TV Tuesday: Will Trent

My husband and I are loving the new ABC show, Will Trent, with its unique spin on a crime drama, with original characters, excellent acting, and a sense of humor. 

Special Agent Will Trent, played by Ramon Rodriguez, has the highest clearance rate for the GBI, Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Many of his colleagues, though, just think he's strange. He has an on-again-off-again romantic relationship but lifetime friendship with Angie Polaski (played by Erika Christensen, who I remember fondly from Parenthood). Angie is an Atlanta Police (APD) Detective, so they often work together on difficult cases. Both Will and Angie grew up in foster care, which gives them a unique point of view. Will is determined that no one ever feels abandoned like he did, from the stray dog he finds to the victims of the crimes he investigates. His boss, Amanda Wagner, played by Sonja Sohn, is tough but fair and clearly recognizes Will's talents when it comes to solving cases. Angie's partner, Michael (played by Jake McLaughlin, who we enjoyed in Quantico and Believe), isn't so sure about Will and is put off by his three-piece suits and stiff demeanor. The GBI and APD often work together to solve cases, so there is sometimes some friction there. Behind the scenes, both Will and Angie are still trying to deal with the scars of their horrific childhoods.

Will Trent has quickly become one of our favorite shows! Since it's on cable and only airs once a week, my husband is constantly asking me, "Is there a new Will Trent up yet?" We enjoy many crime shows, though we like best those that come with a sense of humor (like Poker Face and The Rookie), and this one meets that criteria. It's also well-written and features twisty new mysteries and fast-paced action in each episode. What makes this show unique, though, are the original characters and the wonderful actors who play them. Despite Will often annoying his colleagues, viewers will quickly come to like him. Details from Will's and Angie's background slowly come to light that help to explain where they are now. It's an all-around outstanding show, and we look forward to each new episode!

Will Trent is an ABC show and is available on cable On Demand, on the ABC website, and on Hulu.

It's Monday 3/13! What Are You Reading?

Hosted by The Book Date

Life

Big news here last week! Our oldest son, who shares my chronic medical conditions, landed his first full-time job in his field. He's been sick since age 10 and has worked diligently with a long string of doctors to improve his condition as much as possible and now feels ready to manage a full-time professional position in his field. This job is exactly what he wanted to do after college. We are all very excited for him, and this represents a huge, wonderful step forward into his adult life. We have two weeks to try to get a bunch of last-minute medical things done so he's in the best shape possible for this new stage of his life.

In other big news, my husband and I enjoyed a lovely weekend getaway! This was long-overdue for us, and my health has improved enough for me to enjoy it. We rented a wonderful waterfront Airbnb cottage on Maryland's Eastern shore, about an hour from home, and enjoyed a relaxing couple of days together. I so enjoy staying in Airbnb's, and this one was very cozy and filled with thoughtful touches ... and that view!

Fabulous view of Rosin Creek from living room of our rental

 We explored Chestertown, MD, one of the oldest and most historic towns in the state. We had some delicious meals, walked to the waterfront along the Chester River (though it was cold and windy!), and--of course--spent an hour in a wonderful indie bookstore, Book Plate. 

 

Along the Chester River in Chestertown, MD

This store was a delight, filled with floor-to-ceiling shelves, winding walkways through them, a huge selection of books, and some unique ways of organizing books! We have some big waiting-to-read stacks at home, so we bought a few classics we've each been wanting to read (Dickens for my husband, and the other two for me).

 

Books from Book Plate Bookstore

 

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On the Blog

 Fiction Review: Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger - excellent historical fiction, mystery, and coming-of-age story

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On Video

Friday Reads 3-10-23 - my weekly update with details of what I'm reading and what I think

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What We're Reading

 

I'm reading  Be with the Dead by Matty Dalrymple, book 6 in her Ann Kinnear series, about a woman who can sense spirits and solves mysteries by talking to the dead. As I've mentioned here before, I rarely read series, but I love this one, with its unique spin on the mystery/suspense genre. This novel is especially interesting to me because it revolves around two thriller authors, editing, and publishing. Matty is an excellent writer, with well-developed characters, unique and vivid settings (here, Princeton and Ocean City in winter), and twisty, suspenseful plots. I am close to the end of this novel now and absolutely loving it!

 

 

I finished Concealed by Christina Diaz Gonzalez, as my first book for Middle-Grade March. Twelve-year-old Katrina (her latest name) is in the witness protection program with her parents, hiding from a dangerous drug cartel. She had a terrible accident three years ago, just before they went into the program, so she doesn't remember anything of their earlier "before" life. Their latest move is to an RV park in rural Georgia, a big change from the big cities they usually move to, to get lost in crowds. Here, Katrina might be able to have a little more freedom and even make a friend, like the boy living in the trailer next door. As you might have guessed, things don't go as planned! This twisty, surprising novel is filled with deep secrets, lies, and thriller action. 

I am now listening to another middle-grade audio book, Can You See Me? by Libby Scott and Rebecca Westcott. This one is about an autistic young girl named Tally who is experiencing the challenges of starting middle-school. Tally has supportive parents and an older sister, plus a best friend who knows about her diagnosis, but no one else at school knows. So far, this story, told from Tally's perspective, is interesting and engaging and is providing a great inside look at what it's like to live with autism.

My husband, Ken, is reading one of his Christmas gift books, Upgrade by Blake Crouch. We are both big fans of Crouch. I enjoyed Recursion, and Dark Matter is one of my favorite books. The TV series Wayward Pines and Good Behavior were based on his books. After Ken's finished with Upgrade, I definitely plan to read it also! 

 

Our son, 28, finished reading Banished by Wiseheart, book 1 in the Street Rats of Aramoor series and immediately moved onto book 2, Hurricane. He likes this writer!

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What Are You Reading Monday is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date, so head over and check out her blog and join the Monday fun! You can also participate in a kid/teen/YA version hosted by Unleashing Readers.

You can follow me on Twitter at @SueBookByBook or on Facebook on my blog's page.  

What are you and your family reading this week

 

Fiction Review: Ordinary Grace

Last spring, our All County Reads book was This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger, so my neighborhood book group got free copies from the library. We all loved it--a rarity for us to all agree on a book!--and it was my #2 book of the year for 2022. So, my book group chose another Krueger novel, Ordinary Grace, for our March book this year. It won the Edgar Award for Best Novel in 2014. Like the previous novel, this one did not disappoint, with historical fiction wrapped around a moving coming-of-age story, with a hefty dose of nature and a mystery at its center.

Thirteen-year-old Frank lives in southern Minnesota in a small town with his parents, older sister, Ariel, and younger brother, Jake. Their father is the Methodist minister in their town and two other neighboring towns. Frank narrates this story as an adult, looking back on the summer of 1961, which changed him forever. As he explains early in the novel, four deaths occurred in town that summer. The first happens even before the novel opens: a boy named Bobby, about the same age as he and Jake, was killed by a train. It's widely assumed to be a terrible accident, but Frank overhears some adults saying it could have been something else. That kicks off a life-changing summer for Frank, filled with loss, confusion, and adult topics he'd been shielded from until now. Three more deaths occur soon after, with one of them clearly a murder. Frank narrates from the point of view of what it was like for his thirteen-year-old self and how all of that loss affected him and his brother during that memorable, hot summer.

While there is a murder mystery in this book with plenty of red herrings, it is primarily historical fiction with a poignant coming-of-age story at its center. As in This Tender Land, Krueger has an amazing talent for bringing to life a particular time and place. This novel is soaked in nostalgia, as Frank looks back on that eventful summer when he had to grow up too soon. Also similar is Krueger's beautiful rendering of the natural world. Here, the river that runs through town (with those train tracks that run alongside it) is a central point in the boys' childhood and in the deaths that occur that summer: a place of both play and pain. Krueger's lyrical writing combines with a gripping plot and in-depth characters to create a story that is engrossing and moving. This Tender Land is still my favorite Krueger novel (so far), but Ordinary Grace is a close runner-up.

336 pages, Atria

Recorded Books

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Purchases from these links provide a small commission to me (pennies per purchase), to help offset the time I spend writing for this blog, at no extra cost to you.

 

 

This book fits in the following 2023 Reading Challenges:

 

Mount TBR Challenge

Monthly Motif Challenge - plants or flowers on the cover

Alphabet Soup Challenge - O

Literary Escapes Challenge - Minnesota

Visit my YouTube Channel for more bookish fun!

 

Listen to a sample of the audiobook here and/or download it from Audible.

 

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!

   

 

Or you can order Ordinary Grace from Book Depository, with free shipping worldwide.

It's Monday 3/6! What Are You Reading?

Hosted by The Book Date

Life

Last week was family week, with quality time spent with both of our sons. As I explained in last Monday's post, our older son was home visiting from NY. It was a short visit, mostly for doctors' appointments, but we got to enjoy two dinners with him (one including all four of us), a Star Trek Strange New Worlds (he watches the newer Star Trek series with my husband and I), and I had plenty of time with him in the car to catch up. Last night, our younger son and his girlfriend were here for dinner. He lives with us part-time, but his long-time girlfriend's been away at school and is home for spring break, so it was really nice to enjoy some time together. And I saw online that Saturday was National Sons' Day! I am very fortunate to have two such wonderful young men as my sons.

Sylvan Lake, Black Hills SD, 2005

My birthday, July 2019

My stamina is still quite limited (I have a doctor's appointment this week to hopefully adjust my meds again), but I did manage some short walks last week, taking advantage of some lovely, sunny days. Yesterday, I took a break from tax preparation, and my husband and I enjoyed a new-to-us hike along a local creek where we discovered a hidden pond.

 

Blue sky and clouds reflected in the water

Good to be outdoors on a lovely day!

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On the Blog

 Fiction Review: Anywhere You Run by Wanda M. Morris - historical fiction set in 1964, with family drama and suspense woven in

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On Video

New book-related videos posted last week:

Booktube by the Numbers - quick shout-outs to 10 other Booktubers I enjoy - great for discovering new channels!

My March Reading Plans - including two reading challenges, a podcast read-along, and preparation for Booktopia 

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What We're Reading

 

I finished reading Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, a classic I've been wanting to read for ages that was perfect for Black History Month. It's about a woman named Janie who comes back into town after a year and a half away, and then tells her best friend her story--not only of the past 18 months but of her entire life. It was written in 1937 and the dialogue is all written in the Black dialect of Florida at that time, so it can take little longer to read than standard text. But that dialect and language adds so much to the story! The creative metaphors and similes used by the characters are often hilarious, in spite of the drama of the story. I thoroughly enjoyed this engrossing novel. I talk about it more in my February Reading Wrap-up video, which will go up on my YouTube channel tomorrow.

 

 

 

My first book for March was a classic published in 1917, Parnassus on Wheels by Christopher Morley. This was the first quarter read-along for the Book Cougars podcast (highly recommended). This year's theme for their read-alongs is Books About Books, and this was a wonderful start! It's about 39-year-old Helen McGill who has spent her life caring for her brother, a famous author, at their farmhouse. One day, a man comes along in what is basically a 1917 bookmobile, a wagon outfitted with shelves of books on both sides, and a cozy little living space inside. He was going to offer to sell the whole thing to her brother, but since he's not home, Helen decides to buy it with her savings and go off on her own adventure for a change! It's a wonderful little novel about the love (and benefits) of books, travel, and nature. Road trips, nature, and books? I want a Parnassus of my own!

 

On audio, I finished listening to The Upper World by Femi Fadugba, a YA science fiction novel. It's about parallel universes and time travel, some of my favorite kinds of plots, and it was described as "perfect for fans of Neal Schusterman." I'm in! Esso, a teen Black boy in a poor section of London, gets in an accident and is suddenly pushed into another world, "the upper world." Fifteen years later, teen girl Rhia has a new Physics tutor named Dr. Esso. Lots of secrets revealed and twisty plot points ensue. It was excellent and gripping, though its south London street slang dialect was sometimes a bit tricky on audio (but added to the story). 

 

 

 Now, I am listening to Concealed by Christina Diaz Gonzalez, as my first book for Middle-Grade March. Twelve-year-old Katrina (her latest name) is in the witness protection program with her parents, hiding from a dangerous drug cartel. She had a terrible accident three years ago, just before they went into the program, so she doesn't remember anything of their earlier "before" life. Their latest move is to an RV park in rural Georgia, a big change from the big cities they usually move to, to get lost in crowds. Here, Katrina might be able to have a little more freedom and even make a friend, like the boy living in the trailer next door. I am loving this very twisty audio book so far, filled with deep secrets, lies, and thriller action.

My husband, Ken, just started one of his Christmas gift books, Upgrade by Blake Crouch. We are both big fans of Crouch. I enjoyed Recursion, and Dark Matter is one of my favorite books. The TV series Wayward Pines and Good Behavior were based on his books. After Ken's finished with Upgrade, I definitely plan to read it also!

Our son, 28, finished reading Plague of Shadows by Michael Wiseheart, book 2 in the Aldoran Chronicles series. Now, he's moved onto book one, Banished, of different series by Wiseheart, Street Rats of Aramoor, that he realized is the prequel to Aldoran Chronicles. He likes this writer!

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What Are You Reading Monday is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date, so head over and check out her blog and join the Monday fun! You can also participate in a kid/teen/YA version hosted by Unleashing Readers.

You can follow me on Twitter at @SueBookByBook or on Facebook on my blog's page.  

What are you and your family reading this week

Fiction Review: Anywhere You Run

I was looking through my large backlog of audio books last month to find something for Black History Month, and I found the perfect fit: Anywhere You Run by Wanda M. Morris. This novel combines historical fiction, family drama, and suspense and was excellent on audio.

Violet and Marigold are two sisters living in Jackson, Mississippi, in the summer of 1964, aka Freedom Summer. In the wider world, busloads of people have traveled south to Jackson and other cities to help register Black voters, resulting in conflict and violence. Three of those northerners were recently murdered in Jackson. In the sisters' personal lives, though, just as much turmoil is happening, including the recent loss of their mother, father, and older sister, Rose. Violet is raped by a white man, whom she kills. Knowing that a Black woman who kills a white man--for any reason--will likely not even survive to go to prison, Violet leaves town and goes on the run. She ends up in a small, rural town in Georgia, where she changes her name and tries to start a new life, with a vague idea of maybe continuing to Washington, DC, someday. Meanwhile, Marigold finds out she is pregnant, and the baby's father has no intention of being there for her or doing the right thing. Single, pregnant, and Black, Marigold also feels in danger in Jackson. She heads north, hoping to find more equality and peace there. As Violet and Marigold each struggle with their own issues and dangers, they don't realize that a man from Jackson is tracking both of them, a man who is becoming increasingly desperate as his boss puts pressure on his own family.

There is so much to this engrossing novel: historical detail of time and place, intimate emotional depth, and a thriller-like thread of suspense throughout. Violet and Marigold are flawed but likable characters I was rooting for. Each of them encounters one challenge after another, with danger recurring just as they think they are safe. The man tracking them is also a three-dimensional character here, with his motivations and devotion to his own family clearly shown. The novel moves from Mississippi to Georgia to Ohio, with intricate details of what it was like in each place in 1964 for Black women. With multiple narrators for the well-done audio, this gripping story kept me rapt.

400 pages, William Morrow

HarperAudio

This book fits in the following 2023 Reading Challenges:

 

Alphabet Soup Challenge - A

Diversity Reading Challenge & February Mini-Challenge (Black pov)

Literary Escapes Challenge - Mississippi

 

Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher in return for an honest review. My review is my own opinion and is not influenced by my relationship with the publisher or author.

Note: This post contains affiliate links. Purchases from these links provide a small commission to me (pennies per purchase), to help offset the time I spend writing for this blog, at no extra cost to you.

Visit my YouTube Channel for more bookish fun!

 

Listen to a sample of the audiobook here and/or download it from Audible.

 

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)--the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!

    

 

Or you can order Anywhere You Run from Book Depository, with free shipping worldwide.

It's Monday 2/27! What Are You Reading?

Hosted by The Book Date

Life

Not much time today for an update because my son and I made our quarterly pilgrimage to nearby Lancaster County to see his two of his medical specialists. He came home yesterday and is leaving after dinner tonight. It's a short but very welcome visit since we hadn't seen him since Christmas. Though the four hours of driving and doctor's appointments wears me out, I enjoy the time with my son; we get to catch up in the car. Here's a picture of the traffic we encounter along the way:

 

 

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On the Blog

Movie Monday: CODA - Outstanding!

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On Video

 Friday Reads 2-24-23 - Overview of my recent reads

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What We're Reading

I finished Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger for my book group, though I missed our meeting. Last year, Krueger's This Tender Land was our All-County Reads book, and all of us loved it (it was my #2 book of the year!), so we were excited to read this one. It won the 2014 Edgar Award and is a standalone historical mystery, set in a small town in Minnesota in 1961. But it's mostly a coming-of-age story, with thirteen-year-old Frank at its center, along with his younger brother, Jake. At the start, the narrator (Frank as an adult) explains that four deaths occurred in town that summer. Those deaths change him and force him to grow up quickly. It was excellent! You can hear more about the book and my thoughts in my Friday Reads video.

 

Now, I am reading Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zore Neale Hurston, a classic I've been wanting to read for ages that's perfect for Black History Month. It's about a woman named Janie who comes back into town after a year and a half away, and then tells her best friend her story--not only of the past 18 months but of her entire life. It was written in 1937 and the dialogue is all written in the Black dialect of Florida at that time, so it can take little longer to read than standard text. But I've gotten into the rhythm of it, and it's an engrossing story. I'm really enjoying it.

On audio, I am listening to The Upper World by Femi Fadugba, a YA science fiction novel. It's about parallel universes and time travel, some of my favorite kinds of plots, and it was described as "perfect for fans of Neal Schusterman." I'm in! Esso, a teen Black boy in a poor section of London gets in an accident and is suddenly pushed into another world, "the upper world." Fifteen years later, teen girl Rhia has a new Physics tutor named Dr. Esso. Lots of secrets revealed and twisty plot points ensue. It's excellent, though it has its own south London slang dialect which is sometimes a bit tricky on audio. 

 

My husband, Ken, is still reading Absolute Fear by Lisa Jackson, a Valentine's gift from me, a thriller set in New Orleans, where we used to live. It's a re-release of one of her best-sellers, about two NOPD detectives investigating a serial killer, and it's part of a series. I didn't realize she wrote a thriller series set in New Orleans; this might be a new favorite series for my husband! Isn't it fun to read novels set in a place you know well?

 

Our son, 28, finished reading The White Tower by Michael Wisehart, book 1 in The Aldoran Chronicles, and is almost finished with book 2, Plague of Shadows.

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What Are You Reading Monday is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date, so head over and check out her blog and join the Monday fun! You can also participate in a kid/teen/YA version hosted by Unleashing Readers.

You can follow me on Twitter at @SueBookByBook or on Facebook on my blog's page.  

What are you and your family reading this week