February Book Review

February was another productive month for book reading.  I have 6 books to tell you about so let's jump right in . . .



There seemed to be quite a bit of buzz and hype over this book, so I had to give it a read to see for myself.  I really enjoyed reading it!  Yes, it's another one of those suspenseful page-turners but it's fast paced and kept my interest.  The main character suffers from agoraphobia and drinks too much.  She's separated from her husband and daughter and spends her days online, popping pills, drinking excessive quantities of wine, watching movies, and keeping tabs on the neighbors.  What's real and what isn't?  Is her imagination (and drinking) getting the best of her?  Why won't she leave her house?

I figured out one of the novels main twists from the get-go.  While that didn't ruin the book for me, reading a semi-spoiler without the alert sort of did.  Come on, people!

If you like these page-turners that are hugely popular these days, this is one to add to your wish list.
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This is a memoir written by a woman who grew up in Rhode Island.  This book popped up as similar to Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets, which I read back in January.  I can tell you after reading both, the only similarity lies in the fact that they are both nonfiction.  In my opinion, to make a memoir compelling, the author needs to have a strong voice and tell an interesting tale.  I feel those qualities were lacking a bit here.  What makes the author's life worthy of a memoir?  Her mother was murdered when the author was a young child and her alcoholic father passed away when she was in her teens.  I'd give this a 3 star rating.
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I thought this was another suspenseful page-turner but it's more detective than that.  Two sisters go missing and their mother hires a bounty hunter to find them.  The bounty hunter, in turn, seeks help from a local ex-cop.  I liked the opening of the book and it's fast pace but it was more detective than I expected it to be.  Near the end, I started poking holes in the plot.  It seemed to me that the author had not completed research on certain things, and as a reader, I found that frustrating.  A decent read but not one of my favorites.
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This was such a great book!  Four young siblings visit a psychic who has the ability to predict your date of death.  How would you live your life if you knew when you were going to die?  This was so well written - I didn't want to put it down.  It was thought-provoking as well.  (Warning - there are some R rated parts.)
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I almost didn't read this, but I'm glad I did.  I vaguely recalled seeing news articles about the string of 80+ fires in Accomack County, Virginia several years ago.  Who was setting all of these fires and why?  This book was written by a journalist and I really liked how she laid out the book and the background information she included.  It made for a very interesting read.  This book is a good one for true crime fans.
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I didn't want to put this book down!  Eleanor Oliphant is socially awkward and a loner but after a co-worker befriends her, she begins to view life in a different manner.  This is one of those feel good books with an uplifting message.  The main character is different from what's typical in books these days and you really feel like you know her well.  It's a fairly quick read and I would highly recommend it to anyone.
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To read my January 2018 Book Review, click here.

For links to all the books I've read from 2014 through 2017 along with my reviews, click here.



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