It took me the better part of four years but I finally finished the 14th and final book of The Wheel of Time. This final entry is essentially 1,000 straight pages of The Last Battle, an event the series had been building towards since book 1 and it delivers in the best way possible. The series is hard to recommend just because of how insanely long it is, but it's absolutely one that is worth reading at least one time through for fantasy fans. Robert Jordan's worldbuilding was second to virtually none, and the series has one of the most memorable main casts of characters you are ever likely to get out of this type of series. Brandon Sanderson did about as well as you could reasonably expect, given he was tasked with finishing someone else's life's work. It took me forever, and the series is definitely not without its flaws but I don't regret reading it for a second.

Catherine Ryan Hyde is one of my favorite authors, but I found it very difficult to get into this book. I put it down several times and went on to read other books before finally finishing it. It's about a journalist, Amelia, who is a recently divorced mom of Jaden, a seven year old boy. She takes him to Mexico to track down E.L. Swann aka Ella, who wrote a very famous novel 30 years before and then vanished. The book is about Amelia and Ella's relationship and Ella's relationship with Jaden whom she sees as her muse. I did not find the novel as complelling as Hyde's other works, such as Michael Without Apology.

I really enjoyed Defy Me because it had a good mix of action, romance, and emotional moments. The story answered some questions from the earlier books while introducing new mysteries that kept me interested. I also liked getting to see different characters' points of view because it helped me understand them better. The ending was exciting and made me want to start the next book right away. Overall, I thought Defy Me was a fun and engaging read, and it's one of my favorite books in the series so far.

Excellent piece of writing. Ingenious. More has a wonderful sense of humor, and is clearly able to reflect on himself and his own society.

A hard book to review because it is very dark and twisted but I was entertained. There is a book in this universe that came out prior that I suggest reading before to understand one of the characters. It's called the Good Samaritan

Shane Abe tells a historically accurate story of rags to riches in the book AN AMERICAN BEAUTY. As with her other books of historical fiction she follows a little know woman as she weaves her life through history. In this case, the main character Arabella Yarrington goes from poverty in post civil war Virginia to the height of New York society in the Gilded Age. From Bella's teenage years working in an illegal gambling parlor to her time as mistress and then wife to C.P. Huntington, a railroad tycoon, you get caught up in the excitement and worry that surrounds her. The real life characters actually come to life and you can almost see the things the author discribes. I enjoyed the time I spent with thus books and the people in it ...

Halley’s Comet is coming and Viscount Conrad Stockingham Welt is preparing his estate on World’s End, Cornwall for disaster. It is his belief that the comet will cause poisonous gas and kill everyone. While the house is being prepared for the final lockdown and everyone is sent to their rooms and all the windows, doors and chimneys are sealed, the viscount is murdered in a closed door scenario. Stephen, a new hire, is the main suspect for the murder because he was previously in jail. Miss Decima, the Viscount’s aunt, and Stephen set out to solve the murder. Who killed the Viscount and how did they do it? With two additional murders leading to the conclusion can Miss Decima and Stephen solve this before the murderer finds them first? Read and find out.

This was a mystery. A missing British woman Monica Felder fails to show up in France for a cooking class. Chief of Police, Bruno discovers she was accompanied by an Irish man and now both are found dead. She has been stabbed, and it looks like he has hung himself. This seemed very interesting. However, there were so many characters, some British, some French and some American that I had a difficult time keeping them straight. In addition since it took place in France, there were quite a few French phrases, which was frustrating since I don't speak the language.

This was a delightful story of Helen Gurley Brown, a women who was far ahead of her time. It was amazing that she was able to advance in her life and career while moving along an unconventional life style. Helen lived a long and successful life according to her own terms and was a major factor for the magazine, Cosmopolitan to reach millions of readers. The stories about the women on her staff were often comical but the one that I liked the best was Ursula who decides that she will no longer have a "paper" sister and claim the child as her own. Helen's husband was also an interesting character - very supportive, loving and a perfect match for Helen. I found it surprising that this story was written by a man but apparently John Searles actually worked with Helen. I did enjoy this book and do recommend it.

#26 in James Patterson 's Women's Murder Club series. Just as good as the previous 25 books. I'm always happy to read something that Patterson supposedly wrote on his own. This is one of his better series. If you're not already reading it, I strongly suggest you start with the first book.