Review: Abigale Hall by Lauren A. Forry

I remember one night, several years ago, I set down Daphne Du Maurier's Rebecca and proclaimed to my husband, "That was amazing. I can't believe I didn't read it a long time ago!"  Rebecca was surprisingly good, like most of the classics I've read. Obviously, that's not a shocker for most readers, but I have a hard time with classics. I start out thinking that I won't like it and it'll be really slow and boring. I talk myself out of starting the title in question multiple times before I do actually commit to reading it. Even though many have been rather slow-moving when compared to what I normally read, there's just something about those stories and their characters that hooks me. Books like Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte and Rebecca will forever be on my favorites list.

Abigale Hall by Lauren A. Forry is very reminiscent of Rebecca, right down to the (maybe?) evil housekeeper.  It's obvious right away that this was no accident on Forry's part.  The story follows two sisters, Eliza and Rebecca, who are left orphaned in London after the chaos of WWII.  Eliza just wants to get married to her boyfriend and move far away from all the sadness of her life. Unfortunately for her, their aunt decides she can no longer afford to keep the girls and sells them off as indentured servants to a mysterious Mr. Brownwell who lives in the sprawling Abigale Hall. This estate could be Manderley's little sister with its once grandiose architecture, haunting portraits of a beautiful woman, and the sweeping moors that surround it.  Rumored about town to hold terrible secrets, Abigale Hall itself seems to be a character in this novel. Eliza, being older than her sister, feels responsible for Rebecca and promises herself that she will do her best to keep her little sister out of trouble. You see, Rebecca has a few "issues." Besides suffering from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), she is prone to fits of outrage and violence. (Think of it kind of like a two year-old throwing a tantrum and then times that by three.) Eliza does her best to keep Rebecca in check, but the longer they stay at Abigale Hall, the more Rebecca seems to be falling under the creepy housekeeper's spell.  Realizing the danger they are both in, Eliza does whatever she can to escape with Rebecca.  In the meantime, the story bounces back to Eliza's boyfriend and follows his journey as he tries to find his love and save the day.

This novel is labeled as "horror," but I don't really think it fits in that genre. There's not a ton of guts and gore and I wasn't really terrified at all while reading.  It was more psychologically disturbing than anything else. I think it would best be categorized as a Gothic thriller. It really was the perfect fit for the mood I was in at that moment. 

I really enjoyed this story. It was suspenseful from the very first page and Eliza is a protagonist you can really root for.  I was not as drawn in by the parts of the book that were from Eliza's boyfriend's point of view. There are also a few scenes that depict violence towards animals, which I really dislike in general. I understand they were included to show what a particular character is truly capable of, but I still would have preferred those scenes be omitted. Those were the only negatives, in my opinion.  I was going to give the book four stars originally, but then the ending came and that last star was earned back. I didn't see the twist coming and felt it was a perfect way to finish off this creepy tale. If you enjoyed reading Rebecca or Jane Eyre, I really think you would enjoy this novel.

My Rating: ★★★★★

Review: In the Clearing (Tracy Crosswhite #3) by Robert Dugoni

Along with Kate Burkholder, Kim Stone, and Erika Foster, Robert Dugoni's Tracy Crosswhite is one of my favorite female detectives. This series began with My Sister's Grave and was followed by Her Final Breath. I remember purchasing the first title for my Kindle at a great price and not expecting too much. (I've been let down by a lot of cheap ebooks. I suppose it's sometimes true that you get what you pay for!) However, Dugoni left me very pleasantly surprised. I loved following Tracy as she hunted for her sister's killer and was so excited when I saw that she would be starring in her own detective series. I've been straying from my usual detective novels lately, but I was surprised to see that I'd fallen so far behind on the Crosswhite books. The fifth installment in the series is going to be released in September, so I figured I needed to get caught up.

Just like the first two novels, In the Clearing was a smooth read. I finished it in a few days and was always trying to find time to sneak away and read just one more chapter. This time, readers accompany Tracy as she tries to solve an old case involving a Native American teenager whose body was found washed up on a river's shore, severely beaten and bruised.  Initially declared a suicide, Tracy is given a case file with contents that make her believe otherwise. The typical investigation ensues and a long-kept secret is finally revealed.

I should probably mention that I try not to solve the mystery about which I'm reading. I prefer to just let the story unfold on its own and I don't spend too much time over-analyzing it. That probably puts me in the minority of mystery fans, but I get very little satisfaction in "figuring out" the mystery early on in a book or movie. My husband is always pausing a movie to tell me his theories on whodunit and why. This drives me nuts because he's usually right and then I can't help but feel like I lost that element of surprise promised by the big reveal. It's not that I couldn't figure the twist out most of the time; I just choose not to (or so I let myself believe).

That being said, In the Clearing did disappoint me a little because I could see the ending coming a mile away. It took a lot of the suspense out of the story and I was bummed that it was so predictable. However, I liked that Dugoni wove in a topical issue of Native American mascots in a sensitive and respectful way. The characters, especially our brave heroine, were real and dynamic. Getting to watch Tracy as her personal life with Dan continues to grow is a treat. So far, this third book in the series was my least favorite. It just doesn't hold a candle to the intensity of the first two, but those were pretty exceptional. I did enjoy the story overall; I just wasn't blown away by it like I was hoping to be.

My Rating: ★★★☆☆

Review: History of Wolves by Emily Fridlund

I have been in a pretty good reading groove this summer, plowing through my to-read list faster than ever. Starting this blog has really helped motivate me, even if I'm the only one who reads it. :) One of the novels on my list was History of Wolves by Emily Fridlund. I honestly didn't even remember adding this, but when I reread the summary I understood why I had.  The protagonist, Linda, is a lonely teenage girl growing up in a failed commune deep in the Minnesota woods. She doesn't have much to do and doesn't fit in with other kids her age. She becomes obsessed with a male teacher at her school who is accused of having an inappropriate relationship with one of her classmates and possessing child pornography. Linda is kept busy digging into her teacher's illicit activities until a young boy and his mother move in nearby. As she takes the role of the boy's nanny, it's obvious to Linda that things aren't as they seem with this little family either.
How promising does that sound!

Unfortunately, this book was a total disappointment for me. By the time I got to page 80, I was so bored. I found myself choosing to do other activities instead of picking it back up, which is why it took me a few weeks to read.  The story felt like it was going nowhere for the first two-thirds of the book. While Linda was a very interesting and real character, there was little driving the story forward. You learn from the first few pages that the little boy dies and the intensity goes downhill from there. The story had very little to do with the teacher, perhaps 3-4 chapters in the entire novel addressed him and his story, and more to do with religious extremism in the field of parenting. Had I known this was the heart of the story, I probably never would have picked it up in the first place. I was complaining about reading this book so much that my husband told me to just stop reading it. Usually I always stick it out to the end, but I was seriously considering abandoning this one.  After reading the ending, which left me confused and frustrated, I kind of wish I had listened to him.

The writing in this novel, as many other reviewers have already stated, is exceptionally beautiful. Fridlund does a wonderful job of painting the scene and while I have never been to the wilds of Minnesota, I was able to feel the frigid temperatures and see the thick forests. I could empathize with Linda's loneliness and awkwardness at points. That, however, was probably the only redeeming quality of this book. I would not recommend History of Wolves because I felt like the story that was advertised was not the story I read. It was very slow-moving and just really missed the mark for me.

My Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Review: Sheet Pan Suppers Vegetarian by Raquel Pelzel

Sheet Pan Suppers Vegetarian by Raquel Pelzel is a cookbook that advertises "100 recipes for simple, satisfying, hands-off meals straight from the oven." I'm always looking for new ways to cook veggies, so I thought I'd give some of these recipes a try.  Overall, I'm pretty happy I did!

There are two things I think consumers need to know about this cookbook right off the bat. First off, while the title may be a little deceiving, most recipes do call for the dirtying of multiple dishes, not just a single sheet pan. Less dishes to do after cooking is always a plus, but I found the recipes in this book to require several bowls, utensils, and pans on average. I'm not saying this is a bad thing, but the title left me expecting a little less clean-up.  And secondly, the recipes in this book are meatless with more than half being already vegan. The remaining non-vegan dishes could easily be adapted for vegans by just leaving out something simple, like an egg wash. I liked having that option!

This cookbook was visually appealing and had beautiful photographs. The food looked appetizing and that's not always easy to do when you're limited to plant-based meals. However, like I've complained about in other reviews, there weren't pictures for every main recipe. I'd guess maybe 90% of the meals did have photos, but I will never give a 5 star review for a cookbook that doesn't show me what every single dish looks like (excluding things like dressings and sauces).

There is a great variety of vegetables used in this cookbook! Some vegetarian/vegan cookbooks tend to overdo it on the beans, quinoa, and kale in my opinion, but this one had me wanting to branch out and try some new healthy combinations. The 100 recipes are organized into the following chapters:
Chapter 1: Bits, Bites, and Snacks
Chapter 2: Soups and Salads
Chapter 3: Veggies with a Side of Vegetables
Chapter 4: Grain Bowls and Beyond
Chapter 5: Beans and Legumes
Chapter 6: Pasta, Bread, and Pizza
Chapter 7: Breakfasts and Brunches
Chapter 8: Desserts

There were quite a few recipes I wanted to test out of this cookbook, so it was difficult just choosing three for this review. Keeping my husband's likes and dislikes in mind, I decided on the "Hoisin Eggplant, Spicy Brussels Sprouts, and Tofu" from Chapter 3, the "Zucchini Breakfast Cake with Pecan-Coconut Streusel" from Chapter 7, and the "Rustic Pear Galette" from Chapter 8.

I made the "Hoisin Eggplant, Spicy Brussels Sprouts, and Tofu" for dinner one night. I chose this recipe because we tend to like Asian-style dishes and to be honest, I don't cook eggplant or Brussels sprouts very often. We have an eggplant sandwich we really like, but other than that, I shy away from these vegetables. I considered this dish a success! I was worried because the sprouts were really charred, borderline burnt, but they tasted so darn good that way! I honestly told my husband I should try making Brussels sprouts chips instead of kale chips next time. This dish had a lot of in-your-face flavor, but it didn't store well. I would make it again, but cut the recipe so there's no leftovers. ★★★★☆

The breakfast cake was a no-brainer! I love zucchini bread and we had fresh zucchinis from the garden, so I knew I had to try this. It was really simple to make and it turned out so good! The cake is moist and sweet, the pecans give it a nice texture, and the zucchini flavor really comes through. This made a lot of servings and it stored well in the fridge throughout the week. I just heated up a slice each morning in the microwave for 30 seconds and it was good to go! I will definitely make this again. ★★★★★

Finally, I made the "Rustic Pear Galette" because I was craving a fruit-centered dessert. I like that Pelzel gave you options for the galette filling depending what was in season. I took her suggestion and added a handful of cranberries with the pears. This was one of those instances where a photo comes in handy because I have never "pleated" dough before and I might have just ended up making a traditional pie had the photo not steered me in the right direction. This recipe came together in a snap, but it was kind of a disaster for me. My crust hemorrhaged while in the oven and a lot of the delicious juices escaped, filling my kitchen with a horrible burnt smell. That's not the recipe's fault, but I thought I'd mention why the picture looks so messy. Taste-wise, this galette was a bit of a miss for us. It reminded me of an apple pie that was lacking in flavor. It just needed more spice of some kind. The cardamom was nice and did come through, but that was about it.  I definitely won't be making this pear/cranberry combination again without some tweaking. ★★★☆☆

I plan on trying a few more recipes from this book later on, but my experience so far has been very pleasant. I would recommend this cookbook to everyone, vegetarian or not. It can give you some new ideas on how to prepare vegetables that everyone will enjoy. If not for a main dish on a Meatless Monday, the majority of these recipes would make great side dishes for your usual choice of protein.

My Rating: ★★★★☆
This title will be available for purchase on October 3, 2017.

*Thanks to Workman Publishing Company and Netgalley for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Review: Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris

Jack and Grace are one of those couples you love to hate. Jack is a lawyer for battered women who charms everyone he meets with his dashing good looks and chivalrous manners. (The fact he's incredibly wealthy doesn't hurt either.) Grace is the girl-next-door who loves art and takes care of her younger sister, Millie, who has Downs Syndrome. Millie has always stood in the way of Grace getting next-level serious with a guy, but Jack accepts them as a package deal. Who wouldn't be just a little bit envious of their perfect life? I mean give me a bucket to puke in already! However, from the very first chapter of Behind Closed Doors, the reader is subtly made aware that not everything is as it seems in this fairy tale relationship and I was immediately hooked.

I've been a volunteer at my local women's center for the past few years and while I am mostly a sexual assault advocate, I did go through the training for domestic violence. I thought B.A. Paris did a great job showing all the manipulative tricks and traps an abuser subjects on his or her victim. It's very common to hear people say, "Why don't you just leave if your husband is abusing you?" No one knows how dangerous a relationship like that is until they've been in one themselves. On average, it takes seven attempts for a battered woman to successfully leave her abuser for good. Seven! And that assumes she lives through the previous six attempts, because not everyone's always that lucky.

Okay, I got off on a tangent there, but here's what you need to know about this book. I won't spoil anything for you. The writing is superb. The suspense is there from the very first chapter and never lets up.  The characters are very real and I was completely invested in Grace and her fate. The abuse/violence gets unsettling at times, but it was necessary to build to the climax. Overall, this is a great book choice if you're looking for something you could easily read in one sitting. If B.A. Paris continues to write such thrilling novels, I am prepared to become a fan for life.

My Rating: ★★★★★

Review: The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena

A kidnapped baby. Sexy neighbors. A marriage with secrets. A cynical detective. Lies, lies, and more lies. Don't shoot me for what I'm about to say, but....I think I found a novel I like as much as Gone Girl.  Are you still reading? Thank you if you are! Before you begin throwing flaming pitchforks at me, hear me out.

The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena is a novel so full of suspense, I would have read it in one sitting had I not adult responsibilities to attend to. (Insert dramatic eye roll here.) At the heart of this book are our two protagonists, Anne and Marco. Anne comes from a wealthy family where mommy and daddy are always nearby with a million bucks in hand to rescue her from whatever trouble a privileged white girl can get herself into. Marco is the opposite of Anne in the biggest ways; he is from a poor family and even drives a motorcycle-gasp! The two fall in love and even the looming reality that Marco will never be good enough for Anne in her parents' eyes isn't enough to keep them apart.

Enter Cora, Anne and Marco's adorable six month old baby who is probably even more spoiled than Anne. One night the sitter cancels and since the dinner party the couple are meant to attend is literally next door (the houses share a wall), they leave Cora in her crib at home. Alone. They take a baby monitor with them and check on her every half-hour, but still. When they return in the early morning hours, you guessed it- the baby is gone!  Chaos ensues as a surly detective tries to figure out what happened to baby Cora and the doting grandparents offer to pay any price for the safe return of their beloved granddaughter. Anne and Marco start suspecting everyone and anyone of taking their baby-even each other. Dun, dun, dun!

This novel picks up almost immediately with the kidnapping and things just speed along from there. I never felt like the story hit a dry spot. Every chapter was filled with suspense as we learned about the characters' secrets and motives. It had several twists and turns that I never saw coming and I enjoyed Lapena's writing style. I thought it flowed smoothly and made reading effortless. I had much the same response during and after reading as I did with Gone Girl. Let me elaborate.

In both novels, the characters (pretty much all of them) are unlikable, but real. The couple in this story doesn't share quite the same level of maliciousness as Nick and Amy have towards each other in Gone Girl, but they are equally devious in their actions. They both center on a spoiled rich girl and a lying husband who are struggling within their respective relationships. Probably because of all that secret-keeping, but what do I know? The only character I felt was too flat in The Couple Next Door was the detective, but I'm able to overlook that. Mental illness seems to play heavily in both, as well as the fear that you can never truly know your spouse.  And the endings! I will not spoil anything about either book, but let me say that they were both shocking and seemed to come out of left field. Both left me unsatisfied, but that's what I kind of liked about them. Flynn and Lapena had the guts to finish their books with a bang and weren't scared of upsetting their readers. I can respect that and I give them credit for being able to keep me guessing even up to the final page.

If you liked Gone Girl, then The Couple Next Door is definitely something you're going to want to check out! Honestly, I think you should check it out even if you didn't like Gone Girl. Lapena's novel is just that good!

My Rating: ★★★★★

Review: Tasty. Naughty. Healthy. Nice. by Susan Jane White

My husband and I have been experimenting with healthy eating for the last several years. I like to call myself an aspiring vegan. We eat vegan pretty regularly in our house, but do occasionally cook with meat, eggs, and fish.  The main reason we switched to a predominantly vegan diet is because of the health benefits associated with plant-based food.  My husband has MS and his symptoms can get pretty severe. I read about a doctor who reversed her MS significantly by eating a paleo-type diet. While we know a plant-based lifestyle is not going to magically fix everything, we do feel better and have more energy when eating this way. Plus, we both love and appreciate animals and do not like the thought of contributing to factory farming or animal rights violations. So I like to buy vegan or plant-based cookbooks to give us more healthy recipes to try as we continue down the path to full veganism.

The cookbook I received for review is called Tasty. Naughty. Healthy. Nice. written by Susan Jane White. White lives in Ireland and changed her eating ways when faced with a serious immune disorder. Her cookbook includes over 135 recipes that are gluten-free, sugar-free, and dairy-free. Her book promises "whole food made sinfully delicious."

It's important to note that this is not a vegetarian/vegan cookbook, but a lot of the ingredients found in typical vegan cooking can be found here.  If you're not familiar with plant-based cooking, things like nutritional yeast, brown rice syrup, quinoa, agave, buckwheat, etc. might seem very foreign to you. Since I've been cooking plant-based for a few years now, I had the majority of ingredients on hand.  There were, however, quite a few ingredients that I had not heard of and couldn't find easily.  Ingredients such as pea protein, nettle leaves, wild garlic leaves, black garlic, coconut blossom sugar, etc. were very new to me and I was only able to locate them online.  Some were quite pricey, as well.  That was definitely one of the downfalls of this cookbook. I think a reader who is new to whole foods cooking would be overwhelmed by such oddities and the expense that comes with them. In White's defense, perhaps these ingredients are easier to find and more commonly used in the UK and Europe as opposed to the US.

Another thing I disliked about this cookbook was that not all the recipes have photographs. I know that is pretty commonplace to save publishers money, but I'm one of those cooks who needs to see what I'm supposed to be making. Not only will a pretty plate get me to try a recipe I'd normally pass over, but it helps me feel more confident in the kitchen. I need to have an end picture in my mind for comparison. Especially when readers are cooking with unfamiliar ingredients, they may need the extra support that a good photograph can provide. More than half of the recipes did have photos and they were gorgeous! There were also several pictures of White herself and old-timey kitchen utensils throughout the book which I felt were unnecessary. Instead of seeing a can opener or the author smiling and standing with a bowl of fruit in her hands, I could have benefited more from another recipe picture.

I enjoyed White's backstory and felt that she gave a lot of good information about whole foods in the intro. She did an excellent job with her recipe descriptions, especially when it came to why you were doing certain things to the food.  For example, for the "Mango, Blackberry, and Buckwheat Porridge", she explains that soaking the buckwheat overnight breaks down the acid in the cereal and makes it easier to digest and quicker to cook.  I haven't seen many cookbooks like that before and enjoyed picking up new facts about the food I was cooking.

There was also a lot of variety when it came to the plants and grains that White cooks with, which I liked a lot. More diverse fruits and veggies means a variety of vitamins and nutrients. When it came to the proteins, however, it was a different story.  The non-plant-based proteins used in this cookbook are predominantly types of fish. If you're not a huge fan of fish (raw and cooked), then most of the main dish meals won't work for you. There is only one chicken recipe and one lamb recipe.

Before I felt like I could give an honest review, I had to try some of these recipes myself.

From the "Snacks & Other Nutritional Hits" section, I made the "Strawberry & Banana Shoelaces". The shoelaces were very simple to make. I just threw some strawberries, a banana, and some flax into a blender and then spread onto a pan.  The recipe suggests cooking for 6-8 hours, but at only 4 hours, mine were already overcooked.  As you can see from the photo, my shoelaces did not have a leathery texture and instead are more like fruit chips. They tasted great either way, but I would have preferred them chewy as they were intended to be.  ★★★☆☆

From the "Soups" section, I made the "Smoky Black Bean Soup". I need to preface this by saying I'm not a big soup person. I tend to stick to chicken and noodle and the creamier, the better! However, my husband loves soups of all kinds, so I decided to have this for dinner one night because I love him and all that jazz.  It was super simple to make and I had everything except for the leek already.  This soup included leek, garlic, black beans, and some tomatoes.  A creme fraiche type topping was made using garlic, coconut yogurt, and parsley.  It had a decent flavor and I really enjoyed the depth the leeks brought to the dish. It felt like it was missing something though. Maybe it needed more heat or some noodles? Because I'm hard on soups in general, I'm going with my husband's review on this, which was "3.5 stars because it is good, but I wouldn't ask for it again." ★★★☆☆

From the "Tasty Healthy Treats" section, I tried the "Lemon Whoopie Pies".  There were a lot of delicious looking treats from this section, so it took me a little deliberating before I could decide on these little sandwiches of sunshine. The recipe was quick and easy to whip up without any over-the-top ingredients. I made a half batch because too many of these lying around would be dangerous for my waistline.  I was able to make 3 medium-sized pies. When I was blending the cream, I couldn't quite get the smooth consistency like in the photo because my Ninja blender is just not powerful enough. I wish I had $800 to drop on a Blendtec or Vitamix right now, but I don't, so I'm okay with the results.  The cream was supposed to firm up once it was refrigerated for a few hours. I left it overnight and it still had a runny consistency in the morning.  I ate a few bites of one and left the rest for my husband to eat.  I was a little disappointed I didn't like these better. ★★☆☆☆

My recommendation is that this is not the cookbook for those brand new to plant-based or whole foods cooking. The ingredients and tools required for these recipes could be very daunting and expensive for even the most determined of chefs. Without pictures for every recipe, it's easy to be unsure about how your dishes should turn out. The dinner recipes are very fish-centered and I do not think many children would find them appetizing. If you know what you're in for because you are experienced with this kind of healthy cooking, then you might be able to find a few recipes you like in this collection.

My Rating: ★★★☆☆
This title will be available for purchase on September 19, 2017.

*Thanks to Shambhala Publications, Roost Books, and NetGalley for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Review: The Vegetarian by Han Kang

I first saw The Vegetarian by Han Kang when I was browsing a bookstore while on vacation in Utah. I was immediately drawn to the title because my husband and I were moving towards a more plant-based diet. I picked it up and read the back cover. When I read that the protagonist is moved to stop eating meat after she has violent, bloody dreams, I put it back down and walked away. I'm too sensitive when it comes to animals and knew I wouldn't be able to handle something so distressing.  Since that first time I saw the novel, it has received the 2016 Man Booker International Prize and been hailed as the best book of the year by The New York Times and Publisher's Weekly.

Fast forward several months later and there I am checking it out from the library.  So what changed? Well, I figured that if animals have to endure horrible abuse due to factory farming and I eat meat, then it's only fair that I should read something about their experiences, no matter how unsettling it might be. I also felt like a book with this many rave reviews had to be truly life-changing. Maybe it would be the finally push for me to finally stop eating meat altogether. Maybe it would teach me to see the world in a different light.

The main focus of the novel is Yeong-hye, who lives in South Korea. One day she decides to stop eating meat because of these nightmares she's been having. She's hoping that by no longer eating meat, her demons will disappear. What she doesn't realize, however, is that changing her diet is going to drastically affect the lives of those closest to her and cause Yeong-hye herself to fall into a life-threatening mental illness.

The novel is written in three parts. Each part is told from a different narrator. Interestingly enough, none of these narrators are Yeong-hye. The reader watches through the eyes of her husband, brother-in-law, and then finally her sister. Yeong-hye is oppressed as a female in her culture. Her husband treats her poorly and shows no sympathy whatsoever to her ordeal. He rapes her whenever he feels like it and is verbally abusive. This is apparently the role of women in that culture and I can easily see how Yeong-hye could be pushed to madness from such horrible mistreatment. Yeong-hye is abused by her other family members, as well. There's a very disturbing scene where she is held down and force-fed meat.  They refuse to respect her diet choices and while I've never endured anything so extreme, I was able to relate to Yeong-hye here. As someone who's an aspiring vegan, I often bring vegan food to work and my coworkers make off-hand comments that embarrass me or make me feel inferior because my dish doesn't contain meat. Certain areas are very unforgiving when it comes to going against the norm. The first part of this novel was the most interesting for me. It was unsettling, yes, but the pages kept turning as I rooted for Yeong-hye to stick to her beliefs and stand up for herself.

The other two sections were too slow and just...weird. The second section of the story drags on as we learn how Yeong-hye's brother-in-law uses his art as an excuse to sexually objectify and take advantage of her while she is clearly ill. Despite this being my least favorite section of the three, it is here where we find some of the beautifully-written passages at which Han Kang excels. Her descriptions of their bodies, painted to look like vibrant flowers, made me feel like I was physically in the same room, watching the chaos unfold with my own eyes. For the final section, the reader follows Yeong-hye's sister as she does little to help and is later haunted by the guilt she feels for her involvement in her little sister's illness. There's nothing too remarkable here.

While I understand that this novel is exceptional for its depth, social themes, and descriptive prose, I just did not enjoy it. My enthusiasm for the book paralleled Yeong-hye's dwindling sanity. I loved it at first and was completely sucked in. It was horrifying and unsettling in a way that kept me reading, but by the second part, I was simply just reading to get through the abuses endured by this broken woman. I wanted her to rise up and empower herself.  I wanted some resolution at the end, but there was none. I'm not a reader that always needs stories to end perfectly, but when you get involved with a story so twisted, you need something to restore your faith in humanity, if even just the littlest bit. I can clearly see why others would appreciate the creativity and writing skills of the author, but for me the overall story did not satisfy.

My Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Review: The River at Night by Erica Ferencik

It's so easy to get stuck in the motions of daily life.  We have jobs, responsibilities, and relationships that need constant attention.  Sometimes you just need a little getaway to recharge your batteries and renew your vigor for life.  The characters is The River at Night by Erica Ferencik are searching for just such a getaway, but they got much more than they bargained for in the Allagash wilderness of rural Maine.

In this suspenseful survival story, four average, middle-aged women embark on an adventure in the name of tradition.  They hire a guide to lead them as they white-water raft their way through the unfamiliar terrain.  Mixed with emotions of fear and excitement, the women plan to use this vacation as a reprieve from the struggles of their daily lives: addiction, loneliness, illness, and abusive relationships.  When plans go terribly awry, these women are faced with dangers they did not prepare themselves for.  They must lean on each other for support as they try to survive the elements and unforeseen violence that's waiting for them in the woods.  This novel is like a female rendition of "Deliverance" and it lives up to its expectations.

From the moment I read Gary Paulsen's Hatchet in the fifth grade, I've always been drawn to survival stories. Overall, I really enjoyed this book. There were slow parts here and there, but the characters were deep and real. Each woman had a unique story and believable flaws. Ferencik did a great job making the characters relatable to the targeted female audience. The tension continued to build on itself throughout the last two-thirds of the book, and I found myself staying up late into the night so I could read just one more chapter.  There was quite a bit of violence, but I never felt as if it was unnecessary or just thrown in for the shock value.  Everything that happened to this group of friends advanced the plot and kept me turning the pages. If you're looking for a page-turning summer read, you could certainly do much worse than The River at Night.

My Rating: ★★★★☆

Review: Shelter by Celine Claire

In today's world, we are taught to fear the unknown. We are weary of strangers and stingy with our possessions. We distrust those who are different from us and let our ignorance keep us from seeing the similarities we share. In times like these, it's comforting to know there are books out there like Celine Claire's Shelter.

This beautifully illustrated picture book is reminiscent of "The Little Red Hen." It teaches readers that by helping others, we are also helping ourselves. Set in the forest, this story shows various animal families as they prepare for an incoming blizzard. Birds, foxes, hogs, and rabbits work together to gather food and firewood so they can outlast the storm. While the storm is raging, two mysterious strangers appear and ask each animal family for help. One by one, they are turned away.  The only animal to show the strangers any kindness is a young fox. When disaster threatens the fox family, they are able to rely on the strangers to help them in return.

The illustrations in Shelter are done with pen, ink, and watercolor by Qin Leng. With soft colors and adorable anthropomorphic animals, children of all ages will enjoy the pictures that accompany the story. As an adult reader, I found the illustrations to be very whimsical. They left me with a strong feeling of nostalgia for certain books of my childhood, such as A.A. Milne's Winne the Pooh.

There is great value in the message of this book.  As a teacher, I can see it being used to teach lessons about kindness, acceptance, and friendship.  Shelter was a joy to read and would be a worthy addition to your home or classroom library.

My Rating:★★★★★

*Thank you to Kids Can Press and NetGalley for a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Ready to Read with Me?

As you've probably guessed, I'm a bibliophile and have created this blog to share my thoughts on all things reading.  I'll be including reviews of all the books I read, and I really hope you'll comment on any post that connects with you.  I love a good literary conversation and have yet to find a book club in my area, so all discussions welcome!  I know there are probably a million reading blogs out there written by people far more qualified than me, but if for nothing else, this will serve as a personal reading journal.

Before I jump into posting book reviews, I'll give you a little background about myself and my reading habits.  I'm a 30-something woman who lives in America's heartland.  I am married to a wonderful guy who is an amazingly talented artist.  We "met" on the Internet over a decade ago, back when online dating wasn't even a thing.  Our tastes in books differ greatly, but each year we get to choose a book for the other to read.  This is a great way for us to step out of our reading comfort zone and discover great works that we might not normally be drawn to.  We live together with our three cats (Moxie, Finn, and Atticus) and a puppy (Lucy).  I work as a 6th grade teacher and believe in sharing my love of learning with my students.  Besides reading, I also enjoy being crafty, playing games, and going to the movies.  My ultimate goal would be to become a published author.  I have my "Great American Novel" all planned out, but my perfectionism and fear of failure keep getting in the way of me actually getting any writing done.  Some day!  But until then, I immerse myself in the written word.

If I had to choose, my top three favorite genres would be: 1) Mysteries & Thrillers, 2) Historical Fiction, and 3) Biographies & Memoirs.  I will occasionally read outside of those genres if a book really catches my eye or if I hear a lot of good things about a particular title.  Every now and then I'm in the mood for a good classic.  Because of my job as a teacher, I also read a lot of picture books and young adult novels.

I'm not sure what else there is to say.  I think you can tell a lot about a person from their favorite books, so I'll list my top 5 (in no particular order) and let you infer what you will.

1) Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
2) To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
3) Whistling Past the Graveyard by Susan Crandall
4) Half Broken Things by Morag Joss
5) The Help by Kathryn Stockett

I'd love to connect with other readers like me.  You can find me on Goodreads by clicking here.  I'm also looking for good reading blogs to follow, so if you know of any or have one of your own, please link it below!

Thanks for reading!
Rebby