Review: Walking with Peety: The Dog Who Saved My Life

Walking with Peety: The Dog Who Saved My Life by Eric O'Grey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Anyone who knows me probably knows that if a book is about a dog I will give it five stars. But in this case the book really is a five star book. Its the true story of Eric O'Grey. I loved listening to the audio of this book and especially since it was narrated by the author himself.

Eric was in a terrible place with his health and his life when he accidentally saw a Bill Clinton interview on tv and he looked very good. He commented that he had been on a plant based diet and he attributed his good health from that.

Eric took that little gem of information and started looking for some answers as to what exactly that type of eating is. Up until this time Eric had been on many different diets and would lose a bit but then gain more. His eating was out of control and he was unhealthy and he had no quality of like at all. He was on many medications to control things such as diabetes.

After quite a search he managed to find a doctor who was willing to take care with him and to help him with the new type of eating. This new doctor had some other ideas about how to exercise and gave him the advice to "get a dog" to walk with.

Eric had promised himself that he would do whatever he was advised in order to help himself. So away he went and got started.

The book is also full of excellent ideas and advice on good eating habits and after finishing the book I went out and made a proper stir fry with some lovely spices since the book had my mouth watering for a lot of the time.

There is also some sad times and I shed a some tears while reading this great book.

An excellent read.




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Review: A Banquet of Consequences

A Banquet of Consequences by Elizabeth George
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Caroline Goldacre is married to a man who was a step father to her two sons and has done the best he could. When William, the youngest boy commits suicide by jumping off a cliff, some very creepy stories and scenarios start to come to light.

Caroline's boss, Clair, is found dead and more complications erupt. Even more issues when her good friend Rory is poisoned and hospitalized.

The story intermingles with the problems of Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers, who always seems to rub her bosses the wrong way but is a good detective.

There are some very interesting characters that show themselves in the story and twists and turns at every corner.

An excellent read.

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Review: The Heart's Invisible Furies

The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Fabulous book. I didn't know that I would "take" to the characters in the story the way I have and now that the book is finished I feel that I have lost my best friend and I think it will take awhile for that feeling to end.

The book follows the life of Cyril Avery an illegitimate baby whose young Irish mother had been thrown out of her family when they discovered that she was expecting. The book is loosely divided into seven year segmants.

He was adopted by a couple, a banker and a woman who would later become a very famous writer. He is reminded frequently that he is not a real Avery. As a youngster he started a friendship with Julian Woodbead which leads us into the story of Cyril.

It was a long book and every word was very important. There was no dragging the ending and as was the whole book, the ending was as monumental as the beginning.

An excellent read and highly recommended.



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Review: Betrayed

Betrayed by Lisa Scottoline
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Another terrific story from Lisa Scottoline. I had to reduce my rating by one star because I felt that the chase chapters were too long and dragged out.

Judy's aunt has discovered breast cancer and having an operation and her mother is caring for her. Judy's aunt has a good friend, Iris, who was found dead in her car and this starts a chain reaction of events right up to murderers and drug dealers.

Meanwhile her mother drops a bomb on her regarding things that happened when she was born. And to top it all off her relationship with her boyfriend, Frank, is not working at this point.

A great read.

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Review: The Chilbury Ladies' Choir

The Chilbury Ladies' Choir by Jennifer Ryan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A very charming story. It takes place in England in the village of Chilbury in 1940, when the war was just beginning. There were very few men left in the village as the majority have gone in the army and are off fighting.

The story is written in the form of epistolary through written letters and diary entries. I love this form of novel as it always feels like you get much closer to each character due to reading their private correspondence and journals.

One bright spot in their lives is their choir but the vicar decides to close it until the men return. But with the help of a newcomer to the village the choir is reborn and the it is a bit of happiness for the women of the village to come together in song.

The choir is only a backdrop to the trials and tribulations of the villagers including being bombed, midwives switching babies and lovers going missing.

It was lovely to visit a time when things were more gentle and polite, when people aren't looking at their cell phones and rushing around.

An excellent read.





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Review: Safe With Me

Safe With Me by K.L. Slater
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This story was quite a ride with a few very creepy characters. Anna, our main character is a loner who had a terrible thing happen in her family thirteen years ago. This had landed her in the the clinic for a long time afterward, but she is settled more or less now and has a permanent job at the post office and her routine that keeps her busy.

Anna is a witness to an accident. A car hit a motor cycle, and she recognizes the woman, Carla, who drove the car, as someone she thought had been responsible for the terrible crime to her family years before. Anna starts to formulate a plan to get revenge on Carla but first will have to become close to the victim, Liam, the motor cyclist.

An excellent psychological thriller. Looking forward to more.





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Review: Mother

Mother by S.E. Lynes
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is the type of story that you just have to give yourself over to and trust that the characters will reveal themselves at the right time. In the beginning you are not sure who the protagonist is, but I like that aspect as it makes for a great read.

Christopher is getting ready to go off to university in Leeds when he finds a letter in an old suitcase and he discovers the reason that he has always felt that something was missing from his life. He has always seemed a "bit off" and he has felt that he didn't fit in. The information he discovered is confirmed by his parents, whom he now knows are his adoptive family.

Christopher wants to belong to a real family, his own family and so he goes about trying to make it happen.

This was a terrific psychological thriller and with an unpredictable ending.

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