The Boy Who Steals Houses

 Fiction by C. G. Drews 

https://www.amazon.com

This was a lovely little story about a homeless teenage boy who tries to make a place in the world for himself and his autistic brother the only way he knows how: by stealing. But what he really wants to find is a family...

I could not find this book at my local library and ended up reading it on Amazon kindle. It is a testament to the excellence of the story that I didn't actually mind reading it on my phone; normally I strongly prefer paper books. I really enjoyed the characters and the plot. 

The Crooked Branch

 Fiction by Jeanine Cummins. 

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

Ginny Doyle wakes up in the mid-nineteenth century to the potato blight and an Ireland just beginning its descent into ruin. Over a hundred and fifty years later, her descendant Majella wakes up in New York City with a difficult case of postpartum depression. The women are linked by sorrows of different kinds, and although it may be tempting to say that Majella’s is the the lesser trouble, that is definitely not the author’s point  

Ms. Cummins really gets the reader into the mind of her characters and draws you into their worlds. This was a really good story.

I also read by this author: American Dirt. 

Hyperbole and a Half/ Solutions and Other Problems

 Nonfiction by Allie Brosh

https://www.barnesandnoble.com//https://www.barnesandnoble.com

I read Hyperbole and Half several years ago; probably  in 2013, since that’s when the book was released. I had read the author’s blog prior to that, which was very popular at the time. The book was both funny and touching; I really loved the stories and fell in love with Allie and her honesty.

(I’m saying this here because I don’t have an entry for the first book, although I did have my book blog then. So I don't know ; maybe I didn't put it in because it was a graphic novel? Possibly. That was a bit snobby of me, wasn't it? But I digress...)

I believe she stopped posting around the time the first book came out. I was very excited to see that she had finally published a second book, although I was surprised to realize it had been seven years since then. I ordered the book right away because I wanted to know what had been happening to Allie all this time. 

Well, unfortunately the past seven years have not been kind to Allie. I was sorry to read that bad things had happened, but once again captivated by her stories and bowled over by her honest telling of them. 

The book gets bleakly nihilistic at times and has a lot of bad words, but it’s a very good memoir nonetheless. 

Elevation

 Fiction by Stephen King

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

This was an interesting book that I read quickly; in length it was more of a novella than a full book, especially by Mr. King's standards.

In this story, a man called Scott is losing weight for no apparent reason. When I read that in the synopsis, I thought it was going to be a rehash of Mr. King's Thinner from 1984, which I read years ago. But Scott (a thoroughly nice guy) did not incur the wrath of an old gypsy woman, and his weight loss is even more mysterious than in the other novel. Also, as a modern twist, there's a legally married lesbian couple who live next door to him, which definitely couldn't have happened in the eighties.

I loved the characters in this book a lot. To me, the whole thing was more about the people than the Stephen-King-Weirdness of the plot. I recommend this book for a nice short read.

I also read recently by this author: The Institute

An Absolutely Remarkable Thing

 Fiction by Hank Green

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

April is walking home at two in the morning in New York City when she sees... an absolutely remarkable thing. It's like a giant statue, but it seems to have appeared out of nowhere. Since April is a student of art, she decides to document this interesting find with --what else?-- a YouTube video!

What follows is the really remarkable thing. The mysterious statue was not just in New York; there are sixty-odd of them around the world in prominent places, all appearing at the same time. Since April was the first to name and explain this strange statue to the world in her video, she becomes an overnight celebrity. And then...

Well, you have to read it and see!

This story kind of defies explanation, but it was very interesting to read. I enjoyed it a lot.

Taken at the Flood

 Fiction by Agatha Christie

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

In this story, a man called Gordon Cloade is killed in a London air-raid, leaving over a million pounds to Rosaleen, his young wife of only a few weeks. Also left behind are a lot of disgruntled Cloade relatives, who had always expected good old Uncle Gordon to leave his money to them. But there is a small ray of hope for the Cloades when they learn that there is a rumor about Rosaleen's first husband, who had reportedly been killed by fever in Africa. Some people said he hadn't really died, however.

Of course, someone is going to get murdered in this story, and the reader will be surprised to find out who. And who was the murderer? The reader won't be able to guess, but Hercule Poirot will know!

I also read recently by this author: A Murder is Announced

The Second Wife

Fiction by Rebecca Fleet

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

Alex's first wife had died years ago, leaving him alone with their daughter Jade. When Alex met Natalie, he felt he'd found true love again, and after they married the little family was really coming together. But then a fire destroys their home and Alex begins to suspect that Natalie isn't who she seems...

This was a pretty good thriller, although it had some parts that seemed contrived. Also I really didn't like Alex for some reason. Still, it had a surprising ending. 

The Cruel Prince

 Fiction by Holly Black.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/

The strange and beautiful world of the Faeries exists right alongside our own mortal world in this fantasy story. At the beginning, young twin sisters Jude and Taryn find out what it's like to be spirited away into Faerie land. It's both wonderful and terrible.

This was an exciting book with a lot of surprises.

The Hunting Party

 Fiction by Lucy Foley.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

A group of friends who knew one another at Oxford still get together every year to ring in the New Year's together with their significant others, even though it's been over  a decade since college. This year it's a romantic hunting-lodge getaway into the wilds of Scotland, and the friends are looking forward to catching up and binding together the relationships that have been slightly fractured by time.

But once they are all together at the lodge, one of them is killed. Which one is dead, and who killed him or her? The author takes her time in revealing these things. It's a classic locked-room mystery in which the murderer could have been any one of the group.

This seemed like a perfect set-up; however, I didn't like this story as much as I should have. Maybe it's just because most of the characters were rather awful. Maybe it's because it seemed too contrived. Anyways, the story was all right but not great.

What If It's Us?

 Fiction by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera

https://www.audible.com/

This was a straight romance about a gay couple.

You might be thinking: Wait, what? Remember, I define a "straight romance" as a book where the entire plot is the romance and nothing else happens.

Unfortunately, in this story, REALLY nothing else happens. I liked the characters, but not enough to sustain hours of will-they-or-won't-they when you KNOW that obviously, THEY WILL.

I have read other books by these authors separately that are better, so I think maybe collaboration is not the best idea for them.

I also read by Adam Silvera : They Both Die at the End

I also read by Becky Albertalli: Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda

Run

 Fiction by Ann Patchett

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

At the beginning of this story, Bernadette Doyle dies, leaving behind her husband, three sons, and a beautiful statue of the Virgin Mary that looks amazingly like a statue of herself wearing a blue robe and golden halo. The statue is an heirloom from her family, passed from mother to daughter in an unbroken line, and none of Bernadette’s sisters like the idea of leaving it in that household of men after her death. But the boys feel that the statue is their mother herself, watching them from heaven, and in the Doyle house it stays.

This was a good character story that really made me think about the people in it. The only thing I didn't like was the title; although there is someone who runs in the book, it is not about running at all. I think I'd call it something to do with the statue that represents the boys' lost mother.

Still, this was a good book, and I will read more by this author.

I also read recently by this author: The Dutch House

Little Black Lies

 Fiction by Sandra Block

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/

This was an exciting thriller about a young psychiatric resident who has nightmares about her own past, while trying to help her troubled patients. Then the two parts of her life come together unexpectedly...