Thursday, January 21, 2016

Patty Pick for 1/21/16 is "A Man called Ove" by Fredrik Backman!

Loved, Loved, Loved this book! I wasn't sure at first if I was going to like this book as much as the reviews suggested. It just kept pulling me in - page by page and word-by-word. The storyline of Ove and Sonja had me right from the start. As their story flows out through Ove's words, we see why they fell in love with each other. They make an unlikely pair, but sometimes that makes for a perfect match - just like in real life. 

I am so glad that I finished this book in the car (not driving) and not on the beach as I thought I would. I cried more in the last few chapters than while reading the entire book. I laughed, smiled, cried, and told my husband so many parts of this book, he probably thinks he has read it now himself. The time spent
was worth every page. 

I know Ove was a cranky old man, but he really was not that old. As we meet him, he 

is trying to kill himself so he can be reunited with his wife, Sonja. She was one of the few people he has ever loved in his life. He is interrupted at every turn by his new neighbors. The very day they move in, they manage to run over his mailbox with their car. Ove follows the rules and expects everyone else to also, so he works hard to impress that on his neighbors. They seem to have other plans for him though. As Ove is stymied at every opportunity to join Sonja, you will imagine the hilarious scenes in your head. Fredrik Backman has a style of writing that describes the feelings and thoughts of our older generation to a "T"!

This is one of the funniest, and most touching stories that I have read in a long time. We love Ove and he loves us - he just doesn't know it yet. This book has a 4.29 rating on Goodreads, but I gave it a 5.0! Don't miss this one!




Friday, January 15, 2016

#Readathon2016

#Readathon2016 is May 21,2016! 
Let's all celebrate reading by participating in some way! I will definitely be reading! 






Thursday, January 7, 2016

Blog Post for "In The Woods" by Tana French






I'm still trying to figure out how a person named French could write a 
novel based in Dublin, Ireland! Tana French is very familiar with the laws of her home country, Ireland, and she gives us a twisting, turning mystery that will keep you guessing which direction it is going to take you to the very end.

Cassie and Rob, two detectives from the Murder Squad, respond to the murder of a young girl in Knocknaree. They have a very close relationship with each other and that factors into the book as you 
go forward. Rob is very familiar with this section of Ireland as 
he grew up in the same area and experienced a life-changing event there in 
his youth. He and his two best friends, Peter & Jaime, disappeared one summer 
night into the woods and only Rob was found. No sign of Peter or Jaime ever turned up. 
This changed Rob's life forever and lead to him attending boarding school and changing his name. He could not remember any of the events that happened that night in the woods. Now twenty years later, another missing girl is found murdered. Rob suddenly starts 
remembering bit and pieces of his night in the woods as he and his best friend try to 
solve the murder.  

As partners, Cassie and Rob try to untangle the mystery, but Rob starts to unravel himself. From strange dreams to unknown memories, bits and pieces of that night show up in his mind and sleep. But are these real memories or someone's imagination to fit the current crime? The site is now an archaeological dig that is racing time to recover the artifacts there before a highway is built over top of the woods and all is destroyed. There 
are so many suspects to choose between but the real killer remains elusive. 

As Rob continues to fall apart at the seams at the seams, he is working closely with the 
elusive Cassida. With Cassie trying to help him, who needs any other murder suspects.  
This book with keep you guessing who is the real killer and what it going on in those 
woods? Is there a serial killer loose that has been laying low for twenty years? Is there 
something evil in the woods that punishes innocent children? You may still be guessing some of these answers after you finish.