Picture Book - Hey Grandude! by Paul McCartney

Illustrated by Kathryn Durst

2019, Random House

HC $17.99

32 pgs.

Goodreads rating:  3.71 - 486 ratings

My rating:  4
Endpapers: Light blue with white 1/2-inch grid lines

1^st line/s:  "Lucy and Tom and Em and Bob were spending a weedend with the grandad."

My comments:  Magic can really happen, especially when it comes to traveling from one place to another!  I love the premise of this book...a magic compass that whisks the family from one interesting place in the world  to another as well as spending quality time with a grandparent.  Shame on you, all you naysayers, for giving negative reviews just because a celebrity wrote it.  Spoilsports!

Goodreads:  From Paul McCartney—an action-packed picture-book adventure celebrating the fun that grandparents and grandkids can get up to.
          See the compass needle spin, let the magic fun begin!
          Meet Grandude—a super-cool grandfather who is an intrepid explorer with some amazing tricks up his sleeve. Grandude is a one-of-a-kind adventurer! With his magic compass, he whisks his four grandkids off on whirlwind adventures, taking them all around the globe. Join them as they ride flying fish, dodge stampedes, and escape avalanches! Brought to life with gloriously colorful illustrations from talented artist Kathryn Durst, it’s the perfect bedtime story for little explorers

Learning More About Art and Artists

Blair, Mary
Disney artist

Kahlo, Frida

Sumner, Kae
Disney Artist (6' 3")

The Art of Mary Blair

Born in 1911, Mary Blair was first and foremost an artist for Walt Disney. She began working for Walt Disney Studios in 1940. Her designs and artwork for Peter Pan, Cinderella, and  Alice in Wonderland are unforgettable. She illustrated several Little Golden Books and many advertisements. She also designed the Small World exhibit in the mid-1960s!  She died in 1978.

Website:  Magic of Mary Blair

Books by and about Mary Blair, plan to find and read:

50. Cathian by Laurann Dohner

Vorge Crew Series
listened to Audio on Audible Escape
narrated by Callie Dalton
Unabridged audio (3:19)
2018 self published
138 pg. novella
SciFi Romance
Finished 3/9/2020
Goodreads rating:  3.96 - 2288 ratings
My rating: um....an't really rate

First line/s:  "Nara gripped the cage bars and glared at Derrick."

My comments:  Intergalactic match-ups, always fun.  Outwardly, the people of Cathian's race's only differ is in size, they're quite a bit larger.  It's their reproductive systems that are different - males go into heat every three years and this is the only time they can reproduce.  And, of course, they MUST have a female during that time.  That's what this book is about, how Cathian obtains Nara and what happens thereafter.  Where do people come up with these ideas/  Triple X-rated.

Goodreads synopsis:  *** Notice - This book was previously published as a short story called ‘Captain of Nara’s Heart’ in Something Wicked This Way Comes, Volume 1
. It has been updated and expanded into novella length.
          When Nara Barns and her tiny crew find themselves with a choice between jail or the sex-slave auction block, it’s an easy choice. Especially when they plan to escape their buyers as soon as possible, anyway. Even better, Nara’s buyer wants her for just six days, long enough to get him through his heat until women from his planet can come to his aid.
          Six days and then freedom? Sign her up.
          However, Nara’s completely unprepared for the impact Captain Cathian Vellar has on her body. To survive his heat, the Tryleskian must feed—and Nara is his favorite meal. Her body can barely withstand the rapture. Soon, her heart is just as engaged. But enduring the pinnacle of Cathian’s heat he could kill Nara, and he refuses to risk her life. 

49. Heart-Shaped Hack by Tracey Garvis Graves

listened to Audio - free from Audio Escape
narrated by Kristin Condon
Unabridged audio (8:44)
2015
340 pgs.
Adult CRF
Finished 3/9/2020
Goodreads rating:  4.05 - 8715 ratings
My rating: 4
Setting:  Contemporary Minneapolis, MN

First line/s:  " ' The babies are going to starve,' Helena said."

My comments:  I found these two main characters to be incredibly well developed, which was only enhanced by a wonderful narration.  A good, though predictable, story with just a bit of heat.  This is the second I've read by this author and I've enjoyed both very much.  Looking forward to more.
     Here's a good quote from another GoodReads member:   "Heart Shaped Hack is a refreshing and beautiful read, it doesn't employ any of the New Adult Express tropes, has genuinely likeable, if not loveable lead characters, witty banter and good writing."

Goodreads synopsis:  When Kate Watts abandoned her law career to open a food pantry in Northeast Minneapolis, she never dreamed it would be this difficult. Facing the heartbreaking prospect of turning hungry people away, she is grateful for the anonymous donations that begin appearing at the end of each month. Determined to identify and thank her secret benefactor, she launches a plan and catches Ian —a charismatic hacker with a Robin Hood complex—in the act.
          Ian intrigues Kate in a way no man ever has. But after learning he’s snooped around on her personal computer, she demands retribution. Impressed with her tolerance and captivated by her spirit, he complies and begins to slowly charm his way past her defenses. Time spent with Ian is never boring, and Kate soon finds herself falling for the mysterious hacker.
          But Ian has enemies and they’re growing restless. In the hacking world, exploiting a target’s weakness is paramount, and no price is too high to stop an attack. And when Kate learns exactly how much Ian has paid, she’ll discover just how strong her love is for the man who has hacked his way into her heart.

48. Unexpectedly Mated by Milly Taiden

listened to audio/Audible Escape
narrated by Lauren Sweet
Unabridged audio (4:17)
2014 Latin Goddess Press
216 pgs.
Adult Steamy Romance
Finished 3/7/2020
Goodreads rating:  4.05 - 2639 ratings
My rating: 1.5

First line/s:  "For crying out loud!  Nicole Acosta tugged the earpiece out and glared at it."

My comments: Shoot, I didn't write a review immediately after reading this.  I do remember it's about a pack of wolves that shape shift, so I guess you'd consider them werewolves, right?  This is number three in the series of "Sassy mates."  I remember that for the most part I liked it, it was one of those triple X-rated with a story.  There's a large family that's sort of hard to keep track of all the outlying siblings, wolves, and non wolves.  You can tell that other books of some of the characters have come before, and you're expected to know them.  Oh well.  I won't be reading any others in this series.....

Goodreads synopsis:  After years of lusting over Jake Wolfe, Nicole finally got a taste of the dirty-talking bad boy. During the scenting ceremony, he showed her how explosive things can be between them. But Nicole doesn’t do love. She doesn’t even know what love is. So how can she know if a relationship with Jake would be the right path to take?
          Jake Wolfe wants Nic more than his next breath. She’s curvy, mouthy and so hot his blood boils just thinking of her. But Nic’s been keeping him at a distance. And Jake is tired of her games. One fateful trip to Sin City and all bets are off.
          After a fun night of drinking, Nic wakes up married to Jake and with a second shifter wanting her for himself. She'll have to finally face the feelings she has or shut them out forever. Their newly formed bond will either allow her to open her heart to love or leave Jake without a mate to call his own.
          Warning: If you don't like sex of any kind, this is probably not the book for you. There's graphic language (yes, he tells her how he likes it), sassy humor (come on, it's a Milly Taiden story) and women that won't allow a man to browbeat them into doing what they say (unless they're naked). This book is intended for adults that have no problems with dirty sex, humor and action. If that's you, enjoy!

47. From the Desk of Zoe Washington by Janae Marks

listened to audio on Libby through Bosler Library
narrated by Bahni Turpin
Unabridged audio (6:10)
2020 Katherine Tegen Books
304 pgs.
Middle Grade CRF
Finished 3/6/2020
Goodreads rating:  4.35 - 554 ratings
My rating: 4
Setting: Contemporary Boston/Somerville/Cambridge, Massachusetts

First line/s:  "The day I turned twelve, I was certain it'd be my favorite birthday yet, but then I got the letter."

My comments:   Ms. Marks has written a book with a wonderful 12-year-old voice, real and believable, with faults and fears, ambitions and beliefs.  Becoming acquainted with her imprisoned father for the first time and following clues to help the Innocence Project get him out of jail was the biggest premise of the book.  She also loved to bake, creating a new recipe for Fruit Loop cupcakes as she interned in a local bakery for the summer.  The setting of Boston/Somerville/Cambridge with an emphasis on Davis Square was detailed and fun for this suburban Boston native.  She wasn't perfect, and that made her all the more real.  I didn't like that the mother had completely given up the father as a murderer, even though he protested he'd never done anything wrong.  Then she blocked her daughter from any access to him.  This was harsh and a bit unbelievable.  Put the book down a a point for me.  However, what a great story for kids!  I wasn't super crazy about the narrator, although her reading ability was right on.  Highly recommended.

Goodreads synopsis:  Zoe Washington isn’t sure what to write. What does a girl say to the father she’s never met, hadn’t heard from until his letter arrived on her twelfth birthday, and who’s been in prison for a terrible crime?
          A crime he says he never committed.
          Could Marcus really be innocent? Zoe is determined to uncover the truth. Even if it means hiding his letters and her investigation from the rest of her family. Everyone else thinks Zoe’s worrying about doing a good job at her bakery internship and proving to her parents that she’s worthy of auditioning for Food Network’s Kids Bake Challenge.
          But with bakery confections on one part of her mind, and Marcus’s conviction weighing heavily on the other, this is one recipe Zoe doesn’t know how to balance. The only thing she knows to be true: Everyone lies.

46. Stepbrother Inked by Violet Blaze

listened to audio/Audible Escape
narrated by Angelise Rosewood
Unabridged audio (9:42)
2015 Sarian Royal
346 pgs.
Adult Steamy Romance/CRF
Finished 3/6/2020
Goodreads rating:  3.82 - 2005 ratings
My rating:  2.5

First line/s:  "I set the box down on the counter and eyed Flor's ass as he bent over and set a second, much smaller box on the floor with little care or consideration as to what was inside."

My comments: Although billed as a steamy romance, a lot of the story is about what would happen if two kids raised as siblings but not related by blood fall for each other.  There was definitely a lot of steam - they guy in this was your stereotypical 21 year old bad boy tattoo artist ... who loves cats and his mom ... The gal is an 18 year old who  sometimes acts much younger.  Of course there are the mandatory best friends, I really dislike it when they put too much emphasis on those relationships in these books.  Made me think a lot about different  family situations.

Goodreads synopsis:  Forbidden love shouldn't feel so good.
          It also shouldn't hurt so much.
          How could the one person I can't have be the only person I truly need?
          Florian Harper Riley has my heart and he doesn't even know it. I used to think that was okay, that I'd get over him, but no matter how hard I try, I can't purge his sharp green gaze from my thoughts.
          He's a tattoo artist, the love of my life, the man of my dreams.
          But he's also my stepbrother.
          Fate can be wicked cruel.
          *This is a 98,000 word, full length stand-alone novel from debut author Violet Blaze (and it's hot!)*

45. Dulci's Legacy by Margaret Pinard

read on my iPhone/purchased Kindle book
2014 Taste Life Twice Publishing
192 pgs.
YA Time Travel, mostly CRF, with a tiny bit of HF
Finished 3/5/2020
Goodreads rating:  3.88 - 8 ratings
My rating: 3
Setting:  Current & 1777 Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada

First line/s:  "God, I hope this place is better than junior high, Dulci Oyselle thought as she passed through the tall double doors into Glace Cove High School."

My comments: This book was written and suggested to me by one of my "friends" on Litsy, which is pretty cool.  It's about time traveling, but in just short fits and spurts, and Dulci has to piece all that she's seen together with similar time traveling that her best friend's brother has had for the last four years, making him close to crazy.  I guess you might call them visions instead of time traveling, or a combination of the the two.  A bit of a different premise, though I wish the 1777 story had been a little bit more compelling.  Why would a Sottish immigrant adopt a 10-year-old Micmac girls?  How would something like that come about?  That was just a little bit fanciful for me, or at least I can't seem to understand how something like that would happen, especially so many years ago.  The contemporary part of the story was interesting ... I particularly appreciated being given information about Celtic drumming and rural Canada.  And I learned a bit about the French and Indian Wars, which I don't know a whole lot about.

Goodreads synopsis:  Dulci Oyselle is a modern 13-year-old girl in Cape Breton, who thinks high school is going to be her big new challenge, but then starts seeing visions of things happening that no one else does.
          Snowy hills appear in the music classroom. Dangerous men square off for a fight below her bedroom window. What is she seeing? And why are these visions appearing now?
          It might have to do with the new boy in town, who is really interested in her, despite her shy awkwardness. Or it could have something to do with her best friend's family; Mehron's brother is a recluse with some unexplained mental illness that has suddenly turned violent.
          Dulci will need to figure out what she's seeing, and why. To do so, she'll need to have faith in herself, a strength she's never needed before. Encouraged by her friends and inspired by one particular vision, she just might be able to pierce the mystery.

44. Assigned a Mate by Grace Goodwin

#1 Interstellar Brides
listened to Audio/ Audio Escape
narrated by B.J. Pottsworth and Audrey Conway
Unabridged audio (4:43)
2016 Stormy Night Publications
156 pgs.
Adult SciFi Steamy Romance
Finished 3/4/2020
Goodreads rating:  3.79 - 1979 ratings
My rating: I forgot to write this down.... 2.5?

First line/s:  "My mind was fuzzy, as if I was just waking up or had too much alcohol in my system."

My comments:  I found it interesting that other than being a little bit taller and larger, all the aliens on Trion are exactly the same as Earth humans.  Hmmmmmm.  Steam factor four our of four and that pretty much says it all.  Shame on me, I listened to the whole thing.

Goodreads synopsis:  When a potential threat against her life forces Eva Daily to seek shelter on another world, she has only one option available to her. She must offer herself to the Interstellar Bride Program. After a deeply humiliating assessment of her suitability, Eva will be assigned a mate and transported to his world to become his bride.
          Upon arriving on the desert planet Trion, Eva soon learns that things are quite different than she is used to on Earth. Her assigned mate, the powerful, handsome High Councilor Tark, makes it clear that she will be expected to submit to him completely, and she quickly discovers that disobedience will earn her a painful, embarrassing spanking on her bare bottom.
          An intimate examination from her new mate leaves Eva blushing crimson, but to her surprise Tark’s mastery of her body arouses her beyond anything she could have ever imagined. Soon enough she finds herself naked, bound, and unable to resist the urge to beg for more as his skillful lovemaking brings her to one shattering climax after another.
         It doesn’t take long, however, for Eva to realize that there is much more to Tark than just a dominant brute who will not hesitate to take his misbehaving wife over his knee and redden her bare bottom thoroughly. But just as her passion for him begins to blossom into love, events back on Earth threaten to tear her away from him forever. Can Eva find a way to remain at Tark’s side and in his bed, or will she be left with nothing but memories of the man who has claimed both her body and her heart?
          Publisher’s Note: Assigned a Mate is an erotic romance novel that includes spankings, sexual scenes, medical play, anal play, elements of BDSM, and more. If such material offends you, please don’t buy this book.   

          (How embarrassing....I can't believe I'm actually posting this on my blog!

43. Good Girl, Bad Girl by Michael Robotham

#1 Cyrus Haven
listened on Libby/Bosler Library
narrated by Joe Jameson
Unabridged audio (11:49
2019 Scribner
353 pgs.
Adult Murder Mystery
Finished 3/3/2020
Goodreads rating:
My rating:  4.5
Setting: contemporary UK

First line/s:  " 'Which one is she?' I ask, leaning closer to the observation window."

My comments: This was a pretty interesting story, or actually two stories in one.  Cyrus Haven is a youngish psychologist working with the police on the murder of a 15-year-old ice skater at the same time that he is called in to interview/examine an 18-year-old who is living locked up in a type of state home for troubled youth.  Most of the book is told from Cyrus's point of view, but every now and then there's a chapter that is first person titled "angel face" that is Evie's voice.  Evie's story is by far the most interesting, but there's a nice surprising twist in the murder story that keeps you on the edge throughout the book.  In June of July there'll be a second book detailing more of Evie's backstory.  I really like this protagonist and look forward to more.

Goodreads synopsis:  A girl is found hiding in a secret room in a house being renovated after a terrible crime. For weeks she has survived by sneaking out at night, stealing food for herself and two dogs that are kept in the garden. The nurses at the hospital where she is taken call her “Angel Face” because she won’t tell anyone her name, or her age, or where she came from. Maybe she is twelve, maybe fifteen, or somewhere in between. She doesn’t appear on any missing person’s file, or match the DNA of any murder victim.
          Six years later, still unidentified, the same girl is living in a secure children’s home with a new name, Evie Cormac, when she initiates a court case demanding the right to be released as an adult. Psychologist Cyrus Haven is sent to interview Evie and decide if she’s ready to go free, but Evie Cormac is unlike he’s anyone he’s ever met. She’s damaged, destructive, and self-hating, yet possessed of a gift, or a curse, that makes her both fascinating and dangerous to be with—the ability to tell when someone is lying. Soon he is embroiled in her unique and dangerous world, his life in utmost peril.

42. Sacrificed to the Dragon by Jessie Donovan

#1 Stonefire Dragons
Listened to Audible on Chirp
narrated by Matthew Lloyd Davies
Unabridged audio (6:29)
2014 Mythical Lake Press
258 pgs.
Adult Fantasy Steamy Romance
Finished 3/2/2020
Goodreads rating: 3.89 - 7062 ratings
My rating: 2.5
Setting:  United Kingdom

First line/s: "Melanie Hall sat in the reception area of the Manchester Dragon Affairs Office, tapping her finger against her arm, and wishing they'd hurry the hell up."

My comments:  (The interesting concept here is that a dragon lives INSIDE the shifter, not that the dragon and the person are one in the same.)  The narrator changed voices a lot, depending on the person he was speaking for, but he made Tristan's dragon sound like an imbecile.  Very offputting.  You got to know the two protagonists' characteristics pretty well, but all the others were pretty flat.  I woldn've also liked a bit more description of the setting.  Yes, there were steamy parts, but there was a lot otf talking, thinking, discussion about the same things over and over again.  It did seem to go on and on, there were absolutely no surprises, and everything seemed....well, flat.  Even the actufaal shape shifting couldn've used a lot more description.  Oh well, I did not expect much.

Goodreads synopsis:  In exchange for a vial of dragon’s blood to save her brother’s life, Melanie Hall offers herself up as a sacrifice to one of the British dragon-shifter clans. Being a sacrifice means signing a contract to live with the dragon-shifters for six months to try to conceive a child. Her assigned dragonman, however, is anything but easy. He’s tall, broody, and alpha to the core. There’s only one problem—he hates humans.
          Due to human dragon hunters killing his mother, Tristan MacLeod despises humans. Unfortunately, his clan is in desperate need of offspring to repopulate their numbers and it’s his turn to service a human female. Despite his plans to have sex with her and walk away, his inner dragon has other ideas. The curvy human female tempts his inner beast like no other.          
NOTE: This is the entire first story arc of the Stonefire Dragons, complete with a HEA and no cliffhangers.

41. Rabid by Paul Doiron

#8.5 Mike Bowditch
listened using Audible
narrated by Henry Leyva
Unabridged audio (1:16)
2018 Minotaur Books
50 pgs.
Adult HF
Finished 3/1/2020
Goodreads rating: 4.08 - 282 ratings
My rating:  4
Setting: now with story within story taking place in the 1908s.

First line/s: "It was one of those warm June evenings when you can feel the earth pivoting from spring to summer."

My comments: The short novellas by Paul Doiron in the Mike Bowditch series seem to be stories from the past that Charlie Stevens tells.  This one is from the 80s and is his and his wife, Aura's, retelling of confrontations with a Vietnam vet and his Vietnamese wife.  It was interesting, and a bit thought-provoking.

Goodreads synopsis:  In this original short story in the Mike Bowditch mystery series, Mike is drawn into the story of a gruesome case from his mentor Charley Steven’s past.
          Maine Game Warden Mike Bowditch accompanies his old friend and mentor, retired bush pilot Charley Stevens, as he pays a visit to a mysterious woman, the widow of a Vietnam vet, living in isolation in the Maine wilderness. Many years earlier, she had called Charley, then a young game warden himself, for help. She claimed that her badly bleeding husband had been attacked by a rabid bat. But in the succeeding days, despite her husband's increasingly erratic and aggressive behavior, his wife resisted Charley's attempts to help, arousing his suspicions that more was going on than met the eye. Was the husband the victim of rabies, or was he suffering from post traumatic stress disorder? The situation finally erupted into horrific violence, leaving everyone involved deeply scarred. In the devastating finale to RABID, Charley reveals to Mike how he uncovered the awful truth about what actually happened in their home so many years before.

40. Ark by Veronica Roth

listened on Audible - borrowed from Amazon Prime Reading
narrated by Evan Rachel Wood
Unabridged audio (1:22)
20019 Amazon Original
39 pgs.
Genre/Level
Finished 3/1/2020
Goodreads rating: 3.52 - 6138 ratings
My rating:  3
Setting:  Earth, just before an asteroid destroys it

First line/s: "Samantha's hands were still red from the cold, the skin over her knuckles taut and dry."

My comments: A short story has to follow certain criteria - in a small amount of time and space and words you have to give enough information so that your reader can follow your thinking.  I listened to this one twice.  In many ways I've got to say that it's a forgettable story.  It just needs a little more...or a little less....

Goodreads synopsis:  On the eve of Earth’s destruction, a young scientist discovers something too precious to lose, in a story of cataclysm and hope by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Divergent trilogy.
          It’s only two weeks before an asteroid turns home to dust. Though most of Earth has already been evacuated, it’s Samantha’s job to catalog plant samples for the survivors’ unknowable journey beyond.
          Preparing to stay behind and watch the world end, she makes a final human connection.
          As certain doom hurtles nearer, the unexpected and beautiful potential for the future begins to flower.
          Veronica Roth’s Ark is part of Forward, a collection of six stories of the near and far future from out-of-this-world authors. Each piece can be read or listened to in a single thought-provoking sitting. 

Abandoned Books

Echoes Among the Stones by Jaime Jo Wright
2019
Goodreads:  4.58 - 209 ratings
abandoned 1/4/20
I made it - forcing myself - through the first third of this book, but it was too boring, oh so boring!  S L O W.  Didn't really care for the reader either.  It's the beginning of a new year, so I'm not going to force myself to finish!  (Note:  I didn't care for either of the protagonists in either time period, either!, just couldn't engage with either of them at all.)

The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel
2020
Goodreads: 3.79 - 28,089 ratings
abandoned April, 2020'
I think I wasn't in the mood, started listening twice but decided to return it to the library.  Maybe again someday?

The Glovemaker by Ann Weisgarber
abandoned 5/29/2020
DNF at 35%
2019
Goodreads:  3.82 - 1689 reviews
Returned to Audible, since I bought it for a credit.  What a waste of time  The same stuff, over and over and aver again.  And unfortunately, it's boring stuff.  Holier than thou Mormons lying and trying to figure out how to get out of things they've done wrong, all in the name of God.  I just can't go on one more page.

The Huntress by Kate Quinn
abandoned 4/1/2020
DNF at 21%
2019
Goodreads:  4.27 - 55,688 ratings
Usually I like books that keep flipping back-and-forth between people of time periods, but I figure I read almost a quarter of this book and just wasn't into it at all.  Granted, it was about WWII and set between the early1940s and early 1950s, which is a time period of which I am NOT enamored.  This is supposed to be a wonderful, highly rated book, but I've tried off and on for over a week and I'll pass it along to someone else.  (I waited for months for this audio to available through the library.)

Juliet: A Novel by Anne Fortier
DNF at 60%
2011
Goodreads:  3.90 - 25,074 ratings
abandoned 3/1/2020
 I thought I'd be drawn in by the two time periods, the present and the 1400s.  I wasn't.  I've never liked Romeo and Juliet, so I don't know why I thought I'd like this.  Read it on Kindle...

Lady in the Lake by Laura Lippman
2019
Goodreads:  3.56 - 12,812
abandoned February, 2020
I guess I wasn't in the mood, this didn't interest me at all.  I had other good ones waiting, so had no problem abandoning it!

Legendborn by Tracy Deonn

2020 - borrowed from Library, read on Libby

GoodReads: 4.51 - 8615 ratings

abandoned January, 2021

High schooler takes classes at UNC and encounters a secret magical society.  Read 19% of 512 pgs. (97 pgs.) and just didn't care for it.

The Lions of Fifth Avenue by Fiona Davis

2020

3.91 - 26,483 ratings

Read 33% of  354 pgs. = 118 pgs.

Just couldn't get into it, flipping from time periods gave me a sinking feeling about what was going to happen to the original character that I really liked, and I dreaded returning.

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
2009
3.70 - 493,137 ratings
stopped reading mid February, 2020
I do plan to return to this book!  I started it - on a borrowed copy from Melissa Truelove, when it first came out, and didn't finish it then.  I got through 23% of it this time when others I'd borrowed and waited for a long time arrived.  I WILL finish this book, and not in the too far future!  eAudio from Bosler...

The Marriage Act by John Marrs

2023

Goodreads:  3.83

abandoned 3/27/2024

This one wasn't for me.  Too many unlikable characters.  Plus the whole idea of buying into this paticular marriage contract....just had me scratching my head.  I'd stop reading after a few minutes and put off going back to it, so why waste the time?  I probably read 1//5th to 1/4th of it.

The Poison Garden by Alex Marwood
2020
Goodreads:  3.68 - 703 ratings
abandoned February, 2020
I read about 40% of this and didn't like it.  For some reason it made me really nervous and it was one that I had to force myself to start again every time I put it down, unitl I realized I didn't have to finish it, even if I had paid full price for it, lol!

The Secrets of Paper and Ink by Lindsay Harrel
2019
Goodreads:  4.01 - 948 ratings
stopped reading 3/5/2020
I've started and read a great deal of lots of books lately that have been just plain not to my current liking  This one was pretty endless, the same old thing page after page.  All three protagoists were boring and I wasn't in any way compelled by any of their stories.  I read 52% or 326 pgs. (179 pages total)

The Shoemaker's Wife by Adriana Trigiani
2012
Goodreads:  3.99 - 73,279 ratings
I returned this in error before finishing, and had others to read so I went on to them.  I liked what I read so far, though, and would like to finish it.  It was a TPPL AUDIO, and I read/listened to at least 100 pages, so I don't want to wait too long to finish or I'll have to start over.  It was quite memorable.

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
2019
Goodreads:  4.09 - 381,656 ratings
Read 24% (of 325 pgs.)
abandoned 4/26/2020
Slow and boring.  I put off reading this because it didn't sound like my cup of tea, and reading the first quarter of the book made me realize it's just not worth any more of my time.  They haven't even gotten into a tiny bit of Alicia's backstory yet.  I'm not going to wait any longer because, well, I don't care!

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

2020

abandoned 1/20/21

DNF @ at least 50%

I got well into the life of person #3 (the twin sister passing as white) and since I've had to FORCE myself to pick this up, I ended it..

VenCo by Cherie Dimaline

2023

abandoned 3/14/24

Read 1:17, 9:53 left -12% read

Loved the contemporary witches/Salem idea, but just couldn't get into it.  Lots of switching around people, situations, couldn't see it, or keep it in my mind's eye.  Maybe if I read this, but listening isn't working.