Counting Miracles by Nicholas Sparks 5

 

"On a deeper level, Jasper couldn't shake the feeling that he and the white deer were connected somehow. He wasn't sure whether it was an omen or a message, but as he sat in the truck, he felt with a growing certainty that the white deer's appearance had been meant specifically for him. Like his father and grandfather, after all, Jasper had always wanted to witness a miracle."

                  -from the novel

In the past I enjoyed a number of Sparks's novels, but this is the first in a few years. I remembered much of his work being romantic and sentimental, sometimes too much so for me. Those adjectives would describe this one as well, but I found the story compelling. 

Tanner Hughes discovers after the death of the grandmother who raised him the name of his biological father and a place where he might be found, Asheboro, North Carolina. He takes off to hopefully find the man. Truthfully, he is trying to find himself and discover a purpose for his life. 

While he in Asheboro, he meets Dr. Kaitlyn Cooper, a single mother, literally by accident and the two hit it off, as one might predict.

Meanwhile Jasper Jones, an elderly man with a tortured past who lives alone in the woods hears of the sighting of a rare white deer in the forest. He fears it is in danger from poachers and sets out to save it, risking his own health and safety. 

The plot thickens and becomes a page-turner as the two stories mesh. My rating is 5.

Glamorous Notions by Megan Chance 5

 

"Julia had taught her how to play a game. Julia had used her. Lena had been enchanted but the entire time Julia was only taking advantage of her, and she'd put Lena, unaware and stupid, in danger."

    -from the novel

Everyone should know: Don't judge a book by its cover. From the cover design and title, I thought this novel would be light reading, possibly romantic and was I wrong! It turned out to be a thriller and quite a page-turner halfway through. I found the novel exciting and entertaining and rated it a 5.

Beginning in 1950 Hollywood, Elsie Gruner is married to Walter, a wannabe movie star, when she meets Harvey and Charlie. These two new friends convince her she is very talented when they see her fashion drawings and encourage her to apply to a prestigious design school. Partly because of ambition and partly needing to get away from Walter, Elsie soon manages to enter an art academy in Rome. There she meets the charming Julia (referred to in the quote) who draws her into some mysterious (illegal?) business and changes her future in a huge way. Julia persuades Elsie to change her name (No way she should have the same name as a cow!) so they come up with Lena Taylor as an appropriate name for an up-and-coming dress designer. 

When Lena is forced out of Italy, she returns to Hollywood and by a stroke of good fortune gets work in a movie studio where she becomes quite successful all the while telling lie after lie about her past even to screenwriter Paul, her new romantic interest. "Oh, what a tangled web..." Taking place in the 1950's, the McCarthy era, communists are feared and imagined around every corner, further complicating Lena's life.

James by Percival Everett 5

"At that moment the power of reading made itself clear and real to me. If I could see the words, then no one could control them or what I got from them. They couldn't even know if I was merely seeing them or reading them, sounding them out or comprehending them. It was a completely private affair and completely free and. therefore, completely subversive."

         -from the novel

James is The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn reimagined and from the point of view of Jim, the runaway slave who became Huck's traveling companion. Since I am quite a fan of Mark Twain and have enjoyed ...Huckleberry Finn more than once, I placed it on my TBR list right away. It did not disappoint!

Jim and Huck meet up soon after they have run away from different situations for different reasons, and they travel together along the Mississippi River on foot and by raft, canoe, and riverboat. The two get separated at times but then reunite and they share some wild and sometimes frightening adventures. They meet some interesting characters and some nefarious ones along the way.

Parts of the story are sad and infuriating but there is humor at times. It is especially compelling being told by Jim who is shown as an intelligent, literate, resourceful, and compassionate man, as opposed to how he is seen by those they meet and in the original novel previously mentioned.

I am so glad I read James. I rate it a 5!

Conclave by Robert Harris 5

"No one who follows their conscience ever does wrong, Your Eminence. The consequences may not turn out as we intend; it may prove in time that we made a mistake. But that is not the same as being wrong. The only guide to a person's actions can ever be their conscience, for it is in our conscience that we most clearly hear the voice of God."

         -Cardinal Benitez, from the novel
 

Conclave was recommended to me by a friend and fellow Presbyterian. Not knowing a great deal about Catholicism, it was at times confusing. However, I learned so much along with being drawn into a compelling drama.

The pope has died, and it falls to Cardinal Jacopo Lomeli as Dean of the College of Cardinals to manage the election of a new pope, the Conclave. He is the one to tell the story. One hundred eighteen cardinals gather from around the world to take part in the sacred and secretive election. To begin there are about 5 contenders, including one who would, if elected, be the first African pope in history. Before long, a "dark horse" who is a relatively unknown cardinal joins the Conclave. All the attendees are holy men, but with feet of clay and Lomeli begins to get hints of personal ambition but also scandal and corruption which are of great concern. Even after 7 votes, there is no clear choice. And then the eighth....

Conclave was a page-turner for me---a rating of 5---and I look forward to seeing the film soon.

Walking on Water by Richard Paul Evans 4

 

"I had always thought of my walk as an escape from the past, but now I could see that it was also an escape from my future---a future that I wasn't any more prepared for now than I had been when I first set foot outside my house in Seattle.

Would I ever be ready? Could one really ever be ready for the unknown? If the road has taught me one thing for certain, it is this---one never knows who or what the next mile will bring."

     -from the diary of Alan Christoffersen

Finishing this novel was bittersweet---I was happy to get Alan to Key West but sad to have finished the last book of The Walk series. No more to look forward to although I know Evans has other books to check out and I probably will. This one I will rate a 4, a bit lower than the others and I will tell you why.

At the end of book 4, Alan receives word that his father has had a heart attack in California so at the beginning of this 5th installment he flies to LA to be with him. Fully half this novel takes place there as Alan ministers to his father, finds and reads a family history he has been writing and receives instructions for his end-of-life. His friend Nicole reenters his life and is emotional support for him. I think this part of the book is interesting but not as compelling as his on-the-road narratives in which he meets such interesting characters. Thus a 4 rating.

The last half of the book was more interesting with Alan's Florida walk reaching several very familiar places---St. Augustine, Daytona Beach, Kennedy Space Center and eventually the Keys. He spotted a tiny key deer in Big Pine Key where we had seen them when we visited years ago. He finally reaches Key West, the farthest point, where friends Nicole and Kailamai are waiting to celebrate with him. I hope this isn't a spoiler; I believe the reader expects him to reach his destination at the end of the series. A surprise awaits which I will NOT reveal.

Big Trouble by Dave Barry 3

 

"[Matt and Eliot] lapsed into silence, each drifting off into jumbled recollections of the evening. At the Herk home, Anna, Jenny, and Nina were doing the same, as was Puggy in his tree. In each case, the recollections were surprisingly pleasant, considering that the evening had begun with somebody apparently trying to kill somebody."

     -from the novel

The first Page Turners selection of 2025, chosen for its brevity (less that 300 pages) and ease of reading, was quite amusing and, at times, ridiculous. After wading through East of Eden, it was a welcome change. Not much literary value, I would say, but good entertainment.

In and around Miami, take one homeless guy who moves into a deserted tree house near the home of Arthur Herk, an embezzling employee of an unethical company and an abusive alcoholic, and his wife and stepdaughter. Add in two totally inept hit men from New Jersey out to get Arthur plus two low-level criminals out to "improve themselves" to high-level. Mix in a couple of high school kids playing a game of "Killer" with a water gun, sometimes mistaken for the real thing. And let's not forget to add a self-proclaimed crime fighter, a watchdog that only watches for food, a giant toad and a 13-foot python named Daphne, not to mention some Miami PD cops and even the FBI. Sound wild? Well, it does take place in Flori-duh! 

This crazy story was a comedy of errors and reminded me of the "dumb crook" stories a deputy assigned to our elementary school used to tell the students, to their great amusement. I will rate Big Trouble a 3. I am curious to see what the group will think.

East of Eden by John Steinbeck 3

 

"Virtue and vice were warp and woof of our first consciousness, and they will be the fabric of our last, and this despite any changes we may impose on field and river and mountain, on economy and manners. There is no other story. A man, after he has brushed off the dust and chips of his life, will have left only the hard, clean questions: Was it good or was it evil? Have I done well---or ill?"

     -from the novel

I cannot remember if I ever read this novel before so when it was offered as an eBook at a discount, I decided I should take advantage. I surely wish I had noticed it was over 650 pages! (I prefer 450 or less.) The plot was intriguing enough to keep me reading but I thought I would never finish! It was very wordy, making for tedious reading. By the time I was 3/4 through, I had almost forgotten some of the beginning.

The title hints at the book of Genesis in the Bible and the plot is somewhat reminiscent of the story of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel. It is a family saga of the Trasks and the Hamiltons in the Salinas Valley of California. The Hamilton family, Samuel and his wife and 9 children, are one side of the story and closely connected to the Trasks. It seemed to me a Hamilton grandchild narrates some of the story. 

Adam Trask and wife, Cathy, likely represent the original residents of Eden, although I think Cathy---later Kate---is way more wicked than Eve ever was! Cathy gives birth to twin boys and promptly deserts them and their father. The Trasks have a hired Chinese man, Lee, who practically raises the two boys, later named Caleb and Aron (think Cain and Abel). He is very patient and very wise and was one of my favorite characters.

I have rated the book a 3. Guess I will check page counts before reading from now on.