PT was such an interesting character in the Engineer‘s wife, that I wanted to learn more. Turns out his portrayal in that book was completely made up. This book was interesting, but written in his own voice with a high opinion of himself…and a bit too many facts and self-congratulatory info that it was a struggle to get through. But I finally did learn how the Barnum & Bailey circus came into existence.

If you‘re a fan of Kate Quinn‘s stories of women supporting the war efforts in WWII you‘ll probably like this one. In a dual timeline, one in 1944 in UK and France and one in 1946 in NYC, and the story ending when the two collide this is a fast-paced story of British women who helped the allies and how they disappeared.

I wanted to like this book a lot. But to be honest i found it a bit boring. The most interesting part is Emily‘s friendship with PT Barnum (and that‘s likely fictitious) which is disappointing as the Brooklyn bridge is so amazing. I will be reading a book about Barnum soon though..

I don‘t know what to expect with this book and was pleasantly surprised many times throughout when it wasn‘t predictable. There‘s a lot of sadness, but also truth & real life and dysfunctional families…

This book was called “Fortune: A Novel” but appears to be the same as”Lottery”. This book was confusing to follow. I like a good mystery & don‘t mind the multiple timelines but it was a bit more than a little dark. Always hunting at darkness I felt there was more trauma packed into the characters than I expected. Each could‘ve been their own story.

3+ years after covid began, its interesting to read a book set in those first few weeks and months of the pandemic. This book was a great story about those times & the tough situations people were put in - on top of all the hard things we all already deal with in our regular lives. I enjoyed this one.

Book #5 in the series. The final book is well done, war is raging and a lot of things are going on all at once. But things end on a good note without too many loose ends. It was a good series. Although I still think the Gregor should be more like 16, and not 11/12.

Book #4 in the series. Oddly Libby didn‘t have this so I had to buy it. Gregor continues on saving the underworld through another prophecy. His mom is still recovering, Boots manages to tag along on the journey, and all the regulars are off into more parts of this world to save everyone.

I love me a good dystopian book. And this was billed as of The Last of Us met Station Eleven. It‘s a good description. I enjoyed it. The end was not what I expected do I‘m going to have to think about that for a while.

Book #3of the series. Well, Gregor & boots have to save the day again. Stupid prophecy. And this time there mom comes to check it out. It‘s quite an adventure with new plants & animals, new friends and old…a good continuation of the series.

Book #2 in the series. Gregor and Boots get tangled up in another adventure in the underworld. This time they get split up, there‘s a fight with the rats, and everything seems a bit different. My@biggest question though? What is it that Ms. Cormaci, their neighbor, really know.

Book #1 in the underlander chronicles. My only complaint was that Gregor must be the smartest 11-yr old around. He really should be more like 16. This story was sort of like an urban Alice in wonderland. Gregor & his sister fall into a tunnel and land in the underworld where they need to save his dad, win a war, fulfill a prophecy, and hopefully all get back home safe.

This novel felt not quite as depressing, but had a lot of darkness and trauma. But was quite interesting. I‘m not a gamer, but enjoyed the journey of this one.

Another novel, another sad story. TW: drugs, opioid abuse, bad foster home situations. Demon seems like a good kid overall, but life sure has stepped in at every chance to try to screw him over.

Why are novels always so depressing? Or rather why is so much of a novel sad…they start out good/happy, then spend most time buried in sadness, then at the end usually tie things up in at least a semi-happy way. They can be hard to read because of all the emotions you go through. But this one, should definitely be read. The only thing it‘s missing is a nice epilogue to explain how everything turns out over the following years. A definite recommend

A fun little murder mystery. It sounds weird to have ‘fun‘ and ‘murder‘ in the same sentence. But it was a good story. 5 agents competing for the million dollar commission on a Malibu beach house. But when a dead body is discovered all the secrets come out.

I felt this book was a bit hard to follow at times, and predictable at others. It was ok, but not interesting enough for me to consider the rest of the series.

Book #3 in the series. People can be so evil to others. And without big rewards for that really. Lots of fighting in this one, emotional trauma too. I wish there was a 4th book, but the epilogue at the end was nice. In reading these there was so much I‘d forgotten from when they first came out & from the movies. I‘ll have to rewatch the movies now to see how different they are.

Book #2 in the series. Such a twist! Don‘t want to spoil it, but Peeta and Katniss are still having to fight. It‘s hard to know who to trust, who‘s your ally and who‘s your enemy. Fast paced for sure.

How awful that to punish people, the capitol has two children from each district - who are likely starved- face each other in an arena & fight to the death. But Katniss, does things her own way.

Based on the true story of Georgia Tann, who stole poor children and sold them to prominent people as adoptions. The way the story is told is nice, the stories of what Ms. Tann did is atrocious. My grandpa & his siblings were poor & were separated and adopted out in the 1920‘s. Most of them were able to reunite decades later - but that helped bring the story to life for me.

A sequel, featuring nearly-grown Honey as she deals with the issues of being a blue, being female, and trying to prove her worth. This book is sadder than the first. It still has some racial injustice, but has a lot more brutality against women. The hollers of Kentucky sound beautiful though and sharing books is one of the best things there is.

Prequel to the hunger games. Featuring Snow, this book explains the origins of the games and the reconfiguring of them after the first decade. It follows Snow as the mentor of a tribute from district 12 called Lucy Gray. Now that I understand Snow‘s origin story I need to go back and read the other books.

I‘m a fan of Bachman, and this is the third book in a loose trilogy surrounding Beartown. It‘s sad, it‘s loving, it‘s emotional. Trigger warning for rape and violence. I enjoy the occasional emotional roller coaster and liked to see how everyone ended up.

Throw all the dysfunctions of a blended family into 650 square feet, then add in elderly parents & a struggling marriage a couple doors down, all set on the beaches of Maine. And you get a summer where all the secrets come out, the insecurities get dealt with, and you find the way life should be.

I‘ve read about that pack horse librarians from Kentucky before and am awed but how much of a difference they made to the Appalachian community. Blue people was new to me and brings a whole new leaning to being colored. It‘s so awful how some people have to be so petty and small minded rather than accepting of their neighbors.

Such a fantastic book. Sherman was a neglected donkey that they help rehab by giving him the job of running. Specifically running in the human + burro races in Colorado. So much good info about the healing effects of working with animals. And, as a non-runner, I really enjoyed it.

Book #5 in the series. This final book brings things full circle for Lady Trent. In all honesty, it tied things up quite nicely and not how I expected at all. All of Isabella & Tom‘s learnings were rewarded here. Highly recommend this series about a woman pursuing her dreams & having to work harder than everyone to be recognized just because she‘s a woman.

Book #4 in the series. And I finally learn how Isabella becomes Lady Trent! Another good story, quite interesting. I wish there were more than five of these.

Book #3 in the series. Isabella does it again…travels to exotic places, gets in trouble with the local government, discoveries similarities & inconsistencies among dragon-like creatures, and more.

As a forty-something woman with a not-so-little kid and and knowing I‘m not planning on any more kids I related to this story. Nina is finally at the stage of her life where she has it all…until life throws a curve ball. A great story of older parenthood, mixed race parenting, and more.

I wasn‘t sure when it came to the title, but it is worth the wait to read. Talk about breaking strides in women‘s equality in the 1950‘s. Elizabeth Zott is a treasure and I wish she were real so she could be a role model for kids today.

This book tells the life story of Marion Stone…but it does it in a way where it is just dribbling crumbs of info along. It felt a bit slow at times, although I found the characters & their lives interesting. I didn‘t feel I really was excited about the story until like 80% through. It was interesting and I learned a lot about Ethiopia and the the many different people from I did that migrated there.

Book #2 in the series. Another fascinating book in the series. Lady Trent again gets herself into some unusual circumstances. Mr. Wilkers joins the expedition along with Lord Hilford‘s granddaughter, Natalie. This time to the heat of the tropics. If you enjoyed book 1, then you‘ll like this one too.

This was fascinating to read. I love the character of Lady Trent dnd the premise of her becoming the utmost expert in dragons in this fictional place. Looking forward to book 2!

This was not an easy book to read. Grammatically, it was. But the topic was heavy. There is so much we are not taught, or are taught incorrectly, about slavery. I learned a lot and while I don‘t know if there‘s much I can do to fix the past, I do think fully learning about slavery and who the Africans were before becoming spaces, and how awful blacks have been treated (even to this day) in our country is important.

This was too long, slow at times, but overall a nice weaving of interconnected lives over decades. It‘s a love story of course. Starring beautiful Italy, a tiny fishing village, famous & not so famous movie stars, and more.

Not a fan of this but I did stick it out & finish it. It‘s a bit hard to follow. Makes sense when you realize it‘s from the pint of view if someone with a traumatic brain injury. It wasn‘t what I expected & I don‘t plan to read the prequel.

This was an Amazon free read & I wasn‘t sure what to expect. The story jumped around a bit but was easy enough to follow. It seems so odd how easy it was to just take on a new name & new life back in the 1850‘s. Following Amelia/Lucy and all the troubles that followed her to this isolated island 30 miles out to sea.

I re-read this for book club & it‘s a lovely book. Marriages, life dreams, sex, and everything related to a woman‘s life rolled into one beautiful story.

I re-read this for book club. It‘s starts out a bit slow & confusing, but gets more intense as you read. You‘re not sure who to believe, who to trust. Is the neighborhood gentrifying? Or are the black residents disappearing and being replaced by white people flocking in?

Trigger warning: domestic violence & abusive relationships. This book has a great love story and a sad story of the difficulties of relationships. It‘s about first loves, strong loves, family, best friends, working hard to achieve your dreams and be successful. And it‘s about breaking the pattern of abuse.

I enjoyed Lucy Foley‘s other book, the guest list. It had a creepy vibe & you don‘t know who the murdered is. In this book Ben is missing, his sister is trying to find him, there‘s a whole cast of characters that are all just a bit off. I really liked how it all come together.

Even better than the last. I like how much more Dumbledore is in this one & the more things we get to learn about him. I still don‘t care for the play format, but looking forward to the movie.

I liked this one better than the first. And I see the connection to Hogwarts, Dumbledore, etc more too. About to start the third book & now I‘m positive I need to see the movies.

What would do you do if you had the chance to know how long your life would be? Would you want to know? This book follows a handful of people when the option is forced upon them.

I‘m a big fan of Kristin Hannah & love how emotional her stories are. But, honestly, this one was a bit too sad and depressing. Maybe I shouldn‘t have read it while it is still so gray & rainy here, I don‘t know. It was good, but now I need something lighter & happier for my next book.

I‘ve never read a book from an octopus‘ point of view. Marcellus (the octopus) and Tova (an old lady) become friends and solve a mystery. How awesome is that?! Really though it is a fascinating story and I highly recommend it.

This book is from two points of view. Olivia‘s narrative moving forward, Lily‘s going backward in time. That seems odd, but it works. It starts the day that Lily dies. Lily‘s story goes back to show how she came to be. Olivia‘s son Asher, Lily‘s boyfriend, is arrested for her murder. And like any Jodi Picoult book, there is a twist: it comes out that Lily is trans. Is that why she‘s dead? The story is quite educational on what trans is and isn‘t.

Another excellent book by Kate Quinn. The story of lady death, Soviet sniper, mila, is very interesting. Although fictionalized, it‘s based on the real life and memoirs of Mila. She did befriend Eleanor Roosevelt, she did have over 300 confirms sniper kills, and she did have a complicated love life.