Kate’s 2¢:  “It’s too late for sorry: a novel” by Emily Hanlon

“It’s too late for sorry: a novel” by Emily Hanlon

Kate’s 2¢: 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¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read.  I’m just saying…

From the web:

Emily Hanlon was raised in Texas, educated in Boston, and now lives in New York. She worked as a personal injury litigator for many years, first as a plaintiff’s attorney presenting the stories of injured clients, then changing sides and telling the stories of clients accused of causing those injuries.

Emily Hanlon | Chrism Press

Finally ending up as an arbitrator, she publishes over fifty decisions a year that seek to unravel the truth behind those always contradictory versions. A life of listening to witnesses and sifting through facts has prepared her well for creating the complex entanglements of murder mysteries.

Having converted late in life after watching the joy that faith brought to her husband and three sons, she, like her sleuths in the Martha and Marya mysteries, now goes to daily Mass, is a eucharistic minister, and is active in the St. Vincent de Paul Society. Through her books, Emily shares her love of the church and of a good “whodunit.”

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

It’s too late for sorry: a novel DB17810

Hanlon, Emily. Reading time: 4 hours, 47 minutes.

Read by Edward C Stern. National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Library of Congress.

Young Adult

The retarded boy who moves into Kenny’s neighborhood changes the lives of many people. The boy’s presence deepens a rift between Kenny and his best friend, gives Kenny a chance to fall in love for the first time, and also causes him to do something that will haunt him for the rest of his life. For junior and senior high readers. Some strong language.

Download It’s too late for sorry: a novel

Kate’s 2¢: “How Stella learned to talk: the groundbreaking story of the world’s first talking dog” by Christina Hunger

“How Stella learned to talk: the groundbreaking story of the world’s first talking dog” by Christina Hunger

Kate’s 2¢: 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¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read.  I’m just saying…

   It is admirable that this Speech-language pathologist transferred her skills from working with children to working with her dog.  It is an interesting concept, however, to me, communication is different from talking/vocalizing.

   Stella communicates by stepping on a button/pad. My guide dog communicates by taking me to the door, her bowl, head on my lap, tail wagging when my husband comes near, and many other ways.

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

How Stella learned to talk: the groundbreaking story of the world’s first talking dog DB106146

Hunger, Christina, (Speech-language pathologist) Reading time: 7 hours, 2 minutes.

Ann Marie Gideon

Animals and Wildlife

A speech-language pathologist describes how she adapted the Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) devices she uses with her young clients to use with her dog. She taught her dog Stella to communicate her needs using simple paw-sized buttons associated with different words. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2021.

Download How Stella learned to talk: the groundbreaking story of the world’s first talking dog DB106146

Kate’s 2¢: “Truths I Never Told You: by Kelly Rimmer

“Truths I Never Told You: by Kelly Rimmer

   I down-loaded this book upon the recommendation of a Behind Our Eyes colleague, so her review is below. The dynamic story faces the reality of genetically predisposition toward post-partem depression, abortion, and the right of a woman to choose.

Beyond the Book Jacket By Bonnie Blose

From The Blind Perspective September 2021 Volume 7 Issue 9

   “Truths I Never Told you: is a page turner. It will keep your interest, rouse your empathy, and you will love the struggling family it portrays.

Life is built on what parents and grandparents tell us about ourselves.  We trust all we are told about our birthday, age, name, background without question.  In moments of anger and misunderstanding, we wonder if the hospital made a mistake and imagine a friend’s parents or the perfect family on Tv our real parents. Nice fantasies are just that and the imaginary control we exercise where life would be perfect.

Bethany Walsh seems to have it all, but of course she doesn’t. Married to the man she loves and mother to a five month old son Noah, she has a close relationship with her sister and brothers. This is a family who truly loves and looks out for one another.

Clouds are on the horizon. Her father says “everything changes.” How much and when those changes begin are the factors which upset our lives and fill life with questions.

Beth suffers from postpartum depression and has little knowledge of her birth mother. For years, she has no reason to question what she was told. Her mother died in an accident when Beth was too young to remember her. As she struggles, she doesn’t understand why she isn’t thrilled to be Noah’s mother or why she wants to spend time away from him as much as she can.

When Beth’s father develops dementia and heart disease, a decision is made to place him in a facility where he will get the care he needs during his last days. Beth grabs the opportunity to clean out his house so it can be sold and finds notes detailing the unhappiness and depression of her mother. Did she die in an accident as her father claims? Who was the woman she remembers who loved and cared for her and her siblings when they were little? Is there a relationship between her mother’s unhappiness and her own in being a parent? Where is the final note which might explain everything? Was her father the loving caring one she knows or are there secrets in his past which would reveal him as an altogether different man and husband?

Close families work through problems and the Walsh family has much to learn.

I remember reading books in which pioneer women were isolated by geography. Without schools, neighbors, or churches, they led a lonely existence driven mad by too much time alone and worry over all they could not control.

Postpartum depression isolated some in our more modern time. Every little girl wants to be a mother. Is that really true? If she wants a career instead or a life without children, no one understands. “Truths I never told you” are about three women who struggle to live with beliefs far different than the norm. With no one to talk to about how they really feel, they don’t know other women suffer with the sadness of being a parent. Motherhood remains foreign and strange. Depression covers what they know about themselves and cancels their ability to evaluate their success or failure as a parent. They long to end the pain. Doctors and husbands don’t understand the profound unhappiness which fills all their days. They are told they are worrying too much and the feelings of sadness will pass but have no reason to believe it will. They know having another child is not the answer.

When Beth’s mother discovers she is pregnant again, she knows she can’t go on living with a fifth child. She has nothing more to give. The well of motherhood in which she dwells is shallow and growing ever more so. Her sister helps her by giving her money and arranging an abortion. This is where the mystery and truth of this beautiful novel lie. As you read, you will ask yourself as I did how we can help those desperately depressed who start each day without hope. It is truly a sad journey and one each person travels alone.

There are drugs and therapy for postpartum depression now. We listen, understand, and accept far more than even just a few years ago.

It is knowledge which gives light. It is love which triumphs and holds a troubled person together. Love can truly do all things. It repairs the broken as much as that is possible and finds hope where there was none.

“Truths I never told you” has beautifully wrought characters and plot twists you won’t soon forget. It will fascinate and enlighten and make you glad you live now. Maybe it will make you aware someone somewhere is struggling as the women in this fine novel did. Maybe it will help you to reach out even if you don’t fully comprehend the position of another person. Pain and the truths we find are often found alone and are the beginning of resolution and strength we need to live and to love.

From her website:

Kelly Rimmer is the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today and worldwide bestselling author of contemporary and historical fiction, including The Secret Daughter and The Things We Cannot Say.

Kelly lives in rural Australia with her family and a whole menagerie of badly behaved animals. Her novels have been translated into more than 20 languages.

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Truths I never told you DB102014

Rimmer, Kelly Reading time: 11 hours, 44 minutes.

Jean Ann Douglass

Historical Fiction

Beth is cleaning her father’s home after settling him in a care facility and discovers loose pieces of a journal in her mother’s handwriting from the 1950s. Beth grew up believing her mother died in a car accident, but the journal hints at a darker truth. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2020.

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Kate’s 2¢: “The Cruel Ever After” by Ellen Hart

“The Cruel Ever After” by Ellen Hart

Kate’s 2¢: 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¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read.  I’m just saying…

    I started this book, but found I didn’t want to spend my time with these characters. I didn’t finish the book… just not my cup of tea.

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

The cruel ever after DBC27185

Hart, Ellen. Reading time: 8 hours, 45 minutes.

Read by Joy Fogarty. A production of Minnesota Braille and Talking Book Library.

Suspense Fiction

Mystery and Detective Stories

Jane Lawless’s ex-husband Chester comes back to Minneapolis after traveling the world. Now broke, he intends to make his next fortune selling an artifact from a Baghdad museum. But he wakes up next to the dead body of his potential buyer. Adult. Some descriptions of sex. Some violence and some strong language.

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Kate’s 2¢: “Missouri’s murderous matrons: Emma Heppermann and Bertha Gifford”

by Victoria Cosner; Loretta Broker; Lorelei Shannon

“Missouri’s murderous matrons: Emma Heppermann and Bertha Gifford”

by Victoria Cosner; Loretta Broker; Lorelei Shannon

Kate’s 2¢: 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¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read.  I’m just saying…

   Emma Heppermann and Bertha Gifford were the main characters; however, several men and other women were mentioned. Kind of amazing that Emma Heppermann and Bertha Gifford could get away with their murderous ways for so long.

Victoria Cosner has been involved with museums and historic sites for over thirty years. She holds a master s degree in American studies, specializing in cemetery landscapes and is a member of the Association for Gravestone Studies. She currently works for Missouri State Parks and lives in the St. Louis area.

Lorelei Shannon has been Victoria s friend for thirty-five years and counting. They share a love of dark history and co-authored a book on the life of Madame Lalaurie.

Titles

Missouri’s Mad Doctor McDowell: Confederates, Cadavers and Macabre Medicine

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Missouri’s murderous matrons: Emma Heppermann and Bertha Gifford DBC19408

Cosner, Victoria; Broker, Loretta; Shannon, Lorelei Reading time: 4 hours, 48 minutes.

Loretta Broker A production of Wolfner Talking Book and Braille Library.

Drama

True Crime

Women

As the 19th century drifted into the 20th, Missouri produced two women who made arsenic a part of their lives — and of the deaths of many people. The women were Bertha Gifford, whose last home was just outside Eureka, and Emma Heppermann of Steelville. Adult .

Download Missouri’s murderous matrons: Emma Heppermann and Bertha Gifford DBC19408

 Kate’s 2¢: “Brilliant blunders: from Darwin to Einstein – colossal mistakes by great scientists that changed our understanding of life and the universe:

By Mario Livio

“Brilliant blunders: from Darwin to Einstein – colossal mistakes by great scientists that changed our understanding of life and the universe:

By Mario Livio

Kate’s 2¢: 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¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read.  I’m just saying…

   This is a long story and, at times, it over-whelmed my little pea-brain; however, it was interesting. I suspect, the take-away is to never give up.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Livio was born in Bucharest in Romania, and lived with his grandparents when his mother and father were forced to flee the country for political reasons.[16] He left Romania at age five with his grandparents, and the family settled in Israel. He served as a paramedic with the Israeli Defense Forces in the 1967 Six-Day War, the 1973 Yom Kippur War, and the 1982 Lebanon War.

Livio and his wife Sofie, a microbiologist, have three children.

Books[edit]

• The Accelerating Universe: Infinite Expansion, the Cosmological Constant, and the Beauty of the Cosmos. John Wiley. 2000. ISBN 0-471-39976-0; foreword by Allan Sandage.[17]

• The Golden Ratio: The Story of Phi, the World’s Most Astonishing Number. Broadway Books. 2002. ISBN 0-7679-0815-5.[18]

• The Equation That Couldn’t Be Solved: How Mathematical Genius Discovered the Language of Symmetry. Souvenir Press. 2006. ISBN 0-285-63743-6.[19]

• Is God a Mathematician?. Simon & Schuster 2009. 6 January 2009. ISBN 978-0-7432-9405-8.[20]

• Brilliant Blunders. Simon & Schuster. 2013. ISBN 9781439192375.[21]

• Why? What Makes Us Curious. Simon & Schuster. 2017. ISBN 978-1476792095.[22]

• Galileo and the Science Deniers. Simon and Schuster. 2020. ISBN 978-1501194733[23]

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Brilliant blunders: from Darwin to Einstein – colossal mistakes by great scientists that changed our understanding of life and the universe DB100246

Livio, Mario Reading time: 14 hours, 21 minutes.

J.P. Linton

Science and Technology

Author of Accelerating Universe (DB 51106) illustrates that the road to scientific breakthroughs is not all successes by highlighting the blunders of some of history’s most famous scientists including Charles Darwin, Linus Pauling, James Watson, and Francis Crick. Discusses the age of Earth, the Big Bang, and the Theory of Relativity. 2013.

Download Brilliant blunders: from Darwin to Einstein – colossal mistakes by great scientists that changed our understanding of life and the universe DB100246

Kate’s 2¢: “Desperation in death” by J. D. Robb

“Desperation in death” by J. D. Robb

Kate’s 2¢: 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¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read.  I’m just saying…

   Maybe it’s the way Susan Ericksen is reading this story  with harshness, but I’m not enjoying “Desperation In Death”. I understand that the potty-mouth language is from the author and the narrative arc is fraught with tension and sensitive issues of child sex trafficking; however, everyone sounds so angry, up-tight, and rude to each other. Lt. Dallas comes across as a true bully, yet, as the boss, everyone just takes it.

   Of course, Eve has her tender moments with Roarke, who is naturally a sensitive kind of guy…and rich, to boot.

J.D. ROBB is the pseudonym for #1 New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts. She is the author of over 200 novels, including the futuristic suspense In Death series. There are more than 500 million copies of her books in print.

   Going under the pseudonym of J.D. Robb, the author Nora Roberts  (born on October 10, 1950).  , born Eleanor Marie Robertson, is an American writer of fantasy, romance and suspense novels, as she holds a both long and illustrious legacy behind her with over 209 books under her belt and counting.

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Desperation in death DB109830

Robb, J. D. Reading time: 13 hours, 15 minutes.

Read by Susan Ericksen.

Suspense Fiction

Mystery and Detective Stories

“New York, 2061: The place called the Pleasure Academy is a living nightmare where abducted girls are trapped, trained for a life of abject service while their souls are slowly but surely destroyed. Dorian, a thirteen-year-old runaway who’d been imprisoned there, might never have made it out if not for her fellow inmate Mina, who’d hatched the escape plan. Mina was the more daring of the two—but they’d been equally desperate. Unfortunately, they didn’t get away fast enough. Now Dorian is injured, terrified, and wandering the streets of New York, and Mina lies dead near the waterfront while Lt. Eve Dallas looks over the scene. Mina’s expensive, elegant clothes and beauty products convince Dallas that she was being groomed, literally and figuratively, for sex trafficking—and that whoever is investing in this high-overhead operation expects windfall profits. Her billionaire husband, Roarke, may be able to help, considering his ties to the city’s ultra-rich. But Roarke is also worried abou

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Kate’s 2¢: “Into Thin Air” by Thomas Zigal

“Into Thin Air” by Thomas Zigal

Kate’s 2¢: 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¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read.  I’m just saying…

   Interesting concept: to return stolen children to their families by DNA testing.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Zigal was born in Galveston, Texas. He grew up in Texas City.[1] He attended high school in Lafayette, Louisiana and lived in New Orleans for four years in the 1980s and 1990s.[2] Zigal was a victim of Hurricane Carla, which destroyed the family home in Texas City when he was a child.[2]

As of 2014, he lived in Austin, Texas.[1]

In 2014 Zigal won the Jesse Jones Award given by the Texas Institute of Letters in the fiction category for his 2013 novel, Many Rivers to Cross.[1][3] Judges cited his “keen ear for the language of Hurricane Katrina victims, most of whom were African-Americans.”[1]

Many Rivers to Cross is the story of two grandfathers trying to find their common grandchildren in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.[2]

Zigal is the author of the Kurt Muller Mysteries, a series of crime novels set in Aspen, Colorado, and of a literary thriller, The White League.[4][5] The White League is the first of his projected series of New Orleans novels. Many Rivers to Cross is the second novel in the series.[2]

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Into thin air DBC26791

Zigal, Thomas. Reading time: 9 hours, 0 minutes.

Read by Bill McLean.

Mystery and Detective Stories

When Kurt Miller, ex-hippie sheriff of Aspen, Colorado, finds a body in the Roaring Fork River, he plunges into a complex case involving Argentinian terrorists, local politics, his own marital problems, and doubts about his suitability for the job. Descriptions of sex, strong language and violence.

Downloaded: October 8, 2022

Download Into thin air

Kate’s 2¢: “Copy Boy” by Shelley Blanton-Stroud

“Copy Boy” by Shelley Blanton-Stroud

Kate’s 2¢: 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¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read.  I’m just saying…

   This story gives you a better idea of what the ‘Oakies” had to endure during the depression. Pretending to be a boy was a survival skill Jane honed to a ‘T’.  Her transformation back to being a young women was very believable and in character with her persona. 

   I enjoyed this book and April Doty did a good job reading the story for NLS.

Shelley Blanton-Stroud: I grew up in California’s Central Valley, the daughter of Dust Bowl immigrants who made good on their ambition to get out of the field. I recently retired from teaching writing at Sacramento State University and still consult with writers in the energy industry. I co-direct Stories on Stage Sacramento, where actors perform the stories of established and emerging authors, and serve on the advisory board of 916 Ink, an arts-based creative writing nonprofit for children. I’ve also served on the Writers’ Advisory Board for the Belize Writers’ Conference. Copy Boy is my first Jane Benjamin Novel. Tomboy (She Writes Press 2022) will be my second. The third, Working Girl, will come out in November 2023. My writing has been a finalist in the Sarton Book Awards, IBPA Benjamin Franklin Awards, Killer Nashville’s Silver Falchion Award, the American Fiction Awards, and the National Indie Excellence Awards. I and my husband live in Sacramento with an aging beagle, Ernie, and many photos of our out-of-town sons and their wonderful partners.

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Copy boy: a novel DBC26681

Blanton-Stroud, Shelley. Reading time: 9 hours, 22 minutes.

Read by April Doty. A production of Braille and Talking Book Library, California State Library.

Historical Fiction

In the midst of the Great Depression, Jane Benjamin escapes her murderous father by fleeing to San Francisco, changing her identity, and getting a job selling newspapers as a copy boy. But when a girl resembling Jane is beaten into a coma only one block from the newspaper offices, Jane fears that her father has caught up with her, and she’ll do anything to avoid detection. Unrated. Commercial audio book.

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Kate’s 2¢: “Spies lies and exile the extraordinary story of Russian double agent George Blake”

by Simon Kuper

“Spies lies and exile the extraordinary story of Russian double agent George Blake”

by Simon Kuper

Kate’s 2¢: 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¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read.  I’m just saying…

   Amazing what a clever person can get away with!  I suspect it happens everyday and is still happening.

   Doug Tisdale did a good job of narrating this story.

From the web:

Simon Kuper is a South African-British author. He writes about sports “from an anthropologic perspective.” Kuper was born in Uganda of South African parents, and moved to Leiden in the Netherlands as a child, where his father, Adam Kuper, was a lecturer in anthropology at Leiden University.

Born: Simon Gad Kuper, Kampala, Uganda

Known for: Sports journalism

Nationality: British

Occupation: Journalist

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Spies lies and exile the extraordinary story of Russian double agent George Blake DB104226

Kuper, Simon; Tisdale, Doug Reading time: 7 hours, 3 minutes.

Doug Tisdale Jr.

True Crime

Social Sciences

Government and Politics

Journalist profiles Cold War British intelligence agent turned Soviet spy George Blake (1922-2020). Topics include Blake’s work as a teenager with the Dutch resistance during World War II, working with British intelligence services, conversion to Communism, life as a double agent, criminal sentencing and jail escape, and life in Russia. Some strong language. 2021.

Download Spies, lies and exile: the extraordinary story of Russian double agent George Blake DB104226