by Gregory David Roberts Listened to in summer and fall of 2020 This book has been on my “to read” list for years so I was delighted to discover it is now available through my library on the Libby app. The marathon 42-hour audiobook means I had to do it in chunks as I was…… Continue reading Shantaram

by Lisa Jewell Read in August 2020 A little bit Gone Girl-esque although it is not told from the wife’s point of view and the husband is not the potential monster. It does however involve a messed-up family situation and is told in non-sequential time to slowly solve the mystery for the reader. This one…… Continue reading The Family Upstairs

by Lara Prescott Listened to in July 2020 I had no idea about the political role Doctor Zhivago served during the cold war. This book tells the tale of how the Russian classic was used by the CIA to instigate a thought revolution in Russia and the secretaries-turned-spies who make it possible. This could probably…… Continue reading The Secrets We Kept

by Esi Edugyan Listened to in July 2020 I usually try not to have an e-book and audiobook on the same or similar subject matter going at the same time. I messed up this time though and was listening to this book while I was reading The Underground Railroad. In this case, it probably allowed…… Continue reading Washington Black

by Colson Whitehead Read July 2020 As suggested by the title, this book is about a young slave’s escape from a plantation via the underground railroad. In this book, the underground railroad metaphor is actualized into a network of subterranean trains. The main character’s harrowing ordeals offer some insight into what people had to endure…… Continue reading The Underground Railroad

by Ronan Farrow Listened to in July 2020 Catch and Kill is a phrase commonly used in media, primarily by tabloids, to describe the act of buying a story in order to bury it. If this book is to be believed, this happens with alarming regularity. Ronan Farrow is a reporter who was heavily involved…… Continue reading Catch and Kill: Lies Spies and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators

by Jim Butcher This is a collection of books including Storm Front which I listened to and reviewed previously. The rest of the books in this collection are similar. Enjoyable fluff that is sometimes witty with interesting characters. I enjoyed reading these stories better than listening since I disliked the reader of the audiobook. Classified…… Continue reading The Dresden Files Collection 1-6

by David Baldacci Listened to June 2020 David Baldacci is an author that I fall back on when I am looking for an audio book that will fill the time and be entertaining but I know I will immediately forget about. This time it is about thwarting human traffickers. The main character is a super-capable…… Continue reading The Forgotten

by Tarryn Fisher This is what I think of as “Gone Girl” genre. There is a mystery involving a woman and her husband and you are never really sure of the truth but you get more details as the story unfolds. You know there is going to be a twist and spend the book trying…… Continue reading The Wives

by Joe Abercrombie Reminiscent of Ken Follet’s Kingsbridge Series without the basis in real-world history, “The Blade Itself” is an epic fantasy drama set in a world similar to medieval Europe.  We follow a number of well-developed characters through their journeys that eventually weave together. There is fighting, deception and mysticism in this captivating tale.