meg reads and reads

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: The Best Thing Author: Mariana Zapata This book was all right. The cursing goes a bit overboard, in my opinion, almost like the author is just going for a reaction. That may or may not be true, but that's what it felt like to me. There's a whole plot line introduced with the main character Lenny's biological grandmother that felt pointless, because it didn't really go anywhere. The main love story is sweet. There's a big "reveal" in the book that I think was supposed to be a surprise, but I called it very early on in the book. All of that said, there are several laugh-out-loud moments, particularly concerning Grandpa Gus, and that is the main saving grace for this book, in my opinion. Because of Grandpa Gus and Peter, this book gets three out of five stars. Otherwise, it'd probably be less. It wasn't bad; it just wasn't great, either. ------------------------- READING PROGRESS: Needful Things by Stephen King: 84% Dracula by B...

Title: The Night Trade Author: Barry Eisler After the disappointment of Livia Lone , The Night Trade really makes up for it. Reading about Dox is always a pleasure, and it was nice to see him team up with Livia. I love that they are not perfect. They are very human, making mistakes and false assumptions, jumping into situations without fully thinking about them. Livia and Dox balanced each other out well. They would certainly be dead without one another. Five out of five stars. -------- READING PROGRESS: Written in My Own Heart's Blood by Diana Gabaldon: 68% The Waste Lands by Stephen King: 51% Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn: 18% The Dark Bones by Loreth Anne White: NOW STARTING

Title: A Dark Lure Author: Loreth Anne White It's been over a month since my last review, and I apologize for that. The lengthy absence was due to a number of factors: my health, a hectic life, and the fact that a lot of the books that I'm reading are quite lengthy. This wasn't one of the lengthier books, but I have to say, it was definitely a great read. I had a hard time getting through it, not because it was bad, but because it was so good. The author did such a good job of writing a thriller that I would literally have a sense of dread so severe that I would have to put the book down and read something else, just because I was so nervous! That said, this is definitely one of the better thrillers I have ever read. One of the things I like most about it is that, though there is a love story subplot, this is not a story where the man saves the woman. The woman saves herself. It's definitely refreshing in this genre. There were a couple of grammatical issues I...

Title: An Echo in the Bone Author: Diana Gabaldon So much happens in this book that it's hard to even know where to start. It's truly a beautiful story and maybe my favorite thus far in the series. There is so much wonderful character development, not just for Claire and Jamie, but also for John, Ian, and William, not to mention the introduction to several wonderful new characters. Gabaldon throws us into the midst of the American Revolution, and she very effectively describes the danger and pride and sheer determination for survival. Once again, her research is spot on, and I only respect her more as a writer the more I read these books. Five out of five stars. ------------ READING PROGRESS: The Dark Half by Stephen King: 71% Let's Dance, Snoopy by Charles M. Schulz: 87% The Killer Collective by Barry Eisler: 29% Written in My Own Heart's Blood by Diana Gabaldon: NOW STARTING

Title: A Breath of Snow and Ashes Author: Diana Gabaldon What can I say? Another hit from Diana Gabaldon. This one, like the last one, was slow at parts for me, but it had enough intrigue to keep me going. There's a lot of action to make up for the slow parts. I'm always impressed by Gabaldon's historical research and knowledge of the areas that she's writing about. I know that I've said this before, but being from North Carolina, it's almost thrilling to read about places that I've been to and know well. Four out of five stars. --------------- READING PROGRESS: The Tommyknockers by Stephen King: 82% The Berenstain Bears Chapter Book Collection by Stan & Jan Berenstain: 80% Winner Takes All by Barry Eisler: 27% An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon: JUST STARTING

Title: The Eyes of the Dragon Author: Stephen King This isn't even close to being one of my favorite books by him, but it's still good. My favorite part about it is that the villain--Flagg--seems to be the same person as the villain in The Stand  (which is hands down my favorite by Stephen King). Flagg is also apparently in The Dark Tower  series. I have only read the first book in that series, but I'm getting ready to start the second. I did not care for the first Dark Tower  book, though. I know, I know. I'm sorry. It's just not my thing. My opinions on the other works of Stephen King aside, The Eyes of the Dragon  was a fun read. It is not Stephen King's typical writing style, which I both liked and didn't like. It was nice to have a different style of writing after spending the last three years reading the works of Stephen King, but at the same time, it wasn't really what I was wanting from a Stephen King novel. The characters were well-writt...