2017 Five Star Reads

source

     2017 is about to be over!? I have mixed feelings about that but mostly I'm ready to start a shiny New Year.  Here's hoping 2018 is better!  
     I kept thinking of doing a "Best of..." but it seemed a bit daunting so I settled (for now) for only listing my five star reviews.  I feel that I am pretty stingy with my five star reviews but I ended up with eleven this year! Thirteen if you count the two re-reads.  
      I really have to be wowed by a book to give it five stars.  It has to be a book that I devoured and did not want to put down.  There seems to be no formula for what works for me and I think it really depends on my mood and the timing. Looking back on some of these now, I might not give them 5 stars at this time but when read, they definitely hit the right notes with me.

*Just a warning that I doubt any of these are on the typical "Best of.." lists as I rarely agree with the Literary Snobs on anything! At least I know I am not alone, check out this post from Sarah at Sarah's Bookshelves. 

The Trespasser by Tana French

We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter

This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel

The Girl You Left Behind by JoJo Moyes

All Over The Place: Adventures in Travel, True Love, and Petty Theft by Geraldine DeRuiter

The Dry by Jane Harper

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

The Alice Network by Kate Quinn

The Almost Sisters by Joshilyn Jackson

Don't Let Go by Harlan Coben

Reading People by Anne Bogel














*****************************

Five stars but re-reads:

 Whiskey Sour by JA Konrath

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

This is a crazy mix of genres and all amazing books so I hope this list helps you find something new to read and love!  Happy Holidays!

Peace Like a River by Leif Enger

Summary:

     Enger tells the story of eleven-year-old Reuben Land, an asthmatic boy who has reason to believe in miracles. Along with his sister and father, Reuben finds himself on a cross-country search for his outlaw older brother who has been controversially charged with murder. Their journey is touched by serendipity and the kindness of strangers, and its remarkable conclusion shows how family, love, and faith can stand up to the most terrifying of enemies, the most tragic of fates.

   "Here's what I saw," Rube warns his readers. "Here's how it went. Make of it what you will." And Rube sees plenty.

My Thoughts:

     This is the December pick for the Modern Mrs. Darcy Book Club and a book I probably would have never picked up if not for the club.  This story is all at once dark, cold, hopeful and filled with love and miracles.  

     The voice of Reuben reminds me so much of Scout from To Kill a Mockingbird. His viewpoint is perfect for this story as he is both a naive eleven-year-old but also sometimes wiser than he should be.  There were many instances where you can feel the despair and discouragement of the Land family but also so many times they had me smiling and laughing out loud.  

     There were times the bleakness of the North Dakota winter felt like they were right outside my window and it was, in places, overwhelming.  The characters and this story are so strong though that, for me, Peace Like a River was worth the read. 3.5/5 reads

Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore by Matthew Sullivan

Summary:

When a bookshop patron commits suicide, his favorite store clerk must unravel the puzzle he left behind in this fiendishly clever debut novel from an award-winning short story writer.

Lydia Smith lives her life hiding in plain sight. A clerk at the Bright Ideas bookstore, she keeps a meticulously crafted existence among her beloved books, eccentric colleagues, and the BookFrogs—the lost and lonely regulars who spend every day marauding the store’s overwhelmed shelves.

But when Joey Molina, a young, beguiling BookFrog, kills himself in the bookstore’s upper room, Lydia’s life comes unglued. Always Joey’s favorite bookseller, Lydia has been bequeathed his meager worldly possessions. Trinkets and books; the detritus of a lonely, uncared for man. But when Lydia flips through his books she finds them defaced in ways both disturbing and inexplicable. They reveal the psyche of a young man on the verge of an emotional reckoning. And they seem to contain a hidden message. What did Joey know? And what does it have to do with Lydia?

As Lydia untangles the mystery of Joey’s suicide, she unearths a long buried memory from her own violent childhood. Details from that one bloody night begin to circle back. Her distant father returns to the fold, along with an obsessive local cop, and the Hammerman, a murderer who came into Lydia’s life long ago and, as she soon discovers, never completely left. Bedazzling, addictive, and wildly clever, Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore is a heart-pounding mystery that perfectly captures the intellect and eccentricity of the bookstore milieu and will keep you guessing until the very last page.

My Thoughts:

  
     Lydia is hiding from her past and her life is quiet, ordinary and (she thinks) fulfilling until a regular patron of the bookstore she works in commits suicide and makes sure she is there to find him.  What happens after this devastating incident forces Lydia to revisit her past for reasons she (and you) will be surprised by.
     Lydia is a very believable character and I found her story and feelings to be relatable even though the plot of this story is full of twists and turns most of us will never experience in real life.  The secondary cast of characters were also touching and funny. I especially enjoyed Plath, Lydia's co-worker and friend. 
     I found this book to be intriguing and even though I figured out the "who dunnit" part it was at the very last second and Lydia was right behind me.  This book is dark and had a slightly surprising twist that I did not guess and I am so glad I picked this one up to read.  4/5 stars


*I read this book for my 2017 Reading Challenge-A Book Recommended by Someone with Great Taste.  This one was recommended by a friend in my book club and since it was already in my Pile, I went with it.  I only have two more left-can I do it??????




Author's site: http://www.matthewjsullivan.com/

The Cool Kids by Jason Pellegrini

Summary:

     Growing up, Kevin Ford was never considered one of the cool kids. He was the unathletic son of a father who had been the star of his college football team and the scrawny younger sibling of two brothers who loved to torment him. To his peers, he was far from being considered popular.

     Kevin had two best friends, though. One afternoon in the summer of 1994, they showed up unannounced at his front door with a secret mission. What Kevin figured was going to be an average summer day with his friends turned into an adventure like no other. The three of them entered the woods and sought out a forgotten ancient myth.

     Now, nearly a quarter century later, Kevin finds himself reminiscing about that August day. As he’s about to enter a new stage of his life, he looks to his past to help give him the strength to face what lies ahead.

My Thoughts:

 

     At first, when I started The Cool Kids I thought this is going to be an adventure story involving a few preteen boys/best friends reminiscent of Stand By Me with a little fantasy thrown in. While this is true in a way, the story turned and still surprised me. 
     What followed was a story of childhood and friendships and how even though you may grow up (and apart) that bond is always there.  Kevin and his two best friends aren't considered "cool" but they grow to realize that doesn't matter.  I think we can all relate, in some way, to the boys.
     This story is short, around 100 pages, and I tend to not enjoy short stories but this story of Kevin and his buddies was funny, touching, imaginative and nostalgic. 4/5 stars

Favorite quotes:

"I lived through an era before the technology boom.  I know what kind of world exists without technology, and how wonderful and boundless it is."

"It's something about that bond of friendship you share with your lifelong friends that can't be matched.  No matter who you befriend later on in your life, it's just not the same."



Author's site:  http://www.jasonpellegrinibooks.com/

Finding Grace by Warren Adler

Summary:

The chilling new drama that gets to the heart of brainwashing and its power to corrupt and control.

When their twenty-three-year-old daughter goes missing, divorcees Harry and Paulie are forced to leave behind their newly constructed lives to track Grace down. But Grace isn’t lost, not physically at least. They find her seemingly unharmed in California on a sunny farm the other residents call “Camp Star.” But nothing is as it seems…

Sinister motives lurk behind the smiles of those at the camp and the two soon learn that Grace is in the clutches of a notorious cult. Under the spell of mind control, she denies Harry and Paulie as her family and shuns their love, leaving them to search for answers in the most desperate of places. 

Scrambling to piece together their shattered lives, Harry and Paulie race against the clock to bring Grace back home – but will she ever be able to return? How do you help someone who doesn’t know they’re lost?

My Thoughts:

     I was intrigued initially by the premise of this book.  I thought reading about a girl taken in by a cult and her parents struggles to get her back would be an excellent read and it would have been had this book actually been about cults and parental love.  Unfortunately, Finding Grace was more about her divorced parents and their bizarre, obsessive love for each other and how their relationship came about and then fell apart.

     I found all of the characters to be immature, self absorbed and truly unlikable.  I forced myself to read about sixty percent of this book before I gave up hoping that the story would actually turn into what I thought it was going to be, it never did.  This was a DNF (Did Not Finish) for me!

Author's site: http://www.warrenadler.com/

Amazon: http://amzn.to/2wOIo2G 

Goodreads: http://bit.ly/2xgoWLN 

The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen

Summary:  

A novel of suspense that explores the complexities of marriage and the dangerous truths we ignore in the name of love. 

When you read this book, you will make many assumptions.
You will assume you are reading about a jealous wife and her obsession with her replacement.
You will assume you are reading about a woman about to enter a new marriage with the man she loves.
You will assume the first wife was a disaster and that the husband was well rid of her.
You will assume you know the motives, the history, the anatomy of the relationships.
Assume nothing.

My Thoughts:

     Hmmm, where to begin....this is definitely a page turning thriller with plot twists that will make you do a double take but for some reason it didn't click with me quite as much as I had hoped.  Good Reads is filled with rave reviews and I was very excited to read this one but I never really connected to Nellie and it left things feeling flat to me.
      Nellie comes off  as naive and trusting. Vanessa seems bitter and delusional. The dual narration makes the story very interesting but unreliable narrators and an attempt at an ambiguous ending left me wishing the story had ended a few chapters earlier.
     Don't get me wrong, this will be a hit with many and will probably turn into a huge hit on best seller's lists.  I feel like the first 75% of the book is on point for a great thriller but the wrap up is twisted so many different ways it ends up being Too Much.  3/5 stars.

Link for more info like audio sample and video promos:

https://us.macmillan.com/static/smp/wife-between-us/




*Thanks to St. Martin's Press for the promo materials!