Sophie is celebrating her 16th birthday party at her father and step-mothers lavish but perhaps haunted home in the Texas Hill country. There is a large cast of characters that may initially seem unrelated, and many red herrings. I felt it was a bit slow in the beginning, but the stage had to be set. Slowly surprising secrets are revealed. Read for detail, but even so this one is so twisted I didn’t have a clue. Good guys and bad guys are not always obvious in this one. A good read.

I have enjoyed this author’s previous books so I decided to try this one. The musical parts are very interesting, but it goes off on a weird comic book adventure that ruined it for me.

I liked the book beginning to end - it's simple - I liked it!!!!

Another excellent book by this author about the disturbing and shameful history of America’s eugenics program.

For the July reading challenge and the Summer Reading program, I read the book, "Nine Perfect Strangers", finishing it on 7/28/25. This book was made into a TV mini-series. I watched the first season last year and it was very good. When the second season started and I saw the book would be perfect for the July challenge, I decided to read it. The book was definitely better than Season 2 of the show. Season 2 was very strange. So strange, in fact, that if there is a third season of Nine Perfect Strangers, I probably will not watch it.

I love Neal Shusterman. His concepts and syntax are always so, so engaging and this one was no different. The premise is: what if an epidemic virus made you perfectly content if you survived it? Sounds great, except capitalism relies on peoples' miseries and insecurities. Multiple storylines weave around each other to create a fast-paced and thought-provoking story.

Happy Wife, by Meredith Lavender Young 28-year-old woman marries 46-year-old wealthy gentleman, following his divorce from his wife. She is not welcomed into their very wealthy community in Winter Park Florida. He is a very successful attorney. She was barley making ends meet. They seem happy, but following their marriage, she becomes a “work widow”. Then, no surprise, he goes missing. Explores marriage wealth and the secrets behind closed doors.

Hidden in the depths of 18th century London, a secret apothecary shop caters to an unusual kind of clientele. Women around the city whisper of a mysterious figure named Nell who sells well-disguised poisons to women to use against the oppressive men in their lives. But the apothecary's fate is jeopardized when her newest patron, a precocious 12 year old, makes a fatal mistake , sparking a string of consequences that echo through the centuries. Meanwhile in present day London, aspiring historian Caroline Parcewell spends her tenth wedding anniversary alone, running from her own demons. When she stumbles upon a clue to the unsolved apothecary murders that haunted London 200 years ago, her life collides with the apothecary's in a twist of fate and not everyone will survive.

This is the 3rd book in the Molly the Maid series. It focuses mostly on her gran's story using a diary. And the mystery of the Fabergé egg. I didn't enjoy it as much as the first one. I listened to the audio version.

The book had an interesting storyline told from two peoples point of View. Part of the story takes place in 1953 and part of the story takes place during WWII. A woman in 1953 is working in a thrift shop in England when she comes across a necklace that she thinks she recognizes s from her time as a volunteer for The International Red Cross delivery care packages to POW camps. The second Point of view is from a Jewish woman who lives in Paris during WWII The story s eventually intertwines and there is a bit of a surprise ending. I liked the book and I recommend it