The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

I was absolutely thrilled when I heard that there was a prequel to the Hunger Games, my favorite trilogy of all time. I wasn't even worried about not liking it after finding out it was about the future President Snow. I love delving into people's backgrounds to see why they turned out the way they did. Coriolanus Snow was only 18 years old at the beginning of this story. He lived in the Capitol. The Snows were a prestigious family in the Capitol, although they had fallen on hard times financially, which Coriolanus tried to keep secret. This was the year of the 10th Hunger Games. Select students were going to be chosen to mentor the children at the Games. It was interesting to read how undeveloped the Games were. It was nothing like what Katniss & Peeta experienced. That alone was fascinating to me. Some of the later developments evolved from early ideas suggested by Snow and his classmates.

Snow was "lucky" enough to be chosen as a mentor, but he was assigned the female tribute of District 12. This upset him greatly because District 12 was the lowest of the low, as we know. But as luck would have it, his tribute Lucy Gray had an electric personality. She was an entertainer (the exact opposite of Katniss!) and could really engage those watching her. Coriolanus falls in love with her, and she loved him too it seemed, but for obvious reasons it would be very difficult for them to be together. Coriolanus and Lucy Gray "put on a show" for the people watching the Games similar to Katniss and Peeta. (Although we find out that not many people in the districts even watched the Games back then. The Capitol had to make it mandatory viewing, basically.) Snow actually came up with the idea of people in the Capitol sending "gifts" to the tributes they liked. These early tributes were not taken care of. They were held in a cage and pretty much starved. Many of these tributes died before they even reached the arena designated for the Games. Again, it was interesting how different the Games were in this story.

Snow needs Lucy Gray to win the Games so that he can win a spot (basically a scholarship) to study at the University. Since he had no money, the only way he could continue his education was for his tribute to win the Hunger Games. He also wanted her to win because he loved her and didn't want her to die. He "helped" her win, and his assistance was discovered. He was sent to District 12 to train as a Peacemaker instead of winning the University placement. Snow actually took this better than I thought he would, mostly because he was going to Lucy Gray's district. But even his stint as a Peacemaker was different than it seemed.

Lucy Gray was a singer in the Covey, who happened to live in District 12. She was technically not a "part" of District 12. Lucy sings ballads throughout this story, which reveals some of her personal history. "Lucy Gray" was a William Wordsworth poem written in 1799. What happens to Lucy Gray of this story is unknown. She disappears. In the poem "Lucy Gray" she is a child who dies but still roams the earth because of her connection with nature. I am not actually sure what happened between Lucy Gray and Coriolanus at the end of this story. Seriously. Did she betray him? Did she die? Did she run away? I'm not sure this ambiguity will be cleared up, even if Suzanne Collins decides to write another book about Coriolanus Snow. Bummer. :( In my opinion there is A LOT more story between Snow's teenage years and Katniss' years in the Hunger Games. I sure hope Collins decides to add more to this story.

Wendy's Rating: *****

The Seven Sisters by Lucinda Riley

This is a wonderful story! I was completely intrigued by both storylines, one set in 2007 and the other in the late 1920's. Maia lives in Switzerland, where she was raised with her five sisters, by her adoptive father ("Pa Salt") and her primary caregiver, Marina ("Ma"). She is the oldest sister, but the only one that still lives at their homestead, called Atlantis. She had fallen in love 14 years previously when she was away at school, but was basically "discarded" by her love and she returned home, afraid to venture out of her comfort zone again. 

Pa Salt had adopted each of his daughters, but none of them knew anything about their birth parents or birthplace. Pa Salt's death brings the sisters back to Atlantis and in his will, he leaves each of the girls a clue about where they came from, should they choose to pursue their individual quests to discover the truth about their past. Maia chooses to do this and leaves Atlantis to travel to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She is a translator and she had just translated a book for a Brazilian author into French. She decides that she could meet with the author while in Brazil trying to find information about her birth parents. Floriano ends up being very useful, as a tour guide, driver and research assistant. Of course it doesn't hurt that he is gorgeous and kind and falls in love with her. ;)

Maia's discoveries lead her to the story of her great grandmother, Izabela, who was the only daughter of a self-made millionaire who made his money (initially) with Brazilian coffee beans. Izabela's family has the money, but they were "outsiders". Izabela's father wanted his beautiful daughter to marry into the aristocracy. Enter Gustavo Aires Cabral. The Aires Cabral family had fallen on hard times financially, but Gustavo had the pedigree to introduce Izabela's family into high society. So, an arranged marriage was made, at least for Maia. Gustavo actually loved Maia. Maia was loyal to her parents and would do whatever she needed to do to support them. Thanks to her best friend Maria Elisa da Silva Costa however, she gets invited to join Maria Elisa's family when they travel to Europe. Gustavo wants Maia to fall in love with him and he suggests that she go to Europe with the da Silva Costa family and then when she returns, they will marry.

This trip to Europe, specifically Paris, changes Maia's life forever. She falls in love with a sculptor and has to choose to either stay in Paris with him (Laurent), who is a talented, but poor artist, or return to Rio de Janeiro and marry Gustavo and secure her family's place in Brazilian society.

This is a very brief summary of this story! There is a lot of depth in each character and many details about the art world, the financial world and of course personal emotions involved in the telling of the lives of these two women. I didn't want the book to end! Although some questions are answered about Maia's birth family, some were left unaddressed. The next book in this series is about one of the other sisters, but I hope somewhere in the next six books I get the answers to my remaining questions. It will be difficult for me to switch gears to read about another sister, but I have already ordered the next book.

Wendy's Rating: *****

This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger

I have always loved this author. He brings Native American culture into his stories, no matter what the time period is, which is interesting. Usually his stories are set in Minnesota, but I liked that he ventured farther afield in this book. Odie reminded me of Huckleberry Finn, which I believe was the author's intention. Instead of going down a river on a raft with a black man though, Odie takes to the Minnesota River, and then the Mississippi River, in a canoe with a mute Souix Indian teenager (Mose), Odie's older brother (Albert) and a young girl (Emmy) that they rescued from the Indian School they all lived at. These four kids were certainly resourceful. They each had different skills which helped them on their journey.

Mose was strong and an extremely hard worker. Albert was a genius when it came to machines/engineering. Odie was a quick thinker and was able to talk his way in and out of difficult situations. (He was a talented liar too.) Emmy's special gift was fascinating. I didn't understand at first why no one thought her "fits" were epileptic seizures. From the very beginning though I wondered why she always seemed to have a "message" to share with others after her "fit". I also wondered why she seemed to know who was dangerous and who could be trusted. She told Odie to hide two $5 bills in his boot very early on, and yet he actually didn't need to use them until nearly the end of their journey. The only reason why I trusted Sister Eve is because Emmy did! Otherwise I would have figured her for a fraud and worried about them being in danger the entire time they were with her.

I wasn't sure how four children could escape being sent to live in a Children's Home - or sent back to the Indian School - or sent to live in an Orphanage, once they were finally "caught" in St. Louis. But I guess the 1930's were definitely different times. Children were treated as adults by the time they were 14 years old back then! At the end, the only thing I questioned is Emmy being allowed to stay with Sister Eve. They are not related at all, and Emmy was so young. It seemed like she got to choose who she lived with, which is odd even for 1932. No social worker check-ins back then! I didn't think that Odie should be held responsible for the death of DiMarco, so I'm glad that he wasn't. Good riddance to a horrible man. I did wonder about Odie shooting Jack though. I guess we need to thank Emmy for getting Odie out of that mess. I was really glad that Jack didn't kill his wife, daughter and best friend! I was worried about those fresher graves on his property! (Along with his anger management issues of course).

I had no idea how this book would end! I was surprised by Odie's parentage for sure. (That was the biggest "reveal" of the story.) The four of them each seemed to know what was best for themselves though and their decisions seemed realistic based on their age/talents. (And Emmy needed Sister Eve to guide her with her special gift).

I will continue to read whatever this author writes!

Wendy's Rating: *****

Summer of '69 by Elin Hilderbrand

For whatever reason, I had a hard time getting into this book initially. I like "beach reads" and I like this author, but some of the characters annoyed me! I should have given them more time for "growth" before condemning their character(s) though I guess. ;) 

I completely understand how awful it would be for your son to go to Vietnam, but Kate just seemed over-the-top. She was disregarding her husband and the rest of her family, and totally absorbed with trying to get her son home. Her drinking was out of control, to the point that her husband refused to come visit her on Nantucket for awhile. Of course her son wanted to go to Vietnam, but she didn't seem to care about that. And then her anger towards Bill Crimmins seemed so unwarranted. I can't imagine it would be normal to have enough sway with the military to send a man home to America simply because his mother wanted it! Seriously.

And then Blair irritated me because all she could do was complain about being pregnant. She chose to marry her former boyfriend's brother (Angus), and then whined about everything. It's normal to feel neglected when you change your life for your husband and then he is too busy at work to be supportive. I understand that. But it just seems like Blair was about Blair and no one else. I actually liked when she realized that Joey (Angus' brother) didn't actually have some profound love for her; he just wanted to get back at his brother for marrying his girlfriend. That was a wake-up call that Blair needed. I didn't think that Angus was having an affair with Trixie. If Angus had just communicated with Blair in the first place, it would have saved Blair a lot of anguish. I did feel bad for her about that.

Kirby seemed like an intelligent, spirited young woman of the times. I thought she was brave to go to Martha's Vineyard on her own; find a place to live; find a place to work; continue her activism; date a black man; stand up to her friend's abusive boyfriend. Even her disillusionment with Ted Kennedy seemed to signal a mature young woman who thinks for herself.

Jessie went through the growing pains of becoming a teenager: falling "in love" with someone older than her and being devastated when he introduces his new girlfriend; getting her first bra; learning a deep, dark secret from her mother and then deciding on her own to not share it with anyone else out of respect for everyone else, including her own father; reporting the tennis instructor's inappropriate touching; fighting for her Jewish heritage; apologizing to her grandmother for stealing. 

In the end, the family reunites on Nantucket, except for Tiger who is still in Vietnam and loving the military. There actually is a lot of growth in both Kate and Blair by the end of the book. Despite the slow start (for me), I liked the book a lot once some of the characters realized that the world does not revolve around them!

Wendy's Rating: ****

Norwegian by Night by Derek B. Miller

This isn't my kind of book. I had a difficult time maintaining interest in the beginning; in the middle, I spent my time dreading what was going to potentially happen (I was right!); and the end....well, it was ambiguous at best. It reminded me of No Country of Old Men, which I realize was a hugely popular book and movie, but I didn't care for it.

Sheldon Horowitz (aka "Donny") is an elderly man who moves to Norway to live with his granddaughter, Rhea, and her Norwegian husband, Lars. His only child, a son (father to Rhea) is dead (in the Vietnam War) and his wife has recently passed away. So Rhea & Lars are the only family members he has left. He suffers from dementia and no one seems to know who is really was in his past. Was he a sniper in the Korean War, or was he a clerk?

Sheldon witnesses the murder of a woman in Rhea & Lars' apartment. He is hiding in the closet with the woman's young son ("Paul"), who doesn't speak English or Norwegian or apparently German. The woman and her son live in the upstairs apartment and the man who murdered her is the father of the boy, who is a product of rape by the man in their own war-torn country. Basically, the man, Enver, wants his son and he plans to return with him to their own country.

Sheldon takes "Paul" and runs for his safety. Sheldon then pretty much becomes "Donny" again, the sniper he was in the Korean War. He "talks" to his dead buddies; he talks a lot about being Jewish; he makes a plan to save Paul, Rhea & Lars. There are two police officers, Sigrid and Petter, who are also trying to find and save the boy.

That's the premise of the book. The jacket cover states that this book is, "A luminous novel, a police thriller, and the funniest book about war crimes and dementia you are likely to read." Really?? I guess I have a completely different sense of humor then. And it's definitely NOT what I would call a "police thriller". I am rating it a tad higher than I want only because it was well-written.

Wendy's Rating: ***1/2

Martyred by Alisha Perkins

Yikes. I could hardly read this book. I forced myself again and again to pick it up and finish it. No book left behind and all that.... ;) At one point I looked to see if it was self-published because I couldn't believe that a company would publish it. But nope, it was indeed published by Eliezer Tristan Publishing. A friend, perhaps?

Anyway. The whole thing was ridiculous. These three women were full of themselves. All three were wealthy, beautiful and intelligent and yet they woke up every single day throwing themselves a pity party. It was pathetic. Oh poor me. They were also hypocritical. It drove me nuts. Eliza lives on a farm and has a wonderful husband who respects her and supports her. She has two wonderful daughters. Her husband owns a baseball team. He is loving and faithful. You can see why Eliza would be so unhappy, right? Then Camille, who is the anchor on a major news network. She is the star of the show. She is beautiful and well-respected. She is going places. Her husband doesn't want to have sex anymore and seems disinterested in her and their marriage. Camille, have you thought about ASKING him what's wrong?? Have you thought about having a discussion about your feelings and your marriage?? Of course not. He doesn't want to have sex, so you MUST get divorced. Finally, there is Vera. Vera is....wait for it....successful & wealthy & beautiful. She is lesbian with a beautiful loving girlfriend. But her girlfriend wants to have a child and Vera doesn't. So, their relationship if over for Vera. Plus, she discovers that she has "fallen out of love". This is what is wrong with the world today! Oh, it's too hard, so I am going to quit. Seriously.

Aside from the annoying characters, the writing was cliched to no end. The cliches just went on and on and on. And it was repetitive. Foreshadowing? Sure. Let's hear 8 times how much Eliza hates germs and brings her own high quality sheets whenever she stays in a hotel because of the nastiness of hotels rooms, even a Penthouse Suite. Blah, blah, blah. Having her own sheets comes in handy at the end of the book. Wink, wink. They attend this big event at a big, expensive hotel and they all get totally wasted. They would have to be wasted because of the amount of alcohol consumed in a 18 hour period! Bottles & bottles of champagne, shots, drinks, sips, gulps. Honestly. It was insane. Then there is the reckless flirtation to "get ahead". Really?? Isn't this what these woman are "protesting about" - being used and abused and being held back by men??

Oh, and the BIG EVENT of this chaos of a story. Are you serious?? Feeling proud about killing a man and feeding him to the pigs and getting away with it? I just can't..... It's so beyond ridiculous. This is the worst book I have read in a really long time.

So, after forcing myself to finish the book, I read the Acknowledgements. Just because I always do. It came as NO surprise that Alisha's first sentence is, "I never went to school for writing." Well, there you have it.

Wendy's Rating: *

All We Ever Wanted by Emily Giffin

Never in my life have I played into the "boys will be boys" mantra. Not before I had three sons, and certainly not after I had them. I am all about human decency and kindness. In this story, Nina's son, Finch (named after Atticus Finch) is accused of taking a disturbing picture of Lyla, a classmate at the prestigious Windsor Academy. Finch is wealthy; Lyla, being raised by her single father, is there on a scholarship. Lyla is passed out in the picture, laying on Finch's best friend Beau's bed. Her breast is exposed and she is holding a green Uno card. ("Green card") Lyla's mother is Brazilian. The picture is sent to Finch & Beau's friends via Snapchat. And then of course, everyone else sees it, including all the parents involved.

What is interesting is all of the different reactions. Kirk, Finch's dad, was mostly concerned how this act may affect Finch's recent acceptance to Princeton. Nina was appalled because of the act itself. "You took a photo of a half-naked girl who was passed out, and then made a racist joke about her." Finch doesn't think it's that big of deal and stated that he didn't even think Lyla would be mad about it. Lyla begged her dad, Tom, to just let it go. Basically, "this happens all the time to people" so don't make a big deal of it please. Tom was furious about the picture and reported it to the headmaster at Windsor Academy. The Academy has a Honor Code that the students are expected to follow.

One complication is that Lyla has always had a crush on Finch. Finch decides to use this to his advantage. Then Finch throws his girlfriend Polly under the bus, so to speak, and reports that Polly took the picture because she was jealous. As things unfold, Nina questions Kirk & Finch's characters and her relationship with Kirk. She realizes that her husband is not an honorable man and she has "allowed" her son to become just like his father.

We find out what happens to everyone in an Epilogue written by Lyla, ten years after the actual event happened. No one actually "changes" from the experience. The honorable are still honorable. The less honorable are still waiting for karma to strike them. Lyla, Nina & Tom are the true "success stories" in this book because they do the right thing, no matter the cost. Finch is the only question mark. He seems to finally be truly sorry at the end, but we don't really know what he is sorry about.....

Wendy's Rating: ****