Review of The Girl Who Slept With God by Val Brelinski

The story is told from the point of view of the 13-year old Dory, the middle sister, in a family of three daughters. She is brought by her father to live in an old house with her pregnant 17-year old sister, Grace, outside of the town where her family lives so that no one will know about the pregnancy. Grace became pregnant while on a missionary trip to Mexico. She is very religious and insists that the child is from God. Dory has a hard time adjusting to a new school and is befriended by a man who drives an ice cream truck and an elderly neighbor. The relationship of Dory and her father evolves over the course of the story and issues of love and control are developed.

Review of "Let Me Die in His Footsteps" by Lori Roy

This book takes place in Kentucky in the early half of the twentieth century. There's a belief in certain people having a gift of "know-how" and superstitious beliefs about good and evil. It's a slow revealing of what happened between the Hollerans and the Baines families. The story goes back and forth between 1936 when Sarah and Juna were teenagers and 1952 when Annie and Carolyn are teenagers. Annie calls Sarah 'mama' but has been told that her Aunt Juna is her real mother. Annie thinks that her Aunt Juna will return someday from where ever shes gone off to. The author portrays life in rural Kentucky in the last century well. The many people in the story convey a sense of what life was like then with the willingness to help each other when necessary but staying away from some because of superstitious fears. The ending was a surprise for me. I didn't see it coming at all. But the details all fall into place in the end making for a powerful story.

Review of "Girl Underwater" by Claire Kells

This story kept me riveted. The story of the plane crash and its aftermath were interwoven with scenes of Avery before the crash and after she is rescued. It described her relationship with her family, especially her father, an emergency room doctor who taught all his children survival skills on their camping trips. Avery must come to terms with what happened during the five days surviving in the wilderness through several snowstorms. Her relationship with her family, her boyfriend, Lee and her teammate, Colin change as she learns to cope with her feelings about the plane crash and swimming in the freezing cold lake.

Review of "Last Man Off' by Matt Lewis

Matt Lewis is a very good writer. The pacing of his story was excellent. The account of his time as an observer on a fishing boat in the southern ocean around South Georgia Island and the subsequent abandonment of it in a very bad storm was filled with detail. The days fighting for survival in the life raft were gripping. This is a book that will keep you reading through the night.

Review of "I Am Radar" by Reif Larsen

This book kept me reading. It covered so much history throughout the world while following the "performances" of a mysterious group of artists originally based in Norway. The book starts out with the birth of Radar Radmanovic and follows his life until his involvement with the remaining artists in the group. Large parts of the book don't involve Radar but other members of the group. The stories are all fascinating with a touch of the mystical.

Review of "The Girl On the Train" by Paula Hawkins

This book slowly reveals the story of Rachel's life and her involvement in the murder at a house in the neighborhood that she used to live in. At first she doesn't seem like a very strong person who became an alcoholic when she was not able to conceive a child. She still loves her ex-husband even though he has remarried and has a child with another woman. Rachel wants to help solve the murder by telling the police what she observed from the train she takes every day. She knows that the husband of the murdered woman will be a suspect but she wants to help him. She observed his wife kissing another man on their terrace. The book had a lot of twists and turns as the truth is slowly revealed through Rachel's faulty memories and the points of view of the different characters in the novel. A great debut novel.

Review of "Food: A Love Story" by Jim Gaffigan

Review of "Food:  A Love Story" by Jim Gaffigan

This book is not about high cuisine.  It's a lot closer, in a self mocking way, to low cuisine, to everyday eating as much as everyday food and to everyman.  Jim travels the low road to food everywhere including restaurants, restaurant chains, at home, at BBQ's and at football games.  I found him to be very often laugh out funny so be careful not to read this book in public places.  It's a lighthearted book with its heart in the heartlands of today's American food heartland.