Good Me Bad Me by Ali Land. So…..one of my beta readers/critique partners suggested my current work in progress might be a psycho thriller. While I considered this suggestion, I decided to read a couple, with the idea it might help me make my decision on the matter. This book started off in a pretty […]

The Children Act by Ian McEwan.  I know he is a prolific and well loved author, but I almost didn’t keep reading after the first chapter. His use of language was overwhelming, everything so heavy and going on and on. I got that this was going to be the story of a British Judge and […]

Resistance by Anita Shreve.  Recently on some of my FB writers groups the talk has been of fear of showing a work in progress to others because they might “steal” the idea of the story. As I read this novel I knew that either 1 – I had read it before or 2 – I […]

The Child Finder by Rene Denfeld. I really liked this book, but I’m having trouble putting why into words. There isn’t one particular thing I can say kept me engaged…I think it was a combination of the novel plot idea and the consistency of the writing. There weren’t a whole lot of surprises, some twists […]

Maya’s Notebook by Isabel Allende. I loved this book. I am behind on reading all of Allende’s work, but she is such an amazing writer. This story, the journal of a young woman from Berkeley who is exiled (in hiding) in Chile, weaves in and out of her memories of how she came to be […]

The Tuscan Child by Rhys Bowen. Bowen is a prolific writer of several mystery series I have enjoyed. This novel is a stand alone story and a good example of the skills of this author. Two timelines, one of Joanna Langley investigating her father’s early life and one of Hugo Langley, her father, a British […]

In the Midst of Winter by Isabel Allende. Always one of my favorite writers, Allende didn’t disappoint me this time around. The complex, tender, emotions between people of different backgrounds, she introduces us to Richard Bowmaster, a lonely Brooklyn professor, Evelyn Ortega, an undocumented immigrant from Guatemala and Lucia Maraz, a visiting academic from Chile. […]

The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben. Aha…a non-fiction, nearly textbook type read, but rather amazing. Sadly, I read this after the forest fires had devastated huge areas of California. And after a neighbor’s oak had broken and the other half was removed to safeguard the human lives underneath it. (Mine!) Yes, this author, […]

Ahh…the joys of reading never end. But my audio book will be out soon and I guess I have to build “listening” into my repertoire. The Girl You Left Behind by JoJo Moyes. I enjoyed her other books so decided to read some of her earlier work. This one starts off sort of “expected”…characters in […]

Murder in the Collective by Barbara Wilson. This seems like a fairly old book, but I bought it at a used book sale and the front pages are missing. I discovered that I’m the last person to read this copy, because as I read, more and more pages fell out. A strange murder mystery about […]