Book: The Vanishing Type

 Book: The Vanishing Type

Author: Ellery Adams

Pages: 304

This is my 177th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

While January snow falls outside in Miracle Springs, North Carolina, Nora Pennington is encouraging customers to cozy up indoors with a good book.  Even though the shop and her bibliotherapy sessions keep Nora busy during the day, her nights are a little too quiet - until Deputy Andrews pulls Nora into the sci-fi section and asks her to help him plan a wedding proposal.  His bride-to-be, Hester, loves Little Women, and Nora sets to work arranging a special screening at the town's new movie theater.  But right before the deputy pops the question, Nora makes an unsettling discovery - someone has mutilated all her store's copies of The Scarlet Letter, slicing angrily into the pages wherever Hester Prynne's name is mentioned.  The coincidence disturbs Nora, who's one of the few in Miracle Springs who knows that HEster gave up a baby for adoption many years ago.  Her family heaped shame on her, and Hester still feels so gilty that she hasn't even told her future husband.  But when a dead man is found on a hiking trail just outside town, carrying a rare book, the members of the Secret Book and Scone Society unearth a connection to Hester's past.  Someone is intent on bringing the past to light, and it's not just Hester's relationship at stake, but he life.

I liked this book.  I read the first one in this series (The Secret Book and Scone Society) and really enjoyed it.  I was told by a friend you can read these out of order, and you can.  This one was available at the library, so I grabbed it to fit a challenge prompt and I really liked it.  There is good character developement, and a good mystery.  It moves at a good pace while throwing in what cozy mystery writers love: sweet background scenery.  The author pulled the main story together well while developing side stories along the way.

Stars: 4.5

Book: The Teacher

 Book: The Teacher

Author: Frieda McFadden

Pages: 514

This is my 176th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Eve has a good life.  She gets up each day, gets a kiss from her husband Nate, and heads off to teach math at the local high school.  All is as it should be.  Except - last year, Caseham High was rocked by a scandal involving a student-teacher affair, with one student, Addie, at its center.  But Eve knows there is far more to these ugly rumors than meets the eye.  Addie can't be trusted.  She lies.  She hurts people.  She destroys lives.  At least, that's what everyone says.  But nobody knows the real Addie.  Nobody knows the secrets that could destroy her.  And Addie will do anything to keep it quiet.  

I have read a few McFadden books, and they have all been fine.  But this one was not my cup of tea.  I did not like the plot from almost the start, and I didn't like any of the characters.  

Stars: 3

Book: Truly, Madly, Guilty

 Book: Truly, Madly, Guilty

Author: Liane Moriarty

Pages: 432

This is my 175th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Sam and Clementine have a wonderful, albeit busy, life: they have 2 little girls, Sam has just started a new dream job, and Clementine, a cellist, is busy preparing for the audition of a lifetime.  If there's anything they can count on, it's each other.  Clementine and Erika are each other's oldest friends.  A single look between them can convey an entire conversation.  But theirs is a complicated relationship, so when Erika mentions a last-minute invitation to a barbecue with her neighbors, Tiffany and Vid, Clementine and Sam don't hesitat.  Having Tiffany and Vid's larger-than-life personalitities there will be a welcome respite.  2 months later, it won't stop raining, and Clementine and Sam can't stop asking themselves the question: What if we hadn't gone?

I usually like Moriarty's books, but this one was a bit of a miss for me.  I liked some of the chracters - Vid especially - but most fell flat.  And my goodness, the keeping the reader in the dark for almost the entire book and then spending just a short while on the resolution - ridiculous.  And while was was a bit of a tragedy, it was not worth the hype that was going on in this book.  Just silly

Stars: 2 

Book: The Last Murder At The End of the World

 Book: The Last Murder At The End of the World

Author: Stuart Turton

Pages: 368

This is my 174th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Solve the murder to save what's left of the world.  Outside the island there is nothing: the world was destroyed by a fog that swept the planet, killing anyone it touched.  On the island: it is idyllic.  One hundred and twenty-two villagers and three scientists, living in peaceful harmony.  The vilagers are content to fish, farm, and feast, to ovey their nightly curfew, to do what they're told by the scientists.  Until, to the horror of the islanders, one of their beloved scientists is found brutally stabbed to death.  And then they learn that the murder has triggered a lowering of the security system around the island, the onlything that was keeping the fog at bay.  If the murder isn't solved within 107 hours, the fog will smother the island-and everyone on it.  But the security system has also wiped everyone's memories of exactly what happened the night before, which means that someone on the island is a murderer-and they don't even know it.  And the clock is ticking.

Good read.  I love apocolytic fiction, and this one did not disappoint.  I did not see the twist coming.  There were great characters - but I would say the down side was there were so many of them.  The story moved along pretty well, however at points it felt that they were just stringing out the story to add more pages.  Overall, I enjoyed the story enough and the idea they came up with that it outpaced the challenges.

Stars: 3.5

Book: The Lies I Tell

 Book: The Lies I Tell

Author: Julie Clark

Pages: 320

This is my 173rd book of the year

What Amazon Says:

Meg Williams, Maggie Littleton, Melody Wilde.  Different names for the same person, depending on the town, depending on the job.  She's a con artist who erases herself to become whoever you need her to be - a college student.  A life coach.  A real estate agent.  Nothing about her is real.  She slides alongside you and tells you exactly what you need to hear, and by the time she's done, you've likely lost everything.  Kat Robers has been waiting 10 years for the woman who upended her life to return.  And now that she has, Kat is determined to be the one to expose her.  But as the 2 women grow closer, Kat's long-held assumptions begin to crumble, leaving Kat to wonder who Meg's true target is.

This was a pretty good book.  I picked it up at a used book store on a whim, and it was a good find.  It moves along nicely and has good character development.  I wasn't sure where the story was going for the longest time.  I liked the two main characters and the ending wrapped the whole story up nicely and with a bit of a twist.

Stars: 4

Book: Replaceable You

 Book: Replaceable You

Author: Mary Roach

Pages: 288

This is my 172nd read for the year

What Amazon Says:

The boyd is the most complex machine in the world, and the only one for which you cannot get a replacement part from the manufacturer.  For centuries, medicine has reached for what's available - sculpting noses from brass, borrowing skin from frogs and hearts from pigs, crafting eye parts from jet canopies and breasts from petroleum by-products.  Today we're attempting to grow body parts from scratch using stem cells and 3D printers.  How are we doing?  Are we there yet?  This book explores the remarkable advances and difficul questions prompted by the human body's failings.  When and how does a person decide they's be better off with a prosthetic than their existing limb?  Can a donated heart be made to beat forever?  Can an intestine provide a workable substitute for a vagina?  Roach dives in with her characteristic verve and infectious wit.  Her travels take her to the OR at a legendary burn unit in Boston, a "superclea" xeno-pigsty in China, and a stem cell "hair nursery" in the San Diego tech hub.  She talks with researchers and surgeons, amputees and osteomates, printers of kidneys and designers of wearable organs.  She spends time in a working iron lung from the 1950s, stays up all night with recovery techs as they disassemble and reassemble a tissue done, and travels across Mongolia with the cataract surgeons of Orbis International.

Fantastic book.  Mary Roach is the best of both world in the non-fiction space.  Funny and informative.  She is smart, and the information is well researched.  

Stars: 5

Book: Needful Things

 Book: Needful Things

Author: Stephen King

Pages: 816

This is my 171st read for the year

What Amazon Says:

The town of Castle Rock, Maine has seen its fair share of oddities over the years, but nothing is as peculiar as the little curio shop that's just opened for business here.  Its mysterious proprietor, Leland Gaunt, seems to have something for everyone out on display at Needful Things.  Interesting items that run the gamut from worthless to priceless.  Nothing has a price tag in this place, buteverything is certainly for sale.  The heart's desire for any resident of Castle Rock can easily be found among the curiosities - in exchange for a little money and - at the specific request of Leland Gaunt - a whole lot of menace against their fellow neighbors.  Everyone in town seems willing to make a deal at Needful Things, but the devil is in the details.  And no one takes heed of the little sign hanging on the wall:  Caveat emtor.  In other words, let the buer beware.

Stars: 4.5

Book: Covid 19: Stopping the Next Pandemic

 Book: Covid 19: Stopping The Next Pandemic

Author: Debora MacKenzie

Pages: 304

This is my 170th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Over the last 30 years ofepidemics and pandemics, we learned every lesson needed to stop this coronavirus outbreak in its tracks.  We heeded almost none of them.  The result is a pandemic on a scale never before seen in our lifetimes.  In this captivating, authoritative, and eye-opening book, science journalist Debora MacKenzie lays out the full story of how and why it happened:  the previous viruses that should have prepared us, the shocking public health failures that paved the way, the failure to contain the outbreak, and most importantly, what we must do to prevent future pandemics.  Demobra MacKenzie has been reporting on emerging diseases for more than 3 decades, and she draws on that exerience to explain how COVID-19 went from a potentially manageable outbreak to a global pandemic.  Offering a compelling history of the most significant recent outbreaks, including SARS, MERS, H1N1, Zika, and Ebola, she gives a crash course in Epidemiology 101- how viruses spread and how pandemics end - and outline the lessons we failed to learn from each past criss.  In vivid detail, she takes us through the arrival and spread of COVID-19 - making clear the steps that governments knew that could have taken to prevent or at least prepare for this.  Looking forward, MacKenzie makes a bold, optimistic argumet: this pandemic might finally galvanize the world to take viruses seriously.  Fighting this pandemic and preventing the next one will take political action of all kinds, globally, from governments, the scientific community, and individuals - but it is possible.  No one has yet brought together out knowledge of COVID-=19 in a comprehensive, informative, and accessible way.  But that story can already be todl, and Debora MacKEnzie's urgent telling is required reading for these times and beyond.  It is too early to say where the COVID-19 pandemic will go, but it is past time to talk about what went wrong and how we can do better.

Stars: 4

Book: Prime Evil

 Book: Prime Evil

Author: several

Pages: 322

This is my 169th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

This collection fo 12 original horror tales includes contributions by such noted writers of the genre as Stephen King, Dennis Etchison, Clive Barker, Ramsey Campbell, Whitley Streiber, and Peter Straub.

Stars: 3.5

Book: The Brother's Hawthorne

 Book: The Brother's Hawthorne

Author: Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Pages: 490

This is my 168th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Grayson Hawthorne was raised as the heir apparent to his billionaire grandfather, taughter from the cradle to put family first.  Now the great Tobias Hawthorne is dead and his family disinherited, but some lessons linger.  When Grayson's half-sisters find themselves in trouble, he swoops in to do what he does best: take care of the problem - efficiently, effectively, mercilessly.  And without getting bogged down in emotional entanglements.  Jameson Hawthorne is a risk-taker, a sensation-seeker, a player of games.  When his mysterious father appears and asks for a favor, Jameson can't resist the challenge.  Now he must infiltrate London's most exclusive underground gambling club, which caters to the rich, the poweful, and the aristocratic, and win an impossible game of greatest stakes.  Luckily, Jameson Hawthorn lives for impossible.  Drawn into twisted games on opposite sides of the globe, Grayson and Jameson - with the help of their brothers and the girl who inherited their grandfather's fortune - must dig deep to decide who they want to be and what each of them will sacrifice to win.

Stars: 3

Book: This Dog Will Change Your Life

 Book: This Dog Will Change Your Life

Author: Elias Weiss Friedman

Pages: 304

This is my 167th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Elias Friedman became known as The Dogist when he took thousands of photos of dogs and posted them online along with their unique dog stories.  Even before he was The Dogist, though, he was a Dogist - a fervent dog lover, and an evangelist about the relationship between dogs and humans and the joy this bond bring us in the modern world.  Over his decades of studying dogs and their people, Elias has arrived at a deceptively simple realization:  Dogs make people's lives better by making people better.  Dogs improve us.  They save us.  They give our lives greater meaning and fulfillment.  They teach us to become the best versions of ourselves.  They help us understand our own identities, deepend our relationships, and remind us of patience, purpose, and commitment.  We constantly seek those things in our human life, but so many of the answers are already right in front of us, in our dogs.  This book weaves together stories of the many dogs Elias has been lucky enough toknow, both in his personal life and while doing his Dogist work.  Told in a light tone that does not shy away from more serious issues, this book charmingly explores the ways that dogs are not just our family and our friends but also irreplaceable beings capable of generating boundles slove and restoring balance to our lives.  In an increasingly alienating and divisive world, there is one clear remedy: the one with 4 legs that rolls over for belly rubs.  Dogs can change our lives, and this book might just change yours.

This books was really great.  I follow The Dogist on Instagram and he just seems like an all around good human.  His following is enormous.  His love of dogs comes through on his Instagram page and in this book as he weaves his story with his own dog in with the countless he has met over the years. This book was well written and such a joy to read.  Glad I read it.

Stars: 5

Book: Dreamcatcher

 Book: Dreamcather

Author: Stephen King

Pages: 624

This is my 166th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

A dark and sweeping adventure, Dreamcatcher isset in the haunter city of Derry - the site of Stephen King's It and Insomnia.  In it, four young boys stand together and do a brave, good thing, an act that changes them in ways that they hardly understand.  A quarter-century later, as grown men who have gone their separate ways, these friends come together once a year to hunt in the woods of Maine.  This particular year, a stranger stubles into their campsite, and before long, the friends are plunged into the most remarkable adventure of their lives.  They wind up in a life and death struggle, their only hope for survival locked in their shared past - and in the dreamcatcher.

Stars: 4

Book: In The House of my Mother

 Book: In the House of My Mother

Author: Shari Franke

Pages: 320

This is my 165th read for the year

What Amazon says:

Shari Franke's childhood was a constant battle for survival.  Her mother, Ruby Ranke, enforced a severe moral code whil maintaining a facade of a picture-perfect family for their wildly popular YouTube channel 8 Passengers, which documented the day-to-day life of raising six children for a staggering 2.5 million subscribers.  But a darker truth lurked beneath the surface - Ruby's wholesome online persona masked a more tyrannical parenting style than anyone could have imagined.  As the family's YouTube noteriety grew, so too did Ruby's delusions of righteousness.  Fueled by the sadistic influence of relationship coach Jodi Hildebrandt, together they implemented an inhumane and merciless disciplinary regime.  Ruby and Jody were arrested in Utah in 2023 on multiple charges of aggravated child abuse.  On that fateful day, Shari shared a photo online of a police car outside their home.  Her caption had one word: Finally.  For the first time, Shari will reveal the disturbing truth behind 8 Passengers and her family's devastating involvement wiht Jodi Hildebrandt's cultish life coaching program, "ConneXions".  No stone is left unturned as Shari exposes the perils of influencer culture and shares for the first time, her battle for truth and survival in the face of her mother's cruelty.

Stars: 4.5

Book: The End of The World As We Know It

 Book: The End of the World As We Know It

Author: Christopher Golden

Pages: 800

This is my 164th read of the year

What Amazon Says:

Sice its initial publication in 1978, The Stand has been considered Stephen King's seminal masterpiece of apocalypitc fiction, with millions of copies sold and adapted twice for TV.  Although there are other extraordinary works exploring the unraveling of human society, none have been as influential as this iconic novel - generations of writers have been impacted by its dark yet ultimately hopeful vision of the end and new beginning of civilization, and its stunning array of characters.  Now for the first time, Stephen King has fully authorized a return to the harrowing world of The STand through this originla short story anthology as presented by award winning authors.  

The Stand is my favorite King book and one of my favorite books ever.  This is NOT a Stephen King book if people are wondering, though.  This is by many many authors who write horror making up characters within the world of the Stand.  Great idea, but you do realize from reading these short stories that King is the Master of this world.  Not as good as I was hoping.

Stars: 3.5 

Book: Dissecting Death

 Book: Dissecting Death

Author: Frederick Zugibe

Pages: 256

This is my 163rd read for the year

What Amazon Says:

As chief medical examiner of Rockland County, NY, for almost 35 years, Dr. Frederick Zugibe literally wrote the book on the subject - his widely used textbook is considered the definitive text.  OVer the years he has pioneered countless innovations, including the invention of a formula to soften mummified fingers - enabling fingerprinting, and thus identification, of a long-decreased victim.  He has appeared as an expert hundreds of times in the media and in the courtroom - and not once has a jury failed to accept his testimony over opposing expert witnesses.  And now, he has opened the door to the world of forensic pathology in all its gruesome and fascinating mystery.  Dr. Zugibe takes us through the process all good pathologists follow, using eleven of his most challenging cases.  With him, we visit the often grisly - though sometimes shockingly banal - crime scene.  We inspect the body, palpate the wounds, search for clues in the hair and skin.  We emply ultraviolet light, strange measuring devices, optical instruments.  We see how a forensic pathologist determines the hour of death, the type of weapon used, the killer's escape route.  And then we enter the lab, the world of high-tech criminal detection: DNA-testing, fingerprints, gunshot patterns, dental patterns, X-rays.  But not every case ends in a convitoin, and in a closing chapter Dr. Zugibe examines some recent high-profile cases in which blunders led to killers going free, either because the wrong party was brought to trial or because the evidence presented didn't do the trick - including Jon-Benet Ramsey's murder, and, of course, the OJ Simpson trial.

Stars: 4

Book: The Marriage People

 Book: The Marriage People

Author: Alison Espach

Pages: 384

This is my 162nd read for the year

What Amazon Says:

It's a beautiful day in Newport, RI, when Phoebe Stone arrives at the grand Cornwall Inn wearing a green dress and gold heels, not a bag in sight, alone.  She's immediately mistaken by everyone in the lobby for one of the wedding people, but she's actually the only guest at the Cornwall who isn't here for the big event.  Phoebe is here because she's dreamed of coming for years - she hoped to shuck oysters and take sunset sails with her husband, only now she's here without him, at rock bottom, and determined to have one last decadent splurge on herself.  Meanwhile, the bride has accounted for every detail and every possible disaster the weekend might yield except for, well, Phoebe and Phoebe's plan - which makes it that much more surprising when the two women can't stop confiding in each other. 

Stars: 2.5

Book: Family Family

 Book: Family Family

Author: Laurie Frankel

Pages: 400

This is my 161st read for the year

What Amazon Says:

India Allwood grew up wanting to be an actor.  Armed with a stack of index cards, she goes from awkward 16 year old to Broadway ingenue to TV superhero.  Her new movie is a pretige picture about adoption, but its spin is the same old tired story of tragedy.  India is an adoptive mom in real life though.  She wants everyone to know there's more to her family than pain and regret.  So she does something you should never do - she tells a journalist the truth: it's a bad movie.  Soon she's at the center of a media storm, battling accusations from the press and the paparazzi, from protesters on the right and advocates on the left.  Her twin 10 year olds know they need help - and who better to call than family?  But that's where it gets really messy becasue India's not just an adoptive mother.  The one thing she knows for sure is what makes a family isn't blood.  And it isn't love.  No matter how they're formed, the truth about family is this: it's complicated.

Stars: 4

Book: Artificial Condition

 Book: Artificial Condition

Author: Martha Wells

Pages: 160

This is my 160th read for the year

What Amazon says:

It has a dark past - one in which a number of humans were killed.  A past that caused it to christen itself "Murderbot".  But it has only vague memories of the massacre that spawned that title, and it wants to know more.  Teaming up with a Research Transport vessel named ART, Murderbot heads to the mining facility where it went rogue.  What it discovers will forever change the way it thinks.

Stars: 3

Book: The Gatekeepers

 Book: The Gatekeepers

Author: Jaques Steinberg

Pages: 336

This is my 159th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

In the fall of 1999, NYT education reporter Jacques Steinberg was given an unprecidented opportunity to observe the admissions process at prestigious Wesleyan University.  Over the course of nearly a year, Steinberg accompanied admissions officer Ralph Figeroa on a tour to assess and recruit the most promising students in the country.  This follos a diverse group of prospective students as the compete for places in the nation's most elite coleges.  The first book to reveal the college admission process in such behind-the-scenes detail, The Gatekeeprs will be required reading for every parent of a high school-age child and for every student facing the arduous and anxious task of applying to college.

Stars: 4.5

Book: 102 Minutes

 Book: 102 Minutes

Author: Jim Dwyer

Pages: 384

This is my 158th read for the year

These next two months are so busy for me that I am not going to write reviews.  I am marking the synopsis of these books for my own lookback.  Will return hopefully in October with full reviews

What Amazon Says:

At 8:46am the morning of September 11, 2001, 14000 people were inside the WTC just starting their workdays, but over the next 102 minutes, each would become part of a drama for the ages.  Of the millions of words written about this wrenching day, most were told from the outside looking in.  NYT reporters Jim Dwyer and Kevin Flynn draw on hundreds of interviews with rescuers and survivors, 100s of pages of oral histories, and countless phone, email, and emergency radio transcripts to tell the story of September 11 from the inside looking out.  

Stars: 4

Book: What The River Knows

 Book: What The River Knows

Author: Isabel Ibanez

Pages: 416

This is my 157th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Bolivian-Argentinian Inex Olivera belongs to the glittering upper society of 19th century Buenos Aires, and like the rest of the world, the town is steeped in old world magic that's been largely left behind or forgotten.  Inex has everything a girl might want, except for the one thing she yearns the most: her gobetrotting paretns - who frequently leave her behind.  When she receives word of their tragic deaths, inex inherits their massive fortune and a mysterious guardian, an archeologist in partnership with his Egyptian brother in law.  Yearing for answers, Inez sails to Cairo, brining her sketch pads and a golden ring her father sent to her for safekeeping before he died.  But upon her arrival, the old world magic tethered to the ring pulls her down a path where she soon discovers there's more to her paren'ts disappearance than what her guardian led her to believe.  With her guardian's infuriatingly handsom assistant thwarting her at every turn, Inez must rely on ancient magic to uncover the truth about her parent's disappearance - or risk becoming a pawn in a larger game that will kill her.

This was a pretty good book.  I listened to it and it was a fast listen.  I liked the story from the start, but Inez never really grew on me.  She is a teenager, but I find writing about them as main characters can be hit or miss on maturity level.  This one she leaned toward the immature, and while it made sense to the author to do this, it wore on me.  But overall it was a good story.

Stars: 4 

Book: A Witches Guide to Magical InnKeeping

 Book: A Witches Guide To Magical InnKeeping

Author: Sangu Mandanna

Pages: 352

This is my 156th read for the year

What Amazon says:

Sera Swan used to be one of the most powerful witches in Britain.  Then she resurrected her great-aunt Jasmine from the dead, lost most of her magic, befriended a semi-villainous talking fox, and was exiled from her Guild.  Now she helps Jasmine run an enchanted inn in Lancashire, where she deals with her quirky guests' shenanigans, tries to keep said talking fox in check, and longs for the future that seems lost to her.  But then she finds out about an old spell that could hold the key to restoring her power.  Enter Luke Larsen, handsome and icy magical historian, who arrives on a dark winter evening and just ight know how to unlock the spell's secrets.  Luke has absolutely no interest in getting involved in the madcap goings-on of the inn and is definitely not about to let a certain betwitching innkeeper past his walls, so no one is more surprised that he is when he agrees to help Sera with her spell.  Worse, he might actually be thawing.  Running an inn, reclaiming lost magic, and staying one step ahead of the watchful Guild is a lot for anyone, but Sear Swan is about to discover that she doesn't have to do it alone.  And that the weird, wonderful family she's made might be the best magic of all.

This was a pretty good book.  I didn't like it as much as Sangu's first book, but enjoyed it well enough.  IT is pretty well written and the story moves along at a good pace.  

Stars: 4

Book: The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches

 Book: The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches

Author: Sangu Mandanna

Pages: 352

This is my 155th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

As one of the few witches in Britain, Mika Moon knows she has to hide her magic, keep her head down, and stay away from other witches so their powers don't mingle and draw attention.  And as an orphan who lost her parents at a young age and was raised by strangers, she's used to being alone and she follows the rules - with one exception: an online account, where she posts videos "pretending" to be a witch.  She thinks no one will take it seriously.  But someone does.  An unexpected message arrives, begging her to travel to the remote and mysterious Nowhwere House to teach 3 young witches how to control their magic.  It breaks all the rules, but Mika goes anyway, and is immediately tangled up in the lives and secrets of not only her 3 charges, but also an absent archaeologist, a retired actor, 2 long-siffering caretakes, and...Jamie.  The handsome and prickly librarian of Nowhere House would od anything to protect the children, and as fas as he's concerned, a stranger like Mika is a threat.  An irritatingly appealing threat.  As Mika begins to find her place at Nowhere House, the thought of belonging somewhere begins to feel like a real possibility.  But magic isn't the only danger in the world, and when peril comes knocking at their door, Mika will need to decide whether to risk everything to proect a found family she didn't know she was looking for.

I really liked this book.  It is well written and cute and sweet.  The story flowed well, and it is not heavy on the romance.  It is mostly a story of Mika finding herself and finding a place she can belong.  Good book.  Glad I read it.

Stars: 4.5

Book: The Running Man

 Book: The Running Man

Author: Stephen King

Pages: 416

This is my 154th read of the year

What Amazon Says:

Ben Richards has no job, no money, and a young daughter who urgently needs medical attention.  Desperate, out of options, he signs up for The Running Man, "the biggest show in the country."  It's an ultraviolent competition where the states could not be higher.  Ben must stay alive for 30 days while an elite strike force, trained to kill, hunts for him.  If he can survive for a month, he wins a billion dollars.  No contestant has ever lasted longer than 8 days.  Can Ben Richards win this ultimate game of life and death?

This was a pretty good book.  Typical Stephe King book with good writing, a bit of rambling, and a wound up ending.  It has been while since I have read it and so I cannot share more.

Stars: 4

Book: The Magnolia Palace

 Book: The Magnolia Palace

Author: Fiona Davis

Pages: 349

This is my 153rd read for the year

What Amazon Says:

8 months since losing her mother in the Spanish flu outbreak of 1919, 21 year old Lilian Carter's life has completely fallen apart.  For the past 6 years, under the moniker Angelica, Lillian was one of the most sought-after artists' models in NYC with statues based on her figure gracing landmarks from the Plaza Hotel to the Brooklyn Bridge.  But with her mother gone, a grieving Lillian is rudderless and desperate - the work has dried up and a looming scandal has left her entirely without a safe haven.  So when she stumbles upon an emplyment opportunity at the Frick mansion - a building that, ironically, bears her own visage - Lillian jumps at the chance.  But the longer she works as a private secretary to the imperious and demanding Helen Frick, the daughter and heiress of industrialist and art patron Henry Clay Frick, the more deeply her life gets intertwined with that of the family - pulling her into a tangled web of romantic trysts, stolen jewels, and family drama that runs so deep, the states just may be life or death.  

Nearly 50 years later, mod English model Veronica Weber has her own chance to make her career-and with it, earn the money she needs to support her family back home - within the walls of the former Frick residence, now converted into one of NYC's most impressive museums.  But when she- along with a charming intern/budding art curator named Joshua - is dismissed from the Vogue shoot taking place at the Frick Collection, she chances upon a series of hidden messages in the museum: messages that will lead her and Joshua on a hunt that could not only solve Veronica's financial woes, but could finally reveal the truth behind a decades-old murder in the infamous Frick Family.

This was a pretty good book.  I have read quite a few of Davis' books and find her a pretty good writer.  I liked the dual timeline books, and glad I read this one.  Unfortunately, I am writing this review quite a bit after I read it, and am blanking on more details to pick out.

Stars: 4

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