"Bone Gap" by Laura Ruby

In Bone Gap by Laura Ruby, Finn lives in the small town of Bone Gap with his brother.  One day Roza goes missing.  People assume that she ran off, but Finn claims she was taken, and he will get her back!  The story line was okay to start off, but got a bit wild at the end.  I enjoyed Finn, but the other characters were shallow.  It was an okay read with a good ending.

Teaser from page 22:  "It's been two months today," said Finn.  "Why aren't you out there looking for her?"
(Gerard's review, 3 stars)

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"A Quiet Kind of Thunder" by Sara Barnard

In A Quiet Kind of Thunder by Sara Barnard, Steffi is a quiet girl and likes it that way.  She can talk but chooses not to.  The first day of the new school year, the principal introduces her to Rhys who is deaf.  Steffi is supposed to help him get used to his new school.  Soon she starts to have feelings for him, but will talking be the best thing for her?

Teaser from page 4:  Now they're parading strangers in front of me to mock my inability to speak in front of them?  I can feel a familiar choking panic start somewhere in my stomach.

I liked this book.  It was a good change of pace from the books I usually read.  I enjoyed both Steffi and Rhys!  Give it a chance.
(Gerard's review, 4 stars)  

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"The Couple Next Door" by Shari Lapena

The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena is one crazy read involving kidnapping, family secrets, betrayal, infidelity, greed and manipulation. Anne and Marco come home from a dinner party next door to find their little 4-month-old daughter, Cora, gone! Of course, the cops are called and keep questioning the parents who are the primary suspects. The whole book is about the police investigation and their efforts to find and return Cora. Eventually, the truth comes out.

Teaser from page 21:  She can feel him shaking, can feel the painful thumping of his heart.  She tells herself that together they will get through this.  The police will find Cora.

This contemporary fiction mystery was a page-turner for me that moves along very quickly with lots of twists. I enjoyed the writing style of this one because it was easy to follow and things gradually fell into place. If you enjoy books about scheming, dysfunctional families and very sleezy characters, I would recommend this book. I think this would make a good book club selection because I think it would make for interesting discussion of the characters.
(Karen's review, 5 stars)


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"Her Last Breath" by Linda Castillo (Updated)

Her Last Breath by Linda Castillo is gripping from the start, beginning with an Amish buggy hit-and- run accident that is fatal for the father and two of his three small children. Kate Burkholder, Chief of police, discovers that the hit-and-run “accident” was not an accident after all, but intentional! The widow was her best childhood friend. This is such a sad story with a surprise ending.

This book had my attention right from the start and held it all the way through. Kate Burkholder really needs to work on her hand-to-hand combat though! Anyhow, this is a good mystery and also had a bit of romance as well as some suspense. It had three storylines: the main murder mystery, Kate’s past catching up to her and the romance between Kate and Tomasetti with action near the end with a surprise twist.
(Karen's review 1/13/18, 5 stars)

Teaser from page 4:  Around him, the buggy exploded into a hundred pieces.  Paul thought he heard a child's cry and then the ground rushed up and slammed into him.

Gerard's review 1/23/18:
Her Last Breath by Linda Castillo starts off with a hit and run buggy accident in Amish country.  However, when the police investigate, there is more to it than it looks.  There is good stuff here.  I never knew how this was going to turn out!  The pace of the book is quick and the characters true to life.  (5 stars)


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"Thunderhead" by Neal Shusterman

Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman is the followup to Scythe.  I found this book very different from Scythe.  Rowan and Citra are in this book too, but there are a lot of new characters that have big roles.  Thunderhead has a ton of surprises which I enjoyed.  I never knew what was coming next!  The parts that Rowan and Citra were in were the parts I enjoyed most though.  I liked the first book in this series better, but this one is okay.

Teaser from page 29:  "But allowing the . . . the condemned . . . to choose their own method?  It's positively barbaric!" Scythe Truman shouted.
(Gerard's review, 3.5 stars)

Karen's Review:
Thunderhead is the second book in the Arc of a Scythe series. I was really looking forward to this book because I loved the first one, but was somewhat disappointed in it because of the slow pace. I expected to understand the Thunderhead better, but unfortunately, I am just as confused about it as I was in the first book. This book follows the separate lives of Rowan and Citra (Scythe Anastasia). This book also has a big surprise that I did not like at all! This book has lots of action near the end, including a very interesting concave and ends on a cliff hanger, of course.

This book gets better as it goes along but I really did not like the ending or the big surprise. I still like Scythe Anastasia and Rowan in this book and kept hoping that somehow Scythe Faraday would be able to fix everything but that didn’t happen. Scythe Curie is very cool in this book too, I liked Greyson Tolliver as well, and think that somehow, maybe he’ll become a scythe in the next book. His relationship with the Thunderhead was confusing to me, but hopefully it will all clear up in the next book. The Thunderhead seems to be kind of an artificial god with some limits. I am ready to see what happens in the next book of this series!
(4 stars)

SPOILERS (stop here if you have not yet read this book):
Did not like that Goddard was rescued by Rand and given a new body attached to his head—made no sense!

Don’t think either Rand nor Goddard were smart enough to know how to mess up things that brought down Endura. Thought it was interesting though how Rand told Rowan to leave the island ASAP because if Goddard lost, things would even be worse! She must have been in on the whole plan.

Really hated that Scythe Curie did not get to be the High Blade.

How is anyone going to find Rowan and Anastasia to bring them back to life? Even if the vault is discovered, how would anyone get it opened?

I also hate that Goddard is going to go back and get to be the High Blade now that Scythe Curie is dead.

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"The Bear and the Nightingale" by Katherine Arden is a "Must Read"

In The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden, Vasya is the youngest child of a large family in Russia.  Her mom died soon after she was born.  She loves the forest and she loves the animals.  But the forest contains spirits that are evil!  Vasya will have to use the special gifts that she inherited from her mother to keep her family safe at all costs!

Teaser from page 15:  "I have only a little of her gift," Marina went on, ignoring her old nurse.  Dunya knew her lady well enough to hear the regret.  "But my daughter will have more."



This book is based on a Russian folklore.  I LOVED this book!  I was engaged from page 1!  Vasya is a great character and I was always anxious to get back into this book.  The good news is I have book 2 in this series and the 3rd one comes out this year!  I highly recommend this one as a "must read."
(Gerard's review, 5++ stars)

Karen's review:
The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden is a whimsical story incorporating Russian folklore. Vasilisa is a girl who does not want to be told what to do and has a special gift to see the demons others do now. There are several different types of demons, who live in the forest, in the river and some in households. Vasilisa lives in the wilderness with her father, stepmother, brother and half-sister after her mother died and her older sister and brother married. When Father Konstantine arrives, he scares people with his preaching except for Vasilisa. Will she be able to keep her family safe?

This book has a lot of Russian names that were confusing to me at the beginning, but that petered out as the book progressed. The plot in this story is like a fairy tale so doesn’t make much sense; however, there were parts I liked very much. I liked the house demon, the stable demon, the horses talking to Vasilisa, and the time at the invisible cabin with Morozko. The demon creatures in this book are not all evil and the house demon reminded me a bit of Dobby, the house elf in the Harry Potter series. This is an entertaining read. (3 stars)

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"A Stranger in the House" by Shari Lapena (UPDATED)

A Stranger in the House by Shari Lapena is a murder mystery thriller about Tom and Karen who have been married two years when Karen goes missing one night. Tom gets home from work to find her gone and dinner halfway prepared. He has no idea where she is and calls her friends before contacting the police. A police shows up at his door telling him there was an accident and his wife is in the hospital. From that point, the story takes off with amnesia, a murder and criminal investigation, a nosy neighbor, jealousy, betrayal and manipulation!

Teaser from page 6:  My wife went out and I don't know where she is.  She left without her phone and her purse.  She forgot to lock the door.  It's completely unlike her.

This is a page turner that I zoomed through! This is a good who dunnit story with a surprise ending and cops that aren’t made out to be stupid. I liked the investigation part of this book because it seemed to ring true to life. I highly recommend this to anyone who likes a good mystery. I look forward to reading more by this author.
(Karen's review, 5 stars)

Gerard's review:
In Stranger in the House by Shari Lapena, Tom comes home from work.  He expects his wife to be home, but she is not there.  It turns out she left while preparing dinner and got into a car accident--wrapping her car around a pole.  Now she cannot remember a thing about that night.  The police do some digging and soon a simple accident is anything but. 

Good pacing in this book will have you turning pages.  All the characters were true to life I thought.  (5 stars)

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"The Cruel Prince" by Holly Black (Updated)

In The Cruel Prince by Holly Black, Jude was only 7 when she saw her parents killed and was taken to the High Court of Faerie  .  Ten years later, Jude wants to belong, but being a mortal, she is looked down on.  Jude has seen a lot of killing, but know she wants power.  However, the risk is great, can she do it?

Teaser from page 6:  "You were stolen from me," he told her.  "I have come to take you to your true home, in Elfhame beneath the hill."

I thought this book was very good.  It kept me engaged throughout.  I really enjoyed watching Jude grow up through the book.  I was going to give it a 5 star rating, but the ending pushed it to 5++ stars!  I look forward to book 2.  (Gerard's review)

Karen's review 1/30/18:
The Cruel Prince by Holly Black is the first book in a fantasy trilogy. There is a lot of bullying of Jude, a mortal who was stolen along with her twin and older Faerie sister from our world by her mother’s former husband, a general in Faerie land. Jude really wants to fit in to Faerie land and desires to be a knight, but General Madoc, the guy who killed her parents and brought her to live with him, puts the kibosh on that. Jude becomes a killer and a spy for Dain, one of Cardan’s brothers. Carden and his friends are the ones bullying Jude, but Jude gets revenge. There is a lot of political betrayal and intrigue in this first book.

My teaser from page 83:  "It's shocking," he says, as though he's giving me some great compliment.  "I know humans can lie, but to watch you do it is incredible.  Do it again."

I have mixed feelings about Jude. I liked her in the beginning, but by the end, I really don’t like her much. She has become manipulative, mean and bloodthirsty like the general who she hated for killing her parents. I must admit, it is an interesting novel. The ending was not exactly like I expected, but came close. I probably will continue with this series. (3 stars)

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"This Adventure Ends" by Emma Mills is about Teen Friendship

This Adventure Ends by Emma Mills is about a group of friends and how they help each other. Vera and Gabe are twins whose mother painted until she died. Remy is Gabe’s best friend, Tash and Aubrey are Vera’s best friends Frank is a wealthy friend who likes to party. Sloane is a new friend who gets attention when she embarrasses the bully who was picking on Gabe at a party. Sloane’s dad is a teen romance writer who has writer’s block but gets inspiration from his daughter’s life. When one of the paintings gets sold that Gabe wanted to keep, Sloane decides to track it down for him and get it back.

This is an okay read if you like a bit of teen drama with a bit of romance. Of course, one of the relationships tossed in were a couple lesbians, but that was just a small part of the book. Overall, I thought the dialogue was done well but would have preferred less foul language. I liked how it ended and enjoyed the main characters. (Karen's review, 3 stars)


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"The Day I Died" by Lori Rader-Day

In The Day I Died by Lori Rader-Day, Anna is a handwriting expert.  She can tell a lot from one's writing.  When she is called in to help on a criminal case, the sheriff wants no part of this!  However, Anna finds out plenty and she wants to solve the mystery!  But can she and at what cost?

Teaser from page 29:  His name, even written by his own hand, was false.  It was built of sticks, each letter strategically rendered and apart, lonely and stripped.

This book started out a bit slow but picked up about a quarter of the way through!  The story was believable and had good action.
(Gerard's review, 4 stars)

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"WONDER" by R. J. Palacio is a must read for Children

Wonder by R. J. Palacio is about Auggie’s fifth grade year, a boy with a deformed face who was homeschooled through 4th grade. Auggie has a rough start at the beginning of middle school, but shows courage and determination by not quitting. This is an emotional read that includes perspectives from several different characters. Themes in this are bullying, friendship and family. This book has photos from the movie, comments from those involved in making the movie and discussion questions in the back.

Teaser from page 227 after Auggie’s dog just died: And I wondered how it would feel to be in heaven someday and not have my face matter anymore. Just like it never, ever mattered to Daisy.

There are a lot of feelings brought out in this book, but the movie really brought it to life for me. In this case, I liked the movie better than the book. It changed just a few minor things and emphasized the teacher’s role more than the book did. I liked the changes that were made in the movie. The theme I carried away from reading the book is to be kinder than necessary and make the world a better place. I recommend this book to kids and the movie to everyone!  (4 stars)

See my movie review: Must See Movie:  Wonder

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"Perfect" by Cecelia Ahern

Perfect by Cecelia Ahern is the follow-up to Flawed.  Celestine is on the run.  She wants to get her verdict overturned, but Crevan is after her and will stop at nothing to get her for a reason that only he knows!   This was a good book to start the year.  I was engaged from page 1!  Celestine was a great character and I was rooting for her all the way!

Teaser from page 10:  Each time, the Whistleblowers come to close to my hiding place I can barely breathe.  I hear their footsteps, sometimes their breaths, as I'm crammed, jammed, into spaces, above and below, sometimes in places so obvious they don't even look, sometimes so dangerous they wouldn't dare to look.
(Gerard's review, 5 stars)


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Our 12 Favorite Books for 2017

Out of all the books Gerard and I have read this year, there were only 12 that we both absolutely loved.  We highly recommend all of these to you!  To see our reviews of these, you can use the search box on our blog.  I also did some video reviews for:  The Great Pursuit, Scythe, The Reluctant Queen, Undivided (all mentioned in this video below) and The Selection Series that Gerard did not read and Scar Island.



There are also books I read and loved but that Gerard did not read, and some he read and loved that I did not read.  A separate video will be coming soon showing each of our top 12 favorites for the year  (Karen's add'l 12 Favorites link to video).  Visit my YouTube channel here.

Happy Reading in the new year!