The Good Girl by Mary Kubica

A special thank you to Goodreads First Reads for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

“I’ve been following her for the past few days. I know where she buys her groceries, where she has her dry cleaning done, where she works. I don’t know the color of her eyes or what they look like when she’s scared. But I will.”

Mia Dennett is a 24-year-old art teacher from a predominant Chicago family. One fateful night, Mia Dennett is at a bar, waiting for her sometimes boyfriend.  When he fails to show, Mia leaves with a mysterious stranger. As far as first impressions go, Colin Thatcher seems like a norma,l one-night stand kind of guy. However going home with Colin will prove to be the worst mistake of Mia’s life.

Instead of delivering Mia to his employers as promised, Colin instead hides Mia in a cabin in a secluded area of Minnesota. Mia’s mother, Eve, is desperate to find her daughter and so is detective Gabe Hoffman. Almost nothing turns out as expected, especially when Mia returns and has no memory of what happened to her or her former life before the kidnapping.

Kubica's debut is a powerhouse! In the genre of thrillers, Kubica asserts herself as a top player. Her writing is clever, sharp, and tight. There were just enough plot twists, both subtle, and dramatic to make this book a contender to appear on various "best of" lists for 2015. The pace is fast enough to keep the reader engaged to polish off this book in one sitting which is exactly what I did.

MARY KUBICA is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author.  She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, in History and American Literature.

She lives outside of Chicago with her husband and two children and enjoys photography, gardening and caring for the animals at a local shelter. 

The 20/20 Diet: Turn Your Weight Loss Vision Into Reality by Phillip C. McGraw

A special thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a solid 2.5 out of 5 for me.  There was some really great information here, but completely bogged down by the Dr. Phil-isms, but I guess that's why people are going to buy this book.  He has some good tips and breaks things down into more palatable sections, but there is nothing new here.

The High Mountains of Portugal: A Novel by Yann Martel

A special thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved Life of Pi, and like that story, The High Mountains of Portugal was very hard to get into however, I did like this book more than Beatrice and Virgil. 

This novel is made up of three separate narratives, all of which are connected and come full circle in the last story which takes the reader back to Portugal. The first story takes place in the early 1900s. Tomás sets out on a quest that takes him from Lisbon to the High Mountains of Portugal by one of the first motor cars. The second story takes place thirty-five years later. A pathologist is visited by his wife who juxtaposes the novels of Agatha Christie to Bible verses and then is possibly murdered when she leaves his office. He is then visited by a lady who bring him the body of her dead husband in a suitcase and wants and autopsy performed on him. And finally, fifty years later we meet Senator Peter Tovy of Ottawa who is grieving the death of his own beloved wife. Peter, on a whim, rescues a chimpanzee from a primate research facility in Oklahoma. He takes the chimp to Portugal, home to his ancestral village and this is where all three stories weave together. 

In true Martel fashion, the story has themes of love and loss, a strong animal presence, and almost a fable-like quality. His writing is beautiful, but at times too complex, especially in the beginning. I'm glad I finished the book, but I really had to push through the first story to do so.

A Dictionary of Mutual Understanding by Jackie Copleton

A special thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This incredibly moving page-turner set in present day and 1945, was one I couldn't easily put down.  Described as being in the same vein as Memoirs of a Geisha and The Piano, this debut novel is a heart-wrenching story of love, loss, hope and forgiveness, against a historical backstory equally as heartbreaking.

Amaterasu Takahashi opens her door to a badly scarred man who claims to be her grandson that perished in the bombing of Nagasaki along with his mother/her daughter Yuko, nearly forty years earlier.  He brings with him a collection of sealed letters that drag Ama back to her memories in Japan that she tried to forget when she and her husband fled to America.  Each chapter reveals more of her past life, the life of her daughter, their mutual love affair, and the death of her daughter and grandson, Hideo.

I would have given the novel five stars, but at times, it was hard to determine which character was telling the story with Ama and her daughter - perhaps this was done on purpose since they shared the same antagonist.

The Scam (Fox and O'Hare, #4) by Janet Evanovich

A special thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Being a Stephanie Plum fan, I was really looking forward to reading this book.  Okay, so I didn't read the others in the series, but have since skimmed through them.  This series is a bit of a train wreck...  Evanovich's previous series were a breeze to read and so much fun!  Not this book/series.  We all need mindless reads from time to time, which is what I thought when I picked this book for review.  This really didn't work for me, is it because it is co-authored?  Is it because she takes some potshots at Canadians?  Maybe.  I think I will stick with books in my usual vein and leave the Evanovich series alone - my reading list is too long to waste my time on mediocre books.

Ghostly: A Collection of Ghost Stories by Audrey Niffenegger

A special thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I love Audrey Niffenegger's earlier work so I thought this one would be a slam-dunk.  Who doesn't love a good ghost story?

The collection is a bit on the ecclecic side, ranging from modern day to classic with a twist of contemporary.  The stories are more on the traditional side of a ghost story versus the creepy kind that keep you up at night.  All-in-all, a fun read, perfect for this time of year.  I do wish the author had included more of her work because I think her writing speaks for itself.  That being said, I enjoyed her introductions to each story and the illustrations, they were a perfect companion to the featured stories.

My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout

A special thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed Olive Kitteridge, and I enjoyed this book as well (as much as you can). It did send me on a slow journey, and left me a bit sad. Lucy Barton is recovering from surgery, and her husband is caring for the children so her estranged mother comes to keep her company. Lucy came from an impoverished upbringing that lacked not only in money, but in experience, culture, love, and attention. With her mother's appearance at the hospital, we are given a glimpse into Lucy's childhood, and her difficult past. According to Lucy she is a successful writer, who is married with children.

I find that this book speaks to the reader on a different level, it is more about the nuances and what is left unsaid. I highly recommend this story of a girl whose life may or may not be a fictional account—after all, Lucy is a writer. 

BUY NOW

ELIZABETH STROUT is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Olive Kitteridge; the #1 New York Times bestseller My Name Is Lucy Barton; The Burgess Boys, and New York Times bestseller; Abide with Me. She has also been a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award and the Orange Prize in England. Her short stories have been published in a number of magazines, including The New Yorker and O: The Oprah Magazine.

Strout lives in New York City.

Thirteen Ways of Looking by Colum McCann

A special thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I have been meaning to read Let the Great World Spin since purchasing it years ago and have yet to get around to it.  After binging on Thirteen Ways of Looking, I'm putting Let the Great World Spin back to the top of the heap on my nightstand.  Short stories are not usually something I pick up, and honestly, I requested the book not realizing this was a novella and short story compilation.  McCann has such a gift with language and writing, I highly recommend picking up this collection that is framed by notes from the author.  You won't be disappointed!

Thirteen Ways of Looking

This novella is so rich, I wanted it to be a full-fledged book!  I was instantly drawn in and devoured every page of this mystery.  McCann's character development is outstanding.  The story draws heavily on culture/literary references, daunting to some, but really worked with the character.  

The reader is introduced to varying perspectives from the main character's, the security camera footage, and the detectives'.  I am not familiar with the Wallace Stevens poem "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird" that is quoted at the beginning of each section and forms the basis of the title, so it may be a bit lost on me, but I understand the symbolism.  I don't want to give anything away, there is closure to the story, but he does leave the reader hanging.  

What Time Is It Now, Where You Are?

A writer walks through the steps of creating a story.  McCann tells us what the writer imagines it would be like for an American female soldier station in Afghanistan on New Year's Eve waiting to call her lover.  He writes all of his questions, his though process while creating the story.  It was so effective and so vivid, and yet so short.  

Sh'khol

This story was my least favourite.  A mom and her mentally disabled son are vacationing on the coast of Ireland and the son disappears.  I can't put my finger on what I didn't like about the story, it certainly wasn't the writing, as a reader, you can feel the anguish of the mother, but maybe it was the subject itself. 

Treaty

This story about an aging nun that confronts the man who tortured and raped her 37 years prior when she learns that he alive and well and is a posing as something completely opposite to what she experienced.  This story was so intense, well-written, and raw.

After You by Jojo Moyes

A special thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I would like to preface this by saying that I would read anything by Jojo Moyes. Yes, anything. She could retype the phone book and I would still read it.  I adore her, I adore her writing. 

After reading a book that you love, like Me Before You, you always want more. You are left with so many burning questions about the characters and what will happen to them. But sometimes those questions should just be left unanswered and let the reader speculate or cherish those characters by imagining their own sequel. These questions probably followed the author around, as did the countless questions about Lou, and what she is doing now, but I don't think that this necessarily means that Moyes should've wrote a sequel. I'm not saying I didn't adore parts of this, but for me it almost read like it was written by another author, in fact, the introduction of Lily felt very much like About a Boy—a lonely thirty-something finds purpose in big-sister type relationship. I simply didn't feel the same connection and affinity to Lou, and the rest of the character and story really lacked in depth and emotion.  

I found the subplot about Lou's parents unnecessary. What was the relevance of her mum's newfound feminist ways? And her poor sister...    

For those of you that are fans of Me Before You, I get it, you will read it. At best, it's a good book, there are some funny bits, and some touching bits, but all-in-all I expected so much more. That being said, I am looking forward to whatever Ms. Moyes writes next.

JOJO MOYES is the New York Times bestselling author of Me Before You, The Horse Dancer, One Plus One, The Girl You Left Behind, The Last Letter from Your Lover, Silver Bay, and The Ship of Brides. 

Moyes lives in Essex, England with her husband and three children.

The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald

A special thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book starts off completely delightful with a great hook.  Sara arrives in small town USA to meet her elderly pen pal, Amy.  When Amy fails to show, Sara is taken to Amy's house where her wake is in progress.  Sara decides to stay at Amy's house, and inspired by her vast book collection, Sara opens a bookstore in the despondent town. 

My complaints about this book are that it gives away the ending for Jane Eyre, so if you haven't already read it, I would suggest doing so in place of this one, and that it was too long, it could've easily been 80-100 pages shorter to tighten up the story.  The story itself was interesting enough without all of the romantic subplots.  I was more interested in Sara’s personal journey, her discoveries about Amy and her immersion in Broken Wheel and the quirky collection of characters that call Broken Wheel home.  

The Japanese Lover by Isabel Allende

A special thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Allende's novel takes a closer look at relationships, family, and love.  Irina, an immigrant from Poland accepts a job at a retirement home where we are introduced to Alma.  Alma and Irina fall into an unexpected friendship that stems from Irina working as her assistant.  This is also how Irina meets Alma's grandson, Seth.  Irina and Seth bond over their mutual interest in Alma’s past which is slowly revealed through letters and mysterious flower deliveries.

Alma's backstory involves Ichimei, a boy she meets when her parents send her from Poland to the United States during the Nazis rise to power.  Ichimei and Alma are close friends until his family is sent to an internment camp.  The two initially exchanged letters but eventually lost contact when the government censors stopped forwarding mail.  They continue to be reunited over the years, their love a constant.  

The relationship of Alma and Ichimei is mirrored with Irina and Seth.  Alma and Irena, both immigrants and slaves to tradition and Ichimei and Seth bound by family.  I thought this was an unnecessary comparison, Alma's story was interesting enough to carry the book.  Overall, there was some really beautiful writing and lovely passages.  

The Dream Lover: A Novel of George Sand by Elizabeth Berg

A special thank you to NetGalley and Random House for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The reviews for this book are all over the map, and my opinion is much of the same. Some of it I really liked, while other parts I skimmed through. Berg writes in first person, alternating between Sand's childhood, and almost present day (the time she decides to leave her husband for a life in Paris). I don't think the alternating between past and present each chapter was effective in that it was confusing at times and I wasn't sure the purpose. Berg could have easily done the story in two separate parts. What was interesting to me was her search for love and acceptance, with remarkable insights into her heart and brilliant mind.

Days of Awe by Lauren Fox

A special thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

It took a little time to get invested in the book.  There were some confusing bits at the beginning when the story switches between past and present. 

Meet Izzie, recently separated and mourning not only the death of her marriage, but the death of her best friend Josie who happens to be married to her childhood friend Mark.  Izzie is not always likable, in fact, I found her extremely immature at times, and if you are looking for a character you can root for, she may not be your girl.  In fact, I actually identified more with Chris' feeling towards Isabel and her dramatics.  “There is a peculiar kind of terror you feel when the person you are closest to — for better or worse — begins to formulate the idea of a life without you.”  

Fox is a really good writer, and there were many wonderful passages to linger over - she has a gift for capturing emotion.  That being said, I did find the the book a bit on the long-ish side and felt that her relationship with her mother and the mother's back story was just extra (it was interesting, but for me just added to the bulk of the book).  And if you are waiting for a big finish, the book just kind of fizzles out.   

A Window Opens by Elisabeth Egan

A special thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Like her fictional forebears Kate Reddy and Bridget Jones, Alice plays many roles (which she never refers to as “wearing many hats” and wishes you wouldn’t, either). She is a mostly-happily married mother of three, an attentive daughter, an ambivalent dog-owner, a part-time editor, a loyal neighbor and a Zen commuter. She is not: a cook, a craftswoman, a decorator, an active PTA member, a natural caretaker or the breadwinner. But when her husband makes a radical career change, Alice is ready to lean in—and she knows exactly how lucky she is to land a job at Scroll, a hip young start-up which promises to be the future of reading, with its chain of chic literary lounges and dedication to beloved classics. The Holy Grail of working mothers―an intellectually satisfying job and a happy personal life―seems suddenly within reach.

Despite the disapproval of her best friend, who owns the local bookstore, Alice is proud of her new “balancing act” (which is more like a three-ring circus) until her dad gets sick, her marriage flounders, her babysitter gets fed up, her kids start to grow up and her work takes an unexpected turn. Readers will cheer as Alice realizes the question is not whether it’s possible to have it all, but what does she―Alice Pearse―really want?

By way of a story, there is nothing new, in fact, this type of story has been done time and time again.  Alice is struggling to do it all - she's part of the sandwich generation with demanding kids, a sick/elderly parent, and also a husband that not only loses his job, but develops a drinking problem.  She's likable enough, and it wasn't so much what she had to deal with (Egan really pours it on thick), but how she deals with things.  Readers may identify with her and find the book entertaining, or not relate to her and find the book a bit dull.  Or maybe readers will be too distracted by their own busy lives and feel guilty for indulging in reading when they should be doing other things.

What was interesting to me was Alice's professional journey, I also work in publishing, but it wasn't enough to really sell the story. 

Stand-Off by Andrew Smith

A special thank you to Goodreads First Reads and Simon and Schuster for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

As far as sequels go, this book was fantastic! I was really surprised that I enjoyed this book as much as I did. Winger is still better, however Stand-Off was a great follow up.

As in life, tragedy doesn't slow things down for Ryan Dean. Smith's foray into grief has Ryan Dean dealing with the aftermath of the tragedy of his best friend. Smith's writing is honest, and raw. He captures Ryan Dean's grief, his struggle to process the tragedy, and emotion.

Much like Winger, the humour is present, juxtaposed against Ryan Dean's pain, and it pushes the story forward much like it is pushing the character forward to come out the other side of his grief.

“I’ll tell you what, Ryan Dean. If it makes a difference, and I believe it might, we won’t call you fly half. We’ll call you stand-off. I prefer the name for the number ten, anyway, because it really says what it is you do on the pitch–you stand off from the pack and you design the strategy for the squad to win.”

The Marriage of Opposites by Alice Hoffman

A special thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Alice Hoffman is one of my absolute favourite authors. How excited was I to get an ARC of this book? I absolutely love art history (being an art history major), and couple this with Hoffman's exquisite writing, I couldn't put the book down. I loved it! 

Hoffman's writing, and descriptions are simply beautiful—the way she described Pissarro's paintings gave them the respect they deserve. Pissarro was after all a founding father of Impressionism, a much loved art period. I don't want to give too much away from the story, but I will say that this historical fictional account of Rachel was incredibly well done. I loved the build of the narrative, and that Hoffman took the time to develop the characters, and the story, all throughout Rachel's life.

BUY NOW

ALICE HOFFMAN has a BA from Adelphi University and an MA in creative writing from Stanford University.

Hoffman's first novel, Property Of, was written at the age of twenty-one, while she was studying at Stanford, and published shortly thereafter by Farrar Straus and Giroux. Since that remarkable beginning, Alice Hoffman has become one of our most distinguished novelists. She has published over thirty novels, three books of short fiction, and eight books for children and young adults.

Her novel, Here on Earth, an Oprah Book Club choice, was a modern reworking of some of the themes of Emily Bronte’s masterpiece Wuthering Heights. Practical Magic was made into a Warner film starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman. Her novel, At Risk, which concerns a family dealing with AIDS, can be found on the reading lists of many universities, colleges and secondary schools. Hoffman’s advance from Local Girls, a collection of inter-related fictions about love and loss on Long Island, was donated to help create the Hoffman Breast Center at Mt. Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, MA.

Hoffman has written a number of novels for young adults, including Aquamarine, Green Angel, and the New York Times bestseller The Ice Queen. In 2007 Little Brown published the teen novel Incantation, a story about hidden Jews during the Spanish Inquisition, which Publishers Weekly has chosen as one of the best books of the year.

Her works have been published in more than twenty translations and more than one hundred foreign editions. Hoffman's novels have received mention as notable books of the year by The New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, The Los Angeles Times, Library Journal, and People Magazine. She has also worked as a screenwriter and is the author of the original screenplay “Independence Day,” a film starring Kathleen Quinlan and Diane Wiest. Her teen novel Aquamarine was made into a film starring Emma Roberts. Her short fiction and non-fiction have appeared in The New York Times, The Boston Globe Magazine, Kenyon Review, The Los Angeles Times, Architectural Digest, Harvard Review, Ploughshares and other magazines.

She currently lives in Boston and New York. 

Good Girl: A Memoir by Sarah Tomlinson

A special thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Oh Sarah...  I really wanted to like your book so much more than I actually did. I kept waiting for something to happen, some epiphany but nothing really happened.

Her accolades and experience are impressive.  I'm sure she's a gifted writer, in fact I would actually like to read some of her music reviews which are probably fantastic, but I really didn't care for her style.  Her story is told so rapidly, like one giant conversation that makes your head spin.  You know when you haven't seen someone for a long time, and you talk incessantly, cramming in a lifetimes worth of conversation into one evening?  That's how I felt reading this.  I didn't feel like she had found her voice or her place in life, perhaps that is why she wrote the book like this?  I just craved more detail from her not the staccato storytelling.

I was also waiting for a proper conclusion; I thought that the ending would mark something monumental but there was no build up and it just ended.  It was as if her goal was to cover off as as much as possible without going into any detail.

Those Girls by Chevy Stevens

A special thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Life has never been easy for the three Campbell sisters. Jess, Courtney, and Dani live on a remote ranch in Western Canada where they work hard and try to stay out of the way of their father’s fists. One night, a fight gets out of hand and the sisters are forced to go on the run, only to get caught in an even worse nightmare when their truck breaks down in a small town. Events spiral out of control and a chance encounter with the wrong people leaves them in a horrific and desperate situation. They are left with no choice but to change their names and create new lives.

Eighteen years later, they are still trying to forget what happened that summer when one of the sisters goes missing and they are pulled back into their past.

This time there’s nowhere left to run.

Set in western Canada, this emotional thriller is in a way a strange coming-of-age story that also explores the bond between sisters. The main characters, the Campbell sisters, are forced to flee their home only to encounter more violation and torture at the hands of their rescuers. There are some very disturbing details, and a darkness that swallows up not only the girls' innocence, but parts of them as well.

At times the narrative is incredibly difficult, not only by way of imagery, but because of the extreme violence that Stevens takes on (rape, murder, abuse). Some readers may find the writing powerful based on the connection and empathy towards the girls and their resilience, but I did not. I found it incredibly disturbing and violent.  

Those Girls is an unforgettable portrait of desperation, loyalty, and evil.

CHEVY STEVENS was working as a realtor when she got the idea for her novel Still Missing, in which a real estate agent is abducted while holding an open house. Still Missing was a New York Times bestseller and the winner of the 2011 International Thriller Writers Award for Best First Novel.

Stevens currently resides on Vancouver island with her husband and daughter.

Better Than Before: Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Lives by Gretchen Rubin

A special thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I liked this book much better than her other two books. My problem with Gretchen Rubin is that she constantly reminds us that she has a blog, and mentions her husband and children way too much. There are so many good nuggets in the book that she could flesh out, she doesn't need to consistently tell us about her privileged lifestyle, her blog, Jamie, Eleanor and Eliza.

At times I found her preachy.  She certainly doesn't do herself any favours when she recounts conversations that she has with people as she sounds completely righteous.

Like I said there were a lot of good takeaways from the book - I wish she had of expanded upon those and done away with all of the personal fluff.

Emma by Alexander McCall Smith

I  received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.

I wanted to like this book, I really, really did...but...it failed.  McCall Smith attempts to transport Emma into modern times and the whole thing feels kind of forced.  The language for one, is not reflective of modern times, it still reads with too much formality and McCall Smith relies on rephrasing instead of rewriting/retelling.  The original Emma is not a likeable heroine and neither is McCall Smith's Emma and I think he should've left her alone.

The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George

A special thank you to NetGalley and Random House for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Floating on the Seine is a very special bookshop.  Monsieur Jean Perdu is a brokenhearted bookseller that prescribes books to locals and tourists of Paris much like a pharmacist.

Perdu is accustomed to his solitary life as he mourns Manon, his lost love.  His feelings are awakened with a new neighbour, equally fragile.  To avoid any sort of a relationship with her, he sets sail.  I loved the idea, setting, and premise of this book but once the bookshop sets sail, that's when my interest also set sail.

Rodin's Lover by Heather Webb

A special thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Kudos to the author for her attempt at historical fiction - based on her notes and acknowledgements, she certainly did her homework.  I am always amazed at how an author can take a historical figure and imagine the conversations and interactions that took place surrounding the events that formed their mark on history.  

There were many parts of the story I enjoyed, I often paused to research the works mentioned, Claudel had some amazing pieces and what was more impressive was the obstacles she faced being a woman in the male-dominated art world.  Where the story fell flat for me was Claudel herself - I don't know if the author took liberties with her character, making her unlikable by other women (and the reader) with her sharp demeanor, but it made me limp through the book.  Perhaps the disconnect was done on purpose to illustrate her mental decent.      
  
I also wasn't overly invested in Claudel's relationship with Rodin.  It was supposed to be a passionate, at times jealous affair, but I didn't buy into it, the writing wasn't strong enough and Webb seemed to say the same thing over and over about their passion for each other.  

I found this book just okay.  I did expect more passionate, especially based on the title, but I found the book a bit boring.  

The Mountain Story by Lori Lansens

A special thank you to NetGalley and Gallery, Threshold, Pocket Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. 

Four lost hikers are about to discover they’re capable of something extraordinary.

Nola, recently widowed, has gone up the mountain to commemorate the first wedding anniversary without her husband. Bridget, thin and fit, is training for a triathalon. Vonn, a rebellious teenager, is trying to sort herself out and escape her family at eight thousand feet. Wolf, reeling from the death of his best friend in a tragic accident, is the only one of them with hiking experience—he has come to the cliffs with no supplies because he plans to commit suicide.

After a series of missteps strands them in the wilderness together, the group realizes that their only chance of survival is to depend on one another. The four broken individuals form an incredible bond that pushes each other further than they ever thought possible. But only three make it home alive, yet all are forever changed by their days on the mountain.

I am thrilled to be an early reviewer of The Mountain Story, especially since I've been a huge fan of Lansen's writing after reading Rush Home Road years ago for a book club selection. 

Lori is a brilliant writer and has created more unforgettable characters in Wolf, Vonn, Bridget, and Nola. This story is moving, heart-stopping, enthralling, and brilliantly penned—it is a huge undertaking and she pulled it off.

The Mountain Story is a page-turner that is filled with hope and resilience of the human spirit.  I knew this story would linger and I wanted to savour it, but I simply couldn't put it down. Lansens' writing never disappoints and I highly recommend! 

BUY NOW

LORI LANSENS was a successful screenwriter before releasing her first highly successful novel, Rush Home Road. Her follow-up novel, The Girls, was also an international success. Lori's third novel, The Wife's Tale, has become a national bestseller.

Born and raised in Chatham, Ontario, Lansens now makes her home in the Santa Monica Mountains with her husband and 2 children.

At the Water's Edge by Sara Gruen

A special thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I don't want to compare this book with Water for Elephants, I don't think that is fair to do...but...I didn't love this book and Water for Elephants is partly to blame because it was so fantastic.

Gruen tackles a historical time and fictitious creature in At the Water's Edge.  I enjoyed the setting for the book, as many other reviewers have said, this would make a great movie.  My problem is with the characters.  It's not that Gruen is a bad writer, quite the opposite, but I didn't overly like any of them.  I kept getting the Scottish girls confused, and didn't care for any of the men, save for maybe Hank at times.  I realize that the reader is not supposed to like Elis, he's very similar to the husband in Water for Elephants, but I found his character flat for the villain part.

The book started off great.  The best part of the book for me was the prologue and the New Year's Party.

Inside the O'Briens by Lisa Genova

A special thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I can understand why Lisa Genova is an award-winning author. I have devoured her other books, and was thrilled to receive this ARC.

Genova's novel does for Huntington’s Disease what her debut Still Alice did for Alzheimer’s. Joe O’Brien is a forty-four-year-old Irish Catholic police officer from Massachusetts. He is a devoted husband, and proud father of four grown children.

In the early chapters, it is clear something is amiss with Joe—he begins to experience the early symptoms of Huntington's Disease, a lethal neurodegenerative disease with no treatment and no cure. Joe receives the devastating diagnosis that he does indeed have Huntington's Disease, inherited from his mother. The story evolves though Joe's journey with the disease, and with the probability that some, if not all, of Joe and Rosie's children will inherit Huntington's. Genova changes gears and we experience what Katie, Joe's twenty-one-year-old daughter is going through.  Will she get tested?  Does she want to know if she has inherited this disease?  How will she live her life?

I adored the family and the family dynamic. Genova writes characters you care about and can relate to, while educating her readers at the same time.

LISA GENOVA graduated valedictorian from Bates College with a degree in Biopsychology and holds a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Harvard University. She is a member of the Dementia Advocacy, Support Network International and DementiaUSA and is an online columnist for the National Alzheimer's association.

Genova is also the New York Times bestselling author of Still Alice, Left Neglected, and Love Anthony. Still Alice was adapted into an Oscar-winning film starring Julianne Moore, Alec Baldwin, and Kristen Stewart. 

Mrs. Grant and Madame Jule by Jennifer Chiaverini

A special thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I found this book rather dull, and the writing seemed a little basic. It read more as two separate books, one of which was regurgitating facts from the civil war battles, a topic which is not of any interest to me. I was hoping for more from the story of the women in the title, that was the part of the story that I enjoyed and wanted more of. Perhaps the author was trying to do too much in the span of the novel.