Seek the Traitor's Son by Veronica Roth

I don't read much fantasy, but I really liked this book. I was engaged from the beginning and pretty much read most of the book in one day. Sometimes fantasy series have so many characters that I can't keep track of them all. I didn't have trouble with that in this one. It probably helps that I read most of it in one sitting however. I will definitely need a recap when Book 2, the sequel, comes out next Spring.

That main characters are Elegy Ahn and Theren Forint. Elegy is the second daughter of the Sword of Cedre and the younger sister of the heir, Larke. Elegy is married to Shir. They are both soldiers in the Army. The Sword lives on Cedre Station, which is stationed above Earth. The Sword is similar to a Queen. She doesn't have full power over the Cedrae, but she is influential because her role is military in nature. The Talusar is the enemy of the Cedrae. Theren's mother, Kesia, is Talusar, but she fled Talusar with other self-exiles 20 years previously to seek safe harbor at the Cedre Station. The Cedrae agreed to take in these enemy exiles as long as the exiles promised their firstborn children in service to Cedre.

The Talusar have taken over most of the Earth. Their god is a Fever, which kills everyone it infects. Some of the people come back from the dead though and they come back with special gifts. These gifts include retrocognition (seeing the past), erasing memories, sealing them off, or warping them. A rare few have precognition. Elegy is called to meet with the augurs who have precognition after her mother, the Sword, is told that Elegy is part of a prophecy. Being born the "spare", Elegy is far from happy about being summoned by her mother and even less thrilled about being part of the prophecy that determines that she is the "Hope of Cedre." The prophecy also includes the enemy, Rava Vidar, who is extremely powerful in the Talusar empire and called the Butcher of Calgara. These two are pitted against each other. Whoever succeeds at moving the fulcrum will win control of Earth. As I try to explain all of this in simple terms, I realize it is a complex world, like most fantasy worlds! Ha!

Finally, Theren, who is the firstborn (only born) to Kesia Forint, is called to serve as Elegy's Knight a year earlier than expected. He is only 20 years old and usually firstborn of the exiles are called to serve at age 21. But, because of the prophecy involving Elegy, he is called to serve as her Knight. Neither Theren or Kesia is happy about this decision made by the Sword.

Things don't go as planned, which is an understatement, and all parties involved suffer the consequences. After the initial unexpected event, the story moves ahead four years and we find out what happens to everyone during those four years through memories of the people involved. Meanwhile, the story moves forward. I really like both Elegy and Theren. Despite their different social statuses, they are both talented fighters and "quitting" is not in their vocabulary. I am looking forward to finishing this story in Spring 2027!

Wendy's Rating: *****

Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green

I was interested in reading this book because my maternal grandmother lived in a sanitorium for five years with Tuberculosis. Since she was ill, and my grandfather was in the Air Force, my mother had to live in a Boarding House in Colorado for five years of her childhood. (They were from Texas.) I have also spent the last 30+ years working in social services and one thing I never understood was why our service recipients (living in our group homes) had to be tested for TB at their annual physicals when I thought that TB was a thing of the past. I mean, how many people do you know come down with TB these days?

This book was eye-opening for sure. John Green, whose fiction books I really like, does a thorough job of explaining what TB is, how thoughts about it has changed over the century, and why it may never really leave us, unless someone decides to put some money into truly finding a cure for it, or at least a cost-effective treatment. He also explains that it's a systemic problem as well, not just a medical problem.

TB was known as "Consumption" in the early 1900s. In the early days, having TB was romanticized because of the people stricken with it: artists, poets, wealthy white people. People with TB had a certain "look" about them, a result of the illness, that people seemed to admire and almost strive for. Pale complexion, big eyes. I always think of the movie Moulin Rouge starring Nicole Kidman. She was beautiful, but obviously ill. TB is incredibly contagious, which is interesting that the movie doesn't acknowledge that! Then, when TB spread rapidly within other populations because of close quarters brought on by poverty, perceptions of this disease shifted and people started referring to it as a poor man's disease.

What interested me the most about all of this is why this dangerous, contagious disease may never be eradicated, in my life time at least. First of all, the treatment is long: several months of a daily "cocktail" of medications, similar to HIV treatment. Not only considering the cost of this, the steadfastness and consistency for taking this daily cocktail would be difficult for the best of us. I can't even remember to take my cholesterol med daily. Many people don't finish a 7-day antibiotic after they start feeling better, even though they are told the importance of finishing it. What happens when people start and stop taking the TB cocktail is that their body has time to build up a resistance to the cocktail, so then it stops working. 

This is a curable and preventable contagious disease that continues to kill more than a million people each year. I guess my grandmother, who got TB back in the late 1940s-early 1950s, was one of the lucky ones.

Wendy's Rating: ****

I Choose Me by Jennie Garth

I liked this book a lot. More than I thought I would. Although Jennie talks about her childhood, her relationships, and her show business career (how she got her start, etc), this book is more than that. I could really identify with some of things she said about how many of us live our lives: trying to be who we think other people want us to be.

Jennie is honest about her struggles, including bouts of depression that really seemed to take her out of life more than once. What I admire about her is that she would continually pick herself up and explore new ways to understand herself better and forge a new path for herself and her family. She is continually trying to be a better person, a better role model for her daughters, and she refuses to let herself (and her daughters) get too caught up in living the "Hollywood life". She seems to have firm boundaries and she's not shy about telling her daughters "no" if she doesn't like the direction they are headed (ie drinking at age 15 at parties thrown by their friends whose parents are superstars/famous with tons of money.)

Jennie has a strong work ethic, which most likely comes from growing up on a farm. Farming is not for the faint of heart. She actually wanted to dance, but now acknowledges that she would have never made it as a dancer. She was seen at a pageant that her mother encouraged her to enter. She didn't win, but that event propelled her onto a different path - which led to 90210. Once thing I really understand now (after reading so many memoirs) is that just because you hit it big in a TV show or movie, it doesn't mean you have it made. Doors don't just simply open in this line of work. Even stars have to audition, accept constant rejection, and fight for roles they really want. And sometimes it just doesn't happen, so you have to reinvent yourself. Jennie veered off into podcasting and fashion.

Jennie talks about the mistakes she's made and about the importance of forgiving yourself for those mistakes. She talks about relationships. She had two failed marriages, and she nearly got divorced a third time until her and her husband really sat down and talked. She has learned that marriage should not be two people joining to be "one", but two separate people who are each their own person but merge in the middle of shared goals, values, and interests. Jennie is incredibly family-oriented and it's not just "talk" for her. Her family comes first. Always. One other thing she said that I really love is using the phrase, "We'll see." We can't predict what opportunities are going to come our way. We don't know if something bad that happens will turn out good in the end, or vice versa. Instead of worrying about it, simply tell yourself, "We'll see." I love that.

Wendy's Rating: ****

Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult

It's been awhile since I have read a Jodi Picoult book. Years, in fact. This one took me by surprise. Jodi usually writes about controversial topics and this book is about a 29 year old woman, Diana, whose boyfriend, Finn, is in his residency at a hospital in New York. They had planned a trip to the Galapagos (where she believes he will propose to her since she accidently discovered the ring he had bought). This is March of 2020. So, as Covid-19 hits New York, Finn tells Diana that he can't go to the Galapagos because he's required to be at the hospital. He tells her to go on her own since it's an unrefundable trip.

The trip doesn't go as planned. Diana loses her luggage and she is stuck indefinitely on the island after it closes its borders. Internet access is sparce, to say the least. Everything is closed down on the island since tourists are not allowed to be there. She doesn't have a lot of money and has no way to get more; she has no place to stay since the hotel shut down; and she doesn't have any food. Oh, and she doesn't speak the language! Her only communication with Finn is the emails he sends her about how difficult it is to be a doctor trying to save the lives of the infected, who mostly die once they need to be on a ventilator. 

An older woman, "Abuela", gives her a place to stay and makes meals for her from time to time. Abuela's son, Gabriel, gives her fruit & vegetables that he grows on his farm. Gabriel's daughter, Beatriz, is a young troubled teen, who Diana befriends. She falls in with this family, which makes her start rethinking her own life and her life decisions. Why is she in the business of selling art rather than making art herself? She loves Finn, but is their relationship as perfect as she thought it was? Does she want to be in New York or would she rather stay in the Galapagos? "I have always believed we are the architects of our own fates - it's why I so carefully planned my career steps and why Finn and I dreamed in tandem about our future. It's is also why I could blame my mother for choosing her career over me - because it was just that: a decision she made. I have never really subscribed to the mantra that things happen for a reason. Until, maybe, now." At one point, Diana thinks, "Finn has always been my anchor. The problem is that anchors don't just keep you from floating away. Sometimes, they drag you down."

I went into this story blind. I had no idea what it was about. Going in blind is the best way to read this book, so I tried to just give a rough overview of the story, which goes much deeper. I will say that the brain is an amazing organ of the human body - and this book really makes you think. So it's more "Jodi Picoult" than you might think when you first start reading.

Wendy's Rating: ****

Out of the Corner by Jennifer Grey

It was refreshing to read a memoir where there was no sexual abuse involved! Certainly Jennifer had other issues while living in the limelight, but I had almost decided to take a break from reading memoirs because of all the rampant abuse. Jennifer talks about her life with a famous father, Joel Grey of Broadway fame (best known for his appearances in Cabaret), and her actress mother, Jo Wilder, who gave up her career to raise her children and support her husband (who seemed incredibly needy of her attention for someone who ended up being gay.) One thing her parents did for her was to make her wait until she was older before becoming an actress. This doesn't mean she was a goody two-shoes until then though! Probably because of the environment she grew up in, she had no qualms about losing her virginity to someone rather random, smoking pot with her father, trying a variety of drugs & alcohol, and being a longtime cigarette smoker.

One thing I admired about her is the confidence she had in herself, her body, and her looks as she was growing up. She liked that she had a unique appearance who didn't look like anyone else. It was her mother who initially encouraged her to get a nose job, which she put off for quite awhile. Obviously, she pretty much rocketed to fame starring in Dirty Dancing, and shortly before that, being Matthew Broderick's grumpy sister in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Ironically, she struggled to find roles after her nose job. She also had some relationships that ended up not being in her best interest, first with Matthew Broderick (I have a totally different opinion of him now!) and then with Johnny Depp. I know they were all young and shooting up to stardom, but Jennifer definitely got sucked into men behaving badly. When she was done with them though, she was done, which was good.

When she got married and finally had a child at 40 years old, she pretty much dropped out of the limelight to raise her daughter. She said that it's too hard to be partially out and partially in of show business with new people keep coming up the ranks - and existing people all still fighting for roles. I was surprised that when she was offered Dirty Dancing, they auditioned quite a few male dancers for the role of Johnny Castle. She absolutely did not want Patrick Swayze because of some issues they had performing together in Red Dawn. Patrick asked to meet with Jennifer privately and pretty much begged her to give him another chance and apologized for his behavior on Red Dawn. Obviously, they chose Patrick Swayze (thank goodness!) and the rest is history. Another interesting thing about starring in Dirty Dancing is that Jennifer Grey only earned $50,000. Having read several memoirs about movie & TV stars now, it's so surprising that so many stars really don't have that much money - or at least consistently so.

Jennifer & Matthew Broderick were in a serious car accident in Ireland towards the end of their relationship. Jennifer suffered whiplash, which caused her to have significant pain for decades after that. She was reluctant to participate in Dancing With the Stars, but eventually did after undergoing surgery. She ended up winning the Mirror Ball trophy, which is pretty impressive, especially since she was 50 years old and still suffering from chronic pain. I thought this was an interesting read and I learned a few things. I have also watched Dirty Dancing again at least 5 times since finishing this book! :)

Wendy's Rating: ****

Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez

I've said this before, but romance is not my favorite genre by any means. I did enjoy the first book of this trilogy (Part of Your World series) however, so I decided to continue it. The banter between the two main characters, Briana & Jacob, is engaging and I love their senses of humor. Briana is the best friend of Alexis from the first book, Part of Your World. This story evolves around Briana & Jacob pretending they are dating so that Jacob's family won't look at him with pity in their eyes when he attends the wedding of his brother to Jacob's former long-term girlfriend, Amy. On top of his ex-girlfriend marrying his brother, Jacob also experiences severe social anxiety with people he doesn't know, and certainly when he's forced to be around a lot of people at once. Jacob meets Briana after he transfers to the hospital that Briana works at. They are both doctors. Jacob transfers to a new hospital to get away from Amy & his brother Jeremiah, who both work at the hospital Jacob just left. Lots of medical personnel in this book!

Meanwhile, Briana is going through a divorce. Her husband had fallen in love with Briana's friend and they had been carrying on an affair behind her back for the last two years. Briana is devastated by this betrayal. She already had trust issues since her father left when she was a child and her mother had raised her and her brother, Benny, as a single mother. So, her trust of men was pretty much non-existent at this point. She had no plans to ever fall in love or marry someone ever again. She simply wanted "friends with benefits". Another curveball in her life is that her brother was on dialysis and needed a new kidney, but he had a rare blood type and no one in the family or any of their friends tested could donate to him. So his mental health was suffering greatly and he wasn't taking care of himself. Briana had to force him to move in with her so she could take care of him and he could do dialysis at home with her oversight.

Of course we know what happens next because this is a romance novel. Jacob ends up being a perfect match for Benny and altruistically decides to donate one of his kidney's to him. Jacob falls in love with Briana while they are "pretending" to date. Briana falls in love with Jacob too. This is where they lose me for awhile. Briana drives me completely nuts with her ruminations. She is SO incredibly focused on Jacob still being in love with Amy, that she doesn't see all of the signs that he actually loves HER. She goes on and on and on about her love for Jacob while he loves Amy. But THEN, when Jacob FINALLY tells her that he loves her and not Amy, Briana leaves him anyway because she doesn't trust that he will stay with her forever. Good grief. Obviously I knew how it would all end, but reading through Briana's emotional baggage almost sent me over the edge. Maybe this is why I need to limit my books in this genre. 

Wendy's Rating: ****

The Record Keeper by Charles Martin

This is the third book of a series and my favorite book of the series. The ending is not what I would have wanted, but all things considered, it's what had to happen. This story focuses on Bones, his childhood, and his history with his twin brother, Frank. We find out that Bones & Frank were abandoned at birth, but adopted by a loving couple. When their lives are interrupted by death, the boys are sent to live at a Monastery run by priests. They were young children when they arrived at the Monastery. For the next several years they are sexually abused by many priests, kept in dark dungeons, transferred to different sites to be abused by different priests. When they finally escaped their horrible lives, Bones was happy to be free and Frank had kept a record of all the men who had harmed him. At this point, Frank is "The Record Keeper". Franks goal was revenge and retaliation while Bones had a new mission to save others who were victims of sex trafficking. We get to see why Bones chose Murphy to work with him on this mission and how hard he trained Murphy so that Murphy would be able to handle any situation.

Since Murphy nearly died at the end of The Letter Keeper, he wasn't ready to get back to work with Bones. He wanted to stay in Freetown with his wife (Summer) and daughter (Ellie). He wanted to heal, both inside and out. He considered dropping out of Bones' mission altogether. Then Bones shares his story with Murphy and they are back at it. What's different about this story is that Bones & Murphy need to figure out a way to take down Frank and his organization. Frank had become the powerful leader of a worldwide sex trafficking organization. He had the intelligence, the power, the money, and the surveillance equipment to watch every corner of the earth basically. He actually knew what was happening in Freetown and he was always one or more steps ahead of Bones & Murphy. When Frank started attacking Freetown, Murphy & Bones assembled a team of hackers to figure out how Frank had so much control.

The beginning of the end was when Frank took Bones and Murphy couldn't find him. Frank continuously beat and tortured Bones. Bones wouldn't give Frank what he wanted: his birth certificate. Frank wanted to know where he came from. Frank then turned to Murphy, saying he would release Bones after Murphy found his birth certificate. When Murphy finds Bones, he finally understands that it's actually Bones who is "The Record Keeper". The life that Bones chose to live after his own childhood trauma demonstrates that, "From the beginning of time, light has shone into the darkness, and since that first spark, darkness - no matter how hard it tried, no matter what sword it wields or scheme it perpetrates - has not been able to overcome it. Ever." Bones was the light; Frank was the darkness. Bones held the flashlight for all those he had rescued, so they could see beyond the darkness. "Bones kept a record of hope imprinted on his heart."

This book was emotional and heart wrenching. Bones truly walked in the steps of Jesus, following his lead and sharing his message.

Wendy's Rating: *****