I gravitate towards the Alaskan setting and experience, both in fiction and non-fiction. I‘ve read some incredible first-hand accounts of dogsledding, so this perspective was really cool! Lots of great behind-the-scenes information about the Iditarod, some interesting Alaskan history and culture around the race. The author shared lots of love and respect for the dogs, the mushers, and the spirit of the land, the people, and the competition. 4⭐️

What a page turner! Propelling and gripping throughout, this book was a blast to stay up too late and get up too early for. One of the better written, most compelling unputdownables I‘ve read in a while. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Maggie O‘Farrell‘s blurb on the cover uses the word “polyphony,” which I had to look up. I‘m so glad I did! From an article in “The Millions” about this style of writing: ‘Bypassing traditional notions of character and plot, polyphonic novels create meaning at the intersection of seemingly random plot lines. Harmonies are found in the artful assemblage of disparate voices.‘
I loved this skillfully-written book, loved the many lives within. 5⭐️

Really wonderful audiobook! A love story, really, about family and the bonds unbroken even after the deaths of her mom and big brother. So much to enjoy here! From Whoopi‘s chuckling and humorous digressions (there is no way print can compare to the audio version) to the expression of deep, enduring love and respect for how and by whom she was raised, this was personal in all the best ways. Memoir without tragedy! It‘s a thing! Try it! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I‘d heard this recommended on the What Should I Read Next podcast a while ago and snagged it from the library yesterday for a weekend read. It took me away right off the bat, and I blew through it! I don‘t think I would have enjoyed it as much if I‘d expected it to be a “mystery.” Excellent character study and unique perspectives, wonderfully strong sense of place, a whole tide of tension throughout. I really liked it! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I did not enjoy “Nothing to See Here,” and I just cannot fully embrace first-person narrative when it‘s a male author writing from a female perspective. I just can‘t. I can kinda-sorta get good with an observational tone, but it is distracting for me to be expected to see through the eyes of a female teenager as written by someone who was never a female teenager. (I like westerns not written by cowboys, tho, so…🤔) Anyway, soft pick for me. 3.5⭐️

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A nonfiction nature story that will make your heart soar! I listened to the audiobook but also snagged the ebook so I could better appreciate the adventure through the author‘s photos and drawings. This made my work commute a delight the past few days, and that‘s saying something. Highly recommend!

If character-driven novels are your sweet spot, I strongly encourage you to read Monica Wood‘s books. I fall in love with the characters as though they are my very own neighbors, every single time. It is, of course, a delight that the setting is typically in Maine - the author‘s home state, and mine. This was beautiful and funny and charming; I can think of no other author who makes me adore humans more than MW does. Highly recommend! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Compassionate and vulnerable and moving. A unique perspective, relayed respectfully. What an intelligent, resilient, caring woman this nurse/author is! Just one of the many wonderful people helping us mere mortals find comfort and hope through the last of our lives. I appreciate the glimpse into these personal and heartbreaking experiences. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Clean, sharp, touching, smart, wise, delightful, fun and funny. A great listen! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

As I listened to this beautiful book of linked essays this week, construction started in earnest to build two homes on a tiny lot of land behind my home. What was wild and untamed and unruly is now shredded and torn and barren. Even as I write this, the rock-splitting equipment forges ahead. The timing of the book in my life is impeccable, and the book itself is a testament to the straight line from heart to nature.So good! I loved every word.♥️🌳

Superb! The author‘s narration enhanced the reading experience for me, who would have butchered any Spanish dialogue, pronunciation of animal species, and cadence of the story if left to my own voice. I know in my heart that I will *always* remember, think about, and recommend this book. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is the first in a series of clean, sweet, humorous mystery stories with an enjoyable cast of characters. Set in a Florida retirement community, the protagonist is actually a young woman who has been raised there by friends and neighbors of her deceased and beloved grandmother. There‘s a Stephanie Plum-esque vibe in all the best ways. A great palate cleanser! A few typos, no intellectual challenges, but I‘m on book three and happy as a clam.

My TBR Jar pick this week was “has been on your TBR for more than 5 years,” and this was marked as “to read” on Goodreads in 2016. I guess past me could better handle some super sad shit because - Oof. This book is *not* gonna make you laugh. Not once, not even a little. A story of a childhood that is grim and intense and deeply, deeply sad. Well written, wonderfully narrated. No rating. But I‘m gonna go REALLY light for next book‘s theme, man.

Listen to this like the author is just someone you know who wrote (and narrated) a book instead of expecting it to be literary perfection and you will be delighted! I‘m a single, middle-aged woman fully intending to lead at least a semi-nomadic life starting ASAP so this checked a lot of boxes for me. Humorous, enlightening, engaging, entertaining. A fun glimpse into an interesting life! A happy pick for me. 🚐 🏕️

Well, at almost 50% I‘m tapping out. I can‘t get the 5 hours of my listening life back but I *can* (and did) return this to the library and move on. Here‘s the thing I learned: the author is a skilled linguist and a really, really terrible narrator in equal measure.

This might be a fantastic book in print but it is downright painful to listen to. Later, alligator. 👋

When one day I do not show up to work, no one can say there there weren‘t any clues. 🤷‍♀️⛰️🏝️🌎🚐🏕️

From the months-ago library wait-list request to approximately page 200, when the orchid becomes significant to the plot, I thought the title was “The Ghost Orchard.” 🤷‍♀️
ANYWAY:
Kellerman is one of my auto-read authors and I am absolutely delighted to have ignored every and all active, productive, social, responsible plans I had for today so I could double down on hanging with Alex, Milo, Blanche and Robin. 📖

Wow, I truly loved this! I‘d never heard of the author and I don‘t have any inclination to view her Instagram account…this type of narrative is the “platform” I prefer because comments are a pass for me. I will definitely be grabbing her most recent memoir, coming out in the spring of this year. *There is a lot of really deep dog love in this book and some heart-stopping stuff happens. I wish someone had told me this: the dogs all live 🎉❤️ 5⭐️

Am I the only one who finds that their rating goes from “so-so” to “pick” after reading the author‘s note/acknowledgements? 🤔

An easy, enjoyable read with a predictable cast of characters and unsurprising plot points. What felt underwhelming upon finishing the story turned more towards appreciation and kind regards after reading the author‘s end notes.

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

I‘m a little over halfway through and I can easily say that this one is gonna drop into my top ten of all time. 🏆

Castaways and scurvy and mutiny, oh my! Not a tale for the faint-hearted. 😳 The author did such an amazing job of gifting us this linear, well-told account of the shipwreck and aftermath of The Wager. (Am I the only one who doesn‘t read blurbs and thought the book was about a ship-related bet of some kind and not an actual ship called The Wager? 🙄) Fantastically narrated! I definitely would not have loved it as much using my own brain-voice. 5⭐️

I never would have picked this up if not recommended on What Should I Read Next podcast; as promised, it is far less fluffy than the cover implies! An enjoyable read with strong characters and well-done plot. A nice pace with a tidy ending. Not the type of book I read most often, but I‘m happy to have read this one. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I had a bit of a humbug thing happening but then I pulled out and plugged in my beloved wee Christmas tree and I slapped a (literal) mess of lights on the shelf and I lit a seasonal candle and I got over my grumpy self. 🎄

Cozy always wins, if you let it. ❤️💚❤️

ALSO: This is the 3rd book in this series and I‘ve been devouring them! Isn‘t it grand to start reading a series old enough that you never have to wait for the next to publish?!

Ugh, this reader did NOT enjoy the Spotify audiobook experience. Wound up bailing on the book because I somehow forwarded a chapter or two and found no way to get back to where I was…not only was I not able to see full chapter list - could only see current and future - but there doesn‘t appear to be a bookmarking feature,either. I‘ll try again when they make it easy on me. 😉 Meanwhile, back to CloudLibrary and Hoopla and LibroFM! 📚 🎧

Overall, this is a pick for me…I feel like when you can‘t shut up about learning the methods of a freakishly strong beetle for relocating and utilizing the carcass of a mouse (as witnessed by a man who FOR SURE must have the most patient (and/or boozy) wife on the entire planet, btw), you are absolutely obligated to 4-star it. Also: caterpillars are smart, birds can be dicks, and Mother Nature is one heluva smartypants. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ #nature

I took Friday off from work just to have a bonus day with Delilah, who had a weird and alarming medical event just over a week ago that kicked our collective asses. She seems fine now, thankfully, and it was so fun to just have downtime with her over the weekend with great car rides and exploring walks!

I just started this book today with no expectations - a strategy that comes in handy sometimes. 🙂

Happy Sunday! 🐾🤓

Holy moly, what a wild ride this was! 😳 I listened at every possible moment this week, I was so invested. Riveting narrative nonfiction makes me weak in the knees! I‘d never heard of the Silk Road and my la-dee-da brain could never have imagined it at all (yay for me!), nevermind all that went into creating it, maintaining it, researching it, and destroying it. There‘s a whole steamy pile of flawed human beings on both sides of law, to boot! 5⭐️

A remarkable, first-hand account of/perspective on so many things: addiction, the newspaper industry, friendship, faith, the human condition, and the unseen experience and consequences of the business of professional football. The unhoused population in and around my own Portland, Maine, has been a topic of great attention and I often wonder less about the “tent city” situation and more about the individuals, so I appreciated this story. 4⭐️

It‘s tough to “review” a memoir so I‘m just going to say that if you want to read a book written by a famous and handsome man and your two choices are Rob Lowe and John Stamos, PICK ROB LOWE.

The book about beavers that I never knew I needed! 🦫 Fascinating information, peppered with humor. The narration was really wonderful! 🎧

It was a pleasure to have Katie (sometimes Katherine 😉) in my earbuds this week! As always, I went into the book without expectations (memoirs are tricky, right?!) and it was a delight to find myself fully engaged and always eager to hear what she had to say. One of my top five reads of the year, for sure. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

5⭐️ I‘ve read and enjoyed many collections of stories from our state‘s numerous branches of law enforcement, several of which have been enlightening and humorous and leaned heavily towards the nincompoops and dingdongs who find themselves on the wrong side of the law.

This collection includes a few of those stories, yes, but it‘s so much more. This is a sincere, sometimes solemn, raw and honest book. I gobbled it up, and the audio was excellent.

Excellent memoir! I am only maybe 1.34% as self-aware as Jewel, turns out, tho 🙄

I never tire of learning about the bigger picture, especially when it comes to the humans to whom we have been given only specific, carefully-marketed or brutally-vilified exposure.

I have yet to read a famous person‘s story that made me desire fame.

The audio version is wonderful for reasons you may guess! Her reading voice is as lovely as her singing voice. 🎶

The remnants of Tropical Storm Lee is blowing the most incredible and enjoyable gusts of wind on what is actually a really lovely day in Southern Maine today! I know not all who are in the storm‘s path are as fortunate. 😬 Poked around at the library today for my next book with no real plan and found this creative cover of what turns out to be a story by a local author. I love it when this happens! Libraries rock. 🤓♥️📚

“Dear Edward” was easily one of my favorite books read in 2020, and this is just as easily one of my favorites from 2023. I‘m absolutely delighted to have spent a chunk of life with the Padavano family. I know they‘ll stick with me and that I‘ll find myself wondering what they‘re up to every now and then.
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This was excellent. I would love to never hear another word about Harry and Meg and their family; may they live happily, quietly ever after.

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Having lived in Maine all my life, I‘m no stranger to the threat, experience, and consequences of a wicked blizzard. But having been born in 1970, I‘ve been on the upside of meteorological, communication, and snowplow advances that largely keep these storms from being as deadly as they once were. Had a few issues with the craft of the telling, but overall the book‘s a good way to feel the 1952 storm - and a reminder to put a blanket in my car. ❄️

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I‘m just gonna zip out real quick to get my hands on every book Maggie O‘Farrell has ever written, brb.

Snagged months - a year? - ago as one of those free monthly dealios from Amazon, this forgotten Kindle book is what I landed on after finishing Yellowface and was looking for something less ickie-people-y.

I loved it! Baseball is my jam ⚾️ I enjoyed a different perspective of the game (although the BUSINESS of baseball is a bummer) and it was a pleasure to meet and spend time with the characters in this story.
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I am purposefully not calling this a “review” because the fact that I cannot take one more minute of this story is not the book‘s fault.

The simple fact is that I am just not a “madcap adventure” kind of gal.

Also (yes I am, indeed, *this* rigid) I had no problem with the alien aspect but I could not let go of fact that one of the main characters didn‘t go pee or have a snack for like 24 hours and never got grumpy or just tinkled in the sand.

Sweet and funny and heartwarming and wonderful. When you‘re in the mood for a chuckle and you need a reminder that life is full of things to laugh about (including laughing at ourselves), grab a Peggy Rowe book. The audio is excellent! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4⭐️

I‘ve been starting books and then sending them to the DNF pile left and right as I try to find a story that is not too heavy, not too light, and - a struggle when finding “summer reads” - not romance-y.

This one was a keeper! I knew nothing of the story going in, so it took a little effort to get on board but I absolutely enjoyed the ride. Poignant without being heart wrenching. Wonderful insight. Humor. And the afterward is quite moving.

I‘ll remember this one mostly as the book I fell asleep reading as I lay on the hardwood floor outside my bathroom, where my firework-terrified dog sought refuge from the booms. I‘ll also remember it as the series installment that frustrated and disappointed me. I felt patronized by the over-explaining of every single procedure, often poorly disguised as conversation amongst the characters. I‘ll stay with the series but I expect better. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I have so much respect and regard for the graphic novel format. I‘ve only read a handful and each time I finish one, I think about how I‘d like to read more of them. And then I do not read more of them. 🤔 Anyway, this is a dark and sad and truly well done glimpse into a life outside my own. I had a hard time identifying what might be a chapter change and didn‘t keep up well with who‘s who…but that‘s probably on me and not the author/artist. 4⭐️

I love coming-of-age, I love stories set in the not-so-distant-past, I love fiction based on actual events and historical social/political situations.

But {{yawn}} I did *not* love this book.

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Lucky for me, it is okay to five-star the hell out of a book you‘re still not totally sure you grasped the whole way to the end. I think I could have benefitted from slowing down a little and absorbing what, to me, was a fairly complex plot. STILL: Cronin is a gifted storyteller and I was thrilled to be invited into this world of his. I‘m likely to re-read one day; this would invite excellent book club discussion! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Is it news that our expectations and attitudes tend to sway outcomes in our lives? Probably not. But the presentation of science and social examples in this book were so well done, I found myself walking along listening to the book and saying “oh!” and “that‘s amazing!” Another mind-body connection book that resonated with me and gave me hope and truly helped me change some of my own practices of expectation. Didn‘t feel self-helpy. Recommend! 5⭐️

I shoved The Passage trilogy into the hands of everyone I talked to for like a whole year. I‘m pretty jazzed up about starting this new Justin Cronin book, I know he‘s gonna take me far and wide with his storytelling and I can‘t wait to dive in! 🤓📖

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I‘m already a firm believer that the mind/body connection is incredibly powerful, and this is certainly not the first or only book about the subject. Still, I really found that this presentation of information resonated in a new way for me. I listened to this on my urban walks near my office on my breaks and I found that to be the perfectly suited way to consume the book! Well researched, accessibly presented, well narrated. Recommend!