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.

I did not enjoy this book. I put it down several times and finally finished it. Did not relate to any of the characters except Chicky, the main doorman of the upper west side building in Manhattan. All the others were self-obsessed billionaires with no moral code.

An incredibly bleak deconstruction of the superhero genre that doubles as a scathing critique on American politics. I was consistently blown away (and also at least a little depressed) by how timely this felt despite coming out in 1986. I don't think you have to be a comic book or superhero fan to "get it" with Watchmen. It's a fantastic graphic novel from top to bottom and, so long as you can stomach the protagonists largely being unlikable, I can't recommend it enough.

This series was suggested to me by a family member and I can't wait to read the next book in the series. This was a fun read and peaked my interest because it's main character was a baker, a hobby I happen to love. The book also includes several recipes that I am eager to try as well.

I definitely recommend reading this book! Thirty years ago Sarah Lingate is found murdered on the island of Capri and her murderer is never found. Her husband Richard was always a suspect. Now with the family returning to Capri for vacation, the family’s personal assistant, Lorna, is also found drowned reopening the investigation into Sarah’s murder. Helen, Sarah’s daughter is desperate to escape her family. What lengths would the wealthy and powerful take to cover up all family indiscretions? Read and find out. This story had a lot of unexpected twists and just when you think you have the answer, you find out you were wrong. This was a great read.

I surprisingly enjoyed this book. Although I thought this book was going to be a "fluff" book, it touched on deep themes and was relatable.

Catherine Ryan Hyde is one of my favorite authors, but I found it very difficult to get into this book. I put it down several times and went on to read other books before finally finishing it. It's about a journalist, Amelia, who is a recently divorced mom of Jaden, a seven year old boy. She takes him to Mexico to track down E.L. Swann aka Ella, who wrote a very famous novel 30 years before and then vanished. The book is about Amelia and Ella's relationship and Ella's relationship with Jaden whom she sees as her muse. I did not find the novel as complelling as Hyde's other works, such as Michael Without Apology.

The latest in the Robert Langdon series set in Prague. Unlike the previous books in the series, this one focused heavily on current and future scientific achievements rather than religious and ancient stories. While there were references to The Golem, this was not the overall driving point for the plot. I found this particular book harder to grasp compared to the others because of the difficulty level of science that was being described. The concept of life after death is an age old question that has never been solved. Instead of focusing on the spiritual aspects of this question, Brown went in the opposite direction and used science to prove that there is some sort of life after death because your consciousness is simply changing vessels. One of the main takeaways is how consciousness is what signifies life. A section that stuck with me is when they describe what a life is. A body that’s functioning but has no brain activity is widely considered to be dead by the medical standard. Yet a body without most of its function but a fully functional mind is without a doubt alive. In the book, they use Stephen Hawking as an example of a non functional body and how as a society no one would consider pulling the plug on him because of his incredibly functioning mind.

I enjoyed reading this suspense, thriller with the backdrop of a podcast done by 2 best friends Joy and Benny. They have had a long friendship for one another. I enjoyed exploring all of the relationships especially between Joy and Benny. I would recommend this book

Jeffrey is a young American man hired for his first job to be an archivist for an elderly baroness named Coco in her home, Villa Coco. The baroness being very eccentric and with eccentric friends surrounding her, embarks on a plan to set her own rules about the end of her life, to find a long lost love and to avenge the death of a friend by thwarting their nemesis. Remember that life gives you good stories along the way. This story was entertaining and a nice escape to Tuscany.