Writings, Wanderings

My top two non-children book reads for January were For Everyone by Jason Reynolds and The Girls by Abigail Pesta. For Everyone is a poetry book that takes an honest look at life. I gave it 5 stars and its own blog entry . The Girls by Abigail Pesta. Wow, this was a tough one, but I do not regret one bit picking it up from the local library. I have loved watching gymnastics my whole life, even did a two-month stint back in elementary school at the local Y on the four apparatus that female gymnasts conquer. The unfolding of the abuse scandal over the last few years has been gut-wrenching. I hate what these young woman have been through but applaud their courage in standing up and testifying. This book documents many of their stories. The focus in on the girls not their abuser nor the system that protected him. Yes, he is a character but the protagonists are the women and the events they chose to share, some of them for the first time with the public. I believe the author h...

Nancy Drew. I'm not joking when I say it is possible I have read 100 of the many books written about the teenage girl detective. (Some research turns up over 300 titles across the various lines.) While nearly all the stories were enjoyable reads, some titles stand out more than others. One of my favorites is actually a set of three, the Passport to Romance trilogy (released in 1992 by Simon & Schuster) These three books set their mysteries against the backdrop of fantastic European destinations. Nancy and her friends first travel to Switzerland and then head on to Italy before finishing their touring in Greece. These books tantalized my imagination with their touches of the culture of these countries; I especially remember details from Rendezvous in Rome  with its mention of the Etruscans and a daring chase through the Coliseum. Each book wrapped up its own mystery, but the trilogy introduced a romance arc that also kept me reading. I had to find out if Nancy chose her ...

The Chase was my first book of the new year, and it was a great way to start the reading list. The characters may not be the most-fully developed ones you've encountered, but they have their own personalities. They are fun, and I wanted to keep reading to see what would happen to them next. The action also kept pulling me along! I found the crimes creative (and could push aside that other voice that muttered about the plausibility of the schemes working out). I would definitely pick up the next book in the Fox and Hare series. The Accidental Beauty Queen by Teri Wilson was another favorite of the month. (I think I needed something fun.) When I was reading this book, I said to my mom that I was enjoying it but that I couldn't see how it could have a realistically satisfying ending. I'm not going to go into detail to avoid spoilers, but the ending left me with a positive feeling towards the book. I also adored the puppy. I recommend this book for a light read, would ...

Three novels read in the month of December! The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie was a smooth read and probably my favorite of the month. The characters were not overly developed but I read Christie for the plot, the mystery. As usual, I didn't guess the murderer, but it is always fun to see how the events tie together once the puzzle is laid out. The book also brought up the issue of mental illness and PTSD long before it was talked about in mainstream conversation which I found interesting. The Cost of Betrayal was a set of novellas by Dee Henderson, Dani Pettrey, and Lynette Eason. While I enjoyed these reads, I did not feel that they were of the same caliber as the full-length novels I have read by the first two writers. Reflecting a few days after wrapping up the book, I think my favorite novella ended up being "Betrayal" by Dee Henderson. I feel as though the blurb was a little misleading but the story was interesting. In both "Deadly Isle" by Dani P...

How did your November reading go? I finished four novels (one as an audiobook). My favorite one was the audiobook and happened to my book club's choice for the month which means I never would have picked this one up on my own. It is my favorite because the author did such a good job with her research but the book itself was gut-wrenching. Placed in the 1920's and 30's, Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women  by Kate Moore traces the struggle faced by the women who worked for the radium companies to have their health problems diagnosed and then compensated as the ugly truth surfaced that they had become sick through their jobs. I was amazed to learn how radium had been considered healthy enough to add to their water, paint on their faces, and put in sandboxes. With this public perception, it was not surprising that it took doctors so long to pinpoint the source of the women's problems, but the companies' avoidance of their responsibility an...

September has been a rough reading month for me. I've struggled to make time to read to start with, work, coaching, and marathon training eating up most of my energy. Adding to my low book count is the fact that I had not one but two books that went into my DNF pile. I try very hard to finish any book I start (there was one that took me two years but I finally finished it over this past summer). *My reviews may include spoilers.* I began the month by finishing Dark, Witch & Creamy, the first book in the Bewiched by Chocolate Series by H.Y. Hanna. This had been a free download to my Kindle and falls into the fluffy read category. I loved the chocolate connections and appreciated the overall clean feeling to the book. For some reason I expected more romance even though the blurb does not lean that direction. I would pick up the next book in the series if I saw it was available at the library. However, I could not get into my book club this month: Answer as a Man by Ta...