The Memorandum by Robert W. Kelley

 Started: 3/10/2021

Finished: 3/17/2021

Year: 2019

Pages: 259

Genre: Legal non fiction

Grade: B+

Reason for reading: review for Reader Views

Type: Trade Paperback

Blurb (from back cover): "In The Memorandum, attorney Robert W. Kelley offers a gripping account of his years-long epic battle against one of the world's most power companies and his efforts to seek justice for a family forever devastated by its misconduct.

"Part legal thriller, part personal memoir, part trial strategy, attorney Kelley's narrative brings to life one of the most important legal cases of the decade. A giant corporation, a secret memo exposing is reprehensible conduct, legions of defense laws blocking the truth, all brought to justice by Kelley and his relentless band of warriors."

Opinion: This was a great combo of memoir and legal info. There is enough explanation of the legal stuff without making it overwhelming to readers who might not understand it. A more complete review will be posted on Reader Views in the near future.

Day of Judgment by Heath Daniels

 Started: 3/6/21

Finished: DNF 3/9/2021

Year: 2019

Pages: 641

Genre: Literature

Grade: F

Reason for reading: review for Reader Views

Type: paperback

Blurb (from back cover): "The Hammond family has worked and lived comfortably in the semi-rural, semi-isolated Appalachian area of southwest Virginia for years until a a violent attach against Arabs disrupts their American-dream life. Frank and Brad each live and work in a 'don't ask, don't tell' environment until violence by disaffected Arabs sends them seeking answers.

"Arab-Muslim professional, Joe and Omar, are committed to seeking justice! Joe, a brilliant young American-born attorney, seeks justice in the courtroom and starts the process of becoming one of the country's experts on hate crimes. At the same time, his good friend Omar, an equally brilliant Islamic theologian, seeks justice within the spiritual realms of Allah. Their actions reflect the double entendre in the title Day of Judgment: judgment in the US legal system and judgment before Allah"

Opinion: This book needs to be chopped in half and be heavily edited. Several grammar errors and just a lot of words that don't need to be there. A more complete review will be on Reader Views in the future.

The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King

 Started: 2/27/2021

Finished: 3/5/2021

Year: 1994

Pages: 346

Genre: mystery

Grade: B

Reason for reading: bookcrossing.com book

Type: trade paperback

Blurb (from back cover): "In 1915, Sherlock Homes is retired and quietly engaged to study of honeybees when a young woman literally stumbles into him on the Sussex Downs. Fifteen years old, gawky, egotistical, and recently orphaned, the young Mary Russell displays an intellect to impress even Sherlock Holmes-and match him wit for wit. Under his reluctant tutelage, this very modern twentieth-century woman proves a deft protegee and a fitting partner for the Victorian detective. In their first case together, they must track down a kidnapped American senator's daughter and confront a truly cunning adversary-a bomber who has set trip wires for the sleuths and who will stop at nothing to end their partnership."

Opinion: Having heard so many good things about this book and not really looking up to see what it was all about, I was thoroughly surprised. I can understand the praise. Definitely a fun read.

Indianapolis by Lynn Vincent and Sara Vladic

 Started: 2/16/2021

Finished: 2/27/2021

Year: 2018

Pages: 578

Genre: Military Non Fiction

Grade: A

Type: hardcover

Reason for reading: Goodreads.com giveaway

Blurb (from book jacket): "Just after midnight on July 30, 1945, days after delivering the components of the atomic bomb from California to the Pacific Islands in the most highly classified naval mission of the war, USS Indianapolis is sailing alone in the center of the Philippine Sea when she is struck by two Japanese torpedoes. The ship is instantly transferred into a fiery cauldron and sinks within minutes. Some 300 men go down with the ship. Nearly 900 make it into the water alive. For the next five nights and four days, almost three hundred miles from the nearest land, the men battle injuries, sharks, dehydration, insanity and eventually each other. Only 316 will survive.

"For the better part of a century, the story of USS Indianapolis has been understood as sinking tale. The reality, however, is far more complicated-and compelling. Now, for the first time, thanks to a decade of original research and interviews with 107 survivors and eyewitnesses, Lynn Vincent and Sara Vladic tell the complete story of the ship, her crew, and their final mission to save one of their own."

Opinion: Wow. I'm not usually a reader of military books and not even sure why I entered the giveaway other than because the USS Indianapolis is the boat that is discussed in Jaws during one of my favorite scenes. I didn't expect to enjoy this as much as I did. Very compelling stories from the survivors and about bs that the US Navy did to one of its own.

It by Stephen King

 Started: 9/16/2019

Finished: 2/16/2021

Year: 2016 (this edition)

Pages: 1153

Genre: Horror

Grade: B+

Reason for reading: reread after the new movies.

Type: Paperback

Blurb (from back cover): "To the children, the town was their whole world. To the adults, knowing better, Derry, Maine, was just their home town: familiar, well-ordered, a good place to live. It was the children who saw-and felt-what made Derry so horribly different. In the stormdrains, in the sewers, It lurked, taking on the shape of every nightmare, each person's deepest dread. Sometimes It reached up, seizing, tearing, killing...

"The adults, knowing better, knew nothing. Time passed and the children grew up, moved away. The horror of It was deep-buried, wrapped in forgetfulness. Until the grown-up children were called back, once more to confront It as It stirred and coiled in the sullen depths of their memories, reaching up again to make their past nightmares a terrible present reality."

Opinion: I enjoyed both the TV miniseries and the new movies. I read this several years ago and decided to reread it after I watched the new movies. Surprisingly, my brain pictured the miniseries instead of the new movies when rereading it. Definitely worth the reread.

The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion by Fannie Flagg

 Started: 2/3/2021

Finished: DNF

Year: 2014

Pages: 347

Genre: Southern Literature

Grade: F

Type: Trade Paperback

Reason for reading: bookcrossing.com book

Blurb (from back cover): "Mrs. Sookie Poole of Point Clear, Alabama, has just married off the last of her daughter and is looking forward to relaxing with her husband, Earle. Then, quite by accident, Sookie stumbles on a secret about her mother, the formidable Lenore Simmons Krackenberry-a discovery that suddenly calls into question everything she ever thought she knew about herself. Sookie begins a search for answers that takes her to California, the Midwest, and back in time to the 1940s, when an irrepressible woman named Fritzi takes on the the job of running her family's filling station. As Sookie learns about the adventures of the girls at the All-Girls Filling Station, she finds new inspiration for her own life."

Opinion: Again I have tried a Flagg book and hated it. It is just something about her character Sookie that makes me want to throw the book across the room-or at least reach into the book and smack Sookie for being so over the top annoying. I gave it just over 100 pages and said nope, I have over 400 other books in my house to read....NEXT.

With You Always by Rena Olsen

 Started: 1/29/21

Finished: 2/3/21

Year: 2018

Pages: 339

Genre: Literature/suspense

Grade: B-

Reason for reading: Goodreads.com giveaway

Type: ARC

Blurb (from back cover): "In the wake of a painful breakup and struggling to provider herself at work, Julia feels adrift. When Bryce blows into her life, he seems like the perfect anchor. Handsome, charming, secure, and confident, Bryce brings out the best in Julia, sweeping her off her feet with attention and affection while grounding her with his certainty and faith. Together they embark on a path guided by the principles of his family and their church, each step a paving stone leading to happily ever after.

"But this is no fairy tale.

"Step by step, one small concession leading to another, Julia is slowly isolated from her job, her friend, and her family, until she comes to find that her dream come true is a cage. Then one day everything changes...and Julia is faced with no choice but to find a way out."

Opinion: Great way of describing how one can get caught up in a cult/abusive situation but the ending was rushed. And the solution was too quick after all of the rest of the book. Throughout reading it, I kept shaking my head at the naivety of Julia.

Murder of a Sweet Old Lady by Denise Swanson

 Started 1/23/21

Finished: 1/28/21

Year: 2001

Pages: 251

Genre: Cozy Mystery

Grade: B

Reason for reading: booksfree.com book

Type: mass market paperback

Blurb: "When Skye's beloved grandmother is found dead in her bed, the family consensus is natural causes. Still, Skye insists on an autopsy-an examination that proves the sweet old lady was, in fact, murdered! But who could have done the deadly deed? Skye is determined to find out, through her snooping doesn't sit well with the relatives. Family tensions can mean only one thing: family secrets. And when a series of hooligan attacks on Skye's property leads to an outright physical assault, Skye has to wonder if by exposing the rotten roots of her family tree, she's one step closer to exposing the killer...."

Opinion: Another predictable but fun cozy mystery. Every family has its secrets and Skye's certainly has a lot and knowing them now in the 2nd book of the series, allows readers more of an inside look at what has made Skye Skye.

Murder of a Small-Town Honey by Denise Swanson

 Started: 1/18/21

Finished: 1/22/21

Year: 2000

Pages: 238

Genre: cozy mystery

Grade: B

Type: mass market paperback

Reason for reading: booksfree.com book

Blurb (from back cover): "Immediately, Skye's determination to keep a low profile as the new school psychologist is assaulted by an army of small-town busybodies and well-meaning family members who can't wait to pry into her life, dole out advice, and volunteer her services in the Chokeberry Days Festival. And when the fair erupts in chaos and controversy-the Cow Chip Bingo sabotaged and the jelly contest ruined-Skye closes the event down altogether by find a dead body...

"The deceased, who at first appears to be the elderly host of a beloved children's TV program, and a dear, sweet thing, turns out to be quite different-a sexy young woman with a wild past and more secrets than in Aunt Minnie's Jell-O Surprise. And as if this stunning revelation weren't enough to intrigue Skye's inner snoop, soon her own brother is accused of the crime..."

Opinion: I have read others in the series (out of order). This is the first one. A fun read even though I figured out whodunit halfway through the book. I will be continuing with the rest as they are fun to read.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

 Started: 1/7/21

Finished: 1/16/21

Year: 2009

Pages: 444

Genre: Literature

Grade: B+

Reason for reading: bookcrossing.com book

Type: Mass market paperback

Blurb (from back cover): "Enter a vanished world: Jackson, Mississippi, 1962. Where black maids raise white children, but aren't trusted not to steal the silver...

"There's Aibileen, raising her seventeenth white child and nursing the hurt caused by her own's son's tragic death; Minny, whose cooking is nearly as sassy as her tongue; and white Miss Skeeter, home from college, who wants to know why her beloved maid has disappeared.

"Skeeter, Aibileen and Minny. No one would believe they'd be friends; fewer still would tolerate it. But as each woman finds the courage to cross boundaries, they come to depend and rely upon one another. Each is in the search of a truth. And together they have an extraordinary story to tell..."

Opinion: I loved the movie when this came out so when I got my hand on a copy of this through a book exchange, I grabbed it. An entertaining look at how life probably was back in the day.

The Exes' Revenge by Jo Jakeman

 Started: 12/31/20

Finished: 1/6/21

Year: 2018

Pages: 340

Genre: thriller

Grade: B+

Type: ARC

Reason for reading: Goodsread.com giveaway

Blurb (from back cover): "Imogen's marriage to Phillip Rochester was never easy-he betrayed her, ignored her, and cheated on her. Now that they're getting a divorce, he's determined to make it as difficult as possible.

"When Phillip demands that Imogen and their son move out of the house by the end of the month or he'll sue for sole custody, Imogen succumbs to a moment of madness-and does the unthinkable. Now she's in control. But how far will she go to protect her son and punish her husband?

"What happens next will unite Imogen with Phillip's first wife and his new girlfriend against the man who has hurt them all-and who deserves a very special kind of payback...."

Opinion: A great way to start the new year. Great thriller.....and karma.

Ice Hunt by James Rollins

 Started: 9/13/2020

Finished: 12/30/2020

Year: 2003

Pages: 613

Genre: fiction/adventure

Grade: B

Reason for reading: booksfree.com book

Type: Mass market paperback

Blurb (from back cover): "Carved into a moving island of ice twice the size of the United States, Ice Station Grendel has been abandoned for more than seventy years. The twisted brainchild of the finest minds of the former Soviet Union, it was designed to be inaccessible and virtually invisible. But an American undersea research vessel has inadvertently pulled too close-and something has been sighted moving inside the allegedly deserted facility, something whose survival defies every natural law. And now, as scientists, soldiers, intelligence operatives and unsuspecting civilians are drawn into Grendel's lethal vortex, the most extreme measures possible will be undertaken to protect its dark mysteries-because the terrible truths locked behind submerge walls of ice and steel could end human life on Earth."

Opinion: This isn't my usual type of book (military) to read but wow what an adventure. Lots of action, lots of using one's imagination to picture everything that is happening.  Would recommend for readers who like a lot of action in their books.

Here Lies a Father by McKenzie Cassidy

 Started: 12/15/20

Finished: 12/18/20

Year: 2021

Pages: 262

Genre: Literature

Grade: C

Reason for reading: LibraryThing.com giveaway

Type: ARC trade paperback

Blurb (from back cover): "When Ian Daly and his sister Catherine arrive for their wayward father's funeral in his small and desolate upstate New York hometown, a secret that was kept from them their entire lives emerges: their father Thomas abandoned two other families, leaving behind two furious wives and several children who never knew their father. Ian wants to know more of the truth, but his sister and mother want to preserve the carefully constructed myth they've created around who Thomas really was.

"In the cold, lonely winter landscape of small-town New York, fifteen-year-old Ian sets out alone to learn the truth about his father's past and the families he left behind. Here Lies a Father examines the long-term effects shameful secrets have on a family, and how difficult it is for a young man to reconstruct his own sense of right and wrong, when every value and moral principle he was ever taught was based on a lie.

Opinion: This was an average read for me. What I did like was how Ian's maturity and growth were shown in short amount of time-amazing what can happen when the truth is discovered. What I didn't like was how the past was intertwined with present day-felt lost in a couple of spots.

James Herriot's Dog Stories

 Started: 12/8/20

Finished: 12/15/20

Year: 1986 (this edition)

Pages: 503

Genre: Animal

Grade: B

Reason for reading: bookcrossing.com book

Type: paperback

Blurb: "In this very special, heartwarming collection of favorite stories about dogs great and small, James Herriot tells us about his own dogs and all the wonderful people and animals we have come to love so much.

"Fifty memorable tales move us to both laughter and tears, and Herriot's personal introduction and notes make this tribute by a master storyteller to man's best friend a book to be read, reread and treasured for many years to come."

Opinion: An enjoyable collection of stories from one of the world's most favorite vets. All of them are about dogs mixed in with their owners and fellow animal characters.  I have always enjoyed Herriot's stories and this one goes right along with the rest of them

You Were Made For This by Michelle Sacks

 Started: 12/2/20

Finished: 12/7/20

Year: 2018

Pages: 336

Genre: Literature

Grade: D

Type: ARC

Reason for reading: Goodreads.com giveaway

Blurb (from back cover): "Doting wife, devoted husband, cherished child. Merry, Sam, and Conor are the perfect family in the perfect place. Merry adores the domestic life: baking, gardening, caring for her infant son. Sam, formerly an academic, is pursing a new career as a filmmaker. Sometimes they can hardly believe how lucky they are. What perfect new lives, they've built.

"When Merry's childhood friend Frank visits their Swedish paradise, she immediately becomes part of the family. She bonds with Conor. And with Sam. She befriends the neighbors and even finds herself embracing the domesticity she's always seemed to scorn.

"All their lives, Frank and Merry have been more like sisters than best friends. And that's why Frank soon sees the things others might miss. Treacherous things, which rare almost impossible to believe when looking at this perfect family. But Frank, of all people, knows that the truth is rarely what you want the world to see."

Blurb: I don't think that I have read a book with more hated characters. All of them are just awful....to each other and themselves. Only reason why this got a D was because I liked the writing style.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

 Started: 12/1/20

Finished: 12/2/20

Year: 1993 (this edition)

Pages: 190

Genre: Sci Fi

Grade: C

Reason for reading: TBR pile

Type: Hardcover

Blurb (from Amazon): "Guy Montag is a fireman. His job is to destroy the most illegal of commodities, the printed book, along with the houses in which they are hidden. Montag never questions the destruction and ruin his actions produce, returning each day to his bland life and wife, Mildred, who spends all day with her television “family.” But when he meets an eccentric young neighbor, Clarisse, who introduces him to a past where people didn’t live in fear and to a present where one sees the world through the ideas in books instead of the mindless chatter of television, Montag begins to question everything he has ever known."

Opinion: What did I jus read?

Dear John by Nicholas Sparks

 Started: 11/26/20

Finished: 12/1/20

Year: 2009 (this edition)

Pages: 276

Genre: Literature, Romance

Grade: B

Reason for reading: bookcrossing.com book, TBR pile

Type: Trade Paperback

Blurb (from back cover): "'Dear John,' the letter read. And with those two words, a heart was broken and two lives changed forever.

"When Savannah Lynn Curtis comes into his life, John Tyree knows he is ready to turn over a new leaf. an angry rebel, he had enlisted in the army after high school, not knowing what else to do . Then, during a furlough, he meets Savannah, the girl of his dreams. The attraction is mutual and quickly grows into the kind of love that leaves Savannah vowing to wait for John while he finishes his tour of duty. But neither can foresee that 9/11 is about to change the world. Like so many proud men and women, John must choose between love and country. Now, when he finally returns to North Carolina, John will discover how love can transform us in ways we never could have imagined."

Opinion: I had seen this movie long enough ago that I didn't remember a good chunk of the book. Like most Sparks' books, it grips the reader's heart. Another touching story

Death at a Country Manson by Louise R. Innes

Started: 11/20/20

Finished: 11/26/20

Year: 2020

Pages: 219

Genre: Cozy Mystery

Grade: B

Reason for reading: review for MyShelf.com

Type: Paperback

Blurb: (from back cover): "No one would ever accuse famous opera star Dame Serena Levante of lacking a flare for the dramatic. Unfortunately, it's curtains down on the dysfunctional diva when she's found dead at the bottom of a staircase in her elegant home. Solving an opera singer's murder may not be the typical hairdresser's aria of expertise. But Dame Serena was the mother of Daisy' best friend Floria, so Daisy must do-or-dye her best to get to the roots of the case. Even though the gruff but handsome Detective Inspector Paul McGuinness tells the stylist to stay of his hair, Daisy is determined to make sure the killer faces a stern makeover-behind bars."

Opinion: One of the better mysteries I've read-really didn't know who was the murdered until the very end. A more thorough review will be posted on MyShelf.com in the upcoming months.

Life with the Afterlife: 13 Truths I Learned About Ghosts by Amy Bruni

 Started: 11/14/20

Finished: 11/19/20

Year: 2020

Pages: 255

Genre: Autobiography

Grade: B+

Reason for reading: fan of Amy's and the paranormal

Type: Hardcover

Blurb (from book jacket): "Amy Bruni co-star of Kindred Spirits and one of the world's leading paranormal investigators, has spent years studying the otherworldly, and she has a life time of first-hand experience. Now, in Life with the Afterlife, she reveals the surprising insights she has gleaned and how these unwavering truths have shaped her unique approach to interacting with the spirits of the dead and those who encounter them.

"Though her fact-based research and wildly entertaining prose, Amy relays how she uncovers back stories that eerily explain and corroborate apparitions, and have recognizing that ghosts are people can help us move from fear to empathy for them. From stories of her earliest supernatural encounters as a child, through her years on Ghost Hunters and the creation of her company Strange Escapes, which offers paranormal excursions to some of America's most notoriously haunted destinations, and into her current work on the Travel Channel's Kindred Spirits this book is full of astonishing and deeply moving tales of Amy's efforts to better understand the dead but not yet departed.

"This book is sure to change how you think about ghosts, whether you are a die-hard skeptic or a long-time believer. With Amy's bright humor and fierce compassion for both those who are haunted and those who are haunting. Life with the Afterlife is an eye-opening look at what connects us as people, in life and beyond."

Opinion: I have been a fan of Amy's since her debut on Ghost Hunters. She brings a refreshing look to paranormal investigations. This book is like having a conversation with Amy about her take on ghosts and why she investigates the way that she does.

House of Evil by John Dean

 Started: 11/8/20

Finished: 11/13/20

Year: 2008

Pages: 231

Type: Mass Market Paperback

Genre: True Crime

Grade: C

Reason for reading: booksfree.com book

Blurb (from back cover): "In the heart of Indianapolis in the mid 1960's, through a twist of fate and fortune, a pretty young girl came to live with a thirty-seven-year old mother and her seven children. What began as a temporary childcare arrangement between Sylvia Likens's parents and Gertrude Baniszewski turned into a crime that would haunt cops, prosecutors, and a community for decades to come...

"When police found Sylvia's emaciated body, with a chilling message carved into her flesh, they knew that she had suffered tremendously before her death. Soon they would learn how many others-including some of Baniszewski's own children-participated in Sylvia's murder, and just how much torture had been inflicted in one..."

Opinion: A truly horrible traumatic experience and no real reason behind it. No true motive was ever demonstrated in this of why Sylvia was tortured and eventually murdered.  This needed more for me to give it a higher grade.