74. Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine Center

listened on Audible

2019
320 pgs.
Adult Chicklit
Finished 12/3/2022
Goodreads rating: 4.02
My rating: 4
Setting: Contemporary Rockport, MA

My comments: An almost too-good-to-be-true paramedic/firefighter moves to Rockport, Massachusetts to help her estranged terminally ill mother.  Too-good-to-be-true in that she is stronger, smarter, savvier than all the other (male) firefighters in her department.  At 26 years old she has sworn off love and has never even dated since two things happened on her 16th birthday - her mother abandoned her and she was raped.  But on her first day in her new job in Massachusetts she has partnered with a rookie firefighter who she instantly falls for.  Turned out to be a definite romance novel with a firefighting twist.

Goodreads synopsis:  Cassie Hanwell was born for emergencies. As one of the only female firefighters in her Texas firehouse, she's seen her fair share of them, and she's excellent at dealing with other people's tragedies. But when her estranged and ailing mother asks her to uproot her life and move to Boston, it's an emergency of a kind Cassie never anticipated.

The tough, old-school Boston firehouse is as different from Cassie's old job as it could possibly be. Hazing, a lack of funding, and poor facilities mean that the firemen aren't exactly thrilled to have a "lady" on the crew, even one as competent and smart as Cassie. Except for the handsome rookie, who doesn't seem to mind having Cassie around. But she can't think about that. Because she doesn't fall in love. And because of the advice her old captain gave her: don't date firefighters. Cassie can feel her resolve slipping...but will she jeopardize her place in a career where she's worked so hard to be taken seriously?

Katherine Center's Things You Save in a Fire is a heartfelt, affecting novel about life, love, and the true meaning of courage.

73. Christmas Every Day by Beth Moran

listened on Audible

2019
408 pgs.
Adult (British) Romance
Finished 12/2/2022
Goodreads rating: 4.05
My rating: 4
Setting: Contemporary British small town

My comments: Not actually a Christmas story.  Filled with hilarious situations, but balanced out with some serious ones, too.  Set in a small, friendly British village, a very enjoyable read/listen.

Goodreads synopsis:  When Jenny inherits her estranged grandmother’s cottage in Sherwood Forest, she has nothing to lose - no money, no job, no friends, no family to speak of, and zero self-respect. Things can only get better...

Her grumpy, but decidedly handsome new neighbour, Mack, has a habit of bestowing unsolicited good deeds on her. And when Jenny is welcomed into a rather unusual book club, life seems to finally be getting more interesting.

Instead of reading, the members pledge to complete individual challenges before Christmas: from finding new love, learning to bake, to completing a daredevil bucket list. Jenny can’t resist joining in, and soon a year of friendship and laughter, tears and regrets unfolds in the most unexpected ways.

Warm, wise, funny and utterly uplifting, what one thing would you change in your life before Christmas comes around?

28. Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin

#1 Serpent & Dove

started on Kindle, ended on Audible

2019
513 pgs.
Ya Fantasy series
Finished 4/3/2022
Goodreads rating: 4.02
My rating: 5

My comments:  A witch and a witch hunter.  Never a dull moment, with a huge cliffhanger ending.  The love story between Reid and Lou is a clever one, laced with humor, magic, "the church", and machismo.  I did love this story.  Not even a hint of boring!

Goodreads synopsis:  Bound as one to love, honor, or burn.

          Two years ago, Louise le Blanc fled her coven and took shelter in the city of Cesarine, forsaking all magic and living off whatever she could steal. There, witches like Lou are hunted. They are feared. And they are burned.

          Sworn to the Church as a Chasseur, Reid Diggory has lived his life by one principle: thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. His path was never meant to cross with Lou's, but a wicked stunt forces them into an impossible union—holy matrimony.

          The war between witches and Church is an ancient one, and Lou's most dangerous enemies bring a fate worse than fire. Unable to ignore her growing feelings, yet powerless to change what she is, a choice must be made.
          And love makes fools of us all.

7. The Loot by Craig Schaefer

#1 Charlie McCabe

listened on Audible

2019
329 pgs.
Adult Mystery Series
Finished 1/26/22
Goodreads rating: 4.08
My rating: 4
Setting: Contemporary Boston & suburbs

My comments: A female explosives expert returns from eight years duty in Afghanistan and joins a private security company.  Of course, her trial and first experience with the company has her (successfully) dealing with a bomb. There are lots and lots of ludicrous, longshot kind of figuring-out-clues that would never happen  Oh well.  It was fast paced and interesting, and somewhat believable.  Yes, I'd read more of these, I liked the main characters.

Goodreads synopsis:  She fought for her country. Now she’s fighting for her family.

When Sergeant Charlie McCabe returns from fighting in Afghanistan, she hopes to leave the war behind. Instead, she comes home to a father whose gambling has put him in deep trouble with a violent loan shark. She finds work as a professional bodyguard, but to save her father, she needs to get serious cash together fast.

However, her father isn’t the only one who needs saving. When Charlie’s first client—a wealthy executive with a shady past—narrowly escapes a bomb plot, Charlie’s investigation leads her into the heart of Boston’s criminal underworld. Along the way, she stumbles upon clues about a diamond heist gone wrong that’s been unsolved for decades.

With the clock ticking and chaos descending, Charlie sees a solution to both problems, but it won’t be easy, and it won’t be pretty. A “normal” life may await Charlie on the other side of this mess, but part of her knows that the battle has just begun.

71. To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers

listened on Audible

narrated by Brittany Pressley

Unabridged audio (4:30)
2019
153 pgs. - Novella
Adult SciFi
Finished  6/30/2021
Goodreads rating: 4.21 - 21,750 ratings
My rating: 5
Setting: different planets way, way, WAY out...

First line/s: "I never knew an Earth that was unaware of life elsewhere."

My comments: Set on a spaceship that has traveled 14 light years through the galaxy to four planets somewhat similar to Earth to research possible lifeforms.  To travel, each of the four astronaut/scientists are put into states of torpor, where their body ages very slowly and they can pass through time only aging about 1/10th of what they normally would.  That in itself is fascinating, but the science and the philosophy and the relationships between the four people on this mission astounded me.  I really loved it.

Goodreads synopsis:   In her new novella, Sunday Times best-selling author Becky Chambers imagines a future in which, instead of terraforming planets to sustain human life, explorers of the solar system instead transform themselves.
            Ariadne is one such explorer. As an astronaut on an extrasolar research vessel, she and her fellow crewmates sleep between worlds and wake up each time with different features. Her experience is one of fluid body and stable mind and of a unique perspective on the passage of time. Back on Earth, society changes dramatically from decade to decade, as it always does.
            Ariadne may awaken to find that support for space exploration back home has waned, or that her country of birth no longer exists, or that a cult has arisen around their cosmic findings, only to dissolve once more by the next waking. But the moods of Earth have little bearing on their mission: to explore, to study, and to send their learnings home.

            Carrying all the trademarks of her other beloved works, including brilliant writing, fantastic world-building and exceptional, diverse characters, Becky's first audiobook outside of the Wayfarers series is sure to capture the imagination of listeners all over the world.

62. Flame by Chelle Bliss

listened on Audible

narrated by Samantha Brentmoor  & Jason Clarke

Unabridged audio (7:32)
2019
320 pgs.
Adult Romance
Finished 6/12/2021
Goodreads rating: 4.24 - 3372 ratings
My rating: 2.5

First line/s: "Life is a series of mistakes.  I've made my fair share of them."

My comments: Just another sexy biker/tattooist/romance with one protagonist alone and without family and the other having so much family that they can't breathe.  Entertaining but getting very tired of this particular genre.

Goodreads synopsis:  Could you love a man surrounded by danger?

          Gigi Gallo’s childhood was filled with the roar of a motorcycle and the hum of a tattoo gun. Fresh out of college, she’s about to start working at her family’s tattoo studio — Inked. But when she shows up the first day, she never expects to run into someone tall, dark, and totally sexy from her not-so-innocent past.

        Pike Moore is a bossy biker with a cocky attitude and an even bigger ego. He came to Inked to start over. New town. New job. New roots. None of that included coming face-to-face with the hot chick who spent a week in his bed before she vanished without a trace.
        But when Pike’s dark family history catches up with him, can he stop Gigi from being caught in the crossfire?

44. The Bromance Book Club by Lissa Kay Adams

listened on Libby/Borrowed from the Library

narrated by Andrew Eiden - nice job; small deeper voiced parts by Maxwell Caulfield didn't work for me, he sounded too old for 29...

Unabridged audio (9:09)
2019
352 pgs.
Adult romance
Finished 5/3/2021
Goodreads rating: 3.92 - 44,157 ratings
My rating: 3.5+
Setting: contemporary Nashville

First line/s: "There was a reason Gavin Scott rarely drank.  He was bad at it."

My comments: A totally fun, eye-rolling romp through a contemporary marriage falling apart and the young, handsome, stuttering major league ball player who doesn't want to lose his wife.  Five of Gavin's teammates - all hot, famous Nashville MLB players, have formed a secret book club where they read regency romance novels to help understand their wives' feelings and needs.  Yes, a totally ridiculous premise, but it sure makes for some hilarious -- as well as ridiculous -- escapades.  Great, predictable fun.

Goodreads synopsis:  The first rule of book club: You don't talk about book club.

          Nashville Legends second baseman Gavin Scott's marriage is in major league trouble. He’s recently discovered a humiliating secret: his wife Thea has always faked the Big O. When he loses his cool at the revelation, it’s the final straw on their already strained relationship. Thea asks for a divorce, and Gavin realizes he’s let his pride and fear get the better of him.
          Welcome to the Bromance Book Club.
          Distraught and desperate, Gavin finds help from an unlikely source: a secret romance book club made up of Nashville's top alpha men. With the help of their current read, a steamy Regency titled Courting the Countess, the guys coach Gavin on saving his marriage. But it'll take a lot more than flowery words and grand gestures for this hapless Romeo to find his inner hero and win back the trust of his wife.

27. The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes

listened on Libby
narrated by Julia Whelan - Absolutely fantastic.

Unabridged audio (13:52)
2019
388 pgs.
Adult Historical Fiction
Finished 3/25/2021
Goodreads rating:  4.27 - 251,213
My rating: 5
Setting: 1937 eastern Kentucky

First line/s:  "Listen.  Three miles deep in the forest just below Arnott's Ridge, and you're in silence so dense it's like you're wading through it."
 
My comments: Hot damn, I loved this book.  I had read The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek last year, so I was acquainted with the general idea of the WPA eastern Kentucky packhorse librarians of 1935 to 1943.  The narrator was absolutely fantastic.  I loved the characters: seven feisty women, two wonderful gentlemen, and a huge array of small-town folk who were mostly unlikable.  Yes, definitely a love story, but more importantly a wonderful piece of well-researched historical fiction,

Goodreads synopsis:  From the author of Me Before You, set in Depression-era America, a breathtaking story of five extraordinary women and their remarkable journey through the mountains of Kentucky and beyond.
          Alice Wright marries handsome American Bennett Van Cleve hoping to escape her stifling life in England. But small-town Kentucky quickly proves equally claustrophobic, especially living alongside her overbearing father-in-law. So when a call goes out for a team of women to deliver books as part of Eleanor Roosevelt’s new traveling library, Alice signs on enthusiastically.
          The leader, and soon Alice’s greatest ally, is Margery, a smart-talking, self-sufficient woman who’s never asked a man’s permission for anything. They will be joined by three other singular women who become known as the Packhorse Librarians of Kentucky.
          What happens to them–and to the men they love–becomes an unforgettable drama of loyalty, justice, humanity and passion. These heroic women refuse to be cowed by men or by convention. And though they face all kinds of dangers in a landscape that is at times breathtakingly beautiful, at others brutal, they’re committed to their job: bringing books to people who have never had any, arming them with facts that will change their lives.
          Based on a true story rooted in America’s past, The Giver of Stars is unparalleled in its scope and epic in its storytelling. Funny, heartbreaking, enthralling, it is destined to become a modern classic–a richly rewarding novel of women’s friendship, of true love, and of what happens when we reach beyond our grasp for the great beyond.

24. Backtrack by Paul Doiron

#9.5 Mike Bowditch

read on Kindle 

2019
21 pgs.
Adult short story - mystery
Finished 3/19/2021
Goodreads rating: 4.02 - 273 ratings
My rating: 3
Setting: Maine woods, perhaps 1980

First line/s: "There were four doctors staying at the hunting camp."

My comments: Depressing, very short story about a doctor who has decided to end his cancer-ridden life by freezing to death in the woods instead of going through the ups and mostly downs of end-of-life in a sickbed and Charlie takes on finding him when he disappears.  He was only 28 when this happened, and he's reflecting on it as an older gentleman.

Goodreads synopsis:  When a visiting hunter goes missing in the middle of a snowstorm, a young Charley Stevens (later the mentor to game warden Mike Bowditch) sets off to rescue him—but begins to suspect the man may not want to be found.

23. Roam by C. H. Armstrong

read on my iPhone through Kindle
2019
320 pgs.
YA CRF
Finished 3/18/2021
Goodreads rating: 4.03 - 649 ratings
My rating: 4
Setting: Contemporary Rochester, Minnesota

First line/s: "I hate this town already.

What I posted on Goodreads:  Homelessness.  Good story, with a lot of positivity, perfect boyfriend, symbolic mean girl.

My comments: Homeless high school senior and her family leaves Omaha for Minnesota after scandal humiliates her family and leaves them jobless with only a van and little else. She has to figure out how to begin her senior year - in a new school - without letting anyone know that she's living with her family in a van.  Excellent story, leaves you with very positive vibes.

Goodreads synopsis:  Seventeen year-old Abby Lunde and her family are living on the streets. They had a normal life back in Omaha, but thanks to her mother’s awful mistake, they had to leave what little they had behind for a new start in Rochester. Abby tries to be an average teenager—fitting into school, buoyed by dreams of a boyfriend, college, and a career in music. But Minnesota winters are unforgiving, and so are many teenagers.

          Her stepdad promises to put a roof over their heads, but times are tough for everyone and Abby is doing everything she can to keep her shameful secret from her new friends. The divide between rich and poor in high school is painfully obvious, and the stress of never knowing where they're sleeping or where they’ll find their next meal is taking its toll on the whole family.
           As secrets are exposed and the hope for a home fades, Abby knows she must trust those around her to help. But will her friends let her down the same way they did back home, or will they rise to the challenge to help them find a normal life?

22. A Ripple in Time: An Historical Novel of Survival by Victor Zugg

#1 A Ripple in Time

listened on Chirp
narrated by Sean William Doyle
Unabridged audio (7:25)
2019
350 pgs.
Adult Time Travel/Survival
Finished 3/17/2021
Goodreads rating: 4.23 - 1256 ratings
My rating: 4.5
Setting: Mostly early 1700's Charleston, SC/coast

First line/s:  "The PA system blared. "Final call for Flight seventy-three with service to Charlotte, boarding at Gate 5.  This is your final call.' "

My comments: An interesting take on time travel!  This one was fun to read because it had a lot of basic information about survival like gear needed and trying to put yourself into the right period of history with only what you have.  Clothing of the period was interesting and the last 10% of the book (spoiler alert!) trying to get back, -- was really fun.  The actual ending made me grin.  There's a sequel, will try to find it on audio.

Goodreads synopsis:    A struggle for survival in a time long past.
          It started as a routine Miami to Charlotte flight for the passengers, crew, and Federal Air Marshal Stephen Mason. But a freak storm over the Atlantic propels the airliner unexplainably back in time to the early 18th century. They find themselves on the sparsely populated coast of the Carolina Colony. Charles Town is the only English settlement of any size in the area. It’s an inhospitable place of vast plantations, slavery, hostile natives, tall ships, and marauding pirates.
          Finding a way back, if that’s even feasible, is the least of their worries. These unintended time travelers quickly find themselves ill-equipped for hardships and dangers not faced for centuries. Perils loom at every turn in this world of loss, anguish, filth, and sweat.
          Foreigners in their own land, can they survive and adapt? Is it even possible for these modern transplants to carve an existence from this foul and odorous place in time?
          Stephen Mason will find a way or die trying.

10. Love Lettering by Kate Clayborn

read on my iPhone on Libby (borrowed from the library
narrated by Nicol Zanzarella
Unabridged audio (11:10)
2019
307 pgs.
Adult Romance
Finished 2/6/2021
Goodreads rating: 3.82 - 15,233 ratings
My rating: 4.5
Setting: Contemporary NYC

First line/s: "On Sunday I work in Sans Serif."

What I posted on Goodreads:  

My comments: I totally enjoyed this book.  It was slow and delicious. There was a great deal of philosophical/introspective thinking and conversation, which I don't usually like much at all, but Kate Clayborn wove it in beautifully.  An artist and a numbers analyst.  A young woman trying to make herself more honest and a young man who, although never mentioned at all, is somewhere, somewhat, in a mild way on the Autism/Aspbergers spectrum, I'm guessing.  Walks through Manhattan and the Bronx looking at signs and all the different modern and vintage lettering.  Playing games.  20 questions.  A romance novel that slowly unfolds, written beautifully.  Two quite steamy scenes, well into the second half of the book, which totally worked.  Yup, I liked the characters, setting, occupations, personalities, and cool twist.  

Goodreads synopsis:  Meg Mackworth’s hand-lettering skill has made her famous as the Planner of Park Slope, designing beautiful custom journals for New York City’s elite. She has another skill too: reading signs that other people miss. Like the time she sat across from Reid Sutherland and his gorgeous fiancée, and knew their upcoming marriage was doomed to fail. Weaving a secret word into their wedding program was a little unprofessional, but she was sure no one else would spot it. She hadn’t counted on sharp-eyed, pattern-obsessed Reid . . .

          A year later, Reid has tracked Meg down to find out—before he leaves New York for good—how she knew that his meticulously planned future was about to implode. But with a looming deadline, a fractured friendship, and a bad case of creative block, Meg doesn’t have time for Reid’s questions—unless he can help her find her missing inspiration. As they gradually open up to each other about their lives, work, and regrets, both try to ignore the fact that their unlikely connection is growing deeper. But the signs are there—irresistible, indisputable, urging Meg to heed the messages Reid is sending her, before it’s too late . . .

6. Black Rock Bay by Brianna Labuskes

listened on Audible - also have Kindle
narrated by Sarah Naughton
Unabridged audio (11:18)
2019
364 pgs.
Contemporary Mystery
Finished 1/30/21
Goodreads rating: 4.03 - 1736 ratings
My rating: 3
Setting: St. Lucy's, Maine - an island off the coast of Rockland, winter

First line/s: "Then.  The whimper was a quiet thing, broken and almost lost to the wind battering the outside of the lighthouse."

What I posted on Goodreads:  Chose because of the Maine setting.  The mystery was okay.  Characterization only so-so.

My comments: Always drawn to novels that take place in Maine, this enticed me because it was also a murder mystery.  I think it could've been a good one, but there were so many different scenarios offered by the two cops that it bacame confusing.  And repetitive, which seems to be something that really bugs me.  I never felt I knew any of the characters at all so I wasn't even sure of motivations.  I did get a sense of Asher, but not of Cash, definitely not of Mia's mother, an what I did get was mostly told and not show.  Great concept for a book but didn't ssem to fulfill its vas opportunities.

Goodreads synopsis:  A detective returns to her haunted past, with deadly consequences, in an icy novel of psychological suspense by the Washington Post and Amazon Charts bestselling author of Girls of Glass.      
      Detective Mia Hart never planned to return home. One terrifying summer night, Mia lost two of her closest friends to suicide. Scarred and broken, she fled St. Lucy’s, a small island off the coast of Maine.
Now fifteen years later, when the body of a journalist is fished out of the bay near St. Lucy’s cliffs, Mia is forced to help with the case—and face all she’s been running from. As she approaches the island, the wintery winds of Black Rock Bay usher Mia home again.
          When Mia digs into the reporter’s death, she finds he left behind a written clue: It wasn't suicide. Mia soon discovers it’s her own tragic past he was referring to. Now, as she tries to untangle a web of lies, Mia realizes that solving this case means becoming the next pawn in someone’s blood-chilling game of truth or die.

153. Fake Date by Monica Murphy

listened - free Audible

narrated by Savannah Peachwood (can't do voices!!) and James McAdams

Unabridged audio (9:46)

2019
358 pgs.
Contemporary Romance
Finished 12/17/2020
Goodreads rating: 3.72 - 144 ratings
My rating: 1 Crappy

Setting:  Contemporary Monterey, CA (with a trip to San Francisco)

First line/s: "Sometimes I marvel at the way my job choices have sent me down."

My comments: There was absolutely nothing to like about this book.  The female reader read everyone's speaking parts horribly except for the protagonist.  She added nuances to the speech that changed the peoples' personalities.  Everything was stupid, the way everyone acted and reacted, the bevy of friends, and all their "advice," and even the (nonexistent) amount of time that she spent "taking care of" her little sister, which se was always complaining about.  

Goodreads synopsis:  Working at Bliss, Sarah Harrison deals with all sorts of—interesting clientele. Yet no one sparks her interest more than Jared Gaines, the ultra-rich, ultra-sexy businessman who frequents her shop, buying delicate little “gifts” for the women in his life.

          But one day, Jared sends her a gift from Bliss. Then another—and another. So when Sarah walks into his office demanding to know why he can't stop sending her gifts, he makes her an offer she somehow can’t refuse: be his fake girlfriend for the weekend while attending his brother’s engagement party.
          Next thing Sarah knows, she’s in San Francisco, pretending to be in love with Jared. Not that it’s a hardship. Once you get the man away from the office, he’s much more relaxed. Sweet. Funny. Even…thoughtful? Oh, and sexier than ever, of course.
          Their pretend relationship feels very real, very quickly. Soon Sarah’s in over her head. Could what she and Jared share turn into something real? Or is it all actually…fake?

151. Evil Eye - Madhuri Shekar

Listened on Audible - freebie/Audible Original
narrated by many readers
Unabridged audio (1:38)
2019
doesn't say, will count 80 pgs.
Adult CRF Epistolary US & India
Finished 12/12/20
Goodreads rating: 4.06 - 4810 ratings
My rating: 4
Setting: Phone conversations & voicemails between a daughter of Indian background living in LA and her parents in India

What I posted on Goodreads:  same as below

My comments: Spoke theater, the whole thing is telephone conversations and voicemails between a mother, a daughter, the father, and the boyfriend.  It gets creepy.  Creepy fun.  I quite liked it.

Goodreads synopsis: Pallavi is an aspiring writer living in California. Her mother, Usha, is thousands of miles away in Delhi - and obsessed with finding her daughter a husband.

          In Madhuri Shekar’s ingenious Evil Eye, hilarious back-and-forth via phone and social media takes a shocking, supernatural twist when Pallavi meets the perfect man - leading to a climactic showdown that will leave listeners on the edges of their seats.

          (from another reader) this was a chilling and captivating story that I couldn't get enough of. Told through a series of telephone conversations and voicemails, a mother living in Delhi becomes increasingly concerned when her independent and career driven Indian -American daughter begins to be involved with a new man. Although Usha wants nothing more than her daughter, Pallvai to marry, an uneasy feeling begins to grow. Except everyone else thinks Usha is going crazy.

132. One for the Blackbird, One for the Crow by Olivia Hawker

listened on Audible
narrated by Jackie Zebrowski
Unabridged audio (19:12)
2019
493 pgs.
Adult Historical Fiction
Finished 10/2/2020
Goodreads rating: 4.26 - 16,304 ratings
My rating: 3.5
Setting: 1876 Wyoming prairie

First line/s:  "I was leading the cows to the milking shed when my pa shot Mr. Webber."

What I posted on Goodreads:  3.5 Yes, beautiful, descriptive writing, but too much of it.  The story could have been told without 18 hours of listening to much of the same thing over and over.  Good story all in all, but I couldn't WAIT to finally get to then end....

Goodreads synopsis:  From the bestselling author of The Ragged Edge of Night comes a powerful and poetic novel of survival and sacrifice on the American frontier.

Wyoming, 1876. For as long as they have lived on the frontier, the Bemis and Webber families have relied on each other. With no other settlers for miles, it is a matter of survival. But when Ernest Bemis finds his wife, Cora, in a compromising situation with their neighbor, he doesn’t think of survival. In one impulsive moment, a man is dead, Ernest is off to prison, and the women left behind are divided by rage and remorse.

Losing her husband to Cora’s indiscretion is another hardship for stoic Nettie Mae. But as a brutal Wyoming winter bears down, Cora and Nettie Mae have no choice but to come together as one family - to share the duties of working the land and raising their children. There’s Nettie Mae’s son, Clyde - no longer a boy, but not yet a man - who must navigate the road to adulthood without a father to guide him, and Cora’s daughter, Beulah, who is as wild and untamable as her prairie home.

Bound by the uncommon threads in their lives and the challenges that lie ahead, Cora and Nettie Mae begin to forge an unexpected sisterhood. But when a love blossoms between Clyde and Beulah, bonds are once again tested, and these two resilient women must finally decide whether they can learn to trust each other - or else risk losing everything they hold dear.

109. Thin Air by Lisa Gray

#1 Jessica Shaw, wandering PI
listened on Audible - have on Kindle, too
narrated by Amy Landon, who was excellent
Unabridged audio (8:44)
2019 Thomas & Mercer
288 pgs.
Adult Mystery, Series
Finished 7/25/2020
Goodreads rating:  3.87 - 39,273 ratings
My rating: 4.5
Setting: contemporary Los Angles area, CA

First line/s: "I park the car four streets away, and walk the rest of the way."

My comments: Jessica discovers herself as a stolen child  when she was three years old.  We start with her discovery of that information.  She had had absolutely no idea.  Her mother had been murdered, herself as a baby gone. Raised in NY, she is now on the road in California, just a year or two after her much-loved father's death.  Of course she jumps into the case, which proves very interesting.  She's pretty smart and tracks down many clues, of course solving it.  She likes to drink and hit the road for the unknown....and that's how the book ends, with her hitting the road for parts unknown.  Sort of a female Jack Reacher, but without all his physical skills (and brilliance, lol).  I'm going to definitely check out other books to come in this series.  Next one is called Bad Memory, with number three coming out in November 2020.

Goodreads synopsis:  She investigates missing persons—now she is one.
           Private investigator Jessica Shaw is used to getting anonymous tips. But after receiving a photo of a three-year-old kidnapped from Los Angeles twenty-five years ago, Jessica is stunned to recognize the little girl as herself.
          Eager for answers, Jessica heads to LA’s dark underbelly. When she learns that her biological mother was killed the night she was abducted, Jessica’s determined to solve a case the police have forgotten. Meanwhile, veteran LAPD detective Jason Pryce is in the midst of a gruesome investigation into a murdered college student moonlighting as a prostitute. A chance encounter leads to them crossing paths, but Jessica soon realizes that Pryce is hiding something about her father’s checkered history and her mother’s death.
           To solve her mother’s murder and her own disappearance, Jessica must dig into the past and find the secrets buried there. But the air gets thinner as she crawls closer to the truth, and it’s getting harder and harder to breathe.

108. We're Not From Here by Geoff Rodkey

listened on Libby

narrated by Dani Martineck

Unabridged audio (6:56)
2019
256 pgs.
Middle Grade SciFi
Finished 7/23/2020
Goodreads rating: 4.05 - 1362 ratings
My rating: 3
Setting: planet Choom, relocated from Earth

First line/s: "The first time I heard anything about Planet Choom, we'd been on Mars for almost a year."

My comments: Told from the point-of-view of a middle schooler, one of about 1,000 that are in another galaxy trying to be accepted on the planet of Choom after Earth was destroyed.  The planet is currently inhabited by three species, huge mosquito-like beings, enormous marshmallow-like beings, and smaller, also bug-like beings.  Emotions are heralded by smells.  A swarm mentality seems to be easily transferred from being to being.  The humans have to figure out a way to get past the fake news and anger that it manifests to a place where they are accepted and trusted.  Half of the book is angry fighting, which I really didn't enjoy.  The premise of the story was thoughtful, and I always enjoy a good scifi.

Goodreads synopsis:  Imagine being forced to move to a new planet where YOU are the alien! From the creator of the Tapper Twins, New York Times bestselling author Geoff Rodkey delivers a topical, sci-fi middle-grade novel that proves friendship and laughter can transcend even a galaxy of differences.

          The first time I heard about Planet Choom, we'd been on Mars for almost a year. But life on the Mars station was grim, and since Earth was no longer an option (we may have blown it up), it was time to find a new home.
          That's how we ended up on Choom with the Zhuri. They're very smart. They also look like giant mosquitos. But that's not why it's so hard to live here. There's a lot that the Zhuri don't like: singing (just ask my sister, Ila), comedy (one joke got me sent to the principal's office), or any kind of emotion. The biggest problem, though? The Zhuri don't like us. And if humankind is going to survive, it's up to my family to change their minds. No pressure

99. Scoring the Keeper's Sister by Delancey Stewart

listened to Audio on Chirp
narrated by Ellie Gossage and Logan McAllister
Unabridged audio (5:08)
2019
204 pgs.
Adult Low-Steam Romance
Finished 6/26/2020
Goodreads rating:  402 - 610 ratings
My rating: 2.5
Setting: contemporary San Diego

First line/s: "There are a few things you need to know about me."

My comments: The story was okay, steam factor there but low, most of the 5- hours was story.  Professional soccer team San Diego.  Nothing special or different and only good endings for both mother's sickness and love.  Did not really care for either of the readers.

Goodreads synopsis:  Soulmates don't always start as friends. Sometimes they start as enemies. And sometimes they need cheese to help seal the deal... 
          ERICA: 
          Signing up for a matchmaking service was not my idea.
          But when Andrew-the-Hand-Model dumped me, my brother suggested I try Mr. Match. And I figured it couldn’t hurt. As it was, I’d never get away from meathead moron soccer players (since my brother plays keeper for the South Bay Sharks and I manage PR for the team). But Mr. Match is a moron too because he matched me with a guy I see at work every day. A guy who has a different girl on his arm at every turn. And a soccer player.
          Fernando Fuerte, the “Fuerte Fire,” is one guy I can assure you is NOT my match. 
          FERNANDO: 
          Getting girls is not a problem.
          Getting girls who care about something besides my status as the South Bay Sharks star striker, my salary, and my social status?
          Yeah. That’s the problem. So when my buddy Max tells me he’s actually Mr. Match–the secret proprietor of San Diego’s hottest matchmaking app, I let him convince me to try it. 
          And Erica Johnson is not actually a bad match–only she doesn’t seem to agree. And then there’s the small matter of her being in the middle of trying to save the team (and me) when the owner’s ex brings to light some, ahem, unsavory accusations about me…      
          And then there’s her enormous and disapproving twin brother…
          And there’s something about cheese, too. 
          But if I have my way? Erica will definitely be my match.

98. Blue Moon by Lee Child

#24 Jack Reacher
listened to audio borrowed from Bosler Library
narrated by Scott Brick
Unabridged audio (11:21)
2019
359 pgs.
Adult Mystery
Finished 6/25/2020
Goodreads rating: 3.97 - 40,462 ratings
My rating:  3
Setting: Contemporary unknown city

First line/s:  "The city looked small on a map of America."

What I posted on Goodreads:  Most Reacher books are unbelievable and implausible, but this one takes the cake!

My comments:  Not sure why Blue Moon was the title of this book, I may be missing something!  There was a lot of bloodshed in this story, bloodshed in which Reacher never batted an eye.  Yes, he was cleaning up some really bad guys, cleaning up in a city who really needed the help (two warring mafia gangs from two different countries) but it was pretty overwhelming.  Gaining the friendship of four different people who helped immensely also seemed pretty implausible.  This man has more than luck on his side, and as much as I celebrate his genius, this story just seemed to be over the top over and over again.  I must admit, it's nice to not be nervous at all as I anticipate what will happen next because I know Reacher will prevail.

Goodreads synopsis:  “This is a random universe,” Reacher says. “Once in a blue moon things turn out just right.”
          This isn’t one of those times.
          Reacher is on a Greyhound bus, minding his own business, with no particular place to go, and all the time in the world to get there. Then he steps off the bus to help an old man who is obviously just a victim waiting to happen. But you know what they say about good deeds. Now Reacher wants to make it right.
          An elderly couple have made a few well-meaning mistakes, and now they owe big money to some very bad people. One brazen move leads to another, and suddenly Reacher finds himself a wanted man in the middle of a brutal turf war between rival Ukrainian and Albanian gangs.
          Reacher has to stay one step ahead of the loan sharks, the thugs, and the assassins. He teams up with a fed-up waitress who knows a little more than she’s letting on, and sets out to take down the powerful and make the greedy pay. It’s a long shot. The odds are against him. But Reacher believes in a certain kind of justice . . . the kind that comes along once in a blue moon.