A Wave From Mama by A, Robert Allen

Set in Brooklyn New York during and immediately after the Civil War, this novel explores the tension between the Irish and free blacks through the story of a young boy who witnesses his mother's murder during the Draft Riots.

Emotionally scarred and determined to find and kill those who killed his murder, he lashes out at everyone he meets. But he is taken in and nurtured through it by a loving family, and goes on to work on the Brooklyn Bridge during its construction.

248 pages

Lucky by Alice Sebold

Alice Sebold was an 18-year-old college student at Syracuse University when she was brutally  raped and beaten in a park near the campus.  In this memoir,  the author of 'The Lovely Bones' shows how such a senseless act of violence profoundly changes the entire course of a life.

274 pages

Honor's Knight (Paradox #2) by Rachel Bach

Summary: "After a mysterious attack left [Devi Morris] short several memories and one partner, she's determined to keep her head down, do her job, and get on with her life. But even though Devi's not actually looking for it, trouble keeps finding her. She sees things no one else can, the black stain on her hands is growing, and she's entangled with the cook she thought she hated."

Even though I adored Fortune's Pawn, this second installment in the Paradox series fell flat. The adventure was stale and the plot developments were boring and confusing. I still love Devi's voice, personality and grim determination, but I felt at times that the fun of the first book was lost. I hope the third and final book will prove to be a satisfying conclusion. 

375 pages

Too Late by Colleen Hoover

Too Late by Colleen Hoover
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This story is nonlinear and full of drama and tragedy.

I love Colleen Hoover. This is one of her earliest novels. It’s not my favorite, but it was still a captivating read. It’s a bit strange how the Epilogue starts at the last 1/3 of the book, but you don’t exactly stay in the Epilogue. I think the format shows experimentation by an early author. I don’t mind that, because the writing is still solid. She kept my attention throughout, and I enjoyed the characters overall. Her later works are better, but that’s not shocking. Everyone starts somewhere.

Pages: 395

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Onyx (Lux #2) by Jennifer Armentrout

Summary: "Kat struggles to stay away from Daemon Black, despite being connected to him through his alien powers, and when the Department of Defense comes to town she fears what will happen if they discover what Daemon can do and that she is linked to him."

Onyx wasn't quite as thrilling as Obsidian, but it was still a fun and solid sequel. Kat is growing as a character, which is nice to watch unfold. She is becoming quite powerful, and it is interesting to see how Daemon responds to Kat's capabilities. 

366 pages

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I thought this was a good read. I listened to the audio by Claire Danes. It's obviously depressing, and sometimes it is description heavy in a way that can be a bit tedious. Also, the ending is ambiguous. However, that didn't bother me, so much as it just took me by surprise, initially.

Overall, I enjoyed this book, and I think I'll try some others by Margaret Atwood. Also, I started the TV series on Hulu. It's good so far, though I don't always feel they do a good job of pairing the soundtrack to the emotion of the scenes.

Pages: 311

An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon

An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon

Jamie Fraser is a former Jacobite and rather unwilling participant in the American Revolution, but he chose rebellion because he was certain of several things: The Americans will win, though fighting on the side of victory would not ensure his survival, and the last thing he wanted to do was face his illegitimate son, a lieutenant in the British army, down the barrel of a gun. Claire Fraser, Jamie's wife, has assured him of victory---something she can guarantee because she is a time-traveler. What she does not know, however, is what the price will be. The price will not include Jamie's life or happiness, at least not if she has anything to say about it. Meanwhile, Jamie and Claire's daughter, Brianna, and her husband, Roger, reside in the relative safety of the twentieth century with their children. They have settled in Lallybroch, Jamie's ancestral home, and maintain a connection with Brianna's parents through a series of letters they were careful to leave behind. As Brianna and Roger comb the fragile pages for clues to the fate of Claire and Jamie, they learn just how closely their lives are linked.

Book 7 in the Outlander series. 814 pages.

An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I like this. I don't totally love it, but John Green writes great characters. I liked the characters far better than the actual story, which didn't really hold my interest. But the characters were fantastic and well worth my time.

Pages: 229

Cheater by Rachel Van Dyken

Cheater by Rachel Van Dyken
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I needed something dramatic and angsty that was easy to read to get me out of my book funk. This worked pretty well for that. It's surprisingly funny, mostly predictable, but still enjoyable.

The writing style is . . . unexpected. I actually preferred the audiobook. When I switched to text, the strange sentence structures, while fascinating, sometimes distracted me from the actual story. It's one of those books that sounds better out loud, due to it's snarky, conversational tone, and reading the text is more jarring than hearing it, for some reason.

Pages: 317

When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon

When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was absolutely adorable. I read it straight through and didn't regret a second. The audiobook, in particular, is excellent, with two fantastic narrators in Sneha Mathan and Vikas Adam. I would definitely recommend this to others.

The premise: Dimple's parents allow her to go to a 6 week summer coding class the summer before college only because they want her to meet Rishi, her potential future husband. Needless to say, Dimple's not very interested in marriage or looking pretty, when she could be coding.

There are a few things about this delightful book that I felt could have been even better (the pacing, particularly in the last half), which would have made me love it at 5 star power. Those of you who know I typically rate high might realize that a 4 can be a bit of a flat rating for me, but this is not a flat book.

For a book set in such a fascinating world (in my mind) as Insomnia Con, I would have loved to see some actual world building there. Basically there was almost none, outside of the basics of getting started. We didn't even get to see the depths that participants went to in order to complete their apps (including Dimple and Rishi who spent more time dancing than coding), and there were tons of other students in the program who we never really got to meet or understand.

Some of the main side characters didn't really seem like the types to attend such a long, intensive summer camp. They were more interested in their wealth and popularity than actual coding, so I'm slightly disappointed in the fact that Insomnia Con could have been the most exciting and fascinating world of intellect, diversity, and nerdery ever and... it just wasn't. Instead, it was more of a romantic plot tool, and the majority of scenes weren't even really about the summer camp or the project, both of which were more interesting to me than the characters going out for dinner over and over again.

So it lost a star for world building failures, and it should probably lose a second star, in all honesty for the last 1/3 of the book, which had major pacing issues and a few moments that made me reconsider if I actually knew and liked Dimple. I know they were there again for "plot" tools, but I hate seeing a character bring out a particularly bad, unflattering behavior/quality at the end of the book and then not really address or atone for it.

However, I did think this was a fun, fast, lighthearted read that made me smile. A lot. So it still gets 4 stars, even though I just overthought it so much I almost reduced a star. There's still a lot of good here. There's still a lot to enjoy in the different ways both Dimple and Rishi consider and react with their cultures, both as Indian-American and as Indian. I enjoyed the culture of this book in general and thought that was a real strong point. It showed the different ways people feel and react, when they're born into one culture/place but raised mostly inside another.

Yes, that helped. Now I do feel it definitely deserves those 4 stars. Just realize that you have to enjoy it for the overall journey, rather than the plot and world building, which both are lacking, particularly as the story progress. I still think the interesting main characters will see you through to the end, so give it a go.

Pages: 380

Fortune's Pawn by Rachel Bach

Summary: "When professional mercenary Deviana Morris took the security guard job aboard the Glorious Fool, all she wanted was a fast route into the Devastators -- the elite league of armored fighters entrusted with the most important duty on her home planet of Paradox. But this security job isn't just twelve-hour patrols, armor-polishing, and whiskey. The supposedly-cursed Captain Caldswell keeps sending Devi and her partner into unimaginably dangerous situations."

I've been in the mood for an awesome, adventure-packed space novel, and Fortune's Pawn fit the bill! The first installment in the Paradox series was fun, suspenseful and interesting. I loved Devi as a brave and determined heroine. She was well-rounded, clever and still flawed. I can't wait to read the next one!

340 pages