I like a good, deep literary novel as much as anyone. There’s a place in my reading world for Ian McEwan or Lionel Shriver, but sometimes I just need a good, funny book, preferably one that can make me laugh out loud. So here are a few I’ve read lately. The first two are mysteries,…
I doubt many people remember the This Is Your Life! show from the Golden Age of television. Once a week a guest, often a celebrity, was tricked to appear on a stage in front of a live audience. The host would start narrating the person’s life and present flashbacks. Guest appearances were made by family,…
Who says the Golden Age of Television was in the 1950's? You know TV is in a good place when the annual Emmy Award categories for Best Drama and Best Comedy are so flooded with worthy entries that critically-acclaimed shows like House of Cards, Mad Men, Modern Family and Parks and Recreation go home without…
I’ve been waiting for Fates and Furies for months. I read Arcadia by Lauren Groff and fell in love with Groff’s writing. Fates and Furies at its core is the story of the marriage of Lotto and Mathilde. Fates and Furies invites the reader into the highs and lows of Lotto and Mathilde's marriage. Fates…
Series books are great. They are often how children find their love of reading, Nancy Drew, Boxcar Children, Goosebumps, or 39 clues, anyone? They don’t lose their charm as we grow older either. Series can take the what-to-read-next-stress out of reading; the choice of your next book becomes obvious. (Though, I would definitely advocate asking…
In 1958, when he was eight years old, Rinker Buck’s larger-than-life father took him and several of his ten siblings in a covered wagon from New Jersey to Pennsylvania. So his decision to recreate a modern-day covered wagon trip across the Oregon Trail didn’t seem as crazy to him as it might to most of…
You finally get your hands on THE book your friends are raving about. You MUST read this, they say. It’s great! But when you finish it, you are underwhelmed. As readers, we’ve all been there. I asked my fellow bloggers what books they read that didn’t live up to their high expectations. Ellen: I read…
Melissa DeCarlo The Art of Crash Landing Takes a potentially clichéd premise and turns it into an interesting story that you won't want to put down. Mattie Wallace, a broke, pregnant woman who’s made a lot of bad choices, learns she’s received an inheritance from a grandmother she never knew existed. She goes to…
I’ll admit it. My name is Cyndi and I’m an utter heroine addict. I love a book with a strong heroine that takes center stage. Heroines come in all shapes, sizes, genres, and time periods. My heroine preferences run the gamut and I love them all, often for different reasons. Here are some of my…
It is always a treat revisiting the serene village of Three Pines, which serves as the backdrop for Louise Penny’s 11th exceptional mystery, The Nature of the Beast. Armand Gamache, retired head of homicide for the Sûreté du Québec, is at a crossroads in his life. He is enjoying a quiet existence with his wife…
