Friday, March 17, 2023
Book Review: Tiger Woods by Jeff Benedict & Armen Keteyian
Thursday, March 16, 2023
Book Review: The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict & Victoria Christopher Murray
In her twenties, Belle da Costa Greene is hired by J. P. Morgan to curate a collection of rare manuscripts, books, and artwork for his newly built Pierpont Morgan Library. Belle becomes a fixture on the New York society scene and one of the most powerful people in the art and book world, known for her impeccable taste and shrewd negotiating for critical works as she helps build a world-class collection.
But Belle has a secret, one she must protect at all costs. She was born not Belle da Costa Greene but Belle Marion Greener. She is the daughter of Richard Greener, the first Black graduate of Harvard and a well-known advocate for equality. Belle's complexion isn't dark because of her alleged Portuguese heritage that lets her pass as white—her complexion is dark because she is African American.
The Personal Librarian tells the story of an extraordinary woman, famous for her intellect, style, and wit, and shares the lengths to which she must go—for the protection of her family and her legacy—to preserve her carefully crafted white identity in the racist world in which she lives.
Wednesday, March 15, 2023
Book Review: Family of Liars by E. Lockhart
A windswept private island off the coast of Massachusetts.
A hungry ocean, churning with secrets and sorrow.
A fiery, addicted heiress. An irresistible, unpredictable boy.
A summer of unforgivable betrayal and terrible mistakes.
Welcome back to the Sinclair family.
They were always liars.
Tuesday, March 14, 2023
Book Review: Goodbye Days by Jeff Zentner
One day Carver Briggs had it all—three best friends, a supportive family, and a reputation as a talented writer at his high school, Nashville Academy for the Arts.
The next day he lost it all when he sent a simple text to his friend Mars, right before Mars, Eli, and Blake were killed in a car crash.
Now Carver can’t stop blaming himself for the accident, and he’s not the only one. Eli’s twin sister is trying to freeze him out of school with her death-ray stare. And Mars’s father, a powerful judge, is pressuring the district attorney to open a criminal investigation into Carver’s actions.
Luckily, Carver has some unexpected allies: Eli’s girlfriend, the only person to stand by him at school; Dr. Mendez, his new therapist; and Blake’s grandmother, who asks Carver to spend a Goodbye Day with her to share their memories and say a proper goodbye to his friend.
Soon the other families are asking for a Goodbye Day with Carver, but he’s unsure of their motives. Will they all be able to make peace with their losses, or will these Goodbye Days bring Carver one step closer to a complete breakdown or—even worse—prison?
Monday, March 13, 2023
Book Review: Counterfeit by Kirstin Chen
Friday, March 10, 2023
Book Review: Torpedoed by Deborah Heiligman
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Amid the constant rain of German bombs and the escalating violence of World War II, British parents by the thousands chose to send their children out of the country: the wealthy, independently; the poor, through a government relocation program called CORB. In September 1940, passenger liner SS City of Benares set sail for Canada with one hundred children on board.
When the war ships escorting the City of Benares departed, a German submarine torpedoed what became known as the Children's Ship. Out of tragedy, ordinary people became heroes. This is their story.
Thursday, March 9, 2023
Book Review: The Associate by John Grisham
But Kyle has a secret, a dark one, an episode from college that he has tried to forget. The secret, though, falls into the hands of the wrong people, and Kyle is forced to take a job he doesn't want, even if it's a job most law students can only dream about.
Three months after leaving Yale, Kyle becomes an associate at the largest law firm in the world, where, in addition to practicing law, he is expected to lie, steal, and take part in a scheme that could send him to prison, if not get him killed.
With an unforgettable cast of characters and villains, from drug-addled trust fund kid and possible rapist Baxter Tate to quiet former math teacher Dale who shares Kyle's cubicle at the law firm, The Associate is vintage Grisham.
Wednesday, March 8, 2023
Audio Book Review: He Said It Would Be Late by Justine Sullivan
GOODREADS SUMMARY:
Liz Bennet is fortunate with love and she knows it. She’s married to a wealthy, handsome, bright, all-around charming man. Arno, a wonderful husband and adoring father to their daughter, Emma, is the outward picture of perfection. But, when Liz sees a text on Arno’s phone with a couple of kissy faces attached, she starts to worry. And worry. And worry.
As any respectable wife would, Liz must find out exactly what’s going on. And so she takes a deep dive down the rabbit hole, peeling back layers of deceit, following every lead on what she increasingly believes is an extramarital affair. Could her husband really be cheating on her? Or is he just as perfect as he looks?
Liz wants the truth, at all costs, but as life teaches us, not everything is as it seems.
TEE'S THOUGHTS:
He Said He would Be Late was listed as a domestic thriller, however, I would place it under a more general fiction heading. The story centers around Liz, a writer and her husband Arno. It is a story of marriage, motherhood and distrust.
Liz finds a text message on her husband’s cell phone from a co-worker that has some what she feels is a suggestive kiss emoji and becomes convinced that Arno is having an affair. Question…do y’all look through your husband’s phones? It has never occurred to me to check mine’s phone. I trust him and he has never given me a reason not to, nor does he look through mine.
Right from the start I was not a fan of Liz, she seemed like a major whiner. I don’t think she had real wanted her baby, or if she did she now regretted having her because she was stuck at home taking care of her and felt unfulfilled. Arno hired her a Nanny to help look after their daughter to free Liz up so she could work on her second novel, her first one having sold fairly well. So she was given the opportunity to work and not have to watch the baby all day. I found her irrational in her thoughts and actions when it came to Arno also and they led her to a somewhat downward spiral to find the truth on if he was actually cheating.
The writing was good, but I felt a bit bored, or frustrated, I can’t decide which, trying to keep up with the different ways she would try to catch Arno cheating. It does however give you great insight into just how far and fast her obsession was going. Even though I was bored with parts of the book because of the previous reason, Liz’s actions were both crafty and cringey enough to keep me reading, I had to know what she was going to get up to next, so in that aspect I enjoyed the book as a whole. The ending …well it does have a last minute twist that did not really thrill me, but I can see others really liking it.
All in all I enjoyed He Said He Would Be Late. I did listen to the book on audio and really enjoyed the narration. The narrator kept the tempo up well and helped move it along.
THANK YOU MACMILLAN AUDIO AND NETGALLEY FOR THE EARLY LISTEN.
HE SAID IT WOULD BE LATE WILL BE PUBLISHED MARCH 14, 2023
Book Review: Violeta by Isabel Allende
Violeta comes into the world on a stormy day in 1920, the first girl in a family of five boisterous sons. From the start, her life will be marked by extraordinary events, for the ripples of the Great War are still being felt, even as the Spanish flu arrives on the shores of her South American homeland almost at the moment of her birth.
Through her father's prescience, the family will come through that crisis unscathed, only to face a new one as the Great Depression transforms the genteel city life she has known. Her family loses all and is forced to retreat to a wild and beautiful but remote part of the country. There, she will come of age, and her first suitor will come calling.
She tells her story in the form of a letter to someone she loves above all others, recounting devastating heartbreak and passionate affairs, times of both poverty and wealth, terrible loss and immense joy. Her life will be shaped by some of the most important events of history: the fight for women's rights, the rise and fall of tyrants, and, ultimately, not one but two pandemics.
Sunday, March 5, 2023
Book Review: Hard Eight by Janet Evanovich
Evelyn's estranged husband, Steven, a shady owner of a seedy bar, is not at all happy. During the divorce proceedings, he and Evelyn signed a child custody bond, and Steven is demanding the money guaranteed by the bond to find Annie. The money was secured by a mortgage on Evelyn's grandmother's house, and the True Blue Bonds Bail Agency wants to take possession of the house.
Finding a kidnapped child is not an assignment for a bounty hunter. But Evelyn's grandmother lives next door to Stephanie's parents, and Stephanie's mother and grandmother are not about to see their neighbor lose her house because of abduction.
Even though Stephanie's plate is full with miscreants who missed their court dates, including old nemesis and violent drunk Andy Bender and an elusive little old lady accused of grand theft auto, she can't disappoint Grandma Mazur! So she follows the trail left by Annie and Evelyn-- and finds a lot more than she bargained for. Steven is somehow linked with a very scary Eddie Abruzzi. Trenton cop and on-again, off-again fiance Joe Morelli and Stephanie's mentor and tormentor, Ranger, warn Stephanie about Abruzzi, but it's Abruzzi's eyes and mannerisms that frighten Stephanie the most. Stephanie needs Ranger's savvy and expertise, and she's willing to accept his help to find Annie even though it might mean becoming too involved with Ranger.
Stephanie, Ranger, Lula (who's not going to miss riding with I race among Stephanie's posse, the True Blue Bonds' agent, a Rangerette known as Jeanne Ellen Burrows, and the Abruzzi crew. Not to mention the fact that there's a killer rabbit on the loose!