Jan. 09 reads

Testimony by Anita Shreve 4* a sex scandal at a private school involving 3 male students and one underage female student shows how anyone’s life can change at any time and that there’s always more than one side to a story

Plague Year by Jeff Carlson 4* scientists that are trying to cure cancer release nanotechs into the world that kill people unless they are above a certain elevation. So all survivors are trying to carve out a life in high altitudes.

Lucifer’s Hammer by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle 4* life after a comet hits earth and lots of countries and big parts of the US are gone. Looting, hoarding, killing. Makes you ashamed of the human race, but then you wonder what you would do to save your family from starvation.

The Vanishing Point by Mary Sharratt 4* After ruining her reputation in England, May is sent to Maryland to marry a distant cousin she has never met. Later her sister Hannah follows her but when she gets there, May is gone and Hannah falls in love with her sister’s husband.

Dying to Live by Kim Paffenroth 3* life after zombies. Not very detailed or believable, but an okay read, quick and easy

Black Flies by Shannon Burke 4* written by an ex-medic, the story rings very true. It’s a gritty, graphic novel about a new medic in Harlem. You’ll be ashamed how the medics are treated, but then you will be ashamed by how some of the at in return. You won’t be able to put the book down until you are finished. Quick, easy read, I finished in a day.

The Road to Wellville by TC Boyle 2* set in the early 1900’s at a ritzy “health resort” that preaches vegetarianism along with other odd “cures” for ailments, it pokes fun at the health craze…it just wasn’t my type of book. By about page 350 I started skimming somewhat.

December by Elizabeth Hartley Winthrop 3* a couple struggles when their 11 yr old daughter stops talking for over 9 months.

Time of My Life by Allison Winn Scotch 3.5* a woman is transported 7 years in her past, back to a boyfriend she still thinks about and before her marriage and daughter. Will she change her life this time around?

After You’d Gone by Maggie O’Farrell (reread) 4.5* a woman is in a coma and her life is told in flashbacks by her and her family. The narration jumps around a bit much at first, but gets better (or else you get used to it)

Wildwood by Drusilla Campbell 2.5* disappointing as I liked Blood Orange, but this one was too unbelievable, you don’t feel much for the characters. It’s the story of 3 friends bound by something that happened when they are 12. They carry the secret throughout their lives, but it all comes to a head in their 50’s.

Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott (YA) 4* tragic and horrific, like a train wreck. Once you pick this book up, you won’t be able to put it down until you finish it. Alice is abducted at 10 by a pedophile. He keeps her until the age of 15 when he wants her help to find her replacement. You can’t book the book down until you’ve found out why she doesn’t get help when she has ample opportunities to get away, how he got her in the first place, and why she would help him.

The Fifth Child by Doris Lessing DNF I TRIED to finish this book but just couldn’t. It was bizarre. A young couple has 4 kids they can’t afford so they are supported by his rich father (first irritant). Then they have a 5th child that they think is “different”. They don’t like him thinking he seems like a caveman and their family withdraws their help. There was just nothing I liked about this book, could not finish!

Skin Hunger by Kathleen Duey 4* YA 2 interwoven stories, one about a girl who can speak in her mind to animals, and the story of a boy who goes to wizard school. The only disappointment was that the book ended. Can’t wait to read the next in the trilogy!

Arranged Marriage by Chitra Banjerjee Divakaruni 4* short stories about Indian marriages. I don’t usually like short stories but these were all good.

The Wednesday Letters by Jason F. Wright 2* didn’t realize it was Christian fiction when I bought it! An elderly couple dies the same night and their 3 children find the letters their father wrote their mother every year for 40 years. HATED the ending!! Soooo unrealistic!

The Ladies’ Lending Library by Janice Kulyk Keefer 2.5* Story set in Canada during the summer of 1963. Revolves around several Ukrainian families. It just had too many characters, I had trouble keeping track of them all and really didn’t feel any connection with any of them.

Gracelin O’Malley by Ann Moore 3.5* set in Ireland during the 1840’s. Gracelin is a 15 yr old girl whose father marries her off to a wealthy landowner. At first all is well because she gives him the heir he so badly needs, but then things start to go downhill. Also, horrible famine sweeps Ireland affecting everyone.

Safelight by Shannon Burke 3* same writing style as Black Flies, but I just didn’t connect with the characters as much. It revolves around a paramedic that likes taking pictures of the people they go to help. He also becomes involved with a girl who is HIV positive.

The Mammy by Brendan O’Carroll 3* the story of an Irish family. At the beginning of the book the father dies and the mother is left to care for her 6 children. Funny and sad rolled into one.