Publication Date September 17, 2024 Published just seven weeks prior to the Presidential Election of 2024, the stunningly well researched and written Lucky Loser, the sordid tale of “How Donald Trump Squandered His Father’s Fortune and Created the Illusion of Success” makes me even more afraid of another term with this con man/grifter in charge. …
I’ve been a huge fan of Elizabeth George’s Lynley-Havers series of mysteries, and frequently marveled at her ability to establish setting and characterization in ways that truly make them REAL to the reader. I received a copy of The Abandonment of Hannah Armstrong, #1 in the Saratoga Woods Series, in exchange for my honest review. …
Publication Date August 20, 2024 I have enjoyed the novels by William Kent Krueger that I have read, so I was happy to receive an advance copy of his latest, Spirit Crossing, from Atria Books and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Minnesota politicians? A hot topic this election season, and in this one, …
Publication Date September 17, 2024 A few years ago, I read and reviewed Laura Dave’s The Last Thing He Told Me, using words like “fun,” “twisty,” and “surprising.” I noted that I would read other books by her, so I was pleased to receive a copy of her latest, The Night We Lost Him, from …
Publication Date October 29, 2024 I tend to be a fan of multigenerational family sagas, so I was happy to receive a copy of Like Mother, Like Mother, by Susan Rieger from Random House/Dial Press and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. I was especially inclined to like it as it was described as …
Publication Date September 24, 2024 I’m not sure why, among the 1,875 books I have on goodreads, there isn’t a single one by Tami Hoag…especially after repeatedly seeing the huge number of positive reviews for the Broussard and Fourcade series. For sure, reviews don’t guarantee anything, but in any case I thought the combination of …
Publication Date August 20, 2024 NOTE: This review includes information about and from John Glatt’s book Tangled Vines (also about the “Murdaugh mystery”), in addition to Valerie Bauerlein’s The Devil At His Elbow. I admit my guilty pleasure in both reading and podcasts is true crime, so I fell into this topic, along the way …
Publication Date October 2, 2024 Three years ago, reviewing JohnBanville’s “April In Spain,” I wrote “Banville is an outstanding writer, and he is great at developing both setting and character — but you have to be REALLY patient or just one of those readers who likes to savor a well-written story. The ending was a …
A couple of years ago, when I reviewed T. Jefferson Parker’s book A Thousand Steps, I wrote: “When I first read T. Jefferson Parker’s Laguna Heat back in 1985, I had recently moved to Santa Cruz and was ecstatic to be living in a small beach town again — because I grew up in South …
What a fun puzzle, along a nice story about an aspiring writer who wants to get back to his roots (sort of) after his dreams didn’t work out in the big city. He goes back to Puget Sound (great atmospheric detail) in Washington State and before you know it, there is a dead woman hanging …
Subtitle: The Fight Against Book Banning in America Publication Date: August 27, 2024 I’m a retired librarian, one of thousands. And also a STRONG opponent of book banning and censorship, among other current threats to liberty and democracy these days. As a librarian, I dealt with my share of challenges, complaints, etc, but I never …
Publication Date September 17, 2024 Earlier this year, Lee Goldberg’s novel Dream Town was published, and I was incredibly eager to read it. It was #5 in the Eve Ronin series, and I had read and enjoyed 1-4 (Lost Hills, Bone Canyon, Gated Prey, and Movieland). Then, last August, I attended Bouchercon in San Diego, …
Publication Date August 20, 2024 I remember reading an article inThe Atlantic entitled “Was Shakespeare a Woman?” (June, 2019) which examined the possibility (and, for some, the staunchly held belief) that Emilia Bassano was the true author of some/many/all (your choice) of the works attributed to William Shakespeare, the man considered by many to be …
Publication Date August 27, 2024 Talking To Strangers by Fiona Barton Overall, I’ve been entertained by Fiona Barton’s mysteries (The Child and Local Gone Missing come to mind), so I was pleased to receive a copy of Talking To Strangers in exchange for my honest review. Local Gone Missing featured Detective Elise King, and The …
Publication Date September 3, 2024 Death At The Sign of the Rook by Kate Atkinson Shockingly, it has been TWENTY years since I “met” Jackson Brodie, the private investigator (who has been one of my favorite characters in recurring mystery series) in Kate’s Atkinson’s Case Histories. So it shouldn’t have really shocked me when I …
Publication Date September 17, 2024 Back in 2020, I read and reviewed Rumaan Alam’s Leave The World Behind and it was a solid five-star read for me. If you missed that one, here’s a quick summary from my review: “Amanda and Clay take their teenage children on a week-long getaway from their home in NewYork …
Publication Date September 10, 2024 Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty I’ve enjoyed some of Liane Moriarty’s work (including 2021’s Apples Never Fall, which was a four-star for me, and which was the unusual title where I enjoyed the movie/series at least as much as I did the book – Annette Benning was awesome). So …
Publication Date July 9, 2024 I’m a fan of family sagas and social satire, so I was eager to read Long Island Compromise by Taffy Brodesser-Akner, who wrote Fleishman In Trouble. Thanks to Random House and NetGalley, I received a copy in exchange for my honest review. For starters, and because I don’t really know …
Publication Date June 25, 2024 OK, first off, anyone who knows me knows I LOVE these guys. All three worked in the White House during the Obama administration (Favs and Lovett were speechwriters, and Tommy worked in National Security). They started the wildly successful media company Crooked Media, and now are maybe best known for …
Publication Date May 7, 2024 I had no idea when I got this what I was in for…I have watched Ali Velshi on MSNBC frequently, and I knew he was Canadian and VERY intelligent. That’s about it. I am not sure what I was expecting, but it was along the lines of “how I got …