Friday, January 28, 2011

Scorpio's Child by Kezi Matthews - 5 stars!

Scorpio's Child

by Kezi Matthews

Fourteen-year-old Afton is alienated from her mother, who is the perfect wife when her sailor husband is home, but emotionally distant when he is away. When her mother s brother, Bailey, turns up — an uncle Afton never knew existed — Afton begins to wonder who her mother really is. With quiet determination, Afton sets out to uncover Bailey s secret, and along the way she learns the price that a family pays for letting the past fester unresolved. In a style richly evocative of small-town southern life in the 1940s, Scorpio s Child shows Kezi Matthews at her best. The characters that populate this poignant coming-of-age novel are as unusual and complicated as the situations that bind them. Matthews s straightforward handling of difficult themes creates a depth of feeling that will leave a lasting impression.

My Review;

Excellent book, it's a very quick read, but still very thought provoking. I loved the setting of the story, a small town in the south in the 1940's. This is a story about family secrets, and trust and the bond between siblings and also a mother and daughter. My favorite character was the little girl, Pearl. I wish the ending hadn't been quite so abrupt, but still I enjoyed this book and am so glad I read it.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Island of Lost Girls by Jennifer McMahon

Island of Lost Girls

by Jennifer McMahon

While parked at a gas station, Rhonda sees something so incongruously surreal that at first she hardly recognizes it as a crime in progress. She watches, unmoving, as someone dressed in a rabbit costume kidnaps a young girl. Devastated over having done nothing, Rhonda joins the investigation. But the closer she comes to identifying the abductor, the nearer she gets to the troubling truth about another missing child: her best friend, Lizzy, who vanished years before.
From the author of the acclaimed Promise Not to Tell comes a chilling and mesmerizing tale of shattered innocence, guilt, and ultimate redemption.

My Review

This book was a little disappointing to me, I give it three stars. I really didn't find any of the main characters very like-able, either as adults or when they were children. The story line was pretty good, I was surprised at the end by who actually committed the crime, there were some hard to believe plot lines for me, though.

Spoiler Alert

I had a hard time believing the main character after witnessing a person dressed in a rabbit outfit take a little girl out of a parked car at a service station, would then just drop everything going on in her life and join the massive manhunt for the child, by manning a phone at the tips outline center at the service station, I would have even found it more believable if she had started to actually look for the girl, by going door to door and searching the area she was kidnapped from, something more active.

This book left me feeling kind of sad and a little glum.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

MS Roads - The Bottle Tree Man

On Folly Beach by Karen White - 5 stars!

On Folly Beach

by Karen White

To most people, Folly Beach, South Carolina, is simply the last barrier island before the Atlantic. To some, it's a sanctuary, which is why Janie Hamilton's mother encourages her to buy the local book store, Folly's Finds, hoping it will distract Janie from the loss of her husband in Afghanistan.

Janie is at first resistant, but intrigued after finding love letters and an image of a beautiful bottle tree in a box of used books from Folly's Finds, and decides to take the plunge. The store's seller insists on one condition: Janie must allow Lulu, the late owner's elderly sister, to continue selling her bottle trees from its back yard. Historically, bottle trees were brought by African slaves to the American South, and Janie had grown up with one in her backyard, and it has always been a symbol of refuge to her.

Janie generally ignores Lulu as she sifts through the love letters, wanting to learn more. But the more she discovers of the letters' authors, the closer she feels to Lulu. As details of a possible murder and a mysterious disappearance during World War II are revealed, the two women discover that circumstances beyond their control, sixty years apart, have brought them together, here on Folly Beach. And it is here that their war-ravaged hearts can find hope for a second chance

My Review;

                                                                                             Great  book, Karen White is fast becoming one of my favorite authors. I  especially loved the two story lines, one in the present and the other  one taking place toward the end of WW II, both were set in Folly Beach,  South Carolina. 

I thought all the characters were very well drawn, my favorite was present day Lulu and Maggie from the story in the past. 

And one of my favorite things about this story was all the books and the bookstore, and the messages in the books, and I want...moreGreat  book, Karen White is fast becoming one of my favorite authors. I  especially loved the two story lines, one in the present and the other  one taking place toward the end of WW II, both were set in Folly Beach,  South Carolina. 

I thought all the characters were very well drawn, my favorite was present day Lulu and Maggie from the story in the past. 

And some of my favorite things about this story was all the books and  the bookstore, and the messages in the books, and I want a bottle tree!

So Many Books, So Little Time