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Book Review: Night Magic: Adventures Among Glowworms, Moon Gardens, and Other Marvels of the Dark by Leigh Ann Henion

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Rating: 4.5⭐️ In  Night Magic: Adventures Among Glowworms, Moon Gardens, and Other Marvels of the Dark, author   Leigh Ann Henion combines scientific facts with her own life experiences, ‘lore and much more as she takes us across the landscape of Appalachia exploring the magical beauty of the nocturnal world and the living creatures that thrive after the sun sets. “Darkness turns familiar landscapes strange, evoking awe by its very nature, in ways that meet people wherever they stand. In Appalachia, as everywhere, night offers a chance to explore a parallel universe that we can readily access, to varying degrees. Nocturnal beauty can be found not only by stargazing into the distant cosmos or diving into the depths of oceans, but by exploring everyday realms of the planet we inhabit.” The author writes beautifully with a reverent appreciation for nature in all its wonder. A running theme in this stressing how artificial light pollution and the use of blue light technology are negativel

Book Reviews: Witness 8 by Steve Cavanagh (Eddie Flynn #8)

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  Rating:⭐⭐⭐⭐ A new installment in author  Steve Cavanagh ’s  Eddie Flynn  series is always among my most anticipated reads, so much so that I don’t mind ordering a copy from the UK so as not to wait for the book to become available in the US ( Thank you, Blackwell’s for the getting the book to me a day before UK publication day!). I’ve enjoyed (to varying degrees) all the previous books (including one short story and one novella) in this series and I’m glad to say that the latest installment  Witness 8  is a worthy addition to the lot! Ruby Johnson, a young woman in her twenties, works as a maid and nanny in several houses in an affluent New York neighborhood. Once a resident of the same neighborhood, she is haunted by the events that caused her family’s downfall. She is cunning and perceptive and one night, after witnessing the murder of the wealthy socialite, she decides to use this information and manipulate the truth to further her own agenda. The narrative follows Eddie Flynn and

Book Review: Abbot's Meadow by Peter Knight

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Rating:⭐⭐⭐⭐ Dan Curran, a rookie journalist at the Castlebridge Gazette, is glad to have been assigned his first investigative piece on Castlebridge Council’s last-minute decision to back out of the sale of a council-owned piece of land known as Abbot’s Meadow to local land developer – a sale that would have been beneficial to the council and the community. As Dan tries to find out the reason behind the committee's decision to not go forward with the sale, he meets with some unexpected obstacles – reports on council meetings that should have been available to the public but access to which has been restricted, a local landscaping company whose interest in the land isn’t above suspicion and certain important people aren’t too happy that Dan is looking into the issue. Aiding Den is his boss, experienced journalist Jack Marston, who sees potential in Dan and Jenny Swan, an accountant who works for the Council and who shares Dan’s suspicions about the committee’s decision. Dan and Jenn

Book Review: Maria: A Novel of Maria von Trapp by Michelle Moran

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  Rating:  4.5⭐️ I’ve never had the privilege of watching the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, but the 1965 movie based on the same has been a favorite of mine ever since I watched it for the first time at the age of seven. Though I was too young to appreciate the more serious themes, I adored Maria and her dynamic with the Trapp children and loved the music. My father, amused by my enthusiastic renditions of the songs ( I can’t sing to save my life, but when has that ever stopped me?), gifted me a copy of the movie (a VHS tape - this was the 1980’s!) - which became one of my most cherished possessions. As I grew older, and rewatched the movie with friends and family more times than I can remember, I began to appreciate the story, (the knowledge that it was inspired by true events rendered the movie even more special), the characters and the themes addressed in the movie more. I remember a discussion I had with a colleague in the early 2000s that prompted me to read up on the true stor

Book Review: The Wedding People by Alison Espach (Audiobook narrated by Helen Laser)

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Rating:  4.5⭐ Revolving around themes of friendship, family, personal growth, self-acceptance and human connection,  The Wedding People  by  Alison Espach  is a beautifully written novel that will strike a chord in your heart. As the story begins, we meet Phoebe Stone, an adjunct professor in literature in her forties, as she arrives alone at the Cornwall Inn in Newport, Rhode Island, with a heavy heart. This was a place that she had hoped to visit with her now ex-husband, but here she was, in a green dress and heels with no luggage. Phoebe’s room is the only one not booked for the wedding of twenty-eight-year-old Lila, who has meticulously planned a week-long sequence of pre-wedding activities leading up to the day of her nuptials. Initially mistaken to be one of the wedding people, the misunderstanding is soon cleared up, but much to Lila’s dismay, she realizes that Phoebe’s plans for her own stay would surely ruin her wedding. The narrative follows as Phobe and Lila strike up an unl