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.

Mothers Day 2014

 

On Friday before Mother’s day, I received a card in the mail from my mom (who lives in the same town as me, who I see almost once a week at least).  I opened it, and it was a Mother’s Day Card. I’m not technically a mother, but I did inherit 3 stepkids, so I have the step “mom” title.  The card was sweet.  I thought nothing more about it.  I’m not a mom. 

 

Sunday morning (Mother’s Day), the first words out of Bo’s mouth is “Happy Mother’s Day”. He was acknowledging my hard work as the stepmom and my mother-role in our family.  It was sweet!  Not what I expected. I’m not a mom. 

 

We went out with his family to celebrate his mom, Nini, and sister as mothers.  We then went out to dinner with my parents. (We celebrated my family’s mother’s day the night before).  That evening, I get a phone call from my sweet kids who wanted to tell me Happy Mother’s Day.  Melted my heart.  They were acknowledging me as one of their moms.  I won’t compare myself to the role their actual mom has, but it’s still great to know I have been accepted and everyone knows that as a stepmom, we are still a mom/caregiver to our children.  When we went to bed that night, the last words Bo told me again was “Happy Mother’s Day”.  It’s been great! 

 

Three days later, a friend of mine had mailed something to me that also said “Happy Mother’s Day”. And he hasn’t even MET my family yet.  Made me smile again.