3 Stars. Hmmm. It’s hard to write reviews of memoirs that don’t exactly work for you, isn’t it? I don’t want to discount someone else’s life experiences. But I personally felt there were some serious issues with the writing. Enjeela and her family experienced a terrifying journey when they left Afghanistan [...]
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 [...]
3 Stars. This series is still a lot of fun but it feels a little too directly derived from Harry Potter. There’s a game between magicians, a character who is very reminiscent of Dolores Umbridge, and more that I won’t mention because of spoilers. I’m trying to convince myself that a lot of these are just [...]
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 [...]
4 Stars. I try hard not to get political in my reviews, though if you look back through the books I read, you’ll get at least a sense of my political leanings. It’s impossible to review this book without discussing politics though, so bear with me. I wish all the politicians who love to speak so loudly and [...]
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 [...]