uncharted terriTORI, Tori Spelling

Synopsis:

Welcome to Los Angeles, birthplace and residence of Tori Spelling.

It’s not every Hollywood starlet whose name greets you on a Virgin Airways flight into la-la land. But Tori Spelling has come to accept that her life is a spectacle. Her name is her brand, and business is booming. Too bad when your job is to be yourself, you can’t exactly take a break.

Having it all isn’t always easy—especially when you’re a perfectionist—but with the help of her unconventional family and friends, an underwear-clad spiritual cleansing or two, and faith in herself, she’s learning to find her happy ending. Because when you’re Tori Spelling, every day brings uncharted terriTORI.***

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Sara's Review:

I enjoyed Tori's first two books, sTORI telling and Mommywood, so I was excited for this one to come out a few weeks ago. I was sixth on the waiting list at the library, so I was surprised to find out that it was already available just last week. I thought, "Those other ladies must have read it fast!". Um, now I know why. It's super short and if you've seen her show on Oxygen, then you've already seen about 75% of the book material. I found myself skimming large sections of it because I already knew what happened - I saw it months ago.

Overall, a disappointing read. I'd rather watch the show.

Grade: C

Heart of the Matter, Emily Giffin

Synopsis:

Tessa Russo is the mother of two young children and the wife of a renowned pediatric surgeon. Despite her mother’s warnings, Tessa has recently given up her career to focus on her family and the pursuit of domestic happiness. From the outside, she seems destined to live a charmed life.

Valerie Anderson is an attorney and single mother to six-year-old Charlie---a boy who has never known his father. After too many disappointments, she has given up on romance---and even, to some degree, friendships---believing that it is always safer not to expect too much.

Although both women live in the same Boston suburb, the two have relatively little in common aside from a fierce love for their children. But one night, a tragic accident causes their lives to converge in ways no one could have imagined.

In alternating, pitch-perfect points of view, Emily Giffin creates a moving, luminous story of good people caught in untenable circumstances. Each being tested in ways they never thought possible. Each questioning everything they once believed. And each ultimately discovering what truly matters most.

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Sara's Review:

This book is not at all what I expected it to be - it's better. I loved Emily Giffin's Baby Proof and Something Borrowed, but was less a fan of the two follow up books - Something Blue and Love the One You're With. Nevertheless, I was eager to get my hands on this one and was stoked to be the sixth person in the library queue!

I completely loved this book. I know a lot of people don't agree. This particular subject (I don't want to spoil it, so you'll just have to read!) is tricky and touchy and uncomfortable. A lot of people have complained that there's no big action or drama to the plot line. For me, I think that's why the book worked - it is delicate and nuanced and so unlike most of the in-your-face drama we are so used to seeing on reality TV. This is how life really happens.

I found myself unable to put the book down. I simply had to know what happened next.

Grade: A

Worst Case, James Patterson

Synopsis:

Best case: Survival
The son of one of New York's wealthiest families is snatched off the street and held hostage. His parents can't save him, because this kidnapper isn't demanding money. Instead, he quizzes his prisoner on the price others pay for his life of luxury. In this exam, wrong answers are fatal.

Worst case: Death
Detective Michael Bennett leads the investigation. With ten kids of his own, he can't begin to understand what could lead someone to target anyone's children. As another student disappears, another powerful family uses their leverage and connections to turn up the heat on the mayor, the press—anyone who will listen—to stop this killer. Their reach extends all the way to the FBI, which sends its top Abduction Specialist, Agent Emily Parker. Bennett's life—and love life—suddenly get even more complicated.

This case: Detective Michael Bennett is on it
Before Bennett has a chance to protest the FBI's intrusion on his case, the mastermind changes his routine. His plan leads up to the most devastating demonstration yet—one that could bring cataclysmic ruin to every inch of New York City.

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Sara's Review:

I listened to this book on CD during my commute to work. I do this a lot because it makes the time pass very quickly. I've listened to probably 50 books on CD over the last few years and this is the first one I've ever run into that had sound effects - fake laughs, even more fake crying, and other random, generally ridiculous low-rent sound effects. I found it incredibly distracting. Ugh.

That said, the book itself was decent. Not one of James Patterson's best, but certainly entertaining enough. The story is suspenseful if a tad bit unbelievable. He throws in a curve ball at the end that is pointless (at best) but otherwise the plot line is interesting and the characters witty.

Overall, I can think of half a dozen Patterson books I'd prefer to read, but if you're like me and you've already read through half his library, this one isn't a bad one to add to the list.

Grade: C

61 Hours, Lee Child

Synopsis:

A savage snowstorm and a tour bus crash land Reacher in the middle of South Dakota—unprepared. For the snow, that is. But he’s ready, as only he can be, to risk his life to protect a courageous witness. If she’s going to live long enough to testify, she needs his help. There's a killer headed straight for her and he'll be in town soon...or maybe he’s already there...

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Sara's Review:

For anyone who is looking for a series of books to read, you can't go wrong with Lee Child's Jack Reacher series. I've been reading them for several years and got my famously anti-reading husband hooked on them as well. 61 Hours is the 14th book in this series of stand-alone stories about an ex-military wanderer named Jack Reacher, who's a cross between James Bond and Jack Ryan.

The latest book came out the Tuesday before our vacation and we fought over who would get to read it first. As soon as my father-in-law realized we had it, he was bugging us to both to read faster so he could have his turn too!

The story is a bit slow, as the whole thing unfolds over a short 61 hour time period (shocker, right? HA!). My husband complained that there were too many descriptions of the snow, but for someone who loves to read, I found Child's many descriptions of the South Dakota winter beautifully written.

This one is hard to review without giving away too much of the plot, so I'll just say this: there was something I loved, something I totally hated, a baddie that I didn't see coming until just a few pages before and an ending that leaves you holding your breath.

Bet you want to borrow it from me now too, don'tcha?

Grade: A

Caught, Harlan Coben

Synopsis:

17-year-old Haley McWaid is a good girl, the pride of her suburban New Jersey family, captain of the lacrosse team, headed off to college next year with all the hopes and dreams her doting parents can pin on her. Which is why, when her mother wakes one morning to find that Haley never came home the night before, and three months quickly pass without word from the girl, the community assumes the worst.

Wendy Tynes is a reporter on a mission, to identify and bring down sexual predators via elaborate—and nationally televised—sting operations. Working with local police on her news program Caught in the Act, Wendy and her team have publicly shamed dozens of men by the time she encounters her latest target. Dan Mercer is a social worker known as a friend to troubled teens, but his story soon becomes more complicated than Wendy could have imagined.

In a novel that challenges as much as it thrills, filled with the astonishing tension and unseen suburban machinations that have become Coben’s trademark, Caught tells the story of a missing girl, the community stunned by her loss, the predator who may have taken her, and the reporter who suddenly realizes she can’t trust her own instincts about this story—or the motives of the people around her.

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Sara's Review:

I'd had this book on my e-Reader for awhile and finally got around to reading it while we were on vacation last week. I think the official synopsis of the book is a bit misleading, as the book is hardly about Hailey McWaid's disappearance at all - it's more about the man who allegedly took her.

Misdirections aside, I thought the book was pretty good. Harlan Coben is one of my favorite authors and he did not disappoint this time. The story is face-paced and twisting, with a twist that I didn't see coming at all. That is the hallmark of a good mystery novel in my opinion!

Grade: A

Money to Burn, James Grippando

Synopsis:

At twenty-nine, Michael Cantella is a rising star at Wall Street's premiere investment bank, Saxton Silvers. Everything is going according to plan until the love of his life, Ivy Layton, vanishes on their honeymoon in the Bahamas.

Fast forward seven years. It's the eve of his thirty-fifth birthday and Michael is still on track: successful career, beautiful new wife, piles of money. Reveling in his good fortune, Michael logs into his computer, enters his password, and pulls up his biggest investment account: zero balance. He tries another, and another. All of them zero. Someone has wiped him out. His only clue is a new email message: "Just as Planned. xo xo."

With these three words Michael's life as he knows it is liquidated along with his investment portfolio. Saxton Silvers is suddenly on the brink of bankruptcy and he's the leading suspect in its ruin. Michael is left alone, framed, and facing divorce with undercover FBI agents afoot, spyware on his computer, and mysterious emails from a "JBU." Embroiled in corporate espionage, he's desperate to clear his name and face the fact that several signs point to his first wife, Ivy, as a key player. But what if Ivy has come back from the dead, only to visit on Michael a fate worse than death?

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Sara's Review:

I didn't technically read this book - I listened to it on CD during my hour-long commute. I do this a lot because it makes the time pass quickly. This book actually made me look forward to getting in the car for the drive to and from work! That's the hallmark of a great book!

The beginning of the book, setting up Cantella's swift downfall, felt a little bit forced. His current wife's reasons for leaving him seem shallow and shaky, but the book picks up quickly from there. I like to think that I can usually tell where a book is going fairly quickly, but this one kept me guessing up until the end. A few of the twists seemed silly but overall I thought it was very intriguing and not at all what I had expected (in a good way!). I highly recommend this one.

Grade: A

Treasure Hunt, John Lescroart

Synopsis:

Mickey Dade hates deskwork, but that's all he's been doing at Wyatt Hunt's private investigative service, The Hunt Club. His itch to be active is answered when a body is discovered: It's Dominic Como, one of San Francisco's most high-profile activists—a charismatic man known as much for his expensive suits as his work on half a dozen nonprofit boards. One "person of interest" in the case is Como's business associate, Alicia Thorpe—young, gorgeous, and the sister of one of Mickey's friends.

As Mickey and Hunt are pulled into the case, they soon learn that the city's golden fund-raiser was involved in some highly suspect deals. And the lovely Alicia knows more about this—and more about Como—than she's letting on.

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Sara's Review:

I'm a big fan of John Lescroart's Dismas Hardy series. I've read nearly every one over the course of the last few years. So I was excited to read one of the books in his newest series, The Hunt Club.

Sadly, I was disappointed. As interesting as the Hardy series is, The Hunt Club is equally as uninteresting. I didn't find any of the characters particularly moving or dimensional and the entire premise of the book is shaky at best. The writing tries to hard to throw you off the trail of the 'real' killer and in the end, the resolution (if you can call it that) is disappointing and predictable.

Not Lescroart's best showing in my humble opinion. If you've never read him, don't dismiss him all together - just stick with the Hardy series and be glad you didn't get your invitation to the Hunt Club.

Grade: F

Another Mother's Life, Rowan Coleman

Synopsis:

Can you ever mend a shattered friendship?

For wealthy Alison James, moving with her family to her hometown of Farmington presents more than a case of relocation jitters. Fifteen years ago, she fled town, eloping with her best friend's boyfriend. Now, blessed with three children, but uneasy in her marriage, she wonders if that decision led her away from the life she was meant to lead.

Catherine Ashley, broke, the mother of two and almost divorced, can't help but wonder the same thing. Although she's content with her children, she finds herself returning again and again to those few weeks fifteen years ago when she fell deeply in love, only to be betrayed by her most trusted friend.

Now, once more living in the same town, Alison and Catherine are about to find out just how different their lives could still be. But this time around they are adults, and while their own happiness is at stake, so is their children's.

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Sara's Review:

I borrowed this book from one of my sisters because the premise sounded interesting. Friendship, love, betrayal, unexpected reappearances? Sounded like the makings of a good book to me.

Too bad the best part of the book is the back cover. I was thoroughly disappointed. The 'betrayal story' is flimsy, the women tiresome, the man-in-the-middle a total loser. Neither of the women is particularly likable - Alison comes across as a shallow, selfish moron and Catherine is only marginally more empathetic as the 'scorned woman' who lets a teenage betrayal shape her entire future.

To be honest, I probably wouldn't have even finished the book if I hadn't been trapped on an airplane with nothing better to do.

Grade: D

Gone For Good, Harlan Coben

Synopsis:

As a boy, Will Klein had a hero: his older brother, Ken. Then, on a warm suburban night in the Kleins’ affluent New Jersey neighborhood, a young woman—a girl Will had once loved—was found brutally murdered in her family’s basement. The prime suspect: Ken Klein. With the evidence against him overwhelming, Ken simply vanished. And when his shattered family never heard from Ken again, they were sure he was gone for good.

Now eleven years have passed. Will has found proof that Ken is alive. And this is just the first in a series of stunning revelations as Will is forced to confront startling truths about his brother, and even himself. As a violent mystery unwinds around him, Will knows he must press his search all the way to the end. Because the most powerful surprises are yet to come.
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Sara's Review:

Harlan Coben has been one of my favorite authors ever since I stumbled upon his book Tell No One half a dozen years ago. Since then, I have slowly but surely been making my way through his long list of amazing books. This one was no exception.

You know how most tag lines on book covers are crap? This one's the exception. "More twists and turns than an amusement park ride" is no exaggeration. Just one you think you've got it all figured out - BAM! - huge plot twist and you're turning pages furiously, trying to get to the end! I was continually surprised, right down to the very last pages. If you like a good mystery without a lot of bloodshed and gore, you don't want to miss this one!

Grade: A

House Rules, Jodi Picoult

Synopsis:

Jacob Hunt is a teenage boy with Asperger's syndrome. He's hopeless at reading social cues or expressing himself well to others, and like many kids with AS, Jacob has a special focus on one subject — in his case, forensic analysis. He's always showing up at crime scenes, thanks to the police scanner he keeps in his room, and telling the cops what they need to do...and he's usually right. But then his town is rocked by a terrible murder and, for a change, the police come to Jacob with questions. All of the hallmark behaviors of Asperger's — not looking someone in the eye, stimulatory tics and twitches, flat affect — can look a lot like guilt to law enforcement personnel. Suddenly, Jacob and his family, who only want to fit in, feel the spotlight shining directly on them. For his mother, Emma, it's a brutal reminder of the intolerance and misunderstanding that always threaten her family. For his brother, Theo, it's another indication of why nothing is normal because of Jacob. And over this small family the soul-searing question looms: Did Jacob commit murder?

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Sara's Review:

Jodi Picoult is one of my all time favorite authors, so I couldn't wait to read her newest book! As always, her writing is beautiful and thought provoking. The story is told from several points of view - Jacob, his brother Theo, his mother Emma, and the detective investigating the murder. I am not normally a fan of multiple POV stories, but this one is movingly crafted. While I would never be so bold as to say I understand the challenges of autism after reading this book, I certainly feel much more aware of them. She does an amazing job of helping the reader understand how it might feel to live with it daily.

That said, I wasn't crazy about the actual storyline. It felt kind of lame and slow moving. The thing I love about Jodi Picoult books is the huge twist in the last 10 pages. I was completely blindsided by the twist in her last novel, Handle With Care, and was expecting more of the same here. Unfortunately, I saw the 'twist' about a quarter of the way through the book. I found the end to be unsatisfying, to say the least.

Lackluster twist aside, I would still recommend the book. And all her other books as well!

Grade: B

The Geometry of Sisters , Luanne Rice

Synopsis:

What is one sister without the other? Is it even possible to imagine?

New York Times bestselling author Luanne Rice explores the complex emotional equations of love and loyalty that hold together three pairs of remarkable sisters. Here in the halls of Newport Academy, a unique private school that has attracted generations of rebels, outcasts, and visionaries, an unforgettable lesson in the eternal truths of sisterhood is about to begin….

After years away, Maura Shaw has returned to Newport, Rhode Island, to teach English at the academy. Behind her lies her life as the perfect Midwestern wife and mother, a life that seemed on the surface to be all she had ever wished for. That illusion vanished in a storm off Mackinac Island in the wake of an accident that engulfed Maura’s husband and her older daughter, Carrie. Now, with her son and younger daughter, she hopes to find a new beginning.

Newport has never failed to infuse Maura with a sense of mystery and hope. But for fourteen-year-old Beck, the move is a painful upheaval from everything she has ever loved—especially her sister, Carrie. Ever since her sister disappeared, Beck has retreated into the world of mathematics, where principles are permanent, unlike so many other things in life. Without Carrie, Beck has lost half of herself—the half that would have fit in at the elite private school she and her brother, Travis, will now attend. The half that made things right. Still, Beck clings to the hope that her sister will return to them.

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Sara's Review:

My perception of Luanne Rice has always been that she writes fiction for more 'mature' audiences. I have no idea where that judgement came from, but it's prevented me from reading anything by her before. However, this book popped up as a recommendation from my local library and the title intrigued me. I come from a family of four girls, so naturally the idea of sisterhood appeals to me.

This book did not disappoint. While none of the story lines are ground-breaking (old love rekindled, the sinner repents, the lost child is found) the feeling of longing (for a mother, a sister, a lover) is palpable. I found myself pondering what could possibly make me walk away from my relationship with my mother, my sisters. And that is where I found the story to be just slightly disingenuous. Nothing could make me walk away from them - certainly not the reasons cited in the book. Which kind of makes the whole story feel just a little bit disappointing and predictable.

Overall, it was a decent read, but it doesn't necessarily change my opinion of the author. I might pick and choose over her other titles, but I won't be adding her to my 'Must Read' list.

GRADE: C