A heartfelt debut about a family conflicted after learning a shocking secret at their father/grandfather/uncles funeral. Everyone is grieving in their own way trying to process what they learned as well as keep their own secrets under wraps. Small Southern towns are tough places to hide anything anyway and they all just need to survive the week. Siblings and cousins interact while the newly widowed Ellen must adapt to the biggest change of all, that of not really knowing the man she spent most of her life with. Family drama the likes of "This is Us" more than "The Waltons" that starts off with a bang and finishes with a comforting mug of coffee and a porch swing. 4 stars
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Adelaide is an American living in her newly adopted city of London. She fell in love with the city while at school and has found a way to begin her career there and at the same time fall in love with a British boy she once said looks like a Disney prince. When Adelaide meets Rory again she feels like it is a sign from the heavens and nothing will make her stop from trying to make him love her as much as she loves him. There is just one little problem with that way of thinking. They're on again /off again love affair seems less like a soul connection and more like a relationship of convenience and possibly destined for disaster. Adelaide expects too much of herself after an emotionally abusive first love and Rory is getting over being dumped by the love of his life so both are not always on stable ground. We want to root for Adelaide who is fragile and is dealing with some mental health issues but I really wanted her to kick Rory to the curb. I listened to the audiobook which was well narrated and highly emotional. For anyone who has ever put 200% into a relationship that seems to be going nowhere (which pretty much covers most of the readers out there) this is for you. 3 1/2 stars
In 2019 millennial comedian Blythe Roberson quit her job in New York, borrowed her stepfather's Prius and set out on a grand adventure that of an old-fashioned road trip across the country. She had several goals in mind. 1. Visit as many of the country's National Parks to get her coveted Junior Ranger badges. 2. Contemplate the meaning of America and her life while communing with nature. 3. Don't get murdered. Rough camping in the parks for free or in the trusty Prius proves to be more uncomfortable than it seemed at the planning stage but she is rarely without help in the form of new friends she meets along the way and the occasional visit with old friends. She does all this and shares her adventures with her Instagram followers. This is a travelogue a la Bill Bryson spiced with interesting anecdotes and fun facts about flora, fauna and history of the parks as well as her own funny take on life, politics and freedom. This is not your grandparents take on road trips but millennials and up will find it funny. 3 stars
A fascinating account of an ill-fated voyage by a squadron of British Royal Navy ships in 1740 to South America in search of Spanish galleons aiming to teach them a lesson and recoup riches. David Grann takes us on a literary treasure hunt of seafaring and military lore. From the Captain's quarters to the lowest berth of the youngest teen in the crew he creates a full picture of everything a voyage like this would entail. We see the deplorable conditions they faced as well as disease, storms, marauding Spanish war ships and brutal coastlines. If they survived the above, and many did not, The Wager was unlucky enough to run aground and become shipwrecked on a very inhospitable island. When some finally did make it back to England they were not met with a ticker tape parade but instead charged with mutiny, a trial and various accounts of what happened on that island. In a world where they knew they had little chance of survival it is no wonder that military rule, honor and the disciplined life they led on the ship rotted away as fast as the ruined carcass of the Wager did. This incredible and well researched story will appeal to sea goers and landlubbers alike. 4 stars
Valentine Welch, Val, has landed one of the coveted WPA projects. He is on the way to a small town in Wyoming to paint a mural at the local post office paid for by the government. Val knows this is a good deal and even better when he finds out he is staying in a cabin at a huge ranch. The ranch owners John and Eva are a puzzle as is the dangerous looking cowboy who runs the place but soon Val settles in. Wined and dined by the Longs and taught cowboy wisdom by Faro plus spending time in the great outdoors agrees with Val until the night where Eva runs off and John hires Val to track her down. He begins a coast to coast trip where he ends up with more questions than answers and gets himself in more than a few tight spots. Finding himself in the unenviable position between a wealthy jealous husband and a mysterious woman who may or may not want to come home is not good.
A quiet study of how an artist looks at a subject through different lenses - both as a painter, friend and possibly something more and how it can change the final work. The other side of the story speaks to the Great Depression and how it forced some into desperate situations or personal freedom. Fans of Amor Towles and Jodi Picoult's THE FOUR WINDS will appreciate this story. 4 stars The queen of dual timelines and captivating mysteries is back. 2018 London finds Jess adrift in career and life. She gets a call summoning her back home to Australia because her beloved grandmother is in the hospital. Once back in her grandmother's home a hidden book and her grandmother's strange bedside ramblings intrigue her to look into a tragedy that happened when her mom was a baby. How is her grandmother connected to a horrible tragedy that took the lives of an entire family in 1959? Working with background information and the author's family Jess tries to solve the mystery and write the article to jump start her career. Through that same true crime book that Jess is using the reader gets a first hand look at remote 1950's Adelaide and the events that changed their family history. Gloriously written it is an ode to motherhood, a dissection of memory, family secrets and community that is one of her best. Her many fans as well as readers of THE THORN BIRDS, ATTIC CHILD and UNDER THE GOLDEN SUN will relish this timeless story. 5 stars
Two couples, two marriages and two possibly flawed soulmates.
Gabe, Pippa and their two daughters live very near an Australian cliff known as "the drop" a popular suicide jumping off spot. Gabe is blessed with a soothing voice and has talked all of them away from jumping except for the woman today. The police have come and gone and Gabe is noticeably upset as is Pippa not just from the suicide but because of who the woman was and what Pippa thinks she might have seen. Amanda couldn't live with her husband Max's infidelity and that is what she told Gabe before she went off the cliff. What the world, aka police, don't know is that there is a connection between Gabe and Pippa and Amanda and Max. As the chapters bounce back and forth between the wives (yes, even the recently deceased Amanda) we see the connections unfold and the mystery deepens. A tense look at marriage, fidelity, mental health issues and the hope for finding one's soulmate. I also listened to the audiobook and the accent truly added so much to the story. 4 stars Based on a real life poisoning of a French village that remains an unsolved mystery. A baker's wife who yearns for some excitement is taken by the new ambassador and his wife. Elodie is both jealous of and mesmerized by Violet. At the same time a variety of villagers start getting sick and hallucinating.
The sentences are short and feel very much like a fever dream itself and it isn't always clear what is going on which seems to be the author's intent. 3 1/2 stars Bowman and Summer have been raised to respect nature but not to fear it. As youngsters on their remote ranch in Colorado they were home schooled in both book and survival skills - they trained eagles, knew a variety of weapons and could track animals easily. The siblings were close until Bowman took off to Central America leaving Summer the responsibility of keeping the ranch going. Now the pair stand to inherit the ranch and a surprising inheritance but Summer needs Bowman to come home so she can claim it. That would be hard enough but someone else is very interested in taking that inheritance away and settling an old score. The more they learn of their grandfather's history and the money the more dangerous the whole thing feels. The author's love of wild places and the natural world is evident as he skillfully layers the sibling's complicated relationship, the hunt to find Bowman and eluding the dangerous criminals that are after them. You can almost hear the rifle shot echo through the canyon, hear the eagle's cry as you hope they will all make it back home alive. This is a first rate modern western, family drama and crime thriller all wrapped up in one. Fans of the first book, BEARSKIN, the tv series Yellowstone and stories of living off the grid will find their heart happily racing. 4 stars A strange vision of our near future with concerns about climate change forces some to seek a new place in far north Canada. It is frozen, it is barren and it may house a new order. At Camp Zero there are those working in construction as well as a college professor to teach and those to help ease the loneliness. Recruiting these people was easy but keeping them happy alone in the cold is more of a challenge. There is one other person who is not who she says she is and is a mission of her own. I had a tougher time connecting the dots until the end where the author leaves us with a smile not knowing what is next. A mildly feminist, dystopian spy thriller for fans of STATION ELEVEN. 3 stars
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