Not sure what I was expecting from this book and I guess for its time, 1513, it was insightful, but reading it today with statements that say you cannot avoid war and should only postpone it to your own advantage was disturbing. The book is Machiavelli’s perspective on how rulers must conduct themselves in order to be successful. And while I imagine that there are some who would agree even today, reading statements that say people must fear you and some brutality is needed, is disturbing to be reading now.

This is the second book I have read this summer by this author and I really enjoyed this one. It is an old time western, with the traditional “tenderfoot” family moving out west, but having no idea what they were up against which, in this case, is lack of law. Enter Con Vallian, a man who seems to live on the range with just his horse and who decides to stay around to help this family. What I liked most was how well developed the characters were, particularly Con. This author has opened up a whole new genre for me.

In this story about women who go missing and then have their dead images appear in paintings, Isles does an excellent job in developing the characters and their connections to one another. And this is important because the subject matter here is often harsh and without this development of characters, it would simply be a brutal story. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time and liked the ending.

Let me first say that this was a really good book and I definitely recommend it. BUT I read a lot of read a lot of Stephen King and books like this, and I am good at suspending disbelief so that I can fully enjoy the story. And I don’t want to give anything away, but who, or actually what, the author chose to be the evil overriding force in this story was something I could just not buy into. And once I found that out, it took a little bit of the enjoyment of the book sway from me.

A fun academic mystery in a beautiful location. Great cast of characters to spend a little time with in the summer.

A wonderfully told story by a man who can see and talk to dead people as he looks back over the defining moments of his young life. A must read for all horror and King fans.

This book follows the 2 daughters of the man who was responsible for people seated on the throne of England in the 1400's. It follows the 2 girls through their lives and does a beautiful job of following their changing view of the position of Queen from their childhood until their death. It is a wonderful, albeit at times a grim, look at the life of powerful women during that time period.

Full disclosure: I am a Stephen King fan. But as I read this I was a little disappointed in the first half as I found it predictable. But I should have had faith in King, because the second half delivered what I was waiting for. A young man hitches a ride from his college to the hospital where his mother has been taken. When it comes to choosing a ride, do you use your head and logic, or do you listen to your instinct? King will help you look at this a whole new way.

While a simple and straight forward read, it almost seemed like this should have been a book for children. It is the story of a young Nigerian boy who learns the important lessons of life as he ignores the advice of adults and falls in with other students who lead him astray.

Now that I’m done, I can say it; What the heck was this? A person who was an editor and writer once told me that readers have to be able to like, empathize, or at least understand a character in order to be able to enjoy a book. In this book NONE of the characters are likeable, and what’s more they are all verbally abusive to one another; mother to child, child to father, sister to sister. Set in India, the mother keeps her teenage daughters locked in their rooms for most of their lives, supposedly to keep them safe, but then says things to them like “Your days are numbered” and “I wish you were dead”. And the book starts off with one of the daughters being approached by a man in town, and there is this whole back and forth between the two where he goes after her, then she goes after him, then he drives her home and……nothing. Nothing more is said about the relationship or what happened. I could not wait for this book to be done and then felt like I needed to wash.