"Love You Hard--A memoir of Marriage, Brain Injury and Reinventing Love" by Abby Maslin

In Love You Hard--A Memoir of Marriage, Brain Injury, and Reinventing Love by Abby Maslin, Abby is a young woman who is married to a fireman she calls T.C.  They also have a son named Jack, age 2.  Life is good.  One night T.C. heads out to a ballgame but is not back in the morning.  Something is very wrong.  Abby's life as she knows it is over, and she will have to deal with a new reality.  Abby tells the story in this book and pulls no punches. 

I felt a lot of emotions as I read this and am sure you will too.  On Amazon, this book got a 94% 5 star rating and that is what I am giving it as well.  (Gerard's review, 5 stars)

Teaser from page 134:  Decades more of in sickness and in health:  the three of us, growing old together, learning how to navigate the real world again and trying not to crash and burn.
    I park the car at the end of the gravel driveway outside Ruth and Don's familiar yellow house and burst into tears. 

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"The Last Pirate of New York" by Rich Cohen is a True Story!

The Last Pirate of New York by Rich Cohen tells you the story of Albert Hicks aka The Last Pirate.  You will have to read the book to find out why this is so.  You go back to the 1880s in this book which I found interesting.  The writer did his homework in making me really get the feel who Hicks was.  This is a quick read, read it in two days.
(Gerard's review, 4 stars)

Teaser from page 62:  Because he believed he'd already gotten away with it.  He'd sunk the ship and left the bodies at the bottom of the harbor.

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. To find books on a specific topic, scroll to the bottom and click on the topic you want. Happy Reading!

"Those People" by Louise Candlish is About Suburban Neighbors in London

Those People by Louise Candlish is about a close-knit suburban neighborhood in London.  Ralph and Naomi are sort of the "unofficial" community leaders with three kids and two dogs.  Naomi and Tess, Naomi's sister-in-law and next door neighbor, got the street to have "Play Out Sundays" where no one parks or drives on the street so kids can play freely in the street--sort of like a big block party every week!  All is well until Darren and Jodie move in to house #1 because they do not follow the "rules."  They play loud music at night, have constant noise while renovating their house during the day, and have lots of vehicles parked in their yard and on the street!  This causes quite a stir and several neighbors would love to see them leave.  When their old scaffolding collapses, killing a pregnant daughter-in-law of one of their neighbors, a police investigation is started and neighbors are suspected of sabotaging the scaffolding!

This book held my interest all through.  At first I thought the title referred to the new neighbors, but by the time I finished, I think it refers to the close-knit neighbors who were constantly finding fault with Darren and Jody.  At any rate, the interactions among the neighbors were well done and although I was able to guess who it was the messed up the scaffolding hoping that Darren would get hurt, I was surprised at who actually attempted to kill him.

I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for a review and was glad I liked it!  I recommend this to anyone who enjoyed Big Little Lies or crime investigations.  This book will be on sale June 11, 2019.
(Karen's review, 5 stars)

Teaser from page 30:  Can you believe this place?"  Darren said to Jodie as the sound of Sam's screams came pouring through the Kendalls' open door.  "Their kids are going mental, but they can't handle a bit of music."

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. To find books on a specific topic, scroll to the bottom and click on the topic you want. Happy Reading!

"Rough Magic--Riding the World's Loneliest Horse Race" by Lara Prior Palmer

Rough Magic by Lara Prior-Palmer is a true story.  Lara, at the age of 19, decides on a whim to enter the longest and toughest horse race there is with no formal training!  How do you think she does?  This is a pretty good book!  The best part is when she does the race.
(Gerard's review, 4 stars)

Teaser from page 22:  It didn't surprise me that no one was taking my race attempt seriously.  I was that scatterbrain who lost Oyster cards on the Underground and failed driving tests.

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"RULES" by Cynthia Lord

RULES by Cynthia Lord is about Catherine, a girl who has a younger brother who is autistic. Sometimes he embarrasses her and she feels stuck babysitting him all the time. She also feels as though her parents do things with him and ignore her. Her best friend moved to California to be with her dad for the summer, so she is very excited about a girl her age moving into the house next door. While accompanying her mom and brother to his occupational therapy, Catherine made a friend who also came for therapy. Jason was her age in a wheelchair and could hear, but could not speak.

This book is geared to kids/young teens to help them understand people with disabilities. It is very short and goes quick. I liked the guinea pigs and my favorite part was when Catherine pushed Jason fast round the parking lot so he could get a sense of what running feels like. I thought it had a pretty good message about not worrying so much what other people think. (Karen’s review, 3 stars)

Teaser from page 73: Jason laughs, a sharp bark like a Canada goose. His mother looks up from her magazine as I scan the room and see everyone watching us.


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. To find books on a specific topic, scroll to the bottom and click on the topic you want. Happy Reading!