Lora Terrill

Thank you for joining me here!   I hope you enjoy this series and I’d love to hear from you about what you are reading these days.

Book #1:

The Bodyguard by Katherine Center (Length: 310 pages).  I am a fan of this author and her work (Things We Save in a Fire is my favorite of hers) so I was excited to read this one, her latest. While it’s not my favorite, it’s a fun way to pass the time if you’re in the mood for an easy rom-com. The set-up is a female private bodyguard is hired to protect a mega actor/celebrity from a crazed stalker. Somehow the actor contrives a plan for the two of them to pretend to be dating before they go to stay with his parents on their gorgeous ranch in Texas as his mother is recovering from illness. There isn’t a lot of great dialogue in this one (something Center is known for) but I did like both of the main characters. The central “conflict” here is too contrived and utterly unbelievable, so if you’re looking for a really good romance novel, skip this one. Perhaps it’s worth a library read? 2.5 out of 5 stars if I was pressed to rate this one.

Book #2:

The World’s Strongest Librarian by Josh Hanagarne (Length: 304 pages).  I listened to this non-fiction book and it reminded me of while I love to read memoirs . . . learning about the different facets of other people’s lives is fascinating and I always walk away having learned something new. This particular memoir is authored by a (former?) member of the LDS church who is a librarian who lives with Tourette’s and discovers weightlifting (in various forms) as a way to temporarily mitigate the symptoms of his disease. Josh discusses his ongoing struggles with his faith, which is the most interesting part of this book, how books have enriched his life, as well as telling tales of working in a public library in Salt Lake City. I enjoyed this on audio–the narrator’s voice was perfect for this book. The topics in this memoir are a bit niche but I do believe there is something in here for everyone, especially if you love reading.

Book #3:

Know My Name: A Memoir by Chanel Miller (Length: 366 pages).  This memoir written by the rape victim of Brock Turner (the Stanford swimmer) was this month’s book club pick, and I’m SO glad I finally read this incredibly well-written book. Chanel’s writing is exquisite . . . the tone is always perfectly appropriate, her turns of phrase are beautifully written and her powers of persuasion evoke incredible empathy for crime victims everywhere, especially female victims. Chanel was sexually assaulted by Turner in January of 2015 on the Stanford campus, but was known only by the name Emily Doe, to protect her privacy. Chanel’s victim impact statement (all 12 pages of it) was published by Buzzfeed and went viral with over 15 million views. That statement galvanized a movement which ultimately unseated the idiotic judge who sentenced Brock to a measly 6 months in jail (3 months due to overcrowding). This book is a must-read for anyone and everyone, to understand how female victims of violent sexual crimes are treated by the system, a system that I personally am a part of. I plan to share this title with the victim advocates in my office (even though they don’t “need” it as they are incredible advocates) but because they will also appreciate the nuances of how victims of crime perceive the system. This is one of those rare books that the reader will always remember . . . mostly for how it makes them feel. Two enthusiastic thumbs up!

Thank you for joining me here!   I hope you enjoy this series and I’d love to hear from you about what you are reading these days.

Book #1:

Unmissing by Minka Kent (Length: 251 pages).  This is a super short mystery thriller where the first wife who has been presumed dead for the past 10 years shows up on the doorstep of her husband’s home with his new wife and child. There are several twists and turns that I didn’t see coming, which is always fun, and it’s definitely a wild ride. The writing is decent, and the plot is propulsive. It’s not my favorite all-time thriller (see my review of The Chain below as that one is quite possibly one of the best I’ve read), but this is worth a library checkout for sure. It’s better written than a lot of the current thrillers out right now.

Book #2:

The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, 83 1/4 Years Old by Hester Velmans (Length: 342 pages). I enjoyed this novel written from the perspective of an elderly resident of an assisted-living home in Amsterdam, in the form of a daily diary written over the course of one calendar year. His tales of being a member of the Old But Not Dead gang, a group of 8 residents, are adorable, and he showcases all of their different personalities in an engaging manner. Hendrik is a bit grumpy (reminding me of Backman’s A Man Called Ove) but also with a big heart with a lot of empathy for others. His quick wit and asides make this a book worth reading. There are 2 more novels after this, which I may read too. I absolutely recommend this one for those who also love lovable curmudgeons.

Book #3:

The Chain by Adrian McKinty (Length: 369 pages).  The premise of this thriller is incredibly unique and VERY chilling (spoiler alert: it’s awesome!): your child is kidnapped and to get him/her back, you must first pay ransom in the form of Bitcoins equivalent to half the balance of your bank accounts, and then you must kidnap a child yourself. Once these demands are met, then your child will be released but if the chain is ever broken, people will die (and they do). I will say no children get killed in this book so if you’re an HSP, don’t worry in that regard. This is very fast-paced, well-written and a wild ride emotionally. I give this 2 very enthusiastic thumbs up. Perfect travel read!

Thank you for joining me here!   I hope you enjoy this series and I’d love to hear from you about what you are reading these days.

Book #1:

Who is Maud Dixon? by Alexandra Andrews (Length: 337 pages).  It’s taken me a while to get around to reading this uber-popular mystery, but I’m glad I made the time to read it. Part mystery, part thriller, this novel is about Florence Darrow, a woman who becomes the assistant to an author who goes by the pen name, Maud Dixon. From NYC to a small town in the Hudson Valley, then to Morocco, this novel certainly features a very strong sense of place. As a reader you are THERE in the middle of the action, thanks to the descriptive writing. There are lots of twists and turns, and it’s a bit like the movie The Sixth Sense where you may be surprised by where it’s going and feel like you need to re-read parts of the book. Although I figured out the major plot twist fairly early on, I still thoroughly enjoyed the entire ride. Warning: there are zero likeable characters here, but that’s okay with me.

Book #2:

The Book of Cold Cases  by Simone St. James (Length: 350 pages).  This is another thriller/mystery, and is this month’s pick for my book club. The novel toggles between two time periods: 1977, following Beth Greer, a young wealthy woman accused of a grisly double murder and in 2027, following Shea, a true crime blogger in Claire Lake, Oregon. Eventually Beth and Shea meet, and a creepy mansion becomes character #3 in this novel. There’s a murder investigation and trial, along with a touch of romance. This novel truly has it all . . . it’s well-written, decent character development, a propulsive plot and an unforgettable story. I loved this book!

Book #3:

The Murder Rule by Dervla McTiernan (Length: 300 pages).  Yet another crime thriller/mystery about a law student Hannah Rokeby who joins an Innocence Project case with the sole objective of tanking it because the Project is representing a man who screwed Hannah’s mother over several years earlier. The plot is absolutely propulsive as I couldn’t put it down. Short chapters so they fly by. I will say there are a few continuity errors which distracted me (for example, Hannah is told her apartment is on the 3rd floor but then she’s taken to 5B on the fifth floor) and there are quite a few unbelievable parts from a legal perspective (drawback of being a prosecutor when reading legal thrillers) but these legal impossibilities won’t detract from the story if you are a layperson. I would recommend this if you’re in the mood for a fast-paced mystery and you’re willing to suspend your disbelief in general.

Book #4:

Cover Story by Susan Rigetti (Length: 362 pages).  This is a story very similar to the Inventing Anna mini-series (a true story based on the con woman Anna Sorokin) but this novel features a Russian con artist named Cat Wolfe who convinces NYC dropout Lora Ricci to ghostwrite a book of short stories for her. The writing style here is a bit stilted but it almost works as this novel is wholly epistolary as the story is told in the form of emails, texts and entries in Lora’s diary. This book is very fast-paced (once you hit the 25% mark or so), the character development is decent (inasmuch as you are let inside the con artist’s head), and the twists do not stop coming. I was worried it would be too similar to Anna Sorokin’s story but there are definitely sufficient differences to make this worth checking out. This is the perfect beach read!

Book #5:

Mary Jane by Jessica Anya Blau (Length: 335 pages).  This is a sweet novel that gave me Daisy Jones and the Six vibes. Set in the 1970s, it features Mary Jane, a fourteen year old girl living in Baltimore who becomes a nanny for a precocious young girl, Izzy, the daughter of Dr Cone, a psychiatrist and his wife. That same summer Izzy’s father treats a well-known rock star, Jimmy, for his drug addiction and invites Jimmy and his even more famous actress/singer wife Sheba to stay with them. Mary Jane is used to a buttoned-up “normal” husband-wife dynamic like she experiences at home but is treated to an entirely different way of living when she’s in the Cone household. Mary Jane imposes her sense of order on the household, one drawer and room at a time, while enjoying the rock and roll lifestyle from afar. This is not fluff at all, but it’s a very sweet, fun read, and the character development is fantastic. I adore this book!

Book #6:

Breathless by Amy McCulloch (Length: 342 pages). Warning: do NOT start this book unless you’ve set aside a block of time to finish this book. Think a mix of Into Thin Air and The Descent, or a comparable outdoor thriller. This is a well-written, wild ride following journalist Cecily Wong, a relatively novice hiker from Great Britain who is chosen to accompany the world-famous Charles McVeigh on Manashu, the last of his 14 Peaks Clean hikes (hiking alpinist style without ropes, and without supplemental oxygen). The author was the youngest female Canadian to hike Manashu, and it’s clear she’s bringing her real-life knowledge to the details in this novel. There are murdered people, scary mountain scenes and thrills abound. You will be absolutely breathless while reading. A fantastic book to read while traveling.

Thank you for joining me here!   I hope you enjoy this series and I’d love to hear from you about what you are reading these days.

Book #1:

Unmasked: My Life Solving America’s Cold Cases by Paul Holes (Length: 279 pages).  I first learned of Paul Holes when reading Michelle McNamara’s I’ll be Gone in the Dark, which I insist is the best true-crime book every written, period. Paul Hole discusses the Golden State Killer case covered by Michelle in her book in his book too, and how, after 24 years, he discovered the GSK’s true identity, just after Michelle passed away. Paul also discusses his professional evolution from lab tech to criminalist to detective, and how his obsessive focus and personality affected his personal life. This book is very well-written (his co-author won a Pulitzer Prize for news reporting) and contains lots of interesting details about his life’s work. Excellent book and I recommend to any mystery and true-crime book lover.

Book #2:

The Arc by Tory Henwood Hoen (Length: 344 pages).  People whose opinion I respect recommended this romance to me and I agree with their recommendation for sure. Ursula and Rafael are matched, courtesy of an uber-expensive ($40,000-50,000!) and high-tech dating service in New York City called “The Arc.” I adored the NYC setting here, the character development is very well-done, the characters’ snappy and witty dialogue sings on the pages and it’s very well-paced in terms of plot. A bit formulaic as most romances go, and for the love of GOD, just TALK to one another, but I guess that’s something that makes romance novels go round? This is something different though, and I absolutely recommend this to any discerning romance reader.

Book #3:

Welcome to the School by the Sea by Jenny Colgan (Length: 292 pages).  I adore Jenny Colgan’s books so when I saw she was re-releasing books she wrote over a decade ago under a pen name, I grabbed this one, the first in what will be a series of 6 books set in an elite girls’ boarding school by the sea in Cornwall, England. This series is geared toward adult women who are nostalgic for boarding school books but written from the point of view of adults. In this first book, the protagonist is a newer teacher from Scotland who accepts a job at this school coming from a more rough and tumble public school that she herself attended as a child. I do agree with reviewers here who wonder about Jenny Colgan’s obsession with the weight of her characters, but overall, I found this was an easy and fun read and a great way to spend an afternoon by the pool.

Book #4:

The Island by Adrian McKinty (Length: 385 pages).  This is a thriller (physical not psychological) set on a small island in Australia, where a family is stranded after things go awry during a quick drive around the island for the kids to see koala bears in the wild. There is minimal character development here, so you are reading this for the propulsive plot only (otherwise you will be eye-rolling the entire way through about WHY characters are acting the way that they are). This reads like a movie and sure enough, it’s already scheduled to be on Hulu as an original series. Think Deliverance plus Survivor on this one and enjoy this fun ride for summer! Perfect beach or travel read so long as your check your disbelief at the door.

Thank you for joining me here!   I hope you enjoy this series and I’d love to hear from you about what you are reading these days.

Book #1:

Like a House on Fire by Lauren McBrayer (Length: 316 pages).  I could NOT put this novel down. Merit, a 40-year-old architect with two young children goes back to work full-time for a very charismatic older woman, Jane. The two immediately click as co-workers and then as friends. Merit is very “comfortable” in a 10-year marriage but she (as many of us do) finds her husband not to be very super helpful with the kids, thoughtful, etc. Enter romantic crush in the form of Jane. This is not very open door at all and is more about the love story that starts between the two. I absolutely loved the writing style, the pacing was perfection, and while I was a bit annoyed with Merit at times, this was a win for me. (The ending did throw me for a bit of a loop given the preceding build up, but overall it’s a great read.)

Book #2:

The Sentence by Louise Erdrich (Length: 395 pages). Two thumbs up for me for this wonderful book! It’s been on my radar for quite a while thanks to several book podcasters raving about it, but they’re right. The protagonist is Tookie, an Ojibwe Indian living in Minneapolis, working at the author’s real-life bookshop (the author Louise is mentioned throughout which is fun!) when she realizes that the bookshop is haunted by its most annoying customer, Flora, who recently passed away. Flora was a white woman who wanted to be a tribal member. The timeline is centered pre-pandemic and during the pandemic and the author covers the murder of George Floyd, the pandemic, Indigenous culture, etc so it’s very immersive and very “now”. I absolutely adore this book and will be recommending it to my discerning reader friends for sure.

Book #3:

The Anthropocene Reviewed  by John Green (Length: 302 pages).  This is a another very hot book now, and it lives up to its hype. It’s a book of essays, subtitled Essays on a Human-Centered Planet. The author has random musings, some deep such as “Our Capacity for Wonder” and “You’ll Never Walk Alone” but most are fun “Diet Dr Pepper” and “Scratch n Sniff Stickers” but with a core of heart. He reminds me of Malcolm Gladwell as he reveals the “truth” behind many assumptions we all have about people and events. The theme is the author is “reviewing” various aspects of the anthropocene (a geological time frame starting from the time humans arrived on earth) with a star rating system. I found this to be the PERFECT audiobook. The essays are a perfect length for a commute, and they are read by the author himself.