Always With a Book

The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb #bookreview #audiobook #bookclub

The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb #bookreview #audiobook #bookclub

I purchased both this book and audiobook for my own collection. Publisher: Anchor Books / Random House Audio Published: February 1, 2022   Summary: A mystery about a Black classical musician whose family heirloom violin is stolen on the eve of the most prestigious classical music competition in the world. Ray McMillian loves playing the violin more than anything, and nothing will stop him from pursuing his dream of becoming…

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Where the Sky Begins by Rhys Bowen #bookreview #audiobook

Where the Sky Begins by Rhys Bowen #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you @GetRedPrBooks & Lake Union Publishing, #partner, for the advanced copy of  Where the Sky Begins in exchange for my honest review. I purchased the audiobook for my own collection. Publisher: Lake Union Publishing / Audible Studios Published: August 2, 2022   Summary: A woman’s future is determined by fate and choice in a gripping WWII novel about danger, triumph, and second chances by the New York Times best-selling author of The…

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The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill #bookreview #audiobook #bookclub

The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill #bookreview #audiobook #bookclub

Thank you Libro.fm, #partner for the ALC of The Woman in the Library in exchange for my honest review. I purchased this book for my own collection. Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press / Dreamscape Media Published: June 7, 2022   Summary: In every person’s story, there is something to hide… The ornate reading room at the Boston Public Library is quiet, until the tranquility is shattered by a woman’s terrified scream.…

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Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez #bookreview #audiobook

Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez #bookreview #audiobook

I purchased both this book and audiobook for my own collection. Publisher: Berkly Books / Penguin Audio Published: April 12, 2022   Summary: Inspired by true events that rocked the nation, a profoundly moving novel about a Black nurse in post-segregation Alabama who blows the whistle on a terrible wrong done to her patients, from the New York Times bestselling author of Wench. Montgomery, Alabama 1973. Fresh out of nursing school, Civil Townsend…

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Iris in the Dark by Elissa Grossell Dickey #bookreview #audiobook #bookclub

Iris in the Dark by Elissa Grossell Dickey #bookreview #audiobook #bookclub

Thank you Lake Union Publishing #partner, for the finished copy of Iris in the Dark in exchange for my honest review. The audio copy is via my Kindle Unlimited subscription. Publisher: Lake Union Publishing / Brilliance Audio Published: June 7, 2022   Summary: A single mother faces her worst fear—the past—in a provocative novel of suspense by the author of The Speed of Light. Iris Jenkins knows that bad things happen.…

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Woman of Light by Kali Fajardo-Anstine #bookreview #bookclub

Woman of Light by Kali Fajardo-Anstine #bookreview #bookclub

Thank you Libro.fm, #partner for the ALC of Woman of Light in exchange for my honest review. I purchased this book for my own collection.  Publisher: One World / Random House Audio Published: June 7, 2022   Summary: A dazzling epic of betrayal, love, and fate that spans five generations of an Indigenous Chicano family in the American West, from the author of the National Book Award Finalist Sabrina & Corina…

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The Magnolia Palace by Fiona Davis #bookreview #audiobook

The Magnolia Palace by Fiona Davis #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Dutton, #partner, for the advanced copy of The Magnolia Palace in exchange for my honest review. I purchased the audiobook via my subscription with libro.fm. Publisher: Dutton / Penguin Audio Published: January 25, 2022   Summary: Fiona Davis, New York Times best-selling author of The Lions of Fifth Avenue, returns with a tantalizing novel about the secrets, betrayal, and murder within one of New York City’s most impressive Gilded Age mansions.…

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Book Event: Long Island Reads & Book Review: The Living and the Lost by Ellen Feldman

Book Event: Long Island Reads & Book Review: The Living and the Lost by Ellen Feldman

Yesterday, I attended my first of what I hope will be many Long Island Reads events. Long Island Reads is an island-wide initiative that began in 2002 to bring readers together from both Nassau and Suffolk Counties. Each spring readers across both counties read the same book, participate in book discussions and enjoy events related to the book in the libraries. Now that in-person events are happening again, this year…

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Review: The Golden Couple by Greer Hendricks, Sarah Pekkanen (audio)

Review: The Golden Couple by Greer Hendricks, Sarah Pekkanen (audio)

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press / Macmillan Audio Published: March 8, 2022 Source: Print – ARC Paperback via St. Martin’s Press / Audio – ALC via Libro.fm   Summary: The next electrifying novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author duo behind The Wife Between Us. Wealthy Washington suburbanites Marissa and Matthew Bishop seem to have it all—until Marissa is unfaithful. Beneath their veneer of perfection is a relationship riven by work and…

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Review: Wahala by Nikki May (audio)

Review: Wahala by Nikki May (audio)

Publisher: Custom House / Harper Audio Published: January 11, 2022 Source: Print – ARC E-copy via Netgalley / Audio – ALC via Libro.fm   Summary: An incisive and exhilarating debut novel of female friendship following three Anglo-Nigerian best friends and the lethally glamorous fourth woman who infiltrates their group—the most unforgettable girls since Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte, and Miranda. Ronke wants happily ever after and 2.2. kids. She’s dating Kayode and…

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Audiobook Roundup

Audiobook Roundup

I’m a huge audiobook fan…I always have one on the go. And today I’m featuring three that all involve a protagonist who faces something completely unexpected while traveling. Thanks @Booksforwardpr for putting these on my radar!     THE LIGHTHOUSE by Christopher Parker, narrated by Braden Wright Pub Date: October 21, 2021, Audio Publisher – Christopher Parker   Summary: Enchanting, mysterious, and deeply romantic, The Lighthouse follows a young woman’s breathtaking journey…

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Review: Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid (audio)

Review: Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid (audio)

Publisher: Random House Audio Published: June 1, 2021 Source: ALC via Libro.fm   Summary: Four famous siblings throw an epic party to celebrate the end of the summer. But over the course of 24 hours, the family drama that ensues will change their lives will change forever. Malibu: August 1983. It’s the day of Nina Riva’s annual end-of-summer party, and anticipation is at a fever pitch. Everyone wants to be around the famous Rivas:…

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Review: True Crime Story by Joseph Knox (audio)

Review: True Crime Story by Joseph Knox (audio)

Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark / Recorded Books Published: December 7, 2021 Source: ARC Paperback via Sourcebooks / ALC via Librofm   Summary: What happens to all the girls who go missing? The thrilling story of a university student’s sudden disappearance, the woman who became obsessed with her case, and the crime writer who uncovered the chilling truth about what happened… In 2011, Zoe Nolan walked out of her dormitory in Manchester…

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Review: The Ice Beneath Her by Camilla Grebe (reread)

Review: The Ice Beneath Her by Camilla Grebe (reread)

Publisher: Random House Audio Published: December 27, 2016 Source: Library   Summary: Acclaimed Swedish author Camilla Grebe makes her solo American debut with a psychological thriller as cunning in its twists as it is captivating in its storytelling – for fans of the celebrated crime fiction of Camilla Läckberg, Jo Nesbø, Ruth Ware, and Fiona Barton. Winter’s chill has descended on Stockholm as police arrive at the scene of a…

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Review: The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles (audio)

Review: The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles (audio)

Publisher: Viking Books / Penguin Audio Published: October 5, 2021 Source: Print – Personal copy via BOTM / Audio – Personal copy via Libro.fm   Summary: The bestselling author of A Gentleman in Moscow and Rules of Civility and master of absorbing, sophisticated fiction returns with a stylish and propulsive novel set in 1950s America In June, 1954, eighteen-year-old Emmett Watson is driven home to Nebraska by the warden of…

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Review: The Stillwater Girls by Minka Kent (audio)

Review: The Stillwater Girls by Minka Kent (audio)

Publisher: Brilliance Audio Published: April 9, 2019 Source: Personal copy   Summary: Two sisters raised in fear are about to find out why in a chilling novel of psychological suspense from the author of The Thinnest Air. Ignorant of civilization and cautioned against its evils, nineteen-year-old Wren and her two sisters, Sage and Evie, were raised in off-the-grid isolation in a primitive cabin in upstate New York. When the youngest grows…

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Review: One Little Mistake by Lucinda Berry (audio)

Review: One Little Mistake by Lucinda Berry (audio)

Publisher: Audible Originals Published: September 9, 2021 Source: Personal copy   Summary: From the best-selling author of The Secrets of Us and The Best of Friends comes a novella of deceit, desperation, and how one little mistake can unravel a life. When overwhelmed stay-at-home mom Alexis finds herself at odds with her husband after she’s charged with a DUI, she is given one chance to get her family back: complete AA and admit her…

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Review: No One Goes Alone by Erik Larson (audio)

Review: No One Goes Alone by Erik Larson (audio)

Publisher: Random House Audio Published: September 28, 2021 Source: ALC via Libro.fm   Summary: From New York Times best-selling author Erik Larson comes his first venture into fiction, an otherworldly tale of intrigue and the impossible that marshals his trademark approach to nonfiction to create something new: a ghost story thoroughly grounded in history. Pioneering psychologist William James leads an expedition to a remote isle in search of answers after…

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Review: Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty (audio)

Review: Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty (audio)

Publisher: Henry & Holt Co / Macmillan Audio Published: September 14, 2021 Source: Print – ARC Paperback via Henry & Holt Co / Audio – ALC via Libro.fm   Summary: From #1 New York Times bestselling author Liane Moriarty comes a novel that looks at marriage, siblings, and how the people we love the most can hurt us the deepest The Delaney family love one another dearly—it’s just that sometimes they want…

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Review: The Murmur of Bees by Sofia Segovia (audio book)

Review: The Murmur of Bees by Sofia Segovia (audio book)

Publisher: Amazon Crossing/ Brilliance Audio Published: August 16, 2019 Source: Personal Copy (print & audio)   Summary: From a beguiling voice in Mexican fiction comes an astonishing novel—her first to be translated into English—about a mysterious child with the power to change a family’s history in a country on the verge of revolution. From the day that old Nana Reja found a baby abandoned under a bridge, the life of…

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Review: We Were Never Here by Andrea Bartz (audio)

Review: We Were Never Here by Andrea Bartz (audio)

Publisher: Ballantine Books / Random House Audio Published: August 3rd, 2021 Source: Print & Audio – Personal copy   Summary: An annual backpacking trip has deadly consequences in a chilling new novel from the bestselling author of The Lost Night and The Herd. Emily is having the time of her life–she’s in the mountains of Chile with her best friend, Kristen, on their annual reunion trip, and the women are feeling closer than…

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Evidence of the Affair by Taylor Jenkins Reid (audio)

Evidence of the Affair by Taylor Jenkins Reid (audio)

Publisher: Brilliance Audio Published: January 15, 2019 Source: Personal copy   Summary: The repercussions of an illicit affair unfold in this short story by bestselling author Taylor Jenkins Reid. Dear stranger… A desperate young woman in Southern California sits down to write a letter to a man she’s never met – a choice that will forever change both their lives. My heart goes out to you, David. Even though I…

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Review: The Maidens by Alex Michaelides (audio)

Review: The Maidens by Alex Michaelides (audio)

Publisher: Macmillan Audio / Celadon Books Published: June 15, 2021 Source: Audio: ALC via Librofm / Print: ARC Paperback via Celadon Books   Summary: Edward Fosca is a murderer. Of this Mariana is certain. But Fosca is untouchable. A handsome and charismatic Greek Tragedy professor at Cambridge University, Fosca is adored by staff and students alike—particularly by the members of a secret society of female students known as The Maidens.…

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Review: The Stepsisters by Susan Mallery (audio)

Review: The Stepsisters by Susan Mallery (audio)

Publisher: Harlequin Audio / MIRA Published: May 25, 2021 Source: Audio via library / Print via TLC BookTours   Summary: #1 New York Times bestselling author Susan Mallery pens a love story of a different sort…a heartfelt tale of friendship between two women who used to be sisters. Once upon a time, when her dad married Sage’s mom, Daisy was thrilled to get a bright and shiny new sister. But…

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Review: Dear Seraphina by Avery Bisphop (audio)

Review: Dear Seraphina by Avery Bisphop (audio)

Publisher: Audible Original Stories Published: May 20, 2021 Source: Personal copy   Summary: For fans of Pretty Things and The Guest List comes a shocking novella of psychological suspense following a glamorous young actress and an obsessed fan. Dear Seraphina, I hope you’ll write back someday soon. I know I might be asking too much: you, a Hollywood star; me, a cashier at this small-town grocery store. But the thing…

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