Winter Garden: Kristin Hannah

Wow. 

This was by far the most emotionally moving and draining book by Hannah I've read. Heartbreak after heartbreak. It's the story with very little happiness, which makes those happy moments even more powerful.

It's the story of sisterhood, of motherhood, of love, of survival. A cold relationship between Anya and her daughters is tested when the father dies. All they have left is unfinished fairy tales. As Anya finishes the story, the girls learn who their mother really is.

Hannah weaves a story well, changing between narrators and narration style by throwing in a fairy tale throughout. This keeps the story moving and keeps the reader reading because of the desire to understand what everything means. The setting is beautifully and sometimes painfully described which helps readers visualize along with the daughters as Anya tells her story. I also love when they go to Alaska, and I now know that I need to visit there soon. It sounds lovely. 

I would highly recommend picking up this book soon, and others of Hannah's if you haven't read much by her. She always does a great job weaving together a story and tearing apart your emotions. 

House of Correction: Nicci French

 Tabitha is in prison for murdering Stuart. She claims she didn't do it but doesn't remember anything from that day. Her lawyer wants her to plead guilty, so Tabitha fires her. Now she has to build her case and discover the real murderer all from inside the House of Correction.

Great premise. I think it's clever! The Nicci French team pulls it off very well. If I had disappointments, which I suppose I did, they were in the reviews on the book/the way the book was advertised. It claimed to be a page-turning, nail-biting suspense. I found that to be incorrect. Most of the book is reading along while Tabitha searches for evidence either by reading papers, talking to people, or watching street cams. This isn't what I would consider thrilling. It's dramatic, for sure, and interesting, but not "nail-biting." I was prepared for a "keep-the-lights-on" thriller. 

I did not enjoy Tabitha as a person. She was impossible to relate to, and this led to it being somewhat difficult to feel badly for. I couldn't understand why the first half of the book consisted of her rejecting help from all avenues, and attacking everyone who approached her. I can't imagine what it's like to be in her position, so maybe this is just a reaction to that, but I think she could have been more appreciative and more forthcoming. But my hunch is that this is to let Tabitha shine on her own in court.

Speaking of court, this is where the book finally picks up and gets interesting, maybe even "thrilling."  It was exciting, it was fast-paced, it was emotional: all the things I wanted in the beginning and middle of the book. Tabitha had a great "enemy" in the prosecuting attorney; he was well-written, as was the judge. They made those scenes much fun to read. 

Tabitha was interesting as a character there as well. She had a spine and grit and fierceness. When listening to her interview and when hearing of her high school experiences, we're left believing that she has no backbone and lets things roll off her as they come. Even in town she's painted as a quiet loner, which makes this courtroom Tabitha difficult to understand. Where did she come from? Wherever she was hiding, she was impressive and well-written in the end.

Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Karen Abbott

 This was an excellent read. Abbott writes like fiction, and I had to remind myself several times throughout that these women were real people. 

Abbott used journals and letters and other quotes well to make this read like a story instead of a report. The descriptions throughout the book make the story come alive in the mind as well. Even though this was a nonfiction, it was still very much a page-turner, as I was excited to learn what each woman would do next, and whether or not they would be successful.

The interweaving of the women's stories helped carry the book along. I appreciated the change in characters, even in the middle of chapters sometimes. This helped keep me interested, as I was always changing women and even changing sides in the war which leads to another point.

It was very interesting to me that of the four women, two were with the Confederacy and two were with the Union. It was very educational to have both insights and get "insider" information on both sides.

I'm amazed at what people can do when it comes to standing up for their beliefs, and it's even more fascinating when those people are women. Each woman has an excellent story to tell, and I'm glad Abbott was able to share their tales so well!

Hood: Stephen R. Lawhead

The tricky thing with this book is that it is clearly the first book of the trilogy. I have to read the rest to know if this is truly the case, but most of this feels like set-up, the foretaste of the story to come. I felt like I finally understood the plot as I read the final few chapters, and that was the point when I realized I did, in fact, want to read the rest of the trilogy. 

It is a quick read, shouldn't take too much time to read it, even though it is longer. It also definitely feels like a young adult/teen read, perhaps because of the Robin Hood connection. 

This was a slow moving book. There are many moving pieces and many characters telling stories, so the plot takes its time getting along. This is what added to it feeling like an introductory book. The last 100 pages or less felt like actual adventure and action, so that was where I really enjoyed it. 

It's advertised as a retelling of Robin Hood, so that was the lens through which I read it. I almost wish I had come upon that on my own, instead of trying to read the book as though I was reading Robin Hood: that made it complicated for me to get into the book on my own. 

I also wish there was a table of contents. I quickly lost track of which baron was who and what "side" they were on. I couldn't keep up with all of the players, partly because the switches in narrative were quick and partly because the names were unpronounceable for me. That always makes it difficult for me to follow along with the cast. I have to be able to speak their names in my head for me to connect who they are. 

I'm starting the second one now: hopefully that one is good! 

Catch Me If You Can: Frank Abagnale Jr.

 This was an excellent read. I've been meaning to pick it up since I first watched the movie adaptation 10 years ago, and finally got around to it. This did not disappoint.

Abagnale is a fascinating human, and this is a fun foray into his mind, his thinking, his creativity, his decision making, etc. 

This is well-written and easy to read: I read it in a day. It made me laugh and cringe, and it left me wondering what Abagnale's life was really like. It left me wanting more, which is a great thing for a book to do. 

I was disappointed when it ended, because I wanted more of what Abagnale did later. I wanted the rest of the story, but I understand that the book has to end somewhere; I just wasn't ready for it. 

Trade Secrets: V.K. Tritschler

 I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. 

I thought this was a great premise for the book, so I was pretty disappointed when the direction it was actually taking became clear to me. 

It was easy to get into the story right away. Tritschler pulled me in to the world she was spinning. I jumped into the office life with Emily quickly. Tritschler also does a great job with descriptions: it was easy to visualize the story along with Emily, as she walks through the office and notices her coworkers. It was easy and quick to read with fun character quirks.

However, I had such a difficult time with the main character. Emily is just SO dramatic. Way over the top. I rolled my eyes at her so much my eyeballs got sore, and I had to take a break from reading. I think her character was just overdone. There was too much anxious teen in her, I think. I understand that Tritschler wanted to emphasize the point that Emily was a young, inexperienced character who had a lot of growing to do, but I think there was too much of this. Often times, Emily was just a limp leaf of a character, getting crushed by everything and everyone, in ways that I didn't find relatable, for example, getting 40 emails on her first day of work. That's just what happens in the job world, and she let that knock her flat, according to one of the last sentences of the first chapter: "Maybe she wasn't cut out for this position." That's too dramatic for me. 

Early on in the book, I wrote in my notes, "Are we supposed to believe she's [Emily] attracted to her lecher of a boss?" Jimmy was written too inappropriately in the beginning to be an actual potential romance for me, so I was very disappointed that this was the route taken. He was too gross, especially as someone in a position of power. His character should have been toned down a bit in the inappropriate behavior for me to believe that Emily would be interested in him. The "sexual chemistry" was not enough for me to understand their connection.

A lot of the plot points in this book were poorly written and missing a lot of resolution. Harry needed more resolution, and instead, he just dropped of the face of the book. Emily's family showed up for a few pages and a medical emergency, but disappeared after less than a chapter. The Carter case, the main plot of the story, had zero resolution, as far as I could tell. 

Overall, I was disappointed in the ending, frustrated by every single character (and not in a good way) and confused by the disappearance of plot points. 

Murder at the Village Fete: Catherine Coles

 I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This is definitely an easy, cozy read. It's a fun little "whodunit" with a lovely husband and wife duo.

Most of what I struggled with in this book was the uncertainty of what I was missing from the first book of this series. I haven't read the first, jumping instead right into the second book. I missed learning more about Tommy and Evelyn which I think would have helped me enjoy them more as characters. I do not think this serves well as a stand-alone book, but that's my fault. 

It was hard for me to grasp the character of Evelyn. I definitely felt as though she was more prevalent than Tommy, but even then, I didn't get enough of her to feel connect or understand her. I think Coles could have explored Evelyn more, especially when bringing up the issue of whether or not to have children. That was dropped as a side note a few times, and there was never a conversation about it, we never hear her struggle or her discussing her fears, so it's impossible to understand how she grows out of that struggle. 

I would have also loved to see more between Evelyn and Tommy. They are written to be a loving, cute, and fun couple, but we aren't given much interaction between the two. That would have helped me believe in their happy marriage a bit more (not that I doubted their happy marriage, but something was missing there). 

There were a few areas in the story that felt very forced. The main one I can point out is the relationship between the investigator, the investigation, and the Christies. I didn't understand why Evelyn and Tommy needed to solve the case (aside from them being the main characters, but I need more of a reason than that). The inspector was written as a very knowledgeable guy and clearly had it all together, so why were Evelyn and Tommy in conflict with him, "fighting" over the investigation? Why did they need to do work behind his back? Their involvement in solving the crime seemed to only exist because of the need to write the book. I think more could have been done to convince us that the Christies needed to solve the mystery themselves. 

Overall, this was a fun and easy read, definitely a cozy-mystery. More could be gained by reading the first book, as I should have done before embarking on the sequel.