Review: Emily Gone by Bette Lee Crosby

Publisher: Lake Union Publishing

Pages: 400

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  

1971.

When a music festival rolls through the sleepy town of Hesterville, Georgia, the Dixon family’s lives are forever changed. On the final night, a storm muffles the sound of the blaring music, and Rachel tucks her baby into bed before falling into a deep sleep. So deep, she doesn’t hear the kitchen door opening. When she and her husband wake up in the morning, the crib is empty. Emily is gone.

Vicki Robart is one of the thousands at the festival, but she’s not feeling the music. She’s feeling the emptiness over the loss of her own baby several months before. When she leaves the festival and is faced with an opportunity to fill that void, she is driven to an act of desperation that will forever bind the lives of three women.

When the truth of what actually happened that fateful night is finally exposed, shattering the lives they’ve built, will they be able to pick up the pieces to put their families back together again?

Kritters Thoughts:  A small town in Georgia is invaded when a large music festival is planned on the outskirts of town.  There is worry that this will bring the wrong sorts of people to town, but everyone is convinced that the economic boom will outweigh the annoyance for the short term.  One family is gravely impacted by this festival as they wake up one morning and their beautiful baby girl has gone missing.  

With alternating chapters from different perspectives, the reader knows early on where this child has been taken and by whom, so the story is more about the impact after such a tragedy.  It was hard not to feel for the kidnappers and see the impact of tragedy on their decisions and how easily someone can make wrong choices and convince themselves that it is all okay.    

This book was the perfect companion for a work trip with a flight and some quiet time in a hotel to curl up and read about this family in a small town as they learn to live with their new normal.    My first Bette Lee Crosby, but for sure will not be my last.  I loved how she pulled this story together and her characters were so fully formed that I could see them walking in my front door to share this story themselves.  

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Review: The Seamstress of New Orleans by Diane C. McPhail

Publisher: Kensington Publishing

Pages: 304

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads: The year 1900 ushers in a new century and the promise of social change, and women rise together toward equality. Yet rules and restrictions remain, especially for women like Alice Butterworth, whose husband has abruptly disappeared. Desperate to make a living for herself and the child she carries, Alice leaves the bitter cold of Chicago far behind, offering sewing lessons at a New Orleans orphanage.

Constance Halstead, a young widow reeling with shock under the threat of her late husband’s gambling debts, has thrown herself into charitable work. Meeting Alice at the orphanage, she offers lodging in exchange for Alice’s help creating a gown for the Leap Year ball of Les Mysterieuses, the first all female krewe of Mardi Gras. During Leap Years, women have the rare opportunity to take control in their interactions with men, and upend social convention. Piece by piece, the breathtaking gown takes shape, becoming a symbol of strength for both women, reflecting their progress toward greater independence.

But Constance carries a burden that makes it impossible to feel truly free. Her husband, Benton, whose death remains a dangerous mystery, was deep in debt to the Black Hand, the vicious gangsters who controlled New Orleans’ notorious Storyville district. Benton’s death has not satisfied them. And as the Mardi Gras festivities reach their fruition, a secret emerges that will cement the bond between Alice and Constance even as it threatens the lives they’re building . . .

Kritters Thoughts:  Two women - one from Chicago and one from New Orleans and both end up single as husbands end up dead and missing.  Constance is a woman who came from money and her husband ends up dead after an incident on a train.  Alice, a woman who grew up on a farm made it to Chicago to make her life go in a different direction ends up married and her husband goes missing.  She goes on a trip to find him and ends up in New Orleans . . . 

As a reader who has been reading fiction for many years, I knew where this one would go early on, but the journey was still enjoyable.  These two women are such a pair when they meet and try to change the ways for both each other and others!  I loved reading their banter when they created a dress for a Mardi Gras that was a ball that was flipping things on its end as women were going to be running the show.  This part of the book was my favorite to read - watching these women form a relationship and a beautiful dress to come of it.  

I was able to read this in two formats which was fun since I rarely do this! I read this via ebook and audio.  The audio version was narrated by Jessica Marchbank and while I usually listen to the books at the normal speed, I actually was able to speed this one up and still enjoy it - made me feel like a normal audiobook fan who can speed up and read away! 

Rating:

A work trip allowed for some great reading time on an airplane!

1. Emily, Gone by Bette Lee Crosby

2. Two Women Walk in the Bar by Cheryl Strayed

Total pages read, clicked, and flipped: 431

Where Have I Been Reading?:

Georgia

Portland, OR

Review: The Winter People by Jennifer McMahon

Publisher: Doubleday

Pages: 317

Format: book

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  West Hall, Vermont, has always been a town of strange disappearances and old legends. The most mysterious is that of Sara Harrison Shea, who, in 1908, was found dead in the field behind her house just months after the tragic death of her daughter.

Now, in present day, nineteen-year-old Ruthie lives in Sara's farmhouse with her mother, Alice, and her younger sister. Alice has always insisted that they live off the grid, a decision that has weighty consequences when Ruthie wakes up one morning to find that Alice has vanished. In her search for clues, she is startled to find a copy of Sara Harrison Shea's diary hidden beneath the floorboards of her mother's bedroom. As Ruthie gets sucked into the historical mystery, she discovers that she's not the only person looking for someone that they've lost. But she may be the only one who can stop history from repeating itself.

Kritters Thoughts:  My first book of 2025 and the first book I finished in awhile due to a lot of personal things going on and boy it felt good to finish a book!  Two plotlines going on at once, so I got out a trusty notecard to take notes to make sure I knew who was who and what was what.  In 1908, Sara Harrison Shea is dealing with the death of her daughter and her and her husband Martin are barely surviving a cold January.  In the present day, 19 year old Ruthie's mother is missing and she and her younger sister are trying to find the missing clues to hopefully find her.  

The pacing of this book is what kept me going.  From chapter to chapter, I kept reading wanting to know where these two timelines would converge and when all my questions would be answered.  If the pacing of the book matters to you, I can say this one nailed it.  

BUT the reason that it only received three stars was the confusing plot - not the two timelines, but the stories within each.  With ghosts/sleepers as part of the plot, I was so lost and confused as to who was alive and dead and had to re read a few parts again and again to make sure I got all the pieces right.    

Set in snowy Vermont, I was so thankful that I picked this up in January and read it under a blanket - the perfect place to read this perfectly paced thriller.  So if ghosts and snowy vibes are your thing, then I can completely recommend this one.  And while that may not be my thing, I still want to head into Jennifer McMahon's backlist and read more of her.    

Rating: 

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A sad beginning to the year, but a busy one when it comes to both my personal and professional work.  I have hopes that 2025 will be a better year for reading with many more hours available to curl up with a book.  

1. The Winter People by Jennfer McMahon

Total pages read, clicked and flipped: 317

Where Have I Been Reading?:

Vermont

2024 wrap up!

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WELL, I thought 2022 AND 2023 were going to be my saddest reading years, but 2024 took the cake - BUT for very different reasons.  In 2024, I had someone re enter my life and they became a main character in my story.  We spent 2024 building a relationship and a life, so there was little time to read.  NOW 2025 with our life a little calmer, there should be more time to enjoy a good book and maybe a few reads together!

Let's compare 2024 to 2023.  

Total number of books I read in 2024: 38

Total number of books I read in 2023: 49

Total number of pages I flipped, clicked, and so on in 2024: 11,279
Total number of pages I flipped, clicked, and so on in 2023: 29,355

I have been keeping track of WHERE my books were taking place all year. Below is the outcome.  Although my overall numbers were done, I visited 15 states this year and that is 3 more than last year!  I always love to diversify my reading in locations both in the US and abroad.  

States that made the list:

Maine            New York             Alaska

Louisiana      California            Missouri

Iowa               Kansas                Virginia

Maryland      Tennessee          Oregon

Washington, D.C.                      South Carolina

Dakota

My country number went down again this year and I would love to travel more in 2025, so I want to try to keep an eye on this number and be intentional with my reading.  

Countries accounted for:

Germany         Poland          Australia

England

2025 Reading Goals

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2024 was a year of big change and all of that change took a lot of time.  I am hoping that 2025 is a year that I can settle into the life changes and spend a lot more time curled up with a book.  I did not meet my goals last year, so I am going to keep them the same this year and hope for a different outcome.  

Ok now for the Reading Goals of 2025!

1. I want to read a minimum of 124 books.  I read 38 books in 2024 and I am hoping with a quieter year that more quiet time with a book will happen.   

2. As in last year, I want to focus on my Netgalley percentage.  Unfortunately it went down in 2024 to 19%, so I would like it to increase in 2025.  I would really like to make a big dent and get it up to 25%! 

3.   My third goal is exactly the same as last year - incorporate more audiobooks.  I am hoping for more opportunities to put a book in my ears and get things done, so I would like to see my audiobook numbers to increase this year, so I will count them this year and will hope for at least 24 audiobooks by the end of the year.

Review: A Quilt for Christmas by Melody Carlson

Publisher: Revell

Pages: 176

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Christmas should be celebrated with family. But for Vera Swanson, that's not an option this year. Widowed and recently relocated, she is lonely in her condo-for-one--until little Fiona Albright knocks on her door needing help. With her mother seriously ill and her father out of town, Fiona enlists Vera's help, and when she finds out her new neighbor is a quilter, she has a special request--a Christmas quilt for Mama.

Vera will have to get a ragtag group of women together in order to fulfill the request. Between free-spirited artist Tasha, chatty empty nester Beverly, retired therapist Eleanor, and herself, Vera has hopes that Christmas for the Albright family will be merry, after all--and she may find herself a new family of friends along the way.

Kritters Thoughts:  A sweet little story that is perfect for the busy season of Christmas with a great cast of characters and maybe a little too sweet of a plot!  Vera has recently located to this condo to be near family that ended up moving from that location, so she is very alone and not ready for a Christmas season.  A family who also recently relocated to this condo community ends up on her doorstep and in need of some help and maybe they can help her too!!  

I don't want to share too much because this book is just too sweet.  The cast of characters that come together to help this family are so fun and eclectic and I loved that they each were given a moment to have a journey or evolution.  Each of the cast contributed to the story and each received something from someone else in the group - it was so great to see each of them have a moment or two in the story.  

I loved that this book was just one of those easy reads that is perfect to get into during a time of the year that can be busy with a lot of other things going on.   

Rating:

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Netgalley.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.