46. Promise Me Sunshine by Cara Bastone

listened on Libby

373 pgs.

2025
Adult rom-com.  No steam at all until very near the end.
Finished 10/20/2025
Goodreads rating: 4.12
My rating: 4.25 
Setting: Contemporary upper west side, Manhattan (with quite a bit of time spent back-and-forth on the Staten Island Ferry)

My comments: I love it when you wait and wait for an audio book to arrive from your library waiting list and the moment you start it you know you've found a winner!  This was a winner.  Even with the heaviest of heavy themes: grief - the light touches, humor, character development and great writing helped it stay more-or-less light-hearted all the way to the end.  You always knew what was coming, but the surprises about how were super-delightful.

Goodreads synopsis:  Grieving the loss of her best friend, a young woman’s life is turned upside down when she meets a grumpy stranger who swears he can help her live again, in this heartwarming, slow-burn romance by the author of Ready or Not

Lenny’s a bit of a mess at the moment. Her best friend, Lou, recently passed away after a battle with cancer, and her death has left Lenny feeling completely lost. She’s avoiding her concerned parents, the apartment she shared with Lou, and the list of things she’s supposed to do to help her live again. The only thing she can do is temporary babysitting gigs, and luckily, she just landed a great one, helping overworked, single mom Reese and her precocious daughter, Ainsley. It’s not perfect: Ainsley’s uncle, Miles, always seems to be around, and is kind of... a huge jerk. But if Lenny acts like she has it all together, maybe no one will notice she’s falling apart.

Miles sees right through her though. Turns out, he knows a lot about grief and, surprisingly, he offers her a proposition. He’ll help her complete everything on her “live again” list if she’ll help him connect with Ainsley and overcome his complicated relationship with Reese. Lenny doubts anything can fill the Lou has left behind, but she begins to spend more time with Miles, Lenny is surprised to discover that, sometimes, losing everything is only the first step to finding yourself, and love, again.

31. There's Something About Mira by Sonali Dev

listened on Audible

314 pgs.

2025
Adult CRF, cultural
Finished 7/6/25
Goodreads rating: 4.17
My rating: 5
Setting: contemporary NYC and India

My comments: If I rated this book on how I felt about some of the characters and the situations they created, my rating would be much lower. Oh how I gritted my teeth in places!  Thinking this book would be a light romantic comedy, I discovered I was quite mistaken. There were so many layers in this well-written novel that I loved it more and more as the author divulged new information.  I particularly enjoyed the glimpses of both New York City and of India.  I could see it all through Mira's eyes. Characterization, plot, setting - superbly created.  Highly recommend.

Goodreads synopsis:  From USA Today bestselling author Sonali Dev comes the heartfelt story of a woman determined to reunite a lost ring with its owner, who ends up finding herself along the way.

Mira Salvi has the perfect life—a job she loves, a fiancé everyone adores, and the secure future she’s always imagined for herself. Really, she hasn’t a thing to complain about, not even when she has to go on her engagement trip to New York alone.

While playing tourist in the city, Mira chances upon a lost ring, and her social media post to locate its owner goes viral. With everyone trying to claim the ring, only one person seems to want to find its owner as badly as Mira journalist Krish Hale. Brooding and arrogant, he will do anything to get to write this story.

As Krish and Mira reluctantly join forces and jump into the adventure of tracing the ring back to where it belongs, Mira begins to wonder if she is in the right place in her own life. She had to have found this ring for a reason…right? Maybe, like the owner of the lost ring, her happy ending hasn’t been written yet either.

68. The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston

listened on Libby

336 pgs.

2023
Adult Magical Realism/Fantasy
Finished 7/30/2024
Goodreads rating: 4.20
My rating: 4
Setting: Contemporary Upper East Side of NYC

My comments: A girl who now lives in her beloved aunt's apartment on the upper east side of NYC, one day walks into it and discovers that she's gone back in time exactly seven years...and meets the young man who lived there seven years ago.  Very interesting, keeps your attention.

Goodreads synopsis:  Nominee for Readers' Favorite Romance (2023)

An overworked book publicist with a perfectly planned future hits a snag when she falls in love with her temporary roommate…only to discover he lives seven years in the past, in this witty and wise new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Dead Romantics.

Sometimes, the worst day of your life happens, and you have to figure out how to live after it.

So Clementine forms a plan to keep her heart safe: work hard, find someone decent to love, and try to remember to chase the moon. The last one is silly and obviously metaphorical, but her aunt always told her that you needed at least one big dream to keep going. And for the last year, that plan has gone off without a hitch. Mostly. The love part is hard because she doesn’t want to get too close to anyone—she isn’t sure her heart can take it.

And then she finds a strange man standing in the kitchen of her late aunt’s apartment. A man with kind eyes and a Southern drawl and a taste for lemon pies. The kind of man that, before it all, she would’ve fallen head-over-heels for. And she might again.

Except, he exists in the past. Seven years ago, to be exact. And she, quite literally, lives seven years in his future.

Her aunt always said the apartment was a pinch in time, a place where moments blended together like watercolors. And Clementine knows that if she lets her heart fall, she’ll be doomed.

After all, love is never a matter of time—but a matter of timing.

3. My Darling Bride by Ilsa Madden-Mills

listened on Audible

2023
327 pgs.
Adult Romance with steam...
Finished 1/16/2024
Goodreads rating: 4.10
My rating: 4
Setting: Contemporary NYC (with the beginning in the desert just outside Tucson!)

My comments: A steamy romcom set in a bookstore.  Take one six-and-a-half-foot exceedingly handsome football star and one thoughtful, conscientious (gorgeous, of course) bookstore employee who has raised her two younger siblings since they were very young, throw in a marriage-of-convenience/fake marriage trope and a few steamy sections ... and voila!  This is an excellently plotted story with great characters and, of course, an HEA.  Very enjoyable listening to on a frigid snow day.

Goodreads synopsis:  In a sizzling romance that sparkles with wit and depth, two wounded souls meet by chance in the desert and agree to get married, and their lives will never be the same.

On a normal day, Emmaline Darling isn’t a car thief. She’s just a simple girl who runs a bookstore and adores cats. But when she’s stranded in the desert and needs to get away from her dangerous ex-boyfriend, she picks her only option: swiping the keys to a famous football player’s Lamborghini and speeding away.

Football star Graham Harlan is in chaos. First he took a hit on the field that left him with a near-death experience, and now he’s promised his brother he’ll get married to secure the family inheritance. Trouble is he isn’t even seeing anyone.

Then a mystery woman steals his car. With his usual stubbornness, he tracks her all the way to Manhattan and gives her an ultimatum: marry me or I’ll press charges.

Her choice is obvious, only neither of them expect the sparks that ignite between them.

As the end of their arrangement looms, will Graham take a chance on love or let his darling walk away forever?

15. The Matchmaker's Gift by Lynda Cohen Loigman

listened on Libby

2022
320 pgs.
Adult CRF/Hist Fict
Finished 2/14/2023
Goodreads rating: 4.21
My rating: 4.5
Setting: contemporary & early 20th century NYC

My comments: I very much enjoyed the metamorphosis that modern-day Abby went through, from learning the divorce-lawyer ropes from an unscrupulous mentor to trying to help divorcing partners come to the true reality of their situations.  The grandmother's story was also fascinating.  A truly memorable story.  Cool cover, too

Goodreads synopsis:  Even as a child in 1910, Sara Glikman knows her gift: she is a maker of matches and a seeker of soulmates. But among the pushcart-crowded streets of New York’s Lower East Side, Sara’s vocation is dominated by devout older men—men who see a talented female matchmaker as a dangerous threat to their traditions and livelihood. After making matches in secret for more than a decade, Sara must fight to take her rightful place among her peers, and to demand the recognition she deserves.

Two generations later, Sara’s granddaughter, Abby, is a successful Manhattan divorce attorney, representing the city’s wealthiest clients. When her beloved Grandma Sara dies, Abby inherits her collection of handwritten journals recording the details of Sara’s matches. But among the faded volumes, Abby finds more questions than answers. Why did Abby’s grandmother leave this library to her and what did she hope Abby would discover within its pages? Why does the work Abby once found so compelling suddenly feel inconsequential and flawed? Is Abby willing to sacrifice the career she’s worked so hard for in order to keep her grandmother’s mysterious promise to a stranger? And is there really such a thing as love at first sight?

4. Twenty Years Later by Charlie Donlea

listened on Libby/borrowed through library

2021
368 pgs.
adult mystery
Finished 1/22/22
Goodreads rating: 4.17
My rating: 4.5
Setting: mostly contemporary NYC

My comments: Oh my, talk about twists and turns and surprises!  This very complicated plot started off a bit slowly for me, but it was setting up the rest of the story really well, and once I got into it I was utterly fascinated.  And although we watch what unfolds through various eyes, each character is keeping information back, sometimes even falsifying it so we're always a little unsure of what - or why - something is happening.  There are two protagonists, Avery/Claire, a famous television investigative reporter, and Walt, a retired-in-his-forties FBI agent who now lives ... and drinks rum ... in Jamaica.  Throw in an ugly murder mystery, a woman killed on 9/11, an in-hiding hedge fund multi-millionnaire, and you have the beginning ingredients for one wild ride.

Goodreads synopsis:  Fans of Lisa Unger and Allen Eskens won’t want to miss this thrilling new suspense novel from the #1 internationally bestselling author of The Girl Who Was Taken! Hiding her own dark past in plain sight, a TV reporter is determined to uncover the truth behind a gruesome murder decades after the investigation was abandoned. But TWENTY YEARS LATER, to understand the present, you need to listen to the past…

The New York Times Best Thrillers This Season | E! News Recommended Books | Overdrive Biggest Books of the Month | Everything Zoomer, December’s Best Fiction

Avery Mason, host of American Events, knows the subjects that grab a TV audience's attention. Her latest story--a murder mystery laced with kinky sex, tragedy, and betrayal--is guaranteed to be ratings gold. New DNA technology has allowed the New York medical examiner's office to make its first successful identification of a 9/11 victim in years. The twist: the victim, Victoria Ford, had been accused of the gruesome murder of her married lover. In a chilling last phone call to her sister, Victoria begged her to prove her innocence.

Emma Kind has waited twenty years to put her sister to rest, but closure won't be complete until she can clear Victoria's name. Alone she's had no luck, but she's convinced that Avery's connections and fame will help. Avery, hoping to negotiate a more lucrative network contract, goes into investigative overdrive. Victoria had been having an affair with a successful novelist, found hanging from the balcony of his Catskills mansion. The rope, the bedroom, and the entire crime scene was covered in Victoria's DNA.

But the twisted puzzle of Victoria's private life belies a much darker mystery. And what Avery doesn't realize is that there are other players in the game who are interested in Avery's own secret past--one she has kept hidden from both the network executives and her television audience. A secret she thought was dead and buried . . .

Accused of a brutal murder, Victoria Ford made a final chilling call from the North Tower on the morning of 9/11.
Twenty years ago, no one listened.
Today, you will.
TWENTY YEARS LATER, to understand the present, you need to listen to the past... 

45. Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo

listened on Libby/borrowed from library

narrated by the author, Elizabeth Acevedo and Melania-Luisa Marte

Unabridged audio (5:32)
2020
432 pgs.
YA CRF in Verse
Finished 5/5/2021
Goodreads rating: 4.32 - 52,442 ratings
My rating: 5
Setting: Contemporary NYC and Dominican Republic

First line/s: "I know too much of mud.

I know that when a street doesn't have sidewalks

& water rises to flood the tile floors of your home,

learning mud is learning the language of survival."

My comments: Incredible, lovely writing.  Many times when you hear a book read aloud that has been written in verse you cannot tell that it WAS written inverse.  This, read by two readers (one being the author), the poetry just flowed.  Absolutely gorgeous words.  Very sad, depresssing, but the beauty of the writing ... and of the story ... made up for it.  Learning about the "DR" community both in New York City and the Dominican Republic and hearing the story told with a large amount of Spanish verbiage included added to the experience.  And it was read with lovely, lilting accents of two SpanishAmerican narrators.  The story was tough.  But I would consider this a masterpiece.

Goodreads synopsis:   In a novel-in-verse that brims with grief and love, National Book Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Acevedo writes about the devastation of loss, the difficulty of forgiveness, and the bittersweet bonds that shape our lives.

          Camino Rios lives for the summers when her father visits her in the Dominican Republic. But this time, on the day when his plane is supposed to land, Camino arrives at the airport to see crowds of crying people…
          In New York City, Yahaira Rios is called to the principal’s office, where her mother is waiting to tell her that her father, her hero, has died in a plane crash.
          Separated by distance—and Papi’s secrets—the two girls are forced to face a new reality in which their father is dead and their lives are forever altered.
          And then, when it seems like they’ve lost everything of their father, they learn of each other.

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 . . .

55. Tweet Cute by Emma Lord

listened to audio borrowed from Bosler Library
narrated by Dan Bittner and Emily Shaffer
Unabridged audio (10:08)
2020 Wednesday Books
368 pgs.
YA CRF Rom-Com
Finished  3/20/2020
Goodreads rating:  4.07 - 7339 ratings
My rating: 4.5
Setting:  Contemporary NYC

First line/s:  "To be fair, when the alarm goes off, there's barely even any smoke rising out of the oven."

My comments:  Definitely cute, and pretty sweet, too.  In more ways than one - the baking of desserts is a big part of the storyline, lol.  Told in two voices, that of Jack and of Pepper and the rivalry between their parents businesses on Twitter.  Jack and Pepper are doing all the Twitter postingsJack for his family deli on the lower eastside and Pepper for her family's now-international burger chain from where she lives on the upper eastside, although she still pines for Nashville where she lived until 8th grade.  Amid swim team, college prep and applications, a secret app that Jack created which is the current hit of their posh private school, and the fierce competition between their parents' businesses, there's never a dull moment in the story, which I greatly enjoyed.

Goodreads synopsis:  A fresh, irresistible rom-com from debut author Emma Lord about the chances we take, the paths life can lead us on, and how love can be found in the opposite place you expected.
          Meet Pepper, swim team captain, chronic overachiever, and all-around perfectionist. Her family may be falling apart, but their massive fast-food chain is booming ― mainly thanks to Pepper, who is barely managing to juggle real life while secretly running Big League Burger’s massive Twitter account.
          Enter Jack, class clown and constant thorn in Pepper’s side. When he isn’t trying to duck out of his obscenely popular twin’s shadow, he’s busy working in his family’s deli. His relationship with the business that holds his future might be love/hate, but when Big League Burger steals his grandma’s iconic grilled cheese recipe, he’ll do whatever it takes to take them down, one tweet at a time.
          All’s fair in love and cheese ― that is, until Pepper and Jack’s spat turns into a viral Twitter war. Little do they know, while they’re publicly duking it out with snarky memes and retweet battles, they’re also falling for each other in real life ― on an anonymous chat app Jack built.
          As their relationship deepens and their online shenanigans escalate ― people on the internet are shipping them?? ― their battle gets more and more personal, until even these two rivals can’t ignore they were destined for the most unexpected, awkward, all-the-feels romance that neither of them expected.

32. The Overdue Life of Amy Byler by Kelly Harms

listened to eAudio/Audible Prime (which was free, the audible was $1.99)
narrated by Amy McFadden
Unabridged audio (10:17)
2019 Lake Union Publishing
328 pgs.
Adult Romance
Finished 2/18/2020
Goodreads rating:  3.89 - 44,323 ratings
My rating:  3
Setting:Contemporary rural PA & NYC

First line/s:  "There are a lot of people you don't expect to run into in small town Pennsylvania."

My comments:  Equal amounts of likes and dislikes for this novel.  I loved all the talk about books.  Amy is a middle school librarian who also teaches at her private school, so there's lots of book talking.  There are journal entries from the 15-year-old daughter at the beginning of each chapter which are quite clever and enjoyable.  There's some witty banter between Amy and some of her blind dates.  And there's the wonderful setting of New York City.  But there are alos the for-some-reason-always included best friends that play a huge part in her life, who even in the middle of a life-changing situation she's....texting!?  Come on!  And then there's the ex/almost-ex husband, John.  I'm not exactly sure whey he decided to leave in the first place, its's never particularly clear.  He returns after three years of an apparently lucrative law practice in Hong Kong and he hasn't even paid a penny of child support, making Amy struggle all by herself for the entire time?  We're supposed to believe that all of a sudden he's had this huge change of thinking?  A little too hard to believe.  And although it was slow in places, some of the fun parts made up for those.  She even mentions LITSY!  No steam, which is just fine.  Not a waste of time, but it could've been time better spent...and it was cheap....

Goodreads synopsis:  Overworked and underappreciated, single mom Amy Byler needs a break. So when the guilt-ridden husband who abandoned her shows up and offers to take care of their kids for the summer, she accepts his offer and escapes rural Pennsylvania for New York City.     
          Usually grounded and mild mannered, Amy finally lets her hair down in the city that never sleeps. She discovers a life filled with culture, sophistication, and—with a little encouragement from her friends—a few blind dates. When one man in particular makes quick work of Amy’s heart, she risks losing herself completely in the unexpected escape, and as the summer comes to an end, Amy realizes too late that she must make an impossible decision: stay in this exciting new chapter of her life, or return to the life she left behind.
          But before she can choose, a crisis forces the two worlds together, and Amy must stare down a future where she could lose both sides of herself, and every dream she’s ever nurtured, in the beat of a heart.

112. Mister O by Lauren Blakely

listened to Audio
narrated  by Sebastian York
Unabridged audio (7:55)
2016
308 pgs.
Adult "Romance"
Finished 11/12/2019
Goodreads rating: 4.08 - 17,249
My rating: 3.5
Setting: contemporary NYC

First line/s:  "Ask me my three favorite things and the answers are so easy they roll off my tongue:  hitting a homerun for my softball league, drawing a killer cartoon panel, and, oh yeah, - making a woman......."

My comments:  Boy, one heck of a lot of people have read this book and really enjoyed it - look at those Goodreads ratings! And talk about a steamy Goodreads synopsis, it's almost embarrassing to post here!   70% steamy sex - or thinking about it in detail - and 30% decent story, this was certainly entertaining.  I could've done with more story because it was a pretty decent one.  A 29-year-old cartoonist who has made it big on the small screen has a huge crush on his best friend's sister, who is a magician.  Set in New York City with great, interesting characters and an awesome narrator, I enjoyed this quite a bit.

Goodreads synopsis:  Just call me Mister O. Because YOUR pleasure is my super power.
          Making a woman feel ‘oh-god-that’s-good’ is the name of the game, and if a man can’t get the job done, he should get the hell out of the bedroom. I’m talking toe-curling, mind-blowing, sheet-grabbing ecstasy. Like I provide every time.
          I suppose that makes me a superhero of pleasure, and my mission is to always deliver.
          But then I'm thrown for a loop when a certain woman asks me to teach her everything about how to win a man. The only problem? She's my best friend's sister, but she's far too tempting to resist--especially when I learn that sweet, sexy Harper, has a dirty mind too and wants to put it to good use. What could possibly go wrong as I give the woman I've secretly wanted some no-strings-attached lessons in seduction?
          No one will know, even if we send a few dirty sexts. Okay, a few hundred. Or if the zipper on her dress gets stuck. Not on that! Or if she gives me those f*&k-me-eyes on the train in front of her whole family.
          The trouble is the more nights I spend with her in bed, the more days I want to spend with her out of bed. And for the first time ever, I'm not only thinking about how to make a woman cry out in pleasure --I'm thinking about how to keep her in my arms for a long time to come.
          Looks like the real Adventures of Mister Orgasm have only just begun.... 

86. Run Away by Harlan Coben

listened to on Audible
read by Steven Webber (yes, THAT Steven Webber!)
Unabridged audio (10:20)
2019 Grand Central Publishing
385 pgs.
Adult Mystery
Finished 9/8/2019
Goodreads rating: 4.09 - 21,689 ratings
My rating: 4
Setting:  Contemporary NYC

First line/s:  "Simon sat on a bench in Central Park - in Strawberry Fields to be more precise - and felt his heart shatter."

My comments:  This book was one heck of a roller coaster ride!  And I'm not even sure how I feel about it as I finish, because some of the relationships just seemed a little bit off.  Simon's love for his wife, Ingrid, was pure and would never waiver, but I still don't understand exactly why.  Because she was beautiful?  That part wasn't made clear at all, he just idolized and adored her.  In a way that was the crux of the whole story, which is what's leaving me a little off.  You're just supposed to understand this without any explanation.  Oh well.  It was a great whodunnit and Harlan Coben sure can spin a tale!  I LOVED listening to Steven Weber's flawless reading.  Of course, in my mind, Simon now looks exactly like Mr. Weber.   Yum.

Goodreads synopsis:  She's addicted to drugs and to an abusive boyfriend. And she's made it clear that she doesn't want to be found.
          Then, quite by chance, you see her busking in New York's Central Park.
          but she's not the girl you remember. This woman is wasted, frightened and clearly in trouble.
          You don't stop to think. You approach her, beg her to come home.
          She runs. 
          And you follow her into a dark and dangerous world you never knew existed. Where criminal gangs rule, where drugs are the main currency, and murder is commonplace.
          Now it's your life on the line. And nowhere and no one is safe.

85. All the Greys on Greene Street by Laura Tucker

listened to audio - borrowed from the library
read by Taylor Miskimen beautifully
Unabridged audio (8:28)
2019 Viking Books for Young Readers
320 pgs.
HF (sort of...) MidGrades
Finished 9/5/2019
Goodreads rating: 3.91 - 2646 ratings
My rating:  4.5
Setting: 1981 Soho, NYC - artist community, in an artist's loft....

First line/s:   "May Day is the first day of May.  'Mayday' is a radio signal used by ships and aircraft in distress.  This spring, May Day was the first day that my mom didn't get out of bed."

My comments:  This is a book about color and art and being part of an artist community in Soho, NYC, in 1981.  There is both innocence and maturity in Ollie that makes her a really interesting protagonist.  Character development, setting, and plot were all very strong in the wonderful book.  Exceptionally well narrated.  There's an afterward talking about depression in parents and helping to explain a bit about it to a middle grade reader, telling where they could get help for themselves and the parent who may suffer from it.

Goodreads synopsis:  SoHo, 1981. Twelve-year-old Olympia is an artist—and in her neighborhood, that's normal. Her dad and his business partner Apollo bring antique paintings back to life, while her mother makes intricate sculptures in a corner of their loft, leaving Ollie to roam the streets of New York with her best friends Richard and Alex, drawing everything that catches her eye.
          Then everything falls apart. Ollie's dad disappears in the middle of the night, leaving her only a cryptic note and instructions to destroy it. Her mom has gone to bed, and she's not getting up. Apollo is hiding something, Alex is acting strange, and Richard has questions about the mysterious stranger he saw outside. And someone keeps calling, looking for a missing piece of art. . . .
          Olympia knows her dad is the key--but first, she has to find him, and time is running out.

12. Run You Down by Julia Dahl

#2 Rebekah Roberts
read on my iPhone
2015 Minotaur Books
287 pgs.
Adult Murder Mystery
Finished 1/26/19
Goodreads rating: 3.76 - 1344 ratings
My rating: 4.5
Setting: Contemporary NYC and Roseville, NY, just north of NYC

First line/s: "Florida was not what I imagined.  There was no ocean where your father lived, that was the first thing."

My comments: (I wonder why, of all the possible titles this could be given, they decided on this?)  I don't remember much of the nitty-gritty of what happened in Invisible City, but I remember I liked it a lot.  Therefore, I read this book almost as a standalone.  There were a number of things that bothered me, but they didn't bother me enough to lower my rating.  The close connection - and I do mean close - between reporter Rebekah and the people of her news story was soooo impossible, but I didn't care.  I didn't mind switching back-and-forth between Rebekah and the mother who had abandoned her 20 years before, other than in a couple of places that information was revealed by Aviva and I attributed that information to Rebekah having known those details, so that was a little confusing until I figured it out.  It was an interesting story, perhaps unbelievable in spots but for some reason I didn't care.  I really enjoyed it, and the peaks into the strict Orthodox Jewish community,

Goodreads synopsis:  Aviva Kagan was a just a teenager when she left her Hasidic Jewish life in Brooklyn for a fling with a smiling college boy from Florida-and then disappeared. Twenty-three years later, the child she walked away from is a NYC tabloid reporter named Rebekah Roberts. And Rebekah isn't sure she wants her mother back in her life.
          But when a man from the ultra-Orthodox enclave of Roseville, N.Y. contacts Rebekah about his young wife's mysterious death, she is drawn back into Aviva's world. Pessie Goldin's body was found in her bathtub, and while her parents want to believe it was an accident, her husband is certain she was murdered.
          Once she starts poking around, Rebekah encounters a whole society of people who have wandered "off the path" of ultra-Orthodox Judaism-just like her mother. But some went with dark secrets, and rage at the insular community they left behind.
          In the sequel to her Edgar Award finalist Invisible City, Julia Dahl has created a taut mystery that is both a window into a secretive culture and an exploration of the demons we inherit.

PICTURE BOOK - The Man Who Walked Between the Towers by Mordicai Gerstein

Illustrated by the author

2003 Roaring Brook Press

36 pgs, two of which are pullout two pages wide

Goodreads rating: 4.05 - 13, 830 ratings

My rating:  4

Endpapers:  Solid cream

1^st line/s:  "Once there were two towers side by side.  They were each a quarter of a mile high; one thousand three hundred and forty feet.  The tallest buildings in New York City."

My comments:  I've never felt particularly drawn to this book, and have perhaps skimmed it a couple of times, but I've read it today giving it plenty of attention, and I'm glad I did.  A TRUE STORY!  There's a bittersweet feeling at the end of the book, where it mentions that the towers are no longer there. Bittersweet because Philippe Petit's joy while traversing the 7/8-inch wire between the towers was palpable, and the picture of those two towers standing proudly in the New York City skyline will forever be etched in our brains.  The book ends: "But in memory, as if imprinted on the sky, the towers are still there.  And part of that memory is the joyful morning, August 7, 1974, when Philippe Petit walked between them in the air."  This was a very satisfying story, the pictures were wonderful, and the marriage of story and pictures certainly deserve the Caldecott Medal far more than others I've seen.

Goodreads:  From a highly-respected picture book author/illustrator comes a lyrical evocation of Philippe Petit's 1974 tightrope walk between the World Trade Center towers.

3. Towers Falling by Jewell Parker Rhodes

read the actual book from Bosler Library
20016,, Little Brown & Co.
223 pgs.
Middle Grade CRF
Finished 1/5/2019
Goodreads rating:  4.08 - 5679 ratings
My rating: 4.5
Setting:  Contemporary Brooklyn, NY

First line/s:  "Pop groans.  He's having bad dreams again.  I hear Ma trying to comfort him.  My little sister, Leda, squirms.  I whisper, 'Hush.  Sleep,' and tuck the sheet beneath her chin.  We share a bed.  She turns over on her side, her feet kick my knees."

My comments:  I was teaching fifth grade in 2001 when 9/11 happened and fourth grade fifteen years later.  It's such a difficult thing to discuss with kids.  For the first few years it was easier to talk about, because students were around during the horror and, even if only peripherally and protectively, heard about it.  But as years passed, some parents didn't want to scare their kids and were reluctant for it to be taught in school.  I read this in anticipation of having an "Examining 9/11 through Literature" session at the library for tweens, but I'm still unsure if I'd use this title.  As an adult, I loved the way it was written and the way all the information about that atrocious time period evolved throughout the book.  I loved that Rhodes put Deja and her family in a homeless shelter, and I love that she also used a wonderful, safe school for her to go to - yes, they exist!  The ending was a little to sugary, but the entire concept was excellent, powerful, and very, very really.

Goodreads synopsis:  From award-winning author Jewell Parker Rhodes, a powerful novel set fifteen years after the 9/11 attacks.
          When her fifth-grade teacher hints that a series of lessons about home and community will culminate with one big answer about two tall towers once visible outside their classroom window, Deja can't help but feel confused. She sets off on a journey of discovery, with new friends Ben and Sabeen by her side. But just as she gets closer to answering big questions about who she is, what America means, and how communities can grow (and heal), she uncovers new questions, too. Like, why does Pop get so angry when she brings up anything about the towers?
          Award-winning author Jewell Parker Rhodes tells a powerful story about young people who weren't alive to witness this defining moment in history, but begin to realize how much it colors their every day.

PICTURE BOOK - The Little Chapel That Stoody by A. B. Curtiss

Illustrated by Mirto Golino

2003, Old Castle Publilshing, Escondido, CA

out-of-print but still available used
available at Bosler Library

32 pgs.

Goodreads rating:  4.56 - 121 ratings

My rating:  4

  

1^st line/s:  
"Around the Chapel
     of Old St. Paul
Blow the dancing leaves
     of the coming Fall.
In the morning breeze
     they leap and fly
Beneath the towers
     that scrape the sky."

My comments:  So perfect for middle grades, this summarizing of the events of 9/11, in rhyming poetic form, is a nice addition to 3rd - 5th grade classrooms.The rhyming is quite clever and hardly ever seems forced, the illustrations are beautiful, and the pre-history as well as the events that accompany this hard-to-discuss-with-kids day are all very good.

Goodreads:  Beautifully illustrated book tells of the historic chapel less than 100 yards from the Twin Towers that miraculously survived on 9-11. Firemen hung their shoes on the fence and raced to help the people in the towers: Oh what gallant men did we lose/Who never came back to get their shoes. The story of terror overcome by courage and bravery that teaches us no one is too small to make a difference.

100. Roomies by Christina Lauren

listened on Audible
2017, Gallery Books
368 pgs.
Adult Romance
Finished 12/15/18
Goodreads rating: 3.91 - 17,321 ratings
My rating:  4
Setting: contemporary New York City

First line/s:  "According to family legend, I was born on the floor of a taxi."

My comments:  It was fun to listen to this sweet, entertaining love story. I particularly enjoyed the Irishness of the male protagonist, Calvin. No surprises but fun to anticipate when and how everything was going to work out.

Goodreads synopsis:  From subway to Broadway to happily ever after. Modern love in all its thrill, hilarity, and uncertainty has never been so compulsively readable as in New York Times bestselling author Christina Lauren’s romantic novel.
          Marriages of convenience are so...inconvenient. 
          For months Holland Bakker has invented excuses to descend into the subway station near her apartment, drawn to the captivating music performed by her street musician crush. Lacking the nerve to actually talk to the gorgeous stranger, fate steps in one night in the form of a drunken attacker. Calvin Mcloughlin rescues her, but quickly disappears when the police start asking questions.
          Using the only resource she has to pay the brilliant musician back, Holland gets Calvin an audition with her uncle, Broadway’s hottest musical director. When the tryout goes better than even Holland could have imagined, Calvin is set for a great entry into Broadway—until his reason for disappearing earlier becomes clear: he’s in the country illegally, his student visa having expired years ago.
          Seeing that her uncle needs Calvin as much as Calvin needs him, a wild idea takes hold of her. Impulsively, she marries the Irishman, her infatuation a secret only to him. As their relationship evolves and Calvin becomes the darling of Broadway—in the middle of the theatrics and the acting-not-acting—will Holland and Calvin to realize that they both stopped pretending a long time ago?

55. Invisible City by Julia Dahl

#1 Rebekah Roberts
listened on Audible
2014, Minotaur Books
304 pgs. (7:49)
Adult Murder Mystery
Finished 6/20/2018
Goodreads rating: 3.59 - 3476 ratings
My rating:  4
Setting: Contemporary NYC including Brooklyn Hasidic community

First line/s:  "I was in Chinatown when they called me about the body in Brooklyn."

My comments:  Okay, so I'm not a big murder-mystery-from-the-point-of-view-of -a-journalist fan, and this was the one drawback to this book.  I think it's horrible how some journalists harass people to get a story, and in many parts of this I was repelled by the way our protagonist, Rebikah, just knocked on doors and asked all sorts of people in uncomfortable situations for information.  That being said, this was a good mystery that she solved all by herself, mainly because it was not being pursued by the police.  I love reading books that take a peek inside the Hasidic Jewish community, and in that way this book certainly did not disappoint.  It gave me that peek, a good mystery, and a short read.

Goodreads synopsis: A finalist for the Edgar and Mary Higgins Clark Awards, in her riveting debut Invisible City, journalist Julia Dahl introduces a compelling new character in search of the truth about a murder and an understanding of her own heritage.
          Just months after Rebekah Roberts was born, her mother, an Hasidic Jew from Brooklyn, abandoned her Christian boyfriend and newborn baby to return to her religion. Neither Rebekah nor her father have heard from her since. Now a recent college graduate, Rebekah has moved to New York City to follow her dream of becoming a big-city reporter. But she's also drawn to the idea of being closer to her mother, who might still be living in the Hasidic community in Brooklyn.
          Then Rebekah is called to cover the story of a murdered Hasidic woman. Rebekah's shocked to learn that, because of the NYPD's habit of kowtowing to the powerful ultra-Orthodox community, not only will the woman be buried without an autopsy, her killer may get away with murder. Rebekah can't let the story end there. But getting to the truth won't be easy--even as she immerses herself in the cloistered world where her mother grew up, it's clear that she's not welcome, and everyone she meets has a secret to keep from an outsider.

23. Going into Town: A Love Letter to New York by Roz Chast

read the book -had to get it through Interlibrary loan
2017 Bloomsbury
169 pgs.
Adult Graphic Novel sort-of
Finished  3/7/18
Goodreads rating:3.79 - 2392 ratings
My rating:  4

First line/s:  "This is not a 'definitive guide book' to Manhattan.  In fact, it's not really a guide book.  There's nothing in here about the Statue of Liberty, for example."

My comments:  This graphic novel was a fun, quick – VERY quick – read. Granted, I didn't learn anything new about Manhattan, but it reminded me over and over again about why I love this wonderful city. The author's observations and comments are clever and funny, and her love for New York really comes through.

Goodreads synopsis: From the #1 NYT bestselling author of Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant?, Roz Chast's new graphic memoir--a hilarious illustrated ode/guide/ thank-you note to Manhattan.
          A native Brooklynite-turned-suburban commuter deemed the quintessential New Yorker, Roz Chast has always been intensely alive to the glorious spectacle that is Manhattan--the daily clash of sidewalk racers and dawdlers; the fascinating range of dress codes; and the priceless, nutty outbursts of souls from all walks of life.
          For Chast, adjusting to life outside the city was surreal--(you can own trees!? you have to drive!?)--but she recognized that the reverse was true for her kids. On trips into town, they would marvel at the strange visual world of Manhattan--its blackened sidewalk gum-wads, "those West Side Story-things" (fire escapes)--and its crazily honeycombed systems and grids.
          Told through Chast's singularly zany, laugh-out-loud, touching, and true cartoons, Going Into Town is part New York stories (the "overheard and overseen" of the island borough), part personal and practical guide to walking, talking, renting, and venting--an irresistible, one-of-a-kind love letter to the city.