The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware

I enjoyed the story. I enjoyed the tension and the buildup. The ending however fell very flat to me, it felt anticlimactic, and left me wishing for more of a bang.


The Woman in Cabin 10 is a pretty typical escapist who-dun-it. That isn't a criticism, there is a place in any healthy reading diet for that kind of read. And for the most part I enjoyed this one. I fell for some of the red herrings and others didn't fool me. I started to unravel the mystery and it is was a little formulaic, but not too much so that it made the story bad.

I can't say much because I don't want to give it away. But I will come back to my feeling about the lackluster ending. Once the "who" in the who-dun-it is revealed it kind of just ends. There was room for a big "wow" or "yes!!" moment and it never happens, it is hinted or teased but not fleshed out and I was disappointed.


I would not tell you not to read this but I would caution not to get too invested, it is a pretty quick and painless bit of escapism and I can see promise in this author. But don't go out of your way to read this...

(Finished December 20, 2017)

Bonfire by Krysten Ritter

You know the saying you cant go home again, maybe it should be you shouldn't go home again.

At least for Abby that is the case.

When she left her hometown of Barren she thought for sure she was done forever with it. But when she comes back to prove the company that is the towns biggest employer and benefactor is making people sick from chemicals it has been improperly been dumping she gets so much more than she bargained for, and it could cost her everything.....


Memories flood back and Abby isn't sure what they mean or if they are even real. Everything she thought she knew turns out to be so much more...a dead dog, a lying best friend turned enemy, bullies, corrupt politics, blackmail, murder, it is all here in the sleepy little town of Barren Indiana and Abby has to unravel it to move on with her life...

Bonfire is written by Krysten Ritter of Breaking Bad and Jessica Jones. It is not a bad debut. It wasn't obvious or in your face what the out come would be, as a matter of fact, while I was on the right track I didn't quite get it and was glad I hadn't fully seen coming what came.

(Finished December 8, 2017)

All American Boys by Jason Reynolds, Brendan Kiely

I cried a lot when reading this book...fair warning.


I read about Jason Reynolds in a review of his newest book Long Way Down. I knew this was an author I needed to introduce my son to and that I would need to read along with him. So for his birthday a week ago I got him this one. I just finished it and my face is still damp from the tears and I can still feel the sobs in my body as I type this. My son is a few pages behind me so he will finish today too. I will post a review by him when he can put together the words to do it, I expect he will be as wrecked as I am. But as painful as this is, we have had some amazing conversations. He is a true social justice champion and this is an area of social justice we as a family are passionate about. And only partly because I am the proud (white) mother of a proud young black man. My son is a proud young (white) man who loves and worries over his older brother, a brother he knows he could lose for no other reason than the color of his skin. My 12 year old is too aware of the fact that he has a different set of rules to live by when he walks out of our home should he ever be confronted by a police officer.
 Ok...so my review of this book: Bottom line READ IT!!! NOW!!!

all american boys is told in two voices, Rashad and Quinn. Both are high school students. Both are on the school basketball team. Both are a little girl crazy. And that is where the similarities end. Because Quinn is White and Rashad is Black.

Rashad opens the story telling us who he is and how he ended up a statistic. Rashad is brutalized by a police officer for no reason...other than he is prejudged to have done something wrong.

Quinn tells us who he is and how he ended up seeing Rashad become a statistic. Quinn sees the officer beating up Rashad while Rashad is on the ground in handcuffs.

Quinn knows the officer. The officer is a family friend who has an important role in Quinn's life. Quinn is scared and angry and now woke.

Rashad is scared and angry and feels changed and helpless.

The story is powerful and well told. And an important read. The suggested age on the lower end of the books description is 12. But it depends on your child's age, reading ability, and the content being something they can deal with and talk about.  There are some mentions of kissing, drinking, shoplifting, death of a parent, violence. Nothing is majorly descriptive other than Rashad's attack. While this is a "teen" read I think as an adult it was not too simple or young and everyone should be reading this and talking about this.

A quote that has stuck with me and I will share with you sums up perfectly why I will continue to say "BlackLivesMatter" and mot "all" and why it is more important than ever for White people to say this:
"Look, if there are people who are scared of the police every day of their lives, I am going to live in fear for them"

And let me also say, I know not every cop is doing this, and many are speaking out about it...but it happens too many times and it has to stop.

(Finished November 22, 2017)

The Queen of Attolia (The Queen's Thief #2) by Megan Whalen Turner

As I ended Book 1 feeling, I love that this is a book I can share with my son. Also as was the case with Book 1 thing here aren't always what they seem.

I enjoyed spending time with Gen and Eddis again. It was nice to have Magus back too. I wish Sophos had made an appearance but I think he comes back next book.

Gen, who says and proves he can steal anything, really sets his sights on a huge take this time....amid a three way war involving Eddis, Attolia, and Sounis. Add in some intrigue and sneaky plans by the Mead ambassador and what you end up with a story of war and mystery and excitement.

There is some reference to love and romance, battles and death during war, and shady characters but never in a way that is too graphic. This is classified as children's literature but it is so smartly written and doesn't talk down to the reader so is enjoyable for adults even while being age appropriate to its target audience which starts at 12. The characters are interesting and the story is engaging.  


(Finished November 19, 2017)

The Thief (The Queen's Thief #1) by Megan Whalen Turner

My sweet husband won an Amazon gift card and work and gave it to me and I had a nice book-shopping-spree that included this and Book2. After a couple of really heavy reads I picked this up to catch my breath before picking up my next memoir or social justice read. But...I am thinking I need to read book 2 right away since I have it.

I enjoyed the mystery, the adventure, and the story. It was clearly a set up for more books so there is a lot of back story, questions without answers, intrigue left unresolved, and room for new story lines. I liked the charter Gen/Eugenides and I hope he has more page time with Sophos in Book 2 because I enjoyed their budding friendship. I even grew to really like Magus. No one was what they first appeared to be and there was more to them as we got to know them...well except for Ambiades, he starts out a shit and stays a shit. 

When Gen brags openly that he can step anything (being such a master thief and all) and then gets arrested for stealing the King's seal and showing it off to prove his masterfulness he sits in prison for months until Magus comes to get him and offers him his freedom for stealing something for him. Off on a journey they go to steal a mythical stone (Hamaithes's Gift) that will allow King Sounis to claim the country of Eddis. But things aren't as cut and dry as they seem, and the task is not as easy as just walking in and taking this stone.  

Something else I am loving about this is that is the perfect read to share with my almost 12 year old adventure story loving kid!! Books we can both read are always a plus!! 


 (Finished November 6, 2017)

We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy by Ta-Nehisi Coates

When I read Between The World And Me I knew Coates was someone who I would read any and everything by.
We Were Eight Years In Power confirmed my feelings.


Over the 8 years of the Obama Administration in his job writing for The Atlantic Coates wrote the essays he includes in this book. Before each one he includes a note about where he is now, where he was then, what he thinks he did well and what he could have done better and his opinion on how each essay has held up. And then he gives us an incredible epilogue. You may not agree with his analysis on every point, I found myself seldom if at all disagreeing with him, but his work is well thought out, documented, and defended.

He writes so well and so powerfully, with lines like "To Trump whiteness is neither notional no symbolic but is the very core of his power. In this, Trump is not singular. But whereas his forebears carried whiteness like and ancestral talisman, Trump cracked the glowing amulet open, releasing its eldritch energies."
If for you like it does for me reading Coates brings to mind Baldwin I don't think he would mind the comparison.


P.S. Coates has also authored new Marvel Black Panther comics and they are really good too!!

(Finished November 3, 2017)

Turtles All the Way Down by John Green

The fact that I didn't finish this book in one sitting has everything to do with having to adult and nothing to do with the book. IT WAS GREAT!!! I was moving and needed to be packing and since I just started my new job I had to work and I just had to hold off on reading time, and yes I know how sad that is!!!


Ok, the book....

Being me, with the life I have...as you know, or maybe not if you are new to my ramblings, I have a 16 year old who at 12 was diagnosed with a mental illness, Bipolar, and our lives, my entire family, we live a life where this is part of our daily existence. Some days are good, some are just ok, but some are really, really bad. So reading Aza's story felt very close to home. Her struggle, her mother just wanting to make it all better. Her best friend Daisy not being able to tell her how once sided their friendship is but how much she loves her anyway. Her not being able to be with the boy she really likes. It all felt so real. And that is a credit to John Green. He is incredibly talented. And this subject matter was close to his life too, he has talked about his OCD and mental health.

But even if it wasn't subject he was intimately familiar with, John Green does something rare in the world of YA, he writes books adults can read too because when he writes he respects his reader's intelligence and just because his books are YA he doesn't talk down to or assume stupidity or vapidness on the part of the teen age audience. His books are YA, his characters are young people, but his content is real and readable for adults too.


Read Turtles All The Way Down. Then talk about Mental Health because it is time to end the stigma and make it easier for those struggling to talk about their illness and the needs they have. You wouldn't ever judge or attach stigma to a teen with cancer so why would you judge and stigmatize a teen with a mental illness? No one can help having either one.

(Finished October 18, 2017)