112. There's Something About Merry by Codi Hall

listened on Audible

2021
336 pgs.
Adult Christmas romcom
Finished 12/12/21
Goodreads rating:  3.70

My rating: 3
Setting: contemporary Misteltoe, Idaho (groan....)

My comments: Nicely narrated.  A cutesie Christmas romance about a single dad and a very sweet (too sweet?) happy middle daughter of a Christmas tree farm family that is way over-the-top too-good-to-be-true.  A real Hallmark movie book.  Fun to listen to, however,  And although there was nothing super steamy , there were some places that would probably raise many eyebrows...

Goodreads synopsis:   Get in the holiday spirit with this sexy rom-com from the author of Nick and Noel's Christmas Playlist.

Merry Winters has the holiday blues. She's spent the last year learning to love herself, and now she's ready to find the right guy. But the pickings are slim in Mistletoe, Idaho, and it’s just her luck that the man who catches her eye is the stoic new foreman at her family’s Christmas tree farm. Too bad he wants to keep a 39-and-a-half-foot pole between them.

Single dad Clark Griffin isn't looking for romance, but he wouldn't mind a friend to snuggle with on a cold winter's night. When he signs up for online dating, he doesn't expect to connect with the sassy, crafty Knottygirl25 and get wrapped up in every message she writes.

But when Merry turns out to be his blind internet date, his surprise causes him to miss his chance under the mistletoe. Can a little Christmas magic give these two a second chance at a first impression?

20. Nine Elms by Robert Bryndza

#1 Kate Marshall
read on my iPhone (Kindle)
2019 Thomas & Mercer
392 pgs.
Adult murder mystery series
Finished 1/28/2020
Goodreads rating: 4.15 - 5701 ratings
My rating:  3.5
Setting: Contemporary England

First line/s:  "Detective Constable Kate Marshall was on the train home when her phone rang."

My comments:  This was an intricately told from two points of view - that of the good guy and that of the bad guy.  And this was a VERY bad guy, with clever accomplices and a particularly weird relationship with his mother.  Kate had been a cop when she first met Peter, another copy, and had even had a one-night stand with him before she disovered he was a notorious serial killer.  Now incarcerated in a hospital for the mentally and possibly insane, he, his mother, and a new wannabe create a plot to not only spring him from this high-security prison, but get revenge upon Kate.  The back-and-forth is interesting, but because I was reading it in spits and spurts, it did seem to drag a little.  If I'd read it in one long swoop or listened to it, it would've probably not seemed so draggy.  It was a really good story, twisted, dark, and particularly grizzly.  It was also the first in the series.  I do think that I will read the second.

Goodreads synopsis:  From the breakthrough international bestselling author of The Girl in the Ice, a breathtaking, page-turning novel about a disgraced female detective’s fight for redemption. And survival…
          Kate Marshall was a promising young police detective when she caught the notorious Nine Elms serial killer. But her greatest victory suddenly turned into a nightmare. Traumatized, betrayed, and publicly vilified for the shocking circumstances surrounding the cannibal murder case, Kate could only watch as her career ended in scandal.
          Fifteen years after those catastrophic events, Kate is still haunted by the unquiet ghosts of her troubled past. Now a lecturer at a small coastal English university, she finally has a chance to face them. A copycat killer has taken up the Nine Elms mantle, continuing the ghastly work of his idol.
          Enlisting her brilliant research assistant, Tristan Harper, Kate draws on her prodigious and long-neglected skills as an investigator to catch a new monster. Success promises redemption, but there’s much more on the line: Kate was the original killer’s intended fifth victim…and his successor means to finish the job.

15. The Wish by Patricia Davids

#1 Amish of Cedar Grove
Listened to the Audio/Chirp
narrated  by Christina Traister
Unabridged audio (8:57)
2019 HQN Books
384 pgs.
Adult Christian CRF
Finished 1/23/2020
Goodreads rating: 4.49 - 122 ratings
My rating:  4
Setting: Contemporary small Amish community in - I think - Kansas

First line/s:  "This was so much harder than she expected it to be."

My comments:  I enjoyed this clean Amish romance.  The bishop was a kind, good man, unlike many of the bishops that I've read about in previous Amish literature.  The narrator read the voice of Joshua in a very flat, unemotional way, which was disconcerting.  I'm sure she was trying to keep her voice as "male" as possible, but there were some places that the lack of emotion was not what would have been actually happening.  Just made it so that I had to keep reminding myself that what I heard and what was actually meant to be heard were two different things.  So much forgiveness and looking past wrongs in this Amish community!  Some of the values in this book were quite different from those I've read about in others.  There seems to be a vast difference between different communities.  This one was in Kansas.  I enjoyed it.

Goodreads synopsis:  Widow Laura Beth Yoder longs for a family of her own. So much so that she’s preparing to leave the sleepy Amish town she calls home to find love. But a terrible storm washes out the creek, forcing her to wade in and save the life of an Englisch man and his adorable infant son. As they recover at the farm, the baby brings sunshine and joy, while the handsome outsider is filled with shadows…and secrets.
          Joshua King owes his life and his son’s to Laura Beth. Still, lingering at her farm is out of the question. He must fulfill a promise he made to his estranged wife on her deathbed: to deliver their son to his Amish in-laws. With his dark past, Joshua has no other choice. But his plans never took this sweet and surprising Amish widow into account. She just might be his second chance at happiness…and love.

4. The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman

Listened to the eAudio which I borrowed from the library
narrated  by Emily Rankin
Unabridged audio (9:03)
2019 Berkley
352 pgs.
Adult RomCom
Finished 1/9/2020
Goodreads rating: 3.87 - 22,921 ratings
My rating: 5
Setting: Contemporary LA

First line/s:  "In which we meet our heroine and witness a crime of thoughtlessness. Imagine you're a bird.  You can be any kind of bird, but hose of you who've chosen ostrich or chicken are going to struggle to keep up."

My comments: Read (or listened to....) in one day.  Oh darn, it ended.  I didn't want it to end.  What a deliciously written (and narrated) book!  Ms. Waxman loves words and putting them together.  She's created a wonderful family, clever conversation, and the absolutely most perfect setting int eh word:  a cozy, busy, viable bookstore.  Then  she's loaded the story with people to care about, situations that are over-the-top funny ... and trivia, lots of trivia.  Long live Nina, her planner, her cat, Phil, (Tom, of course), and beautifully crafted bookshelves loaded with books.

Goodreads synopsis:  The only child of a single mother, Nina has her life just as she wants it: a job in a bookstore, a kick-butt trivia team, a world-class planner and a cat named Phil. If she sometimes suspects there might be more to life than reading, she just shrugs and picks up a new book.
          When the father Nina never knew existed suddenly dies, leaving behind innumerable sisters, brothers, nieces, and nephews, Nina is horrified. They all live close by! They're all—or mostly all—excited to meet her! She'll have to Speak. To. Strangers. It's a disaster! And as if that wasn't enough, Tom, her trivia nemesis, has turned out to be cute, funny, and deeply interested in getting to know her. Doesn't he realize what a terrible idea that is?
          Nina considers her options.
                    1. Completely change her name and appearance. (Too drastic, plus she likes her hair.)
                    2. Flee to a deserted island. (Hard pass, see: coffee).
                    3. Hide in a corner of her apartment and rock back and forth. (Already doing it.)
          It's time for Nina to come out of her comfortable shell, but she isn't convinced real life could ever live up to fiction. It's going to take a brand-new family, a persistent suitor, and the combined effects of ice cream and trivia to make her turn her own fresh page.

25. Bird Box by Josh Malerman

read the book - received from @Kaye - Listsy  #Passport
2014, Ecco
262 pgs.
Adult Dystopia/Horror
Finished 3/17/18
Goodreads rating:3.98 - 49,950 ratings
My rating: 4.5
Setting: Anywhere, USA contemporary (dystopian) times

First line/s: " Malorie stands in the kitchen, thinking.
     Her hands are damp.  She is trembling.  She taps her toe nervously on the cracked tile floor.  It is early; the sun is probably only peeking above the horizon.  She watches its meaager light turn the heavy window drapes of softer shade of black and thinks,
     That was a fog.
     The children sleep under chicken wire draped in black cloth down the hall.  Maybe they heard her moments ago on her knees in the yard.  Whatever noise she made must have traveled through the microphones, then the amplifiers that sat beside their beds."

My comments: This is not a book I would have ordered, or bought, or borrowed.  Its blurbs, reviews, and summaries sound too scary and disconcerting.  But the book was put in my hands and I opened it and read the first short chapter.  I was immediately hooked.  It's sad. It's depressing.  But it's fascinating.  Apparently it's being made into a movie and I can't imagine how that could be done successfully because so much of it takes place in the total absoluteness of darkness, blindfolded or eyes-shut darkness. Yes, it's going to be a scary movie, and yes, I'm going to go see it!

Goodreads synopsis: Something is out there, something terrifying that must not be seen. One glimpse of it, and a person is driven to deadly violence. No one knows what it is or where it came from.
          Five years after it began, a handful of scattered survivors remains, including Malorie and her two young children. Living in an abandoned house near the river, she has dreamed of fleeing to a place where they might be safe. Now that the boy and girl are four, it's time to go, but the journey ahead will be terrifying: twenty miles downriver in a rowboat--blindfolded--with nothing to rely on but her wits and the children’s trained ears. One wrong choice and they will die. Something is following them all the while, but is it man, animal, or monster?
          Interweaving past and present, Bird Box is a snapshot of a world unraveled that will have you racing to the final page.

MOVIE - Menashe

PG (1:21)

Limited release 7/28/27

Viewed 10/26/17 at Carlisle Theater (downtown)
IMBd: 6.4/10

RT Critic:  96  Audience:  64
Critic's Consensus:  Menashe offers an intriguing look at a culture whose unfamiliarity to many viewers will be rendered irrelevant by the story's universally affecting themes and thoughtful approach.

Cag:  2/Okay

Directed by Joshua Z. Weinstein

A24 Films

Based on a real story, and protagonist is portrayed by the real person on which it's based.

My comments:  I had high expectations for this movie but came out feeling just "meh"  No joy, no joy at all.  A very depressing film.  I shouldn't be surprised, I suppose, because I almost always feel that way after I watch anything about any kind of deeply religious cult. I'm afraid I can't rate this very highly.  Not recommended.

RT/ IMDb Summary:  Deep in the heart of New York's ultra-orthodox Hasidic Jewish community, Menashe--a kind, hapless grocery store clerk--struggles to make ends meet and responsibly parent his young son, Rieven, following his wife Leah's death. Tradition prohibits Menashe from raising his son alone, so Rieven's strict uncle adopts him, leaving Menashe heartbroken. Meanwhile, though Menashe seems to bungle every challenge in his path, his rabbi grants him one special week with Rieven before Leah's memorial. It's his chance to prove himself a suitable man of faith and fatherhood, and restore respect among his doubters.

Also:  Menashe, a widower, lives and works within the Hasidic community of Borough Park, Brooklyn. Since his wife passed away a year before, he has been trying hard to regain custody of his nine-year-old son, Rieven. But the rabbi (and all the community behind him) will not hear of it unless he re-marries, which Menashe does not want, his first marriage having been very unhappy. Father and son get on well together, but can Menashe take care of Rieven properly? Not really for all his goodwill as he holds down a low-paid job as a grocery clerk that consumes too much of his efforts and energy. Always late, always in a hurry, he endeavors to improve himself though. But will his efforts be enough to convince the rabbi that he can be a good father without a wife at home?

14. The Warden's Daughter by Jerry Spinelli

listened to on Audio cd in the car
6 unabridged cds, 7 hours
2017, Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers
352 pgs.
Middle grades Historical Fiction
Finished 3/6/17
Goodreads rating: 3.62 - 680 ratings
My rating: 4
Setting: 1959 Hancock County, (Pennsylvania?)

First line/s: (from Chapter 1, Cammie, 1959)
"Breakfast time in the prison.  The smell of fried scrapple filled the apartment.  It happened every morning."

My comments:  I listened to this book.  I don't know if I would have read it.  I seem to be getting particular about the way a story starts, and this one did not immediately draw me in.  But the reader, Carrington McDuffie, with her smoky almost male-sounding voice DID begin to draw me in.  The story takes place in 1959 in Brooklyn New York, where Cammie is being raised by her single dad, who happens to be the warden of the county jail.  This is the story of a motherless girl during the summer before seventh grade, the summer when the loss of her mother becomes too much to bear.  It was a mesmerizing story.  The ending takes place 50 years later, still told in the first person by the protagonist, and I almost wish that it had ended back in 1959.  I'm not sure why Spinelli decided to write it this way.  Perhaps the ending is for the adult readers....  This was definitely a marvelous book, once you get into it.

Goodreads synopsis:  From Newbery Medalist Jerry Spinelli (Maniac Magee, Stargirl) comes the "moving and memorable" (Kirkus Reviews, starred) story of a girl searching for happiness inside the walls of a prison.
          Cammie O'Reilly lives at the Hancock County Prison--not as a prisoner, she's the warden's daughter. She spends the mornings hanging out with shoplifters and reformed arsonists in the women's exercise yard, which gives Cammie a certain cache with her school friends. 
But even though Cammie's free to leave the prison, she's still stuck. And sad, and really mad. Her mother died saving her from harm when she was just a baby. You wouldn't think you could miss something you never had, but on the eve of her thirteenth birthday, the thing Cammie most wants is a mom. A prison might not be the best place to search for a mother, but Cammie is determined and she's willing to work with what she's got. 
           "Jerry Spinelli again proves why he's the king of storytellers" (Shelf Awarenss, starred) in this tale of a girl who learns that heroes can come in surprising disguises, and that even if we don't always get what we want, sometimes we really do get what we need. 
          "This book is never boring and never predictable. Fame, good and bad fortune, friendship and mental illness all make their way into [Cammie's] narrative."--The New York Times Book Review 
Praise for the works of Jerry Spinelli: 
          "Spinelli is a poet of the prepubescent. . . . No writer guides his young characters, and his readers, past these pitfalls and challenges and toward their futures with more compassion." --The New York Times 
          "It's almost unreal how much the children's book still resonates." --Bustle.com on Maniac Magee

MOVIE - Captain Fantastic

R (1:59)

7/8/16 Limited Release

Viewed Sunday, 8/14/16 at Carlisle Theater on High Street, Carlisl

RT Critic: 79   Audience:  85
Critic's Consensus:  Fantastic's thought-provoking themes -- and an absorbing starring turn from Viggo Mortensen -- add up to an above-average family drama with unexpected twists.

Cag:  5.5 Wonderful, thought provoking movie which I really loved (though a tear jerker in places)

Directed by Matt Ross

Electric City Entertainment

Viggo Mortensen

My comments:This was a wonderful movie to watch.  Pulled me right in, I was there, laughing and crying and relating and commiserating. The whole cast really worked, and Viggo Mortensen was fabulous.

IMBd Summary:  Deep in the forests of the Pacific Northwest, isolated from society, a devoted father dedicates his life to transforming his six young children into extraordinary adults. But when a tragedy strikes the family, they are forced to leave this self-created paradise and begin a journey into the outside world that challenges his idea of what it means to be a parent and brings into question everything he's taught them.

40. Summerlost by Allie Condie

listened to unabridged cd in the car
2016 Dutton Books for Young Readers
272 pgs.
Middle Grades CRF
Finished 7/20/16
Goodreads rating: 3.86 - 3067 ratings
My rating: 4.5
Setting: contemporary middle class America

First line/s:  "Our new house had a blue door.  The rest of the house was painted white and shingled gray."

My comments:  I've read at least 50 books since I read this one, and I had forgotten to write a review when I finished it, but here's what I remember.  I remember a lot, which I usually don't after this much time has gone by (it's now April, '17).  I listened to this in the car riding around PA with Ella last summer.  She loved it.  I liked most of it.  I was disconcerted by the amount of things the kids actually got away with without letting their parents know.  Sneakiness bothers me, but what they did was for their own good reasons, it worked out, and was actually quite clever.  I liked the relationship between the two protagonists, and I ached for the family in this unending time of grief.  The interaction with the acting theater festival participants was out-of-the-ordinary for a children's book and quite well done, as was the somewhat-flimsy but perfect-for-kids mystery.

Goodreads synopsis:  It's the first real summer since the devastating accident that killed Cedar's father and younger brother, Ben. But now Cedar and what’s left of her family are returning to the town of Iron Creek for the summer. They’re just settling into their new house when a boy named Leo, dressed in costume, rides by on his bike. Intrigued, Cedar follows him to the renowned Summerlost theatre festival. Soon, she not only has a new friend in Leo and a job working concessions at the festival, she finds herself surrounded by mystery. The mystery of the tragic, too-short life of the Hollywood actress who haunts the halls of Summerlost. And the mystery of the strange gifts that keep appearing for Cedar. 
          Infused with emotion and rich with understanding, Summerlost is the touching middle grade debut from Ally Condie, the international bestselling author of the Matched series, that highlights the strength of family and personal resilience in the face of tragedy.

63. The Impossible Knife of Memory - Laurie Halse Anderson

2014, Viking Books for Young Readers
391 pgs.
YA CRF
Finished 11/9/15
Goodreads rating:  3.93
My rating: 4
Setting: Contemporary New York State - somewhere between Albany and Poughkeepsie, which are both mentioned more than once.

First line/s:  "It started in detention.  No surprise there, right?"

My comments:  I read this book in one afternoon/evening/late night.  It was hard to put down. It's about PTSD and its effect on a family.  It's powerful and is a wonderful blend of good characterization and excellent plot.  There are two things that keep me from giving this a 5 - and I don't want to dwell on them, only mention them, because this book is really good.  The hard-to-get-to-know, leave-me-alone protagonist becomes instant best friends with Gracie, a girl she knew, but doesnt' remember, when she way little.  Excellent.  However, there is never any mention of any other friends that Gracie might have.  None.  She's not the type of young lady that would be friendless.  What happened to them?  This didn't work for me.  And then there's the ending, or at least the wrapping-it-up part.  Too quickly told, and not quite totally believable to me.  I love happy endings, but I need to feel they could really happen in the way they're told.  Oh well. I will definitely be recommending this book.

Becky's review from Becky's Book Reviews

Goodreads Summary:  For the past five years, Hayley Kincain and her father, Andy, have been on the road, never staying long in one place as he struggles to escape the demons that have tortured him since his return from Iraq. Now they are back in the town where he grew up so Hayley can attend school. Perhaps, for the first time, Hayley can have a normal life, put aside her own painful memories, even have a relationship with Finn, the hot guy who obviously likes her but is hiding secrets of his own.
        Will being back home help Andy’s PTSD, or will his terrible memories drag him to the edge of hell, and drugs push him over? The Impossible Knife of Memory is Laurie Halse Anderson at her finest: compelling, surprising, and impossible to put down.

48. Songs For a Teenage Nomad - Kim Culbertson

2007 Source Books
245 pgs.
YA CRF
Finished 8-2-2014
Goodreads rating: 3.80
My rating:  3/Liked it
TPPL
Contemporary San Andreas, CA

1st sentence/s:  "My dad named me Calle after a cat he had in ollege that ran away.  He really loved that cat.  I always thought that was funny since he was the one who ran away from me...and my mom."

My comments: This was a quick, interesting read.  There is one female protagonist and a number of minor characters - and the characters seem quite well developed.  The three major "players" in the book are all troubled kids whose jumbled up thoughts and "troubles" come directly from effed up parents. The ending was a bit too convenient, but I'm not complaining.

Goodreads book summary:  What is the soundtrack of your life?         
          After living in twelve places in eight years, Calle Smith finds herself in Andreas Bay, California, at the start of ninth grade. Another new home, another new school...Calle knows better than to put down roots. Her song journal keeps her moving to her own soundtrack, bouncing through a world best kept at a distance.          
          Yet before she knows it, friends creep in-as does an unlikely boy with a secret. Calle is torn over what may be her first chance at love. With all that she's hiding and all that she wants, can she find something lasting beyond music? And will she ever discover why she and her mother have been running in the first place?

35. This is What Happy Looks Like - Jennifer E. Smith

2013 Little Brown & Co.

407 pgs.

YA CRF

Finished 6/7/2014

Goodreads Rating: 3.71

My Rating:  4/Really liked it a lot

TPPL

Setting: Contemporary small-town southern Maine coast

1^st sentence/s:  (email) "Hey, we're running pretty behind here.  Any chance you could walk Wilbur for me tonight?"

My comments:  This is a charming story of unlikely teenagers in a place very familiar to me -- smalltown coastal Maine. Although over 400 pages it was a fast read, all in one day - and you can't keep telling yourself how improbable it all is.  Just take it as it is, a sweet, feel-good, thoughtful kind of tale.

Goodreads Review:  If fate sent you an email, would you answer?
          When teenage movie star Graham Larkin accidentally sends small town girl Ellie O'Neill an email about his pet pig, the two seventeen-year-olds strike up a witty and unforgettable correspondence, discussing everything under the sun, except for their names or backgrounds. 
          Then Graham finds out that Ellie's Maine hometown is the perfect location for his latest film, and he decides to take their relationship from online to in-person. But can a star as famous as Graham really start a relationship with an ordinary girl like Ellie? And why does Ellie want to avoid the media's spotlight at all costs.

38. The Silver Star - Jeannette Walls

audio read by the author (it was okay, but I've heard better, no offense Ms. Walls)

2013, Simon & Schuster Audio

7 unabridged cds

288 pgs.

Written for adults, but I think it's almost more YA

Finished 9/9/2013

Genre: HistFiction (1970 America-smalll town CA, but mostly rural VA)

Goodreads Rating: 3.64

My Rating: Liked it (3) 

TPPL

My comments:This is my first Jeannette Walls, and I enjoyed the story. Bean, the 6th grade protagonist, was a feisty, gutsy first person narrator. I'm not sure why this is billed as an adult novel, though, I would definitely consider it a young adult novel.  Sure there are some heavy-ish issues, but minor compared to some of the current YAs out there.  I enjoyed the 1970 spin on things (the mother sure seemed bipolar, but that would not have been the terminology in 1970), though other than the integration issues, it had a very contemporary feel (did anyone homeschool...or call it homeschooling...in 1970?)

Goodreads Review: It is 1970 in a small town in California. “Bean” Holladay is twelve and her sister, Liz, is fifteen when their artistic mother, Charlotte, a woman who “found something wrong with every place she ever lived,” takes off to find herself, leaving her girls enough money to last a month or two. When Bean returns from school one day and sees a police car outside the house, she and Liz decide to take the bus to Virginia, where their Uncle Tinsley lives in the decaying mansion that’s been in Charlotte’s family for generations.

An impetuous optimist, Bean soon discovers who her father was, and hears many stories about why their mother left Virginia in the first place. Because money is tight, Liz and Bean start babysitting and doing office work for Jerry Maddox, foreman of the mill in town—a big man who bullies his workers, his tenants, his children, and his wife. Bean adores her whip-smart older sister—inventor of word games, reader of Edgar Allan Poe, nonconformist. But when school starts in the fall, it’s Bean who easily adjusts and makes friends, and Liz who becomes increasingly withdrawn. And then something happens to Liz.

MOVIE - Instructions Not Included

PG-13 (1:40)

Limited Release 8/30/13

Went on opening day (8/30/13) to ElCon

RT Critic: (none yet)  Audience: 98

Cag:  5/Loved it

In Spanish with subtitles

Directed by Eugenio Derbez (who also played the lead!)

Lionsgate Films

Eugenio Derbez

Rotten Tomatoes summary:  Valentin (Eugenio Derbez) is Acapulco's resident playboy-until a former fling leaves a baby on his doorstep and takes off without a trace. Valentin leaves Mexico for Los Angeles to find the baby's mother, but only ends up finding a new home for himself and his newfound daughter, Maggie (Loreto Peralta). An unlikely father figure, Valentin raises Maggie for six years, while also establishing himself as one of Hollywood's top stuntmen to pay the bills, with Maggie acting as his on-set coach. AsValentin raises Maggie, she forces him to grow up too. But their unique and offbeat family is threatened when Maggie's birth mom shows up out of the blue, and Valentin realizes he's in danger of losing his daughter- and his best friend.

My comments:  This movie was absolutely wonderful, from beginning to end.  F-U-N-N-Y.  Eugenio Derbez was fabulous. The little girl, Loreto Peralta, who played Maggie, reminded me, physically, so much of my own niece that it was uncanny.  What a terrific, bilingual actress she is.  This was a really special movie, highly recommended.

60. Little Bee - Chris Cleave

read by Anne Flosnick
11 cds
288 pages

Adult Contemporary Realistic Fiction

Finished: 11/9/12

2008, Simon  & Schuster

Goodreads’ rating:  3.53

My rating: 4/Really liked it

Acquired: TPPL audio

Setting: Contemporary London and Nigeria
from GoodReads:  British couple Andrew and Sarah O'Rourke, vacationing on a Nigerian beach in a last-ditch effort to save their faltering marriage, come across Little Bee and her sister, Nigerian refugees fleeing from machete-wielding soldiers intent on clearing the beach. The horrific confrontation that follows changes the lives of everyone involved in unimaginable ways.Two years later, Little Bee appears in London on the day of Andrew's funeral and reconnects with Sarah. Sarah is struggling to come to terms with her husband's recent suicide and the stubborn behavior of her four-year-old son, who is convinced that he really is Batman. The tenuous friendship between Sarah and Little Bee that grows, is challenged, and ultimately endures is the heart of this emotional, tense, and often hilarious novel.Considered by some to be the next Kite Runner, Little Bee is an achingly human story set against the inhuman realities of war-torn Africa. Wrenching tests of friendship and terrible moral dilemmas fuel this irresistible novel.

Reflections: Fantastic writing, incredible story, but it was almost like he had to throw in every sort of sadness and non-happy ending (to MANY of the part of the story) that he possibly could. Yes, there was a lot of humor, too...5+ for the delicious words, 5 for the storytelling, 1 for the incredible sadness. This book has made me rethink what it is that I want in a "good" story.....I listened to this on CD and the reader was amazing. She read Little Bee's part in an English accent with the deep lilting tones of a Nigerian/Jamaican and Sarah's parts in a wonderful British accent. When she spoke as Andrew she gave Scottish inflections....it was really wonderful to listen to

4. A Month of Sundays - Ruth White

2011, Margaret Ferguson Books, Farrar Straus Giroux
168 pgs.
Written for middle grades
Hmph.  Probably shouldn't rate it right now when I'm perturbed with the author.  What's wrong with having a feel-good book once in awhile?  It was like everything was turning out TOO well, so Ms. White decided to end it with a little tragedy.  It was an entirely enjoyable read all the way through until the last 10 pages.  I'm not happy.

Setting:  1957 Black River, Virgina.....Appalachia.
OSS:  When Garnet's mother goes to Florida to make a better life for the two of them, she leaves Garnet with an aunt and uncle that she's never known, finding that having a loving family is pretty special.
The title: Garnet accompanies her Aunt June each Sunday to a different area church while her aunt "searches for God." Good, suitable title.
1st sentence/s:  "Before I was born fourteen years ago, my dad, August Rose, left my mom, Betty Rose, for a carnival singer."

Garnet's unsuspecting aunt and uncle are kind to her, they are quite well off and Garnet has always been incredibly poor.  The grandfather ("Poppy") who never knew she existed is thrilled that he has a granddaughter, and she even finds a good-looking beau.  There's some good looks into what I've always considered "holy roller" churches, the laying of hands, speaking in tongues, tent revivals, baptism in the river, and even faith healing, but the reader is allowed to look and sample and think for themselves.  There's preaching but it's not preachy.

There are also some lines from some old familiar hymns quoted.  It's written so that I could, at times, put myself right into the kitchen with the rest of the family.  I liked it a lot.  Except for the last ten pages.  If there was going to be a tragedy, I would have liked it not thrown in at the very last minute, more towards the middle perhaps????  Darn, darn, darn.

68. Waiting for the Magic - Patricia MacLachlan

Atheneum Books, 2011
HC $15.99
for:  Middle grades
144 pgs. (quick read)
Rating:  5

First Line/s:  It was early on a Saturday summer morning when my mother and father stopped arguing and Papa walked away.  He is a teacher of literature at the college, so he could have said words when he left.  He didn't.  And this time he didn't slam the door.  He shut it with a small soft sound that made me jump.

Setting:  A small contemporary college town somewhere in America.
OSS:  William and his little sister, Elinor, deal with the departure of their father and the withdrawal of their mother when a number of new family members are added to their life.

William and his comical four year old sister/princess are left with a grieving mom and a huge surprise.  I think the surprise would be exciting for any kid....I was really excited at the idea, myself, and about how these two children would feel.  So I'm about to add some major spoilers here....do NOT read on if you haven't read the book, because being surprised - and pleased - a tickled - and excited - is part of the delicious reading experience of this book.

SPOILERS:  So Mama takes them to the animal shelter to get a dog.  But they don't get a dog.  Or two dogs. Or even three.  And throw in a cat.  And, near the end of the book throw in a new sibling.  But the biggest surprise, is the way that the animals and the family communicate.

Lots of gentle humor, complex characters despite the simplicity of the book, I absolutely, 100% loved it - and I don't even like dogs!!!!!

Oh, this woman knows not only how to write beautifully, but how to spin a story.  This one was spun.  Elegantly.

57. Word After Word After Word - Patricia MacLachlan

Katherine Tegen Books, 2010
For: younger middle grades
HC: $14.99
128 pgs.
Rating: Hard to say....great for this word-lover adult, but kids? We'll find out, because I'm going to start the year by reading this aloud and teaching a Patricia MacLachlan author study. That means I have to have it ready for n-e-x-t w-e-e-k!!!

This is a simple, lovely story of a children's writer who shares her love of words with a classroom of kids - and we meet five of them. Friends, each with their own unique qualities and stresses, who meet after school under a lilac bush and discover they love to write - and they CAN write.

Told from the point-of-view of one of the kids, a girl who is sad, whose mother is going through chemo. However, this is NOT a sad book. It's a thoughtful look at the way that kids think, and the way that kids relate to one another

54. Reaching for Sun - Tracie Vaughn Zimmer

Bloomsbury, 2007
HC $15.99/Public Library
181 pgs.
For: Middle Grades (one site shows ages 8-12, one says grade 7 up, though I'm not sure why)
Rating: 4

Josie Wyatt has cerebral palsy, which affects her left hand and arm as well as her speech. However, she just wants to ignore it. People think she's a "retard", but only because she has to work to speak well and because of her physical shortcomings. But she's really, really bright and knows a huge amount about nature and gardening. She is being raised by her single mom and her single grandma. Her mom is rarely home, she's working on a double major and is very job-oriented. It's her grandmother that has taught her about the world.

The farm the Wyatt's live on has been slowly surrounded by massive homes as developers take over much of the land. A new boy, one who happens to be in her class in school, moves into one of the mansions just behind her. He is a naturalist, a scientist, and the two hit it off immediately. This, of course, will change her life.

This is a quick read, but written in lovely verse form:

Kingdom of Imaginary Worlds

An oily stink
blows in again from the bulldozers---
those metal monster dinosaurs
that scar the landscape
behind our old farm.
The tornadoes of dust they kick up
as they move closer each season
leave the porch cushions
and our teeth
dusted with a grimy film.
The echoes
of early-morning hammering
wake me
even on Saturday mornings.
And though I hate
what they've done
to my kingdom of imaginary worlds---
fairy towns and factories
closed,
the summer camp for ogres
shut down,
a homeless shelter for gnomes
flattened---
with chin on knees
I can't help but study the men,
busy as bugs,
not satisfied until they
block another tree
from me.