Stay Awake by Megan Goldin - 4 Stars

 When Liv Reese wakes up in the back of a taxi, she has no idea how she got there. She's dropped off at here apartment, only to find a stranger answering the door. Her phone and wallet are missing and she has a strange message written on her hand: Stay Awake!

Liv has no idea what is going on and why she can't remember the last 2 years of her life. Liv soon finds out that there has been a murder in the city and the same strange message was written on the window in the victims blood.

Liv must figure out what is going on and how she plays into it before it's too late. 

I enjoyed this one pretty good. I liked the concept, but felt that the ending was a little bit of a let down. I was expecting a larger twist. 

Notorious Nineteen by Janet Evanovich - 5 Stars

 In the 19th book of this series, bounty hunter Stephanie Plum is up to her usual shenanigans. She's on the hunt for several skipped bounties. One, a homeless man who has a wooden tiki for collateral. Another one had his appendix removed and suddenly disappeared from the hospital without a trace, and the third embezzled over 5 million dollars from the local senior citizen's home.

As usual, this one had me laughing out loud. I love all the hijinks that Stephanie gets into. 

Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez - 4 Stars

 "Montgomery, Alabama, 1973. Fresh out of nursing school, Civil Townsend intends to make a difference, especially in her African American community. At the Montgomery Family Planning Clinic, she hopes to help women shape their destinies, to make their own choices for their lives and bodies.

But when her first week on the job takes her along a dusty country road to a worn-down one-room cabin, Civil is shocked to learn that her new patients, Erica and India, are children—just eleven and thirteen years old. Neither of the Williams sisters has even kissed a boy, but they are poor and Black, and for those handling the family’s welfare benefits, that’s reason enough to have the girls on birth control. As Civil grapples with her role, she takes India, Erica, and their family into her heart. Until one day she arrives at their door to learn the unthinkable has happened, and nothing will ever be the same for any of them.

Decades later, with her daughter grown and a long career in her wake, Dr. Civil Townsend is ready to retire, to find her peace, and to leave the past behind. But there are people and stories that refuse to be forgotten. That must not be forgotten.

Because history repeats what we don’t remember."

I really enjoyed this story and even though it is historical fiction (loosely based on true events), I feel it still has a relevant meaning today. It's almost as history is, in a way, repeating itself.

Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore

 It's New Year's Eve 1982 and Oona Lockhart's 19th birthday is the next day. She is about to turn 19 and has her whole life ahead of her. Oona has a big decision to make. Travel to London and study or stay in New York and pursue music and the band that she is in. But all that changes when Oona passes out at midnight. She wakes up 32 years in the future, in a 51 year old body. Thus starts Oona, out of order. She jumps from year to year every New Year's Eve, not knowing which year she will end up in next. Partying in the 90's? Traveling in the 2000's? Oona never knows what the next year will hold.

I absolutely loved this book! I didn't want it to end and really wanted to experience some more years with Oona. It was so fun to see Oona jump into the future and learn about all the new technology, only to jump back to the past and have everyone look strangely at her newly learned references.