Parlor Games: A Novel by Maryka Biaggio

I'll be honest,  I first picked up this book because I found the cover to be completely intriguing.  I am definitely one of those visual people who like a book with cover appeal.  This book has cover appeal and so much more!   The story takes place in the late 1800's - early 1900's.   May Dugas is a young woman, from the upper peninsula in Michigan, who goes to Chicago to make her way in the world.  Young May is audacious. She works every advantage that she has to make her way in life and to better the lives of her family.   

The story progresses from Chicago to San Francisco, to Tokyo to Canada, back to the Upper Penisula and on to New York,  London, places throughout Europe and even Eygpt.  All through her travels and many adventures, May's trail is dogged by a determined Pinkerton agent named Reed Doughterty.  He is determined to bring May to justice for daring to want better for herself in a man's world, but May could have some tricks left up her sleeve.  

The voice of the book is quite enjoyable.  It takes some interesting twists and turns, but all the while kept me engaged.  Glad I picked this one up. 

More Irish Magic..... The Mermaids Singing by Lisa Carey

This is the story of three generations of Irish women brought together by family, love, and tragedy. Cliona is a woman who has faced the consequences of her actions head one.  She is strong but often unreadable.  Her daughter, Grace, seems to struggle to find her place and happiness in this world.  Finally, Grace's daughter, Grainne, is left to deal with ramifications of all the decisions made by her mother and Grandmother.

At 15, Grainne finds herself motherless, meeting a Grandmother that she has never known and a father that she has yearned for.  This is Irish story telling at it's very best.  I love how Lisa Carey weaves the stories of these three very different women together.  She makes it so that the reader can understand and relate to each character, no matter how different their character or circumstances.  This is a beautiful story of love and loss and ultimately, redemption.  I enjoyed it thoroughly.  4 stars. 

Salvage the Bones.

I challenged myself to read authors with a variety of voices this year, and I'm so glad I did.  I initially chose this book as a book I thought would make me cry.  I knew it was about the days leading up to Hurricane Katrina and it's immediate aftermath.  I also suspected ( from the cover) that dogs and dog fighting were potentially involved.  It seemed like a good choice for that category.  What I found though, instead of just tragedy, was a book about overcoming tragedy and salvaging the best that you can from the life you are given.

Usually I have difficulty relating to characters that are so very different than myself and my own life experiences. ( Just being brutally honest here)  But I enjoyed meeting Esch and every member of her family: Daddy, Randall, Skeetah and Junior.  I found myself relating to Esch, a young girl struggling to figure out who she is in a world that can be very complicated.  I loved all her references to Greek mythology because, at her age, I also loved those stories about brave heroes and defeating the odds. 

The character that surprised me the most is Skeetah.  He has an all white pit bull, named China.  At the beginning of the story, she is having puppies.  I was amazed at how Skeetah's love for China consumed him and how he works so hard to save her and her puppies.  I thought I would hate Skeetah because of his involvement in dog fighting, but instead, I found myself viewing the events from his perspective.

I am really glad I read this book.  5 out of 5 stars for opening my eyes to a different life.

The Truth about Faking

I read a lot of YA novels - mostly to read ahead of my voracious daughters.  I do enjoy a good YA novel though, so sometimes it is just for me.  I have to say that the title intrigued me about this one.  Of course it starts out that Harley ( the girl) is trying to get with Trent, but he's just not that into her.  She decides that the best way to get his attention is to make him jealous.  Enter the "fake" boyfriend, Jason. That's all pretty cliche but it certainly isn't the entirety of what this book is about.  

What Harley finds through the course of this book is that everyone is faking.  Everyone hides a secret - even her.  I really liked the surprising ways that this book moved and told a much bigger story.   I can't say more without spoilers, so I will just say, 4/5 stars.  

The Good Girl

Ok, so maybe mysteries just are't my thing.  The last two books that promised to be "the next Gone Girl"  ( this one and The Girl on the Train) were both anything BUT. This one is a debut novel.  The writing was above mediocre but I definitely had my problems with this one.

First of all, the cover thinks it's being clever- it isn't.  In fact, for me, it gave the entire plot twist away.  I had the majority of the plot figured out by about page 20.  Clearly not Gone Girl. 

Secondly, the plot is choppy moving not just between characters but also jumping timelines.  Really?  I felt like I had to keep asking myself ok, so which character's perspective is this again?  And is it before or after the "event"?   While I'm busy setting the time frame, I can't be engrossed in the story.

More than likely I will never read another book by this author again.  I felt like this one was a complete waste of my time.  Would love to hear the thoughts of anyone with a different opinion of this one.  As it is, I'm sorry I wasted my time and effort on it.

Falling from Grace - Supernatural Romance

Ok,  I have to admit it, I have a weakness for a good story about angels.  Especially dark, brooding angels with dark hair and eyes. If you enjoy supernatural romance, this book is extremely easy to read and very enjoyable.  I plan on reading the rest of the series to satisfy the trilogy requirement of the PopSugar Reading challenge.

So, if I liked it so much, why only 4 stars?  Well, in my mind, I started to compare it to Twilight - a book that I abhor.  I realized that many of the qualities that I didn't like in Twilight were also present to a degree in this book.  What qualities, you ask?  Well, how about a heroine would doesn't appreciate her own self worth?  Although I must say that Grace is much stronger than Bella Swan could ever be.  When offered immortality, unlike Bella, Grace chooses her humanity.  She embraces all those things that make her unique.  She definitely grows throughout the course of the story. 

Also, Robert's initial behavior toward Graham was Edward/Jacob - esque. I thought it was wrong that Grace would stay away from her friend simply because Robert had issues controlling his jealousy.  That said, in the end, Robert and Graham do find a way to come together and Robert conquers his jealousy, learning to trust Grace.  So while there were some Twilight like moments, in the end, I think these characters rise to the occasion, something which never occurs in Twilight. 

The Luxe by Anna Godbersen

This book was, once upon a time, a free Friday nook download.  I had nigh hopes of it being the series of books that I used for my Trilogy for the PopSugar Reading challenge.  Turns out that it will most likely go under my book with bad reviews.  You see, on goodreads, it had many well - written reviews which were less than sparkling.  To be fair, it definitely has it's fans as well.   Since it was free, I thought - nothing ventured, nothing gained.

It's a romance novel - essentially.  While the writing style is good, none of the characters are ever particularly well developed. I never really felt like there was a single character that I could relate to. root for except for, perhaps, Will - the least developed character in the story.

 The plot was absurd, at best.   It was difficult for eve this sci-fi lover to suspend disbelief and that is saying something. There are so many aspects of the plot that completely defy reason but, on the off chance that someone still wants to read this book, I won't give spoilers here.  If you choose to read it, proceed with caution and see for yourself.  I won't be pursuing the remainder of the series.  On to other things.

I Don't Usually Do Short Stories...

but for the PopSugar Reading challenge this was one of the subjects. I think the thing that I usually don't enjoy about them is the disjoint nature of them.  I'm always looking for some commonality - some prevailing theme that each story shares.  That is what I liked about this choice - When it Happens to You by Molly Ringwald - even though each story is independent, they are inter-related.

So Molly Ringwald - you heard that right!  As in the Pretty in Pink girl that everyone wanted to be in the 80's.  I have to say that I chose this book, at least in part, because, being a child of the 80's, I loved her so much.  It turns out that she is an amazing writer and I was more than pleasantly surprised.  I loved that while each story could be read alone, they all had a common link.  In some cases, the link took a little while to discover, but it was always there.  I loved that I could relate to most of the characters, except Phillip.  I could feel what they were feeling and relate to the situations that they found themselves in.  This book is well written and highly enjoyable.  It also makes you think and encourages reflection.  I would recommend it highly - 5/5 stars.  

The Truth about Alice

I guess the cover of this book is really what got me interested in it.  It seemed, from the cover, to have a similar plot to other books I have read, most noticeably by Laurie Halsie - Anderson.  Still, there was just something about it that spoke to me, so I decided to read it.  I'm really glad that I did.

This is the first book I have ever read of Jennifer Matthieu's, but it won't be the last.  The story is about a girl named Alice, who is going to be a junior in high school.  She is a popular girl, but not the queen bee.  The story is mainly about what happens to Alice when people start spreading horrible lies about her and how quickly people, even her friends, are to believe them. 

Sociology was one of my favorite classes in school - understanding why groups of people behave in the ways they do and what makes them behave that way.  The changes in behavior that her friends exhibit don't happen over night for Alice, but they do happen and seem to be easier and easier for people as time goes on.

Alice is an extremely strong heroine and yet, we don't have a single chapter from her perspective until the very last one.  The entire story is moved through the point of view of others.  It is extremely well done.  I loved this book and admired Alice's ability to rise above the stupidity of others.  She reminded me of my daughter, though thankfully, nothing terrible like this has happened to her. 

It's a great read, and easy.  I read it in less than a day but the story, and it's lessons, will stay with me for a long time. 

Oh, and for those of you who know me, it totally didn't hurt that there were numerous Outsiders references in this one.  Gotta love my Ponyboy.  Stay gold, everyone.