The Cellar by Natasha Preston

My rating: 3.0

A girl gets kidnapped and put in to the kidnappers basement only to find, there are other girls already there who were also kidnapped. He renames each of them to be one of his "Flower Family" (Violet, Rose, Lily and Poppy.  They have to call him "Clover"

I found the writing to be immature and the characters were very poorly developed.  You get slight glimpses into their issues (Clover had mother issues, 16 yo Summer vacillated between crying, fighting back and wanting to go home) but it was all very simplistic.  All of that being said, I still enjoyed this book enough to finish it.

Blindsighted by Karin Slaughter

My rating: 4.4

A young college professor is brutally murdered in a small Georgia town's local cafe. This small town has a interwoven cast of characters some of which were:

• Sara the local coroner/pediatrician 
• Sara's ex-husband, police chief Jeffrey Tolliver, leading the investigation
• Lena Adam's - the county's sole police detective and victim's sister

As with other Slaughter novels, the writing is horrifically graphic at times and always beautiful. Despite this being a murder mystery, it felt fluffy. Perhaps that was due to the narration? I still enjoyed this book and will continue on with this series. I found myself wanting to return to this novel due to it's easy style, beautiful writing and to find out what happened.

The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena

My rating: 4.3

Anne and Marco leave their baby girl at home while they go to a dinner party next door.  They monitor her with the baby monitor and take turns going home every half hour to check on her. They come home to the front door ajar, and their baby girl gone.

The police investigation that ensues slowly unravels many secrets. Lots of twists and turns.

Indiscretion by Charles Dubow

My rating: 4.7

Harry and Maddy have the idyllic marriage with a beautiful son, money, friends and an amazing career. A really bad decision could change all that. This is narrated by Maddy's bestfriend Walter (which draws comparisons to The Great Gatsby's Nick)

I loved the writing and how it drew me in to each of the characters...even the ones I didn't care for. This captures....so much. This is popcorn - addictive and leaves you wanting more. I think this is going to make a very interesting discussion at my bookclub. 

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson

My rating: 4.4

Major Pettigrew is a proper English Gentleman. His brother's unexpected death creates the opportunity for an  unlikely friendship with Mrs. Ali, the Pakistani village shopkeeper. Sharing their mutual loss of their spouses, love for books, gardening, tea and all things proper, this sweet story gently unfolds.

Yes, this was slow in unfolding and there were several scenes/chapters that I thought would never end.  Sill, I loved how this captured so much in a soft way - grief, prejudice, healing, small town mindsets, the beautiful English countryside and so much more.  In many ways, this reminded me of A Man Called Ove.

The Inseparables by Stuart Nadler

My rating: 2.0

Three women (mother, daughter and granddaughter) face three different problems. It was hard at times to know if I should feel sorry for the characters or be laughing.

Despite the beautiful writing, mainly due to lack of liking the characters, this story couldn't keep my attention.

Barkskins by Annie Prouix

Rating: 2.4

The story of seventeeth century Frenchmen in New France working as wood cutters. There is a lot of hardships and great writing in this novel that spans three centuries.  I do not dispute that Prouix (author of The Shipping News and Brokeback Mountain) is amazingly talented and captures the era so well. For myself, the characters throughout the many generations ran together and I just couldn't see continuing for all 700+ pages. Let me know if I should revisit this book.

My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman

My rating: 4.2

7 year old Else and her 77 year old Grandmother are both unique individuals, with an amazing bond. When her Grandmother dies, through letters her Grandmother left to people she has wronged, Elsa goes on a mission

I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would. At first, it seemed fluffy and too sweet. Somehow, Granny and Elsa both grew on me and I was soon immersed in this sweet story (although the fantasy parts were a bit tedious). I think this was on par for me with Bakman's first book A Man Called Ove and I will definitely check out the follow-up to this book Britt-Marie Was Here.

Bookmarks Magazine Nov/Dec 2016

When I came home from work last night, I knew I had to work...a LOT!  I checked my mailbox and lo and behold there was my new Bookmarks Magazine - woohoo! I told myself that when I finished work, it would be my reward to be able to look through the magazine. I didn't finish work till late but I still stayed up perusing the magazine.  This is my all time favorite magazine and this month was loaded with some great picks. Thanks Bookmarks for motivating me and being my reward!

       
       
    

I already had To The Bright Edge of the World on hold at the library as Eowyn's first book The Snow Child was one of my absolute favorites.

I thought this edition of Bookmarks was loaded with great picks that I can't wait to read.  Let me know what your picks were or, if you don't get Bookmarks, what books are in your queue that you can't wait to read?

The Girls by Emma Cline

My rating: 4.0

This is about "The Girls" in a Charles Manson type of situation.Set in California in the late 1960's Evie see a group of carefree girls in the park and is enthralled with them, particularly Suzanne.  She goes on to meet the cult leader, Russell and to feel at home on the sprawling ranch where they live. Everything moves along as you would expect.  No twists. Nothing other than the expected deplorable violent crime.

For myself, when I already know the ending of a book, I expect to fall in love with the characters....but I didn't.  I actually didn't care for any of the characters and was considering abandoning this book.  The writing wouldn't let me. It was amazing writing that captures what it is like to be a lost clueless teenager who wants more than anything to fit in and find meaning and how it would feel to be part of that group.

The Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly

My rating: 5.0

This is a WWII book unlike any I have ever read (and I have read a lot of them!). This is told from three different female perspectives:

• Caroline is a New York socialite working at the French consulate
• Kasia is a polish teenager who has to grow up far too quickly (this is the only fictional character)
• Herta is a German doctor assigned to work in the concentration camps

Through these three women in three different countries, Kelly deftly weaves a complete picture of the autracities of the Nazi and the various political perspectives. Sometimes the details are uncomfortable. Always, they are real and the characters come to life. I can't believe that this is Kelly's first novel. Phenomenal.

Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter

My rating: 4.8

Very disturbing. This book is about different women's lives that are connected over a missing girl. It is told primarily about one woman but it weaves together her relationship with her two sisters (one who went missing years ago) and her husband. Karin Slaughter is a gifted writer who spins the tale and slowly lets out snippets for you to piece together.

This is extremely graphic and uncomfortable and I did some skimming of parts that were too disturbing for me. That being said, I could not put it down and will be reading more of Slaughter's works.

The Excellent Lombards by Jane Hamilton

My rating: 3.2

Mary Francis "Frankie" and her brother "William are raised on a farm.  Across from their orchard is her cousin "Amanda". This is a beautiful quiet coming of age story. You see the world through a child's eyes (Frankie's) with the simple but all important moments such as waking up in the back seat of the car on a family roadtrip and hearing her parents disagreement or having a new teacher that she is in love/awe of.

This was such a unique book in that it captured a child's perspective better than any book I have ever read. While this was sweet and wholesome I do not feel that it was a must read. I also felt that the last portion of the book fell apart.

The Invasion of the Tearling by Erika Johansen

My rating: 4.6

This is the second in this trilogy. I loved the first book The Queen of Tearling but it took me a while to get in to this one. Once I understood that Kelsey was having flashbacks to Lily's life, then it flowed. (This disconnect may have been due to my listening to the audio.)  This was also much darker than the first book. People seem to either love the first book or this second book better so this one was definitely different.

I am still loving this series and will definitely be reading the final book in this series. Note: I am labeling this as "Young Adult" although with the language and sexual content this book is not marketed that way. For me, it still seems to fit best in that classification.

The Things We Keep by Sally Hepworth

My Rating: 4.6

At 38 years old, Anna has early on-set Alzheimer's. She quits her job as a paramedic and goes to live at Rosalind House where single mother Eve is the chef. This goes back and forth in time and helps you to understand both Anna and Eve's journies - both of love and descent into Alzheimer's

It is hard to say that a book about Alzheimer's was 'enjoyable' but this was. It felt light and easy to read and captured so much - good & bad - about the disease. At the core of it, we are all people and that never changes. Definite recommend.