Tuesday, February 7, 2017

Books, Books, and More Books!

I have been reading some really amazing books lately. You know the kind....the ones you just can't put down. You read late into the night, because you just can't stop.
 
One more chapter. And then another.
 
I use a great book as a 'treat' that I get to read after I've accomplished the chores that unfortunately I must tend to regularly on the weekends.

Ok, after I finish vacuuming and mopping the floors I can read one more chapter.

Which turns into two or three.

Ok, now up to fold the laundry and put it away.

I've earned one more chapter.
 
It might be weird, but it works for me!
 

It Ends With Us on Amazong
Let's start with this one - It Ends With Us, by Colleen Hoover.
 
Oh. My. Gosh.
 
An absolute page turner, so amazing that both of my daughters also read it in no time at all.

Which is not unusual for my older daughter, she can read three books in a day. But my younger daughter usually reads about three books a year.

Not kidding.

But this book has changed her. She's devouring books just like the rest of us now!
 
Amazon says:
 
Sometimes it is the one who loves you who hurts you the most.

Lily hasn’t always had it easy, but that’s never stopped her from working hard for the life she wants. She’s come a long way from the small town in Maine where she grew up—she graduated from college, moved to Boston, and started her own business. So when she feels a spark with a gorgeous neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid, everything in Lily’s life suddenly seems almost too good to be true.

Ryle is assertive, stubborn, maybe even a little arrogant. He’s also sensitive, brilliant, and has a total soft spot for Lily. And the way he looks in scrubs certainly doesn’t hurt. Lily can’t get him out of her head. But Ryle’s complete aversion to relationships is disturbing. Even as Lily finds herself becoming the exception to his “no dating” rule, she can’t help but wonder what made him that way in the first place.

As questions about her new relationship overwhelm her, so do thoughts of Atlas Corrigan—her first love and a link to the past she left behind. He was her kindred spirit, her protector. When Atlas suddenly reappears, everything Lily has built with Ryle is threatened.

With this bold and deeply personal novel, Colleen Hoover delivers a heart-wrenching story that breaks exciting new ground for her as a writer. Combining a captivating romance with a cast of all-too-human characters, It Ends With Us is an unforgettable tale of love that comes at the ultimate price.

 
What She Knew on Amazon
Here's another book that drew me in from page one - What She Knew, by Gilly Macmillan.
 
I was completely mesmerized, could not stop reading until I found out what happened.
 
Amazon says:
 
In her enthralling debut, Gilly Macmillan explores a mother’s search for her missing son, weaving a taut psychological thriller as gripping and skillful as The Girl on the Train and The Guilty One.

In a heartbeat, everything changes…
 
Rachel Jenner is walking in a Bristol park with her eight-year-old son, Ben, when he asks if he can run ahead. It’s an ordinary request on an ordinary Sunday afternoon, and Rachel has no reason to worry—until Ben vanishes.  
 
Police are called, search parties go out, and Rachel, already insecure after her recent divorce, feels herself coming undone. As hours and then days pass without a sign of Ben, everyone who knew him is called into question, from Rachel’s newly married ex-husband to her mother-of-the-year sister. Inevitably, media attention focuses on Rachel too, and the public’s attitude toward her begins to shift from sympathy to suspicion.
 
As she desperately pieces together the threadbare clues, Rachel realizes that nothing is quite as she imagined it to be, not even her own judgment. And the greatest dangers may lie not in the anonymous strangers of every parent’s nightmares, but behind the familiar smiles of those she trusts the most.
 
Next up, a book by Liane Moriarty, The Husband's Secret.
 
The Husband's Secret on Amazon
I have really been into some real 'thriller' type books lately, ones that keep you guessing all the way through!
 
Amazon says:
 
My darling Cecilia, if you’re reading this, then I’ve died. . .

Imagine that your husband wrote you a letter, to be opened after his death. Imagine, too, that the letter contains his deepest, darkest secret—something with the potential to destroy not just the life you built together, but the lives of others as well. Imagine, then, that you stumble across that letter while your husband is still very much alive...

Cecilia Fitzpatrick has achieved it all—she’s an incredibly successful businesswoman, a pillar of her small community, and a devoted wife and mother. Her life is as orderly and spotless as her home. But that letter is about to change everything, and not just for her: Rachel and Tess barely know Cecilia—or each other—but they too are about to feel the earth-shattering repercussions of her husband’s secret.

Acclaimed author Liane Moriarty has written a gripping, thought-provoking novel about how well it is really possible to know our spouses—and, ultimately, ourselves. 

 
The next book is a bit different, and also a bit disturbing. Yet I couldn't stop reading it.
 
All The Ugly And Wonderful Things on Amazon
This one follows the story of a young girl and her strange but sweet relationship with a very unexpected friend.
 
Amazon says:
 
A beautiful and provocative love story between two unlikely people and the hard-won relationship that elevates them above the Midwestern meth lab backdrop of their lives.

As the daughter of a drug dealer, Wavy knows not to trust people, not even her own parents. It's safer to keep her mouth shut and stay out of sight. Struggling to raise her little brother, Donal, eight-year-old Wavy is the only responsible adult around. Obsessed with the constellations, she finds peace in the starry night sky above the fields behind her house, until one night her star gazing causes an accident. After witnessing his motorcycle wreck, she forms an unusual friendship with one of her father's thugs, Kellen, a tattooed ex-con with a heart of gold.

By the time Wavy is a teenager, her relationship with Kellen is the only tender thing in a brutal world of addicts and debauchery. When tragedy rips Wavy's family apart, a well-meaning aunt steps in, and what is beautiful to Wavy looks ugly under the scrutiny of the outside world. A powerful novel you won’t soon forget, Bryn Greenwood's All the Ugly and Wonderful Things challenges all we know and believe about love.

Awesome book. Disturbing, but awesome. Stayed with me long after I finished it.

Ok, one more - I just finished this one Sunday and have yet to start my next book.

After Anna on Amazon
Yes, I know. Another book about a missing child. And another psychological thriller.

I can't help it, once I started, back when I read the Memory Box, I couldn't stop!

Amazon says:

The real nightmare starts when her daughter is returned…

A bone-chilling psychological thriller that will suit fans of Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn, Daughter, by Jane Shemilt, and The Girl on the Train, by Paula Hawkins.

A girl is missing. Five years old, taken from outside her school. She has vanished, traceless.

The police are at a loss; her parents are beyond grief. Their daughter is lost forever, perhaps dead, perhaps enslaved.

But the biggest mystery is yet to come: one week after she was abducted, their daughter is returned.

She has no memory of where she has been. And this, for her mother, is just the beginning of the nightmare.
 
What about you? Have you read anything absolutely amazing lately?

28 comments:

  1. I admire anyone who enjoys reading like this. I wish I had the desire. I know It would be more relaxing than Tv or Facebook!!!
    Lisa

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  2. I loved "the husband's secret". What an ending!! Thanks for your book reviews--off to Amazon I go!

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    1. Ha ha, hope I don't cost you too much money, Diane! :)

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  3. Read all of them except After Anna! Gonna check it out now!

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    1. I know you will love it, Ellen, if you loved all the other ones!

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  4. Thanks for these suggestions! I've been on a non-fiction kick lately. Just finished a book about the history of Marshall Fields (I grew up shopping there with my Grandma and then I worked there as a teen), and now I'm reading Happier at Home and Radical Beauty.

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    1. Cool! Thanks for the titles, I'll be checking those out, Melanie!

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  5. I have just not had any time to read at all lately. I have about 4 books stacked up waiting for me to start them. These all sound like really good books- ones I would like. Thanks for the reviews! xo Diana

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    1. I haven't started a new one yet but with today being a major snow day it might just be time to curl up next to the fire!

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  6. I have been reading non stop lately! Discovered I can download books from the library on my Kindle, holding a real book is still better but the Ebooks are convenient. Your books all look great and I will check them out. This is a PERFECT time of year to read!!!!! Rhonda

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    1. You are so right, Rhonda! I get a daily email from Amazon with the Kindle Daily Deals, that's when I buy my e-books because they are so cheap!

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  7. Haven't read any of them, in fact I don't have time to do much reading, but I thought it wonderful that your youngest daughter got excited about reading after reading It Ends With Us. Winter time is certainly a perfect time to spend reading, and I like your method of savoring the chapters like treats after a chore is done, lol!

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    1. It's definitely better than rewarding myself with candy or other goodies, isn't it? :)

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  8. I just finished "The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper" and it was excellent! I love reading and it is the best way to end my day. I also use it as a treat during the daytime hours and especially love being able to sit outside and be taken away by a good story!
    Enjoy!

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    1. Oh, I miss sitting on my swing outside with a good book! We have a fresh foot of snow out there right now and it's still coming down like mad! Thanks for the title, I will be checking that out on Amazon!

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  9. I just went to the library yesterday. I am vowing to just read more and relax more this year.

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    1. It's not easy, is it? There are always so many things to be done, I almost feel guilty when I sit down to read!

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  10. I've not heard of the other authors, but I love Liane Moriarty. I've read this book and several of her other books. She is awesome! I love to read...could sit for hours!! :-) Love and hugs!

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    1. I read something else by her also, I can't remember what....that's why I knew this book would be amazing!

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  11. Wow, you have given me lots of choices! I am always looking for new books to read but have to watch those dark, disturbing ones....I read before bed!! Thanks for the great reviews!

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    1. Yeah, some of these could keep you awake, the story lines are amazing, AnnMarie!

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  12. I just finished unpack the last few book boxes and greeted them as old friends. But I'm keeping a list for a month from now, my goal to be settled, and will head to the library with my list then.

    Love reading bloggers' book reviews!

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    1. Me, too, Dewena! Brenda over at Cozy Little House always has great reviews on her site!

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  13. I have trouble sitting still long enough to read! If I am on a long flight then it keeps me occupied. Thanks for sharing these reading options with us. I would certainly like to pick one up from Amazon :)

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    1. I love reading on a long flight - I can finish two books when I travel to Ireland!

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