The story is so well written that it creates a mental picture of everything the protagonist (April) goes through. April sets out on her own, leaving her complicated home life behind. She‘s a guitarist/singer/songwriter who uses her talents to make a living. On her journey, she also finds friends, romance and learns life‘s lessons. My favorite stories are those with excellent character development, and The People We Keep excels in that area.

I purchased this edition from #booksamillion #BAM. This story is very iconic. I'm fairly sure the majority have been introduced to it in some manner. I believe my introduction was through a Scooby-Doo episode when I was a kid entitled Nowhere To Hyde😂 I will post my review next.

Infinite Country is a compelling story about immigration involving a family from Colombia. It focuses on the struggles they face in both their native land and The United States. For example, the violence in Colombia and the immigration policies of The USA. There are many sad and anger-inducing moments, but this is a story about hope and overcoming odds.

Black Buck is a very well-written satire about a black man named Darren, who lives in The Bronx and works at Starbucks. He gets discovered by a talent scout for a startup company and climbs the corporate ladder quickly. It's a cautionary tale about how success can change us and turn us arrogant. We should never treat poorly those who care about us.

Good As Gone is a solid four-star story. It's entertaining and a fast read. It's a little predictable but too good for So-So.

This work of narrative nonfiction is one of my top ten favorites. It is a truly inspirational story. I laughed and cried several times. Lori Gottlieb tells of her experience as both a licensed therapist and the client (patient) of another therapist after going through something traumatic. It‘s a great example of what therapy is from both perspectives. It is very well written and made me truly interested in each of the characters.

The Last Days of Night is a very creative, well written story. It‘s part history and part historical fiction involving Thomas Edison, George Westinghouse, Nikola Tesla, Paul Cravath and several other nonfictional people. Cravath was Westinghouse‘s lawyer covering a lawsuit about pattens between Westinghouse and Edison. It‘s a mostly true story with some minor changes of dates and speculation as to how it all came together.

A great emotional legal drama involving sexism and racial injustice. The setting is a Texas town in the 1970‘s that is fraught with corruption. It is very well written and thought provoking. Some may not like the lack of quotation marks but I don‘t believe it detracts from the story. I would love to read a sequel involving a few of the great, but less developed characters.

Dan Torrance is back as Doctor Sleep. The sequel to The Shining is spooky, suspenseful and at times gruesome. It even has a cat named Azzie, who stays in a nursing home and knows when a resident is dying. While Doctor Sleep is a great sequel, it also works as a stand-alone story. There are new characters. Some that most will love and others that most will love to hate. The ending suggests the possibility of future related stories. I can‘t wait.

https://twitter.com/riley_sager/status/1225062316670169088?s=21

Hopefully this link works. I‘m sure many of you already know about the book glowing in the dark. I‘m like a kid when I discover cool book covers. The only way it could be more cool is if the book of the month version, with the BOTM symbol, would also glow.

My #BOTM for June. Very difficult to decide. Home Before Dark would have been my main pick but waiting for the regular release because the cover glows in the dark. Added an Erik Larson true crime novel to mix it up a little. Probably add A Burning onto a different month. So many great selections.

I can‘t give enough praise to The Guest List. This story, IMO, has all the elements required for a perfect murder mystery thriller. The setting for the story was great and easy to visualize because of the excellent writing. There are several possibilities that kept me guessing. It‘s a very salacious fun to read story. Almost nobody is truly innocent amongst this wedding party.

Severance was released in Dec 2018. I had forgotten the synopsis to this story until my sister suggested we read it now. It was interesting to read this during the Covid-19 pandemic. The pandemic in Severance is called Shen Fever. They both originated in China and slowly break down your health. It feels a little incomplete. There could have been more character development. However, it‘s a very original story and it‘s written very well.

Long Bright River is a fictional crime/family drama that felt very real. The story is about opioid addictions. A very real, emotional issue that plagues much of the United States. The setting is a Philadelphia community and revolves around one family. The writing is superb and pulled me in from the start. It‘s not an action-packed cop story, which, to me, would have made it seem less real. It‘s more about methodical detective work, which is great.

Imagine getting caught in a terrible snowstorm that leaves you stranded at a small rest stop with complete strangers. Now imagine you‘ve just discovered a kidnapped child in one of their cars and you have no idea who committed this horrific crime. This story has so many shocking surprises that I gasped several times. I kept wondering what terrible thing is going to happen next. I‘ve never felt that much anger towards a character in a book before.

I really enjoyed Master & Apprentice. It was interesting to read a story about Qui Gon and Obi Wan before the events of The Phantom Menace. There could have been a little more action, but there was enough to be satisfying. To me even the dialogue during non-action parts was entertaining enough that I was never bored. It also touched on what happened with Qui Gon‘s Master, Dooku. My only slight complaint, is it had almost to clean an ending.

The book is amazing. It‘s a family drama/thriller/horror with supernatural elements all rolled into one. It‘s very eerie and intense all the way through. I read the kindle version, but I liked the story so much I‘ll be buying a nice hardcover edition. I also watched the movie, which is really good but not on the same level as the book. The ending to the movie is completely different. It‘s almost comical instead of terrifying.

The picture is of my #BOTM picks for November. I didn‘t choose Ninth House because I plan to purchase a signed copy at Books-A-Million but have to wait till payday. So many books not enough time or money.

The Whisper Man was a very exciting read. Full of suspenseful chilling moments. Several surprising moments and reveals that kept me wanting to read. The character development was great and made them and the story feel very real. There‘s one event at the end I wish was a little different. Overall it was nearly a perfect ending and probably more realistic than how I would‘ve chosen.

The Silent Patient is very well written and I thoroughly enjoyed the story. I am both ashamed and glad I didn‘t figure out the twist. I was completely fooled until I was around 70% finished. I started to piece the puzzle together but not entirely. There were enough possibilities and suspects that it kept me guessing.

Recursion made me more introspective than any other book I‘ve ever read. It made me contemplate whether I‘d go back and change certain things. It made me think about the idea and possibility of false memories. Our memories are probably never an exact depiction of events but are any of them completely false?

Recursion by Blake Crouch is easily one of my new favorites. The story involves time travel which causes several different timelines. It‘s written in a way that helps the reader follow along without getting too confused by the various timelines. Recursion is much more than a time travel story. It is a very well written science fiction novel, a story involving apocalypse and a great love story.

As is tradition the name given to the dark lords matches their character. This is definitely true for Bane, who was originally named Des. Where Bane goes death is sure to follow. The first book of the trilogy, called Path of Destruction, tells how it is he joined the Sith, became a dark lord, learned how powerful and brutal the dark side can be and rose to prominence. The story is very well written and a little disturbing. It‘s the dark side.

This book was groovy. Like far out man. Can you dig it? It is about a fictional 60‘s-70‘s rock band but the writing made it feel so real. Written like it was an interview of everyone involved with the band made this story come to life. It covered everything I would imagine an interviewer would ask about the history of a rock band. I loved the twist towards the end of who the interviewer turned out to be. Read it or be square. LOL.

https://www.goodreads.com/interviews/show/1453.Blake_Crouch
This is a really good interview of Blake Crouch. It‘s mostly about his new book Recursion.

The book does a great job of explaining events between the shows The Clone Wars and Rebels. It covers how The Rebel Alliance began to form and how Ahsoka becomes a Rebel. Other well known characters like Bail Organa and R2D2 were also involved. It shows how In order to survive the Jedi purge she had to be smart, using her mind powers instead of physical. It could have been longer to give new characters more of a story. Im hoping for a sequel.

I found it difficult to rate this book. On the one hand the writing is very good. On the other it‘s kind of redundant, which makes it boring at times.
There‘s too much about what it takes to be a great butler. However, some discussion about this is necessary since the story is about a butler. It‘s a very sad story about a man who reflects back and realizes how much he missed out on by trying to please someone other than himself.

I started this book before, but didn‘t finish. I should‘ve waited till I finished the book, before I watched the movie. It‘s been a while so I chose to start from the beginning. I‘m glad I did.
The book is better than the movie in almost every way. The movies ending is much more detailed about what happens after the daring rescue attempt. It makes the books ending feel a little incomplete. I added my favorite quote to the cover. 😂

4.5 ⭐️- I expected The Woman In The Window to be good, but it far exceeded my expectations. The writing was very good and flowed smoothly. The story was very intriguing and kept me interested. I enjoyed the attention to psychological disorders. I think theirs some accuracy in the way many still look at such disorders. There were many dots that could be connected to lead to an answer. The correct answer at the end was a little surprising.

My copy of #Ahsoka. It‘s signed by the voice of Ahsoka, Ashley Eckstein, and the writer, ekjohnston. It‘s about #AhsokaTano after The Clone Wars but before Star Wars Rebels. I wish I could say I met them but I purchased the book secondhand.

My #BOTM picks for January are in the photo. I would have chosen the book I tagged called Watching You but, unfortunately, it sold out before I chose. I guess I snoozed too much. Hopefully they get more copies for next month or I‘ll have to buy it elsewhere.

A Christmas Carol is, so far, the only Dickens book I‘ve read. Everyone knows the famous story‘s plot. It‘s been a classic ever since it‘s publication in 1843. I thoroughly enjoyed the feel good tale. The writing is a little heavy on adjectives at times but it goes well with the story. In this new year we should strive to be more like Scrooge at he end of the story. Our moods and actions affect others more than we realize.

Has anyone else had problems getting #bookofthemonth #BOTM for December? Mine still hasn‘t arrived. Tracking shows it‘s been in 3 different places in PA, Baltimore, Washington DC and all the way to North Carolina. This must be a USPS problem.

My knowledge of Greek Mythology is very limited. Madeline Miller‘s The Song of Achilles has grown my interest in the genre and I plan to read more in the near future. It‘s a retelling of Homer‘s The Iliad from the perspective of Patroclus, who is a very likable character that unfortunately faced many hardships. The story is very interesting and very well written; however, be forewarned, there is much sadness. It is a tale full of tragedy.

My #BOTM picks for September. Excited for November Road. I love historical fiction, especially revolving around an event that had a huge impact. Cross Her Heart sounds like a great Thriller, which is right in my wheelhouse. The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock is outside my normal realm but sounds interesting.

Sharp Objects is nearly perfect, imho. There is great character development. Every character was interesting, whether likable or not. There‘s a good plot twist that surprised me, but also made sense. By that I mean it wasn‘t random, so it fits very well with the story. The only negative is the ending feels a little rushed. I would have liked a little more detail about some of the events at the end.

This book is definitely not a typical spy novel. If your idea of the spy life is James Bond, this may not appeal to you. It goes quite in-depth about spy jargon and is probably more realistic than most spy novels. I was torn between So-So or Pick because the use of Intel. Agency terms and Russian phrases caused me to look meanings up several times. However, the story is too entertaining to not give it a pick.

“He was bald, with a dent in the side of his head, as if from a trepanning.....” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trepanning I‘ve heard of this procedure but never knew what it was called. Imagine living in a time when mental disorders were treated by drilling a hole into your skull to release the “evil spirits.”

I posted my photo with the review because it‘s fitting to the story. I half expected to see Weylyn Grey wandering around in the back yard. Of course the photo would be more fitting if their had been a pack of wolves. Though I‘m quite glad their weren‘t wolves in the yard. I don‘t think they‘d accept me like they did Weylyn. Beasts Of Extraordinary Circumstance is an extraordinary tale. I‘ll be surprised if it doesn‘t remain in my top 3 for 2018.

https://instagram.com/p/BfpQZuVguoC/
My 3 #bookofthemonth #botm choices for Feb. #thebrokengirls and #thephilosophersflight are new. #palaceoftreason is originally a choice from Sept 2015. It‘s the 2nd book in the #redsparrow trilogy. I purchased Red Sparrow on Amazon. Reading it before the movie release.

#suprisedgiveaway Still working on Star Wars From A Certain Point Of View. Enjoying it little by little. Would have finished but I must watch the olympics, especially skiing and snowboarding. This book is surprisingly great at showing the importance of all Star Wars characters.

It‘s about a small almost completely unknown town called Caesura, adequately nicknamed The Blinds, and it‘s inhabitants. The citizens have most of their memories erased and have little choice but to live together. What could go wrong when even they have no memory of their own past deeds? Who committed ghastly crimes? Who‘s innocent? Who can be trusted? Who runs this crazy experimental town? Can they be trusted?

Loving this book so far. Almost at the halfway point. I will be starting Thursday today, which just happens to be Thursday. #bookofthemonth #BOTM

Who else watched the first episode of #thealienist on #TNT? I found it amazing, much like the novel by #CalebCarr, one of my favorites purchased through #bookofthemonth #BOTM. So far it follows the storyline very closely.

Really enjoying the book Star Wars From A Certain Point of View. The photo above, of a little known droid called R5D4, is taken from a page in the book. How important can the little red droid be, who only gets a few minutes of screen time? Turns out VERY! The Galaxy would have been forever ruled by The Empire without his heroic act.

We‘ve all felt guilty, shameful and vengeful over past events. A Million Junes is a heart wrenching but beautiful story about how these feelings can be detrimental to everyone around us. How they can even be passed down to future generations. We can all become haunted by these emotions. We all need to let go of these feelings so they don‘t destroy us.

I really like how A Million June‘s starts with the family trees of the two main characters.