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8. Lois Lane Tells All, by Karen Hawkins
Susan Collins is a huge fan of Lois Lane, to the point that she became a journalist. Now she is one of only two reporters for the sole newspaper in Glory, NC, and there aren't many big stories to investigate. Enter the new CFO of the paper, Mark Tremayne. He's a Clark Kent lookalike, and Susan finds him irresistible.
The story was good -- a newspaper reporter uncovering scandals in a small town while being extremely attracted to her new boss. However, the lack of a good editor pulled me out of the story in places. For example, a column was dated June 31st (June only has 30 days), Mark's tie hung askance (should be askew), and the Murder Mystery Club doesn't want anyone getting a peak at their dossiers (should be peek).
"Oh, you can’t help that," said the Cat: "we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad."
"How do you know I’m mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn’t have come here.”
- Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
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Merriwether
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#4 Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas (5th in Throne of Glass series) he long path to the throne has only just begun for Aelin Galathynius as war looms on the horizon. Loyalties have been broken and bought, friends have been lost and gained, and those who possess magic find themselves at odds with those who don’t.
With her heart sworn to the warrior-prince by her side, and her fealty pledged to the people she is determined to save, Aelin will delve into the depths of her power to protect those she loves. But as monsters emerge from the horrors of the past, and dark forces become poised to claim her world, the only chance for salvation will lie in a desperate quest that may mark the end of everything Aelin holds dear. Okay, now that I'm officially hooked, I figure I'm at the triumphant battle where the heroes win. That's not the case at all. I like that I can't predict where this series is going. But I don't like that the story is left at a critical point and I have to wait for the next book! #5 LaRose- A Novel by Louise Erditch North Dakota, late summer, 1999. Landreaux Iron stalks a deer along the edge of the property bordering his own. He shoots with easy confidence—but when the buck springs away, Landreaux realizes he’s hit something else, a blur he saw as he squeezed the trigger. When he staggers closer, he realizes he has killed his neighbor’s five-year-old son, Dusty Ravich. An interesting look into a culture I'm not that familiar with. #6 Me Before You by Joyo MoyesLouisa Clark is an ordinary girl living an exceedingly ordinary life—steady boyfriend, close family—who has never been farther afield than their tiny village. She takes a badly needed job working for ex-Master of the Universe Will Traynor, who is wheelchair-bound after an accident. Will has always lived a huge life—big deals, extreme sports, worldwide travel—and now he’s pretty sure he cannot live the way he is. This was well done. I was afraid it would be really sappy but there was some good character development. #7 Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents by Lindsay Gibson Practical insight as to what these people have grown up with and how it may have affected them. Joan
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9. Blink of an Eye, by Ted Dekker
Seth Borders, a mathematical genius at UC Berkeley, suddenly finds himself with the ability to see a few minutes into the future. Not long after this amazing ability starts, he rescues a fugitive Saudi Arabian princess named Miriam, who is fleeing a marriage that could bring down the Saudi government and put a new extremist government in its place.
Not a bad book, although I'm not sure why the author chose the Nizari as his extremists. The Nizari are the second largest branch of Shia Islam (and therefore not an obscure sect), and their philosophy emphasizes human reasoning, pluralism, and social justice (not the sort of philosophies that are generally the basis for extremism). An okay book, but I've read better.
"Oh, you can’t help that," said the Cat: "we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad."
"How do you know I’m mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn’t have come here.”
- Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
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Merriwether
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#8 Crisis of Character: A White House Secret Service Officer Discloses his Firsthand Experience with Hillary, Bill, and how They Operate by Gary J. Byrne
Lots of reminders of the Clinton scandals. Although I'm really not thrilled about Trump as president, I'm glad Hillary was not elected.
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10. Countdown, by Iris Johansen
In this entry in the Eve Duncan series, Eve's adopted daughter, Jane MacGuire, survives a sudden, shocking attack that leaves a friend dead. It soon becomes apparent that it wasn't just a random act of violence, and the attack is linked to a legend surrounding a chest of gold belonging to an ancient Roman actress, Cira, who may or may not ahve died in eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD.
This novel had a lot of build-up, and is apparently a direct sequel to an earlier novel in the series. There's a bad guy who collects antiquities, wants the gold, and is skilled at brainwashing people into becoming assassins or even suicide bombers. There's a guy from Jane's past who also wants the gold, but isn't a bad guy (but isn't exactly a good guy, either).
The novel built up well, but the resolution, what there was of it, was too fast and didn't mesh with the earlier part of the book.
"Oh, you can’t help that," said the Cat: "we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad."
"How do you know I’m mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn’t have come here.”
- Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
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Merriwether
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#9 The Painted Girls by Cathy Marie BuchananA gripping novel set in Belle Époque Paris and inspired by the real-life model for Degas’s Little Dancer Aged Fourteen and a notorious criminal trial of the era. This was a hard read. I liked the characters but felt very sorry for them. They worked so hard just to survive. Joan
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11. Big Trouble, by Dave Barry
This very funny thriller satirizes a whole subgenre of crime novels: the "lunatics in South Florida" subgenre. Hilarious, well-written, and just as relevant now as it was in 1995.
"Oh, you can’t help that," said the Cat: "we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad."
"How do you know I’m mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn’t have come here.”
- Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
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Merriwether
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#10 American Hookup: The New Culture of Sex on Campus by Lisa Wade
Eye-opening book describing potential benefits and risks of this culture.
Joan
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Merriwether
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#11 In Trump We Trust by Ann Coulter
I don't always agree with Ann Coulter and this holds true with this book. She did have a few interesting points.
Joan
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12. The Girl Who Played With Fire, by Stieg Larsson
In the sequel to The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Lisbeth Salander finds herself accused of the grisly triple murders of her guardian, a reporter, and a researcher. Mikael Blomkvist is not convinced of her guilt and works to find out what really happened.
This book was just as good as the first in the series, although the ending definitely sets the story up for the third book in the series, making it necessary to read the next book to get the whole story.
13. Skin Tight, by Carl Hiaasen
This satirical novel from 1989 sends up plastic surgery culture and shock TV (with a TV show and star based on Geraldo Rivera). It was funny in parts, gruesome in others (typical of Hiaasen's adult fiction), and definitely went for the gross-out several times.
14. Making Bombs for Hitler, by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch
10-year-old Lida and her younger sister, Larissa, are captured by the Germans when Germany invades the Ukraine and sent to Germany. There they are separated, and Lida lies about her age in order to not be sent to a hospital (where children were used as involuntary blood donors for soldiers on the front and also used in medical experiments; few survived). Her small, nimble hands make her perfect for making munitions, so she is sent to make bombs in a factory. Throughout the ordeal, her determination to find her sister again keeps her going, and the kindness of the friends she makes and even a few Germans help keep her alive.
This is a very powerful book, and very engrossing. I could feel what the main character was going through, and I got so into the book, which I was reading backstage while waiting for my parts in the play I'm taking part in, that when a cannon was fired onstage I half-believed it was a bomb falling on the roof of the building I was in. (The sound of the cannon is always startling anyway, but it was doubly so while reading this book.)
"Oh, you can’t help that," said the Cat: "we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad."
"How do you know I’m mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn’t have come here.”
- Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
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Merriwether
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#12 Sister by Rosamund LuptonNothing can break the bond between sisters ...When Beatrice gets a frantic call in the middle of Sunday lunch to say that her younger sister, Tess, is missing, she boards the first flight home to London. But as she learns about the circumstances surrounding her sister's disappearance, she is stunned to discover how little she actually knows of her sister's life Interesting mystery. Some of the logic, especially when it came to medical stuff, was flawed. The writer employs an interesting device to tell the story. It was entertaining but I wouldn't rank it as high as "Gone Girl" (as some reviewers have). Joan
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Merriwether
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#13 The Wednesday Sisters by Meg Walter Clayton
Set in the late 1060s, five women become friends while watching their children in the park. It was interesting to see the perspective of the characters on women's issues at the time.
Joan
Last edited by scifiJoan; 05/05/17 09:57 AM.
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#13 The Wednesday Sisters by Meg Walter Clayton
Set in the late 1060s, five women become friends while watching their children in the park. It was interesting to see the perspective of the characters on women's issues at the time.
Joan 1060's or 1960's?
"Oh, you can’t help that," said the Cat: "we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad."
"How do you know I’m mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn’t have come here.”
- Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
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Merriwether
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Oops, sorry - 1960s. The main part of the story spans roughly 1967 to 1975.
Last edited by scifiJoan; 05/07/17 10:28 AM.
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15. Strip Tease, by Carl Hiaasen
Murder, politics, and G-strings collide in this caper from Carl Hiaasen. Hilarity and chaos break out in a strip joint when a bachelor party gets out of hand, making the drunken guest of honor a threat to "big money" and "big government."
This is an entertaining book about an FBI employee turned stripper (in order to pay her lawyer, since she has a custody dispute with her sleazebag ex-husband). It satirizes politics, sex in politics, and the "family farmer" who is actually a part of Big Agra. It was made into a movie starring Demi Moore, which is apparently not so entertaining, but since I haven't seen it, I can only say that the book is a good read.
"Oh, you can’t help that," said the Cat: "we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad."
"How do you know I’m mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn’t have come here.”
- Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
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Merriwether
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#14 The Vanishing Year by Kate Moretti
A poor girl marries a seemingly perfect rich husband. But are things perfect?
I didn't like the main character. I was reading to see when things would fall apart. I easily predicted the "surprises'. Some aspects of the story didn't even make sense. I don't recommend this one.
Joan
Last edited by scifiJoan; 05/08/17 03:10 PM.
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Merriwether
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#15 In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware Nora hasn't seen Clare for ten years. Not since Nora walked out of school one day and never went back.
Until, out of the blue, an invitation to Clare’s hen do arrives. Is this a chance for Nora to finally put her past behind her?
But something goes wrong. Very wrong. Not a bad thriller. I didn't care much for the main character and some of the choices she made seemed foolish. The ending was predicatable. Joan
Last edited by scifiJoan; 05/12/17 08:17 PM.
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Merriwether
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#16 House of Lies by Linda RosencranceKelley Cannon was living the American Dream. The former prom queen had three beautiful children with her successful, handsome husband, Jim, and an elegant home in well-to-do Nashville. But when their housekeeper found Jim murdered, strangled to death as their children slept, the fairytale collapsed. Behind the facade, Kelley's glamorous lifestyle was being torn apart by infidelity, alcohol, and drug abuse. When she went from prime suspect to accused, a jury had to decide--How could a 90-pound woman overpower a grown man to death? This was the most boring true crime book I've ever read. The author essentially presented the court transcript and that was it. Joan
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Kerth
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Kerth
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I spent three hours this weekend reading "The Outsiders" by S.E. Hinton. My 8th grade son had to read it for his Language Arts class; he really liked it and wanted me to read it, too. It was fine, I suppose. I understand why he liked it - it was a very easy read with male characters. I thought it was simple, and that the plot developed in unrealistic ways. I looked up information on the book, and understand that it was written by a 16 year old, so the simplistic style makes sense, and I appreciate the "screw you" to the English teacher that gave her an F. I guess the best thing I can say about it is that it was good enough to make my son actually want to do his homework. 
You can find my stories as Groobie on the nfic archives and Susan Young on the gfic archives. In other words, you know me as Groobie. 
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I spent three hours this weekend reading "The Outsiders" by S.E. Hinton. My 8th grade son had to read it for his Language Arts class; he really liked it and wanted me to read it, too. It was fine, I suppose. I understand why he liked it - it was a very easy read with male characters. I thought it was simple, and that the plot developed in unrealistic ways. I looked up information on the book, and understand that it was written by a 16 year old, so the simplistic style makes sense, and I appreciate the "screw you" to the English teacher that gave her an F. I guess the best thing I can say about it is that it was good enough to make my son actually want to do his homework. I have 10 copies of that book in the high school library I run, and I can never keep them on the shelf. The kids love that book.
"Oh, you can’t help that," said the Cat: "we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad."
"How do you know I’m mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn’t have come here.”
- Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
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