Review: Night Music by Deanna Sletten

Night Music

by Deanna Sletten

Pages: 251

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Charlotte Parsons is devastated over losing her brother in the Vietnam War. Desperate to learn more about the war, she joins a group of college women who send letters to soldiers and befriends Joseph Russo, a young soldier. But a few months after they begin corresponding, his letters stop coming, and Char moves on, still confused as to why so many young lives are being lost so far away from home. 

Two years later, Char begins college in her small Illinois town of Grand Falls. She’s been dating her brother’s long-time best friend, Deke Masterson, who is a senior in college and is deep into the anti-war movement. Char isn’t sure how she feels about the war. Then a stranger comes to town and changes everything. 

Joseph Russo served in the Vietnam War, earning a Purple Heart for his injury as well as a life-long limp. He’s ready to put the war behind him. While in Vietnam, he’d corresponded with a girl from Grand Falls and he enjoyed reading about her idyllic life. When he’s discharged, he moves there to attend college. And when he meets Charlotte in person, he’s taken with her sweetness, intelligence, and beauty. 

The battle lines are drawn as Deke resents Joe’s presence around Char. What started out as a well-deserved escape to a small town for Joe soon turns into a battle of wills between him and the idealistic Deke. And there stands Charlotte, right in the middle.

Kritters Thoughts:  Charlotte Pearsons lost her older brother in the Vietnam War so to help heal she becomes a pen pal with a solder currently in the war.  This soldier is Joseph Russo and after she describes the town that she has grown up in, he decides to move there to find the ideal.

So as can be predicted from the beginning Charlotte and Joseph's lives collide and even in this small town the negativity towards the Vietnam war is strong and their lives are impacted by the protests and uproar.  I was educated by this part - I enjoyed reading a perspective of how a small town was affected by the feelings about the war and how returning soldiers were caught up in the middle of it.  

All in all this book was just a little to sweet and made me feel like I was reading a Hallmark movie pitch.  I just couldn't get into the characters and their story and just needed a little more grit.


Rating: enjoyable, but didn't leave me wanting more

Ebook 2018 Challenge: 20 out of 100

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Netgalley.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Review: The Missing Wife by Sheila O'Flanagan

The Missing Wife

by Sheila O'Flanagan

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Pages: 480

Format: book

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  When Imogen Naughton vanishes, everyone who knows her is shocked. She has a perfect marriage. Her handsome husband treats her like a princess. She's always said how lucky she is. So why has she left? And how will she survive without Vince?

What goes on behind closed doors is often a surprise, and Imogen surprises herself by taking the leap she knows she must. But as she begins her journey to find the woman she once was, Imogen's past is right behind her...

Will it catch up with her? And will she be ready to face it if it does?

Kritters Thoughts:  Imogen Naughton has to escape, she has to get away and fast.  What from the outside seemed like a perfect marriage, when the layers are peeled back the truth comes out and Imogen will eventually have to confront it all.  

What a fantastic portrayal of a different type of abuse in a marriage.  The way she unpacked the story was just right.  There were moments where I kept questioning everything and it was just right.  

Beyond that I liked the heart of the story, I also loved how she wrote these characters.  As a reader, I could tell that this author spent time on her characters and I appreciated it.  The way she wrote not only the couple at the heart of this story but the secondary characters that surrounded them were written with just great detail that filled the story.  

This is a chunky book, but the pages fly.  I didn't feel like there wasn't anything I would have cut to make it more manageable, the author uses her pages wisely and each page is worth the read.

With all of this praise you may be wondering why I rated it along the lines of a four star read.  Mostly because of the content, it is just a hard read.  I loved it, but definitely needed something with a lot of sunshine after reading this one.  


Rating: definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Grand Central Publishing.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Review: Back Talk by Danielle Lazarin

Back Talk

by Danielle Lazarin

Publisher: Viking Penguin

Pages: 256

Format: book

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  In “Floor Plans,” a woman at the end of her marriage tests her power when she inadvertently befriends the neighbor trying to buy her apartment. In “Appetite,” a sixteen-year old grieving her mother’s death experiences first love and questions how much more heartbreak she and her family can endure. In “Dinosaurs,” a recent widower and a young babysitter help each other navigate how much they have to give—and how much they can take—from the people around them. 

Through stories that are at once empathetic and unexpected, these women and girls defiantly push the boundaries between selfishness and self-possession. Fantastically written with a fresh voice and bold honesty, Back Talk examines the cultural narrowness of what it means to want as a woman.

Kritters Thoughts:  A short story collection that I loved!  I have been trying this year to read more short story collections and so far I haven't enjoyed them that much, but this one I loved!

I feel like most of the stories in the collection took place in New York City and I liked that there was this thread throughout the book.  The stories had characters from all age ranges and all stages in life and they had all sorts of dramas going on and I liked each one in varied degrees.  

I hope that Danielle Lazarin has a few more collections up her sleeve, I liked how she put the stories together.  There were stories of varied length and I liked the order that they were presented.  It was just the right collection from beginning to end.


Rating: definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Viking Penguin.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

It's Monday, What are you Reading?

With a few vacation days and a quiet weekend, I got quite a few hours of good reading time!

A meme hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date. 

Finished this past week:

Family Tree by Susan Wiggs
The Story of Sassy Sweetwater by Vera Jane Cook
Family Tree by Susan Wiggs
Happiness for Humans by PZ Reizen
Let Me Lie by Clare Mackintosh
The Broken Girls by Simone St James

Currently Reading:

Harry by Katie Nicholl
The Undertaker's Daughter by Sara Blaedel

Next on the TBR pile:

The Longest Silence by Debra Webb

Review: That's Not My Suitcase by Laina Turner

That's Not My Suitcase

by Laina Turner

Publisher: Laina Turner Media

Pages: 125

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Sterling Towne decided to take a last minute vacation to a sunny paradise to cheer herself up after a divorce. When the airline misplaces her luggage, she thinks it's just a typical airline snafu until she gets her luggage back only to find out it’s not hers. Rather the suitcase belongs to someone who thought it a good idea to transport a gold Buddha statue via commercial airlines. 

Sterling turns the statue into hotel security for safe keeping but then her room is ransacked, and she’s sure there was someone following her in town. Does the owner of the statue think she still has it? But if so, why not just ask? She’s getting nervous, and even her new friend Steve thinks she might be in danger. 

Is she? Or is her imagination just working over time?

Kritters Thoughts:  A short little book that would be perfect to put on an ereader and throw into a bag for a vacation.  I would describe this book as a vacation adventure with a little mystery throw in.  Sterling Towne is still recovering from a divorce and building a business and her friends push her to take a vacation over the holidays and get away.  With lost luggage and interesting happenings with people, this book was just a good romp.  

Although I could predicted the ending before I think I should have, with it being a short book, it was fine that I knew ahead of time, it didn't affect my affection for the book.  I just enjoyed the adventure of it all.  I almost wished I had read this during vacation instead of in winter during the new year.  

This is my second Laina Turner book and again another love of her writing.  I may need to pick a week and binge a few of her books!


Rating: definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row

Ebook 2018 Challenge: 1 out of 100

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Netgalley.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Review: Family Tree by Susan Wiggs

Family Tree

by Susan Wiggs

Publisher: William Morrw

Pages: 400

Format: book

Buy the Book: HarperCollins

Goodreads:  Sometimes the greatest dream starts with the smallest element. A single cell, joining with another. And then dividing. And just like that, the world changes. Annie Harlow knows how lucky she is. The producer of a popular television cooking show, she loves her handsome husband and the beautiful Los Angeles home they share. And now, she’s pregnant with their first child. But in an instant, her life is shattered. And when Annie awakes from a yearlong coma, she discovers that time isn’t the only thing she’s lost.

Grieving and wounded, Annie retreats to her old family home in Switchback, Vermont, a maple farm generations old. There, surrounded by her free-spirited brother, their divorced mother, and four young nieces and nephews, Annie slowly emerges into a world she left behind years ago: the town where she grew up, the people she knew before, the high-school boyfriend turned judge. And with the discovery of a cookbook her grandmother wrote in the distant past, Annie unearths an age-old mystery that might prove the salvation of the family farm.

Kritters Thoughts:  Annie Rush is in the prime of her life or so she thinks.  She is living in LA with her husband as she produces a popular cooking show and he is the host.  When one morning takes a turn her life will completely change.

There are almost two story lines with the same main character in this book.  There is the current storyline where Annie is living after an accident and having to decide in what direction she wants her life to go.  The other storyline is her past and she goes back to high school and intermittently catches the reader up on the decisions that led her to LA and on the show with her husband.  I loved having two storylines and having the chapters alternate.  The author easily delineate which chapter is the past and which is the present, so there was no confusion!  

I loved that this book explores that it doesn't matter how old you are you can change the direction of your life.  There are a few characters who initiate their own life changes and Annie's is almost made for her due to the accident.  It was almost an anthem for people to evaluate their circumstances and make a change at any moment in their life and I like when a book gives me a subtle reminder about my own life.

I was already a Susan Wiggs fan before I read this book and am still after reading this one.  Susan Wiggs can write a good cast of characters and put them in just the right plot and lets it unfold in the best way possible.  


Rating: absolutely loved it and want a sequel

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from TLC Book Tours.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Tour schedule:

Tuesday, January 9th: A Chick Who Reads

Wednesday, January 10th: Tina Says…

Thursday, January 11th: Literary Quicksand

Friday, January 12th: Based on a True Story

Monday, January 15th: The Sketchy Reader

Thursday, January 18th: Novel Gossip

Tuesday, January 23rd: As I turn the pages

Thursday, January 25th: Time 2 Read

Monday, January 29th: bookchickdi

Tuesday, February 13th: Rockin' and Reviewing

Monday, February 19th: Run Wright

Tuesday, February 20th: I Wish I Lived in a Library

Monday, February 26th: Diary of a Stay at Home Mom

Thursday, March 8th: Kritters Ramblings

Review: You're Not that Great by Elan Gale

You're Not that Great

by Elan Gale

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Pages: 192

Format: book

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  I am addicted to positivity. I am addicted to positivity. I am addicted to positivity.

I care more about feeling great than being great.
I am NOT THAT GREAT. 

The self-help industry tells you that if you're positive, if you put your best foot forward and if you just believe in yourself that you will find happiness. Let's be real, you can read all the inspirational quotes you want. You can spend your days giving yourself affirmations in your heart-shaped mirror and trying to learn to love yourself. You can say your mantra over and over again while sitting cross-legged on a yoga mat in a Whole Foods parking lot. But the truth is, you're not a badass and you still don't have the life you want. That's where You're Not That Great (but neither is anyone else) comes in. This book teaches you how to harness all the negativity in the world and use it to improve your life, taking everyday feelings like self-loathing, regret and shame and making them work for you. Positive thinking is for assholes. Negative thinking is for winners.

Kritters Thoughts:  Right off the bat, I have to say that I would almost define this book as the anti self help, self help book.  From the first page the reader is taken down to size and through the book taught how to bring themselves back up and what that means when a person can do that for themselves.

It was an interesting read and as a person who doesn't read a ton of self help, it was out of my wheelhouse but intriguing.  I liked seeing self help not always sunshine and rainbows and also that you make yourself great and you have to do it yourself and you can't rely on anyone else to do anything to move you forward.  

I would recommend this book to someone who has read all the self help and wouldn't mind something a little different.  This shouldn't be read by anyone who is "faint of heart" because it could definitely be a kicker!


Rating: enjoyable, but didn't leave me wanting more

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Grand Central Publishing  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Review: Sounds Like Me by Sara Bareilles

Sounds Like Me

by Sara Bareilles

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Pages: 208

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Sara Bareilles shot to fame in 2007 with her hit single; Love Song, and her more recent chart-topping hit; Brave, but her journal as a songwriter started long before. In this candid book of essays, Sara pulls back the curtain to expose her songwriting process, revealing all the struggle and joy inherent in creating great work while staying true to yourself.

Showcasing her stripped down and confessional writing style, Sara's entertaining and inspirational book tells the inside stories behind her most popular songs and offers insights into finding balance between making art for herself and commercial music for her listeners.

Kritters Thoughts:  I love a good celebrity memoir or essay collection.  I don't read them that often, but if it is someone I like, I like to read it.  I have a long list and it may take me awhile to get through them maybe some day I will!

I love Sara Bareilles.  I have been a fan for a long time.  Her music is the perfect background chill music whether in a good mood or bad mood - in the bathtub or the car!  This essay collection is from 2015, so missing all the recent success of Waitress, but does include the genesis of it.  I loved how she formatted the book with each chapter focused on a song of hers and how each chapter/essay was self contained.

I found myself while reading the book going to YouTube to listen to the song before I started each chapter to get a feel of what the chapter may be like.  I loved how she started in her childhood and it wasn't completely chronological but very close and so interesting.  Now I am not one of those fans who thinks they know everything about her, but I thought through her music I knew a lot, but that was scratching the surface.  I loved that she really opened up in this book and showed the positive and the negatives that she has faced while creating a music career.

I sure hope years from now she follows this up with a sequel that brings up from the Waitress days and beyond.  I read the ebook of this one because that is what was easily available, but I always recommend listening to audio books of celebrity memoirs, especially if they read them themselves!


Rating: definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row

Ebook 2018 Challenge: 4 out of 100

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Netgalley.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

It's Monday, What are you Reading?

With a crazy week at work and some late nights, the reading definitely suffered.  I am hoping for a quieter week on all fronts next week!

A meme hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date. 

Finished this past week:

The French Girl by Lexie Elliott
Night Music by Deanna Sletten
The Missing Wife by Sheila O'Flanagan

Currently Reading:

Back Talk by Danielle Lazarin

Next on the TBR pile:

Family Tree by Susan Wiggs

Review: The French Girl by Lexie Elliott

The French Girl

by Lexie Elliott

Publisher: Berkley

Pages: 304

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  They were six university students from Oxford--friends and sometimes more than friends--spending an idyllic week together in a French farmhouse. It was supposed to be the perfect summer getaway--until they met Severine, the girl next door. 

For Kate Channing, Severine was an unwelcome presence, her inscrutable beauty undermining the close-knit group's loyalties amid the already simmering tensions. And after a huge altercation on the last night of the holiday, Kate knew nothing would ever be the same. There are some things you can't forgive, and there are some people you can't forget, like Severine, who was never seen again.

Now, a decade later, the case is reopened when Severine's body is found in the well behind the farmhouse. Questioned along with her friends, Kate stands to lose everything she's worked so hard to achieve as suspicion mounts around her. Desperate to resolve her own shifting memories and fearful she will be forever bound to the woman whose presence still haunts her, Kate finds herself buried under layers of deception with no one to set her free. 

Kritters Thoughts:  The concept of the book was just great.  A group of six friends take a vacation during their years in university and the mysterious neighbor goes missing.  Ten years later her body is found and the death is ruled murder and they are all under investigation and was they have parted ways since university they are brought together and old drama is brought up and rehashed.  

I always love a book that brings characters back together and they have to wrestle with the people they were and are now.  And the wonder is if they are the same or different and if you learn more about the person will your opinion on them change.  I loved that throughout the book Kate's suredness of everyone's innocence breaks down and you see her start easily pointing the finger of blame amongst her former friends.

Although there were some definite points where the book was dragging because I didn't feel as though any new clues or tips were being given and there was just the wonderment of who killed her.  I would say that this book didn't have the usual breakneck speed that a mystery usually has and I wanted there to be less lulls and more speed in the story.  

I sit on the fence for this book.  In concept I loved it, but in complete execution it was just ok by me.  I would hesitate completely passing this off to my fans of the genre.  If you are a reader who primarily reads women's fiction, then this may be the perfect mystery for you to dip your toes in with.  Little gore and slow unveiling, you may just like it!



Rating: definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row

Ebook 2018 Challenge: 19 out of 100

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Berkley.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

February - still winter, still reading!

source

February was such a good month in reading. I can't believe I finished this huge stack. I am beyond thankful that 2018 is starting way ahead in the positive!

1. Trouble the Water by Jacqueline Friedland
2. As Bright as Heaven by Susan Meissner
3. Delancey by Molly Wizenberg
4. She Regrets Nothing by Andrea Dunlop
5. The Story of Our Lives Helen Warner
6. Off: Your Digital Detox for a Better Life by Tanya Goodin
7. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gaily Honeymoon
8. You're Not that Great by Elan Gale
9. Still Me By Jojo Moyes
10. The Queen of Hearts by Kimmery Martin
11. Sisters Like Us by Susan Mallery
12. The Ninth Hour by Alice McDermott
13. The Tuscan Child by Rhys Bowen
14. In Every Moment We Are Still Alive by Tom Malmquist
15. The Lucky Ones by Tiffany Reisz
16. The View From Rainshadow Bay by Colleen Coble
17. Autumn by Ali Smith
18. Sisters First by Barbara Bush and Jenna Bush Hager
19. Friends and Other Liars by Kaela Coble
20. The French Girl by Lexie Elliott


Total pages read, clicked and flipped:  6,336

Where having I been Reading?:
Seattle, WA
Philadelphia, PA
Charleston, SC
New York City, NY (2)
Scotland
Charlotte, NC
Los Angeles, CA
Brooklyn, NY
Tuscany, Italy
Stockholm, Sweden
Portland, OR
Washington state
United Kingdom
Vermont
London

The Longest Silence by Debra Webb - EXCERPT

A note before I get to the excerpt, I don't normally excerpt books here, but when I read the pitch for this book, I got super excited.  I agreed to both an excerpt and a review, so check back on March 23rd for my full review.

And now on to the excerpt . . .

“Give him his money back and send him on his way and we’ll pretend this—” Tony gestured to the two of them “—never happened.”

“Holy shit, is that your dad?” the guy asked, hands going up in front of his chest as if to protect himself from a coming attack.

“Just go.” Riley shoved the twenty at him. He almost fell over his own feet trying to reach the door while fumbling with his fly. Another half a minute elapsed with him struggling with the lock before escaping.

Once he was gone, Riley said, “I told you all I know about Tiffany.”

“Sit.” Tony indicated the other chair. No matter how much psychology he forced into his brain, the idea of how mankind survived, considering survival required the species to go through puberty and adolescence, remained a mystery to him.

Riley sidled over to the chair on her side of the room and collapsed into it. “Are you going to tell on me and ruin my college career? I’ll lose my scholarship, you know.”

Gee, so nice to see more of that overwhelming concern for her roommate.

“That depends on how cooperative you are in the next five minutes.”

The girl glanced at his crotch.

Tony rolled his eyes. “Really?”

She cleared her throat. “What do I have to do?”

Leaning forward, he braced his forearms on his thighs and looked her straight in the eyes. “You have to tell me the truth. You and Tiffany weren’t getting along, were you?”

For one long moment she didn’t answer. She drew in a deep breath and released it. “We hate each other.”

Tony concluded as much. “Why?”

“She came into the room and caught me with…a guy.”

It happened. Guys loved it when other guys caught them getting laid by most any means. Apparently girls didn’t feel the same way. “Why was that such a big deal?”

Another exaggerated sigh huffed from her gloss-shined lips as she glanced to the bare mattress behind Tony. “Because we were in her bed.”

Now that was dirty. “So you were conducting your little business in this room in Tiffany’s bed?”

Riley nodded.

“I can see why she would be angry. When did this happen?” He opened his phone to his notepad.

She gasped. He showed her the screen to confirm he wasn’t calling anyone.

“Right after the semester break. She’s barely spoken to me since.”

“Have you been using your own bed?” He held up a hand. “Before you answer that question, keep in mind that the forensic folks will find all DNA on Tiffany’s bed linens.”

She nodded adamantly. “I don’t go near her side of the room anymore.”

Tony decided she was telling the truth. “We’ll keep this between us, if you tell me what you believe happened to Tiffany.”

She blinked, her eyes still wide behind the oversize eyewear. “I already said what I think in my statement.”

“I want everything you have, Riley, even if you aren’t completely sure it’s important. Any suspicions you have or rumors you’ve heard might be important, too.” He shrugged. “The goal here is to make sure Tiffany comes back home safely, right? Unless, of course, you have some reason to hope she doesn’t come back.”

The missing tears showed up then. “I don’t want Tiffany to be hurt. I mean, we’re not friends or anything, but I wouldn’t wish anything bad on anyone.”

Tony rolled his hand in a go-on motion.

“So there was this guy…” She shrugged. “I saw Tiffany with him once and she kept talking to someone on her cell. I think it was the same guy. That’s why I told the chief she had a new boyfriend. That’s what I figured.”

Frustration lit in Tony’s veins. “Did you recognize him or hear her say his name?”

Riley shook her head. “No. She’s very private. Not that she would have shared any of her business with me anyway.”

“Something made you think this guy was different,” Tony suggested. “Something more than just a study friend or a friend-friend?”

“Oh yeah for sure,” she agreed. “He was older. Maybe closer to forty. Like thirty-five or something.” She frowned as if trying to recall. “Dark hair. Blackish, you know. Taller than Tiffany. About your height, I guess. She acted all swoony around him like she was with some rock star.”