Tag: fiction

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Bonded in Death

Is anyone else in love with the In Death series by J.D. Robb?  No matter what else I am reading, I always jump on these books the moment my Libby hold becomes available.  I can hardly believe Bonded in Death is book #60 and they are still SO good!

I love the diverse cast of characters, the futuristic New York City setting, and the crime solving storylines.  If you haven’t read any of these books, maybe this summary will entice you to give one a try:

“His passport read Giovanni Rossi. But decades ago, during the Urban Wars, he was part of a small, secret organization called The Twelve. Responding to an urgent summons from an old compatriot, he landed in New York and eased into the waiting car. And died within minutes…”

Lieutenant Eve Dallas finds the Rossi case frustrating. She’s got an elderly victim who’d just arrived from Rome; a widow who knows nothing about why he’d left; an as-yet unidentifiable weapon; and zero results on facial recognition. But when she finds a connection to the Urban Wars of the 2020s, she thinks Summerset—fiercely loyal, if somewhat grouchy, major-domo and the man who’d rescued her husband from the Dublin streets—may know something from his stint as a medic in Europe back then.

When Summerset learns of the crime, his shock and grief are clear—because, as he eventually reveals, he himself was one of The Twelve. It’s not a part of his past he likes to revisit. But now he must—not only to assist Eve’s investigation, but because a cryptic message from the killer has boasted that others of The Twelve have also died. Summerset is one of those who remain—and the murderous mission is yet to be fully accomplished…

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Amazon First Reads – March 2025

Amazon First Reads this month included one book chosen from a small selection of different genres and a bonus short story.

My Book Pick

If Tomorrow Never Comes by Allison Ashley – Fate connects two people in life-changing ways in a deeply romantic and emotional novel about hope and second chances by the author of Would You Rather and The Roommate Pact.

Bonus Short Story

The Sublet: A Short Story by Greer Hendricks – A chilling story about the hidden cost of perfection.

Both look good, and I’m excited to read them!

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The Banned Books Club

The Banned Books Club by Brenda Novak

Summary:

Despite their strained relationship, when Gia Rossi’s sister, Margot, begs her to come home to Wakefield, Iowa, to help with their ailing mother, Gia knows she has no choice. After her rebellious and at-times-tumultuous teen years, Gia left town with little reason to look back. But she knows Margot’s borne the brunt of their mother’s care and now it’s Gia’s turn to help, even if it means opening old wounds.

As expected, Gia’s homecoming is far from welcome. There’s the Banned Books Club she started after the PTA overzealously slashed the high school reading list, which is right where she left it. But there is also Mr. Hart, her former favorite teacher. The one who was fired after Gia publicly and painfully accused him of sexual misconduct. The one who prompted Gia to leave behind a very conflicted town the minute she turned eighteen. The one person she hoped never to see again.

When Margot leaves town without explanation, Gia sees the cracks in her sister’s “perfect” life for the first time and plans to offer support. But as the town, including members of the book club, takes sides between Gia and Mr. Hart, everything gets harder. Fortunately, she learns that there are people she can depend on. And by standing up for the truth, she finds love and a future in the town she thought had rejected her.

My Thoughts:

I have to admit I picked up this book primarily because of the title and didn’t read too much about it ahead of time.  I love books about books and assumed that’s what this was.  As I was reading the book, I kept waiting for more about the banned books or the book club, but those didn’t show up very much at all.

The themes of this book actually include some topics I usually avoid when picking something to read, namely sexual assault and domestic verbal abuse. I did feel that the story was building for a long time before much happened to move things along, but I liked the main character enough to want to know how things would work out for her.

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What I’m Reading – March 2025

What I’m Reading Now

I am currently reading The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper by Phaedra Patrick. This was published in 2016 and is part of my 25 in 2025 challenge to read some of the backlist books on my TBR. It was also her debut novel. I just started it but I like it so far.

What I Recently Finished

Fiction

  • Lawyers and Lattes: Happily Ever After in Devon by Rebecca Paulinyi – I found this author during a stuff your Kindle day a year or so ago and liked the free book enough to want to get this one. This book was entertaining enough that I have added book three to my TBR.
  • The London Flat: Second Chances by Juliet Gauvin – I had enjoyed the first book in this series, which I got during a stuff your Kindle day a while back, but this one fell flat for me. I didn’t find the plot believable.
  • Hope in a Jar by Beth Harbison – Fun read! The action flips between the present day and the characters’ time in junior high and high school. I actually liked the chapters from the past better than the present; the author does a good job writing the younger characters. The present-day plot felt a bit childish to me, like the characters hadn’t really grown up since high school, which perhaps was the point.
  • What We Keep by Elizabeth Berg – I didn’t love it, even though Elizabeth Berg is one of my favorite writers. It started out good, but I just lost interest partway through.
  • Bonded in Death by J.D. Robb – I have been a longtime fan of the In Death series, and this book delivered on all fronts. I loved it!
  • Crime Scene by Jonathan Kellerman and Jesse Kellerman – I am a big fan of Jonathan Kellerman’s Alex Delaware series, so I had high hopes for this collaboration with his son Jesse. I thought it was alright, but it didn’t pull me in like the Delaware books do. I couldn’t really relate to the main character, or any of the characters, very much, and I didn’t find the storyline very compelling.
  • The Banned Books Club by Brenda Novak – I am still mulling over this one and plan to write a review soon. I gave it three stars for now.
  • Open Season by Jonathan Kellerman – I usually love the books in the Alex Delaware series, but this one didn’t hold my interest very well. The main draw of the series is that Delaware is a psychologist, and the crimes usually involve some psychological twists and turns. This one felt like more straightforward police work to me.

Nonfiction

  • The Color of Compromise: The Truth about the American Church’s Complicity in Racism by Jemar Tisby – This book was so intense. I am still processing it and plan to write a full review soon.

What I Added to my TBR

  • Not Quite by the Book by Julie Hatcher – my Amazon First Reads pick for February
  • The Fall Risk by Abby Jimenez – bonus short story from Amazon First Reads
  • A Good Indian Girl by Mansi Shah – a recent release from this author I discovered last year
  • More Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa – a sequel that I want to read
  • Feeling the Fireworks: Starting Over in Devon by Rebecca Paulinyi – #3 in the South West series
  • Twisted by Jonathan Kellerman – #2 in the Petra Connor series, I have #1 on my 25 in 2025 list

TBR Stats

  • I currently have 152 books on my TBR
  • Of those, 20 are nonfiction and 132 are fiction
  • I have finished 6 of my 25 in 2025 challenge

If you’re on Goodreads, feel free to add me as a friend. I’m always looking for new recommendations!

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Days at the Morisaki Bookshop

Although Days at the Morisaki Bookshop came out in 2010, I only recently became aware of it and was drawn to the charming cover and the blurb on the back.  It is the debut novel from Japanese author Satoshi Yagisawa and was translated into English by Eric Ozawa.

I really liked this short novel. My favorite part was seeing Takako develop a love for books and for reading, but I also enjoyed seeing her settle into the community of her temporary home and make friends. I was also fond of several other characters, especially Tomo and Wada.

I wasn’t a big fan of the Aunt Momoko character, but I did come to understand her better as the story progressed.  I also found the prose to be a bit choppy at times, but I don’t know how much of that can be attributed to the translation since I can’t read it in the original language.

Have you read any Japanese literature?  What do you recommend?

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Mini Book Reviews

Here are quick reviews of the books I have read so far this month…

⭐⭐⭐

Lawyers and Lattes by Rebecca Paulinyi – I found this author during a stuff your Kindle day a year or so ago and liked the free book enough to want to get this one. This book was entertaining enough that I have added book three to my TBR.

⭐⭐

The London Flat by Juliet Gauvin – I had enjoyed the first book in this series, which I got during a stuff your Kindle day a while back, but this one fell flat for me. I didn’t find the characters’ actions believable.

⭐⭐⭐

Hope in a Jar by Beth Harbison – Fun read! The action flips between the present day and the characters’ time in junior high and high school. I actually liked the chapters from the past better than the present; the author does a good job writing the younger characters. The present-day plot felt a bit childish to me, like the characters hadn’t really grown up since high school, which perhaps was the point of the story.

⭐⭐⭐

What We Keep by Elizabeth Berg – I didn’t love it, even though Elizabeth Berg is one of my favorite writers. It started out good, but I just lost interest partway through.

What are you reading now?

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The Taste of Ginger

I have read a few reviews of The Taste of Ginger, and they vary wildly in their response to the book.  I am on the positive side of the question, giving this debut novel by Mansi Shah 5 stars.

What I most appreciated about this book was following Preeti on her journey to understand more about herself and where she came from so that she can figure out who she wants to be. She is a first-generation immigrant to America from India, having been brought over by her parents as a child.

When the story begins, she is a thirty-year old lawyer just out of a failed relationship with a white American man.  She has a troubled relationship with her parents, especially her mother, but then a family emergency calls her to India and forces her to examine her beliefs and feelings about her family and the different cultures they have lived in.

As she sits on the plane taking her to India and thinks back over her life in America, she realizes, “Fitting in meant letting go of who I was and becoming someone new.” I can relate to that so much as an autistic woman.  I am always watching the behaviors and customs of those around me so that I can attempt to fit into different environments.

About halfway through, after Preeti learns something she didn’t know about her mother, we hear the sentence that contains the title of the book.  Her auntie tells her, “A monkey does not know the taste of ginger,” which is explained to mean, “you cannot appreciate that which you do not know.” She goes on to say, “One thing is certain; you don’t understand her life, and she doesn’t understand yours. Until you both start trying the ginger, you never will.”

I won’t say more about what happens other than to say this a turning point for Preeti. I can attest that, in my own life, gaining an understanding of my mother made a big difference in my relationship with her and in how I felt about myself as a person.

As you can tell, this was a very personal book for me. I focused here on Preeti’s relationship with her mother, but there are several other significant topics covered in this book, and I really enjoyed many of the characters as well as the detailed descriptions of places and events.  Highly recommend!

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The Silo Series

I can still remember the incredible feeling of reading the first story from Wool.  Howey is masterful at unfolding the details in a way that keeps you hanging on every word.  

This is what I posted on Goodreads after reading Wool back in December 2016:

Wow, wow, wow! This blew me away! I read good things about the first story and downloaded it on my new Kindle. Once I read it, I couldn’t get the whole collection fast enough, and I am so glad I did!!

If you are a fan of dystopian fiction, you will love this set of stories. Each one is as good as the one before it and will keep you turning the pages as fast as you can to see what happens next.

Absolute must read, in my opinion!!

There are three books in the Silo series – Wool, Shift, and Dust.  Both Wool and Shift were originally released as short stories/novellas and were later gathered into books.  There is also a thriving fanfiction community writing in the Silo world.

More recently, Silo has been made into a streaming series on Apple TV.  There are currently two seasons out and two more planned.  I have watched the first season and thought they did a really good job of adapting it to the screen, although I still recommend reading the books first if you can.

Have you read or watched any of the Silo series?

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Amazon First Reads – February 2025

This month, Amazon Prime members are able to pick one free book from a selection of eight from a variety of genres.

My pick:

Not Quite by the Book by Julie Hatcher – a novel about Emma Rini, a bookstore owner who needs a break and rents a crumbling manor house.  I am intrigued by this one because it was inspired by the work and life of Emily Dickinson.

Bonus:

We also were able to download a bonus short story, The Fall Risk by Abby Jiminez, about two people who get stuck together on Valentine’s Day.  It looks cute!

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What I’m Reading – February 2025

What I’m Reading Now

Right now, I am reading The Color of Compromise: The Truth about the American Church’s Complicity in Racism by Jemar Tisby. I am only a couple of chapters in and am already finding it intense.

What I Recently Finished

Fiction

  • The Seaside Sisters by Pamela Kelley – Another delightful read from this author. I enjoy her books a lot and only wish they were longer. 4 stars
  • The Avalon Ladies Scrapbooking Society by Darien Gee – Heartwarming story but sure has a lot of characters to keep track of. 3 stars
  • The Hygge Holiday by Rosie Blake – My first from her but won’t be my last! 4 stars. Full review here.
  • Family Lore by Elizabeth Acevedo – I have mixed feelings about this book. I appreciated the mystical aspect of the women having different gifts and the anthropological approach being applied to a family history, but I found it hard to keep everyone straight in my head. I also wasn’t a fan of the many mentions of bodily functions. I think it’s just a case of it not being the best fit for me. 3 stars
  • The Taste of Ginger by Mansi Shah – 5 stars. Full review coming soon.
  • Days at the Morisaki Bookshop – 4 stars. Full review coming soon.
  • Winter Stroll, Winter Storms, and Winter Solstice by Elin Hilderbrand – I read the first book in this series several years ago and decided to read the rest this month. Pretty good, 3 stars.

Nonfiction

  • Followers Under 40: The journey away from church for Millenials, Gen Z, and Gen Alpha by Rachel Gilmore and Kris Sledge – 5 stars. Full review coming soon.

What I Added to my TBR

I was shocked to realize when I looked at my Goodreads that I added over 40 books to my TBR last month! Most were fiction, but I did add one memoir and one other nonfiction book as well.

TBR Stats

  • I currently have 156 books on my TBR.
  • Of those, 20 are nonfiction and 136 are fiction.
  • I have not finished any of my 25 in 2025 challenge yet.

If you’re on Goodreads, feel free to add me as a friend. I’m always looking for new recommendations!