Wilson

Endearing and Enchanting

Revisado: 11-22-24

The Restaurant of Lost Recipes is the second installment of the Food Detectives series. It exceeded my expectations I liked this one even more than the first. I found it equally endearing and enchanting.

I love stories that pack an emotional punch and this one did just that. Many of the stories involve grieving loved ones. I absolutely love the banter between Nagare (a widower) and his daughter, Koishi. I also love how they talk to and include Nagare’s wife/Koishi’s mother in their conversations and investigations.

Christmas Cake pulled at my heartstrings and was my favorite in the collection. I cannot recommend the audio book enough. Absolutely perfect narration. My trips to my local Japanese restaurants have greatly increased during my listening experience. Eating the food discusses in the stories always adds to the experience.

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Epic and Awe Inspiring

Revisado: 11-09-23

What an incredible journey. It’s like the great epics (Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings) in one volume. Love the linguistics and detailed research. The most moving narration I’ve ever heard on Audible. What a performance! What a novel!

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Gorgeous Prose, Heartbreaking Story

Revisado: 10-30-23

If you love the written word, Hamnet is for you. Gorgeous prose, both atmospheric and heartbreaking. Hamnet is an incredibly moving story. Though Hamnet is the character that the book is named for, I see this book as Agnes’ story. Her life reads like a fairy tale. I love that there is a mystic quality to her.

Agnes is my favorite character. She is a herbalist and a healer, a naturalist and a seer. I loved her relationship with nature, her bees, her kestrel. Agnes is no stranger to death and her concept of death/the afterlife as a room on a moor was haunting.

If you like a fast paced story, this may not be for you. Maggie O’Farrell has the amazing ability to describe small moments in such amazing detail with awe-inspiring prose.

The scenes that stand out are:
the love scene in the apple shed, the pain and exhaustion of child birth and the following post delivery recovery. There are three beautifully written pages on parting, and a detailed chapter on the plague’s origin and journey to London.

Maggie O’Farrell writes about death and grief like no other. She captures the numbness and the inability to move forward in every day life. The devastation and emptiness of life going on while someone you loved is dying behind closed doors. These sentiments resonated with me having experienced hospice care of a loved one in their home.

The author writes of the powerful connection between twins, between birth and death. Even though Hamnet is a heavy read, the beauty of the prose and Audible narration made it an incredible reading experience.

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A Great Escape

Revisado: 07-26-23

Bacon and Koepp are brilliant! I cannot rave enough about Yard Work. Saw glowing reviews from friends on Goodreads so decided to give it a listen. So glad I did!

Bacon’s performance is absolutely on point and incredible. This is my first experience with Koepp’s writing, but it won’t be my last. Strong and entertaining characters. Wit and humor. Gritty and real life. With a touch of the fantastic and I am ALL IN!

I enjoy reading, transformative stories, where characters transform their physical environment in order to transform or heal the brokenness inside of them. I love reading crotchety and cantankerous characters. Yard Work delivers on both and the judge lives up to latter.

I loved the banter between the judge and his daughter, who is a lawyer. Perfect and on point. Very entertaining. The dude who owns and operates the hardware store in town steals the show and cracked me up.

Many readers/listeners will be able to relate to at least one or several characters. Yard Work reminded me of the book The Ruins by Scott Smith which I thought was an amazing summer read. Highly recommend both for a great escape.

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the missing piece to Anne’s story and the complete picture of Hannah’s

Revisado: 07-13-23

My Friend Anne Frank is powerful and moving. This first hand account gives the world a glimpse into Anne’s life before and after she went into hiding. It is the missing piece to Anne’s story and the complete picture of Hannah’s. With so few WWII soldiers and survivors of the Holocaust left, it is so important to read primary accounts like Hannah’s.

The bonds of friendship and family is so very powerful. The “human saints” Hannah encounters are inspiring. What Hannah and her sister, Gigi, endure is heartbreaking. This is Hannah and Gigi’s story. But it is also Hannah’s dear friend, Anne’s. I was very impressed with, and had great respect for, Mr. Frank before reading My Friend Anne Frank. This was only magnified after reading about Hannah’s relationship after being reunited. I was left in awe of him and feeling inspired.

When Anne “disappeared” Hannah believed the Franks escaped to Switzerland. This thought gave Hannah hope and comfort. But it was hard to grapple with her dear friend’s disappearance without a word. This quote expresses Hannah’s feelings and inner turmoil.

The pages of her diary “were a revelation. I lost my best friend Anne when she had just turned 13 and began keeping her diary. In those pages, I felt I was reunited with her. It was such a strange sensation to witness her evolve and mature, all while having a window into her internal life and her life in hiding. The Anne I met in the most terrible of circumstances at Bergen-Belsen was starving and desperate, hardly the vivacious girl I knew. These precious pages allowed me to see her between those two moments. The writing was so rich and vivid I felt like I was right next to her again. It felt both euphoric and heart-shattering.”

My wife and I each bought the book and downloaded the audio version to accompany our reading it. I strongly recommend listening while reading. It makes the experience even more personal, moving, and memorable.

If you have not visited the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC, I strongly suggest it. I believe all people should visit and bear witness. After starting to read. My Friend Anne Frank, we knew we had to go. Two survivors were there sharing their stories. They were quite young, like Hannah’s sister, during the war. It was powerful and moving to witness what was experienced by Hannah, her friends, and family in My Friend Anne Frank at the Memorial. My Friend Anne Frank is such an important account of what must never be forgotten.

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An Incredible Way to Experience Amazing Mystery

Revisado: 12-11-19

Absolutely amazing narrators. An incredible story. Very deserving of best mystery thriller for 2019. So many red herrings. Kept me guessing. Brilliantly plotted. I didn’t see the surprise ending until the last second. I cannot recommend this book enough. Either format. You will be happy you did. This is what the genre and reading experience is all about.

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