Good plot and characters. The writing was a bit off. In some places, the language was very urban and lower class which fit the characters. Then occasionally there would be one sentence from the same characters with multiple 4 syllable words. It often felt like the author had to prove he had passed the SAT Vocab tests. But I see why people enjoy the storylines. The plot was well paced and mysteriously twisty.

The audio version was fantastic. Art, crime, trains, and amazing characters that my own friends could never live up to 😉. What more could one ask for.

Disappointing. Baldacci is usually much more nuanced and often builds such strong characters. This one just fell a little flat. Still an interesting story and strong friendships explored in a challenging time so I don‘t regret listening. But not his best. Plus one of the characters in the audio sounded too much like J Peterman. 🧐 Really distracting!

A great story of how simple mistakes can turn into major tragedies. One of the through lines I appreciated most, that hope is always good, but expectations are problematic. An emotional and thoroughly worthwhile journey.

The new audio version is incredible. I spent several weeks listening. Every time I wanted to just keep listening, I forced myself to wait because I didn‘t want it to end. I can‘t recommend highly enough. Then I watch the original miniseries which is know for being closer to the original than any adaptation. It was amazing too. I‘ll be returning to this one which is highly unusual for me. I can‘t recommend this highly enough.

WW 2. What if there were 3 atomic bombs and one found its way to the Japanese? Nice alternative fiction.

A fun ride with strong characters. A bit like ET with two adults instead of all the kids, and a little MM romance.

I‘ve wanted to listen to this for some time, but the reviews said the narrator was difficult to listen to. They just released this new audio version and it‘s a narrator that‘s popular for many audios. I‘m only a few hours in but I can tell it‘s a very different and positive listen. Highly recommend if the former narration made you bail on it.

Easy read. Interesting structure with the podcast interspersed with the podcasts main character‘s voice. Interesting characters and storyline.

Heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time. A story of parallel lives after tragedy and how grief pulls at a person.

What happens when the moon turns to cheese. What do scientists do? What does the clergy do? What do the bankers do? And how does everything change when the end of the world is predicted in two years? Quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. Funny and quick paced.

Lesbian vampire romance/revenge. Not much else I can say that others haven‘t already. I enjoyed this. Audio version has two narrators which was really helpful although I struggled with the Irish accent at times. Two intertwined stories, the older one much better than the modern one. Good summer audio.

Read by the author, who is a sports illustrated journalist and not a duffer. Just an amateur. Major name dropping, including three solid minutes of nothing but names. Some interesting stories if you follow big name golfers, but too much ego to rate higher than 3 stars.

Amazing genre bending scifi/detective story. Audiobook was well interpreted and accented. The ending was satisfying and fully formed, extraordinary given the complexity of the story. Highly recommended for anyone interested in story-building or futuristic technology and character driven sci-fi.

Came for the science, stayed for the relationships. I was excited about the 80s space shuttle idea, but there wasn‘t much substance to that side of the story. Just enough to set the plot and relationships. But the relationship building was extraordinary. Good read if you‘re looking for a romance that will tug at the heartstrings.

Cute light hearted story of a woman striving to adopt a boy. A reclusive author gives her the chance to win a contest for his long awaited book, but she has to beat some other specially invited contestants first. A fun listen, well narrated.

Amazing audiobook. Heartwarming, sad, and funny account of a woman‘s personal growth as she builds a fictional social media woman who teaches others how to be kind to everyone, including themselves.

Should have been called “the anatomy of a treehugger“. This includes a lot of good information about the scientific and environmental importance of trees. Some of the characters are interesting. The writing is stellar. But in the end, it felt more like a very long protest book and less like a timeless work of fiction. Glad I read it and I understand the Pulitzer if only for the writing and scope, but just wasn‘t my cup of tea.

Should have been called “the anatomy of a treehugger“. This includes a lot of good information about the scientific and environmental importance of trees. Some of the characters are interesting. The writing is stellar. But in the end, it felt more like a very long protest book and less like a timeless work of fiction. Glad I read it and I understand the Pulitzer if only for the writing and scope, but just wasn‘t my cup of tea.

Hal‘s desperate when she gets an inheritance letter. But it‘s for someone else. It leads her to a history she never knew and a possible family connection she can‘t figure out. All unfolding at a creepy old country house. Fun and quick audio book mystery. Recommended for anyone wanting a simple fun mystery with some likable characters .

Well written exploration of 3 generations of women, coming to grips with their past and building a future. Interesting characters but a bit of a plodding pace for me. I don‘t see myself remembering or recommending this one very much.

A father‘s gone missing and the only witness is the nonverbal son. I appreciated the exploration of how happiness works, and how we align verbal skills with IQ, often incorrectly.

Amazing! Audio narrator helped keep a big list of characters separate. Witches, ghosts, ghouls, cannibals, all set in late 19th century Kansas. A quest worth joining! Plus a love story and humorous twists. High recommend.

The narrator perfectly captured the fear, loneliness, and paranoia of aging. When she‘s placed in a care home, she questions whether she‘s losing her mind or if something more sinister is happening.

A suicidal divorcee arrives at a hotel and ends up being the catalyst for a weeklong wedding extravaganza. Recommended for anyone whose ever felt lost in their own life.

I finished this one on audio a few days ago. I enjoyed the setting and the writing style but just couldn‘t get attached to any of the characters.

Lisa Marie‘s life as told by herself and her daughter. Interesting accounts of Elvis‘s life and death, and the joy and pain having a godlike father can bring.

If Jeremy took over the body of a Jedi knight before forming Clarksons farm. A relaxing and entertaining although odd experience. A “slice of life fantasy”.

Great storyline. Multiple narrators on the audio that were all really easy to follow. I appreciate how Baldacci‘s characters are so clear and separate from one another. While this is the third in the series, he gives you enough backstory to catch on without so much that you get bored. This character, Travis Devine, is one of our favorites. Flawed, realistic, and driven.

Not my favorite Patchett. Interesting premise, great ending, but a lot of meandering in the middle. Became a slog. But the ending was a worthy payoff. Recommended if you love Patchett‘s writing style already.

A substitute teacher dies in the faculty lounge. The plot holds together a series of character studies about the people at a high school. Interesting characters and a fun set of circumstances. A little preachy with a few too many excursions into liberal opinions about the state of the education system. But an overall sense of teaching as an honorable and rewarding profession, an opinion we don‘t get to share much these days.

Incredible writing. Author says much is based in factual accounts of China during WWII. Fantasy elements added to the story. Tone started light and descended into horrific. Recommended for those that can handle gruesome scenes. If you‘ve read this, did you read the other parts of the trilogy? How do they compare?

Well written. The main character spoke like a teenager but was supposed to be 30. Other than that, fun characters, classic hero‘s journey adventure. Inspired me to try more fantasy.

A beautiful character study of how normal people navigate war. Heart wrenching yet hopeful.

A fun romp through a female pirate's life. I thoroughly enjoyed the setting and the struggles of the main characters. The fight scenes were gory and compelling. The first half of the book felt realistic, but the second half leaned heavily on the "fiction" part of historical fiction. It's an interesting idea of what life could have been like though, and well worth the read. As all good readers do, suspend disbelief!

This morning I had 627 books on my StoryGraph TBR. A ridiculous number. I now have ONLY 239. 🤣. That‘s a reasonable number right?
Right?
I also have only 28 marked with a 2025 tag. And 6 tagged “seriously”. Those that have been on my TBR for way too long and are the best of their genres. So…
Progress. Anyone else do a beginning of year purge?

For you audiobook experts, I like to collect quotes as I‘m reading. But pausing the audiobook and trying to capture the quote is so hard. Any great ideas to make that easier?

A fictionalized account of the Donner tragedy. Interesting, well written. Not sure the fictionalization was any better than the actual story. A 3.5 stars at best.

A toy store full of magical toys that‘s only open in the winter, a love story, and a bitter sibling rivalry, all wrapped up in a story about war and peace and memories. A great Christmas read!

“A magical realm beckons two friends to confront their traumatic past and rescue a missing sister, blurring the lines between reality and fantasy.”

Such a great fantasy world, with interesting characters, sisterly love, and a sweet romance. Highly recommended for people who love the idea of falling into an alternate world of magic.

Struggling through this one. A female Hannibal Lecter sounds like such a great premise but the writing is so pretentious I‘m not sure I can stomach it. (Pun intended.)

A quick corporate comedy with some romance on the side. The trials and tribulations of a cubicle-bound woman trying to just exist. When she‘s accidentally given access to the whole offices emails and chats, things go from bad to worse. Highly recommended to anyone who‘s ever felt trapped by their jobs.

So many office situations show no regard for people with anxiety, yet we‘re the bad guys if we can‘t cope.

A fun road trip mystery adventure with a young woman and an old woman. I liked watching their relationship and how they helped each other along the way. Not a very complicated story but the plot was interesting and the writing was solid.

An amazing well crafted coming of age memoir. A half filipino young girl desperately hides her embarrassment of her mother and her culture while growing up in Ft Myers. But in adulthood, she comes to understand more. A touching story of how a girl interprets her mother‘s mental struggles, and how family overcomes even the worst episodes to strengthen future generations. Highly recommended for mothers and daughter.

I‘m so excited! I read this book when it was new, early 1990s. After a long search, I finally found a copy to purchase and it arrived today. With a bit of Toy Story, a touch of hero‘s journey, it‘s a story I‘ve long remembered. When a toy maker dies before he can inform his replacement, his toys have to trek across town to tell her. But the evil toys from the former toy maker locked in the basement for decades have sent for an evil toy maker.

A slowly unfolding mystery with a strong female lead character. A sprinkle of romance, some interesting bad guys, with wolves and dogs and a touch of the supernatural. Enjoyable read, although the first 1/3 of the book feels like Koontz swallowed a thesaurus. The MC lives remotely and I believe he was trying to set that scene, but it was more distracting than helpful. Still recommended, and know the last 2/3s is more normal.

Audiobook. Good narration and interesting story. A bit slow at times and somewhat predictable. Follows a young sailor from the naval academy through Pearl Harbor. Recommended for history buffs.

A solid mystery and characters we already love. Not her best, and a cliffhanger ending which was a bit frustrating. But still a solid Gamache story.

Almost didn‘t make it through this one. The first half was so slow and too closely followed Huck. Felt like the author was more interested in being clever than writing something interesting. But once Huck was out of the picture and even when he came back, I saw what so many critics and others became enamored with.