Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty

Hello everyone.  I hope you're enjoying a nice day.

Growing up in upstate New York had many advantages, one of them was fall.  Not only is the heat gone and the air crisp, but the sweaters come out and so does high school football.  I've already admitted I was a band geek, and yes, before someone asks, I did go to band camp.  No, we didn't do anything that you're currently thinking of.  Anyway, if you'll get your mind out of the gutter I'll continue my story.  Our school band was huge 670+ people.  We had professional drill writers and did a different halftime show each week.  I attended every single football game at home and away.  While sitting in the stands many kids would go to the snack bar, not me though.  We had these tall fuzzy hats (we had to shampoo them), when I say tall, I mean at least 10 inches.  My dad made me put apples in my hat for a snack.  During the whole pregame I would feel apples rolling around on my head.  Actually, weekly pummeling by apples might explain a lot, my sisters would definitely agree.  My dad was proud of the apples, he picked them himself...hundreds of them...McIntosh.

I recently read Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty.  This is the story of the Delaney family.  Stan and Joy have four adult children.  The family owned a famous, Wimbledon winner producing tennis school.  Sadly, Stan and Joy have decided it is time to retire and because none of their children want to continue the school, they are forced to sell it.  Now the family struggles with their new life both being free of the constant game of tennis and missing it dearly at the same time.  One late night there is a knock at the door and a strange young woman appears who has been beaten and is desperate for help.  She, Savannah, becomes a bit of a project for the newly retired couple.  Their children, however, aren't so sure of Savannah's intentions. When Joy goes missing, fingers start pointing in every direction.  

This is book is being sold as a thriller.  If you have read even a small number of thrillers and are expecting one here, you'll be very disappointing.  Instead, I think the reader is getting classic Liane Moriarty, a family drama with a mystery thrown in.  While this book is a chunky 464 pages and may have been able to have been cut down some, the story is easy to get invested in and a bit addicting.  Despite its length I never found myself wishing it would be over sooner.  While not like Nine Perfect Strangers, if you're a fan of Truly Madly Guilty or any of Moriarty's earlier books, you'll be very comfortable here.  Interesting and enjoyable from start to finish AND a must for tennis lovers.

Until a year ago my sister still played tennis with her wooden racket from about 1972.  People kept stopping her offering her money for it.  I'm surprised my brother-in-law didn't offer them my sister and her racket as a package deal.

Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney

Hello everyone.  I hope you're having a great day.

Are you a big game player?  Video? Board?  My family loved games.  My dad loved cards, specifically Tripoley.  My mom enjoyed card games, but was also a fan of board games and she loved video games.  My mom went out and bought an Atari when they first came out.  Now my niece works for a gaming company.  We played games outside, tag, red light green light, red rover.  Stop laughing youngsters, I know I'm dating myself but you don't know how you're missing out.  We even played games in the pool.  We'd run off the diving board while someone threw us a ball.  The point was to catch it after leaving the diving board but before hitting the water.  Of course, there was the infamous Marco Polo, then the diving games where you had to retrieve things off from the bottom of the deep end.  No we didn't throw chairs in, there were real, weighted game pieces made for pools.  I feel a bit like Dorothy telling the scarecrow he was her favorite, as I think of all our games our absolute favorite was cannonballing my mom who was floating around the pool reading a book.  We would send tremendous splashes of water over her sunglasses and soaking the pages of her novel.  She got even, she started buying thin little romance novels, second hand for a nickel so she didn't care about our antics.  Spoil sport.

I recently read Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney.  This book is a domestic psychological thriller.  The story is about a married couple that go away for a trip to try and save their marriage..  The wife writes a letter to her husband every year on their anniversary and never lets him read it, until now.  I can't say anything else.  First of all, after finishing it I immediately demanded my husband read it and he's smack in the middle.  Also, I guess I wouldn't want to ruin it for you either (read like Eeyore).  Kidding, but seriously, this book is a wow.  It has a huge twist and I want you to be very surprised.  It's full of atmosphere, unlikeable characters, and questions galore.  It is quite the thriller.  The twist was so massive I was smiling for an hour that the author "got me", I never saw it coming.  Neither will you.  This book is not a game, it's the real thing.  Read it, you won't be disappointed.

The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell

Hello everyone.  I hope you are having a great day.

Last year I kept looking for all the new books to crowd the Christmas market.  There were very few.  Boy, publishers are making up for it now!  I have a ton of books that I've read and haven't had a chance to review and, even better, a huge stack of just released books to read.  It's thriller heaven!

I recently read The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell.  This is a story that moves toward a common ending on two different timelines.  A few years ago, two young people go missing. Kim, the mother of the missing young woman, has never believed that her daughter would leave her family behind, as many suppose.  Kim is certain that something evil has happened to her teenager.  In the more current time, Sophie, moves into a cottage provided to her boyfriend as he heads a local college.  At the garden gate of their new home, Sophie finds a sign that says "dig here".  What she finds is significant in so many ways and, of course, links the two stories.  As Sophie works to discover the mystery of the "dig" sign, we see the past of the two teenagers going forward.  At the end, we discover how they are linked and solve the mystery of the odd happenings in this college town.  

If stories being told in dual timelines bother you, this may not since the times are so close together. If you are a fan of Lisa Jewell, I don't think you'll be disappointed by this book.  While perhaps the beginning could have been a smidge shorter, it really works to explain the relationships in the story and in true Jewell fashion, to direct us to one "who done it" theory only to change the readers view repeatedly.

This book grabs your attention and after establishing the characters, moves very quickly to the shocking end.  As always, very enjoyable.  One warning, if you just sent junior or junior-ette to college maybe put this off for a few months.

People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry

Hello everyone.  I hope you are staying cool in the soaring temperatures.

When I was a kid, we looked forward to two things, Christmas and vacation.  As really young kids, we would go to "the shore" and visit Cape May, New Jersey.  If you've never been, it's charming without lots of high-rise hotels but smaller family run resorts.  The neighborhoods are close by and filled with Victorian houses.  There is a boardwalk and it was my dad's requirement that we get up every morning at the crack of dawn and ride bicycles.  We even tried a bicycle for two one time, that was a complete disaster!  My aunts, uncles and cousins would also go to Cape May so not only was it a wonderful vacation but nice to spend time together.  As we got to be teenagers, Cape May was too relaxed for us and we all went to Myrtle Beach with lots of miniature golf, amusement parks and t-shirt shops.  The first time I ever played Pac Man was in Myrtle, we had chicken pox in Myrtle, and most notably while walking on the beach right next to me, my sister got pooped squarely on the head by a seagull in Myrtle.  I'm still laughing today.  What?  It's funny!   We were a bit away from our hotel and she had to walk back like that...I may or may have not laughed hysterically the entire way.   Also, on vacation I met some wonderful friends who I am still in contact with to this day...literally decades later.  Vacations are good.

I recently read People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry.  In the past I reviewed Beach Read by the same author.  I acknowledged that it was a romance and in general they aren't my thing (although I've read some great ones).  Beach Read seemed like it was trying to have a more involved story but compared to thrillers it was just too slow for me.  Still, I admitted that I wanted to watch this author as she could make me a romance reader.  I was so anxious to read People We Meet on Vacation to see what Emily Henry had in store for us.  I'm glad I did.  This story is about two friends, Poppy and Alex, who have gone on vacations together for years and about how their friendship has evolved, often because of the time on these trips.  The pacing is far superior to Beach Read and the dialog will have you laughing from beginning to end.  Sometimes sweet, sometimes serious and thoughtful, this book is perfect for your summer trip or anytime you need to brighten your day.  I am thrilled for Henry to have started to really bridge that gap between generalized fiction and romance.  I cannot wait for the next one.

Things to pack: bathing suit, beach towel, sunscreen, People We Meet on Vacation, and if you're my sister...shower cap to wear on the beach...just in case.

56 Days by Catherine Ryan Howard

Hello everyone.  I hope your day is wonderful so far. 

The world has changed from the Covid virus. While being necessary to stay home many people have found it annoying.  Hubby and I are homebodies, so it hasn't been very difficult.  Wait, the constant cooking has been trying, worse yet the mountain of dirty dishes eating at home all the time creates.  Given that people have lost everything including people they love, dishpan hands seems like something to celebrate. Everyday I am crushed seeing the news and unendingly grateful for being able to stay home.  

I recently read 56 Days by Catherine Ryan Howard.  This is the story of two people, Ciara and Oliver, that meet at the very beginning of the pandemic and begin dating. Knowing that a quarantine is coming, and that they enjoy each others company, they decide to move into Oliver's apartment to weather the storm.  Told in differing time periods and from different perspectives the reader is left to answer two questions.  When police discover a single dead body in Oliver's apartment, who is it and what happened.  

Going into this story I was afraid it would concentrate too much on the virus.  To be honest, I've been reading up a storm because I want an escape not a reminder of the real world. However, 56 Days uses the quarantine as a vehicle to throw the characters together, it doesn't dwell on it.  The jumping timelines and narrators didn't bother me, but it rarely does.  If you dislike it, this isn't the book for you.  The story was interesting.  I have a bit of a complaint about the writing.  Some of the sentences just don't make any sense, if they do, they are awkward and have to be deciphered.  I really don't want to have to bring my Little Orphan Annie Decoder Pin to figure out what a book is saying.  Now, this occurred only a couple of times and in the first forty pages or so.  I just wonder why an editor didn't find it a stumbling block while reading too.  While I don't think this author has the smoothest writing style in general, her books are still interesting.  Obviously, I wouldn't want every author to write in the same way so I'll definitely read more Howard books.

Not A Happy Family by Shari Lapena

Hello everyone.  I hope your day has been pleasant.

If you had wealthy parents would you consider killing them for their money?  Please note, I'm assuming you would all say no or run along as you have totally creeped me out.  Now, if your parents turned up dead would you throw your siblings under the bus to collect their share of the money? For me...absolutely.  I'll be getting phone calls tomorrow but let it be known that they are all goners!  Time to get even for my parents going with "what the majority wanted" and there being three of them (my sisters are triplets).  What they wanted always won.  Unfair.  So, if it comes down to it, up the river they go.  I'll even put my palms together and repeatedly curl my fingers, with an evil laugh, Disney villain style. Forget pricking your finger on that spinning wheel, you're prison bound! (Sleeping Beauty, must I tell you everything.)

I recently read Not A Happy Family by Shari Lapena.  I love that Shari Lapena writes about upstate NY since that is where I grew up.  In this case, the story is about a family that lives in the Hudson Valley.  The very wealthy parents of three children are murdered.  The entire book is about who did it and why.  Lapena is an expert at convincing the reader that someone is guilty only to accomplish the same thing in the next chapter with another person.  A very fun read.  Not really thrillery but a great mystery.  Think the movie Knives Out, but much better.  The book features interesting character development which is revealed slowly, allowing our feelings toward each person to remain fluid.  Compounded with short, cliff hanger chapters and you've got a book that will fly by.  A great one to read on vacation.

By the way, to any reading siblings, expect no cakes with files from me.  You'll be lucky to get a cupcake!

For Your Own Good by Samantha Downing

Hello everyone.  I hope you're having a nice day.

I had some interesting and memorable teachers.  Two high school English teachers come to mind.  I had a sweet little old man that kind of looked like a Bassett Hound (old to me then, he was probably in his late 40's). He used to exaggerate the way words were said, saying at least every syllable, if not more.  Vegetable wasn't vegetable it was "veg-e-ta-ble".  Hey, it kept our attention.  Another English literature teacher was also the drama coach, he was a natural for both and there was no distinction between the two.  I remember reading The Old Man and the Sea, going around the classroom each person reading one sentence.  Then, he had little pieces of wisdom he wanted to impart.  I still remember him telling us that the words "certainly" and "surely" were interchangeable.  He would chant "When I say certainly, you say ..." waiting for us to say "surely".  When the classroom would respond he would jump up and give a kind of high pitched roar.  His feet would literally leave the ground.  Silly as it sounds today, he must have done something right because I still remember what he taught, and him.

I recently read For Your Own Good by Samantha Downing.  This is the story of a fancy private school and the people that teach and learn there.  We follow several people but mostly Teddy, who was recently named Teacher of the Year.  He is very concerned about making his students the best they can be, even those that really rub him the wrong way.  Given that this is a wealthy school, he feels that several of the students have an elitist attitude that they would be better served without.  But what happens when teachers start getting sick, then dropping dead?  

This book is fairly long at over 370 pages and worth every sentence.  As things start going bonkers at this ritzy school you kind of want to give a bit of an evil laugh, it's like stepping back in time and binge watching a wacked version of Knots Landing (a prime time tv show kind of soap opera from 1979-1993).  While you won't find Joan Van Ark here, you will find plenty of twists and turns.  The author tells us pretty early on who is responsible but that just adds to the fun as we get to see that persons planning as well as the ominous results.  This fun and frantic read features short chapters with many ending in questions or cliff hangers.  A perfect summer read.  My favorite of Samantha Downing's so far.

Beware, this may have you digging out your yearbook and giving your teachers a second look.