Weekly Reading Thread: May 22-27

I just finished Andy Cohen's new book The Daddy Diaries which was a light easy read. I enjoy his daily writings of life in the Bravoverse.

I’m almost done with Homegrown by Jeffrey Toobin, . about Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh. It’s been a tough but fascinating read since I have lived most of my adult life in Oklahoma City and will never forget the sound of that bomb exploding. I lost an old and dear friend in the bombing.

It’s always fascinating to try and understand the mind of a killer. In this case, I don’t think Timothy McVeigh had the slightest sense of guilt over what he did. He was a true psychopath.

Zero guilt to finish a book every week. I remember the end of the school year as a teacher. It takes exhaustion to a whole new level. LOL. 

Enjoy the beautiful weather. (It's already hot here, but evenings aren't too bad.)

Thanks for starting the thread each week. 

Lisa 

I keep a highlight on my Instagram profile with all of my book reviews and finally got my last 3 up this weekend.   Here's what I read since the last time I participated:


Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. 4 / 5

Cute coming-of-age story I don't remember reading as a kid, so I wanted to make sure to read it now before I eventually watch the movie.

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Perfect Son by Freida McFadden. 3.2 / 5

How far will a mother go to protect her son? (I am a mother to a son and let me tell you - for all of my children, its pretty far!)

"Mrs. Cass, we were hoping your son could answer a few questions about the girl who disappeared last night..."

Erika Cass' son Liam is known to have some shall we say, issues, and when a girl from his school goes missing, his mother is like "Uh oh, time to make some reparations and clean up the mess my boy probably made!" Everyone suspects Liam and the PTA mamas basically shun Erika from here to all eternity.

Here's the thing: This was my 2nd Freida McFadden book but I am writing this review after my 3rd book of hers (I finished this and The Locked Door back-to-back) and yes, her books keeping getting a bit better each time but I am still lacking that WOW factor. They are fairly solid thrillers - I liked this one enough. Thought the twist was pretty good. But I am stilllllll waiting for my socks to be knocked off and I'm just not sure that's going to happen with this author. Still, there are 2 or 3 more audiobooks left of hers via my Libby app and I am absolutely going to give them a listen!

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The Locked Door by Freida McFadden. 3.8 / 5

As a child, Nora Davis has no idea her father is a secret murderer and keeps women locked up in his basement (chilling, right?) Flash-forward 26 years. Her father is locked up and she's a top surgeon (hmmmm) and, some of her patients are turning up dead. You get flashbacks to young Nora mixed with current day Nora and it was definitely a bit of a twisty tale trying to figure out where the author was going with this.

This was the 3rd Freida McFadden book I read and I liked it better than my previous pick (Perfect Son) and much better than my first read which is at the bottom of the pile (Want To Know A Secret). I thought this storyline was a bit better and the ending reveal was quite good. I absolutely COULD NOT STAND the audiobook reader's voice! I usually never complain about that stuff (makes me feel a little bad!) but it totally knocked it down a notch for me.

Also,


Bumping to 4 for Goodreads star purposes but this was definitely hovering around the 3.7-3.8 mark for me.

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I just started We Were Once a Family: A Story of Love, Death, and Child Removal in America by Roxanna Asgarian but its based on a true story and its heavy, so not sure how fast I'll plow through it.

"The shocking, deeply reported story of a murder-suicide that claimed the lives of six children—and a searing indictment of the American foster care system.

On March 26, 2018, rescue workers discovered a crumpled SUV and the bodies of two women and several children at the bottom of a cliff beside the Pacific Coast Highway. Investigators soon concluded that the crash was a murder-suicide, but there was more to the story: Jennifer and Sarah Hart, it turned out, were a white married couple who had adopted the six Black children from two different Texas families in 2006 and 2008. Behind the family's loving facade, however, was a pattern of abuse and neglect that went ignored as the couple withdrew the children from school and moved across the country. It soon became apparent that the State of Texas knew very little about the two individuals to whom it had given custody of six children—with fateful consequences."

Latest reads for me …………



THE SUMMER HOUSE (‘23 - 3 STARS) BY KERI BEEVIS
DESCRIPTION : Mead House was once our childhood home. Despite my fears, I always knew we would have to return to face the demons of our past. Back to the place where it happened, to where, as carefree teenagers, we lost our elder sister in the most brutal of circumstances.
As executors of our grandmother’s will, my twin brother, Ollie, and I needed to empty the house for resale. What I didn’t expect to discover was my sister’s secret journal that contained her most private thoughts and shocking dark secrets.
Now I am questioning everything that I saw that night. Did I get it wrong, who I saw? Did my evidence send an innocent man, my then boyfriend's brother, to jail for the last 17 years? I know I have no choice. If I want to find answers, I will have to go back to that fateful night my sister died. When she made her last visit to the summer house.

REVIEW :
Sale $.99 Author posted on Facebooks Psychological Thriller Readers group when this book made Top 20 on Kindle.  I was in between books so I grabbed this one for $.99.  I like the authors writing; right away I’m interested. By 20% I feel like I’m watching a good Lifetime mystery. Enjoying trying to put all the clues together. Solid mystery that kept me reading.



LOVE BETRAYAL MURDER (‘23 - 3 STARS) BY BRAD MITZNER
DESCRIPTION: Matthew Brooks and Vanessa Lyons are a perfect love match, both attorneys at a powerful New York City law firm. But there’s a hitch: Matt just made partner, and Vanessa is coming up for partner next year. And Vanessa’s husband, the profligate Bradley Lyons, has his suspicions.
Vanessa is assigned to the biggest case at the firm, the one that will determine her future. Unfortunately, Matt has been working the case for years, leaving him no choice but to supervise his lover in violation of firm policy. When Vanessa is denied her partnership, despite assurances to the contrary, she can only assume that her affair with Matt was the reason.  Then, on a crowded Manhattan street corner, a knife flashes in the midday sun, leaving behind a scene of horror. But with so many having been betrayed, will the murderer be brought to justice? A gripping criminal trial will leave readers unsure of who, if anyone, is telling the truth, all culminating in a jaw-dropping reveal.

REVIEW :
The first 3 Broden legal books all received 4 stars (Dead Certain ‘17 - Read ‘18, Never Goodbye ‘18 & The Best Friend ‘20). A standalone book, A Matter of Will ‘19, received 3 stars.

Like the writing likes always but plot is moving extremely fast. A little slower would have been better for character development. Because of this, I didn’t have a connection or feelings for any of the characters. I did like how the judge explained certain rulings to the jury during the trial. The ending left me with one big question - Why ?



Hope you all have a great Memorial Day Weekend and pick some GREAT reads !

I LOVE the description of this book………

Alice has always wanted to be a writer. Her talent is innate, but her stories remain safe and detached, until a devastating event breaks her heart open, and she creates a stunning debut novel. Her words, in turn, find their way to readers, from a teenager hiding her homelessness, to a free diver pushing himself beyond endurance, an artist furious at the world around her, a bookseller in search of love, a widower rent by grief. Each one is drawn into Alice’s novel; each one discovers something different that alters their perspective, and presents new pathways forward for their lives.

Together, their stories reveal how books can affect us in the most beautiful and unexpected of ways—and how we are all more closely connected to one another than we might think.


Definitely going on my TBR list!  I can’t wait to hear your review !

I thought it was really good & I'd recommend reding it.


That's next up for me too!