Skin Game by Jim Butcher

Do you know how disappointing it is to be on a long wait list for a book at the library, only to have it become available when you are out of the state? Then you get back on the wait list and you are 10th in line...again.

It took me a bit to get to the 15th book in the Harry Dresden series, but it was worth the wait.

Harry is still hanging out on Demonreach, jumping prisons for exercise, when Mab shows up to summon him to an assignment. It's not something he can say no to since he is still her Winter Knight. Off they go, only to confront Harry's enemy, Nicodemus Archleone, who needs Harry to pull off a heist.

Sounds simple enough until you find out it's stealing from Hades' vault. Yes, that Hades.

Harry is still fighting skull crushing headaches from a parasite in his brain. Or is it a parasite? Ah, the added complications in the life that is Harry Dresden.

Nicodemus pulls together a crack team to steal the Holy Grail (yes, that one) from Hades' vault and things just start to unravel.

Some of the scenes involving Murphy made me a bit nauseous and worried. The Carpenter's also make a glorious appearance that made me dance with joy. I love that family.

And Butters. Ah, Butters.

This really did not disappoint and just makes me that more excited for the next one.

Church of Mercy by Pope Francis

I saw this in the new audiobook section of my library online and decided to give it a shot. I'm not Catholic (or Christian for that matter) but there is something about the new Pope that I really like. He seems more open minded to the current state we are in and that's actually a nice change.

This is a Vatican-approved collection of his speeches, homilies, and papers. Since it was audio, I honestly don't remember what each section was called, but some overlapped. Basically, among the biblical verses and teachings, he spoke of universal truths, much like His Holiness The Dalai Lama does. These are things everyone, regardless of religion, can do to make the world a better place.

Helping the poor and downtrodden is a huge service that the Pope pushes (for lack of a better word). Not getting caught up in money or things. I appreciated the sections about trying to get the hypocrisy out of the church so people respect the Catholic church again. Getting rid of gossip among the parishioners. These are all things everyone can work on to improve everyone's lives.

This was a very short audio (about 4 hours) but it was a good listen. Much like the Buddhist books I enjoy, it did make me come away wanting to be a better person, to myself and to others.

All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

I took this on vacation, just planning to read it in the room in the evening. Turns out, it was so good and so engrossing I took it to the beach (*gasp* a library book on the beach!).

Another recommendation from Books on the Nightstand...

This was beautiful, sad, heartbreaking and uplifting. An amazing book that I just couldn't stop reading... until I was forced to.

Marie Laure lives in Paris with her father and she became blind at a very young age. Her father, Daniel LeBlanc, is an amazing dad, who built Marie a small model of their entire neighborhood - exact model - so she could learn her way around and not depend on anyone.

Werner Pfennig lives in Germany as an orphan in an orphanage with his sister. He is a whiz at fixing radios and is a very smart boy. Unfortunately, in the time of Hitler's law, smart young boys are pulled in to the Hitler Youth and into the war.

Our main characters lead us on a horrifying path through World War II and Hitler's Nazi regime. Every character we come in contact with leaves a mark, they are so well-written and fleshed out that you feel like you are standing there with them, having a conversation.

We all know how WWII ends, but the fates of some of the beloved characters and our main characters aren't necessarily happy endings.

A beautiful must-read.

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

My second book for beach reading and it was a little bit more than I had anticipated. I thought I just grabbed a no-brainer YA book. Wrong.

Speak is an amazingly good book about a high school freshman, Melinda, who is entering high school as a complete social outcast. She became an outcast over the summer when she called the cops on a party she was at and her friends would not forgive her. The book shows Melinda now but shows us that she has become a completely different person than everyone knew.

I figured out pretty early what happened to Melinda at the party and, despite that, the book keeps a fairly light voice to it even as Melinda falls apart.

It is painful to read about such an outcast (I was not remotely close to popular or covered in friends in high school either) and it irritated me so badly that her parents just lectured instead of TALKING to try and find out what happened.

I ran through this one pretty fast, as it was a good read.  I'm leaving it at the hotel for another person to enjoy.

Desert Heat by J.A. Jance

One beach read down and given to the hotel library... or another hotel patron. I don't know where it ended up.

I swear I've read this. Goodreads seems to think I've read this. But I only knew the character Joanna Brady but none of the story. So I think I've read later books with Joanna as sheriff but not the first? I have no idea.

I think I plowed through this in a day at the beach (and an evening on the balcony).

Joanna Brady and her husband, Andy, live in a little desert town where Andy is running for sheriff. Unfortunately for him, someone decides to kill him. Joanna is left with her 9 year old daughter, fighting to clear Andy's name of suicide, drug dealing and being a dirty cop.

This felt like a standard mystery, which actually kept some things a mystery until they were revealed, and although some of the sex scenes were just too much, it was a good book.

Bird Box by Josh Malerman

Another spot on the Bingo card for summer reading ... down. I have 2 boxes in a row now. Yay.

Another recommendation by Books on the Nightstand and this one was a doozy. They warned it was creepy. It was. I think, but don't quote me on this, that this is the most unusual psychological thriller I think I've read.

We have no idea what is going on except that when people see something, they end up going insane and killing loved ones and then themselves (or just themselves if they are alone). No one knows what they see: creatures? monsters? radio waves? We just know that the characters in the book are forced to live life with their eyes closed or shut up in a house with covers over the windows.

We know it lasts at least 4 years, as that is how old Malorie's children are in present time. She found out she was pregnant at the time the "visual plague" started. We flip back and forth to present to when the phenomena started happening and, honestly, none of it makes sense but the unknown horror that looms out there makes your skin crawl.

Excellent book. Well-written and sufficiently creepy to keep making me look over my shoulder.

Allegiant by Veronica Roth

Third in the Divergent series (and final), this one didn't fall flat like some of the other 3rd books in trilogies (looking at you, Mockingjay).

Tris, Tobias and crew are stuck inside Chicago where Evelyn, Tobias' mother, leads the new city, by forbidding factions and keeping the factionless armed and patrolling the city. Just another tyrant on the wall.

The Allegiant is formed, a group of people who want the old way of life and who want to follow Edith Prior's video of leaving the city walls. A small group of Divergent, including Tris, Christina and Tobias, head out and discover..... an airport. Otherwise known as the government who is using people as experiments. Now we're getting creepier.

Allegiant explains the purpose of the Chicago experiment and genetically "damaged" vs genetically "pure". It all got very Hitler/Nazi-esque to me, which I suppose is what it was supposed to do.

Someone has to rise against, and they do, with some dire consequences to some main characters. I'll give props to Roth on the ending. Quite powerful.

Since I refuse to spoil, I'll finish with: this is a great ending to a great series. Bravo!