June Books

I was surprised to see that I read 7 books in June.  I had some weekends where we didn't do much so I took advantage of reading a lot.  I guess that is why I got through 7 books.  And without further ado, here's June's review (a little rhyme lol)

The Lake of Dead Languages: 

Lori recommended this book.  It is written in the then and now.  The main character Jane is a Latin teacher at a girl's boarding school.  She had gone to that school when she was a teenager and had won a scholarship to it after a Latin competition.  Another student, Lucy, and her brother, Matt, befriend her and help her with Latin.  The story is told of their friendship and the school and the lake around it and then of her returning to the school as a teacher with a young daughter and that experience she has as a former student, now a teacher and her interactions with her students.  Lots of interesting twists with the story line and totally unexpected last few chapters.  Another very good read.  I give it 5 stars.  

The Last House on the Street:  

This was recommended by I think Jeanette.  It is again written in the then and now.  The then is back in about 1965 when a voting bill to get African American people registered was going to be signed.  The main character of the then, Ellie, volunteers to help get the info out to African Americans to register.  The story takes place in North Carolina.  The now's main character is Kayla, who is an architect and she and her husband build their dream house in an area of town that had once had a lot of woods around it.  Her husband had died at a tragic accident in the house but she and her young daughter still move in to to the house though she is reluctant to do so.  There is more of the story of events that happened in the woods back in the 1960s that come to light as the story goes on.  Very good read.  I give it 5 stars.

The Good Son:  

A teenage boy is convicted of killing his girlfriend though he doesn't remember doing it as he was on drugs at the time.  He is sentenced to a few years in prison.  The story begins with him getting out of prison and then trying to rebuild his life.  The story is told by his mom.  He is trying to redeem himself for what he did, at the same time the family is being stalked by someone who seems to imply there is more to the story of who actually killed his girlfriend.  This was a hardcover book I was reading at bed and I really had a hard time getting into it.  I should have put it aside but I kept reading it and finally made myself read so many pages nightly to finish it . I finished the last 70 pages one Saturday afternoon.  It was a strange twist to the story that I had not anticipated.  The story was well written and very thought provoking but hard for me to get into.  I give it 3 stars.  

The Love of My Life:  

The first half of this book was really hard to get into.  It tells the story of Emma who is married and has a 3 year old daughter, but there is some secrecy going on with her and her husband is trying to figure out if he truly does know the woman he has been married to for the past 10 years.  Then the second half of the book starts telling her story before she got married and it was very interesting from that point on.  A couple twists in the plot I didn't see coming.  All in all it was a good book if you get through the first about 45% of it.  I give it 4 stars.  

One True Loves: 

The main character is married to the love of her life who supposedly dies in a helicopter crash.  She recovers from her grief and a few years later falls in love with another man and they are planning to get married.  Then it is discovered that her husband did not die but had been on a deserted island for a few years before he got rescued.  She now has to decide if she will stay with her husband or go with her intended fiancée.  Good story told in the here and now and in the past.  Good ending that was realistic and believable.  I give it 5 stars for a good summer love story read.

Brand New Human Being:

I needed a book to read while I was waiting for some of my holds to be released so I found this book while looking at my e-library site.  It told the story of Logan, a stay at home dad raising his 4 year old son while his wife, a lawyer working on an important case, always seemed to be working and seemed a bit distant to him.  He is grieving his dad who died 4 months ago and has issues dealing with his dad's young wife, his step mom.  It was an interesting read but I'm not sure exactly what the plot was and it was one of those books that just kind of ends.  Not too much gets wrapped up.  It was a quick read (I read it over a weekend).  I'd give it 3 stars if you needed something to read and couldn't find anything else.

My Darling Husband:

This was a thriller.  The story basically took over about a 5 hour time span.  A young mom and her 2 children are involved in a home invasion/hostage type situation with a demand of ransom from the successful chef husband/father who owns 5 steak restaurants in the Atlanta area.  Over the period of time, the husband is desperate to try to collect the ransom money and get there in time to save his wife and children while the wife is desperate to keep her 2 children and herself alive.  As the story progresses we get glimpses of who the intruder is and why he is demanding the ransom, etc.  It was indeed a thriller of a story with the usual few unexpected twists.  It had one of those endings I'm not fond of where things aren't wrapped up.  Maybe a sequel?  I will give it as a summer read 4 stars.

As always, let me know what you are reading or have read that you would recommend.  And stay tune for August's review of July's books.  Doing a few things differently this month with what I'm reading. 

Happy Fourth of July!