Coming Clean

Author: Kimberly Rae Miller
Genre: Memoir
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014
Pages: 272
Rating: Recommend


Synopsis: Kim Miller is an immaculately put-together woman with a great career, a loving boyfriend, and a tidy apartment on Manhattan's Upper West Side. You would never guess that Kim grew up behind the closed doors of her family's idyllic Long Island house, navigating between teetering stacks of aging newspapers, broken computeres, and boxes upon boxes of unused junk festering in every room - the product of her father's painful and unending struggle with hoarding.

In this moving coming-of-age story, Kim brings to life her rat-infested home, her childhood consumed by concealing her father's shameful secret from friends, and the emotional burden that ultimately led to an attempt to take her own life. And in beautiful prose, Miller sheds light on her complicated yet loving relationship with her parents that has thrived in spite of the odds.

Coming Clean is a story about recognizing where we come from and the relationships that define us - and about finding peace in the homes we make for ourselves.

Review: I'm always impressed by people who turn out better than okay after a rough childhood, or those who thrive despite the odds against them. Compassion, empathy, awe are emotions I felt reading this. Thoroughly enjoyed from page one.

Montana 1948

Author: Larry Watson

Genre: Historical Fiction

Publisher: 

Pages: 175

Rating: Highly Recommend

Synopsis: "From the summer of my twelfth year I carry a series of images more vivid and lasting than any others of my boyhood and indelible beyond all attempts the years make to erase or fade them. . ." 

So begins David Hayden's story of what happened in Montana in 1948. The events of that cataclysmic summer permanently alter twelve year old David's understanding of his family: his father, a small-town sheriff, his remarkably strong mother; David's uncle Frank, a war hero and respected doctor, and the Hayden's Sioux housekeeper Marie Little Soldier, whose revelations turn the family's life upside down as she relates how Franklin has been molesting his female Indian patients. 

As their story unravels around David, he learns that truth is not what one believes it to be, that power is abused, and that sometimes one has to choose between family loyalty and justice. 

Review: I discovered this on a "recommended" list somewhere, and since I'm obsessed with Montana following a visit last summer, I knew I had to read it. It's a tiny book that packs a big punch. I loved it. I loved the author's writing style, and the story.

Sybil Ludington

Author: E.F. Abbott
Genre: Historical Fiction/Biography
Publisher: Square Fish, 2017
Pages: 184
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: In 1777, Sybil and her family believe teh American colonies should be free from British control. Sybil's father leads a regiment of New York militiamen, and everyone in the family is dedicated to the Patriot cause. Using spy tactics and codes, the Ludingtons gather intelligence, hoping to stay on step ahead of their enemies. When British troops raid nearby Danbury, Connecticut, Sybil gallops through the night to call out her father's men. But the journey is dangerous for a girl who's all alone. With obstacles at every turn, will she make it in time to stop the British?

Review: Written for the middle grades, I chose this because Sybil Ludington's story fascinates me. I first learned of her midnight ride on an episode of Mysteries at the Museum. A few years ago on our way to visit family in Massachusetts, we detoured to Carmel, New York to find a statue of her.

There isn't much documented information about Sybil's ride or family, but this book is a good introduction to the times.

A Serial Killer's Daughter

Author: Kerri Rawson
Genre: Memoir
Publisher: Nelson, Thomas, Inc, 2019
Pages: 336
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: In 2005, Kerri Rawson heard a knock on the door of her apartment. When she opened it, an FBI agent informed her that her father had been arrested for murdering ten people, including two children. It was then that she learned her father was the notorious serial killer known as BTK, a name he'd given himself that described the horrific way he committed his crimes: bind, torture, kill. As news of his capture spread, Wichita celebrated the end of a thirty-one year nightmare.

For Kerri Rawson, another was just beginning. She was plunged into a black hole of horror and disbelief. The same man who had been a loving father, a devoted husband, church president, Boy Scout leader, and a public servant had been using their family as a cover for his heinous crimes since before she was born. Everything she believed about her life had been a lie.

Written with candor and extraordinary courage, A Serial Killer's Daughter is an unflinching exploration of life with one of America's most infamous killers and an astonishing tale of personal and spiritual transformation. For all who suffer from unhealed wounds or the crippling effects of violence, betrayal, and anger, Kerri Rawson's story offers the hope of reclaiming sanity in the midst of madness, rebuilding a life in the shadow of death, and learning to forgive the unforgivable.

Review: Heartbreaking. This woman, a serial killers daughter struggles with reconciling the man she knew and loved and called dad, with the man who was a menace to society, in this fast-paced, easy-to-read memoir. 

You can feel her horror, dismay, feeling of loss, and grief as she tells her family's story. Her husband was her rock, and you can only imagine the emotions he must have felt. Kerri Rawson sets up the story with family memories, but holds nothing back during the darkest times. She doesn't make excuses or plead for sympathy. It's a raw retelling.

I never gave much thought to the families and friends of serial killers. If I thought about serial killers at all, I probably pictured him living in a basement apartment stalking online for his next victim. So unrealistic, but yeah, probably just like that.

Daisy Jones and The Six

Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group, 2019
Pages: 368
Rating: Highly Recommend

Synopsis: Daisy is a girl coming of age in L.A. in the late sixties, sneaking into clubs on the Sunset Strip, sleeping with rock stars, and dreaming of singing at the Whiskey a Go Go. The sex and drugs are thrilling, but it's the rock n' roll she loves most. By the time she's twenty, her voice is getting noticed, and she has the kind of heedless beauty that makes people do crazy things. 

Also noticed is The Six, a band led by the brooding Billy Dunne. On the eve of their first tour, his girlfriend Camila finds out she's pregnant and with the pressure of impending fatherhood and fame, Billy goes a little wild on the road.

Daisy and Billy cross paths when a producer realizes the key to supercharged success is to put the two together. What happens next will be the stuff of legend.

The making of that legend is chronicled in this riveting and unforgettable novel; written as an oral history of one of the biggest bands of the seventies.

Review: This novel deserves all the hype it is receiving. I loved it, and found it difficult to put down. When I was able to pick it up again, I was sucked back in immediately. This is a genius way to tell this story. I want these people, no, need this band to exist in real life. 

Taylor Jenkins Reid is a hit or miss author for me, and in this case, it's a grand slam home run. 

Other Taylor Jenkins Reid Novels:
Malibu Rising
Maybe in Another Life
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

Dear George, Dear Mary

Author: Mary Calvi
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: St. Martin's Press, 2019
Pages: 336
Rating: Do Not Recommend

Synopsis: Did unrequited love spark a flame that ignited a cause that became the American Revolution? Never before has the story about George Washington been told. Crafted from hundreds of letters, witness accounts, and journal entries, Dear George, Dear Mary explores George's relationship with his first love, New York heiress Mary Philipse, the richest bell of Colonial America.

From elegant eighteenth-century society to bloody battlefields, the novel creates breathtaking scenes and riveting characters. Dramatic portraits of the two main characters unveil a Washington on the precipice of greatness, using the very words he spoke and wrote, and his ravishing love, whose outward beauty and refinement disguise a complex inner struggle.

Dear George, Dear Mary reveals why George Washington had such bitter resentment toward the Brits, established nearly two decades before the American Revolution, and it unveils details of a deception long hidden from the world that led Mary Philipse to be named a traitor, condemned to death and left with nothing. While that may sound like the end, ultimately both Mary and George achieve what they have always wanted. 

Review: It's been awhile since I've been this disappointed in a novel. Perhaps this is a case of the author choosing so obscure a topic that entirely too much filler information was required. 

The language was too flowery. The characters motivations went unexplained. And, the romance was anticlimactic. Because I was able to actually finish it, I rated it two stars, but save yourself and avoid this one.

The First Conspiracy

Author: Brad Melter and Josh Mensch
Genre: Non-fiction
Publisher: Flatiron Books, 2019
Pages: 432, 10 discs
Rating: Do Not Recommend

Synopsis: In 1776, an elite group of soldiers were handpicked to service as George Washington's bodyguards. Washington trust them; relied on them. But unbeknownst to Washington, some of them were part of a treasonous plan. In the months leading up to the Revolutionary War, these traitorous solders, along with the Governor of New York, William Tryon, and Mayor David Matthews, launched a deadly plot against the most important member of the military: George Washington himself.

This is the story of a secret plot and how it was revealed. It is a story of leaders, liars, counterfeiters, and jailhouse confessors. It also shows just how hard the battle was for George Washington and how close America came to losing the Revolutionary War.

In this historical page-turner, New York Times bestselling author Brad Meltzer teams up with American history writer and documentary television producer, Josh Mensch to unravel the shocking true story behind what has previously been a footnote in the pages of history. Drawing on extensive research, Meltzer and Mensch capture in riveting detail how George Washington not only defeated the most powerful military force in the world, but also uncovered the secret plot against him in the tumultuous days leading up to July 4, 1776.

Review: I love reading and learning about the Revolutionary War. I'm fascinated by espionage. I even know a little about the spy ring based in the New York City area. However, this novel didn't work for me.

Was it that Meltzer tried to create a novel from a nearly "unresearchable" topic, and included a lot of filler information and conjecture? Was it the writing style, at time it felt almost chatty and informal? Probably a mix of both.

Also by Brad Meltzer:
The Inner Circle

Storyteller of the Prairie

Author: Ginger Wadsworth

Genre: Non-fiction

Publisher: Lerner Publications, 1996

Pages: 128

Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: The life story of the author of the Little House books from her childhood in Wisconsin to her death at Rocky Ridge Farm at the age of ninety.

Review: I will read anything about Laura Ingalls Wilder, even this book intended for a middle grades audience. There was a whole lot of recap from the Little House books, but the stories never get old.

We saw Ma’s little china shepherdess, along with other memorabilia) in Keystone, SD last summer. It was a fan girl moment for my 40 year old self.

The Night Olivia Fell

Author: Christina McDonald
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Gallery Books, 2019
Pages: 368
Rating: Highly Recommend

Synopsis: In the small hours of the morning, Abi Knight is startled awake by the phone call no mother ever wants to get: her teenage daughter Olivia has fallen off a bridge. Not only is Oliva brain dead, she's pregnant and must remain on life support to keep her baby alive. And then Abi sees the angry bruises encircling Olivia's wrists.

When the police unexpectedly rule Olivia's fall an accident, Abi decides to find out what really happened that night. Heartbroken and grieving, she unravels the threads of her daughter's life. Was Olivia's fall an accident? Or something far more sinister?

Review: This novel touched me on so many levels, as a daughter, a sister, a mother. . .I felt for each of these characters. 

I tend to avoid books with alternating chapters, but this proves that sometimes that style/device works well.

One of the best books I've read so far this year.

An Anonymous Girl

Authors: Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen
Genre: Thriller
Publisher: St. Martin's Press, 2019
Pages: 384
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: Looking to earn some easy cash, Jessica Farris agrees to the be a test subject in a psychological study about ethics and morality. But as the study moves from the exam room to the real world, the line between what is real and what is one of Dr. Shields experiments.

Dr. Shields seems to know what Jess is thinking. . .and what she's hiding.

Jessica's behavior will not only be monitored, but manipulated.

Caught in a web of attraction, deceit, and jealousy, Jess quickly learns that some obsessions can be deadly.

Review: Overall, I liked this. It may have been more complex, and longer than necessary, but these authors write solid thrillers with unique plots.

Winter Solstice

Author: Elin Hilderbrand
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company, 2018
Pages: 320
Rating: Recommend*

Synopsis: It's been too long since the entire Quinn family has been able to celebrate the holidays under the same roof, but that's about to change. With Bart back safe from Afghanistan, the Quinns are preparing for a holiday more joyous than nay they've experienced in years. And Bart's safe return isn't the family's only good news. Kevin is enjoying married life with Isabelle; Patrick's getting back on his feet after paying his debt to society; Ava thinks she's finally found the love of her life; and Kelly is thrilled to see his family reunited at last. But is just wouldn't be a Quinn family gathering if things went smoothly. 

A celebration of everything we love - and some of the things we endure - about the holidays, Winter Solstice is Elin Hilderbrand at her festive best.

Review: *This is recommended because it's the last in the Winter Street series. I don't recommend reading this, or the other three even, as a stand-alone book.

I enjoyed this series, which began as a trilogy, but felt Winter Solstice was the weakest book. The introduction of new characters added story lines I simply didn't care about. This book also ended on a sad note, whereas Winter Storms ended with a glimmer of hope. I just wasn't overly impressed. Elin Hilderbrand is a better author than this novel leads one to believe.

Other Elin Hilderbrand Novels:
The Five-Star Weekend
Summer of '69
The Blue Bistro
Golden Girl
The Hotel Nantucket
The Island
The Castaways

The Winter Street Series
Winter Street
Winter Stroll
Winter Storms
Winter Solstice

The Winter in Paradise Trilogy
Winter in Paradise
What Happens in Paradise
Troubles in Paradise

Verity

Author: Colleen Hoover
Genre: Thriller
Publisher: Independently Published, 2018
Pages: 331
Rating: Do Not Recommend

Synopsis: Lowen Ashleigh is a struggling writer on the brink of financial ruin when she accepts the job offer of a lifetime. Jeremy Crawford, husband of bestselling author Verity Crawford, has hired Lowen to complete the remaining books in a successful series his injured wife is unable to finish. 

Lowen arrives at the Crawford home, ready to sort through years of Verity's notes and outlines, hoping to find enough material to get her started. What Lowen doesn't expect to uncover in the chaotic office is an unfinished autobiography Verity never intended for anyone to read. Page after page of bone-chilling admissions, including Verity's recollection of what really happened the day her daughter died.

Lowen decides to keep the manuscript hidden from Jeremy, knowing its contents would devastate the already grieving father. But as Lowen's feelings for Jeremy begin to intensify, she recognizes all the ways she could benefit if he were to read his wife's words. After all, no matter how devoted Jeremy is to his injured wife, a truth this horrifying would make it impossible for him to continue to love her.

Review: This is a hot book in two of my online reading groups, so there was no question I was going to read it. 

There are a lot of graphic sex scenes throughout, which I was able to excuse since the thriller side of the story had so much potential. I was prepared to give it four stars, and then the last chapter happened. The ending was unsatisfying, and I ended up debating between two and three stars. There's nothing worse than investing in a novel, only to feel let down and have the previous 300 pages all be for naught.

I debated a long time on whether or not this is a book I'd recommend. I settled for Do Not Recommend, but I didn't hate the book. If it sounds good in spite of everything, read it. If not, there are plenty of other good books available. 

Self-published, and originally intended to be in eBook format only, I was able to request a paperback copy from the library.