Book: The Women of Arlington Hall

 Book: The Women of Arlington Hall

Author: Jane Healey

Pages: 335

This is my 48th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

1947: Adventurous Radcliffe graduate Catherine Kileen cancels her wedding and upends a future that no longer suits her.  At the behest of her professor and hungry for a challenge, Cat arrives in Virginia to work on a confidential military project.  A student in cryptoanalysis, Cat is already ahead of the game - to assist in rooting out Soviet spices who have infiltrated the US.  Joining the government girls of Arlington Hall, Cat gains the respect of her superiors and the friendship of her peers.  Then, on a night out in DC, Cat runs into Jonathan Dardis, her arrogant and privileged Harvard rival and newly minted agent for the FBI.  What Cat and Jonathan share is a competitive drive and an attraction that's becoming just as spirited.  They're also united in the same critical goal for America.  Together, they're diving deep into the shads of espionage.  The stakes of the codebreaking operation grow ever higher, and Cat's relationship with Jonathn opens her heart.  Amid dangerous intigue and grave secrecy, Cat is ready for every risk - no matter how personal the stakes get 

This book was fine.  I wanted to like it more than I did.  I really liked the parts of the book where the Arlington Hall goverment girls worked closely on an espionage case.  Reading the author's note she based a lot of her characters on real people and some on actual people and their actual work.  Where the book lost me was two places.  One - I didn't find it overly well written.  And 2 - this became much more of a relationship/love story book than a work of the Government Girls.  More time was spent on this book with their activities outside of work than in, so it wasn't what I was hoping for.

Stars: 3

Book: Waiting for Godot

 Book: Waiting for Godot

Author: Samuel Beckett

Pages: 128

This is the 47th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

The story revolves around 2 seemingly homeless men waiting for someone - or something - named Godot.   Vladimir and Estragon wait near a tree, inhabiting a drama spun of theirown consciousness.  The result is a comical wordplay of poetry, dreamscapes, and nonsense, which has been interpreted as mankind's inexhausitble search for meaning.  Beckett's language pioneered an expressionistic minimalism that captured the existential post-World War II Europe.  His play remians one of the most magical and beautiful allegories of our time.

This was better than I expected.  I read it for the Rory Gilmore challenge, and really didn't know much about it except that Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves recently performed it on Broadway.  I listened to it, and it was a good way to absorb this little book.  Quick listen with less than 2 hours of ime and a fun yet tragic story.  Glad I read it.

Stars: 4

Book: The Ferryman and his Wife

 Book: The Ferryman and His Wife

Author: Frode Grytten

Pages: 176

This is my 46th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Nils Vik wakes up on November the 18th and knows it will be the day he dies.  He follows his morning routine as voices from his past echo in his mind, and looks around the empty house one last time, before stepping onto his beloved boat.  His dog, dead these many years, leaps aboard with him, and then the other dead begin to emerge - from the woods along the fjord, from eah of the ferry stops along the route, from his logbook full of memories and quotations and jotted-down notes about the weather conditions.  The people from the past accompany him now, prodding him, showing him what he might have missed before, as he waits for his Marta, his late, remarkable wife, to finally join him on the boat again.  This is a novel about what we take with us - those moments that might seem insignificant as they happen but prove to be the most meaningful, in the end.

This was a really good little book.  I had seen it recommended for a reading challenge and decided to give it a try and I am glad I did.  Very well written with a great message about who and what we will remember when our life is near its end.  It is a quick read, and this version was well translated.  Check it out.

Stars: 4.5

Book: Snow In Love

 Book: Snow In Love

Author: Aimee Friedman

Pages: 222

This is my 45th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

What's better than one delicioiusly cozy, swoon-worthy holiday story?  4 of them, from some of today's bestselling authors.  From Kasie West, a snowy road trip takes an unexpected detour when secrets and cruses are reveals.  From Amiee Friedman, a Hanukkah miracle may just happen when a Jewish girl working as a department store elf finds love.  From Melissa De La Cruz, Christmas Eve gets a plot twist when a high school couple exchange surprising presents.  From Nic Stone, a scavenger hunt amid the holiday crowds at an airport turns totally romantic.

For people who read my reviews, you will find that I read some off the wall stuff to fill challenge categories on book challenges I am working on for the year with various people.  Sometimes I find some really good books that I would have not read otherwise.  Othertimes....I find these kind of books.  I needed a book with a fireplace that also took place in winter.  So - here we are.  The first story was actually pretty good.  Then they went downhill and the last one was remarkably bad.  Ah well.

Stars: 2.5

Book: An Elderly Lady Is Up To No Good

 Book: An Elderly Lady Is Up To No Good

Author: Helene Tursten

Pages: 184

This is my 44th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Maud is an irascible 88 year old Swedish woman with no family, no friends, and no qualsm about a little murder.  Ever since her dralig father's untimely death when she was only eighteen, Maud has lived in the family's spacious apartment in downtown Gothenburg rent-free, thanks to a minor clause in a hastily negotiated contract.  That has how maud learned that good things can come from tragedy.  Now in her late 80s, Maud contents herself with traveling the worlds and surfing the net from the comfort of her father's ancient armchair.  It's a solitary existence, and she likes it that way.  Over the course of her adventures - or misadventures - this little bold lady will handle a crisis with a local celebrity who has her eyes on Maud's apartment, foil the engagement of her long-ago lover, and dispose of some pesky neighbors.  But when the local authorities are called to investigate a dead body found in Maud's apartment, will Maud finally becoem a suspect?

This was an interesting book.  I found it when looking for a book for a reading challenge.  This one was very short - and I finished it within a few hours.  It is a wild story.  Fun read with an 88 year old woman who has the whole town fooled with her "poor little old me" story.  Meanwhile, she is quite the killer.  Glad I found this one.

Stars: 4 

Book: Black Panther Vol: 1 A Nation Under Our Feet

 Book: Black Panther Vol 1: A Nation Under Our Feet

Author: Ta-Nehisi Coates

Pages: 132

This is my 43rd read for the year

What Amazon Says:

A new era begins for the Black Panther.  This graphic novel confronts T'Challa with a dramatic upheaval in Wakanda that will make leading the African nation toughter than ever before.  When a superhuman terroist group calling itself The People sparks a violent uprising, the land famed for its incredible technology and proud warrior traditions will be thrown into turmoil.  As suicide bombers terrorize the population, T'Challa struggles to unite his citizens, and a familiar villain steps out of the shadows.  If Wakanda is to survive, it must adapt- but can its monarch, one in a long line of Black Panthers, survive the necessary change?  Heavy lies the head that wears the cowl.

I read this to fullfill a reading challenge category, but I enjoyed it.  Big Marvel fan - have seen all the Black Panther movies.  I know this is a newer series for Black Panther, but it was well written and a quick read.

Stars: 4

Book: Dungeon Crawler Carl Book 2

 Book: Dungeon Crawler Carl - Carl's Doomsday Scenario

Author: Matt Dinniman

Pages: 384

This is my 42nd read for the year

What Amazon Says:

The aliens have come, and they've transformed Earth into a multilevel, video game - like dungeon.  It's the newest season of the galaxy's most watched game show, Dungeon Crawler World.  Now on the 3rd floor, Carl and Donut have to fight harder than ever.  They've already proven that a Coast Guard vet and once-and-forever feline royalty are an almost unstoppable team.  Their ratings are off the charts.  Viewers can't get enough.  But the dungeon gets more dangerous each day, and now there's a whole new problem to deal with: Quests.  They call it the Over City.  A sprawling, once-thriving metropolis devastated by a mysterious calamity.  But these streets are far from abandoned.  An undead circus trawls the ruins.  Murdered women rain from the sky.  An ancient spell is finally ready to reveal its dark purpose.  Can Carl and Donut solve the mystery in time?  And can Carl finally find some pants?

This was another great installment of the Dungeon Crawler series.  As always - to those who want to get into this series and like audiobooks - this is a fantastic listen.  The voices and characters are brought alive with the readers, and it has made it all that must more enjoyable to delve into this world.  However - my husband is reading them and they are quickly becoming a favorite series.  This book is well written, and the story line and characters are really wonderful.  There is good world building, and the story moves along and a good clip.  If you have not tried this series yet, and like sci-fi/fantasy - don't miss this.

Stars: 5