The Arctic Fury by Greer Macallister (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

Goodreads book description:
A dozen women join a secret 1850s Arctic expedition—and a sensational murder trial unfolds when some of them don't come back.
Eccentric Lady Jane Franklin makes an outlandish offer to adventurer Virginia Reeve: take a dozen women, trek into the Arctic, and find her husband's lost expedition. Four parties have failed to find him, and Lady Franklin wants a radical new approach: put the women in charge.
A year later, Virginia stands trial for murder. Survivors of the expedition willing to publicly support her sit in the front row. There are only five. What happened out there on the ice?
Set against the unforgiving backgdrop of one of the world's most inhospitable locations, USA Today bestsellng author Greer Macallister uses the true story of Lady Jane Franklin's tireless attempts to find her husband's lost expedition as a jumping-off point to spin a tale of bravely, intrigue, perseverance and hope.

My Review:

This was very dramatic and exciting.  I enjoyed the dual views of the expedition and the trial.   It kept me on the edge of my seat.  I got this as part of The Booked Traveler box and I enjoyed the gifts.  The story really kept me engaged and I had hated putting it down to sleep.

Bad Luck Bridesmaid by Alison Rose Greenberg (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

Goodreads book description:
It’s official: Zoey Marks is the cursed bridesmaid that no engagement can survive. Ten years, three empire waist dresses, and ZERO brides have walked down the aisle.
After strike three, Zoey is left wondering if her own ambivalence towards marriage has rubbed off on those she loves. And when her building distrust of matrimony culminates in turning down a proposal from her perfect All-American boyfriend, Rylan Harper III, she and Rylan are both left heartbroken, leaving Zoey to wonder: what is it exactly about tying the knot that makes her want to run in the opposite direction?

Enter Hannah Green: Zoey’s best friend, who announces that she’s marrying a guy she just met (cue eye roll). At a castle. In gorgeous, romantic Ireland, where Rylan will be in attendance, and Zoey will be a bridesmaid. It’ll be fine.

Okay, the woman definition of fine (NOT FINE).

Determined to turn her luck around, Zoey accepts her role and vows to get Hannah down the aisle—all the while praying her best friend’s wedded bliss will allow her to embrace marriage and get Rylan back.

But as the weekend goes on, Zoey is plagued with more questions than answers. Can you be a free spirit, yet still want a certain future? Can you have love and be loved on your terms? And how DO you wrangle a bossy falcon into doing your bidding?

My Review:

I feel like this book was a bit of a conundrum for me. I liked it and I needed to know what happened, but I don’t feel like it fit as a rid a traditional romance, It wasn’t a romcom, but it wasn’t literary fiction either. I had the traipsing of a traditional romance, but the ending threw me.  This was a very character driven book, but some of the characters felt a little light…I wanted Graham and Ezra to have a little more depth.  Once Zoey got to Ireland I could not put it down!

I love when books have Spotify lists!

*I received this book as an Advanced Reader's Copy (ARC) through NetGalley. I received this copy free in exchange for my honest review

Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves by Meg Long (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

Goodreads book description:

After angering a local gangster, seventeen-year-old Sena Korhosen must flee with her prize fighting wolf, Iska, in tow. A team of scientists offer to pay her way off her frozen planet on one condition: she gets them to the finish line of the planet’s infamous sled race. Though Sena always swore she’d never race after it claimed both her mothers’ lives, it’s now her only option. 

But the tundra is a treacherous place, and as the race unfolds and their lives are threatened at every turn, Sena starts to question her own abilities. She must discover whether she's strong enough to survive the wild – whether she and Iska together are strong enough to get them all out alive.

A captivating debut about survival, found family, and the bond between a girl and a wolf that delivers a fresh twist on classic survival stories and frontier myths.

My Review:

So first of all, I somehow missed that this was set on another planet. I thought it was in Russia or maybe Alaska, but nope this is sci-fi. That does not take away from this for me, but it made for some. My advice is to pretend that it’s in Russia or Alaska and read it anyways. I feel so lucky that the second book of the year was also a five star read. Admittedly it did start a little slow, but once the story got rolling it really went. I loved it, I loved the characters of Sena and Iska, and all the side characters too.  I really hope this becomes a series!

This is full of strong character development along with a strong action packed storyline. I’m not gonna lie I ugly cried at the end.  Twice in a row.

*I received this book as an Advanced Reader's Copy (ARC) through NetGalley. I received this copy free in exchange for my honest review.*

At the End of Everything By Marieke Nijkamp (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

 

Goodreads book description:

The Hope Juvenile Treatment Center is ironically named. No one has hope for the delinquent teenagers who have been exiled there; the world barely acknowledges that they exist.

Then the guards at Hope start acting strange. And one day…they don’t show up. But when the teens band together to make a break from the facility, they encounter soldiers outside the gates. There’s a rapidly spreading infectious disease outside, and no one can leave their houses or travel without a permit. Which means that they’re stuck at Hope. And this time, no one is watching out for them at all.

As supplies quickly dwindle and a deadly plague tears through their ranks, the group has to decide whom among them they can trust and figure out how they can survive in a world that has never wanted them in the first place.

My Review:

I was really looking forward to this book, I loved Nijkamp’s book This is Where it Ends, and couldn’t wait to read this one.  It  is told from multiple perspectives: Logan a non-verbal female, whose verbal twin Leah is also in the facility, Grace a long-time female patient, and Emerson a non-binary new arrival. We follow these three though the discovery of the plague and the months that follow as they work to survive.

This book started my year off with a bang, and some tears.  This book gave me so many feels.  It was a gut wrenching read, but in the best way.  The characters made my heart ache, I wanted so much to hug the pain away.  As reader, you can’t help but too root for them.  You know that they won’t all survive, but you want them to beat the odds, and your heart breaks when they don’t.  Just like your heart sings when they do.

*I received this book as an Advanced Reader's Copy (ARC) through NetGalley. I received this copy free in exchange for my honest review.*

2021

Where has this year gone?  I started a January wrap up and didn’t get a chance to finish it.  I don’t know the route I want this blog to take…I barely have time to put my reviews on GoodReads, and I feel like they are not in depth at all.  So far this year I have read 47 books…that would be a ridiculous summary post no-one would want to read.  I have a started helping a friend get her book box off the ground by a) purchasing a subscription and b) posting videos of said subscription unwrapping.  But that is on Instagram and YouTube, I don’t feel the need to post here as well, maybe I will do a review?  So that leaves me as to where to go with this blog…I’m not in the book world enough to be talking about news.  But I don’t know reviews are the way this works anymore either…this may take some thought to figure out.

December 2020 Wrap Up

Three Ordinary Girls by Tim Brady (read 11/23 to 12/1) ⭐️⭐️

*I received this book as an Advanced Reader's Copy (ARC) through NetGalley. I received this copy free in exchange for my honest review.

This is aWWII true story.  Hannie Schaft, Truus Oversteegen, and Freddie Oversteegen are three sisters in occupied Netherlands, in the city of Haarlem.  They joined the underground resistance and became a terrifying force de resistance.  They sheltered Jews, political dissidents, and fellow Dutch Resistors.  They took direct actions like sabotaging bridges and railways.  They transported weapons and attacked military facilities.  They were assassins and seasoned spies.  Tim Brady did his homework when researching these women and bringing their heroics to the worlds attention.

This book started out strong, but around 40% it started to drag.  It became more a reciting of facts than a story.  I felt like Hannie, Truus and Freddie were ignored. I wanted more details of them.  It cam back around at the end but, it was too late I had lost interest.

The Peculiar Fate of Holly Banks by Julie Valerie (read 12/1 to 12/5) ⭐️⭐️⭐️

*I received this book as an Advanced Reader's Copy (ARC) through NetGalley. I received this copy free in exchange for my honest review.

This is the second book in the Village of Primm series.  I read the first book last December as a OUABC selection.  This book takes place just a week or so after the end of the first book.  Once again Holly Banks finds herself in the middle of a mystery. Her chocolate lab Struggle digs up a lost artifact and the chaos ensues.  

I gave this book a 3star because it still was a meh storyline to me, a little better than the first but not that engaging to me.  I think I need to look at this series almost like a cozy, but just without murder.  I liked that the characters stayed true to the writing from the first book, as it took place so soon after the first book that felt really important to me. The sarcasm was toned down a little bit, which I admit I was a little sad about.  But Valerie still didn’t take her created world seriously which did make it fun.  I don’t love these books, but I will still probably continue with the series which is a solid series. 

Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage (read 12/9 to 12/13) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I picked this book up because Ants Among Elephants was such a heavy read.  This had been an impulse grocery store aisle buy.  It sounded great a thriller about a daughter trying to kill her mom, sort of Gillian Flynn style was my impression when I read the back.

I really liked the book, the premise and story line was great.  I loved the dynamic between the Mom Suzette and the daughter Hannah. I loved how devious  Hannah was, yet still had an air of innocence.  Alex seemed like a clueless shmuck, which fed right into Hannah’s plans.  What I don’t like was some of Suzette’s vulgarity around sex with Alex, and some of the sex scenes.  I’m not opposed to sex in a novel, it is part of life, but I felt like the scenes were put in more for shock factor than to further the storyline.  They seemed abrupt and poorly placed, and when they appeared they pulled me out of the story, which broke the magic for me.  But other than that it was really well written and a page turner for sure.

Ants Among Elephants: An Untouchable Family and the Making of Modern India by Sujatha Gilda (read 12/5 to 12/15)⭐️

This was the December selection for the Book & Wine Club. They are a newsletter that pairs a book and wine selection every month for local groups to meet.  It this month they decided to do a Zoom meeting, so my best friend and I joined.

This book was not as advertised, the blurb on Amazon’s and good reads said it was the history of a family as they rose above their caste to become educated, leaders and an improved life.  Eventually Gilda moves from India to America and writes her family’s history. It was marketed as a rare family history from the lowest of the castes in India, and their move triumph and success.  It was also supposed to be about the bonds of family.  Wow that sounds enlightening and amazing right?  Yeah I would love to read that book!  Sadly instead I read this one.  It wasn’t about family and triumph, it was recounting the deeds of the the oldest brother Satyam as he became a political activist who founded the People’s War Group, which sounded like a communist terrorist group to me

Which per my internet research is exactly what it is!  I’m sure I’m now on some monitoring list for even looking it up.  There was almost no discussion of the author’s mother, besides when she was being mistreated first by her Father and Brothers, then by her husband.  It definitely wasn’t about woman’s rights or gaining empowerment in India.  This book was horrible and the description was do misleading I felt betrayed for it being selected.

The Way Back by Gavriel Savit (read 12/15 to 12/22) ⭐️⭐️⭐️

*I received this book as an Advanced Reader's Copy (ARC) through NetGalley. I received this copy free in exchange for my honest review.*

The book takes place in the 1820’s or so.  It follows two kids, the book description said they were teens, although I thought they were more like 12.  Yehuda Lieb, son of poor single mother and Bluma granddaughter of Tupik’s midwife, a small Jewish Villaine somewhere in Eastern Europe.   They both encounter death one day, and then consequence is a journey through the Far Country, a Jewish land of spirits and demons.  Where they decide to make war on Death himself.

I’m not going to lie  this one left me floundering about.  I was not aware of the characters at all.  I suspect they are well known Jewish folk lore characters, but I had no idea who they were.  Still I was able to follow the story and enjoy it.  I think if I had known who they were some stuff would have made more sense.  And the description is right, it did remind me of Neil Gaimen’s American Gods. I enjoyed the read, it was a solid story and I would read more from this author.  

Divided in Death by JD Robb (AKA Nora Roberts)  (read 12/22 to 12/26) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is book 18 in the In Death Series,  I started reading this series in 2015.  One of Eve’s husband’s employees of fond at the scene of her husband and his lover, at fist glance it looks like an open and shut case.  But things don’t add up Eve and the deeper she digs, the deeper the conspiracy goes.

This was another great one in the series, admittedly the plot isn’t new or unique.  But that isn’t why I love these books, I love these books because of the characters.  Eve, Roarke, Peabody, McNab, and Feeny are all old friends. They grow as characters and people, and yet they stay in their character traits enough to give me comfort.  

Visions in Death by JD Robb (AKA Nora Robert’s)   (read 12/27 to 12/29/20

I’m obviously feeling some comfort reads, and Eve Dallas does it for me.

I’m surprised that after all this time Robb was able to surprise me. There was a twist at the end that was completely unexpected for me.  I enjoyed the writing and the way we get to see and know some side characters more intently.  I love the lightheartedness of this series though too, despite all the murder there is laughter.  I even read some bits to my husband, much to his confusion.

November 2020 Wrap up

So here it is the first of the wrap ups, I know that I have done some summary reviews in the past, and well they seemed to be happening more and more, so let’s go with that format.  Because this is the first, it will include the final book I read from October, but after this it will just be the books I read in the current month.

15 Minutes of Flame by Christina Brecher (read 10/25 to 10/27)  ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Stella sells candles in a small Nantucket Town.  While Stella is helping to plan the town's annual Halloween fundraiser. While planning she explores a deserted, boarded-up building on the property--once used as a candle-making shop-- and she discovers a terrible secret: the skeleton of a Quaker woman, wrapped in blood-soaked clothing and hidden deep within a stone hearth.   And Stella gets involved with the investigation.

So I got this from OUABC sweet Halloween box. And it was an OK read, I didn’t love it I didn’t hate it. It was just a cozy mystery nothing too amazing. It was obvious that it was a later book in the series, I think it is #3.  The characters were fine, the mystery was fine.  It was a solid cozy.

The Majesties by Tiffany Tsao (read 10/27 to 11/6) ⭐️⭐️

*I received this book as an Advanced Reader's Copy (ARC) through NetGalley. I received this copy free in exchange for my honest review.

This is about two sisters from a Chinese-Indonesian family grapple with the past after one of them poisons their entire family. Gwendolyn and Estella have always been as close as sisters can be. Growing up in a wealthy, eminent, and sometimes deceitful family, they’ve relied on each other for support and confidence. But now Gwendolyn is lying in a coma, the sole survivor of Estella’s poisoning of their whole clan.  As Gwendolyn struggles to regain consciousness, she desperately retraces her memories, trying to uncover the moment that led to this shocking and brutal act.

I’m not sure how I feel about this book.  I wanted to like it, the writing was lovely, the story was engaging, and the ending I didn’t see coming.  But I wasn’t motivated to read it and I wasn’t engaged in the story or the characters.  I didn’t hate it, and I see the value in the story and the writing, but at the same time I didn’t like it. No particular reason, it just didn’t grab me.

The Guest List by Lucy Foley (read 11/7 to 11/8) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

On an island off the coast of Ireland, guests gather to celebrate a wedding.  The groom is a handsome and charming, a rising television star. The bride is a smart and ambitious, a magazine publisher.  But as the wedding starts things go astray and someone ends up dead.

So I’ve been hearing about this book for a while, I decided to check it out from the library. Wow was it good.  I hated having to put it down to do things. I just wanted to read to find out first of all who died, and second who killed whoever died. Foley did a really good job on setting up the death and the murder itself. And it wrapped up well sort of.

Throwaway Girls by Andrea Contos (read 11/10 to 11/15) ⭐️⭐️⭐️

*I received this book as an Advanced Reader's Copy (ARC) through NetGalley. I received this copy free in exchange for my honest review.

Caroline Lawson hates her school and her life, she can’t wait to escape her rigid prep school and parents who don’t accept her as a lesbian.  She has three months to graduation and that freedom she craves.  Then her girlfriend leaves her to move to California, and her best friend Madison disappears, Caroline feels compelled to get involved in the investigation. Caroline kept her own secrets, and it seems so did others in her life.  The Caroline finds out about the other missing girls, the girls from the wrong side of the tracks who it appears police didn’t investigate.  Caroline is determined to find out what happened to them and why no one seems to notice. But as every new discovery leads Caroline closer to the connection between these girls and Madison, she faces an unsettling truth.

This was a good book, the end was surprising..I didn’t see the villain coming.  It had some slow parts and I got stuck in the middle but it ended well.

The Lending Library by Aliza Fogelson (read 11/15 to 11/17) ⭐️⭐️

*I received this book as an Advanced Reader's Copy (ARC) through NetGalley. I received this copy free in exchange for my honest review.

When the Chatsworth library closes indefinitely, Dodie Fairisle turns her sunroom into her very own little lending library.  At first it is a hobby, but then it takes on a life of its own and the townspeople come to rely on it and on Dodie. 

I wanted to like this book, and I wanted to like the characters. But I didn’t. Maybe it was the wrong time for the story for me but the loss hit me harder then I would have thought, which meant I didn’t enjoy the read.  I didn’t like Dodie and I don’t like Shep and I really didn’t like Sullivan‘s parents. This was just a miss for me.

The Warning by James Patterson (read 11/18 to 11/21) ⭐️⭐️⭐️

In a small town called Mt. Hope, there has been an accident at the nuclear plant.  But the military tells the townspeople it is cleaned up and they can come home now.  And it does look beautiful, everything is fixed up and nicer than when they fled.  Including Jordan, suddenly he is faster and stronger and he knows things, like how to fight.  But something is wrong, no one has a cell phone signal, there is no tv or news, and the military has blocked off the two ways out of town. What are they hiding?

I enjoyed this read, it wasn’t innovative or new.  In fact it was fairly cookie cutter sci-Fi, stealing ideas from multiple other books.  But because Patterson is a good writer it still meshed well and was a fun read.  It felt comforting like a cozy mystery, but with a Sci-Fi twist!  I wish I could say which Sci-Fi twist,  it I don’t want to give it away.

The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey (read 11/ 17 to 11/23) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

*I received this book as an Advanced Reader's Copy (ARC) through NetGalley. I received this copy free in exchange for my honest review.

Imagine the pain of having your husband leave you, now imagine if he left you for a more docile  version of you he had cloned.  That is the pain Evelyn was feeling when one nigjt her clone Martine called needing Evelyn’s help.  It seems Martine had murdered their husband Nathan. And it was quite the mess that needed fixing.

I had a little trouble with this one at first, I mean I liked the premise, it just wasn’t resonating with me.  Then I put it down for a day or two and flew through it.  I would say at about the 40% mark it really started to pick up. I enjoyed the story arc and the secrets Nathan held.  It was overall a good read.

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (read 11/25 to 11/28) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was a re-read for me.  I received my order of Ready Player Two and I wanted to reimmerse myself in the universe.  My review still hasn’t changed.  I still love the book!  Although this time as I read I was able to see subtle clues of the gates and puzzles laid early on.  And as I read, I took the time and made a play list of all the songs listed in the book.  Next re-read I’ll listen as I go.

Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline (read 11/28 to 11/30/20) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

So this is follow up to Ready Player One, I admit I ordered it without even knowing what the plot line was.  This book takes place after Wade and the gang win Halliday’s Egg.  Wade finds a technological advancement in Halliday’s Vault that will change the world the way OASIS originally did.  But it comes with a new quest and riddle to solve, Wade once again has to step up to not only save the OASIS,  but possibly all of humanity.

OK so I really liked this book, and it’s always nerve wracking to red a sequel of a favorite.  What if they ruin it?  Thankfully Cline didn’t. I still like Ready Player One better, but this was a good follow up.  Again some same old Sci-Fi tropes, which I don’t want to give away the plot of the villain...but it’s a classic and a well used plot line.  That being said it is a classic, because when it is well done it is highly entertaining.  There were far more music referenced I feel in this book than in the first book, but maybe I just caught them more easily.  I enjoyed this read, I like Clines writing style and the nostalgia he gives me for the 80’s.  I feel like it was a solid follow up.