Book: The Fables of Erkling Wood

 Book: The Fables of Erkling Wood

Author: Juni Ba

Pages: 184 pages

This is my 152nd read for the year

What Amazon says:

Century-spanning epic, exploring the intertwined lives and fates of the denizens of Erlking Wood, the many peoples, critters, and demigods that call it home, and the shodowy figre of the Erlking himself and ancient entity who haunts the woods and is known to strike bargains with any brave enough to dare approach him, offering them their hearts' desire - but at a great cost.

This book was not well written.  It was strange and I couldn't get into it.

Stars: 2 

Book: The Warmth of Other Suns

 Book: The Warmth of Other Suns

Author: Isabel Wilkerson

Pages: 640

This is my 151st read for the year

What Amazon Says:

In this beautifully written masterwork, Pulitzer-Prize winning author Isabel Wilkerson presents a definitive and dramatic account of one of the great untold stories of American history: The Great Migration of 6 million Black citizens who fled the South for the North and West in search of a better life, from WWI to 1970.  Wilkerson tells this interwoven story through the lives of three unforgettable protagonists: Ida Mae Gladney, a sharecropper's wife, who is 1937 fled Mississippi for Chicago; sharp and quick-tempered George Starling, who is 1945 fled Florida for Harlem, and Robert Foster, a surgeon who left Louisiana in 1953 in hopes of making it in California.  Wilkerson brilliantly captures their first treacherous cross-country journeys by car and train and their new lives in colonies in the New World.  

This was an excellent book.  It was captivating from beginining to end.  It is well written, and I love that she followed a few people for may years (into the 2000s).  I learned a lot, and am glad I read it.

Stars: 5

Book: The Secret Book and Scone Society

 Book: The Secret Book and Scone Society

Author: Eller Adams

Pages: 322

This is my 150th read for the year

What Amazon says:

Strangers flock to Miracle Springs hoping the natural hot springs, 5 star cuisine, and renowned spa can cure their ills.  If none of that work, they often find their way to Miracle Books, where, over a fresh-baked "comfort" scone, they exchange their stories with owner Nora Pennington in return for a carefully chosen book.  That's Nora's special talent - prescribing the perfect nove to ease a person's deepest pain.  So when a visiting businessman reaches out for guidance, Nora knows exactly how to help.  But before he can keep their appointment, he's found dead on the train tracks.  Stunned, Nora forms the Secret Book and Scone Society, a group of damaged souls yearning to earn redemption by helping others.  To join, members must divulge their darkest secet - the terrible truth that brought each of them to Miracle Springs in the first place.  Now, determined to uncover the truth behind the businessman's demise, the women meet in Nora's cozy bookstore.  And as they untangle a web of corruption, they also discover their own courage, purpose, and a sisterhood that will carry them through every challenge - proving it's never too late to turn the page and start over.

This was a pretty good book.  I liked the characters, and the cozy feel to the whole story.  Good overall story and well written.  Enjoyed.

Stars: 4

Book: The Spectacular

 Book: The Spectacular

Author: Fiona Davis

Pages: 400

This is my 149th read for the year

What Amazon Say:

NYC 1956: 19 year old Marion Brooks knows she should be happy.  Her high school sweetheart is about to propose and sweet her off to the life everyone has always expected they'd have together:  a quiet house in the suburbs, Marion staying home to raise their future children.  But instead, Marion finds herself feeling trapped.  So when she comes across an opportunity to audittion for the famous Radio City Rockettes - the glamorous preceision - dancing troupe - she jumps at the chance to exchange her predictable future for the dazling life of a performer.  Meanwhile, the city is reeling from a string of bombings orchestrated by a person the press has nicknamed the "Big Apple Bomber", who has been terrorizing the citizens of NY for 16 years by planting bombs in popular, crowded spaces.  With the public in an uproar over the lack of any real leads after a yearslong manhunt, the police turn in desperation to Peter Griggs, a young doctor at a local mental hospital who espouses a radical new technique: psychological profiling.  As both Marion and Peter find themselves unexpectedly pulled in to the police search for the bomber, Marion realizes that as much as she's been training herself to blind in - performing in perfect unison with all the other identical Rockettes - if she hopes to catch the bomber, she'll need to stand out and take a terrifying risk.  In doing so, she may be forced to sacrifice everything she's worked for, as well as the people she loves the most.

This was an okay book.  It is simply written and an easy read.  Didn't really draw me in.   The characters were just okay and the story was fine.

Stars: 3

Book: The Map of Salt and Stars

 Book: The Map of Salt and Stars

Author: Zeyn Joukhadar

Pages: 384

This is the 148th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

This novel begins in the summer of 2011.  Nour has just lost her father to cancer, and her mother moves Nour and her sisters from NYC back to Syria to be closer to their family.  In order to keep her ather's spirit alive as she adjusts to her new home, Nour tells herself their favorite story - the tale of Rawiya, a 12th century girl who disguised herself as a boy in order to apprentice herself to a famious mapmaker.  But the Syria Nour's parents knew is changing, and it isn't long before the war reaches their quiet Homs neighborhood.  When a shell destroys Nour's house and almost takes her life, she and her family are forced to choose:  stay and risk more violence or flee across seven countries of the Middle East and North Africa in search of safety- along the very route Rawiya and her mapmaker took 800 years before in their quest to chart the world.  As Nour's family decides to take the risk, their journey becomes more and more dangerous, until they face a choice that could mean the family will be separated forever.

This was a really good book.  My favorite part was the intertwining of the story of Rawiya and Nour's real life.  The writing is pretty good and I liked most of the characters.  Nour annoyed me at times, but she was probably supposed to since she was a 12 year old character.  The ending was good.

Stars: 4

Book: Cleopatra Cipher

 Book: Celopatra Cipher

Author: LD Goffigan

Pages: 304

This is my 147th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Former FBI profiler turned professor Adrian West is in Rome for academic conference when she learns that her friend and colleague, Doctor Sebastian Rossi, has been abducted.  Her former partner, Nick Harper, believes that his disappearance is linked to stolen artifacts related to one of the most famous queens in history - Cleopatra.  When another of his colleagues is found murdered, and Adrian framed from the crime, it's a race against tie from the streets of Rome and  Cairo to the ancient temples of Egypt.  Adrian must prove her innocence, find Sebastian before it's too late, and stop a shadowy secret society from using the secrets of an ancient queen to cause the loss of countless lives.

This was an interesting book.  I read it for a reading challenge.  IT is an easy quick read with an interesting story.  Good character developement.  Well written.  IT is the first in a series and played out as so.  

Stars: 3

Book: The Lake House

 Book: The Lake House

Author: Kate Morton

Pages: 512

This is my 146th read for the year

What Amazon says:

Living on her family's idyllic lakeside estate in Cornwall, England, Alice Edevane is a bright, inquistitive, and precociously talented 16 year old who loves to write stories.  One midsummer's even, after a beautiful party drawing hundreds of guiests to the estate has ended, the Edevanes discover that their youngest child, 11 month old Theo, has vanished without a trace.  He is never dound, and the family is torn apart, the house abandoned.  Decades later, Alice is living in London, having enjoyed a long successful career as a novelist.  Miles away, Sadie Sparrow, a young detective in the London police force, is staying at her grandfather's house in Cornwall.  While out walking one day, se stumbles upon the old Edevane estate-now crumbling and covered with vines.  Her curiosity is sparked, setting off a series of events that will bring her and Alice together and reveal shocking truths about a past long gone - yet more present than ever. 

This was a pretty good book.  It is a long and twisting tale as the reader tries to figure out the who done it.  It actually took me awhile to figure out who actually did what, and I was on the fence on being happy about it and being annoyed about it.  Sometimes I felt like we were being kept in the dark for no reason, which I do find annoying in books.  Kate Morton is a talented writer, though, and I liked the majority of the characters.  I liked the dual time line stories equally.  I dropped it a start for the ending.  Seemed a bit too convenient, but it wasn't a bad ending.

Stars: 4

Book: All Systems Red

 Book: All Systems Red

Author: Martha Wells

Pages: 160

This is my 145th read for the year

What Amazon says:

"As a heartless killing machine, I was a complete failure".  In a corporate-dominated spacefaring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company.  Exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids, for their own safety.  But in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety isn't a primary concern.  Ona distant planet, a team of scientists are conductin surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied droid - a self-aware SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module, and refers to itself (though never out loud) as "Murderbot".  Scornful of humans, all it really wants is to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is.  But when a neighboring mission goes dark, it's up to the scientists and their Muderbot to get to the truth.

This is a great book.  I had watched the TV show first, and this book follows it quite well with very minor changes.  There are equal parts humor and science fiction in this short little novel.  Excellent writing and great character development.  I am anxious to keep going with the series.

Stars: 5

Book: Slewfoot

 Book: Slewfoot

Author: Brom

Pages: 320

This is my 144th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Connecticut, 1666: An ancient spirit awakens in a dark wood.  The wildfolk call him Father, slayer, protector.  The colonists call him Slewfoot, demon, devil.  To Abitha, a recently widowed outcast, alone and vulnerable in her prious village, he is the only one she can turn to for help.  Together, they ignite a battle between pagan and Puritan - one that threatens to destroy the entire village, leaving nothing but ashes and bloodshed in their wake.  This terrifying tale of bewitchery features more than 2 dozen of Brom's haunting full-color paintings and brilliant endpapers, fully immersing readers in this wild and unforgiving world.

This was an interesting book.  I read ti for a reading challenge and knew nothing about it going in.  It is pretty well written and an interesting enough story, but I just couldn't get into it.

Stars: 3

Book: I am Malala

 Book: I Am Malala

Author: Malala Yousafzai

Pages: 256

This is my 143rd book of the year

What Amazon Says:

I am Malala.  This is my story.  Malala Yousafzai was only 10 years old when the Taliban took control of her region.  They said music was a crime.  They said women weren't allowed to go to the market.  They said girls couldn't go to school.  Raised in a once-peaceful area of Pakistan transformed by terrorism, Malala was taught to stand up for what she believes.  So she fought for her right to be educated.  And on October 9, 2012, she nearly lost her life for the cause:  She was shot point-blank while riding the bus on her way home from school.  No one expected her to survive.  Now Malala is an international symbol of peaceful protest and the youngest ever Nobel Peace Prize winner.

I know I am very behind in reading this story.  I don't know how I missed it.  Very familiar with Malala and her story, and found this book at our local bookstore and finally had a chance to read it.  It is a terrible tragedy, and I learned a lot about Malala as well as what happened.  I did find the back story a bit too long for this book, but overall, I am glad I read it.

Stars: 4

Book: Binti

 Book: Binti

Author: Nnedi Okorafor

Pages: 96

This is my 142nd read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Her name is Binti, and she is the first of the Himba people ever to be offered a place at Oomza University, the finest institution of higher learning in the galazy.  But to accept the offer will mean giving up her place in her family to travel between the stars among strangers who do not share her ways or respect her customs.  Knowledge comes at a cost, one that Binti is willing to pay, but her journey will not be easy.  The world she seeks to enter has long warred with the MEduse, an alien race that has become the stuff of nightmares.  Oomza University has wronged the Meduse, and Binti's stellar travel will bring her within their deadly reach.  If Binti hopes to survive the legacy of a war not of her making, she will need both the gifts of her people and the wisdome enshrined within the University itself - but first she has to make it there, alive.

This bookw as fine, but at under 100 pages, I really didn't get much of a story.  It is the first of 3 books, and I was reading this one for a challenge, but did not know there were more.  I think if you read all three you would get one story and it would probably be decent.

Stars: 3

Book: Exiles

 Book: Exiles

Author: Ashley Saunders

Pages: 271

This is my 141st book of the year

What Amazon Says:

Is fear the killer of dreams?  It's been 12 years since the 2040 Quake rocked the Golden STate, fracturing Los Angeles and the fortunes of millions.  It's been 6 years since tech billionair Damon Yates founded his elite academy, giving Unfortunates from the wrong side of his hyperloop tracks a new future at Quest Campus, tucked away in the Santa Monica Mountains.  But an endeavor that sought to bridge a divide only tore 18 year old twin sisters apart.  Jade is a street-savvy adrenaline seeker ruling the city's downtrodden eastside.  Crys is an influential socialite ensconced in Yate's westside mansion - every bit her adoptive father's daughter.  After the mysterious murder of one of the academy's brightest, JAde sets out with her factious band of exiles to prove there's something sinister going on behind the walls of Yate's exclusive empire.  But to expose the earthshaking truth, Jade needs her estranged sister back on her side.  There's a big problem, though:  Crys is inexplicably terrified of her own twin's face.  

I could not get into this book.  I found a lot of the plot irrelevant, and the story convoluded. Did not like the writing style.

Stars: 2 

Book: Undomesticated Goddess

 Book: Undomesticated Goddess

Author: Sophia Kinsella

Pages: 400

This is my 140th read for the year

What Amazon says:

Workaholic attorney Samantha Sweeting has just done the unthinkable.  She's made a mistake so huge, it's wreck any chance of a partnership.  Going into utter meltdown, she walks out of her London office, gets on a train, and ends up in the middle of nowhere.  Asking for directions at a big, beautiful house, she's mistaken for an interviewee and finds herself being offered a job as housekeeper.  Her employers have no idea they've hired a lawyer-and Samantha has no idea how to work the oven.  She can't sew a button, bake a potato, or get the ironing board to open.  How she takes a deep breath and begins to cope - and finds love - is a story as delicious as the bread she learns to bake.  But will her old life ever catch up with her?  And it if does - will she want it back?

This was an okay book.  I like Sophie Kinsella's books.  This character was of course over the top bad at everything - almost to a fault.  And how fast she learned how to cook seemed a bit unrealistic.  I liked several of the characters, but Samantha was not a favorite.  Her choices and things that happened were just a bit over the top.  

Stars: 3

Book: Mickey 7

 Book: Mickey 7

Author: Edward Ashton

Pages: 320

This is my 139th read for the year

What Amazon says:

Dying isn't any fun - but at least it's a living.  Mickey Barnes is an Expendable: a disposable employee on a human expedition sent to colonize the ice world Niflheim.  Whever there's a mission that's too dangerous - even suicidal - the crew turns to Mickey.  AFter one iteration dies, a new body is regenerated with most of his memories intact.  After sex deaths, Mickey 7 understands the terms of his deal - and why it was the only colonial position unfilled when he took it.  On a routine scouting mission, Mickey 7 goes missing and is presumed dead.  By the time he returns to the colony base, surprisingly helped back by native life, his fate has been sealed.  There's a new clone, Mickey 9, reporting for expendable duties, and there can only be one Expendable.  If Mickey 7 reports his survival to Command, one of them is going into the recycler.  If he doesn't and they're caught, they both are.  Meanwhile, life on Niflheim is getting worse.  The atmosphere is unsuitable for humans, food is in short supply, and terraforming is going pooly.  The native species are growing curious about their new neighbors, and that curisoty has Commander Marshall very afraid.  Ultimately, the survival of both lifeforms will come down to Mickey 7.

This was a pretty good book.  I had actually seen the movie first, and this follows it loosely.  It is a pretty good story, and it moves along at a good pace.  Good character development.  In some ways I liked the book a bit better than the movie, but the movie had a lot more action/side character involvement than the book did.  Ends well.

Stars: 4

Book: The Man Made of Smoke

 Book: The Man Made of Smoke

Author: Alex North

Pages: 307

This is my 138th read for the year

What Amazon says:

Dan Garvie's life has been haunted by the crime he witnessed as a child - narrowly escaping an encounter with a notorious serial killer.  He has dedicated his life since to becoming a criminal profiler, eager to seek justice for innocent victims.  So when his father passes away under suspicious circumstances, Dan revisits his small island community, determined to uncover the truth about his death.  Is it possible that the monster he remembers from his childhood nightmareshas returned after all these years?  

That book was okay.  I like Alex North's books, and was excited for this one, but I had trouble getting into it.  Might have been a timing issue.  I found it a slow burn, which was probably on purpose, but way too descriptive with the mundane - just to fill pages.  The ending did not land for me like I was hoping.  The pace and the twists did not work for me.  I did enjoy large parts of the book - trying to figure out where it was going, but overall, it just was a bit slow.

Stars: 3.5

Book: Dr. Sleep

 Book: Dr. Sleep

Author: Stephen King

Pages: 531

This is my 137th read for the year

What Amazon says:

Years ago, the haunting of the Overlook Hotel nearly broke young Dan Torrance's sanity, as his paranormal gift known as "the shining" opened a door straight into hell.  And even though Dan is all grown up, the ghosts of the Overlook - and his father's legacy of alcoholism and violence - kept him drifting aimlessly for most of his life.  Now, Dan has finally found some order in the chaos by working in a local hospice, earning the nickname "Doctor Sleep" by secretly using his special abilities to comfort the dying and prepare them for the afterlife.  But when he unexpectedly meets 12 year old Abra Stone - who possesses an even more powerful manifestation of the shining - the two find their lives in sudden jeopardy at the hands of the ageless and murderous nomadic tribe known as the True Knot, reigniting Dan's own demons and summoning him to battle for his youn girl's sound and survival....

This was a great book.  I have actually seen the movie and really liked it, and the movie follows the book pretty closely.  It is well written and I like the character development.  A little rambly in true King fashion, but not terribly so.  It is a sequel to the Shining so we get to relive some parts of Dan's young life in this story and how he became the man he is.  It is an interesting twist on the vampire idea.  Wraps up nicely.

Stars: 5