The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker (Read 5/15/18 to 5/23/18) - 3 star

This was my BOTM book for May.  I didn’t like this book. It dragged for me, the characters fell flat and the concept was ok, I just couldn’t seem to get into it though. So my thing is that the jinni fell in love with the golem, and I think the golem fell in love with the jinni but it was all so vague. I can see the sequel set up, I’m just not sure I want to read it.

Year One by Nora Roberts (Read 4/16/18 to 4/23/18) - 5 Star

Ok so...I happen to have become a Nora Roberts fan in the last few years, of both her romance and non-romance series.  That being said, I’m loving this book! One of the things I like about her writing is what I find to be an easy storytelling style.  This isn’t her first foray into witchcraft as a theme either. I didn’t want to put it down I was hooked.  I feel like it’s a softer version of The Stand, but with a supernatural virus beginning instead of government gone wrong. Most apocalyptic books don’t do lead up to the characters, it’s boom the world is dying how do you react? I like the characters, I want to know more    Oh and did anyone but me catch the dog they went out with patient one on his walk was named Bilbo.  
In our book club, there were some comments that the characters were not well developed.  Personally, I feel that she develops her characters quite well. They are not hard core, deeper meaning literary characters. To me they are more fun, it’s a good story with good characters, there isn’t a bigger picture besides the joy of telling a story. It’s a nice change sometimes for me.  
I really liked this book, Roberts has a style, she likes to write trilogies. Each book will probably follow the perspective of a different person, but they will all intertwine. I’m really looking forward to the book coming out later this year, it will be from Fallon’s perspective as she comes into her power.
I can see the comparison to the stand and the power players being set up, even though Lana left New Hope I don’t think those characters are completely gone.

Sea of Rust by C. Robert Cargill (Read 2/1/118 to 2/17/18) - 5 Stars

This was recommend by my boyfriend, and it was great.  Think post-apocoplyse but we didn't make it.  It was great.  The story was engaging and interesting. I really liked the characters, the robots were funny and engaging and made you think about the world around you.  When all the humans were gone the machines gained humanity, but no necessarily the good parts of our humanity.

The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah (Read 2/22/18 to 2/25/18) - 5 Stars

This was my February Once Upon a Book Club Book.  I loved it!

It is set in Alaska in 1974 and moves forward to the 80's.  Ernt Allbright, a former POW, comes home from the Vietnam war a changed and volatile man. When he loses yet another job, he makes an impulsive decision: he will move his family north, to Alaska, where they will live off the grid in America’s last true frontier.  His 13-year old daughter Leni and wife Cora must learn a whole new way of life, and learn how to truly become survivors.

It was beautifully written an a joy to read.  I got really drawn into the story, and at times couldn't put it down.  It was heartbreaking and beautiful.  I admit, I cried the entire last 30 pages. 

Asurmen: The Darker Road (Warhammer 40,000) by Gav Thorpe (Listened on 2/22/18) - 3 Star

This is another Warhammer 40,000 book, but this time I listened to it as an audio book, it is short about an hour long.  The Phoenix Lord Asurmen joins the warriors of the craftworld Ulthwé on a quest to the Crone Worlds in search of the oracle Hiron-athela. It is believed that this being holds an artefact that could safeguard Ulthwé's future.  
This was an ok book, it had a great radio dramatic feel that was a bit distracting from the story, too much background music.  But it was fun to listen to.  I was disappointed that there were no flashback to after the fall and when Asurmen was becoming the Phoenix lord.

Children Who See Too Much: Lessons from the Child Witness to Violence Project by Betsy McAlister Groves (Read 2/16/18 to 2/21/18) - 2 Star

Betsy Groves works with children traumatized by witnessing violence. In this book she shows how children understand, respond to, and are affected by violence, especially domestic violence. She uses clinical case studies to show that being young does not protect against the lasting effects of witnessing violence.  I thought it would be a far more enlightening read than it was, I felt like it a giant brochure for her program, Child Witness to Violence Project.  There was so much about the program and not enough about the children and effects/solutions.  I was very disappointed.

For Women Only: What You Need to Know about the Inner Lives of Men by Shaunti Feldhahn (Read 2/11/18 to 2/14/18) - 2 Star

I don't remember why I put this book on my TBR pile.  It was an ok read, it was just very obvious stuff to me.  The data from her questionnaires, was interesting and confirmed so much of what I felt I already knew.  The inner lives of men, is really not that big of a mystery.  Love Languages was a much more enlightening book.  Maybe I read them out of order.