Wish You Were Here by Jodi PicoultMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
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Review: That Summer
That Summer by Jennifer WeinerMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Another terrific read from Jennifer Weiner! This book is so timely with references to current events, political and otherwise. It is a well-paced story centering around two women, Diana and Daisy (also Diana but that is in the book...), who each have their own reasons to meet and become friends.
Diana is a complicated women who had a traumatic event happen during the summer before her 10th grade year of school whilst working on Cape Cod as a nanny. Daisy was raised in a loving family by parents she adored but tragically lost her father too soon. This changed the course of her life's choices going forward, completely rewriting what her life as she had planned. As the story unfolds, you get completely immersed in both women's stories and the people that surround them. As with everything that I have read from this author, the characters are beautifully developed. I think my personal favorite character is Daisy's daughter, Beatrice, who is a high school student and has embraced her own style, or an aesthetic, as she would say.
I cannot recommend this book enough for anyone that loves a book that will make you laugh and shed a few tears and teaches you something along the way. I really enjoyed these characters and being a part of their lives.
#ThatSummer #NetGalley #AtriaBooks
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Review: Never Saw Me Coming
Never Saw Me Coming by Vera KurianMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Definitely recommend! Full review to come.
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Review: The Book of Accidents
The Book of Accidents by Chuck WendigMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
This book! Wow. It is a wild ride. It is a chunky work of fiction that grabs you from the first chapter and takes you on an impressive, and somewhat challenging, journey. I don't want to give much away because I prefer to read books like this with little information at the start.
The book opens with the execution night of a serial killer who has been found guilty of abducting 5 girls and killing 4 of them. He is having his last meal and preparing for the electric chair when the current is turned on and he is plucked away to some other reality.
We primarily follow a teenage boy, Oliver, who is overly empathetic, where he can literally feel the pain of everyone around him. He doesn't quite know how to utilize this ability or gift yet and it causes him to be emotionally unstable and highly anxious about certain situations. His father, Nate, was raised in a small town, by an abusive father who is now dying of cancer. Oliver's mother is Maddie and she is an artist who makes sculptures primarily. As Oliver is bullied at school due to his inability to quiet his empathetic mind, his dad discovers that he is due to inherit the home that he grew up in and has vowed to never return. The family decides that the break from Chicago life and moving to this small town might be just what Oliver needs to restore some calm to his life. This couldn't be further from the case.
A story that is full of time-travel, magical realism, supernatural events, magic, good versus evil, and human interaction will deliver a wild ride. At times the ride seems rocky (as in possibly abandoning ship) but ultimately is worth the effort.
This book reads quickly and easily despite its length. It is a page turner with short chapters that pack a punch. This feels like a book that will stick with me and I will be thinking about for a long time.
Highly recommend, especially for those readers that are willing to step outside their comfort zone of reality based stories and into a different world.
#TheBookofAccidents #NetGalley #RandomHousePublishingGroup #Ballantine
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Review: The "I Love My Air Fryer" Affordable Meals Recipe Book: From Meatloaf to Banana Bread, 175 Delicious Meals You Can Make for under $12
The "I Love My Air Fryer" Affordable Meals Recipe Book: From Meatloaf to Banana Bread, 175 Delicious Meals You Can Make for under $12 by Aileen ClarkMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
I love reading through cookbooks! This is a tradition that my mother-in-law passed along to me. This one is different because it is an alternate kitchen counter small appliance that many people. Including myself, own. I have used it largely to heat up frozen French fries in a spectacular way, but really haven’t made much else in it. This will certainly change this.
This cookbook is divided as a typical cookbook but with the addition of instructions and recipes that will be easily made in the Air Fryer. Many of these recipes are staples with a twist. I can’t wait to start trying these. The best aspect of this book is the additional pieces of information that are included with each recipe. For instance, there is information about alternative ingredients in a recipe and hand’s on time as well as cooking time. The author includes when to shake or flip the food and even the cost per serving. The photos are well done and are usually my favorite aspect of a cookbook. I love these photos and wish there were even more, but the information from the author is my favorite for this particular book.
Highly recommend for those trying to come up with ideas for other ways to utilize the Air Fryer!
#TheILoveMyAirFryerAffordableMealsRecipeBook #Netgalley #AdamsMedia
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Review: The Last House on Needless Street
The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona WardMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
First of all, the narrator, Christopher Ragland, does a fantastic job with this book. He uses different voices to create the various characters. This story begins with following the protagonist, Ted, who lives in his house with his cat and daughter. The initial conversation that Ted is having seems off somehow, and to me, it was because he speaks as though he is significantly younger, like a small boy who still calls his parents Mommy and Daddy. The reader/listener must decide if this character is a fully grown man, a young person or an intellectually challenged man. I went into the story completely blind and I highly recommend doing it this way. It makes it a little tougher to stick with the beginning as the story is laid out but it is completely worth it. This story is a well crafted, slowly building story and the twists during the last 25% were great. There were some pieces of the story that I anticipated but other parts that I never expected.
Hats off to the author and the narrator for a job well done!
#TheLastHouseonNeedlessStreet #Netgalley #MacmillanAudio #ChristopherRagland
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Review: Survive the Night
Survive the Night by Riley SagerMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I am always looking for the latest Riley Sager novel and am so thankful to the publisher and NetGalley for approving an eARC. Wow. I had seen some mixed reviews but this was a fun read for me. I adore Sager’s writing and for me, this did not disappoint at all.
The concept is centered around a female college student who had an argument with her best friend and roommate who then was murdered by a serial killer the same night. Charlie, the surviving roommate, blamed herself to the point that she cannot function and decided to leave school for awhile. She is leaving her boyfriend of the past year as well. In order to leave school at the time she does, she places a flyer on the ride board to see if any other students are going her direction so that they can share the ride. She immediately found someone and jumped at the chance. Things quickly spiral downhill as she realized that this guy is a stranger to her and then she began to suspect that he was lying to her the entire time. Her radar was activated and she tried to figure out what to do. Many twists and turns later the story unfolds in an intriguing way. This is a page turner of a book and I read it in a day. I loved all the classic movie and music references as well. That was a terrific addition.
Highly recommend!
#SurviveTheNight #Netgalley #HodderandStoughton #HodderPaperbacks
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Review: The Therapist
The Therapist by B.A. ParisMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
This was a fun and quick thriller that centers around a woman who moves into a newly purchased house that her partner has acquired in a gated and elite community. She tries hard to meet the neighbors and become friendly with them. Early on after moving into the home, she throws a get together with the neighbors and a man shows up who was uninvited but plays himself as being one of the neighbors who the couple have not met yet. Then he returns on a different day and claims to be a private investigator who is trying to look into the case of a murder that has occurred at the home this couple is now in. The police believe they have arrested the correct person and the case has been closed. Over time, unusual things begin to happen and the protagonist is desperate to solve the mystery. Twists and turns occur throughout the story leaving you turning the pages to find out the full story.
This is a fun, page-turning beach read for the summer.
#TheTherapist #Netgalley #StMartinsPress
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Review: The Maidens
The Maidens by Alex MichaelidesMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Another page-turner from Michaelides!
This story is a dark academia, totally atmospheric story about the therapist who recently lost her partner when he died. They had been caring for a girl that was in need of parents as a small child and who is now at university at Cambridge. Their daughter, Zoe, was approached by a visiting professor who is from the USA. He has the unusual custom of choosing a group of girls at university that he considers the most impressive and talented and invites them to a secret group, The Maidens. They are all attractive and intelligent young women who have come from privileged backgrounds. Then the member closest to Zoe is missing and found dead. This starts Mariana’s attempts at solving the mystery of who was behind the murder.
The thriller nature of the story was great. If you have read his first novel, there is a lot of similarities here. This maybe due to how recently I read The Silent Patient.
My only critique is the ending is over-the-top in parts and then a let-down in other aspects.
Overall, I really enjoyed this and would recommend it.
#TheMaidens #Netgalley #CeladonBooks
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Review: The Book of Accidents
The Book of Accidents by Chuck Wendig My rating: 5 of 5 stars This book! Wow. It is a wild ride. It is a...
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Inside the Sun by Alexis Marie Chute My rating: 5 of 5 stars View all my reviews
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🌟🌟🌟 I enjoyed the dual storylines in this novel as well as the characters. I haven't read anything by this author previously s...
