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!

This was cute. I wanted a palate cleanser because the mystery binge I've been on has led to a reading block, and this really fit the bill. It was just a really wholesome story about two best friends getting together. Their relationship isn't perfect because they're not perfect, and I'm honestly not sure they're great for each other long term, but they're sweet together. The ending was a little bit of a let down - a lot of big speeches and dramatic moments all crushed into one small section of the book, and I wasn't sure I really wanted them to get together by the time all was said and done. But overall the vacations and trips they take together are super adorable.

This is a beautifully written lyrical novel about the devastation of Reconstruction and the racism entrenched in society beyond emancipation. The characters are complex and the story tragic but also filled with hope- hope beyond what is to what could be. The author paints a beautiful landscape that is highly visual.

This was the first chapter book I read all by myself and I really liked it. I am going to read the whole Humphrey series and I just got a pet hamster that looks just like Humphrey. My favorite part of the book was when Humphrey and Aldo made friends with each other.

This is another one of those books where the journey is really fun, but then the author proves that writing endings is really challenging. You can have a great idea for an atmospheric mystery, but you also need to have a great idea for how you are going to close things out, which Sarah Pearse didn't seem to have. The book follows Detective Elin Warner, who isn't really a detective anymore after a case went wrong and she decided to take some extended leave. Elin and her boyfriend, Will, have arrived at a hotel in the Swiss Alps to celebrate her brother's engagement. The hotel just happens to also be a really creepy former sanatorium, because the designer thought that would be a super cool place to build a fancy hotel. To continue with wonderful decision making skills, Elin also decides that this would be a fitting trip to accuse her brother of possibly killing their younger sibling during a childhood vacation. Because, hey, nothing says "happy engagement!" like "did you kill our brother, though? You can totally tell me if you did." There are just a few problems with this plan - first, Elin doesn't really talk to her brother anymore, so finding time to accuse him of this is a challenge. Second, his fiancée just went missing, and it may or may not be in poor taste to accuse him of anything given those circumstances. Third, there is an avalanche approaching the hotel, so they really all need to leave. And, of course, fourth, some people are starting to get murdered. After staying behind and getting trapped from the avalanche, Elin has to really deal with all her personal issues at once because she is the only cop-like person on the mountain who can investigate anything. No one can come help until the weather clears, which probably won't be for a while. There were a few issues I had with the book, two of which I found to be major issues. The first is that this was a fun crime novel, but ultimately it seems like no one could ever be punished for the murders that happened here. Elin isn't a detective in this area, as she points out again and again, and she tends to disobey the orders she is given (or just hides what she is doing because if she doesn't ask permission, she isn't doing anything wrong?) so it seems like everything she has gathered would be utterly useless. She also has a weird tendency to tell everyone around her everything she has discovered. Like, maybe they don't all need to know every piece of evidence you have gathered? You know someone around here is killing people, maybe stop telling everyone everything and you'd have better luck. The second is that the ending was just really dumb. The culprit didn't really make any sense, and it seemed like a massive overreaction for that person to be the one responsible for everything. I think it's worth it for the fun atmosphere of being trapped in the mountains with a killer, as long as you keep your expectations in line for the ending.

A multigenerational love story about a grandmother and granddaughter and the lives they shared and the secrets that were kept. When the grandmother dies, her granddaughter travels for the first time to her grandmother’s native land of Cuba. There she learns about Cuba’s past, Cuba’s current state, and family secrets. Great read. Is book #1 in the series!

This was a great book of suspense! It has an interesting story line which kept me coming back for more - one of those books that I was excited to find out what was going to happen next. I loved that there were some unpredictable twists. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes thrillers or suspense novels.

A love story that began in the most dire of circumstances- at the concentration camp of Auschwitz. The story also highlights how an underground economy emerged with jewels, chocolate, and extra rations used as currency. Amidst the horrors, the couple not only survives but finds life long love.

This was a heartbreaking novel that was full of masterful writing, but for whatever reason it just didn't capture my attention. The story mostly centers around Mehar, a woman in 1929 who has just been married. In Mehar's case, however, her marriage ceremony was shared with two other woman who also married into the family, leaving her unsure which man she actually married. She meets her husband only when she is called upon at night, at which point it is so dark she is unable to see him. Though she tries her best to come to a conclusion, she is ultimately unable to determine which of the siblings she has been married off to - until one day when she overhears a conversation and becomes confident in her answer - however, whether she is right or not will have a huge impact on her. I think where the book didn't work for me was due to the inclusion of the other character's storyline. In addition to Mehar, every once in a while there is a chapter that follows a young man who travels to India in 1999 to live with family and try to overcome his heroin addition. These chapters - and the storyline itself - ultimately seemed completely unnecessary. I didn't care about him at all, nor did I really see what he added. I feel like I would have much rather stayed with Mehar the entire time.

Uncomfortable, dark, intriguing and suspenseful. I couldn’t help but continue on when parts of this book made me cringe. Stephen King is a master at his craft. Mr. Mercedes is no exception, but is also not for the faint of heart. Will Patton narrating this series is excellent. He keeps the reader locked in. Looking forward to the next book already.