Wow. This was intense and emotional and immersive. I've read this author's other books and this is far and away her best. She clearly poured her heart and soul into this book.
Wow. This was intense and emotional and immersive. I've read this author's other books and this is far and away her best. She clearly poured her heart and soul into this book.
I mostly liked the plot. The characters were kind of annoying, the ending was not done well, and apparently the book didn't have a copy editor because in the first hour of listening the author used several words/terms incorrectly.
Good twists. Strong start but then too slow for a long stretch then picked up again. I might have bailed during the slow part if I had been reading with my eyes instead of listening during a car trip. I'm glad I stuck with it.
The writing could have been better but it is important that the damage caused by evangelicalism is being exposed.
The title and subtitle are very misleading. Instead of being mainly about the killing of Lana Turner's boyfriend by her daughter, it's a biography of Turner up through the events surrounding the killing and trial and a history of organized crime in Hollywood. The section on the killing and trial doesn't really offer any new information or re-evaluate the facts of the case.
Good mystery, but Bosch is very unlikeable in this one. Book 4 in series.
Good historical fiction about a boy from India who travels to England and then is kidnapped and taken to the Virginia colony as an indentured servant. He is possibly the first person from the Indian subcontinent to arrive in the colonies in America.
This was difficult to read because of the horrible acts described, but it is important to know this history.
2nd time reading this, in audio this time and I liked it better. I forgot that it is a retelling of To Kill a Mockingbird.
Beautiful weather today so I spent the afternoon reading on the front porch 🌞
Amazing cover and good set-up, but then the story stalled out and the ending was too far-fetched. The main character is not very curious/nosy/skeptical which means there isn't much to propel the mystery narrative.
Regency mystery, 1st in Captain Lacey series. I enjoy another series by this author - Below Stairs/Kat Holloway - written under another pen name, but wasn't sure what to expect from this one. I really liked it and will likely continue the series, which has nearly 20 books in it. My TBR just grows exponentially!
I mostly kept reading just to find out what happened to the missing father. Mia's rambling digressions were charming at first but then became tiresome. I skimmed a lot. Good writing, interesting characters, not my favorite plot structure.
Some flaws, but overall good. The lengthy digressions into California's history take away from the narrative and the twists are a little messy but the characters and setting are good. I could see it becoming a series and I would continue reading if so.
Just okay, but worth reading. Some parts were just more interesting to me than others. It felt like the author was venturing outside her expertise at times and some info needed more evidence, but overall it was entertaining and informative.
I mostly liked this mystery/suspense audiobook but there was one twist that I didn't think really fit the story.
Flavia is always a pick. I've been slowly re-reading this series over the last few years, but I need to speed up so that I'm ready for the new book coming out this fall.
Middle grade fiction. So much of this book was so good, but the resolution was not strong enough. Aniana's mother has major trauma that she needs to deal with and did serious harm because of that trauma and her religious beliefs and this needed to be resolved in a more thorough manner.
OK teen thriller/mystery. The ending dragged on too long.
Very good. Difficult to read at times because of the subject matter. I liked the complexity of the story: difficult family lives, other men besides the serial killer who did bad things, all the ways these women were were put down and held back.
Interesting setting (1400s, what is now Korea), but I just never really got caught up in the story. The main character was supposed to be good at detecting but kind of just blundered around accusing everyone.
Some of this is the author venting about what was wrong in her marriage that led to divorce, but it's also making a case for options other than marriage and the need for actual equality in marriage. There is also a parallel disillusionment with her evangelical upbringing.
I don't really like mystery/thriller plots based on amnesia but it wasn't so bad in this book. I really liked the main character and her dark, sarcastic sense of humor. I liked that she was sharp, strong, and straightforward, but somehow also unreliable, and in spite of her amnesia, she was not portrayed as being vague and confused.
Book 9 in Veronica Speedwell series. Love this series! This one was perfect: intriguing mystery, fast pace, fun banter.
Jasper the cat rarely sits on my lap, but he joined me while I finished this book.
Very good. I enjoyed how the separate threads came together near the end.
This is the 3rd time I've read this, and it's still good but I found myself being pickier about it this time. I especially kept noticing how clothing was an important detail in many scenes but the descriptions were inadequate, seemingly anachronistic, or actually anachronistic (like pantyhose). I probably don't need to read it again.
Book 3 in series. The first book remains the best.
Roz goes on a mission to save her island from the poison tide. Although she met me friends along the way, I enjoy her interactions with her island friends most.
In the afterword the author claims to not want this book to be preachy/moralistic but it is a smidge.
Good mystery/thriller about retired CIA spies whose past comes back to haunt them.
I would have skipped this month, but I really wanted the 2 add-ons (and couldn't wait until next month of course 😁). Listen for the Lie sounds really good, but is the kind of book I would probably check out from the library. I already have the only 2 BOTY finalists that interest me, but can't turn down a free book, right? #botm
There were some slow parts, especially in the beginning, but otherwise I liked this.
Beautiful story about family secrets, generational trauma, sexuality, and identity. The story of Moud, an American teenager in 2019, his father as a young man in Iran in 1978 , and his grandfather as a teenager in L.A. in 1939.
I liked this. It takes an unexpected turn (that I won't spoil), but I liked how it portrayed a woman living life on her own, her way.
Important information about the most disadvantaged places in the U.S. Possible solutions seemed a little simplistic and naive, and I was especially irked at the suggestion that public libraries in these areas should be doing more without any acknowledgement that they are surely underfunded, their employees are likely underpaid, and these are areas where there is active hostility against libraries as well as censorship of diverse books.
There's not a lot of action in this; it's mostly the main character playing mind games and manipulating people. I mostly liked it, but then it kind of fell apart at the end.
I mostly liked this until the end. The ending was not satisfying and I particularly disliked one aspect of the resolution.
My knowledge of this time period is minimal so I really can't judge the merits of this book except that I found it interesting and informative.
Beautifully illustrated book about women who did terrible things (although some probably did not commit the crimes that legend attributes to them).
Disappointing. Good setup that became too convoluted and then completely fizzled out.
Good. Set in Appalachia in the 1930s-40s. Coming of age story. Sad in parts, but not overwhelmingly depressing. Ends on a hopeful note (which makes sense because there is a series).
Love this middle grade mystery series! This is book 5 and I hope there will be more.
Disappointing. Slower-paced than I was expecting, and I didn't find the characters interesting. There was no resolution in the end because the story will continue in the next book, which I probably won't read.
Middle grade historical fiction about a mixed race 6th grader growing up in 1970s California. New kid at school, bullies, parents' marital problems, racism, the Black Panthers, feminism.
Some fun trivia: the author, Karyn Parsons, is the actor who played Hilary Banks on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. She also reads the audiobook.