Be the Miracle by Regina Brett. Finished 5-22-12, rating 4/5, 267 pages, pub. 2012

Regina Brett is a popular Cleveland Plain Dealer columnist where she was a finalist in 2008 and 2009 for the Pulitzer Prize in commentary and has her own call-in talk show.  Her breast cancer journey inspired her first book, God Never Blinks:50 Lessons for Life’s Little Detours.  This book follows in the same vein, so that we see everyday opportunities to be a miracle, not only for ourselves but more importantly, others.  Regina was born just south of where I live and has spent her life in the Cleveland/Akron area and is the first stop on my Ohioana author tour.  I met Regina in February at a book signing.

Each of these lessons is short enough to read on a daily basis for a jump-start to your day which is how I approached it.  Since it’s been awhile since I started it I don’t remember all of the lessons and, to be honest, as much as I loved some of them others were equally as forgettable.

There were a few standouts.  Lesson 40 is titled Aim Higher and it’s about Bonnie St. John, the first African American to win Olympic medals in ski racing.  Oh, and she did it with one leg.

Bonnie often goes to hospitals to visit patients and give talks to people who are facing obstacles that seem insurmountable like hers once did.  She met one mother whose 13-year-old son had been horribly burned on his face and arms.  The mother turned to Bonnie and asked, “Will my son ever live a normal life?”

I expected Bonnie to promise, “Of course he will.”  She shocked me with her answer.

“No,” Bonnie said.  “He should aim higher.”

That’s what she did. 

And the last two chapters were the strongest.  Leave a legacy time can’t erase and If you woke up today, God isn’t through with you yet are both about taking time to reflect on life’s end game and living life to the fullest every moment of every day.

This book definitely had a Christian slant, but I didn’t feel it was preachy, just what’s important in Brett’s life.  I liked most of it and might give her first book, God Never Blinks a try.

I bought this one at the book signing in February.

Cinder by Marissa Meyer, Finished audio 5-17-12, rating 4/5, YA, pub. 2012

Book 1 of The Lunar Chronicles

Unabridged audio 10 hours. Read by Rebecca Soler

Cinder is 16, New Beijing’s best mechanic, and a cyborg.  After the 4th World War the Earth divided itself into peaceful provinces and the real threat is from the moon, where the Lunars are ruled by the evil Queen Levana.  For Cinder there is evil at home too as she is owned by her guardian, Adri, who resents her very presence.  Cinder has two “step-sisters” and is lucky to call one a friend.  Unfortunately, that one friend is stricken with the plague, an epidemic that no one in New Bejing survives.

I remember reading reviews for this when it came out in January and actually won a copy (forgive me for not remembering where) of the audio.  It sat on my shelf until I was caught without an audio book for the car (Gage is going to be a very well read little man :))  I knew it was a Cinderella retelling and that everyone seemed to like it, but didn’t remember much else and that’s probably a good thing.

For someone like me who doesn’t read a lot about cyborgs I needed to check the definition, which was embarrassingly simple.  A bionic human.  Okay.  So, then it made sense when Cinder found out she was 36% cyborg, limbs and all.  In New Beijing cyborgs are essentially slaves so Cinder is mistreated by her guardian.  Imagine Cinder’s luck then, when Prince Kai shows up at her mehanic booth at the weekly market and needs her help.  Sparks fly and Cinder is relieved when Kai doesn’t realize she was cyborg.

I was surprised that I enjoyed this so much.  I loved the audio, Rebecca Soler did a fabulous job.  As much as I liked it, the big reveal was fairly obvious from early on, but Soler’s performance and a few turns here and there made it a very fun story.  I will seek out the audio when the next book comes out.  Which leads me to my big complaint…

The non-ending ending.  I dislike when books do this, even series books.  I was probably more mad at myself that I had forgotten it was a series, but still!

This book was a fun, exciting and very modern retelling of the Cinderella story and I loved it, obviousness and all.  I’m looking forward to the next one (stupid cliffhanger).

Finished 4-22-12, rating 4/5, thriller, pub. 2011

I started this on audio, read by Peter Berkrot (12 hours 39 minutes) and finished with the print version after the discs turned faulty halfway through.

Charles Giles is successful, arrogant, and trying to distance himself from his family when he is fired from his job due to some questionable actions that Charlie cannot explain.  He is accused on espionage, an absurd thought to a company man like Charlie.  When co-workers and medical personnel tell him he’s going crazy, Charlie thinks he may believe them.  After all, his brother Joe is schizophrenic and his dad had his own mental health issues.  Locked up with crazy people will make even a sane man nuts and Charlie isn’t sure he’s a sane man, he did write that Kill List and one person on it had already died.

I liked this fast paced thriller.  Was Charlie crazy or could the circumstances of his firing have been manipulated?  His mother was in a coma and this led to a reconnection with the brother who he was trying to forget.  I liked the very real relationship between the two.  Charlie harbored a lot of bad feelings toward his brother that stole most of their mother’s attention.  Add into the mix that Charlie really felt like he was going crazy and could identify with his brother and the typical thriller becomes laced with a reality that leaves the reader satisfied.

Is Charlie paranoid or is he being set up?  Both choices are plausible and the book had me guessing til the reveal.  One minute I’d think Charlie was mentally unstable and the next I was sure he was bring set up.  This is an excellent debut and I look forward to more by Palmer!

I checked the audio out of the library and had an autographed book on my shelf.  Both were very good. 

Finished 3-21-12, rating 4/5, YA, 304 pages, pub. 2011

Book 1 of a new YA series.

I don’t read many young adult books, so I’m fairly picky when I do pick one up, but this is by one of my favorite authors and a continuation of the Myron Bolitar series so it was a no-brainer.  For those who love Myron this is a nice way to transition out of the series (if that is what Coben’s planning).  Myron is still around, but only marginally and his ward/nephew is a lot like him.

Mickey’s dad is dead and his mother is a junkie in rehab.  His uncle Myron, who had been estranged from his dad since before he was born, agreed to take him in while his mom cleaned herself up.  Mickey is living with Myron in the house his dad where grew up, going to the same school his dad did, and being lured in to the same urban legends of the neighborhood.

The Bat Lady is someone feared and ridiculed so when she tells Mickey that his father is not dead he doesn’t know what to think.  But he has other more pressing problems, like being the new kid at school and having your brand new girlfriend disappear.  He also befriends or is befriended by  two of the school outcasts, Spoon and Ema, who help him get into and out of trouble depending on the day.

This book felt very similar to Coben’s Myron series and as a fan I appreciated that.  Mickey is a boy who grew up a nomad, living around the world with his parents until he was 14, only a year before, so it stands to reason that he may have more worldly smarts that most kids.  Only he may have been too much like Myron in his propensity to find trouble for him to truly seem like a kid.  And the bullies at school seemed a little like caricatures.

I really liked the story and, as always, the plot was intricate and moved along at lightning speed.  There was a cliffhanger at the end, but the second book is coming out this fall so I don’t have to wait long to find out more.

I thought this was a good foray into the YA genre and I loved visiting Myron, even if only for a few minutes here and there.

Finished audio 3-15-12, rating 3.75/5, fiction, pub. 2010

Unabridged audio 9 hours 30 minutes. Read by Hope Davis.

Mary Beth Latham has a nice family. She and her husband still share a romantic love life even with three teenagers in the house.  Their oldest daughter, 17 year old Ruby, and her long-time boyfriend Kiernan are breaking up, which is hard since he was like part of their family.  One of her 14 year old twins, Max, is having growing pains and might need to start seeing a therapist.  All pretty standard fare in a fiction novel.  Until…

Well, let’s just say, something happens.  Something that moves the story from a story about motherhood to one about family tragedy.  There is really no way to review this book without giving too much away, so I won’t give details, but I did mostly like it.  The shocking event wasn’t totally unforseen, but it threw the trajectory of the story off just enough to make the book seem like two separate books.  I had some issues with the story before and then after, but the book was ambitious.

I know I read reviews for this but because I waited a while to read it I didn’t remember them, which was a good thing.  If you like your fiction on the darker side I think this would appeal to you.

Have you read it?  Without giving too much away what did you think of the twist in the middle?  I give it a thumbs up just for shock value.

I thought the narration by Davis was excellent.

This was from my library.

Finished 2-23-12, rating 4/5, thriller, 465 pages, pub. 2003

Book 7 in the Jack Reacher series (Book 1) (Book 2) (Book 3) (Book 4) (Book 5) (Book 6)

I don’t usually read a series the whole way through but after my last enjoyable outing with Reacher in Without Fail I just wanted a little more time with the studly renegade.

Jack sees a flash from the violent past as he’s walking down the street and is shocked enough to contact someone from his days in the military. His request for information sets off alarm bells in the FBI and Reacher is contacted for answers and then help.  He will be working off the books deep undercover for a drug kingpin and his family.

I love Reacher and his uncompromising view of the world.  He thinks bad things should happen to bad people and he doesn’t mind making those bad things happen, even permanently.  The body count in each book is fairly high and there’s usually a sexual conquest in each book.  I’ll be interested to see the total numbers for both when the series is over.  This wasn’t my favorite one, it was a little meandering, but I did like the flashbacks that allowed us to see Reacher in the military, before he became a lone wolf combing the country.

I think if you like the Lucas Davenport series by John Sandford you’ll like this series too.

This book was from my personal library.

Finished audio 2-17-12, rating 4/5, suspense, pub. 2010

Listened to this on a Playaway.  9 hours unabridged.  Read by Angela Dawe.

Annie is a real estate agent and after an open house she finds herself kidnapped by ‘the freak.”  She is held captive for over a year, repeatedly raped and forced to endure truly unimaginable things.  You know right from the beginning that she survives and is somehow set free because the story is told by Annie’s sessions with a psychiatrist after the fact.

I may be one of the last bloggers to read this and I’m glad I finally got around to it.  I’d read so many reviews that I was amazed that a few things still surprised me.  For the gripping thriller everyone says it was, I thought it took awhile for me to really get interested in Annie’s story. It wasn’t until a certain point in her captivity (no spoilers here) that I really wanted to know that she would be okay.  I was worried about her!  Also, I was under the impression that this was mainly the story of her being kidnapped, but in reality much of the story deals with what happens after.  And there is no shortage of things that happen upon her return to the real world.  Just when you think Annie will catch a break, another twist will keep her and the reader guessing.  My heart really did break for Annie even if when we meet her in the sessions she has a hard edge and is pretty messed up.

I liked this debut novel even if there were a few things that kept me from loving it.  One of them being what my expectations were and what this story really was and the other being the somewhat slow start for me.  I think lovers of thrillers with sometimes graphic descriptions will love this one.  If you are more the cozy mystery type then this is probably one to skip.  I am looking forward to reading her next one.

I really liked the reading by Angela Dawes.  I thought her voice really captured Annie’s spirit, broken as it was.

I checked this out of the library.