Saturday, February 21, 2015

Diary of a Witness by Catherine Ryan Hyde

My rating: 4.6

Ernie and Will are friends as they have the bond of both being outcasts at their school. This is a light easy read that tackles so many difficult topics.

 Hyde is such a gifted writer and I have enjoyed so many of her books and she didn't disappoint with this one. I didn’t see the twist at the end but absolutely loved it. Highly recommend as I do all of Ms Hyde’s books.

Friday, February 20, 2015

Mrs. Hemingway by Naomi Wood

My rating: Didn't finish

My rating of this book is in no way a reflection on the writing. In fact, it may be that Ms Wood did such a fine job of writing and capturing the dysfunction that it disturbed me so much I couldn't finish the book.

I knew of Hemingway’s life, his wives, his affairs, etc and yet, this was an extremely uncomfortable book to read. If you can handle the love triangles and wreckage that was Hemingway’s life, you may enjoy this book that was put together from real love letters and telegrams.

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

The Girl On The Train by Paula Hawkins

My rating: 2.0

85%+ of this book was exquisitely written.  If the last 15% hadn’t taken such a turn south, this would be the type of book that I would be recommending to strangers. It is like a different writer wrote the last portion of the book as it was cheesy and such a disappointment. So sad when it had so much potential.


Friday, February 13, 2015

The Shell Collector by Anthony Doerr

My rating: 4.0

I don't normally like short stories but, Anthony Doerr is such a gifted writer that I wanted to check this out.  Some of the stories were brilliant and some didn't grab me but I enjoyed the writing consistently throughout the book.  So gifted.


If you like short stories, you will probably enjoy checking these out.

Saturday, February 7, 2015

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

My rating: 4.6

This is a light beach read type of book and yet still addresses some weightier issues. The politics of kindergarten mothers in a small town in Australia. This is told through different voices of each of the mother's particularly Celeste, Jane and Madelaine.  Moriarty takes you along the journey of trying to unravel what led up to a murder on a Trivia Night.




I have enjoyed other books by Moriarty - The Husband's Secret, What Alice Forgot and The Hypnotist's Love Story. They are all light, enjoyable reads but this may be her best work. Truly fun and yet intriguing.

Monday, February 2, 2015

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng

My rating: 2.6

The story of long and sad demise of a mixed race family. James Lee, an American of Asian descent and Marilyn, a blonde girl from Virginia, marry and have 3 children. I realize that I am in the minority but, I felt this book had a lot of flaws.  The main one was very poor character development.

You can see Ng's writing potential but, unfortunately for me it just didn't deliver.  This whole mess was dysfunctional and depressing and I had to wade through to finish it.