FREEBIES

Oops. Something went wrong here.  This post had reverted to draft.  It was written in the early part of August, certainly long before 25 August!

I've spent the past couple of weeks mainly reading 'free' downloads for Kindle.

I used to trawl through the Amazon 100 bestsellers (free) for Kindle.  I would 'buy' all sorts of books in the hope of finding a wee gem - and quite often there would be a book that was an excellent read.

There were others of course that were not so good, thankfully though not too many that were completely unreadable.

As I said before, nowadays I use Bookbub and The Book Hippo.  I get a daily email from each of those offering books that are either free or great bargains. Sometimes the 'bargain' is for a very limited time.   I set the criteria for books offered.  Both sites are easy to use, even my 80 year old mother can now download her Kindle books easily.

So this weeks's books were The Good Lawyer by Thomas Benigno.  A typical courtroom/crime story but a good read.  A young, ambitious lawyer, brought up with connections to the Mafia, serial rapist/murderer and the suicide of a young victim, family secrets - all cleverly connected.  I bought this book for free but I think you now have to pay.

I also read The Good Sister by Leanne Davis.  Also free when I bought it.  Again it was a good read. I suppose it is a romance but the main character is a victim of domestic abuse who is unable to escape  /leave her controlling husband.  Apparently it is the second book in a series but it was still enjoyable even although I hadn't read the first book.

Lindsay is the sister who seems to have the success: nice house, handsome husband who intends to run for state governor. Growing up she was her Father's favourite daughter and always tried her best to please him.   However she is basically a prisoner and can only do what her monster of a husband allows. She also suffers frequent vicious assaults at his hands.

Jessie on the other hand had a very troubled rebellious childhood and was hated by her father.  She now lives on the other side of the country with her husband and is expecting a baby.  She also works for a good looking vet.  Somehow her sister Lindsay is permitted to visit her sister.  Over a few weeks she blossoms and begins to find her voice.  Of course there is that good looking man.

It's a well written book, making it easy to read although the subject matter makes it quite difficult to read without feeling angry, sad, frustrated.

The book is also quite explicit so is really only suitable for adults.

I also managed to fit in another couple of books that I actully paid for.

One was The Shadow Wife by Diane Chamberlain.  I think this might be one of her earlier books but it was still enjoyable.  Her books tend to have some kind of moral dilemma.  I would say this was good romantic fiction with that dilemma.

The other book was Still Alice by Lisa Genova.  I loved this book. I haven't watched the film and I'm not sure if I will.  The book is well written and although you might think it would be depressing (it's about a Harvard Professor who is diagnosed with Alzheimers at the age of 50) I didn't find it so.  The diagnosis changes her relationships with her husband and grown children, she has to stop working sooner than she had planned,

Unfortunately Alzheimers is something that seems to be touching the lives of more and more people. I just found this book remarkable and I would definitely recommend it.