U is for Undertow by Sue Grafton

I decided it's time to finish up this series. It's been many years since I read T is for Trespass. I easily fell back into Kinsey Millhone's life, despite how long it's been. I had forgotten how readable these books are. They move along, which I appreciate, and Grafton always mixes in details of Kinsey's personal life while Kinsey works on her recent case.

In this installment, Kinsey is contacted (cold) by Michael Sutton, who believes he may have witnessed the aftermath of a young girl's disappearance more than 20 years previously. Something he read triggered an old memory of him coming across two men in the woods digging a hole with something wrapped up laying nearby. Michael thinks it may have been the missing 4-year old girl who was never found. Unfortunately for Michael, he is estranged from his entire family and no one trusts him - or his memory - since he has been plagued with mental health issues, false memories (implanted, or at least suggested, by a former therapist), and false accusations against his parents & brother. This doesn't make him a reliable witness for sure, especially since he was only 6 years old when he supposedly saw the two men (which he calls "pirates") digging in the woods. There is something about Michael, and the details of his report, that leads Kinsey to think his report may be credible. Michael pays her for one day's work, but she continues her investigation after that day as well. Kinsey does not like unfinished business!

Meanwhile, we find out a lot more about her family. Kinsey's parents died when she was a very young child and she was raised by an aunt (Aunt Gin, her mother's sister). Kinsey didn't necessarily have a happy childhood, mainly because Aunt Gin was not exactly warm & fuzzy. Kinsey has a difficult time connecting to people, probably because she never felt a "family connection" after her parents died. After she found out about her fairly extensive extended family later in life, she felt abandoned. Aunt Gin had simply kept Kinsey to herself. In this book, Kinsey finds out that her Grandmother had several written letters to Aunt Gin and Kinsey herself that had been "Returned to Sender" by her Aunt Gin. She also finds out that her Grandmother had hired a Private Investigator and paid more than $4,000 for his services, which was a lot of money for that time. So, Kinsey does some research into her own family history while working on the 20-year old missing girl case.

I quite enjoyed this read and I am looking forward to finishing up this alphabet series. :)

Wendy's Rating: ****

The Woman In Me by Britney Spears

I have never known what to think about Britney Spears, so I was eager to read this book to see what she had to say. I still don't know what to think! First of all, she is obviously very talented. She has the voice, the looks, the dancing ability to be a star. And she is definitely a star. She admitted after starring in Crossroads that she should stick to singing instead of venturing into acting. I have never seen the movie, but I know it didn't get good reviews. I still may watch it, because why not? 

The book, for the most part, cemented what I already knew or suspected. She struggles with her mental health; she was raised in an extremely dysfunctional family; she was in a conservatorship against her will for 13 years; and she wanted to control her own life. What I am questioning is her stints in rehab, her conservatorship, and the severity of her mental health issues. She states that she never took drugs (just smoked marijuana) and that she was not addicted to alcohol. She said that her father sent her to rehab more than once for the use of energy drinks/supplements. Not sure what to think about that. Her father was an alcoholic who left home throughout her childhood on benders. Her mother screamed & yelled at her father when he was home. They had Britney to try to save their marriage. (They already had Brian, Britney's brother, when Britney was born.) It was not a safe environment for children, so I can see why she struggled so much with her mental health. Britney also admits that she wasn't always kind to those around her and that she suffered from postpartum depression after her boys were born. Also not surprising since she had two kids in two years. In addition to that, she seemed to really love Justin Timberlake and Kevin Federline and they both pretty much abandoned her (and slept around on her) as their own popularity rose. She was broken by the demise of both of those relationships.

I keep wondering how her father could legally control her life for 13 years in a conservatorship. What judge in their right mind would approve this?? And she wasn't allowed to hire her own lawyer to fight it? This just seems to wrong to me, no matter what the state of her mental health was! His abuse of her in childhood; his mismanagement of her finances; his forcing her to perform, lose weight, not get pregnant, go to rehab, not allow her to see her children. It's just so wrong. From her perspective, she didn't do anything to deserve this. Even if she wasn't making the best decisions, I can't believe the legal system would allow this to happen for so long. It makes me really sad.

With all that being said, Britney had to have demonstrated deeply concerning behavior for a conservatorship to be granted; for Kevin Federline to be awarded primary custody of their two boys; for her to be sent to rehab repeatedly. I would guess the truth about Britney and her family is somewhere in the middle. Regardless, this is one sad story.

Wendy's Rating: ****

Twice by Mitch Albom

This is a book you can read in one sitting. It's fast-paced and an entertaining read. I'm not always a fan of the magical realism genre as a whole, but I like books that make you think. Alfie has the ability to re-do a moment lived and make a different decision. He can only do this once for each specific situation and if he chooses to do it again a different way, he has to live with that. He can't re-live any moment more than twice. So, if you think of all those embarrassing moments in your life that you wished you could erase, Alfie could do that. I'm not sure I would have used this "talent" as often as Alfie did however. It's one thing to go back and make a different decision than you did a few minutes ago, but it's another thing to go back days, weeks, months, or years. Honestly, it's only in the most dire circumstances that I would want to re-live months or years of my life! One thing Alfie could never change however, is someone's death. If someone was fated to die at any given moment, than that would happen no matter what Alfie did. 

One key element with this ability concerns love. Alfie is told by his mother, who also had this gift, that he can't go back and recreate the same love if he chooses to do it again. She had learned this the hard way, losing forever her one true love, which wasn't Alfie's father. Of course Alfie does it anyway and is deeply saddened by the loss of his one true love. When is comes to his marriage to Gianna, Alfie comes across as very selfish. This bothered me. Gianna had wanted to be a photographer her entire life. Gianna & Alfie had first met in Africa when they were children. Alfie and his parents were living in Africa as missionaries. Alfie & Gianna connected over their love of an elephant. When Alfie's mother died, he and his father left Africa. Alfie & Gianna met again years later as adults and fell in love. Gianna pretty much gave up her dreams in life, such as being an international photographer of wildlife and having children, for Alfie. Alfie wanted what Alfie wanted. When their marriage starts to suffer (go figure!), Alfie lusts after an actress and decides to go for it instead of trying to make his marriage work with Gianna. Since Alfie had to re-do his original decision not to sleep with the actress, he loses his life with Gianna and her love for him. Lesson learned.

Some key lessons in the book: 

Lesson 1: "...what we yearn for, deep down, is a heart that will embrace us after we make a fool of ourselves." Alfie needed to understand that unconditional love is demonstrated when the people we love still love us despite our faults and failures. True love is not about being perfect and never making mistakes.

Lesson 2: Life should be lived in the present tense. If you live in the present tense, "You pay closer attention to things. You're more appreciative. More accepting."

Lesson 3: "'Would you do anything differently if you had the chance?'" Mitch Albom responds, "I can think of twenty things right now. But ask me if I'd trade how I'd changed as a result of my mistakes, and my answer would be different."  "If you keep getting second chances, you won't learn a damn thing. I've learned a lot. The older I get, the more precious those lessons become." True story.

I'm ambiguous about the ending. I am more of a "learn from my mistakes and move on" kind of gal, rather than rehashing what's already happened. To each their own.

Wendy's Rating: ****

The 100 by Kass Morgan

I am a huge fan of dystopian fiction and this series keeps coming up on must-read dystopian lists, so I thought I would give it a try. I listened to this on audiotape and I'm wondering if I would enjoy it more by reading it. It switches from present day to the past without any warning on the audiotape. This was initially very confusing, especially when we are just getting to know the characters. Although I adjusted to this as I was listening, I think I will read the second book in print form. I do like the story. 

Earth was destroyed by a nuclear war a long time ago and people are living above Earth in a spaceship because of the dangers of Earth's radioactivity. The spaceship divides people by their social status (just like in every real society worldwide). The problem is that they are running out of oxygen on the spaceship and they know they need to do something about it. They decide to send 100 children (under 18), who are considered juvenile delinquents because of some infraction, down to Earth to see if it's safe to live there. Their society demands that all children in detention be reassessed when they turn 18. The reassessment results in two possibilities: death or reintroduction into society. Most of the 18-year-olds are sentenced to death. They can't afford to have too many living people. That's why no one is allowed to have more than one child and you have to be given permission to even have one.

Anyway, the main characters are Clarke, who works in the medical field because her parents were scientists; Wells, who is actually the chancellor's son but he couldn't bear to be apart from Clarke, who he loves, so he finagled his way onto the "Drop Ship" with Clarke; Bellamy, who is a guard, but also finds his way onto the Drop Ship because he wants to protect his younger sister (these two are the only sibling pair on the spaceship); Glass, who was actually in detention and was part of the 100 to be dropped to Earth but managed to stay on board the spaceship with the boy she loves; and Luke, the boy that Glass loves who is from a lower class than she is.

In this first book of the series, the 100 are taken to earth with few supplies. They each have a monitoring bracelet on their wrist to track their health, radiation exposure, etc. They are all considered delinquents, but not all of them did something to actually earn that label. They need to all work together to survive on Earth, which isn't easy of course. There are unexpected dangers as well, which affects them all. I like the story so far and I'm looking forward to reading the second book.

Wendy's Rating: ****

Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult

I usually love Jodi Picoult's novels because she forces the reader to look at hot topics from different perspectives. She shows us that we don't always know everything that might be going on in any situation and that we shouldn't categorize people and events as either black or white. (No pun intended!) With that being said, I didn't care for this book. I certainly think the subject of racial prejudice is important and worth talking about. I believe that our society is steeped in systemic racism. I believe that people of color living in America have been treated unfairly, especially in our justice system. I believe that white Americans have an automatic advantage and that most white Americans have inner biases about people of color. So, why didn't I love this book? I really disliked the majority of the characters, especially two of the three main characters. When I'm reading a book, no matter the subject matter or genre, I have to be able to identify with, or relate to on some level, or admire something, about a character in order to enjoy the book. The only character I really liked is Kennedy, the public defender. I liked her not because she was white, but because she was constantly trying to do the right thing for everyone involved.

So, Ruth is a L&D nurse and she has been working at the same hospital for 20 years. She is good at what she does and everyone values her and her commitment to the job. She has been involved in many, many deliveries. She is kind & caring. One day, she is assigned to check in on a newborn to do the initial assessment. The newborn, Davis, happens to be the son of two white supremacists. She doesn't really know what's going on as she's checking out the baby, but she knows something isn't right. She finds out soon enough when her boss talks to her and says the parents have requested that she be replaced as Davis' nurse because they don't want a Black nurse touching their baby. Her boss actually puts a post-it on the baby's file saying that no one who is Black can touch the baby. Since Ruth is the only Black nurse in L&D, it's really all about Ruth.

Turk & Brittany are Davis' parents. Brittany's father, Francis, is also a white supremacist. Turk has swastikas tattooed on his body, including his head, which he keeps shaved. They are unlikeable people, but Turk truly loves Brittany and they both love their newborn son. As the story unfolds we find out each of their histories and how they ended up being white supremacists.

Unfortunately, Ruth is unexpectedly left to care for Davis in the nursery when the attending nurse, Ruth's friend, is called away suddenly to attend an emergency c-section. Davis can't be left alone because he was just circumcised. She notices when he starts turning blue but hesitates to act because she has been told to not touch the baby and she fears for her job if she touches him. She does touch him, but then lies about it when asked. When her boss enters the room and see Davis not breathing, she orders Ruth to start CPR. Davis ends up dying. Ruth is charged with murder by Turk & Brittany.

So, it's a complicated, multi-layered story, like Jodi's books usually are, but I really didn't like Ruth at all. I also didn't like her sister, Adisa, or Turk, Brittany, Francis, or even Ruth's son, Edison. While I admit to systemic racism, Ruth pretty much accused every single white person she encountered as being prejudiced - every word uttered had an "ulterior motive" or "underlying meaning" against Black people. Racism can go the other way too, so why wasn't that mentioned? I'm glad I finished it because the ending has some redeeming events, but I would never re-read it.

Wendy's Rating: ***1/4

Live Wire by Harlan Coben

It's been a few years since I read the first nine books in the Myron Bolitar series. I have always liked Coben's writing style though and his books are entertaining and easy to read. This installment is more about his personal life. One of the key characters in this book is Myron's sister-in-law, Kitty, who resurfaces after 16 years traveling the world with Myron's brother, Brad, and his nephew, Mickey. The estrangement between brothers is a result of several mistruths, resentments, and manipulations. Myron spies Kitty accidently when he is looking for someone else. He tries to catch her to talk to her, but he is waylaid by a rougher element associated with his other mission. What he discovers quickly however, is that Kitty, a former addict, is using again and providing sexual favors for heroin. Myron has no idea where his brother is. When Kitty was a teenager, she was a tennis prodigy and Myron was her agent. Reportedly, she could have gone far in the tennis world but she unexpectantly got pregnant and married Brad and they left town.

Myron is asked by another former tennis player, Suzze, that he was also the agent for, to find her husband, Lex Ryder, who had disappeared after a concerning comment came up on their social media page questioning the paternity of Suzze's unborn child. Suzze was 8 months pregnant. Lex is a musician and half of a popular band called HorsePower. The other half, Gabriel Wire, was handsome & charismatic. Lex was a good musician but troubled. Gabriel was the "front man" of their band. Gabriel had become a recluse in a mansion on an island after he was involved in an accident. People speculated that his beautiful face was damaged, but no one had seen him for years. Lex always went to Gabriel to work on new music. Myron actually finds and talks to Lex in a club he liked to hang out in (which is where he sees Kitty), but then Lex flees to the house on the island. Gabriel's home is very well protected and even though Myron follows Lex, he's not allowed on the property.

So, these two story lines are connected because Kitty & Suzze were friends back in the day and Myron becomes aware that the two have spoken recently. So Myron is looking for Kitty, trying to figure out what's going on with Lex; meeting his nephew Mickey for the first time in an unlikely way; dealing with his dad's health issues; and dodging former mobsters. I will say that there are two unexpected twists that I didn't see coming. One of them comes at the end and I'm still wondering why Coben decided to make such a significant move - and so suddenly - with his main character. There are only two more books in this series and they were written years apart. Maybe Coben is ready to move on from Myron? Trying to track down book #11 now to see what's next for Myron.

Wendy's Rating: ****

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Vol. 1 by Beth Brower

This journal begins in March 1883 in London, England. Emma M. Lion returns to her hometown of St. Crispian's and to her home, Lapis Lazuli House. Unfortunately, upon her return, she is relegated to the top floor of the home (the 5th floor) instead of the 3rd floor which is where her former bedroom suite was located. Since Emma's father died when she was still a minor, he left his estate in the hands of Cousin Archibald, who was supposed to manage it until Emma turned 21 years old. Not a good idea. Cousin Archibald despises Emma and does not welcome her home. Emma has spent the last three years taking care of an ailing woman and hasn't been paid for her service yet. When she asks for her earned wages - and her allowance that her father left her - Archibald says no. He accuses her of stealing the woman's silver and said she won't get her wages until she returns the silver, which of course she didn't steal.

Emma finds herself in an impossible situation. She is also told that she will be a companion to Arabella during the upcoming Season. Arabella needs to find a husband and Emma will accompany her to every single ball. I guess Emma will be her "wing-woman". Ha! After a trip to the bank, Emma finds out that Archibald has misused all of her money and she will be left penniless in one year unless she sells her home. This she will not do.

I had a difficult time getting into the rhythm of this book. In fact, I took a break to look at some reviews to see why it is so highly rated. A lot of people mentioned that Vol 1 simply sets the scene and that Emma and her story start to really suck you in somewhere between Vol 2 - Vol 5, depending on the reviewer. I guess I will read at least Vol 2 and decide whether to continue or not after that. It did get more interesting and funnier the more I read, and it's a very short book. So, I will keep an open mind for now.

Wendy's Rating: ***