And the Birds Rained Down by Jocelyne Saucier

Today I did some thing that I haven't done in about 15 years.  I read a book in a day.  Now it is only 160 pages but still it felt good.  I used to read a book a day all the time back in my teens and early 20's but these days there's no way that can happen.  But today the house was clean and the kids were busy.  So I sat and read.  A guilty pleasure.  I also had 3 cups of tea throughout.

And the Birds Rained Down was a Canada Reads 2015 nominee.  I've only had find time to watch the first days so far.  I have to say based on the discussions I wasn't overly interested in this book.  I thought it was all drugs and sex and old people.  And the Birds Rained Down certainly does have all those things but it also has so much more.  There's more than one beautiful love story throughout.  There's also Ontario scenery.  Art.

I really enjoyed it.  I'm not positive that it's the book that all Canada should read.  I do think the book would appeal to wide audience.  An enjoyable read for sure.

Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll

I don't know how to talk about Luckiest Girl Alive without giving anything away.  There's so much that happens.  So many twists and turns.  The book starts out with the main character Ani FaNelli completing her bridal registry with her fiance Luke.  Love story right?  Except Ani is thinking she'd like to stab him in the stomach.  And so it begins.  Each chapter seemed more shocking then the next.

I really can't say much more without giving too much away.  Already many of the early reviews are comparing it to Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl.  I suspect this book will do well.  I really enjoyed the fast suspenseful pace of it.

Jessica Knoll has been a senior editor for Cosmopolitan magazine.  Luckiest Girl Alive is scheduled to be published in May 2015.

The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B is the story of a fifteen year old boy named Adam.  He's just begun group therapy to help him cope with his OCD.  The first meeting he falls instantly in love with Robyn.  Adam vows to get better so that he can take care of Robyn.  But he's got other problems as well.  His parents are seperated so there's anxiety and guilt about which house he's staying at and when.  But Adam's mom also has some issues of her own and Adam can't avoid making them his problems too.

The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B does an amazing job at teaching teens about what life is like with OCD.  There's a note at the back as well advising what to do if you feel you have some of the symptoms described in the book.  Adam is a very lovable character that you can't help feeling badly for as you read through his struggles but the support group is quite the cast of characters and they do invoke some smiles.

The story also has a positive Catholic theme.  Adam is Catholic and throughout the story he teaches the support group about being Catholic.  The priest in the story is possibly the likely hero of room 13B.

I gave The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B a rating of 5 stars.  I really enjoyed the writing style, the characters and the message.  There is some inappropriate language in the book but I discussed it with my grade 8 teacher and he felt that it was acceptable.  He has actually requested to use this book for a literacy circle study in class.

The Great Bike Rescue by Hazel Hutchins

I've been working through the Silver Birch Express nominees with my grade 3 to grade 6 classes.  This week most of my classes completed their fifth book!!  I'm so proud of all of them.

The Great Bike Rescue is full of action from page number one.  Levi goes into the corner store just for a few minutes but it was enough time for someone to steal his bike.  He didn't lock it, but still, it's not right!!  The next day Riley's bike gets stolen too but his bike was locked.  The boys have a mystery to solve.  

The Great Bike Rescue was an action packed story.  Every chapter left on a cliff hanger.  In fact, this week as our library period ended I had two different classes ask me to read to them while they ate their lunch because they wanted to know what happened next.

This was a great read aloud.  I thought it might be too simple for the grade 6's but everyone seemed to enjoy it.  But the question remains...what will they vote for???  Stay tuned!

Inside the O'Briens by Lisa Genova

Still Alice by Lisa Genova is one of my all time favourite books.  It's the book that I suggest to readers most often.  Still Alice is the story of a Harvard professor, Alice that is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.  What I love about this book the most is that the story is written from Alice's perspective.  No one knows exactly what it feels like to live with Alzheimer’s but Genova does an outstanding job of writing an empathetic story.  Lisa Genova obtained a Ph. D. in neuroscience from Harvard University in 1998 so she clearly knows what she's writing about.

When I saw that Genova had a new book, Inside the O'Briens, coming out in April 2015 I couldn't wait to get my hands on it.  But I approached reading the novel with a bit of hesitation.  I loved Still Alice so much and I didn't know that Genova could live up to the pedestal that I had placed her on.  

Inside the O'Briens is the story of a police officer named Joe.  He's an Irish Catholic living in Boston.  He takes great pride in his beautiful city and protects it by serving on the Boston Police Department.  Joe also takes great pride in his wife, Rosie, and their four children.  But at age 44 he doesn't seem to be able to do his police work as well as he used; he's getting clumsy; making mistakes.  Joe's friends think he might be drinking a bit too much.  After a visit to the doctor it's not long before Joe receives his diagnosis - Huntington's disease.  Genova does an outstanding job of providing a compassionate story about Joe's life after diagnosis.  Sadly, Huntington's disease is a genetic disorder and the fear is that the disease has passed on to his four children.  The kids can undergo genetic testing and find out if they're gene positive or not.  Would knowing if they’re positive change the way they live their lives?  They're all going to die sometime; do they need to know how and when?  

Genova continues to educate readers on neurological diseases and she does so with a sympathetic heart.  Now that I'm finished Inside the O'Briens I'm happy to say Lisa Genova remains firmly in place on the pedestal that I've put her on.  

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me a copy to review.

Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple

 I spent a long weekend in New York City last year.  One of the first things I saw when strolling around was a sign about The Strand book store.  I immediately made it a mission to see this book store before I left.  Sadly, I arrived with only about 30 minutes to browse before closing.  If you go to NYC and are a book lover; you must go!  So many books.  So many floors.  Unfortunately, I was rushed and trying to travel light so I had to limit my purchases.  The rare book floor had already closed.  In a rush I grabbed Where'd You Go, Bernadette.  

I loved this book.  It made me laugh.  It had some suspense and unexpected moments.  I enjoyed all the characters.  I loved the sarcasm!

Bernadette was an award winning architect before she moved to Seattle.  But once she got to Seattle her motivation to build was gone.  She keeps busy with her daughter, Bee and her husband is extremely busy working on a project for Microsoft.  Bernadette enjoys her solitude and time alone with Bee but the parent council at Bee's school are about to push her over the edge.  Then Bee asks for a trip to Antarctica and life becomes almost too much to bear for Bernadette.  The big question is where does Bernadette go????

I just visited Maria Semple's website and saw that she has written for the Ellen show.  Enough said.

This is Sadie by Sara O'Leary

Sadie is a lovely little girl with a wonderful imagination and she loves to have fun.  Sometimes her friends are characters from the books she reads and imagines herself within the story.  Sometimes her friends are people who live on her street.  Where some people might just see a box; Sadie sees a boat.  Sadie can't see wings on her back but she knows they are there.  Do you have wings?

This is Sadie is a new book that will be published in May by Tundra books.  I was fortunate to receive an e-book copy from NetGalley.  I loved the character of Sadie.  She has such a wonderful imagination.  Her creativity seems to be fuelled by reading books.  My favourite page in the book is when Sadie is looking at her wings and the author asks the reader if we have wings too.  Love it!  The illustrations by Julie Morstad were perfect.  A lovely picture book that I will be certain to add to my library shelves this spring.  Sara O'Leary is a Canadian author and I believe this book could be showing up on next year's Blue Spruce list.