I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh

This sad psychological thriller/mystery begins with a hit and run that leaves a 5 year old boy dead.  We follow Ray Stevens as he investigates the crime and Jenna Gray who moves away to the coast to escape her past.  There is violence, abuse, and plot twists throughout the sad story.  I received this book free to review from Netgalley.

Gracie Meets a Ghost by Keiko Sena

In this mostly non-scary ghost story, a bunny named Gracie gets glasses.  One day while playing on a mountain with friends, she loses her glasses.  When she gets home and realizes that, she goes out at night to find her glasses.  Because things look blurry, she mistakes other animals and things for her glasses.  When a ghost tries to scare her, Gracie can't see it well enough to know it is a ghost so the ghost looks for her glasses so it can scare her once she puts them on and sees it.  Happily for Gracie, once the ghost finds and gives her the glasses, the sun rises and the ghost disappears.  I received this book free to review from Netgalley.

Fifty Nifty Facts about Cats by J.M. Chapman& S. M. Davis

Lots of adorable photographs of cats and kittens accompany fifty facts about cats, some well known and others that people may not have heard before.  From how cats fit through spaces the size of their heads due to free floating collar bones to the fact that adult cats only meow at humans, I learned quite a few fun facts about cats from this book.  I did not know that unlike most mammals, cats can drink seawater because their kidneys filter out salt.  I wonder if that is part of why they survived so well on ships?  I received this book free to review from Netgalley and I highly recommend it.

A Tale of Two Daddies by Vanita Oelschlager

This is a cute, simple, rhyming story in which a little girl who has two dads explains to a little boy at the playground that her Daddy and her Poppa take care of her very well.  The book is quite simple, but shows that to a child, having two dads is fine.  I received this book free to review from Netgalley.

Life According to Dani by Rose Lagercrantz

This is a short, simple chapter book.  Dani is staying with her friend, Ella, on an island, having a lovely time while her father is recovering from being hit by a car.  Then, her father comes for a visit and he brings a girlfriend.  This is totally unexpected to Dani and was not handled well by her father and Dani reacts quite negatively.  I think that this book could be used to talk about the characters' feelings and the situation of a parent having a new girlfriend or boyfriend.  I received this book free to review from Netgalley.

House of the Rising Sun by Kristen Painter

This is a fun to read paranormal romance.  Harlow has gone to ask her mother, who she has been estranged from for years, for money, so she can pay a fine for a cyber crime and stay out of jail.  However, the day after she arrives, her mother is murdered - by a vampire.  And so, Harlow gets to know her mother's sort of foster son, Augustine, a very handsome fae who, after Olivia's death, becomes guardian of the city of New Orleans.  With witches, fae, vampires and voodoo, New Orleans is at it's finest.  This is the first book in a trilogy and I look forward to reading the others.

Enchantress: A Novel of Rav Hisda's Daughter by Maggie Anton

Magic and mystery, passion and sorcery abound in this story of Hisdadukh and her second husband, Ravi, a rabbi learning Talmud together.  They deal with demons, fight off evil and curses and heal people's hearts and bodies as they raise their family together in the Jewish community in the 4th century.

The Masked City (An Invisible Library novel) by Genevive Cogman

In this second, totally awesome book in the trilogy, Irene, who is a Librarian and spy, must save Kai, her assistant, who is also a dragon, from the Fae who have kidnapped him in order to start a war.  She must disguise herself and travel with the Fae to a planet deep in the chaos part of the universe in order to save him.  In the alternate Venice, it is always carnival and people wear masks, which is helpful when disguising oneself.  Once again, Irene is bold, brave and a totally kick ass Librarian-spy.   I thoroughly enjoyed this book and look forward to the third one!

The Invisible Library by Genevive Cogman

This is a really fun fantasy novel.  Irene is a Librarian for the Library that exists between the alternate worlds of the multiverse.  The invisible Library where she lives is large and Librarians are sent to various alternate worlds to collect books that are considered valuable.  She is sent on her mission with a new trainee named Kai, who seems a bit unusual.  There are fae and dragons, chaos, magic, vampires, werewolves, lots of bad guys and an important book to steal or somehow acquire.  This is the first book in a trilogy.  I enjoyed it and look forward to reading the others.

The Summer that Melted Everything by Tiffany McDaniel

Fielding Bliss tells this story of the summer that he was 13 years old in 1984 in Ohio.  He is telling the story as an eighty-something year old man, so that means it must be in the 2050s in his present.  He does not spend much time in that time period, but it seems no different from now.  So, in 1984, the summer was unusually hot and a 13 year old black boy named Sal showed up in town claiming to be the devil after Fielding's father placed an ad in the paper inviting the devil.  Fielding's family takes Sal in as the sheriff tries to locate his family to which Sal provides no clues.  A large contingent of the population seems to believe that Sal is actually the devil and they blame everything that goes wrong that summer on him.  The story is well written and interesting and many people love the book.

Diary of a Maxed-out Kid by Max Candee

Set in Russia, in 1983, Max is a seventh grader, who along with his best friend Alex and others, are dealing with an 8th grade bully named Tolik, who has claimed ownership of what soon becomes the only soccer field in the area when a building is constructed in the field they used to play in.  In addition, Max finds that Alex likes Tanya, the same girl that he likes.  The story is well written, funny, and all around, a great read.  I think that middle grade kids will enjoy it a lot.  I received this book free to review from Netgalley and I highly recommend it.

The Taco Cleanse: The Tortilla-Based Diet Proven to Change Your Life by Wes Allison

This is a very funny and fun to read vegan cookbook!  I totally enjoyed the commentary which include things like ways to know if the taco cleanse is right for you - "Do you experience recurring feelings of hunger on a daily basis?" and more along that line and " Can a pie be a taco?  Is Frito pie even a pie? Does Frito pie translate to "fried foot"? These are the things you must contemplate while you eat the Frito Pie Taco." The recipes are simple and easy to follow.  There is also a section on living a taco based life that includes things like taco yoga, a crossword puzzle, and a certificate of completion.

Deceived by L.A. Starkey

In this YA paranormal romance, complete with a love triangle or perhaps quintuple, Sam is the chosen one, although she does not know it.  She is also, of course, drop dead beautiful and many good looking guys like her.  When her best friend Julie dies, Sam's dream guys show up in reality and the Greek myths come to life as she is caught up in a prophesy and epic battle.  This is the first book in a trilogy.  I received this book free to review from Netgalley.

The Diabetes Comfort Food diet by Laura Cipullo

The recipes in this cookbook are quite good, well written and easy to follow.  I have found, however, that they tend to be higher in meat and lower in vegetables than I prefer.  I have made quite a few recipes from this  cookbook and I often add more vegetables.  For example, when I make the chicken and sausage jambalaya, I add in diced zucchini squash, diced carrot, corn, mushrooms, okra and/or other veggies that I have at the time.  I also add carrot, zucchini and corn to the Layered chicken and bean enchiladas and instead of using 6 corn tortillas I cut up a couple of flour tortillas into squares and mix those in and make it a casserole.

The Glittering World by Robert Levy

Blue, who is in debt, returns to his Grandmother's house to sell it and pay off his debt.  He is accompanied by Elisa, his best friend and sometimes lover, her husband Jason, and Gabe, a young man who is in love with Blue.  They wind up in an old artist's colony in Canada that has long ago been burned down in a community that has stories of the "Others" who are not fairies, but something else.  Blue finds clues to his past, which he cannot remember.  When he was 5 years old, he and a girl the same age had disappeared, only to return two weeks later, with no memory of where they had been.  The supernatural elements take over and we follow the characters as we learn how each one deals with the reality that they find.  I received this book free to review from Netgalley.