Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling

I am a fan of the Harry Potter series.  I loved Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling.  I'm not sure if the book stands on it's own without having read the series.  I think there is too much information that requires having read the series in order to understand the lingo.  If you haven't read the series, I recommend it... then read this one.  This book still has the characters I loved from the series plus their children to whom we were briefly introduced at the end of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It focuses mostly on one of Harry and Ginny's children as well as the child of another character from the series.  Their adventures throughout the book are very reminiscent of Harry, Ron and Hermione's adventures.  The fate of the world is in their hands.  It was a much faster read than the books of the series.  I didn't even mind that it was in playwright form.  I give this book 5 out of 5 stars.  Love it.

Tough Cookie by Diane Mott Davidson

Tough Cookie by Diane Mott Davidson is the ninth book in the Goldy Bear Culinary Mystery series.  I had already read the other 8 quite awhile ago, but came across this one and grabbed it up.  I've enjoyed this series.  It reminds me of the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich except Goldy is a chef not a bounty hunter.  This series has similar comical moments, but doesn't really focus on it as much.  This series is more about the suspense of solving the mystery.  They can be a little predictable, but there is enough out there that keeps you unsure until the end.  Goldy always gets herself into sticky situations.  This book finds her wrapped up in a murder that seems connected to a death on the ski slopes 3 years before.  It has good mystery, nice comic relief, AND they throw in a few recipes of the things she cooks as well.  The main character is likable, too.  It's a fun and easy read.  I give it 3 out of 5 stars.

When The Moon Is Low by Nadia Hashimi

When the Moon Is Low by Nadia Hashimi was a long process for me.  It's a fiction novel, but it feels like a memoir.  Therefore, I had to keep reminding myself that these statements aren't true.  It's a touchy subject matter as well.  There were also times where it just didn't feel worth the effort of finishing it.  I hate to not complete a book once I've started.  I toyed with the idea of not seeing it through many times.  I did though.  Do I think it was worth it?  I'm not really sure.  The ending did not finalize the story.  I didn't walk away knowing that all 4 of them made it safely to their destination.  Reading about the things refugees have to endure was ugly to say the least.  If you're looking for a lighthearted book with a happy subject matter, this is not the book you're looking for.  However, it is current to the times of the world right now.  Despite it being fiction, I feel I learned something about matters of which I knew very little before reading it.  It made me feel as though I may want to find a non-fiction book about a refugee's true life story.  So, because of this stirring of something inside of me to make me want to delve more into the topic, I give it a 3 out of 5 stars.  If it weren't for that, I would have given it a 2.  It was a very dry read for me.  It was as though I were eating saltine crackers with nothing to drink.  I wanted the satisfaction of the water, but it never came.  I'm not sure what satisfaction I was looking for in this book, but it never came.

Bird Box by Josh Malerman

Bird Box by Josh Malerman is one of those books that left me saying, "You've got to be kidding me."  It's a book where the ride is much better than the destination. The premise is that there is something "out there" that causes people to go crazy and kill themselves if they look at it.  The suspense level is good.  The story is well written.  I wouldn't say that the character development is all that great, but the suspense and idea make up for that.  I spent the whole book thinking what are these creatures?  Where do they come from?  Why don't they attack anyone?  What do they want?  Why are they here?  How did they get here all of a sudden?  What do they look like?  Well..... NONE of those questions were answered.  Not a single one.  I was so disappointed that I wanted to give this book only 1 star.  However, I took a step back and looked at the whole picture.  Like I said, the suspense level was good.  The idea of the story was intriguing.  I wanted to complete it.  It was just the ending that was lacking, in my opinion.  With that in mind, I give this book a 3 out of 5 stars.

Wildflower by Drew Barrymore

Wildflower by Drew Barrymore is definitely a book for Barrymore fans.  The stories about her experiences are heartfelt and personal.  The ones about her daughters are very sweet as are the ones about her dogs.  She's a very passionate person.  I thoroughly enjoyed her book, the crazy stories about finding herself as well as the way she went from E.T. to her typical romantic comedy of today.  She comes across as a person I would enjoy hanging out with and getting to know better.  I will warn about listening to the audio book.  Drew's passion comes across loud and clear as she literally screams some of the book in those moments of her life where she was screaming on the inside or really screaming.  Overall, Wildflower by Drew Barrymore is a must read for fans and a good choice even for those who aren't fans but enjoy heartfelt, touching autobiographies.  I give this book a 4 out of 5. 

We Should Hang Out Sometime by Josh Sunquist

We Should Hang Out Sometime by Josh Sundquist is not a book I would recommend.  I pretty much considered it a waste of my time.  It's real life stories about his history with females.  There were a few funny moments, but overall, it just wasn't really interesting.  I'm not even sure any of it is really worth me going into detail about it.  I give it one out of 5 stars.

The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater

The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater is the fourth and final book in The Raven Cycle series.  I'm going to try to do this without giving too much away from the other books.  I read the other three a few years ago.  Then, I had to wait for this one to be published.  This series is a young adult series.  There are some topics that are not suitable for kids or tweens.  The first one in the series was my favorite.  The whole series is full of paranormal elements... magical locations, clairvoyants, psychics, other worldly entities and even a demon.  The series is well written and the characters are well developed.  I would definitely recommend reading the series.  However, don't just pick up this book or any of the others and think it will be fine to read it out of order.  It won't be.  These books build on each other and have topics that if you don't get the background from the previous book, then you will be very confused.  I will say that there were several things about this book in particular, being the last, that left me still confused as to the how and/or the why about certain aspects of the storyline.  But, overall, it was not enough to make me not enjoy the series or even this book.  I would definitely recommend this book and series as long as you can deal with the juvenile tendencies of the teenage characters. 

I give this book a 3.5 out 5 and the series a 4.5 out of 5.