The Fireside Chats

I have quite the TBR pile going on which leaves me with some tough decisions to make. So, I thought I’d let other readers from my audience help me pick my next read while I’m currently chipping away at the book I’m in the middle of. I’ve listed some books currently on my TBR pile and all you have to do is vote on which one you think I should read. I’ve listed the books and a synopsis for each one. Let me know in the comment section which one you voted on.

Synopsis: A green apple tree grows in the heart of Thirsby Square, and tangled up in its magical roots is the story of Lottie Fiske. For as long as Lottie can remember, the only people who seem to care about her are her best friend, Eliot, and the mysterious letter writer who sends her birthday gifts. But now strange things are happening on the island Lottie calls home, and Eliot’s getting sicker, with a disease the doctors have given up trying to cure. Lottie is helpless, useless, powerless–until a door opens in the apple tree. Follow Lottie down through the roots to another world in pursuit of the impossible: a cure for the incurable, a use for the useless, and protection against the pain of loss.

Synopsis: Irv pulled the patrol car into the parking lot in front of the restaurant and got out. He walked to the edge of the bluff and looked down at the river. Spring rains upstream had caused the river to rise a little above normal, and the brown water swirled and eddied below, carrying an occasional log or tree branch with it… He could see Jean Young’s body drifting in the muddy water all the way to where the river made a big loop to the north. Murder and intrigue unfold in a small Missouri town in Wayne Hancock’s The Unlikely Predator, as two mysterious murders in a little over three years put a burden on an undermanned sheriff’s department; yet a determined sheriff and a small-town merchant rise to the occasion. Two of their biggest problems solve themselves. Read how in this exciting novel by the author of Gotcha! and 30 Days In may.

Synopsis: On a backstreet in Tokyo lies a pawnshop, but not everyone can find it.

Most will see only a cosy ramen restaurant. And just the chosen ones – those who are lost – will find a place to pawn their life choices and deepest regrets.

Hana Ishikawa wakes on her first morning as the pawnshop’s new owner to find it ransacked, the shop’s most precious acquisition stolen and her father missing. And then into the shop stumbles a charming stranger, quite unlike other customers. For he offers help, instead of seeking it.

Together, they must journey through a mystical world to find Hana’s father and the stolen choice – through rain puddles, hitching rides on paper cranes, across the bridge between midnight and morning and through a night market in the clouds.

But as they get closer to the truth, Hana must reveal a secret of her own – and risk making a choice she will never be able to take back.

Synopsis: I am not welcome. Somehow I know that. Something doesn’t want me here.

Daffodil Franklin has plans for a quiet summer before her freshman year at college, and luckily, she’s found the job that can give her just that: housesitting a mansion for a wealthy couple.

But as the summer progresses and shadows lengthen, Daffodil comes to realize the house is more than it appears. The spacious home seems to close in on her, and as she takes the long road into town, she feels eyes on her the entire way, and something tugging her back.

What Daffodil doesn’t yet realize is that her job comes with a steep price. The house has a long-ago grudge it needs to settle . . . and Daffodil is the key to settling it.

Synopsis: Wildwood captivates readers with the wonder and thrill of a secret world within the landscape of a modern city. It feels at once firmly steeped in the classics of children’s literature and completely fresh. The story is told from multiple points of view, and the book features more than eighty illustrations, including six full-color plates, making this an absolutely gorgeous object.

In Wildwood, Prue and her friend Curtis uncover a secret world in the midst of violent upheaval—a world full of warring creatures, peaceable mystics, and powerful figures with the darkest intentions. And what begins as a rescue mission becomes something much greater as the two friends find themselves entwined in a struggle for the very freedom of this wilderness. A wilderness the locals call Wildwood.