This book tells the story of the generation who came to Britain from the Caribbean after WW2. Powerful story with many first-hand accounts. It helped me gain a sense of the Afro-Caribbean community in Britain decade by decade. Also gives the historical background to the Windrush Scandal that broke in 2018.

It is June 1940. Paris is occupied by the Germans and Adolf Hitler is scheduled to visit. Kate Rees, an American sharpshooter, who learned to shoot on a farm in rural Oregon, is living in England with her Welsh husband when he and her baby daughter are killed during a German bomb attack. Kate is recruited by British intelligence and after some brief training, armed with only a rifle and a need for revenge, she parachutes into Occupied France to assassinate Hitler. She misses and runs for her life coming to the realization that the plan was a decoy, and she was set up. Extremely well-written historical thriller. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The Push is a quick and intense read. I gave it 5 stars because it's a unique and fantastically written novel. It's dark, and also very sad and depressing. But Ashley Audrain makes narrator Blythe so real that I felt completely immersed in her struggles with motherhood and her relationships. I found the flashback sections a little confusing at first, but as the book went on it became clear that there was a purpose for including the unusual and disturbing stories of Blythe's mother and grandmother.

Set in a world where Slasher films really did happen, Lynnette is a member of what's known as the "The Final Girls Club." The club is made up of women who meet a very specific criteria - they all were the only survivors of two massacres, and they all killed the person responsible. They meet once a month to support each other and work towards moving on with their lives - until one day one of the members doesn't show up on time. Her monster has come back to kill her. Now, Lynnette is on a race to not only keep herself alive, but to keep the members of her club alive as well. This probably would have worked pretty well as a movie, honestly, but as a book it didn't quite work for me. First, Lynnette as a narrator was awful. She's unreliable from the start, so I found myself utterly distracted the entire book because I was always trying to figure out if I should believe what was happening. I know a lot of books use the unreliable narrator trope now, but it was a difficult sell in this book. I would have much preferred if a different narrator (Heather?) was responsible for telling us what was going on. Or if Lynette's character was tweaked a little. Second, the plot twists were not really plot twists. It was really easy to figure out who was going to be responsible for the killings happening, so that was disappointing. The twists didn't leave me going "oh wow!" so much as "ugh, finally, we got there." My third issue is that it seems like Grad Hendrix either didn't keep track of everything, didn't want to explain everything, or thought that no one would pay attention. For example, at one point a character is mentioned to have a cell phone that they are going to use to keep track of Amber Alerts and to check in with every five hours. Three sentences later, they say that they're going to keep the phone turned off and only have it on for the check in times. How...how are you checking for Amber Alerts? Why did you make a big deal about checking for Amber Alerts, only to then say you're turning the phone off and not getting them anyway? In another scene, Lynnette is dictating a message for someone to send. She claims that it was a difficult process, and that she had to spell out a lot of the words. The example given is using "p as in Paul which is fascinating, because the only words with "p" in her message are purchased, photos, people, and peace. Am I really supposed to believe that someone couldn't spell one of those words without help? Really? I could go on and on, but honestly? I had high hopes for this book. The summary sounded great, and I was really excited to read it. I'm glad I didn't spend money on it. The writing is just not good.

All of the bikes are really cool. My favorite is the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-12R because I am wondering if ninjas use this bike and it is the "king of all sports bikes."

This is a kind of mystical story set in Amsterdam. It is number one so I assume that we are going to meet the Miniaturist in future books. The story revolves around Petronella who is from the countryside and marries a rich Dutch merchant and moves into his home in Amsterdam. As a wedding gift he gives her a model of their home and she contacts the Miniaturist whom she never actually meets, to make items to go into it. What follows is an intriguing tale of the whole family and their relationships which somehow the Miniaturist seems to mysteriously know much more about than anyone else. It is rather a sad story and has quite a twist at the end.

Great end of the world story about survival.

I love this book so much, one of my all time favorites!

Melissa Henderson used to be a bestselling author, but after the death of her son she has retreated to New England. She puts all of her efforts into fixing up her new home. She has stopped writing and has divorced her husband. During the story, it is revealed her sister is a nun. She wanted to be an actress, but when things didn't work out she ran away and joined a convent. Melissa was upset by this, it is revealed that when she was younger she got pregnant and went to Ireland to deliver her baby. She tried before to find the little girl she delivered but all the records were destroyed. Will her sister Hattie, the nun, help her find her daughter using her connection to the convent. I haven't read a Danielle Steel novel in awhile. It did not disappoint.

The 5th Wave was amazing. I couldn't stop reading the entire time. The characters are complex, the plot twists are totally unexpected, and the plot itself had a fast pace that gripped me. Even if you don't particularly like books about sci-fi/alien invasion/end of the world, The 5th Wave will change your mind. READ THIS BOOK!!!