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Happiness Forever by Adelaide Faith My rating: 3 of 5 stars Sylvie is obsessed with her therapist. Not like fascinated but obsessed like she wants to spend 24-7 with her, thinks about her hundreds of times a day, stops herself from texting her nonstop. Wishes she could be her dog. And on and on. This story is mostly about how Sylvie's obsession and therapy sessions. I can't decide if I liked it or not but there were a few sections that really spoke to me: “Exactly. It’s hard when you see other people from the outside but you only know yourself from the inside. It’s so hard to compare.” “Well, you are seeing the inside of a person when you’re reading … you get to see their thoughts, not just the outside of them. And maybe you find that easier to relate to.” “Right,” Sylvie says. “It reminds me of your idea of videoing yourself so you can see yourself as a person,” the therapist says, “but the other way round.” “I’m seeing other people the way ...

The River Is Waiting by Wally Lamb My rating: 4 of 5 stars Wally Lamb is an extraordinary writer. Not because he has the perfect literary style (though he's got plenty of that) and not because he has a truly interesting plot (though he has that too) but what I really love the most about Lamb is his ability to create characters that stay with you long after you're done reading their stories. And his ability to show you that all people are flawed and all people are good and bad and that we are complex beings. This is the story of Corby whose addiction causes a horrible tragedy in his life and all the consequences that come from that terrible action. Most of the story takes place in a men's penitentiary. It's hard to read. If you're easily triggered, I would not recommend you read this one, it's tough. But it's a beautiful, sad story of how life can turn and then never really recover. with gratitude to netgalley and Simon Ele...

The Poppy Fields by Nikki Erlick My rating: 4 of 5 stars Erlick is so good at writing stories with interesting premises. Her stories themselves are interesting but what I love the most is the thought-provoking concept the story is built around. This one is about grief and our relationship with it. If we're grieving someone, so much so that we can hardly breathe, is it better to not remember them? Is it better to dull the edge of that grief? What if it disappears forever? What if the positive memories go with it? Where's the limit? Where do we draw the line on what's worth erasing and what's worth keeping? How far are we willing to go? All such interesting food for thought without clear and correct answers. That's the kind of stuff great books are made of. with gratitude to netgalley and HarperAudio for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. View all my reviews

Red Dog Farm by Nathaniel Ian Miller My rating: 0 of 5 stars I tried to read this book several times and I even tried to listen to it in case the audio would be a different experience and alas this book is not for me. I do think it's interesting and especially if you're into farming and the midwest, I think you will find this book to be very interesting. with gratitude to netgalley and Little, Brown and Company for an advanced copy. View all my reviews

Finding Grace by Loretta Rothschild My rating: 4 of 5 stars I read A LOT of books so it's really really rare for me to find a book with a premise I have never seen before. And this one took the cake. By the end of the first chapter, you're like WHOA did not see that coming. And then you're spending a bunch of the rest of this book reorienting. I know people will have mixed feelings but I loved it. I liked the twist and then the turn the story took. I liked how the author played with the way stories are told. I liked how the characters grew and surprised you both with their stupidity and humanness. I think this one will be controversial, people will love or hate. I am of the former camp. And I loved listening to the audio. with gratitude to netgalley and Macmillan Audio for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review View all my reviews

The Love Haters by Katherine Center My rating: 5 of 5 stars The world is such a better place with Katherine Center in it. Her novels are sweet, kind, quirky in all the best ways and her characters are so loveable. Love Haters brings together the video producer Katie, the Coast Guard rescue, Hutch, and the loveliest dog and aunt ever! It is full of love and color and joy and as always, relatable human conditions and quirks. You know that things are going to work out for these characters, you're rooting for them the whole time and you cheer loudly in the end even though you knew it was coming. Along the way you scold them, you cheer for them, you laugh at them and you shake your head at their silliness. And then there's the author's note and you fall in love all over again. As I said Katherine Center is a gift. The audio and ebook of this are equally enjoyable and it's extra perfect when you get to go back and forth like I did. with gra...

Promise Me Sunshine by Cara Bastone My rating: 4 of 5 stars I loved this sweet novel. It was light and joyful and exactly what i needed during these tough days. View all my reviews

I Leave It Up to You by Jinwoo Chong My rating: 4 of 5 stars Jack Jr wakes up from a 2 year coma. He can't remember what happened. Before the coma it was 2019. Now there's covid. Before the coma he had a fiancee, now he's nowhere to be found. Before the coma, he hadn't really been talking to his family. Now he's been at a hospital near them and his apartment in the city is gone, he moves back in with them and starts working at the family restaurant. This story is funny, sad, touching, and just a joy to read. You will love it. View all my reviews

Michael Without Apology by Catherine Ryan Hyde My rating: 4 of 5 stars Hyde always knows how to write a powerful story and this one is no exception. Michael is taking a film class and decides to do a documentary about people who have a problem with the way their bodies look. He has major burns in his body so he is expecting those with trauma like his and to his shock, he gets a much wider variety of people than he expected. This book is a kind, generous and honest journey Michael takes to find his way back to his own body and his own life so that he can live it to its fullest extent without apology. It's powerful and sweet and touching. with gratitude to Lake Union Publishing and netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. View all my reviews

The Bright Years by Sarah Damoff My rating: 4 of 5 stars Oh this is exactly the kind of story I love reading about. Broken people (and aren't all people broken, really) who find each other, find happiness, find a way to wreck it, cause trauma on their kids who grow up to cause other trauma. People who try hard and find moments to redeem themselves and then make mistakes again and then work hard again. Rinse and repeat. Great sadness, big joys, unexpected surprises, finding our way back to each other, forgiving some too often and other not enough. Trying and trying and trying again. This book is so beautiful that you will love the moments you spend with it. with gratitude to netgalley and Simon & Schuster for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review View all my reviews

The Burden of Proof by Scott Turow My rating: 4 of 5 stars This book was too long. It was also insane and one crazy blow after another and kept me engaged all the way to the end. The whole time, I thought it would make an awesome TV series. It looks like it was made into a tv series 40 years ago, I hope someone remakes it. It's excellent. View all my reviews

The Tell: A Memoir by Amy Griffin My rating: 4 of 5 stars 4.5 stars. A powerful story of navigating deep buried sexual trauma and in a world in which the answers are never as clear and satisfying as we would like it to be, how to move through the trauma and find a way to get to the other side. Really powerful and worth reading. View all my reviews

The Bones Beneath My Skin by T.J. Klune My rating: 4 of 5 stars I loved so much of this story. Especially the first part before it becomes a chase scene novel. I loved the characters, especially Artemis Darth Vader, I challenge anyone not to fall in love with her. View all my reviews

The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar My rating: 4 of 5 stars How lucky am I that so many of the writers whose books I loved have new books this year. El-Mohtar was on that list for me and while I couldn't possibly love this as much as the previous one I still love love loved it. View all my reviews

Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy My rating: 4 of 5 stars I absolutely adore the writing of McConaghy. Always so much atmosphere! This one was a mystery in so many ways and I was totally here for it. I loved this book. View all my reviews

The Impossible Thing by Belinda Bauer My rating: 4 of 5 stars I both read and listened to this book on audio. I really enjoyed the audio which helped with the pacing in my opinion. I've read and loved Bauer's books and this was no exception. However, this book, while fascinating, moved at a slower pace than I would have liked. I loved all the characters and I loved the moving back and forth in time to have mysteries unfold in several timelines. I loved falling head first into the world of egg collectors both in real life (as in physically collecting the eggs from the birds) and in the academic sense (who knew?!) and the obsession and craze and the ones who were taken advantage of and the ones who put themselves in all kinds of danger. It will be impossible for you to not fall into the rabbit hole of this world of danger, intrigue and deception. with gratitude to Grove Atlantic and Dreamscape Media and netgalley for an advanced copy in exchang...

The Impossible Thing by Belinda Bauer My rating: 4 of 5 stars I both read and listened to this book on audio. I really enjoyed the audio which helped with the pacing in my opinion. I've read and loved Bauer's books and this was no exception. However, this book, while fascinating, moved at a slower pace than I would have liked. I loved all the characters and I loved the moving back and forth in time to have mysteries unfold in several timelines. I loved falling head first into the world of egg collectors both in real life (as in physically collecting the eggs from the birds) and in the academic sense (who knew?!) and the obsession and craze and the ones who were taken advantage of and the ones who put themselves in all kinds of danger. It will be impossible for you to not fall into the rabbit hole of this world of danger, intrigue and deception. with gratitude to Grove Atlantic and Dreamscape Media and netgalley for an advanced copy in exchang...

The Last Trip by Kiersten Modglin My rating: 3 of 5 stars This was a crazy wild ride as all of Modglin's stories are. I didn't like it as much as others (maybe cause it was shorter?) but I still enjoyed it. View all my reviews

Trust Me on This by Lauren Parvizi My rating: 4 of 5 stars I loved this story of two mostly-estranged step-sisters who go on a road trip together to see their sick dad. I loved that they each had unique 3-dimensional personalities. I loved the little bit of romance and I loved that we also got to see both of their moms in their own homes. I loved the tiny details around the cars, the cat, the food. I loved the food. By the end of this story, I was attached to both of the sisters and felt like I was rooting for them and riding along the journey with them. There's a twist at the end that I am not sure was necessary. It didn't ruin the story for me but it also didn't really add to it, in my opinion. I still loved how this book tackled both the complexities of the trauma each sister carried and navigated the texture of sisterhood. (even if a step-sisterhood.) with gratitude to netgalley and Lake Union Publishing for an advanced copy in exchan...

Homeseeking by Karissa Chen My rating: 4 of 5 stars I love these generational stories of families. I love reading about how small and big moments shape us and how we carry trauma over the course of our lives and impact all the generations after us. Also how we create stories in order to survive. A beautifully told story. View all my reviews

The Stolen Queen by Fiona Davis My rating: 4 of 5 stars I appear to be in an historical fiction phase and have been loving these novels that teach me and keep me interested and excited all at the same time. Loved this one. View all my reviews

My Friends by Fredrik Backman My rating: 5 of 5 stars Fredrik Backman is a gift. His books are, for me, the very best of what a book can be: deep, character-driven, emotional, memorable and a story to be lost in. I took forever reading this book because I did not want it to end. I wanted to live in Backman's world for as long as possible. This is the story of four friends. It's a story of friendship, it's a story of family. It's a story of connection. It's a story of sacrifice. It's a story of what happens when flawed people share lives together. It's a story of forgiveness. It's a story of joy. It's a story of the gift and tragedy of childhood. It's a story of the gift and tragedy of success. It's a story of seeing and being seen. This story is truly, deeply magical. I cannot tell you how much I loved it. It made me laugh, it made me cry, it made me smile, and it made me weep. It will stay with me just lik...

The Missing Half by Ashley Flowers My rating: 4 of 5 stars This is the story of Nic and Jenna who both have sisters that went missing seven years ago and their cases appeared to be linked. Nic's been trying to move on and live without her sister (and not doing so well at it) but when Jenna shows up and encourages her to do their own digging, Nic's thrown right back into the thick of it and things go from crazy to even crazier all the way to the very twisty endings that you don't see coming. I read this in one swallow. with gratitude to Random House Publishing Group and netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. View all my reviews

Vantage Point by Sara Sligar My rating: 3 of 5 stars I am so done reading books with vile characters that are hard to sit with for a whole book. This was ok. I am just tired of books with unlikeable characters so it's me not the book! View all my reviews

First-Time Caller by B.K. Borison My rating: 3 of 5 stars 3.5 stars I liked this book a lot but, for me, it wasn't as magical as Borison's Christmas books. It felt a little bit long. Still really enjoyed every moment I spent with it~ View all my reviews

We All Live Here by Jojo Moyes My rating: 3 of 5 stars Moyes' books are a balm to the heart and this was no exception. I loved the characters. read when you need a light balm. View all my reviews

Salvation of a Saint by Keigo Higashino My rating: 4 of 5 stars Love these books, the writing style is different, the characters are different, the voice is so different and i really enjoy reading them. View all my reviews

The Vanishing of Josephine Reynolds by Jennifer Moorman My rating: 3 of 5 stars 3,5 stars This was an interesting read. I had a hard time following what was going on in the beginning (maybe that was working as intended) and as the story developed I found myself more and more invested. Loved the little magic and the strong female characters. View all my reviews

The Vanishing of Josephine Reynolds by Jennifer Moorman My rating: 3 of 5 stars 3,5 stars This was an interesting read. I had a hard time following what was going on in the beginning (maybe that was working as intended) and as the story developed I found myself more and more invested. Loved the little magic and the strong female characters. View all my reviews

The Heart of Winter by Jonathan Evison My rating: 5 of 5 stars This is exactly the kind of book I love to read. It makes my heart full and allows me to fall into a story that helps me forget about life even if momentarily. Loved it so very much. View all my reviews

A Killing Cold by Kate Alice Marshall My rating: 3 of 5 stars this was okay, a little creepy, relatively fast-paced and liked the many twists that came in a flurry at the end. View all my reviews

Penitence by Kristin Koval My rating: 3 of 5 stars This was a quiet and interesting read but in the end it didn't really stick the landing for me. It was absolutely worth the read. View all my reviews

Presumed Guilty by Scott Turow My rating: 4 of 5 stars love this. fast paced, excellent court room scenes. View all my reviews

All Better Now by Neal Shusterman My rating: 4 of 5 stars A super interesting book centered around the idea of a pandemic where the people who get sick and recover become deeply content and start shedding/donating etc their worldly possessions. There's a lot of interesting and thought-provoking ideas here around what it means to be happy, can society survive if everyone is compassionate and giving? What if some are and some aren't? What's moral and can you sacrifice some to save many? and so much more. Shusterman is an exquisite author and this book is no exception. with gratitude to netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. View all my reviews

Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix My rating: 0 of 5 stars I am not going to rate this book. I know many loved it and I kept trying and trying but after getting 60+% through this VERY LONG book, I am so so done. Not the book for me. Too much drama, not enough character development. View all my reviews

Swan Song by Elin Hilderbrand My rating: 3 of 5 stars Hilderbrand's novels are always a joy to read and this last nod to her Nantucket stories was no exception. Fun story, lovely bowtie to end with. View all my reviews