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! 

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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.