All The Truth That's In Me

I love books filled with fluff and as far from reality as possible.  I always say that I read books to get away from the real world for awhile.  So when I got the book All The Truth That's In Me ... 

I had no clue what to expect.  I mean, it's not a book filled with witches and wizards or sexy vampires.  It's a book about a girl and a boy and the challenges they face.  It's dark, but not in a Tim-Burton-darkness.  It's dark in a real life way.  All The Truth That's In Me is about two girls that go missing and 4 years later one returns.  Judith didn't come back the same little girl she was when she left.  Judith comes back silent, her tongue cut out and the truth buried with it. 

All she can do is silently pour out her thoughts, as if reading her journal, we see life through her eyes.  The cruel way she is treated from those in her community because "who's she going to tell anyways" ... the love she has for her childhood friend Lucus ... and the way her mother treats her because she is embarrassed by what happened.

However, after all the time she has spent learning to be invisible, just as her mother taught her, an attack breaks out at Roswell Station and only one man can help. Can Judith dare to bring him back with all the pain and horror?  And what would be the consequences if she did?

All the Truth That's in Me is a dark and chilling tale of abuse and secrets, of love and loss, and of silence and courage.  Its second person narration was one so unique and almost lyrical, with a rhythm and a kind of music I've never read before.  Each chapter is usually only half a page long, sometimes less.  It keeps with the way Judith might think, in short sequences.  She's a very calculating kind of person.  She seems to always see deeper than others, as if her lack of speech opened her eyes and ears to a far more intricate world only she can see and the narration portrayed it wonderfully.

As you go on this journey with Judith, you can't help but know the characters in this book so intimately.  You really have a chance to fall in love with the people she loves and hate the ones she hates.  This book had you guessing the whole time and you can't put it down until you put the whole puzzle together.

In the end, I was surprised by how much I liked this book.  There was no fluff and the story was something that could happen in our world today.  (But don't worry.  There was still the hot guy.)  I would recommend this book to anyone 17+.  There is more mature content to the book but the writing was amazing.  Bravo Julie Berry Bravo.

Keep reading if you want to know more about what this book is all about.

"Longing For Home"

All of us have authors we love!  We follow them and keep up with all books out and any new novels soon to be released.  This is the same with me.  I have a list of “favs” and I follow them closely.  One of those on my list is Sarah M. Eden.  She had a new book released September 2^nd (“For Elise”), so I decided that today I would review an old one written by her.

“Longing for Home” by Sarah M. Eden, takes you back in time to 1870 Wyoming territory.  A sweet girl named Katie is trying desperately to save money to go home to Ireland and to help her family.  Her life has not been easy and if she thought coming to America would make things easier, she is going to be disappointed.  Katie quickly finds out that the Irish are not held in high regard.  She also finds out that opening up your heart and allowing people into your life can make challenges less overwhelming.  Especially when there are two handsome men who long for Katie’s attention. 

I love most of Sarah M. Eden’s books and this was no exception.  She writes clean and cute romance novels.  This book left me wanting more.  I couldn’t put the novel down until I discovered how everything turned out.  This meant lots of late night reading with very little sleep … the markings of a good story!  Lucky for you … the 2^nd book is out and you can read both right now!  Amazing right?  Nothing better than a series that is finished.  Now I need to get reading “For Elise”!

To find out more about this book, read below:

"The Help"

With all the hype this book (and more recently, the movie) has received, I kind of feel that it doesn’t need another review.  However, to be fair to all the other books I have read recently, it has to be included in my list of “Books You Must Read”.

When this book very first hit the bookstores, my daughter bought it for me as a birthday present.  Being so new, I had not heard much of a buzz so I didn’t have any expectations.  Expectations or not … this novel is amazing!  It is one of those books that kept me up late into the night reading. If I was to simply say it was story about the life of black maids in Jackson, Mississippi in the 1960's, I would be doing it a disservice.  The author succeeds in showing that we are more alike than we realize. This book shows the triumph of the human spirit.  Thanks Kassie for giving me “The Help“.

Here’s a quick look at what  “The Help” is all about:

"The Forgotten Garden"

I really became quite enchanted with this tale.  The bewitching fairy tales and the charming cottage garden made the book enticing and captured me from the first few pages.  Kate Morton did a beautiful job writing.  I could picture, in my mind, all the events I was reading about … just like watching a movie that only I could see.  I found myself wrapped up in a mystery that kept me guessing as to the outcome.  The twist and turns, and all the transporting my thoughts to different time periods … kept me up all hours of the night reading.

Here is a look at what “The Forgotten Garden” has to offer:

"Sarah's Key"

(*As I was getting ready to publish this post ... I came across a movie trailer for this book!  I am so excited that it is going to be on the big screen.  Hopefully it will live up to what was written on the pages.)

Before and after reading this book, I read many varying reviews.  The way I see it though, is … a novel like “Sarah’s Key” stands on it’s own.  No matter if you love it or hate it - everyone should read this beautifully written account, devoted to the Holocaust.  The author did an amazing job reminding us of the tragic facts that took place many years ago … and in a place we often don’t associate with concentration camps and Jewish mistreatment.  “Sarah‘s Key“ is a book that is captivating, and I have found my mind returning to it many times after I finished reading.  I strongly recommend adding it to your list of “Must Reads”.

Here’s another glimpse at what is inside the pages of “Sarah’s Key”: