Review: Winter Garden

Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

This had nothing to redeem itself. Over the top surly Russian mom who hates her daughters but loves her super husband. Super husband who somehow overlooks a lot of emotional abuse and neglect. Stupid twin sisters who have no personality and nothing interesting or original. Irish boyfriend who has to use the words 'brilliant' 'love' and dropped g's at the end of verbs so we REALLY get that he is Irish. 

Just not my cup of tea at all.

Review: One Day in December

One Day in December by Josie Silver
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A terrific story. I don't read many love stories, but this one was just so good. I know that if I have either laughed out loud or cried out loud that it was a good book.

How it starts; a girl is going home on a bus and spots a boy outside the bus and she just falls so in love with him, just like that. He doesn't get on the bus and she doesn't know who he is. Her friend and her spend the best part of a year trying to find out who he was.

The story takes us through nine years and many life changes of the two girls. But deep down, the girl from the bus has never forgotten that boy and has always loved him.

I really enjoyed this story.

Review: Peony: A Novel of China

Peony: A Novel of China by Pearl S. Buck
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I wanted to really love this book and it didn't quite meet that goal. However, it was a good read.

Peony is a bondswoman in China in the home of a Jewish family. She was bought to serve their young son, in caring for him and waiting on him and also helping with the household. It takes awhile to understand the lifestyle described in the book.

It becomes more complicated when Peony admits to herself that she loves David, the son of the house but can never let him know of that.

A good read.

Review: The Night Fire

The Night Fire by Michael Connelly
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Renee Ballard and Harry Bosch team up again to solve a cold case. The widow of a retired police officer handed over a file she found in her husband's desk, to Bosch and he felt there must be a good reason that he held onto that file. It was the unsolved murder of a young fellow in an alley that was used for drug deals. Harry can't quite decide if his old mentor wanted to work the file in his retirement or that he didn't want the case to be solved.

Renee and Harry make a fantastic team, each almost knowing what the other is doing and always watching each other's backs.

Excellent read and looking forward to the next installment from Ballard and Bosch.

Review: The Girl with a Clock for a Heart

The Girl with a Clock for a Heart by Peter Swanson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

George Moss was in love with a girl in university. She committed suicide. But years later he sees her in a bar. That is where the story takes off.

We hear about his love in his young years and he is on a quest to discover what actually happened to her. She has changed names many times and is involved in the underworld.

I listened to the audio of this book and found it a bit confusing, although well written. I would suggest that it be read in a paper book.

Review: Dear Edward

Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was based on true events where a young boy was the only survivor of a plane crash.

Edward is flying with his parents and brother to California from New York. The boys are nervous about leaving NY as it is the only home they have known. Their mom is a script writer for a famous tv show and is being offered a better job and their dad is a math professor.

The story is about Edward and his recovery from the most tramatic experience anyone could ever imagine. An excellent book and looking forward to reading other books by this author.

Review: Dark Matter

Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was a very well written, interesting story. A married scientist/doctor goes out one night for a short trip to the stores and doesn't return. He remembers being abducted by someone disguised as a geisha.

That is all I am going to say about the book as anything else will give the story away.

This was out of my comfort zone as a genre but the story was good and I would like to read more from this author.

Review: Dark Sacred Night

Dark Sacred Night by Michael Connelly
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Harry Bosch is back and this time teemed up with Renee Bernard, a cop with a past. The two are looking at cold case files, Bosch full time and Renee part time between other assignments. They work so well together and seem to have the same blood coursing through their veins. In this episode they are looking for the killer of Daisy who was murdered nine years previously.

It is a very smart, detailed plot taking each tiny clue and running with it until they find what they are looking for.

An excellent read.

Review: Her Every Fear

Her Every Fear by Peter Swanson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A thoroughly enjoyable murder mystery. Kate, an English girl has been through a terrible trauma. An old boyfriend locked her in a cupboard and committed suicide in the room and she couldn't escape.

After this terrible episode in her life she became very nervous, as you can imagine.  She receives an offer from a cousin in Boston to swap apartments with her for six months. His job requires him to be in London and the swap would enable her to take some art courses in Boston.

But poor Kate seems to be a magnet for creepy people.

Excellent!

Review: U is for Undertow

U is for Undertow by Sue Grafton
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Absolutely wonderful series. I love the Kinsey Milhone detective series and also love the narrator, Judy Kaye. To me, she is Kinsey and as soon as I hear her voice I know I am in for a good few hours of fun.

In this episode a fellow named Michael Sutton is steered to Kinsey through a police detective who thinks that she can help him. Michael is in his twenties now, but he seems to recall an incident from when he was six where he saw two men digging a hole to bury, what he thought, was a child's body. Of course Kinsey doesn't really take this seriously because it was too far fetched, however Michael paid her some money up front to just have a look around to see if anything turned up.

As usual this was a very intriguing story about an old crime that should have been solved years ago.

An excellent read.