My Book Retreat

Title: Where the Light Falls Author: Allison Pataki and Owen Pataki Genre: Historical Fiction Published: July 11, 2017 Format: Hardcover Source: Random House Buy on Amazon (affiliate link) Four individuals make their way through the changing landscape of Paris during the time of the Revolution and its aftermath. Jean-Luc and his wife Marie move to the city from southern France hoping to become involved in the new government focused on liberty, equality and fraternity. Disillusionment threatens to overcome them as the new leaders embrace the guillotine as an alternative to true justice. André denounces his noble birthright and joins the revolutionary army to avoid the same fate of other nobility. He promises to defend his new country from outside enemies who would return the king to the throne. And Sophie, the widow of a nobleman finds herself trapped under the so-called protection of her uncle, which becomes an even bigger problem when she meets Andr é .  Heavily fo

Title: The Darkest Corners Author: Kara Thomas Genre: Young Adult Mystery Published: May 9, 2017 Format: Paperback Source: Random House Children's Books Buy on Amazon (affiliate link) Tessa Lowell left Fayette, Pennsylvania, when she was just 9 years old, moving to Florida with her grandmother. Now she's a recent high school graduate and heading back to town to say goodbye to her dying father. With no family in town anymore, Tessa stays with the family of her former friend Callie, which is pretty awkward since she and Callie haven't spoken since they were little. Being with Callie also brings up questions that Tessa has held onto for the years since she's been gone. Questions about the testimony the young girls gave that sent a man to death row.  I don't read many young adult novels, but The Darkest Corners by Kara Thomas was touted as "the next twisted psychological thriller," so I decided to give it a try... and I'm glad I did. Whil

Although I haven't been blogging a lot this year, I have been reading a lot. So when I saw that Sue at Book By Book was hosting her Big Book Summer Challenge again, I had to jump in! The goal of the challenge is to read books that are over 400 pages between Memorial Day and Labor Day (in the US). This year, I have three books in mind for the challenge. The first two are books I received from Penguin Random House for review. The third is a book that I bought last year but haven't gotten around to reading yet. I love this challenge because it always makes me pick up those big books that I tend to shy away from. I'm looking forward to participating. I hope you'll join too!

This year, my daughter is in fourth grade and her teacher got all the kids in her class to do a 40 Book Challenge. It's not just a challenge to read 40 books in one school year; they have to read a certain number of books from each genre as well. And her teacher wanted them to choose books that were at least 70 pages long. With all that in mind, here's what she read for each category. Eighteen of these books were also on the list for the Battle of the Books competition, which she competed in at the end of April. Her favorites are in bold . 5 Realistic Fiction The Babysitters Club: Claudia and Mean Janie by Raina Telgemeier Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper Greetings from Nowhere by Barbara O'Connor Ungifted by Gordon Korman Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt 5 Informational  How Animals Think by Rebecca Stefoff How Animals Communicate by Rebecca Stefoff How to Write Your Best Story Ever by Christopher Edge The Dolphins of Shark Bay by Pamela

Where exactly did April go? I swear it was just the middle of March and now it's May. Once again, I'm going to provide a quick review of each of the books I read last month. For the last two weeks of the month, I participated in the Spring Into Horror Readathon hosted by Michelle at Seasons of Reading. The only rule was that you had to read at least one book that was horror, thriller, etc. I read one book that qualified. With the exception of the first book in my list, the books I mention below were read during the readathon My book club's May selection was Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson. I had started reading this nonfiction book about the author's work representing men, women and children who were on death row in March but finished the book in April. This is an eye-opening story that everyone at my book club discussion agreed should be required reading for law schools and police officers and even legislators who are making the laws related to judgements. I lea

It seems that March was not the month to get back to blogging, but it was a good month for reading! Since I can't seem to find the time and energy to write full reviews, I'm going to provide a quick review of each of the books I read last month. Every one of these was 4-5 stars in my opinion. I'd recommend all of them. I started Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance in February but finished it in March. This nonfiction book was my book club's March selection and we discussed it last week. It's a memoir by a man who grew up in Appalachia and the Rust Belt, and eventually made it through Yale Law School. It's a fascinating account of his personal life and life in general in this part of the country. He gets into the struggles that people face pulling themselves out of the poverty that they're born into, and what helped to set him free. I found the book to be informative and an excellent book club choice. The Lake House by Kate Morton is the only full-lengt