Only Daughter

This is a psychological thriller written by Anna Snoekstra. In 2003, at age 16, Rebecca Winter disappeared from her Canberra neighborhood. She had been enjoying Summer break, working at McDonald's, shoplifting with her best friend, crushing on an older boy. Then came feelings of being watched, an ominous presence in her bedroom at night...then Bec disappeared. In 2014, panicked after being arrested, a young woman claims to be Bec, now missing for a decade. Soon, this imposter is welcomed into Bec's life, hugging her parents, teasing her younger brothers, sleeping in her bed. But the more entrenched the imposter becomes, the more "off" she finds things. And she realizes whoever took Bec is still out there, and she herself is in great danger.

I read this book in a day. A couple of times I thought I had it all figured out and was wrong. Twists kept coming.  Few names are used for characters; this adds to the atmosphere of the book. It is far creepier to read about "the father" crying than about "Bob" or somebody crying. The main character, the imposter, is never identified by her actual name; to make the merging of her life with Bec's more seamless, perhaps, but also I think so the reader will more readily identify with her. An interesting novel.

The Alchemyst

The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel. By Michael Scott, this is a YA offering in the fantasy genre. Nicholas Flamel was actually a renowned alchemist born in Paris in 1330. Records show he died in 1418; but upon inspection his tomb was empty. It was said he discovered the secret of eternal life. According to this book, he is still living. The secret elixir of life is hidden in the book he has protected for nearly 700 years; the Book of Abraham the Mage. Also known as the Codex, it is the most powerful book that has ever existed; in the wrong hands, it could destroy the world. Those hands belong to Dr. John Dee. He works for the dark Elders who want to destroy humankind. The Codex also contains prophecy, including one concerning silver and gold twins with the power to save the world. Sophie and Josh Newman are those twins. This is the beginning of their journey into legend.

I had a hard time getting through this work. Too much "black" magic, dark arts, foul creatures. The characters he chooses for "good" guys are questionable (at best). I know most young people would not get all of the allusions, but the Witch of Endor as an ally? No. I won't be reading the rest of this series, nor will my children be reading it.

All the Bright Places

Devastating! This YA novel by Jennifer Niven is heartbreaking. And hopeful. Stunning. Sad. Beautiful. Theodore Finch is fascinated by death; knows suicide letters by heart, yet each day he finds some reason to stay present. Violet Markey lives in the future, when she can escape high school, her small Indiana town, her aching survivor's guilt from the accident that claimed her sister's life. Finch and Violet meet, unexpectedly, on the ledge of the bell tower at school six stories above the ground. They help each other back to safety and, through the course of a school project, help each other truly live. Then Finch is handed an unwanted label and his fear of it makes him shrink as Violet continues to grow.

This is an unflinching look at bullying, mental illness, child abuse, and teen suicide. (Mind your triggers!) You wouldn't think a book with so many dark themes could be hopeful, funny, bright. This one manages. The characters are so well-drawn.... I haven't read Niven's other work, but this is a tour de force.

Finding Hope

This is a Christian romance by Melanie D. Snitker. It is advertised as Love's Compass Book 2; but I had no trouble reading it as a standalone. Lexi Chandler is an ER nurse in Texas when some pain leads her to seek a doctor for herself. What she learns and what follows could test her faith and her budding relationship with Lance, her little brother's best friend, who is quickly becoming her own best friend.

Of course, it's a romance, so no one is tested too far and everything comes out nicely in the end. This was a Kindle book; a nice bit of fluff to read while waiting. I don't usually read this genre - it tends to make me dissatisfied with my life. A steady diet of anything with big, romantic gestures and not enough reality in it: from pornography (not that there's necessarily anything romantic there) to soap operas to romance novels lead a person to expect behavior from their loved ones that just is not humanly possible or sustainable for any length of time. When you expect what you don't get you end up dissatisfied, disappointed, inhumane to all around you.

A Curious Beginning

This is the first of a new series by Deanna Raybourn. Veronica Speedwell has been nursing her maiden aunt, but with her death orphaned Veronica is now free to resume her world travels in search of adventure and butterflies (she is a lepidopterist by trade, one of the few scientific trades open to an adventuress in the 1880s). She is also thoroughly modern, enjoying the company of foreign gentlemen when abroad from her native England. She has learned how to take care of herself.  Yet her plan to embark on a world tour is foiled as she thwarts her own abduction and meets a secretive German baron who has information about her parents. He leaves her in the care of his friend Stoker, a bad-tempered natural historian with secrets of his own. Before the baron can share his information he is killed, and Stoker and Veronica are wanted for his murder. Can they find the real killer? And can they hide in a London gearing up for Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee?

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Veronica is not a Victorian lady at all; she's had an unconventional upbringing (unschooling, anyone?) and she's made the most of it. I now want to read other books by Raybourn, and I will be following this series.

H is for Hawk

Written by Helen Macdonald, this is an odd conglomerate of memoir, literary exposition, and field guide. Macdonald writes of her father's death and her own crushing grief. An experienced falconer, she obtains a goshawk, which she names Mabel, to train as an attempt to tame the fierce wildness she senses inside herself. She also becomes reacquainted with T.H. White's The Goshawk, his own chronicle of training a falcon, in which as a novice he does everything wrong. Macdonald becomes obsessed with White and his life and his work. It's all a bit much. I didn't dislike the book, but I didn't feel it lived up to its hype.

The Big Rock Candy Mountain

Written by Wallace Steiner, this novel left me impatient and restless. I'm not entirely sure if that was the result of the fact I typically feel that way when reading something where one of the main characters doesn't grow and develop throughout the book or if I felt that way because of the same character's constantly striving to get something for nothing, always looking for a big score that requires nothing from him. Life doesn't work that way; it has no meaning that way.

Elsa has taken care of her family since her mother died; then she finds out her father is going to remarry. She's so horrified by his choice of wife that she runs away to take care of a bachelor uncle. Living there she meets a dreamer and schemer, whom she marries. Soon they have children. The schemer carries them along from pillar to post, never caring how the lifestyle is affecting his family. Elsa manages love and a home in spite of the challenges.