The Husband's Secret

Author: Liane Moriarty
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group, 2015
Pages: 464
Rating: Highly Recommend

Synopsis: Imagine your husband wrote you a letter, to be opened after his death. Imagine too, that the letter contains his deepest, darkest secret - something with the potential to destroy not only the life you built together, but the lives of others as well. And then imagine that you stumble across that letter while your husband is still very much alive...

Cecilia Fitzpatrick has achieved it all - she's an incredibly successful businesswoman, a pillar of her community, and a devoted wife and mother. But that letter is about to change everything - and not just for her. There are other women who barely know Cecilia - or each other - but they, too, are about to feel the earth-shattering repercussions of her husband's secret.

Review: I finished this book in 2024 with moments to spare. What a great way to end the year. I don't know why it's taken me so long to read Liane Moriarty. Her novels are quickly paced and engaging. I was all-in with this novel from chapter one.

Other Liane Moriarty Novels
Here One Moment

A Kiss Remembered

Author: Sandra Brown
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing,183 (republished 2002)
Pages: 192
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: After leaving her disastrous marriage behind, Shelley Browning goes back to college to get her degree and comes face-to-face with an unforgettable man from her past. Ten years ago, when she was Grant Chapman's student, they shared a single, scorching, unplanned kiss that still haunts Shelley's dreams. Now, as irresistible than ever, Grant has just returned to teaching after taking a stint as a congressional aide in Washington. . .and sees now impropriety in asking out Shelley. Isn't this what she secretly longs for? Still, Shelley isn't sure what she really wants. But a stunning accusation is about to change all that - and she must choose to take some dangerous risks or spend the rest of her life filled with regrets.

Review: This novel was first published in 1983, and it reads like a 1983 novel (of course). It's steamy, predictable, and a perfect fluff novel with themes that I have a hard time believing would be published in 2024.

The Tin Whistle

Author: Kathleen Shoop
Genre: Christmas / Fiction
Publisher: Indie published, 2020
Pages: 106
Rating: Recommend 

Synopsis: 1854: Jacob Guskey wakes up hoping Santa has arrived. And he has, but not for Jacob, one of two Jewish boys living at the Boys' Home of Manhattan. When a friend gifts him a tin whistle, Jacob learns the power of giving, the joy in receiving, and hears what he considers to be the sound of happiness.

1881: Recently widowed and completely out of options, Frannie takes her daughter Molly to the Home for the Friendless. "You'll be back before Christmas?" Molly asks. Frannie gives Molly half a quilt square and keeps the other, choking on her reply.

Now a happily married father of three, Jacob Gusky owns Gusky's Grand Emporium, Pittsburgh's first premier department store. After unearthing the tin whistle from the orphanage, he is reminded of what it felt like to have nothing, and decides to make a difference in the lives of others no matter their faith. But with so little time before Christmas morning, can he even begin to give the orphaned children of Pittsburgh what he knows they need?

Review: A novel based on a true story? Yes, please. A novel set in my home city? Yes, please. This was heartwarming and perfect for the season.

A Very Merry Christmas

Author: Anita Higman
Genre: Fiction/Christmas
Publisher: Summerside, 2012
Pages: 256
Rating: Do Not Recommend

Synopsis: Franny Martin is a woman who isn't afraid to dream big. But most of all, this is a love story about two people who come from different worlds. Charlie is all wealth and polish while Franny is a simple farm girl who has more spirit than money. In the process of a "trading places" arrangement between them, they unearth some discoveries of the heart - that sometimes love comes when you're least ready for it, and that love can bring the most impossible dreams within reach.

Review: To be honest, I was bored with this novel. It's typical for the genre, but the characters were annoying. Upshot, there are better Christmas/Hallmark theme novels available.

Here One Moment

Author: Liane Moriarty
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Crown Publishing Group, 2024
Pages: 512
Rating: Highly Recommend

Synopsis: Aside from a delay, there will be no problems. The flight will be smooth, it will land safety. Everyone who gets on the plane will get off. But almost all of them will be forever changed.

Because on this ordinary, short, domestic flight, something extraordinary happens. People learn how and when they are going to die. For some, their death is far in the future - age 103! - and they laugh. But for six passengers, their predicted deaths are not far away at all.

How do they know this? There were ostensibly more interesting people on the flight (the bride and groom, the jittery, possibly famous woman, the giant Hemsworth-esque guy who looks like an off-duty superhero, the frazzled, gorgeous flight attendant) but none would become as famous as "The Death Lady."

Not a single passenger or crew member will later recall noticing her board the plane. She wasn't exceptionally old or young, rude or polite. She wasn't drunk or nervous or pregnant. Her appearance and demeanor were unremarkable. But what she did on that flight was truly remarkable.

A few months later, one passenger dies exactly as she predicted. Then two more passengers die, again, as she said they would. Soon no one was thinking this is simply an entertaining story at a cocktail party.

Review: My first Liane Moriarty novel, and it was a good one. Leave it to me to start a 500+ page novel in the days leading up to Christmas, and I could not put it down. I loved following the various characters and getting to know each of them. I also loved how this novel concluded - a pleasing and satisfying ending. 

I'm looking forward to getting caught up on other books by this author.

Other Liane Moriarty Novels
The Husband's Secret

Disney's Land

Author: Richard Snow
Genre: Non-fiction
Publisher: Scribner, 2020
Pages: 432
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: One day in the early 1950s, Walt Disney stood looking over 240 acres of farmland in Anaheim, California, and imagined building a park where people "could live among Mickey Mouse and Snow White in a world still powered by steam and fire for a day or a week or (if the visitor is slightly mad) forever." Despite his wealth and fame, exactly no one wanted Disney to build such a park. Not his brother Roy, who ran the company's finances, not the bankers, and not his wife, Lillian. Amusement parks at that time, such as Coney Island, were generally despised businesses, sagging and sordid remnants of bygone days. Disney was told that he would only be heading toward financial ruin.

But Walt persevered, initially financing the park against his own life insurance policy and later with sponsorship from ABC and the sale of thousands and thousands of Davey Crockett coonskin caps. Disney assembled a talented team of engineers, architects, artists, animators, landscapers, and even a retired admiral to transform his ideas into a soaring yet soothing wonderland of a park. The catch was that they had only a year and a day in which to build it.

On July 17, 1955, Disneyland opened its gates. . .and the first day was a disaster. Disney was nearly suicidal with grief that he had failed on a grand scale. But the curious masses kept coming, and the rest is entertainment history. Eight hundred million visitors have flocked to the park since then.

 
Review: I have been to both Disneyland (once) and Disney World (several times), and learning the history made the experiences all the richer. I'd love to return to Disneyland now that I know more about it. 

I have been taking leadership classes through work, and my supervisor started a book club for several of us who were promoted into leadership positions. As a result, Walt Disney's style of leadership and vision were also interesting to me and were a major theme in this book.

It's impossible for me to imagine a world without Disney so to learn how it developed into a cultural force gave me a lot to think about. What would the entertainment be without Disney, not to mention Orlando and Anaheim.

Shadow of Ashland

Author: Terence M Green
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Open Road Media, 2014
Pages: 190
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: Only weeks before she dies in March 1984, Leo Nolan's mother shows her son a rose she says was just given to her by her brother, Jack, who disappeared 50 years earlier. After her death, letters from Jack begin to arrive at the family home. They are postmarked 1934. The final one is from Ashland, Kentucky.

Leo heads to Ashland to track down the source of the letters, and to find out why they are arriving now, after 50 years.

Time shifts. Time runs underground, then surfaces. It is 1934, and Leo experiences the Great Depression and the ghosts of the past as no one has in 50 years, in Ashland, where dreams die and are born again.

Review: This novel came to be out of the author's search for a long-lost uncle. And, you know I love a bit of time travel in my novels. Thoroughly enjoyed an would like to read other novels in this series.

April Storm

Author: Leila Meacham
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: HarperCollins, 2024
Pages: 272
Rating: Highly Recommend

Synopsis: Kathryn Walker enjoys and enviable life. Her husband is an accomplished doctor, her children are bright and successful, and she devotes herself to charity work that uplifts her Suburban Colorado community. Settling into a new year, her life couldn't be better. . .

Until April.

For Kathryn, April has always rained trouble - but this time may be even stormier than the fraught past she's trying to overcome. Already distraught over the child she miscarried in this same cursed month many years ago, the emotionally fragile woman isn't ready to consider the overwhelming evidence that someone may be trying to take her husband - and her life.

Review: The author passed away from cancer before this book was finished and published. However, her family worked with another author familiar with her works and completed this. I loved it. 

It was bittersweet knowing this would be last Leila Meacham novel I ever read, and it was different than her last few novels. However, this lady could write. Five stars.

Other Leila Meacham Novels
Aly's House
Crowning Design
Roses
Ryan's Hand
Somerset
The Dragonfly
Titans
Tumbleweeds

A Christmas Duet

Author: Debbie Macomber
Genre: Christmas / Fiction
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group, 2024
Pages: 288
Rating: Highly Recommend

Synopsis:Hailey Morgan's life has always revolved around music. She once had big dreams of becoming a professional songwriter, but the reality of her life has led her to working as an assistant high school band teacher in Portland. As the holidays approach, Hailey dreads the annual tradition of spending Christmas with her family and dodging her mother's meddling questions about her love life.

When Hailey's close friend offers her the use of her family's empty cabin for a rejuvenating solo holiday retreat, Hailey finally decides to do something to make herself happy. However, her arrival in the small town of Podunk, Oregon, is anything but peaceful when she discovers the cabin has been invaded by several wild animals. Luckily, Jay, the son of the town's main store proprietor - and an incredibly handsome and charming former musician to boot - is more than willing to help.

Soon Hailey and Jay are nearly inseparable, chopping down and decorating a Christmas tree, sipping hot cocoa in front of a cozy fire, and best of all, playing music together. Jay's positive feedback and encouragement inspire Hailey to believe she might succeed as a songwriter after all. But even in her snow-dusted oasis, family holiday drama still finds Hailey, interrupting and threatening her newfound peace and confidence. Meanwhile revelations from Jay present complications of their own. Suddenly her Christmas paradise has become a winter storm and Hailey must weather through the challenges to stand up for herself and embrace the holiday spirit.

Review: This novella was super cute. Perfect book heading into the Christmas season. Debbie Macomber is one of my favorite authors for feel-good, seasonal novels.

Thirst for Truth

Author: Nikki Kingsley
Genre: Memoir
Publisher: Kyrios, 2017
Pages: 180
Rating: Highly Recommend

Synopsis: As I begin my story and lay my life open before you, I do so with the desire that you see the incredible love of God the Father. This heavenly Father never gave up as He saved and salvaged the life of His daughter lost in the complex Dance of Life. As you travel with me through the turns of my life, I hope that you too are left in awe at the depth of love that God has for all His children. I invite you to follow me back into the Muslim world where religion and culture reigns as a merciless king, and then follow me into the transforming love that made me a new creation.

Review: My mom, my daughter, and I heard this author speak in October at a prayer breakfast. Her story was moving and inspirational, and she was a gifted speaker.

Winter Garden

Author: Kristin Hannah
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group, 2010
Pages: 448
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: Meredith and Nina Whitson are as different as sisters can be. One stayed at home to raise her children and manage the family apple orchard; the other followed a dream and traveled the world to become a famous photojournalist. But when their beloved father falls ill, Meredith and Nina find themselves together again, standing alongside their cold, disapproving mother, Anya, who even now, offers no comfort to her daughters. As children, the only connection between them was the Russian fairy tale Anya sometimes told the girls at night. On his deathbed, their father extracts a promise from the women in his life; the fairy tale will be told one last time - and all the way to the end.

The tale their mother tells them is a captivating, mysterious love story that spans more than sixty years and moves from frozen war-torn Leningrad to modern-day Alaska. Nina's obsession to uncover the truth behind the story will send them all on an unexpected journey into their mother's past, where they will discover a secret so shocking, so terrible, it shakes the foundation of their family and changes who they believe they are.

Review: I'm a huge fan Kristin Hannah fan, but this novel took a few chapters to build traction. I was wondering early on at what point that we "would get on with it." 

The story/plot was good. Anya's storytelling was an effective device. However, there were conversation and details that didn't propel the story forward as well. I'm giving this a good, not great, rating.

Only the Beautiful

Author: Susan Meissner
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group, 2024
Pages: 400
Rating: Highly Recommend

Synopsis: California 1938: When she loses her parents in an accident, sixteen-year-old Rosanne is taken in by the owners of the vineyard where she has lived her whole life as the vinedresser's daughter. She moves into Celene and Truman Calvert's spacious house with a secret, however, Rosie sees colors when she hears sound. She promised her mother she'd never reveal her little-understood ability to anyone, but the weight of her isolation and grief prove too much for her. Driven by her loneliness she not only breaks the vow to her mother, but in a desperate moment lets down her guard and ends up pregnant. Banished by the Calvert's, Rosanne believes she is bound for a home for unwed mothers. But she soon finds out she is not going to a home of any kind, but to a place that seeks to forcibly take her baby - and the chance for any future babies - from her.

Austria 1947: After witnessing firsthand Adolph Hitler's brutal pursuit of hereditary purity - especially with regard to "different children" - Helen Calvert, Truman's sister, is ready to return to America for good. But when she arrives at her brother's peaceful vineyard after decades of working abroad, she is shocked to learn what really happened nine years earlier to the vinedresser's daughter, a girl whom Helen had long ago befriended. In her determination to find Rosanne, Helen discovers a shocking American eugenics program - and learns that while the war has been won in Europe, there are still terrifying battles to be fought at home.

Review: I guess there's something about this time of year. . .I knew I had read another Susan Meissner novel, and when I looked at my reading history I saw that I finished As Bright as Heaven on November 17, 2019. I had not intended to wait so long before reading this author again. I loved As Bright as Heaven, and I loved this one as well.

Meissner's characters float off the pages and into your heart. Could not put this one down, and stayed up entirely too late reading it.

Susan Meissner Novels
As Bright as Heaven

Multipliers

Author: Liz Wiseman
Genre: Business / Professional Development / Nonfiction
Publisher: HarperCollins, 2017
Pages: 384
Rating: Highly Recommend 

Synopsis: We've all had experience with different types of leaders. The first type drains intelligence, energy, and capability from the people around them and always needs to be the smartest person in the room. These are the idea killers, the energy sappers, the diminishers of talent and commitment. On the other side of the spectrum are the leaders who use their intelligence to amplify the smarts and capabilities of the people around them. When these leaders walk into a room, light bulbs go off over people's heads; ideas flow and problems get solved. These are the leaders who inspire employees to stretch themselves to deliver results that surpass expectations. These are the Multipliers. And the world needs more of them, especially now when leaders are expected to do more with less.

Review: If you've followed this blog for any amount of time, then you have surely realized that reading for me is an escape. I'm not one who reads for professional development. However, when my supervisor approached me and two of my colleagues about starting a small book club, we agreed.

We started reading Multipliers one chapter at a time and meeting to discuss each one last December. We just finished it. In addition to discussion, we also took the Multipliers 360 assessment. 

Multipliers gets a highly recommend from me. We had great discussion, the assessment and results were helpful, and I learned a lot.

We are all set to choose our next book.

While Idaho Slept

Author: J. Reuben Appelman
Genre: True Crime
Publisher: HarperCollins, 2023
Pages: 288
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: Just after 4:00am on November 13, 2022, four University of Idaho students were viciously stabbed to death in an off-campus house. The killings would shake the small blue-collar college town of Moscow, Idaho, dominate mainstream news coverage, and become a social media obsession, drawing millions of clicks and views. While a reticent Moscow Police Department, the FBI, and the Idaho State Police searched for the killer, unending conjecture and countless theories blazed online, in chatrooms and platforms from Reddit to YouTube to Facebook and TikTok. For more than a month, the clash of armchair investigators and law enforcement professionals raged, until a suspect - a 28-year-old PhD. candidate studying criminology - was arrested at his family home 2500 miles away in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania on the day before New Year's Eve.

Review: I followed this case closely in 2022, and was interested in reading more about the students and murders. Interesting that I finished it just before the second anniversary of the crime. My heart breaks for the families, and with daughters graduating this year and next, it reminded me that I'll soon be sending my own children out into the big, crazy world.

Auschwitz: A History

Author: Sybille Steinbacher
Genre: Non-Fiction
Publisher: Penguin UK, 2005
Pages: 176
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: At the terrible heart of the modern age lies Auschwitz. In a total inversion of earlier hopes about the of science and technology to improve, extend and protect human life, Auschwitz manipulated the same systems to quite different ends. 

The reader is led through the process by which something unthinkable to any European in the 1930s had become a sprawling, industrial reality during the course of the world war. How Auschwitz grew and mutate into an entire dreadful city, how both those who managed it and those who were killed by it came to be in Poland in the 1940s, and how it was allowed to happen, is something everyone needs to understand.

Review: Some chapters were more interesting than others. This was a little dry in parts, but I hadn't given much thought before as to how (or why) Auschwitz came to be a death camp.

Chop Wood, Carry Water

Author: Michael Quinn
Genre: Self-Help
Publisher: Lightening Source, Inc, 2015
Pages: 105
Rating: Highly Recommend

Synopsis: Guided by "Akira-sensei," John comes to realize the greatest adversity on his journey will be the challenge of defeating the man in the mirror. This powerful story of one boy's journey to achieve his life long goal of becoming a samurai warrior, brings the Train to be CLUTCH curriculum to life in a powerful and memorable way.

Review: This book is excellent, and maybe the best I've ever read in this genre. So much good information, and I found myself wanting to share this book with everyone I know.

The Other Einstein

Author: Marie Benedict
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Sourcebooks, 2016
Pages: 336
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: This novel resurrects Einstein's wife, a brilliant physicist in her own right, whose contribution to the special theory or relativity is hotly debated. Was she simply Einstein's sounding board, an assistant performing complex mathematical equations? Or did she contribute something more?

Mitza Maric has always been a little different from the other girls. Most twenty-year-olds are wives by now, not studying physics at an elite Zurich university with only male students trying to outdo her clever calculations. But Mitza is smart enough to know that, for her, math is an easier path than marriage. Then fellow student Albert Einstein takes an interest in her, and the world turns sideways. Theirs becomes a partnership of the mind and of the heart, but there might not be room for more than one genius in a marriage.

Review: My sister recommended this book, and toward the end I texted her, "Einstein, what a jerk." My prior issue with Marie Benedict is that she doesn't take a deep dive into her subject matter, but that concern is unfounded in this novel. I'm glad someone finally told Mileva Maric Einstein's story, even if the author did have to fill in some of the gaps herself.

Zero Days

Author: Ruth Ware
Genre: Thriller
Publisher: Gallery/Scout Press, 2023
Pages: 368
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: Hired by companies to break into buildings and hack security systems, Jack and her husband, Gabe, are the best penetration specialists in the business. But after a routine assignment goes horribly wrong, Jack arrives home to find her husband dead. To add to her horror, the police are closing in on their suspect - her.

Review: With the completion of Zero Days, I have read all of Ruth Ware's novels. After reading two Ruth Ware novels back-to-back with similar plots and feel, this was a refreshing change.

Ruth Ware Novels
One by One
One Perfect Couple
The Death of Mrs. Westaway
The It Girl
The Lying Game
The Turn of the Key
The Woman in Cabin 10

Visions, Trips, and Crowded Rooms: Who and What You See Before You Die

Author: David Kessler
Genre: Non-fiction
Publisher: Hay House, Inc., 2011
Pages: 192
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: David Kessler, one of the most renowned experts on death and grief, takes on three uniquely shared experiences that challenge our ability to explain and fully understand the mystery of our final days.

The first is "visions." As the dying lose sight of this world, some people appear to be looking into the world to come. The second shared experience is getting ready for a "trip." The phenomenon of preparing oneself for a journey isn't new or unusual. In fact, during our loved ones' last hours, they may often think of their impending death as a transition or journey. These trips may seem to us to be all about leaving, but for the dying, they may be more about arriving. Finally, the third phenomenon is "crowded rooms." The dying often talk about seeing a room full of people, as they constantly repeat the word crowded. In truth, we never die alone. Just as loving hands greeted us when we were born, so will loving arms embrace us when we die. In the tapestry of life and death, we may begin to see connections to the past that we missed in life. While death may look like a loss to the living, the last hours of a dying person may be filled with fullness rather than emptiness.

Review: First, a little back story. I was close to my maternal grandmother, and she passed two weeks before my youngest child was born. She was 96 yeas old and had told me nearly one year earlier, on her birthday, that she did not want to live to see 97. She was ready to be reunited with her family, all of whom had passed on before her, her husband, and it was time to just rest. Her mind was good, but her body was failing.

I was at peace with her passing. I
had her in my life for 37 years, she had met my daughters and they were old enough to have lasting memories. There was nothing left unsaid, and she had told me herself that she was ready. I attended her funeral, very very pregnant, but not going was never an option.

I packed my bags and had my closure, or so I thought.

She passed away on February 1, and my son was born on February 15. Either later on the 15th, or it could have been the 16th, he and I were alone in the hospital room. He was napping, and I was in that weird in-between state between awake and asleep. Laying there with my eyes closed and about to drift off, I felt my grandmother speak to me. Right in my ear I felt her say, "he's perfect, and we love him." At the same time, eyes still closed, I had a vision of a veil (or scrim), and behind it a mass of people (unrecognizable to me) standing shoulder-to-shoulder, and as far back as I could see. Trying to see both my grandmother and those who were in the room with us behind the veil, I rolled my head from side to side against the pillow and struggled to open my eyes. Finally, I forced my eye muscles to work and wrenched them open. I saw a flash of burgundy, the color of the only winter coat I ever remembered her wearing, and she was gone.

I've reflected on this experience for almost a decade now. When this book came to my attention, it was a no-brainer to read it. I had a glimpse into life after death.

The Rose Arbor

Author: Rhys Bowen
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Amazon Publishing, 2024
Pages: 379
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: London 1968: Liz Houghton is languishing as an obituary writer at a London newspaper when a young girl's disappearance captivates the city. If Liz can break the story, it's her way into the newsroom. She already has a scoop: her best friend, Marisa, is a police officer assigned to the case. Liz follows Marisa to Dorset, where they make another disturbing discovery. Over two decades earlier, three girls disappeared while evacuating from London. One was found murdered in the woods near a train line. The other two were never seen again.

As Liz digs deeper, she finds herself drawn to the village of Tydeham, which was requisitioned by the military during the war and left in ruins. After all these years, what could possibly link the missing girls to this abandoned village? And why does a place Liz has never seen before seem so strangely familiar?

Review: I enjoy Rhys Bowen's historical fiction. This novel was a bit different than others I've read. Since becoming a mom, I've had a really hard time reading novels where children are injured, abused, or kidnapped, and this had it all. As a result this took me longer to read than a Rhys Bowen novel typically would. The way this wrapped up had 1960s Nancy Drew mystery vibes. 

Other Rhys Bowen Novels
Above the Bay of Angels
In Farleigh Field
The Tuscan Child
The Venice Sketchbook
Where the Sky Begins

One by One

Author: Ruth Ware
Genre: Thriller
Publisher: Gallery / Scout Press, 2021
Pages: 384
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: Getting snowed in at a luxurious, rustic ski chalet high in the French Alps doesn't like the worst problem in the world. Especially when there's a breathtaking vita, a full-service chef and housekeeper, a cozy fire to keep you warm, and others to keep you company. Unless that company happens to be eight coworkers. . .each with something to gain, something to lose, and something to hide.

When the co-founder of Snoop, a trendy London-based tech start-up, organizes a week-long trip for the team in the French Alps, it starts out as a corporate retreat like any other: PowerPoint presentations and strategy sessions broken up by mandatory bonding on the slopes. But as soon as one shareholder upends the agenda by pushing a lucrative but contentious buyout offer, tensions simmer and loyalties are tested. The storm brewing inside the chalet is no match for the one outside, however, and a devastating avalanche leaves the group cut off from all access to the outside world. Even worse, one Snooper hadn't made it back from the slopes when an avalanche hit.

As each hour passes without any sign of rescue, panic mounts, the chalet grows colder, and the group dwindles further. . .one by one.  

Review: I wondered if I should read One by One so soon after reading One Perfect Couple since the premise sounded similar. There were some differences, but yeah, basically the same book. One by One was the more interesting of the two. It was also published four years earlier. 

Ruth Ware Novels
One Perfect Couple
The Death of Mrs. Westaway
The It Girl
The Lying Game
The Turn of the Key
The Woman in Cabin 10
Zero Days

Women Behind the Wheel

Author: Nancy A. Nichols
Genre: Non-fiction
Publisher: Pegasus Books, 2024
Pages: 240
Rating: Do Not Recommend

Synopsis: Since their inception cars have defined American culture, but until quite recently car histories were largely written by and about men - with little attention given to the fascinating story of women and cars.

In this engaging non-fiction narrative, Nancy A. Nichols, the daughter of a used car salesman, uses the cars her father sold and the ones her family drove to tell a larger story about how the  car helped to define modern womanhood. From her sister's classic Mustang to her mother's Chevy Convertible to her own Honda minivan, Nichols tells a personal story in order to shed light on a universal one.

Cars helped women secure the right to vote, change the nature of romance, and influenced both fashion and child rearing customs. In the just over 100 years since their inception, cars have created possibilities for commerce and romance even as they expose
d women to new kinds of danger.

Women Behind the Wheel explores the uniquely gendered landscape of the automobile, detailing the many reasons why cars are both more expensive and more dangerous for women drivers.

The automobile is on the cusp of momentous change. As we advance into the era of electric, connected, and autonomous vehicles, Nichols shows us why we should hit the brakes and look back in the rear-view mirror at this long and fascinating history.

Review: This book did not know what it wanted to be. The author tried a mash-up of a memoir and non-fiction, and I think had she chosen one or other, the book would have been more successful and more interesting. As a big fan of road trips and travel and general, I usually enjoy reading books about the history of transportation, but this one didn't do it for me.

One Perfect Couple

Author: Ruth Ware
Genre: Thriller
Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2024
Pages: 400 (14 hours)
Rating: Do Not Recommend

Synopsis: Lyla is in a bit of a rut. Her post-doctoral research has fizzled out, she's pretty sure they won't extend her contract, and things with her boyfriend, Nico, an aspiring actor, aren't going great. When the opportunity arises for Nico to join the cast of a new reality TV show, One Perfect Couple, she agrees to try out with him.

A whirlwind audition process later, Lyla finds herself whisked off to a tropical paradise with Nico, boating through the Indian Ocean towards Ever After Island, where the two of them will compete against four other couples - Bayer and Angel, Dan and Santana, Joel and Romi, and Conor and Zana - in order to win a cash prize.

But not long after they arrive on the deserted island, things start to go wrong. After the first challenge leaves everyone rattled and angry, an overnight storm takes matters from bad to worse. Cut off from the mainland by miles of ocean, deprived of their phones, and unable to contact the crew that brought them there, the group must band together for survival. As tensions run high and fresh water runs low, Lyla finds that the game show is all too real - and the stakes are life and death.

Review: As per usual, I opted to listen to Ruth Ware's latest novel. Once again, reader extraordinaire, Imogen Church, narrates this novel. If I'm being honest this was not my favorite Ruth Ware novel. The premise is attractive 20 / 30 somethings trying to survive on a remote island for an unforeseen amount of time. There was a lot of rationing and complaining about the lack of food and water, more desperately water. I mean, that's a reasonable worry and focus, but maybe it isn't the best plot for a story. 

The best part of this novel was the ending because it offered explanations and tied up all the loose ends. However, I can confidently say that this is not Ruth Ware's best novel. Moving on.

Ruth Ware Novels
In a Dark, Dark Wood
One by One
The Death of Mrs. Westaway
The It Girl
The Lying Game
The Turn of the Key
The Woman in Cabin 10
Zero Days

The Husbands

Author: Holly Gramazio
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2024
Pages: 351
Rating: Highly Recommend

Synopsis: When Lauren returns home to her flat in London late on night, she is greeted at the door by her husband, Michael. There's only one problem - she's not married. She's never seen this man before in her life. But according to her friends, her much-improved decor, and the photos on her phone, they've been together for years.

As Lauren tries to puzzle out how she could be married to someone she can't remember meeting, Michael goes to the attic to change a light bulb and abruptly disappears. In his place, a new man emerges, and a new, slightly altered life re-forms around her. Realizing that her attic is creating and infinite supply of husbands, Lauren confronts the question: If swapping lives is as easy as changing a light bulb, how do you know you've taken the right path? When do you stop trying to do better and start actually living.

Review: This book was recommended to me by a librarian, and I actually loved it. Fans of Cassandra in Reverse and Oona Out of Order will love it too. I imagine most of us wonder what our life would look like had we chosen another path, or even another man (or woman). This kept me entertained and kept me turning pages.

Not That Fancy

Author: Reba McEntire
Genre: Biography / Cookbook
Publisher: Harper Celebrate, 2023
Pages: 288
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: This book is everything Reba McEntire. With full-color photos, recipes, behind-the-scenes and more, it's perfect for any fan of the country music star, or fans of fascinating life stories in general.

Review: I'm not a fan of this genre, but I do enjoy Reba McEntire's music. I was impressed by some of the recipes she included, and even took photos of a few to make myself. I do not cook. 

I wanted more Reba and less preachy about "how and why I'm so successful," but it was a fun read.

The Incorrigibles

Author: Meredith Jaeger
Genre: Historical Fiction

Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group, 2024
Pages: 368
Rating: Recommend
 

Synopsis: 1890, San Francisco: Seduced by her employer's nephew, Annie Gilmurray, an Irish maid, is accused of stealing the ring he promised her. Sentenced to one year in San Quentin, Annie heartbroken and frightened among the inmates of the women's ward: prostitutes, murderers, and pickpockets. But Annie finds beauty and friendship in a brutal place, where the women look out for one another, dreaming of a better life after release. But their world inside San Quentin's walls is a dangerous one, and when the unthinkable happens, Annie makes a choice that will alter the course of her future forever.

1972, San Francisco: Aspiring photographer Judy Morelli is grappling with the searing betrayal of her husband's infidelity, subletting a San Francisco apartment while she pieces her life back together. When Judy discovers Annie's mugshot, she becomes fascinated and invested not just in Annie's fate but also in the history of her gentrifying South of Market Street neighborhood, joining the fight against redevelopment to maintain its right community.

Review: Dual-timeline novels are hit or miss for me, and when I do like them I generally love the past timeline and could do without the present-day. In this novel, however, I would have preferred a 1970s story from start to finish. I could identify and relate to Judy. Annie's story was difficult to read, and at times, spun its wheels.

Props to whomever came up with this creative and fitting title.

I enjoy Meredith Jaeger's novels, and this was worth the wait.

Other Meredith Jaeger Novels:
Boardwalk Summer
The Dressmaker's Dowry
The Pilot's Daughter

The Maid's Version

Author: Daniel Woodrell
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Little, Brown, and Company, 2014
Pages: 192
Rating: Do Not Recommend

Synopsis: Alma DeGeer Dunahew, the mother of three young boys, works as the maid for a prominent citizen and his family in West Table, Missouri. Her husband is mostly absent, and, in 1929, her scandalous, beloved younger sister is one of the 42 killed in an explosion at the local dance hall. Who is to blame? Mobsters from St. Louis? The embittered local gypsies? The preacher who railed against the loose morals of the waltzing couples? Or could it have been a colossal accident?

Alma thinks she knows the answer - and that its roots lie in a dangerous love affair. Her dogged pursuit of justice makes her an outcast and causes a long-standing rift with her own son. By telling her story to her grandson, she finally gains some solace - and peace for her sister. He is advised to "Tell it. Go on and tell it" - tell the story of his family's struggles, suspicions, secrets, and triumphs.

Review: I found this book browsing the library's shelves, and it sounded interesting. It was definitely interesting, but told from different points-of-view it felt disjointed.

Thin books continue to be a nemesis. I almost always find they take longer to read than longer ones.

The Act of Disappearing

Author: Nathan Gower
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Mira Books, 2024
Pages: 400
Rating: Highly Recommend

Synopsis: Julia White is struggling: her bartending job isn't cutting it and her first book has sold hardly any copies. She's broke, barely able to make ends meet while drowning in her late mother's medical bills and reeling after a one-night stand with her ex-boyfriend, who's now completely ghosted her. Enter Jonathan Aster, world-renowned photographer, with a proposal: he has a never-before-seen photograph of a woman falling from a train bridge, clutching what appears to be a baby. And he wants Julia to research the story.

Alternating between present-day Brooklyn and Kentucky as it enters the 1960s, the story unfolds as Julia races to find answers: Who was the woman in the photographer? Why was she on the bridge? And what happened to the baby? Each detail is more propulsive than the last as Julia unravels the mystery surrounding the Fairchilds of Gray Station and discovers a story more staggering than anything she could have imaged.

Review: I stayed up entirely too late reading, and then woke up early to finish. The story unfolds slowly through alternating timelines, but in such a way that I couldn't stop turning pages. This isn't a novel you've read before with a recycled plot.

The Chilbury Ladies' Choir

Author: Jennifer Ryan
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group, 2017
Pages: 432 (11.5 hours)
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: As England becomes enmeshed in the early days of World War II and the men are away fighting, the women of Chilbury village forge and uncommon bond. They defy the Vicar's stuffy edict to close the choir and instead "carry on singing," resurrecting themselves as the Chilbury Ladies' Choir. We come to know the home-front struggles of five unforgettable choir members: a timid widow devastated when her only son goes to fight; the older daughter of a local scion drawn to a mysterious artist; her younger sister pining over an impossible crush; a Jewish refugee from Czechoslovakia hiding a family secret; and a conniving midwife plotting to outrun her seedy past.

Review: I ran into the library at closing time desperate to choose an audiobook for a two-hour drive to Erie. I grabbed this off the shelf because I had heard good things about it. When I started listening, I thought maybe it was a mistake and I would have enjoyed the print book better, but I gave it a chance and fell in love with it. I loved that music is included at various points to enhance the story.

The author grew up listening to her grandmother's stories about World War II, and pursued a degree in writing to share them. I am so grateful she did.

A Trail So Lonesome

Author: Lacy Williams
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Lacy Williams Books, LLC, 2023
Pages: 274
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: Spending five months eating trail dust wasn't Leo Spencer's first choice. Or his second. He's not one to run away, but some situations can't be fixed and his family - two brothers and a sister - needs to start over. Which is how he finds himself on a westbound wagon train.

Evangeline has a secret, one that has sent her on a journey across the plains on the Oregon Trail. When her father is badly hurt, and she needs help, Leo is there. A deal is struck and the two unlikely friends form and alliance. . .that leads to more.

But Evangeline's secret looms over her, and Leo's family troubles are far from over.

Review: This novel took a bit of time to gain traction and forward momentum, but I enjoyed it. I can't get enough of Oregon Trail stories. I would continue with the series, but my library system doesn't have the second book, Trail of Secrets, so I'll need to see about ordering it.

Note: There is a bonus chapter available at LacyWilliams.com.

Daughter of Mine

Author: Megan Miranda
Genre: Triller
Publisher: S&S / Marysue Rucci Books, 2024
Pages: 368
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: When Hazel Sharp, daughter of Mirror Lake's longtime local detective , unexpectedly inherits her childhood home, she's warily drawn back to the town - and the people - she left behind almost a decade earlier. But Hazel's not the only relic of the past to return: a drought has descended on the region, and as the water level in the lake drops, long-hidden secrets begin to emerge. . .including evidence that may help finally explain the mystery of her mother's disappearance.

Review: This book was just what I needed after reading Kate Quinn's The Briar Club. I love historical fiction, but I needed a change of genre. 

The first chapter sucked me in, and I stayed up way too late reading.

I had meant to read more Megan Miranda novels following All the Missing Girls, and I cannot believe it's been eight years since I read that one. So many books, so little time.

Other Megan Miranda Novels:

All The Missing Girls

The Briar Club

Author: Kate Quinn
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: HarperCollins, 2024
Pages: 432
Rating: Highly Recommend

Synopsis: Washington, D.C., 1950. Everyone keeps to themselves at Briarwood House, a down-at-the-heels all female boardinghouse in the heart of the nation's capital where secrets hide behind white picket fences. But when the lovely, mysterious widow Grace March moves into the attic room, she draws her oddball collection of neighbors into unlikely friendship: poised English beauty Fliss, whose facade of perfect wife and mother covers gaping inner wounds; policeman's daughter Nora, who finds herself entangled with a shadowy gangster; frustrated baseball star Beatrice, whose career has come to an end along with the women's baseball league of WWII; and poisonous, gung-ho Arlene, who has thrown herself into McCarthy's Red Scare.

Grace's weekly attic-room dinner parties and window-brewed sun tea become a healing balm on all their lives, but she hides a terrible secret of her own. When a shocking act of violence tears the house apart, the Briar Club women must decide once and for all: who is the true enemy in their midst.

Review: I've seen Kate Quinn's novels get great reviews in some of my Facebook reading groups, so I was eager to give this new release a try. After a chapter of introduction, the reader meets each character individually, with Nora being the first. I was fully absorbed in Nora's life, and then her chapter ended and the story continued from Reka's perspective. I was still living Nora's life so I was a bit resentful of Reka, but then I fell into her backstory. This author can write. I'm looking forward to more Kate Quinn novels, but I need a break from historical fiction while I continue to absorb this novel.

Help Wanted

Author: Adelle Waldman
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc., 2024
Pages: 288
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: Every day at 3:55a.m., team members of Team Movement clock in for their shift at big-box store Town Square in a small upstate New York town. Under the eyes of a self-absorbed and barely competent boss, they empty the day's truck of merchandise, stock the shelves, and scatter before the store opens and customers arrive. Their lives follow a familiar if grueling routine, but their real problem is that Town Square doesn't schedule them for enough hours - most of them are barely getting by, even while working second or third jobs. When store manager Big Will announces he is leaving, the members of Movement spot an opportunity. If they play their cards right, one of them just might land a management job, with all the stability and possibility for advancement that that implies The members of Team Movement - including a comedy-obsessed oddball who acts half his age, a young woman clinging on to her "cool kid" status from high school, and a college football hopeful trying to find a new path - band together to set a just-so-crazy-it-might-work plot in motion.

Review: This book was highly recommended to me by a my favorite librarian. She and I have similar tastes in books, and enjoy talking about the ones we've both read. I don't think I loved this book as much as she did, but there were laugh out loud moments. There were also poignant and relatable moments.

This book is about everyday people leading everyday lives. I liked it.

In a Dark, Dark Wood

Author: Ruth Ware
Genre: Thriller
Publisher: Galley/Scout Press, 2016
Pages: 352
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: Sometimes the only thing to fear. . .is yourself.

Leonora, known to some as Lee and others as Nora, is a reclusive crime writer, unwilling to leave her nest of an apartment unless it is absolutely necessary. When a friend she hasn't seen or spoken to in years unexpectedly invites her to a weekend away in an eerie glass house deep in the English countryside, she reluctantly agrees to make the trip. Forty-eight hours later, she wakes up in a hospital bed injured but alive, with the knowledge that someone is dead. Wondering not "what happened?" but "what have a I done?", Nora tries to piece together the events of the past weekend. Working to uncover secrets, reveal motives, and find answers, Nora must revisit parts of herself that she would much rather leave buried where they belong: in the past.

Review: This is Ruth Ware's debut novel. Not my favorite of her novels, that honor goes to The It Girl or The Turn of the Key, but if you can let yourself fall into the story this was a solid book. My biggest criticism that I never really did get past, was why did Nora attend the girls weekend in the first place? She's reclusive, she hasn't kept in touch with Claire, and didn't seem interested in addressing events that happened 10 years ago. Had the author done a better job convincing me as the reader that this hen party was Nora's jam, getting into the story would have been easier.

Ruth Ware Novels
One by One
One Perfect Couple
The Death of Mrs. Westaway
The It Girl
The Lying Game
The Turn of the Key
The Woman in Cabin 10
Zero Days

A Happier Life

Author: Kristy Woodson Harvey
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Gallery Books, 2024
Pages: 384
Rating: Highly Recommend

Synopsis: The historic houses in the seaside town of Beaufort, North Carolina, have held the secrets of their inhabitants for centuries. One of the most enduring refuses to be washed away by the tide: What happened to Rebecca and Townsend Saint James on that fateful night of their disappearance in 1976.

Now, the granddaughter they never knew, Keaton Smith, is desperate for a fresh start. So when her mother needs someone to put her childhood home in Beaufort on the market, she jumps at the chance to head south. But the moment she steps foot inside the abandoned house, which has been closed for nearly fifty years, she wonders if she's bitten off more than she can chew. Wading through the detritus of her grandparents' lives, Keaton finds herself enchanted by their southern traditions - and their great, big love. As she gets to know her charming next-door-neighbor, his precocious ten-year-old son, and a flock of endearingly feisty town busybodies, Keaton begins to wonder if the stories she has been told about her grandparents are true.

Keaton's grandmother, Rebecca "Becks" Saint James' annual summer suppers are the stuff of legend, and locals and out-of-towners alike clamor for an invitation to her stunning historic home. But, in the summer of 1976, she's struggling behind the facade of the woman who can do it all - and facing a problem that even she can't solve.

As Keaton and Becks face new challenges and chapters, they are connected through time by the house on Sunset Lane, which has protected the secrets, hopes, and dreams of their family for generations.

The historic houses in the seaside town of Beaufort, North Carolina, have held the secrets of their inhabitants for centuries. One of the most enduring refuses to be washed away by the tide: What happened to Rebecca and Townsend Saint James on that fateful night of their disappearance in 1976?

Now, the granddaughter they never knew, Keaton Smith, is desperate for a fresh start. So when her mother needs someone to put her childhood home in Beaufort on the market, she jumps at the chance to head south. But the moment she steps foot inside the abandoned house, which has been closed for nearly fifty years, she wonders if she’s bitten off more than she can chew. Wading through the detritus of her grandparents’ lives, Keaton finds herself enchanted by their southern traditions—and their great, big love. As she gets to know her charming next-door neighbor, his precocious ten-year-old son, and a flock of endearingly feisty town busybodies, Keaton begins to wonder if the stories she has been told about her grandparents are true.

Keaton’s grandmother, Rebecca “Becks” Saint James’s annual summer suppers are the stuff of legend, and locals and out-of-towners alike clamor for an invitation to her stunning historic home. But, in the summer of 1976, she’s struggling behind the facade of the woman who can do it all—and facing a problem that even she can’t solve.

As Keaton and Becks face new challenges and chapters, they are connected through time by the house on Sunset Lane, which has protected the secrets, hopes, and dreams of their family for generations.

Review: This book is so much better than the cover, and even the title, might suggest. A little bit of romance, a little bit of mystery, family drama, and still with a beach read feel.