Tag Archive: Fiction


Review: My Sister’s Keeper: A Novel by Jodi Picoult

Filed under: Audible, Blogging, Reading, Reviews — 2 Comments
January 14, 2025

My Sister's Keeper: A NovelMy Sister’s Keeper: A Novel by Jodi Picoult
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Finishing a book early on at bedtime, I was left shuffling. Libby had a Jodi Picoult. I thought I could never go wrong with anything of hers. Yet, within the chapter, I realized I had already read Small Great Things. I enjoyed that book, but I wanted something new. So I searched Libby and found My Sister’s Keeper.

This one immediately intrigued me. The younger daughter shows initiative in fixing her problems.

Richard Poe, Julia Gibson, Barbara McCulloh, Tom Stechschulte, Carol Monda, Jennifer Ikeda, and Andy Paris narrate this book, keeping the reader/listener engaged. However, I could not get to sleep at a decent hour.

I loved hearing the characters’ separate points of view.

I’m trying not to give spoilers. There is a great blurb on GoodReads and Amazon if you are interested. But make sure the Kleenex is near the end of the book.

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his post is part of Just Jot it January, and the prompt word, “initiative,” comes to us from Fandango. Check out his blog here!

See what I did there?

okay
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Review: Archangel Down by C. Gockel (+JJJ)

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January 7, 2025

Archangel Down (Archangel Project, #1)Archangel Down by C. Gockel
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was a fun space adventure. Most of it is planet-bound, but quick spoiler: there will be space.

Look, this is a fast-paced book. The narrator, Emily Woo Zeller, seamlessly switches characters and emotions. I’m sure the paper book is good, but I have to admit that I can’t imagine not hearing it. But it made a bad bedtime book. I didn’t want to put it away. I probably should have been a book for three nights, but I couldn’t stop.

The main character, Noa, is quite persnickety, but that is required of the movement leader and the spaceship’s pilot. But it gets in her way. She doesn’t know who to trust. All she knows is she needs to save people from being tortured or killed. Noa is flawed but likable. I found myself rooting for her.

If you get the chance to read/listen to the book, I think you will love it, too. It is on Audible. Please give it a try.

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Your prompt for JusJoJan January 7th, 2025 is “pernickety.” Use it any way you’d like. Enjoy!
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Review: Simon Fayter and the Doors of Bone by Austin J. Bailey

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January 6, 2025

Simon Fayter and the Doors of Bone (Simon Fayter, #1)Simon Fayter and the Doors of Bone by Austin J. Bailey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

After reading some depressing, serious books, this charmer landed in my Libby to borrow. I read/listened to it in one night.

If you are looking for a fun read, perhaps one you could share with the rest of the family, this is it. The author narrates so you don’t miss any nuance.

Finally, you have got to love a good footnote. I always have!

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Don’t you love a good story that? It’s like getting an invigorating cup of coffee. Time to get one. Sorry this was a bit of a cheat.

Your prompt for JusJoJan January 6th, 2025 is “invigorating.” Use it any way you’d like. Have fun!

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Review: A Cream of Passion by Nancy Warren

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January 3, 2025

A Cream of Passion (Great Witches Baking Show #7)A Cream of Passion by Nancy Warren
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Once again, the book came to me out of order, so I’ve yet to read the first four novels in the series. Still, the author keeps the reader up-to-date on the main character’s goals and needs.

Hollis McCarthy (Narrator) acts out the characters flawlessly. Between the writing and the audio, the reading went quickly. It is a good book if you want something fast between larger reads.

Between cooking and murder, this book is not nearly as fun as Nancy Warren’s Vampire Knitting Club series. I don’t like cooking. I’m forever on a diet of gluten-free or carbs so that these pastry-rich stories may be invoking a murderous feeling. Still, I like meandering between books of differing subject matters.

I will keep reading the series and other books by Nancy Warren. This just wasn’t a favorite. By the way, I was happy to listen to it on Libby’s audio version.

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Your prompt for JusJoJan January 3rd, 2025 is “meander.” Use it any way you’d like. Have fun!

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Review: Wicked : The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire

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December 29, 2024

Wicked : The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (Wicked Years, #1)Wicked : The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

My Oz research continues. I dove deep and read the complete Oz books so I would be ready for Wicked. Having done that, a lot felt like the same story just a different point of view.

Though this was fantasy, it doesn’t take a genius to see how a person born and raised unloved, becomes wicked. But what if you are trying to be the best you can? In this book, you learn to feel for Elphaba. And maybe see the wickedness in the people surrounding her whole life.

I recommend others take the time to read Frank L. Baim’s entire series and delve into this world of Oz. My goal now is to watch the movie, eventually buy the Blu-ray, get the musical recording, and finally the sheet music to learn to play all the songs. When I dive, I dive deep. I can’t wait!

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Review: Blood, Sweat and Tiers by Nancy Warren

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December 17, 2024

Blood, Sweat and Tiers (Great Witches Baking Show #5)Blood, Sweat and Tiers by Nancy Warren
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Once again, Nancy Warren and Hollis McCarthy brought a fun whodunnit adventure. The author wrote this series in such a fashion that you can catch up and know what is happening no matter where you start. I read all her Vampire Knitting Club. Then, a bit of the Book Club. I found 5 and 6 of the Great Witches Baking Show when I needed something light. But I couldn’t read the tiny print that said which number in the series I started on. So I started on number 6 and then just finished number 5.

As usual, Hollis narrated each character so well that I knew whose point of view I was visiting. I can’t wait until I can get caught up with the series on Libby or buy the Audible version soon.

I hope you can enjoy this series. It’s light, even if it is a murder mystery.

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Review: The Complete Wizard of Oz Collection: All 22 Stories by L. Frank Baum

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December 13, 2024

The Complete Wizard of Oz Collection: All 22 StoriesThe Complete Wizard of Oz Collection: All 22 Stories by L. Frank Baum
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Whew! That took a month to get through. And though I might have said it was repetitive and boring at first. I gradually felt pulled into the many implications of history and how foward thinking this author was for his time.

I listened on Audible . Eric Vincent (Narrator) did a fantastic job with his many voices of the population of Oz. At first, I was a little put off with his female voices but soon saw that even within the group of young women he had to bring to life somehow.

I wish I could have found the illustrations that were in the paper books I read to my children so long ago. That was the only thing missing.

Interesting things found in these books written in the early 1900s:

The first transgender person I can remember being presented. (Tip/Ozma)

Women at war to reseat the throne, ejecting the wizard.

Clever ways to help people talk through problems and find peaceful solutions.

When I read a few of these to my kids I felt the language rather boring, but we all loved them anyway. Now hearing someone else read the books, I fell into the rhythm and enjoyed all the adventures. I’m rather missing it. Oh, yeah! I’m reading Wicked soon. Now I will have a deeper understanding of the world that story is based in. I don’t know about Wicked yet. But I know the main lessons of Oz were kindness and helping others. Not a bad set of mottos and goals to aim for.

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Review: Mother-Daughter Murder Night by Nina Simon

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November 12, 2024

Mother-Daughter Murder NightMother-Daughter Murder Night by Nina Simon
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Once again, I was reluctant to read a book. I don’t like books about murder. And that is the reason I usually don’t read mysteries. They are rarely about missing glasses. True mysteries. And I don’t know where I heard about this book, but thanks to whoever suggested this. It was a lot of fun!

Jane Oppenheimer, narrator, read this with such spirit that I didn’t want to put it down. She was about to change her voice for every character, and I was never lost as to who might be speaking.

The author was clever in shifting a book about the younger women (daughter and granddaughter), and soon, it is the grandmother who speaks the most in the book. Her viewpoint is a little annoying but fun.

Yes, there is a murder or more, but as a team, the three women risk their own lives, careers, and their relationships with each other. Tricky at first, but by the time it all falls apart, each woman searches for strength and wisdom.

Ah, I am not saying what I want to. Just know that this is a fun book, despite the murders and bad guys. I was lucky to pick it up on Libby. Enjoy!

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Review: How Could It Be? by Xiomara Rodriguez

Filed under: Kindle, Reading, Reviews — 4 Comments
October 24, 2024

How Could It Be?How Could It Be? by Xiomara Rodriguez
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

“A senior FBI agent being shot in the precinct’s parking lot is only the first shock in Lieutenant Jane Sparks’s day. The second is Senior Agent Fran Morris is a mirror image of Sparks, an identical twin. After an awkward and confrontational meeting at the hospital while Agent Morris is in recovery, they decide to put their brilliant minds together to not only determine who shot Agent Morris and why but also how they were separated at birth.

How Could It Be? is a fast-paced mystery crime novel filled with lies, deception, and intrigue, and how it all affects a budding relationship between long-lost sisters.”

What better way to explain the story than the blurb from Amazon? I met the author briefly a decade ago, but I see her in the church meetings I Zoom. She doesn’t know me, but I am still proud of her for writing a series!

For a first book, I think this has a lot of promise. The author’s career experience verifies the world the main characters inhabit.

This is a short book—I read it in one sitting—but it was full of promise and intrigue. I can’t wait to read Xiomara Rodriguez’s other books.

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Review: Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

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October 11, 2024

Salt to the SeaSalt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

After reading Lily’s Promise about World War Two atrocities, I wasn’t sure I could get through another. But this seemed to be a different take. And it was written as a Young Adult novel. So, I was curious. Then I was surprised.

Jorjeana Marie (Narrator), Will Damron (Narrator), Cassandra Morris (Narrator), and Michael Crouch (Narrator) all brought Ruta Sepetys’ book to life. I’m not a historian, so when others start to spout names and facts of the time leaves me drowsy and mind-numb. But right off, Ms. Sepetys presents characters that seem plausible. I found I cared for all of them, even the not-so-loveable ones. Well, there was one I couldn’t stand, but he wasn’t a very good person. The rest were flawed humans just trying to survive.

I had never heard of the Wilhelm Gustloff ship, which proved to be in existence. When I mentioned it to my husband, he had never heard of it either, and he’s a bit more of a history buff, so that added something that rang true to the story.

Being a Young Adult book doesn’t make this immature but helps readers like me gentle into the story.

Again, this was a Libby Audiobook, which made it even better. I hope you get the chance to read it. It’s worth it.

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