The Au Pair  -  Emma Rous

                                New Author

#2019AtoZChallenge - A

Seraphine's father had recently passed away and while she is going thru his things, she comes across a photo that she has never seen.  A photo of her parents, her older brother, Edwin, and her mother is holding a baby.  But whose is the baby and why is there only one.  Seraphine has a twin brother!!!!    Is the baby Danny or Seraphine??  And where is the other twin??.   Also the photo was taken the day her mother committed suicide and the Edwin's au pair left.!!!  Serapnine now needs answers. 

This was an okay read for me.  I think it had really good potential but it fell a little short for me.
Read it and let me know what you think. 

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce

Debut Novel
2019 A to Z Challenge - "U"
Color Coded Challenge - Green

Summary from Goodreads:  Harold Fry, recently retired lives in a small English village with his wife, Maureen, who seems irritated by almost everything he does. Little differentiates one day from the next. Then one morning the mail arrives; a letter addressed to Harold from a woman he hasn't seen or heard from in twenty years. Queenie Hennessy is in hospice and is writing to say goodbye. 

Harold pens a quick reply and heads to the corner mailbox. But then, he begins the unlikely pilgrimage: Harold Fry is determined to walk 600 miles to the hospice because, he believes, as long as he walks, Queenie Hennessey will live. 

Plot idea inspired by a certain scene in Forrest Gump maybe?

I think Harold's pilgrimage may stay with a reader for awhile.  Sure it got a little boring in spots, some of his musings were drawn out a bit much and the secrets and aha moments weren't really that aha, but you wanted to see Harold's journey through to whatever end.  You wanted to go out and walk and take a look around; slow down, appreciate the world; to meet people and not pass judgment and believe in the goodness of others.


Quotes:  "...people would make the decisions they wished to make, and some of them would hurt both themselves and those who loved them, and some would pass unnoticed, while others would bring joy."

"...he was one of those people who didn't require other people in order to have a conversation."

"The world was made up of people putting one foot in front of the other; and a life might appear ordinary simply because the person living it had been doing so for a long time."

"It was as much of a gift to receive as it was to give, requiring as it did both courage and humility."

"He wished the man would honor the true meaning of words, instead of using them as ammunition."

"...if trying to find a way when you don't even know you can get there isn't a small miracle; then I don't know what is."

              Kindred - Octavia Butler
                 Oldest book on TBR

#2019AtoZChallenge - K 

Dana is a 26 year old black woman in 1976.  For reasons she does not understand, she get transported back to antebellum south in 1818 whenever a young man, Rufus, gets into a life threatening situations. The first time was when he was only 4 and was drowning.

Each time she is called back , her stay becomes longer and she experiences the horrors of that time. The reason she is called back does become apparent and so does her connection to that time in history.   This is a good historical fiction with a little bit of a sci/fi twist. 

Even though I do not read a lot of science fiction,  this book was more like time travel and it put a different spin on the horrors of slavery.    This book will stay with me. 

We Hope for Better Things by Erin Bartels

Historical Fiction
2019 A to Z Challenge - "H"
2019 July Motif - Through the Years

3 related women in/around Detroit, MI, 3 different eras, 1 continual problem - race.

1.  Mary 1860's - 1870's Civil War
2.  Nora - 1960's Detroit  Riots
3.  Elizabeth - present day

The 3 different time periods provide the different voices and shows the slow progression of race relations.

Books on race relations have always been important but even more so now with the volatile and divisive society we found ourselves in.  We must never allow ourselves to lose the progress we have made through the abolishment of slavery and the implementation of the Civil Rights Act.  By reading books such as this we continue to gain empathy for those who continually are marginalized.

Quotes:  "'Balsams don't march.  We mind our own business.  We don't protest.  We don't make a fuss.'...'That's because you've got nothing to make a fuss about.'"

"'Worrying won't change things....Change happens when the cost of keeping things the way they are is too high.'"

The Absence of Mercy by John Burley

Guilty Pleasure
2019 A to Z Challenge - "A"

Ooof, I so struggled with this book!! It was a quick read and it uses Pittsburgh as part of the location and was quite accurate with streets, places, etc. which I appreciated.  Yet there was a significant distracting error early on referring to the son's sports activity.  I got over that and while there was some beautiful descriptive writing, overall I was still displeased.  The author is an ER physician and got REALLY technical with medical terminology.  While he throws around terms of "acromioclavicular junction", "sternocleidomastoid muscles", and masseteric fascia" without any explanation, he does expound on CODIS - "the acronym that referred to the FBI's Combined DNA Index System".  Anyone who has read a thriller or watched any of the multiple cop shows on TV has heard of CODIS, but unless you are a medical student, I know of few laypeople who know those medical terms.  To me it felt like Dr. Ego was at play here and while it only happened a couple times throughout, it really soured me on the author and his novel.

The mystery plot itself was okay.  I think one may be able to deduce whodunit, but there are red herrings to throw you off.  The ending bothered me quite a bit though.  Overall I was pretty disappointed.

                    Dexter's Final Cut  -  Jeff Lindsay
                              Guilty Pleasure

#2019AtoZChallenge (X) 

Dexter is a body guard to a TV actress who is playing a detective. Several women who look like this actress have been murdered.  Dexter is protecting her and trying to find the killer to kill him, of course.  And what a change in Dexter who NEVER has feelings because that is a human thing to do.  So why does he get feelings for this actress,??  That is not who Dexter is!!!!

The book jacket said that Dexter's world was going to be turned upside down and collide with a brutal killer!!!!   Well, with about less than 80 pages to go  and after MUCH repetition of what Dexter is like---  ( which if you had read the previous 6 books in the series you would certainly know what Dexter is like!!)---- we get to the exciting part and a cliffhanger. So now,  I have to read the final book in the series. (Let's hope it is the final book!)

So, I wasn't that thrill with this book.  Maybe I waited too long to pick the series back up but there was to much wasted repetitious stuff going on.  Yes, Dexter is funny and quirky, but I already knew that.  I didn't need to be told over and over again.   Sort of like how I am now repeating myself.  Lol!!

Goodreads preview::
Lights. Camera. Mayhem. You won't find this story on television.

Hollywood gets more than it bargained for when television's hottest star arrives at the Miami Police Department and develops an intense, professional interest in a camera-shy blood spatter analyst named Dexter Morgan.
Jeff Lindsay's razor sharp, devilish wit, and immaculate pacing prove that he is in a class of his own, and this new novel is his most masterful creation yet. ------NOT

The Impossible Girl by Lydia Kang

New Author
Once Upon a Book Club - October 2018
2019 A to Z Challenge - "I"

It's been awhile since I've read a book that I continued to think about when the pages were closed.  I couldn't wait to get back to find out what our protagonist, Cora was going to do!  Cora's profession (grave robber) and  her secret (born with 2 hearts) keep her in constant danger.

Summary from Goodreads:  Manhattan, 1850. Cora Lee can mingle with the rich just as easily as she can slip unnoticed into the slums and graveyards of the city. As the only female resurrectionist in New York, she’s carved out a niche procuring bodies afflicted with the strangest of anomalies. Anatomists will pay exorbitant sums for such specimens—dissecting and displaying them for the eager public.

Cora’s specialty is not only profitable, it’s a means to keep a finger on the pulse of those searching for her. She’s the girl born with two hearts—a legend among grave robbers and anatomists—sought after as an endangered prize.

Now, as a series of murders unfolds closer and closer to Cora, she can no longer trust those she holds dear, including the young medical student she’s fallen for. Because someone has no intention of waiting for Cora to die a natural death.