Review: 337

337 by M. Jonathan Lee
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is one of those books that I scratched my head and thought , well, that was an odd one. But then when my sister in law asked me to tell her what the book was about it seemed quite interesting when I was explaining it to her.

When Samuel was a teenager his mother left a note with her wedding rings and disappeared, which he and his brother found. The cops did a thorough investigation, but did they come to the correct conclusion? Flash forward 20 years and Samuel’s grandmother is dying, whom he hasn’t spoken to in all of those 20 years, and he goes to be with her and see if he can get answers about his mother’s disappearance.

The story is told without a lot of dialog and through Samuel’s point of view. He lives alone in his parents old house, divorced, works a strange job, and he spends most of his time trying to figure out what happened to his mother by scouring old reports and a box items looking for new clues. He reflects a lot on the past as the story unfolds bit by bit leading up to when she left and what happened afterwards to him and each family member, including his father. Unfortunately, the characters don’t get developed much beyond that. I get frustrated with Samuel for not trying with his grandmother more and being, seemingly, lazy in many aspects of his life.

I don’t quite get the name of the book or where it came from. I’ve read a few different things - name upside down, page count, but I don’t know.

Overall it was an interesting book, it reads well, and is quick and easy, but the story kind of drags and is flat. The ending may seem predictable at one point or another in the book but regardless it will still leave you with you picking your jaw up up off the floor!

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Review: Resthaven

Resthaven by Erik Therme
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Non-stop Suspense

Kaylee moves to a new town When her parents split and is not wanting to make new friends. Against better judgement, she finds herself at a party turned scavenger hunt in an abandoned retirement home with a group of girls all with some kind of underlying issues. Suddenly, they find themselves locked in with a crazed man, a little deaf boy, and many different creepy crawly things. What could possibly go wrong?

From the very first page this book is non-stop and never comes up for air. If this were a movie, I would have watched it with one eye open for fear of what would pop out at me next. It goes from one scene to the next, one mean girl to the next, with just the right amount of suspense and fear. Great book for middle YA and adults alike.

I won this book in a Goodreads Giveaway.

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Review: Lola on Fire

Lola on Fire by Rio Youers
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

So what would you do if you were down on your luck because you mother took off when you were younger, your father recently has killed himself, it is now your responsibility to take care of your special needs sister, all the while jumping from job to job and sharing a room with your sister in a friend’s house? Well, Brody decides to rob a convenient store to have enough money to pay for his sister’s meds and in the process he loses his wallet. But what happens the next day when he gets a call from the person who has his wallet? The answer to this question will have your head spinning! Let’s just say it consists of a little mob action, a little family values, a little road trip, this book has a little bit of everything, and honestly as I was reading I could totally see it playing out as a movie in my head.

It was an easy read and and very interesting, good for a very broad audience. I loved Brody and Molly. They are a such strong and beautiful characters and I loved their relationship.

It was a great book that did drag on at times and was a bit predictable but overall well worth the read.

I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway as an ARC.

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Review: Draw Crazy Cartoons With Letters

Draw Crazy Cartoons With Letters by Steve Harpster
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Every morning I lay out my daughter’s vitamins, meds, school ID, her phone , and now her mask to help her make her morning smoother and get her out the door. If I didn’t, well, it could be a disaster. I started using Steve Harpster’s books to draw little characters which the girls had got in elementary school when he came for an author visit. The current book I used was Draw Crazy Cartoons with Letters. I don’t know if my 10th grader likes it or not. Sometimes I get a half smile and sometimes I get a “What’s that?” But I do know that one day she will be telling her kids that her mom used to draw her little pictures every morning before school. 😜❤️

So if you have young kids or if you yourself would like to take a stab at drawing, his books are the way to go! I know I love it!!



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Review: The Ghost Queen

The Ghost Queen by Bella Masala
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Wow!

Seriously! Wow! Right in the beginning it mentions that this is based on her life and she certainly doesn't hold back. The first chapter really puts it all out there, nice and steamy for you to get going, and it never slows down from there. Some of it is quite graphic and other parts are left to the imagination, but all in all she must've had one pretty messed up life. The book is very well written, unique, raw, and captivating.

I won this book in a Goodreads Giveaway.

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Review: Murder in the Piazza

Murder in the Piazza by Jen Collins Moore
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

When Maggie moves to Italy with her husband for his job she decides to take a job with a painting tour company to pass the time. She works for a boss that everybody seems to have a problem with, so when he turns up dead and the police are told to close the case, she takes matters into her own hands to find out who the murderer is. And while doing so, there is another incident where someone winds up dead.

I love a good whodunit, and trying to figure out who did what, and why, and fitting all the pieces together, and this book definitely does that. There are an awful lot of characters and moving pieces to try and keep track of and I think that Maggie accuses every single one of them throughout this book at one time or another. Honestly, it is a bit of an overkill on the finger pointing but by the end of the book it is all wrapped up, she finally gets it figured out, and the police do get involved.

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