pages: 354  published: 2006

George's wife is cheating on him, his daughter is about to get re-married to a man she is not sure she loves, but who treats her kid well, his son is gay (but they don't talk about it) and commitment phobic... In the midst of it all, George finds a lesion on his hip, and slowly starts to obsess over it and lose his mind.

I didn't dislike this book but I wouldn't say I liked it either. it passed the time but for the most part of the book, I was wondering when the story was going to start.
There is so much potential for a deeper look into each family members issues, but the book glosses over every character's story and depth.
I've heard such good reviews of "the curious incident of the dog in the night", which is on my TBR for next year, that when I found this book by the same author, I thought it would be a good prelude. Now I'm not so sure what I'm going to make of "the curious incident..."

Pages: 304  Published: 2015

Catherine picks up a book on her night-table, and the more she gets into it, the more she becomes convinced that this book is about her. And it scares her. She doesn't know how this book has ended up in her house, she doesn't know who wrote it... but she does know that whoever wrote the book is out to reveal a secret that she has kept for dozens of years. 

Interesting plot, but not enough depth to the characters. I would have liked more insight into the son's personality.

Pages: 272  Published: 2013

This book tells the story of the wives of America's first astronauts.

Terrible writing. Stories told in a random order, some of them too anecdotal and "you had to be there". Not enough space given to each woman, hard to remember who is who and to really get to know who these women were.

Pages: 336  Published: 2014

In a future not far from now, society has had to adapt to "Hadens". Hadens are the victims of a widespread disease that has significantly modified their brain structure ("integrators") and for the more seriously affected, has "locked in". The "locked in" Hadens are alive but trapped in a body that cannot move. The world and technology has adapted to allow the "locked in" to live an active life by remotely using human-like robots. Integrators, have the special ability of allowing someone into their mind, to "drive" their body, while they remain in the background.

Isaac Asimov has placed the bar really high in terms of science fiction. I often find myself disappointed by sci-fi books now, generally because I find that although the core of the story is good, it's not developed or thought through as well as it would have been, had the book been written by Asimov.
However, it is not the case for this book. I'm not comparing John Scalzi to Asimov, because, sorry John, but they don't come close. However, it really felt like Scalzi had given his distopia some real though, including wider-scale and future sociological impacts.

Pages: 552  Published: 2009

This is a big book (over 400 pages) and yet I read it in less than a week. Every chance I got, I would open it up and pick reading where I'd left off. 
I've read a few negative reviews about this book; complaining about the writing style - the fact that the black women's voices were clearly written in grammatically incorrect English, whereas Celia Foote's voice, who is described as having a thick accent, is written in perfect English. I understand that there is some inconsistency there, but I didn't feel bothered by this because my interest in the story was strong enough for me to not focus on this detail.
I also read negative reviews saying that the subject of "The Help" is a serious one and that it should not be dealt with in such an "easy" way. I disagree, there are varying degrees of dealing with a subject. In the book itself, Aibileen broaches the subject of discrimination with Mae Mobley in the most simplified way (Martian Luther King). Yes, it's true, in "The Help", although there is some mention of the risk and danger these womens are running; it does seem far from the reality of the situation at the time. At no point in the book does the reader ever really fear that something terribly bad could happen to one of the main characters. However, sometimes it's nice once in a while to read a book that stays light. Of course, if you're only going to be reading "light" books on "tough" subjects, that's a shame and you're not getting the whole real picture. But this is not my case, and I didn't feel that this book "belittled" the subject either. So the "lightness" of the tome didn't bother me.
Overall, this is a book I would recommend to friends.

Pages: 624  Published: 2015

Valentin and Guadalupe are the perfect couple... on glossy paper. She is a beautiful, famous author and he, the handsome son of a world famous toreador. Recently wed, they are expecting their first child. So when Guadalupe goes missing, at eight and a half months pregnant, it's not just the police that are interested, all media attention is focused on the story too. All is not what it seems, and quickly Valentin finds himself at the heart of all suspicions. 

Great read. Although the reader quickly gathers that something odd is going on, being privy to certain aspects of the story that not all characters are aware of, there is still a lot of mystery to work through, and some good plot twists. What I really enjoyed is that there is no good and bad, no black and white, every character has a his/her shade of grey, lines are blurred, and at the end of the day, everything is a question of perception. A good representation of reality, of the manipulation of media and the flaws in the justice system. 

Already looking forward to the follow-up book!

Definitely recommending this one to friends. 

Pages: 312  Published: 2015

Ted has recently caught his wife cheating on him, and he daydreams of killing her. Returning from a business trip, his path crosses Lily's; a perfect stranger in an airport, never to be seen again... Ted confides in her. Little does he expect Lily to support his idea and offer to assist him.

What starts out as an "I know where this is going" book, completely turns on you. There are more unexpected twists in this book than I have ever seen. I actually shouted "noooooooooooooo"out loud at one point, I was so surprised.

This book gets a recommendation from me.

Pages: 406 Published: 2016

One early morning, a man walking his dog in the forest stumbles upon the body of a young girl in a river. His quick reflexes allows for the girl to be saved, despite 13 being considered "medically dead" for 13 minutes. When Natasha awakens, she cannot remember the events of the previous night. 

This is a pretty good psychological thriller but keep in mind that this is a YA book, so may not be enjoyed by all adults. The main charaters are teenagers, so their reasoning sometimes feels a little ridiculous to an adult reader and the main theme of the book is the complex relationships between adolescents. This is why, as an adult, I didn't enjoy the book as much as I have other similar psychological thrillers. However, had I read this book at a younger age, I think it would have been a real hit for me. 

I would definitely recommend it to YA.

pages: 272 published: 2010

Dual storyline: one follows the overall history of an international English newspaper (from its creation to its closure); the other follows the personal stories of specific individuals working for the paper

pages: 311 published: 2013

One night, George saves a crane by removing an arrow from her wing. The next day Kumiko walks into his life, turning his world upside down. Where does she come from, why is she so mysterious?

The main storyline is interrupted by the telling of a fictional myth. I didn't really understand all of the metaphors. Although overall I enjoyed the book, it doesn't rate as a 3 star.