Book Review: Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel

Sea of Tranquility - Emily St. John Mandel (Harper Collins Publishers, 2022) ...this is what the Time Institute never understood: if definitive proof emerges that we're living in a simulation, the correct response tothat news will be So what. A life lived in a simulation is still a life. -Emily St. John Mandel, Sea of… Continue reading Book Review: Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel

Book Review: The Three Lives of Alix St. Pierre by Natasha Lester

The Three Lives of Alix St. Pierre - Natasha Lester (Forever, 2023) I received an Advanced Copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for this review. All opinions are my own. This was a fun historical fiction that blends secret service and fashion along with romance and some real-life historical characters. Alix St.… Continue reading Book Review: The Three Lives of Alix St. Pierre by Natasha Lester

(Audio) Book Review: Classic Crime Short Stories

This was an excellent collection of 10 short crime stories. There were mostly names I recognized, such as Ruth Rendell and Grahame Greene and G.K. Chesterton and others that I probably would recognize if I read more mysteries. I'm not sure that audio is the right format for me when it comes to short stories… Continue reading (Audio) Book Review: Classic Crime Short Stories

2023 Highlights: Early January

This has been a beautifully normal week. No one has been (newly) sick. We were able to resume/continue our regularly scheduled activities. I feel like I'm doing decently well at spending my time the way I want to spend my time. Here are a few highlights: Pearl got to have a friend over to play… Continue reading 2023 Highlights: Early January

(Audio) Book Review: The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue

Set over three days in a maternity word for pregnant flu patients in Dublin in 1918 - there’s a LOT going on here. And yet this isn’t a book that feels overwhelming. It feels steady. You feel swept up in the unceasing action of a busy hospital. Rarely a moment to rest, life and death… Continue reading (Audio) Book Review: The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue

Book Review: The End of the Affair by Graham Greene

The End of the Affair - Graham Greene (Heinemann, 1966) Maurice Bendrix's affair with Sarah Miles has been over for a couple of years when he unexpectedly runs into her husband, Henry, one evening. Bendrix reluctantly agrees to have a drink with Henry, only to find all his love and hate of Sarah reignited when… Continue reading Book Review: The End of the Affair by Graham Greene

Book Review: The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell

The Marriage Portrait - Maggie O'Farrell (Alfred A. Knopf Canada, 2022) Lucrezia is the youngest daughter of Medicis of Florence. Raised in luxury but strictly watched over by her mother and father, her life as a young girl in the 1550s is dictated for her from birth. Yet there is a wildness to her, something… Continue reading Book Review: The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell

What I Read – December 2022

Read: The Promise - Damon Galgut (Europa Editions Audio, 2022) How It Went - Wendell Berry (Counterpoint, 2022) The Glass Hotel - Emily St. John Mandel (Harper Collins Publishers, 2020) Around the Hearth - L.M. Montgomery (Nimbus Publishing, 2022) The Colony - Audrey Magee (Farrer, Strauss, Giroux, 2022) Cloud Cuckoo Land - Anthony Doerr (Scribner,… Continue reading What I Read – December 2022