April & Oliver
by Tess Callahan (Goodreads Author)

Apr 27,20 13 

4 of 5 stars

Read from April 21 to 27, 2013

What a moving story of relationships and how childhood mistakes/experiences can influence one's adult life. There were times I felt sorry for especially April. She came from a dysfunctional family and she had it rough from a young age. Oliver on the other hand seemed to know what he wanted in life, but that changes and he starts to question the path he is going down due to circumstances. April and Oliver were soul mates since childhood and then they went separate ways to eventually find their lives back together again. This time with many obstacles in the way. The ending is sad in some ways and inspiring in other ways.
This was Tess Callahan's first book which was written 4 years ago. I wonder if she will be writing another one some day.

Gone Missing (Kate Burkholder, #4)
by Linda Castillo (Goodreads Author)

Apr 20, 20 13  ·  

4 of 5 stars

Read from April 16 to 20, 2013

This is my second Linda Castillo book. It is the 4th book of the Kate Burkholder series. I read book 2 previously which I thought was gorier than this one. I still need to read book 1 and 3. Even though I am reading the series out of order, I can surmise what has happened to Kate and Tomasetti in their lives previously to bring them up to where they are presently in books 2 and 4. The author makes sure she gives you enough info to figure it out. I noticed some repetitous parts in book 4 from book 2. Anyway, this series definitely has a lot of suspense in them. I found the suspense in book 4 came in the last 67 pages of the book and the action made me keep turning the pages. The ending is very unsettling and quite shocking! There was a twist at the very very end. I am curious to see what her fifth book brings if she should write one.

Pray for Silence (Kate Burkholder, #2)
by Linda Castillo (Goodreads Author)

Apr 15,20 13  ·

5 of 5 stars

Read from April 13 to 15, 2013

I loved the suspense in this book. I was pulled in with the plot from the beginning. I found the actual crime to be gruesome though. I did not like the severity of it at all. It was a little shocking. Anyway, when it comes to reading crime books, I like to read about the people that are involved in them, those that try to solve the crimes and how the clues start coming together. I feel like I am one of the detectives involved in solving the murder/murders. This book was no different. It was a page turner indeed. I like how Kate and Tomasetti worked together to solve the crime even though it reminded them of the tragic events that happened to them previously. I think their previous events made them determined to solve the murders even more. I felt sorry for them when they had their flashbacks. I found the ending to be very gripping. I was not entirely surprised with who the killers actually were and I am glad they got what was coming to them.

Flamingo Diner
by Sherryl Woods

Apr 11, 2013  

4 of 5 stars

Read from April 05 to 11, 2013

The tragic death of Emma Killian's father has brought her home to face a mountain of secrets and debts, and questions about how her beloved father died. As Emma grapples with the responsibility of keeping her family's diner afloat while trying to understand her father's death, she finds support from an unlikely source. Onetime bad boy Matt Atkins is now the Winter Cove police chief--a man who has always had a fancy for Emma. Now it seems he's the only one who can help her answer her questions...and give Emma a whole new reason to stay home instead of going back to Washington D.C. where she wanted to exert her independence.

I had mixed feelings when reading this book because the first half of the book was going slow and I almost felt like putting it down. When the pieces of the mystery of how Emma's father died, so tragically, started to surface and come together , I got more into it and wanted to keep reading it to find out what happened.

It was sad to see how each member of the family dealt with the tragic death of their dad/husband. On the other hand it was a great thing to see how they conquered their grief and started to mend with the help of each other and close friends. Another theme in the story was sometimes a person has to hit rock bottom before they realize what they are doing to themselves before they can heal.

The Book Thief
by Markus Zusak (Goodreads Author)

Apr 05, 20 13  

3 of 5 stars

Read from March 22 to April 05, 2013

I thought the book was good in that the style of writing was different and the author had a beautiful way of describing things. Lots of metaphors too. The weird part was that the narrator of the story was death. I had to pay close attention to when death was talking or when the characters were talking.

The setting of the book took place during World War II Germany (1939-1943.) It presented a true candid picture of what life was like for the German people and the Jewish people under the Nazi regime. You can only imagine the suffering of these people. In that sense it was very depressing.

The beautiful part of the story is the loving relationship that Liesel has with her foster dad and Rudy, her partner in crime (so to speak) friend. Later on, her relationship with Max becomes a special one too. Max was Jewish and Liesel and her adopted family (who were not Jewish but German) come to his rescue and kept him hidden from the German Natzis.

I just found the story to be dragged out way too much and I found myself putting it down quite a few times. It has 550 pages which is longer than what I usually read. I rather not read such a long book. It actually took me 2 weeks to get through the book. I am kind of relieved that it is finally done.