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Alison Pink (7 KP) rated Crazy Love You in Books

Jan 15, 2018

How is it possible that I have not read any of Lisa Unger's books until now?? This book was so good I could not put it down, which is not necessarily a good thing when you are an elementary school teacher headed back to work after being off (ie. sleeping in) for 2 weeks. LOL
The plot was so fast paced and well developed. The characters were interesting and very believable. There were plenty of twists & turns, the kind that leave you thinking you have it all figured out only to realize at the end that you were only partially right. Just the kind of book I love! This is 1 avid reader that has a new go to author. I can't wait to delve in to another of her books. I hope they are all as great & easy to get lost in as this one was.

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Alison Pink (7 KP) rated The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science in Books

Jan 15, 2018

This book was given to me by a friend, a substitue teacher at the school I teach at. He is working on his teaching degree & came across this book in the course of his studies. He was so impressed with it that he purchased several copies & gave them to teachers at the school.
I enjoyed this book a great deal. It was easy to read for being a book on brain science. It was written in a very non-high brow way. The book explained the theory of brain plasticity & how the "changeability" of the brain impacts our lives. There were sections on relationships, addiction, learning, strokes, & the part I found the most interesting the development of the Fast ForWord program which we use at the school.
If you are curious about the brain & how it is able to change & heal or harm itself this is a must read!

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Bookapotamus (289 KP) rated Special Topics in Calamity Physics in Books

May 25, 2018

I loved, loved, loved this book! 5 STARS!

Blue Van Meer is a young girl studying at Harvard who decides to write about her life. Kind of a brainiac, and a bit odd, she starts with some tidbits of her childhood. Her mother died when she was very young, so she was raised primarily by her eccentric father who is a professor that moved her around a lot, from place to place. But most of the book takes place in Blue's high school years, particularly her senior year where she meets and befriends her teacher Hannah Schneider and joins an elite group of eccentrics, named the Bluebloods. And then, there is a murder.

Its a great mystery, a definite page-turner and you see how this murder has impacted Blue's life, and my goodness, it just gets better and better as you read on. I'm a big fan of Pessl's now!

Kudos

ClareR (6054 KP) rated The Dark Lake in Books

Sep 5, 2018

The Dark Lake

Sarah Bailey | 2017 | Mystery, Thriller

7.3

(4 Ratings)

Book Rating

One to watch for.

A debut thriller that really kept me on the edge of my seat. Rosalind Ryan, a local Drama and English teacher, is found dead in the lake at a local nature reserve. Gemma Woodstock, a local Detective Sergeant, is put on the case. Except Gemma has a history with Rosalind, and she has a lot of other personal baggage.
I enjoyed this. They're all very human characters with lots of faults, sometimes unpleasant ones: but I liked that. I liked that the murderer wasn't at all obvious (to me, anyway!) and had me guessing right up to the end, and the whole reason for the murder was a shock, and at the same time, understandable.
I will keep an eye out for future novels by this author, particularly in this series. I really do think that she'll be one to watch out for in the future.