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."

 The Full Cupboard of Life - Alexander McCall Smith                                                                  ("A" Book)

#monopolychallenge - Reading RR - "X" in title or Author's name

  Mma Ramotswe , owner of The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency, is hire by a very wealthy lady to investigate 4 men who are interested in her.  So there is a lot of discussions on the good and bad behaviors of men.  Some are actually rather insightful.  Lol.

More information about Mma Ramotser's and Mr. J.L.B.Matekoni's engagement and of course the beautiful landscape of Botswana.  

This was an easy read and put a smile on my face at times.  

Goodreads:   Mma Ramotswe, who became engaged to Mr J.L.B. Matekoni at the end of the first audiobook, is still engaged. She wonders when a day for the wedding will be named, but she is anxious to avoid putting too much pressure on her fiancé. For indeed he has other things on his mind, notably a frightening request made of him by Mma Potokwani, pushy matron of the Orphan Farm.

Mma Ramotswe herself has weighty matters on her mind. She has been approached by a wealthy lady, whose fortune comes from successful hair-braiding salons, and has been asked to check up on several suitors. Are these men just interested in her money? This may be difficult to find out, but Mma Ramotswe is, of course, a very intuitive lady. 

 

       The River - Peter Heller                                                                                                   (Guilty Pleasure)

#monopolychallenge -Park Place _ Book title with P,A,R, or K

What an adventure.! We go on a wilderness canoe trip with college friends, Jack and Wynn.  What was meant to be a leisurely trip on a river in northern Canada turned into a trip of survival. We had white water rapids, a forest wild fire, and a man hunting us down.  Plus the beautiful scenery of the trees, mountains and the stars at night..  

This was a nice change from what I have been reading lately.

Goodreads:: TWO FRIENDS

Wynn and Jack have been best friends since their first day of college: a gentle giant from Vermont and a rugged kid raised on a ranch in Colorado, brought together by their shared love of literature and the great outdoors.

THE ADVENTURE OF A LIFETIME
When they decide to take time off university and canoe down the Maskwa River in northern Canada, they anticipate the ultimate wilderness experience: two young men navigating the rapids through the quiet, imposing landscapes of North America.
No phones.
No fellow travellers.
No way of going back.

A HELLISH RIDE
But as a raging wildfire starts to make its way towards them - reducing the towering trees to charred carcasses - their idyllic expedition becomes a desperate race for survival.
And when a man suddenly appears, seemingly in a state of shock and claiming his wife has vanished, the fight against nature's destructive power becomes entangled with a much deadlier game of cat and mouse.

Because the only thing more dangerous than a burning forest is a man's thirst for revenge...

 

  All is Beauty Now- Sarah Faber 
                 (Debut)

#monopolychallenge - Marvin Gardens - Plants on the cover.

This book is written in the prose style and mostly character development with a little romance and mystery.

It is about a 20 year old daughter who walks into the water off of the beach near Rio de Janeiro. It is told in back and forth chapters by the family members, their feelings, things that happened prior to and after she disappears. It also deals with the father's mental illness,his highs and lows.

The country of Brazil is beautifully described, the beautiful beaches, the beauty of Carnival, The Copacabana Club   and the waters of the Amazon.  I learned that there are pink dolphins that live in the Amazon River,  How cool is that!!!!

Goodreads::   Set against the seductive world of 1960s Rio de Janeiro, an exquisite debut novel about family secrets, divided loyalties, and what we're willing to do to save ourselves.

This mesmerizing first novel follows a glamorous family as they prepare to leave the seeming paradise of Brazil for Canada in the wake to the mysterious disappearance -- and presumed drowning -- of their eldest daughter a year earlier. As the novel moves back and forth between the members of the Maurer family, we are taken into the heart of a family whose beauty and charm belie a more troubling reality.

We meet the family's brilliant and charismatic father, whose bipolar extremes are becoming increasingly disturbing; his long-suffering wife, who once had a brief affair that proves to have shattering consequences for the family she swore to protect; their two remaining daughters, both on the brink of understanding the darker currents that run in their once-proud family; and the lost daughter herself, a beautiful young woman undone by her own grand delusions.

 The Last Piece by Imogen Clark

Monopoly Book Challenge - Electric Company - a "light and fluffy" book
Once Upon a Book Club - July 2020
New Author

While this wasn't a bad read, it was a book I was unlikely to choose myself. It was part of our OUBC monthly subscription.

The story was fairly predictable and I didn't particularly like any of the characters. BUT, that's just me. This is a light, chick-lit story about a rather complex subject. There's some romance, sisterhood, and scant, but beautiful descriptions of Greece.

Summary from Goodreads: A sudden departure. A story decades in the making.

The chaotic but happy equilibrium of the Nightingale family is thrown into disarray when Cecily—whose children can’t remember her ever being remotely spontaneous—disappears to a Greek island with no warning or explanation.

Her reasons for doing something so out of character are a total mystery to her three daughters, high-powered executive Felicity, unfulfilled GP Julia and organised mother-of-five Lily. What connection could she possibly have with Kefalonia?

But Cecily has gone to continue a story she thought ended decades ago—one that could have a huge impact on her family. And when she returns, she’ll have to tell them the truth.

Will Cecily be able to hold her family together once she reveals her big secret? And might she discover that she’s not the only one with a story to tell

 train by pete dexter

Monopoly Book Challenge - Reading Railroad - A book with X in the title or author's name.
Guilty Pleasure

The monopoly book challenge for Reading Railroad could be a book with X in the title or author's name OR a book with a train on the cover or about a train. While this book was titled "train", it was in reference to the nickname of a golf caddy, the protagonist of the book. So, even though I already did my X author, I decided to read another X author for this challenge.

This was a fairly fast moving novel. I really liked the protagonist Train and appreciated the development of many of the other characters, even the undesirable ones. I could even get past some of the violence of the book. And while I understood the character development of some of the sex scenes, at times it felt that the author's 15 year old prepubescent self was doing some ghostwriting.

In the end, while the storyline wasn't too bad, it's a book that I will not recommend due to the gratuitous sex and violence.

Summary from Goodreads: Los Angeles, 1953. Lionel Walk is a young black caddy at Brookline, the oldest, most exclusive country club in the city, where he is known by the nickname “Train.” A troubled, keenly intelligent kid with no particular interest in his own prodigious talent for the game, he keeps his head down and his mouth shut as he navigates his way between the careless hostility of his “totes” and the explosive brutality of the other caddies.

Miller Packard, a sergeant with the San Diego police department, first appears on the boy’s horizon as a distracted gambler, bored with ordinary risks. Train names him the “Mile-Away Man” as they walk off the first tee, and even months later, when they have become partners of a sort and are winning high-stakes matches against golf hustlers all over the country, the Mile-Away Man is a puzzle to Train, remote and intimate, impulsive and thoughtful, often all at the same time.

Packard is also a puzzle to Norah Still, the beautiful lone survivor of a terrifying yacht hijacking, who is both aroused and repulsed by his violent and detached manner at the crime scene. Packard himself feels no such ambiguity. He is unequivocally drawn to Norah – and perhaps to what has happened to her – and an odd, volatile triangle takes shape, Packard pulling the other two relentlessly into deeper water, away from what is safe.

    The Lost Love Song - Minnie Darke                                                                                          (New Author)

#monopolychallenge - Tennessee Ave -character in music industry

Well, I stretched this a little to fit the monopoly challenge.  It starts with a pianist , my character in the music industry but it is really more about the song and the connections the song makes.  So, sort of in the music industry.

I call this book a cozy romance. It is about loss, love, finding yourself  and a song. Cute, quick read.

Goodreads:  Concert pianist Diana is finally ready to marry her longtime fiance, Arie; she's even composing a beautiful love song for him, and finishes it while on tour. Before she can play it for him, though, tragedy strikes--and Diana is lost to Arie forever.

But her song might not be.

In Australia, the world has gone quiet for Arie and he lives his life accordingly, struggling to cope with his loss. In Scotland, a woman named Evie is taking stock of her life after the end of another lackluster almost-relationship. Years of wandering the globe and failing to publish her poetry have taken their toll, and she might finally be ready to find what her travels have never been able to give her: a real home. And through a quirk of fate or circumstance, Diana's song is passed from musician to musician. By winding its way around the world, it just might bring these two lost souls together.

 The Hidden Keys by Andre Alexis

Monopoly Book Challenge - Chance - A book with a Goodreads rating higher than 3.0
"X" Author

With a Goodreads rating of 3.77, this was a apt fit for the Monopoly challenge and a fun read!

The book's characters go on a treasure hunt and while the reader doesn't have enough access to solve the clues themselves, they do get to following along! Tancred, our protagonist is a complex thief that you can't help but love.

Alexis makes some interesting points about what is good/bad, right/wrong. The difference between thinking you are doing good and actually doing good and the reasons we act as we do.

Summary from Goodreads: Parkdale’s Green Dolphin is a bar of ill repute, and it is there that Tancred Palmieri, a thief with elegant and erudite tastes, meets Willow Azarian, an aging heroin addict. She reveals to Tancred that her very wealthy father has recently passed away, leaving each of his five children a mysterious object that provides one clue to the whereabouts of a large inheritance. Willow enlists Tancred to steal these objects from her siblings and help her solve the puzzle.

A Japanese screen, a painting that plays music, a bottle of aquavit, a framed poem and a model of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater: Tancred is lured in to this beguiling quest.

As he tracks down the treasure, he must enlist the help of Alexander von Würfel, conceptual artist and taxidermist to the wealthy, and fend off Willow’s heroin dealers, a young albino named Colby and his sidekick, Sigismund ‘Freud’ Luxemburg, a clubfooted psychopath, both of whom are eager to get their hands on this supposed pot of gold. And he must mislead Detective Daniel Mandelshtam, his most adored friend.

The Perfect Husband - Lisa Gardner                                                                                   (Oldest on TBR)   

#monopolychallenge - Vermont Ave. Mostly white cover

This is my go-to genre after a couple of tough reads.  Nothing like a good serial killer to clear my mind.

Tess helps to put her serial killer husband,Jim, in prison but when he escapes he begins to hunt her down.

She goes to a mercenary, J.T., for help.  Tess wants him to  train her in self-defense and how to fire a gun. She wants to be ready when  Jim finds her.   Surprise, surprise, Tess and J.T. get involve.  

Goodreads:

What would you do if the man of your dreams hides the soul of a killer?

Jim Beckett was everything she'd ever dreamed of...But two years after Tess married the decorated cop and bore his child, she helped put him behind bars for savagely murdering ten women. Even locked up in a maximum security prison, he vowed he would come after her and make her pay. Now the cunning killer has escaped—and the most dangerous game of all begins....

After a lifetime of fear, Tess will do something she's never done before. She's going to learn to protect her daughter and fight back, with the help of a burned-out ex-marine. As the largest manhunt four states have ever seen mobilizes to catch Beckett, the clock winds down to the terrifying reunion between husband and wife. And Tess knows that this time, her only choices are to kill—or be killed.