One Of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus

Hi there! Yes, it's been quite a while since I've written a review. While I've certainly been reading, a lot of personal stuff has gotten in the way of sitting down to write reviews.  My father-in-law is currently in the hospital, so prayers/kind thoughts/healing vibes are all appreciated.

I have to say I LOVED this book.  5 high school students are in detention together.  A small fender bender happens in the school parking lot.  4 of the students and the teacher run over to the window to see what happened.  The 5th starts having an allergic reaction to something and dies.  It is determined someone put peanut oil into his cup.  All the Epi-pens are missing from the nurses' office. So, who did it?

Told in alternating viewpoints (which I'm typically not a fan of, but in this case works), the reader must try to figure out who hated Simon the most.  Simon ran a gossip website, and all of our suspects have appeared on it.  Even more damaging, each has a post in Simon's draft folder and they start posting, after his death.

I don't want to spoil too much here, but I can honestly say I was WAY wrong on my guess.

Our water business has funded two recent orders, so find this on display next week with the other new books!

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All opinions expressed on this blog are solely those of Mrs. W.

The Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason

This was part of a large donation from an alumni.  Mrs. Taylor had read it and thought I would like it.  She said it was similar to the Langdon series by Dan Brown in that there was much historical mystery and medieval symbology.  While that was in fact true, and I liked the premise, I did not like the novel overall.

Two Princeton roommates are attempting to decipher the codes and riddles of a Renaissance text.  Paul graduate thesis is based upon the work, and Tom is the son of an expert on it.

What follows is in fact a Langdon-esque quest to solve the puzzle.  The two men and their other roommates, though, are thoroughly unlikeable.  There was nothing about any of them that made me care if they lived or died.  I was underwhelmed by the character development and the interpersonal relationships.  The story is also told in flashback and flashforward with no delineation telling the reader we are in the past or present.  It muddled the plot significantly.

Not a book I'd recommend.

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Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly Giff

This was an incredibly moving book.  For being only 166 small pages, there was tremendous emotion and character development.  I read this in about an hour, but it has really stuck with me. 

Hollis is a child of the foster care system.  She is a habitual runaway, never staying in one foster home too long.  Her case manager sends her to spend the summer with a family to "get some fresh air" in their summer cabin in the woods.  The small family (Mom, Dad, brother Steven) decide to adopt Hollis, but a tragic accident makes Hollis run again.  Her next foster is a former teacher, who is showing the beginnings of dementia.  Josie seems to forget Hollis has to go to school which suits Hollis just fine.  When the case manager decides Hollis needs more structure, she and Josie run.  Hollis gets them to the cabin, the one place Hollis felt was "home". 

I don't want to spoil more of what happens, but it's really a hard look at the way foster care kids are treated.  For Hollis, it will be a happy ending. 

The story is told in flashback and flashforward, between Hollis's time with the Regans and Josie.  Hollis is an artist, and the descriptions of her work help the reader to see her perspective as to why she does the things she does.

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All opinions expressed on this blog are solely those of Mrs. W.

Camp So-and-So by Mary McCoy

I could NOT get into this.  I tried and tried, reading through the first "act".  It felt like a hodge-podge of Caraval and Illuminae. And it didn't work. 

I pretty much disliked every character and the basic premise up to that point. 

Sorry, not much nice to say at all!

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All opinions expressed on this blog are solely those of Mrs. W.

Boundaries by Sally M. Walker

If you've followed this blog a while, you know I'm a fan of American history, especially the Civil War.  The tagline on the cover of this book? How the Mason-Dixon Line settled a family feud and divided a nation.  If you aren't familiar with the Mason-Dixon Line, read up on it before proceeding!  However, much of this book was devoted to HOW to Mason-Dixon Line was drawn by two surveyors.  I just happened to be married to a surveyor.  We ended up looking at many of the charts, illustrations and photos together.  This was a really nifty look at how these two surveyors worked.  Today's surveying is nothing like it.  This is a particular niche that won't hold everyone's interest, but those curious about our nation's history in the colonial period and the Civil War era, as well as those considering careers in boundaries/drafting/surveying will definitely like it.

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All opinions expressed on this blog are solely those of Mrs. W.

Deception Point by Dan Brown

This was recommended and donated by Mrs. Treacy.  Although this is a Dan Brown novel, it is not part of the Langdon series.  I liked Digital Fortress by Brown, so when Mrs. Treacy said she liked it, I took it out after it was added into the collection. 

This is a political mystery/thriller.  The current president is lagging in the polls behind a senator.  Said senator has made the dismantling of NASA one of his top priorities.  It just so happens NASA has made a HUGE discovery--a meteorite deep in the Arctic ice containing fossils of creatures not found on Earth. 

The senator's daughter, who works in intelligence, is recruited to make the announcement, along with several civilian scientists with expertise in meteorites/geology/chemistry/etc. 

But someone isn't telling the whole truth. 

I don't want to spoil too much, but this is a guessing game as to who is tricking whom and about what.  It definitely kept me guessing.

This will be back on the shelf later today if you are interested.

I'll be on hiatus from reviewing here for a bit as the holidays approach and I have an SLJ assignment.  Look for my next blog post after the new year!

All opinions expressed on this blog are solely those of Mrs. W.

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Boston's Massacre by Eric Hinderaker

You know from reading this blog I like history and love Boston.  I am absolutely in love with Ben Barnes, who most recently portrayed revolutionary Samuel Adams.  You are aware I am culling the collection (my most recent weed based upon age--if it's older than me, it's not coming to the new library).  So, naturally, when I saw this on a recommended list for American History students, I put it on the wish list.  Once it finished its run as a "new book", I took it home.

It irks me that my students begin their sophomore year study of American History in the 1800s.  In my opinion (just that, mine and an opinion), their 8th grade minds are not able to understand the complexities of the American Revolution (nor do their 5th grade minds grasp European exploitation, er, exploration of North America, but I digress).

I bet, though, my sophomores could tell you who Crispus Attucks was.  Think they can name the other 4 men killed that night?  Not likely.  And therein lies part of the lesson in learning about March 5, 1770.  What we choose to retell in the narrative of history makes a lasting impact on those we teach.  Past propaganda, the then-press and current media, human memory, race/gender/age bias, personal lens, and collective purpose all impact what appears in our textbooks and what we want to see on the screen.  One aspect that is central to this retelling is making connections to more recent events, such as Kent State.  Conclusions can be drawn to Black Lives Matter.

This isn't light, mindless reading.  There are many quotes of 1700s English, which is tough to read.  There are many dates and names.  Since you might not remember a whole lot from 8th grade history, it might be useful to do some Googling of the key players, locations, and dates before delving into something this heavy.

This will be back on the shelf come Monday if you're interested.

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All opinions expressed on this blog are solely those of Mrs. W.