Finished: A Wrinkle In Time (Le'Engle) A book my kids read in middle school and I finally read it! A girl, Meg, whose scientist father has been missing for a year, is taken on a fifth dimension, time traveling, tesseract adventure by three unique individuals, along with her super smart, other-worldly little brother, Charles Wallace, and her new friend, Calvin,  to try and rescue her father. Her father is being held by an evil force, which nearly takes over the mind of Charles Wallace as well before Meg realizes that the answer is that love conquers all. Once she does that, they are all whisked back to their own planet and dimension....with the very real promise of more adventures to come.

Finished: The Dry (Harper) Another page turner! The Dry is about Aaron Falk, a detective in the fraud division in Melbourne, Australia, who goes back to his small hometown for the first time since a scandal twenty years before, to attend the funeral of his childhood best friend, Luke Hadler. Drought conditions have driven people to even killing their own cattle that they can't keep watered, and the unchallenged theory is that a drought distraught Luke took the life of his young wife, and his young son, before killing himself. Luke's father thinks otherwise, though, and he has reached out to Aaron to come home and figure out what happened. The motherless Aaron and his own father had left Kiewarra twenty years before, run out of town more like it, when Ellie Deacon, the girl sixteen year old Aaron was in love with, was found drowned in the river. Many people thought she'd taken her own life, especially since they suspected she was physically abused by her father, but having found a note in a pair of her jeans that had the date of her death written on it, and the name "Falk", the entire town turned against Aaron and assumed he'd killed her. Luke offered up Aaron a false alibi, since they were both off separately just fishing and whatnot. Luke didn't want Aaron to be pinned with something he didn't do. Nonetheless, the town was relentless in it's harassment of both Aaron and his father, so they picked up stakes and left the family farm. When Aaron comes back twenty years later, many of the town folks remember him and still shun him. Ellie's father and cousin are particularly brutal bullies, but Aaron is determined to stay and see what happened to Luke, his wife and little Billy. Their 13 month old baby girl had been left unharmed in her crib, so it was all a big mystery. Of course, most of the town had already judged the dead Luke and determined that financial and farm troubles had lead him to the murder/suicide. With the help of the local police chief, Aaron uncovers what looks to be motives in a few different people who may have wanted Luke dead, but each one becomes a dead end. In the meantime, he's also meeting up with Gretchen, the fourth in their quartet of teenage friends, and trying to figure out what really happened to Ellie...one week after they shared their first kiss at the secret "rock" tree by the river. When Aaron and the chief finally stop looking at who might have a grudge against Luke and look at his wife, Karen, they hit the jackpot. Karen had uncovered $50,000 of mishandled funds at the elementary school, which had received the much need money grant from a charitable society. The principal, who had moved to town in recent years, had a gambling problem and owed some nasty men some money. When confronted by Karen, the school bookkeeper, he decided that it would be better to kill her and Luke and blame it on Luke than to face the consequences of admitting he'd stolen the money. He had thought little Billy would be at his own home on a play date with his own seven year old daughter, but Karen had canceled that at the last minute. So, when Billy saw his principal shoot his own mother, he ran to his room to hide, but the principal tracked him down, found his hiding spot and killed him. :-( That part of the book is very sad and awful, but the majority of the book doesn't focus on the gruesome details. Instead, we delve into Aaron, Luke, Ellie, and Gretchen's past...and into Aaron and Gretchen's current lives. We also find out that it was the evil Mal Deacon himself, who killed his own daughter Ellie, when he tracked her down to the river preparing to run away like her own mother had five years before and he killed her. Twenty years later, Aaron found her backpack tucked in the crevice of their secret rock tree and in it her diary where she explained that her father had become more and more abusive so she was going to leave town...even though she'd just found someone she really cared for....Aaron. This was a really good book, and I believe the author's first. I will definitely be reading her next book which apparently also has Aaron Falk in it, solving another murder mystery in Australia! :-)

Finished: The Child Finder (Denfeld) A suspenseful, thought-provoking, page-turner of a book! Naomi is a nearly thirty year old woman whose job and mission in life is to find missing children. Her current case involves five year old Madison Culver who went missing deep in the snowy Oregon woods when she ran ahead of her parents as they were out to find a Christmas tree. It has been three years now, and Madison's parents are convinced she is still alive and that someone has her. The story flashes back and forth between a few point of views...mostly Naomi's and the snow girl's. The snow girl is, of course, Madison, who was found nearly frozen to death by a deaf and mute mountain-man trapper. He takes Madison back to his cabin, nurses her back to health, but also keeps her locked in his basement. We come to find out that he was kidnapped as a seven year old boy by a horrific pedophile, and brought to this very cabin. Beaten and sexually abused, eventually as a young adult, he got the courage up to kill his tormentor. He had been so physically and psychologically damaged, and stunted in how to socialize with people, that he remained living the cabin by himself for years until he stumbled across Madison. Then, he did all he had ever known, and though he treated Madison better than he was treated, she became his possession and he abused her sexually. Madison, upon awaking away from her parents, felt herself thawing out from freezing and immediately decided that she must be the snow girl from her fairy tale book, and that Mr. B, as she came to call him, was her creator. Though she definitely suffered a bit of Stockholm Syndrome, she also knew deep down that she had a family somewhere, and once Mr. B started taking her out with him to do animal trapping, she began leaving little threads from her sweater tied to low tree branches in case she ever needed a pathway out of the cabin if she escaped. Meanwhile, Naomi continues her searching. She has demons of her own. She was also taken as a child, but she remembers nothing but running from an underground prison, across a strawberry field, towards a fire where some migrant workers took her to the sheriff. There were no parents who claimed her as missing, so she was brought up by a loving, kind foster mother. She has nightmares about what happened, and each missing child that she finds, whether living or dead, helps her towards realizing her own past. Eventually she remembers that she also had a little sister with her, and that they ran as fast as they could across the field, but when she turned to tell her that they made it, her little sister wasn't there....she had not kept up. Naomi refuses to give up on Madison, and through methodical work, looking at years old claim records of hunting cabins, and diligent searching, finally finds the colorful threads! Through a very suspenseful portion of the book, where Mr. B knows she's coming and sets a trap, and through Naomi and Mr. B having an all out physical fight, and through Madison working her way out of the basement trap door, Mr. B is killed by a knife that Madison hands Naomi. Madison is reunited with her parents, and stays in touch with Naomi. Naomi sets off in search of her next missing child...her little sister! Not very pleasant subject material, but it's not graphic. It's more about defeating the kidnapper and not letting the experience ruin the lives of the victims. And, wow, it was, as I said...a page-turner!

Finished: Black Beauty (Sewell) I can't believe I went my whole life never reading Black Beauty...especially being a horse owner, with a daughter who has ridden and been a horse lover since 2nd grade! Now that I've read it, though, I was a little disappointed. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it was different than I thought it would be. The story is told from Black Beauty's point of view. He talks and tells the story of his life, from owner to owner, and horse friendship to horse friendship. He seems to understand what humans are saying when they talk! And, he has lovely conversations with other horses. :-) His life starts out pretty cushy. He's well bred and treated royally, and taught in all the proper ways how to act, how to take the bridle, and saddle, and desensitized to scary noises so he won't shy away. Then, he's sold, and though every time he's sold, the previous owner tries to make sure he goes to other people who will treat him with the utmost respect, he does suffer through some bad owners, thus leading him to nearly breaking down. He spends time being a cab driver, a carriage driver, a driver for private owners, etc. He nearly dies of ignorant mistreatment a couple of times. But...at the end, he ends up back on a farm with a horse groom who was actually one of his grooming boys years before! The biggest problem I have with the book is the section where Black Beauty is owned by a cab driver in London. His owner is just wonderful, and treats him great. However, the book takes far too many tangents delving into what the cab driver has to pontificate about on life issues, morals, drinking, churchgoing, etc. They are all good, valuable things for a child reader to learn, but it's just odd that Black Beauty is relating these pages long human conversations that really have nothing to do with his horse life, lol. Anyway, I'm so glad I finally read the book...but also glad I'm done with it. Can't wait to ask Jenny Cate if she actually ever read it! I know she has several copies. :-)

Finished: Little Fires Everywhere (Ng) A very good book that hooks you at the beginning with the family home of the Richardsons, the main characters, burning down and then flashing back to how it all reached that point. The Richardsons are the perfect family living the perfect life in Shaker Heights, an overly pre-planned suburb of Cleveland. Mr. Richardson is a lawyer and Mrs. Richardson is a town journalist. They have four teenage children Lexie, a senior in high school, Trip, a junior, Moody, a sophomore, and Izzy a freshman. They are kids who have never wanted for food, TVs, cars, etc. They aren't bad kids, just privileged and not overly insightful to other people's needs...except for Izzy. Izzy is the rebel of the family who is always arguing for the underdog at the family dinner table. She's been suspended from school a few times, but rather than sit her down and really talk about why, her overbearing mother just assumes the worst of her and is always at odds with her. Each of the members of the family is delved into pretty deeply, and we learn that they all have their motivations and insecurities, just like the rest of us. Mrs. Richardson is so hard on Izzy because she's afraid of losing her. After three easy births with her first three children, Mrs. Richardson faced the terrifying experience of Izzy being several weeks premature and battling several of the problems that go along with preemies. Izzy, though, grew up just fine with no residual affects. Her mother, though, turns her fear of losing Izzy into a harsh over-protectiveness and harsher expectations, more so than with any of her other kids. They can all feel it, and because of it, Izzy becomes more of the rebel and the loner, not really getting along with her siblings. Lexie and Trip are the popular good-looking ones of the bunch; and Moody is the smart, thoughtful one. He understands Izzy the most. The author writes very beautifully as we see what makes each of these characters tick. So...enters into their little Shaker Heights world the enigmatic Mia Warren...an artist who uses her photography, along with other materials that appeal to her, to create very moving, meaningful pieces of art. She's an Asian woman and a single mother of fifteen year old Pearl. Mia and Pearl have moved from city to city as long as Pearl can remember. Mia will get an idea for a project, and plant roots for awhile to see her vision come to life...and then when she's done, they will pack up their VW Rabbit and be on their way. As an early art school student, Mia met a very influential photography professor who, recognizing her raw talent, put her in touch with a gallery agent who occasionally sold pieces of Mia's artwork. This bit of money, plus what she made taking whatever job she could where they moved, kept Mia and Pearl scraping by. When they move to Shaker Heights, Mia tells Pearl that they will finally stay put just as Pearl is entering high school. Pearl meets Moody Richardson first, and they become fast friends. Pearl is smart, and shy, but shares his same love for poetry and sense of humor. They do homework together and walk back and forth to school together and have all the same classes. Of course, Moody falls hard for Pearl...but when he finally takes her home to meet his brother and sisters, Pearl falls hard for Trip! It's more than just a teenage romance story, though. We see how all the Richardson kids are drawn to Pearl for different reasons. They accept her as one of their friends, and she begins to spend all her afternoons there. Her crush on Trip doesn't become known for quite awhile. We also learn about Mia's past. Her big secret is that she agreed to be a surrogate mother for a couple in New York to pay her second year of art school. Her parents had refused to pay, thinking photography and art in general were stupid things to build a future on. About six months after becoming pregnant (by sperm in a turkey baster!!) with the couple's child, Mia realized she'd fallen in love with her baby and couldn't go through with it. It was the beginning of her packing up what little she owned and running away. It was also right when her beloved younger brother, the only person who didn't judge her...the person with whom she even had a secret language from childhood, died in a car accident while with a friend. It was his VW Beetle that she ended up taking and making her own. There are just layers and layers to the story that I can't do justice to with a recap. Anyway, as Pearl grows close to the three oldest Richardson children, Izzy discovers that she gets along well with Mia. She goes over to Mia's rental every day after school and helps her with her photo development. Mia just seems to "get" Izzy and is warm and understanding to her, much more than her own mother. It is also Mia who Lexie turns to after she has an abortion (which Pearl drives her to). No way could she face her own mother, or ever let her know she got pregnant. In the midst of all the goings on between the Richardsons and Mia and Pearl, Mrs. Richardson's best friend has just thrown a first birthday party for the little Asian baby girl that she and her husband will be adopting after years and years of trying to get pregnant. They've had little Mirabelle since she was two months old, since she was left on a winter evening on the doorstep of a firehouse. However, just as they are about to do their final adoption proceedings, Mia finds out that she actually works with the baby's biological mother at her afternoon job at the Chinese restaurant. And...the mother wants her baby back now that she's back on her feet. A custody battle ensues, and battle lines are drawn. Mr. Richardson becomes the lawyer for the friends who are adopting, and Mrs. Richardson, Lexie, Trip and Moody all feel that Mirabelle should be placed with the loving parents she's been with for the past year. Izzy, and Mia and Pearl all think that she should be able to go back to her biological mother. In the midst of all this, Pearl and Trip finally realize they have feelings for each other and begin their own secret and sexual relationship! All kinds of drama, and secrets, and misunderstandings come to a head that end up blowing up all the relationships. The friends of the Richardsons win the custody battle, but then the biological mother sneaks into their house and takes her daughter and head back to China. Moody finds out about Trip and Pearl and is very upset. Mrs. Richardson, in trying to find out if the biological mother had an abortion (a bit of a side story) finds instead the name of Pearl Warren in the list of young girls who had recent abortions at the clinic! Of course, Lexie was the one who had the abortion, but she used Pearl's name since her mother knew the director so well and she didn't want her to recognize her name. It's all a huge misunderstanding that leads Mrs. Richardson to accusing Moody of getting Pearl pregnant; Moody lashing out that it was Trip who was "screwing" her; Izzy hearing it all; Mrs. Richardson barging over to Mia's rental (which is owned by the Richardsons) and railing against Mia's inappropriate daughter, Pearl, when Mia knew it was actually Lexie who had the abortion; Mrs. Richardson telling Mia she'd done some digging and knew about how Mia had fled from the couple whose surrogate she was, keeping Pearl from her real father; Mrs. Richardson insisting that Mia and Pearl leave right then, thus ripping Mia away from Izzy's one person who understood her; Izzy confronting Lexie after she figured out is wasn't Pearl who had been in trouble, but her own sister; Mia telling Izzy that sometimes you just had to have a scorched earth policy, like burning everything down and starting over, to explain why they were leaving; and finally, Izzy taking that very literally, and waiting until everyone was out of the house, and setting little fires everywhere to burn down her family home and all it represented before taking off in a bus to try and find Mia and Pearl. That all sounds a bit convoluted, but it was so well written! And, it was so heart wrenching! There wasn't really a character that wasn't given depth and a background, so you could feel what they were feeling. A really good story and, having already read her other novel, as well as this one, I will definitely read more of Ng's books. :-)

Finished: Silas Marner (Eliot) One of those books I'm sure I should have read earlier in my life, but didn't, Silas Marner is my third George Eliot book, after Middlemarch and Daniel Deronda, and I'm safe saying it's my third favorite of hers. Still a good book though. :-) Silas Marner is a church-going, honest and earnest man in his early twenties when we first meet him. He has no living parents, but has a dear best friend since childhood, is engaged to be married to a nice girl, and is involved and respected in his community and church. All this changes when he is set up for a robbery, which he is completely innocent of, by his best friend no less. Silas figures out the betrayal of his best friend, but cannot convince any one of his innocence. His fiance breaks off their engagement, and they absolve him of his sins through the church, and he leaves the town...heartbroken, disillusioned, and no longer believing in people OR in a higher power. Silas travels to the small town of Raveloe, which is predominantly working class, with a few upper crust families in the mix. Silas becomes a weaver and lives on his own in a cottage, not befriending anyone. He just does his job and makes money for his weavings from the richer clientele in town. Most of the people in town are actually afraid of him because of his reclusive personality. Silas lives in his own little world for fifteen years, in an old cottage of the muddy rock pit's former overseer. And, for those fifteen years, he collects his money, rarely spending a penny, as he comes to love his growing pile of riches. Silas hides his coins in two large leather bags in a hole in his floor under his weaving loom. Meanwhile, we also meet a couple of the richer families. Squire Cass is one of the richer men in town, and he's raising his sons on his own since his wife's death years before. His oldest son, twenty-five year old Godfrey, is a typical, aimless squire's son who has not been made to work a day in his life or be accountable for anything. He's actually the GOOD son. The next youngest son is Dunstan, and he's a piece of work. He has taken to gambling, drinking and now blackmailing his own brother, Godfrey. It seems that Godfrey, even though he's in love with Nancy Lammeter, the other rich family's daughter...has been giving into his baser needs and has actually married an opium addicted, poor woman who he now detests. His brother has found out his secret, and continuously blackmails him to give him the money he has collected from the various farm tenants for their father. When Godfrey is at a point of being desperate to pay his father the money he collected, which Dunstan took from him, he agrees to let Dunstan sell his beloved horse and bring him the money. Of course, Dunstan makes the deal, but then runs the horse wildly over a fence with spikes, accidentally killing the horse. More upset that he's got to walk home than at the thought that he actually killed an innocent animal, Dunstan tries to figure out what he'll do for the money now. As he walks, he devises a plan to steal the old weaver, Silas Marner's, money! He figures he must have it hidden somewhere, since the town knows he never spends a penny, and he's right. When Silas is out of the cottage, Dunstan goes in, quickly finds the hole, and makes off with the very heavy bags of coins, which he can actually barely carry! When Silas realizes he's been robbed, he finally goes to town for the first time in distress to report what has happened. Several of the townsfolk are actually sympathetic towards him, and an investigation is opened, but it is a fruitless one. One woman in particular, Mrs. Dolly Winthrop, kindly comes by, and without judgment or disdain, offers her help whenever he needs it and tries to talk him into going to their church. She's very upset that all Silas will do now is sit in his cottage and moan and lament. Meanwhile, back at the Cass home, Godfrey comes clean to his father that he gave the farm money to Dunstan, who then killed his horse. Dunstan has never returned home, and his father says good riddance! Squire Cass encourages Godfrey to straighten up and step up his pursuing of Nancy Lammeter, and ask her hand in marriage at the upcoming New Year's party at their home. Godfrey is tormented inside, though, because even though he's glad Dunstan has disappeared, his wife, Molly, has threatened to come and tell his father about the clandestine marriage. On the night of the party, Godfrey does dance with Nancy, but she makes it clear that she doesn't like the changes in him...that she's heard he has become more like his gambling brother, and she will not marry him. It is clear that she does actually love him though. As the party continues on, Molly, dressed in rags and clutching a two year old child to her chest, makes her way through the snow storm to get to the party. She is determined to finally tell Godfrey's father about their marriage and THEIR CHILD! Molly gives in to her craving to use her opium, though, and soon grows tired from it's affects and passes out in the snow. The baby crawls from her arms and sees a bright light. She toddles on to what ends up being Silas Marner's cottage!! She pushes the door open and gets all cozy on the hearth before Silas ever sees her. When he does see her, he is smitten by her golden hair and the way she looks at him. He wonders if it's his gold come back to him in the form of this beautiful baby. When the baby cries "mamma", Silas realizes she wasn't alone and follows her little footprints in the snow to her mother, who appears to be dead. He gathers the child up and runs to the where he knows the town doctor is...at the New Year's party at the Cass home. When Godfrey Cass sees the child, he knows that she is his and that the woman in the snow must be Molly. He insists on going as well, not to see if she's ok...but to see if she's going to say anything if she is. Alas, she is dead. Godfrey's mind goes to how he is now free of the "hateful" woman, and free to pursue Nancy. He has a small pang of guilt about his child, but keeps quiet and doesn't claim her as his. Silas insists that since the child came to him and she has no parents now, that he will keep her and raise her. The town wonders if he can do it, and all kinds of advice comes his way, especially from women...but the only woman he takes kindly advice from is Mrs. Winthrop. She convinces Silas that the baby needs to be Christened and that Silas needs to become a church going man. Silas agrees, and names the baby Eppie after his little sister who'd died as a child. For sixteen years he does everything he can for Eppie. He does become a church goer. He makes sure she gets schooling. And mostly he spends all the time in the world with her and loves her dearly. They spend time in the meadows where she loves the flowers, and he continues his weaving, earning money, but not hoarding it as he did in the past. Godfrey, in his tiny bit of guilt, does provide some things for them over the years disguised as acts of charity. So, for sixteen years, Silas and Eppie live happily together. And what's more...Mrs. Winthrop's son, Aaron, who has come with her on her visits to the Marner house all his life, has fallen in love with Eppie, and she with him. Aaron wants to marry Eppie and move in with her and Silas and become a dutiful son-in-law to Silas. He's a good guy! Meanwhile, over in the Cass household, Dunstan has never returned home to threaten Godfrey again, Squire Cass has passed on, and Godfrey and Nancy have lived the same sixteen years in a childless, married life. Nancy has resigned herself to the fact, but Godfrey cannot stand not having children. Over the years he brings up adopting a child to Nancy (thinking that he'll "adopt" Eppie from Silas), but Nancy always says no. She feels like they should not mess with God's will that they be childless. On the same night that Silas and Mrs. Winthrop discuss Aaron and Eppie getting married, the draining of the mud pit near the cottage for farming reasons, has lead to a gruesome discovery! The bones, and identification of Dunstan Cass are found in the bottom of the pit....along with the two heavy leather bags fulls of Silas Marner's coins! The evil Dunstan had walked right into the watery pit all those years before and drowned! Silas, though not obsessed with money anymore, is happy to have it back so he can give it to Eppie and Aaron to provide for them. When Godfrey finds out his brother is the one who stole Silas' money, something in him snaps and he finally tells Nancy the truth after all these years. He tells her the reason he wanted to adopt Eppie from Silas is because Eppie is his child by a lowly woman he married...the woman in the snow who died. Much to his surprise, Nancy sticks by him and goes with him to see Silas and Eppie and let them know that he's her real father, and what's more, he wants Eppie to come and live with him and Nancy so he can provide for her in the way she should be. Needless to say, both Silas and Eppie are stunned and upset! Eppie insists that she wants no father but Silas, and after going around and around about it, Godfrey concedes and leaves them alone. Again, what a selfish bastard. After all that is said and done, Eppie marries Aaron is a small town ceremony, in a dress provided by Nancy....because Godfrey and Nancy decide that what they really want is for Eppie to be happy, but they will provide for her if she ever needs it. So....even though Silas Marner was done so wrong by his original friends, and then initially treated poorly by his new townsfolk...he finds true love in this young baby who loves him unconditionally as a daughter for the rest of his life. :-) A pretty good book!