Littoral Librarian

    All That Is Mine I Carry With Me by William Landay

    Years ago, I read and loved Defending Jacob, and I was thrilled to receive a copy of  William Landay’s new book, All That Is Mine I Carry With Me. I’m a big fan of legal thrillers/courtroom dramas, and this promised to MAYBE be the Landay book I had waited so long for… In 1975, ten-year-old …

    The Soulmate by Sally Hepworth

    For some reason, I haven’t been a fan of Sally Hepworth…but The Soulmate sounded intriguing, and was described as a “one night stand” – you know, one of those books you have to stay up reading until you finish it! With thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley (for providing a copy in exchange for …

    The Passenger by Cormac McCarthy

    My husband is a HUGE fan of Cormac McCarthy. I, on the other hand, have never really appreciated his books. But I decided to give The Passenger (the first in a two-book series) a try, hoping that because it sounded like it might be a mystery/suspense thing (right up my literary alley) that finally I …

    Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson

    I’ve been a big fan of Kate Atkinson (particularly the Jackson Brodie series), so I was happy to receive a copy of Shrines of Gaiety from Doubleday and NetGalley in exchange for this honest review. If you are a fan of  family sagas and historical fiction, grab this one!  It’s set in the roaring 20s, …

    Former Guy by G. B. Trudeau

    Wondering how long I’ve been reading and enjoying the Doonesbury comic strip, I looked it up and was initially shocked that it has been going for over FIFTY years. And it STILL makes me laugh (although it is frequently more of an “ouch” as Trudeau’s columns in the time of Trumpism seem to skewer the …

    Lucy By The Sea by Elizabeth Strout

    I was happy to receive a copy of Elizabeth Strout’s Lucy By The Sea (thanks to Random House and NetGalley) in exchange for this honest review. I recall reading her Oh William! But couldn’t remember much about it…looking back, I realized I had never gotten around to writing a review…so it clearly wasn’t a grabber …

    A Death on W Street by Andy Kroll

    As Washington, D. C. Bureau Chief for Rolling Stone, Andy Kroll is well situated to report on the pervasive craziness that seems to have taken over since 2016. Seth Rich’s name has become synonymous with conspiracy, and his rumored influence among Democratic Party operatives as a tech wizard who just may have been involved in …

    What Every Woman Needs To Know About Her Gut by Barbara Ryan, MD, and Elaine McGowan, RD

    Written by Professor Barbara Ryan, M.D. (a gastroenterologist and Professor at Trinity College, Dublin) and her colleague Elaine McGowan, R.D., a clinical dietitian), What Every Woman Needs to Know About Her Gut is “…the go-to guide for women living with bloating, Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and other digestive problems who want step-by-step medical, dietary, and …

    Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng

    Five years ago, I was a huge fan of Celeste Ng’s Little Fires Everywhere, and I was happy to receive a copy of Our Missing Hearts from Penguin Group/Press and NetGalley in exchange for this honest review.  It is one of my less-favorite genres, a dystopian novel… set in a time following a period of …

    Suspect by Scott Turow

    I’ve been a big fan of Scott Turow since I read Presumed Innocent back in the 1980s when I was working in a public library. His stories are generally set in “Kindle County,” and familiar characters recur throughout the books. This time, the PI is Pinky, granddaughter of renowned attorney Sandy Stern. Pinky spent many …

    The Prisoner by B.A. Paris

    I am a big fan of  “unputdownable psychological thrillers,” and a huge fan of B.A. Paris’s Behind Closed Doors (2016),   Bring Me Back (2018),  The Dilemma (2020), and last year’s The Therapist, I was happy to receive a copy of The Prisoner from St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley in return for my honest review. …

    The Rising Tide by Anne Cleeves (Vera #10)

    Last year, I had the joy of discovering a new favorite author…As an avid mystery fan, I’m not sure why I had never read anything by Ann Cleeves, author of the Shetland and Vera series (neither of which I ever got into). But  then I received a review copy of her 2021 book The Heron’s …

    Racing The Light by Robert Crais (Elvis Cole #19)

    As I have stated before, I have been a diehard fan of Robert Crais/Elvis Cole/Joe Pike for over THIRTY YEARS. Seriously, when The Monkey’s Raincoat was published in 1987, I was working in a public library, grabbed it as soon as it came in, and was HOOKED. Since then, this has been one of the …

    Bad City (Chapter Sampler) by Paul Pringle

    Thanks to Celadon Books and NetGalley, I received a copy of the Chapter Summary of Bad City, by Los Angeles Times Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter Paul Pringle. Subtitled “Peril And Power In The City of Angels,” this nonfiction true crime thriller is a stunning expose of corruption in both city governments and academic institutions, featuring …

    The Zero Night by Brian Freeman

    In 2018, when I started reading Brian Freeman’s Alter Ego, (#9 In the Jonathan Stride series), I kept thinking “wait, I KNOW this Jonathan Stride, a cop from Duluth, I recognize his house…” But then I thought maybe I was getting him mixed up with a character in John Sandford’s Lucas Davenport/Virgil Flowers series – …

    Back To The Garden by Laurie R. King

    One of our local treasures in my hometown is author Laurie King. Her best-known books are part of a series, but the latest is a standalone – and it’s great fun!  The story in Back To The Garden is set in the Central Coast region of California, and skips back and forth from the present …

    Roll Red Roll by Nancy Schwartzman

    I somehow missed Nancy Schwartzman’s film Roll Red Roll back in 2018, which told the story of a notorious gang rape of a 16-year old girl after an early season football game in Steubenville, Ohio. The horrific events would perhaps (most likely, IMHO) never have come to light were it not for smart phones and …

    The Maze (John Corey #8) by Nelson deMille

    I’ve been reading Nelson deMille books for a long time – I first met Detective John Corey last century (!) when I read and enjoyed Plum Island (1997). And I have often enjoyed a bit of wisecracking from my protagonists (think RBP’s Spenser). I REALLY enjoyed Plum Island and Lion’s Game – and Nightfall? Wow, …

    Dirt Creek by Hayley Scrivenor

    I’m a big fan of Jane Harper, so when I read that Hayley Scrivenor’s book Dirt Creek was available from Flatiron Books and NetGalley in return for my honest review, I was looking forward to it – a LOT. For some reason, it was originally publixhed in Australia as Dirt Town, but is renamed as …

    What She Found by Robert Dugoni

    I’ve been reading books in Robert Dugoni’s Tracy Crosswhite series since 2014, when I first stumbled across My Sister’s Grave. I found it fascinating over the years to watch as Detective Crosswhite evolved as she worked to solve the long-cold case of her sister Sarah’s murder, then went on to other cases, along the way …