Lora Terrill

Thank you for joining me here!   (Reminder: the page numbers I list here reflect the number of Kindle pages, not paper pages.)  I hope you enjoy this series and I’d love to hear from you about what you are reading these days.

Book #1

Hiking Through by Paul Stutzman (Length: 338 pages).   If you’ve been reading my blog for any length of time, you are already aware of my obsession with the Appalachian Trail, and all first-person accounts written by people who’ve actually been able to hike this 2200 mile trail, which stretches north from Georgia to Maine. I enjoyed the parts of this book where the author focuses on the actual hike. He is a very strong hiker, has a likeable personality, and he’s able to meet a variety of interesting people on the trail. He shares a lot of good details about the hike such as what type of food he actually ate, which shelters he stayed in, and his equipment that he found to be helpful. The other parts of the book discuss his desire to “save” people by them finding Jesus. It’s not overwhelming throughout most of the book, however, because it’s relevant to his personal background (he’s a Mennonite). I will say by the end of the book it became too distracting for me as I’m only interested in the nuts and bolts of the through hike. I’d recommend this to anyone who is also interested in this amazing journey. (It’s often on $1.99 Kindle sale on Amazon).

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Book #2

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (304 pages). I really enjoyed this book! Such a fun read that is so different than what I typically read. It’s very spooky and dark, with a splash of melodrama. I could picture the scenery so well thanks to the author’s beautiful writing. The atmospheric writing is boosted by the setting, a remote estate in central Mexico, adjacent to an old silver mine. There are many supernatural elements, along with some eugenics, which makes for an interesting and unusual combination. Excellent character development, but this is also very plot-driven which makes it difficult to put down. This novel is currently being developed for a series (or movie?) on Hulu, and I will definitely be interested in watching. I highly recommend this read! (A good book club and a good travel/vacation read).

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Book #3

Can’t Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds by David Goggins (366 pages). This is a memoir written by a Navy Seal (AND Army Ranger AND Air Force Tactical Air Controller), plus he’s also been called “The Fittest (Real) Man in America” due to his incredible performance in many endurance races. The purpose of his writing is to motivate the reader to excel in all areas of their lives, not just in areas of physical fitness, and I’d say he succeeds. I came away very impressed by his achievements given his very difficult childhood with almost-insurmountable obstacles, and his writing is relatively strong given the genre. His talent and sheer grit are astounding, but it’s his mental game that I think we can all learn from. Some of his achievements are a bit idiotic (ie, running a 100-mile race with zero training) but it’s a lot of fun to ride along with him as he recounts these exploits. I found many of his rules to be worth taking note of, especially the 40% rule (most of us only work to 40% of what we are capable of doing, and don’t tap into the remaining 60%). This would be an excellent book for anyone to have in their personal library.

Thank you for joining me here!   (Reminder: the page numbers I list here reflect the number of Kindle pages, not paper pages.)  I hope you enjoy this series and I’d love to hear from you about what you are reading these days.

Book #1:

Thank you for joining me here!   (Reminder: the page numbers I list here reflect the number of Kindle pages, not paper pages.)  I hope you enjoy this series and I’d love to hear from you about what you are reading these days.

Book #1:

Swimming Lessons by Mary Alice Monroe (Length: 464 pages).   This book is the 3rd book in the Beach House series (which I reviewed in June).  I mistakenly skipped the 2nd book, but it turns out it wasn’t  necessary to read that one first.  This novel has the same great storytelling and decent character development as the initial novel in the series.  I was happy to see the same super-interesting (to me, anyway) secondary plot thread regarding the rescue and rehab of loggerhead turtles.  Most of the characters from the first book are mentioned here, which is nice for the sake of continuity and for satisfying my curiosity.  However, there were over a dozen grammatical and spelling errors (which were not typos only present on a Kindle edition).  This was very annoying as the multitude of dumb mistakes (ie, “Prize” possession instead of “prized” possession) interrupted the flow of reading.  Overall, I would recommend this as an easy poolside read if you are a fan of the first book.  

From the publisher:

Toy Sooner has dealt with enough rough waves in her troubled past. It’s only been through the enduring love of a close-knit group of women on this tiny island that she’s finally started to find her footing. But as new challenges in her career arise for this young single mother, the choices and demons of her past will catch up to her. Soon Toy will learn that, like the steadfast sea turtles she cares for, a mother must find the strength within herself to make it safely to shore.

Book #2:

The Testaments by Margaret Atwood (Length: 381 pages).  This book is AMAZING!  I would even venture to say it’s better than the first book (The Handmaid’s Tale which I reviewed earlier this month).  Like its predecessor, this novel is also very plot-driven, which makes it an incredibly fast read.  This is written from three different perspectives (an Aunt, a young Canadian citizen and the “daughter” of two Gilead residents), which can get confusing at times.  The writing is excellent, especially the pacing of the plot, and the foreshadowing of what is to come.  This would make an excellent book club pick, especially given that its dystopian elements unfortunately are reminiscent of what we are dealing with in our country today.  

From the publisher:

WINNER OF THE BOOKER PRIZE

The Testaments is a modern masterpiece, a powerful novel that can be read on its own or as a companion to Margaret Atwood’s classic, The Handmaid’s Tale.

More than fifteen years after the events of The Handmaid’s Tale, the theocratic regime of the Republic of Gilead maintains its grip on power, but there are signs it is beginning to rot from within. At this crucial moment, the lives of three radically different women converge, with potentially explosive results.

Two have grown up as part of the first generation to come of age in the new order. The testimonies of these two young women are joined by a third: Aunt Lydia.  Her complex past and uncertain future unfold in surprising and pivotal ways.

With The Testaments, Margaret Atwood opens up the innermost workings of Gilead, as each woman is forced to come to terms with who she is, and how far she will go for what she believes.

Book #3:

Defending Jacob by William Landay (Length: 431 pages).  This was my CrossFit book club’s choice for August.  I thought it was just okay, honestly.  Perhaps because I was a criminal prosecutor I found the legal aspect to be pretty inaccurate and thus, hard to believe.  The mystery at the heart of the plot is decent, but it’s a bit too easy to figure out what is going to happen, which ruins the thrill for me.  The characters aren’t very deep, but that is part of the central mystery, so that can be forgiven.  The resolution is a bit abrupt, which is odd, given the long build up to the end.  This was made into a TV series on Apple TV (starring Chris Evans and Michelle Dockery) and in my opinion, the TV series is a lot better than the book, even with the noticeable differences between the two.  You can watch the series without reading the book, which is what I’d recommend.  

From the publisher:

Andy Barber has been an assistant district attorney for two decades. He is respected. Admired in the courtroom. Happy at home with the loves of his life: his wife, Laurie, and their teenage son, Jacob. Then Andy’s quiet suburb is stunned by a shocking crime: a young boy stabbed to death in a leafy park. And an even greater shock: The accused is Andy’s own son—shy, awkward, mysterious Jacob.

Andy believes in Jacob’s innocence. Any parent would. But the pressure mounts. Damning evidence. Doubt. A faltering marriage. The neighbors’ contempt. A murder trial that threatens to obliterate Andy’s family. It is the ultimate test for any parent: How far would you go to protect your child? It is a test of devotion. A test of how well a parent can know a child. For Andy Barber, a man with an iron will and a dark secret, it is a test of guilt and innocence in the deepest sense.

How far would you go?

Thank you for joining me here!   (Reminder: the page numbers I list here reflect the number of Kindle pages, not paper pages.)  I hope you enjoy this series and I’d love to hear from you about what you are reading these days.

Book #1:

A Hundred Summers by Beatriz Williams (Length: 369 pages).   I loved this book!  This is another novel that I was always thinking about when I wasn’t reading it, and I couldn’t wait to pick it back up (my favorite types of books!).  This is definitely a beach/summer read.  The setting is “Seaview, Rhode Island”, based on an actual island of a different name, which was the actual location of the 1938 hurricane. This is a romance which bounces between 1932 and 1938.  It’s fast-paced, a love triangle with well-developed characters, with a bit of a mystery plotline in the background.  The New England society setting, plus New York City and an island, with surprise twists makes this a definite yes!  Let me know if you’ve read it.  I’m going to be checking out Williams’ other novels based on how much I liked this one.  

From the publisher:

Lily Dane has returned to Seaview, Rhode Island, where her family has summered for generations. It’s an escape not only from New York’s social scene but from a heartbreak that still haunts her. Here, among the seaside community that has embraced her since childhood, she finds comfort in the familiar rituals of summer.

But this summer is different. Budgie and Nick Greenwald—Lily’s former best friend and former fiancé—have arrived, too, and Seaview’s elite are abuzz. Under Budgie’s glamorous influence, Lily is seduced into a complicated web of renewed friendship and dangerous longing.

As a cataclysmic hurricane churns north through the Atlantic, and uneasy secrets slowly reveal themselves, Lily and Nick must confront an emotional storm that will change their worlds forever…

Book #2:

The Jetsetters by Amanda Eyre Ward (Length: 318 pages).   This was my CrossFit book club’s choice for July.  It is VERY reminiscent of The Floating Feldmans which I have already reviewed on this blog.  (I preferred the latter book for sure).  There are similar characters, similar family dynamics, but The Floating Feldmans is much funnier and well-written.  I did enjoy the various ports of call in this novel, including Rome, Malta, Florence, etc.  The adult children (and the mother) in this novel are very unlikeable overall, and it’s very obvious how the various plotlines will resolve.  I will say this is a VERY fast read (I read it in one afternoon) so this would be a perfect poolside read, if you’re not expecting much.  My book club universally felt the same way.  

From the publisher:

When seventy-year-old Charlotte Perkins submits a sexy essay to the Become a Jetsetter contest, she dreams of reuniting her estranged children: Lee, an almost-famous actress; Cord, a handsome Manhattan venture capitalist who can’t seem to find a partner; and Regan, a harried mother who took it all wrong when Charlotte bought her a Weight Watchers gift certificate for her birthday. Charlotte yearns for the years when her children were young, when she was a single mother who meant everything to them.

When she wins the contest, the family packs their baggage—both literal and figurative—and spends ten days traveling from sun-drenched Athens through glorious Rome to tapas-laden Barcelona on an over-the-top cruise ship, the Splendido Marveloso. As lovers new and old join the adventure, long-buried secrets are revealed and old wounds are reopened, forcing the Perkins family to confront the forces that drove them apart and the defining choices of their lives.

Can four lost adults find the peace they’ve been seeking by reconciling their childhood aches and coming back together? In the vein of The Nest and The Vacationers, The Jetsetters is a delicious and intelligent novel about the courage it takes to reveal our true selves, the pleasures and perils of family, and how we navigate the seas of adulthood.

Book #3:

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood (Length: 325 pages).   I’ve FINALLY picked up this excellent dystopian novel, and I’m so glad I did.  This is very well-written, almost lyrical at times.  It’s compulsively readable, in my opinion, as I kept wanting to find out how the major plot line is resolved.  I can absolutely see parallels with what is happening to women and society today, in this novel, specifically with regard to women and Evangelical Christianity.  The ending is a bit mysterious, but that’s okay as I’m able to read The Testaments next.  I found it fascinating that the author based Gilead (the fictional town in this novel) on Cambridge and the university in this novel is based on Harvard.  This would be a fantastic book club choice.  Please read if you haven’t already–you will not regret it.  

From the publisher:

The Handmaid’s Tale is a novel of such power that the reader will be unable to forget its images and its forecast. Set in the near future, it describes life in what was once the United States and is now called the Republic of Gilead, a monotheocracy that has reacted to social unrest and a sharply declining birthrate by reverting to, and going beyond, the repressive intolerance of the original Puritans. The regime takes the Book of Genesis absolutely at its word, with bizarre consequences for the women and men in its population.

The story is told through the eyes of Offred, one of the unfortunate Handmaids under the new social order. In condensed but eloquent prose, by turns cool-eyed, tender, despairing, passionate, and wry, she reveals to us the dark corners behind the establishment’s calm facade, as certain tendencies now in existence are carried to their logical conclusions. The Handmaid’s Tale is funny, unexpected, horrifying, and altogether convincing. It is at once scathing satire, dire warning, and a tour de force. It is Margaret Atwood at her best.

 

Book #4

\My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She’s Sorry by Fredrik Backman (Length: 385 pages).   I’m clearly obsessed with this author, from A Man Called Ove to Beartown to Us Against You.  I’ve read that readers who also loved Backman, count this book as their all-time favorite.  I’d have to agree–this novel is absolutely delightful!  I adore Elsa, the seven year old narrator, and her relationship with Granny, her maternal grandmother.  This book is so witty and I actually laughed out loud in parts.  I was smiling as I was reading so much of this, which is rare.  I enjoyed the fairy tale angle as well.  (I didn’t enjoy how she kept feeding the dog chocolate throughout–but maybe that’s just me.)  A double thumbs up for this charming novel!  

From the publisher:

A charming, warmhearted novel from the author of the New York Times bestseller A Man Called Ove.

Elsa is seven years old and different. Her grandmother is seventy-seven years old and crazy—as in standing-on-the-balcony-firing-paintball-guns-at-strangers crazy. She is also Elsa’s best, and only, friend. At night Elsa takes refuge in her grandmother’s stories, in the Land-of-Almost-Awake and the Kingdom of Miamas, where everybody is different and nobody needs to be normal.

When Elsa’s grandmother dies and leaves behind a series of letters apologizing to people she has wronged, Elsa’s greatest adventure begins. Her grandmother’s instructions lead her to an apartment building full of drunks, monsters, attack dogs, and old crones but also to the truth about fairy tales and kingdoms and a grandmother like no other.

My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry is told with the same comic accuracy and beating heart as Fredrik Backman’s bestselling debut novel, A Man Called Ove. It is a story about life and death and one of the most important human rights: the right to be different.

Thank you for joining me here!   (Reminder: the page numbers I list here reflect the number of Kindle pages, not paper pages.)  I hope you enjoy this series and I’d love to hear from you about what you are reading these days.

Book #1:

Ghosted by Rosie Walsh (Length: 347 pages).   I saw this book was recommended on Bookstagram, and since I was in the mood for a lighter romance, I checked it out.  Set in England, this is a fun novel that is also well-written, with a few different plot twists that occur in the middle of the book.  The author divides the book into two different perspectives, of the two main characters, which makes for an interesting take on the standard romance novel.  There are deeper subject matters here, such as mental health, and the death of a young sibling, which elevate this book to be more than “chick lit” which I appreciate.  I would definitely recommend this one, namely because this was a book that I thought about between the times I picked it up to continue reading.  

From the publisher:

Seven perfect days. Then he disappeared. A love story with a secret at its heart.

When Sarah meets Eddie, they connect instantly and fall in love. To Sarah, it seems as though her life has finally begun. And it’s mutual: It’s as though Eddie has been waiting for her, too. Sarah has never been so certain of anything. So when Eddie leaves for a long-booked vacation and promises to call from the airport, she has no cause to doubt him. But he doesn’t call.

Sarah’s friends tell her to forget about him, but she can’t. She knows something’s happened–there must be an explanation.

Minutes, days, weeks go by as Sarah becomes increasingly worried. But then she discovers she’s right. There is a reason for Eddie’s disappearance, and it’s the one thing they didn’t share with each other: the truth.

Book #2:

The Choice: Embrace the Possible by Dr. Edith Eva Eger (Length: 305 pages).   This memoir was given to me by my best friend who urged me to read it, telling me it would change my life.  She was right.  I first let my 14-year old daughter read it (for a “free” read for her freshman English class) and she adored it as well.  The first half of the memoir covers Dr. Eger’s account of the Holocaust as she experienced it as a 16 year old.  The scenes are graphic, as they should be, but what’s so interesting is reading about how Dr. Eger continually tried to find the positives in her situation, and tried to remain optimistic at all turns.  The second half of the book is about how Dr. Eger learned to process what happened to her.  She became a licensed psychologist at the age of 55 (!) and then uses her life lessons to help her patients, accounts she also shares here.  I will absolutely use her advice in my own life, and I won’t ever forget this book.  Simply put, it’s an amazing book that everyone should read!

From the publisher:

Winner of the National Jewish Book Award and Christopher Award

At the age of sixteen, Edith Eger was sent to Auschwitz. Hours after her parents were killed, Nazi officer Dr. Josef Mengele, forced Edie to dance for his amusement and her survival. Edie was pulled from a pile of corpses when the American troops liberated the camps in 1945.

Edie spent decades struggling with flashbacks and survivor’s guilt, determined to stay silent and hide from the past. Thirty-five years after the war ended, she returned to Auschwitz and was finally able to fully heal and forgive the one person she’d been unable to forgive—herself.

Edie weaves her remarkable personal journey with the moving stories of those she has helped heal. She explores how we can be imprisoned in our own minds and shows us how to find the key to freedom. The Choice is a life-changing book that will provide hope and comfort to generations of readers.

Book #3:

Verity by Colleen Hoover (Length: 333 pages).   I have heard of this psychological thriller for several months, as well as this author (who is more known for her romance novels).  I knew going into it that there would be some disturbing plot points, but wow–I wasn’t prepared for what I actually read.  I had to put the novel down at a few places to take a break.  There are several vivid accounts of infant and child abuse, and as a mother of two daughters, these were tough for me to get through.  I will say that the writing is decent overall, as is the character development. But be forewarned, you won’t care for the main characters (nor are you supposed to).  I will say you should keep an open mind while reading, as the plot resolution is interesting and the final “twist” does turn the entire novel on its head.  In my opinion this is worth a library check out if you want to see what all of the fuss is about.  Having said this, I will be checking out a few of Hoover’s romance novels as that’s the genre that has made her such a popular author.  

From the publisher:

An Amazon top 100 bestseller of 2020
Lowen Ashleigh is a struggling writer on the brink of financial ruin when she accepts the job offer of a lifetime. Jeremy Crawford, husband of bestselling author Verity Crawford, has hired Lowen to complete the remaining books in a successful series his injured wife is unable to finish.

Lowen arrives at the Crawford home, ready to sort through years of Verity’s notes and outlines, hoping to find enough material to get her started. What Lowen doesn’t expect to uncover in the chaotic office is an unfinished autobiography Verity never intended for anyone to read. Page after page of bone-chilling admissions, including Verity’s recollection of the night their family was forever altered.

Lowen decides to keep the manuscript hidden from Jeremy, knowing its contents would devastate the already grieving father. But as Lowen’s feelings for Jeremy begin to intensify, she recognizes all the ways she could benefit if he were to read his wife’s words. After all, no matter how devoted Jeremy is to his injured wife, a truth this horrifying would make it impossible for him to continue to love her.

Due to graphic scenes and mature content, this book is recommended for readers 18+.