In Her Darkest Nightmare by Brenda Novak, Evellyn survived what no 16-yr.-old girl should have to go through. Now, she is a psychiatrist trying to figure out what goes on in men who do bad things to women. She works at a maximum security prison. When women turn up dead, things soon take a turn for the worse.
This book had a good storyline and Evelyn was a good lead character; however, there were too many parts that dragged along with no action. That being said, I was glad I read it. (Gerard's review, 4 stars)
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The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah is a wild book! We meet the Allbright family. The husband Ernt, a former POW, Cora his wife and their daughter Leni. Ernt is still suffering flashbacks from the war and he has a hard time keeping a job and his temper. When a friend of his leaves him a house in Alaska, he wants a fresh start for him and his family. All will be well again!
I thought this book was really good! The three main characters are excellent and well brought out. At 644 pages (large print), this is no light read. I thought the pacing was okay and appreciated that it did not hop back and forth between present to past. A few twists caught me by surprise and I enjoyed the ending! (Gerard’s review, 5++ stars)
Karen's review (5 stars): The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah is about standing by those you love. Leni is raised by her mother, Cora, and her father, Ernt who changes after he gets back from being a POW in the Vietnam war. He is very abusive to his wife, but can't help it and she always forgives him. Her and Leni are very close and both pretend everything is fine. When Ernt decides to make a fresh start with his family in Alaska, the book gets quite interesting.
I thought this book was very good even though it moved a bit slow. It delves into several different relationships and explores love between an abusive husband and his wife, a love/hate relationship between a daughter and her father, young love between Leni and Matthew, and love between mothers and daughters. Another aspect of this book is how the community helps each other. This book shows how decisions and choices we make affect not only us but those we love as well.
Teaser from page 21: Dad wanted a new beginning. Needed it. And Mama needed him to be happy.
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Before I Let Go by Marie Nijkamp is about two young girls named Corey and Kyra. They are best friends living in a small town. Corey has to move away but promises to come back. Days before she is supposed to come back, she learns Kyra is dead. How? Corey wants answers but when she returns to the small town she thought she knew, it is not the same and answers will be hard to come by.
Teaser from page 12: Except that flower petals lie scattered across the floor, and her voice still swirls around me, singing the song that Kyra sang to me first. Endless night, endless day, come to steal your soul away.
I thought this book was good even though it went back and forth in time, but I was okay with it. I would have loved more action but I still give this book 5 stars because the message is important and needs to be heard!
(Gerard's review, 5 stars)
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Fast Into the Night by Debbie Clarke Moderow is a true story about Debbie and her dogs doing the Iditarod race in Alaska. I really enjoyed how Debbie connects with her dogs. This was the best part of the book to me. I enjoyed it and thought Debbie told her story very well.
(Gerard's review, 4.5 stars)
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In A Cold War by Alan Russell, Nina Granville goes on a business trip to Alaska. She is soon to be married and needs some place to sort out things. She gets anything but that! Soon she is in a situation where her life is at stake! What a fantastic book this is! Right from the start I was into it and lost myself in this amazing story. It had my attention all the way. Some people had a problem with the ending, but I did not. I thought it was really, really good! This is a must read!
(Gerard's review, 5++ stars)
Karen's review, 4 stars: A Cold War by Alan Russell is about Nina Granville, a recently engaged woman to Terrance Donnelly, a politician, but she is not sure she wants to marry him. She goes on a trip to Alaska to get away for a while and winds up being abducted and treated like an animal by a really mean man called Baer in the Alaskan wilderness. He is crazy! He thinks the world is ending soon and being a survivalist in the Alaskan wilderness is the best place to be. Nina is very brave and very strong. She is determined to escape and get back to civilization. She discovers she is not the first woman Baer has had, but the third. The second one left some notes that encouraged Nina to kill Baer and escape, but can she make it? Nina decides to do whatever it takes to survive and finds herself learning all about survival tactics from Baer.
This is a thriller that kept my attention and confirmed that I never want to go to Alaska! It is a good winter read. Not everything is as it appears. I liked Nina and couldn’t help but pull for her to get back with Terrance. While reading this book, I felt sorry for Greg Martin, whose wife disappeared on his honeymoon, for Nina and Terrance. Baer really made me made because of his cruelty. I gave it 4 stars because it kept my interest and had a twist I did not see coming and although it made me hate Baer, the writing did not make me feel as though I were right there with Nina nor did it touch me the way other books did. I was surprised by the ending and would recommend this to anyone who likes suspense, adventure, and dark minds.
Here's a short video I made outside in the snow when the temperature was 8 degrees reviewing it:
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Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey tells the story of a couple trying to make a life in the Alaskan wilderness. This book had me from page one until the end. I liked the writing and cared about the characters. I LOVED it and had trouble putting it down. It's a double WOW book for sure!
(Gerard's review: 5+ stars)
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We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs to Caroline's Kids Pet Rescue to help homeless cats this month.
Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen is about an angry kid with an alcoholic father named Cole who is abused and beats up a kid named Peter. Cole has to live on an Alaskan island by himself as part of Circle Justice. He changes with some wise help along with this experience on the island. I got into Touching Spirit Bear from the beginning! It's a page turner with a somewhat predictable ending, but a good read!"(GERARD'S REVIEW 8/7/08)
K
Touching Spirit Bear is an excellent story about Cole, an angry abused boy, who was mad at the world and his personal journey of dealing with his anger and becoming a better person through Circle Justice or Restoration Justice. He beat up Peter to the point of causing him permanent harm and never took any responsibility for his actions until he faced death and began questioning his life. This is a story about helping others and how the Circle Justice system works which Native Americans practiced for years.
The idea is to restore the criminal to become a good citizen and not just punish them. Instead of jail or a detention center, Cole was banished to live for a year on an island in Alaska alone. At the end of the year, the Circle Justice group, made up of all those involved, would meet again and determine if he should go to jail or not. Cole had a traumatic experience while on the island and after just three days was hospitalized after being mauled by a spirit bear. After his rehabilitation he went back. Peter tried committing suicide twice and Cole learned much while on the island, including how many mistakes he made and wanted to make things right if he could.
I really liked Touching Spirit Bear a lot and had trouble putting it down. I was anxious to see what would happen next. There is no boring part in it. There are many themes running through this book such as abuse, justice, survival, anger, forgiveness, healing.
