Cathy has an interesting job working for the company, Scythe, as a grim reaper of sorts. She collects souls and takes them to be processed before the 45 day expiration when they will wander the earth forever as ghosts. When Cathy is sent to collect Connor, all mayhem breaks out. She loses Connor, gets caught up in coworkers doing illegal acts, reunites with her soon to be ex husband and does this all while pregnant. Can Cathy find out who murdered Connor and get him to processing before his 45 days are up? Read and find out.

If you grew up watching the Andy Griffith Show then you know Deputy Barney Fife. This biography is written by the daughter of Don Knotts who played Barney. It is a birth to death story of Mr. Knotts life. It was fascinating insightful story, mixed with humor, sadness, emotion and honesty. What disappointed me was the writing was dry.

Cara is convicted of killing her husband. All she knows is that she did not do it. On the way to prison, her transport vehicle crashes and she uses this opportunity to escape, hoping that she can find evidence to clear her name. In pursuit is a local sheriff. Jordan, who is up for reelection, needs this win and is determined to find Cara and bring her in. The one thing that bothered me near the beginning of the book was "hashtag" speak. Cara was an influencer and the beginning of the book was riddled with hashtag this, hashtag that. I was grateful when that stopped so that I could enjoy the book.

I loved reading GO GENTLE by Maria Semple. The main character Adora Hazzard is a woman of a certain age living the life she loves in NYC. In addition to that she is a divorced mother of a teenage daughter, a former TV comedy writer, and a current accomplished Doctor of Philosophy with a PhD degree to prove it. Obviously her life goes off the rails in spectacular fashion or her story would hardly be worth writing. I will admit that at times I wasn't quite sure what was happening or why, but I was happy to continue reading to find out ...

Set in the 50s, we find three women living in an island community, one living the high life, one trying to save her marriage and one hiding from the world (and herself). These women, each holding secrets, become friends, support each other through all of what life is throwing at them and thrive. A feel-good book.

This was a collection of two short stories. In Where There’s Smoke a gifted psychic obtains fame, wealth and respect from her talent. She is able to get messages from loved ones who have died and comfort the living. One day she encounters a military widow who’s husband’s death was from friendly fire, not from a heroic stand against the enemy. Serenity finds herself haunted by the dead soldier and under scrutiny of the police. From arrogance and greed she tries to clear her name and reputation by finding the missing son of a senator. Does Serenity go too far and really help the senator’s family and can she fall into the graces of the public again? Read and find out. In Larger Than Life, a woman finds an orphaned elephant and decides to take it back to her research hut and take care of it. In trying to save the baby does she actually help it or does she just do it selfishly knowing the elephant will never be able to return to the wild. Both stories deal with choices made and the consequences from them.

I am a huge Sorkin fan, and I have always been fascinated by his near obsession with the story of Philo Farnsworth (and his brother in law Cliff Garner). The story of Farnsworth is a sad and disappointing one. It shows you how hard it can be for one man, even if he can/does make a difference. I enjoyed it and wished I could see it performed. But I also hope more people learn these kinds of stories and see how we were meant to be explorers and builders and to make amazing things

7/19/26 Slow to start, this book takes place on beautiful Balboa Island in California in 1956. Three women, with different problems come together over tennis. The story then takes off… they become friends and work together to solve each others problems; which because of the times , were secrets. I really enjoyed this story of female friendship and how it can transcend social expectations when you have the support of people around you!

John Searles writes a fictionalized account of Helen Gurley Brown's rise to the top as editor-in-chief (since 1965) and creator of " Cosmopolitan" magazine as we know it. In the decades that she gained reknown, she supported and freed women's sexual independence and self-awareness out of the confinements of the 1950's, to the glittering decades of the 70's, 80's and 90's.

For a relatively short book, The Things We Never Say packs in plenty of wonderful characters, lots of food for thought and emotion in a small town New England town. Artie Dom is a high school history teacher who loves all his students and has a gift for opening up conversations among his them that otherwise might not be addressed openly. Artie has a loving wife and son, longtime work colleagues, extended family and what he considers his one true friend, yet he grapples with profound loneliness. Just a warning, some very current political and world issues are mentioned in Strout’s work with strong opinions. Artie and his best friend never speak of sensitive political topics with each other.