I love using Goodreads to track my books. Sometimes it’s really hard to keep track of what I’ve read, what I want to read, etc. But I kinda wish someone would invent a notification service for when a new book in the series you love is coming out soon. It’s so hard to remember to check! I have several book series that I love and read as soon as there is a new book out, but it’s hard to know when the new book is out. Can someone invent that for me please? Thanks!
And now on to the reviews!
1 ) The Woman in Blue (Ruth Galloway #8) by Elly Griffiths
Perfect example of what I described above! Somehow this series dropped off my radar and I missed that book #8 was out! Book #9 is supposed to come out soon!
I love this series and look forward to reading the books. This one was just average. I felt like it didn’t focus enough on the main character and archaeology and I found that disappointing. But I’m including this in the book post because I really like the series and recommend it!
2 ) Transfer of Power (Mitch Rapp #3) by Vince Flynn
Ok, why hasn’t this book been made into a movie yet?!?!?! I could not put it down. It was SO good!
First, the downside. There were a lot of characters in the book and it took me over half of the book to figure out who everyone was and how they played into the story.
Second, the upside. It was very, very exciting. A terrorist group has overtaken the White House. The Secret Service was able to get the president into the bunker with seconds to spare, but the terrorists have hostages. The book is about the FBI, CIA, and military trying to figure out how to rescue everyone. Mitch manages to get into the White House and he’s their onsite point person.
The book was very satisfying. I loved the story and the excitement and the ending was really good. Seriously, this needs to be a movie!
3 ) The Mothers by Brit Bennett
This was a really beautiful, gorgeously written, heart-wrenching book. The story is about three teens in San Diego whose lives intersect and then split — but a secret comes back to haunt them.
Nadia is the main character. Her mother commits suicide when she’s in high school. It’s a shock to the community and her and her father.
“She [her mom] had grown up in Texas, in between tornado and hurricane country, so she knew how to prepare for disaster. Unlike you California girls, she used to tell Nadia, who never thought about earthquakes until the world started shaking right under them. That winter, her mother’s death would be an earthquake jolting her out of her sleep. [pg 73]”
“Her father propped his sadness on a pew, but she put her sad in places no one could see. [pg 5]”
Nadia doesn’t know how to process her grief. She acts out, which is normal, but her path of self-destruction converges with Luke, the pastor’s son. Luke is a college drop-out whose professional football dreams are shattered with his leg. They comfort each other.
“Her mother had died a month ago and she was drawn to anyone who wore their pain outwardly, the way she couldn’t. [pg 8]”
She’s underage, 17, and he’s in his early 20’s and the pastor’s son…so when she gets pregnant…a decision is made quickly.
“She couldn’t let this baby nail her life in place when she’d just been given a chance to escape. [pg 13]”
“She should’ve known. She should’ve known when he’d brought her an envelope with six hundred dollars that the money was his part, and now she was a problem that he’d already dealt with. [pg 32]”
That was pretty much the end of their affair. She went off to college in Michigan, tried to forget Luke. Luke met someone else and then…a few years later Nadia returns to town and the stories intersect again.
The book is about grief and healing, relationships, motherhood and touches a little bit on race.
“Reckless white boys became politicians and bankers, reckless black boys became dead. [pg 60]”
“In a way, subtle racism was worse because it made you feel crazy. You were always left wondering, was that actually racist? Had you just imagined it? [pg 113]”
The book is also about families and individuality. Nadia seems like a strong girl, but there is a weakness for Luke in her that she never really gets over. But like all good tortured soul books, she denies herself happiness, mostly because of her mother’s suicide.
“This would be her life, accomplishing the things her mother had never done. She never celebrated this, unlike her friends who were proud to be the first in their family to go to college or the first to earn a prestigious internship. How could she be proud of lapping her mother, when she had been the one to slow her down in the first place? [pg 115]”
The book is a fast read and very, very good. I read it in one day and I absolutely loved it. I would really recommend it to anyone.
4 ) The Marriage Lie by Kimberly Belle
There were things about this book that bugged me but none of it was bad enough to deter me from reading it. I honestly couldn’t put the book down, despite the weak/overused premise. (I don’t want to give it away but the premise has been done before and I honestly find it weak writing.)
The ending made up for the holes in the story. I liked the twists and turns and I read it in just a few days.
5 ) A Great Reckoning (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #12) by Louise Penny
By far, this was the best book in the series! This time, Armand has come out of retirement and into a new job–He’s now in charge of the Surete du Quebec police academy. It’s his job to clean it up, get rid of the crooked cops and ensure that the future police well-trained.
There are two stories going on –the first is a map that is found in Three Pines that creates a mystery he wants to solve and he tasks four young cadets in the academy to solve it. At the same time, there is a murder of one of the professors in the academy. This is a story about corruption, power, influence and morality. There were so many levels in this book and it was so beautifully written and compelling. The story was gripping and the aha moment when the mysteries were solved were so good! Very fulfilling read!
6 ) The Dry (Aaron Falk #1) by Jane Harper
What a fantastic first book!
It takes place in Australia, in the middle of nowhere where there’s been a drought for years. Tempers and stressors are high in this town as a result of the drought and how that is effecting the town and the farmland. Aaron Falk, a Federal Agent in Melbourne, goes back home to attend his childhood friend’s funeral. A horrific murder-suicide happened and everyone is shell-shocked. Aaron is not so sure it’s an open and closed case so he sticks around longer than the two days he planned to solve it.
It’s a really fast read and well-written. The characters are well-rounded and the bad guys are really unlikable and you are rooting for the good guys. This is a home run for a first novel and I can’t wait for book #2!
HAPPY READING!
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Carrie
If that was by far the best book of the Arnaud Gamache series, I’ve got a long way to go. I’ve only been through the second book. I have so much more to read!
The Dry didn’t look like my kind of book. I didn’t read what it was about the first time I happened upon it, but I judged a book by its cover. But Australia?! I’m in.
Lisa Eirene
Don’t get me wrong –I love the whole series! There are many books in the series that were very high on my list but this most recent one was SO good and very cunning!
I went into The Dry without even knowing what it was about. I had seen several people rave about it so I put it on hold at the library and then just started reading it not knowing the plot. I enjoyed the book a lot.