"Billy Summers"

 

“Billy Summers” by Stephen King

Published by Scribner

Finished 2/28/23 – 3.5/5 stars

I’m afraid to read Stephen King’s horror books but this is my 2^nd novel of his and I definitely enjoyed it.  It’s a little slow at times, but the story itself is really good and the ending is perfect.  Billy Summers may be a paid assassin, but he’s a character you’ll fall in love with anyway.  Give it a read and you’ll see what I mean.

Bonus - Whereas there is a nod to Stephen King’s The Shinning in the 2^nd half of the book, there are also mentions of other books within the book.  It always makes me happy to see an author give a shout out to another author.

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Mercy

 

“Mercy” by Jodi Picoult

Published by Pocket Books (Simon & Schuster)

Finished 2/15 – 2/5 stars

 

In all honesty, I only finished this book because it was written by Jodi Picoult.  I normally really enjoy her books so I kept reading, thinking it would get better, and then it was just too late to quit.  I felt like it just dragged too much.  It probably could have been a much shorter book or even 2 separate books.  And the pieces thrown in about Ireland didn’t need to be there at all.  Plus, I was expecting a thought provoking book about mercy killings but instead it was just 2 love stories – one with strong characters, deeply in love and one broken relationship with weak, irritating characters.  Although I normally love Picoult, I can’t recommend this one.

 

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Take My Hand

 

“Take My Hand” by Dolan Perkins-Valdez

Published by Berkley

Finished 2/7/23 – 3/4 stars

This is a very sad piece of historical fiction that I’m glad I read because it is a part of history I was unaware of.  I knew that some poor black communities had essentially been used as lab rats in the past, but I didn’t know that woman and young girls were being sterilized.  That is just horrific!  Not only does the US government need to stop interfering with women’s reproductive rights in general, no human should ever be subjected to medical practices of any kind against their will and/or without being given complete details of the situation to be able to provide knowledgeable consent. 

Politics aside, it was a good story.  I don’t think it needed the dual timelines of 1973 and 2016 though.  I think it would have been better to simply have one story in the 70s and then an update at the end to let us know what happened to everyone.  I felt like throwing a little bit about 2016 every once in a while just distracted from the main story.

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Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story

“Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story” by Bono

Published by Knopf Publishing Group

Finished 2/4/23 – 4/5 stars

I fell in love with U2 when my brother went to college in ’84 and forgot the cassette tape of “U2 Live Under a Blood Red Sky” in the family “kid car” I took over.  I loved it the first time I listened to it and proceeded to buy more tapes and CDs over the years.  There were a few albums I didn’t enjoy as much, but I always remained a fan.  When I saw Bono put out a memoir, I knew I just had to read it.

One of the things I enjoyed while reading this book was that when song lyrics were included, I would sing along (in my head, of course) and my own personal memories related to the song would come to mind.  I got to revisit some of my past while learning some meaning and background into the making of the songs (and the band).  I also liked that he admitted to some of his personal flaws like his anger issues, making him not always the best bandmate.  The only thing I didn’t enjoy was in the middle of the book it got a little too political.  Bono is a huge activist so it was expected and needed to be included because it’s such a big piece of who he is as a person, I just didn’t enjoy it as much.  Overall, a great read though.  I definitely recommend it to any Bono and/or U2 fans.

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