5 Books Audra has read lately + 5 Book Giveaway

by Audra H. Anders for The Aha! Connection

Read the five book reviews and comment as to which one sounds most interesting to you and you just might be the randomly selected winner on Friday!   We’re giving away one of each!  

Tell Me Everything

It’s an Oprah’s Bookclub selection, a NY Times Best Seller and I liked it very much.  In fact, it had me thinking about the characters and their decisions long after I had finished.  

Amazon synopsis: With her remarkable insight into the human condition and silences that contain multitudes, Elizabeth Strout returns to the town of Crosby, Maine, and to her beloved cast of characters—Lucy Barton, Olive Kitteridge, Bob Burgess, and more—as they deal with a shocking crime in their midst, fall in love and yet choose to be apart, and grapple with the question, as Lucy Barton puts it, “What does anyone’s life mean?”  Buy it here.

By Any Other Name

I personally have never met a Jodi Picoult book I didn’t like.  I haven’t read them all, but I’ve loved the ones I’ve read.  This one is a NY Times best seller and is for everyone who loves Shakespeare.  It may have you wondering whether or not Shakespeare really wrote all of his plays…so fun, so quirky and thought provoking.  I loved it.  

Amazon synopsis: Young playwright Melina Green has just written a new work inspired by the life of her Elizabethan ancestor Emilia Bassano. But seeing it performed is unlikely, in a theater world where the playing field isn’t level for women. As Melina wonders if she dares risk failure again, her best friend takes the decision out of her hands and submits the play to a festival under a male pseudonym.  Buy it here.

 

First Lie Wins

I loved every second of this one and it kept me guessing the whole time which is not normal!  It’s a NY Times Best Seller and a Reese’s Book Club Pick:  “This fast-paced read has everything you could want in a thriller: secret identities, a mysterious boss and a cat & mouse game that kept me guessing the whole way through.”—Reese Witherspoon

Amazon synopsis: The identity comes first: Evie Porter. Once she’s given a name and location by her mysterious boss, Mr. Smith, she learns everything there is to know about the town and the people in it. Then the mark: Ryan Sumner. The last piece of the puzzle is the job.  Buy it here.

 

The Wild Robot

One of my childhood BFFs is a teacher at Mountain Brook High School in Birmingham, Alabama.  I was recently discussing books with her and she mentioned that everyone in her school was reading this book and loving it.  She promised me even though it is a children’s book, I would love it.  She was right!  It’s also a new movie in theaters now!  

Amazon Synopsis: Can a robot survive in the wilderness?

When robot Roz opens her eyes for the first time, she discovers that she is all alone on a remote, wild island. She has no idea how she got there or what her purpose is–but she knows she needs to survive. After battling a violent storm and escaping a vicious bear attack, she realizes that her only hope for survival is to adapt to her surroundings and learn from the island’s unwelcoming animal inhabitants.  Buy it here.

Listen for the Lie

I could hardly put this one down.  I so love a good page turner and a tricky murder mystery.  This book is both!  If you like true crime podcasts…you’ll like this book.

Amazon Synopsis: What if you thought you murdered your best friend? And if everyone else thought so too? And what if the truth doesn’t matter?

After Lucy is found wandering the streets, covered in her best friend Savvy’s blood, everyone thinks she is a murderer. Lucy and Savvy were the golden girls of their small Texas town: pretty, smart, and enviable. Lucy married a dream guy with a big ring and an even bigger new home. Savvy was the social butterfly loved by all, and if you believe the rumors, especially popular with the men in town. It’s been years since that horrible night, a night Lucy can’t remember anything about, and she has since moved to LA and started a new life.  Buy it here.

*Amazon sometimes pays us a commission when you buy books we’ve linked.  I use this money to purchase books to give away!

Here’s what I am planning to read next:

• Inside of a Dog:  What Dogs See, Smell and Know
• Shanatram:  A Novel
• The Lost Bookshop