Review: Honey, Baby, Mine: A Mother and Daughter Talk Life, Death, Love by Laura Dern

Honey, Baby, Mine: A Mother and Daughter Talk Life, Death, Love by Laura Dern
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was a fun read. Maybe a little too loud. Okay, they weren’t too loud. I giggled too loud on occasion. Laura Dern and her mother, Diane Ladd, share their relationship with us. That includes love and joy and a squabble once in a while. I think that made this memoir special. And to feel like Diane was trying to get healthy and Laura was trying to save her mother’s life. In the meanwhile, we, the listener/reader, get brought into this beautiful relationship. They share their struggles of the past while dealing with the health issues of the moment. I think mothers and daughters everywhere can relate and learn from these two and their walks.

View all my reviews

Review: Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson

Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I’m not sure where I heard about this book. Maybe GMA? As a writer, it was fun to watch the character development. But as a reader, that was about the extent of it. Yet the writing style was fun. I loved some of the authors’ idioms in descriptions or dialogue.

This was a Libby library audiobook. Marin Ireland (Narrator) kept it fun. Her voice sounded like Kelly McCreary, Maggie Pierce, of Grey’s Anatomy. The same kind of energy that was fun.

Sadly there wasn’t a lot of growth for these children of wealth, but there is some. Mostly it was a fun little read if you don’t want depth. A good beach read, if you know what I mean.

View all my reviews

Re-review: A Singular Woman by Janny Scott

I can’t believe I read this before. But it was in 2016, so I may give my poor memory a break. Here is what I wrote way back then. I like it so much better than I would have written today. So here is a repeat. Still worth the read. January La Voy’s narration kept this interesting all the way through.

~~~June 23, 2016~~~

What a woman! I was very impressed with this book. I do not usually read non-fiction. But this was the first book available for Kindle from my local library. I downloaded the Audible version to help hold my attention to the text.

If there were any book that could bring the plight of women to light, it is this book. Here we have a woman who had a family who was college educated and encouraged their offspring to seek the highest education possible. This woman went to Indonesia to study the poor, especially the women.

Don’t think about this book as an extension of the President. She was her own person even before her son was born. It seems she had all the breaks, got to travel and all, but she had the courage of her convictions and goals to help others.

I think many women who read this will see a part of themselves reflected back. Had my mother had the opportunity that Stanley Ann Durham had, I think she would have been a happier person. Having a happy, well define parent could only result in happy, well-defined children.

Review: The Self-Care Solution: A Year of Becoming Happier, Healthier, and Fitter–One Month at a Time by Jennifer Ashton

The Self-Care Solution: A Year of Becoming Happier, Healthier, and Fitter–One Month at a Time by Jennifer Ashton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Doctor Jen does her own narration and does a great job of it. She keeps the reader’s interest.

I love the idea she promoted here of attacking one habit a month. I always feel there are so many habits I’d like to form or eliminate, but how does one do that with the hope of success? Ms. Jennifer takes us with her on her own journey, so we see how it all works and occasionally doesn’t work for her.

Since this was a Libby audiobook, I felt I missed the stats and ways to connect with the ideas. So I have ordered the hardback to actually start my own Self-Care odyssey.

Are there some habits easier for a doctor than a person on Social Security to form or banish? Absolutely! But I think her methods could work with any that one would like to try. And the bonus is that by the end of the book, she had learned lessons along the way and kept many habits, and could keep track of those ideas she didn’t want anymore.

I highly recommend this book and these ideas for change.

View all my reviews

Review: The Witching Hour by Anne Rice

The Witching Hour by Anne Rice
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This is the longest torture. It took me weeks to finish reading (listening) to this book.

On the one hand, Kate Reading, the narrator, could make a phone book or dictionary sound good. There were times when it felt that was exactly what she was reading. There is a lot of background knowledge that Anne Rice included in the book that didn’t seem necessary. But Ms. Kate kept my attention even through that.

On the other hand, there were exciting parts that kept me awake for hours as the narrator could do all the voices and give each character their own personality. So many voices she needed to create for this book!

There are books a person should probably save for daytime. This is one of those. Yet I did it before sleep every night. Ugh! I would try to end the experience on a boring part or positive note.

I don’t think I will read the rest of the Mayfair Witches series. I’ll stick with the television program. There are so many begats, like the Bible. The show does that in a different and concise way. I am hoping the birth of Lasher isn’t at all like the book. And I can’t stand that idea. The incest issues were also off-putting. That birth procedure creeped me out like the ending of Demon Seed. I wanted to throw the book! Ugh!

And Rowan is so much more interesting in the show. She’s barely there in the book and then disappears.

I hope I haven’t turned off others to try the book. But I must warn those who have the issues that I mentioned above. I’m not a fan of horror, and I would put this book in that category.

View all my reviews

Review: Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

After finishing the book, I determined I couldn’t wait to see the show. This was quite intriguing. I think Cassandra Campbell’s narration was perfect. There were many nights I couldn’t stop reading. It was well after 3 AM that I would force myself to put the book away.

I was lucky enough to pick up the audio version from the library app Libby.

Most of the time, I don’t include the author’s blurb, but this time I think it might help.

“For years, rumors of the “Marsh Girl” have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl. But Kya is not what they say. Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand. Then the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. When two young men from town become intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new life—until the unthinkable happens.

Where the Crawdads Sing is at once an exquisite ode to the natural world, a heartbreaking coming-of-age story, and a surprising tale of possible murder. Owens reminds us that we are forever shaped by the children we once were, and that we are all subject to the beautiful and violent secrets that nature keeps.”

Worth the read!

View all my reviews

Review: A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson

A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Below is the review from my first reading. An actual paper book. This time it was the Audible version. I didn’t realize I had read it before. Rob McQuay’s narration was brilliant! I enjoyed this read as if it were my first time, obviously.

* * *
I haven’t felt this way about a book in a while. I wanted it to continue. Bill Bryson wrote with such a light touch that you felt you were walking beside him. I loved how he threw in well-researched information not only about the AT but about the ecology and history of people.

I may want to read this again someday, so I will have to go out and buy my own copy. This one is a BookCrossing copy that will soon find someone else to thrill. 297-4877803 To find out where it lands.

[Passed to TangoDream:]

View all my reviews

Review: The Lost World by Michael Crichton

The Lost World by Michael Crichton
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was not as fun as the movies. I never felt anything for any of the characters. It seemed the book was about the gruesome as often as possible. But without caring about the characters, I felt nothing about them becoming dino snacks.

On the other hand, I could tell the amount of research that went into these books. And the author implemented the knowledge within the world he created.

I didn’t dislike the book; I felt it wasn’t as good as the first one. You may like it far more than I did. Or maybe you’ll not like it at all. I think it is very individual in how that works. And I think where a person is in their lives

Still, reading this before sleep was hard. Especially when the RV goes over the cliff. Actually, this wasn’t as scary as the movie. I sweat just thinking about that scenario.

It was fun seeing where certain scenes of the movie came from. Well worth the read.

View all my reviews

Review: Accessory to War: The Unspoken Alliance Between Astrophysics and the Military by Neil deGrasse Tyson

Accessory to War: The Unspoken Alliance Between Astrophysics and the Military by Neil deGrasse Tyson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

War is not my thing. Often it feels like the author is trying to tell us we need a war if we want to explore space or see new inventions. But it is the opposite of that. He has researched points to prove this is how it has always been, and, please hang on until the end of the book, he has some answers as well researched and thought out of how we can improve our lives, save us from global warming and other imminent disasters, and finally space travel for good not evil. Yes, I prefer Star Trekking to Star Warring.

I could listen to Neil deGrasse Tyson all night. In fact, the other night, I did just that. His voice is soothing, and his articulation is precise. I’m not a scientist or a historian, but I felt this wasn’t over my head.

I highly recommend this book, especially the audio. I picked this up on Libby, a great place to read for free! Libraries are the greatest!

View all my reviews

Review: Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson

Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Well, I just remembered why I write reviews. So I would look up the book and know if I read it before. But guess who didn’t read the review below? Yep. Me. But I’m kind of glad. I just got to listen to the Audible version of the book with Bailey Carr as the narrator. It felt like a new story to me. Is that because of a different reader? Time? It was several years ago. At any rate, it was an enjoyable ‘read’ even though about a tough time in American history. The funny thing is, it is far easier to relate to now since America has dealt with Covid19. Anyway, I highly recommend the read, again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Here’s the review from 2015~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I finished this masterpiece a couple of days ago. It was part of my anti-depression about my husband being in the hospital while I was home with fibro flare. In this case, I would say misery loves company. Or… at least things aren’t as bad as it was then.

This was a birthday present from me–to me! I had picked up the whisper sync for voice also, so I was able to listen to Emily Bergl’s narration. I have to admit she is not my favorite narrator. But once she was into the story, I felt drawn in and forgot that there was a narrator.

Laurie Halse Anderson always amazes me with her works. This book is no exception. Wow! The amount of research that she dug through to write this fiction is overwhelming! This is based on a real epidemic that happened just a few years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Yellow Fever takes over. But no one knows yet that it is due to mosquitoes. Medicine was still in its infancy. Through Ms. Anderson, we get to see what could have happened to a young girl, her family, and her community.

Okay. Confession time. I have never been a history buff. I did have a fabulous professor in college that made me appreciate it a bit. That class was when I was in my forties. So imagine how long it was that I hated history. I think with books like this, I might have been able to relate to historical events as a middle grader. This younger generation is so lucky to have such writers as Laurie Halse Anderson!

View all my reviews