#25 & #26

#25 was The Nightingale by Kristen Hannah.  It was about two sisters surviving Nazi occupation of France during the Second World War. It was heartbreaking in its descriptions of the cruelty and what happened to the people. Each sister chose a different way to survive and each was worthy and hard.  The story lost me at the end...the ending wasn't so believable but I enjoyed the novel.

fl: If I have learned anything in this long life of mine, it is this: In love we find out who we want to be; in war we find out who we are. ll: Wounds heal.  Love lasts. We remain. 

#26 was Big Stone Gap by Adriana Trigiani. This was a fast read...and not a well written piece of literature by any means.  The main character is a likable self-proclaimed spinster who looks for love, but not really. It flip flops around and the scenes that could be really great are one or two sentences long. There are more in this series, but I will not be reading them. 

fl: This will be a good weekend for reading. ll: I want to watch the two of them forever--a daughter learning to trust, and a father doing the thing he does best: protecting her. 

#24 ~ The Husband's Secret

I have really enjoyed Liane Moriarty's novels.  #24 is The Husband's Secret ~ and it was another well written story.  It was not my favorite of her stories ~ as it was such a SAD story.  It involves affairs & community standing & family relationships & murder.  The characters are mostly likable, but I did have trouble reconciling the ending.  While I'm all for "happily ever after", I'm not sure it works for me in this story.

Quote:
loc 3118~ ...does a tiara really count as an Easter hat?


fl: It was all because of the Berlin Wall.  ll: Some secrets are meant to stay secret forever.  Just ask Pandora.

#23 The Siren

#23 is The Siren by Tiffany Reisz.  This was the Harlequin book I read this year ~ and for a Harlequin book it was very well written.  Interesting that the main character is a Dominatrix/writer who is working with a new editor.  The book starts with the new editor & ends when she finishes the book...and all the dirty details happen in between.  This is the first in a very long series...but I don't really like the main character...nor to I really relate to her...so I probably won't read any more in the series.  But it was a quick read and a good break from the serious books I usually read {and if you look at the list of what I read...you'll realize the sarcasm in that statement}

fl:There was no such think as London fog --never had been. ll: The most familiar darkness...her darkness..she was home.

#22 look me in the eye

This is something I've never really done before.  I read the beginning of this book & then the end.  But I'm counting it as #22 ~ look me in the eye, my life with asperger's by John Elder Robison.  Very interesting story of a life with Asperger's.  John Elder is a fifty year old man recalling his life as a child and young man with undiagnosed Asperger's.  He had a honorific childhood with an abusive alcoholic father and a mentally unstable mother.  I quit reading when, as a teenager, he set up a cult-like scene of a hanging (mannequin) and hid in the woods to watch the response.  I skipped through the book to see his rise of a career and marriage and birth of a son.  Then I read the epilogue where he recorded the death of his dad and the way they were able to fashion a good relationship out of the mess of their past.

Word (from the Author's Notes) ~  neurotypical {the opposite of Aspergian}

fl: "Look me in the eye, young man.!" ll: It will take a few more years (I hope!), but I'm looking forward to the day when I can watch Cubby take his own son to the train yard to watch the locomotives.

#21 ~ X

I finally finished #21 ~ X (Kinsey Millhone Book 24) by Sue Grafton.  I read about 75% of it a month ago...but not in time to actually finish it ~ and it disappeared off my Kindle.  I had fallen asleep so many times while reading it, I wasn't too sure of the people & events when I finally got it back...so I read the whole thing again.  Glad I did, because I missed so many of the details the first time through.  Another great Kinsey Mystery.  {Can't believe there are only two more to come}  In this story Kinsey is once again accidentally figuring out the mystery.  She doesn't really know who she's investigating until a little on in the story.  Another detective has died & Kinsey finds herself following his vague case notes to figure out what he was trying to solve.  It's always an adventure to follow her twists and turns & to see her thought process.  Great character.  I am envious of those who can start at A now and follow her through without the YEARS in between books.

Quote:

p320 ~ Her lipstick was bright red and looked like it wouldn't come off on the lip of her coffee cup the first time she took as ip.  I report this in detail because she's the sort of woman I want to be when I grow up.  No chance of it at this late date, but all the same...

fl: Teddy Xanakis would have to steal the painting.  ll: As for Pete Wolinsky, I acknowledge that I misjudged him and I hope he may rest in peace, wherever he may be.

#20 Landline

#20 for the year is Landline by Rainbow Rowell.  This was a pick from Goodreads top books of 2014.  I needed a quick fun read ~ so I got it.  Then I realized Rainbow Rowell also wrote Eleanor & Park ~ a book I wasn't totally fond of.  But it was a top pick, so I read it.  And I liked this a lot better ~ probably because it's an adult book, not a YA book...maybe.  It's an interesting read of 'What if" in a relationship.  Georgie's husband leaves her to take the children to his parents at Christmas time, because Georgie's demanding job won't let her leave also."  She spends the time wondering if their marriage was doomed from the start and how she could go on without him.  When is love not enough?  What do our choices mean for our future?  If we could change time, would we?  should we?
Good questions & interesting story.

fl: Georgie pulled into the driveway, swerving to miss a bike.  ll: He whispered: "Enough, Georgie, You're here now.  Be here now."

#19 The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

#19 is The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley.  It's a story of  11 year old Flavia de Luce ~ the youngest of three children & the only one who has no recollection of their mother who disappeared on a hiking adventure.  In this first book she has to solve the mystery of the dead stranger in their garden.  The story involved her father's childhood & poor choices he made...and she has to decide if she thinks her father is capable of murder.
Since I am able to read about a page and a half before I fall sound asleep & then read a few more pages when I wake up around 2:00 am and can't fall back asleep...I have great difficulty following story lines & catching the little details that make a good story.
My reading habits are not as enjoyable to me as they usually are...which is a hard lump for me to swallow as I have a whole ginormous list of books I want to read...
And it's hard for me to know if I liked a book or not.
Flavia is not always a very likable character.  She and her sisters fight viciously & that really bothers me.  However, she is quite clever & resourceful & I like that about her character.

Quotes;
p27 ~ "I found a dead body in the cucumber patch," I told them.  "How very like you," Ophelia said.

p73 ~ You never know what you're getting into when you stick your nose in other people's rubbish.

p219 ~ There always was a whiff of sulphur about the lad.


Words:
p35 ~ decrepitude

#18 ~ Midnight Riot

A strange book was #18 ~ Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch.  A British police officer is placed as an apprentice to a magician.  Yep, magic.  Ghosts.  Time Travel.  River Gods and Goddesses.  Strange, but interesting.  And funny.  And...I'm probably not the best review because I started it this summer, but didn't finish it (seriously, I renewed it twice) and could read about three pages before I fell asleep...{this working thing is cramping my style}
This is the first in a pretty long series...don't know if I'll read anymore.

fl: It started at one thirty on a cold Tuesday morning in January when Martin Turner, street performer and, in his own words, apprentice gigolo, tripped over a body in front of the West Portico of St. Paul's at Covent Garden.   ll: "Don't worry, it's basically just like the country," I said. "Only with more people."

Quotes:

p 2 ~ Could it have been anyone, or was it destiny?  When I'm considering this I find it helpful to quote the wisdom of my father, who once told me, "Who knows why the fuck anything happens?"

p66 ~ rictus of rage {rictus: a fixed grimace or grin}

#17 ~ Born to Run

The title of one of the greatest songs ever is the same as #17 ~ Born to Run by Christopher McDougall.  And this great title is not about Bruce Springsteen, but my other favorite thing...running.  A very interesting story about a tribe called the Tarahumara in Mexico who live in the Copper Canyons away from civilization and still run everywhere.  They are a mystical magical people to those in the ultra running community ~ and became a legend at the Leadville Trail 100 ~ which is just a fascinating race to me, because I can't run 3 miles at altitude...and these people run 100 [and don't die]
With asides explaining how humans are built to run and all sorts of other factoids, the main story is about a race in the Copper Canyons pitting some of the best American ultrarunners against the Tarahumara.  It's a good story...and it's amazing that people want to run 50 miles in miserable conditions...but, once again, it's that SPIRIT of 'this won't beat me' that is so appealing.

Quotes:
p9 ~ Running seemed to be the fitness version of drunk driving: you could get away with it for a while, you might even have some fun, but catastrophe was waiting right around the corner.

p44 ~ chica frescs--"chilly chia."  It's brewed up by dissolving chia seeds in water with a little sugar and a squirt of lime.

p111 ~ "This Easy, Light, Smooth, and Fast.  You start with easy, because if that's all you get, that's not so bad.  Thn work on light.  Make it effortless, like you don't give a shit how high the hill is or how far you've got to go.  When you've practiced that so long that you forget you're practicing, you work on making it smooooooth.  You won't have to worry about the last on--you get those three, and you'll be fast."

p124 ~ instead of cringing from fatigue, you embrace it.  You refuse to let it go.  You get to know it so well, you're not afraid of it anymore.

p168 ~ Dr. Lieberman said, "If there's any magic bullet to make human beings healthy, it's to run."

fl: For days, I'd been searching Mexico's Sierra Madre for the phantom known as Caballo Blanco--The White Horse.  ll: For a long time afterward, I could see them standing in the road, waving, until the entire town of Urique disappeared behind us in a cloud of dust.

#16 In The Woods

Book #16 was a long one & it took me three times of checking it out to finish.  In The Woods by Tana French is the first book in the Dublin Murder Squad series.  It was an intense story of murder and terrible pasts and romance with romance gone bad thrown in. Parts of the story made me angry...and parts kept me reading.  I don't know if I'll read the next book...as I wasn't real happy with the ending of this one.

fl: Picture a summer stolen whole from some coming-of-age film set in small-town 1950's. ll: I watched for a long time, until my mobile began vibrating insistently in my pocket and the rain started to come down more heavily, and then I put out my cigarette and buttoned my coat and headed back to the car.

#15 Big Little Lies

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty is #15 for the year.  Finally a book I had trouble putting down.  I think I read all 462 pages in three or four days ~ staying up until 1:00 last night {this morning} to finish.
Liane Moriarty can weave a compelling story ~ full of characters that seem real to life ~ with flaws and strengths I can relate to.  This story is about mothers who meet when their children start kindergarten & is fraught with fictional school politics ~ that are far fetched ~ but also true to how people behave.  You know from the start that there is a murder...and the questions of who dies & who did it kept me turning the pages.
SPOILER ALERT ~ what I like most about the two Liane Moriarty  books is that they end the way they should.  Maybe not how they would in real life, but they way they SHOULD.  The right people get what they deserve & happily ever after is a real possibility.

fl: "That doesn't sound like a school trivia night," said Mrs. Patty Ponder to Marie Antoinette. "That sounds like a riot." ll: "This can happen to anyone."

Good Word:
p 50 ~tetchy ~ bad-tempered and irritable

Quotes:
p5 ~ Ask any man--not some new-age, artsy-fartsy, I-wear-moisturizer type, I mean a real man--

p58~ ...the most ridiculously tizzy pink crystal champagne stopper.

p384~ So many calamitous catastrophes!

Throughout the book, when something bad happened, the line was, "Oh, calamity"  Love it

#14 ~ Strange Fits of Passion

#14 ~ Strange Fits of Passion by Anita Shreve has been on my 'to be read' list for a long time.  As always, Shreve tells a very compelling story.  A story of domestic violence before we talked about domestic violence and a story of telling a story.  How a story told is never the actual truth.  Interesting take on reporting.  People really don't ever know the truth.  Do the people involved actually understand the truth behind their own motives and decisions?  


fl: On my book tours, I am often asked a number of questions: Did he really do it?  Do I think that she was justified?  Did they do it for the money or for love? ll: There was no hope, in the darkness, of remaking a neat bundle.

#13 Further Confessions of a Slightly Neurotic Hitwoman

JB Lynn has a whole series of her Maggie as a hitwoman story.  #13 is the second ~ Further Confessions of a Slightly Neurotic Hitwoman.  The story line is very interesting.  Maggie becomes a hitwoman by default, as a way to fund her niece's medical treatment.  She also has the ability to talk to animals ~ specifically her dog, Doomsday {aka DeeDee} and her lizard, God {short for Godzilla}.  The things she gets herself into are humorous ~ and similar to Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum character.  Following the changing emotional reactions can be tough...as they flip-flop without real reason... he's my mortal enemy, but I've always loved him, but he hates me, but he keeps telling me I'm beautiful... It's rather 8th grade lunchroom drama.  Entertaining, but not very believable.

fl: You just know it's going to be a bad day when you're stuck at a red light and Doomsday is breathing down your neck. ll: But another nightmare was beginning.  {which I most likely won't be reading about}

#12 The Invention of Wings

#12 is one that took me longer than 3 weeks to read & I had to turn off my wireless to keep it today!  The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd was a compelling story of two sisters and their quest to end slavery.  It's told alternatingly from the older sister, Sarah's point of view, and a slave named Handful.  Both are trying to be free in a society that is set up to keep them imprisoned.  It was very interesting to me to learn that Sarah and her sister Nina were actual people & the major events in the story were factual.  Their work was highly influential to Harriet Beecher Stow & they seemed to have essentially started the women's movement in America.  I'd like to believe the novel ends happily ever after.  I believe Sue Monk Kidd believes the same thing.

Quotes:
p 8~ Everyone thought I was a plucky girl, but in truth, I wasn't as fearless as everyone assumed.  I had the temperament of a tortoise.  Whatever dread, fright, or bump appeared in my path, I wanted nothing more than to drop in my tracks and hide.  If you must err, do so on the side of audacity.

p 8 ~ ...she terrified us with tales of the Booga Hag--an old worman who rode about on a broom and sucked the breath from bad children.

fl: There was a time in Africa the people could fly. ll: We rode onto the shining water, onto the far distance.

#11 The Collector

I finished #11 3 weeks ago or so...and I'm just now writing about it.  {and it's no longer on my Kindle, so no quotes or words or first line/last line}  The Collector by Nora Roberts is a good Nora Roberts.  A little mystery (that takes some creative license) and a little romance.  A good combination for a light read.
This story involved a house sitter and an artist ~ and stolen Faberge eggs.  An interesting lesson in stolen art also.

#10 ~ the age of miracles

With a title like the age of miracles, you would think #10 would be a happy book...but it's really not.  SPOILER ALERT  as this whole post will tell the story {I'm not recommending you read it} The premise is very interesting; the earth's rotation slows down...first by only a few minutes, but by the end of the book the days are about 70 hours long {I may be exaggerating that time...but it was a long day & then then a long night}.  The earth can't take the heat generated by 35 hours of sunlight followed by the cold of 35 hours of dark...
Just as the earth is falling apart, so are the characters in our story.  The main character, Julia, is a middle school student who struggles socially at school.  Her parents' marriage is falling apart.  She loses her only friend.  Grandpa dies.
UGH.  I need more happy in my stories.

fl: We didn't notice right away.  We couldn't feel it.  ll: We dipped our fingers in the wet cement, and we wrote the truest, simplest things we knew--our names, the date, and these words: We were here.

#9 The Language of Flowers

#9, The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh, was an interesting tale of unconditional love and feeling worthy of that love.  Victoria, the main character was abandoned at birth ~ and never allowed herself to be loved...self sabotaging every good thing that ever happened to her.  {so reminds me of some students I have had}  The story also includes her love of flowers and the way they have their own language.  She manages to create a thriving flower business, but barely hangs on in her personal life.  The story gets a little long when she runs from the only man who loves her and tries to manage a pregnancy alone.  I wanted to slap her upside her head...but like all good stories, this ends happily ever after, because she learned that moss can grow without roots.  Rather touching end.

fl: For eight years I dreamed of fire.  ll: Over time, we would learn to love each other, and I would learn to love her like a mother loves a daughter, imperfectly and without roots.

#8 Promises to Keep

SPOILER ALERT: #8 Promises to Keep by Jane Green is a good story with great characters and fun romances.  And Cancer and Death.  As soon as I realized that Callie's life was too good to be true {I know, it's a fiction story...} that she would die.  And I was right.  Ugh.  It was a book worth reading, but it wasn't happy.  Well, some of it was happy.  Some of it was very happy.  But death by cancer is not happy.

There were recipes at the end of each chapter and there are a few I want to try:
p64 ~ Whipped Honey Ricotta
p239 ~ Tuna with Cilantro Lime Sauce and Avocado
p263 ~ Guacamole
p319 ~ Merry Meringue Christmas Cookies

Quote:
p222 ~ You don't talk down to people if you have class.

Word:
p311 ~ Mercurial ~ of a person subject to sudden or unpredictable changes of mood or mind.

fl: Steffi elbows her hair out of her eyes before grabbing a frying pan, splashing olive oil liberally into it and scraping the finely chopped onion into the oil.  ll: Steffi rests her chin on one palm and smiles, and as she does so a tiny white feather drifts down and lands, as softly as a breath, on her other hand.

#7 ~ eleanor & park

#7 ~ eleanor & park by rainbow rowell was recommended as a book I would like because I liked something else {for the life of me I can't remember what book that was...}  It's a sweet, yet drama filled, tale of love and acceptance (or non-acceptance) YA novel.  The weird red-headed girl is picked on mercilessly, but finds the love of her life on the bus.  The story is told through both characters and it's full of the angst and hurt and joy and fear of being a teenager.  There're some really awful characters and circumstances thrown in, and some really super-duper understanding adults to boot.  It was a good YA book.

Quote:
p18~ All her bones seemed more purposeful than other people's.  Like they weren't just there to hold her up; they were there to make a point.

fl: XTC was no good for drowning out the morons at the back of the bus. ll: Eleanor hadn't written him a letter, it was a postcard.  Just three words long.

#6 ~ The Innocent

I found another David Baldacci series I enjoy #6 is The Innocent ~ the first book in the Will Robie series {I think it comes after an Shane Connors series, as he was mentioned & played a part in the story, but I just went on & continued reading OUT OF ORDER ~ because I'm crazy like that & it didn't bother me very much. hee}
It's another fast paced, short chaptered political intrigue story, full of powerful characters, mystery, killing, and the betrayal.  This one has a former target targeting the hit man {Robie}.  There's a 14 year old girl who needs protecting and a female FBI agent thrown in to help.  There's also the added love interest...that goes horribly wrong.  That part of the story makes me feel awful for the main character.  Had I been the author, I would have left that part out so I could have an happily ever after ending.  But that's me.  I look forward to reading the second novel.

fl: Will Robie had closely observed everyone of the passengers on the short flight from Dublin to Edinburgh and confidently deduced that sixteen were returning Scots and fifty-three were tourists.  ll: Maybe the best Robie could do was protect those who actually were.