Book: The Calamity Club

 Book: The Calamity Club

Author: Kathryn Stockett

Pages: 656

This is my 226th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Oxford, Mississippi, 1933.  Abandoned by her mother one Cristmas Eve, 11 year old Meg Lefleur has learned the hard way to rely on no one.  Now one of the unadoptable "big girls" at the Lafayette County Orphan Asylum, she fights each day to keep her spirit unbowed.  Birdie Calhoun, unmarried and outspoken, has come to Oxford to ask her socialite sister to help the struggling family she's left behing.  But as the Depression tightens its grip, Birdie discovers her sister's seemingly charmed life is a tapestry of lies.  Then, Birdie encounters Charlie, a woman running low on luck with little left to lose.  When their fates - and Meg's converge, Charlie comes up with an audacious plan for them to take control of their lives.  But in a place and time where hypocrisy is rife and women's freedom is fragile, even the smallest act of defiance can have dangerous consequences. 

This was a great book.  I listened to it and the audiobook was wonderful.  The narrator did a terrific job.  I loved Meg's chapters the most.  The story flows well, and even though you can see where it is all leading, it s such a sweeping story that it doesn't really matter.  I knocked it a half of a star only because Birdie's sister was awful.  I wish the author would have backed it off just a bit or have Birdie actually get upset with her sister more.  

Stars: 4.5 

Book: A Forsaken Prophecy

 Book: A Forsaken Prophecy

Author: Stacey McEwan

Pages: 480

This is my 225th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

There is war in Belavere Trench.  Nina Harrow and Patrick Colson, the last to wield their magical mediums, are the key to winning that war.  Now prisoners of the ruling Artisans, they've left Patrick's Craftsman rebellion on its last legs.  Patrick might still love Nina, but her lies have gotten them here.  He will find a way out - even if it costs her dealy.  But when whispers of an ancient prophecy arise, they must form a tenuous alliance and race against their enimiest to uneart a secret linked to the very origin of magic.

Stars: 3

Book: Pumpkin Heads

 Book: Pumpkin Heads

Author: Rainbow Rowell

Pages: 224

This is my 224th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Deja and Josiah are seasonal best friends.  Every autumn, all through high school, they've worked together at the best pumpkin patch in the whole wide world.  They say good-bye every Halloween, and they're reunited every September 1.  But this Halloween is different - Josiah and Deja are finally seniors, and this is their last season at the pumpkin patch.  Their last shift together.  Their last good-bye.  Josiah's ready to spend the whole nigh feeling melancholy about it.  Deja isn't ready to let him.  She's got a plan: What if - instead of moping and the usual slinging lima beans down at the Succotash Hut - they went out with a bang?  They could see all the shights!  Taste all the snacks!  And Josiah could finally talk to that cute girl he's been mooning over for 3 years.  What if their last shift was an adventure?

Stars: 4

Book: The Back Bedroom

 Book: The Back Bedroom

Author: Gregg Olsen

Pages: 134

This is my 223rd read for the year

What Amazon Says:

In 1976, in the sealed back bedroom of a home in Washington state, authorities found the decomposing body of 3 year old Davey Weilbacher, beaten to death nearly 2 months prior.  Beyond that bedroom door was self-proclaimed prophet Leon Cunningham, who convinced his sheltered cult of family and friends - including Davey's lost young mother - that the boy was possessed by the Devil.  Exorcism was the only way to save him, leading to a ritualistic campaid of abuse, control, unimaginable violence, and murder.  Gregg Olsen delivers a meticulously researched account of religious manipulation, domestic terror, and one woman's 50 year journey to finally tell the truth about what happened behind closed doors in that modest little yellow ouse in Yakima.

This book was hard to read.  I picked up this book as a free read from Prime and I normally like a good non-fiction book.  But fair warning - this is about serious abuse of a child.  I did finish it, because it is short, but it was a tough read.  The writing is just so-so as well.

Stars: 3

Book: A Discovery of Witches

 Book: A Discovery of Witches

Author: Deborah Harkness

Pages: 579

This is my 222nd read for the year

What Amazon Says:

In this tale of passion and obsession, Diana Bishop, a young scholar and a descendant of witches, discovers a long-lost and enchanted alchemical manuscript, Ashmole 782, deep in Oxford's Bodleian Library.  Its reappearance summons a fantastical underworld, which she navigates with her leading man, vampire geneticist Mattew Clairmont.

Had a hard time getting through this one.  It started out interesting, then became a boring love story and went in 50 directions - none of them good.

Stars: 2 

Book: Scion

 Book: Scion

Author: James Islington

Pages: 240

This is my 221st read of the year

What Amazon Says:

My job, when you think about it, isn't so different from a lot of people's.  The more old-fashioned crowd do still get hung up on the "killing people" part of it, I guess, but that's a them problem: it's been perfectly legal to take out lifers for ages.  Besides, once ultrawealthy morons realised they had a way to live forever - limited resources be damned - there was only ever going to be one genuinely practical deterrent.  So, sure, I hae to deal with a ton of boring planning.  Inconvenient hours.  Some pretty awkward face-to-face interactions.  And like most of us, I'm really only clocking in to try to crawl out from beneath my debts.  But someone's got to do it.  Luckily, my genetic compatibilities make me really, really good at doing it.  Still.  This next job - I don't know.  It's something I haven't had a deal with in years.  Kind of the opposite of my regular duties.  Strange, that it got thrown my way.  I'm sure it'll all go totally fine though.

This was an interesting book.  Islington's Will of the Many book is one of my favorites.  He said he wrote this one for fun and didn't plan on publishing it, and it did feel like a side project.  It is short, and it is deep sci-fi with a humorous undertone that just slightly missed the mark.  It had some snicker worthy minutes, but for me - it just didn't quite work.  I am glad I read it though.

Stars: 3.5 

Book: The Last Chance Library

 Book: The Last Chance Library

Author: Freya Sampson

Pages: 336

This is my 220th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Lonely librarian June Jones has never left the sleepy English village where she grew up.  Shy and reclusive, the 30 year old would rather spend her time buried in books than venture out into the world.  But when her library is threatened with closure, June is forced to emerge from behind the shelves to save the heart of her community and the plaec that holds the dearest meories of her mother.  Joining a bnad of eccentric yet dedicated locals in a campaign to keep the library, June opens herself up to other people for the first time since her mother died.  It just so happens that her old school friend Alex Chen is back in town and willing to lend a helping hand.  The kindhearted lawyer's feelings for her are obvious to everyone but June, who won't believe that anyone could ever care for her in that way.  To save the place and the books that mean so much to her, June must finally make some changes to her life.  For once, she's determined not to go down without a fight.  And maybe, in fighting for her cherised library, June can save herself, too.

Book was just okay.  Dragged a bit.  I did not ever really like the June character.  Predictable

Stars: 2.5