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Author: ondbookshelf

Blogging my way through my extensive to be read pile of books.

About ondbookshelf

Blogging my way through my extensive to be read pile of books.

Published on Leave a comment on The Push
The Push Book Cover The Push
Ashley Audrain
Fiction
Pamela Dorman Books
January 5, 2021
Hardcover
320
Purchased

A tense, page-turning psychological drama about the making and breaking of a family–and a woman whose experience of motherhood is nothing at all what she hoped for–and everything she feared.

Blythe Connor is determined that she will be the warm, comforting mother to her new baby Violet that she herself never had.

But in the thick of motherhood’s exhausting early days, Blythe becomes convinced that something is wrong with her daughter–she doesn’t behave like most children do.

Or is it all in Blythe’s head? Her husband, Fox, says she’s imagining things. The more Fox dismisses her fears, the more Blythe begins to question her own sanity, and the more we begin to question what Blythe is telling us about her life as well.

Then their son Sam is born–and with him, Blythe has the blissful connection she’d always imagined with her child. Even Violet seems to love her little brother. But when life as they know it is changed in an instant, the devastating fall-out forces Blythe to face the truth.

The Push is a tour de force you will read in a sitting, an utterly immersive novel that will challenge everything you think you know about motherhood, about what we owe our children, and what it feels like when women are not believed.

My review:

What an excellent psychological thriller! Just a word of warning, this is a very dark novel (think My Dark Vanessa....dark, but without the teacher/student abuse aspect). This is an exploration of the nature vs. nurture act of motherhood. Can you be a good mother if your own mother and grandmother were not? The story is told from the perspective of Blythe, who comes from an abusive mother and grandmother. We go back in time in some chapters to explore these women and their effect on Blythe growing up. Once Blythe becomes a Mom, she tries to shed these memories in order to be the perfect mom to her daughter Violet. What she doesn't expect is that despite her efforts, Violet appears to be a troubled child. What follows is more the study of a marriage and what happens when Blythe's husband dismisses the perceived problem as being psychological, relating to Blythe's upbringing.  When a second "perfect" child arrives, Blythe feels vindicated in her suspicions, and then tragedy strikes, a tragedy from which the family unit will never recover! The writing in this book was succinct and flowed well. I've read other reviews stating that the flashbacks to the mother and grandmother disrupted the flow, but I have to disagree, I thought they added the perfect amount of background and information to the developing story. The ending was amazing! Very powerful and memorable.

This was a perfect DARK psychological thriller. Do not attempt if you have any issues with child abuse (in its many forms) or loss of a child. Great writing and a fantastic ending make this one to put on your list!

Published on Leave a comment on He Started It
He Started It Book Cover He Started It
Samantha Downing
Fiction
Berkley
July 21, 2020
Hardcover
400
Purchased

Beth, Portia, and Eddie Morgan haven't all been together in years. And for very good reasons—we'll get to those later. But when their wealthy grandfather dies and leaves a cryptic final message in his wake, the siblings and their respective partners must come together for a cross-country road trip to fulfill his final wish and—more importantly—secure their inheritance.

But time with your family can be tough. It is for everyone.

It's even harder when you're all keeping secrets and trying to forget a memory—a missing person, an act of revenge, the man in the black truck who won't stop following your car—and especially when at least one of you is a killer and there's a body in the trunk. Just to name a few reasons.

But money is a powerful motivator. It is for everyone.

My review:

I'll admit I'm super picky when it comes to thrillers. Most are good solid fun reads, but in order to graduate to 4 (or rarely 5) star territory, there better be something different about the plot or twists. I've never read a thriller about a road trip before (check), and one of the twists in this one had me dropping my jaw (check check). This one is narrated by one of three adult siblings who have to take a road trip identical to one they were on with their grandfather as children, in order to get their substantial inheritance. You follow along on the road trip, and also are given flashbacks to what went down on the first one (and boy did a lot go down!). None of the siblings or two of their spouses are particularly likable, nor do they like each other. They all have secrets, some of which have been kept for years. I couldn't stop reading about this train wreck of a trip, and you knew that is what you were heading for with each passing page. The writing was good, the twists were plentiful and pretty clever, and I definitely got caught up in how it was all going to end. Never expected how it did end that's for sure!

A clever twisty thriller of a road trip, with secrets and strategy galore. A fantastic book to pick up if you want something to fly through in a weekend! You might want to read it at home though, not on a road trip!

2

Published on 2 Comments on The Heiress
The Heiress Book Cover The Heiress
Molly Greeley
Fiction
William Morrow
January 5, 2021
Hardcover
368
Free from publisher

As a fussy baby, Anne de Bourgh’s doctor prescribed laudanum to quiet her, and now the young woman must take the opium-heavy tincture every day. Growing up sheltered and confined, removed from sunshine and fresh air, the pale and overly slender Anne grew up with few companions except her cousins, including Fitzwilliam Darcy. Throughout their childhoods, it was understood that Darcy and Anne would marry and combine their vast estates of Pemberley and Rosings. But Darcy does not love Anne or want her.

After her father dies unexpectedly, leaving her his vast fortune, Anne has a moment of clarity: what if her life of fragility and illness isn’t truly real? What if she could free herself from the medicine that clouds her sharp mind and leaves her body weak and lethargic? Might there be a better life without the medicine she has been told she cannot live without?

In a frenzy of desperation, Anne discards her laudanum and flees to the London home of her cousin, Colonel John Fitzwilliam, who helps her through her painful recovery. Yet once she returns to health, new challenges await. Shy and utterly inexperienced, the wealthy heiress must forge a new identity for herself, learning to navigate a “season” in society and the complexities of love and passion. The once wan, passive Anne gives way to a braver woman with a keen edge—leading to a powerful reckoning with the domineering mother determined to control Anne’s fortune . . . and her life.

An extraordinary tale of one woman’s liberation, The Heiress reveals both the darkness and light in Austen’s world, with wit, sensuality, and a deeply compassionate understanding of the human heart.

My review:

And here we have yet another in this week's installment of books based on classic books (see Tuesday's review of The Wife Upstairs). This time the book is about Anne de Bourgh from Pride and Prejudice (ahem.....yet another classic I have not read). I really enjoyed this one, I read another of this author's work last year, and love her writing style. What I love about it I can't really pinpoint, but it just seems to flow seamlessly from beginning to end. The setting is vivid, the time period well followed and researched, and the well formed characters, lead to a satisfying reading experience. I was shocked to read about the overuse of laudanum for all kinds of ailments during this time, including the likely case of colic in young Anne. Her dependence on this drug was heartbreaking, and you spent the entire first half of the novel willing her to get out from under her mother's control. Once that has been semi-achieved, it was great rooting for Anne to become her own person and buck the system of where ladies of that time were expected to be (taking care of the house and children, while your husband tends to YOUR land and business). There was an LGBT aspect in this that was a sweet story. I'm not sure it was necessary for the novel to work, but it was tastefully worked in, and I really liked how the two characters helped each other to grow.

A definite nod to feminism of that era, this was a well written story with vivid characters and setting. Also check out the author's book (mentioned above) The Clergyman's Wife.

Published on Leave a comment on The Wife Upstairs
The Wife Upstairs Book Cover The Wife Upstairs
Rachel Hawkins
Fiction
St. Martin's Press
January 5, 2021
Audiobook/Hardcover
304
Free from libro.fm/Purchased

Meet Jane. Newly arrived to Birmingham, Alabama, Jane is a broke dog-walker in Thornfield Estates––a gated community full of McMansions, shiny SUVs, and bored housewives. The kind of place where no one will notice if Jane lifts the discarded tchotchkes and jewelry off the side tables of her well-heeled clients. Where no one will think to ask if Jane is her real name.

But her luck changes when she meets Eddie Rochester. Recently widowed, Eddie is Thornfield Estates’ most mysterious resident. His wife, Bea, drowned in a boating accident with her best friend, their bodies lost to the deep. Jane can’t help but see an opportunity in Eddie––not only is he rich, brooding, and handsome, he could also offer her the kind of protection she’s always yearned for.

Yet as Jane and Eddie fall for each other, Jane is increasingly haunted by the legend of Bea, an ambitious beauty with a rags-to-riches origin story, who launched a wildly successful southern lifestyle brand. How can she, plain Jane, ever measure up? And can she win Eddie’s heart before her past––or his––catches up to her?

With delicious suspense, incisive wit, and a fresh, feminist sensibility, The Wife Upstairs flips the script on a timeless tale of forbidden romance, ill-advised attraction, and a wife who just won’t stay buried. In this vivid reimagining of one of literature’s most twisted love triangles, which Mrs. Rochester will get her happy ending?

My review:

This is more like a 3.5 stars, but unfortunately half stars are not available for reviewing purposes. I had no idea until I went to write this review that it was loosely based on Jane Eyre? Of course I've never read Jane Eyre (sorry, not sorry) so would have no reason to conjure that scenario up. However, there is that if you have read the classic, maybe that would have swayed my opinion higher or lower? Who knows? What I do know is that this is one of those thrillers that is compulsively readable! I flew through the audiobook of this in one day (it helped that I was involved in building a bookcase while listening). My favorite thing about this book was that literally all of the characters were unlikable (to me), and it was a race to the finish to see which one of them was going to one up the other to "win" in the end. Everyone was looking to others for what they could offer them in terms of improving their life (or the life they wished for others to see). Such a clever plot premise! These are definitely people you love to hate. This also had the usual number of plot twists that I didn't necessarily see coming, with the end one being the most satisfying. Also, I know this has nothing to do with the content, but I would be remiss in not mentioning how much I love this cover (which does effect whether I delve further into exploring a book synopsis)!

This was a really solid, unputdownable thriller. I think I've just read so many thrillers lately, that most seem to fall into that good (3 star) to very good (4 star) range, and ultimately get all mixed up in my mind.  I would love to hear from someone who has read Jane Eyre and can tell me if that heightened your experience with this book.

1

Published on 1 Comment on Not My Boy
Not My Boy Book Cover Not My Boy
Kelly Simmons
Fiction
Sourcebooks Landmark
January 5, 2021
Paperback
272
Free from publisher

Who will you cross to protect your own? When Hannah packs up her past and moves to the cottage next-door to her sister, she hopes the luxe neighborhood and close family ties will be the perfect escape for her son and the shadows that trail them. But when a young girl goes missing days after they unload their final boxes and her son is quickly thrown under suspicion, Hannah must do whatever it takes to protect her child. Even if that means pointing the blame her sister's way instead. With investigators swarming and neighborhood scrutiny closing in, the divide between two sisters grows. As one fiercely defends her husband, the other shields her boy from the crime, keeping quiet the secrets that might unravel it all. And all the while, one young girl has vanished, and someone is to blame.

My review:

This is one of those books that make you think what you would do if put in the protagonists place? Told in alternating voices between Hannah and her mother Eva, this is an intense family drama. When a six year old neighbor goes missing, all eyes turn to the people in the neighborhood, among them newcomer Hannah and her son. Hannah has moved home to be close to her family, moving in next door to her sister (and her husband and daughter), and with her mother being close by. You know from the beginning that there is a secret surrounding the boy, but is it something that would cause him to kidnap a child he has been seen with? There was also the interesting position the mother was placed in. Both her daughters were shielding family members, but how could she not take sides? Lots of questions in this one, and I enjoyed thinking of what I would do differently than the characters. I was a bit let down by the ending. I thought it came about rather suddenly, and kind of out of the blue. I did enjoy the mystery of figuring things out as clues surfaced.

A family drama involving a crime that no one wants to be blamed for, this one is one that will make you think about the choices we would make if the situation happened to us?

2

Published on 2 Comments on Better Luck Next Time
Better Luck Next Time Book Cover Better Luck Next Time
Julia Claiborne Johnson
Custom House
January 5, 2021
Hardcover
288
Free from publisher

It’s 1938 and women seeking a quick, no-questions split from their husbands head to the “divorce capital of the world,” Reno, Nevada. There’s one catch: they have to wait six-weeks to become “residents.” Many of these wealthy, soon-to-be divorcees flock to the Flying Leap, a dude ranch that caters to their every need.

Twenty-four-year-old Ward spent one year at Yale before his family lost everything in the Great Depression; now he’s earning an honest living as a ranch hand at the Flying Leap. Admired for his dashing good looks—“Cary Grant in cowboy boots”—Ward thinks he’s got the Flying Leap’s clients all figured out. But two new guests are about to upend everything he thinks he knows: Nina, a St Louis heiress and amateur pilot back for her third divorce, and Emily, whose bravest moment in life was leaving her cheating husband back in San Francisco and driving herself to Reno.

A novel about divorce, marriage, and everything that comes in between (money, class, ambition, and opportunity), Better Luck Next Time is a hilarious yet poignant examination of the ways friendship can save us, love can destroy us, and the family we create can be stronger than the family we come from.

My review:

I read this as one of my final books of 2020. With all that the year brought, I didn't realize that I was craving a feel good novel until I picked this one up! Exploring a real life historical fact, it is about a fictional ranch in Reno, Nevada (circa 1938) where women spent six weeks living until their divorces came through. Unbeknownst to me, Nevada had a rule that if you resided within the state, a quickie divorce was possible. The trick was that you had to live their for six weeks. Behold, the creation of places for women to live while biding their time. One of these places was the Flying Leap ranch, and during the course of this novel we follow its residents (two in particular), and staff (one of whom is telling this story). I really loved the way this story was structured. I thought it was different than so many others, and enjoyed the way the storyteller was looking back on his life, including these few weeks working at the ranch. The women were a breath of fresh air, most of them exploring their "freedom" for the first time. Lots of shenanigans ensue (some silly, but still entertaining), but the book also focuses on some greater issues such as love, class, friendship, family, and of course divorce. As this author did in her novel Be Frank With Me, there is the inclusion of a child, a thirteen year old girl in this case, who was spot on if you've ever been fortunate to deal with thirteen year old girls in your life! I don't want to include any spoilers, but the ending was the cherry on top, I loved it!

An excellent feel good book based on history (that was not WWII......hurray!). You will laugh, you will commiserate, and if you're like me, you'll even shed a tear or two. I can highly recommend this to take away the winter doldrums.

Published on Leave a comment on My Best of 2020

The one upside to this year is that it has been good for my hobby! I ended the year having read 224 books. I think I made it to 200 a few years ago, but I'm sure this is my highest total yet! Having said that, how was my quality of books this year? While my average Goodreads rating remained much the same, I did have way more 5 star reads this year than last (when I only had 6). Of course that means that in order for my average rating to remain close to the same, I must have had more clunkers, even though I don't feel like I did. But I digress, this post is about my stellar books of the year. This first picture is all 17 of my 5 star reads:

Now comes the tough part. I narrowed these down to my top five, which is SO tough to do! I was going to just post my favorite of the year, but then I decided I needed to take a stand and rank them. Without further ado......

#5 If You Want to Make God Laugh by Bianca Marais

#4 Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell (winner of the Women's Prize for Fiction)

#3 American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins

#2 Anxious People by Fredrik Backman

And my #1 (with a character I don't think I will ever forget!) is The Girl With the Louding Voice by Abi Dare

What a great reading year I've had, can't wait to see what 2021 has in store!!

Published on Leave a comment on Pretty Little Wife






Pretty Little Wife Book Cover




Pretty Little Wife





Darby Kane




William Morrow




December 29, 2020




Hardcover




416




Purchased



Lila Ridgefield lives in an idyllic college town, but not everything is what it seems. Lila isn’t what she seems.A student vanished months ago. Now, Lila’s husband, Aaron, is also missing. At first these cases are treated as horrible coincidences until it’s discovered the student is really the third of three unexplained disappearances over the last few years. The police are desperate to find the connection, if there even is one. Little do they know they might be stumbling over only part of the truth….

With the small town in an uproar, everyone is worried about the whereabouts of their beloved high school teacher. Everyone except Lila, his wife. She’s definitely confused about her missing husband but only because she was the last person to see his body, and now it’s gone.

My review:

This was a fun one! I don't usually describe thrillers in that way, but I found this one to be that because of the circumstances surrounding dead high school teacher Aaron's death. You find out really early on that his wife had planned his death to look like a suicide, but then his body disappears! The reason for her decision to kill him, as well as her fear that somehow he must have survived, keep you on the edge of your seat just waiting for the next shoe to drop. As the investigation into his death ramps up, how does Lila handle what she knows while keeping up the facade of grieving widow? Also, is there any connection between Aaron's death and that of the cold cases of young girls gone missing? I flew through the pages wanting to put all the clues together while waiting for Lila to trip up and also be put in danger. Her character was drawn so well that I waffled back and forth the entire book on whether I liked her or not. I will say that I did figure out the gist of what was happening before the big reveal, but that didn't effect my overall enjoyment of this one. A totally satisfactory vigilante justice ending was the cherry on top!

An unputdownable thriller with a protagonist you don't come across very often, this one will keep you guessing until the end. Definitely a good whodunnit tale.

Published on Leave a comment on The Lies You Told






The Lies You Told Book Cover




The Lies You Told





Harriet Tyce




Fiction




Grand Central Publishing




December 1, 2020




Hardcover




400




Free from publisher



In the playground it's the law of the jungle But at the school gate, there are no rules at all... When Sadie Roper moves back to London, she's determined to pick up the pieces of her shattered life. First, she needs to get her daughter settled into a new school-one of the most exclusive in the city. Next, she's going to get back the high-flying criminal barrister career she sacrificed for marriage ten years earlier. But nothing goes quite as planned. The school is not very welcoming newcomers, her daughter hasn't made any friends yet and the other mothers are as fiercely competitive as their children. Sadie immediately finds herself on the outside as she navigates the fraught politics of the school gate. But the tide starts to turn as Sadie begins to work on a scandalous, high-profile case that's the perfect opportunity to prove herself again, even though a dangerous flirtation threatens to cloud her professional judgment. And when Julia, queen of the school moms, befriends Sadie, she draws her into the heart of the world from which she was previously excluded. Soon Sadie and her family start to thrive, but does this close new friendship prevent her from seeing the truth? Sadie may be keeping her friends close, but what she doesn't know is that her enemies are closer still... Dark, addictive and compelling, The Lies You Told is a compulsive psychological thriller from a master storyteller.

My review:

This was a solid thriller with many moving parts, perhaps too many, but more on that later. I was completely invested in the three parallel storylines. First was the schoolyard theme, with  parent competitiveness  in full on mode. Then we have the family dynamic of a mother and daughter in a delicate situation brought about by an unusual housing situation. Lastly, a court case involving a teacher accused of molesting a student. All of these plots were super interesting, and propelled the story along at a fast pace. For me, while the pace was fast and the stories engaging, I felt that maybe there was too much going on to really settle into each individual plot point. I think using one or two of them may have allowed more expansion of each topic. Nevertheless, I did find myself tearing through this to see how everything was going to play out, so I may just be nitpicking here. The ending was satisfactory, although I did figure out one of the scenarios ahead of the the reveal, which doesn't mean much because there were lots of twists and turns by the end!

Lots of interesting characters to love and loathe, with tons of action, make this a fast paced and engaging thriller. If you like school mom shenanigan stories or courtroom dramas, this will be one to check out.

Published on Leave a comment on The Arctic Fury






The Arctic Fury Book Cover




The Arctic Fury





Greer Macallister




Fiction




Sourcebooks Landmark




December 1, 2020




Audiobook




400




Cloud library



In early 1853, experienced California Trail guide Virginia Reeve is summoned to Boston by a mysterious benefactor who offers her a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: lead a party of 12 women into the wild, hazardous Arctic to search for the lost Franklin Expedition. It’s an extraordinary request, but the party is made up of extraordinary women. Each brings her own strengths and skills to the expedition- and her own unsettling secrets. A year and a half later, back in Boston, Virginia is on trial when not all of the women return. Told in alternating timelines that follow both the sensational murder trial in Boston and the dangerous, deadly progress of the women’s expedition into the frozen North, this heart-pounding story will hold readers rapt as a chorus of voices answer the trial’s all-consuming question: what happened out there on the ice?

My review:

Another novel set before the 20th century, who am I anymore? Lol! I liked the dual timeline set forth in this atmospheric novel. The actual expedition set embarked upon is one chapter, with alternating chapters being in a courtroom for the trial of the expedition leader Virginia. I actually think I enjoyed the trial aspect more, but that may be because it took a bit before we actually got into the actual arctic part of the journey (which is where that part of the plot took off for me). I particularly appreciated the way women were portrayed here as such capable beings, when we know how women were typically looked at during this time frame. These were some gutsy ladies! The writing and characters were well formed, and I loved the descriptions of the settings, especially the Arctic cold. I thought the author did a great job fictionalizing a true historic event (Lady Franklin did exist, and her husband did disappear on an exploration).

A very engaging story about a dangerous expedition by a group of women cobbled together, but who ultimately grow to respect each other and have each others backs. Definitely a great winter read.