Still Life by Louise Penny
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This debut novel is a slightly unorthodox mystery in a quaint, cozy, picturesque and friendly Canadian village with eccentric characters. The plot is complex but the reading is "cozy," a description given it by many of its readers which I find particularly apt. I really enjoyed Louise Pennyy's comfortablw writing style and the full cast audio version is excellent.

View all my reviews

Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Fascinating, heartbreaking, unbelievable, and really very disturbing. This is the story of living inside the world's most closed society as told by six people of varying backgrounds who manage to get out. It is also about the defectors' difficulties trying to integrate into South Korean society. The stories of the book's six main characters are riveting and the book reads more like a novel than a documentary. North Korea is a very scary country. I am amazed at the horrors humans can endure and inspired by their creativity in the face of starvation and the struggle to survive. We are so blessed to live in the USA.

View all my reviews

The Pushcart War by Jean Merrill
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was a complimentary book for audible readers a few months ago and I really enjoyed it. It was clever, very entertaining, and a quick read that would provide deep material for a good adult book club or middle school class discussion. I will look for more books by this author.

View all my reviews

To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book is just plain fun to read and kudos to the author for keeping it free of smutty language and sex. It is refreshing to read a YA book that I would actually recommend to young adults. Part romance, part coming-of-age, and part love-story to the bond of sisters, this is a remarkable and welcome addition to the contemporary YA world. It is well-written, inspiring and it made me laugh. I watched the Netflix movie and was disappointed....don't choose it in place of the book. If you are ready for a fast, easy, feel-good book with believable characters that you'll come to love this is a perfect read.

View all my reviews

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I am APPALLED this was chosen as BEST ROMANCE of the year and am wondering what exactly that says about the reading public. It is not a romance....it is smut. It is erotica. It could have been sweet, but it is distasteful. It could have been clever but it is clumsy. It could have been funny, but it is awkward, embarrassing, annoying and tiring. The amount of sex is over the top and completely overwhelms the plot. The main characters are one dimensional and unrealistic. And one more thing: A person on the autism spectrum doesn't just lose their anxieties and routines because the sex is great. Would I recommend this to anyone ? Nope .... nope.... nope.... nope....nada.... nunca.... nadie.... nobody. NOPE!

View all my reviews

The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Very good psychological thriller! I felt it had a slow and somewhat confusing start but once I got into the story it became a fast and furious addictive read that I had a difficult time putting down. reminiscent of an Alfred Hitchcock thriller the novel has several twists and turns that kept me guessing right up to the surprise ending. I did feel the writing at the end of the book was not in harmony with the writing style of the rest of the book, almost as if it had been written by a different author. This is the author's first novel and it entered the Times best-seller list at No. 1—the first time in twelve years that a début novel had done so.





View all my reviews

Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body by Roxane Gay
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is one woman’s beautifully written account of a difficult life story. It's one of the best memoirs I've ever read and I can't recommend it highly enough. However there is a caveat to my recommendation: it is a hard, hard book to read because Gay, the author, goes into a lot of traumatic issues, particularly sexual assault. Tread carefully if you’re sensitive to those kinds of things, but I believe the understanding, compassion for others and for self, and the insights you will gain as you read her story will compensate for any discomfort you may feel as you read.

"In writing this memoir of my body, in telling you these truths about my body, I am sharing my truth and mine alone. I understand if the truth is not something you want to hear. The truth makes me uncomfortable too. But I am also saying, here is my heart, what's left of it. Here I am showing you the ferocity of my hunger. Here I am, finally freeing myself to be vulnerable and terribly human. Here I am, reveling in that freedom. Here. See what I hunger for and what my truth has allowed me to create."

This is a book I would like everyone to read. It should be required reading for anyone who has ever thought they had the answers to another person's weight problem. It is a well written, fast, easy read and I devoured it.

Even though Gay spends a lot of time probing the psychological barriers that have contributed to her weight gain, this book isn’t about “making excuses.” She knows she’s fat, she knows how she got there, and she harbors no illusions about it. “This is a memoir of (my) body because, more often than not, stories of bodies like mine are ignored or dismissed or derided. People see bodies like mine and make their assumptions. They think they know the why of my body. They do not.”

In our society of body worship, it is an especially appropriate read. She asks the question, “What does it say about our culture that the desire for weight loss is considered a default feature of womanhood?”

I listened to the audio, read by Gay, and everything she writes (says) is emotional and gut-wrenching, and thought-provoking, and I love her.

View all my reviews