book recommendation

Ashley Bell by Dean Koontz

~ SamanthaWho ~ 4 Comments

Ashley BellDean Koontz created a twisting story with the psychological mystery, Ashley Bell. With layers that reminded me a bit of The Twilight Zone, he has woven a story within a story. At times I was a bit confused. Most of the time I was completely absorbed. I felt like I was missing some essential element of the story and this gap of information kept me reading on like good suspense novels do.

Bibi, a headstrong and imaginative writer, is our main character. Above all else, Bibi believes that she’s the master of her own life and that nothing can be left up to fate. When she receives shocking news that she only has a year to live, she responds by saying, “We’ll see.” When she recovers just as quickly as she was diagnosed, Bibi learns that she has been saved in order to help another, Ashley Bell. Bibi sets out on a journey that is both mystical and very real to save the little girl.

I liked Bibi from the start. With her go-getter attitude, I couldn’t help but be impressed by her drive and ability to face her antagonists head-on.

While the plot was imaginative and shocking, the book seemed to be longer than the story necessitated. I thought that some sections of the book dragged a bit, and while I wanted to see what happened to Bibi, I wanted the story to move more quickly. My critique is two sided though because my impatience to unravel its mysteries explains how well the book hooked me…

My favorite quote from the book – “ I’ve read more truth in fiction than in nonfiction, partly because fiction can deal with the numinous, and nonfiction rarely does.”

Overall, Ashley Bell is an engaging book with parallel threads that are all woven back together in the end.

 

My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout

~ SamanthaWho ~ 4 Comments

My Name is Lucy Barton“When I write, I suspend judgment of my characters. I really love them.” – Elizabeth Strout. I was lucky enough to attend an author reading with Elizabeth Strout and was able to hear her read a passage from her latest book, My Name is Lucy Barton. It’s always a pleasure to hear an author read their work so this was a great experience!

The book is told from Lucy Barton’s perspective and while it’s a shorter novel, it covers many powerful issues. The most prominent is the relationship between a mother and daughter. The book switches between a period when Lucy is in the hospital with flashbacks to her childhood. Lucy grew up in a very poor household, her family of five living in a garage when she was young. Lucy and her mother have a very complicated relationship, but at the same time it is very simple in this: they love each other irrevocably. Her mother has never been on a plane, but flies out to Lucy while she is in the hospital and stays by her bedside for 5 days. During this time we see Lucy ‘s memories of pain, fear and love, although it is done very subtly.

A couple of my favorite quotes from the book are the following:

“It interests me how we find ways to feel superior to another person, another group of people. It happens everywhere and all the time. Whatever we call it, I think it’s the lowest part of who we are, this need to find someone else to put down.”

“I feel that people may not understand that my mother could never say the words I love you. I feel that people may not understand: It was all right.”

I really liked My Name is Lucy Barton! Because it’s a shorter book it’s very quick, but very consuming at the same time.

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

~ SamanthaWho ~ 25 Comments

The Ocean at the End of the LaneI was very pleasantly surprised with The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman because I had no expectations when I started reading. A beautifully written story, it is both touching and a bit dazzling.

Our narrator returns to his hometown for a funeral and finds himself drawn to one of the farms neighboring his childhood home. Once there, he revisits an old memory of an adventure he had when he was seven years old. The boy is a lonely child and a bit self-deprecating in a sadly humorous way. Because of this, he is very excited to meet the little girl from the neighboring farm, Lettie. Lettie is mature beyond her eleven years and our narrator is instantly stricken by her wisdom and bravery to face danger as an adult might.

Gaiman does a fantastic job of allowing the reader to get inside the head of a child and I really enjoyed it. There is a really interesting divide between adults and children and the boy refers to the grown-ups in his life as though they are a set of different species.

A few of my favorite lines from the book:

“I lived in books more than I lived anywhere else.”

“I lay on the bed and lost myself in stories. I liked that. Books were safer than other people anyway.”

I really recommend The Ocean at the End of the Lane. This is one of those books with lines and ideas that stick with you long after reading it.

Gold Fame Citrus by Claire Vaye Watkins

~ SamanthaWho ~ 11 Comments

Gold Fame CitrusAfter reading 110 pages of Gold Fame Citrus by Claire Vaye Watkins, I couldn’t stick with it. I don’t typically stop reading a book once I’ve started, but after I was a third of the way through I still wasn’t excited about the story and found my mind drifting.

The story is built on an interesting idea that a massive drought has swept through California. A drought that is so drastic it sends most of the population away. Luz and Ray, the main characters of the book, are holdouts living in an abandoned mansion in southern California and are surviving on rations and whatever they can scavenge. Claire Vaye Watkins did do a great job illustrating this desert landscape that left me feeling quite thirsty every time I was reading. Unfortunately, I found the writing to be scattered and a bit un-engaging. That’s not to say it’s a bad story though, maybe reading it in another place at another time would be an entirely different experience…

Has anyone else tried reading Gold Fame Citrus? I would love to hear your thoughts!

Along the Infinite Sea by Beatriz Williams

~ SamanthaWho ~ 5 Comments

Along the Infinite SeaBeatriz Williams is an author that makes me want to become a writer myself. Along the Infinite Sea, her most recent novel, is an incredible story told from the perspectives of two strong women. I haven’t been disappointed by any of William’s stories yet and I’m already eagerly waiting for her next release this summer!

This book picks up where Tiny Little Thing left off with Pepper Schuyler’s story in the 1960’s. While these books are not a traditional series, and don’t need to be read in order to be enjoyed, they focus on the Schuyler family and each of the three sisters in turn. Pepper is pregnant, unwed, and on the run from her baby’s father. She has just sold an old restored Mercedes and plans to use the large sum of money to raise her child on her own. The car’s buyer, Annabelle, introduces herself to Pepper and they take a liking to each other, if hesitantly at first on Pepper’s part. Pepper doesn’t believe in love and doesn’t trust anyone besides herself, but Annabelle’s story may just change her mind…

The book switches from Pepper’s perspective in the 1960’s to Annabelle’s in the 1930’s when she was in Europe between the two world wars. I love Annabelle’s spirit and poise, and I love her relationship with the mysterious and charming Stefan as well. The circumstances and misunderstandings that keep Annabelle and Stefan, a Jewish German man, apart are truly heartbreaking.

This is a delicious story, one that I devoured as quickly as I could. I love the trio of sisters that Williams has created because the Schuyler sisters are just so great.

Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter

~ SamanthaWho ~ 21 Comments

Pretty Girls by Karin SlaughterI was absolutely unprepared for the nasty horror in Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter. This was the first book I’ve read of Slaughter’s (her last name seems fitting now) and didn’t know what to expect. Maybe it was the bright cover and whimsical looking locket, but it sure fooled me. That being said, I did really enjoy the book and was completely absorbed from the start.

The Carroll family has been through hell. The eldest daughter, Julia, disappeared when she was 19 years old and no trace of her has been found over two decades since. The two remaining daughters, Lydia and Claire, haven’t spoken for 18 years, but are reunited when horror strikes again. Claire’s husband Paul has been murdered in front of her eyes and she turns to her sister for support after 18 years of separation. As Claire learns more about the husband she trusted wholeheartedly, her world starts to fall apart and every nightmare she hadn’t imagined comes true.

The silver lining of this horrific story is that the sisters who have held so much anger and pain in their hearts for so long, find their way back to each other, even if it’s under terrible circumstances. Lydia and Claire are outspoken, hot-tempered, and clever, so I really enjoyed reading about them.

Slaughter is a talented writer, spinning a twisting plot with engaging characters. I was horrified by some of the ghastly scenes she has constructed, but I stuck with the novel and wanted to see what happened to Claire and Lydia.

This book had me gripping the binding and clenching my stomach with nerves. I didn’t realize this until my roommate walked in and sent me jumping off the couch. Here is fair warning, this book isn’t for the faint of heart, but it’s worth a read anyway.

After the Crash by Michel Bussi

~ SamanthaWho ~ 3 Comments

After the CrashI really enjoyed After the Crash, a mystery thriller, by Michel Bussi. A popular French author, this is the first book of Bussi’s to be translated into English so that more of us readers can enjoy his work! A very well written story that’s nicely translated, it’s filled with intriguing characters, some of which I enjoyed and others that I was disgusted by, and surprising plot twists.

Right before Christmas of 1980 a plane crashed into the Swiss Alps killing all 169 passengers besides one… A baby was found to have miraculously survived the crash. Against to odds, there were two baby girls of similar age and with similar features on board meaning that the found child’s identity was unknown. Officials were unable to determine which of the babies on board, Lyse-Rose and Emilie, was the child found at the crash site.

A private detective is hired to investigate the case and has spent 18 years trying to find the real identity of Lylie, the name the baby goes by, a combination or Lyse-Rose and Emilie. Over the years he has compiled a journal full of clues explaining his inability to find the real identity of the baby, who has now grown into an 18-year-old woman. On the eve of Lylie’s 18th birthday, the same date that his contract ends, the detective claims to have come across a case-solving clue…

I really enjoyed this book because it switches between the perspectives of multiple characters (including members of each family and snippets from the detective’s journal of notes) as they all race to answer the ultimate question: who is Lylie?

Thank you to Hachette Book Group for sending me an advanced reader’s copy of After the Crash in exchange for an honest review. The book will be released on January 5, 2016!

In a Dark Dark Wood by Ruth Ware

~ SamanthaWho ~ 3 Comments

In a Dark Dark WoodI refuse to waste the time I spend commuting back and forth from work so I’ve been listening to audiobooks over the last few months. In a Dark Dark Wood by Ruth Ware is the latest of those audiobooks. A creepy murder mystery, this one had me sitting in my car once I arrived home just to keep listening to the story.

Leonora, a crime novel writer, finds herself in a situation just like one of her plots when she goes to the bachelorette weekend of her old friend Claire. Leonora and Claire lost touched many years ago and haven’t spoken since they went to school together as teenagers, so Leonora is confused about her invitation to the weekend. Despite having a bad feeling about the whole thing she goes anyway. A couple days later she wakes up in the hospital with scratches and bruises all over her body and doesn’t remember how she got there. Someone has died, that much she hears from the police outside her room, but she doesn’t know who has been killed or how she’s involved.

Leonora describes the house they stay in next to the woods as a glass castle with the feeling that something or someone is outside watching which creates a creepy tone for the story.

At times I was frustrated by Leonora for going to the bachelorette weekend when she didn’t want to and for not standing up for herself when she felt uncomfortable. Her character did grow on me a bit throughout the book though and I really enjoyed the story. Definitely pick up In a Dark Dark Wood for an engaging and descriptive mystery!

Winter Street by Elin Hilderbrand

~ SamanthaWho ~ 3 Comments

Winter Street

Because I’ve been reading a lot of eerie mystery thrillers lately (which I love, don’t get me wrong), I was in the mood for something light. That’s exactly what I got with Winter Street by Elin Hilderbrand. It’s a light easy read that I flew through just in time for the holidays.

The story is set in a nice bed and breakfast, the Winter Street Inn, of Nantucket. During the first few pages we learn that Kelley, the father of the family and inn owner, walks in on his second wife Mitzi sleeping with another man. Only a couple days before Christmas, Mitzi leaves and chaos ensues from there. Patrick, the eldest son, has made a huge mistake that could ruin his family. The second son, Kevin, thinks that he has found the love of his life. Ava is now in charge of the annual holiday Christmas party at the inn and can’t get her boyfriend to commit to her. The youngest son, Bart, is fighting in Afghanistan and no one has heard from him. Kelley’s ex-wife Margaret, a famous news anchor, might be just the person that can hold the family together when everything looks like its spiraling out of control.

At the end of the story, the loose ends are tied into a neat bow, which is both satisfying and expected. As a story set during the holidays, it was an enjoyable read filled with images of cozy decorated rooms and elaborate meals.

Amazon’s first physical bookstore

~ SamanthaWho ~ 32 Comments

Amazon's physical bookstoreA few weeks after opening, I finally visited the Amazon bookstore in the University Village shopping center of Seattle, Washington.

The first thing I thought (along with just about everyone else hearing the news) is that it’s ironic that Amazon has decided to come out with a physical bookstore when they grew in size and scope by putting so many other physical bookstores out of business.

As far as appearance goes, the bookstore is pretty nice! The store is brightly lit, with rows of bookshelves along with areas designed for handling and testing out kindle products. News coverage of the store has explained that it is different from other bookstores because Amazon is using its huge database to stock  only  products that they believe will sell in a timely manner. Reps from Amazon have also said that instead of the spine out displays that are typical and are able to fit more books, they will show the book faces. This way the books each get more space and are easier to browse through.

Ironic or not, I love a bookstore and Amazon may be onto something with how they stock and display books. Either way, only time will tell the success of Amazon’s first physical bookstore and whether there will be more to come in the future….