February Books

 Dead Connection by Alafair Burke -- This book was just OK. It featured a rookie detective Ellie Hatcher who was chosen to help Flann McIlroy when women were murdered in New York City. Ties are made to a dating service which is one aspect Ellie and Flann investigate.

The Umbrella Lady by V.C. Andrews --  After her mom dies in a house fire, Saffron and her dad are at the train station. He leaves her there to color while he buys supplies, but he never returns. Instead an older lady appears and convinces Saffron to eat and sleep at her house. Time passes and Saffron is still with this lady, dubbed the umbrella lady because she carries an umbrella with her every time she leaves home. This book was a bit odd, but came together in an OK way so maybe I'll read the next book about Saffron since I saw her story continues.

Still Alice by Lisa Genova -- Alice Howland is a professor and research scientist at Harvard. When she starts having some memory issues around the time of her fiftieth birthday, she decides to ask her doctor if this is normal - menopausal behavior perhaps? What follows is a case of Early Onset Alzheimer's Disease and how she and her family deal with this diagnosis. Good book, and I like that it is told from the perspective of Alice. I've recommended this book to my family and a friend, and have thought of it several times since I read it. 

Past Perfect by Susan Isaacs -- Katie worked for a couple of years with the CIA, but she was fired without any explanation. Fifteen years later, she still wants to know what happened. When a former coworker calls saying she has the answer and will call back tomorrow, Katie is ready for answers. Only her former coworker never calls and Katie cannot locate her. Pretty good story. The author is a rather amusing lady which I like at times, but also sometimes comedy in books distracts from the story for me.  

The English American by Alison Larkin -- Twenty-eight years ago Pippa was adopted by British parents from a young mother in the United States. When she finally gets around to wanting to find out where she came from, she is able to get in touch with Billie, a Georgian living in New York. She's invited to visit her birth mother, and what follows is an adventure of where she gets her hands, her laugh, her artistic and messy traits.  One of my favorite parts are the comments about what Pippa finds so different in the US. For instance telling folks "I love you," or the easy talk of God or money make her squirm. Many times she bit back her honest thoughts and credited this to her British upbringing of being polite no matter what. 

The Seaside Homecoming by Julie Klassen -- Again I cannot remember all the details from past books in this series - On Devonshire Shores - but this one is mostly about Claire's return to England to be near her mom and sisters. She was disowned by her father after running off with a guy who said he'd marry her, but after that broken relationship, she was living in Scotland with an elderly family member. After Aunt Mercer dies, she returns and becomes a partner in a boarding house. William Howland is a widower with a young child named Mira. Pretty good story. 

Out of the Rain by V.C. Andrews -- This is the sequel to the book mentioned above about Saffron. After the death of Mazy, the umbrella lady, Saffron decides to look for the father who never returned for her. Her father is stunned to see Saffron show up in his yard, and hurriedly instructs her where to go and urges her to go along with his story before she comes to live with him, his wife, Ava, and their two children Karen and Garson. Saffron goes to a private school and gets used to living with "Uncle Derick"'s family though it's hard to keep her story straight. Interesting story and what a father! 

Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson -- Ernie aka Ern is with his family at a must-be-there family reunion because his brother Michael is being released from prison, and it was imperative that everyone be at this event to welcome him. Ern is the narrator of this story and adds a lot of commentary and editor's notes as well as telling the Dear Reader where to find all the murders throughout this book. Ha!  I heard about this book from Myrna so I decided to read it. 

We Are Watching by Alison Gaylin -- Meg was driving when her family was in an accident which led to her husband's death. They were being harassed by a group of skinheads trying to photograph them when Meg lost control of the vehicle. A few months later, Meg and her daughter Lily are confronted with a website that makes them believe they were targeted. This book took me a while to get into, but it ended up being pretty good though not my favorite from this author. 

My Family Divided by Diane Guerrero -- Another from Myrna's January book list, this is a Junior Biography in my library geared obviously to younger readers. Interesting story! I read it within a few hours on Valentine's Day and when I read the last chapter, I felt so so sad that this reality of Trump in office AGAIN was happening to the immigrant community. Andrew recently finished Wilmer Valderrama's book which I picked up for him at the library, and we talked about his story, how his family came to the US for a better life. Really wish people had more compassion in understanding why people move to countries. It's not that they dislike their homes (food, culture, language, family), but are often searching for better lives. And sometimes they are fleeing dangerous situations and can't apply through legal channels (like that is super-easy, quick, and cheap!). Like I've told some folks, You have to be desperate to come to the US where even the Christians*** hate you!   Since I wrote this, Andrew read this book while I still had it checked out. He enjoyed her stories and we've continued talking about Diane and Wilmer. 

***  I know not all Christians hate immigrants, but it seems many of them do. They only like the ones who come legally which, as I said earlier, is not cheap or easy or something folks always think to do when they are desperate. Also I called out "the Christians" because supposedly Jesus told us to love others. Like after loving God with all our hearts, we are supposed to love others.  Even our enemies! 

Silence for the Dead by Simone St. James -- Kitty pretends to be a nurse and gets a job at a place where men who fought in the Great War are now recovering after madness sets in. She's desperate to escape home and thinks this place will be a good area to hide. She meets interesting patients and fellow nurses. Pretty good though her books always have a ghostly element that some people may not like. 

The Last Room On the Left by Leah Konen -- Kerry has signed up to be the caretaker for the month of February at this motel outside of the City, and she discovers the room she is supposed to be living in has the previous occupant's stuff all in it. Odd. This book alternates between Kerry and Siobhan's voices with a bit of Allison in the mix. A pretty good thriller about good friends, a murder, and more! 

No One Knows by J.T. Ellison -- Aubrey's husband disappeared five years ago when the two of them split up for their friends' separate parties. When Aubrey went to meet Josh later that evening, he never showed up. Five years later, he's finally declared dead by the courts, but Aubrey still wonders what happened. Meanwhile she runs into a man who reminds her so much of Josh, and she and Chase become close. Will she ever figure out what happened to her husband? 

The Last Camellia by Sarah Jio -- Flora is headed to England to work as a nanny. Her assignment is to find a rare camellia and inform the man who hired her, but she starts enjoying her job with the children.  Meanwhile - in more recent times - Addison and Rex head to England from the US where Rex's family has a home - the place Flora lived decades ago. This was OK. 

The Situation Room: The Inside Story of Presidents in Crisis by George Stephanopolous -- This book was highly recommended by Suzanne, so I looked to see if my library had it.  I put it on hold, and it was finally available this month.  I enjoyed learning more about how the presidents from JFK to Biden used the Sit Room. I was introduced to so many interesting people and some of my favorites were Gerald Ford's photographer, David Hume Kennerly, who piped up to offer a suggestion regarding the Cambodians capturing a ship even though he was supposed to be a "fly on the wall." (see page 80)  I also really enjoyed the backstory to the famous "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall."  (At one point he thought of just letting President Reagan say it in German since speechwriter Peter Robinson got the idea after visiting with a group of Berliners (pg. 143). He was told by the chief speechwriter that an American President should always give his big lines in English...ha.)  I also noted how much I liked Brent Scowcroft and the tech wizard Gary Bresnahan who were mentioned several times as they served under several presidential administrations.  I love the stories of the Bush family - the first George and Barbara - and how they were "informal" compared to the Reagans. If it was a slow night, they even invited staffers to join them in eating popcorn and watching movies (pg. 170).  The pages about "please hold for the President" were pretty good and invite a chuckle, while the chapter about 9/11 brought tears to my eyes as I relived that day. It was interesting that although the Sit Room was to be evacuated, folks decided to stay so one man had them write down their names and SSNs - a "dead list" in case they died there. I love that "U.S. Navy detailees to the White House mess, which was adjacent to the Sit Room, also refused to leave." After being told that they were free to go, yet learning folks were staying in the Sit Room, one guy said, "You guys are gonna need to eat. What do you want?" (pg. 208)  

So many good backstories! 

I wrote the above when I was about 80% finished with the book and since then I read the chapter about the Trump presidency which was interesting!   I read quite a bit of that chapter to Andrew and thought about what advisors to Trump in his first term think about things now since it seems there is no one there to "take the phone away."  I guess time will tell.

The Girl in the Glass by Susan Meissner -- Meg's dad has promised to take her to Florence since she was a young girl. Years later, she finally gets the chance to visit the place where her beloved Nonna lived at one time. Unfortunately her father doesn't meet her at the airport, yet Meg finds a place to stay with Sofia, the lady writing a memoir. This book took me longer to read than it should have as I had a hard time sticking with the story. It wasn't terrible, but not my favorite from this author. Also I was reading the book mentioned above while reading this so my attention was divided. 

What Happened to the McCrays? by Tracey Lange -- In order to help his father after having a stroke, Kyle returns to Potsdam, New York, after leaving nearly 2 years ago. Casey has to deal with her former husband returning to help his father who lives across the street from her. Why did this couple split up and why did Kyle leave in the first place?

HBD, DBF3! <3