A Series Of (Un)Fortunate Reviews

So in the last review I had lots of opinions, mostly because I think that book really chapped my ass.  I also have opinions regarding this book, specifically about the two younger sisters who spend about half the book being insufferable, self-centered wenches.  (That's right.   I said it. )   Driftwood Summer is the third book by Patti Callahan Henry that I've read and reviewed on the blog.  You can read the other reviews here and here .  I've become a fan of her books.  This one has family drama--specifically prickly, resentful sisterly relationship drama. Riley's mother takes a tumble down the staircase of the family home and breaks several bones in the process.  As a result Riley's sisters, Maisie and Adalee, must come home to assist with their mother's convalescence as well as the huge, week long bicentennial celebration of the cottage that houses the family owned bookstore.  There's much more riding on this celebration than the fam...

I'm back AND I've been reading!   The Secret Rooms by Catherine Bailey is the latest non-fiction book I've read from start to finish which is something that should be applauded for me.  Non-fiction and I don't always get along.  I'd initially read a review of this book some place, and I thought, hmmm, that sounds interesting.  I added it to my reading list (yes, I have a reading list... it is very long), and recently one of the libraries acquired a copy, so when I saw it pop up on the New Titles list, I requested it.  And I am so glad I did because this book has so much: intrigue, secrets, mystery, cyphers, and more mystery thanks to three deliberately created gaps in the ducal family's extensive historical archive.  But what does it all mean?  And what are the secrets this family is hiding?  And why are they hiding them?  Let me tell you, readers, the lengths this dude went to cover up his secrets...  while he was largely successful ...

So Beautiful Day is the third book by Elin Hilderbrand that I've read.  Previously I read The Castaways  and The Island , both of which were reviewed here on the blog (click the book titles to go to those reviews).  After I finished The Family by David Laskin, I got sucked in to Beautiful Day .  And sucked in is a pretty accurate description because the book was pretty hard to put down while I was reading it.  The common thread that runs through all of Elin Hilderbrand's books is setting; they are all set on Nantucket Island.  I must say that I rather enjoy the island setting. The Carmichael and Graham families are gathering on Nantucket Island to celebrate the nuptial weekend of Jenna Carmichael, the adored baby of the Carmichael family, and Stuart, the eldest of four brothers Graham.  These families bring with them more than their fair share of drama and tension.  Hanging over all of this is the intensely felt absence of Beth, the much bel...

The Language of Secrets is Dianne Dixon's debut novel.  It's a gripping, suspenseful, heartbreaking mystery that reveals a heinous, selfish crime that's been buried for decades by lies and by secrets. The saddest (and perhaps most frustrating) part is that the reader is privy to the complete story due to a narrative that alternates between the present in which the protagonist does his best to dig up the answers to resolve the puzzle that is his past and the events as they occur in the past. Justin moves back to California for a job and, urged by his wife, returns to his childhood home to reconnect with his parents from whom he's been estranged for years.  But he's too late because his mother and father have died and when Justin tracks down their graves, he is shocked to discover a third next to theirs that bears his own name and the date of his death years before. This bewildering and shocking discovery sets Justin on a journey into his past guided by his disjo...