Book: Death To Anyone Who Reads This

 Book: Death To Anyone Who Reads This

Author: Hugh Howey

Pages: 101

This is my 59th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

This is the sequel to The Balloon Hunter.  If you haven't read that yet, do so first.  If you have read it, try not to make the same mistake over and over....like I keep doing.

This was a good follow up to The Balloon Hunter.  Fast read - able to finish in under 1 hour because it is short and just journal entries.  This wasn't as good overall as the Balloon Hunter, but the ending was really good.  Hugh Howey has the ability to really make you think and draw your own conclusions.  Bravo

Stars: 4

Book: The Balloon Hunter

 Book: The Balloon Hunter

Author: Hugh Howey

Pages: 136

This is my 58th read of the year

What Amazon Says:

Shoot anything you don't understand.  That's been my motto, and it's kept me alive.  So when I saw something drifting about the fog, I lined it up in my sights and tookit out.  Only realized after that it was a balloon.  With a note attached.  Rita.  Who are you?  Where are you?  Hang tight. I'm coming.

This was a great novella.  It is written all in postcards, so I finished it in less than an hour.  I really like Hugh Howey (he is the author of the Silo series), so was exctied to find this book.  It is a clever and face paced dystopian and the ending still has been realing a bit.  Tried to even do a deep dive after I finished reading to see what other people thought.  There is a sequel, so of course I read that too.

Stars: 4.5

Book: The Test

 Book: The Test

Author: Sylvain Neuvel

Pages: 112

This is my 57th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Britain, the not-too-distant future.  Idir is sitting the British Citizenship Test.  He wants his family to belong.  25 questions to determine their fate.  25 chances to impress.  When the test takes an unexpected and tragic turn, Idir is handed the power of life and death.  How do you value a life when all you have is multiple choice?

This was an interesting novella.  I listened to it and it was under 2 hours to complete it.  It was a good book to listen to because it is a fast pace hostage situation book with a twist.  About half way through is when the twist is revealed, and it continues to be interesting until the end to see where it ends up.  Glad I found this one.

Stars: 4

Book: Edge of Collapse

 Book: Edge of Collapse

Author: Kyla Stone

Pages: 318

This is my 56th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

No electriciy.  No cars or phones.  And no way to call for help.  The country is plunged into instant chaos. But for Hannah Sheridan, it's the best day of her life.  For the last 5 years, she's been the captive of a sadistic psychopath - until the electromagnetic pulse releases the lock of her prison.  Battered but not broken, she emergest from her underground cell into a hostile winter wilderness with nothing but the clothes on her back and the determination to survive.  Reclusive Spec Ops soldier Liam Coleman is headed nowhere fast.  He believed he was prepared for any disaster until the EMP took everything he cared about in a matter of seconds.  200 frozen, perilous miles stand beteween them nd their destiation in rual Michigan.  But the killing cold and desperate survivors aren't the only threats, for Hannah's captor isn't about to let her go.  When the country goes dark, ordinary people find themselves facing the end of the world as they know it.  With society collapsing before their eyes, they'll have to risk everything to protect their home and the people they love.  

This was a great book.  I got it free from Amazon a year or two ago, and have no picked it up.  Glad I finally did.  It is well written, and just scary enough that I almost wanted to flip through to not subject myself to what was coming.  It is a fast read, and is engaging from beginning to end.  I liked both Liam and Hannah - they are easy to root for.  She is smart and not a damsel in distress during any part of this book which was refreshing.  Each chapter is divided into Hannah, Liam, and the captor.  I found out that this is quite the book series, and a lot of positive reviews for the whole thing, so I will continue reading to see where it is going.  Ends on a cliff hanger.

Stars: 5

Book: The Personal Librarian

 Book: The Personal Librarian

Author: Marie Benedict

Pages: 368

This is my 55th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

In her 20s, Belle de Costa Greene is hired by JP Morgan to curate a collection of rare manuscripts, books, and artwork for his newly built Pierpont Morgan Library.  Belle becomes a fixture in NYC society and one of the most powerful people in the art and book world, known for her impeccable taste and shrewd negotiating for critical works as she helps create a world-class collection.  But Belle has a secret, one she must protect at all costs.  She was born not Belle da Costa Greene but Belle MArion Greener.  She is the daugher or Richard Greener, the first Black graduate of Harvard and a well-known advocate for equaltiy.  Belle's complexion isn't dark becasue of her alleged Portuguese heritage that lets her pass as white - her complexion is dark becasue she is African American.  This book tells the story of an extraordinary woman, famous for her intellect, style, and wit, and shares the lengths she must go to - for the protection of her family and her legacy - to perserve her carefully crafted white identity in the racist world in which she lives.

This book was pretty good.  It is a historical fiction based on real people about a library.  Drew me right in.  I loved learning more about JP Morgan and his family and how they built their library over the years, but the star of this story is Belle de Costa Greene who was a brilliant librarian and art historian who made the collection what it was.  I read about her after I finished this book, and while the book took some liberties with the details, a lot of it was spot on.  What I did not like about this book is the amount of time the author spent on a romantic relationship between Belle and Bernard Berenson.  In my opionion, the amount of time spent on this affiar (Bernard was married) took away from what Belle actually did for the library and her true legacy.  It soured me on her, and it shouldn't have.  I wish the author would have brought it up - because it did happen and it was a long affair - but sprinkled it among the true reason Belle was known.

Stars: 4

Book: Cleopatra's Dagger

 Book: Cleopatra's Dagger

Author: Carole Lawerence

Pages: 364

This is my 54th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

New York, 1880.  Elizabeth van den Broek is the only female reporter at the Herald, the city's most popular newspaper.  Then she and her behemian friend Carlotta Ackerman find a woman's body wrapped like a mummy in a freshly dug hol in Central Park - the intended site of an obelisk called Cleopatra's Needle.  The Macabre discovery takes Elizabeth away from the society pages to follow an investigation into NYC's darkest shadows.  When more bodies turn up, each tied to Egyptian lore, Elizabeth is onto a headline-making scoop more sinister than she could have imagined.  Her reporting has readers spellbound, and each new clue implicates NY's richest and most powerful citizens.  And a serial killer is watching every headline.  Now a madman with an indecipherable motive is coming after Elizabeth and everyone she loves.   She wants a good story?  She may have to die to get it.

This book was fine.  I got it free with Kindle First Reads, and I am desperately trying to make my way through all those books in my library.  There was too much going on in this plot, and some of the main characters reactions to each other seemed overdone.  It started out strong and I was interested to see where it was going, but it quickly fell apart.  They did wrap up the ending fine, but I would not recommend this one as a good mystery.

Stars: 2.5

Book: Lady Chatterly's Lover

 Book: Lady Chatterly's Lover

Author: DH Lawerence

Pages: 354

This is my 53rd read for the year

What Amazon Says:

This book explores the intesne affair between the sexually frustrated Connie- whose husaband Clifford, is paralysed from the waist down - and Oliver Mellors, the family gamekeeper.  First published in 1928, the novel challenged the social and sexual taboos of its time and was immediately banned as obscene.  

I read this book for the Rory Gilmore reading challenge.

Stars: 3