Thursday, July 31, 2025

The Alternatives


Title: The Alternatives

Author: Caoilinn Hughes

Publisher:  Penguin Audio
 
ISBN:  9780593828939
 
Thoughts: None of the four sisters captured my attention or emotions.
 
Rating: 2/5

Monday, July 21, 2025

The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers


 Title: The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers

Author: Samuel Burr

Publisher:  Random House Audio
 
ISBN:  9780593821879
 
Thoughts: Delightful feel-good mystery filled with puzzles.
 
Rating: 4/5

Friday, July 18, 2025

Black Sheep

 

Title: Black Sheep

Author: Rory Scholl

Publisher:  Amazon Original Stories
 
ISBN:  9781542040297
 
Thoughts: Nice tribute from Scholl to his grandmother, both of whom were black sheep.
 
Rating: 3/5

Thursday, July 17, 2025

Daughters of the Lake


Title: Daughters of the Lake

Author: Wendy Webb

Publisher:  Lake Union Publishing
 
ISBN:  9781503956346
 
Thoughts: Good modern gothic, but the characters were too excepting of what was happening to them.
 
Rating: 3/5

Monday, July 14, 2025

You Can Run

 

 Title: You Can Run

Author: Rebecca Zanetti

Publisher:  Zebra
 
ISBN:  9781420154320
 
Thoughts: Well-plotted romantic suspense, but some motives felt muddied towards the end.
 
Rating: 3/5

The Woman on the Orient Express

 Title: The Woman on the Orient Express

Author: Julia Alverez

Publisher:  Lake Union Publishing
 
ISBN:  9781503938120
 
Thoughts: Excellent historical fiction with a touch of suspense, but it ramped up higher than it was building.
 
Rating: 4/5

The Mystery of Mrs. Christie

 Title: The Mystery of Mrs. Christie

Author: Marie Benedict

Publisher:  Sourcebooks Landmark
 
ISBN:  9781492682721
 
Thoughts: Knowing how this real-life mystery ends took away from the suspense Benedict was trying to build in "The Manuscript" chapters.
 
Rating: 3/5

Sunday, July 13, 2025

The Cemetery of Untold Stories

 Title: The Cemetery of Untold Stories

Author: Julia Alverez

Publisher:  Recorded Books
 
ISBN:  n/a
 
Thoughts: Alverez has a very beautiful and lush writing style, but I had a very hard time following the side stories and keeping all of the characters straight. 
 
Rating: 2/5

Friday, July 11, 2025

The Firefly Summer

Title: The Firefly Summer

Author: Morgan Matson

Publisher:  Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
 
ISBN:  9781534493360
 
Thoughts: Fun, and funny, summer read about family and full of secrets and treasure.
 
Rating: 4/5

Tuesday, July 8, 2025

Did I Ever Tell You?

Title: Did I Ever Tell You?

Author: Genevieve Kingston

Publisher:  Blackstone Publishing Inc
 
ISBN:  9781797170701
 
Thoughts: Memoir detailing Kingston's journey into adulthood after her mother's death, guided by gifts left by her mother.
 
Rating: 3/5

Thursday, July 3, 2025

tribute.

Title: tribute.

Author: g. c. mckay

Publisher:  Splattered Pretty
 
ISBN:  n/a
 
Thoughts: Raw coming-of-age tale, with a lot of slang I did not quite understand either because I am not British or no a teenage boy, but the message behind the story was powerful.
 
Rating: 3/5

Life, I Swear

 Title: Life, I Swear: Intimate Stories from Black Women on Identity, Healing, and Self-Trust

Author: Chloe Dulce Louvouezo, ed

Publisher:  Harper

ISBN:  9780063072237
 
Thoughts: Empowering collection of short essays from Black women about their lives.
 
Rating: 3/5