Whatcha reading?

Whatcha reading?

Thursday, August 23, 2018

Everywhere that Mary Went:Lisa Scottoline

Mary is a lawyer who is grieving her husband who was killed by a hit and run the year before. She is being stalked and doesn't know who to trust. she finds love again only to suspect him. Her secretary, who is gay is killed by a hit and run, right in front of her as he was walking beside her. Her stalker presents herself, he was a judge who was jealous that she was with any other man than him and didn't realize the secretary wasn't a lover. She accidently shoots him and he dies. She and a girl friend end up becoming partners in their firm and decide to branch off and start their own firm.

Honor Girl: Maggie Thrash

This is a semi- biography told like a play (I listened to the audio tape) which was really cool. A teenage girl goes to a summer camp every year and one year falls in love with a camp counselor realizing she is bisexual. She is in turmoil the entire summer and finally confirms that the counselor, who is in college and an adult, feels the same. When she returns the next year the counselor isn't there and the summer isn't quite the same. she does find her later in life and the magic they felt during the summer at camp is no longer there. It is a story of love and loss, excitement and heartbreak.

The Girl with No Name: Marina Chapman

When picking up this book I was thinking it was going to be a bit unbelievable, but it wasn't!! This book was fascinating, I really wish Marina would have find her biological parents at the end, and that she would have been able to see her monkeys again. Marina was kidnapped as a child and then left in the jungle to fend for herself or die. She ended up wandering terrified for days before coming across some monkeys and watching what they ate and mimicking them. She lives with the monkeys for years after trying to be taken in by a band of natives who make it clear they don't want her. Eventually she shows herself to some trappers and without saying goodbye to her monkeys they throw her in a truck with animals they have taken from the jungle and drop her off at a brothel. Marina eventually runs away to the city and becomes a street kid, then works for a mafia family. She goes from misfortune to misfortune. The mafia family decides she knows too much and must be killed and the neighbor helps her escape to an orphanage. Marina is miserable there and runs away. The neighbor sends her to a daughter in Bogota and that is where the story ends. I really want to know how she ended up in England!!!

Famous Father Girl: Jamie Bernstein

This was a heartwarming memoir to composer Leonard Bernstein, written by his daughter. She talks of the magic her father held for her as a child, the stress of never being good enough for him as a teen and the frustration and embarrassment of some of his behavior. Anyone with a parent will be able to relate.

Monday, August 20, 2018

Monsters; A Love Story: Liz Kay

This was a cute love story about a widow with two children who makes her living as a poet. One of her collections of poetry is being turned into a movie and she is brought on board to help with the adaptations. She ends up falling in love with the actor who was behind the project and at the end of the book they end up together. As with the typical love story there are a bunch of twists and turns and being old I leave the book thinking " I give it 2 years tops".

The Wind Though the Keyhole: Stephen King

This was a strange book that was in the middle of the series, I think I will have to start in order as it was too sci fi to keep up when all these new ideas nd characters get added with special abilities.

Tuesday, August 7, 2018

We Know It Was You: Maggie Thrash

This was an adorable book aimed at a teen reader. The book takes place at a boarding school where some students are looking for some action away from the mundane daily school activities. Outcast Benny Flax wants to be a detective and starts a mystery club in order to gain a following. Instead he has one member, Virginia Leeds, who is also an outcast, but more popular and invited to things. Benny has solved one mystery, of a missing instrument and much to his horror is now called "Scoobie". At a Friday night football game that both Benny and Virginia attend, the mascot runs from the field into the woods where it throws itself off a bridge. Benny and Virginia solve the case, it was another student who hypnotized the mascot, but winter break happens, the student never comes back and she is never arrested for causing one death and almost completing another. It was kind of unfulfilling though in that the perpetrator is never brought to justice, but like real life in many cases.

The Fangs of Freelance: Drew Hayes

I liked the idea of this story, it was pretty original, I just had trouble getting into it. The narrator, Fred, is a vampire and works for a "parahuman" agency as an accountant. His girlfriend is "wild and exciting" and he is rather dull. He takes on a new assignment and he and his team have to stop a ghost from bringing unfathomably evil beings into the world. He also negotiates his girlfriend's earnings. The writer completely captures the dullness of the narration with the dullness of the character, but a lot of the dialog is...well...dull, I just kept waiting for something to happen. Actually lot of the action is unique and cool, but it's like listening to my dad (who is also an accountant) tell a story and my mind wandered a LOT.