Annual Reading Challenge 2019

1/30 - 22 Britannia Road by Amanda Hodgkinson

"Housekeeper or housewife?" the soldier asks Silvana as she and eight- year-old Aurek board the ship that will take them from Poland to England at the end of World War II. There her husband, Janusz, is already waiting for them at the little house at 22 Britannia Road. But the war has changed them all so utterly that they'll barely recognize one another when they are reunited. "Survivor," she answers.

Silvana and Aurek spent the war hiding in the forests of Poland. Wild, almost feral Aurek doesn't know how to tie his own shoes or sleep in a bed. Janusz is an Englishman now-determined to forget Poland, forget his own ghosts from the way, and begin a new life as a proper English family. But for Silvana, who cannot escape the painful memory of a shattering wartime act, forgetting is not a possibility.


I liked this book...it was a bit slow in some places but overall it was interesting to see how people were coping after the war and how damaged some people became.

MJ
 
I would like to join the challenge. I am going to aim low, and try for 10 books this year.
 
3/75 Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan
The book was recommended in last year’s reading challenge, and I agree, it was a fun read about over the top wealthy people. Still, it was a good story.
I will read the sequel next.
 
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1/30 - Tell Her No Lies by Kelly Irvin. A romantic suspense murder mystery. This seemed to drag on in many spots but I always enjoy seeing who the killer is. Overall I liked it.
 
3/24 Where She Went by Gayle Forman, I wasn’t going to read this because I liked the first one and SOME times I feel like a sequel can ruin it. But I’m so happy I did I love this book. More then the first, some things made me cringe but over all I loved it.

4.5/5 stars!
 


The Day the World Came to Town by Jim Defede. The sub-title to this book is "9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland". The description from the back cover sums up this book as "When thirty-eight jetliners bound for the United States were forced to land in Gander, Newfoundland, on September 11, 2001, due to the closing of the U.S. airspace, the citizens of this small community and surrounding towns were called upon for to care for the thousands of distraught travelers". I cannot recommend this small book highly enough. It is an amazing story, well researched and deftly presented. This book was originally published in 2002 and I do not know how I missed it for almost 20 years. Shame on me.

5 of 104
 
2/50 Thorbjørn Egner's Folk og Røvere I Kardemommeby
3/50 Thorbjørn Egner's Dyrene I Hakkebakkeskoven
 
The Day the World Came to Town by Jim Defede. The sub-title to this book is "9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland". The description from the back cover sums up this book as "When thirty-eight jetliners bound for the United States were forced to land in Gander, Newfoundland, on September 11, 2001, due to the closing of the U.S. airspace, the citizens of this small community and surrounding towns were called upon for to care for the thousands of distraught travelers". I cannot recommend this small book highly enough. It is an amazing story, well researched and deftly presented. This book was originally published in 2002 and I do not know how I missed it for almost 20 years. Shame on me.

5 of 104

The made a musical out of this story: Come From Away

https://comefromaway.com/
 
#6 Kiss of the Night - Sherrilyn Kenyon
Probably one of my least favorite books in the series... up until the last 1/4 of the book and then it’s great lol.
 
#1 Apollo 8 Jeffery Kluger: Loved! My favorite moon mission!

#2 5th Wave
#3 The Infinite Sea
#4 The Last Star
(Trilogy by Rick Yancey) : These were good for YA fiction. I liked his Monstrumoligist SO much better
 
#4 of 50

Heaven's Crooked Finger by Hank Early
Earl Marcus thought he had left the mountains of Georgia behind forever, and with them, the painful memories of a childhood spent under the fundamental rule of his father RJ's church--a church built on fear, penance, and the twisting, writhing mass of snakes. But then an ominous photo of RJ is delivered to Earl's home. The photograph is dated long after his father's burial, and there's no doubt that the man in the picture is very much alive.

As Earl returns to Church of the Holy Flame searching for the truth, faithful followers insist that his father has risen to a holy place high in the mountains. Nobody will talk about the teenage girls who go missing, only to return with strange tattoo-like marks on their skin. Rumors swirl about an old well that sits atop one of the mountains, a place of unimaginable power and secrets. Earl doesn't know what to believe, but he has long been haunted by his father, forever lurking in the shadows of his life. Desperate to leave his sinful Holy Flame childhood in the past, Earl digs up deeply buried secrets to discover the truth before time runs out and he's the one put underground.

This was pretty good but a little drawn out.
 
The Day the World Came to Town by Jim Defede. The sub-title to this book is "9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland". The description from the back cover sums up this book as "When thirty-eight jetliners bound for the United States were forced to land in Gander, Newfoundland, on September 11, 2001, due to the closing of the U.S. airspace, the citizens of this small community and surrounding towns were called upon for to care for the thousands of distraught travelers". I cannot recommend this small book highly enough. It is an amazing story, well researched and deftly presented. This book was originally published in 2002 and I do not know how I missed it for almost 20 years. Shame on me.

5 of 104

I want to see the play on Broadway about this called "Come From Away"

MJ
 

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