Fiction | Book Chatter

By Noah Hawley
Grand Central Publishing, Hardcover, 9781455561780, May 2016, 400pp.

The Short of It:

A plane goes down. There are only two survivors, one of which is unable to remember the plane’s final moments due to a head injury. The mystery of what happens on board slowly unfolds.

The Rest of It:

Plane crashes fascinate me. There’s always so much to learn. Passengers confined to a tiny space thousands of feet above ground with absolutely nowhere to go, the complexity of the instruments, the flight crew and yes… the passengers themselves. I didn’t need much prodding when a copy of this book became available.

This is a riveting read. It reads like a mystery and there’s plenty of suspense to keep you guessing. What exactly happened on that plane? Hawley’s passenger lists includes some well-to-do passengers, two young children, an artist who boards last-minute but is pretty much a stranger to the rest of the cabin, the flight crew and the bodyguard assigned to protect one of the families on board.

I really enjoyed this book. There have been some books like it in the past few years but the storytelling in this one seemed effortless and the pacing was just right.

I recommend it.

Source: Borrowed
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Firefly Summer
By Nan Rossiter
Kensington Publishing Corporation, Paperback, 9781496705037, July 26, 2016, 352pp.

The Short of It:

Tragedy and heartache can ruin a family but for the Quinn sisters, their love for one another helps them come to terms with the events of the past.

The Rest of It:

The Quinn family spent summer after summer at Whit’s End, their summer house on the Cape. With four sisters and one brother they were a formidable bunch but their time on the Cape was always magical and memorable. But in the summer of 1964, eight-year-old Easton drowns under the watch of one of his sisters and the events of that night forever haunt them.

The Quinn sisters, now grown and all living on the Cape, find themselves leaning on one another as they deal with health scares, crumbling marriages, new relationships, addiction and the overwhelming grief they carry with them from that fateful night.

Rossiter is known for writing stories with heart. Firefly Summer is no exception. The setting, the food, their conversations and their real-life struggles make this the perfect summer read.

I’ve had the pleasure of reading all of Nan Rossiter’s novels and they are all wonderful. You can’t go wrong with any of them. They center around family and she always has these wonderful settings. Check out her website for more information.

Guess what? The author has offered up a copy to giveaway! See details below.

GIVEAWAY INFORMATION

This giveaway is for one copy of Firefly Summer and is open to the US and Canada. A winner will be chosen randomly by me. The book will come directly from the publisher/author Only one entry per person. Giveaway closes on July 31, 2016 (pacific). I will contact the winner for his/her mailing address.