The Book of Bright Ideas by Sandra King

Overview:

Friendship. Sisterhood. Secrets. For two girls, an incredible journey is about to begin…
Wisconsin, 1961. Evelyn “Button” Peters is nine the summer Winnalee and her fiery-spirited older sister, Freeda, blow into her small town–and from the moment she sees them, Button knows this will be a summer unlike any other.
Much to her mother’s dismay, Button is fascinated by the Malone sisters, especially Winnalee, a feisty scrap of a thing who carries around a shiny silver urn containing her mother’s ashes and a tome she calls “The Book of Bright Ideas.” It is here, Winnalee tells Button, that she records everything she learns: her answers to the mysteries of life. But sometimes those mysteries conceal a truth better left buried. And when a devastating secret is suddenly revealed, dividing loyalties and uprooting lives, no one–from Winnalee and her sister to Button and her family–will ever be the same.

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Amy's Review:


I liked this book.  I had to push myself to read it.  I was hard to get into but I was curious as to why she carried around the book.  Towards the end an explanation is given as to why.  I was also intriqued by her sister and why she was the way she was.  Towards the end it explains that as well.  As for the mother that the two girls ran away from, I can't see how she can could turn a blind eye to what was going on right in front of her nose practically right before her eyes.  The ending of the book is fitting for the two girls.  I liked what the older sister did for one of the local ladies as far as helping her with her hair and makeup and making her feel like a woman again.  Seemed to me she wasn't so mean to her daughter after that.  I would recommend this book to others.  It wasn't a page turner for me but it kept my curiosity enough to keep reading to see what was going to happen. 

The Bronze Horseman by Paulina Simmons

 Overview:

Leningrad 1941: the white nights of summer illuminate a city of fallen grandeur whose beautiful palaces and stately avenues speak of a different age, when Leningrad was known as St Petersburg.
Two sisters, Tatiana and Dasha, share the same bed, living in one room with their brother and parents. It is a hard, impoverished life, yet the Metanovs know many who are not as fortunate as they.
The family routine is shattered on 22 June 1941 when Hitler invades Russia. For the Metanovs, for Leningrad and for Tatiana, life will never be the same again. On the fateful day, Tatiana meets a brash young officer named Alexander.
Tatiana and her family suffer as Hitler’s army advances on Leningrad, and the Russian winter closes in. With bombs falling and the city under siege, Tatiana and Alexander are drawn to each other in an impossible love. It is a love that could tear Tatiana’s family apart, a love that carries a secret that could mean death for anyone who hears it.
Confronted on the one hand by Hitler’s unstoppable war machine, and on the other by a Soviet system determined to crush the human spirit, Tatiana and Alexander are pitted against the very tide of history, at a turning point in the century that made the modern world.
Mesmerizing from the very first page to the final, breathtaking end, The Bronze Horseman brings alive the story of two indomitable, heroic spirits and their great love that triumphs over the devastation of a country at war.

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Amy's Review:

This was not my favorite book.  I had to push myself to read it and keep reading it.  It was very confusing and Tatiana made me mad.  I couldn't identify with her character and why she did some of the things that she did.  The book was almost 700 pages and to me the author could have left out about 300 pages.  I was happy to see that Dimitri got what was coming to him.  He was such an idiot.  As for Alexander, did he live? Did he die? The book left me wondering what became of him.  It didn't say.  I would assume he died but I can't say that for sure.  I wouldn't recommend this book to other people unless you are a good skimmer!

The Search By Nora Roberts

The Search

Putnam Hardcover | 978-0-399-15657-1
July 6, 2010 | $26.95



To most people, Fiona Bristow seems to have an idyllic life-a quaint house on an island off Seattle's coast, a thriving dog-training school, and a challenging volunteer job performing canine search and rescues. Not to mention her three intensely loyal Labs. But Fiona got to this point by surviving a nightmare...

Several years ago, Fiona was the only survivor of the Red Scarf serial killer, who shot and killed Fiona's cop fiancé and his K-9 partner.

On Orcas Island, Fiona found the peace and solitude she needed to rebuild her life. But all that changes on the day Simon Doyle barrels up her drive, desperate for her help. He's the reluctant owner of an out-of-control puppy, foisted upon him by his mother. Jaws has eaten through Simon's house, and he's at his wit's end.

To Fiona, Jaws is nothing she can't handle. Simon, however, is another matter. A newcomer to Orcas, he's a rugged and in-tensely private artist, known for the exquisite furniture he creates from wood. Simon never wanted a puppy-and he most definitely doesn't want a woman. Besides, the lanky redhead is not his type. But tell that to his hormones.

As Fiona embarks on training Jaws, and Simon begins to appreciate both dog and trainer, the past tears back into Fiona's life. A copycat killer has emerged out of the shadows, a man whose bloodlust has been channeled by a master with one motive: to reclaim the woman who slipped out of his hands...

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Amy's Review:

I liked this book.  Love mystery and suspense.  Nora is one of my favorite authors.  I was a little disappointed in the ending of the book.  To me it could of have ended a little better.  This was a page turner for me and kept me interested until the end.  I would recommend it to others.