Maggie is a restorer of old homes. After her father's death, she finds out that she has inherited a childhood home where she lived with her parents for three weeks before they fled. Now she is going back to fix it up to sell, but also to discover if it really was haunted or why her family abandoned the house.
Equal parts thriller/haunted house/mystery this was entertaining but not amazing. That seems to be a trend for me with Sager's books so I think I need to remember that for future.
My Rating: 4.9
Why is it that as soon as we bow our heads to pray, we start thinking of other things we need to do? How do we make time to pray in the middle of our busy lives? And how do we know what to say and how to say it?
I was raised praying so, I honestly never thought about "how" to pray. Anne walking me through how she prays and this was so helpful. After the into, each prayer is just a couple of pages which meant that I could read whatever prayer applied to where I was that day - so helpful. Definite recommend.
My Rating: 4.7
Mitza is a brilliant physicists who goes to school with Albert Einstein. What seems like a beautiful partnership of the mind and of the heart, soon reveals that there might not be room for more than one genius in a marriage.
This was very educational. I had no idea that Einstein's wife was a brilliant physicist in her own right and how much she contributed to his work. I also had no idea what a horrible Einstein was in so many respects. All of this being said, it is widely disputed how much of this book is fact vs fiction but, even knowing that, I still enjoyed it although not as much as her other books (only due to Einstein being so unlikable). I can't wait to read her other books as I love her writing and topics.
My Rating: 5.0
Karl never thought of himself as a Jew; after all, he's never even been in a synagogue. But the bullies at his school in Nazi-era Berlin don't care that Karl's family doesn't practice religion. Then champion boxer and German hero, Max Schmeling, makes a deal with Karl's father to give Karl boxing lessons. As Nazi violence against Jews escalates, Karl must take on a new role: family protector.
It was chilling how quietly things deteriorated. The propaganda and lies from back then are hauntingly familiar with everything unfolding now. Excellent read. I loved the tie in with real life boxer Max Schmeling, Joe Lewis as well as the historical events of Nazi Germany. This was very reminiscent of the Book Thief but more of a coming of Age book than Young Adult.
My Rating: 5.0
Widower, Tom Kennedy is struggling to raise his young son Jake. They have moved to a new house to have a fresh start but Jake's invisible friends seems to have followed him. When a young boy goes missing, Detectives Amanda Beck and Pete Willis are frantic to prevent a repeat of the five missing boys from twenty years ago. There is enough familiarity to the crime that Pete visits the serial killer Frank Carter in prison to see what he knows.
This was so suspenseful and scary! It would make a great book to read around Halloween. North is a great writer! This made my 'best of' list for the year. This was a haunted scary thriller type book but the characters were very well developed. I can't wait to read the sequel.
My Rating: 4.9
1853, young widow Naomi May, her family and several other families set out on the Oregon trail. She feels an instant connection with their guide, a half Pawnee man, John Lowry.
This captures the difficult life of living in a wagon train with everything from making camp every evening to breaking camp every morning, the weather and many other hardships. Excellent writing and story. This made me add other books by this author to my queue.
My Rating: 3.0
At the end of the Civil War, Simon is a fiddler that moves around with his ragtag group of musicians, trying to make a living. When he meets an Irish lash, Doris, she captures his heart and his thoughts despite them having to move in different directions.
Jiles writing is beautiful and I enjoyed the characters as well as the details of that time period but this unfolded extremely slowly. Definitely not in the same category as her other book News of the World that I loved so much.
