Gina’s Cozy Corner

For Christmas this year, my sweet husband got me this cute little book tracker for my book shelf… so far we are at 56 books (a mix of audible, kindle, and physical books!)

It is now time for some book reviews! Here is what I have read and listened to so far in May.

As a side note, I get the majority of my Kindle and Audible reads through my local library through the Libby App! It is a great way to save money when you read as much as I do!

KINDLE:

Hazel Says No by Jessica Berger Gross. I would give this a ⭐️⭐️⭐️ review. The premise of the book was great and it started out strong. A father moves his family (wife, daughter who is a senior who aspires to be a writer, and 11 year old son) to a small town for a job opportunity. The daughter, Hazel, has an unfortunate encounter with a well known man in the community and school system and she says NO. The aftermath that follows when she speaks up in the small town is believable, until it isn’t. While there could have been a great story here, it goes off the rails into unrealistic territory. I enjoyed the first quarter of the book and was excited to see how it would play out, but then it turned into what I kept picturing as a teenage movie. I found this book to be highly young adult with only the 11 year old behaving like an adult.

PHYSICAL BOOKS:

First up: Mad Mable by Sally Hepworth ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. Nothing better than a book that pulls you right in from the beginning and makes you fall in love with the characters! From the quirky characters living on the street to Mabel herself (and the little girl who makes it all so special!), it would be impossible to not want to know this story. Little girls and old ladies are not what we typically hear of when we think of murderers, however, Mabel knows what if feels like to be thought of as both. A book that made me laugh and even cry a little was full of suspicions, unlikely friendships and family, deep histories, and the things that tie people together (and even a few twists)! I did not want it to end and I wish I could read it all over again brand new!

The Mother Daughter Book Club by Susan Patterson and James Patterson ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2. I really, really wanted to love this book because I love James Patterson and I loved the video promotions for this book. The pride he has in his wife is so sweet. However, while the idea of a Mother Daughter Book Club (MDBC) is a fantastic idea, I think that the story could have been so much better. While the chapters were broken up and titled to remind you who was who (xxxx daughter of xxxx), it was still hard to keep the characters straight at times. I also had a very hard time relating to the characters and their storylines. While you could see some common themes that occur in women, such as having the controlling friend and the innocent friend, the characters were not all that relatable to the everyday Mom (I mean how many of us have second homes in Italy??). The talk of books seemed to be thrown in as afterthoughts and the “big secret” was sort of a let down. I think so much more could have been done with the storyline of the women and how they connected. It held my interest, mostly, but it is not a book that I would read again.

AUDIO BOOKS

In The Woods by Tana French ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. This is an older book (2008). The audio made the difference for me. I must say that I have had this book on my book shelf for a few years and picked it up a time or two and sat it back down (it is a hefty 448 pages!) when I just could not get into it. When I saw this available from Libby, I decided to listen, and I am glad that I did! The mix of two stories, from 1984 when 3 children went missing and only one was found and 2004 when the one that was found is now a detective on the case of a newly murdered child, it was a great story to see how the two incidents may or may not be connected, all the while the detective is keeping his identity a secret. The audible version gave life to the characters and kept the pace going. It was not your typical high pace thriller but more of a slow burn and it worked out well that way! The writing was excellent, and the story line was mostly believable with all sorts of different types of characters thrown into the mix. While you can figure it out, there is always something else that throws you off a bit. I am excited to read more in the Dublin Murder series.

A Calamity of Souls by David Baldacci ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (I went between 3 1/2 and 4). 1968, Southern Virginia. While this is not a new concept to write about, Baldacci did a great job writing a strong story about a racially charged murder case led by 2 lawyers (Jack and Desiree) of different races. I loved most of the character depictions, but I almost wish that I had read this instead of listened because while it made me love Jack, it made me cringe at Desiree. While I strongly supported her and her beliefs, she came on so strong that she, herself, was hard to like at times, and I really wanted to. I do believe that the story, in its entirety was powerful and true to the time period. The ending was hard on the heart at times but I believe that was the intended purpose.

That is it for now! I am currently in the middle of these two: I will review them (and likely others) next time!

Gina xoxo