Reading list #2 2025

1. The Titanic Sisters by Patricia Falvey two Irish girls board the Titanic one is going to be a governess the other a domestic servant in New York. One sister thinks the other one drowned and takes her identity as governess and her life gets complicated. Of course it does otherwise the story would have been rather dull.
2. The Yellow House by Patricia Falvey about Ireland’s fight for independence set in Ulster. Ulster voted to stay under British rule. (My great grandfather, grandfather and a couple great uncles signed the Ulster Pact for British rule.) the story is the point of view of the Irish republicans for a united Ireland. 
3. The Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn psychological thriller some chapters (journal entries) were too much information for me. I just about quit reading it but I got pulled into the plot.
4. The Spies of Shilling Lane by Jennifer Ryan England WW 2 quirky characters and twists and turns made me think of a Pink Panther movie with Peter Sellers. It was also about mother / daughter relationships, forgiveness and stepping out of your comfort zone. 
5. Battle Mountain by C.J. Box another thriller and very good 
6. The Oceans Between Us by Gill Thompson the story begins at the end of WW2 London has been bombed a boy is taken to an orphanage, his mother is in a hospital and doesn’t remember anything. The boy is told his mother is dead and he is shipped to Australia with a boat load of orphans. He doesn’t believe his mother is dead. His mother gets her memory back in bits and pieces and is told her son is dead but she doesn’t believe it. She and a friend start asking questions in England, the son starts asking questions in Australia and the plot thickens.
7. Book Lovers by Emily Henry for book club about a writer’s agent and a book editor, lots of references to Hallmark genre movies only in this book the girl who usually gets dumped for the wholesome small town girl has a happy ending.  Editors do more than fix spelling and punctuation they suggest starting the story a couple chapters in then use flashbacks to introduce the character or this character to too much like so and so from your previous book etc. The book was interesting but not terrific. 
8. The Mysterious Bakery on Rue de Paris by Evie Woods just for fun, modern day story an Irish girl who moves to France to work in a bakery. A bit of a mystery, a bit of a ghost story, a bit of French history, a bit of a romance and a bit of a fairy tale. 
9. Painting the Moon by Traci Borum contemporary story about a young woman in California who goes to England to settle her great aunt’s estate.  The great aunt was a well known artist so each chapter starts with words of wisdom from an artist, those words apply to many creative endeavors. A love story and a mystery.  I’m glad I bought this book for my kindle so I can get inspiration from each chapter when I’m in a creative slump. 
10. Where Angels Fear to Tread by E.M. Forster a very short book that has been on my kindle for a very long time time.  An English widow leaves her young daughter with her in-laws and goes to Italy for an adventure falls in love and gets married.  The in-laws are unhappy with the situation….let the interference begin.
11. The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammet this book and author are so frequently mentioned in the detective genre of books and television that I finally read the book.  I imagined Sam Spade as Tom Selleck in Magnum or James Garner in The Rockford Files or Jerry Orbach in Murder She Wrote even though Sam Spade was blond.  The book was originally published in 1930 the slang was so refreshingly polite ‘shove off’ was as crude as the language was.  I’m going to read more of his books. 
12. Iron Lake by William Kent Krueger re read book 1 of the Cork O’Connor series as good the second time as the first.
13. the book that matters most by Ann Hood for book club a recently divorced woman joins a book club, the theme for the year is choose the book that matters most in each of the lives of the members. Most of the books were classics from high school or college.  Lots of insight into those books (I might read a couple) and some family drama. Very good. 
14. Only the Beautiful by Susan Meissner I waited for this book for almost a year through Libby and was not disappointed. The story begins in California in 1939 about two women whose lives are intertwined. Very very good. I don’t want to say too much and spoil the story. 
15. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig modern day story a young woman dealing with depression over doses on antidepressants while she is unconscious she gets a glimpse of how her life might have turned out if she had made different choices. Very good.
16. Camino Island by John Grisham for book club make a list of characters the first 5 or six chapters introduce the characters and some of their back story and are not mentioned again until they are trying to find or sell the stolen manuscripts.  This is the third book in a row with a character trying to write a book. Good story, the first of three book series.