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    How To Be Enough by Ellen Hendriksen, Ph.D.

    Publication Date January 7, 2025 How To Be Enough by Ellen Hendriksen is one of those rare books that makes me feel like the author can read my mind…and provide some insight into my thoughts/behavior/whatever. It is definitely a book I WISH I could have read thirty (or more?) years ago, as it might have …

    Nine Minutes Eleven Seconds by L.V. Pederson

    Publication Date January 28, 2025 Nine Minutes Eleven Seconds. (9/11 — hmmm). Sounded good. Like my kind of thriller…started slow, and I never really got buried in it like I wanted to. Kept being conscious of how much was left to read — in the end, I confess I skimmed the last third or so …

    Whistle by Linwood Barclay

    Publication Date May 20, 2025 What did I just read? Oh wait, I didn’t actually read it — it turned out to be something I have generally thought of as impossible: this one was a DNF. I have read and reviewed many Linwood Barclay books over the years, and he has consistently been on my …

    I Will Blossom Anyway by Disha Bose

    Publication Date May 6, 2025 I’m not generally a fan of cozy novels, things that are touching and that explore family dynamics…except if there is some murder or mayhem involved. For some reason, I found myself with Disha Bose’s new book I Will Blossom Anyways (thanks to Random House-Ballantine and NetGalley in exchange for my …

    The Quiet Librarian by Allen Eskens

    Publication Date February 18, 2025 Back in 2014, I read The Life We Bury by Allen Eskens, at that time an author I’d never heard of. I loved it! But for some reason, I didn’t read anything else by Eskens until 2023, when I read and enjoyed Saving Emma. I also didn’t know that The …

    Not Our Daughter by Chad Zunker

    Publication Date February 11, 2025 For me, Chad Zunker is one of those reliable authors – in 2022, I read Family Money – four stars. In 2023, All He Has Left was another solid four star read. Then, last year? The Wife You Know – yep, once again, four stars. So this year, when I …

    Scout Camp by James Renner

    Publication Date February 25, 2025 James Renner is a journalist  and former reporter for the Cleveland Scene. Known for his work on the Maura Murray case (he wrote True Crime Addict: How I Lost Myself in the Mysterious Disappearance of Maura Murray). His thorough research and investigation has resulted in a boatload of work on …

    The River Is Waiting by Wally Lamb

    Publication Date May 6, 2025 Years ago, I read two Wally Lamb books that knocked me out: I Know This Much Is True and She’s Come Undone. Both were, for different reasons, deeply affecting and emotionally intense. When I had the opportunity to read Lamb’s new book, The River Is Waiting (thanks to Simon Element/ …

    The Oligarch’s Daughter by Joseph Finder

    Publication Date January 28, 2025 Next month, it will have been five years since I read and reviewed a book by Joseph Finder…that one was 5-star House On Fire, #4 in the Nick Heller series (note to self: go back and read 1-4!!) During the pandemic, I read a ton of books, including lots of …

    The Inheritance by Trisha Sakhlecha

    Publication Date January 21, 2024 I didn’t know what to expect from The Inheritance by Trisha Sakhlecha – hadn’t read anything about it, never recall hearing or reading about the author. But it sounded intriguing, and I was happy to receive a copy from Penguin Group Viking and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review, …

    Murder In The Dollhouse by Rich Cohen

    Publication Date May 20, 2025 Here I go again, with my secret pleasure reading: true crime. Rich Cohen, a well-known author and journalist (columnist for The Wall Street Journal, contributing editor at Vanity Fair and Rolling Stone) has written the amazing story of Jennifer Dulos, a wealthy Connecticut woman who dropped her kids off at …

    Presumed Guilty by Scott Turow

    Publication Date January 24, 2025 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. How much do I love him? I read tons of mysteries/thrillers, and am particularly fond of legal intrigue in that category. But I will drop …

    Black Tunnel White Magic by Rick Jackson and Metthew McGough

    Publication Date March 4, 2025 I admit it. I am a fan of the true crime genre, and really enjoy when authors really, really KNOW their subject. And I generally check out the author’s (or authors’) biography, especially when I set out to read an author’s work for the first time. Another thing about me: …

    Blood In The Water by Casey Sherman

    Publication Date April 8, 2025 Much to my husband’s puzzlement, I am a big fan of true crime. I listen to podcasts, watch TV shows like Dateline and 48 hours, and read true crime books (another great thing about reading on a device rather than a printed book: you don’t have to cover up odd …

    The Big Empty by Robert Crais

    Publication Date January 14, 2024 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 …

    Grave Danger by Janes Grippando

    Publication Date January 14, 2025 When I reviewed James Grippando’s Twenty (in 2020), I noted that I couldn’t recall reading any of James Grippando’s books. And when reading about that title,  Jack Swyteck wasn’t a guy I felt like I knew (despite that one being #17 in Grippando’s Jack Swyteck series). Jack Swyteck, the protagonist …

    The Note by Alafair Burke

    Publication Date January 7, 2025 I first read Alafair Burke because she is James Lee Burke’s daughter, and my husband LOVES JLB’s books. I was happy to receive a copy of The Note, thanks to Knopf and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.Described in the blurb as an “irresistible page-turner” that would make a …

    Robert B. Parker’s Hot Property by Mike Lupica

    Publication Date November 26, 2024 I’ve been a fan of Robert B. Parker’s Spenser series since…forever. I know it was in the 1980s that he came to do a reading at a bookstore (Capitola BookCafe) in my hometown, and I was taken aback when he went on and on about the Boston Celtics…but he was …

    The Waiting by Michael Connelly

    Publication Date October 15, 2024 Last year, when I reviewed Michael Connelly’s Resurrection Walk (“Highly recommended. Five stars!”), I wrote “I’m generally a big Michael Connelly fan, with the newer series featuring Renee Ballard (sometimes partnered with Harry Bosch) probably being my favorite.” BTW, if you haven’t read The Late Show from 2017, which introduced …