Ashe County Reading Challenge 2023: Books Read in 2023 (26-50)

RATING:★★
REVIEW: Typical, silly, book by Dr. Seuss. I am sure kids would love all the silly names of birds and fowls he collected eggs from. Rating and Review by Anna

RATING: ★★★
REVIEW: Horror fiction. It is an intense psychological thriller that culminates in a showdown between two people from entirely different worlds. The story of an obese lawyer who is momentarily distracted by his wife, and runs over and kills a gypsy woman. Her father puts a curse on the man where he is stricken by a flesh-wasting malady which results in him losing massive amounts of weight. The lawyer must undertake a nightmarish journey to confront the forces of death. Not my cup of tea and pretty far fetched but I managed to get through it. Rating and Review by Mary Lee

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: Once again a thriller and a book that takes you away. Eve and Roarke have a evening out which is interrupted by a murder and involves a shadow from his past. Rating and Review by Debra

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: Overall, I enjoyed the story. I kept getting confused as to who the different characters were. I liked the guessing throughout the book. It was a great "who all done it" story. I have never read a book by this author and will probably read more of his work. Rating and Review by Erin

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: Detectives Strike and Robin take on a job for the Minister of Culture, Jasper Chiswell. Chiswell is being blackmailed by two different men. One wants him to leave his job and the other wants money. The detectives are to find incriminating evidence against the blackmailers so they can, in turn, be blackmailed. The reader does not find out the reason Chiswell is being targeted until page 600. Strike is also looking into a incident, told by a mentally ill man, who claimed to have witnessed the murder of a young girl twenty years ago. I found the book to be a few hundred pages too long, but it all came together in the end. Rating and Review by Michele

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: Nora Roberts has written the In Death series under the name J. D. Robb. I have read several out-of-order, but never read this one, the first in the series. It was really helpful to get the background on the characters. This book is a futuristic police procedural featuring Detective Eve Dallas. She is assigned to the murder of a licensed sex worker--the first in the series. As the body count rises, she must navigate political and personal pressures to find the killer. Rating and Review by Judy M.

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: I really liked it, the way Eve Dallas thought and deduced figuring out who the killer was. Felt bad that 127 people were killed first. Rating and Review by Mary

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: What a sprawling, sweeping, brilliantly-written saga. Definitely a commitment, coming in at 896 pages. I read this one on Kindle in the middle of the night during bouts of insomnia but plan to re-read (or at least re-skim) the physical novel. SO many characters and interwoven stories that I had to make a character map just to keep up. Absolutely brilliant insights into human nature. Definitely earns its place as a Classic. Rating and Review by Amy

RATING: ★★★
REVIEW: Down and Out in Paris and London, is an autobiographical work that contains essays in which actual events are recounted in a fictionalized form. George Orwell describes his experience living among the poor and destitute in and around the two cities. He adopts a state of homelessness as he waits for his prospective employer to return from vacation. Daily concerns include trying to find ways to get money while working as little as possible, finding a place to sleep, and getting something to eat.

As he has given fictionalized accounts, I find myself wondering how much embellishment was included. Rating and Review by Bendy

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: An effectively written book in which the main character is stranded en route from Bagdad to London, during which time she is forced to step back and, through self-reflection, examine what she has deemed a well-lived life with the perfect family in a perfect setting. At times, the character is sympathetic - someone who is/was so caught up in appearances, convention, and traditional values that she cannot seem to break away. At other times, the character is so pathetic, in her attempts to deny and rationalize what is/was in reality a very shallow and distant relationship with her children, her husband, and her friends. Rating and Review by Joan

RATING: ★★★
REVIEW: This book starts as an erotica, turns into a beat-esque meandering through New Orleans, and ends in a romance. If the point of a reading challenge is to get us to read books we wouldn't normally, then this challenge is successful! Rating and Review by Chrissie

RATING: ★★★
REVIEW: This is the newest book in the "In Death" series, featuring Lt. Eve Dallas and billionaire Roark, which take place in New York City in the future. I have read the entire series and found it better than the last 4 or 5: it has a better story line than most of her recent ones; fewer ridiculous sex scenes in which the heavens open up and the angels sing, which kept me from rolling my eyes in disbelief; and Dallas worked with her team in a more cohesive way. Rating and Review by Nanci

RATING: ★ ★ ★ ★
REVIEW: In 1939 Audrey Hepburn, at the age of 10, arrives from private school in England into the Netherlands where she spends the next five years under Nazi occupation and living in a war zone. It examines her career as a young ballerina in Arnhern and her involvement with the Dutch Resistance and dark months in the line of fire as the Nazi regime collapsed. An extraordinary story of courage, tragedy, perseverance and trump, enriching the legacy of the world famous actress, fashion icon and humanitarian. Rating and Review by Mary Lee

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: If you have not read any of the Southern Sisters series by Ann George, you are missing a treat. I have read and enjoyed them all. When I saw this one available as an audio book on Hoopla, I decided to enjoy it again in this format. I really enjoyed it both as a book and an audio book. This is not the first book in the series, but I think it could stand alone. All the books feature two sisters from Birmingham, Alabama, who are as different as night and day. Patricia Ann is a petite strawberry blond who is a retired English teacher, and her sister Mary Alice is a tall big-bonedl woman who has outlived a string of rich husbands. This story begins with the wedding of Mary Alice's daughter at The Club, an iconic private venue in Birmingham. The sisters meet a genealogist there.Two days later they meet the seemingly demure woman for lunch at the Tutwiler Hotel. She abruptly leaves to accompany an old friend to the courthouse to exchange research. The next thing you know, their new friend has fallen ten stories to her death. Although they both swear not to get involved, they are soon up to their Southern necks in strange goings-on. This cozy mystery is packed with humor and entertaining characters. This is a great choice when you are looking for something fun to read. Rating and Review by Judy M.

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: This is the continuation of Kerry's quest for vengeance after the murder of her beloved Daniel. This has lots of twists and turns and definitely keeps your attention - highly recommended for young adults who are into the supernatural! Rating and Review by Teresa

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: My first read of this novel, I was so distracted by the plot and characters that I didn't do a lot of highlighting and pondering. I loved the main character's voice and way of looking at things. I'm looking forward to a deeper read next time around. Rating and Review by Amy

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: This series lives up to all the hype I've seen online! Disclaimer, this first book is pretty good, but is nothing in comparison to the rest of the series. Now that I know what's coming in the rest of the series, I can't wait to go back and reread for smaller details. Rating and Review by Hannah

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: "Banana Rose" is the story of a young NY Jewish girl in the late 1960's. After college, she moves to NM and lives near Taos in a commune. Nell, her real name, an aspiring artist meets Gauguin, a musician and poet and falls in love both with he and NM. Life is lovely but when Gauguin realizes his career is going nowhere, decides to move back to Minneapolis and work for his father in graphic arts. Nell, begrudgingly follows. Living the communal dream shatters. Life in the midwest is unlike the southwest and their lives become entangled in issues of family, friendships, careers, jealousy, divorce and death. An excellently written story. Rating and Review by Judy T.

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: I read this book because of the title -- as a professional genealogist, I couldn't resist the subject matter. As it turns out, it was intriguing and very thought-provoking. A "lily white" couple gives birth to a mixed race child. How? Was it in the mother's line? The father's? What secrets were hidden on the family tree? Two subplots involve other secrets. Do secrets hurt more than the truth? Read and decide! Rating and Review by Sandy

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: It's about 3 children who grow up and in a orphanage together. They go to the same college and it's how their lives fall into place. They do a lot of good and make things right. Rating and Review by Mary

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: My favorite book I’ve read this year. I couldn’t put it down. Deserves all the hype it has gotten. Made me cry a number of times, but beautiful. The characters, the nature descriptions, the storyline--all of it! Rating and Review by Nanci

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: When Miranda has a baby at age 15, her mother arranged an adoption and won't even let her know even if it is a boy or girl. She is determined to find her child, but not until after her mother's death, eleven years later, does she find an envelope with a picture inside. When she moves to the town where the envelope is postmarked the police chief is suspicious of her, but not for the real reason. Rating and Review by Anna

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: This memoir is a powerfully told story of the illness and death of the author's husband. That parallels that she experienced and my own journey with my husband's death were keenly linked. The way she tied her loss to the loss of the Notre Dame burning was beautifully done. Benson uses narrative, poetry, song snippets, essays to convey her loss. There were tears as I read, there were smiles. It's a must read for anyone who has experienced the death of a loved one, but it's also a good "heads up" to those who have not yet had to experience that loss. It's well written, I highly recommend it. Rating and Review by Jane

RATING:★★★★★
REVIEW: I've read this book cover to cover more than once and plan to do it many more times. This is the greatest book ever written, in my opinion. It gives me strength and joy. It lets me know I am not alone. I know I have eternal life because of who I learned about and continue to learn about it! Rating and Review by Erin

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: This fictional work is the narration of Billie Jo Kelby, a young girl coming of age on a rural Oklahoma farm in the early 1930s. The author's free verse style and tersity of words seem symbolic of the relentless, harsh nature of life in the midst of the Depression and the Dust Bowl era. The repeated descriptions of brown earth raining down and filling the eyes, noses, mouths, and souls of those trying to endure, and Billie Jo's guilt over personal tragedies on top of all that, is so vivid that it is almost too much to bear. But amidst all that angst there is still the spark to endure - with "the smell of green...damp earth...and hope returning." I've read the book twice now - will keep to read yet again. Rating and Review by Joan

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: 17 year Saffyre had been under the care of a child psychologist for several years for self-harming. When she is released from care and deemed cured, she stalks her doctor and his family. She begins to sleep in the vacant lot across the street from his house, going home early in the morning so her uncle does not realize she has been gone all night. One day she does not return and her uncle files a missing persons report. The doctor's wife begins to put the puzzle pieces together and suspects both her son or her husband might be the abductor. This book is listed as a thriller, but it moved along slowly without much thrill to it. Rating and Review by Michele

RATING: ★★★
REVIEW: The book has approaches to assist with the mental health issue of Over Thinking. With the stress and anxiety in life, I wanted to read about how to overcome some of those issues. I have used some of the approaches in the book to not only help myself, but those that also suffer from anxiety. It was rated pretty well on Amazon and so far the suggestions are great for anyone willing to give them a try. Rating and Review by Marilyn

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: A memoir of a mother of a special needs child and a newborn, who suffers from crippling insomnia and anxiety. She is prescribed Xanax and Ativan by her doctor and the dosage is increased to dangerous levels in a matter of months. Her body shuts down and her life goes into chaos. She then has to battle to gradually withdraw from these drugs which could have potentially deadly consequences. This is a book for anyone considering taking or prescribing medications for insomnia. Rating and Review by Mary Lee

RATING: ★★★
REVIEW: I found this book very interesting in explaining how play therapy is used to address a child's behavioral problems, especially since the events and conversations occurring in the therapy sessions were taken directly from the therapist's notes/recordings of each session. The book was short, with only the one case study - wish there had been more. Rating and Review by Joan

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: You can never go wrong with a book by Dick Francis. His books typically center on some aspect of the world of horse racing, but you don't have to be a fan of horse racing to enjoy them. In this case, the main character, English agent Gene Hawkins, is asked to find a stolen race horse. Hawkins is on leave from his job and suffering from deep depression and suicidal thoughts. He is asked to take on the job as a favor to a friend of his boss. The job proves more difficult and dangerous than anyone anticipated. Struggling with dark thoughts, he faces many dangerous twists and turns. The book is available as an audio book from Hoopla, and it was hard to stop listening, even though I had previously read the book. Rating and Review by Judy M.

RATING: ★★★
REVIEW: This novel contains insights into what it is like living with a person with Asperger 24/7. It is picture of love, support and protection a father sustained for his son who is on the spectrum. Robin undergoes an experimental neurofeedback treatment to strengthen his emotional control that involves training him on the recorded patterns of his mother’s brain. Rating and Review by Bendy

RATING: ★★
REVIEW: While this book was not at all what I expected (and not already being a Universal Tao instructor prior to picking up this book, it wasn't even intended for me), this was, nonetheless, an interesting look at the power of massage as a way to heal mental (and physical) health challenges. Rating and Review by Chrissie

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: I picked this up expecting a light romance - it's not that, but it is very good! This story follows a ghost writer and her ghost friend. There are strong themes of parent loss, and grief, so definitely know that before you leap into it. Rating and Review by Hannah

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: "Emily Colson realized early that there was something wrong with Max. He cried all the [time], didn't make eye contact he was sick a lot. Didn't hit milestones. He finally crawled at 12 months. He was happier, healthier, more engaged. At 13 months her became very ill. Emily didn't get many answers from doctors. By 18 month Max's dad left. He started a new family. He always supported Max and had him every other weekend. Emily was able to stay home with Max when his school wouldn't allow him to attend. She researched about autism and hunted for a school. She found a great school that welcomed Max. Her family is very supportive and help in many ways. Her father has them visit in Florida, takes them on trips and spends holidays with them. Her mother is the best and she found a caregiver for times when she had to travel or work in the office, she was a designer. It made you laugh and cry and feel many emotions; it makes you look at people differently. " Rating and Review by Mary

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: "When Ernst returns from 6 years as a Viet Nam POW, he is a changed man - angry, volatile and violent. His young wife and daughter don't know how to respond except to remain quiet, accepting and hiding their scary life. When Ernst inherits 40 acres and a cabin in Alaska from his now deceased army friend, he knows this will be the change he needs. Once in the Alaskan backwoods near a town of only 30 people, living in a rundown cabin with no electricity or running water, Cora, his wife is unsure. This powerful story continues with a host of characters who attempt to help Cora and Leni, their daughter, and others who do the opposite. Ernst only continues to grow more hostile, violent and mentally unstable until he has physically walled off his family from everyone. This novel is definitely a page turner filled with a strong characters, a suspenseful plot, love and loss." Rating and Review by Judy T.

RATING: ★★
REVIEW: This book wasn't really my kind of book. The improbability of the plot bothered me, and the romantic element was a little far-fetched for my taste. Rating and Review by Amy

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: This book was fascinating to see how this young woman who seemed to have it all ended up going crazy. I did not remember when I started this that it was based of the author's real life. Looking back at the book after rereading about the author's life made it even more fascinating. I know medical treatments were different back then, but reading about electroshock treatment from an actual patient was different from just describing the treatment. I would recommend this book! Rating and Review by Erin

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: A true story of a young man who survived the horrors of Auschwitz, not knowing from one day to the next, if he would live or die. He was determined in spite of daily trauma that he would escape and tell the world the truth about the death camp and to warn the last Jews of Europe what fate awaited them at the end of the railway line. He and his companion climbed mountains, crossed rivers and narrowly missed German bullets to smuggle out the first account of Auschwitz the world had ever seen. Rating and Review by Mary Lee

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: Have read many of the author's books in this past and this one lives up to his reputation for this particular genre of books - a bit of science fiction along with technology run amok. When it comes to scary books, I prefer Koontz over King and other writers of this ilk. While he puts the reader on edge with vivid dark descriptions, forboding events, cliffhangers, and the characters' seeming lack of control, he usually brings the plot to a resolution that can be explained in a somewhat feasible way and finishes with a somewhat happy ending. Rating and Review by Joan

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: It was interesting from the start and kept me guessing to the end. It was sad for Mary Bergen and the loss of life was awful about 40 people. She was clairvoyant after and attack when she was 8. She couldn't see who did it and was told how it went and believed it but wanted to see the attacker's face. It took 24 years for that to happen. Rating and Review by Mary

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: Wow! Wiley Cash certainly can write! His North Carolina tale of small town politics, racism, drugs, and family dynamics is told grippingly. Several story lines weave in and out tying everyone and everything together. I was "scared" for several of the characters throughout this book. Excellent read. Well written. It's a winner! Rating and Review by Jane

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: "Seduced" is a thrilling novel and a part of the Hannah Smith series. Smith is a fishing guide and part-time investigator living in southwest Florida. She is concerned about citrus greening disease which is killing millions of citrus trees in Florida and elsewhere. Currently, there is no cure. Smith remembers when, as a child, she and her uncle visited a remote island and found orange trees growing there. Searching for a sample tree of the original rootstock, Smith runs into dangerous men and a woman looking for these same trees. Millions of dollars is at stake in a quest to find a direct descendant of those first seeds. Smith's search leads her to an island populated by only giant Burmese pythons. Human killers and pythons make for a thrilling story! Rating and Review by Judy T.

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: Anna Hart is a seasoned missing persons detective in San Francisco with far too much knowledge of the darkest side of human nature. When overwhelming tragedy strikes her personal life, Anna, desperate and numb, flees to the Northern California village of Mendocino to grieve. She lived there as a child with her beloved foster parents, and now she believes it might be the only place left for her. Yet the day she arrives, she learns a local teenage girl has gone missing. After the local police find there are two more missing girls, they ask Anna for help. This was a fast paced read. Rating and Review by Michele

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: I waited until the end of the year to read a scary book for the book challenge because I am not a fan. Yet this book was so riveting (its about vampires!) and artfully written that I plan to read more of King's works! Rating and Review by Chrissie

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: This nonfiction book haunted me.
The Benders lived in a small cabin on the Kansas prairie after the Civil War, when Kansas was a frontier sparsely settled, on the edge of Indian Country. Their cabin, though isolated, was on a trail that ran between Independence and Fort Scott, and the Benders “welcomed” travelers to come in from the cold, perhaps bed down for the night if caught on the prairie after dark; perhaps make purchases from the sparse supplies offered. Some of these guests were never seen again.Their crimes were uncovered in 1873 by neighbors searching for several men who had gone missing over a period of a few months. Numerous bodies were found buried in the yard and under the cabin, including that of a young child and her father. This is the story of the nearby settlers, the discovery of the crimes, the long search for the Benders, and what is known of those they murdered.
Excellent historic true crime tale, but I found it scary! Rating and Review by Nanci

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: I don’t remember where I found this book, it may have been in the 2022 Reading Challenge. Talk about a scary book, this one made me want to put it down when it was dark. I started it when we had that cold, cold wind chill in the -20’s. And of course the book starts with the main character in an old farm house in a desolate part of Iowa. She writes true crime books and is working on one with the grisly photos of the crime scene. That was enough to send a chill down my back as she had no outside communications as her cell phone was broken, the land lines for phone and communication by computer also were down. Throw in some characters from the past and the present to include the blizzard that was taking place and you have a book that was enough to scare me! Read it in front of a cozy fireplace and with other people in the house, not a book to read while you are alone. Rating and Review by Em

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: I really enjoyed this story. I can see angels and demons fighting over a person or a community. Of course the angels will win, especially when you have people praying giving them energy!! Rating and Review by Erin

RATING: ★★★
REVIEW: When Moira suddenly sees a young woman in the road. She hits her brakes, then hears a thud, and loses control of her car. When she recovers, there is no one around. As she continues to try to find the woman, it is obvious someone will go to any lengths, including murder to keep this from happening. Rating and Review by Anna

RATING: ★★★
REVIEW: The author is a British historian and a good writer/researcher, but I wouldn't go out with her on Halloween! This book is a history of decapitation in various societies. It is bizarre, gruesome, and gave me the shivers, but I actually learned a lot. I will not be putting this newfound wisdom to any personal use however. Good book for historians and anthropologists, as well as the curious about the more ghoulish aspects of the human race. Rating and Review

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: I have become a real fan of books by Charles Martin. This one did not disappoint me. The hero is a mysterious man with a complicated past who has devoted his life to rescuing victims of sex trafficking. There are a lot of scary situations, but there is also so much love. The strong spiritual undercurrent makes the book even stronger. This is the first of a series, so I hope to read more. Rating and Review by Judy M.

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: I thoroughly enjoyed this story. It has loss, love, secrets, strained relationships, healing - all the things. Lovely setting in Maine. Rating and Review by Laurie

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: True story of the author who had been living as a freed slave with a wife and children living in NY, and was abducted by two slave traders and sent to a rural area of Louisiana and is forced to work on numerous plantations as a slave. He does this for 12 long years. Rating and Review by Mary Lee

RATING: ★★
REVIEW: This is the true story of trying to survive after her husband murders their seven year old daughter. She takes a verse from the book of Job in the Bible, that says, "Though he slay me yet will I trust in him." (Job 14:15 KJV) Through all her heartache and grief of losing her only child and having to go through with the trial, she never doubted God would be with her. Rating and Review by Anna

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: Good book. A teacher on break travels to a camp she attended as a child and reconnects with a boy she met there. Rating and Review by Misty

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: This is a powerful non-fiction book about the history of enslaved people in the United States from 1619-2021. The book is divided into 18 chapters: Democracy, Race, Sugar, Fear, Dispossession, Capitalism, Politics, Citizenship, Self-Defense, Punishment, Inheritance, Medicine, Church, Music, Healthcare, Traffic, Progress and Justice. Each chapter is written by a different author, scholar, historian, etc. followed by a short story, poem and statement by various writers which follow the thread of slavery from 1619 to the present. This is not presented as a dry, dull, wordy history book but a totally engrossing, comprehensive and factual reading that gives the reader a true picture of what enslaved people have endured socially, economically, culturally and politically since 1619 and how this has affected black people and our nation up to the present day. Rating and Review by Judy T.

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: This book is several years old, but holds up well. People are still battling to protect the environment and there is still concern about the composition of the Supreme Court. This legal thriller begins with contract killings of two Supreme Court justices. Darby Shaw, a young law student does some digging and creates a brief outlining who may benefit from the deaths. Her professor (who is also her lover) shows it to a friend in D.C. While initially no one was sure the brief had merit, the trail of dead bodies that follows suggests that she was onto something! This book will keep you on the edge of your seat as Darby tries to stay alive and a young journalist tries to get the facts to tell the story. This is a story of greed, political intrigue, and danger. Rating and Review by Judy M.

RATING: ★★★
REVIEW: The characters must confront the difficult realities of race, class, and gender in America. Throughout the novel, the author explores love, marriage, and family and the way these are shaped by larger social forces. It is a thought provoking novel. Rating and Review by Bendy

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: Lily Ebert, age 98 in 2022, is a Holocaust survivor. She promised her dying father that she would watch over her family; she was only a teenager at the time. In spite of the horrors of being in Auschwitz concentration camp, she managed to save herself and her two younger sisters until liberated by the American Army. She narrated her story with the help of her devoted great-grandson, Dov. Amazing story of survival and courage in the face of horror. Rating and Review by Sandy

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: The book is about a college professor, a bit of a curmudgeon, who has been asked to write several letters of recommendations of late. His LORs are to business owners all the way up to other college professors. Most of these letters are cryptic, saying the very minimum in support of his students (the bare minimum) but the majority are about worthy students to other department heads and other colleges supporting the student in question. It's a funny read but gives insight to what a LOR writer must think before putting pen to paper. Enjoyable to read at one or two sittings or as bedtime reading. Rating and Review by Karen

RATING: ★★★
REVIEW: It was interesting telling about birds and what to grow in your yard to attract them. It was a lot of information. What the birds look like, sound like, what they eat, how and where they build their nests. Rating and Review by Mary

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: Will and Ella have not celebrated the holidays since their mom died on Christmas Day five years ago. They decide to set up a dating profile for their father in an attempt to find happiness for him—and Christmas presents for themselves. The result is a crazy, magical, outlandish story: A Ms. Truelove starts messaging "Henry," and the kids message back, pretending to be their father. Henry discovers the scheme almost immediately and lets Ms. Truelove know she’s been messaging children. The next day, however, a crate arrives on the doorstep of their Harlem town house with the words "Truelove Nurseries" stenciled on the outside. Inside is a partridge in a pear tree. Each day another gift arrives until their home in over run by birds, maids milking cows, lords leaping, drummers and you get the picture. I read this book in two days as I was anxious to see what zaniness was going to happen next. Rating and Review by Michele

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: This favorite author of mystery novels once again delivers a well-written story of a brutal, complex crime in which Inspector Gamache must match wits with a psychopath in order to protect his family and the close friends of Three Pines, who give him the support, love, and encouragement needed to carry the "sorry and responsibility [of his job] and still remain hopeful" after so many years and so many crimes. Rating and Review by Joan

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: Tessa experienced something nobody ever should and I think the author did a great job telling her story. Tessa's character was complex in a simple way. I liked the battle she had over her own thoughts and emotions and what was best for Sam. Caleb and his mom were great characters in the book and the kinks that went along with them both good and interesting. Rating and Review by Erin

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: Very informative book that can help us to make better choices about food. Rating and Review by Chrissie

RATING: ★★
REVIEW: By the author of “The Secret Life of Bees.” Not as good as I expected.
Plot: Woman leaves husband to take care of her crazy mother who is cutting off her own fingers, has affair with a monk, discovers secret of her father’s death when she was a kid. I just didn’t believe the affair between the monk and the woman who is the protagonist. It was too out of character for the main character. Weird people, weird story. Rating and Review by Nanci

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: A continuum care community in England is the setting for this novel of 4 independent residents who form the Thursday Murder Club and solve a series of murders. There is Ron, the infamous former socialist firebrand; widowed Joyce, who keeps a diary of each day's happenings; Ibrahim, a former therapist; and, Elizabeth, whom no one is quite sure who she is. When a local developer is found dead, the Club has its first case. Working at times in tandem with a local police detective and his new female assistant who find the club members surprisingly helpful, the clever club members with many unorthodox methods uncover the answers. Along the way, 1 murder turns into 3 with a few unexpected deaths and human bones. There is a lot of humor, a great mystery and an engrossing plot. A good read, I recommend. Rating and Review by Judy T.

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: Moshe is unfortunately like too many 14-year-olds during WWII. He must try to survive the Holocaust in many concentration camps. This book talks about the things he sees and survives. It tells the story of the men in block 66 at Buchenwald who do everything they can to save the kids in their block. The men in block 66 are true saviors and I'm glad their names are remembered. Rating and Review by Erin

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: Riveting and extremely well written, this book deals with a subject that is difficult to read. Nevertheless it is worth reading. This was one of my "free" books from last year's challenge and, as in previous years, it has introduced me to an author I will look forward to reading again. Rating and Review by Donna

RATING: ★
REVIEW: This is my first ever 1 rating. Written by an anonymous ER doctor, the book is a self-published memoir, a hodge-podge of anecdotes with no sense of order. The introduction runs for eleven pages, droning on and on and on and . . . well, you get the idea! The book never gets any better, some vignettes of horror, others of attempted humor, written with the finesse of an 8th grade English student's required essay. For better entertainment, watch paint dry. Rating and Review by Sandy

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: After Bob Corman's movie "The Shadow Glass" flopped, his relationship with his son deteriorates to the point where they are completely estranged by his death years later. However, when the puppets of the movie begin to come to life, Jack learns that maybe his father wasn't as crazy as he thought.... Rating and Review by Teresa

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: Book has a lot of good, common sense advice, as well as humor and some sadness. I would recommend it for young adults, pondering their future. Rating and Review by Anna

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: The book is about a traveling circus called The World of Wonders. It tours all over Europe before and during World War II. The main characters all seem to have secrets which are slowly revealed. One of the main characters, who has a disability from polio, and feels isolated, rescues a male orphan who is Jewish and is in hiding. Their relationship is key in the book and survives over time. Her father is also a strong influence on her and very protective. When she is separated from both of them, she has to make it on her own and confront all of her doubts about herself. The book is full of secrets, heartbreaking choices and human longing. Rating and Review by Mary Lee

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: This is the first book in the Sam Johnstone series. Sam is a disabled vet who is now a lawyer. Due to struggles with PSTD and alcohol, he has had trouble holding a job. A friend gives him a chance to join a law firm in a small Wyoming town. Against all advice, he agrees to represent another vet accused of murdering his divorce attorney, with whom he was sexually involved. Although the evidence against the accused is great, it is all circumstantial and Sam believes his client to be innocent. As the story progresses, it turns out that even small towns have plenty of political intrigue and secrets. If you like legal thrillers, such as those by John Grisham, you will likely enjoy this one. Rating and Review by Judy M.

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: Wow, this book is just incredible. The author tells the story from the point of view of 10 different characters. Even the morally lost characters find some sort of redemption when we hear from their perspective. This is set in Appalachia and poverty and domestic violence reign, so it's certainly not for the faint of heart but it's an incredible read. Rating and Review by Chrissie

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: Ackerman capably addresses the many research studies examining various aspects of bird behavior to determine whether their actions are strictly instinctive or involve some aspect of complex cognition. Many of these studies, annotated in her extensive bibliography, suggest that birds have highly complex cognitive abilities that are used in communicating, problem-solving, navigating, socializing, mating/parenting, adapting to change, etc. I am not an ornithologist, so the subject matter was heavy-duty for me at times; however, the author’s clear writing style and the subject matter made the book well worth the read. It definitely gave new meaning to the term “bird brain,” and it effectively demonstrated that humans are not the only living beings with higher brain power! Rating and Review by Joan

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: A well known author dies before she finishes writing the last book in her best selling series. In her will, she leaves the book in the hands of her daughter, Sara, that can write, but lacks confidence. She takes it on even though she has an impossible deadline and a publisher that is intent on sabotaging her efforts. In the process, she discovers secrets that threaten her mother’s legacy.
There are many sections that were written in the form of text messages and emails. At first I did not like this format, but I grew accustomed to it as I kept reading. I enjoyed the bit of mystery. Additionally, I liked the fact that even though, there was mention of affairs and relationships, the author did not include elicit sex scenes , but yet the reader fully understood that there were sexual relationships. It took me a while to get into the story, but eventually, it became a page turner for me. Rating and Review by Bendy

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: A story of 2 estranged sisters who come together once again in the same house. Anyone who is a southerner or who has moved to the south will enjoy the nuances of small town living, the challenges of southern families and twists of personalities. Rating and Review by Debra

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: I really liked it. There was tragedy, love, and different lifestyles. I think the support group was great. There was a sister who had twins for her brother, Nina (long stringer) married to Maura (short stringer), and Ben & his note writing friend, Aimee. Ben (short stringer) and Aimee (who didn't check) married and had two children. They died in a car accident. Their children went to live with Aunt Nina. Jack (long stringer) and Javier (short stringer) were army buddies who switched their strings. Javier went into battle and was killed doing what he wanted. Jack stopped his pompous uncle's second bid for president. Rating and Review by Mary

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: Thought-provoking, entertaining, and well-written. Perfect for book club discussion. Rating and Review by Amy

RATING:★★★★
REVIEW: Cal has recently retired from the Chicago police force and has moved to Ireland to enjoy the peace and quiet of the countryside. His teenage neighbor, Trey, begins to stop by and help him renovate his dilapidated cottage. After a week or so Trey tells Cal that his older brother has been missing for several weeks and no one has heard from him. Cal decides, against his better judgement, to help Trey find out what happened to his brother. Several twists and turns and a few surprises later, Cal has kept his word. I liked this 450 page book, but the story could have been told in fewer pages. Rating and Review by Michele

RATING:★★★★
REVIEW: Game Warden Joe Pickett is investigating the slaughter of endangered sage grouse in an outback Wyoming area when he learns that his daughter April, who had run off with a local rodeo star, has just been found along a local road - badly beaten, unconscious and near death. Over time, the book ties together the two events in a well-knitted, though sometimes predictable, plot. Along the way, the story introduces quirky characters with traits often associated with a midwestern survivalist/isolationist mentality - extreme independence, political conservatism, resentment of federal government, disrespect for authority, and an abundance of conspiracies theories. An interesting read, one that I would characterize as a macho/cowboy mystery. More violence than I would prefer but I would read the author again. Rating and Review by Joan

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: This book was an amazing read. It kept me on my toes. Most definitely will not put it down! The ending will have you wondering who done what. Rating and Review by Nichole

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: I loved getting to know the characters of Three Pines! What a fun group of people whose lives are intertwined because of the murder of a beloved former school teacher. The story unravels page by page, character by character, and layer by layer. It was a page turner and i can't wait for the next book! Rating and Review by Jane

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: An account of Kentucky hill people—the novel of Southern Appalachian farmers, foxhunters, foxhounds, women and children. Nunn Ballew is a dreamer obsessed with hunting and killing King Devil, a fox, that has caused havoc in the community for years. The author’s use of the Kentucky native dialect for that time period enhances the narrative making it more realistic. Rating and Review by Bendy

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: Written by King Solomon, it contains common sense ideas for daily living to please God. A great book to read over and over. Rating and Review by Anna

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: A powerful memoir of a love that leads two people to find a courageous way to part in an assisted suicide after a diagnosis of Alzheimers. It is also a woman's struggle to go forward in the face of her devastating loss. Rating and Review by Mary Lee

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: This book is about many things, but the story centers around a young adult who is on trial for murdering his girlfriend. The story will surprise you, educate you, and entertain you. Rating and Review by Chrissie

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: This book was hard to put down! Themes include abiding love, tragedy, guilt, and redemption. There is a supernatural element as well. The characters are well-developed and the reader's heart aches for them as they face challenges and danger. Rating and Review by Judy M.

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: A great thriller and mystery featuring Commoran Strike a private detective in England. The book is a great stand alone mystery and draws in the reader with the plot and the personal side of the main characters. Rating and Review by Debra

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: This novel begins when 2 children meet in a hospital setting and realize their shared interest in playing computer games. They continue to meet often over the coming months as Sadie has a sister in same hospital and Sam is slowly recovering from a severe car accident. An unexpected incident causes their friendship to end. Years later they surprisingly meet again, resuming their love of computers, sharing their love of gaming and producing a game that becomes a worldwide hit. Their lives become a whirlwind of success and wealth, inspiring the development of more games, successes, failures, romances, heartbreaks, disabilities, and death. A very interesting story that moves quickly through the story of Sam and Sadie, two brilliant, motivated and often conflicted people. Rating and Review by Judy T.

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: My sister recommended this book, with the caveat that some of the characters became unreasonably nice by the end. True. Contrived fuzzies. However -- it is extremely accurate in its description of London during the WWII blitz. I had a neighbor who lived there during the blitz; we had many discussions. Also, I met an elderly guide at St. Paul's who had been a young plane spotter during the blitz. His descriptions of the fires all around St. Paul's, etc., were unforgettable. The book was readable and accurate in its history -- just a bit too cozy an ending. A one day satisfying read otherwise and a good excuse not to clean house. Rating and Review by Sandy

RATING: ★★
REVIEW: I listened to this audiobook from a friend's recommendation. If you would like to be fairly bored and have a story about a zombie apocalypse actually happening this is for you. This reads like an instruction manual; it is not a story. Rating and Review by Erin

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: I love a good World War II novel and this one did not disappoint. The characters were so interesting and the story was just heartbreaking and sweet all at the same time. I enjoyed this book very much and have recommended it to others.

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: This book is a fast-paced, tightly written, legal thriller. There were several times when I just couldn't put it down. I'd love to hear this author speak about his career (he's a retired judge in Virginia) and his writing techniques. Rating and Review by Karen

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: It was sweet (bitter sweet). A single mother who was dying goes home to die and do the right thing for her daughter. She faced the old boyfriend who didn't know he had a child. His wife had lost two babies at birth. Isabella had a hard time with the father. So much so that she couldn't make it through the night at their house. In the end her mother Jenny moves in with David and his wife Bella where her life ends. Rating and Review by Mary

RATING: ★★★
REVIEW: "An odd novel of a Civil War orphan (Confederate), post-war. She is a strange child and strange adult, and while her behavior/actions as a child make sense to me, given the grief and hardships, her behavior/actions as an adult are incomprehensible. This gave me a dislike of the “heroine.”
However, the story takes place in North Carolina, some of it in Ashe County in areas such as Grassy Creek and Jefferson, which made it a worthwhile read, as it was interesting to see the descriptions of the locations in their early early days. Rating and Review by Nanci

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: This is a fascinating story of an historical figure who led an incredible life. Hedy Lamarr, well known actress, begins life in pre-war Austria. She is Jewish, has privilege, naiveté, and a troubled marriage to an arms manufacturer who is collaborating with the Nazis and who denies her religious background. After she escapes and lands in America, her guilt over what she witnessed and overheard while married to Fritz, leads her to an invention that could help the war efforts. But, she's a woman! She is not taken seriously! But Hedy continues to work tirelessly to "atone" for what she did NOT do while in Austria and to make a difference in the world. Her Jewish background drove her to contribute something meaningful to the world, and her inventions led to much of the technology we use today in cell phones! Rating and Review by Jane

RATING: ★★★
REVIEW: A personal account of how the author who lost two very dear friends dealt with these losses through his religious faith. Rituals and customs were discussed in detail in regard to death. Jewish holidays were also discussed in detail. Rating and Review by Mary Lee

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: This book was recommended to me by a former high school classmate who is conservative, but from a different background than I. He received it as a gift and was surprised at how much he found himself in agreement with many of the author's points. I was able to check it out from our library and read it for myself. I too found myself agreeing with many of the points. The author proposes that we can learn a lot from the practice of the Benedictine monks even if we are not part of the Catholic church. He is part of the Orthodox faith, but also gives examples from Evangelical groups. Without going into detail, he strongly urges Christians to live their faith with discipline and purpose in communion with Christ and living with our neighbors in love. The book gave me a lot to think about. Rating and Review by Judy M.

RATING: ★★
REVIEW: "It took about a month and a half to read this book. I could not stay interested in it. I think it's really up to the reader if it's true or not. I know people have many views about things, but I found most of this completely made up. I couldn't believe the story so it made it incredibly difficult to read." Rating and Review by Erin

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: The author offers her insights from a year long journey to practice various disciplines to enhance your relationship with God in a world filled with chaos and distractions. Rating and Review by Teresa

RATING: ★★★
REVIEW: It was very deep but interesting. Different takes on creation and Adam and Eve. It's thought provoking. Rating and Review by Mary

RATING: ★★★
REVIEW: "The author translates ideas of Jewish traditions as to how they apply today. He stresses the need to not just know the law, the Torah, but to be actively doing deeds. He believes one should be a God seeker. He points out that one can begin again after repentance and a contrite heart. He stresses the necessity of teaching one’s children and their children teaching their children, and so on. He states, “Although Judaism formally accepted a belief in the eternity of life, even including the bodily resurrection of the dead, it never permitted the afterlife to become the centerpiece of Jewish faith.” I liked that he included the scriptures from which he based his beliefs. I found many similarities in our belief systems. I have a few friends who are Jewish and I wanted to know more about their beliefs. Before having read this, I was only aware of some traditions of their days of remembrance. (I am not sure that these are referred to as holidays.) " Rating and Review by Bendy

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: As the author indicated, a book of this nature cannot be covered as a straight read because too many topics and too much information to absorb in that fashion. Even when reading in short bits at a time, the subject matter was still overwhelming in its coverage of this major global religion and the diverse Muslim cultures, traditions, and histories associated with it. On a positive note, I realized that the Islamaphobia that existed before, but has increased since 9/11, is based on the violent acts of a minority of Islamic extremists and does not reflect the religion or the Muslim world as a whole. Best said, in a quote near the end: The dread, hatred, and hostility towards Islam and Muslims…results in exclusion from economic, social, and public life, and discrimination based on the perception that the religion has no values in common with, and is inferior to, the West…rather than, like the other Abrahamic religions (Judaism and Christianity, a source of faith and spirituality. “ It does not help that most of what Americans think they know about Islam in particular and Muslims in general is based on the skewed, sensational coverage of ratings-hungry journalists reporting acts of terrorism or the condemnations and sweeping generalizations about Islam and all Muslims by the fundamentalists, conservatives, and fear-mongers in our own culture/religion. Rating and Review by Joan

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: One of the most translated books in the world, this book is best enjoyed like fine pieces of chocolate: in small bits and at the right moments. Rating and Review by Chrissie

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: The author is internationally known for The Kite Runner and other books. This thin beautifully illustrated book is a prayer and a plea for peace by the Muslim author. It is dedicated to the children who flee and perish around the world where there is strife. It is heartbreaking and the illustrations are beautiful. It is a reminder that every faith cherishes their children and longs for peace. Rating and Review by Sandy

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: The Indigo Girl is an historical fiction tale based on the life of Eliza Lucas in 1700s South Carolina. As a sixteen year old girl she is entrusted with the running of her father's plantations while he leaves to advance his military career. Against all odds Liza perfects the growing of indigo as a crop to save not only her plantation but South Carolina's economy as well. Slavery and varying interpersonal relationships play key roles in the telling of this story. Well written in the vernacular of the period. Rating and Review by Jane

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: Based on historical documents, including Eliza Lucas’ letters, this is a historical fiction account of how a teenage girl produced indigo dye. It became one of the largest exports out of South Carolina. This is a story of determination, endurance, and perseverance. Reminds one of how far women’s have changed since the 1700s. As well as a reminder of the way many plantation owners managed their slaves. Rating and Review by Bendy

RATING: ★★★
REVIEW: This novel started out great! Characters, descriptive language, plot all were very engaging. Briefly, it is about a young, educated black woman who works for a prominent publishing company and hopes to become an editor. Then, about 1/2 way through the book, a short chapter went into a confusing story. From then on, this happened occasionally. Sometimes, I reread one of these chapters, assuming I had missed something in the first read, and maybe I did. When the story ended, I was unsure of what I had read. I was disappointed because other than that I had really enjoyed the novel and would have given it at 4. Perhaps I will reread the entire novel to gain an understanding of the story. Rating and Review by Judy T.

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: Lotti lost so much and I could see her struggling with obeying her Papa and learning to trust Gwenna. Gwenna had also lost a lot and she struggled with her feelings for Lottie and one other. The characters are wonderful. The townspeople were a very eclectic mix of people. I really enjoyed this story. Rating and Review by Erin

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: This is an excellent book on 20th century race relations and African-American history. I would guess the reading level to be grades 3 and up. The Green Book was important to black travelers from 1938-1964 during the Jim Crow era, since most restaurants, places of lodging and even gas stations were not available to them along the road. The Green Book listed the safe places for them state by state. The setting is 1952 when Ruth and her parents travel from Chicago to visit kin in Alabama and involves their experiences along the way. Super nice illustrations and a part of American history that many younger folks both black and white are not aware of. Very nicely done. Rating and Review by Sandy

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: While this series may be a bit predictable at times, I love the characters and the setting. They are always fun to read and this one was no exception. The recipes are always a bonus too!

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: Nick and her cousin, Helena, have grown up sharing summers on Martha's Vineyard in a glorious old family estate known as Tiger House. In the days following the end of the Second World War, Helena is off to Hollywood and a new marriage, while Nick is heading for a reunion with her own young husband, Hughes, about to return from the war. But life is not always as it seems from the outside. Both marriages are rocky and when things come to a head, no one leaves unscathed. This book moved at a slow pace and I didn't find the characters very likable. Rating and Review by Michele

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: Very engaging memoir. I really took to his to the point conversational style. He's a person very different from me and that's one reason I wanted to read it. Adventure lover, no fear, down to earth real, create the life I want kind of guy. Clear on his values and committed to living them out. He mined a lot of wisdom from his life experiences. I highly recommend this read!! Rating and Review by Carol

RATING: ★★★
REVIEW: A church youth group on a camping trip gets stranded after water covers the bridge. While waiting, they have unexpected visitors, trying to kill them all. With their counselor leading them, they finally make it to safety. Rating and Review by Anna

RATING:★★★★
REVIEW: Published in 1895, the book is about Henry Fleming, a young soldier in the Union Army during the Civil War. Fleming goes from being an excited kid thinking war will be glorious to finding what he is made of and what war is really like. An excellent account of any army, from the hurry-up and wait, to blaming the generals of not knowing what they are doing. Crane was never in the military but he must have talked to veterans as the book will be familiar to all military members. The “Red Badge of Courage”? A wound gotten in battle but not the wound that Fleming carried. Rating and Review by Em

RATING:★★★★★
REVIEW: Published in 1959. The book is a study on how the author would be treated if he was African American with black skin. He took a skin pigment to darken his skin.
It was shocking to see how badly he was treated. I read this book in the 1960's and it made an impression on me. Rating and Review by Mary Lee

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: It's about the every day lives of law enforcement and a horrible serial killer. Police, politics, evidence collecting, K-9 units, budget limits, instinct, gut feelings, and good police work with a real nut case. Side issues. So good, but gory. Rating and Review by Mary

RATING: ★★★
REVIEW: I found this book, included in a recent Friends gift basket, to be an easy read with just a little bit of everything for everyone. Set in a funeral home in a small Florida town, the story evolved around a thirtyish woman who is raising her children on her own and resuming her education, while learning of unknown relationships of her father's past and dealing with topics related to single parenthood, adolescent teens, mixed racial relations, etc. And a bit about funerary services/sciences as well! Rating and Review by Joan

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: This book was hard to put down! Grisham is well-known for legal thrillers, but this is the first one with a female attorney as the main character. The story is a scathing and eye-opening indictment of the coal industry. Samantha Kofer is a well-paid corporate attorney in New York City in the real estate division of a huge firm. When the financial crisis hits in 2008, her firm along with many others institutes massive layoffs. She is offered a year's unpaid furlough in which she would keep her benefits if she interns with a nonprofit organization. She finds herself volunteering at an all-female Legal Aid office in rural Virginia, living in a free garage apartment with only her savings for income. She soon becomes involved in a variety of legal woes facing her clients, many of which result from the callousness and corruption of the big coal mines and their ruthless lawyers. This book would actually fit into several categories of this year's challenge. It is set in the mountains, there are morally conflicted characters, it is very scary at points, and would be considered a thriller. So I would highly recommend that other readers add this to their reading lists. Rating and Review by Judy M.

RATING: ★★★
REVIEW: A delightful children's book that I always intended to read and never got around to...until now! In fact, reading this book was doubly inspired by ACPL because I received it in a library kit last summer. It's charming and heartfelt. Rating and Review by Chrissie

RATING:★★★
REVIEW: This book would probably work better for a younger reader than I. Niki, the main character, is a young woman who has built a tech career in Seattle. She and her friends sometimes speak a language I find hard to follow-tech talk. Nonetheless, it was a pleasant read. When Niki is suddenly laid off from work, she decides to head to India. She has never visited her parents' country and has been invited to her best friend's wedding, which will take place just after Diwali, the Indian festival of lights. Niki realizes she doesn't really know the meaning of the celebration, and discovers that it means different things to different people. At the Diwali celebration, she is immediately attracted to Sam, one of the musicians in the band and a childhood friend of the bride. Along with the romance, she learns more about her roots. She makes new friends and eventually meets extended family members, but also encounters prejudice. But for the most part, it is a fun story and by the time Diwali rolls around again, things are looking better for everyone. Rating and Review by Judy M.

RATING: ★★★
REVIEW: Light, cute, and trite. An enjoyable and quick read. Rating and Review by Chrissie

RATING: ★★★
REVIEW: Reading age is 4 - 8. Binny talks to her class about her favorite holiday, Diwali. She describes what transpires in the five day celebration and the history of what created the holiday. She shares with them special delicious peas and jalebis and she shows them clay lamps, called diyas. Diwali is also called the Festival of Lights. Rating and Review by Mary Lee

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: Rachel a Jewish girl who had always loved Christmas. She had a chronic illness and didn't have a lot of energy so she wrote. She wrote Christmas love stories. And was a bestseller but her publisher insists she write Hanukkah romance. So she decided she needs to go to the Matzah Ball. There are no tickets left and she appeals to Jacob (who she'd had a teenage attraction with as they were summer camp counselors). He gives her a volunteer job, that would earn her a ticket. She has to wear a Matzah ball costume that was hideous. She feels insults but goes along until she has to watch the darlings of people attended the program. Things go on they love each other hate each other. The Ball happens and you'll have to read it to see what happens. Rating and Review by MaryRating and Review by Mary

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: This little book is a family guide for celebrating the African-American holiday of Kwanzaa. Included topics include the history of Kwanzaa, what to say and do each of the seven days of celebration, how to get children involved, foods to serve, community services a family can volunteer for, etc. It is an easy to read, comprehensive guide that would be very helpful to use. Rating and Review by Sandy

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: The Storyteller’s Secret, a fictional The novel tells the story of several generations of women as they cope with the grief, lost love, and emotional isolation that they encounter in their families and marriages. It is told primarily from two different perspectives, Amish’s, a young writer who was eager to be free from familial obligations and patriarchal society of India in the 1930s and 1940s and two generations later, Jaya, Amisha’s granddaughter, struggles to cope with the grief of several miscarriages and the dissolution of her marriage. Jaya travels to India in the hopes of rediscovering her family’s secret history and there learns of her married Hindu grandmother’s incredible story of forbidden, unconditional love between her grandmother and an English lieutenant, Stephen.
During one of their many conversations, Alisha explains the holiday celebrations Navarati and Diwali to Stephen. On the first day of Navarati, people offer sweets and flowers to the gods and goddesses. For 9 days, women adorn themselves with fine jewelry and dance to honor 3 goddesses, 3 days for each of three goddesses: the Goddess of Power and Strength, the Goddess of Wealth, and the Goddess of Knowledge and Learning. They pray for spiritual growth and strength to accept all that life offers. Navarati ends with Diwali, which is their New Year, also called the Festival of Lights. Lights burn in clay pots outside their homes to symbolize the inner light that protects them from spiritual darkness. Rating and Review by Bendy

RATING: ★★★
REVIEW: I found the book interesting and informative in its description of this yearly holiday, which begins in late October and ends at midnight on November 1, the actual Day of the Dead. Various events/symbols associated with the holiday were presented, such as the use of figurines, marigolds, candles, and streamers at altars, graves, and cemeteries; the inclusion of food, drink, and music; the visits in the homes during the onset, followed by the vigils held by family at the gravesite on the final night of the holiday; and the significance of the somewhat grisly masks and mummers – all part of what is recognized as a “mixture of festivities and trepidation” in this annual communion with the dead. Neat to have it presented in both English and Spanish! Rating and Review by Joan

RATING: ★★★
REVIEW: "Celebrations" includes festivals, carnivals, and feast days from around the world. As part of the Children Just Like Me series, it divides the book into 4 seasons with 2 pages devoted to each holiday. Brightly colored photographs depict children celebrating. Information includes the history of the holiday, when and how celebrated, special foods, activities, religious practices, clothes worn and more. 23 holidays are described and a Celebrations calendar lists some of the main world ones including name of festival, country, date or dates celebrated and, where applicable, religion.Very informative for an overview of holidays celebrated throughout the world both for children probably 8 and up, and adults who are looking for brief holiday information. Rating and Review by Judy T.

RATING:★★★★
REVIEW: After reading some heavier stories, I was ready for some fluff to brighten a gray day. This romantic comedy was just what I needed! The characters are likeable and it was very upbeat and funny! The main character Juliet, a dog groomer, lives with her roommate Shelby, a cancer survivor and interior designer. Shelby is engaged and her future mother-in-law Harmony has a business called Seatfiller Nation. Harmony arranges for volunteers to fill empty seats at big awards shows and events so that there are no empty seats shown on camera. Shelby convinces Juliet to help out at the last minute when Harmony needs some extra seat fillers. This being a romantic comedy, of course Juliet is seated by a heartthrob actor. After a rocky start, they become friends and eventually more. She learns to value him as a real person and he helps her overcome a major phobia. There are lots of laughs and warmth, as well as some setbacks and challenges along the way. While some of the plot line is predictable and the situations unlikely, the author has a bright, witty style. This book fits many different categories for the challenge. According to the author's note, Noah, the romantic male lead, is patterned after the actor Adam Driver so, if you are fan, you may find that he reminds you of that actor . It would also fit the category of a romance, a book about mental health (phobia), a character with a medical condition (cancer recovery), or an animal as a main character (Magnus the dog). Rating and Review by Judy M.

RATING:★
REVIEW: Described as cathartic, I found this book to be offensive, most likely because I wasn't expecting the format of a children's book with profane words (and therefore, it was rather jarring to read). Not even that well written and definitely was not cathartic! Rating and Review by Chrissie

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: "I don't think I got out of this book what a lot of people did. I laughed hysterically throughout it. Anastasia's inner voice and goddess made me laugh so much. It was her thoughts that kept me reading. Christian needs to keep seeing Dr. Flynn (?). He has some issues that desperately need to get looked at.
I originally read this for a book everyboy liked, but I hated, but I ended up really liking it." Rating and Review by Erin

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: I planned to read this for a "book about books", but when I started reading, there were so many times that I laughed, that I changed it. Alice spends all her free time reading until she travels to Kentucky to help with the library and becomes involved with the pack horse librarians. She finds herself not reading about, but living real life adventures. Rating and Review by Anna

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: A wonderful book and so relevant for the time period when I was reaching adulthood and graduating from college. Elizabeth Zott was not your average woman and was determined to be a chemist no matter what!! Her employer takes a very dim view of anything that resembles equality. There is one exception however Calvin Evans the lonely brilliant Nobel Prize-nominated grudge holder who falls in love with of all things, her mind. This book describes what it was like to be a woman in the 1960's to a T. I loved it!!!! In spite of ending up a single Mom and having a cooking show, she was able to finally do what she loved!! Rating and Review by Mary Lee

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: "Lessons in Chemistry" tells the story of Elizabeth Zott, who despite a tragic upbringing works her way through college and earns a degree in chemistry. In the early '60's, Elizabeth acquires a job as a lab tech for which she is totally over-qualified, but in these years women are considered at best second class, designated as lowly housewives, sex objects and subservient to men (which of course, is still prevalent today :(. When Elizabeth meets Calvin, a brilliant chemist, who comes from an equally pathetic background, he respects her for what she is - a very smart, educated woman. The two become best friends, lovers and soulmates. Tragedy strikes both again leaving Elizabeth unwed, pregnant, jobless, friendless and dog owner. While this all is serious, there is MUCH humor with issues of human rights threaded throughout the story. To tell more would give away this engrossing story. I highly recommend reading this novel. Rating and Review by Judy T.

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: Even if you’ve never read Dave Barry before, you know his discussions of various money matters will be laughable because his book cover poses the question, “Why is there a giant eyeball on the dollar bill?” In typical fashion, Barry delivers one riotous discussion after another on such matters as how paper money works and why it is more appropriate to deal with than, say, seashells or cows; how decisions are made by the Federal Reserve Board Chair who, like Pawxsuntawney Phil, bases most of his observations on whether he spots his shadow at designated times of the year; and the corporate world and how executive furniture affects the human brain and important corporate decisions. Silly humor, but a laugh to the very end. Rating and Review by Joan

RATING: ★★★
REVIEW: This isn't the first book I've read by Rita Mae, it's a silly sister rivalry. It has southern roots; not that familiar to me from MA. It has silly animals and characters. Heartache and shot-gun wedding; a cheating husband; jealousy; meanness; adoption; celebrations that were for the area. The town is in 2 different states Maryland and Pennsylvania and it's also straddling the Mason-Dixon line. It starts in 1941 when we entered World War II. Rating and Review by Mary

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: Serge and Coleman are on a Florida cemetery tour. They start in Grassy Key at the spot a famous dolphin is laid to rest. As they make their way northward, they run into several men who are causing mayhem. One is feeding antacid tabs to seagulls and another just stole a home from an elderly couple. Serge metes out his brand of punishment, which is both ingenious and gory. The humor is this story is definately on the dark side, with the last chapter having a man running naked into the water with a tube around his waist. Rating and Review by Michele

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: Should a murder mystery make you laugh? This one did. The main character, Ethel, is a hoot! She is 75, formerly a government agent, and folks underestimate her "little old lady" persona! She partners with her distant cousin Jesse, a graduate student, who is living in her apartment house along with various FBI/Secret Service agents. What a romp! I don't know a bit more about crypto currency after reading this book, but I don't care. I understand that there is a sequel being written. I hope so. Ethel is my brand new role model! Rating and Review by Sandy

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: After the passing of her “well loved and very respected husband” she is met at her front door by his mistress, Hazel, and her husband’s son. Hazel was completely left out of Wesley Lloyd’s will and much find a way to support herself. Hazel leaves Little Lloyd at Miss Julia’s door saying she is going to beauty school and Lloyd will stay with Julia until she finishes school. Man, did that open a can of worms. Miss Julia soon discovered that everyone knew about her husband’s affair and his son, but her. The presence of her husband’s son turns her world upside down. Miss Julia speaks her mind about a robbery, a kidnapping and other disgraceful happenings that were started by the death of her husband. Rating and Review by Bendy

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: When Connie the office manager is abducted Stephanie sets out in her usual crazy way to recover her. The antics are always good for a joyful laugh out loud. Rating and Review by Debra

RATING:★★★★
REVIEW:I found this book fascinating in its anecdotes of the problems medical doctors face, especially ER doctors who do shift work. It impacts mightily on their home life and their psyche. Well written, easy to read, intriguing real life stories about medical emergencies by a North Carolina physician and author. Rating and Review by Sandy

RATING:★★★
REVIEW: This book is about friendship, addiction, and codependency. It is set in the Piedmont of North Carolina in fictional towns around the Uwharrie Mountains. Irene and Luce become fast friends, but also fall into drug addiction. This is especially dangerous for Luce, who has had asthma since childhood. Both work as servers at various restaurants/bars, but most of their money goes to support their habits. The story switches time periods frequently. It begins during a time period when both young women have been clean almost a year. One is about to leave for a fresh start in Florida with her boyfriend Wilkie, also a recovering addict,. When Wilkie is found dead of an overdose, the recovery of both women is threatened and they eventually spiral out of control again. This is a good cautionary tale about the dangers and pain of a life of addiction, but a painful read. The book describes the appeal of the drugs, but makes it very clear that the cost to health, self-respect, finances, and character is very high and many never recover. Rating and Review by Judy M.

RATING: ★★
REVIEW: "I am puzzled as to why this book is considered such a classic. It was far too long, wordy, and the main character was not especially likeable, let alone lovable. I read the book in the 1960s and decided to re-read it recently; sorry I did. Though I finished it, I can't recommend it to anyone else." Rating and Review by Donna

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: This is an emotional tale about Appalachian poverty and intolerance in 1950s. The story raises awareness that people affected by prejudice includes more than one color and economic circumstance. It is a wonderful story about the power of literacy over bigotry and fear. Rating and Review by Bendy

RATING:★★★★
REVIEW: Oathbringer is an intriguing third book in this series. The characters all face struggles that make them stronger. As always, Brandon Sanderson is a wizard with his words.

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: The main character has been diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome which impacts greatly on his life and on those around him. He is brilliant in many ways and has his focus one one subject, forensic analysis. The town is rocked by a terrible murder and he becomes a suspect. Did Jacob commit the murder? Rating and Review by Mary Lee

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: I learned a lot about Asperger's and how a family deals with this. It did have a bunch of characters dropped on you, and it may take several characters before all of the characters fit in. Rating and Review by Mary

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: Smile" was a most fascinating true story about a young woman who writes plays, teaches, and authors many articles, a MacArthur genius, and two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist. She was about to have a play opening on Broadway and had just survived a high-risk pregnancy with twins when she discovered that the left side of her face was completely paralyzed. While she is reassured that 90% of those affected by this paralysis known as Bell's palsy recover, Sarah is in the unlucky 10% who will not. After the shock of losing the ability to smile, accurately talk, eat and drink properly, as well as appearing disfigured, she begins an intense decade of research searching for a clues to overcome this medical problem. I highly recommend this engrossing story. Rating and Review by Judy T.

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: "This is the third book in the Maybe Someday series. It was just as good as books one and two. This one focuses on Maggie after her breakup with Ridge and how she is handling life with CF without her support system. She wants to be independent and to not focus on her condition, but is that possible? And what will happen if she does have a problem and needs help? Even though Ridge has moved on to Sydney, can he just leave Maggie's medical responsibilities to her? Or will he go to her if she needs help?
This is a story of friends trying to navigate how to be adults in their relationships and how to still have friends that were once lovers." Rating and Review by Nancy G.

RATING: ★★★
REVIEW: "It starts with the foiled abduction and rape of a college student, Laurel Estabrook while she’s cycling through the Vermont countryside. Then it fast forwards a few years and she’s a social worker for a homeless shelter. There is a client named Bobbie Crocker who claims to have been a photographer of the famous during the ‘60’s and 70’s. When Bobbie dies he leaves a collection of his photos that Laurel is tasked to curate for a shelter fundraiser, which leads her to discover a link to her past she could not expect.

Laurel grew up on Long Island Sound in the fictional town of West Egg which may sound familiar to many readers as it is the setting of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic, “The Great Gatsby”. This is where things get weird; the plot treats Gatsby as if he and the characters in the novel were real and Laurel suspects that Bobbie was the son of Tom and Daisy Buchanan based on some of his snapshots. Laurel is obsessed by the possibility that Bobbie was a Buchanan and is determined to find out the truth.

I thought the story was a little lengthy and the surprise ending was confusing." Rating and Review by Michele

RATING: ★★★
REVIEW: While Alicia struggles with choosing between two men, Melanie is in danger of risking her well being to lose too much weight. Not a bad story but the characters make a lot of bad decisions repeatedly. Rating and Review by Teresa

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: This book is heartbreaking during much of it but heartwarming as Eleanor finally finds a friend and learn to open her heart.
Eleanor suffers from probably severe PTSD some OCD and eczema. Her journey is in this book becomes irresistible as the reader journeys with her. Rating and Review by Debra

RATING: ★★★
REVIEW: A touching story about Robin, a sensitive, intelligent boy with anger issues and grief over the loss of his mother a year earlier. Father Theo struggles to help Robin deal, using his knowledge as an astrophysicist to take Robin each night to a visit of a new hypothetical planet in the universe – something that helps focus Robin, fulfill his interests, and calm his demeanor. Despite pressure from teachers/doctors to place Robin on psychoactive drugs, Theo turns to a clinical neurofeedback trial in which the mother’s previously recorded brain patterns can be used to channel the son’s emotional direction. As the reader sees Robin evolve/devolve, depending on your perspective, Powers depicts a boy increasingly aware/agitated over the animal rights issues his mother was so passionate about, while at the same time describing a society losing its way in the midst of environmental and political chaos, and threats to the future of civilization itself. I thought this was the best science fiction I’d read in a while, but the book format and the author’s introduction of multiple subplots often created too much confusion. Rating and Review by Joan

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: This well-researched novel is based on the life of Mary Mallon, called “Typhoid Mary” by the press and the public, the first (and for a while, the only) known unaffected carrier of typhoid. She remained contagious to others but never caught the disease herself. A cook, she refused to stop cooking for others, as she was in denial of the new science of germs and also had no other way to make a living as a poor immigrant from Ireland. This was in the years 1899 – 1938. The author provides not only a compelling story and in-depth characterizations, but a realistic look at medical research, public health, dire poverty and life in the immigrant ghettos of New York City at the turn of the 19th century and early 20th. I highly recommend this book. Rating and Review by Nanci

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: I picked up this book thinking it would fulfill the romance book category. I've never read a Sparks book before and all I knew about him was that he writes flouncy romance novels. Wow, this novel turned out to be so much more than that! Narrated by two characters seemingly unconnected. I daren't say anything more as to not give away the secret, but this is well worth the read. I could have done without the fairy tale ending, which is why I knocked it down a star. Rating and Review by Chrissie

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: The Four Winds takes place in the 1920s and 30s during the Great Depression. The Dust Bowl devastated farms and families in Texas and drove the Martinelli family west to California for a "better life." A single mom, teenage daughter and young son find deplorable conditions and not the life they envisioned. The story unfolds and the strength of the characters becomes clear. Poverty, lack of food, floods, no schools for "okies", union uprisings, and untold tragedies give way to hope and change. This was a "can't put it down" book. Powerfully told with many parallels to life today and all we still haven't learned. Rating and Review by Jane

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: There are all sorts of issues involved in this book. The lead character's dad suffers from Lewy body dementia and this illness impacts the lives of many and sets up a series of searches that only the dad can answer. The lead character works with his dad in finding some of these answers of the deaths of friends and neighbors over many years. It's one of those "can't put down" books but is also a relatively quick read. Rating and Review by Karen

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: I really enjoy reading about Sarah and Jack. The two work very well together, with her quirks and his people skills. I liked the twist with the spiritual medium - it tests both Sarah and Jack in a tremendous way. I'm hoping there will be more books in this series. Rating and Review by Erin

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: "I enjoyed reading about these two very down to earth people. Former President Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn wrote about their transition from living as the President and First Lady living in the White House to being Jimmy Carter, who used to be President, and Rosalynn, his wife, living in Plains, Georgia. Several times, they referred to losing his campaign for a second term as President as “involuntary retirement “. As is stated in the book, “There is life after the White House!” They demonstrated that a failure and/or “involuntary retirement” can lead to a door to life with real meaning that helps fulfill who you are. They both devoted much of their time and physical abilities to make the lives of others better, not just here, but also in various locations around the world. This book motivates you to do all that you can for others as long as you live. " Rating and Review by Bendy

RATING: ★★★
REVIEW: This historical fiction focuses Elizabeth Keckley and her relationship with the Lincoln presidency. She was born a slave and managed to save enough money, through her sewing, to buy freedom for herself and her son. She made her way to Washington DC and met Mary Todd Lincoln and became her dressmaker. Mrs. Lincoln did not have many friends, but she did have a quick temper and knew how to hold a grudge. Elizabeth became her confidant and trusted friend. Years later Elizabeth wrote a book about her time with Mrs. Lincoln before and after the presidency. After the book was published, Mrs. Lincoln never spoke to her again. I learned a lot about the civil war and how hard life was for both sides. Rating and Review by Michele

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: What Jackie Taught Us is an inspiring book about the lessons we can learn from this former first lady. It provides deeper insight into one of our country's most famous lady. Some of the topics it covers are what we can learn about marriage, style, and courage from Jackie. This really was an awesome book to read to introduce me into the world of our first ladies.

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: One of the best things about our Reading Challenge is that it expands the choices of books I read. I usually read fiction, often mysteries. So although this book was released in 2010 I had never read it. What struck me most in reading it was the feeling that Mrs. Bush was someone who in different circumstances could have been a friend! She is an avid reader and former librarian, so like those in the Reading Challenge, she loves books. She also loves and supports the arts, loves to hike, and loves her family.The book started a little slow for me as she described her life as a child and young woman, but those parts were important in shaping the woman she became. One review I read said that the reader with an open mind would really enjoy the book. One of the situations that plagued Mrs. Bush throughout her life as a governor's wife and later First Lady, was the assumptions people made about who she was and what she believed. I cannot begin to list all the causes she cared deeply about and supported. So many things happened during the Bush presidency that the latter part of the book sometimes feels too rushed, but if she had written in detail about each event, the book would have been way too long. Anyone who is old enough to remember the Bush presidency knows that the Bush family was often eviscerated by the press, but the book is written with a surprising absence of rancor. I found the book enlightening and hope others will choose to read it for themselves regardless of their political persuasion. Rating and Review by Judy M.

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: This is an example of a book I would have never read without the nudge of a book challenge. That's the beauty of these challenges! I didn't know that Mary Lincoln was so reviled. This is a fascinating look into the life of former First Lady. It even inspired me to read a book by one of Mary Lincoln's former friends (Elizabeth Keckley: 30 Years a Slave)...and luckily that book also fits into the book challenge! Rating and Review by Chrissie

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: Michelle Obama writes about a set of tools that she has developed through her life to better navigate change and to remind steady within flux. She explores and asks many questions that all of us wrestle with: how do we build honest relationships? How can we discover strength and community in our differences?How can we deal with self doubt and helplessness? She draws from her personal experiences as a mother, daughter, spouse, friend and First Lady and shares what has helped her to adapt to change and overcome obstacles. Her honesty and her being human engage the reader. Rating and Review by Mary Lee

RATING: ★★★
REVIEW: Michelle Obama’s insight on how to deal with the insecurity/uncertainty associated with feeling on the “outside” is inspirational, especially the manner in which she manages to find optimism in the midst of adversity. In discussing various events in her life, as well as those of family members and friends, she provides an honest narration of living with racial/gender stereotypes, while learning to grow, deal, and put your best foot forward, always with a sense of self and integrity. Rating and Review by Joan

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: In Michelle Obama's last book "Becoming" she wrote about her life from childhood into her life as First Lady. Published in 2022, "The Light We Carry - Overcoming in Uncertain Times" follows her life from childhood till after she leaves the White House. In this book, however, she discusses how she has managed to persevere as a black child/teen/adult in a predominately white world. Through close family ties, meaningful friendships, and worldwide fans, she offers her strategies for staying hopeful and balanced. While Michelle openly admits that she offers no perfect answers she does suggest insightful reflections with stories and honest dialogues. She gives readers hope in lessening their own fears and anxieties while explaining that when we help others we help ourselves and in doing so can lighten the world. This was a very informative book which I highly recommend. Rating and Review by Judy T.

RATING:★★★
REVIEW: Very informative. Tells the story of Jackie's life from her birth until her death. Also, contains the timeline of her life as well as a timeline of the world during her lifetime. Rating and Review by Anna

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: This is a really great introduction into who Edith Wilson was. I think it is written really well to help our youth learn about her without being overwhelmed. Rating and Review by Erin

RATING: ★★★
REVIEW: A novel about a teen aged boy, who witnessed the attack on Pearl Harbor.. He and some friends saw his fathers ship go down. He was then given clothing and a gun and told he was now a marine. He survived the day and made his way home to his mother. The author included true facts about the war at the end of the book. Rating and Review by Anna

RATING:★★★★
REVIEW: I usually don't care for books that have to deal with war, but this was recommended by one of the librarians in Ashe County, so I gave it a try. It's a wonderful, interesting historical fiction of a group of women spies during the Great War, one of them is Eve. 1947, A young unmarried pregnant women seeks Eve's assistance to find her cousin and finds out that the two of them have more in common than they both realize. Rating and Review by Marilyn

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: It’s eerie, two of the books I’ve read are by authors whose works are or have been shown recently on television as movies. I saw the movie of this book when I was a preteen and have always remembered it. Not the war itself, but the aftermath of what follows. In the 1960’s nuclear war explodes in the western hemisphere. The radiation slowly drifts to the southern hemisphere where the story takes place. Australians know approximately how much time it will take for the radiation to reach them. The story follows the impact on what is left of their world and how they adjust to it. As T. S. Elliot wrote, “…This is how the world ends, not with a bang but a whimper.” Rating and Review by Em

RATING:★★★★
REVIEW: Words of Radiance is a great second installment to the Stormlight Archives. Seen mainly from Shallon's point of view, it's a great insight into her as a character. Also, it is just as captivating as The Way of Kings.

RATING:★★★★★
REVIEW: This book was so hard to put down! It is a combination of a war story, a police procedural, and a spy story. After the death of her Welsh husband and young daughter during a Nazi attack on Orkney Island , Kate Rees is at a very low point in her life. Having grown up as an Oregon farmer's daughter with several brothers, she is a crack shot and well able to take care of herself. She is recruited by a British intelligence officer to parachute into occupied France and use her sharp shooting skills to assassinate Hitler. She has only limited training in spycraft. As one bad thing after another happens, she learns that the advice she received to trust no one is only too true. Kate proves to be more competent and resourceful than anyone expected, but she is pursued by an equally competent and intelligent German police officer. I really enjoyed reading the advance copy I received as a challenge prize. Rating and Review by Judy M.

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: This book was written in 1987 by a WWII soldier, George Wilson, who fought all the way from Normandy's beaches, through the Battle of the Bulge, into France, Belgium and Germany. It is very readable. Wilson's recall of dates, events, and places was outstanding. An amazing and heartbreaking narrative; almost everyone who fought with him did not survive. We are fast losing our WWII vets and these stories need to be told and shared. Rating and Review by Sandy

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: The author, a journalist and novelist weaves together excerpts from the daily journals of collaborators, resistors, and the persecuted - A Dutch Nazi police detective,a Jewish journalist imprisoned at the Westerbork transit camps, a grocery store one who saved dozens of lives - into a nonfictional narrative of the Nazi occupation and the Dutch Holocaust, as individuals experienced it day by day. For the author, who moved to Amsterdam and was a "second generation survivor" she attempts to understand what it meant for her mother and maternal grandparents to live through the war in Europe and also to try to understand the horrifying question: Why did 75% of the Dutch Jewish community perish in the war.? This, while in other Western European countries the proportions were significantly lower. Rating and Review by Mary Lee

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: An enlightening view of the Vietnam war as told from the view of Vietnamese women and children as they struggled to survive. Rating and Review by Bendy

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: In a format familiar to historical fiction, the main characters go back/forth in time as Grandmother Lan recounts to her Granddaughter Huong the prolonged fighting that has ravaged the family/country since the 1940s, gradually bringing them to the most horrendous of events, The Vietnam War. The tragedies of that war are told in the context of family members lost, maimed, or forever traumatized by the horrors of death, hunger, disease, torture, rape, agent orange, etc. Lan, who struggles to overcome the events that are tearing her family/country apart, never loses her faith in the goodness of humanity, her determination to care for family, or her commitment to restore family/tradition in the midst of an ever-changing setting. A poignantly beautiful story. Rating and Review by Joan

RATING: ★★★
REVIEW: It was a little hard to follow. Names of people and places were the same or similar. One thing that got your attention was the other side of the story. They didn't welcome the US. It was a harsh time for the Vietnamese. It was a civil war combined with these various occupations. Rating and Review by Mary

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: This was such an interesting story! The author does a fantastic job combining her own PhD research with her family's personal experiences during the Korean War. It was interesting to learn more about the war from a female perspective and better understand the cultural ramifications it had on so many women. Rating and Review by Sarah

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: In this second book in the Divergent trilogy; the factions are at war amongst themselves. The Erudite leaders are trying to control the faction system which causes some unusual alliances with the factionless. Rating and Review by Teresa

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: This is my first time reading a book for a book club. It was an excellent pick. Eva's character was interesting. After being forced to do something to help her and her mother it turns into something to help a lot of children. Remy shows her how she can keep the children's real names associated with their new one, so they know who they are. This book she keeps helps her so much throughout her journey. As she and the other people in the community are hiding in plain sight from the Nazis you can see how the characters change. The characters are interesting in how their moods and behaviors shift throughout the story. It was interesting how Eva never told her son about her past and he treated her like a child. I highly recommend this book! Rating and Review by Erin

RATING: ★★★
REVIEW: This book, told by an American soldier in the Iraq War, weaves back and forth between his time in Iraq and his post-war reflection. Rating and Review by Chrissie

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: This book is set in World War II and is about Aline Griffith, a lesser known person of the Allied Intelligence Service. Larry mixes lots of facts with small amounts of fiction to forge a compelling story of an American women in intelligence overseas. A must read. Rating and Review by Debra

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: Terry Pratchett was the master of fantasy fiction and this book is no exception. Fun to read, will make you laugh out loud. Rating and Review by Donna

RATING: ★★★
REVIEW: Cecilia reads a letter from her husband John-Paul that reveals a big secret. The letter was meant to be read of if he passed away. He hasn't passed away. The secret has consequences for their family and community. Rating and Review by Michelle

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: Touching story about a family suffering from a tragic loss who leaves their home in England to visit family in Zimbabwe . Rating and Review by Teresa

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: A fictional story of the way things could have happened in WWII in Germany. The protagonist is a nine year old boy, whose father is a commandant under Hitler. The family moves to the front line and he meets a Jewish boy on the other side of the fence and crawls under to see what is happening out there. Rating and Review by Anna

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: Bhaka is an intelligent, good-natured boy who labors as a sweeper of latrines to help support his family. Sadly, that job cements his role as an untouchable on the lowest rung of Indian caste society in the 1930s. This novel describes a single day in Bhaka’s life and his various encounters with higher-caste residents of his town. Each encounter brings increasing frustration and despair, as he is repeatedly demeaned for corrupting their space – including a public shaming for bumping into a passerby in a crowd; a verbal rant from a Hindu priest for standing on the steps of a Hindu temple in which he is not allowed; and a screaming tirade from a woman when he stands too close to her house to beg for bread. The book was difficult to read due to the subject matter, but Anand’s pointed depiction of Bhaka’s encounters clearly describes the unfair social/cultural conditions of the times, and hints at societal changes with the coming of Mahatma Gandhi. Rating and Review by Joan

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: The book is set against the backdrop of the Vietnam War and is the story of four generations of the Tran family as seen through the matriarch Tran Dieu Lan and her granddaughter Huong Dieu Lan. Tran was forced to leave her prosperous farm during the Land Reform in 1955 with five of her six children. She later survives the American bombardment of Hanoi with Huong whose parents and aunts and uncles have left to fight in the conflict that both rips their country apart and their family. A moving account of the spirit of resilience among the women and children left behind by war. Rating and Review by Mary Lee

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: "Tran Hu’o’ng is 12 when we first meet her, trying to find a bomb shelter to hide in as the American planes close in on Hà Nôi, guided to safety by her grandmother Tran Diêu Lan. As they maneuver around the dangers of the war, we begin to see the Tran family saga unfold through Diêu Lan’s memories and Hu’o’ng’s lived experiences, and we see how Viêt Nam’s landscape and politics change from the French occupation, to the Japanese, the famine and then during and post the war. Hu'o'ng's four uncles and parents all fight in the war, but not for the same side. It takes many years for them to reconcile and become a family again." Rating and Review by Michele

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: The book makes you ponder the thought, “If you could go back, who would you want to meet?” In this book, you meet four visitors who come to the cafe to travel back in time. They must sit in a special seat that is vacated only when the ghost who sits there gets up to go to the bathroom. A very important rule is that you must drink all of your cup of coffee before it gets cold. If you fail to do so, you will become the next ghost that has to sit in the chair except to go to the bathroom once a day. The most heart wrenching visitor section for me was the woman who wanted to go back in order to receive a letter from her husband whose memory is fading due to Alzheimer’s. Rating and Review by Bendy

RATING: ★★★
REVIEW: This is the first book in the Lord Edgington Investigates series. The story takes place in 1925. Lord Edgington, a former chief inspector, has been deeply depressed and withdrawn after the death of his beloved wife. He decides to get back to enjoying life and enlists his grandson Christopher to help plan a ball. Unfortunately, at the ball someone tries to murder not only Lord Edgington, but most of his family, by poisoning a bottle of vintage champagne, but succeeds in killing only one woman who jumps ahead to drink hers. With an inept detective on the job, Lord Edgington determines to solve the case himself, continuing to use young Christopher as his assistant. Another murder follows, along with a multitude of motives, red herrings, and complications.It is a light but fairly entertaining whodunit, with some humor and even a bit of romance. Rating and Review by Judy M.

RATING: ★★★
REVIEW: I tried to like this novel, which I have a feeling is autobiographical in many ways. The main character, Joan, is so unlikeable and her view of people, society, and the world in general is so negative, that I found it difficult to relate to her at all. Nevertheless, it was well written (so I gave it a 3) and so timely that it touches on the early stages of the Covid epidemic both in China and in the U.S. Rating and Review by Sandy

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: I really like this book, the language was a little hard to understand and the location took a bit to figure out. But it was interesting, the people were interesting and the nurse's various stories were varied and interesting. It sounds like a hard place to live with the weather, remoteness, terrain etc. but it was people helping people. Rating and Review by Mary

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: Adolfo led quite a life. He started forging as a teenager during WWII and never stopped for several decades. He went from one war to the next forging documents to help save people and get documents to the people fighting the wars. It is amazing that he did not suffer from major health issues since he never rested. Rating and Review by Erin

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: This book - about love and death and family and ancient traditions - is haunting and beautiful. Rating and Review by Chrissie

RATING: ★★★
REVIEW: This was a psychological thriller that definitely had some plot twists and turns. It wasn't overly predictable and the premise was interesting. This was a Kindle Unlimited Free Read so I chose it because I probably wouldn't have paid for it but I was glad to have read it.

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: The true story of the author and his mother who have a close relationship. When she is diagnosed with pancreatic cancer the two form a book review group. Books have always been a way for them to communicate with each other and to explore topics that may have made them feel uneasy. The club takes place over mocha in the waiting room of Sloan Kettering Hospital while she is undergoing chemotherapy. Several books are noted and recommended. Rating and Review by Mary Lee

RATING: ★
REVIEW: A true story of a couple highly educated, who had traveled all over the U.S. and in other countries. They had held important jobs in different locations, but their dreams were to own a bookstore. They settled in Big a stone Gap, VA and opened a used bookstore. The book explains the problems of trying something new with no experience and tells day to day experiences with customer who eventually became friends. I found the book boring. Rating and Review by Anna

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: This was a quick and fun read. Because it takes place in England and Scotland, the flow of the language and the use of colloquial phrases was delightful. The story unfolds with unexpected life challenges: loss of a job, break-up of a marriage, inheritance of her great uncle's home, a move to Scotland, a new job and a love triangle with two brothers. There's lots of drama all the way - and lots of sex! There's also the bookshop cat named Holly Hunter! It was a fun book and certainly gave meaning to the truth that there are always second chances in life's journey. Rating and Review by Jane

RATING: ★★★
REVIEW: I have mixed feelings about this novel. It goes back and forth between WW1 and the 1970's. The part about the role of "war librarians" in WW1 very near the battlefields was interesting, but the jumping around between time periods became irritating. The young woman in the 1970's was in one of the first military academies to admit women. The ill treatment of those women prompted me to order a book called "First Class" -- a non-fiction account of one of the women who actually was one of the firsts, so that is a positive. I did enjoy reading about the war librarian's choice of books, but the ending was rather lame and the idea of one woman stealing another's identity just seemed contrived. Rating and Review by Sandy

RATING: ★★★
REVIEW: I liked the idea of the characters working for more parity and exposure for women authors of the past.I also liked the appearances of some actual figures from literary history. Some of the writing felt a little clunky to me, as well as some of the plot points. All in all, though, an easy, enjoyable read. Rating and Review by Amy

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: "I must admit that the cover of this book was what drew me to it. Stacks and stacks of old books! Just looking at the cover, I could almost smell the old pages. This book has both mystery and romance. Ashlyn, the owner of a book shop called The Care and Feeding of Old Books, finds an unusual book with no copyright page or author listed and strong echoes. She sets out to find out what happened to the people in the book. The echoes she gets from the book makes her feel these were real people. A little later, she finds the companion book and other side of the story. In her efforts to bring closure to the characters’ love story, she finishes some of the unfinished chapters of her own life." Rating and Review by Bendy

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: "It set in Paris, the bookstore was a barge called the Literary Apothecary. The owner is Jean Perdu. It lives at 27 Rue Montagnard. There's a young author who also lives at 27. Of course everyone knows everyone at 27. A new woman moves in whose husband of over 20 dumps her for another younger woman. She has nothing so the super tells Jean that she needs a table. Jean has a table blocked behind books etc and he hasn't stepped foot in it for over years. He manages to go in and the chair and table from the room and across the hall. The lady doesn't answer door but the table isn't in the hall. The exchange some notes and she says there's an unopened letter in the drawer of the table. Since thought he knew what it said he didn't open it. He goes to the barge and takes up the plank and leaving the harbor the young author jumps aboard all his belongings falling in the water. It leads to an adventure funny, wild and soul searching, great joy truly soul wrenching discovery. Reallly jerked at the heartstrings." Rating and Review by Mary

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: Lovely story set in San Francisco in a bookshop and home. This book crosses generations and has a fascinating end to it. Rating and Review by Debra

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: This was the true story of Helen Hanff, a journalist, author, play-write, TV script and magazine writer whose best-selling work was "84, Charing Cross Road" which was adapted for radio, TV, film and stage. This book was written as a series of alternating letters between Hanff and a used-book dealer located in London, England. Over 20 years, and while never meeting, they developed a close friendship based on their love of books. With humor and seriousness, Hahn and Frank Doel primarily discussed books, authors and prices. Hahn also developed friendships with Doel's family and employees of Marks & Co, - Booksellers, sending them packages of food and clothing which they could not find in the aftermath of World War II. Hanff and Doels' relationship based on their correspondence made for fascinating reading. Rating and Review by Judy T.

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: Cussy is a part of a family that has blue skinned members and her family is ostracized for it. She has a job through the WPA, Works Progress Administration, delivering books to the remote areas of the Appalachian mountains. She finds love and friendship through her delivery route. Rating and Review by Michelle

RATING:★★★★★
REVIEW: Wow. Just wow. I can't recommend this book strongly enough. It's heartwarming, educational, soul-stirringly sad...and reaffirms the power of books. Rating and Review by Chrissie

RATING: ★★★
REVIEW: Nora Hughes is a young woman who landed what she thought was her dream job straight out of college, only to find after five years that her dull assignment as editorial assistant in a company focused on business books is more about boring administrative tasks and profit than quality and creativity. Her inability to move into a more meaningful position and the company's shift toward downsizing both lead her to doubt her worth, which in turn leads to some questionable, and somewhat unethical, decisions. All is all, a light read with a little interesting information about publishing but more about life choices, self-esteem, and a budding romance. Rating and Review by Joan

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: Good book. A special book in an Amish bookstore helps a lady find peace. Rating and Review by Misty

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: A list of 8 classic book titles is floating around a city “just in case you need it”. The list to me seemed magical because it seemed to float into peoples life’s when they needed to see it most. The book is mainly centered around two characters, Aleisha and Mukesh. These two characters weren’t big readers, but the magical list brings friendship, and love for reading. I’m a huge reader, and my favorite part in this book was how Mukesh described what his wife, Naina, looked like when she was reading. Rating and Review by Rikki

RATING:★★★★
REVIEW: Eva, a librarian, and her family were living in Paris when the Nazi's began to round-up Jews. Her father was taken, and Eva and her mother escaped to the town of Aurignon, near the Swiss border. Eva met a priest who pleaded with her to use her artistic skills to forge identity documents for children, whose parents were captured by the Germans, so they could make it safely to Switzerland. Eva did not want the children to lose their real identities, so she began to record their names in an old religious text using code. She called this the Book of Lost Names. This story has it all-romance, intrigue, mystery and a happy ending. Rating and Review by Michele

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: If you read The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek, you will love this sequel. The book can also stand on its own if you have not read the earlier one. This book shows the benefits and joys of reading. The main character has a blood disorder that makes her skin appear blue. In her case, mainly her hands and feet are affected, while her adoptive mother, the heroine of the first book, was completely blue. Due to this condition, the family faces prejudice and danger. Female friendship and sisterhood are major themes of the book. The book celebrates strong women who earned their living in unexpected careers. The book is thoroughly researched and the author studied the history, culture, laws, and other facets of Kentucky that add realism to the book. Many books are mentioned by name in the story and I am now curious to read some of them. I enjoyed listening to a library copy of the audio book, and it is also available in print. Rating and Review by Judy M.

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: A thought-provoking book about what constitutes the real measure of a life. A global event that suddenly makes adults aware of how long they will live eventually drives social/political discrimination against those with short life spans. As fear, uncertainty, and discriminatory practices evolve, segments of society turn against one another, and various characters must face their own moral dilemmas as they examine their own values. One character is particularly conflicted, a young cadet who feels he owes his loyalty to the family that has supported him since childhood and yet is opposed to the political ambition that is driving them to promote prejudice to further their own family traditions and political ambitions. Rating and Review by Joan

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: There is an octopus named Marcellus. Need I say more? (Seriously, you won't be able to put down this charming, heartbreaking, witty book.) Rating and Review by Chrissie

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: It's about a cheating husband, who's mixed in with illegal activities. He takes his wife on a cruise for their 2nd anniversary, oops his wife falls overboard and the antics that follow. Crime doesn't pay. Rating and Review by Mary

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: I really felt bad for Stella Muller as she is forced to work for the SS. I can't imagine having to hide who I am so I wouldn't be murdered, but through sheer will she does it. Even if she must bite her tongue many times. As she finds herself being drawn to Aric, she is so conflicted. He represents all she loathes, yet she is falling for him. She tends to beat herself up about this. I really liked Aric's character as well as he fights his feelings for Stella as well. There are some great characters in this book, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Rating and Review by Erin

RATING: ★★★
REVIEW: I'm torn over my feelings for this book. It's beautifully written, but it's so hard to root for the main character. In the end, it's an interesting story about the consequences that can arise from acting on spontaneous and impulsive actions. Rating and Review by Sarah

RATING: ★★★
REVIEW: Entertaining and thought-provoking. Rating and Review by Amy

RATING: ★★★
REVIEW: This book made me so mad that I wasn't sure I could finish it! In the 1970's, Eamonn Casey was the most powerful and richest bishop in Ireland. He was a distant cousin of the author, Annie, a troubled American woman who had just been through a traumatic marriage and divorce. She lived in the Bishop's home for months; they immediately became lovers as he groomed her under the guise of "healing." Then -- she got pregnant! She went back to America, kept her baby, and eighteen years later finally outed the hypocritical creep. In the long run, I found both of them unlikeable. The true victim was their son. What a mess. The National Enquirer couldn't invent a story this sordid! And it is altogether true. Rating and Review by Sandy

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: Scythe is an interesting take on what would happen if we lived in an utopia. Since no one dies anymore and the population must be kept to a certain number, people known as scythes must kill people to keep the population in check.

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: There were times that were somewhat confusing, such as, when the writer used Dad, preacher, shepherd to refer to the same character. Overall, I enjoyed the story. Rating and Review by Bendy

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: When Lois inherits a small town newspaper, she isn't sure she wants to be there. After she moves and gets started, she soon realizes some of her biggest advertisers are engaged in corruption. She knows if she reports what she knows, she will lose a lot of money. Rating and Review by Anna

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: In this 5th installment of the Vampire Chronicles, Lestat meets both God and the Devil and has to choose if he wants to join forces with the devil on his mission to prepare the unworthy souls in hell. Interesting theory of what hell really is; thought provoking. Rating and Review by Teresa

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: When Emma comes across the body of a hit-and-run victim outside of her workplace she automatically calls her boyfriend, Cormac. Cormac is a detective that takes on the case but his colleagues question his ability to stay neutral. As the case takes many twists and turns Cormac begins to question just how involved Emma is with the crime. I liked this story but there were a lot of characters to keep track of. Rating and Review by Michele

RATING:★★★★
REVIEW: This was an engrossing true story about Elizabeth Holmes who, at a young age, decided her life goals were to be a billionaire and to develop a quick, easy finger-prick blood test allowing multiple tests to be run from that one drop of blood. After attending Stanford for 2 years in chemical engineering, Holmes starts up her company Theranos. Driving ambition, charisma, and luck in attracting wealthy and well-known financiers get her started. Professional labs have been unable to create this test while Holmes qualified staff refutes her plans for a small test box and drop of blood tests saying they will not work. Holmes refuses to believe them. With lies and deception in the following years, her business grows to staggering heights but behind the backs of her customers and financial backers, she is running her blood tests on defective machines or those she has secretly purchased from existing lab equipment and testing companies. The concern and disbelief of former workers who fear they may be harming unsuspecting patients eventually begin the unraveling of Theranos. A very interesting and disturbing story. Rating and Review by Judy T

RATING: ★★★
REVIEW: I did not initially realize this book is part of a series, but I was able to read and follow it without reading the previous books. The story is about twin young men who form a "spiritual retreat" after their father is imprisoned and their mother leaves the country and abandons them. One is completely committed to the teachings, but the other finds himself becoming more and more deeply involved with a criminal enterprise that is funding the project. When a young woman who has entered the retreat finds that leaving is not an option, her friend enlists a team of vigilantes to help. It was a fairly quick read and somewhat entertaining, but not at the top of my list. I probably would have enjoyed it more if I hadn't jumped way into a series and was more familiar with the characters. Rating and Review by Judy M.

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: "I have recently fallen in love with Colleen Hoover as an author, and once again she did not disappoint. She catches you right from the start and then you can't wait to read through the middle to see if you get the outcome you want. Sydney has just found out -from the hunky neighbor- that her boyfriend and her best friend have been hooking up behind her back. Of course, she leaves them, but she has nowhere to go. Enter again - hunky neighbor. Ridge practices his guitar on his apartment balcony. he's supposed to be writing lyrics to new songs but is having writer's block. Every afternoon he notices his neighbor ""singing along"" to his songs. He wants to know what HER lyrics are to his songs, so when she finds herself ""homeless"" he invites her to stay in his apartment's extra room if she will share her lyrics to his songs. Over time, and for reasons you'll have to read the book to understand, they become attracted to one another, but Ridge has a girlfriend, and he doesn't plan on ever breaking up with her. They know what they feel is wrong, and yet they cannot seem to make the feelings stop. Read it to see what happens. If you've never read Colleen Hoover before, I bet you too will become hooked." Rating and Review by Nancy G.

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: I read this book for entertainment, not for the challenge. But looking back on the series of Inspection Rebus books, the main character was always conflicted. A Scottish policeman, he got results regardless of the legalities involved. In all the series is excellent. In this book, Rebus is older and retired. His history comes back to haunt him and perhaps he may have to pay for it. An excellent series read in order, I’m sorry to see how Rebus ends up but perhaps he may redeem himself in the future. Rating and Review by Em

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: This is a story of a teenage girl growing up in a fundamental Christian home that begins falling apart. Her father, a faith healer and violent narcissist, finds himself ostracized by congregations across the South after he assaults multiple people on the tent revival circuit. As he is outed as a fraud to the people he is closest with, Miriam realizes she may have the power to heal -- but is told that healing is disallowed for females. She struggles with her faith in God and in her own father throughout the book. The book was a gripping read, but left some plot points unfinished at the end, which was disappointing. The subject matter was very interesting to me, however, because I grew up in a somewhat similar environment. Rating and Review by Sam

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: This story is a gripping mystery that evolves around two parallel, related criminal investigations – one, a bizarre, Ninja style murder of a college professor and his wife and the other, a 25-year-old cold case murder of a sex crimes investigator. Though somewhat grim, the investigations delve into the dysfunctional/deviant behaviors of the key characters and if/how such behaviors may have played a role in the murders, including substance abuse, child abuse, bi-polar disorder, narcissism, and incest. This was my first Tami Hoag mystery, and I found it to be a real page-turner. Rating and Review by Joan

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: This book is a psychological thriller told by the perspective of a psychotherapist... This book involved a major plot twist and tells the story of his struggling, silent patient, Alicia Berenson. Rating and Review by Abigail

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: McTiernan used a lot of twists and turns that kept me on my toes. Just when I thought I had something figured out, more evidence was brought to light that caused me to change my mind. The ending of the book was very suspenseful. I will read more of this author’s books. Rating and Review by Bendy

RATING: ★★★
REVIEW: Bianca St Ives lives a thrilling life working with her father as a master thief and con artist, but when a job goes south she learns some disturbing truths about her past. Rating and Review by Teresa

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: As a single mother, Frida makes a fateful choice that leads to a year at a school for good mothers. This school turns out to be a system that is designed to protect children but becomes an insidious abusive means of control. The school is much like a prison and worse. Rating and Review by Mary Lee

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: This book is a fictionalized version of the very first graduating class at the US Naval Academy with female midshipmen, the class of 1980! The author was one of these women and is one of the two main characters. The other main character is a composite of several of her classmates, since some were still on active duty when the book was written. These courageous women put up with an amazing and disgusting amount of harassment, some psychological, some physical, but rose to the challenge. Incredible story. Rating and Review by Sandy

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: A well written spy thriller! Cleveland has put together a fascinating cast of characters who on the surface have the perfect lives. But those are the very people we don't really know, do we? Intrigue, twists and turns, betrayal and a strong heroine all come together for a compelling read. Rating and Review by Jane

RATING: ★★★
REVIEW: It was about drug running down in Florida with New Jersey connection. After a U.S. Marshall was killed, the marshalls got involved because there didn't seem to be much of an investigation into the whole event. There was a lot of running here, there and everywhere tracking down leads. The marshalls got the local police dept. in various Florida cities and New Jerseys, plus the FBI. After much chasing down the crime and quite a few other murders tying up loose ends; the criminals were captured. Rating and Review by Mary

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: This novel follows a forensic anthropologist who seeks to uncover the mystery behind several dead children in Quebec. The Fox TV series Bones is based off of this book. Rating and Review by Chrissie

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: A detective and retired detective come together to solve a many years old case that haunted a former detective now deceased. Rating and Review by Debra

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: Jason hasn't spoken to his sister, Hayden, for five years. She shows up on his doorstop one night asking if he would watch her 17 year old daughter for a few days. She claims to be working a 12 step program and hasn't had a drink in over a year. The next day Hayden sends a short text message, but isn't heard from again. Her car is found near the woods, empty. While a search party is looking for her, they find the remains of Jason's high school friend, who went missing 27 years ago. Can the two incidents be related? You will need to read this thriller to find out. Rating and Review by Michele

RATING: ★
REVIEW: The author and his main character Lucas Davenport and I go back a long way…about 15 years. That’s when I started reading the Davenport series. Thought I would give his new book a try (number 32 of 33 of the “Prey” books). Lucas is now older and settled in a marriage, unlike his care free days in his younger years with numerous women and much mayhem. In this book Sandford uses contemporary themes. Davenport encounters a national group named The Five that decide with their billions of dollars made from Bitcoin (guess they got out before the bottom fell out) to murder people who have negative impact on lives of groups of people. The book starts out interesting then takes a nose dive. Throw in little references to Trump (why??) and by the end of the book, I’m rooting for the bad guys. Rating and Review by Em

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: Buck is a great dog. I can't, but I can believe that people went around and stole dogs. The shock Buck must have had when he stepped in snow. Buck had quite the adventure in Alaska. And he thrived. It's encouraging to see that we can be pulled out of what's comfortable and thrive in the unknown. Rating and Review by Erin

RATING:★★★
REVIEW: This thriller is tongue-in-cheek with lot of humor. It is not a book to take seriously, but a fun read. I checked out the audio book from the library and enjoyed listening to it. Rating and Review by Judy M.

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: While searching for a missing young girl, the detective dies from what is said to be a heart attack. His daughter thinks his death is connected to the case and sets out to find answers. Her fiancee doesn't agree, but the handsome police detective believes her. When her younger sister is kidnapped, their only hope is prayer and they find that God is the answer. They also learn that people they have always trusted really couldn't be trusted. Rating and Review by Anna

RATING: ★★★
REVIEW: Reading one book often leads to another. I just finished listening to an audio book of The Book Woman's Daughter. In that book, the main character is vilified for sharing the book The Awakening with one of the clients on her route. I was unfamiliar with the book and so curious to read it. The book was first published in 1899. While widely criticized at the time for its portrayal of a woman who disregards the social norms and engages in adultery, it has later gained respect as one of the first feminist novels. The book I read was followed by several short stories by the same author. The novel and the stories are set in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. I actually enjoyed some of the short stories more than the novel. I found the heroine of The Awakening to be very self focused and not particularly likeable. While I could understand her disaffection with the strictures of New Orleans society of the day, she did not show any real warmth or consideration for others. Even when she expressed herself through her art and gained some respect as an artist, she did not seem to take much joy in her work. She was sometimes affectionate to her children, but did not deeply love them. She was indifferent to her husband. She was involved romantically with two men outside her marriage, but she didn't love them in the sense of wanting the best for them. Altogether I found the book rather sad and depressing. Rating and Review by Judy M.

RATING:★★★★
REVIEW: A Book about a group of British school boys marooned on an island with no adult supervision or rules and how they forge their own society. The. theme is an attempt to trace the defect of society back to the defect of human nature. At times the escalation of violence seems both inevitable and terrifying. Frankly the book for me, was upsetting. I had read it back in the sixties when in high school as assigned reading. I found it upsetting then and also when I reread it recently. Rating and Review by Mary Lee

RATING:★★★
REVIEW: A book of nonsensical rhymes. Good for a few chuckles. Better shared with someone. Rating and Review by Anna

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: A community where not much seems to happen is filled with colorful characters. It is funny and, yet, evokes a keen sense of sadness and regret. Rating and Review by Bendy

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: The first in the Harry Potter series... Harry discovers he is actually a wizard and gets to leave his mean non magical aunt and uncle. He goes to Hogwarts to learn magic and has many fantastic adventures. Rating and Review by Teresa

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: Thanks to the Hulu show, this book needs no introduction. It's disturbing, heartbreaking, and exceedingly well written. Rating and Review by Chrissie

RATING: ★★★
REVIEW: A novel about a deeply unhappy and unsatisfied woman desperately seeking solace in all the wrong places. This is a second read for me, and I didn't like it any more this time. I just found it depressing. I didn't even enjoy the writing style, but maybe that's down to a poor translation. Rating and Review by Amy

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: I believe the Bible and study it. It's my guide for life. I've read through it many times and always find something new and helpful. Rating and Review by Mary

RATING: ★★★
REVIEW: Uncle Bobby and Jamie are getting married! Little Chloe is upset because she is afraid that her favorite uncle won't be as close to her as he has been. Bobby reassures her; he and Jamie invite Chloe to be their flower girl. Now Chloe has two uncles to love. The original book featured guinea pigs as the character (the author had pet guinea pigs). In recent years, the updated version has featured humans. Either way, the book is a delight. Grade school level reading and lovely illustrations. If my grandchildren were still young, I would buy this book for them! Rating and Review by Sandy

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: This is the story about Margaret, an 11-12 year old girl who makes new friends when she and her family move to NJ. The girls form a club and have fun talking about school, boys, clothes, and other interests 5th grade girls are likely to share. Soon to be changing bodies - growing breasts and wearing bras, and details of menstruation captivate them. Margaret is from a family who does not practice religion - her father is Jewish and her mother Christian. Margaret talks to God about her problems, thoughts and daily life issues. Episodes in the novel, cause Margaret unsurity about God and religions in general and she decides to wait until adulthood to decide whether she will have a religion or not. Some parental concerns about this novel involve religion and menstruation. I see nothing wrong with the presentation of these issues in this book for pre-teen or teen readers. It was a delightful story with subject matter that is not discussed in many novels for readers of this age. Rating and Review by Judy T.

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: As a child I was also abused, but noy nearly to this extent. I can relate to the feelings of hopelessness and questioning if it will ever end. He did an excellent job explaining his feelings towards his father and the way he felt abandoned and betrayed by him. The joy he finds in his life now with his son is incredibly inspirational. Unfortunately though, as the book explains many children remain angry and it shows in their lives. It took a long time, but accepting Jesus into my heart completely changed my life and it seems like the same happened with Dave. Rating and Review by Erin

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: Ashley goes to Paris at age 20 and makes mistakes that she regrets for years to come. On her second trip years later, she learns of things she did on the first trip that helped others and saved lives. She is finally able to forgive herself for the wrongs she did on the first trip. Rating and Review by Anna

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: "This book is about an ongoing struggle to survive and overcome many hardships. Sadie, Norman’s mother, was uncertain who Norman’s father was because she had had sex with 5 different men about the time he would have been conceived. She strived to help her son overcome the loss of his one best friend, Jacks, who died from an asthma attack and to help Norman find his father. Norman and Jacks had made a five year plan for a comedy routine for the two of them, but Jacks died before they could carry out the plan. (Keep in mind, Jacks was the funny one and the confident one.) So Sadie set out to do those two things for/with Norman: carry out the five year comedy routine plan and find his father. The story brings to mind the biblical scripture, “Who is my brother?” as many people helped them along the way with no expectation of any type of payment in return. Definitely, a message of hope." Rating and Review by Bendy

RATING: ★★
REVIEW: With two young kids and a busy life, I am totally overwhelmed by my messy house. I read this book hoping that it would shift my perspective on mess and see it in a positive light. I suppose the book did just that. It's an interesting concept but a very dry read. Rating and Review by Chrissie

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: The book takes place in Amsterdam in 1941 which is Nazi-occupied. It is a testament to the courage of humanity in history's darkest days and is based on a remarkable true story. Josef Held, a Mathematics professor, risks his own life to hide and provide for one of his most difficult students who is Jewish. His student Is involved with a non-Jewish Dutch woman which is forbidden. Josef goes over and beyond to do everything in his power to save Michael when he becomes violently ill from typhus. He is determined to give Michael's love for Elke a chance in spite of so many obstacles. Rating and Review by Mary Lee

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: This book is set in the month of April and begins with preparations for an egg hunt. The story quickly turns darker with themes of jealousy, betrayal, and murder. This is the third book in the Chief Inspector Gamache series. He returns to Three Pines when a woman dies during a seance, seemingly frightened to death. While Gamache and his team investigate, someone from within the police department is waging a campaign to discredit and destroy him in retaliation for his actions in taking down corrupt officers. This hardly seems like a hopeful story, but the end is full of hope. Publishers Weekly stated, "Few writers in any genre can match Penny's ability to combine heartbreak and hope in the same scene." Rating and Review by Judy M.

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: It may seem odd that a book about a child in Nazi Germany ends up in the "hopeful" category, but the ending is most satisfying. The author, Ilse, was a German child living in Berlin. One of her grandparents was Jewish, making her a "second degree Mischling." Her two set of grandparents did not get along, but they had one thing in common -- none of them approved of Hitler. The narrative involves what Ilse saw, heard and experienced as a child under Hitler's Germany before and during the war. I did not know that German children in cities where bombing was occurring were sent to the countryside. Unfortunately, many were sent to recently occupied areas like Czechoslovakia where they lived under terrible conditions and of course the locals hated them. Interesting slice of life of non-conforming Germans under Hitler's rule. Rating and Review by Sandy

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: This is the fiction story of the Chippewa band of Native Americans living on the Turtle Mountain Reservation in rural North Dakota. It is based on the amazing life of Erdrick's grandfather Patrick Gourneau, who works as a night watchman and spearheads the 1953/1954 fight against Native dispossession all the way to the federal level in Washington DC. We meet members of Gourneaus's family and friends who live lives of poverty, suffering from poor health, poor schools, lack of employment and decent housing. Erdrich weaves a story of strong characters who endure and persevere towards better lives be it holding there families together, working towards bettering their educations, finding love and keeping their reservation from being abolished by the federal government. This is a sad story of how our federal government has treated Native Americans, and also of the resistance and resilience of the Chippewa tribe. Rating and Review by Judy T.

RATING: ★★★
REVIEW: Education, enlightenment, and experience provide us with the ability to see the bigger picture of life on earth - to me, the key to understanding the natural world and how it fits with the human form. As we open our minds to the reality that other life forms are sentient and have cognitive abilities - sometimes different from our own, sometimes similar – we will lose the hubris that humans are the only intelligent life on the planet and adopt the respect for other beings that is essential to sustaining our world. I thoroughly enjoyed this story, which depicted a personal relationship between one owl and one human over a 19-year period, and which at the same time reinforced much of the scientific research I’d recently read about the “genius of birds.” Rating and Review by Joan

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: It's set in Paris in the 40s when Hitler has occupied the city. A young Jewish librarian and her mother escape to the Free Zone after her father is captured. Eva was hopeful for the future and she connects with a forgery network because they saw her ability to forge papers by her own forgery to get out of the city. There were so many people in this effort to get children safely to Switzerland. Eva is happy getting these papers ready for those who needed to get out. She fell in love with another forger. She had hope to get out and meet up with him. Her mother died protecting her daughter. She got out and found her father but not her lover. Like 60 years later she sees the book they coded the children's real names in. Rating and Review by Mary

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: This science fiction story begins with everyone in the world, over the age of 22, receiving a box on their doorstep that contains a string that indicates how long they will live. At first it is seen as a hoax, but as time goes by people realize that the strings really do correlate with lifespans. Soon the country is divided between the long stringers and the short stringers. The short stringers are kept from adopting children, getting promotions, obtaining loans, long term leases, etc. The story follows the lives of several different people, who come together in the end. This is a thought provoking story. Rating and Review by Michele

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: This was the best book to start off my 2023 Reading Challenge! In the beginning of the book you are introduced to two families, and how friends become family. Tragedy strikes, and you are instantly on your toes. This book walks through how tragedy happens, the healing, and the moving on process. Towards the end of the book you are hit with a VERY unexpected twist. I do feel like the end of the book was rushed, but it was still jaw dropping. I think that certain parts of the middle of the book should have been took out due to dragging things out, and could have gave more space for the ending. The unexpected twist will make you ask yourself questions - like, how wasn't this noticed at the funeral?! This books helps you learn not to judge characters to quickly, because you'll be surprised. Rating and Review by Rikki

RATING:★★★★
REVIEW: Stellarlune is a great 9th edition to the series. It ends with Shannon's classic cliffhanger, as always. If you haven't read the other books in the series I highly recommend it.

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: A beautiful love story of loss and hope. Because of war and a family keeping them apart 22 years, when they finally found each other, World War II was taking over Great Britain. But in the end they got out and returned to their home in USA. Rating and Review by Mary

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: A beautiful love story. After years of heartache,suffering and searching for happiness, Daniel finally realizes that God is what he needed all along. He finds Lenore and his son that he walked away from 15 years before.They forgive him and allow him back in their lives again. Rating and Review by Anna

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: Kate receives a call from her roommate asking her to take her (the roommate's) children to safety... Kate does so, soon to find that her roommate is murdered. She uproots her life to mother and protect the children. Years later the mysterious Joe appears... and while he may be the unknown father of the twins, there is also a flaming romance between him and Kate. Rating and Review by Teresa

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: This book was very emotional; it is the story of abusive relationships, old "friends" and the all too frequent cycle that many individuals find themselves in. It involved triumph, loss and many difficult decisions. Rating and Review by Abigail

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: A story of undying love that due to moral responsibility must be maintained from afar for decades. Rating and Review by Bendy

RATING: ★★★
REVIEW: I expected to enjoy this cozy mystery more. It features a librarian living in an historic Virginia town after leaving her university position due to her embarrassment over a broken love affair. Although she has sworn off romance for a while, she can't help but be attracted to her new neighbor, a handsome dancer and choreographer. The book is a mystery as well as a romance, with a hint of the supernatural. I listened to it as an audio book. The pace was rather slow to me, so it worked well as something to listen to during chores or exercise. I found the plot to be pretty unbelievable, and many of the characters did not feel real to me.Also, the accents used by the reader did not ring true. One thing I liked was the theme of positive body image. Although the main love interest is a well-toned professional dancer, his choreography is inclusive and respective of dancers of different body types. This is the first book in a series, but I will probably not continue the series. Rating and Review by Judy M.

RATING: ★★★
REVIEW: This was a light, short read by authors I've never read before - but written well enough to depict the main character's struggles to prove himself as an artist in 1900s Boston society, as well as his efforts to establish a meaningful life with the woman loves, only to end up in the midst of a world war. I think the book was deliberately short in order to whet the reader's appetite, since the ending leaves much room for a sequel! Rating and Review by Joan

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: One of my all time favorite books that I read in past years. It is the story of a Jewish family, living in France, (parents originally from Poland) whose father is taken in 1942 and sent to a concentration camp. The daughter escapes to a Free Zone in a mountain village with her mother and learns to create false identity documents for Jewish children fleeing to neutral Switzerland. She and another Resistance forger find a way to preserve the real names of the children too young to remember their true identities. They are encoded in the Book of Lost Names. Rating and Review by Mary Lee

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: A thriller that involves murder and danger to Spenser's love, Susan; it is a thriller and Robert knocks it out of the park once again with this novel. Rating and Review by Debra

RATING: ★★★
REVIEW: When Caroline discovers her husband's infidelity, she decided to take the trip to London they were planning to make for their 10th anniversary. Distraught, she takes a mudlarking tour, leading her into the Thames River searching for artifacts. There she finds a small bottle which piques her curiosity. Researching it's history, the story takes the reader 200 years back in history to a woman named Nella who runs an apothecary and a young girl named Eliza, her assistant. The novel weaves back and forth in time as Caroline becomes more involved in finding the secret behind the bottle. When her husband follows her to London, unsuspected things happen leading to surprising twists and ending. Rating and Review by Judy T.

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: I really enjoyed this book. Addie led a fascinating life. Between the curse and the things, she did it was all interesting. She had so many highs and lows and navigated as best she could. I could not decide if I loathed Luc or not. Henry it so well with Addie. I enjoyed their story together. Rating and Review by Erin

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: What a tale! Towles brings to life 1938 Manhatten and high society. The intertwining of characters and relationships, a post depression and pre-WWII era, a strong, scrappy female lead character, and numerous literary references made for a very strong story. Young George Washington's book, Rules of Civility and Decent Behaviour in Company and Conversation, sets a tone for actions and reactions. An excellent book! Rating and Review by Jane

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: I thoroughly enjoyed this one and look forward to the coming series about a young woman whose academic study is the field of faeries. Highly recommend. Rating and Review by Amy

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: Part romance, part adventure, this book will have you ready to pack your bags and move to Provence! Rating and Review by Chrissie

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: I read a May Sarton memoir every year and plan to start re-reading them once I get through them all. This wasn't my favorite of the ones I've read, but I enjoyed it and as always, found much comfort in her reflections on her beautiful life. Rating and Review by Amy

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: This was De Castrique's first novel and it is most enjoyable. Protagonist is a reluctant undertaker in the family business -- and gets shot at a funeral! Great characters, NC setting near Asheville and even involves the Biltmore Estate! An entertaining mystery. I plan to read more of the "Burying Barry" series! Rating and Review by Sandy

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: Bury Your Dead brings together three murders and mysteries in one book. The interweaving of the story lines - the making you wait until the next clue is revealed made this a real page turner. Gamache's coming to grips with two previous cases and being thrust into the middle of another wove together nicely. The history of Quebec City, Samuel de Champlain, and the snowy wintery cold of Canada were educational, enlightening, and visually descriptive. Well done! Rating and Review by Jane

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: "Stephanie Plum is on the trail of Oswald Wednesday, an international computer hacker as brilliant as he is ruthless. With the help of Diesel, Lula and Ranger she not only manages not to get herself killed, but gets her man. Romance, suspense, laughs and mayhem make for the perfect summer read." Rating and Review by Michele

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: I loved it. It 's an average family in Spokane, WA. There's 3 daughters and the middle daughter is her father's favorite. At 18 she sneaks around to see a young against her whole family's dislike of him. She has a full scholarship to college but finds herself pregnant. They run away to get married. He takes her to FL, as far from her family as possible and isolates and abuses her. Once she called home from a neighbors house and was badly beaten. Finally she knows if she doesn't get away he will kill her. She grabs her daughter and escapes through a window. Runs to a shelter for battered women.She goes to court and has the husband put in prison. With the help of the people in the shelters she gets to Seattle. She goes to beauty school and is a hairdresser. During this time both parents have died she couldn't go to see them or go to their funerals, she was still in FL. Five years after she returned to WA she sister gets in touch with her and that's starts the healing process. She's helping at a shelter and gets a Habitat House. She has the hard fought life she wants for herself and daughter. Rating and Review by Mary

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: I love Beverly Lewis! This was a really interesting story as Evan goes against the Amish church and goes to Vietnam. Evan's character goes through a lot and there were some good twists with him. Ellie was the heart and soul of the story. Her character grows in maturity and love throughout. Dawdi was so much fun, his tall tales were really good. I liked the information shared about how consciousness objectors were treated throughout the war. Rating and Review by Erin

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: Another thriller in the Eve Dallas series, a 21stcentury police detective in NYC. Eve travels to Dallas to catch a murderer and pedophile while facing her old fears from childhood while in Dallas. These books are always riveting. Rating and Review by Debra

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: She never lets you down. You will not want to put it down. Rating and Review by Nichole

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: I didn’t know that Louise Penny was going to be one of my favorite authors, but then if you don’t read new authors, how are you going to find out? I think Penny may have been reviewed in one of the past challenges. How wrong I was not to have read her sooner. Armand Gamache is the main character in this series. He is a member of the Sûreté du Québec and lives in the little known and remote village of Three Pines. The book is filled with murder and mystery but the life of the book is the village characters. How could I not read about Ruth an ancient poet who carries around her pet duck, Rosa…Rosa of the obscene quacks? I am going to start the series from book one so I will meet all the village characters and how they evolve. Of course there will be murders to solve, the best of book worlds, murders and characters I adore. Rating and Review by Em

RATING: ★★★
REVIEW: When Laurent Lepage rushes to tell everyone that he’s found a super-big gun with a winged monster on top in the forest of Three Pines, no one takes him seriously. After all, the imaginative young boy is forever inventing such tales. But when Laurent is found dead shortly thereafter, retired Inspector Gamache is drawn into a suspenseful police investigation by virtue of its proximity to his home, with the usual twists and turns found in a Louise Penny mystery. A good read for mystery lovers, though a bit too convoluted for my taste. Rating and Review by Joan

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: After the death of her mother and moving to Alaska, Addie is mistreated by her father and brothers. She meets Isaac and they fall in love. He leaves to go to college, promising to return for her. Life becomes so unbearable, she leaves. Isaac searches for her,but it is many years later before they find each other. Rating and Review by Anna

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: A riveting novel of suspense, an unforgettable love story and a moving and powerful exploration of the secrets we keep in order to be our authentic selves. The book explores what it's like to be transgendered and its effects. Rating and Review by Mary Lee

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: "Mad Honey is a suspenseful story of love and the secrets we keep and the risks we take to become ourselves. The story follows the case of 18-year-old Asher Fields, who is charged with the murder of his girlfriend, Lily Campanello. At first, Olivia McAfee, his mother, is convinced of his innocence, his mother. However, as his trial goes on she is reminded of the similarities between Asher and her abusive ex-husband, Asher’s father. His girlfriend, Lily, is a transgender who was not accepted by her father who went to drastic measures to make her identify with the male gender. Lily’s mother takes her away to get a fresh start after she has the surgery that allows her exterior features agree with her interior self knowledge. Lily and her mother keep this situation a secret as Lily tries to lead the life of a female. She and Asher fall in love and after they had sex the first time, she tells him the truth about herself. Obviously shocked he tells her he needs some time to think. When he had thought it through, he knew he loved her just as she was. He kept trying to get her to respond to his messages, but she was not responding. He finally decided, he was going to her house to set things straight. When he arrives he finds her dead at the foot of the stairs. He calls for help and stays with her until the medics and police arrive. Soon after he is arrested and must face a trial to prove that he did not kill her. The story includes many of Liam’s/Lily’s earlier experiences, thoughts and feelings. Things she would like to never have to share. However, because of her love for Asher, she feels she must.
The novel left me with a better understanding of the different of types of gays, especially transgenders." Rating and Review by Bendy

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: Recommended by my son - this one is about hidden abilities that get unlocked by a brain injury and the haunting forces that dwell on an isolated place in Duma Key...really enjoyable and suspenseful. Rating and Review by Teresa

RATING:★★★★★
REVIEW: This book is the first in an epic series. It's mainly about Kaladin, a young man whose life seems to go wrong at every turn. It pulls you in and keeps you longing for more.

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: I read this book as a young adult and loved it, of course. And now that I've doubled in age, I picked it back up for this reading challenge. On this second reading, I connected with it on a very different level as an adult and perhaps more importantly, as a mother. I'm convinced that Barbara Kingsolver is the greatest writer of today. Her ability to tell a story, and to tell it from multiple perspectives, is unparalleled. I continue to feel this book deeply and emotionally in my core, even after I've finished reading it. Rating and Review by Chrissie

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: I love how he took a different approach to this book. He had two different stories that end up combining into one towards the end. I like how it had a happy ending as well. Rating and Review by Caitlin

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: There was mystery in this book written with two major storylines. I figured out the mystery shortly before it was revealed in the book. While not my favorite N. S. story, it kept me interested and I enjoyed it. If you’re a fan of Nicholas Sparks books, what did you think of this one? Rating and Review by Laurie

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: Great book. Nicholas Sparks always keeps my attention while drawing me into his story. Rating and Review by Misty

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: I read this book in one day because I couldn't put it down. Vanderah's main characters Ellis' and Raven's stories are interwoven well and she has you guessing what they will go through next and when their stories will merge to finish the story. Rating and Review by Michelle

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: It is 1960 and Elizabeth Zott is a chemist working in a lab full of men. She must work twice as hard for half the pay in order to achieve her goals. She meets and falls in love with a fellow chemist, Calvin Evans. Calvin is well known and has been nominated for the Nobel-prize. They are blissfully happy until the day that Calvin is killed in a freak accident. Elizabeth struggles on, but she is not alone. She has her dog, Six-thirty, and her newborn daughter. I enjoyed this book and I think it would make a great movie. Rating and Review by Michele

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: This book is yet another modern take on the Cinderella story. In this case, Cindy, a curvy young woman, has just finished her program at Parson's School of Design (specializing in shoes, of course), but is at loose ends without having located a job. Her stepmother is the producer of a television reality show in which young women vie for the attentions of an eligible bachelor. She and her two stepsisters join the cast. Initially she hopes the publicity will jump start her career in the fashion industry, but to her surprise, she finds herself falling in love, and it seems to be reciprocated. There are many ups and downs along the course to a great career and true love. This is indeed a fairy tale with many unbelievable situations, but it is lighthearted fun and promotes a positive body image. The stepmother and stepsisters are much nicer in this version than in the traditional story. Rating and Review by Judy M.

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: The true story of The Reign of Terror from 1920-1926 where members of the Osage tribe were systematically being murdered and poisoned to obtain monies belonging to tribe members for the oil on their land. The Osage were forced off their land in Kansas and made to buy land in rocky, hilly Oklahoma. Oil was found on this land in 1900 and they became wealthy through mineral rights. Corrupt white men and the federal government declared that some of the Osage were not competent and white guardians took over the management of their monies. Inheritance was the only way this money could be passed on. This led to a good deal of corruption, exploitation, cover ups and eventually murder. For years the townspeople knew the secrets of these murders and who was behind them but did not speak out. Those that did, could be murdered. The ringleader was a total psychopath with no remorse or conscience and finally was brought to justice. Robert DeNiro will be playing the role of this man and stated it was difficult playing such an evil human being. Rating and Review by Mary Lee

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: I don't know what I can write that hasn't already been said about Kingsolver's newest book. Her writing is spot on for rural Appalachia. Her ability to address the key issues in our society of poverty, equal education, drug addiction, abuse, foster care, etc.was told brilliantly. I loved the dialog; I couldn't wait for the story to unfold, and it absolutely was a page turner. I held my breath to find out what would happen next. Great reading! Rating and Review by Jane

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: This book, a loosely based modern day version of Jane Eyre set in Birmingham Alabama, is both gripping and predictably unpredictable. Rating and Review by Chrissie

RATING: ★
REVIEW: "I read this because I was trying to fulfill #23 in the Challenge by reading a graphic novel. After reading it I realized that it isn’t a novel, it is a memoir. I hate graphic books; I hated this one. The memoir is of a Canadian woman who goes to the male-dominated Alberta oil fields to make good money for a couple of years; during that time she is raped twice, and severely sexually harassed daily. The main character is a woman who reminds me of too many women I know who have been raped &/or sexually harassed, including myself. The men in the book remind me of too many perpetrators I saw during my years of being a counselor/advocate for victims of sexual violence." Rating and Review by Nanci

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: It's tells of 5 quilters lives and why they are applying for a job of the Elm Creek Quilter's Camp. So you learn about these 5 people and you also see how their interviews go and who gets hired and why. There are some cute side lines. In the end I was very happy for the quilters. Rating and Review by Mary

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: The author is a journalist who wrote about so many crimes that were never solved that he took it upon himself to track down the killer and turn the information over to the police. With his assistance the police were able to solve many more cold cases. Rating and Review by Elaine

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: Like previous works by Picoult, this book typifies her ability to “flesh out” her characters and, in the context of societal perceptions/judgments, demonstrates that personal demons are not easy to confront and that what we leave behind, what we reveal, and who we tell are difficult decisions that do not always have positive consequences. Her research/knowledge of her characters and the issues they are facing are further enhanced by her collaboration with Jennifer Finney Bolan. Not an easy read due to the subject matter but an enlightening one and, as usual, well worth reading/learning. Rating and Review by Joan

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: Having worked with several autistic students over the years, many of the mannerisms and ways of thinking were spot on. While reading, there were times when I laughed, times when I could identify with the various character’s’ frustrations, and times when I cried. Jacob was a rule follower and he followed the rule, “Take care of your brother;” to the fullest extent. Rating and Review by Bendy

RATING: ★★★
REVIEW: This memoir was written and published by Gisele Gunderman who is a neighbor of my close friend Kate. This 103 page book was divided into chapters of roots, inspiration, blessings, nostalgia, refections, and one-of-a kind love. Each chapter began with a quote and ended with "Happy Things" - people, places, and things that bring her happiness. For the most part, enjoyed reading this memoir and I see why Kate sent me a copy because SHE connected with the author. Both born and raised in Toronto, same age, had close siblings, big extended families, always had pet dogs, travelled, smart, mothers of daughters, active and creative. I could personally relate to some of these memories but not nearly enough to consider this a favorite book. Kate, on the other hand, enjoyed the book far more than I. Rating and Review by Judy T.

RATING:★★★★★
REVIEW: Edgedancer provides some great insight into one of Brandon's lesser mentioned characters. It's a funny and insightful view into Lift's world of awesome.

RATING: ★★
REVIEW: I had high hopes for this novel, since the main character is a professional genealogist. Unfortunately, my hopes were dashed. The writing was maddeningly boring, trying to figure out what the heck was going on was too long in being revealed, the plot was contrived. Shall I go on. That's enough! Rating and Review by Sandy

RATING:★★★★
REVIEW: Obviously a classic and one that I used to read (and watch!) as a kid. Despite the racist descriptions of Native Americans (which I think can actually inspire some important conversations), this is a sweet and simple book about pioneer lives. Rating and Review by Chrissie

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: Lestat continues his story as he joins a human rock band and his actions awaken the ancient queen mother of vampires. This one is good because it is told from multiple perspectives and gives the history of the creation of vampires. Rating and Review by Teresa

RATING:★★★★
REVIEW: William Gibson's "The Peripheral" is a science fiction novel which takes place in near-future America and 70 years beyond that. This is a difficult story to follow for many reasons. The story involves a young woman, Flynne, her brother and friends. When Flynne witnesses a murder they find themselves befriended and also hunted down by the characters living 70+ years later. The Peripherals are AI characters with supernatural powers. They resemble Flynne and her friends and also prominent characters from the 70+ years future dimension. A glossary would be helpful in defining the words associated with these peripherals, transportation modes, weapons, people, places and clothing. Navigating between the two time periods is also a challenge. Who are peripherals and who are not? This is really a book that could be read twice to help lessen this complicated plot. Rating and Review by Judy T.

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: When John and Savannah meet , they immediately fall in love. He is home on leave from.the army and although he has been a little wild, he immediately settles down, looking forward to his future with her. Although, his release is near, after 9/11, he and his unit all re-enlist. Savannah is hurt and turns to a friend, they get married, but in an unexpected way, John turns out to be a life saver for them. Beautiful love story! Rating and Review by Anna

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: It was about scientists who went amok. Rich, powerful, important people backed this terrible project. Rating and Review by Mary

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: The Silent Corner is a suspenseful tale of paranoia. Many characters early on appear to have no connection. There were lots of twists and turns that kept me rethinking conclusions I had previously drawn. Rating and Review by Bendy

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: This was a truly wholesome and easy read. I enjoyed getting to know each of the characters, their backgrounds, and their struggles; after finishing this book I felt a renewed sense of optimism and hope in humanity!

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: True story of Saroo Brierley who was born in an impoverished village in India and at the age of five wanders to a railway yard with his older brother and they become separated. He ends up getting on a train where he travels for thousands of miles. He is lost, does not know where he came from or how to get back, is alone and homeless, trying to survive in Kolkata. He is eventually adopted by an Australian couple and twenty years later is determined to find his family and his roots. it is a story of survival against all odds. Rating and Review by Mary Lee

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: Lee always keeps one in suspense. This book is about a retired army military police major, Jack Reacher, who goes walkabout ending in a small town, Margrave,Ga. He hops off the bus as one of his Blues idols, Blind Blake once lived there. Jack becomes embroiled in murders going on in this town first by becoming arrested. Rating and Review by Debra

RATING: ★★★
REVIEW: It is a slow read until the end when it gets to become a page turner. Rating and Review by Nichole

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: I still have my first copy of this book from Scholastic INC. I remember the worldwide interest in who would be cast for the movie. Rowling made it very clear that only English actors would be. Besides the cast, people couldn’t wait to see how broom flying and Quidditch would look like. As a diehard fan I was among them! Even now when I re-read the series of books, I see the movie characters. As a very, very senior, I still love the movies. Probably one of the best adaptations of books to movies, I watch or read to remember Harry Potter. Rating and Review by Em

RATING: ★★★
REVIEW: Who can forget what happened to New Orleans in 2005 when Hurricane Katrina struck? The author and her family were stuck in a crumbling apartment and later had to escape, walked through water waist-deep, etc. The book does a great job of showing what it was like for the victims and also the ineptitude of the officials who were supposed to be "rescuing" them. Unfortunately, I found the author to be unlikable. Most of the time she is screaming at her husband, while saying how wonderful he is and how much she loves him. Yes, she was instrumental in helping others with food, etc., but dang, I'd hate to make her mad. Rating and Review by Sandy

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: Lina, her mother, and brother definitely have a lot of spunk. Lina's mother was a strong woman and I loved her courage and constant outward optimism. Lina did so much to survive her time in Siberia. I could picture the images that she was drawing. The characters were complex and kept enduring. A great story to read. Rating and Review by Erin

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: Based on the title, I thought the book was about a youngish, white couple and their teenage kids who had just settled into a rental country home on Long Island for a enjoyable family vacation. Then, an older black couple shows up in the middle of the night, claiming to be the owners of the home, anxious and with news of a major shutdown of the New York City power grid. No one can get information about what is going on in the "outside world," and strange things are happening in the natural world around them - deer amassing in the hundreds, pink flamingos in the swimming pool, etc. While the writing style was initially difficult to adjust to, I found the story gripping in how it takes you through the thoughts of each character as they deal with what is assumed to be a national emergency - the uncertainty of their fate, racial/social misconceptions about each other, and how they must adjust their lives/thinking in order to survive. Rating and Review by Joan

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: This was such a great book I was late reading it after all the hype, but I'm so glad I did. What a great story of independence and strength from a single mother in the 1950s. The characters were so beautifully developed so the story just flowed. I can't imagine watching the tv show because I think it may be disappointing after reading the book.

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: As a teenager at the prestigious Bradley School, Ani FaNelli endured a shocking, public humiliation that left her desperate to reinvent herself. Now, with a glamorous job, expensive wardrobe, and handsome blue blood fiancé, she’s this close to living the perfect life she’s worked so hard to achieve. When she agrees to do a documentary on what happened at her high school, her past comes roaring back and she is no longer in control of her life. This story had a few surprises, but I found Ani was not very likable. Rating and Review by Michele

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: "In Five Years is a quick read and fairly entertaining. Danni the main character is a lawyer that has had her life planned out from early on. Her best friend Bella on the other hand is always on the go and ready for anything new and exciting! Things change for Danni when she has a dream/vision of things to be." Rating and Review by Becky

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: Great mystery! Took many twists and turns. Dreadful thing people do out of jealousy and greed. I don't want to give anything away... Rating and Review by Mary

RATING: ★★★
REVIEW: This was a quick and easy read, and is available to borrow from Amazon Prime Reading. The story begins with a grandmother and her granddaughter secretly embarking on a road trip from Boston to Florida. Aggie, the grandmother, want to reconnect with old college friends, and especially wants to resolve some things with a former boyfriend. The trip is eye-opening for both. The story features strong women experiencing romance, beautiful settings, and family relationships. Parts of the story take place at Seashell Cottage and the surrounding area. While the author has used this setting for other books, this is a stand alone story. Rating and Review by Judy M.

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: Two sisters were so very different from each other. The older sister manipulated and abused every one in her path on her way to being rich and powerful, not caring who she destroyed along the way. The younger one was caring, giving and moral willing to give up all she had for the good of others. Good triumphs over evil. Rating and Review by Bendy

RATING: ★★★
REVIEW: Mary Otis delivers an interesting debut novel that explores the relationship complexities between mother and daughters, the desire to escape, along with the longing to connect. It explores generational addiction and how history can repeat itself, artistic ambition and the power of forgiveness. Rating and Review by Mary Lee

RATING: ★★
REVIEW: This book is a compilation of true stories told by 6 women, including author Judy Scheel, who moved to the mountains of Ashe County either to change or expand the direction of their lives. These women include a vocalist and musician, a nurse turned small farm owner, a psychotherapist, a goat farmer, a biochemist who became owner of an heirloom apple orchard, and a photographer who opened a purification lodge. These are short stories written by the women themselves so there is much diversity in their writing styles and substance. A few black and white photographs are included. Rating and Review by Judy T.

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: Laura has only one child, Daniel. When he comes home from college she dreams of spending a lot of time with him. He wants a place of his own and falls in love with the real estate agent who sells him a condo. Laura wants to like Cherry, she really does. But something seems off about her, she is too clingy and tells little white lies. Daniel gets into a boating accident and falls into a coma. After five months Laura tells Cherry Daniel has died so she can spend what little time he has left with him. A few days later he miraculously wakes up and she fails to tell Cherry and lets Daniel believe Cherry broke up with him. Of course, Cherry finds out he's alive and takes her revenge on Laura. This was a fast paced book that kept me interested until the end. Rating and Review by Michele

RATING: ★★★★
REVIEW: A well-written book that examines how grief "deranges the mind" in the context of two personal tragedies for the author - her daughter's sudden hospitalization at Christmas, after a seemingly mild illness that turns becomes life-threatening, and the sudden death of her husband from a massive heart attack just days later. Over the next year, Didion examines - sometimes in a clinical way, sometimes in a personal way - the preconceptions we have about how we are supposed to handle death, grief, and mourning. With her skill as a writer, her choice of words and the nuances of those words, she touches the reader when discussing death and those preconceptions in the context of a man who was husband, father, close friend and colleague for 40 years, and in similar fashion, examines the role of parent and caregiver as her daughter continues to struggle. I really felt Didion's literary power as soon as I read the words, "You sit down to dinner and life as you know it ends." I continued to feel that power as I read her repeated attempts to analyze, to find meaning, to achieve resolution. Rating and Review by Joan

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: Tamsin moves to a new town and learns about a secret club that she wants to join. It's cute and well written. Rating and Review by Chrissie

RATING: ★★★★★
REVIEW: Robin has done so much to hide from who her father is, she does not want people to hound her because of his upcoming execution. This book tells in a fun way what Robin has done and continues to do to stay hidden. When the books are coming it really throughs her into a tailspin. She's trying to help build a project with the kids from school, keep her father a secret, and remember the past with books. It is well written and a lot of fun. Rating and Review by Erin