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I’m not sure this story is to everyone’s taste. With that said, I enjoyed it immensely. You know when you’re sick, say, you can’t breathe through your nose or taste your favorite foods? Then one day you wake up with a hearty appetite and you can taste again? You can take deep breaths? Everything around you just seems a little sweeter, more colorful and precious? That’s the kind of descriptive imagery this story gives off. It is written in high-def. I am sad that it's taken me so long to read this little 9-page fever dream for the first time, but glad to have come upon it all the same. As for the storyline itself, I’ll just steal that well-known lyric that goes, “what’s so civil about war anyway?”

Reminiscent of All About Eve, but cheesy. Cheesy does not necessarily mean bad. It was an okay read, just a bit over the top.

Went in on this classic blind. Was not expecting anything that happened in the story. Based on the title, the most I thought it could be about was either a a fraudster employee or a cheating husband. Nope. Pleasantly surprised on that front. I shall say no more.

Updated Review - June 19, 2026 Yep. Still hate Mary after all this time. Dare I say, loathe her even more? The only thing I have to add to my previous review is this: Rumor or truth, why can’t we just judge and treat people according to how they treat us? So long as you’re nice to me and don’t mess me or my loved ones about, we’re good. Simple as that.

Original Review - July 17, 2013 Abigail Williams (The Crucible) is one of the most hateful literary characters I've ever come across - she's high up on my top 5. Mary Tilford, the little demon, may just have kicked Abigail down a notch on my Characters I Hate the Most list. Although this is a work of fiction, it is scary to think how very possible it is for a bully to intimidate others into spinning a web of lies that can ruin people's personal and professional lives. How someone who has always done right by everyone and worked their fingers to the bone for a patch of happiness can end up with nothing. If she were real, I think I would track Mary down and choke her with my bare hands!

I love everything Stephen King, but Elevation was a bit of a let down. I was hoping for a bit more magic to happen with Scott and his condition. And King narrating his own work: not for me 😬But take my review with a grain of salt, it could be my own grumpiness and self-pity talking because I’m a bit under the weather. Don’t come at me, SK fans! 🥸

Britt-Marie has spent a lifetime of serving others, losing herself in the process.

“Because if we don’t forgive those we love, then what is left? What is love if it’s not loving our lovers even when they don’t deserve it?”

There’s a fine line in forgiving those we love, when they have no intention of returning that love back, and loving yourself. If we lose love and respect for ourselves, we lose all belief in all the wonderful and amazing things we are capable of doing. I enjoyed Britt-Marie’s journey in finding herself.

It would make a decent summer read for a middle schooler, and a good intro to sci-fi. The concept of a murder mystery in space is pretty cool. The storyline, however, does have its plot holes. The inquisitive and astute child will most likely have a few questions regarding plausibility.

“I wanted to…show the American public what happens to real living people swept up in a warped ideology.”

Two lifelong friends and business partners. They co-own an art gallery in San Francisco. They have been childhood friends since their days in Germany, where they’re both from. Max stays in America to manage the gallery. Martin goes back to Germany with his wife and kids. Max is Jewish. Martin is not.

Correspondence began in November 1932. Martin is settling in and speaks of Germany still being in political unrest and how much food costs now. Fortunately for him, he is living like royalty on the American dollar. He has a 30 room house, 10 acres, 10 servants, 3 ponies and German tutors for the kids.

“Is it for this we spend our lives? To scheme for money and then to strut it publicly…we are vain and we are dishonest because it is necessary to triumph over other vain and dishonest persons.” -Max

They sign off each letter affectionately, telling of the great love and esteem they have for one another. It is not until Adolf Hitler starts creating a buzz in January that there is noticeable tension within the friendship. Max doesn’t like the guy from Day 1. By March of that year, just four months after the initial correspondence, Martin was sold on Hitler’s ideology and thinks he is the one who will bring Germany back to its glory. Martin becomes an official in the new regime, rubs elbows with elite Nazis, and lands a nice job at a bank.

Word gets out from neighbors who have fled Germany and returned to the U.S. of the atrocities taking place there. Max doesn’t want to believe it and implores Martin to tell him the truth. Martin’s reply:

“As for the stern measures that so distress you, I myself did not like them at first but I have come to see their painful necessity. The jewish race is a sore spot to any nation that harbors it…you will not see that a few must suffer for millions to be saved.”

Max is hopeful that Martin is so scared of the censorship and propaganda happening, that he is only speaking in this way for fear that Nazis are watching/listening over everything being said. Martin assures him he is speaking from his own beliefs and tells Max not to talk to him anymore. He wants no part of Jews unless he is getting money from it. Max’s reply:

“Your new attitude, I cannot discuss. But you must understand me, I did not expect you would take up arms for my people because they are my people, but because you were a man who loved justice.”

So much more happens after this, but I’ll stop here because it’s mirroring too much of our current times, and…I just can’t….

When asked what prompted her to write Address Unknown, the author said it was down to a couple of German friends who lived in America and moved back to Germany just before the war. When they came back for a visit, they would not tolerate hearing any criticism of Hitler.

They happened to come across a very dear friend of theirs on the street, and when he stretched out his arms for an embrace, her friends turned their backs to him and kept walking because he was Jewish. She couldn’t believe how they changed in such a short amount of time. In writing the book, she hoped to inform the American public of what was hapoening, and in doing so, find some kind of answers as to what went wrong and how this was allowed to happen.

I spent about an hour reading this book. It will take lifetimes to process and get any satisfactory answers as to how and why any of this was allowed to happen. Change a few names around and this book could very well have been written about our current political climate. The more things change…

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“I want you to always remember that you can become whatever you want to become, but that’s nowhere near as important as knowing that you can be exactly who you are.”

Listened to the audiobook version on Libby (only 3 hrs; excellent narrator). What a gem! Writing to his 1 ½ year old son, Fredrik imparts his best advice, fears, triumphs and dad hacks using examples of his own experiences as hilarious points to note. It’s such a fun and relatable read that for once I thought he’d left out those little emotional bombs he drops that all of a sudden bring a lump to the throat and a tear to the eye, wait until you get about 43% in!

This is a love letter to friendship, marriage, parenthood and all that comes before it and after. There are so many quotable moments that you might as well just dip the book in highlighter, if you’re annotating. This would make an exceptionally nice Father’s Day gift from a father to a son who is soon to become a first time dad. Would make for a fun little beach read or palate cleanser as well.

Life-long friends. Some secretly resent one another for their achievements or seemingly care/free lifestyles. There’s the peacemaker who puts out fires while quietly smoldering in her own inferno. And as with any friendship, there are going to be opinions and disagreements along the way. In a true friendship, such as this one, there is forgiveness, reflection and self-growth. I enjoyed this one. It had a good balance of sad, funny, tense and serious moments. A substantial beach read.

“Staying alive costs money.”

This book’s main character felt like a high school senior whose plans for the future were up in the air, and she was drowning in thoughts of her uncertain future post graduation. Ah Ro’s role: the kind and intune guidance counselor who holds her hand and gives the teen the resources and support she needs to help carve her path in life.

This story is nuts! It starts out in 1980 with Andy,16, being given the task of testing his dad’s amusement park rides. Rides constructed by people his dad knew in a past life or hired on the cheap. Andy faces the Cannonball Loop, which is scheduled to premiere in a month’s time, and as much as Andy likes to test out his teenaged bravado, even this scary looking ride gives him pause. The rides keep getting more dangerous, so much so that the media is picking up on it and writing stories about it to warn the public. This media attention only serves to make it a must-visit kind of place for thrill seekers.

Andy and his siblings just keep getting more and more banged up until they get the hang of the rides and learn to ride them with as little injury as possible, but customers don’t have this advantage (?), and they don’t seem to mind. Seeing with his own eyes how rides are erected at Action Park, and witnessing the near fatality of its patrons when riding them, would not only give me pause, I’d run in the opposite direction without ever looking back.

Still, with all the lack of licensed engineering, safety procedures, trained personnel, etc., there is something nostalgic about this book that cannot be denied. It’s like when older folk reminisce about the times when they could ride in cars without seatbelts and pack all their kids and pets in the back of a truck bed and go on long, winding, speedy rides.

Kids from the 70s and 80s were tough. They licked their wounds if they got hurt in a public place - no one dared think to sue. They just walked it off, if they were lucky. And reading about what went on in Action Park, it’s amazing that many were able to do just that. What a time to be young and free! If anyone is reading this and has their own Action Park or similar days-of-yore stories, do share. I find it to be so much fun!

I see this one as a mashup of Rear Window and Only Murders in the Building. All of the characters are colorful and lovable. The setting is beautiful and peaceful, and had me thinking about my own neighbors: how well do I really know them?? As the story went on, I just wanted to learn more about these folks instead. I just loved tagging along and deciphering the clues with the main characters. I was guessing who’d done until the very end. A fun and satisfying read indeed.

And that, my friends, is why you keep the windows up and the music blasting!

An awesome father/son collaboration. Had me guessing which creepy parts were imagined by the son and which were conjured up by the dad.