Book Review: The Fault In Our Stars by John Green

 

Oh my! I am so glad I read this book. I worked my way into Hazel & her family's lives. I met Augustus Waters; and Isaac; and the insufferable Peter VanHouten. I was humbled by the way the characters' challenges of living with cancer did little to stain their zeal for life. My problems are so much smaller, yet I am a hell of a lot more selfish. To author John Green: Thank you for writing this book! You have taught me much through Hazel's story. I could elaborate forever; I'd just end up sobbing, and promising to be eternally changed. You wrote from your soul & emerged among the very stars you fault. Brilliant, brilliant, BRILLIANT!

Rating: obviously 5/5 stars

Book Review: These Is My Words (Sarah Agnes Prine, #1) by Nancy E. Turner

I dearly loved this book! It is nothing short of amazing! Sarah Prine takes the reader on her amazing life adventure into the Arizona Territory in the late 1800's. She's a spit-fire young girl who transforms into an equally spit-fire woman. She adores and fiercely defends her family; she is a wicked shot with a rifle AND pistol; and true love finds her in the most unexpected of men. More than an engaging story, Ms. Turner authors a work of historical fiction that swept me off my feet & dropped me right on Sarah's doorstep at her Arizona ranch. I laughed with her; I cried with her; I was thrilled for her & I may have even coached her a little through births of her children; I held my breath when she faced death defying situations. First rate and 5 stars!

Book Review: Lowcountry Bombshell (A Liz Talbot Mystery, #2) by Susan M. Boyer

* a note of THANKS! to NetGalley, author Susan M. Boyer, and publisher  Henery Press for the ARC of this novel*

I liked this book.
It began with a bumpy start: A lot of characters with borrowed names--Calista, Moon Unit; and an improbable plot set-up--a lottery winner who's whole life was staged to mirror Marilyn Monroe's; a young female private eye, hired to help save Calista, the Marilyn wannabe, from herself & her enemies. Then the story became quite engaging. It was light reading, held some peril, danger, shady characters, more plot discovery, and mystery solved. It had me guessing the "who dunnit"; and I was wrong. Enough going on that the would-be Marilyn-ish Calista killer was not too predictable. Even a little of the spirit-world thrown in for good measure. A nice mix for a light mystery. 3.5 stars

Book Review: Sherry and Narcotics by Nina Marie Gardner

This novel explores the perils of addiction, and is very addicting itself. Poor Mary. She is such a self-induced hot mess. I really liked her and had a lot of hope for her. She battles so many things in this book--wanting love, wanting to bury pain from personal loss, wanting success, stability,and maybe even normality. The problem is, she wants the bottle more! When she doesn't have resolution to the fulfillment in these areas, she seeks to numb herself with booze. Mary meets a co-dependent soul in Jake, her new British boyfriend. Jake needed recovery too--and permission to release himself from his co-dependency. I feel like I went through recovery & slipped again, just by reading Nina's book. Doesn't help that I work in the human services field; and read about addiction's power over its victims. I wanted to set up my "listening couch" to bring them in & try to help them work through stuff. Oy! A compelling read. 4 stars

Book Review: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

I found myself quite confused while reading this 'classic'. I am of the "I never had to read it in high school" camp, so this was a first time around for me. I'll give 5 stars for subject matter: unrequited love, affairs, wild parties, money-is no-object getaways, aliases, bootlegging, murder, fall from grace...this book has it all! What it did not have for me was a sensical writing style. I would read; then re-read a passage several times, and still not understand what just happened or why. Was my e-book missing a page? Then it happened again. and again. Gatsby would tell Nick something. Nick would tell the reader only 1/2 of the something & it all just left me scratching my head. In this case, I look forward to the movie, where maybe I can make some sense of the style, "old sport".

 3 stars overall

Book Review: Chum by Jeff Somers

*a note of THANKS! to NetGalley, author Jeff Somers, and Tyrus Books publishers for the ARC of this novel*

Initially, for me, this book started with a -bang-! It was funny and intelligent. Henry & his friends were drinking; personalities were colorful. I could relate. Each chapter was spoken from the voice of one of the friends in the group. I could identify with the characters' thoughts as they weren't able to speak them to each other, when they didn't want relationships to change. The friends would get together for holidays, events, birthdays, etc. All involving a considerable amount of liquor, drunkenness, and debauchery(candidly referred to as mother***kery in the book). I am not certain if Mr. Somers meant for this comparison; but 2 TV series' of the past come to mind: "Friends" and "That 70's Show"--both funny, with characters who were all a little overconfident and annoying in their own right. A much understated character in the book, Luis,reminded me of Fez("That 70's Show"). I also came away from some of the chapters, feeling quite inebriated! Wow, these people could drink! A level of consumption I have not witnessed since my own college days.They were very relate-able, in exaggerated form. I kept thinking of people in my own life I have tried to befriend & couldn't because they were too shallow, too angry, too slutty, etc. The book made me question, "How do my friends see me?" It was intelligently written, compelling, frustrating at times, and somewhat dark. The ending was not at all as I expected! What did I expect, I don't know. I'm still contemplating the whole enchilada. Maybe I'll pour myself a cocktail & it will come to me.

 Rating:  ***.5

Thank you NetGalley, for the ARC. *Cheers* to Jeff Somers for a thought provoking read