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The Last Mandarin | Book Review
By Louise Penny and Mellissa Fung The Last Mandarin by Louise Penny and Mellissa Fung BookArt A DEEPLY COMPELLING INTERNATIONAL CYBERTERRORISM Mystery ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ SUMMARY Alice Li, a first-generation Chinese American and food blogger, and her estranged but iconic mother, Vivien Li, a human rights activist, are having lunch in an upscale DC hotel. What happens next is pandemonium as alarms sound everywhere. Alarms, not just in DC or the United States, but everywhere in the world

Lisa Harvey
May 72 min read


A Founding Mother | Book Review
A Novel of Abigail Adams By Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie A Founding Mother by Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie Book CoverArt A STORY OF A STRONG WOMAN AHEAD OF HER TIME ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ SUMMARY Abigail Adams was the second First Lady of the United States. Before that, she and her husband, John, a country lawyer, lived in a rustic saltbox farmhouse outside of Boston. She lovingly raised her four children—Nabby, John Quincy, Charlie, and Tommy—during a tumultuous time of revolution

Lisa Harvey
May 32 min read


The Anniversary | Book Review
By Alex Finley The Anniversary by Alex Finlay Book Cover Art A BRISK and ENJOYABLE THRILLER with GREAT CHARACTERS ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ SUMMARY On May 1, 1992, Jules Delany, a rich and popular high school sweetheart, survives an attack by the elusive and terrifying May Day Killer. He has killed five girls over the past five years. Jules keeps the attack to herself and doesn't even tell her family. She struggles with the trauma, shame, and guilt. She is most perplexed by why she surv

Lisa Harvey
Apr 282 min read


Things We Never Say | Book Review
By Elizabeth Strout Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout Book Cover Art A Thought-Provoking Story of a Man Taking Stock of his Life ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ SUMMARY Things We Never Say follows Artie Dam, a reflective and emotionally guarded 57-year-old man who is taking stock of his life and relationships. Artie is a husband, a father, an avid sailor and a beloved high school teacher of history. As he interacts with his family, friends, and students he is noticing more and more what h

Lisa Harvey
Apr 252 min read


Hope Rises | Book Review
By David Balducci Hope Rises by David Baldacci Book Cover Art An Intense and Intricate Action-Packed Thriller ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ SUMMARY A sequel to Nash Falls, Walter Nash, now known as Dillion Hope, seeks revenge for his daughter’s death. Victoria Steers disrupted Walter Nash’s life when he became an FBI informant after the company he worked for was drawn into Steers’s global criminal operation. Steers is determined to find Walter Nash and eliminate him. But Nash has other plans, a

Lisa Harvey
Apr 132 min read


Dog Person | Book Review
by Camille Pagán Dog Person by Camille Pagán book cover art A STORY OF GRIEF, A BOOKSTORE, and SECOND CHANCES ⭐️⭐️⭐️ SUMMARY Harold is an aging, scruffy rescue dog, a Britney-Setter mix, mourning the loss of his favorite human, Amelia. Before she died, Amelia asked Harold to help her partner Miguel find true love again. Ten seasons later, Miguel is unkempt, withdrawn, and still mourning Amelia’s death deeply. He also struggles financially to keep their beloved bookstore

Lisa Harvey
Apr 12 min read


Mad Mabel | Book Review
Elsie Mabel Fitzpatrick is an 81-year-old lonely woman, but doesn’t look it. She is not frail or bird-like; in fact, she is six feet tall and swears like a sailor. She has lived on Kenny Lane for sixty years and keeps her garden and roses in pristine condition.

Lisa Harvey
Mar 172 min read


Daughter of Egypt | Book Review
As a young woman, Lady Evelyn Herbert was fascinated by the story of the female Pharaoh Hatshepsut, who ruled 3,000 years ago. She studied archaeology in secret and defied tradition

Lisa Harvey
Mar 31 min read


The Story Keeper | Book Review
By Kelly Rimmer The Story Keeper Audiobook Cover Art AN ENJOYABLE AND ATMOSPHERIC READ ABOUT THE IMPACT OF FAMILY SECRETS ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ SUMMARY Fiona Winslow retreats to her family’s decaying estate, Wurimbirra, after a difficult divorce. Many believe the house is haunted. But she lived there for many years, and she knows better. When she begins restoring the house, Fiona discovers an unopened box of books that had been delivered to the house many years ago. The book is titled

Lisa Harvey
Feb 182 min read


Theo of Golden | Book Review
Theo arrives in the small southern city of Golden and, on his first full day there, visits the local coffeehouse in search of a good cup of coffee. In addition to the coffee, he discovers ninety-two pencil portraits hanging on the walls...

Lisa Harvey
Feb 32 min read


Worse Than a Lie | Book Review
On November 4, 2008, America elected its first Black president. Chicago was the backdrop for Obama's victory speech. In a tragic twist, Hollis Montrose, a 53-year-old Black ex-police officer, is shot ten times by four white men during a traffic stop. This horrific event unfolds just as the speech concludes in the distance.

Lisa Harvey
Jan 172 min read


Life: A Love Story | Book Review
Flo Greene, who is 94, can’t see very well or walk very far. As she nears the end of her life, she wants to set her affairs in order. She is leaving her house and her life story for Ruthie, a former neighbor and surrogate daughter. She is writing Ruthie a letter about all of her beloved possessions and the meanings behind them.

Lisa Harvey
Dec 29, 20252 min read


The First Time I Saw Him |Book Review
Five years have passed since Hannah Hall’s husband, Owen, went missing. Following his disappearance, Hannah and Bailey, Owen’s daughter, have built a new life in Southern California. They've developed a close bond with Nicholas, Bailey’s grandfather, and are gradually moving forward. However, when Owen unexpectedly appears at Hannah’s

Lisa Harvey
Dec 22, 20251 min read


The House of Hidden Letters | Book Review
Skye is not impulsive, but when she sees a derelict Greek cottage for sale by lottery for one euro, she applies. She needs a fresh start far from London and her husband. Weeks later, she feels disheartened as she opens the tattered blue door, questioning whether it can ever be her home. During renovations, she finds a bundle of faded letters

Lisa Harvey
Dec 22, 20252 min read


More Than Enough | Book Review
Book clubs are great! High school English teacher Polly Goodman talks about everything with her book club, except the book. They’re her closest friends and, with her veterinarian husband, her support system. Her students, her relationship with her mother, and her IVF struggles have all been shared

Lisa Harvey
Dec 2, 20252 min read


The Charmed Library | Book Review
All libraries are magic, and some libraries are more magical than others. The public library in Blue Sky Valley, North Carolina, is in the latter category. Stella Parker is an assistant librarian who is unaware of her library’s special magic, but she soon discovers strange characters in the library after hours.

Lisa Harvey
Nov 21, 20252 min read


Nash Falls | Book Review
Walter Nash is an intelligent, tough but fair man with a high-level position at an investment organization. He leads a happy and upscale family life with his wife and teenage daughter. After his estranged Vietnam veteran father’s funeral, he is approached by the FBI to become an inside man to expose money laundering

Lisa Harvey
Oct 27, 20251 min read


The Bookbinder's Secret |Book Review
Lily Delaney is a bookbinder apprentice in Oxford in 1901, and feels confined by her father’s failing bookshop and her status as a woman in a man’s profession. During a visit to a collector, she finds a burned book with a hidden fifty-year-old love letter. She becomes obsessed with the mystery of the young lovers and finds more hidden pages.

Lisa Harvey
Oct 26, 20251 min read


The Widow | Book Review
Simon Latch is a small-town lawyer and father of three, in Braxton, Virginia. He struggles to make ends meet and his marriage is on the rocks. When Eleanor Barnett, an 85-year old widow, needs a new will, Simon is hopeful that things might just be looking up.

Lisa Harvey
Sep 22, 20252 min read


This is a Safe Space
By Lucinda Berry The Story is Emotionally Charged and Unsettling ⭐️⭐️⭐️ SUMMARY Jenna, owner of a successful private therapy...

Lisa Harvey
Sep 22, 20252 min read
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