The Other Emily by Dean Koontz

 The Other Emily by Dean Koontz

Rating (1-5) - 📘📘

Genre - Thriller, Murder, Suspense, Psychological Thriller

Format - Paperback

Length - 365 pages

*Amazon Blurb*

A decade ago, Emily Carlino vanished after her car broke down on a California highway. She was presumed to be one of serial killer Ronny Lee Jessup’s victims whose remains were never found.

Writer David Thorne still hasn’t recovered from losing the love of his life, or from the guilt of not being there to save her. Since then, he’s sought closure any way he can. He even visits regularly with Jessup in prison, desperate for answers about Emily’s final hours so he may finally lay her body to rest. Then David meets Maddison Sutton, beguiling, playful, and keenly aware of all David has lost. But what really takes his breath away is that everything about Maddison, down to her kisses, is just like Emily. As the fantastic becomes credible, David’s obsession grows, Maddison’s mysterious past deepens—and terror escalates.

Is she Emily? Or an irresistible dead ringer? Either way, the ultimate question is the same: What game is she playing? Whatever the risk in finding out, David’s willing to take it for this precious second chance. It’s been ten years since he’s felt this inspired, this hopeful, this much in love…and he’s afraid.

*My Review*

I remember Dean Koontz was one of my favorite readers when I was younger. I know that there's a lot of people who enjoy his books. Unfortunately, it seems that the books I've read by him as I've gotten older I haven't cared for. This was one of them. 

Now don't get me wrong, I did enjoy the book.....right up until the end. There was a lot going on with Maddison and could she be Emily, but how and I felt cheated with the ending. It was almost like he just wanted to finished it and threw something together or had someone else write an ending to a book and he decided to use it for this one. Maybe it's just me and what my interests are, but I felt the ending was a totally different genere.

The Desolations of Devil's Acre (Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children) by Ransom Riggs

The Desolations of Devil's Acre
(Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children)
by Ransom Riggs

Rating (1-5) - 📘📘📘📘

Genre - Children's Books, Teen & Young Adult, Fiction

Format - Paperback

Length - 512 pages

*Amazon Blurb*

The last thing Jacob Portman saw before the world went dark was a terrible, familiar face.
Suddenly, he and Noor are back in the place where everything began—his grandfather’s house. Jacob doesn’t know how they escaped from V’s loop to find themselves in Florida. But he does know one thing for certain: Caul has returned.
After a narrow getaway from a blood- thirsty hollow, Jacob and Noor reunite with Miss Peregrine and the peculiar children in Devil’s Acre. The Acre is being plagued by desolations—weather fronts of ash and blood and bone—a terrible portent of Caul’s amassing army.
Risen from the Library of Souls and more powerful than ever, Caul and his apocalyptic agenda seem unstoppable. Only one hope remains—deliver Noor to the meeting place of the seven prophesied ones. If they can decipher its secret location.

*My Review*

 

I have enjoyed this series more than I probably should have since it's more of a young teen book (in my opinion). I did feel like this one sort of dragged on a little bit longer than need be in some spots, but it was worth the read. As with all the previous books, the story picks up where the last one left off so you're not trying to remember what happened. I was sad that the series was ending. I have watched the movie for the first book in the series (Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children) and really wish they made movies for the rest of them. Generally the book to movie adaptations really suck, but they were able to match the characters perfectly and stick to the storyline.

The Last Word by Taylor Adams

The Last Word by Taylor Adams

Rating (1-5) - 📘📘📘📘📘

Genre - Conspiracy Thriller, Suspense, Psychological Thriller

Format - Hardcover

Length - 400 pages

*Amazon Blurb*

Emma Carpenter lives in isolation with her golden retriever Laika, house-sitting an old beachfront home on the rainy Washington coast. Her only human contact is her enigmatic old neighbor, Deek, and (via text) the house’s owner, Jules.

One day, she reads a poorly written—but gruesome—horror novel by the author H. G. Kane, and posts a one-star review that drags her into an online argument with none other than the author himself. Soon after, disturbing incidents start to occur at night. To Emma, this can’t just be a coincidence. It was strange enough for this author to bicker with her online about a lousy review; could he be stalking her, too?

As Emma digs into Kane’s life and work, she learns he has published sixteen other novels, all similarly sadistic tales of stalking and murder. But who is he? How did he find her? And what else is he capable of?

Displaying his trademark command of rapid-fire pacing, unnerving atmosphere, and razor-sharp characterization, Taylor Adams once again delivers a diabolically disturbing—and deadly—game of cat and mouse.

*My Review*

This book was like a rollercoaster. The beginning was like standing in line. I thought that everything seemed a bit to coincidental. But when you finally get on the ride you can't stop. Just when you thought you'd reached the top to go down the other side, you would start climbing up even higher. I remember getting to multiple points in the book where I was like, this is it, I've reached the end.....but there's still so much left to read. That's because it was never "it". Taylor keeps you in suspense the entire book. The "who done it" bounced all over and made me second guess myself constantly. I was also kept on my toes by the "book" that was being written during the story. Who was writing it? Was it true? What happens? 

Happy Birthday Melanie Lopata!!

 

Melanie Lopata published her first book, Hammy's New Home on February 2, 2021 and has since went on to publish multiple other children's books including a series about her 3 rescue dogs. Melanie is a huge animal lover and her book, Annie To The Rescue was written for and dedicated to an animal rescue group called Pause 4 All Paws of Herkimer County, NY and the founder's daughter, Anicia. A portion of all book proceeds is donated to this group.

Melanie has also published adult fiction novels including Buried Secrets and rumor has it her best is yet to come with a new book titled The Silo. 

You can find Melanie on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and even TikTok. Let me not forget to mention that she even owns a publishing company!! If you or someone you know is looking to get a book published and want to keep your royalties, you will definitely want to check her out.

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

Rating (1-5) - 📘📘📘📘📘

Genre - Time Travel, Literary Fiction

Format - Hardcover

Length - 304 pages

*Amazon Blurb* 

Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story of your life as it is, along with another book for the other life you could have lived if you had made a different choice at any point in your life. While we all wonder how our lives might have been, what if you had the chance to go to the library and see for yourself? Would any of these other lives truly be better? 

In The Midnight Library, Matt Haig's enchanting blockbuster novel, Nora Seed finds herself faced with this decision. Faced with the possibility of changing her life for a new one, following a different career, undoing old breakups, realizing her dreams of becoming a glaciologist; she must search within herself as she travels through the Midnight Library to decide what is truly fulfilling in life, and what makes it worth living in the first place.

*My Review*

I thoroughly enjoy reading this book. If you've ever mentioned "parallel universe" then you'll probably enjoy this book too. Nora basically gets to check out what her "other" life is like. Many people might think that it would be great to change something about their life, but what they don't tend to remember is that each action, each choice has a consequence and can alter everything in your life. Including the things you really love.

The Mother-in-law by Sally Hepwort

The Mother-in-law by Sally Hepwort

Rating (1-5) - 📘📘📘📘

Genre - Suspense, Thriller, Domestic Thriller

Format - Hardcover

Length - 352 pages

*Amazon Blurb*

From the moment Lucy met her husband's mother, she knew she wasn't the wife Diana had envisioned for her person son. Exquisitely polite, friendly, and always generous, Diana nonetheless kept Lucy at arm's length despite her desperate attempts to win her over. And as a pillar in the community, an advocate for female refugees, and a woman happily married for decades, no one had a bad work to say about Diana...except Lucy.

 

That was 5 years ago.

 

Now Diana is dead, a suicide note found near her body claiming that she no longer wanted to live because of the cancer wreaking havoc insider her body.

 

But the autopsy finds no cancer.

 

 It does find traces of poison, and evidence of suffocation.

 

Who could possibly want Diana dead.Why was her will changed at the eleventh hour to disinherit both of her children, and their spouses? And what does it mean that Lucy isn't even exactly sad she's gone? 

Fractured relationships and deep family secrets grow more compelling with every page in this twisty, captivating new novel from Sally Hepworth.

*My Review*

How many of you either grew up without a mother or had one that you weren't close to? Did you long for the day you got married so you could have that mother-daughter relationship with your mother-in-law? Lucy did. She wanted to have a super close relationship so bad, but was unable to win over Diane. Is Diane a horrible person or is Lucy a bad daughter-in-law. Did Lucy get sick of trying to befriend her and murder Diane? This book will take you on all sort of twists and turn to find out what really happened with Diane.

The Conference of the Birds by Ransom Riggs

The Conference of the Birds by Ransom Riggs

Rating (1-5) - 📘📘📘📘
Genre - Teen & Young Adult Magical Realism Fiction , Teen & Young Adult Contemporary Fantasy, Teen & Young Adult Paranormal & Urban Fantasy 
Format - Paperback
Length - 336 pages

 
*Amazon Blurb*

With enemies behind him and the unknown ahead, Jacob Portman’s story continues as he takes a brave leap forward into The Conference of the Birds, the fifth novel in the #1 bestselling Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children series by Ransom Riggs.With his dying words, H—Jacob Portman’s final connection to his grandfather Abe’s secret life entrusts Jacob with a mission: Deliver newly con­tacted peculiar Noor Pradesh to an operative known only as V. Noor is being hunted. She is the subject of an ancient prophecy, one that foretells a looming apocalypse. Save Noor—Save the future of all peculiardom.
With only a few bewildering clues to follow, Jacob must figure out how to find V, the most enigmatic, and most powerful, of Abe’s former associates. But V is in hiding and she never, ever, wants to be found.

*My Review*

I am always surprised at how much I love this series. Take a bunch of kids, give them special abilities and watch them work together to overcome anything thrown at them. I mean if you want to get technical about these book (which I am able to overlook), but how can a teenage who is still learning how to use his powers be able to beat these extremely strong adults who have been using their abilities for longer than I can even remember.

Regardless, if you have a teen/young adult reader that enjoys a good mystery then I do still recommend this series. 

Thirteen Reason Why by Jay Asher

 

Rating (1-5) - 📘📘📘📘

Genre - Teen Fiction, Suicide, Family Issues

Format - Audio Book

Length - 6 hours 24 minutes

*Amazon Blurb*

Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a strange package with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers several cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker, his classmate and crush, who committed suicide two weeks earlier. Hannah's voice explains that there are 13 reasons she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he'll find out why. Clay spends the night crisscrossing his town with Hannah as his guide. He becomes a first-hand witness to Hannah's pain, and learns the truth about himself - a truth he never wanted to face.

*My Review*

 This wasn't a book I'd normally read, but I was trying to find something to listen to while on the treadmill and got frustrated looking so I downloaded the first available one....this was it.

Poor Hannah has decided to end her life, but it wasn't just one incident that brought her to this decision - it was thirteen. She let things build up in sort of a snowball effect until she couldn't take it anymore. The fact that she made tapes to explain all the hurt she felt made me feel bad for her even though she wasn't nice in them. There were things that she should've told someone about, but decided to not say anything. It just goes to show that one person really can make a big difference in someone's life and that big difference just could be a life or death one. People should raise kids to be kind and to keep in mind that you never know what someone else is going thru. It's easy to ignore someone, but worth taking a few minutes to check in with them.

 

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

 

Rating (1-5) - 📘📘📘

Genre - Suspense, Crime Thriller

Format - Paperback

Length - 370 Pages

*Amazon Blurb*

Libby Day was seven when her mother and two sisters were murdered in "The Satan Sacrifice of Kinnakee, Kansas". As her family lay dying, little Libby fled their tiny farmhouse into the freezing January snow. She lost some fingers and toes, but she survived, and famously testified that her 15-year-old brother, Ben, was the killer. Twenty-five years later, Ben sits in prison, and troubled Libby lives off the dregs of a trust created by well-wishers who've long forgotten her.

The Kill Club is a macabre secret society obsessed with notorious crimes. When they locate Libby and pump her for details, proof they hope may free Ben, Libby hatches a plan to profit off her tragic history. For a fee, she'll reconnect with the players from that night and report her findings to the club...and maybe she'll admit her testimony wasn't so solid after all.

As Libby's search takes her from shabby Missouri strip clubs to abandoned Oklahoma tourist towns, the narrative flashes back to January 2, 1985. The events of that day are relayed through the eyes of Libby's doomed family members, including Ben, a loner whose rage over his shiftless father and their failing farm have driven him into a disturbing friendship with the new girl in town.

Piece by piece, the unimaginable truth emerges, and Libby finds herself right back where she started...on the run from a killer.

*My Review*

There isn't anything more horrible than a child witnessing her family being killed, but how much did Libby actually see? Libby shuts herself off from the world and survives off money that people had donated to a fund for her. Unfortunately Libby couldn't hold a job and the funds grew dry. I kept wondering why she wasn't getting some kind of services to help her as she clearly has psychological issues. In any event, she gets approached by member from a "Kill Club" that tries to solve unsolved murders. Libby agrees to reconnect with people from her past simply because she needs the money to live off. Eventually the story of what really happened that night comes out. 

The story has some pretty gruesome scenes in it so if you are squirmy about those, you'll either want to skip them or the book altogether. At no point did I like Libby as a person. The only person that I sort cared for was Libby's mom. She was trying her best to provide a better life for her kids and even in the end she failed.

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Rating (1-5) - 📘📘📘

Genre - Fiction, Family Life Fiction, Family Saga

Format - Paperback

Length - 400 Pages

*Amazon Blurb*

The unforgettable, heartbreaking story of the unlikely friendship between a wealthy boy and the son of his father’s servant, caught in the tragic sweep of history, The Kite Runner transports readers to Afghanistan at a tense and crucial moment of change and destruction. A powerful story of friendship, it is also about the power of reading, the price of betrayal, and the possibility of redemption; and an exploration of the power of fathers over sons—their love, their sacrifices, their lies. Since its publication in 2003 Kite Runner has become a beloved, one-of-a-kind classic of contemporary literature, touching millions of readers, and launching the career of one of America's most treasured writers.

*My Review*

We read this book for my Book Club and though many of the members really liked it, I thought it was just so-so. I found myself not liking the main character because of the way he treated his "best friend". I understand that their friendship wasn't exactly something allowed since Hassan was just a servant to Amir, but still. If you are going to be friends with someone, don't make the friendship be about convenience. Amir's father was also very unlikable. Amir was doing just about everything he could so that his father would be proud of him, but it was almost like he was invisible.  

 

(I am working on getting caught up with reviews and it's been so long since I read this book so I apologize for the extremely short review. I remember bits and pieces, but not all of it.)

Before And After by Lisa Wingate and Judy Christie

 

Rating (1-5) - 📘📘📘📘📘

Genre - Adoption, Women in History

Format - Paperback

Length - 320 Pages

*Amazon Blurb*

From the 1920s to 1950, Georgia Tann ran a black-market baby business at the Tennessee Children’s Home Society in Memphis. She offered up more than 5,000 orphans tailored to the wish lists of eager parents—hiding the fact that many weren’t orphans at all, but stolen sons and daughters of poor families, desperate single mothers, and women told in maternity wards that their babies had died.

The publication of Lisa Wingate’s novel Before We Were Yours brought new awareness of Tann’s lucrative career in child trafficking. Adoptees who knew little about their pasts gained insight into the startling facts behind their family histories. Encouraged by their contact with Wingate and award-winning journalist Judy Christie, who documented the stories of fifteen adoptees in this book, many determined Tann survivors set out to trace their roots and find their birth families.

Before and After includes moving and sometimes shocking accounts of the ways in which adoptees were separated from their first families. Often raised as only children, many have joyfully reunited with siblings in the final decades of their lives. Christie and Wingate tell of first meetings that are all the sweeter and more intense for time missed and of families from very different social backgrounds reaching out to embrace better-late-than-never brothers, sisters, and cousins. In a poignant culmination of art meeting life, many of the long-silent victims of the tragically corrupt system return to Memphis with the authors to reclaim their stories at a Tennessee Children’s Home Society reunion . . . with extraordinary results.

*My Review*

The emotions that I felt reading this book was not all that surprising to me. It was raw and real. Why? Because the stories in this book are the true stories of what children endured at the hands of a Ms. Georgia Tann, a real life monster. When I first heard of this book I knew right away that I need to read it after having already read Before We Were Yours, a book that will turn your world upside down. You can read my review on that here.

I was so glad for this book because it provided some closure to what happened to so many of the children Tennessee Children’s Home Society in Memphis. Unfortunlatey, not all of them got a happy ending, but so many of them did.

Black Rain: Book One by Eli Salas and Raven Mills

Rating (1-5) - 📘📘📘📘📘
Genre - Magical Realism
Format - Paperback
Length - 550 Pages

*Amazon Blurb*

An old woman named Amira recalls the beginnings of her journey when she is whisked away from her home in Cameroon to become a slave in Colonized America with her close friend Anikah. She is indoctrinated and forced to forget her old ways over the eight years of service on plantations. She learns to survive in a world that is not her own.
However, destiny calls when she is crosses paths with an Azteco Spirit Warrior named Rain, and his beaver friend, Schemer. Knowing the dangers, Amira finds liberation through magic and mystery and living among the Azteco people. She is forced to question her beliefs and confront her past as her life becomes intertwined with the gods who are vicariously puppeteering from their divine plane.

Ever since they fled the sword and iron fist of White Men, a surviving tribe of Aztecs has lived in peace for centuries. But when the young tribesman Rain becomes a man and earns the right to explore the forbidden forest beyond the tribal territory, what he finds will shake him to his core.
It’s a white man’s city with bustling boulevards and towering mansions; a whole separate world just through the wilds. Have the tribal elders known about this city all along? With his startling discovery, Rain is forced to question everything he thought he knew. In a tale that combines the historical with the fantastical, Amira will discover her power within to escape the death grip of slavery. Rain will realize just how easily generations of tribal peace can be broken. But thanks to spirit animals, which allow their human counterparts to communicate regardless of language, Rain still has a chance to save his people and unravel the dark mysteries of the city ruled by white men. Amira will find her warrior spirit once again. He might even succeed—or so it seems at first. The crossing of these two worlds brings about an ancient Aztec prophecy, one not seen since Rain’s ancestors were nearly wiped out. And a dire message from an ancient god can only mean one thing: the Azteco battle for survival has only just begun.

*My Review*
This book is not a genre that I generally agree to read, however it had been a while since I had someone request a review and this is why I accept them....to ready things I wouldn't normally read. Let me tell you I am glad I did! The book easily switches back and forth between the two main characters, Amira and Rain. At first, I wasn't didn't understand why the story kept switching back and forth between two people who had nothing in common. However, as I continued to read it became clear and also impossible to put down. The characters were developed wonderfully. The book did seem slow to start, but once I got started, I couldn't stop, and I can't wait for the next one the series to be released.

One of my favorite things about two authors collaborating on a book is when they both write different characters. It gives each of them a completely different feel that some authors really try to do but are not always able to.

I'm making a comeback!!

 For everyone who is still here - Thank You!!! For anyone new - Welcome!

You may have saw my Facebook post or maybe you didn't. Here's what happened. Life. I'm being serious. I have an 8-year-old daughter that I decided to homeschool for the 2020-2021 school year. Lesson learned - homeschooling isn't for everyone and teachers need to much more respect than they'll ever get. Things started off pretty good but went downhill as the year went on. I found myself having less time to read and even less time to try to have "me time" to write my reviews. The further behind I got the more overwhelmed I became, so I just stopped.

I've still been reading though not as much as I use to. I kind of forgot all about my blog. Ok maybe not forgot but pushed it to the back of my mind. Then a couple weeks age someone reached out to my asking if I would review their book. Just like that!! I was reminded that review requests were one of my biggest reasons I loved having my blog. I enjoy reading and sharing books by new or less known authors to try and give them an extra boost.

I have a couple books I'm currently reading, but once I finish them, I will be starting Black Rain by Eli Salas III and Raven Mills. Huge shout out to Raven Mills for pulling me back into my blog where I love to be. I look forward to your book. 

The Perfect Family by Shalini Boland

 

Rating (1-5) - 📘📘📘📘📘
Genre - Psychological Fiction, Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Thriller
Format - Paperback
Length - 282 Pages

*Amazon Blurb*

‘Mummy, she’s gone…’ 

Gemma Ballantine is getting ready for work one morning when her eldest child comes running down the stairs, saying the words every mother dreads. 

 The front door is open. And her six-year-old daughter has disappeared. Frantic with fear, Gemma starts a nail-biting search for her little girl. 

After what feels like forever, her mother-in-law Diane finds Katie wandering lost a few streets away. Relieved to have her youngest child back in her arms, breathing in the sweet scent of her hair, Gemma thinks the nightmare is over. 

But then her perfect family starts to fall apart. And she realises it’s only just beginning…

 

*My Review* 

 

This book was twisting throughout the whole thing. Is Gemma really just having the worst luck or is someone out to get her.....and if so, who and WHY? There really is no such thing as the perfect family. I did NOT see the ending coming and those are the ones that I love the most.

I Am Watching You by Teresa Driscoll

 

Rating (1-5) - 📘📘📘📘
Genre - Fiction, Psychological Thriller, Murder Thriller, Mysteries
Format - Paperback
Length - 299 Pages

*Amazon Blurb*

What would it take to make you intervene?

When Ella Longfield overhears two attractive young men flirting with teenage girls on a train, she thinks nothing of it―until she realises they are fresh out of prison and her maternal instinct is put on high alert. But just as she’s decided to call for help, something stops her. The next day, she wakes up to the news that one of the girls―beautiful, green-eyed Anna Ballard―has disappeared.
A year later, Anna is still missing. Ella is wracked with guilt over what she failed to do, and she’s not the only one who can’t forget. Someone is sending her threatening letters―letters that make her fear for her life.
Then an anniversary appeal reveals that Anna’s friends and family might have something to hide. Anna’s best friend, Sarah, hasn’t been telling the whole truth about what really happened that night―and her parents have been keeping secrets of their own.
Someone knows where Anna is―and they’re not telling. But they are watching Ella.

 

*My Review* 

 

I did NOT see the ending coming!!! Although the book was slow and not all that suspenseful, I would've never guessed the ending. In a way it made me think in the beginning...would I have said anything? Honestly, I don't think I would have, or many other people. Mind your business is just how things are. I didn't really care for the main character, Ella. I mean bad things happen to good people all the time. Even if she had spoken up, teenagers will do what they want and I don't think it would've changed anything....except then there wouldn't have been a book.
Regardless, Ella becomes obsessed with the disappearance of Anna which makes her a bit creepy. The only reason I rated the book as high as I did is because of the ending.

The Friends We Keep by Susan Mallory

 

Rating (1-5) - 📘📘📘📘
Genre - Fiction, Women's Friendship, Women's Domestic Life
Format - Paperback
Length - 416 Pages

*Amazon Blurb*

After five years as a stay-at-home mom, Gabby Schaefer can't wait to return to work. Oh, to use the bathroom in peace! No twins clamoring at the door, no husband barging in, no stepdaughter throwing a tantrum. But when her plans are derailed by some shocking news and her husband's crushing expectations, Gabby must fight for the right to have a life of her own. 

Getting pregnant is easy for Hayley Batchelor. Staying pregnant is the hard part. Her husband is worried about the expensive fertility treatments and frantic about the threat to her health. But to Hayley, a woman who was born to be a mom should risk everything to fulfill her destiny—no matter how high the cost. 

Nicole Lord is still shell-shocked by a divorce that wasn't as painful as it should've been. Other than the son they share, her ex-husband left barely a ripple in her life. A great new guy tempts her to believe maybe the second time's the charm…but how can she trust herself to recognize true love? 

 As their bonds of friendship deepen against the beautiful backdrop of Mischief Bay, Gabby, Hayley and Nicole will rely on good food, good wine and especially each other to navigate life's toughest changes.

 

*My Review* 

 

No matter your group of friends, I'm sure you will find a Gabby, Hayley and Nicole in it. I
couldn't believe how connected I felt to one f the characters. It was almost like Susan was writing about me and not some fictional character.
The book bounces back and forth between each friend and their situation. It is very easy to follow and it helps see that, though your friends (even best friends) may seem fine on the outside, there could be things going on that you're not aware of.

 Why Libraries?

Frank J Basloe Library

Back in the day....what a way to start any story, right? But in this case it's true. If you are as old as I am, or older, then you remember how important libraries were when we needed to look up information especially for school projects. We didn't have computers or cell phones to be able to look up something at any moment.
Libraries are also great for the communities because they offer many programs....did you know that? So many people aren't aware of what libraries offer these days. Some things they offer are free resources, they help connect communities and offer a quite place to do work or just to disconnect from the craziness of the world. My library even has a book club (that I am happy to be in charge of) that bring people together in reading books that you may not normally have read. 

Frank J Basloe Library

For readers it is a major money saver. I would love to be able to support authors by buying their books, but I simply can't afford to spend and average of $20 a book. So far this year I have read 15 (not including kids books that I read with my daughter). That would've cost me $300 so far!!!! I don't know about you, but I can't afford that. Now don't get me wrong and think that I never buy books either. I do have some favorite authors that I like to have in my personal library and if I read a book that is awesome, I may purchase it so that I can reread it at a later date. Also, physical copies are great to have if you like to attend book signings or to give as gifts.

The pictures you see here are of my library. We are in the process of a huge renovation. So far we have completed complete Phase 1 (there are pictures of the renovation process on their site). 

 

The library also has the Friends of the Library Book Sale. It is a way to help raise money to support the library. We had a beautiful sign donated by A & P Master Images and were finally put up last week. 

 

If you are local to the area, we are always looking for "friends" to help out. Click here for more information.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Available on Amazon

Rating (1-5) - 📘📘
Genre - Fiction, Holocaust, Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Foster Home
Format - Paperback
Length - 608 Pages

*Amazon Blurb*

When Death has a story to tell, you listen.
It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will become busier still.
Liesel Meminger is a foster girl living outside of Munich, who scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement.

 

*My Review* 

 

Another book club book and also another one that was hard to get thru. Not only was this book extremely long, but in my opinion it was extremely boring too. I felt like it wasn't going anywhere at all. There was no suspense, no excitement.....nothing. The only thing that I wanted to know is what happened to the Jewish man.

I also decided to force my poor husband to watch the movie with me. I generally don't watch movies of the books I've read because, let's face it, books are better. I had heard from a couple different people that the movie was better than the book in this case. I agree and disagree at the same time. I feel that the movie gave the book a bit more desire to finish, but it also missed some parts that I feel were very necessary in understanding things.

The Orphan Collector by Ellen Marie Wiseman

Available on Amazon

Rating (1-5) - 📘📘📘📘📘
Genre - Fiction, World War, Historical Fiction, Coming of Age
Format - Paperback
Length - 304 Pages

*Amazon Blurb*

In the fall of 1918, thirteen-year-old German immigrant Pia Lange longs to be far from Philadelphia’s overcrowded slums and the anti-immigrant sentiment that compelled her father to enlist in the U.S. Army. But as her city celebrates the end of war, an even more urgent threat arrives: the Spanish flu. Funeral crepe and quarantine signs appear on doors as victims drop dead in the streets and desperate survivors wear white masks to ward off illness. When food runs out in the cramped tenement she calls home, Pia must venture alone into the quarantined city in search of supplies, leaving her baby brothers behind. 

Bernice Groves has become lost in grief and bitterness since her baby died from the Spanish flu. Watching Pia leave her brothers alone, Bernice makes a shocking, life-altering decision. It becomes her sinister mission to tear families apart when they’re at their most vulnerable, planning to transform the city’s orphans and immigrant children into what she feels are “true Americans.” 

Waking in a makeshift hospital days after collapsing in the street, Pia is frantic to return home. Instead, she is taken to St. Vincent’s Orphan Asylum – the first step in a long and arduous journey. As Bernice plots to keep the truth hidden at any cost in the months and years that follow, Pia must confront her own shame and fear, risking everything to see justice – and love – triumph at last. Powerful, harrowing, and ultimately exultant, The Orphan Collector is a story of love, resilience, and the lengths we will go to protect those who need us most.

 

*My Review* 

 

Another book that was read for my book club and finally a book that I can get excited about reviewing!

I think it's hard to write reviews when you get stuck in a rut and read a lot of books you don't enjoy. Ellen Marie Wiseman was the author who got my love of reading started as an adult with her book What She Left Behind.

The name of the book, The Orphan Collector, gave me a different view of what I thought the book would be about. I'm not saying it was bad at all, since I really enjoyed this one. I was simply thinking of it in a different light I guess you could say. I can't imagine being anyone who lived during a war. The unimaginable things that they witness or are a part of is just too much to think about. I feel so helpless for them. It's no different for me reading a boo even though it's fiction. A great book makes you feel for the characters and I couldn't have felt more sympathetic for poor Pia. Imagine your whole family being taken from you and no one will listen and help you!!

Of course a good book has to have it's villain, right? Bernice couldn't have fit this position any better. Reading from her point of view made me want to reach into the book and beat her. The things she did are beyond horrible.

How The Witch Stole Chistmas by Dakota Cassidy

 

Available on Amazon

Rating (1-5) - 📘📘
Genre - Fiction, Christmas, Supernatural Thriller, Women Sleuth Mysteries
Format - Audiobook
Length - 4 Hours 47 Minutes

*Amazon Blurb*

It's Christmas, and I, ex-witch Stevie Cartwright, declare this my favorite time of year. I love the decorations! The food! The Hallmark Channel holiday specials! This year promises to be better than ever because for the first time in a very long time, I'm going to have more than just Cheez Whiz, Triscuits, and the wish to be surrounded by family and friends. My carefully planned holiday bonanza includes all the usual suspects: my bat familiar, Belfry; my dog, Whiskey; my ever-present ghostly spy friends, dashing Brit Winterbottom and stalwart Russian Arkady; and my parents. However, nothing comes easy for this amateur sleuth, not even a neighborhood decorating contest. You know, the one I've been painstakingly prepping for for months? Something goes horribly awry with my Christmas display (think bikini-clad carolers, pink flamingos, and real, live turkeys) to start. But the worst? The dead body of the famous Chef Pascal Le June in my nativity scene! It becomes clear someone's trying to ruin my Christmas, and that someone must pay. But when Belfry goes missing and the danger takes on a paranormal edge, I find I have more to lose than ever before.

 

*My Review* 

I wanted something short to listed to just before Christmas (yes another reminder of how far behind I am with reviews) and this one was just that length. Although I didn't think the book was "amazing" or anything like that, I did think it was cute and enjoyed listening to it. I'll admit there were a lot of characters and I was not able to keep them straight which did cause a bit of confusion here and there, but for the most part it was ok and just what I was looking for to pass the time while doing all those crazy chores just before the holiday.