Helen Cartwright, 83 y/o, has returned to her family home in a small village in England after 60 years in Australia to die. Not that she has a diagnosis beyond being old. She has been back for 3 years, but returned still actively grieving the abrupt loss of her husband and the tragic loss of her son. She is very lonely and isolated. She does the same thing most days and memories do not give her comfort. Then she unwittingly brings a 5” male mouse into her house. He decides to stay with her and she decides to care for him. (This is not a talking mouse or an anthropomorphic rodent). To care for him she starts meeting a few people she can connect with as she moves from removing the mouse by trapping to naming Sipsworth and hoping wildlife rescue group will take him to making Sipsworth a housemate. Eventually it is revealed that Helen has done significant things. Slow start. A comforting book. Perhaps this book raises awareness of long term grieving, loneliness, sadness and isolation in people in our lives (or in ourselves).

This book is like a warm chocolate chip cookie- warm, sweet and brings a smile to my face! This is my favorite full-length Ali Brady book, which I listened to on audio via Libby. If you’re a fan of You’ve Got Mail and Book Lovers, read this great feel-good romance. Josie manages a literary fiction bookstore while Ryan manages a romance bookstore. The mutual owner merges the spaces and forces them to compete for the sole managerial role. Rivalry ensues and chemistry starts crackling! I enjoyed this quite a bit.

Funny and positive book to read

They were in the magic treehouse, they found a pirate book and wanted to go there. Then they were in there and got caught by the pirates. To try to get out, they put them in the real ship in a basement and they knew where the treasure was so they went.

Really good book with 3 refugees.

A fiery flight attendant clashes with the NHL’s resident “bad boy” hockey player on their team’s private plane, sparking an undeniable attraction despite their professional boundaries and personal baggage. As a Chicago native, born and raised in the suburbs and having spent a decade living in the city post-college, it will always be my home and one of my favorite places. Chicago is synonymous with sports. So many of my cherished memories are tied to its teams: celebrating three Blackhawks Stanley Cup wins, witnessing Michael Jordan and the Bulls dominate with six championships, and both the White Sox and Cubs clinching World Series titles. I’ve also lost count of the games I’ve attended with friends and family over the years. Given this deep connection, I was so excited to dive into this Chicago sports romance book series. I went into Mile High with high hopes, especially since I’m heading back to Chicago next week (wrote this before) and was eager for some nostalgic vibes. Unfortunately, it simply fell flat. The characters felt largely one-dimensional. Stevie, the FMC, frequently mentioned her weight and body insecurities, but little else truly defined her. Zander, the MMC, came across as primarily interested in material possessions and money, bringing them up entirely too often. With such limited character depth, their instalove connection just didn’t feel genuine, leaving me largely uninvested in their love story, which spanned a lengthy 17 hours on audiobook. It could have been done in 8! The Windy City series includes 5 interconnected standalone books. I’d recommend experiencing Mile High as a physical read. My personal experience with the audiobook fell flat due to the narration, which, unfortunately, lacked the enthusiasm and personality I usually enjoy, especially right after finishing a book with a highly animated narrator. Even for a duet narration, it just didn’t engage me. Despite my lukewarm experience with this one, many readers whose book tastes align with mine absolutely rave about this series. Because of that, I’m definitely giving the next book a chance before I decide whether to dive into the rest of the series or not. Rating: ??????

Evil spy school is a very good book.

funny

Full of adventure and interesting characters.

Ellen outside of the lines is a really good book pre-teens and early teenagers. It is about Ellen, a middle school "girl" who is figuring out how to be herself/ who she is. I would rate this book 5/5 stars because it was a really good book with really descriptive but not too descriptive that it would be boring.