A different sort of YA novel focusing on teenagers living in a hospice. As Ilonka and her friends prepare to die, they form The Midnight Club where thA different sort of YA novel focusing on teenagers living in a hospice. As Ilonka and her friends prepare to die, they form The Midnight Club where they meet and exchange stories. Some are violent, others are sad or tragic or hopeful. Ilonka's are about reincarnation and enlightenment but it's hard to stay positive when your friends are dying one by one.
My only complaint is that there are a lot of people all telling stories which involve multiple characters and it can get kind of confusing.
Still, while this book can't be described as 'fun,' it is worth a read. ...more
I love Harlan Coben's novels and especially the ones about Myron and Win, but the formula is getting stale.
The set up is great with a serial killer coI love Harlan Coben's novels and especially the ones about Myron and Win, but the formula is getting stale.
The set up is great with a serial killer committing murders while also framing an innocent person for the crime.
However, when the FBI comes knocking on Myron and Win's door, things start to get ridiculous. They're looking for Greg, the ex-husband of Myron's college sweetheart. Also, the father of Myron's biological son. (Myron and his sweetheart had one last fling the night before her wedding.) Greg is also one of Myron's clients or at least he was 3 years ago when everybody went to his funeral.
Honestly, this over the top drama reminds me of soap operas in the 1970s, but I digress.
Anyway, Myron and Win decided to drop everything, hop on Win's private plane and try to find Greg. Myron is an agent for athletes and Win is an investment boy-wonder. They both own their own businesses. How they can just take off for weeks at a time to solve a mystery is a puzzle to me. Why they want to do it is equally baffling. Why not let the Feds handle it?
But off they go on a quest which involves violent murderous gangsters, a young man in hiding, Greg and his new wife living off the grid, fame-hungry lawyers, confused partners and clueless relatives.
At some point it all just became too much. And I didn't buy the identify of the killer. Too many loose threads. ...more
After 30 years of avoiding the house where he grew up, Ethan returns home to a new job and stays at hisAnother excellent thrill ride from Riley Sager.
After 30 years of avoiding the house where he grew up, Ethan returns home to a new job and stays at his parents house. Ethan hasn't spent a lot of time in the house since he was ten and his best friend, Billy, was kidnapped out of the tent he and Ethan were camping in in the back yard.
As the ghosts and old memories resurface, Ethan has to finally come to terms with what happened that night and solve the mysteries of his old friends who know more than they've ever admitted.
This book was first published in 1935. That it is still available in print, with a brand new edition I picked up at the Library, is indicative of its This book was first published in 1935. That it is still available in print, with a brand new edition I picked up at the Library, is indicative of its quality.
If you read modern gardening books, you'll find the format confusing. Beston was a writer of some note and spent significant time on a rustic farm in Maine with his family. This isn't a how-to manual. It doesn't go through soil prep or siting your herb garden in the right place. It doesn't even go into depth about the history of herbs or offer up recipes. Instead, Beston focuses on the romance of herbs, exploring why the reader should be enchanted by these plants.
I think I would have liked this book better if I'd read it on a snowy night in front of the fire--the same conditions under which Beston wrote it. This book is more poetry than prose. It is to be appreciated rather than studied....more
Excellent pocket book about the plastics crisis, how it started, how recycling doesn't work and tips for consumers on how to reduce their plastic use.Excellent pocket book about the plastics crisis, how it started, how recycling doesn't work and tips for consumers on how to reduce their plastic use. ...more
This book should be required reading for every American citizen.
The White Christian Nationalism movement we're seeing today isn't new. It's been arounThis book should be required reading for every American citizen.
The White Christian Nationalism movement we're seeing today isn't new. It's been around for centuries and is regularly defeated but then returns to rear it's ugly head. THIS is why we should all be more cognizant of history.
Cox Richardson does an excellent job breaking down the ideals the founder's had when they formed our democracy, the compromises they made to keep it, and the repeated threats against it which came rooted in capitalism and dressed up in bigotry because those tend to appeal to people.
The school system never should have taken civics out of the curriculum. We live in dangerous times. "Democracy Awakening" will give you a boost into understanding what happened then and what is happening now. ...more
Do not get involved with rich people. That seems to be the running theme of this novel and, considering recent news reports, it's probably good adviceDo not get involved with rich people. That seems to be the running theme of this novel and, considering recent news reports, it's probably good advice.
When Barbara Van Larr goes missing from the overnight camp owned by her family there is the usual panic and then utter dread. Her brother Bear Van Larr also disappeared from the area 14 years before and his body has never been found.
This is a well-written mystery with a quick moving plot. My only complaint--Moore tells the story from multiple perspectives and it can be a little hard to keep track of who's who.
But it's an excellent read and highly recommended....more
Excellent memoir from the nation's best infectious disease specialist. Fauci goes through his childhood growing up in Brooklyn, his medical training aExcellent memoir from the nation's best infectious disease specialist. Fauci goes through his childhood growing up in Brooklyn, his medical training and his 50+ year work combating outbreaks from AIDS through Ebola and Covid.
The chapters on Covid are the most interesting and yes, Trump comes off as a narcissistic nutjob. Fauci will do a press conference about how many Americans are dying and how hospitals are overwhelmed then Trump will drag him into a back room to look at TV screens and boast about his ratings. He also calls Fauci to scream whenever the stock market takes a dive. It's not surprising how Trump's unhinged complaints result in hate mail and death threats. Pretty soon, Fauci's got a full time security guard sleeping in his guest room.
Clinton, Obama and Biden treated all public health officials with respect and focused on the health of people, not 'likes' on TV programs.
"On Call" is an important historical record of outbreaks, the actions taken to combat them and the response from the public....more
A good beach read about 3 siblings of a family that looks perfect from the outside, but is rotten at its core.
We meet Flo, Jessica and Ezra at the fuA good beach read about 3 siblings of a family that looks perfect from the outside, but is rotten at its core.
We meet Flo, Jessica and Ezra at the funeral of their father. An upstanding pillar of society in public; an abusive jackass at home. They all hate him and and are glad he committed suicide, but their miss their mom--presumed dead from jumping off the same bridge as their father.
Some of the twists and turns are jarring and don't make a lot of sense, but this book is entertaining and the plot moves quickly....more
Another excellent novel from Liana Moriarty where an older woman in the middle of a crisis goes through an airplane and announces, to each passenger, Another excellent novel from Liana Moriarty where an older woman in the middle of a crisis goes through an airplane and announces, to each passenger, the age they will die and the cause of their death.
It's all a macabre joke until a 19 year old girl dies, on camera, in a car accident, just as predicted. When three other deaths of passengers follow, the world becomes obsessed with the DeathLady--who she is and why she made those predictions--as well as the passengers who can feel death breathing over their shoulder.
Terrific pacing. My only issue, is it was a little hard to try and keep all of the characters straight.
I watched the HBO series based on this novel and thought the book might clear a few things up.
I was wrong.
The story is about a world after 2% of the pI watched the HBO series based on this novel and thought the book might clear a few things up.
I was wrong.
The story is about a world after 2% of the people disappear--raptured to who-knows-where. We follow one white and well-off family living in New York. Mom joins a cult called the Guilty Remnant whose members chain smoke and freak people out by staring at them. Son Tom falls in with the Holy Wayne cult and winds up protecting a teenage sex victim pregnant with the prophet's child. Daughter Jill, abandoned by her mom, ceases being an A student, falls in with the wrong crowd and has to raise herself. Dad Kevin is the mayor and struggles to hold onto his sanity.
Good books have three elements: Goals, Motivations and Conflict.
There's conflict a plenty in this post-rapture tale but motivation has been tamped down by grief and no one seemed to have a goal beyond surviving until tomorrow. I was a little surprised this book even got published, it's so vague and never explains the inciting event....more
An interesting psychological story of a woman going mad after she drives away from a stranded motorist who is later murdered.
I have an ingrained prejuAn interesting psychological story of a woman going mad after she drives away from a stranded motorist who is later murdered.
I have an ingrained prejudice against unreliable narrators so I didn't warm to main character, Cass, a teacher who is happily married to Matthew, worried about coming down with early dementia like her mother did and spirals into paranoia over the murder of a woman she barely knew.
Readers of mysteries will guess the ultimate ending, if not the motivations for the murder.
I listened to this on Audible and the voice work is top-notch. The plot is riveting and the characterizations are well done but this story goes some vI listened to this on Audible and the voice work is top-notch. The plot is riveting and the characterizations are well done but this story goes some very dark places.
Not recommended for people who are triggered by torture or kidnapping. As much as I enjoyed this book, I may not read the two sequels. ...more
Loading...
