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Surrender

Total
5 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
5 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 11-26-22

Was there ever any doubt how many stars I was gonna give this one?

As a U2 diehard, it more than met my expectations. It’s lyrical and poetic, deeply philosophical and intensely spiritual. It's everything you want from Bono and more. He’s both humble and self deprecating in the way only the Irish can.

He perfectly balances his arrogant rock star persona with his intense and deep desire to root out injustice. He gives us real detail on his political battles to ensure the hungry are fed, people with AIDS have access to treatment and that humans treat each other with kindness.

We get the inspiration for both the words and melodies of so many of our favorite songs. He details his love of art and literature and hero worship of many musical greats including David Bowie.

It is an unending love letter to his wife, a heart aching discovery of his relationship with his parents, an analysis of the guilt balancing his band and his passion for rooting out inequality as well as a search for God.

If you like U2, this should be on your must read list! Especially the audiobook, it was lovely hearing Bono open his life to us.

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The Lincoln Highway

Total
5 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
4 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 01-20-22

Whew what a fun ride this one was. I'm quite sure I would not have enjoyed this one as thoroughly if I hadn't listened to the audio. The central plot is a roadtrip with a motley cast of characters that goes wrong in a number of ways, both accidentally and nefariously. 

When a group of former reform school inmates have varying ideas of how they will live their lives after leaving the work farm, it leads to all manner of hilarity and life lessons. Emmett was incarcerated after a fight that lead to the death of a classmate, he's your classic good kid who made an unfortunate choice. When he returns home, his father has died and left a farm riddled with debt and his younger brother in need of a caretaker. They decide to take off in his old Studebaker from Nebraska to California. The road trip takes them in an entirely different direction and they meet all manner of interesting people, ride the rails, see NYC, commit a few crimes and find some meaning in their lives.

While all of the characters were entertaining and complex with compelling backstories, I really loved precocious and principled Billy and Ulysses with his parallels to his mythological namesake. I loved that the adventurous historical fiction was sprinkled with mythology references. I wanted a little more in the ending (that's funny to say for such a long book) but that's why it's not a 5 star read but it was darn near close.

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The Running Wolf

Total
4 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
4 out of 5 stars
Historia
4 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 01-20-22

Overall rating: 4 stars
Narrator rating: 4 stars

"Even the best bread can turn moldy."
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In The Running Wolf, we are immersed in the life of a German smithy who has relocated with his family to England in the late 1600s. While the story follows the ins and outs of their lives it illuminates the truth of life as an immigrant, as a skilled worker operating outside of a guild, the politics of England, religious intolerance and the general harshness of life in that era. The story flips back and forth between an imprisoned smuggler in the run up to the Jacobite uprising and the life of the smithy, Hermann (love that character's name obviously).

I really loved the intricate detail of Hermann's life. We see the importance of their nationality in their lives, the respect and care for elders, the importance of gender roles and the job of a smithy in general. I liked that there were scenes in both England and Germany so we saw life in both places. There were quite a few scenes of action that I felt were heart pounding but you should expect for the most part, a slower paced story with small snippets of life changing action.

This is really fabulous historical fiction with a slice of life that I haven't read in other novels of this type. We really see how the rigors of life challenges even the best people and the choices they are forced to make under duress.

Thanks to  Love Book Tours and Helen Steadman for a gifted copy of this audiobook. All opinions above are my own.

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Will

Total
4 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
4 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 11-29-21

Narrator performance: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Overall rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

It takes a real master to write a memoir that shows you the totality of someone’s soul: the good, the bad, the ugly. Will Smith opened his heart, his mind and his past to us and packaged it in such an entertaining way. You are learning about philosophy, spirituality, discipline, love, parenting and business without feeling preached to. His recounting is raw and honest. His failings are presented as learnings. His ego is totally out of control and yet he laughs about it with us.

His love and devotion to his family is beautiful and yet he presents them honestly so we can see how they shaped him and his drive. You feel bad for his friends and family when he is in overdrive mode and yet his tidal force brought them all such prosperity. But what I loved most is how he shows us that money and success does not always equal happiness. His journey to find happiness and untie the epic knot of his psyche to find happiness was beautiful and enlightening.

So why 4.5 stars? I wanted more. I’m not sure that’s fair to ask for, but while he talked about his movie career, he only hit a few projects in depth. I wanted more about some of my favorites.

Still another fabulous celebrity memoir read by the subject. If you liked Matthew McConaughey‘s memoir last year, you will enjoy this one as well.

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Sunwise

Total
5 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
5 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 10-27-21

I read the first book of this series after receiving it for a book tour, I enjoyed it so much that I went right out to purchase the follow up. Sunwise begins where Widdershins ends. Tom has returned from his conscription in the Navy and Jane is forced to explain the circumstances that led her to be married to his best friend. Her husband is more aggressive than ever and her short-lived thanks to him for saving her from being jailed as a witch is over. In that storyline, Jane and Tom are discussing how to escape to the new world to be together. All the while, Jane is still midwifing and providing herbs to the local townsfolk (hello - what got you in trouble in the last book, girl?).

In our other storyline, John has escaped Newcastle after the town turned and is focusing his witch hunts back in Scotland. He is as mad as a hatter now. In the last book, he was easy to hate preying on women as witches blaming them for his own lusts and whims. But in this one, his derangement is becoming more obvious and we find out why. He's gone from a character who you cringe to read because of the impact he will have on your other beloved characters to a character who you're anxiously awaiting karma to visit.

The fates of these two are barreling towards one another again and we get to sit back and watch. As with the last story, there are some graphic violent moments which are hard to read/hear however these are the things that humans did to one another in the name of God, while this is fiction, it is based on the stories of real people who suffered such fates. Another fabulous piece of historical fiction!

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Widdershins

Total
5 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
5 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 10-27-21

Widdershins tells the story of the Newcastle witch trials in 1650, but we join the story when two of the characters whose fates will collide at this horrific event are children.



We see how John, the witchfinder, became so passionate about the work he does through the death of his mother, his wife and child as well as the influence of his abusive father and reverend uncle. We hear the stories of his progression into the career and the women accused along the way. Like with many other stories of this ilk, there is terrible aggression towards Eve's cursed daughters where women who have any knowledge or influence or cross the wrong man are deleted from society in the most horrific way. John is probably the most unlikable character I’ve ever read. I know history is full of these men but oof I just wanted to punch him more and more with every word and action.


Jane is a midwife's daughter whose life seems unfairly cursed from the start. Circumstance after circumstance leads her to her ultimate fate. It nearly seemed inescapable that she would end up where she did. As a woman with a brain and an opinion and a desire to make choices that followed her heart and not a sense of duty she set herself apart in a dangerous way. I was so empathetic towards her and found myself really wishing there was a way out for her. My favorite part of her story was the discussions of the herbs and treatments used at that time point. Oh and the END!



It’s definitely a slow moving story with the trials occurring quite near the end but the details of the time help build the tension to a crescendo. Lots of scenes are quite graphic and the description of the women’s “crimes” will make your blood boil but it is accurate to the trials of the times. Check this one out if you liked Phillippa Gregory’s Tidelands. After finishing this, I went right out and purchased the sequel.

Thanks to Love Book Tours for a gifted audio copy. All opinions above are my own.


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