Book: Jack Knife

 Book: Jack Knife

Author: Joe Hill

Pages: 45

This is my 210th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Ruined by scandal, Dennis Lange is hoping for a comeback.  Selling the story of a cursed tree could make his future - if it doesn't kill him.  Dennis awakens something evil when he removes a decades-old jackknife from the trunk of a gnarled old sycamore.  Once pinned in place - now thoughtlessly freed - the tree returns to its roots.  An act of vigilante justic took place under its boughs long ago.  But its taste for blood has only grown stronger.

Stars: 4

Book: The Rom Commers

 Book: The Rom Commers

Author: Katherine Center

Pages: 325

This is my 209th read for the year

What Amazon says:

Emma Wheeler desperately longs to be a screenwriter. She's spent her life studying, obsessing over, and writing romantic comedies - good ones!  That win contests!  But she's also been the sole caretaker for her kind-hearted dad, who needs full-time care.  Now, when she gets a chance to re-write a script for famous screenwriter Charlie Yates - The Charlie Yates!  Her personal writing god! - it's a break too big to pass up.  Emma's younger sister steps in for caretaking duties, and Emma moves to LA for 6 weeks for the writing gig of a lifetime.  But what is it they say?  Don't meet your heroes?  Charlie Yates doesn't want to write with anyone - much less "a failed, nobody screenwriter".  Worse, the romantic comedy he's written is so terrible it might actually bring on the apocalypse.  Plus!  He doens't even care about the script - it's just a means to get a different one green-lit.  Oh, and he thinks love is an emotional Ponzi scheme.  But Emma's not going down without a fight.  She will stand up for herself, and for rom-coms, and for love itself.  She will convince him that love stories matter - even if she has to kiss him senseless to do it.  But what if that kiss is accidentally amazing?  What if real life turns out to be so much - more real than fiction?What if the love story they're writing breaks all Emma's rules - and comes true?

Ridiculous story and completely unbelievable.  Seriously - a really famous writer just invites this girl in?  And has a "real life"?  Come on.  Think James Cameron.  IF you read this book - would you think that someone like James Cameron has a life like Charlie Yates?  No.  No he does not.  And I have a family friend who has Meniere's disease and she lives a very full life.  She is independent, travels (even abroad), and does not need to be watched 24/7.  That was the most ridiculous part.

Stars: 2 

Book: For A Limited Time Only

 Book: For A Limited Time Only

Author: Peng Shepherd

Pages: 39

This is my 208th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

A time-traveling salesman searches for the moments that truly matter in this poignant short story.  Russ commutes to work - not acros town but through time.  An ambitious employee stuck in ORacle Marketing Solutions' mundane "near past" division, he longs for the excitement of ancient eras and distant futures.  But Oracle's secretive management has refused every one of his transfer requests, and Russ cannot understand why - until h makes a devastating discovery about his own timeline.

Stars: 4

Book: Christmas Shopaholic

 Book: Christmas Shopaholic

Author: Sophie Kinsella

Pages: 448

This is my 207th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

'Tis the season for change and Becky Brandon is embracing it, returning from the States to live in the charming village of Letherby and working with her best friend, Suze, in the gift shop of Suze's stately home.  Life is good, especially now that Becky takes time every day for mindfulness - even if that only means listening to a meditation tape while hunting down online bargains.  But Becky still adores the traditions of Christmas: Her parents hosting, carols playing on repeat, her mother pretending she made the Christmas pudding, and the neighbors coming round for sherry in thr terrible holiday sweaters.  Things are looking cherrier than ever, until Becky's parents announce they're movingto ultra-trendy Shoreditch - unable to resist the draw of craft beer and smashed avacados - and ask Becky if she'll host this year.  What could possibly go wrong? Becky's sister demands a vegan turkey, her husban insists that he just wants aftershave (again), and little Minnie need a very specific hamper.  Surely Becky can manage all this as well as the surprise appearance of an old boyfriend-turned-rock star and his pushy new girlfriend, whose motives are far from clear.  But as the countdown to Christmas begins and her bighearted plans take an unexpected turn toward disaster, Becky wonders if chaos will ensue, or if she'll manage to bring comfort and joy to Christmas after all.

Stars: 3

Book: The Book of Candlelight

 Book: The Book of Candlelight

Author: Ellery Adams

Pages: 322

This is my 206th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Nora Pennington figures all the wet weather this spring is at least good for business.  The local inns are packed with stranded travelers, and among them Nora finds new customers for her store, Miracle Books.  Since a little rain never hurt anyone, Nora rides her bike over to the flea market one sodden day and buys a bowl of Danny, a Cherokee potter.  But the next day, after Miracle River overflows its banks, and Danny's body is found floating within the churning waters, Nora decides it's time for the Secret, Book, and Scone Society to spring into action.  A cruicial clue may lie within the stone walls of the Inn of Mist and Roses; a diary, over a century old and spattered with candle wax, that leads Nora and her friends through a maze of intrigue - and onto the trail of a murder. 

Stars: 4

Book: All Manner of Thing Shall Be

 Book: All Manner of Thing Shall Be

Author: Olivie Blake

Pages: 46

This is my 205th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

A group of vampirical frenemies come face to face with their immortality in this off-the-beaten-tiemline short story.  What do you get when you throw together a PTA president, a dissipated rake, a poor little match-girl, a colonial nun, and an elderly revolutionary?  No, it's not the start of a joke; it's the cast of undead characters sharing a Victorian mansion in Santa Monica, California.  The motley housemates can usually keep the bickering to a minimum - but when their classing personalities get stuck in a rut, they suffer what could be a terminal case of deja vu.

Stars: 1

Book: A Visit To The Husband Archive

 Book: A Visit to The Husband Archive

Author: Kaliane Bradley

Pages: 33

This is my 204th read for the year

What amazon says:

A woman discovers her hidden potential in this dystopian short story about memory, identity, and imagination.  Nobody likes being on agricultural rotation, and with this heat wave, it's almost more than Ester can take.  She's itching for something she can't put words to - something she has no memory of wanting.  But then, she can't remember much beyond the past couple of years.  She's sent to the husband archive for a cure, but the man she checks out comes with baggage: stacks and stacks of paper he calls "books" What thye teach each other may prove hard to forget.

Stars: 2.5