I am on a reading role right now. I am picking up a book before I turn on the TV and reading in bed right until James makes me turn the light out. I've read 19 books of my 25 book goal for 2017 so I am feeling pretty confident that I'll make it! This is my review of the last 5 books I read.
Fierce Kingdom - Gin Phillips
The zoo is nearly empty as Joan and her four-year-old son soak up the last few moments of playtime. They are happy, and the day has been close to perfect. But what Joan sees as she hustles her son toward the exit gate minutes before closing time sends her sprinting back into the zoo, her child in her arms. And for the next three hours—the entire scope of the novel—she keeps on running.
I found this book in the new and notable section of the library after we had discussed it at book club. It had so much potential but it was just okay. It was kind of creepy just given it takes place at a zoo, somewhere the kids and I used to go often, but the story lacked a lot of key plot elements. Like the why? When the book was over I had many unanswered questions which left me kind of feeling like I wasted all those hours reading the book. I guess I just expected more.
My rating: 2 stars
Good reads rating: 3.57
The Sleeping Beauty Killer - Mary Higgins Clark
Casey Carter was convicted of murdering her fiancé—famed philanthropist Hunter Raleigh III—fifteen years ago. And Casey claims—has always claimed—she’s innocent. Although she was charged and served out her sentence in prison, she is still living “under suspicion.” She hears whispers at the grocery store. She can’t get a job. Even her own mother treats her like she’s guilty. Her story attracts the attention of Laurie Moran and the Under Suspicion news team—it’s Casey’s last chance to finally clear her name, and Laurie pledges to exonerate her.
I found this book on the new and notable book shelf at the library as well. I'll tell you a little secret, Mary Higgins Clark is my guilty pleasure. Most would say they aren't the best books, but when I grab a MHC book I know that I am going to love it. There is a good murder mystery that is exciting and a fast read. Those are my favorite ones! I actually figured this one out on my own which rarely happens so if you don't like an ending that is easy to see this one may not be for you.
My rating: 5 stars
Good reads rating: 3.91
I Found You - Lisa Jewel
In a windswept British seaside town, single mom Alice Lake finds a man sitting on the beach outside her house. He has no name, no jacket, and no idea how he got there. Against her better judgment, she invites him inside.
Meanwhile, in a suburb of London, twenty-one-year-old Lily Monrose has only been married for three weeks. When her new husband fails to come home from work one night she is left stranded in a new country where she knows no one. Then the police tell her that her husband never existed.
Two decades of secrets, a missing husband, and a man with no memory are at the heart of this brilliant new novel, filled with the “beautiful writing, believable characters, pacey narrative, and dark secrets” (London Daily Mail) that make Lisa Jewell so beloved by audiences on both sides of the Atlantic.
We read this one for book club and I loved it. While some parts were less than believable, i.e. letting a stranger come into live with your family, there were so many twists that I didn't see come. I thought I had it figured out and I was 100% wrong. I'm sure that this book has been compared to Girl on the Train and Gone Girl and I may just agree on this one!
My rating: 5 stars
Good reads rating: 4.02
A House in the Sky, Amanda Lindhout
As a child, Amanda Lindhout escaped a violent household by paging through issues of National Geographic and imagining herself in its exotic locales. At the age of nineteen, working as a cocktail waitress in Calgary, Alberta, she began saving her tips so she could travel the globe. Aspiring to understand the world and live a significant life, she backpacked through Latin America, Laos, Bangladesh, and India, and emboldened by each adventure, went on to Sudan, Syria, and Pakistan. In war-ridden Afghanistan and Iraq she carved out a fledgling career as a television reporter. And then, in August 2008, she traveled to Somalia—“the most dangerous place on earth.” On her fourth day, she was abducted by a group of masked men along a dusty road.
Held hostage for 460 days, Amanda converts to Islam as a survival tactic, receives “wife lessons” from one of her captors, and risks a daring escape. Moved between a series of abandoned houses in the desert, she survives on memory—every lush detail of the world she experienced in her life before captivity—and on strategy, fortitude, and hope. When she is most desperate, she visits a house in the sky, high above the woman kept in chains, in the dark, being tortured.
This has been my favorite book of the year. By far. I just loved it. I'm not sure if it is because the woman abducted was from Alberta and actually worked in some locations right in my city. It could be that it is a true story. Or maybe it's just because of how she describes her experience in words. I was hooked from the first page and couldn't put it down. When I was done reading it I kept googling it and reading every article I could get my hands on. Amanda is back in the news right now as she takes the stand to testify against one of her captors. This is a must read.
My rating: 5 stars
Good reads rating: 4.20
The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion
Don Tillman, professor of genetics, has never been on a second date. He is a man who can count all his friends on the fingers of one hand, whose lifelong difficulty with social rituals has convinced him that he is simply not wired for romance. So when an acquaintance informs him that he would make a “wonderful” husband, his first reaction is shock. Yet he must concede to the statistical probability that there is someone for everyone, and he embarks upon The Wife Project. In the orderly, evidence-based manner with which he approaches all things, Don sets out to find the perfect partner. She will be punctual and logical—most definitely not a barmaid, a smoker, a drinker, or a late-arriver.
Yet Rosie Jarman is all these things. She is also beguiling, fiery, intelligent—and on a quest of her own. She is looking for her biological father, a search that a certain DNA expert might be able to help her with. Don's Wife Project takes a back burner to the Father Project and an unlikely relationship blooms, forcing the scientifically minded geneticist to confront the spontaneous whirlwind that is Rosie—and the realization that love is not always what looks good on paper.
I really expected to like this book. I just didn't. Every one else seems to have enjoyed it but it just wasn't my jam. I did read the whole thing and if you are in my book club you know that if I don't like a book I have no problem just putting it down and never picking it back up. So the fact that I finished this book says something.
My rating: 3 stars
Good reads rating: 4.01
Do you have any good book recommendations for me?
