Stacking the Shelves August 10

This was a slow week in Marceeland.  I didn't buy anything, and I haven't received anything in the mail.

I did receive a few new books for review though, and here they are:

Read it already - loved it, see the blog review.

They say.....Detective Stephen Moran has been waiting for his chance to get a foot in the door of Dublin’s Murder Squad—and one morning, sixteen-year-old Holly Mackey brings him this photo. “The Secret Place,” a board where the girls at St. Kilda’s School can pin up their secrets anonymously, is normally a mishmash of gossip and covert cruelty, but today someone has used it to reignite the stalled investigation into the murder of handsome, popular Chris Harper. Stephen joins forces with the abrasive Detective Antoinette Conway to find out who and why.

I say.....I'm looking forward to this, looks like a good read.
  



They say....From the creators of the groundbreaking documentary (and bestselling books) Forks Over Knives comes a four-week plan, showing anyone how to transition to a delicious whole-food, plant-based diet.

The trailblazing film Forks Over Knives exposed an entirely new generation to the whole-food, The Forks Over Knives Plan: How to Transition to the Life-Saving, Whole-Food, Plant-Based Diet—a clear, easy-to-follow plan that outlines the steps to take each week to transform your diet by cutting out animal-based and processed foods.
plant-based nutrition revolution and inspired thousands to want to transform their diets, and their lives.

I say.....WTF. I love steak.

A Good Year for the Roses by Gil McNeil

I received a copy of A Good Year for the Roses from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.  This is my favorite kind of book to read.  I love books about regular women who just happen to live in the English countryside, complete with gardens that I would never have the patience or knowledge to tend. 
I had never heard of this author before, but I will be looking forward to reading her other books now.
She was like a mix of two of my favorite English authors, Jane Green and Rosamunde Pilcher.
Molly is a recent divorcee, but not extremely unhappy about this turn of events.   She is dealing with the havoc of raising three boys on her own and selling her home when her great-aunt passes away.  To the disappointment of her hotel owning family, she is the sole recipient of the her aunt's country estate, but it comes along with her eccentric great-uncle, and the cook and gardener that live on the property.
The thing I really liked about this book was that there was no dramatic plot twist, just the story of how starting over isn't always bad, and how families can adjust and thrive in a new environment.
I also liked that Molly didn't get taken in by the local smooth talking developer, who is faking an interest in her just to help her brother get his hands on the property.  As a single mom of three kids, I could certainly relate to Molly's dread of having to take time out of real lift in order to get dolled up to go out on a date.  People find it hard to believe you can just be happy when you are busy and surrounded by family and friends.  This is where she was more like Rosamunde Pilcher than Jane Green - because Jane Green always wants true love to prevail.
This book was relaxing chick lit at it's best.  Loved it.

The Good Suicides by Antonio Hill

They say: After a company retreat in a remote country house, senior employees of Alemany Cosmetics return with a dark secret. They’ve each received an anonymous, menacing email of only two words: “Never forget”. What’s worse, the message is accompanied by a nightmarish photo attachment showing the bodies of dogs—hung to death from a tree—near the very same farm estate they just visited. When they begin killing themselves, one by one, the connection between the shocking photos and the suicides baffles Barcelona law enforcement and corporate think tanks alike, threatening a terrifying end for everyone involved

I say: This book had one of the most unsettling covers I have ever seen.  Every time I picked it up, I got a little freaked out. 
The actual book itself was a slow start, and those kind of beginnings are hard for me, because my nature is not to give up, so I keep slogging along, but I can feel myself getting resentful.
In this case, the payoff was worth it.  Once I got into the story, I really liked the writing style and the characters.
That being said, I felt like the ending was a bit of a let down, like there was this big build up, then the payoff wasn't as big as you would have expected it to be.
A very unique writer, and I'll be looking for his other book The Summer of Dead Toys.

The Missing Place by Sophie Littlefield

What they say....  The booming North Dakota oil business is spawning “man camps,” shantytowns full of men hired to work on the rigs, in towns without enough housing to accommodate them. In such twilight spaces, it’s easy for a person to vanish. And when two young men in their first year on the job disappear without a trace, only their mothers believe there’s hope of finding them. Despite reassurances that the police are on the case, the two women think the oil company is covering up the disappearances—and maybe something more.

Colleen, used to her decorous life in a wealthy Massachusetts suburb, is determined to find her son. And hard-bitten Shay, from the wrong side of the California tracks, is the only person in town even willing to deal with her—because she’s on the same mission. Overtaxed by worry, exhaustion, and fear, these two unlikely partners question each other’s methods and motivations, but must work together against the town of strangers if they want any chance of finding their lost boys. But what they uncover could destroy them both...

What I say.... This was a hard book for me to read, as my daughter's boyfriend currently works on an oil rig in North Dakota.  So it was a little stressful to read about the environment there, although the book is probably a lot closer to the truth than I care to know.
The difference between the way the two mothers lived was a common theme, although as you read it, you realized anytime there are two mothers who love their children, there are more commonalities than differences.
It was a pretty intense book, and I found myself staying up to finish it.  What I liked was that once the mystery was solved didn't mean the end of the story, Colleen didn't suddenly understand what she'd been doing wrong all along, Shay didn't have an ending tied up with a bow, and they didn't end up best friends forever.  I like a book that is more like real life, warts and all.

Stacking the Shelves

Hi Everyone,
I am participating in a weekly post called "Stacking the Shelves".  It's all about what's sitting on my shelves, either digital or physical.  I'm down to only four books waiting for me, which inspires a little anxiety in me!
What's on you shelves?

For Review:

 Leaving her beloved family and friends behind in her hometown of Kerry, Alanna heads for London in search of success as a performer at one of the city's most prestigious colleges. As the beautiful young singer ingratiates herself in a world of affluent excess, partying and debauchery, she's quick to realise it's not all as glamorous as it once seemed. Rising through the ranks of London's elite, Alanna finds herself living a double life, stooping to new lows to pay rent and compromising her character in the process.

 Set against the backdrop of North Dakota’s oil boom, two very different mothers form an uneasy alliance to find their missing sons in this heartrending and suspenseful novel from the Edgar Award–nominated author of Garden of Stones.

In My Mailbox:

 After a company retreat in a remote country house, senior employees of Alemany Cosmetics return with a dark secret. They’ve each received an anonymous, menacing email of only two words: “Never forget”. What’s worse, the message is accompanied by a nightmarish photo attachment showing the bodies of dogs—hung to death from a tree—near the very same farm estate they just visited. When they begin killing themselves, one by one, the connection between the shocking photos and the suicides baffles Barcelona law enforcement and corporate think tanks alike, threatening a terrifying end for everyone involved.

Bought:

 The highly anticipated finale to the #1 New York Times bestselling trilogy that began with A Discovery of Witches

After traveling through time in Shadow of Night, the second book in Deborah Harkness’s enchanting series, historian and witch Diana Bishop and vampire scientist Matthew Clairmont return to the present to face new crises and old enemies.