She's Not Herself (Linda Appleman Shapiro)

Why I have this book: I bought it years ago for 99 cents when I was on a discount book service for Kindle.

I have mixed feelings about the book. On the one hand, I appreciate the memoir of a daughter of a severely mentally ill mother. I appreciate her need to make sense of her childhood and how her mom's mental health issues affected her. It was fascinating to see how mental illness was handled in those years (early to mid-1900's) and to compare it with what we know now.

It was also wonderful to see how devoted this family was to their mother even with the conflicting emotions they felt about how her struggles impacted their own lives.

On the other hand, I feel bad for the mom that her mental illness is now published in a book for anyone to read. Even though I feel such compassion for her, I'm not sure everyone would focus on the human experience of the fight against mental illness, and perhaps they would be inclined to judge her. That makes me sad.

Still, I feel like it's a worthwhile read for anyone who struggles with mental health or who cares about someone who does. I gave it four stars on Goodreads.

I don't recall if there was any swearing. The book does deal with mental health, and there is some talk about suicide.

The Chilbury Ladies' Choir (Jennifer Ryan)

Why I have this book: I borrowed it from the ebook library.

I enjoyed this book a lot. It reminded me of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society  novel and the show "Home Fires" that ended after two seasons and made all its fans upset. :/

The story is set in a small village during 1940 as WWII is beginning to ramp up. Each chapter is told from the perspective of one of a handful of the villagers, and we see how the experiences of their own lives and of war shape them during that time.

I gave it four stars on Goodreads.

There is some swearing and a few sexual situations that aren't graphically described.

Double Identity (Margaret Peterson Haddix)

Why I have this book: My daughter was assigned to read it in reading group for 5th grade, and after she was telling me about it, I decided I wanted to read it, too. I've read other books by Haddix and enjoyed them, so I bought the inexpensive Kindle edition.

This was pretty much a page-turner for me, and I gave it four stars on Goodreads.

My only observation is that the protagonist was 12, but she sounded more like she was 15 or older. There were also a few typo errors within this Kindle edition, and that always bugs me from the standpoint of "why does nobody catch this before it goes to publishing???"

I gave this four stars on Goodreads.

Clean. It does deal with death and cloning.

The Things We Cannot Say (Kelly Rimmer)

Why I have this book: I borrowed it from the ebook library after a friend recommended it.

I loved this book. I stayed up until 1:00 am to finish it. I love historical fiction that teaches me more about history and that also has depth! This fit the bill.

Wow. So hard to read (although not graphic) about the horrible things done by Nazi Germany. Their reach was so long for so many years. I know these things go on now in other countries, and we just don't hear about it in our little bubble unless we make the effort to find out.

There were a couple of editing problems. For some reason, every time someone used the word "hell," it was capitalized. Like, "What the Hell were you thinking?"

That makes no sense. Someone should have caught that in editing.

The author is Australian, and she used the word "tin" to describe a can of soup. That would be fine if it was set in a country that calls them "tins of soup," but in America (where the story is set), we don't say that. It made me stop and check back to see if I missed that this story was set in the UK or Australia, and it disrupted the flow every time it happened.

Still, the book was compelling and I loved it. Given the choice, I'd probably go with a 4.7 rating just because of those editing issues and because she threw the F-bomb in once, but I loved it too much to drop it to a four, so a 5 star rating it is.

Some description of wartime violence, a handful of swear words (including one F-bomb), and the implication (not described) that a couple had premarital sex.

Fly Away (Lynn N. Austin)

Why I have this book: I have had the paperback edition for years, but I hadn't read it. In cleaning out some books, I decided it was time to get through a couple of my unread ones and luckily was able to borrow the ebook edition to read.

I liked this book a lot. It was cute (mostly because of Mike's personality), and easy to imagine the emotions the characters were feeling. The religious part didn't quite come together for me because of the way it was written, but I support the point and effort. I understand this to be one of the author's first books, and I think her books have developed more depth over time.

There was a lot to chew on in this storyline, and I think that was what Lynn was hoping to accomplish. Very good. I gave it four stars on Goodreads.

I'll be donating the paperback to my local library. I'm actually donating quite a few books right now... pretty much anything to which I don't feel a particular attachment (or if I have it on my Kindle, as well.)

Clean.

Muddy, Book 1: Where Faith and Polygamy Collide (Dean Hughes)

Why I have this book: I borrowed it from the ebook library.

I gave this book four stars on Goodreads, namely because the author didn't shy away from showing the frustration and doubt these members of the LDS Church felt toward the counsel (sometimes more like commandments than counsel) given to them from local and general leaders of the Church.

Even so, maybe there was a little too much of things working out well (especially when it came to polygamy), but overall, I felt like the honest representation of misguided decisions made by Church leaders was refreshing.

Clean, although there was a lot of mention of the physical relationships between husband and wives. 

The Christmas Creed (Ted C. Hindmarsh)

Why I have this book: It was an actual print book from my bookcase. But... I found I could borrow it for free from the Kindle Unlimited Library (which I joined for a trial period), so I read it on my Kindle to see if it's a keeper or if it can go. I think I probably picked it up off a bargain table at a local bookshop or something, and I had never read it until now.

I gave it two stars on Goodreads, and I'll be donating it to our neighborhood Free Little Library. I mean, it was a cute story. It would probably be better in a made-for-TV holiday special when the characters could be developed a bit more. Parts seemed too simplistic and unrealistic... and I think I know what happened at the end, but that was an idea that wasn't developed really well, either.

I don't hate that I read it, but I wouldn't read it again.

Clean.

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek (Kim Michele Richardson)

Why I have this book: I borrowed it from the ebook library.

I gave this book a whopping five stars on Goodreads. I even stayed up until 2:00 am last night reading it since I figured today would be a snow day and I'd be able to sleep in. I was right on the snow day, but I didn't anticipate the school district calling at 6:30 am to let everyone know school was cancelled. That kind of defeated the purpose of letting people sleep in! (Not that their purpose was letting everyone sleep in... but a text or email would have sufficed!)

Anyway, this is a great book with more depth than a lot of the books I've been reading lately, and I appreciate that. I learned about the "Blue People" of Kentucky which was something new for me. So interesting.

This is the second book I've read about the Pack Horse Library Project, and I admire that program so much. It testifies (as does this book) to the power of reading.

Mostly clean, with a handful of the more "mild" swear words. There is some description of death among the poor of the Kentucky hills and of a suicide. There is also some mild description of sexual assault and marital abuse.