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 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.

Colette Marceau is a young teen living in World War II era France at the start of the novel THE STOLEN LIFE OF COLETTE MARCEAU by Kristen Harmel. She lives with her mother, father and younger sister and is managing to live as well as can be expected in troubling times. One terrible night everything changes. The story follows Colette through the next eight decades of her life with many flashbacks and an equal number of secrets hidden and revealed. With a large cast of characters in both the United States and France, both upstanding and criminal, the plot is somewhat unbelievable, but readable non the less. The background and atmosphere were truly interesting.

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.

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.

This novel is based on an interesting piece of New York City history that I knew nothing about. It's 1915 and citizens of NYC are under constant threat of arrest due to the Comstock Act. It might not be every citizen in danger, but one never knows when those that uphold the law will deem that you are in violation. Of course, I had to do a deeper dive and discovered this is a zombie law -- still on the books, but not acted upon. In the state of our country now, I wonder if someone will decide to take it off the inactive list and decide to enforce it. Have I peaked your curiosity and are you now going to look up what the Comstock Act is?

I thoroughly enjoyed this thriller that I listened to . I enjoyed the story and the reader with the australian accent. Mabel is such a great character both in the past and at age 80. It was a surprise to me about Mabel’s best friend, Daphne. I would highly recommend this book

I enjoyed reading and listening on audible this book. I enjoy light reads and plots revolving around water and summer during the summertime. I enjoyed this love story between Frankie and George. It's nice when to good people come together in a relationship.

Good story with lots of twists. In fact, this may have been too convoluted. As usual I did not guess who did the bad. I loved the scenic descriptions and the house, Spyglass.

A very enjoyable novel by one of my favorite Irish authors, Jean Grainger. It takes place in 2 timelines, 1969 and the present. Two women, Jeannie and Orla are intertwined and we eventually will discover their connection. Dunmara House, a castle in Ireland standing since 1689 is significant in both timelines. Well-written, sympathetic characters and an engrossing story. This is the first in a series of three books. I can't wait to read the next two when they are published!