Book: Pumpkin Heads

 Book: Pumpkin Heads

Author: Rainbow Rowell

Pages: 224

This is my 224th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Deja and Josiah are seasonal best friends.  Every autumn, all through high school, they've worked together at the best pumpkin patch in the whole wide world.  They say good-bye every Halloween, and they're reunited every September 1.  But this Halloween is different - Josiah and Deja are finally seniors, and this is their last season at the pumpkin patch.  Their last shift together.  Their last good-bye.  Josiah's ready to spend the whole nigh feeling melancholy about it.  Deja isn't ready to let him.  She's got a plan: What if - instead of moping and the usual slinging lima beans down at the Succotash Hut - they went out with a bang?  They could see all the shights!  Taste all the snacks!  And Josiah could finally talk to that cute girl he's been mooning over for 3 years.  What if their last shift was an adventure?

Stars: 4

Book: The Back Bedroom

 Book: The Back Bedroom

Author: Gregg Olsen

Pages: 134

This is my 223rd read for the year

What Amazon Says:

In 1976, in the sealed back bedroom of a home in Washington state, authorities found the decomposing body of 3 year old Davey Weilbacher, beaten to death nearly 2 months prior.  Beyond that bedroom door was self-proclaimed prophet Leon Cunningham, who convinced his sheltered cult of family and friends - including Davey's lost young mother - that the boy was possessed by the Devil.  Exorcism was the only way to save him, leading to a ritualistic campaid of abuse, control, unimaginable violence, and murder.  Gregg Olsen delivers a meticulously researched account of religious manipulation, domestic terror, and one woman's 50 year journey to finally tell the truth about what happened behind closed doors in that modest little yellow ouse in Yakima.

This book was hard to read.  I picked up this book as a free read from Prime and I normally like a good non-fiction book.  But fair warning - this is about serious abuse of a child.  I did finish it, because it is short, but it was a tough read.  The writing is just so-so as well.

Stars: 3

Book: A Discovery of Witches

 Book: A Discovery of Witches

Author: Deborah Harkness

Pages: 579

This is my 222nd read for the year

What Amazon Says:

In this tale of passion and obsession, Diana Bishop, a young scholar and a descendant of witches, discovers a long-lost and enchanted alchemical manuscript, Ashmole 782, deep in Oxford's Bodleian Library.  Its reappearance summons a fantastical underworld, which she navigates with her leading man, vampire geneticist Mattew Clairmont.

Had a hard time getting through this one.  It started out interesting, then became a boring love story and went in 50 directions - none of them good.

Stars: 2 

Book: Scion

 Book: Scion

Author: James Islington

Pages: 240

This is my 221st read of the year

What Amazon Says:

My job, when you think about it, isn't so different from a lot of people's.  The more old-fashioned crowd do still get hung up on the "killing people" part of it, I guess, but that's a them problem: it's been perfectly legal to take out lifers for ages.  Besides, once ultrawealthy morons realised they had a way to live forever - limited resources be damned - there was only ever going to be one genuinely practical deterrent.  So, sure, I hae to deal with a ton of boring planning.  Inconvenient hours.  Some pretty awkward face-to-face interactions.  And like most of us, I'm really only clocking in to try to crawl out from beneath my debts.  But someone's got to do it.  Luckily, my genetic compatibilities make me really, really good at doing it.  Still.  This next job - I don't know.  It's something I haven't had a deal with in years.  Kind of the opposite of my regular duties.  Strange, that it got thrown my way.  I'm sure it'll all go totally fine though.

This was an interesting book.  Islington's Will of the Many book is one of my favorites.  He said he wrote this one for fun and didn't plan on publishing it, and it did feel like a side project.  It is short, and it is deep sci-fi with a humorous undertone that just slightly missed the mark.  It had some snicker worthy minutes, but for me - it just didn't quite work.  I am glad I read it though.

Stars: 3.5 

Book: The Last Chance Library

 Book: The Last Chance Library

Author: Freya Sampson

Pages: 336

This is my 220th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Lonely librarian June Jones has never left the sleepy English village where she grew up.  Shy and reclusive, the 30 year old would rather spend her time buried in books than venture out into the world.  But when her library is threatened with closure, June is forced to emerge from behind the shelves to save the heart of her community and the plaec that holds the dearest meories of her mother.  Joining a bnad of eccentric yet dedicated locals in a campaign to keep the library, June opens herself up to other people for the first time since her mother died.  It just so happens that her old school friend Alex Chen is back in town and willing to lend a helping hand.  The kindhearted lawyer's feelings for her are obvious to everyone but June, who won't believe that anyone could ever care for her in that way.  To save the place and the books that mean so much to her, June must finally make some changes to her life.  For once, she's determined not to go down without a fight.  And maybe, in fighting for her cherised library, June can save herself, too.

Book was just okay.  Dragged a bit.  I did not ever really like the June character.  Predictable

Stars: 2.5 

Book: Birds of Maine

 Book: Birds of Maine

Author: Michael DeForge

Pages: 464

This is my 219th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Long after the demise of humankind, birds roam freely around a new earth complete with fruitful trees, sophisticated fungal networks, and an enviable socialist order.  The universal worm feeds all, there are no weekends, and economics is as fantastical a study as unicorn psychology.  No concept of money or welath plagues the thoughts of these free-minded birds.  Instead, there are angsty teens who form bands to show off their best bird song and other youngesters who yearn to become clothing designers even though clothes are only necessary during war.  (The truly honorable professions for most birds are historian or librarian).  These birds are free to crush on hot pelicans and live their best lives until a crash-landed human from the moon threatens to change evertyhing.  Michael DeForge's post-apocalyptic reality brings together the author's quintessential deadpan humor, surrealist imagination, and undeniable sociopolitical insight. 

Weird

Stars: 3 

Book: The Secrets We Hide

 Book: The Secrets We Hide

Author: Karin Slaughter

Pages: 416

This is my 218th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

The next thrilling mystery in the new North Falls series.  Welcome to North Falls.  A small town with big secrets.  1601 Iris Drive looks like any other house on the quiet, residential street.  But rumors are rampant about the Vickery family, and what goes on behind closed doors.  When gunshots ring out, Sheriff Emmy Clifton and her sister, ex-federal agent Jude Archer, discover a devastating crime scene.   Allison Vickery has been murdered in her own kitchen, and her teenage daughter is bleeding upstairs, left for dead.  Everyone thinks they know what happened.  But secrets are buried everywhere in this small town.  And it's up to Emmy Clifton to uncover the truth.

This was a pretty good book.  I read the first one (We are All Guilty Here), and was glad to see the story continued.  There is great character development and the story flows nicely.  I actually didn't see the twist in this one coming.  I looked on Amazon and saw that next summer the 3rd book in this series will be out, and am looking forward to see how the author wraps it up.

Stars: 4