Book: The Sign of the Four

 Book: The Sign of the Four

Author: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Pages: 162

This is my 199th read for the year

From Amazon:

When Mary Morstan presents Sherlock Holmes with the mystery of a missing father and a cryptic message sent from an anonymous benefactor, the great detective is propelled into a complex case of treasure, intrigue, and betrayal.  Alonside his trusted friend Dr. John Watson, Holmes embarks on a thrilling chase that takes them from the fog-shrouded streets of London to the bustling docks of the River Thames.  As the mystery deepens, the danger intensifies, leading to a confrontation that will test not only Holmes's brilliance but the very bonds of friendship and trust between the detective and his devoted chronicler.  This second novel in the Sherlock Holmes series is a masterpiece of mystery and adventure that stirs the mind and quickens the pulse.

This was a pretty good book.  I have not read that many Sherlock Holmes books, and I should.  I enjoy them and they are well written.  My favorite part is that he borrowed a dog to help him with the case saying that the dog could out play the police any day.  The story moves along nicely even in this very short book, and it wraps up well.  Glad I read it.

Stars: 4

Book: Balloons Over Broadway

 Book: Balloons Over Broadway

Author: Melissa Sweet

Pages: 40

This is my 198th read for the year

Amazon:

Meet the master puppeteer who invented the first balloons for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.  Melissa Sweet brings to life the inspirational story of the puppeteer who invened the giant balloons floating in the sky during the annual parade celebrating Thanksgving.  

This book was really cute.  I read it for a reading challenge, and I actually learned a lot about how the balloons of the parade came to be in this short book.  It is always fun to learn something knew - even through a children's book.

Stars: 4

Book: When God Became White

 Book: When God Became White

Author: Grace Ji-Sun Kim

Pages: 200

This is my 197th read for the year

Amazon says:

Christianity is rooted in the ancient Near East among people of darker skin.  But over time, European Christians cast Jesus in their own image, with art that imagined a fair-skinned Savior in the style of imperial rulers.  Grace Ji-Sun Kim explores the historical origins and theological implications of how Jesus became white and God became a white male.  The myth of the white male God has had a devastating effect as it enabled Christianity to have a profoundly colonialist posture across the globe.  Kim examines the roots of the distortion, its harmful impact on the world, and shows what it looks like to recover the biblical reality of a nonwhite, nongendered God.  Rediscovering God as Spirit leads us to a more just faither and a better church and world.

This book was excellent.  I had picked this book up at a bookstore in Boston and decided I wanted to check it out.  The author talks about the history of God and Jesus becoming white over the course of time and how that has affected not only her life but other people of color.  She weaves personal memoir among theology and paints a picture of how we got here and where we go from here.  She invisions a church that is inclusive and representative of all people and how we get there.  I can think of a lot of people who should read this book. Glad I found this one. 

Stars: 4.5

Book: Everything is Illuminated

 Book: Everything is Illuminated

Author: Jonathan Safran

Pages: 288

This is my 196th read for the year

Amazon says: (sorry - I am super behind with reviews)

With only a yellowing photograph in hand, a young man - also named Jonathan Safran Foer - sets out to find the woman who might or might not have saved his grandfather from the Nazis.  Accompanied by an old man haunted by memories of the war, an amorous dog named Sammy Davis Junior Junior, and the unforgettable Alex, a young Ukrainian translator who speaks in a sublimely butchered English, Jonathan is led on a quixotic journey over a devastated landscape and into an unexpected past.  As their adventure unfolds, Jonathan imagines the history of his grandfather's village, conjuring a magical fable of startling symmetries that unite generations across time.  As his search moves back in time, the fantastical history moves forward, until reality collides with fiction in a heart-stopping scene of extraordinary power.

I really liked this book.  I have been putting it off on my Gilmore challenge, but finally picked it up on a whim from the library.  It took a bit to get into, and the ending could have been held together a bit better, but overall, I enjoyed the story.  It was amusing and serious, and told a good story.  Glad I tried this one.

Stars: 4

Book: The Extinction Trials

 Book: The Extinction Trials

Author: A.G. Riddle

Pages: 432

This is my 195th book for the year

What Amazon says:

After a mysterious event, six strangers wake up in an underground bunker.  They don't know where they are.  Or how much time has passed.  They soon learn that they're part of an experiment to restart the human race.  What they don't know is that this experiment hides a secret.  And so does the world outside.

This book was fine.  Apparently it is the first book in a triology.  It was slow moving as if it was setting up relationships and characters.  But then a lot of the characters from the beginning die, so I am not sure I would want to continue with the triology.  I didn't love the characters - didn't hate them but didn't really feel connected to any of them.  It was a little dry and a little convoluded.  The twists filled out the plot some.

Stars: 3

Book: Dogland

 Book: Dogland

Author: Tommy Tomlinson

Pages: 256

This is my 194th read for the year

The author takes a deep dive into the land that is dog shows.  Ater watching the Westminster dog show on TV, he wondered what the lives of those dogs and their handlers were like.  Over the course of three years he meets and follows several owners, handlers and dogs and tries to form a picture of what dog shows are about and why people do them.  He does a deep dive into the start of dog lives over 15,000 years ago when wolves forms bonds with humans to what dogs have become today.  He talks to researchers who look at dog/human bonds as they try to find out if dogs truly love us, or we just think they do. 

This was a great book.  It is well written and well researched.  It even has some humor, along with some sadness (get your tissues ready, there is a section of this book where he recounts the loss of his own dog).  He talks to a lot of handlers but follows very closely the handler of a dog named Spiker who is among the best of the best in the dog world.  I learned a lot about different breeds of dogs, research, history, and the Dog Show world and I am glad I read this one.

Stars: 5

Book: After Annie

 Book: After Annie

Author: Anna Quindlen

Pages: 304

This is my 193rd read for the year

When Annie suddenly dies, she leaves behind a husband and 4 young children.  Her family is floundering and trying to figure out how to move on.  Bill, her husband, didn't realize how much he relied on Annie until she was gone.  The eldest, Ally, at 13 feels like she needs to step in and take over some of the adult chores of the house when her father goes into a deep depression at the loss of his wife.  His three sons at 11, 8, and 6 are all grieving in their own ways - the little one hardly understanding what has happened to his mother.  Annie's best friend Anne Marie steps in to try and help since Annie helped her at her lowest.  Over the course of the year this family goes from profound grief to pulling themselves up and trying to figure out how to move on.

This was a decent book.  It took me a little bit to get into - at first feeling like it was just a rambling story.  But then I started to realize that was kind of the purpose.  This is what would probably happen to most of us if we lost a mother or father/wife or husband.  I liked most of the characters - except Bill's mother.  I think the author wrote her especially awful.  It was a bit repetitive, but it did pull together in the end.

Stars: 4