Book: The Husbands

 Book: The Husbands

Author: Holly Gramazio

Pages: 352

This is my 99th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

When Lauren returns home to her flat in London late one night, she is greeted at the door by her husband, Michael.  There's only one problem - she's not married.  She's never seen this man before in her life.  But according to her friends, her much-improved decor, and the photos on her phone, they've been together for years.  As Lauren tries to puzzle out how she could be married to someone she can't remember meeting, Michale goes to the attic to change a lightbulb and abruptly disappears.  In his place, a new man emerges, and a new, slightly altered life re-forms around her.  Realizing that her attic is creating an infinite supply of husbands, Lauren confronts the questions:  If swapping lives is as easy as changing a lightbulb, how do you know you've taken the right path?  When do you stop trying to do better and start actually living?

That was an interesting enough book.  I picked it up at a used bookstore - drawn in by the blurb on the back.  It starts out strong - as she tries to figure it out.  And holds it together when she meets another person like her.  But then it got a bit tedious, and I did not like the ending at all.  

Stars: 3

Book: Obitchuary

 Book: Obitchuary

Author: Spencer Henry

Pages: 224

This is my 98th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

It's safe to say everyone thinks about death - whether they want to or not.  But have you ever wondered about what sort of keepsakes you can make with your remains, or given any thought to the most scandalous deathbed confessions throughout history?  Well Madison Reyes and Spencer Henry have, and they've spent countless hours scouring the darkest corners of the internet, digging through newspaper archives, devouring documents, and picking the brains of death industry experts to bring you Obitchuary, a darkly funny and deeply poignant exploration of all things death.  The authors guide us through surprisingly colorful history, traditions, and contemporary practices.  They also demystify taboo topics with incredible and hilarious details, including FUNerals, as they call them, cremations and themed funerals, famous body snatchers, and so much more.  This book carefully explores what death says about our humanity and the ways we choose to remember those we've lost.

This was a pretty good book.  I picked it up at a used bookstore because the cover and title were hilarious.  I learned quite a bit about death rituals in the book as well as got to read some pretty humorous stories about several people and the obituaries written about them.  It is a very quick read.  Next I think I will check out their podcast.

Stars: 4 

Book: The Perfect Marriage

 Book: The Perfect Marriage

Author: Jeneva Rose

Pages: 352

This is my 97th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Sarah Morgan is one of the best ciminal defense attorneys in Washington, DC.  With a perfect case record and having made named partner before the age of 35, her life is going exactly as she planned.  However, the same cannot be said for her husband, Adam, a failed author, who's grown to resent his wife's meteoric success as he feels it's come at the expense of their relationship.  For almost 2 years, Adam has kept his affair with Kelly Summers a secret, but everything changes when her boyd is discovered at the couple's lake house and Adam is arrested on suspicion of murder.  Sarah now finds herself facing her most challenging case yet when se vows to defend her husband - a man accused of murdering his mistress.  While Adam is certainly guilty of sleeping with Kelly, the question remains: is he guilty of killing her too?

Terrible.  Hated all the characters from the begininng.

Stars: 2

Book: Eerie Basin

 Book: Eerie Basin

Author: Ivy Pochoda

Pages: 72

This is my 96th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Erin tends bar at the last dive left in gentrified Red Hook, Brooklyn, where old-timers spin tales of the bar's legacy and the waterfront's crime-ridden past.  Her boss, Jimmy, a real estate magnate responsible for much of the neighborhood's shiny transformation, also has a story to share.  Back when he was a struggling beat cop, 2 neglected boys introduced him to an ancietn creature that made Jimmy's dreams come true.  Nightmares too.  Erin doesn't believe a word.  The bar is her life.  But this bar at the end of the world is also home to a deadly stowaway.  And it's looking for a new host.

This was a pretty good short story.  I am still working through all the Amazon Free Reads I have collected over the years, and in the evenings, I can take an hour and burn through some of these short books.  This one had good character development, a good mystery, and a good ending.  I enjoyed it.

Stars: 4

Book: Lovers at the museum

 Book: Lovers At the Museum

Author: Isabel Allende

Pages: 25

This is my 95th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Love, be it wild or tender, often defies logic.  In fact, at times, the only rationale behind the instant connection of two souls is plain magic.  Bibina Aranda, runaway bride, wakes up in the Guggenheim Museum in Bibao still wearing her wedding dress, draped in the loving arms of a naked man whose name she doesn't know.  She and the man with no clothes, Indar Zubieta, attempt to explain to the authorities how they got there.  It's a story of love at first sight and experience beyond compare, one that involves a dreamlike journey through the museum.  But the lover's transcendent night bears no resemblance to the crude one Detective Larramendi attemps to reconstruct.  And no amount of fantastical descriptions can convince the irritated inspector of the truth.  

Stars: 3

Book: Tesla's Attic

 Book: Tesla's Attic

Author: Neal Shusterman

Pages: 272

This is my 94th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

After their home burns down, 14 year old Nick, his younger brother, and their father move into a ramshackle Victorian house they've inherited.  When Nick opens the door to his attic room, he's hit in the head by a toaster.  That's just the beginning of his weird experiences with the old junk stored up there.  After getting rid of the odd antiques in a garage sale, Nick befriends some local kids - Mitch, Caitlin, and Vincent - and they discovered that all of the objects have extraordinary properties.  What's more, Nick figures out that the attic is a strange magnetic vortex, which attracts all sorts of trouble.  It's as if the attic itself has an intelligence - and a purpose.  Ultimately Nick learns that the genius Nikola Tesla places the items-his last inventions - in the attic as part of a larger plan that he mathematically predicted.  Nick and his new friends must retrieve everything that was sold at the garage sale and keep it safe.  But the task is fraught with peril-in addition to the dnagers inherent in Tesla's mysteriou and powerful creations, a secret society of physicists, the Accelerati, is detemined to stop Nick and alter desitny to achieve its own devious ends.  It's a lot for a guy to handle, especially when he'd much rather fly under the radar as the new kid in town.

This was a pretty good book. It is definitley a middle grade book, but I have a lot of Shusterman books on my shelf, so I figured I would try these.  It is the first book of a trilogy.  It is well written with a nice mystery that keeps you guessing through the whole book.  I liked all of the characters, and the story kept a good pace.  I am looking forward to reading the next one.

Stars: 4

Book: The Easy Life in Kamusari

 Book: The Easy Life in Kamusari

Author: Shion Miura

Pages: 205

This is my 93rd read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Yuki Hirano is just out of high school when his parents enroll him, against his will, in a forestry training program in the remote mountain village o Kamusari.  No phone, no internet, no shopping.  Just a small, inviting community where the most common expression is "take it easy".  At first, Yuki is exhausted, fumbles with the tools, asks silly questions, and feels like an outcast.  Kamusari is the last place a city boy from Yokohama wants to spend a year of his life.  But as resistant as he might be, the scent of the cedars and the staggering beauty of the region have a pull.  Yuki learns to fell trees and plant saplings.  He begins to embrace local festivals, he's mesmerized by legends of the mountain, ad he might be falling in love.  In learning to respect the forest on Mt. Kamusari for its majestic qualities and its inexplicable secrets, Yuki starts to appreciate Kamusari's harmony with nature and its ancient traditions. 

This was an okay book.  Kind of boring.  It is very short, and I listened to it, so maybe that was the problem.  It is slow paced, and just about everyday life - not a lot of excitement.  It isn't well translated.

Stars: 3