Books – Page 81

Categories: Books

Book Review: Wilde Lake by Laura Lippman

“When my brother was eighteen, he broke his arm in an accident that ended in another young man’s death.”

This is how Wilde Lake begins, setting the scene for the novel and drawing me into the story immediately. In the first chapter, we learn the details surrounding this introductory sentence, but those details are given to us through the lens of the narrator, Lu, who was ten years old at the time of the accident. And, as readers soon find out, the truth is often a lot more complex than we ever believe.

Wilde Lake is told in alternating chapters of present-day Luisa “Lu” Brant and Lu as a child. Present-day Lu is now in her forties and has just been elected as the state’s attorney for Howard County. The chapters from Lu as a child are told from her ten-year-old perspective, dating back to before she was born (obviously, from the information she gleaned from her father and brother) right up until the accident. Readers soon learn that Lu’s mother died a week after her birth and her father never remarried, content in his job as state’s attorney and being a single father of two.

When the present-day story begins, Lu is given her first case: trying a homeless man who is suspected of beating a woman to death in her home. She’s looking to make a statement and let people know she means business. After all, she’s a woman, she ousted a man for the job, and she has the legacy of her father behind her. She has to get this right.

As she works the case, the memories of the night of her brother’s accident are dredged up and she begins to wonder if the accident happened in the way she remembered it. And then weird coincidences begin creeping up involving her current case and the accident of the past, and Lu is desperate to find out what really happened.

This is a book about how our memories cannot always be trusted, about family and turning to the ones you love when you need them, and about the truth and how it may not always set you free. I found that the story dragged a bit in the beginning, but that was simply because Lippman was setting the scene for an incredible plot twist about 70% of the way into the book – a plot twist I never saw coming. I love when an author surprises me like that.

My favorite quote from this novel was on page 160: “Besides, what is the whole truth and nothing but the truth? The truth is not a finite commodity that can be contained within identifiable borders. The truth is messy, riotous, overruning everything. You can never know the whole truth of anything.”

Goodreads synopsis:

The bestselling author of the acclaimed standalones After I’m Gone, I’d Know You Anywhere, and What the Dead Know, challenges our notions of memory, loyalty, responsibility, and justice in this evocative and psychologically complex story about a long-ago death that still haunts a family.

Luisa “Lu” Brant is the newly elected—and first female—state’s attorney of Howard County, Maryland, a job in which her widower father famously served. Fiercely intelligent and ambitious, she sees an opportunity to make her name by trying a mentally disturbed drifter accused of beating a woman to death in her home. It’s not the kind of case that makes headlines, but peaceful Howard county doesn’t see many homicides.

As Lu prepares for the trial, the case dredges up painful memories, reminding her small but tight-knit family of the night when her brother, AJ, saved his best friend at the cost of another man’s life. Only eighteen, AJ was cleared by a grand jury. Now, Lu wonders if the events of 1980 happened as she remembers them. What details might have been withheld from her when she was a child?

The more she learns about the case, the more questions arise. What does it mean to be a man or woman of one’s times? Why do we ask our heroes of the past to conform to the present’s standards? Is that fair? Is it right? Propelled into the past, she discovers that the legal system, the bedrock of her entire life, does not have all the answers. Lu realizes that even if she could learn the whole truth, she probably wouldn’t want to.

You can connect with Laura Lippman on her website, Facebook, and Twitter. Her book is available to buy from Amazon, HarperCollins, and Barnes & Noble.

Click here to add this book to Goodreads!

I received this book for free from TLC Book Tours in exchange for an honest review. All words and opinions, unless otherwise stated, are my own.

No affiliate links were used in this post.

Categories: Books

Monthly Book Review | January 2017

I set my annual Goodreads reading goal at 100 books. I don’t actually expect to read 100 books this year (90 tends to be my sweet spot), but I continually low-ball my Goodreads reading goal and I wanted to give myself something of a challenge this year. Luckily, I started the year off strong in January with 9 books read. My favorite book this month was The Mothers and I encourage everyone to read that novel – it’s fantastic!

Here are my reviews for the books I read in January:

Straddling the Line by Jaci Burton (★★★☆☆) – Jaci Burton is truly one of my favorites when it comes to sexy romances, but there was something missing in this novel. This is the love story between Haven and Trevor, two characters that have been present in other novels in Burton’s Play by Play series. I was excited to read about them, but there was something… almost mechanical… about the plot. It was almost as if Burton has some sort of algorithm for writing. It was still a good novel and I devoured it in a matter of days, but I was a little disappointed in it, too. (e-book)

Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson (★★★★☆) – This was a slow, sweet book about family and love and grief and community. It follows Major Pettigrew, a witty and opinionated older gentleman who has just lost his brother. He’s a widower and has a smarmy son who he’s not particularly close to. And when he begins to court Mrs. Ali, the Pakistani shopkeeper, they both receive backlash from the people in their small village. I loved how slow and meandering the story was because it fit the way Major lived his life and the setting of the novel. It was a book that just captivated me in its slowness. There were no crazy twists and turns, just a sweet novel with a completely lovable hero. (print)

Be Frank With Me by Julia Claiborne Johnson (★★★☆☆) – This novel is about Alice who works for a book publisher and is given the task of making sure the company’s most beloved author, M.M. Banning, delivers her much-anticipated second novel on time. So, she travels to California to keep tabs on Banning and, in doing so, she meets the author’s quirky nine-year-old son, Frank, and quickly becomes his companion. I really wish Frank had been the protagonist in this novel, and not Alice, because Alice was a little bland for me and never really grew as a character. But Frank. Oh. He was phenomenal. He brought so much to the story. Read this novel for Frank… just don’t expect too much from the plot. (print)

A Certain Age by Beatriz Williams (★★★★☆) – I reviewed this novel last month for TLC Book Tours. You can read the review in its entirety here. (print)

Ten Ways to Be Adored When Landing a Lord by Sarah MacLean (★★★★☆) – Well, it’s official. I have a new favorite romance author. Sarah Maclean writes fun, feisty, hilarious Regency romances and I am here for all of them. Her female protagonists are sassy and smart and vulnerable without being over the top. Her male protagonists are sexy and funny and supportive without seeming too unrealistic. I’m just very, very glad that I have a long list of backlist titles to read from her. Happy sigh! (library e-book)

The Mothers by Brit Bennett (★★★★★) – This novel was a quick read for me, mostly because I could not put it down. I wouldn’t be surprised if it makes my top ten list this year because it was just that good. The book is about Nadia who, at the start of the novel, is seventeen, in her last year of high school, and grieving the loss of her mother to suicide. She starts to see Luke Sheppard, the pastor’s son who is dealing with his own demons and soon finds herself pregnant and conflicted. Throughout the rest of the novel, Nadia and Luke grow up and are soon adults who are still wondering what if they had chosen differently that fateful summer. I loved the voice of this novel and thought it was such a brilliant debut from Bennett. (print)

Anything for You by Kristan Higgans (★★★☆☆) – This is the fifth book in the Blue Heron series from Higgans and this time, we finally get Connor’s story, the grumpy yet lovable chef who plays a behind-the-scenes role in all the other books. It starts with a proposal, Connor proposing to his longtime-in-secret girlfriend, Jessica. Jessica gives him a very firm “no,” and then the story delves into the past for Connor and Jessica and how they got to where they are today. Honestly, this novel was just okay for me, mostly because I didn’t really like Jessica as a character and didn’t really feel any emotional connection to them as a couple. (library e-book)

Before the Fall by Noah Hawley (★★★★☆) – This novel has gotten a lot of hype and I was worried about it falling short of my expectations, but I’m happy to report that it didn’t. The writing was truly exquisite and I just really enjoyed my experience with reading this novel. The premise is that a plane crashes and the only survivors are a four-year-old boy (son of a wealthy media mogul) and a man, a washed-up painter who had gotten on the plane last minute. As the story progresses, the back story of each person on the plane (including the flight staff) is perfectly woven into the novel and we learn about these characters and their motivations in the days leading up to the flight. And, ultimately, why the plane crashed in the first place. (library, print)

The Best Advice I Ever Got: Lessons from Extraordinary Lives by Katie Couric (★★★☆☆) – This was an okay nonfiction book, but nothing too life-changing. It was written in 2011, and some of it already feels dated (such as the “lessons” from Bill Cosby and Donald Trump, blech). I also didn’t think we needed 3-4 lessons from Jay Leno, but maybe that’s just me. But some of the advice was pretty great – like the fact that Kathryn Stockett’s novel The Help was rejected more than 60 times before someone took a chance on it, so really, you should never give up on something you believe in. (library audiobook)

JANUARY NOTES

I abandoned 3 books in January: The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F*ck by Sarah McKnight (I honestly don’t struggle with saying no and generally give only the “f*cks” I have to give, so this book just wasn’t for someone like me); Salt Sugar Fat by Michael Moss (tried listening on audiobook, but it didn’t keep my attention); and Razor Girl by Carl Hiaasen (not my style of book at all and I gave up after 90 pages)
It took me 9 days to finish Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand, so that was the longest time spent reading one book. In contrast, it took me less than 2 days to read Straddling the Line.
My rating average was 3.7 and I had a good mix of 3 and 4 star books.
I read 3 diverse books. I’m trying to read at least one book by a POC every month.
I didn’t read too many library books this month: only 3 out of 9. I have a feeling this will be atypical.
I spent $16.44 on books this month, which also feels atypical.
Four out of the nine books I read were published in 2016. All of them were published by a traditional publisher.

What was the best book you read in January?

Categories: Books

Book Review: A Certain Age by Beatriz Williams

There’s a very specific period in America’s history that I love to read about: the 1920s.

I know, I know. Most people love reading about the 1940s because of WWII, and I do too, but those stories are typically heavy and sad. The 1920s, though. That was a time of celebration. According to History.com, it was the first time that more Americans lived in cities than on farms and when the nation’s wealth more than doubled. It’s where we begin to see flappers and women wearing their hair short. It’s when women first begin to experiment with their sexuality and worked at jobs to support themselves. And, of course, when women could finally vote.

A Certain Age takes place during this time period in New York City. The novel opens with a newspaper column called “The Tit and Tattle.” The column is describing an ongoing “Trial of the Century.” As readers, we don’t exactly know what this trial is or who the characters mentioned in the courtroom are or what bearing it has on the story. In the next scene, we’ve jumped back in time a bit as we’re introduced to Theresa Marshall, a woman of a certain age who is in a clandestine affair with a younger man, the svelte Captain Octavian Rofrano whom she calls “The Boy.”

There’s something mysterious and charming and infuriating about Theresa. She’s sweet and vulnerable, yet cunning and tough. I love her, but I don’t trust her.

As the story progresses, Theresa finds out her baby brother Ox has met a girl and is going to ask her to marry him. Due to tradition, this girl, Sophie, has to be asked by a proxy and Theresa has the perfect man for the job – Octavian/The Boy. Not only can he secure Sophie’s hand in marriage, but he can also find out about who this girl is to make sure she’s perfect for her baby brother.

The novel switches between Sophie and Theresa’s stories, and we learn about how each of them got to where they are at this moment in time: Theresa, a disillusioned wife who has taken a lover, and Sophie, a naive young girl who has accepted the proposal of a man she barely knows. Interspersed between their stories is Octavian/The Boy, who is connected to both of them in ways neither of them could ever suspect.

I just completely adored this novel. The setting was perfect, the characters were engaging, and the writing was exquisite. I was captivated by Beatriz Williams’s words and the world she created. I have so much respect for the way she unfolded the narrative and slowly, gently revealed new character motivations and plot twists. It was beautifully done.

Oh, and the trial? Well, that is continually referenced throughout the book and… well, I think you just need to read it yourself to find out the significance it plays.

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

The bestselling author of A Hundred Summers, brings the Roaring Twenties brilliantly to life in this enchanting and compulsively readable tale of intrigue, romance, and scandal in New York Society, brimming with lush atmosphere, striking characters, and irresistible charm.

As the freedom of the Jazz Age transforms New York City, the iridescent Mrs. Theresa Marshall of Fifth Avenue and Southampton, Long Island, has done the unthinkable: she’s fallen in love with her young paramour, Captain Octavian Rofrano, a handsome aviator and hero of the Great War. An intense and deeply honorable man, Octavian is devoted to the beautiful socialite of a certain age and wants to marry her. While times are changing and she does adore the Boy, divorce for a woman of Theresa’s wealth and social standing is out of the question, and there is no need; she has an understanding with Sylvo, her generous and well-respected philanderer husband.

But their relationship subtly shifts when her bachelor brother, Ox, decides to tie the knot with the sweet younger daughter of a newly wealthy inventor. Engaging a longstanding family tradition, Theresa enlists the Boy to act as her brother’s cavalier, presenting the family’s diamond rose ring to Ox’s intended, Miss Sophie Fortescue—and to check into the background of the little-known Fortescue family. When Octavian meets Sophie, he falls under the spell of the pretty ingénue, even as he uncovers a shocking family secret. As the love triangle of Theresa, Octavian, and Sophie progresses, it transforms into a saga of divided loyalties, dangerous revelations, and surprising twists that will lead to a shocking transgression . . . and eventually force Theresa to make a bittersweet choice.

Full of the glamour, wit and delicious twists that are the hallmarks of Beatriz Williams’ fiction and alternating between Sophie’s spirited voice and Theresa’s vibrant timbre, A Certain Age is a beguiling reinterpretation of Richard Strauss’s comic opera Der Rosenkavalier, set against the sweeping decadence of Gatsby’s New York.

You can connect with Beatriz Williams on her website, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Her book is available to buy from Amazon, HarperCollins, and Barnes & Noble.

Click here to add this book to Goodreads!

I received this book for free from TLC Book Tours in exchange for an honest review. All words and opinions, unless otherwise stated, are my own.

No affiliate links were used in this post.

What’s your favorite decade to read about?

Categories: Books

Monthly Book Review | December 2016

I closed out the year with a strong reading month – 9 books read in December! Lots of romance and light reads this month, which is just what I like for December. My favorite book this month was The Queen of the Tearling, which came very close to knocking The Hating Game from my favorite book of the year. I’m so glad I was given the chance to read that novel for TLC Book Tours and can’t wait to get my hands on the second book in the trilogy.

Here are my December book reviews!

Dare to Desire by Carly Phillips (★★★★☆)

Just a really fun and sexy romance novel that I read on my way home from my cruise. It had great characters and an easy-to-follow plot. I really liked the chemistry between Alex and Madison, and I’m really enjoying the “Dare to Love” series by this author. It’s hot, hot, hot.

Commencement by J. Courtney Sullivan (★★★★☆)

This book started off really, really slow and I nearly abandoned it because nothing was clicking for me. But I’m so glad I powered through and kept going because, about 60% of the way in, the story picked up immensely. It follows four girls who were assigned to the same dorm during their freshman year of college. There’s a chapter devoted to each character for each different time period – during college, five years after graduation, and then a year later. I felt like the characters were so well-written and real; they were unlikable at times, but wholly lovable at others, just like any regular person. If you love a good novel about female friendship, pick this up!

The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen (★★★★★)

I reviewed this novel on my blog last month, and you can read my review here. (It was also my #2 book of the year!)

Mosquitoland by David Arnold (★★★☆☆)

There is something about the way that male authors write female teenagers that rubs me the wrong way. They always have to be these brash, sassy, overly philosophical characters. John Green is the biggest offender, and David Arnold definitely follows his style. To be fair, the novel was good. I liked the movement of the plot and thought the way everything was revealed at the end was fantastic. But I just couldn’t get past my annoyance with the main character and the fact that she just didn’t feel real at all.

If You Only Knew by Kristan Higgins (★★★★☆)

This novel felt more serious than Higgins’s other novels. Most of her novels are more of the chick-lit variety with a sweet plot and characters getting into all sorts of crazy trouble. This one involved a heavier topic (infidelity) intermixed with a lighter love story. Even though I was looking to read a light-hearted romance novel, I’m glad I picked this up and read it because it was thoroughly well-written. I really enjoyed the relationship between the two sisters, and the love story made me so, so happy. Still, I wish at least one of the author’s main characters could not be a marriage-obsessed woman who needs to find a man NOW so she can have kids. It feels like every single character has the same motive, and it’s tiresome.

Then Came You by Jill Shalvis (★★★★☆)

Another super fun, super sexy romance novel from Shalvis. She never lets me down. 🙂 This story followed the romance between Wyatt, a new vet in town, and Emily, who is an intern at the veterinary hospital. They hooked up one night during a vet conference a few months ago, never thinking either would see the other again. But surprise! They now have to work together. The novel was fun, sassy, and heartwarming. Her books just make me so happy!

Dare to Touch by Carly Phillips (★★★★☆)

Another sensational romance from Carly! You’ll notice this is the second book of hers I read in December – what can I say? I was in the mood for another steamy, quick romance and this fit the bill completely. I read it within 24 hours on Christmas Eve, and it was truly the perfect light novel for that time of year. The main characters in this book had cameos in the first two books in the series, so it was fun to finally dig into their story and see them get their happy ending. Totally recommend this series for romance lovers – it’s fantastic!

The Sum of All Kisses by Julia Quinn (★★★★☆)

Julia Quinn writes such delightful characters, and I was so happy to dive into one of her novels during Christmas. I love the dialogue the most in these novels because it feels so very real. So many times, the dialogue in romance novels feels forced and doesn’t read the way most people talk. In this novel, we get the love story between Hugh Prentice and Lady Sarah Pleinsworth, two characters that were introduced in the previous books in the series. Hugh is dealing with a disability after a duel and Sarah is longing for marriage – but the last guy she would ever marry is Hugh, as he was the one who called for the duel involving her cousin. But, as love stories go, the more time they spend together, the more they realize how much they have in common and begin falling in love. The romance is a slow build and I love the way everything falls into place so sweetly.

Scrappy Little Nobody by Anna Kendrick (★★★★★)

If I had finished this book before I published my favorite reads for 2016, this would have made the cut – and probably in the top five. It was excellent. I am generally neutral about celebrity memoirs – usually, I like them but I don’t love them. But I loved this book. It was exactly the kind of book I would imagine Anna Kendrick would write – full of snark and self-deprecation, but also with a whole lot of heart. She’s really had such an amazing career and has worked with some really amazing people in the industry, and I like how honest she was about how terrifying it can be to be in Hollywood. This book made me laugh out loud more than a few times, and I really hope this is just the beginning of her writing career.

DECEMBER BOOK STATS

Number of books read: 9 (3,082 pages)
Format breakdown: e-books (6), physical books (3)
Genre breakdown: romance (5), fiction (1), nonfiction (1), YA (1), fantasy (1)
Number of diverse reads: 1 out of 9 (11%)
Where I got my books from: Overdrive (3), TLC Book Tours (1), library (2), Amazon (3)
Money spent on reading this month: $15.47

What was the best book you read in December?

Categories: Books

Book Review: The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen

It’s not often that I’m left without words when reviewing a book. Usually, I find it pretty easy to hammer out a few hundred words about characters and plots and settings.

But with this novel, a novel that truly impacted me, it’s difficult. Mostly because I’m not sure where I want to begin with my review. Do I start with Kelsea, a heroine I could completely get behind and root for? Someone who loved books, loved people, loved justice? Someone who didn’t exactly know what to do being queen at the age of nineteen, but soldiered on and did it anyway? Someone who was fairly ordinary, but given extraordinary power?

Or maybe I should talk about the setting of the book, this dystopian novel and the world Erika Johansen created. I could talk about how I wish I had just an ounce of her creativity, that this world she envisioned was so rich and lively and well-developed. She dropped me into this incredible world and I never wanted to leave it.

Or perhaps a good place to begin would be with the men of this novel – the Fetch and Pen and Mace and Carroll and Barty – oh, how I adored each and every one of them! Strong men who believed in this woman and trusted in her power. I might even confess that the Fetch, far and away, has my heart, so much so that when he reappears near the end of the book, I crowed, “The Fetch! The Fetch!”

More than anything, though, I should probably start by talking about the plot of this novel, of a young girl who has been isolated her entire life for her own safety who becomes queen of a nation in disarray and realizes her first act as queen will throw the entire world into chaos. And, from there, we learn about the reparations of what that act does – both positive and negative – to her kingdom and to the kingdoms around her.

Well, maybe you should just read the novel. I mean, right now. Download it to your Kindle, add it to your next online order, or request it from the library. Go. Do it. I promise you won’t regret it.

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

An untested young princess must claim her throne, learn to become a queen, and combat a malevolent sorceress in an epic battle between light and darkness in this spectacular debut—the first novel in a trilogy.

Young Kelsea Raleigh was raised in hiding after the death of her mother, Queen Elyssa, far from the intrigues of the royal Keep and in the care of two devoted servants who pledged their lives to protect her. Growing up in a cottage deep in the woods, Kelsea knows little of her kingdom’s haunted past . . . or that its fate will soon rest in her hands.

Long ago, Kelsea’s forefathers sailed away from a decaying world to establish a new land free of modern technology. Three hundred years later, this feudal society has divided into three fearful nations who pay duties to a fourth: the powerful Mortmesne, ruled by the cunning Red Queen. Now, on Kelsea’s nineteenth birthday, the tattered remnants of the Queen’s Guard—loyal soldiers who protect the throne—have appeared to escort the princess on a perilous journey to the capital to ascend to her rightful place as the new Queen of the Tearling.

Though born of royal blood and in possession of the Tear sapphire, a jewel of immense power and magic, Kelsea has never felt more uncertain of her ability to rule. But the shocking evil she discovers in the heart of her realm will precipitate an act of immense daring, throwing the entire kingdom into turmoil—and unleashing the Red Queen’s vengeance. A cabal of enemies with an array of deadly weapons, from crimson-caped assassins to the darkest blood magic, plots to destroy her. But Kelsea is growing in strength and stealth, her steely resolve earning her loyal allies, including the Queen’s Guard, led by the enigmatic Lazarus, and the intriguing outlaw known simply as “the Fetch.”

Kelsea’s quest to save her kingdom and meet her destiny has only just begun. Riddled with mysteries, betrayals, and treacherous battles, Kelsea’s journey is a trial by fire that will either forge a legend . . . or destroy her.

You can connect with Erika Johansen on Facebook and Tumblr. Her book is available to buy from Amazon, HarperCollins, and Barnes & Noble.

Click here to add this book to Goodreads!

I received this book for free from TLC Book Tours in exchange for an honest review. All words and opinions, unless otherwise stated, are my own.

No affiliate links were used in this post.