Every Friday, we’ll post a sample of the many reviews that have been added to our online summer reading program over the past week. You can always read more of them on their respective, review pages: Adult & Staff. If you’re interested in writing your own reviews, head over to tinyurl.com/sewickleyreads to sign up!
The Breakup Bible by Melissa Kantor – The Breakup Bible is SO accurate. It really does show what a broken heart can do. Jenny has just been dumped by Max and just can’t get over him. Great book. The only thing that kept me from loving it is that Jenny is not really a likable girl. She’s pretty judgmental about everyone else in the world. Hints of a less evil Margaret Simon. But that’s it. Written by the author of Girlfriend Material and the Darlings series. Good book for someone going through the pain of a break up.
Cell 8 by Roslund & Hellstrom – Ohio death row inmate “dies”, is buried, wakes up in Sweden (vis Moscow), marries, works as band singer, kicks a drunken idiot, is arrested, deported to Moscow, extradited to Ohio, & is executed. Excellent writing.
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein – “In 1943, a British fighter plane crashes in Nazi-occupied France and the survivor tells a tale of friendship, war, espionage, and great courage as she relates what she must to survive while keeping secret all that she can.” I was not prepared for the second half of this upsetting and amazing tale!
Confessions of a Not It Girl by Melissa Kantor – I always hated being it. It is funny how that idea of being “it” changes. I am NOT an it girl at all. Never have been, sadly. Jan (pronounced Yahn, she is named for one of her parents’ favorite artists, Jan Van Eyck. I like him too, but I wouldn’t name a kid after him!) Miller isn’t either. Confessions of a Not It Girl is her story of love non-existant and love almost lost and love found. This is another from Melissa Kantor and I liked it, but Jan wasn’t very likable, but again, not liking the main character all that much and yet still being able to enjoy the book says something good about the book. I think Kantor is a really good author. A good, quick read and there are some very funny, funny lines.
A Dark and Lonely Place by Edna Buchanan – it was a long slow read. the basic story is attention grabbing, but not where the reader won’t put down the book. I did finish it tho. I would rate it a C to C-
Devil is Waiting by Jack Higgins – Islam, IRA, Mossad all tangle along with the irrestible lure of power and money overcoming devotion to Allah. Alas, youth cannot be revisited.
Fifty Shades Freed by E L James – I had a harder time getting through this book in the trilogy. However, it was still enjoyable and I was very sad to close this one up. I feel like I’ve said good-bye to close friends! I seem to always go through this little mourning phase at the end of a really absorbing series!
The Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick – I’ve had this on my shelf forever and just got around to reading it. I’d heard it was really good, but I was doubtful at first because it gets off to a slow start. Well, it turned out to be one of those stories that is like a roller coaster and the first part you’re just clacking up the hill wondering when you’re ever going to get to the top and then it just takes off! The characters were all kind of nuts, but not nuts enough that you couldn’t see where they were coming from.
Rose Madder by Stephen King – Story told from two perspectives: Rose, a battered and broken wife and Norman, her disturbed, abusive husband. Rose escapes to Chicago and starts a new, hopeful life but you know Norman is coming. The fact that King lets you into Norman’s thought process, might be the most disturbing thing about this book. Not only because you learn his motivations, but because you actually start to feel bad for him. At least I did. Predictably, his childhood was marred by his father who was abusive both physically and sexually. Norman does a lot of very disturbing things to anyone who gets in his way.
Rose, meanwhile, is ambling along in her new life. Not sure of who to trust, what feelings she should have, and what her life will become. Then she finds (or rather is found by) a mysterious and unsettling painting in a pawn shop. This book did take awhile to get supernatural. I was glad it did because without it, Rose was just boring and honestly, a little annoying.
Reminded me a lot of Insomnia especially when they mentioned Susan Day! (Hey Hey)
Th1rteen R3asons Why by Jay Asher – “Everything affects everything,” declares Hannah Baker, who killed herself two weeks ago. After her death, Clay Jensen finds seven cassette tapes in a brown paper package on his doorstep. The narrative alternates between Hannah story which chronicles the13 people who led her to make this horrific choice and Clay Jensen’s thoughts, reactions and revelations. The author creates an intense, suspenseful novel that was quite thought provoking. Disturbing but worth reading.
Twilight Eyes by Dean Koontz – Although there is an undercurrent of horror – goblins masquerading as humans are the scary psychopaths here – this is a psychological thriller about a boy attempting to hide among carnival folk in a Pennsylvania town.
Blood, Bones, and Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton – This isn’t just a chef writing about food, this is a chef writing about her very interesting life. But you can see where the relationship with food comes from.
French Fried by Harriet Welty Rochefort – I am a huge lover of all things non fiction so this book was a delicious morsel to snack on!
Raising the perfect child through guilt and manipulation by Elizabeth Beckwith – This is funny, but not at all politically correct. Like it could be offensive to family-oriented people and to people who try not to be racist–so pretty much everyone. But if you don’t mind being offended, it has some entertaining views on parenting, and even some that I might use with my own kids. Check this Book Out Today!