I listened to the audio and thought this was very good. In the past few years, I‘ve read some about Victoria, so I don‘t think anything in this book came as a surprise, but it was interesting and I feel like the author‘s writing style is easy to “read” (or, in my case, listen to!).

POV switches between many of the different characters. The book “grabbed” me from the start. It was hard to tell who was telling the truth and who wasn‘t, as well as who might be an unreliable narrator. Everyone had a secret. Had a twist at the end, as well as one about half-way through. As with Foley‘s other books that I‘ve read, I really liked this.

Some of the stories peaked my interest more than others, but with as many as there were, it‘s hard to remember them when a short time was spent on many (as opposed to the bulk of the book on Jacob‘s case). The book also highlighted differences in the types of searches, for how long they last, etc, depending on where a person goes missing; much of that comes down to cost. Cont in comments...

Given that it‘s (primarily) from a 9-year old‘s POV, it took a bit to figure out what was going on through much of the story. I am still not sure I understand the ending. But it was a “good” (powerful) story, even so.

I did skim parts of the first of the book, so I did miss a few things. I liked one thing that happened, when so many novels would go the other way. I think I liked it because the author made sure that the reader understood, whereas so many other books wouldn‘t go into it. I also liked the ecological slant to the story (though that wasn‘t explored in a lot of detail, but it still appealed to me).

I listened to the audio and it was good. I did lose focus at times, but I think I caught the main happenings in the book. Harriet also kept secrets and it took time for her to open up to Matilda. I liked her, though she did seem “gruff” at times. I liked all the characters, really. The women were pretty tough and self-sufficient – or certainly tried/wanted to be as much as they could in their time periods. Cont in comments...

This was good. I didn‘t really like any of the characters, though. (And although I don‘t particularly like kids), I did love Emira‘s relationship with Bri. Alix weirded me out there when she tried to befriend Emira. At the end, I liked the way the author delved into future years with how Emira was doing and what she continued on to do after the main part of the story was done.

I really liked this. There were a lot of suspects whom it could have been, so I kept going between them, thinking it might be each of them. Or at least that each might be involved in some way. I really liked Hazel; as scary as this job got, she was tough and determined. This was a Netgalley book to be published this month, and I‘m really hoping this might morph into a series, because I‘d love to read more and see where this all goes for Hazel.

This was really good. I was pulled in early on, and the surprises continued to come. The Duchons are a piece of work, though I think the author does do a good job of showing multiple sides to a couple of them, and there are reasons why some of them are the way they are. Given the time period and place, there is some historical fiction thrown in to this horror/ghost story, as well, which I quite like.

Not too much to say about this. I found it (mostly) interesting and easy to read. Oddly, although I‘m not really one for art appreciation, I remember that chapter a bit more than some of the others (also the online review chapter, but that may not be a surprise considering I am writing a review to post online…!).

I mostly liked this, but some of the flashbacks to previous happenings didn‘t completely hold my interest. I liked Darren, but didn‘t like some of the other characters much. I feel like dark and gritty are good words to describe this one. I do plan to continue with book 2 at some point

Short stories so mostly not memorable by the end of the book, though I really enjoyed most of them as I read them. One had a short author‘s note at the end, which made me happy because I did wonder. Unfortunately, one of the last stories (and potentially also the longest), I didn‘t like, but almost all the others I really liked. Might help that I have enjoyed the cruises that I‘ve taken, so the setting is familiar and enjoyable for me.

I thought this was very interesting. On the more frustrating side was the ethics… the racism, sexism, made up information/citations, etc. Frustrating in that there were (at least initially) people hired to help prevent this, but (without saying too much in my review), that just didn‘t pan out. I have read a bit about AI, and at work (I‘m a librarian), AI has become a big topic, so not everything was new to me.

I love that a woman is doing much of the investigating. The story didn‘t grip me as much as the first two in the series did, but it did ramp up a bit toward the end. Still enjoying it enough to continue the series.

There are things that birds know or can figure out that is comparable to humans and/or other primates. They are smart. Most of us know how smart corvids are, but other birds are smart, too, in different ways, including sparrows, pigeons… some birds that aren‘t “traditionally” thought of as smart. Cont in comments...

This was good. Interesting. I‘ve really not read much about Vikings. This did include some broader Viking history, but with a focus on the women and the archaeological evidence that has been found to refute the assumptions that it was men only who were the warriors, merchants, and travellers. I did find this mostly interesting, but I did also lose focus at times. Being nonfiction, it did take a bit longer to read.

I liked this. The POV changes between Gabe and Delia. Like the 2nd book, I think I liked Gabe‘s storyline a bit better. I really liked the police officer, Jordan Lynch, whom they brought in from Chicago. There were a few times I really didn‘t like Dora. I would continue with this series if it was to keep going. It kind of ended in a way that appears that there is unlikely to be more in the series

I listened to the audio and that may have been my downfall. Because there were multiple individual stories to this one, it was more similar to a book of essays or short stories, so (because – audio) when I missed parts, it was hard to “catch up” on what I‘d missed before we moved on to the next story. It did seem like many of the adopted kids had good lives, in the end

This did not turn out as I‘d expected. It was very long and I‘m rating it ok. There were parts I liked, but whenever we switched perspectives, I felt like I was starting over, and wasn‘t interested for the first bit of every switch. It took time to get interested again, but just as that happened, we switched again. The end was a bit weird.

Pretty sure this book will appeal much more to the introverts of the world. I am one. As a kid and teen, I was even a shintrovert, but the shyness is (mostly) gone as an adult. Obviously, Jessica includes some humour in her story. I think there can‘t help but be humour, though, in some of these situations that she puts herself though. I admire that she was able to do all those things (comedy! Improv!), and she ended up enjoying most of it.

Published pre-COVID. I listened to the audio and although my mind did wander at times, it was very good. She does pepper the book with humour. It was interesting to read about vaccines, etc, especially with COVID fresh in my mind. She does end on a positive/hopeful note, but it does make me curious about how she feels about how people have reacted to the COVID vaccine (she does talk a bit about vaccines and anti-vaxxers in her chapter on polio).

This was really good. I think I‘ve only read one other book (nonfiction) about this time period and these kings. It took a bit to get “into” this one since I was unfamiliar with the time period and the people, so I spent a bit of time at the start figuring out who everyone was. Also, there are so many people with the same name! The author tried to distinguish most of the time, but it was still sometimes a bit confusing. But still very good.

Audio. Pretty powerful. It also included actual speeches by George W. Bush and Barack Obama, as well as some recordings of air traffic controllers and flight attendants on the planes. I will admit that I did lose interest a bit during some of the political stuff and the air force people tasked with bringing down any possible planes that may be a threat, and this is why I didn‘t rate it higher… but it‘s still likely to make my favourites this year.

Before modern medicine, people (doctors incl) really didn‘t know much about science or how the human body works. Many of us who read history or historical fiction certainly have read about “bleeding” people to cure various ailments. There was also a section on women in medicine. This was interesting, but also quite short. So for anyone who wants a quick overview of the topic, this is a good place to start. It also has a catchy title.

I liked this. It was kind of fun how the author brought Coco Chanel into the story. (Author‘s note at the end suggests that Coco would have spent time in the Riviera during this time frame.)

The bulk of the story followed Harris and Everett and that‘s what I liked the best. Have to admit it took a short bit for me to get interested and to figure out what was happening and who the different characters were as we went back in time. I liked the way this one was done: we actually started in 2038, and gradually made our way to 1908 through the generations, then moved forward again back to 2038.

These are interesting, but this one didn‘t have the same appeal as the first in the series, Medieval England. Not sure if that was because I‘ve read more set during Elizabethan times, so there wasn‘t as much new to me (but plenty still was), or if it‘s because I was often reading while distracted; I expect it‘s more the latter.

Like with short stories, some of these were more interesting to me than others, so this results in a middle-of-the-road 3 star (ok) rating from me. Many of the ones more interesting to me were the Prairie ones, since I grew up in a small Saskatchewan town, though not on a farm (as did many of the people here).

I really enjoyed this. I liked both timelines and both women, who fought for what they were trying to do. It got a bit confusing toward the end, but that didn‘t diminish my enjoyment of the book.

Overall, I‘m considering this “ok”. Some parts I liked more than others, but art is not my thing, including reading about it. There were shorter chapters in italics to tell us those chapters are from another perspective, but large sections in italics often lose my interest, as did these chapters, unfortunately.

I listened to the audio and it took a little while for me to get interested, but it did get better. There were a couple of twists near/at the end that i liked. Part of it wasnt believable. The audio is done by a few different narrators. I‘m not sure I noticed if each of the wives had their own perspectives or not; Diana definitely did, but I‘m not sure about the others. Cont in comments...

As with many cozy mysteries, it took some time to set things up, including introducing the characters and conflicts with Vera. I do like many of the characters and I love Diesel the Maine Coon cat. This is a good story.

This is a good children‘s book. I wasn‘t thrilled with some of the “crap” Joanna piled onto Maggie. Joanna was nice and was dealing with her own issues, but I was not impressed that she dragged Maggie into some of those things, at only 13 years old. The nature descriptions were very nice.

I listened to the audio and it started off a bit slow for me. I wasn‘t sure if I was going to like it or not, but it got better and better as more and more was revealed about Eleanor‘s past. There was a twist at the end that I hadn‘t seen coming

I thought the initial part of the book was its strength; this is, of course, the part of the book when the blizzard happens. The book does continue with the aftermath of the storm and, though it is interesting to see where things end up, it‘s not the best part of the book. As always, I appreciate the author‘s note at the end. The bulk of the characters in this book were fictional, but some were based on real people. Cont in comments...

This started off really slow and I wasn‘t interested. Parts I didn‘t like and just skimmed through were mostly Peyre‘s background (though I eventually got the gist of at least what happened with his son and wife). It was only the last half or 1/3 of the book, which focused more on the girl, where I was a bit more interested in what was happening. The ending was open-ended, so I wasn‘t a big fan not really knowing what had happened there

This was enjoyable. I‘ve read many of these veterinarian memoirs, now, so it‘s hard to keep all the anecdotes in my head, but I certainly enjoy the stories while I am reading them. Despite him practicing some decades ago, I feel like he might have been slightly ahead of his time on many things (his views on indoor/outdoor cats, declawing, cats shouldn‘t really drink milk, adopting rather than buying from breeders, etc).

This is book 2 in what I believe is a trilogy. I‘m not a big fantasy fan… it sounds like the first book was more urban fantasy (than this 2nd book is), which is more my “thing” except toward the end of the book. I shouldn‘t have bothered continuing the series. The second book seemed to lose the urban part of the fantasy, likely the part that made the first book likable for me.

It was ok. Although Tyler is the “I” in the story, much of it follows other characters, as well. I might have enjoyed it a bit more if I had had it in a better format (pdf can be read on a Kobo, but it‘s awkward). Obviously not even close to realistic, though

There are multiple points of view, including a few of Diana‘s friends, a teacher and principal, her mother, the suspects, and Diana‘s ghost. Diana doesn‘t actually remember how she died, so it‘s a reveal for her, too. There are three main suspects and it could be any of them. It‘s a small town, so everyone is connected in some way. It didn‘t feel fast-paced, but it was fast to read, and I quite liked it.

I knew nothing about this, but I found it quite interesting. And kind of crazy that Brian and Denise could do such a good job of convincing themselves they‘d done nothing wrong. God-fearing and all… sure. I was focused when reading and was happy to just continue reading; it was unfortunate when I had to put the book down. But, life…

I like the idea of the story, and I am a librarian, so I liked the library and archives references. But none of the characters were likable, in my opinion. The POV shifted between a few different characters and I do think that worked well for the reader to see different sides of what was happening. But I did get some of the characters (who were “related” in some way) continually mixed up. Overall, though, I‘m rating it “good”.

This one got my interest (a little bit) about half way through, but even so, it‘s fantasy, so names, places, hard to understand or remember. I don‘t like trying to learn different fantastical worlds (it takes way too long to get to the story as one tries to puzzle out all those weird names). Cont in comments...

Shouldn‘t have bothered reading it at all. I vaguely recall not being excited about the first book, so I had to check my review. Sounds like I didn‘t like the story (may not have followed that story, either), but apparently I liked the characters so decided to try the next one. Shouldn‘t have bothered. Nothing interested me in this.

despite having read quite a bit about residential schools, there were still a couple of surprising things (not good surprising). Of course, when he finished school, he had issues (the alcoholism), but it was good to see how he got himself better and is doing good to help others, as well. I thought this was really good.

This was ok. Not as humourous as I remember of the other (few) books I‘ve read by Pratchett. I hate footnotes, though, and even more so in fiction, but Pratchett uses them. Luckily, there were not many in this book

I enjoyed this. I‘m not always a fantasy fan, but as a librarian (and cataloguer), I quite enjoyed that part of the book, and the fact that Isaac (and other libriomancers) was/are able to pull things out of books. That‘s pretty cool. I really liked Isaac‘s pet fire spider (pulled from a book, of course). I was also a bit amused by the bibliography at the end, which included made up titles in the book

I was listening to the audio and I did miss portions of the book, though I managed to take in the major events of the book. I liked the POV of the snake the couple of times we got that. The audio was very good with the accents. The phrases and vocabulary was pretty fun, too. Moore‘s trademark is humour, so of course, there was a bit of that, too. Cont in comments...

I really enjoyed this! I learned a little bit about mythology, as well. I‘m sure I knew some of this at some point, but most of what I once knew I‘ve forgotten! It‘s a short story, so it‘s fairly quick to read

Unfortunately, this book didn‘t always hold my interest. There were chapters on politics, and censorship, but I was most interested in the soldiers themselves. There was some description of the fighting and such, but the author also included comments on what the soldiers thought of the books that were sent. The last chapter also talked about how many soldiers became readers who hadn‘t been before the war. Cont in comments...