Book: Natural Selection

 Book: Natural Selection

Author: Elin Hilderbrand

Pages: 55

This is my 3rd read for the year

What Amazon Says:

After a string of bad dates and no prospects, Sophia Othonos has finally hit the jackpot: an actual nice guy.  When he suggests a romantic getaway, she's sure they're about to take the first step toward their future.  A rustic cruise to the Galapagos Islands isn't exactly her idea of a vacation, but Sophia is ready for anything - until her boyfriend has to cancel.  Now she's all alone on a trip that was meant for 2.  Sophia finds herself at a corssroads about who she is, what she wants, and whether her relationship is really everything she thought.  But if she's going to suffer an identity crisis, at least she gets to do it amid the unexpected majesty of nature.  Eight days of wild, unobstructed beauty are enough to make anyone reevaluate their life.  These islands are all about adapting to your surroundings - and change just might be what Sophia needs most of all.

This was another free Amazon Kindle book.  I have not read many Hilderbrand books, but this was a pretty good short read.  I did not see the end coming as much as I should have.  It drags a bit in the middle, but oveall a good story.  Good message about self worth.

Stars: 3

Book: Sublet - A Short Story

 Book: Sublet - A Short Story

Author: Greer Hendricks

Pages: 53

This is my 2nd read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Anne is barely keeping it together.  A frazzled ghostwriter and aspiring novelist, she juggles 9 year old twins and a listless marriage from an overcrowded Manhattan apartment, spreading herself thinner each day.  Just as Anne is about to give up on her dreams, she lands her biggest client yet: Melody Wells.  Melody paints a picture of serenity and empowerment in the lavender haze of her visualization workshops - however, the one thing she can't manifest are the pages her publisher is demanding for her new motivational book.  Enter Anne.  As Melody invites Anne deeper into her magical world, Anne finds herself working impossibly long days and traeling far beyond her comfort zone.  When Melody passes along a lead on a spacious sublet complete with East River views, built-in closets, and 3 bedrooms, Anne can't believe her luck.  Melody seems to know just what her family needs.  But as small, unsettling incidents begin to accumulate, Anne starts to wonder what price she's willing to pay for the good life.

This was an interesting enough short story.  I have a goal this year to work through my large backlog of Amazon free reads/short stories, and this was one of them.  Overall it felt like a complete story even with its few pages, and I was curious enough to keep reading it all at once.  Ending was a bit weak, but overall, a solid read.

Stars: 3 

Book: Of Monsters and Mainframes

 Book: Of Monsters And Mainframes

Author: Barbara Truelove

Pages: 424

This is my 1st read of the new year

What Amazon Says

Demeter just wants to do her job: shuttling humans between Earth and Alpha Centauri.  Unfortunately, her passengers keep dying and not from equipment failures, as her AI medical system, Steward, would have her believe.  These are paranormal murders, and they began when one nasty, ancient vampire decided to board Demeter and kill all her humans.  To keep from getting decommissioned, Demeter must join forces with her own team of monsters: A werewolf.  An engineer built from the dead.  A pharaoh with otherworldly powers.  A vampire with a grudge.  A fleet of cheerful spider drones.  Together, this motley crew will face down the ultimate evil - Dracula.  This book probes what it means to be one of society's monsters - and explores the many types of friendship that makes us human.

I had not heard of this book until I watched a booktok on it.  Then I saw it made the list of best sci-fi on goodreads, so I decided to check it out.  I found it interesting.  I think it started strong, but then I felt it went a bit off the rails near the end.  The plot slows down.  It stops being from Demeter's point of view almost all together, which was a bit of a disappointment.  Overall a fun read about found family, and I am glad I picked it up.

Stars: 3.5

Book: The Rule of Four

 Book: The Rule of Four

Author: Ian Caldwell

Pages: 373

This is my 230th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

It's Easter at Princeton.  Seniors are scramblinb to finish their theses.  And two students, Tom Sullivan, and Paul Harris, are a hair's breadth from solving the mysteries of the Hynerotomachia Poliphili - a renowned test attributed to an Italian nobleman, a work that has baffled scholars since its publication in 1499.  For Tom, their research has been a link to his family's past - and an obstacle to the woman he loves.  For Paul, it has become an obsession, the very reason for living.  But as their deadline looms, research has stalled - until a long-lost diary surfaces with a vital clue.  And when a ellow researcher is murdered just hours later, Tom and Paul realize that they are not the first to glimpse the Hypnerotomachia's secrets.  Suddently the stakes are raised, and as the two friends sift through the codes and riddles at the heart of the text, they are beginning to see the manuscript in a new light - not simply as a story of faith, eroticism and pedantry, but as a bizarre, coded mathematical maze.  And as they come closer and closer to deciphering the final puzzle of a book that has shattered careers, friendships and families, they know that their own lives are in mortal danger.  Because at least one person has been killed for knowing too much.  And they know even more.

Stars: 3.5 

Book: The Life Imposible

 Book: The Life Impossible

Author: Matt Haig

Pages: 336

This is my 229th read this year

What Amazon Says:

When retired math teacher Grace Winters is left a run-down house on a Mediterranean island by a long-lost friend, curiosity gets the better of her.  She arrives in Ibiza with a one-way ticket, no guidebookk and no plan.  Among the rugged hills and golden beaches of the island, Grace searches for answers about her friend's life, and how it ended.  What she uncovers is stranger than she could have dreamed.  But to dive into this impossible truth, Grace must first come to terms with her past.

Stars: 4

Book: Famous Last Words

 Book: Famous Last Words

Author: Gilian McAllister

Pages: 336

This is my 228th read for this year

What Amazon Says:

It is June 21st, the longest day of the year, and new mother Camilla's life is about to change forever.  After months of maternity leave, she will drop her infant daughter off at daycare for the first time and return to her job as a literary agent.  Finally.  But, when she waktes, her husband Luke isn't there, and in his place is a cryptic note.  Then it starts.  Breaking news:  There's a hostage situation developing in London.  The police arrive, and tell her Luke is involved.  But he isn't a hostage.  Her husband - doting father, eternal optimist - is the gunman. What she does next is crucial.  Becasue only she knows what clue lies in the note he left behind.

Stars: 4

Book: Cycle of The Werewolf

 Book: Cycle of the Werewolf

Author: Stephen King

Pages: 150

This is my 227th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Terror began in January - by the light of the full moon.  The first scream came from the snowbound railwayman who felt the werewolf's fangs ripping at his throat.  The next month there was a scream of ecstatic agony from the woman attacked in her cozy bedroom.  Now scenes of unbelievable horrow unfolded each time the full moon shines on the isolated Main town of Tarker's Mills.  No one knows who will be attacked next.  But one this is sure.  When the full moon rises, a paralyzing fear sweeps through Tarker's Mills.  For snarls that sound like human words can be heard whining through the wind.  And all around are the footprints of a monster whose hunger cannot be sated.

Stars: 4