Monday, September 24, 2018

(63)The Darkest Night by Ron Franscell

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Forty-five years ago tonight.  September 24, 1973, two girls went to the neighborhood grocery store on an errand for their mother in the sleepy western town of Casper, Wyoming.  Eighteen-year-old Becky Thomson and her eleven-year-old sister, Amy Burridge walked out of the store to find a flat tire on their car.  Two men offer to help and then force the girls to get into their white chevy impala at knifepoint.  That night changed everything for two sisters and one small town.  That night ended with both girls thrown off a bridge and one of them dead.  By the end of the next day, their assailants were in police custody, as much for their protection and the protection of the community.  Forty-five years later and that night is still very much a part of the Casper community.

This summer my husband and I moved back to Casper Wyoming after being away for seven years. When family came to visit for Labor Day we did what we also do when we have out of town guests - we went exploring.  One of our go-to places to take visitors is Fremont Canyon. The drive past Alcova  Lake just illustrates the stark difference between Wyoming and the lush, rolling farmland that is the midwest.  We had heard rumors that the canyon had a dark history, but it was the lone bench with a date on it that prompted me to investigate further.   I cannot look at this bridge ever the same way.  To know that those young women were thrown off this bridge in an effort to hide a crime.  To know that Becky survived in that

canyon for an endless, starless night with nothing but her hair and sagebrush to keep her warm.  The terror that she must have felt leaves me breathless.  She lived through the night, but I am not really sure she survived.  The demons of that night chased Becky for the rest of her life.


As gruesome as the subject matter was, it really gave me an insight into the history of my adopted town.  The author gave the history of the cowtown, the wrath of the North Platte River helped to shape the "haves" and "have-nots" of the city.  The history of the cow-town turned oil city had a lot to do with the development of the North Casper that produced the two hoods who ruined the city's innocence.  The innocence lost that night just wasn't Becky's innocence, it was an entire town that lost its innocence.  I wished that I could say that this story had a happy ending, but these stories rarely do.


Author Ron Franscell tells the story of his neighbors with a heart-aching lyrical manner.  What happened to Amy and Becky was deeply personal to him.   He knew them.  They were his neighbors. He takes a risk by sharing his own vulnerability about that night, but it makes the whole book that much more "real" to me.  They weren't just girls who lived and died 45 years ago.  The pain of that night lives on in all who knew them.


Bottom Line - The Darkest Night is not usually the kind of book that I read.  I am confident in saying that if it wasn't based in Casper truth, I probably would not have read it, but I am glad that I did.  As I sit in my recliner on this windy, dark, Casper night, I sit under a blanket because of the evening chill.  I know that what happened on that bridge forty-five years ago should never be forgotten. Becky and Amy's story should never be forgotten.

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Sunday, September 23, 2018

(62)An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena

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It is winter at an idyllic inn nestled in the Catskills.  A small group of people has retreated to this inn for a variety of reasons.  Some are there to rekindle their marriage, another couple is therefor a romantic getaway. One woman is using the weekend as a writers retreat, and others are just there to get out of the city for a weekend.  They all have to battle mother nature to get there and once there they are a prisoner of her anger.  They wake up in the morning snowed in with no electricity, but they also wake up to find one of them dead at the bottom of the stairs.  When the guests of the Mitchell Inn realize that her death was not an accident, they become on edge and wary of the other guests.  Before the day is over three more people end up dead and a fourth runs out of into the brutal snowstorm,  never to be seen again.  Was it the lawyer once accused of murdering his wife?  Or was it the person who has been sleeping in the locked room at the end of the hall?  Will the remaining guests of Mitchell's Inn survive the weekend?

There was something about An Unwanted Guest that reminded me of an old Agatha Christie novel.  A snowy weekend, guests cut off from the outside world, bodies start to pile up.  I listened to the book from Audible and one thing I noticed was that there wasn't a whole lot of dialogue and it jumped narrators quite a bit but was read by the same person.  It may have been a little less confusing had they used different narrators, or even different voices, to signify the different characters.  But even that was a minor irritation and didn't distract from the good ole fashioned mystery novel.   The author did a good job of creating an eclectic group of guests and put them in a difficult situation with all contact cut off and trapped by mother nature. It prompted me to think about how I would behave if I were in that situation.  I had a hard time figuring this one out, I had figured out part of it, but couldn't put all of the pieces together.  So when everything was revealed it provide me with a true "aha" moment.  CLICK HERE FOR SPOILERS


Bottom Line - An Unwanted Guest is the kind of mystery that you can curl up with on a cool Fall night.  It is perfect to read by the fire with the hot beverage of your choice.


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Tuesday, September 18, 2018

Sunday, September 16, 2018

(61)Year One by Nora Roberts

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It seemed like your average New Years, but it wasn't.  On a farm in Scotland a family starts showing symptoms of the flu, rather than staying in, they board a plane to America and because of him, "The Doom" spread all over the globe. Within days the Doom is on every continent.  Within weeks millions of people are dead and society as we know it starts to collapse. Within months billions are dead and the world is a shell of its former self.  Small communities of survivors are forming in the rural communities.  Survivors of the immune and the Uncanny.  The Uncanny are those who had special powers appear after The Doom started.  Some are fairies, some are shapeshifters, some are witches, and more.  Most of the Uncanny are good and want to live in harmony with the rest of the survivors.   But some are dark and would rather see the immune dead.  Max and Lana made it out of New York City and made it to New Hope where they meet up with Chuck, a tech genius, determined to get them back on the grid.  Arlys is a journalist who is determined to keep getting the news out there.  Rachel and Jonah are medical professionals found their way to New Hope with a new mother and three new babies.  Together their fledgling community is working to restore humanity.  But will they be able to withstand the fight against the dark?

It has been too long since I read a good post-apocalyptic book.  Year One was my favorite kind, the kind where you get to see the world collapse. The supernatural twist was a bit more than  I was expecting, but it wasn't so much that it turned me, the non-fantasy reader, off.  I really liked Arlys and her commitment to informing the public of the truth, how bad things really were in the country. Her friendship with Fred was just adorable.  Fred's "light" was one that really seemed natural and really spoke to the readers.   Max and Lana were the "romantic" couple of the novel (did you expect less from Nora Roberts?) but it wasn't too graphic and their relationship was something special. Of  course in any post-apocalyptic setting, you are going to run into common challenges that are found in all apocalyptic novels. like looters and scary guys wanting to take what you have.  You also are going to run into supply issues with no infrastructure to move things like groceries, the residents of New Hope had to deal with that and more. I love to see how characters in any post-apocalyptic novel handle those kinds of challenges.  I love to see how easy or difficult the author makes it for their characters. Year One is set up to be part of a trilogy, so there was a cliffhanger. And one that has me eagerly waiting for the next book in the series.

Bottm Line -  As far as "end of the world" books go, Year One was one of the most entertaining of recent memory.  The characters are interesting and easy to care about. The story isn't that far out of the possibility of happening, okay maybe not the Uncanny, but an epidemic is definitely possible.  Ultimately Year One is a great book and I can't wait to read the next book in the series.

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Thursday, September 13, 2018

(60) Every Time You Go Away by Beth Harbison

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Willa has been walking around in a haze of grief ever since her husband, Ben, died three years ago.  His death was sudden and devastating to the little family.  Ever since Willa has left their teenage son, Jamie, to fend for himself.  She knows that she should do better, but the weight of her grief prevents her from moving forward.  Ben was getting their beach house ready for the season when he passed away in his sleep.  Willa hasn't been back since, but she knows she has to get the beach house ready to sell.  She heads out on a late spring day and finds their beach house left exactly as it was the day Ben died.  The same soda in the fridge, the same unfinished book on the table, the same clothes in the closet.  Willa also finds a house in desperate need of cleaning and fresh paint.  Her friend Kristin and her daughter come to help.  As does Willa's son, Jaimie, but it is Ben's ghost that has the biggest impact on Willa's experience.  She sees his ghost, can carry on a conversation with him, but he is asking her to do the most difficult thing of all - let him go and move on.  Will she be able to do as he asks?

Every Time You Go is more of an emotional read than I was expecting to find.  Losing my husband like that is just something that I can't even fathom, which is why I think that Willa's grief was so easy to understand.   She knows that she that her relationship with Jamie could have been permanently damaged by her grief, but she is trying to make repairs to their relationship.  The author takes turn telling the story from Willa's viewpoint and Jamie's.  You get to see both sides of this strained relationship, but always keep in mind that Jamie is a teen boy.  And well - not the most emotionally intelligent creature, but of course, he did just lose his father, too.   In the end, they both grow in their relationship and in their grief.  For a book about grief, Every Time You Go Away ended in on an uplifting, hopeful note.

Bottom Line - "Beach Reads" are not normally known for being overly emotional, heartfelt books. And that isn't a bad thing, usually, beach reads her books are a little more light-hearted, fun even.  Every Time You Go Away was a little more of an emotional read for me and I really liked it.

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Tuesday, September 11, 2018

Monday, September 10, 2018

(59)When the Lights Go Out by Mary Kubica

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Jessie Sloan is exhausted.   She was by the side of her dying mother's side day and night until the end.  Trying to move her life forward after losing her mother is a task that seems impossible to complete.   She tries registering for college but was told that her social security number was tied to a dead girl.   She tries tracking down her birth certificate but is told that it doesn't exist.  She moves into her own place but keeps hearing voices that lead her to believe that her landlord may be spying on her. But most of all, she just can't sleep. Jessie struggles with trying to figure out the secrets that her mother left behind while trying to figure out a way to keep moving forward.  No matter what she does, no matter how hard she tries, her body will not give her the rest that she desperately needs.    Jessie knows that time is running out. She has done her research and she knows that eleven days is as long as a human body can go without sleep.  Will she be able to find the answers she needs in order to put her mind at ease and let her body sleep?

I was really surprised by the twists and turns that Mary Kubica throws at her readers.    I really felt compassionate towards Jessie.  She seemed so lost after her mother's death and her bone-weary exhaustion was something that I could relate to. The book flashes back between Jessie and her mother in 1996.  There are really two stories about grief here, Jessie in her grief, and Eden with her own kind of grief - her inability to conceive a child, and what damage that does to her marriage.   But the reader knows that she has a daughter, but how? If she is unable to conceive a child.  I was truly surprised by the end of this book.  I thought that I had it all figured out and I thought that I was *so* smart for figuring it out rather early.   I could not have been more wrong and I LOVE it when that happens.  -- CLICK HERE FOR SPOILERS

Bottom Line - I love, love, love an author who can blindside me with the big reveal.  Mary Kubica did just that with When the Lights Go Out.   Be sure to check it out and let me know what your thoughts are about the big reveal.  Were you as shocked as I was?

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Saturday, September 8, 2018

(58)Pieces of Her by Karin Slaughter

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Andy Cooper and her mother, Laura, are having lunch at the food court in the mall when gunshots ring out.  Before the day is over three people are dead, including the gunman, and Laura is being questioned.  Her argument of self-defense is being questioned after cell-phone footage of the incident has gone viral. Andy is shell-shocked by the day's events, but even more, so that her mother has told her to move out - by the end of the day.   Before she leaves, Andy does something she never dreamed she would ever do. She kills the man who was hurting her mother.  Her mother pulls a bag of money out of the couch cushion and sends her on her way.  She is then on the road running for her life questioning everything she ever knew to be true about her mother. A woman that she apparently never really knew.   Andy sets out on a road trip across the country and starts to piece together the pieces of her mother's life.  Will Andy ever be able to return home and will she ever be able to come to terms with her mother's history?

Karin Slaughter has always been one of my favorites.  Life kept getting in the way and it took me nearly two weeks to finish Pieces of Her. Because of this, I struggled with following the storyline.  The jump in timeline didn't help.  The author goes back and forth between the present and the past.   The storyline from the past reveals a terroristic cult that was responsible for murdering at least two people.   From the very beginning in the mall food court, Andy seemed like a very timid character.  As the story continues on, she grows into a strong woman seeking the truth.  She does some stupid things trying to track down the truth, but she always finds her way out of her predicaments.  In her search, she starts to fill in some missing pieces from her childhood and realizes that her own past is just as muddy's as her mothers.  In the end, Andy gets to the truth of her mother's past and her own.  --CLICK HERE FOR SPOILERS

Bottom Line -- Karin Slaughter is known for her ability to take her readers to the brink of sanity.  Pieces of Her is a story about two women, a mother and a daughter, willing to do whatever it takes. While Pieces of Her wasn't my favorite by Karin Slaughter, it is definitely worth the read.

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Tuesday, September 4, 2018

Tuesday, August 28, 2018

Tuesday, August 21, 2018

(57)From the Corner of the Oval by Beck Dorey-Stein

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Beck Dorey-Stein is struggling to make ends meet after college.  She is living in D.C. and working all sorts of odd jobs to make ends meet.  She had an interview from a Craigslist ad, that she actually blew off because of her job at Lululemon.  That opportunity was actually a job for a stenographer's position on Barack Obama's White House.  They gave Beck a second chance to interview and before she knows it, she is traveling the world on Air Force One and juggling her relationships outside the "bubble."  With the eye of an expert people-watcher and the fresh perspective of a youthful  professional Beck becomes a witness to the history that was the presidency of the 44th president. From the Corner of the Oval.  From the tragedies and triumphs, she was part of it all.  From early morning gym encounters with President Obama to encounters with the Vice President affectionately called "Uncle Joe" Beck lays it all out there.  When you put it all together you have a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the most famoust empoyer in the free world - The President of the United States.

From the Corner of the Oval is one of the best non-ficction books of the year.  I would say it is part political memoir and part chick lit novel.  You get all of the cool behind the scenes information (like what snacks are served on Air Force One) along with a young woman torn between two men. (For the record, one of those men was a big giant douchebag).   But you also get an author who has such a talent for the most interesting observations, like:
"We are a team of professional stalkers, a congregation of believers who have followed this man around the world several times."

"After nearly a year at the White Hous, my morning entry ritual can be reduced to an assembly line of sounds - " 


I think one of the things that I was pleased to read about was how the staffers were very familial like.  Maybe familial is not the right word.  They celebrated birthdays, they hung out together during the downtimes of their trips.  They may have consumed a lot of alcohol, but they still did their jobs.  And did them well.  They played pick-up basketball or went for runs on the streets of whatever city they were in at the time. Not everybody in the White House are cutthroat polticians.  It really made From the Corner of the Oval a fun and engaging read.  One last thing that I liked - I liked and respected how honest was at her own contributions to her relationship failures.  She took total and complete responsibility for her actions.  Yes, one of the men in her life was a giant douchebag, but she was not without fault and she owns that.  Rare to see such honesty in a memoir.

Bottom Line - While I feel that From the Corner of the Oval Office is so much more than just a poltical novel, it is a book about a staffer who served at the pleasure of one of our country's most popular presidents.  If you let the "politics" of her boss prevent you from reading this book, you are the one losing out.  I promise.

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Sunday, August 19, 2018

(56)Give Me Your Hand by Megan Abbott

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Kit first met Diane Flemming at cross country camp in high school. Their friendship started one night when four girls were sitting around telling their secrets.   Kit told her secret, the one involving a much older man and a dark car. Her secret shocked the others, but she thought it would be the last time that she saw them.   But it wasn't.  Later that year Diane shows up at her school and soon the two are best friends who are competing for a top Chemistry scholarship.  And then Diane tells Kit her secret.  And it is worse that Kit could ever imagine.  They make it to graduation and Kit is relieved to know that she never has to see Diane again, even though her secret is one that she will never forget.

It is ten years later when Kit's boss tells her that they are bringing in one of the greatest scientfic minds to help with the million dollar research grant they just received to research PMMD.  When Diane walks in, Kit's world is rattled.  She gets drunk one night and tells one of her colleagues Diane's secret.  And then Diane discovers a new secret about Kit that could destroy everything she has worked so hard to achieve.  Will Kit be able to keep Diane from revealing what she knows and at what cost?

I am not going to sugarcoat it, I struggled with this one. Kit and Diane were both had rough childhoods and were very ambitious women with one thing in mind - success. At any cost.  Kit was on the verge of  having all of her career dreams come true when Diane came back into her life.   The author tells the story in a "Then" and "Now" type of narrative, so you get the full sordid history between the two girls.  I have read every book by Megan Abbott and I usually find them engaging and suspensful. With Give Me Your Hand it just all seemed - implausible. And that really disappointed me. The part where the author lost me was in the lab - an important scene, but it  had me saying "Come on, really?"  - CLICK HERE FOR SPOILERS 

Bottom Line - I really wanted to like Take My Hand as much as I liked Megan Cabbott's other books.  I just couldn't.  I would be really interested to hear what others thought of this book, maybe I was just having an off day.

Details:
  • Give Me Your Hand by Megan Abbott
  • Pages: 352
  • Publisher: Little, Brown, and Company
  • Publication Date: 7/17/18
  • Buy it Here!


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Tuesday, August 14, 2018

Sunday, August 12, 2018

(55)Good Luck With That by Kristan Higgins

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Emerson, Georgia, and Marley have been friends since they met at "fat camp" as teenagers.  Life has taken the three of them down very different paths, but they still have one thing in common - a struggle with their weight.   Sadly, Emerson passes away due to weight-related issues.  Marley and Georgia are devastated that they let so much time pass since they saw Emerson and vow to honor her final request.  Complete the list of things that they vowed to do if they ever became skinny.  Things like eat dessert in public,  get a piggy-back ride from a cute guy and tell off somebody who had an issue with you being fat.  The list seems simple enough, but both Marley and Georgia struggle with a healthy body image.  Marley, a Personal Chef, seems to be happy but has never been in a real relationship.  Georgia has recently lost a lot of weight but still has yet to receive the approval from her family that she desperately craves.   But with each the other there to cheer them on the two friend start to come to grips with their weight issues and how those issues are preventing them both from seeing what they are - truly great women.  Will Marley and Georgia be able to finish Emerson's list?  Will they ever come to terms with their body issues and the weight issues that have plagued them for nearly their whole lives?

I don't think that there has ever been a book that has resonated with me as much as Good Luck With That.  The book's theme of body positivity and the three women who struggle with their weight is a topic near and dear to my heart.  It is something that I struggle with every single day.  And I have never read a book that hits on the topic with such insight and accuracy.  I think Marley was the character that I connected with the most. Her happy-go-lucky demeanor hid the pain from losing her twin sister.  And she was so desperate to be loved that she let her brother's colleague use her in degrading ways.  Over and over again.  I absolutely loved her connection with Will Harding and loved his imperfections.  Georgia's relationship with her family, well her mother and brother, had me on the verge of tears several times.  They had both deemed her unworthy when she was overweight and she was constantly aching for their approval.  Even though they were both assholes.  When she shares about her marriage, my heart ached for her.  The years of abuse she suffered at her family's hands was clearly the reason why her marriage imploded, but sadly she didn't see it that way.  As with all Kristan Higgins novels, I found myself laughing out loud more than once, and I found myself a bit sad to get to the end of the book.  These were not characters that I was ready to let go.

Bottom Line - Kristan Higgins is an author who gets it.  Through her characters she lets her legions of readers know that she gets what it is like to struggle with a positive body image. You don't have to read too far into Good Luck With That to know that Kristan Higgins knows what it is like to long for happiness, love, and acceptance. Something that many of us can relate to in very real ways. In the end, Marley and Georgia find the happiness, love, and acceptance they so desperately want, but not in ways they expected.   

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Thursday, August 9, 2018

(54)Charlotte Walsh Likes to Win by Jo Piazza

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Charlotte Walsh has left behind her high-powered career in Silicon Valley to run for the Senate in her home state of Pennsylvania.  Her husband has also given up his career at the company they started to care for their three young daughters while Charlotte is out on the campaign trail.  Charlotte knows that she has her work cut out for her, a woman has never won a higher office in Pennsylvania. She has a great team supporting her, the young genius strategist, Josh.  Her trusty assistant, and her mentor, a Washington insider.  But she had no idea how grueling it would be to run for office.  She had no idea how dirty her competitor would get in his efforts to remain in office. She had no idea the secrets that would be revealed.  She had no idea how running for office would wreak havoc on her marriage.     But Charlotte continues on, she knows that she can make a difference for the people of Pennsylvania and the country.  Ultimately, Charlotte Walsh Likes to Win.   But at what cost?

Charlotte Walsh Likes to Win was one of those books that had me engaged from page one.  Many of us are discouraged by the current political divide in our country.  Jo Piazza channels that frustration into a candidate that we can all get behind.  Even though Charlotte and Max were multi-millionaires they seemed real and down to earth.  A couple that is relatable.  I laughed out loud at their cross-country road trip. I cheered   As the campaign continued on, I felt bad for Charlotte.  She was working hard to achieve her goals and I don't think she got the support from her husband that she needed.  However, there were times that I didn't like Charlotte. Some of her decisions were very bad and she was awfully demanding with expectations that weren't necessarily fair.   I will say that I was pretty frustrated with the ending.  The good news is that the book is primed for a sequel.  - CLICK HERE FOR SPOILERS

Bottom Line - Charlotte Walsh Likes to Win was a good book, that I cannot dispute. Even though the way the author left it really ticked me off, I found myself thinking about the books and the characters long after it was over.

Details:
  • Charlotte Walsh Likes to Win by Jo Piazza
  • Publisher: Simon and Schuster
  • Publication Date: 7/24/18
  • Pages: 320
  • Buy It Here!




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Tuesday, August 7, 2018

Saturday, August 4, 2018

(53) Ghosted by Rosie Walsh

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When Sarah met Eddie she wasn't looking for a relationship.  She was in the process of an amicable divorce and in England for her yearly pilgrimage to the land of her birth and the spot where her life changed nearly two decades ago.   Sarah spends one unforgettable week with Eddie.  Their time together changed her life.  Gave her hope for a future that she always thought was bleak.  When they parted ways they made promises and plans.  And then Eddie ghosted her.  He doesn't reply to her calls, to her texts, to her Facebook posts.  Nothing.  Sarah knows that she didn't imagine their connection and starts to believe all these conspiracies over what happened to Eddie.  She even goes so far to track him down to his soccer club. Her friends tell her that it is time to let him go, but Sarah just can't let it go.  Then when she returns home to California she thinks that she sees Eddie on street corners or in her office.   Why would the man who ghosted her follow her halfway across the world?  Does it have anything to do with what happened that day decades ago?

It is rare that an author can shock me once in a book, but to find one who shocks me with multiple twists, well it is unheard of these days.  Rosie Walsh left me speechless with shock multiple times in her US debut novel Ghosted. I listened to the book in audio form, so maybe I missed some clues that may have been detected in written form.  Like I didn't realize that there were some sections where Eddie was the narrator.  I really liked Sarah, my heart ached for her as she acts out of desperation the longer she goes without hearing from Eddie.  "Ghosted" wasn't a term during my single days, but the concept has been around for decades.  And I remember the feeling well of feeling a connection on a date only to never hear from the guy again.  It is deflating.  And Sarah spent a week with Eddie!!   As you get deep into the story, you realize that Sarah is not new to pain and you can't help but to wish her peace and resolution.  The author skillfully keeps the reader engaged with the characters and the story by sprinkling in these bombshells.  - CLICK HERE FOR SPOILERS

Bottom Line - I realize that I am getting pretty stingy with the "Best of ___" label, but for good reason.  I want an author to take me on an emotional journey and evoke real emotion from me in order to get that label. Rosie Walsh did that, but with shocking revelations.  I couldn't stop listening, I had to hear what was going to happen next to Sarah. It was refreshing, I haven't been that engaged with a book in a long time. 

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Tuesday, July 31, 2018

(57)The Party by Robyn Harding

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Kim and Jeff Sanders think nothing of allowing their daughter, Hannah, to have friends over for her sixteenth birthday.  Kim takes an Ambien with a glass of wine so she can sleep through any squealing done by teen girls.  Jeff even gives Hannah a bottle of champagne to share with her friends.  There are enough of them that one bottle isn't going to do anything.  But then Hannah wakes her mother up in the middle of the night and she is covered in blood.  And their life, as they know it is over.

After the party, Kim and Jeff realize that their affluent lifestyle is in danger. Their beautiful home, their luxury cars, the private school education could all vanish.   Hannah realizes what it is like to be on the other side of the cool crowd.  As the days after the party pass, the Sanders family start to realize that there are more important things to life than having the best of everything, but is it too late?

I don't think that I have disliked a character as much as I disliked Kim at first. Her entire world revolves around being perfect.  Having perfect kids.  Having a perfect marriage.  She is really quite detestable in her way of judging everyone around her, but especially the way she treats her husband.  Everything that went down after the party made me like her even less.  She lacked one key characteristic - compassion.   Jeff wasn't exactly an upstanding moral kind of guy either, but I thought that he had more compassion than Kim.  And really in their world, is it any wonder their kids were raised to be monsters?  I was a little surprised by the end, I didn't think that Kim had it in her.  She experienced a level of redemption that I did not expect.  All of them did. - CLICK HERE FOR SPOILERS.

Bottom Line - Raising kids is hard and people suck. Neither fact can be denied and one makes the other incredibly difficult.   But it becomes even harder when the sense of entitlement overrules common sense and compassion.  The Party is a great book that is sure to generate some heated discussion at your next book club.

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Why I Read...

I remember the carefree summer days when I used to ride my bike to the public library to pick out new books. I would go almost daily to find books to read. I read to learn. I read to explore the world. I read to escape. I read because not reading is not an option.

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