Shiver – Allie Reynolds 

         (Debut)

A psychological thriller set in the French Alps. Alternating chapters from present day to 10 years ago.

In present day, we have 5 people meeting up for a reunion of sorts. Strange things happen like all of their phones go missing, their laptops are gone. Are they there to find out what happened 10 years ago? Is someone else there with them or is it one of them. Who do you trust??

10 years ago, these 5 people meet for the first time at a snowboarding competition. What starts out as a friendly rivalry turns ugly. Things happen but not ever explained.

I enjoyed the mystery part of this book but the relationships seem immature at times. Overall, I would recommend this as a good thriller.

Goodreads summary:

In this propulsive locked-room thriller debut, a reunion weekend in the French Alps turns deadly when five friends discover that someone has deliberately stranded them at their remote mountaintop resort during a snowstorm.

When Milla accepts an off-season invitation to Le Rocher, a cozy ski resort in the French Alps, she's expecting an intimate weekend of catching up with four old friends. It might have been a decade since she saw them last, but she's never forgotten the bond they forged on this very mountain during a winter spent fiercely training for an elite snowboarding competition.

Yet no sooner do Milla and the others arrive for the reunion than they realize something is horribly wrong. The resort is deserted. The cable cars that delivered them to the mountaintop have stopped working. Their cell phones--missing. And inside the hotel, detailed instructions await them: an icebreaker game, designed to draw out their secrets. A game meant to remind them of Saskia, the enigmatic sixth member of their group, who vanished the morning of the competition years before and has long been presumed dead.

 

The House in the Cerulean Sea – T.J.Klune                                                                                (Newest on TBR)

What a lovely book. Linus is a caseworker for a company that provides homes for magical children. He is sent to an orphanage on an island to make sure that is run properly and that the children are taken care of.

He meets some very interesting characters. Oh, and what wonderful characters they turned out to be. I wanted to go there and meet them myself.

A story about hope, accepting others and learning to believe in yourself.

Goodreads summary:

A magical island. A dangerous task. A burning secret.

Linus Baker leads a quiet, solitary life. At forty, he lives in a tiny house with a devious cat and his old records. As a Case Worker at the Department in Charge Of Magical Youth, he spends his days overseeing the well-being of children in government-sanctioned orphanages.

When Linus is unexpectedly summoned by Extremely Upper Management he's given a curious and highly classified assignment: travel to Marsyas Island Orphanage, where six dangerous children reside: a gnome, a sprite, a wyvern, an unidentifiable green blob, a were-Pomeranian, and the Antichrist. Linus must set aside his fears and determine whether or not they’re likely to bring about the end of days.

But the children aren’t the only secret the island keeps. Their caretaker is the charming and enigmatic Arthur Parnassus, who will do anything to keep his wards safe. As Arthur and Linus grow closer, long-held secrets are exposed, and Linus must make a choice: destroy a home or watch the world burn.

.

A Burning Soul - John Connolly                                                                               (Series)

This is the 10^th in the series

This is a typical John Connolly with lots of characters who don’t seem to connect but as always, they are all brought together at the end.

Another good mystery thriller where a young teen-age girl goes missing, lots of twists and turns following the people who may or may not be involved in taking her. There were not as many spirit entities as Mr. Connolly sometimes has and the ending, well, I did not see it coming.

Goodreads summary:

There are some truths so terrible that they should not be spoken aloud. Here is one of those truths: after three hours, the abduction of a child is routinely treated as a homicide.

When a girl disappears from a small Maine town, her neighbor—a recluse named Randall Haight—starts receiving anonymous letters that contain tormenting references to a different teenage girl, murdered long ago. For many years, Randall has kept a secret: when he was fourteen, he was convicted of killing that girl. Now, his former life has returned to haunt him, and he hires private detective Charlie Parker to make it go away. But in a town built on blood and shadowed by old ghosts, where too many of the living are hiding secrets, the past cannot be dismissed so easily. As Parker unravels a twisted, violent history involving a doomed mobster and his enemies, the police, and the FBI, his search returns again and again to Randall Haight. Because Randall is still telling lies…

 Five by Ursula Archer

Monopoly Book Challenge - Vermont Avenue - Book with mostly White Cover
Newest Book on TBR

A fantastically creepy novel that I stayed up late to finish! A mystery that I thought I had figured out, but Archer was much more devious than that!

The map coordinates were added fun to research and I discovered the beauty of Austria!

My only disappointment is that the subsequent 3 novels in this series haven't been translated into English yet!!

Summary from Goodreads: A woman's corpse is discovered in a meadow. A strange combination of letters and numbers has been tattooed on the soles of her feet. Detective inspector Beatrice Kaspary from the local murder squad quickly identifies the digits as map coordinates. These lead to a series of gruesome discoveries as she and her colleague Florin Wenninger embark on a bloody trail - a modern-day scavenger hunt using GPS navigation devices to locate hidden caches. The "owner" of these unofficial, unpublished geocaches is a highly calculating and elusive fiend who leaves his victims' body-parts sealed in plastic bags, complete with riddles that culminate in a five-stage plot. Kaspary herself becomes an unwilling pawn in the perpetrator's game of cat and mouse as she risks all to uncover the motives behind the murderer's actions. Five is definitely not a book for the faint-hearted, but it delivers great suspense, unexpected plot twists, and multi-dimensional characters.

 Life's Golden Ticket by Brendon Burchard

Monopoly Book Challenge - Reading Railroad - Author whose first and last name begin with the same letter.

Guilty Pleasure

What a fun little ride of a book. To discover life's lessons through the rediscovery of the fun of a carnival!!

Summary from Goodreads: A classic inspirational parable; a triumphant tale of personal growth and change that will inspire anyone who has ever wished for a second chance.
What if you were handed a golden ticket that could magically start your life anew?
Burchard tells the story of a man who is so trapped in the prison of his past that he cannot see the possibilities, the choices, and the gifts before him. To soothe his fiancée Mary, clinging to life in a hospital bed, the man takes the envelope she offers and heads to an old, abandoned amusement park that she begs him to visit.
To his surprise, when he steps through the rusted entrance gates, the park magically comes to life. Guided by the wise groundskeeper Henry, the man will encounter park employees, answer difficult questions, overcome obstacles, listen to lessons from those wiser than he, and take a hard look at himself.

 Water Witches - Chris Bohjalain

#2021monoplychallenge - Oriental Ave.(white cover)

I did not expect to like this book. The main characters are a lobbyist lawyer working for a ski resort and an environmentalist fighting to save a mountain and a river.  The ski resort wants to cut down trees on the mountain and also tap into the river for a snowmaking machine. Of course , the environmentalist is trying to save the trees and a drought has put the river in jeopardy. All of this takes place in beautiful Vermont and I enjoyed in immensely. I also learned about water dowsing which is very interesting.

Chris Bohjalian does a wonderful job of bringing his characters to life. I had empathy for both sides.   

Goodreads summary:

Set in the Vermont countryside, Water Witches is a tale of the clash between progress and tradition, science and magic. In the midst of a nightmarish New England drought, cynical ski industry lobbyist Scottie Winston is trying to get a large ski resort the permits it needs to tap already beleaguered rivers for snow. His wife, his little girl, and his sister-in-law-dowsers or "water witches" all-hope to stop him, however, in this gentle, comic, life-affirming novel.

 Never Saw Me Coming by Vera Kurian

ARC from BookBrowse First Impressions

Monopoly Book Challenge - Go - Read any book
Debut

A reviewer said this was a book they wanted to portion out to make it last but also didn't want to put it down, which is a perfect description of this fantastic debut!

The premise of 7 psychopaths in a college clinical study when 1 is murdered is intriguing enough to get you to open the book and from there you will have a hard time closing it until you reach the last page!

Summary from Goodreads: Meet Chloe Sevre. She’s a freshman honor student, who also happens to be a psychopath. Her hobbies include yogalates, frat parties and plotting to kill Will Bachman, a childhood friend who grievously wronged her.

Chloe is one of seven students at her DC-based college who are part of an unusual clinical study for psychopaths—students like herself who lack empathy and can’t comprehend emotions like fear or guilt. The study, led by a renowned psychologist, requires them to wear smart watches that track their moods and movements.

When one of the students in the study is found murdered in the psychology building, a dangerous game of cat and mouse begins, and Chloe goes from hunter to prey. As she races to identify the killer and put her own plan into action, she’ll be forced to decide if she can trust any of her fellow psychopaths—and everybody knows you should never trust a psychopath.

The Girl with No Shadow - Joanne Harris                                                                                    ( Oldest on TBR)

#2021monopolychallenge - Mostly blue cover

This is the continuation of Vianne Rocher's life, who we first met in 
 "Chocolat".   Here Vianne and her two young daughters try to be "normal" and not use her magic and even stops making her chocolates.  Vianne does not want to bring attention to herself or to have a repeat of what happened before.

Things go along well until Zozie comes into Vianne's life and upsets the balance.

Wonderfully magical and mystical!!

Goodreads Summary:  The wind has always dictated Vianne Rocher's every move, buffeting her from the French village of Lansquenet-sous-Tannes to the crowded streets of Paris. Cloaked in a new identity, that of widow Yanne Charbonneau, she opens a chocolaterie on a small Montmartre street, determined to still the wind at last and keep her daughters, Anouk and baby Rosette, safe. But the weather vane soon turns, and Zozie de l'Alba blows into their lives. Charming and enigmatic, Zozie provides the brightness that Yanne's life needs--as her vivacity and bold lollipop shoes dazzle rebellious and impressionable preadolescent Anouk. But beneath their new friend's benevolent facade lies a ruthless treachery--for devious, seductive Zozie has plans that will shake their world to pieces.

 where the lost wander by Amy Harmon

Monopoly Book Challenge - Pennsylvania Avenue - a book which involves a trip of some kind.
Once Upon a Book Club - May 2020
Historical Fiction

The opening scene of this wonderful novel is positively gut-wrenching and the following chapters which lay out the characters and their travels along the Oregon Trail only make it more so. 

But reading the journey of the May family and John Lowry brings to life the difficulties of the Oregon Trail and highlights the amazing strength of the people of the time.

Summary from Goodreads: The Overland Trail, 1853: Naomi May never expected to be widowed at twenty. Eager to leave her grief behind, she sets off with her family for a life out West. On the trail, she forms an instant connection with John Lowry, a half-Pawnee man straddling two worlds and a stranger in both. But life in a wagon train is fraught with hardship, fear, and death. Even as John and Naomi are drawn to each other, the trials of the journey and their disparate pasts work to keep them apart. John’s heritage gains them safe passage through hostile territory only to come between them as they seek to build a life together. When a horrific tragedy strikes, decimating Naomi’s family and separating her from John, the promises they made are all they have left. Ripped apart, they can’t turn back, they can’t go on, and they can’t let go. Both will have to make terrible sacrifices to find each other, save each other, and eventually…make peace with who they are.

Quotes: "I realize now that life is just a continual parting of the ways, some more painful than others."

All Is Not Forgotten - Wendy Walker                                                                                        ( New Author)
 

#2021Monopolychallenge - Venture Ave - Starts with "A"

Not at all what I was expecting.

The narrator is a therapist who is treating a young girl and her parents. The girl was violently raped by an unknown man and she is treated with drugs to have the memory of it erased. The therapist is also treating a soldier who had the same treatment for the trauma of war.

So instead of learning how Jenny deals with her "raging emotional memory"(from back of the book) and Jenny's parents struggles,  the egotistical therapist tells us how wonderful he is in his treatment of them all. Jenny, her dad, her mom and the soldier.  Also, if reading about rape is a trigger for anyone , do not read this book.  The violent and horrific rape is mentioned several times.

I will say that I did not see the end coming, the way it is written, I don't think anyone would.

Goodreads summary:

In the small, affluent town of Fairview, Connecticut everything seems picture perfect.

Until one night when young Jenny Kramer is attacked at a local party. In the hours immediately after, she is given a controversial drug to medically erase her memory of the violent assault. But, in the weeks and months that follow, as she heals from her physical wounds, and with no factual recall of the attack, Jenny struggles with her raging emotional memory. Her father, Tom, becomes obsessed with his inability to find her attacker and seek justice while her mother, Charlotte, prefers to pretend this horrific event did not touch her perfect country club world.

As they seek help for their daughter, the fault lines within their marriage and their close-knit community emerge from the shadows where they have been hidden for years, and the relentless quest to find the monster who invaded their town - or perhaps lives among them - drive this psychological thriller to a shocking and unexpected conclusion.

 

     The Yellow Wife - Sadeqa Johnson                                                                                               (HF)

2021monopolychallenge - New York Ave.-title starts with "Y"

An historical account of Lumpkin's Jail on the Devil's Half Acre in Richmond Va. and the "mistress" of the jail., A slave woman owner by the Jailer..  The jail was for runaway slaves or black men, women and children being put up for auction.

I always hate to say I have enjoyed a book about slavery because it was such a horrible time in our history, but I do enjoy reading a book that I makes me feel for the characters.  This is such a book.   I have visited the area of Devil's Half Acre so I was able to visualize this area. None of the buildings are standing but there is a plaque telling about the jail. 

   So an interesting read but I felt that the end was rushed.  I was left with questions. 

Goodreads:

A young female slave is sold to a married man who intends to start a family with her, even as he manages the particularly cruel estate, the Devil's Half Acre, where thousands of black people are beaten, broken, and sold.

 today we go home by Kelli Estes

Monopoly Book Challenge - Atlantic Ave. - A book with a mostly yellow cover.
Once Upon a Book Club - October 2019
Historical Fiction

A captivating read that depicts women in the military both currently and those disguised as men who served in the Civil War. The novel alternates between Larkin who has returned from serving in Afghanistan and Emily who served in the Civil War.

The bravery of these women serving our country in the midst of discrimination, inequality and misogyny is incomparable. 

Highly recommended read as well as the research notes and sources by the author!

Summary from Goodreads: Seattle, Washington. Larkin Bennett has always known her place, whether it’s surrounded by her loving family in the lush greenery of the Pacific Northwest, or riding on a dusty convoy in Afghanistan. But all that changed the day tragedy struck her unit and took away everything she held dear. Soon after, Larkin discovers an unexpected treasure: the diary of Emily Wilson, a young woman who disguised herself as a man to fight for the Union in the Civil War. As Larkin struggles to heal, she finds herself drawn deep into Emily’s life and the secrets she kept. Indiana, 1861. The only thing more dangerous to Emily Wilson than a rebel soldier is her own comrades in the Union. But in the minds of her fellow soldiers, if it dresses like a man, swears like a man, and shoots like a man, it must be a man. As the war marches on and takes its terrible toll, Emily begins to question everything she has been told about the freedom she is supposed to be fighting for.

    The Intruder - Peter Blauner                                                                                                      ( "B" book)

#2021monoplychallange - St. Charles Place - book with black cover

First of all,   this book was written in 1995. The world was different then.  Now reading a book that has racial slurs and unnecessary violence was difficult to read. 

Jake is an attorney who makes a wrong decision in trying to protect his family from a man with a mental problem.  Unknowingly he gets involved with a mob guy and soon finds himself  on trial for murder.

This was a decent legal thriller with twists and turns that I did not always see coming.

Goodreads : Sold to Hollywood for nearly $3 million, this blockbuster thriller pulls readers into its stranglehold of terror in the tradition of Cape Fear. Having survived a childhood of beatings and psychological torture, successful Manhattan lawyer Jacob Schiff cherishes his stable family life with his wife, a psychiatric social worker, and his son. But Jake sees it all unraveling when John Gates, a homeless man who has become his wife's patient, starts stalking her and menacing the family.
 

 The Lost Apothecary - Sarah Penner                                                                                     (Historical Fiction) 

OUBC - March 2021

Caroline is in London. She was supposed to be celebrating her 10th anniversary but after discovering her husband's "secret" , she went by herself.  She  finds a blue vial while "mudlarking" in the Thames River and immediately starts researching this strange little bottle.  

The second timeline is 1791 where we meet Nella, the apothecary, who makes well-disguised poisons for women who want to be rid of the men in their lives who have hurt them in different ways.  

This was an enjoyable read. It kept my interest in the happenings to these 2 women,

Goodreads:

A female apothecary secretly dispenses poisons to liberate women from the men who have wronged them—setting three lives across centuries on a dangerous collision course.Rule #1: The poison must never be used to harm another woman.
Rule #2: The names of the murderer and her victim must be recorded in the apothecary’s register.

In present-day London, aspiring historian Caroline Parcewell spends her tenth wedding anniversary alone, reeling from the discovery of her husband’s infidelity. When she finds an old apothecary vial near the river Thames, she can’t resist investigating, only to realize she’s found a link to the unsolved “apothecary murders” that haunted London over two centuries ago. As she deepens her search, Caroline’s life collides with Nella’s and Eliza’s in a stunning twist of fate—and not everyone will survive.

 Accordion Crimes by E. Annie Proulx

Monopoly Book Challenge - Tennessee Ave. - A book with a character in the music industry.
Oldest book on TBR

I have had this book for-ev-er!! I've tried to start it a number of times but it just never seemed to grab me. Yet, I refused to give up on it, believing that I enjoyed this author. Well, I have only read 1 other book by Ms. Proulx - The Shipping News - and while I enjoyed that book immensely, this book did nothing to endear me to Ms. Proulx. Though I can't say it is entirely her fault. She writes beautifully, but I was misled by the book jacket to Accordion Crimes. It is described as a novel, spanning a century and a continent. Actually, it is a book of short stories loosely connected by a green accordion. Goodreads describes it better: "divided into nine sections", but in the end its 9 short stories. I have tried time and time again and I simply am not a fan of short story collections. Maybe if I read 1 story each day I could separate the characters, location, etc. but in each story my mind was recalling the characters from the prior story and getting frustrated that they weren't fitting into the current story. The only continuous character in this aptly titled book was the accordion itself (hence why I made it fit the Monopoly challenge!) And the only reason I didn't give up on this book was because I was waiting for something to be found. I won't spoil it in this review, but I was unsatisfied, but not for the reasons one may think.

While there was some language and xenophobia that made this book uncomfortable, as well as some graphic descriptions of violence - I can appreciate Ms. Proulx's writing.

I did learn some things as this book did span a time period of 1890 to 1980s, from Italy to America to Paris, following immigrants from Poland, Germany, Norway, their food and their polkas!

This Life magazine cover photo of the popular college stunt of phone booth stuffing (though Proulx did not attribute it to the correct photographer?)

And the beautiful Appaloosa horse which was confiscated by the US Government from the Nez Perce tribe and cross-bred almost out of existence.

Summary from Goodreads: Divided into nine sections and spanning a century and a continent, this novel illuminates the lives of the founders of a nation, descendants of Mexicans, Poles, Germans, the Irish, Scots and Franco-Canadians. Through the music of the accordion they express their fantasies, sorrows and exuberance.

Quotes: "Americans understand nothing of how to live, only to get and get and get."

"...he talks too much, they must have vaccinated him with a Victrola needle when he was a baby."