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Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes My rating: 5 of 5 stars Somewhere, sometime, somebody failed me. How is it I had never read Flowers for Algernon until now? Even my youngest kids say they read it in eighth grade, and they almost never read anything. I make my AP Literature seniors do a tapestry…

West Texas Kill by Johnny D. Boggs My rating: 3 of 5 stars West Texas Kill was pretty good, but certainly isn’t Johnny D. Boggs’ best novel. The structure is well done, with most chapters ending in a cliffhanger. The pace is non-stop action. The characters, though, were just lacking. The only one I really…

14 by Peter Clines My rating: 4 of 5 stars Once upon a time, for many years, all I read was horror fiction. These days, my reading tastes vary pretty widely, with horror popping up … rarely. You read too much in one genre, you get burned out. That’s how it was for me, anyway.…

Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon My rating: 4 of 5 stars I’d never heard of this book or author until I saw a preview for the movie based on the novel that will be out soon. The movie trailer intrigued me, so I searched out the book. I’m very glad I did, as it was…

Unteachable by Leah Raeder My rating: 3 of 5 stars I wasn’t really sure what to expect with this book. The author was new to me, the “new adult” category was new to me. And the subject matter was … edgy. Maize is an 18-year-old high school student who meets (and has sex with) an…

The High Mountains of Portugal by Yann Martel My rating: 3 of 5 stars This is one of those novels where I know I was missing something. I could see that there was something bigger going on, but couldn’t quite see the big picture. I’m sure I’m still missing a lot of it, too. The…

Hard Winter: A Western Story by Johnny D. Boggs My rating: 4 of 5 stars Johnny D. Boggs has become my second favorite living Western author. His books are always interesting and unique, and Hard Winter was no exception. It grabbed me from the beginning and held my interest all the way through, despite not…

The Lonesome Gods by Louis L’Amour My rating: 3 of 5 stars I had the same problem with this The Lonesome Gods that I’ve had with all of Louis L’Amour’s fiction. All of his lead characters are supermen and they know it. He rhapsodizes about their abilities without ever showing how they got those abilities…

The Big Sky by A.B. Guthrie Jr. My rating: 3 of 5 stars There were parts of this book I really enjoyed. I liked the beginning with Boone dealing with his Pap and running away from home and his trouble with the law. After that, though, it was hit or miss for me. Until the…

The Age of Odin by James Lovegrove My rating: 3 of 5 stars This book is outside my usual genres, but I do love Norse mythology, and it was recommended to me by a good student, so I gave it a try. I liked a lot of it, but there were some plot issues that…