of the shuttle program and the lives of men and women whosestories have been overshadowed by the disaster, as well as the disigners, engineers, and test pilots who struggled against the odds to get the first shuttle into space.

This was a good book.  It is dense, but learning more about the personal lives of the Challenger fleet was worth the read.  Reading up to the point of the disaster, and what it was like for their famlies, and then the search for survivors was hard to read.  There are large stretches of this book that is technical and about trying to figure out who to blame, but overall - a good read.

Stars: 4

Book: Heartstopper Book 2

 Book: Heartstopper Book 2

Author: Alice Oseman

Pages: 320

This is my 35th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Nick and Charlie are best friends, but one spontaneous kiss has changed everything.  In the aftermath, Charlie thinks that he's made a horrible mistake and ruined his friendship with Nick, but Nick is more confused than ever.  Love works in surprising ways, and Nick comes to see the world from a new perspective.  He discovers all sorts of things about his friends, his family, and himself.

Stars: 3

Book: March

 Book: March

Author: John Lewis

Pages: 128

This is my 34th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Congressman John Lewis is an American icon, one of the key figures of the civil rights movement.  His commitment to justics and nonviolence has taken him from an Alabama sharecropper's farm to the halls of Congress, from a segregated schoolroom to the 1963 March on Washington, and from receiving beatings from state troopers to receiving the Medal of Freedom from the 1st African-American president.  Now, to share his remarkable story with new generations, Lewis presents March, a graphic novel.  March is a vivid first hand account of John Lewis' lifelong struggle for civil and human rights, meditating in the modern age on the distance traveled since the days of Jim Crow and segregation.  Rooted in Lewis' personal story, it also reflects on the highs and lows of the broader civil rights movement.  This book spans John Lewis' youth in rural Alabama, his life-changing meeting with MLK Jr the birth of the Nashville Student Movement, and their battle to teat down segregation through nonvilent lunch counter sit-ins, building to a stunning clamax on the steps of City Hall.  Many years ago, John Lewis and other student activits drew inspiration from the 1958 comic book "MLK and the Montgomery Story"  Now his own comics bring those day to life for a new audience.

This was a good book.  I read it for a reading challenge, and it has been on one of my daughter's bookshelf for awhile.  (she read it).  It is a quick read, but covers a lot of ground and is well done.  I think it would be a good book for middle grade to learn about John Lewis and how he became the activist he is.  There are 2 more books in the series that continue with his work as an adult.  Check this one out.

Stars: 4.

Book: Madly, Deeply the diary of Alan Rickman

 Book: Madly, Deeply the Diary of Alan Rickman

Author: Alan Rickman

Pages: 480

This is my 33rd read for the year

What Amazon Says:

From his breakout role in Die Hard to his outstanding, multifaceted permormances in the Harry Potter films, Galaxy Quest, Robin Hood and more, Alan Rickman cemented his legacy as a world-class actor.  His air of dignity, his sonorous voice, and the knowing wit he brought to each role continue to captivate audiences today.  But Rickman's ability to breathe life into projects wasn't confined to just his performances.  As you'll find, Rickman's diaries detail the extraordinary and the ordinary, flitting between wordly and witty and gossipy, while remaining utterly candid throughout.  He takes us inside his home, on trips with friends across the globe, and on the sets of films nd plays ranging from Sense and Sensibility, to Private lives, to the final film he directed, A Little Chaos.  Running from 1993 to his death in 2016, the diaries provide singular insight into Rickman's public and private life.  Reading them is like listening to Rickman chatting to a close companion.  Meet Rickman the consummate professional actor, but also the friend, the traveler, the fan, the director, the enthusiast; in short, the man beyond the icon.

This was a good book.  It was a little tedious - and it is LONG.  He was an avid journalist with small bits of quips and info from his day to day, but not sure it needed to be made into a book.  I would have loved it more if it was.....more.  It would have been better in biography format.  Most of it was not that interesting.  I did find that he didn't have a lot of love for Harry Potter or the final director of those films - Daivd Yates.  Did I learn a lot about Alan Rickman from this book?  No.  Would I suggest you read it?  Probably not.

STars: 3.

Book: The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County

 Book: The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County

Author: Mark Twain

Pages: 123

This is my 32nd read for the year

Read this one for the Rory Gilmore reading challenge

Stars: 3.5

Book: The Children's Blizzard

 Book: The Children's Blizzard

Author: David Laskin

Pages: 307

This s my 31st read for the year

What Amazon Says:

The gripping true story of an epic prairie snowstorm that killed hundreds of newly arrived settlers and case a shadow on the promise of the American frontier.  January 12, 1888 began as an useasonably warm morning across Nebraska, the Dakotas, and Minnesota, the weather so mild that children walked to school without coats and gloves.  But that afternoon, without warning, the atmosphere suddenly, violently changed.  One moment the air was calm; the next the sky exploded in a raging chaos of horizontal snow and hurricane-force winds.  Temperatures plunged as an unprecedented cold front ripped through the center of the continent.  By the morning, some 500 people lay dead on the drifted prairie, many of them children who had perished on their way home from country schools.  In a few terrifying hours, the hopes of the pioneers had been blasted by the bitter realitites of their harsh environment.  Recent immigrants from Germany, Norway, Denmark, and the Ukraine learned that their free homestead was not a paradise but a hard unforgiving place governed by natural forces they neither understood nor controlled.

This was a good book. Hard to read the reality of what the people went through.  I had read the Historical Fiction version of this story a few years ago, and was interested to read more about it.  The parts of this book that are personal accounts of the families was heartbreaking and the best parts of this book.  The other parts about weather and thoughts on how this storm came about were a bit dry.  But overall a good book.

Stars: 4 

Book: Letters To A Young Poet

 Book: Letters To A Young Poet

Author: Rainer Maria Rilke

Pages: 81

This is my 30th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

At the start of the 20th century, Rainer Maria Rilke wrote a series of letters to a young officer cadet, advising him on writing, love, sex, suffering, and the nature of advice itself.  These profound and lyrical letters have since become hugely influential for generations of writers and artists of all kinds, including Lady Gage, Patti Smith.  With honesty, elegeance, and a deep understanding of the loneliness that often comes with being an artist, Rilke's letters are an endless source of inspiration and comfort.  

Read for a reading challenge

Stars: 4

Book: The Fall Risk

 Book: The Fall Risk

Author: Abby Jimenez

Pages: 81

This is my 29th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

It's Valentine's Day weekend, and Charlotte and Set are not looking for romance.  Armed with emotional-support bear spray, Charlotte is in self-imposed isolation and on guard from men.  Having a stalker can do that to a person's nerves.  Just across the hall and giving off woodsy vibes is Seth, a recently divorced arborist.  As in today recently.  Heights, he's fine with.  Trust?  Not so uch.  But when disaster traps them one flight up and no way down, an outrageously precarious predicament forces a tree-loving guy and a rattled girl next door to embrace their captivity.  Soon their defenses are breaking away.  Considering how close they both are to the edge, Charlotte and SEth could be in danger of falling - in love.  

This book was fine.  It is a free short read from Amazon that I had, and fit a book challenge, so I read it.  I like Abby's books well enough.  This one didn't really go far since it was a short story.  Things move way too fast between these two basically strangers for her to give him all the details she did.  I won't go further - this isn't my favorite genre, so I am not a good judge of these books.

Stars: 3

Book: Eleven Numbers

 Book: Eleven Numbers

Author: Lee Child

Pages: 50

This is the 28th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Nathan Tyler is an unassuming professor at a middling American university with a rather obscure specialty in mathematics - in short, a nobody from nowhere.  So why is the White House calling?  Summoned to Washington, DC, for a top-secret briefing, Nathan discovers that he's the key to a massive foreign intelligence breakthrough.  Reading between the lines of a cryptic series of equations, he could open a door straight into the heart of the Kremlin and change the global balance of power forever.  All he has to do is get to a meeting with the renowned Russian mathematician who created it.  But when Nathan crashes headlong into a dangerous new game, the oddes against him suddently look a lot steeper.

This book was fine.  Believe it or not, I have not read any Lee Child books - my husband has read all of them.  This came up as a free short read on Amazon, so I thought I would give it a go.  The characters were fine and the story moved along just fine.  Have I said the word fine enough in this review yet?  There was a lot of math.  Not particularly exciting.  Not sure this would make me want to try his Reacher stories (which this was not).

Stars: 3 

Book: Bad Date A Short Story

 Book: Bad Date: A Short story

Author: Ellery Lloyd

Pages: 58

This is my 27th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Fay Roper is a divorced single mom and a globally famous actress.  She's also unlucky in love.  Maybe becasue the last thing Fay wants in a man is yet another superfan.  But somehow, every time she ahs a boyfriend who isn't a stalker, he abruptly disappears from her life.  With the help of her best friend and right-hand woman, Poppy, Fay decides to change the game and join an exclusive net dating app uder a false identity.  A subscriber named Oliver takes the bait.  But Oliver likes to play games too.  And only one of them can win.

This book was just okay.  It was a free read from Amazon and is a short story, and I don't think I could get into it well enough in these 58 pages.  The characters were just so so, as was the story.  

Stars: 3 

Book: 84 Charing Cross Road

 Book: 84 Charring Cross Road

Author: Helen Hanff

Pages: 112

This is my 26th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

This funny, poignant, classic love story unfolds through a series of letters between Helene Hanff, a freelance writer living in NYC, and a used-book dealer in London at 84, Charing Cross Road.  Through the years, though never meeting and separated both geographically and culturally, they share a sharming, sentimental friendship based on their common love for books.  Discover the relationship that has touched the hearts of thousands of readers around the world, and was the basis for a film.

This was a great little book.  A read it in a few hours because it is just letters, but what fun.  She was quick witted and generous and the bookshop sweet and caring.  The things she sent them over the years - especially as London struggled after the war (this was written in the late 40s) was remarkable.  All because this became her favorite books shop - 1000s of miles away - and in some way her favorite people.  Good little read.

Stars: 4.5

Book: Under Her Care

 Book: Under Her Care

Author: Lucinda Berry

Pages: 275

This is my 25th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

On a humid summer day in Alabama, a mayor's wife turns up brutally murdered under a railroad bridge.  Standing next to her body is 14 year old Mason Hill, the autistic son of former Miss USA Genevive Hill.  The locals are quick to level their verdict on young Mason: he did it.  The town detective calls in local autism expert Casey Walker to consult on the case.  At first, CAsey tries to keep an open mind.  But the more time she spends with genevieve, the more her unease grows, and she suspects that Genevieve is doing more than just protecting her son.  Casey's misgivings surrounding Genevieve's story only intensify when she meets Savannah, Genevieve's 19 year old daughter.  Savannah, as it turns out, has some disturbing secrets of her own.  But as Casey dives ever deeper into the Hill family dynamic, her search for the truth leads to another shocking murder - one that shatters her understanding of the human condition in ways she never imagined.

This wasn't a good book.  It was one of my monthly free reads from Amazon, and it fit a reading challenge category, so I read it.  I was hoping it would be a good mystery, but it wasn't well written and I didn't like any of the characters.  It started to redeem itself a bit in the middle, but then fell completely apart at the end.  The ending was really terrible - just.....ended.  No resolution.  Skip

Stars: 2