The Lincoln Lawyer (The Lincoln Lawyer #1) by Michael Connelly | Book Review

The scariest client a lawyer will ever have is an innocent client. Because if you fuck up and he goes to prison, it'll scar you for life.

False Witness by Karin Slaughter | Book Review

AN ORDINARY LIFE Leigh Coulton has worked hard to build what looks like a normal life. She has a good job as a defence attorney, a daughter doing well in school, and even her divorce is relatively civilised - her life is just as unremarkable as she'd always hoped it would be. HIDES A DEVASTATING PAST But Leigh's ordinary life masks a childhood which was far from average... a childhood tarnished by secrets, broken by betrayal, and finally torn apart by a devastating act of violence. BUT NOW THE PAST IS CATCHING UP Then a case lands on her desk - defending a wealthy man accused of rape. It's the highest profile case she's ever been given - a case which could transform her career, if she wins. But when she meets the accused, she realises that it's no coincidence that he's chosen her as his attorney. She knows him. And he knows her. More to the point, he knows what happened twenty years ago, and why Leigh has spent two decades running. AND TIME IS RUNNING OUT If she can't get him acquitted, she'll lose much more than the case. The only person who can help her is her younger, estranged sister Calli, the last person Leigh would ever want to ask for help. But suddenly she has no choice...

The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto by Mitch Albom | Book Review

This is the epic story of Frankie Presto—the greatest guitar player who ever lived—and the six lives he changed with his six magical blue strings Frankie, born in a burning church, abandoned as an infant, and raised by a music teacher in a small Spanish town, until war rips his life apart. At nine years old, he is sent to America in the bottom of a boat. His only possession is an old guitar and six precious strings. His amazing journey weaves him through the musical landscape of the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s, with his stunning playing and singing talent affecting numerous stars (Duke Ellington, Hank Williams, Elvis Presley) until, as if predestined, he becomes a pop star himself. He makes records. He is adored. But Frankie Presto’s gift is also his burden, as he realizes the power of the strings his teacher gave him, and how, through his music, he can actually affect people’s lives. At the height of his popularity, tortured by his biggest mistake, he vanishes. His legend grows. Only decades later, having finally healed his heart, does Frankie reappearjust before his spectacular death—to change one last life. With the Spirit of Music as our guide, we glimpse into the lives that were changed by one man whose strings could touch the music—and the magic—in each of us.

The Fury by Alex Michaelides | Book Review

I often think life is just a performance. None of this is real. It’s a pretense at reality, that’s all. Only when someone, or something, we love dies – do we wake up from the play – and see how artificial it all is – this constructed reality we inhabit. We suddenly realize that life is in no way lasting, or permanent; no future exists – and nothing we do matters. And in desolation – we howl and scream and rail at the heavens, until, at some point, we do the inevitable: we eat, dress, and brush our teeth. We continue with the marionette - like motions of life, however unhinged it feels to do so. Then, ever so slowly, the illusion takes over again – until we forget that we are actors in a play. Until the next tragedy strikes – to wake us up.

Book Lovers by Emily Henry | Book Review

One summer. Two rivals. A plot twist they didn't see coming.... Nora Stephens’ life is books—she’s read them all—and she is not that type of heroine. Not the plucky one, not the laidback dream girl, and especially not the sweetheart. In fact, the only people Nora is a heroine for are her clients, for whom she lands enormous deals as a cutthroat literary agent, and her beloved little sister Libby. Which is why she agrees to go to Sunshine Falls, North Carolina for the month of August when Libby begs her for a sisters’ trip away—with visions of a small-town transformation for Nora, who she’s convinced needs to become the heroine in her own story. But instead of picnics in meadows, or run-ins with a handsome country doctor or bulging-forearmed bartender, Nora keeps bumping into Charlie Lastra, a bookish brooding editor from back in the city. It would be a meet-cute if not for the fact that they’ve met many times and it’s never been cute. If Nora knows she’s not an ideal heroine, Charlie knows he’s nobody’s hero, but as they are thrown together again and again—in a series of coincidences no editor worth their salt would allow—what they discover might just unravel the carefully crafted stories they’ve written about themselves.

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn | Book Review

Another gripping suspense courtesy of Gillian Flynn! As usual, she got to let her readers use their brains again. Like Gone Girl, Dark Place will keep you second-guessing until the last few chapters of the book.

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han | Book Review

When I write, I hold nothing back. I write like he'll never read it. Because he never will. Every secret thought, every careful observation, everything I've saved up inside me, I put it all in the letter.

They're not for love letters in the strictest sense of the word. My letters are for when I don't want to be in love anymore. They're for goodbye. Because after I write letter, I'm no longer consumed by my all-consuming love. If love is like a possession, maybe my letters are like my exorcism. My letters set me free. Or at least they're supposed to.

Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin | Book Review

People, you’ll find, aren’t usually all good or all bad. Sometimes they’re a little bit of good and a whole lot of bad. And sometimes they’re mostly good with a dash of bad. And most of us, well, we fall in the middle somewhere.

Insurgent (Divergent #2) by Veronica Roth | Book Review

People, I have discovered, are layers and layers of secrets. You believe you know them, that you understand them, but their motives are always hidden from you, buried in their own hearts. You will never know them, but sometimes you decide to trust them.

Maybe in Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid | Book Review

It doesn't matter if we don't mean to do the things we do. It doesn't mean if it was an accident or a mistake. It doesn't even matter if we think this is all up to fate. Because regardless of our destiny, we still have to answer for our actions. We make choices, big and small, every day of our lives, and those choices have consequences. We have to face those consequences head-on, for better or worse. We don’t get to erase them just by saying we didn’t mean to. Fate or not, our lives are still the results of our choices. I’m starting to think that when we don’t own them, we don’t own ourselves.