Sharing the Stories

My summer was jump-packed with traveling and reading. Summer gives me the opportunity to read outside my regular genres with extra time to delve deeply into my reading and savor stories. This summer's travel included Idaho, Spain, Utah, and South Dakota. Most of my books continue to be audiobooks provided by Libro.fm, Libby, and/or Hoopla. My books came from local Indie bookstores at each location and local Free Little libraries. Reach out for extra details on any of these titles.    How to Stop Time by Matt Haig is a love story across time📚 Day Zero by Kelly deVos fast-paced moving survival story that takes step-siblings on a "save the world" type of adventure🎧 Abuela, Don't Forget Me by Rex Ogle. Heart-warming🎧 The Paris Model by Alexandra Joel on the power of taking chances📚 Happy Place by Emily Henry to survive love takes acceptance🎧 El Viento Sabe Mi Nombre (The Wind Knows My Name ) by Isabel Allende immigrant stories across time 📚 Demon Cooperhead by...

 And like that January is done with 9 books. A great start to this reading year with some new mysteries & thrillers, a sweet coming of age to discover who you truly are meant to be, and a solid non-fiction story.   Mystery & Thrillers: *previously reviewed. Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney. A troubled marriage, isolated bed & breakfast, interconnected characters, page-turner! The House in the Pines   by Ana Reyes *  The Searcher  by Tana French. Retired police officer looking for a quiet place, a child needing help, a close community willing to keep outsiders out. In The Woods by Tana French * Everyone in my Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson. A family reunion will expose everyone's secrets, set in a snowed-in resort, motives, and suspects abundant,  and great unexpected reveals.  Historical Fiction The House Girl   by Tara Conklin * Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid 1970's a rock band, icon...

Started the year diving into a new series  In the Woods by  Tana French  (#1 series). Audiobook.  The Dublin Murder Squad series is not going to disappoint. Detective Rob Ryan has tried to put his past away, the events of twenty years ago when he has a kid buried deep but a new case brings back all those memories. Could the two cases be connected?  Mystery Thriller Supporting my local indie bookstore Bookies   The House Girl a Novel by  Tara Conklin  connects the reader with the stories of Josephine Bell, an escaped slave house girl in 1852, and Lina Sparrow an ambitious New York city lawyer. Beautifully written each woman's story, tenacity, and passion will bring them together. A tale of redemption.  Historical Fiction The House in The Pines by  Ana Reyes . Audiobook courtesy of   libro.fm . A story of suppressed memories, murder, complicated characters, and the need for answers brings Maya back home. A unique story that keeps you ...

  Finished 2022 with 76 books ! Great reading year~ read lots of books, loved most of them, reviewed some of them. I closed the year with 3 favorites: Based on a true story, this book was the perfect combination of inspiration, grit and the power of libraries. The underground tunels of Brethnal Green tube station transformed into a small town during WWII. Within Clara Burton served as librarian to everyone who needed a book or a place to belong.  Historical Fiction based on the stories of young women who became 1932 and 1936 Olympians. The first girls to compete in Field & Track events along side the likes of Jesse Owen. An inspirational read to fuel my own running dreams. This was an impulse buy at my local indie bookstore and one that carried me into 2023 with dreams of new travels. My wonderlust desire to travel to new places, to meet new friends, to experience new cities all under a tight budget will be a reality this upcoming year thanks to Matt Kepnes. Three books th...

Late posting what this past reading month, October, had in the books for me. It was a month of variety with various genres, and surprisingly more actual books than audiobooks, which are my preferred option. Heretics Anonymous by Katie Henry~ what could be the worst thing that happens to an atheist? For Michael that is having to attend a new school in a new town, but not just any school. A Catholic School. No friends until he meets Lucy, possibly another non-believer after she challenges a school teacher, a nun nonetheless! But Michael is in for a world of revelations.  Great humor story.  The House in the Cerulean Sea by T. J. Klune. Loved this slow-building fantasy world with the most lovable characters. Linus Baker has always followed the rules until he's assigned to the Marsyas Island Orphanage where six dangerous magical youths live. His mission is to be impartial and report on his findings. But how does he that when the secrets he uncovers challenge everything he has t...

  A storm that tore their town apart will bring three troubled teenagers together.  Truths that needed to be told, a conflict that never was resolved, lives unlived looking for absolution. The ghosts from the past will guide Brenna, Joshua, and Callie if they are willing to listen.  When another tornado touches Mercer, IL on the anniversary of the tornado that killed over 50 of its residents' those left behind and three teenagers from the new generation can sense a change. The ghosts' whispers become stronger, and a few cross over to find the answers they needed years ago. However, they will help the living more than they can help those gone.  "Mistakes help us figure out who we are becoming" To move forward you have to a ccept new realities, stand strong, recognize your own worth, and know that you will be okay.  Loved this story. Each unique character, the back and forth between present and past, between the living and the dead. Each conclusion leads to a reso...

  A mystery wrapped in the past slowly unfolds the story of a "royal" heir.   What starts with the boring task of cleaning her aunt Anna's old attic will turn into an unusual discovery.  Tucked away in the attic is an old chest filled with leather-bound journals.  Could these Russian journals be the story of princess Anastasia Romanov?  In the pursuit of finding her aunt's story, Jess will travel back into a past that is hard to understand and that will challenge her desire to believe the story she wants to believe.  Beautifully written with alternating perspectives and voices.