Great Start to the Series!

A Perfect Evil by Alex Kava
#1 in the Maggie O'Dell Series

FBI Special Agent Maggie O'Dell is called to a small Nebraska town when another young boy is found murdered, sliced, and left by the river. It is the second of such a killing Platte City has seen. There are also eerie similarities to some previous murders that a man named Jeffries was executed for. Platte City Sherriff Nick Morelli, who got the job following his father's retirement, is desperate for help before another young boy is taken and killed.

I thought this was a really good start to the series. I have been wanting to read this series for a long time. Now I can't wait to get to the next one!

Myron and Win back in action

Live Wire by Harlan Coben

Myron and Win are back in action! One of Myron's longtime friends, clients and former tennis star, Suzze Tervantino, has come to him in distress. She is 8 months pregnant and someone posted "Not His" on her facebook account. Now, her husband, part of a famous rock duo, is missing. As Myron sets out to find Lex Ryder, he finds a connection to his estranged brother and sister-in-law.

The latest Myron and Win was a little different. It took some turns that I didn't really like, but I have a hard time complaining about it because Coben is a favorite and Myron and WIn are some of my favorite characters.

Two Very Different YA's

Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr

Aislinn is a high school girl who is just a little different than her friends, she is able to see and hear fairies. They are all around her and some are following her. Keelan, the Summer King, is looking for his queen when he sets his sights on Aislinn. He uses his fairy mojo to attract her, but Aislinn is in love with Seth - her best friend and a mortal. Keelan believes that Aislinn is his true Queen and he needs her to stop the evil Winter Queen at any cost. But can Aislinn give up everything to assume the role?

In the beginning I found this book very confusing a kind of ridiculous. It did grow on me as I went, and I ended up liking it more than I thought I would. Maybe fairies just aren't my thing?

Letters from Rifka by Karen Hesse

This is a great short book about a jewish girl named Rifka who helps her family escape Russia post WWI. Three of her brothers escaped Russia before she was born to avoid fighting in the war and now another brother has escaped the army. The family escapes to Poland where the become ill with Typhus. They make it to Warsaw eventually, where money is waiting for them to buy transatlantic steaship tickets, but Rifka has caught ringworm and must be sent to Belgium to heal. The family goes on to America without her and Rifka follows later.

This story shows the struggles many faced trying to escape to America and the challenges of arriving at Ellis Island.

Another Ellison

The Cold Room by JT Ellsion
#4 in the Taylor Jackson Series

In the fourth Taylor Jackson book, Jackson finds herself knocked back down from LT to detective with a new and inexperienced partner and a rigid and bullyish new lieutenant. They are called to a gruesome scene where a female body is discovered having been kept and starved until she was skin and bones then murdered and posed to match a painting. Eerily similar to a European serial killer Baldwin has been chasing for years. Together with British inspector John Highsmyth, they track an international killer who seems to be escalating.

This was not my favorite of the series, but it is a great series and I look forwards to reading the next.

A definite 5!

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Jackson, Mississippi in 1962. Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan returns to her families cotton plantation after graduating college with one plan in mind - to become a writer! All around her black women were in the homes of the Jackson elite. Cleaning, cooking, raising the white children. While the housewives play bridge and socialize. Told through the eyes of Aibileen and Milly as well as Skeeter, this is the story of unlikely friends who join together to fight the injustices done to these hardworking honest women.

This was such a great story. I loved the three points of view and really grew to love these women. While simultaneously seething about the white women who mistreated them. I did not want this book to end!

One for Me, One for Sofia

Ghost Shadow by Heather Graham
1st in the Bone Island Trilogy

Katie O'Hara has a secret. She can see and hear ghosts. In fact, one old ghost from Key West's days of pirates and privateers, Bartholomew, is her constant companion. As Katie delves into a decade old murder to figure out if David Beckett really murdered his fiance, she is taken back in time to the cities oldest families pasts and secrets while at the same time trying to stop a real time murderer.

I liked this book, but it was not my favorite by Graham. I will definitely continue the trilogy though.

Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus by Barbara Park

Sofia and I read this one together. She thought it was funny. I cringed at some of the grammar, but it was a fun read aloud.