The Lonely Mile by Allen Leverone

From Goodreads: When struggling hardware store owner Bill Ferguson witnesses a kidnapping in progress, he reacts instinctively, breaking up the crime and saving a young girl. But the kidnapper, a sociopath known as the “I-90 Killer,” escapes and vows revenge, targeting Ferguson’s own daughter as his next victim. Now one terrified father must unravel a plot that may go much deeper than he realizes, racing against time to save his only child from an unthinkable fate.

Sooo, these Kindle freebies are quite the crap shoot - this time I came up even. It was not bad (like some others), it was not outstanding (like maybe one or two over the past few years), it was good. The plot was good - not too intricate but complex enough that it held a surprise, the characters weren't incredibly developed but they were basically believable and somewhat interesting and varied from likable to incredibly creepy, and the suspense/mystery/action definitely held my attention. This was one of the times that I didn't feel like I was just plowing through to find out what happened - I enjoyed it and wanted to keep reading, my time felt well-spent!

The 2012 E-Book Reading Challenge is hosted by Sarah at Workaday Reads. Click on the logo to see my progress.





I am trying to reach 100 books this year - I've never done it before although I have come very close, click on the logo to see how I am doing for this year!





Click on the logo to see my progress towards the 2012 A to Z Reading Challenge hosted by Strawberry Splash Reviews.

When I Was Puerto Rican by Esmerelda Santiago

From Amazon: Esmeralda Santiago's story begins in rural Puerto Rico, where her childhood was full of both tenderness and domestic strife, tropical sounds and sights as well as poverty. Growing up, she learned the proper way to eat a guava, the sound of tree frogs in the mango groves at night, the taste of the delectable sausage called morcilla, and the formula for ushering a dead baby's soul to heaven. As she enters school we see the clash, both hilarious and fierce, of Puerto Rican and Yankee culture. When her mother, Mami, a force of nature, takes off to New York with her seven, soon to be eleven children, Esmeralda, the oldest, must learn new rules, a new language, and eventually take on a new identity. In this first volume of her much-praised, bestselling trilogy, Santiago brilliantly recreates the idyllic landscape and tumultuous family life of her earliest years and her tremendous journey from the barrio to Brooklyn, from translating for her mother at the welfare office to high honors at Harvard.

I expected to like this one more than I did. I certainly respect the author for living the life she did, accomplishing so much, and then writing it all down to share (better than I ever could) but it just didn't flow for me. In the beginning as she is writing about her early childhood, the writing is this strange combination of really vivid images but a childlike voice. She also throws in a lot of Spanish vocabulary throughout the book; there is a glossary at the back but I am not a "go to the glossary" kind of girl, more of a "skip over it and be a little confused" girl. Finally there is a gap at the end - she gets accepted to a magnet high school and bang she's in Harvard. I know she had to stop - the book would have been double the size if she kept going, but it just seemed like it could have been done more gracefully. I blame her editor for that one.

This is not a book I would have picked up on my own, I hadn't heard of it on blogs or in other media. It was the book pick for an online book club I am a part of with some sorority sisters from college. I'm glad it was a pick - it gave me a glimpse into Puerto Rican culture that felt real and was memorable. But I felt like a doting aunt reading it - you are enjoying it because you are proud of this girl for her accomplishments but not because it is fascinating and you can't wait to turn the page.

I am trying to reach 100 books this year - I've never done it before although I have come very close, click on the logo to see how I am doing for this year!

The Day of the Storm by Rosamunde Pilcher

From Goodreads: On the last day of her mother's life, Rebecca learns she has a family in Cornwall, and sets out to find the grandfather and cousin she has never known. But only the enigmatic Joss Gardner, the outsider who seems to be the apple of her grandfather's eye, can help her understand the dark currents that lie behind her family's loving reception.

After being dissapointed with Wild Mountain Thyme last month, I had to get back on the Rosamunde Pilcher horse and try again. I'm so glad I did; this one was a pleasure. The circumstances were fantastical - the death bed revelations, the stranger in an unexpected place and then, who would have thought, he turns up again in a completely different town - but a fun kind of fantastical. You just set aside disbelief and let the setting and sweetness of it all carry you through. Nice romance, gentle mystery, and a little family dysfunction - loved it!

I am trying to reach 100 books this year - I've never done it before although I have come very close, click on the logo to see how I am doing for this year!

Duma Key by Stephen King

From Goodreads: Six months after a crane crushes his pickup truck and his body self-made millionaire Edgar Freemantle launches into a new life. His wife asked for a divorce after he stabbed her with a plastic knife and tried to strangle her one-handed (he lost his arm and for a time his rational brain in the accident). He divides his wealth into four equal parts for his wife, his two daughters, himself and leaves Minnesota for Duma Key, a stunningly beautiful, eerily remote stretch of the Florida coast where he has rented a house. All of the land on Duma Key, and the few houses, are owned by Elizabeth Eastlake, an octogenarian whose tragic and mysterious past unfolds perilously. When Edgar begins to paint, his formidable talent seems to come from someplace outside him, and the paintings, many of them, have a power that cannot be controlled.

I think I read Carrie in high school, I know I saw the movie. And I think I read Christine too. That's the total of my Stephen King experience prior to Duma Key so my expectations came more from my own imagination than from any actual experience - I was expecting violence, shock and harsh fear. I didn't get that; I got characters that I actually cared about and day to day lives with friendships and banter and ease and families with the resulting relationship issues. But all of those good things were floating along on this undercurrent of dread - that's the Stephen King part, knowing there is something coming. I liked what I got much more than what I had expected to get! 23 hours on audio and I was still kind of sad for it to end.

The audiobook challenge is hosted by Teresa at Teresa's Reading Corner, click on the logo to see my progress.


I am trying to reach 100 books this year - I've never done it before although I have come very close, click on the logo to see how I am doing for this year!

Heavenly by Jennifer Laurens

From Goodreads: Zoe's sister darts in front of cars. Her brother's a pothead. Her parents are so overwhelmed; they don't see Zoe lost in her broken life. Zoe escapes the only way she knows how: partying. Matthias, a guardian sent from Heaven, watches over Zoe's autistic sister. After Zoe is convinced he's legit, angel and lost girl come together in a love that changes destiny. But Heaven on Earth can't last forever.

So bad, so very very bad....and yet there are 458 5-star reviews on Goodreads so maybe it's just me? I thought I would like this one because it has a family dealing with autism, a subject near and dear to my special education entrenched heart. But that was just a small part of the story. And it had teens doing bad things like drinking and drugs - hmm, a little bit of that around here these days as well (heavy sigh). But again - that was just a little part. It seemed like everything that interested me was just a side note to Zoe, the human girl, and Matthias, the angel, pining away for each other - yuck! It was torture to finish but I kept going thinking, "It has got to get better," but it never did. Needless to say I won't be picking up the next one in the series but the author needn't worry because hundreds of other folks will!

The 2012 E-Book Reading Challenge is hosted by Sarah at Workaday Reads. Click on the logo to see my progress.





I am trying to reach 100 books this year - I've never done it before although I have come very close, click on the logo to see how I am doing for this year!





Click on the logo to see my progress towards the 2012 A to Z Reading Challenge hosted by Strawberry Splash Reviews.

Madame Tussaud by Michelle Moran

From Goodreads: The world knows Madame Tussaud as a wax artist extraordinaire . . . but who was this woman who became one of the most famous sculptresses of all time? In these pages, her tumultuous and amazing story comes to life as only Michelle Moran can tell it. The year is 1788, and a revolution is about to begin. Spanning five years, from the budding revolution to the Reign of Terror, Madame Tussaud brings us into the world of an incredible heroine whose talent for wax modeling saved her life and preserved the faces of a vanished kingdom.

My face to face book club decided to regroup and go back to the assigned book format versus the freewheeling read what you like version we had been doing. I hosted first and this is the book I chose and ,(whew!), it turned out great. I have loved the other Michelle Moran books I've read so I was feeling pretty confident that it would be interesting and entertaining and we had read another French Revolution book, Abundance, back in our old book club days and everyone liked that one.

Despite the fact that I read quite a bit of historical fiction, I always learn something new and this was no exception. It also never ceases to amaze me how dreadfully unclean everything was back then. Reading about the hangers on at the palace urinating in the halls and going such long periods without bathing leaves me feeling so grateful for the wonders of indoor plumbing. The details of the blood and gore of the French revolution were eye popping. We debated quite a bit about how close or far we are (depending on your opinion) from the people who carried the heads on pikes through the streets during the French revolution. We were pretty split with some ladies thinking that was beyond the pale in this day and age and others thinking they could imagine it happening easily with all the tension in the world today.

This works for the following challenges -


I am trying to reach 100 books this year - I've never done it before although I have come very close, click on the logo to see how I am doing for this year!











Click on the logo to see my progress towards the 2012 A to Z Reading Challenge hosted by Strawberry Splash Reviews.

Wild Mountain Thyme by Rosamunde Pilcher

From Goodreads: Victoria Bradshaw fell in love with London playwright Oliver Dobbs when she was just eighteen. But he had left her and disappeared from her life. Now, years later, he was a widower standing on her doorstep wit his two-year-old son in his arms. And Victoria was foolish enough to want to take him back. Their early spring journey to a castle in Scotland would become an odyssey of emotional discovery.

This one was such a shocker in that I didn't really like it very much. Usually I just fall into Rosamunde Pilcher's Scottish world and swim around loving the accents and the landscapes and the small town charms. This one had some of that towards the end but it started out in London with not much ambiance and a despicable character. He's such a cad that you can't for a moment relate to why she cares for him so you (or at least I) have to plod through hoping it gets better. Should probably see where this falls on the timeline of Rosamunde Pilcher books - maybe it was an earlier one before she perfected her craft. Skip this and go reread the Shell Seekers!


I am trying to reach 100 books this year - I've never done it before although I have come very close, click on the logo to see how I am doing for this year!