“Our centuries of war with the swamp have shown that when we attack nature, nature will fight back, and both humans and nature will lose.”

In this fascinating tale of an undercover sting operation to stop alligator poachers and protect the natural population in the Everglades, we meet Jeff Babauta, aka Curtis ‘Jeff’ Blackledge. Babauta is a Florida Fish and Wildlife employee who decides to accept an undercover operation at the end of his career. Jeff believes to his core that protecting the native species and the special terrain they call home is his highest calling and his natural passion. But he knows the dangers that might await when he heads to the remote place he will call home for the next year or more.

True crime comes to life in the pages of this tale and Rebecca Renner herself graces the pages as she does her journalistic research in meetings with the long-time residents and storytellers so she can learn the area and the business of gator egg rustling. She actually meets Babauta after his sting and after his retirement and after winning his trust. He ultimately gives Renner access to all his videos, documentation, and personal knowledge of the people involved.

I absolutely got lost in this mystery world of cypress trees, Spanish moss, and swampland where the case played out. Lydia Millet writes in her review for The New York Times, “Every species, and every person who fights for its continued existence, deserves a book like this.”

I totally agree.

"There was an exuberant air of relief about the outports and plantations on the shore and the Christmas festivities in Mockbeggar resumed the tradition of dismal anarchy they were known for."

When reading the words put down by a poet one can be pretty sure each one is chosen with care. On this remote Newfoundland island voice and setting are melded. Whether it is a pledge, a commitment, or a threat, the words of these characters to and about one another are the backbone of this story as the harsh setting with its volatile weather creates the place. The Widow Caines and her deplorable brother Abe Strapp are the central characters in the dark and desolate island community as they fight to dominate one over the other.

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger could certainly be the motto of the small community of Mockbeggar and its inhabitants as well. This atmospheric tale will creep up on you in all sorts of unexpected ways. Difficult to describe in a few words, this story has some wonderfully despicable characters, some random humor, a powerful setting, and an incredibly capable writer. It's probably best suited for those who don't mind going a little off the beaten path.

Morning, May 5, 2019–we meet a family involved in their morning routines. We learn that the five of them have nearly outgrown their apartment in Manhattan and in some ways they also may have outgrown the relationship that holds them together. They are Dan and Isabel, parents to Nathan (10) and Violet (5), and Isabel's brother Robbie who lives in the attic of their brownstone.

Afternoon, May 5, 2020-covid has arrived in NYC and the kids are homeschooling while Dan and Isabel get on each other's nerves. Robbie went to Iceland and is stuck there because planes aren't flying. Violet is horrified that an open window will let in "the thing." Nathan has moved to the attic and is entering his teens with all the accompanying angst and body odor.

Evening, April 5, 2021-we learn of separations. The factors involved in each are different. Reality is now changed and our characters must figure out a path forward.

Cunningham's writing is both eloquent and sometimes overly complex with sentences that wrap around until I've completely lost the point. This story seems to be simply about the ebbing and flowing of human relationships. The connections of all kinds that get these characters through their days. I wish I had an answer for the reasoning behind the three points in time, but I don't. Perhaps they are just markers in the stream of life.

Matt Amaker has just about reached the break-even point with his dive business operating off the coast of Haiti. When Aristide falls to a military coup things take a drastic turn. Matt reimagines his business into a treasure hunting venture that explores old, underwater vessels for what ever they might contain but also attracts some unfortunate attention.

There is also a rookie CIA officer who is in way over her head. Readers are given this woman's real name (Audrey O'Donnell) as well as her operative name (Shelley Graber) for reasons I couldn't discern and it is nothing but confusing in an already challenging and complex story of good guys vs bad. This story illustrates the cost of military dictatorships, Bush imposed embargoes, people and entities masquerading as something they are not. It's easy for the characters to get pulled unwittingly into bad situations.

Ben Fountain knows his stuff when it comes to Haiti's problems and with excellent storytelling he melds the political with the characters to make the story both engaging and informative and shines a light on a somewhat unsettled part of the world.

Ann has established herself as an accomplished illustrator with a loving boyfriend but things are falling apart when she learns her beloved grandmother Minh has died. She returns to her home in Florida and to her estranged mother Huong. The book tells the backstory of each of these women as Huong and Ann establish a tense truce to settle the affairs of Minh's life in the family home known as Banyon House.

Present in the story are revelations from the past and family secrets that provide dimension for the women along with stories about life in Viet Nam that create a fascinating cultural authenticity. Strongly character driven the book felt a slight drag in the middle but I was never inclined to walk away. This felt like a book I wanted to settle into and read at a leisurely pace.

If David Grann's name isn't enough to draw you to this book perhaps the subtitle will push you to give this one a try.

The 1740 ill-fated sailing of the Wager on a challenging mission was compounded by a rickety vessel, a mutinous crew, raging illnesses, and an abundance of bad weather. Sent out to wage war against Spain they barely even encountered the Spanish warships before their plans were changed and disaster engulfed them.

This book is a well researched and well written narrative nonfiction. There is a lot of detail about the events with a lot of action to propel the reader from one dire crisis to the next. We can now add the Wager to the collection of naval disasters like Shackelton's exploration, the sinking of the Lusitania, and the Halifax explosion.

Marie and Lawrence are both living with traumas from their pasts but a single day after they meet at a bar in Anchorage they have agreed to marry and homestead on the 150 remote acres Lawrence has claimed. In 1956 Alaska is still a territory and the parcel of land has little to offer other than the lake that caught Lawrence's attention in the government land office.

There is an interesting writing style that invokes the Alaska land—remote and spare—and it is much like the relationship between these characters. Neither of them is a good communicator and they both have difficulty sharing their emotions. Instead they tend to withdraw in silence away from one another. While they retreat from one another the reader is given glimpses behind their protective facades so we care about each of them and their future together.

Lawrence is committed to building a cabin for his family, one that will be big enough for his kids to learn to walk inside.
"He is building this for his children and his children's children — a notion that steadies him, but what of Marie, the everyday of living here with each other, together? How would the days turn into years?"

Homestead is exactly that story.

"Is life in this world a gift or a curse?"

This is the question readers explore through the character who we first meet as Anya. As a young girl she is being taught by her father the art of stone carving. When he dies, leaving her orphaned, she is rescued by her grandfather who "gifts" her with eternity—the life of an immortal.

Vampires? I haven't read a book like this in ages but I was hooked on Collette's story and her growing unease along with the abiding loneliness defining her life. This beautifully written debut novel had just the right amount of creepiness for fall reading and for me had definite shades of Ann Rice.

Frances (Frankie) Croy is 42 and a novelist with a somewhat declining reputation after publishing four books. Upset by a particularly scathing review and a rather public outburst Frankie escapes to Venice where she is staying in a borrowed residence— Palazzo d'Affagata (translated as Palace of the Drowned). Her best friend Jack has recommended this domicile and assured Frankie it would be empty and available as it was every winter.

Shortly after arriving in Venice, Frankie encounters a young woman who professes to know her. Gilly is the daughter of the wife of one of the editors at her publishing house. Something about Gilly seems off from the outset and it gets even stranger as Gilly inserts herself into Frankie's life.

Strange noises in the palazzo, the atmosphere and the feel of the city are almost palpable as Frankie's instincts tell her things just aren't right. I really admire a writer who can capture this sense of place so vividly on the page. Mangan did this brilliantly in her first novel Tangerine also. This is an intriguing character study of dark and twisted emotions that gradually accumulate in the reader's mind as the pages turn. I was so engrossed in the events being described and couldn't wait to see how these characters would emerge from this psychological maze.

Belle da Costa Greene is a librarian at Princeton University when she is approached by a patron of the university recommending she should interview for the newly created position of personal librarian to J P Morgan. Morgan is creating the Pierpont Morgan Library and is seeking someone to organize and manage his collection. Belle is anxious to succeed in this endeavor despite knowing that she has a secret Morgan can never discover—she is a black woman passing as white.

I loved the descriptions of Belle joining the social set, investigating and acquiring items for the library collection, and struggling to make sure her secret remained safe. Additionally there is an undercurrent of sexual attraction between Belle and Morgan who is 40 years her senior.

This is a fascinating look at the Gilded Age, a peek into the affluent society of New York City, the search for the highly valued collectibles that will establish the preeminence of the Pierpont Morgan Library, and what it means to live an authentic life.

Based on the life of Belle da Costa Greene, this book hit on all the notes for me. I loved Belle for her moxie and intelligence. The information about rare books, precious art, auctions, and world travels was interesting. The Personal Librarian was a great escape and read perfectly for that purpose.

This book opens with a dead body and proceeds with a strong sense of foreboding. Add in the Australian outback where harsh conditions and hundreds of miles separate landowners and you've got the first hundred pages of Jane Harper's The Lost Man. Brothers Nathan, Cameron, and Bub know these conditions and how to survive. But when Cam turns up dead with no signs of struggle and a truck full of water and supplies, the remaining brothers are not willing to accept heat and dehydration as the cause of his death.

If you've read either of Harper's previous books you know they start with a slow build, the revealing of a number of clues and the developing story until she adeptly brings it all back together for the emotional resolution and wrap-up.

The characters in this story were so strong and the reader is drawn into this family circle that feels both loving and broken. I think this is my favorite yet.

One of my favorite authors has a new novel about a big, unruly, multi-generational Mexican American family on the eve of their patriarch's final birthday.

Here are a couple of quotes that I think really reflect the beauty of the writing in this book:

"La Gloriosa was up early. She didn't know why everybody thought she was late to everything. Cabrones. She was usually up before almost everybody else. It took time to be this fine--you didn't just jump out of bed looking like the living legend of the family."

and

"Mexican fathers made speeches. He wanted to leave her with a blessing, with beautiful words to sum up a life, but there were no words sufficient to this day. But still he tried. 'All we do, mija,' he said, 'is love. Love is the answer. Nothing stops it. Not borders. Not death.'"

Early in this book I wasn't sure I wanted to continue reading about drugs, gangs and hard living in the banger neighborhoods of Los Angeles. However, something about Lola's character kept me going. And gradually I fell in love with Lola--the good, the bad, and the cold brutality of her. Once Lucy was introduced there was no going back. No 5-year-old should be exposed to the darkness and the horrors that were Lucy's life before Lola.

Not completely believable, this story was so compelling that I wanted to keep reading and wanted the best for Lola and Lucy--whatever that means. It feels like this could be the beginning of a series and I welcome more from these characters. Funny, but I somehow hold out hope for better things to come.

This was a fascinating explanation of a little known disease that is described as being somewhere between Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. The decisions to be genetically tested seemed agonizing and the consequences of living with the outcome of the testing even more so. Adding the Baxley's stories to the book made it so much more personal and human. Each and every person who stands to inherit the mutant gene for the debilitating and devastating GSS must make their own decisions and then live their lives accordingly as was reflected in the Baxley family. It was thrilling to learn that there may be some options for preventing this disease in future generations but I can only hope and pray that developments arise giving new hope to those already carrying and/or manifesting the GSS gene.

I found this book to be one of most easily understood medical/scientific portrayals I've ever read. It sounds cliche but it read like a mystery/thriller.

Thank you to BookBrowse for providing me with the ARC. This book was definitely right in my wheelhouse of interests.

It is fun to once again visit the world of Constance Kopp and the jail in Paterson, NJ. These stories are so fun because of the characters but also because they are largely based on real events. I love reading the author's notes at the end almost as much as the story.

In this story we find Constance kicking butt and tackling bad guys. She is determined to get her Deputy's badge and we are surely all cheering for her to succeed. In the days when female law enforcement officers are unheard of, following the story of Constance's success sheds light on the obstacles standing in her way.

I think this second book in the series is even better than the first. Can't wait to see what comes next for the Kopp sisters. Maybe in the next outing we will learn more of Fleurette and her dreams of stage and fashion.

Cover copy on The Shore compares it to David Mitchell and Jennifer Egan and while I can understand those comparisons it is uniquely its own thing. In the beginning of this non-linear novel I was trying desperately to remember who each character was and to whom they were connected. It was only when I relaxed and let it wash over me like the waves on the beach that I really began to delight in the stories of multiple generations of families in residence on these Chesapeake Bay islands.

I found all the characters interesting but there were some I would have liked to know more about or I wondered what happened to them after the author moved us on to either a past or future generation. The book spans the years 1933 to 2143 with over 100 year spans between some chapters. I found the writing engaging and would definitely read another book by this debut author.

It is very powerful to read the words of a man in the depths of a psychotic episode. At moments sounding very rational and at others he is completely lost. Mimi Baird at 75 years of age is finally able to acquaint herself with the father she lost to mental illness. Reading the accounts of Dr Baird's treatment, brutal and inhumane, was a grave reminder of how far the study of mental illness and psychoses has come.

Perry Baird was a world renowned dermatologist who was stricken with "manic depressive psychosis" at a young age. His promising medical career faltered and was ultimately stripped from him while he was confined at the Westborough State Hospital. It was beyond heartbreaking to read of Baird's efforts to control the disease he knew was overtaking him. He writes, "I pray to God that in the future I shall be able to remember that once one has crossed the line from the normal walks of life into a psychopathic hospital, one is separated from friends and relatives by walls thicker than stone; walls of prejudice and superstition."

He wanted the moon but fell far short due to a disease that was only just beginning to be understood. Baird was perhaps the leading researcher on treatments that might have saved his own life. This is a powerful and personal account that will appeal to anyone who wishes to understand more about the impact of manic depressive psychosis now more commonly known as bi-polar disorder.

Will Baker leaves NYC and his fiance to spend a year at Oxford for grad school. What ensues is a telling of Will's personal life. He makes friends, meets women, goes to parties and bars and from all indications does very little studying. This is the ultimate coming of age story and Will experiences all the typical flings, traumas, and hangovers.

I didn't dislike the book, thought it was extremely well written, and in fact have gathered some of Finch's other titles to read next. The Last Enchantments is probably aimed at a 20-something reader who would probably enjoy it a great deal more than I.

I've read and enjoyed the entire series of books set in Millers Kill featuring Rev Clare Fergusson and Chief Russ Van Alstyne. I love these characters and the case solving companionship shared by them. In a new twist both Clare and Russ find themselves in trouble they never expected. The somewhat inappropriate attraction between the two characters has been replaced with early marriage and unexpected baby anxieties. It's definitely worth a read if you like these characters but I wouldn't recommend starting the series with this book because there are lots of back story issues carried forward for many of the main characters.

This is one of my favorite mystery series to recommend to fellow readers. I'm only sorry I now have such a long wait until the next installment.

This is a huge book with a large cast of characters and a massive story to tell. Written from the point of view of nurses and other medical personnel who cared for those wounded on the front lines of WWI, it is unique. From sinking ships to mustard gas burns to shell shocked soldiers and nurses who love them, Keneally lives up to the reputation he gained from Schindler's List and others he has written. He tells the story in a way that makes you feel almost as though you can smell the rot and the fetid air the gassed soldiers are coughing up. I gravitate to books with a medical perspective and this one has the added benefit of being a story not often told.

Like others, I'm not sure I understand the twist at the end but think it would make a great discussion topic. Plenty of topics for a book club to dissect and discuss.