Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

My Rating: 4.8

It is in the 1960's in North Carolina with two stories unfolding.  One is of Kya Clark, the Marsh Girl, who has had her family abandon her and she is forced to raise herself.  The other is of the discover of the dead body if Chase Andrews.

This is a quiet and beautiful read. It captures the marsh, the creatures and living life alone. The beauty of the gulls, the sand and discovering the smallest of creatures. It unfolds in such beauty that you don't want it to end...or for man to encroach on that peace. It is a coming of age story that captures live in the Carolinas. Loved it!

Captivate by Vanessa Van Edwards

My Rating: 2.3

Do you feel awkward at networking events? Do you wonder what your date really thinks of you? Do you wish you could decode people? Apparently, you need to learn the science of people.

This seemed more geared towards someone who is completely lost when it comes to reading people and their facial expressions...like COMPLETELY lost. I don't know anyone who is this inept at reading people. Maybe I have exceptional interpersonal skills (NOT!) but even when I got others who I viewed as less socially adept to take the quiz in this book, everyone scored very well. This book seemed very rudimentary without anything groundbreaking. Overall, this felt quite fluffy with advice like "don't force yourself to do things you don't want to do" and not anything amazing. 

The Banker's Wife by Cristina Alger

My Rating: 4.5

Matthew and Annabel are living in Geneva for Matthew's job that is working as a banker at Swiss United.  A couple boards a private plane bound for Geneva, when the plane disappears. It's wreckage is uncovered in the Alps with Matthew as one of the passengers.

Marina is a journalist who is engaged to Grant. Marina's future father-in-law is running for President. As she starts exploring the story of Swiss United, she realizes that she is disturbing things that some want to be left alone.

Love that this is filled with strong smart female characters! You get pulled into the world of offshore banking and the twists of this mystery/thriller. The writing is not nobel prize worthy but it was a fun entertaining read and I would read more by Alger.

My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing

My Rating: 4.9

What does every couple do to spice up their marriage.....agree to murder someone of course! This is told by the husband about his wife Millicent and their two children Rory and Jeana...and how they decide to spice up their marriage.

Oh wow, my head is still spinning with the ending. WOW! Do not read too much about this. Just read it.  Hold on for the ride and enjoy the twists!

Emma In The Night by Wendy Walker

My Rating: 4.7

Three years ago, the Tanner sisters disappeared. When Cass shows up on her mother's doorstep without her sister Emma, a game of cat and mouse ensues.

This psychological thriller had lots of layers. Every chapter got more twisted as it revealed their history and the depravity of the characters. While I knew that Cass couldn't be trusted, I didn't see the ending or the many twists that happened. Loved it! This was great on audio.

American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson

My Rating: 2.8

1986 during the Cold War, Marie as a young black woman, is finally given her chance with the FBI to make a name for herself. She is given an assignment to undermine Thomas Sankara, the charismatic revolutionary president of Burkina Faso whose Communist ideology has made him a target for American intervention

This was a unique twist in that this was written as Marie writing the story to her twin boys along with the unfolding of her being an FBI agent / spy. I think this started off with a lot of promise and then quickly dwindled from there. It had too many different agendas and dragged on too long for me.

For Women Only by Shaunti Feldhahn

My Rating:  1.5

This is a collection of surveys sharing that men want respect vs women wanting love, that sex is a man's way of connecting, that they are visual and a bunch more basic ground-breaking discoveries that Feldhahn claims to have made from her discovery while admitting she plagiarized others work.

The author is very taken with herself and her "discoveries" and yet, it appears she stole all of her "findings" from Dr. Emerson Eggerichs who she does give credit to. I don't know why she had to rewrite his book and recommend you read the much better written Dr Eggerich's Love & Respect book. Her delivery on the audio is very annoying.Definitely do not recommend.

This is Going To Hurt by Adam Kay

My Rating: 4.6

Welcome to 97-hour weeks. Welcome to life and death decisions. Welcome to a constant tsunami of bodily fluids. Welcome to earning less than the hospital parking meter. Wave goodbye to your friends and relationships. Welcome to the life of a junior doctor. Scribbled in secret after endless days, sleepless nights and missed weekends, comedian and former junior doctor Adam Kay’s This Is Going to Hurt provides a no-holds-barred account of his time on the NHS front line (with a foreword attempting to explain the National Health Service to a non-UK audience). Hilarious, horrifying and heartbreaking by turns, this is everything you wanted to know—and more than a few things you didn't—about life on and off the hospital ward. And yes, it may leave a scar.

This definitely has both comedy and tragedy as it looks at healthcare (and even though it is in Britain, most countries have similar challenges). I would think any pre-med student would reconsider their career choice if they read this book. There is a lot of British coloquelism and medical terms that are footnoted but not easy to reference on a kindle but I still found it easy to follow along and got some good chuckles.

Brandwashed: Tricks Companies Use to Manipulate Our Minds and Persuade Us to Buy by Martin Lindstrom

My Rating: 4.7

People are predictable, and companies capitalize on this! There was also some shocking things like how they intentionally target children while they are in the womb!! How they capitalize on our paranoia and so much more.

I consider myself pretty aware of the gimmicks used to get us to buy but I still found this very interesting. Whether you are aware or not, this is a great reminder of the ways that they entice us to buy.

Bookmarks Magazine May/June 2019

I always love when my Bookmarks Magazine arrives in the mail. I enjoy devouring it with the fabulous articles, upcoming releases, books being made into movies as well as the book reviews. As always, I will take this issue with me on upcoming plane trips and glean a lot more so let me know if you think I missed any books!

How have I never heard of Canadian author Miriam Toews?  I am very intrigued to read some of her works:
    

Here are the other books  that jumped out at me first time through:
       

I already have these in my library queue as they were in previous bookmarks:
    

Let me know your picks or what good books you have been reading recently as I always love hearing from you!

That Kind of Mother by Rumaan Alam

My Rating: 3.0

Rebecca is a new mother who is deeply in love and also deeply overwhelmed by her newborn son. Priscilla works at the hospital and helps Rebecca navigate new motherhood so easily that she begs Priscilla to come home with her and be her nanny. Rebecca is white and Priscilla is black and much of the book is centered around questioning what that means.

I was torn as to how rate/review this book. It had such promise and even the highly literate rambling thoughts of Rebecca drew me in for a while. It explores, race, motherhood and adoption so well. At some point, it all became too much and I felt like I was getting beaten over the head with the privilege vs. prejudice. Rebecca's once intriguing rambling thoughts seemed neurotic and there were too many angry people with no plot to help sustain them. I would be open to reading something else by Alam in future but don't recommend this.

Far From The Tree by Robin Benway

My Rating: 4.7

This is about Grace, Maya and Joaquin. It starts off from Grace's perspective. Grace is an only child who was adopted at birth. Teenage Grace puts her daughter up for adoption and decides she wants to look for her biological family....enter her bio siblings Maya and Joaquin.

I enjoyed this a lot. I loved the audio version and all the characters but the voice I liked most was Grace's boyfriend Raiph...he was sweet and funny and so endearing. This had so many different messages and all of them were good.

The Night Olivia Fell by Christina McDonald

My Rating: 4.6

Abi is woken up with a phone call that is every mother's nightmare...her 17 year old daughter Olivia fell off of a bridge and is in a coma. At the hospital, Abi sees bruises on her daughters wrist and suspects foul play. Abi also finds out her daughter is brain dead and pregnant and must be kept on life support until the baby's birth. This is told in flashbacks, trying to piece together what happened that led up to this.

I really enjoyed this book told through multiple points of view. It was interesting knowing Olivia was in a coma to have her come to life in the flashbacks. I had many thoughts of what happened but didn't have it figured out. Very enjoyable and will definitely read more by McDonald.

The One by John Marr

My Rating: 4.6

This was such an interesting premise: what if there was a simple DNA test you could take and you would know who is your match...the one for you. That’s the promise made by Match Your DNA who found the gene that identifies each person's soul mate. Would you be tested?

Millions of people around the world have been matched. But the discovery has its downsides: test results have led to the breakup of countless relationships and upended the traditional ideas of dating, romance and love.

This book centers on the lives of five very different people who have received the notification that they’ve been “Matched.” They’re each about to meet their one true love.

I loved this and it made me wonder, would I take the test. I loved the ending and agree wholeheartedly with the conclusion!

Don't Wake Up by Liz Lawler

My Rating: 1.5

Alex wakes up with a man standing over her who isn't a doctor insisting she make a choice or face horrific consequences. Once Alex re-awakens unharmed, no one believes anything happened to her. Then some truly unbelievable things start to unfold.

All the characters were shallow but Laura was so ridiculous she felt thinner than the paper of the page - horrifically stupid. The plot was EXTREMELY unrealistic but I tried to go with it.  Wrong decision as the author had so many holes in police investigations, doctor protocol and most especially how to make a character sympathetic or even likable. Top all of that off with the audio version being an American accent of a supposedly British book. UGH! Definitely don't waste your time. I have to wonder at the positive reviews as this book was truly awful.