Review: Vanishing Girls by Lisa Regan

Vanishing Girls

by Lisa Regan

Publisher: Bookouture

Pages: 336

Format: ARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  She was close enough to see that the girl had written a word on the wall in bright, warm red blood. Not a word, actually. A name…

Everyone in the small American town of Denton is searching for Isabelle Coleman, a missing seventeen-year-old girl. All they’ve found so far is her phone and another girl they didn’t even know was missing.

Mute and completely unresponsive to the world around her, it’s clear this mysterious girl has been damaged beyond repair. All Detective Josie Quinn can get from her is a name: Ramona.

Currently suspended from the force for misconduct, Josie takes matters into her own hands as the name leads her to evidence linking the two girls. She knows the race is on to find Isabelle alive, and she fears there may be others…

The trail leads Josie to another victim, a girl who escaped but whose case was labelled a hoax by authorities. To catch this monster, Josie must confront her own nightmares and follow her instinct to the darkest of places. But can she make it out alive?

Kritters Thoughts:  A fantastic start to a new series.  Focusing on Detective Josie Quinn who is conveniently put on leave and must investigate behind the scenes to get to the bottom of the string of missing girls in her small home town.  

Detective Josie Quinn starts to wonder if there is a reason that girls have started to disappear and if they could be connected and through some interesting sleuthing she is led down a path that may implicate quite a few people in this small town.  As I always do when reviewing mystery/thrillers I tend to be vague about my feelings on the plot because I just don't want to spoil a thing!

I would send out a warning that this one isn't for the faint of heart.  There were many reasons which made this book a little hard for me to read - subject matter wise, but I will completely keep reading the series in hopes that the next case to be solved doesn't have all the elements involved with this one. 

This was my first Lisa Regan read and I am excited to dive into her backlist as I loved the writing and style of this mystery/thriller.


Rating: absolutely loved it and want a sequel (sort of!)

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: Where the Sun Will Rise Tomorrow by Rashi Rohatgi

Where the Sun Will Rise Tomorrow

by Rashi Rohatgi

Publisher: Galaxy Galloper Press

Pages: 270

Format: book

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  It's 1905, and the Japanese victory over the Russians has shocked the British and their imperial subjects. Sixteen-year-old Leela and her younger sister, Maya, are spurred on to wear homespun to show the British that the Indians won't be oppressed for much longer, either, but when Leela's betrothed, Nash, asks her to circulate a petition amongst her classmates to desegregate the girls' school in Chadrapur, she's wary. She needs to remind Maya that the old ways are not all bad, for soon Maya will have to join her own betrothed and his family in their quiet village. When she discovers that Maya has embarked on a forbidden romance, Leela's response shocks her family, her town, and her country firmly into the new century.


Kritters Thoughts:  In India and 1905 and there is some unrest amongst the people and this book takes an interesting view from the eyes of a sixteen year old girl who is on the cusp of a lot of change and you see how she wishes her home country to look like now and in the future.

This book was really out of my comfort zone and I enjoyed it, but it made it hard to read.  Both in time and place, I didn't know anything about India in 1905 and I had to read this book nice and slow so I could hope to get the most out of it.  I loved Leela as the main character and I appreciated her hope for her home country - it gave the book a positive tilt even with the amount of negativity she was surrounded by.  

I would read more from this author.  I liked the characters, plot and writing, so I would love to see more from this author and their voice.

I would love to read another book in this time and place, but maybe a non fiction that gives me some perspective of what is going on in this country and the ones that surround it, does anyone have a suggestion?


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

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from FSB Associates.  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?

A busy week and weekend, so I am glad for the ones I did get done.

A meme hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date. 

Finished this past week:

Before He Vanished by Debra Webb
Darling Rose Gold by Stephanie Wrobel
Valentine by Elizabeth Wetmore
Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate

Currently Reading:

I've Got This Round by Mamrie Hart
The Philosopher's Daughters by Alison Booth

Next on the TBR pile:

Before and After by Judy Christie and Lisa Wingate

Review: The Sister by Louise Jensen

The Sister

by Louise Jensen

Publisher: Bookouture

Pages: 307

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  ‘I did something terrible, Grace. I hope you can forgive me…’

Grace hasn't been the same since the death of her best friend Charlie. She is haunted by Charlie's last words, and in a bid for answers, opens an old memory box of Charlie's. It soon becomes clear there was a lot she didn't know about her best friend.

Kritters Thoughts:  Told through two different timelines, Now and Then, Grace recalls how her friendship with Charlie began in the Then chapters and the Now deals with Grace in recovery after the death of Charlie.  Charlie's death is a mystery for awhile in the book, so the reader has to just blindly follow Grace through these timelines.  

I liked this one, but didn't love it.  I felt as though there were a few mysteries going on at once and there was quite a bit of teasing the reader with reminding them how much they didn't know and what mysteries were up in the air to solve.  

This book took a few twists and turns, some I predicted and some that surprised me.  I was sad by the ones I predicted, I felt they were just a bit glaring, but the ones that surprised me were great.  I liked that I didn't get them all and that they didn't come out of left field and seem implausible.  Sorry for the vagueness - don't want to spoil!

This was my first read by Louise Jensen and I am intrigued to dive into her blacklist.  If you have ready any of her previous books, where should I go from here?


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

Ebook 2020 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: Children of the Stars by Mario Escobar

Children of the Stars

by Mario Escobar

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Pages: 368

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  August 1942. Jacob and Moses Stein, two young Jewish brothers, are staying with their aunt in Paris amid the Nazi occupation. The boys’ parents, well-known German playwrights, have left the brothers in their aunt’s care until they can find safe harbor for their family. But before the Steins can reunite, a great and terrifying roundup occurs. The French gendarmes, under Nazi order, arrest the boys and take them to the Vélodrome d’Hiver—a massive, bleak structure in Paris where thousands of France’s Jews are being forcibly detained.

Jacob and Moses know they must flee in order to survive, but they only have a set of letters sent from the south of France to guide them to their parents. Danger lurks around every corner as the boys, with nothing but each other, trek across the occupied country. Along their remarkable journey, they meet strangers and brave souls who put themselves at risk to protect the children—some of whom pay the ultimate price for helping these young refugees of war.

Kritters Thoughts:  A set of brothers were sent to their aunt's house in hopes for a safe place until their parents could reunite with them outside of Germany's occupation.  What they thought was a safe place isn't and they end up in the heart of a roundup and narrowly escape, but this sends them on a journey to reunite with their parents and hopefully out of the purview of the Nazi regime.  

This book was a combination historical fiction with a side of road trip/adventure saga.  These two boys were racing against being detained by the Nazi regime and at almost every step of the way they found angels who were willing to risk their lives to get these boys to their destination.  There were a few moments where I thought the story lagged just a bit, but overall the pacing kept me reading quickly wanting to know if these boys would ultimately find freedom and their parents.  This book couldn't exist in our current times with the technology and forms of communication, so it fit just perfectly in this time and place.  

If you have read a lot of World War II and you think you have read them all, I would challenge you to read this one as it is just a little different from the rest of the pack.  


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 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.

Review: Don't Overthink It by Anne Bogel

Don't Overthink It

 by Anne Bogel

Publisher: Baker Books

Pages: 224

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  We've all been there: stuck in a cycle of what-ifs, plagued by indecision, paralyzed by the fear of getting it wrong. Nobody wants to live a life of constant overthinking, but it doesn't feel like something we can choose to stop doing. It feels like something we're wired to do, something we just can't escape. But is it?

Anne Bogel's answer is no. Not only can you overcome negative thought patterns that are repetitive, unhealthy, and unhelpful, you can replace them with positive thought patterns that will bring more peace, joy, and love into your life. In Don't Overthink It, you'll find actionable strategies that can make an immediate and lasting difference in how you deal with questions both small--Should I buy these flowers?--and large--What am I doing with my life? More than a book about making good decisions, Don't Overthink It offers you a framework for making choices you'll be comfortable with, using an appropriate amount of energy, freeing you to focus on all the other stuff that matters in life. 

Kritters Thoughts:  A non fiction book that could be defined as self help, but I would call it life instructional!  This is a genre that I don't typically read, but from a person/author who I love so I thought I would give it a try and I am glad I did.  

Anne Bogel is known to many for her blog or her podcast or both where she helps connect readers with great books.  As a book blogger myself, my goal for my blog is to ramble about books in hopes that readers will connect and find a book that they would like to read.  I have followed her career for a bit, so was excited when she announced a third book and then was greatly intrigued when she started speaking about what it would be about - a vastly different direction from her first two.  

This book focuses on the concept of overthinking and the many different ways in which a person can overthink and then provides tools and skills to help make decision making easier and how to avoid overthinking when it isn't necessary.  I found this book to be very helpful.  The tools were easy to implement quickly and I loved her personal antidotes that made the skills easier to understand.  

This is the perfect gift book for the person in your life who may spend too much time pondering and needs to move more things into action mode.  This is a book that I could see myself dipping back into time after time to remind myself that overthinking can keep you from doing and enjoying life.  


Rating: absolutely loved it and want a sequel

Ebook 2020 Challenge: 17 out of 100

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from author launch team.  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: Red Letter Days by Sarah-Jane Stratford

Red Letter Days

by Sarah-Jane Stratford

Publisher: Berkley

Pages: 384

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Nineteen-fifties America is bright and full of promise, and Phoebe Adler, a New Yorker brimming with talent and ambition, is forging her way as the rarest of things: a female television writer in Hollywood. But fears of a growing Red Menace cloud the optimism, egged on by the hate-mongering of Senator McCarthy. A blacklist is created to cast out communist sympathizers, smashing careers and ruining lives. When Phoebe finds herself caught in the hysteria’s web, she flees to London.

Though postwar London is struggling and work is precarious, Phoebe finds camaraderie with other Americans living in exile, including the restless and ambitious Hannah Wolfson. Determined to fight the injustices of the Red Scare, Hannah is a successful producer who hires blacklisted writers at great risk to her career and company.

Together Phoebe and Hannah successfully fight unfair bias and sexism, but danger still looms in this supposed sanctuary. And when their families and friends—their very lives—are threatened, they will have to make impossible choices.

Kritters Thoughts:  A book set in a time period that is written about and read often, but the focuses on something that I knew vaguely about, but didn't know the details and through this book was glad to find out the ins and outs of a cultural change in Hollywood.  The "blacklist" of Hollywood included all sorts of names and professions where they were accused of promoting a Communist agenda to Americans through television and film and it was like a set of dominos falling as one would accuse another to hopefully gain freedom or favor.  I had heard about this, but to read a book dedicated on this time and this moment was very very interesting.

Told through two women, one a writer who starts the story in Hollywood and the other a producer who headed to London early to escape the possibility of accusations end up colliding and helping each other through this time in their industry.  I was so glad to hear from two different women in two different roles and circumstances in life describe how this time in history affected themselves and those around them.  It was nice to read a story about Hollywood, television and film told not through actresses or actors but through a different viewpoint.  

If you feel as though you have read all the behind the scenes books that are also historical fiction, I would challenge you to read this one as it just a little bit different from viewpoint and time and place.    


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 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.

Review: The Body Politic by Brian Platzer

The Body Politic

by Brian Platzer

Publisher: Atria Books

Pages: 320

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  New York City is still regaining its balance in the years following 9/11, when four twenty-somethings—Tess, Tazio, David, and Angelica—meet in a bar, each yearning for something: connection, recognition, a place in the world, a cause to believe in. Nearly fifteen years later, as their city recalibrates in the wake of the 2016 election, their bond has endured—but almost everything else has changed.

As freshmen at Cooper Union, Tess and Tazio were the ambitious, talented future of the art world—but by thirty-six, Tess is married to David, the mother of two young boys, and working as an understudy on Broadway. Kind and steady, David is everything Tess lacked in her own childhood—but a recent freak accident has left him with befuddling symptoms, and she’s still adjusting to her new role as caretaker.

Meanwhile, Tazio—who once had a knack for earning the kind of attention that Cooper Union students long for—has left the art world for a career in creative branding and politics. But in December 2016, fresh off the astonishing loss of his candidate, Tazio is adrift, and not even his gorgeous and accomplished fiancée, Angelica, seems able to get through to him. With tensions rising on the national stage, the four friends are forced to face the reality of their shared histories, especially a long-ago betrayal that has shaped every aspect of their friendship.

Kritters Thoughts:  After reading this book, I took awhile to write my review which was different for me.  I had conflicted feelings of the book and had to sit on it for a bit.  I will admit to reading some reviews to see if anyone had the same feelings and although I saw some same sentiments, most reviewers had some similar feelings but praised the book.  I on the other hand just didn't love this one.

For this book, if you can't connect to a character or two its hard to continue reading.  With a book that is more character driven, for me it is essential that I care about the characters and care where they will end up - I didn't with this one.  Although the therapies that David was partaking in were interesting, it wasn't compelling enough for me to want to keep reading.  I was intrigued by Angelica and the things she was going through, but not enough to not get distracted by other things.  

I wanted to love this book like so many others did.  I wanted to get invested in their lives and care about their journeys, but this one just didn't work for me.  It could be the season of life that I am in or the moment in time, but this one wasn't for me.     


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

Ebook 2020 Challenge: 14 out of 100


Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Atria Books.  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 - the love of

source

A lot of books completed this month which is so awesome! A lot of the books were short in length, which helped! Great to start this new year with some great numbers.

1. Best Friends Forever by Margot Hunt
2. Top Down by Jim Lehrer
3. Where the Sun Will Rise Tomorrow by Rashi Rohatgi
4. Own It by Sallie Krawcheck (audio)
5. Red Letter Days by Sarah-Jane Stratford
6. My Life in Thirty Seven Therapies by Kay Hutchison
7. Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
8. Lawyer for the Cat by Lee Robinson
9. Open Book by Jessica Simpson (audio)
10. Don't Overthink It by Anne Bogel
11. A Year Without a Name by Cyrus Grace Dunham
12. The Sea Glass Cottage by RaeAnne Thayne
13. Female. Likes Cheese. Comes with Dog. by Lauren Cribb
14. Children of the Stars by Mario Escobar
15. The Ghosts of Eden Park by Karen Abbott
16. Vanishing Girls by Lisa Regan
17. American Princess by Stephanie Marie Thornton
18. Packing Light by Allison Vesterfelt (audio)
19. One Little Lie by Colleen Coble
20. The Dog by David Alderton
21. Dog Mom by Isabel Serna
22. A Midwife's Song by Patricia Harman

Total pages read, clicked and flipped: 7,185

Where having I been Reading?:

Florida
India
London
Philadelphia, PA
Charleston, SC
Los Angeles, CA
California
France
Cincinnati, OH
Pennsylvania
Washington, DC
Alabama
West Virginia

Review: The Women in Black by Madeleine St John

The Women in Black

by Madeleine St John

Publisher: Scribner

Pages: 224

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Sydney in the late 1950s. On the second floor of the famous F.G. Goode department store, in Ladies' Cocktail Frocks, the women in black are girding themselves for the Christmas rush. Lisa is the new Sales Assistant (Temporary). Across the floor and beyond the arch, she is about to meet the glamorous Continental refugee, Magda, guardian of the rose-pink cave of Model Gowns.


Kritters Thoughts:  Set in Australia in the late 1950s in a department store where ladies make up the majority of the workforce.  This little book rotates between characters and their different storylines and what is impacting them as they go through the holiday season.

I liked this book, but didn't love it.  I think the lack of length stunted the story and with more pages the story archs could have felt more fluid and full.  It felt as though just as I was getting involved with one of the characters and their storyline, the chapter would stop and jump to someone else and with the overall book length it felt as though a lot was crammed into just a few pages.  

I wish this book had more because I think it needed more especially as the author tried to give a large cast a lot of time to each character and there wasn't one that was solely focused on with a large secondary cast.  I wanted and wished for more with this one.


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

Ebook 2019 Challenge: 69 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 Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek

by Kim Michele Richardson

Publisher: Sourcebooks

Pages: 308

Format: book

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  In 1936, tucked deep into the woods of Troublesome Creek, KY, lives blue-skinned 19-year-old Cussy Carter, the last living female of the rare Blue People ancestry. The lonely young Appalachian woman joins the historical Pack Horse Library Project of Kentucky and becomes a librarian, riding across slippery creek beds and up treacherous mountains on her faithful mule to deliver books and other reading material to the impoverished hill people of Eastern Kentucky.

Along her dangerous route, Cussy, known to the mountain folk as Bluet, confronts those suspicious of her damselfly-blue skin and the government's new book program. She befriends hardscrabble and complex fellow Kentuckians, and is fiercely determined to bring comfort and joy, instill literacy, and give to those who have nothing, a bookly respite, a fleeting retreat to faraway lands.

Kritters Thoughts:  A book that I only heard about due to a bit of controversy, but I am glad that I read it fully to compare and contrast against what everyone was saying.  I will not compare this book to another in this review, but will say it was interesting to read this against the other.  

It is 1936 in rural Kentucky and Cussy Carter is a pack house librarian.  She spends her days delivering books to the outskirts of Appalachian and visiting with different families.  She is unique herself as she is the last living female of the "Blue People" lineage.  

Most of the plot of this story revolved around her being blue and how that impacted her daily life.  The people in her town defined a blue person as a "colored person" and this whole plot line made me do a few google searches and learn about the lineage and family and how they were treated throughout the years.  I felt as though the book focused on this more than the idea of the pack horse library.

There were some sweet moments as Cussy visited her "neighbors" and delivered books and I loved those, but the logistics of the library were sort of glossed over and didn't get as much attention.  

I liked this book, but didn't love it.  I felt as though it was placed in a historical time and place, but it didn't feel rooted there.   


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

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 Secret Life of Mrs. London by Rebecca Rosenberg

The Secret Life of Mrs. London

by Rebecca Rosenberg

Publisher: Lake Union Publishing

Pages: 348

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  San Francisco, 1915. As America teeters on the brink of world war, Charmian and her husband, famed novelist Jack London, wrestle with genius and desire, politics and marital competitiveness. Charmian longs to be viewed as an equal partner who put her own career on hold to support her husband, but Jack doesn’t see it that way…until Charmian is pulled from the audience during a magic show by escape artist Harry Houdini, a man enmeshed in his own complicated marriage. Suddenly, charmed by the attention Houdini pays her and entranced by his sexual magnetism, Charmian’s eyes open to a world of possibilities that could be her escape.

As Charmian grapples with her urge to explore the forbidden, Jack’s increasingly reckless behavior threatens her dedication. Now torn between two of history’s most mysterious and charismatic figures, she must find the courage to forge her own path, even as she fears the loss of everything she holds dear.

Kritters Thoughts:  Jack London is in the middle of his career and has already been through some interesting personal things and is currently married to a woman who is both a muse and almost a personal assistant as she is helping move his career along.  Charmain London was older than Jack London and really was a big part of the second half of his career and this book focuses on her life.

Going into this book I didn't know much about Jack London - his career or his life.  I loved reading this book through the lens of his wife, Charmain.  It was so intriguing how vital to his career she was enough that it really dwarfed and impacted her own pursuits and how diminished she was standing next to this larger than life character.  I think seeing this story through her the reader was really able to see her true feelings.  

With a bit of spoiler one of the things I enjoyed was that the story went beyond his death.  I was glad that the author didn't end Charmain's story with his death because she had a life after his death and it was interesting to see the parts where she is dealing with his death and trying to decide what she wants to do with herself apart from him.  

I liked this book, but it wasn't one of my favorite historical fiction books.  It was more with the writing and the flow of things that just didn't always work for me.  I was glad to learn about these historical figures and get a peek into their lives, but the arc of the story didn't have the flow that I usually like when reading historical fiction.


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

Ebook 2020 Challenge: 13 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: Batter Up by Robyn Neeley

Batter Up

by Robyn Neeley

Publisher: Dreamscape

Pages: 172

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Bakeshop owner Emma Stevens has a secret. A delicious premonition she shares every Monday evening with the bachelors of Buttermilk Falls as they gather at the Sugar Spoon bakery for Batter Up night.

Investigative reporter Jason Levine just found himself as the man candy for a bachelorette party in Las Vegas. Roped into attending the Vegas nuptials, was he hearing things when the groom shares that the only reason he’s getting married is because a small town baker conjured up the name of his soulmate in her cake batter?

Sparks fly when Jason tries to expose Emma as a fraud, but reality and logic go out the window as he begins to fall under her spell.

Kritters Thoughts:  A sweet little romance that I didn't completely love, but mostly loved!  I will explain. . . 

Emma Stevens owns an interesting little bakery in a small town in upstate NY.  On Monday nights the local bachelors come to her store to get revealed their true love and Emma has quite the matchmaking record.  A reporter comes to know about this interesting thing happening and decides to go make a story of it.  

For me, I wish the author had a few more pages to make the story flow better.  I felt as though we go from Jason and Emma meeting and having one encounter to a full on romantic episode and I wish there had been more build up to get us to the point that it did.  

I loved the concept of the book and most of the plot, it just didn't completely work for me.  The characters were great, I wanted more of a complete story arch for them.    


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

Ebook 2020 Challenge: 12 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.