book review

BOOK REVIEW: Fairy Tale by Stephen King

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Title: Fairy Tale

Author: Stephen King

Audiobook Length: 24 hours and 6 minutes

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Genre: Fiction, Horror, Fantasy

Read Start Date: December 23, 2022

Read Finish Date: February 13, 2023

Brief Summary of the Plot from Goodreads: Legendary storyteller Stephen King goes deep into the well of his imagination in this spellbinding novel about a seventeen-year-old boy who inherits the keys to a parallel world where good and evil are at war, and the stakes could not be higher—for their world or ours.

Charlie Reade looks like a regular high school kid, great at baseball and football, a decent student. But he carries a heavy load. His mom was killed in a hit-and-run accident when he was ten, and grief drove his dad to drink. Charlie learned how to take care of himself—and his dad. Then, when Charlie is seventeen, he meets Howard Bowditch, a recluse with a big dog in a big house at the top of a big hill. In the backyard is a locked shed from which strange sounds emerge, as if some creature is trying to escape. When Mr. Bowditch dies, he leaves Charlie the house, a massive amount of gold, a cassette tape telling a story that is impossible to believe, and a responsibility far too massive for a boy to shoulder.

Because within the shed is a portal to another world—one whose denizens are in peril and whose monstrous leaders may destroy their own world, and ours. In this parallel universe, where two moons race across the sky, and the grand towers of a sprawling palace pierce the clouds, there are exiled princesses and princes who suffer horrific punishments; there are dungeons; there are games in which men and women must fight each other to the death for the amusement of the “Fair One.” And there is a magic sundial that can turn back time.

A story as old as myth, and as startling and iconic as the rest of King’s work, Fairy Tale is about an ordinary guy forced into the hero’s role by circumstance, and it is both spectacularly suspenseful and satisfying.

My Review: Stephen King is one of my favorite authors and he is a brilliant story teller and writer. That being said, Fairy Tale was not among my favorites of his books. With elements of King’s Dark Tower series, and express mention of Grimm fairy tales, and other fairy tales and myths in the book itself, Fairy Tale felt like a retelling or a reimaging of old stories in King’s own style. Told in the first person, Charlie Reade even alludes to certain fairy tales by telling us, the readers, that this aspect of the story reminded him of Rumpelstiltskin, or that Charlie himself was like Jack, climbing the beanstalk to fight giants.

The first 30% of the book was probably my favorite, and it was literally ALL backstory. Charlie’s elderly neighbor Howard Bowditch takes a nasty spill, and Charlie (to atone for some bone headed stuff he did when he was younger) takes on a care-taker role, feeding Howard’s elderly German Shepard Radar, doing chores around the house, etc. There is some weird stuff going on in the shed in Howard’s backyard, but this takes second seat to the friendship developing between Charlie and Howard and Charlie and Radar.

When Howard dies suddenly of a heart attack, Charlie becomes not only the owner of Radar, but the owner of Howard’s house and all his possessions as well, including the weird shed and the even weirder noises that emanate from inside. Charlie learns that inside the shed is a gateway to another world, one that is in peril — one that holds a magical sundial that can turn back time and make the dying Radar young again.

The book held my attention up until the point when Radar was restored to youth, but when Charlie is captured by the evil forces threatening the realm and imprisoned, the story took a real noise dive into Snoozeville. The audiobook is 24 hours long, and at this point in the story, I felt every second of it. I feel like a lot of the details about this portion of the book could have been cut and the book wouldn’t have been worse for it (possibly it could have been better).

If you are new to Stephen King I would suggest reading some of his earlier work before picking up this one.

Other Bloggers:

Space and Sorcery captures my thoughts so exactly, that I think you NEED to read his/her/their blog about it! You can find the same by clicking on the link here.

BOOK REVIEW: It Starts With Us by Colleen Hoover

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Title: It Starts With Us

Author: Colleen Hoover

Book Length: 323 pages

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Genre: Fiction, Romance, Contemporary, Chick Lit

Read Start Date: January 31, 2023

Read Finish Date: February 9, 2023

Number in Book Series: 2

Brief Summary of the Plot from Goodreads: Before It Ends with Us, it started with Atlas. Colleen Hoover tells fan favorite Atlas’s side of the story and shares what comes next in this long-anticipated sequel to the “glorious and touching” (USA TODAY) #1 New York Times bestseller It Ends with Us.

Lily and her ex-husband, Ryle, have just settled into a civil coparenting rhythm when she suddenly bumps into her first love, Atlas, again. After nearly two years separated, she is elated that for once, time is on their side, and she immediately says yes when Atlas asks her on a date.

But her excitement is quickly hampered by the knowledge that, though they are no longer married, Ryle is still very much a part of her life—and Atlas Corrigan is the one man he will hate being in his ex-wife and daughter’s life.

Switching between the perspectives of Lily and Atlas, It Starts with Us picks up right where the epilogue for the “gripping, pulse-pounding” (Sarah Pekkanen, author of Perfect Neighbors) bestselling phenomenon It Ends with Us left off. Revealing more about Atlas’s past and following Lily as she embraces a second chance at true love while navigating a jealous ex-husband, it proves that “no one delivers an emotional read like Colleen Hoover” (Anna Todd, New York Times bestselling author).

My Review: As of the writing of this review, It Starts with Us is on the NY Times best seller’s list at the #2 spot, the first spot being taken by It Ends With Us. In fact, Colleen Hoover pretty much dominates the NY Times best seller’s list with all her books. The book has around 4 stars on Goodreads. Yet, I struggled to give the book 3 stars.

The things that I liked: 1) Hoover’s descriptions of the characters interactions; and 2) Hoover’s writing style. Hoover writes an engaging story with prose that sucks the reader in. So while I found it hard to put down, it wasn’t without the eye rolls and the groans of annoyance (mostly when it got too sappy).

What I didn’t like: 1) Hoover’s portrayal of Ryle. Why is it that he is ONLY violent toward Lily? As an aggressive person, wouldn’t he have problems with other relationships in his life e.g. his sister? Why has he never gotten in trouble at work? If he is prone to violent outbursts, why are these outbursts ONLY toward Lily? It honestly never made sense to me, even in the first book. It was like Hoover had to have a redeeming quality to Ryle so that the reader felt pity for him or something. Well, I never felt pity for him, and it annoyed me that anyone in either book did, including Lily. In the second book he is more of an ass without any redeeming qualities at all, but I guess that is to be expected as in the first book Lily saw him through rose colored glasses.

2) Which brings me to my second point. Why in the hell would Lily EVER EVER EVER voluntarily agree to let Ryle have their daughter, Emerson for unsupervised visits? I mean, wouldn’t she fight tooth and nail in court to have only supervised visits, if any visits at all? Lily is worried that Ryle will hurt Emerson and so only allows daytime visits. Huh? Because violence only occurs after dark?

Secondly, on the Ryle topic, by the end of the book he calms down A LOT regarding the Atlas and Lily thing…this was something completely out of character for him. I wasn’t the only one to think so. Robyn Reads Books states: “If I’m being honest I wouldn’t have expected Ryle to calm down and be civil like he did, I thought there would have been a lot more pushback first but I guess it couldn’t really be written that way without extending the book another 100 pages to have it gradually happen.”

Other than that, the book was plot light and character heavy. We learn more about Atlas’s past, which was interesting. We get to see Lily and Atlas finally get together, which is what I understand Hoover’s fans literally asked for. From what I understood of Hoover’s Afterward, she had never intended to write a sequel, but did so at the request of her fans. I thought this was pretty well done seeing as she pulled new characters out of the air, but somehow made them fit into the story, to a large extent (although at times I had to wonder why — like Theo the 12-year old son of Atlas’s employee that Atlas uses as a “therapist”??)

Since I feel like I’m on the other end of what lots of people think is a great book, I wanted to read some other blog posts about it.

I really loved AceReader’s blog review. She literally shares every thought she had while reading the book and at times I laughed out loud.

Life According to Jamie loved the book.

Anyway, as you can see above, there are some mixed reviews, feelings, and thoughts about the book. If you liked It Ends With Us, chances are you will like this sequel, if for no other reason than you want to see Lily finally have the happy ending she deserves.

Other Books in the Series:

Title: It Ends With Us

Author: Colleen Hoover

Audiobook Length: 11 hours and 11 minutes

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Genre: Fiction, Romance, Contemporary, Sociology

Read Start Date: January 2, 2022

Read Finish Date: January 5, 2022

Number in Book Series: 1

Brief Summary of the Plot from Goodreads: Sometimes it is the one who loves you who hurts you the most.

Lily hasn’t always had it easy, but that’s never stopped her from working hard for the life she wants. She’s come a long way from the small town in Maine where she grew up — she graduated from college, moved to Boston, and started her own business. So when she feels a spark with a gorgeous neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid, everything in Lily’s life suddenly seems almost too good to be true.

Ryle is assertive, stubborn, maybe even a little arrogant. He’s also sensitive, brilliant, and has a total soft spot for Lily. And the way he looks in scrubs certainly doesn’t hurt. Lily can’t get him out of her head. But Ryle’s complete aversion to relationships is disturbing. Even as Lily finds herself becoming the exception to his “no dating” rule, she can’t help but wonder what made him that way in the first place.

As questions about her new relationship overwhelm her, so do thoughts of Atlas Corrigan — her first love and a link to the past she left behind. He was her kindred spirit, her protector. When Atlas suddenly reappears, everything Lily has built with Ryle is threatened.

See my review of It End With Us here.

BOOK REVIEW: The Tower by William Pauley III

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Title: The Tower

Author: William Pauley III

Audiobook Length: 2 hours and 23 minutes

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Genre: Fiction, Horror, Short Story

Read Start Date: January 27, 2023

Read Finish Date: January 31, 2023

Number of Book in Series: 1

Brief Summary of the Plot from Goodreads: Something is happening to the residents of Eighth Block Tower…

There’s radiation in the walls. Salt covers the hallways. The food and water are poisonous. A giant green brain pulsates under the roof, pumping electric venom throughout the apartment building. The residents are trapped and losing their minds.

Sanity is a myth. Sickness is life.

My Review: I received this book from NetGalley and exchange for an honest review. The Tower is the first book in the “Bedlam Series.” I wasn’t sure what to think of this book. It was a little trippy, like what all the movies portray an acid trip to be like. But it was also a little confusing.

Although a novella, the book seems to be split into 2 separate stories. Both take place in the “Eighth Block Tower,” which is more or less an apartment building with radiation in the walls. At least that’s what the inhabitants say. The inhabitants themselves are strange. Some might even say “radiated” or “mutated.” They are too weird to leave, even if they want to.

The first story is about a killer who starts killing the women of the building. The twist at the end was weird and a little off putting.

The second story is about someone who works at a meat facility located at the apartment complex (also somehow strange). I didn’t really get the point of this story. The ending is weird and also confusing.

I read some reviews on Goodreads that said there was a third story…but actually I’m not sure what that one was…

What I did like was the futurist atmosphere of the place. But this also left me with unanswered questions. What was the outside world like? What was society like? Why were these people at this building? There were so many interesting elements of this story that weren’t explored. I’m giving it 4 stars despite the confusion because it was just so damn intriguing, the writing was good, and the idea was imaginative.

Hopefully, my questions will be addressed in the next book, which I definitely will be reading.

Reviews Published
Professional Reader
10 Book Reviews

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

BOOK REVIEW: Briardark by S.A. Harian

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Title: Briardark

Author: S.A. Harian

Audiobook Length: 10 hours and 33 minutes

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Genre: Fiction, Horror, Mystery, Thriller

Read Start Date: January 19, 2023

Read Finish Date: January 22, 2023

Number of Book in Series: 1

Brief Summary of the Plot from Goodreads: For Dr. Siena Dupont and her ambitious team, the Alpenglow glacier expedition is a career-defining opportunity. But thirty miles into the desolate Deadswitch Wilderness, they discover a missing hiker dangling from a tree, and their satellite phone fails to call out.

Then the body vanishes without a trace.

The disappearance isn’t the only chilling anomaly. Siena’s map no longer aligns with the trail. The glacier they were supposed to study has inexplicably melted. Strange foliage overruns the mountainside, and a tunnel within a tree hollow lures Siena to a hidden cabin, and a stranger with a sinister message…

Holden Sharpe’s IT job offers little distraction from his wasted potential until he stumbles upon a decommissioned hard drive and an old audio file. Trapped on a mountain, Dr. Siena Dupont recounts an expedition in chaos and the bloody death of a colleague.

Entranced by the mystery, Holden searches for answers to Siena’s fate. But he is unprepared for the truth that will draw him to the outskirts of Deadswitch Wilderness—a place teeming with unfathomable nightmares and impossibilities.

My Review: I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank God there is a sequel to this book planned because I NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS!

Dr. Siena Dupont leads a team into the Deadswitch Wilderness to research the Alpenglow glacier. When they get there, though, the glacier is inexplicably gone. How can a glacier melt entirely within a few days? But that isn’t the only strange thing. Time seems to pass differently in this part of the forest, with saplings turning to full-grown trees in a matter of days.

Then they find a dead body in a tree that Siena and Cam swear is a hiker that went missing in the wilderness 7 years ago. But how can it be her? The body is a body, not a skeleton.

It’s almost as if an alternate reality, where time passes differently, was bleeding into the Deadswitch Wilderness and causing all these weird anomalies. Would Siena and her team make it out before it was too late?

I listened to this book as an audiobook and got through it in about 3 days. I wanted to find out what was happening. A nail-biter from the beginning, this book was fast-paced and super engaging. This book had it all: mystery, thrills, horror, and an overall creepiness factor. The tension never quit! I love that in a book. It’s not so often that I am so enthralled with a book; it was disappointing to put it down.

Even though the book was plot-driven, the author also developed the characters well, which doesn’t always happen in plot-driven books.

This book deserved every one of its 5 stars, and I can’t wait until the next book.

Reviews Published
Professional Reader
10 Book Reviews

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

BOOK REVIEW: The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan

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Title: The Bookshop on the Corner

Author: Jenny Colgan

Book Length: 384 pages

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Genre: Fiction, Romance, Chick Lit, Books about Books, Contemporary, Scotland

Read Start Date: November 18, 2022

Read Finish Date: January 26, 2023

Number in Book Series: 1

Brief Summary of the Plot from Goodreads: Nina Redmond is a literary matchmaker. Pairing a reader with that perfect book is her passion… and also her job. Or at least it was. Until yesterday, she was a librarian in the hectic city. But now the job she loved is no more.

Determined to make a new life for herself, Nina moves to a sleepy village many miles away. There she buys a van and transforms it into a bookmobile—a mobile bookshop that she drives from neighborhood to neighborhood, changing one life after another with the power of storytelling.

From helping her grumpy landlord deliver a lamb, to sharing picnics with a charming train conductor who serenades her with poetry, Nina discovers there’s plenty of adventure, magic, and soul in a place that’s beginning to feel like home… a place where she just might be able to write her own happy ending.

My Review: Nina has always had a dream of owning her own bookstore. When she loses her job as a librarian in Birmingham, she heads to the Scottish Highlands to purchase a van that would be perfect to house a mobile bookshop. Nina hits a snag when the gruff seller won’t sell it to her. With the help of the book-starved inhabitants of Kirrinfief, the seller finally relents. The townspeople are disappointed when Nina tells them she doesn’t intend to open her shop in Kirrinfief.

While Nina had originally planned to open the shop in Birmingham, red tape prevents her from doing so. Reluctantly, she returns to Kirrinfief and rents a renovated barn from a stubborn, abrasive, hunky farmer, who goes by the name of Lennox. He is in the midst of a bitter divorce, and is more rude than welcoming. It is obvious, however, that this guy will be the love interest by the end of the book.

Despite her initial hesitance, Nina soon becomes enamored with the Scottish Highlands and its people.

One night, Nina is driving in the van, and she stalls on the train tracks as a train is coming. Luckily, the train stops. She meets Marek, the gorgeous and kind train operator from Latvia (he is living in Birmingham). They soon fall into a romantic exchange –they leave notes and books for each other by hanging them on the tree next to the spot where they first met. The romance is more emotional than physical, as they rarely see each other, and it is ill fated from the start.

By the end though, Nina is where (and with whom) she should be and has her own “happy ever after”.

I started reading this book back in November, 2022, when my daughter was in the hospital with a bad case of bronchitis. I needed something light and fluffy, and this book fit the bill. Jenny Colgan writes with a nice and easy prose that begs the eyes to keep reading. It took me a while to finish it, because recently I’ve only had time to read at bedtime, and I have been trying to read paperbacks before bed (to avoid screens). As I was reading this via the library app Libby on my ipad, I turned to this book only when my mood couldn’t handle the subject matter of the true crime books I’ve been reading.

It is a bit sappy in parts — like how Nina calls her bookshop “The Little Shop of Happy-Ever-After” — but overall a good book.

This is a great read for when you are in a bad or sad mood and need something light and uplifting.

BOOK REVIEW: The Book Woman’s Daughter by Kim Michele Richardson

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Title: The Book Woman’s Daughter

Author: Kim Michele Richardson

Audiobook Length: 10 hours and 29 minutes

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Genre: Fiction, Historical Fiction,

Read Start Date: January 7, 2023

Read Finish Date: January 18, 2023

Number in Book Series: 2

Brief Summary of the Plot from Goodreads: Bestselling historical fiction author Kim Michele Richardson is back with the perfect book club read following Honey Mary Angeline Lovett, the daughter of the beloved Troublesome book woman, who must fight for her own independence with the help of the women who guide her and the books that set her free.

In the ruggedness of the beautiful Kentucky mountains, Honey Lovett has always known that the old ways can make a hard life harder. As the daughter of the famed blue-skinned, Troublesome Creek packhorse librarian, Honey and her family have been hiding from the law all her life. But when her mother and father are imprisoned, Honey realizes she must fight to stay free, or risk being sent away for good.

Picking up her mother’s old packhorse library route, Honey begins to deliver books to the remote hollers of Appalachia. Honey is looking to prove that she doesn’t need anyone telling her how to survive, but the route can be treacherous, and some folks aren’t as keen to let a woman pave her own way. If Honey wants to bring the freedom that books provide to the families who need it most, she’s going to have to fight for her place, and along the way, learn that the extraordinary women who run the hills and hollers can make all the difference in the world.

My Review: This book is both a standalone book and a sequel to The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek. This book is told from Honey Mary Angeline Lovett’s POV. If you haven’t read the first book you will still be able to read and enjoy this book, but you will miss out on some of the backstory of Honey’s mother and the packhorse project.

The story starts off with Honey’s parents going to jail for violating Kentucky’s misogyny laws, which outlaws the marriage of two different races. Honey and her mother, Cussie, are carriers of a genetic trait that led to the blood disorder methemoglobinemia, turning their skin blue. Therefore, in the eyes of the racist, ignorant Kentucky folk, the marriage between Cussy and her husband, a white man, violates the law. They are sent to prison for 2 years.

Honey, nearly 17 years old, is at risk — the authorities want to send her to a reform school until the age of 21 — which is little more than a child prison — even though she would legally be an adult at the age of 18. Luckily, a guardian (an elderly woman and friend of Cussy’s named Loretta) steps forward, keeping her out of prison for the moment. That path is shattered when Loretta dies, leaving Honey again at risk.

But Honey is resilient and a tough cookie, as my boyfriend would say. She gets a job and makes a salary (the same one her mother had bringing library books on mule back to the disadvantaged folk in the Kentucky mountains). She makes friends, she pays her own way, and she even researches a landmark case in Kentucky for emancipation. She is determined to gain her freedom.

This is a story about friendship, overcoming adversity, and about standing up for your beliefs, even in the face of danger.

I found this book slow at times, and I couldn’t put it down at other times. Trigger warning for elements of domestic abuse and violence against women. Although I did enjoy it when the villain got the comeuppance he deserved at the end.

All in all a great book. I would recommend it along with the first one.

For some interesting book club questions, I would recommend visiting Three Sisters Read blog post here.

Other Books in this Series: 

Title: The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek

Author: Kim Michele Richardson

Audiobook Length: 9 hours and 26 minutes

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Genre: Fiction, Historical Fiction

Read Start Date: September 13, 2022

Read Finish Date: September 23, 2022

Brief Summary of the Plot from Goodreads: In 1936, tucked deep into the woods of Troublesome Creek, KY, lives blue-skinned 19-year-old Cussy Carter, the last living female of the rare Blue People ancestry.

The lonely young Appalachian woman joins the historical Pack Horse Library Project of Kentucky and becomes a librarian, riding across slippery creek beds and up treacherous mountains on her faithful mule to deliver books and other reading material to the impoverished hill people of Eastern Kentucky.

Along her dangerous route, Cussy, known to the mountain folk as Bluet, confronts those suspicious of her damselfly-blue skin and the government’s new book program. She befriends hardscrabble and complex fellow Kentuckians, and is fiercely determined to bring comfort and joy, instill literacy, and give to those who have nothing, a bookly respite, a fleeting retreat to faraway lands.

See my review of The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek here.

BOOK REVIEW: Murder Beyond the Grave by James Patterson

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Title: Murder Beyond the Grave

Author: James Patterson

Book Length: 295 pages

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Genre: Nonfiction, True Crime

Read Start Date: December 28, 2022

Read Finish Date: January 4, 2023

Brief Summary of the Plot from Goodreads: Two true-crime thrillers as seen on Discovery’s Murder is Forever TV series

MURDER BEYOND THE GRAVE: Stephen Small has it all – a Ferrari, fancy house, loving wife, and three boys. But the only thing he needs right now is enough air to breathe. Kidnapped, buried in a box, and held for ransom, Stephen has forty-eight hours of oxygen. The clock is ticking . . .

MURDER IN PARADISE: High in the Sierra Nevada mountains, developers Jim and Bonnie Hood excitedly tour Camp Nelson Lodge. They intend to buy and modernise this beautiful rustic property, but the locals don’t like rich outsiders changing their way of life. After a grisly shooting, everybody will discover just how you can make a killing in real estate . . .

My Review: I purchased this book at the library near my parents house in South Carolina for $1. I thought it was a pretty good deal, as James Patterson books are usually entertaining. Although this book was nonfiction / true crime, it had all the classic hallmarks of what make a James Patterson book a JP book. The prose was easy to read and the were stories engaging.

SPOILER ALERT:

Murder Beyond the Grave tells the story of Danny, a “reformed” drug dealer, who can’t handle the straight life. Where once he had cash to burn, he now has piles of bills with no way to pay them. One day he drives past the house of a rich man, Stephan Smalls. Stephan is living the good life. Family. Career. Nice house. Even a Ferrari in the driveway.

Danny is jealous. Worst of all, Danny sees the opportunity to make some cash. He hatches a plan to kidnap Stephan for ransom money.

Danny has a girlfriend. She knows he’s up to no good — but she stays quiet. She sees him building a wooden coffin. Still, she says nothing. Not to friends, family, the police. She never says anything when she picks up Danny in a remote location in the middle of the night. When Danny continues to act strangely for the following few days.

When Stephan is found dead, both Danny and his girlfriend are convicted of murder. This didn’t sit well with me.

Although this book read like fiction, this is a true story. I found it not only incredulous but absurd that Danny’s girlfriend was found guilty of murder simply for not telling the police Danny was “up to no good”. Put it simply, the jury did not believe that she didn’t know. Personally, I believe she had nothing to do with it. Yes she’s dating an ex-con, but that doesn’t make her a murderer. She seemed like a nice woman with a small child to care for. If her known drug dealer boyfriend was acting cagey, she probably thought he was dealing again. Why would she think he was kidnapping someone? And even if he was dealing again, did she have a legal OBLIGATION to turn him in? No. Does that make her an accomplice? I would argue also not.

I was really pissed off by her conviction and would have liked to hear more about why she was found guilty. For example, what persuaded the jury that she knew, and not only knew but PARTICIPATED? Isn’t it more likely that she just didn’t want to know what he was doing, so she didn’t ask questions? Is ignorance a crime? I guess, in her case, it was.

Murder in Paradise is the second story in the book about a woman who is shot and killed. Bonnie Hood is the owner of a lodge in the Sierra Nevada mountains. While renovating the place, she starts an affair with an employee. He was also shot but lived. The two had been sleeping together the night of the crime.

Speculation swirled — was it the husband? Did someone have a vendetta against Bonnie? Eventually, a suspect surfaced: Bruce Beauchamp, a construction worker of Bonnie’s husband, Jim. Without solid evidence, Bruce is acquitted but is later shot to death by Jim Hood. Jim claimed it was “self-defense,” but after a mistrial, Jim was convicted and sent to prison for 27 years.

This Jim guy sounds like a real “winner.” Not. Is it nice to be cheated on? Of course not, but that doesn’t make it all right to kill your wife and attempt to kill her lover. It also doesn’t make it okay to kill the guy you hired to do it…because, let’s be honest, that’s what he was doing, right? Jim was afraid that Bruce would implicate Jim in Bonnie’s murder, so he had to get rid of him. And that self-defense BS almost worked — there was a mistrial the first time around. He almost got away with it. Almost. I read online that this guy got out of jail in 2017. This totally blows my mind.

The woman in the first story goes to jail for life because of ignorance, and this guy killed 2 people and wounded another and gets out after 27 years? Ugh.

This is, of course, all speculation and my own opinion based on the limited facts presented in the book. I think, in general, I would have liked more facts and more details.

In conclusion: 1) this book is entertaining and at points, even thought provoking; 2) reads like a fiction book, although a nonfiction / true crime story; and 3) could use some extra facts and more about the trials.

Verdict: Fans of James Patterson will enjoy it.

BOOK REVIEW: Took by Mary Downing Hahn

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Title: Took

Author: Mary Downing Hahn

Book Length: 272 pages

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Genre: Fiction, Horror, Middle Grade, Mystery, Paranormal, Ghosts

Read Start Date: December 24, 2022

Read Finish Date: December 28, 2022

Brief Summary of the Plot from Goodreads: “Folks say Old Auntie takes a girl and keeps her fifty years—then lets her go and takes another one.”
 
Thirteen-year-old Daniel Anderson doesn’t believe Brody Mason’s crazy stories about the ghost witch who lives up on Brewster’s Hill with Bloody Bones, her man-eating razorback hog. He figures Brody’s probably just trying to scare him since he’s the new kid . . . a “stuck-up snot” from Connecticut. But Daniel’s seven-year-old sister Erica has become more and more withdrawn, talking to her lookalike doll. When she disappears into the woods one day, he knows something is terribly wrong. Did the witch strike? Has Erica been “took”?

My Review: Daniel and Erica are forced to move to rural West Virginia when their father losses his job. Once a successful businessman, their father (and mother) take retail jobs at a local store. As an adult, this didn’t make sense to me — why would they leave a NYC suburb where all the business-esq jobs are, only to move to a rural community where only retail jobs are available?–but as this story is for Middle-Grade readers, I guess it’s not much of a problem. Or rather, a kid probably wouldn’t think in such terms.

To me, it seemed to be just a vehicle for moving to West Virginia, the location of the ghost story. It also helped explain the kids picking on them, and why they wouldn’t be aware of the history of the house. But again, these are adult thoughts and will not affect the storyline for the kids.

Anyway, they move to this rural area, to this house where 50 years ago, a child was kidnapped. All the kids at school make fun of Daniel and Erica because of where they live. At first, Daniel doesn’t believe them, but then strange things start to happen e.g. his sister starts talking to her doll and acting like it can talk back. Daniel doesn’t get any help from his parents, as things for them are also difficult. Their parents are working a lot to make ends meet, and they are constantly fighting with each other. The kids are also quarreling as siblings often do. So to say, the kids are having a really hard time with the move.

When the ghost of an old witch sets her sights on Erica, will Daniel be able to save her in time?

This book was being given away for free at a South Carolina library near where my parent’s live. Despite being Middle Grade, it sounded interesting and was highly enjoyable even for me, an adult. I think that kids will really enjoy this book, especially if they like books about ghosts.

BOOK REVIEW: Suspicious Minds by Gwenda Bond

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Title: Suspicious Minds

Author: Gwenda Bond

Book Length: 304 pages

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Genre: Fiction, Horror, Science Fiction, Thriller

Read Start Date: December 9, 2022

Read Finish Date: December 24, 2022

Brief Summary of the Plot from Goodreads: A mysterious lab. A sinister scientist. A secret history. If you think you know the truth behind Eleven’s mother, prepare to have your mind turned Upside Down in this thrilling prequel to the hit show Stranger Things.

It’s the summer of 1969, and the shock of conflict reverberates through the youth of America, both at home and abroad. As a student at a quiet college campus in the heartland of Indiana, Terry Ives couldn’t be further from the front lines of Vietnam or the incendiary protests in Washington.

But the world is changing, and Terry isn’t content to watch from the sidelines. When word gets around about an important government experiment in the small town of Hawkins, she signs on as a test subject for the project, codenamed MKUltra. Unmarked vans, a remote lab deep in the woods, mind-altering substances administered by tightlipped researchers . . . and a mystery the young and restless Terry is determined to uncover.

But behind the walls of Hawkins National Laboratory—and the piercing gaze of its director, Dr. Martin Brenner—lurks a conspiracy greater than she could have ever imagined. To face it, she’ll need the help of her fellow test subjects, including one so mysterious the world doesn’t know she exists—a young girl with unexplainable, superhuman powers and a number instead of a name: 008.

Amid the rising tensions of the new decade, Terry Ives and Martin Brenner have begun a different kind of war—one where the human mind is the battlefield.

My Review: I have loved the show Stranger Things since it premiered. I am waiting eagerly for the next season to drop, which by all accounts might not be for a while. When I was in Nashville for a girls weekend, I visited a book shop of course, because well, I am addicted to books. As I was perusing the shelves, I saw Suspicious Minds and was instantly intrigued. I hadn’t known there was a book — actually there are several!

Suspicious Minds is a prequel to the events of Stranger Things. Even though this book is set in the world of the Netflix show, there is a whole new cast of characters (99% of whom we have never met before) and so if you have never seen the show (stop reading this blog and go watch it now!), you will still be able to read the book and enjoy it. The three characters from the show are Dr. Martin Brenner, the head of the highly classified “research” Project at the Hawkins laboratory in Indiana, Terry Ives, the mother of Eleven, and Eight (as a child in the book), one of the test subjects who exhibit special powers. In Eight’s case it is the ability to make people see illusions/what she wants them to see.

It’s 1969 (14 years before Season 1 of Stranger Things) and Terry Ives, a college student and waitress, takes her roommate’s place at a government sanctioned (paid) test program. Terry needs the money — and she is more than a little intrigued. Terry is currently involved in a relationship with another college student named Andrew, who is luckily not eligible for the draft as he falls under the college exception. I liked how Gwenda Bond included the history and politics of the era (namely the Vietnam war), so this book not only takes place at the lab, but also out in the larger world, with all the angst, protests and sentiments of that time in US history.

While the show eludes to the testing that Terry Ives had undergone at the hands of sinister Dr. Martin Brenner, the book really goes into the details of what happened to her, and really showed that the indifference to human life that Brenner exhibited in Stranger Things is a character trait he has been exhibiting for some time. We never learn why Brenner is performing these tests or for what purpose though, so this was a little disappointing.

The show also never mentioned that Terry and Kali (Eight, who we meet briefly in Season 2 of Stranger Things) knew each other or had such a prolonged interaction. However, in the book, the relationship between Terry and Kali is very important to the plot. There was also never any mention of the other test subjects in the show and I liked learning about them in the book.

While I definitely liked this book, I came away from it with more questions than answers. Yes, now we know the origin story of Eleven and how she came to be in the clutches of Brenner. We know the backstory of Terry Ives. However, the book ends with the birth of Eleven, but we don’t really meet Eleven in the Netflix show until she is basically a teenager, and in later seasons, they show her as a young child (maybe around 8 years old?). What happened from her birth until then? What happened to the other test subjects?

We learn in the book that Alice (one of the test subjects) when given LSD and electroshock therapy, could see into the Upside Down (and into the future), and that Brenner becomes aware that such a place exists. However, we never learn whether this was the catalyst for what happened with Eleven, or whether it was merely a coincidence. In other words, what did Brenner actively do with this information?

I guess if you read this book without watching the show first, these same questions may not pop up and your experience of the book might be different. It might just add to the mystery of the story, rather than prompting more questions.

I know there are other Stanger Things books out there, but I don’t think they are a sequel to Suspicious Minds. I want to know what happens between 1970 and the start of the show! We need another book! Universe, please work on this!

At the moment, this book has only a 3.61 rating on Goodreads, which I feel is not a true reflection of my experience. I tried to find other reviews on WordPress, but found only one (and great) review from G does Films.

While I think that anyone can read and enjoy this book, I think that it definitely helps if you are already a fan of the show.

BOOK REVIEW: Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid

/ E.A. Hoffmann / 1 Comment

Title: Carrie Soto is Back

Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid

Audiobook Length: 10 hours and 30 minutes

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Genre: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Contemporary, Sports

Read Start Date: December 9, 2022

Read Finish Date: December 18, 2022

Brief Summary of the Plot from Goodreads: Carrie Soto is fierce, and her determination to win at any cost has not made her popular. But by the time she retires from tennis, she is the best player the world has ever seen. She has shattered every record and claimed twenty Grand Slam titles. And if you ask Carrie, she is entitled to every one. She sacrificed nearly everything to become the best, with her father, Javier, as her coach. A former champion himself, Javier has trained her since the age of two.

But six years after her retirement, Carrie finds herself sitting in the stands of the 1994 US Open, watching her record be taken from her by a brutal, stunning player named Nicki Chan.

At thirty-seven years old, Carrie makes the monumental decision to come out of retirement and be coached by her father for one last year in an attempt to reclaim her record. Even if the sports media says that they never liked “the Battle-Axe” anyway. Even if her body doesn’t move as fast as it did. And even if it means swallowing her pride to train with a man she once almost opened her heart to: Bowe Huntley. Like her, he has something to prove before he gives up the game forever.

In spite of it all, Carrie Soto is back, for one epic final season. In this riveting and unforgettable novel, Taylor Jenkins Reid tells her most vulnerable, emotional story yet.

My Review: Originally introduced to us in Malibu Rising (see my review of that book here) as the girlfriend of Nina Riva’s husband, Carrie Soto Is Back is the story of Carrie Soto, the best female tennis player in the world. The book spans the period of her life, from childhood to her late thirties. Carrie retired from tennis with the record of winning the most Grand Slam titles…a record that is about to be beat by another tennis player, Nicki Chan. The Goodread synopsis does a good job of summing up the story, so I won’t go too much into plot detail here.

Overall, I liked this book. Currently, it has a 4.26 rating on Goodreads (I am giving it 4 stars), so lots of other people feel the same way about it.

There is a lot of tennis in this book, a sport I don’t know too much about — my lack of knowledge didn’t take away from the story so if you’re like me, then you won’t be lost with all the tennis references. The author does a good job of making the actual tennis playing accessible to people who don’t know the rules of the game.

The Candid Cover states “As a reader, I was pulled right into the matches and the intense drama that unfolds. These aspects are really exciting, and I really loved the commentary on the politics of sport and some of its sexism, making for a thought-provoking read.”

I agree regarding the commentary! When you listen to the audiobook, it adds something special because there is typical “sports commentary” music and there are different narrators for the voices of the pundits.

Through the book we see Carrie “The Battle Axe” grow as a human being. Despite being 37 years old, Carrie still has a lot to learn about love and life. Tennis had been her entire life. She wanted to be the best, and she didn’t care who she hurt along the way — even her father, who she fired as her coach because he couldn’t get her to be where she needed to be professionally. At 37, she is alone, never having a serious boyfriend or love interest.

As she reconnects with her father (who is coaching her once again), and with a tennis player she slept with once years before, Carrie slowly begins to learn there is more to life than tennis.

Mrs. B’s Book Reviews says of the father / daughter relationship: ” The most touching part of Carrie Soto is the unconditional relationship that she holds with her father. Reid does a truly excellent job of portraying a realistic, respectful and loving father /daughter relationship.”

I’m not usually a fan of child / parent relationship stories, because often times they come off really sickly sweet, but I have to agree that Reid did a really good job of keeping it touching / sentimental without getting to barf level sap.

I have read a bunch of books by Taylor Jenkins Reid (click on the author tag at the end of the post to see the other reviews) and I am blown away each time. Reid’s books are always well researched, well written and well developed. She is a fantastic writer and weaver of tales and this book was no exception.

I would definitely recommend this book.