REVIEW: Countdown City by Ben Winters

 

When I start a series, I aim to finish it and so here we are! This is book 2 in the Last Policeman trilogy by Ben Winters and it was just as good as the first one!

Hank seems rudderless at the beginning of this novel but that doesn't stop him from putting his investigative skills to work in helping a family friend find her missing husband who left one night and never returned.  In pre-apocalypse dystopia, however, people leave all the time for lots of reasons (although the most popular disappearances are related to people chasing the items on their bucket lists). The backdrop?  An asteroid is hurtling towards the earth and will hit it in 77 days or thereabouts. The mystery in this one is definitely messier than in the first novel, which made this novel all the more intriguing. 

I started and finished this book in about two days - I simply absorbed it (which means it holds your attention and will make you want to keep reading to find out what the hell is actually going on). I enjoyed observing the crumbling of the world as the clock ticks down to impact and the questions that it poses about society: What would I do if I only had 75 days left before the meteor hits? Would I plan for possible survival afterwards or would I say "F*** it" and fulfill my bucket list dreams?  How would I treat my fellow humans? This is, perhaps, the best reason to keep reading this novel as it continues to explore how society is dealing with an inevitable act of mass destruction. 

Generally very well worth it and I can't wait to read the third!

Links I love

 

This week has been  tremendously busy week here. My son graduated from high school last Saturday so the entire weekend was filled with family and festivities.  I had my echocardiogram and Pulmonary Function Testing on Thursday, both of which appeared to be normal. It's SO WEIRD to see your heart pumping inside your body but also very cool to see the valves and mechanism.  It made me think that if I had gone to medical school, I would have been a cardiologist (instead of doing sports medicine or orthopedics which is what I wanted to do). Friday, my daughter and I went to see Ty Myers!  So much fun. 

It's starting to feel like summer here!  I alwasy loved summer when I was in school because t hat meant I could read for FUN all summer long and boy did I ever.  I got the bulk of my for fun reading done during summer time. The World Cup is also on 24/7 in this household.

1. This curse is super weird. Scary too.
2. The Nebula award winners have been announced.
3. Utah has banned its 35th book from schools.
4. Here are the winners of the Bram Stoker award.
5. 5 books to help you understand the World Cup.
6. Maternal rage is real but not something to feel badly about.
7. The best and worst cities for staycations this year.
8. What all the popular book clubs are reading right now.                                                                                                                                                                                                                   
9. The best books you've never heard of for Summer, 2026.
10. A World Cup 2026 guide.
11. The end of books.
12. Esquire's best books of the year (so far).
13. New streaming movies and shows on Netflix based upon books.
14. Some books to read for pride month.
15. People has their best books to read for LGBTQ+ month and they're pretty solid.
16. Barnes and Noble announced their finalists for the Discovery Prize.
17. Mysteries and thrillers recommended by Presidents. 
18. Mysteries set in Hawai'i.
19. Here are the winners of the 2026 Women's Prize in fiction and non-fiction. 
20. June picks from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kirkus, the LA times, NPR, Star Tribune and USA Today.\
21. Summer pics from Kirkus, CrimeREads.
22. Indiana Jones at 45.
23. Why do soccer players wear pink shoes at the World cup?

I'm currently reading Book of Lives by Margaret Atwood and listening to Queen Esther by John Irving.  I think my next read will be The Martian by Andy Weir.

Please don't forget to visit my Pangobooks store. 

REVIEW: The Family Man: Blood and Betrayal in the House of Murdaugh by James Lasdun

 

Alex Murdaugh has been in the news lately and I thought that I would read another book that took us through what is shaping up to be his first trial, written by James Lasdun, a New Yorker journalist from England who takes us through his journey through the South to research this book. 

As you may, or may not know, this family was royalty in the Low Country of South Carolina for over 100 years. They were among the powerful civil attorneys and prosecutors in their area. But that all came crashing down when Alex is alleged to have killed his wife, Maggie, and son Paul. This was just the tip of the iceberg as he was purchasing drugs and embezzling millions of dollars from his personal injury clients.  Violence of this magnitude is absolutely unfathomable - he literally shot his son's head off. One of the hardest parts of the evidence for him was video from Paul's phone that puts him at the kennels with them minutes before the homicides are supposed to have occurred (and his corresponding lies - he wasn't there according to him). 

Lasdun does a masterful job of researching this book and meticulously unwinding the twine of Alex's lies.  He is also masterful in his portrayal of Alex - he essentially makes Alex out to be the kind of sociopathic manipulator that would rob you blind in a heartbeat while pretending to be your best friend. That being said, it didn't really add much to what has already been written about this case. 

Definitely worth the read and I'm looking forward to the next trial. 

Links I love

 

This is a big weekend for us! My son is graduating from High School!!!!  We're so proud of him but I'm also crying and a wreck.He's my oldest so there's a lot going.  Luckily he'll be attending school in state so he won't be so far away.

• Dishes that are popular because of TV shows. 
• Marilyn Monroe's library contained four hundred books.
• 5 thrillers set in Boston.
• This couple lives in a yurt year round.
• Ana Gasteyer talks about stuff, including her favorite books. 
• The Dyatlov Pass mystery.
• Serena is back.
• The best historical fiction of 2026, so far.
• Why reading is the best thing you can do for your brain.
• Marjane Satrapi has passed away at the unfathomably young age of 56.
• The healing power of a really good grudge.
• Must read cozy mysteries for the beach.
• The recent targets of book banning.
• Why we still need book festivals. 
• There's a new museum opening under the Lincoln Memorial. 
• Reading trends to look out for this summer. 
• Celebrity book club picks for June, 2026.
• 7 cold cases that still can't be explained. 
• Thrillers about marriage.
• Anthony Head, (Giles in Buffy) has died at the age of 72.
• Who knew that bedazzling is good for your mental health.
• This drink is good for heart health.
• Was Walt Disney really frozen under DisneyLand?
• Vintage photos of when the Knicks won the championship back in the 70's. 
• Sounds from the 90's that we Xennials all know. 
• AI is ruining children's books. 
• Brushing teeth before or after coffee?

I'm currently reading Book of Lives by Margaret Atwood and listening to Are You Mad at Me? by Meg Josephson (which I hope will teach me something that I can use!). For podcasts, I'm listening to American Scandal, Women and Crime, the TED Radio Hour and 99% Invisible.

If anyone has a favorite podcast please leave them in the comments. I'm always looking for more to listen to on my walks and during workouts. 

Please visit my PangoBooks store!

REVIEW The Book Club for Troublesome Women by Marie Bostwick

 

I read this for my book club - which is wonderful because I have been wanting to read it forever. This is an uplifting work of historical fiction about women who want more, decide to pursue it and support each other in these endeavors even as the America of the 1960's tells them they couldn't. It was so nice. 

The main character is Margaret Ryan and when we first meet her, she has won a writing contest from a women's magazine and is hired to write a regular column as a result. She is pigeonholed into writing what her (male) editor tells her, her husband is pissy about her not having more time for the care of the family (because why would he help?!) and her paycheck is actually less than minimum wage. The job also somewhat sparks the "Betty Friedan Book Club" (the first book they read is, you guessed it, The Feminine Mystique). There are three other women in the club - Charlotte, Bitsy and Viv. Charlotte is a woman who is prescribed Miltown, a tranquilizer, by her male psychiatrist and struggles in her marriage with her cheating husband. Viv was a combat nurse and is Margaret's best friend and neighbor.  Bitsy is an avid horse lover who wanted to be a vet and is also a neighbor. 

I loved that it addressed issues of race and class: Viv meets a black Army nurse who was barred from going overseas in WW2. Margaret is denied the ability to open a checking account without her husband's signature.  It's CRAZY. 

I LOVED this book. I wanted to be best friends and a member of the Betty's book club.  The story was thoughtful, warm, and very subtly insightful about how stifling the 1960's actually were. The characters were well written and showed a lot growth over the course of the book and I could not put this book down.

5/5 

REVIEW: The Ten Year Affair by Erin Somers

 

There has been a lot of chatter on this book so I wanted to check it out for myself. I blew through it in like three or four days.  It was really great.

Cora and Sam meet in a baby group. Cora is married, happily she believes.  Her husband, however, seems to disappoint her at every turn - he spends his free time smoking a lot of pot on the porch while the kids sleep and that carries over into the bedroom. He's failing at work and so she's picking up the slack everywhere, and she's miserable while doing it.  Sam is married as well - to a high achieving spouse who is a lawyer and also believes he's happy, but is he?  It's almost like he is emasculated, or feels that way, right from the get go. So when the two meet at the baby group, they are instantly attracted to each other. Cora believes that Sam listens to her in ways that her husband does not. They become fast friends and then decide to bring their spouses into the mix. 

Cora, however, begins to fantasize about what an affair between them would look like. In that timeline, they are seeing each other while in the "reality" timeline, they refrain.  Things in that alternate timeline become super serious super fast. The timelines remain distinct at first, with the reader bouncing between the two, but then they blur together until there is only one timeline.

I really liked this book but it is INTENSE. Their relationship spans ten years of wishing and longing, until the trigger is pulled. The book is VERY readable and Somers has created real and flawed characters.  They are absolutely relatable.  SO good and the way that the timelines are slowly blurred is absolutely brilliant. Highly recommend. 

REVIEW: Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

 

This book took me, and the publishing world, by surprised.  Candidly, I wasn't expecting to like it and worried that it would be completely smarmy and self righteous. It was self published in 2025 but only really took off this year. The story follows Theo, an elderly man who travels to Golden, a small town in Georgia. He visits the local coffeehouse, where he sees portraits of the townspeople on the wall. The artist is also a local artist - said artist lives in Golden as well. Theo decides to purchase the portraits and distribute them to the subject of the portraits. With each meeting, he collects their stories and they are inspired by his kindness.

What I loved about this book is that it deals with several important themes:  the importance of slowing down and observing, being kind, loss and grieving and love among others and it does so in a captivating way. I loved Theo as a character - his background is very mysterious but what he does for the people he comes into contact with is very laudable and to be admired.  It's a timely reminder of the importance of kindness.  I did wish that there was some conflict or other tension, which would have made the book more interesting,  and I could have done with less of the religious stuff, but those were both minor, nit picky things on my part.

I flew through this book in about two days. Definitely worth the read and I may read it again to make sure I caught everything!