tracyt223's reviews
1424 reviews

I loved closing out the year of 1883 with our dear friend, Emma and the rest of St. Crispian's. I thought this book was perfectly done. There was of course Emma's signature wit and humor, but there was a lot more heart in this one as well. We got to see more deeply into her grief concerning Maxwell, I found these parts so touching. The relationships have continued to develop in this one too. We learn more about The Tennant, The Vicar and The Duke. I cannot wait to see what happens in the future with them. The Christmas celebration was perfect and had me tearing up a little too. The next year will be interesting as Emma comes gains her majority. Hopefully Cousin Archibald will get some of his due! 

Frankie is a sweeping novel, spanning decades.  Starting in post-war Ireland, to New York City to London.  As the novel begins, Frankie is in her 80's and has injured her ankle and needs a caregiver to come in and help her at night.  Enter Damian, he arrives to a somewhat closed off and cold woman, but slowly over time she warms to him and begins to tell her amazing story.  Reliving everything brings her back to life and gives her a purpose.  Damian can't help but fall under the spell of her fantastical life.  She starts as a child, living under very difficult circumstances and follows her as she strives for a better and happier life.  This life takes several dramatic turns and I was totally riveted to the story.  Graham Norton can write such richly drawn characters and I felt Frankie was someone that I knew too.  His storytelling is also second to none!  This was my second book of his that I have read, and this one has definitely put him in the auto-buy author category for me!  I also want to check out more of Norton's backlist titles.  

Frankie's life made me sad at times and also made me laugh out loud.  She wormed her way into my heart and she's a character that I won't soon forget.  A true story of friendship, love and finding yourself and what truly makes you happy in life.  A must read!

This was definitely a fast paced and very atmospheric quick, popcorn thriller.  It's about what you expect from Frieda, which is a good time, but it was definitely not my favorite of hers.

Tegan is eight months pregnant, alone, and desperately wants to put her crumbling life in the rearview mirror. So she hits the road, planning to stay with her brother until she can figure out her next move. But she doesn’t realize she’s heading straight into a blizzard.  After "the crash" she is rescued by a big, burly man and she's not sure if she can trust him or not, but she really has no choice.  He takes her to his cabin that he shares with his wife.  Things definitely devolve from there.  It's a locked room type of thriller that has quite a bit on tension.  I thought the ending was pretty good, with a twist I did not see coming.

What didn't work for me as much was that the book seemed like such a similar story to Stephen King's Misery.  And the big one that I've seen several others mention is the way overuse of the nickname "Tuna" for her baby.  I did not need to hear that in my ears quite so many times.  Otherwise the audiobook was well done.

I will continue to read Freida of course, she's always here for a fast paced thriller that keeps you turning the pages!

This short novel spans only 3 days, the days before, during and after the wedding of the daughter, Debbie, of a very socially awkward Mother, Gail.  Gail is already having a really bad day, then of all things, her ex-husband, Max arrives on her doorstep and announces that he is staying with her for the wedding. And brings a rescue cat!!!  Then, Debbie shares a secret she's just learned about her husband to be.  This revelation really throws Gail into a tailspin and brings up a lot of long buried issues in her past.  The author really packs a lot into this slim novel and dives deep into love, marriage and family.  It was real and raw, while also being quite humorous at times.  This is my first novel by Anne Tyler, and I definitely want to check out some of her other works!

On a bright spring afternoon, Ciara Fay makes a split-second decision that will change everything. Grabbing an armful of clothes off the clothesline, she straps her two young daughters into her car and drives away. Head spinning, all she knows for certain is that home is no longer safe—and that this time, when she leaves, she must stay away.  Her husband Ryan seems like a good guy on the surface, but he's actually super controlling and constantly gas lights her.  

The story takes off from here and tells of Ciara's struggles to get away from Ryan and start a new life without him.  At times, I felt the tension and uneasiness for her and the kids.  Other times, I was quite bored and felt like the story dragged on.  I considered DNFing a few times, but I just increased the audiobook speed and finished.  I also did not like the whiny voices of the kids, drove me crazy after awhile.  

Overall, the writing seemed good, I just didn't fully connect to the story and found it not really to my taste.  I may be in the minority here because it seems to be getting really great early reviews.  If you like literary fiction, maybe give this one a try.

Thank you to @netgalley, @algonquinbooks and @hachetteaudio for this advance listener's copy in exchange for my honest review.

I felt this was just too much of an agenda.  Did not care for any of the characters at all.

This was just so repetitive!!!  If I heard "I remember" one more time I was going to scream.  The repetition was so distracting that I couldn't get into the story.  I wasn't immediately drawn to the characters either.  

This just was not the book for me. Part One was promising and I was interested to see where it would go. Then we get to Part Two, I found this part extremely repetitive and pretty outside of my comfort zone. The spicy parts were quite graphic and I felt like the same scene played out over and over. It was just over the top and too much for my taste. I probably would have DNF'd if not for the upcoming spoiler discussion on the @sarahsbookshelveslive podcast. Part Three was confusing and an abrupt change at first. Once I figured out what was going on, it did redeem itself a small bit. Overall, just not the book for me. Cannot wait for the discussion and hear other opinions. Salty opinions make for the best book discussions!

 

This was by far my favorite of the books so far!  I'm not sure how there was so much put into this short book!  There was lots of humor, The Drunken Duck and The Reprobates Ten, some seriously laugh out loud moments!  There was also some deep grief explored.  We learn much more about Emma and Maxwell.  The bond between The Tennant, The Vicar, The Duke and Emma solidifies and turns into so much more.  I cannot wait to see where Miss Lion takes us next and how these relationships will play out.  I am so delighted with these journals and wish they would go on forever!  Onto the next!

I continue to find Emma M. Lion witty, humorous and a total delight!  The search for the Julius Caesar tickets was so fun, St. Crispian's never fails to deliver in it's unusual customs and traditions.  The relationships are continuing to deepen and I cannot wait to see what happens with Miss Lion and the crew next!  Onto Book 4!