A Blonde and 3 Boys

Welcome!

I just finished the book
The Broken Girls by Simone St. James

I needed a change from the typical thriller or missing children, so I picked up this ghost story!!

The story goes back and forth between Vermont 1950 where four roommates go to a spooky boarding school named, Idlewill Hall…

Vermont, 1950. There’s a place for the girls whom no one wants—the troublemakers, the illegitimate, the too smart for their own good. It’s called Idlewild Hall. And in the small town where it’s located, there are rumors that the boarding school is haunted. Four roommates bond over their whispered fears, their budding friendship blossoming—until one of them mysteriously disappears…

And a journalist living in Vermont 2014, trying to “solve” the mystery of her sister’s already solved death and why someone wold want to restore and reopen Idlewild Hall.

Vermont, 2014. As much as she’s tried, journalist Fiona Sheridan cannot stop revisiting the events surrounding her older sister’s death. Twenty years ago, her body was found lying in the overgrown fields near the ruins of Idlewild Hall. And though her sister’s boyfriend was tried and convicted of murder, Fiona can’t shake the suspicion that something was never right about the case.

Through the entire book I kept thinking, “Please Please Please don’t make this story be a traditional ghost story where the ghost is put to rest and “released” and happy at the end.” Let me just say, it has a good ending.  I really liked the story about the four roommates and how they are also included in them 2014 portions of the book. Unfortunately, I really don’t know why there’s a ghost in the story. It didn’t take away from the book, but didn’t add much either. Maybe I missed something!

I would give this book 3.5 out of 5 stars!!  (Would give it 4 if I could have figured out the ghost part.)

Hello!

Just finished the book
Sometime I Lie by Alice Feeny.

From Amazon
Amber wakes up in a hospital. She can’t move. She can’t speak. She can’t open her eyes. She can hear everyone around her, but they have no idea. Amber doesn’t remember what happened, but she has a suspicion her husband had something to do with it. Alternating between her paralyzed present, the week before her accident, and a series of childhood diaries from twenty years ago, this brilliant psychological thriller asks: Is something really a lie if you believe it’s the truth?

This book was great! It really catches your attention and easy to follow, great story that leaves you wondering what was happening and at times yelling at the family that is sitting in her hospital room. And then I got to the last third of the book.

At this point I would give the book 5 out of 5 stars.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I love a good twisty book, but this books twists so hard and left me wondering…what? I had to reread and get my mind wrapped around the “new” story.  And then I started to feel as if the author tried way too hard to make a good twisty story.

At this point I would give the book 2 out of 5 stars.

But once I accept the twist, got my mind wrapped around it, I was good to go to the end and actually enjoyed the not expected ending.

Overall, I would give this book 4out of 5 stars.
(Phew!)

Welcome Back!

I just finished the book Unbelievable by Katy Tur.

From Amazon:

Called “disgraceful,” “third-rate,” and “not nice” by Donald Trump, NBC News correspondent Katy Tur reported on—and took flak from—the most captivating and volatile presidential candidate in American history.

From day 1 to day 500, Tur documented Trump’s inconsistencies, fact-checked his falsities, and called him out on his lies. In return, Trump repeatedly singled Tur out. He tried to charm her, intimidate her, and shame her. At one point, he got a crowd so riled up against Tur, Secret Service agents had to walk her to her car.

Unbelievable is her darkly comic, fascinatingly bizarre, and often scary story of how America sent a former reality show host to the White House. It’s also the story of what it was like for Tur to be there as it happened, inside a no-rules world where reporters were spat on, demeaned, and discredited.

Many times, I wonder why doesn’t the media do this or why doesn’t the media do that? Well, I did get some answers in this book, told by Katy Tur who followed Trump through his campaign trail.  There’s a lot more to Trumps campaign that followed his father’s rules and why he constantly is talking about the “Dishonest Media” and “Fake News.”

Trump’s father’s rules that are ingrained in him.
1. Never use your own money. (Build the wall)
2. Steal a good idea and say it’s your own.
3. Do anything to get publicity.
4. Repeat it until they believe it. (fake news, dishonest media)
5. Remember that everyone can be bought.

One thing that opened my eyes was the effect on the media while Trump spouts the words fake news by the dishonest media continually….it turns his followers against those in the media. Literally. The media was put in the middle of many rallies with fences around them. Almost like caged animals and Trump would make sure to his followers knew how he felt about those people in the “cage.”

Eventually, ALL media people, except Fox News (huh) had to have secret service with them at all times due to threats from his followers. Nice. Trump then goes on attack of Tur herself. Calling her out in rallies. She became a target in public and actually spit on from Trump supporters.  When the cameras were off, he would treat her in a completely different manner… Calling her over to talk while walking his golf courses!  Nice.

Tur states in her prologue that she hired a fact-checker, went through volumes of documents, e-mails, and videos and checked her memory with other reporters to insure that her book is accurate. The result is a well-developed and unbiased-as-possible account of what she saw throughout the Trump candidacy and ultimate victory party on election night.

I must say, the book is straight facts. Tur doesn’t say she dislikes Trump or loves Hilary or vice-versa, it is just straight facts on what happened.

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars.