meg reads and reads

Title:  The Memory Keeper's Daughter Author:  Kim Edwards Well, y'all, this one hit me pretty hard, and I wasn't prepared for it. I had no idea what this book was about when I picked it up, but I don't think anything could have prepared me for it. It starts out with a young couple, a doctor named David and his wife, Norah, who becomes pregnant. She tells her husband if they have a boy, she wants to name him Paul. If they have a girl, she wants to name her Phoebe. When Norah goes into labor in 1964, they are in the midst of a terrible snowstorm, so David carefully drives his wife to a clinic to give birth. He has to deliver himself. To his utter delight, his wife gives birth to a healthy son. His nurse, Caroline, is keeping Norah drugged, so she's pretty out of it, and surprise! Another baby comes out, a baby girl with obvious signs of Down's Syndrome. Knowing the chances of Phoebe not having a long life expectancy due to the health risks associated wit...

Title: I Believe in a Thing Called Love Author: Maurene Goo I will start this off by saying that if you love K dramas, you're bound to love this book. Goo takes the adorable ridiculousness of those shows and makes a solid novel here. I enjoyed the book for the most part. I loved that it was so inclusive. The story itself was engaging and fun to read. It was cheesy, but in the way K dramas are cheesy, in the way teen romance stories are cheesy. Now to my issues. The main character, Desi, has serious self-esteem issues, to the point where she needs help. She basically concocts a list of steps inspired by watching K dramas in order to get the hottest guy in school to date her, because she doesn't think she is capable of talking to a boy without embarrassing herself. In doing this, she puts herself and the boy in danger multiple times. I think, in the end, it has a positive message overall, but I really had issues with some of the things she did just to get a guy to like ...

Title: If You Tell Author: Gregg Olsen If You Tell chronicles the true story of Shelly Knotek and her husband, Dave, how they abused and ultimately killed three (possibly four) people, and further abused their children. The abuse ranges from ridiculous to sadistic to what I would classify as sexual. What really pulled me in to this book was the fact that it was a true story. As a mother, I am truly appalled that someone like Shelly can possibly exist, that someone can be so sadistic toward her own children. I truly don't understand. Shelly and Dave received disgustingly short sentences for their crimes. Dave is already free, and I believe Shelly is set to be released from prison in 2022. Dave is a weak little worm, but Shelly is the epitome of true evil and deserves to rot forever for her crimes. I fear for her children when she is released. The descriptions of the events were tough for me to read at times. It honestly made me physically ill. I had to put the book down f...

Title: Insomnia Author: Stephen King Insomnia  tells the story of an elderly man, Ralph, who lives in the town of Derry, Maine (yes, the Derry, Maine, of IT) . After the death of his wife, he begins to have issues with, you guessed it, insomnia. As time goes by, it gets worse and worse, and he starts to notice that he is able to see a world of "auras." He eventually discovers that his friend Lois is having the same problems and is seeing the same things he is seeing. The world of auras is absolutely bonkers, in the best way possible. I love King's descriptions of what is going on there and the abilities that Ralph and Lois discover they have. The character development is stellar, the basic plot is good, the elderly romance story is absolutely adorable, but it's the length of the book that gets me. This is an issue that I have with many of King's novels. I have no problem with a book being long if it needs to be long, but there are just way too many extrane...

Title: Ammey McKeaf Author: Jane Shoup I will preface this review by saying that I actually really liked this book. I have a couple of things that bug me about it, which affect my rating. Ammey is a great character, strong and loyal, able to do what needs to be done at the expense of herself. That's always a great  character to read about, especially when adventure (or misadventure) seem to follow said character. I definitely got lost in the plot and enjoyed where it went. My biggest issue is that the book could really use a good editor. Typos abound, and that's a bit distracting for me. I was also confused about why so many women were showing up claiming to be Ammey. This isn't like a Grand Duchess Anastasia type thing, where she disappeared as a child and never came back. Ammey was gone for months. I was a little puzzled as to why these women thought they could get away with claiming to be her. Other than those things, I really liked the story and would be inter...