Book: The Brother's Hawthorne

 Book: The Brother's Hawthorne

Author: Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Pages: 490

This is my 168th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Grayson Hawthorne was raised as the heir apparent to his billionaire grandfather, taughter from the cradle to put family first.  Now the great Tobias Hawthorne is dead and his family disinherited, but some lessons linger.  When Grayson's half-sisters find themselves in trouble, he swoops in to do what he does best: take care of the problem - efficiently, effectively, mercilessly.  And without getting bogged down in emotional entanglements.  Jameson Hawthorne is a risk-taker, a sensation-seeker, a player of games.  When his mysterious father appears and asks for a favor, Jameson can't resist the challenge.  Now he must infiltrate London's most exclusive underground gambling club, which caters to the rich, the poweful, and the aristocratic, and win an impossible game of greatest stakes.  Luckily, Jameson Hawthorn lives for impossible.  Drawn into twisted games on opposite sides of the globe, Grayson and Jameson - with the help of their brothers and the girl who inherited their grandfather's fortune - must dig deep to decide who they want to be and what each of them will sacrifice to win.

Stars: 3

Book: This Dog Will Change Your Life

 Book: This Dog Will Change Your Life

Author: Elias Weiss Friedman

Pages: 304

This is my 167th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Elias Friedman became known as The Dogist when he took thousands of photos of dogs and posted them online along with their unique dog stories.  Even before he was The Dogist, though, he was a Dogist - a fervent dog lover, and an evangelist about the relationship between dogs and humans and the joy this bond bring us in the modern world.  Over his decades of studying dogs and their people, Elias has arrived at a deceptively simple realization:  Dogs make people's lives better by making people better.  Dogs improve us.  They save us.  They give our lives greater meaning and fulfillment.  They teach us to become the best versions of ourselves.  They help us understand our own identities, deepend our relationships, and remind us of patience, purpose, and commitment.  We constantly seek those things in our human life, but so many of the answers are already right in front of us, in our dogs.  This book weaves together stories of the many dogs Elias has been lucky enough toknow, both in his personal life and while doing his Dogist work.  Told in a light tone that does not shy away from more serious issues, this book charmingly explores the ways that dogs are not just our family and our friends but also irreplaceable beings capable of generating boundles slove and restoring balance to our lives.  In an increasingly alienating and divisive world, there is one clear remedy: the one with 4 legs that rolls over for belly rubs.  Dogs can change our lives, and this book might just change yours.

This books was really great.  I follow The Dogist on Instagram and he just seems like an all around good human.  His following is enormous.  His love of dogs comes through on his Instagram page and in this book as he weaves his story with his own dog in with the countless he has met over the years. This book was well written and such a joy to read.  Glad I read it.

Stars: 5

Book: Dreamcatcher

 Book: Dreamcather

Author: Stephen King

Pages: 624

This is my 166th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

A dark and sweeping adventure, Dreamcatcher isset in the haunter city of Derry - the site of Stephen King's It and Insomnia.  In it, four young boys stand together and do a brave, good thing, an act that changes them in ways that they hardly understand.  A quarter-century later, as grown men who have gone their separate ways, these friends come together once a year to hunt in the woods of Maine.  This particular year, a stranger stubles into their campsite, and before long, the friends are plunged into the most remarkable adventure of their lives.  They wind up in a life and death struggle, their only hope for survival locked in their shared past - and in the dreamcatcher.

Stars: 4

Book: In The House of my Mother

 Book: In the House of My Mother

Author: Shari Franke

Pages: 320

This is my 165th read for the year

What Amazon says:

Shari Franke's childhood was a constant battle for survival.  Her mother, Ruby Ranke, enforced a severe moral code whil maintaining a facade of a picture-perfect family for their wildly popular YouTube channel 8 Passengers, which documented the day-to-day life of raising six children for a staggering 2.5 million subscribers.  But a darker truth lurked beneath the surface - Ruby's wholesome online persona masked a more tyrannical parenting style than anyone could have imagined.  As the family's YouTube noteriety grew, so too did Ruby's delusions of righteousness.  Fueled by the sadistic influence of relationship coach Jodi Hildebrandt, together they implemented an inhumane and merciless disciplinary regime.  Ruby and Jody were arrested in Utah in 2023 on multiple charges of aggravated child abuse.  On that fateful day, Shari shared a photo online of a police car outside their home.  Her caption had one word: Finally.  For the first time, Shari will reveal the disturbing truth behind 8 Passengers and her family's devastating involvement wiht Jodi Hildebrandt's cultish life coaching program, "ConneXions".  No stone is left unturned as Shari exposes the perils of influencer culture and shares for the first time, her battle for truth and survival in the face of her mother's cruelty.

Stars: 4.5

Book: The End of The World As We Know It

 Book: The End of the World As We Know It

Author: Christopher Golden

Pages: 800

This is my 164th read of the year

What Amazon Says:

Sice its initial publication in 1978, The Stand has been considered Stephen King's seminal masterpiece of apocalypitc fiction, with millions of copies sold and adapted twice for TV.  Although there are other extraordinary works exploring the unraveling of human society, none have been as influential as this iconic novel - generations of writers have been impacted by its dark yet ultimately hopeful vision of the end and new beginning of civilization, and its stunning array of characters.  Now for the first time, Stephen King has fully authorized a return to the harrowing world of The STand through this originla short story anthology as presented by award winning authors.  

The Stand is my favorite King book and one of my favorite books ever.  This is NOT a Stephen King book if people are wondering, though.  This is by many many authors who write horror making up characters within the world of the Stand.  Great idea, but you do realize from reading these short stories that King is the Master of this world.  Not as good as I was hoping.

Stars: 3.5 

Book: Dissecting Death

 Book: Dissecting Death

Author: Frederick Zugibe

Pages: 256

This is my 163rd read for the year

What Amazon Says:

As chief medical examiner of Rockland County, NY, for almost 35 years, Dr. Frederick Zugibe literally wrote the book on the subject - his widely used textbook is considered the definitive text.  OVer the years he has pioneered countless innovations, including the invention of a formula to soften mummified fingers - enabling fingerprinting, and thus identification, of a long-decreased victim.  He has appeared as an expert hundreds of times in the media and in the courtroom - and not once has a jury failed to accept his testimony over opposing expert witnesses.  And now, he has opened the door to the world of forensic pathology in all its gruesome and fascinating mystery.  Dr. Zugibe takes us through the process all good pathologists follow, using eleven of his most challenging cases.  With him, we visit the often grisly - though sometimes shockingly banal - crime scene.  We inspect the body, palpate the wounds, search for clues in the hair and skin.  We emply ultraviolet light, strange measuring devices, optical instruments.  We see how a forensic pathologist determines the hour of death, the type of weapon used, the killer's escape route.  And then we enter the lab, the world of high-tech criminal detection: DNA-testing, fingerprints, gunshot patterns, dental patterns, X-rays.  But not every case ends in a convitoin, and in a closing chapter Dr. Zugibe examines some recent high-profile cases in which blunders led to killers going free, either because the wrong party was brought to trial or because the evidence presented didn't do the trick - including Jon-Benet Ramsey's murder, and, of course, the OJ Simpson trial.

Stars: 4

Book: The Marriage People

 Book: The Marriage People

Author: Alison Espach

Pages: 384

This is my 162nd read for the year

What Amazon Says:

It's a beautiful day in Newport, RI, when Phoebe Stone arrives at the grand Cornwall Inn wearing a green dress and gold heels, not a bag in sight, alone.  She's immediately mistaken by everyone in the lobby for one of the wedding people, but she's actually the only guest at the Cornwall who isn't here for the big event.  Phoebe is here because she's dreamed of coming for years - she hoped to shuck oysters and take sunset sails with her husband, only now she's here without him, at rock bottom, and determined to have one last decadent splurge on herself.  Meanwhile, the bride has accounted for every detail and every possible disaster the weekend might yield except for, well, Phoebe and Phoebe's plan - which makes it that much more surprising when the two women can't stop confiding in each other. 

Stars: 2.5