Category Archives: Book Reviews

Reviews of Books

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The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce

 

I checked this book out of my local library after reading about it on various book blogs.  I am so glad that I did!  On the face of it, the story is about a man walking to visit a dying friend, but the book is about so much more than that.  The book speaks to the mundane life, how many, dare I say most people, live life going through the motions, not appreciating the small moments, the small joys in their life.  Harold, through walking sees things he never noticed driving along in his car.  He meets and talks to people he never would have talked to in his “normal” life.  Through his journey he connects with others and they with him, after a lifetime of  seeming disconnectedness.

The conclusion is beautifully drawn and brings closure to a wonderful story.  Characters, not just Harold, show growth over the course of the story.  The major theme of this story is faith, not in the sense of religious faith but just in the sense of belief in something.  It also deals with friendship, loyalty, grief, death, and the fear of aging.

Some have criticized this book for moving too slowly, but I feel that is the point, a message, not to be trite, but “slow down and smell the roses”.  You need to appreciate each of the small moments, that is what life is made up of, don’t discount them as unimportant.  Yes, there are big moments in life, weddings, graduations, funerals, but those are rare occasions.  Wonderful book.

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Hot Button by Kylie Logan

I purchased this at a used book store.  I just finished it sitting at Starbucks waiting for my daughter.  I still like the main character, Josie but I have to say that I did not enjoy it as much as the first book in the series.  This is unusual for me.  I often find the first book not as good as some of the later ones in a series.  I think my lower opinion of this book is due to the fact that the button theme has become much more prominent and quite frankly,  I’m just not all that interested.  This book was not set in Josie’s store but rather at a button convention and perhaps that led to more of the   technical button details.   Some of the plot was very obvious, the documentary filmmaker and the sabotage story lines for example.

As I said, I do like the recurring character and the main murder mystery had an interesting twist to it.  The author makes use of red herrings to misdirect the reader pretty successfully.   There seems to be an interesting love triangle developing, like the Hannah Swenson series.  The writing is well done.  After all this, there is enough good about this series  that I am going to give it another try with Panic Button.  I am hoping that book  is set back in Josie’s store.

On another note, I just started:

 

I am loving this so far!  I put my name in at the library and it came in really quickly.

“They believed in him!  They had looked at him in his yachting shoes, and listened to what he said, and they had made a decision in their hearts and minds to ignore the evidence and imagine something bigger and infinitely more beautiful than the obvious.”

I can’t wait to pick it up and finish.

 

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Looking for Me by Beth Hoffman

I had read about this book on several blogs so I was really happy that my library had it and I finished it early the other morning but didn’t write anything about it…and as is my problem, if I don’t do something right at the moment I forget about it.  Anyway, I was sorting out my library books and saw this in the pile to return and realized I hadn’t posted about it.  So here goes…

“I don’t much care where I go when I die, as long as it’s where the animals are.”   ~ Josh from Looking for Me  Beth Hoffman

This was a wonderful book, full of southern charm and characters.  Teddi Overman plays the strong survivor southern woman to a T.  All the characters are well drawn and Beth Hoffman manages to paint vivid pictures of characters through skillful use of dialogue and scenes.  The premise is a woman returning to her roots.  Her childhood had ended with the disappearance of her brother, who she believes never died and keeps hoping to find.  The disappearance of her brother fractured her family irreparably and she spends the book dealing with the fallout of this and acknowledging the impact this has had on her life.

This was a well crafted book with no cardboard cutout characters or tired plot lines.  The characters are multi-layered people and the author uses dialogue and the interactions between the characters to peel away the layers.  I really enjoyed this book and was sad when it ended and what an ending…. it was perfect in keeping with the book.  I won’t say more and spoil it for anyone.

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The Submissive by Tara Sue Me

Book received for free at BEA from the publisher.

Best erotica I have read. Note: I did not say the most shocking. I said the best. This is not BDSM for the shock value, like some that I have read. This is a tale of a Dom and sub working together to figure out what works for them.

The romance is well done. The characters are fully fleshed out and likable, despite their flaws. Nathaniel is your usual tortured soul. Abby has one scene in which I didn’t really get what she was thinking. The BDSM elements are realistic. The plot is well crafted, the beginning, middle and end flow naturally. Even though it shares some elements with the much read, 50 Shades of Grey, the uber rich Dom and the lifestyle associated with that kind of money, this is  a much, much better book..

I do find it curious that most of these books involve a billionaire Dom, Are poor people not kinky? What about the middle class? Hmmmm… anyway if you do like erotica, I’d recommend this over many of the others that are out there.

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The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty


I received an uncorrected proof of this book for free from the publisher at BEA.

I have read one other book by Liane Moriarty and that is why I was looking forward to this one so much. I came right home from BEA and sat out in the backyard and read it in one sitting. The book is about forgiveness, grief, secrets and regret. The characters, with the possible exception of Felicity and Will are fully fleshed out (That couple is more of a catalyst than characters until the end anyway). The stories of all the different characters weave together seamlessly. There is no sense of the story having to forced to bring them all together. The characters have very real personalities with flaws, some of them tragic.

The plot uses a “what if’ device, whereby possible pasts and futures are explored. the purpose being to point out how fragile our existence is and that every choice we make has long reaching consequences, many of which we could not begin to predict.

I really enjoyed this book even though I cried in a a couple places. Very moving, well thought out book.

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Insomnia

 

Insomnia strikes again, enough so that I read two books.  One, The Glass Wives, I had actually started in Barnes and Noble so I was about a third of the way through.

The Glass Wives by Amy Sue Nathan is about family, infidelity, divorce, and trust.  The premise is that a man has died leaving behind an ex-wife and  a new wife, who just happened to be the mistress that precipitated the divorce from the first Mrs. Glass.  Both women have children and this is what initially forces them to maintain contact and a relationship with each other, even though the first Mrs. Glass would probably rather crawl across broken glass.  Their situation is a little contrived but ok.  The financial issues of a provider dying drives  the story.  I don’t really want to say more because it would give away the plot but I will say that this was something I could relate to and  it pulled me into the story.

The first Mrs. Glass, Evie, is a very likable, well drawn character and I really feel for her and understand her fears for the financial security of her children, all very realistic.  The second Mrs. Glass, Nicole, I didn’t find likable, but that was okay because it gave me someone to root against in the story.  I enjoyed the book.  It was a very quick read.  I wasn’t wholly satisfied with the ending but I feel that it was an ending that seemed to flow naturally from the story.

The Bright Side of Disaster by Katherine Center was….let’s just paint a picture for you.  We’ve all had that friend who recently had a baby, who could not shut up about every gruesome detail of their lamaze class, labor, delivery, breastfeeding, sleepless nights, teething, the agony of deciding between cloth or disposable, the color of certain functions ….  If you are the person who listened intently, oohing and aahing in  all the right places, thrilled with  these details of the miracles of birth, then this is definitely the book for you.  If, however you are the one whose eyes glazed over and your only thought was “been there, done that, have the t-shirt, just get over it” or “TMI”, then you probably want to avoid it.  I would rate it 1 star, so you can probably guess which category I fall into.

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Jacklyn Brady: Cake on a Hot Tin Roof

This is the second outing in the A Piece of Cake mystery series. It was a quick read.  I spent a couple hours in the backyard on a lawn chair with some wine (Jersey Red again, I’m hooked)  and this book and finished it.  Great lead character and I love the theme of a high end bakery.  The setting is still New Orleans, which I would love to visit, and this time it is at Mardi Gras time.  I have never been to Mardi Gras but would like to go and the book  gave a glimpse into the festivities.   There appears to be a love triangle heating up so I want to see how that is  handled as the series develops.

I am really enjoying how the series is unfolding and I will read more as they are written.  The only issue I have with it is a couple of the supporting characters are annoying, but it didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the book as a whole.

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Lucy Arlington: Buried in a Book

 

 

Just finished Buried in a Book by Lucy Arlington, first in the Novel Idea Mystery series.  The book features a very charming setting, a bohemian life style type of community.  The protagonist, Lila, her mother and son have an interesting dynamic.  A love interest is introduced in this first book as well.  I’m sure that will be expanded upon in future books.

The mystery was well done with some pretty good red herrings (I thought I knew the killer but I was wrong).  I did like that Lila is a woman starting over in her forties.  This makes her a character easy for me to relate to.  I enjoyed the books many literary references and quotes, I found it an engaging feature of the book.  I also liked a glimpse into the life of a literary agent.    I already have the next book Every Trick in the Book and I will read that soon.

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Hazel Holt: Mrs. Mallory Investigates

This is a new cozy mystery series, new to me i should say. First interesting thing is that the protagonist’s name is spelled differently on the cover of the edition I have than everywhere else in the series. On the cover it is Mallory and inside the book and for the rest of the series it is Malory. Just weird, maybe an American versus English difference, I don’t know. Anyhow, on to the rest of the book.

Traditional British cozy village mystery with a middle aged (50s) widowed protagonist. I really liked the book the mystery was engaging, the main character was interesting and likable, and the rest of the cast was nicely rounded out. I did solve the mystery prior to the resolution but that was okay.. it was not too terribly early on and it did not take away from my enjoyment of the book.

I am definitely going to read more in this series. It is everything that i like in a cozy mystery. Love the village setting and the animal components…..cats and dogs and horses, oh my! I would say that if you are a fan of MC Beaton, Simon Brett, Ann Purser, Veronica Heley, etc. you will enjoy this. I would say that if those writers are 4s, this book was a 3 – 3.5, however it was the first in the series and in my experience they get better after the first book.