Origin by Dan Brown
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Professor Robert Langdon is back in this action mystery story, where he is attending a presentation by his extremely talented former student who bears a striking resemblance to a Steve Jobs, as a visionary computer geek. When his student is assassinated, Professor Langdon is once again on a mission to find out what happened and help his former student fulfill his plan to share a mysterious discovery that will change how the world will view organized religion. A central figure in the story is an A.I named Winston. While it was fun to read along as Robert Langdon figures out each clue in the mystery, this book felt forced and lacked the originality of Dan Brown's earlier books. Origin gets very repetitive at times and instead of letting the readers come to their own conclusion, the book feels preachy and strained. The minor characters were dull and uninteresting, with stereotypical villains and an actual charming prince. Despite all of that, I would recommend this book because Robert Langdon is always a fun character.
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The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
WOW! The Hate U Give may be a young adult novel, but this story is a must read for every age. This powerful story shares the experience of Starr, a young black girl who feels torn between two worlds, her impoverished neighborhood and her white school. Starr finds herself witness to a senseless shooting of her childhood friend at the hands of the police, and as she struggles to deal with what she saw and experienced, the shooting has much bigger implications for her family and her entire community. Starr finds the courage and support to speak out about what happened, but in doing so she also realizes that her voice can be a powerful tool. I was so impressed with this book, it felt like a glimpse into a world that I don't understand very well, and I ached for Starr and her friend Khalil and so many others who have faced injustice.
“What's the point of having a voice if you're gonna be silent in those moments you shouldn't be?”
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The Magnolia Story by Chip Gaines
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
As a fan of the show Fixer Upper, I really enjoyed this glimpse into the lives of the show's stars Chip and Joanna Gaines. The book is a first person account of their lives and the path that led them to a career in home renovations and an eventual highly popular series on HGTV. This book was a quick and easy ready that jumped back and forth between Joanna and Chip's perspectives. With an easy style, the book felt more like sitting at a kitchen table chatting than a serious detailed biography. Joanna is the primary storyteller and she has an incredible ability to share her hard-earned wisdom and life-lessons without sounding preachy. Fans of the show will enjoy this glimpse into the personal world of the Chip and Joanna.
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Everything We Keep by Kerry Lonsdale
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Everything We Keep started out grabbing the reader's attention with the main character Aimee attending her finance's funeral on the day that was supposed to be her wedding. As the story develops, Aimee is led to believe her fiancé might not be dead after all, but this is the point where the story seemed to drag on and the writing felt cumbersome. There were some good parts, but overall I was not impressed with this book and would not necessarily recommend it.
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The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Liane Moriarty does an incredible job of interweaving rich characters into a deep and satisfying plot which keeps the reader guessing. When Cecilia accidentally discovers a letter from her husband that he intended to only be opened after his death, she struggles with curiosity but decides to put the letter away until after she mentions the letter and her husband begins to act strangely. Opening that letter will lead Cecilia and those around her on a path that will alter all of their lives. “Some secrets are meant to stay secret forever.” I really enjoyed this story and would definitely recommend this book.
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Hunger by Roxane Gay
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Roxane Gay shares her honest account of a violent sexual attack and her resulting lifelong struggle with weight as a way to deal with the emotions of her attack. The writing is raw and authentic, but at times the writing feels repetitive and lacks structure. Gay's experiences an a morbidly obese person in our culture are frustrating and at times overwhelming. This book brings a new level of empathy for the struggles of the morbidly obese.
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As Bright as Heaven by Susan Meissner
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Overall I enjoyed this book. If I were rating the first two-thirds of the book I would have given 5 stars easily, but the last third of the book dragged on and felt too contrived. As Bright as Heaven was the very personal story of one family during the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918. The Bright family had a unique relationship with death. After their new born son dies, they move from the country into Philadelphia to live with their uncle who owns a funeral parlor. They are literally surrounded by death, so when people around them begin to die from the Spanish flu they have a unique perspective on the epidemic. When the flu strikes in their own family it consequences are severe, but a chance encounter leads them to find a small infant who needs their help. This child helps them deal with the death that surrounds them. The story is told through multiple perspectives, and the grief and loss of this family felt raw and real. The epidemic left almost no one untouched and this story did a fantastic job of showcasing the enormity of the epidemic. The characters were beautifully developed, and the details of the flu and the war added depth to the story, but it felt like the part of the story that came after the flu epidemic was forced. While the author did try to address some of the loose ends, she chose to over simplify a case of PTSD for the sake of a 'happy ending' and introduced extremely unrealistic elements like a child working in a speakeasy, and a female psychiatrist that falls in love with a patient's husband, which all felt artificial and took away from the genuine quality of the earlier chapters. Overall I did enjoy this book and I would recommend it, despite my opinion of the ending.
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