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Wulfgang (Bad Oak Boys #3)
10.0
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After years in the military, Wulfgang Marrok has had enough. He wants nothing more than to settle...
MM Paranormal Romance Mpreg
Swimming For Beginners
9.0
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Funny. Heartbreaking. Life-affirming. Swimming for Beginners will show you how a child can...
The Olive Tree
Book
We were unbreakable. We were strong, and we were resilient. Just like the olive tree. Nisma...
young adult coming of age
The Uzbek Girl
Book
American diplomat Nicholas Rosa receives a cryptic note from his mother hinting at a dark union...
mystery crime
Boy with Wings
Book
What does it mean to be different? When Johnny Cruel is born with strange appendages on his back...
Literary Fiction Historical Fiction
ClareR (5991 KP) rated Confessions in Books
Sep 10, 2025
I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Catherine Airey’s book Confessions didn’t end up on some prize lists this year. It’s so well written, engaging, unputdownable (I read it in a day - I was ill!), and it has a lot to say about loss, purpose, family, secrets and women’s experiences.
I love a multi-generational story, and this starts with Cora Brady, the Twin Towers disaster and how she wanders the streets of New York afterwards. Her estranged aunt comes to her rescue in a letter, offering Cora a home with her in Ireland.
Some parts of the book are about Cora’s mother, an artist, her aunt and her own daughter.
I was pretty much transfixed by this book; I was completely immersed in the lives of these women. Sometimes it was heartbreaking, and at other times there was a real hope for the future.
It’s a great read, and I’d highly recommend it.
I love a multi-generational story, and this starts with Cora Brady, the Twin Towers disaster and how she wanders the streets of New York afterwards. Her estranged aunt comes to her rescue in a letter, offering Cora a home with her in Ireland.
Some parts of the book are about Cora’s mother, an artist, her aunt and her own daughter.
I was pretty much transfixed by this book; I was completely immersed in the lives of these women. Sometimes it was heartbreaking, and at other times there was a real hope for the future.
It’s a great read, and I’d highly recommend it.
Revenge of Rome (Eagles of the Empire #23)
6.0
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AD 61. Britannia is divided. The rebel horde has been defeated. But the leader, Boudica, and her...
Amanda (96 KP) rated Little Fires Everywhere in Books
Mar 21, 2019
I was so close to putting this book on my DNF list. The beginning of it was SO slow that I found myself spacing out and then remembering that I was listening to a book.
Obviously, I'm writing a review on it, so of course, I DID NOT put it on my DNF list. It took quite a few chapters (roughly five I think) to really get into the story and by then, I was completely hooked.
There are several stories going on.
The Richardsons rent out a house to a single mother, Mia Warren with her daughter Pearl. The Richardsons are friends with another family who are in the process of adopting a Chinese-American baby, but the process is paused when the mother comes forward wanting her daughter back. The husband, Mr. Richardson, is a lawyer representing the family who want to keep the baby and Mrs. Richardson basically tries to do some investigating of her own, including finding out things about her tenants past and what she has done to cause this drama for her best friends.
The theme of it all centers around a baby. Not just one baby, but that's the whole premise of the story.
One family wants to adopt the Chinese baby they renamed Mirabelle (I'm sorry, but I really don't like that name, or the reason WHY they changed it) and then the mother coming forward wanting her baby back. Now, the mother left her baby at a fire house cause she was not the right state to take care of her. If someone hadn't tipped her off as to where her baby was, then maybe this whole thing could have been avoided.
I struggled with not yelling at when the woman says the family is stealing her baby. No, they are not. They adopted her when she was left at a fire house. That is a thing that women in her state CAN do. If they cannot afford resources available (cost wise) they can leave their baby with a hospital or a fire house no questions asked. That also means that you give up parental rights. Granted, there should be some sort of grace period, but you cannot say this family stole your baby, because they didn't!
One teenager in the story finds out she's pregnant from her boyfriend and I just cannot fathom her snobby naivete attitude. She swoons over Mirabelle because she's so cute. I'll give you that, babies are cute. But then she starts to fantasize that her and her also teenage boyfriend could work it out and their parents would take care of the baby while at college. Yeah, okay! Reality does hit her hard though, but I won't say how, but it does and I almost feel bad for her, but not quite.
Then there's someone who agreed to be a surrogate and winds up stealing the baby before it was born. Now, technically, that woman did steal a baby. Granted, it's biologically yours, but she agreed, verbally and legally, to be this couple's surrogate. I'm not entirely sure I could do it, cause I really don't want to go through the whole pregnancy, but I can't speak for other women who go into the surrogacy and then start to regret it later. I don't know.
I'm now just babbling. Despite the slow beginning, I can definitely see why this book had as much hype as it did when it was published. It really gets you thinking about different perspectives of motherhood, biological or not. The story is told as if someone was indeed telling a story to a group of people. Almost like when someone is narrating a play and you're watching it as it unfolds before your eyes.
I do look forward to seeing about Celeste Ng's previous novels. This story may be sensitive to some people who have gone through any of these scenarios because I think some things that happen later, could very well get emotional. The story is great, but also keep that in mind if you are at all familiar with these kinds of stories.
Obviously, I'm writing a review on it, so of course, I DID NOT put it on my DNF list. It took quite a few chapters (roughly five I think) to really get into the story and by then, I was completely hooked.
There are several stories going on.
The Richardsons rent out a house to a single mother, Mia Warren with her daughter Pearl. The Richardsons are friends with another family who are in the process of adopting a Chinese-American baby, but the process is paused when the mother comes forward wanting her daughter back. The husband, Mr. Richardson, is a lawyer representing the family who want to keep the baby and Mrs. Richardson basically tries to do some investigating of her own, including finding out things about her tenants past and what she has done to cause this drama for her best friends.
The theme of it all centers around a baby. Not just one baby, but that's the whole premise of the story.
One family wants to adopt the Chinese baby they renamed Mirabelle (I'm sorry, but I really don't like that name, or the reason WHY they changed it) and then the mother coming forward wanting her baby back. Now, the mother left her baby at a fire house cause she was not the right state to take care of her. If someone hadn't tipped her off as to where her baby was, then maybe this whole thing could have been avoided.
I struggled with not yelling at when the woman says the family is stealing her baby. No, they are not. They adopted her when she was left at a fire house. That is a thing that women in her state CAN do. If they cannot afford resources available (cost wise) they can leave their baby with a hospital or a fire house no questions asked. That also means that you give up parental rights. Granted, there should be some sort of grace period, but you cannot say this family stole your baby, because they didn't!
One teenager in the story finds out she's pregnant from her boyfriend and I just cannot fathom her snobby naivete attitude. She swoons over Mirabelle because she's so cute. I'll give you that, babies are cute. But then she starts to fantasize that her and her also teenage boyfriend could work it out and their parents would take care of the baby while at college. Yeah, okay! Reality does hit her hard though, but I won't say how, but it does and I almost feel bad for her, but not quite.
Then there's someone who agreed to be a surrogate and winds up stealing the baby before it was born. Now, technically, that woman did steal a baby. Granted, it's biologically yours, but she agreed, verbally and legally, to be this couple's surrogate. I'm not entirely sure I could do it, cause I really don't want to go through the whole pregnancy, but I can't speak for other women who go into the surrogacy and then start to regret it later. I don't know.
I'm now just babbling. Despite the slow beginning, I can definitely see why this book had as much hype as it did when it was published. It really gets you thinking about different perspectives of motherhood, biological or not. The story is told as if someone was indeed telling a story to a group of people. Almost like when someone is narrating a play and you're watching it as it unfolds before your eyes.
I do look forward to seeing about Celeste Ng's previous novels. This story may be sensitive to some people who have gone through any of these scenarios because I think some things that happen later, could very well get emotional. The story is great, but also keep that in mind if you are at all familiar with these kinds of stories.
Goddess in the Stacks (553 KP) rated Clock Dance in Books
Aug 11, 2018
Clock Dance was the second pick for Barnes & Noble's nation-wide Book Club. (The first was Meg Wolitzer's The Female Persuasion, back in May.) Like the first one, it was contemporary fiction, which I'm pretty meh about. When I learned it was set mostly in Baltimore, and written by a local author, I became more interested. I'm originally from Oregon, but Baltimore has become my home, and I enjoy reading about it. We had a slightly larger group than last time, but I was the only returning attendee besides the store employee, Sam, who led the discussion.
Sam opened the discussion with the same question that she started the last one with - "Did you like the main character?" It's an interesting question because most people ask "Did you like the book?" which can have a different answer. I don't usually read books in which I don't like the main character, but that's usually because I choose my books. I'm not choosing my Book Club books, so it's a good question. Unlike last time, I did like Willa. I disagreed with her judgment when it came to husbands, but I still sympathized with her. I mentioned that I didn't like that she just floated through most of her life without any real ambition, but to be honest, I've done that too. I'm not a very ambitious person - or my ambitions are quite low. I think that, perhaps, is the difference. I find a lot of fulfillment in being, effectively, my husband's personal assistant. It's fun. Willa did not seem to find it fulfilling, she just - didn't want to rock the boat.
I like how we saw each of Willa's "defining moments" - the book opens on her as a child, her volatile mother having stormed out of the house during an argument. Her mother really does a number on her as a child. I think it's why she hates to rock the boat so much. From here, we fast forward to college, and Willa's boyfriend proposing to her after gaslighting her about an event that happened on the plane. Willa's mother disapproves. Vehemently. I think that's part of why Willa accepts. Our next view of Willa's life is the accident that takes her husband's life, and its aftermath.
Then we finally start into the real meat of the book, twenty years after the death of her first husband. Her sons have grown and moved away, she has remarried, and both of her parents have passed. Her husband is a little distant, and she seems rather untethered. Then she gets the strangest phone call. It turns out her eldest son lived with a woman (Denise) and her daughter for a little while in Baltimore; he has since moved on, but "Sean's mother" is still a phone number on Denise's emergency contact list. So when Denise is shot in the leg and put in the hospital, a neighbor lady sees it, assumes Willa is the grandmother of the child, and calls her to come take care of her. It's a little convoluted, and Willa can't even adequately explain to her husband why she's decided to fly to Baltimore to take care of a child she has no relation to, but she does so anyway.
This is where we get to Baltimore, and, in Anne Tyler's own words, "when her story changes to Technicolor."
I actually live just outside Baltimore myself, but one of my best friends lives in Charles Village, and I could SO EASILY envision Willa's neighborhood as a street of rowhomes. (Turns out it's probably based on a neighborhood in Hamilton, according to the Baltimore Sun.) I was even mapping locations in Willa's house to my friend's rowhome! Anne Tyler really captures the spirit of Baltimore, and now I want to read more of her books, even if they are contemporary fiction!
Overall I enjoyed Clock Dance; Anne Tyler is very good at subtle character growth, which is quite realistic. People don't often change all at once. Sometimes it takes a lifetime of being told what to do before finally waking up to what you WANT to do.
You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.wordpress.com
Sam opened the discussion with the same question that she started the last one with - "Did you like the main character?" It's an interesting question because most people ask "Did you like the book?" which can have a different answer. I don't usually read books in which I don't like the main character, but that's usually because I choose my books. I'm not choosing my Book Club books, so it's a good question. Unlike last time, I did like Willa. I disagreed with her judgment when it came to husbands, but I still sympathized with her. I mentioned that I didn't like that she just floated through most of her life without any real ambition, but to be honest, I've done that too. I'm not a very ambitious person - or my ambitions are quite low. I think that, perhaps, is the difference. I find a lot of fulfillment in being, effectively, my husband's personal assistant. It's fun. Willa did not seem to find it fulfilling, she just - didn't want to rock the boat.
I like how we saw each of Willa's "defining moments" - the book opens on her as a child, her volatile mother having stormed out of the house during an argument. Her mother really does a number on her as a child. I think it's why she hates to rock the boat so much. From here, we fast forward to college, and Willa's boyfriend proposing to her after gaslighting her about an event that happened on the plane. Willa's mother disapproves. Vehemently. I think that's part of why Willa accepts. Our next view of Willa's life is the accident that takes her husband's life, and its aftermath.
Then we finally start into the real meat of the book, twenty years after the death of her first husband. Her sons have grown and moved away, she has remarried, and both of her parents have passed. Her husband is a little distant, and she seems rather untethered. Then she gets the strangest phone call. It turns out her eldest son lived with a woman (Denise) and her daughter for a little while in Baltimore; he has since moved on, but "Sean's mother" is still a phone number on Denise's emergency contact list. So when Denise is shot in the leg and put in the hospital, a neighbor lady sees it, assumes Willa is the grandmother of the child, and calls her to come take care of her. It's a little convoluted, and Willa can't even adequately explain to her husband why she's decided to fly to Baltimore to take care of a child she has no relation to, but she does so anyway.
This is where we get to Baltimore, and, in Anne Tyler's own words, "when her story changes to Technicolor."
I actually live just outside Baltimore myself, but one of my best friends lives in Charles Village, and I could SO EASILY envision Willa's neighborhood as a street of rowhomes. (Turns out it's probably based on a neighborhood in Hamilton, according to the Baltimore Sun.) I was even mapping locations in Willa's house to my friend's rowhome! Anne Tyler really captures the spirit of Baltimore, and now I want to read more of her books, even if they are contemporary fiction!
Overall I enjoyed Clock Dance; Anne Tyler is very good at subtle character growth, which is quite realistic. People don't often change all at once. Sometimes it takes a lifetime of being told what to do before finally waking up to what you WANT to do.
You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.wordpress.com
Hazel (1853 KP) rated There Will Be Lies in Books
Dec 17, 2018
<i>This eBook was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review </i>
Award winning Nick Lake has returned to the limelight with a young adult thriller so full of emotion that you will be gripped from beginning to end. <i>There Will Be Lies </i>starts with a happy relationship between mother and daughter, then rips it apart revealing that everything you once believed true is a lie.
From the very beginning seventeen year old Shelby Jane Cooper warns the reader that bad things are going to happen. She speaks of death and of a car collision that is about to occur within the first few chapters of the story. But this is not the climax of the story. It is merely the small stone dropped on the top of a mountain, causing an avalanche of questions, danger and the slowly unraveling truth.
All her life Shelby has been homeschooled, isolated from society and shadowed by her over protective mother. After being hit by a car, resulting in a fractured foot, Shelby is ushered into a car by her mother and driven in the opposite direction from home. Supposedly an abusive father, a man Shelby cannot recall, is on their tail whom they must hide from to avoid a disastrous confrontation. Despite initially believing this story, peculiar things start happening to Shelby that suggest all is not as it seems.
The first quarter of <i>There Will Be Lies</i> follows a typical contemporary storyline, but as it becomes more thrilling, the author incorporates fantasy/American mythology into the mix. Finding herself slipping in and out of a dying, impossible world known as the <i>Dreaming</i>, Shelby begins to hesitate to believe the things her mother is telling her, especially after being warned that there will be two lies followed by a truth. Yet she cannot work out what they are; and what if the truth is something she cannot, does not want, to consider?
I loved this book from the very beginning. I loved Shelby’s character: the way she spoke, her sarcasm, her wit, her intelligence. I liked that despite being so sheltered from the world, she was not weird or awkward. What made it even better was discovering she was deaf. Readers will not even be able to guess at that for almost half the novel, when Shelby reveals the fact herself. She is not portrayed as stupid or any less human for having a disability. Nick Lake has done a superb job of avoiding any forms of stigma or prejudice.
With the story picking up the pace, my love was almost turned to hate. Almost. The fantastical elements, the American mythology, which gave it the appearance of a half fairytale, very nearly ruined the entire book for me. I admit I liked the concept and enjoyed reading the scenes set in the <i>Dreaming</i>, but it seemed so out of place with the rest of the novel. It felt as though Lake had written two different stories and decided to combine them together instead of publishing them separately. However, as I said, this only ALMOST ruined it.
As the story progressed, the relevance of the fairy-tale-like elements became clearer. You cannot say for sure whether the <i>Dreaming</i> was real or whether Shelby was merely doing that: dreaming. But what you can say is that the mythological storyline is a metaphorical way of showing what Shelby was dealing with in the real world. In a place where she was confused about what was true, she needed the <i>Dreaming</i> to explain things to her, to make her understand her predicament.
<i>There Will Be Lies </i>is full of little metaphors, some that you do not notice at first, but can easily be applied to life in general. It is an extremely quotable narrative with beautiful phrasing. With two thrilling storylines that eventually merge together, it is guaranteed that you will be gripped, wanting to know what happens; yet also not wanting it to end.
Award winning Nick Lake has returned to the limelight with a young adult thriller so full of emotion that you will be gripped from beginning to end. <i>There Will Be Lies </i>starts with a happy relationship between mother and daughter, then rips it apart revealing that everything you once believed true is a lie.
From the very beginning seventeen year old Shelby Jane Cooper warns the reader that bad things are going to happen. She speaks of death and of a car collision that is about to occur within the first few chapters of the story. But this is not the climax of the story. It is merely the small stone dropped on the top of a mountain, causing an avalanche of questions, danger and the slowly unraveling truth.
All her life Shelby has been homeschooled, isolated from society and shadowed by her over protective mother. After being hit by a car, resulting in a fractured foot, Shelby is ushered into a car by her mother and driven in the opposite direction from home. Supposedly an abusive father, a man Shelby cannot recall, is on their tail whom they must hide from to avoid a disastrous confrontation. Despite initially believing this story, peculiar things start happening to Shelby that suggest all is not as it seems.
The first quarter of <i>There Will Be Lies</i> follows a typical contemporary storyline, but as it becomes more thrilling, the author incorporates fantasy/American mythology into the mix. Finding herself slipping in and out of a dying, impossible world known as the <i>Dreaming</i>, Shelby begins to hesitate to believe the things her mother is telling her, especially after being warned that there will be two lies followed by a truth. Yet she cannot work out what they are; and what if the truth is something she cannot, does not want, to consider?
I loved this book from the very beginning. I loved Shelby’s character: the way she spoke, her sarcasm, her wit, her intelligence. I liked that despite being so sheltered from the world, she was not weird or awkward. What made it even better was discovering she was deaf. Readers will not even be able to guess at that for almost half the novel, when Shelby reveals the fact herself. She is not portrayed as stupid or any less human for having a disability. Nick Lake has done a superb job of avoiding any forms of stigma or prejudice.
With the story picking up the pace, my love was almost turned to hate. Almost. The fantastical elements, the American mythology, which gave it the appearance of a half fairytale, very nearly ruined the entire book for me. I admit I liked the concept and enjoyed reading the scenes set in the <i>Dreaming</i>, but it seemed so out of place with the rest of the novel. It felt as though Lake had written two different stories and decided to combine them together instead of publishing them separately. However, as I said, this only ALMOST ruined it.
As the story progressed, the relevance of the fairy-tale-like elements became clearer. You cannot say for sure whether the <i>Dreaming</i> was real or whether Shelby was merely doing that: dreaming. But what you can say is that the mythological storyline is a metaphorical way of showing what Shelby was dealing with in the real world. In a place where she was confused about what was true, she needed the <i>Dreaming</i> to explain things to her, to make her understand her predicament.
<i>There Will Be Lies </i>is full of little metaphors, some that you do not notice at first, but can easily be applied to life in general. It is an extremely quotable narrative with beautiful phrasing. With two thrilling storylines that eventually merge together, it is guaranteed that you will be gripped, wanting to know what happens; yet also not wanting it to end.