Book: The One

 Book: The One

Author: John Marrs

Pages: 496

This is my 216th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

How far would you go to find The One?  A simple DNA test is all it takes.  Just a quick mouth swab and soon you'll be matched with your perfect partner - the one you're genetically made for.  That's the promise made by Match Your DNA.  A decade ago, the company announced that they had found the gene that pairs each of us with our soul mate.  Since then, millions of people around the world have been matched.  But the discovery has its downsides: test results have led to the breakup of countless relationships and upended the traditional ideas of dating, romance and love.  Now 5 very different people have received the notification that they've been "Matched".  They're each about to meet their one true love.  But "happily ever after" isn't guaranteed for everyone.  Because even soul mates have secrets.  And some are more shocking than others.  

This was a good book.  I am a fan of John Marrs and have read many of his books, and have enjoyed all of them.  I am a fan of chapters each old by different characters, and this is something that Marrs does often and I think does well.  The story moves along at a good pace, but it is easy to keep track of all the characters and their lives and how they are affected by the DNA matches they choose to follow.  It is well written for the most part, although I did drop it a star where near the end I felt that he had one or two characters make some choices I felt were unrealistic.  However - that is just my opinion.  Glad I read this one.  

PS - there is a TV series that is based on this book, but it is completely different in just about every way except for the Match your DNA part.

Stars: 4 

Book: Deadpool 3: The Complete Collection

 Book: Deadpool 3: The Complete Collection

Author: Daniel Way

Pages: 448

This is my 215th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Deadpool heads into space to increase his intergalactic cred. Will taking on galactic assassin Macho Gomex and the immense Id the Selfish Moon cement Deadpool as the solar system's best, most ruthless mercenary?  Not as fas as his "old friends" back on Earth are concerned -Hydra Bob, Big Bertha, Taskmaster and Blind Al all want to claim a piece of his hide.  Deadpool flirts with both mortality and sanity as he takes on the incredible Hulk and is locked up in an asylum.

Stars: 4 

Book: The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus

 Book: The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus

Author: Emma Knight

Pages: 379

This is my 214th read for they year

What Amazon Says:

Arriving at the University of Edinburgh for her first term,Pen knows her divorced parents back in Canada are hiding something from her.  She believes she'll find the answer here in Scotland, where an old friend of her father's - now a famous wrter known as Lord Lennox - lives.  When she is invited to spend the weekend at Lord Lennox's centuries - old estate with his enveloping, fascinating family, Pen begins to unravel her parents' secret, just as she's falling in love for the first time.  As Pen experiences the sharp shock of adulthood, she comes to rely on herself for the first time in her life.  A rich and rewarding novel of campus life, of sexual awakening, and ultimately, of the many ways women can become mothers in this world, this book asks to what extent we need to look back in order to move forward. 

Stars: 2 

Book: End Of Days: Ruby Ridge The Apocalypse, and the Unmaking of America

 Book: End of Days: Ruby Ridge - The Apocalypse, and the Unmaking of America

Author: Chris Jennings

Pages: 385

This is my 213th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

On August 21, 1992, shots rang out while federal agents were surveilling a cabin in Boundary County, Idaho as part of an operation to arrest Randy Weaver - a reclusive, mountain-dwelling survivalist - for failrue to appear in court on a gun charge.  When Weaver finally surrendered to the authorities 11 days later, his wife, son and dog lay dead, as did the US Marshal.  Ever since, America has been trying to make sense of what happened on Ruby Ridge.  Today, the question could not be more urgent, as the shock waves from Ruby Ridge have amplified and compounded, cracking the very foundations of our democracy.  In this book, Chris Jennigns explains the significances of this historic siege by setting the story of the Weaver family within the long history of apocalyptic Christianity in the US, illuminating the ways in which that faither has gradually transformed the nation.  The strain of doomsday Christianity that gripped the Weavers, he shows, was grounded in a particular reading of biblical prophecy that can be traced back to the 1870s and up through the 20th century rise of Christian fundamentalism to the right-wing conspiracism that now defines American society and politics.  The events at Ruby Ridge acted as an accelerant for this spreading worldview, and are essential to understanding the crisis that our national confronts today.

This was an interesting book.  I didn't know much about this story since I was high school age when it happened.  I also didn't realize that this attact snowballed into David Karesh in Waco, which then lead to Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma City Bombing.  The book also goes into a deeper dive into Christian Fundamentalism and how it is affrecting our society and politics today.  Good read.

Stars: 4 

Book: The Bonesetter's Daughter

 Book: The Bonesetter's Daughter

Author: Amy Tan

Pages: 400

This is my 212th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Ruth Youngand her widowed mother have always had a difficult relationship.  But when she discovers writings that vividly describe her mother's tumultuous life growing up in China, Ruth discovers a side of LuLing that she never knew existed.  Transported to a backwoods village known as Immortal Heart, Ruth learns of secrets passed along by a mute nursemaid, Precious Auntie; of a cave where dragon bones are mined; of the crumbling ravine known as the End of the World; and of the curse that LuLing believes se released through betrayal.  Within the calligraphied pages awaits the truth about a mother's heart, secrets she cannot tell her daughter, yet hopes she will never forget.

This book was fine.  I read The Joy Luck Club a few years ago, and also thought it was fine, but wanted to try another Amy Tan book.  I found that it drug a bit and did not really find Ruth likable.  The back and forth timelines started to wear on me.  It was an interesting enough story - it just felt like 2 different stories that did not mesh well in the end.

Stars: 3

Book: Between The Strokes of Night

 Book: Between The Strokes of Night

Author: Charles Sheffield

Pages: 352

This is my 211th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

By leaving their home planet after the final nuclear war, a group of young people live to see the spectacular series of scientific advances and human tribulations of the near and far future.

This was an interesting book.  I read it for a book challenge where two authors were reltaed, but in that challenge I found 2 interesting books that I would not have read otherwise.  (his wife was Nancy Kress and the book I read was Beggars in Spain).  Sheffield was a physicist, and it shows in this book.  It was entertaining and well written, but you did have to pay attention.  Glad I read both their books.

Stars: 4 

Book: Separation of Church and Hate

 Book: Separation of Church and Hate

Author: John Fugelsang

Pages: 304

This is the 210th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

For more than 2 centuries, the US Constitution has given us the right to a society where church and state exist independently.  But Christianity has been hijacked by far-right groups and politicians who seek to impose their narrow views on government, often to justify oppressive and unequal policies.  The extremists who weaponize the Bible for early power aren't actually on the side of Jesus - and historically they never have been.  How do we fight back against those acting - literally - in bad faither?  In this informative, perspective-shifting book, Fugelsan takes readers through common fundamentalist arguments on abortion, immigration, LGBTQ rights, and more - exposing their hypocrisy and inaccuracy through scripture, common sense, and deeply inappropriate humor.  It offers practical tips on how to debate your loved one, coworker, or neighbor on the issues that divide us using that Bible they claim to follow.  But Fugelsang's message is about more than just taking down hypocrites.  It's about fighting for the love, mercy, and service that are supposed to make up the heart of Christianity.  It's a rallying cry for compassion and clarity for anyone of any faith who's sick of religion being used as a cloaknig device for hate.

This was a pretty good book.  I felt it was well researched and I even learned a bit.  No one who actually needs to hear these words would read this book, but I am glad I did.  Good book to remind people to stop hiding behind religion to be mean to your fellow man and those you do not agree with.  He does say over and over in the book that it is important to listen.  Something we all need to do more of.

Stars: 4

Book: My Life in Orange

 Book: My Life In Orange

Author: Tim Guest

Pages: 320

This is my 209th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

At the age of 6, Tim Guest was taken by his mother to a commune modeled on the teachings of the notorious Indian guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh.  The Bhagwan preached an eclectic doctrine of Eastern mysticism, chaotic therapy, and sexual freedom, and enjoyed inhaling laughing gas, preaching from a dentist's chair, and collecting Rolls Royces.  Tim and his mother were given Sanskrit names, dressed entirely in orange, and encouraged to surrender thermselves into their new family.  While his mother worked tirelessly for the cause, Tim-or Yogesh, as he was not called - lived a life of well meaning but woefully misguided neglact in various communes in England, Oregon, India and Germany.  In 1985 the movement collapsed amid allegations of mass poisonings, attempted murder, and tax evasion, and Yogest was once again Time.  In this extraordinary memoir, Tim Guess chronicles the heartbreaking experience of being left alone on earth while his mother hunted heaven.

This was an interesting book.  Always interested in reading about cults and what draws people in.  He and his mother left the cult when he was 11, but Tim's life continued to be a struggle.  He died in his 30s of a drug overdose.  I read this book because it was part of the Rory Gilmore challenge, but glad I decided to finally tackle it.

Stars: 4

Book: Nickel and Dimed On Not Getting By in America

 Book: Nickel and Dimed On Not Getting By in America

Author: Barbara Ehrenreich

Pages: 256

This is my 208th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Millions of Americans work full time, year round, for poverty-level wages.  In 1998, Barbara Ehrenreich decided to join them.  She was inspired in part by the rhetoric surrounding welfare reform, which promised that a job - and job - can be the ticket to a better life.  But how does anyone survive, let alone prosper, on $6 an hour? To find out, Ehrenreich left her home, took the cheapest lodgings she could find, and accepted whatever jobs she was offered.  Moving from Florida to Main to Minnesota, she worked as a waitress, a hotel maid, a cleaningwoman, a nursing-home aide, and a Wal-Mart sales clerk.  She lived in trailer parks and crimbling residential motels.  Very quickly, she discovered that no job is truly "unskilled", that even the lowliest occupations require exhausting mental and muscular effort.  She also learned that one job is not enough; you need at least 2 if you intend to live indoors.  This book reveals low-rent America in all its tenacity, anxiety, and surprising generosity - a land of Big Boxes, fast food, and a thousand desperate stratagems for survival.  Read it for the smoldering clarity of Ehrenreich's perspective and for a rare view of how "prosperity" looks from the bottom.

This was an interesting book.  It is part of the Rory Gilmore reading challenge, so that is what drew me to it.  It was published in 2001, but of course it is still relevant today.  While the minimum wage and sort of crept up a bit, the cost of living has skyrocketed, so I can imagine how much more a squeeze living day to day would be for a large part of Americans.  The author left her comfortable living to spend some time with people who were trying to get by on minimum wage and who were forced to take even 3 jobs just to keep a roof over their heads.  And not even then was it sometimes possible.  It was eye opening and a good read and I encourage you to check it out.

Stars: 4

Book: Tell Me Where She's Buried

 Book: Tell Me Where She's Buried

Author: Patrick Logan

Pages: 311

This is my 207th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

11 years ago, LA was terrorized by The Sandman, a serial killer who claimed at least 12 women's lives.  Young FBI agent Constantine "Con" Striker stopped him, but not before enduring a devastating personal loss - his twin sister, Valerie, was one of the victimes.  Or so he believes.  Even after a decade on death row and confessing to 12 murders, The Sandman denies knowing Valerie Striker.  Desperate for closure, Con demands the killer reveal where his sister's remains are buried.  But The Sandman refuses to talk.  Con's obsession with finding his sister has cost him nearly everthing he loves: his marriage is in tatters, his career is on the brink, and he's burned through partners faster than he changes his clothes.  Now, rookie agent Alex Frost joins Con on a new case; stopping the piracy of Hollywood films before their release.  As they investigate, they uncover a web of darkness an complexity far beyond simple theft - and more deadly.  When they discover a connection bewteen the pirated films and Valerie's disappearance, Con believes he's opn the brink of finally finding out the truth.  But the stakes have never been higher.  Con's relentless pursuit of answers risks not only his sanity but also Alex's life.  And as the pieces come together, it soon becomes apparent that he may soon be searching for his partner's body in addition to his sister's soon becomes apparent that he may soon be searching for his partner’s body in addition to his sister’s.

Poorly written and just not that entertaining.  Did not care about the characters.

Stars: 2

Book: Tessa and Scott

 Book: Tessa and Scott

Author: Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir

Pages: 224

This is my 206th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir are the most decorated figure skaters in the history of the sport, and are widely celebrated by peers and fans alike for their superior athleticism, one-of-a-kind partnership, and generosity of spirit.  In these pages, they share their incredible story with the world.  Veteran sports columnist Steve Milton draws from hours of conversations with Tessa and Scott as they take us from their first meeting in 1995 to their impressive debut and rapid rise on the international scene; from the highs and lows of competitive skating to the profound impact of Tessa's injury and subsequent recovery; and from their unprecedented Olympic achievements in Vancouver in 2010 and Sochit in 2014, through to their exhilarating triumph in Pyeongchang in 2017, when their performance capture hearts the world over and catapulted them into unparalleled international acclaim.

This book was entertaining enough. I enjoyed learning about their journey through the skating worl and the pictures.  A bit too much technical stuff, but overall an interesting read.

Stars: 3.5 

Book: The Griffin Sisters Greatest Hits

 Book: The Griffin Sisters Greatest Hits

Author: Jennifer Weiner

Pages: 384

This is my 205th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Cassie and Zoe Grossberg were once as dependent on each other as sisters could be, but it's been 2 decades since they've spoken.  As a pop sensatin in their early twenties, the sisters experienced the ultimate highs of celebrity, until they were driven apart one terrible night.  Now, in their early forties, Zoe is a suburban mom in New Jersey, and Cassie is living alone, off-grid in Alaska.  In this story of estranged sisters, Zoe's teenage daughter Cherry is desperate to bring the women back together - and unearth the truth behind their estrangement.  As long-buried secrets surface, Cassie and Zoe are forced to confront their past choices and betrayals and decide whether they ca n open to forgiveness and reclaiming the strength of their sisterhood. 

This was an okay book.  I liked it overall, but Cassie started to really wear on me.  Her self loathing was relentless even when her niece really needed her.  I liked the idea of the story, but just wish I cared more about the characters.

Stars: 3 

Book: The Hazelwood

 Book: The Hazelwood

Author: Melissa Albert

Pages: 400

This is my 204th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

17 year old Alice and her mother have spent most of Alice's life on the road, always a step ahead of the uncanny bad luck biting at their heels.  But when Alice's grandmother, the reclusive author of a cult-classic book of pitch-dark fairy tales, dies alone on her estate, the Hazel Wood, Alice learns how bad her luck can really get: Her mother is stolen away - by a figure who claims to come from the Hinterland, the cruel supernatural world where her grandmother's stores are set.  Alice's only lead is the message her mother left behind: "Stay away from the Hazel Wood:.  Alice has long steered clear of her grandmother's cultish fans.  But now she has no choice but to ally with classmate Ellery Finch, aHinterland superfan who may have his won reasons for wanting to help her.  To retrieve her mother, Alice must venture first to the Hazel Wood, then into the world where her grandmother's tales began- and where she might find out how her own story went so wrong.

Stars:3 

Book: Brigands and Breadknives

 Book: Brigands and Breadknives

Author: Travis Baldree

Pages: 336

This is my 203rd of the year

What Amazon Says:

Ferm has weathered the stillness and storms of a bookseller's life for decades, but now, in the face of crippling ennui, transplants herself to the city of Thune to hang out her shingle beside a long-absent friend's coffee shop.  What could be a better pairing?  Surely a charming renovation montage will cure what ails her.  If only things were so simple.  It turns out that fixing your life isn't a one-time prospect, not as easy as a change of scenery and a lick of paint.  A drunken and desperate night sees the ratkin waking far from home in the company of a legendary warrior, an imprisoned chaos-goblin with a fondness of silverware, and an absolutely thumping hangover.  As together they fend off a rogue's gallery of ne'er-do-wells trying to claim the bounty the goblin represents, Fern may finally reconnect with the person she actually is when nothing seems inevitable.

On a secondary character - not my favorite.

Stars: 3

Book: Prarie Fires

 Book: Prarie Fires

Author: Caroline Fraser

Pages: 656

This is my 202nd book for the year

What Amazon Says:

Millions of readers of Little House on the Prairie believe they know Laura Ingalls - the pioneer girl who srvived blizzards and near-starvation on the Great Plains, and the woman who wrote the famous autobiographical books.  But the true saga of her life has never been fully told.  Now, drawing on unpublished manuscripts, letters, diaries, and land and financial records, Caroline Fraser - the editor of the Library of America edition of the Little House series - masterfully fills in the gaps in Wilder's biography.  Revealing the grown-up story behind the most influential childhood epic of pioneer life, she also chronicles Wilder's turmultuous relationship with her journalist daughter, Rose Wilder Lane, setting the record straight regarding charges of ghostwriting that have swirled around the books.  The Little House books for all the hardships they describe, are paeans to the pioneer spirit, portraying it as triumphant against all odds.  But Wilder's real life was harder and grittier than that, a story of relentless struggle, rootlessness, and poverty.  It was only in her sisties, after losing nearly everything in the GreatDepression, that she turned to children's books, recasting her hardscrabble childhood as a celebratory vision of homesteading - and achieving fame and fortune in the process, in one of the most astonishing rages to riches episodes in American letters.  Spanning nearly a centry of epochal change, from the Indian Wars to the Dust Bowl, Wild'ers dramatic life provides a unique perspective on American history and our national mytbology of self-reliance.  

This was an excellent book.  I grew up watching Little House on the Prairie reruns, and reading the books, so I was intrigued when I found this book at our local used bookstore.  It is well written, and delves into not only Laura's life, but the life of her parents and even a bit of her siblings.  Her life was very hard from the beginning, and I had no idea that she and her family moved around so much or that she went years and years without seeing her family due to that distance.  Great book - if you like the Little House stories, you should check this out.

Stars: 5

Book: Dungeon Crawler Carl Book 8 - A Parade of Horribles

 Book: A Parade of Horribles

Author: Matt Dinniman

Pages: 704

This is my 201st read for the year

What Amazon Says:

As chaoe and mass panic spread outside the dungeon in the wake of Faction Wars, Carl and Donut find themselves on the tenth floor, where they're forced to compete in a surprisingly normal set of tasks.  Well, normal for the dungeon.  Races.  Get from point A to point B, and don't come in last.  After each race, they pick an upgrade for their vehicle and the track gets more challenging.  It all seems a little too normal, a little too simple.  Ignore those strange glitches that are occuring with increaing frequency.  Don't listen to those whispers about what's happening on the mysterious eleventh floor, something the system AI calls A Parade of Horribles.  Nobody, not even the showrunners, knows what that means.  Just that the AI has ominously dubbed it "a coming-out party for the ages".Everthing is fine, Crawler.  I repeat, evertyhing is fine.  Carl hates that it's business as usual.  The rules of this floor have taken away his agency.  That just will not do.  So Carl is planning a party of his own.  It's a plan so dangerous, so insance, he can't even consult his friends lest the AI put a stop to it.  Because if it goes wrong, it's not just the end of Carl and Donut.  No.  The stakes are higher than they have ever been. 

Another great installment in the Crawler world.  Dinniman continues to build this incredible world, adding some new characters, but keeping faithful to old favorites.  Happy to see the reappearance of Uzi Jesus.  I continue to take in these books in audio form and I continue to believe this is the best way to consume them.  Jeff the narrator is phenomenal.  So talented.  What a pair he and Dinniman make!  If you are into incredible world building, humor, high stakes, and quite the game, these books are for you.  I am sad I have reached the end of the released series.  Going to be an impatient wait for book 9.

Stars: 5 

Book: Good Joy, Bad Joy

Book: Good Joy, Bad Joy

Author: Mikki Brammer

Pages: 304

This is my 200th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

For over 80 years, Joy Bridport has played by the rules"  She's been a devoted wife and mother, contributing to the community in her small Hudson Valley town.  But her quiet existence is jolted when she learns that her best friend, Hazel, only has months left to live.  Hazel has always been the more adventurous one of their due, and she seems at peace with all that she's squeezed out of her long life.  Yet Joy realizes she can't say the same.  Determined to live boldly and make the most of the time that she and Hazel have left togehter, Joy steps outside of her comfort zone - and into a bit of trouble.  But as her foray into rule-breaking escalates into committing petty crime, Joy must consider what kind of legacy she wants to leave behind, and whether there's a way for her to embrace the liberation that "Bad Joy" offers without losing all that she holds dear.  Is it ever too late to become who we're meant to be?  

Stars:3 

Book: Ten Nights of Dreams

 Book: Ten Nights of Dreams

Author: Natsume Soseki

Pages: 220

This is my 199th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

This collection of 10 connected stories or dreams has a surrealistic atmosphere.  Some are weird, others are grotesquely funny.  Among the 10 nights, the first, second, third and fifth night start with the same sentence.  "This is the dream I dreamed".  Whether Soseki actually had these dreams or whether they were complete fictions is not known.

Stars: 3 

Book: Mostly Human Resources

 Book: Mostly Human Resources

Author: Grace Viall

Pages: 352

This is my 198th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Working in human resources was not what Alexys had in mind when she joined Entity, the private company that categorizes and manages the world's cryptids.  But after her dad was killed on the job as a Warden in the Appalachian Mountains, she was filled with noble ideas of carrying on his legacy - from a safety of a desk.  Alexys dreams of climbing the corporate ladder while managing the Appalachian Wardens and sparring with Nic, the frustrating (and annoyingly attractive) Director of Research and Cataloging.  When one of Alexy's new Wardens goes missing after inquiring about a mysterious and highly dangerous monster, her chances of promotion disappear along with him.  Determined to save her career - and to shield the Warden's family from the trauma she experienced after losing her father on the job - she marches off into the monster - infested wilderness to find him herself.  Meanwhile, Nic, with ambitions of becoming the youngest Entity employee to discover a new monster, follows Alexys on her hunt.  But the work nemeses are about to discover why the Appalachian Mountains are the last place you want to find yourself after dark.  Among mountains older than bones, the jackalopes and ghouls are the least of their worries.

Stars: 3 

Book: All My Mothers

 Book: All My Mothers

Author: Joanna Glen

Pages: 480

This is my 197th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Story of one girl's journey to find her birth mother, and her realisation that mothers - and family - can be discovered in the most unexpected of places.  London, 1980s.  Though she has a comfortable, privileged life, Eva Martinez-Green is deeply unhappy.  The only child of an emotionally absent mother and a physically absent father, Eva has grown up in a cold, unloving house.  But Eva is convinced that all is notas it seems.  Why are there no baby pictures of her?  Why do her parents avoid all questions about her early years?  When her parent's relationship crumbles, Eva begins looking for a different, better life: a proper family, a perfect mother, and importantly, real love.  Her desire to find where she belongs leads Eva on a journey spanning years and continents - and, along the way, she meets women who challenge her idea of what a mother should be, and who will change her life forever.  

This was a good book.  I wasn't sure about it at first - the main character is obsessive about her past, but it smooths out and starts to flow well.  I like the pace of the book.  This was a complaint by a few people in the comments on Amazon, but honestly - I felt like it spanned a lot of years at a really good pace.  No overwiting just to make the book longer felt right for this one.

Stars: 4

Book: Something is killing the children

Book: Something is Killing The Children

Author: James Tynion

Pages: 512

This is my 196th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

When the children in a sleepy Wisconsin town begin to go missing, all hope seems lost.  Most children never return, and those that do have terrible stories of terrifying creatures that live in the shadows.  But even monsters fear the mysterious stranger that arrives shortly after.  She believes the chidlren and claims to be the only who sees what they can see.  Her name is Erica Slaughter.  She kills monsters.  This is all she does, and she bears the cost because it must be done.

This was a good series.  I have been wanting to read it for a year, and after I read another of Tynion's graphic novels, I decided to take the leap.  Well written.  Very bloody.  Looking forward to the second omnibus.

Stars: 4.5

Book: Old Man's War

 Book: Old Man's War

Author: John Scalzi

Pages: 320

This is my 195th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

John Perry did 2 things on his 75th birthday.  First he visited his wife's grave.  Then he joined the army.  The good news is that humanity finally made it to the stars.  The bad news is that, out there, planets fit to live on are scare - and alien races willing to fight us for them are common.  So: we fight.  Far from Earth, the war has been going on for decades: brutal, bloody, unyielding.  Responsible for protecting humanity, the Colonial Defense force doesn't want young people; they want people who carry the knowledge and skills of decades of living.  You'll be taken off Earth, never to return.  You'll serve 2 years in combat.  And if you survive, you'll be given a homestead of your own on a hard-won planet light years from home.  John Perry is taking that deal.  He thinks he knows what to expect.  But the actual fight is far, far harder than he can imagine - and what he will become is far stranger.

This was a pretty good book.  I have read all of John Scalzi's recent books, and do not know how I missed this Old Man's War series.  So far it is a 7 books series.  It was well written and the story flowed well, but you could tell this was a first book.  He is a very talented author, and was from the start, but missing was the Scalzi semi-humor to all of his books that I have come to love.  This one ends on a cliff hanger - not sure I will continue this series, but we shall see.  I am interested in where it is going.

Stars: 4 

Book: How to Kill a Guy in 10 Dates

 Book: How to Kill a Guy in 10 Dates

Author: Shaliee Thompson

Pages: 368

This is my 194th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

When Jamie Prescott and her best friend Laurie attend a speed-dating event, Jamie expects to meet a roster of mediocre men and indulge in some street food afterwards.  She doesn't expect one of her dates to have his throat slit at their table during a blackout.  After the lights come back on, and there are more bodies on the floor, it becomes clear that dating can be a very dnagerous pastime.  Armed with makeshift weapons and Jamie's extensive knowledge of what NOT to do in a slasher, the remaining speed daters try to find an exit while the killer adds to their body count.  As the night progresses and Jamie comes face-to-mask with the murderer, she begins to suspect they are committing the slayings to woo one of the daters and turn them into a real-life Final Girl.  But Jamie has other plans, and as she fights for her life, she can't help but find herself ensconced in a love triangle with 2 of the other survivors.  Will she make it through the bloodshed to find her Happily Ever After?  Or does this machete-wielding psychopath have another ending in mind?

Stars:3 

Book: I See You've Called In Dead

 Book: I See You've Called In Dead

Author: John Kenney

Pages: 320

This is my 193rd read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Obituary writer Bud Stanley isn't really living his best life.  He's fallen into a funk after a divorce.  (She left him for another man, who, in fairness,was far more interesting.  He's not doing his job well. He's given up on dating.  And he's about to be fired for accidentally publishing his own obituary one mildly drunken night (thought technically the company can't legally fire a dead person).  As Bud awaits his fate at work, he does the only logical thing: He goes to te wakes and funerals of total strangers to learn how to live again.

This was a pretty good book.  I liked the main character.  At first I thought it was going to be mostly humor, but in the end it was a feel good story.  Glad I read this one.

Stars: 4.

Book: Is This A Cry For Help

 Book: Is This A Cry For Help

Author: Emily Austin

Pages: 304

This is my 192nd read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Darcy's life turned out better than she could have ever imagined.  She is a librarian at the local branch, whileher wife Joy runs a book binding service.  Between the 2 of them, there is no more room on their shelves with their ample book collections, various knickknacks and boobles, and dried bouquets. Rounding out thier ideal life is 2 cats and a sun-soaked house by the lake.   But when Darcy receives the news that her ex-boyfriend, Ben, has passed away, she spirals into a pit of guilt and regret, resulting in a mental breakdown and medical leave from the library.  When she returns to work, she is met by unrest in her community and protests surrounding intellectual freedom, resulting in a call for book bans and a second look at the branch's upcoming DEI programs.  Through the support of her community, colleagues, and the personal growth that results from examining her previous relationships, Darcy comes into her own agency and the truest version of herself.  

I almost DNF this book.  I forgot I read this author's other book - Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead.  This book was not good.  And prechy.  Skip.

Stars: 2 

Book: The Nice House On The Lake Deluxe Edition

 Book: The Nice House on the Lake

Author: James Tynion

Pages: 424

This is my 191st read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Everyone who was invited to the house knows Walter - well, they know him a little, anyway.  Some met him in chidhood; some met him months ago.  And Walter's always been a little off.  But after the hardest year of their lives, nobody was going to turn down Walter's invitation to an astonishingly beautiful house in the woods, overlooking an enormous sylvan lake.  It's beautiful, it's opulent, it's private - so a week of putting up with Walter's weird little schemes and nicknames in exchange for the vacation of a lifetime?  Why not? All of them were at the moment in their lives when they could feel themselves pulling away from their other friends; wouldn't a chance to reconnect be nice?  The overriding anxieties of the 21st century gets a terrifying new face - and it might just be the face of the person you onc etrusted most.

This was a great graphic novel.  It is well written and a well laid out story.  It is an interesting concept for a post apocolytic world.  It does end on a cliff hanger, so I will have to be on the lookout for the next book in the series.  I read the delux edition which was 2 volumes in one.

Stars: 4

Book: Martyr!

 Book: Martyr!

Author: Kaveh Akbar

Pages: 352

This is my 190th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Cyrus Shams is a young man grappling with an inheritance of violence and loss.  His mother's plane was shot down over the skies of he Persian Gulf in a senseless accident; and his father's life in America was circumscribed by his work killing chickens at a factory farm in the Midwest.  Cyrus is a drunk, an addict, and a poet, whose obsession with martyrs leads him to examine the mysteries of his past - toward an uncle who rode through Iranian battlefields dressed as the angel of death to inspire and comfort the dying, and toward his mother, through a painting discovered in a Brooklyn art gallergy that suggests she may not have been who or what she seemed.

This book was weird.  I wanted to like it - it has been on my list a long time.  But I just could not follow what a lot of people like about this one.  It was disjointed and the "bombshell" of the book just made me mad.

Stars: 3

Book: This Little Life

 Book: A Little Life   

Author: Hanya Yanagihara

Pages: 832

This is my 189th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

This story follows 4 college classmates - broke, adrift, and buoyed only by their friendship and ambition as they move to NY in search of fame and fortune.  While their relationships, which are tinged by addiction, success, and pride, deepend over the decades, the men are held together by their devotion to the brillian, enigmatic Jude, a man scarred by an unspeakable childhood trauma.  A hymn to brotherly bonds and a masterful depiction of love in the 21st century.

I wanted to like this book so much more than I did.  It did start out strong - with the 4 friends and learning about their lives and how they came to be friends.  And then it became a Jude central story and it got tediuous.  It started to feel like a very very long way to the end of this book where we finally got a wrap up of the 4 friends.  So much "I'm sorry" in this book that it drove me crazy.

Stars: 3 

Book: Dungeon Crawler Carl #7 - The Inevitable Ruin

 Book: Dungeon Crawler Carl  - The Inevitable Ruin

Author: Matt Dinniman

Pages: 880

This is my 188th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

The 9th floor.  Faction Wars.  Nine armies enter, led by rich and powerful aliens from across the galaxy.  The winning team must capture and hold the castle at the very center of the battlefield.  Strategy, alliances, pitched battles, betrayal - it all makes for great fun and even great television.  But thanks to Carl, Donut, and Katia, this season is different.  For the first time ever, the crawlers have their own army.  The NPCs who are normally used as nothing but cannot fodder, have become fully self-aware and have formed an unprecedented team of their own.  And it's not just the crawlers who are at risk this Faction Wars.  Any combatant who dies on the battlefield stays in the ground.  For Donut and Katia, the stakes are even higher.  No matter who wins the war, only one of them will be allowed to leave this level.  If they all want to survive, they're going to need a little help from a veteran or two.  This is it.  This is what they've been fighting toward.  This is war.

Another terrific installment in the Dungeon Crawler world.  These books are just so fun.  Audiobooks continue to be my favorite way to consume these books.  Laugh out loud funny in so many places and well as clever writing, great story telling and world building.  There is one more book currently out and I am going to be so sad waiting for the next one!  These books are not to be missed.

Stars: 5 

Book: Lucifer's Hammer

 Book: Lucifer's Hammer

Author: Larry Niven

Pages: 640

This is my 187th read for the year

What Amazon says:

The gigantic comet had slammed into Earth, forging earthquakes a thousand times too powerful to measure on the Richter scale, tidal waves thousands of feet high.  Cities were turned into oceans; oceans turned into steam.  It was the beginning of a new Ice Age and the end of civilization.  But for the terrified men and women chance have saved, it was also the danw of a new struggle for survival - a struggle more dangerous and challenging than any they had ever known.

This was an interesting book.  It was really long, and honestly - it didn't really merit that in my opionion.  It got a bit tedious after awhile and I had a hard time picking it back up to read.  But overall, an interesting story.

Stars: 3.5 

Book: The Summer Guest

 Book: The Summer Guest

Author: Justin Cronin

Pages: 369

This is my 186th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

On an evening in late summer, the great financier Harry Wainwrigth, nearing the end of his life, arrives at a rustic fishing camp in a remote area of Maine.  He comes bearing 2 things: his wish for a day of fishing in a place that has brought him solace for 30 years, and an astonishing bequest that will forever change the lives of those around him.  From the battle fields of Italy to the turbulence of the Vietnam era, to the private battlse of love and family, this story reveals the full history of this final pilgrimage and its meaning for 4 people: Jordan Patterson, the haunted youg man who will guide Harry on his last voyage out; the camp's owner Joe Crosby, a Vietnam draft evader ho has spent a lifetime "trying to learn what it means to be brave", Joe's wife, Lucy, the woman Harry has loved for 3 decades; and Joe and Lucy's daughter Kate - the spirited you woman who holds the key to the last unopened door to the past.  As their stories unfold, secrets are revealed, courage is tested, and the bonds of love are strengthened.  And always center stage is the place itself - a magical, forgotten corner of New England where the longings of the human heart are mirrored in the wild beauty of the landscape.

Stars: 4 

Book: Before and After

 Book: Before and After

Author: Andrew Shanahan

Pages: 245

This is my 186th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Ben Stone is terrified.  He's terrified because he weights 601 pounds and needs hisright leg amputated.  He's terrified because a crane will shortly life him from his 4th floor flat and lower him 44 feet to an ambulance waiting below.  He's terrified because he hasn't been outside in 9 years and he doesn't know who will look after his dog.  He needn't worry though, becasue the world is about to end.

Couldn't get into it.

Stars: 2

Book: Atmosphere

 Book: Atmosphere

Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid

Pages: 368

This is my 185th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Joan Goodwin has been obsessed with the stars for as long as she can remember.  Thoughtful and reserved, Joan is content with her life as a professor of physics and astronomy at Rice University and as aunt to her precocious niece, Frances.  That is, until she comes across an advertisement seeking the first women scientists to join NASA's space shuttle program.  Suddenly, Joan burns to be one of the few people to go to space.  Selected from a pool of thousands of applicatns in the summer of 1980, Joan begins training at Houston's Johnson Space Center, alongside an exceptional group of fellow candidates: Top Gun pilot Hank Redmond and scientist John Griffin, ho are kind and easy going even when the stakes are highest; mission specialist Lydia Danes, who has worked too hard to play nice; warmhearted Donna Fitzgerald, who is navigating her own secrets; and Vanessa Ford, the magnetic and mysterious aeronautical engeinner, who can fix any engine and fly any plane.  As the new astronauts become unlikely friends and prepare for their first fights, Joan finds a passion and a love she never imagined.  In this new light, Joan begins to question everyting she thinks she knows about her place in the observable universe.  Then, in December of 1984, on mission STS-LR9, it all changes in an instant.  

This book was okay.  I liked it overall, but honestly wish it would have focused more on the astronauts, and getting into space.  This was almost all love story and family story.  Which is fine, but that is not why I picked it up.  Not enough about women astronauts, and the general mission to make this worth reading in my opinion.

Stars: 3

Book: Diavola

 Book: Diavola

Author: Jennifer Thorne

Pages: 304

This is my 184th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Anna has 2 rules for the annual Pace family destination vacations: Tread lightly and survive.  It isn't easy when she's the only one in the family who doesn't quite fit in.  Her twin brother, Benny, goes with the flow so much he's practically dissolved, and her older sister, Nicole, is so used to everyone - including her blandly docile husband and 2 kids - falling in line that Anna often ends up in trouble for simply asking a question.  Mom seizes every opportunity to question her life choices, and Dad, when not reminding everyone who paid for this vacation, just wants some peace and quiet.  The gorgous, remote villa in tiny Monteperso seems like a perfect place to endure so much family togetherness, until things start going off the rails - the strange noises at night, the unsettling warnings from the local villagers, and the dark violetn past of the villa itself.

Could not get into this book.  Hated all the characters.

Stars: 2

Book: The Last Song of Penelope

 Book: The Last Song of Penelope

Author: Claire North

Pages: 416

This is my 183rd read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Many years ago, Odysseus sailed to war and never returned.  For 20 years his wife Penelope and the women of Ithaca have guarded the isle against suitors and rival kings.  But peace cannot be kept forever, and the balance of power is about to break.  A beggar has arrived at the Palace.  Salt-crusted and ocean-battered, he is scorned by the suitors - but Penelope recongises in hi something terrible: her husband, Odysseus, returned at last.  Yet this Odysseus is no hero.  By returning to the island is disguise, he is not merely plotting his revenge against the suitors - vengeance that will spark a civil war - but he's testing the loyalty of his queen.  Has she been faithful to him all these years?  And how much blood is Odyssus willing to shed to be sure?  The song of Penelope is ending, and the song of Odysseus must ring through Ithaca's halls. But first, Penelop must use all her cunning to win a war for the fate of the island and keep her familyalive, whatever the cost.

This is the last book in the Song of Penelope series, and it did not disappoint.  I am so excited to see the upcoming Odyssey movie to see all of this played out.  While these books are told from the women's point of view, I am anxious to see a lot of these great characters on the screen.   This book was well written, and the women powerful througout.  I am glad I found this series.

Stars: 4.5

Book: Supergirl Woman of Tomorrow

 Book: Supergirl Woman of Tomorrow    

Author: Tom King

Pages: 216

This is my 182nd read for the year

What Amazon Says: 

Kara Zor-El has seen some epic adventures over the years, but she now finds her life without meaning or purpose.  Here she is, a young woman who saw her planet destroyed and was sent to Earth to protet a baby cousin who ended up not needing her.  What was it all for?  Wherever she goes, people only see her through the lens of Superman's fame.  Just when Supergirl things she's had enough, everything changes.  An Alien girl seeks her out for a vicious mission.  Her world has been destroyed, and the bad guys responsible are still out there.  She wants revenge, and if Supergirl doesn't help her, she'll do it herself, whever the cost.  Now a Kryptonian, a dog, and an angry, heartbroken child head out into space on a journey that will shake them to their very core.

This was a pretty good graphic novel.  My husband bought it for me because it is what the recent Supergirl movie was based on.  I did see the movie first, and it short of follows it, but the book has a lot more detail (of course).

Stars: 4