I am a huge fan of Jeannette Walls, with The Glass Castle being one of my top five all-time favorite books. So when Jeannette says “Hell If We Don’t Change Our Ways is a story of survival that left me choked up and cheering.” My reaction? “SIGN ME UP!” Brittany spent her very traumatic childhood …
Mike Lupica is an author (and former newspaper columnist), enjoyed by sports fans for many years in the New York Daily News. He is also known for his many appearances on the all-sports-all-the-time ESPN network. His latest endeavor is 12 Months To Live, a crime novel collaboration with author James Patterson. Thanks to Little, Brown. & Company …
I am fairly frequent listener to podcasts, and my two favorite categories are politics and true crime (some might say there is overlap there…) In the politics category, my absolute favorite is Pod Save America, and I am a HUGE fan of Jon Favreau, Tommy Vietor, Jon Lovett, and Dan Pfeiffer, so when Dan’s latest …
Publication Date September 12, 2023 I had not previously read anything by Kia Abdullah, but “legal thriller” is possibly my favorite genre, so I was happy to receive a copy of Perfectly Nice Neighbors from Penguin Group Putnam and NetGalley in exchange for this honest review. The publisher’s blurb didn’t tell me much, other than …
Publication Date September 5, 2023 Back in 2019, when reviewing William Kent Krueger’s This Tender Land, I called it “…a terrific adventure story on its own,” plus a story of “…orphans’ search for family and home and the history of Native American exploitation.” Quite a lot going on in my first experience reading Krueger. Then, …
Publication Date April 4, 2024 Earlier this year, I read and reviewed Don Winslow’s City of Dreams. At that time, I said my perception of the books written by Don Winslow had been that they were the kind of books my husband loves: full of action, violence, drugs, sex, and maybe even some rock ‘n …
Publication Date September 5, 2023 One of my vivid memories from childhood is watching the NBA playoffs at my aunt’s house. My brother and I were the only 2 really interested in the games, but I loved it despite the fact that “our” team, the Lakers, seemed to be perennial runners-up to the Celtics. During …
Publication Date October 17, 2023 In 2021, I wrote a five-star review for Karin Slaughter’s standalone novel False Witness, featuring Harleigh (“Leigh”) Collier. So I was excited to receive a copy of Slaughter’s After That Night, which is #11 in the Will Trent series. But then I remembered The Last Widow from 2019, which was #9 …
Publication Date July 18, 2023 Miles Taylor worked in the Trump White House, and was so appalled that he published an earlier book as “Anonymous.” When he outed himself as the author, his life began … difficult, to say the least. To write this book, Taylor interviewed dozens of former Trump aides and came away …
Publication Date November 14, 2023 True confession time: Portions of this are copied from reviews of recent Evanovich/Stephanie Plum books. I have been reading and enjoying Stephanie Plum’s adventures as a bond enforcement agent (bounty hunter?) for twenty-five+ years (gasp!), ever since One For The Money. And everytime a new one comes out, it makes …
Publication Date September 1, 2023 Last year, I read Movieland, my first novel by Lee Goldberg. In my review, I said “I tend to enjoy stories where the setting is a character on its own, if you know what I mean (think Jane Harper’s novels set in arid Western Australia. Oh, and BTW, if you …
Publication Date November 7, 2023 Last year, I read Movieland, my first novel by Lee Goldberg. In my review, I said “I tend to enjoy stories where the setting is a character on its own, if you know what I mean (think Jane Harper’s novels set in arid Western Australia. Oh, and BTW, if you …
Publication Date August 29, 2023 2019’s Miracle Creek introduced Angie Kim, an amazing talent. It also introduced me to HBOT (hyperbaric oxygen treatment), a somewhat controversial treatment for what a center near me claims are “dozens of medical conditions…and used to improve athletic treatment and …for anti-aging.” Ms. Kim has personal experience with HBOT, which …
Publication Date August 8, 2023 Over the past several years, I have generally read and enjoyed Lisa Jewell’s books including I Found You (2017), Watching You (2018), The Family Upstairs (2019), and Invisible Girl (2020) o I was happy to receive a copy of sNone Of This Is True from Atria Books and NetGalley in exchange for my honest …
Publication Date August 8, 2023 I’m not sure how or when I first heard about the “Murdaugh mystery,” but my guilty pleasure in both reading and podcasts is true crime, so I fell into it and got deep into the various crimes, scandals, and trials, If you have been asleep for the past couple of …
Publication Date August 1, 2023 I have not read Lydia Kiesling’s book Golden State, so that wasn’t what prompted me to want to read Mobility. And it wasn’t a desire to learn about Azerbaijan (doubt I could find it on a map), or interest in the oil and gas industry. Nope, TBH it was learning …
Publication Date July 11, 2023 The Water Will Come is a super scary book from 2018 by Jeff Goodell, discussing the increasingly frequent disasters caused by climate change around the world. You may know him from his writing on climate change for Rolling Stone or hearing/seeing him covering climate and energy issues on NPR, MSNBC, …
Publication Date June 20, 2023 I’m a fan of legal thrillers: think Scott Turow, John Grisham, Michael Connelly, William Landay. Somehow, I stumbled on Rich Bood by Robert Bailey. The protagonist, Jason Rich, is famous for his billboards from Alabama to Florida, featuring the slogan “In an accident? Get Rich!” Yes, he is THAT kind …
Publication Date July 4, 2023 Maybe it’s just me. I wanted to read Collen Coble’s “Break of Day,” because it sounded like JUST what I needed: suspense, strong female protagonist, not too violent. But then I saw it was #3 in a trilogy, which sort of clarified why I was having trouble getting into it. …
In 2018, I reviewed Jake Tapper’s book The Hellfire Club, and was introduced to Charlie Marder, a young Congressman (thanks to his father’s influence when a seat became vacant). He and his wife Margaret, a zoologist, have a ton of interesting experiences in and around Washington, D.C., and I loved the way the issues and …