The Keep by Jennifer Egan

3 stars
Not at all what I expected. Story puts an unnecessary and distracting focus on a certain aspect of every day life that was really annoying. The ending is thrown together so quick and loose ends tied up so abruptly I had to go back and reread certain parts to catch it all. About 2 cousins who experienced a traumatizing event in their childhoods. Now all grown up, one is rich and lives in Europe where he just bought a castle and the other is pretty much a nothing who just floats through life until he is called by his cousin to come help him. Whether he really wants help or is just bent on revenge over what happened when they were young is yet to unfold, and the story is told by a man in prison through his creative writing class who's part in the story is not revealed until the very last pages. The teacher of the prison writing class also has secrets of her own. Sounds intriguing I'm sure, but trust me, it wasn't.

The Shadow Year by Jeffrey Ford

4 stars
Fun book to read. Reminded me a lot of To Kill a Mockingbird, Stand by Me and The Sandlot. About 2 brothers and their sister in a small town. There is a prowler on the loose looking in windows and they decide to investigate since the police won't. The boys have a model of their town set up in the basement, and pieces start moving of their own accord, or is it their strange younger sister and one of the personalities she has invented? When bodies start showing up they get more than they bargained for, and the pieces on the board start being predictions of what is to come.

Fall On Your Knees by Ann-Marie McDonald

This bored me to tears. Couldn't finish this one either. Didn't really care about any of the characters or what was going to happen. I also found the writing style hard to follow. 2 stars

The Duchess by Amanda Foreman

Non fiction, reads like a history text book. Interesting, but one of the books you need to be in the mood for. A lot of detail on women's place in politics. 3 stars

Hooked on Gothis fiction

I am absolutely hooked on Gothic fiction and my library doesn't seem to have much. If anyone has any recommendations for this genre, please let me know!! Thanks!

The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry

Very boring, could not get with the authors writing style at all. Couldnt even finish it. Not much of a review, ha!

Beasts by Joyce Carol Oates

The story opens with a woman in her 40's in a museum in Paris discovering a piece of art she thought was long ago destroyed in a fire. It then goes back to when this woman was in college, her love for one of her professors, and what happened when she was taken to be an "intern" for the professor and his wife. Very dark, sexual, and Gothic. Ok story, but glad I got it from the library and didn't buy it. 4 stars

The Observations by Jane Harris

Story of a young Irish girl who goes to work for a woman and her husband and is asked to do all manner of strange things for the woman. While the mistress of the house is out, the girl finds all of these journals that previous maids were asked to keep and a book the woman is writing called The Observations, and how she thinks a servant can be trained based on their personality. The girl finds out about another girl that worked for the woman who died mysteriously, and starts snooping around to find out what happened. Good story and keeps up the pace, but by the last 100 pages I could have cared less. The ending drug out way too long. 3 stars