Book: The Fables of Erkling Wood

 Book: The Fables of Erkling Wood

Author: Juni Ba

Pages: 184 pages

This is my 152nd read for the year

What Amazon says:

Century-spanning epic, exploring the intertwined lives and fates of the denizens of Erlking Wood, the many peoples, critters, and demigods that call it home, and the shodowy figre of the Erlking himself and ancient entity who haunts the woods and is known to strike bargains with any brave enough to dare approach him, offering them their hearts' desire - but at a great cost.

This book was not well written.  It was strange and I couldn't get into it.

Stars: 2 

Book: The Warmth of Other Suns

 Book: The Warmth of Other Suns

Author: Isabel Wilkerson

Pages: 640

This is my 151st read for the year

What Amazon Says:

In this beautifully written masterwork, Pulitzer-Prize winning author Isabel Wilkerson presents a definitive and dramatic account of one of the great untold stories of American history: The Great Migration of 6 million Black citizens who fled the South for the North and West in search of a better life, from WWI to 1970.  Wilkerson tells this interwoven story through the lives of three unforgettable protagonists: Ida Mae Gladney, a sharecropper's wife, who is 1937 fled Mississippi for Chicago; sharp and quick-tempered George Starling, who is 1945 fled Florida for Harlem, and Robert Foster, a surgeon who left Louisiana in 1953 in hopes of making it in California.  Wilkerson brilliantly captures their first treacherous cross-country journeys by car and train and their new lives in colonies in the New World.  

This was an excellent book.  It was captivating from beginining to end.  It is well written, and I love that she followed a few people for may years (into the 2000s).  I learned a lot, and am glad I read it.

Stars: 5

Book: The Secret Book and Scone Society

 Book: The Secret Book and Scone Society

Author: Eller Adams

Pages: 322

This is my 150th read for the year

What Amazon says:

Strangers flock to Miracle Springs hoping the natural hot springs, 5 star cuisine, and renowned spa can cure their ills.  If none of that work, they often find their way to Miracle Books, where, over a fresh-baked "comfort" scone, they exchange their stories with owner Nora Pennington in return for a carefully chosen book.  That's Nora's special talent - prescribing the perfect nove to ease a person's deepest pain.  So when a visiting businessman reaches out for guidance, Nora knows exactly how to help.  But before he can keep their appointment, he's found dead on the train tracks.  Stunned, Nora forms the Secret Book and Scone Society, a group of damaged souls yearning to earn redemption by helping others.  To join, members must divulge their darkest secet - the terrible truth that brought each of them to Miracle Springs in the first place.  Now, determined to uncover the truth behind the businessman's demise, the women meet in Nora's cozy bookstore.  And as they untangle a web of corruption, they also discover their own courage, purpose, and a sisterhood that will carry them through every challenge - proving it's never too late to turn the page and start over.

This was a pretty good book.  I liked the characters, and the cozy feel to the whole story.  Good overall story and well written.  Enjoyed.

Stars: 4

Book: The Spectacular

 Book: The Spectacular

Author: Fiona Davis

Pages: 400

This is my 149th read for the year

What Amazon Say:

NYC 1956: 19 year old Marion Brooks knows she should be happy.  Her high school sweetheart is about to propose and sweet her off to the life everyone has always expected they'd have together:  a quiet house in the suburbs, Marion staying home to raise their future children.  But instead, Marion finds herself feeling trapped.  So when she comes across an opportunity to audittion for the famous Radio City Rockettes - the glamorous preceision - dancing troupe - she jumps at the chance to exchange her predictable future for the dazling life of a performer.  Meanwhile, the city is reeling from a string of bombings orchestrated by a person the press has nicknamed the "Big Apple Bomber", who has been terrorizing the citizens of NY for 16 years by planting bombs in popular, crowded spaces.  With the public in an uproar over the lack of any real leads after a yearslong manhunt, the police turn in desperation to Peter Griggs, a young doctor at a local mental hospital who espouses a radical new technique: psychological profiling.  As both Marion and Peter find themselves unexpectedly pulled in to the police search for the bomber, Marion realizes that as much as she's been training herself to blind in - performing in perfect unison with all the other identical Rockettes - if she hopes to catch the bomber, she'll need to stand out and take a terrifying risk.  In doing so, she may be forced to sacrifice everything she's worked for, as well as the people she loves the most.

This was an okay book.  It is simply written and an easy read.  Didn't really draw me in.   The characters were just okay and the story was fine.

Stars: 3

Book: The Map of Salt and Stars

 Book: The Map of Salt and Stars

Author: Zeyn Joukhadar

Pages: 384

This is the 148th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

This novel begins in the summer of 2011.  Nour has just lost her father to cancer, and her mother moves Nour and her sisters from NYC back to Syria to be closer to their family.  In order to keep her ather's spirit alive as she adjusts to her new home, Nour tells herself their favorite story - the tale of Rawiya, a 12th century girl who disguised herself as a boy in order to apprentice herself to a famious mapmaker.  But the Syria Nour's parents knew is changing, and it isn't long before the war reaches their quiet Homs neighborhood.  When a shell destroys Nour's house and almost takes her life, she and her family are forced to choose:  stay and risk more violence or flee across seven countries of the Middle East and North Africa in search of safety- along the very route Rawiya and her mapmaker took 800 years before in their quest to chart the world.  As Nour's family decides to take the risk, their journey becomes more and more dangerous, until they face a choice that could mean the family will be separated forever.

This was a really good book.  My favorite part was the intertwining of the story of Rawiya and Nour's real life.  The writing is pretty good and I liked most of the characters.  Nour annoyed me at times, but she was probably supposed to since she was a 12 year old character.  The ending was good.

Stars: 4

Book: Cleopatra Cipher

 Book: Celopatra Cipher

Author: LD Goffigan

Pages: 304

This is my 147th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Former FBI profiler turned professor Adrian West is in Rome for academic conference when she learns that her friend and colleague, Doctor Sebastian Rossi, has been abducted.  Her former partner, Nick Harper, believes that his disappearance is linked to stolen artifacts related to one of the most famous queens in history - Cleopatra.  When another of his colleagues is found murdered, and Adrian framed from the crime, it's a race against tie from the streets of Rome and  Cairo to the ancient temples of Egypt.  Adrian must prove her innocence, find Sebastian before it's too late, and stop a shadowy secret society from using the secrets of an ancient queen to cause the loss of countless lives.

This was an interesting book.  I read it for a reading challenge.  IT is an easy quick read with an interesting story.  Good character developement.  Well written.  IT is the first in a series and played out as so.  

Stars: 3

Book: The Lake House

 Book: The Lake House

Author: Kate Morton

Pages: 512

This is my 146th read for the year

What Amazon says:

Living on her family's idyllic lakeside estate in Cornwall, England, Alice Edevane is a bright, inquistitive, and precociously talented 16 year old who loves to write stories.  One midsummer's even, after a beautiful party drawing hundreds of guiests to the estate has ended, the Edevanes discover that their youngest child, 11 month old Theo, has vanished without a trace.  He is never dound, and the family is torn apart, the house abandoned.  Decades later, Alice is living in London, having enjoyed a long successful career as a novelist.  Miles away, Sadie Sparrow, a young detective in the London police force, is staying at her grandfather's house in Cornwall.  While out walking one day, se stumbles upon the old Edevane estate-now crumbling and covered with vines.  Her curiosity is sparked, setting off a series of events that will bring her and Alice together and reveal shocking truths about a past long gone - yet more present than ever. 

This was a pretty good book.  It is a long and twisting tale as the reader tries to figure out the who done it.  It actually took me awhile to figure out who actually did what, and I was on the fence on being happy about it and being annoyed about it.  Sometimes I felt like we were being kept in the dark for no reason, which I do find annoying in books.  Kate Morton is a talented writer, though, and I liked the majority of the characters.  I liked the dual time line stories equally.  I dropped it a start for the ending.  Seemed a bit too convenient, but it wasn't a bad ending.

Stars: 4