Kate’s 2¢: “The New couple” by Alison James

“The New couple” by Alison James

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…

   Jill Fox did a great job of narrating this appalling story. I can’t imagine pulling such an elaborate ruse. I guess that is what made this such a compelling story.

from the web

Thealison James  studied languages and literature at Vassar and got her graduate degree from the Center for the Study of Children’s Literature at Simmons. Alison has translated more than 150 picture books for children. She was honored with the Christopher Medal for her translation of the Rainbow Fish.

I studied languages at Oxford, then became a journalist and author, returning to university after my two children to take a law degree.

Bestselling author Alison James has topped the charts in the UK, the USA and Australia. She has also been shortlisted for the McIlvanney crime fiction prize.

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

The new couple DB126835

James, Alison (Thriller writer). Reading time: 8 hours, 46 minutes.

Read by Fox, Jill.

Psychological Fiction

Suspense Fiction

“The perfect marriage. The perfect house. The perfect secret… As I step through the cherry-red door of my new home, I know I should feel like the luckiest woman alive. I have a handsome husband, a beautiful daughter and now the house of my dreams. And to everyone else my life looks perfect… When the neighbours stop by to welcome us, I tell them my name is Stephanie Hamlin and, under the watchful gaze of my husband Richard, I introduce him and our curly haired little girl Poppy. I smile as wide as I can and desperately hope I can fit in to this exclusive place with its pretty communal gardens. Because I’ve risked everything to be here. Behind closed doors I try to relax, to unwind in the huge clawfoot bath and forget about my complicated past. It’s hard being the new couple on the street when you’ve got secrets. Because the truth is, my charming husband isn’t really my husband. And I’m not Stephanie Hamlin…”– Goodreads. Strong language, some violence and some descriptions of sex.

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“Legal Prey” by John Sandford

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…

   Robert Petkoff did a good job of narrating this interesting story.  Isn’t it amazing what people will do for a reward for information.  I liked the way the social platforms were used by sleuths to come up with information to further the case along.  

AI Overview

About this result

John Sandford ruminates on literary success story

John Sandford is the pseudonym of John Roswell Camp, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author known for his crime fiction series, particularly the Prey series featuring Lucas Davenport. He was born on February 23, 1944, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He transitioned to fiction after a successful career in journalism, including a Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing in 1986. 

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Lethal prey DB128112

Sandford, John. Reading time: 11 hours, 15 minutes.

Read by Petkoff, Robert.

Mystery and Detective Stories

Suspense Fiction

“Doris Grandfelt, an employee at an accounting firm, was brutally stabbed to death… but nobody knew exactly where the crime took place. Her body was found the next night, dumped among a dense thicket of trees along the edge of an urban park, eight miles east of St. Paul, Minnesota. Despite her twin sister Lara Grandfelt’s persistent calls to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the killer was never found. Twenty years later, Lara has been diagnosed with breast cancer. Confronted with the possibility of her own death, she’s determined to find Doris’s killer once and for all. Finally taking matters into her own hands, she dumps the entire investigative file on every true-crime site in the world and offers a $5 million reward for information leading to the killer’s arrest. Dozens of true-crime bloggers show up looking for both new evidence and “clicks,” and Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers are called in to review anything that might be a new lead. When one of the bloggers locates the

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Kate’s 2¢: “Open Season” by Jonathan Kellerman

“Open Season” by Jonathan Kellerman

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…

    John Rubinstein did a good job of narrating this story. It can get a bit repetitive, but the out-come might surprise you.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jonathan Seth Kellerman (born August 9, 1949) is an American novelist and psychologist known for his mystery novels featuring the character Alex Delaware, a child psychologist who consults for the Los Angeles Police Department.[1]

Born on the Lower East Side of New York City, his family relocated to Los Angeles when Jonathan was nine years old.[2]

Kellerman graduated from the University of Southern California (USC) with a doctor of philosophy degree in psychology in 1974, and began working as a staff psychologist at the USC School of Medicine, where he eventually became a full clinical professor of pediatrics.[2] He opened a private practice in the early 1980s while writing novels in his garage at night.[3]

His first published novel, When the Bough Breaks, appeared in 1985, many years after writing and having works rejected. He then wrote five best-selling novels while still a practicing psychologist. In 1990, he quit his private practice to write full-time. He has written more than 40 crime novels, as well as nonfiction works and children’s books.[3]

Life and career[edit]

Kellerman was born in New York City, son of David, an aerospace engineer and inventor, and Sylvia, a dancer and office manager. He attended Yeshiva of Central Queens (YCQ) before his family relocated to California. He grew up in Los Angeles and received a Bachelor of Arts in psychology at UCLA in 1971. He worked his way through college as a cartoonist, illustrator, journalist, and editor, as well as by teaching guitar. As a college senior, he co-wrote an unpublished novel that garnered a Samuel Goldwyn writing award. That prize has served as a stepping stone to film writing for other writers, but Kellerman deliberately avoided the world of screenwriting and enrolled in a PhD program in clinical psychology at USC. He received his doctoral degree in psychology from USC in 1974. His doctoral research was on attribution of blame for childhood psychopathology, and he published a scientific paper on that topic, his first, at the age of 22. He is currently a clinical professor of pediatrics at the Keck School of Medicine.[4]

 [edit]

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Open season DB126997

Kellerman, Jonathan. Reading time: 9 hours, 13 minutes.

Read by Rubinstein, John.

Mystery and Detective Stories

Suspense Fiction

“Los Angeles is a city of stars, a city of strivers and wannabes. Not everyone can shine bright, but they’ll burn themselves up for a glimpse of the high life. LAPD homicide lieutenant Milo Sturgis knows it all too The best dreamers often make the worst monsters. The body of an aspiring actress has been found–and she’d been drugged. The main suspect is a stunt double with the ego of an action star. He’s more brawn than brains, it seems, with few boundaries when it comes to women. But he’s offed before Milo and Alex can get to him. Worse yet, the rifle that killed him was used in a prior case…and another case before that. And then it’s fired again and again, taking victims right under their noses. They begin to think that someone is avenging the victims of men without boundaries–but is this a slick, efficient assassin with their own corrupt code of justice, or a knight errant, one who doesn’t want to be seen, but still wants to be known? Alex and Milo soon find themselves in the thi

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Kate’s 2¢: “The Amish Nanny” by Patricia Davids by  

“The Amish Nanny” by Patricia Davids by  

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…

   Kristin Allison did a sweet reading of this predictable story. I love how the huge horses won over the Amish maiden.

A few take-aways:

–Our simple and plain ways are meant to to keep God first and family close.

–Nevever forget that a happy wife makes for a happy life.

Copilot said

Patricia Davids is a USA Today bestselling author known for her inspirational and Amish romance novels. She grew up on a farm in Kansas with four brothers, several dogs, and horses—an upbringing that shaped her love for storytelling and country life

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

The Amish nanny DB125047

Davids, Patricia. Reading time: 5 hours, 42 minutes.

Read by Allison, Kristin.

Family

Religious Fiction

Romance

“A reclusive Amish logger, Ethan Gingerich is more comfortable around his draft horses than the orphaned niece and nephews he’s taken in. Yet he’s determined to provide the children with a good, loving home. The little ones, including a defiant eight-year-old, need a proper nanny. But when Ethan hires shy Amishwoman Clara Barkman, he never expects her temporary position to have such a lasting hold on all of them. Now this man of few words must convince Clara she’s found her forever home and family.”– From publisher.

Downloaded: May 11, 2025

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Kate’s 2¢: “Lullaby” by Chuck Palahniuk

“Lullaby” by Chuck Palahniuk

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…

   I absolutely love listening to LJ Ganser read anything. This rather scary story was no exception.

 A few take-aways:

–A world where people are afraid to listen…—Some toxic words buried in the loud music.

–Constructive distruction isn’t what I’m looking for.

–When there’s the possibility of a little power, you already want more.

–All we know about sudden death syndrome, is there is no pattern.

–Do we have free will or are we ruled by mass media?

CoPilot says:

Chuck Palahniuk is an American novelist known for his dark, transgressive, and often satirical fiction. He was born in Pasco, Washington, on February 21, 1962, and is best known for his novel “Fight Club,” which was adapted into a popular film. 

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

www.chuckpalahniuk.net

Charles Michael Palahniuk (/ˈpɔːlənɪk/;[1][2], Ukrainian pronunciation: [pɐlɐɦˈnʲuk], born February 21, 1962) is an American novelist of Ukrainian and French ancestry who describes his work as transgressional fiction.[3][4] He has published 19 novels, three nonfiction books, two graphic novels, and two adult coloring books, as well as several short stories. His first published novel was Fight Club, which was adapted into a film of the same title.

Early life[edit]

Palahniuk was born in Pasco, Washington, the son of Carol Adele (née Tallent) and Fred Palahniuk.[5][6] He has French and Ukrainian ancestry.[7] His paternal grandfather migrated from Ukraine to Canada and then to New York in 1907.[8]

Palahniuk grew up living in a mobile home in Burbank, Washington. His parents separated when he was 14 years old; they subsequently divorced, often leaving him and his three siblings to live with their maternal grandparents at their cattle ranch in eastern Washington.[9] Palahniuk acknowledged in a 2007 interview that he is a distant relative of actor Jack Palance (né Volodymyr Palahniuk) and his daughter, Holly,[10] and that his family had talked of distant relations with the Palances.[11]

Palahniuk attended the University of Oregon, graduating with a degree in journalism in 1986. As part of his coursework, he interned at the local public radio station, KLCC.[12]

Career[edit]

Early career[edit]

Palahniuk wrote for his local newspaper for a short while but then began working for Freightliner Trucks as a diesel mechanic, continuing until his writing career took off. During that time, he wrote manuals on fixing trucks and had a stint as a journalist, a job to which he did not return until after he became a successful novelist. After casually attending a seminar by Landmark Education, Palahniuk quit his job as a journalist in 1988.[13] He performed volunteer work for a homeless shelter and volunteered at a hospice as an escort, providing transportation for terminally ill people, taking them to support group meetings. He ceased volunteering upon the death of a patient to whom he had grown attached.[14]

Palahniuk began writing fiction in his early 30s. By his account, he started writing while attending workshops for writers that were hosted by Tom Spanbauer, which he attended to meet new friends. Spanbauer largely inspired Palahniuk’s minimalistic writing style.[15]

Fight Club[edit]

After his first novel – Invisible Monsters – was rejected by all publishers he submitted it to, he began work on his first published novel, Fight Club.[16] Palahniuk wrote this story in his spare time while working for Freightliner. After initially publishing it as a short story (which became chapter 6 of the novel) in the 1995 compilation Pursuit of Happiness, Palahniuk expanded it into a full novel, which, contrary to his expectations, a publisher accepted.[17]

Initially, Palahniuk struggled to find a literary agent and went without one until after the publication of Fight Club.[18] After he began receiving attention from 20th Century Fox, Palahniuk was signed by actor and literary agent Edward Hibbert.[18][19][20] Hibbert eventually guided and brokered the deal that took Fight Club to the big screen.[18] In 1999, the film adaptation by director David Fincher was released.[21]

Invisible Monsters, Survivor, and Choke[edit]

A revised version of Invisible Monsters, as well as his fourth novel, Survivor, were published in 1999. A few years later Palahniuk managed to complete his first New York Times bestseller, the novel Choke, which later was made into a movie.

Lullaby[edit]

File:Palahniuk,_Chuck

Palahniuk at the Miami Book Fair International 2011

The year 1999 brought a series of great personal tragedies to Palahniuk’s life. At that time, his father, Fred Palahniuk, had started dating a woman named Donna Fontaine, whom he had met through a personal ad under the title “Kismet”.[22] Her former boyfriend, Dale Shackelford, had previously been imprisoned for sexual abuse and had vowed to kill Fontaine as soon as he was released from prison. Palahniuk believes that, using a personal ad, Fontaine was looking for “the biggest man she could find” to protect her from Shackelford, and Palahniuk’s father qualified.[23] After his release, Shackelford followed Fontaine and the senior Palahniuk to Fontaine’s home in Kendrick, Idaho, after they had gone out for a date. Shackelford then shot them both and dragged their bodies into Fontaine’s cabin home, which he then set alight. In the spring of 2001, Shackelford was found guilty for two counts of murder in the first degree and sentenced to death. In the wake of these events, Palahniuk began working on the novel Lullaby. He has stated that he wrote the novel to help him cope with having participated in the decision to have Shackelford receive the death sentence.[24]

“Guts” and Haunted[edit]

While on his 2003 tour to promote his novel Diary, Palahniuk read to his audiences a short story entitled “Guts”, a sensational tale of accidents involving masturbation, which appears in his book Haunted. The story begins with the author telling his listeners to inhale deeply and that “this story should last about as long as you can hold your breath.” It was reported that 40 people had fainted listening to the readings while holding their breath.[25] Playboy magazine later published the story in their March 2004 issue and Palahniuk offered to let them publish another story along with it, but the publishers found the second work too disturbing to publish. On his tour to promote Stranger than Fiction: True Stories during the summer of 2004, he read “Guts” to audiences again, bringing the total number of fainters up to 53 (and later up to 60 while on tour to promote the softcover edition of Diary). In the fall of that year, he began promoting Haunted, and continued to read “Guts”. In June 2005, Palahniuk noted that his number of fainters was up to 67.[26]

At a 2005 appearance in Miami, Florida, during the Haunted tour, Palahniuk commented that Haunted represented the last of a “horror trilogy” (including Lullaby and Diary). He also indicated that his then-forthcoming novel, Rant, would be the first of a “science fiction trilogy”.

In 2008, Palahniuk spent a week at the Clarion West Writers Workshop, instructing eighteen students about his writing methods and theory of fiction.[27]

Adaptations[edit]

In addition to the film, Fight Club was adapted into a fighting video game loosely based on the film, which was released in October 2004, receiving universally poor reviews.[28] Palahniuk has mentioned at book readings that he is working on a musical based on Fight Club with David Fincher and Trent Reznor.[29] Edward Norton has said that he thinks it is unlikely that he and Brad Pitt, who “can’t sing,” would reprise their film roles in a musical.[30]

Graphic novel adaptations of Invisible Monsters and Lullaby, drawn by comic artist Kissgz, a.k.a. Gabor, are available online.[31]

Following the success of the movie of Fight Club, interest began to build about adapting Survivor to film. The film rights to Survivor were sold in early 2001, but no movie studio had committed to filming the novel. After the attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, movie studios apparently deemed the novel too controversial to film because it includes the hijacking and crashing of a civilian airplane.[32]

Following that, the film rights to Invisible Monsters and Diary also were sold. While little is known about some of these projects, it is known that Jessica Biel was signed on to play the roles of both Shannon and Brandy in Invisible Monsters, which was supposed to begin filming in 2004, but as of 2010 was still in development.[33]

On January 14, 2008, the film version of Choke premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, starring Sam Rockwell, Kelly Macdonald and Anjelica Huston with Clark Gregg directing.[34] David Fincher expressed interest in filming Diary as an HBO miniseries.[35][36]

On September 11, 2014, the film version of Rant was announced, starring James Franco, with Pamela Romanowsky writing and directing.[37]

Writing style and themes[edit]

Style[edit]

Palahniuk says that his writing style has been influenced by authors such as the minimalist Tom Spanbauer (whose weekly workshop Palahniuk attended in Portland from 1991 to 1996),[38] Amy Hempel, Mark Richard, Denis Johnson, Joan Didion, Thom Jones, Bret Easton Ellis and philosophers Michel Foucault, Friedrich Nietzsche and Albert Camus.[39][40][41] In what the author refers to as a minimalistic approach, his writings include a limited vocabulary and short sentences to mimic the way that an average person telling a story would speak. In an interview, he said that he “prefers to write in verbs instead of adjectives.” Repetitions of certain lines or phrases in the story narrative (what Palahniuk refers to as “choruses”) are one of the most common characteristics of his writing style, being dispersed within most chapters of his novels.[42] Palahniuk has said that there also are some choruses between novels, noting that the color cornflower blue and the city of Missoula, Montana appear in many of his novels. The characters in Palahniuk’s stories often break into philosophical asides (either by the narrator to the reader, or spoken to the narrator through dialogue), offering numerous odd theories and opinions, often misanthropic or darkly absurdist in nature, on complex issues such as death, morality, childhood, parenthood, sexuality, and a deity. Other concepts borrowed from Spanbauer include the avoidance of “received text” (clichéd phrases or wording) and use of “burnt tongue” (intentionally odd wording).[42]

In an interview with Jason Tanamor, he said, “It’s pathetic how much I rewrite. I’ll rework every scene a hundred times before my agent sees it. Then rework it a dozen times before my editor sees it. Then rework it all – almost beyond recognition – before it goes to the copy editor. My first draft is almost a bare-bones outline, fleshed out with every subsequent pass through. I’ll “test” the scenes in workshop and with friends, then revise them based on audience reaction and feedback. The only time a book is “done” is when the type is set. By then I’m in love with a new idea, so the old one is officially finished.”[43]

Themes[edit]

Palahniuk’s writing often contains anti-consumerist themes. Writing about Fight Club, Paul Kennett argues that because the Narrator’s fights with Tyler Durden are fights with himself, and because he fights himself in front of his boss at the hotel, the Narrator is using the fights as a way of asserting himself as his own boss. These fights are a representation of the struggle of the proletarian at the hands of a higher capitalist power; by asserting himself as capable of having the same power he thus becomes his own master. Later when fight club is formed, the participants are all dressed and groomed similarly, allowing them to symbolically fight themselves at the club and gain the same power.[44] In an interview with HuffPost, Palahniuk says that “the central message of Fight Club was always about the empowerment of the individual through small, escalating challenges.”[45]

Reception and criticism[edit]

The content of Palahniuk’s works has been described as nihilistic.[46][47] Palahniuk has rejected this label, stating that he is a romantic, and that his works are mistakenly seen as nihilistic because they express ideas that others do not believe in.[48][49]

Personal life[edit]

As an adult, Palahniuk became a member of the rebellious Cacophony Society. He is a regular participant in their events, including the annual Santa Rampage (a public Christmas party involving pranks and drunkenness) in Portland, Oregon. His participation in the Society inspired some of the events in his writings, both fictional and non-fictional.[50]

In 2004, Palahniuk came out as gay after an interview with Karen Valby, a reporter for Entertainment Weekly. Falsely believing that he would be outed by Valby after confidentially referring to his male partner, he openly declared his homosexuality on his website.[51] Once Valby’s article was published with no indication of Palahniuk’s homosexuality (as she had promised), he publicly apologized for having unfairly smeared and excoriated her on his blog on a false pretense: “I mis-represented, because I mis-remembered, some details about Karen’s private life. I deeply regret doing that. It was something I did out of anger and fear, and it was something I did inaccurately, and something I wish I had not done.”[52][53] According to an interview with The Advocate in May 2008, he and his partner Mike live in a former church compound outside Vancouver, Washington.[54][55] He and his partner have been together since the 1990s, having met while Palahniuk was working at Freightliner. He told one interviewer, “We both had these very blue-collar lives, and now our lives are completely different.”[56][57][58]

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Lullaby: a novel DB55945

Palahniuk, Chuck. Reading time: 7 hours, 25 minutes.

Read by LJ Ganser.

Suspense Fiction

Supernatural and Horror Fiction

Psychological Fiction

Journalist Carl Streator discovers a lethal lullaby is responsible for SIDS. On a mission to destroy every evil copy, he himself becomes infected. Bizarre events unfold as the verbal virus transforms him into an involuntary serial killer. Violence, some descriptions of sex, and some strong language. 2002.

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“The Mirror” by Nora Roberts

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…

   Brittany Pressley did a great job of narrating this fanciful, yet creepy story.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nora Roberts (born Eleanor Marie Robertson on October 10, 1950) is an American author of over 225 novels, known for romance published under her own name.[1] She also writes police procedurals which have elements of science fiction under the name J. D. Robb, and has published as Jill March and (in the U.K.) Sarah Hardesty.

Life and career[edit]

Personal life[edit]

Early years[edit]

Roberts was born on October 10, 1950, in Silver Spring, Maryland, the youngest of five children.[2] Her parents have Irish ancestry, and she has described herself as “an Irishwoman through and through”.[3] Her family were avid readers, so books were always important in her life.[4] Although she had always imagined stories from childhood, Roberts did not write in her youth other than essays for school. She does claim to have “told lies. Really good ones—some of which my mother still believes.”[5] She credits the nuns at her Catholic school for instilling in her a sense of discipline.[5]

Marriages[edit]

During her second year in high school, Roberts transferred to Montgomery Blair High School,[6] where she met her first husband, Ronald Aufdem-Brinke.[7] They married, against her parents’ wishes, in 1968, as soon as she graduated,[8][9] and settled in Boonsboro, Maryland.

Roberts’ husband worked at his father’s sheet-metal business before joining her parents in their lighting company. She gave birth to two sons, Dan and Jason. Roberts would later refer to this time period as her “Earth Mother” years, when she did crafts, including ceramics and sewing her children’s clothes.[8] The couple divorced[10] in 1983.

Roberts met her second husband, Bruce Wilder, a carpenter, when she hired him to build bookshelves in July 1985.[11][12] Her husband owns Turn the Page Books bookstore in Boonsboro[13] and works as an adult content photographer and videographer.[14] The couple also owned the nearby historic Boone Hotel. After it was destroyed by a fire in February 2008, it was restored and reopened as the Inn BoonsBoro in 2009; the suites were inspired by and named for literary romantic couples with happy endings.[15]

She is an ardent baseball fan, having been honored by the local minor league baseball team Hagerstown Suns several times.[16]

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

The mirror DB125821

Roberts, Nora. Reading time: 13 hours, 51 minutes.

Read by Brittany Pressley.

Suspense Fiction

Family

Supernatural and Horror Fiction

Romance

“#1 New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts continues the hauntingly spectacular Lost Bride Trilogy with book two, The Mirror. When Sonya MacTavish inherits the huge Victorian mansion on the coast of Maine, she has no idea that the house is haunted. The footsteps she hears at night, the doors slamming, the music playing, are not figments of her imagination. In her dreams she sees glimpses of the past. In the present she finds portraits of brides. And when she has visions of an antique mirror, she is drawn to it, sensing it holds dark family secrets. Then one night the mirror appears and Sonya glides through this looking glass, into the past–and sees a bride murdered on her wedding day, the circle of gold torn from her finger. It is a scene that will play out again and again-a centuries-old curse that must be broken–and a puzzle she must solve if there is any hope of breaking the curse.”– Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook.

Downloaded: April 7, 2025

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Kate’s 2¢: “Bonded In Death” by J. D. Robb

“Bonded In Death” by J. D. Robb

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…

   Susan Ericksen did a good job of narrating this story in the future of a time when the world went mad.  I marvel at the fortitude of the human spirit and the loyalty it garners.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nora Roberts (born Eleanor Marie Robertson on October 10, 1950) is an American author of over 225 novels, known for romance published under her own name.[1] She also writes police procedurals which have elements of science fiction under the name J. D. Robb, and has published as Jill March and (in the U.K.) Sarah Hardesty.

Life and career[edit]

Personal life[edit]

Early years[edit]

Roberts was born on October 10, 1950, in Silver Spring, Maryland, the youngest of five children.[2] Her parents have Irish ancestry, and she has described herself as “an Irishwoman through and through”.[3] Her family were avid readers, so books were always important in her life.[4] Although she had always imagined stories from childhood, Roberts did not write in her youth other than essays for school. She does claim to have “told lies. Really good ones—some of which my mother still believes.”[5] She credits the nuns at her Catholic school for instilling in her a sense of discipline.[5]

Marriages[edit]

During her second year in high school, Roberts transferred to Montgomery Blair High School,[6] where she met her first husband, Ronald Aufdem-Brinke.[7] They married, against her parents’ wishes, in 1968, as soon as she graduated,[8][9] and settled in Boonsboro, Maryland.

Roberts’ husband worked at his father’s sheet-metal business before joining her parents in their lighting company. She gave birth to two sons, Dan and Jason. Roberts would later refer to this time period as her “Earth Mother” years, when she did crafts, including ceramics and sewing her children’s clothes.[8] The couple divorced[10] in 1983.

Roberts met her second husband, Bruce Wilder, a carpenter, when she hired him to build bookshelves in July 1985.[11][12] Her husband owns Turn the Page Books bookstore in Boonsboro[13] and works as an adult content photographer and videographer.[14] The couple also owned the nearby historic Boone Hotel. After it was destroyed by a fire in February 2008, it was restored and reopened as the Inn BoonsBoro in 2009; the suites were inspired by and named for literary romantic couples with happy endings.[15]

She is an ardent baseball fan, having been honored by the local minor league baseball team Hagerstown Suns several times.[16]

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Bonded in death DB127087

Robb, J. D.. Reading time: 13 hours, 53 minutes.

Read by Ericksen, Susan.

Mystery and Detective Stories

Suspense Fiction

“His passport reads Giovanni Rossi. But decades ago, during the Urban Wars, he was part of a small, secret organization called The Twelve. Responding to an urgent summons from an old compatriot, he landed in New York and eased into the waiting car. And died within minutes… Lieutenant Eve Dallas finds the Rossi case frustrating. She’s got an elderly victim who’d just arrived from Rome; a widow who knows nothing about why he’d left; an as-yet unidentifiable weapon; and zero results on facial recognition. But when she finds a connection to the Urban Wars of the 2020s, she thinks Summerset–fiercely loyal, if somewhat grouchy, major-domo and the man who’d rescued her husband from the Dublin streets–may know something from his stint as a medic in Europe back then. When Summerset learns of the crime, his shock and grief are clear–because, as he eventually reveals, he himself was one of The Twelve. It’s not a part of his past he likes to revisit. But now he must–not only to assist Eve’s

Downloaded: April 7, 2025

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Kate’s 2¢: “Battle Mountain” by Charles James Box

“Battle Mountain” by Charles James Box

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…

   David Chandler did a great job of narrating this gripping story. I especially enjoyed hearing about the bonding human and falcon were able to forge.  

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

www.cjbox.net

Charles James Box Jr. (born 1958) is an American author of more than thirty novels. Box is the author of the Joe Pickett series, as well as several standalone novels, and a collection of short stories. The novels have been translated into 27 languages. Over ten million copies of his novels have been sold in the U.S. alone. The first novel in his Joe Pickett series, Open Season, was included in The New York Times list of “Notable Books” of 2001.[1] Open Season, Blue Heaven, Nowhere to Run, and The Highway have been optioned for film and television, the latter being adapted into the television drama series Big Sky, which debuted in November 2020.[2] In March 2016, Off the Grid debuted at #1 on The New York Times Best Seller list. In 2021, Paramount Television Studios began production of a ten episode television adaptation of Box’s Joe Pickett novels,[3] featuring actor Michael Dorman as Joe Pickett, to air exclusively on the Spectrum cable television service in the U.S.[4] The subsequent series was renewed for a second season in February 2022.[5]

Personal life and education[edit]

Box is a Wyoming native and currently lives in the state. He grew up in the city of Casper. Box graduated with a degree in Mass Communications from the University of Denver. Box enjoys fishing, golfing, and outdoor activities.[6]

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Battle mountain DB127689

Box, C. J.. Reading time: 10 hours, 5 minutes.

Read by Chandler, David.

Mystery and Detective Stories

Suspense Fiction

“The campaign of destruction that Axel Soledad and Dallas Cates wreaked on Nate Romanowski and Joe Pickett left both men in tatters, especially Nate, who lost almost everything. Wondering if the civilized life left him vulnerable to attack, Nate dropped off the grid with his falcons in tow to prepare for vengeance. When Joe gets a call from the governor asking for help finding his son-in-law, who has gone missing in the Sierra Madre mountain range, he enlists the help of a local, a rookie game warden named Susan Kany. As Nate and fellow falconer Geronimo Jones circle closer to their prey, Joe and Susan follow the nearly cold trail to Warm Springs. Little do Nate and Joe know that their separate journeys are about to converge…at Battle Mountain.”– From publisher. Violence and strong language. Commercial audiobook.

Downloaded: May 11, 2025

Download Battle mountain

Kate’s 2¢: “Sunrise on the reaping: Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins

“Sunrise on the reaping: Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…

   Jefferson White did a good job of narrating this disturbing story. I thought reading about the gladiators fighting each other and the lions eating Christians  was bad enough, but this is even worse – children slaughtering children. Ugh!

   I could, however, appreciate the very innovative drones of flesh-eating squirrels, bats, geese, and even evil butterflies. The technology and innovations that went into developing the arena and tagging chip each ‘tribute’ to track them was amazing.

   I can understand the fascination young adult readers would have with the gore and guts of the hunt, but would they come away with the bigger picture?

 A few take-aways:

–Ma wastes nothing.

–The law demands that we atone when we take things we do not own, but leaves the Lords and Ladies fine, who take things that are yours and mine.

–First avoid the slaughter,  get weapons, look for water find food and where to sleep, fire and friends can keep; get away from the cornucopia.

–Sometimes the only thing you can control is your attitude to a situation.

–We never really recover. Just move on as best we can.

–A horn of plenty for the few; desperation for many.  Destruction for all.

–Their lack of discernment transformed the re-cap, validating it as truth…Propaganda.

–I love you like all fire!

From the web:

Suzanne Collins is an acclaimed American author best known for her bestselling young adult series, “The Hunger Games,” which has had a significant impact on contemporary literature.

Biography

Suzanne Collins was born on August 10, 1962, in Hartford, Connecticut. She is the youngest of four children in a military family, which led her to move frequently during her childhood, spending time in both the United States and Europe. Collins graduated from the Alabama School of Fine Arts and later earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Indiana University in 1985, followed by a Master of Fine Arts in dramatic writing from New York University in 1989. View source at wikipedia.org

Career Highlights

Collins began her career in television, writing for various children’s shows, including “Clarissa Explains It All” and “Clifford’s Puppy Days.” Her experience in television writing influenced her storytelling style, which is evident in her novels. View source at britannica.com

She gained widespread recognition with her “The Hunger Games” trilogy, which includes:

•

The Hunger Games (2008)

•

Catching Fire (2009)

•

Mockingjay (2010)

The series is set in a dystopian future and follows the story of Katniss Everdeen, who becomes a symbol of rebellion against an oppressive regime. The books have been adapted into a successful film series, further increasing their popularity. View source at wikipedia.org

In addition to “The Hunger Games,” Collins wrote “The Underland Chronicles,” a children’s fantasy series that includes “Gregor the Overlander” (2003) and its sequels, which explore themes of adventure and survival in a subterranean world. View source at wikipedia.org

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Sunrise on the reaping DB127954

Collins, Suzanne. Reading time: 12 hours, 52 minutes.

Read by White, Jefferson.

Science Fiction

Adventure

Young Adult

“When you’ve been set upto lose everything you love,what is there left to fight for? As the day dawns on the fiftieth annual Hunger Games, fear grips the districts of Panem. This year, in honor of the Quarter Quell, twice as many tributes will be taken from their homes. Back in District 12, Haymitch Abernathy is trying not to think too hard about his chances. All he cares about is making it through the day and being with the girl he loves. When Haymitch’s name is called, he can feel all his dreams break. He’s torn from his family and his love, shuttled to the Capitol with the three other District 12 tributes: a young friend who’s nearly a sister to him, a compulsive oddsmaker, and the most stuck-up girl in town. As the Games begin, Haymitch understands he’s been set up to fail. But there’s something in him that wants to fight…and have that fight reverberate far beyond the deadly arena.”– From publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. For senior high and older readers.

Downloaded: May 11, 2025

Download Sunrise on the reaping

Kate’s 2¢: “The wide, wide sea: imperial ambition, first contact, and the fateful, final voyage

 “The wide, wide sea: imperial ambition, first contact, and the fateful, final voyage

   of Captain James Cook” by Hampton Sides

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…

   Peter Noble  did a good job of narrating this lengthy historic novel.

AI Overview

Hampton Sides is a non-fiction writer and journalist known for his narrative histories, including “Ghost Soldiers”, “Blood and Thunder”, and “Hellhound on His Trail”. He is also an editor-at-large for Outside magazine and has written for publications like National Geographic, The New Yorker, and The New York Times. 

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wade Hampton Sides (born 1962) is an American historian, author and journalist. He is the author of Hellhound on His Trail, Ghost Soldiers, Blood and Thunder, On Desperate Ground, and other bestselling works of narrative history and literary non-fiction.

Sides is editor-at-large for Outside magazine and has written for such periodicals as National Geographic, The Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, Esquire, Men’s Journal, The American Scholar, Smithsonian, and The Washington Post. His magazine work, collected in numerous published anthologies, has been twice nominated for National Magazine Awards for feature writing.[4]

Early life[edit]

A native of Memphis, Sides attended PDS Memphis[2] and Memphis University School, and graduated from Yale with a BA in history. In 2017, he was awarded an honorary doctorate in humane letters from Colorado College.[5] Sides lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, with his wife Anne Goodwin Sides, a journalist and former NPR editor.

Career[edit]

Sides is a past fellow of the Santa Fe Institute, Yaddo, the MacDowell Colony, and the Japan Society, and has been an Edwards Media Fellow at Stanford University.

He is a member of the Society of American Historians and serves on the boards of the Authors Guild and the Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference. Sides has guest-lectured at Columbia, Yale, Stanford, Cal Tech, the Autry National Center of the American West, the American Embassy in Manila, the National World War II Museum, the Chautauqua Institution, the Explorers Club, the Sun Valley Writers’ Conference, and the Google campus, among other venues and institutions. He has appeared as a guest on such national broadcasts as the American Experience, the Today show, Book TV, the History Channel, Fresh Air, CNN, CBS Sunday Morning, The Colbert Report, and NPR’s All Things Considered.

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Cook DB120831

Sides, Hampton Reading time: 15 hours, 46 minutes.

Peter Noble

Biography

Adventure

Travel

World History and Affairs

“From New York Times bestselling author Hampton Sides, an epic account of the most momentous voyage of the Age of Exploration, which culminated in Captain James Cook’s death in Hawaii, and left a complex and controversial legacy still debated to this day. On July 12th, 1776, Captain James Cook, already lionized as the greatest explorer in British history, set off on his third voyage in his ship the HMS Resolution. Two-and-a-half years later, on a beach on the island of Hawaii, Cook was killed in a conflict with native Hawaiians. How did Cook, who was unique among captains for his respect for Indigenous peoples and cultures, come to that fatal moment? Hampton Sides’ bravura account of Cook’s last journey both wrestles with Cook’s legacy and provides a thrilling narrative of the titanic efforts and continual danger that characterized exploration in the 1700s. Cook was renowned for his peerless seamanship, his humane leadership, and his dedication to science–the famed naturalist Joseph Banks accompanied him on his first voyage, and Cook has been called one of the most important figures of the Age of Enlightenment. He was also deeply interested in the native people he encountered. In fact, his stated mission was to return a Tahitian man, Mai, who had become the toast of London, to his home islands. On previous expeditions, Cook mapped huge swaths of the Pacific, including the east coast of Australia, and initiated first European contact with numerous peoples. He treated his crew well, and endeavored to learn about the societies he encountered with curiosity and without judgment. Yet something was different on this last voyage. Cook became mercurial, resorting to the lash to enforce discipline, and led his two vessels into danger time and again. Uncharacteristically, he ordered violent retaliation for perceived theft on the part of native peoples. This may have had something to do with his secret orders, which were to chart and claim lands before Britain’s imperial rivals could, and to discover the fabled Northwest Passage. Whatever Cook’s intentions, his scientific efforts were the sharp edge of the colonial sword, and the ultimate effects of first contact were catastrophic for Indigenous people around the world. The tensions between Cook’s overt and covert missions came to a head on the shores of Hawaii. His first landing there was harmonious, but when Cook returned after mapping the coast of the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, his exploitative treatment of the Hawaiians led to the fatal encounter. At once a ferociously-paced story of adventure on the high seas and a searching examination of the complexities and consequences of the Age of Exploration, THE WIDE WIDE SEA is a major work from one of our finest narrative nonfiction writers”– Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook.

Download The wide wide sea: imperial ambition, first contact and the fateful final voyage of Captain James Cook DB120831

  of Captain James Cook” by Hampton Sides

“The wide, wide sea: imperial ambition, first contact, and the fateful, final voyage

   of Captain James Cook” by Hampton Sides

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…

   Peter Noble  did a good job of narrating this lengthy historic novel.

AI Overview

Hampton Sides is a non-fiction writer and journalist known for his narrative histories, including “Ghost Soldiers”, “Blood and Thunder”, and “Hellhound on His Trail”. He is also an editor-at-large for Outside magazine and has written for publications like National Geographic, The New Yorker, and The New York Times. 

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wade Hampton Sides (born 1962) is an American historian, author and journalist. He is the author of Hellhound on His Trail, Ghost Soldiers, Blood and Thunder, On Desperate Ground, and other bestselling works of narrative history and literary non-fiction.

Sides is editor-at-large for Outside magazine and has written for such periodicals as National Geographic, The Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, Esquire, Men’s Journal, The American Scholar, Smithsonian, and The Washington Post. His magazine work, collected in numerous published anthologies, has been twice nominated for National Magazine Awards for feature writing.[4]

Early life[edit]

A native of Memphis, Sides attended PDS Memphis[2] and Memphis University School, and graduated from Yale with a BA in history. In 2017, he was awarded an honorary doctorate in humane letters from Colorado College.[5] Sides lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, with his wife Anne Goodwin Sides, a journalist and former NPR editor.

Career[edit]

Sides is a past fellow of the Santa Fe Institute, Yaddo, the MacDowell Colony, and the Japan Society, and has been an Edwards Media Fellow at Stanford University.

He is a member of the Society of American Historians and serves on the boards of the Authors Guild and the Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference. Sides has guest-lectured at Columbia, Yale, Stanford, Cal Tech, the Autry National Center of the American West, the American Embassy in Manila, the National World War II Museum, the Chautauqua Institution, the Explorers Club, the Sun Valley Writers’ Conference, and the Google campus, among other venues and institutions. He has appeared as a guest on such national broadcasts as the American Experience, the Today show, Book TV, the History Channel, Fresh Air, CNN, CBS Sunday Morning, The Colbert Report, and NPR’s All Things Considered.

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Cook DB120831

Sides, Hampton Reading time: 15 hours, 46 minutes.

Peter Noble

Biography

Adventure

Travel

World History and Affairs

“From New York Times bestselling author Hampton Sides, an epic account of the most momentous voyage of the Age of Exploration, which culminated in Captain James Cook’s death in Hawaii, and left a complex and controversial legacy still debated to this day. On July 12th, 1776, Captain James Cook, already lionized as the greatest explorer in British history, set off on his third voyage in his ship the HMS Resolution. Two-and-a-half years later, on a beach on the island of Hawaii, Cook was killed in a conflict with native Hawaiians. How did Cook, who was unique among captains for his respect for Indigenous peoples and cultures, come to that fatal moment? Hampton Sides’ bravura account of Cook’s last journey both wrestles with Cook’s legacy and provides a thrilling narrative of the titanic efforts and continual danger that characterized exploration in the 1700s. Cook was renowned for his peerless seamanship, his humane leadership, and his dedication to science–the famed naturalist Joseph Banks accompanied him on his first voyage, and Cook has been called one of the most important figures of the Age of Enlightenment. He was also deeply interested in the native people he encountered. In fact, his stated mission was to return a Tahitian man, Mai, who had become the toast of London, to his home islands. On previous expeditions, Cook mapped huge swaths of the Pacific, including the east coast of Australia, and initiated first European contact with numerous peoples. He treated his crew well, and endeavored to learn about the societies he encountered with curiosity and without judgment. Yet something was different on this last voyage. Cook became mercurial, resorting to the lash to enforce discipline, and led his two vessels into danger time and again. Uncharacteristically, he ordered violent retaliation for perceived theft on the part of native peoples. This may have had something to do with his secret orders, which were to chart and claim lands before Britain’s imperial rivals could, and to discover the fabled Northwest Passage. Whatever Cook’s intentions, his scientific efforts were the sharp edge of the colonial sword, and the ultimate effects of first contact were catastrophic for Indigenous people around the world. The tensions between Cook’s overt and covert missions came to a head on the shores of Hawaii. His first landing there was harmonious, but when Cook returned after mapping the coast of the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, his exploitative treatment of the Hawaiians led to the fatal encounter. At once a ferociously-paced story of adventure on the high seas and a searching examination of the complexities and consequences of the Age of Exploration, THE WIDE WIDE SEA is a major work from one of our finest narrative nonfiction writers”– Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook.

Download The wide wide sea: imperial ambition, first contact and the fateful final voyage of Captain James Cook DB120831