41. Rabid by Paul Doiron

#8.5 Mike Bowditch
listened using Audible
narrated by Henry Leyva
Unabridged audio (1:16)
2018 Minotaur Books
50 pgs.
Adult HF
Finished 3/1/2020
Goodreads rating: 4.08 - 282 ratings
My rating:  4
Setting: now with story within story taking place in the 1908s.

First line/s: "It was one of those warm June evenings when you can feel the earth pivoting from spring to summer."

My comments: The short novellas by Paul Doiron in the Mike Bowditch series seem to be stories from the past that Charlie Stevens tells.  This one is from the 80s and is his and his wife, Aura's, retelling of confrontations with a Vietnam vet and his Vietnamese wife.  It was interesting, and a bit thought-provoking.

Goodreads synopsis:  In this original short story in the Mike Bowditch mystery series, Mike is drawn into the story of a gruesome case from his mentor Charley Steven’s past.
          Maine Game Warden Mike Bowditch accompanies his old friend and mentor, retired bush pilot Charley Stevens, as he pays a visit to a mysterious woman, the widow of a Vietnam vet, living in isolation in the Maine wilderness. Many years earlier, she had called Charley, then a young game warden himself, for help. She claimed that her badly bleeding husband had been attacked by a rabid bat. But in the succeeding days, despite her husband's increasingly erratic and aggressive behavior, his wife resisted Charley's attempts to help, arousing his suspicions that more was going on than met the eye. Was the husband the victim of rabies, or was he suffering from post traumatic stress disorder? The situation finally erupted into horrific violence, leaving everyone involved deeply scarred. In the devastating finale to RABID, Charley reveals to Mike how he uncovered the awful truth about what actually happened in their home so many years before.

40. Ark by Veronica Roth

listened on Audible - borrowed from Amazon Prime Reading
narrated by Evan Rachel Wood
Unabridged audio (1:22)
20019 Amazon Original
39 pgs.
Genre/Level
Finished 3/1/2020
Goodreads rating: 3.52 - 6138 ratings
My rating:  3
Setting:  Earth, just before an asteroid destroys it

First line/s: "Samantha's hands were still red from the cold, the skin over her knuckles taut and dry."

My comments: A short story has to follow certain criteria - in a small amount of time and space and words you have to give enough information so that your reader can follow your thinking.  I listened to this one twice.  In many ways I've got to say that it's a forgettable story.  It just needs a little more...or a little less....

Goodreads synopsis:  On the eve of Earth’s destruction, a young scientist discovers something too precious to lose, in a story of cataclysm and hope by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Divergent trilogy.
          It’s only two weeks before an asteroid turns home to dust. Though most of Earth has already been evacuated, it’s Samantha’s job to catalog plant samples for the survivors’ unknowable journey beyond.
          Preparing to stay behind and watch the world end, she makes a final human connection.
          As certain doom hurtles nearer, the unexpected and beautiful potential for the future begins to flower.
          Veronica Roth’s Ark is part of Forward, a collection of six stories of the near and far future from out-of-this-world authors. Each piece can be read or listened to in a single thought-provoking sitting. 

Abandoned Books

Echoes Among the Stones by Jaime Jo Wright
2019
Goodreads:  4.58 - 209 ratings
abandoned 1/4/20
I made it - forcing myself - through the first third of this book, but it was too boring, oh so boring!  S L O W.  Didn't really care for the reader either.  It's the beginning of a new year, so I'm not going to force myself to finish!  (Note:  I didn't care for either of the protagonists in either time period, either!, just couldn't engage with either of them at all.)

The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel
2020
Goodreads: 3.79 - 28,089 ratings
abandoned April, 2020'
I think I wasn't in the mood, started listening twice but decided to return it to the library.  Maybe again someday?

The Glovemaker by Ann Weisgarber
abandoned 5/29/2020
DNF at 35%
2019
Goodreads:  3.82 - 1689 reviews
Returned to Audible, since I bought it for a credit.  What a waste of time  The same stuff, over and over and aver again.  And unfortunately, it's boring stuff.  Holier than thou Mormons lying and trying to figure out how to get out of things they've done wrong, all in the name of God.  I just can't go on one more page.

The Huntress by Kate Quinn
abandoned 4/1/2020
DNF at 21%
2019
Goodreads:  4.27 - 55,688 ratings
Usually I like books that keep flipping back-and-forth between people of time periods, but I figure I read almost a quarter of this book and just wasn't into it at all.  Granted, it was about WWII and set between the early1940s and early 1950s, which is a time period of which I am NOT enamored.  This is supposed to be a wonderful, highly rated book, but I've tried off and on for over a week and I'll pass it along to someone else.  (I waited for months for this audio to available through the library.)

Juliet: A Novel by Anne Fortier
DNF at 60%
2011
Goodreads:  3.90 - 25,074 ratings
abandoned 3/1/2020
 I thought I'd be drawn in by the two time periods, the present and the 1400s.  I wasn't.  I've never liked Romeo and Juliet, so I don't know why I thought I'd like this.  Read it on Kindle...

Lady in the Lake by Laura Lippman
2019
Goodreads:  3.56 - 12,812
abandoned February, 2020
I guess I wasn't in the mood, this didn't interest me at all.  I had other good ones waiting, so had no problem abandoning it!

Legendborn by Tracy Deonn

2020 - borrowed from Library, read on Libby

GoodReads: 4.51 - 8615 ratings

abandoned January, 2021

High schooler takes classes at UNC and encounters a secret magical society.  Read 19% of 512 pgs. (97 pgs.) and just didn't care for it.

The Lions of Fifth Avenue by Fiona Davis

2020

3.91 - 26,483 ratings

Read 33% of  354 pgs. = 118 pgs.

Just couldn't get into it, flipping from time periods gave me a sinking feeling about what was going to happen to the original character that I really liked, and I dreaded returning.

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
2009
3.70 - 493,137 ratings
stopped reading mid February, 2020
I do plan to return to this book!  I started it - on a borrowed copy from Melissa Truelove, when it first came out, and didn't finish it then.  I got through 23% of it this time when others I'd borrowed and waited for a long time arrived.  I WILL finish this book, and not in the too far future!  eAudio from Bosler...

The Marriage Act by John Marrs

2023

Goodreads:  3.83

abandoned 3/27/2024

This one wasn't for me.  Too many unlikable characters.  Plus the whole idea of buying into this paticular marriage contract....just had me scratching my head.  I'd stop reading after a few minutes and put off going back to it, so why waste the time?  I probably read 1//5th to 1/4th of it.

The Poison Garden by Alex Marwood
2020
Goodreads:  3.68 - 703 ratings
abandoned February, 2020
I read about 40% of this and didn't like it.  For some reason it made me really nervous and it was one that I had to force myself to start again every time I put it down, unitl I realized I didn't have to finish it, even if I had paid full price for it, lol!

The Secrets of Paper and Ink by Lindsay Harrel
2019
Goodreads:  4.01 - 948 ratings
stopped reading 3/5/2020
I've started and read a great deal of lots of books lately that have been just plain not to my current liking  This one was pretty endless, the same old thing page after page.  All three protagoists were boring and I wasn't in any way compelled by any of their stories.  I read 52% or 326 pgs. (179 pages total)

The Shoemaker's Wife by Adriana Trigiani
2012
Goodreads:  3.99 - 73,279 ratings
I returned this in error before finishing, and had others to read so I went on to them.  I liked what I read so far, though, and would like to finish it.  It was a TPPL AUDIO, and I read/listened to at least 100 pages, so I don't want to wait too long to finish or I'll have to start over.  It was quite memorable.

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
2019
Goodreads:  4.09 - 381,656 ratings
Read 24% (of 325 pgs.)
abandoned 4/26/2020
Slow and boring.  I put off reading this because it didn't sound like my cup of tea, and reading the first quarter of the book made me realize it's just not worth any more of my time.  They haven't even gotten into a tiny bit of Alicia's backstory yet.  I'm not going to wait any longer because, well, I don't care!

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

2020

abandoned 1/20/21

DNF @ at least 50%

I got well into the life of person #3 (the twin sister passing as white) and since I've had to FORCE myself to pick this up, I ended it..

VenCo by Cherie Dimaline

2023

abandoned 3/14/24

Read 1:17, 9:53 left -12% read

Loved the contemporary witches/Salem idea, but just couldn't get into it.  Lots of switching around people, situations, couldn't see it, or keep it in my mind's eye.  Maybe if I read this, but listening isn't working.

39. The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider

read on my iPhone - Amazon Prime
2013 Katherine Tegen
335 pgs.
YA CRF
Finished 2/29/2020
Goodreads rating:  3.76 - 49,498 ratings
My rating: 4.5
Setting: Contemporary America

First line/s:  "Sometimes I think that everyone has a tragedy waiting for them, that the people buying milk in their pajamas or picking their noses at

stoplights could be only moments away from disaster."

My comments:  Terrific tale.  I loved being able to totally get into his head, to feel his back-and-forth feelings about his new disability, his friendships old and new, his future, and his past, his relationships during his senior year, trying to find his place in the world.  And, SPOILER ALERT: It doesn't have the typical "feel good" YA ending, but the ending works just fine...it's probably a lot more real than most YA CRF/romances.  I'm going to definitely look into other books by this author.

Goodreads synopsis:  Robyn Schneider's The Beginning of Everything is a witty and heart-wrenching teen novel that will appeal to fans of books by John Green and Ned Vizzini, novels such as The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and classics like The Great Gatsby and The Catcher in the Rye.
          Varsity tennis captain Ezra Faulkner was supposed to be homecoming king, but that was before—before his girlfriend cheated on him, before a car accident shattered his leg, and before he fell in love with unpredictable new girl Cassidy Thorpe.
          As Kirkus Reviews said in a starred review, "Schneider takes familiar stereotypes and infuses them with plenty of depth. Here are teens who could easily trade barbs and double entendres with the characters that fill John Green's novels."
          Funny, smart, and including everything from flash mobs to blanket forts to a poodle who just might be the reincarnation of Jay Gatsby, The Beginning of Everything is a refreshing contemporary twist on the classic coming-of-age novel—a heart-wrenching story about how difficult it is to play the part that people expect, and how new beginnings can stem from abrupt and tragic endings.

38. Collision by Victor Dixen

#3 Phobos
read the book - translated into English from the original French
originally published in 2016 in France
published in English in 2019 by Hot Key Books
725 pgs.
YA SciFi
Finished  2/28/2020
Goodreads rating: 4.02 - 1112 ratings
My rating:  4
Setting:  Mars, in the future

First line/s:  "I'm alone, even if the people who've lived with me through the most important moments of my life are all around me:  them, the Genesis pioneers - the space heroes - the condemned of Mars."

My comments:  Wow, what a trip.  Ups and downs and all sorts of craziness, bt I couldn't wait to get back to the story every time I had to leave it.  The first volume was the best, the most fun, but the intricacy of this last volume, number three, was also really interesting.  Victor Dixen has quite an imagination.  I don't   think it would hurt to look into some of his other writing, if I can find any.  The series was written in French and I'm so tickled that it was translated into English, even though it was difficult to get hold of copies and hasn't been published in Kindle or audio as far as I can tell.

Goodreads synopsis:  The third book in a heartstopping, high-octane new space series.
          The Genesis Programme reality TV show has brought twelve young astronauts to Mars, to face unprecedented hostility. An even greater danger is now threatening Earth, but the viewers are too glued to their screens and the rescue mission to see what is really happening. 
          Leonor is ready to risk everything to bring out the truth and warn the world. She can never admit defeat - but can she fight her last fight alone?

36. The Year of Saying Yes by Hannah Doyle

listened to audio on Chirp
narrated by Zara Ramm
Unabridged audio (12:02)
2017, Headline
363 pgs.
Genre/Level
Finished 2/27/2020
Goodreads rating: 4.21 - 723 ratings
My rating:  2
Setting:  Contemporary England

First line/s:  "If I cock up the next few hours of my life then I know I'm going to have to admit defeat."

My comments:  I really feel like I wasted my time with this book.  Yes, she did come out the other end being a MUCH better person, and there were certainly a few funny spots, but other than that it just went on and on and on.....

Goodreads synopsis:  Dear Readers,
          I hold my hands up: I'm stuck in a rut. For three years and counting I've been hopelessly in love with the same guy - and the closest we've ever got is a drunken arse grab (NB: this doesn't count). My favourite hobby is googling cats for spinsters and I'm sick of my shoestring salary that barely pays for my shoebox flat.
         I need a head-to-toe life makeover. Enter my 'Year of Saying Yes', which is where you come in. To help me sort out my sorry life, I need you to #DareIzzy. For the next 12 months I'll be saying 'yes' to your challenges, no matter how wild, adventurous or plain nuts they are. 'No' is not an option!
          Here goes... Wish me luck! I'm going to need it.
          Love,
          Izzy x

37. Hot as Puck by Lili Valente

listened to audio on Chirp
narrated by Tyler Donne & Summer Roberts
Unabridged audio (6:39)
2017 Self-taught Ninja
330 pgs.
Adult Steamy Romance
Finished 2/25/2020
Goodreads rating:  4.04 - 4722 ratings
My rating:  4
Setting: Contemporary Portland,Oregon

First line/s:  "This is it, the night I'll look back on in fifty or sixty years and stab a finger at as the moment my life changed forever."

My comments:  This book was just plain fun.  A compassionate kindergarten teacher and a crocheting pro hockey hunk who have grown up next door to each other finally get together.  Lots of story and lots of super steam, a really cute book.  It's certainly not an Amish tale!!!  Would never be considered great literature, but it gets a five for entertainment value...and ooh la la, the cover!

Goodreads synopsis: The NHL's biggest bad boy is about to fall for the virgin next door...
          I am the world's biggest dating failure. We're talking my last date went home with our waitress kind of failure.
          But I have an ace in the back pocket of my mom jeans--my sexy-as-sin best friend, NHL superstar forward, Justin Cruise.
          Justin owes me favors dating back to seventh grade, long before he became a hotshot with a world famous...stick. So in return for my undying platonic loyalty, all I want is an easy-peasy crash course on how to be a sex goddess.
          How hard can it be?
    ***
          I have never been so hard in my life.
          The things I want to do to my sweet, kindergarten-teaching, mitten-crocheting best friend Libby Collins are ten different kinds of wrong. Maybe twenty.
          But I'm a firm believer in teaching by example, and by the end of our first lesson, we've graduated to a hands on approach to her education: my hands all over her, her hands all over me, and her hot mouth melting beneath mine as I prove to her there isn't a damned thing wrong with the way she kisses.
          Give me a month, and I'll transform Libby from wall flower to wall banger, and ensure she's confident enough to seduce any guy she wants.
          Problem is... the only guy I want her seducing is me.
          Hot as Puck is a sexy, flirty, friends-to-lovers Standalone romantic comedy from USA Today Bestseller Lili Valente.

35. Worked Up by Tessa Bailey

#3 Made in Jersey
read on my iPhone/Chirp
narrated by Emma Wilder
Unabridged audio (6:48)
2016 Entangled Brazen
186 pgs.
Adult Steamy Romance
Finished 2/22/20
Goodreads rating:  3.98 - 1956 ratings
My rating:  2
Setting:  Contemporary NJ

First line/s:  "It was the type of place Samantha Waverly usually avoided."

My comments:  The attraction between the two protagonists was weird.  All SHE kept saying over and over was how huge he was.  A "bear."  /apparently pretty hairy, too.  And they both, at the beginning, had huge commitment issues.  Why?  There was so much left to the imagination, and with books like this...that have the physical stuff so implicitly recounted, who needs the other stuff left out?  Character development was nonexistent .  It did get extremely steamy about halfway in, but it was weird -much of the description from at least her POV seemed to be much more physical pain than anything else.  WTF?  A fairly crappy read.

Goodreads synopsis:  Factory mechanic Duke Crawford just wants to watch SportsCenter in peace. Unfortunately, living with four divorcee sisters doesn’t provide much silence, nor does it change his stance on relationships. But when a fellow commitment-phobe stumbles into his life, getting him good and worked up, he can’t deny his protective instincts.
          Samantha Waverly’s brother just put her in an impossible situation. The only way out? Marry huge, gruff, gladiator look-alike Duke—for show, of course. She doesn’t make promises—she knows too well how easily they can be broken—and this is no exception.
           As the blistering attraction between them grows, the lines around the no-strings relationship blur. But Duke and Samantha’s marriage is only for show…or is it?

34. Heartwood Box by Ann Aguire

read the book, borrowed from Bosler Library
2019, Tor Teen
336 pgs.
YA Fantasy/SciFi
Finished 2/20/20
Goodreads rating:
My rating: 3.5/almost 4
Setting: Contemporary small town on Long Island, New York

First line/s:  "This is where hope goes to die."

My comments:  I really love the first half of the book, but then it started getting a little too weird.  Well, the first half was pretty weird, but interesting and believable in a fantastic way.  The second part weirdness was in that a group of highschoolers would do, act, and be believed in the way they were.  Oh well, I enjoyed it and it was great to pick up a real actual page and ink book for the first time in months.  I must try some more books by this author.  Very enjoyable (it was sort of "Stranger Things" in print....)

Goodreads synopsis:  A dark, romantic YA suspense novel with an SF edge and plenty of drama, layering the secrets we keep and how appearances can deceive, from the New York Times bestselling author.
          In this tiny, terrifying town, the lost are never found. When Araceli Flores Harper is sent to live with her great-aunt Ottilie in her ramshackle Victorian home, the plan is simple. She'll buckle down and get ready for college. Life won't be exciting, but she'll cope, right?
          Wrong. From the start, things are very, very wrong. Her great-aunt still leaves food for the husband who went missing twenty years ago, and local businesses are plastered with MISSING posters. There are unexplained lights in the woods and a mysterious lab just beyond the city limits that the locals don't talk about. Ever. When she starts receiving mysterious letters that seem to be coming from the past, she suspects someone of pranking her or trying to drive her out of her mind. To solve these riddles and bring the lost home again, Araceli must delve into a truly diabolical conspiracy, but some secrets fight to stay buried... 

33. Everything My Mother Taught Me by Alice Hoffman

Listened to eAudio/Prime
narrated by Brittany Pressley
Unabridged audio (0:50)
2019 Amazon Original Stories
28 pgs.
Adult HistFict Short Story
Finished 2/19/2020
Goodreads rating:  4.05 - 4526 ratings
My rating:  4.5
Setting:  1908 coastal Massachusetts

First line/s:  "There are those that insist that mothers are born with love for their children and place them before all other things, including their own needs and desires."

My comments:  Read beautifully.  A very interesting short story taking place in 1908 on an island off Rockport, Massachusetts, of a hateful mother and the 12-uear-old daughter who has decided to go mute upon the death of the father she adores.  I wish it had been longer, I would've liked more development of the characters and plot because it was good. 

Goodreads synopsis:  In this haunting short story of loyalty and betrayal, a young woman in early 1900s Massachusetts discovers that in navigating her treacherous coming-of-age, she must find her voice first.
          For fatefully observant Adeline, growing up carries an ominous warning from her adulterous mother: don’t say a word. Adeline vows to never speak again. But that’s not her only secret. After her mother takes a housekeeping job at a lighthouse off the tip of Cape Ann, a local woman vanishes. The key to the mystery lies with Adeline, the silent witness. New York Times bestselling author of The Rules of Magic Alice Hoffman crafts a beautiful, heart-wrenching short story.
          Alice Hoffman’s Everything My Mother Taught Me is part of Inheritance, a collection of five stories about secrets, unspoken desires, and dangerous revelations between loved ones. Each piece can be read or listened to in a single setting. By yourself, behind closed doors, or shared with someone you trust. 

Picture Book - The Universe is a Tree by Laura Filippucci

Illustrated by the author

2018, Creative Editions

HC $ 18.99

32 pgs.

Goodreads rating:  3.90 - 10 ratings

My rating:  5
Endpapers:  a beautifully drawn tree in greens on white, with two poems/quotes:  one fby Charles Darwin, the other from Katha Upanishad.

My comments:   Oh my gosh, I love this book.  I love trees.  I love short, clear poetry and meaningful quotes.  So both of those are covered really well...and the illustrations are glorious!  The short explanation about each of the trees is interesting and readable, so that you can read the entire book without skimming.  Hoorah!  I wish I could have the opportunity to see them all.  I think I'll start a buck list based on these trees...

Redwood (Trees are Creators)
Kauri (Trees are Ancestors)
Oak (Trees are Temples)
Cedar of Lebanon (Trees are Homes of the Gods)
Yew (Trees are Gates to the Beyond)
Kapok (Trees are Channels to Other Worlds)
Baobab (Trees are Givers)
Sweet Chestnut (Trees are Protection)
Olive (Trees are Bearers of Peace)
Ginkgo (Trees are Healers)
Banyan/Bodhi (Trees are Founts of Wisdom)
Bristlecone Pine (Trees are Keepers of Secrets)

"To be like these, straight, true and fine,
to make our world like theirs, a shrine;
Sink down, Oh, traveler, on your knees,
God stands before you in these trees.
          -Joseph B. Strauss, from "The Redwoods"
NOTE:  This is MY kind of god!

Goodreads: Trees are teachers, healers, protectors, creators. They keep secrets. They bring peace. This rich anthology of stories, proverbs, and poems about trees from around the world reveals that a tree's roots not only go down deep into the earth, but its branches also reach up and out into the universe, connecting us all, across time and space. May we peer through the forests of our imaginations to see the beauty and experience the awe that still arches over our world.

32. The Overdue Life of Amy Byler by Kelly Harms

listened to eAudio/Audible Prime (which was free, the audible was $1.99)
narrated by Amy McFadden
Unabridged audio (10:17)
2019 Lake Union Publishing
328 pgs.
Adult Romance
Finished 2/18/2020
Goodreads rating:  3.89 - 44,323 ratings
My rating:  3
Setting:Contemporary rural PA & NYC

First line/s:  "There are a lot of people you don't expect to run into in small town Pennsylvania."

My comments:  Equal amounts of likes and dislikes for this novel.  I loved all the talk about books.  Amy is a middle school librarian who also teaches at her private school, so there's lots of book talking.  There are journal entries from the 15-year-old daughter at the beginning of each chapter which are quite clever and enjoyable.  There's some witty banter between Amy and some of her blind dates.  And there's the wonderful setting of New York City.  But there are alos the for-some-reason-always included best friends that play a huge part in her life, who even in the middle of a life-changing situation she's....texting!?  Come on!  And then there's the ex/almost-ex husband, John.  I'm not exactly sure whey he decided to leave in the first place, its's never particularly clear.  He returns after three years of an apparently lucrative law practice in Hong Kong and he hasn't even paid a penny of child support, making Amy struggle all by herself for the entire time?  We're supposed to believe that all of a sudden he's had this huge change of thinking?  A little too hard to believe.  And although it was slow in places, some of the fun parts made up for those.  She even mentions LITSY!  No steam, which is just fine.  Not a waste of time, but it could've been time better spent...and it was cheap....

Goodreads synopsis:  Overworked and underappreciated, single mom Amy Byler needs a break. So when the guilt-ridden husband who abandoned her shows up and offers to take care of their kids for the summer, she accepts his offer and escapes rural Pennsylvania for New York City.     
          Usually grounded and mild mannered, Amy finally lets her hair down in the city that never sleeps. She discovers a life filled with culture, sophistication, and—with a little encouragement from her friends—a few blind dates. When one man in particular makes quick work of Amy’s heart, she risks losing herself completely in the unexpected escape, and as the summer comes to an end, Amy realizes too late that she must make an impossible decision: stay in this exciting new chapter of her life, or return to the life she left behind.
          But before she can choose, a crisis forces the two worlds together, and Amy must stare down a future where she could lose both sides of herself, and every dream she’s ever nurtured, in the beat of a heart.

Picture Book - Two Brothers, Four Hands: The Artists Alberto and Diego Giacometti by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan

Illustrated by Hadley Hooper

2019, Neal Porter Books, Holiday House

HC $ 21.99

64 pgs.

Goodreads rating:  3.82 - 168 ratings

My rating:  4
Endpapers:  Deepblue

1^st line/s:  1901 - 1918  "In the Swiss village of Stampa, surrounded by mountains so high that in winter their shadows fill the valley, live two brothers."

My comments:  This is the way I like to read history and biography....in a well researched picture book!  I've seen Alberto Giacometti's sculptures before, but didn't even attribute a name to them.  So this informative, easy-to-read picture book was perfect for me.  And although I was not super thrilled with the illustrations, they did tell the story of the two brothers well.

Goodreads:   The inspiring true story of the Giacometti brothers, one an artist, the other a daredevil, both devoted to their craft . . . but even more devoted to each other.
          Everyone who knew them agreed. Alberto was the genius of the family. His younger brother Diego was his opposite--he didn't care much for books or schoolwork, and he had no idea what he would be when he grew up. But despite their differences, the two brothers shared an intense bond.
          Alberto Giacometti became one of the iconic artists of the twentieth century, whose tall, spindly sculptures grace the collections of museums around the world. Diego was always at his side, helping and encouraging, and in his spare time creating remarkable pieces of furniture, works of sculpture in their own right.
          The poignant story of brothers and sculptors Alberto and Diego Giacometti is skillfully brought to life in the hands of multiple Sibert Honor authors Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan, and the spectacular artwork of Hadley Hooper.
          This lavishly illustrated 64-page book includes extensive backmatter, complete with a timeline, source notes, photographs, and an essay on how to look at a Giacometti sculpture.
A Horn Book Best Book of the Year
A Washington Post Best Children's Book of the Year

31. Flight of the Sparrow by Amy Belding Brown

listened to audio/Audible
narrated by Heather Henderson
Unabridged audio (11:00)
2014 NAL
368 pgs.
Adult Historical Fiction (based on a real person)
Finished 2/16/2020
Goodreads rating: 3.96 - 811 ratings
My rating:  4
Setting: 1676+ Massachusetts Bay Colony

First line/s:  "Later, Mary will trace the first signs of the Lord's displeasure back to a hot July morning in 1672 when she pauses on the way to the barn to watch the sun rise burnt orange over the meetinghouse."

My comments:  Historical fiction, based on a factual person, Mary Rowlandson, who was captured by Indians in the Massachusetts Bay colony in the 1670s.  Though loosely based on the facts, we get a good glimpse of King Phillip's War and Puritanism in the New England in this time period.  Such harsh religious fervor!I would've never made it living in this time period without being beheaded.  I enjoyed listening to this, though I think there were many repetitious segments that could have been deleted.  I've been enjoying some well written historical fiction lately, and I hope I'll be able to continue to find more.

Goodreads synopsis:  She suspects that she has changed too much to ever fit easily into English society again. The wilderness has now become her home. She can interpret the cries of birds. She has seen vistas that have stolen away her breath. She has learned to live in a new, free way.... 
          Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1676. Even before Mary Rowlandson is captured by Indians on a winter day of violence and terror, she sometimes found herself in conflict with her rigid Puritan community. Now, her home destroyed, her children lost to her, she has been sold into the service of a powerful woman tribal leader, made a pawn in the on-going bloody struggle between English settlers and native people. Battling cold, hunger, and exhaustion, Mary witnesses harrowing brutality but also unexpected kindness. To her confused surprise, she is drawn to her captors’ open and straightforward way of life, a feeling further complicated by her attraction to a generous, protective English-speaking native known as James Printer. All her life, Mary has been taught to fear God, submit to her husband, and abhor Indians. Now, having lived on the other side of the forest, she begins to question the edicts that have guided her, torn between the life she knew and the wisdom the natives have shown her.
          Based on the compelling true narrative of Mary Rowlandson, Flight of the Sparrow is an evocative tale that transports the reader to a little-known time in early America and explores the real meaning of freedom, faith, and acceptance.

30. Blood Relations by Jonathan Moore

listened to audio/Audible
narrated by David Colacci
Unabridged audio (12:12)
2019 Mariner Books
357 pgs.
Adult Mystery
Finished 2/14/2020
Goodreads rating:  3.92 - 222 ratings
My rating:  4 (but 5 with a different narrator
Setting:  Contemporary San Francisco, with forays to LA, Mendocino, and Carmel - and Boston

First line/s:  "The first time I saw Clare Gravesend she was already dead."

My comments: Super interesting story, great plot and extremely interesting characters.  I loved the setting - from San Francisco to LA and all along the California coast including Carmel, Monterrey, Mendocino, all places I know fairly well and have a strong picture in my mind.  My biggest - and only - problem was with the narrated voice of the protagonist.  It didn't match what I would have considered his personality in even the slightest way.  His voice was deep, gruff, and much older sounding than I think he was supposed to be.  It threw me off completely with what I physically pictured and I didn't like that part of it at all.  And I think that means I have to take my overall rating down.  I would love to have another book in the series, but I felt the same way about the last book I read by this author and no second book as appeared for that one, either!

Goodreads synopsis:  Who is Claire Gravesend?
          So wonders PI Lee Crowe when he finds her dead, in a fine cocktail dress, on top of a Rolls Royce, in the most dangerous neighborhood in San Francisco. Claire’s mother, Olivia, is one of the richest people in California. She doesn’t believe the coroner: her daughter did not kill herself. Olivia hires Crowe, who—having just foiled a federal case against a cartel kingpin—is eager for distraction. But the questions about the Gravesend family pile up fast.
          First, the autopsy reveals round scars running down Claire’s spine, old marks Olivia won’t explain. Then, Crowe visits Claire’s Boston townhouse and has to fend off an armed intruder. Is it the Feds out for revenge? Or is this connected to the Gravesends? He leaves Boston afraid, but finds his way to Claire’s secret San Francisco pied-à-terre. It’s there that his questions come to a head. Sleeping in an upstairs bedroom, he finds Claire—her face, her hair, her scars—and as far as he can tell, she’s alive. And Crowe’s back at the start:
          Who is Claire Gravesend?