NetGalley

    No Turning Back by Tracy Buchanan

    As a teacher, I was always kind of a softie – an easy grader. And I suspect that is true of my reviews as well. And I REALLY liked the sound of this one: “emotional roller coaster filled with heart-stopping secrets and hairpin turns.” Sounds like my kind of escapist fiction! So, when I received …

    The Stars Are Fire by Anita Shreve

    For some reason, I think of Anita Shreve’s books as “beach reads,” and her newest “The Stars Are Fire” will most likely be a summer favorite in 2017. Thanks to Knopf Doubleday and NetGalley, I received an advance copy in exchange for this honest review. The story is set in Maine in 1947, and begins …

    The Perfect Stranger by Megan Miranda

    I first became aware of Megan Miranda’s storytelling skill when I read her previous novel All the Missing Girls, which was told BACKWARDS. Not an easy thing to pull off, but she did it in a 5-star fashion, so I was ready with high expectations when I received an advance copy of her latest book …

    Are You Sleeping by Kathleen Barber

    As a big podcast fan (admittedly sparked by Serial), I found the premise of this thriller intriguing: a hugely popular podcast has begun exploring the murder of a young woman’s father. The young woman is Josie Buhrman – who has changed her name and removed herself from the midwestern town where it happened, cutting herself …

    Rather Be the Devil by Ian Rankin

    I had read one of Ian Rankin’s books a couple of years ago, but somehow I had overlooked the fact that there were TWENTY of his books featuring John Rebus, a detective in Scotland (Rather Be the Devil is #21). Thanks to Little, Brown and Co. and NetGalley, I had the opportunity to review the …

    Lying Blind by Dianne Emley

    I’m kind of partial to procedurals with “plucky” heroines (think Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum, French’s Antoinette Conway or Grafton’s Kinsey Milhone. So, when I read that Dianne Emley had a new book, Lying Blind, featuring the recurring character Detective Nan Vining (a character I had never encountered) and that the new book was described as a …

    A Colony in A Nation by Chris Hayes

    Having both watched him for a few years on MSNBC and having read his work in The Nation, I love Chris Hayes, His earlier book Twilight of the Elites (called “a stunning polemic by Ta-Nehisi Coates), emphasized how out of touch America’s political leaders were with those they were elected to govern (and this was …

    Richie by Thomas Thompson

    Richie: A Father, His Son, and the Ultimate America Tragedy, originally published in 1973, tells the story of an event that occurred in Nassau County (Long Island, NY) in1972. I was not familiar with the case, and True Crime is my “guilty pleasure” genre, so I was please to read an advance copy in exchange …

    Tell Me No Lies by Lynn Chandler Willis

    Tell Me No Lies: An Ava Logan Mystery by Lynn Chandler Willis is described as “Mystery Thriller General Fiction (Adult)” Knowing that, I settled in for what I hoped would be enough to take my mind off politics :). And, to just get it out of the way, I really really enjoyed this book. The …

    Golden: The Miraculous Rise of Steph Curry by Marcus Thompson

    Marcus Thompson II covered the Warriors for ten years, so he has seen the franchise emerge from the bottom of the heap to an incredibly popular, highly marketable and incredibly fun to watch team – and the centerpiece of their success is Wardell Stephen Curry, also known as Steph. In Golden, Thompson tells the story …

    The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See

    I have loved reading Lisa See’s books, particularly Shanghai Girls, Dragon Bones and Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, so I was particularly pleased to have the opportunity to read an advance copy of her latest, The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane, thanks to Scribner and NetGalley. We meet Li-Yan when she is a girl …

    Evidence of Love by John Bloom

    The True Crime genre has been a guilty pleasure of mine since I worked in a public library back in the 1980s and discovered the treasures that awaited me in Dewey # 364.1523. I was happy to have the opportunity to receive an advance copy of Evidence of Love by John Bloom in exchange for …

    The Road to Jonestown: Jim Jones and Peoples Temple by Jeff Guinn

    I’ve been curious about Jonestown since the 1970s, finding myself fascinated in general about cults and repelled by the horror of Jonestown. I lived in Humboldt County, not all that far from Jones’s settlement in Ukiah, and we heard bits and pieces about the group (sort of like when we moved to Santa Cruz, hearing about …

    The Sleepwalker by Chris Bohjalian

    I’ve been a fan of Chris Bohjalian for many years, so when I had the opportunity to receive an advance copy of his latest novel, The Sleepwalker, from NetGalley and Doubleday Books in exchange for my honest review, I jumped on it! The story is told looking back at the year 2000, and revolves around …

    Infamy by Robert Tannenbaum

    I’ve read most of Robert Tanenbaum’s books featuring Manhattan District Attorney Butch Karp and his wife, Marlene Ciampi, so I was happy to receive an advance copy of Infamy from NetGalley and Gallery Books in exchange for my honest review. The story is basically this: a former Army veteran murders a colonel in New York, …

    The Cutaway by Christina Kovac

    The Cutaway by Christina Kovac is described as being “perfect for fans of Paula Hawkins and Gillian Flynn,” so as a fan of those two books, I was happy to receive an advance copy from Atria Books and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. I tend to enjoy books about the inner workings of media when …

    The Forgotten Girls by Owen Laukkanen

    Several years ago, I stumbled upon Owen Laukkanen’s book The Professionals, featuring the crime-fighting team of Kirk Stevens (with the Minnesota BCA) and Carla Windermere (FBI). It was great! Since then I have enjoyed the exploits of these partners (in Criminal Enterprise, Kill Fee, The Stolen Ones, and The Watcher in the Wall), so I …