fiction – One Chapter

The Rent Collector by Camron Wright

5 stars Fiction

What a great story. I was intrigued by the story of the Ly family, who were living inside a waste dump. I wanted/needed to know more about how they were functioning, how they were coping with their situation and how they saw their situation and their future. The more that I read about them, I understood why they chose Stung Meanchey as their home.

Stung Meanchey was large, it was the largest waste dump in all of Cambodia. If you think about it, if they could find somewhere within the confines of the dump where it wasn’t that “bad” it was a good place. Every day, they would head out and hunt for “treasures” that the trucks would have dumped off within the site and these “treasures” would be what they would sell to survive. Now, I know it’s not the cleanest place and it did smell but if you’re poor, they at least were doing something to survive. Ki Lim and Sang Ly had their little space at the dump which they shared with their son, Nisay. I was torn for Nisay. Nisay is a chronically ill child, and his parents are forever looking for the next best thing to help him. Living in the dump can’t be good for Nisay but as I read, I could feel the love they have for their child as they pour their heart and soul into taking care of him.

Whether it be the tonics, they mix up for him, or the money they spend on medications and doctors or the next best thing for him. They just want their child to feel better. If that isn’t enough, they have to deal with a rent collector, at the dump! Sopeap, is the rent collector and she has “always been an ugly barking dog, an animal that annoys but doesn’t bite. “ Today she shows teeth. Her snarl is deep and growling. Her stare is grey and cold.” After being robbed, the family doesn’t have the rent money and Sopeap demands that they be out by tomorrow or she’ll call the police on them. As Sopeap begins to leave, a life-changing event takes place.

Sopeap’s eye spots Nisay and a book that he’s looking at. Wait! She can’t leave. What is that? Sopeap is overcome with emotions as she stares at the old book with its colorful pages. It can’t be. Sopeap must step closer to get a better look and the desire to hold the book is too strong. Is Sopeap actually reading this story? When offered the book the next day, Sopeap attitude towards this family changes. I loved how Nisay’s book softened Sopeap, there is a connection somewhere within her that has great meaning to her. I enjoyed when these two women were finally now talking to one another, as it felt like they were now on the same ground. Before, It felt that Sang Ly was intimidated by Sopeap because she was their rent collector, but now, as they talked, they were connecting. Sang Ly asks Sopeap if she would help her and it’s in this conversation that I felt that these women were now seeing how they could help one another.

As Sopeap helps Sang Ly, they’re connecting. Sang Ly is growing and I believed that Sopeap is finally coming to terms with her life. I don’t want to give any more of the book’s details away, but I really enjoyed this book. It wasn’t a high action book or a mystery but it’s good with a great twist and one that kept my attention. 4.5 stars

The Underwearwolf by Gideon Sterer

5 stars Children’s Picture Book

This book is hilarious! I read this one to my 6-year-old grandson and we laughed and laughed. A birthday gift from his Uncle Larry turns into an awesome present he wears them.

His uncle knew that he liked underwear, but the weird yellow wool pair was STRANGE! He didn’t think the moon looked full as he looked out his window, but we sure did (the full yellow moon took up most of the page in the book). He read the warning label that came with the underwear and he slipped them on. Instantly, his body began to change. Shivering, tingling, his body was changing into the underwearwolf. Growling and a grunting, he flew out the window and was now on the loose. Tearing up the neighborhood! He knew he should take off the underwear but then he would be BUTT NAKED and he didn’t want that to happen.

He doesn’t stop. He takes to the streets, swinging from roofs and lampposts. He’s having the time of his life. He knows he really should take off the underwear, but he doesn’t. The night is getting crazy and then, he hears them. They are calling him. Who? Yep! He runs into the dark woods where he meets them, and the ending of this book will have you smiling.

As an adult I thought this book was funny. The boy puts on the underwear, and he turns into The Underwearwolf. Covered in fur, complete with big ears, long arms and legs, he transforms and runs through the night under a full moon. He runs, jumps, climbs and acts crazy while wearing the underwear. He knows that he should take off the underwear but, if he does that, he will be butt naked and he probably will turn into a regular boy again. So, he doesn’t and he continues on into the night. It’s only when the night starts to turn into the next day does the boy realize that his fun is about to come to an end and he has to do something about the underwear. The illustrations are cute in this book, and I liked how the boy acts like a “maniac” and a “menace” but he doesn’t do anything harmful. My grandson thought the book was funny and he liked how the boy changed. A fun book to read. 5 stars.

Scaredy Squirrel Gets a Surprise by Melanie Watt

4 Stars Children’s Picture Book

Always the extreme with this guy! He’s a hoot!! Scaredy reads his horoscope and finds out that he’s supposed to get a surprise. What! He doesn’t like surprises so …. Of course, he gets all dressed like he is going on a safari hunt, and he sets out to look for this “surprise.” Scaredy finds a crate under his tree and Scaredy thinks of all the horrible things it can be. A shocking robot, an octopus that will ink him, a dinosaur egg that will hatch (and who knows what will happen then), and of course there are other scenarios that has Scaredy all nervous. Scaredy tries his best to get rid of the crate with the help of Ivy. I loved how Scaredy wanted to move, and then, he wanted to move the crate to Antarctica. Ha! Good thing Scaredy has some logical friends.

When the gang finally get the crate open, it proves not to be so scary. But they do have more problems to solve. Always more problems, ha. Things do calm down for a while…..just for a while and the gang does have some fun. And the story, it somehow ends in Antarctica 😊

I have to be in the mood for Scaredy as he jumps all over the place for me. I do like how his imagination works as he dreams up lots of ideas for things, but I don’t like his negativity. There seems to be too much of it. I did like this book more than some of the other books I have read about Scaredy. 4 stars

Judgy Bunny and the Terrible Beach by Scott Rothman

4.5 Stars Children’s Picture Book

I liked this book a lot! With colorful illustrations and a great message – this book gets huge marks from me. Judgy Bunny is a negative bunny at the beginning of the book. The reason? He is not part of the group, or he just likes to see the negative in every situation. It’s “too hot!” or “I can do that better!” or “that is terrible.” Some of the situations involve other bunnies and some do not. The book changes gears when Judgy Bunny is invited to join the other bunny’s party. Judgy Bunny gets all snooty at first and is resistant to join, it’s like he wants them to beg him to come.

When the other bunny grabs his hand and pulls him to the party, Judgy Bunny is shocked! Does he have a good time? No, he’s still miserable until something happens at the party which Judgy Bunny feels is his fault. The other party guests are shocked but…….the party continues on.

I liked Judgy Bunny emotions in this book. I liked how the other bunnies accepted him into their party and how their party continued on after Judgy Bunny joined them. I liked how they didn’t try to “cheer him up” but just accepted him as he was.

The expressions in this book were good and helped tell the story. I think this story would be a great read a loud for children. 4.5 stars for me.

Insomnia by Sarah Pinborough

4 stars Thriller

Emma has a lot going on these days. A phone call from her sister, Phoebe, got Emma excited as she finally thought she could relax and quit lying about her past but nope, her life just got more complicated. Emma has been carrying around a secret which has a timepiece attached to it. As the days go by, Emma’s anxiety and uncertainty skyrocket as her future is up in the air.

Emma does have a mother but to those who know her, Emma’s mother is dead. This was Emma’s choice as she informed everyone years ago that her mother was dead but now, Emma will have to do some explaining. Why was Emma just at the hospital? What’s her sister Phoebe here for? Why did she lie about her mother’s death?

There were multiple situations that ran through my head as I thought about why Emma lied. Her sister Phoebe has been visiting their mother lately, without telling Emma, so whatever happened in their family must have affected Emma more than Phoebe. Emma’s birthday is coming up and instead of being excited or perhaps just accepting it as “just another day,” Emma is dreading it. It’s like dooms day for Emma. As the book counts down the days till Emma’s birthday, we watch Emma fall apart.

When Emma’s mother turned forty, it was a traumatic experience. Emma remembers, clearly, the day that her mother turned forty. The curse that her mother placed on her that year has plagued her mind repeatedly throughout the years and now, Emma feels that curse will soon be playing out for all to see. It will be hers and that is all she can think about.

Boy, my anticipation was growing as I turned the pages on this one. I wanted to feel for Emma, I wanted to understand her anxiety and frustration, but I also wanted her to just enjoy life. Phoebe didn’t seem to understand everything that Emma was juggling, or I felt she just didn’t take to heart what Emma was feeling. Emma was the emotional one, Phoebe just went with it. Maybe Emma was too emotional? I didn’t know but something was seriously happening here as Emma was losing it. 4 stars

Dear Debbie by Freida McFadden

4.5 stars Thriller

Ahhhhh! What a story! Debbie, oh Debbie. I loved her progression in this story. She was magnificent. A wife, the mother of two teenage daughters, and an employee at a newspaper writing an advice column, she was doing it all. Debbie’s life started to unravel when the opportunity to get her backyard garden photographed for a magazine spread fell through. This news, set Debbie rolling. Debbie had worked hard to get her garden noticed. Riding high, Debbie’s garden was going to be featured in the magazine Home Gardening. Disappointing, this does not even come close to how Debbie felt when she learned that her neighbor’s roses were chosen over Debbie’s garden. I loved Debbie’s reaction. She didn’t take the news lightly and she confronted her neighbor immediately. This wasn’t a friendly, neighborly exchange between these two women, but I expected things to be heated as the circumstances leading up to this wasn’t good. As Debbie returns home, I could feel the fire burning within her, and I knew that this matter was not settled between them.

Debbie’s husband Cooper left for work this morning with the intention of asking his boss for a promotion. He was definitely worth more money, and today was the day that he was going to approach his boss about it. As Debbie continued going through her day, there were blinders everywhere! The different individuals that she meets up with are clueless with what is actually taking place in their lives Debbie’s life starts to spiral out of control with all these little fractions of deception.

As the rest of the city sleeps, Debbie “takes care” of her neighbor and as I read, that sinister laugh in me came out. The ramifications of Debbie’s actions will take care of the roses and Debbie could find herself inside the magazine after all. Holding back on informing his wife about his unemployment, Cooper just might have saved himself as Debbie’s actions as an advice columnist has now landed her job on the line. She doesn’t seem to be the person for this job anymore as her advice is getting pretty raw.

I’ d hate to be anyone getting on Debbie’s bad side right now as her revenge is getting extreme. She’s focused and she knows what she wants. The gloves are off and she’s not backing down. Everything and everyone are getting involved and Debbie’s past is brought into the mix. This was one crazy ride! There were moments when I was laughing and others where I was cringing, wondering what could happen next. I couldn’t put this book down, but I wanted to read it slowly to savor the experience and characters. Great characters and twists. 4.5 stars

She Didn’t See It Coming by Shari Lapena

4.5 stars Mystery

Lizzie – oh boy, she didn’t see how deep she was digging her own hole. She loved the attention she was getting online and then, when someone started to take control of the online situation, she started to lose control. She was acting erratically. She wasn’t going to let someone else take over the situation, this was hers! This girl, she was a hoot for me. She loved attention, she wanted to be in the limelight, but it had to be the attention that SHE wanted. She wanted to call the shots. If somehow, it got out of control, she lost control.

Bryden was missing. She failed to pick up her young daughter from daycare today, which was very odd and it was later discovered that her car and purse were still at home. She was working from home today and when her husband Sam left for work, she told him that she didn’t want to be disturbed. So where is she? Is she somewhere in their apartment complex? As the authorities search the complex, Sam tries to comfort their daughter Lizzie and contemplates where his wife might be.

It’s determined that Bryden was a responsible mother and that something unfortunate has happened to her. Hours pass and there are still no leads on her whereabouts. Bringing in some specialized units to help search the complex, they finally locate Bryden’s body in and now …..all the questions start rolling in.

Who would do such a thing? Why would they do that to Bryden? When did this happen? Oh, the questions started to fall and once the story started rolling, we had a good number of suspects to draw from. I liked how everyone’s story escalated and intensified as the investigation dragged on. I didn’t care for any of the characters, I thought they all were guilty of something and that they should go down (ha) for the activities they had or were committing.

This was a book that I listened to on audio, and I couldn’t wait to get back to it. I did feel sorry for Lizzie, the daughter, as she was the innocent one. I enjoyed this audio book. 4.5 stars.

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It’s Not Her by Mary Kubica

4.5 stars Thriller

It was supposed to be a getaway for these two families, but it ended up being a nightmare. This quiet vacation, located in a secluded cabin camp setting, includes two siblings and their families. Courtney was best friends with her brother’s wife, Emily and their families had been together before, so this vacation had the makings of a great time yet as the story begins there seems to be tension in the air. Flipping between the present and the past, I couldn’t put the book down as the story unfolded.

Courtney’s husband takes off early one morning for fishing, as her young son and niece are sleeping after having a sleepover the previous night. The quiet morning is interrupted by a scream that rips through the air. Courtney takes off and discovers the bodies of her brother and Emily, dead in their cabin. Her 14-year-old nephew had slept through the chaos in the house as he had been given medication the night before. Her 17-year-old niece is gone. There are no signs of her anywhere. What?!? Did whoever murder the parents take Reese? Did Reese kill her parents? What just happened?!?

Dang! Everyone is told to stay inside their cabin. Everyone is a suspect and is questioned. The police begin looking for Reese. Courtney feels the need to go look for Reese; she can’t just sit inside the cabin waiting. What about Courtney’s husband, Elliot, who was out fishing? Didn’t he hear the scream? Was he really fishing? Oh, my goodness.

As the chapters changed perspectives, we crossed over timelines, I just couldn’t figure out why. Why were the parents killed? Everything that I had read didn’t give me any strong motive(s) for the reason(s) behind their murders. What was I missing? Courtney was such a strong character, a character who was all in. If she was hiding something, she was doing a great job, as it felt as if her heart was into solving this case, even if she had to do it by herself. Her husband Elliott seemed to be a side character which sounded alarm inside my head. Fishing, bloody shoes, clueless, hum? As I tried to check the characters off on my list, the author was throwing twists around inside this story making my calculations pointless. I highly recommend this story as one you will not be able to put down. 4.5 stars

My Husband’s Wife by Alice Feeney

4.5 stars Thriller

What the ! I felt my head spinning while reading this book. Who was I to trust in this twisted mess? Who was I to like and cheer for? Who was worthy in all of this mess? No one! That’s who! Everyone in this book felt unworthy because of something that they said or didn’t say or it was based on their actions or lack of them. Alice had me guessing, I was rereading portions of this book as I knew that I had to have missed something, she is truly a great storyteller. By the end of the book, I was exhausted. What a great read.

The book begins with Eden leaving her house to go for a run. I found it odd that her husband still works at his previous job, in the town that they previously lived in. Odd? They still have their house in that town too, so he sometimes just stays there. Their daughter lives in a home because of an accident. This pretty much leaves Eden by herself at the new address. When Eden returns from her run, her house key doesn’t work in the door. When a strange woman answers the door, the fun begins. Harrison Wolf arrives home and he doesn’t know who Eden is, yet Eden claims she is his wife. Eden is baffled as this is her house and standing in front of her are two individuals who claim to be married to one another, Eden and Harrison Wolf which leaves Eden out of the equation.

Flashbacking in this book, we find another story taking shape. Hold onto your seat as you’re in for a wild ride. Olivia Bird has just returned from her doctor with devasting news. Her outlook on life is dark when someone arrives and informs her that she has just inherited her grandmother’s house, Spyglass. Confusion continues to mound as Bird doesn’t remember much about her grandmother. At least now, Bird has something else to focus on.

You’ll hear numerous points of view as you put this story together. Eden’s identity and the Bird’s new life at Spyglass will keep you turning the pages. 4.5 stars

One Word, Six Letters by Adib Khorram

4.5 stars YA

It only took one word. One single word to send everything off balance. One single six lettered word had such a rippling effect upon everything in its path. From the lives of the individuals in its path, to the chemistry and environment it hit along the way, this word had a life of its own. Can they ever recover from its effect? Will the volume ever go down surrounding this event?

Dayton was hungry. He was promised the money, and that was all that mattered to him. It rang throughout the gym and there was no going back after the word left his mouth. It was just one word, six letters, which he thought wasn’t supposed to be a thing, but it was. That word packed a punch. There was no going back. The implications of that one moment caused individuals to do some soul-searching, reflecting upon every detail of their life.

I really enjoyed this book and the implications that it addresses. Although Dayton may not have thought about his actions at the time, the author shows just how far reaching something like this can extend. External and internal difficulties and feelings are addressed by different individuals so the whole story can be told. Interesting novel which is perfect for our society today. 4.5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion.