Educated by Tara Westover BCD 270 Wes

Very few memoirs are written about boring lives!  It is unbelievable what some people go through as children and yet grow up to be so successful.  Tara Westover has a PhD from Cambridge and yet the first time she entered into a classroom she was 17.  And it isn't that she had a mother who had been homeschooling her with a great curriculum.

Tara and her family lived in Idaho up in the mountains.  Her parents are survivalists.  So everyone in the family has a bag packed to grab on the way out the door if they have to leave quickly.  Tara's dad wanted his children to know that they couldn't trust the government, the educators or even the doctors.  So they were very isolated.  Her mom begins working with herbs and has all sorts of salves and 'medicines' to cure whatever ails you.  She also began working as a midwife.

Tara's life was hard, painful and isolated.  She spent days doing hard, physical work in her father's junkyard.  Besides the many injuries she suffered there, she was also physically abused by her older brothers.

There were many parts of the book that were hard to read (well actually listening) but I was in awe of the story and it has stayed with me.  The family loyalty is very hard to understand.   A great book if you want to broaden your horizons and find out about another 'culture' that is part of our country.

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Gone to dust by Matt Goldman MYS Gol

Nils Shapiro is a private detective who lives in Minnesota.  It is winter which is a challenge.  His private life is also a challenge because he can't seem to get over his ex-wife.

"Ellie" - a nickname for a former colleague - has called him to come help with an investigation.  Maggie Somerville was murdered in her suburban home.  Finding evidence is going to be very difficult because in the bedroom where her body was found the murderer has dumped hundreds of vacuum cleaner bags.

There are a few suspects immediately because Maggie had an ex-husband, a former boyfriend and a current boyfriend.  After checking the cell phone records Nils also finds a frequently called number which belongs to a young woman who has a secret involving Maggie.

As the investigation continues, the FBI steps in to tell Nils to drop it because someone they have their eyes on is also one of the suspects in Maggie's death.  Of course he doesn't give up!

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Don't Let Go by Harlan Coben MYS Cob

Have you ever noticed that often in novels the detectives have a mystery from their past that they are trying to solve?  Well, this is one of those and it was good.

Nap had a twin brother named Leo.  In high school Leo and his girlfriend Diana were discovered dead on the railroad tracks.  The circumstances were murky.  At the same time Nap's girlfriend Maura broke up with him and disappeared.  He had no idea why. He had entered her fingerprints in the hopes of finding her some day.  And one day that happened.  The prints were found in a rental car that was rented by a man suspected of murder.

So his quest begins to find her again and find out why she left and if it had anything to do with the death of Leo and Diana.  He has never gotten over what happened that summer.

Coben's books never disappoint me.

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How to Walk Away by Katherine Center FIC Cen

This is the perfect book if you just want to lose yourself in a novel for the afternoon.  There weren't many secrets that were revealed that would make you gasp!  I wasn't very far into the book when it seemed obvious how the story was going t  unwind.  That being said I really enjoyed it.

Don't count your chickens before they are hatched.  Good advice. Maggie was young, smart and invincible.  So with her MBA in hand she has a great job lined up (well it is almost lined up.  The HR guy told her she was going to get it.)  So on the strength of that she has purchased a condo.  Her long time boyfriend Chip has also graduated and has a job - the salary isn't as high as hers but that shouldn't be a problem.  Maggie is expecting a diamond one of these days.

It's Valentine's Day and Chip has a surprise for her - one she is not happy about.  Chip is getting his pilot's license soon.  He's close enough anyway so he is taking her for a flight.  Maggie tries to get out of it because she has always been terrified of flying.  But she gets in the plane.  That night changes her life forever.

Lots of lovable characters and a few that aren't as great as they first appear.

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Tangerine by Christine Mangan FIC Man

This was an interesting book which takes place in cold Vermont and hot Tangier.  Alice Shipley and Lucy Mason were college roommates and very close.  They had some similar life experiences although they came from different worlds when it came to economics and social status.  Personality-wise they were also polar opposites.

Later Alice is living in Tangier with her husband, John.  Alice is trying to forget a tragedy that happened in Vermont and John basically seems happy to live his carefree life which is all paid for by his wife's trust fund.  Alice has had no communication with Lucy since she left Vermont and now suddenly there is Lucy standing at her door.

There is really not a lot of action in the book but the psychological aspect is action enough.  Obsessive behavior is always interesting to read about in my opinion!

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The Ninth Hour by Alice McDermott FIC McD

This novel takes place in the early part of the last century in Brooklyn where life can be hard but the Catholics are lucky to have dedicated nuns - angels who show up when people need them.  In one tenement lives Jim and his wife Annie.  Jim worked for the railroad but unfortunately he has a time management problem and they have finally let him go. Things are even worse when Annie tells him she is pregnant.  In despair one gloomy February day he insists Annie go shopping.  As soon as she is gone he begins to fill the cracks of the door and the windows and turns the gas taps on.  It leads to a fire and Jim's death.

Sister St. Savior had spent the afternoon asking for alms and is on her way back to the convent when she smells the fire and shows up to help.

The nuns continue to help Annie and eventually the baby, a daughter named Sally.

I loved the book.  The characters were wonderful and I enjoyed reading about the inner city as it was a hundred years ago.

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The Bad Daughter by Joy Fielding FIC Fie

Five years ago Robin's best friend Tara got married - to Robin's father.  Robin left her home in California and became a therapist but she doesn't seem very good at being her own therapist since she suffers from panic attacks.

After ignoring calls from her estranged sister, Melanie she finally calls back to learn that there has been what appears to be a home invasion.  Her dad, Tara and Tara's 12-yr-old daughter Cassidy are all in the hospital fighting for their lives.  So Robin goes to California to do what she can.  Melanie and Robin have never had a good relationship and nothing is about to change.  It takes a while to get their brother to return to the nest.  A very dysfunctional family.  I didn't really like any of the characters very well.  There was enough mystery to keep me going to the end but it definitely wasn't my favorite book by Fielding.

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The Other Mother by Carol Goodman FIC Goo

This is certainly not a book where you read the first chapter and think you can figure it all out.  Because you can't!

Daphne Marist is going to a support meeting for new mothers. Her baby Chloe is the most important thing in her world.  Yet she has intrusive thoughts about what she might do to her.  Thus the support group.  There she meets Laurel, another new mother with a daughter named Chloe who is the same age as her Chloe. Daphne is full of fears and has no self confidence and Laurel is the total opposite.  They quickly bond and even begin getting together as couples.  That turns out to be a bad decision!  When Daphne becomes fearful that her husband may commit her, she takes her daughter and runs!

You have to keep alert as you read and pay attention to what you are reading because throughout the book are excerpts from the journals of Laurel and Daphne.

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Two Steps Forward by Graeme Simsion and Anne Buist FIC Sim

Told in alternating chapters, this is the story of a couple that meets and remeets as they walk the Camino de Santiago from Cluny, France to its endpoint in Santiago, Spain.

Zoe, from California, is visiting a life-long friend in Cluny while she deals with the sudden death of her husband.  Martin, from England, is running from a nasty divorce and the 17-year-old daughter he has left behind.  Both start the Camino on a whim, hoping to find answers to the problems they face while they walk.

This book by a husband and wife writing couple captures both the joy and agony of walking the Camino, the way paths cross and recross while you're walking, and the mystique that surrounds the ancient pilgrimage trail.

I enjoyed this book immensely.  I walked a portion of the Camino in 2017.  Reading this book made me want to go back and walk even more.  But I think maybe I'll just re-read this book the next time I get that feeling!

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The Queens of Innis Lear by Tessa Gratton SF Gra

In the kingdom of Innis Lear, the king realizes his life is drawing to an end and it is time to name his successor.  Which of his three daughters will he choose?

Oldest Gaela, a trained warrior and determined to be not a queen but a king?  And equally determined to achieve her goal by any means?

Second daughter Regan, beautiful and cold and more a child of the earth than her older sister?  Together the two of them have determined to rule the kingdom, Gaela as king and Regan as queen?

Youngest daughter Elia, whose destiny seems to be as a star priest but is it really?

When the king announces his decision, the lives of all three and those in the kingdom they all say they love are changed forever.  There can only be one ruler...

Fantasy novels always take me a little while to get used to.  I have to figure out the world the author has created, the characters, the plot.  Once I reached that point, I really liked this book.  I liked the world she drew and found myself drawn to the message that we must live in harmony with all of our surroundings.  This is the author's first adult novel and I am looking forward to others by her.

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