Culpability

 

Culpability by Bruce Holsinger

Fiction

2025

Narrated by Stacy Carolan and January LaVoy

Finished on 4/5/2026

Rating: 4/5 (Very Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

Set at a summer rental on the Chesapeake Bay, a riveting family drama about moral responsibility in the age of artificial intelligence, from the bestselling author of the “wise and addictive” (New York Times) The Gifted School.

When the Cassidy-Shaws’ autonomous minivan collides with an oncoming car, seventeen-year-old Charlie is in the driver’s seat, with his father, Noah, riding shotgun. In the back seat, tweens Alice and Izzy are on their phones, while their mother, Lorelei, a world leader in the field of artificial intelligence, is absorbed in her work. Yet each family member harbors a secret that implicates them in the accident.

During a weeklong recuperation on the Chesapeake Bay, the family confronts the excruciating moral dilemmas triggered by the crash. Noah tries to hold the family together as a seemingly routine police investigation jeopardizes Charlie’s future. Alice and Izzy turn strangely furtive. And Lorelei’s odd behavior tugs at Noah’s suspicions that there is a darker truth behind the incident—suspicions heightened by the sudden intrusion of Daniel Monet, a tech mogul whose mysterious history with Lorelei hints at betrayal. When Charlie falls for Monet’s teenaged daughter, the stakes are raised even higher in this propulsive family drama that is also a fascinating exploration of the moral responsibility and ethical consequences of AI.

Culpability explores a world newly shaped by chatbots, autonomous cars, drones, and other nonhuman forces in ways that are thrilling, challenging, and unimaginably provocative.

Technology, and more specifically A.I., is becoming increasingly ingrained in our daily lives. I don't know anyone who doesn't use Siri, Google, or Alexa. We have Alexa set up to turn on lights with a simple command. I ask Google questions throughout the day with my phone. I've also started using ChatGPT for random medical queries. 

Oh, and just last year we bought a new Subaru Outback. This is our second Subaru, but the two models are nothing alike. Our 2025 model has all the bells & whistles you could ever imagine: Touchscreen information display. Android Auto. EyeSight® Driver Assist Technology (rear-vision camera, pre-collision braking, automatic emergency steering, front view monitor, blind-spot detection, reverse automatic braking, high beam assist, lane departure prevention, etc.). Voice recognition to control navigation, entertainment, phone calls, and climate control. The car recognizes me when I'm in the driver's seat, knows when I depart from a lane without signaling, alerts me if I take my eyes off of the road for too long, lets me know when the car in front of me as moved, dims my high beams (I love this feature), etc., Our first Subaru didn't even have a back-up camera! I'll admit that I don't enjoy lane assist "feature" while using cruise control. My family jokes about my need to be in control (I always prefer to be the driver rather than a passenger), and this was most apparent when my car took over the steering when I tested the cruise control. I can honestly say that I will never ride in an autonomous vehicle. And yet, I can appreciate the safety advantages of driverless cars.

"Every accident in a self-driving vehicle is huge news, because it's covered as if a malevolent robot has killed a human. Meanwhile some random truck driver falls asleep at the wheel and kills a young couple, yet we never once consider taking all eighteen-wheelers off the road."

She turns and looks out over the inlet. "I want to believe in humans. I want to believe that even at the last second, an AI can and should be over-ridden by a knowing, human conscience. By a moral mind with a soul. Now I'm not so sure. There's a place for algorithms, a bigger and bigger place. But people have to be better, too. They have to not drink and drive. They have to not text behind the wheel. We shouldn't make these machines because we want them to be good for us, or good instead of us. We should make them because they can help us be better ourselves."

Culpability, Bruce Holsinger's relevant and timely novel, takes a deep dive into the moral issues of A.I., whether used in personal vehicles, chatbot friends (or therapists), or autonomous warfare systems. It's a compelling book, and I enjoyed the audio narration, which kept me entertained on my afternoon walks. Holsinger teases out information, revealing each family member's secret regarding the accident. It was easy to assign blame as I read the early chapters, but as the story progressed, what I was sure was a black and white case became muddy and gray.

 

I love it when I come across a book that I can recommend to my book group. With ethical questions about artificial intelligence, Culpability will appeal to a broad range of readers, and is sure to prompt lively discussions.

The Song of Achilles

 

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

Fiction

2012

Finished on 4/5/2026

Rating: 4/5 (Very Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

Greece in the age of Heroes. Patroclus, an awkward young prince, has been exiled to the kingdom of Phthia. Here he is nobody, just another unwanted boy living in the shadow of King Peleus and his golden son, Achilles.

Achilles, “best of all the Greeks,” is everything Patroclus is not—strong, beautiful, the child of a goddess—and by all rights their paths should never cross. Yet one day, Achilles takes the shamed prince under his wing and soon their tentative connection gives way to a steadfast friendship. As they grow into young men skilled in the arts of war and medicine, their bond blossoms into something far deeper—despite the displeasure of Achilles’ mother Thetis, a cruel sea goddess with a hatred of mortals.

Fate is never far from the heels of Achilles. When word comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped, the men of Greece are called upon to lay siege to Troy in her name. Seduced by the promise of a glorious destiny, Achilles joins their cause. Torn between love and fear for his friend, Patroclus follows Achilles into war, little knowing that the years that follow will test everything they have learned, everything they hold dear. And that, before he is ready, he will be forced to surrender his friend to the hands of Fate.

Profoundly moving and breathtakingly original, this rendering of the epic Trojan War is a dazzling feat of the imagination, a devastating love story, and an almighty battle between gods and kings, peace and glory, immortal fame and the human heart.

It seems like it was just a year or two ago that I read Circe, but it's been five years since my book group read and discussed this second novel by Madeline Miller. I enjoyed the book so well, I promptly bought a copy of The Song of Achilles. I've had this debut novel on my summer and fall reading lists for far too long, and decided it was finally time to read it. 

My knowledge of Greek mythology is pretty slim, so I enjoyed learning about the various heroes involved in the war to rescue Helen of Sparta. I was immediately drawn into the early lives of Achilles and Patroclus, and as they headed off to war, the suspense kept the pages turning. The ten-year war, though, became a bit of a slog and I grew impatient, eager to see how Achilles would fare in the battle. I was rewarded with the final chapters of the novel, and as I mentioned after reading Circe, I'm very much interested in reading The Iliad and The Odyssey.

I've not watched the film Troy, but it's now on my list. 

A Month in Summary - March 2026

Little Whale Cove

Depoe Bay, Oregon

Hooray for spring! I love this time of year. Longer days and more sunshine always makes me happy. Other than various medical appointments (for me, my husband, and my mom), it was a fairly quiet month, as my reading reflects. Looking back at last March, I see that I read two more books this month than in 2025. I also see that I learned how to play American Mah Jong in March 2025. The 2026 cards were recently mailed out and I'm enjoying the challenge of learning the new hands. What a great way to exercise your brain! No trips in April, but we're excited about a two-week RV trip in late May. 

My reading was pretty good in March. I had one re-read, which was very entertaining. I finished the Dalton series, and am eager to see what Shannon Bowring comes up with next. Only one of the four new releases was a winner, so it's back to my backlist TBR stacks. I am determined to read the books that were on my fall reading list. (I'm looking at you The Lacuna!)

Books Read (click on the title for my review):

Theo of Golden by Allen Levi (3/5)

Where the Forest Meets the River by Shannon Bowring (4.5/5)

In a Distant Valley by Shannon Bowring (4/5)

Heartwood by Amity Gaige (3/5)

The Likeness by Tana French (4.5/5)

Before I Forget by Tory Henwood Hoen (3/5)

A Family Matter by Claire Lynch (4/5)

Gave Up On:

The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee

Flesh by David Szalay

Movies & TV Series:

The Bear (Season Four) - Gloomy. Morose. 

The Pitt (Season Two) - Love this show! Great cast and writing.

Shrinking (Season Three) - I probably wouldn't continue with this show if it weren't for Harrison Ford. The tender moments are very good, but the humor falls short.

Miracle: The Boys of '80 - We enjoyed watching this documentary after the 2026 Olympics. I always thought the U.S. team beat the Russians for the gold, but it was Finland they beat in the final game. 

Puzzlemania:

Family News:

Mom came home after almost two weeks in rehab after hip replacement surgery (due to a broken hip). We are so happy to have her back home with us!

Ladder:

I joined Ladder at the beginning of the year and am so pleased with Team Elevate. Coach Elise keeps me motivated, and I've been getting in 4-6 workouts every week. I especially love that I can workout from home with my own equipment (weights, bench, Peloton, and yoga mat). Let me know if you're interested and I'll send you a link for a free week.

A Family Matter

 

A Family Matter by Claire Lynch

Fiction

2025

Finished on 3/25/2026

Rating: 4/5 (Very Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

A young wife following her heart. A husband with the law on his side. Their daughter, caught in the middle. Forty years later, a family secret changes everything.

1982. Dawn is a young mother, still adjusting to life with her husband, when Hazel lights up her world like a torch in the dark. Theirs is the kind of connection that’s impossible to resist, and suddenly life is more complicated, and more joyful, than Dawn ever expected. But she has responsibilities and commitments. She has a daughter.

2022. Heron has just received news from his doctor that turns everything upside down. He’s an older man, stuck in the habits of a quiet existence. Telling Maggie, his only child—the person around whom his life has revolved—seems impossible. Heron can’t tell her about his diagnosis, just as he can’t reveal all the other secrets he’s been keeping from her for so many years.

A Family Matter is an exploration of love and loss, intimacy and injustice, custody and care, and whether it is possible to heal from the wounds of the past in the changed world of today.

Last year there was a lot of buzz about A Family Matter, so I ordered a copy, eager to give it a try. As usual, I went in cold, knowing nothing about this debut work. Told in alternating timelines, and with a relatively short list of characters, Claire Lynch's spare novel was easy to get into. If one allowed, it could easily be read in one sitting.

I felt sympathetic toward Heron (nicknamed by his brother who couldn't pronounce Henry as a child), Dawn, and Maggie. Each carries the pain of the past. Dawn, at the young age of twenty-three comes to the realization that she has fallen in love with someone other than her husband. Heron, Dawn's husband, seeks legal advice for a divorce and chooses to fight for full custody of his daughter. Maggie, Dawn and Heron's three-year-old daughter, is never told why her mother had to leave her until forty years later when she herself is married and a mother of two. Such a sad tale. 

When my husband and I were living in San Diego, we got to know a woman with whom I worked with at a biotech company. She introduced us to her "roommate" and over the months, as we became closer friends, they finally came out to us. We weren't shocked, and of course it really didn't matter to us, we were just sad that it took so long for them to trust us. What upset me even more was that they had to hide their relationship, and live many miles from where one of them worked as an elementary school teacher, fearful that a student or student's parent would see them in public, perhaps holding hands or displaying some sort of physical affection. While neither of them had been married, or had children, the risk of losing a teaching job was certainly a possibility. This was 1990. Twenty-five years before same-sex marriage was legalized nationally.

From the author's note:

In the 1980s in the United Kingdom, around 90 percent of lesbian mothers involved in divorce cases like Dawn and Heron's lost legal custody of their children. Exact numbers are almost impossible to trace since most, knowing the outcome, chose not to go to court. 

While homophobia still exists, we have seen improvements in society over the past forty years. Celebrities, sports figures, and politicians are no longer forced to hide their personal lives from public view. We've since lost touch with our teacher friend in San Diego, but I hope if she's still teaching, she's doing it openly as a gay woman.  

I enjoyed this quiet story, but would have been just as happy to borrow the book from the library rather than use my Christmas gift card toward its purchase. It's not one that I'll read again, but I am happy I read it. It gave me a lot to think about, and would make a good choice for a book club discussion. Readers of Claire Keegan's novels (Small Things Like These and Foster) will enjoy Lynch's thought-provoking debut. 

Update: I've been thinking a lot about this novel since drafting this blog post, and I've decided it's one that I want to keep to re-read in the future. In a word, powerful.

Before I Forget

 

Before I Forget by Tory Henwood Hoen

Fiction

2025

Finished on 3/22/2026

Rating: 3/5 (Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

A funny, heartfelt, late coming-of-age story that examines the role of memory in holding us back—and in moving us forward

Call it inertia. Call it a quarter-life crisis. Whatever you call it, Cricket Campbell is stuck. Despite working at a zeitgeist-y wellness company, the twenty-six-year-old feels anything but well. Still adrift after a tragedy that upended her world a decade ago, she has entered early adulthood under the weight of a new burden: her father’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis.

When Cricket’s older sister Nina announces it is time to move Arthur from his beloved Adirondack lake house into a memory-care facility, Cricket has a better idea. In returning home to become her father’s caretaker, she hopes to repair their strained relationship and shake herself out of her perma-funk. But even deeply familiar places can hold surprises.

As Cricket settles back into the family house at Catwood Pond―a place she once loved, but hasn’t visited since she was a teenager―she discovers that her father possesses a rare gift: as he loses his grasp of the past, he is increasingly able to predict the future. Before long, Arthur cements his reputation as an unlikely oracle, but for Cricket, believing in her father’s prophecies might also mean facing the most painful parts of her history. As she begins to remember who she once was, she uncovers a vital truth: the path forward often starts by going back.

I spotted a copy of Before I Forget on the new release shelf at my library and decided to give it a try. Other than the Alzheimer's premise, I went into the novel cold. Had I read the blurb, I might have thought twice about borrowing the book.

Before I Forget is no Still Alice. Hoen's novel deals with young love and loss, finding oneself, caregiving of an aging parent, and a new romance. Alzheimer's is a backdrop to Cricket's story, rather than being placed front and center. The specifics of her duties as her father's caregiver are simplistic: fixing a glass of lemonade; walking down to the lake with her father; driving him to restaurants or grocery shopping. The only indication of his dementia is his inability to recognize his daughters, and toward the end, climbing into a stranger's car. 

Before I Forget lacks the depth and nuance of Lisa Genova's brilliant novel about early-onset Alzheimer's. Genova's book informs her readers, evoking compassion and understanding of what it means to be afflicted with the disease, as well as how it affects family and loved ones. Hoen's novel, while dealing with the loss of a high school sweetheart, and a twenty-something-year-old floundering to find herself, is a lighter take on the family demands of Alzheimer's. Arthur's disease provides a backdrop to Cricket's return to the family home in the Adirondacks, which gives her a sense of purpose. 

Hoen's characterization and setting save the book from feeling trite and overtly simplistic. I had no trouble envisioning the cabin set nestled in the trees, overlooking the lake, the loons calling to one another at dusk. However, not one to believe in divination, I felt the subplot of Arthur's new found ability to predict the future, casting him in the role of a local oracle, more than ridiculous.

When I began reading this novel, I was hoping for a more meaningful, literary work, but despite its flaws, I was entertained enough to finish the book.

Looking Back - Lady Chatterley's Lover

Looking Back... In an effort to transfer my book journal entries over to this blog, I'm going to attempt to post (in chronological order) an entry every Friday. I may or may not add extra commentary to what I jotted down in these journals.

Lady Chatterley's Lover by D. H. Lawrence

Fiction/Classic

1928

Finished on 6/20/2002

Rating: 3.5/5 (Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

Lyric and sensual, D.H. Lawrence's last novel is one of the major works of fiction of the twentieth century. Filled with scenes of intimate beauty, explores the emotions of a lonely woman trapped in a sterile marriage and her growing love for the robust gamekeeper of her husband's estate. The most controversial of Lawrence's books, Lady Chatterly's Lover joyously affirms the author's vision of individual regeneration through sexual love. The book's power, complexity, and psychological intricacy make this a completely original work—a triumph of passion, an erotic celebration of life.

My Original Thoughts (2002):

Started out a little slow, but I eventually got engrossed in the story and wound up enjoying it more than I thought I would. Not shocking by today's standards, but I can see why it would raise eyebrows in the 20s and 30s!

My Current Thoughts (2026):

I'm surprised this classic novel wound up in my 2002 reading journal. If hard pressed, I would have said I never read the book. I have a vague memory of starting it, but I could have sworn it was a DNF for me. I read it with an online Banned Book group, so maybe that was my inspiration to not give up.

The Likeness

 

The Likeness by Tana French

Dublin Murder Squad, #2

Mystery

2008

Finished on 3/18/2026

Rating: 4.5/5 (Very Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

The haunting follow-up to Tana French's bestselling, Edgar Award-winning debut, In the Woods.

Six months after the events of In the Woods, Detective Cassie Maddox is still recovering. Transferred out of Dublin's Murder squad at her own request, she vows never to return. That is, until her boyfriend, Detective Sam O'Neill, calls her one beautiful spring morning, urgently asking her to come to a murder scene in the small town of Glenskehy.

It isn't until Cassie sees the body that she understands Sam's insistence. The dead girl is Cassie's double, and she carries ID identifying her as Alexandra Madison, an alias Cassie herself used years ago when she worked undercover. The question becomes not only who killed this girl, but who was this girl.

Frank Mackey, Cassie's former undercover boss, sees the opportunity of a lifetime. Having played Lexie Madison once before, Cassie is in the perfect position to take her place. The police will tell the media and Lexie's four housemates that the stab wound wasn't fatal. And Cassie will go on living Lexie's life until the killer is lured out to finish off the job.

It's a brilliant idea, until Cassie finds herself more emotionally involved in Lexie's life than she anticipated. Sharing the charming ramshackle old Whitehorn House with Lexie's strange, tight-knit group of university friends, Cassie is slowly seduced by the victim's way of life, by the thought of working on a murder investigation again, and by the mystery of the victim herself. 

As Cassie nears the truth about what has happened to Lexie Madison and who she really was, the lines between professional and personal, work and play, reality and fantasy become desperately tangled, and Cassie moves closer to losing herself forever.

In the Woods introduced readers to Tana French's brilliance and subtle craftsmanship. But it is The Likeness that firmly establishes her as an important voice in suspense fiction, a voice that will attract new readers as well as satisfy the large audience she garnered for her first bestselling novel.

It's been 17 years since I read The Likeness. Having recently re-read In the Woods, I was eager to give this second installment in Tana French's Dublin Murder Squad series a second reading. Tina (Turn the Page blog) and I decided to make this a buddy read, but I'm afraid I didn't play by the established rules (reading 50 pages at a time) and read well ahead, finishing much more quickly than anticipated. Tana French has a way of pulling me in and keeping me reading way past my bedtime! 

With that said, this mystery took a bit longer to get engrossed than In the Woods. That could be due to the fact that I knew the basic premise of the plot and was eager to get to the part in which Cassie moved into Whitehorn House. With so many years between reads, I wasn't nearly as concerned about Cassie's roommates figuring out that she wasn't Lexie. I knew that would come toward the end of the book, but I wasn't on the edge of my seat, worrying that she would say or do something to raise suspicions. 

One of the things about reading a book a second time is knowing enough about the plot that you can relax and pay more attention to the writing and the more minute details rather than zipping along at break neck speed to find out how it's all going to end. And yet I was still surprised, as the finale grew closer, that there was so much that I'd forgotten.

I'll leave you with my initial review from 2009 here:

Wow! What an amazing book! I was immediately drawn in at the first chapter and never once grew tired or bored with the plot or characters. This is one of the most engrossing, entertaining, and enjoyable books I've read in years. I read for hours on end after work. I read late in the night. I read before work and, yes, even at stoplights. I could not put this book down! Nearly 500 pages and French never once missed a beat. The pacing is remarkably even, the breathtaking suspense incredibly sustained. Perhaps, like Cassie, I began to feel a part of the cozy group of friends, anxiously awaiting a revelation about Lexie's murder. As the details were finally revealed in the closing chapters, I found myself holding my breath with anticipation, laughing out loud, not because the situation was funny, but because of nervous tension.

Reminiscent of Dennis Lehane's literary mysteries, The Likeness is much more than a whodunit. The characters are finely drawn, springing to life with believable dialogue. The odd lifestyle of these eccentric roommates isn't the only aspect of the novel that creates such taut suspense. Whitethorn House (a creepy rambling mansion in which the five English post-grads reside) and the surrounding countryside are very much characters in and of themselves.

Cassie, on her return to undercover:

It felt good, getting stuck into the case like this, like I was just a Murder detective again and she was just another victim; it spread through me strong and sweet and soothing as hot whiskey after a long day in wind and rain. Frank was sprawled casually in his chair, but I could feel him watching me, and I knew I was starting to sound too interested. I shrugged, leaned my head back against the wall and gazed up at the ceiling.

and

Going to sleep on your first night undercover is something you never forget. All day you've been pure concentrated control, watching yourself as sharply and ruthlessly as you watch everyone and everything around you; but come night, alone on a strange mattress in a room where the air smells different, you've got no choice but to open your hands and let go, fall into sleep and into someone else's life like a pebble falling through cool green water. Even your first time, you know that in that second something irreversible will start happening, that in the morning you'll wake up changed. I needed to go into that bare, with nothing from my own life on my body, the way woodcutters' children in fairy tales have to leave their protections behind to enter the enchanted castle; the way votaries in old religions used to go naked to their initiation rites.

I held my breath, worried that Cassie would eventually make a slight mistake in her character, blowing her cover and putting herself in danger.

This is the part I didn't tell Sam: bad stuff happens to undercovers. A few of them get killed. Most lose friends, marriages, relationships. A couple turn feral, cross over to the other side so gradually that they never see it happening till it's too late, and end up with discreet, complicated early-retirement plans. Some, and never the ones you'd think, lose their nerve—no warning, they just wake up one morning and all at once it hits them what they're doing, and they freeze like tightrope walkers who've looked down[...]And some go the other way, the most lethal way of all: when the pressure gets to be too much, it's not their nerve that breaks, it's their fear. They lose the capacity to be afraid, even when they should be. These can't ever go home again. They're like those First World War airmen, the finest ones, shining in their recklessness and invincible, who got home and found that home had no place for what they were. Some people are are undercovers all the way to the bone; the job has taken them whole.

I was never afraid of getting killed and I was never afraid of losing my nerve. My kind of courage holds up best under fire; it's different dangers, more refined and insidious ones, that shake me. But the other things: I worried about those. Frank told me once—and I don't know whether he's right or not, and I didn't tell Sam this either—that all the best undercovers have a dark thread woven into them, somewhere.

My husband enjoyed the book, yet felt the mystery fell short due to the unbelievable set of coincidences. And I suppose he's right, to some extent. After all, what are the odds that one's doppelganger just happens to be a police detective? I, on the other hand, was able to suspend disbelief and was thoroughly entertained. My copy of the book is littered with Post-It notes, marking passages I thought might reveal a hidden clue as I flipped back and forth, trying to untangle the intricate threads of a skillfully crafted web.

This is one of those compelling mysteries I continually found myself imagining on the big screen. The Talented Mr. Ripley, which also involves a complicated masquerade, lurked in my consciousness as I read. I can even envision Jude Law and Matt Damon playing Daniel and Justin. And, perhaps, Audrey Tautou as Cassie.

While The Likeness is a follow-up to In the Woods, I believe they stand alone and can be read in any order. It's early in the year, but as of today, The Likeness is my #1 read in 2009. And from what I've read, French is working on a third, this time narrated by Cassie's boss, Frank Mackey. Until then, I plan to pick up Donna Tartt's The Secret History, which has been compared to The Likeness. I'm ready for another gothic mystery!

Five stars, Tana!

Me again (in 2026). 

This wasn't the perfect 5-star read this second time around. I blame it on knowing how it would all turn out in the end. Kind of like knowing how The Sixth Sense or Shutter Island ends. But all in all, a very good read. 

Highly recommend!

Heartwood

 

Heartwood by Amity Gaige

Fiction

2025

Narrated by Justine Lupe, Alma Cuervo, Rebecca Lowman, Cary Hite, Helen Laser, Ali Andre Ali

Finished on 3/15/2026

Rating: 3/5 (Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

Heartwood takes you on a journey as a search and rescue team race against time when an experienced hiker mysteriously disappears on the Appalachian Trail in Maine.

In the heart of the Maine woods, an experienced Appalachian Trail hiker goes missing. She is forty-two-year-old Valerie Gillis, who has vanished 200 miles from her final destination. Alone in the wilderness, Valerie pours her thoughts into fractured, poetic letters to her mother as she battles the elements and struggles to keep hoping.

At the heart of the investigation is Beverly, the determined Maine State Game Warden tasked with finding Valerie, who leads the search on the ground. Meanwhile, Lena, a seventy-six-year-old birdwatcher in a Connecticut retirement community, becomes an unexpected armchair detective. Roving between these compelling narratives, a puzzle emerges, intensifying the frantic search, as Valerie’s disappearance may not be accidental.

Meh. The writing is quite good with some lovely passages, but I wish I had read Heartwood rather than going with the audio. There are several narrators, some better than others. One had the habit of dropping the volume of her voice toward the end of a sentence, which should have been caught and corrected in production. The plot isn't very suspenseful, the pacing uneven, and I didn't care much for any of the characters. The ending felt rushed with a few loose ends. All in all, a mediocre read. 

Edited: I've decided to bump up my rating up to a 3/5.

Looking Back - Enduring Love

Looking Back... In an effort to transfer my book journal entries over to this blog, I'm going to attempt to post (in chronological order) an entry every Friday. I may or may not add extra commentary to what I jotted down in these journals.

Enduring Love by Ian McEwan

Fiction

1997

Finished on 5/?/2002

Rating: 3/5 (Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

From the Booker Prize winner and bestselling author of Atonement —a brilliant and compassionate novel of love, faith, and suspense, and of how life can change in an instant.

On a windy spring day in the Chilterns, the calm, organized life of science writer Joe Rose is shattered when he witnesses a tragic accident: a hot-air balloon with a boy trapped in its basket is being tossed by the wind, and in an attempt to save the child, a man is killed. A stranger named Jed Parry joins Rose in helping to bring the balloon to safety. But unknown to Rose, something passes between Parry and himself on that day--something that gives birth to obsession in Parry so powerful that it will test the limits of Rose's beloved rationalism, threaten the love of his wife, Clarissa, and drive him to the brink of murder and madness.

My Original Thoughts (2002):

Bizarre book! Dark and suspenseful. The first two chapters were very intense. 

My Current Thoughts:

I must have decided to read this after reading Atonement, which I loved. I have since read more by McEwan, including a re-read of Atonement, but can safely say that his books aren't for me.

In a Distant Valley

 

In a Distant Valley by Shannon Bowring

Dalton, Maine #3

Fiction

Finished on 3/10/2026

Rating: 4/5 (Very Good)

Publisher's Blurb: SPOILERS (scroll down to my review in blue)

For a few glorious months, single-mother Rose Douglas believed life had finally given her a break. She was enjoying a steady job at the clinic in Dalton, her two young boys were doing well, and their little family had found an easy friendship with widower Nate Theroux and his daughter, Sophie. There was even the unspoken possibility of more between her and Nate--until the day Tommy Merchant, her ex and the father of her sons, showed up without warning on her doorstep.

Tommy isn't the only one who's found his way back to the place that defined him. Lost and disillusioned after a disastrous stint living down south with her father, Angela Muse has returned home. When she runs into Greg Fortin, the friend who once saved her life when they were children, she starts to believe there may be understanding in a world that offers more questions than answers.

Soon, everyone in Dalton finds themselves part of a chain of events hurtling towards outcomes beyond their control, where more than one future will be decided. A window into struggles that are at once destructive, illuminating, and ultimately universal, Shannon Bowring's In a Distant Valley is a triumph--and the remarkable conclusion to the story readers have been following since The Road to Dalton.

Shannon Bowring's Dalton trilogy is a winner! I enjoyed this final installment almost as much as the first two books, and I'm sorry there won't be more to come from this small community and its inhabitants.  Bowring incorporates domestic abuse, sexual identity, grief, single-parenting, and drug abuse in her narrative. All that's missing is cancer, but none of it is gratuitous. It's simply a reflection on real life. In a Distant Valley is more suspenseful and somewhat darker in tone than the previous two books, elevating it to a less than cozy read. I kept waiting for something terrible to happen, but was very pleased with the conclusion. I understand that the audiobooks are well done, so I may give them a try in a few years when I'm ready to re-visit Dalton.

Highly recommend!

Where the Forest Meets the River

 

Where the Forest Meets the River by Shannon Bowring

Dalton, Maine #2

Fiction

Finished on 3/6/2026

Rating: 4.5/5 (Very Good)

Publisher's Blurb: SPOILERS (scroll down to my review in blue)

1995: Five years ago, the suicide of new mother Bridget Theroux shocked the small town of Dalton, Maine. In the wake of the tragedy, Nate is raising their daughter Sophie alone and doesn't always know how to answer the difficult questions she asks. Luckily, he has a friend in single parenthood: Rose Douglas, left with her two boys after her abusive ex skipped town.

Greg Fortin, back from college for the summer, is wrestling not only with the expectation that he take over his father's business but also with telling his family the truth of who he is. Vera Curtis, who left home years ago, discovers more than she bargained for when she returns to care for her mother. And longtime lovers Trudy and Bev, so strong in their secret relationship (even as they remain with their husbands), find themselves rocked by an event that ignites lingering regret within their broken marriages.

Once again, Shannon Bowring proves she knows where the heart of the story lies. Where the Forest Meets the River is a poignant return to Dalton, whose inhabitants continue to startle and humble both themselves and us.

I couldn't put this one down! I loved returning to Dalton, Maine and all its residents. Each character is fully realized, the setting vivid, and the dialogue true and believable. I appreciate that Bowring provides substantial backstory, but not so much so that I was bored, having just read her previous book in this trilogy. The writing is beautiful. There is joy and grief, as well as humor, but each character's story is unpredictable, which kept me turning the pages. I'm glad I read this one with the third installment waiting on my nightstand. The author left us with quite a cliff-hanger!

Where the Forest Meets the River is a tender and touching (but not sappy) novel. I loved it!

Highly Recommend (but do read The Road to Dalton first).

Theo of Golden

 

Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

Fiction

2023

Narrated by David Morse

Finished on 3/3/2026

Rating: 3/5 (Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

One spring morning, a stranger arrives in the small southern city of Golden. No one knows where he has come from…or why…

His name is Theo. And he asks a lot more questions than he answers.

Theo visits the local coffeehouse, where ninety-two pencil portraits hang on the walls, portraits of the people of Golden done by a local artist. He begins purchasing them, one at a time, and putting them back in the hands of their “rightful owners.” With each exchange, a story is told, a friendship born, and a life altered.

A story of giving and receiving, of seeing and being seen, Theo of Golden is a beautifully crafted novel about the power of creative generosity, the importance of wonder to a purposeful life, and the invisible threads of kindness that bind us to one another.

I was really excited about reading this debut novel after seeing so many glowing reviews, so I purchased a copy, something I rarely do unless I'm certain it's one I'm going to love. I read several chapters, but wasn't impressed. I decided to try the audiobook with hopes that it wouldn't be as slow as the print edition. I increased the listening speed, and eventually got interested in the story. I wish I could say that I loved Allen Levi's book, but it just wasn't for me. I liked the novel well enough to finish, but it's not one that I can recommend. Theo of Golden is an uplifting and inspirational story (with an underlying Christian message), which will appeal to fans of Mitch Albom and Nicholas Sparks. For me, the pacing was too slow, and overall the book was a touch too saccharine and sentimental.

A Month in Summary - February 2026

Little Whale Cove

Depoe Bay, Oregon

February 2026

Well, that was one a hell of a month. And I wasn't the one who broke my femur! My poor mom. We were actually at her doctor's office, having just finished an appointment about her neuropathy, when she fell in the parking lot. We have a fabulous fire department and great EMTs who got her to the ER quickly where she was diagnosed with a femoral neck fracture, with some displacement rather than impaction. She had a partial hip replacement the following day, and had very good care in the hospital for a few more days before transfering to a rehab facility in Albany, OR (roughly 70 miles away). We were able to visit her several times during her stay, and are very happy that she is coming home this Friday! Whoohoo!

Meanwhile, I was able to read a few books, mostly at night, which helped to quiet my anxious mind. Two of the four books were re-reads, which was just what I needed. They were familiar, but yet still engrossing, and stood the test of time. My single audiobook (Wild Dark Shore) was outstanding, and I'm only sorry that I finished it before I started the long drives to visit my mom. It would have kept me more entertained than the other audios that I've been listening to this past week. The big disappointment was Louise Penny's follow-up to Grey Wolf, but I'm over it. She has a new mystery coming out later this year and I'm looking forward to reading that one. Ever the optimist!

Books Read (click on the title for my review):

The Black Wolf by Louise Penny (3/5)

Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy (4.5/5)

In the Woods by Tana French (4.75/5)

The Road to Dalton by Shannon Bowring (4.5/5)

Movies & TV Series:

The Night Manager (Seasons 1 & 2) - Very good, but super intense! 

The Handmaid's Tale (final season) - Done! It took a long time to get through all six seasons, since I didn't want to binge on it. Too distressing and too timely. A powerful series, but I'm glad to be done.

Task - Excellent performance by Mark Ruffalo, Tom Pelphrey, and Emilia Jones. One of the best crime dramas I've watched in a long time. As one reviewer wrote, "Task stands out as a character study with morally complex characters and a deeply grounded setting, making it more than a standard crime thriller."

Visitors:

No photos, but all three of my brothers were/are here to help out and visit our mom in the hospital & rehab. I couldn't have made it through these past two-and-a-half weeks without them. And my amazing husband. And my dear friends, near and far.