Feb 11 - 17, 2018

The Love Letters of Abelard and Lily by Laura Creedle - Lily has ADHD and is always thinking ahead. Abelard has Asperger's and is always thinking behind. When they receive detention together something happens that makes them connect and they begin a relationship based on text messages and the letters of Abelard and Heloise. Told from the viewpoint of Lily. Since the author is also ADHD and dyslexic I felt I was getting a true picture. This is a YA book, some language.

3.5 stars
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Man in the Crooked Hat by Harry Dolan - 18 months ago Jack Pellum's wife was murdered and he has spent all that time looking for the man he believes murdered her. He's quit his job as a police detective, his father is paying his rent, and he spends much of his time putting up flyers of a man in a hat. He's grasping at straws until he meets a young man also looking for the man in the hat. The clues stretch back 20 years and Jack is relentless in his pursuit. We also get the viewpoint of the man in the hat. I didn't really connect with Jack but I did like the way he unraveled the mystery.

3.5 stars
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper by Phaedra Patrick - Arthur Pepper has settled into a routine since his wife died a year ago. He gets up at the same time, eats the same food at the same time, and wears the same clothes his wife picked out for him. On the anniversary of his wife's death he sets himself the task of cleaning out her clothes. Tucked inside a shoe he finds a charm bracelet he has never seen. This sets him on a journey of discovery as he tries to find out about his wife's former life. He meets some lovely and not so lovely people and discovers new things about himself too.

4 stars
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Days When Birds Come Back by Deborah Reed - June and Jameson are two damaged people who meet when she hires him to get her grandparent's house in selling condition. Both of them suffer from loss and guilt. Told from both viewpoints in alternate chapters The whole stories come slowly, it took me awhile to finish this fairly short book.

2.5 stars

Feb 4 - 10, 2018

The Midnight Line by Lee Child - the 22nd Jack Reacher novel. Jack is stretching his legs during a bus rest stop when he sees a West Point class ring in a pawn shop window. It's very small and right away he gets the feeling it's former owner is in some kind of trouble. He feels honor bound to find her. This leads him to various shady characters and some interesting people. I like how Jack pulls a little thread and unravels things. He always seems a step ahead of everyone else. However, the end was a little disappointing. It kind of petered out, as did the subplots. Also, Jack ran into some very accommodating law officers. Still very enjoyable.

4 stars
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oleander, Jacaranda:A Childhood Perceived by Penelope Lively - the author's memoir of her childhood in Cairo during WWII. A very exotic world to us but to her it was just her reality. A very solitary child raised by her nanny turned governess, Lucy, she spent much of her time reading and studying the plants and animals around her. She admits her memories are very hazy and perceived through a child's eyes.

2 stars

Jan 27 - Feb 3, 2018

How to Speak Chicken:Why Your Chickens Do What They Do and Say What The Say by Melissa Caughey - really cute little book with lots of pictures about the joys of backyard chickens. Really more about chickens as a whole and not just what their clucking means. The author spends a lot of time with her chickens and believes she's decoded their language. I'm fairly fluent in cat so I'm willing to believe her.

3 stars
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang - this collection of short stories includes the story the movie Arrival was based on. I am not sciency enough to understand most of the stories. Also, my ideas of religion are different from the authors. Quite a few of the stories left me bewildered.

1 star with a couple of stories 2 stars
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Keeper of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan - Anthony Peardew finds and keeps lost things because of a promise made to his dead for 40 years fiancee. When he dies he leaves his house and possessions to his assistant, Laura, requesting that she find the owners of the lost things. Along the way she makes new friends and finds a strength she didn't know she had. A fantasy/fairy tale with a ghost.

3.5 stars