Saturday, June 29, 2024

Good Material

 Fiction Dolly Alderton


When Jen breaks up with Andy after four years together, it really knocks him over. Andy, a thirty-five-year-old comedian, really loves Jen and thought they'd be together forever. Now what will he do?

This sounds like a terrible story from that premise but it was really good!. I loved the characters and there were some funny bits too. I did wish for more happily-ever-after.....

I will look for more books by this author!



Thursday, June 27, 2024

The Wrong Daughter

 Amazon Prime Kindle Fiction by Dandy Smith

Thirteen-year-old Olivia and ten-year-old Caitlin are home alone while their parents are out for the evening. Tragically, Olivia disappears that night, leaving Caitlin with a confused story of a masked man who stole her sister. Sixteen years later, Olivia finally returns, but refuses to say where she's been. Caitlin even begins to wonder if the woman who has come home is really Olivia!

Also there's a side plot about Elinor and Heath, a brother and sister who are kept trapped in their family mansion by an evil uncle. It takes way too long to figure out how theses stories connect.

This book was more convoluted than it needed to be in my opinion, and it slipped into unbelievable all too quickly. I ended up skipping a wide swath of the story to try to find out the end. It was okay, I guess...


I also read recently (for free!) by Amazon Prime Kindle: A Mother's Secret

Tuesday, June 25, 2024

The Unforgotten

 Fiction by Laura Powell


Fifteen-year-old Betty Broadbent lives at the Eden Inn in the small town of St. Steele, Cornwall, where her mother is manageress. In the summer of 1956, the inn fills up with reporters chasing the story of the Cornwall Cleaver, a serial killer stalking the area. Betty becomes infatuated with one of the reporters and begins to get more than a glimmer of suspicion about the killer. Still, she is afraid to come forward with what she knows.

Soon the police are closing in on a murder suspect who is eventually charged and jailed. But what if the police have the wrong man? The idea continues to haunt Betty for years, wondering if her silence sent an innocent man to prison. Who was the real Cornwall Cleaver?

This was a pretty good story but I didn't love it. 

Saturday, June 22, 2024

Think Twice

 Fiction by Harlan Coben


This book is number twelve in the Myron Bolitar series. (Number one was Deal Breaker; number eleven was Home) It's pretty rare for me to still be interested in a detective-type character for that long, but with this one, I still am. I actually still like Myron, and the mysteries haven't gotten stale or impossible.

In this story, one of Myron's clients is a suspect in a murder. Now this has happened before --Myron is a lawyer and sports agent-- but this time, the client in question is supposed to be dead. But is he?

This was a good story with lots of surprises.


I also read recently by this author: The Match

Friday, June 21, 2024

Differently Morphous

 Audible Original Fiction by Yahtzee Croshaw


At the beginning of this story, there's a training school in Britain for youngsters who show signs of magical powers. Also there's a secret ministry office that is in charge of all things related to magic. But if you think that you've heard this story before, you haven't.

From the very beginning, it's obvious that this is NOT the relatively benign Britain of Harry Potter. The magic in this story is darker and weirder.

This was a really good story with great characters. I loved it up until the very end, at which point I was confused. Maybe the author is trying to set up for a sequel, but I'm seriously not sure what actually happened.

Still, this is a really good book and an amazingly original one.


I also listened to recently by Audible Originals: The Case of the Felonious Faire

Thursday, June 20, 2024

How the Penguins Saved Veronica

 Fiction by Hazel Prior


I chose this book for its title. Obviously.

It was a fun little story about a crotchety old lady in Scotland called Veronica who became slightly obsessed with fate of penguins in Antarctica.

Sunday, June 16, 2024

Postcards From a Stranger

 Fiction by Imogen Clark


Cara and Michael's father is suffering from Alzheimer's, slipping farther away from them day but day. Well, actually he's slipping away from Cara; Michael checked out of the family a long time ago and leaves the care of the old man to his sister. But then Cara finds some postcards in a box in the attic that make her wonder if she knew her dad at all.

This story was told in a kind of disjointed way, jumping in time and shifting perspective. I liked it okay.


I also read recently by this author: Where the Story Starts