August Books

How to Walk Away by Katherine Center -- A new book by a new-to-me author. This is the story of Margaret who is terrified to ride in a plane, but is guilted into it by her boyfriend who plans to propose to her while he is taking her up in the one-engine plane.  Margaret ends up in the hospital with a life-altering injury.  I admire her attitude.  Pretty good story.

The Art of Keeping Secrets by Patti Callahan Henry -- Two years ago Annabelle and her children had to go through an awful time after their husband and father was killed in a plane crash in Colorado.  Now hikers find the wreckage and discover a lady had been traveling with Knox when he died.  What is up with that? Was Knox having an affair? Or is there something else going on here?  A pretty good read while the kids are in town and I'm sitting around at parks and other fun places while they play nearby.

The Lost Castle by Kristy Cambron -- this book was OK; it told bits of stories from three ladies from different time periods. Ellie leaves her ailing grandmother in Michigan to travel to France in order to find out about a man and a castle and the story her grandmother is no longer able to tell (Alzheimer's) about both.

A Vintage Affair by Isabel Wolff -- I enjoyed this book about Phoebe and her new store: a vintage clothing shop in London.  I like the characters and the stories as Phoebe meets people to buy clothes to sell in her store. 

Slow Dancing on Price's Pier by Lisa Dale -- Thea runs a coffee shop and I enjoy the tidbits about coffee from her newspaper columns, but I mostly didn't like the characters in this book that much. Thea grew up with Garret and Jonathan; was great friends with both; fell in love with one, married the other.

The Idea of Love by Patti Callahan Henry -- I mostly read this while watching the kids at parks and museums; it was OK.  Ella takes the attention of Hunter who is in South Carolina looking for a love story to reignite his screenwriting career.  They both spin lies about who they are because they think they will no longer see the other in a few days. 

Between Heaven and Texas by Marie Bostwick -- described as a prequel to the Cobble Quilt Series, this book is about Mary Dell Templeton, the flashy dresser and beloved Texan, who helps Evelyn open her quilt shop.  This was a great little read telling about Mary Dell's life in Texas and how she got her start in her own quilt shop. 

The Bookshop at Water's End by Patti Callahan Henry -- After one of her ER patients dies, Dr. Bonny Blankenship is put on leave while the hospital does an investigation.  She takes her troubled daughter with her to the old house by the river where she spent three summers as a child.  There in Watersend, SC, she is joined by her best friend Lainey - an artist in California with two small children. 

True Colors by Kristin Hannah -- I picked this book up at a Free Little Library at the park one day while the kids were playing. Since I finished all the library books I had on hand, I decided to read it. And I enjoyed the story about three sisters - Winona, Aurora, and Vivi Ann - in Washington's Hood Canal as they grew up on a ranch, hired a strange ranch hand from Texas (and an Indian, at that!), and the events that took place that sent a man to prison and one sister to heartache.

In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware -- I blame Amber for getting me interested in this author.  She's reviewing one of Ruth Ware's books on her blog - which I read a couple weeks ago, in a day - so I got this one from the library yesterday afternoon and finished it this morning. I enjoy the thriller aspect of them although they are a touch spooky to read at night.   And I would not read them at night at all if Andrew were out of town.  Because when he's away...ghosts make my house creak!  Against her better judgment Leonora attends her former BFF's "hen party" - a two-night event in the dark wood in the north of England.  It's all so weird, really, and then someone is murdered!

Inside the Wire by Erik Saar and Viveca Novak -- "a military intelligence soldier's eyewitness account of life at Guantanamo" -- I found this at a free little library months ago and finally decided to read it. Pretty interesting account of Erik's 6 months serving there!

Look For Me by Lisa Gardner -- a crime book/thriller type, but not too scary to read at night. I enjoyed this book - meeting Detective D.D. and the vigilante Flora Dane who was introduced in an earlier book which I've not read.  This was on a new books shelf and I liked it. I'll definitely look for others by this author.  It also had a touching view of foster children - kind of breaks my heart.

The Optimist's Guide to Letting Go by Amy E. Reichert -- a decent, easy read; Gina runs her food truck - Grilled G's - and parents her child. She was widowed a couple years ago.  One day she goes by her mother's house and discovers her mom on the floor.  Gina finds a birth certificate and picture and later finds out more about her family. 

The Forgotten Road by Richard Paul Evans -- I think years and years ago I read some of this guy's books because my library had them.  Well, I saw this on the new books shelf and decided to read about the guy who was supposed to have died in an airplane crash so he decided to gain some new perspective on his life by walking from Chicago to California, along the famous, old Route 66.  This book tells of his struggles and some fun facts about his trip.    I saw that this is the middle book of a trilogy so I'll go back and read book 1.  Book 3 is not due until spring 2019.

The Lying Game by Ruth Ware -- Kate sends a text to her BFFs:  "I need you" so the three of them - Thea, Fatima, and Isa (rhymes with "nicer," according to Isa; they live in England so...) - leave to meet her.  Isa brings along her baby Freya, and, I...just think she's not that great of a mom at times. But, eh, I don't have kids so who am I to judge?  But I am.  Maybe it's because I don't care for liars.  That's why I usually don't like politicians very well, and really really dislike this Liar in Chief we have in Washington, D.C.  They girls met in boarding school, and they had this Lying Game which may have been all in good fun, but it continues into adulthood.  I do like this author, though. I think I have one more book of hers to read, and I'm like 9th in line at the library to read it.   

Behaving Badly by Isabel Wolff -- I love the animal behaviorist aspect of this book about Miranda who is looking for someone she wronged 16 years ago. Pretty good book. 

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley -- I had never read any of the Flavia de Luce novels, but was gifted this one from a friend for my birthday. What a cute book!  And clever detective! You have to love an 11 year old girl who puts poison ivy in her older sister's lipstick, and takes notes each day to see if a rash has broken out.  Plus, she has a bicycle named Gladys, and likes to lie on the ground with her arms and legs outstretched so that she looks like an asterisk (*).  In this book a man dies in her yard near the cucumber patch. Flavia overheard her father arguing with this mystery man a few hours prior, but did her father really kill someone?  Flavia looks for clues in order to solve the mystery!

High Tide Club by Mary Kay Andrews -- I picked this one up in the New Books section of my library, and enjoyed it pretty well.  This is about a single mom, attorney Brooke who quit her work at a law practice to move a few hours away and hang her shingle.  She is called to the private island of Talisa off the coast of Georgia at the request of the terminally-ill, 99-year-old Josephine Warrick.  She gets involved in a mystery concerning heirs and lawyers and..it was a decent, easy read. 

By the Book by Julia Sonneborn -- Anne Corey is a professor at a liberal-arts college in California, she's hoping to get a book published so she can stay on teaching.  In the meantime, she is startled by the news that her ex-fiancé is the new president of the college!  Pretty good story, light reading. 

A Fierce Radiance by Lauren Belfer -- I enjoyed learning more about the creation of penicillin while reading this novel.  It was especially weird, however, to read about people dying from scratches on their knees since I was (still am) sporting four boo-boos on my left leg. (One from a hike at Grandfather Mountain, and three from, uh, missing the last step outside the other day.)  So there I sat reading about people dying from things like a cat scratch or tripping on a sidewalk while jumping rope, and I was thinking how very blessed I am to have medicines available to help me.  Pretty interesting story of Claire, the photographer for Life magazine during World War II, and the doctors and scientists who were looking for cures for medical problems. 

Pearl in the Sand by Tessa Afshar -- a novel look at Rahab, the lady who was saved when she hid Israel's spies when the Hebrews were preparing to attack Jericho.  A pretty good story, an easy read, and it had some good reminders to me about God's holiness and mercy.


 ETA this book because I finished it at 10:30 PM before September began. So . . .


The Broken Road by Richard Paul Evans - book 1 in the trilogy I mentioned above; this gives more of the backstory of Charles James, the guy walking Route 66 in book 2.  Charles talks about his growing-up years and how he met his wife Monica - and what drove them apart.