3 Stars. I'm not a foodie but my husband is so I thought he would like this book as a road trip listen. It's a cozy, gentle read with lots of descriptions of Japanese food (and even one Italian dish) that probably leave real foodies drooling. That's not me so I missed a lot of the appeal of the [...]
4 Stars. I have loved and laughed out loud at Christopher Moore’s earlier work but Fool, Sacre Bleu, and Secondhand Souls did not do much for me. I had pretty much decided that I would stop reading his books. Then I was scrolling through my husband’s TBR looking for a book we could both listen to on [...]
4 Stars. The ninth entry in the Amelia Peabody series is another solid mystery with the usual delightful characters against the backdrop of Egyptian archaeology in its most famous heyday. The author introduced some memorable new characters who I either appropriately loved or loathed, as intended [...]
4 Stars. I picked this up from The Bookworks, an independent bookstore in Pacific Grove, CA, pretty close to the actual Cannery Row. In fact, I just realized exactly how close I was. Dang it. Missed opportunity because I did not go there. Anyway, as I read, I enjoyed reading Steinbeck’s descriptions [...]
4.5 Stars. This was just the sort of soothing, hopeful book I needed right now. In a series of connected stories, the author explores different scenarios most of us can relate to. The young woman fresh out of college who feels stuck. The woman with an established career who finds herself struggling [...]
3.5 Stars. I’ve been mulling this review over since finishing this book six weeks ago. I should have loved it and I didn’t. Not exactly. And I’m having a hard time digging down to the why. Ms. Williams writes about twelve national park units in this book, eight of which I’ve visited and loved. And I think [...]
3 Stars. I’ve been a fairly loyal listener of the Pantsuit Politics podcast for a couple of years now. I like the perspectives Beth and Sarah bring to the conversations they have, whether they’re about current events or pop culture. After the most recent election, I felt that their first book would be a [...]
4 Stars. I thoroughly enjoy poring over the "Maps for Curious Minds" books. The authors and illustrators cleverly share data, both widely known and obscure, in fun, colorful maps and graphs. I find myself texting my husband and my sister with random facts while they're each trying to work. This was [...]
3 Stars. I read and loved Sy Montgomery’s earlier work, How to Be a Good Creature. I loved it so much that I literally read it twice back to back. So my expectations were high as I started this book. I was a little disappointed but that’s partly because of my own unrealistic expectations. In the early days [...]
4.5 Stars. This is a slim volume and much of it is taken up with Mrs. Ritter, her husband, and his friend Karl’s day-to-day survival in Svalbard (Formerly Spitsbergen). Fair warning, that survival isn’t really for those who are disturbed by hunting for food and for furs to sell. Just trying to keep wood [...]