She is Yours by Jonathan and Wynter Pitts

She Is Yours by Jonathan Pitts
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thanks to NetGalley for the free digital ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Check out all my book reviews at www.myliterary2cents.blogspot.com

My star rating system:
1 star – Awful! I couldn’t even read it.
2 stars – I only read part of it, couldn’t finish it.
3 stars – I read it all, and it was okay – not one of my favorites.
4 stars – I read it all and loved it!
5 stars – I read it all, loved it, and I would read it again!

I reviewed this book for the subject matter - raising a girl - but I enjoyed it for so much more! I loved Jonathan and Wynter Pitts' style of writing this book. Each chapter gives both mom and dad's point of view about raising girls. Jonathan and Wynter Pitts have 4 girls who are about a year apart (with one set of twins). They have lots of experiences to share with anyone who has a girl. I was also very interested to find to find out that their oldest daughter played on the Christian film, War Room.

The Pitts are truly remarkable parents and have a wealth of spiritual advice for those of us who are in the constant battleground of raising a girl ("for this child I prayed") for God. They give lots of scripture as well as practical advice on how to daily declare that "She is Yours" to the Lord.

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Buried Secrets by T.J. Breardon

Buried Secrets by T.J. Brearton
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Thanks to NetGalley for the free digital ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Check out all my book reviews at www.myliterary2cents.blogspot.com

My star rating system:
1 star – Awful! I couldn’t even read it.
2 stars – I only read part of it, couldn’t finish it.
3 stars – I read it all, and it was okay – not one of my favorites.
4 stars – I read it all and loved it!
5 stars – I read it all, loved it, and I would read it again!

Brett and his wife, Emily, are newlyweds who have recently acquired a farm house in rural New York from his wife's family. Soon before finding out that Emily is expecting their first child, Brett finds bones in his yard which he finds out are human bones. After calling the authorities, events escalate very quickly.

Simultaneously, Russo is an ex-con who has totally put crime behind him and is living a clean life with his loving wife and daughter. He is suddenly arrested for an outstanding warrant from several years in the past. While in prison, he meets another inmate who totally ruins any hope of his life being normal ever again.

The story goes very fast into the connection between the two characters and is action-packed until the end. It was an enjoyable read.

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The Faraway Brothers by Lauren Markham

The Far Away Brothers: Two Young Migrants and the Making of an American Life by Lauren Markham
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Thanks to NetGalley for the free digital ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Check out all my book reviews at www.myliterary2cents.blogspot.com

My star rating system:
1 star – Awful! I couldn’t even read it.
2 stars – I only read part of it, couldn’t finish it.
3 stars – I read it all, and it was okay – not one of my favorites.
4 stars – I read it all and loved it!
5 stars – I read it all, loved it, and I would read it again!

I would actually give this book a 3.5. I did really enjoy it. It wasn't one of those books that I just couldn't put down, so that's why I didn't give it a 4. There were parts that got a little redundant, and I skipped parts.

Author Lauren Markham was an administrator at a Californian school for newly arrived immigrants and also a journalist. She tells the story twin boys from El Salvador who immigrated to the US when they were 17. Ms. Markham goes into amazing detail about the Flores boys' families in El Salvador, their harrowing trip to the US, their experiences in US immigrant court, and their experience in an American school and culture.

When I saw that this book was available for review from NetGalley, I knew I had to read it. I read it after my first year as an ESL teacher. Several of my students were from El Salvador. I knew from my students that El Salvador was an extremely dangerous country, but reading this book gave me more insight into why these people feel the need to do almost anything in order to escape their country.

This book was written from the point of view of many would-be immigrants to the US shortly during and after the Trump election. It was very interesting to hear what people in theses countries felt about what they had heard about the president (and Americans in general) during this time.

This book is a must-read for anyone who works with immigrants, especially for those who work with immigrants from Mexico and Central America.


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Close to Me by Amanda Reynolds

Close To Me by Amanda Reynolds
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Thanks to NetGalley for the free digital ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Check out all my book reviews at www.myliterary2cents.blogspot.com

My star rating system:
1 star – Awful! I couldn’t even read it.
2 stars – I only read part of it, couldn’t finish it.
3 stars – I read it all, and it was okay – not one of my favorites.
4 stars – I read it all and loved it!
5 stars – I read it all, loved it, and I would read it again!

What if you couldn't remember the last year of your life? Jo woke up in a hospital room after a mysterious fall knowing who she was, recognizing her family, but not remembering the last year of her life. She could tell that something was different. She felt like her husband and children were keeping a secret from her. What awful things could have happened in this "lost year" of her life? On top of that, how did she fall and hit her head anyway?

The author, Amanda Reynolds, spins a very captivating and suspenseful story of Jo gradually gaining back bits of her memory from the "lost year". The books flip flops in time between days "after the fall" and months "before the fall". Eventually time catches up with itself and the reader finally finds out what everyone was trying to hide from Jo.

I loved the way the book was written in two different time periods. Sometimes this style of writing can be confusing for the reader, but I felt that in this case, the writing style actually kept the level of suspense increasing. I would have rated the book a little higher, but unfortunately it was a little bit disappointing at the end. Maybe it just didn't end like I would have liked it to, and that is not the fault of the author.


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From Hot Mess to Blessed by Julie Gillies

From Hot Mess to Blessed: Hope to Propel Your Soul and the Promises That Change Everything by Julie Gillies
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Thanks to NetGalley for the free digital ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Check out all my book reviews at www.myliterary2cents.blogspot.com

My star rating system:
1 star – Awful! I couldn’t even read it.
2 stars – I only read part of it, couldn’t finish it.
3 stars – I read it all, and it was okay – not one of my favorites.
4 stars – I read it all and loved it!
5 stars – I read it all, loved it, and I would read it again!

I would say that I would actually give this book about a 3.5 rating - it was somewhere between "not a favorite" and "loved it!". Author Julie Gillies gives a very candid look into her own childhood and marital "messes" to show the reader how God changed all of that into something good. My favorite part of this book was her real life stories and the power of God to change a situation from bad to good. In each chapter, Ms. Gillies gives us a little personal background, a Biblical story, and scripture. I used this book as a devotional book and was very pleased. I have already shared several quotes from this book that have been a blessing to others as well.

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Mrs. Saint and the Defectives by Julie Lawson Timmer

Mrs. Saint and the Defectives by Julie Lawson Timmer
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I got this book as a free Kindle edition from Amazon Prime's Kindle Firsts. Check out all my book reviews at www.myliterary2cents.blogspot.com

My star rating system:
1 star – Awful! I couldn’t even read it.
2 stars – I only read part of it, couldn’t finish it.
3 stars – I read it all, and it was okay – not one of my favorites.
4 stars – I read it all and loved it!
5 stars – I read it all, loved it, and I would read it again!

I enjoyed the first part of the book a lot. I felt extremely sorry for the mother in this story whose husband cheated on her and left her alone with a 14 yr old boy. When we meet Mrs. Saint, she was delightfully quirky and her French accent really gave her character. However, after about 1/2 through the book, there was too much mundane day to day business. It didn't seem like the book or characters were progressing. I skipped to the end of the book to see what happened, but didn't really feel like I missed anything by not reading most of the 2nd half of the book.

One interesting thing is that when I chose this book from the Kindle Firsts list, I thought the title was called "Mrs. Saint and the Detectives". I thought the people who worked for Mrs. Saint (the "defectives") were actually going to solve a mystery. It was several chapters into the book when I realized I had the title wrong in my mind!

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Paper Butterflies by Lisa Heathfield

Paper Butterflies by Lisa Heathfield
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thanks to NetGalley for the free digital ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Check out all my book reviews at www.myliterary2cents.blogspot.com

My star rating system:
1 star – Awful! I couldn’t even read it.
2 stars – I only read part of it, couldn’t finish it.
3 stars – I read it all, and it was okay – not one of my favorites.
4 stars – I read it all and loved it!
5 stars – I read it all, loved it, and I would read it again!

I absolutely loved and hated this book. I am pretty sure I cried, gasped, and laughed throughout this whole book. The main character, June, is a little girl who is abused physically and emotionally by her step mother and little step sister. Her dad and teachers have no idea about what is going on with her even though she has tried to tell them many times. Not only does she have a horrible life at home, but the other children at school bully her. Her one little beam of hope comes one birthday when her dad gives her a new bike. As she is out exploring one day, she meets her soon to be best friend, Blister. He is the only thing that gets her through her days.

The reader is taken on a sad journey of June's life up to her teenage years when the unthinkable happens! I am not going to reveal what happens, but I will just say that I did not see it coming.

This is a great book, but it is extremely sad. Don't read this book when you are not in a good state of mind.

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Dare to Remember by Susanna Beard

Dare to Remember by Susanna Beard
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Thanks to NetGalley for giving me an ARC digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Read more of my reviews at www.myliterary2cents.blogspot.com.

Dare to Remember is a story about a young lady who suffered a terrible tragedy that left her best friend dead, and herself an amnesiac. Her life comes back to her a little at a time, usually in nightmares.

I did not enjoy this book like I thought I would. The premise of the book is promising, but the story was not carried out very well. The 3rd person point of view is a little odd in this book. I feel like I really never got to know the main character very well.

The timeline is a little hard to follow as well. The story kept jumping back and forth between what was presently going on and flashbacks.

After about 20% into the book, nothing had really happened. I just couldn't justify spending any more time reading it.

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The Secret Lives of Introverts: Inside Our Hidden World by Jenn Granneman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Thanks to NetGalley for the free digital ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Check out all my book reviews at www.myliterary2cents.blogspot.com

Author Jenn Granneman gives a look at what life is like as an introvert. She explains the different types of introverts and provides a quiz for potential introverts to take. Through many polls and interviews, she shows us the common misconceptions that introverts face about their quiet lives. She explains a little of the science of what makes an introvert "tick". She even gives tips for people who are extroverts dealing with a introvert co worker, friend, or family member.

Notes about the author/writing style: The author's writing style was neither too complicated or too simple.

What I loved about the book: I enjoyed reading the comments from introverts that the author had interviewed. I especially loved how the author's main theme of the book was that introverts are not weird, shy, or somehow a lower human form - they just need space and alone time to recharge.

What I disliked about the book: Anytime I am so uninterested in a book that I "skim" over sections without reading it entirely, I give a book a 3 star rating. Most of the book was very interesting, but I feel like a lot of the information was redundant and I found myself just reading the headings in many chapters. I also didn't really need to read parts of the book that were directed towards unmarried people who are looking for companionship.

Who should read this book? All introverts need to read this book. Since there were lots of helpful hints for extroverts dealing with introverts, they should read this book too.


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