I had 8 books out of 286 that received 5 stars this year. I will admit a couple of these probably received 5 stars because I was thrilled to read something good after a few dry spells. I did the Read Harder Challenge at the beginning of the year and while I enjoyed it I did not enjoy some of the books. I can't pick a favorite.
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Winterhouse by Ben Guterson - Elizabeth lives with her hateful uncle and
aunt. When they go on a Christmas vacation without her it seems like
the last straw. She's sent to a hotel called Winterhouse and she expects
the worst. Instead, she finds new friends and people who appreciate her
intelligence. And then she finds a mysterious book and becomes obsessed
with discovering the secrets of Winterhouse. This is a middle-school
book and it really reminded me of a book I read as a child that
influenced my love of mysteries. *Magic is portrayed as real and there
is evil magic as well as a rather macabre scene.
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie - ten people are lured by
various means to a luxury home on an island and then stranded there.
After a recording accuses all of them of being responsible for the death
of someone they start being murdered one by one. All according to the
methods in an eerie poem hanging in each of the bedrooms. I had read
this before but forgot all the important elements so enjoyed it probably
more than the first time. It's so enjoyable to go back to a master of
the craft.
A Night Divided by Jennifer A. Nielson - 12 yo Gerta wakes one day to
see a barbed wire fence dividing east Berlin from the west. And her
father and brother are on the other side. Her family has already been
under scrutiny because of her father's activities. There doesn't seem to
be any hope her family will ever be together again. But one day she
sees her father dancing on one of the viewing towers in the west. He is
acting out one of their favorite children's songs and she just knows
he's sending a message. Do she and the rest of her family dare to act?
This is a middle grade book but it certainly didn't seem childish to me.
I found it quite exciting at the end. The only quibble I have is the
precocity of Gerta but I think her circumstances certainly contributed
to that.
Tomorrow by Damian Dibben - the last thing his master said to Tomorrow
was to meet him on the steps of the cathedral if they became separated.
And he has been faithfully waiting - for 127 years. Tomorrow is a dog
belonging to a man who has somehow become immortal and he's made his dog
immortal too. They spend the centuries traveling as his master tries to
find a purpose. But they're always on the lookout for a man who has
become their enemy. Told from the viewpoint of the dog, this was
beautifully written. His immortality seems to have made Tomorrow very
wise and eloquent. I could tell from the cover that I would cry at some
point and I was right. I'll be thinking about this book for a long time.
Relic by Alan Dean Foster - Ruslan is the last known human survivor in
the universe. Found on the planet Seraboth by the Myssari, he is now
both their guest and scientific subject. They are determined to
resurrect the human race. Ruslan agrees to help and in exchange they
will search for Earth, the original home planet. Loved the writing,
loved the story.
The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager - fifteen years ago Emma Davis, the
youngest girl in a cabin of four, wakes to find that her cabin mates
have disappeared. In spite of a massive search, they are not found and
Camp Nightingale has closed down. Now a successful artist, Emma is asked
by the owner of the camp to come back as an instructor as she reopens
the camp. Emma has reasons of her own to want to return. Boy, did this
have twists and turns. The story from fifteen years ago is gradually
revealed and things in the present get scarier and scarier. The twists
keep going until the very end. Some language, I suppose it's the way
girls talk to each other now.
The Velveteen Daughter: A Novel by Laurel Davis Huber - a fictionalized
account, very much researched, of Margery Williams Bianco and her
daughter Pamela. Margery was the author of The Velveteen Rabbit, but
before that Pamela was a child prodigy artist. Pablo Picasso was
impressed by her and she became the darling of Europe and the USA. But
it came at quite a cost to her mental health. The story is told from the
viewpoint of both women. I very much liked the writing style even
though it usually irritates me.
Dear Mrs. Bird by A.J. Pearce - in 1940 London, Emmy Lake has just been
hired as a Junior at a newspaper company and her head is full of
becoming a Woman War Correspondent and Doing Brave Things. But in a
comedy of errors it seems she's really been hired to be a secretary to
Mrs. Bird, an advice columnist for a not very popular woman's magazine. I
loved everything about this book. Partly because I've always admired
the British people during the Blitz. I really enjoyed the humor and the
author's Use of Capitals. A second book is being written and I really
hope it's about these characters.
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