Book Review: A Love Letter to My Library

A Love Letter to My Library
by Lisa Katzenberger
Pub DateJun 04 2024 |
SOURCEBOOKS Kids |Sourcebooks Explore
Children’s Nonfiction

Sourcebook Kids and Netgalley have provided me with an opportunity to review A Love Letter to My Library:

I should state up front that this is a children’s picture book, geared toward younger children, and would be a good book for preschoolers through 1st or 2nd graders generally, but each child is different, so that is not set in stone:

Everyone enjoys visiting the library! It is a delight for children, as well as adults, to dig through the shelves for new adventures, children like to curl up in their favorite comfy chair during story time, and even laugh with their friends while doing arts and crafts. There is something for everyone at the library!

Thanks, library, for providing books in every nook and cranny.

Thanks to the library, I’ve been able to experience adventures from ocean to space.

Thanks, library, for helping me find the perfect book I hug the whole way home.

The illustrations were really cute and will csrtainly draw kids in, reminding them of the libraries they love.

The words are simple and easy to understand for younger readers!

I give A Love Letter to My Library five out of five stars!

Happy Reading!

Book Review: Rocky Road

Rocky Road
Sons of Scandal Series, Book 2
by Becky Wade
Pub DateFeb 14 2024
Author Becky Wade
Christian| General Fiction (Adult)| Romance

I received a copy of Rocky Road from Author Becky Wade and Netgalley to review:

Agent Jude Camden handles every aspect of his job with professionalism. Taking on the role of perfumer Gemma Clare’s boyfriend shouldn’t be any different from his previous assignments.

With Gemma, however, things are different. She is feisty, creative, and bold. She wants to loosen Jude up, wrinkle his perfect shirts, and test every ounce of his self-control as soon as she meets him.

The FBI prohibits romances between those who work together on operations. Jude respects all rules. Gemma is becoming increasingly irresistible to him as time passes, so adhering to this one will be difficult.

Hold on tight! There will be a lot of bumps along the way.

I give Rocky Road five out of five stars!

Happy Reading!

Book Review: Dancing in the Storm

Dancing in the Storm
by Amie Darnell Specht; Shannon Hitchcock
Pub DateFeb 06 2024
PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group
Rocky Pond Books
Children’s Fiction| Children’s Nonfiction| Middle Grade

The Penguin Young Readers Group has provided me with a copy of Dancing in the Storm for review
Rocky Pond Books and Netgalley:

The book Dancing in the Storm is one I wish I had had in middle school!

The life Kate leads in Baton Rouge is full of friends, family, gymnastics, and Girl Scouts. Suddenly, at the age of twelve, she develops a mysterious shoulder pain that won’t go away. Kate has one of the world’s rarest genetic disorders, Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva. In FOP, the body forms bone in places where it shouldn’t, and there is no cure. Kate. It will take Kate some time to adjust to this difficult new reality, but she will have a pen pal named Amie who has been living with FOP for years who can help.

Based on Amie Specht’s own experiences with FOP, she and Shannon Hitchcock have written an uplifting story of overcoming adversity with courage and joy.

I give Dancing in the Storm five out of five stars!

Happy Reading!

Book Review: You’ll Always Have a Friend

You’ll Always Have a Friend
What to Do When the Lonelies Come
by Emily Ley
Pub DateJun 04 2024
Thomas Nelson: CHILDREN’S |Tommy Nelson
Children’s Nonfiction

Tommy Nelson’s Children Nonfiction sent me a copy of You’ll Always Have a Friend to review:

Think of a world where you always have a place at the table, where you always have someone to talk to. Emily Ley’s reassuring and empowering book gives kids the confidence and tools to overcome loneliness by showing that they always have a place.

Feeling left out, overlooked, and unseen is something we all experience. When you’re a kid on the playground, a kid sitting alone in the school cafeteria, or a new teammate, this problem can be so much harder to face.

Ensure your children that they are seen. And they are awesome! Everybody has felt lonely or left out at some point and there are lots of ways to always have a friend. Featuring vibrant illustrations of a diverse cast of characters, You’ll Always Have a Friend will inspire children to make friends and to be friends to others.

Children from infancy to age eight will love this book!This beautifully illustrated book reminds us of the beauty of friendship…

Five out of five stars!

Happy Reading!

Book Review: Trust the Whisper

Trust the Whisper
How Answering Quiet Callings Inspires Extraordinary Stories of Ordinary Grace
by Kathy Izard
Pub DateJun 11 2024
Baker Books
Christian| Religion & Spirituality

Netgalley and Baker Books have provided me with a copy of Trust the Whisper for review:

Do you ever feel as if meeting God in the afterlife is easier than feeling God at work in this life, with the chores, schedules, messes, and unrealized dreams? God is working every day of our lives, but we dismiss this work as coincidence or chance because it is quieter than we expect. Wouldn’t it be great if we could clearly understand those divine whispers? Could listening to them be the beginning of living out our truest story and purpose?

Throughout her book, Kathy Izard shares compelling true stories that help you connect the “God Dots” in your life. Sharing her own and others’ experiences of moving from doubt to certainty about the divine presence in the world, Kathy offers you the courage to recognize God’s guidance in your own life. By asking the right questions, trusting your intuition, being powerfully present, embracing the unexpected, and believing in the dreams God is gently urging you to pursue, she helps you ask the right questions, trust your deepest intuition, and be powerfully present.

I give Trust the Whisper five out of five stars!

Happy Reading!

Book Review: The Lantern’s Dance

The Lantern’s Dance
A novel of suspense featuring Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes
by Laurie R. King
Pub DateFeb 13 2024
Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine |Bantam
General Fiction (Adult)| Historical Fiction| Mystery & Thrillers

Random House Publishing Group’s Ballantine | Bantam and Netgalley provided me with a copy of The Lantern’s Dance for review.

They are looking forward to spending time with Holmes’ son, the famous artist Damian Adler, and his family after their recent adventures in Transylvania. When they arrive at Damian’s house, they discover that the Adlers have fled a mysterious threat.

As Holmes rushes after Damian, Russell, hampered by an injury, stays behind to search the empty house. She discovers four crates packed with memorabilia related to Holmes’ granduncle, the artist Horace Vernet, in Damian’s studio. The room is filled with treasures and clutter, including a tarnished silver lamp with a rotating shade: an antique zoetrope with strips of paper whose images move as the lantern rotates.

An old journal written in a nearly impenetrable code is also in the crate. Intrigued Russell begins deciphering the intricate cryptograph, eventually realizing each entry is built around an image, the first of which is a child being bundled into a carriage by an abductor, watching her mother disappear.

In the beginning, Russell was troubled, but she soon became entranced, but as she decoded each entry, more questions began to appear. What is the name of the young Indian woman who created this elaborate puzzle? She has nothing to do with Damian, the Vernets, or the threat hanging over the house.

It appears that the secrets of the past are reaching into the present. Russell must figure out how the journal and lantern are connected to Damian-and possibly to Sherlock Holmes.

It is possible that even the master detective is not aware of some aspects of his own history?

I give The Lantern’s Dance five out of five stars!

Happy Reading!

Book Review: All the Good Girls

All The Good Girls
by Willow Rose
Pub DateJan 13 2020
Buoy Media LLC
Mystery & Thrillers

Buoy Medis LLC and Netgalley have provided me with a copy of All the Good Girls for review:

The Miami PD’s homicide squad detective Harry Hunter takes on a case that no one asked him to investigate.

On a boat, four teenagers from an affluent Miami neighborhood are murdered. A third is found in a dumpster. All five of them go to the same school and are on a list of witnesses to another crime.Five of them attend the same school and are witnesses to another crime.

Despite Harry’s poor standing with his boss, he is given the task of protecting a possible future victim, but he isn’t always known to follow directions.

He will soon risk everything to stop a killer who has terrified everyone else on the homicide squad.

I give All the Good Girls four out of five Stars!

Happy Reading!

Book Review: Double Indemnity

Double Indemnity
by Robert Whitlow
Pub DateJun 06 2023
Thomas Nelson–FICTION |Thomas Nelson
Christian| General Fiction (Adult)| Mystery & Thrillers

Through Thomas Nelson Fiction and Netgalley, I am reviewing Double Indemnity:

Millions of dollars maybe made from a hunter’s accidental death, unless it wasn’t an accident.

Elena Thompson and Matt Thompson are the picture of perfection. But their enviable life isn’t what it seems. The couple’s marriage is on the rocks, and financial disaster looms. After Matt was killed in a hunting accident, questions and accusations began to fly.

Having just graduated from law school, Liz Acosta plans to gain some experience before returning home to seek a position with a big-name firm. Pastor Connor Grantham isn’t sure shepherding a rural congregation is what he ultimately wants to do. His interests in philosophy, theology, and nature are drawing him to north Georgia-especially after he meets Liz, a brilliant and energetic woman.

Liz and Connor spend more time together and discover how compatible two people from wildly different backgrounds can be, but they’re also drawn into the shadowy world of Matt and Elena Thompson. As the couple’s marriage counselor, Connor is caught in the middle of their explosive arguments.


Connor and Liz work together to solve the mystery of Matt’s death. The double indemnity clause in his life insurance would kick in if his death is ruled an accident, effectively doubling the payout. As Liz sorts through the legal paperwork of who stands to benefit from Matt’s death, Connor is accused of the unthinkable, with much more at stake.

I give Double Indemnity five out of five stars!

Happy Reading!

Book Review: Silent As Snow

Silent as the Snow
by Emily Pattullo
Pub DateDec 21 2023
BooksGoSocial
General Fiction (Adult)| Mystery & Thrillers

BooksGoSocial and Netgalley provided me with a copy of Silent as the Snow for review:

One wintery night, Anna, Rudy, Seth, and Dougal are involved in an accident that results in the death of a stranger – that night, it snows heavily, covering everything up. The two agree to keep it a secret, but then one is convicted of murder.

Almost twenty years later, Anna and her friends are reunited after a funeral, and this time Anna is forced to take a closer look at what actually happened. Anna’s recollection. However, Anna’s recollection differs from what her friends recall.

Is it really possible that she misunderstood what happened?

What secrets will she discover if she digs up the past?

What will it mean to her carefully constructed life if the past 20 years have been a lie?

I give Silent As Snow four out of five stars!

Happy Reading!

Book Review: The Editor

The Editor
How Publishing Legend Judith Jones Shaped Culture in America
by Sara B. Franklin
Pub Date May 28 2024
Atria Books
Biographies & Memoirs

Atria Books and Netgalley provided me with a copy of The Editor for review:

A twenty-five-year-old Judith Jones spent most of her time at Doubleday’s Paris office wading through manuscripts and passing on projects—until one day, a book caught her eye. After reading it in one sitting, she begged her boss to consider publishing it. One year later, Anne Frank’s diary became a bestseller. An industry-defining career in publishing began at that moment.

During her more than fifty years as an editor at Alfred A. Knopf, Jones nurtured the careers of literary icons like Sylvia Plath, Anne Tyler, and John Updike, and launched new genres and trends in literature. As a pioneer of the cookbook revolution, she published Edna Lewis, M.F.K. Fisher, Claudia Roden, Madhur Jaffrey, James Beard, and Julia Child among others. By working behind the scenes, Jones helped turn these authors into household names, changing cultural mores and expectations.

The books Judith published spanned decades of America’s most dramatic cultural change, from the end of World War II to the civil rights movement and the fight for women’s equality. In this “thorough and humanizing portrait,” based on exclusive interviews, never-before-seen personal papers, and years of research, her extraordinary career is explored for the first time.

I give The Editor five out of five stars!

Happy Reading!