Links I love

 

It's been super hot this week. Last week, we did our first college tour in the heat. My AC has been working overtime! It's also been really, really hot. We have hit 100 degrees for the first time in 15 years, which is unheard of here. I have a sinus infection which has been making me miserable. :(  We started painting my daughter's room and got an estimate for new flooring.

1. Books set in the Pacific Northwest.
2. Top 5 Pixar movies, ranked by NPR listeners.
3. Can you identify the President based upon his facial hair?
4. The Boston Globe Horn awards are here.
5. Five great literay mysteries set in coastal MA.
6. 6 n ew books out this week, including one on trailblazers.
7. How to feel better after birth.
8. 6 new Disney mugs have been released on Amazon.
9. Plan fall reading with these mysteries, thrillers and true crime books coming out.
10. Books about our National Parks or which take place there. 
11. Npr staffers pick fav non fiction books of the year so far. And here  are their fav fiction ones.
12. Rick Astley covering Pink Pony Club
13. The best and worst states for road trips.
14. Book recommendations based upon your favorite scary movie.
15. Is the decline of reading causing political dysfunction?
16. The best way to drink coffee for your health (note, this isn't how I drink it).
17. Why is the nation's capital called D.C.?
18. A new short film on Jason Voorhees iscoming out for the 45th anniversary of Friday the 13.
19. 10 sci-fi books to read if you really liked Dune.
20. It's no secret that I've been thinking about college for my kid - 60 tips for when your kid goes to college.
21. The best historical fiction beach reads.
22. Why do Italian restaurants play Frank Sinatra's music?
23. Against the celebrity memoir industrial complex - I guess the article author doesn't like them.
24. Why berries get moldy so quickly.
25. 8 forgotten figures from the American Revolution.

I hope that everyone has a good week!

REVIEW The Beauty in Breaking by Michele Harper

 

Dr. Michele Harper writes this memoir about her experiences as an ER doctor and how she has applied them to her life, in order to help her grow. She describes not only her experiences as a practicing doctor and administrator, but talks about how her youth and divorce and other major milestones in her life have caused her to grow. 

The book itself is well written and well organized - each chapter is centered around a patient's story and delves into the medical nitty gritty and lessons that each patient teaches Dr. Harper. I really appreciated how this enabled Dr. Harper to jump around in time without the narrative feeling broken.  I could hear her voice in her writing, which is simple but beautiful and which flows smoothly and quickly. Definitely a must read. 

Links I love and a concert

 

This past week has been a week of firsts for me.  I went on my first hike since having oral surgery.  It wasn't a long hike but it was beautiful and surprisingly quiet and empty for where it was located. I expected more people to be there.  

We also saw this guy in concert - SO GOOD.  If you ever have the chance to see him, you should.  My partner, who would not say he liked country music and had never been to a country music concert, loved it as well. My next concert is Brad Paisley (who is also wonderful) and who I will see with my teenagers.

• The ten best sci fi soap operas.
• The best five books on modern Greek history.
• How to keep  a travel journal.
• Recommendations for the reluctant romance reader.
• Reese is starting a podcast for her bookclub!
• 9 mysteries and thrillers set at sea.
• Summer TV schedule is here: what to watch according to NPR. I'm a huge fan of Alien/aliens so that looked great but I def added a bunch of stuff.
• 12 facts you didn't know about Ben and Jerry's.
• What do your bookshelves say about you?
• Looking for some good thrillers this summer?
• Book Con is back! i hate to say it, but I'd rather do CrimeCon first.
• Best Sci fi books of 2025 so far -loved the Ministry of Time. 
• 5 things you should never say to an introverted child.
• What exactly areNecco wafers?
• 5 tips for when you're solo travelling. I personally love solo travelling.
• How long do military MRE's really last?
• 25 cities that will have the worst mosquito problems this summer.

I hope that everyone has a good week!

REVIEW: House Across the Lake by Riley Sager

 

I wouldn't have picked up this book but for its selection for my book club and I'm glad that it was chosen. The main character is Casey Fletcher, an actress that moves into her family's lake house in Vermont to get a break from some really negative and pervasive press coverage that won't go away. Her husband, Len, died about one year before the events in the book and Casey has decompensated into alcoholism, which is what has contributed to the negative press coverage.  She still drinks at the lake but has the privacy to do so. She also has a pair of binoculars that she uses to look at the houses across the lake - and she becomes focused on the beautiful mansion across from hers, which is occupied by model Katherine Royce and her husband. 

Prior to Casey becoming hyper fixated on the home, Casey saved Katherine from drowning in the lake. We learn this fairly early on in the novel - Casey sees Katherine's limp body and, instead of calling for help, instead opts to go out and save her. She and Katherine become friends but Casey still feels compelled to spy on Katherine and Tom, Katherine's husband. Katherine ultimately disappears and Casey is convinced that she knows what happened, so she sets out to prove it. 

This book was surprisingly good, with some twists that I wasn't expecting - although you should be prepared to suspend some disbelief. It was particularly easy to read and easy to get into - it pulled me in without much effort.  It's told mostly from Casey's perspective and Sager very much does a good job in telling the story from her perspective. It felt very natural to see things from Casey's perspective. I also think that Sager does a good job in developing a main character that is also an addict. 

Definitely recommend - but I don't want to give more away. It would be too easy to provide you with spoilers that would ruin the experience of this novel unfolding - definitely worth the read!

Links I love

 

This week has been crazy - I started my new job and we saw Keith Urban in Gilford. He was AMAZING.  I'm definitely going to see him again. I am hoping to have additional reviews up this week.  In the meantime, enjoy the below!

• Ross Montgomery named the final winner of the Children's Book award.
• I haven't ever associated fast food restaurants with religions, but here we are.
• Four things that you aren't responsible for, even where your anxiety says you are.
• This confirms what we all suspected.
• The Orwell Prize for fiction - best five political books.
• Photos of the protests in LA.
• Soda shops are a thing?
• Can you guess the Disney movie based upon emojis?
• David Lynch's belongings are going up for auction.
• Time's best books of 2025 so far list.
• Climate change and wetter, hotter summers in NH.
• Brian Wilson has passed away.
• Historical fiction set in Amsterdam.
• Nonfiction summer reading lists can be found here.
• Almost Famous is 25 years old?
• The 2025 women's book award prize.
• The best Mediterranean books published by Foundry. 
• Epistolary novels that are good!
• Can Dunkin cups go in the microwave? Given how expensive Dunks is getting, I might as well go to Starbucks or a local coffee shop.
• Empathy and compassion are not the same thing.
• The man who unsolved a murder.
• When Tampa banned Jaws from bookshelves.

REVIEW: In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson

 

This was my second reading of this book and it is one of my favorites by Larson (along with Devil in the White City about HH Holmes).  Having said that, until this reading, I didn't realize that the title refers to the Tiergarten - the park around which most of the events in this book take place and which translates as Beast  Garden or Animal Park.  Generally speaking, this book is about William Dodd, and his family, during their time in Germany when he was the Ambassador to Germany as Hitler is coming into power. Interestingly, he was selected without having any real experience in diplomacy - he was a college professor.  He also had no real instructions from the Roosevelt administration in how to handle Hitler or Germany. 

This book is absolutely fascinating. It's long and informative, but I was hooked right from the beginning as Larson seems to make this telling more like a novel then an academic tome. Dodd, in spite of his inexperience, was clear sighted in his assessment of the Nazi's and he tried to warn people of where they were headed, but no one really took it seriously.  His actions and the response he received serve as a warning to us all that should be heeded even now. T he book was thoroughly researched and demonstrates Larson's talent as both an historian and a writer.

Definitely recommend. 

REVIEW: Discovery of Witches - TV Series, review

 

I finally finished watching this series this past weekend. It was a limited series adaptation originally found on AMC (but which I found on Netflix).  I had been highly motivated to finish reading the lengthy books so that I could watch this series.  

This isn't perhaps the best adaptation of these books.  The pacing was off - it was VERY slow in some parts and sped up way too much in parts that shouldn't have been glossed over. While I love Matthew Goode, Alex Kingston and Steven Cree, the acting of the other actors was lukewarm and lackluster at best.  I wish we had more of Cree's character, Gallowglass, who was my favorite character in the books. The actress that played Diana was bland, bland, bland.  It seemed like her acting was forced.  

What perhaps was sacrilegious to me, and something that I will never get over, is how much they actually cut. We get NOTHING of, for instance, Diana's time with Matthew's sire Phillippe (a detraction that took away from the magnitude of Phillippe's actions towards Diana).  They don't explain the demon's powers, which led to a lot of confusion for watchers that haven't read the books. 

Don't waste your time with this rubbish.  Best to watch something worthwhile.