Book: The Cabin In The Woods

 Book: The Cabin In The Woods

Author: Sarah Alderson

Pages: 400

This is my 212th read for the year

Amazon Says:

In a cabine in a wood, A woman by the window stood.  Glancing out, she thought she heard.  Footsteps, whistling, somethig stirred.  Hiding here, she fears the night, for what's done in the dark will come to light.

This was a pretty good book.  Better than I expected it to be.  There were a few twists in there I didn't see coming, and that kept the story moving along at a good pace.  I listened to this one, and I consider it a great audiobook.  Characters were developed nicely.  The people that helped Rose when she was in the cabine were some of the best characters.  The ending was okay - I would have liked a bit better.  Writing was overall good.  Glad I read this one and I might try a few of her other books.

Stars: 4  

Book: The Wild Robot

 Book: The Wild Robot

Author: Peter Brown

Pages: 320

This is my 211th book for the year

Amazon says:

Can a robot survive in the wilderness?  When robot Roz opens her eyes for the first time, she discovers that she is all alone on a remote, wild island.  She has no idea how she got there or what her purpose is - but she knows she needs to survive.  After battling a violent storm and escaping a vicious bear attack, she realizes that her only hope for survival is to adapt to her surroundings and learn from the island's unwelcoming animal inhabitants.  As Roz slowly befriends the animals, the island starts to feel like home - until, one day, the robot's mysterious past comes back to haunt her.  

This was a cute book.  We had recently see the movie and it was quite the tear jerker.  I was curious about the books.  This is again a young to middle grade book, and written for that age group.  Writing is still pretty good.  In this case I need to say that the movie was better.  I liked the story of Roz and the Gossling Brightbeak in the movie much better than in the book.  And Roz was much more of a hero in the movie.  Overall - glad I read it.

Stars: 4

Book: Cirque Du Freak - Allies of the Nig

 Book: Cirque Du Freak

Author: Darren Shan

Pages: 196

This is my 210th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Darren Shan, Vampire Prince and Vampaneze killer, faces his worst nightmare yet - school.  But homework is the least of Darren's problems.  Bodies are piling up.  Time is running out.  And the past is catching up with the hunters fast.

Why didn't I start with the first book do you ask?  Well this one fit a challenge, and honestly - because it is a middle grade book - it made little difference.  This book was fine.  It is a quick read with a thin plot as you would imagine for this age group.  It has some twists and turns and a little love story thrown in.  Not much else to say.

Stars: 3

Book: The Baker's Secret

 Book: The Baker's Secret

Author: Stephen Kiernan

Pages: 336

This is my 209th read for the year

Amazon says:

On June 5th, 1944, as dawn rises over a small town on the Normandy coast of France, Emmanuelle is making the bread that has sustained her fellow villagers in the dark days since the Germans invaded her country.  Only 22, Emma learned to bake at the side of a master, Ezra Kuchen, the village baker since before she was born.  Apprenticed to Ezra at 13, Emma watched with shame and anger as her kind mentor was forced to wear the siz-pointed yellow star on his clothing.  She was liekwise powerless to help when they pulled Ezra from his shop at gunpoint, the first of many villagers stolen away and never seen again.  In the years that her sleepy coastal village has suffered under the enemy, Emma has silently, stealthily fought back.  Each day, she receives an extra ration of flour to bake a dozen baguettes for the occupying troops.  And each day, she mixes that pcious flour with ground straw to creat enough dogu for 2 extra loaves - contraband bread she shares with the hungry villagers.  Under the cold, watchful eyes of armed soldiers, she builds a clandestine network of barter and trade that she and the villagers use to thwart their occupiers.  

This book was fine.  I read it for a reading challenge where the main character is a baker.  She is, but this book is more about WWII and Germany's invasion of France.  I was hoping it was going to be more than just another WWII book, but it really wasn't.  The writing was choppy.  And there wasn't a lot of character developement.

Stars: 3

Book: The Comfort Book

 Book: The Comfort Book

Author: Matt Haig

Pages: 272

This is my 208th read for the year

This is a collection that Matt Haig put together for his future self when he was going through a deep depression.  A book on hope, it is a reminder for us all that things are not always as bad as they seem.  This is an easy read - I finished in in an afternoon - with a lot of encouraging antecdotes and short paragraphs to encourage and inspire you.

For me - this book was a good one to read with what is currently going on in our current political climate.  If you are feeling a little out of your depth, worried about what is to come, you should check out this book.  I was glad I read it.  Excellent read.

Stars: 5

Book: The Book of Doors

 Book: The Book of Doors

Author: Gareth Brown

Pages: 416

This is my 207th read for the year

Amazon says: (sorry I am super lazy lately - busy and reading a ton)

Cassie Andrews works in a NYC bookship, shelving books, making coffee for customers, and living an unassuming, ordinary life.  Until the day one of her favorite customers - a lonely yet charming old man - dies right in front of her.  Cassie is devastated.  She always loved his stories, and now she has nothing to remember him by.  Nothingbu the last book he was reading.  The Book of Doors.  Inscribed with enigmatic words and mysterious drawing, it promises CAssie that any door is every door.  You just need to know how to open them.  Then she's approached by a gaunt stranger in a rumpled black suit with a Scottish brogue who calls himself Drummond Fox.  He's a librarian who keeps watch over a unique set of rare volumes.  The tome now in Cassie's possession is not the only book with great power, but it is the one most coveted by those who collect them.  Now Cassie is being hunted by those few who know of the Special Books.  With only her roomate Izzy to confide in, she has to decide if she will help the mysterious and haunted Drummond protect the Book of Doors - and the other books in his secret library's care - from those who will do evil.   Because only Drummon knows where the unique library is and only Cassie's book can get them there.  But there are those willing to kill to obtain those secrets.  And a dark force - in the form of a shadowy, sadistic woman - is at the very top of that list.

Great book.  Well written with good character development.  It is a neat concept - books that all do different magical things for the person who possesses them.  I knocked it a star because I think the evil characters were overdone - just too horrible.  Overall an interesting story full of mystery and fantasy.

Stars: 4

Book: Notes On An Execution

 Book: Notes on An Execution

Author: Danya Kukafka

Pages: 336

This is my 206th read for the year

What Amazon says:

Ansel Packer is scheduled to die in twelve hours.  He knows what he's done, and now awaits execution, the same chilling fate he forced on those girls, years ago.  But Answel doesn't want to die.  He wants to be celebrated, understood.  Through a kaleidoscope of women - a mother, a sister, a homicide detective - we learn the story of Answel's life.  We meet his mother, Lavender, a 17 year old girl pushed to desperation; Hazel, twin sister to Answel's wife, inseparable since birth, forced to watch helplessly as her sister's relationship threatens to devour them all; and finally, Saffy, the detective hot on his trail, who has devoted herself to bringing bad men to justice but struggles to see her own life clearly.  As the clock ticks down, these three women sift through the choices that culminate in tragedy, exploring the rippling fissures that such destruction inevitably leaves in its wake.

This was an okay book.  I enjoyed the timeline and view points of vaious characters  that were all tied to Ansel.  I liked that the focus wasn't solely on the serial killer, but his victims.  The problem was that the characters were just so-so.  And the writing was average.

Stars: 3