Friday, July 10, 2020

Before She Was Helen Review

Before She Was Helen
By: Caroline B. Cooney
Poisoned Pen Press
General Fiction (Adult)
Mystery and Thrillers
Publish Date 5 May 2020
336 Pages
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I have always liked this authors writing. This is the first time that I have read an adult book written by her. I have always read her young adult books and loved them. Her adult books are just as good.
She had me guessing me the whole time. I did figure out the current murder but not the 50 year old murder because I guessed wrong on that one.
This book is about an elderly woman who goes by Helen even tough that is not her legal name. There are flash backs into the reason why. There ends up being a murder in the house next to hers. She isn't aware of it until the landscapers figure something is up because the back sliding door is open and that is not normal for this home. Helen is worried about the next door neighbor because he isn't answering her texts message to make sure he is ok. She has a key and goes into his home but doesn't find anything. She does find an unexpected door that leads his other neighbors house. This brings out the curiosity of Helen and she investigates. She finds an unusual item and takes a picture of it and sends it to her nephew and niece. Well, something interesting comes of this and everything goes wild. These things just don't happen in this little area of retired people. I gave the book 4 stars. I highly recommend that you read it.

Tuesday, June 16, 2020

The Familiar Dark Review

The Familiar Dark A Novel
By: Amy Engel
Penguin Group Dutton
Dutton
General Fiction (Adult)
Mystery and Thriller
Publish Date 31 March 2020
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I have to say that the author draws you in right away. I couldn't put this down or stop thinking about it. For a short book it was great. This book is only 256 pages and a page turner. I gave it 5 stars.
This book starts out sad because it  opens with the murder of two 12 year old girls.
The first girl is from a single mom home who struggles to raise her. The other girl is from a traditional home with both parents.
Why are they murder we don't know and this book goes through that.
The single mom wants to know why her daughter is killed and who did it. Yes the couple also wants to know but is willing to have the police do all the work which single mom will not.
There is some back ground on all and you get to know the the small town. I was guessing the whole time but didn't get who the killer was until just before the single mom figured it out. You will be surprised how this book ends. I highly recommend that you give this book a read.

Tuesday, June 9, 2020

The Elephant's Girl Review

The Elephant's Girl
By: Celesta Rimington
Random House Children's
Crown Books for Young Readers
Children's Fiction, Middle Grade
336 Pages
Publish Date 19 May 2020
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This was such a joy to read. I gave it 5 stars. The author draws you into the story. There is a mystery and a girl trying to figure out who she is. She is well loved but doesn't know who she is or where she came from. She doesn't like the other kids calling elephant girl, which doesn't help with her getting along with other children. She really does love the zoo and the animals but she has a special place for Nyah. I highly recommend that you read this book especially if you are into elephants. 

Monday, May 25, 2020

Books Beside My Chair #21

This is for the week of May 18th-24th. I didn't read much this week. I read only 3 books which brings my yearly total to 112 books. These books totaled 825 pages. I just didn't feel like pushing myself to read. I just went with the flow. These are the books that I read.

 The first book of the week was an urban fantasy. At first I wasn't sure that I was going to like it but I ended up loving it. I gave it 4 stars. This actually surprised me by being a ghost story. I should have realized it by the back of the book but I try not to focus on what the synopsis says about the book because I don't want to be spoiled. This book mainly takes part in New York. The book starts in Kentucky and ends in Kentucky. It is about a young girl who dies before her time and she is slowly gaining time to her actual death date. There is a mystery involved dealing with witches and other ghost.
 This is a middle grade fantasy. I gave it 3 stars and do have the second book to this series. This book is a little hard to describe but it does deal with transfiguration. It is about twins who both change but into different creatures. One changes into a wolf and the other into a dragon. Wolves and dragons are enemy in this land.
I was really disappointed in this book. Again this book is a middle grade. It is also a Sci-Fi/Fantasy. This book also has ghost in it. (In the last two weeks I have read 4 books about ghost.) The girl is also a shape shifter. The girl is looking for her brother is lost and wants to find him. She has some interesting things that happen to her in her search.

I have been reading other books but haven't finished them. I am hoping to finish them in the up coming week. I am ahead of schedule for my reading goal so I am not worried.
If you have read any of these books let me know what you thought of them. Until next time keep reading.

Monday, May 18, 2020

Books Beside My Chair #20

This is for the week of May 11th -17th. I read 7 books which brings my reading total to 109 books. The total number of pages read is 2,616.

 This is a middle grade book that I gave 3 stars to.  This is a story about a boy who fell off a wagon is raised by a poor farmer. He becomes friends with a stranger and learns his story. This book tells how he learns about his pass. I have enjoyed her books but this one isn't up to her normal in my opinion.
 This is another middle grade that I again gave 3 stars to. It is about a group of young children who are search of a ghost at the hotel. It is a cute story but was lacking.
 I have had this book for awhile and finally got around to reading it. I really enjoyed this book and gave it 4 stars. It is taking place in Scotland. The girl has dead and was brought back to life by another ghost. She is learning why she is still alive and what she needs to do with her ability to see and hear ghost. I had a great time reading this book and I am hoping to get to the second book soon.
 This is a review book that I did for Net Galley. It is a YA book and I gave it 3 stars. To learn more about this book read my review.
 This is a heart warming and breaking book. I gave it 4 stars. It is a dual time going from 1970 to 2001/2013. I highly recommend that you read this book. I found myself not wanting to read it because I knew it was going to be heart breaking in some parts but then again I couldn't put the book down. It is about a woman whose baby will not survive if she is born in the 1970's because her baby has a heart condition. She is sent to the future to have a special surgery done to help her baby. Who sends her into the future? What happens to the baby and the woman? You will have to read the book.
 I wasn't sure I was going to like this book but I ended up giving it 4 stars. This is a mystery/ thriller.
It is about a young lady who loses her boyfriend to a car accident but everyone thinks he may have committed suicide. There is only one problem they can't find his body. There is a twist that I didn't even see and it brought up this 3 star read to a 4 star read.
This book has taken me almost five months to read. I of course only read it thirty minutes a day so that is why it took so long. Not only is it over 800 pages long but the writing is so tiny that in a 30minute period I could only read 8 pages. This is a nonfiction/biography of George Washington. I t was a complete history of his life and the time. I gave it 4 stars. 

These are the books that I finished for the week and still working on more. I will keep you posted when I finish them some of them will be this week. Until then keep reading and stay safe.

Thursday, May 14, 2020

Spindle and Dagger Review

Spindle and Dagger
By; J. Anderson Coats
Candlewick Press
Candlewick
Teens and YA
Publish Date 10 March 2020
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This book was okay. I gave it 3 stars. My copy of this book wasn't very good and it was hard to read. It isn't the authors fault. I had to spend a lot of time trying to figure out was going on. Otherwise the book was a quick read even with the copy that I received.
This book is based on events that happen in Wales. In the year 1000. I don't know a lot about this time period.
The main male character is not a nice person. He wanted to do what he wanted and wouldn't listen to anyone if it went against what he wanted.
The female main character was young and said anything to protect herself, which included a lot of lying.
What I liked most about this book was the historical note at the end because it gave you information about the time period which made the story more understandable.


Wednesday, May 13, 2020

Book Haul

It is only May 13th and I already have 6 books to tell you about. Five of them are from Amazon and 1 is a book that I won from Good Reads giveaway.

 Jessica Whitworth knows she doesn't belong in her ex-boyfriend Caleb's room. But Caleb's mother asked her to pack up his things-even though she blames Jessa for his accident. How could she say no?
As Jessa begins to box up the pieces of Caleb's life, memories flood back that make Jessa realize their past relationship may not have been exactly as she's thought.
Each fragment of his life reveals a new clue that propels Jessa to search for the truth about Caleb's accident. What really happened on the storm-swept bridge? And did she ever Caleb at all?
 Mia and Jake have known each other their whole lives. They've endured summer vacations. Sunday brunches, even dentist visits together. Their mothers, who are best friends, are convinced that Mia and Jake would be the perfect couple, even though they can't stand to be in the same room together.
After Mia's mom scares away yet another cute boy, Mia and Jake decide they've had enough. Together, they hatch a plan to get their moms off their backs. Permanently. All they have to do is pretend to date and then stage the worst breakup of all time-and then they'ss be free.
It's the perfect plan-except that it turns out maybe Mia and Jake don't hate each other as much as they once thought...
 This is the third book of the series.  I won't say anything about it since it is the third book.
 Patricia Campbell's life has never felt smaller. Her husband is a workaholic, her teenage kids have their own lives, her senile mother-in-law needs constant care, and she's always a step behind on her endless to-do list. The only thing keeping her sane is her book club, a close-knit group of Charleston women united by their love of true crime. At these meetings they're as likely to talk about the Manson family as they are about their own families.
One evening after book club, Patricia is viciously attacked by an elderly neighbor, bringing the neighbor's handsome nephew, James Harris, into her life. James is well traveled and well read, and he makes Patricia feel things she hasn't felt in years. But when children on the other side of town go missing, their deaths written off by local police, Patricia has reason to believe James Harris is more of a Bundy than a Brad Pitt. The real problem? James is a monster of a different kind-and Patricia has already invited him in.
Little by little, James will insinuate himself into Patricia's life and try to take everything she took for granted-including the book club-but she won't surrender without a fight in this blood-soaked tale of neighborly kindness gone wrong.
 This is the second book in a series. Again I won't say anything about this book.

This is the book that I won from Good Reads give away. Every now and then I am able to receive a book from them. This is an ARC that will be released in July 2020.
In a matter of weeks, Massachusetts has been overrun by an insidious rabies-like virus that is spread by saliva. But unlike rabies, the disease has a terrifyingly short incubation period of an hour or less. Those infected quickly lose their minds and are driven to bite and infect as many others as they can before they inevitably succumb. Hospitals are inundated with the sick and dying, and hysteria has taken hold, To try to limit its spread, the commonwealth is under quarantine and curfew. But society is breaking down and the government's emergency protocols are faltering.
Dr. Ramoia "Rams" Sherman, a soft-spoken pediatrician in her mid-thirties, receives a frantic phone call from Natalie, a friend who is eight months pregnant. Natalie's husband has been killed-viciously attacked by an infected neighbor-and in a failed attempt to save him, Natalie, too, was bitten. Natalie's only chance of survival is to get to a hospital as quickly as possible to receive a rabies vaccine. The clock is ticking for her and for her unborn child.
Natalie's fight for life becomes a desperate odyssey as she and Rams make their way through a hostile landscape filled with dangers beyond their worst nightmares-terrifying, strange, and sometimes deadly challenges that push them to the brink.

Let me know if you have read any of these books. Until next time keep reading and stay safe.