Sunday, March 26, 2023

Book Girls' Guide - Read Around the USA


 January, 2023:
  

February, 2023:  
March, 2023
April, 2023

23. Thank You For Listening - Julia Whelan

listened on Libby
2022
432 pgs. (12:13)
Adult Romance
Finished 3/26/23
Goodreads rating: 4.07
My rating: 4
Setting: contemporary LA, Las Vegas, Venice (Italy)

My comments: This was read by the author, and is about an audiobook reader - and the industry.  Julia Whelan is an INCREDIBLE narrator.  She can flawlessly switch between characters, making male characters sound like REAL male characters, and all the characters in a book have their own particular, recognizable voice.  Quite amazing!  The story was FUN.  You absolutely had no surprises, but the humor - much of it laugh-out-loud - and the clever, quick conversation is top notch.  However, it went on and on too much, it could have been cut down by a couple of hours at least.  I got a little bored listening at the end, every single mentioned side story was wrapped up so completely that unneeded details were included.  I really did love this, and want to read (listen to!!!) her previous novel.

Goodreads synopsis:  For Sewanee Chester, being an audiobook narrator is a long way from her old dreams, but the days of being a star on film sets are long behind her. She’s found success and satisfaction from the inside of a sound booth and it allows her to care for her beloved, ailing grandmother. When she arrives in Las Vegas last-minute for a book convention, Sewanee unexpectedly spends a whirlwind night with a charming stranger.

On her return home, Sewanee discovers one of the world’s most beloved romance novelists wanted her to perform her last book—with Brock McNight, the industry’s hottest, most secretive voice. Sewanee doesn’t buy what romance novels are selling—not after her own dreams were tragically cut short—and she stopped narrating them years ago. But her admiration of the late author, and the opportunity to get her grandmother more help, makes her decision for her.

As Sewanee begins work on the book, resurrecting her old romance pseudonym, she and Brock forge a real connection, hidden behind the comfort of anonymity. Soon, she is dreaming again, but secrets are revealed, and the realities of life come crashing down around her once more.

If she can learn to risk everything for desires she has long buried, she will discover a world of intimacy and acceptance she never believed would be hers.

From the author of My Oxford Year, Julia Whelan’s uplifting novel tells the story of a former actress turned successful audiobook narrator—who has lost sight of her dreams after a tragic accident—and her journey of self-discovery, love, and acceptance when she agrees to narrate one last romance novel.

Monday, March 20, 2023

Empty Bowls 2023


I finally got to go and had a wonderful time!  The Sentinel took photos, and I'm in three of them.


Sandy and I have happily decided that this will be an annual outing.



Friday, March 10, 2023

20. Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

listened on Libby/borrowed from the library
2022
360 pgs.
Adult Magical Realism
Finished 3/10/23
Goodreads rating: 4.41
My rating: 5
Setting: Contemporary coastal Washington state

My comments: Okay, I loved this book.  It was different and interesting and although you knew exactly what was coming and how it would end, it was the route that it took to get there that was so fascinating.  A cantankerous 70-year-old woman, an elderly octopus living out his life in captivity, and a 30-year-old young man abandoned by his mother and raised by his aunt are the three main characters.  All unique and wonderful.  Michael Uri read the character of Marcellus, the octopus, perfectly, oh so perfectly!  Sure, a lot of sadness, but brilliantly done ... a perfect title for this story!  Five star setting: small town on the ocean just north of Seattle, WA.  Genre: magical realism?  To be able to hear the thoughts of an octopus would make it that, I think, the rest is definitely realistic fiction.

Goodreads synopsis:  Remarkably Bright Creatures, an exploration of friendship, reckoning, and hope, tracing a widow's unlikely connection with a giant Pacific octopus.

After Tova Sullivan's husband died, she began working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, mopping floors and tidying up. Keeping busy has always helped her cope, which she's been doing since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget Sound over thirty years ago.

Tova becomes acquainted with curmudgeonly Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium. Marcellus knows more than anyone can imagine but wouldn't dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human captors--until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova.

Ever the detective, Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova's son disappeared. And now Marcellus must use every trick his old invertebrate body can muster to unearth the truth for her before it's too late.

Shelby Van Pelt's debut novel is a gentle reminder that sometimes taking a hard look at the past can help uncover a future that once felt impossible.

Sunday, March 5, 2023

March Bingo

Note:  Bombed out in March!

 It's March 4th and I totally forgot about this until today.  Bummmer....not that I ever achieve anything!

1 - March BkGirls US Challenge - The Indigo Girl, South Carolina-have on Chirp
2 - March BkGirls W. Europe Challenge - Africa - The Lioness (Chris Bohjalian) checked out fr TPPL (also Black Dove, White Raven, a YA HF by Elizabeth Wein about Ethiopia sounds really good) (as well as Unbowed, Wangari Matthai's autobiography)
3 - Whatever I'm reading on Kindle - The Art of Loving Libby Green
4 - Waiting on Audible 
5 - Waiting on Audible
6 - Waiting on Chirp
7 - Wait Listed at the Library - Remarkably Bright Creatures
8 - Wait Listed at the Library Thank You For Listening
9 - Wait Listed at the Library
10 - any Newbery Award
11 - any recent 4-8 title
12 - YA
13 - 2023 title - Murder at Haven's Rock
14 - a memoir
15 - a "real" book
16 - Kindle Unlimited/Audio
17 - Kindle Unlimited/Audio
18 - short story
19 - 
20 - 

READY TO READ next
Birnam Wood - out 3/23, just purchased with Audible credits
Fall from Grace - Time Weaver, #5 in a series...I read #4 and LOVED it.  Missing persons.
Geraldine Verne's Red Suitcase - 70 year old protagonist for BookGirls YearLong Challenge (KUnl Audio)
The Last Runaway - Tracy Chevalier
Parting the Veil (Bookbug) Kunl Audio - Louisiana to England Mystery/Thriller
Rachel's Story - dystopian!! Kindle only
The Dark Room - Lisa Gray Standalone
The Midnight Children - Dan Gemeinhart
The House at the End of the World  - Dean Koontz, 2023 KUnl Audio
Close to Home - Dugoni - Tracy Crosswhite #5 KUnlAudio
Signal Moon (Kate Quinn) short story
Knitlandia
The Unknown Beloved (Harmon) 1923
The Singing Trees (ME)
The Victory Garden (Rhys Bowen)
The Lying Club (Annie Ward) Thriller
Dark Objects (Simon Toyne)
Ellie Jordan, Ghost Trapper
Final Equinox - Andrew Mayne (#2 Jessica Blackwood & Theo Cray)

in Chirp:
The Girl in the Painting - Tea Cooper
Caught - Harlan Coben
The Indigo Girl - Natasha Boyd - March choice for BookGirls

for April:  The Secret Shopper (Kindle) set some in Guam, funny, partially set in CA