good books
The Haunting of Maddy Clare, by Simone St. James
Sarah Piper lives a fairly private life in London during the 1920’s. She soon receives a call from a temp agency requesting her assistance in working alongside Alistair Gellis, a traveling writer who has a deep interest in the supernatural. Sarah’s life is soon flipped upside down when she is led to assist in helping an angry ‘manifestation’ to the other side.
Since Maddy Clare loathes the presence of men, Sarah is sent into the barn that she haunts alone. Sarah isn’t well-equipped for what transpires and is shaken to the bone. Maddy promises that the hauntings and injuries will continue until her body can be found and it is Sarah that becomes her source of uncovering hidden truths.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The hauntings were perfectly creepy and I just couldn’t put the book down for very long. There is a love story weaved through the pages in addition to the hauntings which kind of threw me off a bit because I like one or the other in a book. I have trouble getting into the love aspects in a haunting type of read but was pleased how well it worked for this book. It is Halloween month and I highly recommend this book to those who love a good ghost story.
Images courtesy of: http://www.simonestjames.com
Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption, by Laura Hillenbrand
This story truly is one of resilience and redemption. It mainly follows the life of Louis Zamperini who was somehow able to defy all odds as a POW and to come out on the other side to heal and live life to its fullest. He is truly inspiring.
It’s amazing (not in a good way) how many fighter pilots lost their lives during the Second World War by malfunctions more than by enemy attack. That fact alone blew my mind. I am so glad for having read this book because I think that it isn’t until you somewhat understand the trauma that those in war endure, especially POW’s, that you truly sympathize with their mental stability or instability that they face when the war is over. After reading of the conditions of the POW’s in Japan, I don’t know how any of them survived not only while imprisoned but even after they were home.
This book was heartbreaking at times and difficult to read. I was angry at times of the unjust treatment not only the POW’s had to go through but even an innocent animal. I am sad to know the depths of evil that people stoop down to during war, but am just as touched to read of the people who put their lives on the line to lend a hand to those who needed it.
I highly recommend this book.
To buy this book, click on the book cover below:
One Plus One, by Jojo Moyes
I am such a fan of “Me Before You” that I naturally started this book with pretty high expectations. So the question is, ‘Did this book live up to my expectations?’ I have struggled with this question not only while I was reading but for some time after I finished this book.
Up until around the 15% mark of this book, I kind of had trouble following the story. It seemed to jump around to different character’s POV before I could grasp an understanding of what was going on. This became a bit distracting for me. But once I did, I was definitely hooked.
I feel that once I was pulled into the story that the author did a fantastic job of building up the characters and making them come to life. Once I finished the book, I felt a bit nostalgic and disappointed that this quirky family was no longer going to be a part of my life. (One of those silly nuances of being a book nerd!) I honestly felt close to them all. So that answers part of the ‘yes’ in the initial question if this book could live up to the prior one that I read.
I struggled a bit during certain aspects of the story and these moments pulled me out of the story and I found that to be a disappointment at times. For instance, one of the main characters (Jess) teaches her children proper morals and how honesty is important in life, yet she vandalizes another woman’s property (because of a man) out of anger but never seems to apologize to the woman for her actions or the damage that she caused and I didin’t feel that went along with her character that was so well established up until that point in the story. I also couldn’t help but think if this story were true that it isn’t something that people just ignore but there are usually financial consequences and angry people when these instances happen so it drew out of the story a bit.
I also struggled with the ensuing drunken mishap that later took place between the two main characters (Jess and Ed). It just seems to me that if a drunk woman were to do the things that she did to and around a man whom she had only really gotten to know in the span of a couple of days, any man would have bolted straight out of there. So, it was confusing that he calmed her when she acted insane and yet was upset by something that happened later in the book that wasn’t quite as crazy, but more desperate. It just didn’t blend very well for me during this part of the book for me. I also found Ed’s sisters reaction to their breakup to be unbelievable.
Those were my biggest hangups an dthey were minor compared to the rest of the book. There always seemed to be some action going on in the plot which I loved because I not once became bored. I was totally hooked into the story and was always curious of what would happen next and I love books that pull this interest from me.
I have become a true fan on Jojo Moyes and I very much look forward to her next one! I think that this is a fun read and I highly recommend it to those out there who love a quirky love story. This is a perfect summer read.
Click on the book cover below to start reading this book today!
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