Karen's bookshelf: all en-US Thu, 03 Apr 2025 13:49:10 -0700 60 Karen's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg Show Don't Tell 213870083 A funny, fiercely intelligent, and moving collection exploring marriage, friendship, fame, and artistic ambition—including a story that revisits the main character from Curtis Sittenfeld’s iconic novel Prep—from the New York Times bestselling author of Eligible and Romantic Comedy

In her second story collection, Sittenfeld shows why she’s as beloved for her short fiction as she is for her novels. In these dazzling stories, she conjures up characters so real that they seem like old friends, laying bare the moments when their long held beliefs are overturned.

In “The Patron Saints of Middle Age,� a woman visits two friends she hasn’t seen since her divorce. In “A for Alone,� a married artist embarks on a creative project intended to disprove the so-called Mike Pence Rule, which suggests that women and men can’t spend time alone together without lusting after each other. And in “Lost but Not Forgotten,� Sittenfeld gives readers of her novel Prep a window into the world of her beloved character Lee Fiora, decades later, when Lee attends an alumni reunion at her boarding school.

Hilarious, thought-provoking, and full of tenderness for her characters, Sittenfeld’s stories peel back layer after layer of our inner lives, keeping us riveted to the page with her utterly distinctive voice.]]> 320 Curtis Sittenfeld 0593446739 Karen 5 3.98 2025 Show Don't Tell
author: Curtis Sittenfeld
name: Karen
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2025
rating: 5
read at: 2025/04/03
date added: 2025/04/03
shelves:
review:
What an excellent writer! I really don’t read short stories, but I like her enough to read whatever she writes. And her short stories are masterful. She develops characters,sets up a plot, throws in many delicious details, and winds it up so I’m completely satisfied. I’d read a novel of most any of these stories, but they are little jewels just as they are.
]]> <![CDATA[Lethal Prey (Lucas Davenport #35; Virgil Flowers #16)]]> 216310255 Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers join forces to track down a ruthless killer who will do whatever it takes to keep the past buried.

Doris Grandfelt, an employee at an accounting firm, was brutally stabbed to death . . . but nobody knew exactly where the crime took place. Her body was found the next night, dumped among a dense thicket of trees along the edge of an urban park, eight miles east of St. Paul, Minnesota. Despite her twin sister Lara Grandfelt’s persistent calls to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the killer was never found.

Twenty years later, Lara has been diagnosed with breast cancer. Confronted with the possibility of her own death, she’s determined to find Doris’s killer once and for all. Finally taking matters into her own hands, she dumps the entire investigative file on every true-crime site in the world and offers a $5 million reward for information leading to the killer’s arrest. Dozens of true-crime bloggers show up looking for both new evidence and “clicks,� and Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers are called in to review anything that might be a new lead.

When one of the bloggers locates the murder weapon, Lucas and Virgil begin to uncover vital details about the killer’s identity. But what they don’t know is the killer lurks in plain sight, and with the true-crime bloggers blasting every clue online, the killer can keep one step ahead. As the nation maneuvers the detectives closer to the truth, Lucas and Virgil will find that digging up Doris’s harrowing past might just get them buried instead.]]> 391 John Sandford 0593718429 Karen 5 4.40 2025 Lethal Prey (Lucas Davenport #35; Virgil Flowers #16)
author: John Sandford
name: Karen
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2025
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/29
date added: 2025/03/29
shelves:
review:
Very enjoyable. The unlikely serial killer was interesting rather than repellent. Luca’s and Virgil were entertaining as they worked together. The true crime people were an original part of the investigation (as far as I’m aware). Lots of peripheral characters, some familiar, but I didn’t keep up with them well. But the people that carried the plot were well written, as always.
]]> Blood Ties (Kongeriket, #2) 213243951 384 Jo Nesbø 0593803612 Karen 3 3.85 2024 Blood Ties (Kongeriket, #2)
author: Jo Nesbø
name: Karen
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/24
date added: 2025/03/24
shelves:
review:
I like Nesbo very much so this 3 is hard, but I just never could like any of these people, or even get a firm handle on them. The murderous brothers, always with good reason, the damage from childhood, the lover. I didn’t get any emotion going for any of them. The setting was fine, as always, and the originality of so many elements was amazing. The business, developing a town into a resort area, didn’t interest me but had my admiration for the details. I’ve never read anything quite like this. I had moments of Raymond Chandler, maybe even Ayn Rand (in a good way, creation, not arrogance). Interesting but all over the map.
]]> <![CDATA[The Acid Queen: The Psychedelic Life and Counterculture Rebellion of Rosemary Woodruff Leary]]> 216751023 The untold story of the woman who played a critical role in bringing psychedelics into the mainstream—until her audacious exploits forced her into the shadows—from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Brain on Fire

Rosemary Woodruff Leary has been known only as the wife of Timothy Leary, the Harvard professor-turned-psychedelic high priest, whose jailbreak captivated the counterculture and whose life on the run with Rosemary inflamed the government. But Rosemary was more than a mere accessory. She was a beatnik, a psychonaut, and a true believer who tested the limits of her mind and the expectations for women of her time.

Long overlooked by those who have venerated her husband, Rosemary spent her life on the forefront of the counterculture, working with Leary on his books and speeches, sewing his clothing, and shaping—for better and for worse—the media’s narrative about LSD. Ultimately, Rosemary sacrificed everything for the safety of her fellow psychedelic pioneers and the preservation of her husband’s legacy.

Drawing from a wealth of interviews, diaries, archives, and unpublished sources, Susannah Cahalan writes the definitive portrait of Rosemary Woodruff Leary, reclaiming her narrative and her voice from those who dismissed her. Page-turning, revelatory, and utterly compelling, The Acid Queen shines an overdue spotlight on a pioneering psychedelic seeker.]]> 384 Susannah Cahalan 0593490053 Karen 4 4.38 The Acid Queen: The Psychedelic Life and Counterculture Rebellion of Rosemary Woodruff Leary
author: Susannah Cahalan
name: Karen
average rating: 4.38
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/06
date added: 2025/03/05
shelves:
review:
Pretty good and really thought provoking. This was my era. The position Rosemary created for herself as second class citizen seems shocking. The role of women as cooks, cleaners, and support staff in her various groups is appalling. The acid culture is interesting for a while. But Leary sounds like such a demanding and narcissistic person, and they both seem so entitled and thoughtless, that it gets hard to read. Though she was a fugitive for years, Rosemary seemed fortunate to find people who made huge efforts for her, or for some theory that they assigned her to represent. My psychedelics and my living arrangements were not quite like this, but this account was great for memory and comparison.
]]> Bellevue (A Medical Thriller) 209455840
Twenty-four-year-old Michael “Mitt� Fuller starts his surgical residency with great anticipation at the nearly 300-year-old, iconic BELLEVUE HOSPITAL, following in the footsteps of four previous, celebrated Fuller generations. The pressure is on for this newly minted doctor, and to his advantage he’s always had a secret sixth sense, a sensitivity to the nonphysical which gradually plays a progressive role, especially as one patient after another assigned to his care begin to die from mysterious causes. At first he thinks it is just the ‘luck of the draw�, but as the numbers mount, he’s forced to think otherwise. As he struggles to find out why these people are dying while simultaneously having to deal with the unreasonable demands of being first-year resident, things rapidly spiral out of control.

Between fatigue, stress, and nerves, it’s no wonder that these first few days and nights of his surgical residency are tough ones. What is surprising, though, are the visions that begin to plague Mitt � visions of a little girl in a blood-stained dress, hearing bloodcurdling screams in the distance, and worse. As bodies mount and Mitt’s stress level rises, he finds himself drawn into the secrets of the abandoned Bellevue Psychopathic Hospital building, which to his astonishment still exists, defying demolition a few doors north of the modern Bellevue Hospital high-rise. Forcing an unauthorized entry into this storied but scary structure, Mitt discovers he’s more closely tied to the sins of the past than he ever thought possible.]]> 341 Robin Cook 0593718836 Karen 3 3.23 2024 Bellevue (A Medical Thriller)
author: Robin Cook
name: Karen
average rating: 3.23
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/23
date added: 2025/02/23
shelves:
review:
Very readable but not really very good. Writing is more awkward than I recall from earlier Cook novels, though his writing was never the most lyrical. The main character is kind of an idiot. Descriptions of medical situations and procedures are pretty good. And the great part was abandoned Bellevue. I prowled through the abandoned top floor of a building there in the 70s and it was thrilling! No ghosts walking around, but furniture, clutter, medical supplies, with the East River as the view through amazing windows. This captured that experience very well.
]]> The House of Wolves 61398916 The murder of a billionaire patriarch triggers a bloody battle for control of his empire. For fans of Succession, Yellowstone—and #1 bestselling duo James Patterson and Mike Lupica.

Joe Wolf applies a cutthroat determination to his life’s work, from to building a California business empire to parenting three sons and a daughter.Kill or be killed.So when the patriarch takes a deadly cruise on San Francisco Bay, Joe Wolf’s bloodline becomes SFPD’s lifeline.

Detective Ben Cantor trails the “pack of wolves� as the siblings vie for control of their legacy of power and assets. All four have the means and the motive to commit murder, but only one of them is most like Joe Wolf. Only one of them earned their father’s love.

Lurking in the shadows is therealalpha wolf. That creature survives on instinct. And desire. To kill all the wolves dead. ]]> 390 James Patterson 0316404292 Karen 3 3.87 2023 The House of Wolves
author: James Patterson
name: Karen
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/19
date added: 2025/02/19
shelves:
review:
I guess these high star reviews are from people who particularly like one or both authors. I found this readable but with assorted problems. First, as I have found with all the Patterson novels I’ve tried, the prose is plodding. Second, the plot keeps promising some focus but it remains scattershot, ending with new characters and extra chapters feeling around for a satisfying solution. And some characters and situations are just left lying there. Third, the “romance� just takes up space. I did read the whole thing but with eye-rolling.
]]> The Note 211399773 A vacation in the Hamptons goes terribly wrong for three friends with a complicated history.

It was meant to be a harmless prank.

Growing up, May Hanover was a good girl, always. Well-behaved, top of her class, a compulsive rule-follower. Raised by a first-generation Chinese single mother with high expectations, May didn’t have room to slip up, let alone fail. Her friends didn’t call her the Little Sheriff for nothing.

But even good girls have secrets. And regrets. When it comes to her friendship with Lauren and Kelsey, she's had her fair share of both. Their bond—forged when May was just twelve years old—has withstood a tragic accident, individual scandals, heartbreak and loss. Now the three friends have reunited for the first time in years for a few days of sun and fun in the Hamptons. But a chance encounter with a pair of strangers leads to a drunken prank that goes horribly awry.

When she finds herself at the center of an urgent police investigation, May begins to wonder whether Lauren and Kelsey are keeping secrets from her, testing the limits of her loyalty to lifelong friends.

What had they gone and done?

The Note is a page-turner of the highest orderfrom one of our greatest contemporary suspense writers.]]> 287 Alafair Burke 0593537084 Karen 3 3.37 2025 The Note
author: Alafair Burke
name: Karen
average rating: 3.37
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/11
date added: 2025/02/11
shelves:
review:
It wasn’t bad but I kept feeling like it wasn’t written by her. It read more like Girl on the Train or Woman in Cabin 10, where there’s a pretty good story but everyone is so drunk and bedeviled by idiotic decisions that you don’t want to solve it so much as just give everyone a good shake. And maybe court order them to treatment.
]]> Where Butterflies Wander 123170348 From the bestselling author of In an Instant comes the moving story of a family grappling with grief and a woman with the power to help them through it—or stand in their way.

After a tragic accident claims the life of one of her children, Marie Egide is desperate to carve out a fresh start for her family. With her husband and their three surviving children, Marie travels to New Hampshire, where she plans to sell a family estate and then, just maybe, they’ll be able to heal from their grief.

Marie’s plans are thwarted when she realizes a war veteran known by locals as “the river witch� is living in a cabin on the property, which she claims was a gift from Marie’s grandfather. If Davina refuses to move on, Marie won’t be able to either.

The two women clash, and battle lines are drawn within Marie’s family and the town as each side fights for what they believe is right, the tension rising until it reaches its breaking point. And the choice is no longer theirs when a force bigger than them all—fate—takes control.]]> 298 Suzanne Redfearn 1662514581 Karen 4 4.43 2024 Where Butterflies Wander
author: Suzanne Redfearn
name: Karen
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/12
date added: 2025/02/08
shelves:
review:
Loved it! Loved Davina. Liked the kids and I don’t read novels with kids generally. Hated the mom. Maybe it’s just me. Loved the country/small town setting, beautiful and peaceful. Short chapters perhaps a bit too short. Choppy. But mostly very good writing.
]]> <![CDATA[Open Season (Alex Delaware #40)]]> 213050545 Psychologist Alex Delaware and Detective Milo Sturgis become embroiled in an all-out race against time to find a twisted assassin in this riveting thriller from the #1 New York Times bestselling “master of suspense� (Los Angeles Times).

Los Angeles is a city of stars, a city of strivers and wannabes. Not everyone can shine bright, but they’ll burn themselves up for a glimpse of the high life. LAPD homicide lieutenant Milo Sturgis knows it all too The best dreamers often make the worst monsters.

The body of an aspiring actress has been found—and she’d been drugged. The main suspect is a stunt double with the ego of an action star. He’s more brawn than brains, it seems, with few boundaries when it comes to women. But he’s offed before Milo and Alex can get to him. Worse yet, the rifle that killed him was used in a prior case . . . and another case before that. And then it's fired again and again, taking victims right under their noses.

They begin to think that someone is avenging the victims of men without boundaries—but is this a slick, efficient assassin with their own corrupt code of justice, or a knight errant, one who doesn’t want to be seen, but still wants to be known?

Alex and Milo soon find themselves in the thick of a truly complicated and twisted case—one with no shortage of suspects or victims that takes them on a wild ride through the surreal underbelly of Los Angeles.]]> 276 Jonathan Kellerman 0593497708 Karen 4 4.46 2025 Open Season (Alex Delaware #40)
author: Jonathan Kellerman
name: Karen
average rating: 4.46
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/08
date added: 2025/02/08
shelves:
review:
Always good. Alex, Milo, LA setting. Someone is sniping seemingly unrelated people. Lot of characters attached to each victim plus some gratuitous law enforcement people. Almost one-sitting readable.
]]> <![CDATA[Talking to Strangers (Elise King, #2)]]> 202774975 Detective Elise King’s investigation into a woman’s murder is getting derailed by a reporter who insists on doing her own investigation in this nail-biting mystery from the author of Local Gone Missing.

When Karen Simmons is murdered on Valentine’s Day, Detective Elise King wonders if she was killed by a man she met online. Karen was all over the dating apps, leading some townspeople to blame her for her own death, while others band together to protest society’s violence against women. Into the divide comes Kiki Nunn, whose aggressive newsgathering once again antagonizes Elise.

A single mother of a young daughter, Kiki is struggling to make a living in the diminished news landscape. Getting a scoop in the Simmons murder would do a lot for her career, and she’s willing to go up against not just Elise but the killer himself to do it.]]> 400 Fiona Barton 1984803077 Karen 5 3.74 2024 Talking to Strangers (Elise King, #2)
author: Fiona Barton
name: Karen
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/06
date added: 2025/02/05
shelves:
review:
Detective from Local Gone Missing, who I don’t remember very well, becomes more robust here as she investigates a murder that seems to mirror a murder in the past. Reporter also investigates. Other characters narrate their points of view. All of them are pretty distinct. Plot is good and pacing is good. Ending was not entirely a surprise and not entirely satisfying, but the rest was good.
]]> The Inheritance 211953338
Meet the Agarwals, who have gathered on a private, luxury island off the west coast of Scotland for a much-anticipated family reunion.

Raj, the patriarch and a business tycoon, is about to announce to his wife and three children the succession plan for his multimillon-dollar Delhi-based company. Shalini, the fragile matriarch, is ready to have her husband to herself after years of sacrifice to the family business. Myra, the golden child, owner of the island and host of the reunion, is, unbeknownst to her family, on the brink of bankruptcy. Aseem, the son and supposed heir, is torn between his love for his wife and his duty to family. Aisha, the youngest, a party girl whose antics are legendary, can’t pass up an opportunity to wreak havoc. And then there’s Zoe, Aseem’s wife, the outsider whose #InstaPerfect life is built on a foundation of lies.

They’ve all got secrets they would die to protect. Who will survive this high-stakes reunion, and who will become a victim of their own greed? One thing is certain: this family gathering will shatter more than just their illusions of unity.]]> 352 Trisha Sakhlecha 0593832566 Karen 4 3.71 2025 The Inheritance
author: Trisha Sakhlecha
name: Karen
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/01
date added: 2025/02/01
shelves:
review:
Four stars felt right until the last bit when everyone became so despicable that I felt like dropping a star. This was no great lit but pretty good. Bunch of characters, mostly in one family, but well enough drawn to make their various stories interesting. The Scottish island setting was nice. They just lost all sympathy as their stories developed, but it still had suspense and interest.
]]> The Wedding People 222348800 An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here.

A propulsive and uncommonly wise novel about one unexpected wedding guest and the surprising people who help her start anew.

It’s a beautiful day in Newport, Rhode Island, when Phoebe Stone arrives at the grand Cornwall Inn wearing a green dress and gold heels, not a bag in sight, alone. She's immediately mistaken by everyone in the lobby for one of the wedding people, but she’s actually the only guest at the Cornwall who isn’t here for the big event. Phoebe is here because she’s dreamed of coming for years—she hoped to shuck oysters and take sunset sails with her husband, only now she’s here without him, at rock bottom, and determined to have one last decadent splurge on herself. Meanwhile, the bride has accounted for every detail and every possible disaster the weekend might yield except for, well, Phoebe and Phoebe's plan—which makes it that much more surprising when the two women can’t stop confiding in each other.

In turns absurdly funny and devastatingly tender, Alison Espach’s The Wedding People is ultimately an incredibly nuanced and resonant look at the winding paths we can take to places we never imagined—and the chance encounters it sometimes takes to reroute us.]]> 367 Alison Espach 1250899575 Karen 5 4.16 2024 The Wedding People
author: Alison Espach
name: Karen
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/26
date added: 2025/01/25
shelves:
review:
Excellent! And funny and wise and sometimes quotable and accessible and philosophically helpful. Slow start - Phoebe’s life pre-wedding was almost grim enough to stop reading. But then it gets active and full of characters well enough drawn to be memorable. Made me happy.
]]> <![CDATA[Karla's Choice (George Smiley #4)]]> 216678461 An extraordinary new novel set in the world of John le Carré's most iconic spy, George Smiley, written by acclaimed novelist Nick Harkaway

It is spring in 1963 and George Smiley has left the Circus. With the wreckage of the West’s spy war with the Soviets strewn across Europe, he has eyes only for a more peaceful life. And indeed, with his marriage more secure than ever, there is a rumor in Whitehall—unconfirmed and a little scandalous—that George Smiley might almost be happy.

But Control has other plans. A Russian agent has defected, and the man he was sent to kill in London is nowhere to be found. Smiley reluctantly agrees to one last simple interview Szusanna, a Hungarian émigré and employee of the missing man, and sniff out a lead. But, as Smiley well knows, even the softest step in the shadows resounds with terrible danger. Soon, he is back there, in East Berlin, and on the trail of his most devious enemy’s hidden past.

Set in the missing decade between two iconic instalments in the George Smiley saga, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Nick Harkaway’s Karla’s Choice is an extraordinary, thrilling return to the world of spy fiction’s greatest writer, John le Carré.]]> 320 Nick Harkaway 059383349X Karen 5 4.23 2024 Karla's Choice (George Smiley #4)
author: Nick Harkaway
name: Karen
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/22
date added: 2024/12/22
shelves:
review:
Outstanding. I have missed these people. This author in fact has clarified some of the characters for me. The plot was excellent. The pacing got hurried as the end came closer but I don’t care. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I will read other books of his, and I strongly hope future Smileys will be written.
]]> A Great Marriage 203518973 When a perfect wedding is called off just days before the big event, it sends two people—and their families—reeling, in this poignant novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Under the Tuscan Sun and Women in SunlightDoes a great romance make a great marriage? Dara Willcox, up in New York for a weekend, meets Austin Clarke at an art gallery. If love at first sight can happen, it happens to them. These two vivid, ambitious people are on different trajectories—he’s British, working temporarily in New York. She’s set on law school. They don’t care. They will make their lives together happen. At their engagement dinner at Dara’s family home, her mother Lee sets a beautiful table and the family and close friends gather to celebrate. Rich, Dara’s father, raises a toast. Suddenly, Lee spills the wine, a brilliant red stain splashing onto the tablecloth and onto Austin.Days later, Austin hears unsettling news from London that threatens to wreck his plans. When Dara learns of the problem, she abruptly cancels the wedding. She refuses to reveal the reason, not even to her parents or grandmother, disrupting their family tradition of openness. As everyone knows, Lee and Rich have a great marriage, and Charlotte, her grandmother, had a colossal one, to the late Senator Mann. Charlotte has even “written the book on marriage,� as the acclaimed author of numerous non-fiction bestsellers on the topic.Chaos ensues as the romantic wedding plans unravel. Dara’s failure cuts deep. She heads to California, finding solace with friends and driving the coastal highway. Austin, back in London, faces not only his culpability but a major tragedy, the consequences of which are far-reaching and life-altering. Is their once-great romance over? Can a great marriage still be forged?With her signature warmth, knowing humor and intimate, observational style, beloved author Frances Mayes creates a rich tapestry of characters from an unforgettable family, exploring the grand mystery ride of marriage, and what really makes for a “great� one.]]> 320 Frances Mayes 0593498984 Karen 4 3.51 2024 A Great Marriage
author: Frances Mayes
name: Karen
average rating: 3.51
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/05
date added: 2024/12/04
shelves:
review:
Beautiful writing, well developed characters - all of them, quite a few. Great settings in the southeast and London, Washington and NY less familiar but okay. There are no single people. Okay, I guess we’re at the complaints. One, these people are all too much. Talented, well educated, well brought up, self assured, living in perfect crime free areas, having multiple houses and clubs and friends with extra houses to offer them. I’m torn between feeling inferior and being bored. Second, maybe - surely - some people like pages and pages of descriptions of furniture etc., but for me it drags.
]]> Worst Case Scenario 210331622 Following her explosive debut thriller Falling and its harrowing follow-up Drowning, #1 internationally bestselling author T.J. Newman is back with Worst Case Scenario.

When a pilot suffers a heart attack at 35,000 feet, a commercial airliner filled with passengers crashes into a nuclear power plant in the small town of Waketa, Minnesota, which becomes ground zero for a catastrophic national crisis with global implications.

The International Nuclear Event Scale tracks nuclear disasters. It has seven levels. Level 7 is a Major Accident, with only two on record: Fukushima and Chernobyl. There has never been a Level 8. Until now.

In this heart-stopping thriller, ordinary people—power plant employees, firefighters, teachers, families, neighbors, and friends� are thrust into an extraordinary situation as they face the ultimate test of their lives. It will take the combined courage, ingenuity, and determination of a brave few to save not only their community and loved ones, but the fate of humanity at large.]]> 336 T.J. Newman 0316576794 Karen 4 4.05 2024 Worst Case Scenario
author: T.J. Newman
name: Karen
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/25
date added: 2024/11/25
shelves:
review:
I’ll give a 4 because it’s pretty absorbing, but it’s not really great. Lots of good details about small towns, nuclear facilities, relationships. Some terminally maudlin parts, including a big part of the ending. I might read another one by her. No complaints about the writing, except for choppy little chapters.
]]> Colored Television 220572240 An alternative cover edition can be found here

A dark comedy about second acts, creative appropriation, and the racial identity–industrial complex

Jane has high hopes her life is about to turn around. After years of living precariously, she; her painter husband, Lenny; and their two kids have landed a stint as house sitters in a friend’s luxurious home in the hills above Los Angeles, a gig that coincides magically with Jane’s sabbatical. If she can just finish her latest novel, Nusu Nusu, the centuries-spanning epic Lenny refers to as her “mulatto War and Peace,� she’ll have tenure and some semblance of stability and success within her grasp.

But things don’t work out quite as hoped. In search of a plan B, like countless writers before her, Jane turns her desperate gaze to Hollywood. After she meets with a hot young producer to create “diverse content� for a streaming network, he seems excited to work with a “real writer.� She can create what he envisions as the greatest biracial comedy to ever hit the small screen. Things finally seem to be going right for Jane—until they go terribly wrong.]]> 288 Danzy Senna 0593544374 Karen 4 3.49 2024 Colored Television
author: Danzy Senna
name: Karen
average rating: 3.49
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/23
date added: 2024/11/23
shelves:
review:
Not 4 but not as bad as 3, based mostly on the early chapters with their relatively unemotional discussions of race, education, class, background, etc. The tone was amusing while informative. The stars started dropping with the casual dishonesty of almost everyone but particularly the protagonist. I also had issues with some of the husband’s attitudes and expectations. But the characters felt real and the writing was pretty good.
]]> The Life Impossible 198281740
“What looks like magic is simply a part of life we don’t understand yet…�

When retired math teacher Grace Winters is left a run-down house on a Mediterranean island by a long-lost friend, curiosity gets the better of her. She arrives in Ibiza with a one-way ticket, no guidebook and no plan.

Among the rugged hills and golden beaches of the island, Grace searches for answers about her friend’s life, and how it ended. What she uncovers is stranger than she could have dreamed. But to dive into this impossible truth, Grace must first come to terms with her past.

Filled with wonder and wild adventure, this is a story of hope and the life-changing power of a new beginning.]]> 324 Matt Haig 0593489276 Karen 4 3.45 2024 The Life Impossible
author: Matt Haig
name: Karen
average rating: 3.45
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/09
date added: 2024/11/09
shelves:
review:
Four stars might be stretching it but generally it made me happy after several “good� books that I dreaded reading from day to day. An older woman ( in her own eyes, actually younger than I am) is left a house on Ibiza. She grumbles a good bit but goes there and has a wonderful and supernatural experience. It’s pretty fanciful and there are definitely some slow parts, but lots of her experiences are relatable.
]]> The Mighty Red 204982648 In this stunning novel, Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award–winning author Louise Erdrich tells a story of love, natural forces, spiritual yearnings, and the tragic impact of uncontrollable circumstances on ordinary people’s lives.

History is a flood. The mighty red . . .

In Argus, North Dakota, a collection of people revolve around a fraught wedding.

Gary Geist, a terrified young man set to inherit two farms, is desperate to marry Kismet Poe, an impulsive, lapsed Goth who can't read her future but seems to resolve his.

Hugo, a gentle red-haired, home-schooled giant, is also in love with Kismet. He’s determined to steal her and is eager to be a home wrecker.

Kismet's mother, Crystal, hauls sugar beets for Gary's family, and on her nightly runs, tunes into the darkness of late-night radio, sees visions of guardian angels, and worries for the future, her daughter’s and her own.

Human time, deep time, Red River time, the half-life of herbicides and pesticides, and the elegance of time represented in fracking core samples from unimaginable depths, is set against the speed of climate change, the depletion of natural resources, and the sudden economic meltdown of 2008-2009. How much does a dress cost? A used car? A package of cinnamon rolls? Can you see the shape of your soul in the everchanging clouds? Your personal salvation in the giant expanse of sky? These are the questions the people of the Red River Valley of the North wrestle with every day.

The Mighty Red is a novel of tender humor, disturbance, and hallucinatory mourning. It is about on-the-job pains and immeasurable satisfactions, a turbulent landscape, and eating the native weeds growing in your backyard. It is about ordinary people who dream, grow up, fall in love, struggle, endure tragedy, carry bitter secrets; men and women both complicated and contradictory, flawed and decent, lonely and hopeful. It is about a starkly beautiful prairie community whose members must cope with devastating consequences as powerful forces upend them. As with every book this great modern master writes, The Mighty Red is about our tattered bond with the earth, and about love in all of its absurdity and splendor.

A new novel by Louise Erdrich is a major literary event; gorgeous and heartrending, The Mighty Red is a triumph.]]> 384 Louise Erdrich 0063277085 Karen 3 4.04 2024 The Mighty Red
author: Louise Erdrich
name: Karen
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/01
date added: 2024/11/01
shelves:
review:
I’m sorry, I just never looked forward to picking this up so it took a while to read it. Based on ŷ reviews, I did (mostly) finish it, and the end flowed better than the first part. Families, some rich and some struggling. Stupid farming practices. Young jocks doing stupid things to disastrous ends. Women with no great choices but who manage pretty well. I just never got emotionally invested in any of it. Maybe another time.
]]> Shelterwood 198563674 A sweeping novel inspired by the untold history of women pioneers who fought to protect children caught in the storm of land barons hungry for power and oil wealth.

Oklahoma, 1909. Eleven-year-old Olive Augusta Radley knows that her stepfather doesn’t have good intentions toward the two Choctaw girls boarded in their home as wards. When the older girl disappears, Ollie flees to the woods, taking six-year-old Nessa with her. Together they begin a perilous journey to the rugged Winding Stair Mountains, the notorious territory of outlaws, treasure hunters, and desperate men. Along the way, Ollie and Nessa form an unlikely band with others like themselves, struggling to stay one step ahead of those who seek to exploit them . . . or worse.

Oklahoma, 1990. Law Enforcement Ranger Valerie Boren O’dell arrives at Horsethief Trail National Park seeking a quiet place to balance a career and single parenthood. But no sooner has Valerie reported for duty than she’s faced with local controversy over the park’s opening, a teenage hiker gone missing from one of the trails, and the long-hidden burial site of three children deep in a cave. Val’s quest to uncover the truth wins an ally among the neighboring Choctaw Tribal Police but soon collides with old secrets and the tragic and deadly history of the land itself.

In this emotional and enveloping novel, Lisa Wingate traces the story of children abandoned by the law and the battle to see justice done. Amid times of deep conflict over who owns the land and its riches, Ollie and Val traverse the wild and beautiful terrain, each leaving behind one life in search of another.]]> 368 Lisa Wingate 0593726502 Karen 3 3.81 2024 Shelterwood
author: Lisa Wingate
name: Karen
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/10/23
date added: 2024/10/23
shelves:
review:
I’m sure it was good. Mostly I was glad it was over. The end tied up some uncomfortable details, but that left a long book full of miserably uncomfortable details. Abused children. Crimes against Native Americans. Crimes against children. Children’s points of view and children making awful decisions in situations with no good possibilities. Again, so glad it’s over.
]]> <![CDATA[Spirit Crossing (Cork O'Connor, #20)]]> 199898174 A disappearance and a dead body put Cork O’Connor’s family in the crosshairs of a killer in the twentieth book in the New York Times bestselling series from William Kent Krueger­, “a master storyteller at the top of his game� (Kristin Hannah, #1 New York Times bestselling author).

The disappearance of a local politician’s teenaged daughter is major news in Minnesota. As a huge manhunt is launched to find her, Cork O’Connor’s grandson stumbles across the shallow grave of a young Ojibwe woman—but nobody seems that interested. Nobody, that is, except Cork and the newly formed Iron Lake Ojibwe Tribal Police. As Cork and the tribal officers dig into the circumstances of this mysterious and grim discovery, they uncover a connection to the missing teenager. And soon, it’s clear that Cork’s grandson is in danger of being the killer’s next victim.]]> 336 William Kent Krueger Karen 4 4.40 2024 Spirit Crossing (Cork O'Connor, #20)
author: William Kent Krueger
name: Karen
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/15
date added: 2024/10/15
shelves:
review:
Very readable. Confusing with many characters not completely explained but I’d attribute that to this being the 20th book in the series. Good plot, maybe too many villains which added to the confusion. But I’m grateful Krueger is writing about this subject matter.
]]> Breathe 56755557 A NOVEL OF LOVE AND LOSS FROM BESTSELLING AND PRIZEWINNING AUTHOR JOYCE CAROL OATES

Amid a starkly beautiful but uncanny landscape in New Mexico, a married couple from Cambridge, MA takes residency at a distinguished academic institute. When the husband is stricken with a mysterious illness, misdiagnosed at first, their lives are uprooted and husband and wife each embarks upon a nightmare journey. At thirty-seven, Michaela faces the terrifying prospect of widowhood - and the loss of Gerard, whose identity has greatly shaped her own.

In vividly depicted scenes of escalating suspense, Michaela cares desperately for Gerard in his final days as she comes to realize that her love for her husband, however fierce and selfless, is not enough to save him and that his death is beyond her comprehension. A love that refuses to be surrendered at death—is this the blessing of a unique married love, or a curse that must be exorcized?

Part intimately detailed love story, part horror story rooted in real life, BREATHE is an exploration of hauntedness rooted in the domesticity of marital love, as well as our determination both to be faithful to the beloved and to survive the trauma of loss.]]> 384 Joyce Carol Oates 006308547X Karen 2
Oates writes well, sentence by sentence, but this thing was full of long descriptions of events that by the next page had disappeared. And New Mexico was utterly wasted - the only references to it were creepy and not evocative of anything.

So. Didn’t like the people. Didn’t like the plot. Stars for word-selecting abilities of a long-respected author.]]> 2.94 2021 Breathe
author: Joyce Carol Oates
name: Karen
average rating: 2.94
book published: 2021
rating: 2
read at: 2021/09/14
date added: 2024/10/15
shelves:
review:
Oh my lord I’m glad this thing is over! I’m sure I’m meant to feel some compassion for this unhinged woman but I don’t. And I liked the husband better before he was dead and living in her head. And he was no treat then.

Oates writes well, sentence by sentence, but this thing was full of long descriptions of events that by the next page had disappeared. And New Mexico was utterly wasted - the only references to it were creepy and not evocative of anything.

So. Didn’t like the people. Didn’t like the plot. Stars for word-selecting abilities of a long-respected author.
]]> Very Bad Company 199124624
When another high-level executive vanishes after the first night, the disappearance has the potential to derail the future of the company’s sale and cost everyone on the team millions. Now more than ever Caitlin and her colleagues must continue the charade—partaking in team-building exercises, group brainstorms, and dinners—to keep the future of Aurora afloat amid the fatal speculations.]]> 253 Emma Rosenblum 1250906563 Karen 4 3.46 2024 Very Bad Company
author: Emma Rosenblum
name: Karen
average rating: 3.46
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/12
date added: 2024/10/12
shelves:
review:
A bit fluffy but pretty good. Tech company tells many lies in pursuit of huge sale to larger company. Several sympathetic characters. Several others I couldn’t keep straight even to the end. Miami setting sort of entertaining and sort of horrible. Backstabbing, personal secret motivations all around. I’d read something else by her.
]]> Eruption 199372731
“The book is a classic summer beach read...Eruption will revive the art of speed-reading...told with a singular voice that is a compelling amalgam of the two writers.”—USA Today

“Eruption is an epic thriller…fast-paced and deeply considered…a cinematic story rooted in science and infused with plenty of heart, tackling big themes like love and loss.�
–T

The master of the techno-blockbuster joins forces with the master of the modern thriller to create the most anticipated mega bestseller in years.

Michael Crichton, creator of Jurassic Park, ER, Twister, and Westworld, had a passion project he’d been pursuing for years, ahead of his untimely passing in 2008. Knowing how special it was, his wife, Sherri Crichton, held back his notes and the partial manuscript until she found the right author to complete it: James Patterson, the world’s most popular storyteller.

“Red-hot storytelling... The action scenes will make readers� eyes pop as the tension continues to build." –Kirkus, starred review

“Explosive…the summer’s ultimate literary mashup.� —Washington Post

"Takes readers on a thrilling journey." —BBC

"Beachbag-ready." —Boston Globe

“A seismic publishing event…all the elements of a summer blockbuster…it’s a thrill and the pages practically turn themselves.� —Associated Press

“Eruption is this summer’s literary version of a blockbuster action movie.� –Los Angeles Times

"Breakneck and plausible." —Publishers Weekly]]> 423 James Patterson 0316565083 Karen 4 3.80 2024 Eruption
author: James Patterson
name: Karen
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/05
date added: 2024/10/05
shelves:
review:
This was choppy in places but very entertaining. Characters were introduced and then just dropped, like the botanical gardens woman. The two-page chapter technique kept things moving but also sometimes abandoned threads after their two pages. Hawaii and the volcano were good subjects. I knew I would like it.
]]> <![CDATA[City of Secrets (Detective Margaret Nolan #4)]]> 198111954 LAPD Detective Margaret Nolan returns in P. J. Tracy’s City of Secrets, the next book in the series praised by the New York Times Book Review: “Tracy seems to have found her literary sweet spot.�

Los Angeles Police Detective Margaret Nolan and her partner have worked a lot of different cases, ones where things aren’t always as they appear. And it’s Nolan’s job to find the truth in the darkness around her. When they’re called to the scene of what looks like a fatal car-jacking, Nolan soon realizes her victim was a founder of a company about to sell for millions, and within a day of his death, his partner’s wife is abducted. As Nolan learns more about the victim and his life, she gets pulled into a disturbing world of sex, violence, and big business; and an even darker world, where whispers of an "Angel of Death" are beginning to surface.

One of today's finest crime writers, P. J. Tracy has created a series that is a rich and authentic portrait of LA, filled with the tragedy and optimism of her multi-layered characters and a story guaranteed to keep readers enthralled.]]> 304 P.J. Tracy 1250334365 Karen 4 4.27 2024 City of Secrets (Detective Margaret Nolan #4)
author: P.J. Tracy
name: Karen
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/01
date added: 2024/10/01
shelves:
review:
Good plot, characters. I read several of her first books and loved them, then missed quite a few. This one has lots of cameo appearances and references to old cases and situations that lost me, probably because they refer to these intervening books. Some good LA descriptions. Actually, the plot was a bit convoluted even without references to old cases. But still enjoyable.
]]> <![CDATA[Den of Iniquity (J. P. Beaumont #23)]]> 205503468 New York Times bestselling author J. A. Jance returns with a new pulse-pounding suspense novel featuring beloved private investigator J. P. Beaumont as his investigation of a seemingly accidental death uncovers a complex web of evil.

Former Seattle homicide cop J. P. Beaumont faces trouble in the small town of Ashland, as both his personal and professional lives are thrown into turmoil. Beau’s daughter and son-in-law are having marital troubles, and his grandson, a senior in high school, shows up on his doorstep, wanting to live with Beau and his wife Mel as he finishes out the school year.

Meanwhile, a friend from his past asks for Beau’s help in looking into what appears to be an accidental death. A young man died of a fentanyl overdose, but those closest to him are convinced that he would never have used the drug, and that something much more sinister has happened. Beau agrees to unofficially reopen the case, and his investigation leads him to uncover similar mysterious deaths that all point to a most unlikely suspect.

As the case becomes more complicated than he could have imagined, and past and present mysteries collide, it will take everything Beau has to track down a dangerous vigilante killer.]]> 361 J.A. Jance 0063252597 Karen 4 4.66 2024 Den of Iniquity (J. P. Beaumont #23)
author: J.A. Jance
name: Karen
average rating: 4.66
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/27
date added: 2024/09/27
shelves:
review:
I always enjoy Jance. Beaumont is less my favorite than Joanna in Arizona, but he’s pretty good in this. Domestic abusers are dying of fentanyl overdoses, though some are in recovery and their families dispute the accidental overdose verdict. The plot was good and characters were good though there were so many of them. All were well enough developed though some had such a small part, they only served to confuse. Some interesting family interactions thrown in. But all in all I enjoyed the ride.
]]> The God of the Woods 199700434 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.]]> 478 Liz Moore 0593418913 Karen 5 4.10 2024 The God of the Woods
author: Liz Moore
name: Karen
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/09/25
date added: 2024/09/27
shelves:
review:
This was excellent! Rich family, summer camp on property, really good characters, old mystery leading to current mystery. Nice description of woods and lake and mountain. More good characters when police get involved. Good finish.
]]> <![CDATA[Death at the Sign of the Rook (Jackson Brodie #6)]]> 203229869
In his sleepy Yorkshire town, ex-detective Jackson Brodie is staving off boredom and malaise. His only case is the seemingly tedious matter of a stolen painting. But Jackson soon uncovers a string of unsolved art thefts that lead him down a dizzying spiral of disguise and deceit to Burton Makepeace, a formerly magnificent estate now partially converted into a hotel hosting Murder Mystery weekends.

As paying guests, impecunious aristocrats and old friends collide, we are treated to Atkinson’s most charming and fiendishly clever mystery yet, one that pays homage to the masters of the genre—from Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers to the modern era of Knives Out and Only Murders in the Building.]]> 307 Kate Atkinson 0385548001 Karen 5 3.94 2024 Death at the Sign of the Rook (Jackson Brodie #6)
author: Kate Atkinson
name: Karen
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/09/21
date added: 2024/09/21
shelves:
review:
I got confused but I don’t care. I laughed out loud, more than once, and smiled to myself the rest of the time. Kate Atkinson can write a sentence and describe a character with the wryest of them. And the plot (plots) are well designed and satisfying though I did seem to lose track. Everyone had a story. And a distinct voice. This is a book I could probably read again and enjoy things I completely missed the first time. Excellent!
]]> Swan Song (Nantucket, #4) 200497570 In the grand finale of "queen of the beach read" Elin Hilderbrand's beloved Nantucket novels, there's a new couple in town... and they instantly shake things up. Amid the extravagant parties on land and sea, there's trouble on the island, forcing Chief of Police Ed Kapanesh to postpone his retirement and changing the fabric of life on the picturesque island forever...

After thirty-five years serving as the Chief of Police on the island of Nantucket, Ed Kapenash's heart can no longer take the stress. But his plans to retire are thwarted when, with only three days left to serve, he receives a phone call. A 22-million-dollar summer home, recently purchased by the flashy new couple in town, the Richardsons, has burned to the ground. The Richardsons are far from hurt—in fact, they're out on the water, throwing a lavish party on their yacht—but when news of the fire reaches them, they discover that their personal assistant has vanished. The Chief is well-acquainted with the Richardsons, and his daughter is best friends with the now-missing girl, leaving him no choice but to postpone his retirement and take on the double case.

On a small island like Nantucket, the Richardsons shook things up from the second they stepped on to the scene, throwing luxurious parties and doing whatever they could to gain admittance to the coveted lunches at the Field & Oar Club (with increasing desperation). They instantly captured the attention of local real estate agent Fast Eddie, and the town gossip Blond Sharon, both dealing with their own personal dramas. Blond Sharon is going through a divorce, and in order to avoid becoming a cliché, she's enrolled in a creative writing class, putting her natural affinity for scandal towards a more noble purpose. To solve the case of the fire and track down his daughter's best friend, the Chief will have to string together the pieces of the lives of all of these characters and more, rallying his strength for his final act of service to the tight-knit community he knows and loves.

The last of Elin Hilderbrand's bestselling Nantucket novels, Swan Song is a propulsive medley of glittering gatherings, sun-soaked drama, wisdom and heart, featuring the return of some of her most beloved characters, including, most importantly, the beautiful and timeless island of Nantucket itself.]]> 400 Elin Hilderbrand 0316259705 Karen 4 4.28 2024 Swan Song (Nantucket, #4)
author: Elin Hilderbrand
name: Karen
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/13
date added: 2024/09/13
shelves:
review:
Always enjoy Hilderbrand’s books. Lots of characters in this one and lots of side stories. Complex but good plot. Pretty good scene setting and descriptions though this one didn’t really make me feel like visiting Nantucket.
]]> <![CDATA[The Lost Coast (Clay Edison, #5)]]> 63249468
It's been almost a year since Clay Edison was forced out of his job at the coroner's bureau. Now he's on his own, working as a private eye. When a client brings him a fraud case, Clay dives into a decades-old scheme targeting the vulnerable. His investigation leads him to a bizarre town buried in the remote California wilderness. The residents don't care much for outsiders. They certainly don't like Clay asking questions. And they'll do just about anything to shut him up.]]> 368 Jonathan Kellerman 0525620141 Karen 5 3.75 The Lost Coast (Clay Edison, #5)
author: Jonathan Kellerman
name: Karen
average rating: 3.75
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/09/09
date added: 2024/09/09
shelves:
review:
I’ve always enjoyed Jonathan and apparently Jesse is very entertaining also. 5 may be overrating it but the locale was wonderful. Some of the narrative is over the top but I found it very readable anyway.
]]> Summer Island 297135 448 Kristin Hannah Karen 2 3.96 2004 Summer Island
author: Kristin Hannah
name: Karen
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2004
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2024/08/22
shelves:
review:

]]> The Women 126918788 From the celebrated author of The Nightingale and The Four Winds comes Kristin Hannah's The Women—at once an intimate portrait of coming of age in a dangerous time and an epic tale of a nation divided.

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

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

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

The Women is the story of one woman gone to war, but it shines a light on all women who put themselves in harm’s way and whose sacrifice and commitment to their country has too often been forgotten. A novel about deep friendships and bold patriotism, The Women is a richly drawn story with a memorable heroine whose idealism and courage under fire will come to define an era.]]> 472 Kristin Hannah Karen 5 4.71 2024 The Women
author: Kristin Hannah
name: Karen
average rating: 4.71
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/08/17
date added: 2024/08/17
shelves:
review:
Just excellent. The Vietnam descriptions were very good. There were parts after the return home that seemed less compelling, but that may be because they’re more painful. And any shortcomings were forgotten in the lead up to the ending. The ending was powerful.
]]> Winter Stroll (Winter, #2) 24819476 "Happy Holidays 2015! It has been a rough year for the Quinns, but I would like to start by saying thank you for all of the well wishes and positive missives sent our way."

Another Christmas on Nantucket finds Winter Street Inn owner Kelley Quinn reflecting on the past year as he writes a holiday letter to friends and family. Though the year has had its share of misfortune and worry, the Quinns have much to celebrate. Kelley, now single, at least is on better terms with his first wife Margaret, who is using her celebrity to lure customers to the inn in record numbers. Their son Kevin has a beautiful new baby, Genevieve, with the Inn's French housekeeper, Isabelle; and their daughter, Ava, is finally dating a nice guy--her devoted colleague, Scott.

Now the Quinns are looking forward to celebrating Genevieve's baptism, welcoming Isabelle to the family, and enjoying the cheer of Nantucket's traditional Christmas Stroll. But just when a peaceful family gathering seems within reach, Kelley's estranged second wife, Mitzi, shows up on the island after souring on her relationship with the inn's former Santa Claus. Soon Kelley isn't the only Quinn entertaining a surprise guest from Christmases past as lovers old and new gather beneath the mistletoe. With jealousy, passion, and eggnog consumption at an all-time high, it's going to take a whole lot more than a Christmas miracle to get the Quinns--and the inn--through the holidays intact.]]> 263 Elin Hilderbrand 0316261130 Karen 3 3.79 2015 Winter Stroll (Winter, #2)
author: Elin Hilderbrand
name: Karen
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2015
rating: 3
read at: 2016/03/30
date added: 2024/08/07
shelves:
review:

]]> Summers at the Saint 198111975 Welcome to the St. Cecelia, a landmark hotel on the coast of Georgia, where traditions run deep and scandals run even deeper. . . .

Everyone refers to the St. Cecelia as “the Saint.� If you grew up coming here, you were “a Saint.� If you came from the wrong side of the river, you were “an Ain’t.� Traci Eddings was one of those outsiders whose family wasn’t rich enough or connected enough to vacation here. But she could work here. One fateful summer she did, and married the boss’s son. Now, she’s the widowed owner of the hotel, determined to see it return to its glory days, even as staff shortages and financial troubles threaten to ruin it. Plus, her greedy and unscrupulous brother-in-law wants to make sure she fails. Enlisting a motley crew of recently hired summer help—including the daughter of her estranged best friend—Traci has one summer season to turn it around. But new information about a long-ago drowning at the hotel threatens to come to light, and the tragic death of one of their own brings Traci to the brink of despair.

Traci Eddings has her back against the pink-painted wall of this beloved institution. And it will take all the wits and guts she has to see wrongs put to right, to see guilty parties put in their place, and maybe even to find a new romance along the way. Told with Mary Kay Andrew’s warmth, humor, knack for twists, and eye for delicious detail about human nature, Summers at the Saint is a beach read with depth and heart.]]> 448 Mary Kay Andrews Karen 4 4.29 2024 Summers at the Saint
author: Mary Kay Andrews
name: Karen
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/07
date added: 2024/08/07
shelves:
review:
Mary Kay Andrew’s has written a decent mystery! The setting and characters are nice and not too far removed from a well written beach read, but the stealing and lies and even murder ply it into a different category. There isn’t much wrong with it, just a bit frothy at places.
]]> Killer (Alex Delaware, #29) 17910538
The City of Angels has more than its share of psychopaths, and no one recognizes that more acutely than the brilliant psychologist and police consultant Dr. Alex Delaware. Despite that, Constance Sykes, a sophisticated, successful physician, hardly seems like someone Alex needs to fear. Then, at the behest of the court, he becomes embroiled in a bizarre child custody dispute initiated by Connie against her sister and begins to realize that there is much about the siblings he has failed to comprehend. And when the court battle between the Sykes sisters erupts into cold, calculating murder and a rapidly growing number of victims, Alex knows he’s been snared in a toxic web of pathology.

Nothing would please Alex more than to be free of the ugly spectacle known as Sykes v. Sykes. But then the little girl at the center of the vicious dispute disappears and Alex knows he must work with longtime friend Detective Milo Sturgis, braving an obstacle course of Hollywood washouts, gangbangers, and self-serving jurists in order to save an innocent life.

Killer is Kellerman—and Delaware—at their finest.]]> 335 Jonathan Kellerman 0345505751 Karen 3 3.89 Killer (Alex Delaware, #29)
author: Jonathan Kellerman
name: Karen
average rating: 3.89
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2014/08/08
date added: 2024/08/07
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Seeing Red: Prologue and First Two Chapters]]> 35518727
Kerra Bailey is a TV journalist hot on the trail of a story guaranteed to skyrocket her career to new heights. Twenty-five years ago, Major Franklin Trapper became a national icon when he was photographed leading a handful of survivors to safety after the bombing of a Dallas hotel. For years, he gave frequent speeches and interviews but then suddenly dropped out of the public eye, shunning all media. Now Kerra is willing to use any means necessary to get an exclusive with the Major--even if she has to secure an introduction from his estranged son, former ATF agent John Trapper.

Still seething over his break with both the ATF and his father, Trapper wants no association with the bombing or the Major. Yet Kerra's hints that there's more to the story rouse Trapper's interest despite himself. And when the interview goes catastrophically awry--with unknown assailants targeting not only the Major, but also Kerra--Trapper realizes he needs her under wraps if he's going to track down the gunmen . . . and finally discover who was responsible for the Dallas bombing.

Kerra is wary of a man so charming one moment and dangerous the next, and she knows Trapper is withholding evidence from his ATF investigation into the bombing. But having no one else to trust and enemies lurking closer than they know, Kerra and Trapper join forces to expose a sinuous network of lies and conspiracy--and uncover who would want a national hero dead.]]> 432 Sandra Brown 153872930X Karen 3 4.16 2017 Seeing Red: Prologue and First Two Chapters
author: Sandra Brown
name: Karen
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2017
rating: 3
read at: 2021/07/28
date added: 2024/08/06
shelves:
review:
Finished more like July 15. It was possible to get through. Not bad plot - various plots - though everything was contrived. She’s a reporter who interviews a reclusive national hero (for what??), he’s the hero’s son and he is rude to her but kisses her. She kisses back, though they argue all the rest of the way through the book. Just writing that is making me a bit nauseated. Anyway, there is a bit of a plot, and it made the miles pass - this was an audiobook.
]]> Daughter of Mine 177058733 The new thrilling novel from Megan Miranda, the instant New York Times bestselling author of All the Missing Girls, The Last to Vanish, and The Only Survivors.

When Hazel Sharp, daughter of Mirror Lake’s longtime local detective, unexpectedly inherits her childhood home, she’s warily drawn back to the town—and people—she left behind almost a decade earlier. But Hazel’s not the only relic of the past to a drought has descended on the region, and as the water level in the lake drops, long-hidden secrets begin to emerge…including evidence that may help finally explain the mystery of her mother’s disappearance.]]> 365 Megan Miranda Karen 4 4.12 2024 Daughter of Mine
author: Megan Miranda
name: Karen
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/05
date added: 2024/08/05
shelves:
review:
Pretty good book, nice setting, lots of twists and turns. Maybe too many leading up to the end - characters tend to lose definition. The nice ending only gives you a page or two to enjoy it. But altogether a satisfying read.
]]> Don't Let the Devil Ride 198528987
Hell is empty…and Addison McKellar’s husband is missing.

Addison McKellar isn’t clueless—she knows she and her husband Dean don’t have the perfect marriage—but she’s still shocked when he completely vanishes from her life. At first Addison is annoyed, but as days stretch into a week and she’s repeatedly stonewalled by Dean’s friends and associates, her frustration turns into genuine alarm. When even the police seem dismissive of her concerns, Addison turns to an old friend of her father, legendary Memphis PI Porter Hayes.

Porter and Addison begin to dig deeper into Dean’s affairs and quickly discover that he was never the hardworking business owner and family man he pretended to be. As they piece together the connections between a hook-handed mercenary, one of Elvis’s former leading ladies, and a man posing as an FBI agent, it becomes clear that Dean was deeply enmeshed in a high-stakes web of international intrigue, and Porter and Addison aren’t the only ones looking for him.

Dean angered some very dangerous people before he disappeared—people who have already killed to get what they want—and they won’t hesitate to come after his family to even the score.]]> 384 Ace Atkins 0063293412 Karen 5 4.05 2024 Don't Let the Devil Ride
author: Ace Atkins
name: Karen
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/25
date added: 2024/07/25
shelves:
review:
Loved this, more than I’ve liked any of his in years. Lots of characters with unique voices. Complex story line which I could usually follow. Fun with some genuinely bad guys and a light touch.
]]> Last House 196774466 "An ambitious historical epic that doubles as an intimate family saga. Jessica Shattuck captures and connects it all—the imperial ambitions of the postwar generation, the rebellion of their offspring in the Sixties, and the fallout we’re still sifting through today. . . . This is a wide-ranging novel to savor.� � TOM PERROTTA

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Women in the Castle comes a sweeping story of a nation on the rise, and one family’s deeply complicated relationship to the resource that built their fortune and fueled their greatest tragedy, perfect for fans of The Dutch House and Great Circle.

It’s 1953, and for Nick Taylor, WWII veteran turned company lawyer, oil is the key to the future. He takes the train into the city for work and returns to the peaceful streets of the suburbs and to his wife, Bet, former codebreaker now housewife, and their two children, Katherine and Harry. Nick comes from humble origins but thanks to his work for American Oil, he can provide every comfort for his family, including Last House, a secluded country escape. Deep in the Vermont mountains, the Taylors are free from the stresses of modern life. Bet doesn’t have to worry about the Russian H-bombs that haunt her dreams, and the children roam free in the woods. Last House is a place that could survive the end of the world.

It’s 1968, and America is on the brink of change. Protestors fill the streets to challenge everything from the Vietnam War to racism in the wake of MLK’s shooting—to the country's reliance on Big Oil. As Katherine makes her first forays into adult life, she’s caught up in the current of the time and struggles to reconcile her ideals with the stable and privileged childhood her Greatest Generation parents worked so hard to provide. But when the Movement shifts in a more radical direction, each member of the Taylor family will be forced to reckon with the consequences of the choices they’ve made for the causes they believed in.

Spanning multiple generations and nearly eighty years, Last House tells the story of one American family during an age of grand ideals and even greater downfalls. Set against the backdrop of our nation’s history, this is an emotional tour de force that digs deeply into questions of inheritance and what we owe each other—and captures to stunning effect the gravity of time, the double edge of progress, and the hubris of empire.]]> 321 Jessica Shattuck 0062979892 Karen 5 3.54 2024 Last House
author: Jessica Shattuck
name: Karen
average rating: 3.54
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/20
date added: 2024/07/20
shelves:
review:
I thought it was very good. Lots of stories here but they stick together pretty well. Some memorable characters. I remember this whole era and she captures it well. I enjoyed the desert description. Also the activist sense of paranoia with many agendas feeding into it. Also nicely written.
]]> Clete (Dave Robicheaux, #24) 197525334
Clete Purcel—private investigator, former New Orleans cop, and war veteran with a hard shell covering a few soft spots—is Dave Robicheaux’s longtime friend and detective partner. But he has a troubled past. When Clete picks up his Caddy from a local car wash, only to find it ransacked by a group of thugs tied to the drug trade, it feels personal—his grandniece died of a fentanyl overdose—and his fists curl when he thinks of the dealers who sold it.

As Clete traces the connections in this far-reaching criminal enterprise, Clara Bow, a woman with a dark past, hires Clete to investigate her scheming, slippery ex-husband, and a string of brutal deaths link back to a heavily tattooed man who lurks around every corner. Clete experiences shockingly lifelike hallucinations and questions Clara’s ulterior motives when he and Dave hear rumors of a dangerous substance with potentially catastrophic effects. The thugs who destroyed his car might have been pawns in a scheme far darker than they could’ve imagined.

Gripping and violent yet interlaced with Clete’s humor and fierce drive to protect those he loves, Clete brings a fresh perspective to an iconic series. James Lee Burke proves yet again that he is the “heavyweight champ� and “great American novelist whose work, taken individually or as a whole, is unsurpassed� (Michael Connelly).]]> 336 James Lee Burke 0802163076 Karen 3 3.77 2024 Clete (Dave Robicheaux, #24)
author: James Lee Burke
name: Karen
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/07/16
date added: 2024/07/16
shelves:
review:
I did read it all because I guess I had to. I have loved JLB and his characters and his prose for many years now. But I didn’t really like the last one and I didn’t like this one even more. Clete was tedious and his frequent descriptions of Dave were unappealing. I like Dave better when not being described by Clete. And Joan of Arc and Jesus and the Jewish mother and the Confederate army� please give me a break. It’s repetitive while being increasingly deranged. It feels willful. It exhausts my patience.
]]> <![CDATA[The Comfort of Ghosts (Maisie Dobbs, #18)]]> 199703402
The Comfort of Ghosts completes Jacqueline Winspear’s ground-breaking and internationally bestselling series.

“An outstanding historical series.”—The New York Times

“Winspear is a brilliant writer, mixing the history and the mystery with the psychology of criminals and victims.”—The Historical Novel Society

Psychologist and investigator Maisie Dobbs unravels a profound mystery from her past in a war-torn nation grappling with its future.

London, 1945: Four adolescent orphans with a dark wartime history are squatting in a vacant Belgravia mansion—the owners having fled London under heavy Luftwaffe bombing. Psychologist and Investigator Maisie Dobbs visits the mansion on behalf of the owners and discovers that a demobilized soldier, gravely ill and reeling from his experiences overseas, has taken shelter with the group.

Maisie’s quest to bring comfort to the youngsters and the ailing soldier brings to light a decades-old mystery concerning Maisie’s first husband, James Compton, who was killed while piloting an experimental fighter aircraft. As Maisie unravels the threads of her dead husband’s life, she is forced to examine her own painful past and question beliefs she has always accepted as true.

The award-winning Maisie Dobbs series has garnered hundreds of thousands of followers, readers drawn to a woman who is of her time, yet familiar in ours—and who inspires with her resilience and capacity for endurance. This final assignment of her own choosing not only opens a new future for Maisie and her family, but serves as a fascinating portrayal of the challenges facing the people of Britain at the close of the Second World War.]]> 342 Jacqueline Winspear 1641296062 Karen 5 4.26 2024 The Comfort of Ghosts (Maisie Dobbs, #18)
author: Jacqueline Winspear
name: Karen
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/14
date added: 2024/07/14
shelves:
review:
Not usual for me to give Maisie 5 stars, I don’t think, but this is a pretty good wrap for the series. Only shortcomings were long winded speculations on where all the characters will live, referencing various houses and wings from previous books, and a nasty instance of mansplaining by the husband lasting two pages which I had to skip.
]]> <![CDATA[Artificial Condition (The Murderbot Diaries, #2)]]> 36223859
Teaming up with a Research Transport vessel named ART (you don’t want to know what the “A� stands for), Murderbot heads to the mining facility where it went rogue.

What it discovers will forever change the way it thinks…]]> 149 Martha Wells Karen 5 4.40 2018 Artificial Condition (The Murderbot Diaries, #2)
author: Martha Wells
name: Karen
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/03
date added: 2024/07/03
shelves:
review:
This is probably not a 5 star but I love these books. The murderbot is a charmer. ART was also cool. The locations are done pretty well. The people are a bit YA but pretty appealing. Or horrible. The Comfort Unit was interesting and could have a part in later books. Which I will read.
]]> If Something Happens to Me 205040111
For the past five years, Ryan Richardson has relived that terrible night. The car door ripping open. The crushing blow to the head. The hands yanking him from the vehicle. His girlfriend Ali’s piercing scream as she is taken.

With no trace of Ali or the car, a cloud of suspicion hangs over Ryan. But with no proof and a good lawyer, he’s never charged, though that doesn’t matter to the podcasters and internet trolls. Now, Ryan has changed his last name, and entered law school. He's put his past behind him.

Until, on a summer trip abroad to Italy with his law-school classmates, Ryan gets a call from his father: Ali's car has finally been found, submerged in a lake in his hometown. Inside are two dead men and a cryptic note with five words written on the envelope in Ali’s handwriting: If something happens to me�

Then, halfway around the world, the unthinkable happens: Ryan sees the man who has haunted his dreams since that night.

As Ryan races from the rolling hills of Tuscany, to a rural village in the UK, to the glittering streets of Paris in search of the truth, he has no idea that his salvation may lie with a young sheriff’s deputy in Kansas working her first case, and a mobster in Philadelphia who’s experienced tragedy of his own.

In classic Alex Finlay form, If Something Happens to Me is told from several distinct, compelling characters whose paths intersect, detonating into a story of twist after pulse-pounding twist. The story cements Finlay as one of the leading thriller writers today.]]> Alex Finlay Karen 4 3.94 2024 If Something Happens to Me
author: Alex Finlay
name: Karen
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/01
date added: 2024/07/01
shelves:
review:
Good read. Good plot, convoluted but possible to follow. A little fanciful. Girl is abducted, story leads both back and forward. Not great literature but entertaining.
]]> One Deadly Eye (Doc Ford #27) 198246639
A month before a killer hurricane hits Florida, Doc Ford gets a heads-up from a state department pal that during recent natural disasters, a group of paramilitary contractorshave used the poststorm chaos as a license to steal—and kill.

Doc doesn’t give the warning much thought until the night the big storm hits. He’s alone. The marina is a ghost town. Doc would have evacuated too but had to work a last-minute deal with the owner of the marina and some other stubborn liveaboards.They know the odds of being robbed after a storm spike. On barrier islands, there’s about a twelve-hour window before help of any type arrives. No law enforcement, no first responders.And very few residents to deal with because most have evacuated.

So, Doc stays. He isn’t worried about himself.But he does wonder about a new a British physician, inventor and possibly an MI-6 asset.The man lives in one of the expensive houses on Millionaires Row. In fact, it’s just down the shoreline from the retired N.S.A. Director’s home. This is no coincidence, and it begs the Will the stormbring out other new visitors to the island?]]> 368 Randy Wayne White Karen 3 4.19 2024 One Deadly Eye (Doc Ford #27)
author: Randy Wayne White
name: Karen
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/06/29
date added: 2024/06/29
shelves:
review:
Can’t pinpoint my problem with this one. I think I used to find Doc et al. more entertaining. I loved the hurricane setting and descriptions, but they were marred by the relentless violent bad guys and violent response. Just on and on. Good characters introduced (or reintroduced), then immediately they get dismembered or they do the dismembering. And the bickering with the girlfriend and then not believing that she left! Really, the only fun part was the dog.
]]> Extinction 210639516 13 Douglas Preston Karen 5 3.75 2024 Extinction
author: Douglas Preston
name: Karen
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/06/23
date added: 2024/06/23
shelves:
review:
So interesting! Mammoths, Neanderthals, billionaires, good and bad cops. Science mixed with fast plot. Good afterword with some sobering information.
]]> <![CDATA[The Disappeared (A Joe Pickett Novel)]]> 36694487
Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett has two lethal cases to contend with in this electrifying novel from #1 New York Times -bestselling author C.J. Box.

Wyoming's new governor isn't sure what to make of Joe Pickett, but he has a job for him that is extremely delicate. A prominent female British executive never came home from the high-end guest ranch she was visiting, and the British Embassy is pressing hard. Pickett knows that happens sometimes--these ranches are stocked with handsome young cowboys, and "ranch romances" aren't uncommon. But no sign of her months after she vanished? That suggests something else.

At the same time, his friend Nate Romanowski has asked Joe to intervene with the Feds on behalf of falconers who can no longer hunt with eagles even though their permits are in order. Who is blocking the falconers and why? The more Joe investigates both cases, the more someone wants him to go away. Is it because of the missing woman or because he's become Nate's advocate? Or are they somehow connected? The answers, when they come, will be even worse than he'd imagined.]]> 560 C.J. Box 0525589376 Karen 5 4.10 2018 The Disappeared (A Joe Pickett Novel)
author: C.J. Box
name: Karen
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2024/06/19
date added: 2024/06/19
shelves:
review:
Somehow I missed this one. It was excellent as always. Not-so-positive take on wind farms. Good story and good pacing. And characters that are like friends. Ps, I don’t hate the tv series, but those people are not the same as these people.
]]> <![CDATA[Judgment Prey (Lucas Davenport, #33; Virgil Flowers, #15)]]> 75670228 Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers team up to crack an unsolvable case in this thrilling new novel by #1 New York Times bestselling author John Sandford.

Alex Sand was spending the evening at home playing basketball with his two young sons when all three were shot in cold blood. A wealthy federal judge, there’s no short list of people who could have a vendetta against Sands, but the gruesome murders, especially that of his children, turn their St. Paul community on its head. Sand was on the verge of a major donation to a local housing charity, Heart/Twin Cities, and with the money in limbo, eyes suddenly turn to his grieving widow, Margaret Cooper, to see what she might do with the money. Margaret, distraught over the death of her family, struggles to move forward, and can’t imagine how or why anyone would target her husband.

With public pressure mounting and both the local police force and FBI hitting dead end after dead end, Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers are called in to do what others could find answers. With each potential lead flawed, Davenport and Flowers are determined to chase every theory until they figure out who killed the Sands. But when they find themselves being stonewalled by the most unlikely of forces, the two wonder if perhaps each misdirection could lead them closer to the truth.]]> 400 John Sandford 0593542819 Karen 4 4.16 2023 Judgment Prey (Lucas Davenport, #33; Virgil Flowers, #15)
author: John Sandford
name: Karen
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2023/10/08
date added: 2024/06/18
shelves:
review:
So close to giving 5 stars, and I enjoyed it 5 stars worth, but I have some plot issues as well as some character issues. Lucas is pretty much Lucas, but Virgil has evolved into seemingly completely different people, not only in this book. Some of the most likable characters also seemed unlikely. And there were a few too many crimes going on. But I loved it anyway.
]]> <![CDATA[City in Ruins (Danny Ryan, #3)]]> 196968157
Danny Ryan is rich. Beyond his wildest dreams rich.

The former dock worker, Irish mob soldier and fugitive from the law is now a respected businessman � a Las Vegas casino mogul and billionaire silent partner in a group that owns two lavish hotels. Finally, Danny has it all: a beautiful house, a child he adores, a woman he might even fall in love with.

Life is good. But then Danny reaches too far.

When he tries to buy an old hotel on a prime piece of real estate with plans to build his dream resort, he triggers a war against Las Vegas power brokers, a powerful FBI agent bent on revenge and a rival casino owner with dark connections of his own.

Danny thought he had buried his past, but now it reaches up to him from the grave to pull him down. Old enemies surface, and when they come for Danny they vow to take everything � not only his empire, not just his life, but all that he holds dear, including his son.

To save his life and everything he loves, Danny must become the ruthless fighter he once was � and never wanted to be again.]]> 400 Don Winslow 006307947X Karen 4 4.29 2024 City in Ruins (Danny Ryan, #3)
author: Don Winslow
name: Karen
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/16
date added: 2024/06/16
shelves:
review:
Almost 5 stars, especially if he’s not writing another one! Really great characters. Some from past books got confusing. Really great new characters! Kind of rushed at the end, but he seemed to be wrapping up too many things. Excellent anyway.
]]> <![CDATA[All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries Series)]]> 56027266 1 Martha Wells 1664466843 Karen 4 4.11 2017 All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries Series)
author: Martha Wells
name: Karen
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/14
date added: 2024/06/14
shelves:
review:
Nice quick read. The Murderbot is a great character, kind of an understated charmer. I’ll read another of the series, maybe more.
]]> <![CDATA[The Index of Self-Destructive Acts]]> 50970293 The Interviewer, a street-corner preacher declares that the world is coming to an end. A sports statistician, data journalist, and newly minted media celebrity who correctly forecasted every outcome of the 2008 election, Sam’s familiar with predicting the future. But when projection meets reality, things turn complicated. Sam’s editor sends him to profile disgraced political columnist Frank Doyle. To most readers, Doyle is a liberal lion turned neocon Iraq war apologist, but to Sam he is above all the author of the great works of baseball lore that sparked Sam’s childhood love of the game—books he now views as childish myth-making to be crushed with his empirical hammer. But Doyle proves something else in person: charming, intelligent, and more convincing than Sam could have expected. Then there is his daughter, Margo, to whom Sam becomes desperately attracted—just as his wife, Lucy, arrives from Wisconsin. The lives of these characters are entwined with those of the rest of the Doyle family—Frank’s wife, Kit, whose investment bank collapsed during the financial crisis; his son, Eddie, an Army veteran just returned from his second combat tour; and Eddie’s best childhood friend, hedge funder Justin Price. While the end of the world might not be arriving, Beha’s characters are each headed for apocalypses of their own making.]]> 520 Christopher R. Beha 1947793829 Karen 0 to-read 4.03 2020 The Index of Self-Destructive Acts
author: Christopher R. Beha
name: Karen
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/06/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Provinces of Night 953378
In the great Southern tradition of Faulkner, Styron, and Cormac McCarthy, William Gay wields a prose as evocative and lush as the haunted and humid world it depicts. Provinces of Night is a tale redolent of violence and redemption� a whiskey-scented, knife-scarred novel whose indelible finale is not an ending nearly so much as it is an apotheosis.

“An extremely seductive read.”�The Washington Post Book World

“Gay is unafraid to tackle the biggest of the big themes, nor does he shy away from the grand gesture that makes those themes manifest.”�The New York Times Book Review

“There is much to admire here: breathtaking, evocative writing and a dark, sardonic humor.”�USA Today]]> 293 William Gay Karen 5 4.20 2000 Provinces of Night
author: William Gay
name: Karen
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2000
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/06/06
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Deliberate Cruelty: Truman Capote, the Millionaire's Wife, and the Murder of the Century]]> 123162603
Acclaimed for his bestselling nonfiction book In Cold Blood, Capote was looking for new material and followed the scandal from beginning to end. Like Ann, he too had ascended from nobody to toast of the town, but he always felt like an outsider, even among the exclusive coterie of high society women who adored him. He decided the story of Ann’s turbulent marriage would be the basis of his masterpiece—a novel about the dysfunction and sordid secrets revealed to him by his high society “swans”—never thinking that it would eventually lead to Ann’s suicide and his own scandalous downfall.]]> 238 roseanne montiillo Karen 3 3.00 2022 Deliberate Cruelty: Truman Capote, the Millionaire's Wife, and the Murder of the Century
author: roseanne montiillo
name: Karen
average rating: 3.00
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2024/06/04
date added: 2024/06/04
shelves:
review:
I actually read this for the history-slash-gossip. I thought the juxtaposition of Capote and Ann was a little forced. And omg the murder of the century?? Who thought up that title? Some of the NY scenes were nostalgic and interesting but generally the writing wasn’t as interesting as the events. And the real people weren’t even as interesting as the cast in the miniseries of the Swans, which is how I went down this rabbit hole.
]]> The Ministry of Time 199897956
In the near future, a civil servant is offered the salary of her dreams and is, shortly afterward, told what project she’ll be working on. A recently established government ministry is gathering “expats� from across history to establish whether time travel is feasible—for the body, but also for the fabric of space-time.

She is tasked with working as a “bridge�: living with, assisting, and monitoring the expat known as �1847� or Commander Graham Gore. As far as history is concerned, Commander Gore died on Sir John Franklin’s doomed 1845 expedition to the Arctic, so he’s a little disoriented to be living with an unmarried woman who regularly shows her calves, surrounded by outlandish concepts such as “washing machine,� “Spotify,� and “the collapse of the British Empire.� But he adjusts quickly; he is, after all, an explorer by trade. Soon, what the bridge initially thought would be, at best, a seriously uncomfortable housemate dynamic, evolves into something much more. Over the course of an unprecedented year, Gore and the bridge fall haphazardly, fervently in love, with consequences they never could have imagined.

Supported by a chaotic and charming cast of characters—including a 17th-century cinephile who can’t get enough of Tinder, a painfully shy World War I captain, and a former spy with an ever-changing series of cosmetic surgery alterations and a belligerent attitude to HR—the bridge will be forced to confront the past that shaped her choices, and the choices that will shape the future.

An exquisitely original and feverishly fun fusion of genres and ideas, The Ministry of Time asks the universal What happens if you put a disaffected millennial and a Victorian polar explorer in a house together?]]> 284 Kaliane Bradley Karen 5 3.88 2024 The Ministry of Time
author: Kaliane Bradley
name: Karen
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/05/31
date added: 2024/05/31
shelves:
review:
Loved it all. First, I loved Bradley’s writing, attitude, vocabulary, humor. I would enjoy whatever she wrote. Then I loved her people, distinct and well expressed. Then the plot, twists, complexities - people from different historical eras, failures of communication, friends that become enemies. I like the near future timeline and the well-told past. The romance was very romantic. Only tiny flaws were sluggishness in the middle and a rushed ending, but it was fine anyway.
]]> Lucky 194803834
Before Jodie Rattler became a star, she was a girl growing up in St. Louis. One day in 1955, when she was just six years old, her uncle Drew took her to the racetrack, where she got lucky—and that roll of two-dollar bills she won has never since left her side. Jodie thrived in the warmth of her extended family, and then—through a combination of hard work and serendipity—she started a singing career, which catapulted her from St. Louis to New York City, from the English countryside to the tropical beaches of St. Thomas, from Cleveland to Los Angeles, and back again. Jodie comes of age in recording studios, backstage, and on tour, and she tries to hold her own in the wake of Janis Joplin, Joan Baez, Judy Collins, and Joni Mitchell. Yet it feels like something is missing. Could it be true love? Or is that not actually what Jodie is looking for?

Full of atmosphere, shot through with longing and exuberance, romance and rock 'n' roll, Lucky is a story of chance and grit and the glitter of real talent, a colorful portrait of one woman's journey in search of herself.]]> 384 Jane Smiley 0593535014 Karen 2 Okay, the epilogue is interesting.]]> 2.97 Lucky
author: Jane Smiley
name: Karen
average rating: 2.97
book published:
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2024/05/20
shelves:
review:
Still reading. May not finish but I’ll try a little more. Frankly, it’s boring. The character is boring. The other characters don’t stay around long enough to develop. The songs are painful. The plot development, well, what plot development? She just wanders around and gives unhinged commentary about a not very interesting everyday life. I’m appalled. I love Smiley. I can’t imagine how this one happened.
Okay, the epilogue is interesting.
]]> <![CDATA[Lost Birds: A Novel (A Leaphorn, Chee & Manuelito Novel, 9)]]> 181109945 480 Anne Hillerman 0063360438 Karen 4 4.17 2024 Lost Birds: A Novel (A Leaphorn, Chee & Manuelito Novel, 9)
author: Anne Hillerman
name: Karen
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/05/17
date added: 2024/05/17
shelves:
review:
Almost 5 stars. Normally I give Anne Hillerman 5 stars for pure gratitude that she’s continuing with these excellent characters. My only concern here is that there were lots of stories included, with the main story only rather thin segments at the beginning and end. All the other stories were good stories, and everything fit together much like might happen in real lives of Leaphorn, Chee and Manuelito. But it was a tiny bit scattered. Never mind that, all the superb elements were there, the scenery, the Navajo philosophy, lives of the people of the Navajo Nation, relationships of the principals, everything that makes me look forward to this series.
]]> Day 123033397
April 5, 2019 : In a cozy brownstone in Brooklyn, the veneer of domestic bliss is beginning to crack. Dan and Isabel, troubled husband and wife, are both a little bit in love with Isabel’s younger brother, Robbie. Robbie, wayward soul of the family, who still lives in the attic loft; Robbie, who, trying to get over his most recent boyfriend, has created a glamorous avatar online; Robbie, who now has to move out of the house—and whose departure threatens to break the family apart. Meanwhile Nathan, age ten, is taking his first uncertain steps toward independence, while Violet, five, does her best not to notice the growing rift between her parents.

April 5, 2020: As the world goes into lockdown, the brownstone is feeling more like a prison. Violet is terrified of leaving the windows open, obsessed with keeping her family safe, while Nathan attempts to skirt her rules. Isabel and Dan communicate mostly in veiled jabs and frustrated sighs. And beloved Robbie is stranded in Iceland, alone in a mountain cabin with nothing but his thoughts—and his secret Instagram life—for company.

April 5, 2021: Emerging from the worst of the crisis, the family reckons with a new, very different reality—with what they’ve learned, what they’ve lost, and how they might go on.

From the brilliant mind of Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Cunningham, Day is a searing, exquisitely crafted meditation on love and loss and the struggles and limitations of family life—how to live together and apart.]]> 273 Michael Cunningham 0399591346 Karen 5 3.50 2023 Day
author: Michael Cunningham
name: Karen
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/05/13
date added: 2024/05/13
shelves:
review:
I loved this book. I love the voices. Above all I love Robbie, but also Violet (6 years old, for me a fluke), Dan, Nathan, Garth. Isabel and Chess. Students. Scenery. Cunningham imbues everything with something bittersweet and grateful that works for me.
]]> <![CDATA[Toxic Prey (Lucas Davenport #34)]]> 195722352
Gaia is dying.

That, at least, is what Dr. Lionel Scott believes. A renowned expert in tropical and infectious diseases, Scott has witnessed the devastating impact of illness and turmoil at critical scale. Society as it exists is untenable, and the direct link to Earth’s death spiral; population levels are out of control and people have allowed disarray and disorder to run rampant. While most are concerned about deadly disease, Scott knows that it is truly humanity itself that will destroy Gaia. It’s only by removing the threat then the planet can continue to prosper, and luckily, Scott is just the right man for the job�

When Scott then disappears without a trace, Letty Davenport is tasked with tracking down any and all leads. Scott’s connections to sensitive research into virus and pathogen spread has multiple national and international organizations on high alert, and his shockingly high clearance levels at various institutions, including the Los Alamos National Laboratory, make him the last person they’d like to go missing. As the web around Scott becomes more tangled, Letty calls in her father, Lucas, help her lead a group of specialists to find Scott as soon as possible. But as Letty and Lucas begin to uncover startling and disturbing connections between Scott and Gaia conspiracists, their worst fears are confirmed, and it quickly becomes a race to find him before the virus he created becomes the perfect weapon.]]> 480 John Sandford 0593869656 Karen 5 4.34 2024 Toxic Prey (Lucas Davenport #34)
author: John Sandford
name: Karen
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/05/11
date added: 2024/05/11
shelves:
review:
What a great book! I love Letty, always like Lucas, like the MI5 boyfriend and the Texas sniper and most everyone on the good side. And the villains were interesting. And the premise is grim but also interesting - population reduction to save the world. Very fast read. Dragged a tiny bit in some of the procedural details but they were interesting too.
]]> Hero 179846483
Unable to stand the embarrassment of his lackeys having been defeated by a lone woman, Mr. Conger puts in a call to the one man who can make his problems disappear. Known for his swiftness and subtlety, Leo Sealy will kill anyone for a price. All he needs is a name and a face, any starting point to pick up his victim’s trail. Luckily for him, the local news is as eager as he is for any information about the heroic bodyguard―and quick to broadcast their findings, regardless of what it might mean for her safety. But Sealy isn’t prepared for just how quick and resourceful Justine can be. So begins a cat and mouse game between two people who know more about how to take down one’s enemies than anyone else in the business.

Justine finds herself up against both a hardened killer and the fickle media landscape that can turn on her just as quickly as it celebrated her in this high-stakes thriller from the author of The Old Man .]]> 274 Thomas Perry 1613164777 Karen 5 3.75 2024 Hero
author: Thomas Perry
name: Karen
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/05/09
date added: 2024/05/09
shelves:
review:
Very good book about hunter and hunted, very good characters. Security woman is hunted by killer after killing intruders. A writer gets involved. LA is always a character in itself, for me. I’ve loved Thomas Perry books for a long time. This one is less funny than some of them, but it still has a light touch even in the most grueling situations.
]]> The Summer We Started Over 195888451 Two sisters reconnect and pursue their dreams on the beautiful island of Nantucket, overcoming life’s challenges and finding new love, in this heartwarming and hopeful novel by New York Times bestselling author Nancy Thayer.

Eddie Grant is happy with her life and her work as a personal assistant to Dinah Lavender, one of the most famous and renowned romance authors in the business. But being a spectator to notoriety and glamour isn’t as fulfilling as she once thought. Thankfully, Eddie has the perfect excuse for a vacation: Her hardworking younger sister, Barrett, is opening her gift shop on Memorial Day weekend, and could use all the help she can get.

But going home to the beautiful island of Nantucket means facing the family’s difficult past. Shortly after the death of Eddie and Barrett’s brother, their mother left them and their father made the spontaneous decision to buy a small farm. Eddie stayed there for only a year before her family’s grief threatened to consume her as well, and had been living in Manhattan ever since. Now that she is back, Eddie must face all she left behind: her father’s increased eccentricities, which has led to a house bursting at the seams with books; her sister’s resentment over Eddie’s escape; and a past love connection, one that is still undeniable and complicated, all these years later. But the Grant sisters are nothing if not resilient and capable, opening a used bookstore in their father’s abandoned barn to manage his hoarding, and navigating the discovery of a long-buried family secret that will change all of them forever.

In The Summer We Started Over, beloved storyteller Nancy Thayer transports readers with a moving story about family, courage, and the resiliency of young women.]]> 320 Nancy Thayer 0593724003 Karen 3 3.78 2024 The Summer We Started Over
author: Nancy Thayer
name: Karen
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/04/30
date added: 2024/04/30
shelves:
review:
A little fluffy in concept and even more erratic in delivery. People all fall in love and live happily yada yada. Meanwhile, people change motivations and personalities at random. But very readable - pretty much in one sitting.
]]> The Princess of Las Vegas 181347534
Crissy Dowling has created a world that suits her perfectly. She passes her days by the pool in a private cabana, she splurges on ice cream but never gains an ounce, and each evening she transforms into a Princess, performing her musical cabaret inspired by the life of the late Diana Spencer. Some might find her strange or even delusional, an American speaking with a British accent, hair feathered into a style thirty years old, living and working in a casino that has become a dated trash heap. On top of that, Crissy’s daily diet of Adderall and Valium leaves her more than a little tipsy, her Senator boyfriend has gone back to his wife, and her entire career rests on resembling a dead woman. And yet, fans see her for the gifted chameleon she is, showering her with gifts, letters, and standing ovations night after night. But when Crissy’s sister, Betsy, arrives in town with a new boyfriend and a teenage daughter, and when Richie Morley, the owner of the Buckingham Palace Casino, is savagely murdered, Crissy’s carefully constructed kingdom comes crashing down all around her. A riveting tale of identity, obsession, fintech, and high-tech mobsters, The Princess of Las Vegas is an addictive, wildly original thriller from one of our most extraordinary storytellers.]]> 400 Chris Bohjalian 0385547617 Karen 4 3.86 2024 The Princess of Las Vegas
author: Chris Bohjalian
name: Karen
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/04/29
date added: 2024/04/28
shelves:
review:
He’s a very good writer. That takes this frothy tale of sisters, Vegas shows, a recently adopted smart kid, mobsters, and crypto to a more coherent and meaningful level. Very readable.
]]> Origin (Robert Langdon, #5) 32307358 This an alternate cover for B01LY7FD0D

Robert Langdon, Harvard professor of symbology and religious iconology, arrives at the ultramodern Guggenheim Museum Bilbao to attend a major announcement--the unveiling of a discovery that "will change the face of science forever." The evening's host is Edmond Kirsch, a forty-year-old billionaire and futurist whose dazzling high-tech inventions and audacious predictions have made him a renowned global figure. Kirsch, who was one of Langdon's first students at Harvard two decades earlier, is about to reveal an astonishing breakthrough . . . one that will answer two of the fundamental questions of human existence.

As the event begins, Langdon and several hundred guests find themselves captivated by an utterly original presentation, which Langdon realizes will be far more controversial than he ever imagined. But the meticulously orchestrated evening suddenly erupts into chaos, and Kirsch's precious discovery teeters on the brink of being lost forever. Reeling and facing an imminent threat, Langdon is forced into a desperate bid to escape Bilbao. With him is Ambra Vidal, the elegant museum director who worked with Kirsch to stage the provocative event. Together they flee to Barcelona on a perilous quest to locate a cryptic password that will unlock Kirsch's secret.

Navigating the dark corridors of hidden history and extreme religion, Langdon and Vidal must evade a tormented enemy whose all-knowing power seems to emanate from Spain's Royal Palace itself . . . and who will stop at nothing to silence Edmond Kirsch. On a trail marked by modern art and enigmatic symbols, Langdon and Vidal uncover clues that ultimately bring them face-to-face with Kirsch's shocking discovery . . . and the breathtaking truth that has long eluded us. Origin is stunningly inventive--Dan Brown's most brilliant and entertaining novel to date]]> 482 Dan Brown Karen 4 3.87 2017 Origin (Robert Langdon, #5)
author: Dan Brown
name: Karen
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2018/03/02
date added: 2024/04/25
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Ghost Orchid (Alex Delaware, #39)]]> 150249627
LAPD homicide lieutenant Milo Sturgis sees it all the time: Reinvention’s a way of life in a city fueled by fantasy. But try as you might to erase the person you once were, there are those who will never forget the past . . . and who can still find you.

A pool boy enters a secluded Bel Air property and discovers two bodies floating in the bright blue water: Gio Aggiunta, the playboy heir to an Italian shoe empire, and a gorgeous, even wealthier neighbor named Meagin March. A married neighbor.

An illicit affair stoking rage is a perfect motive. But a “double� in this neighborhood of gated estates isn’t something you see every day. The house is untouched. No forced entry, no forensic evidence. The case has “that feeling,� and when that happens, Milo turns to his friend, the brilliant psychologist Alex Delaware.

As Milo and Alex investigate both victims, they discover two troubled pasts. And as they dig deeper, Meagin March’s very identity begins to blur. Who was this glamorous but conflicted woman? Did her past catch up to her? Or did Gio’s family connections create a threat spanning two continents?

Chasing down the answers leads Alex and Milo on an exploration of L.A.’s darkest side as they contend with one of the most shocking cases of their careers and learn that that some secrets are best left buried in the past.]]> 304 Jonathan Kellerman 0593497686 Karen 4 4.39 2024 The Ghost Orchid (Alex Delaware, #39)
author: Jonathan Kellerman
name: Karen
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/04/23
date added: 2024/04/22
shelves:
review:
Always enjoyable. Two people murdered, Milo and Alex chase down their present lives, then their pasts. Kellerman draws characters well so they feel familiar even when they appear only briefly. This felt a tiny bit superficial but I look forward to the next one.
]]> <![CDATA[Three-Inch Teeth (Joe Pickett, #24)]]> 197211752
A rogue grizzly bear has gone on a rampage—killing, among others, the fiancee of Joe’s daughter. At the same time, Dallas Cates, who Joe helped lock up years ago, is released from prison with a list of six names tattooed on his skin. He wants revenge on the people who sent him the people he blames for the deaths of his entire family and the loss of his reputation and property.
Targeted are a judge, the county prosecutor, his lawyer, a prison guard—and both Nate Romanowski and Joe Pickett. Using the grizzly attacks as cover, Cates devises a method of violence identical to the bear killings and sets out to methodically check off his list.]]> 371 C.J. Box 0593331346 Karen 5 4.26 2024 Three-Inch Teeth (Joe Pickett, #24)
author: C.J. Box
name: Karen
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/04/21
date added: 2024/04/21
shelves:
review:
Very good read, all the familiar characters, even the bad guys. Some shocking parts, character-wise. Meanwhile, I’ve watched two seasons of the streaming version of this series, and while they’re nice folks in beautiful settings, I like my Joe, Marybeth, and Nate so much better.
]]> <![CDATA[Rock & Roll Never Forgets (JP Kinkaid Chronicles, #1)]]> 2454351 When he sits down with Dillon, JP’s main concern is to preserve both his own privacy and that of Bree Godwin, his fiercely protective longtime girlfriend. But it’s obvious from the first question that Dillon is digging deep. And he’s not planning to stop until he hits rock bottom.

Dillon’s looking for trouble, the kind of trouble that garners publicity and sells books. What he finds is the kind of trouble someone will go to any length to cover up, and that includes murder.

Opening night at Madison Square Garden encores with a corpse in JP’s dressing room, leaving Blacklight in the middle of a media frenzy---and Bree as homicide lieutenant Patrick Ormand’s prime suspect.

Rock & Roll Never Forgets, the first JP Kinkaid mystery, offers an all-access pass to how musicians work, live, and love.

]]> 288 Deborah Grabien 0312379994 Karen 4 3.69 2008 Rock & Roll Never Forgets (JP Kinkaid Chronicles, #1)
author: Deborah Grabien
name: Karen
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 2024/04/13
date added: 2024/04/13
shelves:
review:
It’s kind of 4 minus. No idea how I never read this back when it was new. Pretty absorbing story. Main character wasn’t likable enough so it’s probably good she didn’t do a series with him. The San Francisco rock scene had some nostalgia and I didn’t find any glaring mistakes. It felt a little off but was completely readable.
]]> End of Story 112457526
So writes Sebastian Trapp, reclusive mystery novelist, to his longtime correspondent Nicky Hunter, an expert in detective fiction. With mere months to live, Trapp invites Nicky to his spectacular San Francisco mansion to help draft his life story . . . living alongside his beautiful second wife, Diana; his wayward nephew, Freddy; and his protective daughter, Madeleine. Soon Nicky finds herself caught in an irresistible case of real-life “detective fever.�

“You and I might even solve an old mystery or two.�

Twenty years earlier—on New Year’s Eve 1999—Sebastian’s first wife and teenaged son vanished from different locations, never to be seen again. Did the perfect crime writer commit the perfect crime? And why has he emerged from seclusion, two decades later, to allow a stranger to dig into his past?

“Life is hard. After all, it kills you.�

As Nicky attempts to weave together the strands of Sebastian’s life, she becomes obsessed with discovering the truth . . . while Madeleine begins to question what her beloved father might actually know about that long-ago night. And when a corpse appears in the family’s koi pond, both women are shocked to find that the past isn’t gone—it’s just waiting.]]> 408 A.J. Finn Karen 3 3.52 2024 End of Story
author: A.J. Finn
name: Karen
average rating: 3.52
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/03/26
date added: 2024/03/26
shelves:
review:
Read it all. Not bad but lots of flaws. San Francisco setting was done pretty well. Mystery writer invites young - fan? - into his home during his terminal illness. Yeah, unlikely. Lots of twists, needed a good editor. Painful similes. But I kind of knew the characters, or some of them, and didn’t hate them. Though they were mostly slippery. Killed time between better books.
]]> The Hunter (Cal Hooper, #2) 174156145
Cal Hooper took early retirement from Chicago PD and moved to rural Ireland looking for peace. He’s found it, more or he’s built a relationship with a local woman, Lena, and he’s gradually turning Trey Reddy from a half-feral teenager into a good kid going good places. But then Trey’s long-absent father reappears, bringing along an English millionaire and a scheme to find gold in the townland, and suddenly everything the three of them have been building is under threat. Cal and Lena are both ready to do whatever it takes to protect Trey, but Trey doesn’t want protecting. What she wants is revenge.

A nuanced, atmospheric tale that explores what we’ll do for our loved ones, what we’ll do for revenge, and what we sacrifice when the two collide.]]> 467 Tana French 0593493435 Karen 5 3.96 2024 The Hunter (Cal Hooper, #2)
author: Tana French
name: Karen
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/03/19
date added: 2024/03/19
shelves:
review:
Tana French is one of my favorite authors. This book continues with the beautiful depiction of village life in Ireland. There are several very appealing characters and many more who aren’t exactly likable but well drawn and interesting. The plot is good, an attempted con on the locals and another con within the con, complicated but unfolding. I’m sorry it’s finished.
]]> <![CDATA[The Exchange: After The Firm (The Firm Series)]]> 123280240 #1 New York Times bestselling author John Grisham delivers high-flying international suspense in a stunning new legal thriller that marks the return of Mitch McDeere, the brilliant hero of The Firm.

What became of Mitch and Abby McDeere after they exposed the crimes of Memphis law firm Bendini, Lambert & Locke and fled the country? The answer is in The Exchange, the riveting sequel to The Firm, the blockbuster thrillerthat launched the careerof America’s favorite storyteller. It is now fifteen years later, and Mitch and Abby are living in Manhattan, where Mitch is a partner at the largest law firmin the world. When a mentor in Rome asks him for a favor that will take him far from home, Mitch finds himself at the center of a sinister plot that has worldwideimplications—and once again endangers his colleagues, friends, and family. Mitch has becomea master at staying one step ahead of his adversaries, but this time there’s nowhereto hide.]]> 464 John Grisham 0593669894 Karen 3
So I didn’t hate it. It’s more like 3.5 but no better than that. It reads more like a Clancy with short chapters and foreign intrigue. Too many people are introduced but not developed. Mitch and Abby are okay but not very recognizable from The Firm and not really very sympathetic. The children are irritating.

Then comes the real problem. About half the book is boring. It’s a procedural on international ransom response, and dry as desert sand. This happened, then this happened. Grisham said he talked to lawyers in a huge international firm for story tips, and it reads like the notes he must have taken in that long windy meeting. I’m afraid Grisham isn’t any more interested in this book than I am. I will of course read whatever he does next.]]> 3.60 2023 The Exchange: After The Firm (The Firm Series)
author: John Grisham
name: Karen
average rating: 3.60
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2024/03/14
date added: 2024/03/15
shelves:
review:
I heard that everyone hated this book. Their reasons were mostly based on lack of similarity to The Firm. That wasn’t my problem - The Firm was light years ago in reading terms.

So I didn’t hate it. It’s more like 3.5 but no better than that. It reads more like a Clancy with short chapters and foreign intrigue. Too many people are introduced but not developed. Mitch and Abby are okay but not very recognizable from The Firm and not really very sympathetic. The children are irritating.

Then comes the real problem. About half the book is boring. It’s a procedural on international ransom response, and dry as desert sand. This happened, then this happened. Grisham said he talked to lawyers in a huge international firm for story tips, and it reads like the notes he must have taken in that long windy meeting. I’m afraid Grisham isn’t any more interested in this book than I am. I will of course read whatever he does next.
]]> <![CDATA[The Running Grave (Cormoran Strike, #7)]]> 139399948 In the seventh installment in the Strike series, Cormoran and Robin must rescue a man ensnared in the trap of a dangerous cult.

Private Detective Cormoran Strike is contacted by a worried father whose son, Will, has gone to join a religious cult in the depths of the Norfolk countryside.

The Universal Humanitarian Church is, on the surface, a peaceable organization that campaigns for a better world. Yet Strike discovers that beneath the surface there are deeply sinister undertones, and unexplained deaths.

In order to try to rescue Will, Strike's business partner, Robin Ellacott, decides to infiltrate the cult, and she travels to Norfolk to live incognito among its members. But in doing so, she is unprepared for the dangers that await her there or for the toll it will take on her. . .

Utterly pulse-pounding, The Running Grave moves Strike's and Robin's story forward in this epic, unforgettable seventh installment of the series.]]> 960 Robert Galbraith 0316572101 Karen 5 4.56 2023 The Running Grave (Cormoran Strike, #7)
author: Robert Galbraith
name: Karen
average rating: 4.56
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/03/09
date added: 2024/03/09
shelves:
review:
I love these books. Love Strike and Robin. Like the supporting cast, though there are awfully many of them in this one. To try and solve the mystery would have required taking notes and listing names! The cult details were a bit much and a bit long, but I don’t care, this was an easy 5 stars for me.
]]> Resurrection Walk 202776721
Bosch pulls a needle from the haystack: a woman in prison for killing her husband, a sheriff’s deputy, but who still maintains her innocence. Bosch reviews the case and sees elements that don’t add up, and a sheriff’s department intent on bringing quick justice in the killing of one of its own.

Now Haller has an uphill battle in court, a David fighting Goliaths to vindicate his client. The path for both lawyer and investigator is fraught with danger from those who don’t want the case reopened and will stop at nothing to keep the Haller-Bosch dream team from finding the truth. Packed with intrigue and courtroom drama, Resurrection Walk shows once again that Michael Connelly is “the most consistently superior living crime fiction author� (South Florida Sun Sentinel).]]> 400 Michael Connelly 0316563773 Karen 4 4.67 2023 Resurrection Walk
author: Michael Connelly
name: Karen
average rating: 4.67
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/02/20
date added: 2024/02/20
shelves:
review:
It’s like spending time with old friends. It was enjoyable and it went quickly. Bosch, the friend I know better, is changing again as time passes. And this book is much more about Mickey, and for my taste some of the legal parts got long. But there was plenty of action, both past and present, with good characters and a good story.
]]> The Power 29751398 The Power the world is a recognizable place: There's a rich Nigerian boy who lounges around the family pool; a foster kid whose religious parents hide their true nature; an ambitious American politician; and a tough London girl from a tricky family. But then a vital new force takes root and flourishes, causing their lives to converge with devastating effect. Teenage girls now have immense physical power: They can cause agonizing pain and even death. With this small twist of nature, the world drastically resets.]]> 341 Naomi Alderman 0670919985 Karen 0 to-read 3.75 2016 The Power
author: Naomi Alderman
name: Karen
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/02/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Future 123163151 The bestselling, award-winning author of The Power delivers a dazzling tour de force where a handful of friends plot a daring heist to save the world from the tech giants whose greed threatens life as we know it.

When Martha Einkorn fled her father’s isolated compound in Oregon, she never expected to find herself working for a powerful social media mogul hell-bent on controlling everything. Now, she’s surrounded by mega-rich companies designing private weather, predictive analytics, and covert weaponry, while spouting technological prophecy. Martha may have left the cult, but if the apocalyptic warnings in her father’s fox and rabbit sermon—once a parable to her—are starting to come true, how much future is actually left?

Across the world, in a mall in Singapore, Lai Zhen, an internet-famous survivalist, flees from an assassin. She’s cornered, desperate and—worst of all—might die without ever knowing what's going on. Suddenly, a remarkable piece of software appears on her phone telling her exactly how to escape. Who made it? What is it really for? And if those behind it can save her from danger, what do they want from her, and what else do they know about the future?

Martha and Zhen�s worlds are about to collide. An explosive chain of events is set in motion. While a few billionaires assured of their own safety lead the world to destruction, Martha’s relentless drive and Zhen’s insatiable curiosity could lead to something beautiful or the cataclysmic end of civilization.

By turns thrilling, hilarious, tender, and always piercingly brilliant, The Future unfolds at a breakneck speed, highlighting how power corrupts the few who have it and what it means to stand up to them. The future is coming. The Future is here.]]> 0 Naomi Alderman 1797163620 Karen 5 3.71 2023 The Future
author: Naomi Alderman
name: Karen
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/02/12
date added: 2024/02/12
shelves:
review:
Excellent! Near future sci-fi with a great response to the ills threatening the planet. Loved the characters and the locations. It was a delight. Alderman appears to be known and respected and I’m glad I’m catching up to her.
]]> Widespread Panic 55502882
Welcome to the world of the malevolent monarch of the Hollywood underground - a tale of pervasive paranoia teeming with communist conspiracies, FBI finks, celebrity smut films and strange bedfellows.]]> 336 James Ellroy 0593319346 Karen 2 3.31 2021 Widespread Panic
author: James Ellroy
name: Karen
average rating: 3.31
book published: 2021
rating: 2
read at: 2021/08/07
date added: 2024/01/26
shelves:
review:
I just couldn’t. It’s 50s Hollywood, good, but entirely done in tabloid. And not a single redeemable character. The fake-maybe gossip element about actual persons was interesting and reminded me of absent friends who would have loved that. Maybe I would have had more stomach for it when I still drank and did drugs. Anyway, I skipped through a lot of the middle and maybe someday I’ll return to it with different perspective or mood. Undeniably Ellroy is a great writer.
]]> Homestead 60784367
Immersive and wild-hearted, joyfully alive to both the intimate and the elemental, Homestead is an unflinching portrait of a new state and of the hard-fought, hard-bitten work of making a family.]]> 259 Melinda Moustakis 1250845556 Karen 3 3.42 2023 Homestead
author: Melinda Moustakis
name: Karen
average rating: 3.42
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2023/12/11
date added: 2023/12/11
shelves:
review:
Quit at 3/4. Just unrelentingly grim. Alaska setting was beautifully written, but nothing seemed to make the people okay. I just didn’t feel it.
]]> Homecoming 61683285
Sixty years later, Jess is a journalist in search of a story. Having lived and worked in London for almost twenty years, she now finds herself laid off from her full-time job and struggling to make ends meet. A phone call out of nowhere summons her back to Sydney, where her beloved grandmother, Nora, who raised Jess when her mother could not, has suffered a fall and been raced to the hospital.

Nora has always been a vibrant and strong presence: decisive, encouraging, young despite her years. When Jess visits her in the hospital, she is alarmed to find her grandmother frail and confused. It’s even more alarming to hear from Nora's housekeeper that Nora had been distracted in the weeks before her accident and had fallen on the steps to the attic—the one place Jess was forbidden from playing in when she was small.

At loose ends in Nora's house, Jess does some digging of her own. In Nora's bedroom, she discovers a true crime book, chronicling the police investigation into a long-buried tragedy: the Turner Family Tragedy of Christmas Eve, 1959. It is only when Jess skims through the book that she finds a shocking connection between her own family and this once-infamous crime—a crime that has never been resolved satisfactorily. And for a journalist without a story, a cold case might be the best distraction she can find�

An epic novel that spans generations, Homecoming asks what we would do for those we love, and how we protect the lies we tell. It explores the power of motherhood, the corrosive effects of tightly held secrets, and the healing nature of truth. Above all, it is a beguiling and immensely satisfying novel from one of the finest writers working today.]]> 547 Kate Morton 0063020890 Karen 5 4.00 2023 Homecoming
author: Kate Morton
name: Karen
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2023/12/09
date added: 2023/12/09
shelves:
review:
What twists and turns! The excellent characters sometimes became detestable, but then more twists and turns came to allow them understanding. The end went on and on, but with vital information so that it couldn’t be rushed. But really I have no complaints. Morton is amazing.
]]> <![CDATA[The Wedding Guest (Alex Delaware, #34)]]> 40163374 Psychologist Alex Delaware and Detective Milo Sturgis dig into a shocking crime at a raucous wedding reception in this gripping psychological thriller from the #1 New York Times bestselling master of suspense.

In the middle of a "Saints and Sinners" themed wedding, a bridesmaid finds a young woman's dead body in the restroom. None of the wedding guests claim to know the well-dressed victim--but Delaware and Sturgis aren't so convinced.]]> 384 Jonathan Kellerman 052561849X Karen 4 3.71 2019 The Wedding Guest (Alex Delaware, #34)
author: Jonathan Kellerman
name: Karen
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2019/02/07
date added: 2023/12/01
shelves:
review:
Read it again 12/1/23. Still 4, I guess. Bit anticlimactic, last minute bad guy. Great LA descriptions, pretty good characters. And old friends make it an easy read.
]]> <![CDATA[Night Moves (Alex Delaware, #33)]]> 42097313
There's no spilled blood, no evidence of a struggle, and, thanks to the victim's missing face and hands, no immediate means of identification. And no telling why the disfigured corpse of a stranger has appeared in an upscale L.A. family's home. Chet Corvin, his wife, and their two teenage children are certain the John Doe is unknown to them. Despite that, their cooperation seems guarded. And that's more than Milo and Alex can elicit from the Corvins' creepy next-door neighbor--a notorious cartoonist with a warped sense of humor and a seriously antisocial attitude.

As the investigation ensues, it becomes clear that this well-to-do suburban enclave has its share of curious eyes, suspicious minds, and loose lips. And as Milo tightens the screws on potential persons of interest--and Alex tries to breach the barriers that guard their deepest secrets--a strangling web of corrupted love, cold-blooded greed, and shattered trust is exposed. Though the grass may be greener on these privileged streets, there's enough dirt below the surface to bury a multitude of sins. Including the deadliest.

Praise for Night Moves

"Exceptionally well-plotted . . . Newcomers will find this an easy entry point into this long-running series."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"A taut, procedural thriller . . . One of the most tightly plotted, tightly written of the Alex Delaware series . . . a real puzzler . . . Fans of the long-running Delaware series will be thrilled with this one, and because each book functions just fine as a stand-alone, there's nothing keeping new readers from diving in."--Booklist

"Jonathan Kellerman continues to amaze, dazzle, delight and entertain. . . . Night Moves is simply the best."--Bookreporter

 ]]> 448 Jonathan Kellerman 0345541480 Karen 4 3.92 2018 Night Moves (Alex Delaware, #33)
author: Jonathan Kellerman
name: Karen
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2023/11/28
date added: 2023/11/28
shelves:
review:
Very good Delaware and Milo Sturgis. The writing and characters were possibly better than the plot, which wandered, and was finally a bit anticlimactic. Kellerman writes some great LA characters, more than strictly needed to move the plot along, but entertaining. Some great wording also. Always nice LA feel.
]]> Just a Regular Boy 61405784 An orphaned boy raised by a survivalist wends his way into the real world in an emotional novel about hope, fears, and found family by New York Times bestselling author Catherine Ryan Hyde.

Out there is chaos, the collapse of society, and so much to be afraid of. All that matters is freedom.

That’s what Remy Blake has been taught by his survivalist father. Raised off the grid in the middle of nowhere, his own survival skills not yet honed, Remy is days shy of his eighth birthday when his father unexpectedly dies. As seasons pass, supplies run out, and fending for himself grows more desperate, Remy sets out on foot, unprepared for the great unknown of civilization.

He is found—near feral, silent, and terrified—in the small rural town of Blaire. To Anne, a nurturing mother of two adopted teenagers who’s still dealing with her own childhood rejections, Remy is not a lost cause. Just a challenging one. As Remy cautiously adapts to his new foster home, his family wants nothing more than to reassure him that he can trust the world. But to do so, they must first reexamine how much they trust the world themselves, and how much they should. As Remy’s journey into the real world begins, figuring out how to navigate it becomes a path they will have to learn to walk together.]]> 336 Catherine Ryan Hyde 1662504373 Karen 4 4.36 2023 Just a Regular Boy
author: Catherine Ryan Hyde
name: Karen
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2023/11/17
date added: 2023/11/17
shelves:
review:
I opened it to take a look and before I knew it had devoured it almost in one sitting. Very readable, likable characters. Not usually a fan of children in books so these were unusual, as I have found in previous Hyde books. Not sure this boy, raised practically by no one and only about 8, said all the insightful and complex things written here. Ditto the foster siblings. But I enjoyed what they all said, realistic or not.
]]> <![CDATA[Blessing of the Lost Girls (Joanna Brady #20; Walker Family #6)]]> 63365276 Returning to her southwest roots, New York Times bestselling author J. A. Jance presents a riveting new Walker Family suspense novel in which human remains found in Cochise County have federal investigator Dan Pardee, Brandon Walker's son-in-law, stepping into Sheriff Joanna Brady's jurisdiction. As the investigation to track down a killer who preys on Indigenous victims unfolds, Jance brings together popular characters from both her Brady and Walker books.

When human remains are found in Joanna Brady's Cochise County, the victim turns out to be a missing young woman of Apache descent. As part of a newly formed Missing and Murdered Indigenous People's Task Force, Dan Pardee, a former Border Patrol Shadow Wolf and Brandon Walker's son-in-law, catches the case and ends up in Sheriff Joanna Brady's jurisdiction. Will Dan find out what led to this young woman's death? There's a long case ahead, and the task force will do anything to bring down a serial killer before he can strike again.


]]> 335 J.A. Jance 0063010100 Karen 4 3.93 2023 Blessing of the Lost Girls (Joanna Brady #20; Walker Family #6)
author: J.A. Jance
name: Karen
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2023/11/06
date added: 2023/11/06
shelves:
review:
Very good. Few references to previous cases that were distracting - were these earlier books or just scene-setting stories? But great subject, native disappearances and little interest from law enforcement. Jance is always enjoyable.
]]> The Shipping News 7354
A vigorous, darkly comic, and at times magical portrait of the contemporary American family, The Shipping News shows why E. Annie Proulx is recognized as one of the most gifted and original writers in America today.
(back cover)]]> 337 Annie Proulx 0743225422 Karen 0 to-read 3.88 1993 The Shipping News
author: Annie Proulx
name: Karen
average rating: 3.88
book published: 1993
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/10/31
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Five-Star Weekend (Sommer in Nantucket, #1)]]> 62873996
Hollis Shaw’s life seems picture-perfect. She’s the creator of the popular food blog Hungry with Hollis and is married to Matthew, a dreamy heart surgeon. But after she and Matthew get into a heated argument one snowy morning, he leaves for the airport and is killed in a car accident. The cracks in Hollis’s perfect life—her strained marriage and her complicated relationship with her daughter, Caroline—grow deeper.

So when Hollis hears about something called a “Five-Star Weekend”—one woman organizes a trip for her best friend from each phase of her life: her teenage years, her twenties, her thirties, and midlife—she decides to host her own Five-Star Weekend on Nantucket. But the weekend doesn’t turn out to be a joyful Hallmark movie.

The husband of Hollis’s childhood friend Tatum arranges for Hollis’s first love, Jack Finigan, to spend time with them, stirring up old feelings. Meanwhile, Tatum is forced to play nice with abrasive and elitist Dru-Ann, Hollis’s best friend from UNC Chapel Hill. Dru-Ann’s career as a prominent Chicago sports agent is on the line after her comments about a client’s mental health issues are misconstrued online. Brooke, Hollis’s friend from their thirties, has just discovered that her husband is having an inappropriate relationship with a woman at work. Again! And then there’s Gigi, a stranger to everyone (including Hollis) who reached out to Hollis through her blog. Gigi embodies an unusual grace and, as it hap- pens, has many secrets.

The Five-Star Weekend is a surprising and captivating story about friendship, love, and self-discovery set on Nantucket. It will be a weekend like no other.]]> 384 Elin Hilderbrand 0316258776 Karen 4 3.95 2023 The Five-Star Weekend (Sommer in Nantucket, #1)
author: Elin Hilderbrand
name: Karen
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2023/10/29
date added: 2023/10/29
shelves:
review:
Really enjoyable. All the characters were well drawn and appealing. I have an issue with Hilderbrand’s denigration of the “other women� in all situations. The men, who are actually betraying someone they know and care about, get hardly any blame. Just my opinion. She does write a great beach read, elevated.
]]> The Cloisters 61054804 On the wheel of fortune, who will emerge on top... and who will die?

When Ann Stilwell arrives in New York City, she hopes to spend her summer working as a curatorial associate at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Instead, she finds herself assigned to The Cloisters, a gothic museum and garden renowned for its collection of medieval and Renaissance art.

There she is drawn into a small circle of charismatic but enigmatic researchers, including Patrick Roland, the museum's mercurial curator who specializes in the history of tarot; Rachel Mondray, Patrick's beautiful curatorial associate and sometime muse; and Leo Bitburg, the gardener who nurtures the museum's precious collection of medicinal and poison plants.

Relieved to have left her troubled past in rural Washington behind her, Ann longs for the approbation of her colleagues and peers and is happy to indulge their more outlandish theories, only to find that their fascination with fortune-telling runs deeper than academic obsession. Patrick is determined to prove that ancient divination holds the key to the foretelling of the future. And when Ann stumbles across a breakthrough in the form of a mysterious and previously-believed lost deck of 15th-century Italian tarot cards, she finds herself at the centre of a dangerous game of power, toxic friendship and ambition.

Then there is an unexpected and devastating death, and suddenly everyone becomes a suspect. As the game being played within the Cloisters spirals out of control, Ann must decide if the tarot cards can not only teach her about the past, but also about her future.]]> 312 Katy Hays 1668004402 Karen 4 3.35 2022 The Cloisters
author: Katy Hays
name: Karen
average rating: 3.35
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2023/10/20
date added: 2023/10/25
shelves:
review:
Very good. Love the Cloisters as a setting, love upper Manhattan. Tarot treatment was interesting. Some of the action and characters felt very first novel, but good first novel. Maybe just young.
]]> <![CDATA[The Girl in the Eagle's Talons (Millennium, #7)]]> 75523433 Lisbeth Salander returns, in a trailblazing new installment to the best-selling Millennium series.

Change is coming to Sweden’s far north: its untapped natural resources are sparking a gold rush with the criminal underworld leading the charge. But it’s not the prospect of riches that brings Lisbeth Salander to the small town of Gasskas. She has been named guardian to her niece Svala, whose mother has disappeared. Two things soon become clear: Svala is a remarkably gifted teenager—and she’s being watched.

Mikael Blomkvist is also heading north. He has seen better days. Millennium magazine is in its final print issue, and relations with his daughter are strained. Worse still, there are troubling rumors surrounding the man she’s about to marry. When the truth behind the whispers explodes into violence, Salander emerges as Blomkvist’s last hope.

A pulse-pounding thriller, The Girl in the Eagle’s Talons sees Salander and Blomkvist navigating a world of conspiracy and betrayal, old enemies and new friends, ice-bound wilderness and the global corporations that threaten to tear it apart.]]> 368 Karin Smirnoff 059353669X Karen 4 3.30 2022 The Girl in the Eagle's Talons (Millennium, #7)
author: Karin Smirnoff
name: Karen
average rating: 3.30
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2023/10/25
date added: 2023/10/25
shelves:
review:
Very enjoyable! I kind of like Smirnoff’s version better than Lagercrantz’s, seems just slightly lighter, a bit more humor in the midst of the violence. Some of the action was confusing, also some of the many characters. Some threads started and never finished. Still I loved it.
]]> <![CDATA[The Boy from the Woods (Wilde, #1)]]> 51204046
No one seems to take Naomi Pine's disappearance seriously, not even her father-with one exception. Hester Crimstein, a television criminal attorney, knows through her grandson that Naomi was relentlessly bullied at school. Hester asks Wilde-with whom she shares a tragic connection-to use his unique skills to help find Naomi.

Wilde can't ignore an outcast in trouble, but in order to find Naomi he must venture back into the community where he has never fit in, a place where the powerful are protected even when they harbor secrets that could destroy the lives of millions . . . secrets that Wilde must uncover before it's too late.]]> 371 Harlan Coben 1538748142 Karen 5 3.84 2020 The Boy from the Woods (Wilde, #1)
author: Harlan Coben
name: Karen
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2020/06/26
date added: 2023/10/24
shelves:
review:
Good characters (maybe too many?), good plot, good pace.
]]> Central Park West 62699619 The gripping crime fiction debut from former FBI director James Comey takes readers deep inside the world of lawyers and investigators working to solve a murder while navigating the treacherous currents of modern politics and the mob. When a years-long case against a powerful mobster finally cracks and an unimpeachable witness takes the stand, federal prosecutor Nora Carleton is looking forward to putting the defendant away for good. The mobster, though, has other plans. As the witness’s testimony concludes, a note is passed to the prosecution offering up information into the assassination of a disgraced former New York governor, murdered in his penthouse apartment just days before. It’s enough to blow the case wide open, and to send Nora into a high-stakes investigation of conspiracy, corruption, and danger. Drawing from the author’s decades in federal law enforcement, including his years in Manhattan as a mob prosecutor and later the chief federal prosecutor, Central Park West is a fast-paced legal thriller with an intriguing plot enriched by real-life details and experiences. That unique perspective gives the novel much of its allure, but it’s the unforgettable characters, shocking twists, and courtroom scenes as authentic as they are dramatic that will leave readers looking forward to more from this bold new talent in the genre.]]> 330 James Comey 1613164033 Karen 4 3.72 2023 Central Park West
author: James Comey
name: Karen
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2023/09/10
date added: 2023/09/10
shelves:
review:
Pretty good! The title was a draw on its own. Wish I had read it in one sitting, but he was clear even with lots of characters. Would read another one. Bit more courtroom than I like. NY setting was good.
]]> White Horse 60652964 White Horse is a gritty, vibrant debut from Erika T. Wurth about an Indigenous woman who must face her past when she discovers a bracelet haunted by her mother’s spirit.

Some people are haunted in more ways than one.

Heavy metal, ripped jeans, Stephen King novels, and the occasional beer at the White Horse have defined urban Indian Kari James’s life so far. But when her cousin Debby finds an old family bracelet that once belonged to Kari’s mother, it inadvertently calls up both her mother’s ghost and a monstrous entity, and her willful ignorance about her past is no longer sustainable�

Haunted by visions of her mother and hunted by this mysterious creature, Kari must search for what happened to her mother all those years ago. Her father, permanently disabled from a car crash, can’t help her. Her Auntie Squeaker seems to know something but isn’t eager to give it all up at once. Debby’s anxious to help, but her controlling husband keeps getting in the way. Kari’s journey toward a truth long denied by both her family and law enforcement forces her to confront her dysfunctional relationships, thoughts about a friend she lost in childhood, and her desire for the one thing she’s always wanted but could never have.]]> 320 Erika T. Wurth 1250847656 Karen 2 3.48 2022 White Horse
author: Erika T. Wurth
name: Karen
average rating: 3.48
book published: 2022
rating: 2
read at: 2023/08/06
date added: 2023/08/06
shelves:
review:
DNF. Maybe in a different mood. Not great writing. Subject matter is maybe interesting, but the woman is drunk, everyone else smokes cigarettes, there’s lots of anger and lack of effective coping. I skimmed ahead and it looked the same. I just can’t.
]]> <![CDATA[Philomena: A Mother, Her Son, and a Fifty-Year Search]]> 17707622
Philomena's son, renamed Michael Hess, grew up to be a top Washington lawyer and a leading Republican official in the Reagan and Bush administrations. But he was a gay man in a homophobic party where he had to conceal not only his sexuality but, eventually, the fact that he had AIDS. With little time left, he returned to Ireland and the convent where he was his desperate quest to find his mother before he died left a legacy that was to unfold with unexpected consequences for all involved.

The Lost Child of Philomena Lee is the tale of a mother and a son whose lives were scarred by the forces of hypocrisy on both sides of the Atlantic and of the secrets they were forced to keep. A compelling narrative of human love and loss, Martin Sixsmith's moving account is heartbreaking yet ultimately redemptive.]]> 420 Martin Sixsmith 0143124722 Karen 3 3.46 2009 Philomena: A Mother, Her Son, and a Fifty-Year Search
author: Martin Sixsmith
name: Karen
average rating: 3.46
book published: 2009
rating: 3
read at: 2014/07/18
date added: 2023/08/02
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Local Gone Missing (Elise King, #1)]]> 61302081
Detective Elise King investigates a man's disappearance in a seaside town where the locals and weekenders are at odds in this rich and captivating new novel form the 'New York Times' best-selling author of 'The Widow'.

Elise King is a successful and ambitious detective - or she was, before medical leave left her unsure if she'd ever return to work. She now spends most days watching the growing tensions in her small seaside town of Ebbing: the weekenders in their fancy clothes, renovating old bungalows into luxury homes, and the locals resentful of the changes.

Elise can only guess what really happens behind closed doors. But Dee Eastwood, her cleaner, often knows. She's an invisible presence in many of the houses in town but she sees and hears everything.

The conflicts in town boil over when a newcomer wants to put Ebbing on the map with a giant music festival, and a teenage girl ends up dead because of drugs. When a man also disappears the first night of the festival, Elise is drawn back into her detective work and starts digging for answers. Ebbing is a small town, but it's full of myriad secrets and hidden connections that run deeper and darker than Elise could have ever imagined.

©2022 Fiona Barton (P)2022 Books on Tape]]> Fiona Barton 0593552288 Karen 5 3.27 2022 Local Gone Missing (Elise King, #1)
author: Fiona Barton
name: Karen
average rating: 3.27
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2023/07/29
date added: 2023/07/29
shelves:
review:
It just deleted my review! ŷ has gone crazy. And I read a book of this, didn’t listen to an audiobook.
]]> <![CDATA[Silver Tears (Faye's Revenge, #2)]]> 55654711 A spine-tingling novel of revenge, betrayal, and sisterhood from the internationally celebrated author of The Golden Cage.

She's had to fight for it every step of the way, but Faye finally has the life she believes she deserves: she is rich, the business she built has become a global brand, and she has carefully hidden away her small family in Italy, where Jack, her ex-husband, can no longer harm them. She even has the wherewithal to occasionally turn a business trip to Rome into a steamy tryst. But when several major investors--women Faye had trusted implicitly--suddenly sell off their shares in the company, and the police officer who helped search for her daughter discovers the dark secret of Faye's childhood, and she learns that Jack is no longer locked behind bars, Faye has no choice but to return to Stockholm. Not only does she have to fight again to keep her family safe, but now, at long last, she is forced to face the truth about her past. In this bold, mesmerizing story of seduction, deceit, and female power, a woman's secret cannot stay buried forever.]]> 320 Camilla Läckberg 0525657991 Karen 3 3.51 2020 Silver Tears (Faye's Revenge, #2)
author: Camilla Läckberg
name: Karen
average rating: 3.51
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2021/09/02
date added: 2023/07/23
shelves:
review:
Readable, only slightly plausible. Sweden is good. But successful rich gorgeous businesswoman joined by several more of the same, all having scumbag men, kind of a stretch. Many more in this series, I may or may not read. A little too much stress on physical and sexual abuse for entertainment’s sake and I’m not entertained.
]]> <![CDATA[Independence Square (Arkady Renko, #10)]]> 62919846
Martin Cruz Smith has written nine previous novels featuring Arkady Renko, one of modern detective fiction’s most popular characters. These novels, beginning with 1981’s international sensation Gorky Park, have collectively traced Russia's evolution over the last half-century. Now, with Independence Square, Smith focuses on the fraught and frenzied days leading up to Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine.

It’s June 2021, and Arkady knows that Russia is preparing to invade and subsequently annex Ukraine as it did Crimea in 2014. He is, however, preoccupied with other grievances. His longtime lover, Tatiana Petrovna, has deserted him for her work as an investigative reporter. His corrupt boss has relegated him to a desk job. And he is having trouble with his dexterity and balance. A visit to his doctor reveals that these are symptoms for Parkinson’s Disease.

Parkinson’s hasn’t stopped Smith from his work, and neither does it stop Arkady. Rather than dwell on his diagnosis, he throws himself into another case.

An acquaintance has asked him to find his daughter, Karina, an anti-Putin activist who has disappeared. In the course of the investigation, Arkady falls for Karina's roommate, Elena, a Tatar from Ukraine. The search leads them to Kyiv, where rumblings of an armed conflict grow louder. Later, in Crimea, Tatiana reemerges to complicate Arkady’s new romance. And as he gets closer to locating Karina, Arkady discovers something that threatens his life as well as the lives of both Elena and Tatiana.

Few fiction writers have better captured contemporary Russia with more insight or authenticity than Martin Cruz Smith. He does the same here for Ukraine and the events that preceded Russia’s invasion. Independence Square is timely and a uniquely personal mystery novel-meets-political thriller by a master of the form.]]> 272 Martin Cruz Smith 1982188308 Karen 0 to-read 3.73 2023 Independence Square (Arkady Renko, #10)
author: Martin Cruz Smith
name: Karen
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/07/19
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Killing Moon (Harry Hole, #13)]]> 62312588
THE HUNT IS ON AND THE POLICE ARE RUNNING OUT OF TIME. Two young women are missing, their only connection a party they both attended, hosted by a notorious real-estate magnate. When one of the women is found murdered, the police discover an unusual signature left by the killer, giving them reason to suspect he will strike again.

THEY’RE FACING A KILLER UNLIKE ANY OTHER. And exposing him calls for a detective like no other. But the legendary Harry Hole is gone—fired from the force, drinking himself to oblivion in Los Angeles. It seems that nothing can entice him back to Oslo. Until the woman who saved Harry’s life is put in grave danger, and he has no choice but to return to the city that haunts him and track down the murderer.

CATCHING HIM WILL PUSH HARRY TO THE LIMIT. He’ll need to bring together a misfit team of former operatives to accomplish what he can’t do alone: stop an unstoppable killer. But as the evidence mounts, it becomes clear that there is more to this case than meets the eye…]]> 464 Jo Nesbø 0593536967 Karen 4 4.06 2022 Killing Moon (Harry Hole, #13)
author: Jo Nesbø
name: Karen
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2023/07/19
date added: 2023/07/19
shelves:
review:
Not finished but probably will finish. If I drop all expectations, it’s pretty good. Too much drunkenness, too many old characters I don’t remember, some unlikely circumstances - this little old lady in LA?? Not enough Nordicness. I’m finding it murky and taking forever to finish partly because I don’t feel like picking it up.
]]> The Trackers 61609871 From the New York Times bestselling author of Cold Mountain and Varina, a stunning new novel that paints a vivid portrait of life in the Great Depression

Hurtling past the downtrodden communities of Depression-era America, painter Val Welch travels westward to the rural town of Dawes, Wyoming. Through a stroke of luck, he's landed a New Deal assignment to create a mural representing the region for their new Post Office.

A wealthy art lover named John Long and his wife Eve have agreed to host Val at their sprawling ranch. Rumors and intrigue surround the couple: Eve left behind an itinerant life riding the rails and singing in a western swing band. Long holds shady political aspirations, but was once a WWI sniper--and his right hand is a mysterious elder cowboy, a vestige of the violent old west. Val quickly finds himself entranced by their lives.

One day, Eve flees home with a valuable painting in tow, and Long recruits Val to hit the road with a mission of tracking her down. Journeying from ramshackle Hoovervilles to San Francisco nightclubs to the swamps of Florida, Val's search for Eve narrows, and he soon turns up secrets that could spark formidable changes for all of them.

In The Trackers, singular American writer Charles Frazier conjures up the lives of everyday people during an extraordinary period of history that bears uncanny resemblance to our own. With the keen perceptions of humanity and transcendent storytelling that have made him beloved for decades, Frazier has created a powerful and timeless new classic.]]> 320 Charles Frazier 0062948083 Karen 5 3.57 2023 The Trackers
author: Charles Frazier
name: Karen
average rating: 3.57
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2023/07/07
date added: 2023/07/07
shelves:
review:
Very good writing. Characters were idiots sometimes but the setting of the depression In Wyoming and west coast was excellent.
]]> My Magnolia Summer 62949063
In this gripping tale of self-discovery, Victoria Benton Frank introduces us to Maggie, a South Carolina transplant in New York City struggling to find her place in the world. When she receives a phone call from her troubled sister, Violet, Maggie must return to her hometown of Sullivan's Island, where she uncovers shocking secrets about her family's past.

Upon her arrival, Maggie is confronted with a disarrayed situation at The Magic Lantern, the cherished restaurant owned and operated by generations of women in her family. As she rediscovers the roots she left behind, she unexpectedly finds herself drawn to a charismatic farmer. But amidst her sister's impending breakup and their beloved matriarch, Gran, lying comatose due to a car accident caused by Maggie's troubled mother, Lily, the road to true love won't be easy.

When three generations of South Carolina women—the steadfast Gran, the troubled Lily, the impulsive Violet, and the determined Maggie, come together, anything becomes possible. Immerse yourself in the stunning depictions of marsh grasses and dunes, as this novel transports you to a world brimming with cherished family traditions and unforeseen twists of fate.]]> 352 Victoria Benton Frank 0063286157 Karen 3 3.59 2023 My Magnolia Summer
author: Victoria Benton Frank
name: Karen
average rating: 3.59
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2023/07/03
date added: 2023/07/03
shelves:
review:

]]> Romantic Comedy 62628727 A comedy writer thinks she’s sworn off love, until a dreamily handsome pop star flips the script on all her assumptions. Romantic Comedy is a hilarious, observant and deeply tender novel from New York Times–bestselling author Curtis Sittenfeld.

Sally Milz is a sketch writer for "The Night Owls," the late-night live comedy show that airs each Saturday. With a couple of heartbreaks under her belt, she’s long abandoned the search for love, settling instead for the occasional hook-up, career success, and a close relationship with her stepfather to round out a satisfying life.

But when Sally’s friend and fellow writer Danny Horst begins dating Annabel, a glamorous actor who guest-hosted the show, he joins the not-so-exclusive group of talented but average-looking and even dorky men at the show—and in society at large—who’ve gotten romantically involved with incredibly beautiful and accomplished women. Sally channels her annoyance into a sketch called the "Danny Horst Rule," poking fun at this phenomenon while underscoring how unlikely it is that the reverse would ever happen for a woman.

Enter Noah Brewster, a pop music sensation with a reputation for dating models, who signed on as both host and musical guest for this week’s show. Dazzled by his charms, Sally hits it off with Noah instantly, and as they collaborate on one sketch after another, she begins to wonder whether there might actually be sparks flying. But this isn’t a romantic comedy; it’s real life. And in real life, someone like him would never date someone like her...right?

With her keen observations and trademark ability to bring complex women to life on the page, Sittenfeld explores the neurosis-inducing and heart-fluttering wonder of love, while slyly dissecting the social rituals of romance and gender relations in the modern age.]]> 309 Curtis Sittenfeld 0399590943 Karen 4 3.60 2023 Romantic Comedy
author: Curtis Sittenfeld
name: Karen
average rating: 3.60
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2023/06/27
date added: 2023/06/27
shelves:
review:
I love Sittenfeld. I love the SNL-type setting. This half is funny and delightful. The second half has Topanga (personally nostalgic), a long Covid era email communication (also personally nostalgic), and a romance in which the protagonist is enough of a frustrating idiot to remove one star. But basically an enjoyable almost-straight-through read.
]]> Be Mine 62668811
Over the course of four celebrated works of fiction and almost forty years, Richard Ford has crafted an ambitious, incisive, and singular view of American life as lived. Unconstrained, astute, provocative, often laugh-out-loud funny, Frank Bascombe is once more our guide to the great American midway.

Now in the twilight of life, a man who has occupied many colorful lives--sportswriter, father, husband, ex-husband, friend, real estate agent--Bascombe finds himself in the most sorrowing role of all: caregiver to his son, Paul, diagnosed with ALS. On a shared winter odyssey to Mount Rushmore, Frank, in typical Bascombe fashion, faces down the mortality that is assured each of us, and in doing so confronts what happiness might signify at the end of days.

In this memorable novel, Richard Ford puts on displays the prose, wit, and intelligence that make him one of our most acclaimed living writers. Be Mine is a profound, funny, poignant love letter to our beleaguered world.]]> 352 Richard Ford 0061692085 Karen 4 3.88 2023 Be Mine
author: Richard Ford
name: Karen
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2023/06/25
date added: 2023/06/25
shelves:
review:
I love Ford’s take on everything, words, humor, non-humor. Perspective. The really unpleasant son almost did me in and took off a star. It was sad and almost too much and just as it should have been, a minefield. I’ve known Frank for decades and will miss him.
]]> <![CDATA[The Lay of the Land (Frank Bascombe, #3)]]> 12372
With The Sportswriter, in 1986, Richard Ford commenced a cycle of novels that ten years later—after Independence Day won both the Pulitzer Prize and the PEN/Faulkner Award—was hailed by The Times of London as “an extraordinary epic [that] is nothing less than the story of the twentieth century itself.� Now, a decade later, Frank Bascombe returns, with a new lease on life (and real estate), more acutely in thrall to life’s endless complexities than ever before.

Frank's story resumes in the autumn of 2000, when his trade as a realtor on the Jersey Shore is thriving, permitting him to revel in the acceptance of “that long, stretching-out time when my dreams would have mystery like any ordinary person’s; when whatever I do or say, who I marry, how my kids turn out, becomes what the world—if it makes note at all—knows of me, how I’m seen, understood, even how I think of myself before whatever there is that’s wild and unassuagable rises and cheerlessly hauls me off to oblivion.� But as a Presidential election hangs in the balance, and a postnuclear-family Thanksgiving looms before him along with crises both marital and medical, Frank discovers that what he terms the Permanent Period is fraught with unforeseen perils: “All the ways that life feels like life at age fifty-five were strewn around me like poppies.�

A holiday, and a novel, no reader will ever forget—at once hilarious, harrowing, surprising, and profound. The Lay of the Land is astonishing in its own right and a magnificent expansion of one of the most celebrated chronicles of our time.]]> 485 Richard Ford 0679454683 Karen 0 3.91 2006 The Lay of the Land (Frank Bascombe, #3)
author: Richard Ford
name: Karen
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2006
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/06/25
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Setting Free the Bears (Ballantine Reader's Circle)]]> 4658 304 John Irving 0345417984 Karen 0 3.33 1968 Setting Free the Bears (Ballantine Reader's Circle)
author: John Irving
name: Karen
average rating: 3.33
book published: 1968
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/06/25
shelves:
review:

]]> The 158-Pound Marriage 4660
The darker vision and sexual ambiguities of this sensual, ironic tale about a ménage a quatre in a New England university town foreshadow those of The World According to Garp ; but this very trim and precise novel is a marked departure from the author's generally robust, boisterous style. Though Mr. Irving's cool eye spares none of his foursome, he writes with genuine compassion for the sexual tests and illusions they perpetrate on each other; but the sexual intrigue between them demonstrates how even the kind can be ungenerous, and even the well-intentioned, destructive.

“One of the most remarkable things about John Irving's first three novels, viewed from the vantage of The World According to Garp, is that they can be read as one extended fictional enterprise. . . . The 158-Pound Marriage is as lean and concentrated as a mine shaft.”—Terrence Des Pres

“Deft, hard-hitting . . . What Irving demonstrates beautifully is that a one-to-one relationship is more demanding than a free-for-all.”� The New York Times Book Review]]> 176 John Irving 0345417968 Karen 0 3.27 1974 The 158-Pound Marriage
author: John Irving
name: Karen
average rating: 3.27
book published: 1974
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/06/25
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]]> A Widow for One Year 4659
This sentence opens John Irving’s ninth novel, A Widow for One Year, a story of a family marked by tragedy. Ruth Cole is a complex, often self-contradictory character—a “difficult� woman. By no means is she conventionally “nice,� but she will never be forgotten.

Ruth’s story is told in three parts, each focusing on a critical time in her life. When we first meet her—on Long Island, in the summer of 1958—Ruth is only four.

The second window into Ruth’s life opens on the fall of 1990, when she is an unmarried woman whose personal life is not nearly as successful as her literary career. She distrusts her judgment in men, for good reason.

A Widow for One Year closes in the autumn of 1995, when Ruth Cole is a forty-one-year-old widow and mother. She’s about to fall in love for the first time.

Richly comic, as well as deeply disturbing, A Widow for One Year is a multilayered love story of astonishing emotional force. Both ribald and erotic, it is also a brilliant novel about the passage of time and the relentlessness of grief.
Source: john-irving.com]]> 576 John Irving Karen 0 3.78 1998 A Widow for One Year
author: John Irving
name: Karen
average rating: 3.78
book published: 1998
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/06/25
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]]> The Hotel New Hampshire 11768 520 John Irving 0552992097 Karen 0 3.93 1981 The Hotel New Hampshire
author: John Irving
name: Karen
average rating: 3.93
book published: 1981
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/06/25
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]]> The Cider House Rules 4687 1064 John Irving 0786226749 Karen 0 4.16 1985 The Cider House Rules
author: John Irving
name: Karen
average rating: 4.16
book published: 1985
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/06/25
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]]> <![CDATA[The Way of the Bear (Leaphorn, Chee & Manuelito, #26)]]> 61812400 Fossil harvesting, ancient lore, greed, rejected love and murder combine in this gripping new installment of New York Times bestselling author Anne Hillerman's Leaphorn, Chee & Manuelito series.

An unexpected death on a lonely road outside of Utah's Bears Ears National Park raises questions for Navajo Tribal Police officers Jim Chee and Bernadette Manuelito. Why would a seasoned outdoorsman and well-known paleontologist freeze to death within walking distance of his car? A second death brings more turmoil. Who is the unidentified man killed during a home invasion where nothing seems to have been taken? Why was he murdered?

The Bears Ears area, at the edge of the Navajo Nation, is celebrated for its abundance of early human habitation sites and the discovery of unique fossils which revolutionized the scientific view of how early animals dealt with their changing world. For Chee and Bernie, the area glows with geological interest and spiritual insight. But their visit to this achingly beautiful place is disrupted by a current of unprecedented violence that sweeps them both into danger.

An illicit business, a fossilized jaw bone, hints of witchcraft, and a mysterious disappearance during a blizzard and to the peril. It will take all of Manuelito's and Chee's experience, skill, and intuition to navigate the threats that arise beneath the twin buttes that give Bears Ears its name and to see justice served.]]> 281 Anne Hillerman 0062908391 Karen 5 3.82 2023 The Way of the Bear (Leaphorn, Chee & Manuelito, #26)
author: Anne Hillerman
name: Karen
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2023/06/20
date added: 2023/06/20
shelves:
review:
Gorgeous setting at Bears Ears, and welcome blizzard descriptions for the southern summer! Good plot with old friends and some good characters, though a few too many. But not so many as to interfere with 5 stars.
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