Ashley's War

Parallel visions

When 16-year old Kate has an asthma attack, she has visions of the future. No one seems to believe her until she imagines a random girl committing suicide. She recognized a picture the girl has. It is of the boy she has a crush on. He believes her because he doesn't want to risk not believing her. Kate ends up saving Inez life that day. She also has visions of her sister's husband killing her. Her family doesn't believe her, until Mason tries to kill Kate. Is it too late?? Can Kate save her sister's life?  

I shall rate this A 4 out of 5. It definitely couture my attention And I was able to read through it fast. 

i am eager to see what happens in the next book 

The Noon God

What's a perk of being stuck in a long (8 hour) car ride for two solid days?? Getting to read some books!! 

The Noon God is about a woman who loses her mother, and remembers all those she has loved and lost in the past; while helping her sister and uncle cope with the recent death.  

Mona's father, J. Caesar Fortune, a well-known author, disappeared on Monday. But the end of the week, his body was found with a bullet to his head. As Mona relives the past of her mom, who overdosed, her sister, who jumped out of a window and overdosed, and her other sister who eats entirely too much for comfort food, we learn why Mona may appear to have anger problems. What is in the little black bag she found last week at the school where she works?  Who really shot her father?  Did Mona feel bitterness to the father that favored her over all others because he helped ruin her marriage? 

 

This is a super quick read, but seems a little mediocre the way the writing is.

If I stay

Mia, a 17- year old musician, and her family head out one morning for a family outing. In the next moment, Mia is having an out-of-body experience as she sees her family car flipped over, her dad missing pieces of him on the road, both her parents dead. We read from Mia's point of view as she lays in a coma in the hospital, her family dead. She walks around invisible listening to her extended family cry and whisper about her. Her rock-star boyfriend, Adam and her best friend, Kim finally working together instead of against each other just so they can visit her in the ICU.

 

Those that care and love Mia are there telling her she needs to stay. Her family may no longer be there, but she should fight for her own life. Adam offers her the choice of staying and he will leave forever if she chooses, because he may remind her of everything in the past she no longer has. He says he'd rather her live and him never see her again than him lose her forever.

 This is a great quick read. I finished it in a few short days while on vacation. I cried several times throughout the book as it mentions moments that no one wants to imagine happening to them.  Great book!

 

Maybe Someday

It took me a little over a week to finish this book, but mostly because I read when I’m laying down for bed and within 20-30 minutes I’m asleep, sometimes with my book still in hand.

When 16-year old Kate has an asthma attack, she has visions of the future. No one seems to believe her until she imagines a random girl committing suicide. She recognized a picture the girl has. It is of the boy she has a crush on. He believes her because he doesn't want to risk not believing her. Kate ends up saving Inez life that day. She also has visions of her sister's husband killing her. Her family doesn't believe her, until Mason tries to kill Kate. Is it too late?? Can Kate save her sister's life?  

I shall rate this A 4 out of 5. It definitely couture my attention And I was able to read through it fast. 

i am eager to see what happens in the next book 

I’m not sure of my opinion on it. On Goodreads, I rated it a 3 out of 4. Part of this book I hated and was getting pissed off at, and then part of it I was crying and laughing along with them and cheering for Ridge and Sydney.

May contain Spoilers:

Sydney goes outside most evenings, relaxing on her balcony, to secretly listen to her neighbor play his guitar. Ridge goes outside to relax on his balcony while playing his guitar, to secretly watch Sydney mouth lyrics to his songs. One day Ridge gets the nerve to ask Sydney for her number so he can text him. He needs help writing lyrics to his music, and can see that she has some made up.

A week later (on her birthday), Ridge confesses that he has watched Sydney’s boyfriend cheat on her with her roommate. Sydney punches both her roommate and boyfriend, then moves out. Now it’s her birthday, it’s raining, and she’s homeless. Ridge offers her a room at his apartment until she can get on her feet.

After a week of Sydney and Ridge talking, writing music together, and getting to know each other, they begin to develop feelings for each other. And them Maggie shows up. Ridge fails to tell Sydney that he has had a girlfriend for the past FIVE years. Sydney forgives him and tries to move on, but when Maggie isn’t around, the two still seriously flirt and cross lines with each other in a romantic sense. (This is where I begin to get pissed. You see, you don’t know much of my history, but I was married. And my husband did this same thing behind my back. She was aware of me and they continued to flirt, and flirting leads to feelings, and feelings lead to romanticness, and then you think this THING you are feeling is worth risking everything you’ve built with the one you are with currently).

Long story short, Maggie ends up finding out about Ridge and Sydney, forgives him for having feelings for someone else, but doesn’t forgive him, and they break up. Ridge and Sydney are both hurt over the ordeal but manage to find a way back into each other’s lives months later.

 

American Sniper

Wow.  It took me about a week due to a lot of stuff going on, to finish this book. My goal was to finish my 12/31.  I didn’t realize I only had about 10 pages left when I quit reading for the day, so I actually finished on 1/1.  Instead of my last book of the year, I made it my first book of the new year.  So much for reaching my 18 book a year goal. We’ll try again!

 

American Sniper by Chris Kyle is an amazing true story about… well, an American Sniper.  Chris joined the Navy and worked his way up to become a Navy Seal and Sniper during the battle on terror.  I have to say this book is great and I can’t wait to see the movie that came out last week to see if it gives Chris the justice he deserves as an American Hero. 

 

American Sniper talks about his life at home as well as his life as a Seal. For this man, he is better fit as a man to serve our country than the husband his wife needed. I am thankful every day for men and women with the ambition and heart that he had to want to protect USA.  Chris is a Texas Cowboy gone Seal and lived the life of a Navy Seal until the day he was murdered on the homefront.  Ironically, he died from being shot (by a ‘friend’) near Dallas.

 ** update: on Jan 24, 2015, we went to watch the movie and it was every bit as amazing as the book. In fact, it made Chris Kyle look like an even bigger hero and person than in the book he wrote. Great great movie of a Great War hero. When the movie ended, not a single person spoke while leaving the theatre. Very moving. RIP Chris Kyle. 

The Fault In Our Stars:

I’ve been wanting to read this book for quite a while; before it was known it would be a movie, but I never could bring myself to read something that was going to be inevitably sad.  Since the movie has come out and so many people have praised it, I decided it’s time to jump on the band wagon and read the book.  I won’t watch the movie because I don’t want to knowingly watch something that will make me ball my eyes out.  At least with the book, when I knew a sad part was coming I could put it in the freezer for  awhile and then get it back out when I’m not so invested in the moment.  (anyone get the freezer reference?  Hint: Friends.).  That wasn’t the  case though. I didn’t end up putting my kindle in the freezer because I couldn’t put the book down. Period.

The Fault In our Stars was an amazing love story about a teenager who loves poetry and has cancer, who ends up befriending (and falling in love) with a teenage boy who has cancer and shares her same love for poetry and literature.  The story takes you on a journey of a teenager’s mindset when she has to deal with the thought of dying so young, leaving he parents behind. Would her parents still be parents if their only child died?  How will the boy she now loves deal with losing another lover one so early?  Even though their love may end early, they have their own infinite love for their own lifetime. 

If only we could all be so lucky to find that kind of love, whether for a fleeting moment or for 80 more years.  This book was FILLED with amazing quotes, and to share just a few of my favorite:

“Sometimes people don’t understand the promises they’re making when they make them,”  This is in reference to a moment when one cancer patient got dumped by the woman who promised to love him forever.  We all make promises in the moment, forgetting about all that we may have to endure in the future.  

 

“I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once.” What an amazing way to describe falling in love.  It does sneak up on us doesn’t it? 

 

 

 

Just Listen

Just Listen

I’m just sure I like Sarah Dessen. I read her books every once in a while but they are all the same and really geared towards teenagers.

Annabelle is a teenager who’s mother pushes her to model, who’s two older sisters are models and have their own issues that push back on Annabelle, and who’s father puts up with it all.  She had best friends once, but a nasty rumor left her friendless.  Through the struggles, she becomes friends with a non-socialable boy named Owen.  Throughout the year, the truth slowly comes out about what really happened to Annabelle and Sophie’s boyfriend, Will Cash.  She probably wasn’t his first victim, and definitely was not his last.  Now that Emily has come forward and press charges, maybe people will just listen to Annabelle finally tell her side of the story to her former friends. Can they ever be friends again?

This was a good book. Annabelle went through something that a lot of girls have to deal with. She also kept quiet about the rape, similar to other girls. I hope this book will bring to light the seriousness of the situation and help girls come forward when someone violates them.  

 

This World we Live in

This World we Live in

This is the 3^rd book of the series, and I liked this book better than the 2^nd, but not as good as the first.  This book linked the first and second book together and tells a story of families coming together and trying to survive.  

To quote Amazon:

“It’s been a year since a meteor collided with the moon, catastrophically altering the earth’s climate. For Miranda Evans, life as she knew it no longer exists. Her friends and neighbors are dead, the landscape is frozen, and food is increasingly scarce.

The struggle to survive intensifies when Miranda’s father and stepmother arrive with a baby and three strangers in tow. One of the newcomers is Alex Morales, and as Miranda’s complicated feelings for him turn to love, his plans for his future thwart their relationship. Then a devastating tornado hits the town of Howell, and Miranda makes a decision that will change their lives forever.”

 

The Dead and Gone

The Dead and Gone

The second book in this series, this was not as good as the first.  The Dead and Gone tell a story of a boy named Alex, who has two sisters and brother. Their parents disappeared after that dreadful day in May when the moon shifted and everything changed forever.  Never knowing what happened to their parents, Alex began rummaging dead bodies looking for them.  Eventually, him and a friend discovered dead bodies have good loot worth a trade-in on food.  They would go in the mornings before school and scour the bodies, trade it in for food to feed their family.  This is a great book about the will to survive, and to keep your family alive.  

I actually have been thinking about the first book I read a while back since the big scare of Ebola has surfaced.  I remembered beginning a series about how people have to fight to stay alive when everything in the world was trying to kill them.  I thought ‘maybe I should read these books so I will know how to keep my family alive during the Ebola apocalypse’.  Ha. Funny, I know. But It got me into reading again. 

 

Tell No One

Dr. David Beck met his wife when they were 7 and inseparable.  They celebrated each of their 12 wedding anniversaries at the very same place they met, his grandfather’s campsite.  On their 13^thanniversary, they continued the ritual, but this time, something happened.  Beck heard Elizabeth scream, and then he gets hit on his head and almost drowning.  Waking up in the hospital to the news that his wife is dead is not anything a man wants to hear about his wife.  Especially when he got injured trying to save her and still did not succeed.

8 years later, David Beck still goes on dates but cannot let go of his late wife, Elizabeth.  While working one day, Beck receives an email in code, but he deciphers it and determines that Elizabeth may be alive!  At this moment, Beck has been warned to tell no one. And he doesn’t. Instead, he runs from the people he trusts the most, plunging into a search for the shadowy figure whose messages hold out a desperate hope. 

But already Beck is being hunted down. He’s headed straight into the heart of a dark and deadly secret–and someone intends to stop him before he gets there.

I recently read my first book my Harlan Coben, and it was pretty great.  I decided to seek out another. I enjoy the murder/mystery books.  Honestly, I didn’t find this one as captivating.  It had so many twists and plots and part of the story that no one would add up in the real world. It was just hard to believe some of this would actually happen.  But, overall I did enjoy it still, and will find a 3^rd book to read by Coben.  I rated this a 3 out of 5. 

 

Missing You

NYPD Detective Kat Donnavan hasn't really dated since her fiancé, Jeff, dumped her 18 years ago; 2 years after her father was murdered and she was consumed to solve his murder. Her friend, Stacy, signed her up for a year's subscription for a dating site. Who does Kat first stumble across?! A picture of her former fiancé. 

Brandon Phelps is a teenager who believes his mom has been kidnapped, despite her texts, emails and calls confirming she is ok. Brandon contacts Kat to help find his mother, since he discovered she was going away on a weekend trip with her new online friend, Jake. Jake and Jeff are the same person.

  

Titus is a business man  who is out to earn money the easy way, by kidnapping rich people and torturing them. 

Can Kat handle the death of the man who confessed to her father's murder, flashbacks from her old relationship, and tracking down the whereabouts of Brandon's mother?? 

This is my first Harlan Coben book to read, but it definitely will not be the last. I'm a slow reader and it usually takes me more than a week to finish a book. Missing You took me 2 days. That could be record-breaking for me! 

The Secret Desires of a Soccer Mom

After reading this quick read, I thought I would give my quick review of it. 

Paige and her four girlfriends, who also happen to be neighbors, have a long friendship behind them. One day, they get the news that one of their girlfriends, Karen, died in a freak accident, alone. 

Paige decides to do some of her own investigation after Karen confided a dark secret to her only days before the accident. The local cops know that they have an open and shut case. Ruled: accident. Paige isn't so sure. 

Paige is determined to track down her best friend's killer.

This book is a very easy read, but also very boring. Paige is an extremely self-involved mother of 2 who does not take anyone else's feelings into consideration. She is strong and hard-headed. There are parts where I feel like I'm watching an episode of Desperate Housewives with the secrets and can plotting amongst some of the friends. 

Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

Debating on rating this a 2. Loved delirium and couldn't wait to pick this book up to see what happens next. This book did not peak my interest and seemed to drag on. Parts of it did not even make sense and I'm still very confused. I can see that the 3rd book will have a very rough, confusing love-triangle going on.

 

Lena lef her world to join the wilds with her love, Alex, only to have him killed before they made it. now, she must learn to adapt to the life of the wilds without the one person who convinced her of the deleria and to leave all she has ever known.  Eventually, Lena learns to trust those around her and adapt. 

 

After going on a mission that even she doesn't know what all it entails, she falls for Josh.  They have to fight for their lives and make it to a safe place outside. 

 

Lena learns that her mom helped rescue her, but she hasn't seen her mom since she was told she killed herself after the deleria took over her body.  She knows she's alive, but to see her... wow.  and not to realize who she was until she is long gone again?

 

Lena promises she won't leave Josh, and then she hears a voice behind her. Alex. 

 

I'm not sure I really enjoyed this as much as the first one. It didn't grab my attention and I found parts confusing. And Alex is back? but he died.  Maybe he was only injured and just held captive, but why didn't they just kill him since they know he wasn't cured?  Guess I'll read the 3rd book and find out what happens next.

A Plain Death

Chloe, a 24 year old computer engineer is offed a job by phone in a small town Amish town of Appleseed, in Knox Count, OH. After moving her 3hours away  from Cleveland, as she arrives in her new town she encounters a 19 year old blonde female being harassed on the side of the street.  Chloe steps in and offers to help the girl, who jumps into her car and said she is going home with her. 

The blonde, Becky, is an Amish runaway with nowhere to go and invites herself to live with Chloe. Becky calls her brother, Timothy to tell him she is ok and has a new friend. Timothy takes it on himself to befriend Chloe. One day while Chloe is at work, Becky calls to tell her she was in an accident. While driving Chloe's car without permission, she runs into an Amish buggy, killing their Bishop. 

Upon further investigation, the police determine that the brake-lines were cut in Chloe's car, and their first suspect is the two men who were harassing Be ky on Chloe's first day in her new town. 

The police ask Chloe to help figure out who would want to kill the girls, and Chloe uses her new connections to the Amish town to do just that. 

This is a cute, quick read. I really wasn't too sure how it would end for most of the story-line, and I prefer books that aren't obvious like this. 

I rated this a 4 out of 5. 

Delirium

I was looking for a new book to read, while I waited for the one I really wanted to read to be available at the library. I'm not a fan of buying books if I can rent them/check them out for free. The book I chose was comparable to The Hunger Games. 

The United States Of America has found a way to cure the infected people and maintain control.  When a person turns 18, they undergo a brain procedure that will prevent them from becoming infected. The disease: LOVE.  Prior to turning 18, you must go through testing so they can determine if/what college you will go to, what you will study, who you will marry, and how many children you will have. 

Lena is counting down the days to your 18th birthday for the procedure.  She is ready to be cured before she is infected.  The infected are either killed, held in The Crypts, or flee the city to live in the Wilds, never being allowed to return.  When Lena and her best friend Hana were out for a jog one evening, they meet a cured man, who takes a liking to Lena.  She thought she was safe to be around him, having the feelings of the disease inside of her, because he is cured, so no harm can come from it.  Turns out, he isn't cured afterall. 

While secretly dating Alex, lying to her family, and falling victim to the disease of love, Lena is no longer is eager for the cure.  They plan to run away into the Wilds and be together forever, until the protectors discover that she is infected!!  The evening before her re-scheduled procedure, Lena escapes her house and runs off with Alex, only to have the police, protectors and helicopters chasing after them as they drive quickly towards the Wilds to escape for good. 

I have to admit, I was very upset up the ending of this book. I know this is a series, and am now eager to see the next book to know what happens to Lena. 

For One More Day

This is a great, quick read. I am a slow reader and within less than 2 hours, I was halfway through the book and engulfed in the story.

It jumps around from the main character's current life, to life growing up, to telling stories about what he did growing up.

This is a great read about a man who loves his divorced mother and father; who is always eager to please his father, who is rarely even in the man's life.

I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You

Welcome to The Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women, an all-girls school.  Anyone looking at this elite private boarding school would see just what The Gallagher Academy wants you to see--a preppy school for privileged girls, complete with a guardhouse and stone wall to keep the curious away from their precious charges. And they'd be right, of course, and yet they would be so very, very wrong!

Because The Gallagher Academy isn't exactly what it appears to be. It's an elite school, that's for sure, and the only boys who grace its grounds are the male teachers. After that, though, the similarities between The Gallagher Academy and every other elite boarding school in the world ends. Instead of math and reading, English and horseback-riding, the girls who attend this school take courses in Covert Operations, Ancient Languages, Countries of the World, Culture and Assimilation, and Protection and Enforcement. The Gallagher Academy is, in a word, a school for spies.

Cammie Morgan is a sophomore here, living in a room with her two best friends, Liz and Bex, when a new girl shows up and the only place available for her to stay, is with Cammie and her friends.  Just like the rest of the town judges all these ‘snotty’ girls, Cammie is quick to judge Macey, the tall, beautiful, skinny legs roommate who seems not fitting for the smarts you need in this spy school. 

But then things start to get a little out of control.  Cammie meets a boy in town, Josh, while on a CoveOps assignment for class.  But now Cammie is balancing on a dangerous ledge--knowing that no one outside of the gates of The Gallagher Academy can ever know who she truly is, and wanting nothing more than to spill all of her secrets to Josh.

As lies tangle with truths, as first love duels with obligation, Cammie will need to learn exactly what it means to be a spy, and a young girl falling in love, and loyalty to her friends/classmates.

I’ve rated this 4.5 out of 5 as this was a book I couldn’t put down, even after my 13 year old step-daughter informed me that this is the same book her middle school announcements encourage them to read each morning. 

Beyond Tuesday Morning

I am definitely becoming a new fan of Karen Kingsbury. I didn’t know her books had such religious affiliates to it, but it is definitely a great read and helped me with some of my own issues with God and myself. 

Beyond Tuesday Morning is the second book in the 9/11 series, coming after “One Tuesday Morning” when the Twin Towers were attacked on September 11, 2001.  

Jamie and Laura have learned to live with their final news they learned about, 3 months after the terrorist attacks.  Laura’s husband was alive, and had finally remembered who he is and wanted to return home.  Jamie’s husband died doing what he loved best, savings others. 

 Three years later, Laura is still loving every moment with her new-found husband Erik, who learned a lot from Jake, the man that once loved Jamie and looks just like him.  Jamie and Sierra have re-adjusted to life without Jake.  Jamie volunteers at a memorial for 9/11.  One day on her way to work, she was held at gun-point by several punks.  Little did she know, but earlier on her ferry ride she caught the attention if an off-duty officer who was from California.  He noticed the men and confronted them, saving her life.  They spent every day together for the next three weeks while Clay enjoyed his vacation/training in the Big Apple.  When they discover who they both really are, can Jamie overcome her sadness from her husband’s death and be happy? Can Clay accept the role that Jamie once played in Clay’s family’s life 3 years earlier?  This is a great story of love and God’s love for all of us. 

One Tuesday Morning

One Tuesday Morning is nothing like I expected to read; like nothing I has read. Karen Kingsbury is not an author I am familiar with. Her writing is wonderful in this great book.

Jamie and Jake have a beautiful 4 year old daughter, Sierra.  Jake is a firefighter for FDNY.  On Sundays, Jake and Sierra go to church together and pray together. Jake reads his bible daily and updates his journal as he reads the bible.  Jamie, who was once a believer, lost both her parents in a car crash, and since then, lost her faith in God. 

Laura and Eric have 8 year old son, Josh.  They live in a California.  Eric is an over-achiever at work and never has a moment to spend with his family.  Laura is a doting wife he is tired of trying to make her relationship with her husband, who is like a stranger living in her house, work. 

On a day in Eric had an important business meeting in New York City.  September 11, 2001, Eric is working on the 61st floor of the South Tower, when he sees a plane flying too low, and then crashing into the North World Trade Center.  Shortly after, he is alerted that their building is on fire on a higher floor and they need to evacuate the building. 

Jake's unit is called, along with all other New York units to run to the World Trade Centers and control the erratic plane and fires. Jake's unit is assigned to run up and clear all floors up to the 64th floor.  On Jake's trek up the floors, he runs into a stranger, Eric, and helps him up.  Eric and Jake stared at each other, and it was as if they are looking in the mirror; they could have been twins! Eric saw Jake's helmet with a picture and name, Sierra written on it.  Jake continued up and Eric continued to the ground.  Shortly after, we all know what happens: the towers collapse. 

Laura and Jamie see this on the news and immediately start calling everyone they can to get in contact with their husbands.  As the women live through the moments of this day and the following days, we read through their struggles and turmoil of dealing with their tragedies.

I rate this a 5 of 5.  wow this is an intense book. It definitely opened my eyes to some of the moments that happened on this terrible day that we don't think about.  The family.