Sleep Simplified - Monica Le Baron

 Sleep Simplified - Monica Le Baron

She read

From the book synopsis: Do you dream of falling asleep within minutes of your head hitting the pillow? Can you imagine going to bed each night feeling calm and relaxed, sleeping soundly, and waking up each morning feeling rested and energized? Dreamy sleep and daytime energy can be your reality with Sleep Simplified!

In this easy to read book, the author provides a roadmap to not only deal with insomnia, but also steps to improve your overall health and life through a 12 week program involving techniques such as journaling, exercises, yoga. Establishing a very reassuring tone, Le Baron stresses that there is no one right approach, but provides various tools to help relax, reduce anxiety, sleep better, and improve your life. The exercises in the book come with illustrations and there is a website with accompanying videos. My only problem will be finding the time to follow this program and incorporate the recommendations into my daily life.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #Ziebeemedia for the DRC.  

****

The Women on Platform Two - Laura Anthony

 The Women on Platform Two - Laura Anthony

Pub. Date: March 11, 2025

She read

While trying to make decisions about her life in present day, Saoirse encounters Maura who tells her the remarkable story of the women who fought to give other women a choice with their selves and their bodies in  Ireland. In the 1970s, women weren’t allowed to work after marriage and contraception was illegal, even though it was readily available in Northern Ireland. A brave group of women banded together and one day they rode a train to Belfast and returned with contraception, thus paving the way for Irish women to have control over their lives. Maura, who married "well" but whose husband turned out to be an abuser, recounts her life along with Bernie’s, a beloved wife and mother of three who is told that she could die if she conceives another child.

While the characters are fictional, this book is based on true events.This is an important story. So many younger people don’t realize what it was once like and the sacrifices that brave young women and some men made to give them the life, freedom, and choices that they are living now.

This is a well written story that takes you in and won’t let go. I found it heartbreaking, charming, poignant, infuriating and I couldn’t put it down, reading well into the night to finish it. With well developed and captivating characters, these women's resilience is inspiring. This is a story that needs to be recounted no matter where you reside for women the world over have to be aware of the history that provided their present day freedoms and how easy it is to have their options limited. 

This story moved me to tears as I recognize the forces in the country in which I live who want females to go back to, as the author describes it, “the dark ages.”

I highly recommend this book. It is truly a #Timely #CautionaryTale.

Thanks to #NetGalley and @GalleryBooks for the DRC.

*****

We Were Never Here - Andrea Bartz

 We Were Never Here - Andrea Bartz

She read]

What happens when a friendship turns toxic? This is another book that has been on my TBR for quite a while and I finally found time to read it.

Best friends for ten years, Emily and Kristen head to Chile for a vacation that goes terribly wrong. There is an assault, a murder, and a cover up. Seems the same thing happened on their last trip a year ago to Vietnam. Upon their return home, guilt consumes Emily, the relationship begins to unravel, secrets about Kristen’s history and personality are revealed, and danger lurks. 

The story is a bit over the top, but it is a fast paced, engrossing read. There is gaslighting, manipulation, obsession,  toxicity, some naivety on one friend’s part, and pathological behavior on the other’s.

Thanks to #NetGalley and @RandomHouse for the DRC.

*** ½

Her Perfect Life - Hank Phillippi Ryan

 Her Perfect life - Hank Phillippi Ryan

She read

This is another book that has been on my TBR for a long time and I finally got to it. It is the second one I have read by this author.

Lily appears to have the perfect life. A well known and popular television reporter who always looks impeccable, with an adorable daughter and a devoted nanny. Underneath, though there are family secrets including the identity of her daughter’s husband and the sister who disappeared when Lily was a child. When a source who has provided accurate tips starts getting too close to her own secrets, will that perfect life implode?  

Well written, with twists and turns, this was an entertaining, engrossing read, albeit the plot, and some of the characters, strained credibility a bit. The story is told from multiple POVs and dual timelines. 

Thanks to #NetGalley and #TorPublishing for the DRC.

****

Blood Ties - Jo Nesbø

 Blood Ties - Jo Nesbø

Pub. Date:  Feb. 11, 2025

She read

Brothers Roy and Carl are seemingly successful businessmen in the small town of Os, Norway. There are tragedies and murders in their history and they will stop at nothing to achieve their dreams, and that includes annihilating anyone who stands in their way.  

Darkly complex, morally grim and set within a bleak atmosphere, this is classic Nordic noir. It is a story that holds the reader’s attention throughout with its twists, turns, revelations. It is a tribute to Nesbø’s writing that you just may be rooting for the main antihero to get away with it all. 

Blood Ties is a sequel to Nesbø’s The Kingdom, which I have not read; it works well as a standalone. If you are a fan of Nordic noir or want to try it out, add this to your To Be Read list. 

Thanks to #NetGalley and @aaknopf for the DRC.

Three Days in June - Anne Tyler

 Three Days in June - Anne Tyler

Pub. Date: Feb. 11, 2025

She read

Taking place over three days in June, this is the story of Gail Baines, a sixtyish, divorced, socially awkward mother of the bride as she negotiates the day before, day of, and day after the wedding. Her ex, Max, shows up unexpectedly at her door with a foster cat, there is an unexpected crisis between the soon to be wed couple, and a family secret is revealed. On top of that, she may have lost her job and hasn’t been invited to her daughter’s spa day.

Anne Tyler is a master of poignant, astute and amusing observations of relationships and life. Full of interesting and well developed characters,  this is a short novel; the writing flows so smoothly that it is easily read in one day. A true delight!

Thanks to #NetGalley and @aaknopf for the DRC.

*****

Mill Town - Kerri Arsenault

 Mill Town - Kerri Arsenault

She read

Another book that has been on my TBR for a long time! I was interested in it because as a child, we spent summers in northern Maine. I remember well the sulfur like smell that enveloped a mill town we sometimes drove through. I actually started this read a while ago but then got distracted.Somehow reading it now with all that is going on politically, it may be even more relevant than it was four years ago. 

This well written nonfiction work is part memoir, part environmental expose part sociological study. The author grew up in a working class paper mill town in Maine where the residents were exposed to toxins and the cancer rates were high. That was the price they paid for steady jobs and a chance for their children to escape the mill life. As an adult, she goes back to investigate the various environmental hazards and political cover ups. She also explores her heritage, having been descended from the French Canadiens known as Acadians who were often discriminated against, called in an 1881 Labor report from Massachusetts, "a horde of industrial invaders”.

Winner of numerous prizes and accolades, this is very much an American story. There is a line that truly resonated with me “I simultaneously defend and disparage where I grew up, not because I’m nostalgic for the way things were; because I’m nostalgic for the way I thought they were.”

Don’t be put off by the exploration of Arsenault’s various ancestors, her personal experiences or some of the technical findings related to the environmental hazards.This book does go in different directions, but it is a worthwhile read and, as I said above, perhaps even more meaningful now than it was four years ago.  

Thanks to #NetGalley and @StMartinsPress for the DRC.  

*****

Ice Cold Heart - PJ Tracy

 Ice Cold Heart - PJ Tracy

She read

I am a fan of P.J. Tracy’s Detective Margaret Nolan series and wanted to try this one from the writing team’s Monkeewrench series. It has been on my TBR for a while.

Perhaps it is because I am coming to this, the tenth in the series, as my first one, but I just couldn’t engage with it.  The plot was complex and far reaching. While I enjoyed some of the characters, there were some pretty despicable players as well.  I wasn't fond of the story or dialog.  It is certainly atmospheric; I could feel the Minnesota cold. 

I’m sorry I came so late to this series, perhaps I would have gotten more out of this book had I read some of the earlier installments. 

Thanks to #NetGalley and #CrookedLaneBooks for the DRC.

***

Fatal - John Lescroart

 Fatal - John Lescroart

She read

I have enjoyed John Lescroart’s Dismas Hardy series through the years and wanted to read this standalone that has been on my TBR for a long time.

Kate and Ron appear to have a happy marriage, but when Kate meets Peter, it sets off sparks in her and she pursues him for a one time encounter. Seemingly unrelated but with long residual impacts, Kate and her best friend, Beth, a police officer, are caught in a terrorist attack and both injured. 

Time passes, healing occurs, and when Peter is found murdered, it falls to Beth and her partner to find the culprit. There are suspects galore. 

This is a book about obsession and consequences. I’m still not sure how the terrorist attack fit in except as a study in long term effects of trauma and also inserting the concept of reassessing one’s life as a result. It is an engrossing read with red herrings, subplots, some very likable characters and some that are not.  

Thanks to #NetGalley and #AtriaBooks for the DRC.

****

Open Season - Jonathan Kellerman

 Open Season - Jonathan Kellerman

Pub. Date: Feb. 4, 2025

She read

Can it be that this is the 40th book in the Alex Delaware series? I have read all of them. Obviously, I enjoy the investigative duo of Detective Milo Sturgis and psychologist Alex Delaware, as well as all the supporting characters and look forward to each new addition. Whenever I open a Kellerman book, I can’t seem to put it down.  

A young woman who was drugged is found dead. Soon after, the main suspect is discovered shot through his neck. The bullet that killed him matches an earlier murder and the investigative team suspect other deaths may be tied to the same killer. What do the victims have in common that will help them find the shooter?

Kellerman writes true police procedurals, albeit a little different due to Milo being unconventional and Alex along to provide psychological insight. They tend to have a familiar rhythm, as the duo chase down leads, generate and discuss different theories, interview persons of interest, enjoy a few good meals. Kellerman’s descriptions are particularly picturesque and entertaining and he always seems to put a fresh spin on cases. Yes, this can be read as a standalone, if you are unfamiliar with this series and enjoy police procedurals, do yourself a favor and read some of the earlier ones as well.

Thanks to #NetGalley and @randomhouse for the DRC.

*****

We Do Not Part - Han Kang

 We Do Not Part - Han Kang

Pub. Date:  Jan. 21, 2025

She read

Translated from the original language of 2024 Nobel prize winner in literature, Han Kang, this is a beautifully written, lyrical, symbolic, heartbreaking story. In modern times, there is the friendship of Kyungha and Inseon. There is also the historical telling of the massacre following the uprising on Jeju Island beginning in 1948. Following a scorched earth policy, at least 30,000 people were slaughtered on the island.  

The beginning of the book was a bit difficult to negotiate with its dreamlike, surreal quality. But as the story of Inseon's research into the massacre and its effects on her family unfolded, it was riveting.

This is a tale of horror, resilience, intergenerational trauma and of never forgetting.  

Thanks to #NetGalley and #RandomHouseBooks for the DRC.

In Plain Sight - D.S. Butler

 In Plain Sight - D.S. Butler

Pub. Date: Jan. 21, 2025

She read

This is the tenth in the DS Karen Hart series; it is the sixth I have read. It works well as a standalone. 

Teenagers cutting through an archeological dig discover a grisly sight. A dead woman is at the bottom of a pit, with a medieval torture device called a Shrew’s Fiddle attached to her.As  DS Karen Hart and her team investigate the limited clues and numerous suspects, a second brutal death occurs. 

This is a fast paced, well written mystery. I enjoy the main character, as well as her supporting team.  Karen  is engaging, capable, empathetic, and doesn’t suffer fools gladly. She also displays a good sense of humor. 

Fans of British police procedurals will enjoy this story, along with others in the series. 

Thanks to #NetGalley and @amazonpublishing #ThomasandMercer for the DRC.

****