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 Capture the Castle Author: Dodie Smith This book was remarkably heartwarming and funny. Normally, I find that humor in books this old doesn't age well, but that really isn't the case here. Dodie Smith's sense of humor shines through in a superb way, and I found myself laughing out loud multiple times. That said, this isn't a comedy. There's a love story. There's concern of mental illness. It's a complex tale of a family that others wish to save (from poverty, from irrelevance, etc.), but they ultimately save themselves. It doesn't end with a happily ever after, but I still feel good about where the characters are at the end. It's Austen-esque with a dose of realism. I like that. Four out of five stars. QUOTES: "There is only one page left to write on. I will fill it with words of only one syllable. I love. I have loved. I will love." "I only want to write. And there's no college for that except life....

Title: Something Borrowed Author: Emily Giffin I have a lot of issues with this book. A lot of issues. First of all, I don't like reading a book where the protagonist (Rachel) is completely unlikable. She is weak, and the entire plot of the book is about her doing something completely despicable to her best friend (Darcy). Not that Darcy is an angel. She's terrible, too. Two of the main guys in the book (Dex and Marcus) are also horrendous. Then there are the other girls in the book--Claire, Hillary, and Annalise. Claire is horrible. Annalise is weak like Rachel. Hillary is the only female that is remotely sympathetic, but I find her pretty abrasive and I hate how she condones what Rachel is doing throughout the book. The only person in the book that is completely likable is Ethan. But what is the point of him even being in the book? He literally serves no purpose except as an excuse for what Rachel does to Darcy. All of this said, despite all of the issues I have with ...

Title: Let's Dance, Snoopy Author: Charles M. Schulz This is going to be an unpopular opinion, but this was not a fun read for me. It took me forever , because I found the comics to be so tedious and so dated. They have definitely not held up well over time. There were a couple here and there that were cute or funny, but, for the most part, no. Two out of five stars. --------------- READING PROGRESS: Written in My Own Heart's Blood by Diana Gabaldon: 5% The Waste Lands by Stephen King: 11% A Dark Lure by Loreth Anne White: 20% The Warriors Series Boxset I by Ty Patterson: NOW STARTING

Title: Bad Traffick Author: D.V. Berkom I said a while back I would eventually come back to Leine and see where her story led, and I did. Book Two of the Leine Basso series was better than the first. There were some minor editing issues (you'll notice this is a pet peeve of mine) and a couple of minor consistency issues as well, but nothing major. The character development was decent, and the writing was overall really good. There was the predictability factor, but Berkom did have a couple twists at the end that I didn't completely foresee. This book was definitely a vast improvement over the first. There was even a loose end that I hope is returned to at some point. I'm going to switch gears for my next read, but I will definitely return to Leine in the future. Four out of five stars. ---------- READING PROGRESS: An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon: 43% The Dark Half by Stephen King: 5% Inside Out by Barry Eisler: 31% Let's Dance, Snoopy: 65 Years o...

Title: A Lonely Resurrection Author: Barry Eisler This is the second installment of the John Rain series, and I have to say it was even more enjoyable than the first. There was lots of fast-paced action, and the crime web that Yamaoto--who I am assuming is the series' ultimate villain--seems to be involved with seems to grow ever more complex. I have a notoriously short attention span when it comes to books, just because I'm moody, but I actually read this one beginning to end without pausing to read anything else. It had me that riveted. Four out of five stars. ------------ READING PROGRESS The Tommyknockers by Stephen King: 73% A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon: 80% The Berenstain Bears Chapter Book Collection: 36% Winner Take All by Barry Eisler: STARTING NOW

Title: Serial Date Author: D.V. Berkom Getting 2019 off to a good start with a review on Day 1! I got one of the later books of this series for free on BookBub  a while back, so I decided to try it from the beginning and bought the first book. Aside from my grammatical issues with the book, of which there were many, this was a fun thriller with murder and mayhem without being too graphic. It was an easy, fast-paced read, if slightly unbelievable at parts (these things always are), and I'll probably continue with the series at some point, just to see where the main character, Leine, ends up. Three out of five stars. ------ READING PROGRESS: The Tommyknockers by Stephen King: 30% Hate Notes by Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward: 70% A Breath of Snow and Ashes  by Diana Gabaldon: 36% Rock Needs River by Vanessa McGrady: STARTING NOW

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...

Title: Whisper Me This Author: Kerry Anne King I got Whisper Me This  on Amazon's First Reads in July. It had just came out, and it had good reviews. I have a pretty extensive To Be Read pile, so I don't generally get to new books right away, but this one seemed so promising that I decided to jump it to the top of the list. I was really disappointed. The story is okay, though it's a bit predictable. My two biggest problems with the book are that the author doesn't seem to have any understanding of the proper use of commas and that the characters are far too one-dimensional to be interesting. The only parts of the book that I truly enjoyed were the excerpts from Leah's journal. To be completely honest, I would have far preferred to have the story be about her rather than having it be about her daughter. She was more complex, and her story was devastating. I think the book would have had more impact if it was more about Leah. All in all, it wasn...