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Horse by Geraldine Brooks My rating: 4 of 5 stars 4.5 stars Another book that I thought would likely be boring so I kept putting off reading it but I should have trusted the excellent writer that is Geraldine Brooks. I don't know nor care about horses. And yet, this book is excellent. The deep dives into horse racing and the Smithsonian were excellent. The characters were each deeply memorable. Loved it. View all my reviews

Thank You for Listening by Julia Whelan My rating: 4 of 5 stars I really enjoyed the time I spent with this story. Julia Whelan is a great writer and a great narrator. Her dialogue was a joy to listen to. Lovely. View all my reviews

Things We Never Got Over by Lucy Score My rating: 3 of 5 stars Quick, easy read. Enjoyable but also forgettable, at least for me. View all my reviews

The Last Housewife by Ashley Winstead My rating: 3 of 5 stars I have mixed feelings about this one. I thought the first half was a lot stronger than the second half. Lots of trigger warnings on this one and it was hard for me to tell if it felt just a bit too gimmicky in parts. View all my reviews

The Lioness by Chris Bohjalian My rating: 3 of 5 stars Several people said this was their favorite Bohjalian novel so it must be me. I thought it was okay, I enjoyed reading it and I liked the wilderness bits and i liked the hollywood bits but overall, it's not a story that will stay with me as much as some of his others have. View all my reviews

Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell My rating: 4 of 5 stars Not sure why I resisted reading this one for as long as I did. I think I thought it was going to be far more boring than it was. It was more about being a mother than it was about anything else. I loved it. Maggie O'Farrell is a fantastic writer. View all my reviews

The Ferryman by Justin Cronin My rating: 0 of 5 stars "The mind works wondrously; it is capable of astonishing feats. It is the only machine in nature capable of thinking one thing while knowing its opposite. The bright, busy surface of life—that is the key. How easily it distracts us, like a magician who waves a wand with one hand while, with the other, he plucks a rabbit from his vest." What a wild ride this book was! It starts in what looks to be a utopian world of people who live in a beautiful and secluded island where life is perfect but it quickly becomes clear that there are issues brewing just below the surface. Class issues, political unrest, and more hidden secrets. Proctor lives in this beautiful world, married to a stunning woman and has a respected job as a Ferrryman who escorts people who are at the end of their lives to the ferry so they can be retired. Proctor's dad gets belligerent and utters what seems like nonsense w...