Lora Terrill

Book Reviews–December 2017

January 7, 2018

I often post short reviews of books I’ve read in my personal social media pages, as I love to share my passion for books with others. I’m listing the books I’ve read each month here on this blog, with my thoughts on each as well as whether I’d recommend them to others. I do have an eclectic taste in books, and will choose books based on my mood, or what’s going on in my life that week. (Most, if not all, of the books below include links to the Kindle store on Amazon, and the page numbers reflect the number of Kindle pages). I hope you enjoy this series on my blog!

Book #1:

Untangled: Guiding Teenage Girls Through the Seven Transitions into Adulthood by Lisa Damour, PhD (Length: 352 pages). This is a MUST READ for all parents of girls, starting at age 9 or 10. I’ve recommended this to several girlfriends and they’ve ALL found it to be incredibly helpful in navigating the tween and teen years with their own daughters. I always attributed teen angst and melodrama to hormones but that can’t be further from the truth–it’s all about how girls’ brains are developing. This book tackles each developmental stage (using excellent real-life examples from the author’s own dr/patient practice), and demystifies what’s happening with your daughter at each age, resulting in a less emotional relationship. This is a total game changer!

From the publisher: In this sane, highly engaging, and informed guide for parents of daughters, Dr. Damour draws on decades of experience and the latest research to reveal the seven distinct—and absolutely normal—developmental transitions that turn girls into grown-ups, including Parting with Childhood, Contending with Adult Authority, Entering the Romantic World, and Caring for Herself. Providing realistic scenarios and welcome advice on how to engage daughters in smart, constructive ways, Untangled gives parents a broad framework for understanding their daughters while addressing their most common questions, including

• My thirteen-year-old rolls her eyes when I try to talk to her, and only does it more when I get angry with her about it. How should I respond?
• Do I tell my teen daughter that I’m checking her phone?
• My daughter suffers from test anxiety. What can I do to help her?
• Where’s the line between healthy eating and having an eating disorder?
• My teenage daughter wants to know why I’m against pot when it’s legal in some states. What should I say?
• My daughter’s friend is cutting herself. Do I call the girl’s mother to let her know?

Perhaps most important, Untangled helps mothers and fathers understand, connect, and grow with their daughters. When parents know what makes their daughter tick, they can embrace and enjoy the challenge of raising a healthy, happy young woman.

Book #2:

If You Lived Here, I’d Know Your Name: News from Small-Town Alaska by Heather Lende (Length: 294 pages). I really enjoyed this little book! The author lives in a very small town, Haines, Alaska, which was also home and near to the residence of the family featured on Alaskan Bush People on the Discovery Channel. The author writes obituaries for her town newspaper, so most of the chapters center around some of the past obituaries she’s written. However, this isn’t a depressing book at all, but rather it’s funny, a fast read, and very illuminating regarding small town life in Alaska. Worth checking out from the library for sure!

From the publisher: Tiny Haines, Alaska, is ninety miles north of Juneau, accessible mainly by water or air—and only when the weather is good. There’s no traffic light and no mail delivery; people can vanish without a trace and funerals are a community affair. Heather Lende posts both the obituaries and the social column for her local newspaper. If anyone knows the going-on in this close-knit town—from births to weddings to funerals—she does.

Like Bailey White’s tales of Southern life or Garrison Keillor’s reports from the Midwest, NPR commentator Heather Lende’s take on her offbeat Alaskan hometown celebrates life in a dangerous and breathtakingly beautiful place.

Book #3:

The Last Anniversary by Liane Moriarty (Length: 402 pages). This was an enjoyable read, overall. This novel features several mini-mysteries, tied up into one over-arching mystery, all of which take place on a tiny island named Scribbly Gum in Australia. This is Moriarty’s second book (I’m a fan of Big Little Lies) so the writing isn’t as strong as her later books, but this is absolutely a fun read! The characters are multi-dimensional and vividly drawn, and while I’m no Nancy Drew, I enjoyed not being able to figure out the larger mystery before the author revealed the answers.

From the publisher:

From Liane Moriarty, author of #1 New York Times bestsellers The Husband’s Secret and Big Little Lies, comes an unforgettable novel defined by her signature sharp wit, page-turning storyline, and lovable and eccentric characters.

Sophie Honeywell always wondered if Thomas Gordon was the one who got away. He was the perfect boyfriend, but on the day he was going to propose, she broke his heart. A year later he married his travel agent, while Sophie has been mortifyingly single ever since. Now Thomas is back in her life because Sophie has unexpectedly inherited his aunt Connie’s house on Scribbly Gum Island—home of the famously unsolved Munro Baby mystery.

Sophie moves onto the island and begins a new life as part of an unconventional family, where it seems everyone has a secret. Grace, a beautiful young mother, is feverishly planning a shocking escape from her perfect life. Margie, a frumpy housewife, has made a pact with a stranger, while dreamy Aunt Rose wonders if maybe it’s about time she started making her own decisions.

As Sophie’s life becomes increasingly complicated, she discovers that sometimes you have to stop waiting around—and come up with your own fairy-tale ending.

Book #4:

Of Mess and Moxie: Wrangling Delight Out of This Wild and Glorious Life by Jen Hatmaker (Length: 286 pages). While I’m not a fan of organized religion, I do enjoy exploring different viewpoints of spirituality. This author is a Christian motivational speaker (and wife of a pastor) but she’s not preachy, and embraces alternative lifestyles such as gay marriage without judgment, which I appreciate (as such non-Jesus like judgment is why I’m not a fan of organized religion). Anyway, this was a Kindle Daily Deal impulse purchase since I typically enjoy the author’s Instagram posts. Many of the chapters I found to be relatable to my own life, and some are just downright funny (ie, chapters on parenting and exercise), but there were a few chapters that were overly religious in my opinion. A fast, fun read overall.

From the publisher:

New York Times bestselling author, Big Sister Emeritus, and Chief BFF Jen Hatmaker returns with another round of hilarious tales, shameless honesty, and hope for the woman who has forgotten her moxie.

In this highly anticipated new book, beloved author Jen Hatmaker parlays her own triumphs and tragedies into a sigh of relief for all normal, fierce women everywhere. Whether it’s the time she drove to the wrong city for a fourth-grade field trip (“Why are we in San Antonio?”) or the way she learned to forgive (God was super clear: Pray for this person every day, which was the meanest thing He ever said to me. I was furious.), she offers a reminder to those of us who sometimes hide in the car eating crackers that we do have the moxie to get back up and get back out. We can choose to live undaunted “in the moment” no matter what the moments hold, and lead vibrant, courageous, grace-filled lives.

Book #5:

A Share in Death by Deborah Crombie (Length: 212 pages). This is the first book in a HUGE series featuring Duncan Kincaid/Gemma James, both law enforcement officers in Great Britain. I found this new-to-me series when a blogger recommended this series for Louise Penny fans. Since Penny only releases new books once a year, I was excited to check out a similar series. And I’m officially hooked! This book was very well-written (especially for a first novel) and very well-constructed in terms of plot. The main characters weren’t too developed but I know that will come in future books in this series. The central mystery is very believable as well as solvable, but I missed the clever clues sprinkled throughout . . . it reminds me of Agatha Christie in this regard.

From the publisher: A week’s holiday in a luxurious Yorkshire time-share is just what Scotland Yard’s Superintendent Duncan Kincaid needs. But the discovery of a body floating in the whirlpool bath ends Kincaid’s vacation before it’s begun. One of his new acquaintances at Followdale House is dead; another is a killer. Despite a distinct lack of cooperation from the local constabulary, Kincaid’s keen sense of duty won’t allow him to ignore the heinous crime, impelling him to send for his enthusiastic young assistant, Sergeant Gemma James. But the stakes are raised dramatically when a second murder occurs, and Kincaid and James find themselves in a determined hunt for a fiendish felon who enjoys homicide a bit too much.

Book #6:

How to Murder Your Life by Cat Marnell (Length: 385 pages). Wow. I’m not sure what to say about this one. This Kindle Daily Deal was another impulse buy (but aren’t they all?!) after I read a few book bloggers recommend this memoir. There are some very descriptive chapters regarding the author’s serious drug abuse which became a little off-putting, especially given her inability to halt such abject self-destruction even while living a life of such privilege. This is more than a garden-variety addiction tale. I kept reading further in the hope that she would get sober. I’m glad I finished it but I’m not sure I’d recommend it.

From the publisher: From the New York Times bestselling author and former beauty editor Cat Marnell, a “vivid, maddening, heartbreaking, very funny, chaotic” (The New York Times) memoir of prescription drug addiction and self-sabotage, set in the glamorous world of fashion magazines and downtown nightclubs.

At twenty-six, Cat Marnell was an associate beauty editor at Lucky, one of the top fashion magazines in America—and that’s all most people knew about her. But she hid a secret life. She was a prescription drug addict. She was also a “doctor shopper” who manipulated Upper East Side psychiatrists for pills, pills, and more pills; a lonely bulimic who spent hundreds of dollars a week on binge foods; a promiscuous party girl who danced barefoot on banquets; a weepy and hallucination-prone insomniac who would take anything—anything—to sleep.

This is a tale of self-loathing, self-sabotage, and yes, self-tanner. It begins at a posh New England prep school—and with a prescription for the Attention Deficit Disorder medication Ritalin. It continues to New York, where we follow Marnell’s amphetamine-fueled rise from intern to editor through the beauty departments of NYLON, Teen Vogue, Glamour, and Lucky. We see her fight between ambition and addiction and how, inevitably, her disease threatens everything she worked so hard to achieve. From the Condé Nast building to seedy nightclubs, from doctors’ offices and mental hospitals, Marnell “treads a knife edge between glamorizing her own despair and rendering it with savage honesty.…with the skill of a pulp novelist” (The New York Times Book Review) what it is like to live in the wild, chaotic, often sinister world of a young female addict who can’t say no.

Book Reviews–November 2017

December 2, 2017

Book #1:

The Things We Wish Were True by Marybeth Mayhew Whalen (Length: 290 pages). I really enjoyed this book! This novel explores the neighborhood goings-on surrounding a community pool one summer. There are a few darker themes (ie, child abduction) but they truly make for better (and stronger) character development. This novel is a truly fast read, and the two mystery elements in the plot really make this hard to put down. Definitely recommend!

From the publisher:

In an idyllic small-town neighborhood, a near tragedy triggers a series of dark revelations.

From the outside, Sycamore Glen, North Carolina, might look like the perfect all-American neighborhood. But behind the white picket fences lies a web of secrets that reach from house to house.

Up and down the streets, neighbors quietly bear the weight of their own pasts—until an accident at the community pool upsets the delicate equilibrium. And when tragic circumstances compel a woman to return to Sycamore Glen after years of self-imposed banishment, the tangle of the neighbors’ intertwined lives begins to unravel.

During the course of a sweltering summer, long-buried secrets are revealed, and the neighbors learn that it’s impossible to really know those closest to us. But is it impossible to love and forgive them?

Book #2:

The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan (Length: 368 pages)> I adored this book! The protagonist opens a little mobile bookshop in Scotland (she’s English) so it combines both travel and books . . . what’s not to love?! There are so many cute, funny and snarky lines of dialogue (ie, the dog having a bar code) that made me LOL at times. This is categorized as a romance (my least favorite genre) but it’s not too cutesy or sappy. This is a fun, quick read and definitely worth checking out!

From the Publisher:

Nina Redmond is a librarian with a gift for finding the perfect book for her readers. But can she write her own happy-ever-after? In this valentine to readers, librarians, and book-lovers the world over, the New York Times-bestselling author of Little Beach Street Bakery returns with a funny, moving new novel for fans of Nina George’s The Little Paris Bookshop.

Nina is a literary matchmaker. Pairing a reader with that perfect book is her passion… and also her job. Or at least it was. Until yesterday, she was a librarian in the hectic city. But now the job she loved is no more. Determined to make a new life for herself, Nina moves to a sleepy village many miles away. There she buys a van and transforms it into a bookmobile — a mobile bookshop that she drives from neighborhood to neighborhood, changing one life after another with the power of storytelling.

From helping her grumpy landlord deliver a lamb, to sharing picnics with a charming train conductor who serenades her with poetry, Nina discovers there’s plenty of adventure, magic, and soul in a place that’s beginning to feel like home… a place where she just might be able to write her own happy ending.

Book #3:

Between the Tides by Patti Callahan Henry (Length: 358 pages). The premise of this novel involves the protagonist returning to her childhood home, and the scene of the death of a family friend/neighbor’s child. This is technically a mystery in the sense of long-held secrets are revealed through the course of the novel. I really enjoyed this! It’s well-written, with a strong, beautifully-illustrated sense of place. There is a bit of romance, but it’s not sickly sweet.

From the Publisher: New York Times bestselling author Patti Callahan Henry portrays a woman burdened by the past—and the choices she must face to break free of it—in this emotional, engaging novel. Nine months after her father’s death, Catherine Leary still hasn’t fulfilled his last wish: that she scatter his ashes in the Seaboro River in South Carolina. The scene of a childhood tragedy that forced her family to move, Seaboro is the last place Catherine wants to see again. But on the evening of her thirtieth birthday, her father’s young colleague—whom she once dated—pays a visit…

Hoping to stop Forrest Anderson from exposing her family’s secrets, she travels to her once-beloved Lowcountry town and embarks on a poignant trip into the past…a journey that might lead her into a new life of love, forgiveness, and self-discovery.

Book #4:

Glass Houses by Louise Penny (Length: 376 pages). I am OBSESSED with Louise Penny and her Three Pines series. (I may do a separate post on my all-time favorite books and series–this will definitely be on the list.) This particular novel is Louise Penny’s 13th Three Pines/Armand Gamache novel, and it’s definitely in my top three favorite of this series. There are two separate plot lines that converge in an explosive finale. I adore Penny’s character development and rich dialogue. This installment really highlights some strong female characters, which I appreciate! Definitely start with Penny’s first novel in the series (Still Life), but don’t get thrown off by the slow start . . . that book picks up about halfway through.

From the Publisher: When a mysterious figure appears in Three Pines one cold November day, Armand Gamache and the rest of the villagers are at first curious. Then wary. Through rain and sleet, the figure stands unmoving, staring ahead.

From the moment its shadow falls over the village, Gamache, now Chief Superintendent of the Sûreté du Québec, suspects the creature has deep roots and a dark purpose. Yet he does nothing. What can he do? Only watch and wait. And hope his mounting fears are not realized.

But when the figure vanishes overnight and a body is discovered, it falls to Gamache to discover if a debt has been paid or levied.

Months later, on a steamy July day as the trial for the accused begins in Montréal, Chief Superintendent Gamache continues to struggle with actions he set in motion that bitter November, from which there is no going back. More than the accused is on trial. Gamache’s own conscience is standing in judgment.

In Glass Houses, her latest utterly gripping book, number-one New York Times bestselling author Louise Penny shatters the conventions of the crime novel to explore what Gandhi called the court of conscience. A court that supersedes all others.

Book Reviews–October 2017

November 13, 2017

Book #1:

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid (Length: 401 pages). This is a book that absolutely lives up to its hype! The basic premise concerns a young biographer hired by a retired glamourous Hollywood star, who is telling her story bit by bit. I was picturing the movie in my head as I was reading, and that speaks to the fantastic character development and attention to detail in this fantastic novel. This is a true page-turner and it’s a not-to-be-missed read.

From the Publisher: In this entrancing novel “that speaks to the Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor in us all” (Kirkus Reviews), a legendary film actress reflects on her relentless rise to the top and the risks she took, the loves she lost, and the long-held secrets the public could never imagine.

Aging and reclusive Hollywood movie icon Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life. But when she chooses unknown magazine reporter Monique Grant for the job, no one is more astounded than Monique herself. Why her? Why now?

Monique is not exactly on top of the world. Her husband has left her, and her professional life is going nowhere. Regardless of why Evelyn has selected her to write her biography, Monique is determined to use this opportunity to jumpstart her career.

Summoned to Evelyn’s luxurious apartment, Monique listens in fascination as the actress tells her story. From making her way to Los Angeles in the 1950s to her decision to leave show business in the ‘80s, and, of course, the seven husbands along the way, Evelyn unspools a tale of ruthless ambition, unexpected friendship, and a great forbidden love. Monique begins to feel a very real connection to the legendary star, but as Evelyn’s story near its conclusion, it becomes clear that her life intersects with Monique’s own in tragic and irreversible ways.

Book #2:

Thanks, Obama: My Hopey, Changey White House Years by David Litt (Length: 320 pages). I absolutely adored this book! This is a junior speechwriter’s memoir of his 8 years working for both the DNC and President Obama. The author is VERY witty, intelligent, well-read and literally LOL funny! One of my favorite excerpts from this book illustrates both this author’s quick-witted writing as well as my personal sense of humor:

Take prepositions. Valerie [Jarrett] followed the rule that you could never use one to end a sentence. I found this unnecessary. In my own writing, preposition placement isn’t something I lose sleep over. It belonged to Valerie, and the preposition rule was one about which I did not argue.

Right?! How clever is that? If you get this humor, this book is for you. I personally loved this book, and would recommend to anyone who appreciates good writing and who enjoys an insider’s look into the White House.

From the Publisher: More than any other presidency, Barack Obama’s eight years in the White House were defined by young people – twenty-somethings who didn’t have much experience in politics (or anything else, for that matter), yet suddenly found themselves in the most high-stakes office building on earth. David Litt was one of those twenty-somethings. After graduating from college in 2008, he went straight to the Obama campaign. In 2011, he became one of the youngest White House speechwriters in history. Until leaving the White House in 2016, he wrote on topics from healthcare to climate change to criminal justice reform. As President Obama’s go-to comedy writer, he also took the lead on the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, the so-called “State of the Union of jokes.”

Now, in this refreshingly honest memoir, Litt brings us inside Obamaworld. With a humorists’ eye for detail, he describes what it’s like to accidentally trigger an international incident or nearly set a president’s hair aflame. He answers questions you never knew you had: Which White House men’s room is the classiest? What do you do when the commander in chief gets your name wrong? Where should you never, under any circumstances, change clothes on Air Force One? With nearly a decade of stories to tell, Litt makes clear that politics is completely, hopelessly absurd.

But it’s also important. For all the moments of chaos, frustration, and yes, disillusionment, Litt remains a believer in the words that first drew him to the Obama campaign: “People who love this country can change it.” In telling his own story, Litt sheds fresh light on his former boss’s legacy. And he argues that, despite the current political climate, the politics championed by Barack Obama will outlive the presidency of Donald Trump.

Full of hilarious stories and told in a truly original voice, Thanks, Obama is an exciting debut about what it means – personally, professionally, and politically – to grow up.

Book #3:

Beyond Belief: My Secret Life Inside Scientology and My Harrowing Escape by Jenna Miscavige Hill (Length: 427 pages). True confession: I’ve always been fascinated with the mindset of those who join and belong to cults and evangelical-type religions. I’m currently obsessed with Leah Remini’s “Scientology and the Aftermath” the Emmy-award winning show on A&E, so when this Kindle book popped up on an Amazon Daily Deal, I decided to check it out. This is an incredibly interesting and detailed account of the life of someone born into Scientology, who also happens to be the niece of the “Chairman” of Scientology, David Miscavige. The content of this book is fascinating, but fair warning that there are lots of spelling and grammatical errors (at least in the Kindle edition) which I found to be distracting at times. Of course, the author never received formal schooling so maybe that explains it? 😉 Definitely worth your time if you’re interested in a unique perspective of this insane religious cult.

From the Publisher: Jenna Miscavige Hill, niece of Church of Scientology leader David Miscavige, was raised as a Scientologist but left the controversial religion in 2005. In Beyond Belief, she shares her true story of life inside the upper ranks of the sect, details her experiences as a member Sea Org—the church’s highest ministry, speaks of her “disconnection” from family outside of the organization, and tells the story of her ultimate escape.

In this tell-all memoir, complete with family photographs from her time in the Church, Jenna Miscavige Hill, a prominent critic of Scientology who now helps others leave the organization, offers an insider’s profile of the beliefs, rituals, and secrets of the religion that has captured the fascination of millions, including some of Hollywood’s brightest stars such as Tom Cruise and John Travolta.

Book Reviews–September 2017

November 11, 2017

Book #1:

Turning Angel by Greg Iles (Length: 672 pages). This is the second novel in the Penn Cage series. The best friend of Penn Cage stands accused of the murder of a 17 year old high school student. The author really does a fantastic job, once again, of painting very vivid scenes of this Southern town and culture, and the plot is fast-paced. This page turner features some fantastic plot points, which kept me guessing as a reader. I’d definitely recommend this book in the series.

From the Publisher: Turning Angel marks the long-awaited return of Penn Cage, the lawyer hero of The Quiet Game, and introduces Drew Elliott, the highly respected doctor who saved Penn’s life in a hiking accident when they were boys. As two of the most prominent citizens of Natchez, Drew and Penn sit on the school board of their alma mater, St. Stephen’s Prep. When the nude body of a young female student is found near the Mississippi River, the entire community is shocked—but no one more than Penn, who discovers that his best friend was entangled in a passionate relationship with the girl and may be accused of her murder.

On the surface, Kate Townsend seems the most unlikely murder victim imaginable. A star student and athlete, she’d been accepted to Harvard and carried the hope and pride of the town on her shoulders. But like her school and her town, Kate also had a secret life—one about which her adult lover knew little. When Drew begs Penn to defend him, Penn allows his sense of obligation to override his instinct and agrees. Yet before he can begin, both men are drawn into a dangerous web of blackmail and violence. Drew reacts like anything but an innocent man, and Penn finds himself doubting his friend’s motives and searching for a path out of harm’s way.

More dangerous yet is Shad Johnson, the black district attorney whose dream is to send a rich white man to death row in Mississippi. At Shad’s order, Drew is jailed, the police cease hunting Kate’s killer, and Penn realizes that only by finding Kate’s murderer himself can he save his friend’s life.

With his daughter’s babysitter as his guide, Penn penetrates the secret world of St. Stephen’s, a place that parents never see, where reality veers so radically from appearance that Penn risks losing his own moral compass. St. Stephen’s is a dark mirror of the adult world, one populated by steroid-crazed jocks, girls desperate for attention, jaded teens flirting with nihilism, and hidden among them all—one true psychopath. It is Penn’s journey into the heart of his alma mater that gives Turning Angel its hypnotic power, for on that journey he finds that the intersection of the adult and nearly adult worlds is a dangerous place indeed. By the time Penn arrives at the shattering truth behind Kate Townsend’s death, his quiet Southern town will never be the same.

Book #2:

Gods in Alabama by Joshilyn Jackson (Length: 320 pages). I’ve got conflicting feelings about this book. While I don’t think I’m overly judgmental (and I’m as liberal as they come), I found myself absolutely shocked at the protagonist’s behavior as a high school girl (shown in vivid flashbacks), as I found it to be very disturbing. The protagonist isn’t likeable at all, but the author’s writing did cause me to keep reading. I particularly enjoyed the witty repartee between various characters and it’s this appropriately-paced and well-written dialogue that ultimately redeems the book to me in the end. While I don’t wholeheartedly recommend it (and absolutely not if you’re particularly conservative), I am glad I took the time to read it and to finish it.

From the Publisher: For 10 years Arlene has kept her promises, and God has kept His end of the bargain. Until now. When an old schoolmate from Possett turns up at Arlene’s door in Chicago asking questions about Jim Beverly, former quarterback and god of Possett High, Arlene’s break with her former hometown is forced to an end. At the same time, Burr, her long-time boyfriend, has raised an ultimatum: introduce him to her family or consider him gone. Arlene loves him dearly but knows her lily white (not to mention deeply racist) Southern Baptist family will not understand her relationship with an African American boyfriend. Reluctantly, Arlene bows to the pressure, and she and Burr embark on the long-avoided road trip back home. As Arlene digs through guilt and deception, her patched-together alibi begins to unravel, and she discovers how far she will go for love and a chance at redemption.

Book #3:

The Marriage Lie by Kimberly Belle (Length: 352 pages). I picked up this book because of the various reviewers’ comparisons of this novel to The Girl on the Train and Gone Girl. While neither of those books were favorite reads of mine (I’ll save those reviews for another day), I do enjoy a well-written psychological thriller or mystery, and I was really hoping this would be worth a read. And it was! This book was an absolute page-turner, and kept me guessing until the very end. While this isn’t the best writing I’ve ever read, it wasn’t bad to the point of being distracting (ain’t no one got time for that!) and the author’s development of the main characters was excellent here. I found the ending to be very satisfying (after my heart calmed down enough to process it). Definitely worth a read!

From the Publisher: Everyone has secrets… Iris and Will have been married for seven years, and life is as close to perfect as it can be. But on the morning Will flies out for a business trip to Florida, Iris’s happy world comes to an abrupt halt: another plane headed for Seattle has crashed into a field, killing everyone on board and, according to the airline, Will was one of the passengers.

Grief stricken and confused, Iris is convinced it all must be a huge misunderstanding. Why did Will lie about where he was going? And what else has he lied about? As Iris sets off on a desperate quest to uncover what her husband was keeping from her, the answers she finds shock her to her very core.

Book #4

Windfall by Jennifer E. Smith (Length: 434 pages). Full disclosure: this is a YA (young adult) novel. I do try to preview some novels for my tween daughter, and often I get sucked in if the plot or characters are well-written enough. This is one of those books that’s appropriate for tweens but it’s also fun to read for adults. I really enjoyed the lottery winner angle of the book and I kept reading further to see how the characters were affected by such a huge windfall of money. While the romance is a bit cheesy (as YA novel romances should be, in my opinion), the author does manage to make the main characters three-dimensional enough to be very interesting and to make the reader feel empathy for the events that affect the characters. Pick this up for a tween or teen you know and read it too!

From the Publisher: Alice doesn’t believe in luck—at least, not the good kind. But she does believe in love, and for some time now, she’s been pining for her best friend, Teddy. On his eighteenth birthday—just when it seems they might be on the brink of something—she buys him a lottery ticket on a lark. To their astonishment, he wins $140 million, and in an instant, everything changes.

At first, it seems like a dream come true, especially since the two of them are no strangers to misfortune. As a kid, Alice won the worst kind of lottery possible when her parents died just over a year apart from each other. And Teddy’s father abandoned his family not long after that, leaving them to grapple with his gambling debts. Through it all, Teddy and Alice have leaned on each other. But now, as they negotiate the ripple effects of Teddy’s newfound wealth, a gulf opens between them. And soon, the money starts to feel like more of a curse than a windfall.

As they try to find their way back to each other, Alice learns more about herself than she ever could have imagined . . . and about the unexpected ways in which luck and love sometimes intersect.

Book #5:

The Devil’s Punchbowl by Greg Iles (Length: 594 pages). Um. This one is tough. This is the third novel in the Penn Cage series, and it’s another extremely well-written thriller, with very interesting characters. Having said that, the subject matter (dog-fighting and violence against women) make this one gruesome read. While I think these are two issues that should be written about (and arguably are somewhat related), even as a retired criminal prosecutor, I didn’t have the stomach to read some passages of this book. However, if you are able to handle these topics, they definitely are not gratuitous in any way to this novel, and in fact are part of what makes this novel such a page-turner. Let me know what you think if you take a chance on this one!

From the Publisher: From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Penn Cage series comes an electrifying thriller that reveals a world of depravity, sex, violence, and the corruption of a Southern town. As a prosecuting attorney in Houston, Penn Cage sent hardened killers to death row. But it is as mayor of his hometown—Natchez, Mississippi—that Penn will face his most dangerous threat. Urged by old friends to try to restore this fading jewel of the Old South, Penn has ridden into office on a tide of support for change. But in its quest for new jobs and fresh money, Natchez, like other Mississippi towns, has turned to casino gambling, and now five fantastical steamboats float on the river beside the old slave market at Natchez like props from Gone With the Wind.

But one boat isn’t like the others. Rumor has it that the Magnolia Queen has found a way to pull the big players from Las Vegas to its Mississippi backwater. And with them—on sleek private jets that slip in and out of town like whispers in the night—come pro football players, rap stars, and international gamblers, all sharing an unquenchable taste for one thing: blood sport—and the dark vices that go with it. When a childhood friend of Penn’s who brings him evidence of these crimes is brutally murdered, the full weight of Penn’s failure to protect his city hits home. So begins his quest to find the men responsible. But it’s a hunt he begins alone, for the local authorities have been corrupted by the money and power of his hidden enemy.

Book Reviews–August 2017

November 10, 2017

Book #1:

Fitness Junkie by Lucy Sykes and Jo Piazza (Length: 306 pages). Well, this one is kind of embarrassing to admit having read, but in my defense, I am a HUGE lover of fitness, and am currently obsessed with CrossFit (with past obsessions with BodyPump and yoga). I thought I’d read about different types of fitness classes while reading a fun novels–two birds, one stone. This book was NOT as fun as CrossFit. Maybe it’s the copyright issues but the authors focused on more made-up types of fitness, and the plot was absolutely ridiculous and silly. This is a fluff read, with zero substance and not much to redeem itself. Pass.

From the Publisher: From the bestselling authors of The Knockoff, an outrageously funny novel about one woman’s attempt—through clay diets, naked yoga, green juice, and cultish workout classes—to win back her career, save her best friend, and lose thirty pounds.

When Janey Sweet, CEO of a couture wedding dress company, is photographed in the front row of a fashion show eating a bruffin—the delicious lovechild of a brioche and a muffin—her best friend and business partner, Beau, gives her an ultimatum: Lose thirty pounds or lose your job. Sure, Janey has gained some weight since her divorce, and no, her beautifully cut trousers don’t fit like they used to, so Janey throws herself headlong into the world of the fitness revolution, signing up for a shockingly expensive workout pass, baring it all for Free the Nipple yoga, sweating through boot camp classes run by Sri Lankan militants and spinning to the screams of a Lycra-clad instructor with rage issues. At a juice shop she meets Jacob, a cute young guy who takes her dumpster-diving outside Whole Foods on their first date. At a shaman’s tea ceremony she meets Hugh, a silver fox who holds her hand through an ayahuasca hallucination And at a secret exercise studio Janey meets Sara Strong, the wildly popular workout guru whose special dance routine has starlets and wealthy women flocking to her for results that seem too good to be true. As Janey eschews delicious carbs, pays thousands of dollars to charlatans, and is harassed by her very own fitness bracelet, she can’t help but wonder: Did she really need to lose weight in the first place? A hilarious send-up of the health and wellness industry, Fitness Junkie is a glorious romp through the absurd landscape of our weight-obsessed culture.

Book #2:

The Quiet Game by Greg Iles (Length: 436 pages). This is the first book in the series featuring Penn Cage, a former prosecutor turned novelist living in Natchez, Mississippi. This is a fantastic legal thriller set in the South. It reminded me of Grisham’s earlier novels in terms of plot and pacing, but this series is much better written. Iles has a knack for drawing characters with depth, and his plots are a lot more realistic than most. I highly recommend!

From the publisher: From the author of Mississippi Blood comes the first intelligent, gripping thriller in the #1 New York Times bestselling Series.

Natchez, Mississippi. Jewel of the South. City of old money and older sins. And childhood home of Houston prosecutor Penn Cage.

In the aftermath of a personal tragedy, this is where Penn has returned for solitude. This is where he hopes to find peace. What he discovers instead is his own family trapped in a mystery buried for thirty years but never forgotten—the town’s darkest secret, now set to trap and destroy Penn as well.

Book #3:

The Year of Living Danishly by Helen Russell (Length: 389 pages). Having visited Copenhagen, Denmark last summer, I was really excited to check out this first-hand account of a woman living in a city outside Copenhagen for a year. Her husband was hired to work at Lego (!) so she joined him while working at home as a writer. This was a fascinating look, month by month, of daily life in Denmark, with a detailed examination of the social mores and culture of Danes. The author tries to get to the bottom of exactly why the country of Denmark has the happiest people in the world. While the author shares quite a few funny insights, I did find her to be a bit whiny at times, which was off-putting, but I still recommend reading this breezy, enjoyable book.

From the publisher: When she was suddenly given the opportunity of a new life in rural Jutland, journalist and archetypal Londoner Helen Russell discovered a startling statistic: the happiest place on earth isn’t Disneyland, but Denmark, a land often thought of by foreigners as consisting entirely of long dark winters, cured herring, Lego and pastries.
What is the secret to their success? Are happy Danes born, or made?

Helen decides there is only one way to find out: she will give herself a year, trying to uncover the formula for Danish happiness.
From childcare, education, food and interior design (not to mention ‘hygge’) to SAD, taxes, sexism and an unfortunate predilection for burning witches, The Year of Living Danishly is a funny, poignant record of a journey that shows us where the Danes get it right, where they get it wrong, and how we might just benefit from living a little more Danishly ourselves.

Lora Terrill

From My Nightstand