Eyes of the Forest by April Henry

Here in Missouri there are book awards given each year. One of them is called the Truman Award after Harry S. Truman, the 33rd president of the United States, who was born in Missouri. I often browse the award shelf to see if any of the nominees look interesting. This one is one of the current year's nominees for the Truman Award. 

Bridget is invested in a fantasy series of books called Swords and Shadows. So much so that she is the author's research assistant, even though she is a teenager. She keeps all the places, names, and objects in a database so that all the books have continuity. The last book in the series is long overdue and the author seems to have stalled out. Some fans of the series take this as a personal affront and take matters into their own hands to force him to finish the final installment. Bridget senses something is wrong and may be his only hope for rescue. 

This book read quickly and I enjoyed it. The plot moves well and the characters are authentic. 

Young Adult fiction, fantasy, writers

Recommend: Yes

23 Minutes by Vivian Vande Velde

 I picked up this book from one of my very favorite authors, Vivian Vande Velde. Zoe, age 15 and a half,  has an unusual ability to travel back in time for exactly 23 minutes. There are restrictions. No one remembers the previous 23 minutes but her and she can't take anything back in time with her. Once time starts to replay she only has those 23 minutes to decide to replay them again. Once she hits 24 minutes then she has to wait another 23 minutes before going back in time another 23 minutes. AND she can only repeat the same 23 minutes 10 times. Got all that?! To make matters worse the repeated 23 minutes usually turn out worse. She has usually used this only when she has had embarrassing moments or wanted to impress a guy. This time, however, the stakes are a bit higher. 

This is a young adult book and has some violence as the crime scene is described. 

Science Fiction, time travel, crime, action

Recommend: Sometimes

The Boardwalk Antiques Shop by Julie Wright, Melanie Jacobson, Heather B. Moore

Three short stories that weave together in the small fictional seaside California town of Sea Shell Beach. It is part the series, Tangerine Street Romance. I had read another one that I enjoyed and this one was similar. I was drawn to these because I had read other stories by Melanie Jacobson and liked her light, sweet romances. These three stories are a quick read and reminiscent of Hallmark romances with a bit more realism to them. 

Fiction, Romance, Beach life

Recommend: Yes

Tennis Shoes Among the Nephites by Chris Heimerdinger

This was a re-read for our family. We listened to this book years ago on a road trip, but most of us had forgotten much of the details. I read it aloud to three of my kids. It takes place in Cody, Wyoming, which is where the author grew up. The landmarks that are talked about are all familiar to me and our family which was fun. This is the beginning of a series, Tennis Shoes Adventures Series. In each of the books young teenagers travel back in time to ancient America during the era of the people recorded in The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ. In this first book they enter during the war chapters of the Book of Mormon with Captain Moroni, Teancum, and Amalakiah. They interact with the characters, but the author does not alter the recorded happenings in the Book of Mormon. It was fun to read and realize some of the things that were going to happen, but also see how the time travel characters were woven into their lives. 

Young Adult fiction, science fiction, action.

Recommend: Yes. 

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

 Fiction. Inspiring and thought provoking story about a boy who decides to be a shepherd in Spain but through a series of good omens travels to Egypt to find treasure.  Along the way he learns about people, nature, himself, and his destiny, or "personal legend" as he calls it. There were several quotes in this book that caused reflection on my part. Here is one of those,

"I'm alive," he said to the boy, as they ate a bunch of dates one night, with no fires and no moon. "When I'm eating, that's all I think about. If I'm on the march, I just concentrate on marching. If I have to fight, it will be just as good a day to die as any other. Because I don't live in either my past or my future. I'm interested only in the present. If you can concentrate always on the present, you'll be a happy man. You'll see that there is life in the desert, that there are stars in the heavens, and that tribesmen fight because they are part of the human race. Life will be a party for you, a grand festival, because life is the moment we're living right now." 

It reminded me of a children's book that was published 10 years previous to this one, The Treasure by Uri Shulevitz. Both have similar plots and express similar ideas and both cause reflection on my life's journey.  

Recommend: Yes

The Fill-In Boyfriend by Kasie West

 Teen fiction, romance. Kasie West is a go to author for teen clean romance reads without a ton of predictability. I like her characters and the story line moves along well. I was having one of those unable to get to sleep because I have a cold and my brain wouldn't shut off nights and as I went out to the couch so as to quit disturbing my husband's sleep with my tossing and turning I discovered the light on in the living room and my daughter on the couch. She had just finished this book. So as she went to bed I picked it up and read the entire book from start to finish. It was the perfect insomnia book and I finished it in a couple of hours and then, thankfully, went to sleep. 

Gia is an uber popular girl, student body president at her school, and the center of lots of attention. In the midst of her perfectly scripted world her boyfriend dumps her as they are walking into prom. In a panicked response she grabs a random guy who happens to be in the parking lot and convinces him to pretend to be her date so she doesn't have to walk in alone. This decision sets off a chain of unintended consequences that gets uncontrollable as Gia has to spin more and more lies to make everything work. To her credit she is able to own her poor choices and go forward even when things don't tie up nicely in the end. 

Recommend: Yes.

Loving Lieutenant Lancaster by Sarah M. Eden

 Yet another regency romance by Sarah Eden! This one is among the series about the Lancaster family and focuses on the only son in said family. The setup is familiar to Eden's books: a house party where the unassuming reticent girl attracts the eye of the handsome yet awkward young gentleman. Other more forward women are thrust into his attention, yet he chooses the quiet, interesting, beautiful girl instead of the obvious boisterous, flamboyant ones. It's not a bad plot to relax into on a return flight home after spending time with wedding preparations for my daughter. 

Recommend: Yes