Counting Miracles by Nicholas Sparks

Started: 10/14/2024

Finished: 10/16/2024

Year: 2024

Pages: 344

Genre: literature/romance

Grade: B+

Reason for reading: library book

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "Tanner Hughes was raised by his grandparents, following in his grandfather’s military footsteps to become an Army Ranger. His whole life has been spent abroad, and he is the proverbial rolling stone: happiest when off on his next adventure, zero desire to settle down.  But when his grandmother passes away, her last words to him are find where you belong. She also drops a bombshell, telling him the name of the father he never knew—and where to find him.

"Tanner is due at his next posting soon, but his curiosity is piqued, and he sets out for Asheboro, North Carolina, to ask around. He’s been in town less than twenty-four hours when he meets Kaitlyn Cooper, a doctor and single mom. They both feel an immediate connection; Tanner knows Kaitlyn has a story to tell, and he wants to hear it. To Kaitlyn, Tanner is mysterious, exciting—and possibly leaving in just a few weeks.

"Meanwhile, nearby, eighty-three-year-old Jasper lives alone in a cabin bordering a national forest. With only his old dog, Arlo, for company, he lives quietly, haunted by a tragic accident that took place decades before. When he hears rumors that a white deer has been spotted in the forest—a creature of legend that inspired his father and grandfather—he becomes obsessed with protecting the deer from poachers.

"As these characters’ fates orbit closer together, none of them is expecting a miracle . . . but that may be exactly what is about to alter their futures forever."

Opinion: Too much religious quotes for my liking. Not a tearjeaker like many of Sparks' other books but still a great read.

Die Me a River by Denise Swanson

Started: 10/11/2024

Finished: 10/14/2024

Year: 2018

Pages: 341

Genre: mystery

Grade: B

Reason for reading: library book, continuing with series

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "School psychologist Skye Denison-Boyd had hoped that her maternity leave would be at least a little relaxing, but when she and her husband, Wally, meet with the priest to discuss their newborn twins' christening, an explosion at the nearby bowling alley rocks the rectory. And although the business was closed at the time of the blast, there's a body inside.

"As police chief, Wally is inevitably drawn into the murder mystery, which seems to indicate that foul play is afoot again in Scumble River, and Skye can't help but do a bit of her own sleuthing. But the clues come fast and furious, ranging from an odd new stranger in town to animosity toward the gambling machines that had recently been installed at the bowling alley, and Skye finds herself wondering if this could be the puzzle that stumps her for good."

Opinion: Decent mystery. Typical small town characters and their antics like in the rest of the series.

Sister Dear by Hannah Mary McKinnon

Started: 10/7/2024

Finished: DNF

Year: 2020

Pages: 347

Genre: thriller

Grade: D

Reason for reading: library book

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "When Eleanor Hardwicke’s beloved father dies, her world is further shattered by a gut-wrenching secret: the man she’s grieving isn’t really her dad. Eleanor was the product of an affair and her biological father is still out there, living blissfully with the family he chose. With her personal life spiraling, a desperate Eleanor seeks him out, leading her to uncover another branch on her family tree—an infuriatingly enviable half sister.

"Perfectly perfect Victoria has everything Eleanor could ever dream of. Loving childhood, luxury home, devoted husband. All of it stolen from Eleanor, who plans to take it back. After all, good sisters are supposed to share. And quiet little Eleanor has been waiting far too long for her turn to play."

Opinion: Decent writing but horrible main character...one word....therapy. Story started off strong but turned awful and predictable quickly.

Open and Shut by David Rosenfelt

Started: 10/3/2024

Finished: 10/7/2024

Year: 2002

Pages: 292

Genre: lawyer mystery

Grade: B-

Reason for reading: library book

Blurb (from Amazon): "Whether dueling with new forensics or the local old boys' network, irreverent defense attorney Andy Carpenter always leaves them awed with his biting wit and winning fourth-quarter game plan. But Andy prefers the company of his best friend, Tara, to the people he encounters in the courtroom. Tara, a golden retriever, is clearly smarter than half the lawyers who clog the courts of PassaicCounty. However, just as it seems Andy has everything figured out, his dad, New Jersey's legendary ex-D.A., drops dead in front of him at a game in Yankee Stadium. The shocks pile on as he discovers his dad left him with two unexpected legacies: a fortune of $22 million that Andy never knew existed . . . and a murder case with enough racial tinder to burn down City Hall. Struggling to serve justice and bring honor to his father, Andy must dig up some explosive political skeletons--and an astonishing family secret that can close his case (and his mouth) for good."

Opinion: An obnoxious lawyer. A decent mystery and trial. Will continue with the series

The Night We Lost Him by Laura Dave

Started: 9/30/2024

Finished: 10/2/2024

Year: 2024

Pages: 295

Genre: mystery

Grade: B

Reason for reading: library book

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "Liam Noone was many things to many people. To the public, he was an exacting, self-made hotel magnate fleeing his past. To his three ex-wives, he was a loving albeit distant family man who kept his finances flush and his families carefully separated. To Nora, he was a father who often loved her from afar - notably a cliffside cottage perched on the California coast from which he fell to his death.

"The authorities rule the death accidental, but Nora and her estranged brother Sam have other ideas. As Nora and Sam form an uneasy alliance to unravel the mystery, they start putting together the pieces of their father's past—and uncover a family secret that changes everything."

Opinion: A decent mystery of what really happened. 

Spider Bones by Kathy Reichs

Started: 9/26/2024

Finished: 9/29/2024

Year: 2010

Pages: 302

Genre: mystery

Grade: B

Reason for reading: library book, continuing with series

Type: hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "John Lowery was declared dead in 1968—the victim of a Huey crash in Vietnam, his body buried long ago in North Carolina. Four decades later, Temperance Brennan is called to the scene of a drowning in Hemmingford, Quebec. The victim appears to have died while in the midst of a bizarre sexual practice. The corpse is later identified as John Lowery. But how could Lowery have died twice, and how did an American soldier end up in Canada?

"Tempe sets off for the answer, exhuming Lowery’s grave in North Carolina and taking the remains to Hawaii for reanalysis—to the headquarters of JPAC, the U.S. military’s Joint POW/ MIA Accounting Command, which strives to recover Americans who have died in past conflicts. In Hawaii, Tempe is joined by her colleague and ex-lover Detective Andrew Ryan (how “ex” is he?) and by her daughter, who is recovering from her own tragic loss. Soon another set of remains is located, with Lowery’s dog tags tangled among them. Three bodies—all identified as Lowery.

"And then Tempe is contacted by Hadley Perry, Honolulu’s flamboyant medical examiner, who needs help identifying the remains of an adolescent boy found offshore. Was he the victim of a shark attack? Or something much more sinister?"

Opinion: Interesting twists with dead bodies

The Corpse in the Closet by Lucy Score

Started: 9/20/2024

Finished: 9/25/2024

Year: 2021

Pages: 367

Genre: mystery

Grade: B-

Reason for reading: library book

Type: paperback

Blurb (from Amazon): "First, her disapproving grandmother arrives determined to make Riley take her powers seriously or face the wrath of "the Guild." Then there's the homicide detective who needs her help figuring out who murdered the well-dressed corpse in the walk-in closet.

"Nick's got his own hands full with a tricky missing person case and his parents who want to know why he didn't tell them about his live-in girlfriend. Then there's the fact that he's still the tiniest bit stressed about Riley almost getting murdered earlier that summer. The last thing he wants is her getting involved in another investigation.

"Things go from bad to worse when the body count starts stacking up, the meet-the-parents dinner goes horribly wrong, and their elderly roommate is up to no good…dressed like a mime.

"To top it off, Riley is forced to return to Channel 50 on official police business to question her spray-tanned news anchor ex-husband and his new weather girl fiancée.

"The trouble comes to a head when Riley receives a warning from the killer: Back off or she's next. Someone has to solve these murders before she becomes the next corpse."

Opinion: Interesting motive for murder. The grandmother just needs to go away.