pages: 240   published: 2002

Lee was a trophy wife but has divorced her husband, moved to a little town, to help out her aunt with her thriving chocolate business. But Lee has a gift for getting involved in murder mysteries. Another book in a long line of "themed" murder mysteries. There's the cookie shop mysteries, coffee shop mysteries, baking class mysteries etc... I usually like these books for beach/holiday read. But I didn't like this one. I mean, these kinds of books are never great literature, but this one was particularly catastrophic. The main character is plain stupid, god help feminism. She doesn't like the guy for the whole book but at the end he kisses her, so she starts fancying him back... geez. Have a little self respect girl.

pages: 306   published: 2012

There are probably thousands of books out there about the Titanic. But I thought this one was interesting as it focused more on AFTER the sinking of the ship rather than the actually sinking itself. I've read reviews where people complain that the "sinking" part of the story is too quick and not detailed enough. I think these readers have missed the point. The author starts the story before the sinking, in order to place the characters, but the sinking is just a passage to get to the post-sinking story, which is the main subject of the story: how the press and politicians reacted to the sinking of the Titanic, and how this event had an impact on social status in society. 

pages: 460    published: 2014

The story of 3 women whose life paths cross, leads to a tragic end. Flashback to when it all starts, and little by little the story unfolds, revealing how all the litte lies in people's live ultimately led to the inevitable. I always enjoy Liane Moriarty's books. Stories about every day people, struggling with problems of every day life (relationships, betrayal, grief, parenthood, friendship). There were two things I didn't like so much in this book. Firstly, the "interview" bits. Too cryptic, too many characters involved. It didn't really add to the storyline. And secondly, the ending. But despite these two points, I really enjoyed the book overall and would recommend it as a good read.

***SPOILER ALERT*** If you want to read this book, don't read the rest of this review ***SPOILER ALERT***

Why I was disappointed by the ending: This book was actually about 4 women, not 3. It would have made more sense to reveal Bonnie's secret as well during the course of the book. It would have made the ending much more believable. As it is, Bonnie's reaction seems way over the top, and springs out of nowhere. Only afterwards is it explained, and a little too quickly, that she too had a secret that explains her reaction. And yet, even with the explanation of her secret, her reaction still seems a little overboard. Why does the balcony revelation make her snap, when it doesn't really concern her in any way, whereas just a little while earlier she is confronted with a revelation about her daughter, that had a lot more potential to make her snap. It's her own daughter that was hurt, whereas the balcony revelation is about somebody completely out of her family and friend zone. It didn't quite add up.

pages: 278   published: 2015

The sequel to "To kill a Mocking bird". Scout is now all grown up, living and working in New York city. She returns home to visit her father, and is confronted with a new side of her father and loved ones that she never suspected. It turns her world upside down and makes her question her whole belief system.

Disapointment. I did not enjoy this book as much as "To kill a Mocking bird". Furthermore, this is definitely not a sequel that stands alone. Although you can understand the story and the message being put across, I don't think that Scout's reaction can be fully appreciated by the reader if he/she hasn't read "To kill a mocking bird". Personally I felt like the story line was enough for a short story, but not for an entire book. I was bored, I felt like the story was being dragged out when really, it could have gotten to the point much quicker. 

pages: 365  published: 1958

Simone de Beauvoir's partial autobiography, focusing on her childhood, teenage years and young adult life. 

Simone can write, don't get me wrong. It is beautiful writing. But I'm afraid it's a little lost on me. It's too intense for leisure reading. I think I would have appreciated this book more if I had read only selected passages, and with some text analysis guidance from someone who knows their stuff! Also, I get confused when biographies are not in chronological order...

pages: 270  published: 2010

Craig is a teenager. He has a loving family, and he's smart and has recently achieved entering a high achievement high school. But lately Craig hasn't been feeling well. He can't seem to find the will to do things. But when Craig finds himself at a most difficult crossroads, and starts contemplating suicide, he makes a wise decision and gets help. Professional help. Craig gets himself checked into hospital. It may sound daunting, but this is not a dark, black book. It is a book that takes a positive approach to mental issues and the people who suffer from these issues.

***SPOILER ALERT - BELOW***

Craig is going through difficulties but that are mainly due to current pressures in his lifestyle and he needs to learn how to deal with them, and how to accept that sometimes you can't have it all, you have to choose your battles. 

***SPOILER ALERT - ABOVE***

This was the first book on mental issues that I have ever read. It was a soft introduction, I didn't get thrown into the deep end, right in there with people who suffer from severe hallucinations or violent rampage, which I appreciated because understanding and accepting mental issues is not something that is easy to do, when you haven't experienced it yourself or don't know anyone who has. So starting with the lower end of the spectrum was probably a good thing. It has definitely made me more open to mental issues and made me want to read more on the subject.

pages: 302   published: 2015

Kate Mulgrew is an american actress most well known for her role as Starship commander Janeway in "Star Trek Voyager" and as Red in "Orange is the new black". This is her auto-biography.

I decided to read this book because I was intrigued to find out that Kate Mulgrew was american. I only knew her from "Orange is the new black" and therefore only knew her to speak with a russian accent. It had never occurred to me that the accent was fake. So I was intrigued. I often find autobiographies quite boring, but I have to say that I found this one quite enjoyable. I found that it had a good balance when it came to personal matters. I didn't feel like a "voyeur", getting the gory, intimate details of the private life of someone I don't actually know. She shared difficult and very private moments but without going to far into intimate details either, and all personal matters that were shared had a valid reason for being shared. I also felt that the writing was very smooth, although I don't know if Kate Mulgrew actually wrote this herself or if she had a ghostwriter.

pages: 352   published: 2015

Ani strives really hard to have a perfect life. She has lived through a trauma in her past, that has marked her for life in everyone's eyes. And yet, despite this trauma being widely public and known, it seems that there is still some truth behind this trauma that everyone is not aware of, and that Ani has kept desperately hidden for all these years.

I had a hard time getting into the book at first, because I couldn't relate to Ani. She was so fake. I wasn't sure I would finish the book. But little by little, as we get to know her background story, I started understanding where her fakeness was coming from. I still don't relate to it, because it wouldn't be my kind of protection mechanism, but I can understand that this would be some people's way. I therefore started to appreciate the book more when I was about halfway through it. However, I was disappointed by the ending. 

***SPOILER ALERT*** If you want to read this book, don't read the rest of the review ***SPOILER ALERT*** 

I found that things turned around too quickly in Ani's life at the end. As if the filming of the documentary was the therapy she had always needed and that completing the documentary was all she needed to turn her life around. It seemed to me that Ani was so far gone into her fakeness and need to impress others, that the documentary should not have been sufficient to pull her out of her self-harming spiral.