bookaholicanonymous7

[bookaholicanonymous7]

Title:  The Murder House Author:  James Patterson Date Finished:  Definitely sometime in early June (Not even sure why this is relevant...)

So I distinctly remember reading this on the way home from Mexico this summer and I was finding it difficult to concentrate thanks to the uncomfortable turbulence that was gracing our flight home.  Regardless, this book was amazing.  I know I say that about all his books and if you’re looking for an unbiased James Patterson opinion you might want to look elsewhere, but I REALLY LOVED THIS ONE.  A gruesome murder takes place in an old, abandoned mansion in the Hamptons and Detective Jenna Murphy takes on the case.  She is running from a tragic event in her past at the same time as she is trying to put the pieces together of what is quickly becoming the work of a serial killer.  At the same time, she gets mixed up with the character of Noah Walker, who is also sorting through his messy past. 

This book was fast-paced, descriptive, constantly changing time periods and points of view... I mean, it had it all.  When the mansion was being described for a number of the scenes, I felt like I was there.  I really connected to Jenna, who is my favorite female character of James’ second to Lindsay Boxer.  Her fear, yet brevity to take risks and push forward made her an inspiring character.  I just couldn’t stop reading this book.  And then at the end, when all of the pieces came together, I was truly amazed, but not surprised.  Read this.  That is all. :)

Grade:  A+

[bookaholicanonymous7]

Title:  Not My Daughter Author:  Barbara Delinsky Date Finished:  Not a freaking clue, but I think sometime in May/June?

Wow, so, I evidently suck at keeping this thing current, so these entries are probably going to be short and sweet, but I figured it was better than nothing. 

Give me a moment to try and remember this book, first of all.  This was my first Barbara Delinsky read and while I enjoyed the writing and the story, it wasn’t my favorite.  I probably should have expected this, however, as this is not my typical read.  This book begins with the protagonist Susan, much to her dismay, finding out her seventeen-year-old daughter Lily is pregnant with no intention of marrying the father of the child.  This is not only complicated for her for the obvious reasons, but matters are worse because Susan is the president of the high school Lily attends.  Things become worse when word that two of Lily’s best friends are also pregnant, which is not, of course, a coincidence. 

I picked up this book because I found the above synopsis to be intriguing and it was.  However, a large majority of the book was the mothers of the pregnant girls, who happened to be friends themselves, working through this and I found this to be a tad boring at times.  It was also difficult for someone who does not want kids (at least not at the moment) to identify with any of the young girls and I also found it difficult to identify with the mothers as I am not anywhere near that point in my lfie.  But, as I said, it was well-written and intriguing at times.  Would I read another book by this author?  It would depend upon the story line. 

Grade:  B-

[bookaholicanonymous7]

[bookaholicanonymous7]

I don’t want to adult anymore...

So I promise I’m still reading/writing, I’ve just been neglecting this blog.  I feel like I’ve been super busy as of late and when I do have downtime, well, I don’t feel like thinking.  But I have plans to get you all up to speed on what I’ve been reading.  To tide you over, here’s a list of what I’ve read since my last post.  Asterisks indicate my favs... the more the better :P

The Score - Elle Kennedy**** Not My Daughter - Barbara Delinsky The Murder House - James Patterson******* (But, of course!)  Grey - E.L. James*** A Faint Cold Fear - Karin Slaughter**** On the Road to Find Out - Rachel Toor** Losing - Cora Carmack Nerve - Jeanne Ryan

Almost done with another J.P. book as we speak!  Hopefully I’ll at least get some quick blurbs up for you corresponding to these books!

Happy reading! xoxo

[bookaholicanonymous7]

Reading in the sun! ☀️☀️☀️☀️

[bookaholicanonymous7]

Title:  The Stranger Author:  Harlan Coben Date Finished:  April 10, 2016

Wow.  What a whirlwind of a book this was!!  In typical Harlan Coben fashion, I could not wait to see what the big twist of the story was and how all of the pieces of the book came together.  While this was not a Myron Bolitar novel, I loved the whole novel and turned the last 100 pages rather quickly!

Adam Price is living the American Dream:  He has a job he loves, he’s in love with his wife, has two happy and healthy kids, and owns a great house in the suburbs to raise this family.  All is well in his life until a stranger approaches him at an event for his children and tells him a secret that shatters his whole world:  When his wife had a miscarriage a couple years back, she had been faking.  Faking as in she had never really been pregnant.  Say what now?  Adam does however confront his wife about this.  And when he does, she disappears, asking Adam for space.  As Adam investigates the stranger’s revelation and his wife’s time away from her family, he finds he is not the only victim of this stranger handing out earth-shattering news as if it were the daily weather forecast.  There are other victims...

So it’s possible that this is my favorite Harlan Coben book I have read so far.  Maybe I’ve said that before (probably).  But this was such a compelling, fast-paced, and intricate plot, I don’t know how he can possibly top this.  But I bet he does (or maybe has done in a book in my TBR pile that grows larger every day).  I don’t know how he managed to properly map out this story and have it come together so beautifully without any unanswered questions or stones unturned.  Mr. Coben is quite the talent.  The character of Adam reminded me of Coben’s other characters in that he was sarcastic, witty, laid-back, and in general, a great guy who loves his family and would do anything to protect them.  I love that in a male protagonist.  I mean, who wouldn’t?  Harlan often writes in third person omniscient and even when he’s writing from a minor character’s perspective, I still feel connected with them and their importance to the story.  As an aspiring novelist, I imagine that is difficult to achieve. 

Well, I am already a good chunk of the way into my next book (the fact that I am having difficulty putting it down probably gives you some indication of how good it is)!  Later, peeps!

Grade:  A

[bookaholicanonymous7]

Title:  The Perfectionists Author:  Sara Shepard Date Finished:  March 27, 2016

So since I read the entire Pretty Little Liars series and watch the show religiously, of course I had to pick up her latest book.  And by latest book I mean that I picked this up sometime in 2014 and just now got around to reading it.  Story of my life.

Well, this book, similar to Pretty Little Liars, was written from the perspectives of five teenage girls.  Unlike Pretty Little Liars, however, these girls were not friends when the book began, but came into contact with one another when they placed in a group discussion for a film class.  It was here they found out the one thing they had in common was they hated Nolan, the most popular boy in school, because of the different ways he had tortured each one of them.  It was also during the discussion of the movie And Then There Were None, the girls came up with the perfect way they would murder Nolan, but it was purely hypothetical and knew they could never go through with it.  They did however plan to prank him at one of the big parties Nolan always threw and they were brave enough to execute this harmless prank.  The problem?  He was found dead the following morning and the cause of death wound up being the hypothetical way the girls had decided they would kill him.  Of course there is an investigation into the murder and it obviously someone knows about the plan the girls came up with...  

I would describe this book as being a “guilty pleasure.”  Was it the best book I ever read?  No.  Did I like it at much as the Pretty Little Liars series?  No again, but this doesn’t mean I didn’t like it.  I didn’t feel like I made a strong connection with any of the girls, like I did right off the bat with Spencer Hastings from Pretty Little Liars, but it was still a fun read.  I enjoyed each separate story of the girls and felt empathic that they were living with this secret which really wasn’t their fault.  Each girl had their own drama going on that kept the story moving at a decent pace and the whole time I just wanted to know how the mystery was going to come together.  But guess what?  Cliffhanger ending, but I actually liked it.  It made me eager to buy the sequel and find out what really happened to Nolan.  Even though I haven’t actually bought the sequel yet, I plan on doing so and (eventually) reading it!

Just an update:  I’m almost finished with my current read so I should have another review posted shortly!

Grade:  B+

[bookaholicanonymous7]

Currently reading, The Stranger by Harlan Coben. This guy is legit.

[bookaholicanonymous7]

My favorite time of the day... 📖📖📖📖📖

[bookaholicanonymous7]

Title:  Rush Author:  Maya Banks Date Finished:  March 13, 2016

So everyone needs to read a little smut now and then, right?  This was essentially a Fifty Shades of Grey knockoff, but I still enjoyed the characters and the story, especially given the genre of the book.  

This story begins with Mia attending an event for her older brother’s company.  It is here that she runs into her longtime crush Gabe, who also happens to be her older brother’s business partner, and sparks fly between the two of them.  They then discover that they’ve both secretly been yearning for each other for years, but neither one had the courage to say anything.  Also, why doesn’t this stuff ever happen in real life?  Anyway, Gabe tells Mia to come to his office the following Monday to make her an offer.  Apprehensive, but too curious to turn away, Mia obliges and is offered her a job as Gabe’s personal assistant as well as a request to sign a contract that states she is to be bound to him in terms of her sex life and however else he deems necessary (but no romance!).  While she’s hesitant and a bit concerned about doing so, she signs the contract anyway and commits to him.  Of course feelings start to arise between them and things get complicated... but you’ll have to read the book to see just how complicated! :P 

As I was reading this, I did my best not to compare it to Fifty Shades of Grey and think of it as it’s own separate entity.  I really enjoyed the dynamic of Mia and Gabe’s relationship throughout the course of the novel.  It was often times playful and not so seemingly like a dominant/submissive relationship, even though I think that Maya Banks was intentional trying to steer Gabe away from that mindset in his relationship with Mia.  I felt the story moved along at a good pace, with just enough plot twists and unpredictable events to hold my interest.  Much of the writing ranged from being cheesy to extremely graphic, but again, given this is a romance novel, I wasn’t that surprised or taken aback.  Mia also had a wonderful relationship with her older brother and I enjoyed how he looked out for her throughout the novel.  

The other two books in this trilogy deal are told from the perspective of other characters that were in this novel and I think it’s safe to say that I will eventually read them when I am in the mood for another book like this!  

Happy reading everyone!

Grade:  B+

[bookaholicanonymous7]

Title:  Bliss Author:  Shay Mitchell Date Finished:  February 18, 2016

So once again, I apologize for the delay.  It look me longer than expected to finish this book for a couple of reasons.  One, I have spent quite a bit of time over the past couple of weeks working on writing my own book.  At least I hope it becomes a book one day :).  And two, I do not think I enjoyed this story as much as I wanted to, which makes me very sad.  

This story switches perspectives after a four year time jump following high school between Demi, Sophia, and Leandra as they navigate the world in their early twenties.  Each girl is faced with their own dilemmas, heartaches, and successes.  Demi’s story primarily deals with heartache and trying to stand on her own two feet.  We learn all about Sophia’s persistence and sometimes disappointment as she tries to make it as an actress.  Leandra tries to navigate the world via men, and it doesn’t always work out in her favor.  Sometimes the girls are together and sometimes they are separate, but they always manage to stay in contact with one another.  And this is essentially the story.  Of course there are ups and downs, as well as major events, that take place in the lives of each girl, but this is purely and simply a coming-of-age story. 

So I don’t want to simply say that I didn’t like this book because there were parts of it I did like.  I just think that it fell kind of flat at times.  I absolutely did not like Leandra’s character at all.  I felt that she was one-dimensional and 1000% dependent upon the men in her life and I cannot connect with a woman who lives life in that regard.  Granted, she had a backstory that was meant to explain why she is the way she is, but I didn’t get the connection.  Leandra was the traveler of the story.  So much of the chapters from her perspective involved descriptions of various places around the world which gave the book credibility due to the obvious amount of research, but I did not find this at all interesting or appealing.  On the other hand, I was easily able to relate to Demi and Sophia.  Although I’ve never hit rock-bottom the way Demi does in this book, I can see why it happened to her and why she struggled with it.  I loved that she realized this about herself and got help.  It showed her inner strength and gave her excellent character development.  I found Sophia to be the easiest to relate to as she is hard-working, determined, but still weak at times in the midst of a traumatic experience.  But like Demi, she realized she needed help and got it.  Her story was an excellent example of female empowerment.  In general, the story line could be predictable at times, but with the exception of Leandra’s, I enjoyed them.  The pace moved along quickly enough for my liking (James Patterson often sets the bar high on that one) and great life advice was given throughout.   

Overall, I’m not upset that I read this and would definitely read another book from a very Pretty Little Liar. :P  

Grade:  B-  

[bookaholicanonymous7]

Title:  Cross Justice  Author:  James Patterson Date Finished:  January 25, 2016

If you have not yet read Cross Justice, it is a book you need in your life.  And I’m not just saying that because my own personal bias towards James Patterson causes me to essentially like almost every book he puts out.  This was not only one of his best Alex Cross novels, this was one of his best novels ever.  I literally said “WHAT??” out loud to no one last night when I got to the plot twist at the end.  I was feeling relaxed and sleepy upon beginning to read the last 50 pages of this novel last night and try to guess how long it took me to fall asleep once I read those pages.  Longer than it should have is all I’m going to say here. :) 

Anyway, this is the twenty-third (holy crap!) Alex Cross novel.  Yes, I’ve read them all, but no you don’t have to read any of them to get the gist of this story, although it would help for background purposes.  In this book, Alex Cross goes back to the hometown he lived in with his parents prior to moving in with his grandmother (affectionately called Nana Mama) when he was still a kid.  He goes back because his cousin Stefan has been accused of murdering a young child that was one of his students.  Alex, being a seasoned detective and psychologist for the MPD, of course wants to offer whatever help he can to solve the case, whatever the outcome might be.  To add to this, Alex wrestles with family secrets and various demons of his past that lead him to Palmbeach, Florida, where he ends up helping two local detectives with murders involving beautiful socialites.  Poor Alex never gets a break. 

I said at the beginning of this books that Mr. Patterson would somehow tie the on-goings of Alex’s hometown to the murders and Florida and boy, did he deliver on that one.  Plot twist!!!!  Sorry, you know I won’t give spoilers! :P  Anyway, this story was fast-paced in typical Patterson fashion, but gave incredible detail into Alex’s family and hometown at the same time.  The family ties were laid out beautifully and my heart filled with even more love for Alex, which I didn’t think was possible.  No, there was not a single aspect of this book that I did not like.  Not one.  The characters were well-developed and had a personalities ranging from wonderful, kind, human beings to bat-shit crazy.  Did I mention the plot twist?  I know I did, but for real, be still my heart. 

Well, I hope some of you will end up reading this book because I would love to share in this joy I am feeling right now.  I don’t think there’s a doubt in anyone’s mind as to what grade I am going to give this novel: 

Grade:  A+++++++++        

[bookaholicanonymous7]

The latest addition to my bookshelves... And it's not a book for once! But so true! 😄

[bookaholicanonymous7]

Title:  Gone Too Far  Author:  Natalie D. Richards

Gone Too Far was a random, young adult novel that I picked up one night at Barnes and Noble whist perusing the books and not looking for anything in particular.  Needless to say, I’m glad I picked it up! 

This novel follows high school student and star photographer of the school paper Piper.  Piper is running late to school one day and stumbles across a notebook filled with the secrets, none of them good, of her fellow students.  A tragic event that relates to one of these secrets soon takes place and Piper is filled with guilt over not doing more to prevent this tragedy.  So when Piper receives an anonymous text offering to help make some students pay for what they role they played in this event, Piper is quick to say yes and uses information from the notebook to help expose them.  It doesn’t take long for this game to escalate to a level that she is not quite comfortable with, but her partner in crime will not let her stop playing...

If any of you are familiar with Pretty Little Liars, the books or TV series, you might be able to understand why the villain of this novel reminds me of A.  Texting anonymous threats anyone?  Anyway, I really enjoyed this story and in particular, I loved the character of Piper.  She was so honest and true to herself and I feel that it was this quality that helped her to bring down the villain.  The story had me guessing the whole time and contrary to my last entry, this WAS a whodunit.  I did not solve the mystery correctly, but I had a good time guessing!  Also, Piper develops a relationship with a football player by the name of Nick and they are just adorable.  Sorry, I couldn’t finish this blog entry without mentioning that! :P 

Grade:  A 

P.S.  This was my 25th book of 2015 which means I met my reading goal for the year!  Woohoo!  I set my goal to 30 for 2016 so we shall see how that goes! 

[bookaholicanonymous7]

Title:  Slaughter Author:  John Lutz 

Disappointed.  I was sooo disappointed in the ending of this book that I am finding hard to find the motivation to write this blog entry.  But alas, here I go...

This “star” detective of this book was Frank Quinn.  I use the quotations there because this book was written in third person omniscient.  So while it was interesting to read from the perspective of several main characters (the killer included), I didn’t feel like I got familiar with any one person in particular.  Anyway, Quinn and the rest of his team were trying to bring down a rather elaborate killer.  This killer set a fire, rigged an elevator so it plummeted to the bottom floor, and dismembered body parts of his victims.  Witness reports of these various incidents had a common description of who the perpetrator was of these horrendous crimes, but he was elusive enough to stay under the radar for quite some time.  

This book contained several elements that most people probably want to have in a book:  it was well-written, contained likable characters, had good descriptions of the murder scenes, a good background story to build the character of the killer, and the book presented a decent pace of the investigation.  So why did I use the word disappointed at the opening of this entry?  Because the end of this novel was, as my friend Victor would say, a big fuck you ending.  When I finished the book I said to myself, so what?  I was waiting for a big reveal on who the killer was because I thought this was a whodunit.  I even had a theory with (so I thought) supporting evidence mapped out in my mind.  But oh well.  The scheme that was developed by the characters on how to catch this guy was rather genius.  So I can’t say I hated the book, just the ending.  I will probably read another one of John Lutz’s books, but I’m hoping for more of an exciting ending! 

Grade:  B

[bookaholicanonymous7]

Title:  Letting Ana Go Author:  Anonymous

If you asked me to describe this book in one word, I would say intense.  I think it only took me three sittings to get through this journal written by a high school athlete.  The journal started out as a food diary that her cross country coach requested the whole team to keep as a way to make sure they are eating enough calories.  Apparently the coach had heard of several cases of eating disorders being hidden by other athletes.  Anonymous thought the idea of this was weird at the beginning of the journal because as a cross country runner, you need to eat a lot... right? 

It didn’t take long for Anonymous to become obsessed with calorie counting and losing weight.  Her best friend Jill helped to fuel this obsession since she was a dancer obsessed with losing “just a little more weight” to snatch a big role.  Once the obsession took hold, she continued to eat less and less and was exercising way too much.  Even after she some progress in a rehab facility, she digressed back to her old ways and even her boyfriend, with whom she was in a loving relationship with, couldn’t get through to her. 

This book really hit home with me.  This is not because I have or have ever had an eating disorder, but I do have an obsessive personality.  Once I begin to really like someone or something, my every thought is consumed with it.  Fortunately for me, my obsessions usually surround something positive, like movies or music.  However, reading this journal just shows how easy it is for something so self-destructive to take over your life.  In addition, I have worked hard to lose college weight over the past year and a half so I understand how frustrating the process is and how the temptation to to use extreme measures to hit that goal weight is often present.  It was just so unbelievable to read about someone actually implementing these measures and yet, I know it happens all the time.  It makes me sad and I only wished there was something I could do to help her.

Compelling, engaging, heart-wrenching.... a must-read. 

Grade:  A+   

[bookaholicanonymous7]

Title:  Divergent Author:  Veronica Roth

So I’ve been avoiding writing a review/summary of Veronica Roth’s Divergent as I finished it quite some time ago.  This is not because I didn’t like it, but because as you have probably observed from my previous choice of novels, dystopian stories are not my usual genre.  In fact, this is the first book of this kind that I have ever read.  So I anticipate that this is not going to be the easiest review to write as I have no basis for comparison and just feel this will be difficult to summarize in general.  

Divergent follows Beatrice, or Tris, as she makes her choice of five factions that she will remain in for the rest of her life.  The five factions are Abegnation, Dauntless, Erudite, Amity, and Candor.  Following the choosing ceremony, we learn that Tris decides to leave her current Abegnation faction and join the Dauntless faction.  The choosing ceremony follows the aptitude tests that tell each person what faction that they belong in, but the final choice is up to each person regardless of the results.  It is after this aptitude test that Tris learns that she is known as Divergent since the test only eliminated two of the factions that she should not belong in and is told to never share this information with anyone.  The remainder of the story goes through Tris’s Divergent initiation that is filled with struggles and a budding romance.  As the Dauntless initiation progresses, Tris eventually discovers that the Erudite faction is planning to attack Abegnation, the faction in charge of the government.  The plan is carried out and well, I’m of course not going to tell you what happens from there.  :) 

I surprised to discover that I did enjoy this novel.  Was it my favorite book that I have ever read?  No.  But, I liked it enough that I went out and bought Insurgent and I think I will probably finish the trilogy.  However, there are other books I would rather read (and will probably do so) first.  The writing was good, the story was entertaining, and I was anxious to see what was going to happen at the end.  There was nothing inherent about the novel that I did not like other than dystopian novels are not first choice.  My final consensus is that I enjoyed the book much more than I would have if it were a science fiction or fantasy novel.  To each his own as they say! 

I’m getting closer to being caught up with my reviews and this was a tough one! 

Grade:  B+