February Endings

Wow I cant believe that I read 18 books this month! Its the last day of this month so I figured I would do my review.

The Good Daughter by Karin Slaughter~ book I meant to read in 2017 prompt
Two girls are forced into the woods at gunpoint. One runs for her life. One is left behind…
Twenty-eight years ago, Charlotte and Samantha Quinn's happy small-town family life was torn apart by a terrifying attack on their family home. It left their mother dead. It left their father — Pikeville's notorious defense attorney — devastated. And it left the family fractured beyond repair, consumed by secrets from that terrible night.
Twenty-eight years later, and Charlie has followed in her father's footsteps to become a lawyer herself — the ideal good daughter. But when violence comes to Pikeville again — and a shocking tragedy leaves the whole town traumatized — Charlie is plunged into a nightmare. Not only is she the first witness on the scene, but it's a case that unleashes the terrible memories she's spent so long trying to suppress. Because the shocking truth about the crime that destroyed her family nearly thirty years ago won't stay buried forever…
This was also my first book by Slaughter. I really enjoyed it. I liked how it started out with the crime from years before and every so often she would flip back to the crime to give a little more information about what happened that night and how things ended. I didn't really care for the dad until the end of the book, which maybe that was the intent. I like that it had relevance to things that are going on today in the world.. I liked how the twist and turns came about and then the ending I never saw coming happened. It was a great book.


Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman ~ book with fruit or vegetable in the title prompt
With a career, a boyfriend, and a loving family, Piper Kerman barely resembles the reckless young woman who delivered a suitcase of drug money ten years before. But that past has caught up with her. Convicted and sentenced to fifteen months at the infamous federal correctional facility in Danbury, Connecticut, the well-heeled Smith College alumna is now inmate #11187–424—one of the millions of people who disappear “down the rabbit hole” of the American penal system. From her first strip search to her final release, Kerman learns to navigate this strange world with its strictly enforced codes of behavior and arbitrary rules. She meets women from all walks of life, who surprise her with small tokens of generosity, hard words of wisdom, and simple acts of acceptance. Heartbreaking, hilarious, and at times enraging, Kerman’s story offers a rare look into the lives of women in prison—why it is we lock so many away and what happens to them when they’re there.
I spent a good amount of time while reading this, trying to figure out who was who in the series. The book was good. I liked how she told us what she went through and what happened to her after she got out. I have watched a little but of the series on Netflix and since I know that they always add more to the movie than the book, I was a little let down that the book wasn't as filled with the same stuff as the series. Like that fact that her last name in the show is Chapman, and she doesn't do her time with Alex, just the little bit while they are transferring her.I liked the fact that she meets all kinds of people and in their own ways they help her through her time at the prison. You learn a lot about the prison system with the way she wrote about her experience.
 
All Our Wrong Today's by Elan Mastai ~ book about time travel prompt
It's 2016, and in Tom Barren's world, technology has solved all of humanity's problems—there's no war, no poverty, no under-ripe avocadoes. Unfortunately, Tom isn't happy. He's lost the girl of his dreams. And what do you do when you're heartbroken and have a time machine? Something stupid.
Finding himself stranded in a terrible alternate reality—which we immediately recognize as our 2016—Tom is desperate to fix his mistake and go home. Right up until the moment he discovers wonderfully unexpected versions of his family, his career, and the woman who may just be the love of his life.
Now Tom faces an impossible choice. Go back to his perfect but loveless life. Or stay in our messy reality with a soulmate by his side. His search for the answer takes him across continents and timelines in a quest to figure out, finally, who he really is and what his future—our future—is supposed to be.
This book wasn't terrible but it was by far not my favorite at all. It took me a few days to read it. I do not do Time Travel at all. I guess the only reason I got through it was I needed to see what happened and if he ended up with the girl. Romance isn't dead after all. I don't really have a lot to say about it.

The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule ~ true crime book prompt
Utterly unique in its astonishing intimacy, as jarringly frightening as when it first appeared, Ann Rule's The Stranger Beside Me defies our expectation that we would surely know if a monster lived among us, worked alongside of us, appeared as one of us. With a slow chill that intensifies with each heart-pounding page, Rule describes her dawning awareness that Ted Bundy, her sensitive coworker on a crisis hotline, was one of the most prolific serial killers in America. He would confess to killing at least thirty-six young women from coast to coast, and was eventually executed for three of those cases. Drawing from their correspondence that endured until shortly before Bundy's death, and striking a seamless balance between her deeply personal perspective and her role as a crime reporter on the hunt for a savage serial killer -- the brilliant and charismatic Bundy, the man she thought she knew -- Rule changed the course of true-crime literature with this unforgettable chronicle
Oh this book, I do not think I can even put into words how much I enjoyed this book. It  should probably scare me how much I enjoyed it along with Helter-Skelter, but it doesn't lol. Bundy was the all American boy next door, literally. And then he just snapped, he kept this all hidden and never even broke a sweat about the things that the he had done.He wasn't even worried about getting caught. and when he did get caught he still wasn't worried. I want to own this book as well for myself, just so I can read it again.

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas ~ book being read by a stranger prompt
When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin--one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world.
As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she's been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But an ancient, wicked shadow over the faerie lands is growing, and Feyre must find a way to stop it . . . or doom Tamlin--and his world--forever.
I am also ashamed that it took me so long to read this one too. I have a problem though I have read the first book in a few series that I will have to eventually finish. This was a good book. I was rooting for Tamlin before I even knew how things would end for them. I really liked Feyre, she was the only one in her family that was helping to support them and when she is taken away she is devastated. I like how Tamlin eases her mind and tells her that they are taken care of. I liked that it was a Beauty and the Beast retelling. I would read anything my Maas just after reading one of her books.

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote ~ book with weather element in title prompt
On November 15, 1959, in the small town of Holcomb, Kansas, four members of the Clutter family were savagely murdered by blasts from a shotgun held a few inches from their faces. There was no apparent motive for the crime, and there were almost no clues.
As Truman Capote reconstructs the murder and the investigation that led to the capture, trial, and execution of the killers, he generates both mesmerizing suspense and astonishing empathy. In Cold Blood is a work that transcends its moment, yielding poignant insights into the nature of American violence.
Wow is all I can say about this book. After reading Helter-Skelter and The Stranger Beside me, I felt that this was book was lacking. It didn't really pull me in at any part of the story. I didn't really care for the way that he wrote it. I liked learning about what happened but I now that I read it, I wouldn't read it again. I would definitely recommend the others for sure.

Gemina by Amy Kaufman ~ next book in series prompt
Moving to a space station at the edge of the galaxy was always going to be the death of Hanna’s social life. Nobody said it might actually get her killed.The sci-fi saga that began with the breakout bestseller Illuminae continues on board the Jump Station Heimdall, where two new characters will confront the next wave of the BeiTech assault. Hanna is the station captain’s pampered daughter; Nik the reluctant member of a notorious crime family. But while the pair are struggling with the realities of life aboard the galaxy's most boring space station, little do they know that Kady Grant and the Hypatia are headed right toward Heimdall, carrying news of the Kerenza invasion. When an elite BeiTech strike team invades the station, Hanna and Nik are thrown together to defend their home. But alien predators are picking off the station residents one by one, and a malfunction in the station's wormhole means the space-time continuum might be ripped in two before dinner. Soon Hanna and Nik aren’t just fighting for their own survival; the fate of everyone on the Hypatia—and possibly the known universe—is in their hands.  But relax. They've totally got this. They hope. Once again told through a compelling dossier of emails, IMs, classified files, transcripts, and schematics, Gemina raises the stakes of the Illuminae Files, hurling readers into an enthralling new story that will leave them breathless.
OMG this book and the other book and the one that will be released later this year are quickly becoming one of my favorites. I never thought I would be one to like books set on different planets but I guess its the way that the author ties things together and the way that she writes it. Its not your ordinary book, it uses emails, and chats and surveillance videos to explain what is going on. Plus you have a love hate relationship involved in the book. I was rooting for Nik the whole time, and once I learned what was going on I was really rooting for him. I cant wait for the next installment to come out. I will be reading it even if it doesn't fit into a prompt lol.  

Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen ~ book about mental health prompt
In 1967, after a session with a psychiatrist she'd never seen before, eighteen-year-old Susanna Kaysen was put in a taxi and sent to McLean Hospital. She spent most of the next two years in the ward for teenage girls in a psychiatric hospital as renowned for its famous clientele—Sylvia Plath, Robert Lowell, James Taylor, and Ray Charles—as for its progressive methods of treating those who could afford its sanctuary.
Kaysen's memoir encompasses horror and razor-edged perception while providing vivid portraits of her fellow patients and their keepers. It is a brilliant evocation of a "parallel universe" set within the kaleidoscopically shifting landscape of the late sixties. Girl, Interrupted is a clear-sighted, unflinching document that gives lasting and specific dimension to our definitions of sane and insane, mental illness and recovery.
I watched this movie years ago when it came out and liked it. Reading the book was more insight but I didn't really care for the book. It was good and I am glad that I read it. I think this is one time that I liked the movie better than the book, and that hardly happens for me. I liked learning about the other patients and their problems were. I don't regret reading this book at all. I am looking forward to reading The Bell Jar which is on my list too.

A Week in Winter by Maeve Binchy ~ book set in a country that fascinates you prompt
Stoneybridge is a small town on the west coast of Ireland where all the families know one another When Chicky Starr decides to take an old decaying mansion set high on the cliffs overlooking the windswept Atlantic Ocean and turn it into a restful place for a holiday by the sea everyone thinks she is crazy Helped by Rigger a bad boy turned good who is handy around the house and Orla her niece a whiz at business Chicky is finally ready to welcome the first guests to Stone House s big warm kitchen log fires and understated elegant bedrooms John the American movie star thinks he has arrived incognito Winnie and Lillian are forced into taking a holiday together Nicola and Henry husband and wife have been shaken by seeing too much death practicing medicine Anders hates his father s business but has a real talent for music Miss Nell Howe a retired schoolteacher criticizes everything and leaves a day early much to everyone s relief the Walls are disappointed to have won this second prize holiday in a contest where first prize was Paris and Freda the librarian is afraid of her own psychic visions.
This was my first book by Binchy but I am glad that I have one more on my list by her. It was nice to read about something nice and fluffy I guess. I liked how all the stories came together in one. I liked that all the characters found something out about themselves and some even found themselves while they were staying at Inn. I liked Chicky for sure, I mean she had enough faith in herself to able to run it even though no one in town or her family did. I also liked that it was set in Ireland, in her writing I could just see all the landscapes that she was describing.


Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie ~ book mentioned in another book prompt
Just after midnight, the famous Orient Express is stopped in its tracks by a snowdrift. By morning, the millionaire Samuel Edward Ratchett lies dead in his compartment, stabbed a dozen times, his door locked from the inside. Without a shred of doubt, one of his fellow passengers is the murderer.
Isolated by the storm, detective Hercule Poirot must find the killer among a dozen of the dead man's enemies, before the murderer decides to strike again.
This was my second Christie book and wont be my last, I have one more on my list of books for the challenge. I really liked this one, it took me a bit to get interested in it, but once I did I had to see how it ended. I needed to know why they did it. I liked the way that she weaved the story together and that's just what she did. Like an intricate spiders web, she weaved the story with just enough to get you to see and understand why who did it and why they did it. When I got to the end I was like mouth hanging open shock and awe, because I didn't see it coming. I like books like that, where when I think I have it figured out BAM the author is like nope not today. I cant wait to read the next one!

Cinder by Marissa Meyer~ used for cyperpunk prompt
A New York Times bestseller Book One in the Lunar Chronicles and a reboot of the Cinderella story Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing A deadly plague ravages the population From space a ruthless lunar people watch waiting to make their move No one knows that Earth s fate hinges on one girl Cinder a gifted mechanic is a cyborg She s a second class citizen with a mysterious past reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister s illness But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai s she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle and a forbidden attraction Caught between duty and freedom loyalty and betrayal she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world s future.
This book was AMAZING! I want to read the rest of them and would love to find a place fort hem to fit in other prompts but I think I will have to wait, I am halfway done with the challenge and its only March so I should be able to read them this year. It was so good, I read it in one day. Cinderella was one of my favorite stories as a kid. I have never been one for cyberpunk but this book definitely turned that around for me. I didn't really care for the step mother or the sisters but one of them was actually nice. I liked the few twists that the author threw in for good measure, made it much more interesting for sure.

You by Caroline Kepnes ~ Prompt for book with a Villain or antihero
When a beautiful, aspiring writer strides into the East Village bookstore where Joe Goldberg works, he does what anyone would do: he Googles the name on her credit card.
There is only one Guinevere Beck in New York City. She has a public Facebook account and Tweets incessantly, telling Joe everything he needs to know: she is simply Beck to her friends, she went to Brown University, she lives on Bank Street, and she’ll be at a bar in Brooklyn tonight—the perfect place for a “chance” meeting.
As Joe invisibly and obsessively takes control of Beck’s life, he orchestrates a series of events to ensure Beck finds herself in his waiting arms. Moving from stalker to boyfriend, Joe transforms himself into Beck’s perfect man, all while quietly removing the obstacles that stand in their way—even if it means murder.
It took me a while to finally read this book and I feel ashamed for waiting so long. I really enjoyed it and now I need to read the second book Hidden Bodies, just to see what happens. I really didn't like Joe at all , and maybe I wasn't supposed too. I thought that Beck should have been a little more careful about the way that she lived her life. I did however like her friends, they reminded me of my two best friends. Always there for her and giving her the advice that she needed to hear. I still cant believe that he got away with so much in the book.

School Days by Robert Parker ~ used for a book that was published the Year I graduated H.S
When a Massachusetts boy is accused of mass murder, his socially prominent grandmother, who hires Spenser to investigate, is convinced of his innocence. But Spenser isn’t convinced of anything—except that there’s trouble ahead...
I was a little undecided about how I felt about starting this book, I had never heard anything about this author. It took me a little bit to get into the story but once I did I couldn't put the book down, I had to know why the kid confessed, I mean I even as reading it didn't feel like he did it. I really liked the kids grandmother a lot and felt that she cared more than his actual parents did about him. I liked how the main character didn't give up on finding out the truth even after the parents told him too.

Camino Island by John Grisham ~ used this book for my prompt about a heist
 gang of thieves stage a daring heist from a vault deep below Princeton University’s Firestone Library. Their loot is priceless, impossible to resist...Bruce Cable owns a popular bookstore in the sleepy resort town of Santa Rosa on Camino Island in Florida. He makes his real money, though, as a prominent dealer in rare books. Very few people know that he occasionally dabbles in unsavory ventures.Mercer Mann is a young novelist with a severe case of writer’s block who has recently been laid off from her teaching position. She is approached by an elegant, mysterious woman working for an even more mysterious company. A generous monetary offer convinces Mercer to go undercover and infiltrate Cable’s circle of literary friends, to get close to the ringleader, to discover his secrets.
This was my first John Grisham novel and it wont be my last. I liked his writing style a lot and I normally don't read books written by males. This month I read two by males and would like to look at more of their works. This book really drew me in from the beginning, I read it in one day which may say a lot about me, maybe I don't have a life but I work at a post office that hardly has anyone come in. It makes me want to go to this imaginary place and look through his books and go to these author dinners that his wife and him threw. I think it drew me in also because I am a huge Gatsby fan, and it was about how these thieves stole the original manuscripts from the Princeton Library. you should definitely look into this book.

Beautiful Oblivion by Jamie McGuire ~ used this for my local author prompt
Fiercely independent Camille “Cami” Camlin gladly moved on from her childhood before it was over. She has held down a job since before she could drive, and moved into her own apartment after her freshman year of college. Now tending bar at The Red Door, Cami doesn’t have time for much else besides work and classes, until a trip to see her boyfriend is cancelled, leaving her with a first weekend off in almost a year.
Trenton Maddox was the king of Eastern State University, dating co-eds before he even graduated high school. His friends wanted to be him, and women wanted to tame him, but after a tragic accident turned his world upside down, Trenton leaves campus to come to grips with the crushing guilt.
Eighteen months later, Trenton is living at home with his widower father, and works full-time at a local tattoo parlor to help with the bills. Just when he thinks his life is returning to normal, he notices Cami sitting alone at a table at The Red.
As the baby sister of four rowdy brothers, Cami believes she’ll have no problem keeping her new friendship with Trenton Maddox strictly platonic. But when a Maddox boy falls in love, he loves forever—even if she is the only reason their already broken family could fall apart.
I really enjoyed this book, it was a much needed breath of fresh air, after reading all the other books. I fell in love with the Maddox brothers when I read Beautiful Disaster by McGuire. I wont lie I was a little confused about the ending, I mean liked it but why so secretive about what was going on? I really want to read some more by her about the brothers I will be looking for them in bookstores for sure.
 
After writing the reviews I didn't realize how many books that I have read about school shootings, I guess sub consciously its on my mind. I have two more I think on my list about books that involve school shootings, I find it ironic, considering that was my worst fear while I was teaching, that it was going to happen.