Catching up part two

It will take three posts to catch up my "opinions" of what I have been reading the past seven months.  Hopefully I can make these next two look a little more appealing.  These lists are not in any particular order.

This selection came after some Classics Club Challenge reads and was a nice break from that "old" reading.  I enjoyed this light read about a widower raising his four children with the aid of a housekeeper.  The Saturdays refers to how the children spent their Saturdays doing things that they liked and some trials that hit the family as well.**** 

This was a selection for October (Halloween).  Salem is short for Jerusalem.  I had never read a Stephen King book before.  It was a pretty good "scary" selection.  When I first selected the book I thought it was about witches but turned out it was about vampires.  I will be reading more of Stephen King in the future. ****

Gathering Blue is a sequel to The Giver which I really liked.  I'm not usually a fan of dystopia but after reading The Giver I decided to continue on. ***

A governess is hired by an uncle of a boy and girl after the death of their parents.  Both children and the governess see ghosts of the former governess and another servant of the home. **

My first read of Voltaire. It's described as a satire of tragic comedy.  It wasn't a very long read but I had to keep back tracking to remember certain things. I found it hard to focus on. **

A story of a woman in an unhappy marriage wholly devoted to her sons. He oldest dies of pneumonia if I recall, after becoming engaged to a woman his mother objected to.  Son number two loves his mother and is devoted to her so much that he won't marry as long as she lives.  So he has several affairs over the years.  His mother falls ill with cancer and the son and daughter are left to care for her at the end of her life. ***

Otherwise known as The Headless Horseman. Is a legend about a soldier who lost his head in battle and rides around the countryside looking for it. Ichabod Crane is a school master who believes in such things and ends up missing due to his superstitious beliefs. **

A youngman,  David Balfour, is recently orphaned. He's given a letter to go to The House of Shaw. When he arrives he discovers that it is the home of his father's brother, Ebenezer. Ebenezer is paranoid that someone will try to take over his "title". Probably because he came by it dishonestly. He schemes to have his nephew kidnapped.  Most of the story is Davies journey to return home. ***

Ugh this was a disgusting choice! It wasn't a terribly long read thank goodness. A salesman wakes one morning to find he has turned into an insect, a cockroach more likely. Gross!!! He loses his job and his family is distraught. His sister being the only one who can feed him. After realizing what a toll this has taken on his family he stays in his room and dies. *

 I never finished Murder At The Vicarage, my attention span was too short at the time. I really enjoyed this one! I thought I was pretty smart but this took me by surprise.  It kept me engaged to the very last. I will try to get back to the one I had not finished. ****

I chose this book because it was a crime fiction and I am trying to be more diverse in my reading. Turns out it was a good storyline.  Good enough that I will pick up the sequel. A drug lord 8 Florida is killed an his son's take over.  All of them with different temperaments. Only one son raised by a different mother has the temperament to actually take over and run the cartel.  It's action packed pages kept me in suspense! ****

Another vampire selection...one I started before Halloween.  A vampire and his sister raise his daughters to hunt men and bring them to him to feed on. One daughter doesn't have the desire to live isolated from school mates and public in order to do her father's bidding.  She unravels the dark secret of her family and her future during her rebellion and decides to leave the life she was meant for. ****

Book 3 of the Mayfair witches. Is the history of the beings behind the power of the Mayfair family. The last remaining Taltos tells the story to Rowen and Michael. They are torn when they find that Mona who was impregnated by Michael has delivered a Taltos. One that could breed with Ashlar, the last surviving Male of their kind and bring back into existence a civilization that is almost extinct. ****

Mairin is the illegitimate daughter to the king.  She has been on the run and in hiding from men who would prosper by wedding and bedding her.  She is found by the men of an evil man who would have her fortune.  They also have Ewan McCabe's young son in their possession.  Crispin and Mairim escape and find their way back to the McCabe property. OH, there isn't much I can say without giving you too much that might ruin it for you.  It's a great romance/drama.  I'm reading the second one as I write this post! *****

A story of adultery!  I had mixed emotions over this one.  A sweet kind Anna is married to a much older man with whom she has a son.  She is not happy in this marriage and allows herself to fall in love with another man.