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2016 Book Reviews - September

Big Brother by Lionel Shriver
I don't know why I give author's second chances sometimes, but l'm a sucker.   Actually I will try again when it is an author that other's seem to like.  So I gave Ms Shriver another shot.

The main plot of the story is an older brother whom was always idolized by his younger sister.  He shows up at her house weighing as much as a house.  The long stay is taxing enough on the sisters family, but add his weight issue and things are really heated up.  The sister has to make a decision on how best to help her brother and what she is willing to pay to help her brother.  The story, even with a plot twist that left me rolling my eyes, was not a bad story.  I just don't like Ms Shriver's writing style.  She inserts too many "facts" about diet, America;'s views of obesity, types of diets, etc.   I just wanted a story - not a research paper or sermon.


Lies Your Wanted to Hear by James Whitfield Thomson
I liked this book.  I didn't like all the characters, but I liked the book.   The story revolves around Lucy, Matt and their children.   It's a one-sided marriage when it comes to love with an old boyfriend, Griffin always lurking it seems.  I didn't like Lucy, but did come to empathize with her a bit.   Matt had flaws of his own, but overall, he was a likable guy.   I don't think I even need to tell you how I felt about Griffin.

The one thing I didn't like about the book was the ending.  In fact most of Part Three seemed a little off to me.   It almost read like Mr. Thomson knew it was time to wrap things up, so that's what he did.   Because of a lapse in time, it was hard to understand some of the choices made at the end.  I would have liked to have known a little more about the children.   I also lost a lot of the empathy I had for Lucy, which as a mother is hard to understand why.   And at the end, I wasn't too sure if I liked Matt or not.   I don't want to give anything away, so I'll just leave it at that.

Overall a good read.


Killing Kennedy: The End of Camelot by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard
Another good read.   There's nothing new in this book and really is more about the Kennedy's than the motive behind the killing of John F Kennedy. I enjoyed reading the book.   Well written.


Chance Developments by Alexander McCall Smith
This is a book of short stories based on old photographs.   Mr. Smith used 5 old photographs that he knew nothing about and used those as inspiration for each story.   I generally am not a good short story book reader.   I will read one or two and then move on to a novel and never pick the book back up.   I know that short story books can be good ones to keep around for filling in when you just have a few minutes or between novels, but for some reason, I seem to forget about them.  All that to say that I enjoyed this collection.   His stories behind the pictures were not what my stories would have been, which makes it more interesting.   How we can all see the same thing but have a different interpretation of it is a good lesson.   This was a nice little find at our library.


Mercy Snow by Tiffany Baker
I like Ms Baker's writing style and liked this story.  It is a moral story of sorts that at times leaned towards a night time soap opera feel (think Dallas).  At times I found myself thinking that some of the characters were too cliche, but I kept reading and am glad I did.   The main storyline is about a family in a small town who are the undesirables.   So of course when anything goes wrong, they are the ones that everyone suspects.   However they are really kind and good people who have been given a hard hand in life.  There are a few interesting turns in the story - some I liked and some I didn't.  But it left me thinking and applying things to life.   That to me is always a good thing.



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