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Book and Author Reviews

When you learn something surprising or astonishing you will sometimes say “What the heck!?” Well, when I was a younger lass I heard it said “What in the Sam Hell!?” Author Robert Dugoni’s latest novel, The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell is likewise something surprising and astonishing. Belonging to several book apps on Facebook (like The Sixties Plus Reading Room, Book Club Favorites, and Goodreads), Ibecame aware of this Dugoni story because of theoverwhelming raves it received.

When they are thrown together carpooling back home for summer break they discover they like each other. Subsequently, each summer they take a vacation together and over the years they secretly come to understand their love for each other, but are afraid to reveal such feelings as then everything may change.

By Nancy Ryan Simply Hers Magazine

It is the story of Sam Hill, a misfit, born with red eyes. It’s a viscerally-inspiring tale of friendship, parental love, and faith. It traces Sam’s relationships throughout his life with his loving parents (especially his devout, religious mother) and his two misfit friends—Mickey, a girl with a troubled home life, and Ernie, a black kid, who faces the usual discrimination in a white school. It is a story of believing in God’s will and faith, as the three friends overcome the social castigation of misfits. A beautiful tale of their growth, with an uplifting ending. You will not forget this one. I teared up at the conclusion and highly recommend it as one of the best books I’ve read.

I just finished Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano. Another favorite of mine! It’s the story of an Italian family living in Chicago. Dad, mom, four sisters. What a story. They all have their own to tell! Very poignant is our relationship with our siblings… Hard to put down. I have previously reviewed Napolitano’s Dear Edward. Equally good, but very different from this one! I must check out her other two novels, A Good Hard Look and Within Arm’s Reach. I’m excited!

I discovered another new author, Emily Henry. People We Meet on Vacation is her story of best friends, Poppy and Alex. They meet their first week as freshmen in college and really are not impressed with each other. They are direct opposites in personality.

I then read my second Emily Henry book, Beach Read. I must say that the theme of this book seemed vaguely familiar to the first. It’s a light-hearted romance about two upcoming authors who have secretly had crushes on each other since college. Emily Henry has written a few other books and also some for young adult readers.

Susan Wiggs’ recent book, Welcome to Beach Town, is a fast read. It is about heroine, Nikki, and her bravery in doing the right thing even when the odds are against her. Doing that right thing disrupted her future plans and sent her in a different direction for fifteen years. Without giving away the plot, read it and find out for yourself!

My sister, Joanne, recommends Lost and Found by Marilyn Harris. It’s an epic novel beginning in 1930 in America’s dust bowl and culminates in l965. The story takes us through the lives of Martha Drusso and her adopted children Belle and R.C. We experience the drama that was life in America in the post-Depression years, WWII, the infamous Japanese internment camps, the Korean War, and the struggle for civil rights. I also read it, and really enjoyed it. Author Harris was best known for her fictional seven-novel “Eden” series, a historical saga about the Eden family of England.

See you at the library!