"The Lying Game" by Ruth Ware - Husband Loved It, Wife Didn't

My husband and I had completely different opinions about The Lying Game  by Ruth Ware.  He loved it, liked all the four girls and the pacing.  For me, I liked the dog best and Isa's husband, Owen.  I didn't care for any of the girls much nor the story line in general.  Throughout the book it was all about what really happened in the past with Kate's father, an art teacher at a girl's boarding school.  I did not like how the book went from present to past and and felt it was slow moving.  I was very glad when I finally finished it. 
(Karen's review, 2 stars)

In The Lying Game by Ruth Ware, Kate texts her three boarding school friends from the past saying "I need you."  It has been 17 years, but Fatima, Isa and Thea know they must come--first, because of their friendship and second, because of the incident that will forever bond them together!  I thought this book was fantastic!  I loved all the four girls in it.  The pacing of this book was perfect and the writing was very good!  Ruth Ware's books are always good!  Put this on your TBR list and you will be glad you did!
(Gerard's review, 5++ stars)

Teaser from page 81:  But that's a lie, and worse, it's a lie to Fatima.  That was the most important rule of the Lying Game.  Lie to everyone else--yes.  But to each other--never.

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"Sadie" by Courtney Summers

Sadie by Courtney Summers is teen fiction.  A radio personality gets a call to help find a missing girl--Sadie Hunter.  At first, he blows it off, but when he finds out Sadie is on the hunt for the man that killed her sister, he decides to go look for her!  This book is told by Sadie and West McCray, the radio personality.  It is pretty good and held my interest because of the really good parts by Sadie.  I think the ending could have been told better than it was though.
(Gerard's review, 4 stars)

Teaser from page 19:  It makes me sick to think about her throwing her life in the garbage like that because that's what it amounts to.  Every little bit that made her, everything, was all in the trash and when I found it, I just started to cry because she'd . . . it wasn't worth anything to her anymore.    

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"On Desperate Ground" by Hampton Sides

On Desperate Ground by Hampton Sides tells the true story of the Korean war!  It concentrates on the battle of the Chosin Reservoir--a classic battle!  Marines had to deal with over 300,000 Chinese and bitter cold.  They were surrounded and still they fought on!  What a great book!  These men had so much courage!  The writing is so good I felt like I was right there with them!  If you enjoy these kinds of books, then do not miss this one!
(Gerard's review, 5++ stars) 

Teaser from page 242 (large print version):  The next star shell revealed a horrific panorama:  The snow was smeared with blood.  Twisted corpses and shorn body parts had been flung in all directions. 

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"Educated" by Tara Westover (Hubby and I disagree on this one!)

Educated by Tara Westover is her memoir of leaving her Mormon family in Idaho to pursue a formal education.  This is a long journey.  Tara is from a large family whose father owned a scrap yard and who kept her working for him as long as he could.  It is an amazing story of how she was accepted at BYU and went on to Cambridge and Harvard without having graduated high school!  In fact, even her "home schooling" was not at all regular.

I found this book very hard to read.  The father and brother made me very angry and it was difficult to fathom how dysfunctional this family was.  In some ways it reminded me of The Glass Castle and A Child Called It.  The domestic violence and abuse is heart wrenching.  I did enjoy Part 2 better when she got away from her family and into college.  I was never engrossed in this book and for the most part had to plow through.  I would have liked to know what kind of actual job the author wound up with after all that education.
(Karen's review, 3 stars)

Gerard's review:

Educated by Tara Westover is a true story and what a story it is!  Tara first stepped foot in a classroom at the age of 17, but now she received a BA degree from Bringham Young University and a scholarship to Cambridge in England where she was awarded a PHD in history!  WOW!  She tells her story so well.  She wanted more of a life than her family could give her, and overcame long odds to do it.  She went through a lot both in and out of the classroom!

I highly recommend this memoir, don't miss it!  Put it on your TBR list right now!
(Gerard's review, 5++ stars)

Teaser from page 39:  There was never any more talk of a hospital.  The moment for such a decision had passed, and to return to it would be to return to all the fury and fear of the accident itself. 

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"The Tattooist of Auschwitz" by Heather Morris

The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris is based on a true story and what a story it is! Lale is forced to surrender to the Germans and is taken to a concentration camp. Vowing to someday be a free man again, he does as he is told. One day he is picked to number on their arms all the prisoners in the camp. This is some story! You really get the feeling of being in the camp. The writing is that good! Lale was a great character to be sure as well as the other people he made friends with. If you like historical non-fiction, this is the book for you! Do not miss this one!
(Gerard's review, 5++ stars)

Teaser from page 27:  Lale has witnessed an unimaginable act.  He staggers to his feet, standing on the threshold of hell, an inferno of feelings raging inside him.

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