I Will Find You--#25 finished

This is a newer book by Harlan Coben.  A young boy is murdered and the father was drunk and passed out.  The father is found guilty of using a baseball bat to kill his son basically in his sleep/drunken state.  He is serving life in prison where a family friend is warden.  A sister in law visits and shows him a picture with his son in the background from a few months ago.  A kind of crazy prisoner tries to kill the guy, a prison guard tries to kill him so warden helps him escape.  Him with sister in law tracks down and finds son.  Throw in a couple really kind of stupid acting FBI investigators along with a mob boss and things are really jumbled.  At least story keeps moving forward quickly enough that you don't realize how often these side characters are just thrown aside as two dimensional people.  Just think this could have been a better story, seems like it was rushed or just several ideas floating around shoved together for a story.

There are 25 WL for this book, last I checked--just checked now and at 22 WL on PBS for this book.  Will post & send off at some point if I ever need credits there again.

The Cat--#24 finished

This is a tough book to read.  The mother of a young boy is already a kind of loner.  The ex-husband is nearby but with a new family.  The mother has a birthmark on her face that has sort of tormented her and part of why she is a loner.  Well her you boy is killed when a car goes off the road and strikes him while he was playing in their front yard.  The mom basically wants to die as well but for a cat they had adopted and was a loved pet of her son.  She realizes she has to stay alive to take care of this cat.  Slowly she does find a way to persevere with life and finds people from her past to help on this.  While there will always be a kind of hole, she is able to move on in a sense.

There are no copies in PBS system and will probably post at some point.  I just posted some books and have to mail them off so don't need to post this and have it get requested right away--will wait a week or two.

Lies That Chelsea Handler Told Me--#23 finished

This is a book with different chapters written by those family, friends and/or victims of Chelsea Handler practical jokes or just plain painful attempts at jokes.  Funny in ways and fits with her previous books.  It is light and easy reads and that is what I was looking for.  It has to be tough when she is your boss and she is obviously setting you up but you sort of have to also believe her.  Since at this point and I guess still she is successful and I think genuinely really likes the people, there is no real blow back on this either.  Just must be a sort of crazy life if you are around her.

Maybe surprisingly the Chelsea Handler books are mostly a keeper for me at this point.  Not really sure why but I guess why not.   

My New American Life--#22 finished

I have read a couple other books by the author Francine Prose and her books always seem to be entertaining and come from a different angle than expected.  I didn't know much of what to expect on this one other than an immigrant in the US.  A young Albanian woman comes to the US as a tourist but had planned to overstay that and remain here--kind of timely for our current times.  She finds a position as a live in helper to a father and a teenage son--she is to help the son grow up and stay on top of homework, etc.  A family friend/lawyer is helping her gain legal status too.  The wife/mother had just left them on a Christmas Eve--said going to store but ends up sending postcards from different places--she has sort of lost her mind in a way.  Lulu the main character has settled in but then 3 Albanian men come to the house and get involved with her without the husband and son knowing.  At times funny, sad and just pushing along.  A different sort of read but still mostly entertaining.

There is 1 WL for this book on PBS so may try to post soon.

E is for Evidence

This is the next in the Kinsey Milhone series by Sue Grafton.  I needed a smaller paperback to read while at a doctor's office waiting for my appointment and grabbed this one.  Lots of moving parts on this and not sure really made sense--didn't like the bad guy was introduced but only at very end was revealed he was a killer that remade his life and married into the business family.  A crazy guy who was also working at business as wealthy, not sure it all works but was still a fun quick read.  An ex-husband shows up and shows why she is lucky he is not around too.

This is a keeper series for me so, it will go back on my shelf.

Dark Territory--#20 finished

The rest of the title is:  The Secret History of Cyber War.  A lot of good background info on computers and hacking.  Goes from the 1970s to when published in early 2016.  Not really hacking on the business side as much as on the spying and attacks on the government and military sides.  Also obviously with the US wanting to spy on others but also defending against the spying & attacks on our computers.  It seemed funny to me that a lot of the same people from the 1990s were still around in the 2000s and 2010s in leadership or advisory positions.  It just seems like the whole internet and applications tend to go with younger founders and startups but in the government leadership that experience still matters--or maybe these are people dedicated to our government while others are looking to make that quick buck.  Good read for up to when published but seems like in 10 years since a lot more has been happening and could be interesting to see a follow up.

There are 2 WL for this book on PBS so might try to post & mail off at some point but still have plenty of credits so not sure how soon will post.

All the Beloved Ghosts--#19 finished

This is a short story book with most of the stories in England where the author lives now and teaches.  The first couple stories are in Canada where she grew up.  Then there are also 3 stories of Anton Chekhov, that were really good and interesting.  This is a very nice mix of story types and all have a real touch of reality.  A good quick short story book.

There were no copies in PBS system so I posted it and it got requested right away so I will be mailing it off in the next few days.

Dying of Whiteness--#18 finished

This book was actually finished at end of Feb but just now logging it in.  The author is a researcher at Vanderbilt Univ but grew up in Kansas City.  These are the areas he looks at.  First is MO and the states gun laws, laws that have made it easier to get and carry guns in MO have also shown an increase in suicides by gun in MO.  It is mostly by white people here.  He has focus groups in all areas & in MO they discuss the people with real attachment to their guns--scary and kinda crazy to me all at once.  Next he looks at healthcare in TN.  TN does not expand medicare and a whole discussion of ACA.  Again with focus groups he finds that white men don't want to expand the healthcare because minorities or illegals would abuse it.  One guy he finds and talks to, has health issues that could be addressed in a neighboring state but doesn't want the health issues addressed because ACA and cost--again just craziness.   Finally he goes to KS and looks at their schools.  The tea party/MAGA groups there cut taxes for rich and doing so cut money to public schools.  He discusses how KS public schools were always very good, mostly top 10 in nation before this period.  Once the money cuts came there was a quick drop off.  The drop off not only affected the more minority districts but also the majority white districts.  

Really good research but was a little much on the details for my taste.  Also the font was too small for my enjoyment--I guess I am getting older and like a larger font.

There are 12 WL for this book on PBS but have plenty of credits so no hurry to post and ship off at this point.