Guilty Wives and Come Home

Yes, I bought another James Patterson novel! And, I'm glad I did because this one was pretty good.

Four friends head to Monte Carlo for a few days of R&R from their normal lives. They meet rich people and end up on a yacht. The next morning they are arrested for murder.

This book describes what it is like inside a French prison and what their court system is like. I found it very interesting....sort of like that TV show Locked Up Abroad.

















Then I moved on to Come Home. This was another quick read. Jill is a pediatrician and mom. She's engaged to Sam. One night, her ex-stepdaughter appears out of nowhere asking Jill to help her solve her father's murder.

Jill has always felt guilty for not keeping in contact with Abby after her divorce from Abby's father so she reluctantly begins to help her while trying to balance her medical practice, her present family, and her past.

I'm posting this using an app called BlogPress on my iPad. I'm not sure it will work very well but it's worth a try since the more I use my tablet the less I want to use my laptop and that's why I'm always so late keeping this blog up to date. So, anyway, here goes..........
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Under the Dome

Hallelujah!  I finally finished all 1070 pages of Under the Dome!  It seemed to take me forever but I did enjoy it and never even considered quitting.

I almost didn't read it, though, since some of King's books haven't appealed to me like Cell.  I had the hardest time getting into that one.  So, when Under the Dome was first published, I read the description and didn't think it would be up my alley.

Then, just lately, I read some good things about it so decided it was time.  And I'm glad I did. 

Basically, it's about an invisible dome that descends over the small Maine town of Chester's Mill sealing everyone inside.  Some air gets through so they don't suffocate.  What makes this book so interesting is the magnifying glass through which we see the townsfolk.  King has such a gift for creating unique characters.

And there are plenty in the novel but it's really easy to keep them straight.  From the heroes like Dale Barbara, Rusty and Linda Everett, Julia Shumway, and teenager Joe McClatchey to the Hitler-like villians of Big Jim Rennie and his son Junior. 

I grew up in a small town barely sixty miles from where this novel is set and am very familiar with the area beause it's on my route to camp. But, even if I lived a thousand miles away, I would have enjoyed it just as much since King develops his characters so well.  His writing is just so darn...delicious!

Fifty Shades of Grey

Every time I watch the news, it seems this book is mentioned.  The other day I saw that it is banned in some libraries in Florida.  So, naturally, I had to download it! 

Now, I'm no prude and I like a racy story as much as the next guy, but this book has absolutely no redeeming qualities!  Well, except for the sex, of course!  But, really, I had to stop reading it because it has no literary merit whatsoever.

Basically, it's about a girl, (can't remember her name!) a virgin, who meets Christain Grey, a rich playboy and he sweeps her off her feet.  To have a relationship with him, she must agree to his bondage stipulations.

And, that's it!  There doesn't seem to be anything else to this novel.  Yes, I quit reading about a third of the way through and I didn't even get to any bondage parts so I really shouldn't judge without reading the whole thing but that is just too much punishment! 

Flat characters.  A nonexistent plot.  And a proliferation of the word "hormones"!  Give me a break!

Before I Fall

I liked Pandemonium so much that decided to read another of Lauren Oliver's books.  She wrote this one before the Delirium trilogy and it has nothing to do with that series.

Samantha Kingston is a popular high school senior who gets killed one night after a party.  But there is a glitch.  She has to relive her last day seven times. 

At first I thought this was a typical YA novel and I was a bit bored but as Sam's week goes on, I really got involved in her life and by the end, I couldn't put it down.

Even the writing gets more and more beautiful as the novel progresses. 

Stay Close and Pandemonium

I love Harlan Coben and liked this book so I have no idea why it took me almost three weeks to read it!  Okay, I guess I do know why and it has nothing to do with the book; it has to do with me.  I started playing Slotomania and got addicted!  My bad!

Anyway, this book follows a suburban soccer mom from her normal life of wife and mother of two kids to her prostitute past and her lost love.

Every year on Mardi Gras, a man goes missing.  But they were not nice men.  They were abusers and, really, no one wants them found.  But, mysteries must be solved.

This really is a page turner and if I hadn't been so involvled in playing slot games, I'd have finished it much sooner.

Then I ran out of coins!

So, I started Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver and couldn't put it down. This is the second in a trilogy and was even better than the first book. 

Lena has escaped from Portland,  Maine to avoid being cured from deliria (or Love) but her lover, Alex, got shot in the process.  Now, she is on her own in the Wilds.  She must create a new life without Alex. 

She becomes a member of the Resistance and disguises herself as a normal, cured, schoolgirl.  Her mission is to follow Julian, the son of an ardent supporter of the cure.  Julian is just hours away from his procedure.

I don't want to give too much away.  Suffice it to say that I read this book in two days.  And I won't even mention the ending...WOW!

Lone Wolf

Jodi Picoult is one of my favorite authors and I always look forward to her books.  Sadly, this one was a disappointment.  Why?  I don't know...it just doesn't have the word magic I know she is capable of.

The novel revolves around Luke Warren, a wolf expert.  He even abandoned his wife, children, and life to live in the wilds with wolves for over two years.

Now, though, he's lying in a hospital bed in a coma with severe, irreversible brain damage.  His estranged son, Edward, has flown home from Thailand to take charge against the wishes of his seventeen-year-old sister, Cara.

Honestly, I just didn't like the characters all that much.  Cara is pigheaded about her father and won't listen to reason.  Edward is impulsive but it doesn't ring true.

The wolf sections were interesting and I learned alot about wolves, that's for sure, but, really, the rest was a big disappointment.

Night Swim

It's the early 70s.  You're sixteen years old and the mother you adore and idolize is suddenly gone. How do you cope?

Sarah is the second oldest and only girl of four children.  They live an easy life in a Boston suburb.  Sarah's parents are heavy socializers.  She observes their world from afar and when tragedy strikes, she tries to emulate the behavior of the adults with dire consequences.

I love the writing in this novel...gorgeous metaphors and similes.  The characters are human and likable.  Sarah could have been one of my high school students and I wanted to help her.