Book: Moneychanger

 Book: Moneychanger

Author: Arthur Hailey

Pages: 400

This is my 250th book for the year

What Amazon says:

Ben Roselli, president of First Mercantile American Bank and grandson of the founder, makes the shocking announcement that he's dying.  With no offspring to inherit the company, Roselli knows that executive VPs Roscoe Heyward and Alex Vandervoort are the obvious candidates to succeed him.  Heyward, who has been with First Mercantile for 2 decades, will do whatever it takes to bring in new clients and win the coveted presidency.  Vandervoort, a newcomer from the Federal Reserve with a left-wing girlfriend, advocates for a socially responsible plan of growth.  And now the discovery of counterfeit case and credit card fraud threatens the future of the bank itself.  

This was a decent book.  Mat got it for me for Christmas because it was the 2nd most popular book in 1975 (the year I was born.  Last year he got me the most popular).  The writing was decent and the story intriguing.  It held my interest.  I would say the negative was that over explaining that occured in the book.  The writer over explained things that weren't that complicated and it made those sections skipable.  Otherwise, I enjoyed it.

Stars: 3

Book: Klaus (Graphic Novel)

 Book: Klaus (Graphic Novel)

Author: Grant Morrison

Pages: 202

This is my 249th read for the year

This is a fantastic adaptation of the Santa Claus tale. It is a story of how Klaus becomes Santa Claus but told in a story that is more for middle grade and above.  It is artistic and well written and I enjoyed this quick read.

Stars: 4

Book: Brick by Brick

 Book: Brick By Brick

Author: David Roberston

Pages: 336

This is my 248th of the year

What Amazon says:

As LEGO failed to keep pace with the revolutionary changes in kids' lives and began sliding into irrelevance, the company's leaders implemented some of the business world's most widely espoused prescriptions for boosting innovation.  Ironically, these changes pushed the iconic toymaker to the bring of bankruptcy, showing that what works in theory can fail spectacularly in the brutally competitive global economy.  It took a new LEGO management team - faced with the growing rage for electronic toys, few barrier to entry, and ultra-demanding consumers (10 year old boys) to reinvent the innovation rule book and transform LEGO into one of the word's most profitable, fastest-growing companies.

This was a very interesting book.  It starts with the beginning of lego and how its business model changed as their original buyers changed and also as electronics started to take the place of general play.  They are an exceptional company that tries to stay true to their original motto to help children create and explore.  The book is well researched and well written and it held my interest from begininng to end. We actually visited the original Legoland in Denmark for Cainan's birthday when we lived in Europe and it is an incredible place.  

Stars: 4

Book: The Invisible Man

 Book: The Invisible Man

Author: HG Wells

Pages: 167

This is my 247th read for the year

What Amazon says:

A curious man, wearing a long coat, a wide-brimmed hat, and whose face is entirely swathed in bandages save for an obvious fake pink nose, walks into an English inn to the shock and horror of many of the townspeople.  Beakers and chemicals in tow, the man demands his solitude.  It's strange enough as it is until his money begins to run out and mysterious burglaries occur all over town.  This tale chronicles the antagonistic interaction between the citizens of a small town and a man who had discovered how to turn himself invible.

This was a pretty good book.  It has been on my shelf forever and I kept passing it up.  I listened to it while doing a big project today and it was a quick and easy listen.  I liked the story and there is good character development even in these short pages.  HG is a good writer and I am glad I finally got around to this one.

Stars: 4

Book: Gwendy's Final Task

 Book: Gwendy's Final Task

Author: Stephn King and Richard Chizmar

Pages: 412

This is my 246th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

When Gwendy Peterson was 12, a mysterious stranger named Richard Farris gave her a mysterious box for safekeeping.  It offered treats and vintage coins, but it was dangerous.  Pushing any of its seven colors buttonspromised deather and destruction.  Years later, the botton box entered Gwendy's life again.  A successful novelist and a rising political star, she was once again forced to deal with the temptation that box represented.  Now, evil forces seek to possess the button box and it is up to Senator Gwendy Peterson to keep it from them.  At all costs.  But where can you hide something from such powerful entities?  In this final installment we go from Castle Rock to another famous cursed Main city to the MF-1 space station, where Gwendy must execute a secret mission to save the world.

I liked this book.  It was a good wrap up to the triology.  Gwendy remains a likable character.  The story flowed pretty well and the characters are well developed as in the other two.  I listened to this one and couldn't quite get into it like the others.  This one was written in the heat of the pandemic when tensions were high and King started to get more political in his books.  While he and I align in feelings, I do wish he would leave it out of his books.  Or at least make it less a part of his stories.  It did make me like this book a litlte less because it distracted too much from the main story and wrapping up Gwendy's mission.  However, I am glad I read it and finished the series.

Stars: 3

Book: Gwendy's Magic Feather

 Book: Gwendy's Magic Feather

Author: Stephen King and Richard Chizmar

Pages: 333

This is my 245th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Something evil has swept into the small western Maine town of Castle Rock on the heels of the latest winter storm.  Sheriff Norris Ridgewick and his team are desperarly searching for two missing girls, but time is running out to bring them home alive.  In Washington DC, 37 year old Gwendy Peterson couldn't be more different from the self-conscious teenaged girl who once spent a summer running up Castle Rock's Suicide Stairs.  That same summer, she was entrusted or some might say cursed with the extraordinary button box by Richard Farris, the mysterious stranger in the black suit.  The seductive and powerful box offered Gwendy small gifts in exchange for its care and feeding until Farris eventually returned, promising Gwendy she'd never see the box again.  One day the botton box shows up without warning and without Richard Farris to explain why, or what she's supposed to do with it.  The mysterious reappearance of the box, along with the troubling disappearance in Castle Rock, leads Gwendy home again - where she just might be able to help rescue the missing girls and stop a madman before he does something ghastly.  

This was another good novel in the Gwendy Trilogy.  I liked it just as much as the first.  There is good character developement and the story flows nicely.  This was another quick read.  Gwendy has jumped forward in time and is now a Senator.  She is married ad has come back into town around Christmas to visit her parents while her husband is away on business. Gwendy continues to be a very likable character.

Stars: 4

Book: Gwendy's Button Box

 Book: Gwendy's Button Box

Author: Stephen King

Pages: 170

This is the 244th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

The little town of Castle Rock, Maine has witnessed some strange events and unusual visitors over the years, but there is one sotry that has never been told - until now.  There are three ways up to Caste View from the town of Castle Rock: Route 117, Pleasant Rd, and the Suicide Stairs.  Every day in the summer of 1974, 12 year old Gwendy Peterson has taken the stairs, which are held by strong iron bolts and zig-zag up the cliffside.  At the top of the stairs, Gwendy catches her breath and listens to the shouts of the kids on the playground.  From a bit farther away comes the chink of an aluminum bat hitting a baseball as the Senior League kids practice for the Labor Day charity game.  One day, a stranger calls to Gwendy: "Hey girl.  Come on over here for a bit.  We ought to palaver, you and me"  On a bench in the shade sits a man in black jeans, black coat, and a white shirt.  On his head is a small black hat.  The time will come when Gwendy has nightmares about that hat.

This was a really good book.  It is very short and I listened to it while working around the house in a few short hours.  The story is engaging and easy to follow.  I liked Gwendy.  The mysterious man

(yet another King bad guy with the initials "RF") gives Gwendy this box that gives her a lot of luck and a few powers and Gwendy starts to use the box less and less feeling that she doesn't need it to be happy.  I was curious about where it was going.  This is the first book in a trilogy, so of course it ended on a cliff hanger.  Looking forward to checking out the next two.

Stars: 4

Book: All The Colors of the Dark

Book: All The Colors of the Dark

Author: Chris Whitaker

Pages: 608

This is my 243rd read for the year

What Amazon says:

1975 is a time of change in America.  The Vietnam War is ending.  Muhammad Ali is fighting Joe Frazier.  And in a small town of Monta Clare, Missouri, girls are disappearing.  When the daughter of a wealthy family is targeted, the most unlikely hero emerges - Patch, a local boy, who save the girl, and in doing so, leaves heartache in his wake.  Patch and those who love him soon discover that the line between triumph and tragedy has never been finer.  And that their search for answers will lead them to truths that could mean losing one another. 

This was an incredible book.  I had been putting it off because it has been hyped pretty much everywhere and usually those books turn out to be something I don't like.  But not this time.  I found it available at my library and decided to give it a try and glad I did.  It had me hooked right from the begining.  The little mysteries in several chapters force you to keep turning, keep looking for where the story was going, and will propell you through the pages.  This is a monstorous book.  But it doesn't feel like it with the writing style and short chapters.  It covers a large amount of years of the main characters (Patch and Saint) and how they keep finding each other even as their lives take different paths.  I do love long timeline books, so that was a win.  The language is flowery, but it doesn't distract from the story.  Characters are well developed.  Good ending.  Glad I gave in and read this one.

Stars: 5

Book: Triptych a Will Trent Novel

 Book: Triptych a Will Trent Novel

Author: Karen Slaughter

Pages: 480

This is my 242nd read for the year

What Amazon says:

From Atlanta's wealthiest suburbs to its stark inner-city housing projects, a killer has crossed the boundaries of wealth and race.  And the people who are chasing him must cross those boundaries, too.  Among them is Michael Ornewood, a veteran detective whose marraige is hanging by a thread - and whose arrogance and explosive temper are threatening his career.  And Angie Polaski, a beautiful vice cop who was once Michael's lover before she became his enemy.  But unbeknownst to both of them, another player has entered the game: a loser ex-con who has stumbled upon the killer's trail in the most coincidental of ways - and who may be the key to breaking the key to breaking the case wide open.

This was an interesting enough book.  I watch the Will Trent series on TV, so when I learned it was from a book, I looked it up.  This is the first in the series, and it was fine.  I found a lot of similarities to the show, except the Michael carracter.  The TV show went a very different way with him.  The book spends a lot of time with the ex-con and at first I didn't know where she was going with so much story where he was the main focus, but then it made sense.  Will isn't in this book as much as I would have expected since he is supposed to be a main character.  Overall, though, a good read.

Stars: 3

Book: The Caligrapher's Daughter

 Book: The Caligrapher's Daughter

Author: Eugenia Kim

Pages: 396

This is my 241st read for the year

What Amazon says:

In early 20th century Korea, Najin Han, the privileged daughter of a calligrapher, longs to choose her own desitny.  But her country is in tumult under Japan's harsh occupation, and her family's traditions, entitlements, and wealth crumble.  Narrowly escaping an arranged marriage, Najin becomes a companion to a young princess, until Korea's last king is assassinated, and the centuries-old dynastic culture comes to its end.  Najin pursues a coveted education and is surprised to find love.  After one day of marriage, a denied passport separates her from her new husband, who journeys alone to America.  As a decade passes and the world descends into war, Najin loses touch with her husband.  Will the love they share be enough to sustain her through the deprivation her country continues to endure?

This was a pretty good book.  I listened to it and the narrator was a good one.  The story flowed nicely from when Najin was a little girl all the way into her adulthood.  The main characters are well developed.  I enjoy a story that follows one person through most of their life to see how they evolve and change with the times.  I will say I found it a bit unrealistic that she being separated from her husband for 10 plus years would lead to them having a quick reunion and fall right back into a routine of being together.  But overall - a good tale.

Stars: 4

Book:A Month of Sundays

 Book: A Month of Sundays

Author: Julie Mars

Pages: 208

This is my 240th read for the year

What Amazon says:

This book is about the seven months that the author spent as her dying sister's primary caretaker, and after her sister died, the 31 houses of worship that she visited in 31 weeks in her hope of finding an outlet of her grief and getting some answers to spiritual questions.  Her houses of worship include traditional churches, mosques, temples, Buddhist, Zen, Spirtualist, Scientology, Salvation Army and so forth.

This was a pretty good book.  I found this by accident and I am glad I did.  I think it is well written, and I loved how the author weaved her visits to different houses of worship with the story of her sister.  She and her sister were very far apart in age - her sister being more of a parent figure than a sibling.  The author always looked up to her sister so when she is diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and given just a few months to live, Julie drops everything to care for her.  After her sister dies, Julie looks for her and looks for closure as she tries to find the faith that her sister had at the end of her life.  Good book.

Stars: 4

Book: Black House

 Book: Black House

Author: Stephen King and Peter Straub

Pages: 672

This is my 239th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

20 years ago, a boy named Jack Sawyer traveled to a parallel universe called the Territories to save his mother and her Territories" Twinner" from an agonizing death that would have brought cataclysm to the other world.  Now Jack is retired LA homicide detective living in the nearly nonexistent hamlet of Tamarack, Wisconsin.  He has no recollection of his adventures in the Territories, and was compelled to leave the police force when an odd, happenstance event threatened to awake those memories.  When a series of gruesome murders occur in western Wisconsin that are reminiscent of those committed several decades ago by a madman named Albert fish, the killer is dubbed "the Fishman" and Jack's buddy, the local chief of police, begs Jack to help the inexperienced force find him.  But are these new kilings merely the work of a disturbed individual, or has a mysterious and malignant force been unleashed in this quiet town?  What causes Jack's inexplicable waking dreams of robin's eggs and red feathers?  It's almost as if someone is trying to tell him something.  As this cryptic message becomes increasingly impossible to ignore, Jack is drawn back to the Territories and to his own hidden past, where he may find the soul-strength to enter a terrifying house at the end of a deserted tract of forest, there to encoutner the obscene and ferocious evils sheltered within it.

This books was fine.  It is the second book (and last) in the Talisman duology.  I listened to it and it passed the time, but I did forget that it was the second book in the Talisman which I really didn't like.  I got through it, but it was a bit of a trudge.  I do like the narrator he chose for this series - that helped.  The Black House is actually a very small part of this book - it was very confusing.  It is a bit rambly and I had a hard time caring about the characters.  I have found that books that have more than one author don't work for me.  

Stras: 3

Book: Flatlands

 Book: Flatlands

Author: Sue Hubbard

Pages: 272

This is my 238th read for the year

What Amazon says:

Freda is a 12 year old evacuee from East London, who has been sent away at the start of the war, leaving behind everything familiar to her, to escape the expected German bombing.  In her new temporary home in Lincolnshire, Freda finds herself billeted with a strange, cold and ultimately abusive couple, whose lives mirror the barren landscape in which they live a hand to mouth existence, based upon subsistence farming and poaching.  There, deprived of any warmth, she meets a young man - Philip Rhayader - a conscientious objector who has left Oxford and his prospective vcation in the church following a nervous breakdown.  Together they explore the wild, beautiful landscape of the Wash, teeming with migrating birds, and nurse an injured goose back to health.  As they do so, Philip introduces Freda to the wonders of the natural world and its enduring power to heal.

This was a pretty good book.  It was an easy read and flowed well.  Freda and Philip are very likable characters.  The book is written as a journal that Freda is writing as an old woman accounting for her time during the war.  The situation with Freda and her time with her billeted family is hard to read.  

Stars: 4

Book: The Search for Mother Missing

 Book: The Search for Mother Missing

Author: Janine Vance

Pages: 184

This is my 237th read for the year

What Amazon says:

Travel for fun with the Vance Twins during their very first trip to Seoul, South Korea.  The adventure takes place 20 years ago during what Janine calls "the dark ages" before social media, worldwide investigations into adoption agencies.  This vacation covers a very short span of 2 weeks in 2004 while the twins attended an adoption conference for the first time and learn that other Korean adoptees and parents have valid complaints and curiositites yet to be addressed by the authorities of the day in the field of International adoption.

This book was really terrible.  It is so poorly written.  Very juvenile.  A lot of exclamation points.  It was all over the place with message.  It seemed to be mostly them having fun on vacation instead of delving into their want to find their birth parents in Korea.  It was bad from beginning to end - skimmable at best - and I should have just quit reading it.  

Stars: 1

Book: The Carols of Christmas

 Book: The Carols of Christmas

Author: Andrew Gant

Pages: 224

This is my 236th read for the year

What Amazon says:

Everyone loves a carol.  In the end, even Ebenezer Scrooge had a soft spot for them!  They have the power to evoke a special type of mid-winter joy, like the aroma of gingerbread of the twinkle of lights on a tree.  It's a kind of magic.  But how did they get that magic?  The author tells the story of twenty carols, each accompanied by lyrics and music, unraveling a captivating and often surprsing tale of great musicians and thinkers, saints and pagans, shepherds and choirboys.  Along the way, Gant answers some of the biggest questions he's received about these beloved carols over the years, including: How did the most beloved carols come to be?  Why do we sing the versions of carols that we do?  How do these carols stand the test of time?  You get to delve into the history of favorites discovering how "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" came to replace "Hark how all the welkin ring" and how an English folk song about a dead ox and a poem by an American pilgrim became "O Little Town of Bethlehem".

This was a pretty interesting book.  I grew up like most people singing Christmas songs in church and school and in the car while shopping.  Learning where a lot of them originated from was quite surprising.  Told with good research and a bit of humor, and at times can get a little technical with musical information.  Overall a good read and I learned that a lot of these songs have nothing to do with Christmas at all (from their origins).  Good read.

Stars: 4

Book: Finding Christmas

 Book: Finding Christmas

Author: Karen Schaler

Pages: 384

This is my 235th read for the year

What Amazon says:

This year, she can't wait to share her favorite Christmas traditions with her boyfriend, Grant.  She thinks he's "the one".  So when Grant's hectic work schedule has him more "Bah Humbug" than "Ho Ho Ho" Emmie creates a holiday-themed scavenger hunt to help him find his Christmas spirit.  At the end of the journey, Grant will arrive at the charmingtown of Christmas Point where she's planned a remoantic weekend filled with holiday activities.  But Emmie's plan backfires when a mix-up has the wrong guy following her clues.  Sam, a best-selling mystery writer, thinks Emmie's clever Christmas riddles are from his agent, who is trying to help him get over his writer's block.  When he arrives at Christmas Point and finds Emmie, he immediately feels she's someone special, but she cannot see beyond the fact that the wrong guy showed up.  When Grant finally shows up, Emmie is disappointed to discover he's not enjoying the activities she planned and can't help but wonder if he is really the one for her.  She also cannot get Sam out of her mind.

No one who knows me will be surprised that I thought this book was bad.  Why did I read it?  For a Holiday challenge I am doing for a friend.  I tried to find something for this last category, but gave up and decided to suck it up for a rom/com Hallmark channel type book.  But this one was just poorly written.  Of course you know what is going to happen right from the beginning - that is expected and not the problem.  The problem was the juvenile story.  Emmie is a dumb character.  And extremely whiny.  They make Grant out to be horrible because he has to work so much and doesn't love Christmas to the impossible level Emmie does.  The over use of the word Christmas and Perfect was astonishing.  I think either word was in every other sentence.  There was so much laughing at the dumbest stuff.  I don't know - just overall bad.

Stars: 2

Book: You Better Watch Out

 Book: You Better Watch Out

Author: James Murray

Pages: 240

This is my 234th read for the year

Amazon says:

48 hours until Christmas, Jessica Kane wakes up with blurred vision, ears ringing, and in excruciating pain.  A gash in her head and blood running down her face, the last thing she remembers is goingfor a run and something or someone hitting her in the head.  It doesn't take her long to realize she is trapped in an unknown, deserted town with five other stragers who share similar stories of being attacked and stranded there.  unsure why and how they got there, she knows one thing for certain, she has to find a way out.  That becomes nearly impossible when someone is meticulously orchestrating their deaths, one by one, and the only thing Jessica can do is watch the life leave their eyes.  The fenced-in town is the killer's very own playground and there's nowhere life to hide.

This book was fine.  I read it for a holiday challenge and it fit the category.  It is a short book and I finished it pretty quickly.  Easy read.  I have to admit I didn't see the killer coming for quite a while, so that was a plus.  There is a lot of gore - doesn't bother me.  The ending was just okay.  They left it on a bit of a cliff hanger, so maybe there is going to be a second one?  Who knows.

Stars: 3

Book: Letters from Father Christmas

 Book: Letters From Father Christmas

Author: JRR Tolkien

Pages: 208

This is my 233rd read for the year

What Amazon says:

Ever December, an envelope bearing a stamp from the North Pole would arrive for JRR Tolkien's children.  Inside would be a letter in strange spidery handwriting and a beautiful colored drawing or some sketches.  The letters were from Father Christmas.  They told wonderful tales of life at the North Pole: how all the reindeer got loos and scattered presents all over the place; how the accident-prone Polar Bear climbed the North Pole and fell through the roof of Father Christmas's house into the dining room; how he broke the Moon into four pieces and made the Man in it fall into the back gardn.  Sometimes the Polar Bear would scrawl a note, and something Ilbereth the Elf would write in his elegant flowing script, adding yet more life and humor to the stories. 

This was a great children's book!  It is well written, of course (I would expect nothing less), and the artwork he drew for his children was amazing.  What a wonderful treasure for his children as they grew up.  These letters and pictures were kept and then made into this book after his death be his family and his foundation.  Glad I found this one.

Stars: 5

The Knowledge Gap

 Book: The Knowlege Gap

Author: Natalie Wexler

Pages: 352

This is my 232nd read for the year

What Amazon says:

It was only after years within the education reform movement that Natalie stumbled across a hidden explanation for our country's frustrating lack of progress when it comesto providing every child with a quality education.  The problem wasn't one of the usual scapegoats: lazy teachers, shoddy facilites, lack of accountability.  It was something no one was taking about: the elementary school curriculum's intense focus on decontextualized reading comprehension "skills" at the expense of actual knowledge.  Welxer brings together history, research, and compelling characters to pull back the curtain on this fundamental flaw in our education system.  It follows innovative educators who are in the process of shedding their deeply ingrained habits, and describes the rewards that have come along: students who are not only excited to learn but are also acquiring the knowledge and vocabulary that will enable them to succeed.  

This was an interesting book.  I learned a lot from Natalie's research and talking with teachers who are in the classrooms of these elementary schools everyday.  How high schools are seeing widening gaps because the problem lies in the younger kids and the way they are learning.  I did find the content a little dry though.  It didn't hold my attention as well as I was hoping. Also I wish she would have broaden her reach as far as who she met with and talked to.  This is a vast country with vastly different education systems and it would have been nice to see a bigger picture.

Stars: 3.5

Book: In The Company of Witches

 Book: In The Company of Witches

Author: Auralee Wallace

Pages: 336

This is the 231st read for the year

What Amazon says:

For 400 years, the Warren witches have used their magic to quietly help the citizens of the sleepy New England town of Evenfall thrive.  There's never been a problem they couldn't handle.  But then Constance Graves - a local known for being argumentative and demanding - dies while staying at the bed and breakfast Brynn Warren maintains with her aunts.  At first, it seems like an accident....but it soon becomes clear that there's something more sinister at work, and Aunt Nora is shaping up to be the prime suspect.  There's nothing Brynn wants more than to prove Nora's innocence, and it hurts her to know that even two years ago that might have been easier.  Brynn, after all, is a witch of the dea - a witch who can commune with ghosts.  Ghosts never remember much about their deaths, but Constance might remember something about her life that would help crack the case.  But Bryn hasn't used her powers since her husband died, and isn't even sure she still can.  Brynn will just have to hope that her aunts magic and her own investigative skills will lead her to answers - and maybe back to the gift she once thought herself ready to give up forever.

This was a pretty good book.  I listened to it, and it is narrated well.  The story is easy to follow and the characters likeable (the ones that are supposed to be likeable).  It is a cozy mystery where the mystery was good and kept you guessing on where it was going.  Good side characters.  Could picture the town and its people.  The main character, Brynn, is loveable.  Good ending.

Stars: 4

Book: Everyone This Christmas Has a Secret

 Book: Everyone This Christmas Has a Secret

Author: Benjamin Stevenson

Pages: 192

This is my 230th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

My name's Ernest Cunningham.  I used to be a fan of freading Golden Age murder mysteries, until I found myself with a haphazard career getting stuck in the middle of real-life ones.  I'd hoped, this Christmas, that any self-respecting murderer would kick their feet up and take it easy over the holidays.  I was wrong.  So here I am, backstage at the show of world-famous magician Rylan Blaze, whose benefactor has just been murdered.  My suspects are all professional tricksters: masters of the art of misdirection.  The magician, the assistant, the executive, the hypnotist, the identical twin, the counselor, the tech.  My clues are even more abstract: a suspect covered in blood, without a memory of how it got there.  A murder committed without setting foot inside the room where it happens.  And an advent calendar.  Because, you know, it's Christmas.  It I can see through the illusions, i know I can solve it.  After all, a good murder is just like a magic trick, isn't it?

This was a good book.  This is the third installment in the Ernest Cunningham series, and it did not disappoint.  I liked the characters, and even though it was a quick read, there was a lot of content in those pages.  The mystery is well developed.  I did figure it out pretty early on who it was, but it didn't take away from the story.  These books are humorous, and I like the writting style - that Ernest is the writer of this book and he is telling us the story of the murder.  Very clever.  

Stars: 4.5

Book: The Chritmas Tree

 Book: The Christmas Tree

Author: Julie Salamon

Pages: 134

This is my 229th read for the year

What Amazon says:

On his annual search for Rockefeller Center's next Christmas tree, the chief gardener spots an ideal candidate: a stately Norway spruce located on the grounds of a convent.  There he meets Sister Anthony, a nun for whom the tree has special meaning.  Orphaned and sent to the convent as a lonely young girl, Sister Anthony befriended the then tiny spruce whom she lovingly named "Tree".  Over the following decades, as the tree grew, so did Sister Anthony's appreciation for the beauty and wonder of nature.  She is reluctant to see her oldest and closest friend chopped down and sent to NYC.  But when a fierce blizard threatens the old tree's existence, Sister Anthony realizes it's time to let the world enjoy Tree as she did for nearly her whole life.

This was a great little book.  It is very short and an easy read - read it in a few hours - but I am glad I did.  I liked the story and the message, and it was a good choice for the holiday season.

Stars: 4

Book: A Grim Reaper's Guide to Catching A Killer

 Book: A Grim Reaper's Guide to Catching a Killer

Author: Maxie Dara

Pages: 352

This is my 228th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Murder is not her department.  It's not like it used to be.  Modern-day grim-reapers wear business casual, not black cloaks, and they don't carry scythes, they work for S.C.Y.T.H.E. (secure collection, yielding, and transportation of human essences), where the Department of Natural Causes is the least exciting gig.  And that's how Kathy Valence likes it: Boring and predictable.  She has enough stress in her personal life; she's mid-divorce, pregnant, and terrified she doesn't have what it takes to be a good mom.  Then she goes to pick up a new client and finds his soul is missing.  When she finally tracks down Conner Ortiz, he angrily insists he was murdered, and he refuses to move on until Kathy finds out why and by whom.  Kathy only has 45 days to solve the mystery before the boy's soul is doomed to raom te earth as a ghost forever.  To do that she'll have to call on the help of her retired mentor, her almost ex-husband - and invonveniently, Conner himself.  This is the wildest case of her career - and on wrong move could cost Kathy her job, not to mention her life.

This was an interesting book.  The characters are pretty well developed - I really liked Kathy's ex-husband.  Conner took some getting used to.  He is written with a really foul mouth, but he eventually tapers off, and then got to be a much better character.  Kathy was a good character - but I didn't like her as much as I wanted to.  The way she treated her ex-husband never really made sense - he was written as the nicest guy.  But she was quirky and fun on many occasions which redeemed her some.  I liked the ending. It is a bit of a cozy mystery and I am glad I read this one.

Stars: 4

Book: Krampus

Book: Krampus

Author: Brom

Pages: 368

This is my 227th read for the year

What Amazon says:

Set in Appalachia, this is a twisted fairytale about a failed West Virginia songwriter who gets ensnared on Christmas Eve in an eternal war between anot-so-saintly Saint Nick and his dark enemy Krampus, an ancient trickster demon.  Krampus has been imprisoned by Saint Nick for 500 years and Saint Nick stole his magical sack.  Jesse, the songwriter, finds the sack and upon discovering what it does leads him on a path he never expected to try and save his ex-wife and daughter from some bad people.

This was a pretty good book.  I liked the inclusion of a bit of Norse Mythology along with the story of Krampus.  It is well written and the characters were well developed.  Most of the story was about Jesse and trying to get his wife and daughter back with the battle of Krampus and Saint Nick as a second story.  I liked how it ended - thought it wrapped up well.

check this one out.

Stars: 4

 

Book: The Night watchman

 Book: The Night Watchman

Author: Louise Erdrich

Pages: 464

This is my 226th read for the year

What Amazon says:

Thomas Wazhashk is the night watchman at the jewel bearing plant, the first factory located near the Turtle Mountain Reservation in rural North Dakota.  He is also a Chippewa Council member who is trying to understand the consequences of a new "emancipation" bill on its way to the floor of the US Congress.  It is 1953 and he and the other council members know the bill isn't about reedom; Congress is fed up with Indians.  The bill is a "termination" that threatens the rights of Native Americans to their land and their very identity.  How can the government abandon treaties made in good faith with Native Americans "for as long as the grasses shall grow, and the rivers run"? Since graduatin high school, Pixie Paranteau has insisted that everyone call her Patrice.  Unlike most of the girls on the reservation, Patrice, the class valedictorian, has no desire to hear herself down with a husband and kids.  She makes jewel bearing at the plant, a job that barely pays her enough to suppoer her mother and brother.  Patrice's shameful alcoholic father returns home sporadically to terroize his wife and childre.  But Patrice needs every penny to follow her beloved older sister, Vera, who moved to Minneapolis.  Very may have disappeared, and is rumored to have had a baby.  Determined to find Vera and her child, Patrice makes a fateful trip to Minnesota that introduces her to exploitation and violence, and endangers her life.  Thomas and Patrice live in this impoverished reservation community along with young Chippewa boxer Wood Mountain and his mother Juggie Blue, her niece and Patrice's best friend Valentine, and Stack Barnes, a white high school math teacher who is in love with Patrice.  

This book is hard to review.  Overall I think the story was good.  But it takes a lot of concentration to follow this book.  It is all over the place as far as tying all of these characters and stories together.  I am not sure why the author just didn't tell the story of Thomas - who is based on her own grandfather.  There are a zillion characters.  A lot of minor characters have storylines.  Lots of rambling and loss of relevance made it just not an overall enjoyable read for me.  Trying to piece out what she was talking about took too much work.

Stars: 3

Book: Sheltering Rain

 Book: Sheltering Rain

Author: Jojo Moyes

Pages: 450

This is my 225th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Estranged from her mother since she ran away from her rural Irish home as a young woman, Kate swore a future oath that she'd always be a friend to her daughter, Sabine.  But history has a way or repeating itself, and Kate now faces an ever-widening chasm between herself and her daughter.  With Sabine about to make her own journey to Ireland to see the grandmother Kate abandoned, Kate is left wondering how they ever made it here, and what she can do to close the gap between them.  For Joy, seeing her granddaughter is a dream come true.  After the painful separation from Kate, she's looking forward to having time wiht Sabine.  Yet almost as soon as the young woman arrives, the lack of common ground between them deflates her enthusiasm.  And when SAbine's impetuous, inquisitive nature forces Joy to face long-buried secrets from her past, she realizes that perhaps it's time to finally heal old wounds.

This was not a good book.  I think I read that this was her first one, or one of her first, so I will give it a pass if that is the case.  I did not like any of the characters.  The three main women characters were the worst.  It isn't well written, and it was so up and down with love/hate that I just lost interest.  In the end I didn't care what happened to them and good thing because the ending wasn't good either.

Stars: 2

Book: We Are The Brennans

 Book: We Are The Brennans

Author: Tracey Lange

Pages: 288

This is my 224th read for the year

What Amazon says:

When 29 year old Sunday Brennan wakes up in a Los Angeles hospital, bruised and battered after a drunk driving accident she caused, she swallows her pride and goes home to her family in NY.  But it's not easy.  She deserted them all - and her high school sweetheart - five years before with little explanation, and they've got questions.  Sunday is determined to rebuild her life back on the east coast, even if it does mean tiptoeing around resentful brothers and an ex-fiance.  The longer she stays, however, the more she realizes they need her just as much as she needs them.  When a dangerous man from her past brings her family's pub business to the brink of financial ruin, the only way to protect them is to upend all their secrets - secrets that have damaged the family for generations and will threaten everything they know about their lives.  In the aftermath, the Brennan family is forced to confront painful mistakes - and ultimately find a way forward, together.

This book was okay.  The characters are fine - I really didn't like Sunday.  The story is a build toward a big secret she has, and in the end, they set it up to be much bigger than it was.  Don't get me wrong- it was terrible.  But it wasn't what I was expecting.  I also didn't like the ending.

Stars: 3

Book: Scary Stories to Tell In The Dark

 Book: Scary Stories to Tell In The Dark

Author: Alvin Schwartz

Pages: 368

This is my 223rd read for the year

This is a collection of short stories for grades 3-7.  The stories are short and of course, not scary for an adult, but I enjoyed the book all the same.  I heard a few that I heard as a child myself which was neat.  I read it for a reading challenge, and it was a quick read that I read in an afternoon.

Stars: 4

The Eyre Affair: A Thursday Next Novel

 The Eyre Affair: A Thursday Next Novel

Author: Jasper Fforde

Pages: 400

This is my 222nd read for the year

Amazon says:

Meet Thursday Next, "part Bridget Jones, part Nancy Drew, and part Dirty Harry", a literary detective without equal, fear, or boyfriend - and welcome to a surreal version of Great Britain, circa 1985, where time travel is routine, cloning is a reality, and literature is taken very, very seriously.  England is a virtual polic state where an aunt can get lost (literally) in a Wadsworth poem, militant Baconians heckle performances of Hamlet, and forging Byronic verse is a punishable offense.  All this is business as usual for Thursday, renowned Special Operative in literary detection, until someone begins kidnapping characters from works of literature.  When Jane Eyre is plucked from the pages of Bronte's novel, Thursday must track down the villain and enter a novel herself to avert a heinous act of literary homicide.

This was a very intersting book.  It is not an easy read.  If you can buckle down and focus, it is a fun book.  There is humor in between the chase with a lot of funny named characters (Thursday Next is our main character) thrown in the mix.  This is a world where a criminal master mind that hold a world hostage through literature.  It is a very interesting read and while I don't think I will be continuing the series at this time due to the task it is to read it, I am glad I tried this one.

Stars: 4

Book: Revival

 Book: Revival

Author: Stephen King

Pages: 416

This is my 221st read for the year

What Amazon Says:

In a small New England town, over half a century ago, a shadow falls over a small boy playing with his toy soldiers.  Jamie Morton looks up to see a striking man, the new minister.  Charles Jacobs, along with his beautiful wife, will transform the local church.  The men and boys are all a bit in love with Mrs. Jacobs; the women and girls feel the same about Reverend Jacobs - including Jamie's mother and beloed sister, Claire.  With Jamie, the Reverend shares a deeper bond based on a secret obsession.  When tragedy strikes the Jacobs family, this charismatic preacher curses God, mocks all religious belief, and us banished from the shocked town.  Jamie has demons of his own.  Wed to his guitar from the age of thirteen, he plays in bands across the country, living the nomadic lifestyle of bar-band rock an roll while fleeing from his family's horrific loss.  In his mid-thirties - addicted to heroin, stranded, desperate - Jamie meets Charles Jacobs again, with proound consequences for both men.  Thier  bond becomes a pact beyond even the Devil's devising, and Jamie dscovers that rivival has many meanings.

This book was okay.  I had a really hard time getting into it and staying interested in where the story was going.  It felt disconncted and it rambled.  It has a slow and steady start but the climax and ending fell flat for me.  The whole build up of the book was less than 20 pages in the end and I was left wanting more.

Stars: 2.5