STEEL VALLEY
𝙹𝚎𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝙼𝚊𝚍𝚍𝚎𝚗
Out now

📻𝚃𝙷𝙾𝚄𝙶𝙷𝚃𝚂: When I got the email asking if I’d like to read this book I jumped at the chance. I weirdly believe I was supposed to have lived in the 60s… past life maybe? But anytime I see anything with a 60s slant (book, movie, doc) I’m there for it. Jerry Madden’s novel takes lots of inspiration from his own life in the Valley in Ohio in the 60s. It is CHOCK full of historical tidbits and anyone who is from the area will drown in nostalgia. (I’m that way with books from New Orleans.. I know that street!) So, historical fiction… sure. But at its heart it’s a love story. A Romeo and Juliet story of two young people who can never seem to find each other at the right time. But also, a love story to life in simpler times and Ohio. And a witness to history as it changed in the most important years of these people’s lives. 

📺Thank you to @booksforwardpr for including me on the tour for this book and to @jerr.ymadden for my #gifted copy.

I’ve been in a huge book funk. Nothing was working, I’d read a half hour or so and completely lose interest. This was so distressing because I have SO many books to read. 
So I scrolled through my NetGalley and saw that I had The Getaway List still in my queue. I’ve never read anything by Emma Lord but I heard so many great things about Tweet Cute so figured, can’t hurt. Well… that was the best decision I made. I zipped right through the first 85% and probably could’ve kept going if I wasn’t exhausted. But I finished it right away the next morning. 

Riley and Tom were best friends and got into LOTS of mischief when they were growing up. But since Tom moved away they haven’t been as close and they haven’t been able to complete their Getaway List, a list of adventures they want to do together. So what should Riley do when she graduates and has no plans?? Well, go to New York to see Tom of course! 

I loved that they had this amazing friendship (but of course there was a mutual attraction happening😻). They have this incredible found family with other friends and explore New York City  Both have mom issues and rely on each other to work through them. I really liked how Riley worked so hard to be a good person for her mom and the relationship they had. 

Norma Butikofer was a great narrator. She personified Riley’s emotions to a tee. I’ll be looking for more from her and I will for sure be reading the rest of Emma Lord’s work. This was such a treat! 

Thank you Macmillan Audio, Macmillan Young Listeners, and NetGalley for my early review copy. 
These thoughts are my own.
Available 1/23/24

LOVED this book. Like, obsessed. Ruby McTavish, etc is my new favorite character. I loved the use of epistolary pieces and because I read this immersively I really got the gist of her gumption. 

I was dumbfounded st the end. I usually have some idea of what is going to happen but I never expected this one. 

The audiobook, with a full cast, was perfection. Fabulous narration and characterization. 

This was my first Rachel Hawkins book but you can be sure it won’t be my last. 

Thanks to SMP and Macmillan Audio for my copies. These thoughts are my own. 

THE HUMAN TRIAL
𝙰𝚞𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚢 𝙶𝚊𝚕𝚎
9/17/23

🧪 𝚂𝚢𝚗𝚘𝚙𝚜𝚒𝚜 & 𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜:
Randall Archer has a pretty bad home life in Pennsylvania. He dreams of going to medical school and getting away. His guidance counselor makes it happen and off to Harvard he goes, on a full scholarship at 16, to study to be a pathologist. There he connects with people who are richer than anyone he’s ever known; including his future wife, Elizabeth Perrish and his lab mate, a physicist named Adam Wakefield. 

Elizabeth’s family are “the” Perrishes whose family go all the way back to the beginning of time… ok, just Boston. This being the 1920s her family does not take to Elizabeth being an outspoken woman and definitely doesn’t approve of her new relationship with someone with a blue collar instead of blue blood. So, what does Elizabeth do? She marries him and they move  into a one room apartment and she becomes a teacher. While Elizabeth is challenging her upbringing, Randy and Adam are challenging science as it’s been known up to this point. The two come together and take huge risks… but do they pay off?? You won’t believe the ending. 

I listened to the audio and the narrator, Scott Graff, kept me fully engaged. His narration fit in with the era, sounding like a Hitchcock vibe. My only drawback in this area was the tinny sound for the inner thoughts. But that was a me thing. 

Otherwise, I really enjoyed getting to know about this time in medical history (and having looked up the author’s notes, her personal reason for the subject.) I hope more of that goes into the series later.

The Human Trial is the first in a trilogy which will span decades and a plethora of medical issues. 

💜𝚁𝙸𝚈𝙻:
-Medical thrillers
-1920s/1930s
-Independent women
-Love triangles

Available NOW!

🧑‍🏫Thank you @booksforwardpr for including me on this tour and @audreygale and @netgalley for the audio review copy. 
These thoughts are my own. 
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