All the Summer Girls by Meg Donohue

4/5

This is the story about three friends since childhood, Kate, Vanessa and Dani, who are now in their late twenties realizing that none of their lives went the way they wanted them to. Kate is dumped by her fiance right after she discovers she's pregnant. She's a successful lawyer but always wanted to be loved. Vanessa was more practical. She wanted to be an art studio owner. She ended up a stay-at-home mom. Dani also wanted the creative field. She wanted to be an author. She ended up unemployed, using drugs, drinking, and never finishing a story. These friends have drifted apart but they plan on reuniting for a summer on the beach where their most traumatic childhood event happened. Kate had a twin brother who died on the beach. All of the girls blamed themselves. They all find themselves needing to face their past in order to deal with their future.

Motor City Shakedown by D.E. Johnson

3/5

Will Anderson is plotting his revenge against Vito Adamo when he is swept into the middle of a gang war between Adamo and the Gianolla brothers. As much as he tries to escape, his family and the woman he loves, Elizabeth Hume, are threatened by the Gianolla brothers. He must put aside his hatred of Adamo and his distrust of the police force in order to try and keep everyone he cares about alive. The plot is fast-paced and action packed. However, this book is a sequel and the author doesn't explain what happened in the first book very well. I wouldn't advise this book unless you already read "The Detroit Electric Scheme." My favorite parts of the book were when the author described like in 1911. It was very detailed and (I'm assuming) accurate.

Alex by Pierre Lemaitre

3/5

An unknown woman is kidnapped and the French police must race to save her with very little clues. Before they can save her, Alex manages to save herself. It becomes clear to the police that Alex is no ordinary victim. The police are led by Camille, an officer with a personal stake in the case. His own wife was killed years before while she was eight months pregnant by a kidnapping turned into murder. The story is gripping and filled with enough twists and turns to keep the reader on the edge. My only complaint with the book is that it gets extremely graphic at times. I had trouble reading certain points because of the violence.

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

4/5

On the day of their fifth wedding anniversary, Nick Dunne returns home to find the front door ajar, furniture overturned, and his wife, Amy, missing. The police are trying to find her but they seem determined that Nick was the one who killed her despite his repeated pleas of innocence. There isn't much else I can say about this book without giving away some of the major plot twists. The book is divided into three parts. Part one, we learn all the evidence against Nick. Part two, we learn the truth. Part three is the resolution. Part one and two are as amazing as Amy herself! They are full of unbelievable, gasping out loud plot twists. It is certainly an amazing read. The only reason I gave this book a 4 instead of a 5 is the ending. It is certainly not what I wanted for the characters. I'm afraid I side with Margo, Nick's sister on this one: "I love you even if..." The "if" here being the choices the characters made in the end.

A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick

3/5

This is a haunting book about just how difficult it is to escape the past. Ralph Truitt takes out a personal ad in the paper, seeking a reliable wife. He is getting lonely as he ages and he wants someone to be with. Catherine answers his ad and agrees to marry him. Right from the start, we realize that the characters are not who they appear to be. Truitt is not simply a lonely aging man and Catherine is not as sweet and innocent as she appears. Truitt's ulterior motive for marriage is to send his new wife to find Antonio, the son he raised albeit in a cruel way. When Catherine goes to meet Antonio to convince him to return to his father's house, the story takes another turn. They already know each other. In fact, they are lovers already united in a mission to kill Truitt so they can claim all of his riches. Page after page, more dark secrets are revealed all the way up to the stunning climax.

Fall of the Berlin Wall by iMinds

1/5

I wanted to read a nonfiction book that would give me some insight into historical events, in the case the fall of the Berlin Wall. Instead what I got was a six page general summary of the event. This book would make a useful Spark Notes for a history class but other than that it is pretty useless.

Flatland by Edwin A. Abbott

4/5

This book is about a square that lives in a two dimensional world known as Flatland. The first part of the book describes Flatland and its inhabitants. It talks about the different shapes that live there (lines, isosceles triangles, equilateral triangles, squares, polygons of all number of sizes, and circles) and their social rules. Flatland has a very strict caste system based on what shape someone is. The more sides one has, the higher one's caste is. Abbott goes into great detail along this tangent and it is absolutely fascinating to read about it. He also talks about the challenges of recognizing someone in a two dimensional world. Inhabitants must be careful when navigating the social rules that go along with recognizing shapes. The other part of the book is about the square's adventures into other lands. He goes to a one dimensional world to meet with the monarch who happens to be a line. He tries to convince this king that the square's land has an additional dimension, it's a plane rather than a line. The king doesn't believe him. Later, the square is visited by a cube who tries to convince him of a third dimension. The square refuses to believe it until the cube takes him with. They talk about the fourth dimension and even visit the zero dimension. (The zero dimension is a single being that makes up the entire universe.) This is a fascinating book that really forces the reader to thing. The reader needs at least a basic understanding of geometry in order to follow along.

Manicpixiedreamgirl by Tom Leveen

3/5

This book is about Tyler Darcy, a high school boy, and Becky, the damaged girl he loves. Tyler has a great life. He has close friends, supportive parents and sister, a niche within the drama department as a techie, and an amazing and trusting girlfriend named Sydney. The problem is that he has been in love with Becky from the moment he saw her. She, however, is not the innocent girl he imagined he was. Becky has issues with her parents. They don't give her any love, or even attention. They are open about their marriage being over as soon as Becky graduates high school (so as not to alarm their client) and don't go to any of Becky's theater performances to see her. As a result, Becky tries to act out in order to get their attention. Tattoos, driving without a license, smoking, drinking, and sleeping around are not enough to get her parents' attention. Tyler is convinced his love can help her. The book details their relationship all through high school until Tyler and Sydney finally break up. Tyler finally declares his love for Becky, but at the same time he realizes what everyone else has been telling him all along: that his love is not enough to help her. I would've given this book a higher rating if it hadn't ended so abruptly, leaving the reader wanting more.

Faking It by Cora Carmack

4/5

This is the sequel to "Losing It." I enjoyed how the same characters are included from the previous book, but the story now continues from another character's perspective. This is Cade's story. In the last book, he was the friend pining for the main character, Bliss. In this book, he is the love interest of a new main character, Max. She helps him get over his heartache at losing Bliss while he helps Max get over her own demons from her past. I thought this book wasn't quite as good as the first one, but it was still gripping and well-written.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

4/5

Disclaimer: I know this book was recently made into a movie that won big at the award shows. However, I have never seen the movie so I cannot comment on that.

This is a book about race relations in Jackson, Mississippi, specifically the way different races related to each other as maids/nannies and employers. While the book briefly mentioned some of the truly violent incidences that could have taken place, the reader is nevertheless left with a powerful expression about what that time was like. Skeeter, one of the main characters, decided to write a book about what it was like to be a colored maid at the time. She was motivated in part by her ambitions as a writer and in part by her own close relationship with her own nanny growing up. She is helped by Aibileen and Minny, who have to work past their own demons before they can tell their stories. Like the book written in the story, this book gives the impression that for all the horrible experiences as a maid/nanny, there is still the occasional close relationship formed that knows no colors.

Losing It by Cora Carmack

5/5

This fast-paced yet light read will have you gripped right from the start. The story is about a 22 year old college student who attempts to lose her virginity. Her forays into the dating world lead her to inappropriate relations with her young, attractive teacher as well as uncomfortable moments with her best friend who is not happy settling for just friendship. This book could easily be turned into a romantic comedy movie. I was surprised when I read the author's bio that she is not much older than her characters themselves. I am very impressed by this young author and I'm looking forward to reading more of her work.

The Betrayal Bond by Patrick Carnes, PhD

3/5

I picked out this book because the title sounded interesting. This book explains why people stay in relationships that are abusive, manipulative, and downright toxic. I've personally been hurt in a relationship and it was incredibly difficult to move past it even when I hated him with all the fury of a woman scorned. The book was interesting in places where it compared these toxic relationships to addictions. I loved hearing all the personal stories about people who made these betrayal bonds in real life. In other places, this book was downright dull. My least favorite part of the book were the exercises the author wanted the readers to complete. This book is supposed to be read while undergoing therapy for the betrayal bonds. It is clearly a self-help book, which brings down its appeal to anyone fascinated by the concept but not attempting to get out of a betrayal bond at the moment.

The One I Left Behind by Jennifer McMahon

5/5

This book is a gripping thriller about a serial killer with murders 25 years apart. Neptune kidnaps women in a sleepy suburban town. He cuts off their right hand, which he delivers to the police station in a milk carton. He keeps his victim alive for four days before strangling them and leaving their body in a public location. The story follows Reggie as a girl and as a woman 25 years later. Her mother is the fourth victim of Neptune. Her mother is the one whose body was not found on the fourth day. This book can be quite graphic at times dealing with drug use, cutting, prostitution, and of course murder but it is still a great book.

We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo

5/5

This is a story about a girl named Darling. In the beginning, she's growing up in poverty in Africa. She talks about what it will be like when her aunt takes her to America all while spending time with her friends and getting into trouble. She's hungry and they get into trouble frequently. Still, she misses Africa once she moves to America. She realizes quickly that she won't be rich once she's in America. She has to work hard and she can never go back to her mother or her friends. It is a very moving story about how hard life can really be.

                                                 

The Accidental Billionaires by Ben Mezrich

3/5

This is the story of the creation of Facebook. I thought the story did a great job separating each character's view of the situation. He would write things like "[this character] believed [this event] happened because of [this reason]." It was wonderfully written and it had decent twists and turns for a real event. It was obvious in the story that the author did not interview Mark Zuckerberg because the character came off as extremely aloof and mysterious. He also came off as a jerk. I don't know if that's how he really is but that is certainly how the book portrayed him. I took off points because the book was hard to get into in the beginning and it ended very abruptly. It was still a decent story though.

                                                            

Can You Keep A Secret? by Sophia Kinsella

2/5

The beginning of this book is like a stereotypical rom com: girl meets boy on plane, girl is scared of flying and blabs all her secrets in fear of death, boy turns out to be her boss. Then the book turns into a watered down version of the plot of 50 Shades of Grey (not that that plot wasn't watered down to begin with...) He expects  her to be completely open with him while revealing nothing about himself. She walks out rather than working on issues in the relationship. He uses his billions to win her back every time. It's a very familiar read, nothing special.

                                                            

The Last Original Wife by Dorothea Benton Frank

4/5

This is a book about a couple, Leslie and Wesley, who have been married for over 30 years and have just entered couples counselling. The book then takes us back to look at their marriage, including how it got in trouble. Les and Wes had both conformed completely to their respective gender stereotypes, which leads to a rocky relationship with little to no communication and respect. Wes' friends have both taken on new wives half their age hence the title. Will the cutely named couple be able to make their relationship work? Do the readers even think they should work out their problems? Anyone will be able to appreciate this lighthearted book that gives a perspective on mature relationships.

                                                           

Disclosure by Michael Crichton

5/5

This is a book about a sexual harassment accusation in a workplace. The twist is that it is a male being harassed by his female boss while the company is in the midst of a major merger. The characters are believable and the story line is gripping. Crichton keeps you guessing right up to the end about what the verdict of the case will be. I'll admit that I am a fan of Michael Crichton's books; this one is as great as all of his others. Although the language can get graphic at points, I highly recommend this one for everyone!