“A far stronger smell blasted out of the dark space, immediately overwhelming and shocking Pam’s senses. It was putrid. Something rotten. Like a decomposing animal.”
“All passengers on board are accounted for. All crewmembers are accounted for. No one is missing, not a single person.” Hendricks shrugged. “So it seems we have a stowaway.”
Maria Fontana’s life changed the day she was selected for jury duty for the murder trial of Wyatt Butler. Charged with the murder and mutilation of eight children, he was labeled the worst serial killer in decades. When the jury couldn’t agree on conviction, the mistrial threw their lives into turmoil. The public and the victim’s family were furious, how could they have let this monster go?
“When the four ladies had banded together with a vow to right wrongs in London and fight for women who had no voice against male harassment or otherwise unjust travesties thrust upon their gender, they’d labelled themselves the Maidens of Mayhem. Perhaps it was a fanciful thought at first, but their intention was soon realized. London had more nefarious secrets than anyone imagined.”
Scarlett is a member of the Maidens of Mayhem, a group of women who fight to protect other women in a society ruled by men. When her seamstress suddenly goes missing, she knows that foul play must be involved. While investigating, the clues bring her to an upscale brothel, aimed at the wealthier men of status. Inside Scarlett discovers that several of the girls have gone missing recently.
“Yet his soul was mad,” Ebenezer whispered. “Being alone in the wilderness, it had looked within itself and, by heavens I tell you, it had gone mad.”
“There is a saying that goes: Evil never dies; it merely sleeps. And when that evil awakes, it can do so soundlessly—or almost so.”
Something comes in the night, a pied Piper of sorts, and takes Micah’s only daughter. Micah knows immediately who took her and where it is taking her. He knows that he will have to return to the place where it all began, Little Heaven.
Meg, her little brother Charles Wallace, and their friend Calvin are visited by three mysterious women, Mrs Whatsit, Mrs Who and Mrs Which. They have come to help the children retrieve their father who went missing. A scientist who works on classified experiments for the government was on assignment when all communications with his family stopped. “A straight line is not the shortest distance between two points” rather a tesseract, or creating a wrinkle in the fabric of space, is. The children must tesser to another planet in order to save their father, and the universe, from The Darkness.
What a wonderfully written book for middle grade readers and adults. It is so hard to understand why this book is one of the most contested and banned books. How could you ban something so incredible? But humans are flawed and full of fear, especially when it comes to children. I however cannot wait to have my nephew read it! It had so much heart and such wonderful lessons for young minds to experience. Hope Davis was a good choice for narrator, her voice was fitting.
Synopsis: Story of the Buendia family in the mythical town of Macondo. It follows the lives of seven generations, their successes and failures, children and deaths. When Jose Arcadio Buendia and Ursula Iguaran his wife and cousin, leave Columbia and set out to find their utopia. After having a dream one night one their journey, Jose establishes the town of Macondo. Over the years, the town becomes exposed to the outside world and eventually is brought to ruin. The Buendia family may have been cursed after all, as predicted by Ursula in the very beginning.
My thoughts: I am sorry to say but I found this book to be boring. I struggled to follow along with so many people with the same names. I Googled a family tree for it so that I could have anything to help keep them straight but it was still difficult. Ultamately I struggle with books built upon symbolism. I read books for the enjoyment and not necessarily to promote deep thinking. I like deep feeling, ones that bring out emotions and make you analyze what you are feeling or cause unexpected feelings. I don’t want to have to interpret every little thing throughout to discover their true meaning. “The ghosts are symbols of the past and the haunting nature it has over Macondo.” However, I can see why this is a Classic for sure and why so many people love it. It has some great magical realism throughout. My favorite was Remedios the Beauty, said to be the most beautiful woman on Macondo. She is thought to be cursed, unintentionally causing the death of several men who lust after/love her. One man falling to his death after watching her bath. Instead of blood escaping his body it was an amber colored oil that smelled of Remedios the Beauty.
Set in Italy during WWII, bombardier Yossarian is upset that his command keeps increasing the number of missions he must complete before being sent home.
“Yet if Yossarian makes any attempt to excuse himself from the perilous missions he’s assigned, he’ll be in violation of Catch-22, a hilariously sinister bureaucratic rule: a man is considered insane if he willingly continues to fly dangerous combat missions, but if he makes a formal request to be removed from duty, he is proven sane and therefore ineligible to be relieved.”
This one was not for me. I understand that this is considered comedy to a lot however I did not find funny at all. It actually took me probably half the book before I realized that this was a comedy, I had been thinking that it was just a horrible plot until then. It made it a little easier to listen to after that but not much. Took me a very long time to finish with many stops and starts. It seems it is either a love it or hate kind of book.
“Chase down your passion like it’s the last bus of the night.” – Terri Guillemets
“It takes but one person, one moment, one conviction, to start a ripple of change.” – Donna Brazile
Josh is a college student at the University of Florida, as part of his American History class they are assigned to read Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America by Gilbert King, learning of the gross injustice done to the Groveland Four. A year later, as he was driving, he passed a sign for Groveland. That moment sparked a conviction to do everything he could to right this wrong.
You were not Born for him You were born For the world.
She did not let Her past define her present Nor the future
A short book of poetry directed toward girls between ages of 16 and 25. Very simple haikus about broken hearts, moving on, and healing. For myself as an adult woman, they were just okay. The language is very basic and lacking substance. A few I really liked and connected with. For me, the ones about loving yourself were my favorite. As a whole though, I could see a younger girl really identifying with them and maybe even finding solace in them.
“I wasn’t sure why I was still working for Vinnie. I suspected it had something to do with the title. Bounty Hunter. It held a certain cat he. Even better, the job didn’t require panty hose.”
Stephanie Plum is at it again and this time the bodies are really piling up.
“Christ, Stephanie, this makes four! Four dead bodies. Eight if you count the ones in the cellar.” “It’s not my fault!” I stuffed my fists onto my hips. “You think I want to keep finding dead bodies? This is no picnic for either, you know.”
CW: depression, suicide, drug use and addiction, sexual assault
I was gifted this book by the author. This is an honest review.
“People would rather continue believing that addicts, the homeless, those struggling with mental illness—the outcasts ever-present on the outskirts of society—are just complicit denizens, thereby minimizing the complexities at the root of social issues and negating any self-imposed moral pressure to empathize.”
“There’s no hyperbole here: I was being asphyxiated by a depression that pervaded every aspect of my life, and I was lost in that depression the same way someone gets lost in the woods at night—with no fixed reference point and every direction leading nowhere.”
Eric is an 18 year old with severe depression and beyond the verge of suicide. After a failed first attempt, he knows he will try again but before he does he decides to pay for some female company. He responds to an online add and meets Jenny. Jenny is a heroine addict, desperate for money, her friend convinces her to put the add online, it’s easy money.
