Analog Church

Subtitled: Why We Need Real People, Places, and Things in the Digital Age 
Nonfiction by Jay Y. Kim

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

My pastor assigned me this book to read for church.

That sounds terrible, but it was actually a pretty insightful book, and not painful to read.

Moment in Time

 Fiction by Suzanne Redfearn. 

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

Mo and Chloe, characters who were introduced as teenagers in In an Instant by this same author, are twenty-something roommates in this story. They face a new crisis when trouble comes to their third roommate Hazel, a quiet and vulnerable girl.

This book was very good, fast-paced but with good characters. You don't have to read the other book to understand this one, but it would be better to read that one first probably. I have enjoyed everything I've read by this author.

I also read by this author: Hush Little Baby

On the Come Up

 Fiction by Angie Thomas.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

Bri Jackson is fifteen and hoping to become a rapper like her dad, who was murdered when she was a toddler. But she doesn't really want to embrace the gang culture that got him killed. Can she stay true to herself and make it in the music business?

This was a great story, set in the same (fictional) neighborhood as The Hate U Give but with different characters.

I also read recently by this author: Concrete Rose

Leota's Garden

 Fiction by Francine Rivers.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

Leota Rhinehart is an old woman estranged from her daughter and declining in health. It seems like  nothing will change for her, but when her granddaughter comes back into her life, there is hope for reconciliation.

I liked this book but didn't love it. Others by this author are better.

I also read by this author: The Masterpiece

Memoirs and Misinformation

 Fiction by Jim Carrey

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

Jim Carrey's summation of this book is: "None of this is real and all of this is true."

If you said, "Huh?" then welcome to the club. I didn't get it either, and unfortunately I didn't get this book. It's supposed to be a peek into Mr. Carrey's mind but in a fictional way?

Also it wasn't funny. I mark this one DNF--Did Not Finish.

Rush

 Fiction by Lisa Patton

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

This was an interesting story about sorority rush at University of Mississippi (Ole Miss). I liked the characters and the setting, and it explored some ideas about race and class well.

It was a good book with a happy ending.

Billy's Story

 Nonfiction by Louise Allen.

https://www.amazon.com

After the last book I read by this author (see below), I thought there couldn't be a more outrageous foster-child origin story than that one. But this one is at least as strange!

Billy's family of origin is a weird cult-like compound led by an autocratic patriarch, in which there are twenty-six (!!) siblings with various mothers (and possibly even various fathers). How will foster carer Louise Allen help this poor little five-year-old?

I have enjoyed all of Louise Allen's books, although she can tend to spend too much time "on the soapbox" when I'd rather focus on the story. However, I understand she is passionate about the issue of child protection so I'll forgive her.

I also read recently by this author: Sky's Story

I Have Sinned and The Quiet Man

 Fiction by Caimh McDonnell

https://www.amazon.com//https://www.amazon.com

These two books are sequels to Disaster, Inc, and they were just as enjoyable. I think I actually felt that the third book was the best, which is unusual.  

This trilogy (which seems to be longer than a trilogy, as it appears at least one more book is planned) is following an Irish ex-policeman called Bunny McGarry in his quest throughout the USA to find his long-lost love, Simone. 

But that's not the best description; it's more like the reader is following the crazy antics of this ex-copper as he gets himself into --and out of-- one dangerous situation after another. It's fun reading!

The Things We Cannot Say

 Fiction by Kelly Rimmer

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

At the beginning of this story is a 1942 wedding in a refugee camp, but it takes the rest of the book to explain exactly who the bride and groom are. The couple's grand-daughter ends up on a mission to Poland to discover the truth.

I really liked this book, both the historic part and the contemporary one. The characters were wonderful.

I also read by this author: The Warsaw Orphan

The Last Garden in England

 Fiction by Julia Kelly

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

Focused on the garden of an English estate called Highbury House, this story was told with five different narrators over three different time periods (2019, 1944, 1907). I enjoyed the book, but I felt like it was overly complicated to have so much switching of points-of-view and time. This made it hard to get started on engaging with the story.

So... I liked this one but didn't love it.

There's Someone Inside Your House

Fiction by Stephanie Perkins

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

There's a killer stalking students at the local high school in rural Nebraska. This book starts fast and stays interesting.

This story was exciting and I liked the characters. I didn't love the ending; it seemed like the killer's motives were too weak. Still, it was a good story.

My Name is Anton

 Fiction by Catherine Ryan Hyde

https://www.audible.com

Anton Addison-Rice is an eighteen-year-old boy in 1965, and he's always felt his first name is too old-fashioned, preferring to go by "Anthony" to his friends. But he was named after his grandfather, and in the course of this story he grows to embrace the legacy of the name and learn what it means to love unselfishly as well.  

I have loved most of the books I've read by this author, and this one did not disappoint me.

I also read by this author: Boy Underground

Mad Honey

Fiction by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

Olivia McAfee is a single mother and a professional beekeeper who feels like she's mostly recovered from the abusive marriage she escaped over ten years ago. But when her teenage son Asher's girlfriend Lily is found dead, he's accused of the crime. Did Asher abuse and murder his girlfriend? And what really happened between Asher and Lily?

This was an interesting book with some surprises. Like all of Jodi Picoult's books, there's an ISSUE at the heart of the story, but it comes up unexpectedly. (It's LGBTQ-related, just for a heads-up.)

Although there were two writers, I didn't notice any switch in style. Also the afterward at the end about the process was enlightening.

I also read recently by this author: Wish You Were Here