by Tea Cooper (Author), Casey Withoos (Narrator), Thomas Nelson (Publisher) An Audiobook Review by Jackie Houchin THE GIRL IN THE PAINTING by Tea Cooper is a wondrous historical fiction novel set in Australia. Brother and sister travel from England to Australia in the late 1800’s to join their parents who emigrated from Ireland first to establish a new home for…
by Victoria Tait (Author) A Book Review by Jackie Houchin What a superb wrap up to Victoria Tait’s six book British Antique Mystery series! Although the author promises more of Dotty Sayers, PRICELESS BETRAYAL completes a character and mystery ark in her heroine’s life. The story picks up in a tense situation as Dotty is stopped…
Originally posted on Momma Needs to Read:
Welcome back to my blog. For those of you that have already seen my How to Rate Books post, this is like part two. For those that have not seen that post, you can read it here. This post is all about the written review part of book…
Originally posted on Momma Needs to Read:
Sometimes, when you finish a book you immediately know where it lands on your rating scale. Sometimes, you have no clue, or maybe you are struggling to figure out where you feel it fits best. Something important to remember about ratings and reviews is that they are totally…
Originally posted on The Writers in Residence:
By Guest blogger/author Naomi Hirahara Artificial intelligence, especially ChatGPT, is on people’s minds these days. ChatGPT is developed through OpenAI, a company Elon Musk co-founded with a controlling and growing investment by Microsoft, which is beta-testing artificial intelligence in its search engine, bing. Instead of doing a simple…
By by Katie Gayle (Author) A Book Review by Jackie Houchin Katie Gayle has brought back her sixty-something recently single and very clever sleuth, Sarah Byrd with her rambunctious chocolate Labrador, Jake. Many of the characters in the Cotswolds town of Barrywick have returned too, including Tabitha her library friend and Sean, the handsome doctor, who looks like…
by Charles Todd (Author), Simon Prebble (Narrator), Blackstone Audio, Inc. An Audiobook Review by Jackie Houchin A bizarre set of murders unfolds in Yorkshire after a creepily clothed corpse with a book on alchemy at his feet is found in the ruins of an abbey. There is a lot of misdirection at first which the local policeman advances due to…
by AJ Pearce (Author), Anna Popplewell (Narrator), Simon & Schuster Audio (Publisher) An Audiobook Review by Jackie Houchin I very much enjoyed this historical novel set in the middle of WWII in Great Britain. DEAR MRS. BIRD is about the war efforts that those at home took part in to support the soldiers and sailors – often some of their own…
A Christian Essay by Jackie Houchin Jesus said the way to Salvation is narrow and hard and that few people find it. He also said that only those whom God, His Father, draws will come to Him. And in answer to Peter’s question, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus answered that with God, all things…
by Gabrielle Meyer (Author), Rachel Botchan (Narrator), Recorded Books (Publisher) An Audiobook Review by Jackie Houchin I am sitting in awe having just finished listening to WHEN THE DAY COMES. This book is very well written and narrated and so unputdownable! An extraordinary story! I know it will stay with me for many days. Gabrielle Meyer’s dual story is imaginative…
by Elise M. Stone A Book Review by Jackie Houchin HOMICIDE ON THE RANGE is the first book in the third mystery series that Elise M. Stone has created. It’s an offshoot from her African Violet Club mysteries, featuring the very likable and capable senior sleuth Lilliana Wentworth, now Lilliana MacAlistair having married the handsome ex-spy,…
By Agatha Christie (Author), Stephanie Cole (Narrator), HarperAudio (Publisher) An Audiobook Review, by Jackie Houchin The last Miss Marple mystery is terrific. It is spooky, mystifying, and well laid out. It’s the story about a newly married couple who have bought a house in the English countryside. Gwenda feels right from the first moment that she is “home” in the…
Connie Berry (Author), Ruth Urquhart (Narrator), Dreamscape Media, LLC (Publisher) An Audiobook Review by Jackie Houchin Connie Berry’s THE SHADOW OF MEMORY is a suspenseful and complicated mystery, or maybe two mysteries (?) that are very hard to figure out. There’s a 60-year-old (accidental?) murder, plus a present-day killer on the loose. How are they connected? ARE they connected? It’s five…
by Gail Meath (Author) Gail Meath’s TWO OF A KIND is a prequel to her five book Jax Diamond series, set in the “roaring 20’s” in New York. It explains how and why Jax resigned from the Police Department, and acquired his new “partner” (a German Shepherd puppy), and leaves it open as to how he begins…
Naomi Hirahara (Author), Allison Hiroto (Narrator), Recorded Books Inc. (Publisher) An Audiobook Review by Jackie Houchin Naomi Hirahara’s CLARK AND DIVISION (the name of an “L” subway station in Chicago) is about two sisters in a Japanese-American family living in Los Angeles when Pearl Harbor was bombed. It touches briefly on the years before that event when Aki’s older sister…
Words and Reviews 