The Peculiar Miracles of Antoinette Martin by Stephanie Knipper

The Peculiar Miracles of Antoinette Martin by Stephanie Knipper
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

3.75 Stars
This book grabbed me right in the beginning and kept me right to the end. I really loved the way the author wrote from Antoinette's POV in addition to the other main characters. It is the peculiar way of an autistic brain that I much enjoyed. Particularly as Antoinette is often treated like she is "retarded (word used on the book, not mine)" when really she thinks just fine. She thinks her tutor that comes to teach her is irritating because she talks to her like she's a baby. Antoinette is perfectly capable of understanding what is going on around her. She also understands things differently.

The dynamics between the sisters and between the old neighbors is well developed and progresses well. The only problem I had with the book was the sudden ending and the way it ended. I guess I felt like all of the characters were deserving of a happy ending and really would have wanted to understand better why one made the choice that was made.

Still, it was a very well written book.

And I Darken by Kiersten White

And I Darken by Kiersten White
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I liked the book quite a bit simply for the fact that, besides the fact that the protagonist is a girl, it is historically accurate of the real Count Dracula. The historical setting definitely puts a lot of Lada's later decisions. S(he) was trained in the art of impaling by the Ottoman Empire itself very early in her life. The real Count really did spend a few years as a poker chip in a power play between his father and the Ottoman Empire. There really was a brother who converted to Islam.

This is an excellent snapshot and introduction to a very real character from history - literary liberties taken only so far as changing the gender - and puts a different spin with relationships, politics, and childhood experiences. Well done!

All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda

All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

4.5 Stars.

Wow. Often I read a book and get pulled into the story then it ends weak. Because this book was so engaging, I made the assumption the ending wouldn't measure up. It pretty much did. So much so that I want to reread the book to see if it is consistent, although I'm sure editors did this. It is completely unexpected.

The book begins 2 weeks ago. Nicolette gets a call from her brother that their father is deteriorating and the money situation is getting dire. It's time to take guardianship of him and sell the house. Come from Philadelphia to North Carolina now. And she does.

Somewhere in that first day the reader knows that Nicolette's best friend disappeared 10 years ago in June, right after high school graduation. The case has never been solved. Nic arrives and makes contact with key characters; her brother, Daniel, her father, and her high school boyfriend, Tyler. She calls her fiancé in Philadelphia and lets him know she has arrived. A few scenes are set up in a way that might or might not be significant. Kind of slow and not terribly interesting but short.

The next scene is 2 weeks later. Things have vastly changed. A neighbor named Annaleise has disappeared and the case of Corinne has been stirred up. Clearly, answers in some areas have come in the last two weeks. It's an all out crisis and the reader doesn't know what happened but by then you're hooked. Then the story works backward one day at a time to the moment we left off two weeks ago. Only every day is told at the beginning of the day which may be midnight or might be noon. Regardless, each piece fits together and the picture comes into focus. Doubt and suspicion is cast on every character then withdrawn due to previous day events.

I can't believe the author pulled it off. I have one niggling question about the night at the fair between Nic and Daniel. Besides that, it was the best thriller I've read in a long time.

One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid

One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This author simply has a way of describing concepts in a way I hadn't considered. First of all, let's start with the story. Emma marries her high school sweetheart then becomes a widow on her anniversary. Well written grieving, although abbreviated, I liked it. She starts moving forward and finds an old friend. There's an attraction and then love. Different love from Jesse, but steady and sure. They are engaged when Jesse is rescued. He wants to resume the old life but too much has changed.

It's a little like Castaway but from Helen Hunt's character's perspective. Except she wasn't married to Tom Hanks. Emma was married to Jesse. She loves Jesse. She loves Sam. Both love her. She can't have both. It would have been easy to write one of the men as a jerk. Fortunately, the author does not do this. I felt like there was a clear favorite and the other didn't get the attention he deserved. On the other hand, I think the real point of the book was the truism that Emma's sister says. Love is not about the other person. It is about the person you are when you are with the one you love. Although it's worded much more nicely.

The ending is beautiful although I'd like to have known a few more details regarding both men. But that really wasn't the point. The point was who the protagonist feels more authentic when in that relationship. I think that is a good concept to come away with. There is no "One." There is a choice of which lens to view ourselves, our partner, and our relationship.

I really enjoyed the book.

The Nest by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney

The Nest by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The central story of the nest is fairly solid; a trust fund matures when the youngest child turns 40. Four grown children, living separate lives, are counting on the large payout. However, complications arise when the oldest, the golden boy (not golden for being good but golden like Midas) makes a series of choices that wreak havoc and threaten the nest. Nestled in their dysfunctional roles, some of the siblings have already spent the expected windfall. So what if it doesn't come?

What I enjoyed was reading about each sibling and the way they viewed themselves within the family dynamic and each other. I enjoyed the shifting opinions as the characters grew.

What I didn't enjoy were the side stories that dangled on the side of tangential and indulgent. I liked the story surrounding the inheritance and did not need the justification of sexuality, infidelity, or non conventional family. By the end I felt like I was reading the highlights of a college course in women's studies along with the sociological history of New York City. Okay, the sociological history of NYC was interesting. The other? Not so much. More self indulgence and justification that distracted from the storyline, IMO.

The writing is solid. The general story and conclusion is interesting. The Twins' story was irrelevant. Stephanie and her decisions were largely irrelevant. Tommy's story seemed irrelevant, as did his character. These were more like public service announcements. Beyond the one in the car, the sex details were extraneous. I was mildly disappointed with the author's choices for page space.

Lost Among the Living by Simone St. James

Lost Among the Living by Simone St. James
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Nearly 4 star book for me. I enjoyed the paranormal element and the overall almost gothic, historical theme. The story was intriguing as it includes a little Great War and the difficult economy after yet before the Depression. There was a mystery regarding the death of a 15 year old girl. Jo is certain it was a murder yet she struggles with the idea that either she is being haunted or she is mad like her mother. There were some good plot twists that I guessed might come. That didn't make it any less enjoyable. My only complaint is that I wish one of the characters was better developed and had a more ending in the story. I really wished to know the mad 15 year old cousin better.

It's still an enjoyable book, though.

Before the Fall by Noah Hawley

Before the Fall by Noah Hawley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a unique story that examines the way media has changed from reporting news to spinning and providing commentary to sway the public. The real story is about the protagonist and how his childhood shaped him to face the challenge of surviving the plane crash while hanging onto a 4 year old boy and how he handles the aftermath. Told from multiple points of view, the reader doesn't really know how the plane crashed until near the end. The clues must be dug up from the ocean floor and from an occasionally flash of memory.

I really liked the book. I enjoyed the writing style and the story. It was unique and had me at hello.

Britt-Marie Was Here by Fredrik Backman

Britt-Marie Was Here by Fredrik Backman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I am a HUGE fan of Fredrik Backman and his first novel, A Man Called Ove. I also read his second novel, My Grandmother Told Me to Say She's Sorry and I am still a fan. The author is Swedish and published the book in Swedish. I don't know how the translation worked but it is absolutely charming and still hilarious. The details make the book much more enjoyable.

Britt-Marie is a character from "My Grandmother..." Last we saw of her, she was driving off in a car. This is her story, continued. Britt-Marie has a story. Britt-Marie loves order. She loves cleanliness and rules. She hasn't done anything on her own in a very long time. She loves the solidity of having a husband to take care of her. But she left him.

Now Britt-Marie is in a different village. Not a town. Town is 12 miles that way. She is out of her element but seeking the rules to make sense of this new setting. So she goes to the store to buy window cleaner. A certain brand. She needs to clean her new surroundings. But there are problems with everything she does. Mostly in the form of children. Many of these children are so hungry for adult attention, Britt-Marie finds herself in the odd situation of Being in Charge of a Sports Team.

Over the course of the book, Britt-Marie maintains her personality but softens a bit towards those who don't always practice excellent social skills or hygiene. She finds an unlikely friend in an unsavory teenager who has an order to him that she admires. She finds another friend in a woman who seems to run the village. She likes to drink a lot and she's wheelchair bound. She is referred to as "Someone."

The story of Britt-Marie is a good one. We discover why Britt-Marie is the way she is and what happens in the village. But, once again, the enjoyment of Britt-Marie is the way the story is told. Fredrik Backman is a genius.

Fever at Dawn by Péter Gárdos

Fever at Dawn by Péter Gárdos
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Rather than a book about the horrors of being Jewish in Europe during WWII, this is a story of the author's parents after the war, both having just barely survived different concentration camps. The story is told through letters the author's mother gave him after his father died, supplemented, I assume, by guessing.

Easy read. Mostly uplifting.

Ravensbrück: Life and Death in Hitler's Concentration Camp for Women by Sarah Helm

Ravensbrück: Life and Death in Hitler's Concentration Camp for Women by Sarah Helm
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book took me a really long time to read. I had to put it down for a few months. It is incredibly well researched and the author pulls no punches. The book is historical but told in categories and chronology. Ravensbruck was a concentration camp in eastern Germany built to "re-educate" women. In the beginning, the prisoners were mostly political and asocials. A large majority were Polish.

Of particular interest, Himmler allowed medical experiments to be performed on 76 young, healthy women, beginning with introduction of foreign objects in their legs to copy shrapnel. Additionally, bacteria, tetanus, typhus, staff were also administered to the women. Eventually, the doctors did experiments that removed bones, muscles, ligaments, to see if they would grow back, maiming the women permanently. Those who lived, lived under the protection of other prisoners. At all costs, the "rabbits" were to survive and show the world what had been done to them. Their physical maiming was an archetype of the abuse the women suffered every day.

So then I put it down for a few months.

In the interim, I picked up a historical fiction called Lilac Girls and recognized names from Ravensbruck. I used Ravensbruck as a reference and found myself reading it again. Ravensbruck is also the camp where Corrie ten Boom and her sister Betsy, were held.

The difference between this and other books about Ravensbruck is that this book is not one single experience but a broad overview of the camp as told by hundreds of sources. The author writes about the historical holes that previously existed about Ravensbruck because it was liberated by the Russians (by liberated, I mean that the Russians arrived and raped and pillaged the camp and town) then fell under communist rule. The Polish rabbits that returned to Poland, returned to a country run by Stalin and the Stasi. The Russian prisoners were advised to never speak of it. Many first hand accounts were destroyed or died in the Gulags.

It is the best and most comprehensive book I have read about Ravensbruck. For an uplifting perspective on forgiveness, read The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom. For a well researched book including hundreds of perspectives, read this one.

Fool Me Once by Harlan Coben

Fool Me Once by Harlan Coben
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Typical Harlan Coban; well written, multiple possibilities, strong protagonist that does not give up, and a surprise ending. I'm going to add that Coban writes a good thriller/ crime novel that is readable and does not contain the usual filler colorful metaphors. If one of my teenagers decided to pick this up and start reading, I'd not be running for my white out pen. His command of the English language is such that it never has to sink to the gutter level.

There is a crime or two or three or four. Enough details are shared to get the picture yet less is more. The reader is not traumatized by all the gory details. Maya's sister was tortured and murdered. Details? Unnecessary. It's an adult crime book. The author leaves the details to the reader. And that is the way of Coban's writing. He's telling a story, revealing clues and possibilities away. Not trying to shock or gag the reader. I really appreciate that.

It's a solid 4 and a half star book.

Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly

Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I started reading Ravensbruck by Sarah Helm many months back. It is very well researched and written and I'm sure I'll give it a solid 5 stars. I read the chapters on the "Rabbit" research then one more chapter and decided I just needed a break.

Lilac Girls is told first person POV by three women. Caroline Ferriday, an amazing woman in New York City, who caught the attention of the author years ago, after Caroline had passed. Herta Oberhauser, the only female doctor at Ravensbruck who took part in the experimental surgery under Goebels (sp?) who also stood trial in Nuremberg after the war. The last progonist is Kasia, a Polish girl who was captured in her hometown of Lublin and sent to Ravensbruck and was later selected as a "Rabbit." Kasia's story is true but a conglomeration of people that were "Rabbits" at the time.

I found the book very addicting from the very beginning without knowing that I was returning to my Ravensbruk reading. Yet the moment I got to the Ravensbruck parts, I began recognizing names and events. This led me back to the original book I was reading and I re-read those two or three chapters. Dorothea Binz was truly sadistic. Less was known about Herta, as a person, but I liked the way Kelly fleshed her character out to be the one she was. The author stays true to all things known of Dr. Oberhauser and only creates scenes that strengthen what is already known yet adds depth to her character. I liked that the author did not try to make her out as an evil villain yet also did not try to change her true character to be one that was empathetic. She was he who she was and I thought the author did a wonderful job of adding the depth.

The book does not go into the same detail as historical documents which makes it easier to stomach. It's still a difficult read during the concentration camp days but is broken up by scenes of Caroline Ferriday in New York which is a much needed reprieve. Caroline is, by no means, a shallow socialite, yet she becomes much more conscientious as her character develops. She is likable from the get-go.

The author adds a note at the end of the book which explains much of what I have just summarized but the story came about when she found an article on Caroline Ferriday and, upon further research, realized that Caroline was an unsung hero. Her objective was to bring Caroline to the attention of the reader but in doing so, she also needed to include Herta and the experiments in Ravensbruck. I'd say she did an extraordinary job.

The Nest by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney

The Nest by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The central story of the nest is fairly solid; a trust fund matures when the youngest child turns 40. Four grown children, living separate lives, are counting on the large payout. However, complications arise when the oldest, the golden boy (not golden for being good but golden like Midas) makes a series of choices that wreak havoc and threaten the nest. Nestled in their dysfunctional roles, some of the siblings have already spent the expected windfall. So what if it doesn't come?

What I enjoyed was reading about each sibling and the way they viewed themselves within the family dynamic and each other. I enjoyed the shifting opinions as the characters grew.

What I didn't enjoy were the side stories that dangled on the side of tangential and indulgent. I liked the story surrounding the inheritance and did not need the justification of sexuality, infidelity, or non conventional family. By the end I felt like I was reading the highlights of a college course in women's studies along with the sociological history of New York City. Okay, the sociological history of NYC was interesting. The other? Not so much. More self indulgence and justification that distracted from the storyline, IMO.

The writing is solid. The general story and conclusion is interesting. The Twins' story was irrelevant. Stephanie and her decisions were largely irrelevant. Tommy's story seemed irrelevant, as did his character. These were more like public service announcements. Beyond the one in the car, the sex details were extraneous. I was mildly disappointed with the author's choices for page space.