Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Old School (Book 10 of the series) - Jeff Kinney

This one was recommended by my younger daughter.  This series is one that my girls always seem to want to purchase.  We even read and reviewed one as a family on my other blog.  That one was the 7th in the series, The Third Wheel.

Greg Heffley is going "old school" when his mom convinces the town to go without electronics for a weekend.  Add to that the family's new pet pig and troublemaker grandpa moving in, and he's got some hard times ahead.

I'll admit, I was laughing out loud at some parts of this book.  Sometimes it's the pictures, but most of the time, it's the way Greg describes the world around him.  There's just something there that's too funny.

I recommend this series.  It has staying power, and they're fun stories.  My kids will get on these kicks where every once in a while, they'll drag these books back out and read through them all again.  They bring them to me when they find a funny part and we'll laugh together.  We've really enjoyed them as a family.  Good Book!

Second Opinion (The Healing Touch #1) - Hannah Alexander

This is one of my new authors for my challenge this year.  It's the first book in the series, followed by Necessary Measures and Urgent Care.

When I review a book, I normally try to focus on the main story and give a brief summary. With this book, there was so much going on that I don't even know where to start.  I was reading about numerous story lines at the same time, and I never was able to settle into one very long before being thrown into another one.  I think the main story was supposed to be a mysterious illness, but it wasn't really the focus until the last 20% of the book.  In the meantime, I was reading about:
*Grant - The new doctor's adjustments to living in town with his teenage twins
*Lauren - A nurse and her desire for a relationship, fixing other people
*Archer - A minister's struggles to balance his life
*Gina - A woman's mysterious illness
*Evan - A teenager who mistakenly took drugs, uncovering a lead in the drug problem in town
*And every once in a while there are hints of a mysterious epidemic

I think the potential was there for this to be a good story, but there was just too much going on.  The resolution at the end is somewhat disappointing since the "relationship" between Grant and Lauren is left as something of a cliffhanger and apparently gets explored more in the second and third books.  The other story lines in this book seemed rushed to resolution and the drug problem doesn't get resolved at all, making me think it's more of a continuous series.  I'm not really fond of those, so that's a strike against it for me.

Overall, the end of the book was probably my favorite part.  I wanted to like it, but there was just too much going on.  I don't think I'll be reading any more in the series.

Anchor in the Storm (Waves of Freedom #2) - Sarah Sundin

Anchor in the Storm is the second book in the Waves of Freedom series.  The first book is called Through Waters Deep.

Lillian has taken a job in Boston as a pharmacist.  There aren’t many female pharmacists, especially ones that only have one leg.  Lillian meets her brother’s rich friend, Arch, and they join forces to solve the mystery of the high amounts of sedatives that seem to be making it onto Arch’s ship.  She’s been hurt in the past by men and doesn’t want anything to do with Arch until it becomes clear they can just be friends.

Arch comes from a wealthy family, and as a result, is wary of anyone who could possibly be a gold digger.  Lillian is the first one that seems to want nothing to do with him, and it’s a refreshing change for him.  Since she’s the little sister of his best friend, he’s warned to step carefully, but Arch wants to be near her.  She seems different from the rest, but earning her trust is hard.

Lillian and Arch both have secrets that have caused them to guard their heart closely.  As the problems on the ship increase, Arch and Lillian spend more time together.  They lower their defenses, trusting one another with deep secrets.  They go on a tumultuous journey, getting to the point where they let go of their fears, open their hearts, then fall back into old thought patterns only to realize their mistake.  It’s a great read with many wonderful characters.

Jim and Mary, the characters from the first book show up a lot in this book.  Mary is Lilian’s roommate, and Jim is on the same ship as Arch.  The origins of their relationship are mentioned in a way you won’t feel lost if you haven’t read the first one, but I liked that one as well.  The third book in this series is scheduled to come out early 2017 and is called When Tides Turn.  It’s about Dan Avery and Quintessa.  Both are characters that have shown up in minor roles thus far, but I’m looking forward to their story!  Good Book!

*I received a copy of this book from Revell through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Stick Dog Wants a Hot Dog - Tom Watson

I feel like I've been set up.  Or pranked.

For my challenge last year, I read a book my kids recommended.  Since that turned out to be such fun, I decided to add it to this year's challenge as well.  This year, the girls had a harder time picking out a title, but when my older daughter handed me this book, with a devious grin, I should have known something was up.

By his own admission, Tom Watson is a bad artist.  Stick Dog is all squares, rectangles and stick legs.  Tom is telling the story of how Stick Dog, along with his trusted friends, plan to steal frankfurters (since calling them 'hot dogs' would add too many 'dogs' to the story).  There are numerous plans, all of them pretty outrageous or horrible, and there's a nemesis also trying to steal the tasty-smelling food.

This book doesn't take long to read, the font is large and there are pictures on almost every page.  I can see this book appealing to kids who aren't that fond of reading or kids who just want to read a silly story.  And this definitely fits the category of silly!

I was glad when I finished this one.  The scatter-brained ideas of the dogs had me wondering what I was thinking allowing my kids to pick a book for me.  It's a cute book and has a happy ending (except for Peter I suppose).  Who is Peter?  You'll have to read it to find out.

In Perfect Time (Wings of the Nightingale #3) - Sarah Sundin

This is the third book in this series.  The first two are called With Every Letter and On Distant Shores.

Kay has a group of boyfriends and she's proud of it.  Her father has labeled her as evil, so she might as well embrace the role.  She wants to be a chief nurse, but to get a recommendation to get into the program, she might have to change her ways.

Roger is a drummer.  He wants to be in a big band someday, but he also has a hidden dream of being a teacher.  His family has always told him that he won't amount to anything, so he doesn't believe it's possible.  He has a reputation of being sloppy in his work and unreliable, but he's trying to change.

At first, Kay believes Roger to be more of a holy-roller, but when she talks to him, she finds out he has a past as well.  He gives her a prized possession, his Bible complete with notes, and they form a close friendship.  With his past, Roger has decided to only date if he wants to get married and hasn't felt the need to try it.  Until now.

When their flight is shot down, these two get close, but Roger still has his issues that lead to misunderstandings.  After weeks trying to escape from behind enemy lines, they come to rely on each other.

This was a great story with a lot of depth.  These two misunderstand each other on a number of occasions, which got a bit tedious, but it did reflect the lack of confidence they felt in themselves.  Mellie and Georgie from the other two books are around a lot, but if you really wanted to, I suppose you could read these out of order.  However, I would recommend reading them in order if you could, since you'll get a more continuous, complete story.  Good Book!

Coffee and a Beagle (Sweetlin Bakery Series #1) - Tish Davis

I picked this up hoping for some nice, short stories.  Sadly, I didn't even make it halfway through.

This book has three stories in it: Sweet Beginnings, Coffee and a Beagle, and Sugar Spice and Other Sassy Things.

Sweet Beginnings is the story of Mona, who runs away from a controlling family.  They're trying to pressure her into a marriage she doesn't want.  She puts her foot down and refuses to go along with the manipulation.  Sneaking away, she ends up in Arizona where she gets locked in a closet at the construction site where Emmett is just trying to keep his job.

Mona is working for a powerful man who has his sights set on Mona.  When she turns down his offer to be his new assistant, Emmett offers her sanctuary by posing as her fiance.  He wants her to open a bakery with him, but they need time to get all the pieces in place.

The timeline on this one drove me insane.  At the prologue, it says "Thirty Years Ago."  I took that to mean when we hit chapter one, it was thirty years later.  That would make Mona like fifty years old!  Then I started reading about Emmett, who was 23.  A bit confusing, but I think I figured it out later.  The second story is about Mona and Emmett's daughter, so that story is the one that starts 30 years later than the first.  I'll take credit for the confusion on that one, but it would have been clearer for someone who didn't know it was a parent-to-child progression for the second story to have the qualifier "Thirty Years LATER" attached to Jayna's story.

Okay, putting that aside, I had a problem with the "relationship."  Emmett and Mona meet three weeks after she runs away from home.  THEN, when her dad confronts her, he says they've been searching for two months.  That means, at best, these two knew each other for maybe five weeks before getting married.   And we don't read much of anything about those five weeks, since the focus is on the beginning of the story and the end.  There's no middle.  I'm all for love at first sight and all, but GEEZ.  All I could think about was how would I feel about my daughter getting married to a potential axe murderer after a little over a month?  Not good.  That's how I'd feel.

The next story, Coffee and a Beagle, is about Jayna, one of Mona and Emmett's daughters.  I only made it a short way into this one before I just let out a deep sigh and put the book down.  The writing style was hard to read for me.  Almost every time a character would say more than five words, they seemed to babble.  Also, for some reason it drove me crazy there were so many commas missing.  When you have two complete sentences joined by 'and,' 'but', etc. put a comma in there!  Pass...

As Love Blooms (The Gregory Sisters #3) - Lorna Seilstad

This is the third book in the series.  The other two are called When Love Calls and While Love Stirs.

Tessa is desperate for her family to take her passion for horticulture seriously.  Granted, she's changed her mind on her profession a few times, but now she has a plan for getting her life on track.  She approaches the man in charge of a park and asks for a job.  He turns her down, but she's determined.  She decides to partner up with a different man who works at the park, Reese, and take a chance.

Reese was told he doesn't have the creativity to be a great gardener and thinks Tessa's garden schematic is just what he needs.  He's trying to move up, and using Tessa's plan, he believes he can secure that job.  Tessa believes that when Reese reveals her contribution, the job is hers.

Tessa also has a wild streak that gets her in trouble once in a while.  She's used to acting certain ways in certain situations, and sometimes Reese wonders is she's really being herself.  There are secrets galore in this book, but they all see the light of day by the end.

This was a good story with great characters.  There's also a side love story with Aunt Sam and an old friend of hers, but their differences may keep them apart.

Charlotte and Hannah (from the first two books) are in this book a great deal, but you can read this one alone without feeling completely lost.  The other two are good as well, and I recommend them heartily.  Good Book!

Like Never Before (Walker Family #2) - Melissa Tagg

This is the second book in the Walker Family series.  There was a prequel novella, Three Little Words, and then the first book, From the Start.

Logan’s life has been changing.  His wife is dead, his daughter doesn’t speak, and he’s just inherited a newspaper in his hometown in Iowa.  He plans on putting his high-pace life in LA on hold for a few weeks to wrap up the sale of the paper, but things get complicated once he’s home.  He’s dealing with his bristly in-laws and a woman who’s determined to save the paper.

Amelia has gotten comfortable in Maple Valley.  She’s admired Logan’s writing from afar, but now that he’s in town, she’s falling for the man himself.  But he’s planning on heading back to LA, and she plans on guarding her heart.

With things getting more complicated, Logan has to decide where he wants to be: Maple Valley, LA or possibly Washington, D.C.  Amelia is also touching his heart, making his decision even harder.

This book was pretty good.  I enjoyed Amelia’s character the most.  She had an interest in history and embraced it heartily.  I also liked Logan’s character, watching a person who relies on having a plan put that aside to take a leap of faith.

I’m wondering how many of these books there will be.  We’ve read the story of Seth (the cousin) in Three Little Words, and Kate in From the Start.  There are still two siblings, Raegan and Beckett, and I’m wondering what’s coming next!  Good Book!

*I received a copy of this book from Bethany House through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Critical Reaction - Todd M. Johnson

This is my "in my state" book for the year.  The Hanford site isn't too far from where I'm at - relatively speaking - so the setting was both familiar and a little to close to home.

Emily has heard from an old friend who was involved in an explosion at the Hanford Nuclear Facility.  Since then, he's been trying to find out just what he was exposed to, but all he's getting is stonewalled.  The lawyer in his case has backed out only a few months before trial, and he's begging for Emily's help.

Emily knows her father is the person for this job and asks him to come along.  They both eventually take the case, but they're working under a short time frame and dealing with a town that is loyal to the site.  Another man who was at the site the night of the explosion is being "urged" to change his report to mirror what the company wants to release.  Things are getting dangerous.

This book was really interesting.  I normally wouldn't read a book like this, they're just not my style, but this one was well written.  It was a little freaky to realize the potential for this to actually happen, especially since it's so close!  I felt that the ending was a bit abrupt, but almost everything was wrapped up in a neat little bow in the epilogue.  The author has a nice writing style that kept me involved all the way to the end.  Good Book!