Book Review #53: "Chronicle Of A Last Summer"

Hey Everyone,

     I am going to review the book "Chronicle Of A Last Summer: A Novel Of Egypt," by Yasmine El Rashidi. This book was published on June 28, 2016 by Tim Duggan Books. For those of you who would like to purchase a copy of this book CLICK HERE. This book tells the story of a woman growing up in Cairo, Egypt. This book covers three decades of her life. It is her story of loss over the political backdrop of Egypt.

     Overall I rated this book three stars out of five. The poetic language that the author used to tell this story was beautiful and gave this story life. Her descriptions of Egypt were vivid in detail and it was obvious that these descriptions were coming from deep withing the author's heart. Although it was beautifully written, the language at times did come across as obscure and detached. It at times made it difficult to grasp the events of this story. Overall this was a solid debut. 

     I would like to thank Blogging for Books, Yasmine El Rashidi, and Tim Duggan Books for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Until the next page,

Jill

Book Review #52: "Bellevue"

Hey Everyone,

     I am going to review the book "Bellevue: Three Centuries of Medicine and Mayhem at America's Most Storied Hospital," by David Oshinsky. This book is hot off the press being published today November 15, 2016 by Doubleday Books. For those of you who are interested in purchasing a copy of this book CLICK HERE. David Oshinsky is a well known American historian, whose previous books are "Polio: An American Story," "A Conspiracy so Immense: The World of Joe McCarthy," and "Worse than Slavery: Parchman Farm and the Ordeal of Jim Crow Justice." This book is basically a narration of the history of Bellevue hospital.  I chose this book to read because my knowledge of Bellevue Hospital consisted of it being a hospital for the insane, and a place where horrific human experiments took place. I wanted to learn more about it, than the misconceptions that I thought I knew.

     Overall I rated this book four stars out of five. I was pleasantly surprised reading this book, as it was a very informative narrative. It wasn't what I was expecting to read, the amount of information that I read was vast and it was an uplifting read. I did want the book to tug at my heart strings and elicit more depth of emotion. I always enjoy when I can feel what the author is feeling while he/she is writing and I just wish I felt more. Because it would be all that much more enjoyable.

     I want to thank Netgalley, David Oshinsky, and Doubleday Books for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Until the next page,

Jill

Book Review #51: "The Book of the Unnamed Midwife"

Hey Everyone,

     I am going to review the book "The Book of the Unnamed Midwife: The Road to Nowhere (Book 1)," by Meg Elison. This book is hot off the press as it was just published today October 11, 2016 by 47 North. For those of you who are interested in purchasing a copy of this book CLICK HERE.  This book is about a woman of whom when she woke up from an illness the world she knew was dead. It is about her navigating and surviving in the new world that lays before her. A world where women are scarce, men are a dime a dozen, and where babies and children are unheard of. 

     Overall I rated this book four stars out of five. This book discusses issues of feminism in a dystopian world. I did like this story I thought it was very creative and was a good premise to discuss issues us women face. This book was well written, and well told. The characters were well developed. This book has all the makings of a good book. And it did capture my attention throughout the book. It was just that this book tried to cover too many issues from women's issues, to religion and faith. I felt in some areas it was written to broadly and would have been better if the book had more focus. Because at some points the story seemed to unravel. But I am glad I did read this book, I really did enjoy reading it and am looking forward to reading more from this author.

     I would like to thank Netgalley, Meg Elison, and 47 North, for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Until the next page,

Jill

Book Review #50: "Another Day in the Death of America"

Hey Everyone,

     I am going to review the book "Another Day in the Death of America: A Chronicle of Ten Short Lives, by Gary Younge. This book is hot off the press being published today October 4, 2016 by Perseus Books Group. For those of you who would like to purchase a copy of this book CLICK HERE. This book takes a random day in America, and examines the gun deaths of ten young men. The author goes about randomly picking a day and also randomly chooses a sample of ten young men to profile. In this book the author goes into depth of profiling each victim in who they were and the circumstances that lead up to their deaths. He also discusses the issue of gun control throughout the book.

     Overall I rated this book four stars out of five. I really liked that the author being from the United Kingdom wrote this book. It added to this book a view from an outsider who is not living in the United States, without anything to gain. I also liked how the author randomly picked the day and the victims. He was able to add more meaning and significance to the ten lives lost due to gun violence. Without reading this book their lives and deaths would have never been known to the larger community that surrounds them. Even though you hear the numbers of how many people are dying each day by gun deaths, this book brings those numbers to life. No matter how you feel about gun control you should read this book. 

     I would like to thank Netgalley, Gary Younge, and Perseus Books Group for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Until the next page,

Jill 

Book Review #49: "God of the Internet"

Hey Everyone,

     I am going to review the book "God of the Internet," by Lynn Lipinski. This book was published August 16, 2016 by Majestic Content. For those of you who would like to purchase a copy of this book CLICK HERE.  This book was a war between hackers, of hackers hacking hackers. With the Internet not being as secure as it needs, the United States faces a different kind of threat, a different kind of war, one in using our technology against us. It is about how far would one go to protect one's family.  Would you be able to turn against the one person whom you love and trust the most? 

     Overall I rated this book four stars out of five. This was an awesome, suspenseful read. It had me sitting on the edge of my seat to see where the story would go next. What made this book great and kind of scary was this story is so extremely realistic and I can see this story being played out in real life. This book covered so many current topics, and it had such strong character development. Actually it is one of those books that would be a great movie. The only thing negative I can say were that parts of it was a little too cheesy, for my liking. But I am very happy that I chose to read this book, as I enjoyed reading it from the beginning to end.

     I would like to thank Netgalley, Lynn Lipinski, and Majestic Content for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Until the next page,

Jill

Book Review #48: "My (Underground) American Dream"

Hey Everyone,

     I am going to review the book "My (Underground) American Dream: My True Story as an Undocumented Immigrant Who Became a Wall Street Executive," by Julissa Arce. This book is hot off the press being published today September 13, 2016 by Faithwords. For those of you who would like to purchase a copy of this book CLICK HERE. This book is a memoir about Julissa Arce's life story. It discusses her childhood on how her parents brought her to the United States as an undocumented immigrant. Her parents did it in the best intentions to provide the American Dream for their children. It is what she had to overcome in living with this status.  On how she climbed the ladder to be an executive working on Wall Street for Goldman Sachs. 

     Overall I rated this book four stars out of five. This was an amazing story. It is hard enough to grow up in  America and graduate college with top grades, and never the less secure a job in Wall Street and then add on to that difficulty of doing all this while being an undocumented immigrant. The author told her story in an emotional way. She brought forward all the stereotypes that some of have of immigrants and proved them all wrong. I think this is a very important book that should be read by everyone because we can all learn something from Julissa Arce.

     I would like to thank Netgalley, Julissa Arce, and Faithwords for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Until the next page,

Jill 

Book Review #47: "Darktown"

     Hey Everyone,

     

     I am going to review the book "Darktown," by Thomas Mullen.  Thomas Mullen is the author of "The Last Town on Earth," "The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers, and "The Revisionists." I am excited to read his earlier books, because of my fascination with "Darktown." This book is hot off the press being published today September 13, 2016, by Atria Publishing Group. For those of you who would like to purchase a copy of this book CLICK HERE. This book is about historic Atlanta, Georgia, when Atlanta hired its first African American police officers. This book discusses what it was like to be an African American police officer, during this time period. It centers around the murder of an African American woman. Instead of letting this unknown woman go down in the books as a number, two African American police officers went beyond their call of duty to investigate her death. 

     Overall I rated this book four stars out of five. This book also went on my favorites list on Goodreads. This was a fascinating read. It so accurately described this time period, bringing it back to life. It was a well told mystery, in that it captured my attention throughout the entire book. The plot is well developed, including many twists and turns. Along with the plot it had very strong character development. The realness of this book was so excellent it was creepy almost. But creepy in a good way. I highly recommend reading this book.

     I would like to thank Netgalley, Thomas Mullen, and Atria Publishing Group for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Until the next page,

Jill

Book Review #46: "Mischling"

Hey Everyone,

     I am going to review the book "Mischling," by Affinity Konar. This book was published on September 6, 2016 by Lee Boudreaux Books. For those of you who would like to purchase a copy of this book CLICK HERE.  This book takes place during World War II. It is about a set of twins. During WWII mischlings were people with Aryan and Jewish descent. These children were often sent to concentration camps where they were subject to all sorts of medical experimentation, and were subject to many forms of torture. These twins Stasha and Pearl were as close as twins could be, they survived because of their connection. At one point during the book Pearl disappears. The two twins then follow down two different paths one towards revenge and the other towards forgiveness. 

     Overall I rated this book four stars out of five. This was a heart wrenching story. It reminded me of the book "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas." This was difficult to read because it was such an emotional story. A book mixed with despair, desperation, and hope. This book was so beautifully written. The writing was so poetic that is clashed (in a good way) with the story that it was telling. I fell in love with the words, as well as the two main characters. And you all will too, so put this book on your shelf.

     I would like to thank Netgalley, Affinity Konar, and Lee Boudreaux Books for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Until the next page,

Jill

Book Review 45: "The Underground Railroad"

Hey Everyone,

     I am going to review the book "The Underground Railroad," by Colson Whitehead. This book is hot off the press,  as it was published August 2, 2016 by Doubleday Books. Oprah Winfrey just picked this book to be a part of her book club. So congratulations to the author Colson Whitehead. Colson Whitehead graduated from Harvard College and worked at The Village Voice. He has written several other books including "Sag Harbor," "Zone One," and "The Noble Hustle: Poker, Beef Jerky, and Death." For those of you who would like to purchase a copy of this book CLICK HERE. This book is about a young woman Cora who was born into slavery. Cora decides to follow the path of her mother by risking her life to escape her life of slavery. This book is about her journey through the underground railroad and how an escape from slavery is not so easy as she finds her past comes back to haunt her. 

     Overall I rated this book four stars out of five. This was an excellent book, it was written brilliantly. It was a heart wrenching book to read, as the tragedy seems to never end for Cora. I think this is an important book for everyone to read, as it brings forth the reality of slavery. I did think that this book could have been shortened a little. Some areas it got a little redundant and too detailed with irrelevant information. It was just so depressing, so be aware, though it is a book that has to be that way. I am excited to read more from this author.

     I would like to thank Netgalley, Colson Whitehead, and Doubleday Books for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Until the next page,

Jill

Book Review #44: "Behold the Dreamers"

Hey Everyone,

     I am going to review the book "Behold the Dreamers," by Imbolo Mbue. This book was published August 23, 2016 by Random House. For those of you who would like to purchase this book CLICK HERE. This is Imbolo Mbue debut novel and it is a good one. This book is about Jende Jonga, a Cameroonian immigrant who came to New York City to find the American Dream. It is about how far will go to get the American Dream. This book takes place during the recession of 2008, and how this dramatically affected the lives of the Jonga family. 

     Overall I rated this book four stars out of five. This was an excellent read, being the author's debut novel. I am looking forward to reading more from Imbolo Mbue. This book discussed many current issues, and is a very relevant read. It gets to the heart and soul of the matter. It brings up many topics, such as family and sacrifice. I really did enjoy this book, however I was a bit disappointed with the way it ended. It seemed that there was little closure, that I was looking for. It was an open-ended at the end that left a lot of questions unanswered, which did not ruin the book. It's just I am the type of person who prefers closure. 

     I would like to thank Netgalley, Imbolo Mbue, and Random House Publishing Group for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Until the next page,

Jill

Book Review #43: "The Invisible Life of Ivan Isaenko"

Hey Everyone,

     I am going to review the book "The Invisible Life of Ivan Isaenko," by Scott Stambach. This book was published on August 9, 2016 by St. Martin's Press.  For those of you who would like to purchase a copy of this book CLICK HERE.  This book is about a seventeen year old boy Ivan who has spent his life in Mazyr Hospital for Gravely Ill Children in Belarus. It is about him surviving living every day the same, until he meets a girl, a fellow patient Polina who unravels Ivan's daily routine. 

     As you can see I rated this book five stars out of five. And may I take a moment to say how absolutely amazing this book was. It is always great when a book surprises you in it being better than you ever expected. This book, at least in my opinion is similar to "The Fault in Our Stars," by John Green, except that it is better. It was a book that I never wanted to end. I can't tell you how few books that I actually laugh out loud while reading it, and this was one of those books. The sarcastic and humorous tone that this book had made it what it is. This book had many twists and turns and each page was a surprise. It was a book that while reading you felt the whole spectrum of emotions from sadness, to anger, to hopefulness and to humor. 

     I would like to thank Netgalley, Scott Stambach, and St. Martin's Press for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Until the next page,

Jill

Book Review #42: "All the Ugly and Wonderful Things"

Hey Everyone,

     I am going to review the book "All the Ugly and Wonderful Things," by Bryn Greenwood. This book is hot off the press as it is published today August 9, 2016 by St. Martin's Press: Thomas Dunne Books.  For those of you who would like to purchase a copy of this book CLICK HERE. This book is about a young girl Wavy, who is raising herself and her younger brother because of her meth addicted parent's neglect. Wavy comes to meet a troubled older man, and forms a serious relationship with him. They come to both rescue each other. This book shows the depth of love and how far one will go in the name of love.

     Overall I rated this book three stars out of five. While this book was well written, I did have a hard time reading this book. At times it got uncomfortable reading the details of the sexual narrative. However, I do commend this author for writing this piece of fiction, because in life there are always going to be things that make us uncomfortable. It is a matter of exposing oneself to these things in order for us to understand and feel comfortable. I love how the end of this book tied everything all together, in that a family is what you want it to be. Love is love and all love is real. 

     I would like to thank Netgalley, Bryn Greenwood, and St. Martin's Press: Thomas Dunne Books for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Until the next page,

Jill

Book Review #41: "Patient H.M."

Hey Everyone,

     I am going to review the book "Patient H.M: A Story of Memory, Madness, and Family Secrets,"  by Luke Dittrich. This book is hot off the press as it is just released today August 9, 2016 by Random House Publishing Group. For those of you who are interested in purchasing a copy of this book CLICK HERE. This book is an intimate story of the author's grandfather and his famous patient Henry Molaison. It is about Henry Molaison a young man who had a lobotomy due to his frequent seizures. Naturally this book discusses the prevalence of lobotomy's mostly performed on the mentally ill. Henry Molaison was important because the lobotomy of his brain allowed scientists and researchers to make many new discoveries about the mapping of the brain, memory, how memory works and how it is stored. It also talks about the ethics regarding performing brain surgery, and what kind of consent is needed for research. 

     Overall I rated this book four stars out of five. This was an in-depth look into the life of Henry Molaison. This book is extremely well researched, and it is apparent how much the author invested in writing this book. I really did enjoy reading it, especially its descriptions of the various different settings that this book took place in Connecticut. Being that I grew up in Connecticut this story was all that much more interesting to be able to imagine the backgrounds of where this story took place. I did feel that this book could have been shorter, in that there were sections that could have been cut out. And that this book could have been organized better in that it often went off in many different tangents, that it was sometimes difficult to see how they played a part in this story. I was amazed how the author being the grandson of one of the main characters, how he wrote an unbiased, and fair account of this story. And this is one story that needed to be told, so I am very happy I got the chance to read this book.

     I would like to thank Netgalley, Luke Dittrich, and Random House Publishing Group for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Until the next page,

Jill

Book Review #40: "Dark Matter"

Hey Everyone,

    I am going to review the book "Dark Matter," by Blake Crouch. This book is hot off the press being published today July 26, 2016 by Crown Publishing. For those of you who would like to purchase a copy of this book CLICK HERE. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the author Blake Crouch, he is best known for his book called Pines (The Wayward Pines Series). And as you know this book has been made into a TV series on FOX network. "Dark Matter" is about the choices we make in life and how all the choices we make lead us into different paths. It is about how far we will go to make the best choices. Jason Dessen is a physics professor with a wife and child he loves. Jason ends up discovering a way to time travel back through important moments in his life where, through this time traveling he is able to make different choices. And then of which he is able to see his present and future of what would happen if he made a different choice. It is a story of regret but in learning how to make choices he will not regret. 

     Overall I rated this book four stars out of five. This was one mind bending book. My mind, thoughts was constantly going. This review is not going to do this book justice because there is no good way to describe it. This book is as mind bending as trying to tell a child how to put a concrete value on infinity. This book took place in a world where there is infinite amount of choices we make throughout our lives from choosing the clothes we wear to choosing whether or not to have kids. This book examines each of our choices and how our lives would have played out with every different choice we make.  This book had my mind churning, the whole time, even when I was not even reading it. I love books like this, books that light the fire in our brains. I love it when I find a new author and a good book.  It was so intriguing that I am looking forward to reading the Wayward Pines series.

     I would like to thank Netgalley, Blake Crouch, and Crown Publishing Group for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Until the next page,

Jill

Book Review #39: "The Punishments"

Hey Everyone,

     I am going to write a book review for the "The Punishments," by J.B. Winsor. This book was published on June 1, 2016 by Boulder Digital Publishing. To purchase a copy of this book CLICK HERE. This book is about a world where religion is law, where religion and the government are intertwined. A world where we follow biblical law.

     Overall I rated this book four stars out of five. I really did love the premise of this book. This book chilled me to the bone, made the hairs on my arm stand up. Although this book is not a horror story, it read like one in the way that this story is so realistic, and has a high potential of what our future may look like. The storyline was so well perceived by the author. The only thing was I wanted more. I wanted more character depth, more detail, more story so I was a little disappointed in the end, only because I had just finished a good book. Reading this book was like instant gratification. But I will say some of my favorite books are ones that the book's reality is not that far off from the reality that we live in. Because of this I highly enjoyed reading this book. It is a very quick read, it had my attention from the first word to the last.

     I would like to thank Netgalley, J.B. Winsor, and Boulder Digital Publishing for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Until the next page,

Jill

Book Review #38: "The Sunlight Pilgrims"

Hey Everyone,

     I am going to review the book "The Sunlight Pilgrims," by Jenni Fagan. This book is hot off the press being published today July 19, 2016 by Crown Publishing/Hogarth. Many of you might know the author who is best known for her novel "The Panopticon," of which I just purchased. For those of you who are interested in reading more about the author you can read her blog The Dead Queen of Bohemia. And to purchase a copy of "The Sunlight Pilgrims CLICK HERE. This book is about three people coming  together in a time where the world is freezing over. Dylan who is grieving over the loss of his mother and grandmother goes on a mission to bury them, in their homeland. On his way he ends up in a small caravan town, where he comes across Estella and Constance, a mother and daughter who are prepared to survive during this cold winter. Dylan's presence in their lives will bring on new emotions and change the perspectives of everyone involved in this story.

     Overall I rated this book three and a half stars out of five. This book was so beautifully, artistically and creatively written. It had drops of dystopian, apocalyptic descriptions, love, transgender,  fantasy and local folklore of which fit in this book perfectly. The characters in this book were strong, especially Estella, who you can't help but fall in love with her by the end. There were times in this book that I felt it was too wordy with description of which made some parts read slower. But it was the beauty of the language of which this story was told, is what I most appreciated. This book is not one that I would normally pick up and read, but I am glad that I expanded my horizons in choosing to read this book.

     I would like to thank Netgalley, Jenni Fagan, and Crown Publishing/Hogarth for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Until the next page,

Jill

Book Review #37: "The Last One"

Hey Everyone,

    I am going to review the book "The Last One'" by Alexandra Oliva. This book is hot of the press, as it is published today July 12, 2016 by Random House Publishing Group: Ballantine Books. To read an excerpt from this book CLICK HERE. And to purchase a copy of this book CLICK HERE.  This book is about a contestant Zoo who joined a reality TV survival competition show. During this show where Zoo is struggling to survive off of the land, some sort of apocalyptic event occurred. But whereas this is a reality TV show, Zoo must figure out what is real and true and what is part of the TV show. 

     Overall I rated this book three stars out of five. This book started out really strong, I was getting really excited reading it. I loved how it addressed the topic of the media and how it can distort reality. It showed how strong our minds are, and how our minds help us survive and deal with trauma. This book has a lot of promise. I was disappointed in that I was expecting this book to go in a different direction. Zoo's character was somewhat unlikable. However, this book has a really good premise, and I am looking forward to reading more from Alexandra Oliva.

     I would like to thank Netgalley, Alexandra Oliva, and Random House Publishing Group: Ballantine Books for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Until the next page,

Jill