Book: The Family Across The Street

 Book: The Family Across The Street

Author: Nicole Trope

Pages: 256

This is my 14th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Everybody wants to live on Hogarth Street, the pretty, tree-lined avenue with its white houses.  The new family, the Wests, are a perfect fit.  Katherine and John seem so in love and their gorgeous 5 year old twins race screeching around their beautiful emerald-green lawn.  But today, they won't invite you in when you knock, they brush away offers to babysite and the children haven't been seen.  Every family has secrets, and on the hottest day of the year, the truth is about to come out.  As a tragedy unfolds behind closed doors, the dawn chorus is split by the wall of sirents.  And one by one the families who tried so hard to welcome the Wests begin to realize: Hogarth Street will never be the same again.

This was an okay book.  I had it as a Kindle free read, and I am really trying to get through those more this year.  It had a few surprsies, but not many and I found it overall too wordy.  Large amounts of past lives information that just could have been shortened to move the story along.  It is a fast read - read it in a few hours - so I will give it that.

Stars: 3

Book: William Shakespeare's Star Wars

 Book: William Shakespeare's Star Wars

Author: Ian Doescher

Pages: 176

This is my 13th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Experience the first installment of Star Wars all over again, now with all the drama and prestige of Shakespearean theater.  

This book was read to fulfill a book challenge category of a book without quotation marks.  Those are hard to find!  This was an easy and quick read, and pretty entertaining for what it was.

Stars: 3.5 

Book: A Forbidden Alchemy

 Book: A Forbidden Alchemy

Author: Stacey McEwan

Pages: 480

This is my 12th book for the year

What Amazon Says:

Nina Harrow and Patrick Colson are 12 years old when they are whisked away from the shadows of their disenfranchised mining towns to dazzling Belavere City to discover their magical potential.  Those who pass Belavere's test will become Artisans, wielders of powerful elemental magic destined to fulfill the city's grand ambitions.  For Nina, the Artisan School symbolizes a dream and an escape from her harsh reality, while Patrick yearns to return to his Craftsman family, whose extraordinary physical strength serves the idium mines keeping the city alive.  And then they uncover a devastating truth: Artisans aren't born, they're chosen.  They part ways on very different paths, leaving them to carry the burden of this secret alone.  In the years that follow, a Craftsman revolution ignites, thrusting Nina and Patrick into opposing factions of a brewing war.  Now an elite Artisan with the very rare talent for charming earth, Nina has turned her back on the fight, haunted by the loss of her found family.  But fate intervenes when she is captured by Patrick's rebel group.  Despite the years and conflict that separates them, Patrick hasn't forgotten Nina.  He desperately seeks her help for a mission that could shift the tides against Belavere City.  Reluctantly, she agrees, battling the sparks flying between them.  But when Nina's first love reappears, asking her to betray Patrick for the sake of the Artisans, Nina faces an impossible choice that could alter the fate of their world.

This was a pretty good book.  Stacey's Glacian Trilogy is one of my favorites, so I was hopefuly when I saw she started a new series.  This has some strong points.  I like the magic elements, and the few twists that appeared that I didn't see coming.  But it is just a bit too much YA romance for me - felt there were a lot of skippable parts in that vain.  Just getting too old to really enjoy that anymore - find it more of a distraction from the main story than anything else.  The ending is a cliff hanger for the next book that comes out in July, and I think I will read it just to see where it goes.  The overall story is good enough to find out.

Stars: 4

Book: Live Like a Guide Dog

Book: Live Like A Guide Dog

Author: Michael Hingson

Pages: 288

This is my 11th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Michael Hingson's inspiring true story captivated the world when he and his guide dog Roselle escaped the Twin Towers together on 9/11.  During decades of walking with guide dogs, he had learned a surprising truth that helped save his life that day:  Being afraid can be a positive thing, one that prepares us to deal with any situation that befalls us.  Here he reveals how to get equipped for watever obstacles or challenges you may encounter as you make your way through the world; train yourself to be brave, just like a guide dog's training equips handler and dog to prepare for the unexpected; learn to use your natural fear reactions as a way to focus and concentrate to make better decisions and turn your fear into courage and confidence; apply 11 principles Michael has learned with his guide dogs to overcome the fears that you face every day.

This was a pretty good book.  I read Michael's first book - "Thunder Dog" about his escape from the World Trade Center with his guide dog and have followed him ever since.  He is a terrific public speaker and his story of his decent down the stairs with his dog was one not to miss.  This book goes from his childhood to 2023 and all the guide dogs he had over the years and all the ways they helped him navigate and get through his work day.  I encourage you to read his books and learn how someone who has been blind since birth gets past his fear to not let anything get in his way of living a full life.

Stars: 4

 

Book: Best Offer Wins

 Book: Best Offer Wins

Author: Marisa Kashino

Pages: 288

This is my 10th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

18 months and 11 lost bidding wars into house-hunting in the overheated Washington, CD suburbs, 37 year old publicist Margo Miyake gets a tip about the perfect house, in the perfect neighborhood, slated to come up for sale in one month.  Desperate to escape the cramped apartment she shares with her husband Ian - and in turn, get their marrige, plant to have a baby, and whole life back on track - Margo becomes obsessed with buying the house before it's publicly listed and the masses descend (with unbeatable, all-cash offers in hand).  A little stalking?  Harmless.  A bit of trespassing?  Necessary.  As Margo infiltrates the homeowners lives, her tactics grow increasingly unhinged - but just when she thinks she's won them over, she hits a snag in her plan Undeterred, Margo will prove again and again that there's no boundary she won't cross to seize the dream life she's been chasing.  The most unsettling part?  You'll root for her, even as you gasp in disbelief.  

This book was wild.  It was recommended by a friend so we could talk about it, and I am glad she lent it to me.  I didn't like any of the characters - except the little girl Penny.  They were all awful people.  Amazon said in their review "you'll root for Margo - our main character - even as you gasp in disbelief".  No.  Was I in disbelief?  Heck yes.  But did I root for her?  No way.  She was psycho.  And not likable.  I read this book in a day.  It is well written- I will give it that.  Nice to see with a debut author.  But the characters - WOW.  The author was a journalist for real estate in Washington, and I think I read that she wrote this based on some of the wild stories she heard.  If this was even a tiny bit true - I would never become a realtor.

Stars: 4

Book: Beyond All Reason

 Book: Beyond All Reason

Author: David Smith

Pages: 271

This is my 9th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

The author recounts his marriage to Susan Smith, the reasons for the breakdown of their relationship, and the impact on his life of her murder of their two young children.

This book was not well written, but I am not going to judge it based on that.  This poor man got caught up in a terrible situation with a very unstable partner.  He was no saint.  They had a terrible relationship right from the start.  Were living apart even before their second child was born.  I watched an updated documentary on this whole story a few months ago, and David is with the woman he was with when he and Susan got divorced and Susan is still in jail.  She was denied parole and apparently she has not been the model prisoner.  

Anyway - glad I read it just to learn a little more about a situation I remember well from when it happened, but what a mess this poor family was.  Those poor boys.

Stars. 3

Book: The First Time I Saw Him

 Book: The First Time I Saw Him

Author: Laura Dave

Pages: 288

This is my 8th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

How far would you go for a second chance?  5 years after her husband, Owen, disappeared, Hannah Hall and her stepdaughter, Bailey, have settled into a new life in Southern California.  Together, they've forged a relationship with Bailey's grandather Nicolas and are putting the past behind them.  But when Owen shows up at Hannah's new exhibition, she knows that she and Bailey are in danger again.  Hannah and Bailey are forced to go on the run in a relentless race to keep their past from catching up with them.  As a thrilling drama unfolds, Hannah risks everything to get Bailey to safety - and finds there just might be a way back to Owen and their long-awaited second chance.

This was a pretty good sequel to "The Last Thing He Told Me".  It has been a few years since I read that one - but I did watch the show on Apple TV.  Moves along at a good pace and gives us good insight into how Owen and Hannah got into this position to start with.  Has a good ending, and my guess is there won't be any more books in this series based on how she wrapped it up.

Stars: 4