Carry On - Rainbow Rowell - I really liked Fan Girl. There was so much reference to this book that I had to read it. It was OK. This was probably too young adult for me. It tried to be too much like Harry Potter but with a gay twist, which worked, and was probably the only good thing about the story.

A Dog's Way Home - W. Bruce Cameron - I loooooooved this book! I mean I really really loved this book. It is told from the point of view of the dog. It was sweet and engaging filled with a really great story about the life of an stray puppy who finds a home, the strife this causes, and how he finds his way back home. I can't recommend this one enough. Just do yourself a favor and skip the movie.

The Deal of a Lifetime - Fredrick Backman - This is a short story touted as a Christmas tale but really it isn't. In true Backman fashion it is deep and riveting and I devoured it on a lunch break. Face to face with the idea that something is missing, the man is given the unexpected chance to do something selfless that could change the destiny of the little girl in a hospital that he met and was touched by. Before he can make the deal of a lifetime, he needs to find out what his own life has actually been worth in the eyes of his son. And so, he seeks him out and tells him this story.

Little Fires Everywhere - Celeste Ng. I was intrigued after reading this will become a Hulu series. I really liked this book. It did get a little slow 1/2 through but it picked up. It hooks you with the end of the book at the beginning and spends the rest of the time leading you back there. The Richardson house has burned down and Izzy Richardson, the youngest of the four Richardson children, is the primary suspect. The narrative then flashes back to the previous June, when Mia and Pearl Warren arrived in Shaker Heights, Ohio, to live on the top floor of the Richardsons’ rental property. Pearl and Mia have lived a transient lifestyle, moving from town to town. This time, Mia has promised Pearl, the two of them will “stay put.” Mia is a photographer. She gets a job cleaning for the Richardson's and Pearl basically becomes almost like another Richardson. There are twists I saw and didn't see coming. Worth a read.

The Dreamers - Karen Thompson Walker - I hated this book. I kept waiting for it to pick up. I never got attached to any characters in any way. It felt like I was sleepwalking through the story. I finally gave up and skipped to the end. That didn't help AT ALL. The story is about a college girl who falls asleep and never wakes up. Suddenly more and more people are falling asleep. It never focuses enough on any one character to make you care and it flatlines until the end where it leaves you with no real answers. Skip this one.

My friends and I formed a book club. So far it is only 4 of us but we all have read or are reading Where'd you go Bernadette by Maria Semple. I have already finished it but I will save my review for after we all meet and review it together. We are also slated to read Where the Crawdads Sing but I am so deep on the waitlist for that one that we chose this one to read first. Stayed tuned... and send me a message if you are interested in joining our book club!