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Friday, February 15, 2013

A Great Read: The Secret Keeper

I love to read and have for as long as I can remember.  I think it started back in elementary school with Judy Blume books and The Baby-Sitters Club series.  Truth be told, it probably started even before that with Little Golden Books or something.  Nevertheless, I'm a sucker for a good book.

That being said, I do go in phases.  Sometimes I get on a roll and can read one or two books a week.  That may last a couple of months before a reading drought hits.  I get busy, life gets in the way or nothing sparks my interest and I may not read for a while. However, no matter how long I stray from reading, I always come back.

Scholastic Book fairs at school were the greatest things ever!  Those flimsy, tissue paper book catalogs they gave you ahead of time were like gold.  I would look through that thing like a kid in a candy store picking out all of my favorite must-haves.  I probably would have bought them all if my mom would have let me!  It was like Christmas when those crisp, new books I had ordered came in.  I couldn't read them fast enough and they still looked brand new when I was done with them.  I do not like creases in the binding or wrinkles in the dust jacket!

When I got older the book store became my new version of the book fair.  There are sooo many good books to choose from that I get excited just thinking about.  Needless to say, I was a frequent flyer at Barnes and Noble and usually didn't make it past the first two rows of new releases.  That led to a lot of hardback books stacked up in space I didn't really have and I don't re-read books.

Thank goodness for the invasion of e-readers!  Now I can browse the store, read reviews, make my purchase and start reading within minutes all from the comfort of my couch.  That only leaves the problem of this......




I have been working on my office and woMan Cave and these things had to go.  They were super old and had been taking up floor space in a huge box for way too old.  The box was so heavy; I had to put them into bags just to get them out of the house.  I decided to take them to Half Price Books. I figured whatever they were willing to give me was worth it to get them out of my house.  I left with $48.53 in my pocket!  I did keep a few favorites for my bookshelf.

Now it is just me, my Nook and my latest read.....The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton.




I will admit, it took me a while to get through this book.  It was 445 pages on my Nook and I think that is a little long, but in the end it was worth every page.  It is the story of a dark family secret as told by the now adult daughter who witnessed a horrific event as a teenager.  Each chapter toggles back and forth between the past and the present and she delves deep into her mother's memory to discover the truth.  As you read through and piece together the puzzle as the daughter finds the pieces, you think you have it all figured out.....but do you?  This book is nothing if not unpredictable and will leave you guessing until the very end.  It is a story of love lost and found, of war and peace.  I was pleasantly surprised at the end and cried like a baby (which is not much of a surprise).  It was a good read and I would recommend it to anyone.

I hope to bring you other book reviews (as I see them) along the way.  Here is what I like in a book: fiction (I read for pleasure - no biographies/autobiographies/memoirs), short chapters (I like a good stopping point - no stopping in the middle of a chapter - so I don't want it to take 20 pages to get to the next one), be hooked from the beginning (it is hard for me to get into a book if it is not good from the very first chapter),  200-300 pages is good (400+ is not so good), and good reviews/recommendations (I have a few trusty friends who are always good for a great reading list).

What are you reading?  Follow me on Pinterest and see what else is In My Library.

Lisa



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