Portable Book Magic

Since the early morning hours of November 6th, I have been under water. Of course, those early days I was still okay. I’m a pretty good swimmer so the rising water caught my attention, but I wasn’t too worried. “The water will recede,” I kept telling myself. This very tide already happened once and I survived. This one will be easier. But the water is not stopping. Some days is just a steady…

I don’t think I am going to continue to update this. I want to go back to just reading books for the fun of reading books. If I feel like reviewing them, there are plenty of other online forums for exactly that.

I Swear by Katie Porter Kindle 8/11/24-8/18/24 An informative and touching memoir by Representative Katie Porter written after the January 6th insurrection.  I loved this memoir. I was a bit nervous going into it because sometimes memoirs about political figures (even beloved political figures like President Obama) can be dry when writing about themselves and the work they do…but Katie Porter…

8/3/24-8/12/24 Scribd When 14 year old Mary Jane takes a summer job as a nanny, she has no idea that everything she knows about life is about to be turned upside down in the best ways possible and she begins to understand that life extends way past the conservative Baltimore suburb that she grew up in. I first heard about this book on The Currently Reading podcast several years ago. It sounded…

The Soulmate by Sally Hepworth 8/5/2024-8/12/24 Hardcover Pippa and Gabe’s seemingly ideal marriage is put to the test following a suicide off the cliff behind their home and it comes to light that Gabe actually knew the woman. Pippa finds herself questioning the life she has built with Gabe and wondering if she really knows the man she married. Sally Hepworth is a pro at writing domestic…

The Book of Delights by Ross Gay 8/3/24-8/10/24 Kindle The Book of Delights is a collection of essays, documenting the, what else, delights in Gay’s life over the course of a year. In the early aughts, I discovered message boards and joined a few for bands that I liked. One of them was the official message board for Red Hot Chili Peppers and I posted there pretty regularly for several years.…

Running: A Love Story by Jen A. Miller 7/31/04-08/08/24 Audio A memoir about the two big R’s in Jen A. Miller’s life…running and relationship. While both are unpredictable and filled with both joys and heartbreaks…running is the one constant that Jen will never give up on.  What I liked: I haven’t run since middle school, and I was never good at long distance however two of my three siblings…

The Day I Die: The Untold Story of Assisted Dying in America by Anita Hannig 7/27/24-8/3/24 Ebook If you were given a terminal diagnosis today, what would you do?   Up until fairly recently, there was not much choice. You’d live out your natural life and hope that you didn’t die too quickly as not to get your affairs in order and spend time with your loved ones. At the same time, you hope you…

Permanent Record by Edward Snowden 7/21/24-7/30/24 Audio A memoir written by the most infamous whistleblower in United States history. Edward Snowden writes about his life leading up to his decision to expose the government, including his role in setting up the system in the first place.  What I liked: Edward Snowden is an engaging story teller that goes into enough details to keep you…

A Serial Killer’s Daughter by Kerri Rawson A memoir written by the daughter of Dennis Rader aka BTK. The memoir gives a unique look into the family life of the Rader family. They were a “typical” midwestern family, close knit to their extended family. An active member of the local church. We see Dennis Rader as Kerri saw him, as a loving, yet sometimes unpredictable person. As the memoir…

From Goodreads: Soon after her twenty-fifth birthday, Libby Jones returns home from work to find the letter she’s been waiting for her entire life. She rips it open with one driving thought: I am finally going to know who I am.She soon learns not only the identity of her birth parents, but also that she is the sole inheritor of their abandoned mansion on the banks of the Thames in London’s…

From Goodreads: Life is short. No-one knows that better than seventeen year old Lenni living on the terminal ward. But as she is about to learn, it’s not only what you make of life that matters, but who you share it with.Dodging doctor’s orders, she joins an art class where she bumps into fellow patient Margot, a rebel-hearted eighty three year old from the next ward. Their bond is instant as…

From Goodreads: Everyone knows everyone in the tiny town of Bourne, but the Mitchell triplets are especially beloved. Mirabel is the smartest person anyone knows, and no one doubts it just because she can’t speak. Monday is the town’s purveyor of books now that the library’s closed―tell her the book you think you want, and she’ll pull the one you actually do from the microwave or her sock drawer.…

From Goodreads: Could ten days at a health resort really change you forever?These nine perfect strangers are about to find out…Nine people gather at a remote health resort. Some are here to lose weight, some are here to get a reboot on life, some are here for reasons they can’t even admit to themselves. Amidst all of the luxury and pampering, the mindfulness and meditation, they know these ten…

From Goodreads: There is a girl, and her name is Sam. She adores her father, though he isn’t around much. Her mother, Courtney, struggles to make ends meet, and never fails to remind her daughter that her life should be different. Sam doesn’t fit in at school, where the other girls have the right shade of blue jeans and don’t question the rules. Sam doesn’t care about jeans or rules. She just…

From Goodreads: Mother’s Day is coming up and the Baby-sitters have the same problem they do every year: What do they get their mothers? Kristy, especially, wants to do something nice for her mom. Mrs. Brewer has been acting kind of strange and secretive lately, and Kristy’s worried about her…But then Kristy gets another one of her great ideas. Why don’t the Baby-sitters treat their moms – and…

From Goodreads: No one expects the police to knock on the million-dollar, two-story home of the perfect cul-de-sac housewife. But soccer mom Lara Love Hardin has been hiding a shady secret: She is funding her heroin addiction by stealing her neighbors’ credit cards.Lara is convicted of thirty-two felonies and becomes inmate S32179. She learns jail is a class system with a power structure…