Transcendent/Outlier/ Catalyst/ Dissident

Four Book Series; Fiction by Lisa Beeson.

https://www.amazon.com

Kira Riley begins the first book of this series on the run at twelve years old, fleeing from she's-not-sure-what, and knowing that her family believes she's dead. The books follow her for the next year and a half or so as she matures and learns to fight the evil that forced her from her home.

These book started out really good; I enjoyed the characters and the plot twists. There were some editing problems and grammar errors in my Kindle edition and some draggy parts, but I was pretty sold on the story. At the end of book four I was excited to see the conclusion; however, the author left some major loose ends hanging. I don't know if she planned to write more and was interrupted or what, but this was sold as a four book series and there aren't any other books out there. Just leaving us hanging? What the WHAT?!?!

I'll give this a thumbs-up for keeping me engaged for so long, but I sure wish I knew what happened next...

Ten Little Girls

 Fiction by Willow Rose.

https://www.amazon.com

This book is apparently number NINE in a series. And do you see any indication of that on the cover? The way publishers do not label these things is extremely frustrating to me. 

To be fair, this story can probably stand alone; I didn't get the sense that I was missing huge chunks of information while reading it. But I digress.

At an elementary school in Florida, ten little girls get on the wrong bus and are kidnapped. (One child is the daughter of Rebekka Franck, who is the main character of the book series I mentioned; but that is the only real link to the series I think.) Why were the girls taken, and will they come home alive? These are the questions that keep you reading.

I wasn't wholly sold on the ending; the explanation for the kidnapping seemed far-fetched, But still, it was a good-enough thriller.

I also read by this author: What Hurts the Most.

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.