Tower Hill A Plantation on the Edge of Rebellion by Alan Taylor with Graham Winton (Narrator)

Tower Hill

A Plantation on the Edge of Rebellion by Alan Taylor with Graham Winton (Narrator)

Rated: 4 Star Rating

I just finished listening to Tower Hill: A Plantation on the Edge of Rebellion by Alan Taylor, narrated by Graham Winton, and it completely changed how I think about Southern history. Instead of looking at things from a broad perspective, the author uses an old family archive to tell the story of the Blow family, a merchant and planter dynasty in Sussex County, Virginia. 

The family patriarch, Richard Blow, built up their wealth during the Revolution, but he left behind ruined soil and massive debt. His son, George Blow, had to spend forty years trying to manage a failing plantation while the family slowly fell into isolation and despair.

What makes this audiobook so powerful is how it details the daily lives and struggles of the enslaved people at Tower Hill. You learn about figures like an enslaved man named Simon, whose story shows the constant friction and quiet acts of resistance against the Blows. 

Taylor explains how the enslaved population used religion to build a supportive community, and how many escaped to find safety in the nearby Great Dismal Swamp.

Everything builds up to Nat Turner’s 1831 rebellion, which happened right in their neighborhood. Turner's rebels killed over fifty white people, and George Blow ended up leading a brutal retaliation that took twice as many Black lives. The wealthy planters tried to cover it up and claim Turner was just a "lone madman" because they didn't want anyone to know how widespread the network of rebellion actually was.

The narrator, Graham Winton, does an great job with the 9 and a half hour audiobook. He keeps his tone steady and respectful without getting overly dramatic, which makes the letters and historic facts feel incredibly real. It is a haunting, history lesson that is well worth the listen.  

I definitely recommend this audiobook for anyone who enjoys American southern history, especially from the slavery and revolutionary era.

Thank you, NetGalley, RBmedia, Alan Taylor, author, and Graham Winton narrator, for this audiobook review consideration. All review opinions are my own.

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This is a review of the audiobook.

Budget Slow Travel in Retirement How 170,000 Members Retire Young and Travel Smart by Lidia Nash

Rated: 4 Star Rating

I read Budget Slow Travel in Retirement by Lidia Nash, and it changed how I look at my retirement years and travel. I used to think you had to be a millionaire to travel the world when you retire, but this book proves that is wrong.

The author, Lidia, and her husband, Jeff, decided to leave their regular lives in New Jersey in 2018. They just packed up their car, grabbed their little dog, and drove off to Mexico. Now, they have been traveling for eight years, visited almost 100 countries, and Lidia runs an online community with 170,000 or more members, who all do the same thing.  

What I love about this book is how original it is. Lidia used to be an accountant, so she tracks every single dollar and shows you exactly how they do it. She explains real life tricks that save a lot of money, like swapping houses with other travelers so you never pay for hotels, or taking repositioning cruises to cross the ocean for dirt cheap. She also answers the questions regular people have, like how to handle foreign cell phone plans, banking, visas, and even what happens if you get sick abroad, sharing a story about a medical emergency they faced in Spain.

If you are tired of the idea of just sitting at home in retirement, you need to read this. It is a super easy read that dumps all the confusing travel jargon and gives you a realistic blueprint to travel smart on a budget. I highly recommend it for anyone who wants to see the world without breaking the bank.

Thank you, NetGalley, BookBuzz.net Independently published, and author Lidia Nash, for providing me with a copy of this ebook review consideration. All review opinions are my own.

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Ghosts of Honolulu A Japanese Spy, A Japanese American Spy Hunter, and the Untold Story of Pearl Harbor by Mark Harmon, With Leon Carroll with Mark Harmon (Narrator)

Rated: 5 Star rating 

Ghosts of Honolulu by Mark Harmon and Leon Carroll is an awesome true spy story that reads like a movie. It takes place in Hawaii right before Pearl Harbor and follows two real guys playing a dangerous game of cat and mouse.

Douglas Wada is a Japanese American working secretly for the US military, while Takeo Yoshikawa is a Japanese spy pretending to be a regular diplomat to get info on American ships. 

Wada had to do crazy things like go undercover as a newspaper reporter, listen in on secret phone calls at the Japanese consulate, and even question the very first prisoner of war, who was a submarine officer found right on the beach. 

Meanwhile, Yoshikawa was sending top secret information straight to Admiral Yamamoto, the guy planning the big surprise attack. 

The audio book does a great job of showing how tense things were on the islands, before the attack even happened, and it highlights how the normal people, risked everything for their country. 

It shows how innocent families, like Wada's own father, faced a lot of unfair suspicion just because of their heritage, and it talks about how intelligence officers worked hard to keep Hawaii from locking up innocent people in mass internment camps like they did in California. 

Mark Harmon does a fantastic job narrating the audiobook, and since his co-author was an NCIS agent, all the spy details feel real. It has a great conclusion that brings everything together and is perfect for anyone who loves a good history or spy book. If this type of historical book interests you, then i definitely recommend this book.

Thank you, NetGalley, HCCP & HCF Audio, author Mark Harmon with Leon Carroll, and Mark Harmon (Narrator) for providing me with a copy of this ebook review consideration. All review opinions are my own.

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This is a review of the audiobook.

I Think I Was Murdered by Colleen Coble, Rick Acker with Karen Peakes (Narrator)

Rated: 5 Star Rating 

I listened to, I Think I Was Murdered by Colleen Coble an, Rick Acker, and I couldn't put it down. The story follows Katrina Berg, a former lawyer for an AI startup, whose life fell apart when her husband, Jason, died in a car crash. 

Right after, her company's CEO was indicted, federal agents started targeting her, and she suddenly lost her grandmother. To cope with the grief, Katrina leans on a secret prototype chatbot trained on Jason's old texts and emails to mimic his voice. One day, she casually asks the app to tell her something she doesn't know, and it shoots back a chilling line: "I think I was murdered." Terrified, she flees to her cozy hometown of North Haven in the California redwoods. 

While managing a cafe she inherited, she teams up with Seb Wallace, an old high school acquaintance, to investigate. They are quickly thrown into a dangerous web of corporate espionage and real world danger as they try to figure out if the AI uncovered a real crime or if a hacker is manipulating the system.

I listened to the audiobook version narrated by Karen Peakes, and she did an incredible job keeping the suspense high. The book perfectly balances a high-tech modern mystery with a sweet romance and a classic small-town atmosphere. If you enjoy suspense stories that keep you guessing until the final pages, you should absolutely read this book.

Thank you, NetGalley, HarperCollins Christian Publishing | Thomas Nelson Fiction, author Colleen Coble and Rick Acker, and narrator Karen Peakes (Narrator) for providing me with a copy of this ebook review consideration. All review opinions are my own.

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This is a review of the audiobook.

The Origin by Alex Reinshagen

Rated: 5 Star Rating

The Origin by Alex Reinshagen is an international spy thriller that feels real. The author used his own decades of experience as a federal agent in diplomatic security to write the story, and you can tell he knows how real world spy tradecraft and global security operations actually work. It is a fast paced book that keeps you hooked from the very beginning.

The plot starts in Prague, where a rookie CIA undercover operations officer named Nathan Gray begins investigating the suspicious death of an American diplomat named Emmanuel Rojas. While the official report says Rojas died from a severe shingles virus, Nathan finds a hidden note slipped under his door that reveals the death wasn't an accident.

This discovery sends him on a chase across the world. His mission takes him to interesting places like the wet markets of Chengdu, hidden tombs in Egypt, a dark castle in Slovakia, and the neon streets of Vietnam. Along the way, Nathan works to uncover a secret virus database and a dangerous conspiracy linking Russia, China, and a hidden pathogen. 

He faces political pressure from Washington because Congress is about to vote on letting a massive Chinese pharmaceutical company flood the United States market with new medications.  

Nathan has to find the truth before Beijing gains the power to upend global alliances. The characters are very relatable and have a lot of depth. Nathan Gray is a great main character because he is smart but still learning the ropes of being a spy while dealing with tons of danger. Along the way, he teams up with a brilliant statistician who helps him decode the hidden outbreak data. 

There is also an interesting Slovakian woman who joins his journey, with a personal connection and romance. This makes Nathan balance his secret spy job with a real human connection, showing how hard it is to trust anyone in his line of work.

The book ends with a high stakes finish involving secret meetings at Camp David that ties up the main mystery in a really way. It gives you a down to earth look at how hard intelligence work can be without getting too complicated or bogged down in technical jargon. If you enjoy a solid political mystery with plenty of action and a realistic vibe, this is definitely a great choice for your reading list.

Thank you, NetGalley, Köehlerbooks, author Alex Reinshagen, for providing me with a copy of this ebook review consideration. All review opinions are my own.

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Fury in Death by J. D. Robb, author and Susan Ericksen, narrator

Rated: 5 Star Rating 

I absolutely love Fury in Death, book 63 in series, by J. D. Robb. I listened to the audiobook narrated by Susan Ericksen, who is the narrator in all the audiobooks in this series. She is a wonderful narrator, and she makes the characters come to life in this audiobook. 

J.D. Robb goes back to the basics, focusing on Eve and Peabody working the case rather than juggling too many side characters. 

The book starts with a flashback from years ago about a scientist named Steven Redman, whose family is killed by a biotech company called Banner-Wyst. That heartbreak turns him into an incredibly tragic killer driven by absolute grief and revenge.

Cut to the present day, and Eve Dallas is called to investigate after a wealthy corporate executive from that same biotech firm is found beaten to death inside his locked home office. The crime scene is brutal, and it looks like the killer has almost superhuman strength and serious tech skills to hack through the security. As Eve tries to track him down, she has to deal directly with the head of Banner-Wyst, a guy named Wyst who is unhelpful and even tries to slow down the police by claiming Eve has a conflict of interest because of Roarke's business connections. 

Thankfully, Eve's bosses back her up so she can keep digging. On top of the intense corporate conspiracy, there is personal growth for Eve in this book, and fans will love seeing her finally start to feel at home in Roarke's massive mansion.

What makes the book so good is how personal it feels. Eve and the reader actually sympathize with the killer's pain, as Eve tries to stop his rampage while still upholding the law. It is all of this that hits all the right emotional moments.  

The narrator Susan Ericksen, makes the characters come alive with her soothing voice. I really enjoyed listening to this book, and I definitely recommend it to fans of J. D. Robb, and new fans as well.

Thank you, NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, author J. D. Robb, and narrator Susan Ericksen for providing me with a copy of this ebook review consideration. All review opinions are my own.

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This is a review of the audiobook.

The Sweet Tea Odyssey A Novel by Catherine Mann

Rated: 5 Star Rating 

I just finished reading The Sweet Tea Odyssey by Catherine Mann, and it is a touching book about family drama and healing. The story kicks off on Sullivan's Island, South Carolina, just as a Category Three hurricane tracks toward the coast. 

Rosalynn Yates is already having a terrible week because her divorce was just finalized, leaving her to handle the storm prep and house sale alone. Because Rosalynn uses a wheelchair due to a past accident, the rush to pack up is difficult, and the stress gets worse when her teenage daughter, Elsie, demands to legally separate from the family.  

Luckily, Rosalynn’s mom, Lillian, arrives to help them escape. Lillian, Rosalynn, Elsie, and Rosalynn's mobility service dog, Dusty, they all crowd into a van to evacuate toward Virginia. The road trip is exhausting, filled with bumper to bumper traffic and the nightmare of finding hotels that are actually wheelchair accessible. Being trapped together forces their hidden secrets to spill out. We learn that Elsie's rebellion is actually a cry for help because she has been dealing with terrible blackmail from a boy at school, which made her want to run away.

What makes this book special is how it connects to the present day trip to the past. As they drive, Lillian looks back on a trip she took to Washington, D.C., in 1990 to join the historic Capitol Crawl, fighting for the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act to ensure a better future for Rosalynn. 

The author beautifully links that historical struggle for physical accessibility with the emotional barriers the three women are trying to overcome in the present. The story wraps up with a satisfying conclusion focused on honest communication, showing that repairing deep family wounds takes time, patience, and deliberate care. I would definitely recommend this book for anyone who has family struggles and disabilities.

Thank you, NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing, and author Catherine Mann, for providing me with a copy of this ebook review consideration. All review opinions are my own.

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Over Yonder by Sean Dietrich

Rated: 4 Star Rating

Over Yonder by Sean Dietrich is a book that keeps you hooked from the start. It follows Woody Barker, an ex-priest with a bad heart trying to quit smoking and live quietly on his houseboat, Ship Happens. 

His plans change when he discovers he has a pregnant 17 year old daughter, Caroline Boyer, who is dealing with bad choices with her boyfriend, Tater. Right before her mother dies, she tells Caroline to dig up a flash drive hidden under her trailer's bathroom floor.  

Suddenly, men connected with the mob are hunting them for it, forcing Woody and Caroline on a Southern road trip alongside an 80 year old named Amos, a hijacked Uber driver, and a goldfish named Gary. 

All the while, Woody's former church members are trying to track him down to throw him a welcome home party.  

What makes this book so good is how real and messy the characters feel. Woody is just trying to do right after a lifetime of mistakes, and Caroline is a kid who has faced nothing but bad luck. Watching them build trust from scratch is incredible to read about. 

The story is packed with Southern humor, a lot of warm feeling, and a heavy focus on second chances.

The ending leaves you feeling content and happy. It is a great choice for anyone looking for a heartwarming story. I definitely would recommend this read.

Thank you, NetGalley, Thomas Nelson--FICTION, and author Sean Dietrich, for providing me with a copy of this ebook review consideration. All review opinions are my own.

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Hawk & Sparrow by Ayana Gray

Rated: 5 star rating 

I just finished reading Hawk and Sparrow by Ayana Gray, and it is a fun book. The story is set in a magical, old-time city called Basalton, where only the very rich people get to use magic. 

The main character is a smart 19 year old girl named Vesper Evans who works as a reporter for a local newspaper. She sneaks into a fancy party to get a good news story and ends up finding the body of a dead inventor named Francis Gladwell. He had just built a special machine that was supposed to let common people use magic, too.

The main suspect is a rich young magic user named Maximilian "Max" Kite. Since Vesper’s newspaper is broke and needs money, Max offers to pay her a ton of cash to use her reporter skills to find the real killer and clear his name. 

The big catch is that they have to pretend to be dating so they can sneak into rich neighborhoods and ask questions. It makes for a lot of funny arguments because Vesper hates stuck up rich people, but Max turns out to be nicer and more helpful than she thought.

Vesper is a great main character because she is super smart and doesn't let anyone push her around. 

The author does a great job making the mystery exciting and gives the book a really good ending that explains exactly who did it and why. It is a really fun, easy read that mixes a cool detective story with a slow-burn romance where they fake a relationship but start getting real feelings. You should definitely check this one out. I thought this was a great read and would relate to young teens and adults.  

Thank you, NetGalley, Macmillan Children's Publishing Group, and author Ayana Gray, for providing me with a copy of this ebook review consideration. All review opinions are my own.

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The Raven by Susan McCauley

The Raven

by Susan McCauley

Rated: 4 Star rating 

I just finished reading The Raven by Susan McCauley, and it is a great book. The author did an amazing job building up the story and making you feel the freezing cold and absolute dread of 1665 England during the plague. The story follows Martin Blake, a poor cobbler trying to feed his wife Susannah and their little boy Thomas. After Martin accidentally kills a raven in a trap, he becomes obsessed with the idea that he cursed his family. Things get worse when Susannah’s uncle forces them to take in four London orphans, including a girl named Marta, even though they are already starving. Between the extra mouths to feed and the perspective of Susannah's brother, Nicholas, everyone is trapped in a tiny house while ravens gather outside.The author makes the house feel incredibly tense and claustrophobic. You spend the book trying to figure out if the house is actually haunted by dark spirits or if Martin is just losing his mind from the starvation and stress. The way the folklore ties into the family's secrets kept me hooked. I won't ruin the ending, but it is an awesome psychological horror book that I definitely recommend.

Thank you, NetGalley, Celtic Sea, LLC, Book Whisperer, and author Susan McCauley, for this ebook review consideration. All review opinions are my own.

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