Karen's Book Nook

I finished The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series by Ann Brashares with book #4, Forever in Blue.

About the book:

Product Description

Some friends just fit together.

With unraveled embroidery and fraying hems, the Traveling Pants are back for one last, glorious summer.

Join Ann Brashares’s beloved sisterhood once again in a dazzling, fearless novel about a summer that will forever change the lives of Lena, Carmen, Bee, and Tibby, here and now, past and future, together and apart.

My thoughts: I loved these girls and I especially  love series. Books that have individual stories intertwining always keep me turning pages (or in this case, listening) because I always want to get back to a particular storyline so it’s hard to put it down. I will miss the girls and really liked this coming of age book. We’ve seen the girls grow from teens to college women and  it was a great ride. This final book, more than any other showed what was going on inside their heads.  I wish there were many more, but everything has it’s time.

Rating 4.5/5

I love Avi, historical fiction, and series so reading Crispin: At the Edge of the World, the sequel to Newbery Medal winner Crispin: Cross of Lead was thoroughly enjoyable.

About the book: The more I came to know of the world, the more I knew I knew it not.

Now Crispin and Bear have set off to live their lives as free men. But they don’t get far before their past catches up with them: Bear is being pursued by members of the secret brotherhood who believe he is an informer. When Bear is badly wounded, it is up to Crispin to make decisions about their future—where to go, whom to trust. Along the way they become entangled with an extraordinary range of people, each of whom affects Crispin and Bear’s journey in unexpected ways.  To find freedom and safety, they may have to travel to the edge of the world—even if it means confronting death itself.

My thoughts: I loved this sequel and look forward to more.  Whenever I read Avi, it’s like watching a movie in my mind. This one was no different. Who can help but pull for Crispin and cheer him on?  Avi definitely ended the book with the promise of more adventures to come.

Rating 4.5/5

In this riveting sequel to the Newbery-Award winning Crispin: The Cross of Lead—the second book in a planned trilogy—Avi explores themes of war, religion, and family as he continues the adventures of Crispin and Bear.

As a Special Educator, I was looking forward to reading Born on a Blue Day: Inside the Mind of an Autistic Savant by Daniel Tammet, because I’m intrigued about what it “feels like” to be in his head and most especially, what the sensory issues are like.

About the book:

Born on a Blue Day is a journey into one of the most fascinating minds alive today — guided by the owner himself. Daniel Tammet is virtually unique among people who have severe autistic disorders in that he is capable of living a fully independent life and able to explain what is happening inside his head.

He sees numbers as shapes, colors, and textures, and he can perform extraordinary calculations in his head. He can learn to speak new languages fluently, from scratch, in a week. In 2004, he memorized and recited more than 22,000 digits of pi, setting a record. He has savant syndrome, an extremely rare condition that gives him the most unimaginable mental powers, much like those portrayed by Dustin Hoffman in the film Rain Man.

Fascinating and inspiring, Born on a Blue Day explores what it’ s like to be special and gives us an insight into what makes us all human — our minds.

My thoughts: While some parts of the book were a bit dry and drawn out (the mathematical stuff for me…) I loved reading about what it feels like from his perspective. I was encouraged to see his growth and his adaptation to the world around him despite his sensory issues and his limitations due to Asperger’s. It was great to see him forming relationships and encouraging to see such a wonderful family.  I recommend this book to anyone interested in spectrum disorders and also for those who appreciate memoirs about successful people.

Rating 4.5/5

My most recent audio book was  Little Bee by Chris Cleave. I didn’t know anything about it but had run out of audio books and it was available for digital download so I grabbed it.

About the book:

Product Description

WE DON’T WANT TO TELL YOU TOO MUCH ABOUT THIS BOOK.

It is a truly special story and we don’t want to spoil it.

Nevertheless, you need to know something, so we will just say this:

It is extremely funny, but the African beach scene is horrific.

The story starts there, but the book doesn’t.

And it’s what happens afterward that is most important.

Once you have read it, you’ll want to tell everyone about it. When you do, please don’t tell them what happens either. The magic is in how it unfolds.

My thoughts: I hadn’t read that description prior to reading the book and I don’t think it has much to do with  the story at all. This was a gripping tale that unfolds from two point of view, Little Bee’s and Sarah’s that was unpeeled layer by layer.  I loved this book.  I listened via audio book and the reader, Anne Flosnic,  was terrific.  I found myself thinking about it constantly when I wasn’t reading and couldn’t put it down because there were questions that needed answers.  The life of a refugee was brought to the public in this awesome book in the style of A Thousand Splendid Suns or The Kite Runner.  I am definitely going to read Cleave’s other works.

Rating 5/5

I’m back on track with posting and just finished Clear and Convincing Proof by Kate Wilhelm, part of the Barbara Holloway series.

About the book: The Kelso/McIvey rehab center is a place of hope and healing for its patients — and for the dedicated staff who volunteer there. For lonely newcomer Erica Castle, its’ a place to make new friends. For brilliant physical therapist Darren Halvord, it’s a chance to showcase his unusual gift. For beautiful Annie McIvey it’s a sanctuary from a cruel husband. And for directors Naomi and Greg Boardman, it’s a lifelong dram about to be destroyed if Annie’s husband, David, has his way. A brilliant surgeon, an implacable misogynist, a man whose ego rivals his skill with a scalpel, David McIvey now has controlling shares in what has always been a non profit clinic. His plan to close the clinic and replace it with a massive new surgery center — with himself at the helm — means that the rehab center, with all its good work and good people, will be forced to close its doors. MORE HERE

My thoughts:  I love the Barbara Holloway series and especially get a bang out of her dad, Frank… “Christ-on-a-mountain,- Bobby!”  LOL.. I listened on audio and I’m used having the same reader for the series. This one took awhile for Barbara to get involved and I had to double check to make sure that it was one of the series of books. Once she did, she brought along her usual cast of characters and in true form, kept the reader guessing right up until the very end.

Rating 4/5

Ok, here’s the scoop:  I’ve been so busy READING and being outside that I’m barely online these days. Since I’m so behind on summaries and reviews that I’ll likely never catch up, I’m just going to move forward and do the equivalent of a Google Reader “mark all read’  to get out of this hole. Here’s what I’ve read that I failed to review. I’ll be in much better shape to keep up when I don’t have a mountain to climb.

Since I’m feeling better and the weather has been outstanding, I’ve been “plugged in” and read mostly audio books while exercising, working in the yard or just being on the go: Fearless Fourteen, Kira Kira, Susannah’s Garden, Catching Fire, All in One Piece, The Golden Compass, Finger Lickin Fifteen, The Black Ice, Crispin, Cross of Lead, and A Single Shard.

Arcadia Falls and The Reptile Room were paper books.

Three of the books were Newbery Medal winners: Kira-Kira, Crispin, and A Single Shard.  Catching Fire, The Golden Compass and The Reptile Room were also YA/Children’s Literature selections.

Stories that were part of series were Fearless Fourteen, Finger Lickin Fifteen, (Stephanie Plum Series), Susannah’s Garden (Blossom Street Series), Catching Fire (Hunger Games Series), The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials Series), Black Ice (Harry Bosch Series)and the Reptile Room (Lemony Snicket’s Series of Unfortunate Events).

I’m cranking out the Stephanie Plum books  by Janet Evanovich and the latest was Lean, Mean Thirteen.

About the book:

New secrets, old flames, and hidden agendas are about to send bounty hunter Stephanie Plum on her most outrageous adventure yet!

MISTAKE #1

Dickie Orr. Stephanie was married to him for about fifteen minutes before she caught him cheating on her with her arch-nemesis Joyce Barnhardt. Another fifteen minutes after that Stephanie filed for divorce, hoping to never see either one of them again.

MISTAKE #2

Doing favors for super bounty hunter Carlos Manoso (a.k.a. Ranger). Ranger needs her to meet with Dickie and find out if he’s doing something shady. Turns out, he is. Turns out, he’s also back to doing Joyce Barnhardt. And it turns out Ranger’s favors always come with a price…

MISTAKE #3   More Here!

My thoughts:  We really get to see a different side of Stephanie and her past in this book. I always wonder where Janet will take her next and in this one, we got to see what came before. Lula is enjoying a bigger role in each book lately which I like.

Rating 3.5/5

As part of the Stephanie Plum challenge, I read Twelve Sharp by Janet Evanovich.

About the book:

FIRST A STRANGER APPEARS
While chasing down the usual cast of miscreants and weirdos Stephanie discovers that a crazed woman is stalking her.

THEN, THE STRANGER REVEALS HER SECRETS
The woman dresses in black, carries a 9mm GLOCK, has a bad attitude and a mysterious connection to dark and dangerous Carlos Manoso… street name, Ranger.

NEXT, SOMEBODY DIES
The action turns deadly serious, and Stephanie goes from hunting skips to hunting a murderer.

More here!

My thoughts: If you are a Ranger fan, this book is for you. It’s heavy Stephanie/Ranger and as always, it’s a fun, LOL, read. Stephanie’s antics are up to par and Lula is also a star.

Rating 3.5/5

Continuing with Debbie Macomber‘s Cedar Cove series, I just finished 8 Sandpiper Way.

About the book: When a wife finds a strange earring in her husband’s pocket, what’s a woman to think?

Meanwhile, Sheriff Troy Davis’s long-ago love has moved to town, and there’s news aplenty from newcomers and old-timers alike in Cedar Cove. MORE HERE.

My thoughts: The Cedar Cove series books are always my feel good, quick read, go-to books. Never anything earth shattering but always enjoyable and give me the feeling like I’m visiting old friends.

Rating 3.5/5

I always wanted to read the Lemony Snicket books but never got around to it so I finally started the series with The Bad Beginning ( A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 1)

About the book:

Dear Listener,

Lemony Snicket

I loved this book and it was especially a great listening experience being read by
Tim Curry. This will likely be a series that I will read quickly as I’ll either do the audio books or will read the paper copies.. just the right size to carry around as a purse book. It’s got that fantasy feel and colorful characters. Just reading the product description gives you a feel for the writing style.

Rating 4/5