Untamed. Finished 12-27-20, memoir, 5 stars, 352 pages, pub. 2020

There is a voice of longing inside each woman. We strive so mightily to be good: good partners, daughters, mothers, employees, and friends. We hope all this striving will make us feel alive. Instead, it leaves us feeling weary, stuck, overwhelmed, and underwhelmed. We look at our lives and wonder: Wasn’t it all supposed to be more beautiful than this? We quickly silence that question, telling ourselves to be grateful, hiding our discontent—even from ourselves.

For many years, Glennon Doyle denied her own discontent. Then, while speaking at a conference, she looked at a woman across the room and fell instantly in love. Three words flooded her mind: There She Is. At first, Glennon assumed these words came to her from on high. But she soon realized they had come to her from within. This was her own voice—the one she had buried beneath decades of numbing addictions, cultural conditioning, and institutional allegiances. This was the voice of the girl she had been before the world told her who to be. Glennon decided to quit abandoning herself and to instead abandon the world’s expectations of her. She quit being good so she could be free. She quit pleasing and started living.

from Goodreads

I don’t know Glennon Doyle, or at least I didn’t until I spontaneously purchased this book the one time I’ve been inside a bookstore since Covid. I’m a sucker for a great cover and I love this one and I was also wanting to support the independent bookstore with as many purchases as possible. One can never have too many books, of course. I’m so glad that I picked this up to read a week or so ago because it was such a nice way to end my reading year.

Glennon talks about her past as a Christian writer and speaker, her marriage that fell apart after infidelity, the moment that she falls in love with Abby, and how she makes her life work for her three kids after the dust has settled. With these stories she mingles insights about parenthood, sexuality, being a Christian, feminism, medication, addiction, race, and finding your inner ‘Knowing’. Quite a few of the chapters really spoke to me and the way she told her and Abby’s story was so endearing.

I could/should take the time to write more about this book, because it is my favorite non-fiction this year, but I’m content just to let you know I loved it. I now follow Glennon on Facebook and she and Abby post videos sometimes that feel like a continuation of this book and a glimpse into their love story. Or you can pick it up just because you like the cover, like I did, and be happily surprised by the life truths found in it.

61 Hours. Finished 9-8-2020, 4 stars, thriller, pub. 2010

#14 of the Jack Reacher series (1-Killing Floor, 2- Die Trying, 3 – Tripwire, 4 – Running Blind, 5 – Echo Burning, 6 – Without Fail, 7 – Persuador, 8 – The Enemy, 9 – One Shot, 10 – Hard Way, 11-Bad Luck and Trouble.  12-Nothing to Lose 13-Gone Tomorrow)

A tour bus crashes in a savage snowstorm and lands Jack Reacher in the middle of a deadly confrontation. In nearby Bolton, South Dakota, one brave woman is standing up for justice in a small town threatened by sinister forces. If she’s going to live long enough to testify, she’ll need help. Because a killer is coming to Bolton, a coldly proficient assassin who never misses.
Reacher’s original plan was to keep on moving. But the next 61 hours will change everything. The secrets are deadlier and his enemies are stronger than he could have guessed–but so is the woman whose life he’ll risk his own to save.

(from Goodreads)

I finished this one ages ago, but in my OCD need to at least write a paragraph or two about all of the adult books I read this year, I’m getting this one in under the wire. I remember this one clearly because of all of the snow. The snow put Reacher in the wrong place at the wrong time and while you know he’s going to take down the bad guys, he’s a little more haunted by the end of this one than you might expect. If you know Reacher, that is, and by book 14 I feel I’ve got a good handle on this man who is willing to take matters into his own hands if the cause is just (at least in his mind). I love this series and am taking my time. I know #25, where Lee passes the Reacher series over to his brother Andrew, was just released this year, but I’ll get there when I get there.

And Now She’s Gone. Finished 12-17-20, 3.75/5 stars, thriller, 384 pages, pub. 2020.

Isabel Lincoln is gone.

But is she missing?

It’s up to Grayson Sykes to find her. Although she is reluctant to track down a woman who may not want to be found, Gray’s search for Isabel Lincoln becomes more complicated and dangerous with every new revelation about the woman’s secrets and the truth she’s hidden from her friends and family.

Featuring two complicated women in a dangerous cat and mouse game, And Now She’s Gone explores the nature of secrets — and how violence and fear can lead you to abandon everything in order to survive.

(from Goodreads)

The story is confusing for awhile, but I don’t mind that in a thriller since it keeps me on my toes. I had faith that everything would become clear when it needed to be and it was. There is A LOT going on in this one, much of it stemming from or related to domestic violence, for much of the book, so this is counterprogramming for all of Hallmark movie binging I’ve been doing lately 🙂

There are many twists and turns so the less said about them the better. Gray, the woman who gets her first private detective case, is an interesting character with a complicated past that provides as much of the story as the missing Isabel does. It kept me reading late into the night.

When I was a youngster, oh so many years ago, my mom would drop me off at the public library while she went to do my grandmother’s hair on Saturday mornings. Although I often went straight downstairs to the the kids area, I loved exploring all of the sections of the library. One morning, when I had checked out my books, but I still had time, I found this bookcase upstairs that had short books so I took a look. It was a whole bookcase full of the monthly Harlequins. I sat down, started to read, and was HOOKED. Knowing that I could never actually check these out, my weekly ritual changed as I now started my visit by reading a Harlequin and then quickly going downstairs to grab some appropriate books to check out before my mother picked me up. I remember trying to be all sneaky so the librarians wouldn’t see me picking one of the adult romances, lol. I don’t really remember how long this went on before the Saturday visits ended, but I still remember those covers and the thrill of forbidden reading.

I’ve been running our Friends of the Library book sale out of my house/garage since the pandemic reared its ugly head. Every week I go and pick up 4 boxes of books to try and sell on our Facebook page. Imagine my delight when I opened up a whole box of Harlequin romances! I tried to sell them, but not one was willing to admit, publicly at least, that they read them. As I boxed them back up I grabbed a few and set them aside and a few nights ago I read A Mistress, A Scandal, A Ring by Angela Bissell.

It didn’t take me long, these books are easy to skim, and, surprisingly, I found it enjoyable. For someone living on Hallmark movies the last month or so this felt just right somehow. A rich, sexy man with a chip on his shoulder and a nurse with a giving heart is the bread and butter for these stories. It managed to have a decent storyline in a low page count and I’m glad I read it since it managed to bring back some fun memories.

What about you? Have you ever read a Harlequin? What scandalous book or books did you read as a kid?

1- Memory Man 2- The Last Mile 3- The Fix

I listened to these first three books in the Baldacci mystery series about Amos Decker within a month’s time so I think you can safely assume I’m a fan. Jason has also listened to three so far and gives the series a thumbs up.

Amos was a standout college football player at THE Ohio State University (Go Bucks!) and his big time opportunity came with the Cleveland Browns (9-3 woot woot!). On the first play of his NFL career he was brutally injured, not only ending his career, but changing his life forever. From that day forward he could not forget anything, total recall of every moment of his life that he could flip through like a photo album anytime he wanted. This was the case when he went home one night after his shift as a police detective and found his wife, daughter and brother-in-law murdered in his home. The case wasn’t solved and the changed Amos lost his way and ended up living in a dive hotel. That’s where we meet Amos, at a buffet at the hotel.

Amos is one of those quirky characters that are also geniuses that I always seem to like. Because of his remarkable mental abilities he is able to see things that other people miss. I’ve liked the secondary characters, especially Alex and Melvin, and the love they’ve shown to the sometimes hard-to-take Decker. The mysteries themselves are out there, but not so ridiculous that you can’t appreciate them. My favorite so far was The Last Mile where Decker starts working for the FBI and he tries to get an old football opponent off of death row.

A good series I look forward to continuing.