#buestockingreviews

The Boardwalk Trust The Beach Lawyer #2 Avery Duff

MY RATING ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️▫️ PUBLISHER Thomas and Mercer PUBLISHED April 17, 2018

The Boardwalk Trust is a clever and complex legal thriller with a diverse assortment of interesting characters.

SUMMARY What could be better than an office on the boardwalk of Venice Beach, with blue skies directly overhead and an unobstructed beautiful ocean view. Sitting at his faux bamboo conference table in a beach chair and wearing board shorts, Robert Worth has it made, and is not regretting his decision to hang his shingle on the boardwalk. A Venice publication even named him the hottest lawyer in LA , of course that was during a recent heatwave. One of his first clients is Delfina Famosa, a bright, nine-year-old homeless girl, who needs his help. She and her father, Teo, claim to be the beneficiaries of a family trust, that had been run by Teo’s recently deceased brother, but they have to appear in court to claim it, and Delfina needs Robert to help them. Teo is reluctant to claim the trust because of his past issues with alcohol and bad blood between he and his brother. Once Robert, Teo and Delfina show up on the assigned court date, they find there is very little even left in the Famosa Trust. Despite the small amount, Robert who is smitten with the adorable, book-reading Delfina, wants to find out what happened and make sure he can get her everything that she deserves. She calls Robert her Magna Carta Man, but Robert finds being a super hero is not an easy role, and then it gets a whole lot harder. As Robert peels back the layers of the trust, he discovers nothing and no one are quite what they seem.

WATCH ME DISAPPEAR Janelle Brown

MY RATING ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️▫️ PUBLISHER Spiegel & Grau PUBLISHED July 11, 2017

A compelling tale of a Berkeley mom who mysteriously disappears, and her young daughter’s quest to find her.

SUMMARY Billie Flannigan vanished on a solo hike in California’s Desolation Wilderness a year ago. Her husband, Jonathan and daughter, Olive, are still reeling from her disappearance. Had she been abducted, or murdered, or had she accidentally fallen into the ravine? The police had searched for nine days, they found her shattered cell phone and a hiking boot, but her body was never recovered. Olive, 15, was at school one day, standing in the middle of a hallway, when she had her first vision of her mom. Her mom was wearing a dress and was standing on a beach, and was beckoning Olive to come find her. Olive begins a hopeless quest to find her mother.

“You’re going to be just fine. Her mom was always right about that, wasn’t she? Right up until the day when nothing was fine all.”

Jonathan and Billie had been married for sixteen years, and it had been love at first sight. They married only six weeks after they met and after sixteen years, Jonathan thought he knew everything there was to know about Billie. He was wrong. He had recently, uncovered secrets from her past that sent him on his own quest for the truth.

“Maybe this is why they say love is blind: Who you want people to be makes you blind to who they really are.”

REVIEW What an enthralling and quick read! WATCH ME DISAPPEAR is a meticulously woven family drama of a search for answers to Billie’s disappearance. Alternating perspectives of Jonathan and Olive makes the story robust and compelling. Just when we think we know everything about Billie and her worldly and colorful past, we are surprised again and again. A stunning story about the secrets we keep from those we love the most.

LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE Celeste Ng

MY RATING ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ PUBLISHER Penguin Press PUBLISHED September 12, 2017

A brilliantly crafted story, set in the meticulously planned Shaker Heights community, which captures the intertwined lives of two distinctly different families, and insightfully explores mother and daughter relationships.

SUMMARY Small crackling fires were set directly in the middle of three beds in the Richardson’s idyllic home located in the carefully crafted community of Shaker Heights. By the time the fires were out nothing was left but the brick shell of the what had been a beautiful six bedroom house. The novel goes back in time to reveal the story behind who set the fires and why. Elena and Bill Richardson have four not so perfect teenage children: Lexie, Tripp, Moody and Izzy. All are in high school, One in each grade, with Lexie being the oldest and a senior and Izzy, the youngest and a freshman.

Almost a year earlier, a new tenant moved into the Richardson’s rental house. Mia Warren, a nomadic artist, and her bright fifteen-year-old daughter Pearl, are soon embedded and embroiled with the Richardson family. Pearl has always wanted to feel like she belonged and with the help of Moody, the Richardson family welcomed her with open arms. The Richardson children were also drawn to the wisdom of the unconventional Mia, but none more than Izzy. In Mia, Izzy who was never good enough at home, finally found someone who understood her. Izzy adored Mia.

A custody battle soon disrupts the harmony of the Shaker Heights community when good friends of the Richardson’s attempt to adopt a Chinese American baby. Mirabella is wanted by both her Chinese immigrant mother, and the rich McCullough’s who have raised her since she was left at a fire station. Mia and Elena find themselves deeply entrenched on opposite sides of the battle. Elena, suspicious of Mia’s position is determined to uncover the secrets in Mia past. But her quest for Mia’s secrets may have devastating consequences.

REVIEW LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE is an riveting page-turner and the character development is superb. Not just for the major characters, but even the minor characters are brought to life. CELESTE NG exposes family dynamics and teenage angst that will have us questioning whether we truly know or understand our own family’s secrets.

One of the several themes in this engaging novel is mother-daughter relationships. NG expertly reveals dysfunctional relationship between Elena and Izzy, and Mia and Pearl and even Mia and her own mother. This mother-daughter theme is further expanded with the custody battle and the debate of which mother would be best for Mirabella. And it also here that the theme of race is also brought into the picture with the complex issue of whether a white couple can adequately raise an Asian-American child, or whether the struggling Asian birth mom is unfit because she left her daughter at a fire station. Lexie, whose boyfriend is black, thinks they are very lucky in Shaker Heights because “No one sees race here.” But is that really true?

ELEANOR OLIPHANT IS COMPLETELY FINE GAIL HONEYMAN MY RATING ⭐️⭐️⭐️▫️▫️ PUBLISHER Pamela Dorman Books PUBLISHED May 9, 2017 ELEANOR OLIPHANT IS COMPLETELY FINE is a charming and heartwarming story about a quirky woman who must battle some bad days to get to the better ones.

SUMMARY Eleanor Oliphant is almost thirty, socially awkward and has worked as a finance clerk for a graphic design firm for the past nine years. She says what she thinks and she has a very specific daily routine she follows to avoid social interaction. Her weekends are filled with pizza, vodka, and talks with Mummy. Eleanor takes great pride in managing her life alone. To her, there is nothing missing in her life. Nothing that is, until she spots a man onstage that just may be the love of her life. The musician, Johnnie Lomond is “the one” and once they actually meet she knows her life will never be the same. With anticipation, she pursues an makeover: waxing, nails, hair, makeup and clothes.

The very next day her computer blows up and she meets Raymond, the shaggy, unkept new IT guy. Later that afternoon Eleanor and Raymond happen to be leaving work at the the same time. They spot Sammy, an elderly gentleman who has collapsed on the sidewalk, and because they called an ambulance and saved his life the three form a unique bond. But it’s Raymond’s genuine friendship that helps Eleanor to stoically step out of the safety of her comfort zone and explore new interactions and experiences. When the secrets of Eleanor’s past threaten to overwhelm her, she bravely battles her childhood demons with a little help from the friends she didn’t even know she had.

REVIEW ELEANOR OLIPHANT was a charming and heartwarming story about a quirky woman who experiences a metamorphosis, Not only does she seek an outward makeover, but she subjects herself to an internal transformation as well. This debut novel by GAIL HONEYMAN will make you laugh and it will make you cry, but the best part of all is witnessing Eleanor’s courage. Despite her insecurities, despite the fact that she is different, Eleanor finds the strength to face the truth of her past. In facing the truth she learns about having friends and about being a friend. In all ways that matter…ELEANOR OLIPHANT is fine. Overall, I liked the book, found it funny, easy to read, found myself highlighting many delightful passages:

“It often feels that I’m not here, that I’m a figment of my own imagination.”

“Grief is the price we pay for love, so they say. The price is far to high. “

BEFORE WE WERE YOURS LISA WINGATE MY RATING ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ PUBLISHER Ballantine Books PUBLISHED June 6, 2017 NARRATOR Emily Rankin and Catherine Taber BEFORE WE WERE YOURS is a thought-provoking and masterfully-told story of a family torn apart by one unscrupulous woman.

SUMMARY In Memphis 1939, 12 year-old Rill Foss and her four younger siblings live happily on her family’s Mississippi River shanty boat called the Arcadia. But one stormy evening Rill’s father has to rush her pregnant mother to the hospital. In the morning Rill spots a policeman on the river bank approaching the boat. She doesn’t know what to do. Ultimately she is left with no decision but to take her siblings and go with the policeman. They are thrown into the hand of Georgia Tan and the Tennessee Children’s Home Society and their lives were never the same.

In Aiken, SC 2016, Avery Stafford, a successful federal prosecutor has returned home to help her father, a U. S. senator weather a health crisis. Avery was born into wealth and privilege and is engaged to her handsome childhood friend. A chance encounter with a women resident at a nursing home has her curiosity bubbling. When she asks her Grandma Jane about the mysterious woman, she hears the name Arcadia for the first time. But what is Arcadia, a place, a person or something else? Avery is compelled to find if there is a connection between her family and this lonely woman in the nursing home.

REVIEW Everyone should read this book to ensure we all learn from the mistakes of the past. This story is fiction, but is based on one of America’s most notorious real-life scandals. Georgia Tann, who was director of the Tennessee Children’s Home Society, kidnapped and sold poor children to wealthy families all over the country from the 1920-50’s. LISA WINGATE’s writing is fabulous and the story which she has creatively woven is both gut-wrenching and riveting. Reading BEFORE WE WERE YOURS is like floating in the rushing currents of the Savannah River, it’s fast and fabulous. It’s a book you will be thinking about long after you turn the last page. Make sure you read the author note at the end too! It’s powerful and maddening!

THE STORIED LIFE OF A.J. FIKRY Gabrielle Zevin MY RATING ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️▫️ PUBLISHER Algonquin Books PUBLISHED April 1, 2014 A charming and captivating book about the transformation of a curmudgeonly bookseller’s life.

SUMMARY A. J. Fikry is the persnickety bookstore proprietor on Alice Island. The sign over the quaint book shop states: “No Man is an Island, Every Book is a World. But A. J. Fikry has made himself an island in the years since his wife died in a tragic car accident. Not only has he alienated himself from friends and family but his bookstore sales were down. He lived in a small space over the bookstore and it seemed like things could not get much worse for him, when a rare and extremely valuable book, a collection of Edgar Allen Poe poems, is stolen.

But the life of A. J. Fikry was majorly transformed overnight when a baby girl was left in the aisle of the children section of the bookshop. Maya was pretty and two and had been abandon with a note pinned to an Elmo doll. The note says that Maya is smart and her mother is desperate and wants her to grow up to be a reader, she wants her to grow up around books and around people who care about those kind of things. This request shifts A. J.’s life on its axis. It does not take long for his isolationist attitude to change and he finds himself as the center of the community. Locals are stopping by to offer help and advice, and the bookstore is prospering. Even his personal life takes a positive turn. It’s a life different than anything he ever dreamed possible.

REVIEW The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry is definitely a book for book lovers. It is both charming and captivating. It was like eating ice cream, I had to devour it quickly. I found myself laughing out loud in the middle of the night. And when I finally fell asleep I even dreamed about this book. A.J.’s character was well developed and evolved spectacularly as his life progressed. It was great fun reading about the change in him. Anyone who has experienced parenthood can definitely relate to the change in the feelings and emotions as A.J. learns how to care for a toddler.

CAMINO ISLAND JOHN GRISHAM

MY RATING ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ PUBLISHER Random House Audio PUBLISHED June 6, 2017 NARRATOR January LaVoy

A masterfully crafted story of a dramatic heist and the suspenseful search for five priceless manuscripts.

SUMMARY Five priceless F. Scott Fitzgerald handwritten manuscripts are stolen from Princeton University. Only one drop of blood was left behind. The culprits had planned their get away well, and planned for all manner of contingencies. The FBI is investigating, as is the investigative arm of the insurance company that is on the hook for the financial loss, to the tune of $25 million. These experienced investigators have leads that the manuscripts might be in Camino Island, Florida, just north of Jacksonville. They need a Camino Island insider to go undercover, so they hire a young women author who has ties to the area. And she needs the money! She is instructed to get to know the local independent bookstore owner. And boy, does she!

REVIEW CAMINO ISLAND is an highly entertaining heist thriller. It’s not anything like the legal thrillers Grisham usually writes. It’s even better. I really appreciate that he branched out from his norm.

This is a great novel about rare books, first editions, independent books stores and authors. Grisham conveys a good deal of knowledge about writing books and the book selling industry. I have a tendency to love any book, that has books as it theme!

All the characters in CAMINO ISLAND are both likable and believable. The pace of the book is fast and as a result it’s a quick, easy and most enjoyable read. As a native Floridian, I love it when books are set in Florida, and even though Camino Island is fictional, it certainly seemed real to me. This would make a great summer beach read. Highly recommended.

THE ORPHAN’S TALE PAM JENOFF MY RATING ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️▫️ PUBLISHER MIRA Books PUBLISHED February 21, 2017 A mesmerizing novel of friendship between two brave women aerialist performing in a traveling circus during World War II.

SUMMARY Two women are both independently thrown out of their homes by loved ones because of circumstances of the war. The two somehow end up in Darmstadt Germany working as aerialist on the flying trapeze for a traveling circus.

Noa has been cast out of her parent’s home in disgrace after becoming pregnant by a Nazi soldier. She was been forced to give up her baby. She lived in a small rail station which she cleaned in order to have a place to stay. One bitterly cold night Noa hears a keening sound coming from one of the boxcars. She soon discovers a boxcar containing dozens of nearly frozen infants she is starkly reminded of the child she had to give up. In a life-changing moment she snatches one of the babies and flees into the snowy night.

Fourteen months earlier, Astrid was happily and passionately married and living in Berlin with her impossibly handsome husband. One day he comes home and stoically hands her divorce papers. He has been ordered by the Reich to divorce her since he is a Nazi officer and she is Jewish. She is forced from their home, and with nowhere else to go she returns to the town of her youth, and seeks refuge at the home of an old neighbor, who operates a traveling circus. She has experience on the flying trapeze.

It is at the circus that Astrid and Noa meet and must both try blend in and go undetected. Astrid and Noa form a powerful bond, share each other secrets and perform together under the big top. But as the world falls apart around them, will they be able to continue to support one another.

REVIEW I found the circus theme during World War II quite intriguing. Would the Nazi’s ever allow a spectacle such as a circus to survive. The placement of the winter quarter in Darmstadt Germany particularly touched me because of family ties to the town. I loved learning about behind the scenes of the circus and particularly the flying trapeze.

THE ORPHAN’S TALE is a touching tale of survival, loss, bravery, secrets, and friendship. The story is about the harrowing sacrifices these two women have to make to survive. The story is masterfully told from both Noa and Astrid’s point of view with alternating chapters, one masterfully picking up where the other left off. The story moves quickly and the writing flows easily.

PAM JENOFF notes that it was in the archives of Yad Vashem that she discovered both the heartbreaking story of the boxcar of babies and the story of a circus, the Circus Althoff, that had sheltered the Jewish Danner family during the war. It was from her discovery of these two stories that she created this unique work of fiction.