My sunshine away by M.O. Walsh
303 pages

What’s it about?
This is a mix of a classic Southern Gothic novel and a first rate thriller.  The book centers around the rape of fifteen-year-old Lindy Simpson.  It is the summer of 1989 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Lindy is not the only one who will be forever changed.  This is a coming of age story, but so much more.   

What did it make me think about?
  How do we remember the events from our childhood?  How does our recall of those events shape us? 

Should I read it?
YES!!!  This should be the next summer blockbuster.  It is the best thriller I have read in awhile and I loved the Southern locale.

Quote-
"And it is times like these, when there are years between myself and the events, that I feel close to understanding my memories and how the people I've known have affected me.  And I am often impressed and overwhelmed by the beautiful ways the heart and mind work without cease to create this feeling of connection.  It is like the way Lindy always reminds me of New Orleans, when I think of her now, although together the two of us never stepped foot there."

Question-
 I can not ask any of my questions without spoiling this book but I am dying to talk to someone about it!

If you liked this try-
Crooked letter, Crooked letter by Tom Franklin
Ruby by Cynthia Bond
Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

9 stars

The Kept by James Scott
354 pages



What’s it about?
This book is very unexpected. It takes place in rural upstate New York in 1897.  I do not want to give anything away so I will just say that it centers around a murder.
 
What did it make me think about?
This book made me think about family.  The family we are born into and the family that we choose.
 
Should I read it?
I enjoyed this novel but be aware that the beginning is slow.  If you stick with it the pages will turn faster.
 
7 stars

The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult
460 pages
 
What’s it about?
A  95-year old former Nazi war criminal, Josef Weber, confesses his past to a local baker, Sage Singer.  Josef is a former teacher and a community icon.  Sage struggles to believe his confession in light of the life he has lived in America.  Josef not only wants her forgiveness;  he wants Sage to help him die.  

What did it make me think about?
I read "In Paradise" ,by Peter Matthiessen,  last summer and it made me wonder about books written about the holocaust.   Is the evil seen in any type of genocide so horrendous that books can never do it justice?   Do these stories provide enough of a glimpse to remind us that tremendous evil can happen in the world at the hands of ordinary people?

Should I read it?
Jodi Piccoult takes different topics and weaves them into interesting stories that hold your attention.  Sometimes her books  seem  simplified and formulaic but they always shed light on an interesting subject of moral dilemma.   I do see the appeal her books hold for many readers.  If you are interested in this time in history and want a quick,  page turner that will make you pause then this book is for you.

Quote-
"My husband- your grandfather- used  to say, Minka,you were a writer.  Imagine the story you could tell.

But it is exactly because I was a writer that I could never do it.  

The weapons an author had at her disposal are flawed.  There are words that feel shapeless and overused.  Love, for example.  I could write the word love a thousand times and it would mean a thousand different things to different readers.

What is the point of trying to put down on paper emotions that are too complex, too huge,too overwhelming to be confined by an alphabet?

Love isn't the only word that fails.

Hate does, too.

War.

And hope. Oh, yes, hope.

So you see, this is why I never told my story.

If you lived through it, you already know there are no words that will ever come close to describing it.

And if you didn't, you will never understand."

Question-
Do stories ever do genocide justice?

If you liked this try:


Stones from the River by Ursula Hegi
Every Man Dies Alone by Hans Fellada
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Love & Treasure by Ayelet Waldman
In Paradise by Peter Matthiessen

6 1/2 stars
 

The House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz
296 pages

What’s it about?
 This is a classic Sherlock Holmes mystery, written by the multi-talented Anthony Horowitz.

What did it make me think about?
Who did it?

Should I read it?
If you love a good mystery and a re fond of Sherlock Holmes I would not miss this novel.

Quote-
" You will forgive me if I say that you are an open book, my dear Watson, and that with every movement, you turn another page." 

Question-
Did you know that Anthony Horowitz wrote the Alex Rider series of books for children as well as  the "Foyle's War" television series that appears on PBS?

7 1/2 stars
 


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