"The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise" by Dan Gemeinhart

The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise by Dan Gemeinhart is a heartwarming children’s story about a father and daughter on a road trip. They just bought a bus and drove all over together for five years after the wife and other two daughters were killed in a car accident when Coyote was 7. The father tries to forget by changing their names—he Rodeo Sunrise and the girl Coyote Sunrise. At 12 years old, Coyote gets talks on the phone to her grandmother and finds out the park is being torn down in a few days. Coyote is determined to get there to dig up the box her and her sisters and mom buried just before they died but needs to get her father to go somehow. As her and her dad travel from Florida back home to Washington State, they pick up some travel companions along the way: a cat she named Ivan, a boy and his mother, a musician, the boy’s aunt, a runaway girl, and a goat!

This book is a fun read with lots of touching moments and some wild, fun times. I liked both the dad and his daughter and her best friend, Salvador. As soon as Coyote got a kitten, I was hooked! This book has a good lesson: don’t judge people by how they look and most people want to help others if they can. Although this is a children’s book, it kept my interest all the way. It is a quick read I enjoyed! (Karen's review, 5 stars)

Teaser from page 26:  Ivan, superstar kitten that he was, managed to keep his grip on Rodeo's neck through all the screeching and the leaping.  Once Rodeo had shot to an upright position, Ivan decided he'd rather not be attached to a screaming, vertical hippie.


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"Where The Crawdads Sing" by Delia Owens -- WOW!

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens is the coming of age story of Kya, a lonely, abandoned, abused girl who lived in a Marsh in North Carolina. It is a murder mystery and a love story as well. This is an amazing emotional read that starts out slow but picks up as it goes along. It has much sadness but some high points are mixed in. In a way, it is a rags to riches story. There were a lot of heartbreaking events and yet Kya proved to be very strong, overcoming great obstacles with very little help from others. She was definitely a “lone wolf” until as a teenager, the loneliness caused her to make some poor choices.

All I can say is WOW, what a book! This is well written and reminded me of To Kill a Mocking Bird. It includes lots of information about nature and is a remarkable story about how a girl who only attended school one day in her whole life, became a well-recognized author. I especially liked the courthouse cat, Sunday Justice, who befriended Kya. I would recommend this as a book club read because of the many issues it raises.
(Karen’s review 2/15/19, 5 stars)

Gerard's review, 2/18/19:
In Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens, Kya is the last one left of her family.  First her mom left, then her brother and sisters left.  Her pa was the last to leave, but she found a way to survive in their shack in the marsh.  Two young men came into her life during her teen years.  When an incident happens though, Kya is once again all alone and her fate is in other people's hands.

This is a pretty good book!  Kya is a great character and I enjoyed how she got along so well by herself.  More action though would have been nice, but the pacing of this book made up for that.  (5 stars)

Teaser from page 16: “If anybody comes, don’t go in the house. They can get ya there. Run deep in the marsh, hide in the bushes. Always cover yo’ tracks; I learned ya how. And ya can hide from Pa, too.”

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"Smart Ass" by Margaret Winslow is nonfiction About a Donkey

Smart Ass by Margaret Winslow is a true story!  Margaret is going through a mid-life crisis.  She is having problems at work, her husband's job keeps him away from home at least half a year, she has no kids, and no pets.  She needs something so gets a donkey!  What a great story!

I was into this from page 1!  Margaret tells the story well.  At times it actually made me laugh!  Of course, Caleb, the donkey, is fantastic.  I discovered things about donkey's that I never knew and it has a great ending!  I recommend this one!
(Gerard's review 2/13/19, 5++ stars)

Karen's review 2/17/19:
Smart Ass by Margaret Winslow is her true story her life with a big 700 lb. donkey, Caleb.  I liked Caleb but felt sorry for him through most of the book.  I laughed out loud during some of the training parts about halfway through which I found hilarious and which for me was the best part of the book.  I also enjoyed the Christmas pageant but overall, I just wanted to get through it.  I didn't really understand why Margaret spent so much time and money on lessons when clearly she just wanted a nice connection to Caleb.  (3 stars)

Teaser from page 3:  Suddenly the donkey broke away and loped to the far side of the paddock.  He stopped and looked back at me over his shoulder, his eyes sparkling with mischief.

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"The Flight Attendant" by Bhris Bohjalian

Imagine waking up in a bed hungover in a foreign country, naked next to a dead man that bled out!  Did you do it?  and, if not, why were you not killed?  That is the dilemma Cassandra faces in The Flight Attendant by Chris Bohjalian.

I would have enjoyed more action and fewer dull parts.  That being said, I thought Cass was a good character and I was interested to see how it would all play out.  Well worth reading.
(Gerard's review, 4 stars)

Teaser from page 9:  Had she ever seen so much blood?  Not from a human.

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"Evermore" by Sara Holland

Evermore by Sara Holland is the sequel to Everless.  Both are good.  Evermore focuses on the Alchemist's (snake) quest to kill the Sorceress (fox) with lots of adventure, close calls, and unexpected romance.  Jules super power of controlling time becomes stronger in this book and she gets back some memories from her past lives.  Liam has a much bigger part in this book.

This went pretty fast because there was so much action.  I raced through it and liked the ending.  The magic was a bit confusing to me, but still, a good read.
(Karen's review 2/9/19, 4 stars)

Gerard's review 2/16/19:
Evermore by Sara Holland is the follow-up to Everless.  Jules finds out who she really is and Caro wants what Jules has and will do anything to get it back!  I thought this book was better than the first because it had lots more action and did not really know what to expect next!  I liked the ending.  (5 stars)

Teaser from page 5:  Word of my crimes has spread to every corner of Sempera.  That I seduced Roan Gerling while a servant at Everless and used him to gain access to the visiting Queen's chambers.  Then cut Roan's throat and stabbed the Queen through the heart.

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