Book: Seek the Traitor's Son

 Book: Seek the Traitor's Son

Author: Veronica Roth

Pages: 432

This is my 274th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Elegy Ahn did not ask for destiny to find her.  She is happy with her life as a soldier, defending her small country from the Talusar, a powerful nation who worships a deadly Fever.  A fever that blesses half of its victimes with mysterious gifts.  But then she's summoned to hear a prophecy - her, and the most ruthless of Talusar generals, Rava Vidar.  Brought face to face, they learn that one of them will lead their people to victory over the other - but they don't know which.  And at the center of both of their fates: a man.  A man that, Elegy is told, she will fall in love with.  In just one day, Elegy's old life - her job, her purpose, and her future - is over.  She and Fava are destined to colide, with the fate of their nations hanging in the balance. And when they do, only one will be left standing.  Elegy intends to make sure it's her.

Stars: 3 

Book: Killing The Boogeyman

 Book: Killing The Boogeyman

Author: Richard Chizmar

Pages: 336

This is my 273rd read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Notorious serial killer Joshua Gallagher - dubbed "the Boogeyman" by the media - has vanished from prison.  One moment, he was locked inside a maximum-security cell; the next, he was gone, leaving behind on the wall a crude hangman puzzle and 2 chilling words: It's Time.  Now, days later, the world is coming apart again.  Bodies are turning up near writer and Gallagher confidante Richard Chizmar's home, echoing the Boogeyman's signature horrors.  The news frenzy reignites while the police chase shadows - even as Gallagher's twisted true crime fanbase celebrates online, acknowledging that he's something ore than human now.  To everyone else, it's a desperate hunt for answers.  To Chizmar, it's more like destiny closing in.  The evidence, the sightings, the voices in the dark all point to one unthinkable conclusion: the Boogeyman never left.  And very soon, Chizmar must come face-to-face with the thing wearing Gallagher's skin, and learns all too quickly that some nightmares don't return - they evolve.

This was a great conclusion to Chizmar's Boogeyman trilogy.  Nice wrap up.

Stars: 4 

Book: A Founding Mother

 Book: A Founding Mother

Author: Laura Kamoie

Pages: 464

This is my 272nd read for the year

What Amazon Says:

In the heart of revolutionary Boston, Abigail Adams raises her children amid riots, blockades, and the outbreak of war.  While her husband, John Adams, rises from country lawyer to nation-builder, often away for years at a time, Abigail builds her own independence - managing their farm, making lucrative investments, amassing savings, battling plague and loss, and defending their home.  Unafraid to speak her mind, she famously offers fearless political counsel, urging John to "remember the ladies" in the new government.  Through it all, she becomes his most trusted confidante and indispensable ally.  When peace is secured, Abigail steps onto the world stage - exchanging ideas with Thomas Jefferson in the French countryside, navigating court life as the wife of the Minister to Great Britain, and presiding over the parlor politics of the early American republic in New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC.  Even after her husband's presidential administration, she continues battling political foes and working behind the scenes to advance her family, secure independence for the women in her life, and ensure a better life for the next generation of Americans.

Interesting enough.  I would have liked more story, but overall a good read.  The author - Laura Kamoie - is a graduate of Dickinson College where my daughter is, so that made me excited to check it out.  Glad to have it now on my shelf.

Stars: 4 

Book: One of the Girls

 Book: One of the Girls

Author: Lucy Clarke

Pages: 464

This is my 271st read for the year

What Amazon Says:

It was supposed to be the perfect weekend away.  Six very different women travel to a sun-drenched Greek island for a bacherlorette party.  From the shimmering ocean views to the quaint tavernas and whitewashed streets, the vacation feels like the ideal escape.  But dangerous undercurrents run beneath the sunset swims and midnight cocktails - because each of the women is hiding a secret, and soon their masks begin to slip.  Someone is determined to make sure that Lexi's marriage never happens - and that one of the women doesn't leave the island alive.

This was an interesting book.  I read it for a challenge where I needed a book that was a bachelorette trip and this fit.  I listened to it and it made a good audiobook.  I did not like one of the characters at all, but the rest were decent.  It does have a twist I didn't see coming (not the ending - that wasn't a shock at all with women's fiction), which upped it a bit in the star category.  The ending is wrapped up sweetly.

Stars: 4

Book: House of Morgan

 Book: House of Morgan

Author: Ron Chernow

Pages: 832

This is my 270th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

The House of Morgan is a panoramic story of 4 generations in the powerful Morgan family and their secretive firms that would transform the modern financial world.  Tracing the trajectory of JP Morgan's empire from its obscure beginnings in Victorian London to the financial crisis of 1987, acclaimed authero Ron Chernow paints a fascinating portrait of the amily's private saga and the rarefied world of the American and British elite in which they moved - a world that included Charles Lindbergh, Henry Ford, Franklin Roosevelt, Nancy Astor, and Winston Churchill.  A masterpiece of financial history - it was awarded the 1990 National Book Aware.  It is a compelling account of a remarkable institution and the men who ran it.  It is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the money and power behind the major historical events of the last 150 years.

I have been working on this book all month - picking it up here and there as I could.  Listening to it on a long car drive to make a big dent as well.  IT is an enormous read, but not surprising for Ron Chernow.  I have read a lot of his books.  He is a great writer and very well researched.  This one was a bit dry - mostly because I do not care that much about banking.  I read it as part of a reading challenge, and glad I tackeled it.  My husband attends a JP Morgan Healthcare Conference that brings together Healthcare giants and Biotech each year.  JP is still very influential all these years later.

Stars: 4 

Book: W0rldtr33 Vol 4

 Book: W0rldtree Vol 4

Author: James Tynion

Pages: 144

This is my 269th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

In 1999, Gabriel Winter received a message from the future that changed the course of everything, leading him to build plans without plans to stop the darkest possible eventualities from coming to pass.  Now, Ellison and the surviving members of the w0rldtr33 gang must race to prevent ANGEL from restarting the internet - and ending the world as we know it.  All roads lead to San Francisco.  All roads lead to the Undernet.

The latest installment in the w0rldtr33 universe.  This was the shortest of the graphic novels.  i am really enjoying the series.  

Book: W0rldtree Volume 3

 Book: W0rldtree Volume 3

Author: James Tynion

Pages: 152

This is my 268th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

50 years later, the planet is barefly hospitable.  The Undernet has won.  Ellison Lane believes he finally has all thepieces to give humanity another shot at a future.  But a terrible angel stands in his way - an angel with tattoos all over her body, and a decades-long grudge against the w0rldtr33 gang.

I missed reviewing this earlier in the month.  3rd book in the W0rldtr33 installment.  Continuing an interesting dystopian future take on the world.

Stars: 4