May Read Wrap UPS

Remembrance by Rita Woods - 3 Star (Read 4/29 to 5/1)

This was a OUABC book for Feburary.

This was a magical realism book about a place on the Underground Railroad, that no one can find unless you are invited in.  It spans 1791 to present day and follows the lives of three women, and we find in the end how they are all tied together.
I really enjoyed this book, I didn't think I would.  But the writing and the story were beautiful.

Wild land by Rebecca Hodge - 5 Star (Read 5/1 to 5/2)
This was a OUABC book for March.
I almost didn't buy this book, the story sounded so meh to me.  A woman is on vacation and a wildfire happens and she has to save two children and some dogs...meh.  But then I opened it and I started to read it, I absolutely could not put it down, I read it on sitting!  It is beautiful and touching, and the characters are deep and flawed but real. And scenery is so realistic and immersive.  I highly recommend it.  I hope they make this a movie!

Rules for Moving by Nancy Star - 3 Star (Read 5/2 to 5/6)
I received this book as an Advanced Reader's Copy (ARC) through NetGalley. I received this copy free in exchange for my honest review.
Lane writes the advise column “Dear Roxie.” It seems she is fairly popular and there are ads up for her “live chat” all over. This makes Lane uncomfortable, but it was her employer’s decision not hers. Aaron is Lane’s husband, and it seems he is an alcoholic. They are getting a divorce, but haven’t told told the world in general yet. Lane and Aaron get in a fight over a work party he wants her to go to, she still refuses to go and calls him a Lyft. Later that night a policeman shows up to tell her Aaron has died in a car accident. In the aftermath, Lane tries to put her life back together.

This was an ok book for me, I only gave it three stars. There was just a lot going on. It felt like the author wanted to include so many issues, and as a result just mishmashes them all together without really exploring any. I wish she had just focused on Aaron's death and it's effects on Lane and Henry. Lane also really bothered me, I get bring introverted but man, she really had her head in the sand and focused on all the wrong details a lot. And then she would make decisions her character would never make and Star would acknowledge it but be like oh well she made a random decision, and we as readers all know it was just needed for plot movement. If the character doesn't fit the plot, maybe adjust the character?

At All Costs (Honor Harrington #1) by David Weber - 4 Star (Read 5/12 to 5/23)
This was my May BOTM club read, for sci-fi.  It was quite the tomb.  We meet Honor again, out gunned and the underdog.  But as always never count her out. There were some great growth moments in her personal life as well.  I'm not sure I really like the direction Weber went, but I feel he stayed true to Honor's personality in the situation.  I admit, a beloved character dies in the final chapters and I was heart broken.

The Herd by Andrea Barr’s - 3 Star (Read 5/23 to 5/28)
This was a OUABC book for April.
I really struggled with this book, and I almost gave up. This is the story of a high-powered woman that goes missing, and her close friends search for her and uncover lots of mysteries. I had a hard time connecting with the characters, which means the story was dragging for me. And the mystery didn't drawing me in. It was very meh for me.

Her by Harriet Lane - 3 Star (Read 5/30 to 6/2)

This book is told from two points of view, Emma and Nina.  When you first meet them, you think they have very little in common, and you are correct.  However they do have one thing in common, a single event from when they were teenagers, and event that was so minor to one she doesn't remember it.  While it was completely life changing to the other.
I found it interesting that the chapters mirrored each other, one chapter would be told from Emma's point of view, and the next would be the exact same events, but from Nina's point of view.   I found it a fun and interesting story telling style.  I found the mystery engaging, and it kept me turning the pages.  HOWEVER, once we got to the mystery it was a complete let down.  And the events of the final pages was heartbreaking and monstrous, and completely out of proprotion to the supposed crime committed.  This is why it got 3 stars, I wanted to give it 2 based on the ending, but the writing was so good up until the final chapter.

What the Other Three Don’t know by Spencer Hyde (Read 3/3/20 to 3/4/20) – 5 Star

I received this book as an Advanced Reader's Copy (ARC) through NetGalley. It will be published March 3rd, 2020. I received this copy free in exchange for my honest review.

17 year old Indiana, “Indie”, lives with her grandfather. Her Dad left 10 years ago, and her mom died in a rafting accident 2 years ago. She is very jaded and feels very alone. She lives in a small town in Idaho, and by small I mean population 300. Her grandfather is the mortician in the next biggest town Victor, population 2,000. In order to be in the senior journalism class, each student must do a 5 day trip with a group of 3-4 other students from the class, and then write a human interest story about another person on the trip. Indie is going on a rafting trip with 3 other students. Indie needs to write a good story so she can earn a scholarship and make it out of her small town.

On the trip with her is Skye Ellis, a Star athlete that now has a prosthetic leg. He is on the trip because his parents are making him. Wyatt Isom an artist with an abusive drunk for a father. He is on the trip because he wants to boost his GPA to get out of their small town. And Shelby Trumane a popular girl who post a ton of social media pictures. She is on the trip because her friend said it was an easy class. The river guide is Nash, he was the same guide for the trip her mother died on. Nothing on the trip however goes as expected and nobody is who they seem to be, in the end the challenges they face will change all their lives forever.

This was such a well written novel! I enjoyed it so much. I liked the characters and the setting, and it was fast moving but deep, a really nice blend. Breakfast club, but camping!

The Sound of Stars by Alechia Dow (Read 2/17/20 to 2/23/20) – 4 Star

I received this book as an Advanced Reader's Copy (ARC) through NetGalley. It will be published February 25, 2020. I received this copy free in exchange for my honest review.

Earth is invaded by the Ilori when Janelle Baker was 15. Janelle is now 17 and she lives in an Ilori prison camp, and she is a librarian of sorts. She loans and finds books for fellow prisoners she calls her patrons. Which Janelle has to do super secretly, because if she is caught sharing books she could be executed by the Ilori. Janelle’s Dad works for the Ilori on the half-solutions program, a monthly mood-enhancing vaccine that turns humans into obedient Ilori servants. Jaenelle’s mother has become a drunk. Commander M0Rr1S is a labmade Ilori, he is the head scientist working on a vaccine. The Ilori plan to cleanse Earth of its pollution for their own habitation, for the true Ilori and make their new colony a truly immersive experience, a vacation planet. M0Rr1S loves human music, and is searching the basement for more of it when he finds Janelle’s library. This kicks off an adventure full of mistrust and earned trust, and finding common ground between species that are never meant to live next to each other. I really enjoyed he characters, and yes it was dystopian sort of, it wasn’t the end of the world. I felt like Dow wanted to write about hope, hope that the world could be different if we set aside some of our prejudice and hate. This was a good book, and I hope there is a sequel.

This Won’t End Well by Camille Pagan (Read 2/14/20 to 2/15/20) – 5 Stars

I received this book as an Advanced Reader's Copy (ARC) through NetGalley. It will be published February 25, 2020. I received this copy free in exchange for my honest review.
This book is told in the format of letters/emails and journal entries written by Annie. Annie’s fiancé Jon has left for France for a month, and requested no contact so he can “get his head on straight” six months before their wedding. Annie is a chemist who just left her job because a co-worker sexually harassed her and is banned from the sanitation chemistry field for 2 years. Jon is a French teacher. While she is unemployed she is cleaning houses to make ends meet. Annie’s mother suffers from depression and Annie lives with her.
Annie is very pessimistic/realist, and her one-liners are very witty. Reminds me a bit of Fredrik Backman, whom I really like his writing g style. It even reminds me a bit of Holly Banks Full of Angst, where there isn’t really anything but daily life happening, but the characters perception and commentary is very enthralling for the reader and we are definitely engaged in the mundaneness.

A Witch in Time by Constance Sayer (Read 1/30/20 to 2/10/20) - 3 Stars

I received this book as an Advanced Reader's Copy (ARC) through NetGalley. It will be published February 11, 2020. I received this copy free in exchange for my honest review. 

Helen Lambert has been set up on a blind date with Luke Varner. It’s going so so. Then he asks her if he looks familiar to her and goes on to tell her this isn’t the first time they have met. They they have met in 1895 in France, 1935 in LA, and 1970 in Taos. Now it is 2012 in Washington DC. Then he says she called her and asked him to do something, and he did. And strangely she remembers doing so.  Then we begin to see flashbacks to Helen's previous lives, and Helen needs to figure out how to end the curse that keeps having her reenact her same first mistake of loving the wrong man.
This was a good book, the first 3rd was really slow and I had a hard time getting into the story, but then it really began to pick up and sprinted to the finish. I really liked all the characters, and the premise. There were some hard scenes especially in Nora’s early life. But overall it was a solid read.

The German Heiress by Anika Scott (Read 1/25/2020 to 1/29/20)

For BOTM this year we decided to do prompts and everyone choose their own books rather than everyone reading the same book.  January's prompt was Historical Fiction, and I chose this book.

I received this book as an Advanced Reader's Copy (ARC) through NetGalley. It will be published April 7, 2020.
Net Galley's description was that this book was "for readers of The Alice Network and The Lost Girls of Paris, an immersive, heart-pounding debut about a German heiress on the run in post-World War II Germany."  BOOM I was sold!

The book takes place after 2 years after WWII had ended in Germany. Clara Falkenberg has false documents saying she is Margarete Müller, but in reality she is an heiress to a pre-war iron working empire. She is in hiding because she is wanted for war crimes for her and her families support of the Nazi’s. Clara is trying to return to Essen to find her best friend Elisa and Elisa’s son Willy. The path she ends up following is full of twists and intrigue, and an ending that hits all the feels and surprises you too.

The opening of the book paints such a bleak picture of post WWII Germany. That is something we rarely think about. We think about the Yay Nazi’s defeated, but what about the other Germans. The ones that weren’t in the military and weren’t necessarily Nazi’s but had to find a way to survive when the Nazi’s were in power. Did they get saved by Adolf’s defeat or were they punished for crimes they had no choice in? Wow this was just a wow book! I’m not sure I even have words, it was so well written and the story was so compelling. None of the characters turned out to be who you thought they were. The depth and breadth of the character development was fantastic, and as any good book should, made me feel all the feels.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (Read 1/17/20 to 1/24/20)

This is the 3rd book I have read for my Quarterly Book Exchange. This has been on my TBR list for a while. It has had so much hype.

"The The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called "Le Cirque des Reves," and it is only open at night."  (Goodreads excerpt)

What patrons don't know is that behind the circus facade is a magical completion between Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood for this competition.  They are not informed of the rules, or the consequences, but both are expected to win by their instructors.  This competition has many unplanned consequences and changes the lives of so many.

I liked it, but the middle parts dragged for me – much like the games, so much time passed for so little movement. I love the imagery in the characters, I just wanted the action closer together. I enjoyed it and I understand why so many others have too.

Perfect Little Children by Sophia Hannah (Read 1/13/20 - 1/17/20)

I received this book as an Advanced Reader's Copy (ARC) through NetGalley.  It will be published February 4, 2020

12 years ago Beth and her husband Dominic had a falling out with their best friends Flora and Lewis Braid.  It seems the women decided the close friendship must end.  While taking her son Ben to a football (I.e soccer) practice Beth drives by the Braid’s home on Wyddial Lane, very stalker style.  There she sees Flora get out of a car and get her two children Thomas and Emily out, BUT all three look exactly as they did 12 years ago.  Thomas and Emily are still 5 and 3!  This leads down a rabbit hole of events that lead to a shocking reason for Beth's sighting or Flora and the children.  

I LOVED this book, I got so caught up in the story and lost track of time.  I wanted to know so badly what happened that  I found myself staying up late I could read a page or two more.  I thought this book was on parr with the Girl on the Train or The woman in the Window, but the main character wasn’t the damaged one.  I absolutely loved it!  This is my first 5 Star read of the year!!!!

Ana Eva Mimi Adam by Marina Antropow Cramer (Read 1/9/20 to 1/12/20)

I received this book as an advanced reader copy from LibraryThing, it will be published February 13,2020.

This was a very short book for me, only 161 pages and yet it felt like it took forever to read.

This is a very dysfunctional family.  The story takes place at the end of Adam’s kindergarteners.  But there are a lot of flashbacks.  Anna’s husband died from cancer when Eva was 16, this event seems to have caused a trickle down effect.  Eva married Joe, and had Mimi.  Eva left Joe before Mimi was one.  There was some sort of incident with Eva and Mimi, where Eva beat Mimi once.  It takes most of the book to find out the detail and the premise is that this incident shaped the relationships of Ana, Eva and Mimi. 

I’m not sure how I feel about this one.  I mean it was good, but I also felt like there was no resolution, Eva and Mimi’s relationship wasn’t repaired.  They just were a little kinder at the end, maybe Cramer wanted to leave the reader to decide if the cracked door opened or not, but I felt unsatisfied at the ending.  This was a small book, and I kept reading because I kept hoping to see the relationship between Eva and Mimi repaired, but it never really happened.  I enjoyed the characters they were flawed, and I think if the book had been longer there could have been some real character growth.

One Day in December by Josie Silver (Read 1/2/20 to 1/8/20)

This was a Hello Sunshine past selection.
Laurie sees a beautiful boy at a bus stop, but as fate would have it they are unable to meet.  She spends the next year looking for him on every corner and in every bar and restaurant.  And when she finally does find him, he is the new boyfriend, Jack, of her best friend Sarah.  This chronicles the way a single missed meeting can shape your life, and the decisions made based on that missed connection.

This was very hallmark meets Bridget Jones.  Fun and lighthearted but with a deep romance at the heart of it.  I enjoyed, it wasn’t unputdownable, but I would recommend to my romance friends.

Regretting You By Colleen Hoover (Read 1/1/20 to 1/2/20)

This was the OUABC New Years Eve box selection.

Morgan Grants husband dies in a horrible car accident and secrets are revealed at this death that threatens to tear apart the relationship Morgan has with her 16 year old daughter Clara.  Clara is at that age where she is not an adult, but she isn't a child anymore.  And her father's death may be final push to bring her into the ugly horrid world of adults.

This was a great book, it started a little slow for me, but man once I got going it was hard  not to keep reading,   I was really angry with the characters at first, just wishing they would talk to each other, but in the end it was so engrossing I had trouble sleeping!

December 2019 Wrap Up

Well it seems December escaped me. And a good portion of January as well. So I’m going to do a December wrap up post and then catch up on January...and as alway I’ll try to vibe better in the future...but you know, no promises.

The Testaments By Margaret Atwood (Read 11/30/19 - 12/2/19)
I loved it! I could not put it down. I know some reviewers didn’t like the change in style, but I did. I liked the holes it filled and I felt like it wrapped things up some.

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (Read 12/2/19 - 12/4/19)
I can't believe I hadn't read this before! I have decided also that I may not be an Austin or a Bronte Fan, but I am a Dickens fan. I really enjoyed it.

The Christmas Sisters by Sarah Morgan (Read 12/4/19 - 12/8/19)
So this is the OUABC Christmas box from last year, and I found it at the grocery store and picked it up. Felt like the right season. I loved it. I loved the characters, especially Stewart, he reminded me a lot of my Fiancé. And I love the drama and story line, it was dramatic and deep and yet fluffy too.

The Lost Book of Adan Moreau by Michale Zapata (Read 11/17/19 - 12/11/19)
I received this book as an Advanced Reader's Copy (ARC) through NetGalley. It will be published February 4, 2020.
This was an Ok book for me, I was interested enough to finish. It reminded me a lot of The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón. Which was a 3 star book to me. Which I know it mentions in the description, but it was very comparable I found.
I found the story moved a little slow at the beginning, picked up when we met Saul, but then began to drag again. It was only 272 pages but it felt at times like it was closer to 600.
There were some rambling parts, like the Dominicana’s Welsh doctor tells her a story from his childhood and going to work in the coal mines. I wasn’t sure what the point of including was. Also the lack of chapters bothered me.

 

A Royal Christmas Wish by Lizzie Shane (Read 12/11/19 - 12/15/19)
This was the OUABC Christmas Mini Box. I enjoyed this book, it was fun and magical, and perfect for the season. I felt like I was reading a hallmark movie, and I really hope they put it out as one!

The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell (Read 12/21/19 - 12/22/19)
This was the OUABC November selection. I sped through it obviously. The story kept me guessing and there were so many little twists! And creepy, so creepy! But sooo good too!

Holly Banks Full of Angst by Julie Valarie (Read 12/26/19 - 12/28/19)
This was the OUABC December selection. It was ok, it was sarcastic and funny, but I didn't really like the characters and I didn't really like the story line. But the quips kept me invested.

The Best is Yet to Come” Lauren Bretanha (Read 11/22/19 to 11/27/19)

The book mostly jumps back and for the between present day Claire, and Claire 5 years ago when she she first met Bass. Sometimes we get chapters from Bass’s point of view, both present and 5 years earlier.
I really like the characters, my heart aches for their situation. Bass is so understanding I want to shake Claire, but I get the emotional walls she has built. It makes my heart hurt so deeply for them and for the baby. Claire is defiantly a classic example of self-fulfilling prophecy, she is so intent of not getting hurt or causing hurt that she wreaks it in so many unintended ways.
In understand that Claire’s self hatred and lack of confidence in her mothering skills is the heart of her character, and needed for her character growth, but at times it was all a little much. Jeez, they bring the baby home and she cries, so automatically the baby hates Claire. It is just a little over the top at times in my mind.
A really confusing part of the book, is that sometimes both parents are referred to as being dead, but sometimes it seems like it is only the Father that died. Then on page 204 it seems that her mother may have committed suicide. It was all cleared up by the end, but I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what was going on.
Parts of this book really hit me in the feels. I could see myself in Claire, and I could understand some of her decisions, I and also understand how a baby changes a marriage, and not all survive it.
I felt like this was very much a self fulfilling prophecy book. All of Clair’s worst nightmares come true, because of what choices and actions she takes to protect herself. I got really frustrated with how Claire refused to talk to Bass, I feel 100% that they issues with communication stemmed from her and I really wasn’t that sympathetic. I did feel bad for Bass though.
This was a harder book than I expected. It hit a lot of feels. My 1st marriage feel apart for many reasons, a few of them reflected her with trust and intimacy issues. I could really see both sides. There were some slow parts, but overall the book moved at a good pace. There were very few present choices that I could find, that took some reaching sometimes.

The True Story of Hansel and Gretel by Louise Murphy (Read 11/12/19 to 11/17/19)

This is my second Quarterly Book Exchange book.  It is set in Poland in the last year of World War II.  Two jewish children are sent into the Bialowieza Forest by their Father and Stepmother.  They are told to hide their identities and take the names Hansel and Gretel.  They find an old woman, Magda, in a hut on the outskirts of the village Piaski, the village calls her a witch.  This takes what you think you know about Hansel and Gretel, and weaves a magical and tragic tale about what could have been the real story behind the fairy tale.

I really enjoyed this book, it took the horrors of Nazi occupation of Poland and combined them with the fantasy of a Fairy Tale, to create surreal world, that was probably exactly how it felt to survivors.  I'm not going to lie, this had some very graphic movements, but I think that was Murphy's attempt to stay true to the graphic nature of that time period, it was an ugly brutal period in human history.  I love the writing style and the way she kept elements of the fairy tale in the story of these fugitive children.  It was beautifully written and heartbreaking at time.

The Other Son by Nick Alexander (Read 11/4/19 to 11/9/19)

I received this book as an Advanced Reader's Copy (ARC) through NetGalley. It was originally published I UK in 2015, 12/17/19 is US release
This is a story about a dysfunctional family. It takes place in London area.
The characters are Alice her husband of 50 years Ken, they are in their late 60’s almost 70’s. Their son Tim and his wife Natalya, and their other son Matt.
This book did a bit of timeline jumping, it was broken up into parts, Part 1 was about Alice and her marriage to Ken and her view on her relationship with her children. Part 2 was from Natalya and Tim’s view on their life and their relationship with Alice and Ken. Part 3 is a bridging section between what happens to Alice after Part 2 that leads to Part 4. The first part of Part 4 is from Tim’s point of view of his life, and the final part is from Alice’s view of Tim’s life and making some revelations about her own.
There is some touchy topic, abuse, drinking, prostitution, human trafficking.
I really enjoyed this book, I know that it has lots of triggers and may not be appropriate for everyone. I found the characters to be very realistic, even if they were not all likable. As a domestic abuse survivor myself I was really able to relate to Alice, Tim and Matt and understand their motivations for the choices they made. But I realize it is a heavy topic. It was a really well written book and compelling characters to me.

#TheOtherSon #NetGalley

The Glass Magician by Caroline Stevermer (Read 11/1/19 to 11/3/19)

I received this book as an Advanced Reader's Copy (ARC) through NetGalley. It will be published April 7, 2020.

I did not finish this book, I only made it to 36%. I found the world really interesting, it was set in the early 1900’s and focuses on stage magicians in the Vaudeville circuit. But the world had 3 classes of people, the Solitaire which seem to have no magic. The Traders who can change form into animals, and the Sylvetri who have some sort of affinity with nature. There was the start of some great world building and some interesting dynamics. There are some stolen ticks that seemed to be leading to a bigger conspiracy, and I know there is a murder in the future, but I didn’t get far enough in the book to find out what happened.

The reason I didn’t finish the book is the author describes people by color, they are white Solitaire or black Solitaire, a white Trader or a black Trader. At first, I hoped that it was describing if they were good or bad, but as the book went on I was disappointed to find it really was describing their skin color and I found it offensive and therefore did not finish the book. I feel like there was no need for the descriptions based on skin color and it just made the book very un-enjoyable for me.

The Companion by Kim Taylor Blakemore (Read 10/29/19 to 11/1/19)

I received this book as an Advanced Reader's Copy (ARC) through NetGalley. It will be published January 14, 2020

This book is set in 1855, Lucy Blunt is on death row at New Hampshire State Prison for killing two women, her employer and another woman in the house, Rebecca. This book jumps timelines a lot, it bounces between Lucy on death row, Lucy being hired by the Burton’s and being employed as their maid, and Lucy’s life before the Burtons.

The book starts out with Lucy being hired because the previous maid Mary Dawson had drowned. Lucy has lied and faked her references to get the job. We also find out that Lucy’s son died at 3 days old. The house is kept locked up tight, and keys are a frequently referenced item throughout the book, because Mrs. Burton wanders. We then find out that Lucy is telling her story to a newspaper man, possibly to try and get out of being hanged. One day Rebecca is locked out of the house and almost dies, it is never made clear how it happened, if Rebecca did it herself or if Mrs. Burton locked her out. While Rebecca is recovering Lucy is recruited to help Mrs. Burton. As the book unfolds we find out many secrets. Lucy and Mrs. Burton become close, and eventually form a romantic relationship, Rebecca is very jealous. It is never clearly stated that Rebecca and Mrs. Burton used to be lovers, but it is implied. Mrs. Burton gives Lucy many gifts such as lace, and dresses and jewelry, these are also used as evidence against her in the trial. But how does all this secrecy lead to two deaths and a woman awaiting her own hanging? Did she do it? Will her appeals be granted?

This was a good read, I thoroughly enjoyed it. The time line was a little jumpy, but I think that was on purpose. Lucy wasn’t thinking in a straight line, how could she tell her story in a straight line? The book got a little slow in the middle, but it really picked up in the end. It reminded me style wise, and even storyline wise of Sarah Water’s Fingersmith. The book kept me guessing right up to the end as to if Lucy really committed the murders or if she was framed.







#TheCompanion #NetGalley

In Cold Chamomile by Joy Avon (read 10/27/19 to 10/28/19)

I received this book as an Advanced Reader's Copy (ARC) through NetGalley. It will be published February 11, 2020.  This is the third book in the A Tea and Read Mystery Series, I have not read the first 2.  This is set around Valentines day and Callie Aspen and her Great Aunt Iphy Aspen have organized an event to raise money for Haywood Hall.  However, instead of love there is a murder.  As I have not read the previous 2 books, I was not attached to the characters, in fact I hated most of them.  I felt as people they were shallow, and selfish, and dumb, they made a lot of poor choices based on dumb reasons.  Callie spent all her time moaning about her maybe boyfriend Ace, and seems like a weak pathetic woman.  I expected as one of the lead sleuths that she would have a backbone and it was very much, "oh no! I didn't do what my boyfriend told me to do, oh is he breaking up with me?"   Iphy should also have been a spunky 70 year old sleuth who at her age didn't care about what people thought, instead her character came across as a lovestruck 16 year old who didn't know how to use logic at all.  Ace was a controlling jerk, who just wanted his girlfriend to "do as he said" and not disrespect him.  Peggy was a whinny pathetic woman, who caused a lot of dram for no reason at all, besides to get Callie further "in trouble" with Ace.  I knew it was a cozy mystery and I was hoping for something light and fun, but the characters were a little too light for me.  Joy Avon's writing was good, the story moved at a nice place, there was just the right amount of death for a cozy mystery.  But I didn't like a single character in this book. I hope that for fans of the series this was just a one-off, and that I am missing a great series because I won't pick up the others.

A Sister’s Courage by Molly Green (Read 10/23/19 to 10/27/19)

I received this book as an Advanced Reader's Copy (ARC) through NetGalley. It will be published November 28, 2019. Lorraine “Raine” Linfoot is the main character. Her mother, Simone is very French, her Father, Robert, who is older than Simone and English. She has two younger sisters, Suzanne (Suzy) and Veronique (Ronnie). This is described as being about the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA), which is the British Version of the WASPS. However, it is more about Raine and her love life than the ATA’s history. In 1936, at the age of 14 Raine flies for the first time, and it is then that she decides she will be a pilot. We see Raine achieve that dream and also get caught between her feelings for two very special pilots in her life.

I didn’t realize until I got to the end that this was the first in what I believe will be a trilogy, the 2nd book is due out May 2020 and is about Raines sister Suzy, called A Sister’s song. This was an ok book, it was more of a romance and less of a historical novel than I expected. Actually I felt like besides setting it wasn’t really about the ATA, it was about Raine’s love triangle.

I liked the strong character Raine is, she was not afraid to advocate for herself. In the WWII era, there was a lot of discrimination against women, especially in historically male work fields. She is a very strong character that way. I think that if I had realized it was more about the love story and not the history of the ATA I may have enjoyed the book more. It was well written, and there were some very well developed characters, I just wanted more history I think.

No One's Home by D.M. Pulley (Read 10/19/19 to 10/23/19)

This was the Spooky Once Upon a Book Club selection.
The Rawlingswood house has quite the history, but when the Spielman's buy it, it has been abandoned and treated as a teenager party house.  They buy it for a sweet deal, and throw all the money they saved into renovations, but all the changes are not enough to remove the ghosts that live there.  And then things start happening, doors left open or suddenly locked, lights left on, strange noises.  And the Spielman's were barely holding it together as a family before the move, now that ghosts are involved they drift even further apart.
This was a good book, I really liked all the intertwining stories of the house history.  It was a little slow in the start, but once we hit the middle things really picked up.   It had it's creepy moments, I admit I couldn't read it too late into the night.  But I wouldn't call it horror either, it just makes an empty house feel really empty.

Frozen Secrets by Myles Christensen (read 10/16/19 to 10/19/19)

I received this book as an Advanced Reader's Copy (ARC) through NetGalley. It will be published January 25, 2020.
Max is the son of an astronaut, his father’s last mission was 13 year ago on Jupiter’s moon Europa, there was an explosion an three people died. Max and his best friend Jonathan, also an astronaut’s son, are caught using a jetpack they rebuilt and make friends with a space shuttle driver Jake. Then it is decided that Max’s family will be one of families to settle in the new Europa City, but there is more to Europa City than meets the eye.
I enjoyed this book, it was a fun and action-packed adventure. I think my son would enjoy it. I can see that it is being set up for a series, and I liked the concept. The writing was good. I wouldn’t say it was my favorite book, but it was a solid story. The characters were likable and relatable. The action never seemed to stop, I like that there were no slow parts to the book, Christensen managed to move the story line along while keeping the kids moving, literally.
#FrozenSecrets #NetGalley

Housewitch by Katie Schickel (Read 10/14/19 to 10/16/19)

This is the OUABC Sweet mini box book, I did not buy the book box, I bought the spooky one instead, but I did borrow the book from the library.
This is about Allison, who seems like a normal stay at home mom, wanting to be part of the in crowd and perfect moms.  And she finds away by being invited to be a Glamour Girl.  All she has to do is exactly what the Boss Lady Astrid says to do.  But the Glamour Girls have a secret, and so does Allison.
The description of this book compared it to Practical Magic, which I can see a bit, but it was much better.  It was a light read, and lots of fun twists.  The theme of witches was perfect for October.  Sadly I had the major plot twist figured out by about 40%.  Which doesn't mean I didn't enjoy the book, but it does mean it wasn't a shocking surprise ending.  It was a nice light read for Halloween.

The Other Woman by Sandie Jones (Read 10/12/19 to 10/14/19)

Emily meets Adam at a bar and he is perfect, it’s a match made in heaven.  Except for one thing, Adam’s mother Pammie.  She has taken a dislike to Emily and is doing everything in her power to tear them apart, while acting the loving Mother in Adams eyes.  But remember looks can be deceiving.
This was quite the page turner.  And keeps you guessing until the very last chapter.  What is real, what is a lie. What are the true underlying motives?it was fast paced and well written. The characters were very complex and developed, but so easy to relate to.  I thought I knew what was happening, but I was wrong, I felt like I was reading a Gillian Flynn when the truth was revealed.  The clues were so well hidden in plain sight, that I missed them.  An absolute recommendation.

A Girl, A Racoon, and the Midnight Moon by Karen Romano Young (Read 10/8/19 to 10/12/19)

I received this book as an Advanced Reader's Copy (ARC) through NetGalley. It will be published January 7, 2020

Pearl Moran is 10 years old and starting 5th grade. She was actually born at the library! Her mom is the circulation desk librarian and dating the library manager Bruce. Bruce used to be a park ranger, and has costume of Ranger Rick the Raccoon. Pearl’s father has never been in the picture. The library is her home, and the library staff her family. But her library is not doing well, there is poor circulation and some developers want to turn it into apartments. And to top it off the statute of the poet Edna St. Vincent Millay (known as Vincent), get her head stolen one night. Things are not looking good for the future of the Lancaster Branch of New York City library at all.

I really liked this book. There was nothing in the book that I said, OH I wouldn’t want my kid reading this, there were a few discussions about reproduction in the animal kingdom, and a few cuss words like piss, and damn and hell, but it was mild in mind. This was a great story about perseverance and social issues. It was about friendship and change, and how small actions can lead to great things. Peal and Francine and Oleg and all the library workers, really brought the library back to life. Pearl found her place in her world, and friends. And she didn’t sacrifice important things, like the raccoons, to achieve it. She showed integrity and commitment and inclusion. I don’t know that kids will get all the concepts, but the seeds of them could be planted with this book. Once I figure out how to get it to be readable on my kindle (netgalley sent a pdf, not a kindle file), or when it comes out, whichever happens first, I will absolutely have my son read it.



#AgirlAraccoonAndTheMidnightMoon #NetGalley

Farah Rocks Fifth Grade (Read 10/7/19)

I received this book as an Advanced Reader's Copy (ARC) through NetGalley. It will be published January 1, 2020

The main character is Farah Hajjar which is Arabic for Rocks. She is in 5th Grade. Her brother Samir is in kindergarten and has some disabilities, he was a preemie baby and that seems to have affected his speech. Allie Liu is Farah’s best friend and is Chinese.
Farah and Allie are applying to attend Magnet Academy, a special public school with a focus on math and science. Both the girls have been in advanced “gifted” classes since 2nd grade. There is a new girl on the bus Dana Denver, she is a transfer student from Texas, and she is really tall. The first time we meet her she is mean to Samir. Dana trips over Samir's feet getting on the bus, then he pulls her hair, I think because it is red and he meant to just stroke it. But this upsets Dana and the feud begins.
I really liked the way this book handled bullying. That it can be a quiet and subtle thing, not overt. I truly felt like it was written from a 9/10/11 year old’s perspective. My son is 10, and in fifth grade, and Farah’s decisions fall right in line with his decision-making patterns. I also liked that the characters had variety, Farah being Arabic, her best friend Chinese. It didn’t make race an issue but it acknowledged that sometimes if we look different than everyone else that we can get made fun of, or have problems related to that. It wasn’t “The Theme” of the book, but it was there as an undertone. I also think the idea that adults don’t take kids seriously or understand when they say something is wrong, is true. Kids get brushed aside, because it’s no big deal, but I liked how this book addressed that and said yes but keep trying, someone will eventually listen if you just give them a chance.

I had my 10-year old son read the book too. As a disclaimer, I bribed him with unlimited tablet time today if he read the book. It took him about an hour to read. I have never seen him read a book so fast.
Son’s Comments: The words sound weird to me when I pronounce them because they speak a different language. It was pretty good there were a lot of simile’s which I liked. The part where she purposely got bad grades was weird, when she wanted to protect her brother from Dana. Dana is going through a divorce. The story itself had a pretty good layout. I didn’t understand Arabic words. He thought Farah was pretty nice to protect Samir. It really stuck with him that Farah kept saying she was Samir’s hero.
He liked that Farah was in fifth grade because he is in fifth grade, and he liked that she stood up for her little brother. He said he would recommend it, it is a good book.



#FarahRocksFifthGrade #NetGalley

The Alice Network by Kate Quinn (read 9/29/19 to 10/6/19)

This is my selection for the Quarterly Book Exchange Facebook group I have joined.  There are 4 of us in a group, and we each select a book, then highlight mark, ask questions, make comments, etc. in it and then mail to another person in the group.  Eventually we read and comment on 4 books via mail, and our original book returns to us.  I think it will add a fun new element to the book reading experience.

This is the story of two women Eve and Charlie.  The book covers both WWI and WWII.  Charlie is looking for her cousin Rose after WWII ends.  And her hunt brings her to Eve's door, Eve was a spy in WWI, and is now a very damaged woman in a lot of ways.  The hunt for Rose takes them from London and into France.  As the story unfolds we learn more about Eve's past and how it effects Charlie's future.

This was a great book, I gave it 5 stars.  I wasn't sure I was going to like the timeline skipping, but I really did, it allowed both women's stories to unfold simultaneously.  The characters were really well written, I liked Charlie, but by the end of the book I love her.  We got to see her grow into such an amazing woman.  And Eve, oh where to start on Eve.  She was my favorite character, I love her attitude from the start.  I also really liked that this book is based on true event and true people, a little creative license was taken for story sake, but for the most part it was based on a real person, Louise de Bettignies, was really knows as the Queen of Spies in WWI.  And Quinn used a memoir by her 2nd in command to help write this book, even going so far as to use actual quotes by Louise.  Additionally there is an event near the end of the book, that was a real horrific act by the Germans, that I had no idea happened.  I love a book that entertains me with great story and characters but also teaches me about history.

Beyond the Horizon by Ella Carey (Read 10/2/19 to 10/4/19)

I received this book as an Advanced Reader's Copy (ARC) through NetGalley.  It will be published October 15, 2019.
This is a fictional account of the real-life stories of the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) in WWII.  Many of the events are real, but the characters are all fictional.  The story if from the point of view of Eva Forrest, née Scott.  She is testifying at the 1977 congressional hearings on giving the WASPs military recognition.  The book opens with Nina and her husband Jack and son Alex at a market. Her son has met women organizing for the WASPs to testify in front of congress, and it triggers a flashback for Eva.  She was in a horrible crash, that killed her co-pilot Helena.  It is after this that she defies her husband and decides to testify, unless the records are militarized she cannot access them to find out what happened the day of the crash, and she fears she is to blame for her friend’s death.  The remaining chapters start out with a question from congress and Eva’s response, then it moves into a flashback to 1943/1944.  We follow Eva from her choice to join the WASPs with her best friend Nina up until the fateful accident.

I really enjoyed this book.  It was full of very strong women characters overcoming discrimination.  I felt that at times the timeline jumps were jarring. Sometimes Carey forgets to give lead ins that 3 months have passed, or that someone has entered the room.  This happened more at the beginning then the middle and end, but it caused me pause.

I also felt like a good portion of the book was spent on Eva and Nina getting into the WASP program, and training in Sweetwater.  The parts once they were assigned to Camp David and aftermath of the crash seemed really short, but maybe it was because the storyline had really picked up by then.  I admit I spent the last part of the book crying, from the moment  the hearing ended until the end of the book.  It was so heart wrenching in a good way.  Needless to say this was a book "Couldn't Put Down" as I finished it in two days.

#BeyondTheHorizon #NetGalley

Unmentionable: The Victorian Lady’s Guide to Sex, Marriage and Manners by Therese Oneill (read 9/25/19 to 9/29/19)

This was a library hold that came in unexpectedly.
From Goodreads description "Ladies, welcome to the 19th century, where there's arsenic in your face cream, a pot of cold pee sits under your bed, and all of your underwear is crotchless. (Why? Shush, dear. A lady doesn't question.)  UNMENTIONABLE is your hilarious, illustrated, scandalously honest (yet never crass) guide to the secrets of Victorian womanhood, giving you detailed advice on:
~ What to wear
~ Where to relieve yourself
~ How to conceal your loathsome addiction to menstruating
~ What to expect on your wedding night
~ How to be the perfect Victorian wife
~ Why masturbating will kill you
~ And more"

I like the tone of the writing, it is informative and a bit snarky.  It provides and insight, I mostly already knew,  life was hard in the 19th century.  But is also provides some tidbits I didn't know.  Pantaloons were crotchless!
I know that for the most part women had little say over their own lives, but even one of the worst mysoginistc writers of the time, felt they should have some say.   “Of all the rights to which a woman is entitled, that of the custody of her own body is the most indubitable.”  Ladies' Guide in Health and Disease: Girlhood, Maidenhood, Wifehood, Motherhood By John Harvey Kellogg, published 1884
Maybe some of our politicians etc should listen to that wisdom.
I learned that the Comstock law of 1873 changed what could and could not be mailed. No advertisement for products relating human sexuality or contraceptions. It didn’t make contraceptions themselves illegals but the ability to obtain them was. It started the idea that contraceptions were in equal footing with abortions, an idea we are still having debates over 146 years later.
On cooking in the 19th century “Unless you are excruciatingly careful and sometimes even if you are, look forward to intestinal worms, lead poisoning, and four-day-old unrefrigerated pork with a side of botulism.”  Well no one said good food easily obtained.

Overall it was a fun book, I enjoyed the facts, nothing was really mind-blowing news though.

War of Honor by David Webber (read 9/18/19 to 9/28/19)

This is the 10th book in the series and it is quite the tome.
I'm glad to be back in the Honorverse, but I feel like I missed something. There is a big thing about genetic slavery and it's affecting the political landscape, but I missed what genetic slavery actually is. Some of the players I'm having a hard time remembering who they are...mostly I'm frustrated with the current RMN’s Lords games. They remind me too much of the Tump administration. The deeper I get in the book the more this frustrates me. I know as the reader I can see the bigger picture easier than the characters, but the civilian politicians narrow minded decisions really frustrate me. It actually makes me angry that they are looking so intently at their own careers that they put the nation at risk. Again I am sure our own US political environment right now feeds into that anger.
Again I feel that we are so busy talking about the political machinations of the RMN and the Peeps that we forget to talk about our main character. So much so that I actually began to tally when we had an Honor chapter versus a chapter about politics, other navies etc. Out of 60 chapters only 25 maybe 26 involved Honor and her actions. This is one of the reasons I have struggled so much with the last few Honor Harrington books, they have moved more to being about the Honorverse world and politics and not so much about Honor herself. But Honor is why I read them, the politics etc are only background noise in my mind, but Webber has moved them to the front line and Honor seems to be the background noise.
Things finally start to heat up around page 643, we got one chapter of excitement in and went back to political machinations. Things started moving again around page 800 and still there was only 1 maybe 2 chapters that were about Honor.
Another issue I am beginning to recognize, is that every time a minor character dies, even this far into the series I still flinch, I keep hoping the devastation won’t happen. I’m not sure I’m cut out for war novels, but the characters such as Honor, Mayhew, Lefollet, Nimitz etc keep me trudging on through the blood and the loss. And Webster isn’t afraid to kill a major character either we have seen that so many times. I am about at the end of my limit though, the cost benefit is shifting for me. There is getting to be too much politicking, war and death, and not enough focus on the characters that keep me coming back.  I have some other books on my TBR shelf and for book clubs, so I think those will be my next choices, but if the next book isn't about Honor more, the final 3 may go unread by me.

Fire Logic by Laurie J. Marks (read 8/30/19 to 9/3/19)

I got this book as an advanced reader copy from LibraryThing. I won this in December of 2018, and I admit it got lost in the shuffle of life.

GoodReads Description: “The martial Sainnites have occupied Shaftal for fifteen years but every year the cost of resistance rises. Emil, a scholar officer, Zanja, the last survivor of her people, and Karis, a metalsmith, half-blood giant, and an addict … together, perhaps they can change history.”

When I looked this book up on GoodReads I was confused because it showed that it was published in 2002, yet my copy said Advanced Reader Copy January 2019. And when you google it, it says it is being published in June 2019...very confusing.

I had a hard time with this book. I felt like the writing was masterful, Marks has created a complex and beautiful world. But, I also felt like I was coming into the middle of a story. She creates this world but then doesn’t adequately explain it to us the reader. The first few chapters I felt very lost, I wanted to understand the social structure of the characters but there just was not enough information and I wasn’t sure how things fit together.

There is a lot of comments on other reviews about how great the protagonist is a powerful woman of color. The fact that she is a woman of character was immaterial to me, what I liked about her was she was put in a position for her tribe that laid an unimaginable amount of responsibility on her shoulders at a young age. Zanja did the beat she could to help her tribe, she faces horrific loss and still she never gave up. She had her doubts about her abilities as anyone would, but she never shirked her duty to her people despite the cost to herself. Zanja is a beautifully written character that is relatable to all of us.

The Girls of Atomic City: The untold story of the women who helped win World War II by Denise Kieran (read 8/23/19 to 8/29/19)

GoodReads description “This is the story of the girls/women of Oak Ridge Tennessee who unknowingly helped to create the Atomic Bomb. The Tennessee town of Oak Ridge was created from scratch in 1942. One of the Manhattan Project’s secret cities, it didn’t appear on any maps until 1949, and yet at the height of World War II it was using more electricity than New York City and was home to more than 75,000 people, many of them young women recruited from small towns across the South. Their jobs were shrouded in mystery, the penalty for talking about their work—even the most innocuous details—was job loss and eviction. They all knew something big was happening at Oak Ridge, but few could piece together the true nature of their work until the bomb "Little Boy" was dropped over Hiroshima, Japan, and the secret was out. The shocking revelation: the residents of Oak Ridge were enriching uranium for the atomic bomb. Though the young women originally believed they would leave Oak Ridge after the war, many met husbands there, made lifelong friends, and still call the seventy-year-old town home.”

From the very start I was excited. I like that there is a listing of who everyone is at the start. Sometimes I get names mixed up in historical books, and it is great to have a reference when I ask myself “who is this again.”

This book contained lots of facts, but a good mix of personal storytelling as well. Still never kept all the characters straight, but it was a really good read. I enjoyed the flow of the book, it really kept the events moving along and never got too bogged down with facts, yet I learned a lot at the same time.

I liked that the authors choose to follow different women from different social and economic backgrounds throughout the book, how were things for a scientist, a secretary, an operator and a janitor. White versus black? It let the reader know what was the same across the board, and what was not. Sometimes the differences were mind boggling.

I also really liked that the last chapter and some of the notes at the end of the nook told more of what happened to the women after the project was wrapped up, a sort of where are they now.

Why the Right Went Wrong: Conservatism from Goldwater to the Tea Party and Beyond by E.J. Dionne Jr. (read 8/11/19 to 8/22/19)

I am on a roll of political analysis books, this should be my final one for a bit. Well until the election really heats up. Then I will want to read about candidates and books from candidates. This is a history of the Republican party and their politics. As you could guess, I am really trying to understand why our government is functioning/or not functioning the way it is. I don’t want to just vote party lines, but I feel the need to understand what the other side is trying to achieve. This was obviously written by a liberal trying to understand the conservative side of things. I had good information, but there was just so much of it. I had a hard time reading it and digesting, it was so dense. And as a result I didn’t enjoy it, and at about halfway I just wanted it over so everything at the end was lost on me.

*Opinions expressed are solely my own and do not express the views or opinions of the US Government. None of the ideas expressed in this blog post are shared, supported, or endorsed in any manner by my employer.

The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris (read 8/12/19 to 8/13/19)

I choose this book as the first book of a new book club I have started.  I choose it because my boyfriends mother recommended it to me, and wow was she right, I could hardly put it down.  I think I read it in every free moment I had in a 24 hour period.
This is a true story, with a little historical/fictional embellishment.  All the major historical details are correct, but some of the timelines are a little changed for ease of reading.  Additionally since this is story in dedication to love it has a little of embellishment on the romance I am sure.
Lale is a jewish man who becomes the tattooist of Auschwitz, a privileged but dangerous position, he tattoos the number on the arm of a beautiful girl, Gita, and he spends the rest of his time romancing and protecting her as best he can.  This is the type of story I love, WWII always draws me in, the audacity of the Nazi's and the human carnage they left in their wake.  Yet there are just as many stories of human kindness and bravery fighting the horrors as there are horror stories.  I admire the survivors of the concentration camps, not only for surviving but because many did not allow their humanity to be taken from them.  I admire the stories of those that helped smuggle and protect the Nazi persecuted people, not just Jewish, because they did not say it's too hard.  They said this is wrong, and it's hard, but what small things can I do, and often the small things compounded to greatness.  This story encompasses all those. It was beautifully written and real pleasure to read.

The Shadows of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafron (read 7/25/19 to 7/30/19)

This was a BOTM read for August, but my library copy came in early, so I had
to read it early.
It starts off so dark and dreary and mysterious, and then a secret library with books nobody remembers are stored and still read and loved. And on Daniels first visit he adopts the book title, so it can never go extinct.  I loved the premise behind the story.  There was a great mystery and what happened to the  author Julian?  There were parts of the story that were very slow for me, particularly in the middle, I didn't really see how it added to the plot.  The ending had a bit of a twist, most of it I had figured out, but the shocker part I did not. But it did wrap everything up nicely in the end.   Overall it was an ok book.

The Cactus by Sarah Haywood (read 8/8/19 to 8/11/19)

This was an ok book for me. I didn’t love it. But it was a quick read. I don’t like Susan, she has a stick up her ass and is very cold. I don’t care for her treatment of people in her life, I understand it’s her character, but it doesn’t make me like her in the least. I feel no sympathy towards her, and actually I feel like she gets what she deserves. Throughout the book, I never really got to like her, I saw the twist by the 50% point. Everything wrapped up a little too neatly. It was an easy break between some heavier novels I have been reading. I don’t think I would recommend it. I like the writing style and authors voice, it was the story itself I didn’t care for, and the characters never grabbed me. There wasn’t a single one I cared about wha happened to them. I could see Susan’s growth as a person through the book, Haywood did that brilliantly, but I just didn’t care for who Susan was as a person enough to celebrate her changes.  I liked Haywood's writing style enough to see if she had written any other books, and she hadn't.  But I will be willing to her her next book a go.

The Deep State by Mike Lofgren (read 7/31/19 to 8/7/19)

This book is written by a former Republican Congressional Employee, he worked for 28 years as a staff member and national defense analyst for the House and Senate budget committees. He said, “My purpose with this book is to question the rationale of the game rather than attack the player who happens to be at bat at any given inning.”

Deep State: “A shadow government ruling the United States that pays little heed to the plain words of the Constitution8. It’s governing philosophy profoundly influences foreign and national security policy and such domestic matters as spending priorities, trade, investment, income inequality, privatization of government services, media presentation of news, and the whole meaning and worth of citizens’ participation in their government.”

“A hybrid association of key elements of government and parts of top-level finance and industry that is effectively able to govern the United States with only limited reference to the consent of the governed as normally expressed through elections.”

This was a depressing read, 265/277 pages about how corrupt and messed up our government is. I will give it to Lofgren he equally blamed both parties. It was a lot of depressing stuff, nothing is what it seems, everyone has a secret agenda, and nobody cares about the state of our country or its citizens.

But don’t fear Lofgren has the solutions in his final chapter.

1. Eliminate private money from public elections. 
2. Sensibly redeploy and downsize the military and intelligence complex. 
3. Stay out of the Middle East. 
4. Redirect the peace dividend to domestic infrastructure improvement. 
5. Start enforcing our antitrust laws. 
6. Reform tax policy. 
7. Reform immigration policy. 
8. Adopt a single payer health care system. 
9. Abolish corporations personhood status, or else treat the exactly like persons.

Overall Lofgren seems to have been telling what he saw as an insider at Congress, and how disappointed and disillusioned with our government he was when he left.  He provided a great amount of evidence for why change is needed, which I think we all know, and his solutions are not new ideas, just ones that no-one seems willing or able to make happen.  Besides writing this book, it did not seem he was trying to change anything, I did not hear about him becoming an activist or even a lobbyist.  Maybe he thought this book was action enough?  I don't know why I disliked it so much, yeah the subject matter was hard, there were some events that it provided a new perspective on, but for the most part, I already knew that at the upper echelons of our government there is disfunction and change needs to happen so that more can be accomplished.  Maybe it was his tone that bothered me, he writes with a disgust and a "no hope" attitude up until the last chapter.  I love my country, and I understand that we are not functioning at the best of our ability right now, both public and private, government officials and private citizens, maybe I am an optimist but I don't feel that there is no hope.  I just don't know when it will happen, but when it does I hope it will be swift.

*Opinions expressed are solely my own and do not express the views or opinions of the US Government. None of the ideas expressed in this blog post are shared, supported, or endorsed in any manner by my employer.