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The Square Of Sevens
by Laura Shepherd-Robinson
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In 1730 England a young girl called Red travels with her father predicting fortunes. When he dies, she goes to live with a guardian named Mr. Antrobus. Red has no idea who her mother was. She knows she has died. Her father is fearful since he tells her he has enemies and was terrified of them finding him. She is anxious to discover all these mysteries, and starts doing some research. I enjoyed this book, but I found it somewhat confusing because of all the characters. However, there is a twist at the end that I never saw coming.

This Is How It Always Is
by Laurie Frankel
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Read this book!!! Penn is an author who is a stay-at-home dad; Rosie is emergency room doctor who eventually changes her preferred specialty to accommodate her youngest child. The couple has 5 sons, but at 3 years old the youngest tells them that when he grows up, he wants to be a girl. This book does an incredible job of showing what it’s like when a member of the family was born with the wrong genitalia. The author tells how different family members and community members react, and the impact this has on the child, the parents, the siblings, the grandmother, and friends. It’s also a novel about parenthood in general. I did not want to put this book down. It's insightful, heartfelt, full of quotes that I highlighted, and a must read.

When The Wolf Comes Home
by Nat Cassidy
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This book is not for the faint of heart. It is gory and strange (very Twilight Zone) but if you can get through that you are left with a fascinating story about love, fear, parenting and all the impacts that it has on us as kids and adults. I don’t think I’ll ever forget this book- what a ride

The Lake Escape
by Jamie Day
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These friends have continued to summer at the lake since they were children. Now adults, they look forward to those few weeks in summer when their family’s vacation together, keeping up the tradition. This year things are off. The friends are not comfortable with each other. Their children are not talking to each other, and the new nanny is an enigma. David, now divorced has brought a new girlfriend, along with his twin 5-year-old children and the new Nanny. He has also built a huge glass house that does not fit in to the area, and has blocked his friends’ views. There is tension among the friends. There is a legend that every thirty years a woman disappears from the lake…. the lake takes them. There have been 2 of these disappearances. It is now thirty years after the last disappearance, and guess what, David's girlfriend disappears. A complicated murder mystery with connections to three generations. Some outlandish sections, but if you can get over that, a good solid mystery. I actually enjoyed it, despite my misgivings.

The Kind Worth Killing
by Peter Swanson
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Two strangers meet in a London airport, but are they really strangers? She has secrets. He is unhappy. It all leads to murder. The book was ok, but not great.

The Silence Of The Girls
by Pat Barker
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This retelling of the Iliad from the point of view of a female Trojan captive has an interesting concept but I felt it went on way too long.

Songs of Summer
by Jane L. Rosen
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Songs of Summer by Jane L Rosen is another enjoyable "Summer Reads" (If you haven't read it, SPOILER ALERT STOP READING HERE. The central plot takes place of Fire Island. The story while a little predictable still kept me interested. I was impressed by the characters back story. I would have preferred a few more surprises. I liked the ending BUT, it was for me, cookie cutter - It is as if Ms. Rosen didn't try hard enough to be creative which is why a 4 and not a 5.

With A Vengeance
by Riley Sager
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I really loved this. I am already a big Sager fan. But I liked that this novel changed his usual formula. Normally Sager's books involve someone in an old house or area, figuring out an old mystery from their past. But in this case, this was all about knowing what happened and searching for revenge/justice. There were also the usual twists. Some were predictable (one especially so), but some were unexpected and none of them detracted to the story. It can be difficult to read a train mystery without thinking of the Orent Express but I loved this story as it showed the different ways we look for justice.

Sunrise On The Reaping
by Suzanne Collins
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While this book didn't exactly surprise me, (if you are familiar with the Hunger Games Universe you suspected something of this sort happening to the characters) but the details that is shared and emotion is conveys is well worth the read. I loved Haymitch in the original books so getting to hear his story and background was really interesting to me (while also breaking my heart!). A must-read for Hunger Games fans

Mansion Beach
by Meg Mitchell Moore
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Mansion Beach is sort of a modern take on The Great Gatsby. After quitting her career and breaking up with her boyfriend, Nicola is staying on Block Island in an internship for sea conservation. She is staying at her favorite cousin’s rich wife’s family cottage. Nicola is living next to the biggest party house on the island owned by Julianna George and becomes friends with her. Can Nicola navigate the rocky terrain of keeping up with the affluent residents of the island? Who doesn’t survive the summer? Read and find out.
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