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Review: The Fallen by Louise Brangan

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June 7, 2026

The Fallen: The Lost Girls of Ireland's Magdalene Laundries and a Legacy of SilenceThe Fallen: The Lost Girls of Ireland’s Magdalene Laundries and a Legacy of Silence by Louise Brangan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Louise Brangan narrated her book about the girls who ended up in the doomed life of doing the laundry for the Catholic nuns (a very loose description). Her Irish accent makes the dreary tale delightful. I could listen to her read the phonebook. Does anyone remember those?

My review sounds lighthearted, but this book is a serious study of a part of Ireland’s history. A part of women’s history. My husband recommended the book to me. He told me it is a subject that he finds interesting.

The author follows a few of the young women’s stories personally, from bad family starts or misguided starts, and the way they were misjudged and punished for implied sins.

Libby didn’t have it when I was looking for it, so I bought the Audible version. I highly recommend it to all of you.

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SoCS Addendum

Filed under: Uncategorized — 1 Comment
June 6, 2026

Blue sky until…

Is it coincidence, or is Will Smith making another movie? ID3?

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Stream of Consequences Saturday,

Filed under: Blogging, dogs, manifesting — Leave a comment

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “coincidence.” Use it any way you’d like. Have fun!

Is it a coincidence that ‘coincidence’ starts with ‘coin’ as you might toss for luck?

Is it a coincidence that Milo hit the button “outside” when he needed to relieve his bladder? He seemed quite happy.  Since that time, he’s looked at the button wagging his tail but scratches the door instead.

It’s how we all learned to communicate. Babble sounds that resulted in our needs being met. And the most successful sounds we repeated often. Sure we got it wrong sometimes, but success bred success.

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Review: Weyward by Emilia Hart

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June 5, 2026

WeywardWeyward by Emilia Hart
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Aysha Kala, Helen Keeley, and Nell Barlow narrated Emilia Hart’s three-layered novel.

“Witch. The word slithers from the mouth like a serpent, drips from the tongue as thick and black as tar. We never thought of ourselves as witches, my mother and I. For this was a word invented by men, a word that brings power to those that speak it, not those that it describes. A word that builds gallows and pyres, turns breathing women into corpses.”
― Emilia Hart, Weyward

That quote brought my opinion of this book way up. Up until I read that, I felt this to be very similar to the book I recently read, The Lost Apothecary. I like the narrators on that one far more than this, as the voices were very different. But the quote woke my spirit, and I started paying more attention. So, though this was a similar three-layered historical story, this was more in tune with nature, enjoying the trees and birds, and seeing a depth we don’t notice most of the time.

Libby supplied this audiobook. I’m so grateful for libraries that share great books for all of us.

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Review: The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris

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June 4, 2026

The Tattooist of AuschwitzThe Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was such a good book. Not my favorite of this subject matter, but it ranks high. Most war stories center on the men. And there’s my disappointment. But I now see that the author has written a couple more books that are more my speed. Women existed and were put through even more torture because they were women. There are stories to claim half the sky, the good and the bad.

Still, the love story that sustained the main character, a crush more than love at first, makes the intolerable barely tolerable. A touch of hope that brings others light. I’d like to think that kind of light helped others trapped in that crazy, horrid existence. Richard Armitage, the narrator, brings the story to life.

Libby had this and the other two books, which I’ll start tonight. I recommend this author and this book.

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Review: The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner

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The Lost ApothecaryThe Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I ran out of things to read at two in the morning. Under available audiobooks, I found this one.

This is a layered story; three different characters share their truths around the Lost Apothecary. Lorna Bennett, Lauren Anthony, and Lauren Irwin narrate the people, giving the story depth I think might be missing in a book read by eyes.

It was a quick read. I must admit that it made me want to do research like the main character. Any time I am supposed to be writing, I find myself going down deep wells of information. Most of it never makes it into the book, but I feel it enriches my soul and mind.

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One-Liner Wednesday

Filed under: Blogging — 1 Comment
June 3, 2026

A part of Linda’s One-Liner Wednesday.

Should I follow Homer?

Goodreads is doing a giveaway of Odyssey. They asked if I wanted to follow the author.  Decomposing? What has he composed lately?

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The Housemaid’s Secret by Freida McFadden

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June 2, 2026

The Housemaid's SecretThe Housemaid’s Secret by Freida McFadden
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I love a series. Especially if I can get to a couple of the books at a time, this one was available when I found the first book. Yep, Libby.

Lauryn Allman did the narration as she did on the first book, so there was consistency in the story.

I found some parts of this one confusing. Maybe if you can read the book, it would be more apparent, but listening can lose threads. Or is it my ADHD? Still, by the end, I knew what was what. And the story continues.

Sadly, I can’t continue as the next two books weren’t available.

At least the book didn’t end on a cliffhanger.

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Review: The Housemaid by Freida McFadden

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June 1, 2026

The HousemaidThe Housemaid by Freida McFadden
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was not what I expected. I thought for sure that I would find it boring or silly. But instead, I found a very interesting story, told in a way that kept I interested from the very beginning.

The narrator, Lauryn Allman, did a marvelous job of varying her voice for each character, making them believable.

The film has been out for a while. My favorite way to watch books made into movies is to read them first. So that was my goal. Little did I imagine I’d be hooked into reading the next few books. As soon as I’ve read them all, I will find the movie.

Don’t you love Libby? I wouldn’t be able to read/listen to so many books without it.

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Gone Before Goodbye by Reese Witherspoon

Filed under: Audible, Reading, Reviews — 2 Comments
May 31, 2026

Gone Before Goodbye by Reese Witherspoon

Well, I hope this is made into a movie. This was suspenseful, thrilling, and intriguing! It had a star-studded cast of narrators, including Reese Witherspoon, Chris Pine, Kiff VandenHeuvel, Suehyla El-Attar Young, Peter Ganim, Saskia Maarleveld, and James Fouhey. So not only did Ms. Witherspoon write this, but she also narrated it.

The characters were believable, flawed, and hopeful.

The book kept me interested long past a decent bedtime. I had to know what was going to happen.

I highly recommend this book. Libby provided my version. Thank you!

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