Share my Shelf June- October

What on earth- June through October? Yes, tis true. I realized over the summer that I wasn't writing summaries of books and figured out why (besides that I find it a bit tedious to do). It's because I wasn't subbing. What does subbing have to do with writing about books and book summaries? Well, because I don't enjoy writing a post like this nearly as much as I like reading or writing other types of posts. When I'm at home in the summer, I can find a thousand other things to do. However, during the school year, if I'm subbing and I have a free period and/or at lunch, I have fewer options of what to do. So, it's easier to discipline myself to write a post about the books I've read.

Because there are so many due to spanning months, I'm only going to mention each one briefly. I hope to stay better caught up and I can write more and do the books (at least the ones that I like a lot) a little more justice :)

Wild Fire by Nelson DeMille

This is the 4th book that I read of DeMille's after devouring his first three. I definitely liked the first one that I read of his the best; this was my least favorite. The main character has to stop a group of radical (I don't know if he used the term right wing but it was implied) powerful men from using nuclear weapon in the aftermath of 9/11. While I love DeMille's writing, this one fell flat. Waaaaay too unrealistic. 

The Blue Hour by Paula Hawkins

This book was ok. I forgot everything about it until I read a short summery for this "report" lol. It deals with a reclusive artist who uses a bone(?) in her artwork that turns out to be a human bone and it must be investigated. 

It's Not Me It's You- Charlotte Bigland

This book was also just Ok and deals with the improbable likelihood of someone's last five dates being killed and the dates not being the killer!

The Night Singer by Johanna Mo

This was also just Ok. It takes place in Sweden where a young detective woman returns to her hometown after her father was convicted of starting a fatal fire. 

City of Night Birds by Juhea Kim

I really liked this book! (FINALLY!) It's about a prima ballerina in Russia who's trying to return to the stage after an injury. It provides much fascinating information about the cutthroat world of ballet dancing and the writing is superb. 

What we Kept to Ourselves by Nancy Jooyoun Kim

This book was OK. A stranger is found dead in a family's backyard. The family minus the mother who went missing the previous year try to figure out if there's a connection between the dead man and their missing mom.

The Paris Novel by Ruth Reichl

I started it and stopped reading it. Takes place in France. A woman buys a Dior dress(?) and her life changes.

Long Island Compromise by Taffy Brodesser-Akner

This book was really good! It follows a (VERY) wealthy after the patriarch is kidnapped. He's returned alive but everyone in the family experiences long lasting trauma as a result. A subplot deals with the Jewish diaspora from Hitler's reign. Very good, engaging writing. 

The Confession by Charlotte Bigland

This was ok. A woman investigates her brother's death. There are twists to it. The end. Very forgettable!

The Good Girl by Mary Kubica

This book was pretty good (that's a little better than ok!). A young woman who'd been missing has been returned home. She has amnesia regarding what happened to her and why she seems drawn to the man who took her. 

My Life in Middlemarch by Rebecca Mead

Nonfiction- LOVED this book!! The author has read Middlemarch many times in her life; she shares how with each reading in a particular phase of her life, she learns more about the book and herself. This is not a good summary- please read the book if you like well written memoirs!

The Housemaid by Sarah Denzil

I enjoyed this thriller about a woman who goes to work for a wealthy family. Everything (of course!) is not as it seems in the manse. 

Save What's Left by Elizabeth Castellano

A silly, improbable yet not altogether unenjoyable book about a woman whose 30 year marriage ends and so she buys a shack on the beach.

Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

I didn't think it was possible to not like one of her books, but it happened! I stopped reading it. It became  overbearing to me. It takes place in Spain (I think) in the 1950's (I think) when  armed guerrillas take a number of wealthy dignitaries hostage.  

Good Bad Girl by Alice Feeney

This was an enjoyable read about the mysterious death of a woman at a nursing home and a missing baby from years before. It contains a very good twist that I did not see coming.

One Perfect Couple by Ruth Ware

This was an entertaining read where couples are chosen to compete on a reality TV show on a remote island. There's more to most couples than meets the eye... and then violence comes to the island. This thriller is a bit different than many in that the reader learns whodidit (and who is doing it) well before the book ends. There's no plot twist or waiting until the end to find out.

Firewall by Henning Mankell

This was ok. I really started skimming it as I was interested in knowing the ending but not enjoying the writing enough to read every word...

Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz

I loved this book! It's a book within a book featuring two mysteries. A book editor investigates a new crime case that is connected to a fictional crime book written by an author who has since died. In real life, a man is in prison for a murder that took place years ago but by solving a mystery pertaining to the fiction book within a book, the real killer may be revealed. So well written and enjoyable to read! 

The Lady in Gold by Anne-Marie O'Connor

This non-fiction book is really good!! It's about the Nazis stealing priceless art from wealthy Austrians when Hitler took power in Austria and the attempt of an elderly Jewish woman in California to receive a famous Klimt painting once owned by her family and taken during the Third Reich. The history of culturally and economically rich Jewish Viennese was interesting and the tragedy to befall them that much harder to read about when it happened. Well written, it reads  almost like a novel but it is entirely non fiction.. 

The Infernal World of Branwell by Daphne Du Maurier

I have read almost all of Du Maurier's books and liked them all. This one, a biography of Patrick Branwell Bronte fell a little flat for me. Bronte is the brother of the famous Bronte sisters; sadly the precocious child turned into an alcoholic and died young. I did like learning about the fascinating Bronte family. 

The Last Murder at the End of the Earth by Stuart Turton

Smartly written and hard to succinctly describe- A fog has destroyed all life form except for 225 people and now one of them is murdered on the island where they reside.  It seems part dystopian to me and part mystery. I liked it... but I found myself skimming. I did want to know who did it.

The Lost Book of the Grail by Charlie Lovett

I found this book to be ok. I'm pretty sure I started skimming at some point... It vacillated between medieval times and present day idyllic small university town in England. It concerns the mystery of the Holy Grail. Very interesting premise/plot, I'll give it that.

The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton

Set in 1634 (nope, about my least favorite century for a book to take place in), a prisoner is being transported to to Amsterdam when supernatural things started occurring. I stopped reading it!

Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout

I have really enjoyed everything I've read by Elizabeth Strout but I did not care for this book much at all. It continues in the saga of ordinary people's lives in a small town in Maine. 

The Surgeon by Leslie Wolfe

This book was ok- I liked the writing and the voice of the main character but that was about it. The storyline is too incredibly contrived and unbelievable. The main character is a surgeon who kinda sort of let a patient of her die on the operating table due to her belief that he had harmed her younger sister. 

I Know a Secret by Tess Gerritsen

This was a pretty good read about two crimes that happen in Boston that seem unrelated to each other. The story kept me engaged!

Daughter of Mine by Megan Miranda

The Safest Lies by Megan Miranda

Fragments of the Lost by Megan Miranda

I enjoyed all three of the books that I read by this author! I liked the first one the best. In all of them, the Miranda creates vivid, if slightly unrealistic (it's a book after all) plots with "real" characters. There are definite plot twists- this author knows how to tell and write a good story!

Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz

Ok, A. Horowitz is one of my favorite contemporary authors. As in, he's in my top three or five. His writing and complex plots are as clever as they are delightful! This book contains a book within a book as the main storyline concerns a book editor who receives only a partial completion of a mystery book written by her client. The editor attempts to find the remaining chapter in the book (which the reader gets to read in MM) after the author dies. Just so good!

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

This was a good book written in epistolary form about a woman in the twilight of her life. The book unfolds through letters and emails during the woman's life. It's a moving book cleverly written about the power of love, forgiveness and regrets. 

Linking up with Share Your Shelf!