Review: Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine

Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Eleanor is a bit different thirty year old. She has a job that she is good at, has her own flat and a routine that she hardly ever varies. The problem is that she doesn't have any family or friends and nothing to occupy her free time, and therefore vodka is her friend.

Raymond is a new hire IT tech in her company and one day Eleanor needed his help with her computer. We didn't see at the time that this would be a turning point in Eleanor's life. Raymond seemed to see beyond, or possibly just didn't notice the peculiarity of her.

It starts as a slow moving friendship but we start to get a glimpse of her past life and the horrific things that she endured.

I loved the characters in this book. An excellent read.

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Review: Flat Broke with Two Goats: A Memoir of Appalachia

Flat Broke with Two Goats: A Memoir of Appalachia by Jennifer McGaha
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I loved this book. This is a memoir, not literature. I found it very honest, sincere and very entertaining. This is a time when I am so glad that I didn't read the reviews before reading the book and no preconceived notions already ingrained.

Jennifer and her husband find themselves in very bad financial difficulties. They are broke and owe the IRS for four years of back taxes. They have to find their way out of this hole they are in. They do manage to save their sanity and at the same time actually realize a better way of life.

I saw a review where the reader didn't like the ending, saying that it was too abrupt. I felt it was the perfect ending to the story because the story goes on, the people are still living in the cabin and there is no ending to the memoir at this point in time.

There are lessons to be learned in this honest work.



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Review: Blink

Blink by K.L. Slater
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Toni is a widow whose husband was in the forces and who died while in Afghanistan. They have a little daughter, Evie. As well, Toni has her mother close by for support. Toni and her husband were not good with money and therefore Toni finds herself in bad straits financially. She makes a move into a house that will be cheaper to keep in Nottingham and also be closer to her mother. Toni also is not adjusting well and grief still overwhelms her most of the time.

Little Evie has just started school and has not adjusted as yet and Toni has just started a new part-time job.

One day before the little family has time to adjust Toni is stuck in traffic late getting to the school to pick Evie up. Just at that time the little girl disappears and it is feared that she has been abducted.

A terrific story with an ending that you would not have predicted.



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Review: The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit

The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit by Michael Finkel
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Chris Knight, at the age of twenty drove his car as far as he could and disappeared into the woods where he managed to stay out of sight for twenty-seven years. The only evidence of his existence was his break ins of the cabins to find food and other supplies. He was always very neat and never took anything other than what he absolutely required. He left no footprint in the woods. He was a completely solitary man and was happy with and craved his solitude. During this twenty-seven year period he never spoke to anybody except one hiker that crossed his path and he said "hi". That was the total conversation in all that time. He was a voracious reader and took as much reading material as he could get his hands on.

This was extremely informative and entertaining. The author describes Chris' campsite and how everything worked beautifully and how recycling works, etc. I found this part of the story especially interesting.

The book did make me feel very sad for Chris and his way of life. One of the last times that he spoke to the author he indicated that he wanted to be back in the forest and go with "the lady of the woods" whom he claimed was "death".

An excellent and important read.

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Review: The Mistake

The Mistake by K.L. Slater
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another great psychological thriller by K.L. Slater. This time Rose is a teenager who is attending college who happens to run into a handsome stranger, Gareth, one day who befriends her. He is an older fellow but she is flattered by his attention and soon starts sneaking around with him behind her parents' backs. Rose believes that she has found her soul mate and the relationship continues even though her best friend, Cassie, sees something in Gareth that she doesn't like and doesn't want for her friend.

I am on a roll now and plan to read all the books by this author. I like the way the language is plain and you can get right into the story. The plot is very believable and I like the setting, in the small English town where people know and help each other.

A great read.




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Review: H is for Homicide

H is for Homicide by Sue Grafton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another great romp with Kinsey Milhone. This time she stumbles across a very strange type of crime where the criminals deliberately cause accidents in order to claim the insurance money. Kinsey is hired free lance to try to discover the culprits.

These novels by Sue Grafton are always enjoyable and its my eventual goal to read them all.

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Review: The Linen Queen

The Linen Queen by Patricia Falvey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Sheila is a beautiful girl living in poverty in her village in Northern Ireland. She dreams of escaping to a better life away from her Ma and her slavish job in the linen mill. Even though Sheila has a good heart and is innocent in many ways, she has earned a bad reputation, mainly because she is a beauty.

All her life she has been friends with Gavin, their fathers both had been sailors and friends and so it seemed natural that they would be companions. Things were just going along until the war and Belfast was bombed. Children were evacuated to Sheila's village and her Ma took in Graine, a teenaged girl.

Many of the village girls were happy to become friends with the US soldiers that were stationed in their village.

This story gave us some insight into what was happening in Ireland during the war. I didn't know that southern Ireland were neutral and didn't fight along with England although Northern Ireland did stand up for England.

A very good read.

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