booktalkwithkarla's reviews
1337 reviews

JonBenet: Inside the Ramsey Murder Investigation by Steve Thomas

Go to review page

informative medium-paced

4.0

When the murder of a six year old girl happened in Boulder Colorado in 1996, I read the news as much as I could to learn what, how, and why. Looking at photos of her sweet face I wept and wanted justice. Then a few months ago I listened to one of my favorite true crime podcasts (The Prosecutors) cover JonBenet Ramsey’s case. In one of the episodes, they mentioned a book by Steve Thomas - JonBenet Inside the Ramsey Muder Investigation. 

Steve Thomas was a lead detective on the case. In this book, Thomas takes us chronologically through his 18 months (as a detective fighting for justice for JonBenet) detailing the crime and the investigative process. From the beginning there was great conflict between Boulder PD and the District Attorney’s office. The decisions and actions of the DA’s office are a key focus of the book, primarily because of the inaction of bringing charges on the primary suspects - the Ramseys. Leaks, passivity, lies, games, and more shenanigans stifled the investigation. If even a fraction of what Thomas claims is true, heads should have rolled. It’s a travesty. 

There were times when Thomas’s rage and frustrations were too much, and I had to out the book down for a minute. Really? Could everyone be wrong? Then I would continue reading and quickly I would share Thomas’s rage and frustration. Ultimately justice hasn’t been meted out. Divine justice is all we are left with and will have to be enough. My opinion of who is responsible hasn’t changed from 1996 to 2024. This is a horrific case and all the more frustrating because but for stronger leadership, JonBenet’s killer may have been prosecuted timely. 

“… my final emotion will be of frustration, knowing that someone murdered a child —and got away with it.”
Long Island by Colm Tóibín

Go to review page

emotional reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

In Long Island, Eilis leaves Long Island to visit her family in Ireland and celebrate her mum’s 80th birthday. Her teens Larry and Rosella join her, leaving Tony home with his family and a new arrival (another reason Eilis leaves). 

Colm Tóibín writes with such beauty and nostalgia. I liked getting more than Eilis’s perspective in this sequel, as Jim and Nancy are integral to the story. Love, regrets, choices, and communication all feature strongly. 

I didn’t love the ending, but did enjoy the journey and was along for the ride. And I liked that Eilis was more decisive than in the first novel. Her growth since living in Brooklyn was evident. I enjoyed this story and am glad to have discovered this author. 
Just For the Summer by Abby Jimenez

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

In Just For the Summer, Emma and Jake attempt to break a curse by dating one another, hopeful that upon their break-up they will meet their soul mate. 

Abby Jimenez brings the humor, emotions, complicated stories, great characters, and the many Easter eggs to her other novels. She delivers a great reading experience. I love her sarcasm and her depth. 

As a reluctant Romance reader, I am finding Jimenez’s work so satisfying. I love that her characters have a beautiful past story and meet people they can be vulnerable and honest with. In this one, complex mothers (and related consequences) play a central role. Trauma, attachment, boundaries, forgiveness, parenting, friendship, and more are key themes. I listened to the audio and loved it - the narration and story. This novel may be my favorite of Jimenez’s and makes her an auto-listen author for me. Highly recommend! 

“Home wasn’t a place, it was a person.”

“If you can choose anger or empathy, choose empathy.”
We Were Once a Family: A Story of Love, Death, and Child Removal in America by Roxanna Asgarian

Go to review page

emotional informative sad medium-paced

4.25

I learned of the tragic death of six children when I heard a podcaster talking about the book We Were Once a Family. I bought the book immediately. This is the story of the tragedy at the hands of married couple Sarah and Jennifer Hart. The two adopted six Black children (two sibling sets of 3) from Texas moving them to Minnesota and beyond. 

Roxanna Asgarian is a journalist writing about the child welfare and foster systems. She tells the story of the tragedy, but with more focus on the birth families. She contrasts the support and lack of oversight given to the adopted parents with the judgment, harsh oversight, and lack of support given to the families of origin. Beyond the stories of the families, the book delves into the broken systems that allowed these children to be abused and then murdered by the Hart women. 

I found this book to be well written and fascinating. Asgarian adeptly weaves together relevant and historical facts with the personal details of the kids and their parents. Whenever the realities were too heavy she switched gears and allowed me to “know” a fact, then when the facts were too much, she allowed me to emote and connect with an endearing anecdote. This is a great book about a horrible system. The call is for us to care for one another as only people, neighbors, and communities can. All systems fail so overhauling isn’t the answer. Will we be a community? Will we listen and love all our children? 

In Asgarian’s words:
We tell these children, they must renounce their families in order to have a chance at a “better life“. But children, both young and older exist in the context of their own families, their own histories. 

“We remove kids for neglect and place them in strangers’ homes, and give the stranger a monthly stipend to take care of the child,”Dettlaff says. “What if we just gave that $1000 a month to the mother who needed it?”
Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín

Go to review page

emotional reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Brooklyn is about Eilis and her life in Ireland and in New York - plus the people around her who affect her moods and decisions. 

Colm Tóibín had a unique and fascinating writing style. He is new to me and I enjoyed the pacing and details. I like knowing the internal experience of characters. And seeing cultural differences in the page was interesting. Tóibín's writing made me feel like I was there - in Ireland, on the ship, at the shop, at the beach, and more. 

Sometimes I want to shake Eilis for her passivity. Reading about her and wondering what she would do kept me turning the pages (ebook). Knowing the second book in the series recently released prompted me to read Brooklyn first. It was a short and satisfying read. I smiled, laughed and even was teary a time or two. Recommend if you like literary books and writing with a strong voice. 
The Things We Leave Unfinished by Rebecca Yarros

Go to review page

emotional hopeful sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

“Alone wasn’t a strong enough word for what this was.”

“Somethings you have to fight for, Georgia. You can’t just walk away and leave it unfinished when it gets too complicated.”

In The Things We Leave Unfinished, Georgia is newly divorce and has lost everything. In her grief and pain she doesn’t trust anyone. Noah is a devoted fan of Georgia’s Gran Scarlet and also a successful author, hoping for an opportunity to finish Scarlet’s incomplete novel. 

Rebecca Yarros spins a beautiful tale of love and loss. Spanning two timelines Scarlet’s and Georgia’s, Yarros builds tension and emotion. Her characters are interesting and realistic. 

I laughed and cried as I read. This was a great reading experience on audio. The accents helped anchor me in the past in England. I don’t prefer open door scenes but was able to fast forward and pick up the plot line quickly. 

This was recommended by a friend and I pass along my endorsement. I listened to the end today while working with on a puzzle which was a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon. I liked the complicated people plus themes of loyalty, forgiveness, and love. I also liked that some characters were writers and appreciated books. That’s always fun in a novel. Pick this up, even if like me you don’t read a lot of romance, because this one is a great one. 
Wolf at the Table by Adam Rapp

Go to review page

dark sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

“As he stares out his window, however, he has the uneasy sense that he isn’t journeying toward a better, more promising future, but merely migrating from one horizontal, cursed place to another.”

Covering more than five decades, Wolf at the Table follows the Larkin family and their relationships to each other and to violence. 

Adam Rapp crafted a chilling story. His writing puts you there, in places you don’t want to be. Rapp shows the violence within the Larking family and also connects them to the violence in the world. He also deals with mental illness and uncontrollable violent thoughts. His portrayal of evil within the church and the impact on people is horrific and makes me so sad because it has nothing to do with who God is. Rapp’s ability to connect places, people, and nature together is profound.

I hate read (feeling nauseous and sick to my stomach) this book because it’s well written. I wanted to know what happens and wanted redemption. The characters are mostly unlikeable, which is not my thing. Yet maybe that’s Rapp’s point - to see violence, evil, madness for what it is, wanting to turn away and yet unable to. I don’t know how it feel about this book. It’s intense and heartbreaking. I’m glad that I will have a chance to discuss it at book club. 
The Queen's Vow: A Novel of Isabella of Castile by C.W. Gortner

Go to review page

adventurous informative medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

The Queen’s Vow was recommended to me by two friends because of its setting in Spain. The three of us are traveling there soon. I picked it up because of their recommendation and my fascination with Spain, which captured my heart a few years ago. This is a story about Queen Isabella and her life and reign. 

C.W. Gortner penned a story rich in detail, history, and narrative drive. His research and faithfulness to the humanity of these historical figures made the novel compelling and interesting. It was also very entertaining and engaging.

I really enjoyed reading this book. The map and family tree were super helpful in anchoring me to the past, freeing me to be carried along by the story and writing. I am even more excited for my trip to Spain and seeing some of the places with historical eyes. I appreciated the nuance and depth Gortner added to Isabel beyond bullet points of her misdeeds or accomplishments. This is a rich novel and well worth reading and I’ll be reading his other novels set in Spain. 
The Good House by Ann Leary

Go to review page

dark emotional funny medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

“The house tells the story.”

Hildy is our narrator in The Good House and gives us her observations of Wendover, a fictional coastal northeastern town. Through her we learn about Peter, Frankie, and Rebecca. In her narration, we see her internal musings alongside her opinionated views of others. Hildy is an alcoholic, with secrets. As she tells her story we know something devastating  has happened. Slowly we learn what it is and we learn about her. Hildy is middle aged and complicated. I love her. 

Ann Leary helps us understand what it is like to be an alcoholic She masterfully delivers a realistic story of denial, loneliness, love, and growth. Her characters are rich and complicated, realistic and relatable. I love her setting descriptions and how she weaves them into the story. She creates a town I’d love to visit and spend some time in. 

In the beginning of my audio experience it took a bit for me to connect with the story. But once I did I couldn’t stop listening. By the end I wanted this book to live on my shelf so I bought a paperback. Being inside Hildy’s head grew my empathy and compassion. Her story is told beautifully with just the right information at just the right time. I’m so glad I read it because it is entertaining while also dealing with very serious issues like mother-daughter relationships and good versus evil. Hildy’s real estate career allows us in to the homes of Hildy’s community. Through Hildy and the side characters we see the many complexities of humans and of relationships. This is a great book, witty and emotional, one I hope many will enjoy.
The Sentence by Louise Erdrich

Go to review page

informative mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

The Sentence starts with Tookie, newly released from prison and working in an independent bookstore. A difficult customer, Flora, has just died and her ghost is haunting the store and Tookie. The story takes place over one year from All Souls’ Day 2019 to the same day in 2020. 

Louise Erdrich knows bookstores, books, and writing. Her expertise in those areas plus her experiences as an Indigenous woman combined to deliver an interesting story and homage to books. 

I love that Erdrich included a book list in the back. The begging of this book about Tookie’s experience leading up to prison and in prison was the best part for me. I also loved the book references. The great writing on a page by page level kept me reading. Mostly this is a well written book that just isn’t for me, with its ghost elements and political stances.