The Best of Friends by Lucinda Berry - 5 Stars

Kendra, Dani, and Lindsey have been best friends since they were little and are fortunate that all 3 of their sons have become best friends too. But a tragic incident threatens their relationship. One boy is dead, another in a coma, and the third is too traumatized to speak. 

The women set out to find out the truth about what happened and soon discover that you don't always know someone as well as you thought you did. 

By far the best book I've read this year. This book had me hanging on from the beginning. Quickly paced with lots to leave you hanging on to, there were a few shocking moments in the book, but nothing like the epilogue. The twist at the end actually had me saying "oh...my...god" out loud! I will definitely be checking to see if she has any other books and if she does, can only hope they're as good as this one.  

The Borrower by Rebecca Makkai - 2 Stars

 "Lucy Hull, a young children's librarian in Hannibal, Missouri, finds herself both a kidnapper and kidnapped when her favorite patron, ten- year-old Ian Drake, runs away from home. The precocious Ian is addicted to reading, but needs Lucy's help to smuggle books past his overbearing mother, who has enrolled Ian in weekly antigay classes with celebrity Pastor Bob. Lucy stumbles into a moral dilemma when she finds Ian camped out in the library after hours with a knapsack of provisions and an escape plan. Desperate to save him from Pastor Bob and the Drakes, Lucy allows herself to be hijacked by Ian. The odd pair embarks on a crazy road trip from Missouri to Vermont, with ferrets, an inconvenient boyfriend, and upsetting family history thrown in their path. But is it just Ian who is running away? Who is the man who seems to be on their tail? And should Lucy be trying to save a boy from his own parents?"

I ended up having to force myself to finish this one. Both characters were horribly irritating and a lot of the book had nothing to do with the story. The idea that Lucy just didn't know what to do with the boy was a bit of a stretch. And the fact that there really wasn't any concern that he was missing was a bit of a stretch, too. 

The Secret, Book, and Scone Society by Ellery Adams - 5 Stars

 Miracle Springs is a small, but flourishing town in North Carolina. With it's small town charm, people flock here to ease their pain. 

Nora, a local bookstore owner, knows how to choose the right book to help the customer with what ever pain brought them to Miracle Springs. 

Nora meets a mysterious business man and plans to meet him later at the bookstore to help him find the perfect book, but before their meeting, he ends up dead.

Nora forms the Secret, Book, & Scone Society with a group of local women and set out to find who killed this mystery man. The group bonds over their secrets that brought them to Miracle Springs and uncover the truth about the mystery.

This was a really cute cozy mystery. I didn't realize when I chose it that it was actually a cozy mystery. The ending was a little more detailed than what most cozy mysteries are, but it wasn't too over the top.

This was the first in the series, and I think I'll read the next one in the future. 

Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson - 4 Stars

 Malcom Kershaw is a used book store owner that specializes in mystery novels. When the store first opened, Malcom created a blog entitled "Eight Perfect Murders" in which he lists 8 of his favorite murder mystery books.Years later, the FBI approaches Malcom about his list. It seems as though someone is using Malcom's list to recreate these murders in real life. 

Malcom starts to wonder if the killer is someone he knows and soon begins to suspect everyone around him. Malcom wonders what he's started by creating this list and wonders if the FBI will find the killer before he does.

This was a pretty fast moving book. The idea of the book (that someone is copying murders in books), to me, made a good subject for Eight Perfect Murders. There were several twists in the book, although the ending when the murderer was revealed was kind of anticlimactic for me. There was one other twist at the end that was a little surprising, though. 

Oh. What. Fun. by Chandler Baker - 3 Stars

 "Tyler, Channing, and Sammy Clauster have descended on their childhood home, with significant others and four-year-old twins in tow, for another good old-fashioned Christmas. Overwhelming holiday magic, as always, comes courtesy of their mom, Claire. They know she’s thrilled to cook, wrap gifts, decorate, accommodate, play games, overprepare every Christmas Eve Eve Eve tradition, and still let Dad be known as the Fun One. It’s her thing, right? Maybe the family should have paid closer attention. Because this year, something is a little off-key—and it’s not just the carols."

This was a short story I found on Amazon and have to say I'm glad that I didn't buy it (it was included with my Prime membership). The idea of the book was kinda cute, but I felt that it was a little all over the place and the ending came and went before I even grasped what was happening. 

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig - 4 Stars

 "Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story of your life as it is, along with another book for the other life you could have lived if you had made a different choice at any point in your life. While we all wonder how our lives might have been, what if you had the chance to go to the library and see for yourself? Would any of these other lives truly be better?

In The Midnight Library, Matt Haig's enchanting blockbuster novel, Nora Seed finds herself faced with this decision. Faced with the possibility of changing her life for a new one, following a different career, undoing old breakups, realizing her dreams of becoming a glaciologist; she must search within herself as she travels through the Midnight Library to decide what is truly fulfilling in life, and what makes it worth living in the first place."

I was happy to find that this one was actually available through my library (there had previously been a huge waiting list). It was a thought provoking book of how your life could have been different if there were different choices made. The lives that Nora lived were all massively different depending on what choices she had made. It was fun to see what life would hold for Nora in another "book".

Every Last Word by Tamara Stone - 4 Stars

 Samantha is one of the popular girls in school, but she is hiding a secret from her friends. She has OCD and is consumed by thoughts that she can't turn off. Soon, Sam meets Caroline, who has a great sense of humor and is a breath of fresh air to Sam. Caroline introduces Sam to a group of misfits in the school that meet weekly and write poetry. Slowly, Sam starts to feel more "normal" around her new friends. But something threatens all of the progress that Sam has made and makes her really question her sanity.

I guess this is technically a YA book since Amazon says it's for 12-18 year olds, but it was a really good read. The book flowed well and there's a good twist at the end. I may have to see what else the author has written.

What Happens in Darkness by Laura McHugh - 3 Stars

 "Seventeen-year-old Sarabeth has become increasingly rebellious since her parents found God and moved their family to a remote Arkansas farmstead where she's forced to wear long dresses, follow strict rules, and grow her hair down to her waist. She's all but given up on escaping the farm when a masked man appears one stifling summer morning and snatches her out of the cornfield.

A week after her abduction, she's found alongside a highway in a bloodstained dress--alive--but her family treats her like she's tainted, and there's little hope of finding her captor, who kept Sarabeth blindfolded in the dark the entire time, never uttering a word. One good thing arises from the horrific ordeal: a chance to leave the Ozarks and start a new life.

Five years later, Sarabeth is struggling to keep her past buried when investigator Nick Farrow calls. Convinced that her case is connected to the strikingly similar disappearance of another young girl, Farrow wants Sarabeth's help, and he'll do whatever it takes to get it, even if that means dragging her back to the last place she wants to go--the hills and hollers of home, to face her estranged family and all her darkest fears."

The synopsis of this one sounded a lot better than it really was. The book switches back to young Sarabeth and the present day Sarabeth, who now is only known as Sarah. The first half was decent, but then I felt it was starting to lag and the ending wasn't as explosive or shocking as I thought it would be. 

Turkey Trot Murder by Leslie Meier - 2 Stars

 Lucy is out for a run one morning when she finds the body of Alison Franklin dead in the local pond. Rumored to be a result of drug use, Lucy feels there is something else going on. When her father, Ed is found murdered in his SUV, Lucy feels even more certain that something is going on and it may have to do with the new Mexican fusion restaurant that is being brought to the small town. 

So this was supposed to be a cozy mystery, but I found it more of a racist political book. There was so much talk about majority of the town hating the thought of a Hispanic moving to town and opening a restaurant. It certainly wasn't the cozy feeling that I was expecting it to be. I don't think I'll be reading any others in her series.  

#Murdertrending by Gretchen McNeil - 4 Stars

 In the near future, citizens can watch the executions of the country's worst criminals through an app devised by someone only known as The Postman. The prisoners are held on what is called Alcatraz 2.0. 

Dee wakes up in a haze on the floor of one of the torture rooms on Alcatraz 2.0. Dee knows that she did not commit the murder she was accused of and will do everything it takes to survive on Alcatraz 2.0. 

I love dystopian novels and this one sounded really good. I wasn't sure about it at first because it started with a bunch of hashtags and clips that you'd see on social media, but it turned out that these clips were just a couple of pages at the beginning of the book and the rest was normal text. 

The ideas of how the "prisoners" were to die was pretty gruesome. The book did take a few different twists and turns that I wasn't expecting. Overall, it was a pretty good book. The ending was a bit of a cliff hanger, but I'm not sure if I'll read the other 2 in the series or not. 

Mother Knows Best by Kira Peikoff - 3 Stars

 "Claire Abrams’s dreams became a nightmare when she passed on a genetic mutation that killed her little boy. Now she wants a second chance to be a mother, and finds it in Robert Nash, a maverick fertility doctor who works under the radar with Jillian Hendricks, a cunning young scientist bent on making her mark—and seducing her boss.

Claire, Robert, and Jillian work together to create the world’s first baby with three genetic parents—an unprecedented feat that could eliminate inherited disease. But when word of their illegal experiment leaks to the wrong person, Robert escapes into hiding with the now-pregnant Claire, leaving Jillian to serve out a prison sentence that destroys her future.

Ten years later, a spunky girl named Abigail begins to understand that all is not right with the reclusive man and woman she knows as her parents. But the family’s problems are only beginning. Jillian, hardened by a decade of jealousy and loss, has returned—and nothing will stop her from reuniting with the man and daughter who should have been hers."

I loved the idea of this book and up until the last couple of chapters it had been really good with a few unexpected twists. It was definitely a good psychological thriller, but I thought the end fell a bit flat. 

Sometimes I Lie by Alice Feeney - 5 Stars

 Amber wakes up in the hospital and can't speak or move. She can hear, though, and those around her have no idea. She doesn't know what happened or how she got there. From the conversations she hears, Amber has tons of questions. Is she in the coma due to an accident? Is her sister having an affair with her husband? And who is the stranger that keeps visiting her in the middle of the night.

The story is told in 3 parts: present, past (leading up to the accident), and clips from her childhood diary. 

This was one twisty book and I LOVED it. I read it in about 24 hours, which is super rare for me. I never read that fast. Just when you think you've figured things out, the author throws in another twist and leaves you baffled again. I think I will definitely check out some of her other books. 

The Seven Day Switch by Kelly Harms - 4 Stars

 Celeste is a stay-at-home-mom. She feeds her kids organic foods, has an immaculate home, and still finds time to relax. 

Wendy is the go-getter with her own business as a productivity consultant. She has a minute-to-minute schedule that she follows and spends one waking hour each day with her kids. 

Both moms despise each other and think that the other one has made the wrong choice when it comes to their children. But after too much sangria at the neighborhood potluck, they wake up in each other's bodies and soon find out more than they wanted about the other's life. 

The women are in each other's bodies for a week and have to learn how to run each household as well as making changes they feel will make the other one a better mom. 

This was cute, but I did find the end a little dragging. It was fiction, but was interesting to see how each mom (working and stay-at-home) viewed the other without knowing what they were going through.

Yours Cruelly, Elvira by Cassandra Peterson - 5 Stars

 "Nearing age 30, a struggling actress considered past her prime, she auditioned at local LA channel KHJ as hostess for the late night vintage horror movies. Cassandra improvised, made the role her own, and got the job on the spot. Yours Cruelly, Elvira is an unforgettably wild memoir. Cassandra doesn't shy away from revealing exactly who she is and how she overcame seemingly insurmountable odds. Always original and sometimes outrageous, her story is loaded with twists, travails, revelry, and downright shocking experiences. It is the candid, often funny, and sometimes heart-breaking tale of a Midwest farm girl's long strange trip to become the world's sexiest, sassiest Halloween icon."

I was really excited when this book came out. I'm not normally a fan of Hollywood memoirs, but I love horror movies and remember Elvira from my younger years. The description of the book pulled me in and boy did it deliver. There were a few slow spots half way through the book, but when I did sit down to read, I flew through it and really enjoyed the stories. 

Darling Rose Gold by Stephanie Wrobel - 4 Stars

 "For the first eighteen years of her life, Rose Gold Watts believed she was seriously ill. She was allergic to everything, used a wheelchair and practically lived at the hospital. Neighbors did all they could, holding fundraisers but no matter how many doctors, tests, or surgeries, no one could figure out what was wrong with Rose Gold.

Turns out her mom, Patty Watts, was just a really good liar.
After serving five years in prison, Patty begs her daughter to take her in. The entire community is shocked when Rose Gold says yes. And Rose Gold is no longer her weak little darling...
And she's waited such a long time for her mother to come home"

This one was really good. There was a nice build up to the twist at the end of the book. I did figure out part of the twist, but not all of it. LOL! Definitely a good psychological thriller.

The Secret Speech by Tom Rob Smith - 4 Stars

 "Soviet Union, 1956. Stalin is dead, and a violent regime is beginning to fracture-leaving behind a society where the police are the criminals, and the criminals are innocent. A secret speech composed by Stalin's successor Khrushchev is distributed to the entire nation. Its message: Stalin was a tyrant. Its promise: The Soviet Union will change.

Facing his own personal turmoil, former state security officer Leo Demidov is also struggling to change. The two young girls he and his wife Raisa adopted have yet to forgive him for his part in the death of their parents. They are not alone. Now that the truth is out, Leo, Raisa, and their family are in grave danger from someone consumed by the dark legacy of Leo's past career. Someone transformed beyond recognition into the perfect model of vengeance."

I picked this one up for Fly the PBT Skies, but it's not normally something I would read. I did read the first one in this series, and enjoyed it, so I thought I'd give this one a try. I really enjoyed it. For the most part it was fast paced and had several unexpected twists. For me, it was a little long, but other than that I liked it.

Ladies' Night by Mary Kay Andrews - 4 Stars

Grace Stanton has the ideal life: husband, large house, job as an online lifestyles blogger. But that all changes when she finds her husband cheating with her young assistant and she decides to drive his fancy sports car right into their backyard pool. 

Grace finds herself locked out of her house, her checking account, and just about everything else in her life. To make matters worse, the judge orders her to a mandatory divorce "rehab" group. Here Grace meets 3 other women and one man who have been ordered to attend the same group as her. 

The members of the group all feel they've been scorned by their exes and when their "divorce coach" starts to act oddly, the group sets out to find out the reasoning behind her behavior. 

Grace wades her way through heartache, laughter, and a little bit of mystery and discovers the things she needs to do to put her life back together.

I thought this was a really cute read. There were some bits I would have left out because I did think it was a little on the long side, but over all it was a good read. I will probably check out some more of the author's books. 

Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri - 2 Stars

 This is a book of short stories that take place between India and America. It should have been a quick read since it was right around 200 pages. But I had a really hard time getting through this one. One of the stories is described as having an astonishing confession, but I didn't find anything shocking about it. I just thought the story was weird. A couple of the stories were ok, but overall, I just did not enjoy it. 

The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepherd - 5 Stars

 Inspired by The Island of Dr Moreau, the story follows the doctor's daughter, Juliet, to the isolated island that the doctor is now living. Juliet's privileged life fell apart when her father was accused of gruesomely experimenting on animals. Juliet thought that her father was dead, but learns that he is living on a remote tropical island. Juliet sets off with her father's assistant, Montgomery, to the island. Along the way, a castaway, Edward is picked up and all 3 end up in a nightmare on the island. Juliet aims to stop her father's experiments, but at what cost?

When I first started this one, I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to finish it. It ended up being like a rollercoaster, though. It was slow, then fast, then slow, then fast. LOL! There were spots that I flew through, excited to get through to the next chapter. There were 2 twists towards the end that I didn't expect, but quite enjoyed. This is the first in a trilogy, but I'm not sure if I will read the other 2 or not.

Before and Again by Barbara Delinsky - 5 Stars

 Mackenzie Cooper caused a car accident that not only took her child, but caused her to lose her marriage and friends as well. Now she is living in a quiet town in Vermont as Maggie Reid. She has rebuilt her life and is happy. She only has a few months of probation left and she just needs to fly under the radar until that is over.
But soon a close friend's son is thrown into national spotlight for hacking a famous person's Twitter account. Maggie must decide how much she is willing to help her friend without undoing everything she has built in her new life.

This was a really good book and I read half of it in just 2 days! The story line moved well and there were several different issues that Maggie was dealing with throughout the story. The end was very touching and there were parts that almost made me cry.

Key Lime Pie Murder by Joanne Fluke - 4 Stars

 Hannah Swenson has a busy week with the ti-county fair going on. She's baking cookies for a booth at the fair as well as judging the dessert contest. Hannah is on the fair grounds late one night when she finds her fellow judge, Willa, dead.
As usual, Hannah sets out to find the killer and find out who would want Willa dead.

This is a typical cozy mystery, but I really enjoy this series and this one was just as good as the others.

Akata Witch by Nnedi Okoafor - 4 Stars

 Sunny is a 12 year old girl who was born in America, but is living in Nigeria. She has African features, but is Albino. She loves to play soccer, but can't be out in the sun. Sunny feels that she doesn't fit in anywhere.
But soon she finds out that she is part of a magical community. She is soon paired with 3 other children who have different magical abilities. The 4 of them are learning their abilities, but must band together to defeat an evil being trying to destroy the world.

The book has been dubbed the Nigerian Harry Potter and it lives up to that. I felt like I was reading Harry Potter, but set in a different country.
This tag is out of my comfort zone, but I really enjoy Harry Potter, so when I seen this one I thought I'd give it a try. I am glad that I did. I really enjoyed it. This is a series and book 2 is out, so I may put that on my wish list.

Paper Wife by Laila Ibrahim - 3 Stars

 In China, 1923, Mei Ling's parents are desperate to secure a good future for her. This means setting up an arranged marriage for Mei Ling. She will be a paper wife, meaning she has to pretend to be her husbands first wife. Mei Ling sets off on a long journey across the ocean to a country she has never been to.
Along the way Mei Ling takes a young girl, Siew, under her wing and meets her soon to be good friend, June. But when she reaches San Francisco, she discovers that her husband is not who he says is he. Instead of a wealthy merchant, he is just a servant. Mei Ling, who is now pregnant, worries for her future and wonders if they can become a strong loving family, even if the whole relationship is built on false pretenses.

The first part of this book went by pretty fast, but I found the second half kind of lacking. It didn't pull me in the way the first part did, when Mei Ling was going through what she did on the ship to America and on Angel Island. Over all, it was still pretty good, though.

A Splendid Ruin by Megan Chance - 4 Stars

 May Kimble lives a penniless and lonely life in New York after her mother dies. But shortly after her mother's death, she is summoned to San Francisco to live with an aunt that she didn't know she had. The family is wealthy and May will be taken care of and taken in as one of their own.
But after arriving at her aunt's house, things start to become odd to May. Her aunt stays in a laudanum stupor, the Chinese maid hints that May is in some kind of trouble, and her cousin is often disappearing in the middle of the night.
But on an early morning in April, San Francisco comes tumbling down. May emerges from the smoldering ruins on a mission to find out the truth and claim what is rightfully hers.

Megan Chance is my favorite historical author, so I was excited to run across a newer book of hers. The first 2/3 of this book had me turning pages like crazy, but the ending wasn't what I was expecting. I was expecting a shocking twist of some sort, but never got it. But over all it was a really good book.

The Last Resort by Susi Holliday - 3 Stars

 Amelia is quite surprised when she gets a mysterious invitation to a private island getaway. Her, along with 6 other strangers are told that they have been invited to the island to test some up and coming technology, but they soon find out that this is not true.
Amelia is looking forward to the lavish party they have been promised at the end of the day, but soon finds out that each person has a dark secret that they are keeping and this is being used against them on the island. They are forced to wear a memory tracking device and soon learn that there is no where to hide. Soon the group starts to fight and they split up and Amelia has to figure out how to survive the rest of the day.

This was a strange book. It was sort of an Agatha Christie story mixed with modern technology and a dystopian feel. It started out ok, but the ending fell really short for me. Up until the last few chapters I was pretty intrigued on what the ending was going to reveal, but at the end I just thought it fell flat.

Christmas Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella - 4 Stars

 This book in the series has Becky Bloomwood enjoying the quiet life in Leatherby and working for her best friend, Suze. It's Christmas time and Becky is looking forward to the food, carols, and more. But this year, Becky has been asked by her parents to host the Christmas festivities.
Becky is sure that she can handle it and thinks nothing can go wrong. But the next thing she knows things are NOT going as planned. Her sister wants a vegan turkey, her husband only wants after shave for his gift, and her daughter, Minnie, is asking for something very specific. To top it off, Becky runs into her ex-(rock star) boyfriend and his pushy new girlfriend, who seems to be up to something.
Of course Becky gets into all kinds of hilarious situations along the way and she begins to wonder if she'll be able to pull off hosting Christmas and make everyone happy.

So I'm reading this a little late (or really early), but I was looking for something light and fluffy after the first 2 books I had read this year. I know not a lot of people like the Shopaholic books, or even chic lit for that matter, but I have absolutely loved this series.
The things that Becky gets into may be far fetched but are always good for a laugh.

The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell - 5 Stars

 When Libby turns 25 she is excited to find out what she's been waiting for her whole life: who her birth parents are. What Libby doesn't know is that she has also inherited a mansion on the banks of the Thames river in the upscale Chelsea neighborhood. The house is worth millions. What Libby doesn't know is that there are others that have been waiting on this day as well.
25 years earlier police were called to the house with reports of a baby crying. There they find a perfectly healthy, well cared for baby in a crib. There are 3 adults dead in the kitchen and 4 other children who have gone missing.

The story is told through the lives of 3 different characters in the book. It took me a few chapters to get each person straight and figure out who was who. The first half of the book is mostly back story, but at a little over half way through there was a shocking moment. From that point on, I plowed through the rest of the story and other unexpected shockers.
This is my 2nd book of the year and another 5 star rating.

Songs of Willow Frost by Jamie Ford - 5 Stars

 Songs of Willow Frost by Jamie Ford
5 Stars

William Eng is a 12 year old Chinese American boy who has lived in the Sacred Heart Orphanage for the last 5 years. This was the last time he had seen his mother. When the orphanage takes the boys out for the annual birthday celebration, William gets a glimpse of who he believes is his mother. She is an actress going by the name of Willow Frost.
William is determined to find out if this is really Liu Song, his mother. He navigates the streets with his friend Charlotte in search of the truth.

The story is set between the 1920's and the Great Depression and switches between the two timeframes. What results is a heart wrenching story of love, hope, and forgiveness.

I really enjoyed this story. While it was a sad story, most of the time, the ending was really heart warming. I'm happy that my first read was a 5 star rating.