T is for Trespass by Sue Grafton

I confess that I've never read any of the alphabet mystery book by Sue Grafton.  But I have listened to many of them.  I downloaded this one to listen to on our recent road trip, but we never got around to it.  So I started it up one day when I was on the treadmill and, like all the others in this series, I was quickly hooked.  Judy Kay, the woman who reads the book, is fabulous and does a wonderful job of taking on all the characters and their voices.  And the character of Kinsey is so likeable and smart that you can't help but enjoy the ride - even when things get a little crazy.  In T is for Trespass, there's a woman who is preparing to steal money from Kinsey's neighbor, a couple who are suing someone for a car accident they deliberately caused, and a few other minor plot lines as well.  All the stories keep you reading (or in my case, listening) and enjoying.  -June

The Round House by Louise Erdrich

Sometimes it's a good thing that I am a procrastinator.  If I had written this review the moment I finished the book, it might have been a bit more negative.  But as the days have passed and I've thought more about the book, I like it more.  The Round House takes place on an Native American reservation in the 1980's, and the story is told from the point of view of a 12-year-old boy.  His mother is raped, and the book is about how the mother, the family, and the community reacts to this horrific crime.  And there are legal issues involved too because of differences in laws for the reservation vs laws for the rest of the state.  The writing is wonderful - except why in the world are there no quotation marks?  I found this made it very difficult to read because I wasn't quite sure if what I was reading was something someone said or just a comment made by the narrator.  And the other thing I didn't care for were the stories and rantings of the boy's grandfather.  They didn't seem to contribute to the story in any way so I confess I skipped over them.  But the story is good, and although the ending is hard to read, it all comes together and is worth it.  -June

Sister by Rosamund Lupton

Another mystery.  After reading Defending Jacob, I was ready for a change, but the next book I had planned to read on my Kindle was Sister.  Actually, I had no idea that it was a "who dunnit" type of book.  I really enjoyed the beginning and how the author set everything up.  The characters were well done and the book flowed well up until about 3/4 of the way into it.  By that point, both the main character and I suspected just about everyone to be the killer.  And then by the end, everything kind of fell apart.  Some people might say that the twists at the end were exciting, but I found it all to be a bit far-fetched and confusing.  But I will say that the story kept me reading, and that in itself is a good sign.  -June

Defending Jacob by William Landay

What a ride!  This is one of those rare books that grabs you right from the start and doesn't let go.  It's the story of a murder and a DA who is investigating it.  Soon into the book, we learn that the DA's son may have committed this awful crime.  The book then shifts to the family and how they are coping with this situation and the trial that takes place.  There are several surprises along the way that make it impossible to put down.  Truly, this is every parent's nightmare, and you live it as you read it.  We all love our children, but how much can you take as a parent.  Highly recommend.  -June

The Flight of Gemma Hardy by Margot Livesey

It's not unusual for authors to take a classic story and redo it.  There must be hundreds of updated versions of Romeo and Juliet, for instance.  Some of them work, and well, other just don't.  Margot Livesey updated Jane Eyre in Gemma Hardy.  It makes me wonder if redoing a story that someone else created is cheating or acceptable in the world of authors.  I picture her writing Gemma with the story outline of Jane Eyre in front of her.  Yes, there are differences.  Gemma takes place in the 1950's through the 1970's.  The characters' names are changed and some of the storylines are different too.  But I knew from the start that she would fall in love with Mr. Sinclair, that their romance would have a break due to lies, and that that they would end up together.  No surprises there.  (And really, what woman continues to call her fiance "Mr." right up to their proposed wedding date??)  If Jane Eyre didn't exist, I might have liked the book, but even then, I think I would have found it to be stuffy - like it really was written by Charlotte Bronte and not in today's world. - June

A Land More Kind than Home by Wiley Cash

A little undiscovered gem.  I can't even remember where I heard about this book.  Maybe it was on another blog or maybe Amazon pushed it out to me and said, "Here!  You need to read this!"  Whatever happened, I'm glad it did.  The book takes place in the 80's in a small town in North Carolina.  We hear the story of how a young boy died through the eyes of three people: his 9-year-old brother, the town sheriff, and an elderly woman in his church.  As the book changes from one narrator to the next, we learn about the young boys family and what happened to him the night he attended church with his mother. The author really captures the feelings and the emotions of each narrator but I especially liked Jess, the boy's brother. I confess when I first picked it up, I thought it might not be something I'd like, but I was hooked within 20 pages.  -June

The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe

A book about reading books.  Perfect!  This book is a tribute to a woman who died from pancreatic cancer, and it's written by her son.  As she was going through cancer treatments and slowly dying, the mother and son formed a book club, and they read and discussed the books.  The mother, Mary Anne, is not just a sweet, old, seventy-something woman.  She's lead a pretty remarkable life not only having a successful career but also fundraising and volunteering to help refugees.  Her son, Will, recognizes these achievements and while it's hard to find fault with anything she did, the book does get to be a bit tedious when he continues to sing her praises.  However, I loved hearing about the books they chose to read and the conversations they had regarding them.  I confess I skimmed some of the book to get to these highlights.  -June

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed

I love reading when I'm on vacation.  That's when I do some serious reading.  I don't mean I read serious books.  But I can spend more time reading in large blocks of time which really gets me seriously involved in the book.  I've been saving Wild for vacation because the subject matter appealed so much to me.

Cheryl Strayed hiked most of the PCT from the Mohave Desert to the Oregon/Washington border.  Her reasons for doing this are many but primarily she was in a rough time in her life and was needing to "find herself".  Through flashbacks in her story, we learn about her family and her relationships with her mother and her siblings.  She's brutally honest and seems to hold nothing back about her life.  And her story about hiking the trail left me torn between thinking it would be amazing to try something like that and at the same time thinking she was crazy to attempt it.  Absolutely loved this book, and I look forward to more books by Cheryl.  -June

The Gap Year by Sarah Bird

I thought this book would be about a magical year for a young woman between high school and college.  And, if I'm interpreting the cover correctly, it would also be about that same year in the life of her mother.  Wrong.  This book is all about a very tumultuous high school senior year and the relationship between daughter and mom.  I loved the writing and loved reading the book.  It so much nicer to read about the strain between parent and child than to live through it.  And I think the author does a great job of portraying the two differing points of view.  However, I think the end was a bit too tidy and some of the events in the final pages made me think, "Huh, where did that come from?"  But overall, I recommend it and I'm sending it off to BT who, as a mother to a beautiful daughter, might have more insight into that relationship. - June

The Beginner's Goodbye by Anne Tyler

Anne Tyler.  When anyone asks me my favorite author, she's always at the top of the list.  There's something about her writing that simply transports me into the world she writes about.  I don't know how she does it, but I feel I know the characters, see the setting, feel like I'm there.  While The Beginner's Goodbye may not be my favorite book by Anne Tyler, it's still worth reading (or in my case, listening to it).  Aaron's wife, Dorothy, has died.  Through the use of flashbacks, we learn how they met and what their married life was like.  And when Dorothy starts to appear to Aaron after her death, they talk about things that were left unsaid between them.  Some of the secondary characters were very interesting too.  Recommend it.  -June

Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt

Strange relationships.  How about this one?  A young teenage girl and her dead, gay uncle's partner.  Hard to picture, but in this wonderful book, it all makes sense.  The book takes place in the mid-80's when AIDS was still something of a mystery, and people were afraid and embarrassed by associating with individuals affected.  June and her sister, Gerta, pose for a portrait that their Uncle Finn is painting as he is dying.  After Finn's death, June meets and connects with Toby, Finn's partner, and it's their relationship that makes up much of the book.  I loved the characters in the book, and it was one of those rare books where the ending really satisfied me.  I did think the actions of Greta were sometimes overdone, but her relationship with June was very touching.  I'm sure the many references to wolves in the book have all kinds of symbolic meaning, but I'll be darned if I can figure them out.  And I think the title of the book (which is also the name of the painting) may cause some people to avoid the book.  But I loved it and highly recommend it.  -June

Night Sins by Tami Hoag

This was trashy in so many ways!  I listened to this book on a long drive this weekend, and I chose it because I thought Tami Hoag wrote fast-paced mystery books and it would keep me awake.  Well, I stayed awake because I was groaning out loud at how ridiculous it was.  I hate to admit I listened to the whole thing with hopes it would get better or at least have a satisfying ending.  It didn't.  Why do mystery writers feel the need to throw in lusty romance scenes.  It was more of a romance novel than a mystery.  AND the ending left me hanging without really solving the crime.  I now see there's a sequel.  I won't waste my time on that one.  -June