Finished: Cold People (Smith) I'm so glad Tom Rob Smith wrote another book! Cold People is different from his Child 44 trilogy, but still very thought-provoking, to say the least. As the book opens, we are in Lisbon, Portugal with an American family on a two week luxury European vacation. Liza is a 24 year old Medical Student who has joined her mother, father and 16 year old sister, Emma. The vacation has been all regimented, tour-guided visits to museums and famous sites and now, on their last night in Lisbon, Liza decides to skip a tour and actually go explore the waterfront on her own. It is here that she meets the local boat guide, Atto, who gives tours on his family's historical fishing ship. There is such a connection between them when they just look at each other, and banter a bit, that Atto pleads with her to come back that evening at 6pm for a tour. He believes they are destined to be together, and he's not just feeding her a line. Liza sits at dinner with her family at five minutes until six, when she finally jumps up and decides to go and meet Atto. She arrives fifteen minutes late, but he is still waiting there for her and is delighted to see her. They go on a tour around the river and under a romantic bridge and Atto tells Liza that he is not going to try and kiss her because he doesn't want her to think he WAS just feeding her a line. This actually upsets Liza since they have truly connected even further, sharing past experiences and hopes and dreams. She asks Atto to take her back to the dock, and he does, but something is terribly wrong. There is not a single tourist or local person walking around in the town square. It looks totally deserted. As Liza disembarks from the ship she looks up in the sky and sees hundreds of alien space ships hovering in the sky. She is completely mesmerized and looks back for Atto, who is equally as mesmerized. They hurry to the town square and find that everyone is packed into wherever there is a television because all cell phones have gone out and all electricity is off, but every television set and phone has come to life with the same message which goes on repeat and never changes. The aliens are here to take over the planet and anyone who wants to survive has exactly 30 days to get to Antarctica and live the rest of their lives there. People are stunned, but there is sudden panic and anarchy. There are no more world leaders on the television telling them what to do at this moment. Everyone must fend for themelves and somehow how get to the most life-inhospitable continent in the world. Liza and Atto look at each other and he tells her he will escort her to her family at the hotel and then go to his own family. They say goodbye at the hotel, realizing that not only will their lives change forever, they will lose the connection that had started to build between them forevever. When Liza finally gets to her family, they join the crowds of traffic in the city trying to desperately make their way to the airport and fly home. As their rental car gets stuck in completely stopped traffic that goes for streets and streets, they decide to get out of the car and go by foot. When Liza gets out of the car and looks up, she sees a man jumping from the hood of car to car as if they are stepping stones. It is Atto! And, he is looking for her. He tells her that she and her family must  come with him to his boat...that it is the only way out of the country. What ensues is a massive, treachorous exodus of people trying to make their way to Antarctica in the given time alotted. Most jumbo jets are being filled with people who countries presume to be their most intelligent scientists, world leaders, and survival specialists. The book maintains it's tense suspense throughout, as we watch Atto and Liza figure out a way to get themselves and their families to Antarctica safely where they will also have to figure out how to survive the climate. The story is good and unique and heartbreaking. It picks back up 20 years later and we see just how the people who survived did so. We also see the lengths that the scientists have gone to to ensure the continuation of human civilization...and it's not pretty. Human genome manipulation has taken place in the hopes of creating human beings that also have aspects of other species who have been able to survive the elements and reproduce as well. It is so totally unethical and hard to fathom. I'm not going to spoil any more of the plot, but it was a scarily good book with a rather open-ended ending. Hmm....

Here's the Amazon blurb: 

From the brilliant, bestselling author of Child 44 and creator of the FX series Class of ’09 comes a “cinematic” (The Washington Post), “captivating…[and] “brilliantly conceived postapocalyptic story” (Booklist, starred review) about an Antarctic colony of global apocalypse survivors seeking to reinvent civilization under the most extreme conditions imaginable.

The world has fallen. Without warning, a mysterious and omnipotent force has claimed the planet for their own. There are no negotiations, no demands, no reasons given for their actions. All they have is a message: humanity has thirty days to reach the one place on Earth where they will be allowed to exist…Antarctica.

Cold People follows the perilous journeys of a handful of those who endure the frantic exodus to the most extreme environment on the planet. But their goal is not merely to survive the present. Because as they cling to life on the ice, the remnants of their past swept away, they must also confront the urgent challenge: can they change and evolve rapidly enough to ensure humanity’s future? Can they build a new society in the sub-zero cold?

 Finished: The Calamity Club (Stockett) What a good book! The same author which started this entire reading project for me fifteen years ago with her beautiful book, The Help, has written another book that puts me right into the environment, becoming immediately connected to each of the characters. Once again set in Mississippi, this time in 1933 Oxford, I feel like I can hear the drawl of every word spoken by the people. The story is told in alternating chapters between two sympathetic characters, Meg and Birdie, who you just want to wrap your arms around and tell them you'll fix everything. Birdie is a 24 year old "old maid" who is content with her life as a bookkeeper for the town store in her tiny hometown of Footley. She considers herself plain, and even her own father had raised her to be able to fix mechanical things and plumbing things, and made sure she studied math, because he didn't think she'd ever find a man to marry. When Birdie's mother lets her know that the taxes are due on their home and they are going to lose their home if they can't borrow $250 from her sister, Frances in Oxford, Birdie makes the trip to Oxford, determined to ask her beautiful younger sister, who'd married "rich" into the Tartt family, to please lend them the money. Frances had not even invited her own sister and mother to her wedding with Rory, and had been very unresponsive to their letters, because she was ashamed of how poor she grew up and where she was from. Frances volunteers once a week at the Lafeyette County Orphan Asylum with the hopes of being accepted into the social circle of the wealthy ladies, and invited to be on a committee. I'm not going to recount the entire book, because every detail is really worth reading and not spoiling. But I must mention the orphanage because this is where we meet Meg. Meg is an 11 year old "older girl" who is never on the wish list of prospective parents. She's still not over the fact that her mother told her she was running to the store two years earlier, and she never heard from her again. Meg is very smart and loves schooling, but unfortunately the orphanage is run by Garnett Pittman, a terribly hypocritical, narcissistic, social climber with much loftier goals than those of Frances. Plus, she has a huge grudge against Meg, which becomes part of the sad story, and so, treats Meg more harshly than any other girl there. Birdie and Meg meet when Frances delays asking Rory for the money for her family, and Birdie must stay in Oxford much longer than anticipated. Frances asks Birdie to come in and help with the books at the orphanage, hoping to win the favor of Garnett. This is where Birdie and Meg connect and form their bond. The longer Birdie stays in Oxford, the more she also gets to know the wealthy Mrs. Tartt, who isn't at all how Frances, who's scared of her, describes. She and Birdie get to know each other by actually conversing and being genuinely interested in each other's story. Finally, into the picture comes Charlie, Meg's mother. She did NOT abandon Meg, but the story of where she has been for two years and who was responsible for her being there is a huge part of the book! Charlie is determined to find her daughter, get her back and explain to her that she is the mother that Meg remembered and loved, and not the mother that would have just abandoned her child. Honestly, there were so many intricacies and relationships in this book that I wanted to just keep reading to the end, but I didn't want to read too fast and have it be over. I'm going to put the Amazon blurb below, because I do love their description. I really recommend reading this one! :-) 

"Oxford, Mississippi, 1933.

Abandoned by her mother one Christmas Eve, eleven-year-old Meg Lefleur has learned the hard way to rely on no one. Now one of the unadoptable "big girls" at the Lafayette County Orphan Asylum, she fights each day to keep her spirit unbowed. 

Birdie Calhoun, unmarried and outspoken, has come to Oxford to ask her socialite sister to help the struggling family she’s left behind. But as the Depression tightens its grip, Birdie discovers her sister’s seemingly charmed life is a tapestry of lies. 

Then, Birdie encounters Charlie, a woman running low on luck with little left to lose. When their fates—and Meg’s—converge, Charlie comes up with an audacious plan for them to take control of their lives. But in a place and time where hypocrisy is rife and women’s freedom is fragile, even the smallest act of defiance can have dangerous consequences. 

The Calamity Club will make you laugh, cry, and cheer—an epic testament to underestimated women who know that calamity can be the spark of new beginnings. This is Kathryn Stockett at her most confident, heartfelt, and hilarious—the triumphant return of one of the most beloved storytellers of our time."

 Finished: The Top of the World (Joella) I'm always deeply affected when I read a story about a sister who has lost her brother to illness and then, left in the world, is expected just to go on without this person who has been a part of her for her entire life. This was beautifully written and heartbreaking and extremely resonant. The story goes back and forth between the summer of 1975, which is also deeply meaningful to me, being the time period I was in high school along with my brother, and the summer of 1974. In the spring of 1974, Chip is a standout student and football player, with college in his very near future, when he gets a devastating terminal cancer diagnosis. He spends a few months doing several rounds of chemo, but decides that he'd rather spend the next few months living life and not being sick from the treatments and deteriorating even further until he just dies. He has amazing parents and a sister that is just a year behind him in high school, Maggie. They all love him beyond words. They are a family unit of four and always have been. His parents and Maggie are all completely devastated and don't know how they will live without Chip in their lives. When the summer of 1974 rolls around, Chip leaves his family a note that he needs some time to be alone and he leaves and doesn't let them know where he's headed. He isn't certain of that himself, except he grasps a brochure from The Red Maple Inn in the Poconos that he picked up one day when he was having lunch with his best friend since elementary school, Vicky. Chip shows up at the Red Maple Inn, and instantly makes an impact. He doesn't tell anyone he is sick (he has miraculously not lost his hair during treatments), because he wants to just be treated "normal". He gets the low job on the totem pole as a gardner, mainly in charge of pulling weeds in the extensive gardens in the summer heat. He doesn't complain, though. Instead, he has this calm and intuitive way of talking with everyone he meets, from the owner to his cabin room mate, to the instructors and other staff at the resort. The owner of Red Maple, Rhonda, is instantly taken with Chip and takes the time to get to know him. It turns out that Rhonda had lost her twin daughters several years ago in a car accident that spared her own life, but left her heart shattered. Though Chip doesn't tell Rhonda about his condition, they form a close bond and he makes a huge impact on helping her through her grief. He also becomes close with the gruff and completely chaotic resort activity instructor, Hawk. Hawk is only a few years old than Chip, but has already survived the horrors of going to Vietnam as an eighteen year old and is still trying to cope with the guilt of actually surviving when many of the young men he served with did not. Hawk figures out rather quickly that Chip is sick and may not be with them for too long and in all his gruffness, makes it his mission to exchange bucket list items with Chip and then sees to it that Chip gets to accomplish a few of those things without ever letting him know that he knows Chip is sick. And then there's Evie, the resort dance instructor, who Chip has a very sweet and intense summer love story with. But, above all there is Vicky. Vicky, the girl from home who he met on the school bus the first school day that her family came to town; the girl that looked scared to death when no one would move over to give the new girl a seat; the girl he scooted over for while just a grade-schooler himself and said here, sit with me; the girl who became his best friend and from whom he was inseparable all the way through high school; and, the best friend who was inconsolable at the thought that Chip was dying. Vicky was also the girl that he loved, but he hadn't figured that out yet. (Don't worry, he will!) When Chip gets too ill to continue on at the resort, he tells everyone, who had all figured it out already, that he is terminally ill and that it is for him to go home. Of course, they are all devastated to be losing this young man they have all grown to love, but he makes them promise to remember him and the summer they had together. When Chip passes away in the fall, his parents and Maggie are completely distraught. They go through the motions of life, and Maggie makes it through graduation her senior year, but none of them are the same people they were before. Maggie is desperate to know what Chip did during the time he was away, who he connected with, what he talked about, how he felt, and what he experienced. Then, one day while she is helping to sort through his things, she comes across an employee nametag for a place called The Red Maple Inn. Maggie tells her parents she's going to go on this journey so they don't worry, and she heads to the Poconos. The summer of 1975 is all about Maggie making it to the resort and actually meeting each of the people who Chip affected so deeply. The relationship that she develops with each person is moving and loving and comforting to Maggie, and to the others. Maggie stays all summer and gets a glimpse of how Chip spent these few months of his life, and the impact he had. Much like her brother, Maggie also helps each person with their personal struggles, while also learning to live with her grief. It's really a heartwrenching, while at the same time, a consoling story, if that makes sense. Each of the characters is pretty deeply delved into and becomes someone you feel like you know. It has taken me a few weeks to write this up because I can't even put into words how the author captured the raw feelings of what it is truly like to lose your brother. It has been 30 years for me, but it seems like he was just here yesterday. Here's the Amazon blurb which puts what I just said in alot fewer words.

"June 1975. Maggie Bishop has just graduated high school, the future hers to embrace—but she’s still reeling from the death of her older brother, Chip. A devastating diagnosis the summer before prompted Chip to leave home for a few months, never revealing where he went. Maggie’s search for clues leads her to The Red Maple Inn, a mountaintop resort in the Poconos.

At the Red Maple, Maggie is welcomed into a tight-knit community. As she unravels secrets about her brother’s final days, she begins to connect with the people he loved, and whose lives he touched. Through the warmth of strangers, Maggie begins to heal and is able to help others cope with loss.

Set in a nostalgic resort town over two transformative summers, this dual-narrative novel explores sibling relationships, coming of age, and the quiet power of human connection. Perfect for fans of emotional storytelling and small-town summer books, The Top of the World is a timeless story about memory, grief, second chances, and hope."

Finished: House of Sky and Breath (Maas) It appears that now I am hooked. This was the second book in the Crescent City series, and also very large with even more complicated characters and settings, along with characters that become favorites Bryce, Hunt, Ruhn Danaan, Ithan Holstram, Hypaxia Enador, Cormac Donnall and so many more! The plot is again far too complicated to attempt to explain with Fae, Angels, Wolf-Shifters, Demons, Asteri, Humans, and again more. Here is the recap from Amazon:

Bryce Quinlan and Hunt Athalar are trying to get back to normal. They may have saved Crescent City, but with so much upheaval in their lives lately, they mostly want a chance to relax. Slow down. Figure out what the future holds.

The Asteri have kept their word so far, leaving Bryce and Hunt alone. But with the rebels chipping away at the Asteri's power, the threat the rulers pose is growing. As Bryce, Hunt, and their friends get pulled into the rebels' plans, the choice becomes clear: stay silent while others are oppressed or fight for what's right. And they've never been very good at staying silent.

In this sexy, action-packed sequel to the #1 bestseller House of Earth and Blood, Sarah J. Maas weaves a captivating story of a world about to explode-and the people who will do anything to save it.

 Finished: Crescent City (Maas) This was a good book!! Very large and lots of complicated characters and settings. I couldn't possibly describe it lol. Here is the recap from Amazon:

Bryce Quinlan had the perfect life-working hard all day and partying all night-until a demon murdered her closest friends, leaving her bereft, wounded, and alone. When the accused is behind bars but the crimes start up again, Bryce finds herself at the heart of the investigation. She'll do whatever it takes to avenge their deaths.

Hunt Athalar is a notorious Fallen angel, now enslaved to the Archangels he once attempted to overthrow. His brutal skills and incredible strength have been set to one purpose-assassinate his boss's enemies, no questions asked. But with a demon wreaking havoc in the city, he's offered an irresistible deal: help Bryce find the murderer, and his freedom will be within reach.

As Bryce and Hunt dig deep into Crescent City's underbelly, they discover a dark power that threatens everything and everyone they hold dear, and they find, in each other, a blazing passion-one that could set them both free, if they'd only let it.

That recap barely scratches the surface! This is the 1st book in a trilogy and I'm already on to the 2nd book to see what happened to all the characters who survived the first book! 

 Finished: Orbital (Harvey) An absolutely profound, eye-opening book with beautifully descriptive prose about one 24 hour period in the lives of four astronauts and two cosmonauts as they circle the earth in their space station sixteen times in that 24 hour period. For sixteen sunrises and sixteen sunsets, they circle the earth at different coordinates each time, in awe of each view of the earth they are priviledged to see at any given moment! A very personal story is told about these human beings who are together on what will be one of the last space station missions before a crew lifts off to actually start a base on the moon. We hear a bit about each of there lives and important relationships at home, and what propelled each of them, mostly at young ages, to become astronauts or cosmonauts. They describe how it is to slowly consider this environment with no gravity and so little interaction with other living beings to be their norm. No one will ever know exactly how they feel except each other. I absolutely loved the description of earth from their view....how it's not necessarily this defined "globe", but instead, moving pieces that seem to shift based on the atmosphere and the tides down below. It's fascinating how they describe this earth with no borders anywhere and how they often don't see any sign of life until the sun has set and cities light up with electric lights. It's a book that you really have to read and digest for yourself, and one you will never know you almost missed out on if you don't read it. :-)

 Finished: Other People's Houses (Mackintosh) The third book in the trilogy about Welsh detective, Ffion Morgan, who solves mysteries in a small Welsh town, whose case almost always overlaps with British detective Leo Brady. Both excellent at what they do, and very opinionated, they began the first investigation in book one butting heads quite often, and by the end, sharing conflicting feelings for each other. Other People's Houses, like the previous two books, involves a twisty, numerous-suspect murder which they eventually do solve. By this third murder mystery, new female detective, George, has become a supporting character we also grow to care for, and one that Ffion discovers she can let her gruff guard down around and finally have an actual confidante. In this book, Ffion investigates the murder of an estate agent found drowned in the lake while on a retreat in Wales. Over the border, Leo is dealing with multiple burglaries in an upscale neighborhood that eventually escalates to murder. Ffion and Leo are a couple by this time, and most mornings have their coffee then head their separate ways for their jobs. This time, their cases overlap, along with a years ago murder of a couple in that same rich neighborhood. A popular podcast is "investigating" the unsolved murder on its own, but has developed a huge following with its excellent witnesses and theories. A following which includes Ffion! Another great book, and I hope this is not the end of the Ffion/Leo pairing for solving murders! 

Finished: The Great Alone (Kristin Hannah) Such a great book! I had danced around reading it for a long time because I didn't think a family moving alone to Alaska would interest me, but I was so wrong. Ernt is a Vietnam War vet who is never the same after coming home. He has nightmares and flashbacks, and he becomes physically violent when his temper takes over....mostly at his wife, Cora. He's lost jobs and can barely afford the family's growing bills. When Ernt gets a letter from the father of Bo Harlan, a friend who fought side by side with him in Vietnam but did not survive, he uproots his wife and thirteen year old daughter, Leni, to move to the wilderness of remote Alaska. Bo's father, Earl "Mad Earl" Harlan has gifted him the land and cabin that his son previously owned. It doesn't take long for Ernt to grasp Earl's sentiments that the government is out to get them and that they must live off the grid and prepare to defend themselves. Cora, who loves her husband desperately, goes along with the move and she and Leni try to embrace the harsh conditions and their lack of preparedness as the long Alaskan winter looms. Thankfully, Cora and Leni are embraced by the local community, especially the other strong, unwavering women. They are given a crash course in making sure they have plenty of food stores, repairing their cabin and animal pens, and accumulating the necessary clothing. Leni does get to attend the tiny, remote one room school and immediately bonds with Matthew, the only other thirteen year old in the area. Their connection is deep and they are able to confide in each other their deepest concerns and heartbreaks after Ernt's mental state continues to deteriorate and his violent episodes cause great concern to the locals who have become close to Cora and Leni. And, after the tragic death of Matthew's mother is the unforgiving wildnerness. I can't really do the story justice with a recap, as it unfolds with great detail and wonderful character development. Once again, Hannah has created unforgettable, completely relateable characters, who I couldn't help but take in and not let go of. The story continues for several years and reaches a tragic crescendo that both frees Leni and Cora, but also burdens them for the rest of their lives. Meanwhile, Matthew is sent by his father to live with his sister in Fairbanks to deal with the unbearable grief of witnessing his mother's death, and being unable to help her. It doesn't keep Matthew and Leni from writing letters every day and maintaining their unique connection long distance until they can be reunited again when they are a few years older. I feel like I've made a jumble of the plot, but you just need to read the book yourself to see where it goes, what comes of each of the characters, and how strongly the story stays in your heart. 

 Finished: My Husband's Wife (Alice Feeney) Another mystery read with a who-done-it, or rather a who-is-she. Eden Fox goes out for her evening jog along the coast line of her remote town, and when she gets back and puts her key in the front door, it doesn't work! She rings the doorbell to get her husband to answer and let her in. Instead, a woman who closely resembles Eden opens the door and insists that she is the one who lives there and is married to Eden's husband! A twisty tale ensues of impersonation, gas-lighting, mentally unstable family members, a tragic accident, a sketchy young town cop, and a company that claims to be able to predict a person's death. As the Amazon blurb says:

"One house. One husband. Two women. Someone is lying." And honestly, you won't know who until the very end! An interesting read! :-) 

 Finished: Dear Debbie (Freida McFadden) A twisty, turny thriller! Debbie is a wife and mother and advice columnist of the town newspaper. She's also a bit pyschotic, which we find out soon enough. She's happily married to Connor with two daughters in high school. We immediately get to read one of her archive "Dear Debbie" column questions, and her advice basically recommends that the wife either leave her husband...or murder him. Of course, that bit of advice was never actually printed, but it definitely came out of Debbie's mind. Anyone who crosses her or especially her children and her husband, end up either expired or set up for something like porn on their computer or set up to be accused of some crime! From the neighbor who "steals" the magazine shoot Debbie was going to have in her own garden, to the boss who refuses to give her husband a promotion, to the creepy soccer coach of her youngest daughter, to the smarmy boyfriend of her oldest daughter, no one is safe from Debbie's wrath. We finally hear about her past and why she is the way she is, but a couple of very suprising twists end up being the coup d'etat of her entire story! A definite page turner! :-) 

Finished: The Women (Kristin Hannah) An excellent, powerful book covering the life of Frankie McGrath, a young nurse who enlisted and went to Vietnam to help, and came back, like any other surviving nurse who served, with the scars and nightmares of the war etched on her heart and mind, to a family who told people she was abroad to study because they were ashamed that their daughter would even dream of enlisting in the military. I grew up in the 1960's and 70's, and can vividly recall the drafting of teenaged boys to be sent off to fight in what seemed to be, in my young eyes, this never-ending battle of so much death and destruction. I hated the war, but never once felt anything but admiration for the "boys" who went and served, and the lucky ones that actually made it home. I was almost 15 years old when the troops started coming home in 1973. Of course, my idyllic teenaged world continued on with me mostly oblivious to the actual impact that the war had on our troops, on their families, on their lives. I didn't even grasp the thought that there must be medical doctors and nurses who frantically fought to keep the soldiers alive until I was in my thirties. The Women is an incredibly vivid book about Frankie, and the other fellow nurses she grows close to, and the relationships they have and don't have amidst the war, and the lives they save and the lives they cannot, and the shattered young men they send home if they are lucky, but never quite whole again. I'm so, so glad I read this book! Kristin Hannah had so many references and conversations with people who had direct experience in the war and her book is a reflection of that. I do really like the summary that Amazon has about the book, so will include that below. This book will stay with me forever. 

"Women can be heroes. When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances “Frankie” McGrath hears these words, it is a revelation. Raised in the sun-drenched, idyllic world of Southern California and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing. But in 1965, the world is changing, and she suddenly dares to imagine a different future for herself. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path.

As green and inexperienced as the men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is over-whelmed by the chaos and destruction of war. Each day is a gamble of life and death, hope and betrayal; friendships run deep and can be shattered in an instant. In war, she meets―and becomes one of―the lucky, the brave, the broken, and the lost.

But war is just the beginning for Frankie and her veteran friends. The real battle lies in coming home to a changed and divided America, to angry protesters, and to a country that wants to forget Vietnam.

The Women is the story of one woman gone to war, but it shines a light on all women who put themselves in harm’s way and whose sacrifice and commitment to their country has too often been forgotten. A novel about deep friendships and bold patriotism, The Women is a richly drawn story with a memorable heroine whose idealism and courage under fire will come to define an era."

 Finished: The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao (Junot Diaz) What a truly good book, but oh so heartbreaking for many characters! The title never grabbed me enough want to read it, even though it has been on my to read Pulitzer Prize list for awhile. I'm so very glad I finally read it. Oscar Wao is Dominican, with a long line of family from the Dominican Republic, now living in the "ghetto" of New Jersey with his tough-as-nails, native Dominican mother, Beli, and his rebellious sister, Lila. He is sweet, naive and terribly overweight. He has dreams of writing an epic tale and becoming the Dominican J.R.R. Tolkein, whose Lord of the Rings books he absolutely worships. The only dream that ever seems to top that one, is his dream to find love with a woman, but with his stature and looks, no woman will give Oscar a second glance, much less have a conversation with him. I was fascinated with the extensive notes in the book which explained every Dominican reference in detail. And...I was chagrined at never having absorbed a single bit of the history of the Dominican people living under the horrific rule of a merciless dictator. The book explores Oscar's life, and his sister's unconditional love for him, and the heartbreak they both endure as they make what appear to be the worst decisions in their love lives (or lack thereof for Oscar) and suffer the consequences. The chapters on every character are fascinating! When the book goes back in time to the history of Beli's parents, once respected medical people in the Dominican Republic, their lives are reduced to rubble by the dictator because her father tries to hide his beautiful older daughter from the lascivious man. Beli, her parents' last daughter, is actually born into the world with a father who will die in prison and a mother who dies soon after her birth. She is eventually found and raised by her grandmother and defies everyone and everything as she grows into the tough, unyielding woman she becomes. She loves only her children, Lila and Oscar, and moves to the United States to keep them safe, and to keep them under her thumb as best that she can. Until I read Beli's chapters, I could not understand how unrelenting she was, but oh my God, what a tragic family history. There are many references to the fuku, a curse that the famliy believes has haunted their family for generations. Everything is blamed on the fuku, and everyone is apparently, eventually impacted by it. Oscar's story is told by his college roommate, Junior, who was the love of Lila's life and would do anything for her, including rooming with and "keeping an eye" on the naive Oscar. Of course, Junior also has a pension for cheating on Lila, despite his adoration of her, and their relationship does not last. The book, though, is told with Junior's voice. He guides us through the relationships he has with both Lila and Oscar, and the love and respect he grows to feel for Oscar as a brother and a man. Oscar does eventually have a a couple of meaningful relationships with women, who see Oscar for who he is, but neither of them last and Oscar is plunged back into loneliness. As the title says, Oscar's life is brief but wonderous, and I don't want to give away any more details! I'm richer for having read his story, though, and those of his family members. A great book! 

 Finished: Sometimes I Lie (Feeney) Oh my gosh, Alice Feeney never disappoints!! What a twisty, surprise around every corner thriller! I don't even want to do a recap because I don't want to give away any spoilers. Needless to say, she got me good! I'm just going to put the blurb from Amazon here:

"My name is Amber Reynolds. There are three things you should know about me:

1. I’m in a coma.
2. My husband doesn’t love me anymore.
3. Sometimes I lie.

Amber wakes up in a hospital. She can’t move. She can’t speak. She can’t open her eyes. She can hear everyone around her, but they have no idea. Amber doesn’t remember what happened, but she has a suspicion her husband had something to do with it. Alternating between her paralyzed present, the week before her accident, and a series of childhood diaries from twenty years ago, this brilliant psychological thriller asks: Is something really a lie if you believe it's the truth?"

I've already read several of her books, and look forward to reading more! Great page-turning reads!! 

 Finished: Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance (Lang) I'm so glad I finally read this book, which has been on my list for far too long! I loved it! It was written so beautifully and thoughtfully and believably. It's the story of Weylyn Grey, a young boy who is born in a blizzard, whose parents die when he's in kindergarten, who then becomes lost in the woods and raised by wolves in the forest. He appears to be one with nature and one with all the animals, and very protective of the wolves, as they are of him. When he's 11 years old, he meets Mary, who has just turned 11 and lost her mother to illness. She doesn't "connect" with her father, though her father is completely distraught when she runs away to the woods. She meets Weylyn, and the wolves, and lives with them for several weeks. Mary forges an unbreakable bond with Weylyn, and also with the wolves. After a few weeks, when one of the wolves is shot by a farmer among his herd of animals, Mary is found and reunited with her father. Weylyn is so distraught over the wolf's death, that he can't move, and he is taken to child protectives services. Weylyn is adopted by a preacher, his wife, and four daughters. Though, the only two people who get to know and love Weylyn are the preacher and the "misfit" daughter of the bunch, Lydia. As Weylyn moves through life, he is always fascinated with each new experience and he is very intelligent. He doesn't understand when people tease him. He also has the incredible ability to control the weather. When he gets angry or sad, a rainstorm or blizzard will occur. Control isn't really the right word, since the events are really controlled by his emotions, which as we all know, are very hard to control. When he appears to stop a tornado that is headed right for their town, the news is all about the "wolf boy who stopped the tornado and saved the town". Weylyn isn't really sure how he did it, but he stood right in its path and seemed to just absorb it. Each event like that takes energy from Weylyn. He also realizes that where he lives, storms always follow, so he decides to become a hermit to protect the people he loves. The story is just lovely as we go to different times in Weylyn's life and read about each of the interactions with the handful of people he grows close to. He searches for Mary for a long time, but I won't give the details of that. It's a story that warms the heart, though. He also reconnects with Lydia and her young family when he's older, and those times are a treasure. I really didn't want the story to end! It kept me turning pages until the very end, and it will truly resonate with me for a long time. 

 Finished: A Game of Lies (Mackintosh) The second book in a series about the investigations of Welsh Detective Constable Ffion Morgan. I really enjoyed the first one and this one was just as good! In the same small town of Cwm Coed, contestants have gathered for a reality survival who in theshow in  Welsh mountains. There are only a handful of them and they are each eager to outsurvive the other for the large money payout for the only survivor. When the first episode airs, everyone is watching the show, including the reluctant Ffion. There is a huge twist and shock to the contestants right off the bat. The smarmy show producer informs them on live television that this is not about survival at all....but about who can figure out everyone's dark secret before they figure out theirs. The secrets, ranging from bigamy, crossdressing, stealing school money, infidelity and more are each secrets that could ruin the life of the contestant back home if discovered. The secrets are kept in a locked, steel box. Each show there will be an accusation against someone whose secret a player thinks they know. If they are right, that person is eliminated. If they are wrong, the accuser must sit in the confession shack where items from there worst fears (spiders, snakes, water, etc.) will be piped in for three minutes. If they don't last, they will be eliminated. Needless to say, there is chaos in the camp when the cameras aren't rolling and a distraught contestant has gone missing. Enter Ffion to investigate what has happened and try to find him in the rough Welsh terrain. Also enter British Detective Leo Brady, who worked with Ffion to uncover the murder in the first book, and mayybbbbbe became a love interest? After acting on their feelings while the first investigation was going on, it was ambiguous at the end whether they would continue. We find out that Ffion, who has massive trouble showing her feelings, did not last in the relationship and bolted. She hasn't spoken to Leo in almost two years. And now, in he walks as the assigned lead investigator! I love reading about how each of them is so awkward and unsure, but still obviously have feelings for each other. We get to know a new detective named, Georgina (George), who Ffion finds annoying and cold, but ends up being anything but those things as she helps with the case. We get to know each of the contestants, the producer, the only camera man, the only assistant and the only security guard as well. And, we get to know all the secrets and see those families reacting! When the producer is found murdered in his editing room, the missing person investigation now expands to include a murder investigation. Everyone is a suspect! It's a fun story, reading how Ffion, Leo and George solve the crimes and reading about how everyone was impacted by their secret afterwards upon returnig home. And, especially seeing where the Ffion and Leo relationship stands at the end of the book! I will wait a bit, but definitely be reading the third installment. :-)

 Finished: Nobody's Fool (Coben) I will always read the next new Harlan Coben book, but this one was very slow to get started for me. It's the story of Sami Kierce, an ex-police officer who lost his partner, and lover, Nicole, a fellow police officer at the hands of an evil man who has been behind bars for 20 years. Sami is now happily married to Molly with a baby son, Henry. Sami teaches criminal investigation at a local night school and has quite an array of super-sleuthing characters in his class. When a woman walks into the back of the room during one of his classes, Sami can see immediately that it is Anna, a woman he met in Spain when he was 18 and on "holiday".  After a whirlwind romance, where Sami and Anna fell hard for each other, Sami wakes up one morning to find Anna covered in blood and dead next to him in bed. Sami reports it immediately to the police, who go with him right away to the hotel room, but the room is perfectly clean and there is no sign of Anna. His father advises him to get on an airplane back to the U.S. right away, and he does. Sami has been wracked with guilt all these years not knowing what happened to Anna, and wondering if he may have been responsible for her death. In the time that has passed, he has become a detective on the police force, put away various bad criminals, lost his aforementioned partner in a tragic killing, left the police force, married Molly and become father to Henry. When the woman, who he is certain is Anna, walks into his classroom, and immediately flees when he sees her, Sami starts down the path of tracking her down. This leads to a rather convoluted story about Victoria Bellmont, a local heiress to a fortune, who disappeared after a New Year's Eve party over twenty years before when she was just 17years old. She was never found or heard from again, and her family has been distraught ever since. When Sami finds out that Anna and Victoria are, in fact, the same person, he is determined to find out what happened to Victoria, how she became Anna, and how she could possibly be alive as either Anna or Victoria after all these years. Oh, and the man who killed Nicole has just been release from prison, and vehemently proclaims his innocence, so of course that story has to be thrown into the mix. A pretty good page-turner, once it got going, but just a few too many tangents for me in this Harlan Coben book. He's still my favorite crime author though. :-) 

Finished: My Friends by Fredrik Backman. It took me a bit to warm up to this book, but when I did, I couldn't put it down, and as usual with Fredrik Backman's books, I fell in love with every single imperfect character. He has a way of making you feel exactly what that character must be feeling and rooting for them. They all have their flaws, and do things that are questionable, but never with malice in their hearts and never anything to hurt someone. In this story, the friends are 14 year olds, each with a troubled home life, either physically or mentally. They are often bullied at school and feel like they have only each other to rely on. Every day they meet down on a pier in their fishing town and talk, and joke, and dream and goof around with each other. Ted, Joar, Kimkim and Ali. Every day as it gets to be dusk and time to go home, as they get to the parting point in their neighborhoods, each one shouts "Tomorrow!". It's their way of saying goodbye and their promise to each other that they will always be there the next day. Kimkim is the artist of the group and has a notebook full of drawings. When Joar sees an article for an art contest with prize money in the newspaper, he insists that Kimkim draw something and enter it in the contest. He just knows that he'll win. Kimkim doesn't have the confidence in himself that his friends do, and certainly not the support of his parents at home who just want him to excel and be "normal". As the deadline approaches, Kimkim finally draws a picture of the long pier that is their sanctuary, with the huge ocean all around it. He calls it "The One of the Sea". However, it's really the one about his friends, because if you look very closely, you'll see three tiny figures sitting on the pier. 

Twenty-five years later, the painting has become one of the most famous in the world and Kimkim is a renowned artist. In another city, several train rides away, Louisa is a child who has grown up in the foster care system. She has just turned eighteen, and is an aspiring artist. Of course, her favorite painting is "The One of the Sea". When she sees that it is to be auctioned off at a high end auction, she makes her way there and ends up on a journey she never dreamed she could have. Honestly, the story is heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time. Every single person she meets along the way gets her closer to each one of the old friends, whether in the flesh or in spirit, and by the end of her journey she is literally and figuratively one of them. She's finally got a family to belong to. Just such a good, good book!!