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Comments Off on Kate’s 2¢: “The Dark Side” by Danielle Steel
Kate’s 2¢: “The Dark Side” by Danielle Steel
“The Dark Side” by Danielle Steel
Michael Braun did a good job of narrating this story about a mental illness that is gaining notoriety. It is hard to fathom someone intentionally harming their own child, but we still don’t know all there is to know about the human mind.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
www.daniellesteel.com
Danielle Fernandes Dominique Schuelein-Steel (born August 14, 1947) is an American writer, best known for her romance novels. She is the bestselling living author and one of the best-selling fiction authors of all time, with over 800 million copies sold.[3] As of 2021, she has written 190 books, including over 140[4] novels.
Based in California for most of her career, Steel has produced several books a year, often juggling up to five projects at once. All of her novels have been bestsellers, including those issued in hardback, despite “a resounding lack of critical acclaim” (Publishers Weekly).[5] Her books often involve rich families facing a crisis, threatened by dark elements such as prison, fraud, blackmail and suicide. Steel has also published children’s fiction and poetry, as well as creating a foundation that funds mental illness-related organizations.[6] Her books have been translated into 43 languages,[7] with 22 adapted for television, including two that have received Golden Globe nominations.
Early life[edit]
Steel was born Danielle Fernandes Dominique Schuelein-Steel in New York City to a German father and a Portuguese mother. Her father, John Schuelein-Steel, was a German-Jewish immigrant and a descendant of owners of Löwenbräu beer. Her mother, Norma da Camara Stone dos Reis, was the daughter of a Portuguese diplomat.[8][9][10][11] She spent much of her childhood in France,[12] where from an early age she was included in her parents’ dinner parties, giving her an opportunity to observe the habits and lives of the wealthy and famous.[10] Her parents divorced when she was eight, and she was raised primarily by her father, rarely seeing her mother.[8]
Steel started writing stories as a child, and by her late teens had begun writing poetry.[13] Raised Catholic, she thought of becoming a nun during her early years.[14] A 1965 graduate of the Lycée Français de New York,[15] she studied literature design and fashion design,[13] first at Parsons School of Design and then at New York University.[16]
Career[edit]
1965–1971: Career beginnings[edit]
While still attending New York University, Steel began writing, completing her first manuscript at 19.[13] Steel worked for a public-relations agency in New York called Supergirls. A client, Ladies’ Home Journal editor John Mack Carter, encouraged her to focus on writing,[11] having been impressed with her freelance articles. He suggested she write a book, which she did. She later moved to San Francisco and worked as a copywriter for Grey Advertising.
From NLS/BARD/LOC:
The dark side DB96431
Steel, Danielle. Reading time: 8 hours, 33 minutes.
Read by Michael Braun.
Bestsellers
Psychological Fiction
Zoe Morgan’s childhood revolved around her younger sister’s tragic illness, as her parents dedicated themselves completely to her final days before divorcing. When Zoe has her own child, she is determined to be a perfect mother, but old scars pull her to the edge of an abyss. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. Bestseller. 2019.
Downloaded: October 14, 2023
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Comments Off on Kate’s 2¢: “Dream Maker” by Kristen Ashley
Kate’s 2¢: “Dream Maker” by Kristen Ashley
“Dream Maker” by Kristen Ashley
This was a book chosen at random by NLS and sent to me on a cartridge that contained seven books.
Susannah Jones did a good job of reading this story. Her voice inflections gave the dialogue and sub-thoughts the humor I think the author wanted to use to lighten the heaviness of the topic. The action scenes were enjoyable, except that we became inured by the numerous and predictable sex scenes.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kristen Ashley (born Kristen A L Moutaw: April 8, 1968) is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than 75 books in 14 languages, with over three million copies sold. [1][2][3][4] Two of her novels have been adapted into film.
Career[edit]
Ashley has always enjoyed books. At age 12, she began surreptitiously borrowing her mother’s Harlequin Presents romance novels and fell in love with the genre.[1] As an adult, Ashley began writing books in the evenings, after she finished a long day of working in the medical field – first at the Rocky Mountain MS Center, then the Colorado Neurological Institute, and then, after a move to Bristol, England, at The Pituitary Foundation.[1] Over 15 years, Ashley wrote almost 25 romance novels. She attempted to find an agent or a publisher for her works but was consistently rejected.[5]
Ashley finally decided to publish her work independently on Kindle. She released three or four of her previously written titles each month and found an audience relatively quickly. Her readership expanded after a major blogger reviewed one of her novels, Sweet Dreams.[5] Between her day job and her writing and publishing efforts, Ashley worked, on average, 14–16 hours a day, seven days a week, for years.[5] Once her writing career reached a certain threshold, Ashley hired help; she now has an assistant and works with graphic designers, proofreaders, and copyeditors.[5]
In 2013, Ashley signed her first traditional publishing contract, with Grand Central Publishing’s Forever line.[6] As of 2019, she had released three series’ worth of books through traditional publishing.[5] Ashley chose to foray into traditional publishing for two primary reasons. First, she wanted to improve her craft by working with an experienced editor. Second, she wanted to make her books more accessible. With traditional publishing, her novels would be available in print as well as ebooks, which would expand her audience to people without ereaders and those who liked to browse bookstores and libraries.[6] Ashley insisted that her publisher keep ebook prices low, at $3.99, to ensure that readers weren’t priced out. In an interview in 2019, she noted that her “print sales are abysmal”; most of her income comes from ebook sales and merchandise that she creates based on her books.[5]
Passionflix purchased the film rights to several of Ashley’s novels. The Will, based on Ashley’s novel of the same name, was released on February 14, 2020. It was directed by Louise Alston and starred Megan Dodds, Chris McKenna, Martin Dingle-Wall and Patrick Byas.[7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] In 2020, Passionflix will be filming an adaption of Ashleys’ “Three Wishes”.[15]
As of 2019, Ashley had published more than 60 novels, which have been translated into 14 languages and sold a combined three million copies.[2]
As influences, Ashley cites Janet Evanovich, Judith McNaught, JK Rowling, Carl Hiaasen.[17][18]
In interviews, Ashley states that she struggled with sleep due to an active mind, which she turned to creating stories that she continued developing over time. Her heroes are often Alpha males with the heroine bringing a strong character to match them.[19][20][21][22] Her heroines run the gamut from independent women who run their own businesses to more traditional women whose utmost goal is to become a mother.[2] Family, friends and music are recurring thematic elements.[17] She claims that she does not tone down or restrict her characters into the typical hero and heroines found in romance novels, this being part of the reason for rejections by traditional publishers.[2] She notes that “I celebrate imperfections. …None of my characters are perfect. They don’t say the right thing. They get exhausted and they pick at each other and they bicker.”[2] She has written racially diverse characters, as well as LGBTQ characters.[2]
Though mainly in the romance genre, she covers other sub-genres in her work, including; fantasy, erotica and paranormal
From NLS/BARD/LOC:
Dream maker DB110785
Ashley, Kristen Reading time: 12 hours, 59 minutes.
Susannah Jones
Suspense Fiction
Romance
“Evie is a bona fide nerd and a hyperintelligent chick who has only ever been able to rely on herself. So when she decides to earn an engineering degree, she takes a job dancing at Smithie’s club to make the tuition money she needs. But between her lack of dancing skills and an alpha bad boy who becomes overly protective, Evie realizes this gig might not be as easy as she thought. Daniel “Mag” Magnusson knows a thing or two about pain, but the mask he wears is excellent. No one can tell that this good-looking, quick-witted, and roguish guy has deep-seated issues. Mag puts on a funny-guy routine so he can hide his broken heart and PTSD. But when Evie dances her way into Mag’s life, he realizes that he needs to come face-to-face with the demons of his past if he wants a future with her.” — Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook.
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Comments Off on Kate’s 2¢: “Good grief: on loving pets, here and hereafter” by E. B. Bartels,
Kate’s 2¢: “Good grief: on loving pets, here and hereafter” by E. B. Bartels,
“Good grief: on loving pets, here and hereafter” by E. B. Bartels,
This was a book chosen at random by NLS and sent to me on a cartridge that contained seven books.
Eileen Stevens Did a good job of reading this book.
It is important to know that we all grieve differently. There is no ‘right’ way. If you are having a particularly tough time reconciling with your pet’s death, you are not alone. There are organizations to contact to share your concerns.
From the WEB:
E.B. Bartels is a nonfiction writer, a former Newtonville Books bookseller, and a GrubStreet instructor, with an MFA from Columbia University. She is the author of Good Grief: On Loving Pets, Here and Hereafter, a narrative nonfiction book about loving and losing animals, and her essays and interviews have appeared in Salon, Slate, WBUR, Literary Hub, Catapult, Electric Literature, The Believer, and The Rumpus, among others. E.B. lives in Massachusetts with her husband, Richie, and their many, many pets.
From NLS/BARD/LOC:
Good grief: on loving pets, here and hereafter DB110115
Bartels, E. B Reading time: 5 hours, 50 minutes.
Eileen Stevens
Psychology and Self-Help
Animals and Wildlife
“E.B. Bartels has had a lot of pets–dogs, birds, fish, tortoises. As varied a bunch as they are, they’ve taught her one universal truth: to own a pet is to love a pet, and to own a pet is also–with rare exception–to lose that pet in time. But while we have codified traditions to mark the passing of our fellow humans, most cultures don’t have the same for pets. Bartels takes us from Massachusetts to Japan, from ancient Egypt to the modern era, in search of the good pet death. We meet veterinarians, archaeologists, ministers, and more, offering an idiosyncratic, inspiring array of rituals–from the traditional (scattering ashes, commissioning a portrait), to the grand (funereal processions, mausoleums), to the unexpected (taxidermy, cloning). The central lesson: there is no best practice when it comes to mourning your pet, except to care for them in death as you did in life, and find the space to participate in their end as fully as you can. Punctuated by wry, bighearted accounts of Bartels’s own pets and their deaths, Good Grief is a cathartic companion through loving and losing our animal family.” — Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook.
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Kate’s 2¢: “Good Me Bad Me” by Ali Land
“Good Me Bad Me” by Ali Land
Shocking. Truly a disturbing psychological thriller. The thought of such epic child abuse is abhorrent enough, but then to have the child continue the behavior taught to her by her mother is really scary.
Imogen Church did a good job of reading this novel. She used just enough voice inflections to let you know who was talking and when it was the inner thoughts of the character.
Ali Land Biography
Ali Land graduated from university with a degree in Mental Health and spent a decade working as a Child and Adolescent Mental Health Nurse; the way in which children survive extraordinary circumstances interests her greatly. Land is now a full-time writer. Books from her teenage years – in particular The Wasp Factory and Lord of the Flies – helped inspired her debut novel, Good Me, Bad Me.
FROM NLS/BARD/LOC:
Good me bad me DB89419
Land, Ali. Reading time: 10 hours, 7 minutes.
Read by Imogen Church.
Suspense Fiction
Psychological Fiction
Milly’s mother is a serial killer. Though Milly loves her mother, the only way to make her stop is to turn her in to the police. Milly is given a new identity with an affluent foster family and an exclusive private school. But has she inherited her mother’s ways? Violence, strong language, and explicit descriptions of sex. Commercial audiobook. 2017.
Downloaded: December 7, 2023
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Comments Off on Kate’s 2¢: “The Kingdoms” by Natasha Pulley
Kate’s 2¢: “The Kingdoms” by Natasha Pulley
“The Kingdoms” by Natasha Pulley
J.P. Linton did a good job of reading this lengthy story. Although, sections were titled, it was difficult the jump from one parallel time to the other age.
I enjoyed the mystery of the narrative arc, even though, I didn’t like the ending.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Natasha Pulley (born 4 December 1988) is a British author. She is best known for her debut novel, The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, which won a Betty Trask Award.
Education[edit]
She was educated at Soham Village College, New College, Oxford, and the University of East Anglia (MA in Creative Writing (Prose Fiction), 2012).[1][2][3]
Works[edit]
Her debut novel, The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, was published in 2015[4] and was set in Victorian London.[5] It won a 2016 Betty Trask Award.[6] Her second novel, The Bedlam Stacks, was published in 2017,[7] and her third, The Lost Future of Pepperharrow, was released in the UK in 2019.[8] All three are set in the same fictional universe.[9] Pulley’s fourth book, an alternative history, The Kingdoms, was released in May 2021.[10] In June 2022, her fifth book, The Half Life of Valery K, came out.[11]
From NLS/BARD/LOC:
The kingdoms DB105679
Pulley, Natasha Reading time: 15 hours, 54 minutes.
J.P. Linton
Science Fiction
Fantasy Fiction
In a version of history where the French won the Battle of Trafalgar and made slaves of the British population, amnesiac Joe Tournier follows clues to learn more of his identity. While tracking down the origins of a mysterious postcard, Joe accidentally travels back in time. Strong language and some violence. 2021.
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Kate’s 2¢: “Balladz” by Sharon Olds
“Balladz” by Sharon Olds
This was a book chosen at random by NLS and sent to me on a cartridge that contained seven books.
It was interesting to hear Sharon Olds read her own poems, but they were not my cup of tea. I did not enjoy these poems
From NLS/BARD/LOC:
Balladz DB110528
Olds, Sharon Reading time: 3 hours, 36 minutes.
Sharon Olds
Poetry
“”At the time of have-not, I look at myself in this mirror,” writes Olds in this self-scouring, exhilarating volume, which opens with a section of quarantine poems, and at its center boasts what she calls Amherst Balladz (whose syntax honors Emily Dickinson: “she was our Girl – our Woman – / Man enough – for me”) and many more in her own contemporary, long-flowing-sentence rhythm. Olds sings of her childhood, young womanhood, and maturity all mixed up together, seeing an early lover in the one who is about to buried; seeing her white privilege without apology; seeing her mother (whom her readers will recognize) “flushed exalted at Punishment time”; seeing how we’ve spoiled the earth but carrying a stray indoor spider carefully back out to the garden. It is Olds’s gift to us that in the richly detailed exposure of her sorrows she can still elegize songbirds, her true kin, and write that heaven comes here in life, not after it.” — Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook.
”The Kiss Curse” by Erin Sterling
At first, I thought this story would appeal to teen readers, however, I found that there were some very explicit descriptions of sex. Not appropriate for teen readers (at least, in my opinion)!
Well, yes, I did enjoy the repartee of the witches and the drama of the romance.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rachel Hawkins (born November 23, 1979) is the author of Hex Hall, a best-selling trilogy of young adult paranormal romance novels. She is from Dothan, Alabama.[1][2] She also writes as Erin Sterling.[3]
Biography[edit]
Hawkins was born in Newport News, Virginia, moved to Dothan, Alabama at a young age, graduated from Houston Academy in 1998, and received a degree in English literature from Auburn University in 2002. She began writing her first novel, Hex Hall, while working as an English teacher at Sparkman High School. As of 2021, Hawkins lives with her family in Auburn, Alabama.[4] edit]
From NLS/BARD/LOC:
The kiss curse: a novel DB110606
Sterling, Erin Reading time: 7 hours, 49 minutes.
Shannon McManus
Humor
Family
Fantasy Fiction
Supernatural and Horror Fiction
Romance
“Gwyn Jones is perfectly happy with her life in Graves Glen. She, her mom, and her cousin have formed a new and powerful coven; she’s running a successful witchcraft shop, Something Wicked; and she’s started mentoring some of the younger witches in town. As Halloween approaches, there’s only one problem–Llewellyn “Wells” Penhallow. Wells has come to Graves Glen to re-establish his family’s connection to the town they founded as well as to make a new life for himself after years of being the dutiful son in Wales. When he opens up a shop of his own, Penhallow’s, just across the street from Something Wicked, he quickly learns he’s gotten more than he bargained for in going up against Gwyn. When their professional competition leads to a very personal–and very hot–kiss, both Wells and Gwyn are determined to stay away from each other, convinced the kiss was just a magical fluke. But when a mysterious new coven of witches come to town and Gwyn’s powers begin fading, she and Wells must work together to figure out just what these new witches want and how to restore Gwyn’s magic before it’s too late.” — Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook.
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Kate’s 2¢: “The Breakdown” by B. A. Paris
“The Breakdown” by B. A. Paris
I think the term gas lighting applies to this story. Georgia Maguire did a good job of narrating this story and I love the ending.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
baparis.com
B.A. Paris (Bernadette MacDougall)[1] is a Franco-British writer of fiction, mainly in the psychological thriller subgenre. Her debut novel, Behind Closed Doors (2016), was a New York Times[2] and Sunday Times bestseller. It has been translated into 40 languages and has sold more than 3.5 million copies worldwide.
Her other books include The Breakdown (2017),[3] Bring Me Back (2018), The Dilemma (2019)[1][4] and The Therapist (2021).
Background[edit]
B.A. Paris was born in Surrey, England, in 1958 to a French mother and Irish father. She is the third of 6 children, including 4 brothers and a sister. After completing her education, she moved to France, where she worked as a trader in an international bank in Paris for several years. During this time, she met her husband, with whom she now has 5 daughters. They eventually left the world of finance to set up a language school together.
It was only after turning 50 that B.A. Paris began writing, when one of her daughters suggested she enter a writing competition advertised in a magazine. While she didn’t win, this led her to write her first novels, including her internationally bestselling debut Behind Closed Doors. She is published by HarperCollins Publishers in the UK and St Martin’s Press in the US.
Today, B.A. Paris lives in Hampshire with her husband and continues to write psychological thrillers. They have 5 children together.
From NLS/BARD/LOC:
The breakdown DB89117
Paris, B. A. Reading time: 9 hours, 22 minutes.
Read by Georgia Maguire.
Suspense Fiction
Mystery and Detective Stories
Psychological Fiction
Cass is having a hard time since the night she saw the car in the woods, in the middle of a downpour, with the woman sitting inside–the woman who was killed. What could she have done, really? But now someone is watching her. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2017.
Downloaded: October 5, 2023
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Whitaker Kayla Rae The animators a novel
“The animators: a novel” by Kayla Rae Whitaker
Alex McKenna did a good job of reading this story, with all its innuendos of same sex relationships, complex artistic woes, and over-coming a trimitic stroke.
A few take-aways:
–Irrefutable love is us us making a place where redemption exists.
–We start small
–The best part about having a stroke is other people assume you can’t talk at all.
–Your life is the people who fill it.
–I was lucky. From age 18 on, I had a partner, a kindred spirit
–The old impulses are not dead. The voodoo did not die.
From the WEB:
Excerpt: During a trip to Sharon’s home state of Kentucky, the only other partner she has ever truly known—her troubled, charismatic childhood best friend, Teddy—reenters her life, and long-buried resentments rise to the surface, hastening a reckoning no one sees coming.
Kayla Rae Whitaker lives in Louisville, Kentucky. THE ANIMATORS is her first novel.
From NLS/BARD/LOC:
The animators: a novel DB86765
Whitaker, Kayla Rae. Reading time: 15 hours, 26 minutes.
Read by Alex McKenna.
Human Relations
Psychological Fiction
Mel and Sharon have been best friends since their first class in college. After ten years, they are still artistic partners, but their fortunes are on the verge of changing. This forces them to reevaluate not only their own relationship, but their relationships with family and friends. Strong language and descriptions of sex. Commercial audiobook. 2017.
Downloaded: September 27, 2023
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Comments Off on Kate’s 2¢: “The Age of innocence” by Edith Wharten
Kate’s 2¢: “The Age of innocence” by Edith Wharten
“The Age of innocence” by Edith Wharten
A few take-outs:
–Portrail of the New York society in the 1870’s.
–To defy the social ethic was to disturb the foundation of society…adherence to moral commitment.
From: www.sparknotes.com/author/edith-wharton/
Wharton’s protagonists challenge social taboos, but are unable to overcome the barriers of social convention. Wharton’s personal experiences, opinions, and passions influenced her writing. Edith Wharton was born Edith Newbold Jones on January 24, 1862, in New York City to George Frederic Jones and Lucretia Stevens Rhinelander Jones.
In addition to novels, Wharton wrote at least 85 short stories. She was also a garden designer, an interior designer, and a taste-maker of her time. She wrote several design books, including her first major published work, The Decoration of Houses (1897), co-authored by Ogden Codman.
Wharton wrote numerous novels the more famous being ‘The House of Mirth’ (1905), ‘The Reef’ (1912), ‘The Custom of the Country’ (1913) and ‘Summer’ (1917). She won a Pulitzer Prize for a novel she published in 1920 called ‘The Age of Innocence’. This made her the first woman to receive this award
From NLS/BARD/LOC:
The age of innocence DB28162
Wharton, Edith. Reading time: 10 hours, 53 minutes.
Read by J. P Linton.
Literature
Psychological Fiction
Romance
A novel of manners set in New York society in the 1870s, an age of convention, propriety, and tribal solidarity. Newland Archer is torn between his attraction to a woman separated from her husband, and his security in a bland but proper marriage. Pulitzer Prize 1920.
Downloaded: September 27, 2023
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