Book Recommendation – The Widow’s Husband’s Secret Lie

My wife suggested this book to me. She is really into Freida McFadden. She told me that she thought I would like it because it was “my sense of humor.”

It is a novella, so it is a quick read. My wife was right. It was a silly book with great satirical humor. There were many times that I laughed out loud.

The book is sort of a “throwaway” book in that it isn’t all that serious. You get that right from the beginning of the book. The humor, the ridiculous lines, the jabs at the author herself, etc… all made for a nice break away from the heavy novels I have been reading.

There is really no thinking necessary as you read this one. I looked at as a way to clean the palate for the next big book. So here is the Goodreads synopsis:

My husband is dead.

I attended his funeral. I watched his casket be lowered six feet into the ground. (Actually, it may have been only five feet, but that still seems like more than enough.) And then we ate an array of finger sandwiches and deviled eggs and miniature beef wellingtons that cost more than my first car.

My point is, Grant is gone. And so are all his many, many deep, dark secrets which I never really ever bothered to ask him about. He is never coming back.

So why do I still see his face everywhere I go?

The Widow’s Husband’s Secret Lie is an utterly addictive, unputdownable, nail-biting, absolutely gripping psychological thriller novella with a shocking, breathtaking, heart stopping, spine-chilling twist that you won’t see coming, will leave you stunned, and will literally have you picking your jaw up off the floor and bringing it to the nearest hospital for major facial reconstructive surgery.

The only issue I had with this book was that I wanted it to be longer. I can see myself enjoying a much longer book with the tongue and cheek stuff that was going on. Really, the way it ended, maybe there will be a sequel? Who knows? I really loved it.

4.5 out of 5 stars

Book Recommendation – The Happiest Man on Earth

This book came up more than once on my recommendations. Granted, I have read a lot of World War II books and plenty about Auschwitz.

The Happiest Man on Earth is written by Eddie Jaku. I would not think that “happy” and “Auschwitz” appear in a sentence together too often. I decided to give it a try.

Once you get into the book, it becomes very apparent that Eddie is indeed a happy guy. He is 100 years old while writing the book. He has seen a lot in his lifetime – bad and good. So who better to talk about happiness, than Eddie? Here is the Goodreads synopsis:

Life can be beautiful if you make it beautiful. It is up to you.

Eddie Jaku always considered himself a German first, a Jew second. He was proud of his country. But all of that changed in November 1938, when he was beaten, arrested and taken to a concentration camp.

Over the next seven years, Eddie faced unimaginable horrors every day, first in Buchenwald, then in Auschwitz, then on a Nazi death march. He lost family, friends, his country.

Because he survived, Eddie made the vow to smile every day. He pays tribute to those who were lost by telling his story, sharing his wisdom and living his best possible life. He now believes he is the ‘happiest man on earth’.

Published as Eddie turns 100, this is a powerful, heartbreaking and ultimately hopeful memoir of how happiness can be found even in the darkest of times.

The book was written in 2020. Eddie enjoyed turning 101 on April 14, 2021. He passed away 6 months later, on October 12, 2021. He died a happy man.

Auschwitz survivor, Eddie Jaku, has just celebrated his 100th birthday and has published his autobiography, “The Happiest Man on Earth”. His memoir is based on a TEDx talk and other speeches he has given over the years, July 2, 2020. (Photo by Louise Kennerley/The Sydney Morning Herald via Getty Images)

It is a quick read, and worth it.

Five out of five stars!

Book Recommendation – Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books

It has been a while since a book has run me through the entire gamut of emotions. I just finished one that had me laughing out loud one minute and angry as hell then next. The book will make you feel “pity, horror, righteousness, relief, joy” and more. Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books was a fantastic read with a wide range of characters. It tackles some strong subject matters and “taboo” issues, yet is entertaining and enlightening.

One reader’s review said that the book, “takes an important, heavy, timely topic and makes it highly entertaining and extremely relatable while never sacrificing deep meaning, contemplation, and human empathy.” I think that really sums it up nicely.

Here is the Goodreads synopsis:

The provocative and hilarious summer read that will have book lovers cheering and everyone talking! Kirsten Miller, author of The Change, brings us a bracing, wildly entertaining satire about a small Southern town, a pitched battle over banned books, and a little lending library that changes everything.

Beverly Underwood and her arch enemy, Lula Dean, live in the tiny town of Troy, Georgia, where they were born and raised. Now Beverly is on the school board, and Lula has become a local celebrity by embarking on mission to rid the public libraries of all inappropriate books—none of which she’s actually read. To replace the “pornographic” books she’s challenged at the local public library, Lula starts her own lending library in front of her home: a cute wooden hutch with glass doors and neat rows of the worthy literature that she’s sure the town’s readers need.

But Beverly’s daughter Lindsay sneaks in by night and secretly fills Lula Dean’s little free library with banned books wrapped in “wholesome” dust jackets. The Girl’s Guide to the Revolution is wrapped in the cover of The Southern Belle’s Guide to Etiquette. A jacket that belongs to Our Confederate Heroes ends up on Beloved. One by one, neighbors who borrow books from Lula Dean’s library find their lives changed in unexpected ways. Finally, one of Lula Dean’s enemies discovers the library and decides to turn the tables on her, just as Lula and Beverly are running against each other to replace the town’s disgraced mayor.

That’s when all the townspeople who’ve been borrowing from Lula’s library begin to reveal themselves. It’s a diverse and surprising bunch—including the local postman, the prom queen, housewives, a farmer, and the former DA—all of whom have been changed by what they’ve read. When Lindsay is forced to own up to what she’s done, the showdown that’s been brewing between Beverly and Lula will roil the whole town…and change it forever.

There is a line in the book that really stood out to me. Actually, there are many, but this was the first one that hit the nail on the head. “When you have everything, the only luxury left is taking things from others.”

This is a book that I felt had a little bit of something from everyone. It also hits on things that are timely today. As I listened to the audio book, I found myself seeing just how many of the things discussed in the story were relatable to what is happening in our world today.

I will say one last thing. The ending is a bit cheesy, but it certainly doesn’t take away from the story. I actually liked the way everything wrapped up. I would recommend it to anyone who asked me what I thought of it. As a matter of fact, I’ve already reached out to many of my reader friends and suggested it.

Five out of five stars

Book Recommendation: Challenger

It was 39 years ago today. The world watched in horror as the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded live on television. There were no survivors, but there were plenty of questions raised afterwards.

I read Challenger by Adam Higginbotham at the end of November. Knowing the anniversary was coming up, I waited to post this recommendation.

This book was eye opening on so many levels. I suppose it is always easier to look back and see the red flags after knowing the outcome. It’s like all the missed signs and cues that led to the Pearl Harbor attack. They were right there, but they were blown off or not taken seriously.

In order to understand the Challenger disaster, you have to start a few years before. Higginbotham does just that. He lays all the groundwork and presents all the info to help you see just how preventable this disaster was. Here is the Goodreads synopsis:

The definitive, dramatic, minute-by-minute story of the Challenger disaster based on new archival research and in-depth reporting.

On January 28, 1986, just seventy-three seconds into flight, the space shuttle Challenger broke apart over the Atlantic Ocean, killing all seven people on board. Millions of Americans witnessed the tragic deaths of a crew including New Hampshire schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe. Like 9/11 or JFK’s assassination, the Challenger disaster is a defining moment in 20th-century history—yet the details of what took place that day, and why, have largely been forgotten. Until now.

Based on extensive archival records and meticulous, original reporting, Challenger follows a handful of central protagonists—including each of the seven members of the doomed crew—through the years leading up to the accident, a detailed account of the tragedy itself, and into the investigation that followed. It’s a tale of optimism and promise undermined by political cynicism and cost-cutting in the interests of burnishing national prestige; of hubris and heroism; and of an investigation driven by leakers and whistleblowers determined to bring the truth to light. Throughout, there are the ominous warning signs of a tragedy to come, recognized but then ignored, and ultimately kept from the public.

Higginbotham reveals the history of the shuttle program, the lives of men and women whose stories have been overshadowed by the disaster as well as the designers, engineers, and test pilots who struggled against the odds to get the first shuttle into space.

I was totally fascinated by this book. At times, it could feel a bit too scientific for me. However, to walk alongside the engineers, the astronauts, and the people involved helped to grasp it all. What were they feeling? How something so big, be overlooked? Were the lives of the astronauts worth gambling with? How did the decision makers even begin to cope with the outcome of their actions?

This was truly a thorough and fantastic work on the events that led up to the Challenger tragedy.

5 out of 5 stars.

Book Recommendation – The Lake of Lost Girls

My phone dinged one night at about 1:30am. Usually I put it on silent, but that night I hadn’t. I picked up my phone and read the text from my wife.

“OMG! You have GOT to read this one!” It came with a screen shot of the cover. That is what led to my reading this book. She was right! It was SO good!

This is the first book I have read by Katherine Greene. Turns out that Katherine Greene is just the pen name of bestselling authors A. Meredith Walters and Claire C. Riley. I am unfamiliar with them, but I will explore their work a bit more both separately and collectively (as Greene) thanks to this book.

Before I get into my thoughts, let me give you the Goodreads synopsis:

Told in alternating timelines, The Lake of Lost Girls is a haunting novel that will thrill fans of All Good People Here and We Are All the Same in the Dark.

Using suspenseful podcast clips to weave a twisty tale of a missing student and her sister who is desperate for answers, The Lake of Lost Girls is perfect for fans of I Have Some Questions for You.

It’s 1998, and female students are going missing at Southern State University in North Carolina. But freshman Jessica Fadley, once a bright and responsible student, is going through her own struggles. Just as her life seems to be careening dangerously out of control, she suddenly disappears.

Twenty-four years later, Jessica’s sister Lindsey is desperately searching for answers and uses the momentum of a new chart-topping true crime podcast, Ten Seconds to Vanish, that focuses on the cold cases, to guide her own investigation. Soon, interest reaches fever pitch when the bodies of the long-missing women begin turning up at a local lake, which leads Lindsey down a disturbing road of discovery.

In the present, one sister seeks to untangle a complicated web of lies.
In the past, the other descends ever deeper into a darkness that will lead to her ultimate fate.

This propulsive and chilling suspense is a sharp examination of sisterhood and the culture of true crime.

My wife’s challenge to me was that I wouldn’t be able to figure it out. For the most part, she was right. The ending was quite the surprise. I wasn’t too far off on who I thought was responsible, but the way it all came together – I never saw it coming.

I have come to really enjoy books that have the alternating time lines. I enjoy how they shed light on each other and eventually all come together.

Like any other mystery, there was a red herring or two to throw you off the trail. The one was kind of obvious, but that only made me read more carefully. It didn’t matter, though, as the story was so good that the obvious clues weren’t so obvious.

I gave this book 4 stars, but for one reason only. I have read other books with a “podcast” element to it. Those did it really well. The podcast in this book could have been eliminated and worked. The hosts of the podcast were just annoying. It was almost like listening to two junior high girls talking.

Do the podcast segments offer things to move the plot? I suppose, but it could have been done much better in my opinion. To me, it could have been done by having the main character give a recap of what she heard on the podcast without ever having to have the hosts show up. Thankfully, the podcast portions of the book are usually short.

I really enjoyed this book. If you figure out the ending, I’d love to hear what led you to the answer. It’s easy to look back afterward and say, “Oh. That’s why (Insert clue I missed here)!” Give it a shot and let me know what you think.

Four our of five stars!

Book Recommendation – Miss Benson’s Beetle

There are currently 275 books on my “Want to read” list on Goodreads. Because I do most of my “reading” in the car, I look for audio books. Not all of them are available in that format. There are quite a few that I may just have to go to the library and get the physical copy.

As I get close to finishing a book, I begin to scroll my list and look for the next read. As I do this, I try to remember my friends who have read it and rated it. I also try to remember if a book was highly praised in a Facebook reading group.

Miss Benson’s Beetle really is something that I don’t think I would have picked up for myself. However, I kept hearing what a great story it was. The reviews I read were mostly good and so I gave it a shot. Even though the book take place after World War II, it came on a lot of Historical Fiction lists.

Before I offer my thoughts, let’s look at the Goodreads Synopsis:

It is 1950. London is still reeling from World War II. Margery Benson, a schoolteacher and spinster, is trying to get through life, surviving on scraps. One day, she reaches her breaking point. She decides to abandon her job and small existence to set out on an expedition. The expedition is to the other side of the world in search of her childhood obsession. That obsession is an insect that may or may not exist–the golden beetle of New Caledonia.

When she advertises for an assistant to accompany her. The woman she ends up with is the last person she had in mind. Fun-loving Enid Pretty in her tight-fitting pink suit and pom-pom sandals seems to attract trouble wherever she goes. Together, however, these two British women find themselves drawn into a cross-ocean adventure that exceeds all expectations. It also delivers something neither of them expected to find: the transformative power of friendship.

All in all, I truly enjoyed the book. The adventure is full of surprises, shady characters and secrets. There are moments of suspense and moments that make your eyes well up. It was better than I had expected. I mean, it’s a woman looking for a beetle. I didn’t expect much.

My only issue with the book was that I hoped for more at the end. Without giving away anything, I will just say that I wanted to know a bit more of what happened after their trip. It wasn’t a bad ending, I just felt there may have been a loose end or two to tie up. Do they find what they are looking for? Do they find the elusive beetle? You’ll have to read it to find out.

Book Recommendation – The Last Days of Night

When I was in elementary school we did a play about Thomas Edison. It was a musical called The Electric Sunshine Man. I don’t remember too much about it except that I was a cowboy in one of Edison’s moving pictures. Big role! I was on stage for like 3.7 seconds.

I digress. Back to Edison.

In 2017, Benedict Cumberbatch starred as Thomas Edison in the film “The Current War.” That “war” was also the topic of “The Last Days of Night” by Graham Moore.

The current war revolves around the electric light bulb and the debate over AC and DC current. I do not believe that the Cumberbatch film was based on this book. The book is based in fact, however, it is historical fiction. The time lines are adjusted a bit for the book. Much of the book and dialogue came from journals, court transcripts, and other writings. At the close of the book, the author lays out for you the things that were fact and the things where he took some liberties.

The main characters in the book are George Westinghouse, Nikola Tesla, Thomas Edison and lawyer Paul Cravath.

Here is the Goodreads synopsis:

New York, 1888. Gas lamps still flicker in the city streets, but the miracle of electric light is in its infancy. The person who controls the means to turn night into day will make history–and a vast fortune. A young untested lawyer named Paul Cravath, fresh out of Columbia Law School, takes a case that seems impossible to win. Paul’s client, George Westinghouse, has been sued by Thomas Edison over a billion-dollar question: Who invented the light bulb and holds the right to power the country?

The case affords Paul entry to the heady world of high society–the glittering parties in Gramercy Park mansions, and the more insidious dealings done behind closed doors. The task facing him is beyond daunting. Edison is a wily, dangerous opponent with vast resources at his disposal–private spies, newspapers in his pocket, and the backing of J. P. Morgan himself. Yet this unknown lawyer shares with his famous adversary a compulsion to win at all costs. How will he do it?

In obsessive pursuit of victory, Paul crosses paths with Nikola Tesla, an eccentric, brilliant inventor who may hold the key to defeating Edison, and with Agnes Huntington, a beautiful opera singer who proves to be a flawless performer on stage and off. As Paul takes greater and greater risks, he’ll find that everyone in his path is playing their own game, and no one is quite who they seem.

If you are a history buff like me, I think you will enjoy this book. It was certainly interesting to see a side of Edison that is not portrayed in the history books.

4 out of 5 stars

Book Recommendation – A Talent For Murder

According to my Goodreads “Year in Books,” I read 60 books last year. I was a bit overzealous when I said I wanted to read 100.

Among those 60 were The Kind Worth Killing and The Kind Worth Saving by Peter Swanson. They feature Lily Kintner and Henry Kimball. Two friends who become friends in a very odd way. No spoilers here. In June of 2024, he released A Talent For Murder. This is the third book to feature Henry and Lily.

It recently became available on the Libby or Hoopla app from my library. It is a book that you can easily read as a stand alone if you had to. Any reference as to what happened in the first two books, is brief and not rehashed. I have stopped many books in a series because the spend half the book retelling the previous book.

This book had plenty of suspense and I really enjoyed it. Here is the Goodreads synopsis:

A newlywed librarian begins to suspect the man she married might be a murderer—in this spectacularly twisty and deviously clever novel by Peter Swanson, New York Times bestselling author of The Kind Worth Killing and Eight Perfect Murders.

Martha Ratliff conceded long ago that she’d likely spend her life alone. She was fine with it, happy with her solo existence, stimulated by her job as an archival librarian, constantly surrounded by thought-provoking ideas and the books she loved. But then she met Alan, a charming and sweet-natured divorcee with a job that took him on the road for half the year. When he asked her to marry him, she said yes, even though he still felt a little bit like a stranger.

A year in and the marriage was good, except for that strange blood streak on the back of one of his shirts he’d worn to a conference in Denver. Her curiosity turning to suspicion, Martha investigates the cities Alan visited over the past year and uncovers a disturbing pattern—five unsolved cases of murdered women.

Is she married to a serial killer? Or could it merely be a coincidence? Unsure what to think, Martha contacts an old friend from graduate school for advice. Lily Kintner once helped Martha out of a jam with an abusive boyfriend and may have some insight. Intrigued, Lily offers to meet Alan to find out what kind of man he really is . . . but what Lily uncovers is more perplexing and wicked than they ever could have expected.

Swanson is one of those writers that is creative and throws many surprises at you. I am already excited to see his next offering.

4.5 out of 5 stars

Book Recommendation: A Christmas Carol Murder

This year I read quite a few Christmas themed stories in December. One of them came up in a generic search on the Hoopla app. The author, Heather Redmond, was new to me. I’m a fan, as you know, of A Christmas Carol. So a murder mystery entitled A Christmas Carol Murder peaked my interest.

What I was unaware of at the time was that this is the third book in a series. I have to admit, the concept of this series is an interesting one. Each of the five books is part of “A Dickens of a Crime” series and feature – Charles Dickens.

The series takes place in 1835-1836 and follows a young Charles Dickens as a journalist for the Evening Chronicle. In the series, Charles and his fiancé, Kate, are amateur detectives who set out to solve crimes. Each of the book’s titles are a play on a Dickens classic. They are:

A Tale of Two Murders (A Tale of Two Cities)
Grave Expectations (Great Expectations)
A Christmas Carol Murder (A Christmas Carol)
The Pickwick Murders (The Pickwick Papers)
A Twist of Murder (Oliver Twist)

The characters in A Christmas Carol Murder all (purposely, I’m guessing) have names similar to characters in A Christmas Carol. Emmanuel Screws sounds a lot like Ebenezer Scrooge, while Jacob Harley (his partner) sounds like Jacob Marley. I don’t know for sure, but I would imagine the other books follow this same pattern.

Anyway, let me give you the Goodreads synopsis, in case you want to read it now or next Christmas.

The latest novel from Heather Redmond’s acclaimed mystery series finds young Charles Dickens suspecting a miser of pushing his partner out a window, but his fiancée Kate Hogarth takes a more charitable view of the old man’s innocence . . .

London, December 1835: Charles and Kate are out with friends and family for a chilly night of caroling and good cheer. But their blood truly runs cold when their singing is interrupted by a body plummeting from an upper window of a house. They soon learn the dead man at their feet, his neck strangely wrapped in chains, is Jacob Harley, the business partner of the resident of the house, an unpleasant codger who owns a counting house, one Emmanuel Screws.

Ever the journalist, Charles dedicates himself to discovering who’s behind the diabolical defenestration. But before he can investigate further, Harley’s corpse is stolen. Following that, Charles is visited in his quarters by what appears to be Harley’s ghost—or is it merely Charles’s overwrought imagination? He continues to suspect Emmanuel, the same penurious penny pincher who denied his father a loan years ago, but Kate insists the old man is too weak to heave a body out a window. Their mutual affection and admiration can accommodate a difference of opinion, but matters are complicated by the unexpected arrival of an infant orphan. Charles must find the child a home while solving a murder, to ensure that the next one in chains is the guilty party . . .

Again, I thought this was a neat idea. It is fun to imagine that these characters and bits of the mystery itself might just influence Dickens. Perhaps influence him enough to use them in his Christmas Carol story.

The story was a fun read. I’m not sure that I will get the others in the series, but who knows. I’m not that familiar with the other Dickens books. I don’t know that I would get all the “tie ins” in them. That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t, however. I’m sure that any Dickens fan will love the series and appreciate it more than me.

3.5 out of 5 stars

Book Recommendation – Everyone This Christmas Has a Secret

After waiting quite a while, today’s recommendation finally became available last week. Benjamin Stevenson’s “Holiday Special” is a short mystery featuring his character Ernest Cunningham.

I read the first book in this series, Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone a while back. I loved the honesty of the narrator. He is always sure to give the reader all the clues needed to solve the mystery. I loved it.

The follow-up, Everyone On This Train Is a Suspect, was just as good. So when I saw that there was a short mystery being released before the next novel, I had to read it.

I was glad it became available before Christmas, and while it is a theme, it is a book that can be read outside of the holiday season, too. That being said, here is the Goodreads synopsis:

Benjamin Stevenson returns with a Christmas addition to his bestselling, Ernest Cunningham mysteries. Unwrap all the Christmas staples: presents, family, an impossible murder or two, and a deadly advent calendar of clues. If Knives Out and The Thursday Murder Club kissed under the mistletoe.

My name’s Ernest Cunningham. I used to be a fan of reading Golden Age murder mysteries, until I found myself with a haphazard career getting stuck in the middle of real-life ones. I’d hoped, this Christmas, that any self-respecting murderer would kick their feet up and take it easy over the holidays. I was wrong.

So here I am, backstage at the show of world-famous magician Rylan Blaze, whose benefactor has just been murdered. My suspects are all professional tricksters: masters of the art of misdirection.

THE MAGICIAN

THE ASSISTANT

THE EXECUTIVE

THE HYPNOTIST

THE IDENTICAL TWIN

THE COUNSELLOR

THE TECH

My clues are even more abstract: A suspect covered in blood, without a memory of how it got there. A murder committed without setting foot inside the room where it happens. And an advent calendar. Because, you know, it’s Christmas.

If I can see through the illusions, I know I can solve it.

After all, a good murder is just like a magic trick, isn’t it?

This was a book I read in two days. It was really good. I had many guesses throughout and changed my mind on who I thought did it a few times.

I love the writing, the insights and hints given by the narrator, and the characters in general. I found it to be a satisfying mystery worth the read.

5 out of 5 stars.