New York

Well, I got half way through this book. It was a great half. And I know if I had the emotional energy and stamina, I'd finish it. It's just really long and not an easy read (but worth the work).

It's a historical fiction novel mostly set in New York from the mid 1600s to the early 2000s. Oh, how I made it to the early 2000s.

It follows one family through the generations in a unique and wonderful way. The author (brilliant person) weaves meetings of distant family who never find out they are relatives. But us readers know, which makes it feel like you are ready family secrets.

Historical facts are dropped in so wonderfully and sometimes expectantly.

Once my little girl wins her battle with her illness (#emmalineforthewin !!) I will try to pick this back up and finish the book.

Ashley's War

This is an amazing book. It is the story of a group of women who go through the special ops training to be able to serving alongside Army Ranger teams.

There is a lot of hoopla in the US media about women entering special ops. I have come to the opinion that you can not have an educated opinion about the issue until you read this book.

Excellent book.

A Piece of Cake

Let me just say that I love messy books. I love dysfunction. I love reading about how people rise from the ashes. This book is that. Cupcake Brown tells her story of how she ended up in the foster care system and ends up in really dark places of sexual abuse, drugs, and gangs.

If it were believable, I'd love the book, minus the poor writing. But, it's just not believable. The first thing that is questionable is that after a long hard custody fight between her birth father and the man who raised her, the birth father gets custody. However, he just puts her in the foster care system. I find it hard to believe that while there is a kin who wants her and has proven he can take care of her and love her well, she would still end up in the foster care system.

The second red flag is how the system let her down, again and again. She told a judge that she was being abused and that judge still sent her back to the foster home. Whaaa? I know social services was lacking in the 70s, but really? A child says they are being hurt and there's no real investigation?

The thing that made me put the book down without finishing is that the writing is poor. Spoiler alert - Cupcake ends up being a lawyer. The redundancy and lack of flow to her story makes it hard to read.

Overall, when I was reading it, I just couldn't stop thinking of A Million Little Pieces and I'm not convinced this book won't have the same ending as James Frey.

Shantaram

This is my best book of 2015. Gregory David Roberts is an Australian convict who escaped from prison, where he was serving years for armed robbery. This book is his life. He brings his true account of going to India to life. The characters he meets, the crimes he commits, the honor he strives to keep even as he becomes involved with the Bombay Mafia. I highly recommend this book, but be warned - it is long. But a quick read and you will want to end your days reading this book.

Dead Wake

I loved Erik Larson's The Devil in the White City. His style of writing brings history to life.

Dead Wake is the story of the last crossing of the Lusitania. The story Larson recreates is amazing and while I'm reading about nautical terms and war strategy's, I am loving it.

It is a fantastic book and does not disappoint.

Almost Famous Women

These are short stories based on women in history. While it had such potential, the stories really didn't captivate me at all. A disappointment. Too many other good books to read to keep reading.

Frog

Supposedly this book is about the one child policy in China. However, I got to page 113 and the book still hadn't really developed a plot or gotten to any kind of a conflict to be solved. So, I stopped because it's not compelling enough to finish.

This book is a translation from Mandarin and is set in China, so it's to be understood that all the names are so similar its hard to remember who is who.

The plot is slow, assuming there actually turns out to be one.

I will say that while I never thought about the book during the day, when I picked it up at night, it wasn't unpleasant. Just not good enough to think about and want to finish. Maybe if you really love the Chinese culture and are studious and smart enough, you can get through the book.

Station Eleven

This is a post civilization collapse world that the author created. A pandemic occurs and there are few who survive. This book follows the lives of a group who do.

This is a mixed review.

Character development and plot - 2.5 or 3 stars. There is no real plot or thrust to the end of a conflict. There is just enough mystery to keep you reading though. The book tries to be deep but just comes across short and inconsequential. I enjoyed the world St. John Mandel was setting up. However, I felt like she could have taken her time and turned the book into a series in order to set up her characters better and develop an actual plot.

Creativity - 4.5 stars. There was such potential and it was an interesting idea.

It's one of the books that I think will actually make a better movie than book, so just wait and watch it when it comes out, as I'm sure it will.

Nowhere But Here

Good girl meets bad boy and they fall for each other, when they shouldn't. Stupid.

YA maybe at its worst? Interesting story, but almost zero character development. I didn't see that it is categorized as teen harlequin until too late. Don't read and don't let your kids read.

Alive

It was okay, not great. A quick read, and an easy one. It was a little redundant in places, but overall fine.

A girl wakes up from a box not knowing where she is. She quickly realizes she's a 12 year old in a 20 year old's body.

The less you know about the plot, the better.

The writing was pretty bad. It was maybe supposed to be fast paced, but came across choppy. Characters were boring and predictable.

This is book 1 in trilogy, with the second book coming out in April 2016. I won't be reading it.

Unlikely Hero of Room 13 B

Boy with issues falls for girl with issues. Almost the same storyline as The Fault in Our Stars except with OCD almost as its own characters and not as good. Unless you want to read about OCD, skip this one and just read The Fault in Our Stars.

13 Reasons Why

This is one of those books that is actually unique. Very good story, story telling, characters, and writing.

Clay is a teenage boy who receives a set of tapes in the mail. They are from his classmate who committed suicide a few weeks ago. These tapes lay out 13 reasons why she killed herself.

It's YA, but definitely only appropriate for older high schoolers.