Kim's bookshelf: all en-US Wed, 30 Apr 2025 12:25:48 -0700 60 Kim's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg One Summer in Savannah 63327797
It's been eight years since Sara Lancaster left her home in Savannah, Georgia. Eight years since her daughter, Alana, came into this world, following a terrifying sexual assault that left deep emotional wounds Sara would do anything to forget. But when Sara's father falls ill, she's forced to return home and face the ghosts of her past.

While caring for her father and running his bookstore, Sara is desperate to protect her curious, outgoing, genius daughter from the Wylers, the family of the man who assaulted her. Sara thinks she can succeed—her attacker is in prison, his identical twin brother, Jacob, left town years ago, and their mother are all unaware Alana exists. But she soon learns that Jacob has also just returned to Savannah to piece together the fragments of his once-great family. And when their two worlds collide—with the type of force Sara explores in her poetry and Jacob in his astrophysics—they are drawn together in unexpected ways.]]> 464 Terah Shelton Harris 1728265746 Kim 3
Good effort on an interesting dilemma, but didn’t hit the mark for me at all. ]]> 4.08 2023 One Summer in Savannah
author: Terah Shelton Harris
name: Kim
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2025/04/30
shelves:
review:
It’s a good try but this book didn’t do it for me. From the father who only spoke poetry to the savant daughter who knows everyone it’s just too far fetched. I read about half and I could see exactly where it was going and the suspense was off. It’s was so predictable and full of weird characters and everything that’s supposed to be a “shocker� is exactly what you know is going to happen.

Good effort on an interesting dilemma, but didn’t hit the mark for me at all.
]]> Don't Let Go 34001659 Withunmatched suspense and emotional insight, Harlan Cobenexploresthe big secrets and little lies that can destroy a relationship, a family, and even a town in this powerfulnewthriller.

Suburban New Jersey Detective Napoleon “Nap� Dumas hasn't been the same since senior year of high school, when his twin brother Leo and Leo’s girlfriend Diana were found dead on the railroad tracks—and Maura, the girl Nap considered the love of his life, broke up with him and disappeared without explanation. For fifteen years, Nap has been searching, both for Maura and for the real reason behind his brother's death. And now, it looks as though he may finally find what he's been looking for.

When Maura's fingerprints turn up in the rental car of a suspected murderer, Nap embarks on a quest for answers that only leads to more questions—about the woman he loved, about the childhood friends he thought he knew, about the abandoned military base near where he grew up, and mostly about Leo and Diana—whose deaths are darker and far more sinister than Nap ever dared imagine.]]> 351 Harlan Coben 0525955119 Kim 3 3.95 2017 Don't Let Go
author: Harlan Coben
name: Kim
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2017
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2025/04/27
shelves:
review:
Kept my interest until it just got weird and far-fetched. Admittedly a page-turner for the first 2/3. Just kind of got strange and complicated.
]]> P.S. Your Cat Is Dead 42158
An instant classic upon its initial publication, P.S. Your Cat is Dead received widespread critical acclaim and near fanatical reader devotion. The stage version of the novel was equally successful and there are still over 200 new productions of it staged every year. Now, for the first time in a decade, James Kirkwood's much-loved black humor comic novel of manners and escalating disaster returns to bewitch and beguile a new generation.]]> 224 James Kirkwood Jr. 0312321201 Kim 1
Not funny at all, very violent and sadistic. The idea that I may have once thought it was great horrifies me. It’s written to be funny In sure but it just doesn’t land well anymore. Page after page of people assaulting one another - verbally AND physically. ]]> 3.62 1972 P.S. Your Cat Is Dead
author: James Kirkwood Jr.
name: Kim
average rating: 3.62
book published: 1972
rating: 1
read at:
date added: 2025/04/24
shelves:
review:
I’m quite sure I read this book long ago and enjoyed it. Downloaded it again just for something to read. Awful! Maybe it doesn’t age well.

Not funny at all, very violent and sadistic. The idea that I may have once thought it was great horrifies me. It’s written to be funny In sure but it just doesn’t land well anymore. Page after page of people assaulting one another - verbally AND physically.
]]> The Lake on Fire 39656172 The Lake on Fire is an epic narrative that begins among 19th-century Jewish immigrants on a failing Wisconsin farm.

Dazzled by the lore of the American dream, Chaya and her strange, brilliant, young brother Asher stow away to Chicago; what they discover there, however, is a Gilded Age as empty a facade as the beautiful Columbian Exposition luring thousands to Lake Michigan's shore. The pair scrapes together a meager living--Chaya in a cigar factory; Asher, roaming the city and stealing books and jewelry to share with the poor, until they find different paths of escape. An examination of family, love, and revolution, this profound tale resonates eerily with today's current events and tumultuous social landscape.

The Lake on Fire is robust, gleaming, and grimy all at once, proving that celebrated author Rosellen Brown is back with a story as luminous as ever.]]> 349 Rosellen Brown 1946448230 Kim 2
Ex:

�..they were being forced to inhale was the smell of blood, the hopeless exhalation of captured creatures who, even without comprehension, felt their fate approaching. Futilely, she tried to hold her breath. She could as easily have held back the sun that was just then rising in a riot of flame from behind a heap of a house across the way. That sun flung down on Liberty Street…�

]]> 3.36 2018 The Lake on Fire
author: Rosellen Brown
name: Kim
average rating: 3.36
book published: 2018
rating: 2
read at: 2025/04/23
date added: 2025/04/23
shelves:
review:
It’s somewhat interesting although a rehash of a story you’ve read many times. The writing was florid, loquacious, effusive�. the story just dragged on and eventually I didn’t care what happened to either of these somewhat annoying people. The bones of the story are good but the slow development and over the top writing just tired me out.

Ex:

�..they were being forced to inhale was the smell of blood, the hopeless exhalation of captured creatures who, even without comprehension, felt their fate approaching. Futilely, she tried to hold her breath. She could as easily have held back the sun that was just then rising in a riot of flame from behind a heap of a house across the way. That sun flung down on Liberty Street…�


]]> Moon Over Manifest 8293938 Manifest—A Town with a rich past and a bright future.

Abilene Tucker feels abandoned. Her father has put her on a train, sending her off to live with an old friend for the summer while he works a railroad job. Armed only with a few possessions and her list of universals, Abilene jumps off the train in Manifest, Kansas, aiming to learn about the boy her father once was.

Having heard stories about Manifest, Abilene is disappointed to find that it’s just a dried-up, worn-out old town. But her disappointment quickly turns to excitement when she discovers a hidden cigar box full of mementos, including some old letters that mention a spy known as the Rattler. These mysterious letters send Abilene and her new friends, Lettie and Ruthanne, on an honest-to-goodness spy hunt, even though they are warned to “Leave Well Enough Alone.�

Abilene throws all caution aside when she heads down the mysterious Path to Perdition to pay a debt to the reclusive Miss Sadie, a diviner who only tells stories from the past. It seems that Manifest’s history is full of colorful and shadowy characters—and long-held secrets. The more Abilene hears, the more determined she is to learn just what role her father played in that history. And as Manifest’s secrets are laid bare one by one, Abilene begins to weave her own story into the fabric of the town.]]> 368 Clare Vanderpool 0385907508 Kim 4 4.03 2010 Moon Over Manifest
author: Clare Vanderpool
name: Kim
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/04/17
shelves:
review:
A beautiful story. Could be 5 stars but I’m tired of back and forth timelines right now. Love the characters and descriptions of that period in the US.
]]> <![CDATA[Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness]]> 63221207 New York Times bestseller that goes far beyond its riveting medical mystery, Brain on Fire is the powerful account of one woman’s struggle to recapture her identity.

When twenty-four-year-old Susannah Cahalan woke up alone in a hospital room, strapped to her bed and unable to move or speak, she had no memory of how she’d gotten there. Days earlier, she had been on the threshold of a new, adult life: at the beginning of her first serious relationship and a promising career at a major New York newspaper. Now she was labeled violent, psychotic, a flight risk. What happened?

In a swift and breathtaking narrative, Cahalan tells the astonishing true story of her descent into madness, her family’s inspiring faith in her, and the lifesaving diagnosis that nearly didn’t happen.]]> 300 Susannah Cahalan 1451621396 Kim 5
Definitely worth reading and shows how much you have to (sadly) advocate for yourself or have someone who strongly advocated for you once in the medical realm.

A true story that could not be more amazing. ]]> 4.19 2012 Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness
author: Susannah Cahalan
name: Kim
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2012
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2025/04/14
shelves:
review:
What a story. It’s equally horrifying and interesting. It stuck in my mind for days which is my 5 star criteria.

Definitely worth reading and shows how much you have to (sadly) advocate for yourself or have someone who strongly advocated for you once in the medical realm.

A true story that could not be more amazing.
]]> <![CDATA[A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, #1)]]> 13496
Sweeping from a harsh land of cold to a summertime kingdom of epicurean plenty, A Game of Thrones tells a tale of lords and ladies, soldiers and sorcerers, assassins and bastards, who come together in a time of grim omens. Here an enigmatic band of warriors bear swords of no human metal; a tribe of fierce wildlings carry men off into madness; a cruel young dragon prince barters his sister to win back his throne; a child is lost in the twilight between life and death; and a determined woman undertakes a treacherous journey to protect all she holds dear. Amid plots and counter-plots, tragedy and betrayal, victory and terror, allies and enemies, the fate of the Starks hangs perilously in the balance, as each side endeavors to win that deadliest of conflicts: the game of thrones.]]> 835 George R.R. Martin 0553588486 Kim 1 4.44 1996 A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, #1)
author: George R.R. Martin
name: Kim
average rating: 4.44
book published: 1996
rating: 1
read at:
date added: 2025/04/12
shelves:
review:
Also gave up. I don’t apparently have what it takes to appreciate this style of book. Violent, creepy and silly.
]]> <![CDATA[The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic]]> 75532088 For fans of Practical Magic and Gilmore Girls, The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic is a debut novel that explores the shields we build around our hearts to retain our own magic.

Sadie Revelare has always believed that the curse of four heartbreaks that accompanies her magic would be worth the price. But when her grandmother is diagnosed with cancer with only weeks to live, and her first heartbreak, Jake McNealy, returns to town after a decade, her carefully structured life begins to unravel.

With the news of their grandmother's impending death, Sadie's estranged twin brother Seth returns to town, bringing with him deeply buried family secrets that threaten to tear Sadie's world apart. Their grandmother has been the backbone of the family for generations, and with her death, Sadie isn't sure she'll have the strength to keep the family, and her magic, together.

As feelings for Jake begin to rekindle, and her grandmother growing sicker by the day, Sadie faces the last of her heartbreaks, and she has to decide: is love more important than magic?

Readers who love the magic of The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake and the sense of community found in The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches will enjoy this warm, witchy novel.]]> 322 Breanne Randall 1639105735 Kim 1 3.16 2023 The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic
author: Breanne Randall
name: Kim
average rating: 3.16
book published: 2023
rating: 1
read at:
date added: 2025/04/12
shelves:
review:
Gave up, not “read�. Don’t get it.
]]> <![CDATA[Earth's the Right Place for Love]]> 60788841 This beautiful new novel by the beloved author of Open House and Talk Before Sleep tells the story of two young people growing up in Mason, Missouri, and how Arthur Moses, a shy young man, becomes the wise and compassionate person readers loved in The Story of Arthur Truluv.

Nola McCollum is the most desirable girl in Arthur's class, and he is thrilled when they become friends. But Arthur wants far more than friendship. Unfortunately, Nola has a crush on the wrong Moses--Arthur's older brother, Frank, who is busy pursuing his own love interest and avoiding the boys' father, a war veteran with a drinking problem and a penchant for starting fights. When a sudden tragedy rocks the family's world, Arthur struggles to come to terms with his grief. In the end, it is nature that helps him to understand how to go on, beyond loss, and create a life of forgiveness and empathy. But what can he do about Nola, who seems confused about what she wants in life, and only half aware of the one who loves her most?

Full of unforgettable characters and written with Elizabeth Berg's characteristic warmth, humor, and insight into people, Earth's the Right Place for Love is about the power of kindness, character, and family, and how love can grow when you least expect it.]]> 273 Elizabeth Berg 0593446798 Kim 2 3.98 2023 Earth's the Right Place for Love
author: Elizabeth Berg
name: Kim
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2023
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2025/04/10
shelves:
review:
Reads like a very simple kid’s book to me. Didn’t like it at all. Gave up after the first chapter.
]]> <![CDATA[The Five Principles: A Practical Guide to Spirituality]]> 19222187
What is this greater Presence that we sense around us?
Who and what are we?
Why do things happen in our lives the way they do?
How can we communicate with this Presence?
What are we here to do?

The five principles constitute the core teachings of the Unity spiritual movement founded in 1889 by Charles and Myrtle Fillmore. These same principles reflect the laws of the universe that apply to everyone, all the time. They show up in every major religion, and are all reflected in the teachings of Jesus Christ. The author encourages every reader to "work with these principles, test them, apply them in your life, and watch what happens."]]> 155 Ellen Debenport 0871597950 Kim 0 currently-reading 4.60 2009 The Five Principles: A Practical Guide to Spirituality
author: Ellen Debenport
name: Kim
average rating: 4.60
book published: 2009
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/07
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> Tell It to Me Singing 199798583
Monica Campo is pregnant with her first child when, moments before being wheeled into emergency heart surgery, her mother confesses a long-held Monica’s father is not the man who raised her. But when her mother wakes up and begins having delusional episodes, Monica doesn’t know what to believe—whether the confession was real or just a channeling of the telenovela her mother watches nightly.

In her despair, Monica wants to speak with only one her ex-boyfriend of five years, Manny. She can’t help but worry, though, what this says about her relationship with her fiancé and father of her unborn child.

Monica’s search for the truth leads her to a new understanding of the the early eighties when her parents arrived from Cuba on the famous Mariel boatlift, and the tumultuous seventies, a decade after Castro’s takeover, when some people were still secretly fighting his regime—people like her mother and the man she claims is Monica’s real father. Tell It to Me Singing is a story that takes readers from Miami to Cuba to the jungles of Costa Rica and, along the way, explores the question of how and to whom we belong, how a life is built, and how we know when we’re home.]]> 400 Tita Ramírez 1982157313 Kim 4
In the middle the hand-wringing over “the decisions� got a little old. It bogged me down a bit.

The characters are flawed and lovable and unexpected (Rack and Susan) and I feel sad for everyone in the end. And I love stories that incorporate Spanglish. ]]> 3.76 2024 Tell It to Me Singing
author: Tita Ramírez
name: Kim
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/04/07
shelves:
review:
I did love this book. The background of the telenovela going on while the daughter’s story unfolds and somewhat imitates the mother’s story is a really nice plot device.

In the middle the hand-wringing over “the decisions� got a little old. It bogged me down a bit.

The characters are flawed and lovable and unexpected (Rack and Susan) and I feel sad for everyone in the end. And I love stories that incorporate Spanglish.
]]> <![CDATA[Mississippi Swindle: Brett Favre and the Welfare Scandal that Shocked America]]> 201750704 How America’s youngest state auditor uncovered the largest public corruption scandal in the history of the nation’s poorest state

“A must read� with all the thrills of a John Grisham novel � for fans of shocking true crime exposés like Black Edge and Bad Blood (Peter Schweizer, author of Secret Empires)

This riveting exposé details how a small team of auditors and investigators, led by the youngest State Auditor in the country, uncovered a brazen scheme where the powerful stole millions in welfare funds from the poor in a sprawling conspiracy that stretched from Mississippi to Malibu.

Well-connected donors, highly placed officials, and popular public figures diverted tens of millions of dollars from the federal government's TANF � temporary assistance for needy families � program until a Republican auditor, his small team of dedicated investigators, and a Democratic prosecutor joined forces to hold them accountable in the face of intense obstruction and harassment.

Peopled with unforgettable characters � from the perpetrators; to the impoverished citizens for whom the money was intended; to the investigators, prosecutors, and reporters who held them to account � Mississippi Swindle is a political and true crime drama that highlights larger crises while appealing to a broad nationwide audience.]]> 278 Shad White 1586423878 Kim 0 currently-reading 3.87 Mississippi Swindle: Brett Favre and the Welfare Scandal that Shocked America
author: Shad White
name: Kim
average rating: 3.87
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/05
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Cathedral of the World: A Universalist Theology]]> 8205727 214 Forrest Church 0807006211 Kim 0 currently-reading 3.85 2009 The Cathedral of the World: A Universalist Theology
author: Forrest Church
name: Kim
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2009
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/05
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Autobiography of General Ulysses S. Grant: Memoirs of the Civil War]]> 6051766 433 Ulysses S. Grant 193494114X Kim 3 4.29 1885 The Autobiography of General Ulysses S. Grant: Memoirs of the Civil War
author: Ulysses S. Grant
name: Kim
average rating: 4.29
book published: 1885
rating: 3
read at: 2025/04/05
date added: 2025/04/05
shelves:
review:

]]> How to Leave the House 202102006 It's Natwest's last day before he leaves for university, and there's only one thing on his mind: the deeply embarrassing package he ordered to his house - which still hasn't arrived. He won't leave town without it. Any alternative is too distressing to consider ...

This is the story of twenty-four hours in the life of Natwest, and his small-town odyssey in pursuit of the missing package. And yet it's also the story of a middle-aged dentist who dreams of being a respected artist - but the only thing he can seem to paint is the human mouth. And it's the story of a tortured imam involved in a quasi-romantic entanglement with the local vicar; and an octogenerian mourning the death of her secretive husband; and a troubled teenager whose nudes have leaked on the internet. It's the story of Natwest's obnoxious ex-boyfriend, and his class-traitor mother and her childhood boyfriend, and the life-changing secrets he knows about Natwest's past.

Alternating between Natwest's idiosyncratic inner world and the perspectives of the other characters - and dazzling in its energy, imagination and originality - this is an outrageously funny and tenderly moving story about being connected to everyone and everything at all times; about love, friendship, and the lies we tell ourselves; about unhappy endings, happy endings - and whether anything really is as simple as one or the other.]]> 320 Nathan Newman 0593654900 Kim 2 3.01 2024 How to Leave the House
author: Nathan Newman
name: Kim
average rating: 3.01
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2025/04/05
date added: 2025/04/05
shelves:
review:
Unless you really enjoy the inner monologue of a horny teenage boy, I'd say skip it. It does have some funny lines though.
]]> <![CDATA[The Undoing of Alejandro Velasco]]> 214627245 After Alejandro Velasco is found dead, a handsome stranger visits the family. But when this newcomer’s secrets collide with those of Alejandro’s sister, sparks fly—and blood is shed.

A handsome young man named Julian Villareal arrives at the opulent Velasco estate to pay his respects after the unexpected death of Alejandro Velasco, his close friend and tennis rival. But he soon becomes entwined in the Velasco family’s glamourous lifestyle—and their daughter Sofia’s mysterious allure. Mercurial and quick-witted, Sofia seems determined to give Julian a run for his money. And he’s prepared to play along—both on and off the tennis courts.

As the tension between Julian and Sofia sizzles, Julian hides a much darker Alejandro’s death was no accident. And the more Julian learns about the inner workings of the Velasco family, the greater the danger he uncovers. With power and status come opponents bent on toppling the empire, by blackmail, revenge, or even murder. Julian’s quest for answers will only lure him deeper into this den of vipers, but teasing out Sofia’s own intentions may be the steamiest—and deadliest—game of all.]]> 275 Diego Boneta 1662517564 Kim 1 Just couldn't get into it. 3.84 2025 The Undoing of Alejandro Velasco
author: Diego Boneta
name: Kim
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2025
rating: 1
read at:
date added: 2025/04/05
shelves:
review:
Just couldn't get into it.
]]> Lincoln in the Bardo 29906980 Lincoln in the Bardo is a literary experience unlike any other—for no one but Saunders could conceive it.

February 1862. The Civil War is less than one year old. The fighting has begun in earnest, and the nation has begun to realize it is in for a long, bloody struggle. Meanwhile, President Lincoln's beloved eleven-year-old son, Willie, lies upstairs in the White House, gravely ill. In a matter of days, despite predictions of a recovery, Willie dies and is laid to rest in a Georgetown cemetery. "My poor boy, he was too good for this earth," the president says at the time. "God has called him home." Newspapers report that a grief-stricken Lincoln returned to the crypt several times alone to hold his boy's body.

From that seed of historical truth, George Saunders spins an unforgettable story of familial love and loss that breaks free of its realistic, historical framework into a thrilling, supernatural realm both hilarious and terrifying. Willie Lincoln finds himself in a strange purgatory, where ghosts mingle, gripe, commiserate, quarrel, and enact bizarre acts of penance. Within this transitional state—called, in the Tibetan tradition, the bardo—a monumental struggle erupts over young Willie's soul.

Lincoln in the Bardo is an astonishing feat of imagination and a bold step forward from one of the most important and influential writers of his generation. Formally daring, generous in spirit, deeply concerned with matters of the heart, it is a testament to fiction's ability to speak honestly and powerfully to the things that really matter to us. Saunders has invented a thrilling new form that deploys a kaleidoscopic, theatrical panorama of voices—living and dead, historical and invented—to ask a timeless, profound question: How do we live and love when we know that everything we love must end?]]> 368 George Saunders 0812995341 Kim 5
It is sad, gut-wrenching, and profound. That's the best I can say. It stuck with me for days and that's my qualifier for a 5 star read. Lots to digest. ]]> 3.75 2017 Lincoln in the Bardo
author: George Saunders
name: Kim
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2025/04/05
shelves:
review:
This story gets a little strange pretty quickly but once you get what is going on it's fascinating. I loved it after the first couple chapters. If you don't know the definition of "bardo" it's helps to know the word before starting the book.

It is sad, gut-wrenching, and profound. That's the best I can say. It stuck with me for days and that's my qualifier for a 5 star read. Lots to digest.
]]> Brightly Shining 208580627 192 Ingvild H. Rishøi 0802163491 Kim 4
Old review :


Great writing. Interesting characters. Just doesn’t go anywhere at all. Kind of disappointing.

Edited:

The more I thought about it the more the ending changed and got very bleak.]]> 3.67 2021 Brightly Shining
author: Ingvild H. Rishøi
name: Kim
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/03/30
shelves:
review:
Okay I have rethought my rating. The ending just kicked in and I re-read it with tears streaming down my face. Even the dead squirrel is back there with them. The ending is horribly sadly and beautifully peacefully written. It actually took me back to watching my Mom take her last breath and hoping she was somewhere comfortable and warm. I only give it 4 stars just because it meanders so much and maybe too subtle for me. But glory be, I bawled.

Old review :


Great writing. Interesting characters. Just doesn’t go anywhere at all. Kind of disappointing.

Edited:

The more I thought about it the more the ending changed and got very bleak.
]]> Maame 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 Kim 4 4.03 2023 Maame
author: Jessica George
name: Kim
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/03/25
shelves:
review:
This book surprised me. I’ve read so many “daughter of immigrant� stories and pretty much know what to expect. I found this story really sweet and warm and compelling. I loved the characters in all their flaws. I had trouble putting it down. That said the last few chapter I felt a little let down. It kind of bogged down. But definitely worth the read. Beautiful.
]]> The Frontrunner 178811130 416 Brad Fawley Kim 4
Some great race scenes and, although somewhat far fetched, a fun read. ]]> 4.64 The Frontrunner
author: Brad Fawley
name: Kim
average rating: 4.64
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/24
date added: 2025/03/24
shelves:
review:
If you’ve ever raced, or competed in any physical challenge, you will appreciate this story. The boundary of will over pain can be moved up, but not without sacrifice. Only the most dedicated, and maybe a little bit crazy, can get there.

Some great race scenes and, although somewhat far fetched, a fun read.
]]> <![CDATA[The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, #1)]]> 7061 235 Alexander McCall Smith 1400034779 Kim 0 3.81 1998 The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, #1)
author: Alexander McCall Smith
name: Kim
average rating: 3.81
book published: 1998
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/22
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Devil's Best Trick: How the Face of Evil Disappeared]]> 197525363 352 Randall Sullivan 0802119131 Kim 1
Lurid, violent and racist. I quit early on slightly after the night time bedroom visiting black dog with red eyes and the snapping of goats in half. As another reviewer wonderfully put it “checkout line reading�. ]]> 3.01 The Devil's Best Trick: How the Face of Evil Disappeared
author: Randall Sullivan
name: Kim
average rating: 3.01
book published:
rating: 1
read at:
date added: 2025/03/14
shelves:
review:
Was hoping for a good philosophical discussion on “the problem of evil�. This isn’t it.

Lurid, violent and racist. I quit early on slightly after the night time bedroom visiting black dog with red eyes and the snapping of goats in half. As another reviewer wonderfully put it “checkout line reading�.
]]> Malas 198563738 A story full of passion and revenge, following one family living on the Texas Mexico border and a curse that reverberates across generations--"Fuentes has achieved something rare and indelible with this story of complex women.� (Erika L. Sánchez)

In 1951, a mysterious old woman confronts Pilar Aguierre in the small border town of La Cienega, Texas. The old woman is sure Pilar stole her husband and, in a heated outburst, lays a curse on Pilar and her family.

More than forty years later, Lulu Muñoz is dodging chaos at every turn: her troubled father’s moods, his rules, her secret life as singer in a punk band, but most of all her upcoming quinceañera. When her beloved grandmother passes away, Lulu finds herself drawn to the glamorous stranger who crashed the funeral and who lives on the alone and shunned on the edge of town.

Their unexpected kinship picks at the secrets of Lulu’s family’s past. As the quinceañera looms—and we move between these two strong, irascible female voices—one woman must make peace with the past, and one girl pushes to embrace her future.

Rich with cinematic details—from dusty rodeos to the excitement of a Selena concert and the comfort of conjunto ballads played at family gatherings—this memorable debut is a love letter to the Tejano culture and community that sustain both of these women as they discover what family means.]]> 375 Marcela Fuentes 0593655788 Kim 5 I loved this story. 3.91 2024 Malas
author: Marcela Fuentes
name: Kim
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2025/03/12
shelves:
review:
I loved this story.
]]> Standard Deviation 26198476
Graham Cavanaugh’s second wife, Audra, is everything his first wife was not. She considers herself privileged to live in the age of the hair towel, talks non-stop through her epidural, labour and delivery, invites the doorman to move in and the eccentric members of their son’s Origami Club to Thanksgiving. She is charming and spontaneous and fun but life with her can be exhausting.

In the midst of the day-to-day difficulties and delights of marriage and raising a child with Asperger’s, his first wife, Elspeth, reenters Graham’s life. Former spouses are hard to categorize � are they friends, enemies, old flames, or just people who know you really, really well? Graham starts to wonder: How can anyone love two such different women? Did he make the right choice? Is there a right choice?]]> 322 Katherine Heiny 0008105529 Kim 4 3.56 2017 Standard Deviation
author: Katherine Heiny
name: Kim
average rating: 3.56
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/03/02
shelves:
review:
What a sweet book. It’s a little sad and depressing and lot funny. The author just perfectly captures different kind of people - ones we all recognize. I laughed out loud at times. It was overall a little sad but optimistic. Basically - “you’ll get through this� kind of advice. Worth the read for me.
]]> <![CDATA[Winter Sisters (Mary Sutter, #2)]]> 35876392
As contemporary as it is historic, Winter Sisters is part gripping thriller, part family saga, and ultimately a story of trauma and resilience that explores the tremendous good and unspeakable evil of which humans are capable.]]> 416 Robin Oliveira 039956425X Kim 1 4.02 2018 Winter Sisters (Mary Sutter, #2)
author: Robin Oliveira
name: Kim
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2018
rating: 1
read at:
date added: 2025/02/25
shelves:
review:
Gave up. Too brutal, just couldn’t do it.
]]> <![CDATA[The Sunflower: On the Possibilities and Limits of Forgiveness]]> 133782
In this important book, 53 distinguished men & women respond to Wiesenthal's questions. They are theologians, political leaders, writers, jurists, psychiatrists, human rights activists, Holocaust survivors & victims of attempted genocides in Bosnia, Cambodia, China & Tibet. Their responses, as varied as their experiences of the world, remind us that Wiesenthal's questions are not limited to events of the past.Often surprising, always thought provoking, The Sunflower will challenge you to define your beliefs about justice, compassion & responsibility.]]> 303 Simon Wiesenthal 0805210601 Kim 0 to-read 4.11 1969 The Sunflower: On the Possibilities and Limits of Forgiveness
author: Simon Wiesenthal
name: Kim
average rating: 4.11
book published: 1969
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/16
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Secret Life of Sunflowers 61613291 A gripping, inspiring novel based on the true story of Johanna Bonger, Vincent van Gogh's sister-in-law.

When Hollywood auctioneer Emsley Wilson finds her famous grandmother's diary while cleaning out her New York brownstone, the pages are full of surprises. The first surprise is, the diary isn't her grandmother's. It belongs to Johanna Bonger, Vincent van Gogh's sister-in-law.

Johanna inherited Vincent van Gogh's paintings. They were all she had, and they weren't worth anything. She was a 28 year old widow with a baby in the 1800s, without any means of supporting herself, living in Paris where she barely spoke the language. Yet she managed to introduce Vincent's legacy to the world.

The inspiration couldn't come at a better time for Emsley. With her business failing, an unexpected love turning up in her life, and family secrets unraveling, can she find answers in the past?]]> 356 Marta Molnar 1940627486 Kim 3
I’m completely sick of stories that begin with a mystery (picture, letter, item) from someone’s ancestor, and proceeds with alternating chapters from the past and the present. Enough already.
]]> 4.10 The Secret Life of Sunflowers
author: Marta Molnar
name: Kim
average rating: 4.10
book published:
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2025/02/16
shelves:
review:
Interesting historical novel that reads more like a novel. It’s is engaging and presents an important story not widely known. That said, it’s more what I call a beach read.

I’m completely sick of stories that begin with a mystery (picture, letter, item) from someone’s ancestor, and proceeds with alternating chapters from the past and the present. Enough already.

]]> <![CDATA[Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here: The United States, Central America, and the Making of a Crisis]]> 145624514
Everyone who makes the journey faces an impossible choice. Hundreds of thousands of people who arrive every year at the US-Mexico border travel far from their homes. An overwhelming share of them come from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, although many migrants come from farther away. Some are fleeing persecution, others crime or hunger. Very often it will not be their first attempt to cross. They may have already been deported from the United States, but it remains their only hope for safety and prosperity. Their homes have become uninhabitable. They will take their chances.

This vast and unremitting crisis did not spring up overnight. Indeed, as Blitzer dramatizes with forensic, unprecedented reporting, it is the result of decades of misguided policy and sweeping corruption. Brilliantly weaving the stories of Central Americans whose lives have been devastated by chronic political conflict and violence with those of American activists, government officials, and the politicians responsible for the country’s tragically tangled immigration policy, Blitzer reveals the full, layered picture for the first time.

Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here is an odyssey of struggle and resilience. With astonishing nuance and detail, Blitzer tells an epic story about the people whose lives ebb and flow across the border, and in doing so, he delves into the heart of American life itself. This vital and remarkable story has shaped the nation’s turbulent politics and culture in countless ways—and will almost certainly determine its future.]]> 544 Jonathan Blitzer 1984880802 Kim 0 to-read 4.47 2024 Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here: The United States, Central America, and the Making of a Crisis
author: Jonathan Blitzer
name: Kim
average rating: 4.47
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Devil's Highway: A True Story]]> 91359 Across the Wire offers brilliant investigative reporting of what went wrong when, in May 2001, a group of 26 men attempted to cross the Mexican border into the desert of southern Arizona. Only 12 men came back out.]]> 239 Luis Alberto Urrea 0316010804 Kim 0 to-read 4.11 2004 The Devil's Highway: A True Story
author: Luis Alberto Urrea
name: Kim
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2004
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Memoirs of Stockholm Sven 56620852 336 Nathaniel Ian Miller 0316592552 Kim 5 4.18 2021 The Memoirs of Stockholm Sven
author: Nathaniel Ian Miller
name: Kim
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2025/02/09
shelves:
review:
I just loved this quirky, meandering tale of one man’s life. I highlighted so many beautiful passages. It’s a story about survival, love and friendship. It’s a long story but I savored it like a ten course meal.
]]> <![CDATA[The Rich People Have Gone Away]]> 201750876 343 Regina Porter 059324186X Kim 1 dnf 3.30 2024 The Rich People Have Gone Away
author: Regina Porter
name: Kim
average rating: 3.30
book published: 2024
rating: 1
read at:
date added: 2025/02/03
shelves: dnf
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time]]> 4806 Longitude is the dramatic human story of an epic scientific quest. The "longitude problem" was the thorniest dilemma of the eighteenth century. Lacking the ability to measure longitude, sailors throughout the great ages of exploration had been literally lost at sea.

At the heart of Dava Sobel's fascinating brief history of astronomy, navigation and horology stands the figure of John Harrison, self-taught Yorkshire clockmaker, and his forty-year obsession with building the perfect timekeeper. Battling against the establishment, Harrison stood alone in pursuit of his solution and the £20,000 reward offered by Parliament.]]> 184 Dava Sobel 0802714625 Kim 4 3.97 1995 Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time
author: Dava Sobel
name: Kim
average rating: 3.97
book published: 1995
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/01/26
shelves:
review:
A really fascinating explanation of something I took for granted. Well researched and kept my interest. Also makes you realize how brave those early sailors would be. It does highlight how scientific discoveries or inventions are driven very much by ego and conceit as opposed to “pure science� for science sake.
]]> Mad Honey 59912428 A soul-stirring novel about what we choose to keep from our past, and what we choose to leave behind.

Olivia McAfee knows what it feels like to start over. Her picture-perfect life—living in Boston, married to a brilliant cardiothoracic surgeon, raising a beautiful son, Asher—was upended when her husband revealed a darker side. She never imagined she would end up back in her sleepy New Hampshire hometown, living in the house she grew up in, and taking over her father's beekeeping business.

Lily Campanello is familiar with do-overs, too. When she and her mom relocate to Adams, New Hampshire, for her final year of high school, they both hope it will be a fresh start.

And for just a short while, these new beginnings are exactly what Olivia and Lily need. Their paths cross when Asher falls for the new girl in school, and Lily can’t help but fall for him, too. With Ash, she feels happy for the first time. Yet at times, she wonders if she can she trust him completely . . .

Then one day, Olivia receives a phone call: Lily is dead, and Asher is being questioned by the police. Olivia is adamant that her son is innocent. But she would be lying if she didn’t acknowledge the flashes of his father’s temper in him, and as the case against him unfolds, she realizes he’s hidden more than he’s shared with her.

Mad Honey is a riveting novel of suspense, an unforgettable love story, and a moving and powerful exploration of the secrets we keep and the risks we take in order to become ourselves.]]> 464 Jodi Picoult 1984818384 Kim 3
�-Asher pulls me over him, so that my legs fall on either side of his hips. He’s hard again, against me. “I’ll be your throne,� he offers. I lean down and kiss him. “God save the king,� I whisper.

�-Sometimes when Asher looks at me, it’s like he’s a flower in a field and I’m a strange rain he just wants to drink in.

OK ,it either got better or I got used to it. It’s your basic WhoDunnit with the inevitable twist. That said I was reading late at night to get to the outcome.

It gets a little preachy which I understand, but it’s pretty transparent what’s going to happen after a few pages. I didn’t find any huge surprises, let’s say.

Not particularly a barn burner.

]]> 4.05 2022 Mad Honey
author: Jodi Picoult
name: Kim
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/26
date added: 2025/01/26
shelves:
review:
Mixed bag. It didn’t start well for me. The writing sounded like what my Mom called “bodice rippers� or that first sentence Lytton award. Two examples that made me laugh out loud.

�-Asher pulls me over him, so that my legs fall on either side of his hips. He’s hard again, against me. “I’ll be your throne,� he offers. I lean down and kiss him. “God save the king,� I whisper.

�-Sometimes when Asher looks at me, it’s like he’s a flower in a field and I’m a strange rain he just wants to drink in.

OK ,it either got better or I got used to it. It’s your basic WhoDunnit with the inevitable twist. That said I was reading late at night to get to the outcome.

It gets a little preachy which I understand, but it’s pretty transparent what’s going to happen after a few pages. I didn’t find any huge surprises, let’s say.

Not particularly a barn burner.


]]> <![CDATA[In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex]]> 17780
In the Heart of the Sea brings to new life the incredible story of the wreck of the whaleship Essex - an event as mythic in its own century as the Titanic disaster in ours, and the inspiration for the climax of Moby-Dick. In a harrowing page-turner, Nathaniel Philbrick restores this epic story to its rightful place in American history.

In 1820, the 240-ton Essex set sail from Nantucket on a routine voyage for whales. Fifteen months later, in the farthest reaches of the South Pacific, it was repeatedly rammed and sunk by an eighty-ton bull sperm whale. Its twenty-man crew, fearing cannibals on the islands to the west, made for the 3,000-mile-distant coast of South America in three tiny boats. During ninety days at sea under horrendous conditions, the survivors clung to life as one by one, they succumbed to hunger, thirst, disease, and fear.

Philbrick interweaves his account of this extraordinary ordeal of ordinary men with a wealth of whale lore and with a brilliantly detailed portrait of the lost, unique community of Nantucket whalers. Impeccably researched and beautifully told, the book delivers the ultimate portrait of man against nature, drawing on a remarkable range of archival and modern sources, including a long-lost account by the ship's cabin boy.

At once a literary companion and a page-turner that speaks to the same issues of class, race, and man's relationship to nature that permeate the works of Melville, In the Heart of the Sea will endure as a vital work of American history.]]> 302 Nathaniel Philbrick 0141001828 Kim 0 to-read 4.16 2000 In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex
author: Nathaniel Philbrick
name: Kim
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2000
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Los susurros secretos de la memoria: Una apasionante historia de amor en tiempos de guerra. Ficción romance ambientado en Francia durante la Primera Guerra Mundial (Spanish Edition)]]> 212572132 Fismes, Francia, 1917 La vida de la enfermera francesa Emma Bernier sufre un drástico cambio cuando un avión alemán se estrella cerca de su hogar. A pesar del dilema moral al que se enfrenta, decide cuidar al herido, desafiando así las normas sociales de la propia guerra y enfrentando un conflicto interno entre su deber patriótico y su humanidad.

El teniente alemán Lukas Richter, afectado por el accidente, no solo sufre de heridas físicas, sino también de pérdidas de memoria que lo sumergen en la oscuridad de un pasado olvidado. En medio de la incertidumbre, Emma se convierte en su única ancla en un mundo desconocido, pese a que, en ocasiones, ella también desaparece de sus recuerdos.

A pesar de las circunstancias de la guerra, entre ellos emerge un amor prohibido ante los ojos del mundo, que también es puesto a prueba por las brumas de la memoria.

Una cautivadora novela histórica que nos recuerda que, incluso en los momentos más oscuros, el amor puede florecer entre las grietas del odio, la desesperación y el olvido.]]> 267 Lía Sayoni Kim 3 4.35 Los susurros secretos de la memoria: Una apasionante historia de amor en tiempos de guerra. Ficción romance ambientado en Francia durante la Primera Guerra Mundial (Spanish Edition)
author: Lía Sayoni
name: Kim
average rating: 4.35
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/20
date added: 2025/01/20
shelves:
review:
It’s a good story. Quite predictable and sometimes unbelievable. I read it to improve my Spanish. I thought it was overly long for the plot line. I know the author wanted to avoid “politics�, and the war sounded terrible but sterile. Not a word about what was going on.
]]> The God of the Woods 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 Kim 0 to-read 4.15 2024 The God of the Woods
author: Liz Moore
name: Kim
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones]]> 40121378 Atomic Habits offers a proven framework for improving—every day. James Clear, one of the world's leading experts on habit formation, reveals practical strategies that will teach you exactly how to form good habits, break bad ones, and master the tiny behaviors that lead to remarkable results.

If you're having trouble changing your habits, the problem isn't you. The problem is your system. Bad habits repeat themselves again and again not because you don't want to change, but because you have the wrong system for change. You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems. Here, you'll get a proven system that can take you to new heights.

Clear is known for his ability to distill complex topics into simple behaviors that can be easily applied to daily life and work. Here, he draws on the most proven ideas from biology, psychology, and neuroscience to create an easy-to-understand guide for making good habits inevitable and bad habits impossible. Along the way, readers will be inspired and entertained with true stories from Olympic gold medalists, award-winning artists, business leaders, life-saving physicians, and star comedians who have used the science of small habits to master their craft and vault to the top of their field.

Learn how to:
-Make time for new habits (even when life gets crazy);
-Overcome a lack of motivation and willpower;
- Design your environment to make success easier;
- Get back on track when you fall off course;
...and much more.

Atomic Habits will reshape the way you think about progress and success, and give you the tools and strategies you need to transform your habits--whether you are a team looking to win a championship, an organization hoping to redefine an industry, or simply an individual who wishes to quit smoking, lose weight, reduce stress, or achieve any other goal.]]> 319 James Clear Kim 0 currently-reading 4.34 2018 Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones
author: James Clear
name: Kim
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/14
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies]]> 1842
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and a national bestseller: the global account of the rise of civilization that is also a stunning refutation of ideas of human development based on race.

In this "artful, informative, and delightful" (William H. McNeill, New York Review of Books) book, Jared Diamond convincingly argues that geographical and environmental factors shaped the modern world. Societies that had a head start in food production advanced beyond the hunter-gatherer stage, and then developed writing, technology, government, and organized religion—as well as nasty germs and potent weapons of war—and adventured on sea and land to conquer and decimate preliterate cultures. A major advance in our understanding of human societies, Guns, Germs, and Steel chronicles the way that the modern world came to be and stunningly dismantles racially based theories of human history.

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, the Phi Beta Kappa Award in Science, the Rhone-Poulenc Prize, and the Commonwealth Club of California's Gold Medal]]> 498 Jared Diamond 0739467352 Kim 0 to-read 4.04 1997 Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies
author: Jared Diamond
name: Kim
average rating: 4.04
book published: 1997
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Spoiled Heart Sunjeev Sahota]]> 221780749 Sunjeev Sahota 1787304086 Kim 4
It’s a complicated tangle of relationships with moments of painful revelation and sudden self-awareness. It covers a lot of ground and the conversations can get tedious, as people bicker over extremely fine points of philosophical difference, which nevertheless are crucially important and real.

It’s a five star “stick with me� story but giving it four due to the amount of times I got lost time-wise in the sort of double narrative going on.

]]> 4.00 The Spoiled Heart Sunjeev Sahota
author: Sunjeev Sahota
name: Kim
average rating: 4.00
book published:
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves:
review:
Really not sure how to rate it. On one hand it’s a simple who-done-it. On the other hand it’s a profound novel that covers race relations, labor relations, oppression and class warfare.

It’s a complicated tangle of relationships with moments of painful revelation and sudden self-awareness. It covers a lot of ground and the conversations can get tedious, as people bicker over extremely fine points of philosophical difference, which nevertheless are crucially important and real.

It’s a five star “stick with me� story but giving it four due to the amount of times I got lost time-wise in the sort of double narrative going on.


]]> El otoño de Amira 149320594 En sus ansias por conocer la verdad, y librando con sus propias batallas personales, Domingo se ve inmerso en un relato inundado de amor, pasión y desdichas; que le hará replantearse muchas cosas sobre su propia vida, sus emociones y decisiones del futuro.

Sumérgete en esta maravillosa historia de amor del pasado, que batalló contra una cultura en la que imperaba el machismo, el poder y las diferencias de la clase social; y descubre el amor de un nieto, que tiene como único objetivo, borrar el permanente otoño de la mirada senil de su amada abuela Amira.

Finalista Premio Literario Amazon Storyteller 2023]]> 263 Lía Sayoni Kim 4 4.43 El otoño de Amira
author: Lía Sayoni
name: Kim
average rating: 4.43
book published:
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/12/28
shelves:
review:
I really loved this story. I read slowly in Spanish but the story was so compelling and emotional it held my interest. Sometimes the jumps in time took me some time to figure out. Definitely worth a read. Loved the compassion and the honesty.
]]> Pageboy 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 Kim 4 3.72 2023 Pageboy
author: Elliot Page
name: Kim
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/12/22
shelves:
review:
Really an eye-opener for me. Can’t imagine living with such pain for so long.
]]> <![CDATA[Murder at an Irish Wedding (An Irish Village Mystery, #2)]]> 31508477 "Any wedding is a big deal in the small village of Kilbane even more so when the bride is a famous fashion model. It s also good for business. Not only has customer traffic picked up at Naomi s Bistro, Siobhan O Sullivan and her five siblings have a full plate catering for the three-day affair. And Siobhan s own beau, local garda Macdara Flannery, gladly steps in as best man after the groom s first choice makes a drunken arse out of himself.
Even if he hadn t been disinvited to the wedding, the original best man wouldn t have been able to show. He s been found murdered in the woods, casting a pall over the nuptials. And when a second member of the wedding party is poisoned by a champagne flute engraved with Macdara s name, the garda goes from being best man to prime suspect.
With a killer at large and a string of robberies plaguing Kilbane, Siobhan feels more than a little protective of her village. She vows to clear Macdara s name, but the suspect list is as long as the guest list. Like the bride walking down the aisle, Siobhan needs to watch her step. For as she gets closer to unveiling the truth, the murderer is planning a very chilly reception for her . . .
PRAISE FOR "MURDER IN AN IRISH VILLAGE"
""
If Janet Evanovich and Maeve Binchy wrote a book together, "Murder in an Irish Village"would be the result. This one isdelicious fun. Laurien Berenson, author of"Live and Let Growl"
A lively debut . . . The cheeky and close-knit O Sullivans are sure to appeal to cozy fans, who will also appreciate the warmth and spirit of the people of Kilbane. "Publishers Weekly"
A smart whodunnit in an idyllic locale. I dare you not to be charmed by sleuth Siobhan and her siblings, the O Sullivan Six. Barbara Ross, author of"Fogged Inn"
""
This entertaining combination of Maeve Binchy s old-world Irish charm and Janet Evanovich s roguish humor is a smart, fast-paced read. Devotees of the Hibernian mysteries of Dicey Deere and M.C. Beaton will toast this debut with a pint of Guinness. Slainte! "Library Journal"]]> 304 Carlene O'Connor 1617738492 Kim 3 3.96 2017 Murder at an Irish Wedding (An Irish Village Mystery, #2)
author: Carlene O'Connor
name: Kim
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2017
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/12/18
shelves:
review:
Maybe I was just tired but man this story is complicated. I hung in there to see “who dun it� but it was not fun after a while. I’d say pass on it.
]]> First Lie Wins 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 can’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 Kim 3
One thing bugged me. I think the word “weary� was supposed to be “wary�. What author would not know the difference?? Sentences like (approximately) she was weary of him because of his behavior� could be either but makes more sense in context as WARY. irritating. At least 3 times. ]]> 3.97 2024 First Lie Wins
author: Ashley Elston
name: Kim
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/12/18
shelves:
review:
The plot is convoluted and a little hard to follow since it jumps around in time - and names - and false identities. That said I enjoyed the read and found myself staying up late to finish it.

One thing bugged me. I think the word “weary� was supposed to be “wary�. What author would not know the difference?? Sentences like (approximately) she was weary of him because of his behavior� could be either but makes more sense in context as WARY. irritating. At least 3 times.
]]> <![CDATA[The Medicine Woman of Galveston]]> 197522445 In a uniquely vivid story of women in medicine, found family, and conquering fear for readers of Kristin Hannah, Ellen Marie Wiseman, and Audrey Blake, an impoverished former doctor and her disabled son join a traveling medicine show and its family of strangers on a collision course with the deadliest natural disaster in American history � the Galveston Hurricane of 1900. From the acclaimed author of The Nurse's Secret and The Second Life of Mirielle West.

Once a trailblazer in the field of medicine, Dr. Tucia Hatherley hasn’t touched a scalpel or stethoscope since she made a fatal mistake in the operating theater. Instead, she works in a corset factory, striving to earn enough to support her disabled son. When even that livelihood is threatened, Tucia is left with one option—to join a wily, charismatic showman named Huey and become part of his traveling medicine show.

Her medical license lends the show a pretense of credibility, but the cures and tonics Tucia is forced to peddle are little more than purgatives and bathwater. Loathing the duplicity, even as she finds uneasy kinship with the other misfit performers, Tucia vows to leave as soon as her debts are paid and start a new life with her son—if Huey will ever let her go.

When the show reaches Galveston, Texas, Tucia tries to break free from Huey, only to be pulled even deeper into his schemes. But there is a far greater reckoning ahead, as a September storm becomes a devastating hurricane that will decimate the Gulf Coast—and challenge Tucia to recover her belief in medicine, in the goodness of others—and in herself.]]> 384 Amanda Skenandore 1496741684 Kim 1 3.73 2024 The Medicine Woman of Galveston
author: Amanda Skenandore
name: Kim
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2024
rating: 1
read at:
date added: 2024/11/30
shelves:
review:
Should have a DNF category. Boring, repetitive, tedious. Gave up.
]]> <![CDATA[The Enchanted Life of Adam Hope]]> 15818218 The Enchanted Life of Adam Hope is an unconventional and passionately romantic love story that is as breathtaking and wondrous as The Time Traveler's Wife and The Story of Edgar Sawtelle.

During WWII, teenager Evelyn Roe is sent to manage the family farm in rural North Carolina, where she finds what she takes to be a badly burned soldier on their property. She rescues him, and it quickly becomes clear he is not a man...and not one of us. The rescued body recovers at an unnatural speed, and just as fast, Evelyn and Adam fall deeply in love. In The Enchanted Life of Adam Hope, Rhonda Riley reveals the exhilarating, terrifying mystery inherent in all relationships: No matter how deeply we love someone, and no matter how much we will sacrifice for them, we can only know them so well...]]> 424 Rhonda Riley 0062099442 Kim 4 3.73 2013 The Enchanted Life of Adam Hope
author: Rhonda Riley
name: Kim
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/11/26
shelves:
review:
It’s an emotional roller coaster and a sweet paean to love and change. Could be a little shorter, maybe editing could tighten it up.
]]> The Taste of Ginger 58262303 In Mansi Shah’s stunning debut novel, a family tragedy beckons a first-generation immigrant to the city of her birth, where she grapples with her family’s past in search of where she truly belongs.

After her parents moved her and her brother to America, Preeti Desai never meant to tear her family apart. All she did was fall in love with a white Christian carnivore instead of a conventional Indian boy. Years later, with her parents not speaking to her and her controversial relationship in tatters, all Preeti has left is her career at a prestigious Los Angeles law firm.

But when Preeti receives word of a terrible accident in the city where she was born, she returns to India, where she’ll have to face her estranged parents…and the complicated past they left behind. Surrounded by the sights and sounds of her heritage, Preeti catches a startling glimpse of her family’s battles with class, tradition, and sacrifice. Torn between two beautifully flawed cultures, Preeti must now untangle what home truly means to her.]]> 317 Mansi Shah 1542031893 Kim 3 3.99 2021 The Taste of Ginger
author: Mansi Shah
name: Kim
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/11/26
shelves:
review:
There’s a good story in here but too hard to tease out. In case you wonder if immigrants feel caught between two cultures - well, read this and be reminded of it every third paragraph. Got so tedious.
]]> <![CDATA[Postcards From Stella Maris: Five Liz Talbot Short Stories]]> 62809997
Postcards From Stella Maris is a collection of five short stories for fans of the series who might be interested, for example, in Colleen's backstory.
I wrote the short story "Common Knowledge" for myself years ago, as a way to explore what happened to Colleen. As you might imagine, it's not as light as the series in general. This story has never been published anywhere before.
"Eviction" is the story of how Liz first met Rhett, her golden retriever, back when she was married to Scott the Scoundrel. This story is also not lighthearted, and it likewise has never been published before.

"Hogwash" originally appeared in Spinetingler Magazine. This is a fun little case which introduces the character of Zeke Lyerly, who appears in Lowcountry Bonfire.

"Highlights and Hot Lead" originally appeared in The Petigru Review. This is a Stella Maris slice of life story featuring Shannelle Johnson, a local judge's wife, and it takes place entirely at Phoebe's Day Spa.

"Everything is Relative" is a peek inside a Talbot family Thanksgiving. A few of Mamma's recipes are included at the end.

If by chance you've stumbled on this collection of stories, but you've never read a Liz Talbot mystery, I would encourage you to start with Lowcountry Boil (A Liz Talbot Mystery, Book 1) and come back to these stories later.

I so hope you enjoy these glimpses into Liz Talbot's formative years, her unfortunate first marriage, and her life between major cases.]]> 81 Susan M. Boyer 1959023004 Kim 1 4.29 Postcards From Stella Maris: Five Liz Talbot Short Stories
author: Susan M. Boyer
name: Kim
average rating: 4.29
book published:
rating: 1
read at:
date added: 2024/11/26
shelves:
review:
Picture yourself trapped in a small room with an angry, sarcastic smart-alec who quotes mathematicians and philsophers. Yeah - boring. AND annoying. Gave up in chapter one.
]]> El Secreto de las Azucenas 58574944 Una novela que mezcla el presente y el pasado, en una historia donde la verdad se abre paso y busca de forma irrefrenable salir a la luz.

1925
El Whisper zarpa desde España con destino al sur de América. En el viaje un grupo de jóvenes conocen el amor y la amistad, cambiando para siempre el destino de sus vidas.

En estas tierras, Ferrán y Nina serán protagonistas de un amor marcado por la esperanza, donde las costumbres de la época y los embistes del destino determinarán su futuro, dejando por muchos años una historia sin final.

1999
Azucena Arias no quiere dejar la casa que la vio crecer, pero su vida ha tomado un rumbo inesperado, por lo que se ve obligada a recorrer un camino que no estaba en sus planes.

Sumado a la mala situación económica, los desvaríos de su madre, presa del Alzheimer, son cada vez más frecuentes y reveladores, por lo que comienza a sospechar que los secretos de su familia son más de los que creía.

Azucena, decide conocer su pasado a través de fotos y un misterioso diario, intentando reconstruir la historia de su abuelo y de todos aquellos que llegaron en el Whisper hace más de siete décadas.]]> 464 Marie J. Cisa Kim 3 4.29 El Secreto de las Azucenas
author: Marie J. Cisa
name: Kim
average rating: 4.29
book published:
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/11/26
shelves:
review:
Me gustó el libro “El Secreto de Mr Durand� por esa autora. Pero este libro no me captó el interés. La trama es compleja y el cambio de tiempo me confundió. Puede ser porque el español no es mi lengua materna y leo despacio pero no terminé el libro. Al final me da igual el secreto.
]]> None of This Is True 62334530
A few days later, Alix and Josie bump into each other again, this time outside Alix’s children’s school. Josie has been listening to Alix’s podcasts and thinks she might be an interesting subject for her series. She is, she tells Alix, on the cusp of great changes in her life.

Josie’s life appears to be strange and complicated, and although Alix finds her unsettling, she can’t quite resist the temptation to keep making the podcast. Slowly she starts to realise that Josie has been hiding some very dark secrets, and before she knows it, Josie has inveigled her way into Alix’s life—and into her home.

But, as quickly as she arrived, Josie disappears. Only then does Alix discover that Josie has left a terrible and terrifying legacy in her wake, and that Alix has become the subject of her own true crime podcast, with her life and her family’s lives under mortal threat.

Who is Josie Fair? And what has she done?]]> 390 Lisa Jewell 1982179007 Kim 4 4.08 2023 None of This Is True
author: Lisa Jewell
name: Kim
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/11/26
shelves:
review:
A fun page-turner. No shockers but a good beach read.
]]> <![CDATA[The Mastery of Self: A Toltec Guide to Personal Freedom]]> 27135326 Once released, we can live as our true, authentic, loving self, not only in solitude and meditation, but in any place--at the grocery store, stuck in traffic, etc.--and in any situation or scenario that confronts us. The Ruiz family has an enormous following, and this new book from don Miguel, Jr. will be greeted with enthusiasm by fans around the world. This new book from don Miguel, Jr. will be greeted with enthusiasm by fans around the world.]]> 176 Miguel Ruiz Jr. 1938289536 Kim 2 4.39 2016 The Mastery of Self: A Toltec Guide to Personal Freedom
author: Miguel Ruiz Jr.
name: Kim
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2016
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2024/11/25
shelves:
review:
Nothing really new here. Recycled psycho-babble.
]]> Lucy by the Sea (Amgash #4) 60657583
Rich with empathy and emotion, Lucy by the Sea vividly captures the fear and struggles that come with isolation, as well as the hope, peace, and possibilities that those long, quiet days can inspire. At the heart of this story are the deep human connections that unite us even when we're apart--the pain of a beloved daughter's suffering, the emptiness that comes from the death of a loved one, the promise of a new friendship, and the comfort of an old, enduring love.]]> 291 Elizabeth Strout 0593446062 Kim 4 3.80 2022 Lucy by the Sea (Amgash #4)
author: Elizabeth Strout
name: Kim
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/11/21
shelves:
review:
Surprisingly, loved it. Generally I don’t like books about the world of rich people who can run off from their NYC apartment to a borrowed mansion by the sea when times are tough. Normally don’t like pages and pages of introspection. But I ended up loving the honesty, the emotion, and the love in the story.
]]> <![CDATA[The Italian Bookshop Among the Vines]]> 123435107
Bella's Jewish family has run the local bookshop in her village for generations, sheltered by the olive groves and the purple vineyards surrounding it.

On Bella's wedding day, war is declared and Italy, like the rest of Europe, is plunged into deadly turmoil.

Orphaned Jewish children from Nazi occupied territories arrive in the village seeking refuge, and Bella knows she must do everything she can to keep them safe. Her neighbours also take up the fight and the children are welcomed with open arms.

But when German soldiers arrive in the village, everyone is suddenly in terrible danger. Her father is forced to close the bookshop and go into hiding.

Bella cannot bring herself to leave their home among the vines or abandon the children she has sworn to protect.

She will fight for the home and the people she loves even if she must pay the ultimate price...

An unforgettable story of the courage of ordinary people in the darkest days of war. Inspired by real events, perfect for fans of Kate Quinn and Pam Jenoff. This book was previously published as The Tears of Monterini.]]> 337 Amanda Weinberg Kim 5 4.21 The Italian Bookshop Among the Vines
author: Amanda Weinberg
name: Kim
average rating: 4.21
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/11/21
date added: 2024/11/21
shelves:
review:
Beautiful. Heart-breaking. Life affirming. Terrifying. How does one survive the end of the world?
]]> <![CDATA[The Ballad of the Sad Café and Other Stories]]> 45791 A classic work that has charmed generations of readers, this collection assembles Carson McCullers’s best stories, including her beloved novella “The Ballad of the Sad Café.� A haunting tale of a human triangle that culminates in an astonishing brawl, the novella introduces readers to Miss Amelia, a formidable southern woman whose café serves as the town’s gathering place. Among other fine works, the collection also includes “Wunderkind,� McCullers’s first published story written when she was only seventeen about a musical prodigy who suddenly realizes she will not go on to become a great pianist. Newly reset and available for the first time in a handsome trade paperback edition, The Ballad of the Sad Café is a brilliant study of love and longing from one of the South’s finest writers.]]> 160 Carson McCullers 0618565868 Kim 4 3.97 1951 The Ballad of the Sad Café and Other Stories
author: Carson McCullers
name: Kim
average rating: 3.97
book published: 1951
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/11/16
shelves:
review:
All good short stories but strike me more like the pencil drawings artists make while studying to create before the final, real painting. Nice writing but not much meaning as such.
]]> Us Against You (Beartown, #2) 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 Kim 2
Us Against You was just too much. A third of the way through there was just nothing left that I cared about.]]> 4.34 2017 Us Against You (Beartown, #2)
author: Fredrik Backman
name: Kim
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2017
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2024/10/25
shelves:
review:
Maybe because I read them out of order, this book was tedious and awful. Dark and depressing and full of tedious complicated business dealings and ragingly desperately unhappy characters. I loved Beartown and I loved The Winners although that, too, was darker and sadder.

Us Against You was just too much. A third of the way through there was just nothing left that I cared about.
]]> Still I Miss You 42382015 Still I Miss You is narrated by two distinct voices—a man and a woman—intertwined to bring out the story of their intense relationship. Somewhere between passion and friendship, this couple finds themselves separated by one thing they cannot change: the woman, whose voice opens this amazing novel, died young. But their love is stronger than life and death, and the power of their story is an emotional tour de force.]]> 298 Inês Pedrosa 1542044405 Kim 2 2.92 2002 Still I Miss You
author: Inês Pedrosa
name: Kim
average rating: 2.92
book published: 2002
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2024/10/22
shelves:
review:
Didn’t finish it. Just like being trapped listening to someone’s thoughts. Too tedious. Doesn’t seem to go anywhere it just rambles on and on.
]]> El último viaje a casa 215789421 Sinopsis

“El último viaje a casa� es una emotiva historia, que mezcla el pasado con el presente, que te sumergirá en un viaje de redención y a un testimonio del poder transformador de la amistad y de cómo, a veces, encontrar a alguien que nos entienda puede ser el mayor regalo de todos.

Año 2018

La vida de Lucy no es la que ella soñaba, pues tanto su vida profesional como personal parecen no avanzar. Por un lado, no puede dedicarse a lo que le apasiona por problemas de salud y no tiene más opción que conducir un taxi para subsistir. Por otra parte, está su vida amorosa, la que define como un desastre y lo peor es que solo ella es la culpable, ya que ha decidido alejarse del hombre que ama por miedo a mantener una relación duradera.
Sin embargo, todo cambia el día en que recoge a Grace, una anciana con porte de diva y una mirada cargada de historias. A pesar de las aparentes diferencias que las separan, entre ellas surge una conexión profunda e inesperada que transformará sus vidas para siempre.

Año 1955

Desde que era una niña, la vida de Grace se vio marcada por la adversidad y la resiliencia. Nacida en Irlanda, emigró a Estados Unidos del brazo de su abuela, hace más de sesenta años.
En todo ese tiempo, nunca ha dejado de luchar.
A lo largo de su vida conoció el amor y la traición, lo que dejó profundas cicatrices en su corazón. Aunque también vivió momentos de esplendor y glamour, alcanzando sus sueños y regocijándose en una felicidad que parecía eterna. Sin embargo, una amenaza olvidada se encargó de arrebatarle todo lo que tenía.
A medida que Grace revive sus recuerdos, decide que, no dejará que su pasado la defina, pues en su encuentro con Lucy, ve una chispa de esperanza, una posibilidad de liberarse de los fantasmas del pasado para encontrar la paz que tanto anhela.

Juntas, descubrirán que el verdadero poder de la amistad puede iluminar hasta los rincones más oscuros de la vida y ofrecer una segunda oportunidad para ser felices.]]> 536 Marie J. Cisa Kim 3 4.40 El último viaje a casa
author: Marie J. Cisa
name: Kim
average rating: 4.40
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2024/10/03
date added: 2024/10/22
shelves:
review:
Interesante pero había muchas cosas increíble. El ritmo de la historia era largo y a veces tedioso. Ultimamente lo leí en total pero fue una prueba. El español no es mi lengua materna asi que ese puede explicar las dificultades. Tres estrellas / una historia interesante pero no tiene sentido de verdad.
]]> The Midnight Library 52578297
When Nora Seed finds herself in the Midnight Library, she has a chance to make things right. Up until now, her life has been full of misery and regret. She feels she has let everyone down, including herself. But things are about to change.

The books in the Midnight Library enable Nora to live as if she had done things differently. With the help of an old friend, she can now undo every one of her regrets as she tries to work out her perfect life. But things aren't always what she imagined they'd be, and soon her choices place the library and herself in extreme danger.

Before time runs out, she must answer the ultimate question: what is the best way to live?]]> 288 Matt Haig 0525559477 Kim 3 3.96 2020 The Midnight Library
author: Matt Haig
name: Kim
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/10/22
shelves:
review:
Good but nothing amazing. It ends how you think it will. Nice beach read. There’s a fairy-tale quality to the characters and, obviously, the plot. But fun.
]]> Columbine 5632446
What really happened April 20, 1999? The horror left an indelible stamp on the American psyche, but most of what we "know" is wrong. It wasn't about jocks, Goths, or the Trench Coat Mafia. Dave Cullen was one of the first reporters on scene, and spent ten years on this book-widely recognized as the definitive account. With a keen investigative eye and psychological acumen, he draws on mountains of evidence, insight from the world's leading forensic psychologists, and the killers' own words and drawings-several reproduced in a new appendix. Cullen paints raw portraits of two polar opposite killers. They contrast starkly with the flashes of resilience and redemption among the survivors.]]> 417 Dave Cullen 0446546933 Kim 5 4.28 2009 Columbine
author: Dave Cullen
name: Kim
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2009
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/10/22
shelves:
review:
Frightening, bleak, frustrating and Illuminating. The details of the psychopathic mind. What a lot of research by this author. No easy answers, and a throwing off of the knee jerk blame-game. This book includes horrifying honesty and an utterly stark list of missed opportunities. This could have been prevented. It did not have to happen. If one of innumerable things had not gone wrong. It’s sad.
]]> Marathon Man 21796 236 William Goldman 0330247042 Kim 4 4.12 1974 Marathon Man
author: William Goldman
name: Kim
average rating: 4.12
book published: 1974
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/10/14
shelves:
review:
A convoluted and long story that comes together at the end very dramatically. I am not sure I “get it� but it touches revenge, longing, fanaticism and trust. Or lack of. The ending wasn’t satisfying only sad.
]]> <![CDATA[Last to Die (Rizzoli & Isles, #10)]]> 13272498
Jane spirits Teddy to the exclusive Evensong boarding school, a sanctuary where young victims of violent crime learn the secrets and skills of survival in a dangerous world. But even behind locked gates, and surrounded by acres of sheltering Maine wilderness, Jane fears that Evensong’s mysterious benefactors aren’t the only ones watching. When strange blood-splattered dolls are found dangling from a tree, Jane knows that her instincts are dead on. And when she meets Will Yablonski and Claire Ward, students whose tragic pasts bear a shocking resemblance to Teddy’s, it becomes chillingly clear that a circling predator has more than one victim in mind.

Joining forces with her trusted partner, medical examiner Maura Isles, Jane is determined to keep these orphans safe from harm. But an unspeakable secret dooms the children’s fate—unless Jane and Maura can finally put an end to an obsessed killer’s twisted quest.]]> 338 Tess Gerritsen 0345515633 Kim 3 4.11 2012 Last to Die (Rizzoli & Isles, #10)
author: Tess Gerritsen
name: Kim
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2012
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/10/03
shelves:
review:
I haven't read a Tess Gerritsen book in a long time. This one disappointed me. I remember her as a clever, intelligent writer. This book was just weird with a plot that makes little sense and is completely formulaic. A beach read I guess.
]]> Death with Interruptions 3018539
On the first day of the new year, no one dies. This, of course, causes consternation among politicians, religious leaders, morticians, and doctors. Among the general public, on the other hand, there is initially mass celebration. Flags are hung out on balconies; people dance in the streets. They have achieved the great goal of humanity: eternal life. Then reality hits home—families are left to care for the permanently dying; life-insurance policies become meaningless; and funeral parlors are reduced to arranging burials for pet dogs, cats, hamsters, and parrots.

Death sits in her chilly apartment, where she lives alone with scythe and filing cabinets and contemplates her experiment: What if no one ever died again? What if she, death with a small "d," became human and were to fall in love?]]> 238 José Saramago 0151012741 Kim 1 dnf 3.97 2005 Death with Interruptions
author: José Saramago
name: Kim
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2005
rating: 1
read at: 2024/10/03
date added: 2024/10/03
shelves: dnf
review:
Couldn't finish it. The punctuation (or lack of) drove me mad. Interesting concept but....
]]> <![CDATA[Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before?: Expert Advice for Navigating Life's Challenges]]> 58536046 Drawing on years of experience as a clinical psychologist, online sensation Dr Julie Smith provides the skills you need to navigate common life challenges and take charge of your emotional and mental health in her debut book.

Filled with secrets from a therapist's toolkit, Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before? teaches you how to fortify and maintain your mental health, even in the most trying of times. Dr Julie Smith's expert advice and powerful coping techniques will help you stay resilient, whether you want to manage anxiety, deal with criticism, cope with depression, build self-confidence, find motivation, or learn to forgive yourself. The book tackles everyday issues and offers practical solutions in bite-sized, easy-to-digest entries which make it easy to quickly find specific information and guidance.

Your mental well-being is just as important as your physical well-being. Packed with proven strategies, Dr Smith's empathetic guide offers a deeper understanding of how your mind works and gives you the insights and help you need to nurture your mental health every day. Wise and practical, Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before? might just change your life.]]> 368 Julie Smith 0063227932 Kim 0 to-read 3.85 2022 Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before?: Expert Advice for Navigating Life's Challenges
author: Julie Smith
name: Kim
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration]]> 8171378
Wilkerson tells this interwoven story through the lives of three unforgettable protagonists: Ida Mae Gladney, a sharecropper’s wife, who in 1937 fled Mississippi for Chicago; sharp and quick-tempered George Starling, who in 1945 fled Florida for Harlem, and Robert Foster, a surgeon who left Louisiana in 1953 in hopes of making it in California.

Wilkerson brilliantly captures their first treacherous cross-country journeys by car and train and their new lives in colonies in the New World. The Warmth of Other Suns is a bold, remarkable, and riveting work, a superb account of an “unrecognized immigration� within our own land. Through the breadth of its narrative, the beauty of the writing, the depth of its research, and the fullness of the people and lives portrayed herein, this book is a modern classic.]]> 622 Isabel Wilkerson 0679444327 Kim 0 to-read 4.45 2010 The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration
author: Isabel Wilkerson
name: Kim
average rating: 4.45
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Beyond: The Astonishing Story of the First Human to Leave Our Planet and Journey into Space]]> 52716724 “This remarkable account of the 1961 race into space is a thrilling piece of storytelling. . . . It is high definition tight, thrilling and beautifully researched.”—The Times, London, Front Page Lead Review

“Beyondhas the exhilaration of a fine thriller, but it is vividly embedded in the historic tensions of the Cold War, and peopled by men and women brought sympathetically, and sometimes tragically, to life.”—Colin Thubron, author of Shadow of the Silk Road

09.07 am. April 12, 1961. A top secret rocket site in the USSR. A young Russian sits inside a tiny capsule on top of the Soviet Union’s most powerful intercontinental ballistic missile—originally designed to carry a nuclear warhead—and blasts into the skies. His name is Yuri Gagarin. And he is about to make history.

Travelling at almost 18,000 miles per hour—ten times faster than a rifle bullet—Gagarin circles the globe in just 106 minutes. From his windows he sees the earth as nobody has before, crossing a sunset and a sunrise, crossing oceans and continents, witnessing its beauty and its fragility. While his launch begins in total secrecy, within hours of his landing he has become a world celebrity � the first human to leave the planet.

Beyond tells the thrilling story behind that epic flight on its 60th anniversary. It happened at the height of the Cold War as the US and USSR confronted each other across an Iron Curtain. Both superpowers took enormous risks to get a man into space first, the Americans in the full glare of the media, the Soviets under deep cover. Both trained their teams of astronauts to the edges of the endurable. In the end the race between them would come down to the wire.

Drawing on extensive original research and the vivid testimony of eyewitnesses, many of whom have never spoken before, Stephen Walker unpacks secrets that were hidden for decades and takes the reader into the drama of one of humanity’s greatest adventures � to the scientists, engineers and political leaders on both sides, and above all to the American astronauts and their Soviet rivals battling for supremacy in the heavens.

]]> 512 Stephen Walker 0062978195 Kim 0 to-read 4.58 2021 Beyond: The Astonishing Story of the First Human to Leave Our Planet and Journey into Space
author: Stephen Walker
name: Kim
average rating: 4.58
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[El Hechicero del Tiempo (Spanish Edition)]]> 59245397 97 Sergio Lomán Kim 4 3.63 El Hechicero del Tiempo (Spanish Edition)
author: Sergio Lomán
name: Kim
average rating: 3.63
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/01
date added: 2024/09/01
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Nothing to Fear: Demystifying Death to Live More Fully]]> 200721391 In this compassionate and knowledgeable guide, TikTok star Julie McFadden—known online as “Hospice Nurse Julie”—shares the valuable lessons she’s learned in her fifteen years as an RN in the ICU and in hospice. Expertly interweaving emotional insight and practical advice, Nothing to Fear demystifies end-of-life care for both patients and caregivers, covering topics including:
the biological details of dying
which medical interventions help and which only make things worse
the otherworldly beauty of deathbed phenomena
financial and logistical preparations for death
facts and myths about hospice care
the most important conversations to have before you die
the grieving process, before and after death
Sure to be a go-to resource for years to come, McFadden’s first book proves a better death goes hand in hand with a better life.]]> 240 Julie McFadden 0593713249 Kim 0 currently-reading 4.44 Nothing to Fear: Demystifying Death to Live More Fully
author: Julie McFadden
name: Kim
average rating: 4.44
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/08
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> Heart Bones 62211636 From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of It Ends with Us and It Starts with Us!

Moving, passionate, and unforgettable, Colleen Hoover's novel follows two young adults from completely different backgrounds embarking on a tentative romance, unaware of what the future holds.

After a childhood filled with poverty and neglect, Beyah Grim finally has her hard-earned ticket out of Kentucky with a full ride to Penn State. But two months before she’s finally free to change her life for the better, an unexpected death leaves her homeless and forced to spend the remainder of her summer in Texas with a father she barely knows.

Devastated and anxious for the summer to go by quickly, Beyah has no time or patience for Samson, the wealthy, brooding guy next door. Yet, the connection between them is too intense to ignore. But with their upcoming futures sending them to opposite ends of the country, the two decide to maintain only a casual summer fling. Too bad neither has any idea that a rip current is about to drag both their hearts out to sea.]]> 365 Colleen Hoover 1668021927 Kim 4 4.41 2020 Heart Bones
author: Colleen Hoover
name: Kim
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/05
date added: 2024/08/05
shelves:
review:

]]> Tell the Wolves I'm Home 12875258
1987. There's only one person who has ever truly understood fourteen-year-old June Elbus, and that's her uncle, the renowned painter Finn Weiss. Shy at school and distant from her older sister, June can only be herself in Finn's company; he is her godfather, confidant, and best friend. So when he dies, far too young, of a mysterious illness her mother can barely speak about, June's world is turned upside down. But Finn's death brings a surprise acquaintance into June's life—someone who will help her to heal, and to question what she thinks she knows about Finn, her family, and even her own heart.

At Finn's funeral, June notices a strange man lingering just beyond the crowd. A few days later, she receives a package in the mail. Inside is a beautiful teapot she recognizes from Finn's apartment, and a note from Toby, the stranger, asking for an opportunity to meet. As the two begin to spend time together, June realizes she's not the only one who misses Finn, and if she can bring herself to trust this unexpected friend, he just might be the one she needs the most.

An emotionally charged coming-of-age novel, Tell the Wolves I'm Home is a tender story of love lost and found, an unforgettable portrait of the way compassion can make us whole again.]]> 360 Carol Rifka Brunt 0679644199 Kim 4 4.01 2012 Tell the Wolves I'm Home
author: Carol Rifka Brunt
name: Kim
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/07/20
shelves:
review:
I loved the story; the heartbreak, the emotion, the love. The relationship between Greta and June really was hard to handle for me. It’s suspenseful. Well done.
]]> The Women 127305853
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 Kim 5 4.58 2024 The Women
author: Kristin Hannah
name: Kim
average rating: 4.58
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/07/15
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Didn't See That Coming: Putting Life Back Together When Your World Falls Apart]]> 54710894 Fear. Grief. Loss. Betrayal. Rachel Hollis has felt all those things, and she knows you have too. Now, she takes you to the other side.

With her signature humor, heartfelt honesty, and intimate true-life stories, #1 New York Times bestselling author Rachel Hollis shows readers how to seize difficult moments for the learning experiences they are and the value and growth they provide.

Rachel Hollis sees you. As the millions who read her #1 New York Times bestsellers Girl, Wash Your Face and Girl, Stop Apologizing, attend her RISE conferences and follow her on social media know, she also wants to see you transform.

When it comes to the “hard seasons� of life—the death of a loved one, divorce, loss of a job—transformation seems impossible when grief and uncertainty dominate your days. Especially when, as Didn’t See that Coming reveals, no one asks to have their future completely rearranged for them. But, as Rachel writes, it is up to you how you come through your pain—you can come through changed for the better, having learned and grown, or stuck in place where your identity becomes rooted in what hurt you.

To Rachel, a life well-lived is one of purpose, focused only on the essentials. This is a small book about big feelings: inspirational, aspirational, and an anchor that shows that darkness can co-exist with the beautiful.]]> 227 Rachel Hollis 0063010542 Kim 0 to-read 3.62 2020 Didn't See That Coming: Putting Life Back Together When Your World Falls Apart
author: Rachel Hollis
name: Kim
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Last Flight 52652923 Two women. Two Flights. One last chance to disappear.

Claire Cook has a perfect life. Married to the scion of a political dynasty, with a Manhattan townhouse and a staff of ten, her surroundings are elegant, her days flawlessly choreographed, and her future auspicious. But behind closed doors, nothing is quite as it seems. That perfect husband has a temper that burns as bright as his promising political career, and he's not above using his staff to track Claire's every move, making sure she's living up to his impossible standards. But what he doesn't know is that Claire has worked for months on a plan to vanish.

A chance meeting in an airport bar brings her together with a woman whose circumstances seem equally dire. Together they make a last-minute decision to switch tickets � Claire taking Eva's flight to Oakland, and Eva traveling to Puerto Rico as Claire. They believe the swap will give each of them the head start they need to begin again somewhere far away. But when the flight to Puerto Rico goes down, Claire realizes it's no longer a head start but a new life. Cut off, out of options, with the news of her death about to explode in the media, Claire will assume Eva's identity, and along with it, the secrets Eva fought so hard to keep hidden.

The Last Flight is the story of two women � both alone, both scared � and one agonizing decision that will change thetrajectory of both of their lives.]]> 320 Julie Clark 1728215722 Kim 4
Once you get to the ending you understand why. But it can get a bit confusing.

It’s a fun, suspenseful story. Clever and keeps your interest.

]]> 4.02 2020 The Last Flight
author: Julie Clark
name: Kim
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/07/08
shelves:
review:
Seems like every book I read lately jumps back and forth between characters. This book jumps around by time, as well as character.

Once you get to the ending you understand why. But it can get a bit confusing.

It’s a fun, suspenseful story. Clever and keeps your interest.


]]> The Wrong Daughter 199551453
“Do you have a sister, Ms. Fairview?� The little girl’s question, in all its buttery innocence, slices through me, and the answer catches in my throat. It isn’t as simple as yes or no. It hasn’t been, in nearly sixteen years.

The evening Caitlin and Olivia's parents leave them to go to a dinner party, both girls are bubbling with excitement. At ages 10 and 13, they are at last old enough to stay home alone. After all, in their idyllic town no one even bothers to lock their doors.

As the summer light fades, after TV and popcorn, the sisters finally put themselves to bed. They’re unaware of the figure watching them through an open window. Or of the back door opening once they’ve fallen asleep.

When their parents return, they will find Olivia's bed empty. Their golden-haired, long-limbed, eldest daughter gone. Never to return. Until now.

But is the woman who claims to be Olivia all she seems? Is everything Caitlin said she saw that night the whole truth? Their family have dreamed of this moment, but both sisters are keeping more than one secret. What price will they all pay if they end up believing the wrong daughter?]]> 353 Dandy Smith 1471414639 Kim 3
It had a slow start. The writing is awkward and trite. There are grammar and spelling errors. It gets more and more cheesy and turns into a Gothic Novel narrative.

People take unbelievably dumb actions. The last section is completely predictable and the last chapter is utterly useless.

But for a (very) short while the story is engrossing. ]]> 4.02 2024 The Wrong Daughter
author: Dandy Smith
name: Kim
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/07/05
shelves:
review:
The only reason I gave it 3 stars is that for a little while the suspense is good and even somewhat believable.

It had a slow start. The writing is awkward and trite. There are grammar and spelling errors. It gets more and more cheesy and turns into a Gothic Novel narrative.

People take unbelievably dumb actions. The last section is completely predictable and the last chapter is utterly useless.

But for a (very) short while the story is engrossing.
]]> The Flight Attendant 35506211 368 Chris Bohjalian 0385542429 Kim 3
It’s a run of the mill who-dun-it; a beach read. I didn’t always follow the intercontinental intrigue and there were passages I thought were current-situation rants artlessly embedded in the story. That said it’s worth reading if you need a diversion into a thriller. ]]> 3.53 2018 The Flight Attendant
author: Chris Bohjalian
name: Kim
average rating: 3.53
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/06/12
shelves:
review:
Fun story but not what I expect from this author.

It’s a run of the mill who-dun-it; a beach read. I didn’t always follow the intercontinental intrigue and there were passages I thought were current-situation rants artlessly embedded in the story. That said it’s worth reading if you need a diversion into a thriller.
]]> Let's Pretend This Will Work 200591165 The search for happiness turns a woman’s life upside down in a warm, quirky, and bighearted novel about the joys and chaos of finding love by the bestselling author of Matchmaking for Beginners.

After too many dates, thirtysomething Mimi Perkins is still single, unmoored, and longing for love. So when Ren Yardley—a handsome, divorced fellow drama teacher and single father—falls in love with her and proposes, she’s sure this is at last the good news her psychic predicted.

Soon after proposing, Ren receives the devastating news that his ex-wife has been in a debilitating car accident, prompting him to temporarily move back into his former home to care for her and his daughters. The unfailingly loyal Ren also wants to keep Mimi close, so she packs up her life in New York City and follows him to New Haven, Connecticut. There, she finds a job and unexpected community at a quirky local daycare. But as time goes by, it begins to seem that Ren and his estranged family might be slowly reuniting, and Mimi has to figure out what she’s willing to fight for and what she needs to let go of.

One thing is for she would have never guessed that her psychic was right after all. Life’s twists, turns, and disasters just might lead her to unexpected happiness.]]> 347 Maddie Dawson 1662515472 Kim 1 4.03 2024 Let's Pretend This Will Work
author: Maddie Dawson
name: Kim
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2024
rating: 1
read at:
date added: 2024/05/30
shelves:
review:
If you want to read about a woman and her handsome guy who drop everything for “doing it� every 10 minutes you’ll enjoy it. It was annoying and boring to me. It was like chaperoning a 9th grade dance. I could not get past a few pages.
]]> Matchmaking for Beginners 37561377 When her marriage ends after two miserable weeks, Marnie is understandably shocked. She’s even more astonished to find that she’s inherited Blix’s Brooklyn brownstone along with all of Blix’s unfinished “projects�: the heartbroken, oddball friends and neighbors running from happiness. Marnie doesn’t believe she’s anything special, but Blix somehow knew she was the perfect person to follow in her matchmaker footsteps.

And Blix was also right about some things Marnie must learn the hard way: love is hard to recognize, and the ones who push love away often are the ones who need it most.

]]> 378 Maddie Dawson 1503956202 Kim 0 4.12 2018 Matchmaking for Beginners
author: Maddie Dawson
name: Kim
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/05/30
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[La esposa perfecta (Jessie Hunt #1)]]> 43077294
Sin embargo, poco después de su llegada, Jessie empieza a notar algunas cosas extrañas. Los vecinos—y sus niñeras—parecen ocultar secretos. El misterioso club de yates al que Kyle está deseando unirse está repleto de parejas infieles, y funciona con unas normas que son preocupantes. Y el célebre asesino en serie al que custodian en el hospital psiquiátrico donde Jessie está completando su diploma parece saber más sobre su vida de lo que resulta normal—o seguro.

A medida que su mundo empieza a resquebrajarse, Jessie empieza a cuestionarse todo lo que le rodea —incluida su propia salud mental. ¿Es cierto que ha descubierto una perturbadora conspiración enterrada dentro de una localidad costera del soleado, acomodado sur de California? ¿Acaso sabe el asesino en serie al que está estudiando el origen de sus pesadillas privadas?

¿O es que su pasado tortuoso ha regresado por fin para llevársela?]]> 228 Blake Pierce Kim 3 3.94 2018 La esposa perfecta (Jessie Hunt #1)
author: Blake Pierce
name: Kim
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/05/26
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[I Am, I Am, I Am: Seventeen Brushes with Death]]> 35137915
I Am, I Am, I Am is Maggie O'Farrell's astonishing memoir of the near-death experiences that have punctuated and defined her life. The childhood illness that left her bedridden for a year, which she was not expected to survive. A teenage yearning to escape that nearly ended in disaster. An encounter with a disturbed man on a remote path. And, most terrifying of all, an ongoing, daily struggle to protect her daughter--for whom this book was written--from a condition that leaves her unimaginably vulnerable to life's myriad dangers.

Seventeen discrete encounters with Maggie at different ages, in different locations, reveal a whole life in a series of tense, visceral snapshots. In taut prose that vibrates with electricity and restrained emotion, O'Farrell captures the perils running just beneath the surface, and illuminates the preciousness, beauty, and mysteries of life itself.]]> 304 Maggie O'Farrell 0525520228 Kim 3
Seventeen of them in a row. ]]> 3.96 2017 I Am, I Am, I Am: Seventeen Brushes with Death
author: Maggie O'Farrell
name: Kim
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2017
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/05/19
shelves:
review:
Boy did this get old fast. I don’t know what is so ground-breaking here. It’s basically the types of stories you see in every magazine “I survived falling off a mountain�, “My parachute failed! ”�.

Seventeen of them in a row.
]]> The Girls in the Stilt House 54762315 Set in 1920s Mississippi, this debut Southern novel weaves a beautiful and harrowing story of two teenage girls cast in an unlikely partnership through murder—perfect for readers of Where the Crawdads Sing and If the Creek Don't Rise.

Ada promised herself she would never go back to the Trace, to her hard life on the swamp and her harsh father. But now, after running away to Baton Rouge and briefly knowing a different kind of life, she finds herself with nowhere to go but back home. And she knows there will be a price to pay with her father.

Matilda, daughter of a sharecropper, is from the other side of the Trace. Doing what she can to protect her family from the whims and demands of some particularly callous locals is an ongoing struggle. She forms a plan to go north, to pack up the secrets she's holding about her life in the South and hang them on the line for all to see in Ohio.

As the two girls are drawn deeper into a dangerous world of bootleggers and moral corruption, they must come to terms with the complexities of their tenuous bond and a hidden past that links them in ways that could cost them their lives.]]> 384 Kelly Mustian 1728217717 Kim 5 3.99 2021 The Girls in the Stilt House
author: Kelly Mustian
name: Kim
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/04/28
shelves:
review:

]]> The Firm (The Firm, #1) 452235
For a young lawyer on the make, it was an offer Mitch McDeere couldn’t a position at a law firm where the bucks, billable hours, and benefits are over the top. It’s a dream job for an up-and-comer—if he can overlook the uneasy feeling he gets at the office. Then an FBI investigation into the firm’s connections to the Mafia plunges the straight and narrow attorney into a nightmare of terror and intrigue.With no choice but to pit his wits, ethics, and legal skills against the firm’s deadly secrets—if he hopes to stay alive…]]> 501 John Grisham 044021145X Kim 3 4.26 1991 The Firm (The Firm, #1)
author: John Grisham
name: Kim
average rating: 4.26
book published: 1991
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/04/25
shelves:
review:
Maybe I should have read this book 30 years ago. Maybe then it was fresh and different. It was complicated and way too repetitive. Dragged on and on with nearly the same words. Takes a very long time to get to the formulaic excitement you know is coming. I felt like there were a lot of loose ends.
]]> One Moment in Time 92074165

After three decades of marriage, Brenda Jones has decided to leave her husband, just as soon as they both return from a mystery trip with their daughter Zara. But she has no idea that Zara is flying them to Las Vegas to renew their vows.

Zara Jones has recreated almost every detail of her parent’s original wedding - now her only challenge is tracking down the two friends who were pictured with her mum and dad back in 1993.



Aiden Gregg is dealing with his own relationship woes when he receives an unexpected message from a complete stranger. With the help of Facebook, Zara has tracked him down and is asking if his parents are the other couple in the old photo? And if so, could he bring them to Vegas for a surprise reunion?

What Zara and Aiden don’t know is that thirty years ago, One Moment In Time changed everything.

Will rewinding the clock right the wrongs of the past?

Or are they all counting down to a rendezvous with disaster?]]> 300 Shari Low 1804268704 Kim 4 4.18 2023 One Moment in Time
author: Shari Low
name: Kim
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/04/04
date added: 2024/04/04
shelves:
review:

]]> The Road 6288
A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones, and when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the coast, although they don’t know what, if anything, awaits them there. They have nothing; just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food—and each other.

The Road is the profoundly moving story of a journey. It boldly imagines a future in which no hope remains, but in which the father and his son, “each the other’s world entire,� are sustained by love. Awesome in the totality of its vision, it is an unflinching meditation on the worst and the best that we are capable of: ultimate destructiveness, desperate tenacity, and the tenderness that keeps two people alive in the face of total devastation.]]> 241 Cormac McCarthy 0307265439 Kim 5
I didn’t enjoy the story, it left me horrified, sad and worried. But it’s such an important story about morality in extreme circumstances. Who do you feed? Who do you kill? I have to go with five stars. ]]> 3.99 2006 The Road
author: Cormac McCarthy
name: Kim
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2006
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/03/25
shelves:
review:
I don’t know how to rate it. The writing is knife-like, every detail punches home. I could feel the cold, the hunger, the fear, the desperation�

I didn’t enjoy the story, it left me horrified, sad and worried. But it’s such an important story about morality in extreme circumstances. Who do you feed? Who do you kill? I have to go with five stars.
]]> Origen (Robert Langdon, #5) 35526746
¿DE DÓNDE VENIMOS? ¿ADÓNDE VAMOS?

Al poco tiempo de comenzar la presentación, meticulosamente orquestada por Edmond Kirsch y la directora del museo Ambra Vidal, estalla el caos para asombro de cientos de invitados y millones de espectadores en todo el mundo. Ante la inminente amenaza de que el valioso hallazgo se pierda para siempre, Langdon y Ambra deben huir desesperadamente a Barcelona e iniciar una carrera contrarreloj para localizar la críptica contraseña que les dará acceso al revolucionario secreto de Kirsch.

Perseguidos por un atormentado y peligroso enemigo, Langdon y Ambra descubrirán los episodios más oscuros de la Historia y del extremismo religioso. Siguiendo un rastro de pistas compuesto por obras de arte moderno y enigmáticos símbolos, tendrán pocas horas para intentar desvelar la fascinante investigación de Kirsch� y su sobrecogedora revelación sobre el origen y el destino de la Humanidad.

ORIGEN se desarrolla íntegramente en España. Barcelona, Bilbao, Madrid y Sevilla son los escenarios principales en los que transcurre la nueva aventura de Robert Langdon. De la mano del autor de El código Da Vinci, el lector recorrerá escenarios como el Monasterio de Montserrat, la Casa Milà (La Pedrera), la Sagrada Familia, el Museo Guggenheim Bilbao, el Palacio Real o la Catedral de Sevilla.

Como ya sucedió con París en El código Da Vinci, con Roma en Ángeles y demonios o con Florencia en Inferno, los escenarios de las novelas de Dan Brown siempre han sido un elemento clave en sus tramas.]]> 640 Dan Brown Kim 2 3.81 2017 Origen (Robert Langdon, #5)
author: Dan Brown
name: Kim
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2017
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2024/03/12
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court]]> 162898
Written in 1889, Mark 'A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court' is one of literature's first genre mash-ups and one of the first works to feature time travel. It is one of the best known Twain stories, and also one of his most unique. Twain uses the work to launch a social commentary on contemporary society, a thinly veiled critique of the contemporary times despite the Old World setting.

While the dark pessimism that would fully blossom in Twain's later works can be discerned in 'A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, ' the novel will nevertheless be remembered primarily for its wild leaps of imagination, brilliant wit, and entertaining storytelling.]]> 480 Mark Twain Kim 4 3.80 1889 A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
author: Mark Twain
name: Kim
average rating: 3.80
book published: 1889
rating: 4
read at: 2024/03/10
date added: 2024/03/10
shelves:
review:
Sarcasm, irony, humor and biting social commentary mixed with history and a few gruesome scenes.
]]> <![CDATA[The Woman's Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Vote]]> 35743037 The nail-biting climax of one of the greatest political victories in American history: the down and dirty campaign to get the last state to ratify the 19th amendment, granting women the right to vote.

Nashville, August 1920. Thirty-five states have ratified the Nineteenth Amendment, twelve have rejected or refused to vote, and one last state is needed. It all comes down to Tennessee, the moment of truth for the suffragists, after a seven-decade crusade. The opposing forces include politicians with careers at stake, liquor companies, railroad magnates, and a lot of racists who don't want black women voting. And then there are the 'Antis'--women who oppose their own enfranchisement, fearing suffrage will bring about the moral collapse of the nation. They all converge in a boiling hot summer for a vicious face-off replete with dirty tricks, betrayals and bribes, bigotry, Jack Daniel's, and the Bible.

Following a handful of remarkable women who led their respective forces into battle, along with appearances by Woodrow Wilson, Warren Harding, Frederick Douglass, and Eleanor Roosevelt, The Woman's Hour is an inspiring story of activists winning their own freedom in one of the last campaigns forged in the shadow of the Civil War, and the beginning of the great twentieth-century battles for civil rights.]]> 416 Elaine F. Weiss 0525429727 Kim 3
It’s got a lot of facts and characters jammed together and the narrative just doesn’t flow. I don’t know why it took me ages to read it and I couldn’t keep everything straight.

There are fascinating episodes and great illustrations. Just not an easy read.

Three stars for effort. ]]> 4.02 2018 The Woman's Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Vote
author: Elaine F. Weiss
name: Kim
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/03/08
shelves:
review:
The friend who recommended this book said she was “on the edge of her seat�. I wasn’t quite there.

It’s got a lot of facts and characters jammed together and the narrative just doesn’t flow. I don’t know why it took me ages to read it and I couldn’t keep everything straight.

There are fascinating episodes and great illustrations. Just not an easy read.

Three stars for effort.
]]> The Last Thing She Ever Did 35158801 From the #1 New York Times bestselling author comes a psychological thriller exploring the things we dare to do when no one is looking . . .

The community along Oregon's Deschutes River is one of successful careers and perfect families. For years, up-and-comers Liz and Owen have admired their good friends and neighbors, Carole and David. They appear to have it all--security, happiness, and a beautiful young son, Charlie.

Then Charlie vanishes without a trace, and all that seemed safe is shattered by a tragedy that is incomprehensible--except to Liz.

It took one fleeting moment for her to change the lives of everyone she loves--a heartrending accident that can't be undone. Neither can the second-worst mistake of her life: concealing it. As two marriages crack and buckle in grief and fear, Liz retreats into her own dark place of guilt, escalating paranoia--and betrayals even she can't imagine. Because there's another good neighbor who has his own secrets, his own pain, and his own reasons for watching Liz's every move.

And only he knows that the mystery of the missing boy on the Deschutes River is far from over.]]> 381 Gregg Olsen 1542096421 Kim 4 Couldn’t put it down. 4.04 2018 The Last Thing She Ever Did
author: Gregg Olsen
name: Kim
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/03/04
shelves:
review:
Couldn’t put it down.
]]> The Paris Library 52761909 Based on the true World War II story of the heroic librarians at the American Library in Paris, this is an unforgettable story of romance, friendship, family, and the power of literature to bring us together, perfect for fans of The Lilac Girls and The Paris Wife.

Paris, 1939: Young and ambitious Odile Souchet has it all: her handsome police officer beau and a dream job at the American Library in Paris. When the Nazis march into Paris, Odile stands to lose everything she holds dear, including her beloved library. Together with her fellow librarians, Odile joins the Resistance with the best weapons she has: books. But when the war finally ends, instead of freedom, Odile tastes the bitter sting of unspeakable betrayal.

Montana, 1983: Lily is a lonely teenager looking for adventure in small-town Montana. Her interest is piqued by her solitary, elderly neighbor. As Lily uncovers more about her neighbor’s mysterious past, she finds that they share a love of language, the same longings, and the same intense jealousy, never suspecting that a dark secret from the past connects them.

A powerful novel that explores the consequences of our choices and the relationships that make us who we are—family, friends, and favorite authors�The Paris Library shows that extraordinary heroism can sometimes be found in the quietest of places.]]> 368 Janet Skeslien Charles 1982134194 Kim 3
It’s got some nice scenes, quotes good literature, but the end had that “wrap it up and get it over� feeling.

Interesting part of history I didn’t know about - the American Library in Paris that stayed open during WW II.

]]> 4.00 2021 The Paris Library
author: Janet Skeslien Charles
name: Kim
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/02/27
shelves:
review:
Decent “beach-read�. I can’t understand why no one can tell a story chronologically these days. The timeline was helter-skelter and often conversations were so jumbled I couldn’t tell who was talking.

It’s got some nice scenes, quotes good literature, but the end had that “wrap it up and get it over� feeling.

Interesting part of history I didn’t know about - the American Library in Paris that stayed open during WW II.


]]> The Couple Next Door 28815474 You never know what's happening on the other side of the wall.

Your neighbour told you that she didn't want your six-month-old daughter at the dinner party. Nothing personal, she just couldn't stand her crying.

Your husband said it would be fine. After all, you only live next door. You'll have the baby monitor and you'll take it in turns to go back every half hour.

Your daughter was sleeping when you checked on her last. But now, as you race up the stairs in your deathly quiet house, your worst fears are realized. She's gone.

You've never had to call the police before. But now they're in your home, and who knows what they'll find there.

What would you be capable of, when pushed past your limit?]]> 308 Shari Lapena 0735221081 Kim 4 3.80 2016 The Couple Next Door
author: Shari Lapena
name: Kim
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/02/03
shelves:
review:
Not your typical who-dunnit. I really enjoyed it. A great beach read.
]]> <![CDATA[Stupid Things I Won't Do When I Get Old]]> 56339733
The fact is, we don’t want to age the way previous generations did. “Old people� hoard. They bore relatives—and strangers—with tales of their aches and pains. They insist on driving long after they’ve become a danger to others (and themselves). They eat dinner at 4pm. They swear they don’t need a cane or walker (and guess what happens next). They never, ever apologize. But there is another way . . .

In Stupid Things I Won’t Do When I’m Old, Petrow candidly addresses the fears, frustrations, and stereotypes that accompany aging. He offers a blueprint for the new old age, and an understanding that aging and illness are not the same. As he writes, “I meant the list to serve as a pointed reminder—to me—to make different choices when I eventually cross the threshold to ‘old.’�

Getting older is a privilege. This essential guide reveals how to do it with grace, wisdom, humor, and hope. And without hoarding.]]> 272 Steven Petrow 0806541024 Kim 2 3.67 2021 Stupid Things I Won't Do When I Get Old
author: Steven Petrow
name: Kim
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2021
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2024/01/28
shelves:
review:
The book got old fast. A person just being cranky. To me, not enjoyable and really not very funny.
]]> This Impossible Brightness 123445739 Taking refuge on a remote island, a grieving woman develops unlikely connections with the community and the wild in this haunting novel of hope and perseverance from debut author Jessica Bryant Klagmann.

After the mysterious disappearance of her fiancé, Alma Hughes moves to a remote island in the North Atlantic, where she hopes to weather her grief and nurture her ailing dog. But the strange town of Violette has mysteries as well.

Townsfolk say that the radio tower overlooking their town broadcasts messages through their home appliances, their dreams, even the sea itself. When lightning strikes the tower, illuminating the sky in a brilliant flash, Alma finds herself caught in the unexplainable aftermath of one of Violette’s deadliest storms.

As the sea consumes the island, threatening its very existence, the deaths and lost memories of the recently departed also devastate the community. Alma, with a unique link to the lost, may be the only one who can help them move on. But to do so, she must confront a tragic loss of her own.

On this doomed island haunted by echoes of the departed, Alma searches for meaning in her future—and dares to discover the power of hope among the living.]]> 308 Jessica Bryant Klagmann 1662513135 Kim 1 Dnr. Ick. 3.54 2024 This Impossible Brightness
author: Jessica Bryant Klagmann
name: Kim
average rating: 3.54
book published: 2024
rating: 1
read at:
date added: 2024/01/27
shelves:
review:
Dnr. Ick.
]]> The House of Broken Angels 40603634 The definitive Mexican-American immigrant story, a sprawling and deeply felt portrait of a Mexican-American family occasioned by the impending loss of its patriarch, from one of the country's most beloved authors.

Prizewinning and bestselling writer Luis Urrea has written his Mexican coming-to-America story and his masterpiece. Destined to sit alongside other classic immigrant novels, The House of Broken Angels is a sprawling and epic family saga helmed by patriarch Big Angel. The novel gathers together the entire De La Cruz clan, as they meet for the final birthday party Big Angel is throwing for himself, at home in San Diego, as he nears the end of his struggle with cancer and reflects on his long and full life.

But when Big Angel's mother, Mama America, approaching one hundred, dies herself as the party nears, he must plan her funeral as well. There will be two family affairs in one weekend: a farewell double-header. Among the attendants is his half-brother and namesake, Little Angel, who comes face to face with the siblings with whom he shared a father but not, as the weekend proceeds to remind him, a life.

This story of the De La Cruzes is the story of what it means to be a Mexican in America, to have lived two lives across one border. It is a tale of the ravaging power of death to shore up the bits of life you have forgotten, whether by choice or not. Above all, this finely wrought portrait of a deeply complex family and the America they have come to call home is Urrea at his purest and best. Teeming with brilliance and humor, authentic at every turn, The House of Broken Angels cements his reputation as a storyteller of the first rank.]]> 336 Luis Alberto Urrea Kim 4 3.87 2018 The House of Broken Angels
author: Luis Alberto Urrea
name: Kim
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/01/27
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review:
I loved this book. It was hard at first to keep all the relatives straight but when I gave up and let the words flow it was amazing. A sweet, crazy, warm, flawed, family with deep love and connection binding them. One of the greatest endings I can remember.
]]> The Four Winds 53138081 Texas, 1934. Millions are out of work and a drought has broken the Great Plains. Farmers are fighting to keep their land and their livelihoods as the crops are failing, the water is drying up, and dust threatens to bury them all. One of the darkest periods of the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl era, has arrived with a vengeance.

In this uncertain and dangerous time, Elsa Martinelli—like so many of her neighbors—must make an agonizing choice: fight for the land she loves or go west, to California, in search of a better life. The Four Winds is an indelible portrait of America and the American Dream, as seen through the eyes of one indomitable woman whose courage and sacrifice will come to define a generation.

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Nightingale and The Great Alone comes an epic novel of love and heroism and hope, set against the backdrop of one of America’s most defining eras—the Great Depression.

Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9781250178602]]> 464 Kristin Hannah 1250178606 Kim 4 4.27 2021 The Four Winds
author: Kristin Hannah
name: Kim
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/01/20
shelves:
review:
The description of the land devastation in the Dust Bowl, the hard life in the work camps and the discrimination against the “Okies�, still haunts me. I learned a lot from this story.
]]> Three Days at the Brink 43721855 “I not put thisextraordinarybook down.Three Days at the Brinkisa masterpiece: elegantly written, brilliantly conceived, and impeccably researched. This book isdestined to be a classic!”Jay Winik, New York Times bestselling author

From the #1 bestselling author and award-winning anchor of Special Report with Bret Baier, comes the gripping lost history of the Tehran Conference, where FDR, Churchill, and Stalin plotted D-Day and the Second World War’s endgame. With the fate of World War II in doubt and rumors of a Nazi assassination plot swirling, Franklin Roosevelt risked everything at a clandestine meeting that would change the course of history.

November 1943: The Nazis and their Axis allies controlled nearly the entire European continent. Japan dominated the Pacific. Allied successes at Sicily and Guadalcanal had gained them modest ground but at an extraordinary cost. On the Eastern Front, the Soviet Red Army had been bled white. The path of history walked a knife’s edge.

That same month a daring gambit was hatched that would alter everything. The "Big Three"—Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin—secretly met for the first time to chart a strategy for defeating Adolf Hitler. Over three days in Tehran, Iran, this trio—strange bedfellows united by their mutual responsibility as heads of the Allied powers—made essential decisions that would direct the final years of the war and its aftermath. Meanwhile, looming over the covert meeting was the possible threat of a Nazi assassination plot, code-named Operation Long Jump.

Before they left Tehran, the three leaders agreed to open a second front in the West, spearheaded by Operation Overload and the D-Day invasion of France at Normandy the following June. They also discussed what might come after the war, including dividing Germany and establishing the United Nations—plans that laid the groundwork for the postwar world order and the Cold War.

Bestselling author andFox News Channel anchorBret Baier’s new epic history,Three Days at the Brink,centers on these crucial days in Tehran, the medieval Persian city on the edge of the desert. Baier makes clear the importance of Roosevelt, who stood apart as the sole leader of a democracy, recognizing him as the lead strategist for the globe’s future—the one man who could ultimately allow or deny the others their place in history.

With new details discovered in rarely seen transcripts, oral histories, and declassified State Department and presidential documents from the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Baier illuminates the complex character of Roosevelt, revealing a man who grew into his role and accepted the greatest challenge any American president since Lincoln had faced.]]> 434 Bret Baier 0062905686 Kim 3 4.07 2019 Three Days at the Brink
author: Bret Baier
name: Kim
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2024/01/19
date added: 2024/01/19
shelves:
review:

]]> Pachinko 34051011
Richly told and profoundly moving, Pachinko is a story of love, sacrifice, ambition, and loyalty. From bustling street markets to the halls of Japan's finest universities to the pachinko parlors of the criminal underworld, Lee's complex and passionate characters—strong, stubborn women, devoted sisters and sons, fathers shaken by moral crisis—survive and thrive against the indifferent arc of history.]]> 496 Min Jin Lee Kim 4 4.35 2017 Pachinko
author: Min Jin Lee
name: Kim
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2024/01/19
date added: 2024/01/19
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store]]> 65678550
Chicken Hill was where Moshe and Chona Ludlow lived when Chona ran the Heaven & Earth Grocery Store, which served the neighborhood's quirky collection of blacks and European immigrants, helped by her husband, Moshe, a Romanian-born theater owner who integrated the town's first dance hall. When the state came looking for a deaf black child, claiming that the boy needed to be institutionalized, Chicken Hill's residents—roused by Chona's kindess and the courage of a local black worker named Nate Timblin—banded together to keep the boy safe.

As the novel unfolds, it becomes clear how much the people of Chicken Hill have to struggle to survive at the margins of white Christian America and how damaging bigotry, hypocrisy, and deceit can be to a community. When the truth is revealed about the skeleton, the boy, and the part the town’s establishment played in both, McBride shows that it is love and community—heaven and earth—that ultimately sustain us.]]> 385 James McBride 0593422945 Kim 4 3.83 2023 The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store
author: James McBride
name: Kim
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/01/19
date added: 2024/01/19
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Am I small? آیا من کوچک هستم؟: English-Dari/Afghan Persian/Farsi: Children's Picture Book (Bilingual Edition) (Editions in 200+ Languages)]]> 43384009 English-Dari/Afghan Persian/Farsi Bilingual Edition

“Am I small?� - Tamia is not sure and keeps asking various animals that she meets on her journey. Eventually she finds the surprising answer...

Reviews
"This is baby's favorite book!" �Amazon Customer Review from the United States

"for children who enjoy lingering over pages full of magical creatures and whimsical details [...] told in simple and engaging words and imaginative pictures.”�Kirkus Reviews

"This has been my daughter's favourite book since she was 4 months old. The sentences are nice and short so she doesn't lose interest in the pictures while I'm reading each page." �Amazon Customer Review from the UK

"Muito legal esse livro. Singelo, divertido e relacionado ao universo da criança. Bom pra desenvolver o vocabulário. As ilustrações são lindas. Meu filho adorou." �Amazon Customer Review from Brazil

"You are small or big depending on with what you relate to. A simple cute book which exactly portrays this message." �Amazon Customer Review from India

"Muy buen libro infantil. Dinámico, orgánico, perfecto para aprender en romaji. De fácil lectura y con una protagonista realmente encantadora" �Amazon Customer Review from Mexico

"We are in love with this book! [...] I highly recommend this book"�Amazon Customer Review from the United States

"Mia figlia di due anni e mezzo è entusiasta dei disegni bellissimi e dei colori. Apprezza anche le vicende di una bimba nè grande nè piccola ma giusta così." �Amazon Customer Review from Italy

"My three year olds love it and the story's concept will grow with them for several years to come making it a keeper." �Amazon Customer Review from the U.S.

"I got this book to read with my granddaughters, one from the US and one from Portugal. It is so incredibly cute! They loved it, and I did too. I highly recommend this book!" �Amazon Customer Review from the U.S.

"My little boy loves this as a bedtime story. It's colourful and quirky. [...] I thought it would be uninteresting to a child, to be read to in another language, but he asks for 'Bin ich klein' and it melts my heart!" �Amazon Customer Review from the United Kingdom

"I LOVED it. Lots of repetition to help 'lil ones get used to structure and words! [...] Most importantly, it sends a good message about how being unique and different is good."�ESL Carissa

"readers will emerge from this book feeling slightly more confident about themselves—whatever their size."�ForeWord Clarion Reviews

"This is done with simplicity at its finest. The art is whimsical, the message is clear and most of all my grandson loves it. I would recommend this book to any child provider as part of their reading library." �Amazon Customer Review from the U.S.]]> 26 Philipp Winterberg Kim 0 3.33 2013 Am I small? آیا من کوچک هستم؟: English-Dari/Afghan Persian/Farsi: Children's Picture Book (Bilingual Edition) (Editions in 200+ Languages)
author: Philipp Winterberg
name: Kim
average rating: 3.33
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/12/26
shelves:
review:

]]> Small Things Like These 58662236
Already an international bestseller, Small Things Like These is a deeply affecting story of hope, quiet heroism, and empathy from one of our most critically lauded and iconic writers.]]> 128 Claire Keegan 0802158749 Kim 2
I enjoyed it. It was a nice introspective and evocative tale - but in the end nothing special. Not sure why it is a best seller. ]]> 4.13 2021 Small Things Like These
author: Claire Keegan
name: Kim
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2021
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2023/12/25
shelves:
review:
I felt cheated. This is really just a short story. When it “ended� I was thinking - Okay here we go with the real story - and it stops.

I enjoyed it. It was a nice introspective and evocative tale - but in the end nothing special. Not sure why it is a best seller.
]]> <![CDATA[Unruly: The Ridiculous History of England's Kings and Queens]]> 152034931 A rollicking historyof England's earliest kings and queens, a story ofnarcissists, excessive beheadings, middle-management insurrection, uncivil wars,and more, fromaward-winning British actor and comedian David Mitchell

Think you know the kings and queens of England? Think again.

In Unruly , David Mitchell explores how early England’s monarchs, while acting as feared rulers firmly guiding their subjects� destinies, were in reality a bunch of lucky bastards who were mostly as silly and weird in real life as they appear to us today in their portraits.

Taking us right back to King Arthur ( he didn’t exist), Mitchell tells the founding story of post-Roman England right up to the reign of Elizabeth I ( she dies), as the monarchy began to lose its power. It’s a tale of bizarre and curious ascensions, inadequate self-control, and at least one total Cnut, as the English evolved from having their crops stolen by the thug with the largest armed gang to bowing and paying taxes to a divinely anointed King.

How this happened, who it happened to, and why the hell it matters are all questions Mitchell answers with brilliance, wit, and the full erudition of a man who once studied history—and is damned if he’ll let it off the hook for the mess it’s made of everything.

A funny book that takes history seriously, Unruly is for anyone who has ever wondered how the monarchy came to be—and who is to blame.]]> 433 David Mitchell 0593728491 Kim 0 to-read 4.13 2023 Unruly: The Ridiculous History of England's Kings and Queens
author: David Mitchell
name: Kim
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/12/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Family Reins: The Extraordinary Rise and Epic Fall of an American Dynasty]]> 123313823 222 Billy Busch Kim 0 to-read 3.42 Family Reins: The Extraordinary Rise and Epic Fall of an American Dynasty
author: Billy Busch
name: Kim
average rating: 3.42
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/12/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Final Approach 28601221
In the control tower at Kansas City International Airport, all the radar displays are red. But for the experienced pilots of North America Airlines, the thunderstorms aren’t the NAA has been cutting costs to stave off bankruptcy, and will do anything to keep their planes in the air. Unfortunately, no matter what they do, one is on its way down.

After the aircraft collides with another plane on the Kansas City runway, in one of the worst aviation disasters of the decade, National Transportation Safety Board investigator Joe Wallingford arrives on the scene. As he studies the wreckage and pieces together the events that led to the tragedy, he realizes there’s far more at play than pilot error or equipment malfunction. Wallingford will have to risk his career—and perhaps even his life—to solve the puzzle of the crash.]]> 418 John J. Nance 1504027914 Kim 2 4.15 1990 Final Approach
author: John J. Nance
name: Kim
average rating: 4.15
book published: 1990
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2023/12/11
shelves:
review:
Was hoping for light fiction with an exciting plot line and easy to follow characters. DNF. Kind of wanted to know the resolution but not worth the slog. Too me very repetitive, complicated narrative
]]> To Sir, With Love 895163 The all-time Classic schoolroom drama - as relevant as today's headlines ...

He shamed them, wrestled with them, enlightened them, and - ultimately - learned to love them. Mr. Braithwaite, the new teacher, had first to fight the class bully. Then he taught defiant, hard-bitten delinquents to call him "Sir," and to address the girls who had grown up beside them in the gutter as "Miss".

He taught them to wash their faces and to read Shakespeare. When he took all forty-six to museums and to the opera, riots were predicted. But instead of a catastrophe, a miracle happened. A dedicated teacher had turned hate into love, teenage rebelliousness into self-respect, contempt into into consideration for others. A man's own integrity - his concern and love for others - had won through.

The modern classic about a dedicated teacher in a tough London school who slowly and painfully breaks down the barriers of racial prejudice, this is the story of a man's integrity winning through against the odds.]]> 189 E.R. Braithwaite 0515105198 Kim 3 4.17 1959 To Sir, With Love
author: E.R. Braithwaite
name: Kim
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1959
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2023/11/14
shelves:
review:

]]>