The Boy Born Dead

Nonfiction by David Ring, David Wideman, and John Driver

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

This was an interesting true story about David Ring, a young man with cerebral palsy who became a great speaker and evangelist. It's told in a surprising way, through the point of view of David Wideman, a boy who befriended him when the two were teenagers. The result is a very readable story that, I think, would have been less compelling told from just David Ring's viewpoint.

So the writing credit should really go solely to the "ghostwriter" John Driver, in my opinion, because he conducted the interviews of both boys, made the artistic choice to change point of view and make the story ten times stronger than a first-person account would have been and... oh yeah, DID THE ACTUAL WRITING of the book. But such is the fate of ghostwriters, I suppose.

Spell or High Water

Fiction by Scott Meyer.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

This is the sequel to Off to be the Wizard, which I read recently and really enjoyed. The sequel was less fun, maybe because the novelty of the first story has worn off for me, or because I spent much of the book in the throes of "Oh-No-I-Can't-Look Syndrome,"** worrying about the characters making bad decisions that would come back to haunt them.

It was a pretty fun book, but I'm unsure about pursuing the series further.

**Oh-No-I-Can't-Look Syndrome

(see Harvesting the Heart by Jodi Picoult)

That's when you know a main character is making a major error in judgement that's going to have huge and terrible consequences.

The Darkest Time of Night

Fiction by Jeremy Finley

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/

As a little girl, Lynn was terrified of the woods behind her house and had been strictly forbidden by her father to enter them. This makes sense, of course, but it's less understandable that she still feels the same way at age seventy when her grandsons plan a campout near those same woods, and she goes into a full on panic. But when eight year old William disappears during that camp out it seems that Lynn may have had a real reason for her fear.

This was a strange book, but it was exciting and had a pretty good conclusion.

Pursuit

Fiction by Joyce Carol Oates

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/

This book... I just don't know. It starts with a young newly-married woman who inexplicably throws herself in front of a bus. Or maybe it's an accident.  Then it goes into her confusing backstory while she's(maybe) in a coma in the hospital. It was as creepy as I'd expect from Joyce Carol Oates, but way too convoluted and not absorbing enough.

I also read by this author Daddy Love

Buried

Fiction by Ellsion Cooper

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

This is the sequel to Caged, which I read recently, part of a new series about a female FBI agent who catches serial killers. The first book was really extreme in its plot, I thought, with the creepy detail of victims being held in a cage and the surprise ending when the killer is someone you never suspected.

This story goes even further over-the-top, I thought, so I seriously wonder where the author can go from here.

It's an exciting mystery thriller with plenty of gory detail.

Quantum Coin

Fiction by E.C. Myers

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

This is the sequel to Fair Coin, a great sci-fi novel I read recently. It's a great conclusion and answers a lot of questions I had about the ideas behind the first story. Also I liked the characters a lot, so it's always fun to see what happens next for them.

I think I'd say you MUST read the first book first on this one.

Also I don't like the cover pictured above; my copy had a better one that matched the first book. --->

Image from https://www.goodreads.com

Triple

Fiction by Ken Follett

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/

This was an exciting spy novel based on a true story about the Mossad in 1968. It was very good.

I also read recently by this author: Jackdaws