Investigating the killing of a prisoner during a riot inside a state penitentiary, GBI investigator Will Trent is confronted with disturbing information. One of the inmates claims that he is innocent of a brutal attack for which he has always been the prime suspect. The man insists that he was framed by a corrupt law enforcement team led by Jeffrey Tolliver and that the real culprit is still out there—a serial killer who has systematically been preying on women across the state for years. If Will reopens the investigation and implicates the dead police officer with a hero’s reputation of wrongdoing, the opportunistic convict is willing to provide the information GBI needs about the riot murder.
Only days ago, another young woman was viciously murdered in a state park in northern Georgia. Is it a fluke, or could there be a serial killer on the loose?
As Will Trent digs into both crimes it becomes clear that he must solve the cold case in order to find the answer. Yet nearly a decade has passed—time for memories to fade, witnesses to vanish, evidence to disappear, and lies to become truth. But Will can’t crack either mystery without the help of the one person he doesn’t want involved: his girlfriend and Jeffrey Tolliver’s widow, medical examiner Sara Linton.
When the past and present begin to collide, Will realizes that everything he values is at stake . . .
My Review:
It took me about four chapters to get into this book, due to the number of characters to keep track of. It was confusing. But this is book #10 in a series, which means characters have already been established and I was jumping into the the mix late in the game. But I quickly became engrossed and after that, it was hard to put down.
Karin Slaughter’s novels are not for the feint of heart. They are graphic and brutal. But they are also well written with great detail.
But the problem I have in being a suspense writer is that I figured out ‘whodunit’ about a third of the way in. I know what things to look for and to be honest, I hate that when I just want to be a reader. That said, it wasn’t blatant, and how it played out was well done.
Karin Slaughter is becoming a go-to for me when I need a gritty story. And I mean graphically gritty. The woman scares the living crap out of me.
PLEASE NOTE: Affiliate links were used in this post. I do not promote anything I have not used or experienced myself. All opinions are my own. Please follow our advice at your own risk. By clicking these links allows me to receive a small commission, which in turn keeps the website running – and me writing! For that, I thank you.
When faced with an empty nest, Kari decides to spread her own wings. Giving up a job she loves, she sets off to walk across a whole country. A big one.
A contemporary take on an ancient experience, Pilgrim is an entertaining and moving memoir of Kari’s 900km walk to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. In classic pilgrim fashion, she meets and befriends an array of companions along the way, from all walks of life, united by a common sincerity of purpose. Battling through sun and snow, mud and mountains, blisters and bedbugs, her real destination turns out to be “deep peace”.
Initially unsure of the difference between a long walk and a pilgrimage, Kari and her friend, are not sure what to expect as they embark on the Camino de Santiago. Sleeping in hostels and carrying all their belongings on their back takes some getting used to and they are sorely tested by the unrelenting physical challenge of the ‘great trudge’. In the early days they are preoccupied by the external journey.
But soon, like a modern-day Canterbury Tales, Kari and Ali find themselves swept along by a motley band of pilgrims whose stories touch the heart and awaken the soul. Pilgrim brings to life, in vivid detail, the kindness of strangers, the warmth of village hospitality and the sisterhood of the Sturdy Girls. With San Miguel adopted as their patron saint, the Camino becomes filled with beer, laughter and a return to the carefree joy of childhood. There is an unburdening, a sloughing off of the things that don’t matter. Only what counts is left behind.
Pilgrim celebrates communitas, friendship and the resilience of the middle-aged women who keep going when those around them buckle, who bandage the broken, make them dinner and get them back on their feet. Encouraged by the ghosts of pilgrims who have walked the Way for a thousand years, and with no real choice in the matter, she finally slows down, and the pilgrimage becomes a journey to the interior. As she walks her defences are broken down and her heart opens.
On a transformational journey that takes her from the snowy mountains of the Pyrenees, through the dry winelands of Rioja, the mysticism of the Meseta, to the Green farmland of Galicia, a spiritual reawakening occurs. She revels in the utter joy of a frosty sunrise with shadows a hundred meters long, the frogs, and the cuckoo that follows them for miles. The body may be broken but nature has the cure.
Pilgrim is a coming-of-(middle)-age tale. The story is ultimately one of transformation, of rebirth and redemption. Written with warmth and honesty, Pilgrim shows what can happen when we jump off the path we are on and step onto a new one, where nothing looks the same. The question is no longer what do I want to do with the rest of my life? The question is who do I want to be?
My Review:
I listened to the audio version of this book and it was a delight to hear Kari’s voice, telling us about her pilgrimage. As I listened, my own (solo) Camino experience flooded back. As I kept listening, I felt like CAMINO WANDERING had come to life, with Kari’s Study Girls replacing my own Lovelies. The idea made me laugh.
But I have to admit, I wanted MORE. I wanted Kari to go deeper, talk less about the washing and cooking (the logistics) once we got past all that. And, when Kari did go deeper, it was about her relationship with God. (Granted, it is in the Religious Travel category.) As I looked over the Goodreads reviews, someone wrote: “Too twee and too much God.” I kind of agree with that. Yes, it’s about the relationships between women but it’s also about her relationship with God. And that’s fine. It’s just I wasn’t expecting it.
On the relationship front, it was clear who she was pissed off with, who she wanted to spend more time with, and what she found inconvenient, without her blatantly saying who/what. You could tell by her tone. I found that refreshing. Maybe it’s women’s intuition to read between those lines?
But it made me realise, for one thing, why I wrote CAMINO WANDERING as a fiction, rather than a memoir. I could go deeper into the character’s stories without it being my own admissions.
As an empty nester myself, I felt Kari’s longing for her children, but she wouldn’t know as a parent at that stage of life, that the relationship continues – and it evolves – mainly because she didn’t have a relationship with her own parents. Not a good one anyway. She does talk a little about her relationship with her mother and I think that’s the Cruz de Ferro moment for her. Letting go. Forgiveness.
I wanted to know if she’d discovered what was next or if she discovered who she wanted to be…but you don’t really realise that after after you go home. I just thought that would have been discussed more in the epilogue.
Given there will be more books to come, I guess that’s really the answer. I look forward to whatever else STURDY GIRL BOOKS delivers. Overall, it’s a good book. It’s worth reading – or listening to. For me, I’m taking note of her spa idea in the cities for my next Camino!
Note: I gave this book 5 stars when I may have normally given it a 4 star. Carolyn Gillespie is another female Camino author, and she’s been very supportive of my book, so I wanted to give her some props. Especially since it’s hard to sell books as an Indie author!
PLEASE NOTE: Affiliate links were used in this post. I do not promote anything I have not used or experienced myself. All opinions are my own. Please follow our advice at your own risk. By clicking these links allows me to receive a small commission, which in turn keeps the website running – and me writing! For that, I thank you.
MEET THE NEIGHBOURS YOU’LL LOVE TO HATE Until Darren and Jodie move in, Lowland Way is a suburban paradise. Beautiful homes. Friendly neighbours. Kids playing out in the street. But Darren and Jodie don’t follow the rules and soon disputes over loud music and parking rights escalate to threats of violence. Then, early one Sunday, a horrific crime shocks the street. As the police go house-to-house, the residents close ranks and everyone’s story is the same: They did it. But there’s a problem. The police don’t agree.And the door they’re knocking on next is yours.
My Review:
I have to be honest here: I REALLY struggled with this book.I wanted to like it. I really did. And even though I finished it and didn’t throw it out the window as a DNF, it was one that had me thinking “well, that was a complete waste of time”. And when it comes to books, that’s hard for me to say …
It was a very slow read, and there was nothing to hook the reader at all. It just kept going on and on and on.
The characters were extremely unlikable, and when I finally realised there was one character I liked, the plot twisted and she became a completely unrealistic character. It could have been the redeeming factor of this whole book had she been written differently.
It was simply a laborious read. I wouldn’t bother.
PLEASE NOTE: Affiliate links were used in this post. I do not promote anything I have not used or experienced myself. All opinions are my own. Please follow our advice at your own risk. By clicking these links allows me to receive a small commission, which in turn keeps the website running – and me writing! For that, I thank you.
Six summers to fall in love. One moment to fall apart. A weekend to get it right.
They say you can never go home again, and for Persephone Fraser, ever since she made the biggest mistake of her life a decade ago, that has felt too true. Instead of glittering summers on the lakeshore of her childhood, she spends them in a stylish apartment in the city, going out with friends, and keeping everyone a safe distance from her heart.
Until she receives the call that sends her racing back to Barry’s Bay and into the orbit of Sam Florek—the man she never thought she’d have to live without.
For six summers, through hazy afternoons on the water and warm summer nights working in his family’s restaurant and curling up together with books—medical textbooks for him and work-in-progress horror short stories for her—Percy and Sam had been inseparable. Eventually that friendship turned into something breathtakingly more, before it fell spectacularly apart.
When Percy returns to the lake for Sam’s mother’s funeral, their connection is as undeniable as it had always been. But until Percy can confront the decisions she made and the years she’s spent punishing herself for them, they’ll never know whether their love might be bigger than the biggest mistakes of their past.
Told over the course of six years and one weekend, Every Summer After is a big, sweeping nostalgic look at love and the people and choices that mark us forever.
My Review:
I devoured this book. I hope Carley Fortune keeps writing because I will read whatever she writes next.
This was a book about teenagers and consequences and moving on. It’s writing with a split timeline. “Now” (when they are adults) vs their teen years.
The thing I loved about this story was that it didn’t try and make the teenagers ultra aware of life and how the decisions they make can have lasting consequences.
Sure, there was one character who showed restraint, mostly because he was worried about what a change in relationship would do to the friendship. But overall the storyline was about enjoying each moment, raging hormones, enjoying the sunshine, spending time in and around the lake, working shifts in the restaurant, all blessedly before technology took over the teenage life.
I was immersed in the story, despite working out early what the twist would be (I am really starting to hate that – but now look at it as ‘I know what’s going to happen, let’s see how the writer creates the twist’). I loved the nature elements to the storyline. The relationships between the boys and their down-to-earth Mum. I loved the quirkiness of the main character’s parents. I loved how bookish the main character was, and even though she was an only child, pretty and spoiled by her parents, she wasn’t written off a spoiled brat. Indulgent maybe, but not that bitchy cliché.
And now? Now I’m off to find a lake house in Canada for either a writing retreat or a full time abode.
PLEASE NOTE: Affiliate links were used in this post. I do not promote anything I have not used or experienced myself. All opinions are my own. Please follow our advice at your own risk. By clicking these links allows me to receive a small commission, which in turn keeps the website running – and me writing! For that, I thank you.
It is 1914, and as the war draws the young men of Britain away to fight, women must keep the nation running. Two of those women are Peggy and Maude, twin sisters who live on a narrow boat in Oxford and work in the bindery at the university press.
Ambitious, intelligent Peggy has been told for most of her life that her job is to bind the books, not read them—but as she folds and gathers pages, her mind wanders to the opposite side of Walton Street, where the female students of Oxford’s Somerville College have a whole library at their fingertips. Maude, meanwhile, wants nothing more than what she has: to spend her days folding the pages of books in the company of the other bindery girls. She is extraordinary but vulnerable, and Peggy feels compelled to watch over her.
Then refugees arrive from the war-torn cities of Belgium, sending ripples through the Oxford community and the sisters’ lives. Peggy begins to see the possibility of another future where she can educate herself and use her intellect, not just her hands. But as war and illness reshape her world, her love for a Belgian soldier—and the responsibility that comes with it—threaten to hold her back.
The Bookbinder is a story about knowledge—who creates it, who can access it, and what truths get lost in the process. Much as she did in the international bestseller The Dictionary of Lost Words, Pip Williams thoughtfully explores another rarely seen slice of history through women’s eyes.
My Review:
I’m not usually a reader of historical fiction, but have found myself reading a couple in the genre this year. This one came highly recommended and since the author is Australian, I felt compelled to read it.
But I have to admit, I wasn’t enthralled. I listened to this book on Audible, and while it was lovely to step into that world through the accents, and imagine life on a longboat during that time, I just couldn’t get into the story as much as I wanted to. I mean, how many times do we need to hear how to fold and gather pages? I understand what was Peggy’s world, but it was ad nauseam after a while.
I would have loved to have learned more about Rosie and Lotte and Bastiaan, but it was very much a ‘poor me, I’ll never get anywhere as a “Town”’ storyline (vs Gwen’s character’s opportunities as a “Gown”). The story was set during WWI and it’s obvious Peggy lives in a bubble and this was her world, but she was so naive and selfish with everything else going on – war and the Spanish flu!
The story was supposed to be about growth and not giving up, but she was given opportunities because of the people she met and pushed by those around her. It was painful. No, it was infuriating.
At the end of the audio version, the author talks for thirty minutes about her research. I can see where she wanted to go but it lacked depth in the characters. It could have been great. But she missed the mark.
I really tried to like this book. I really wanted to. But this was not the book for me.
PLEASE NOTE: Affiliate links were used in this post. I do not promote anything I have not used or experienced myself. All opinions are my own. Please follow our advice at your own risk. By clicking these links allows me to receive a small commission, which in turn keeps the website running – and me writing! For that, I thank you.
Twelve-year-old Bird Gardner lives a quiet existence with his loving but broken father, a former linguist who now shelves books in Harvard’s library. He knows not to ask too many questions, stand out too much, stray too far. For a decade, their lives have been governed by laws written to preserve ‘American culture’ in the wake of years of economic instability and violence. To keep the peace and restore prosperity, the authorities are now allowed to relocate children of dissidents, especially those of Asian origin, and libraries have been forced to remove books seen as unpatriotic – including the work of Bird’s mother, Margaret, a Chinese American poet who left the family when he was nine years old.
Bird has grown up disavowing his mother and her poems; he doesn’t know her work or what happened to her, and he knows he shouldn’t wonder. But when he receives a mysterious letter containing only a cryptic drawing, he is drawn into a quest to find her. His journey will take him through the many folktales she poured into his head as a child, through the ranks of an underground network of librarians, into the lives of the children who have been taken, and finally to New York, where a new act of defiance may be the beginning of much-needed change.
Our Missing Hearts is an old story made new, of the ways supposedly civilized communities can turn a blind eye to the most searing injustice. It’s a story about the power – and limitations – of art to create change in the world, the lessons and legacies we pass onto our children, and how any of us can survive a broken world with our hearts intact.
My Review:
This novel needs to be a textbook and every American needs to read it. It was hauntingly real, frighteningly close to reality with the laws being passed in the U.S. today. Women’s rights, gay right, book banning… it’s just the beginning and this book shows what it could become.
This novel reminded me of “The Handmaids Tale”, but upon closer look, it’s something that is probably more realistic of becoming reality than Handmaids will.
The reason I gave it 3 ½ stars is because it took me a bit to get into the story, since it starts out with Bird’s perspective (the son) which seemed rudimentary. Plus, it wasn’t the ending I expected (I can’t say it any other way without it away.) But otherwise, this is a novel that will stay with me for a long time and have me signing petitions and attending as many protests that I can, for the rest of my life.
PLEASE NOTE: Affiliate links were used in this post. I do not promote anything I have not used or experienced myself. All opinions are my own. Please follow our advice at your own risk. By clicking these links allows me to receive a small commission, which in turn keeps the website running – and me writing! For that, I thank you.
From the worldwide best-selling author of Eat Pray Love and City of Girls: The path to the vibrant, fulfilling life you’ve dreamed of.
People of all ages and walks of life have drawn inspiration and empowerment from Elizabeth Gilbert’s books for years. Now this beloved author digs deep into her own generative process to share her wisdom and unique perspective about creativity. With profound empathy and radiant generosity, she offers potent insights into the mysterious nature of inspiration. She asks us to embrace our curiosity and let go of needless suffering. She shows us how to tackle what we most love, and how to face down what we most fear. She discusses the attitudes, approaches, and habits we need in order to live our most creative lives.
Balancing between soulful spirituality and cheerful pragmatism, Gilbert encourages us to uncover the “strange jewels” that are hidden within each of us. Whether we are looking to write a book, make art, find new ways to address challenges in our work, embark on a dream long deferred, or simply infuse our everyday lives with more mindfulness and passion, Big Magic cracks open a world of wonder and joy.
My Review:
This is a special book. I listened to it on Audible, where it’s narrated by Liz Gilbert herself. She weaves her points between stories of her life, emphasising how BIG MAGIC truly works.
I came away with a lot of precious nuggets:
> Let fear ride along side you.
> Be open to the universe and let creativity in. Don’t block it. If the idea is not for you, release it back into the world.
> Ask yourself why you create. Do you do it to make money (pfft)? Or, do you do it because it’s a part of you? That you don’t feel complete unless you are creating (hand raised here)?
> Do you love writing (Yes). Does writing love you? Now that question was an eye opener. I don’t love every part of writing – rewriting/editing is a beast for me – but if I don’t allow the writing to love me, then what’s the point of writing? It’s part of it. There are ways for me to love it. Then I thought of other ways I’m creative: Sewing. Painting. Drawing. I love those for the creativeness. To play. So why not treat writing that way?
> What other people think of you is none of your business. I loved this. Don’t worry whether someone is going to like what you create. Create it anyway.
There were some negatives in this book. She rambles. She repeats. And, she name drops (a lot). She is a bit woo-woo, but then so am I with this kind of stuff (hello – I didn’t name my website the Crackpot Writer for nothing!).
And, to be honest, I love being called an artist. It’s just a word that conjures magical beauty.
PLEASE NOTE: Affiliate links were used in this post. I do not promote anything I have not used or experienced myself. All opinions are my own. Please follow our advice at your own risk. By clicking these links allows me to receive a small commission, which in turn keeps the website running – and me writing! For that, I thank you.
When a high-profile murder lands literally at her feet, Detective Emilia Hart sees a chance to expand her caseload beyond the endless succession of domestic violence matters she is forced to investigate. But this is no simple investigation.
Another body turns up, then another. Then more – a lot more. All men, all shot, with a similar MO. It’s not until a manifesto taking credit for the crimes is published by a group calling themselves Daughters of Eve that Hart confirms a link between the victims: all of them had been perpetrators themselves. All had offended against women or children. Few had been charged with those crimes – and none convicted.
As panic sets in and chaos rules the streets, the police draw ever closer to the Daughters of Eve, but the serial killer continues to elude them. Again, Hart sees something that everyone else has missed. And what that is, she cannot believe.
A stunning debut that will take you to the edge and dare you to look down.
My Review:
What an incredible debut novel. This novel explodes off the page and I do believe this is an author to watch out for.
But this is a book that will haunt you and make you question what you can do to change this all-too-realistic atrocity. It will also make you cry but also make you scream, desperate to do something about the reality of it all.
I read this book in one sitting. While I figured out the twist in the first few pages (hate that… one of the drawbacks of the job), I could not put it down. It was very much a character driven novel, as much as it was about the subject. And it’s not a subject to overlook.
I wish I could say more about it but it would be giving too much away.
This novel not for the feint of heart, and it desperately needs trigger warnings.Since there are no trigger warnings, I will add them: This book contains domestic and sexual violence against women and children, as well as blatant misogyny.
PLEASE NOTE: Affiliate links were used in this post. I do not promote anything I have not used or experienced myself. All opinions are my own. Please follow our advice at your own risk. By clicking these links allows me to receive a small commission, which in turn keeps the website running – and me writing! For that, I thank you.
When doing some research about Camino authors, I was surprised to discover the the majority of Camino books are written by men. Someone once said to me that these Camino books are focused on food and their physical woes (usually their feet) – and little else. I laughed at that… until I actually realised it was fairly accurate.
Now I’m not ‘male bashing’ here – not at all. I think it’s great that they’ve written a book and have it out there in the world. That’s no small feat. But I’d like to support the women authors here. Because, it seems, we are the minority in the Camino Author world.
As an Indie author, I know it’s REALLY hard to get the word out about your book. I have heard that traditional publishing houses don’t do a lot of marketing either, unless you’re one of the Top 10 on their list.
So, I’m sharing this list of over 90 books, as an effort to help ALL the women on this list.
It’s time we got the word out more abundantly about our books! And I’m all about women supporting women – just read Camino Wandering as an example! I’m doing what Pam, Georgina or Aubrey would do for each other – lift each other up – and share this list of WOMEN authors of other Camino books.
Most books on this list are memoirs. Others, like mine (Camino Wandering), are fiction based on an actual experience. Then there are others that remind us of the Camino – cookbooks, guidebooks, meditation. There are over 90 books on this list, so enjoy!
Here is the list:
If you’ve read any one of the books on this list and recommend it, please leave that recommendation link (Amazon or Goodreads) in the comments below too.
NOTE: If you are a female author of a book about the Camino de Santiago, no matter what the type of book it is, and you are NOT on this list, please leave a comment below with the title of the book and your author name. I’ll be sure to refresh the list periodically. Until then, your book will remain in the comments.
Last year, I created a post called Tara’s Favourite Books of 2021, after I joining a reading challenge called 52 Books in 52 Weeks. While it was a great challenge, I decided not to participate in it again this year only because there were some other things I wanted to focus on. But that’s not to say I didn’t read a lot!
I set a challenge for myself this year to read 25 books. If I look at my Goodreads profile, I exceeded that (without trying)! I read a total of 41 books and I’ll probably read another two or three before the year is out.
Some of the books were quick reads, as I looked for some lightness. I discovered some other books on ‘must read’ lists and thought I’d try them for myself. (See what the hype was about.) Some were duds. Others surprised me. Best all, when I went to ‘pick up a book or two’ from my local library, I found some true gems. Turns out it was a year of literary surprises…
Memphis, 1939. Twelve-year-old Rill Foss and her four younger siblings live a magical life aboard their family’s Mississippi River shantyboat. But when their father must rush their mother to the hospital one stormy night, Rill is left in charge—until strangers arrive in force. Wrenched from all that is familiar and thrown into a Tennessee Children’s Home Society orphanage, the Foss children are assured that they will soon be returned to their parents—but they quickly realize the dark truth. At the mercy of the facility’s cruel director, Rill fights to keep her sisters and brother together in a world of danger and uncertainty.
Aiken, South Carolina, present day. Born into wealth and privilege, Avery Stafford seems to have it all: a successful career as a federal prosecutor, a handsome fiancé, and a lavish wedding on the horizon. But when Avery returns home to help her father weather a health crisis, a chance encounter leaves her with uncomfortable questions and compels her to take a journey through her family’s long-hidden history, on a path that will ultimately lead either to devastation or to redemption.
Based on one of America’s most notorious real-life scandals—in which Georgia Tann, director of a Memphis-based adoption organization, kidnapped and sold poor children to wealthy families all over the country—Lisa Wingate’s riveting, wrenching, and ultimately uplifting tale reminds us how, even though the paths we take can lead to many places, the heart never forgets where we belong.
My review:
I found this book on a multitude of ‘must read’ lists, so I thought I’d give it a read. Honestly, I couldn’t put it down. It drew me in from the first chapter. This book is heartbreaking yet inspiring. I loved how the scenery was so vibrant. You could taste the heaviness of the mornings on the water, feel the intense vibe of the children’s home. This is a historical fiction woven in with ‘present day’ and done so beautifully.
Inspired by the story of Svalbard’s first female trapper, Cold Coast is a gripping portrayal of survival within the stark beauty and perilous wilderness of the high Arctic.
In 1932, Wanny Woldstad, a young widow, travels to Svalbard, daring to enter the Norwegian trappers’ fiercely guarded male domain. She must prove to Anders Sæterdal, her trapping partner who makes no secret of his disdain, that a woman is fit for the task. Over the course of a Svalbard winter, Wanny and Sæterdal will confront polar bears, traverse glaciers, withstand blizzards and the dangers of sea ice, and hike miles to trap Arctic fox, all in the frigid darkness of the four-month polar night. For Wanny, the darkness hides her own deceptions that, if exposed, speak to the untenable sacrifice of a 1930s woman longing to fulfil a dream.
Alongside the raw, confronting nature of the trappers’ work, is the story of a young blue Arctic fox, itself a hunter, who must eke out a living and navigate the trappers’ world if it is to survive its first Arctic winter.
My review:
What an incredible book. Two words: Stark and endearing.
Through incredible storytelling, you feel every emotion, every heart stopping moment, and (with tears at the end), just how incredible this woman’s life was. Thank you @RobynMundy for another incredible story.
In In Order to Live, Yeonmi Park shines a light not just into the darkest corners of life in North Korea, describing the deprivation and deception she endured and which millions of North Korean people continue to endure to this day, but also onto her own most painful and difficult memories. She tells with bravery and dignity for the first time the story of how she and her mother were betrayed and sold into sexual slavery in China and forced to suffer terrible psychological and physical hardship before they finally made their way to Seoul, South Korea—and to freedom.
Park confronts her past with a startling resilience. In spite of everything, she has never stopped being proud of where she is from, and never stopped striving for a better life. Indeed, today she is a human rights activist working determinedly to bring attention to the oppression taking place in her home country. Park’s testimony is heartbreaking and unimaginable, but never without hope. This is the human spirit at its most indomitable.
My review:
This is a book everyone needs to read. I’m trying to form a comprehensive review but all I can think are words. And those don’t explain it – or do it justice.
Not every mistake deserves a consequence. Sometimes the only thing it deserves is forgiveness.
The Voss family is anything but normal. They live in a repurposed church, newly baptized Dollar Voss. The once cancer-stricken mother lives in the basement, the father is married to the mother’s former nurse, the little half-brother isn’t allowed to do or eat anything fun, and the eldest siblings are irritatingly perfect. Then, there’s Merit.
Merit Voss collects trophies she hasn’t earned and secrets her family forces her to keep. While browsing the local antiques shop for her next trophy, she finds Sagan. His wit and unapologetic idealism disarm and spark renewed life into her—until she discovers that he’s completely unavailable. Merit retreats deeper into herself, watching her family from the sidelines, when she learns a secret that no trophy in the world can fix.
Fed up with the lies, Merit decides to shatter the happy family illusion that she’s never been a part of before leaving them behind for good. When her escape plan fails, Merit is forced to deal with the staggering consequences of telling the truth and losing the one boy she loves.
Poignant and powerful, Without Merit explores the layers of lies that tie a family together and the power of love and truth.
My review:
There is a reason Colleen Hoover gets a lot of hype, and I am now a life long fan. Colleen Hoover’s twisted sense of humour shines again in this novel about heavy subjects. Her characters are offbeat, a little weird but always so relatable. This is a novel I would read again and recommend (loudly) to others. Another gold star.
Roya, a dreamy, idealistic teenager living amid the political upheaval of 1953 Tehran, finds a literary oasis in kindly Mr. Fakhri’s neighborhood stationery shop, stocked with books and pens and bottles of jewel-colored ink.
Then Mr. Fakhri, with a keen instinct for a budding romance, introduces Roya to his other favorite customer—handsome Bahman, who has a burning passion for justice and a love for Rumi’s poetry—and she loses her heart at once. Their romance blossoms, and the little stationery shop remains their favorite place in all of Tehran.
A few short months later, on the eve of their marriage, Roya agrees to meet Bahman at the town square when violence erupts—a result of the coup d’etat that forever changes their country’s future. In the chaos, Bahman never shows. For weeks, Roya tries desperately to contact him, but her efforts are fruitless. With a sorrowful heart, she moves on—to college in California, to another man, to a life in New England—until, more than sixty years later, an accident of fate leads her back to Bahman and offers her a chance to ask him the questions that have haunted her for more than half a century: Why did you leave? Where did you go? How is it that you were able to forget me?
My review:
A beautiful story of love found, lost, and everything in between. Your heart will soar and break with this story. And it will also give you serious cravings for Persian food!
Back in the long ago nineties, Rachel Walsh was a mess.
But a spell in rehab transformed everything. Life became very good, very quickly. These days, Rachel has love, family, a great job as an addiction counsellor, she even gardens. Her only bad habit is a fondness for expensive sneakers.
But with the sudden reappearance of a man she’d once loved, her life wobbles.
She’d thought she was settled. Fixed forever. Is she about to discover that no matter what our age, everything can change?
Is it time to think again, Rachel?
My review:
If you were like me and devoured Rachel’s Holiday back in 2009, you were probably just as excited as I was about this book’s release. It was worth the wait. Rachel is just as flawed, but we go deeper with her as she is now. It’s funny, raw, descriptive and everything else you hoped it to be. Worth the read for any Marian Keyes fan.
More than twenty years ago, Claire and Lydia’s teenaged sister Julia vanished without a trace. The two women have not spoken since, and now their lives could not be more different. Claire is the glamorous trophy wife of an Atlanta millionaire. Lydia, a single mother, dates an ex-con and struggles to make ends meet. But neither has recovered from the horror and heartbreak of their shared loss—a devastating wound that’s cruelly ripped open when Claire’s husband is killed.
The disappearance of a teenage girl and the murder of a middle-aged man, almost a quarter-century apart: what could connect them? Forming a wary truce, the surviving sisters look to the past to find the truth, unearthing the secrets that destroyed their family all those years ago . . . and uncovering the possibility of redemption, and revenge, where they least expect it.
Powerful, poignant, and utterly gripping, packed with indelible characters and unforgettable twists, Pretty Girls is a masterful novel from one of the finest writers working today.
My review:
Fark. This novel scared the bejeezus out of me. But what a page turner. On my Goodreads review I wrote “I will not be sleeping tonight… or the next week.” And how true that was. This book has stayed with me. And I could not wait to read another by Karin Slaughter.
Lisa Wilkinson has lived much of her life in the public eye. One of Australia’s most respected journalists and media personalities, her warm, intelligent and elegant presence has graced our television screens for many years, where she has shared, shaped and even shifted many important national conversations. But it all could have been so different …
Subjected to horrific bullying as a teenager, Lisa survived by making herself as small as possible. But she swore when she left school that no one was ever again going to determine who she was – or limit what she was capable of. That determination and drive led to Lisa blazing an unprecedented and enormously successful trail through the Australian media and cultural landscape for more than four decades.
An early ground-breaking career in publishing – at 21, Lisa was the youngest editor ever appointed to take charge of a national magazine, Dolly, before spending ten years as editor of the iconic Cleo magazine – then led to a stunning television success story. This included spending more than a decade as co-host of the Nine Network’s Today show, before she caused a media storm across Australia and the world on the issue of the gender pay gap, when she moved to the Ten Network as co-host of its prime-time award-winning program The Project.
It Wasn’t Meant to Be Like This is the story of how a young girl from Sydney’s western suburbs came to be such a force in Australian cultural life. It is a story that is honest, funny, engaging – and powerfully inspirational.
My review:
Celebrity is a funny thing yet Lisa Wilkinson has never quite fit that description. She is real and dare I use the overused ‘in’ word – authentic – no matter what her role. I have followed her career since Dolly days and this incredible biography just proved she’s just as I always believed. I admired her before. Now I am in awe.
This is a story all women should read. And maybe even a few (particular) men!
Before Owen Michaels disappears, he smuggles a note to his beloved wife of one year: Protect her. Despite her confusion and fear, Hannah Hall knows exactly to whom the note refers—Owen’s sixteen-year-old daughter, Bailey. Bailey, who lost her mother tragically as a child. Bailey, who wants absolutely nothing to do with her new stepmother.
As Hannah’s increasingly desperate calls to Owen go unanswered, as the FBI arrests Owen’s boss, as a US marshal and federal agents arrive at her Sausalito home unannounced, Hannah quickly realizes her husband isn’t who he said he was. And that Bailey just may hold the key to figuring out Owen’s true identity—and why he really disappeared.
Hannah and Bailey set out to discover the truth. But as they start putting together the pieces of Owen’s past, they soon realize they’re also building a new future—one neither of them could have anticipated.
With its breakneck pacing, dizzying plot twists, and evocative family drama, The Last Thing He Told Me is a riveting mystery, certain to shock you with its final, heartbreaking turn.
My review:
This book was not what I thought it to be and I loved it for for that. Lots of twists, great scenery and flawed characters. Highly recommended. I look forward to reading more from Laura Dave.
New York, 2061: The place called the Pleasure Academy is a living nightmare where abducted girls are trapped, trained for a life of abject service while their souls are slowly but surely destroyed. Dorian, a thirteen-year-old runaway who’d been imprisoned there, might never have made it out if not for her fellow inmate Mina, who’d hatched the escape plan. Mina was the more daring of the two—but they’d been equally desperate.
Unfortunately, they didn’t get away fast enough. Now Dorian is injured, terrified, and wandering the streets of New York, and Mina lies dead near the waterfront while Lt. Eve Dallas looks over the scene.
Mina’s expensive, elegant clothes and beauty products convince Dallas that she was being groomed, literally and figuratively, for sex trafficking—and that whoever is investing in this high-overhead operation expects windfall profits. Her billionaire husband, Roarke, may be able to help, considering his ties to the city’s ultra-rich. But Roarke is also worried about the effect this case is having on Dallas, as it brings a rage to the surface she can barely control. No matter what, she must keep her head clear–because above all, she is desperate for justice and to take down those who prey on and torment the innocent.
My review:
I’ve taken to listening to the audiobooks for the “In Death” series, because Susan Ericksen just NAILS the characters. I’m going to always put one of the “In Death” novels on my favourite list, because this is an incredible series. Desperation In Death is Book 55 (!!) in the series and it’s still going.
Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them? What book was your favourite of your 2022 reads?
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