en-US Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:59:44 -0800 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 63241104 In this beautiful and moving novel about family, love, and growing up, Ann Patchett once again proves herself one of America’s finest writers.

In the spring of 2020, Lara’s three daughters return to the family's orchard in Northern Michigan. While picking cherries, they beg their mother to tell them the story of Peter Duke, a famous actor with whom she shared both a stage and a romance years before at a theater company called Tom Lake. As Lara recalls the past, her daughters examine their own lives and relationship with their mother, and are forced to reconsider the world and everything they thought they knew.

Tom Lake is a meditation on youthful love, married love, and the lives parents have led before their children were born. Both hopeful and elegiac, it explores what it means to be happy even when the world is falling apart. As in all of her novels, Ann Patchett combines compelling narrative artistry with piercing insights into family dynamics. The result is a rich and luminous story, told with profound intelligence and emotional subtlety, that demonstrates once again why she is one of the most revered and acclaimed literary talents working today.]]> 309 Ann Patchett 006332752X Tiffany 0 currently-reading 3.92 2023
author: Ann Patchett
name: Tiffany
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/20
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 34454589 320 Margaret Atwood 1328879941 Tiffany 4 4.31 1985
author: Margaret Atwood
name: Tiffany
average rating: 4.31
book published: 1985
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/11
date added: 2025/02/11
shelves:
review:

]]> 39999
Fences like this exist all over the world. We hope you never have to encounter one.]]> 224 John Boyne 0385751079 Tiffany 4 4.17 2006
author: John Boyne
name: Tiffany
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2006
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/09
date added: 2025/02/11
shelves:
review:

]]> 62874245 ��
Lee Gulliver never thought she’d find herself living on the streets—no one ever does—but when her restaurant fails, and she falls deeper into debt, she leaves her old life behind with nothing but her clothes and her Toyota Corolla. In Seattle, she parks in a secluded spot by the beach to lay low and plan her next move—until early one morning, she sees a��sobbing woman throw herself into the ocean. Lee hauls the woman back to the surface, but instead of appreciation, she is met with fury. The drowning woman, Hazel, tells her that she wanted to die, that she’s trapped in a toxic, abusive marriage, that she’s a prisoner in her own home. Lee has thwarted her one chance to escape her life.

Out of options, Hazel retreats to her gilded cage, and Lee thinks she’s seen the last of her, until her unexpected return the next morning. Bonded by disparate but difficult circumstances, the women soon strike up a close and unlikely friendship. And then��one day, Hazel makes a shocking request: she wants Lee to help her disappear. It’ll be easy, Hazel assures her, but Lee soon learns that nothing is as it seems, and that Hazel may not be the friend Lee thought she was.]]> 336 Robyn Harding 1538726769 Tiffany 3 3.99 2023
author: Robyn Harding
name: Tiffany
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/27
date added: 2025/02/11
shelves:
review:

]]> 200028726 From the beloved author of We All Want Impossible Things, a moving, hilarious story of a family summer vacation full of secrets, lunch, and learning to let go.

For the past two decades, Rocky has looked forward to her family’s yearly escape to Cape Cod. Their humble beach-town rental has been the site of sweet memories, sunny days, great meals, and messes of all kinds: emotional, marital, and—thanks to the cottage’s ancient plumbing—septic too.

This year’s vacation, with Rocky sandwiched between her half-grown kids and fully aging parents, promises to be just as delightful as summers past—except, perhaps, for Rocky’s hormonal bouts of rage and melancholy. (Hello, menopause!) Her body is changing—her life is, too. And then a chain of events sends Rocky into the past, reliving both the tenderness and sorrow of a handful of long-ago summers.

It's one precious week: everything is in balance; everything is in flux. And when Rocky comes face to face with her family’s history and future, she is forced to accept that she can no longer hide her secrets from the people she loves.]]> 240 Catherine Newman 0063345161 Tiffany 0 3.55 2024
author: Catherine Newman
name: Tiffany
average rating: 3.55
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at: 2025/01/11
date added: 2025/02/11
shelves:
review:

]]> 199534613
“[An] enormously entertaining and lovable book.�� —Nick Hornby, New York Times Book Review

A bold, laugh-out-loud funny, and heartwarming story about one young woman’s attempt to navigate adulthood, new motherhood, and her meager bank account in our increasingly online world—from the PEN/Faulkner finalist and critically acclaimed author of The Knockout Queen.

As the child of a Hooters waitress and an ex-pro wrestler, Margo Millet's always known she’d have to make it on her own. So she enrolls at her local junior college, even though she ������’t imagine how she’ll ever make a living. She’s still figuring things out and never planned to have an affair with her English professor—and while the affair is brief, it isn’t brief enough to keep her from getting pregnant. Despite everyone’s advice, she decides to keep the baby, mostly out of naiveté and a yearning for something bigger.

Now, at twenty, Margo is alone with an infant, unemployed, and on the verge of eviction. She needs a cash infusion—fast. When her estranged father, Jinx, shows up on her doorstep and asks to move in with her, she agrees in exchange for help with childcare. Then Margo begins to form a plan: she’ll start an OnlyFans as an experiment, and soon finds herself adapting some of Jinx’s advice from the world of wrestling. Like how to craft a compelling character and make your audience fall in love with you. Before she knows it, she’s turned it into a runaway success. Could this be the answer to all of Margo’s problems, or does internet fame come with too high a price?

Blisteringly funny and filled with sharp insight, Margo’s Got Money Troubles is a tender tale starring an endearing young heroine who’s struggling to wrest money and power from a world that has little interest in giving it to her. It’s a playful and honest examination of the art of storytelling and controlling your own narrative, and an empowering portrait of coming into your own, both online and off.

“A wholly original novel. . . . Thorpe is both poetic and profound in the way she brings her remarkable story to an end.�� —The Associated Press]]> 304 Rufi Thorpe 0063356589 Tiffany 4 3.87 2024
author: Rufi Thorpe
name: Tiffany
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/19
date added: 2025/02/11
shelves:
review:

]]> 56269278 309 Percival Everett 164445064X Tiffany 0 to-read 4.06 2021
author: Percival Everett
name: Tiffany
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 173754979 A brilliant reimagining of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn—both harrowing and satirical—told from the enslaved Jim's point of view

When Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a man in New Orleans, separated from his wife and daughter forever, he runs away until he can formulate a plan. Meanwhile, Huck has faked his own death to escape his violent father. As all readers of American literature know, thus begins the dangerous and transcendent journey by raft down the Mississippi River toward the elusive and unreliable promise of the Free States and beyond.

Brimming with nuanced humor and lacerating observations that have made Everett a literary icon, this brilliant and tender novel radically illuminates Jim's agency, intelligence, and compassion as never before. James is destined to be a major publishing event and a cornerstone of twenty-first-century American literature.

Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780385550369.]]> 303 Percival Everett Tiffany 0 to-read 4.47 2024
author: Percival Everett
name: Tiffany
average rating: 4.47
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 199698485 When a teenager vanishes from her Adirondack summer camp, two worlds collide

Early morning, August 1975: a camp counselor discovers an empty bunk. Its occupant, Barbara Van Laar, has gone missing. Barbara isn’t just any thirteen-year-old: she’s the daughter of the family that owns the summer camp and employs most of the region’s residents. And this isn’t the first time a Van Laar child has disappeared. Barbara’s older brother similarly vanished fourteen years ago, never to be found.

As a panicked search begins, a thrilling drama unfolds. Chasing down the layered secrets of the Van Laar family and the blue-collar community working in its shadow, Moore’s multi-threaded story invites readers into a rich and gripping dynasty of secrets and second chances. It is Liz Moore’s most ambitious and wide-reaching novel yet.]]> 490 Liz Moore Tiffany 5
We start with the disappearance of Barbara, a 12/13 year old girl, the only daughter of the Van Laar family, a wealthy banking family held together by generations of horrible men. It is no secret that we should hold suspicion over them from the very start, especially after learning that their son Bear also disappeared over a decade earlier. Moore will slowly peel back the layers of this family as this mystery unfolds. But horrible as they are, would they harm one of their own?

In with the list of characters- and there are plenty! If you like the focus to be on less than a handful of people, this book isn’t for you. This story will weave together a dozen or so characters, all tied in some way to the Van Laars- each equally important to the story that jumps between the 1950s and 1975. If it weren’t for the timeline highlight at the start of each chapter, I would have been lost. But because of it, I was able to ready myself to jump into each part of the timeline, even though I had a hard time leaving the last which she would inevitably suspend at a turning point.

Eventually, we will uncover what happened to Bear and Barbara both, and by the end, you will be ready for it, and perhaps unsurprised because you will understand these characters.

This book was clever and smart. And while some may complain it was overwritten, I couldn’t think of a single part that wasn’t necessary to the fuller understanding of the story. To the fuller understanding of each character and why their behavior was believable. Liz Moore left nothing out of place. Her precision to lead you forward than back you up may have prolonged the inevitable resolution(s) from being revealed hundreds of pages earlier- but trust her lead. If you like the full scope of things- if you want the psychology behind the people- take the slow road and enjoy the ride.


So glad I started this as my first of 2025, though now I will surely have some duds to follow! ]]> 4.16 2024
author: Liz Moore
name: Tiffany
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/03
date added: 2025/01/03
shelves:
review:
Read if you like backstory, history, developed characters, a slow burn mystery. I savored every word on each page- Liz Moore is a master storyteller. While her style may not be for everyone, it is certainly a fit for my tastes, and I ate this book up every chance I had to sit with it!

We start with the disappearance of Barbara, a 12/13 year old girl, the only daughter of the Van Laar family, a wealthy banking family held together by generations of horrible men. It is no secret that we should hold suspicion over them from the very start, especially after learning that their son Bear also disappeared over a decade earlier. Moore will slowly peel back the layers of this family as this mystery unfolds. But horrible as they are, would they harm one of their own?

In with the list of characters- and there are plenty! If you like the focus to be on less than a handful of people, this book isn’t for you. This story will weave together a dozen or so characters, all tied in some way to the Van Laars- each equally important to the story that jumps between the 1950s and 1975. If it weren’t for the timeline highlight at the start of each chapter, I would have been lost. But because of it, I was able to ready myself to jump into each part of the timeline, even though I had a hard time leaving the last which she would inevitably suspend at a turning point.

Eventually, we will uncover what happened to Bear and Barbara both, and by the end, you will be ready for it, and perhaps unsurprised because you will understand these characters.

This book was clever and smart. And while some may complain it was overwritten, I couldn’t think of a single part that wasn’t necessary to the fuller understanding of the story. To the fuller understanding of each character and why their behavior was believable. Liz Moore left nothing out of place. Her precision to lead you forward than back you up may have prolonged the inevitable resolution(s) from being revealed hundreds of pages earlier- but trust her lead. If you like the full scope of things- if you want the psychology behind the people- take the slow road and enjoy the ride.


So glad I started this as my first of 2025, though now I will surely have some duds to follow!
]]> 176443093
Patric Gagne realized she made others uncomfortable before she started kindergarten. Something about her caused people to react in a way she didn’t understand. She suspected it was because she didn’t feel things the way other kids did. Emotions like fear, guilt, and empathy eluded her. For the most part, she felt nothing. And she didn’t like the way that “nothing�� felt.

She did her best to pretend she was like everyone else, but the constant pressure to conform to a society she knew rejected anyone like her was unbearable. So Patric stole. She lied. She was occasionally violent. She became an expert lock-picker and home-invader. All with the goal of replacing the nothingness with...something.

In college, Patric finally confirmed what she’d long suspected. She was a sociopath. But even though it was the very first personality disorder identified—well over 200 years ago—sociopathy had been neglected by mental health professionals for decades. She was told there was no treatment, no hope for a normal life. She found herself haunted by sociopaths in pop culture, madmen and evil villains who are considered monsters. Her future looked grim.

But when Patric reconnects with an old flame, she gets a glimpse of a future beyond her diagnosis. If she’s capable of love, it must mean that she isn’t a monster. With the help of her sweetheart (and some curious characters she meets along the way) she embarks on a mission to prove that the millions of Americans who share her diagnosis aren’t all monsters either.

This is the inspiring story of her journey to change her fate and how she managed to build a life full of love and hope.]]> 368 Patric Gagne 166800318X Tiffany 4
While I am not its intended target- Patric writes how she wanted to write this so that other sociopaths had a book that explains to them that sociopathy is not all horrible- I learned so much about the condition of sociopathy and how it manifests in someone. We all
Know someone who has zero empathy- and this will give a neurotypical person a better understanding of them.

I enjoyed the way the author took us through her young life and toward her current life as a married woman. While Patric may be a sociopath, her curiosity about herself was the driving force behind a life of better decisions. At every turn, she examined her responses compared to others around her and knew her differences had to lead to a better outcome in life for her. And this book is proof that knowing yourself is the key to surviving a social structure that wasn’t built for you.

4.5 stars. Recommend to all. ]]> 3.74 2024
author: Patric Gagne
name: Tiffany
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/20
date added: 2025/01/02
shelves:
review:
Funny and compassionate in a way I never expected, this revealing memoir told about sociopathy by a sociopath herself was immersive storytelling and education at its best.

While I am not its intended target- Patric writes how she wanted to write this so that other sociopaths had a book that explains to them that sociopathy is not all horrible- I learned so much about the condition of sociopathy and how it manifests in someone. We all
Know someone who has zero empathy- and this will give a neurotypical person a better understanding of them.

I enjoyed the way the author took us through her young life and toward her current life as a married woman. While Patric may be a sociopath, her curiosity about herself was the driving force behind a life of better decisions. At every turn, she examined her responses compared to others around her and knew her differences had to lead to a better outcome in life for her. And this book is proof that knowing yourself is the key to surviving a social structure that wasn’t built for you.

4.5 stars. Recommend to all.
]]> 55145261 A deeply moving and mind-expanding collection of personal essays in the first ever work of non-fiction from #1 internationally bestselling author John Green

The Anthropocene is the current geological age, in which human activity has profoundly shaped the planet and its biodiversity. In this remarkable symphony of essays adapted and expanded from his ground-breaking, critically acclaimed podcast, John Green reviews different facets of the human-centered planet - from the QWERTY keyboard and Halley's Comet to Penguins of Madagascar - on a five-star scale.

Complex and rich with detail, the Anthropocene's reviews have been praised as 'observations that double as exercises in memoiristic empathy', with over 10 million lifetime downloads. John Green's gift for storytelling shines throughout this artfully curated collection about the shared human experience; it includes beloved essays along with six all-new pieces exclusive to the book.]]> 304 John Green 0525555218 Tiffany 3
However, in this one, his first nonfiction book- a collection of essays that review things from the most mundane topics like Canada geese and Piggly Wiggly to - we’ll, nope, it’s all mundane really- he throws out trust and just explains every detail of a topic that I wasn’t much interested in. All so he could give his personal rating on the 5-star rating scale.

Now, I didn’t hate this book, it just wasn’t a favorite of mine, and I love nonfiction about as much as I love fiction. I did find some of his musings rather interesting, and often laugh out loud funny. I learned new facts and got to know him as a person, so much better. There is a lot that goes on in his head and he wasn’t afraid to share much of those thoughts. I got a sense of who he is, and I appreciated that.

But, most of the time, I was bored. I didn’t look at the table of contents, which would have been smart (or maybe if I had, I’d have never actually ever picked it up), so when a new topic to be reviewed came up, I found myself daydreaming like the days when I was stuck in a mediocre lecture class about something I knew would never apply to my life. Such is the book, The Anthropocene Reviewed. I give it 3 stars. ]]> 4.37 2021
author: John Green
name: Tiffany
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2024/03/08
date added: 2024/12/27
shelves:
review:
I love JG novels for young adults- they don’t seem young adult-y like others do. He actually writes them where the story isn’t cheapened by not trusting its reader. John Green trusts his readers.

However, in this one, his first nonfiction book- a collection of essays that review things from the most mundane topics like Canada geese and Piggly Wiggly to - we’ll, nope, it’s all mundane really- he throws out trust and just explains every detail of a topic that I wasn’t much interested in. All so he could give his personal rating on the 5-star rating scale.

Now, I didn’t hate this book, it just wasn’t a favorite of mine, and I love nonfiction about as much as I love fiction. I did find some of his musings rather interesting, and often laugh out loud funny. I learned new facts and got to know him as a person, so much better. There is a lot that goes on in his head and he wasn’t afraid to share much of those thoughts. I got a sense of who he is, and I appreciated that.

But, most of the time, I was bored. I didn’t look at the table of contents, which would have been smart (or maybe if I had, I’d have never actually ever picked it up), so when a new topic to be reviewed came up, I found myself daydreaming like the days when I was stuck in a mediocre lecture class about something I knew would never apply to my life. Such is the book, The Anthropocene Reviewed. I give it 3 stars.
]]> 195820807
Emma hadn't planned that her next assignment as a traveling nurse would be in Minnesota, but she and her best friend agree that dating Justin is too good of an opportunity to pass up, especially when they get to rent an adorable cottage on a private island on Lake Minnetonka.

It's supposed to be a quick fling, just for the summer. But when Emma's toxic mother shows up and Justin has to assume guardianship of his three siblings, they're suddenly navigating a lot more than they expected--including catching real feelings for each other. What if this time Fate has actually brought the perfect pair together?]]> 432 Abby Jimenez 1538704439 Tiffany 4
��.�ձ�> 4.35 2024
author: Abby Jimenez
name: Tiffany
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/24
date added: 2024/12/27
shelves:
review:
Another good emotional romance from Jimenez. I have come to appreciate her style of weaving details from her other stories together in a way that does not require you to read them, but provides an extra level of comfort if you have; everything just seems a tad bit more familiar. Her characters are fun but have layers that we get to see pulled back throughout the book. This one dealt with family bonds- both chosen and not.

��.
]]> 203956653 A fiery, heartbreaking, riveting memoir that follows one New Hampshire family over three years, unspooling a story of gender identity, class, trans youth, and a child caught in the riptide of America’s culture wars

Abi Maxwell grew up in rural New Hampshire, one of eight kids in a poor town abutting a wealthier lakeside village. As a young couple, Maxwell and her husband planned not to have kids, but when Maxwell became pregnant, she knew she wanted to raise her child near the mountains and lake of her youth. When her six-year-old, who was known to the world as a boy, asks to wear pink sneakers, asks to be a witch for Halloween, and asks to wear a girl’s dance costume, Abi worries about how their small community will react. But when that child changes her name, grows her hair long, and announces that she is a girl, a firestorm engulfs the family.

Weaving together the story of her youth, marked by long afternoons skiing the mountains, a cottage on the lake, and a proud gay brother, but also by neglect and bullying that pushed her brother to the brink, Abi Maxwell contends with the rural America where she was raised and, years later, where she is now raising her daughter, as lawmakers nationwide push to erase the very existence of trans youth. Intimate and stirring, this book is essential reading for this moment in our history.]]> 320 Abi Maxwell 0593535847 Tiffany 0
High recommend. ]]> 4.42 2024
author: Abi Maxwell
name: Tiffany
average rating: 4.42
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at: 2024/12/15
date added: 2024/12/16
shelves:
review:
I don’t generally rate memoirs- and I won’t here- but I will say, it’s a book that needs to be read. It’s a mothers story as she experiences her child’s journey in realizing that she is not only on the spectrum, but that she is a girl (born male). She lives in a small, conservative town that makes it difficult to lean on anyone or get anything done, like providing services for autism in the classroom. This real life story was written respectfully and with a spectrum of emotions that will have you either angry and aching, yet hopeful, or at least more educated on the topic, I hope.

High recommend.
]]> 171793386
From the #1 internationally bestselling author of The Murder Rule comes an emotional novel of suspense about two families at war.

Nina and Simon are the perfect couple. Young, fun and deeply in love. Until they leave for a weekend at his family’s cabin in Vermont, and only Simon comes home.

WHAT HAPPENED TO NINA?

Nobody knows. Simon’s explanation about what happened in their last hours together doesn’t add up. Nina’s parents push the police for answers, and Simon’s parents rush to protect him. They hire expensive lawyers and a PR firm that quickly ramps up a vicious, nothing-is-off-limits media campaign.

HOW FAR WILL HIS FAMILY GO TO KEEP HIM SAFE?

Soon, facts are lost in a swirl of accusation and counter-accusation. Everyone chooses a side, and the story goes viral, fueled by armchair investigators and wild conspiracy theories and illustrated with pretty pictures taken from Nina’s social media accounts. Journalists descend on their small Vermont town, followed by a few obsessive "fans."

HOW FAR WILL HER FAMILY GO TO GET TO THE TRUTH?

Nina’s family is under siege, but they never lose sight of the only thing that really matters—finding their daughter. Out-gunned by Simon’s wealthy, powerful family, Nina’s parents recognize that if playing by the rules won’t get them anywhere, it’s time to break them.]]> 328 Dervla McTiernan Tiffany 5
This story felt real; it was a peak into the terrifying reality of girls gone missing. The writing was engaging and compulsive, and I won’t soon forget these characters.

A high recommend. 4.75 stars rounded up. ]]> 4.05 2024
author: Dervla McTiernan
name: Tiffany
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/12
date added: 2024/12/16
shelves:
review:
As a mystery, this one is on the top. Which is odd being that you know what happens early on, so it’s not a mystery per se. But you don’t know the full details and the aftermath of it all until the end, and that was so satisfying. The aftermath is where so much is revealed about character and it really drove this story in this genre. The multiple viewpoints made this story come alive, and I ached for Nina and her family, but was also able to understand the motives on both sides.

This story felt real; it was a peak into the terrifying reality of girls gone missing. The writing was engaging and compulsive, and I won’t soon forget these characters.

A high recommend. 4.75 stars rounded up.
]]> 60141369 From the bestselling author of The Child Finder and The Enchanted, a compelling and poignant story of sibling bonds, monsters masquerading as caretakers, terrifying secrets, and the power of love to right even the most egregious wrongs.

Twenty years ago, a nine-year-old boy was swept away by powerful waves on a remote Oregon beach, his body lost to the sea. Only a stone memorial remains to mark his tragic death.

For most of her life, Amanda Dufresne had no idea she had an older brother named Dennis Owens, or that he had died. Adopted as a baby, she learned about him while looking into her late birth mother, and is curious to know more about this lost sibling. A solitary young woman, Amanda has always felt distanced from the world around her. Her brain works differently from others, leaving her feeling set apart. Her one true companion is the orphaned polar bear she cares for working at the zoo. By getting to know her birth family, she hopes to understand more about herself.

Retired police officer Larry Palmer is a widower with nothing but time and in need of a purpose. He offers to help Amanda find answers. The search leads to shocking and heartbreaking discoveries. Dennis Owen had been a forgotten foster child abandoned to a home for disturbed boys off the coast. As Amanda and Larry dig deeper into the past, the two stumble upon decades of cruelty and hidden crimes—including a barbaric treatment still used today.

Told in Rene Denfeld’s inimitable style, Sleeping Giants is an enthralling and heartbreaking novel that burrows deep in the heart and will leave no reader untouched.]]> 293 Rene Denfeld 0063014734 Tiffany 3 3.98 2024
author: Rene Denfeld
name: Tiffany
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/03
date added: 2024/12/11
shelves:
review:
Engaging story. Quirkiness added to the personality of the story and kept it interesting. Ending surprised me as it was subtle and unexpected. 3.5 stars.
]]> 42519313
Madison’s twin stepkids are moving in with her family and she wants Lillian to be their caretaker. However, there’s a catch: the twins spontaneously combust when they get agitated, flames igniting from their skin in a startling but beautiful way. Lillian is convinced Madison is pulling her leg, but it’s the truth.

Thinking of her dead-end life at home, the life that has consistently disappointed her, Lillian figures she has nothing to lose. Over the course of one humid, demanding summer, Lillian and the twins learn to trust each other—and stay cool—while also staying out of the way of Madison’s buttoned-up politician husband. Surprised by her own ingenuity yet unused to the intense feelings of protectiveness she feels for them, Lillian ultimately begins to accept that she needs these strange children as much as they need her—urgently and fiercely. Couldn’t this be the start of the amazing life she’d always hoped for?]]> 288 Kevin Wilson 0062913484 Tiffany 5 3.95 2019
author: Kevin Wilson
name: Tiffany
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/11
date added: 2024/12/11
shelves:
review:
Loved the writing style- read like a memoir. Loved the characters, esp Lillian. Short and compelling; audio version was excellent
]]> 207571151 Told in alternating timelines, The Lake of Lost Girls is a haunting novel that will thrill fans of All Good People Here and We Are All the Same in the Dark.

Using suspenseful podcast clips to weave a twisty tale of a missing student and her sister who is desperate for answers, The Lake of Lost Girls is perfect for fans of I Have Some Questions for You.

It's 1998, and female students are going missing at Southern State University in North Carolina. But freshman Jessica Fadley, once a bright and responsible student, is going through her own struggles. Just as her life seems to be careening dangerously out of control, she suddenly disappears.

Twenty-four years later, Jessica's sister Lindsey is desperately searching for answers and uses the momentum of a new chart-topping true crime podcast, Ten Seconds to Vanish, that focuses on the cold cases, to guide her own investigation. Soon, interest reaches fever pitch when the bodies of the long-missing women begin turning up at a local lake, which leads Lindsey down a disturbing road of discovery.

In the present, one sister seeks to untangle a complicated web of lies.
In the past, the other descends ever deeper into a darkness that will lead to her ultimate fate.

This propulsive and chilling suspense is a sharp examination of sisterhood and the culture of true crime.]]> 320 Katherine Greene 1639109080 Tiffany 4
4/5 recommend ]]> 3.83 2024
author: Katherine Greene
name: Tiffany
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/06
date added: 2024/12/06
shelves:
review:
This audiobook was great- told in alternating timelines with a lot of personality, especially from the podcasters, and the lineup of creeps. The rhythm and pace was very consumable. And the thrill was on point! You know it’s a good mystery when the author has you suspecting every character and by the end you’ve just barely figured it out.

4/5 recommend
]]> 214664259 Three mothers. Three secrets. One devastating scandal.

Anna has always been the quiet one, the soft-spoken mother who kept her head down and her secrets close. But when she's thrown together with Maggie and Rhea on a PTA project, they begin to bond over wine and gossip, and slowly share the truths behind their picture-perfect lives.

As a relationship therapist, Maggie is struggling with the painful, embarrassing reality of her floundering marriage. Rhea, despite her wealthy appearance, admits her troubled past could resurface and shatter her perfect world. But it's Anna who harbors the darkest secret, hiding the reality of her home life to protect the reputation of her husband �� the school headmaster.

When the three women stumble upon a scandal the school has gone to great lengths to bury, Anna is caught in an impossible dilemma. With the centennial gala approaching, she must decide how far she's willing to go to expose the truth. Because doing so could wreck all of their perfect lives in one instant��

In this gripping tale of scandal, deception, and female solidarity, three women discover the steep price of perfection and the unshakable strength of friendship. A riveting, emotional story that will captivate fans of Big Little Lies, Lucinda Berry and Jodi Picoult.]]> 394 Caitlin Weaver 1805086685 Tiffany 3
Each of these women have a complicated story, but it took a bit to become invested, and it wasn’t until about halfway through that I started to care about any of these women, making some of the story forgettable. While it ended up being one that I enjoyed overall, the slow and bland start knocked off a couple stars for me.

I also think there were a couple parts where even the author got the characters mixed up - or the editing process goofed, because the names were interchanged more than once, which was very confusing.

Overall, a decent read and engaging story. ]]> 4.03 2024
author: Caitlin Weaver
name: Tiffany
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/17
date added: 2024/11/21
shelves:
review:
This story follows three women who only have the school their children go to in common. They come together as the volunteers putting on the big fundraiser for the year, when they discover something questionable. But figuring it out with all of their personal lives getting in the way is not going to be easy.

Each of these women have a complicated story, but it took a bit to become invested, and it wasn’t until about halfway through that I started to care about any of these women, making some of the story forgettable. While it ended up being one that I enjoyed overall, the slow and bland start knocked off a couple stars for me.

I also think there were a couple parts where even the author got the characters mixed up - or the editing process goofed, because the names were interchanged more than once, which was very confusing.

Overall, a decent read and engaging story.
]]> 194802722 A shimmering, joyful new novel about a pair of opposites with the wrong thing in common, from #1 New York Times bestselling author Emily Henry.

Daphne always loved the way her fiancé, Peter, told their story. How they met (on a blustery day), fell in love (over an errant hat), and moved back to his lakeside hometown to begin their life together. He really was good at telling it... right up until the moment he realized he was actually in love with his childhood best friend Petra.

Which is how Daphne begins her new story: stranded in beautiful Waning Bay, Michigan, without friends or family but with a dream job as a children’s librarian (that barely pays the bills), and proposing to be roommates with the only person who could possibly understand her predicament: Petra’s ex, Miles Nowak.

Scruffy and chaotic—with a penchant for taking solace in the sounds of heart break love ballads—Miles is exactly the opposite of practical, buttoned-up Daphne, whose coworkers know so little about her they have a running bet that she’s either FBI or in witness protection. The roommates mainly avoid one another, until one day, while drowning their sorrows, they form a tenuous friendship and a plan. If said plan also involves posting deliberately misleading photos of their summer adventures together, well, who could blame them?

But it’s all just for show, of course, because there’s no way Daphne would actually start her new chapter by falling in love with her ex-fiancé’s new fiancée’s ex... right?]]> 400 Emily Henry Tiffany 4
I felt the relationship between Daphne and her best friend, Ashleigh, who she was intimidated by at first, and then found herself through her. The whole, you’re a “we girl�� thing was spot on and I love how this was recognized and something Daphne wanted to overcome by finding out who she was without anyone else.

I listened to this one on audio and I was grinning from ear to ear the entire day.

Solid 4 stars. ]]> 4.21 2024
author: Emily Henry
name: Tiffany
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/19
date added: 2024/11/21
shelves:
review:
Predictable, yes. But cute and funny as hell. I actually think this was one of my favorite books by Emily Henry. My first was People we Meet on Vacation, but I wasn’t in love with her others as much. They were almost too witty to be realistic. Like, no one is that quick on whips. So I felt like this book, though still super witty, was a bit more balanced with Daphne being an introvert, and Miles being the ultimate nice guy. The level of wit was just enough to be believable.

I felt the relationship between Daphne and her best friend, Ashleigh, who she was intimidated by at first, and then found herself through her. The whole, you’re a “we girl�� thing was spot on and I love how this was recognized and something Daphne wanted to overcome by finding out who she was without anyone else.

I listened to this one on audio and I was grinning from ear to ear the entire day.

Solid 4 stars.
]]> 54860353
Hailey McBride calls Cold Creek home. Her father taught her to respect nature, how to live and survive off the land, and to never travel the highway alone. Now he’s gone, leaving her a teenage orphan in the care of her aunt whose police officer husband uses his badge as a means to bully and control Hailey. Overwhelmed by grief and forbidden to work, socialize, or date, Hailey vanishes into the mountainous terrain, hoping everyone will believe she’s left town. Rumors spread that she was taken by the highway killer—who’s claimed another victim over the summer.

One year later, Beth Chevalier arrives in Cold Creek, where her sister Amber lived—and where she was murdered. Estranged from her parents and seeking closure, Beth takes a waitressing job at the local diner, just as Amber did, desperate to understand what happened to her and why. But Beth’s search for answers puts a target on her back—and threatens to reveal the truth behind Hailey’s disappearance…]]> 375 Chevy Stevens 1250133572 Tiffany 4
This is a dark book. It made me cringe and I felt disgust in so many parts of it. But it’s also what made it such a quick read. The shock and awe of it committed me as a reader.

The pov felt a little odd at times, but overall I was able to follow the characters and their motives. I loved the exploration of the overall storyline with a string of girls along a stretch of road going missing, and I love that we knew and didn’t know who the bad guy was throughout. The conclusion was wholly satisfying. ]]> 3.93 2021
author: Chevy Stevens
name: Tiffany
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/09
date added: 2024/11/10
shelves:
review:
I listened to this on audio in the span of 1 day while I worked, which is to say, I kept working mainly because I needed to have a reason to finish this book! While I do think it could have been edited and a shortened down in some long-winded parts, it was mostly compelling and kept my interest throughout. In fact, I think the romance between Hailey and Amber could have been more fully developed so we had a better feel connecting Beth’s (Ambers sister) piece without those parts feeling futile at times. I also was slightly annoyed that Vaughn knew Hailey’s every move in part 1, but had no clue she existed in part 2, despite her showing up through town.

This is a dark book. It made me cringe and I felt disgust in so many parts of it. But it’s also what made it such a quick read. The shock and awe of it committed me as a reader.

The pov felt a little odd at times, but overall I was able to follow the characters and their motives. I loved the exploration of the overall storyline with a string of girls along a stretch of road going missing, and I love that we knew and didn’t know who the bad guy was throughout. The conclusion was wholly satisfying.
]]> 40622294
As tensions reach breaking point, the irrevocable choice that one of them made all those years ago is about to surface. After years of secrets and silence, how can one broken family find their way back to each other?]]> 368 Hannah Beckerman Tiffany 4
This was a story of 3 women- two of them sisters, and their mother. The sisters are estranged and have been since childhood, but the reader isn’t privy to the why of it until nearly the end.

While I enjoyed the prose for the most part, the actual style of writing and the way the author presented her story was less appealing. It’s setup so the reader has to guess what happened between the sisters as small details are scattered along the story before it reveals what the estrangement is about. Meanwhile, I found myself annoyed by the character of the sisters because it felt almost trivial by the end of it.

This story tackled a lot of big issues and life events which was appealing and kept the pace of the story moving forward. Had the story presented the estrangement in the beginning and then unraveled it from there, I think the characters could have been more fully developed and beloved for their imperfections.

Recommend if you like the domestic drama mystery types. ]]> 3.56 2019
author: Hannah Beckerman
name: Tiffany
average rating: 3.56
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/08
date added: 2024/11/10
shelves:
review:
3.5 stars rounded up.

This was a story of 3 women- two of them sisters, and their mother. The sisters are estranged and have been since childhood, but the reader isn’t privy to the why of it until nearly the end.

While I enjoyed the prose for the most part, the actual style of writing and the way the author presented her story was less appealing. It’s setup so the reader has to guess what happened between the sisters as small details are scattered along the story before it reveals what the estrangement is about. Meanwhile, I found myself annoyed by the character of the sisters because it felt almost trivial by the end of it.

This story tackled a lot of big issues and life events which was appealing and kept the pace of the story moving forward. Had the story presented the estrangement in the beginning and then unraveled it from there, I think the characters could have been more fully developed and beloved for their imperfections.

Recommend if you like the domestic drama mystery types.
]]> 201245798 A struggling writer is forced to walk down the aisle at her best friend’s wedding with the man who gave her book a very public one-star rating in this fresh romantic comedy from Laura Hankin.

Natalie and Rob couldn’t have less in common. Nat’s a messy artist, and Rob’s a rigid academic. The only thing they share is their devotion to their respective best friends—who just got engaged. Still, unexpected chemistry has Natalie cautiously optimistic about being maid of honor to Rob’s best man.

Until, minutes before the ceremony, Nat learns that Rob wrote a one-star review of her new novel, which has them both reeling: Nat from imposter syndrome, and Rob over the reason he needed to write it.

When the reception ends, these two opposites hope they’ll never meet again. But, as they slip from their twenties into their thirties, they’re forced together whenever their fast-track best friends celebrate another milestone. Through housewarmings and christenings, life-changing triumphs and failures, Natalie and Rob grapple with their own choices—and how your harshest critic can become your perfectly imperfect match.

After all, even the truest love stories sometimes need a bit of rewriting.]]> 400 Laura Hankin 0593438213 Tiffany 4
The start was a little weak for me as I found the main character Natalie a bit immature- but she was 23- so it make sense. Once I was a couple chapters in, I was hooked on the story, which played the long game. This rom-com stretched over a decade, exploring both the changes in friendship between Natalie and her best friend Gabby as one moved along in marriage and family and the other navigated her writing career, and the budding romance between her enemy groomsman, Rob.

I loved that this wasn’t a fall in love over one weekend type of story. It explored life lessons in growing up and was a compelling read.

]]> 3.65 2024
author: Laura Hankin
name: Tiffany
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/03
date added: 2024/11/03
shelves:
review:
3.5 stars rounded up.

The start was a little weak for me as I found the main character Natalie a bit immature- but she was 23- so it make sense. Once I was a couple chapters in, I was hooked on the story, which played the long game. This rom-com stretched over a decade, exploring both the changes in friendship between Natalie and her best friend Gabby as one moved along in marriage and family and the other navigated her writing career, and the budding romance between her enemy groomsman, Rob.

I loved that this wasn’t a fall in love over one weekend type of story. It explored life lessons in growing up and was a compelling read.


]]> 65213515 One girl murdered. Another one missing. And a medical examiner desperate to uncover the truth in the latest Black Harbor mystery by acclaimed author Hannah Morrissey.

On a bone-chilling October night, Medical Examiner Rowan Winthorp investigates the death of her daughter’s best friend. Hours later, the tragedy hits even closer to home when she makes a devastating discovery—her daughter, Chloe, is gone. But, not without a trace.

A morbid mosaic of clues forces Rowan and her husband to question how deeply they really knew their daughter. As they work closely to peel back the layers of this case, they begin to unearth disturbing details about Chloe and her secret transgressions…details that threaten to tear them apart.

Amidst the noise of navigating her newfound grief and reconciling the sins of her past, an undeniable fact rings true for Rowan: karma has finally come to collect.]]> 320 Hannah Morrissey 1250872340 Tiffany 3
The story itself was engaging, although slightly annoying. This could have been the audio again though. Overall, it kept my attention and all my suspicions were upended, so it was clever enough to not be super predictable.

3 stars. ]]> 3.57 2023
author: Hannah Morrissey
name: Tiffany
average rating: 3.57
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2024/10/25
date added: 2024/11/03
shelves:
review:
This was a stand alone in a series- but I didnt need the first two books to read this one. I listened on audio and the main narrator spoke so deep and gravelly that I struggled to understand her. I wanted to stop several times because of this- luckily, I had the hard copy on hand, so I did find myself opening it up at her parts to see what she said. Horrible audio reader though.

The story itself was engaging, although slightly annoying. This could have been the audio again though. Overall, it kept my attention and all my suspicions were upended, so it was clever enough to not be super predictable.

3 stars.
]]> 35533431 A suspense novel from the award-winning author of The Haunting of Maddy Clare...

Vermont, 1950. There's a place for the girls whom no one wants--the troublemakers, the illegitimate, the too smart for their own good. It's called Idlewild Hall. And in the small town where it's located, there are rumors that the boarding school is haunted. Four roommates bond over their whispered fears, their budding friendship blossoming--until one of them mysteriously disappears.��.��. .

Vermont, 2014. As much as she's tried, journalist Fiona Sheridan cannot stop revisiting the events surrounding her older sister's death. Twenty years ago, her body was found lying in the overgrown fields near the ruins of Idlewild Hall. And though her sister's boyfriend was tried and convicted of murder, Fiona can't shake the suspicion that something was never right about the case.

When Fiona discovers that Idlewild Hall is being restored by an anonymous benefactor, she decides to write a story about it. But a shocking discovery during the renovations will link the loss of her sister to secrets that were meant to stay hidden in the past--and a voice that won't be silenced.��.��. .]]> 336 Simone St. James Tiffany 4
I thought it was skillfully written; characters were fully developed; and the ghostly feel was just right. I was fully immersed while reading. ]]> 4.06 2018
author: Simone St. James
name: Tiffany
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/22
date added: 2024/11/03
shelves:
review:
Present day local journalist writes a story about the boarding school for girls in their town that has just been purchased and has plans to reopen after years of closure and ghost stories. The story dips back to the past when a girl went missing and we alternate between past and present to unravel the mystery of what happened.

I thought it was skillfully written; characters were fully developed; and the ghostly feel was just right. I was fully immersed while reading.
]]> 197536305
I never look good in skirts. I ������’t ask for a raise or my boss will think I’m greedy. I’m getting too old to find a partner. I’m a bad mom and my kids can tell. I’ll never be good enough.

Women absorb a lifetime of sexist social messaging that says our worth is determined by our looks, accomplishments, and what everyone (but ourselves) thinks of us. Take Back Your Brain exposes how the patriarchy hijacks our minds and wrecks our confidence—and shows how to break free once and for all.

For a long time, Kara Loewentheil wasn’t sure why she, like so many ambitious women, still wrestled with insecurity and low self-esteem, despite two Ivy League degrees, a successful law career, and a thriving social life. After breaking down under her desk one day, she decided enough was enough. Kara learned the power of thought work, became a Master Certified Life Coach, rewired her brain to overcome sexist social messages, and began to coach other women to do the same.

Now in Take Back Your Brain , she shows you how to undo the socialization you never asked for, starting with reprogramming your core beliefs from patriarchy’s corrosive influence. Weaving cognitive psychology and feminist theory with practical thought work exercises, this book teaches you

By changing your thoughts, you can transform your emotions, actions, the direction of your life, and ultimately the world. Because when women unleash their true power, they awaken new possibilities for all of us.]]> 320 Kara Loewentheil 0593493958 Tiffany 4 4.17
author: Kara Loewentheil
name: Tiffany
average rating: 4.17
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/18
date added: 2024/09/19
shelves:
review:

]]> 36121086 We forgive murderers, not pedophiles.

Not since Lionel Shriver brought us We Need to Talk About Kevin has a writer delved into the complexities of a disturbed mother/son relationship. Until now.

Meet Noah—an A-honor roll student, award-winning swimmer, and small-town star destined for greatness. There weren’t any signs that something was wrong until the day he confesses to molesting little girls during swim team practice. He’s sentenced to eighteen months in a juvenile sexual rehabilitation center.

His mother, Adrianne, refuses to turn her back on him despite his horrific crimes, but her husband won’t allow Noah back into their home. In a series of shocking and shattering revelations, Adrianne is forced to make the hardest decision of her life. Just how far will she go to protect her son?

Saving Noah challenges everything you think you know about teenage sexual offenders. It will keep you up at night long after you've read the last page, questioning beliefs you once thought were true.]]> 259 Lucinda Berry Tiffany 4
The story focuses on Noah, a 15 year old boy who molests 2 young girls. He confesses to his parents and wants to get help, which he does through a program he was sentenced to. Upon reentering society after his 18 month sentence, he and his family struggle to deal with the aftermath.

This book felt icky in so many ways. It is always hard to read about molestation, but this book tackled the subject from the POV of the offender. The unusual narrative from his mother and his voice will make the reader consider how our culture deals with sex crimes. Is it ever forgivable? Can one ever rehabilitate from it?

The ending with the father was something I considered throughout the whole book and while I’ve read that others don’t understand why it was addressed, I wholly believe it was put into place to not only make the point that those that are most fearful of things often the ones that know they themselves are capable of such atrocities, but also to plant the seed that genetics may play a role in this type of conduct. Interesting.

A book that gets me to think outside my normal scope is ultimately a winner. Add to it that it was compelling, emotional, and well paced. Just look at trigger warning before you go in blindly!]]> 3.89 2017
author: Lucinda Berry
name: Tiffany
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/11
date added: 2024/09/12
shelves:
review:
I picked this book up blindly and had no idea what I was getting into. It is not a light read, nor is it an easy one.

The story focuses on Noah, a 15 year old boy who molests 2 young girls. He confesses to his parents and wants to get help, which he does through a program he was sentenced to. Upon reentering society after his 18 month sentence, he and his family struggle to deal with the aftermath.

This book felt icky in so many ways. It is always hard to read about molestation, but this book tackled the subject from the POV of the offender. The unusual narrative from his mother and his voice will make the reader consider how our culture deals with sex crimes. Is it ever forgivable? Can one ever rehabilitate from it?

The ending with the father was something I considered throughout the whole book and while I’ve read that others don’t understand why it was addressed, I wholly believe it was put into place to not only make the point that those that are most fearful of things often the ones that know they themselves are capable of such atrocities, but also to plant the seed that genetics may play a role in this type of conduct. Interesting.

A book that gets me to think outside my normal scope is ultimately a winner. Add to it that it was compelling, emotional, and well paced. Just look at trigger warning before you go in blindly!
]]> 112975105 333 Mitch Albom 0062406655 Tiffany 4 4.54 2023
author: Mitch Albom
name: Tiffany
average rating: 4.54
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/06
date added: 2024/09/09
shelves:
review:

]]> 201102399 The new binge-worthy novel from the “queen of the one-sit read,�� and New York Times bestselling author of The Couple Next Door

Nothing ever happens in sleepy little Fairhill, Vermont. But this morning that will change. And one innocent question could be deadly. What have you done?

The teenagers get their kicks telling ghost stories in the old graveyard. The parents trust their kids will arrive home safe from school. Everyone knows everyone. Curtains rarely twitch. Front doors are left unlocked.

But Diana Brewer isn’t lying safely in her bed where she belongs. Instead she lies in a hayfield, circled by vultures, discovered by a local farmer.

How quickly a girl becomes a ghost. How quickly a town of friendly, familiar faces becomes a town of suspects, a place of fear and paranoia.

Someone in Fairhill did this. Everyone wants answers.]]> 307 Shari Lapena 0593489969 Tiffany 3
3.5 stars ]]> 3.73 2024
author: Shari Lapena
name: Tiffany
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/08/25
date added: 2024/09/09
shelves:
review:
Shari LaPena is always reliable for a compelling thriller that is hard to put down. This one was about a murdered girl in a small town with a bit of ghostly realism. Even a oujiu board made an appearance, which brought me fond memories of my childhood days when we’d try to conjure spirits of our own. Several narrators, including the murdered girl herself, two best friends, a perverted coach, her boyfriend, and several others, and I was truly stumped on who did it until the very end. Love her twists and easy-to-read style. This wasn’t my favorite of hers, but it was engaging nonetheless.

3.5 stars
]]> 56514908 "Abbi Waxman is both irreverent and thoughtful."--#1 New York Times bestselling author Emily Giffin.

The author of The Garden of Small Beginnings returns with a hilarious and poignant new novel about four families, their neighborhood carpool, and the affair that changes everything.

At any given moment in other people's houses, you can find...repressed hopes and dreams...moments of unexpected joy...someone making love on the floor to a man who is most definitely not her husband...

*record scratch*

As the longtime local carpool mom, Frances Bloom is sometimes an unwilling witness to her neighbors' private lives. She knows her cousin is hiding her desire for another baby from her spouse, Bill Horton's wife is mysteriously missing, and now this...

After the shock of seeing Anne Porter in all her extramarital glory, Frances vows to stay in her own lane. But that's a notion easier said than done when Anne's husband throws her out a couple of days later. The repercussions of the affair reverberate through the four carpool families--and Frances finds herself navigating a moral minefield that could make or break a marriage.]]> 352 Abbi Waxman 0399587934 Tiffany 3
This felt like a cozy read = A great book to turn to that is masterfully easy to consume without having to use too much brain power. Exactly what I needed after 2 deeper books. ]]> 3.56 2018
author: Abbi Waxman
name: Tiffany
average rating: 3.56
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at: 2024/07/26
date added: 2024/07/26
shelves:
review:
Super quick and easy read about 4 families in a neighborhood that are intertwined in each other’s lives. When Francis, the carpool mom, walks in on her neighbor Ann in the midst of an affair, things start to unravel and we get a look into each of the family’s houses. The humor and wit are natural, the observations are keen, and the flow felt like real life.

This felt like a cozy read = A great book to turn to that is masterfully easy to consume without having to use too much brain power. Exactly what I needed after 2 deeper books.
]]> 127305853 From the celebrated author of The Nightingale and The Four Winds comes Kristin Hannah's The Women—at once an intimate portrait of coming of age in a dangerous time and an epic tale of a nation divided.

Women can be heroes. When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances “Frankie�� McGrath hears these words, it is a revelation. Raised in the sun-drenched, idyllic world of Southern California and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing. But in 1965, the world is changing, and she suddenly dares to imagine a different future for herself. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path.

As green and inexperienced as the men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is over-whelmed by the chaos and destruction of war. Each day is a gamble of life and death, hope and betrayal; friendships run deep and can be shattered in an instant. In war, she meets—and becomes one of—the lucky, the brave, the broken, and the lost.

But war is just the beginning for Frankie and her veteran friends. The real battle lies in coming home to a changed and divided America, to angry protesters, and to a country that wants to forget Vietnam.

The Women is the story of one woman gone to war, but it shines a light on all women who put themselves in harm’s way and whose sacrifice and commitment to their country has too often been forgotten. A novel about deep friendships and bold patriotism, The Women is a richly drawn story with a memorable heroine whose idealism and courage under fire will come to define an era.]]> 471 Kristin Hannah 1250178630 Tiffany 5 Hold on, I need tissue�� 4.59 2024
author: Kristin Hannah
name: Tiffany
average rating: 4.59
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/18
date added: 2024/07/18
shelves:
review:
Hold on, I need tissue��
]]> 59228196 A��razor‑sharp debut novel of three best friends navigating love, sex, faith, and the one night that changes it all.

It’s always been Malak, Kees, and Jenna against the world. Since childhood, under the watchful eyes of their parents, aunties and uncles, they’ve learned to live their own lives alongside the expectations of being good Muslim women. Staying over at a boyfriend's place is disguised as a best friend’s sleepover, and tiredness can be blamed on studying instead of partying. They know they’re existing in a perfect moment. With growing older and the stakes of love and life growing higher, the delicate balancing act between rebellion and religion is becoming increasingly difficult to navigate.

Malak wants the dream: for her partner, community, and faith to coexist happily, and she wants this so much she's willing to break her own heart to get it. Kees is in love with Harry, a white Catholic man who her parents can never know about. When he proposes, she must decide between her future happiness and the life she knows and family she loves. Jenna is the life of the party, always ready for new pleasures, even though she’s plagued by a loneliness she ������’t shake. Through it all, they have always had each other. But as their college years come to a close, one night changes everything when harsh truths are revealed.

As their lives begin to take different paths, Malak, Kees, and Jenna—now on the precipice of true adulthood—must find a way back to each other as they reconcile faith, family, and tradition with their own needs and desires. These Impossible Things��is a paean to youth and female friendship—and to all the joy and messiness love holds. A��Marie Claire��Book Club Pick for June 2022 and a Most Anticipated Book by:��Bustle, theSkimm,��Fortune, Apartment Therapy,��and BookRiot]]> 400 Salma El-Wardany 1538709309 Tiffany 5

The depth of story telling reminded me so much of Fredrick Backman, but more poetic and sing-song. Just so beautifully written and rich with emotion and detail- I could feel each character so deeply. When I think of a beautifully written story, this is what I imagine. I cannot think of a single thing I did not love about it.


“You ������’t stuff so much sadness into a body and think it can be contained. Like water running to the sea, it will always find its level.��

A story of friendship, love, family, faith, falling apart, and falling together. A book I could definitely read again and fall deeper in love with.
]]> 4.22 2022
author: Salma El-Wardany
name: Tiffany
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/16
date added: 2024/07/16
shelves:
review:
My absolute favorite book this year!


The depth of story telling reminded me so much of Fredrick Backman, but more poetic and sing-song. Just so beautifully written and rich with emotion and detail- I could feel each character so deeply. When I think of a beautifully written story, this is what I imagine. I cannot think of a single thing I did not love about it.


“You ������’t stuff so much sadness into a body and think it can be contained. Like water running to the sea, it will always find its level.��

A story of friendship, love, family, faith, falling apart, and falling together. A book I could definitely read again and fall deeper in love with.

]]> 199798006
As a young, queer couple who flip houses, Charlie and Eve ������’t believe the killer deal they’ve just gotten on an old house in a picturesque neighborhood. As they’re working in the house one day, there’s a knock on the door. A man stands there with his family, claiming to have lived there years before and asking if it would be alright if he showed his kids around. People pleaser to a fault, Eve lets them in.

As soon as the strangers enter their home, inexplicable things start happening, including the family’s youngest child going missing and a ghostly presence materializing in the basement. Even more weird, the family ������’t seem to take the hint that their visit should be over. And when Charlie suddenly vanishes, Eve slowly loses her grip on reality. Something is terribly wrong with the house and with the visiting family—or is Eve just imagining things?

This unputdownable and spine-tingling novel “is like quicksand: the further you delve into its pages, the more immobilized you become by a spiral of terror. We Used to Live Here will haunt you even after you have finished it�� (Agustina Bazterrica, author of Tender Is the Flesh).]]> 312 Marcus Kliewer 1982198788 Tiffany 4 3.67 2024
author: Marcus Kliewer
name: Tiffany
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/30
date added: 2024/07/14
shelves:
review:
I think this was my first horror book, but I didn’t know that going in. I thought thriller. Which it also was- but it was down right scary. Things appearing, mind tricks, people who will not leave, stories that don’t match up. The way it was told with alternating story and online Reddit-style posts was creepy as hell. And although I have little idea of what actually happened by the end- more questions than answers- I was thoroughly entertained.
]]> 61458888
Despite her uneasiness and misgivings from Calvin's friends and family, the two grow close and start to fall for one another. However, as her departure date nears, things between them start to change for the worse. Grace grows wary of Calvin as his infatuation for her seems to turn into obsession. Calvin fears that Grace is hiding something from him.

Told from dual points of view, You Shouldn't Have Come Here is a thrill ride and a cautionary tale of what can go wrong when you open up your house and your heart to a total stranger.]]> 292 Jeneva Rose Tiffany 3 I loved another book of hers so grabbed this one- but it’s definitely not as well thought out or believable. Her writing flows easily but it did nothing for the characters or the story here. ]]> 3.31 2023
author: Jeneva Rose
name: Tiffany
average rating: 3.31
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2024/07/02
date added: 2024/07/14
shelves:
review:
2.5 stars rounded up.
I loved another book of hers so grabbed this one- but it’s definitely not as well thought out or believable. Her writing flows easily but it did nothing for the characters or the story here.
]]> 52636419
A great career. A handsome and loving husband. A beautiful home in the suburbs and a plan to fill it with children. Life is perfect—or so it seems.

Then she’s in a terrible accident�� and everything falls apart.

Now Victoria is unable to walk. She ������’t feed or dress herself. She ������’t even speak. She is confined to the top floor of her house with twenty-four-hour care.

Sylvia Robinson is hired by Victoria’s husband to help care for her. But it turns out Victoria isn’t as impaired as Sylvia was led to believe. There’s a story Victoria desperately wants to tell... if only she could get out the words.

Then Sylvia discovers Victoria’s diary hidden away in a drawer.

And what’s inside is shocking.]]> 414 Freida McFadden Tiffany 3 This one gave me major Verity vibes (minus the torment of the children). Young woman needs a job and finds herself taking one for a handsome man who needs live-in care for his wife. As she gets to know the wife, Sylvie starts to unravel a story through reading her diary- but is it an honest account, or just fiction? There are always two sides!]]> 4.09 2020
author: Freida McFadden
name: Tiffany
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2024/05/22
date added: 2024/06/28
shelves:
review:
3 stars
This one gave me major Verity vibes (minus the torment of the children). Young woman needs a job and finds herself taking one for a handsome man who needs live-in care for his wife. As she gets to know the wife, Sylvie starts to unravel a story through reading her diary- but is it an honest account, or just fiction? There are always two sides!
]]> 60556912
Every day I clean the Winchesters�� beautiful house top to bottom. I collect their daughter from school. And I cook a delicious meal for the whole family before heading up to eat alone in my tiny room on the top floor.

I try to ignore how Nina makes a mess just to watch me clean it up. How she tells strange lies about her own daughter. And how her husband Andrew seems more broken every day. But as I look into Andrew’s handsome brown eyes, so full of pain, it’s hard not to imagine what it would be like to live Nina’s life. The walk-in closet, the fancy car, the perfect husband.

I only try on one of Nina’s pristine white dresses once. Just to see what it’s like. But she soon finds out�� and by the time I realize my attic bedroom door only locks from the outside, it’s far too late.

But I reassure myself: the Winchesters don’t know who I really am.

They don’t know what I’m capable of��

An unbelievably twisty read that will have you glued to the pages late into the night. Anyone who loves The Woman in the Window, The Wife Between Us and The Girl on the Train won’t be able to put this down!]]> 329 Freida McFadden 1803144378 Tiffany 2
2 stars because I hate giving 1. :/ ]]> 4.31 2022
author: Freida McFadden
name: Tiffany
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2022
rating: 2
read at: 2024/06/28
date added: 2024/06/28
shelves:
review:
I tried. I really did. I ended up finishing it, if you can call it that�� I just read the first sentence of each paragraph from halfway to the end to get the idea of it, because oh boy is her writing horrific. It feels like a really rough draft and I’m always shocked when stories like this get published, let alone get highly ratings. This is my 3rd book of hers (I DNF’d one and struggled through audio on another one), but was given a copy of this one from a book club friend so really tried to get through it. This is the last Frieda book I’ll be reading though- I just ������’t get on board with her style. They feel forced and the characters are stupid.

2 stars because I hate giving 1. :/
]]> 194020321
After their mother passes, three estranged siblings reunite to sort out her estate. Beth, the oldest, never left home. She stayed with her mom, caring for her until the very end. Nicole, the middle child, has been kept at arm’s length due to her ongoing battle with a serious drug addiction. Michael, the youngest, lives out of state and hasn’t been back to their small Wisconsin town since their father ran out on them seven years before.

While going through their parent’s belongings, the siblings stumble upon a collection of home videos and decide to revisit those happier memories. However, the nostalgia is cut short when one of the VHS tapes reveals a night back in 1999 that none of them have any recollection of. On screen, their father appears covered in blood. What follows is a dead body and a pact between their parents to get rid of it, before the video abruptly ends.

Beth, Nicole, and Michael must now decide whether to leave the past in the past or uncover the dark secret their mother took to her grave.]]> 256 Jeneva Rose Tiffany 5
This story centers around 3 siblings, Beth, Nicole, and Michael. Beth has just witnessed her mother’s passing, after having cared for her at the end of her life. The last words her mother tries to get out before her death are that her father didn’t disappear and don’t trust�� don’t trust who? Soon after, her brother Michael comes to visit from the Bay Area- the only sibling to have gotten out of their small hometown and made something of his life- a fact that Bath resents him for. And then there is Nicole, an addict who was cut off from her family, and now has to bury her mother alongside her siblings.

When going through their parent’s things, they discover a secret that they feel morally obligated to right. In the investigation of a young girl’s death years prior, the siblings unfold much of their life and relationship. We get so much more than just a thriller with this one, and I loved every second. I suspected everyone at one point, but in the end, hadn’t nailed it down exactly, and appreciated the way we were slowly but smartly directed towards it. I loved the psychology of their behaviors and felt Rose nailed so many of the resentments felt between siblings. It just made sense and fit without force.

Would recommend this as a quick and smart thriller! 4.5 stars. ]]> 3.77 2024
author: Jeneva Rose
name: Tiffany
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/06/26
date added: 2024/06/28
shelves:
review:
What a surprise thriller from Geneva Rose! I downloaded this one on audio after another book lover suggested it. I was weary because I did not love the Perfect Marriage- I ������’t even remember why or what it was about- but this one will likely stick with me much more because of its character depth and themes.

This story centers around 3 siblings, Beth, Nicole, and Michael. Beth has just witnessed her mother’s passing, after having cared for her at the end of her life. The last words her mother tries to get out before her death are that her father didn’t disappear and don’t trust�� don’t trust who? Soon after, her brother Michael comes to visit from the Bay Area- the only sibling to have gotten out of their small hometown and made something of his life- a fact that Bath resents him for. And then there is Nicole, an addict who was cut off from her family, and now has to bury her mother alongside her siblings.

When going through their parent’s things, they discover a secret that they feel morally obligated to right. In the investigation of a young girl’s death years prior, the siblings unfold much of their life and relationship. We get so much more than just a thriller with this one, and I loved every second. I suspected everyone at one point, but in the end, hadn’t nailed it down exactly, and appreciated the way we were slowly but smartly directed towards it. I loved the psychology of their behaviors and felt Rose nailed so many of the resentments felt between siblings. It just made sense and fit without force.

Would recommend this as a quick and smart thriller! 4.5 stars.
]]> 63139946 Welcome to Stanhope - a safe neighbourhood. A place for families.

William Wooler is a family man, on the surface. But he's been having an affair, an affair that ended horribly this afternoon at a motel up the road. So when he returns to his house, devastated and angry, to find his difficult nine-year-old daughter Avery unexpectedly home from school, William loses his temper.

Hours later, Avery's family declare her missing.

Suddenly Stanhope doesn't feel so safe. And William isn't the only one on his street who's hiding a lie. As witnesses come forward with information that may or may not be true, Avery's neighbours become increasingly unhinged.

Who took Avery Wooler?

Nothing will prepare you for the truth. ]]> 336 Shari Lapena 0593489934 Tiffany 4
Like many of her other novels, LaPena leaves you wondering at the end�� but it’s always done in a way that leaves you completely satisfied!

Rated 3.5 for an entertaining and quick read. The author engages the reader and brings them into the fold of the characters lives without any of the garbage. While she’s not a 5-star novelist for me, I always close the book happy with what I got.]]> 3.75 2023
author: Shari Lapena
name: Tiffany
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/27
date added: 2024/06/28
shelves:
review:
3.5 stars rounded up. An entertaining thriller that I had to get to the end of! This one focused on Avery, a 9-year old girl with behavior problems that goes missing after her father finds her home early from school. Did he do something to her? Did someone else take her? LaPena writes as an omniscient narrator and we get insight into so many of the neighborhood characters, parents and children alike. Avery is not a well liked kid, but when everyone’s dirty laundry starts to air, it’s no wonder the detectives are running in circles.

Like many of her other novels, LaPena leaves you wondering at the end�� but it’s always done in a way that leaves you completely satisfied!

Rated 3.5 for an entertaining and quick read. The author engages the reader and brings them into the fold of the characters lives without any of the garbage. While she’s not a 5-star novelist for me, I always close the book happy with what I got.
]]> 173476065 When any biological matter can be used to create life, stolen celebrity DNA sells to the highest bidder—or the craziest stalker—in this propulsive thriller.

With a vivid imagining of the future, _Gattaca _meets Black Mirror in Kira Peikoff’s Baby X.

In the near-future United States, where advanced technology can create eggs or sperm from any person’s cells, celebrities face the alarming potential of meeting biological children they never conceived. Famous singer Trace Thorne is tired of being targeted by the Vault, a black market site devoted to stealing DNA. Sick of paying ransom money for his own cell matter, he hires bio-security guard Ember Ryan to ensure his biological safety.

Ember will do anything she can to protect her clients. She knows all the Vault’s tricks—discarded tissues, used straws, lipstick tubes—and has prevented countless DNA thefts. Working for Thorne, her focus becomes split when she begins to fall for him, but she knows she hasn’t let anything slip—love or not, his DNA is safe. But then she and Thorne are confronted by a pregnant woman, Quinn, who claims that Thorne is the father of her baby, and all bets are off.

Brilliantly plotted and terrifyingly prescient, Baby X is an unpredictable and relentless speculative thriller perfect for fans of Blake Crouch and John Marrs.]]> 326 Kira Peikoff 1639106332 Tiffany 3
The concept is a bit out there for me�� set about 30 years in the future, two scientists discover how to create life from hair and skin cell DNA, making celebrities extra cautious of their outings as anyone could pluck a strand of hair and use it to make a baby through this lab, The Vault.

While I had to suspend my disbelief, I do commend this book for keeping me engaged in the twisty storyline, told through several different characters. It was almost convincing at times as a future-possible narrative and I’m a big skeptic.

Scored for entertainment value. But characters were very one dimensional and there weren’t really any big takeaways other than touching on bodily autonomy in a roundabout way��. 3 stars. ]]> 3.82 2024
author: Kira Peikoff
name: Tiffany
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/06/24
date added: 2024/06/25
shelves:
review:
Not my usual genre pick, but another book friend recommended it on audio so I dove in.

The concept is a bit out there for me�� set about 30 years in the future, two scientists discover how to create life from hair and skin cell DNA, making celebrities extra cautious of their outings as anyone could pluck a strand of hair and use it to make a baby through this lab, The Vault.

While I had to suspend my disbelief, I do commend this book for keeping me engaged in the twisty storyline, told through several different characters. It was almost convincing at times as a future-possible narrative and I’m a big skeptic.

Scored for entertainment value. But characters were very one dimensional and there weren’t really any big takeaways other than touching on bodily autonomy in a roundabout way��. 3 stars.
]]> 45915136 From the creator of Elle 's "Eric Reads the News," a poignant and hilarious memoir-in-essays about growing up seeing the world differently, finding his joy, and every awkward, extraordinary stumble along the way.

R. Eric Thomas didn't know he was different until the world told him so. Everywhere he went—whether it was his rich, mostly white, suburban high school, his conservative black church, or his Ivy League college in a big city—he found himself on the outside looking in.

In essays by turns hysterical and heartfelt, Eric redefines what it means to be an "other" through the lens of his own life experience. He explores the two worlds of his childhood: the barren urban landscape where his parents' house was an anomalous bright spot, and the verdant school they sent him to in white suburbia. He writes about struggling to reconcile his Christian identity with his sexuality, about the exhaustion of code-switching in college, accidentally getting famous on the internet (for the wrong reason), and the surreal experience of covering the 2016 election as well as the seismic change that came thereafter.

Ultimately, Eric seeks the answer to the ever more relevant question: Is the future worth it? Why do we bother when everything seems to be getting worse? As the world continues to shift in unpredictable ways, Eric finds the answers to these questions by re-envisioning what "normal" means, and in the powerful alchemy that occurs when you at last place yourself at the center of your own story.

For fans of Samantha Irby, Michael Arceneaux, and David Sedaris, Here for It will resonate deeply and joyfully with everyone who has ever felt pushed to the margins, struggled with self-acceptance, or wished to shine more brightly in a dark world. Stay here for it—the future may surprise you.]]> 264 R. Eric Thomas 0525621032 Tiffany 4 4.02 2020
author: R. Eric Thomas
name: Tiffany
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/03
date added: 2024/06/07
shelves:
review:
Delightful is the word for this book. I am not a follower of the author- I guess I’ve been under a rock. But his wit and humor and overall outlook on life is just the sort of lightness we need in this world. He writes essays around belonging and knowing himself, and while some of them really sucked me in while others were just meh, I had a near constant smile on my face. He is just fun. And again- delightful- and it shines in his storytelling.
]]> 203019740 From the New York Times bestselling author of We Begin at the End comes a soaring thriller and an epic love story that spans decades.

1975 is a time of change in America. The Vietnam War is ending. Mohammed Ali is fighting Joe Frazier. And in the small town of Monta Clare, Missouri, girls are disappearing.

When the daughter of a wealthy family is targeted, the most unlikely hero emerges—Patch, a local boy with one eye, who saves the girl, and, in doing so, leaves heartache in his wake.

Patch and those who love him soon discover that the line between triumph and tragedy has never been finer. And that their search for answers will lead them to truths that could mean losing one another.

A missing person mystery, a serial killer thriller, a love story, a unique twist on each, Chris Whitaker has written a novel about what lurks in the shadows of obsession, and the blinding light of hope.]]> 608 Chris Whitaker 0593798872 Tiffany 0 to-read 4.24 2024
author: Chris Whitaker
name: Tiffany
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/06/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 201102273 An epic novel of star-crossed lovers set in a doomsday cult on the Texas prairie that asks: what would you sacrifice for the person you love?

Waco, Texas 1993. People from all walks of life have arrived to follow the Lamb’s gospel—signing over savings and pensions, selling their homes and shedding marriages. They’ve come here to worship at the feet of a former landscaper turned prophet who is preparing for the End Times with a staggering cache of weapons. Jaye’s mother is one of his newest and most devout followers, though Jaye herself has suspicions about the Lamb’s methods—and his motives.

Roy is the youngest son of the local sheriff; a 14 year old boy with a heart of gold and a nose for trouble who falls for Jaye without knowing of her mother’s attachment to the man who is currently making his father’s life hell. The two teenagers are drawn to each other immediately and completely, but their love may have dire consequences for their families. The Lamb has plans for them all—especially Jaye—and as his preaching and scheming move them closer and closer to unthinkable violence, Roy risks everything to save Jaye.

Based on the true events that unfolded thirty years ago during the siege of the Branch Davidian compound, Bret Anthony Johnston’s We Burn Daylight is an unforgettable love story, a heart-pounding literary page turner, and a profound exploration of faith, family, and what it means to truly be saved.]]> 352 Bret Anthony Johnston 0399590129 Tiffany 0 to-read 3.81 2024
author: Bret Anthony Johnston
name: Tiffany
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/06/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 43834909 Two sisters travel the same streets, though their lives couldn't be more different. Then, one of them goes missing.

In a Philadelphia neighborhood rocked by the opioid crisis, two once-inseparable sisters find themselves at odds. One, Kacey, lives on the streets in the vise of addiction. The other, Mickey, walks those same blocks on her police beat. They don't speak anymore, but Mickey never stops worrying about her sibling.

Then Kacey disappears, suddenly, at the same time that a mysterious string of murders begins in Mickey's district, and Mickey becomes dangerously obsessed with finding the culprit--and her sister--before it's too late.

Alternating its present-day mystery with the story of the sisters' childhood and adolescence, Long Bright River is at once heart-pounding and heart-wrenching: a gripping suspense novel that is also a moving story of sisters, addiction, and the formidable ties that persist between place, family, and fate.]]> 482 Liz Moore 0525540679 Tiffany 4
This story was raw and read almost like a memoir. It felt true and vivid. Our MC and narrator, Mickey, was flawed and honest and came alive from the pages, as did the characters that surrounded her.

While this story is set up like a true crime novel, it reads like literary fiction. It’s a story of addiction in the height of an opioid crisis in Kensington, and Mickey, a police officer who patrols the streets and knows many of the addicted- one of which is her younger sister Kacey- becomes obsessed with finding her sister after she goes missing during a string of young women being murdered. And yet- it’s far deeper- it’s a story of sisterhood, family, trauma, forgiveness and acceptance�� so much more than the thrill of the crime.

A beautifully written examination of real life in the streets - this one is a solid read that I highly recommend for when you want something a little heavier than your average true crime. ]]> 4.03 2020
author: Liz Moore
name: Tiffany
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/03
date added: 2024/06/03
shelves:
review:
4.5 stars- something holds me back from giving it a 5- this was a deeply affecting story with layers and depth not usually found in a crime story. And yet, I didn’t love it. I’m not sure it’s meant to be loved? I think it’s meant to affect, and it definitely did that. This is definitely a story I’ll be thinking about for a long while, but I wasn’t endeared to any of the characters, and I think that’s my hold up on it being a 5.

This story was raw and read almost like a memoir. It felt true and vivid. Our MC and narrator, Mickey, was flawed and honest and came alive from the pages, as did the characters that surrounded her.

While this story is set up like a true crime novel, it reads like literary fiction. It’s a story of addiction in the height of an opioid crisis in Kensington, and Mickey, a police officer who patrols the streets and knows many of the addicted- one of which is her younger sister Kacey- becomes obsessed with finding her sister after she goes missing during a string of young women being murdered. And yet- it’s far deeper- it’s a story of sisterhood, family, trauma, forgiveness and acceptance�� so much more than the thrill of the crime.

A beautifully written examination of real life in the streets - this one is a solid read that I highly recommend for when you want something a little heavier than your average true crime.
]]> 58265135 An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here.

Greta James's meteoric rise to indie stardom was hard-won. Before she graced magazine covers and sold out venues, she spent her girlhood strumming her guitar in the family garage. Her first fan was her mother, Helen, whose face shone bright in the dusty downtown bars where she got her start—but not everyone encouraged Greta to follow her dreams. While many daydream about a crowd chanting their name, her father, Conrad, saw only a precarious life ahead for his daughter.

Greta has spent her life trying to prove him wrong, but three months after Helen's sudden death, and weeks before the launch of her high-stakes sophomore album, Greta has an onstage meltdown that goes viral. Attempting to outrun the humiliation and heartbreak, she reluctantly agrees to accompany her father on a week-long Alaskan cruise, the very one that her parents had booked to celebrate their fortieth anniversary.

This could be the James family's last chance to heal old wounds and will prove to be a voyage of discovery for them, as well as for Ben Wilder, a historian also struggling with a major upheaval in his life. Ben is on board to lecture about Jack London's The Call of the Wild, the adventure story Greta's mother adored, and he captures Greta's attention after her streak of dating hanger-ons. As Greta works to build up her confidence and heal, and Ben confronts his uncertain future, they must rely on one another to make sense of life’s difficult choices. In the end, Greta must make the most challenging decision of all: to listen to the song within her or make peace with those who love her.

An indie musician reeling from tragedy reconnects with her estranged father on a week-long cruise in this tale of grief, fame, and love from bestselling author Jennifer E. Smith.]]> 320 Jennifer E. Smith 0593358279 Tiffany 3
While I thought this ended up being a sweet story, and I never really got bored with the slow approach to a solution (I loved the way the narrator flashed back to the past), the story felt a bit flat for me. I understood the detachment Greta felt from her dad, and he from her, but I didn’t see a whole lot of character building between them. It eventually just resolved. Dad just decided to “get it�� one day, and it felt a bit contrived.

Mostly, I was frustrated by song titles being used to describe a part of Greta’s life and how they affected her or someone special, but no lyrics were ever given. What were these songs even?? Show me. Don’t tell me. The book took the easy way out and glossed over such big moments when that’s where the good stuff could have been.

Overall, an enjoyable read but it lacked the depth and the heart of a really good story. And it could have been. ]]> 3.82 2022
author: Jennifer E. Smith
name: Tiffany
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2024/06/01
date added: 2024/06/02
shelves:
review:
Beautifully written and told, this 3rd person narrated story about Greta James, a musician struggling to connect with her father, was sweet and tender. It tells the story of a daughter who has recently lost her mother- her biggest fan- and now feels outside of the family, at a loss to connect with her dad who doesn’t like that she has it so easy as a famous music maker. When Greta’s brother talks her into going on a cruise with their father (one her mother was supposed to be on), Greta and her dad are forced to get to know each other.

While I thought this ended up being a sweet story, and I never really got bored with the slow approach to a solution (I loved the way the narrator flashed back to the past), the story felt a bit flat for me. I understood the detachment Greta felt from her dad, and he from her, but I didn’t see a whole lot of character building between them. It eventually just resolved. Dad just decided to “get it�� one day, and it felt a bit contrived.

Mostly, I was frustrated by song titles being used to describe a part of Greta’s life and how they affected her or someone special, but no lyrics were ever given. What were these songs even?? Show me. Don’t tell me. The book took the easy way out and glossed over such big moments when that’s where the good stuff could have been.

Overall, an enjoyable read but it lacked the depth and the heart of a really good story. And it could have been.
]]> 17788401
Never ask about the past.
Don’t expect a future.

They think they can handle it, but realize almost immediately they ������’t handle it at all.

Hearts get infiltrated.
Promises get broken.
Rules get shattered.
Love gets ugly.]]> 330 Colleen Hoover Tiffany 4
Coho has all the elements of a good read- trauma, love, sex, bad communication, secrets, and overcoming the past. You will laugh and cry, and feel deeply for these characters. ]]> 4.01 2014
author: Colleen Hoover
name: Tiffany
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2024/05/30
date added: 2024/05/31
shelves:
review:
Read this in one sitting- CoHo books are just too easy to get lost in while reading, and so hard to put down once you’re invested. This story focused on Miles and was told from the point of view of Miles in his past, and through Tate, the girl who will eventually get him flying toward the future.

Coho has all the elements of a good read- trauma, love, sex, bad communication, secrets, and overcoming the past. You will laugh and cry, and feel deeply for these characters.
]]> 13425393
Soon after Sh*t My Dad Says began to take off, comic writer Justin Halpern decided to propose to his then girlfriend. But before doing so, he asked his dad's advice, which was very, very simple (and surprisingly clean): "Just take a day to think about it." This book is that day. Crossing the warmth of The Wonder Years with the candour and observational humour of David Sedaris, this follow-up to the hottest comedy debut of last year is a hilarious, toe-curlingly true book about life, and love.]]> 4 Justin Halpern 0062123742 Tiffany 2 DNF’d around 60%.]]> 3.75 2012
author: Justin Halpern
name: Tiffany
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2012
rating: 2
read at: 2024/05/07
date added: 2024/05/29
shelves:
review:
Things I never needed to know.
DNF’d around 60%.
]]> 41945163
Planning her best friend's wedding is bittersweet for Kristen—especially when she meets the best man, Josh Copeland. He's funny, sexy, never offended by her mile-wide streak of sarcasm, and always one chicken enchilada ahead of her hangry. Even her dog, Stuntman Mike, adores him. The only catch: Josh wants a big family someday. Kristen knows he'd be better off with someone else, but as their attraction grows, it's harder and harder to keep him at arm's length.

The Friend Zone will have you laughing one moment and grabbing for tissues the next as it tackles the realities of infertility and loss with wit, heart, and a lot of sass.]]> 372 Abby Jimenez Tiffany 3
As far as romcom entertainment, it held my interest. Kristen had a lot of wit and was a good friend, but didn’t have much of a backbone. Josh went from swearing off women to suddenly not being able to be apart from Kristen. He was a bit of an over pleaser. But their chemistry seemed to still fly off the page, and I was still rooting for them despite the games Kristen was playing.

The main topic addressed is infertility and while I don’t have experience with it, I don’t think this book will satisfy those who have. I wish the author would have explored some different options for the couple. ]]> 3.85 2019
author: Abby Jimenez
name: Tiffany
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2024/05/25
date added: 2024/05/29
shelves:
review:
Not Jimenez�� best work. This book rubbed me the wrong way in several parts simply through the viewpoints and actions of the characters. It put down a lot of people, places, and ideas while trying to highlight the perfect girl and what a perfect life would be like. It missed the mark.

As far as romcom entertainment, it held my interest. Kristen had a lot of wit and was a good friend, but didn’t have much of a backbone. Josh went from swearing off women to suddenly not being able to be apart from Kristen. He was a bit of an over pleaser. But their chemistry seemed to still fly off the page, and I was still rooting for them despite the games Kristen was playing.

The main topic addressed is infertility and while I don’t have experience with it, I don’t think this book will satisfy those who have. I wish the author would have explored some different options for the couple.
]]> 60666845 Two couples, two close friends, one missing husband��

Jake Hayes is missing. This much is certain. At first, his wife, Nina, thinks he is blowing off steam at a friend’s house after their heated fight the night before. But then a day goes by. Two days. Five. And Jake is still nowhere to be found.

Lily Scott, Nina’s friend and coworker, thinks she may have been the last to see Jake before he went missing. After Lily confesses everything to her husband, Christian, the two decide that nobody can find out what happened leading up to Jake’s disappearance, especially not Nina. But Nina is out there looking for her husband, and she won’t stop until the truth is discovered.]]> 320 Mary Kubica 0778333116 Tiffany 3
The writing and style was underwhelming. Not that thrillers are known for their prose, but this one in particular was pretty amateur. I often found myself wondering how she was able to make a lengthy book out of this scenario- but when you look at the text more closely, you realize it’s a lot of rambling of internal dialogue. Fine for audio, but a physical copy would have been arduous.

Still, the plot kept my interest and the characters were just dumb enough to keep me wondering what the heck they were doing to do next.

Good book to listen to when doing busy work because it doesn’t take any thinking.


]]> 3.51 2023
author: Mary Kubica
name: Tiffany
average rating: 3.51
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2024/05/24
date added: 2024/05/29
shelves:
review:
Entertaining. I listened to this one on audio and it was quick paced and moved along well enough that it kept my interest. I thought I had it all figured out in the beginning, but a twist at the end revealed itself that I had not even considered.

The writing and style was underwhelming. Not that thrillers are known for their prose, but this one in particular was pretty amateur. I often found myself wondering how she was able to make a lengthy book out of this scenario- but when you look at the text more closely, you realize it’s a lot of rambling of internal dialogue. Fine for audio, but a physical copy would have been arduous.

Still, the plot kept my interest and the characters were just dumb enough to keep me wondering what the heck they were doing to do next.

Good book to listen to when doing busy work because it doesn’t take any thinking.



]]> 127279000 What if you thought you murdered your best friend? And if everyone else thought so too? And what if the truth doesn't matter?

Lucy and Savvy were the golden girls of their small Texas town: pretty, smart, and enviable. Lucy married a dream guy with a big ring and an even bigger new home. Savvy was the social butterfly loved by all and, if you believe the rumors, especially popular with the men in town. But after Lucy is found wandering the streets, covered in her best friend Savvy’s blood, everyone thinks she is a murderer.

It’s been years since that horrible night, a night Lucy ������’t remember anything about, and she has since moved to LA and started a new life. But now the phenomenally huge hit true crime podcast Listen for the Lie and its too-good looking host, Ben Owens, have decided to investigate Savvy’s murder for the show’s second season. Lucy is forced to return to the place she vowed never to set foot in again to solve her friend’s murder, even if she is the one who did it.

The truth is out there, if we just listen.]]> 352 Amy Tintera 1250880319 Tiffany 4
4 stars for entertainment and not being predictable. ]]> 4.07 2024
author: Amy Tintera
name: Tiffany
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/04/20
date added: 2024/04/20
shelves:
review:
Quick, short chapters, snarky characters, and a mystery that keeps you guessing- this book had all the right stuff for a compelling podcast narrative. I liked the alternating chapters between Lucy and podcast, the flashbacks when Lucy’s memory started coming back�� and while it was not wholly believable, it towed the line close enough to keep my attention and intrigue. An oddly funny whodunnit with one of the best grandma characters written.

4 stars for entertainment and not being predictable.
]]> 15803059 “That was it. That was all of it. A grace so ordinary there was no reason at all to remember it. Yet I have never across the forty years since it was spoken forgotten a single word.��

New Bremen, Minnesota, 1961. The Twins were playing their debut season, ice-cold root beers were selling out at the soda counter of Halderson’s Drugstore, and Hot Stuff comic books were a mainstay on every barbershop magazine rack. It was a time of innocence and hope for a country with a new, young president. But for thirteen-year-old Frank Drum it was a grim summer in which death visited frequently and assumed many forms. Accident. Nature. Suicide. Murder.

Frank begins the season preoccupied with the concerns of any teenage boy, but when tragedy unexpectedly strikes his family—which includes his Methodist minister father; his passionate, artistic mother; Juilliard-bound older sister; and wise-beyond-his-years kid brother—he finds himself thrust into an adult world full of secrets, lies, adultery, and betrayal, suddenly called upon to demonstrate a maturity and gumption beyond his years.

Told from Frank’s perspective forty years after that fateful summer, Ordinary Grace is a brilliantly moving account of a boy standing at the door of his young manhood, trying to understand a world that seems to be falling apart around him. It is an unforgettable novel about discovering the terrible price of wisdom and the enduring grace of God.]]> 307 William Kent Krueger 1451645821 Tiffany 0 to-read 4.23 2013
author: William Kent Krueger
name: Tiffany
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/04/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 61918816 A novel of terrible first impressions, hilarious second chances, and the joy in finding your perfect match.

Dr. Briana Ortiz’s life is seriously flatlining. Her divorce is just about finalized, her brother’s running out of time to find a kidney donor, and that promotion she wants? Oh, that’s probably going to the new man-doctor who’s already registering eighty-friggin��-seven on Briana’s “pain in my ass�� scale. But just when all systems are set to hate, Dr. Jacob Maddox completely flips the game . . . by sending Briana a letter.

And it’s a really good letter. Like the kind that proves that Jacob isn’t actually Satan. Worse, he might be this fantastically funny and subversively likeable guy who’s terrible at first impressions. Because suddenly he and Bri are exchanging letters, sharing lunch dates in her “sob closet,�� and discussing the merits of freakishly tiny horses. But when Jacob decides to give Briana the best gift imaginable—a kidney for her brother—she wonders just how she can resist this quietly sexy new doctor . . . especially when he calls in a favor she ������’t refuse.]]> 416 Abby Jimenez 1538704390 Tiffany 5
The story started immediately with the introduction of “Dr Death�� and his run in with Briana. I was already hooked when he wrote his first letter to her to apologize /explain, and I knew this book was going to be hard to put down.

The care with which the letters were written for their characters, the moments of understanding and empathy, were everything. And Briana’s reluctance bc of her past was written believably. I love when a book just makes sense all around! And this one was even great in the silences.

Recommend for anyone who is looking for a tender love story. ]]> 4.29 2023
author: Abby Jimenez
name: Tiffany
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/04/13
date added: 2024/04/14
shelves:
review:
You know a book is good when you have a million things to do, but it’s the book that wins out in the end. Finished in the course of a day, standing over a pot, making 2-hour caramel. It was as sweet and tender as the outcome of my confections!

The story started immediately with the introduction of “Dr Death�� and his run in with Briana. I was already hooked when he wrote his first letter to her to apologize /explain, and I knew this book was going to be hard to put down.

The care with which the letters were written for their characters, the moments of understanding and empathy, were everything. And Briana’s reluctance bc of her past was written believably. I love when a book just makes sense all around! And this one was even great in the silences.

Recommend for anyone who is looking for a tender love story.
]]> 60417443 A rich, eccentric family. A time-honored tradition. Or a lethal game of survival? One woman finds out what it really takes to join the 1% in this riveting psychological thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of Something in the Water, Mr. Nobody, and The Disappearing Act.

Harry is a novelist on the brink of stardom; Edward, her husband-to-be, is seemingly perfect. In love and freshly engaged, their bliss is interrupted by the reemergence of the Holbecks, Edward's eminent family and the embodiment of American old money. For years, they've dominated headlines and pulled society's strings, and Edward left them all behind to forge his own path. But there are eyes and ears everywhere. It was only a matter of time before they were pulled back in . . .

After all, even though he's long severed ties with his family, Edward is set to inherit it all. Harriet is drawn to the glamour and sophistication of the Holbecks, who seem to welcome her with open arms, but everything changes when she meets Robert, the inescapably magnetic head of the family. At their first meeting, Robert slips Harry a cassette tape, revealing a shocking confession which sets the inevitable game in motion.

What is it about Harry that made him give her that tape? A thing that has the power to destroy everything? As she ramps up her quest for the truth, she must endure the Holbecks' savage Christmas traditions all the while knowing that losing this game could be deadly.]]> 319 Catherine Steadman 0593158067 Tiffany 2 3.83 2022
author: Catherine Steadman
name: Tiffany
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2022
rating: 2
read at: 2024/04/14
date added: 2024/04/14
shelves:
review:
I picked this book up months ago and just ������’t seem to finish it. The writing is choppy and has no rhythm. The story is a bit too unbelievable and off the wall for my taste. DNF at p210 after picking up another book and finishing it in one sitting. I realized The Family Game is just not for me.
]]> 57109107 The bestselling author of A Gentleman in Moscow and Rules of Civility and master of absorbing, sophisticated fiction returns with a stylish and propulsive novel set in 1950s America

In June, 1954, eighteen-year-old Emmett Watson is driven home to Nebraska by the warden of the work farm where he has just served a year for involuntary manslaughter. His mother long gone, his father recently deceased, and the family farm foreclosed upon by the bank, Emmett’s intention is to pick up his eight-year-old brother and head west where they can start their lives anew. But when the warden drives away, Emmett discovers that two friends from the work farm have hidden themselves in the trunk of the warden’s car. Together, they have hatched an altogether different plan for Emmett’s future.

Spanning just ten days and told from multiple points of view, Towles’s third novel will satisfy fans of his multi-layered literary styling while providing them an array of new and richly imagined settings, characters, and themes.]]> 576 Amor Towles 0735222355 Tiffany 4 4.18 2021
author: Amor Towles
name: Tiffany
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2024/03/30
date added: 2024/04/06
shelves:
review:
Loved this story. It took me a bit by surprise as this was my first novel by Towles (won’t be my last!) and the writing was just so immersive with so much to offer the reader. It dragged in a few parts for me- only reason it’s not a 5 star rating - but otherwise an entertaining story.
]]> 54895726 The critically acclaimed singer-songwriter, producer, and six-time Grammy winner opens up about a life shaped by music in this candid, heartfelt, and intimate story.

Brandi Carlile was born into a musically gifted, impoverished family on the outskirts of Seattle and grew up in a constant state of change, moving from house to house, trailer to trailer, 14 times in as many years. Though imperfect in every way, her dysfunctional childhood was as beautiful as it was strange, and as nurturing as it was difficult. At the age of five, Brandi contracted bacterial meningitis, which almost took her life, leaving an indelible mark on her formative years and altering her journey into young adulthood.

As an openly gay teenager, Brandi grappled with the tension between her sexuality and her faith when her pastor publicly refused to baptize her on the day of the ceremony. Shockingly, her small town rallied around Brandi in support and set her on a path to salvation where the rest of the misfits and rejects find it: through twisted, joyful, weird, and wonderful music.

In Broken Horses, Brandi Carlile takes listeners through the events of her life that shaped her very raw art - from her start at a local singing competition where she performed Elton John’s “Honky Cat�� in a bedazzled white polyester suit, to her first break opening for Dave Matthews Band, to many sleepless tours over 15 years and six studio albums, all while raising two children with her wife, Catherine Shepherd. This hard-won success led her to collaborations with personal heroes like Elton John, Dolly Parton, Mavis Staples, Pearl Jam, Tanya Tucker, and Joni Mitchell, as well as her peers in the supergroup The Highwomen, and ultimately to the Grammy stage, where she converted millions of viewers into instant fans.

Evocative and piercingly honest, Broken Horses is at once an examination of faith through the eyes of a person rejected by the church’s basic tenets and a meditation on the moments and lyrics that have shaped the life of a creative mind, a brilliant artist, and a genuine empath on a mission to give back.]]> 336 Brandi Carlile 0593237242 Tiffany 0 4.40 2021
author: Brandi Carlile
name: Tiffany
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at: 2024/03/27
date added: 2024/04/06
shelves:
review:
Beautiful memoire. Listened on audio and got to know some of her music too as she sings songs between chapters. Definite audio winner.
]]> 60784312
Is it enough?

Does he respond to texts? Honor his commitments? Make advance plans? Sometimes, rarely, and no, not at all. But when he shines his light on her, the world makes sense, and Adelaide is convinced that, in his heart, he’s fallen just as deeply as she has. Then, when Rory is rocked by an unexpected tragedy, Adelaide does everything in her power to hold him together—even if it means losing herself in the process.

When love asks too much of us, how do we find the strength to put ourselves first?

With unflinching honesty and heart, this relatable debut from a fresh new voice explores grief and mental health while capturing the timeless nature of what it’s like to be young and in love—with your friends, with your city, and with a person who cannot, will not, love you back.]]> 304 Genevieve Wheeler 1250280842 Tiffany 3
This was a very emotional story that had a lot of trigger points for myself personally. Adelaide’s past and current relationship with boys finds herself always giving everything of herself, ignoring her own needs and wants. She finds herself being taken advantage of and in abusive (physical, mental, sexual) situations. It takes her relationship with a dreamy prince-like character, Rory, in London, to discover that her habitual need to be with unavailable and abusive boys is partly, her mental health.

This is also where it lost a couple stars for me. I felt like it took a quick turn into mental illness. Throughout the story, you know something is not right with Adelaide. She is up and down and self-sacrificing in ways that so many women would not tolerate. But she doesn’t see it or understand it. Then suddenly she finds that she is bipolar and needs to be medicated. I felt that the way in which it was setup was putting most of the blame on Adelaide, and not the terrible boys she was in relationship with. Yes, it made sense why she would choose boys that took from her, but it didn’t get into Rory’s issues enough to state what his motive was, despite there being a few chapters from his pov.

All in all, this was a beautifully written account of young people discovering themselves through relationship. It was deeply emotional, raw, and real. It was a believable story that too many women can probably recognize themselves in.

Recommend for those that have deep empathy and/or experience with mental illness because those that don’t will just find this frustrating. ]]> 3.93 2023
author: Genevieve Wheeler
name: Tiffany
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2024/03/14
date added: 2024/03/19
shelves:
review:
3 stars.

This was a very emotional story that had a lot of trigger points for myself personally. Adelaide’s past and current relationship with boys finds herself always giving everything of herself, ignoring her own needs and wants. She finds herself being taken advantage of and in abusive (physical, mental, sexual) situations. It takes her relationship with a dreamy prince-like character, Rory, in London, to discover that her habitual need to be with unavailable and abusive boys is partly, her mental health.

This is also where it lost a couple stars for me. I felt like it took a quick turn into mental illness. Throughout the story, you know something is not right with Adelaide. She is up and down and self-sacrificing in ways that so many women would not tolerate. But she doesn’t see it or understand it. Then suddenly she finds that she is bipolar and needs to be medicated. I felt that the way in which it was setup was putting most of the blame on Adelaide, and not the terrible boys she was in relationship with. Yes, it made sense why she would choose boys that took from her, but it didn’t get into Rory’s issues enough to state what his motive was, despite there being a few chapters from his pov.

All in all, this was a beautifully written account of young people discovering themselves through relationship. It was deeply emotional, raw, and real. It was a believable story that too many women can probably recognize themselves in.

Recommend for those that have deep empathy and/or experience with mental illness because those that don’t will just find this frustrating.
]]> 3591262
Marion and Shiva Stone are twin brothers born of a secret union between a beautiful Indian nun and a brash British surgeon at a mission hospital in Addis Ababa. Orphaned by their mother’s death in childbirth and their father’s disappearance, bound together by a preternatural connection and a shared fascination with medicine, the twins come of age as Ethiopia hovers on the brink of revolution. Yet it will be love, not politics—their passion for the same woman—that will tear them apart and force Marion, fresh out of medical school, to flee his homeland. He makes his way to America, finding refuge in his work as an intern at an underfunded, overcrowded New York City hospital. When the past catches up to him—nearly destroying him—Marion must entrust his life to the two men he thought he trusted least in the world: the surgeon father who abandoned him and the brother who betrayed him.

An unforgettable journey into one man’s remarkable life, and an epic story about the power, intimacy, and curious beauty of the work of healing others.
(front flap)]]> 560 Abraham Verghese 0375414495 Tiffany 2
]]> 4.32 2009
author: Abraham Verghese
name: Tiffany
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2009
rating: 2
read at: 2024/03/10
date added: 2024/03/10
shelves:
review:
DNF. This wasn’t a bad book by any means. I thought it was beautifully written actually, but at times, just too graphic for me. The first of which was in the first 5% of the book where the birth of the twins is being described, and the doctor/father is sick with anger about it and ideas of violent forcep use on the babies head is used. Turned my stomach. And there were many instances like this; too many for my liking to continue reading.


]]> 181350612
But one night, TJ’s world turns upside down after his older brother John confesses that he just murdered one of the clients, an accountant he’d confronted with proof of embezzlement. It seems impossible coming from John, the firstborn son and Most Valuable Devlin.

TJ plunges into the investigation, seizing the chance to prove his worth and save his brother. But in no time, TJ and John find themselves entangled in a lethal web of deception and murder. TJ will fight to save his family, but what he learns might break them first.]]> 384 Lisa Scottoline 0525539700 Tiffany 0 to-read 3.68 2024
author: Lisa Scottoline
name: Tiffany
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/03/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 203019737 A tender and perceptive debut novel about three generations of an Irish American family jarred into crisis by an unexpected pregnancy—from the bestselling author of Hello Beautiful

“This stunning . . . exquisite, skillfully written gem addresses serious issues–e.g., guilt vs. loyalty, the past vs. the present—[but] remains hopeful and includes ample doses of humor and wit.”—Library Journal (starred review)

No one in my mother’s family ever talks about anything that can be categorized as unpleasant or as having to do with emotions. . . .

This spellbinding debut by bestselling author Ann Napolitano is a poignant reminder of how connected we are to those we love, even when we cannot find the words to say it. The unforgettable story of three generations of a large Irish Catholic family, Within Arms Reach is another rich and deeply satisfying novel from the author who captured the many dimensions of grief in Dear Edward and the unbreakable bonds of sisterhood in Hello Beautiful.]]> 352 Ann Napolitano 0593732499 Tiffany 0 to-read 3.41 2004
author: Ann Napolitano
name: Tiffany
average rating: 3.41
book published: 2004
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/03/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 164444179 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780593492918.

Evie Porter has everything a nice Southern girl could want: a doting boyfriend, a house with a white picket fence, a tight group of friends. The only catch: Evie Porter doesn’t exist.

The identity comes first: Evie Porter. Once she’s given a name and location by her mysterious boss, Mr. Smith, she learns everything there is to know about the town and the people in it. Then the mark: Ryan Sumner. The last piece of the puzzle is the job.

Evie isn’t privy to Mr. Smith’s real identity, but she knows this job isn’t like the others. Ryan has gotten under her skin, and she’s starting to envision a different sort of life for herself. But Evie ������’t make any mistakes—especially after what happened last time.

Evie Porter must stay one step ahead of her past while making sure there’s still a future in front of her. The stakes couldn’t be higher—but then, Evie has always liked a challenge. . . .]]> 340 Ashley Elston Tiffany 4
This book was selected as BOTM for January 2024 and was selected as a Reese Book Club book- so I figured I better read it before it got adapted into a movie (which I heard was the plan).

This book took off immediately and got right to the intrigue. You’re left wondering for the first several chapters what it is exactly Evie Porter does (namely because I went into the story blind). But it’s that bit of mystery that locks you into the initial story. From there, we get flashbacks into Evie’s life and start to build a fuller picture of how she ended up in her current job with Ryan Sumner as the target- the boyfriend she’s falling for in the process of spying on him.

I will admit, I had to read this a bit slower at times to get in all the info. The details were dumped on the reader; the author really took her time to develop a strong scene with action and reason, but it required a lot of information to be dumped on the reader to understand what was going on. Kudos to Ashley Elston for the storyline- it was complex and engaging and no doubt took a lot of planning the way that she dropped in little clues throughout.

With all that said, this is not my usual type of thriller. I loved how it kept me engaged because I really wanted to figure out Evie and Ryan and who Mr Smith was (I had a couple of ideas), and it was fast paced which is essential for a thriller to keep moving along. However, it was wholly unbelievable. I wasn’t confident Evie’s character could pull off what she did time and time again, even with help from Devon who never missed a beat (reminded me of a character from Oceans 13). And yet.

I’m excited for this to be adapted into a film. Somehow it’s easier to be engaged in a thriller on screen that seems a bit far-fetched than one in a book where we’re looking for a deeper story. I imagine it a cross between Ocean’s 13, Alias, Blacklist, and that one really bad one Katherine Heigl made��

Pick this one up if you need something quick and entertaining!

]]> 3.97 2024
author: Ashley Elston
name: Tiffany
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/02/28
date added: 2024/02/28
shelves:
review:
3.5ish stars rounded up: fast paced, binge worthy, but a bit unbelievable and often confusing, yet entertaining nonetheless

This book was selected as BOTM for January 2024 and was selected as a Reese Book Club book- so I figured I better read it before it got adapted into a movie (which I heard was the plan).

This book took off immediately and got right to the intrigue. You’re left wondering for the first several chapters what it is exactly Evie Porter does (namely because I went into the story blind). But it’s that bit of mystery that locks you into the initial story. From there, we get flashbacks into Evie’s life and start to build a fuller picture of how she ended up in her current job with Ryan Sumner as the target- the boyfriend she’s falling for in the process of spying on him.

I will admit, I had to read this a bit slower at times to get in all the info. The details were dumped on the reader; the author really took her time to develop a strong scene with action and reason, but it required a lot of information to be dumped on the reader to understand what was going on. Kudos to Ashley Elston for the storyline- it was complex and engaging and no doubt took a lot of planning the way that she dropped in little clues throughout.

With all that said, this is not my usual type of thriller. I loved how it kept me engaged because I really wanted to figure out Evie and Ryan and who Mr Smith was (I had a couple of ideas), and it was fast paced which is essential for a thriller to keep moving along. However, it was wholly unbelievable. I wasn’t confident Evie’s character could pull off what she did time and time again, even with help from Devon who never missed a beat (reminded me of a character from Oceans 13). And yet.

I’m excited for this to be adapted into a film. Somehow it’s easier to be engaged in a thriller on screen that seems a bit far-fetched than one in a book where we’re looking for a deeper story. I imagine it a cross between Ocean’s 13, Alias, Blacklist, and that one really bad one Katherine Heigl made��

Pick this one up if you need something quick and entertaining!


]]> 123087802 You may never stop loving the one you lost. But you can still find love again.

Kate is a bit of a mess. Two years after losing her young husband Cameron, she’s grieving, solo parenting, working like mad at her university fundraising job, always dropping the ball—and yet clinging to her sense of humor.

Lurching from one comedic crisis to the next, she also navigates an overbearing mom and a Tinder-obsessed best friend who's determined to matchmake Kate with her hot new neighbor.

When an in-flight problem leaves Kate and her boss, Hugh, stranded for a weekend on the east coast of Australia, she finally has a chance, away from her son, to really process her grief and see what’s right in front of her. Can she let go of the love of her life and risk her heart a second time?

When it becomes clear that Hugh is hiding a secret, Kate turns to the trail of scribbled notes she once used to hold her life together. The first note captured her heart. Will the last note set it free?

The Last Love Note will make listeners laugh, cry, and renew their faith in the resilience of the human heart—and in love itself.]]> 384 Emma Grey 1958506281 Tiffany 5
I went into this book completely blind about plot, only knowing that it was about a woman who had lost her husband. I have a friend who has been recently widowed, so I was a little scared to go into the deep end with this one, not knowing if the author would really understand the grief and the complexity of all that comes after. But the emotion that was written in the pages absolutely gutted me- and as soon as I finished the book I had to find out why this author nailed it. Unfortunately, she wrote what she knew, and that gutted me even more. This book had me sobbing, especially in the acknowledgments.

The Last Love Note, while having lots of triggers around loss, weaved in a good amount of messy life chaos and humor to give it some levity. It gave me butterflies in my belly while simultaneously making me weep. It had a little mystery but a lot of sense. The characters were fully developed and lovable, and the writing quality was on point for the story it told.

This is way more than just a love story, which I appreciate in “romance�� genres. I recommend- but read trigger warnings first. ]]> 4.04 2023
author: Emma Grey
name: Tiffany
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/02/25
date added: 2024/02/25
shelves:
review:
4.5 rounded up.

I went into this book completely blind about plot, only knowing that it was about a woman who had lost her husband. I have a friend who has been recently widowed, so I was a little scared to go into the deep end with this one, not knowing if the author would really understand the grief and the complexity of all that comes after. But the emotion that was written in the pages absolutely gutted me- and as soon as I finished the book I had to find out why this author nailed it. Unfortunately, she wrote what she knew, and that gutted me even more. This book had me sobbing, especially in the acknowledgments.

The Last Love Note, while having lots of triggers around loss, weaved in a good amount of messy life chaos and humor to give it some levity. It gave me butterflies in my belly while simultaneously making me weep. It had a little mystery but a lot of sense. The characters were fully developed and lovable, and the writing quality was on point for the story it told.

This is way more than just a love story, which I appreciate in “romance�� genres. I recommend- but read trigger warnings first.
]]> 29093292 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780735211735.

A beautifully packaged daily devotional of Stoic wisdom, featuring new translations of the most celebrated Stoics with historical context and practical tips from bestselling author Ryan Holiday.

Stoic philosophy has long been the secret weapon of history’s greatest and wisest leaders--from emperors to artists, activists to fighter pilots. Today, people of all stripes are seeking out Stoicism’s unique blend of practicality and wisdom as they look for answers to the great questions of daily life.

Where should they start? Epictetus? Marcus Aurelius? Seneca? Which edition? Which translator? Presented in a page-per-day format, this daily resource combines all new translations done by Stephen Hanselman of the greatest passages from the great Stoics (including several lesser known philosophers like Zeno, Cleanthes and Musonius Rufus) with helpful commentary.

Building on the organizational structure in Ryan Holiday’s cult classic The Obstacle is the Way, this guide also features twelve monthly themes (and helpful glossary) for clarifying perception, improving action, and unlocking the power of will. Aimed at the high-octane, action-oriented doers of our wired world, this book brings new daily rituals and new perspectives to produce balanced action, insight, effectiveness, and serenity.]]> 416 Ryan Holiday Tiffany 0 currently-reading 4.33 2016
author: Ryan Holiday
name: Tiffany
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/02/24
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 62080187
But when they visit the remote manor that once belonged to Dr. Adrienne Hale, a renowned psychiatrist who vanished without a trace four years earlier, a violent winter storm traps them at the estate�� with no chance of escape until the blizzard comes to an end.

In search of a book to keep her entertained until the snow abates, Tricia happens upon a secret room. One that contains audio transcripts from every single patient Dr. Hale has ever interviewed. As Tricia listens to the cassette tapes, she learns about the terrifying chain of events leading up to Dr. Hale’s mysterious disappearance.

Tricia plays the tapes one by one, late into the night. With each one, another shocking piece of the puzzle falls into place, and Dr. Adrienne Hale’s web of lies slowly unravels.

And then Tricia reaches the final cassette.

The one that reveals the entire horrifying truth.]]> 286 Freida McFadden Tiffany 2 4.09 2022
author: Freida McFadden
name: Tiffany
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2022
rating: 2
read at: 2024/02/24
date added: 2024/02/24
shelves:
review:
This books only positive was that it was compelling; I wanted to find out what was going on despite all the red flags. The writing was so bad in this one that I was eye rolling constantly. It was repetitive because the author didn’t trust her readers to remember the stupidest details which the “twist�� obliterated anyway. Point of view was all wrong- it should have been written in third person. Would not recommend this one.
]]> 25574782
Now another girl has disappeared, with chilling echoes of the past. And it seems that she might not be the only one.

Claire is convinced Julia's disappearance is linked.

But when she begins to learn the truth about her sister, she is confronted with a shocking discovery, and nothing will ever be the same...]]> 432 Karin Slaughter 0062430874 Tiffany 4 3.99 2015
author: Karin Slaughter
name: Tiffany
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/02/11
shelves:
review:

]]> 60784759 A sweeping, tenderhearted love story, Beyond That, the Sea by Laura Spence-Ash tells the story of two families living through World War II on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean, and the shy, irresistible young woman who will call them both her own.

As German bombs fall over London in 1940, working-class parents Millie and Reginald Thompson make an impossible choice: they decide to send their eleven-year-old daughter, Beatrix, to America. There, she’ll live with another family for the duration of the war, where they hope she’ll stay safe.

Scared and angry, feeling lonely and displaced, Bea arrives in Boston to meet the Gregorys. Mr. and Mrs. G, and their sons William and Gerald, fold Bea seamlessly into their world. She becomes part of this lively family, learning their ways and their stories, adjusting to their affluent lifestyle. Bea grows close to both boys, one older and one younger, and fills in the gap between them. Before long, before she even realizes it, life with the Gregorys feels more natural to her than the quiet, spare life with her own parents back in England.

As Bea comes into herself and relaxes into her new life—summers on the coast in Maine, new friends clamoring to hear about life across the sea—the girl she had been begins to fade away, until, abruptly, she is called home to London when the war ends.

Desperate as she is not to leave this life behind, Bea dutifully retraces her trip across the Atlantic back to her new, old world. As she returns to post-war London, the memory of her American family stays with her, never fully letting her go, and always pulling on her heart as she tries to move on and pursue love and a life of her own.

As we follow Bea over time, navigating between her two worlds, Beyond That, the Sea emerges as a beautifully written, absorbing novel, full of grace and heartache, forgiveness and understanding, loss and love.]]> 351 Laura Spence-Ash 1250854377 Tiffany 4 4.12 2023
author: Laura Spence-Ash
name: Tiffany
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/01/19
date added: 2024/01/23
shelves:
review:
Laura Spence-Ash is a beautiful story-teller. This novel had a consistent flow and ease about it. The story centered around a young girl from London who was caught in WW2 bombings, and was sent to stay with an American family. Her parents wanted her to have a childhood outside of war, but they couldn’t have anticipated what would happen, and how that would affect her relationship with her own parents, and the family that would become hers in America. With little sprinkles of life lessons throughout, this was a touching tribute to children of war and the strangers that stepped up along the way.
]]> 65214654 A passionate, powerful memoir by a trailblazing Black transgender activist, tracing her life of transformation and her work towards collective liberation.

In 2017, Raquel Willis took to the National Women’s March podium just after the presidential election of Donald Trump, primed to tell her story as a young Black transgender woman from the South. Despite having her speaking time cut short, the appearance only deepened her commitment to speaking up for communities on the margins.

Born in Augusta, Georgia, to Black Catholic parents, Raquel spent years feeling isolated, even within a loving, close-knit family. There was little access to understanding what it meant to be queer and transgender. It wasn’t until she went to the University of Georgia that she found the LGBTQ+ community, fell in love, and explored her gender for the first time. But the unexpected death of her father forced her to examine her relationship with herself and those she loved. These years of grief, misunderstanding, and hard-won epiphanies seeped into the soil of her life, serving as fertilizer for growth and allowing her to bloom within.

Upon graduation, Raquel entered a career in journalism against the backdrop of the burgeoning Movement for Black Lives, intersectional feminism going mainstream, and unprecedented visibility of the trans community. After hiding her identity as a newspaper reporter, her increasing awareness of the epidemic of violence plaguing trans women of color and the heightened suicide of trans teens inspired her to come out publicly. Within just a few short years of community organizing in Atlanta, Oakland, and New York, Raquel emerged as one of the most formidable Black trans activists in history.

In The Risk It Takes to Bloom, Raquel Willis recounts with passion and candor her experiences straddling the Obama and Trump eras, the possibility of transformation after tragedy, and how complex moments can push us all to take necessary risks and bloom toward collective liberation.]]> 384 Raquel Willis 1250275687 Tiffany 0 to-read 4.29 2023
author: Raquel Willis
name: Tiffany
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/01/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 28763485
Daniel: I’ve always been the good son, the good student, living up to my parents�� high expectations. Never the poet. Or the dreamer. But when I see her, I forget about all that. Something about Natasha makes me think that fate has something much more extraordinary in store—for both of us.

The Universe: Every moment in our lives has brought us to this single moment. A million futures lie before us. Which one will come true?]]> 344 Nicola Yoon 0553496689 Tiffany 3
This book is perfect for YA in that they can just pick it up for entertainment. I’d recommend to a teen.

3 stars for its ease and likability. ]]> 3.96 2016
author: Nicola Yoon
name: Tiffany
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2016
rating: 3
read at: 2023/12/29
date added: 2023/12/29
shelves:
review:
I finally finished this one. Not that it was hard. I took it in a plane ride months ago and then just didn’t finish it when I returned. There was nothing demanding me to pick it up. It’s a cute love story and not much more. The lesson? Love is instant and everything is fate and meant to be. I don’t buy into that theory- but it was written well and it was a cute story. Easy to read. But there wasn’t much to learn from it (aside from the little aside stories about astronomy and black hair care and such).

This book is perfect for YA in that they can just pick it up for entertainment. I’d recommend to a teen.

3 stars for its ease and likability.
]]> 25813942
After committing a terrible crime, Odie and Albert are forced to flee for their lives along with their best friend, Mose, a mute young man of Sioux heritage. Out of pity, they also take with them a brokenhearted little girl named Emmy. Together, they steal away in a canoe, heading for the mighty Mississippi in search for a place to call home.

Over the course of one unforgettable summer, these four orphan vagabonds journey into the unknown, crossing paths with others who are adrift, from struggling farmers and traveling faith healers to displaced families and lost souls of all kinds. With the feel of a modern classic, This Tender Land is an en­thralling, bighearted epic that shows how the magnificent American landscape connects us all, haunts our dreams, and makes us whole.]]> 450 William Kent Krueger 1476749299 Tiffany 4
“There will be courage in this story and cowardice. There will be love and betrayal. And of course there will be hope. In the end, isn’t that what every good story is about?��

4 stars. ]]> 4.35 2019
author: William Kent Krueger
name: Tiffany
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2023/12/28
date added: 2023/12/28
shelves:
review:
An adventure in the like of Huck Finn, this novel takes you on a ride with 4 orphan kids to find a place they can call home. Set in the time of the depression and painted against the backdrop of the Gilead River in Minnesota. Aside from the four main characters, we meet a full cast of others that play some part in their adventure and all felt full and true, whether they were stereotypical typecasts or not. There were moments I couldn’t put this book down and moments I couldn’t pick it back up; times when I wanted more and times when I wanted it to end. But it was all beautifully written and wonderfully told, and will be a story that I remember fondly.

“There will be courage in this story and cowardice. There will be love and betrayal. And of course there will be hope. In the end, isn’t that what every good story is about?��

4 stars.
]]> 65650229 A witty and poignant novel about marriage, middle age, tech-obsessed health culture and the bonds that keep people together

When Jack and Elizabeth meet as college students in the '90s, the two quickly join forces and hold on tight, each eager to claim a place in Chicago's thriving underground art scene with an appreciative kindred spirit.��Fast-forward twenty years to married life, and alongside the challenges of parenting, they encounter cults disguised as mindfulness support groups, polyamorous would-be suitors, Facebook wars, and something called Love Potion Number Nine. For the first time Jack and Elizabeth struggle to recognize one another, and the no-longer-youthful dreamers are forced to face their demons, from unfulfilled career ambitions to painful childhood memories of their own dysfunctional families. In the process Jack and Elizabeth must undertake separate, personal excavations, or risk losing the best thing in their lives: each other.��]]> 611 Nathan Hill 0593536118 Tiffany 4
This was a long book. I’d recommend it for serious book clubbers who may want to explore some of the concepts and ideas he magnifies. Love at first site. Placebo effect. Fitness trackers. Stages of Marriage. There is so much more! But how fun to discuss with others all these ideas!

Really enjoyed this one. ]]> 3.97 2023
author: Nathan Hill
name: Tiffany
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2023/12/08
date added: 2023/12/13
shelves:
review:
This was Nathan Hill’s sophomore book, but my first by him (I have The Nix on my list now though!). The writing reminded me at times of Fredrik Backman in the way he deeply explores human psyche through behavior - though Hill’s was so much more cynical and explorative while I find Backman states observances as fact. Both delight me.

This was a long book. I’d recommend it for serious book clubbers who may want to explore some of the concepts and ideas he magnifies. Love at first site. Placebo effect. Fitness trackers. Stages of Marriage. There is so much more! But how fun to discuss with others all these ideas!

Really enjoyed this one.
]]> 61053829
But when the Granby School invites her back to teach a course, Bodie is inexorably drawn to the case and its increasingly apparent flaws. In their rush to convict Omar, did the school and the police overlook other suspects? Is the real killer still out there? As she falls down the very rabbit hole she was so determined to avoid, Bodie begins to wonder if she wasn't as much of an outsider at Granby as she'd thought—if, perhaps, back in 1995, she knew something that might have held the key to solving the case.]]> 438 Rebecca Makkai 0593490142 Tiffany 3
I heard many great things about this book and was really anticipating it. However, it failed in many ways. It just was not engaging. It took well over half the book (and this was a hefty 400+ page book) to get into anything. It built up and explored a lot of topics that it didn’t necessarily need to. And, it lacked a main idea: there were far too many things she explored and without any staying power.

Three stars because it wasn’t horrible and doesn’t deserve less than that- but I likely would not recommend it to a friend. There are far better books that explore these topics. ]]> 3.57 2023
author: Rebecca Makkai
name: Tiffany
average rating: 3.57
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2023/12/07
date added: 2023/12/11
shelves:
review:
I picked up this book several times and couldn’t seem to get into it. So I put on the audio and as able to get through it, but still, not without clicking over to another one in between. It just was not riveting.

I heard many great things about this book and was really anticipating it. However, it failed in many ways. It just was not engaging. It took well over half the book (and this was a hefty 400+ page book) to get into anything. It built up and explored a lot of topics that it didn’t necessarily need to. And, it lacked a main idea: there were far too many things she explored and without any staying power.

Three stars because it wasn’t horrible and doesn’t deserve less than that- but I likely would not recommend it to a friend. There are far better books that explore these topics.
]]> 88564046
While on a drive in Los Angeles, on a seemingly average afternoon, Kerry Washington received a text message that would send her on a life-changing journey of self-discovery. In an instant, her very identity was torn apart, with everything she thought she knew about herself thrown into question.
��
In Thicker than Water, Washington gives readers an intimate view into both her public and private worlds—as a mother, daughter, wife, artist, advocate, and trailblazer. Chronicling her upbringing and life’s journey thus far, she reveals how she faced a series of challenges and setbacks, effectively hid childhood traumas, met extraordinary mentors, managed to grow her career, and crossed the threshold into stardom and political advocacy, ultimately discovering her truest self and, with it, a deeper sense of belonging.
��
Throughout this profoundly moving and beautifully written memoir, Washington attempts to answer the questions so many have struggled Who am I? What is my truest and most authentic self? How do I find a deeper sense of connection and belonging? With grace and honesty, she inspires readers to search for—and find—themselves.]]> 320 Kerry Washington 0316497398 Tiffany 0
Perhaps it’s because Kerry Washington is so private and continues to be in her book- that I could not connect with this one. Every story felt as though it were being told through the lense of a behavior analyst. It felt sterile and emotionless. Very clinical. And although she revealed a lot about her life, it came across as disjointed and impersonal.

I don’t generally rate memoirs, but my overall feeling is “meh�� and I probably wouldn’t recommend it. I would however recommend her movies and tv shows and look forward to what she does next.]]> 3.85 2023
author: Kerry Washington
name: Tiffany
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at: 2023/11/17
date added: 2023/11/17
shelves:
review:
Kerry is one of my favorite actors; she is dynamic and strong and owns the spotlight. Unfortunately, I didn’t feel the same about her memoir.

Perhaps it’s because Kerry Washington is so private and continues to be in her book- that I could not connect with this one. Every story felt as though it were being told through the lense of a behavior analyst. It felt sterile and emotionless. Very clinical. And although she revealed a lot about her life, it came across as disjointed and impersonal.

I don’t generally rate memoirs, but my overall feeling is “meh�� and I probably wouldn’t recommend it. I would however recommend her movies and tv shows and look forward to what she does next.
]]> 57693416 The next electrifying novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author duo behind The Wife Between Us.

Wealthy Washington suburbanites Marissa and Matthew Bishop seem to have it all—until Marissa is unfaithful. Beneath their veneer of perfection is a relationship riven by work and a lack of intimacy. She wants to repair things for the sake of their eight-year-old son and because she loves her husband. Enter Avery Chambers.

Avery is a therapist who lost her professional license. Still, it doesn’t stop her from counseling those in crisis, though they have to adhere to her unorthodox methods. And the Bishops are desperate.

When they glide through Avery’s door and Marissa reveals her infidelity, all three are set on a collision course. Because the biggest secrets in the room are still hidden, and it’s no longer simply a marriage that’s in danger.]]> 329 Greer Hendricks 125027320X Tiffany 3 3.94 2022
author: Greer Hendricks
name: Tiffany
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2023/10/28
date added: 2023/11/05
shelves:
review:

]]> 60318890
As the locals of Beartown struggle to overcome the past, great change is on the horizon. Someone is coming home after a long time away. Someone will be laid to rest. Someone will fall in love, someone will try to fix their marriage, and someone will do anything to save their children. Someone will submit to hate, someone will fight, and someone will grab a gun and walk towards the ice rink.

So what are the residents of Beartown willing to sacrifice for their home?]]> 671 Fredrik Backman Tiffany 5
Backman is a true artist with words. The observations he makes about life are so profound- and he ties them up in perfect sentences. I will stand by the notion that he is one of the greatest writers of our time. I will read any and every book he writes.

Out of all 3 Beartown books, the Winners is my absolute favorite. It was a rollercoaster ending with so much heart, love, and lessons on life. It is the summation of all the people that make up Beartown. And though I don’t generally reread books, visiting this one again would feel like home.

An absolute must read. A million stars. ]]> 4.45 2022
author: Fredrik Backman
name: Tiffany
average rating: 4.45
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2023/10/26
date added: 2023/10/26
shelves:
review:
I don’t think I’ve ever loved a book more. An entire series, really, more than this Beartown trilogy. And I won’t tell you that they could be read as stand alones, bc even though it’s possible, there would be so much character depth you’d miss, so much history. It’s like getting to know someone in their final year vs knowing them from the minute they’re born. The love I have for all these characters is like love for my very own people. And I cried and laughed and was a mess through all of their lives like I am with my very own people.

Backman is a true artist with words. The observations he makes about life are so profound- and he ties them up in perfect sentences. I will stand by the notion that he is one of the greatest writers of our time. I will read any and every book he writes.

Out of all 3 Beartown books, the Winners is my absolute favorite. It was a rollercoaster ending with so much heart, love, and lessons on life. It is the summation of all the people that make up Beartown. And though I don’t generally reread books, visiting this one again would feel like home.

An absolute must read. A million stars.
]]> 60784605 Shortlisted for the TikTok Book Awards in the Book of the Year, 2023 and the ŷ������ Debut and Fiction Book of the Year, 2023.

It’s fair to say that Maddie’s life in London is far from rewarding. With a mother who spends most of her time in Ghana (yet still somehow manages to be overbearing), Maddie is the primary caretaker for her father, who suffers from advanced stage Parkinson’s. At work, her boss is a nightmare and Maddie is tired of always being the only Black person in every meeting.

When her mum returns from her latest trip to Ghana, Maddie leaps at the chance to get out of the family home and finally start living. A self-acknowledged late bloomer, she’s ready to experience some important “firsts��: She finds a flat share, says yes to after-work drinks, pushes for more recognition in her career, and throws herself into the bewildering world of internet dating. But it's not long before tragedy strikes, forcing Maddie to face the true nature of her unconventional family, and the perils—and rewards—of putting her life on the line.

Smart, funny, and deeply affecting, Jessica George's Maame deals with the themes of our time with humor and poignancy: from familial duty and racism, to female pleasure, the complexity of love, and the life-saving power of friendship. Most important, it explores what it feels like to be torn between two homes and cultures―and it celebrates finally being able to find where you belong.]]> 320 Jessica George Tiffany 4 4.03 2023
author: Jessica George
name: Tiffany
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2023/10/14
date added: 2023/10/18
shelves:
review:

]]> 64631561 New York Times bestselling author Lara Love Hardin recounts her slide from soccer mom to opioid addict to jailhouse shot-caller and her unlikely comeback as a highly successful ghostwriter in this harrowing, hilarious, no-holds-barred memoir.

No one expects the police to knock on the million-dollar, two-story home of the perfect cul-de-sac housewife. But soccer mom Lara Love Hardin has been hiding a shady she is funding her heroin addiction by stealing her neighbors�� credit cards.

Lara is convicted of thirty-two felonies and becomes inmate S32179. She learns that jail is a class system with a power structure that is somewhere between an adolescent sleepover party and Lord of the Flies. Furniture is made from tampon boxes and Snickers bars are currency. But Lara quickly finds the rules and brings love and healing to her fellow inmates as she climbs the social ladder to become the “shot caller,�� showing that jailhouse politics aren’t that different from the PTA meetings she used to attend.

When she’s released, she reinvents herself as a ghostwriter. Now, she’s legally co-opting other people’s identities and getting to meet Oprah, meditate with The Dalai Lama, and have dinner with Archbishop Desmond Tutu. But the shadow of her past follows her. Shame is a poison worse than heroin—there is no way to detox. Lara must learn how to forgive herself and others, navigate life as a felon on probation, prove to herself that she is more good than bad, and much more.

The Many Lives of Mama Love is a heartbreaking and tender journey from shame to redemption, despite a system that makes it almost impossible for us to move beyond the worst thing we have ever done.]]> 319 Lara Love Hardin 1982197668 Tiffany 5
Her writing was easy to follow and presented issues within the prison system, cps system, and parole. She built up an even deeper empathy within me for those who get addicted to drugs and who become stuck in the cycle. There are so few people who really want to see you get out of it- but for those who do, they’re a gem among rocks. Lara battled a lot of people, but she found some good ones too.

High recommend on this one. I have a hard copy and listened along on audio as well when I couldn’t physically read. The emotion that caught in her throat as the author read the story really hit hard. Great audio.

5 stars memoir. ]]> 4.46 2023
author: Lara Love Hardin
name: Tiffany
average rating: 4.46
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2023/10/07
date added: 2023/10/08
shelves:
review:
I was engrossed by Lara Love’s story from the first sentences, and stayed wholly invested until the end. I didn’t like who she was on drugs, but I admired the person she wanted to be and eventually became, for herself and her kids. I rooted her on the entire time.

Her writing was easy to follow and presented issues within the prison system, cps system, and parole. She built up an even deeper empathy within me for those who get addicted to drugs and who become stuck in the cycle. There are so few people who really want to see you get out of it- but for those who do, they’re a gem among rocks. Lara battled a lot of people, but she found some good ones too.

High recommend on this one. I have a hard copy and listened along on audio as well when I couldn’t physically read. The emotion that caught in her throat as the author read the story really hit hard. Great audio.

5 stars memoir.
]]> 61903859
Social justice work, we often assume, is raised voices and raised fists. It requires leading, advocating, fighting, and organizing wherever it takes place--in the streets, slums, villages, inner cities, halls of political power, and more. But what does social justice work look like for those of us who don't feel comfortable battling in the trenches?

Sensitive souls--including those who consider themselves highly emotional, empathic, or introverted--have much to contribute to bringing about a more just and equitable world. Such individuals are wise, thoughtful, and conscientious; they feel more deeply and see things that others don't. We need their contributions. Yet, sustaining justice work can be particularly challenging for the sensitive, and it requires a deep level of self-awareness, intentionality, and care.

In Social Justice for the Sensitive Soul, writer Dorcas Cheng-Tozun (Enneagram 4, INFJ, nonprofit/social enterprise professional, and multiple-burnout survivor) offers six possible pathways for sensitive

- relational activists whose interactions and conversations build the social capital necessary for change

- artists and creators whose work inspires, sheds light, makes connections, and brings issues into the public consciousness

- Record archivists who preserve essential information and hold our collective memory and history

- inventors, programmers, and engineers who center empathy as they develop society-changing products and technologies

- educators, mentors, and elders who build skills and knowledge within movements and shepherd the next generation of changemakers

- data-driven individuals who utilize information as a persuasive tool to effect change and propose options for improvement

Alongside inspiring, real-life examples of highly sensitive world-changers, Cheng-Tozun expands the possibilities of how to have a positive social impact, affirming the particular gifts and talents that sensitive souls offer to a hurting world.]]> 249 Dorcas Cheng-Tozun 1506483445 Tiffany 5 3.99 2023
author: Dorcas Cheng-Tozun
name: Tiffany
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2023/08/19
shelves:
review:

]]> 14345
It all began when Villaseñor’s maternal grandmother sat him down in their little home in the barrio of Carlsbad, California, gave him sweet bread and told him the story of their past. Of his mother Lupe, the most beautiful girl in the whole village, who was only a child when Villa’s men came shooting into their canyon. And of his father Juan and his family, reduced to rags and starvation as they sought refuge across the border, where they believed that endless opportunity awaited.

Lupe and Juan met and fell in love in California, but they found that the doors to the Promised Land were often closed to those from south of the border. His father was forced to take the law into his own hands, despite his wife’s objections. With humor and warmth, Villaseñor shares this passionate love story that celebrates the triumph of the human spirit.]]> 576 Victor Villaseñor 038531177X Tiffany 0 to-read 4.50 1991
author: Victor Villaseñor
name: Tiffany
average rating: 4.50
book published: 1991
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/08/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 60473073 Pageboy is a groundbreaking coming-of-age memoir from the Academy Award-nominated actor Elliot Page. A generation-defining actor and one of the most famous trans advocates of our time, Elliot will now be known as an uncommon literary talent, as he shares never-before-heard details and intimate interrogations on gender, love, mental health, relationships, and Hollywood.]]> 271 Elliot Page Tiffany 0
There is no agenda in this book other than honesty, and I commend him for that. Elliott writes of his youth, and how he questioned his unique feelings of self at an early age, but anytime he would speak them out loud, he was laughed off or told it was wrong. This didn’t stop him from feeling how he felt. It only made him struggle with his identity more; made him doubt his own experience. Made his very existence feel threatened.

It wasn’t until he was near his thirties that an old family friend embraced him and encouraged him to live honestly.

While I didn’t love the vulgar language often used to tell his story, and I could have done without some of the explicit described scenes (I don’t like explicit scenes in any hetero-cis-gender books either) the message I pulled from him sharing his experience was still loud and clear: Trans people exist, whether you shame or deny them. And everyone deserves to live in the mind and body they were given, despite others�� dogmas.

A book worthy of reading. ]]> 3.72 2023
author: Elliot Page
name: Tiffany
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at: 2023/07/25
date added: 2023/07/29
shelves:
review:
The world makes it hard enough for trans people to be out and honest- but throw fame and shame into it- and you’ve got yourself a difficult journey. Such is the one for Elliot Page- who is likely best known for his role in Juno, a movie which I loved and loved his character in.

There is no agenda in this book other than honesty, and I commend him for that. Elliott writes of his youth, and how he questioned his unique feelings of self at an early age, but anytime he would speak them out loud, he was laughed off or told it was wrong. This didn’t stop him from feeling how he felt. It only made him struggle with his identity more; made him doubt his own experience. Made his very existence feel threatened.

It wasn’t until he was near his thirties that an old family friend embraced him and encouraged him to live honestly.

While I didn’t love the vulgar language often used to tell his story, and I could have done without some of the explicit described scenes (I don’t like explicit scenes in any hetero-cis-gender books either) the message I pulled from him sharing his experience was still loud and clear: Trans people exist, whether you shame or deny them. And everyone deserves to live in the mind and body they were given, despite others�� dogmas.

A book worthy of reading.
]]> 58448344 Catriona Ward's The Last House on Needless Street is a shocking and immersive read perfect for fans of Gone Girl and The Haunting of Hill House. Download a FREE sneak peek today!

“The new face of literary dark fiction.�� —Sarah Pinborough, New York Times bestselling author of Behind Her Eyes

"The buzz...is real. I've read it and was blown away. It's a true nerve-shredder that keeps its mind-blowing secrets to the very end." —Stephen King

In a boarded-up house on a dead-end street at the edge of the wild Washington woods lives a family of three.

A teenage girl who isn’t allowed outside, not after last time.
A man who drinks alone in front of his TV, trying to ignore the gaps in his memory.
And a house cat who loves napping and reading the Bible.

An unspeakable secret binds them together, but when a new neighbor moves in next door, what is buried out among the birch trees may come back to haunt them all.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.]]> 49 Catriona Ward Tiffany 2
This one was too all over the place for my tastes. Nothing made sense. And once the cat started talking, I was out. I’d love to know the mystery, but it was just too far out there for me to continue. ]]> 3.70
author: Catriona Ward
name: Tiffany
average rating: 3.70
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2021/10/29
date added: 2023/07/28
shelves:
review:
DNF

This one was too all over the place for my tastes. Nothing made sense. And once the cat started talking, I was out. I’d love to know the mystery, but it was just too far out there for me to continue.
]]> 51704136 Everything I Never Told You, a riveting novel that traces the intertwined fates of the picture-perfect Richardson family and the enigmatic mother and daughter who upend their lives.

In Shaker Heights, a placid, progressive suburb of Cleveland, everything is planned--from the layout of the winding roads, to the colors of the houses, to the successful lives its residents will go on to lead. And no one embodies this spirit more than Elena Richardson, whose guiding principle is playing by the rules.

Enter Mia Warren--an enigmatic artist and single mother--who arrives in this idyllic bubble with her teenaged daughter Pearl, and rents a house from the Richardsons. Soon Mia and Pearl become more than tenants: all four Richardson children are drawn to the mother-daughter pair. But Mia carries with her a mysterious past and a disregard for the status quo that threatens to upend this carefully ordered community.

When old family friends of the Richardsons attempt to adopt a Chinese-American baby, a custody battle erupts that dramatically divides the town--and puts Mia and Elena on opposing sides. Suspicious of Mia and her motives, Elena is determined to uncover the secrets in Mia's past. But her obsession will come at unexpected and devastating costs.

Little Fires Everywhere explores the weight of secrets, the nature of art and identity, and the ferocious pull of motherhood--and the danger of believing that following the rules can avert disaster.

Named a Best Book of the Year by: People, The Washington Post, Bustle, Esquire, Southern Living, The Daily Beast, GQ, Entertainment Weekly, NPR, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Audible, ŷ������, Library Reads, Book of the Month, Paste, Kirkus Reviews, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and many more...

Perfect for book clubs! Visit celesteng.com for discussion guides and more. ]]> 368 Celeste Ng 0143135163 Tiffany 5
We meet a huge cast of characters in this book, but not a single one of them is forgettable. Author Celeste Ng has a talent for writing characters with true depth and realness. I found this book to be mainly about motherhood and how we make our actions mean something about us.

Mrs. Richardson, a born and bred resident of Shaker Heights, has planned her life from the very start. She thrives on perfection and being a "good" mom. But her faults are born of this perfectionism; she overlooks the fire and tenacity of her youngest child, who feels and sees the world for all that it is, and she neglects to recognize any faults that her oldest and smartest child could make. The "she knows better" attitude that often blinds a parent.

Mia is a transient parent; she's running from her past and using her art as the reason for their constant travels. We later find out more about what she's hiding from. But behind that mysterious facade, we find an honest mother who listens to understand more fully about the children around her. She is favored by Mrs. Elena Richardson's children because she takes an actual interest in their lives, however imperfect her methods.

These woman come to a crossroads over a custody battle of a neighborhood family, as well as the love between their own children. In an attempt to "be right", mistakes are made, and fires, real and metaphorical, are lit.

I loved the way Ng wrote of motherhood in a way that both characters could equally feel. Her prose is rich with words that are quotable and touching. While doing so, she touches on subjects as class, race, and gender, making it a timely read!
]]> 4.06 2017
author: Celeste Ng
name: Tiffany
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at: 2020/05/14
date added: 2023/07/06
shelves:
review:
Fires are literally all over this book.

We meet a huge cast of characters in this book, but not a single one of them is forgettable. Author Celeste Ng has a talent for writing characters with true depth and realness. I found this book to be mainly about motherhood and how we make our actions mean something about us.

Mrs. Richardson, a born and bred resident of Shaker Heights, has planned her life from the very start. She thrives on perfection and being a "good" mom. But her faults are born of this perfectionism; she overlooks the fire and tenacity of her youngest child, who feels and sees the world for all that it is, and she neglects to recognize any faults that her oldest and smartest child could make. The "she knows better" attitude that often blinds a parent.

Mia is a transient parent; she's running from her past and using her art as the reason for their constant travels. We later find out more about what she's hiding from. But behind that mysterious facade, we find an honest mother who listens to understand more fully about the children around her. She is favored by Mrs. Elena Richardson's children because she takes an actual interest in their lives, however imperfect her methods.

These woman come to a crossroads over a custody battle of a neighborhood family, as well as the love between their own children. In an attempt to "be right", mistakes are made, and fires, real and metaphorical, are lit.

I loved the way Ng wrote of motherhood in a way that both characters could equally feel. Her prose is rich with words that are quotable and touching. While doing so, she touches on subjects as class, race, and gender, making it a timely read!

]]> 62919906
Ken and Abby Gardner lost their mother when they were small and they have been haunted by her absence ever since. Their father, Adam, a brilliant oceanographer, raised them mostly on his own in his remote home on Cape Cod, where the attachment between Ken and Abby deepened into something complicated—and as adults their relationship is strained. Now, years later, the siblings�� lives are still deeply entwined. Ken is a successful businessman with political ambitions and a picture-perfect family and Abby is a talented visual artist who depends on her brother’s goodwill, in part because he owns the studio where she lives and works.

As the novel opens, Adam is approaching his seventieth birthday, staring down his mortality and fading relevance. He has always managed his bipolar disorder with medication, but he’s determined to make one last scientific breakthrough and so he has secretly stopped taking his pills, which he knows will infuriate his children. Meanwhile, Abby and Ken are both harboring secrets of their own, and there is a new person on the periphery of the family—Steph, who doesn’t make her connection known. As Adam grows more attuned to the frequencies of the deep sea and less so to the people around him, Ken and Abby each plan the elaborate gifts they will present to their father on his birthday, jostling for primacy in this small family unit.

Set in the fraught summer of 2016, and drawing on the biblical tale of Cain and Abel, Little Monsters is an absorbing, sharply observed family story by a writer who knows Cape Cod inside and out—its Edenic lushness and its snakes.]]> 320 Adrienne Brodeur 1982198109 Tiffany 0 to-read 3.63 2023
author: Adrienne Brodeur
name: Tiffany
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/07/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 61151270
By the��award-winning author of Something Wild , a gripping portrait of a tumultuous, consuming relationship between a young woman and a recovering addict

When Leah Kempler meets Charlie Nelson in line at the grocery store, their attraction is immediate and intense. Charlie, with his big feelings and grand proclamations of love, captivates her completely. But there are peculiarities of his life—he’s older than her but lives with his parents; he meets up with a friend at odd hours of the night; he sleeps a lot and always seems to be coming down with something. He confesses that he’s a recovering heroin addict, but he promises Leah that he’s never going to use again.

Leah's friends and family are concerned. As she finds herself getting deeper into an isolated relationship, one of manipulation and denial, the truth about Charlie feels as blurry as their time together. Even when Charlie’s behavior becomes increasingly erratic, when he starts to make Leah feel unsafe,��she ������’t help but feel that what exists between them is destined. Charlie is wide open, boyish, and unbearably handsome. The bounds of Leah’s own pain—and love—are so deep that she ������’t see him spiraling into self-destruction.

Hanna Halperin writes with aching vulnerability and intimacy, sharply attuned to Leah’s desire for an all-consuming, compulsive connection. I Could Live Here Forever exposes the chasm between perception and truth to tell an intoxicating story of one woman’s relationship with an addict, the accompanying swirl of compassion and codependence, and her enduring search for love and wholeness.]]> 336 Hanna Halperin 0593492072 Tiffany 0 to-read 3.72 2023
author: Hanna Halperin
name: Tiffany
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/07/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 63222079
The Loverlys sit by the hospital bed of their young son who is in a coma after falling from his bedroom window in the middle of the night; his mother, Whitney, will not speak to anyone. Back home, their friends and neighbors are left in shock, each confronting their own role in the events that led up to what happened that terrible night: the warm, altruistic Parks who are the Loverlys' best friends; the young, ambitious Goldsmiths who are struggling to start a family of their own; and the quiet, elderly Portuguese couple who care for their adult son with a developmental disability, and who pass the long days on the front porch, watching their neighbors go about their busy lives.

The story spins out over the course of one week, in the alternating voices of the women in each family as they are forced to face the secrets within the walls of their own homes, and the uncomfortable truths that connect them all to one another. Set against the heartwrenching drama of what will happen to Xavier, who hangs between death and life, or a life changed forever, THE WHISPERS is a novel about what happens when we put our needs ahead of our children's. Exploring the quiet sacrifices of motherhood, the intuitions that we silence, the complexities of our closest friendships, and the danger of envy, this is a novel about the reverberations of life's most difficult decisions.]]> 336 Ashley Audrain 1984881698 Tiffany 4
Like in The Push, Audrain writes with a distinct fervor and rawness that you’ll either love or hate. She dedicates her sophomore book to “every mom hanging on by a thread�� - but it’s not to reassure them. This book doubles down on that desire to just let go. If I knew her personally, I’d be asking if she’s OK.

Audrain digs deep when it comes to marriage, friendship, and children. Whitney is the mother who has it all. A husband who stands by her side and sweeps all her missteps under the rug, three children, a full time housekeeper/nanny, and a job she loves. But she ������’t stand to be around them and seeks pleasure elsewhere.

Blair is her envious best friend who is loyal even when Whitney is wrong. And unlike Whitney, Blair is the perfect doting mother who is always in tune to her daughter. Just not so much her husband, who she suspects is having an affair.

Rebecca is childless, but desperately wants children despite her failing uterus, and failing marriage.

Then there is Mara, an older woman whose family life is behind her. She used to have a son, so she understands all these women’s struggles. And all of them are tied together as neighbors.

When Whitney’s son falls from an open window- someone is to blame. And this story will take you on a wild ride to finding out.

I loved the quick writing style. The rawness. The ease in which she combined heartache and pleasure as though they aren’t exclusive. A solid enjoyable read. ]]> 3.78 2023
author: Ashley Audrain
name: Tiffany
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2023/06/29
date added: 2023/06/29
shelves:
review:
3.5-4 stars

Like in The Push, Audrain writes with a distinct fervor and rawness that you’ll either love or hate. She dedicates her sophomore book to “every mom hanging on by a thread�� - but it’s not to reassure them. This book doubles down on that desire to just let go. If I knew her personally, I’d be asking if she’s OK.

Audrain digs deep when it comes to marriage, friendship, and children. Whitney is the mother who has it all. A husband who stands by her side and sweeps all her missteps under the rug, three children, a full time housekeeper/nanny, and a job she loves. But she ������’t stand to be around them and seeks pleasure elsewhere.

Blair is her envious best friend who is loyal even when Whitney is wrong. And unlike Whitney, Blair is the perfect doting mother who is always in tune to her daughter. Just not so much her husband, who she suspects is having an affair.

Rebecca is childless, but desperately wants children despite her failing uterus, and failing marriage.

Then there is Mara, an older woman whose family life is behind her. She used to have a son, so she understands all these women’s struggles. And all of them are tied together as neighbors.

When Whitney’s son falls from an open window- someone is to blame. And this story will take you on a wild ride to finding out.

I loved the quick writing style. The rawness. The ease in which she combined heartache and pleasure as though they aren’t exclusive. A solid enjoyable read.
]]> 60126555 Carrie Soto is fierce, and her determination to win at any cost has not made her popular.

By the time Carrie retires from tennis, she is the best player the world has ever seen. She has shattered every record and claimed twenty Slam titles. And if you ask her, she is entitled to every one. She sacrificed nearly everything to become the best, with her father as her coach.

But six years after her retirement, Carrie finds herself sitting in the stands of the 1994 US Open, watching her record be taken from her by a brutal, stunning, British player named Nicki Chan.

At thirty-seven years old, Carrie makes the monumental decision to come out of retirement and be coached by her father for one last year in an attempt to reclaim her record. Even if the sports media says that they never liked the 'Battle-Axe' anyway. Even if her body doesn't move as fast as it did. And even if it means swallowing her pride to train with a man she once almost opened her heart to: Bowe Huntley. Like her, he has something to prove before he gives up the game forever.

In spite of it all: Carrie Soto is back, for one epic final season. In this riveting and unforgettable novel, Taylor Jenkins Reid tells a story about the cost of greatness and a legendary athlete attempting a comeback.]]> 369 Taylor Jenkins Reid 1529152127 Tiffany 4 4.32 2022
author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
name: Tiffany
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2023/05/27
date added: 2023/06/22
shelves:
review:

]]> 61718053
They broke up six months ago. And still haven’t told their best friends.

Which is how they find themselves sharing the largest bedroom at the Maine cottage that has been their friend group’s yearly getaway for the last decade. Their annual respite from the world, where for one vibrant, blue week they leave behind their daily lives; have copious amounts of cheese, wine, and seafood; and soak up the salty coastal air with the people who understand them most.

Only this year, Harriet and Wyn are lying through their teeth while trying not to notice how desperately they still want each other. Because the cottage is for sale and this is the last week they’ll all have together in this place. They ������’t stand to break their friends�� hearts, and so they’ll play their parts. Harriet will be the driven surgical resident who never starts a fight, and Wyn will be the laid-back charmer who never lets the cracks show. It’s a flawless plan (if you look at it from a great distance and through a pair of sunscreen-smeared sunglasses). After years of being in love, how hard can it be to fake it for one week�� in front of those who know you best?

A couple who broke up months ago make a pact to pretend to still be together for their annual weeklong vacation with their best friends in this glittering and wise new novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Emily Henry.]]> 400 Emily Henry 0593441273 Tiffany 4 3.95 2023
author: Emily Henry
name: Tiffany
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2023/05/30
date added: 2023/06/22
shelves:
review:

]]> 61771675
But then darkness from William’s past surfaces, jeopardizing not only Julia’s carefully orchestrated plans for their future, but the sisters�� unshakeable devotion to one another. The result is a catastrophic family rift that changes their lives for generations. Will the loyalty that once rooted them be strong enough to draw them back together when it matters most?]]> 416 Ann Napolitano Tiffany 5 4.14 2023
author: Ann Napolitano
name: Tiffany
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2023/06/22
date added: 2023/06/22
shelves:
review:

]]> 59808050 The New York Times bestselling Queen of Twists returns…with a family reunion that leads to murder.

After years of avoiding each other, Daisy Darker’s entire family is assembling for Nana’s 80th birthday party in Nana’s crumbling gothic house on a tiny tidal island. Finally back together one last time, when the tide comes in, they will be cut off from the rest of the world for eight hours.

The family arrives, each of them harboring secrets. Then at the stroke of midnight, as a storm rages, Nana is found dead. And an hour later, the next family member follows��

Trapped on an island where someone is killing them one by one, the Darkers must reckon with their present mystery as well as their past secrets, before the tide comes in and all is revealed.

With a wicked wink to Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, Daisy Darker’s unforgettable twists will leave readers reeling.]]> 352 Alice Feeney 1250843936 Tiffany 3 3.75 2022
author: Alice Feeney
name: Tiffany
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2023/04/30
date added: 2023/05/04
shelves:
review:
Decent thriller with a twist at the end I didn’t see coming. It felt a little tedious throughout; it spanned one night and was told by the hour, and had a lot of repetition of words that made me eye roll, but otherwise was very clever. I loved Feeney’s style of little nuggets of wisdom dropped throughout. Mostly enjoyed it!
]]> 61246258
Shot through with the indulgent pleasures of life among New York’s one-percenters, Pineapple Street is an addictive, escapist novel that sparkles with wit. Full of recognizable, lovable—if fallible—characters, it’s about the peculiar unknowability of someone else’s family, the miles between the haves and have-nots, and the insanity of first love—all wrapped in a deliciously funny, sharply observed debut of family, love, and class.]]> 304 Jenny Jackson 059349069X Tiffany 4 3.49 2023
author: Jenny Jackson
name: Tiffany
average rating: 3.49
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2023/04/19
date added: 2023/04/20
shelves:
review:

]]> 61685973 The author of the runaway hit Buy Yourself the F*cking Lilies shares honest and practical lessons for healing your past and owning your future so you can radiate strength, bravery, and joy when life gets dark.

For the past decade, Tara Schuster worked like hell to repair the emotional wounds inflicted during what she refers to as her neglected, mess-wreck disaster of a childhood. She brought radical self-care, healing rituals, and self-love into her life, and on most days, she was a grateful, happy, and stable adult. She even wrote a book about it!

But then she lost her job, the one on which she had staked her entire adult identity. Cue an out-of-body-panic-attack-doom-spiral and deep depression that brought her harshest childhood traumas to the surface. Isolated at home during a global pandemic, she experienced piercing loneliness and a lack of purpose like she had never known. Finally, after a particularly dangerous dissociative episode while driving down the highway, she realized that enough was enough; she needed to slow down and pull over, to stop the relentless hustling that had gotten her this far, and to recover her innermost self.

This book is a guide to healing your deepest soul wounds, getting off your "good enough" plateau, developing habits that will give you lasting courage and resolve, and creating the spectacular life that you actually want. Full of practical, free baby-steps we can take today, it's for people who are ready to liberate themselves from their emotional suffering, discover their purpose, and finally sit in the driver's seat of their experience. It's for anyone who is tired, hurting, and feeling like their essential brightness is gone. It's for people who are ready to glow in the f*cking dark.]]> 302 Tara Schuster 0593243099 Tiffany 3
If you’re a single gen-x er who needs some life strategies from a girl who will sound like your best friend- I recommend this one. Otherwise, her first book is where it’s at. ]]> 3.91
author: Tara Schuster
name: Tiffany
average rating: 3.91
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2023/03/30
date added: 2023/03/30
shelves:
review:
I love Tara Schuster’s voice and narrative style. Like her first book, which I loved for its voice and it’s practical advice, this was more of the same, except that it dug a little deeper into memoir and a little deeper into some strategies and ideas. However, unlike the first book, I found this one to be a little more geared to the younger generation- a ton of dating stories, dating advice, and strategies that don’t quite fit a married with kids lifestyle. In other words, this wasn’t a good fit for me- I’m not the intended audience on this one.

If you’re a single gen-x er who needs some life strategies from a girl who will sound like your best friend- I recommend this one. Otherwise, her first book is where it’s at.
]]> 36373463
Soon a new team starts to take shape around Amat, the fastest player you’ll ever see; Benji, the intense lone wolf; and Vidar, a born-to-be-bad troublemaker. But bringing this team together proves to be a challenge as old bonds are broken, new ones are formed, and the enmity with Hed grows more and more acute.

As the big match approaches, the not-so-innocent pranks and incidents between the communities pile up and their mutual contempt grows deeper. By the time the last game is finally played, a resident of Beartown will be dead, and the people of both towns will be forced to wonder if, after all they’ve been through, the game they love can ever return to something simple and innocent.
]]> 448 Fredrik Backman 1501160796 Tiffany 5
Us Against You picks up where Beartown left off. Hockey still its defining quality, even if the team has disbanded, many of its players playing for the rival Hed team. Bachman uses this story to explore love and hate, truth and lies - because really, you can't explore one without the other - it explores manhood, sexuality without even really navigating the sex of it (because he's a genius), death, showing up for community, and just everything. Really, his books are an exploration of all of life's many facets, and how do you even sum that up?

And of course, it is full of quotes that are the windows into our own soul. My favorite perhaps being, "The worst thing we know about other people is that we're dependent upon them. That their actions affect our lives. Not just the people we choose, the people we like, but all the rest of them: the idiots. You who stand in front is us in every line, who can't drive properly, who like bad television shows and talk too loud in restaurants and whose kids infect our kids with the winter vomiting bug at preschool. You who park badly and steal our jobs and vote for the wrong party. You also influence our lives, every second."

Because we may not be able to control other people. But we can control ourselves and influence others, and perhaps that's our greatest human quality. Or our worst.

But Bachman will always leave you thinking about it.

Everyone needs to read this series. Five glowing, over-filled stars. ]]> 4.34 2017
author: Fredrik Backman
name: Tiffany
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at: 2023/03/25
date added: 2023/03/26
shelves:
review:
This is my 5th book from Fredrik Backman (the 2nd of the Beartown trilogy), and I maintain that Backman is one of the best thinkers and writers of our time. The way he observes the world around us and then fits a story perfectly in its wake is a beautiful thing to read. Many people will say that Beartown and its sequels are heavy subject matter and brutal. This is true. His books are raw and honest- art imitating life. He is writing about us. And in every single one of his books, I see people I know and people I've met; his characters encapsulate the world around us. What I love most about his books, I think, is the way they take a snapshot of our culture and reveal it as an analysis of who we are. We are all Beartown. And as heavy and brutal as it may be, it will always be worth the time.

Us Against You picks up where Beartown left off. Hockey still its defining quality, even if the team has disbanded, many of its players playing for the rival Hed team. Bachman uses this story to explore love and hate, truth and lies - because really, you can't explore one without the other - it explores manhood, sexuality without even really navigating the sex of it (because he's a genius), death, showing up for community, and just everything. Really, his books are an exploration of all of life's many facets, and how do you even sum that up?

And of course, it is full of quotes that are the windows into our own soul. My favorite perhaps being, "The worst thing we know about other people is that we're dependent upon them. That their actions affect our lives. Not just the people we choose, the people we like, but all the rest of them: the idiots. You who stand in front is us in every line, who can't drive properly, who like bad television shows and talk too loud in restaurants and whose kids infect our kids with the winter vomiting bug at preschool. You who park badly and steal our jobs and vote for the wrong party. You also influence our lives, every second."

Because we may not be able to control other people. But we can control ourselves and influence others, and perhaps that's our greatest human quality. Or our worst.

But Bachman will always leave you thinking about it.

Everyone needs to read this series. Five glowing, over-filled stars.
]]> 62296528
For Harry, this is that story at last.

Before losing his mother, twelve-year-old Prince Harry was known as the carefree one, the happy-go-lucky Spare to the more serious Heir. Grief changed everything. He struggled at school, struggled with anger, with loneliness—and, because he blamed the press for his mother’s death, he struggled to accept life in the spotlight.

At twenty-one, he joined the British Army. The discipline gave him structure, and two combat tours made him a hero at home. But he soon felt more lost than ever, suffering from post-traumatic stress and prone to crippling panic attacks. Above all, he couldn’t find true love.

Then he met Meghan. The world was swept away by the couple’s cinematic romance and rejoiced in their fairy-tale wedding. But from the beginning, Harry and Meghan were preyed upon by the press, subjected to waves of abuse, racism, and lies. Watching his wife suffer, their safety and mental health at risk, Harry saw no other way to prevent the tragedy of history repeating itself but to flee his mother country. Over the centuries, leaving the Royal Family was an act few had dared. The last to try, in fact, had been his mother. . . .

For the first time, Prince Harry tells his own story, chronicling his journey with raw, unflinching honesty. A landmark publication, Spare is full of insight, revelation, self-examination, and hard-won wisdom about the eternal power of love over grief.]]> 410 Prince Harry 0593593804 Tiffany 0
There was a lot of material here. Harry really did show all his cards. And while I respect that, some of it was probably unnecessary to the heart of the story he wanted to tell. I of course loved his early years with his mother and his most recent ones with Megan. His heart and who he is really showed in all those moments.

I understand where the need to protect Megan comes from; a deep trauma from the loss of his mother. I felt like he was the little boy walking behind her coffin yelling, “someone help and stop this!��, but it was a cry for help for Megan and himself. He knows how dangerous it is up on that cliff- and he’s trying to prevent history from repeating. I respect and admire that about him.

I also understand his brother and father’s needs to uphold the traditions of the monarchy. I don’t agree with it. I want to shake them and yell, “you’re letting this cycle continue!�� But- a single death is not as big as a whole monarchy. That to them would be tragic. It’s the same idea of wives standing by their abusive husbands. It’s easier to stay than it is to leave. It’s easier ro believe a lie than it is to have to deal with the truth. And that is the system of the monarchy. And that is who- or what-Harry is up against.

I do not feel the royals owe me anything. Perhaps it’s bc I’m American and my taxes don’t pay for their existence. But even still- I ������’t imagine feeling like I own a piece of anyone and their lives because of that. The way some people in Britain have turned on Harry and Megan is sad. And maybe it’s just a loud few- but it’s demoralizing to say the least. This book helped showcase the mature decisions he and Megan have made together in the face of such backlash. They owe the world nothing.

What leaves me hopeful is that Harry and Megan found each other. I think they are a well balanced and respectable couple. Megan is who Harry needed- she is someone who believes him and believes in him. And I think that’s lovely. This book paid a beautiful tribute to that.
]]> 3.78 2023
author: Prince Harry
name: Tiffany
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at: 2023/03/21
date added: 2023/03/21
shelves:
review:
Memoirs are always so hard to review. They are deeply personal stories that often need to be told in order to heal. And I see this with Harry. In it, I felt his turmoil about being “the spare�� to his brother, a future king, in a system that perhaps he’s unsure he believes should even exist.

There was a lot of material here. Harry really did show all his cards. And while I respect that, some of it was probably unnecessary to the heart of the story he wanted to tell. I of course loved his early years with his mother and his most recent ones with Megan. His heart and who he is really showed in all those moments.

I understand where the need to protect Megan comes from; a deep trauma from the loss of his mother. I felt like he was the little boy walking behind her coffin yelling, “someone help and stop this!��, but it was a cry for help for Megan and himself. He knows how dangerous it is up on that cliff- and he’s trying to prevent history from repeating. I respect and admire that about him.

I also understand his brother and father’s needs to uphold the traditions of the monarchy. I don’t agree with it. I want to shake them and yell, “you’re letting this cycle continue!�� But- a single death is not as big as a whole monarchy. That to them would be tragic. It’s the same idea of wives standing by their abusive husbands. It’s easier to stay than it is to leave. It’s easier ro believe a lie than it is to have to deal with the truth. And that is the system of the monarchy. And that is who- or what-Harry is up against.

I do not feel the royals owe me anything. Perhaps it’s bc I’m American and my taxes don’t pay for their existence. But even still- I ������’t imagine feeling like I own a piece of anyone and their lives because of that. The way some people in Britain have turned on Harry and Megan is sad. And maybe it’s just a loud few- but it’s demoralizing to say the least. This book helped showcase the mature decisions he and Megan have made together in the face of such backlash. They owe the world nothing.

What leaves me hopeful is that Harry and Megan found each other. I think they are a well balanced and respectable couple. Megan is who Harry needed- she is someone who believes him and believes in him. And I think that’s lovely. This book paid a beautiful tribute to that.

]]> 60784540
Picture a lovely cottage on a cliff, with sloping lawns, walking paths, and beautiful flowers. It’s Gabe and Pippa Gerard’s dream home in a sleepy coastal town. But their perfect house hides something sinister. The tall cliffs have become a popular spot for people to end their lives. Over the past several months, Gabe comes to their rescue, literally talking them off the ledge.

Until one day, he doesn’t. When Pippa discovers Gabe knew the victim, the questions spiral. . . .Did the victim jump? Was she pushed? And would Gabe, the love of Pippa’s life, her soulmate . . . lie? As the perfect façade of their marriage begins to crack, the deepest and darkest secrets begin to unravel. Because sometimes, the most convincing lies are the ones we tell ourselves.]]> 327 Sally Hepworth 1250229707 Tiffany 3
Here’s what you need to know- we have an unreliable narrator here. Well, one of them. The other one is dead and in limbo. And the unreliable one is more deceptive than anything. To me, that does not a good mystery/thriller make. Deception shouldn’t be the sole reason a story starts to make sense. And yet�� this is the only thing that tied loose ends together here.

The characters that are built up from this narrative are the most deceiving of all. They simply didn’t match their motives. Even with a mental illness being an excuse for one of them, it still didn’t work for me. Perhaps because I couldn’t believe any of the characters I also couldn’t believe this story.

I get what the writer tried to do with this one- but it didn’t work from my perspective. It had all the bones for a great story, just none of the guts.

So, again, meh. We’re not soulmates, me and this book. ]]> 3.78 2022
author: Sally Hepworth
name: Tiffany
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2023/03/21
date added: 2023/03/21
shelves:
review:
Meh.

Here’s what you need to know- we have an unreliable narrator here. Well, one of them. The other one is dead and in limbo. And the unreliable one is more deceptive than anything. To me, that does not a good mystery/thriller make. Deception shouldn’t be the sole reason a story starts to make sense. And yet�� this is the only thing that tied loose ends together here.

The characters that are built up from this narrative are the most deceiving of all. They simply didn’t match their motives. Even with a mental illness being an excuse for one of them, it still didn’t work for me. Perhaps because I couldn’t believe any of the characters I also couldn’t believe this story.

I get what the writer tried to do with this one- but it didn’t work from my perspective. It had all the bones for a great story, just none of the guts.

So, again, meh. We’re not soulmates, me and this book.
]]> 45046808
North Carolina, 1940: Anna Dale, an artist from New Jersey, wins a national contest to paint a mural for the post office in Edenton, North Carolina. Alone in the world and desperate for work, she accepts. But what she doesn't expect is to find herself immersed in a town where prejudices run deep, where people are hiding secrets behind closed doors, and where the price of being different might just end in murder.

What happened to Anna Dale? Are the clues hidden in the decrepit mural? Can Morgan overcome her own demons to discover what exists beneath the layers of lies?]]> 391 Diane Chamberlain 1250087333 Tiffany 4 Another hit out of the park for Chamberlain. I’m only knocking it down a bit because the first quarter of the book was a tad harder to follow and get into than the previous two I read of hers. I think the subject matter of art restoration lent to a slower pace in some spots- but honestly, it was still compelling and forward moving for the majority of it.

In this story, several lives are intertwined- that of Anna Dale, white, female artist and winner of a local contest in 1940, and her student/assistant, Jesse Williams, a young black boy who had a talent for art. Then, 1918, we have Morgan Christopher- young, white parolee- who doesn’t figure out how she’s been asked to restore a painting until the very end. The way that Chamberlain weaves their stories so vividly is always a wonder to me. She has a way of revealing characters that I haven’t read from many writers, and I really do enjoy her style.

Another one I’d recommend reading; or better yet, grab an audio version as the narration for her books never fails to keep me interested until the very end. ]]> 4.09 2020
author: Diane Chamberlain
name: Tiffany
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2023/03/16
date added: 2023/03/16
shelves:
review:
4.5⭐️
Another hit out of the park for Chamberlain. I’m only knocking it down a bit because the first quarter of the book was a tad harder to follow and get into than the previous two I read of hers. I think the subject matter of art restoration lent to a slower pace in some spots- but honestly, it was still compelling and forward moving for the majority of it.

In this story, several lives are intertwined- that of Anna Dale, white, female artist and winner of a local contest in 1940, and her student/assistant, Jesse Williams, a young black boy who had a talent for art. Then, 1918, we have Morgan Christopher- young, white parolee- who doesn’t figure out how she’s been asked to restore a painting until the very end. The way that Chamberlain weaves their stories so vividly is always a wonder to me. She has a way of revealing characters that I haven’t read from many writers, and I really do enjoy her style.

Another one I’d recommend reading; or better yet, grab an audio version as the narration for her books never fails to keep me interested until the very end.
]]> 52656911
The bride �� The plus one �� The best man �� The wedding planner �� The bridesmaid �� The body

On an island off the coast of Ireland, guests gather to celebrate two people joining their lives together as one. The groom: handsome and charming, a rising television star. The bride: smart and ambitious, a magazine publisher. It’s a wedding for a magazine, or for a celebrity: the designer dress, the remote location, the luxe party favors, the boutique whiskey. The cell phone service may be spotty and the waves may be rough, but every detail has been expertly planned and will be expertly executed.

But perfection is for plans, and people are all too human. As the champagne is popped and the festivities begin, resentments and petty jealousies begin to mingle with the reminiscences and well wishes. The groomsmen begin the drinking game from their school days. The bridesmaid not-so-accidentally ruins her dress. The bride’s oldest (male) friend gives an uncomfortably caring toast.

And then someone turns up dead. Who didn’t wish the happy couple well? And perhaps more important, why?]]> 319 Lucy Foley Tiffany 4 3.82 2020
author: Lucy Foley
name: Tiffany
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2023/03/15
shelves:
review:

]]> 75668244
Perfect for fans of Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, and Nevermoor.

War has come to the supernatural world, and Amari’s two worst enemies are leading the charge.

Elaine Harlowe has manipulated her way into becoming prime minister, using her mind control ability to force the Bureau to take up her vicious grudge against magiciankind. Meanwhile, Dylan Van Helsing, the newly crowned leader of the League of Magicians—and Amari’s former partner—is after a destructive new power that would not only ensure the magicians�� victory . . . it would make him invincible.

With neither the Bureau nor the League safe for Amari, and her newly returned brother, Quinton, determined to keep her out of the fray, she and her friends decide to find a way to end the war on their own.

So when they learn that the only way to stop Dylan is to find powerful magical inventions known as Wonders, they go after them. But wielding these items comes at a terrible cost, and Amari will have to decide just how much she’s willing to sacrifice . . . because the Despicable Wonders will demand everything.]]> 400 B.B. Alston 0062975242 Tiffany 0 to-read 4.15 2024
author: B.B. Alston
name: Tiffany
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/03/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 17286747
After losing her parents, fifteen-year-old Ivy Hart��is left to care for her grandmother, older sister and nephew as tenants on a small tobacco farm.�� As she struggles with her grandmother’s aging, her sister’s mental illness and her own epilepsy, she realizes they might need more than she can give.

When Jane Forrester takes a position as Grace County’s newest social worker, she doesn’t realize just how much her help is needed.�� She quickly becomes emotionally invested in her clients' lives, causing tension with her boss and her new husband.�� But as Jane is drawn in by the Hart women, she begins to discover the secrets of the small farm—secrets much darker than she would have guessed.�� Soon, she must decide whether to take drastic action to help them, or risk losing the battle against everything she believes is wrong.

Set in rural Grace County, North Carolina in a time of state-mandated sterilizations and racial tension, Necessary Lies tells the story of these two young women, seemingly worlds apart, but both haunted by tragedy.�� Jane and Ivy are thrown together and must ask themselves: how can you know what you believe is right, when everyone is telling you it’s wrong?]]> 368 Diane Chamberlain 1250010691 Tiffany 5
Like the first book I read from her, I also didn’t want this story to end. I wanted more from the characters; I wanted to fill in all the gaps.

This story was about the sterilizations that occurred in the welfare population during the 1960s - a subject that I have read about before. So I wasn’t surprised by the program, but more so of the details and stories that came out of it, even if fictional as they were here. This story was still based on real life events, and that’s always hard to digest. And yet, chamberlain made it very digestible.

This one was heartwarming, sad, and liberating. Our MC, Jane, is a strong woman, and even when she was in bad situations, she used compassion to question and guide her. She is a definite favorite character of mine that I won’t soon forget.

High recommend if you love learning about pieces of history, and want a good story to accompany it. ]]> 4.28 2013
author: Diane Chamberlain
name: Tiffany
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2013
rating: 5
read at: 2023/03/09
date added: 2023/03/11
shelves:
review:
My second Chamberlain book, and another compelling 5-star story and writing. I love Chamberlain’s voice; the way she uses multiple first person narratives to build a story and present all the issues that surround that story. She has a beautiful, natural way of being curious enough to look at all sides without sounding like there is an agenda or something to prove. Her writing just unfolds, and it’s really something that sucks you in.

Like the first book I read from her, I also didn’t want this story to end. I wanted more from the characters; I wanted to fill in all the gaps.

This story was about the sterilizations that occurred in the welfare population during the 1960s - a subject that I have read about before. So I wasn’t surprised by the program, but more so of the details and stories that came out of it, even if fictional as they were here. This story was still based on real life events, and that’s always hard to digest. And yet, chamberlain made it very digestible.

This one was heartwarming, sad, and liberating. Our MC, Jane, is a strong woman, and even when she was in bad situations, she used compassion to question and guide her. She is a definite favorite character of mine that I won’t soon forget.

High recommend if you love learning about pieces of history, and want a good story to accompany it.
]]> 890 “I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that's why.��

They are an unlikely pair: George is "small and quick and dark of face"; Lennie, a man of tremendous size, has the mind of a young child. Yet they have formed a "family," clinging together in the face of loneliness and alienation. Laborers in California's dusty vegetable fields, they hustle work when they can, living a hand-to-mouth existence. But George and Lennie have a plan: to own an acre of land and a shack they can call their own.

While the powerlessness of the laboring class is a recurring theme in Steinbeck's work of the late 1930s, he narrowed his focus when composing Of Mice and Men, creating an intimate portrait of two men facing a world marked by petty tyranny, misunderstanding, jealousy, and callousness. But though the scope is narrow, the theme is universal: a friendship and a shared dream that makes an individual's existence meaningful.

A unique perspective on life's hardships, this story has achieved the status of timeless classic due to its remarkable success as a novel, a Broadway play, and three acclaimed films.]]> 107 John Steinbeck 0142000671 Tiffany 4 3.88 1937
author: John Steinbeck
name: Tiffany
average rating: 3.88
book published: 1937
rating: 4
read at: 2023/02/28
date added: 2023/03/05
shelves:
review:
Understandably, this is still being read and analyzed in schools. A post-depression era story of two men looking for work to save for their American dream. Themes of racial division, sex division, mental health, friendship and loneliness to name a few. A short, quick novella that showcases the writing of Steinbeck beautifully.
]]> 37638145 From bestselling author Diane Chamberlain comes an irresistible new novel.

When Caroline Sears receives the news that her unborn baby girl has a heart defect, she is devastated. It is 1970 and there seems to be little that can be done. But her brother-in-law, a physicist, tells her that perhaps there is. Hunter appeared in their lives just a few years before—and his appearance was as mysterious as his past. With no family, no friends, and a background shrouded in secrets, Hunter embraced the Sears family and never looked back.

Now, Hunter is telling her that something can be done about her baby's heart. Something that will shatter every preconceived notion that Caroline has. Something that will require a kind of strength and courage that Caroline never knew existed. Something that will mean a mind-bending leap of faith on Caroline's part.

And all for the love of her unborn child.

A rich, genre-spanning, breathtaking novel about one mother's quest to save her child, unite her family, and believe in the unbelievable. Diane Chamberlain pushes the boundaries of faith and science to deliver a novel that you will never forget.]]> 384 Diane Chamberlain 1250087309 Tiffany 5
If you’ve read any other reviews, you’ll hear that this one includes time travel, which is a departure for Chamberlain. This being my first book by her though, I had nothing to compare it to, and it was a great story that was wonderfully told. It wasn’t cheesy or too sci-fi in the least! She made time travel feel like a natural part of the story, and without it, frankly, this story wouldn’t be as captivating as it is.

I listened to this one on audio, and the narrator had this soft, melodic voice that was soothing and sweet. It was the perfect voice for Carly; I didn’t even want it to end and it was nearly 14 hours! But I finished it in less than 2 days, trying to find anything in my house to clean and organize just so I could have an excuse to listen to it.

Highly recommend if you love a good story that offers unique perspective, and explores motherhood, commitments, and going the distance to save a life. ]]> 4.25 2018
author: Diane Chamberlain
name: Tiffany
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2023/03/04
date added: 2023/03/04
shelves:
review:
This was my first Diane Chamberlain book and I was blown away by her style, the easy, beautiful writing, and the feeling and emotion she was able to insert into the narrative. This story was unique and gut-wrenching, and had me on the edge the entire time; I was captured by this story and couldn’t wait to find out it’s ending. I had a few ideas of where it was going, and I was pleasantly surprised that my predictions were wrong; the ending was both surprising and perfectly written!

If you’ve read any other reviews, you’ll hear that this one includes time travel, which is a departure for Chamberlain. This being my first book by her though, I had nothing to compare it to, and it was a great story that was wonderfully told. It wasn’t cheesy or too sci-fi in the least! She made time travel feel like a natural part of the story, and without it, frankly, this story wouldn’t be as captivating as it is.

I listened to this one on audio, and the narrator had this soft, melodic voice that was soothing and sweet. It was the perfect voice for Carly; I didn’t even want it to end and it was nearly 14 hours! But I finished it in less than 2 days, trying to find anything in my house to clean and organize just so I could have an excuse to listen to it.

Highly recommend if you love a good story that offers unique perspective, and explores motherhood, commitments, and going the distance to save a life.
]]> 25489625 “This is your country, this is your world, this is your body, and you must find some way to live within the all of it.��
��
In a profound work that pivots from the biggest questions about American history and ideals to the most intimate concerns of a father for his son, Ta-Nehisi Coates offers a powerful new framework for understanding our nation’s history and current crisis. Americans have built an empire on the idea of “race,�� a falsehood that damages us all but falls most heavily on the bodies of black women and men—bodies exploited through slavery and segregation, and, today, threatened, locked up, and murdered out of all proportion. What is it like to inhabit a black body and find a way to live within it? And how can we all honestly reckon with this fraught history and free ourselves from its burden?
��
Between the World and Me is Ta-Nehisi Coates’s attempt to answer these questions in a letter to his adolescent son. Coates shares with his son—and readers—the story of his awakening to the truth about his place in the world through a series of revelatory experiences, from Howard University to Civil War battlefields, from the South Side of Chicago to Paris, from his childhood home to the living rooms of mothers whose children’s lives were taken as American plunder. Beautifully woven from personal narrative, reimagined history, and fresh, emotionally charged reportage, Between the World and Me clearly illuminates the past, bracingly confronts our present, and offers a transcendent vision for a way forward.]]> 152 Ta-Nehisi Coates Tiffany 5
An excellent read and narrative view.]]> 4.40 2015
author: Ta-Nehisi Coates
name: Tiffany
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2023/02/06
date added: 2023/02/25
shelves:
review:
What a beautiful book. Coates is a poet if I’ve ever heard one. The flow and cadence of his prose was both heartbreaking and uplifting. He narrates in first person, a letter to his son, telling him about his life, his experience in a black body, his dreams and his fears. I listened on audio and he narrates himself. The book is short, and I intend to purchase a physical copy because there were just so many good parts that I want to go in and highlight; experience again.

An excellent read and narrative view.
]]> 57926137 We ������’t choose what we inherit. But can we choose who we become?

In present-day California, Eleanor Bennett’s death leaves behind a puzzling inheritance for her two children, Byron and Benny: a black cake, made from a family recipe with a long history, and a voice recording. In her message, Eleanor shares a tumultuous story about a headstrong young swimmer who escapes her island home under suspicion of murder. The heartbreaking tale Eleanor unfolds, the secrets she still holds back, and the mystery of a long-lost child challenge everything the siblings thought they knew about their lineage and themselves.

Can Byron and Benny reclaim their once-close relationship, piece together Eleanor’s true history, and fulfill her final request to “share the black cake when the time is right��? Will their mother’s revelations bring them back together or leave them feeling more lost than ever?

Charmaine Wilkerson’s debut novel is a story of how the inheritance of betrayals, secrets, memories, and even names can shape relationships and history. Deeply evocative and beautifully written, Black Cake is an extraordinary journey through the life of a family changed forever by the choices of its matriarch.]]> 385 Charmaine Wilkerson Tiffany 3
Siblings Byron and Benny come together after their mother, Eleanor, has died. She has left them a recording to listen to together, along with her lawyer, and are told to enjoy the black cake in the freezer when the time is right. That time will be when everything is revealed.

Their mother goes on to tell them about her past, and a multigenerational story with many characters is unraveled. There is lust between friends, murder, love, running away, changing of identity, a child given up, and an unexpected reunion, to name a few events.

Characters were short, which I generally love, but because there were so many different POVs, it made the story choppy and hard to follow at times. I found myself skim reading towards the middle and end just to get through it. There was a lot of story segues that felt unnecessary.

A beautiful debut from Wilkerson. One of my BOTM picks of 2022. ]]> 4.06 2022
author: Charmaine Wilkerson
name: Tiffany
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2023/02/25
date added: 2023/02/25
shelves:
review:
Quick take- I really enjoyed the story, but the delivery was all over the place.

Siblings Byron and Benny come together after their mother, Eleanor, has died. She has left them a recording to listen to together, along with her lawyer, and are told to enjoy the black cake in the freezer when the time is right. That time will be when everything is revealed.

Their mother goes on to tell them about her past, and a multigenerational story with many characters is unraveled. There is lust between friends, murder, love, running away, changing of identity, a child given up, and an unexpected reunion, to name a few events.

Characters were short, which I generally love, but because there were so many different POVs, it made the story choppy and hard to follow at times. I found myself skim reading towards the middle and end just to get through it. There was a lot of story segues that felt unnecessary.

A beautiful debut from Wilkerson. One of my BOTM picks of 2022.
]]> 46064076 Brutally honest, often hilarious, hard-won lessons in learning to love and care for yourself from a young vice president at Comedy Central who was called “ahead of her time�� by Jordan Peele.

By the time she was in her late twenties, Tara Schuster was a rising TV executive who had worked for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and helped launch Key & Peele to viral superstardom. By all appearances, she had mastered being a grown-up. But beneath that veneer of success, she was a chronically anxious, self-medicating mess. No one knew that her road to adulthood had been paved with depression, anxiety, and shame, owing in large part to her minimally parented upbringing. She realized she’d hit rock bottom when she drunk-dialed her therapist pleading for help.

Buy Yourself the F*cking Lilies is the story of Tara’s path to re-parenting herself and becoming a “ninja of self-love.�� Through simple, daily rituals, Tara transformed her mind, body, and relationships, and shows how to:

�� fake gratitude until you actually feel gratitude
�� excavate your emotional wounds and heal them with kindness
�� identify your self-limiting beliefs, kick them to the curb, and start living a life you choose
�� silence your inner frenemy and shield yourself from self-criticism
�� carve out time each morning to start your day empowered, inspired, and ready to rule
�� create a life you truly, totally f*cking LOVE

This is the book Tara wished someone had given her and it is the book many of us desperately need: a candid, hysterical, addictively readable, practical guide to growing up (no matter where you are in life) and learning to love yourself in a non-throw-up-in-your-mouth-it’s-so-cheesy way.]]> 318 Tara Schuster 0525509887 Tiffany 5
I didn’t pick up this book because I needed help
Fixing my life. In fact, I picked it up because another friend said it’s got one of the best narrative voices in a book. I had to find out what she was talking about- and the cover art- that got me too! It’s so pretty! And my friend was dead-on about the tone - the book is written like a love letter from your best friend. You know the friend who has amazing advice and tricks and tips to get things done? That friend. That friend is writing to you, and she’s your biggest cheerleader. Who wouldn’t want to read a book that cheers you on like that??

There was some “advice�� in here that wasn’t needed for me- but I thought of others that it could help. And now I just want to pick up a few copies and share them with friends because friends share good things. And this is one of them. Tara’s outlook left me inspired in so many different ways.

She’s got a new book coming out at the end of the month too and you better believe I’m picking that one up. I need to hear from my best friend again asap!

Definitely voted this one best voice in a memoir. Hands down. ]]> 3.87 2002
author: Tara Schuster
name: Tiffany
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2002
rating: 5
read at: 2023/02/20
date added: 2023/02/22
shelves:
review:
I’m pretty sure I made a best friend reading this book, right Tara?

I didn’t pick up this book because I needed help
Fixing my life. In fact, I picked it up because another friend said it’s got one of the best narrative voices in a book. I had to find out what she was talking about- and the cover art- that got me too! It’s so pretty! And my friend was dead-on about the tone - the book is written like a love letter from your best friend. You know the friend who has amazing advice and tricks and tips to get things done? That friend. That friend is writing to you, and she’s your biggest cheerleader. Who wouldn’t want to read a book that cheers you on like that??

There was some “advice�� in here that wasn’t needed for me- but I thought of others that it could help. And now I just want to pick up a few copies and share them with friends because friends share good things. And this is one of them. Tara’s outlook left me inspired in so many different ways.

She’s got a new book coming out at the end of the month too and you better believe I’m picking that one up. I need to hear from my best friend again asap!

Definitely voted this one best voice in a memoir. Hands down.
]]> 60784636
Except for the occasional catnap or small blackout where she loses track of time, she hasn’t slept in a year.

Isabelle's entire existence now revolves around finding him, but she knows she ������’t go on this way forever. In hopes of jarring loose a new witness or buried clue, she agrees to be interviewed by a true-crime podcaster—but his interest in Isabelle's past makes her nervous. His incessant questioning paired with her severe insomnia has brought up uncomfortable memories from her own childhood, making Isabelle start to doubt her recollection of the night of Mason’s disappearance, as well as second-guess who she can trust... including herself. But she is determined to figure out the truth no matter where it leads.]]> 326 Stacy Willingham 1250803853 Tiffany 5
I loved Willingham’s debut, but this one was even better. It was her same signature quick-paced, and murderously good selection of words. The agitated voice that narrates, over thinking everything, creating instability everywhere- which eventually leads to a shocking conclusion. You will question everything right alongside the MC Isabelle, especially her own motives. Everyone is guilty until proven innocent.

I especially loved the look at motherhood in this one- so many types of women who were mothering, couldn’t mother, failed at mothering, didn’t want to mother. I was constantly surprised while reading how accurate so many of her depictions were (surprising because I know the author doesn’t have children of her own). But she nailed so many of the emotions and feelings and thoughts that so many of us have, even the ones we won’t admit out loud.

If you want a quick jolt to your reading, this is the book! Simply cannot wait til her next one!]]> 4.04 2023
author: Stacy Willingham
name: Tiffany
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2023/02/16
date added: 2023/02/17
shelves:
review:
This was a one day read for me- I couldn’t put it down once I started it!

I loved Willingham’s debut, but this one was even better. It was her same signature quick-paced, and murderously good selection of words. The agitated voice that narrates, over thinking everything, creating instability everywhere- which eventually leads to a shocking conclusion. You will question everything right alongside the MC Isabelle, especially her own motives. Everyone is guilty until proven innocent.

I especially loved the look at motherhood in this one- so many types of women who were mothering, couldn’t mother, failed at mothering, didn’t want to mother. I was constantly surprised while reading how accurate so many of her depictions were (surprising because I know the author doesn’t have children of her own). But she nailed so many of the emotions and feelings and thoughts that so many of us have, even the ones we won’t admit out loud.

If you want a quick jolt to your reading, this is the book! Simply cannot wait til her next one!
]]>