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 he 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 is through graduation her senior year, but none of them are the same people they were before. Maggie is determined to know what Chip did during the time when he was gone, and 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 had affected so deeply. The relationships that she develops with each of the people is moving and loving and comforting to Maggie, and to the others. Maggie stays all summer and ends up helping each person with their own personal struggles in her own way, but also much like her brother had done. It's really a heartwrenching, and a life-affirming story. 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!