Book #72 in 2025
5.0 out of 5 (photo from Goodreads)
I loved this book. I didn’t want it to end. There’s a lot of violence in it, which is typical for the author. I felt a strong connection to the Carruthers family. They showed the point of view of a family that doesn’t always make the right choices but they still look out for each other.
Stop here if you want to avoid spoilers!
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Book #71 in 2025
3.0 out of 5 (photo from Goodreads)
This was an ok book. I was interested in the plot but the big reveal didn’t do it for me.
Louise is a single mom who is at a bar and kisses a man. She then discovers that he’s her new boss, David. She also meets his wife, Adele but David does not know about this. Louise feels connected to both David and Adele but they both also seem to harbor secrets.
How does Louise navigate a new friend and a new attraction?
Stop here if you want to avoid spoilers!
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Book #70 in 2025
3.5 out of 5 (photo from Goodreads)
I enjoyed this book and the characters for the most part, but I also didn’t feel like I really connected with them. For a book written by three different people, I do feel like the flow was good and it didn’t feel like multiple people wrote the book.
Three nurses become friends and the book follows their stories through WWII and their experiences. The three women see and endure a lot, including being prisoners of war. At times, I had to try and remember who I was reading about and what her back story was and what was going on with her because some aspects of the characters seemed similar.
While the characters are fictional, similar things happened to real people during this time in history. It was interesting to try and image going through the war as a nurse and being taken prisoner.
Book #69 in 2025
5.0 out of 5 (photo from Goodreads)
I loved this book. It tells the story of Emily Gale from before Dorothy comes to live with her as well as the early days when her niece arrives. There are nods to things from The Wizard of Oz sprinkled throughout.
In addition to the story of Emily, the plot shows what it’s like to be a farmer in Kansas. I enjoyed the characters, their story, and the author’s writing style.
Book #68 in 2025
4.0 out of 5 (photo from Goodreads)
This is the third book set in the same world as the previous ones. You don’t have to read the previous two books to read this one but it does help with some of the back story.
In a world where being able to afford to have a raise a child has become difficult, 10 couples are participating in a reality TV show where the winner gets money to have and raise a child or their AI child. On the show an AI baby is created and the contentestants enter a metaverse to interact with the child while the public watches. Every few months the child is aged to give the contestants a feel for what various ages will look like.
As with the other books in this series there are a lot of characters. It takes some time to remember who is who as information is revealed. This is one thing I typically don’t like about books because I feel like i never get to really relate to any of the characters. It was somewhat the same with this book and why I didn’t give it more than four stars.
There are some twists and turns along the way and I was interested in the plot and wanted to keep going to see what would happen.
Book #67 in 2025
2.5 out of 5 (photo from Goodreads)
I wanted to like this book. It had a cool concept even though I don’t typically pick up fantasy books. But I felt like the plot dragged on and was repetitive. I was hoping for more about what happens with the daughter who can turn into a werewolf vs the struggles of the family trying to fit into a community where they’re outsiders. Their plight could have been more interesting but it came off as flat for me.
Book #66 in 2025
5.0 out of 5 (photo from Goodreads)
I didn’t know much about the Edmund Fitzgerald before reading this book other than knowing it sank in Lake Superior in the 1970s. The song by Gordon Lightfoot is the only “history” I knew about the ship.
The book covers when the ship was built and some about it’s travels prior to sinking. It also tells the story of several of the crew members. And ultimately about the night of the sinking. It’s still not 100% sure what happened to the ship but through the years research and some speculation have pointed to some things that were have likely to have happened.
I wonder if technology and advancements in what weather information is available to captains would have prevented the ship from sinking had the conditions been the same even 10-15 years later.
Book #65 in 2025
5.0 out of 5 (photo from Goodreads)
The author of this book is a reporter. She crossed paths with a family in China who had twin daughters. They kept one, and the other was sent to be raised by relatives, but while living there, she was stolen and xsent to be adopted. The author follows both girls as they grow up. She also writes about how politics impacted China and families having children during the time that only one child could be born to each family.
This was interesting to me, being adopted myself. I’ve also always had a fascination with twins too.
Book #64 in 2025
3.0 out of 5 (photo from Goodreads)
This was an interesting book. It has a lot of information, much of which I found helpful. Although I did feel like the author kept saying over and over that any time you don’t get enough sleep bad things will happen to you rather than emphasizing the overall need for good sleep on most nights.
Most people know that getting good sleep is important. It effects so many aspects of life and wellbeing. The author discusses in more detail why getting enough sleep each night is important and what happens when you don’t.
Book #63 in 2025
3.5 out of 5 (photo from Goodreads)
While I enjoyed this book, I liked others by this author more. I liked the plot points about the wolves but I didn’t really get into the main character’s personal story.
Inti is watching over the reintroduction of wolves in an area of Scotland. The locals aren’t too thrilled with the idea as they don’t want to lose their livestock. One farmer is found dead and Inti fears that she will be blamed because of the wolves.
I love this author’s writing style, and did in this book too. You do feel drawn in and can imagine everything happening. Even with that, I didn’t connect with the main character and her sister which is part of the reason I didn’t enjoy the book as much as I might have.
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