September 2020 Wrap Up - What I read

This month marked the start of the school term online so for me, it meant back to work time. That has prevented me from reading as much and as often as I would have liked. I still managed to read four books 

 The Forbidden Daughter _ Shobhan Bantwal

The Lake house by Joe Clifford

Role Play _ Tu Shonda L. Whitaker

Between Shades of Gray - Ruta Sepetys 

Book Review - The Lake house by Joe Clifford ⭐⭐⭐

 

This story was a gripping and exciting tale about a small town Covenant where it is relatively peaceful, that is until Greg Norman ( a man accused of the murder of his wife, a resident April) comes to rebuild his life in a Lakehouse near the beach after being acquitted. A little while after returning a young lady Wendy, was found dead near the lake house and this investigation set off a whirlwind of events that revealed secrets that shook this peaceful little town to the core. 

I really liked the story. The characters were relatable I especially liked Tracy, Amanda and Uncle Bob's characters .It read like an enjoyable TV series in some parts. I think that in end we could have had more detail of how Greg and Tracy's relationship turned out because I felt they just left the story abruptly (read the book so you will know what I'm talking about). This is one of those mystery stories that you just had to wait till the end to see who did it. I had so many thoughts about who the murderer could be that I just gave up speculating and just waited till I was at the end and what an ending it was. I would definitely recommend this book and I look forward to more like this from the author.

Book review Role Play by Tu Shonda L. Whitaker ⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

Thanks to Net galley for this ARC.

What a story that was...

I love it when a book grips me from the very beginning with characters so relatable that you can't put the book down till you reach the end and when you finally reach the end of the story it's like a big surprise ending. This is the exact feeling I got from reading Role Play.

The character I connected with most was Brooklyn. I felt she was dealt a bad hand in life and her relationship with Monty was just something she needed to survive. Monty's treatment towards Brooklyn and even Elle showed me that he had little regard for women and that he had deep seated abandonment issues from his mother leaving. The moral of this story in my opinion is that nothing in life comes easy but we need to be honest and not let our lust and greed for status and power get the better of us. 

Check out this and my other reviews on Good reads

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3553911541

Book Review -The Forbidden Daughter by Shobhan Bantwal

 

This was quite a gripping and interesting story.

The Forbidden daughter a story set in India, followed Isha a mother who faces a society that favors makes over females. She is pregnant with her second girl child at the beginning of the story and this led to the doctor and her in laws requesting that she have an abortion. This request setbof a chain of events including her husband's death and her in laws rejecting her forcimg her , a young widow to fend for herself.

I really enjoyed how the author took us on an adventure with Isha. I felt that I was right there experiencing everything. The story with the arrival of an admirer from college Dr. Salvi became a romantic adventure. I like it when authors work in social issues in works of fiction and this author did that remarkably.

The only thing i could say is that I would have liked a lot more adventure at the end because I think that would have really made a greater impact. Overall I would recommend this book.

New ARCs

Since joining Net-galley a month ago (yes I am a new member) I have been getting a few Advanced Copies of books. Here are the latest. I am now devoting specific times out of my schedule to read. I found the descriptions for these quite interesting.

 

Description

For fans of Sorry to Bother You and The Wolf of Wall Street—a crackling, satirical debut novel about a young man given a shot at stardom as the lone black salesman at a mysterious, cult-like, and wildly successful startup where nothing is as it seems.

There’s nothing like a black salesman on a mission.

An unambitious twenty-two-year-old, Darren lives in a Bed-Stuy brownstone with his mother, who wants nothing more than to see him live up to his potential as the valedictorian of Bronx Science. But Darren is content working at Starbucks in the lobby of a Midtown office building, hanging out with his girlfriend, Soraya, and eating his mother’s home-cooked meals. All that changes when a chance encounter with Rhett Daniels, the silver-tongued CEO of Sumwun, NYC’s hottest tech startup, results in an exclusive invitation for Darren to join an elite sales team on the thirty-sixth floor.

After enduring a “hell week” of training, Darren, the only black person in the company, reimagines himself as “Buck,” a ruthless salesman unrecognizable to his friends and family. But when things turn tragic at home and Buck feels he’s hit rock bottom, he begins to hatch a plan to help young people of color infiltrate America’s sales force, setting off a chain of events that forever changes the game.

Black Buck is a hilarious, razor-sharp skewering of America’s workforce; it is a propulsive, crackling debut that explores ambition and race, and makes way for a necessary new vision of the American dream.

escription

High-level corruption, high-priced addiction, high-voltage infidelity. The American Dream . . .
 
Loving husband, doting father, respected politician. On the surface, California Governor Montgomery ‘Monty’ Fields appears to have it all—and he intends to keep it that way. But even a powerful man like Monty can’t control everything or everyone . . .
 
First Lady Ellaina ‘Elle’ Lockhart-Fields has a juicy secret. One that she’s succeeded in keeping under wraps. Until her longtime lover shows up as her husband’s top security officer and threatens to ruin everything. Desperate, Elle concocts a clever plan. But it’s far more dangerous than she realizes.
 
Thanks to her scandalous affair with the governor, single mother Brooklyn Pryce is living in luxury. But empty nights and lonely holidays are starting to break her spirit. A passionate encounter with a mystery man inspires her to leave Monty. But that’s not as easy as she thinks . . .
 
Behind it all is a reporter who’s been tracking Monty’s every move, determined to bring him down, no matter who he has to seduce to get the job done. And as pressure from the women in Monty’s life, the press, and his partners in white-collar crime starts to boil over, Monty begins to unravel in ways no one sees coming . . .

 

Having read the description of  The Dance Towards Death (The Brother Hood Chronicles) and realizing that it was part three of a series I requested all three books.

Description

PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS A THIRD VOLUME IN THE BESTSELLING INTERNATIONAL CRIME SERIES THE BROTHERHOOD CHRONICLE. IT IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED YOU READ THE PREVIOUS TWO VOLUMES OF THIS SERIES AS THE NARRATIVE IS CONTINUOUS. THE PREVIOUS TWO VOLUMES, THE BROTHERHOOD (2012, SECOND EDITION 2018) AND THE RUN AND HIDE (2019) ARE BOTH AVAILABLE ON NETGALLEY FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE.

The third volume of Tejas Desai's riveting and acclaimed international crime series The Brotherhood Chronicle continues the stories of several survivors of a complex international criminal world. With blood on his hands and Manu by his side, Niral continues to balance divided loyalties. In New York City, Lance, Carty and others scheme over the The Long Island City Project, while in North Carolina, Ashok and Hemraj concoct other plans. In Thailand, Duncan and Mr. Hong hunker down while Nat searches for his missing son. In India, Talim salivates for revenge and Bhai prepares for Shri Diwali, culminating in a powerful climax.

All these are available on Netgalley. My reviews are coming soon I hope.

August 2020 Wrap Up

 Hi readers,

August was in my opinion a good reading month.

I read five books in total and I reached thirty out of fifty books (30/50) on my good reads challenge.

I really hope that this year I can meet my goal of fifty books it will indeed be a new accomplishment for me as is what I plan on doing every year.

Books I have read

1. Things fall Apart by Chinua Achebe 

2. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold.

3. My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult 

4. The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga

5. The Secret Lives of Church Ladies (ARC) by Deesha Philyaw

All these books were page turners in their own special way but the mosr gripping story for me this month was My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult. If you are looking for a good book to read you can pick that one up.