Book: What The River Knows

 Book: What The River Knows

Author: Isabel Ibanez

Pages: 416

This is my 157th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Bolivian-Argentinian Inex Olivera belongs to the glittering upper society of 19th century Buenos Aires, and like the rest of the world, the town is steeped in old world magic that's been largely left behind or forgotten.  Inex has everything a girl might want, except for the one thing she yearns the most: her gobetrotting paretns - who frequently leave her behind.  When she receives word of their tragic deaths, inex inherits their massive fortune and a mysterious guardian, an archeologist in partnership with his Egyptian brother in law.  Yearing for answers, Inez sails to Cairo, brining her sketch pads and a golden ring her father sent to her for safekeeping before he died.  But upon her arrival, the old world magic tethered to the ring pulls her down a path where she soon discovers there's more to her paren'ts disappearance than what her guardian led her to believe.  With her guardian's infuriatingly handsom assistant thwarting her at every turn, Inez must rely on ancient magic to uncover the truth about her parent's disappearance - or risk becoming a pawn in a larger game that will kill her.

This was a pretty good book.  I listened to it and it was a fast listen.  I liked the story from the start, but Inez never really grew on me.  She is a teenager, but I find writing about them as main characters can be hit or miss on maturity level.  This one she leaned toward the immature, and while it made sense to the author to do this, it wore on me.  But overall it was a good story.

Stars: 4 

Book: A Witches Guide to Magical InnKeeping

 Book: A Witches Guide To Magical InnKeeping

Author: Sangu Mandanna

Pages: 352

This is my 156th read for the year

What Amazon says:

Sera Swan used to be one of the most powerful witches in Britain.  Then she resurrected her great-aunt Jasmine from the dead, lost most of her magic, befriended a semi-villainous talking fox, and was exiled from her Guild.  Now she helps Jasmine run an enchanted inn in Lancashire, where she deals with her quirky guests' shenanigans, tries to keep said talking fox in check, and longs for the future that seems lost to her.  But then she finds out about an old spell that could hold the key to restoring her power.  Enter Luke Larsen, handsome and icy magical historian, who arrives on a dark winter evening and just ight know how to unlock the spell's secrets.  Luke has absolutely no interest in getting involved in the madcap goings-on of the inn and is definitely not about to let a certain betwitching innkeeper past his walls, so no one is more surprised that he is when he agrees to help Sera with her spell.  Worse, he might actually be thawing.  Running an inn, reclaiming lost magic, and staying one step ahead of the watchful Guild is a lot for anyone, but Sear Swan is about to discover that she doesn't have to do it alone.  And that the weird, wonderful family she's made might be the best magic of all.

This was a pretty good book.  I didn't like it as much as Sangu's first book, but enjoyed it well enough.  IT is pretty well written and the story moves along at a good pace.  

Stars: 4

Book: The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches

 Book: The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches

Author: Sangu Mandanna

Pages: 352

This is my 155th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

As one of the few witches in Britain, Mika Moon knows she has to hide her magic, keep her head down, and stay away from other witches so their powers don't mingle and draw attention.  And as an orphan who lost her parents at a young age and was raised by strangers, she's used to being alone and she follows the rules - with one exception: an online account, where she posts videos "pretending" to be a witch.  She thinks no one will take it seriously.  But someone does.  An unexpected message arrives, begging her to travel to the remote and mysterious Nowhwere House to teach 3 young witches how to control their magic.  It breaks all the rules, but Mika goes anyway, and is immediately tangled up in the lives and secrets of not only her 3 charges, but also an absent archaeologist, a retired actor, 2 long-siffering caretakes, and...Jamie.  The handsome and prickly librarian of Nowhere House would od anything to protect the children, and as fas as he's concerned, a stranger like Mika is a threat.  An irritatingly appealing threat.  As Mika begins to find her place at Nowhere House, the thought of belonging somewhere begins to feel like a real possibility.  But magic isn't the only danger in the world, and when peril comes knocking at their door, Mika will need to decide whether to risk everything to proect a found family she didn't know she was looking for.

I really liked this book.  It is well written and cute and sweet.  The story flowed well, and it is not heavy on the romance.  It is mostly a story of Mika finding herself and finding a place she can belong.  Good book.  Glad I read it.

Stars: 4.5

Book: The Running Man

 Book: The Running Man

Author: Stephen King

Pages: 416

This is my 154th read of the year

What Amazon Says:

Ben Richards has no job, no money, and a young daughter who urgently needs medical attention.  Desperate, out of options, he signs up for The Running Man, "the biggest show in the country."  It's an ultraviolent competition where the states could not be higher.  Ben must stay alive for 30 days while an elite strike force, trained to kill, hunts for him.  If he can survive for a month, he wins a billion dollars.  No contestant has ever lasted longer than 8 days.  Can Ben Richards win this ultimate game of life and death?

This was a pretty good book.  Typical Stephe King book with good writing, a bit of rambling, and a wound up ending.  It has been while since I have read it and so I cannot share more.

Stars: 4

Book: The Magnolia Palace

 Book: The Magnolia Palace

Author: Fiona Davis

Pages: 349

This is my 153rd read for the year

What Amazon Says:

8 months since losing her mother in the Spanish flu outbreak of 1919, 21 year old Lilian Carter's life has completely fallen apart.  For the past 6 years, under the moniker Angelica, Lillian was one of the most sought-after artists' models in NYC with statues based on her figure gracing landmarks from the Plaza Hotel to the Brooklyn Bridge.  But with her mother gone, a grieving Lillian is rudderless and desperate - the work has dried up and a looming scandal has left her entirely without a safe haven.  So when she stumbles upon an emplyment opportunity at the Frick mansion - a building that, ironically, bears her own visage - Lillian jumps at the chance.  But the longer she works as a private secretary to the imperious and demanding Helen Frick, the daughter and heiress of industrialist and art patron Henry Clay Frick, the more deeply her life gets intertwined with that of the family - pulling her into a tangled web of romantic trysts, stolen jewels, and family drama that runs so deep, the states just may be life or death.  

Nearly 50 years later, mod English model Veronica Weber has her own chance to make her career-and with it, earn the money she needs to support her family back home - within the walls of the former Frick residence, now converted into one of NYC's most impressive museums.  But when she- along with a charming intern/budding art curator named Joshua - is dismissed from the Vogue shoot taking place at the Frick Collection, she chances upon a series of hidden messages in the museum: messages that will lead her and Joshua on a hunt that could not only solve Veronica's financial woes, but could finally reveal the truth behind a decades-old murder in the infamous Frick Family.

This was a pretty good book.  I have read quite a few of Davis' books and find her a pretty good writer.  I liked the dual timeline books, and glad I read this one.  Unfortunately, I am writing this review quite a bit after I read it, and am blanking on more details to pick out.

Stars: 4

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