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 …
Publication Date September 26, 2023 Years ago, I was entranced by Ken Follett’s Pillars of the Earth, the first in the”Knightsbridge trilogy,” but for some reason I didn’t read the entire series. TBH, I still haven’t completed it, but I was happy to receive a copy of The Armor of Light, the latest in the …
Publication Date June 6, 2023 I’m not big on fantasy or what I think of as magical realism, so I wasn’t sure about this one… but I had just finished reading Ms. Allende’s stunning memoir The Soul of a Woman, so I was eager to read her latest The Wind Knows My Name, and happy …
Publication Date June 6, 2023 I love Lisa See! Two of my faves are The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane and The Island of Sea Women. I realized that part of my fondness for these two is the amount I learned about history, China, women, and so much more – while being entertained by a …
Publication Date March 21, 2023 True confessions time! I was so looking forward to this one, as the story sounded like something that would really grab the reader (or listener) and I have been trying since FOREVER to successfully complete an audiiobook. Alas, it was not to be. I may need to accept that this …
Chicken Hill is a dilapidated residential area in Pottstown, Pennsylvania where immigrant Jews and African-Americans lived. In the early 1970s, workers were excavating in advance of building a new development, and were startled to find a skeleton. No one seems to know who it is or how it got there. A couple named Moshe and …
Like many mystery lovers, I first encountered Arkady Renko 30+ years ago, when Gorky Park came out. I think I may have actually seen the film first, then sought out the book, and been impressed with the author’s style. Here we are, all a few years older and many of us still love reading mysteries, …
Publication Date May 23, 2023 Almost exactly two years ago, I read and reviewed Stacy Abrams’ novel While Justice Sleeps, in which we were introduced to Avery Keene, “…a brilliant young law clerk working for Justice Howard Wynn, a curmudgeon who is in failing health. Avery is doing her best to hold her life together, …
Publication date September 5, 2023 About a year and a half ago, I gave five (well deserved) stars to The Heron’s Cry, which was the second in a series featuring Detective Matthew Venn (following 2019’s The Long Call, where we first met Matthew). I was eager to read the next in this series (even though …
I’m not a HUGE Ruth Ware fan…in fact, she has been consistently inconsistent for me. In 2016, The Woman in Cabin 10 was a big hit, and I was among those who enjoyed it – a LOT. 2019’s Turn of the Key was a 3-star “meh” for me, then One By One and The It Girl, were both four …
About two weeks ago, I was looking for a good binge watch and came across The Night Agent on Netflix. I loved it, so when I was looking for something to read and saw Inside Threat by Matthew Quirk WHO ALSO WROTE THE NIGHT AGENT…sign me up! So the story is one of those political …
I love Jeannette Walls. The Glass Castle is one of my top five favorite books of ALL TIME, and I am still all tingly when I remember getting my courage to go up to her and talk a bit when she was guest speaking at a library conference in Oakland MANY years ago. But I …