Long Island summer where the rich go to escape the city and Alex has fled to escape period. Alex is a twenty something who is coasting through life on the grace and credit card of her older boyfriend for the summer cannot return to the city now that her roommates want nothing to do with her, her friends have all disappeared and her old boyfriend demands that she return his calls. Convinced that her current boyfriend will come around and he didn't mean to kick her out forever, she just has to hang out for a little bit longer. There is nothing she won't do, no one she won't lie to and manipulate to get what she needs - a bit more time. Alex is a train wreck and you are hopelessly pulled into her path of destruction and desperation. After so many near misses her past mistakes are going to catch up with her right? Perfect for followers of Anna Delvey or THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY. 4 stars
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A misfit family that seems to meet the grueling climate chaos usually with a stiff drink. The parents live in California with their daughter in Florida and both are reeling after constant rains, droughts, hurricanes that seem to be endless. While some think that the path forward is found in eating bugs, maintaining bee hives and driving a Tesla they still seem to use a lot of fuel, eat at fast food restaurants and buy whatever they feel like. Their daughter Cat can't even take care of a pet python losing it almost immediately so she buys another. T.C. Boyle's sarcastic wit points a finger at all those who say they want to do better in saving the planet and living a natural life but have no intention of giving anything up. 3 stars
Skyler Moore, a collage artist hoping for her big break is stunned when it comes in the form of a big check from a man she was with for one night years ago. His reasons for leaving the trust to her and not his family are unclear but the family makes it very clear that they want that money and are going to come after Skyler in court. Suddenly her apartment is broken into, her cat let out and her gallery pieces tampered with which makes her scared but determined. She is trying to put it all together and figure out if he just wanted to help a struggling young artist or if there is another reason. This will make you question any gift that looks too good to be true. A tight thriller with all the requisite twists and turns. 3 1/2 stars
A series of funny essays looking at the pandemic, poking at past tv shows, her up and down health and a lot of toilet humor. She dives into subjects few others would tackle like extreme diarrhea and even her brush with death from anaphylactic shock. While I could totally appreciate her take on escaping Chicago and the near empty expressways at the start of the pandemic, I had trouble with a few of the longer pieces like her play by play criticism of every episode of Sex In The City. This could be that I am older than the intended audience. 3 stars
A brutally honest look at beauty and how we are affected by it. Trinidad is an island that depends on wealth from tourism and business and success comes from knowing people in power. Bianca comes from a wealthy family centered in politics but has managed pretty much on her own since her mother's death. She is a classic beauty who has had success modeling and wants to be a writer but that dream is gone since her affair with a married politician was made public. Eager to prove that she is more than a pretty face she takes a PR and writing job for a makeup artist who is giving everything he has to create a beauty empire. His brusque manner gets in the way of helping his younger sister or seeing Bianca for more than a cheap model but he is more caring than she first perceived. There is so much universal truth here about positive body image, makeup to make you feel empowered not to entice a man and how the powerful can lift up a young woman or crush her soul. I listened to the audiobook and the melodic narrator's voices made this book even more enjoyable. 4 stars
This is one of those "good people caught up in a bad situation" and "being in the wrong place at the wrong time" kind of stories. Lindburgh's Pharmacy in Athens Georgia has been around forever. It is the place to go to fill a prescription but also to hang out with friends and grab a soda fountain treat but more might be happening behind the scenes than we know. We get into the lives and heads of several people all with secret dreams or issues that they basically keep to themselves and just get on with their lives until the day they come together that changes everything. It will take one passionate teacher who feels compelled to do something to bring down a house of cards. It is a small town story filled with family drama, lost dreams and loyalty that only Will Leitch can tell. Fans of southern family drama will fall hard for this. 4 1/2 stars
Jack loses his dad at a young age when his dad enters the witness protection program leaving his family behind forever. Contact is forbidden but over the years his dad has found a few ways to be there. Now an adult and an author Jack is given a strange opportunity to create fake histories for people entering the witness protection program. What Jack wants in return is to find his dad but there seems to be a problem and the Marshalls don't know where he is. People who were part of his dad's past are turning up dead and Jack needs to find out if he is in danger as well. A tightly written thriller that reminds us all that sometimes people who do bad things are not bad all the time and some of the good guys aren't the best dads. For fans of The Fugitive and NOVEMBER ROAD. 4 stars
What gives you the right to tell your ethnic story? After June witnesses her writer friend/enemy's death and "happens" upon her undiscovered manuscript, she takes it for her own. Athena's story is very personal to her Asian heritage about Chinese laborers helping the war effort in WWII Europe. After tweaking Athena's story, checking facts and making it her own, June feels like Athena gave her a shell and she created a masterpiece. She sells the manuscript, changes her name to sound Asian and uses her flimsy relationship with Athena to gain credibility and fame. As the pub date nears June begins to feel guilt and uncertainty creep in plus there is at least one person out there who has a problem with the whole scenario and upend everything. Was it June's story to tell at all? Will she be haunted by Athena's ghost forever? This story will resonate with book clubs as it addresses the question of plagiarism and creative content rights but also the right to tell ethnic heritage stories that you are not part of. There is also the interesting dive into the publishing business and social media circus. They say there is no such thing as an original story anymore but where do we draw the line?
4 1/2 stars On camera Tom Hanks comes across as humble, honest and immediately likable and his writing comes across the same way. He sees humor in the human emotions and actions of the every person and shines a light on people who aren't usually in the spotlight. We start with a lonely boy who is changed by a visit from his heroic uncle who introduces the boy to comic books in 1947. Jump to current day and a movie producer wants to make a major motion picture masterpiece out of the comic book the boy modeled after the uncle. The producer has to get things moving quickly and he is good at giving people a chance who go above and beyond doing their mediocre jobs. From the motel desk person who listens and acts to the lead actress who is a down to earth anti-diva. We now are privy to all the hullabaloo that goes into the production of a movie - something Tom Hanks knows a thing or two about. This domino effect of finding this wonderful crew is the only way this movie will get finished. It all comes together in rapid fire dialogue , comic book pages and about a hundred notations delivered in a funny down to earth style. And yes, I am happy to report there is mention of a typewriter. His many fans plus readers of stories featuring oddball characters with big hearts will enjoy this. 4 stars
Ess wakes up on a sailboat off the Canadian coast with a headache and no idea who, where or why she is there. Thanks to climate change the weather situation is forcing many people to flee to Canada where the natural resources have not been stripped but Ess has papers, money and a boat. She also has a note telling her not to trust anyone or tell anyone what is going on. It turns out that she is not the only amnesia refugee and they are being rounded up which amps up her intention to stay hidden. She befriends a troubled artist and her harbor patrol brother but soon realizes the danger she is putting them in by getting close. Forced amnesia and a somewhat scary look at what climate change could bring about in the not too distant future. 3 1/2 stars
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