Book review: Sweet Lamb of Heaven

Pardon the formatting:  If I hadn't already put so much work into Blogger, I'd probably find a different blogging site.  It isn't saving any of my formatting.  

Title: Sweet Lamb of Heaven
Author: Lydia Millett
Rating: 2 stars

Summary:  This novel is a Anna's account of how she escaped her cold and unfaithful husband Ned with her daughter.  Ned comes back in her life when he decides to run for office.  And so begins his manipulation.  Can Anna trust the other guests that are staying at the Maine hotel with her?

Review:  This book started out so promising.  A woman and her daughter escape her sociopath husband to live a quiet life in a Maine motel.  But then s*** got weird and not in a good way.  Here’s a list of my grievances.  *Spoiler alert* The point of this blog is to spare you from bad books, right?  However, be forewarned that this gives things away so don’t say I didn’t warn you.

1. The voice: Anna used to hear a voice but it went away with the birth of her daughter.  This voice spoke in tongues.  She discovers that everybody in the motel has heard a voice/music/sound of some kind at some point (sometimes it’s an animal’s voice?) but it’s never clearly explained where this voice came from and why Anna’s the only one that the voice stopped for.

1. The motel: How did she end up at a place where eveyrbody’s heard the voice?  This wasn’t clearly explained.

1. Ned’s mind control: What?  This part was weird too.  And he was maybe a robot?  Or an image?  By then I had stopped caring.

1. The money: Anna doesn’t work and while she doesn’t live in luxury, she claims she saved enough from her pre-child career to live off of for years?  I never buy this story (pun intended).

 Time to write: 7:05

Book review: What She Knew

Title: What She Knew
Author: Gilly MacMillan
Format: Audiobook
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Summary: Rachel Jenner is walking in a park with her 8-year-old son Ben when he asks to run ahead.  It's an ordinary request on an ordinary Sunday afternoon and Rachel has no reason to worry--until Ben vanishes.

Police are called, search parties are sent out and Rachel, already feeling insecure after her recent divorce, starts to feel herself coming undone.  As hours and then days pass with no sign of Ben, everyone becomes a suspect, from Rachel's perfect sister to her newly married ex-husband.  Public scrutiny on Rachel also begins to shift from sympathy to suspicion.

As Rachel begins her own investigation, Rachel realizes that nothing is quite what she imagined it to be and it's anonymous strangers she should be fearing but those she trusts the most. (Source: Amazon)    

Review:  If you're looking for a good beach read as we head into summer, check this one out.  Similar to The Rocks, I listened to this on audiobook but I think this book would be an even better read (than listen).  Plus I'm always partial to characters named Rachel, even if they spell it differently than me.

Time to write: 3:00

Book review: The Last Time We Say Goodbye

Title: The Last Time We Say Goodbye

Author: Cynthia Hand

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Summary: Lex and her family have been a mess since her younger brother Tyler committed suicide.  Lex's mom spends a lot of time in bed and/or drinking and Lex has pushed her boyfriend and friends out of her life.  Lex is in therapy somewhat against her will and rolls her eyes at her therapist.  Lex starts to feel haunted by her brother's ghost, which forces her to face her own guilt and unresolved issues.   Heading to college next year, Lex needs to decide if she can leave her mom, who is now truly alone since her parents' divorce.

Review: I am lucky enough that I've never had somebody close to me commit suicide.  So I can't imagine the feelings that this would bring up and I hope that I never have to.  I read this more through the lens of a parent rather than Lex's point of view.  I can't imagine how difficult it would be to deal with losing a child or a sibling to suicide.  This was a pretty raw book.  I could appreciate Lex's reaction as well as her mom's reaction.  Why didn't I give it more stars?  Because it wasn't one of those books that I couldn't wait to pick up when I finally found time to read.

Time to write: way too long

Book review: Reunion

Title: Reunion
Author:  Hannah Pittard
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Summary:  While she's on a plane, Kate gets a call that her father has died.  Kate's life is in turmoil.  For one, she doesn't even like her dad.  Another, her marriage is in shambles for various reasons, primarily because her husband has caught her cheating.  Also, she has no money because she's extremely in debt.  She heads home to Georgia at the urging of her brother and sister to say goodbye and perhaps deal with some demons.

Review: When I first started this book I thought, "I already read this book except it was called This is Where I Leave You.  I wanted to like this book but this book is no This is Where I Leave You.  And perhaps it's not a fair comparison, but the whole time I read this book that hung over me.  It's not quite as funny nor is it as poignant either.  Still, I could see Kristin Wiig starring in the film adaptation.  Wait for the movie.  Or read This is Where I Leave You.  Kate's dad didn't sound like a peach--Kate's mom was his first of several wives.  I could see why Kate's so angry with her dad.  As an only child I'm often fascinated by books that explore sibling dynamics.  This one just didn't do it for me.  But...it wasn't awful, thus the 3 stars.

Book review: Big Little Lies

Title: Big Little Lies
Author: Liane Moriarty
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Summary:  This story revolves around three friends who live in an affluent seaside town: Madeline, Celeste and Jane.  All three have children that recently started Kindergarten.  Jane, only 24, doesn't fit the profile of the other moms, but Madeline and Celeste take her under their winds.  At the kindergarten orientation, Jane's little boy Ziggy is accused of bullying a little girl.  This event divides the town into who sides with the mother of the little girl and who sides with Jane, Celeste and Madeline.  Meanwhile, Celeste and Madeline are dealing with their own challenges around family and husbands.  Things come to a head on the school's Trivia Night. when somebody dies.  Was it murder? Just an accident?

Review: I love Liane Moriarty's work, although I didn't realize until I finished this that this was her work.  In the interest of full disclosure, I listened to this book on CD and because Moriarty is an Australian author, it was read by somebody with an Australian accent.  That probably helped me like the book a little more, but I still really liked this book.  There's a great buildup to the night of the Trivia Night where the murder happens.  For some reason I thought at first it was a woman that had died but it wasn't.  I don't want to reveal too much, but this was the kind of work that I couldn't stop listening to but I started to dread the book ending.  Another awesome peace of work by Moriarty.