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Showing posts from January, 2016

The Charm Bracelet

Each charm has its own meaning and special place in Lolly's heart. For her birthday, her mother gave her a charm along with the simple advice that there's nothing more important than family and keeping memories alive. Now, at 70, Lolly's memory isn't what it used to be. She reaches out to her workaholic daughter and her teenage granddaughter to come for a visit. Every charm has a story, and through Lolly's stories the three women are able to find peace, happiness, faith, passion and love. I love charm bracelets, always have. I loved the three generations of women and their closeness. I loved going back to the past, whether it was learning about Lolly's grandmother, or her own childhood, and even into her adulthood. I loved the setting.. the log cabin on Lost Lake that has been in the family for generations. This was a heartwarming, cozy, well-written book with a great ending!

No Kiss Goodbye

Laura has been in a car accident, her two children in the back seat at the time. She spends some time in the hospital, she comes home - still no kids. Laura has lost her memory and no one will tell her anything, but she manages to piece together that her husband blames her for the accident, doesn't want her around their kids and wants her gone for good. This book could have been good but it was poorly executed - it jumped around, the writing seemed kind of juvenile. The attempts at being funny got on my nerves. Lots of snorting and barking from everyone. It just seemed to be a bit dull for a psychological thriller.

Gone Girl

Nick and Amy are made for each other. They're good-looking, they're smart, they're charming. (They're two very sick people in need of serious help.) On their fifth wedding anniversary Amy disappears. The more attention Nick gets from the police and media the more lies he doles out and evasive he becomes. And the more everyone seems to think he murdered his wife. I don't understand the hype. The first part was painfully boring. The ending was kinda boring. I liked the author's writing, but the story itself wasn't that great to me and I don't know why. It may be my subconscience thinking it's too far-fetched. 

Maggie's Turn

Maggie puts her family's needs before her own, until one day, spur of the moment, she leaves town. So begins her quest. She meets new people and has a lot of fun along the way. She rediscovers an old passion. And wonders whether or not her marriage is salvageable. Maggie's self-absorbed husband Andrew is furious that Maggie left him alone to look after their two teenagers and the household. He's never bought groceries, cooked, done laundry, fed the pets. And he hasn't spent time with his kids in years. The longer Maggie is away the more he understands what drove her away. He also realizes he loves his family and will do anything to keep them together, but is it too late? I actually enjoyed this more than I thought I would. It's predictable and Maggie's husband is infuriating, but it was a quick and easy read.

The Girls from See Saw Lane: A novel of friendship, love and tragedy in 1960s Brighton

Dottie Perks is a "chubby" introvert who is happy with the simpler things in life while Mary Pickles is a confident little extrovert who cannot wait to travel the world and become an artist. Although they are both completely different people they have been best friends since the first time they met when they were eight-years-old. The simplicity of their childhood of penny candies and carefree playing dissolves into a more complicated time of family, first loves, betrayal and forgiveness. The characters and setting are vivid and wonderful. It started off as such a cozy read. I loved it. But I began to lose interest as things began to change. 

Missing Pieces

Sarah Quinlan's husband, Jack, returns to the place he grew up because his beloved aunt Julia has is in a coma at the hospital after falling down the stairs. While at Penny Gate Jack is taken back to a time when his mother was found dead in the cellar of their family farm, a time he did not tell Sarah about. As Sarah begins to learn the truth about what happened to Julia and about what happened surrounding the death of Jack's mother, she realizes that something is not quite right within the Quinlan clan. When I realized this was the same author that wrote "These Things Hidden" (which I  hated ) I wasn't expecting anything overly good. But I was pleasantly surprised. It was a page-turner that kept me guessing. The characters were three-dimensional. I liked the setting. And the plot was way more believable than "These Things Hidden"  

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Merry Christmas!: 101 Joyous Holiday Stories

Lots of different heart-warming Christmas stories. It's nice to read about the good in people, the traditions, the sharing, giving and celebrating with family. Thanks to mom for the Christmas present, I loved it :-)

The Girl You Lost

Simone and Matt Porter's six-month-old daughter, Helena, was abducted eighteen years ago. Although they have stayed together and still love each other very much, the pain of having their baby taken has never left them. Then out of the blue a young woman named Grace finds Simone and tells her she has information regarding her missing daughter. But just like that Grace disappears too. Not long into it, and mostly throughout the whole book, I was asking myself one question - why aren't the police involved? Everyone seemed relatively calm given the circumstances. Things became repetitious and convenient. The point in the book where I knew there was going to be no redemption for the story was inside Ivy Whitehouse's place. There got to be so many characters I had to stop and think who they were. It was predictable and lackluster.

Cuckoo and the Escape of the Little Elephant

A small but very unusual collection of animals all get together for the sake of helping a little elephant escape from the zoo to freedom.  The concept of this story is imaginative. I loved the animals. But it felt like a chore to read. It was somewhat boring and the editing was bad.  I won a copy through Goodreads First Reads.

Hidden Bodies

Our favourite lonely, likeable sociopath is back! Joe falls for Amy, the woman he met at the end of "You" He follows her to the West Coast, unbeknownst to Amy, and instead of finding her he finds the perfect love - Love. This book started off great. I loved Joe and Amy together. There were some funny lines in there with the swearing. But it all got old quick. Joe lost his spark for me. I didn't care for the characters. It didn't seem as intense as You. It was a bunch of rambling. The name-dropping was a little annoying. With all that being said, and the two stars, it was still a page-turner for me.

Snoopy: Party Animal

SNOOPY COMICS!! Automatic five stars!!  This one started off with one of my all-time favourite strips!

Orbiting Jupiter

Twelve-year-old Jack tells the story of when Joseph comes to live with him and his parents on a farm as a foster child. They offer him a safe home, love, support and loyalty - all things he didn't have before in an abusive household or in prison. But Joseph wants nothing more than to find his baby daughter, which is difficult to do because he's only fourteen. There was something lacking for me, but I can't figure out what it is. This book dealt with heavy issues even though it's a middle grade book, I guess, so maybe the writing didn't really coincide with what the book was about. Maybe it needed to be longer. Or have a bit more depth. The ending was predictable and convenient. But a sad read nonetheless.