Book: Atmosphere

 Book: Atmosphere

Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid

Pages: 368

This is my 185th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Joan Goodwin has been obsessed with the stars for as long as she can remember.  Thoughtful and reserved, Joan is content with her life as a professor of physics and astronomy at Rice University and as aunt to her precocious niece, Frances.  That is, until she comes across an advertisement seeking the first women scientists to join NASA's space shuttle program.  Suddenly, Joan burns to be one of the few people to go to space.  Selected from a pool of thousands of applicatns in the summer of 1980, Joan begins training at Houston's Johnson Space Center, alongside an exceptional group of fellow candidates: Top Gun pilot Hank Redmond and scientist John Griffin, ho are kind and easy going even when the stakes are highest; mission specialist Lydia Danes, who has worked too hard to play nice; warmhearted Donna Fitzgerald, who is navigating her own secrets; and Vanessa Ford, the magnetic and mysterious aeronautical engeinner, who can fix any engine and fly any plane.  As the new astronauts become unlikely friends and prepare for their first fights, Joan finds a passion and a love she never imagined.  In this new light, Joan begins to question everyting she thinks she knows about her place in the observable universe.  Then, in December of 1984, on mission STS-LR9, it all changes in an instant.  

This book was okay.  I liked it overall, but honestly wish it would have focused more on the astronauts, and getting into space.  This was almost all love story and family story.  Which is fine, but that is not why I picked it up.  Not enough about women astronauts, and the general mission to make this worth reading in my opinion.

Stars: 3

Book: Diavola

 Book: Diavola

Author: Jennifer Thorne

Pages: 304

This is my 184th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Anna has 2 rules for the annual Pace family destination vacations: Tread lightly and survive.  It isn't easy when she's the only one in the family who doesn't quite fit in.  Her twin brother, Benny, goes with the flow so much he's practically dissolved, and her older sister, Nicole, is so used to everyone - including her blandly docile husband and 2 kids - falling in line that Anna often ends up in trouble for simply asking a question.  Mom seizes every opportunity to question her life choices, and Dad, when not reminding everyone who paid for this vacation, just wants some peace and quiet.  The gorgous, remote villa in tiny Monteperso seems like a perfect place to endure so much family togetherness, until things start going off the rails - the strange noises at night, the unsettling warnings from the local villagers, and the dark violetn past of the villa itself.

Could not get into this book.  Hated all the characters.

Stars: 2

Book: The Last Song of Penelope

 Book: The Last Song of Penelope

Author: Claire North

Pages: 416

This is my 183rd read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Many years ago, Odysseus sailed to war and never returned.  For 20 years his wife Penelope and the women of Ithaca have guarded the isle against suitors and rival kings.  But peace cannot be kept forever, and the balance of power is about to break.  A beggar has arrived at the Palace.  Salt-crusted and ocean-battered, he is scorned by the suitors - but Penelope recongises in hi something terrible: her husband, Odysseus, returned at last.  Yet this Odysseus is no hero.  By returning to the island is disguise, he is not merely plotting his revenge against the suitors - vengeance that will spark a civil war - but he's testing the loyalty of his queen.  Has she been faithful to him all these years?  And how much blood is Odyssus willing to shed to be sure?  The song of Penelope is ending, and the song of Odysseus must ring through Ithaca's halls. But first, Penelop must use all her cunning to win a war for the fate of the island and keep her familyalive, whatever the cost.

This is the last book in the Song of Penelope series, and it did not disappoint.  I am so excited to see the upcoming Odyssey movie to see all of this played out.  While these books are told from the women's point of view, I am anxious to see a lot of these great characters on the screen.   This book was well written, and the women powerful througout.  I am glad I found this series.

Stars: 4.5

Book: Supergirl Woman of Tomorrow

 Book: Supergirl Woman of Tomorrow    

Author: Tom King

Pages: 216

This is my 182nd read for the year

What Amazon Says: 

Kara Zor-El has seen some epic adventures over the years, but she now finds her life without meaning or purpose.  Here she is, a young woman who saw her planet destroyed and was sent to Earth to protet a baby cousin who ended up not needing her.  What was it all for?  Wherever she goes, people only see her through the lens of Superman's fame.  Just when Supergirl things she's had enough, everything changes.  An Alien girl seeks her out for a vicious mission.  Her world has been destroyed, and the bad guys responsible are still out there.  She wants revenge, and if Supergirl doesn't help her, she'll do it herself, whever the cost.  Now a Kryptonian, a dog, and an angry, heartbroken child head out into space on a journey that will shake them to their very core.

This was a pretty good graphic novel.  My husband bought it for me because it is what the recent Supergirl movie was based on.  I did see the movie first, and it short of follows it, but the book has a lot more detail (of course).

Stars: 4 

Book: The Masterpiece

 Book: The Masterpiece

Author: Fiona Davis

Pages: 384

This is my 181st read for the year

What Amazon Says:

For most New Yorkers, Grand Central Terminal is a crown jewel, a masterpiece of design.  But for Clara Darden and Virginia Clay, it represents something quite different.  For Clara, the terminal is the stepping stone to her future.  It is 1928, and Clara is teaching at the lauded Grand Central Scool of Art.  Though not even the prestige of the school can override the public's disdain for a "woman artist", fiery Clara is single-minded in her quest to achieve every creative success - even while juggling the affections of 2 very different men.  But she and her boheian friends have no idea that they'll soon be blindsided by the looing Great Depression - and that even poverty and hunger will do little to prepare Clara for the greater tragedy yet to come.  By 1974, the terminal has declined almost as sharply as Virginia Clay's life.  Dilapidated and dnagerous, Grand Central is at the center of a fierce lawsuit: Is the once-grand building a landmark to be preserved, or a cancer to be demolished?  For Virginia, it is simply her last resport.  Recently divorced, she has just accepted a job in the information booth in order to support herself and her college-age daughter, Ruby.  But when Virginia stumbles upon an abandoned art school within the terminal and discovers a striking watercolor, her eyes are opened to the elegances beneath the decay.  She embarks on a quest to find the artist of the unsigned masterpiece - an impassioned chase the draws Virginia not only into the battle to save Grand Central but deep into the mystery of Clara Darden, the famed 1920s illustrato who disappeared from history in 1931.

This was a really good book.  I do like Fiona Davis' historical fiction books.  I enjoyed both timelines in the book - and loved when they finally came together.  Good character development and like how she weaved in the truth of Grand Central station with her fictitious characters.  

Stars: 4.5

Book: A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor

 Book: A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor

Author: Hank Green

Pages: 480

This is my 180th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

The Carls disappeared the same way they appeared, in an instant.  While the robots were on Earth, they caused confusion and destriction with only their presence.  Part of their maelstrom was the sudden viral fame and untimely death of April May: a young woman who stumbled into Carl's parth, giving them their name, becoming their advocate, and putting herself in the middle of an avalance of conspiracy theories.  Months later, April's friends are trying to find their footing in a post-Carl world.  Andy has picked up April's mantle of fame, speaking at conferences and online; Maya ravaged by grief, begins to follow a string o fmysteries that she is convinced will lead her to April; and Miranda is contemplating defying her friend's advice and pursuing a new scientific operation - one tha tmight have repercusions beyond anyone's comprehension.  Just as it is starting ot seem like the gang may never learn the real story behind the events that changed their lives forever, a series of clues arrive - kysterious books that seem to predict the future and control the actions of their readers - all of which seems to suggest that April could be very much alive.  In the midst of the search for the truth and the search for April is a growing force, something that wants to capture our consciousness and even control our reality. This is a fast-paced adventure that is also a biting social commentary, asking hard, urgent questions about the way we live, our freedoms, our future, and how we handle the unknown.

Not as good as the first book, but still glad I read it.

Stars: 3

Book: Marathon Man

 Book: Marathon Man

Author: Bill Rogers

Pages: 336

This is my 179th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Within a span of 2 hours and 9 minutes, Bill Rogers went from obscurity to legend, from Bill Rodgers to "Boston Billy".  In doing so, he instantly became the people's champ and the poster boy for the soulful 1970s distance runner.  Having won the Boston Marathon and NY Marathon 4 times each, he remains the only marathoner to have appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated twice.  Winning the Holy Grail of marathons in an unthinkable record time changed Bill's life forever.  But his dramatic breakthough in Boston also changed the lives of countless others, instilling in other American runners the belief that they could follow in his footsteps, and inspiring thousands of regular people to lace up thier shoes and chase down their own dreams.  In the year before Rodger's victory at the 1975 Boston Marathon, 20,000 people had completed a marathon in the US.  By 2009, participants reached nearly half a million.  32 years later Bill Rodgers still possess the same warm, endearing, and whimsical spirit that turned him into one of America's most beloved athletes.

Not well written, but interesting story.

Stars: 3