February was a very good reading month. There weren't any books that were disappointing. My favorite was Demon Copperhead. It lived up to all of the great press that it's received since publication. For something lighter, I really enjoyed Factory Girls. What books do you have to recommend this month? The Nix By Nathan Hill, Read By Ari Fliakos I'm not sure I know how to describe this book except that it's long and rambling and I really liked the ending. It's kind of about a mother and son relationship but it's also about decisions of the grandfather that ultimately affected the mother and son. But it's a lot more than that. It's incredibly detailed and goes off onto a lot of other tangents with other characters. I know I'm rambling but I seriously don't know how to describe it. There's a lot of detail about many of the supporting characters that, frankly, could have been edited out. It's 22 hours long and should have been about 15 max but I enjoyed it and I'm glad I read it. The Librarianist By Patrick deWitt, Read by Jim Meskimen Bob Comet is a retired librarian who has lived a very quiet and solitary life with his book. One day he helps a lost woman find her way home to the senior center where she lives. After the visit he decided to volunteer there and eventually discovers he had history with one of the residents. The book is a walk through his life to show how he got to this solitary place. The book is a little slow to start off but it was worth the wait. He's a very likable character. It reminds me a little of Mike Gayle's All The Lonely People but it's not quite that good, but still a good read. Demon Copperhead By Barbara Kingsolver, Read By Charlie Thurston I loved this book. This book has been showing up on a lot of recommendation lists and I understand why. It's a masterpiece. Kingsolver took Charles Dickens' David Copperfield as her inspiration to tell the story of an orphan in Appalachia in the middle of the opioid crisis. Demon is Damon and was born to a single mother in a single-wide trailer in Virginia Appalachia. He inherited his bright red hair from his deceased father so his nickname was easy for his schoolmates. When his mother dies he finds himself in the foster system that is sometimes just a child labor system. It's a hard life and it's just the beginning. It's a wonderful book with some difficult scenes. If you read via audiobooks I think you will also love the narration. Being from SW Virginia, I can say that it was spot on. Factory Girls By Michelle Gallen, Read By Amy Molloy It's 1994 in a small Northern Ireland town. Maeve Murray has just finished school and is awaiting her exam results to see where she will be able to go to University. She's taken a summer job at a shirt factory with her 2 best friends. These Catholic girls will be working alongside Protestants which will bring it's own challenges. The book brilliantly mixes the vibes and challenges of the time with a good dash of humor as we follow Maeve's adventures and challenges in the last summer of her youth. It's perfectly narrated by Amy Molloy. The Engineer's Wife By Tracey Enerson Wood, Read By Libby McKnight Emily Warren Roebling was the wife of the Chief Engineer of the Brooklyn Bridge. She was one of the most important women of her time. It's well documented that during the building of the bridge her husband developed health issues from " the bends" and was eventually mostly bedridden. Emily educated herself in engineering and handled on-site management with her husband's guidance from home. At a time when women were starting the suffrage movement, Emily was a quite powerful and influential woman. You can read a wonderful book about the building of the bridge called The Great Bridge by David McCullough. Enter this book. This is a historical fiction account of Emily's life and it's mostly fiction. As a piece of women's literature, it's a perfectly fine and entertaining book. For Emily, though, I was a little offended to have her life reduced to a fictional love interest. If you decide to read it, be warned that the narrator has a number of jarring mispronunciations in the narration.
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What a weird book month to end 2023! Thanks to The Running Grave it wasn't a total disaster. I only finished 4 books and that's for two reasons. First, The Running Grave is over 30 hours long so it almost counts as 3 books. Secondly, I've spent way too much time in the YouTube rabbit hole the past couple of months. That happens when I am reading books that I don't love so I avoid the books with other distractions. I"m sure that January will be better. Let me know the good books that you have read. I may need to revisit my wish list! DNF Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochiti Gonzales - I thought it was going to be an interesting book about Puerto Rico history and culture. Instead it's a litany of social justice and feminist grievances by people who have had great opportunities and successes. The Running Grave By Robert Galbraith, Read By Robert Glenister This is #7 in the Cormoran Strike series and, IMHO, it's a huge improvement over the 6th book that had a lot of online chat room conversations. In The Running Grave, Cormoran Strike and his partner, Robin Ellacott, are hired to try to get a man's son out of a cult. This required Robin to go undercover in the cult. There are several side stories with parallel investigations, the agency being stalked and the romantic tension between Strike and Robin, I really enjoy this series but you have to love a long book to get into these. This book clocked in at 34 hours and I didn't mind a minute of it. Let's face it, JK Rowling can write! A Stranger at the Door By Jason Pinter, Read by Angela Dawe This is #2 in the Rachel Marin series. I read the first book, Hide Away, in January. I liked the first book. Usually the second book is a series is even better. This one, however, was a let down. Rachel is sort of a detective. She's not officially a detective but she sure thinks that she's smarter and better than all of the other detective in her town, including her boyfriend. She's also an over-protective and annoying Mom, an unlicensed "doctor" who can assess every medical crisis, heals from concussions overnight, has superhuman strength and throws tantrums when she doesn't get her way. She is massively unlikable. The story opens when one of her son's teachers is brutally murdered. Soon the 14-year-old son starts coming home late and sneaking out at night. She's uber-security conscious and has the whole house wired with cameras and trackers so she figures out where he is going. She seems to think it's a good idea to confront the man who has recruited him for something that is never really explained. I should have DNFed this book but I held out to finish it and it never got better. The character is too annoying to read any more if there ever is another in the series. Independence By Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, Read By Sneha Mathan This is the second book that I've read by Divakaruni and she tells another good story about the history of India. This one centers on 3 daughters growing into adulthood around the time of India's independence from Great Britain and the partitioning of Pakistan. Priya helps her father in his medical clinic and she dreams of being a doctor herself one day. Deepa is beautiful and has fallen in love with a Muslim and Jamini is a quiltmaker with her mother and is the sister often left out. When India and Pakistan are partitioned the sisters find themselves separated and fear that the separation might be permanent. I didn't love this one as much as I loved The Last Queen but it was still a very good book with richly developed characters that seem real for the time. I would definitely read more by this author. Hope on the Inside By Marie Bostwick, Read By Hillary Huber I'll be honest, I didn't enjoy this book. I'm not even sure why I bought it. It's definitely not my genre. I must have picked it because there's a quilt theme. Hope and her husband, Rick are empty nesters and Rick has suddenly lost the job that he's loved. This sends them into a bit of an emotional and financial tailspin. Hope eventually gets a part time job teaching crafts at a women's prison to help make ends meet. Through a quilting project she starts to bond with some of the inmates. It's a fine book if you like a good easy read where dramas aren't too bad and everything works out in the end. But the characters are kind of flat and totally predictable. I "only" read 5 books in November but that's because there was a holiday and The Follett book was over 21 hours. Also the last book I started is over 30 hours so that one won't be done for a few more days. The best part about reading this month is that none were duds. I enjoyed all of them. What good books do you have to recommend this month! Florence Adler Swims Forever By Rachel Beanland, Read by a cast I read another book by this author a few months ago. This House is on Fire was about a 1811 theater fire in Richmond Va. I really enjoyed that book and I'm sure that's what sparked me to get this one. This book was promoted as a "perfect summer read" and that was clearly by people who had never read it. The cover makes it look like a good, light-hearted summer read. It's a good book but it's not what I'd put on a light summer reading list. It's covers several serious topics including death, grieving, anti-Semitism and Nazi Germany. It's 1934 in Atlantic City, NJ and Esther and Joseph Adler run a bakery in the seaside resort. They are hosting a young woman who is trying to escape Hitler's Germany. Their older daughter, Fannie is married and is in hospital on permanent bed rest due to a high-risk pregnancy. Their younger, 19 year old daughter, Florence, is training to swim the English Channel. During one of her training sessions in the ocean she dies. Ester makes the decision to keep the information from Fannie until the baby is born. It's a serious novel covering a lot of serious topics and the consequences of decisions made. I didn't enjoy it as much as This House Is On Fire but it was a good read. My biggest complaint is that it's long in the middle and the ending wraps up a little too quickly and conveniently. The Survivors By Jane Harper, Read By Stephen Shanahan This is the 5th Harper book that I've read. Some I love (The Dry) and some are just OK. This one is in the OK category. Kieran Elliott has returned home to his quiet seaside hometown in Australia with his girlfriend and new baby. His parents are preparing to move as his father has dementia. He avoids coming home since his brother, Finn, died trying to save Kiernan from drowning during a storm. He's reconnecting with old friends when, one night, the body of a woman is found on the beach. She was in the town for the summer doing research for her art degree. As the investigation into the death gears up, many wounds are reopened from the summer when Finn and 2 others died. The premise is interesting but I found the telling to be slow and the characters not all that interesting. I kept reading just to get to the end. I'd recommend a couple of her other books (The Dry, Exiles and The Lost Men) over this one. The Armor of Light By Ken Follett, Read By John Lee This is the 5th book in the Kingsbridge series. If you like Follett and the Kingsbridge series I don't need to sell you on book 5. The Pillars of the Earth was one of the earliest historical fiction books I read and I've enjoyed ever book in the series. Actually I've enjoyed all of Follett's books. Kingsbridge is a town with an economy based on weaving and textiles. The story opens in 1770 when the spinning jenny was invented and it threatens to put a lot of wool and cotton spinners out of work. The story follows the fortunes and tragedies of people in the town through the period of the Napoleonic wars. If you've not read Follett before, start with The Pillars of the Earth. The narration was perfect, as always with John Lee. Bright Young Dead By Jessica Fellows, Read By Rachel Atkins Last month I read the first book in this series, Mitford Murders. I enjoyed it enough to try another installment and I enjoyed this one even more. Fellows weaves a fictional event into a real household, Mitford. Each book features one of the Mitford sisters. This one features Pamela. The main characters are a nursery maid in the house, Louise Cannon, and a young police sergeant, Guy Sullivan. The Bright Young People were a group of young aristocrats and socialites that were the free-spirited partiers of the 1920's in London. They attended Jazz clubs, had treasure hunts and basically drank and did a lot of drugs. At Pamela's 18th birthday party, one of the guests is pushed to his death from the top of a nearby church. A visiting ladies maid, Dulce, is immediate arrested for the murder. Dulce had also stolen some jewelry from one of the guests. Louise believe Dulce is innocent of the murder and that she was somehow forced into the theft. Meanwhile, Guy, is investigating a shoplifting gang lead by the infamous Alice Diamond and the cases might be related. I really didn't expect to like these books but now I'm hooked. There are six books in the series, one featuring each sister and I expect that I'll work my way through all of them. The Water Keeper By Charles Martin, Read By Jonathan K. Riggs Someone must have recommended this book to me because it's not one that I would have found on my own. Murphy Shepherd lives alone on an island in Florida and caretakes a church that has no parishioners. One day he pulls a woman named Summer out of the Intercoastal Waterway and he's suddenly off on a mission to help find her daughter. The daughter, Angel, has been abducted by sex trafficers. Murphy has a lot of experience with the sex trade in Florida and knows where to start looking. Along the way he picks up a really cool labrador retriever and an ex-con named Clay. I liked the characters, I liked the pace of the story and it held my interest. The funny thing is that I didn't realize until I sat down to write this review that this book is categorized as Christian fiction. Yes, there are characters that are Christian but that wasn't the focus of the book. Probably the most overt nod to the genre is that there aren't any hot sex scenes, Otherwise, there are fights, gun shots and lots of blood. The book reminded me of the Operation Underground Railroad organization founded by Tim Ballard. There's a movie based on Tim's life and I thought about that a lot while reading that book. This is the first in a series of 3 books. They all deal with abduction themes so I'm not sure I'll read the others but I give this writer a thumbs up. This was not my best reading month. There was a lot of mediocre this month. It started off great, I enjoyed the first 3 books, especially The Dictionary of Lost Words. The two book we chose for our drive to Maine were fun reads. The last 2 book are ones that I cannot recommend, although they have great ratings on Audible. What book recommendations do you have for us this month? DNF Books: Got the Look by James Grippando - it would be OK if you had nothing else to read Just Another Missing Person By Jillian McAllister, Read by a cast Julia is a detective investigating the one day disappearance of a missing 22 year old. Olivia was last seen on CCTV entering a dead-end alley but she was never seen coming out. As she's going to the crime scene she's confronted by the perpetrator who knows her deepest secret. She either does what he says or she puts her own daughter in jeopardy. She has to frame someone else for the crime. Very suspenseful, fast paced and makes you wonder what you would do in a similar situation. The Mitford Murders By Jessica Fellowes, Read by Rachel Atkins This is the first book in a 6 book series set in the Golden Age of London. Think of it as Murder at Downton Abbey. That's not a coincidence as the author is the niece to Julian Fellowes and wrote the companion books to the series. The series takes place at the Asthall Manor, the home of the Mitford family. Louisa Cannon is trying to escape her life of poverty in London and the opportunity to be a nursery maid is too good to pass up. She forms a friendship with the oldest daughter, Nancy. When a nurse, Florence Nightingale Shaw is murdered on a train, Nancy leads Louisa into some amateur sleuthing. The book is actually based on the unsolved murder of the real Florence Nightingale Shaw. You can read the real story here. The book stays relatively true to the story, as much as it can. It was a good, entertaining read. It's not edge-of-your-seat suspenseful and it's not quite cosy. It's a book for the day you just want to be entertained and don't want to work too hard to keep up with too many characters and crazy sub-plots. The Dictionary of Lost Words By Pip Williams, Read By Pippa Bennett-Warner Among people who track such things (not me), it's famously known that the one word accidently left out of the first draft of the Oxford English Dictionary is "bondmaid". That is the fact that this story is based on. Esme's mother died before she knew her so she spent her life with her father. Much of that time was in the Scriptorium where her father worked as a lexicographer editing words for the OED. She grew up there and developed a habit of collecting the slips of paper with rejected words. The first was "bondmaid". Esme's life is in the middle of the Suffrage movement and WWI so she also collects words from the "common" people of those times. Most of the words are "women's words" and spoken words from tradespeople and illiterates. Her story unfolds with the words that she finds. This book was recommended to me by 2 people last month and it happened to be available at my library so I jumped on it. It's one of those books that you read and feel like it was perfectly crafted. Great characters, prose, history and dialogue; it's all there. An Honest Man By Michael Koryta, Read By Robert Petkoff This was the book we picked for our ride up to Maine and it was perfect. It's fast paced and kept us interested for the whole drive. Israel Pike discovers 7 men murdered on a floating yacht. He's one of the primary suspects by his detective uncle because Israel is an ex-con. Lyman Rankin is a 12 year old boy who has to frequently escape from his violent father. He has a secret place where he hides but when he goes there he's confronted by a hatchet-wielding woman. It's all connected and there's no one to trust. The Night Agent By Matthew Quirk, Read By Chris Andrew Ciulla FBI Agent Peter Sutherland is assigned to work the night desk in the White House Situation Room. It's boring until one night when one young woman calls in and says "Osprey was right, it's happening..." That sets off the unfolding of a years long conspiracy where a foreign government has access at the highest levels of the US Government. It's a very fast paced spy novel but also very forgettable. The premise is unbelievable and the characters are unbelievable. But if you love chase scenes, this is the book for you. Burning Bright By Nick Petrie, Read By Stephen Mendel I've actually read this book before but we needed a good book for the drive home from vacation and this was perfect. This is the second book in the Peter Ash series and it's one of my favorite mystery series. It's action stuff kind of like Dewey Andreas and Jason Bourne. Ash is a war veteran with severe PTSD. He's very claustrophobic and has spent much of his time in the California redwood forest . One day he becomes of too much interest to a Grizzly and, in looking for an escape, finds a rope and starts climbing. He ends up on a platform in the redwoods and finds a woman there who is trying to escape from dangerous men chasing her. He decides to help. The 8th book in the series is set to come out in February. The Women of Chateau Lafayette By Stephanie Dray, Read by a cast This is a historical fiction novel set around Chateau Lafayette, birthplace of the American independence hero, Marquis de Lafayette. It takes place during 3 wars. The first is Adrienne Lafayette during the American Revolution and French Revolution. The second is Beatrice Chanler, socialite Wife of William Astor Chanler, during the first and second World Wars. The third is a fictional girl named Marthe Simone, who was one of the young orphans raised at Chateau Lafayette and focuses on her work in the Resistance during WWII. I have read 5 books authored or co-authored by Stephanie Dray and, honestly, the best ones are the ones she co-authored with Laura Kamoie: America's First Daughter and My Dear Hamilton. With all 3 solo books I've had trouble really connecting with the main characters. They are shallow, not well developed and there are too many frivolous scenes with the characters agonizing over decisions rather than actual action. I can't count the number of times that Beatrice worried about her hat....in the middle of a war! The novel moves back and forth between the eras but, because there's no real connection between the characters, it's just comes across as disorganized. It's a 24 hour book and, honestly, way too long. It took me a long time to finish it because I was often avoiding listening to it. But, I did hold out and finish it. Horse By Geraldine Brooks, Read by a cast I did not like this book. It is supposed to be the story of one of the most famous racing horses of all time: Lexington. He's most knows as being the most successful sire of all time. The book is supposed to be historical fiction but the only history is the horse. All the rest is pure fiction and is a story about slavery and racism, and not a very good one at that. I usually don't quote anyone else but I found this review on Audible that I felt best summed up this book perfectly. Credit to Heather who posted this on 08/25/2022 "A little bit of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, a touch of Black Beauty, a swing at Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, and as if that wasn’t enough, we top it off with Black Lives Matter! I just rolled my eyes all the way through this predictable book. The only thing that kept my interest was that I’d never heard of Lexington." Just a book full of flat characters, weak storylines and a lot of cliches. I have read 4 of Brooks' books and the only one that I really loved was Years of Wonder about Eyam England during the plague. What a great book month! I only finished 7 books but that was because some were long and also, it's football season. It's the time of year when I take off the headphones to sit in front of the TV. Of the 7 books I finished I was only disappointed with one: The Sentence. I just didn't get the point of that one but I enjoyed all of the other books and my favorite is probably The Improbability of Love. What books did you love (or hate) this month? Fingersmith By Sarah Waters, Read By Juanita McMahon If Charles Dickens wrote a psychological thriller, it would be this book. In Victorian England, Susan Trinder was orphaned as a baby and raised by Mrs. Sucksby, who she views as a mother. Mrs. Sucksby along with a few other well-trained pickpockets and con artists. One day, fellow con, Gentleman, arrives with a grand plan to use Susan to swindle a young woman out of her inheritance. Susan will become the Lady's personal maid and help convince her to marry Gentleman and will share in the riches. It's an elaborate scam that is in jeopardy when Susan forms a bond with the Lady. This is one of the most unique and interesting books I've read in a while. It's a long one so if you are considering it, be prepared to devote over 23 hours to it. The story is told alternating between Susan's story and the Lady's story. When it first started with Susan's story I really couldn't figure out what could make the book so long. Then part 2 is the same story told from the other perspective. Each one revealing a very surprising twist. There are a couple of pretty steamy scenes and there's a very interesting storyline involving Victorian pornography. So be aware of that if it offends you. It's definitely the seedy side of Victorian London. I enjoyed it. It was a fresh story, not just another rehash of so many common plots. The Ice Princess By Camilla Lackberg, Read By David Thorn This book was translated from Swedish so the names are all Swedish and sometimes hard to follow, but it's a fun mystery read. Erica Falk has returned home after the deaths of her parents to clean out the house. While visiting, her childhood friend Alex is murdered. She and Alex haven't been in contact in years but Alex's parents as Erica to write a biography of Alex. Information about why Alex disappeared from her life is starting to come out. Meanwhile, detective Patrick Hedstrom thinks his boss has the case all wrong and is investigating separate leads on his own. He and Erica also have a connection from their youth. It was a good general mystery read. The Sentence By Louise Erdrich, Read By Louise Erdrich I loved Erdrich's book, The Roundhouse, and was really looking forward to this one. Boy, was I disappointed. Let me start my comments by saying that this book gets rave reviews so take my opinion as just that: opinion. The premise of the book is that Tookie has just finished serving a long prison term which she survived by voracious reading. Now that she's out, she has gotten a job at a Minneapolis bookstore that specializes in indigenous authors. One of their most frequent customers dies on All Souls Day in 2019 and begins haunting Tookie at the store. What follows is just a weird rambling through the events of the next 12 months including a very large dose of pandemic, George Floyd, riots and BLM. By the end, I didn't even care about the point of the ghost. I just wanted it over. If the summary had mentioned anything about the pandemic storyline I would have never picked it up. Maybe in 20 years I could read about that but, at the moment, I'm not interested. The author narrates it and, frankly, it's lethargic. I have never had to speed up a book to 1.25x to make it tolerable but I did with this one. There are also lots of lists of books. I think this book was a vehicle for the author to share her favorite reading lists. I kept listening to see if there ever was a point. I think it's intended to have some deep meaning and to make the reader have some deep reflections on something but I didn't get it. The Girl on the Bridge By James Hayman, Read By Stephen Mendel This is #5 in the McCabe and Savage series. I needed a fast paced mystery after The Sentence and I got exactly what I wanted. 12 years ago Hannah Reindel was drugged and raped at a college fraternity party. When she reported it, 4 months later, she was not believed. She has dealt with the trauma ever since and on a December night she reaches a breaking point and jumps off a bridge into a freezing river. A month after Hannah's death, Joshua Thorne, one of the alleged rapists is reported missing in Portland, Maine. During the investigation, McCabe and Savage discover that another of the rapists has recently died in New Hampshire. That one was reportedly an accidental death. The local investigator isn't so sure. This story moves fast, has a couple of nice twists and the characters are interesting and, mostly, likable. I like all of the books in this series and this is the last one. The Improbability of Love By Hannah Rothschild, Read By Adam James and Kirsten Atherton I loved this book! Annie McDee is trying to get over a failed relationship, living in a crummy London flat, dreams of being a chef but is just barely getting by as a film maker's assistant. She's in a new relationship now and is planning a nice birthday dinner for the man. She stops in a thrift store and finds a painting that she thinks he might like and blows her last $75 on it. Sadly, he's a no show and she's left to pick up the pieces of another failed relationship. Now this painting is hers and her alcoholic mother is trying to convince her that the painting might actually be valuable. Unfortunately, the painting seems to bring her nothing but bad luck and it gets worse as people start to realize what it is and everyone wants it. If you like art and history, you will love this book. It has one feature that is usually a big turnoff for me but it works in this book. The painting, called The Improbability of Love, narrates part of the story. The painting is so witty that I don't mind it and it was a great way to introduce the history of the painting into the story. I got hooked for the start and couldn't put it down. None of This is True By Lisa Jewell, Read by a cast Lisa Jewell is one heck of a writer and she's produced another winner with this new book. Alix Summer is celebrating her 45th birthday at a local pup when she meets Josie Fair. They discover that they were both born on the same day at the same hospital. They are birthday twins. Alix is a podcaster and just finished a series and is looking for another idea. After meeting Josie listens to all of Alix's podcasts and, when they meet a few days later, convinces Alix that she would be a good subject for her series. Josie says that she is going through big changes in her life. The next thing she knows, Josie has entwined herself into Alix's life. Some people in the reviews commented that they felt the ending was unfinished. I thought that the ending was perfect for the character. I couldn't put it down and stayed up very late one night to finish it. The Fires of Vesuvius By Mary Beard, Read By Phyllida Nash If you are into Roman history then this is the book for you. If you are British then you are probably very familiar with the author, Mary Beard, and will know that this book is going to be thorough and accurate. Vesuvius erupted in 79 CE and destroyed Pompeii. Most of what we know about early Roman life is information gathered from unearthing Pompeii. In this book, Beard makes sense of all of that information separating fact from speculation. I thought it was organized really well and was very informative. My August reading was totally focused on finding good vacation books so the list might seem a little different than usual. The result is a mixed bag. My favorites are Those Who Wish Me Dead and The Rachel Project. My least favorite was Life On The Edge because it was way over my head. DNF books Gideon's Sword by Preston and Child - I loved the Pendergast series until Cold Vengeance. They made that book a "half book" by continuing it to another book to be published a year later. It annoyed me so much that I haven't read anything else from them. I thought it might be time to try again and selected this series. It's flat out awful. The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese - I stuck with it for about 15 hours and just had to quilt. There's no way that Oprah read and liked this book. This is the second Verghese book that I've quilt on. I won't try a third. They are both just dull and a drudgery to read. What are the best books that you read this month? Homecoming By Kate Morton, Read By Clare Foy I saved this book specifically for my 2-day trip to Maine and it kept me good company for the drive. It's 2018 and Jess is called home to Australia from London because her beloved Grandmother, Nora, is sick and in hospital. Jess was mostly raised by her Grandmother because her mother, Polly, was quite absent as she was growing up. At Nora's home Jess discovers a decades old true crime book that tells the story of a murder-suicide on Christmas Eve 1959. The victims were Nora's sister-in-law, nieces and nephew. In typical Kate Morton style, the story moves back and forth in time revealing the crime, activities leading up to the crime and Nora's actions afterward as Jess is making discoveries of her own in current time. It's probably not the best Kate Morton book but the character development is good, the story is good and I enjoyed my drive much more because I had this to listen to. The narrator gets a lot of criticism on the Audible app but I thought she did a fine job. I had no complaints. Book Lovers By Emily Henry, Read By Julia Whelan If you like romance books that are like the Hallmark Channel but with spice then this is the book for you. It's not particularly my genre but this one has gotten a lot of press and I needed a palette cleanser after The Covenant of Water disappointment. Books have defined Nora Stephen's life in every possible way from the most important memories of her late mother to her current job as a book agent. She's also dedicated her life to looking out for her younger sister who is now a mother of 2, soon to be 3. Before the baby is born, Libby wants Nora to take a month-long trip to Sunshine Fall, NC, the setting for Libby's favorite romance novel by one of Nora's authors. Nora is surprised to run into one of her publishing rivals, Charlie Lastra, in this small town. Sparks fly as they are thrown together many times over the weeks ahead. You know the rest. It's a cute book and was fine entertainment for 2 days. Yellowface By R. F. Kuang, Read By Helen Laser June Hayward and Athena Lui were classmates at Yale and both aspiring authors. At the opening of the story Athena has made it big and June is still struggling to get her writing career off the ground. One night, while having dinner, Athena chokes and dies. June steals her most recent manuscript and publishes it as her own work. It's not long before people are accusing her of stealing the work, at worst, and cultural appropriation, at the least. It is not "chilling and hilariously cutting" as described by the publishers summary. It's a sad commentary on our current societal mores. June is not the only "thief" in this tale. As we see every day in the real world, anyone jealous of someone else's success can degrade others with accusations of cultural appropriation, racism, or any other aggression. What I found interesting in the reviews is the general complaint about June is that she's racist. I didn't see her as racist at all. What I saw was a lazy writer with moderate talent who became a thief as soon as the opportunity presented itself. Her stealing that manuscript had nothing to do with racism and everything to do with her general bad character and opportunity. But in today's society everything is racist which, I believe, makes nothing racist. We need to be less lazy in our own criticisms of people. Thieves are thieves, Liars are liars, and racists are racists. Everyone is not racists just because you are offended. The other aspect of the story is commentary on the publishing world where a small group of people pick the winners and losers and decide what we will be allowed to read. I didn't find any of that surprising or insightful. It's no different from the news, entertainment and music industries. I found the storyline from this aspect to be kind of repetitive and dull. I didn't particularly enjoy the book but I can see that it would create some very interesting discussions in a book club meeting. Life on the Edge By Johnjoe McFadden and Jim Al-Khalili I like reading non-fiction on vacation for some reason but I may have stepped too far off the edge with this one. The basic premise of this book is to show how quantum mechanics applies to biology. I've read a few books on quantum mechanics and I understand it a little and I think I pick up a little more with each book. But I'll never be conversant in the topic. This book started out interesting for me as they discussed how certain processes can be expressed in terms of quantum mechanics. These include the internal magnetic compasses of migrating birds, photosynthesis in plants, sense of smell and the enzyme processes of the body. I was pretty good through all of that. The rest of the book heads off into wild speculations about quantum mechanics and the mutations in genetic code, origins of life, definition of consciousness. In the end, it got way too complex for me to follow. Those Who Wish Me Dead By Michael Koryta I didn't listen to this book, I actually read it and did it in 2 days. Jace Wilson is a teenager playing around in quarry and when he dives into the water he discovers a dead body. As he's getting out of the water 2 mens show up with another man, slice his throat and dump him in the quarry too. They see Jace's clothes and realize they have a witness. The killers will now do anything to get to Jace and prevent him from testifying against them. Jace and his family do not trust the cops so they agree to put Jace in a wilderness program in Montana. They are depending on Ethan and Allison Serbin to protect Jace. It's not long before they realize where Jace is and the chase begins. Koryta writes good stories. Lots of action and there were a couple of twists in this one that I did not see coming. It was a fun read. The Rachel Incident By Caroline O'Donoghue, Read by Tara Flynn Rachel is a university student and James is her new co-worker at the local bookstore. They decide to become roommates and, immediately, fast friends. Rachel has developed a crush for her married professor, Dr. Byrne. Byrne has written a new book and Rachel and James orchestrate a reading at the bookstore as a ruse to throws Rachel into his path. But Dr. Byrne has other desires. That incident leads to a lot of secrets, compromises and long term effects that play out in the rest of the story. It's all about the inevitable messiness of living a life. It was a good story. The Lucky Ones By Mark Edwards, Read By Simon Mattacks It's been a few years since I read a Mark Edwards book and I really need to have him in my rotation more often. He creates some really interesting characters! Detective Imogen Evans is called to a murder. The victim, a recent heart transplant recipient and successful antiques dealer is killed just when she is at her happiest. She even dies with a smile on her face. Evans knows she has a serial killer on her hands. Nearby, Ben Holland's life is finally straightening out. He and his son moved back to his home town to distance himself from his cheating wife and to be near his dying mother. It's been hard to get back on his feet but suddenly things are looking up. Fast paced, good character development and a couple of twists. Everything you need from a good murder mystery. Everything I Learned From Falling By Claire Nelson I read this one in hardback as a vacation read. Claire Nelson was hiking in Joshua Tree National Park when she fell and shattered her pelvis. She was off the trail and she wasn't sure if anyone would realize she was missing. She spent 3 nights in the desert and this is her survival story. It was pretty interesting. One thing we've noticed when hiking that almost all of the solo hikers are women. Honestly, it's just plain stupid to hike alone but even dumber to not tell people when/where you are going and not leave a note on your car about when you left and where you went. The Lager Queen of Minnesota By J. Ryan Stradal, Read By Judith Ivey This is one quirky and fun story. I don't' know how I found it because it's not something I would usually read. But it was a fun light vacation read and the narrator nailed the Minnesota accent. Two sisters are emotionally separated when their father leaves the proceeds from the family farm to the younger sister, Helen, to help her start a brewery. The older sister, Edith is an award-winning baker but she and her husband struggle to make a living. When Edith's daughter and son-in-law die in a car crash, she takes in her Granddaughter, Diana. Diana eventually earns a shot at brewing an IPA. Will beer bring the family back together? It's a fun story about family and beer. There's a lot of information about beer, which I didn't mind at all. The characters are likable and the story is told in a nice mid-western manner. It's a fun read. I finished 8 books in July. That's kind of a slow month for me but when I have a lot going on I have trouble concentrating on books and listen to podcasts instead. Even with only 8 books, I'm happy to report that I was only disappointed with one, The Last Revival of Opal and Nev" Two of the books I read this month are ones that were left as recommendations in last month's comments so be sure to read other's recommendations too! Also be sure to leave your own recommendations in the comments. I added a bunch of books from last month's comments to my various electronic wish lists. I'll get to them all eventually. DNF Books: Island Queen by Vanessa Riley - Couldn't keep track of the characters with the narration. The Museum of Ordinary People By Mike Gayle, Read By Witney White Another great book from one of my favorite writers. Mike Gayle writes wonderful books about relationships between people: family, friends and random strangers. Jess is dealing with the sudden loss of her mother. It's month's later and time to clean out the house to prepare it for selling. She can seem to make herself get rid of the encyclopedia set that her mother gave her as a child. Her boyfriend is pressuring her to get rid of them because he doesn't want them in their tiny apartment. Then a friend tells her about the Museum of Ordinary People housed in the back of a warehouse. She's intrigued and becomes the unofficial curator along with the warehouse's new owner. This book is all about the deep meaning in ordinary items but also about friendship, family and finding your right path. Gayle is a master of character development so you know these people and want to spend time with them. The Indispensables By Patrick K. O'Donnell, Read By Will Damron Over July 4th weekend I felt it was only right to read some American history and chose this book....wisely. Every state education system teaches American history with a little different spin. In Virginia, we have a lot of history and our education (at least on the 1960's) focused heavily on Virginia and Virginia's heroes. We did get a lot of Revolutionary War history but it was Virginia focused. This book added a lot to my education because it about the Marblehead Regiment if Massachusetts. The book delves into the pre-war lead up in Massachusetts as it pertains to the soldiers and mariners of Marblehead. These are the people that rowed Washington across the Delaware and did so many more heroic acts during the war. Also, because Marblehead (the town) was highly integrated, the Regiments was also integrated with white, black, Hispanic and Native American troops. It's very interesting book but I think I'd recommend that you read the book instead of listening to the audio. I like Will Damron as a narrator which makes me thing that something was off with the direction or editing. The Kitchen Front By Jennifer Ryan, Read By Jasmine Blackborow I picked up this recommendation from Carole's blog and it was a good one! I usually don't remember where I got recommendations but this one was read within a week of raeding her blog post because the mibrary had it avaiable to check out right away. It's the middle of WWII and everyone at home is suffering from fear, loss and a lack of access to good food. The BBC has a shows calle The Kitchen Front and is looking for a female co host. They decided to have a contest in the local area where the current host lives. Four women enter the 3 stage contest. One dish will be prepared each month: a starter, a main and a dessert. There's a war widow with 3 children who needs a better way to support her family, a kitchen maid wanting to escape life downstairs, a trained chef trying to break into the man's world of being a head chef and a manor lady wanting to escape her brutal husband. The story follows the 4 women through the three months of the competition. The character development and story pacing is excellent and there are some very poignant moments. Code Name Blue Wren By Jim Popkin, Read By Jim Popkin I think that Kristen F. recommended this one to me. I'm not sure I'm glad I read it although, it was very interesting. It's the true story of Ana Montes, a high ranking official at the Defense Intelligence Agency. She used that position to spy for Fidel Castro's Cuba for 17 years. Her intelligence unmasked US spies in Cuba and led directly to the death of a Green Beret in El Salvador. The book is riveting and frankly, reveals the ineptitude of the FBI in finding spies within our government. No wonder they turned their focus to parents at school board meetings and Catholics attending Church. Those groups are easier to find and intimidate. The reason that I'm not sure I'm glad that I read it is because Ana Montes is now free after 20 years in jail. How does that happen? In all seriousness, it is a very interesting and well written book. The Final Revival of Opal & Nev By Dawnie Walton, Read By a cast It's difficult for me to describe this book so I'm going to start by sharing the publisher's summary: Opal is a fiercely independent young woman pushing against the grain in her style and attitude, Afro-punk before that term existed. Coming of age in Detroit, she can’t imagine settling for a 9-to-5 job—despite her unusual looks, Opal believes she can be a star. So when the aspiring British singer/songwriter Neville Charles discovers her at a bar’s amateur night, she takes him up on his offer to make rock music together for the fledgling Rivington Records. In early seventies New York City, just as she’s finding her niche as part of a flamboyant and funky creative scene, a rival band signed to her label brandishes a Confederate flag at a promotional concert. Opal’s bold protest and the violence that ensues set off a chain of events that will not only change the lives of those she loves, but also be a deadly reminder that repercussions are always harsher for women, especially black women, who dare to speak their truth. Decades later, as Opal considers a 2016 reunion with Nev, music journalist S. Sunny Shelton seizes the chance to curate an oral history about her idols. Sunny thought she knew most of the stories leading up to the cult duo’s most politicized chapter. But as her interviews dig deeper, a nasty new allegation from an unexpected source threatens to blow up everything. Provocative and chilling, The Final Revival of Opal & Nev features a backup chorus of unforgettable voices, a heroine the likes of which we’ve not seen in storytelling, and a daring structure, and introduces a bold new voice in contemporary fiction. This book has fantastic reviews but, from my perspective, it's kind of a hot mess. The narrative perspective is all over the place. That's the "daring structure" mentioned above. The cast is great but it's awkward when a character starts to speak and they introduces themselves first "Opal Jewel: blah blah blah". But it's not always like that. Sometime the Sunny character speaks for the other characters. Opal is not particularly likable either. She behaves like a big star but the largest crowd she had ever performed for is 20,000. She so impetuous that she has her stage temper tantrums without consideration for the people who came to see her perform or he fellow performers. She seems to feel that her principles come before all else. There are 2 major incidences of this in the book and we can understand why she is not popular with promoters. She's immature and unprofessional. Opal and Nev, as performers, are set well into the actual music and cultural history of their time so that you feel they might be a real band that you have never heard of. I found the story tedious and couldn't wait for it to end. But, this book gets RAVE reviews so you might like it. Careless Love By Peter Robinson, Read By Simon Prebble This is #25 in the Inspector Alan Banks series set in the UK. A young college student is found dead in an abandoned car but she didn't die there. It appears to be a suicide. Near the same time the body of an unidentified man is found in gully. By his dress, he appears affluent and appears to have died from head trauma. Inspector banks must decide if the cases are related and there's a side story that's related to a previous book. The side story was distracting to me and got a little confusing. I don't think I've read the book that carries that backstory but it does carry a lead up to a future story. These books are entertaining. To me, they aren't as good as original John Sandford or Nick Petrie, but it's still a good series. Exiles By Jane Harper, Read By Stephen Shanahan This is the 3rd installment in the Aaron Falk series. It's a series that I've enjoyed and I'll keep an eye out for future releases. In Exiles, Aaron Falk is on vacation in a small town in wine country in Southern Australia. He's there for the christening of his friend's daughter but it also marks the one year anniversary of the disappearance of Kim Gillespie. At the annual festival a year ago, Kim's baby was found tucked in a stroller, alone, at the festival. People have been searching for her ever since. Falk can't avoid getting involved. Good mystery, interesting characters and kept my focus during a week where I was completely distracted. Sparks Like Stars By Nadia Hashimi, Read By Mozhan Marno In Kabul in 1978, Sitara Zamani lived a very privileged life as her father was a senior aide to the president. But when she was 10 years old her entire family was killed during a coup and only she survived. She was smuggled out of the palace and eventually out of the country and found home in the United States. In 2008, her name is Arianna and she's an oncology surgeon in NYC and a surprising patient arrives in her office. It's the man who saved her from the massacre but also may be the man who murdered her family. It's finally time to return to Kabul and learn the truth. This was a very interesting historical fiction novel. It's about Afghanistan, the effects of trauma on children and how trauma is often bottled up and carried into adulthood. I'm glad I found this nw-to-me author. Another reading month has come to an end and, for the most part, it was a really good one. A lot of the books I listen to now come from the library so I tend to read whatever comes off hold whenever a book is available. Where I use to kind of purposely rotate genres, now I read what I'm given. I don't mind either way, but this month it meant fewer non-fiction books. Yinka, Where is Your Huzband? By Lizzie Damilola Blackburn, Read By Ronke Adékoluejo Yinka is a 30+ single woman in a Nigerian community in the UK. Her mother and aunties constantly pray for her to find a husband. She's still grieving over a recent breakup when she loses her job and has to get involved in planning her cousin's wedding. Each bridesmaid sets a "wedding goal" and Yinka's is to find a date for the wedding. With spreadsheets and Post-It notes, she marches toward a plan. Some reviewers see this book as a statement on misogyny and colorism in traditional cultures. I'm not in that camp. I don't see transgressions everywhere I look. I see the human condition and this is just a really good coming-of-age story as a young woman figures out what she truly wants in life. The story could have been told with a backdrop of any culture. These characters aren't necessarily uniquely Nigerian but the language and traditions of Nigerian culture adds richness to the story. Also, the narration is spot on. The Trackers By Charles Frazier, Read By Will Patton I have read 3 of Frazier's books now. I loved Cold Mountain and thought Varina was disjointed. This one falls somewhere in the middle. It's the height of the Great Depression and Val Welch (a man) has been hired to paint a mural at a post office in remote Wyoming. A local rancher and art lover, John Long, has offered to host Val at the ranch. Everything is going fine until John's wife, Eve, leaves home with a valuable Renoir painting. Long convinces Val to search for Eve and so begins a journey to Seattle, Florida and San Francisco. It's not a bad book but it also wasn't riveting. I felt that the characters were a little flat although the prose is lovely. Hallucinations By Oliver Sacks I like to sit outside and get a little sun and grounding in every day so I keep a "real" book around to read and it's usually a non-fiction book. I'm pretty sure I picked this one up at a used book sale. If you are generally interested in the topic, you would find this book interesting. It's basically a survey of different kinds of hallucinations, delusions and deliriums and the point of the book is to explain the different manifestations and causes. It covers Parkinsonian hallucinations, visual migraines, narcolepsy, sensory deprivation and much more. I learned that my aunt with macular degeneration had Charles Bonnet syndrome in the last year of her life when her blindness was almost 100%. I think the best thing about the book is that it helps people understand what the hallucinating person is experiencing through a lot of personal stories. Atonement By Ian McEwan, Read By Jill Tanner I almost gave up on this book but I read some reviews that said to hang on until Chapter 10 where it makes a strong turn for the better. I stuck with it until the end and I'm still not sure what the point was. Briony Tallis is an extremely annoying teenager when this book opens in 1935. Her family is quite dysfunctional and during a gathering of family and friends, Briony sees some events that she shouldn't and it leads her to accuse someone of a crime they didn't commit. That's what happens in Chapter 10 and it changes everyone's lives. In part 3 we see what happened to everyone during the war and in the last part we visit with Briony again in 1999. I know there was a movie made from this book. Did you see it? I sure hope it was better than this book. I found the characters flat and unsympathetic. Much of the story also just didn't seem all that relevant to the original crime. The book gets rave reviews so take my criticism with a grain of salt. If you have read it and have a different opinion please leave it in the comments. The Island of Sea Women By Lisa See, Read by Jennifer Lim This was a very interesting book. Through the fictional story of two women, it tells the story of the Haenyeo divers of the island of Jeju, off South Korea. The tradition of female divers dates back to the 17th century. They can dive up to 98 feet deep and hold their breath up to 3 minutes. They have an incredible tolerance for hypothermia. The story is told over decades through the lives of Mi-ja and Young-sook. They were very best friends at a young age when they started diving, but, as they grew older and political issues overwhelmed the culture, they grew apart and became enemies. It's a lovely story and could have done with a better narrator. Jennifer Lim got better as the characters aged but it was a rough start. I had to slow down the speed a bit. The Girl in the Glass By James Hayman, Read by Stephen Mendel This is #4 in the McCabe and Savage series. Mike McCabe and Maggie Savage are detectives in Portland, ME and are called to investigate the murder of Veronica Aimee Whitby, daughter of one of the wealthiest people in Maine. Her murder is eerily similar to that of her Great-Grandmother (also named Aimee) in 1904. Both had the letter "A" cut into their chests. There's only one more book in this series and I'm sorry to know that. I enjoy these characters and the stories are fast paced and "realistic" enough. His writing style reminds me a lot of early John Sandford. The Heart's Invisible Furies By John Boyne, Read By Stephen Hogan Oh my, this has to be one of my favorite books ever. This is the second book I've read by John Boyne and he's officially one of my favorite writers, right up there with William Kent Krueger. Cyril Avery was born out of wedlock to a teenager mother in Catholic Ireland, just after WWII. His mother was creuely kicked out of her community and finds a new life and creates a new family support in Dublin. She puts her baby up for an adoption coordinated by a hunchbacked Redemptorist nun. He's adopted by the Averys and it's made clear from the beginning that he's "not a real Avery". This is a beautiful 21 hour coming of age saga about a young boy coping with being gay in Catholic Ireland and living with adoptive parents that treat him as if he's another status acquisition. While his sexuality is an integral part of him and his story, that's not really what the book is about. It's about finding yourself, forgiveness, survival, creating family.....everything. I loved All The Broken Places and I loved this book even more. The character development is flawless to the point that you can believe that all of these characters exist in the real world. The story is told in 7 year increments creating a perfect cadence to the story development. The House Is On Fire By Rachel Beanland, Read by a cast This is one of the most popular books in my region at the moment and it was worth the long library wait. On December 26, 1811 , almost 600 people were attending a theater production at the Richmond Theater at today's 12th and College streets. The chandelier stage prop caught scenery backdrops on fire creating an event so bad that even international newspapers carried it. The fire killed 72 people, including the sitting Governor. In this book, Beanland, tracks the fate of 4 people during the fire and it's immediate aftermath. All of the characters are based on real people but they aren't necessarily real stories. But each story is certainly possible. The story only covers 4 days, from the fire to the mass burial and memorial service. The inquest was completed in 3 days, totally unheard of today. If you like historical fiction, it's a really good book on it's own. But if you are a Virginian, it's even more interesting because the descriptions of Richmond and surrounding areas at that time. Never Far Away By Michael Koryta, Read By Robert Petcoff This book got me through the last 2 days of piecing the Goldfinch quilt and I'm grateful for it! Lots of action and twists kept me diverted from the tedium. Leah Trenton was once a wife and mother of 2 young children. But she had to leave that all behind and enter the witness protection program. She left her family and relocated to the rural Maine Highlands (where we spend 2 weeks each summer). One day her former husband unexpectedly dies in a car accident and her daughter calls the emergency number that she's been taught. Leah has to come out of hiding to adopt her children as Aunt Leah. But the man who wanted her dead, still wants her dead. There are definitely some roll-your-eye moments, but it was a fun read. The Brighter the Light By Mary Ellen Taylor, Read By Megan Tusing I finished off the month with a light beach read, this one set in Nags Head, NC. Ivy Neale inherits her grandmother's home on Nags Head, where Ivy grew up. She's coming home from NYC to clear out the house and get it ready to sell. During her stay she has to deal with the abruptness of her departure from Nags Head 10 years earlier and as she sorts through her Grandmother's things she starts to uncover things that she did no know about her family history. The story is set in 2 time periods: 1950 and 2022. It was a nice read. One thing Taylor did that I thought was very smart was to not reference COVID at all in the 2022 time period. When I started reading books that were set in 2020 and 2021 I felt that authors that incorporated the COVID storyline were making a mistake. No one is going to want to read a COVID story. We're over it. But we would be happy to read a book set fictionally in that time that didn't address any of the stuff that was happening then. This was jut a good beach escapist story and I enjoyed it. I finished 9 books in May and it was a month heavy on non-fiction with a strong dose of chick lit. Admittedly, it was a strange mix. I gave up on 2 books and should have given up on a third. The Conviction was straight up awful. Everything else was good! DNF Books: The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives - AKA The secret pettiness of a polygamist's wives. I think there might be a good story there but you have to wade through a lot of unnecessary tedious narrative about things like bodily functions. Raising Lazarus - There are better books about the plight of the drug addicted that have less politics. I'd recommend Dreamland and The Least of Us, both by Sam Quinnones. I don't think this book will age well. What have you been reading that you would recommend? Please leave your thoughts on any of these books as well. I think it's good for people to get different opinions when looking for a new book to read. Lightning Strike By William Kent Krueger, Read By David Chandler This is #18 in the Cork O'Connor series and it's a deviation from the other books in the series. This one is set in 1963 when Cork is a 12 year old boy and his father, Liam, is the newly elected sheriff. Cork and his friends find the body of a respected Ojibwe man. It appears that it was suicide but Lima must prove it one way or another. I still love these books and I enjoyed this look back at a young Cork and his family. The Islander By Chris Blackwell, Read By Bill Nighy If you like music history you will love this book. Chris Blackwell grew up a rich kid between London and Jamaica. While living in Jamaica he fell in love with the island music and, after meeting Bob Marley, decided to produce his record. What followed is a fascinating music recording career for artists such as Cat Stevens, Steve Winwood, U2, Grace Jones and others. It was a fascinating read. America Before By graham Hancock, Read By Graham Hancock If you check out his Wiki page, you will see that the Graham hancock is labeled a "pseudoscientist". Of course, that's code for anyone that the establishment in any field doesn't like. We saw a lot of that the past 3 years in the medical arena. I don't pay attention to any of that any more and I try to read and research on my own and develop my own opinions. I ready Hancock's earlier book, Magician of the Gods, which proposes that the lost civilization that Plato referred to as Atlantis, absolutely could have existed and been destroyed 11,600 years ago. I found the book fascinating and compelling. I was excited to read this new one (published in 2019). It focuses on the history of the Americas, specifically the Amazon, Inca culture and North America. There are parts of this book that are speculative but there's a lot that's been proven and accepted as fact. For one, when I was in school we were taught that the Clovis people were the first society to inhabit North America about 13,000 years ago. In the last 15 years there have been huge discoveries of other cultures and it's been proven that the Clovis people were not the first to settle in North America and it has been confirmed that there were other, unrelated, people as far back as 25,000 years ago. The writing style of the book is accessible for us "non-sciency" types and the subject matter is really interesting. He puts forth some interesting possibilities but is careful to present them as theories. The book seems fairly carefully compiled and, I expect, the criticisms are coming from people who have based their careers on facts that probably aren't facts. The truth is that we have explored so little of our history that no one really knows anything. Honky Tonk Samurai By Joe R. Lansdale, Read By Christopher Ryan Grant If you like Larry McMurtry I think you will like Joe R. Lansdale. Honky Tonk Samurai is #9 in the Hal and Leonard series but it's the first book in the series that I've read. it worked just fine as stand-alone novel. Hap and Leonard have been best friends since high school and consider each other brothers. Hap considers himself a white trash rebel and Leonard is a black, gay, Republican, Vietnam Vet with an addiction to vanilla cookies. They are working surveillance for a Private Eye when they see a man abusing a dog. Leonard decides to enact a little justice to save the dog. A week later, Lilly Buckner, shows up at the PI office with video showing the beating that Leonard exacted and using it as a down payment to get them to take on the job of looking for her granddaughter. The first thing they discover is that the car dealership where she worked was a front for prostitution with much deeper roots into the criminal underworld. It's a fast and fun read/listen. The dialogue is sometimes laugh out loud funny. The is the 4th Lansdale book I've read and I've enjoyed all of them. Bottle of Lies By Katherine Eban This book was recommended to me by Kristen F. and I'm so glad she did. This is about the rise of the generic drug industry overseas and is a real eye-opener. If you have any belief that the generic drugs that we take are truly equivalent to the name brand ones, this book will dispel that quickly. The part that will really disgust you is that the bureaucracy of the FDA basically works to protect the bad manufacturers. Of course, we saw much of that in action during the last few years with the expedited approvals of drugs and therapies without sufficient safety data to support those recommendations. This book is a real eye-opener and I'm glad I read it. It supports my almost-pathological avoidance of prescription medicines. I had read years ago about the FDA's inability/unwillingness to do their job related to certifying organic foods and, as a result, I don't trust the organic labeling on food at all and refuse to pay a premium for it. The FDA outsources that compliance and it's rife with corruption. There have also been several cases of employees from various "health food" grocers sharing stories about organic mislabeling. With this book, it seems that the, more vital, drug oversight is just as bad. I read this book with my eyes, not my ears, and I recommend that. It would have been to much to track in audio format. Outlive The Science and Art of Longevity By Peter Attia, Read By Peter Attia My doctor turned me on to Peter Attia's podcast as she runs her practice with many of the same principles. I'm very lucky to have her as my physician. I've listened to his podcast for a couple of years so I've hear a lot of this information before but it was very beneficial to hear it in a logical order. I'll just say here that this is probably the best/most important health focused book that I've ever read. He approaches the history of medicine as 3 basic phases. Medicine 1.0 is that period of time before antibiotics when we didn't really know how infections spread and worked. Medicine 2.0 is now, where we treat disease in a reactive way. We treat heart disease after it's discovered and cancer after it's diagnosed. Medicine 3.0 is the future, where we will know the early signals that there might be an issue in the future and we address it early. That is what he tries to practice with his patients and what this book is all about. It has a long intro with background to the history of medicine and the objectives of the book. Just be patient through that part. He then methodically addresses heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer's, exercise and stability, nutrition, sleep and mental/emotional health. The chapter on mental/emotional health was particularly profound in that he shared his own story to illustrate the importance of dealing with it as part of our overall health. Each section has some good basic action items that allows us to be able to positively impact our own health. It's not specific diet things or even specific exercise things. it's more like categories of things. For example, the importance of getting enough protein and the importance of focusing on balance. I listened to this in audio but I ordered the hardback because I want to read parts of it again and take some notes. The Conviction By Robert Dugoni, Read By Dan John Miller This is the 5th (and last) book in the David Sloan series and I wish I had skipped it. If I had been in the mood to look for another book I would have DNFed this one. David Sloan is (supposedly) a brilliant lawyer and the plot of this book is the sum of him making some really stupid decisions. I'm not even going to go into the plot. It's just terrible with the added downer of reading about boys being tortured in a military-style camp. It's awful. The Flirt By Kathleen Tessaro Looking for a good summer beach read? This is a good candidate. Hughie Venables-Smythe is an out of work actor and applies for an interesting job as a professional flirt. As a professional he must remain single and he can't get involved in any physical way with his targets. The book follows the lives of several people as the navigate their strained or non-existent love lives. I've read a couple of her books before and I liked them a lot. This one was a fun, light read. It's not available in audio format. Reminders of Him By Colleen Hoover, Read By Brittany Pressley and Ryan West This was my second light beach read. Colleen Hoover keeps popping up in my Audible recommended list so I figured I better give her a try. I think I read that one of her books is being made into a movie or TV show. Kenna Rowan has served 5 years in prison for involuntary manslaughter after a tragic accident that resulted in the death of her boyfriend. After she went to prison she discovered she was pregnant and gave up full custody to her boyfriend's parents. The parents and everyone in that town still hates her. But she is desperate to have some connection to her daughter, who she has never seen. She's penniless when she moves back to the town and starts job hunting. The first person she meets is Ledger Ward. Ledger is her boyfriend's former best friend and is very close to the family and Kenna's daughter. Can he bridge the gap between Kenna and her daughter? I can see why Hoover is so popular. She's a very good writer. This book isn't my normal genre but I could see reading one now and then, like when I'm on vacation. I had some great reading time this month. It was a huge help during the 10 days that Chris and I had our epic colds. Every book I read this month was good so I'm not going to pick a favorite. I hope you find something good and leave your recommendations in the comments. DNF Books: Don't Open The Door by Allison Brennan. I've read two of her books previous to this one. One I thought was tedious and one that was a very interesting premise. This one is just annoying with cliche characters. After 2 hours, I gave up. Paradise Sky By Joe R. Lansdale, Read by Brad Sanders Joe Lansdale can WRITE and Brad Sanders was the perfect narrator for this wild western. Loosely based on the real-life slave-turned-cowboy, Nat Love, Paradise Sky is a brutal and beautiful novel about the wildness of the West in the last 1800's. After the Civil War, Nat (formerly Willie) and his father have settled down to farming when an insane local landowner is cause for Nat to run and strike out on his own. A farmer named Loving takes him in and teaches him farming, cooking, shooting, horseback riding and all sorts of other life skills. When Mr. Loving dies Nat takes on his name as a tribute and heads West. He becomes a Buffalo Soldier and eventually finds his way to Deadwood where he becomes a bouncer at the infamous Gem Hotel. The Texas landowner is still searching for him so his life will not settle until that business is taken care of. This book reminds me of the style of Larry McMurtry. The characters are richly drawn and the scenes are vivid. It's a western so the language is crude and there's plenty of murder aod gore. If you like a good Western I think you will enjoy this one. It got me through a week of being sick and made the time pass faster. Rich Blood By Robert Bailey, Read by Joe Knezevich This is the 1st in the Jason Rich series. Jason Rich is that personal injury lawyer that you see on billboards around your town. He's never been a criminal trial attorney. He's also in rehab for an alcohol addiction so he misses 2 weeks of calls from his sister begging for his help. Jason's sister, Jana, has been charged with hiring a hit man to kill her husband and she wants Jason to represent her. The two have barely spoken in years but he agrees to take the case for his nieces. He returns to his hometown to try to unravel what really happened. This was good enough as a first in a series for me to want to read another. The Invincible Miss Cust By Penny Haw, Read By Lucy Rayner This is a historical novel about Aleen Cust. She was born in Ireland in 1868 and always dreamed of being a veterinarian but women couldn't pursue that career and her mother wouldn't have her embarrass the family by trying. But, of course, she did do it. With the help of mentors, she was the first woman to enroll in the New Veterinary College in Edinburgh. She wasn't initially allowed to get the formal certificate but she found a way to practice anyway. She was the first woman veterinarian in Britain and Ireland. It's an interesting story and holds closely to the knows facts about her life. Major Pettigrew's Last Stand By Helen Simonson, Read By Peter Altschuler In a small English village a wonderful cast of characters reside including Major Earnest Pettigrew (retired). The Major leads a quiet life since his wife died. He sees his son infrequently as he lives and works in London. When the Major's brother dies it seems that everyone and everything around him is changing. His son and niece are after a pair of historic guns to be sold for their benefit. The local land owner seems to be planning a large development and his son shows up with a new girlfriend looking for a weekend cottage. In the midst of this, he becomes friends with Mrs Jasmina Ali, the local Pakistani shop owner. What ensues is a story about manners and tradition and the humor of trying to stick to the old ways. It's an endearing story about people trying to be happy and relevant in today's society. Storm Watch By C.J. Box, Read by David Chandler This is #23 in the Joe Pickett series. Joe is a Wyoming game warden with a reputation for getting involved in things he shouldn't and for destroying a record number of state vehicles. After 23 books you would expect the story lines to get a little tired but Box does a great job of keeping the characters moving forward. He's also very good at using current events/trends as elements in the story. In this one we have crypto mining and CCP influencing US politics. All quite believable. Joe is tracking a wounded elk during a big snowstorm. He has permission to track on the private property. He does find the elk but also finds the body of a man that was killed by the exhaust fan of a structure full of computers.....in the middle of a vast cattle ranch. The victim is a university professor. As Joe is trying to learn more the body disappears and everyone, including the governor, tells him to stop investigating. It's fast paced, plausible and a fun read. Darkness First By James Hayman, Read By Stephen Mendel This is #3 of 5 in the McCabe and Savage series. This story centers around the theft and distribution of Canadian OxyContin. A young woman is found mutilated and a local doctor is lying in the road nearby, a victim of a hit and run. Maggie Savage returned to the small seaport town to help with the investigation because the doctor is her best friend. Her partner, Michael McCabe, joins her after a few days. As the investigation develops and other bodies are discovered, it seems that the man they are looking for might not exist. Only the sister of the murdered girl may have a clue, but she is missing. The ending wasn't a huge surprise but it was sure fun getting there. The story is fast paced with plenty of twists and turns. This is an older series (this book is set in 2009) but if they didn't mention the date in each chapter heading, you would never know. Fuzz By Mary Roach Once the days start to heat up in the Spring I try to get a little sun each day to prepare for our family beach trip at the end of May. I want to spend lots of time in the sun at the beach but I don't want to burn. When I sit in the sun I like to have a book to read so I don't get bored and antsy. This book served me well in my sun because each chapter takes about 15 - 20 minutes to read. One chapter for each side. The book is a collection of essays about the conflicts between humans and nature and each essay is a completely unique topic and each is in her light-hearted but serious writing style. In each chapter she introduces specialists in some very unique areas of science: cougar trackers, danger tree blasters, macaque managers and lots of others. The footnotes are gems on their own. It's an interesting and fun book and I learned a few things. I'd be inclined to suggest this for young people interested in animal welfare but a lot of her humor references things that anyone under 50 probably wouldn't know. Who actually remember Charles Nelson Riley? The River Between Us By Liz Fenwick, Read By Lucy Scott You know how there's a "Cozy" Mystery category? Well, if there was a Cozy Historical Fiction category, this book would be in it. It's kind of like Kate Morton, but Kate Morton is a better writer. Theo's (Theodoro) marriage has just ended and she escapes to the River Tamar near Cornwall. It's totally run down and she's looking forward to making it liveable again. On her first day, she finds a stash of letters from WWI (that no one else has ever found before). These letters were written from a servant of the nearby manor house to a young woman who lived in the manor. Meanwhile Theo's own family history has some secrets that are coming to light since her Grandmother died. There's lots of DNA testing going on in Theo's era that tells some of the story of 100 years prior. It's a fine book of escapist reading. EVERYTHING ties together and everyone is happy in the end. It's a little too gift-wrapped for me but I think a lot of people would really enjoy this book. Who Is Maud Dixon? By Alexandra Andrews, Read By Theresa Plummer Florence Darrow dreams of being a writer and starts her adult life as an editorial assistant in NYC. She's frankly, not very self-aware or likable. After a stupid affair with her boss, she's given a chance to start over as an assistant to the reclusive writer Maud Dixon. They head to Marrakesh on a research trip and Florence has a terrible car accident. She awakens in the hospital with Maud missing. Can she become the writer? I picked this up because I read Carole's book review post last week. Most of the books she recommended are new and not yet in audio format. But this one was and I decided to give it a try. To be honest, if not for her recommendation I would have stopped listening after 2 hours. It's a slow start but it does pick up speed and has a lot of twists. It's a very interesting plot and this book is more psychological thriller than standard mystery/thriller. If you like books like Gone Girl, you will like this one. In the end I did enjoy it. I thought the plot was clever but, boy, did I hate both characters. The Book Woman's Daughter By Kim Michele Richardson, Read By Katie Schorr I was so excited to see that there was a sequel to The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek and I was not disappointed. Both books are historical fiction about the real-life Fugate family of Kentucky and about the packhorse library of rural Kentucky. Honey Lovett is the 17 year old daughter of the famous blue packhorse librarian. When her parents are arrested for breaking anti-miscegenation laws (blue people were considered a different race and not allowed to marry whites or other races), Honey is left alone. Worse, the county social worker is determined to put her in a children's prison workhouse where she would have to stay until 21. She's determined to prove that she can take care of herself. The narrator is perfect for the story and I couldn't put this book down and it was a great way to end the month. |
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I'm Vicki Welsh and I've been making things as long as I can remember. I used to be a garment maker but transitioned to quilts about 20 years ago. Currently I'm into fabric dyeing, quilting, Zentangle, fabric postcards, fused glass and mosaic. I document my adventures here. Categories
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