My familiarity with the “Varsity Blues” college admissions scandal was pretty much limited to what I had seen in People magazine (Aunt Becky and one of the Desperate Housewives on the cover) and during late-night television (think SNL as well as monologues by various hosts). And as a former college instructor and a fan of …
My introduction to Sue Miller was nearly 20 years ago, when I read The Good Mother. It was one of those domestic dramas that grab something in your heart and won’t let go. Since then, I’ve read some others, but can’t recall them, so I was definitely hoping for another heart-grabber when I got a …
The Dead Don’t Sleep, by Steven Russo, is perfect for readers who enjoy an action-packed story with complex characters and a moral dilemma or two thrown in. I happen to be married to just such a reader, and before I had a chance to begin the book, my husband picked it up and was INSTANTLY …
I was looking forward to reading Eric Bovim’s book Around The Sun after reading some very high praise for its “lush graceful prose, a portrait of grief and hope in the age of social media, globalization, and artistic decadence.” I came away with mixed feelings about it, as I appreciate the author’s skill in drawing …
Heather Gudenkauf is one of those authors whose books generally fall into my “one-night-stand” pile…often with the woman-in-danger component. I have enjoyed some of her earlier books (Before She Was Found, The Weight of Silence) so I was pleased to receive a copy of This Is How I Lied from Harlequin/Park Row and NetGalley in …
Thanks to IDW Publishing and NetGalley, I received a copy of this guide to election 2020 in exchange for my honest review…no wait, this isn’t actually a guide to the election, it’s something to help us survive the next several months… Full disclosure: I think the current President is the most corrupt, incredibly incompetent, racist, …
As a San Francisco Giants fan, I have enjoyed reading Joan Ryan’s work for years, so I was particularly excited to get a copy of Intangibles from Little, Brown & Co and NetGalley in exchange for this honest review. The subtitle is “unlocking the science and soul of team chemistry,” a concept which I find …
I remember the movie Same Time Next Year for a couple of reasons: it was filmed at a beautiful part of the Northern California coast where we used to vacation, and I just liked the acknowledgment that it is possible to love more than one person at a time. So when I read that Elin …
Full disclosure: I finished this book yesterday and when I finished I was glad it was over. But I kept thinking about it, so clearly it was a positive experience just to read it (I want books that make me THINK, after all!). But I just can’t decide on a rating. Did I love it? …
Shiner was a DNF for me. I read about half, and was impressed by some beautiful writing, and the characters were fascinating…but I swear I just kept thinking about a video I saw recently, interviewing people at a diner in WV, and they went around the table talking to these nice folks who were nearly …
I’m a big Michael Connelly fan, starting with the Harry Bosch and Mickey Haller books, then most recently the stories of police officers Jenkins and Ballard (The Late Show, 2017). I hadn’t read either The Poet or The Scarecrow, so I wasn’t familiar with protagonist Jack McEvoy, but was happy to start to get to …
As an adult, I’ve never had a very healthy relationship with food (and I’m totally aware what a first world problem it is to be concerned about how to lose weight when so many people have so little). But I’ve been there, sitting in the green chairs, and being a Lifetime member of Weight Watchers …
I loved The Woman in Cabin 10. The Death of Mrs. Westaway and Turn of the Key? Meh. So I wouldn’t say I went into this as a Ruth Ware fan, but I wanted to give it another go, now that my life is stabilized enough (in a pandemic? WTF?) that if I don’t like …
Who Did You Tell? by Lesley Kara is a combo: mystery/thriller and grief/recovery guide. The main character, Astrid, has moved home with her (helicopter) mother and is trying not to drink, being sober for over six months. And it’s a struggle: as she puts it, “If I have to come home and sit in this …
Susan Straley began keeping a journal as a way to keep friends and family informed the three-month trip she and her husband George took around the USA in 2016. Her journal became her first book, Trippin’ With George: Diagnosis to Discovery in 10,000 miles, and I was pleased to receive a copy of the second …
Publication Date August 4, 2020 As a fan of true crime, particularly the woman-in-danger subgenre, I was happy to receive a copy of Betsy Bonner’s The Book of Atlantis Black from Tin House Books and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This sad story creeped me out a bit. The author’s sister disappeared, and …
The publisher’s blurb reads “S-Town meets I’ll Be Gone in the Dark,” referencing two outstanding true crime hits of the past couple of years (the first a podcast and the second a nonfiction book about a woman’s obsessive search for the identity of the Golden State Killer). I loved both of those, so I was happy to …
Publication Date May 5, 2020 “Big Little Lies meets Presumed Innocent”? Sign me up! Kimberly McCreight, author of Reconstructing Amelia, has written another one of those books you start reading and CANNOT STOP. I loved it. Harper Collins and NetGalley provided me with a copy of A Good Marriage in return for this honest review, …
I was happy to receive a copy of Megan Miranda’s latest book from Simon & Schuster and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review because, although I can’t remember the details, I do remember liking The Last House Guest (2019). I. expected a mystery/thriller that was not necessarily a book club pick, but something to …
Because The End of October, by Lawrence Wright, is fiction, I figured I was safe and wouldn’t have sleepless nights after reading it (as was the case with Richard Preston’s The Hot Zone and Laurie Garrett’s The Coming Plague). “Medical thriller,” I thought. “Sounds good.” So, even though it is May 2020 and we are …