This one seems to have a lot of mixed reviews, but I loved it. It somehow sucked me in completely, despite some of the maybe farfetched events.

I think the novelty of Sarah Vowell has worn off a bit for me. I like her deadpan humor, but her monotone has begun to grate on my nerves. And while having a host of guest readers is nice, the little interspersed quotes just don‘t really “fit” with the flow of the book.

I‘m undecided on this one. The basic premise was good, but I didn‘t necessarily like the execution. The backwards timeline…was it really necessary? And lots of unlikeable characters. It could‘ve been better than it was.

I liked this one, but I think I had it hyped up too much in my head based on other reviews and I was a little disappointed. It was good, but not as good as I ultimately was expecting.

Not my fave, but also not my least fave of Moriarty‘s. Lots of dysfunction and I truly didn‘t care for many (any?) of the characters, but I did like the multiple layers of complicated yet realistic relationships. And Caroline Lee always does an excellent job with narration.

This one is dark, but the word “immersive” is what really comes to mind more than anything. This one pulls you into a whole other world, differently than the way other novels do. I finished this a few weeks ago and am still thinking about it.

There‘s a lot going on in this one — some of it a bit crazy. The first half of the book did not sell me at all, but the second half redeemed it for me. It was definitely not my favorite of McMahon‘s, but it had some redeeming qualities.

It had been a long time since I‘d read anything by this author, but I‘d forgotten how much I enjoyed her stories. This one kept me reading right up until the end (which was mildly sappy).

I can‘t decide how I feel about this one. I did like the writing style and the earlier coming-of-age portion, but I‘m not a particular fan of heists and I think that part of it turned me off. 👍👎🤷🏼‍♀️

While this wasn‘t a bad book, it wasn‘t nearly as good as When We Believed in Mermaids by the same author. I doubt that this one will stick with me.

I liked this quite a bit, though not sure it was as great as all the hype led me to believe. But I did find myself anxious to return to it every time I set it aside, so there‘s that.

I found this one confusing and hard to stay focused on (which may have contributed to why I found it confusing in the first place). I seem to have missed a lot of the key plot points and after Googling I felt stupid that I missed so much. Not my favorite Atkinson novel. Anyone else feel the same or just me?

This book was well written, though sad, and it seemed to capture the poorer aspects of Appalachian life quite well, moving from generation to generation. I feel like this was an under-the-radar novel, but what really made this stand out was the stellar narration of the audiobook, with a full cast of characters that really brought this one to life.

I‘ve enjoyed both books that I‘ve read by this author. (Though didn‘t care for the reader…too overly dramatic and got on my nerves). Sort of surprised this author isn‘t more well-known.

I wasn‘t sure I wanted to commit when I started, based on the previous book. But I did. And then I decided nope, I can‘t do this for another 22 hours. I regret that I didn‘t get to see how everything resolved, but I also feel like some serious editing could‘ve taken place with both books in this series.

The basic plot was good, but it took so long to get there. And it actually didn‘t “get there”, because it ends abruptly and if you want to know the rest, you better have the continuation (All Clear) in hand and ready to go. I enjoyed Willis‘ previous books, Doomsday Book and To Say Nothing of the Dog, but felt this one lingered too heavily on unnecessary details and dragged down the plot.

I was prepared to dislike this because it was an unnecessary addition to the series. I still stand by that thought and I didn‘t really think the two storylines in this book went together, but it wasn‘t terrible. Just not as good as the others.

Have you ever really stopped to think about how absolutely amazing and miraculous the human body is, from the microscopic and molecular, all the way to the fully functioning sum of all its parts? It truly is mind boggling. This reminded me a lot of some of Mary Roach‘s books, which I also enjoy. Lots of interesting facts and statistics. But kind of depressing how poor the U.S. ranks compared to other nations in a variety of areas.

Bohjalian is so good at writing in such a variety of genres. This one was historical fiction disguised as a mystery/thriller. A little slow-moving at times, but I liked the way two timelines and the characters overlapped.

A quick YA read that will tug at your heart. This one didn‘t affect me as much as it did some other readers, but it was a good story from a young person‘s viewpoint when dealing with grief. I immediately watched the movie after finishing it, which was also good.

A 3-month-old is the sole survivor of an airplane crash, but two families fight over her identity. Lots going on in this novel and an interesting plot which kept me guessing for most of the story. A little unbelievable at times, but still worth the read.

I would have to say I liked all 3 books in this series and for the most part they did not lose momentum as they went on. Book 3 managed to pull off even more surprise plot twists, along with the expected dosage of puzzles and games. Really a fun series. My only complaint was the “too tidy” ending in this one.

I was a little worried that book 2 would disappoint, but it did not! I raced through this one too. On to the next one!

I respect Reeve for his courageous battle with his spinal cord injury and the work he did to raise awareness, esp. in fighting for insurance coverage. As someone who works in physical therapy, I also enjoyed the PT aspect of his memoir. But as a whole, I just felt this was a so-so book. Short, but it jumped around a lot and didn‘t feel very cohesive.

This was a fun, quick read. Sort of reminded me of a toned down, YA version of Dan Brown‘s Robert Langdon books. The short chapters & a plot filled with puzzles & riddles made me race through this one. On to book #2!

This one was right up my wheelhouse with a mix of mystery, family secrets, & time travel, and it did not disappoint. LOVED it! My brain struggled with some of the time travel aspects (as is always the case for me), but I mostly just went with it & enjoyed the ride. Probably my favorite read of the year thus far.

Good baseline story, though I felt the author tried to include too much “extra” stuff that felt forced & that bogged it down a bit. Currently watching the series on Hulu, which I am enjoying and seems to be pretty faithful to the book.

This was okay. I liked the overall plot, but at a point it started to get a little too sappy for my tastes, and the ending was a little too predictable and tied up too neatly.

Book #3 in the series. I read all of these back to back and I think this was my fave. Kept me engrossed all the way through. Not sure if there will be more, but I do think maybe Fiona Barton hasn‘t gotten enough hype.

Book #2 in the series, though could be read as a standalone. Liked this one probably better than book #1. It kept me guessing and had a bit of a surprise near the end.

Some people might be turned off by the seemingly dense main character of this story, but I found that it left me doubting *just* enough to keep me guessing, or rather, second-guessing myself.

I really loved Tana French‘s Dublin Murder Squad series, but I also knew going into this one that it was not as fast-paced as those books, based on reviews. Indeed, this is much more of a slow burn novel. It was not bad, but it was almost too slow in my opinion. I never was really pulled in, even when things started to be revealed.

This is the 3rd in the standalone Livia Lone series, a series that I feel is underrated and tends to fly under the radar. Livia is a bad-ass female lead (think Lisbeth Salander), out for revenge on all the evil sex crime offenders. If you haven‘t read this series and you like action thrillers, you‘re missing out.

Who‘s watched the series? I enjoyed the book (classic Moriarty, in my opinion), but I‘m not yet sold on the series (only 2 episodes in so far). Not sure I like the casting. 🤔

This is an older one, but I really liked the way the author blended a past/present Romeo and Juliet storyline, along with some mystery and action.

I‘ve had this on my shelf for a long time and just finally now getting around to it. I won‘t say I was disappointed, but I think I was expecting a 5-star read, and it wasn‘t quite that high for me. But still really good, and a well-written novel of historical fiction about the leprosy colony of Kalaupapa.

It‘s very rare to see a true “pan” from me, but here you go. This book is a train wreck. I agree that Brit is probably in many ways a victim, both of her family and of the media, but I also think she‘s got some issues she‘s brought on herself. But regardless of all that, the actual writing in this memoir was truly awful. I don‘t understand the higher reviews. Was there no one editing this thing??

This was my first read of these authors together and I have to say that I quite enjoyed it! A little twisted, but engrossing. I‘ll have to make sure to read their other books as well.

I‘ve read most of Roach‘s books and didn‘t feel this was her best, possibly because the subject matter wasn‘t as appealing to me. However, it was well-researched, as always. I do think I need to start reading her books in print, tho. My mind tends to wander on audio w/ non-fiction titles.

Kristin Hannah tends to be hit or miss for me as far as the writing itself. I like her stories, but not always her writing style, though she has matured and her more recent novels are better. This one falls somewhere in between for me, actually somewhere between a pick and a so-so. The second half was definitely stronger than the first.

While not my favorite of hers, this was another good one by Jojo Moyes. I felt she did a good job bringing the two timelines together.

These books seem to be getting longer & longer, but I still couldn‘t wait to get back to it every time I put it down. The Strike series is becoming one of my faves. Lots of characters to keep track of in this one (should‘ve taken notes!) but a good read! And I really want to visit Highgate Cemetery. Anyone been there?

This has been on my TBR pile for quite a while, and it did not disappoint. The reverse time element was intriguing and there were several plot twists, enough to keep me guessing. Recommend!

I can‘t decide how I feel about this one — I‘m kind of back and forth. Though it may make the reader somewhat uncomfortable, it‘s definitely thought-provoking and would be a good one for a book club discussion.

So cold outside…. 🥶. Good day for a new book and a new puzzle!
#audiopuzzling

I liked this slow burn, Gothic novel. My biggest problem was keeping track of all the male characters, which was important in order to follow the plot. Might‘ve been easier in print, vs. audio.

As much as I loved Matthew Perry and Friends, I didn‘t have a big desire to read his memoir. Until he died. His death BROKE me. And so I felt I had to read about this troubled soul. However, this is not the most well-written memoir. Lots of repetition & timelines jumping back & forth which just made it confusing. But overall, I‘m mostly just sad. R.I.P. Matty. 😢

A great coming-of-age novel that‘ll make you both laugh and cry. I feel like this one should‘ve gotten more hype than it did.

I would agree with a lot of other reviews on this one. I felt it was fairly well written, about a multi-generational family that just never really did connect with one another, and I can definitely see how this might be an accurate portrayal of some families. But I also felt like the book never really went anywhere and it was just kind of unfulfilling and sad. Also didn‘t feel the audiobook reader “fit” the book, which didn‘t help.

I‘d not read any of the others in this series, but despite it being #26, I was able to follow along quite easily and for the most part enjoyed this quite a bit. I did find the sex scenes rather cheesy & unnecessary (*cringe*), and the audiobook reader did fine with the exception of one particular character, in which her choice in voice was awful.