Review: The Wondrous Life and Loves of Nella Carter

The Wondrous Life and Loves of Nella Carter
The Wondrous Life and Loves of Nella Carter by Brionni Nwosu
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Great story in the vein of Addie LaRue but with more African American history. It was absolutely excellent on audio.

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Review: Brawler

Brawler
Brawler by Lauren Groff
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I’m not a short-story fan but I am a Groff fan so I had to read this collection and I am so glad I did. Even though every story wasn’t my favorite, there were several that I absolutely was awed by. I really hope her next one is a novel though!

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Review: Land

Land
Land by Maggie O’Farrell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Maggie O’Farrell has a way with words. And not just words but characters, settings, and so much more. The story begins with Tomas, the dad whose job is to survey the land in Ireland in 1865. He is doing his job with his son as an apprentice when something unexpected happens. And then the story goes both deeper and wider. The reader is thrust into The Great Hunger and Irish history.

But the best part of this book, of course, is Tomas’ family. The story of how he grew up and met his wife. The way they get and settle into the house and their four kids who are unique and unforgettable in their own magical ways. Each character leaps off the page and stays with you long. long after you’re done reading.

You heart is broken again and again and again and yet you can’t stop cheering for these characters and holding on to hope. What a complete gift O’Farrell is.

with gratitude to netgalley and Knopf for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

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2026 – Onward – March 16

Garage is totally done! Weee! I still have to clean up in my bedroom, bathroom and living room. But garage was over 30 hours of work. Major progress.

  • Progress on the big five:
    • Y: Finished! Need a little break before phase two.
    • G: Phase two done, too! Break here, too before phase 3.
    • S: Talked to nurse pursuing two next steps.
    • Sa: no progress here, i think this will have to wait a bit.
    • D: another airport trip in the books.
  • Three Medium goals:
    • Ok taxes are ready, will review and file this week.
    • Not buying this for now.
    • This will be phase 3 so it will wait for a bit.
  • Start: nope nope nope.
  • Stop: nope nope.
  • Continue: still at this, though not loving it.
  • Brave: made some progress on this. it will take a while but working on it.

So proud of myself and how much I am doing. Day by day, drop by drop.

Here’s to another week. Paying attention. Savoring and living in awe. And taking steps to move

Review: And Now, Back to You

And Now, Back to You
And Now, Back to You by B.K. Borison
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3.5 stars

This was fun and joyful and entertaining even if predictable. It brought me joy.

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Review: Heather

Heather
Heather by Caitlin Mullen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book is compared to Moore’s The God of the Woods which I thought was an apt comparison. It’s about an event that unearths a mystery from years ago. It’s in a small town. It’s a quiet story which ends up not being about the mystery. All of these I think are reasonable parallels.

This is a slow burn but, for me, it was an excellent read from beginning to end. I loved Callie from the very beginning and was invested. The audio book was truly excellent. The narrators brought the story alive and made it so there wasn’t a moment of boredom in this slow moving story. I loved it from beginning to end.

with gratitude to netgalley and Macmillan Audio for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

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Review: Winter’s Redemption

Winter's Redemption
Winter’s Redemption by Mary Stone
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

2.5 stars

For some reason even though this was indeed Winter’s Redemption, I didn’t enjoy this one as much as the others. It felt more stilted and I didn’t like the preacher so i hated having his POV.

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2026 – Onward – March 9

OK almost ten days into March. Not sure if I’ve made enough progress, let’s see.

Big Goal: Ok spent a few hours in the garage already and it’s looking better. It’s a lot of work but I am taking it day by day.

  • Progress on the big five:
    • Y: They have made so much progress, it’s incredible. I’m optimistic it will be done this week! Let’s hope!
    • G: All done! things are in storage. woot woot!
    • S: Waiting for the nurse to come back monday.
    • Sa: no progress here, i think this will have to wait a bit.
    • D: nothing for this one for now either.
  • Three Medium goals:
    • last tax files come on Wednesday.
    • thinking i might not do the coffee after all. We’ll see.
    • the garage fun stuff comes after cleanup.
  • Start: ok so i did neither so far.
  • Stop: so far, so good, i think.
  • Continue: still at it!
  • Brave: feeling a bit better actually. let’s see.

So proud of myself and how much I am doing. Day by day, drop by drop.

Here’s to another week. Paying attention. Savoring and living in awe. And taking steps to move

Review: The Last Mandarin

The Last Mandarin
The Last Mandarin by Louise Penny
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Wow this was quite the political thriller. If political thrillers are your genre, you will absolutely love this rich and thoroughly intriguing story. It was fast-paced with really interesting characters. Layers of plot that kept you on your toes the whole time. I am confident that if you like this genre, you will love this book.

The audio was absolutely outstanding, making the story come to life and adding so much to the experience of reading this book!

with gratitude to netgalley and Macmillan Audio for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

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Review: Seek the Traitor’s Son

Seek the Traitor's Son
Seek the Traitor’s Son by Veronica Roth
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I’m a Veronica Roth fan. I loved the Divergent series and loved having more of her voice and storytelling in this novel. For me, this was a much bigger undertaking and took a lot longer to connect to. I loved the intricacies and creativity of the world-building. Loved the strong and smart main character and loved the love interest, too and especially loved that neither the story nor the love interest were there as a token. The story in of itself was interesting and the characters were, too!

I do assume there’s more coming and it’s a series. I am excited to read more of it!

with gratitude to netgalley and Macmillan Audio for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

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Review: This Book Made Me Think of You

This Book Made Me Think of You
This Book Made Me Think of You by Libby Page
My rating: 0 of 5 stars

Another one that didn’t keep my interest and I finally had to give up. This was fun for a while but also relatively formulaic 🙁

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Review: To Kill a Cook

To Kill a Cook
To Kill a Cook by W.M. Akers
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Really enjoyed this one. I liked the narration, i liked the main character. It wasn’t as funny as Finlay Donovan but it was interesting and i loved all the food details.

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