142 Ostriches

Running an ostrich ranch in the unforgiving California desert is not how Tallulah Jones wants to spend the rest of her life. She's helped her grandmother run the ranch since she was thirteen years old, but she's finally ready to forge her own path and get out of the Mohave Desert. When her grandmother unexpectedly dies and leaves her the ranch she decides that she's going to sell the ranch even though it's the last thing her grandmother would have wanted. Unfortunately for Tallulah, that's when the ostriches mysteriously stop laying eggs and some unexpected relatives come to town. She must navigate not only her own emotions but those of her fragile and complicated family (birds and all). Brilliantly narrated by Sarah Mollo-Christensen, who deftly conveys the emotions of all the family members with ease and authority. Fraught with family struggles, addiction, duplicity, and deceit; this courageous coming of age story set in a unique and wonderful backdrop is one that readers won't soon forget.

Long Bright River

Compelling and impossible to put down, this police drama about the opiod crisis, a missing family member, and murder gripped me from page one. Two sisters live in the same neighborhood but lead impossibly different lives. Mickey is a cop, patrolling some of the most crime ridden streets in Philadelphia. Her sister, Kacey, is an addict that has lived on those same streets for over a decade. Even though they haven't spoken in years, the two are aware of each other's presence, until suddenly Kacey disappears without a trace. Around the same time a few women on Mickey's beat are murdered; women like Kacey, addicts who will do anything for a fix. Mickey is immediately on high alert. Even though she doesn't approve of her sister's lifestyle and hasn't talked to her in years; she doesn't want to see Kacey murdered. Alternating between her and her sister's childhood to the present day disappearance of her sister; this book about the bonds of sisterhood, addiction, and the complexities of the police force will capture readers attention. A tour de force!

Chancers

Easily one of the most powerful memoirs about addiction I have ever read. Raw, gripping, and emotional, this memoir is told from two perspectives; from the addict and the concerned girlfriend. Addiction has such a stigma, it's the elephant that's in the room and no one ever wants to talk about but Susan and Graham do a powerful job of bringing their hard journey to life. Trying to help a loved one through addiction takes more willpower and love than most people can handle. Reading this memoir brought so many memories to the surface, it was surreal to read about another woman who understood everything I went through. Her thoughts, conversations, and actions were soo familiar to me because we had lived the same nightmare. Hearing Graham's recounting of his relapses, prison experiences, and descent into darkness also really helps put the story into perspective and allows readers to understand what is actually going through an addict's mind. A profound and touching book that was a little hard for me to read because it hit so close to home, if nothing else, at least it's given me a little more hope for the future.

Leave a Mark

It's been a few months since I read a good New Adult romance and this immediately piqued my interest because I love stories about tattoo artists (I really loved the quirky Tattoo Shop Mysteries by Karen E. Olsen!). Author Stephanie Fournet does a wonderful job bringing this heartwarming and gut wrenching romance to life with a wonderful sassy writing style that lends itself well to the two main characters. Wren is a sassy, no-nonsense tattoo artist, whose love for art is showcased by using her skin (and those she tattoos) as canvas. To say she's had a rough childhood is an understatement but as long as she has her Grandma Gigi, best friend, Cherise, and adorable cat Agnes she can get along fine. Until she can't. After a long day in the tattoo shop she collapses and is rushed to the emergency room and has to immediately have life saving surgery.

Dr. Lee Hawthorne finds himself smitten with the beautiful girl covered into tattoos and does his best so that no scars show on her art. He's so smitten that he even drives her to her apartment, helps her up the stairs, and cleans the kitty litter! There's only one problem. He's got a serious girlfriend. He's played his whole life safe but he's finding that it's lacking, is Wren the kind of women that he wants to spend his life with? Can he break past her barriers? Even the the doctor and the tattoo artist couldn't be more different they find they have more in common then meets the eye. Are they willing to fight for each other? Do they even have a chance? Many serious issues like addiction, sexual abuse, pedophilia, and child neglect are discussed. A definite must read for new adult fans, hot but not too steamy (only two major bedroom scenes, basically just the right amount!).

I received this book for free from the publisher in return for my honest, unbiased opinion.

Leave a Mark: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

ABOUT STEPHANIE FOURNET:

Stephanie Fournet, author of Fall Semester, Legacy, and Butterfly Ginger, lives in Lafayette, Louisiana—not far from the Saint Streets where her novels are set. She shares her home with her husband John and her daughter Hannah, their needy dogs Gladys and Mabel, and an immortal blue finch named Baby Blue. When she isn’t writing romance novels, she is usually helping students get into college or running.  She loves hearing from fans, so look for her on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, and stephaniefournet.com.

Author Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Pre-order links for LEAVE A MARK:

Amazon: http://amzn.to/1Rohvpn

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Nook: http://bit.ly/1pPcBHd

Smashwords: http://bit.ly/1TmsbpI

Want to win a free e-book of Leave a Mark? Comment below and I'll randomly choose a winner. 

All Fall Down

This isn't the first book I've ever read on addiction, but for being a work of fiction, I thought it was one of the most honest I've ever read. Aubrey is a normal person. Granted her life is a little hectic, she's a mother to a very sensitive five year old, she spends about sixty hours a week blogging, has a father with alzeheimers, and is constantly wondering what is wrong with her marriage. Little by little these things start to add up and as they do the little pills her doctor gave her for medical problems start to multiply and take over her life. At first the pills start to make her feel better, to cope with the stress of her life. However, it doesn't take long for them to take over her mental and emotional state. What started as one or two pills a day has turned into 15 or 30 Oxycontins, Percocets, or Vicodins just to be able to function. Aubrey realizes that things are starting to get out of control and tells herself that once she's done dealing with all the stress she'll start to cut back. Inevitably, like the title suggests, all fall down. This is a story of addiction, denial, heartbreak, and the crushing truth that addiction comes in all forms and can affect ANYBODY.

A great story that anyone with questions about addiction or the ramifications caused by it, should read. Definitely Jennifer Weiner's best book to date.

Tweak

Wow, this book took my breath away. It was terrifying, inspirational, insane, unbelievable, and heartbreaking. I've never had the urge to do hard drugs and this book firmly cemented my belief that drugs will fuck your shit up. 

I'm an anxious reader as it is and I always get nervous when a character does something I know they shouldn't do or that they'll get in trouble for later (you could say I get waaay too invested in my stories) and this book had me hyperventilating. I was practically yelling at the book, "Don't do it Nic! Don't relapse! That's a horrible idea! What are you thinking??"

This memoir is haunting and heartbreaking but you really have to admire the guts Nic has in sharing his brutal story about addiction. He spiraled out of control multiple times and he leaves nothing out. He was using dirty needles, prostituting himself, stealing from his family, doing every type of drug imaginable and he lays it all out for the reader. It took a lot of failed attempts but he finally got clean, testament to, no matter how bad your life is you can turn it around.

A truly great (but terrifying) book.

Clean: Overcoming Addiction and Ending America's Greatest Tragedy

This was definitely one of the hardest books I've read this year, not because it was badly written but because the subject matter was very personal and not at all comforting like I hoped it would be. I'm not going to go into details in this book review but those of you who know me, know why I find this subject hard. It's something that I never would have guessed would affect me or anyone I care about, but who am I kidding, this is the 21st century. Addiction is more prevalent then ever.

Prior to this book, I knew the concept behind addiction and thought I had it all figured out. Basically after reading this, I realized I know nothing on this subject. In my head, addicts were selfish people who didn't know when enough was enough and tore their family and friends lives to pieces in their selfish downward spiral. Clearly, I have a very old fashioned way of thinking, I had never once considered addiction a "real" disease.

Author, David Sheff, does a marvelous job of outlining addiction (why we use, the disease, drugs and alcohol in our culture, etc.), and ways to get addicts clean (he describes dozens of different treatments, not everyone can get clean the same way) and stay clean. David has a lot of experience dealing with addiction, his son Nic spent years addicted to hard drugs and later wrote the book, "Tweak." David Sheff outlines the struggles of dealing with addiction as a family in his first book, "Beautiful Boy" ("Clean" is his second novel).

Some interesting facts and tidbits that I took away from this book:

1. Comparing money spent on cancer and AIDS research as compared with addiction research = "the total spent on AIDS is $3 billion - or $3,000 per infected person. We spend $29 per addict." (page 290)

2. "In Vancouver, at a supervised injection site called, Insite, drug users are given not only clean needles but a safe place to shoot up and stay while they're high... A series of studies has shown that Insite is effective at getting addicts into treatment, lowering crime in the neighborhood, and reducing the number of overdoses and illnesses from drug use." (page 302)

3. In Portugal the government decriminalized the possession and use of all drugs - not only marijuana but heroin, cocaine, and the rest. Drugs are still illegal, but users caught with small quantities aren't sent to jail. Instead they face a panel consisting of a psychologist, social worker, and legal adviser who recommend appropriate treatment... A study found that five years after personal possession was decriminalized, illegal drug use among teens had declined, rates of new HIV infections had dropped and the number of people seeking treatment for drug addiction had more than doubled. Prior to the change in policy, Portugal had one of the highest rates of drug use in Europe, afterward, it had one of the lowest." (pages 303-304)

4. "A majority of patients who enter treatment never complete it. Among those who do, 40 to 86 percent relapse in the first year." (page 17)

5. "The stigma associated with drug use - the belief that bad kids use, good kids don't, and those with full blown addiction are weak, degenerate, and pathetic - has contributed to the escalation of use and has hampered treatment more than any single other factor."(page 25)

6. Addiction IS a disease. " A disease is "an interruption, cessation, or disorder of a body, system, or organ structure or function," according to "Stedman's Medical Dictionary. It's "a morbid entity ordinarily characterized by two or more of the following criteria: recognized etiologic agents, identifiable group of signs and symptoms, or consistent anatomic alterations." Addiction fits every one of these criteria." (page 89) Addicts aren't weak, selfish, or amoral - they're ill.

7. "Researchers have found that if a person makes it to two years [being sober], his likelihood of relapse diminishes dramatically, and after five years, most addicts will continue to stay sober." (page 266)

Sorry I got a little wordy on the statistics, but those are only just a handful of what you can discover in this book, I  learned soo much. I learned how complex addiction is and how hard it is to treat. This is an absolute MUST read, a real eye opener, and very present in our society as we reflect on the United States failed drug war.