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    Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult

    In 2016, 2018, and 2020 I read and reviewed Jodi Picoult’s Small Great Things, Spark of Light, and The Book of Two Ways, with each earning five stars (and two of the three getting my “You HAVE to read this book”). I also noted that “when a friend and former library co-worker basically sniffed her …

    The Therapist by B.A. Paris

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

    The Bone Code by Kathy Reichs

    My first experience reading Kathy Reichs’ Temperance Brennan novels was in (gasp) 1997, and I really enjoyed the strong female character with the fascinating job, being a forensic anthropologist employed by agencies in both Montreal and North Carolina. Since, I have read and enjoyed most of the series, so I was happy to have a …

    Not A Happy Family by Shari Lapena

    I have pretty consistently enjoyed Shari Lapena’s novels, rating The Couple Next Door, An Unwanted Guest, and A Stranger In the House all four stars. So I had four-star expectations when I picked up her latest, Not A Happy Family (thanks to Penguin Group Viking and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for this honest …

    The Devil’s Playbook by Lauren Etter

    Lauren Etter’s book The Devil’s Paybook appealed to me on so many levels. First, it has been compared to John Carreyrou’s Bad Blood, which told the story of a major clusterf^&k involving a Silicon Valley startup with some wacko and very greedy people trying to completely change how something extremely important (blood tests) is done. …

    Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead

    Because I really enjoyed previous selections  of the “Read With Jenna” book club, including White Ivy and The Four Winds,I was inclined to read Maggie Shipstead’s Great Circle, the group’s selection for May 2021. It has received many rave reviews and has one of those plotlines that encompasses two strong female characters in two very …

    The Other Passenger by Louise Candlish

    I had not read anything by Louise Candlish, but the premise of The Other Passenger was intriguing: an unreliable narrator is suddenly trying to prove his innocence. There really weren’t likable people anywhere in this book, to my view, but they were interesting. Jamie is the primary character, and we learn that he and his …

    The Unheard by Nicci French

    Nicci French is really two people…am I the only one who didn’t know that? Sean French has written 6 books, Nicci Gerard has written 8, and together (as Nicci French) they have written twenty-five. In any case, they have a new thriller coming out, and it’s a fun read!  The main character is Tess, a …

    Steve Kerr — a Life by Scott Howard-Cooper

    I grew up in Southern California and was a huge fan of professional basketball, attending games through the 1980s, when the sport’s popularity put ticket prices out of my reach. I had a secret dream to be a sportswriter, so might be a tiny bit envious of the career of Scott Howard-Cooper, the author of …

    Another Kind of Eden by James Lee Burke

    Back in 2016, I read and reviewed James Lee Burke’s The Jealous Kind, noting that the book was “… part of the Holland family saga. Back in 1835, Sam Holland escaped from prison, fighting in the Battle of San Jacinto in 1836. Sam’s grandson, Hackberry Holland, was a Texas Ranger.” Hackberry’s grandson, Aaron Holland Broussard, …

    The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave

    Laura Dave has written several novels, but TBH I’d never heard of her before I got an advance copy of her latest, The Last Thing He Told Me, from Simon & Schuster and NetGalley in exchange for this honest review. The premise sounded like it had the potential to be either ho-hum or terrific: husband …

    Dream Girl by Laura Lippman

    I love Laura Lippman, and was super excited to get a copy of Dream Girl from William Morrow / Custom House and NetGalley in exchange for this honest review. It is compared to Stephen King’s Misery and Lippman herself has referred to it as her first horror novel.  I’m a fan of psychological suspense/thrillers, but …

    Tall Men, Short Shorts by Leigh Montville

    In the 1960s and 1970s, I lived in Southern California and was a huge fan of professional basketball in general and the LA Lakers in particular. I followed the team closely, every season, through the playoffs, with the too-frequent finale being a loss to the Boston Celtics in the NBA Championship Finals. Back in the …

    False Witness by Karin Slaughter

    Harleigh Collier, who goes by Leigh, is a hard-working professional woman, working her way up at a fancy high profile law firm. One Sunday evening, she is at her daughter’s school play and gets a call from one of the law firm’s senior partners, asking her to defend a wealthy client accused of multiple counts …

    Falling by T. J. Newman

     The story of this book’s publication is almost as much fun as the book. A young woman named T.J. Newman spent years working as a flight attendant for major airlines. During and outside of her long flights, she made good use of her time thinking and writing about a terrifying story set around an airline …

    The Devil May Dance by Jake Tapper

    Back in 2018, when I read Jake Tapper’s novel The Hellfire Club, I said it was “four and a half stars, rounded down to four because it isn’t QUITE a five – but I would bet his next one will be.” Now here we are with a sequel, The Devil May Dance, bringing back New …

    Reclaim Joy by Emine Rushton

    Reclaim Joy, by Emine Rushton, is just what the subtitle says: a guided journal to discover simple pleasures every day. The author is a holistic therapist (not exactly sure what that entails) who provides a years’ worth of prompts and rituals designed to help the reader who is trying to incorporate more mindfulness into their …

    The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller

    Recently, I read Nancy Thayer’s new book  “Family Reunion,” which I said was like a warm blanket and a cup of tea. Comfort reading, perfect for the pandemic. Despite my shudder when I hear the phrase “women’s fiction,” I actually enjoyed it. So when I had the opportunity to receive a copy of  Miranda Cowley …

    What To Do When Someone Dies by Nicci French

    I’m a fan of psychological thrillers, even those that require a fair amount of willing suspension of disbelief, so I was happy to receive a copy of Nicci French’s lates, What  To Do When Someone Dies, from William Morrow/Custom House and NetGalley in exchange for this honest review. TBH, the title was a bit off-putting …