As an avid reader of fiction (and an author who one day hopes to make the list) I LOVE-LOVE-LOVE checking out the New York Times Best Seller list. So, here it is… The independently ranked top 10 Young Adult selections for January 2020!
If you’ve read any of the TOP 10 selections and recommend them, please comment below and let me know. If you see something you like and plan to pick up a copy, you can do so by clicking on the cover image, the title or the [BUY IT HERE] button.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
When you purchase a book using a link on this site, I earn an affiliate commission.All commission earnings go back into funding my books; editing, cover design, etc.
As an avid reader of fiction (and an author who one day hopes to make the list) I LOVE-LOVE-LOVE checking out the New York Times Best Seller list. So, here it is… The independently ranked top 10 Fiction selections for January 2020!
If you’ve read any of the TOP 10 selections and recommend them, please comment below and let me know. If you see something you like and plan to pick up a copy, you can do so by clicking on the cover image, the title or the [BUY IT HERE] button.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Winner of the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for fiction. Nine people drawn to trees for different reasons fight for the last of the remaining acres of virgin forest.
When you purchase a book using a link on this site, I earn an affiliate commission.All commission earnings go back into funding my books; editing, cover design, etc.
As an avid reader of fiction (and an author who one day hopes to make the list) I LOVE-LOVE-LOVE checking out the New York Times Best Seller list. So, here it is… The independently ranked top 10 Fiction selections for December 2019!
If you’ve read any of the TOP 10 selections and recommend them, please comment below and let me know. If you see something you like and plan to pick up a copy, you can do so by clicking on the cover image, the title or the [BUY IT HERE] button.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
When you purchase a book using a link on this site, I earn an affiliate commission.All commission earnings go back into funding my books; editing, cover design, etc.
As an avid reader of fiction (and an author who one day hopes to make the list) I LOVE-LOVE-LOVE checking out the New York Times Best Seller list. So, here it is… The independently ranked top 10 Fiction selections for December 2019!
If you’ve read any of the TOP 10 selections and recommend them, please comment below and let me know. If you see something you like and plan to pick up a copy, you can do so by clicking on the cover image, the title or the [BUY IT HERE] button.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
In a follow-up to the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “Olive Kitteridge,” new relationships, including a second marriage, are encountered in a seaside town in Maine.
Children with special talents are abducted and sequestered in an institution where the sinister staff seeks to extract their gifts through harsh methods.
When you purchase a book using a link on this site, I earn an affiliate commission.All commission earnings go back into funding my books; editing, cover design, etc.
As an avid reader (and an author who one day hopes to make the list) I LOVE-LOVE-LOVE checking out the New York Times Best Seller list. So, here it is… The independently ranked top 10 Young Adult selections for November 2019!
If you’ve read any of the TOP 10 selections and recommend them, please comment below and let me know. If you see something you like and plan to pick up a copy, you can do so by clicking on the title, the cover image, or the [BUY IT HERE] button.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
…A gun. That’s what fifteen-year-old Will has shoved in the back waistband of his jeans. See, his brother Shawn was just murdered. And Will knows the rules. No crying. No snitching. Revenge.
Justyce McAllister is a good kid, an honor student, and always there to help a friend—but none of that matters to the police officer who just put him in handcuffs. Despite leaving his rough neighborhood behind, he can’t escape the scorn of his former peers or the ridicule of his new classmates.
Berlin, 1942: When Bruno returns home from school one day, he discovers that his belongings are being packed in crates. His father has received a promotion and the family must move to a new house far, far away, where there is no one to play with and nothing to do. A tall fence stretches as far as the eye can see and cuts him off from the strange people in the distance.
Perfect Mexican daughters do not go away to college. And they do not move out of their parents’ house after high school graduation. Perfect Mexican daughters never abandon their family.
Aza Holmes never intended to pursuethe disappearance of fugitive billionaire Russell Pickett, but there’s a hundred-thousand-dollar reward at stake and her Best and Most Fearless Friend, Daisy, is eager to investigate.
This fall, six new students are joining the junior class at the elite Darkwood Academy. But they aren’t your regular over-achieving teens. They’re DNA duplicates, and these “similars” are joining the class alongside their originals.
Determined to take his future into his own hands, Junior leaves his troubled school on the rez to attend an all-white farm town high school where the only other Indian is the school mascot.
When you purchase a book using a link on this site, I earn an affiliate commission.All commission earnings go back into funding my books; editing, cover design, etc.
As an avid reader of fiction (and an author who one day hopes to make the list) I LOVE-LOVE-LOVE checking out the New York Times Best Seller list. So, here it is… The independently ranked top 10 Fiction selections for November 2019!
row of books and a cup of coffee
If you’ve read any of the TOP 10 selections and recommend them, please comment below and let me know. If you see something you like and plan to pick up a copy, you can do so by clicking on the title, the cover image, or the [BUY IT HERE] button.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Years after the events of “Call Me by Your Name,” Elio has become a classically trained pianist in Paris while Oliver is a New England college professor with a family.
Children with special talents are abducted and sequestered in an institution where the sinister staff seeks to extract their gifts through harsh methods.
When you purchase a book using a link on this site, I earn an affiliate commission.All commission earnings go back into funding my books; editing, cover design, etc.
THE BLOCKBUSTER HIT—Over two million copies sold! A New York Times, USA Today,Wall Street Journal, and Publishers Weekly Bestseller
“Poignant, engrossing.”—People • “Lisa Wingate takes an almost unthinkable chapter in our nation’s history and weaves a tale of enduring power.”—Paula McLain Memphis, 1939. Twelve-year-old Rill Foss and her four younger siblings live a magical life aboard their family’s Mississippi River shantyboat. But when their father must rush their mother to the hospital one stormy night, Rill is left in charge—until strangers arrive in force. Wrenched from all that is familiar and thrown into a Tennessee Children’s Home Society orphanage, the Foss children are assured that they will soon be returned to their parents—but they quickly realize the dark truth. At the mercy of the facility’s cruel director, Rill fights to keep her sisters and brother together in a world of danger and uncertainty.
Aiken, South Carolina, present day. Born into wealth and privilege, Avery Stafford seems to have it all: a successful career as a federal prosecutor, a handsome fiancé, and a lavish wedding on the horizon. But when Avery returns home to help her father weather a health crisis, a chance encounter leaves her with uncomfortable questions and compels her to take a journey through her family’s long-hidden history, on a path that will ultimately lead either to devastation or to redemption.
Based on one of America’s most notorious real-life scandals—in which Georgia Tann, director of a Memphis-based adoption organization, kidnapped and sold poor children to wealthy families all over the country—Lisa Wingate’s riveting, wrenching, and ultimately uplifting tale reminds us how, even though the paths we take can lead to many places, the heart never forgets where we belong.
Publishers Weekly’s #3 Longest-Running Bestseller of 2017 • Winner of the Southern Book Prize • If All Arkansas Read the Same Book Selection
“Sure to be one of the most compelling books you pick up this year. . . . Wingate is a master-storyteller, and you’ll find yourself pulled along as she reveals the wake of terror and heartache that is Georgia Tann’s legacy.”—Parade
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
MY 2 CENTS / THE
CRITICAL POINTS:
I didn’t know
anything about this book when I started reading it. It was a book club selection,
so I didn’t need to read the back – I knew I was going to read it. I had a
feeling it was going to be emotional, and it was. It isn’t the typical genre I
like reading, but I am so glad I read it. It has opened my eyes to a piece of U.S.
history that I never knew about. Not all history is good, in fact most isn’t, this
included. Yet, not knowing, doesn’t make it any better. The families that supported
and participated in this “legalized” child trading should be ashamed of
themselves. It was disgusting and unforgivable. No child should have to suffer
the way these kids did. No child should be ripped away from their family for no
reason. There is a difference between children being put into the system when
there is abuse, drug use, or the families are just unable to care for the
children properly. But to have a child kidnapped off their front porch or sold
into the system, its not right.
WRITING (★★★★):
Lisa Wingate’s writing style is simple and elegant storytelling. The pages are painted with descriptive text that make you feel like you’re there in the world she’s seeing in her mind. Talk of magnolias smelling like freedom, children wrapped in bedsheets like caterpillars, and the way the boat moans beneath their feet…all of it allows you to hear, smell, even taste exactly what the characters are experiencing.
STORY (★★★★):
This book tells two stories, the first centers around Rill Foss and her siblings and the second centers around Avery Stafford a woman who comes from a well-known political family. The stories take place about 70 years apart, but are weaved into each other for the purposes of the novel. The first story, that of Rill Foss and her siblings, covers their time and experiences within the Tennessee Home for Children, and is both intriguing and devastating. The second story, that of Avery Stafford and the Stafford family as Avery is digging up her grandmother’s history and past secrets was a little less intriguing. In fact, at times, it was quite boring.
The Tennessee Home for Children portion of the story takes the unthinkable facts, based on the recounted stories told by children who survived the Tennessee Children’s Homes Society orphanage and who later were able to locate their lost family members after the documents were unsealed in 1995, 45 years after the home was closed. Lisa Wingate has created a family of believable siblings, using an all to likely storyline, caught up in this terrible scheme of child trafficking. It is heart-breaking and takes you on an emotional rollercoaster. When you consider these things actually happened, and may still be happening in some areas of the world, it is sickening.
As a mother, this was a rather hard book to
read. The subject matter is disturbing and unforgettable. I kept picturing my
children going through what Rill and her siblings when through and it made me
sick. Having a story like this be based on something that really happened makes
it all the much worse. That being said, I felt like it was extremely well-written
and hard to put down. I needed to get to the end. I needed to find out if
everything worked out for them in the end, even though I knew that for many of
the children in the care of the Tennessee Home for Children, things didn’t work
out well.
CHARACTERS (★★★★):
Character development is one of Lisa Wingate’s strongest tools. She weaves two stories; then and now, into this book and the only thing holding them together is the strong characters she has created. Rill Foss (aka May Crandall) and her siblings has such a tight bond that the entire book your hoping and praying that there will be a happy ending and everyone will find each other again. Avery Stafford, the great granddaughter of Rill’s sister is a truly honorable woman, set on finding out the truth even if the buried secrets could hurt her family politically.
APPEARANCE (★★★★):
The cover is beautiful. It speaks to the heart without giving anything away.
FAVORITE
QUOTES:
“One of
the best things a father can do for his daughter is let her know that she has
met his expectations. My father did that for me, and no amount of effort on my
part can fully repay the debt.”
“A woman’s
past need not predict her future. She can dance to new music if she chooses.
Her own music. To hear the tune, she must only stop talking. To herself,
I mean. We’re always trying to persuade ourselves of things.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Selected among BOOKLIST’S Top 10 for two years running, Lisa Wingate writes novels that Publisher’s Weekly calls “Masterful” and ForeWord Magazine refers to as “Filled with lyrical prose, hope, and healing.” Lisa is a journalist, an inspirational speaker, and the author of a host of literary works. Her novels have garnered or been short-listed for many awards, including the Pat Conroy Southern Book Prize, the Oklahoma Book Award, the Utah Library Award, the LORIES Best Fiction Award, The Carol Award, the Christy Award, Family Fiction’s Top 10, RT Booklover’s Reviewer’s Choice Award, and others. The group Americans for More Civility, a kindness watchdog organization, selected Lisa along with six others for the National Civies Award, which celebrates public figures who promote greater kindness and civility in American life. She’s been a writer since Mrs. Krackhardt’s first-grade class and still believes that stories have the power to change the world.
IN THE WRITER’S OWN WORDS: A special first grade teacher, Mrs. Krackhardt, made a writer out of me. That may sound unlikely, but it’s true. It’s possible to find a calling when you’re still in pigtails and Mary Jane shoes, and to know it’s your calling. I was halfway through the first grade when I landed in Mrs. Krackhardt’s classroom. I was fairly convinced there wasn’t anything all that special about me… and then, Mrs. Krackhardt stood over my desk and read a story I was writing. She said things like, “This is a great story! I wonder what happens next?”
It isn’t every day a shy new kid gets that kind of attention. I rushed to finish the story, and when I wrote the last word, the teacher took the pages, straightened them on the desk, looked at me over the top, and said, “You are a wonderful writer!”
A dream was born. Over the years, other dreams bloomed and died tragic, untimely deaths. I planned to become an Olympic gymnast or win the National Finals Rodeo, but there was this matter of back flips on the balance beam and these parents who stubbornly refused to buy me a pony. Yet the writer dream remained. I always believed I could do it because… well… my first grade teacher told me so, and first grade teachers don’t lie.
So, that is my story, and if you are a teacher, or know a teacher, or ever loved a special teacher, I salute you from afar and wish you days be filled with stories worth telling and stories worth reading.
Check out my YouTube channel and the video
review below… and make sure you hit subscribe so you never miss a video.
Also by Lisa Wingate:
Click on the book cover images below to read the descriptions and order your copy!As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
or fans of The Haunting of Hill House comes
a dark tale of a mansion haunted by a legacy of tragedy and a family trapped by
lies.
Margot and Myron Spielman move to a new town,
looking for a fresh start and an escape from the long shadow of their past. But
soon after they buy Rawlingswood, a foreclosed mansion rumored to be haunted,
they realize they’re in for more of the same…or worse.
After a renovation fraught with injuries and
setbacks, the Spielmans move in to the century-old house, and their problems
quickly escalate. The home’s beautiful facade begins to crumble around them
when their teenage son uncovers disturbing details of Rawlingswood’s history—a
history of murder, betrayal, and financial ruin. The Spielmans’ own shameful
secrets and lies become harder to hide as someone or something inside the house
watches their every move.
As tensions build
between the family members, the home’s dark history threatens to repeat itself.
Margot and Myron must confront their own ghosts and Rawlingswood’s buried past
before the house becomes their undoing.
MY 2 CENTS / THE
CRITICAL POINTS:
No One’s Home has been compared to The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, which I’ve read… It’s scary. This book, although good, does not compare. It just didn’t live up to the hype.
WRITING (★★★★): Pulley is a great writer. Her descriptive
text is beautiful and she does a great job of pulling you into a scene. However,
this book covers the story of five different families, at five different
periods in time; the Rawlings family 1922-1931, the Bell family 1936-1972, the
Klussman Family 1972-1990, the Martin Family, and the Spielman family – present
day. Although the writing is good and the stories are interesting, going back
and forth between the different time periods only pulled me out of the story.
Each time the story shifted, I had to take a moment to think back, figure out
who these characters were and what their story was. That was a huge distraction
for me. Although I can see this story working really well as a movie, shifting
from one period to the next with lighting changes, appropriate set dressing, and
costumes for each time period, it just didn’t work for me as a novel. I see the
film done in a similar manor as American Horror Story, which actors playing
multiple roles within the time period – almost a reincarnation of spirit sort
of thing.
STORY (★★★★): The story is well thought out although
maybe could have been structured a little better. I think this could have
worked really well as a series of short stories… a collection of stories that
take place over the years all centered around this one house in Shaker Heights.
CHARACTERS (★★★★): I wasn’t really sure who the main
character was. The back of the book reads as if Margot and Myron Spielman are
the main focus, but then their son, Hunter pulls more of the focus when
reading. Then, you have to consider all of the other families you’re learning
about. The Spielman family isn’t given any more “screen time” or “ink” than any
of the other families. So, what family did Pulley really want this story to be
about? I think we could have learned so much about the history of the story and
been drawn in more to each of the stories if this were a collection of short
stories.
APPEARANCE (★★★★★): The cover is beautiful. It even has the
feel of the cover from The Haunting of Hill House although this one is set in
blues were as The Haunting of Hill House is more oranges and Yellows. Whoever
designed the cover, I give them credit. The creepy old house with the single
light in the attic really does draw you in. I noticed this one on the shelf the
instant I walked past and even before reading the back, I knew I was going to
read the book. That to me, is the sign of a really good cover.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
D.M. Pulley lives in northeast Ohio with her husband, her two children, and a dog named Hobo. Before becoming a full-time writer, she worked as a Professional Engineer rehabbing historic structures and conducting forensic investigations of building failures. Pulley’s structural survey of a vacant building in Cleveland inspired her debut novel, The Dead Key, the winner of the 2014 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. Since then, Pulley has sold over a half a million books worldwide, and her work has been translated into eight different languages.
Pulley’s historical mysteries shine a light into the darker side of life in the Midwest during the twentieth century, when cities like Detroit and Cleveland struggled to survive. Her latest novel, No One’s Home, unravels the disturbing history of an old mansion haunted by family secrets, financial ruin, and murder. The abandoned buildings, haunted houses, and buried past of the Rust Belt continue to inspire her work. Learn more at www.dmpulley.com.
Check out my YouTube channel and the video
review below… and make sure you hit subscribe so you never miss a video.
Also by D. M. Pulley
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
What if the last
victim of Cleveland’s infamous Torso Killer got away?
In 1938, a serial
killer terrorizes Cleveland, Ohio, leaving a trail of bodies along the rails
and riverbeds. Ethel, a street-hardened woman who’s lost everything, takes refuge
inside a city mission only to find that its righteous facade conceals the
darkest of secrets. As she wanders the twisting corridors, it becomes clear she
may never leave the mission alive.
Sixty years later, the
police discover the body of Alfred Wiley, dismembered in a disturbingly
familiar way. His daughter, Kris, finds herself pulled into Cleveland’s
haunting past as things he never told her begin to surface. Stolen books about
the unsolved Torso Murders, missing archives, serial killer chat rooms, and an
abandoned city mission are all somehow connected to his disappearance. The more
she learns of her father’s obsession with the Torso Killer, the further she
stumbles into a madman’s sights.
Separated
by decades but trapped in the same killer’s web, Ethel and Kris must unravel
the truth behind the city’s most notorious unsolved murders . . . or die
trying.
2014 Winner — Amazon
Breakthrough Novel Award — Grand Prize and Mystery & Thriller Fiction
Winner
It’s 1998, and for
years the old First Bank of Cleveland has sat abandoned, perfectly preserved,
its secrets only speculated on by the outside world.
Twenty years before,
amid strange staff disappearances and allegations of fraud, panicked investors
sold Cleveland’s largest bank in the middle of the night, locking out customers
and employees, and thwarting a looming federal investigation. In the confusion
that followed, the keys to the vault’s safe-deposit boxes were lost.
In
the years since, Cleveland’s wealthy businessmen kept the truth buried in the abandoned
high-rise. The ransacked offices and forgotten safe-deposit boxes remain locked
in time, until young engineer Iris Latch stumbles upon them during a renovation
survey. What begins as a welcome break from her cubicle becomes an obsession as
Iris unravels the bank’s sordid past. With each haunting revelation, Iris
follows the looming shadow of the past deeper into the vault—and soon realizes
that the key to the mystery comes at an astonishing price.
When Althea Leary
abandons her nine-year-old son, Jasper, he’s left on his uncle’s farm with
nothing but a change of clothes and a Bible.
It’s 1952, and Jasper
isn’t allowed to ask questions or make a fuss. He’s lucky to even have a home
and must keep his mouth shut and his ears open to stay in his uncle’s good
graces. No one knows where his mother went or whether she’s coming back.
Desperate to see her again, he must take matters into his own hands. From the
farm, he embarks on a treacherous search that will take him to the squalid
hideaways of Detroit and back again, through tawdry taverns, peep shows, and
gambling houses.
As he’s drawn deeper into an adult world of corruption, scandal, and murder, Jasper uncovers the shocking past still chasing his mother—and now it’s chasing him too.
I LOVE to read… Sometimes my ‘To Read’ list grows a little to large, but those are the times I love the most. Right now, I’m celebrating my amazing OCTOBER BOOK HAUL!
Comment below and let me know how many of these books you’ve read and which one you recommend I start with! If you see something you like and plan to pick up a copy, you can do so by clicking on the book cover, the title, or the [BUY IT HERE] button.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Local police have announced that they’re closing the investigation of the suspected drowning of 37-year-old painter Colleen Westcott. She disappeared on April 11, 2010, and her car was found parked near the waterfront in Cleveland two days later, but her body has never been found.
I close the online search window, annoyed. These articles never have enough detail. They think my husband’s first wife disappeared or they think she is dead. There’s a big difference.
When you read this book, you will make many assumptions. You will assume you are reading about a jealous ex-wife. You will assume she is obsessed with her replacement – a beautiful, younger woman who is about to marry the man they both love. You will assume you know the anatomy of this tangled love triangle. Assume nothing.
One sister has everything. Her twin hates her for it. Would life be better without Ali? Probably. At least then people might notice Morgan. Ali’s always gotten everything-she doesn’t even realize how much Morgan resents her.
Two truths and a lie. Vivian, Natalie, Allison, and Emma played it all the time at Camp Nightingale. But the games ended the night Emma sleepily watched the others sneak out of the cabin into the darkness. The last she – or anyone – saw of them was Vivian closing the cabin door, hushing Emma with a finger pressed to her lips.
Amber Reynolds wakes up in a hospital. She can’t move. She can’t speak. She can’t open her eyes. She can hear everyone around her, but they have no idea.
Every six months or so, some conspiracy nut starts in with “what they aren’t telling you” and “These are the things they don’t want you to know,” and you know what? Not one of them has produced verifiable scientific evidence that the Intestinal Bodyguard is harmful in humans.
Author Catherine Coulter delves into the terrifying mind of an escaped mental patient obsessed with revenge in this next installment of her riveting FBI series.
In a future so real and near it might be now, something happens when women go to sleep: they become shrouded in a cocoon-like gauze. If they are awakened, if the gauze wrapping their bodies is disturbed or violated, the women become feral and spectacularly violent…
When you purchase a book using a link on this site, I earn an affiliate commission.All commission earnings go back into funding my books; editing, cover design, etc.
I huge thank you to my Book Fairy, Stacy Kingsley – zombie author – CLICK FOR HER WEBSITE. PLUS, you should totally check out her books below:
As an avid reader of fiction (and an author who one day hopes to make the list) I LOVE-LOVE-LOVE checking out the New York Times Best Seller list. So, here it is… The independently ranked top 10 YOUNG ADULT selections for Oct. 2019!
If you’ve read any of the TOP 10 selections and recommend them, please comment below and let me know. If you see something you like and plan to pick up a copy, you can do so by clicking on the title, the book cover, or the [BUY IT HERE] button.
When you purchase a book using a link on this site, I earn an affiliate commission.All commission earnings go back into funding my books; editing, cover design, etc.
Nina Soden 