Debbie's bookshelf: all en-US Fri, 27 Jun 2025 18:48:47 -0700 60 Debbie's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry]]> 21445677 here.

In the spirit of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, Gabrielle Zevin’s enchanting novel is a love letter to the world of books--and booksellers--that changes our lives by giving us the stories that open our hearts and enlighten our minds. 

On the faded Island Books sign hanging over the porch of the Victorian cottage is the motto "No Man Is an Island; Every Book Is a World." A. J. Fikry, the irascible owner, is about to discover just what that truly means.

A. J. Fikry’s life is not at all what he expected it to be. His wife has died, his bookstore is experiencing the worst sales in its history, and now his prized possession, a rare collection of Poe poems, has been stolen. Slowly but surely, he is isolating himself from all the people of Alice Island--from Lambiase, the well-intentioned police officer who’s always felt kindly toward Fikry; from Ismay, his sister-in-law who is hell-bent on saving him from his dreary self; from Amelia, the lovely and idealistic (if eccentric) Knightley Press sales rep who keeps on taking the ferry over to Alice Island, refusing to be deterred by A.J.’s bad attitude. Even the books in his store have stopped holding pleasure for him. These days, A.J. can only see them as a sign of a world that is changing too rapidly.

And then a mysterious package appears at the bookstore. It’s a small package, but large in weight. It’s that unexpected arrival that gives A. J. Fikry the opportunity to make his life over, the ability to see everything anew. It doesn’t take long for the locals to notice the change overcoming A.J.; or for that determined sales rep, Amelia, to see her curmudgeonly client in a new light; or for the wisdom of all those books to become again the lifeblood of A.J.’s world; or for everything to twist again into a version of his life that he didn’t see coming. As surprising as it is moving, The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry is an unforgettable tale of transformation and second chances, an irresistible affirmation of why we read, and why we love.

]]> 272 Gabrielle Zevin Debbie 5 A great story with a bit of mystery involved. I didn’t want to stop reading mainly because the characters in this book are so interesting and most very likable. I truly enjoyed it very much.
June 2025 Just watched the movie on Netflix!! And loved it!! Sooo good. ]]> 4.14 2014 The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry
author: Gabrielle Zevin
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2023/02/10
date added: 2025/06/27
shelves:
review:
4.6
A great story with a bit of mystery involved. I didn’t want to stop reading mainly because the characters in this book are so interesting and most very likable. I truly enjoyed it very much.
June 2025 Just watched the movie on Netflix!! And loved it!! Sooo good.
]]> Brooklyn 6411014 Hauntingly beautiful and heartbreaking, Colm Tóibín's sixth novel, Brooklyn, is set in Brooklyn and Ireland in the early 1950s, when one young woman crosses the ocean to make a new life for herself.

Eilis Lacey has come of age in small-town Ireland in the years following World War Two. Though skilled at bookkeeping, she cannot find a job in the miserable Irish economy. When an Irish priest from Brooklyn offers to sponsor Eilis in America--to live and work in a Brooklyn neighborhood "just like Ireland"--she decides she must go, leaving her fragile mother and her charismatic sister behind.

Eilis finds work in a department store on Fulton Street, and when she least expects it, finds love. Tony, a blond Italian from a big family, slowly wins her over with patient charm. He takes Eilis to Coney Island and Ebbets Field, and home to dinner in the two-room apartment he shares with his brothers and parents. He talks of having children who are Dodgers fans. But just as Eilis begins to fall in love with Tony, devastating news from Ireland threatens the promise of her future.]]> 272 Colm Tóibín Debbie 4 Read Long Island first and really enjoyed it.
This is good also and hope there is a third book in this series ]]> 3.94 2009 Brooklyn
author: Colm Tóibín
name: Debbie
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2009
rating: 4
read at: 2025/06/25
date added: 2025/06/25
shelves:
review:
4.2
Read Long Island first and really enjoyed it.
This is good also and hope there is a third book in this series
]]> Final Girls 32796253  
Now, Quincy is doing well—maybe even great, thanks to her Xanax prescription. She has a caring almost-fiancé, Jeff; a popular baking blog; a beautiful apartment; and a therapeutic presence in Coop, the police officer who saved her life all those years ago. Her memory won’t even allow her to recall the events of that night; the past is in the past.
 
That is, until Lisa, the first Final Girl, is found dead in her bathtub, wrists slit, and Sam, the second, appears on Quincy's doorstep. Blowing through Quincy's life like a whirlwind, Sam seems intent on making Quincy relive the past, with increasingly dire consequences, all of which makes Quincy question why Sam is really seeking her out. And when new details about Lisa's death come to light, Quincy's life becomes a race against time as she tries to unravel Sam's truths from her lies, evade the police and hungry reporters, and, most crucially, remember what really happened at Pine Cottage, before what was started ten years ago is finished.]]> 352 Riley Sager 1101985364 Debbie 0 to-read 3.81 2017 Final Girls
author: Riley Sager
name: Debbie
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/06/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Death of a Penniless Poet 204302335 DEATH of a PENNILESS POET

Gabriel Travis – a poet and book binder – has lived and worked above the popular bookshop in Chipping Common for many years. His story is tragic, his murder even more so. The police are convinced the bookshop owner is the culprit; the elderly and erudite, Ezekiel Melnyk.
Adeline Fanshawe is less convinced, indeed she is outraged that the police could even consider such a thing of the venerable bookseller. She naturally turns to Miss Busby, persuading her to bring her sleuthing skills to unpick the truth of the matter. In doing so, Miss Busby uncovers another tragic mystery, one that has lain dormant for far too many years.

If you love Miss Marple, you'll love this!]]> 323 Karen Baugh Menuhin Debbie 0 to-read 4.40 Death of a Penniless Poet
author: Karen Baugh Menuhin
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.40
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/06/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Woman Who Met Herself 223909653 The Last List of Mabel Beaumont. Perfect for fans of Fredrik Backman, Colleen Hoover, and Jojo Moyes. What would you do, if you met your double?

Debbie Jones thinks life is an adventure. Even having lost her husband a year ago, she’s ready for whatever the world might throw her way. Being in her sixties doesn’t mean it’s all over for her yet, and she loves her new job doing neighbourhood support for a charity. Then she knocks on a stranger’s front door.

Ruth Waverley doesn’t like surprises. Her life isn’t perhaps all she once dreamed off, but what other options are there for a woman in her sixties? She’s proud of her home and children. And she likes her life well enough. Then she hears someone knocking at the door.

As the door opens, both Ruth and Debbie get the shock of their lives. As their eyes meet – the recognition is instant. Not because they’ve met before. But because they have the same face. They’re completely identical.

And everything is about to change, for both women. In ways they couldn’t possibly imagine…

Readers love Laura ‘Even when I couldn’t see properly as the tears streamed down my face rivalling the force of the Niagara Falls, I couldn’t put this novel down. It is raw, it is devastating (yes, I’m aware I’ve used that word before but it is!) and yet, it’s wonderful and I absolutely loved it!’ 카지노싸이트 reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘Heartbreaking, uplifting, eye opening… Such a beautiful story.’ 카지노싸이트 reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘Will break and melt your heart in equal measure. A genuinely stunning read!… Absolutely EXQUISITE… A powerful story about friendship, found family, lost love, identity, self-acceptance and living life authentically and to its fullest… A beautiful story that will never leave me.’ 카지노싸이트 reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘Wow… amazing… Straight away it captures your heart, it is so beautifully written and impossible to put down… Have the tissues ready… it feels so real… it stays with you.’ 카지노싸이트 reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘I absolutely loved this book. One of the most enjoyable that I have read this year. It is heartbreaking, beautiful and totally uplifting. It will make you laugh and it will make you cry. It will also make you look back at your own life and examine the decisions and choices that you have made… A really life affirming read.’ 카지노싸이트 reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘Gorgeous… Tender and beautiful… As hopeful as it is heart-breaking… I loved it.’ Amy Beashel, author

‘Captured my heart. It’s a tender and uplifting read… Leaves you feeling warm, hopeful, and satisfied.’ Lisa Timoney, author]]> 306 Laura Pearson 1836034687 Debbie 0 to-read 4.29 2025 The Woman Who Met Herself
author: Laura Pearson
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/05/23
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Cornish Wedding Murder (The Nosey Parker Mysteries #1)]]> 61148867 Jodie ‘Nosey’ Parker is glad to be back in the Cornish village she calls home. Having quit the Met Police in search of something less dangerous, the change of pace means she can finally start her dream catering company and raise her daughter, Daisy, somewhere safer.

But there’s nothing quite like having your first job back at home be catering an ex-boyfriend’s wedding to remind you of just how small your village is. And when the bride vanishes, Jodie is drawn into the investigation, realising that life in the countryside might not be as quaint as she remembers.

With a missing bride on their hands, murder and mayhem lurks around every corner…

But surely saving the day will be a piece of cake for this not-so-amateur sleuth?

This title was previously published as Murder on the Menu.]]> 369 Fiona Leitch Debbie 0 to-read 3.72 2021 The Cornish Wedding Murder (The Nosey Parker Mysteries #1)
author: Fiona Leitch
name: Debbie
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/05/23
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Vera Wong's Guide to Snooping [On a Dead Man] (Vera Wong, #2)]]> 215805924 Vera Wong is back and as meddling as ever in this follow-up to the hit Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers.…

Ever since a man was found dead in Vera's teahouse, life has been good. For Vera that is. She’s surrounded by loved ones, her shop is bustling, and best of all, her son, Tilly, has a girlfriend! All thanks to Vera, because Tilly's girlfriend is none other than Officer Selena Gray. The very same Officer Gray that she had harassed while investigating the teahouse murder. Still, Vera wishes more dead bodies would pop up in her shop, but one mustn't be ungrateful, even if one is slightly...bored.

Then Vera comes across a distressed young woman who is obviously in need of her kindly guidance. The young woman is looking for a missing friend. Fortunately, while cat-sitting at Tilly and Selena's, Vera finds a treasure Selena's briefcase. Inside is a file about the death of an enigmatic influencer—who also happens to be the friend that the young woman was looking for.

Online, Xander had it a parade of private jets, fabulous parties with socialites, and a burgeoning career as a social media influencer. The only problem is, after his body is fished out of Mission Bay, the police can't seem to actually identify him. Who is Xander Lin? Nobody knows. Every contact is a dead end. Everybody claims not to know him, not even his parents.

Vera is determined to solve Xander's murder. After all, doing so would surely be a big favor to Selena, and there is nothing she wouldn't do for her future daughter-in-law.]]> 325 Jesse Q. Sutanto 0593546253 Debbie 0 to-read 4.21 2025 Vera Wong's Guide to Snooping [On a Dead Man] (Vera Wong, #2)
author: Jesse Q. Sutanto
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/05/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Whistle 218671849 New York Times bestselling author Linwood Barclay enters new territory with a supernatural chiller in which a woman and her young son move to a small town looking for a fresh start, only to be haunted by disturbing events and strange visions when they find a mysterious train set in a storage shed.

Evil has a one track mind...

Annie Blunt has had an unimaginably terrible year. First, her husband was killed in a tragic hit-and-run accident, then one of the children’s books she’s built her writing and illustrating career on ignited a major scandal. Desperate for a fresh start, she moves with her son Charlie to a charming small town in upstate New York where they can begin to heal.

But Annie’s year is about to get worse.

Bored and lonely in their isolated new surroundings, Charlie is thrilled when he finds a forgotten train set in a locked shed on their property. Annie is glad to see Charlie happy, but there’s something unsettling about his new toy. Strange sounds wake Annie in the night—she could swear she hears a train, but there isn’t an active track for miles—and bizarre things begin happening in the neighborhood. Worse, Annie can’t seem to stop drawing a disturbing new character that has no place in a children’s book.

Grief can do strange things to the mind, but Annie is beginning to think she’s walked out of one nightmare straight into another, only this one is far more terrifying…]]> 464 Linwood Barclay 0063436035 Debbie 0 to-read 4.00 2025 Whistle
author: Linwood Barclay
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/05/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Pie in the Sky 198348
This stunning book from bestselling author Lois Ehlert features color concepts, backyard natural history, vibrant collage illustrations, and, best of all, a recipe for making cherry pie. Yum!
 ]]> 40 Lois Ehlert 0152165843 Debbie 5 3.67 Pie in the Sky
author: Lois Ehlert
name: Debbie
average rating: 3.67
book published:
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2025/05/17
shelves:
review:

]]> My Apprenticeship 942124 My Apprenticeship, Maxim Gorky (1868-1936) gives an exact account of his own adolescence. After the death of his mother, fourteen-year-old Alexei Peshkov (Gorky) sets out to earn his own living. First he is the errand boy in a shoe shop; then, in turn, a draughtsman's apprentice, a dishwasher on a Volga steamboat, and an apprentice in a studio where icons are painted. Repulsed by the ugly mediocrity of middle-class life, by the "senseless, stupid animosity poisoning the life around him," he constantly searches for something better.

My Apprenticeship (1916) is the second book of Gorky's autobiographical trilogy, each book of which represents and independent work.]]> 368 Maxim Gorky 014044291X Debbie 0 to-read 4.09 1916 My Apprenticeship
author: Maxim Gorky
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.09
book published: 1916
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/05/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Becoming You: The Proven Method for Crafting Your Authentic Life and Career]]> 218553718 An inspiring, wise and highly practical method for discovering your true self and identifying the fulfilling career just for you.

No matter where we are in our lives, be it atop the heights of achievement or just setting out on our journey, we’ve all had that moment where we’ve wondered, “What is my purpose? What was I born to do?” The answer can feel just within our grasp, or as far off as the horizon. How in the world do we get there?

Enter Becoming You, a joyful, deeply researched, and immediately applicable step-by-step guidebook to help you answer that very question. Based on the phenomenally popular NYU class by the same name, and used by thousands of people around the world, Becoming You is an empathic yet absolutely zero-BS method designed to help you understand where you want to go and what you want to do in today’s ever-changing world.

Professor Suzy Welch, a respected expert in careers, decision-making, and identity formation, is the Director of NYU Stern’s Initiative on Purpose and Flourishing. A graduate of Harvard and Harvard Business School, and a former columnist for O: The Oprah Magazine, she has consulted for some of America’s largest companies, is a frequent commentator for the Wall Street Journal, and a regular guest on the Today Show and CNBC. Her previous three books have been New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestsellers, and her fast-growing, authentic, and often hilarious "Becoming You" podcast has fans worldwide.

But more than anything, Professor Welch is a teacher and agent of transformation. After a life filled with wide and varied experiences, from crime reporter to tech entrepreneur, her own purpose is helping others find theirs. She created Becoming You out of fifteen years of researching and testing with the heartfelt goal of helping people discover a way forward in a complex world. To that end, Becoming You guides readers through the process of excavating their truest values, identifying their outstanding aptitudes, and finally, pinpointing their economically viable interests, that is, the kind of work that calls them emotionally and intellectually, and also makes sense financially. Ultimately, Becoming You, at turns warm, witty, pragmatic, and filled with tough-love, is your guide to discovering the life you were meant to live.]]> 304 Suzy Welch 0063418606 Debbie 0 to-read 4.10 Becoming You: The Proven Method for Crafting Your Authentic Life and Career
author: Suzy Welch
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.10
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/05/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Girl With No Name (Detective Josie Quinn, #2)]]> 37803519
A beautiful young woman caught fleeing the scene is Josie's only lead, but when questioned it seems this mysterious girl doesn't know who she is, where she's from or why she's so terrified . . . . Is she a witness, a suspect, or the next victim?

As Josie digs deeper, a letter found hidden in the house convinces her the attack, the missing child, and the nameless woman are linked to a spate of killings across the county, and she is faced with a heartbreaking decision: Should she risk the life of one child to save many others? Or can Josie find another way to stop this killer before any more innocent lives are taken?]]> 337 Lisa Regan 1786813831 Debbie 0 currently-reading 4.15 2018 The Girl With No Name (Detective Josie Quinn, #2)
author: Lisa Regan
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/18
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> The Let Them Theory 216351768
If you've ever felt stuck, overwhelmed, or frustrated with where you are, the problem isn't you. The problem is the power you give to other people. Two simple words—Let Them—will set you free. Free from the opinions, drama, and judgments of others. Free from the exhausting cycle of trying to manage everything and everyone around you. The Let Them Theory puts the power to create a life you love back in your hands—and this book will show you exactly how to do it.

In her latest groundbreaking book, The Let Them Theory, Mel Robbins—New York Times bestselling author and one of the world's most respected experts on motivation, confidence, and mindset—teaches you how to stop wasting energy on what you can't control and start focusing on what truly YOU. Your happiness. Your goals. Your life.

Using the same no-nonsense, science-backed approach that's made The Mel Robbins Podcast a global sensation, Robbins explains why The Let Them Theory is already loved by millions and how you can apply it in eight key areas of your life to make the biggest impact. Within a few pages, you'll realize how much energy and time you've been wasting trying to control the wrong things—at work, in relationships, and in pursuing your goals—and how this is keeping you from the happiness and success you deserve.

Written as an easy-to-understand guide, Robbins shares relatable stories from her own life, highlights key takeaways, relevant research and introduces you to world-renowned experts in psychology, neuroscience, relationships, happiness, and ancient wisdom who champion The Let Them Theory every step of the way.

Learn how

Stop wasting energy on things you can't control Stop comparing yourself to other peopleBreak free from fear and self-doubtRelease the grip of people's expectationsBuild the best friendships of your lifeCreate the love you deservePursue what truly matters to you with confidenceBuild resilience against everyday stressors and distractionsDefine your own path to success, joy, and fulfillment. . . and so much more.

The Let Them Theory will forever change the way you think about relationships, control, and personal power. Whether you want to advance your career, motivate others to change, take creative risks, find deeper connections, build better habits, start a new chapter, or simply create more happiness in your life and relationships, this book gives you the mindset and tools to unlock your full potential.

Order your copy of The Let Them Theory now and discover how much power you truly have. It all begins with two simple words.]]> 311 Mel Robbins 1401971377 Debbie 0 currently-reading 4.12 2024 The Let Them Theory
author: Mel Robbins
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/11
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> Time of the Child 201608156
Doctor Jack Troy was born and raised in Faha, but his responsibilities for the sick and his care for the dying mean he has always been set apart from the town. His eldest daughter, Ronnie, has grown up in her father's shadow, and remains there, having missed one chance at love – and passed up another offer of marriage from an unsuitable man.

But in the Advent season of 1962, as the town readies itself for Christmas, Ronnie and Doctor Troy's lives are turned upside down when a baby is left in their care. As the winter passes, father and daughter's lives, the understanding of their family, and their role in their community are changed forever.

Set over the course of one December in the same village as Williams' beloved This Is Happiness, Time of the Child is a tender return to Faha for readers who know its charms, and a heartwarming welcome to new readers entering for the very first time.]]> 304 Niall Williams 1639734201 Debbie 0 currently-reading 4.15 2024 Time of the Child
author: Niall Williams
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/11
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Women Holding Things: A Visual Celebration of Women's Lives and Roles]]> 60194116 From the critically acclaimed artist, designer, and author of the bestsellers The Principles of Uncertainty and My Favorite Things comes a wondrous collection of words and paintings that is a moving meditation on the beauty and complexity of women's lives and roles, revealed in the things they hold.

"What do women hold? The home and the family. And the children and the food. The friendships. The work. The work of the world. And the work of being human. The memories. And the troubles. And the sorrows and the triumphs. And the love."

In the spring of 2021, Maira and Alex Kalman created a small, limited-edition booklet "Women Holding Things," which featured select recent paintings by Maira, accompanied by her insightful and deeply personal commentary. The booklet quickly sold out. Now, the Kalmans have expanded that original publication into this extraordinary visual compendium.

Women Holding Things includes the bright, bold images featured in the booklet as well as an additional sixty-seven new paintings highlighted by thoughtful and intimate anecdotes, recollections, and ruminations. Most are portraits of women, both ordinary and famous, including Virginia Woolf, Sally Hemings, Hortense Cezanne, Gertrude Stein, as well as Kalman's family members and other real-life people. These women hold a range of objects, from the mundane--balloons, a cup, a whisk, a chicken, a hat--to the abstract--dreams and disappointments, sorrow and regret, joy and love.

Kalman considers the many things that fit physically and metaphorically between women's hands: We see a woman hold a book, hold shears, hold children, hold a grudge, hold up, hold her own. In visually telling their stories, Kalman lays bare the essence of women's lives--their tenacity, courage, vulnerability, hope, and pain. Ultimately, she reveals that many of the things we hold dear--as well as those that burden or haunt us--remain constant and connect us from generation to generation.

Here, too, are pictures of a few men holding things, such as Rainer Maria Rilke and Anton Chekhov, as well as objects holding other objects that invite us to ponder their intimate relationships to one another.

Women Holding Things explores the significance of the objects we carry--in our hands, hearts, and minds--and speaks to, and for, all of us. Maira Kalman's unique work is a celebration of life, of the act and the art of living, offering an original way of examining and understanding all that is important in our world--and ultimately within ourselves.]]> 176 Maira Kalman 0062846671 Debbie 5 I also am watching The Residence on Netflix and I noticed the illustrations and was like … wait is that Maira??? So of course I googled it while I was watching the show and yes, it is her. I love it. It makes me even love the show more.
Check out all of her books.. her art is so fun.
I especially like the rooms and house furnishings! Oh and the expressions on the faces.
If you love art and quirky… this book is for you.
Oh and I almost forgot it has a great message and holding…..]]> 4.55 Women Holding Things: A Visual Celebration of Women's Lives and Roles
author: Maira Kalman
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.55
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2025/04/11
date added: 2025/04/11
shelves:
review:
I had to buy the book!!! I own many of her children’s books that I have collected over the years. I LOVE her art.. it’s quirky and fun and amazing!!
I also am watching The Residence on Netflix and I noticed the illustrations and was like … wait is that Maira??? So of course I googled it while I was watching the show and yes, it is her. I love it. It makes me even love the show more.
Check out all of her books.. her art is so fun.
I especially like the rooms and house furnishings! Oh and the expressions on the faces.
If you love art and quirky… this book is for you.
Oh and I almost forgot it has a great message and holding…..
]]> No. 23 Burlington Square 185040105
On the morning of Friday 5th February, 1927, Miss Agnes Humphries – the landlady of the attractive, if-slightly shabby, white-fronted townhouse at Number 23 Burlington Square – has a decision to make.

The rooms of the second floor lie empty, since poor Mr Blandford’s unfortunate demise, God rest his soul. And Agnes must make up her mind as to who will be her new lodger… Will it be her spirited, young niece Clara, who drifts through the glamorous world of London’s Bright Young Things? Or Stephen, the sensible, church-going, respectable banker who seems just be too good to be true? Or the timid war widow named Mercy, who is clearly running from something – or someone…?

Agnes must choose between them. But what will her decision lead to? One of the choices could result in scandal, one in devastation, and one could even lead to happiness. If only she gets it right…

As all three lodgers enter Number 23, in alternate timelines, relationships are formed and destroyed, feathers are ruffled, and secrets are exposed. Three different choices. Three very different paths. And Agnes is to discover that nobody – including herself – is quite who they seem…]]> 426 Jenni Keer 178513955X Debbie 0 to-read 4.19 2023 No. 23 Burlington Square
author: Jenni Keer
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Strange Journey of Alice Pendelbury]]> 41038946
Alice Pendelbury believes everything in her life is pretty much in order—from her good friends to her burgeoning career. But even Alice has to admit it’s been an odd week. Not only has her belligerent neighbor, Mr. Daldry, suddenly become a surprisingly agreeable confidant, but he’s encouraging her to take seriously the fortune-teller who told her that only by traveling to Turkey can Alice meet the most important person in her life.

What’s more, the peculiarly insistent Mr. Daldry has even agreed to finance Alice’s trip—one that against all reason seems to be predestined. It’s on this journey, crazy from the outset and strangely irresistible, that Alice will find out that nothing in her life is real, that her past is not true, and that the six people she’s about to encounter will shape her future in ways she could never have dreamed.]]> 283 Marc Levy 1542090563 Debbie 5 Brought back my favorite childhood smells .. of Christmas. I enjoyed this book very much.
The narrator had a very beautiful British accent. Although sometimes it was hard to differentiate between the characters because her voice pretty much stayed the same throughout. I enjoyed so much of the descriptions I enjoyed the descriptions of the paintings and the intersections, and the towns and the smells.Plus the story kept you going along. I could see this as a movie and I would definitely go see it.]]> 4.06 2011 The Strange Journey of Alice Pendelbury
author: Marc Levy
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/13
date added: 2025/04/10
shelves:
review:
4.6
Brought back my favorite childhood smells .. of Christmas. I enjoyed this book very much.
The narrator had a very beautiful British accent. Although sometimes it was hard to differentiate between the characters because her voice pretty much stayed the same throughout. I enjoyed so much of the descriptions I enjoyed the descriptions of the paintings and the intersections, and the towns and the smells.Plus the story kept you going along. I could see this as a movie and I would definitely go see it.
]]> <![CDATA[The Funny Thing About Norman Foreman]]> 53288454 A triumphant and touching debut about the unlikeliest superstar you’ll ever meet.

Twelve-year-old Norman Foreman and his best friend, Jax, are a legendary comedic duo in waiting, with a plan to take their act all the way to the Edinburgh Fringe. But when Jax dies, Norman decides the only fitting tribute is to perform at the festival himself. The problem is, Norman’s not the funny one. Jax was.

There’s also another, far more colossal objective on Norman’s new plan that his single mom, Sadie, wasn’t ready for: he wants to find the father he’s never known. Determined to put a smile back on her boy’s face, Sadie resolves to face up to her own messy past, get Norman to the Fringe and help track down a man whose identity is a mystery, even to her.

Julietta Henderson’s delightfully charming, tender and uplifting debut takes us on a road trip with a mother and son who will live in the reader’s heart for a long time to come, and teaches us that—no matter the odds—we must always reach for the stars.]]> 400 Julietta Henderson 0778331954 Debbie 0 to-read 4.09 2021 The Funny Thing About Norman Foreman
author: Julietta Henderson
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Bookworm: A Memoir of Childhood Reading]]> 28501495
When Lucy Mangan was little, stories were everything. They opened up new worlds and cast light on all the complexities she encountered in this one.

She was whisked away to Narnia – and Kirrin Island – and Wonderland. She ventured down rabbit holes and womble burrows into midnight gardens and chocolate factories. She wandered the countryside with Milly-Molly-Mandy, and played by the tracks with the Railway Children. With Charlotte’s Web she discovered Death and with Judy Blume it was Boys. No wonder she only left the house for her weekly trip to the library or to spend her pocket money on amassing her own at home.

In Bookworm, Lucy revisits her childhood reading with wit, love and gratitude. She relives our best-beloved books, their extraordinary creators, and looks at the thousand subtle ways they shape our lives. She also disinters a few forgotten treasures to inspire the next generation of bookworms and set them on their way.

Lucy brings the favourite characters of our collective childhoods back to life – prompting endless re-readings, rediscoveries, and, inevitably, fierce debate – and brilliantly uses them to tell her own story, that of a born, and unrepentant, bookworm.]]> 336 Lucy Mangan 0224098853 Debbie 0 to-read 3.92 2018 Bookworm: A Memoir of Childhood Reading
author: Lucy Mangan
name: Debbie
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/09
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Dictionary of Lost Words 54814839 Oxford English Dictionary. Young Esme's place is beneath the sorting table, unseen and unheard. One day a slip of paper containing the word "bondmaid" flutters to the floor. She rescues the slip, and when she learns that the word means slave-girl, she withholds it from the OED and begins to collect words that show women in a more positive light.

As she grows up, Esme realizes that words and meanings relating to women's and common folks' experiences often go unrecorded. And so she begins in earnest to search out words for her own dictionary: The Dictionary of Lost Words. To do so she must leave the sheltered world of the university and venture out to meet the people whose words will fill those pages.

Set during the height of the women's suffrage movement with the Great War looming, The Dictionary of Lost Words reveals a lost narrative, hidden between the lines of a history written by men. Based on actual events and combed from author Pip Williams's experience delving into the archives of the Oxford English Dictionary, this highly original novel is a delightful, lyrical, and deeply thought-provoking celebration of words and the power of language to shape the world.]]> 376 Pip Williams 0593160193 Debbie 4 What an interesting story.. yes about words. If you have ever wanted to know where words came from and how they got their meaning.. you will really enjoy this book.
Based on fact and made into an interesting story.. it makes it interesting and thought provoking.
Especially, considering the time the Oxford Dictionary was first put together. Victorian white men?….?
I think it could make a very lively book club pick. ]]> 3.93 2020 The Dictionary of Lost Words
author: Pip Williams
name: Debbie
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/09
date added: 2025/04/09
shelves:
review:
4.2
What an interesting story.. yes about words. If you have ever wanted to know where words came from and how they got their meaning.. you will really enjoy this book.
Based on fact and made into an interesting story.. it makes it interesting and thought provoking.
Especially, considering the time the Oxford Dictionary was first put together. Victorian white men?….?
I think it could make a very lively book club pick.
]]> The Martian Chronicles 76778
The Martian Chronicles tells the story of humanity’s repeated attempts to colonize the red planet. The first men were few. Most succumbed to a disease they called the Great Loneliness when they saw their home planet dwindle to the size of a fist. They felt they had never been born. Those few that survived found no welcome on Mars. The shape-changing Martians thought they were native lunatics and duly locked them up.

But more rockets arrived from Earth, and more, piercing the hallucinations projected by the Martians. People brought their old prejudices with them – and their desires and fantasies, tainted dreams. These were soon inhabited by the strange native beings, with their caged flowers and birds of flame.

Contents:
Rocket Summer
Ylla
The Summer Night
The Earth Men
The Taxpayer
The Third Expedition
-And the Moon Be Still As Bright
The Settlers
The Green Morning
The Locusts
Night Meeting
The Shore
Interim
The Musicians
Way in the Middle of the Air
The Naming of Names
Usher II
The Old Ones
The Martian
The Luggage Store
The Off Season
The Watchers
The Silent Towns
The Long Years
There Will Come Soft Rains
The Million Year Picnic]]> 182 Ray Bradbury 0553278223 Debbie 0 to-read 4.16 1950 The Martian Chronicles
author: Ray Bradbury
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.16
book published: 1950
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/09
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Ravenmaster: My Life with the Ravens at the Tower of London]]> 37877606
The responsibility for ensuring that such a disaster never comes to pass falls to one man: the Ravenmaster. The current holder of the position is Yeoman Warder Christopher Skaife, and in this fascinating, entertaining and touching book he memorably describes the ravens’ formidable intelligence, their idiosyncrasies and their occasionally wicked sense of humour. The Ravenmaster is a compelling, inspiring and irreverent story that will delight and surprise anyone with an interest in British history or animal behaviour.

 ]]> 256 Christopher Skaife 1443455938 Debbie 0 to-read 4.00 2018 The Ravenmaster: My Life with the Ravens at the Tower of London
author: Christopher Skaife
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[House of Roots and Ruin (Sisters of the Salt, #2)]]> 62649010 A modern masterpiece, this is a classic Gothic thriller-fantasy from New York Times bestselling author Erin A. Craig, about doomed love, menacing ambition, and the ghosts that haunt us forever.

In a manor by the sea, one sister is still cursed.

Despite dreams of adventures far beyond the Salann shores, seventeen-year-old Verity Thaumas has remained at her family’s estate, Highmoor, with her older sister Camille, while their sisters have scattered across Arcannia.

When their sister Mercy sends word that the Duchess of Bloem—wife of a celebrated botanist—is interested in having Verity paint a portrait of her son, Alexander, Verity jumps at the chance, but Camille won’t allow it. Forced to reveal the secret she’s kept for years, Camille tells Verity the truth one day: Verity is still seeing ghosts, she just doesn’t know it.

Stunned, Verity flees Highmoor that night and—with nowhere else to turn—makes her way to Bloem. At first, she is captivated by the lush, luxurious landscape and is quickly drawn to charming, witty, and impossibly handsome Alexander Laurent. And soon, to her surprise, a romance . . . blossoms.

But it’s not long before Verity is plagued with nightmares, and the darker side of Bloem begins to show through its sickly-sweet façade. . . .]]> 544 Erin A. Craig 0593482557 Debbie 0 to-read 4.10 2023 House of Roots and Ruin (Sisters of the Salt, #2)
author: Erin A. Craig
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Seven Sisters (The Seven Sisters, #1)]]> 22609358
Eighty years earlier in Rio’s Belle Epoque of the 1920s, Izabela Bonifacio’s father has aspirations for his daughter to marry into the aristocracy. Meanwhile, architect Heitor da Silva Costa is devising plans for an enormous statue, to be called Christ the Redeemer, and will soon travel to Paris to find the right sculptor to complete his vision. Izabela—passionate and longing to see the world—convinces her father to allow her to accompany him and his family to Europe before she is married. There, at Paul Landowski’s studio and in the heady, vibrant cafes of Montparnasse, she meets ambitious young sculptor Laurent Brouilly, and knows at once that her life will never be the same again.

In this sweeping, epic tale of love and loss—the first in a unique, spellbinding series of seven novels—Lucinda Riley showcases her storytelling talent like never before.]]> 460 Lucinda Riley 1476759901 Debbie 4 Oh my gosh!! What a long book! I will say that it had something going on all the time. There really wasn’t any boring areas but it was soooo long. And now I want to know about the other sisters!
This book was recommended to me by a sales person in a bookstore in Cork Ireland. So I bought the paper book. I believe I will listen on audio to the next one and I can make better time on it.
The story is very intriguing…
Just read it for your self. ]]> 4.16 2014 The Seven Sisters (The Seven Sisters, #1)
author: Lucinda Riley
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/06
date added: 2025/04/06
shelves:
review:
4.3
Oh my gosh!! What a long book! I will say that it had something going on all the time. There really wasn’t any boring areas but it was soooo long. And now I want to know about the other sisters!
This book was recommended to me by a sales person in a bookstore in Cork Ireland. So I bought the paper book. I believe I will listen on audio to the next one and I can make better time on it.
The story is very intriguing…
Just read it for your self.
]]> <![CDATA["Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!": Adventures of a Curious Character]]> 35167685 A New York Times bestseller—the outrageous exploits of one of this century's greatest scientific minds and a legendary American original.


Richard Feynman, winner of the Nobel Prize in physics, thrived on outrageous adventures. Here he recounts in his inimitable voice his experience trading ideas on atomic physics with Einstein and Bohr and ideas on gambling with Nick the Greek; cracking the uncrackable safes guarding the most deeply held nuclear secrets; accompanying a ballet on his bongo drums; painting a naked female toreador. In short, here is Feynman's life in all its eccentric—a combustible mixture of high intelligence, unlimited curiosity, and raging chutzpah.]]> 400 Richard P. Feynman 0393355624 Debbie 0 to-read 4.25 1985 "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!": Adventures of a Curious Character
author: Richard P. Feynman
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.25
book published: 1985
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Cumberland Tales 36946128 connected. It is about the small town of Cumberland located on
the west coast of Canada. In the early years of the town, it was
bustling with coal miners and loggers. Bar fights were not uncommon in those days, but today, it consists of an artistic collection of young people who have changed the town. Indeed, today, many people want to live in this little town nestled in the valley of the Beaufort Mountains.

The book is about the old days of Cumberland. A time when the town not only had a large white community, but it also had a large Chinese, Japanese, Italian, and Black communities. The book was written by Frank Wayne, a man who lived in that town during the 1950's, 60's, and 70's.

Cumberland is a great town to be from, and I am proud to say I am from Cumberland. The book I have written consists of poetry and prose (a poem precedes each chapter). Some stories are real, others are not. The book has elements of realism and magic realism. A great book for those who want a quick escape.]]> 290 Frank Wayne 1973838397 Debbie 0 to-read 4.38 The Cumberland Tales
author: Frank Wayne
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.38
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> A Little Princess 3008
This unique and fully annotated edition appends excerpts from Frances Hodgson Burnett 's original 1888 novella Sara Crewe and the stage play that preceded the novel, as well as an early story, "Behind the White Brick," allowing readers to see how A Little Princess evolved. In his delightful introduction, U. C. Knoepflmacher considers the fairy-tale allusions and literary touchstones that place the book among the major works of Victorian literature, and shows it to be an exceptionally rich and resonant novel.]]> 242 Frances Hodgson Burnett 0142437018 Debbie 5 What a charming book. It really can help you feel better about the world.. just put yourself in Sarah’s mindset.
As we know much of our worry and sadness is how we look at things.
This book would make a wonderful family read along. It’s just the right length.
I may need to watch the movie now. ]]> 4.22 1905 A Little Princess
author: Frances Hodgson Burnett
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.22
book published: 1905
rating: 5
read at: 2025/04/04
date added: 2025/04/04
shelves:
review:
5 Stars ⭐️ !!!
What a charming book. It really can help you feel better about the world.. just put yourself in Sarah’s mindset.
As we know much of our worry and sadness is how we look at things.
This book would make a wonderful family read along. It’s just the right length.
I may need to watch the movie now.
]]> <![CDATA[The Beggar Maid: Stories of Flo and Rose]]> 14284 210 Alice Munro 0679732713 Debbie 0 to-read 3.99 1978 The Beggar Maid: Stories of Flo and Rose
author: Alice Munro
name: Debbie
average rating: 3.99
book published: 1978
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Broken Country 214151202 A love triangle unearths dangerous, deadly secrets from the past in this thrilling tale perfect for fans of The Paper Palace and Where the Crawdads Sing.

“The farmer is dead. He is dead, and all anyone wants to know is who killed him.”

Beth and her gentle, kind husband Frank are happily married, but their relationship relies on the past staying buried. But when Beth’s brother-in-law shoots a dog going after their sheep, Beth doesn’t realize that the gunshot will alter the course of their lives. For the dog belonged to none other than Gabriel Wolfe, the man Beth loved as a teenager—the man who broke her heart years ago. Gabriel has returned to the village with his young son Leo, a boy who reminds Beth very much of her own son, who died in a tragic accident.

As Beth is pulled back into Gabriel’s life, tensions around the village rise and dangerous secrets and jealousies from the past resurface, this time with deadly consequences. Beth is forced to make a choice between the woman she once was, and the woman she has become.

A sweeping love story with the pace and twists of a thriller, Broken Country is a novel of simmering passion, impossible choices, and explosive consequences that toggles between the past and present to explore the far-reaching legacy of first love.]]> 320 Clare Leslie Hall 166807818X Debbie 0 to-read 4.35 2025 Broken Country
author: Clare Leslie Hall
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A World of Curiosities (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #18)]]> 60899502 Chief Inspector Armand Gamache returns in the eighteenth book in #1 New York Times bestseller Louise Penny's beloved series.

It’s spring and Three Pines is reemerging after the harsh winter. But not everything buried should come alive again. Not everything lying dormant should reemerge.

But something has.

As the villagers prepare for a special celebration, Armand Gamache and Jean-Guy Beauvoir find themselves increasingly worried. A young man and woman have reappeared in the Sûreté du Québec investigators’ lives after many years. The two were young children when their troubled mother was murdered, leaving them damaged, shattered. Now they’ve arrived in the village of Three Pines.

But to what end?

Gamache and Beauvoir’s memories of that tragic case, the one that first brought them together, come rushing back. Did their mother’s murder hurt these children beyond repair? Have those terrible wounds, buried for decades, festered, and are they now about to erupt?

As Chief Inspector Gamache works to uncover answers, his alarm grows when a letter written by a long-dead stonemason is discovered. In it, the man describes his terror when bricking up an attic room somewhere in the village. Every word of the 160-year-old letter is filled with dread. When the room is found, the villagers decide to open it up.

As the bricks are removed, Gamache, Beauvoir, and the villagers discover a world of curiosities. But the head of homicide soon realizes there’s more in that room than meets the eye. There are puzzles within puzzles, and hidden messages warning of mayhem and revenge.

In unsealing that room, an old enemy is released into their world. Into their lives. And into the very heart of Armand Gamache’s home.]]> 390 Louise Penny 1250145295 Debbie 4 For me the first half of the book was not as good as I had hoped for Louise Penney. But the last half made up for it. I have read all of her books up to this one and maybe I am not as much a series girl as some are.
I really loved her first few books. I loved Three Pines and of course Inspector Gamache, Have I changed or have they? ]]> 4.32 2022 A World of Curiosities (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #18)
author: Louise Penny
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/01
date added: 2025/04/01
shelves:
review:
3.7
For me the first half of the book was not as good as I had hoped for Louise Penney. But the last half made up for it. I have read all of her books up to this one and maybe I am not as much a series girl as some are.
I really loved her first few books. I loved Three Pines and of course Inspector Gamache, Have I changed or have they?
]]> Cacophony of Bone 70034173
Cacophony of Bone maps the circle of a year - a journey from one place to another, field notes of a life - from one winter, to the next. It is a telling of a changed life, in a changed world - and it is about all that does not change. All that which simply keeps on - living and breathing, nesting and dying - in spite of it all. When the pandemic came time seemed to shapeshift, so this is also a book about time. It is, too, a book about home, and what that can mean. Fragmentary in subject and form, fluid of language, this is an ode to a year, a place, and a love, that changed a life.]]> 288 Kerri ní Dochartaigh 1838856285 Debbie 3 So, I really haven’t finished it. It’s the kind of book to put on your night stand and read the month that you are in at the time.
One of my favorite parts is the names of the moons for the specific month. ]]> 3.80 2023 Cacophony of Bone
author: Kerri ní Dochartaigh
name: Debbie
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/31
date added: 2025/03/31
shelves:
review:
3.5 Really this is a slow poetic type of a book about the year and the seasons.
So, I really haven’t finished it. It’s the kind of book to put on your night stand and read the month that you are in at the time.
One of my favorite parts is the names of the moons for the specific month.
]]> The Midnight Rose 18143789 Spanning four generations, The Midnight Rose sweeps from the glittering palaces of the great maharajas of India to the majestic stately homes of England, following the extraordinary life of a remarkable girl, Anahita Chaval, from 1911 to the present day . . .

In the heyday of the British Raj, eleven-year-old Anahita, from a noble but impoverished family, forms a lifelong friendship with the headstrong Princess Indira, the privileged daughter of Indian royalty. As the princess's official companion, Anahita accompanies her friend to England just before the outbreak of World War I. There, she meets young Donald Astbury—reluctant heir to the magnificent, remote Astbury Estate—and his scheming mother.

Ninety years later, Rebecca Bradley, a young American film star, has the world at her feet. But when her turbulent relationship with her equally famous boyfriend takes an unexpected turn, she's relieved that her latest role, playing a 1920s debutante, will take her away from the glare of publicity to a distant corner of the English countryside. Shortly after filming begins at the now-crumbling Astbury Hall, Ari Malik, Anahita's great-grandson, arrives unexpectedly, on a quest for his family's past. What he and Rebecca discover begins to unravel the dark secrets that haunt the Astbury dynasty . . .

A multilayered, heartbreaking tale filled with unforgettable characters caught in the sweep of history, The Midnight Rose is Lucinda Riley at her most captivating and unforgettable.]]> 496 Lucinda Riley 1476703574 Debbie 0 to-read 4.33 2013 The Midnight Rose
author: Lucinda Riley
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Storm Sister (The Seven Sisters, #2)]]> 25905342
Ally has also recently embarked on a deeply passionate love affair that will change her destiny forever. But with her life now turned upside down, Ally decides to leave the open seas and follow the trail that her father left her, which leads her to the icy beauty of Norway...

There, Ally begins to discover her roots - and how her story is inextricably bound to that of a young unknown singer, Anna Landvik, who lived there over 100 years before, and sang in the first performance of Grieg's iconic music set to Ibsen's play 'Peer Gynt'. As Ally learns more about Anna, she also begins to question who her father, Pa Salt, really was. And why is the seventh sister missing?

Following the bestselling The Seven Sisters, The Storm Sister is the second book in Lucinda Riley's spellbinding series based loosely on the mythology surrounding the famous star constellation.]]> 513 Lucinda Riley Debbie 0 to-read 4.23 2015 The Storm Sister (The Seven Sisters, #2)
author: Lucinda Riley
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Sipsworth 113877384
Following the deaths of her husband and son, Helen Cartwright returns to the English village of her childhood after living abroad for six decades. Her only wish is to die quickly and without fuss.

Helen retreats into her home on Westminster Crescent, becoming a creature of routine and habit. Then, one cold autumn night, a chance encounter with an abandoned pet mouse on the street outside her house sets Helen on a surprising journey of friendship.

Sipsworth is a reminder that there can be second chances. No matter what we have planned for ourselves, sometimes the world has plans of its own. Simon Van Booy’s lyrical storytelling is a delight even as it will fill your heart.]]> 240 Simon Van Booy 1567927947 Debbie 4 And it’s the perfect length! ]]> 4.10 2024 Sipsworth
author: Simon Van Booy
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/27
date added: 2025/03/27
shelves:
review:
4.0 I really like Helen. I really like this story. If you like stories about cranky old people with a very good heart then you will too. You might even like Sipsworth also.
And it’s the perfect length!
]]> I Am the Messenger 19057 protect the diamonds
survive the clubs
dig deep through the spades
feel the hearts

Ed Kennedy is an underage cabdriver without much of a future. He's pathetic at playing cards, hopelessly in love with his best friend, Audrey, and utterly devoted to his coffee-drinking dog, the Doorman. His life is one of peaceful routine and incompetence until he inadvertently stops a bank robbery.

That's when the first ace arrives in the mail.

That's when Ed becomes the messenger.

Chosen to care, he makes his way through town helping and hurting (when necessary) until only one question remains: Who's behind Ed's mission?]]> 357 Markus Zusak Debbie 4 Honestly, kept me turning pages!!! And the ending is very intriguing.
I won’t give any spoilers.. it’s a big mystery.. and at the end I still have questions. I enjoyed it … makes you think.
Try it.. I think you will like it. ]]> 4.03 2002 I Am the Messenger
author: Markus Zusak
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2002
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/24
date added: 2025/03/24
shelves:
review:
4.0
Honestly, kept me turning pages!!! And the ending is very intriguing.
I won’t give any spoilers.. it’s a big mystery.. and at the end I still have questions. I enjoyed it … makes you think.
Try it.. I think you will like it.
]]> <![CDATA[The Misremembered Man (Tailorstown #1)]]> 13051316 The Misremembered Man is a beautifully rendered portrait of life in rural Ireland which charms and delights with its authentic characters and gentle humor. This vivid portrayal of the universal search for love brings with it a darker tale, heartbreaking in its poignancy.]]> 307 Christina McKenna Debbie 4 3.98 2008 The Misremembered Man (Tailorstown #1)
author: Christina McKenna
name: Debbie
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/21
date added: 2025/03/21
shelves:
review:
3.9 And this is why you keep a list of all the books you read. I bought this on Audible many years ago and I thought I better listen to this. As I listened, it became more and more familiar. But I read it so long ago it was before I kept track of the books I read. Anyway, the book was so good that I thought I don’t really remember at all and it’s good so I’ll just go ahead and listen to it again and I did this way I can give it a review.
]]> <![CDATA[Joyful Recollections of Trauma: A Hilariously Cathartic Memoir-in-Essays of Childhood Turmoil, Self Healing, and Finding Happiness]]> 197449225 256 Paul Scheer 0063293714 Debbie 0 to-read 4.14 2024 Joyful Recollections of Trauma: A Hilariously Cathartic Memoir-in-Essays of Childhood Turmoil, Self Healing, and Finding Happiness
author: Paul Scheer
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/19
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Disenchanted Widow 18800555 It’s 1981 and Belfast is burning. So, too, is freshly widowed Bessie Halstone: she burns with a desire to break with her troubled past. With her feckless husband gone, she leaves home hurriedly with her naughty nine-year-old son, Herkie, and not much else. The Dentist, an IRA enforcer, is on her tail. He’s convinced that Bessie, with her “yella hair all puffed up like Merlin Monroe’s,” has absconded with the takings from a bank heist.

But car trouble strands mother and son in Tailorstown, a sleepy Ulster village. Bessie finds temporary work as housekeeper for the handsome and mysterious parish priest.

In the meantime, Lorcan Strong, an artist and a native of the village, is summoned home. He’s been shanghaied into forging paintings for the IRA. It’s work he cannot refuse; his mother and their business are under threat.

Yet things are not what they seem in quirky Tailorstown. There is a “sleeper” in the village. But who? Bizarrely, it is young Herkie, due to his childish curiosity, who unravels the mystery and saves the day.

]]> 399 Christina McKenna 1611091837 Debbie 0 to-read 3.91 2013 The Disenchanted Widow
author: Christina McKenna
name: Debbie
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/19
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Bring Up the Bodies (Thomas Cromwell, #2)]]> 13507212 9780805090031)

Though he battled for years to marry her, Henry VIII has become disenchanted with the audacious Anne Boleyn. She has failed to give him a son, and her sharp intelligence and strong will have alienated his old friends and the noble families of England.

When the discarded Katherine, Henry's first wife, dies in exile from the court, Anne stands starkly exposed, the focus of gossip and malice, setting in motion a dramatic trial of the queen and her suitors for adultery and treason.

At a word from Henry, Thomas Cromwell is ready to bring her down. Over a few terrifying weeks, Anne is ensnared in a web of conspiracy, while the demure Jane Seymour stands waiting her turn for the poisoned wedding ring. But Anne and her powerful family will not yield without a ferocious struggle. To defeat the Boleyns, Cromwell must ally himself with his enemies. What price will he pay for Annie's head?]]> 412 Hilary Mantel Debbie 0 to-read 4.26 2012 Bring Up the Bodies (Thomas Cromwell, #2)
author: Hilary Mantel
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> A Killing on the Hill 181840722 The Great Depression. High-level corruption. And a murder that’s about to become Seattle’s hottest mystery. It’s the kind of story that can make a reporter’s career. If he lives to write about it.

Seattle, 1933. The city is in the grips of the Great Depression, Prohibition, and vice. Cutting his teeth on a small-time beat, hungry and ambitious young reporter William “Shoe” Shumacher gets a tip that could change his career. There’s been a murder at a social club on Profanity Hill—an underworld magnet for vice crimes only a privileged few can afford. The story is going to be front-page news, and Shoe is the first reporter on the scene.

The victim, Frankie Ray, is a former prizefighter. His accused killer? Club owner and mobster George Miller, who claims he pulled the trigger in self-defense. Soon the whole town’s talking, and Shoe’s first homicide is fast becoming the Trial of the Century. The more Shoe digs, the more he’s convinced nothing is as it seems. Not with a tangle of conflicting stories, an unlikely motive, and witnesses like Miller’s girlfriend, a glamour girl whose pretty lips are sealed. For now.

In a city steeped in old west debauchery, Shoe’s following every lead to a very dangerous place—one that could bring him glory and fame or end his life.]]> 352 Robert Dugoni 1662500246 Debbie 0 to-read 4.23 2024 A Killing on the Hill
author: Robert Dugoni
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Close to Home (Tracy Crosswhite, #5)]]> 33845132
While investigating the hit-and-run death of a young boy, Seattle homicide detective Tracy Crosswhite makes a startling discovery: the suspect is an active-duty serviceman at a local naval base. After a key piece of case evidence goes missing, he is cleared of charges in a military court. But Tracy knows she can’t turn her back on this kind of injustice.

When she uncovers the driver’s ties to a rash of recent heroin overdoses in the city, she realizes that this isn’t just a case of the military protecting its own. It runs much deeper than that, and the accused wasn’t acting alone. For Tracy, it’s all hitting very close to home.

As Tracy moves closer to uncovering the truth behind this insidious conspiracy, she’s putting herself in harm’s way. And the only people she can rely on to make it out alive might be those she can no longer trust.]]> 414 Robert Dugoni 1542095018 Debbie 0 to-read 4.32 2017 Close to Home (Tracy Crosswhite, #5)
author: Robert Dugoni
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Northanger Abbey 50398 Northanger Abbey is often referred to as Jane Austen's "Gothic parody." Decrepit castles, locked rooms, mysterious chests, cryptic notes, and tyrannical fathers give the story an uncanny air, but one with a decidedly satirical twist.

The story's unlikely heroine is Catherine Morland, a remarkably innocent seventeen-year-old woman from a country parsonage. While spending a few weeks in Bath with a family friend, Catherine meets and falls in love with Henry Tilney, who invites her to visit his family estate, Northanger Abbey. Once there, Catherine, a great reader of Gothic thrillers, lets the shadowy atmosphere of the old mansion fill her mind with terrible suspicions. What is the mystery surrounding the death of Henry's mother? Is the family concealing a terrible secret within the elegant rooms of the Abbey? Can she trust Henry, or is he part of an evil conspiracy? Catherine finds dreadful portents in the most prosaic events, until Henry persuades her to see the peril in confusing life with art.

Executed with high-spirited gusto, Northanger Abbey is a lighthearted, yet unsentimental commentary on love and marriage.]]> 260 Jane Austen 1593082649 Debbie 4 3.86 1817 Northanger Abbey
author: Jane Austen
name: Debbie
average rating: 3.86
book published: 1817
rating: 4
read at: 2021/07/23
date added: 2025/03/17
shelves:
review:
I listened to a special Audible performance of this fable. It was done very well but I dare say I think that I could have retained more knowledge of this tale if I had been reading the account in a paper version which I could lay my eyes upon said story and visit the previous pages to discern items of unremarkable remembrance.
]]> How to Read a Book 62365896 A charming, deeply moving novel about second chances, unlikely friendships, and the life-changing power of sharing stories.

Our Reasons meet us in the morning and whisper to us at night. Mine is an innocent, unsuspecting, eternally sixty-one-year-old woman named Lorraine Daigle…

Violet Powell, a twenty-two-year-old from rural Abbott Falls, Maine, is being released from prison after serving twenty-two months for a drunk-driving crash that killed a local kindergarten teacher. Harriet Larson, a retired English teacher who runs the prison book club, is facing the unsettling prospect of an empty nest. Frank Daigle, a retired machinist, hasn’t yet come to grips with the complications of his marriage to the woman Violet killed.

When the three encounter each other one morning in a bookstore in Portland—Violet to buy the novel she was reading in the prison book club before her release, Harriet to choose the next title for the women who remain, and Frank to dispatch his duties as the store handyman—their lives begin to intersect in transformative ways.

How to Read a Book  is an unsparingly honest and profoundly hopeful story about letting go of guilt, seizing second chances, and the power of books to change our lives. With the heart, wit, grace, and depth of understanding that has characterized her work, Monica Wood illuminates the decisions that define a life and the kindnesses that make life worth living.  . ]]> 288 Monica Wood 0063243679 Debbie 0 not-for-me-now 4.20 2024 How to Read a Book
author: Monica Wood
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at: 2025/03/16
date added: 2025/03/16
shelves: not-for-me-now
review:

]]> Franny and Zooey 5113 ‘Everything everybody does is so—I don’t know—not wrong, or even mean, or even stupid necessarily. But just so tiny and meaningless and—sad-making. And the worst part is, if you go bohemian or something crazy like that, you’re conforming just as much only in a different way.’

First published in The New Yorker as two sequential stories, ‘Franny’ and ‘Zooey’ offer a dual portrait of the two youngest members of J. D. Salinger’s fictional Glass family.

Franny Glass is a pretty, effervescent college student on a date with her intellectually confident boyfriend, Lane. They appear to be the perfect couple, but as they struggle to communicate with each other about the things they really care about, slowly their true feelings come to the surface. The second story in this book, ‘Zooey’, plunges us into the world of her ethereal, sophisticated family. When Franny’s emotional and spiritual doubts reach new heights, her older brother Zooey, a misanthropic former child genius, offers her consolation and brotherly advice.

Written in Salinger’s typically irreverent style, these two stories offer a touching snapshot of the distraught mindset of early adulthood and are full of the insightful emotional observations and witty turns of phrase that have helped make Salinger’s reputation what it is today.]]> 201 J.D. Salinger 0316769029 Debbie 0 to-read 3.97 1957 Franny and Zooey
author: J.D. Salinger
name: Debbie
average rating: 3.97
book published: 1957
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/16
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Ordinary Time: Lessons Learned While Staying Put―A Biographical Exploration of the Unexpected Joys of a Quiet Life]]> 216724329 In her first book, the popular From the Front Porch podcast host and independent bookstore owner challenges the idea that loud lives are the ones that matter most, reminding us that we don't have to leave the lives we have in order to have the lives of which we've always dreamed.

Can life be an adventure, even when it’s just . . . ordinary?

Annie Jones always assumed adulthood would mean a high-powered career; life in a big, bustling city; and travels to far-flung places she’d longed to see. But her reality turned out differently. As the years passed, Annie was still in the same small town running an independent bookstore —the kind of life Nora Ephron dreamed.

During that time, she hosted friends’ goodbye parties and mailed parting gifts; wrote recommendation letters and wished former shop staffers well. She stayed in her small town, despite her love of big cities; stayed in her marriage to the guy she met when she was 18; and she stayed at her bookstore while the world outside shifted steadily toward digital retailers. And she stayed loyal to a faith she sometimes didn’t recognize.

After ten years, Annie realized she might never leave. But instead of regret, she had an epiphany. She awakened to the gifts of a quiet life spent staying put.

In Ordinary Time, Annie challenges the idea that loud lives matter most. Rummaging through her small-town existence, she finds hidden gifts of humor and hope from a life lived quietly. Staying, can itself be a radical act. It takes courage to stay in the places we’ve always called home, Jones argues, as she paints a portrait of possibility far away from thriving metropolises and Monica Gellar-inspired apartments.

We’ve long been encouraged to follow our dreams, to pack up and move to new places and leave old lives—and past selves—behind. While there is beauty in these kinds of adventures, Ordinary Time helps us see ourselves right where we in the middle of messy, mundane lives, maybe not too far from where we grew up. We don’t have to leave to find what we yearn—we can choose to stay, celebrating and honoring our ordinary lives, which might turn out to be bigger and better than we ever imagined. 


]]> 240 Annie B. Jones 006341127X Debbie 0 to-read 4.22 Ordinary Time: Lessons Learned While Staying Put―A Biographical Exploration of the Unexpected Joys of a Quiet Life
author: Annie B. Jones
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.22
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[If Cats Disappeared from the World]]> 40740914
Because how do you decide what makes life worth living? How do you separate out what you can do without from what you hold dear? In dealing with the Devil our narrator will take himself – and his beloved cat – to the brink. Genki Kawamura's If Cats Disappeared from the World is a story of loss and reconciliation, of one man’s journey to discover what really matters in modern life.

This beautiful tale is translated from the Japanese by Eric Selland, who also translated The Guest Cat by Takashi Hiraide. Fans of The Guest Cat and The Travelling Cat Chronicles will also surely love If Cats Disappeared from the World.]]> 202 Genki Kawamura 1509889175 Debbie 4 I sure enjoyed the premise. There were things that would have been very interesting to go into depth about… no cell phones.. no clocks.. but they didn’t
I like a book that makes me think.. what if… or what about.. and this one did.
If you want a thought provoking short book.. I say go for it. ]]> 3.77 2012 If Cats Disappeared from the World
author: Genki Kawamura
name: Debbie
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/15
date added: 2025/03/15
shelves:
review:
3.8
I sure enjoyed the premise. There were things that would have been very interesting to go into depth about… no cell phones.. no clocks.. but they didn’t
I like a book that makes me think.. what if… or what about.. and this one did.
If you want a thought provoking short book.. I say go for it.
]]> <![CDATA[The Knight and the Butcherbird]]> 224970641
In this gritty, haunting tale about doing whatever it takes for love, a small-town storyteller resolves to keep the local monster—and her own secrets—safe from a legendary knight.

Nestled deep in the steep hills, valleys, and surrounding woodlands lies Iron Hollow, a rural community beset by demons. Such horrors are common in the outlands, where most folks die young, if they don’t turn into monsters first. But what’s causing these transformations?

No one has the answer, not even the town’s oral historian, seventeen-year-old Shrike. And when a legendary knight is summoned to hunt down the latest beast to haunt their woods, Shrike has more reason than most to be concerned. Because that demon was her wife. And while Shrike is certain that May still recognizes her—that May is still human, somewhere beneath it all—she can’t prove it.

Determined to keep May safe, Shrike stalks the knight and his demon-hunting hawk through the recesses of the forest. But as they creep through toxic creeks and overgrown kudzu, Shrike realizes the knight has a secret of his own. And he’ll do anything to protect it.]]> 36 Alix E. Harrow 1662527233 Debbie 0 to-read 3.98 2025 The Knight and the Butcherbird
author: Alix E. Harrow
name: Debbie
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Come Rain or Come Shine (Mitford Years, #13)]]> 24875378  
Over the course of ten Mitford novels, fans have kept a special place in their hearts for Dooley Kavanagh, first seen in At Home in Mitford as a barefoot, freckle-faced boy in filthy overalls.
 
Now, Father Tim Kavanagh’s adopted son has graduated from vet school and opened his own animal clinic. Since money will be tight for a while, maybe he and Lace Harper, his once and future soul mate, should keep their wedding simple.
 
By the way, it’s a pretty casual affair, so come as you are and remember to bring a tissue or two. After all, what’s a good wedding without a good cry?]]> 287 Jan Karon 0399167455 Debbie 0 to-read 4.14 2015 Come Rain or Come Shine (Mitford Years, #13)
author: Jan Karon
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Somewhere Safe with Somebody Good (Mitford Years, #12)]]> 20702311
His adopted son, Dooley, wrestles with his own passions—for the beautiful and gifted Lace Turner and his vision to become a successful country vet. Dooley’s brother, Sammy, still enraged by his mother’s abandonment, destroys one of Father Tim’s prized possessions. And Hope Murphy, owner of Happy Endings bookstore, struggles with the potential loss of her unborn child and her hard-won business.
All this as Wanda’s Feel Good Café opens, a romance catches fire through an Internet word game, their former mayor hatches a re-election campaign to throw the bums out, and the weekly Muse poses a probing inquiry: Does Mitford still take care of its own?

Millions of fans will applaud the chance to spend time, once more, in the often comic and utterly human presence of Jan Karon’s characters. Indeed, they have never been more sympathetic, bighearted, and engaging. ]]> 511 Jan Karon 0399167447 Debbie 0 to-read 4.26 2014 Somewhere Safe with Somebody Good (Mitford Years, #12)
author: Jan Karon
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[To Be Where You Are (Mitford Years #14)]]> 34152958 A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

#1 New York Times-bestselling author Jan Karon returns with the fourteenth novel in the beloved Mitford series, featuring three generations of Kavanaghs.

Wounds heal, bonds grow stronger, and celebrations continue...Welcome back to beloved Mitford.

After twelve years of wrestling with the conflicts of retirement, Father Tim Kavanagh realizes he doesn't need a steady job to prove himself. Then he's given one. As for what it proves, heaven only knows.

Millions of Karon fans will be thrilled that it's life as usual in the wildly popular Mitford series: A beloved town character lands a front-page obituary, but who was it, exactly, who died? And what about the former mayor, born the year Lindbergh landed in Paris, who's still running for office? All this, of course, is but a feather on the wind compared to Muse editor J.C. Hogan's desperate attempts to find a cure for his marital woes. Will it be high-def TV or his pork-chop marinade? In fiction, as in real life, there are no guarantees.

Twenty minutes from Mitford at Meadowgate Farm, newlyweds Dooley and Lace Kavanagh face a crisis that devastates their bank account and impacts their family vet practice. But there is still a lot to celebrate, as their adopted son, Jack, looks forward to the most important day of his life--with great cooking, country music, and lots of people who love him. Happily, it will also be a day when the terrible wound in Dooley's biological family begins to heal because of a game--let's just call it a miracle--that breaks all the rules.

In To Be Where You Are, Jan Karon weaves together the richly comic and compelling lives of two Kavanagh families, and a cast of characters that readers around the world now love like kin.

]]> 450 Jan Karon 0399183736 Debbie 0 to-read 4.27 2017 To Be Where You Are (Mitford Years #14)
author: Jan Karon
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Women 126918788
Women can be heroes. When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances "Frankie" McGrath hears these words, it is a revelation. Raised in the sun-drenched, idyllic world of Southern California and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing. But in 1965, the world is changing, and she suddenly dares to imagine a different future for herself. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path.

As green and inexperienced as the men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is over-whelmed by the chaos and destruction of war. Each day is a gamble of life and death, hope and betrayal; friendships run deep and can be shattered in an instant. In war, she meets—and becomes one of—the lucky, the brave, the broken, and the lost.

But war is just the beginning for Frankie and her veteran friends. The real battle lies in coming home to a changed and divided America, to angry protesters, and to a country that wants to forget Vietnam.

The Women is the story of one woman gone to war, but it shines a light on all women who put themselves in harm's way and whose sacrifice and commitment to their country has too often been forgotten. A novel about deep friendships and bold patriotism, The Women is a richly drawn story with a memorable heroine whose idealism and courage under fire will come to define an era.]]> 472 Kristin Hannah Debbie 4 Not Sure What To Say

3.8 I wouldn’t have read this book except for the fact my book group is reading it. I graduated from high school in 1969 and I really didn’t want to relive the Vietnam War. Even though I was not there obviously. It seems like the author did a lot of research and the story was interesting.

The negative for me was how contrived it was .. the guys all falling for Frankie, oh thought you were dead but you are alive,
You said you were not engaged but you are married, meeting unexpectedly at the beach at somewhere else. Much of that was too much for me.

It’s a good story not a great book for me. I am sure it will be a movie. ]]> 4.70 2024 The Women
author: Kristin Hannah
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.70
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/11
date added: 2025/03/11
shelves:
review:
Not Sure What To Say

3.8 I wouldn’t have read this book except for the fact my book group is reading it. I graduated from high school in 1969 and I really didn’t want to relive the Vietnam War. Even though I was not there obviously. It seems like the author did a lot of research and the story was interesting.

The negative for me was how contrived it was .. the guys all falling for Frankie, oh thought you were dead but you are alive,
You said you were not engaged but you are married, meeting unexpectedly at the beach at somewhere else. Much of that was too much for me.

It’s a good story not a great book for me. I am sure it will be a movie.
]]> The Berry Pickers 123036004 A four-year-old Mi’kmaq girl goes missing from the blueberry fields of Maine, sparking a tragic mystery that haunts the survivors, unravels a community, and remains unsolved for nearly fifty years.

July 1962. A Mi’kmaq family from Nova Scotia arrives in Maine to pick blueberries for the summer. Weeks later, four-year-old Ruthie, the family’s youngest child, vanishes. She is last seen by her six-year-old brother, Joe, sitting on a favorite rock at the edge of a berry field. Joe will remain distraught by his sister’s disappearance for years to come.

In Maine, a young girl named Norma grows up as the only child of an affluent family. Her father is emotionally distant, her mother frustratingly overprotective. Norma is often troubled by recurring dreams and visions that seem more like memories than imagination. As she grows older, Norma slowly comes to realize there is something her parents aren’t telling her. Unwilling to abandon her intuition, she will spend decades trying to uncover this family secret.

For readers of The Vanishing Half and Woman of Light, this showstopping debut by a vibrant new voice in fiction is a riveting novel about the search for truth, the shadow of trauma, and the persistence of love across time.]]> 307 Amanda Peters 1646221958 Debbie 3 For me this book was okay. Nothing really outstanding.
It never got to any of my real emotions.
I have so many books I want to read .. and I have to raise my standards. I am looking for more 4 and a half and 5 Star books. ]]> 4.03 2023 The Berry Pickers
author: Amanda Peters
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/10
date added: 2025/03/10
shelves:
review:
3.7
For me this book was okay. Nothing really outstanding.
It never got to any of my real emotions.
I have so many books I want to read .. and I have to raise my standards. I am looking for more 4 and a half and 5 Star books.
]]> Wild Dark Shore 211004089
Dominic Salt and his three children are caretakers of Shearwater, a tiny island not far from Antarctica. Home to the world’s largest seed bank, Shearwater was once full of researchers, but with sea levels rising, the Salts are now its final inhabitants. Until, during the worst storm the island has ever seen, a woman mysteriously washes ashore.

Isolation has taken its toll on the Salts, but as they nurse the woman, Rowan, back to strength, it begins to feel like she might just be what they need. Rowan, long accustomed to protecting herself, starts imagining a future where she could belong to someone again.

But Rowan isn’t telling the whole truth about why she set out for Shearwater. And when she discovers sabotaged radios and a freshly dug grave, she realizes Dominic is keeping his own secrets. As the storms on Shearwater gather force, they all must decide if they can trust each other enough to protect the precious seeds in their care before it’s too late―and if they can finally put the tragedies of the past behind them to create something new, together.

A novel of breathtaking twists, dizzying beauty, and ferocious love, Wild Dark Shore is about the impossible choices we make to protect the people we love, even as the world around us disappears.]]> 298 Charlotte McConaghy 1250827957 Debbie 0 to-read 4.19 2025 Wild Dark Shore
author: Charlotte McConaghy
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> All About Evie 43984782 Set against the natural beauty of the San Juan Islands in the Pacific Northwest, acclaimed author Cathy Lamb's latest novel tells the emotionally compelling story of one woman's life-changing discovery about her past . . .

As a child, Evie Lindsay was unnerved by her premonitions. As an adult, they have become a simple fact of life--sometimes disruptive but also inescapable, much like her quirky, loveable family. Evie's mother, Poppy, and her aunts, Camellia and Iris, are well known on San Orcanita island for their free-spirited ways and elaborately decorated hats. Their floral shop and Evie's bookstore draw streams of visitors all summer long. This season promises to be extra busy: Evie's sister, Jules, is getting married on the island.

As Jules plans her unconventional wedding, she arranges to do a DNA test with her mother, sister, and aunts, to see how much accepted lore about their heritage holds true. The results blow apart everything Evie has grown up believing about herself and her family. Spurred on by the revelations, Evie uncovers the real story of her past. But beyond her feelings of shock and betrayal, there are unexpected opportunities--to come to terms with a gift that has sometimes felt like a curse, to understand the secrets that surrounded her childhood, and to embrace the surprising new life that is waiting for her . . .]]> 480 Cathy Lamb 1496709853 Debbie 4 This is the second book I have read by this author and this so much better! ]]> 3.86 2019 All About Evie
author: Cathy Lamb
name: Debbie
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/28
date added: 2025/02/28
shelves:
review:
This book is pretty fun. The characters are quirky and the writing has a type of innocence. There are really no surprises but it’s a nice ride.
This is the second book I have read by this author and this so much better!
]]> Be Frank With Me 33013893
When Alice Whitley arrives at the Banning mansion, she’s put to work right away—as a full-time companion to Frank, the writer’s eccentric nine-year-old, a boy with the wit of Noël Coward, the wardrobe of a 1930s movie star, and very little in common with his fellow fourth graders.

As she gets to know Frank, Alice becomes consumed with finding out who his father is, how his gorgeous “piano teacher and itinerant male role model” Xander fits into the Banning family equation—and whether Mimi will ever finish that book.

Full of heart and countless only-in-Hollywood moments, Be Frank With Me is a captivating and heartwarming story of an unusual mother and son, and the intrepid young woman who finds herself irresistibly pulled into their unforgettable world.]]> 309 Julia Claiborne Johnson Debbie 0 to-read 4.14 2016 Be Frank With Me
author: Julia Claiborne Johnson
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year]]> 123087784 The Comfort of Crows, Margaret Renkl presents a literary devotional: fifty-two chapters that follow the creatures and plants in her backyard over the course of a year. As we move through the seasons—from a crow spied on New Year’s Day, its resourcefulness and sense of community setting a theme for the year, to the lingering bluebirds of December, revisiting the nest box they used in spring—what develops is a portrait of joy and grief: joy in the ongoing pleasures of the natural world, and grief over winters that end too soon and songbirds that grow fewer and fewer.

Along the way, we also glimpse the changing rhythms of a human life. Grown children, unexpectedly home during the pandemic, prepare to depart once more. Birdsong and night-blooming flowers evoke generations past. The city and the country where Renkl raised her family transform a little more with each passing day. And the natural world, now in visible flux, requires every ounce of hope and commitment from the author—and from us. For, as Renkl writes, “radiant things are bursting forth in the darkest places, in the smallest nooks and deepest cracks of the hidden world.”

With fifty-two original color artworks by the author’s brother, Billy Renkl, The Comfort of Crows is a lovely and deeply moving book from a cherished observer of the natural world.]]> 270 Margaret Renkl 1954118465 Debbie 0 to-read 4.17 2023 The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year
author: Margaret Renkl
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Salt Path 38085814
They have almost no money for food or shelter and must carry only the essentials for survival on their backs as they live wild in the ancient, weathered landscape of cliffs, sea and sky. Yet through every step, every encounter, and every test along the way, their walk becomes a remarkable journey.

The Salt Path is an honest and life-affirming true story of coming to terms with grief and the healing power of the natural world. Ultimately, it is a portrayal of home, and how it can be lost, rebuilt, and rediscovered in the most unexpected ways.]]> 288 Raynor Winn 0241349648 Debbie 5 Bought this book at the Heathrow Airport on my first ever trip to England! The cover captured me.
I just finished this book and so enjoyed the long and salty journey we went on together.
This little book taught me that if you think you can’t, you have another think coming!
Hugs to my new friends Moth and Ray
Update 2/2025 Movie due out!! Can’t wait]]> 3.96 2018 The Salt Path
author: Raynor Winn
name: Debbie
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2024/09/13
date added: 2025/02/21
shelves:
review:
4.8 stars!
Bought this book at the Heathrow Airport on my first ever trip to England! The cover captured me.
I just finished this book and so enjoyed the long and salty journey we went on together.
This little book taught me that if you think you can’t, you have another think coming!
Hugs to my new friends Moth and Ray
Update 2/2025 Movie due out!! Can’t wait
]]> <![CDATA[The Cold Dish (Walt Longmire, #1)]]> 109901 354 Craig Johnson 0143036424 Debbie 4 One of my all time favorite series is Longmire which I watched on Netflix. So well written and acted and filmed! Exciting and some humor and each episode was as good as most movies!
So I was intrigued about the Longmire books. I just finished the first one and it was good. Just not as good as the Netflix Series. And even more surprisingly the book is a bit more adult than the shows! The tv show really didn’t have any strong language that I recall. There is a bit in the book but not bad.
I really think a lot of people will love the Longmire
Book series, but if you haven’t watched the TV series do yourself a favor and watch and immerse yourself in the Real Longmire. lol]]> 4.07 2004 The Cold Dish (Walt Longmire, #1)
author: Craig Johnson
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2004
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/17
date added: 2025/02/21
shelves:
review:
4.0
One of my all time favorite series is Longmire which I watched on Netflix. So well written and acted and filmed! Exciting and some humor and each episode was as good as most movies!
So I was intrigued about the Longmire books. I just finished the first one and it was good. Just not as good as the Netflix Series. And even more surprisingly the book is a bit more adult than the shows! The tv show really didn’t have any strong language that I recall. There is a bit in the book but not bad.
I really think a lot of people will love the Longmire
Book series, but if you haven’t watched the TV series do yourself a favor and watch and immerse yourself in the Real Longmire. lol
]]> <![CDATA[Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art]]> 136814 256 Madeleine L'Engle 087788918X Debbie 5 Awesome book and now we are reading it for my bookclub!
So much to discuss...]]> 4.22 1980 Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art
author: Madeleine L'Engle
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.22
book published: 1980
rating: 5
read at: 2015/02/02
date added: 2025/02/21
shelves:
review:
4.4
Awesome book and now we are reading it for my bookclub!
So much to discuss...
]]> The Thorn Birds 3412
The central figures in this enthralling story are the indomitable Meggie, the only Cleary daughter, and the one man she truly loves, the stunningly handsome and ambitious priest Ralph de Bricassart. Ralph's course moves him a long way indeed, from a remote Outback parish to the halls of the Vatican; and Meggie's except for a brief and miserable marriage elsewhere, is fixed to the Drogheda that is part of her bones - but distance does not dim their feelings though it shapes their lives.

Wonderful characters people this book; strong and gentle, Paddy, hiding a private memory; dutiful Fiona, holding back love because it once betrayed her, violent, tormented Frank, and the other hardworking Cleary sons who give the boundless lands of Drogheda the energy and devotion most men save for women; Meggie; Ralph; and Meggie's children, Justine and Dane. And the land itself; stark, relentless in its demands, brilliant in its flowering, prey to gigantic cycles of drought and flood, rich when nature is bountiful, surreal like no other place on earth.

Alternate Cover Edition ISBN 0380018179 (ISBN13: 9780380018178)]]> 692 Colleen McCullough Debbie 5 Oh MY GOSH!! How I loved living in the land of The Thorn Birds!! This is a huge book/ audiobook and usually I would be checking how much more!! But nooo this family saga was one I didn’t want it to end.
I know I am late to this book but like Ann Patchett says if you haven’t read it.. it’s new to you!
I never watched the TV series either cause I never cared for Richard Chamberlain.. and lucky for me Archbishop Ralph in the book he is tall dark and so handsome !
If you are ready for well drawn characters and a long family saga with lots of moments that may ring true .. listen to it or read it.
Oh and normally I am pretty prudish but this book has a few open bedroom door settings but it didn’t bother me in this book that just seemed so real not put in for just explicit parts that didn’t need to be there.
Thank you Colleen and the narrator!!
A classic for sure]]> 4.24 1977 The Thorn Birds
author: Colleen McCullough
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.24
book published: 1977
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/22
date added: 2025/02/21
shelves:
review:
5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Oh MY GOSH!! How I loved living in the land of The Thorn Birds!! This is a huge book/ audiobook and usually I would be checking how much more!! But nooo this family saga was one I didn’t want it to end.
I know I am late to this book but like Ann Patchett says if you haven’t read it.. it’s new to you!
I never watched the TV series either cause I never cared for Richard Chamberlain.. and lucky for me Archbishop Ralph in the book he is tall dark and so handsome !
If you are ready for well drawn characters and a long family saga with lots of moments that may ring true .. listen to it or read it.
Oh and normally I am pretty prudish but this book has a few open bedroom door settings but it didn’t bother me in this book that just seemed so real not put in for just explicit parts that didn’t need to be there.
Thank you Colleen and the narrator!!
A classic for sure
]]> I Heard the Owl Call My Name 106931
Here amid the grandeur of British Columbia stands the village of Kingcome, a place of salmon runs and ancient totems - a village so steeped in time that, according to Kwakiutl legend, it was founded by two brothers left on earth after the great flood. Yet in this Eden of such natural beauty and richness, the old culture of totems and potlaches is under attack - slowly being replaced by a new culture of prefab houses and alcoholism. Into this world, where an entire generation of young people has become disenchanted and alienated from their heritage, Craven introduces Mark Brian, a young vicar sent to the small isolated parish by his church.

This is Mark's journey of discovery - a journey that will teach him about life, death, and the transforming power of love. It is a journey that will resonate in the mind of readers long after the book is done.
]]> 145 Margaret Craven 1550413392 Debbie 5 What a brief powerful book. About life and people and struggles and love and letting go. I can see why some of the reviewers said this is their all time favorite book!
I loved it and it will be a classic for me.]]> 4.03 1967 I Heard the Owl Call My Name
author: Margaret Craven
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.03
book published: 1967
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/25
date added: 2025/02/21
shelves:
review:
4.8 stars
What a brief powerful book. About life and people and struggles and love and letting go. I can see why some of the reviewers said this is their all time favorite book!
I loved it and it will be a classic for me.
]]> <![CDATA[Anne of Green Gables (Anne of Green Gables, #1)]]> 8127 Anne of Green Gables is also a wonderful portrait of a time, a place, a family… and, most of all, love.

WITH AN AFTERWORD BY JENNIFER LEE CARELL]]> 320 L.M. Montgomery 0451528824 Debbie 5 Why oh why didn’t I write a review back when I read this wonderful book!! I know I loved it. … I gave it 5 stars and I feel love for Anne and Marilla when I think of this book. I also love every TV version I have seen.
When I was a young girl our older next door neighbors gave me the book and I believe I still have it.
Please, read it and share it with others.]]> 4.31 1908 Anne of Green Gables (Anne of Green Gables, #1)
author: L.M. Montgomery
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.31
book published: 1908
rating: 5
read at: 2010/06/25
date added: 2025/02/21
shelves:
review:
5 stars
Why oh why didn’t I write a review back when I read this wonderful book!! I know I loved it. … I gave it 5 stars and I feel love for Anne and Marilla when I think of this book. I also love every TV version I have seen.
When I was a young girl our older next door neighbors gave me the book and I believe I still have it.
Please, read it and share it with others.
]]> The Winter People 18007535
Now, in present day, nineteen-year-old Ruthie lives in Sara's farmhouse with her mother, Alice, and her younger sister. Alice has always insisted that they live off the grid, a decision that has weighty consequences when Ruthie wakes up one morning to find that Alice has vanished. In her search for clues, she is startled to find a copy of Sara Harrison Shea's diary hidden beneath the floorboards of her mother's bedroom. As Ruthie gets sucked into the historical mystery, she discovers that she's not the only person looking for someone that they've lost. But she may be the only one who can stop history from repeating itself.]]> 317 Jennifer McMahon 0385538499 Debbie 4 The ending will not sit well with feminists but this is the way things were in the 40’s. We’ve come a long way baby.
The ending was a bit aggravating for me.. I wanted to shake someone! lol
Still a fun 40’s type mystery.]]> 3.80 2014 The Winter People
author: Jennifer McMahon
name: Debbie
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/17
date added: 2025/02/21
shelves:
review:
4 stars This book made me feel as if I was watching a dramatic 1940’s movie and I loved it!! Once you get in that mindset.. it’s great! Just like TCM !
The ending will not sit well with feminists but this is the way things were in the 40’s. We’ve come a long way baby.
The ending was a bit aggravating for me.. I wanted to shake someone! lol
Still a fun 40’s type mystery.
]]> The Shipping News 7354
A vigorous, darkly comic, and at times magical portrait of the contemporary American family, The Shipping News shows why E. Annie Proulx is recognized as one of the most gifted and original writers in America today.
(back cover)]]> 337 Annie Proulx 0743225422 Debbie 1 not-for-me-now 3.88 1993 The Shipping News
author: Annie Proulx
name: Debbie
average rating: 3.88
book published: 1993
rating: 1
read at:
date added: 2025/02/21
shelves: not-for-me-now
review:
This was a long time ago.. I know I didn’t finish this. Maybe I should try again?
]]> A Prayer for Owen Meany 4473 637 John Irving 0552135399 Debbie 5 Just read it!! Such memorable characters and events!! ]]> 4.24 1989 A Prayer for Owen Meany
author: John Irving
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.24
book published: 1989
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2025/02/21
shelves:
review:
5 stars PLUS!! One of my all time favorites! Unforgettable even many years later.
Just read it!! Such memorable characters and events!!
]]> <![CDATA[Calm Christmas and a Happy New Year: A little book of festive joy]]> 51374630 This is a book about Christmas. But it's also a book about belonging, connection, self-care, joy and ordinary magic.

Calm Christmas and a Happy New Year offers inspiration for a new kind of holiday season - one where you radiate calm and cultivate delight. Spanning late November to early January, Calm Christmas embraces the festive build-up, the celebrations and the turn of the year in a holistic, nurturing way. Beth Kempton will whisk you away from the frenetic energy of the high street and invite you to come sit awhile by the fire, pausing to explore what a more mindful festive season could mean for you.

Full of personal stories, tips and advice for slowing down, staying calm and connecting with others, it offers a welcome retreat from the pressure to create 'the perfect Christmas'.

At its heart Calm Christmas is about a book about wellbeing in winter, which will encourage you to use this time of natural hibernation to germinate new dreams and nurture a beautiful life in the year ahead. Instead of entering January exhausted, further in debt, and already regretting broken resolutions, you will begin the New Year with precious memories, feeling rested, rejuvenated and inspired.

This atmospheric book will lead you through the darkness of winter, back to the enchantment of an authentic and meaningful Christmas and New Year.

]]> 240 Beth Kempton 0349423547 Debbie 4 Well you know when you talk about some of the issues of Christmas.. like giving the best present.. the unforgettable present.. yes it does trigger my anxiety.
I listened to the book on audio and the author reads it.. or tells it so lovely with her sweet and soothing accent.
It was a delight to listen to.
On the other hand there are some parts you will want to reread and also do some of her classes for learning what suits you best with the holidays and that would be nice to have the actual paper book.
It is short and you could have both the audio and the actual book.
The parts that stood out most to be are :
Do what feels right for you. She gives you samples to figure out what is a fit for you.
Giving gifts can be a burden to others ( they now have to give you a gift)
Say no to things.. yes we NO that but I need reminding.
Say yes to what brings you joy!! And figure out what it is.
Even at my age I learned some things and also
Love listening to Beth.]]> 4.09 Calm Christmas and a Happy New Year: A little book of festive joy
author: Beth Kempton
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.09
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/12
date added: 2025/02/21
shelves:
review:
4 stars This little book has so many ideas and triggers.. lol
Well you know when you talk about some of the issues of Christmas.. like giving the best present.. the unforgettable present.. yes it does trigger my anxiety.
I listened to the book on audio and the author reads it.. or tells it so lovely with her sweet and soothing accent.
It was a delight to listen to.
On the other hand there are some parts you will want to reread and also do some of her classes for learning what suits you best with the holidays and that would be nice to have the actual paper book.
It is short and you could have both the audio and the actual book.
The parts that stood out most to be are :
Do what feels right for you. She gives you samples to figure out what is a fit for you.
Giving gifts can be a burden to others ( they now have to give you a gift)
Say no to things.. yes we NO that but I need reminding.
Say yes to what brings you joy!! And figure out what it is.
Even at my age I learned some things and also
Love listening to Beth.
]]> <![CDATA[Glaciers (A Tin House New Voice)]]> 12000852
Glaciers unfolds internally, the action shaped by Isabel’s sense of history, memory, and place, recalling the work of writers such as Jean Rhys, Marguerite Duras, and Virginia Woolf. For Isabel, the fleeting moments of one day can reveal an entire life. While she contemplates loss and the intricate fissures it creates in our lives, she accumulates the stories—the remnants—of those around her and she begins to tell her own story.]]> 174 Alexis M. Smith 193563920X Debbie 4 When I finished the book , my first instinct was to start it over again and see what it said. lol
It would be a great book club or buddy read.]]> 3.77 2012 Glaciers (A Tin House New Voice)
author: Alexis M. Smith
name: Debbie
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/17
date added: 2025/02/21
shelves:
review:
4 stars Well wow! I wanted a short book with so much going on right now. I really enjoyed the authors writing.. her descriptions. I felt like she was writing about me in the beginning… then the mood changed a bit.
When I finished the book , my first instinct was to start it over again and see what it said. lol
It would be a great book club or buddy read.
]]> The 13th Day of Christmas 15895565 Her newest neighbor, nine-year-old Charlee Alexander, loves Christmas too. But her family has fallen on hard times and things get worse when Charlee becomes critically ill.
Then, on December 12th, Charlee makes a wonderful Discovery. A mysterious note is delivered that promises twelve days of gifts and stories that will reveal the truth behind the beloved Christmas song "The 12 Days of Christmas." As the days go by, the gifts hint to a possible lost lyric. WAs there once a thirteeth day of Christmas? And if so, could it's magic change - or save - a life?
Filled with laughter, tenderness, and hope, The 13th Day of Christmas invites us to see how an old Christmas favorite can become a true Christmas miracle.]]> 236 Jason F. Wright 1609071778 Debbie 4 The only thing I would say is this book has a lot of triggers.. if you are sad or depressed it might not be the right read for you at Christmas time. It is a book about life.. good and bad.. health and sickness .. life and death.. hard times and good times. And yes this is what life is about. And about hope.
Great little book]]> 4.09 2012 The 13th Day of Christmas
author: Jason F. Wright
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/24
date added: 2025/02/21
shelves:
review:
4.1 What a great Christmas read. It will give you a very Christmassy feel. I listened to it on audio and loved the little old lady.. her voice.. her personality! Her aprons!
The only thing I would say is this book has a lot of triggers.. if you are sad or depressed it might not be the right read for you at Christmas time. It is a book about life.. good and bad.. health and sickness .. life and death.. hard times and good times. And yes this is what life is about. And about hope.
Great little book
]]> Henry's Sisters 6131767
Isabelle has worked hard to leave Trillium River, Oregon, behind as she travels the globe taking award-winning photographs. It's not that Isabelle hates her family. On the contrary, she and her sisters Cecilia, an outspoken kindergarten teacher, and Janie, a bestselling author, share a deep, loving bond. And all of them adore their brother, Henry, whose disabilities haven't stopped him from helping out at the bakery and bringing good cheer to everyone in town.

But going home again has a way of forcing open the secrets and hurts that the Bommaritos would rather keep tightly closed. Working together to look after Henry and save their flagging bakery, Isabelle and her sisters begin to find answers to questions they never knew existed, unexpected ways to salve the wounds of their childhoods, and the courage to grasp surprising new chances at happiness. . .]]> 439 Cathy Lamb 0758229542 Debbie 3 But there are 2 graphic rapes that I really did not want to read. I was able to fast forward through some of the descriptions. I really couldn’t recommend it due to that. I don’t know many people who want to read it in detail.]]> 4.07 2009 Henry's Sisters
author: Cathy Lamb
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2009
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/16
date added: 2025/02/21
shelves:
review:
3.3 I listened to this book because it has such great reviews. I really enjoyed the narrator’s voice. The story about a dysfunctional family, has some very funny dialogue. The grandmother who has dementia and thinks she is Amelia Earhart is particularly entertaining.
But there are 2 graphic rapes that I really did not want to read. I was able to fast forward through some of the descriptions. I really couldn’t recommend it due to that. I don’t know many people who want to read it in detail.
]]> <![CDATA[The Man on the Mountaintop: An Audible Original Drama]]> 43658721 5 hrs and 45 mins

Backed by original music and straightforward sound effects, Tucci's direct and gentle narration keeps this superb full-cast performance on track and flowing. A rare blend of down-to-earth wisdom mixed with fine acting and an engaging story—what a treat. - AudioFile Magazine Earphones Award Winner

Take an inspiring philosophical and spiritual journey with this simple but profound tale, which won an Audie Award in 2019. Stanley Tucci (The Devil Wears Prada, Fortitude) and Toby Jones (Infamous, Harry Potter) lead a multitude of voices in a stirring listen that will transport you to a mountaintop retreat—and introduce you to the pilgrims who gather there.

Adapted from Susan Trott's best-selling novels, The Holy Man and The Holy Man's Journey, The Man on the Mountaintop tells the story of Holy Man Joe, a humble and unassuming 72-year-old man who lives in a hermitage at the top of a mountain. Thousands of hopefuls line the single-file path leading to his door, seeking his wisdom. The pilgrims bring a multitude of modern-day problems, sorrows, and grievances. From the arrogant and wealthy man intent on cheating his way to the front of the line to the alcoholic who gradually builds the physical and mental strength needed to quit his addiction, The Man on the Mountaintop is an uplifting parable full of life lessons, powerfully told with compassion, wit, and humor.

The full cast also features the voices of Alison Dowling, Anne Rosenfeld, Avita Jay, Christophe Hespel, Christopher Ragland, Clare Corbett, David Thorpe, Fran Canals, Hayward B. Morse, Jeff Harding, Lachele Carl, Laurence Bouvard, Liza Ross, Lobo Chan, Martin T. Sherman, Paul Panting, Rachel Atkins, Richard Rees, Sagar Arya, Sheena Bhattessa, Stephen Hogan, and Tim Bentinck.
]]> 6 Susan Trott Debbie 5 Yes rounded up. This is a book that can give you some insight, yes, you may already know, but it has many good reminders and maybe ways of looking at being kind that you hadn’t thought of. Makes you want to be a better person. And I did make a lot of notes while listening to this book. I don’t always care for books that have a cast of different actors that play the different characters, but this one worked for me.]]> 3.76 2017 The Man on the Mountaintop: An Audible Original Drama
author: Susan Trott
name: Debbie
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/21
date added: 2025/02/21
shelves:
review:
4.4
Yes rounded up. This is a book that can give you some insight, yes, you may already know, but it has many good reminders and maybe ways of looking at being kind that you hadn’t thought of. Makes you want to be a better person. And I did make a lot of notes while listening to this book. I don’t always care for books that have a cast of different actors that play the different characters, but this one worked for me.
]]> The Maid (Molly the Maid, #1) 55196813
Since Gran died a few months ago, twenty-five-year-old Molly has been navigating life's complexities all by herself. No matter—she throws herself with gusto into her work as a hotel maid. Her unique character, along with her obsessive love of cleaning and proper etiquette, make her an ideal fit for the job. She delights in donning her crisp uniform each morning, stocking her cart with miniature soaps and bottles, and returning guest rooms at the Regency Grand Hotel to a state of perfection.

But Molly's orderly life is upended the day she enters the suite of the infamous and wealthy Charles Black, only to find it in a state of disarray and Mr. Black himself dead in his bed. Before she knows what's happening, Molly's unusual demeanor has the police targeting her as their lead suspect. She quickly finds herself caught in a web of deception, one she has no idea how to untangle. Fortunately for Molly, friends she never knew she had unite with her in a search for clues to what really happened to Mr. Black—but will they be able to find the real killer before it's too late?

A Clue-like, locked-room mystery and a heartwarming journey of the spirit, The Maid explores what it means to be the same as everyone else and yet entirely different—and reveals that all mysteries can be solved through connection to the human heart.]]> 304 Nita Prose 0593356152 Debbie 5 This is my kind of book. A quirky, interesting, and likable character!
Molly Gray is my new favorite character.
It’s an easy read and easy to keep track of what is going on.. I didn’t have to write notes and names to keep track. I enjoyed everything about it. I listened to it on audio and the narrator did a splendid job with Molly! Thank you Nita! Keep writing!! I am ready for more.
This is the book you press into a friend’s hand!]]> 3.71 2022 The Maid (Molly the Maid, #1)
author: Nita Prose
name: Debbie
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2024/01/19
date added: 2025/02/20
shelves:
review:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ First 5 star book of this year and even for a long time since I read one last year. Oh my gosh!! I can’t believe I am just now reading this! I think I put it off cause I was watching The Cleaning Lady on Fox and thought it would be similar.. I was soooo wrong.
This is my kind of book. A quirky, interesting, and likable character!
Molly Gray is my new favorite character.
It’s an easy read and easy to keep track of what is going on.. I didn’t have to write notes and names to keep track. I enjoyed everything about it. I listened to it on audio and the narrator did a splendid job with Molly! Thank you Nita! Keep writing!! I am ready for more.
This is the book you press into a friend’s hand!
]]> Elizabeth Costello 6206 Elizabeth Costello is, on the surface, the story of a woman's life as a mother, sister, lover, and writer. Yet it is also a profound and haunting meditation on the nature of storytelling.]]> 231 J.M. Coetzee Debbie 3 It gave me some food for thought.. yes but… so much was not enjoyable for me. Maybe if I was taking a class, yes a class and we would discuss all of the realism and ideologies.. yes. But I realize I don’t want to put myself through all that at this time in my life for the tiny thoughts that I got out of it. And yes thankfully it is a relatively short books but some of it seems sooooo long. Just no. ]]> 3.49 2003 Elizabeth Costello
author: J.M. Coetzee
name: Debbie
average rating: 3.49
book published: 2003
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/19
date added: 2025/02/19
shelves:
review:
3
It gave me some food for thought.. yes but… so much was not enjoyable for me. Maybe if I was taking a class, yes a class and we would discuss all of the realism and ideologies.. yes. But I realize I don’t want to put myself through all that at this time in my life for the tiny thoughts that I got out of it. And yes thankfully it is a relatively short books but some of it seems sooooo long. Just no.
]]> The River Has Roots 211004176 Follow the river Liss to the small town of Thistleford, on the edge of Faerie, and meet two sisters who cannot be separated, even in death.

“Oh what is stronger than a death? Two sisters singing with one breath.”

In the small town of Thistleford, on the edge of Faerie, dwells the mysterious Hawthorn family.

There, they tend and harvest the enchanted willows and honour an ancient compact to sing to them in thanks for their magic. None more devotedly than the family’s latest daughters, Esther and Ysabel, who cherish each other as much as they cherish the ancient trees.

But when Esther rejects a forceful suitor in favor of a lover from the land of Faerie, not only the sisters’ bond but also their lives will be at risk…]]> 133 Amal El-Mohtar 1250341086 Debbie 0 to-read 4.07 2025 The River Has Roots
author: Amal El-Mohtar
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Thousand Feasts: Small Moments of Joy… A Memoir of Sorts]]> 208510270 From award-winning writer Nigel Slater, comes a new and exquisitely written collection of notes, memoir, stories and small moments of joy.

Nigel Slater has kept notebooks of curiosities and wonderings, penned while at his kitchen table, soaked in a fisherman’s hut in Reykjavik, sitting calmly in a moss garden in Japan or sheltering from a blizzard in a Vienna konditorei. Nigel records the small things, events and happenings that gave pleasure before they disappeared. In A Thousand Feasts he details a soup for breakfast, packing a suitcase for a trip and watching a butterfly settle on a carpet, hiding in plain sight. He gives short stories of feasts such as a mango eaten in monsoon rain or a dish of restorative macaroni cheese.

This funny and sharply observed collection of the good bits of life, often things that pass many of us by, is utter joy from beginning to end. Nigel hones in on the scent of a bunch of home-grown sweet peas, the sound of water breathing at night in Japan, the occasional pfuff as a tiny avalanche of snow falls from leaves.]]> 355 Nigel Slater 0008670765 Debbie 0 to-read 4.31 A Thousand Feasts: Small Moments of Joy… A Memoir of Sorts
author: Nigel Slater
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.31
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> James 173754979 A brilliant reimagining of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn—both harrowing and satirical—told from the enslaved Jim's point of view

When Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a man in New Orleans, separated from his wife and daughter forever, he runs away until he can formulate a plan. Meanwhile, Huck has faked his own death to escape his violent father. As all readers of American literature know, thus begins the dangerous and transcendent journey by raft down the Mississippi River toward the elusive and unreliable promise of the Free States and beyond.

Brimming with nuanced humor and lacerating observations that have made Everett a literary icon, this brilliant and tender novel radically illuminates Jim's agency, intelligence, and compassion as never before. James is destined to be a major publishing event and a cornerstone of twenty-first-century American literature.

Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780385550369.]]> 303 Percival Everett 0385550367 Debbie 4 Really enjoyed this book from the view of the save Jim (James). It is written so well. It has suspense, humor, sadness and insight.
So much in a relatively short book.
I listened to it on Audible and it was narrated perfectly! ]]> 4.44 2024 James
author: Percival Everett
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/13
date added: 2025/02/13
shelves:
review:
4.4
Really enjoyed this book from the view of the save Jim (James). It is written so well. It has suspense, humor, sadness and insight.
So much in a relatively short book.
I listened to it on Audible and it was narrated perfectly!
]]> <![CDATA[A Long Obedience in the Same Direction: Discipleship in an Instant Society]]> 579014 216 Eugene H. Peterson 0830822577 Debbie 0 to-read 4.25 1980 A Long Obedience in the Same Direction: Discipleship in an Instant Society
author: Eugene H. Peterson
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.25
book published: 1980
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Madhouse at the End of the Earth: The Belgica's Journey into the Dark Antarctic Night]]> 54900051
But de Gerlache’s plans to be first to the magnetic South Pole would swiftly go awry. After a series of costly setbacks, the commandant faced two bad turn back in defeat and spare his men the devastating Antarctic winter, or recklessly chase fame by sailing deeper into the freezing waters. De Gerlache sailed on, and soon the Belgica was stuck fast in the icy hold of the Bellingshausen Sea. When the sun set on the magnificent polar landscape one last time, the ship’s occupants were condemned to months of endless night. In the darkness, plagued by a mysterious illness and besieged by monotony, they descended into madness.

In Madhouse at the End of the Earth, Julian Sancton unfolds an epic story of adventure and horror for the ages. As the Belgica’s men teetered on the brink, de Gerlache relied increasingly on two young officers whose friendship had blossomed in the expedition’s lone American, Dr. Frederick Cook—half genius, half con man—whose later infamy would overshadow his brilliance on the Belgica; and the ship’s first mate, soon-to-be legendary Roald Amundsen, even in his youth the storybook picture of a sailor. Together, they would plan a last-ditch, nearly certain-to-fail escape from the ice—one that would either etch their names in history or doom them to a terrible fate at the ocean’s bottom.

Drawing on the diaries and journals of the Belgica’s crew and with exclusive access to the ship’s logbook, Sancton brings novelistic flair to a story of human extremes, one so remarkable that even today NASA studies it for research on isolation for future missions to Mars. Equal parts maritime thriller and gothic horror, Madhouse at the End of the Earth is an unforgettable journey into the deep.]]> 354 Julian Sancton 1984824333 Debbie 0 to-read 4.24 2021 Madhouse at the End of the Earth: The Belgica's Journey into the Dark Antarctic Night
author: Julian Sancton
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Three Days in June 213243949 A new Anne Tyler novel destined to be an instant classic: a socially awkward mother of the bride navigates the days before and after her daughter's wedding.

Gail Baines is having a bad day. To start, she loses her job—or quits, depending on whom you ask. Tomorrow her daughter, Debbie, is getting married, and she hasn’t even been invited to the spa day organized by the mother of the groom. Then, Gail’s ex-husband, Max, arrives unannounced on her doorstep, carrying a cat, without a place to stay, and without even a suit.

But the true crisis lands when Debbie shares with her parents a secret she has just learned about her husband to be. It will not only throw the wedding into question but also stir up Gail and Max’s past.

Told with deep sensitivity and a tart sense of humor, full of the joys and heartbreaks of love and marriage and family life, Three Days in June is a triumph, and gives us the perennially bestselling, Pulitzer Prize–winning writer at the height of her powers

]]> 165 Anne Tyler 0593803485 Debbie 0 to-read 3.57 2025 Three Days in June
author: Anne Tyler
name: Debbie
average rating: 3.57
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Vittoria Cottage (Dering Family #1)]]> 49188316
“Did you—were you expecting someone else?” he asked.

“Only the Queen,” replied Caroline, chuckling. “Don’t mind me,” she added. “I often go slightly mad.”

Caroline Dering, a widow with three grown children, lives a cheerful, quiet life near the idyllic English village of Ashbridge. But things are about to liven up, as daughter Leda announces a problematic engagement to the son of the local squire, son James returns from service and pursues romance with the squire’s independent daughter, and sister Harriet, a famous actress who latest play has bombed, retreats to Ashbridge for a break. Then there’s Robert Shepperton, a charming widower recovering from the losses of war at the local inn . . .

These problems, as well as smaller challenges with an overbearing village organizer, the blustering Sir Michael, and Caroline’s daily help (“who rejoices in the name of Comfort Podbury”), are resolved with all of D.E. Stevenson’s flair for gentle humour, clever plotting, and characters who walk right off the page.

Furrowed Middlebrow and Dean Street Press have also reprinted Music in the Hills and Winter and Rough Weather, which continue the stories of some of the characters from Vittoria Cottage. All the novels feature an introduction by Alexander McCall Smith.

“A well-balanced novel that moves swiftly enough for any taste.” Manchester Evening News

“It is a family novel, and few writers can do this sort of thing better than Miss Stevenson.” Glasgow Herald]]> 220 D.E. Stevenson Debbie 4 Sweet Romantic Tale

3.8
I enjoyed this old fashioned sweet story. No surprises just a good story. I will read more.of D.E. Stevenson.
Kind of like when you want to watch an old black and white gentle movie…]]> 4.28 1949 Vittoria Cottage (Dering Family #1)
author: D.E. Stevenson
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.28
book published: 1949
rating: 4
read at: 2024/03/08
date added: 2025/02/07
shelves:
review:
Sweet Romantic Tale

3.8
I enjoyed this old fashioned sweet story. No surprises just a good story. I will read more.of D.E. Stevenson.
Kind of like when you want to watch an old black and white gentle movie…
]]> <![CDATA[At Home in Mitford (Mitford Years, #1)]]> 71776
It's easy to feel at home in Mitford. In these high, green hills, the air is pure, the village is charming, and the people are generally lovable.

Yet, Father Tim, the bachelor rector, wants something more. Enter a dog the size of a sofa who moves in and won't go away. Add an attractive neighbor who begins wearing a path through the hedge. Now, stir in a lovable but unloved boy, a mystifying jewel theft, and a secret that's sixty years old.

Suddenly, Father Tim gets more than he bargained for. And readers get a rich, provincial comedy in which mysteries and miracles abound.

- Includes new Readers' Guide to group discussion or personal reflection
- Includes a new introduction by Professor Dale Brown, a friend of Jan Karon.]]> 413 Jan Karon 1589190629 Debbie 5 4.12 1994 At Home in Mitford (Mitford Years, #1)
author: Jan Karon
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.12
book published: 1994
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/07
date added: 2025/02/07
shelves:
review:
I listened to all The Mitford books many many years ago and I will always be a better person because of that experience. The narrator IS FATHER TIM!! Do yourself a favor and listen to this series.
]]> The Ghost Writer 54144628
I wasn't surprised. Telling stories is what made me famous. Fifteen bestsellers. Millions of fans. Fame and fortune.

Now, I have one last story to write. It'll be my best one yet, with a jaw-dropping twist that will leave them stunned and gasping for breath.

They say that sticks and stones will break your bones, but this story? It will be the one that kills me.


This book is not a romance. It is contemporary fiction, but very suspenseful in nature. It is about a famous romance author and a dark secret she keeps. ]]> 10 A.R. Torre Debbie 0 to-read 4.02 2017 The Ghost Writer
author: A.R. Torre
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> It Could Have Been Murder 222019470
In It Could Have Been Murder, a thrilling blend of mystery and psychological intrigue, E.D. Rich delivers a complex tale of ambition, deception, and the darker side of human nature.
IMAGINE..
Playing The Assassin Game as a corporate teambuilding event, planning every detail, every contingency, selecting a target, and relying on the people who work beside you every day. Imagine your target doesn’t know they’re in the game.
Your objectives:
Do no harm AND remain undetected.
Now, imagine you own the company that arranges the murder adventures, and after 20 years in business, someone slips through your careful vetting process, and he’s bent on killing his target.

Set against a backdrop of corporate warfare and personal vendettas, this novel challenges the concept of justice and explores how thin the line can be between right and wrong. Rich's narrative is gripping from the first sentence, setting the stage for a book that promises to captivate fans of psychological thrillers and mystery genres alike.]]> 260 E.D. Rich 1300972203 Debbie 0 to-read 3.65 It Could Have Been Murder
author: E.D. Rich
name: Debbie
average rating: 3.65
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street (The Vanderbeekers, #1)]]> 33413919 297 Karina Yan Glaser 0544876393 Debbie 5 What a pleasant surprise. I heard about this book on a podcast and decided to try it. I listened to it in one day and it gave me a warm fuzzy feeling. It is a modern day book but kind and caring like books I grew up with. This book would be so wonderful for parents to read to their kids. And it even takes place around Christmas but not a particular Christmas book. I will be buying it fir my kids to read to my grandkids. And so happy it is a series! Plus just finished reading a creepy thriller which I totally enjoyed also and this was a much needed pallet cleaner. ]]> 4.09 2017 The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street (The Vanderbeekers, #1)
author: Karina Yan Glaser
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at: 2021/10/05
date added: 2025/02/07
shelves:
review:
95 A!
What a pleasant surprise. I heard about this book on a podcast and decided to try it. I listened to it in one day and it gave me a warm fuzzy feeling. It is a modern day book but kind and caring like books I grew up with. This book would be so wonderful for parents to read to their kids. And it even takes place around Christmas but not a particular Christmas book. I will be buying it fir my kids to read to my grandkids. And so happy it is a series! Plus just finished reading a creepy thriller which I totally enjoyed also and this was a much needed pallet cleaner.
]]> Learning to Walk in the Dark 18085419 An Altar in the World, Barbara Brown Taylor’s Learning to Walk in the Dark provides a way to find spirituality in those times when we don’t have all the answers.

Taylor has become increasingly uncomfortable with our tendency to associate all that is good with lightness and all that is evil and dangerous with darkness. Doesn’t God work in the nighttime as well? In Learning to Walk in the Dark, Taylor asks us to put aside our fears and anxieties and to explore all that God has to teach us “in the dark.” She argues that we need to move away from our “solar spirituality” and ease our way into appreciating “lunar spirituality” (since, like the moon, our experience of the light waxes and wanes). Through darkness we find courage, we understand the world in new ways, and we feel God’s presence around us, guiding us through things seen and unseen. Often, it is while we are in the dark that we grow the most.

With her characteristic charm and literary wisdom, Taylor is our guide through a spirituality of the nighttime, teaching us how to find our footing in times of uncertainty and giving us strength and hope to face all of life’s challenging moments.]]> 187 Barbara Brown Taylor 0062024353 Debbie 0 to-read 3.99 2014 Learning to Walk in the Dark
author: Barbara Brown Taylor
name: Debbie
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Autumn of Ruth Winters 205837964 In this heartwarming story about second acts and second chances, a no-nonsense retiree, very much set in her ways, must learn to adapt and make peace with her past in order to build a fulfilling future.

Ruth Winters is retired, widowed, and resigned to spending the rest of her life alone in her suburban home. She likes her routine and uses it to avoid having to spend time with other people. She probably wouldn’t call herself fulfilled, but it’s too late now to go chasing happiness.

Then three things happen at a beloved niece makes a big announcement, an old flame reaches out, and her estranged sister receives life-changing news. Ruth finds herself reconnecting with people she thought were long gone from her world, as she is forced to reconsider her expectations for this phase of her life.

None of this fits into Ruth’s routine—in fact, the whole thing just blows to bits. But when Ruth starts to pick up the pieces, she discovers that maybe it’s not too late to make something new after all.]]> 264 Marshall Fine 1662518331 Debbie 0 to-read 4.07 2024 The Autumn of Ruth Winters
author: Marshall Fine
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Small Things Like These 58662236
Already an international bestseller, Small Things Like These is a deeply affecting story of hope, quiet heroism, and empathy from one of our most critically lauded and iconic writers.]]> 128 Claire Keegan 0802158749 Debbie 5 Paraphrasing “But not the worst.. the worst is what kindness could have been shown and wasn’t “A wonderful strong sense of place book!! It is very short but the story stays with you. It is so well written. I listened to it on audio and the narrator had a great Irish accent. This book would be the perfect December (busy month) book for a book club!!! 5 ⭐️’s!!
Read again Dec 26 2024]]> 4.13 2021 Small Things Like These
author: Claire Keegan
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2023/01/10
date added: 2025/02/05
shelves:
review:
5
Paraphrasing “But not the worst.. the worst is what kindness could have been shown and wasn’t “A wonderful strong sense of place book!! It is very short but the story stays with you. It is so well written. I listened to it on audio and the narrator had a great Irish accent. This book would be the perfect December (busy month) book for a book club!!! 5 ⭐️’s!!
Read again Dec 26 2024
]]> <![CDATA[Music in the Hills (Dering Family #2)]]> 1384389 282 D.E. Stevenson 0030802873 Debbie 4 Love these kind and cheerful books. It’s a feel good book from another time.
My only complaint is that I didn’t read the trilogy in order so please don’t make my mistake.
This is the second one and I have already read
Vittoria Cottage (the first one) and Winter And Rough Weather (the third one of the group) ]]> 4.11 1950 Music in the Hills (Dering Family #2)
author: D.E. Stevenson
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.11
book published: 1950
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/05
date added: 2025/02/05
shelves:
review:
4.4
Love these kind and cheerful books. It’s a feel good book from another time.
My only complaint is that I didn’t read the trilogy in order so please don’t make my mistake.
This is the second one and I have already read
Vittoria Cottage (the first one) and Winter And Rough Weather (the third one of the group)
]]> The Secret Hours 123727738
But MI5’s formidable First Desk did not become Britain’s top spy by accident, and she has successfully thwarted the inquiry at every turn. Now the administration that created Monochrome has been ousted, the investigation is a total bust—and Griselda and Malcolm are stuck watching as their career prospects are washed away by the pounding London rain.

Until the eve of Monochrome’s shuttering, when an MI5 case file appears without explanation. It is the buried history of a classified operation in 1994 Berlin—an operation that ended in tragedy and scandal, whose cover-up has rewritten thirty years of Service history.

The Secret Hours is a dazzling entry point into Mick Herron’s body of work, a standalone spy thriller that is at once unnerving, poignant, and laugh-out-loud funny. It is also the breathtaking secret history that Slough House fans have been waiting for.]]> 384 Mick Herron 164129521X Debbie 0 to-read 4.07 2023 The Secret Hours
author: Mick Herron
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Slow Horses (Slough House, #1)]]> 56534999 Welcome to the thrilling and unnervingly prescient world of the slow horses. This team of MI5 agents is united by one common bond: They've screwed up royally and will do anything to redeem themselves.

This special tenth-anniversary deluxe edition of a modern classic includes a foreword by the author, discussion questions for book clubs, and an exclusive short story featuring the slow horses.

London, England: Slough House is where washed-up MI5 spies go to while away what’s left of their failed careers. The “slow horses,” as they’re called, have all disgraced themselves in some way to get relegated there. Maybe they botched an Op so badly they can’t be trusted anymore. Maybe they got in the way of an ambitious colleague and had the rug yanked out from under them. Maybe they just got too dependent on the bottle—not unusual in this line of work. One thing they have in common, though, is they want to be back in the action. And most of them would do anything to get there─even if it means having to collaborate with one another.

When a young man is abducted and his kidnappers threaten to broadcast his beheading live on the Internet, the slow horses see an opportunity to redeem themselves. But is the victim really who he appears to be?]]> 334 Mick Herron 1641292970 Debbie 0 to-read 4.04 2010 Slow Horses (Slough House, #1)
author: Mick Herron
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> More or Less Maddy 214151333 A breathless, riveting novel about a young woman diagnosed with bipolar disorder who rejects the stability and approval found in a traditionally “normal” life for a career in stand-up comedy.

Maddy Banks is just like any other stressed-out freshman at NYU. Between schoolwork, exams, navigating life in the city, and a recent breakup, it’s normal to be feeling overwhelmed. It doesn’t help that she’s always felt like the odd one out in her picture-perfect Connecticut family. But Maddy’s latest low is devastatingly low, and she goes on an antidepressant. She begins to feel good, dazzling in fact, and she soon spirals high into a wild and terrifying mania that culminates in a diagnosis of bipolar disorder.

As she struggles to find her way in this new reality, navigating the complex effects bipolar has on her identity, her relationships, and her life dreams, Maddy will have to figure out how to manage being both too much and not enough.

With her signature “deep empathy and insight” (Booklist), Harvard-trained neuroscientist and New York Times bestselling author Lisa Genova has crafted another profoundly moving novel that makes complicated mental health issues accessible and human. More or Less Maddy is destined to become another classic like Still Alice.]]> 360 Lisa Genova 1668026163 Debbie 0 to-read 4.19 2025 More or Less Maddy
author: Lisa Genova
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Black Woods Blue Sky 213243955 An unforgettable dark fairy tale that asks, Can love save us from ourselves?

Birdie’s keeping it together; of course she is. So she’s a little hungover sometimes, and she has to bring her daughter, Emaleen, to her job waiting tables at an Alaskan roadside lodge, but she’s getting by as a single mother in a tough town. Still, Birdie can remember happier times from her youth, when she was free in the wilds of nature.

Arthur Neilsen, a soft-spoken and scarred recluse who appears in town only at the change of seasons, brings Emaleen back to safety when she gets lost in the woods. Most people avoid him, but to Birdie he represents everything she’s ever longed for. She finds herself falling for Arthur and the land he knows so well. Against the warnings of those who care about them, Birdie and Emaleen move to his isolated cabin in the mountains on the far side of the Wolverine River.

It’s just the three of them in the vast black woods, far from roads, telephones, electricity, and outside contact, but Birdie believes she has come prepared. At first, it’s idyllic, but soon Birdie discovers that Arthur is something much more mysterious and dangerous than she could have imagined, and that like the Alaska wilderness, a fairy tale can be as dark as it is beautiful.]]> 306 Eowyn Ivey 0593231023 Debbie 0 to-read 3.67 2025 Black Woods Blue Sky
author: Eowyn Ivey
name: Debbie
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Door-to-Door Bookstore 62192261 The charming international bestseller about an elderly bookseller who delivers his recommendations door-to-door and an unlikely friendship with a nine-year-old girl that changes his life, for fans of The Midnight Library and A Man Called Ove.

The bookseller Carl Christian Kollhoff delivers books to special customers in the evening hours after closing time, walking through the picturesque alleys of the city. These people are almost like friends to him, and he is their most important connection to the world.

When Kollhoff unexpectedly loses his job, it takes the power of books and a nine-year-old girl to make them all find the courage to rebuild their bonds with each other.

A bestselling phenomenon internationally, Carsten Henn’s The Door-to-Door Bookstore is a feel-good novel about books and friendship.]]> 239 Carsten Henn 133549085X Debbie 5 Will be right up your alley. He has a name for each of his clients from a character in a book.
It’s a charming story. I would like to read more by this author but no others have been translated from German to English yet. ]]> 4.07 2020 The Door-to-Door Bookstore
author: Carsten Henn
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/30
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves:
review:
4.4 Rounded up just because. I enjoyed this book because of the older man , the book walker and the young girl.. Sha Sha. If you enjoy reading, I think this story of a man who delivers books to people
Will be right up your alley. He has a name for each of his clients from a character in a book.
It’s a charming story. I would like to read more by this author but no others have been translated from German to English yet.
]]> The Frozen River 112975658 A gripping historical mystery inspired by the life and diary of Martha Ballard, a renowned 18th-century midwife who defied the legal system and wrote herself into American history.

Maine, 1789: When the Kennebec River freezes, entombing a man in the ice, Martha Ballard is summoned to examine the body and determine cause of death. As a midwife and healer, she is privy to much of what goes on behind closed doors in Hallowell. Her diary is a record of every birth and death, crime and debacle that unfolds in the close-knit community. Months earlier, Martha documented the details of an alleged rape committed by two of the town’s most respected gentlemen—one of whom has now been found dead in the ice. But when a local physician undermines her conclusion, declaring the death to be an accident, Martha is forced to investigate the shocking murder on her own.

Over the course of one winter, as the trial nears, and whispers and prejudices mount, Martha doggedly pursues the truth. Her diary soon lands at the center of the scandal, implicating those she loves, and compelling Martha to decide where her own loyalties lie.

Clever, layered, and subversive, Ariel Lawhon’s newest offering introduces an unsung heroine who refused to accept anything less than justice at a time when women were considered best seen and not heard. The Frozen River is a thrilling, tense, and tender story about a remarkable woman who left an unparalleled legacy yet remains nearly forgotten to this day.]]> 432 Ariel Lawhon 0385546874 Debbie 4 Somehow my original review disappeared but this is the jest of it. ]]> 4.36 2023 The Frozen River
author: Ariel Lawhon
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/15
date added: 2025/01/29
shelves:
review:
3.8 I liked the book but it was too long.
Somehow my original review disappeared but this is the jest of it.
]]> The Comfort Book 55825273 The new uplifting book from Matt Haig, the New York Times bestselling author of The Midnight Library, for anyone in search of hope, looking for a path to a more meaningful life, or in need of a little encouragement.

“It is a strange paradox, that many of the clearest, most comforting life lessons are learnt while we are at our lowest. But then we never think about food more than when we are hungry and we never think about life rafts more than when we are thrown overboard.”

The Comfort Book is Haig’s life raft: it’s a collection of notes, lists, and stories written over a span of several years that originally served as gentle reminders to Haig’s future self that things are not always as dark as they may seem. Incorporating a diverse array of sources from across the world, history, science, and his own experiences, Haig offers warmth and reassurance, reminding us to slow down and appreciate the beauty and unpredictability of existence.]]> 272 Matt Haig 0143136666 Debbie 0 to-read 4.07 2021 The Comfort Book
author: Matt Haig
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Practice of the Presence of God]]> 498641 Alternative cover edition of ISBN 0883681056 can be found here

Brother Lawrence was a man of humble beginnings who discovered the greatest secret of living in the kingdom of God here on earth. It is the art of “practicing the presence of God in one single act that does not end.” He often stated that it is God who paints Himself in the depths of our souls. We must merely open our hearts to receive Him and His loving presence.
As a humble cook, Brother Lawrence learned an important lesson through each daily chore: The time he spent in communion with the Lord should be the same, whether he was bustling around in the kitchen—with several people asking questions at the same time—or on his knees in prayer. He learned to cultivate the deep presence of God so thoroughly in his own heart that he was able to joyfully exclaim, “I am doing now what I will do for all eternity. I am blessing God, praising Him, adoring Him, and loving Him with all my heart.”
This unparalleled classic has given both blessing and instruction to those who can be content with nothing less than knowing God in all His majesty and feeling His loving presence throughout each simple day.]]> 95 Brother Lawrence Debbie 3 I listened to it on audio and I think it would be better to read in paper form. ]]> 4.31 1692 The Practice of the Presence of God
author: Brother Lawrence
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.31
book published: 1692
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/27
date added: 2025/01/27
shelves:
review:
Words from a Monk that lived 300 years ago.
I listened to it on audio and I think it would be better to read in paper form.
]]> Local Woman Missing 57361474 People don’t just disappear without a trace....

Shelby Tebow is the first to go missing. Not long after, Meredith Dickey and her six-year-old daughter, Delilah, vanish just blocks away from where Shelby was last seen, striking fear into their once-peaceful community. Are these incidents connected? After an elusive search that yields more questions than answers, the case eventually goes cold.

Now, 11 years later, Delilah shockingly returns. Everyone wants to know what happened to her, but no one is prepared for what they’ll find....

In this smart and chilling thriller, master of suspense and New York Times best-selling author Mary Kubica takes domestic secrets to a whole new level, showing that some people will stop at nothing to keep the truth buried.]]> 356 Mary Kubica 077831166X Debbie 4 Things pretty much what you want in a thriller/mystery.
Suspense, shock and confusion. It’s a page turner for sure. ]]> 4.09 2021 Local Woman Missing
author: Mary Kubica
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/27
date added: 2025/01/27
shelves:
review:
4
Things pretty much what you want in a thriller/mystery.
Suspense, shock and confusion. It’s a page turner for sure.
]]> Lady Tan’s Circle of Women 62919732
According to Confucius, “an educated woman is a worthless woman,” but Tan Yunxian—born into an elite family, yet haunted by death, separations, and loneliness—is being raised by her grandparents to be of use. Her grandmother is one of only a handful of female doctors in China, and she teaches Yunxian the pillars of Chinese medicine, the Four Examinations—looking, listening, touching, and asking—something a man can never do with a female patient.

From a young age, Yunxian learns about women’s illnesses, many of which relate to childbearing, alongside a young midwife-in-training, Meiling. The two girls find fast friendship and a mutual purpose—despite the prohibition that a doctor should never touch blood while a midwife comes in frequent contact with it—and they vow to be forever friends, sharing in each other’s joys and struggles. No mud, no lotus , they tell from adversity beauty can bloom.

But when Yunxian is sent into an arranged marriage, her mother-in-law forbids her from seeing Meiling and from helping the women and girls in the household. Yunxian is to act like a proper wife—embroider bound-foot slippers, recite poetry, give birth to sons, and stay forever within the walls of the family compound, the Garden of Fragrant Delights.

How might a woman like Yunxian break free of these traditions and lead a life of such importance that many of her remedies are still used five centuries later? How might the power of friendship support or complicate these efforts? A captivating story of women helping each other, Lady Tan’s Circle of Women is a triumphant reimagining of the life of one person who was remarkable in the Ming dynasty and would be considered remarkable today.]]> 352 Lisa See 1982117087 Debbie 0 to-read 4.30 2023 Lady Tan’s Circle of Women
author: Lisa See
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Listen for the Lie 127279000 What if you thought you murdered your best friend? And if everyone else thought so too? And what if the truth doesn't matter?

Lucy and Savvy were the golden girls of their small Texas town: pretty, smart, and enviable. Lucy married a dream guy with a big ring and an even bigger new home. Savvy was the social butterfly loved by all and, if you believe the rumors, especially popular with the men in town. But after Lucy is found wandering the streets, covered in her best friend Savvy’s blood, everyone thinks she is a murderer.

It’s been years since that horrible night, a night Lucy can’t remember anything about, and she has since moved to LA and started a new life. But now the phenomenally huge hit true crime podcast Listen for the Lie and its too-good looking host, Ben Owens, have decided to investigate Savvy’s murder for the show’s second season. Lucy is forced to return to the place she vowed never to set foot in again to solve her friend’s murder, even if she is the one who did it.

The truth is out there, if we just listen.]]> 352 Amy Tintera 1250880319 Debbie 0 to-read 4.06 2024 Listen for the Lie
author: Amy Tintera
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> North Woods 71872930
When a pair of young lovers abscond from a Puritan colony, little do they know that their humble cabin in the woods will become home to an extraordinary succession of inhabitants . An English soldier, destined for glory, abandons the battlefields of the New World to devote himself to apples. A pair of spinster twins survive war and famine, only to succumb to envy and desire. A crime reporter unearths a mass grave, but finds the ancient trees refuse to give up their secrets. A lovelorn painter, a conman, a stalking panther, a lusty beetle; as each one confronts the mysteries of the north woods, they come to realize that the dark, raucous, beautiful past is very much alive.

Traversing cycles of history, nature, and even literature, North Woods shows the myriad, magical ways in which we’re connected to our environment and to one another, across time, language and space. Written along with the seasons and divided into the twelve months of the year, it is an unforgettable novel about secrets and fates that asks the timeless how do we live on, even after we’re gone?]]> 372 Daniel Mason 0593597036 Debbie 5 As if it was written by Henry David Thoreau, Rod Serling and Stephen King. Beautiful, lyrical, haunting and after you finish you want to start over again.
I was listening to it on a plane ride home and there was a part that totally caught me off guard and I gasped and my mouth dropped! Isn’t it great when a book can do that to you!!
Loved it. ]]> 4.11 2023 North Woods
author: Daniel Mason
name: Debbie
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/22
date added: 2025/01/22
shelves:
review:
Nothing like I have read before.
As if it was written by Henry David Thoreau, Rod Serling and Stephen King. Beautiful, lyrical, haunting and after you finish you want to start over again.
I was listening to it on a plane ride home and there was a part that totally caught me off guard and I gasped and my mouth dropped! Isn’t it great when a book can do that to you!!
Loved it.
]]> <![CDATA[Before the Coffee Gets Cold (Before the Coffee Gets Cold, #1)]]> 44421460 What would you change if you could go back in time?

In a small back alley in Tokyo, there is a café which has been serving carefully brewed coffee for more than one hundred years. But this coffee shop offers its customers a unique experience: the chance to travel back in time.

In Before the Coffee Gets Cold, we meet four visitors, each of whom is hoping to make use of the café’s time-travelling offer, in order to: confront the man who left them, receive a letter from their husband whose memory has been taken by early onset Alzheimer's, to see their sister one last time, and to meet the daughter they never got the chance to know.

But the journey into the past does not come without risks: customers must sit in a particular seat, they cannot leave the café, and finally, they must return to the present before the coffee gets cold . . .

Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s beautiful, moving story explores the age-old question: what would you change if you could travel back in time? More importantly, who would you want to meet, maybe for one last time?]]> 213 Toshikazu Kawaguchi 1529029589 Debbie 3 Would make a good book club discussion book. ]]> 3.66 2015 Before the Coffee Gets Cold (Before the Coffee Gets Cold, #1)
author: Toshikazu Kawaguchi
name: Debbie
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2015
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/20
date added: 2025/01/20
shelves:
review:
3.6 Unusual premise.. if you could go back in time for about 15 minutes but whatever you do can not change the future.. would you? Interesting to think about times you might go back to say something you had meant to say or to get clarity on something that happened.
Would make a good book club discussion book.
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