Read These!

If you can believe it, I’ve read three books in the last few weeks! I’ve been staying up way too late to do it, but that’s ok. I’m not the same person unless I’m reading a good book.

Whistling Past the Graveyard by Susan Crandall was an outstanding book. It takes place during the civil rights movement in Mississippi. Starla, a nine-year-old girl, has had it with her mean grandmother’s rules and hurtful words. Her Dad is gone for months at a time working on an oil rig and her Mom abandoned her to try and become a country star in Nashville. She has convinced herself that if she can just get to Tennessee to her mother, everything will be fixed. She runs away.

Along the way to Tennessee, she is picked up by an African-American woman, Eula, with a white baby. Starla thinks this is odd, but accepts the ride from this seemingly kind woman anyway. What follows is a crazy ride to say the least. Eula’s married to a terrible man, Starla’s Mom is not exactly how she remembered her and the racial tension is at a climax. What will happen to Starla, Eula and Baby James? You will be reading as fast as you can to find out.

I decided to read a completely different kind of book next. The Edge of Normal by Carla Norton was an excellent thriller. I love a good thriller and this one was an absolute page-turner! Reeve is a 20-something living on her own, working and trying to make it through each day. It’s been 10 years since she was rescued from her kidnapper after being held captive for almost four years. She was tortured, raped and brutalized and is still traumatized.

She is in therapy with Dr. Lerner who asks her to consult with a teenage girl that’s just been rescued from a kidnapper after being held captive for almost a year. Their cases are eerily similar. Reeve is reluctant to help but finally agrees. Before she knows it, she is completely wrapped up in the case and may have even put herself in danger. You seriously will not be able to put this one down!!!

Lastly, I read The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. Oh, this book. It will break your heart. Hazel Grace is a 16-year-old living with cancer. She was supposed to die years ago, but by some miracle, she’s still alive. At her support group, she meets Augustus. He is in remission from bone cancer that took his leg. He has a crooked smile and a big heart. They fall in love. It is heartbreaking and that’s all I can tell you. I stayed up until midnight one night just to finish it, that’s how good it is. The best part? The Kindle edition is on sale for $2.99. Go get it now! Have some tissues handy.

What have you read lately?