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Review Date: 4/20/2025
lowish reviews here but i thought this book was pure 5 stars. totally unusual story line of climate change and chosen full on amnesia made for a taught and exciting adventure. the main character, ess, and her friends hito and yori who are brother and sister and have their own really interesting vibes. ess is a warrior, a good soul, and ethical. this book is pure armchair adventure, including sailing, and far off islands, but it also includes the science of climate change, and the technology of altering human brains. there are bad guys to contend with and also some really good guys. question to ponder: can i live enough in the present moment so as to be truly less attached to what came before?
Review Date: 3/23/2025
i am in the minority of readers, most of whom adored this book. not me. this was probably 3.5 stars for me. i LOVED the food. the idea was interesting. i loved the kitchens. but i found it too convoluted, couldn't keep track of what was going on part of the time. lovely ending. favorite character: freddie.
Review Date: 11/6/2024
huge thanks to netgalley and st. martin's press for the advanced kindle read. i inhaled this book over 24 hours AND it was truly a wonderful distraction during election day and the day after. this was beautifully crafted. complex characters along with a deeply disturbing narrative of life in new york city and north of the city after climate change floods everything, literally. being a new york city expat, i absolutely loved the setting of the american museum of natural history and even a chapter about storm king mountain, a place i lived and loved for five blissful years. and the might hudson river. oh man, so shocking to witness the obliteration of all of it. so humbling. and so apocalyptical. if you like this genre, this book will captivate you. and might just leave you feeling very grateful for all of life's everyday conveniences and comforts, too. as the buddhists teach, life is impermanent.
Review Date: 4/3/2025
i read this book just about non stop within 24 hours. it's definitely one of those books that is hard to put down. it is scary and exciting and beautiful and witchy and sad and heart wrenching. it takes place in the adirondack mountains, my favorite range. this family of female witches, the venery, is fabulous. these are talented women who know their botany. they kill bad men who abuse women. this book isn't for those who might find the content too painful, that's for sure. it's very bittersweet.
Review Date: 2/26/2025
absolute 5 stars! like "the snow child", this book, and the author, transports me to a world that is not of this world. there is a powerful backdrop of nature, in alaska, wild and untamed and majestic and magnificent. and wild, in the sense that it can be unsafe. one must be brave to live and hike and make a home in the deep forests of alaska and this book tells that very story. it is also the story of people who don't fit in. of people who are outliers. of people who see the world through a different lens. the main characters, birdie and emmie and arthur are such a beautiful little family that have a short moment in time together, loving each other fiercely. another little family of arthur and his parents, who also love each other fiercely. there is such rich fantasy here and as bizarre as it is, it works. i never wanted the book to end and wish i could've met arthur. and.....this is not an easy read. it is deeply disturbing at times. but worth the effort. the narration was beautiful.
Review Date: 9/22/2024
madeline martin does a lovely job of offering the reader a wide variety of characters, many of whom are relatable. libraries and bookshops frame the story with the backdrop being the germans bombing england during world war two. an extra theme that runs through the book is the plight of women wanting to work. only single women can work at the library, mothers and wives and widows cannot. that leaves out a ton of the population, especially during war time. it's quite a plight to observe from the comforts of 2024 standards. there is a lot of feel good stuff going on in this book and also the stark reality of how hard life can be, for all of us. being connected, compassionate and caring makes a world of difference.
Review Date: 3/31/2024
i was hesitant to rate this book with 4 stars because it wasn't totally worthy of it. if i could rate it 3.5 that would sit better. i zipped through this book in about 24 hours so it was definitely an easy read. definitely a beach read. definitely the book i needed after reading some intense books and about to read more deep stuff. so i needed something light and fluffy. the characters are likable and believable. a multi generational group of women, all struggling with their identities, their relationships with the men in their lives and their career paths. and there was a bookstore involved. that always makes me happy. i would've enjoyed more details about the bookstore and books. it was predictable but had some tense moments as well. maybe 4 stars is just right after all............
Review Date: 9/10/2024
i loved this book! the narration was beautifully read by mark deakins. it is a difficult story, about a dystopian Maine during a secession from the USA. two best friends, jess and storey, navigate the woods and burned out towns, dead bodies and a whole lot of heart ache. the story flips to their childhood as well and we get windows into the past that informed the men they now are. strong, tender, bruised and determined. they rescue a little girl, collie, who ultimately helps direct them to safety. we hope........
Review Date: 4/25/2025
i adored this book. take me through words to remote islands and you've got me, hook, line and sinker! john, ivar and mary compose the main characters in this book about vulnerability, home and heart. what i loved best was how all three of these people, steeped in their convictions, found many ways to shift, grow and connect. this is lovely armchair adventure, set on the northern coast of scotland, on a desolate island that is truly teeming with life. the ending touched me deeply.
Review Date: 3/31/2024
i'm not sure another review of this book is needed but here i am anyway. i adored the author's book "cutting for stone" and was excited to read this one. maybe it's the difference of many years between the two but i was definitely not happy about holding a 700 page book endlessly. i think the book would've been fine, more than fine, at 500 pages. hell, maybe even 400 pages! what i loved? following the history of the land itself and the families who lived there. just beautiful. what i didn't love? i didn't feel that pull to read forever. i didn't want to keep those characters with me forever. without spoiling it for anyone, the closing of the book, the pulling together of the entire story, did leave me feeling more complete, so i'm grateful for that. and i am sure that i would've enjoyed the audio book version more, for all reasons.
Review Date: 3/31/2024
ever dream of living your life in the city to take up farming in the middle of nowhere? finding that all of your sleek hip black clothes no longer work while milking a cow or mucking in mud. and worse. that's what kristin did. and as a born and bred new yorker, i can relate. kristin takes us through the four seasons of the year and shows us the nuts and bolts of building a working farm from scratch. it takes all the romanticism out of it, that's for sure. what it leaves is the beauty of nature and community and our relationship with the land and the animals. kristin also writes of the growth of her new relationship with mark, her farm partner, and soon to be husband. they have a "fiery" relationship. does that resonate for any of you readers out there? this is a lovely read.
Review Date: 3/31/2024
aaron falk is back and he is a delightful character, full of vulnerability, brains and kindness. there are tons of wonderful personalities in this book and we get to know a bunch of them well. in the most perfect way, the book gently meanders along and then the tension really rises in the final part of the book. i have loved all of jane harper's previous 4 books. this one joins the ranks. looking forward to the next one.
Review Date: 3/31/2024
Helpful Score: 1
do you like to hang out with books/libraries/gardens/small towns and nice people? this book is for you. the characters are well developed, kind hearted and flawed, as all humans are. there is time to explore a lovely garden, a backyard free library, and inside your heart, too. this book is soft but not sappy. it would make for a great beach or vacation read and also a wintry day inside by the fire.
Review Date: 3/31/2024
if this story is predictable, it doesn't detract from the fun you will have reading it. the waverly women are eccentric and emotional and electric and engaging. the supporting
cast of men in the book add the needed balance. if you love old homes and some magic, you won't be disappointed. favorite character: bay. she has the kind of confidence i wish i'd
had when i was 15. i read allen's first book in this series, garden spells, many years ago and hardly remember it. first frost stands alone beautifully.
cast of men in the book add the needed balance. if you love old homes and some magic, you won't be disappointed. favorite character: bay. she has the kind of confidence i wish i'd
had when i was 15. i read allen's first book in this series, garden spells, many years ago and hardly remember it. first frost stands alone beautifully.
Review Date: 4/20/2025
i loved this audiobook. and perhaps i would not have loved it quite as much on paper. but the characters really came alive under lovely accented narration, both for tiffy and for leon. but also for supporting actors, especially ritchie. i think the most delightful part of this kind of fiction is that it doesn't have to make sense, doesn't have to be realistic. instead the reader, or listener, may allow herself to be swept up and away with the unpredictability and surprises. best of all, the good guys win. that is always worthwhile.
Review Date: 5/28/2024
i am 69 years old and this book is about 30 somethings. a tiny bit of it was unrelatable for me but mostly it's about a lovely human named daphne who is trying to land, to find her place in the world. she goes from being buttoned up, literally and figuratively, to opening up, blossoming and healing. she meets lovely people along the way who befriend her and encourage her to be herself. there is nothing new, theme wise, in the story, but it's incredibly entertaining. oh and did i mention hot? daphne's love interest, miles, is definitely a guy we'd all like to have met. or meet. oh, and daphne is a librarian. if you've read any of my other reviews, i gravitate towards libraries and librarians. this book delivers. including a huge read-a-thon. and there are some moments outdoors, with beaches and dunes and lakes and kayaks and lavender farms that are delicious. i listened to the audio book and the narrator, julia whelan, was excellent. i am going to explore more of her projects.
Review Date: 1/18/2025
i really loved this book. i've gotten hooked on dystopian novels and this one does not disappoint. nick newman has painted a beautiful story inside of a scary dark one. about sisters. about gardens, about the vulnerability of life itself. there were moments of confusion for me and i decided i didn't need to understand every last connection. instead i allowed myself to be carried along with evelyn.
Review Date: 7/28/2024
Helpful Score: 3
i was a 14 year old camper in the adirondack mountains the summer of 1969. so not far off from barbara in 1975. i loved this book. read it every chance i got, which tells me it's 5 stars right off the bat. the setting is magnificent. classic mountain vibes. and a really dark dysfunctional family. an amazing array of strong women, from all walks of life. and a thread running through the entire book of the love and respect for the land and the woods that filters from eldest to youngest, from rich to poor. creepy but not scary. gripping but not grisly. a great read.
Review Date: 5/15/2024
if you loved "elinor oliphant is completely fine" or "the reading list", you will love "the good sister" too. the main character, fern, is magnetic. and her new beau, "wally" (aka rocco ryan), is a perfect match for her. the awkward but genuine romance and friendship that grows between them is just lovely. but there is more. there is the dark side, the twin sister, rose. i'll go no further, no spoilers.
oh and fern works in the library. which is always my favorite milieu. read this book!
oh and fern works in the library. which is always my favorite milieu. read this book!
Review Date: 3/31/2024
the singer and poet and author patti smith brought me to this book. this was one of her favorite childhood books. it was written in 1954, a year before i was born, intriguing me further. it was refreshing to read a children's book devoid of modern bells and whistles. there is magic in this book, in the form of an ancient coin but the other magic is one of kids being kids and how they navigate the rather ordinary world of adults, their community and their far from ordinary imaginations. there are plenty of politically incorrect moments in this book, as another reviewer wrote about, but that isn't the reason to read this. read this book to be transported back to a childhood where kids are kids.
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