Title: Salem Falls

Author: Jodi Picoult

Rating <3 <3 <3 <3

Summary: A handsome stranger comes to the sleepy New England town of Salem Falls in hopes of burying his past: Once a teacher at a girls' prep school, Jack St. Bride was destroyed when a student's crush sparked a powder keg of accusation. Now, washing dishes for Addie Peabody at the Do-Or-Diner, he slips quietly into his new routine, and Addie finds this unassuming man fitting easily inside her heart. But amid the rustic calm of Salem Falls, a quartet of teenage girls harbor dark secrets -- and they maliciously target Jack with a shattering allegation. Now, at the center of a modern-day witch hunt, Jack is forced once again to proclaim his innocence: to a town searching for answers, to a justice system where truth becomes a slippery concept written in shades of gray, and to the woman who has come to love him.

Review: This book by Picoult is a twist on the Salem Witch trials.  It involves four young teenage girls who are involved with wicca, and are just learning to navigate in the world of adults; and when they don't get what they want from the new stranger in town they aim to show him what 'witches' in todays age can be capable of doing to someone.  Jack has been accused of one false crime and after moving to Salem Falls, falling for the local waitress, and starting the threads of a new life he finds himself involved in a new scandal that might send him to jail for the rest of his natural life if he cannot convince the local populace or perhaps a jury to believe in his innocence.

Salem Falls explores the darker side of sexuality and lies that happen everyday in the lives of teenagers, adults and people around the world; have you ever wished someone ill and then heard they were in a car wreck and wondered just for a moment if your thought could have had some link to it? This book explores the possibilites of magic and how they are still active even in today's society.  Salem Falls, opens your mind to looking closer and listening more to the people around you.  People and events may not always be what they seem.  The book was a pretty quick read; the characters were flatter for me than other Picoult novels but the storyline kept me reading.  It was the plot of the book that I enjoyed more than anything.  I would recommend it but I have other books by this author I've enjoyed more.

Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult

Title: Sing You Home

Author: Jodi Picoult

Rating: <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

Summary: In the aftermath of a series of personal tragedies, Zoe throws herself into her career as a music therapist. When an unexpected friendship slowly blossoms into love, she makes plans for a new life, but to her shock and inevitable rage, some people—even those she loves and trusts most—don’t want that to happen. 

Review: I've never read a book that made me think in the way the novel Sing You Home, by author Jodi Picoult has.  It is the story of a couple who after struggling with infertility issues for years, along with the heartbreak of a still birth breaks under the pressure.  Max Zoe's husband files for divorce.  While Max turns to alcohol and ends up turning to a conservative Christian Church; Zoe finds love in an unexpected friendship with Vanessa which blossoms into a love song that changes her life; when the two women decide to have children a storm begins that only faith, love and perhaps the right song can heal and bring some of these broken souls back together to form a family for the child they are all desperately fighting for.

As I read this book it was an eye opener to realize how others might view the Christian faith; and some of our beliefs.  I'm glad I do not attend a church like the one Pastor Clive is head of in this book.  It showed me even more that love should be the center of any faith not hate or judgement.  Each character had their own struggles and even though they choose very different ways of coping with them in the end they were all just fighting for the right to live in the way that they thought was right and was the best choice for them.  The soundtrack and different songs for different chapters was a wonderful addition to the book in my opinion. I connect with music on a very deep level so I loved that aspect and I thought the characters were very alive and easy to connect with.  I haven't read a book by Jodi Picoult yet that I haven't loved or connected with.  I'd recommend this book to anyone especially music lovers.

Cheers! Happy Reading =)

Liz

House Rules

House Rules

By: Jodi Picoult

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3

Summary: Jacob Hunt is a teen with Asperger’s syndrome. He’s hopeless at reading social cues or expressing himself well to others, though he is brilliant in many ways. But he has a special focus on one subject—forensic analysis. A police scanner in his room clues him in to crime scenes, and he’s always showing up and telling the cops what to do. And he’s usually right. 

But when Jacob’s small hometown is rocked by a terrible murder, law enforcement comes to him. Jacob’s behaviors are hallmark Asperger’s, but they look a lot like guilt to the local police. Suddenly the Hunt family, who only want to fit in, are directly in the spotlight. For Jacob’s mother, Emma, it’s a brutal reminder of the intolerance and misunderstanding that always threaten her family. For his brother, Theo, it’s another indication why nothing is normal because of Jacob. 

And over this small family, the soul-searing question looms: Did Jacob commit murder?

Review: House Rules is one of the best novels I have read thus far in 2014.  It delves into the world of a family who are living in the not so black and white world of Asperger's and who have been for the past almost eighteen years.  The oldest son in the family Jacob has been diagnosed with Asperger's (he was diagnosed between two and three) which is a disease that is on the autistic spectrum but in which its suffer's are still able to function, can be very smart, but have a hard time in social situations or being able to feel any type of empathy for others or their feelings, people with asperger's often have obsessions about certain subjects and Jacob's obsession is forensic crime scenes and you can imagine the set up for a great novel.  

The plot is that Jacob's social skill's tutor disappears and he was the last known person to see her, along with a brother who gets lost in the chaos of his brothers disease, a Mother who while fighting fiercely for her son might be losing the other and herself, and a young lawyer who is finding love in the most unexpected places.  This novel was beautifully written and even Jacob at moments when you wanted to shout at him was hard not to root for or just to want to hold in the hardest moments.  I would most definitely recommend this book and will definitely be reading more Jodi Picoult novels in the near future.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest 

By: Ken Kesey

Rating <3 <3 <3

Summary: An international bestseller and the basis for a hugely successful film, Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest was one of the defining works of the 1960s. A mordant, wickedly subversive parable set in a mental ward, the novel chronicles the head-on collision between its hell-raising, life-affirming hero Randle Patrick McMurphy and the totalitarian rule of Big Nurse. McMurphy swaggers into the mental ward like a blast of fresh air and turns the place upside down, starting a gambling operation, smuggling in wine and women, and egging on the other patients to join him in open rebellion. But McMurphy's revolution against Big Nurse and everything she stands for quickly turns from sport to a fierce power struggle with shattering results. With One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Kesey created a work without precedent in American literature, a novel at once comic and tragic that probes the nature of madness and sanity, authority and vitality. Greeted by unanimous acclaim when it was first published, the book has become and enduring favorite of readers. 

Review: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest was a novel following the life of a prisoner McMurphy who got himself moved from a working prison to a mental hospital in the 1960's.  It follows the up's and downs of his journey and growing relationships with other patients in the mental ward run by the ultimate villain Nurse Ratchet or 'The Big Nurse' who enjoys using her power in her role as caregiver to employ other sadistic caregivers and to inflict pain and mental, and physical anguish on the patients who are left in her care.  I decided to read this book because I have loved the movie since my early teens, and although the characters were colorful, and the plot was one that you did not want to put down, I did find the writing style confusing and somewhat monotonous throughout the second half and towards the end of the book.  I do think however if you are interested into a look into what psychological treatment might have been like for patients during this point in history (1960's) this might be a good reference to read, or I'd recommend the movie.  As far as the novel itself its not one of my favorites but it was alright.  For me as someone with multiple psychology degrees hearing how the author chose to have the patients describe themselves, and their disorders was very interesting, and hearing how their main caregiver used therapy to manipulate them for her own means to really in a way torture then psychologically was disturbing to me and just makes me want to help people in a positive way even more.

Title: Toys

Authors: James Patterson & Neil Mcmahon

Rating: <3 <3 <3 <3

Read: PB

Summary:Hays Baker and his wife Lizbeth possess super-human strength, extraordinary intelligence, stunning looks, a sex life to die for, and two beautiful children. Of course they do--they're Elites, endowed at birth with the very best that the world can offer. The only problem in their perfect world: humans and their toys!

The one with the most toys--dies

The top operative for the Agency of Change, Hays has just won the fiercest battle of his career. He has been praised by the President, and is a national hero. But before he can savor his triumph, he receives an unbelievable shock that overturns everything he thought was true. Suddenly Hays is on the other side of the gun, forced to leave his perfect family and fight for his life. 

Now a hunted fugitive, Hays is thrown into a life he never dreamed possible--fighting to save humans everywhere from extinction. He enlists all of his training to uncover the truth that will save millions of lives--maybe even his own. James Patterson's Toys is a thriller on a hyper plane--with a hero who rivals both James Bond and Jason Bourne.

Review: This is the first book that I've read by James Patterson and I really enjoyed his style of writing.  It had an easy flow to it, and it was easy to connect  and follow each character's story line.  Also I do love futuristic stories like this one which was another reason I enjoyed this book.  It follows the life of Hays who is enjoying life on top as an elite with a beautiful wife and kids who are the top rung of society until a surgery reveals the fact that he is in fact human and changes his life forever.

The plot follows him as he fights in a war against those he used to trust the most to save humanity from the elites who want to destroy the humans who they consider an inferior breed who is beneath them.  It had a lot of action, and fighting scenes which aren't always my forte but also enough of the psychological thriller and fantasy elements were involved so that I really enjoyed the book. I definitely plan to read more from this author.

Anna of Byzantium

Title: Anna of Byzantium 

Author: Tracy Barrett

Rating <3 <3 <3 <3

Read: PB 

(From now on this category will be included and will either be marked PB for Personal Book or  MRBD  which means its from my"must read before you die" list of books).  The only exception to this are arcs, which will be labeled.

Summary: Anna Comnena has every reason to feel entitled. She's a princess, her father's firstborn and his chosen successor. Someday she expects to sit on the throne and rule the vast Byzantine Empire. So the birth of a baby brother doesn't perturb her. Nor do the "barbarians" from foreign lands, who think only a son should ascend to power. Anna is as dismissive of them as are her father and his most trusted adviser--his mother, a manipulative woman with whom Anna studies the art of diplomacy. Anna relishes her lessons, proving adept at checkmating opponents in swift moves of mental chess. But as she matures into a young woman, her arrogance and intelligence threaten her grandmother. Anna will be no one's puppet. Almost overnight, Anna sees her dreams of power wrenched from her and bestowed on her little brother. Bitter at the betrayal, Anna waits to avenge herself, and to seize what is rightfully hers.

Review: Anna Comnena is living her worst nightmare born with a silver spoon in her mouth she has been brought up in a world of great privilege and at one point a commoner even turning their back on her could have meant their death.  Now the reader meets the young princess for the first time in the scriptorium of a nunnery in the mountains of the Byzantine empire, where she has been degraded to the point of trying to match wits with a graying old nun who likes to try to put the young upstart princess in her place.  Anna was brought up to believe that she would take her Father's place as the next express of the powerful Byzantine empire, but when she manipulates her Grandmother and metaphorically 'bites the hand that is feeding' her the keys to her Father's kingdom; her world comes crashing down around her as she is accused of heinous acts and she sees her spoiled young brother take what she believes to be her birth right.  

From the first page this was a book that brought out the wit and bright mind of the main character which I enjoyed seeing  especially in a woman of the middle ages who can sometimes be portrayed as having weak minds or not being as intelligent as men.  It was delightful imagining the scenes between the characters as they each fought for their rightful place in the dangerous dance that was the royal world of the middle ages in the Byzantine empire, the crusades, and the wars with the Turks.  I would've enjoyed more details of palace life, and of the lives of the young princesses, and their brother and familial relatives during their young years since that was where most of the story was based; but overall it was a good plot and easy to read and get drawn into.  Some chapters were a bit choppy and could've ended smoother but it was a very enjoyable read.  It intrigued me enough that I would like to learn more about this particular women in history she seems very feisty and intelligent.

New Book Goals for the New Year

New Goals for a New Year in reading =) 

I have combined 3 lists of 100 "must read before you die" books ; mainly containing a mixture of classics, I also added a list of five books to the list myself, and a few of the books overlap from list to list.  I will be reviewing these books as well as the normal historical fiction and books that are just for pure enjoyment =) 

From now on if the book is one from my list it will be labeled as MRBD (Must Read Before you Die List) in other words.  

I am not setting a time limit to do this in it is purely for enrichment and I think anything like this can broaden a reader's thought process and stretch their belief system and comfort zone in the literary world.

Happy Reading, and Happy New Year =) !