Tag Archive: Fiction



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!


This was my favorite of the Memory House series. The series doesn’t have so many characters in common. Instead, there are threads of common ground. People meeting and supporting others. This book started sadly, but stick with it as magic will happen. Common sense and caring. Those are the silver threads. I don’t think that was a spoiler. Just the gift of these books.

This book was the last of the series, and it, too, was a Kindle Unlimited. These are short books that took only a couple of nights to read. I think you’ll like them. A nice escape from the stress of life right now.


Baby Girl (Memory House, #4)Baby Girl by Bette Lee Crosby

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is the book that was at the bottom (oldest) of my TBR shelf. Because it is book 4 in the series, I went back to read the first 3 so I wouldn’t be lost. So really, I added 4 books to read one. And truth be known, any of these books could be read alone and still be interesting. There are other characters mentioned from other of Ms. Crosby’s works, but the names fall by the wayside. It reminds me of real life. When you meet someone new, they will mention other people in their associates. You don’t have to know them. Just stay open to get to know the person presented. Did that make sense?

I thought this would be one of my favorites. In fact, this is my least liked of the books. I didn’t like the main character much. But I stuck with it, and by the end, I think I understood her better. I was glad to move on to the next book. And to finally have freed space on the TBR. Which quickly got filled back up.

By the way, this is listed as Kindle Unlimited, if that helps you decide. And it is text-to-speech enabled. Enjoy.

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What the Heart Remembers (Memory House, #3)What the Heart Remembers by Bette Lee Crosby
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

There are always new people to greet. We met Max in the Loft. This story follows her as she tries to determine whether her dreams are worth pursuing.

I don’t like romance. But I love books about people finding their way. This book includes a little romance, but stick with it. There is more to the story.

This might have been the shortest of the Memory House books, as I got through it very quickly.

Once again, Bette Lee Crosby writes an engaging story. Text-to-speech helps me. This was on Kindle Unlimited.

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Memory House (Memory House, #1)Memory House

by Bette Lee Crosby

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is my second reading of this book. I stand by my first review. Except I have since read so many books by Bette Lee Crosby, so I felt more at home as I read it. I had the fourth and fifth books of this series on my TBR shelf. So I decided I should start it again, so I wouldn’t be lost. I did enjoy this and raised the star rating because of it. I love the friendships developed here and the curiosities of the histories of things and people in life. We should all follow these nudges of wanting to know more. By the way, I read this through Kindle text-to-speech.
~~~

I was given this book by the author for an honest review.

I usually like Bette Lee Crosby’s stories. This one was no different. I liked the story. I liked the characters. I liked watching the main character grow into a better life than the one she had before.

Does this feel like it is leading somewhere? Well, it is. After getting to know the not-so-good current flame and watching it fade out, I was looking forward to getting to know the bicycle rider and the new flame. The book seems to assume that you remember these characters from other books. Um… no. I think the story would have done better had that assumption not ruled the day. It all seemed to end far too abruptly. For all the buildup to the magick the memory house contains, it just fizzled and left me wanting to throw the book away. I don’t feel that way often. But I just felt cheated.

Still, outside of the literary crash landing at the end, I liked the book. Maybe folks who don’t read 150 books a year would remember more characters from other books by the same author. I have trouble remembering my own name, so…

Anyway, there seem to be a lot of 5-star ratings, so maybe you would love it, too. Enjoy.

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A Spark of LightA Spark of Light by Jodi Picoult
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In the way of Jodi Picoult, this book hits many buttons yet tries to show more complex characters on both sides of the issue. And in this, she finds more than just two sides; there are variations on all sides, showing how difficult a theme she is covering.

The characters come to life. As in real life, there is good and bad in everyone. Good people making bad decisions, bad people doing good deeds. Making this more realistic than any book I’ve read on the subject.

The only thing I didn’t like about the book is the reverse timeline. It is even more confusing when an audiobook. Especially if you have technical issues with streaming or Audible. I think I understand why. If you place this story in a real timeline, there is no good outcome.

I was lucky to find this on Libby. By the way, Bahni Turpin and Jodi Picoult narrated seamlessly.

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Prelude to Foundation (Foundation, #6)Prelude to Foundation by Isaac Asimov
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

After bingeing Foundation on Prime, I was determined to relive my teen romp in Asimov land. At 76, I can remember the library, the shelf, and checking out each of his books, I, Robot and Foundation series. But I couldn’t remember anything about the Foundation series. So I decided to reread them all. Instead of starting with the original three, I started with the more recently written, Prelude.

I have always loved Isaac Asimov’s writing, but they were a slow slog to get through, with the science taking precedence over the fantasy-leaning of other sci-fi novels by other authors. I found that, back in the day, his work was far less misogynistic. I think that it was that he just didn’t have many women in his books. And at least they didn’t fall into the arm-candy, bimbo, or crone categories.

Prelude gives us an intro to Hari. I found it as hard to get through as I loved the no-nonsense writing. So I will continue the series. Maybe I’ll finish before the next season streams. I was so happy to find the Kindle version of the book with text-to-speech on Libby.

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ArtemisArtemis by Andy Weir
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Sadly, Artemis wasn’t nearly as fun and exciting as Andy Weir’s other space books. Still, it was a bit of a romp on the moon. Since the main character in this book was a feisty female, the narrator was Rosario Dawson. I think she did an excellent job acting out the parts.

We have a lot of books about naughty women. Let’s have serious women! None of Mr. Weir’s male characters would have acted like that. Sure, they had faults, but they were about the science. I am glad we are a step up from the madonna-whore-naive-giggling girl, but not much.

So, no. You tried. But still don’t get it. In fact, I doubt men would want a woman who got into that much trouble in their lives, much less protecting the moon people. WHY?!

By the way, I read/listened to this on Audible.

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The Night Swim (Rachel Krall, #1)The Night Swim by Megan Goldin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A podcast gets too real. Megan Goldin has written quite the thriller. With Bailey Carr, January LaVoy, and Samantha Desz reading, it kept me in the story awake.

I was fortunate to find this on Libby. As you can see on Amazon, the audio version is $500! Apparently, there is a second book, but I couldn’t find it in my Libby. It was only that I finished another book before I was ready to sleep that sent me looking for whatever interesting book was available at the moment. This one showed up on the list.

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Project Hail MaryProject Hail Mary by Andy Weir
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

OMG! This one was so good that I had to start the reread immediately after I finished. I had checked out the book from Libby, but had to buy the Audible version, as I know I will want to relive this adventure often.

It didn’t hurt that the Artemis was flying as I read.

I can’t wait to watch the movie!

If you haven’t tried this yet, you have so much fun awaiting you. Get it and enjoy!

By the way, the narration by Ray Porter was such a pleasure!

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