She Treads Softly

Time 2020-12-13 07:03:44

Web Name: She Treads Softly

WebSite: http://www.shetreadssoftly.com

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12/15/20; 352 pagesMIRA Books The Last to See Her by Courtney Evan Tate is a highly recommended psychological thriller.Gen is a romance writer who is getting a divorce from her cheating husband. Meg, her sister who is a doctor has a convention in NYC and invites Gen along so the two can have a girls weekend and celebrate Gen's freedom. After a dinner together when they both drank way-too-much, they return to the hotel and Gen decides to throw her wedding ring off the balcony and then takes a walk to get some fresh air. This is the last time Meg sees Gen. She falls asleep and when Meg wakes up, she realizes that Gen never returned. Meg finally gets the police to listen to her about Gen's disappearance, although naturally she is the main suspect. After the opening, chapters alternate between the past as told through Gen's point-of-view, and the present day investigation via Meg's point-of-view. Meg is frantically searching for Gen and trying to discover what happened to her as she has been told to stay in the city, while Gen's chapters begin to show some secrets and behavior that no one knew about. Some of Gen's chapters give a brief glimpse into her current situation. The investigation uncovers secrets and both sisters have hid things from each other and others. There is a whole lot more going on than is immediately apparent and some twists change the plot.Ultimately the sisters are well developed characters, but it does take the whole novel to reach that point. This makes them not quite as relatable or, eventually likeable. The twists, some of which are predictable, come fast and furious toward the end, which does make it a very compelling psychological thriller. You are going to want to get to the end to get the final picture of what happened as well as read what happened to all the characters. Your opinions about several of the characters will change drastically with additional information. The ending is a surprise. This is one of those novels that might now be totally believable, but the journey to get there is compelling and will hold your rapt attention. Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of MIRA BooksJack and Wynn have been best friends since they met at Dartmouth freshman orientation. The two have very different personalities and backgrounds, but they both love the outdoors, books, fly fishing, and canoeing. They have been looking forward to the late summer trip they have planned to canoe the Maskwa River in northern Canada. The two envisioned leisure days of paddling, fishing, and eating ripe wild berries. in the midst of their trip they discover a wildfire raging in the distance, but close enough that they need to be worried. They warn two men they encountered about the fire and later, when they heard a man and woman arguing through the fog, they decided to warn them too, but couldn't find them. The next day a man turns up, alone, saying his wife disappeared. Jack and Wynn decide to go back and look for the woman before the fire hits and this decision results in the two literally fighting for survival in the wilderness on the river, from the fire, for sustenance, and from homicidal vengeance.The River is a perfect tale of survival that will grip your attention as completely as any thriller. Once I started reading I could not set it down. This is an amazing survival tale combined with an in-depth character study. Jack and Wynn are dissimilar young men with almost opposite personalities who approach life very differently. As the novel unfolds, we learn more about their backgrounds and their personality traits. This divergence becomes more pronounced as the narrative continues and the two are facing one ordeal after another. They both have strengths and weaknesses in their individual approaches to life. The writing is absolutely exceptional in this accomplished tale of friendship, adventure, and adversity. Heller captures both of his characters, their experiences, the action, and the descriptions perfectly. His ability to portray the inner workings of his characters and then provide detailed descriptions of the wilderness, the river, the fire, is amazing. The pacing is impeccable. I simply can't say enough good things about The River. (It broke my heart a little when I didn't get a review copy of it and I'm disappointed in myself for not putting it on my reading schedule asap anyway.) Bird Box by Josh Malerman is a very highly recommended thrilling novel of an unseen terror.One glimpse of whatever is outside drives people map, resulting in deadly violence or suicide. No one knows what it is or where is came from. The only way to survive is to keep your eyes covered at all times. Malorie is a young pregnant woman who finds her way to a safe house of survivors. That was five years ago. Today is thee day that Malorie and her four year old Boy and Girl are going to leave the house and travel down river by boat to a safe community - all while blindfolded so they don't even glimpse whatever is out there. The children have been trained to sharpen their hearing. Perhaps that will help in their terrifying journey.The novel alters between chapter from five years earlier, when Malorie arrived at the house, which sharply contrast with the present day chapters of her trying to navigate a river while blindfolded. It is simply terrifying to know that the mere sight of something will cause the death of you and your children, but at the same time trying to travel twenty miles down a river blindfolded could result in the same thing. And then to hear something following you... Both time periods are fraught with almost unbearable tension that one small mistake could cause the death of everyone. I thought Malerman handled the character of Malorie perfectly. When death is literally at your door or over your should all the time, you don't focus on anything that doesn't help with survival. Everything is reduced to getting through one more day without mistakes. The narrative is pared down to the bare bones of the story, then and now, because the basics are all that matters. You know that Malorie will be giving birth during the before chapters because she is traveling down the river with Boy and Girl in the boat. And yes, she does not named them until the very end. I waited for a lull in review books to read this one and I wish I had picked it up sooner. I haven't seen the movie, but the novel is incredible. (It somehow seems appropriate to read this during a pandemic where many people are worried about an unseen virus killing them.) St. Martin's Publishing GroupTake It Back by Kia Abdullah is a highly recommended, thought provoking courtroom drama.Zara Kaleel gave up her career as a lawyer and now works as a victims advocate at a sexual assault center. Her legal background means she is astute and able to support and help victims beyond the ordinary. When Jodie Wolfe, a sixteen-year-old girl, comes into the center and accuses four boys of sexual assault, Zara is quick to assist her. However, this is no simple case. It is sure to be a hot topic and could cause an explosive situation in the community because Jodie was born with neurofibromatosiswhich results infacial deformities. She has been an outcast her whole life, even at home, while the boys accused are all English Muslims from East London. Zara herself is Muslim. In this one case issues of sex, race, class, and social justice collide and the media storm and outrage from both sides immediately begins.Once the novel takes off it is hard to know who to believe or if any of the teens involved are telling the whole truth. Abdullah does an excellent job presenting the case on both sides and all of the characters are portrayed as individuals, with strengths and weaknesses. The story told by all parties on both sides differs and the trial needs to uncover the truth. Cultural differences come into play too and you will wonder if Zara's own prejudices are influencing her. The frenzy caused by the media is captured perfectly. The chapters in the novel are narrated by multiple characters and cover events in the past as well as the current situation, helping to make all the characters well rounded individuals. The differences in cultural beliefs based on gender and snap judgments made by society clashed with Zara's beliefs and Jodie's background. Each new chapter added more information and made the case even more complex. It is a difficult novel to read, but it is well worth the effort. I was firmly going to give Take It Back my highest rating until the end. I've been vacillating back and forth over it. No spoilers here. I was shocked by the twist at the end, but I also thought that a good lawyer would have had many more questions rather than acceptance of last minute evidence and wanted to have it examined by a professional. And then the next twist left me feeling that the twists just didn't seem to fit in with the rest of an excellent novel in several different ways. It is definitely a novel worth reading and would make an excellent choice for book clubs. Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of St. Martin's Publishing Group. 10/21/14; 352 pagesCrown ArchetypeFood: A Love Story by Jim Gaffigan is a very highly recommended hilarious book about, well, loving food and a culinary tour, of sorts, across the USA. As Gaffigan points out: What are my qualifications to write this book? None really. So why should you read it? Here s why: I m a little fat. If a thin guy were to write about a love of food and eating I d highly recommend that you do not read his book." Cheeseburgers and bacon are high on the list, for obvious reasons, but that is a starting point for what Gaffigan loves. He makes it quite clear that he loves to eat, eats basically all the time, thinks about food constantly, and is ready to share his informed opinion about what he likes to eat across the USA. The Geography of American Food according to Gaffigan is: Seabugland; Eating BBQland; Super Bowl Sunday Foodland; Mexican Foodland; Wineland; Coffeeland; Food Anxietyland. He also makes it clear in a humorous way what he doesn't enjoy. "Ten years ago nobody ate kale. Then someone (probably a kale farmer or Satan) discovered that kale had some health benefits, and off kale went. Now we are in the middle of a full-fledged kale trend or, as I call it, a kale epidemic." Kale is just one of the foods that are a no-go for him and he is entertaining while he covers what he doesn't like as much as what he likes.This is my first Gaffigan book and I quite enjoyed the clean comedy, the inclusion of his wife and children in the stories, and that it is an entertaining lighthearted book about the foods he loves. Admittedly, I approached reading it with a bit of trepidation after recent not funny political comments from him, but this was written years before that and was great escapism during a trying time. I found myself laughing or chuckling throughout the whole book. I'm going to leave with two quotes: "There are some people who don t like ketchup. I think they are called losers." and something that needs to be made into one of those inspirational wall plaques, "I mostly eat ice cream at night in sweatpants, the uniform of ice cream eating." Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J. D. Vance6/28/16; 288 pagesHarperCollinsHillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J. D. Vance is a very highly recommended memoir about growing up in a poor-working class family."It would be years before I learned that no single book, or expert, or field could fully explain the problems of hillbillies in modern America. Our elegy is a sociological one, yes, but it is also about psychology and community and culture and faith."(pg 144) This is a personal memoir about about a growing up in a poor working class family who originally came from Kentucky s Appalachia region and moved to Middletown, Ohio with the hopes of bettering their lives. What they found out is that it is hard to escape from the background of abuse, alcoholism, poverty, and trauma and that one generation tends to inflict this same treatment on the next. What they also had was love, strength, and support through their whole extended family. Vance tells his life's story, the trauma, the struggles with a drug addicted mother, how his grandparents provided a safe and secure place for him, his decision to join the Marines, and his eventual graduation from Yale Law School. Vance is still effected by his chaotic upbringing, as would anyone who experienced an upbringing similar to it. He and his sister Lindsay were subjected to "adverse childhood experiences," or ACEs, daily and the consequences of their childhood reach into adulthood.Hillbilly Elegy is an honest look at his family, their struggles, and his personal analysis of the issues facing them and others like them. At this point Hillbilly Elegy has polarized opinions from people, pro and con, many of which are basing their feelings on their political opinions and matters outside of the book. I'm reviewing the book, and it is an excellent memoir, bluntly honest, discerning, troubling, moving, and even provides a modicum of hope. The attitudes he sees afflicting those in Middletown can actually also be seen in other groups of young people who haven't had to deal with the same hopelessness or struggles. I don't know the answer, but I've seen first hand young people who take their jobs seriously and work hard, but at the same time I've also seen those who refuse to work and blame their eventual job loss, etc. on others rather than their own attitude. In answering the question Vance asks, "How much of our lives, good and bad, should we credit to our personal decisions, and how much is just the inheritance of our culture, our families..." I would tend toward the idea that people need to take personal responsibility, but I know that is easier said than done. On the other hand, while people are dismissing the book based on politics, I also know first hand that coastal elites do look down on the rest of the country. Vance may have actually tapped into a larger concern that faces other groups as well as the hillbillies.12/1/20; 352 pagesBookoutureThe Tinderbox by Laura Elliot is a recommended psychological thriller.Sophy and Luke's marriage is over due to his gambling problem. The two have separated and Luke has went to a treatment center. Sophie has sold her business and is selling their house in order to pay off his debts. In order to provide a home for her two daughters, 14 year-old Isobel and younger daughter Julie, Sophie has accepted the position as a live-in nurse for Jack Hyland. Jack was horrible burned and disfigured in a fire and will need help and assistance in his recovery. Sophie and her daughters will be living on the main floor of his home, Hyland Hall. When they arrive, the three are shocked to see the home is is such disrepair, but Isobel is the only one openly complaining. When Jack's nephew, Victor, who lives next door shows up, it becomes clear that he wasn't told about Sophy's job and that Jack and Victor are not as close as Victor claims. Victor, however, sets out to charm Sophy and the girls.The narrative unfolds in alternating chapters through the point of view of Sophie or Isobel. We become well acquainted with these two characters and their thoughts. Sophy feels that this position is a life saver as it provides a home for her and the girls. Isobel calls the upstairs the Fear Zone and finds the whole house creepy. She really starts out as a rather immature, bratty character, but you know from the opening of the novel that a teenage girl will be calling the Garda (police in Ireland) to say her life is in danger, so you know something is going to go terribly wrong. The pace starts out slow after this opening hook but eventually picks up later in the novel. The suspense is in following the action to reach the point where the phone call is made. The main problem is that the whole plot is so terribly predictable. It partially follows a sort of Gothic plot outline, where there are unknown threatening elements, a crumbling ancestral home, a sequestered disfigured owner, a charming relative, and an ominous sense of foreboding danger. It doesn't help that the younger daughter, Julie, is attached to a child-size mannequin, treats it like a real person, and is trying to practice ventriloquism with her. Victor seems smarmy and untrustworthy from the start, making you doubt Sophie's intelligence when she responds to his advances. Yes, The Tinderbox is worth reading, but I knew where it was going almost right from the start so there wasn't a whole lot of suspense for me.Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of BookoutureCopyrightAll posts at She Treads Softly are the property of Lori N. Lutes. Any use of original material posted here, whether in full or in part, must be properly attributed. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.How I Review Please read this first if you are interested in offering me a review copy of a book. very highly recommended: highly recommended recommended so-so not recommended did not finish A "stuck overnight at the airport book" means this book will keep you up, awake, and entertained with minimum trips to find coffee or a distraction. An "airplane book" rating means it is an engaging book that will hold your attention but you won't cry if you lose it or misplace it. 1. Try to understand what the author wished to do, and do not blame him for not achieving what he did not attempt.2. Give him enough direct quotation--at least one extended passage--of the book's prose so the review's reader can form his own impression, can get his own taste.3. Confirm your description of the book with quotation from the book, if only phrase-long, rather than proceeding by fuzzy precis.4. Go easy on plot summary, and do not give away the ending. 5. If the book is judged deficient, cite a successful example along the same lines, from the author's oeuvre or elsewhere. Try to understand the failure. Sure it's his and not yours?To these concrete five might be added a vaguer sixth, having to do with maintaining a chemical purity in the reaction between product and appraiser.....Review the book, not the reputation.... Better to praise and share than blame and ban. The communion between reviewer and his public is based upon the presumption of certain possible joys in reading, and all our discriminations should curve toward that end. The story itself, the true story, is the one that the audience members create in their minds, guided and shaped by my text, but then transformed, elucidated, expanded, edited, and clarified by their own experience, their own desires, their own hopes and fears. Orson Scott Card, in introduction to Ender's Game, pg. xxvHad I the heavens' embroidered cloths,Enwrought with golden and silver light,The blue and the dim and the dark clothsOf night and light and the half-light,I would spread the cloths under your feet:But I, being poor, have only my dreams;I have spread my dreams under your feet;Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.W. B. Yeats

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