Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Off Topic 50 Book Challenge 2022/What I've Read in 2022

#47 The Measure by Nikki Erlick


I was excited about this premise and actually bought the book. I liked the ideas but for some reason, it just never really hooked me.

#48 A Family Affair by Robyn Carr

After her husband dies in an accident, Anna learns he had secrets.

Not bad for chick lit. This is the author who wrote the books Virgin River is based on.

#49 Small Pleasures by Claire Chambers

Set in the 1950s, Jean has a small, predictable life, working at the local paper and taking care of her mother. Then a story about a woman claiming she gave birth without a husband changes her life.

This book started off very slowly. I figured out the mystery of the virgin birth way before Jean did. I did grow to like Jean and felt for her loneliness. The ending felt like it came out of nowhere. An epilogue would've been nice.

#50 City of Likes by Jenny Mollen

A young mother befriends an Instagram influencer and gets caught up in her world.



#51 Of Boys and Men by Richard Reeves

Excellent book presenting evidence of boys/mens issues that society needs to address.

#52 The Maid by Nita Prose



A light mystery. Molly is likeable yet it is a little confusing as to why she's treated as she is, when it is clear she's on the autism spectrum.

#53 100 Years of Lennie and Margo by Marianne Cronin


A terminally ill 17 year old and and 80 year old woman meet in the art room of the hospital and become friends. Not bad, just not compelling reading.

#37 Kingdom Keepers 4 - Power Play by Ridley Pearson

The Overtakers attempt to take over a power plant.

#38 - Kingdom Keepers 5 - Shell Game by Ridley Pearson

The Keepers join a Disney cruise, only to be in more peril than they ever were on land.

Both books were okay but I'm a bigger fan of the parks, so that's the bigger draw for me. The cruise thing just isn't really doing it for me, although I do enjoy cruising.

#39 - Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry

Kira was born with a twisted leg. After her mother dies, the elders in the community she lives in must decide if they will allow her to stay (and live) or be banished to die alone in the wilderness. But Kira has a special gift - her sewing abilities, and for a community that thrives on memories of the past, she is selected to repair the Ceremonial Robe used each year at the retelling of their history.

Book Two in the Giver Quartet. It's by far the least compelling story but the similarities and differences between Kira's community and the one Jonas inhibits in the first book are striking and allow for the book to still be a good, fulfilling read.

#40 Messenger by Lois Lowry

Matty (formerly known as Matt in the previous book) has successfully escaped the community he and Kira once lived in. He's made a new life for himself in a new place - one that welcomes people fleeing from harsh communities and those with disabilities. Here, everyone has a True Name based on their job/skills - like Miller, or Mentor (the teacher), or Leader. Matty, who loves to travel to other places through Forest, hopes to one day become Messenger. But a darkness is brewing and Forest is becoming violent...and Matty must make one final journey through Forest to both collect Kira and to let the other places know that Village will be closing...

A good, solid read that finally begins to weave together the threads of the first two books, bringing both Kira and Jonas into a universe where they coexist and where the reader can now understand why this is a quartet.

#41 Lucas on The Line by Suyi Davies

Lucas Sinclair is about to enter a place more dangerous than the Upside Down - high school. His student mentor convinces him to go and try out for the basketball team, which Lucas does because, hey, the other guy has the same skin tone as he does. As a result, his relationships with his best friends and girlfriend (still mourning the loss of her abusive stepbrother over that summer to the Mind Flayer) suffer. He abandons his love for Dungeons and Dragons, he is snippy and short with his friends, and he completely loses his girlfriend when she breaks up with him. It's only when his teammates posse up to harm Eddie, the high school stoner/D&D master/weirdo/guy who has flunked so badly he's way older than everyone else that Lucas snaps out of his selfishness and actively goes to help his friends.

I wanted to like this book. I liked Robin's story. I liked Max's story. But this one just felt wrong. The author spends 99% of his time brining up race that it's unpleasant and totally out of character for Lucas, who has brought up his skintone so infrequently on Stranger Things that I can probably count it on one hand. If this had been more central to the character, I would have overlooked it and chalked it up to "yeah, that's how he is," but the Lucas presented on the show simply isn't like that. And then there were other rookie missteps - like constantly calling The Mind Flayer the "Spider Monster." It always pulled me straight out of the story and finishing the tale became an unpleasant chore.

#42 Son by Lois Lowry

The 4th and final installment of The Giver. They called her Water Claire. She was a woman who was found at sea, rescued, and brought to live in a rustic community. She was a blank slate, unable to remember much of her past or why she had left the place where she'd grown up. There, she'd been a Vessel. She'd carried and grown a Product in her body. The Product had been ripped from her body and taken away and she'd been cast aside to work in the Fish Hatchery instead, because the difficulty in Producing had ruined her body. She had vowed to find that Product, knowing only that he was her son, not even knowing for sure what the committee had planned to call him.

This one is divided into 3 books - the first focusing on Claire's life back in the community of her birth. It details her Production, her subsequent dismissal and reassignment, her struggle to connect with Newchild she'd borne. Book 2 details her life after leaving the community behind, her amnesia, and her slow to return memories. It focuses on her extreme efforts to escape the easy life she'd come to know and love, in an effort to reconnect with her son, even making a terrible deal to help her on her quest. Book 3 is less about her - now years later - but more about the son she's found but who still doesn't know who she is. But he must come to believe the impossible and with all haste so that he can face the evil that threatens her life.

After The Giver (which is one of my favorite books ever), this is a clear and close second for me. Part of it is just knowing the desperation Claire feels in wanting to find her son. As a mom, I get it and would also go to the ends of the world for my daughters. Part of it is just the adventure of it. But it's my favorite of the sequels and the story by far blows the other two out of the water.

#54 American Girls: Social Media and the Secret Lives of Teenagers by Nancy Jo Sales



As the parent of two kids now in their early twenties, this book was horrifying. While I agree with some of her points, there were one or two that I most definitely did not. The author actually cited those sources that had conflicting viewpoints (which I had previously read). Frankly, I thought the other books were better researched on those particular points. Overall, I agree that social media has created some bad situations.

#55 The Lifestyle by Taylor Hahn


When Georgina catches her husband in the act of cheating with her mentee, she decides to save her marriage by participating in the swinger lifestyle. A light read. a diversion. Predictable plot. The main character wasn't that likeable and didn't show as much growth as I would've hoped for.

#56 The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles


I'm not sure about this one. I didn't hate it. But I didn't love it either. I was expecting a different type of road trip. I had trouble relating to some of the characters.