The Mistress of Tall Acre

Author: Laura Frantz

Genre: Historical Fiction

Publisher: Baker Publishing Group, 2015

Pages: 400

Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: The American Revolution is finally over, and Sophie Menzies is starved for good news. When her nearest neighbor, General Seamus Ogilvy, finally comes home to Tall Acre, she hopes it is a sign of better days to come. But the general is now a widower with a small daughter in desperate need of a mother. Nearly destitute, Sophie agrees to marry Seamus and become the mistress of Tall Acre in what seems a safe, sensible arrangement. But when a woman from the general's past returns without warning, the ties that bind this fledgling family together will be strained to the utmost. When all is said and done, who will be the rightful mistress of Tall Acre?

Triumph and tragedy, loyalty and betrayal--readers find it all in the rich pages of this newest historical novel from the talented pen of Laura Frantz. Her careful historical details immerse the reader in the story world, and her emotional writing and finely tuned characters never cease to enchant fans both old and new.

Review: It's no secret that I love a good psychological thriller, but I will always return to historical fiction/romance. I loved these characters, the plot, and the author's ability to make a time so long ago feel so real. I didn't want to let this family go.

This novel was a bit predictable which is why I don't "Highly Recommend" it, but that's pretty typical of this genre too, I think.

I've already requested more Frantz books from the library.

All the Missing Girls

Author: Megan Miranda
Genre: Triller
Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2016
Pages: 384
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: Like the spellbinding psychological suspense in The Girl on the Train and Luckiest Girl Alive, Megan Miranda’s novel is a nail-biting, breathtaking story about the disappearances of two young women—a decade apart—told in reverse.

It’s been ten years since Nicolette Farrell left her rural hometown after her best friend, Corinne, disappeared from Cooley Ridge without a trace. Back again to tie up loose ends and care for her ailing father, Nic is soon plunged into a shocking drama that reawakens Corinne’s case and breaks open old wounds long since stitched.

The decade-old investigation focused on Nic, her brother Daniel, boyfriend Tyler, and Corinne’s boyfriend Jackson. Since then, only Nic has left Cooley Ridge. Daniel and his wife, Laura, are expecting a baby; Jackson works at the town bar; and Tyler is dating Annaleise Carter, Nic’s younger neighbor and the group’s alibi the night Corinne disappeared. Then, within days of Nic’s return, Annaleise goes missing.

Told backwards—Day 15 to Day 1—from the time Annaleise goes missing, Nic works to unravel the truth about her younger neighbor’s disappearance, revealing shocking truths about her friends, her family, and what really happened to Corinne that night ten years ago.

Like nothing you’ve ever read before, All the Missing Girls delivers in all the right ways. With twists and turns that lead down dark alleys and dead ends, you may think you’re walking a familiar path, but then Megan Miranda turns it all upside down and inside out and leaves us wondering just how far we would be willing to go to protect those we love.

Review: Where to begin? Let's start with the title. It's a little misleading because "only" two girls go missing, but "all" definitely makes it sound dramatic. 

The reverse timeline might be a bit gimmicky, but I didn't find this format off putting or even difficult to follow. I'm not sure it's a method of writing other writers need to adopt, but for this, it worked.

The story itself started out strong, but what initially sizzled soon fizzled and the author wasn't able to resurrect the suspenseful "thriller" feel again. I'm still trying to decide if this novel's shortcomings were in writing style or plot. It's worth a read, but I'm a bit surprised enough people thought it was good enough to be a finalist in the Goodreads Thriller category (2016).

Under the Harrow

Author: Flynn Berry

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group, 2016

Pages: 240

Rating: Do Not Recommend

Synopsis: When Nora takes the train from London to visit her sister in the countryside, she expects to find her waiting at the station, or at home cooking dinner. But when she walks into Rachel’s familiar house, what she finds is entirely different: her sister has been the victim of a brutal murder.

Stunned and adrift, Nora finds she can’t return to her former life. An unsolved assault in the past has shaken her faith in the police, and she can’t trust them to find her sister’s killer. Haunted by the murder and the secrets that surround it, Nora is under the harrow: distressed and in danger. As Nora’s fear turns to obsession, she becomes as unrecognizable as the sister her investigation uncovers. 

A riveting psychological thriller and a haunting exploration of the fierce love between two sisters, the distortions of grief, and the terrifying power of the past, Under the Harrow marks the debut of an extraordinary new writer.

Review: This isn't a bad read, but it's not a psychological thriller. It was well-written fiction or mystery rather than thriller. I like the author's writing style and the way the story unfolded, but it just never sucked me in or had me on the edge of my seat. I also found the unreliable narrator to be annoying and unlikeable.

Bottom line, I don't recommend this as a psychological thriller, but as a work of fiction, it's good.

The World of Little House

Author: Carolyn Strom Collins, Christina Wyss Ericksson
Genre: Non-Fiction / Pre-Teen
Publisher: HarperCollins, 2015
Pages: 160
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: Laura Ingalls Wilder is the original pioneer girl, and her Little House books were inspired by the events of her life. This keepsake volume discusses how her real life was different from her stories, and it also focuses on her adult life and how she came to write the Little House series. In addition, it includes one chapter for each of Laura's nine Little House books, exploring in detail the stories, houses, landscapes, journeys, foods, activities, and crafts. Maps, family trees, photographs, and a timeline trace the history of Laura and her family. Meticulously researched, lovingly written, and beautifully illustrated, The World of Little House is for anyone who has ever read and loved the Little House books.

Review: I'll read anything about The Little House books and Laura Ingallls Wilder, and because of this I've read quite a few books already. This felt like a Cliff's Notes version of Pioneer Girl, which was a far better book for really studying Laura's life, but also more difficult for the recommended ages of 8-11 to read, I'm sure.

Where I found fault with this book was that it took Laura's books at face value and provided a synopsis of each. However, there was no discussion about how The Little House books fictionalized Laura's real life. I don't know, I just didn't love it.

The Lost Ones

Author: Michaela MacColl
Genre: Historical Fiction, Pre-Teen
Publisher: Highlights Press, 2016
Pages: 256
Rating: Do Not Recommend

Synopsis: Despite her father’s warnings that their tribe is always in danger, Casita, a ten-year-old Lipan Apache girl, has led a relatively peaceful life with her tribe in Mexico, doing her daily chores and practicing for her upcoming Changing Woman ceremony, in which she will officially become a woman of the tribe. But the peace is shattered when the U.S. Cavalry invades and brutally slaughters her people. Casita and her younger brother survive the attack, but are taken captive and sent to the Carlisle Indian School, a Pennsylvania boarding school that specializes in assimilating Native Americans into white American culture. Casita grieves for her lost family as she struggles to find a way to maintain her identity as a Lipan Apache and survive at the school.

Review: This book gets the biggest W.T.H. in writing and publishing that I've ever felt. It just ended. Abruptly. In the middle of the story. So many loose ends. I'm all for authors leaving the ending to the reader's imagination, but this just didn't make sense. It didn't end, it just stopped, mid-thought practically. I am so thoroughly annoyed.

Other books by this author
Rory's Promise
Freedom's Price

The Someday Jar

Author: Allison Morgan

Genre: Fiction

Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group, 2015

Pages: 352

Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: Fans of Sophie Kinsella and the Shopaholic series will fall in love with Lanie Howard—young, fabulous, and desperate to transform her life—in this funny, quirky, and endearing story about finding perfect happiness in life’s most imperfect moments.

WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU LEMON-DROP MARTINIS...
Real-estate broker Lanie Howard figures she has the perfect man, the perfect job, and the perfect life. Then she stumbles across her old Someday Jar, the forgotten glass relic where she stashed all the childhood wishes—no matter how crazy—that her father encouraged her to write down on the backs of Chinese restaurant fortunes. She used to be fun once! What happened to her?

DON'T CHOKE ON THE RIND.
Although Lanie is wary of uncorking her past, when an attractive stranger saves her from a life-or-death encounter with a lemon peel at the bottom of a martini glass, she realizes that life is way too short for regrets. Now, jar in hand, Lanie decides to throw caution to the wind, and carry out everything she had once hoped to do, even if it means leaving her perfectly “perfect” life behind…

Review: I read this because I had enjoyed Can I See You Again so much, and it's by the same author. This was cute. It's pretty obvious where the story is going to end up, but it's a fun, engaging journey from here to there with a couple laugh out loud moments.

Behind Closed Doors

Author: B.A. Paris

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Publisher: St. Martin's Press, 2016
Pages: 304

Rating: Highly Recommend

Synopsis: Everyone knows a couple like Jack and Grace. He has looks and wealth; she has charm and elegance. He’s a dedicated attorney who has never lost a case; she is a flawless homemaker, a masterful gardener and cook, and dotes on her disabled younger sister. Though they are still newlyweds, they seem to have it all. You might not want to like them, but you do. You’re hopelessly charmed by the ease and comfort of their home, by the graciousness of the dinner parties they throw. You’d like to get to know Grace better.

But it’s difficult, because you realize Jack and Grace are inseparable.

Some might call this true love. Others might wonder why Grace never answers the phone. Or why she can never meet for coffee, even though she doesn’t work. How she can cook such elaborate meals but remain so slim. Or why she never seems to take anything with her when she leaves the house, not even a pen. Or why there are such high-security metal shutters on all the downstairs windows.

Some might wonder what’s really going on once the dinner party is over, and the front door has closed.

Review: Let's just put this in the category of "could not put down." It was that good. The plot, the characters, the author's writing style. All of it was on point and fabulously disturbing.

From the outset it's no secret that something is very off with this couple, and the author patiently lets the story twist and unfold, drawing the reader in page by page, chapter by chapter.

This novel has been compared to Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train, which kills me. Why do those have to be the standard of psychological thrillers? At any rate, the book hangover is upon me. The next three or four books I try to read are going to let me down, if I can get into them at all. Good books are a blessing and a curse.

Love & Gelato

Author: Jenna Evans Welch

Genre: Teen Fiction

Publisher: Simon Pulse, 2016

Pages: 400

Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: A summer in Italy turns into a road trip across Tuscany in this New York Times bestselling debut novel filled with romance, mystery, and adventure.

Lina is spending the summer in Tuscany, but she isn’t in the mood for Italy’s famous sunshine and fairy-tale landscape. She’s only there because it was her mother’s dying wish that she get to know her father. But what kind of father isn’t around for sixteen years? All Lina wants to do is get back home.

But then Lina is given a journal that her mom had kept when she lived in Italy. Suddenly Lina’s uncovering a magical world of secret romances, art, and hidden bakeries. A world that inspires Lina, along with the ever-so-charming Ren, to follow in her mother’s footsteps and unearth a secret that has been kept for far too long. It’s a secret that will change everything Lina knew about her mother, her father—and even herself.

People come to Italy for love and gelato, someone tells her, but sometimes they discover much more.

Review: The synopsis makes this novel sound like it has more depth than it does, but it's still a super-cute story. This was a one-day read for me and I enjoyed every page.

It's teen fiction and was a finalist for the GoodReads Choice Awards, which is why I added it to my list. This is definitely worth reading.

Claudia, Wife of Pontius Pilate

Author: Diana Wallis Taylor

Genre: Christian Fiction

Publisher: Baker Publishing Group, 2013

Pages: 336

Rating: Highly Recommend

Synopsis: Claudia's life did not start easily. The illegitimate daughter of Julia, reviled and exiled daughter of Caesar Augustus, Claudia spends her childhood in a guarded villa with her mother and grandmother. When Tiberius, who hates Julia, takes the throne, Claudia is wrenched away from her mother to be brought up in the palace in Rome. The young woman is adrift--until she meets Lucius Pontius Pilate and becomes his wife. When Pilate is appointed Prefect of the troublesome territory of Judea, Claudia does what she has always done: she makes the best of it. But unrest is brewing on the outskirts of the Roman Empire, and Claudia will soon find herself and her beloved husband embroiled in controversy and rebellion. Might she find peace and rest in the teaching of the mysterious Jewish Rabbi everyone seems to be talking about?

Readers will be whisked through marbled palaces, dusty marketplaces, and idyllic Italian villas as they follow the unlikely path of a woman who warrants only a passing mention in one of the Gospel accounts. Diana Wallis Taylor combines her impeccable research with her flair for drama and romance to craft a tale worthy of legend.

Review: I hadn't really given much thought to Pontius Pilate, the man, let alone his wife, who apparently receives one sentence of recognition in the Bible. The author had to craft this story using very little factual information, and it was quite believable and enjoyable. I thought this was better written and more interesting than Martha.

Martha

Author: Diana Wallis Taylor
Genre: Christian Fiction
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group, 2011
Pages: 254
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis:Perhaps one of the most misunderstood and misrepresented characters of the New Testament is Martha. Often painted in the colors of reproach, Martha seems to be the poster child for how not to be a follower of Jesus. From the mind of Diana Wallis Taylor comes this touching, well-researched portrayal of Martha of Bethany, sister of Mary and Lazarus. Through Taylor's lush descriptions and inspired combination of imagined and recorded dialogue, Martha's world--her trials, triumphs, and loves--vibrantly comes to life. Follow Martha as she is jilted by her betrothed, falls in love with a Roman soldier, grieves the death of her father, cares for her siblings, and serves her Lord with dignity and grace. Readers will never read the biblical story of Martha the same way again.

Review: I found fault with the flow of this novel. The author drew me in with Martha's story, only to interject Jesus' story, and then took me back into Martha's narrative. It was odd for a seasoned author, and jarring for the reader.

Claudia was better written.

The Magnolia Story

Author: Chip and Joanna Gaines

Genre: Biography

Publisher: Nelson, Thomas, Inc, 2016

Pages: 208

Rating: Highly Recommend

Synopsis: Are you ready to see your fixer upper?

These famous words are now synonymous with the dynamic husband-and-wife team Chip and Joanna Gaines, stars of HGTV’s Fixer Upper. As this question fills the airwaves with anticipation, their legions of fans continue to multiply and ask a different series of questions, like—Who are these people?What’s the secret to their success? And is Chip actually that funny in real life? By renovating homes in Waco, Texas, and changing lives in such a winsome and engaging way, Chip and Joanna have become more than just the stars of Fixer Upper, they have become America’s new best friends.

The Magnolia Story is the first book from Chip and Joanna, offering their fans a detailed look at their life together. From the very first renovation project they ever tackled together, to the project that nearly cost them everything; from the childhood memories that shaped them, to the twists and turns that led them to the life they share on the farm today.

They both attended Baylor University in Waco. However, their paths did not cross until Chip checked his car into the local Firestone tire shop where Joanna worked behind the counter. Even back then Chip was a serial entrepreneur who, among other things, ran a lawn care company, sold fireworks, and flipped houses. Soon they were married and living in their first fixer upper. Four children and countless renovations later, Joanna garners the attention of a television producer who notices her work on a blog one day.

Review: Chip and Joanna are just likeable people. If you watch Fixer Upper, you will hear them while you read this book. It's just "so them."

The Heart of Everything That Is

Author: Bob Drury and Tom Clavin
Genre: Non-fiction
Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2014
Pages: 432 (10 Discs)
Rating: Highly Recommend

Synopsis: An astonishing untold story of the American West.

The great Sioux warrior-statesman Red Cloud was the only American Indian in history to defeat the United States Army in a war, forcing the government to sue for peace on his terms. At the peak of Red Cloud’s powers the Sioux could claim control of one-fifth of the contiguous United States and the loyalty of thousands of fierce fighters. But the fog of history has left Red Cloud strangely obscured. Now, thanks to the rediscovery of a lost autobiography, and painstaking research by two award-winning authors, the story of our nation’s most powerful and successful Indian warrior can finally be told.

Born in 1821 near the Platte River in modern-day Nebraska, Red Cloud lived an epic life of courage, wisdom, and fortitude in the face of a relentless enemy—the soldiers and settlers who represented the "manifest destiny" of an expanding America. He grew up an orphan who had to overcome numerous social disadvantages to advance in Sioux culture. Red Cloud did that by being the best fighter, strategist, and leader of this fellow warriors. As the white man pushed farther and farther west, they stole the Indians’ land, slaughtered the venerated buffalo, and murdered with impunity anyone who resisted their intrusions. The final straw for Red Cloud and his warriors was the U.S. government’s frenzied spate of fort building throughout the pristine Powder River Country that abutted the Sioux’s sacred Black Hills—Paha Sapa to the Sioux, or “The Heart of Everything That Is.”

The result was a gathering of angry tribes under one powerful leader. “The white man lies and steals,” Red Cloud told his thousands of braves at council fire. “My lodges were many, now they are few. The white man wants all. They must fight for it.” What came to be known as Red Cloud’s War (1866–1868) culminated in a massacre of American cavalry troops that presaged the Little Bighorn and served warning to Washington that the Plains Indians would fight, and die, for their land and traditions. But many more American soldiers would die first.

In The Heart of Everything That Is, Bob Drury and Tom Clavin, the New York Times bestselling authors of Halsey’s Typhoon and The Last Stand of Fox Company, restore Red Cloud to his rightful place in American history in a sweeping and dramatic narrative based on years of primary research. As they trace the events leading to Red Cloud’s War they provide intimate portraits of the many and various men and women whose lives Red Cloud touched—mountain men such as the larger-than-life Jim Bridger; U.S. generals like William Tecumseh Sherman who were charged with annihilating the Sioux; fearless explorers such as the dashing John Bozeman; and the warriors whom Red Cloud groomed, the legendary Crazy Horse in particular. And residing at the heart of the story is Red Cloud, fighting for the very existence of the Indian way of life.

This fiery narrative, fueled by contemporary diaries and journals, newspaper reports, eyewitness accounts, and meticulous firsthand sourcing, is a stirring chronicle of the conflict between an expanding white civilization and the Plains Indians who stood in its way. The Heart of Everything That Is not only places the reader at the center of this remarkable epoch, but finally gives Red Cloud the modern-day recognition he deserves.

Review: This received high ratings on Goodreads so I decided to give it a chance. I loved it. This wasn't so much read as it was presented. I felt like I was back in one of my beloved history classes in college.

Can I See You Again?

Author: Allison Morgan
Genre: Chick Lit
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group, 2016
Pages: 384
Rating: Highly Recommend

Synopsis: Matchmaker Bree Caxton has a 98% success rate, a book about to hit the stands, and an amazing boyfriend. Until, that is, he gets cold feet about their future and runs from their relationship.

Afraid no one will buy a book on love from a woman whose love life is a mess, Bree begs her one matchmaking failure, Nixon Voss, to pose as her boyfriend. But when they become a hit with readers, they must carry on their charade just a little longer. Fortunately, they’re both having fun...

But then Bree’s ex decides he wants her back and a newspaper presents a challenge that could expose the truth about her rocky love life. Now she must find the courage to embrace what is, or risk losing something much bigger than her reputation: her heart...

Review: Chick lit at its best. I loved it. I wanted to be Bree. No, I wanted to be her best friend. No wait, Sara. I don't know, it was just such a fun story. I wanted to crawl inside and live it, someway, somehow.

Homegoing

Author:Yaa Gyasi
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group, 2016
Pages: 11 Discs 
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: The unforgettable New York Times best seller begins with the story of two half-sisters, separated by forces beyond their control: one sold into slavery, the other married to a British slaver. Written with tremendous sweep and power, Homegoing traces the generations of family who follow, as their destinies lead them through two continents and three hundred years of history, each life indeliably drawn, as the legacy of slavery is fully revealed in light of the present day.
            
Effia and Esi are born into different villages in eighteenth-century Ghana. Effia is married off to an Englishman and lives in comfort in the palatial rooms of Cape Coast Castle. Unbeknownst to Effia, her sister, Esi, is imprisoned beneath her in the castle’s dungeons, sold with thousands of others into the Gold Coast’s booming slave trade, and shipped off to America, where her children and grandchildren will be raised in slavery. One thread of Homegoing follows Effia’s descendants through centuries of warfare in Ghana, as the Fante and Asante nations wrestle with the slave trade and British colonization. The other thread follows Esi and her children into America. From the plantations of the South to the Civil War and the Great Migration, from the coal mines of Pratt City, Alabama, to the jazz clubs and dope houses of twentieth-century Harlem, right up through the present day, Homegoing makes history visceral, and captures, with singular and stunning immediacy, how the memory of captivity came to be inscribed in the soul of a nation.

Review: This book was a roller coaster. At times it moved so slowly I wondered how I was going to get through it. Then, it would pick up and be engrossing and gripping, and I'd feel absorbed into the story.

I would have preferred this be a series rather than a saga. As a series it may have been more satisfying. The author is a talented storyteller and could have expanded and delved deeper into some of the themes and characters. 

The narrator was fantastic.

Rory's Promise

Author: Michaela MacColl
Genre: Historical Fiction, Pre-Teen
Series: Hidden Histories (#1)
Publisher: Highlight Press, 2014
Pages: 288
Rating: Highly Recommend

Synopsis: Twelve-year-old orphan Rory Fitzpatrick lives with her younger sister Violet at New York City’s Foundling Hospital in the early 1900s. But when Rory discovers that Violet will be sent to the Arizona Territory to be adopted, her world is shattered. Although too old to be adopted herself, Rory—brave and smart—is determined to stay with her sister, even if it means hiding out on a train traveling west. When Rory and Violet arrive in Arizona, everything that could go wrong does go wrong. Will Rory give up? This uplifting novel about the power of faith and the true meaning of family launches the Hidden Histories series, spotlighting little-known tales from America’s past, and the children behind those stories. Includes authors’ note and further resources.

Review: I loved this book, although the first 3/4 were stronger and more gripping to read, at least as a mom. I sobbed through the first two or three chapters. There are several moments that did more than just tug at my heartstrings and I swear my heart went out to every mother who had to give a child up and every child who was given up. I've read other books with those same themes and it really strikes a cord with me for some reason.

This is one I can see my 9 year old enjoying, and just like Freedom's Price, it's "clean."

Freedom's Price

Author: Michaela MacColl
Genre: Historical Fiction, Pre-Teen
Series: Hidden Histories (#2)
Publisher: Highlights Press, 2015
Pages: 288
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: Eliza Scott isn’t quite a slave, but she’s not free either. She’s not a prisoner, but her family lives in a jail. Eliza, who attends a secret floating school on the Mississippi River because it’s illegal for her to read, says she understands how dangerous her situation is—but her parents know she’s not afraid enough. When a devastating cholera epidemic strikes the city, Eliza discovers she will have to be clever and resourceful to escape a slave catcher and the worst fire in St. Louis’ history. Will Eliza be willing to pay the price of freedom? Freedom’s Price is the second book in the Hidden Histories series, which examines little known moments in American history. Based on actual events and people, the book is extensively researched and includes an author’s note and bibliography.

Review: This is a book I would have eaten up as a 12 or 13 year old. It's always been my favorite genre, and the story was compelling. However, I think this book was actually written for kids younger than that, and I don't think it would have held their attention. I don't know how much about the Dred Scott Decision kids that young know yet.

I actually decided to read this to see if it would be appropriate for my 9 year old, and I just don't think she's old enough for the subject matter yet. The significance and backstory would go over her head since she doesn't have a point of reference yet.

I'm really conservative when it comes to the content, language, and general-age appropriateness of what my girls read (currently ages 9 and 8), and there is nothing of that nature in this book. In fact, that's why I decided to read this to see if it would be appropriate for my 9 year old, and I just don't think she's old enough for the subject matter. The significance and backstory would go over her head as she doesn't have a point of reference yet. No language, no sex scenes etc. It's "clean."

As an adult reading this, I liked it. I also learned a lot considering I never considered Dred Scott the person in all my years of studying the pre-Civil War History. A lot of the characters and situations in this story are based on real people, situations, and events. The author goes into more detail about this in the Afterward, and that was the most fascinating "chapter" in the book.

I read this series out of order because I expected this to be the better of the two books I had, but surprising to me was that I enjoyed Rory's Promise so much more.

Isabel's Bed

Author: Elinor Lipman
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Blackstone Audio Inc., 2011
Pages: 8 Discs
Rating: DO NOT RECOMMEND

Synopsis: When Harriet Mahoney first sees it, Isabel Krug's bed is covered with sheared sheep and littered with celebrity biographies. Unpublished, fortyish, and recently jilted, Harriet has fled Manhattan for Isabel's loudly elegant Cape Cod retreat, where she will ghostwrite The Isabel Krug Story,based on the sexy blond's scandalous tabloid past. Unusually "talented" in the man department ("I give lessons"), Isabel revamps and inspires Harriet as they gear up to tell all, including the tangled history Isabel shares with her odd lodger, Costas. Life according to Isabel is a nonstop soap opera extravaganza, an experience to be swallowed whole -- and the attitude is catching....

Review: I stuck with this book for the writing. There are some funny moments and interesting metaphors. The plot itself wasn't all that compelling; although I can appreciate the smattering of satire.

The narrator drove me nuts. I couldn't stand her voice, or perhaps it was Lipman's writing style in the spoken voice that was so grating. I may have liked the print book better, but this was recommended to me by someone who thought the narrator did a fantastic job.

In the end, I was glad when I finished this.

Monkeys

Author: Susan Minot
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2000
Pages: 176
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: In this luminous story of family life—the first novel by Susan Minot, author of the highly acclaimed Evening—the seven Vincent children follow their Catholic mother to Mass and spend Thanksgiving with their father's aging parents who come from a world of New England privilege. As they grow older, they meet with the perplexing lives of adults. Susan Minot writes with delicacy and a tremendous gift for the details that decorate domestic life, and when tragedy strikes she beautifully mines the children's tenderness for each other, and their aching guardianship of what they have.

Review: I liked the vignette format, but on the flip side I attribute that style to the disconnect I felt with the characters. No matter, the loosely autobiographical nature of this novel works in the author's favor.

Love Warrior

Author: Glennon Doyle Melton

Genre: Memoir

Publisher: Flatiron Books, 2016

Pages: 272

Rating: Highly Recommend

Synopsis: Just when Glennon Doyle Melton was beginning to feel she had it all figured out—three happy children, a doting spouse, and a writing career so successful that her first book catapulted to the top of the New York Times bestseller list—her husband revealed his infidelity and she was forced to realize that nothing was as it seemed. A recovering alcoholic and bulimic, Glennon found that rock bottom was a familiar place. In the midst of crisis, she knew to hold on to what she discovered in recovery: that her deepest pain has always held within it an invitation to a richer life.

Love Warrior is the story of one marriage, but it is also the story of the healing that is possible for any of us when we refuse to settle for good enough and begin to face pain and love head-on. This astonishing memoir reveals how our ideals of masculinity and femininity can make it impossible for a man and a woman to truly know one another - and it captures the beauty that unfolds when one couple commits to unlearning everything they've been taught so that they can finally, after thirteen years of marriage, commit to living true—true to themselves and to each other.

Love Warrior is a gorgeous and inspiring account of how we are born to be warriors: strong, powerful, and brave; able to confront the pain and claim the love that exists for us all. This chronicle of a beautiful, brutal journey speaks to anyone who yearns for deeper, truer relationships and a more abundant, authentic life.

Review: I started out feeling unsure about this memoir, but it won by over pretty quickly. Her story is completely different than mine, and probably anybody's, but the message is relevant to many situations and many people. I loved it, and found it impossible to put down. This was a one-sitting read, for me.

Who Was Laura Ingalls Wilder?

Author: Patricia Brennan Demuth
Genre: Biography
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group, 2013
Pages: 112
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House books, based on her own childhood and later life, are still beloved classics almost a century after she began writing them. Now young readers will see just how similar Laura's true-life story was to her books. Born in 1867 in the "Big Woods" in Wisconsin, Laura experienced both the hardship and the adventure of living on the frontier. Her life and times are captured in engaging text and 80 black-and-white illustrations.

Review: I don't generally post in this blog, the children's books that read. However, I'm a huge Laura Ingalls Wilder fan so I have to this time. I didn't get any new information out of this, and a couple facts may not have been correct, or I read them differently in another book. This is a great introduction to Laura for kids, and a good supplement to The Little House books (which I can't seem to get my own children interested in).

The Nest

Author: Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney

Genre: Fiction

Publisher: HarperCollins Publisher

Pages: 9 Discs

Rating: Do Not Recommend

Synopsis: A warm, funny and acutely perceptive debut novel about four adult siblings and the fate of the shared inheritance that has shaped their choices and their lives.

Every family has its problems. But even among the most troubled, the Plumb family stands out as spectacularly dysfunctional. Years of simmering tensions finally reach a breaking point on an unseasonably cold afternoon in New York City as Melody, Beatrice, and Jack Plumb gather to confront their charismatic and reckless older brother, Leo, freshly released from rehab. Months earlier, an inebriated Leo got behind the wheel of a car with a nineteen-year-old waitress as his passenger. The ensuing accident has endangered the Plumbs' joint trust fund, “The Nest,” which they are months away from finally receiving. Meant by their deceased father to be a modest mid-life supplement, the Plumb siblings have watched The Nest’s value soar along with the stock market and have been counting on the money to solve a number of self-inflicted problems.

Melody, a wife and mother in an upscale suburb, has an unwieldy mortgage and looming college tuition for her twin teenage daughters. Jack, an antiques dealer, has secretly borrowed against the beach cottage he shares with his husband, Walker, to keep his store open. And Bea, a once-promising short-story writer, just can’t seem to finish her overdue novel. Can Leo rescue his siblings and, by extension, the people they love? Or will everyone need to reimagine the futures they’ve envisioned? Brought together as never before, Leo, Melody, Jack, and Beatrice must grapple with old resentments, present-day truths, and the significant emotional and financial toll of the accident, as well as finally acknowledge the choices they have made in their own lives.

This is a story about the power of family, the possibilities of friendship, the ways we depend upon one another and the ways we let one another down. In this tender, entertaining, and deftly written debut, Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney brings a remarkable cast of characters to life to illuminate what money does to relationships, what happens to our ambitions over the course of time, and the fraught yet unbreakable ties we share with those we love.

Review: I don't know that I would have stuck with the print book, but I was listening to the audio book and the narrator did a pretty good job. She made it palpable.

I suspect the author was afraid she'd never get another book deal, and squeezed all the plots and themes of every story she's ever wanted to write into this single novel. Several of the subplots could have been developed into their own full length novels. With the introduction of these various themes and "lesser" plots, naturally the character list grew as well. As the reader I felt like I didn't get to know any of them very well or much care about what happened to them.

Arranged

Author: Catherine McKenzie
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: HarperCollins Publisher, 2012
Pages: 416
Rating: Highly Recommend

Synopsis: Anne Blythe has a great life: a good job, good friends, and a potential book deal for her first novel. When it comes to finding someone to share it with, however, she just can't seem to get it right.

After yet another relationship ends, Anne comes across a business card for what she thinks is a dating service, and she pockets it just in case. When her best friend, Sarah, announces she's engaged, Anne can't help feeling envious. On an impulse, she decides to give the service a try because maybe she could use a little assisantace in finding the right man. But Anne soon discovers the company isn't a dating service; it's an exclusive, and pricey, arranged marriage service. She initially rejects the idea, but the more she thinks about it -- and the company's success rate -- the more it appeals to her. After all, arranged marriages are the norm for millions of women around the world, so why wouldn't it work for her?

A few months later, Anne is traveling to a Mexican resort, where in one short weekend she will meet and marry Jack. And against all odds, it seems to be working out -- until Anne learns that Jack, and the company that arranged their marriage, are not what they seem at all.

Review: Finally a book to pull me out of what was the slump of September reading. I started and stopped several books. They weren't bad books, just not the genre I needed for some reason.

But, here we are. This was just a fun read. I love "Married at First Sight" on FYI for some reason, and this played right into all of that. Two words to sum it up, "super cute."

I'm so happy to be out of my reading slump. I thought for sure September would be a bust.