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Kathiey's World A Lifestyle Blog

Five Book Reading Wrap-Up for February 2022

Posted on March 7, 2022

Join me for my five-book reading wrap-up!

                                                February 2022

Here is my Youtube Video
                           
(There is an Amazon link to each book.  If you are interested in more information, click on the link.  I am an Amazon Affiliate.  If you click on the link and buy anything at all, I get a percent of the sale at no cost to you…thanks:-)
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Book 1 
“Falling”
by T J Newman
Fiction, Thriller, Suspense, Crime
Good Reads Rating is 3.90
My Rating is 5/5 stars

                                              (click photo below to go to Amazon)

                                                             

Overview I found on GoodReads.
You just boarded a flight to New York.

There are one hundred and forty-three other passengers onboard.
What you don’t know is that thirty minutes before the flight your pilot’s family was kidnapped.
For his family to live, everyone on your plane must die.
The only way the family will survive is if the pilot follows his orders and crashes the plane.
Enjoy the flight.
 Quote
“All I want is to see what a good man—a good American man—does when he’s in a no-win situation. What does a man like you do when he has to choose. A plane full of strangers? Or your family? See, Bill, it really is about the choice. You. Choosing who will survive. 
That is what I want.” 
My Thoughts After I Read the Book
I loved this book.  The character development was perfect. The storyline was edge of your seat.  I did not want to stop listening.  I listened to this book on Audible, and it was hard for me to stop listening because I wanted to know what would happen and because I also cared about the personalities in this book.
The author had me hoping for the best for the good guys, and he manages to make you have a bit of compassion for the ones causing this awful situation. 
From the pilot and his family to the flight attendants, the FBI, and traffic control, you will want to know what happens in this book.
My Final Thought
I had to give this book a 5/5 because of the character development, the edge-of-your-seat quality of the book, and the fact that it struck an emotional chord with me.   I highly recommend this book.
Book Trailer/Movie
Book Trailer
                             
Universal bought the film rights for this book.  It will make an amazing movie!
A 5-star and One-star review I found on Goodreads.
A Five Star Review
“This is the first book from this author and it is a terrific thriller. Finally, a thriller that is actually thrilling. My interest never flagged. It would make a great movie as the action switches among the hostages, the cockpit, the FBI, the flight attendants and air traffic control. The author was a flight attendant, so the details of the procedure on the plane felt very real (although the author wrote in the afterword that she made enough changes to prevent the book being used as a training manual for terrorists). This book was immensely entertaining.” 
A One-Star Review
“If you read on a fifth grade level – or are a fifth grader – you might enjoy this book. Otherwise, do not waste your time and money.”
 
I must agree with the five-star review.  The one-star review just insults everyone that enjoyed the book, and I totally disagree with this view. 
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Book 2
Audible Read
“Rock Paper Scissors”
by Alice Feeny
Thriller, Mystery, Fiction
4.02 stars on Goodreads out of 5 stars
I give this book 3/5

The Amazon link is below.  Just click the photo.

 

Overview From Good Reads

Think you know the person you married? Think again…
Things have been wrong with Mr and Mrs Wright for a long time. When Adam and Amelia win a weekend away to Scotland, it might be just what their marriage needs. Self-confessed workaholic and screenwriter Adam Wright has lived with face blindness his whole life. He can’t recognize friends or family, or even his own wife. 
Every anniversary the couple exchange traditional gifts – paper, cotton, pottery, tin – and each year Adam’s wife writes him a letter that she never lets him read. Until now. They both know this weekend will make or break their marriage, but they didn’t randomly win this trip. One of them is lying, and someone doesn’t want them to live happily ever after.
Ten years of marriage. Ten years of secrets. And an anniversary they will never forget.

Quote 
I don’t have a favorite quote. 
 
 My Thoughts After Reading the Book
Adam and Amelia are having material problems.  Hoping to solve some relationship issues, they head off for an anniversary at an isolated mountain location. The trip had been won in a raffle, and they were off to what they thought would be a lovely church turned into lodging.  The church was a bit decrepit and not at all what was expected, but that was the least of their problems.  
This is a domestic thriller with many twists and turns.  You will meet some interesting characters in this book, as well as an adorable dog. Oh, and did I mention Adam has face-blindness.
I was really invested initially, but it seemed to slow way down for me as the story progressed.  A good read, not a great read; that is why the three stars.

Is there a Movie or Book Trailer?

I could not find a book trailer.  It appears Netflix has bought the film rights to this book. 

 A 5-star and 1-star review I found on Goodreads.
5-Star  Review-“Alice Feeney has hoodwinked me once again! Nothing is what it seems to be in this thriller about a dysfunctional marriage, which at first appears to move somewhat slowly. But with a a third-act rug-pulling revelation, the story reinvents itself and things begin moving at a breakneck speed.
1-Star Review-“Take the scissors, turn the book into paper, hide it under a rock”
I understand both reviews because I was in the middle and rated it 3/5 stars. They do play Rock Paper and Scissors in the book to let you know.
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Book 3
“The Widow”
by K L Slater
Thriller, Mystery, Fiction
4.02 stars on Goodreads out of 5 stars
I  gave this book a 3.5/5

Click the photo below for the Amazon Link…
 

Book overview as found on GoodReads
The day my husband, Michael, stepped in front of a lorry after being questioned by the police, my world fell apart. He was devoted to me and our six-year-old daughter. But they’d connected him to the disappearance of a young mother from our tiny village.

Now I stand at Michael’s funeral, clutching my little girl’s hand, with tears in my eyes as I insist to all our friends that he died an innocent man. Yet the questions have started, and nothing I say will stop them digging for the truth.

But none of them can read the secrets in my heart, or know about the phone I found hidden in his toolbox…

I’m determined that my daughter will not remember her father as a monster. I will erase any hint of wrongdoing in this house whatever the cost.

Because to keep my daughter safe, the last thing I need is for people to start looking at me…

Book Quote
I don’t have a favorite quote.

My Thoughts After Reading the Book

Kate and Michael live with their 6-year-old daughter.  Life was pretty good until someone in the city went missing and Michael soon after steps in front of a “lorrie.”  The questions begin to swirl in the small community, was Michael somehow involved in this woman’s disappearance, and did Katie know?.  Katie is determined to prove her husbands innocence. 

There are many characters in this story and many points of view.  Many sub-stories are going on as well that slowly come together. It is well written and slowly brings you into a web of understanding.  

Book Trailer or Movie
I could not find a book trailer or a movie related to this book.
A Five and One Star Review as Found on Amazon
Five Star Review-This was my weekend read and OMG I got nothing else done. I absolutely LOVED The Widow and was engrossed from the very first page. There are some brilliantly drawn characters that simply jump off the page. As ever the author led me down a twisty, turny road of intrigue and suspense and spat me out right at the end. The writing was impeccable and every single chapter worked to construct a web of lies and deceit that drew me ever further into the story. Awesome characters, brilliant storyline, tense pacing and an ending that left me breathless. Highly recommended and a huge 5 stars from me. 
One Star Review- “Interesting plot but a poorly written book. Much of the detail was repetitive and added little to the story. The character development was poor with misunderstandings and assumptions rather than curiosity or empathy being the principle means of communication. The emotional connections were fleeting and flimsy. A most disappointing purchase.
Me-I lean more toward the 5-star review.  I enjoyed this book.
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Book 4
“The Serpent King”
by Jeff Zenter
Genre- Young Adult, Contemporary, Fiction,
4.17 stars on GoodReads out of 5 stars.
I gave this one 4.5/5 stars


Amazon Link Below, just click on the photo…
 

Description as Found on GoodReads,
Dill has had to wrestle with vipers his whole life—at home, as the only son of a Pentecostal minister who urges him to handle poisonous rattlesnakes, and at school, where he faces down bullies who target him for his father’s extreme faith and very public fall from grace.

The only antidote to all this venom is his friendship with fellow outcasts Travis and Lydia. But as they are starting their senior year, Dill feels the coils of his future tightening around him. The end of high school will lead to new beginnings for Lydia, whose edgy fashion blog is her ticket out of their rural Tennessee town. And Travis is happy wherever he is thanks to his obsession with the epic book series Bloodfall and the fangirl who may be turning his harsh reality into real-life fantasy. Dill’s only escapes are his music and his secret feelings for Lydia—neither of which he is brave enough to share. Graduation feels more like an ending to Dill than a beginning. But even before then, he must cope with another ending—one that will rock his life to the core.

Debut novelist Jeff Zentner provides an unblinking and at times comic view of the hard realities of growing up in the Bible Belt, and an intimate look at the struggles to find one’s true self in the wreckage of the past. 

 

A Quote I Like
“Some fall in glorious ways. On green fields of battle as old warriors, surrounded by friends, fighting for their homes, fighting cruelty.

Some fall crawling in the dirt of Forrestville, Tennessee, in the dark, impossibly young and alone, for no good reason at all.” 

My Thoughts After Reading the Book
I really connected with the book.  The story told by our three main characters was captivating.  I fell in love with all three of the kids portrayed here.  
This is a contemporary novel, one where you follow the lives of Dill, Travis, and Lydia and the decisions they are making in the hopes of making their lives better.
The three come from entirely different backgrounds.  Lydia is in a supportive home with a mother and father who adore her.  Dill’s home is completely different.  Dill’s father is a snake-handling pastor who falls from grace, and his mother is not supportive of Dill and his aspirations.  I would say his mother is oppressive and his father evil.  Travis has a kind mother but an abusive father.  Somehow these three become fast friends and strong support for one another. 
At times this book is funny, and at times this book is heartbreaking.  An excellent coming-of-age story with just a touch of romance.

Book Trailer

 

                           

Is there a movie?

It sounds as if there was talk of a movie, but I could not find anything specific. 

A Five and One Star Review as Found on GoodReads

 

A Five-Star Review- “You may have already heard that Zentner’s THE SERPENT KING will twist your heart. This is true. But there is more. This entire book is a held breath. It’s about things in flux. The beasts that anchor us to the life we know and the life we wish to live.”
A One-Star Review-” I just don’t get it. Read half of it before I gave up… boring characters, nothing changing, dragging out the story…. ugh.”
Me-I was very close to giving this book 5-stars. I agree with the five-star review.  Unlike the one-star reviewer, I found the characters believable, and I wanted to know them.
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Book 5 
“Stand Tall Molly Lou Melon”
by Patty Lovell
Genre-Children’s, Picture Book, Fiction, Family
4.38 out of 5 stars on Good Reads
I give this book4/5

Click on the photo below to go to amazon.
 

Book Description from Amazon
Be yourself like Molly Lou Melon, no matter what a bully may do.

Molly Lou Melon is short and clumsy, has buck teeth, and has a voice that sounds like a bullfrog being squeezed by a boa constrictor. She doesn’t mind. Her grandmother has always told her to walk proud, smile big, and sing loud, and she takes that advice to heart.

But then Molly Lou has to start in a new school. A horrible bully picks on her on the very first day, but Molly Lou Melon knows just what to do about that. 

Quote
“Believe in yourself and the world will believe in you too”
 
My thoughts after reading the book
What a sweet book. An imperfect girl named Molly Lou Melon faces her imperfections.  She states, among other things, that her teeth are not perfect, she is short, and she can’t sing, but all the while, her Granma gives her advice.  With the encouragement of her grandma, she pushes through and becomes proud of who she is, imperfections and all. 
An endearing story of challenges faced and the importance of the support of others. 
Book Trailer
I did not find a book trailer.
Movie
I did not find anything on a movie or tv show on this book.
A Five and One Star Review as Found on Amazon

A Five-Star Review-“One of my kids favorite books. The moral to the story is how Molly Lou Melon is different from everyone else, but that it’s okay. Wise words from Grandma encourage Molly to stand up for herself, be true to herself, smile and be happy, and never give up. This is a book that I’ll keep to read to my Grand babies one day in the very far future…no Goodwill for this one! Huge five stars. Ages 4 to 94″

One-Star Review-“I think this book is so important to show to little kids. In a world where bullies are still a big problem and not only kids but adults are constantly told that they are not good enough, this is the perfect book to read. Molly Lou is not your typical little squirrel and she acts and looks different than many of her peers but she is never ashamed of it and she takes pride in it. This book shows kids that no matter what people say or what society says, to always be proud of who you are!”

Me-I agree with both reviews because the one-star review sounds like a five-star review.
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I would love to know what you are reading.  If you have read any of the above books, did you enjoy them?  Please drop me a note in the comment box.
Take care and happy reading!
KathieyV:-)    

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