June reads

Leave No Trace by Hannah Nyala 2* The story of a woman deserted in the middle of an Australian desert and her attempt to get out alive while avoiding killers who are tracking her. Written by a SAR tracker, so LOTS of detail in that aspect but I felt the story itself was lacking and just dragggged. I only finished the novel to see if she makes it out alive.


The Outlander by Gil Adamson 2.5* I just didn't like this story, found it boring. Only gave it 2.5* because I actually finished. A woman kills her husband and then is on the run from his brothers.



Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult 3* not my favorite by her, too religious....the story of a woman whose husband and daughter are killed by a man who later decides he wants to donate his heart to her other daughter.



The Journal of Callie Wade 3* the journal of an 18yr old girl traveling with her family from Missourri to CA in 1859. Reminded me some of Mattie Spenser, but not as good.



Mudbound by Hillary Jordan 4.5* set in Mississipi in 1946, racial tensions abound. 2 war veterans come home, one black and one white and receive completely different homecomings. The story revolves around a farm-bound houswife and her interactions with each man and their families. Best book I have read in a while, once I picked it up I couldn't put it down until I was finished.



My Enemy's Cradle by Sara Young 3* A half Jewish woman passes herself off as her cousin to enter a German Lebensborn (birth center) during WWII. I just didn't connect with the characters, they felt stilted and the story just didn't seem believable to me.



The God of Animals by Aryn Kyle 3.5* the story of a young girl who grows up on a horse farm with a dysfunctional family. Her father is gruff and more interested in the horses than in his daughters, her mother hasn't left the bedroom years and her sister takes off an gets married before she graduates high school.



The Train to Estelline by Jane Roberts Wood 4* an immature 17yr old girl goes to a small town to teach school in 1911 and learns things are not always what they seem. She is shocked at how poor the people she lives with are and her students. she grows up a lot in the year.



Riding With the Queen by Jennie Shortridge 4* Tallie Beck is a down and out rock and roll singer who has to head back home with her tail between her legs to sing at a piano bar. She has to beg to stay with her little sister who she hasn't seen in 14 years. She has to come to terms with her bi-piolar mother who she also hasn't seen or spoken to in 14 years. I started out hating Tallie but by the end of the book i am rooting for her, hoping she will grown up and get her act together.



One Mississippi by Mark Childress 4* the story of a teenage boy and his family who move every couple of years due to the father's job. Set in the 60's right after school intergration starts, it is full of racial tension. Daniel is unused to race beng an issue as they haven't lived in the south and problems arise after he and a friend accidentally hit the first black prom queen as she is riding home on her bike.