Category: Reviews



In PiecesIn Pieces by Sally Field
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I have always loved Sally Field. I was quite young when she did the Gidget and the Flying Nun. I always wished I could fly. I was much older when Sibil came out. I read the book and loved how Ms. Field acted the part. But aside from the roles she played, I felt her a person I would like to get to know. I know there was more to her than the girlie comic of Gidget and the Nun. Much later, Norma Rae and Steel Magnolias proved it.

But what of her person? How did she feel? Sally read her autobiography so you could feel her pain or joys.

I highly recommend this in audio form. I was lucky to find it on Libby. Oh, and have Kleenex for the ending. At three in the morning, as I finished, I was a sloppy mess!

View all my reviews


Galway BayGalway Bay by Mary Pat Kelly
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Though I can see that this book was full of history and the overall story felt true, it was long and hard to read, even with text-to-speech. It might have been easier to read than listen to the robot voice trying to pronounce the Irish words. I would have loved this with a narrator who might have known how to say the Gaelic verbiage.

On the other hand, I loved the main character and her family. She painted a realistic picture of 19th-century Ireland during the potato famine. After all the Outlander taught me about Scottish life, this is more of an eye-opener of how the English treated people. It showed that we haven’t grown in any way with how we all treat people, looking for those who represent ‘the other.’

I think I would like to read this again with narration. It might make a good series as we follow this young girl through old age.

View all my reviews


Eric Conger was the narrator of this audiobook from the Libby library app. For the most part, he was good. But when it came to acting the female parts, not so much. Male voices tend to demean women, it seems.

To the author’s credit, there were smart women and women of power in the mix of scientists, politicians, and the like. It just didn’t come across that way through the narrator.

Once past that issue, which may not show up in the written version, the story was riveting. What was that spacecraft nearing Saturn? What would the aliens look or act like? And what if the Chinese ship gets there before the USA?

John Sanford’s research is obvious. You don’t feel the magic happening. You see commonsense answers explored. And as the reader, you feel part of the team looking for answers. And the more I read, and listened, the more I wanted to know.

The end of the book is my favorite part, the science explored while writing the fiction. I highly recommend sticking around to read, and listen, to this part.

I will try to find the Kindle version and listen to text-to-speech. I want to read this again!

One-Liner Wednesday


Why is there a book review and last day of NaNoWriMo on One-Liner Wednesday?


Before We Were YoursBefore We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It took me a while to figure out who was who. And until that lightbulb went off over my head, I found the story boring. Suddenly, there was the clue, and it all fit together. My biggest problem was not reading to see if I was right. That need to know for sure seemed to pull me more than the plot or characters.

Still, in the end, I was deeply caring for all the characters and hoping for their best endings.

Above and beyond the story is the truth of the story that this happened and continues to happen in real life. The cruelty to children and poor parents that cannot have their own true lives. That money can buy others’ lives for their own purposes.

This book is worth the angst it brings as you dive into the story. The awareness of how it can happen will be with me forever. As it should. Oh, and Emily Rankin’s narration was acted out like a full-blown movie. It made every chapter come to life.

View all my reviews


The Secret Benefits of InvisibilityThe Secret Benefits of Invisibility by C.W. Allen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was just as fun as the first book in the series by C.W. Allen. Ivy Tara Blair (Narrator) is excellent at acting out the different characters.

If you need a break from overly adult, angsty books, this book and the first one will make you feel better. I bet it would be a fun read-aloud book for parents and kids.

I loved meeting the Dodos the most. Obviously, not the world we know.

The adventure is intense, and you are invested in the outcome immediately.

The boy and girl are not typical kids. Both have their take on how things should be. And I love how they respect each other while teasing here and there, but lovingly.

Give this a chance. I think you’ll like it!

View all my reviews


Relatively Normal Secrets (The Falinnheim Chronicles, #1)Relatively Normal Secrets by C.W. Allen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Want a little reprieve from the heavier material you’ve been reading lately? This is the book. It is so much fun and a quick read. After all, it is a chapter book for middle grades. But I don’t quite know how to intrigue you without giving spoilers. Here is the blurb, even it has spoilers I wouldn’t have included.

“Tuesday and Zed Furst are perfectly normal children with perfectly strange parents. Their father won’t discuss his job, their mother never leaves the house without her guard dog, and the topic of the family tree is off limits.

When a last minute “business trip” gets the adults out of the way, Zed and Tuesday decide to get to the bottom of things once and for all. Too bad some thugs with shape-shifting weapons have other ideas. Their escape leaves them trapped in the modern-meets-medieval Falinnheim, where everyone insists their father is a disgraced fugitive. They hope whoever is leaving them coded clues may have some answers, but they’re not sure they’re going to like what they learn.

If they ever want to see their parents again, they’ll need the help of a smuggler with a broken compass, their unusually talented dog, some extremely organized bandits, and a selection of suspiciously misquoted nursery rhymes.

Zed and Tuesday may not have all the answers, but one thing is certain: when it comes to normal, everything is relative.”

Add to the adventure the great narration by Ivy Tara Blair in this Audible version, and you will be in a place of pure enjoyment.

I don’t remember how I heard about these books, but I am already reading the second. I love the characters and how they go about solving the mysteries around them.

View all my reviews


Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of PlantsBraiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This may be my most favorite book ever. And I highly recommend the audio version as the author narrates with a beautiful poetic voice that is both relaxing to listen to and exciting.

My Unitarian Universalist book group chose this book. And though I didn’t join the book club, I couldn’t resist the read. Once I got started, I never wanted to quit!

I found this on Libby, and though I still have the Epilogue to finish tonight, I felt ready to review it for all of you.

Stories about indigenous peoples, their origin stories, and spirituality always intrigue me. This gave all that depth to my soul.

I have to admit that I couldn’t listen to this book if I were too tired at bedtime as I was charmed right to sleep and had to re-listen to whole chapters the next day, but it was worth it. I will try to buy both the paper book and my own copy of the Audible version, as I would love to reread this with the book in front of me. Now I almost wish I were part of the discussion. I am sure will result from other minds engaging in this great book.

Did I say this already? I bet I did because it’s true. I highly recommend this book!

View all my reviews


The Fifth Season (The Broken Earth, #1)The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Maybe not my favorite book. Yet there are bits I think will come back to me in memory. Though I am not sure I will look for the next series book.

The characters and plot are a little different than most dystopias. The talents of some of the people are interesting. But let me say, Audio readers need to let us know when we are in a new chapter. I had a hard time figuring out who the point of view was most of the time.

Something I don’t often see in sci-fi/fantasy, but this seems a good genre for it, polyamory. No judgment, just a few people who love each other.

If you want something a little different, this is it. Try it. You might love it.

View all my reviews


Live Wire: Long-Winded Short StoriesLive Wire: Long-Winded Short Stories by Kelly Ripa
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was a fun book. Sure, Kelly comes to our living room before coffee, way overdressed for our sloppy morning PJs. I think she had coffee way earlier than we did. Especially here on the west coast. Just a quick aside: Aren’t you tired of waking up to New York if you live here in the west?

Anyway, back to the book. I had the Audible, and I highly recommend ‘reading’ the book this way. Ms. Ripa narrates with the occasional Mark Consuelos addendum. In his voice. You miss that fun interaction between husband and wife in the paper copy.

Not many books hit on the empty nest issues. When you are young and pregnant, there are times when you are overwhelmed by books about expecting or dealing with kids. But the issues of offspring moving into adulthood and how it affects the people left behind are few.

I love that the story is broken into many little stories rather than a point-by-point history autobiography. I highly recommend this bit of entertainment.

View all my reviews

THE AVOERIA ARCHIVE

The Depth Behind The Ordinary

Life of Chaz

Books, games, music, and life — filtered through the mind of a writer, drummer, and philosopher who thinks too deeply about all of it. If it moves something in your chest, I'm interested.

Pieces Of My Heart

"Words & Wonders - Where thoughts meet art

💫The Afterlove Voice💫

Justice, Channeling,Spiritual,Astrology,Truth- Seeker.

Amin Academy

Education, Information, Motivation

Luso Loonie — Devin Meireles

Portuguese-Canadian Writing About This Portuguese Thing of Ours

UNDER THE WILL... OVER THE DRAMA...

Inheritance. Narcissism. Turf. Welcome to the family.

Selma

Finding the extra in the ordinary

Sip, Snack, See

A Blog About Food and Travels

Golu lodhi

I upload photos & videos Golu lodhi village pairakhedi

Creative

Travel,Tourism, Life style "Now in hundreds of languages for you."

intricate cantrips

twisted yarns, unraveled

Introverted Growth

The Introvert's Roadmap to Self Discovery and Growth

Histopedia

story telling from history