"The Black Hour" by Lori Rader-Day

The Black Hour by Lori Rader-Day is about a woman professor who is shot.  The shooter is dead.  The professor comes back to campus to continue her teaching career and to find out why she was the one shot.  When a young male student wants to help her, is he doing it for good or does he have other motives?  There is not much action in this, just the mystery of why she was shot and why the student wants to help her find out.  It’s not bad, worth reading. 
(Gerard's review, 4.5 stars)


Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

"What Has Become of You?" by Jan Elizabeth Watson (Writer's Workshop)

What Has Become of You by Jan Elizabeth Watson is about a young woman named Vera who is a substitute English teacher at an all-girls school and one of her students named Jensen.  I loved the character of Vera and Jensen too.  Much of the book is journal entries the girls write to Vera.  If you are familiar with The Catcher in the Rye, you may find this book more interesting because that is the book the English class is discussing and there are a lot of references to it.  Gerard thought it moved along at a good pace and kept his interest; however, Karen was completely bored with it for the most part and kept dozing off when reading it, not even making it to the end.  Gerard thought the ending was a little strange and gives it 4.5 stars.  Karen hopes to go back to it someday to finish it, but is taking a break from it for now and will read something else.  

Now you should read it to see which of us you agree with since we both had different opinions about this one.
(A combined review by Gerard and Karen)

We received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop prompt:  post a book review.

"Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands" by Chris Bohjalian is Fantastic!

Close Your eyes, Hold Hands by Chris Bohjalian is told by Emily Shepard who is a homeless teen who lives in an igloo made of ice and trash bags!  Half a year earlier, her parents caused a nuclear disaster.  Emily does not want anyone to know who she really is because she fears people will blame her too.  This is a fantastic page turner that I enjoyed.  Emily is a great character.  SPOILER ALERT, STOP NOW IF YOU DON’T WANT TO KNOW THE ENDING! I loved the ending when she reunites with her dog!  
(Gerard's review, 5++ stars)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

Teasers: 3 For You

Gerard's:

There were lots of awful things about the father of your children leaving:  the money issues, the suppressed anger on behalf of your children, the way most of your coupled-up friends now treated you as if you were some kind of potential husband stealer.  But worse than that, worse than the endless, bloody exhausting financial and energy-sapping struggle, was that being a parent on your own when you were totally out of your depth was actually the loneliest place on earth.

From page 12 of One Plus One by Jojo Moyes. (Click link to see my review)

First, everyone looked at him, and then, once he said there might be a problem at the nuclear power plant, everyone looked at me.  Second, Ethan handed me my sneakers.

From page 18 of Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands by Chris Bohjalian.

Karen's:

She couldn't restrain her smile--grin, really.  The grin disappeared just as quickly.  She was betraying too much about her own morbid inclinations by responding with too much warmth, too much approval. 

From page 39 of Since You've Been Gone by Morgan Matson.


Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should  Be Reading. Anyone can play along, so I thought  I  would play for fun! Just do the following

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page (well, we cheat and choose specific ones)
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on  that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away!   You don’t  want  to  ruin the  book for others!)
• Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can  add the book to their TBR  Lists  if they  like your teaser.   

Happy Reading!

"The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse" retold by Helen Ward

The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse--an Aesop Fable retold and illustrated by Helen Ward is a children's story with colorful full page illustrations on every page.  It is about a country mouse who wants to see what living in the city would be like after a visit from his town mouse cousin.  To see what the mouse found out, you will have to read the story yourself!

It only takes about five minutes to read.  The cover got my attention at the library so just decided to give it a read.  
(Karen's review)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

"One Plus One" by Jojo Moyes Recommended by ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

One Plus One by Jojo Moyes tells the story of Jess, whose husband leaves her with a young son and young daughter and lots of problems.  A man named Ed also has a problem of his own that he is dealing with.  You will have to read this really good book to see what the problems are.  I always wanted to get back to it and I enjoyed all the characters, my favorite one was Norman.  If you read it, I’m sure you will agree!  LOVED IT! 
(Gerard's review, 5++ stars)


Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

"That Night" by Chevy Stevens is Great! (Updated)

That Night by Chevy Stevens is a fantastic read that kept me turning pages to find out what would happen next.  Although Toni, the main character and narrator, is a teen who smokes pot, drinks has pre-marital sex with her boyfriend, and fights with her mom constantly, I couldn't help but sympathize with her throughout the book.  She was being bullied by a group of mean girls for a long time and they just wouldn't let up.  When her "goody two shoes" sister, Nicole (her mother's favorite), is murdered, Toni and her boyfriend are wrongfully convicted.  That Night is about the truth coming out about what really happened the night Nicole was killed.  It is a fascinating read that shows how people have more than one side sometimes and are not always what they seem to be.

This book is so well written, that even though it jumps back and forth between the present and the past, it was still easy to follow.  I found Toni's life both in and out of prison interesting and was pulling for her to get to live a normal life after having lost so much and been through so many struggles.  We highly recommend this one!  It's a must read!  LOVED IT!
(Karen's review 7/10/14, 5 stars)

Gerard's review 6/29/14, 5++ stars):
That Night by Chevy Stevens is told by a young teen girl named Toni.  She was found guilty of killing her younger sister and sent to prison.  This book goes back and forth between what led up to that night her sister got killed and her prison life.

To me, Chevy Stevens is two for two.  I loved her first book, Still Missing, and I loved this one maybe more! This is a real page turner for sure.  I always wanted to get back to it and the ending came as a complete surprise.  I am looking forward to her next book.


NOTE:  This is the July Book Club Selection at She Reads where you can find more reviews of this great thriller!

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!