Defending Jacob: A Novel by William Landay

Defending Jacob has lows and highs. I expected a fast paced thriller instead I got a s-l-o-w dragging pace.

The plot itself is very interesting but the writing is dry. I usually find court room reads fascinating but this one just didn't capture my attention. However, I did feel compelled to finish read it because Landay, did create some wonderful characters and I was curious to see what happened to them.

Overall the book had a degree of suspense but lacked realism.

Check it out from the library or borrow it.

Grade: D

Overview [B&N]
Andy Barber has been an assistant district attorney in his suburban Massachusetts county for more than twenty years. He is respected in his community, tenacious in the courtroom, and happy at home with his wife, Laurie, and son, Jacob. But when a shocking crime shatters their New England town, Andy is blindsided by what happens next: His fourteen-year-old son is charged with the murder of a fellow student.

Every parental instinct Andy has rallies to protect his boy. Jacob insists that he is innocent, and Andy believes him. Andy must. He’s his father. But as damning facts and shocking revelations surface, as a marriage threatens to crumble and the trial intensifies, as the crisis reveals how little a father knows about his son, Andy will face a trial of his own—between loyalty and justice, between truth and allegation, between a past he’s tried to bury and a future he cannot conceive.

Another Piece of My Heart by Jane Green

This is the best book, I've read by Jane Green in years!

The development of family dynamics is superb! You will be "sucked" into this story and find is irresistible. Green develops characters you will love and hate, sometimes at the same time.

You don't need to be a parent or step-parents to grasp this story and feel the emotions evoked by the characters.

Read this book now!

Grade: A

Overview: [B&N]
Andi has spent much of her adult life looking for the perfect man, and at thirty-seven, she's finally found him. Ethan—divorced with two daughters, Emily and Sophia—is a devoted father and even better husband. Always hoping one day she would be a mother, Andi embraces the girls like they were her own. But in Emily’s eyes, Andi is an obstacle to her father’s love, and Emily will do whatever it takes to break her down. When the dynamics between the two escalate, they threaten everything Andi believes about love, family, and motherhood—leaving both women standing at a crossroad in their lives…and in their hearts.

New Girl by Paige Harbison

The New Girl is an intriguing and fantastic mystery. It is nearly impossible to put down. The story is told in alternating voices of Becca the previous new girl who has gone missing and the current new girl, Callie.

Harbision does an excellent job of giving each girl their own voice and personality. As, a reader you get to experience each girls life at, Manderly Academy. The new girl is thrust into a situation in which she is compared to, Becca. She is trying to make her own place but her roommate has made life unbearable. Then she starts to fall for, Max --- This leads to more problems for her since, Max use to be, Becca's boyfriend.

Most students at Manderly are convinced, Becca is still alive and then a post appear on her facebook saying she is alive.

Read the rest to find out just exactly what happens!

Grade: A+

The Compound by S. A. Bodeen

Eli is fifteen years old and has spent the last six years underground in a compound with this family. The compound was designed by his billionaire father in the event of a nuclear war. His father has filled it with everything he deemed necessary but suddenly things begin to fall apart.

His father begins to act peculiar and Eli knows something is amiss. Eli is on a mission to find out what is going on and as things unravel he is more determined to find a way out of the compound.

This book is well written, entertaining and creepy.

Grade: A

Pandemonium (Delirium) by Lauren Oliver

Pandemonium starts right where, Delirium left off.

The story is told in alternating chapters of time, "now" and "then". Lena has changed. She is a completely different person. The storytelling is different, more intense, raw and harsh.

Oliver, takes you on a wild, journey. There are new characters and the story is dark. Favorite characters, such as Alex , Hana and Grace are missing, which casts a different light to the story. It isn't quite as entertaining as, Delirium because if is a different type of world.

There is a degree of predictability and the ending has left me overly anxious for the final installment.

Grade: B+

Overview [B&N]
I’m pushing aside the memory of my nightmare,
pushing aside thoughts of Alex,
pushing aside thoughts of Hana and my old school,
push,
push,
push,
like Raven taught me to do.
The old life is dead.
But the old Lena is dead too.
I buried her.
I left her beyond a fence,
behind a wall of smoke and flame.

In the Beginning, There Was Chaos: For Better or For Worse 2nd Treasury by Lynn Johnston

If you enjoyed reading For Better or For Worse in the comic pages in the newspaper you will love reading it in this book format.

You will be able to read comic strips you long forgotten and a few they weren't printed. Enjoy, this fun and cute book.

You also get some notes from the author.

Grade: A

Fever (Chemical Garden) by Lauren DeStefano

Fever starts off where, Wither left off. Rhine and Gabiel have left the comforts of the mansion and are on the run. The world outside of the mansion is dangerous , dirty and merciless.

Rhine and Gabiel are essentially abducted by a Madame, who runs a sex slave operation. Life inside of the tents is tragic and violent. Upon their escape, Rhine is captured and taken back to the mansion, in which inexplicable things occur.

Fever does not have the energy or character development that, Wither does. It suffers from the middle book syndrome. The first third of the book doesn't really add anything to the series and it drags. It isn't until Rhine is taken back to the mansion that things really start to heat up.

Unfortunately not many questions are answered such as, what is Vaughn researching, where is, Rowen and what exactly is the plague?

Grade: C+

Lone Wolf: A Novel by Jodi Picoult

Lone Wolf is entertaining and insightful. The characters are strong and the storyline is emotional.

Luke is a father of two, who is on life support. He is famous for his innovative and unusual research work with wolves. His children have different opinions on terminating his life support after he suffers a brain injury from a car accident, which involved his daughter.

The story follows this emotional struggle and choices that have lead up to present time. The story is told in alternating points of views from characters. This book is done in Picoult's typical fashion. It isn't her best work but it is worth reading.

Grade: B+

Overview: [B&N]

A life hanging in the balance . . . a family torn apart. The #1 internationally bestselling author Jodi Picoult tells an unforgettable story about family secrets, love, and letting go.

In the wild, when a wolf knows its time is over, when it knows it is of no more use to its pack, it may sometimes choose to slip away. Dying apart from its family, it stays proud and true to its nature. Humans aren’t so lucky.

Luke Warren has spent his life researching wolves. He has written about them, studied their habits intensively, and even lived with them for extended periods of time. In many ways, Luke understands wolf dynamics better than those of his own family. His wife, Georgie, has left him, finally giving up on their lonely marriage. His son, Edward, twenty-four, fled six years ago, leaving behind a shattered relationship with his father. Edward understands that some things cannot be fixed, though memories of his domineering father still inflict pain. Then comes a frantic phone call: Luke has been gravely injured in a car accident with Edward’s younger sister, Cara.

Suddenly everything changes: Edward must return home to face the father he walked out on at age eighteen. He and Cara have to decide their father’s fate together. Though there’s no easy answer, questions abound: What secrets have Edward and his sister kept from each other? What hidden motives inform their need to let their father die . . . or to try to keep him alive? What would Luke himself want? How can any family member make such a decision in the face of guilt, pain, or both? And most importantly, to what extent have they all forgotten what a wolf never forgets: that each member of a pack needs the others, and that sometimes survival means sacrifice?