Book: Eleven Numbers

 Book: Eleven Numbers

Author: Lee Child

Pages: 50

This is the 28th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Nathan Tyler is an unassuming professor at a middling American university with a rather obscure specialty in mathematics - in short, a nobody from nowhere.  So why is the White House calling?  Summoned to Washington, DC, for a top-secret briefing, Nathan discovers that he's the key to a massive foreign intelligence breakthrough.  Reading between the lines of a cryptic series of equations, he could open a door straight into the heart of the Kremlin and change the global balance of power forever.  All he has to do is get to a meeting with the renowned Russian mathematician who created it.  But when Nathan crashes headlong into a dangerous new game, the oddes against him suddently look a lot steeper.

This book was fine.  Believe it or not, I have not read any Lee Child books - my husband has read all of them.  This came up as a free short read on Amazon, so I thought I would give it a go.  The characters were fine and the story moved along just fine.  Have I said the word fine enough in this review yet?  There was a lot of math.  Not particularly exciting.  Not sure this would make me want to try his Reacher stories (which this was not).

Stars: 3 

Book: Bad Date A Short Story

 Book: Bad Date: A Short story

Author: Ellery Lloyd

Pages: 58

This is my 27th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Fay Roper is a divorced single mom and a globally famous actress.  She's also unlucky in love.  Maybe becasue the last thing Fay wants in a man is yet another superfan.  But somehow, every time she ahs a boyfriend who isn't a stalker, he abruptly disappears from her life.  With the help of her best friend and right-hand woman, Poppy, Fay decides to change the game and join an exclusive net dating app uder a false identity.  A subscriber named Oliver takes the bait.  But Oliver likes to play games too.  And only one of them can win.

This book was just okay.  It was a free read from Amazon and is a short story, and I don't think I could get into it well enough in these 58 pages.  The characters were just so so, as was the story.  

Stars: 3 

Book: 84 Charing Cross Road

 Book: 84 Charring Cross Road

Author: Helen Hanff

Pages: 112

This is my 26th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

This funny, poignant, classic love story unfolds through a series of letters between Helene Hanff, a freelance writer living in NYC, and a used-book dealer in London at 84, Charing Cross Road.  Through the years, though never meeting and separated both geographically and culturally, they share a sharming, sentimental friendship based on their common love for books.  Discover the relationship that has touched the hearts of thousands of readers around the world, and was the basis for a film.

This was a great little book.  A read it in a few hours because it is just letters, but what fun.  She was quick witted and generous and the bookshop sweet and caring.  The things she sent them over the years - especially as London struggled after the war (this was written in the late 40s) was remarkable.  All because this became her favorite books shop - 1000s of miles away - and in some way her favorite people.  Good little read.

Stars: 4.5

Book: Under Her Care

 Book: Under Her Care

Author: Lucinda Berry

Pages: 275

This is my 25th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

On a humid summer day in Alabama, a mayor's wife turns up brutally murdered under a railroad bridge.  Standing next to her body is 14 year old Mason Hill, the autistic son of former Miss USA Genevive Hill.  The locals are quick to level their verdict on young Mason: he did it.  The town detective calls in local autism expert Casey Walker to consult on the case.  At first, CAsey tries to keep an open mind.  But the more time she spends with genevieve, the more her unease grows, and she suspects that Genevieve is doing more than just protecting her son.  Casey's misgivings surrounding Genevieve's story only intensify when she meets Savannah, Genevieve's 19 year old daughter.  Savannah, as it turns out, has some disturbing secrets of her own.  But as Casey dives ever deeper into the Hill family dynamic, her search for the truth leads to another shocking murder - one that shatters her understanding of the human condition in ways she never imagined.

This wasn't a good book.  It was one of my monthly free reads from Amazon, and it fit a reading challenge category, so I read it.  I was hoping it would be a good mystery, but it wasn't well written and I didn't like any of the characters.  It started to redeem itself a bit in the middle, but then fell completely apart at the end.  The ending was really terrible - just.....ended.  No resolution.  Skip

Stars: 2 

Book: Dark Tower Book 1 - The Gunslinger

 Book: Gunslinger Book 1

Author: Stephen King

Pages: 288

This is my 24th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Roland of Gilead: The Last Gunslinger.  He is a haunting figure, a loner on a spellbinding journey into good and evil.  In his desolate world, which mirrors our own in frightening ways, Roland tracks The Man in Black, encounters an enticing woman named Alice, and begins a friendship with a boy from NY named Jake.

This was a weird book.  I am determined to read all of Stephen King's book, and I am down to just a few and the Dark Tower series.  It is pretty big, and this book did not give me hope that I am going to be able to finish this series or want to.  I migth try one more book, but this book is dense for 288 pages.  I had a hard time getting into it and was glad when it was over. It wasn't necessarily bad, it was just a hard read and not really my style.  So we shall see.

Stars: 3

Book: Dream School

Book: Dream School

Author: Jeffery Selingo

Pages: 352

This is my 23rd read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Attending college has long been a rite of passage for millions of teens and a bedock of the American dream.  But that well-worn path has lately taken a wrong turn, denying admission even to super-achievers and putting intolerable stress on family finances.  Now, in Dream School Jeffrey Selingo shifts the spotlight from how colleges pick students to how students can better pick colleges.  With est-optional policies and grade inflation leveling the playing field for applicants, getting into prestigious schools has become a kind of lottery.  "Plan A" may work out, but increasingly it isn't- so Selingo urges families to ditch the "Top 25 or bust" mindset and look beyond the usual suspects.  Hidden-gem schools with increidble value and rich opportunities are wiating to be discovered.  Backed by unparalleled research - and an eye-opening survey of more than 3000 parents - Dream School revelas what really matters in a college: strong job prospects after graduation, hands-on learning experiences, and a sense of belonging.  To help students find their perfect match, Selingo highlights 75 accessible and affordable colleges that will satisfy those priorities.  Organized into 3 easy-to-digest sections, Dream School explains why elite college degrees turn out to matter less than you think, why many parents and students are choosing value over prestige, and how to make sure the degree really pays off.  In these pages, Selingo's engaging style and expert insights turn what is often an unnavigable maze into a clear roadmap.

This was a great book.  I have followed Jeff for the last few years as my last two children navigated the college landscape.  My kids graduated last year - the height of a "baby boom" of kids going off to college.  They had so much competition, and being good students, it was wild to navigate the waters with them.  Jeff is grounding.  His first book - "Who gets in and why" brought me down to reality and helped me help the kids make smart decisions about where they wanted to go to school based on more than a name.  And they have ended up at terrific places that fit them well thanks in part of guidance of Jeff and his videos and sessions over the last year.  I knew I needed to read his new book and if you are in the middle of looking for colleges for your kids - this book is for you.  He helps you make sense of the landscape and realy helps you focus on helping your kids find the next step that makes sense for them.  My favorite line in the book was "HOW you go to college matters much more than WHERE you go to college"  No truer words.

Stars: 4.5 

Book: As Long as The Lemon Tree Grows

 Book: As Long As The Lemon Tree Grows

Author: Zoulfa Katouh

Pages: 432

This is my 22nd read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Salama Kassab was a pharmacy student when the cries for freedom broke out in Syria.  She still had her parents and her big brother; she still had her home.  She had a normal teenager's life.  Now Salama volunteers at a hospital in Homs, helping the wounded who flood through the doors daily.  Secretly, though, she is desperate to find a way out of her beloved country before her sister-in-law, Layla, gives birth.  So desperate, that she has manifested a physical embodiment of her fear in the form of her imagined companion, Khawf, who haunts her every move in an effort to keep her safe.  But even with Khawf pressing her to leave, Salama is torn between her loyalty to her country and her conviction to survive.  Salama must contend with bullets and bombs, military assaults, and her shifting sense of morality before she might finally breathe free.  And when she crosses paths with the boy she was supposed to meet one faeful day, she starts to doubt her resolve in leaving home at all.  Soon, Salama must learn to see the events around her for what they truly are - not a war, but a revolution and decide how she too will cry for Syria's freedom.

Stars: 4