This was fun. I'm sure if I spent more time thinking and analyzing it, I could find reasons to knock the stars down, but I don't really want to. It was tense and exciting and had excellent pacing, and was a book that I could not put down. Bill is a pilot who has just been asked to fill in on a shift. Unfortunately, the shift overlaps with his son's first baseball game, which already makes his wife upset with him. Even worse, after Bill leaves, his family is taken hostage. He's given a choice; his family, or the plane. If Bill wants his wife and two kids to survive, he needs to crash the plane and kill all the passengers on board. Right from the start the book is action-packed, and it never really lets up. I wasn't as thrilled with the FBI agent chapters (I didn't want to leave the plane!), but all in all everything was engaging. Did it have predictable moments? Sure. Do I think it'd make a good movie? Honestly, probably not. But as a quick suspense read, I don't think you'll go wrong here. I look forward to seeing what else Newman comes up with in the future.

Mimi gets really hurt and has to go to the hospital and Claudia thinks it’s her fault because she yelled at her. Claudia has to stay home and help Mimi when she gets back from the hospital and misses Babysitters Club. Janine and Claudia made up at the end of the book.

This was a fun, fast-paced read. I enjoyed the theme and time period of piracy in the Caribbean. Charles Hunter gathers a crew of interesting personalities with the goal of securing treasure from a Spanish galleon that is docked in a nearby harbor. He comes up with a challenging way of attacking the harbor and taking control of the galleon. If you enjoy fast paced, action, and humor, then pick up this book!

Book one of the Aloha Reef Series. We meet the Oana family. The first book focuses on Kaia Oana. She works with dolphins specifically a dolphin named Nani. An explosion on the water occurs and the next thing you know, Kaia and Nani are working with the US Navy to figure out why the explosion occurred. Good Story but predictable.

I LOVED this book. The sisters spent 8 1/2 months thru hiking the Appalachian from Maine to Georgia. It tells of the high and low points of the journey, the amazing friendships they made and the really kind, interesting people they met. It reminded me of all the COVID hiking I've been doing and inspired me to think about hiking at least a part of the AT.

I learned what color eggs were. The dad's carry the eggs and in 3-6 week weeks they hatch. Very good book!

This was great. Jo is a Chinese-American girl living in the South. Her and her adoptive father, Old Gin, face rampant discrimination, especially considering the fact that they are treated as "in-between" - they are not colored, but they are not white, either. They are treated poorly, while also facing the realization that many segregation rules do not seem to specifically apply to them. When Jo is fired from her job, she takes up her previously position as lady's maid for a girl she grew up being mistreated by. At the same time, the newspaper shop they live under is at risk of going out of business if they don't come up with some great new idea to get a whole lot of subscribers. Enter Jo, who under the anonymous name of Miss Sweetie decides to start writing an advice column that challenges many of the racist and sexist ideas her society is filled with. Of course, this brings with it a whole host of problems - Jo's writing is a crime in and of itself, and she will be chased out of town if anyone finds out that she is Miss Sweetie. She also has to balance staying hidden underneath the printshop, bite her tongue when it comes to the cruel things her mistress says, and ignore the fact that Old Gin seems to be doing something sneaky that she worries may have to do with marrying her off to a stranger. And, of course, she's still curious about where she came from - who were her parents, and why did they abandon her with Old Gin to begin with? Jo is a great role model for young girls to look up to - she is spunky and has her own thoughts and opinions that she is not afraid to share with others. She is a big risk taker, and an absolute delight to read about.

The is an amazing book which recounts the experiences of the author visiting 7 locations and reflecting on the visit as a Black male. The research on the legacy of slavery adds to the recollections of his experiences and shines a light on why history is so important to learn, even if it makes us uncomfortable.

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.

This is a historical fiction about a family who begin life in war torn Spain in the 1930s and are transported to Chile (which is the long petal of the sea in the title). It follows not only their lives but also several other families who come and go throughout their lives. It is quite interesting and has made me want to research both the Spanish Civil War and Chile in greater detail.