I thought I would try a book outside my genre comfort zone. Nope, still not a romance fan. I love cheesy Hallmark movies but I don't want to read them. Took me 4 days to get 60 pages. That made me realize I was not enjoying this book at all!

First, it snowed here yesterday. A lot for April. ❄❄

Second, this book was really good. There was a lot going on. A rape trial, a podcast, and a 25 year old murder that needed solving. The characters were a little flat because of all that was going on. Overall I enjoyed it though.
The author is said to have taken the main story from the Brock Turner case. I would no recommend if the graphic rape of a 16 year old is triggering.

Wow, wow, wow did I love this book! Casey is a thirty something year old trying to find her place in the world and not give up her dreams. Her mother died unexpectedly and her death really unraveled Casey.
I loved the prose of this book. I loved Casey. I have only had one other book speak to me like this one.

"My mother was a real person. I am not a real person" My mother just barely survived COVID-19 and this book really gets that relationship.

Came home from my after work walk and realized our lilacs are blooming. It's a beautiful day.

I forgot to add this book when I finished it last week. Oops! Stephanie and Patrick are newlyweds with newborn twin girls. And Patrick past comes back to haunt him and his family. I loved how strong Stephanie was even when she was at her weakest. I never saw the ending come. It was a true twist!

I seem to be picking up books with unlovable characters recently. I enjoyed the story but didn't care about any of the characters. They were all one dimensional and didn't bring much. It was a good book to read outside and enjoy the sunshine. I did like that the ending was a neat little bow.

Jennifer McMahon is one of my favorite authors that I love to listen to while I walk. However this is probably my least favorite of all her books. The reader did strange voices for some people that really ruined the experience for me. Some of the main characters were just flat and strange. Pru, the circus fat lady who was addicted to speed, might be one of my least favorite literary characters ever. Overall, skip this one. Not worth the time.

I finished Burntown while taking an audio walk at lunch yesterday. It was such a beautiful day in Ohio.

I really wanted to love this book. I had such high hopes but it just didn't deliver. I didn't like any of the characters. The author really missed the mark.

The book is set in the period between Obama being elected and his inauguration. The author does a good job of reminding us all that what BLM was protesting about this summer has been here all along. Long before cell phone videos and body cams.

4.5 stars

Read this book with my books@work group and loved the discussion we had surrounding the book.

Laurie Frankel took from her actual life and wrote a magical book filled with daily life intertwined fairy tales. She skips over some of the dirtier parts of life, which is a let down at some point during the story, but I think she was trying to stick the theme of real life can be a fairy tale.