I honestly can't say that I enjoyed this book all that much. I even took a step back for more than a month after I read the book to see if my first impressions were made hastily but I really can't say that I enjoyed this book any more now than I did before. I think most of it had to do with the fact that my expectations for what the book was about were so much different than what the book was actually about. My expectations were that this book was a thriller but I felt like it was more strange than thrilling. The murder mystery really took a back seat to the story about Judith and "who she used to be". We quickly learn who Judith used to be but the murder mystery is very quickly wrapped up at the very end. That felt kind of like an old cartoon version of a murder mystery and not what I would expect a thriller to be. I just didn't really like this book that much. I would say that there are some people who may enjoy this book and, for that, I gave it two stars instead of one.
This book is currently available and can be purchased from major booksellers. Read more reviews on this book on Goodreads. Visit the publisher, Penguin Random House, for booksellers and information about the book.
I received this book from Blogging for Booksfor this review. This is my honest opinion of this book. I am not associated with Goodreads in any way and the links provided are available strictly for your convenience and not to imply a relationship of any kind.
I do not track activity of visitors beyond that which blogger already does. If you click on an outside link, those websites may track your activity but I do not actively share any information with third-party websites.
Rescued was a feel good book. It has several stories of people who have adopted dogs that would have, otherwise, been euthanized due to their being in high-kill shelters. Zheutlin explains some of the reasons why people should "rescue" animals. Adopting animals, as opposed to buying them from puppy mills, is a much more humane way to invite a pet into your home. Rescuing animals also helps us. Our physical and mental health are improved exponentially by having animals in our home.
I picked this up knowing that it would be a light read and make me feel good. While I have not personally rescued any dogs (though family members have), I have rescued two cats that have opened my heart up to so much happiness. The first cat was Oreo. I got her from a PetSmart adoption event when I was about 18. She slept on my bed every night until she fell ill with a kidney problem that took her from us in 2014. I then adopted Lucy, also from a PetSmart adoption event, a week after I lost Oreo. While I will never forget Oreo, Lucy helped me heal from the loss of my best friend by becoming my new best friend. Zheutlin's book will help reader's remember how great it feels to bring a furry friend into their home and love, and be loved, unconditionally.
Lucy
Oreo
Rating:
★★★★☆
Reviews of books like this one: Britt Marie Was Here by Fredrik Backman And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer by Fredrik Backman The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, 83 1/4 Years Old This book is currently available and can be purchased from Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Read more
reviews on this book on Goodreads.
I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher in order to
review it but that did not have an effect on my review of the book. This
is my honest opinion of this book. I am a participant in the Amazon
Affiliates program. By clicking on the Amazon link and purchasing this
product, I receive a small fee. I am not associated with Goodreads or
Barnes and Noble in any way and the links provided are available strictly for
your convenience and not to imply a relationship of any kind.
When I first rated this book, I gave it four stars. After thinking about the book a bit, I think it deserves five. This was the perfect ghost story.
Fiona can't get over her sister's murder. Deb's killer is behind bars but Fiona just can't accept that the story is exactly how the police say it was. Four girls have been dumped at the depressing Idlewild boarding school for various reasons. They are haunted by a ghost named Mary Hand who haunts the school. Some say that she was a student that was locked out of the school and is still begging to get in. Others say that her baby is buried in the garden. Either way, Mary digs into each persons unique past and shows those she haunts what can scare them most.
I was surprised that this book was this scary! Mary Hand is the perfect ghost. She is so creepy and gets at the heart of what will scare both the characters and the reader. This book also functioned as a historical fiction, of sorts, with some of the story being dedicated to the history of the Ravensbruck concentration camp and the atrocities there.
I loved this book! From the characters to the storyline, I was kept in suspense until the very last moment. I was fascinated by the historical accounts of Ravensbruck and I was saddened by the way that the girls were thrown away so easily but the ghost story is really what kept me turning the pages well into the night. I can't say enough good things about this book and I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a great horror story.
This book will be available on March 20, 2018 and can be pre-ordered from Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Read more
reviews on this book on Goodreads.
I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher in order to
review it but that did not have an effect on my review of the book. This
is my honest opinion of this book. I am a participant in the Amazon
Affiliates program. By clicking on the Amazon link and purchasing this
product, I receive a small fee. I am not associated with Goodreads or
Barnes and Noble in any way and the links provided are available strictly for
your convenience and not to imply a relationship of any kind.
Kitty suffered an accident as a child that left her unable to communicate. While she is able to think clearly, all of her thoughts come out as babbles. Alison is an art teacher in a community college and takes a job as an artist in residence in a minimum security prison to atone for her perceived role in Kitty's injuries.
Last year, I read Jane Corry's book, My Husband's Wife and really enjoyed it. I was excited to learn that Corry had released another novel. I was not disappointed with this one. Blood Sisters was enough of a thriller to keep one's attention while also including enough about the relationship between sisters. Sisters' relationships can be complicated and Corry included this in her book. There were also plenty of twists and turns. Kitty was a very interesting character. She is very opinionated and not very nice but she still very much loves her sister. This was a quick read, for me, and I felt myself feeling as if I could not put the book down before I figured out the ending. The ending was unpredictable, as well. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys psychological thrillers. I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more by Corry.
My rating:
★★★★☆
This book is currently available and can be purchased from Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Read more
reviews on this book on Goodreads.
I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher in order to
review it but that did not have an effect on my review of the book. This
is my honest opinion of this book. I am a participant in the Amazon
Affiliates program. By clicking on the Amazon link and purchasing this
product, I receive a small fee. I am not associated with Goodreads or
Barnes and Noble in any way and the links provided are available strictly for
your convenience and not to imply a relationship of any kind.
"It's a dangerous job. I was nervous at first. You never know which meal will be your last."
It is Germany in the middle of World War II. Magda Ritter's father is worried about Magda's safety in Berlin and sends her to live in Bavaria with her uncle and his Spanish wife. She can't seem to please her aunt, who wants her to find a job to pull her weight as soon as she arrives. Her police officer uncle pulls some strings to get her a job working directly with the Fuhrer. She has been awarded a job as a taster. She must be able to find poisons in food meant for Hitler by smell, sight and taste. This new position has enabled Magda to learn things about the Reich that has been hidden from most of the citizens of Germany. Soon, she finds out that the SS has been doing horrible things. Will she participate in brining down the man who rules the Reich?
This is a historical fiction about Nazi Germany from a different perspective. And it was quite different from any other fiction I have read about the time. There was very little about the concentration camps or escape attempts by dissidents or any of the other common themes. Instead, it is about the employees of Hitler, some of whom hate him for what he has done to their country and families, in addition to what he did to the Jewish citizens of Germany. I appreciated being able to see the story from a different perspective. At first, I was a bit upset that the author did not spend a lot of time on those who were most hurt by Hitler and Nazi Germany but then I took a step back and realized that there were quite a few books from the perspective of concentration camp survivors (the author suggests some of this reading at the end of the book) and that there should be room for the German victims, too. The book did, sometimes, drag but I still enjoyed it a lot. I enjoyed the characters. Magda was very likeable. She is the all-around nice girl. I would suggest this book to anyone who enjoys historical fiction, especially if the reader is open to new perspectives about history.
My rating:
★★★★☆
Reviews of books like this one: Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate My Last Lament by James William Brown The Patriots be Sana Krasikov
This book is currently available and can be purchased from Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Read more
reviews on this book on Goodreads.
I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher in order to
review it but that did not have an effect on my review of the book. This
is my honest opinion of this book. I am a participant in the Amazon
Affiliates program. By clicking on the Amazon link and purchasing this
product, I receive a small fee. I am not associated with Goodreads or
Barnes and Noble in any way and the links provided are available strictly for
your convenience and not to imply a relationship of any kind.
Leia is famous in the comic book world for creating a superhero and has just discovered that she is pregnant after an encounter with one of her fans. One of the first people that she wants to tell is her grandmother, Birchie, but before she can do so, she discovers that Birchie is suffering from dementia. Birchie's best friend, Wattie, has been keeping Birchie's illness a secret until Birchie has an outburst at a church function that reveals dirty town secrets. Leia travels to Birchie's lifelong home to clean it out and find an assisted living facility for Birchie and Wattie to stay in but soon discovers that the women hold deeper secrets than Birchie's dementia.
I love Southern Fiction and I liked this book but I did not love this book. With the exception of Birchie and Wattie, the characters in this book really didn't seem southern. It seemed like Leia really wanted to be southern but there was no true insight into what southern was really like. There were a lot of assumptions made about the south that simply were not true in this point and time. I also felt that there was too much emphasis on Leia's story when I would have rather heard more about Birchie and Wattie's story. This wasn't a historical fiction novel where the past and the present are interwoven. The historical parts of this book were almost an afterthought. It felt like I was reading about Leia and her baby and Batman (Leia's baby's father) and Birchie and Wattie's story, which was so much more interesting, was rushed through. While I enjoyed the book, I would have preferred more of the history behind the bones. That being said, I think those who enjoy Women's Fiction will find this more to their taste. Those looking for Historical Fiction or Southern Fiction may be somewhat disappointed.
"Soon she will step into her white dress. She will smooth makeup over her clear young skin. She will wear something borrowed and something blue. The musicians will lift their instruments to serenade her as she slowly makes her way down the aisle, toward the only man I ever truly loved."
A woman is about to marry the man of her dreams as he is moving on from his old life with another wife. The man she loves, Richard, cheated on his divorced wife with her and the scorned woman is so not over it. We watch as Richard prepares to marry a new woman while the old woman desperately tries to prevent the marriage.
I had a lot of high hopes for this book. It just did not meet my expectations. I liked the book and enjoyed reading it but it did not live up to the hype that surrounded it. It was held up as an intense psychological thriller but the twists and turns, while surprising, were not that exciting. There was suspense but I found that many of my questions were left unanswered at the end. I do want to say that this book is a good one. Many people will enjoy it. I think that my expectations were just built way too high for it. There are plot twists and they are hard to anticipate. The characters are very well written and incredibly complex. I think fans of psychological thrillers will like this book but just be forewarned that there are some holes in the plot. A psychological thriller about a marriage gone wrong that I enjoyed much more would have the be The Breakdown by B.A. Paris.
Watch the book trailer here:
I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher in order to review it but that did not have an effect on my review of the book. This is my honest opinion of this book. I am a participant in the Amazon Affiliates program. By clicking on the Amazon link and purchasing this product, I receive a small fee. I am not associated with Goodreads or Barnes and Noble in any way and the links provided are available strictly for your convenience and not to imply a relationship of any kind.
"... despite the best efforts of all the detective's and all the town's men, her head was never found, and the girl in the woods was never put together again."
Eddie and his friends use chalk drawings in different colors to communicate with one another. One of their chalk pictures will signal that they should all meet in the park while another will lead the others to the woods. One day, the boys follow their chalk drawings to the body of a young woman that has been murdered. When the boys grow up and drift apart, they are all drawn back together when they begin to receive creepy chalk drawings again. They begin to wonder if the person accused of the crime was really the person who killed the girl.
The ending to this book shocked me. I had no idea what really happened until the very last chapter. There was so much suspense that I felt myself reading another page and another until I finished the book and found out the truth. I frequently read books that are suspenseful and some that are creepy but rarely do I find one that is truly scary. This book is truly scary. Tudor is wonderfully descriptive in her writing, which added to the frightful scenes. Some of the scenes will be able to cause nightmares! The characters are vague in such a way that the reader kind of suspects everyone. There are enough twists and turns to keep one interested but not too many that the book does not make any sense, either. I loved this book and think that anyone that enjoys thrillers or horror novels will, too.
This book is currently available and can be purchased from major booksellers. Read more reviews on this book on Goodreads. Visit the publisher, Penguin Random House, for booksellers and information about the book.
I received this book from Blogging for Booksfor this review. This is my honest opinion of this book. I am not associated with Goodreads in any way and the links provided are available strictly for your convenience and not to imply a relationship of any kind.
I do not track activity of visitors beyond that which blogger already does. If you click on an outside link, those websites may track your activity but I do not actively share any information with third-party websites.
I loved Britt-Marie but Britt-Marie Was Here was not my favorite Fredrik Backman book. I still loved the book but I have come to expect a certain story when I read a Backman book and this one didn't hit the spot in the same way as the others did. This book was still a wonderful book, though.
Britt-Marie has spent her life taking care of everybody and everything around her. She has become invisible until the day that she decides to leave her cheating husband and take a job as a caretaker in the small, neglected town of Borg. She tries to make the best of it and make her time there as orderly as possible. She locates a container of baking soda and begins to clean. When the children of Borg ask her to be their soccer coach, a sport of which she knows little about, she agrees and learns what it is like to be accepted and make an impact on a place and its people.
Like other stories by Backman, the cozy writing style and characters really make up this book. Britt-Marie was such a great character. I actually found myself wondering if the characters from this book and Backman's And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer were intertwined in some way. Britt-Marie is so very set in her ways. She has trouble even using a different brand of cleaner than the one she is used to. Though she is rigid in her ways, she is still such a kind, likeable person. The story was a very refreshing one but it could drag on a bit in some areas. Nonetheless, I still enjoyed reading it and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys Backman's wonderful writing style or an easy, cozy read.
My rating:
★★★★☆
This is my honest opinion of this book. I am a participant in the Amazon Affiliates program. By clicking on the Amazon link and purchasing this product, I receive a small fee. I am not associated with Goodreads or Barnes and Noble in any way and the links provided are available strictly for your convenience and not to imply a relationship of any kind. I do not track activity of visitors beyond that which blogger already does. If you click on an outside link, those websites may track your activity but I do not actively share any information with third-party websites.
Rill and her siblings, along with their parents, are river people. They live on a boat and travel with the river. They don't have a lot of money but they love each other immensely. When Rill's mother, Queenie, begins to have trouble during one of her deliveries, Rill's father takes Queenie to the hospital to give birth to the twins and leaves the children at home, with Rill in charge. Before her parents can get home, Rill and her siblings are kidnapped and brought to Georgia Tann, a woman who brokers adoptions. Georgia Tann runs the Tennessee Children's Home Society and many of the children that she claims are orphans are very much loved children to alive, but usually poor, parents. Rill struggles to keep her siblings together while fighting off the abuses that she experiences at the boarding house she is entrusted to.
Avery Stafford is a gifted District Attorney who has traveled home to help out with her senator father after he has been diagnosed with cancer. She is about to fulfill the promise of marrying her childhood sweetheart and stepping into her father's shoes when she meets an older woman at a senior care facility who claims to know her grandmother, a woman who is suffering from dementia. When Avery brings up the encounter with the woman with her grandmother, her grandmother begins to act as if she remembers something but can't express what it is. Avery works to uncover the story of the Tennessee Children's Home Society.
The saddest part of this book is that it is based on a true story. Georgia Tann was a real woman who used her position to kidnap children from loving homes and then adopt them out to rich people in order to earn a hefty fee. I had no prior knowledge of this heartbreaking story before reading Wingate's book but I learned a lot reading it and her story encouraged me to do more research. Ms. Tann earned, in today's dollars, millions brokering adoptions with wealthy families and pocketing the adoption fees while ignoring abuse in the boarding houses that she left the children in.
Wingate's wonderful storytelling abilities made reading such a tragic story interesting and enjoyable. All of the characters have unique voices with Rill's being my favorite. Rill is such a strong girl, holding up her family at 12-years-old when the rest of her family is falling apart. I did not think that Avery's story added very much to this book and would have been happy with just the stories of Rill and her siblings. I would have liked to hear more about them and it seemed as if the book ended somewhat abruptly, without as much information as I would have liked to have. This could have just been because I fell so much in love with the characters, though, that I felt like I had to know everything about them.
I loved this book and believe anyone who enjoys historical fiction would also like this book. It was not a depressing book. It was a sad story but it had enough hope to keep me interested. This is a sad part of our history that I think people should learn more about. I would recommend it to anyone that enjoys historical fiction or southern fiction.
My rating:
★★★★★
Watch this video for more information on the Tennessee Children's Home Society:
Reviews of more books like this one: Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood If the Creek Don't Rise by Leah Weiss The Education of Dixie Dupree by Donna Everhart This book is currently available and can be purchased from Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Read more
reviews on this book on Goodreads.
I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher in order to
review it but that did not have an effect on my review of the book. This
is my honest opinion of this book. I am a participant in the Amazon
Affiliates program. By clicking on the Amazon link and purchasing this
product, I receive a small fee. I am not associated with Goodreads or
Barnes and Noble in any way and the links provided are available strictly for
your convenience and not to imply a relationship of any kind.
