Hey, hey! It's finally looking like spring over here! I'm so happy we appear to have slid into warmer weather for good. Planning on doing some digging in the garden later today and just soaking up the lovely weather. I finished all my books, but hey, I could always grab another and just hang out. This is my favorite part of the year, it's not smoldering yet, but not snowing. Perfect book lounging weather!Anyway, I read some outstanding books this month. It was my turn to pick the book for book club, and while it wasn't what we usually read, it turned out pretty good. Let's dive right in!
"Firestorm"- Nevada Barr
If you have not read an Anna Pigeon book, you must do it. Trust me. This is book four in the Anna Pigeon series, but you can read them in any order. The first two I read were like six and twelve. While it's nice to go in order because there are reoccurring characters that we get to know and love it is entirely acceptable to read popcorn style. To read my review of book three ("Ill Wind"), you can find it here.Anna finds herself in northern California working as an EMT with the team putting out a devastating forest fire. Just when it looks like the fire will officially be smothered, a change in wind causes a frenzy. Anna and a few members of the San Juan crew barely deploy their fire-resistant tents in time to save themselves. When they emerge, covered in ash and debris, Anna notices a person missing. Not only missing but stabbed in the back and left in a tent. With the damage from the fire and a snowstorm moving in, the team is stranded until further notice. Anna has limited communication with home base and must handle the emotional and physical wounds of her team. All while knowing there is a killer among them.
Seriously, read this book! I was very proud of myself for solving it before the final reveal (that always makes you feel like an amateur sleuth, right?), but usually, these books always surprise me. And I love seeing what trouble Anna manages to get herself into. Pick this one up, or any Anna Pigeon book, you won't regret it!
"The Island"- Elin Hilderbrand
After thirty plus years of marriage, Birdie is divorced and on her own. She's thrown herself into her daughter's wedding, head first, dying to give her the best party and maybe win some mom points. Out of nowhere, Chess calls Birdie and tells her the engagement is off. There will be no wedding. At a loss, Birdie decides to cart her eldest daughter away to Tuckernuck. An inherited house on a private island that they haven't been to in years. Birdie is desperate for time with her daughter and thinks it will be the perfect getaway for Chess to relax. And maybe come to her senses. But before Chess (and the entire family) can come to terms with the broken engagement, tragedy strikes, sending Chess off the deep end.
Still determined to save her eldest child from an emotional black hole, Birdie calls on her youngest daughter, Tate, to come on the trip too. She also brings in reinforcements with a call to her sister, India, who has had her fair share of devastations in her life. Spending a month on a remote island with no technology, no hot water, and just your sisters brings out the worst in all of them. But it also heals wounds old and new. There is something in this book for everyone. I related to all of these women at least once throughout this novel. Trust me when I say it is fantastic. It will be one you will recommend to every woman in your life.
"Tell the Wolves I'm Home"- Carol Rifka Brunt
This was the book I selected for book club. It has been popping up on my lists to read for months now, and I've always decided against it. I didn't feel like the description of the book (on any website I visited) gave me anything to go on. It just sounded boring. But the reviews for this book were so astronomically good (across the board) that it seemed like I HAD to read it. While the other ladies in the group agreed, it didn't sound like something we would usually pick up; they were all game to try something new. I hope I didn't disappoint them!June is fourteen years old when her Uncle Finn dies. Finn wasn't just an uncle to June; he seemed to be the only person who knew her at all. He was a talented painter and seemed to live his life only on his terms, which June really admired. After Finn died, everything went wrong for June. She had lost a massive piece of her heart, and she didn't know how to cope with that. On top of it, her older sister, Greta, was acting meaner and more peculiar than usual; confirming, to June, that she really was all alone now. Then she gets a life raft. A friend of her uncles shows up at her house with his teapot. And not just any teapot, "the teapot," the one for only the best people. June would've recognized it anywhere. Who was this man and why did he have Finn's things? June soon finds herself chasing after the memory of Finn only to discover, maybe she didn't really know him at all. How could he have kept so much from her, didn't he love her? This coming of age story, while not traditional, was very endearing. I really fell in love with it and June. I honestly didn't know if I would like this book, but I ended up loving it.
Really, really good books this month. I enjoyed every single one. I haven't even THOUGHT about May's books, but it's going to be hard to top this bunch. Head to your library, check one of these out, find a shady spot in the spectacular weather and get your read on.
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