Books

Books…..  I love to read them, listen to them,  talk about them, evaluate them and write about them. I have been keeping a webpage for many years.  Initially, my page was hosted under the name of www.leapfrogma.com., which can still be visited for earlier book reviews. 

As the years have gone by, technology has changed and so has my website.  The pages ahead are my most current book reviews, designated by year and type of book.  I have also highlighted the latest books which I have read.  Be sure to click on the book titles to get my full review.

If you have enjoyed my blog or have any comments, suggestions or reactions, I would love to hear from you.  Please email me.  

Latest Book Review…..click here

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Wit’s End…by Peter Hichborn

“Wit’s End” is the creative writing genius of my husband!!!  I hope you enjoy these whimsical tales!!!

• “An Immigrant’s Tale”
• “Kennel Coughings”
• “From the Heartland”
• “We are not Just Visiting”
• "Summers in Maine"
• “Wednesdays with Whitey”

Hichborn Lore…..and genealogy

The Hichborn Inn, a real place, is located on a quiet side street in the small town of Stockton Springs, Maine, just a short distance from busy Route 1.  Stockton Springs was in its prime during the mid 1800’s, when wooden shipbuilding was the region’s major industry.  The most prolific shipbuider in town, N.G. Hichborn and his wife built this stately Italianate-style Victorian home in about 1850. It remained in the Hichborn family until 1939.  In 1988, the house was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.  Today, in 2022, the home was purchased and is now known as “The Hichborn”, a well visited gourmet restaurant.  

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Field Trips

On an entirely different topic, at the bottom of this page, I am including a link to day trips that we have taken in the Florida area…..another way of learning about the happy things in life.  

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Book Reviews

2022

Fiction, non fiction, audio and ebook 

• My Cousin Rachel (book)****1/22
• Three Sisters (audio)***1/22
• Wish You Were Here (book and audio)**1/22
• The One Hundred Years of Lenny and Margot (ebook)*
• Benediction (ebook)***1/22
• Tell the Wolves I’m Home (audio and ebook)***1/22
• State of Terror (audio)***1/22
• The Last Garden in England (audio and ebook)**1/22
• Postmistress of Paris (audio 2-22)**
• Jayber Crow (audio and ebook 3-22)
• In Love (ebook 3-22)***
• The Henna Artist (audio 3-22)
• The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue (4-22 audio)***
• Stay With Me (ebook 4-22)***
• Violetta (audio 4-22)***
• Crying in H Mart (audio 4-22)****
• The Diamond Eye (ebook 4-22)****
• Count the Ways (ebook, audio 5-22)****
• The PUSH (ebook and audio)5-22****
• This is the Story of a Happy Marriage (audio 5-22)****
• The Lioness (audio 5-22)***
• Convenience Store Woman (5-22audio)***
• Take My Hand. (6-22 audio) *****
• Lessons in ChemiTstry (5-22 audio and ebook)****
• The Magnificent Lives of Margaret Meriweather Post

 (ebook and audio) 6-22 ***

• Sisters in Law (audio 6-22) ****
• Horse (audio and ebook 6-22)*****
• The Magnolia Palace (audio and ebook 7-22)***
• A Town Called Solace (ebook) 7-22***
• West with Giraffes (hardcover book 8-22)****
• Fellowship Point (Audible) 8-22*****
• We Are Not Like Them (ebook and audio 8-22)****
• Five Tuesdays in Winter (ebook 8-22)***
• The Violin Conspiracy (audio 8-22)*****
• The Daughter’s Tale (e-audio 8-22)***
• The Sweetness of Water (audio 8-22)*****
• Two Nights in Lisbon (audio 9-22)****
• To Paradise (audio 9-22)****
• Olga Dies Dreaming (audio and ebook 9-22)****
• Black Cake (audio and ebook 9-22)****
• Lucy by the Sea (audio) 9-22*****

2021

Fiction, non fiction, audio and ebook 

• The Exiles
• Clap When You Land
• The Girl With the Louding Voice
• The Boy , the mole, the fox and the horse
• White Ivy (2-21, audio and hard copy)
• The Love Proof (2-21) audio
• The Things We Cannot Say (3-21 audio)
• Four Winds (3-2021)
• A Woman is No Man (audio 3-21)
• Send For Me (audio 4-21)
• The Rose Code (4-21)
• The Husband’s Secret (4-21 audio and ebook)
• When the Stars Go Dark (4-21 book and audio)
• The Billionaire’s Vinegar (4-21)
• Surviving Savannah (5-21 audio)
• Remarkable Creatures (5-21)
• How Beautiful We Were (6-21 audio and ebook)
• The Night Portrait (6-21) audio and ebook
• The Darkest Evening (7-21) audio and ebook
• The Last BookShop in London (7-21)
• Women Rowing North (7-21)
• Hour of the Witch (8-21 audio and ebook)
• The Heart’s Invisible Furies (8-21 audio and ebook)**
• We Begin at the End (8-21 audio and ebook)
• The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba (8-21, audio, ebook)
• The Paris Library (8-21 audio and ebook)
• The Last Thing He Told Me (9-21 audio and ebook)**
• When All Is Said  (8-21 audio and ebook)*****
• Eternal (9-21 audio and ebook)****
• Song of the Captive Bird (9-21)*****
• The Madness of Crowds (9-21)****
• The Personal Librarian (10-21)****
• Miss Benson’s Beetle (10-21audio and ebook)****
• The Lincoln Highway (10-21 audio and ebook)*****
• Beautiful World Where Are You (10-21audio/book)***
• Infinite Country (10-21 audio and ebook)***
• Winter Garden (10-21 audio)***
• Oh William (11-21) audio ****
• While Justice Sleeps (11-21) audio***

2020

Fiction, non fiction, audio and ebook 

• Lucky Penny (1-2020)
• The Giver of Stars (1-2020)
• The Ruin (1-2020) mystery
• Barons of the Sea (1-2020) non fiction
• American Dirt (2-2020)audio fiction
• Star of the Sea (2-2020) audio fiction
• A Discovery of Witches (2-2020) fiction fantasy
• Finding Mrs. Ford (2-2020) crime fiction
• The Most Fun We Ever Had (2-2020) family drama
• Palm Beach, Mir A Lago and the Rise of the American Zanadu (2-2020) non fiction 
• The Scribe (3-2020) fiction
• Oil and Marble (3-2020) audio historical fiction ***
• A Long Petal to the Sea (3-2020) audio ***
• The Red Lotus (4-2020) fiction
• A World Gone Mad (4-2020) non fiction
• Dear Edward (4-2020) fiction
• Cilka’s Journey (4-2020) fiction
• Visionary Women (4-2020) non fiction 
• The Indigo Girl (4-2020) audio historical fiction
• The Beekeeper of Aleppo (5-2020) audio fiction
• The Stationery Shop (5-2020) fiction
• Redhead by the Side of the Road (5-2020) audio fiction 
• Bookshop on the Shore (5-2020) audio fiction
• Lady Clementine (5-2020) 
• Afterlife (5-2020)
• Congratulations, by the way (5-2020)
• The Book of Longings (5-2020 audio hist.fiction)
• The Love Story of Missy Carmichael (6-2020 audio)**
• Pearls of Wisdom….Barbara Bush (6-2020)
• A Woman of No Importance (6-2020 audio non fiction)
• The Beantown Girls (6-2020)
• The Keeper of Lost Things (6-2020 audio)
• Last Train to Key West (7-20) 
• Glory Over Everything (7-20 audio)
• Tin Man (audio and book 7-20)***
• Daughter of the Reich (audio and book 7-2020)*
• The Dearly Beloved (audio 7-2020 audio)
• The Winemaker’s Wife (7-2020)
• Pull of the Stars (audio and ebook 7-20)**
• Book of Lost Names (audio and ebook 7-20)
• A Good Neighborhood (audio 8-2020 )
• Mother Land (audio 8-2020)
• The Yellow House (ebook 8-2020)
• The Nesting Dolls (audio 8-2020)
• Call Your Daughter Home (audio 8-2020)
• America for Beginners (audio 9-2020)
• Library at the Edge of the World (9-2020)
• Florence Adler Swims Forever (9-2020)
• Summer at the Garden Cafe (9-2020)
• The Lost Girls of Paris (audio 9-2020)
• What You Wish For (9-2020)
• The Guest List (9-2020 audio)
• All The Devils Are Here (10-20)
• The Daughters of Erietown (11-20)
• The Paris Architect (11-20) audio
• Fifty Words for Rain (12-20)

2019

Fiction, non fiction, audio and ebook

• Kingdom of the Blind (1-19)
• Between You and Me (1-19)
• The Ragged Edge of Night (2-19, audio)
• Night of Miracles (2-19)
• Blood Brothers: Strange Relationship between Sitting Bull and Buffalo Bill (2-19)
• Daughter of Molokai (3-19)
• Rebecca (3-19 audio)
• Becoming (4-19,audio)
• The Arsonist (4-19)
• Flight of the Sparrow (4-19)
• Rebecca’s Tale (5-19)
• Island of the Sea Women (5-19) audio
• Mrs. DeWinter (5-19)
• Lost Roses (5-19)
• Black Water Lilies (5-19) audio
• The Diplomat’s Daughter (6-19)
• The Room on Rue Amelie (6-19) audio
• That Churchill Woman (7-19) audio
• The Guest Book (7-19)
• City of Girls (7-19)
• Meet Me at the Museum (8-19)
• Copperhead (8-19)
• Clementine (8-19)
• Chances Are (8-19)
• The Tattooist of Auschwitz (9-19)
• The Lost Carousel of Provence (10-19)
• A Better Man (10-19)
• The Other Einstein (10-19)
• The Only Woman in the Room (10-19)
• Dusk on Route 1 (10-19)
• The Huntress (11-19)
• Olive Again! (11-19)
• The Dutch House (11-19)
• The Confession Club (12-19)
• Normal People  (12-19)
• The Silent Patient (12-19)
• An American Princess (12-19)

2018

Fiction and Non Fiction and Audio

• Loving Eleanor
• BookShop on the Corner
• The Music Shop
• The Tender Bar- memoir
• The Story of Arthur Truluv
• Bettyville-memoir
• Destiny of the Republic-non fiction (3-18)
• Only Time Will Tell (3-18)
• Sins of the Father (4-18)
• The Girl With Seven Names (3-18, memoir)Audio
• The Address (4-18) Audio
• Best Kept Secret (5-18)
• The Flight Attendant (5-18) Audio
• Love and Ruin (5-18)Audio
• The Female Persuasion (5-18)
• An American Marriage (6-18 Audio)
• The One in a Million Boy (6-18)
• The Irish Girl (6-18)
• Beartown  (7-18)
• Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine (7-18)Audio
• 17 Carnations (7-18)
• Us Against You (7-18)
• The Great Alone  (7-18 audio)
• The Lost Letter  (9-18)
• The Stars are Fire (9-18)
• Clock Dance (audio 9-18)
• The Tuscan Child  (9-18)
• And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer (9-18)
• The Trust (10-18)
• The Son (9-18 audio)
• The President is Missing (10-18 audio)
• Carnegie’s Maid (audio 10-18)
• Florida (10-18)
• Stella Bain (audio 10-18)
• Pachinko (10-18)
• Next Year in Havana (11-18)
• The Girl From Berlin (11-18, audio and ebook)
• The Wife (12-18, audio and ebook)
• Where the Crawdads Sing (12-18)
• Asymmetry (12-18)

2017

Fiction, Non Fiction and Audio

• Saints for All Occasions
• Lions
• Maine
• Love and Other Consolation Prizes
• The Angry Wife
• Little Fires Everywhere
• The Girl Who Wrote in Silk
• Beneath a Scarlett Sky
• The Last Mrs. Parrish
• Lilac Girls
• Forty Autumns (2-18 memoir)
• America’s First Daughter-Audio
• The Hamilton Affair-Audio
• The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane-Audio
• Glass Houses-Audio

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✈️

McKee Botanical Gardens Visit  March 2018

San Francisco Visit April and June 2018

Four Arts Society—Isabelle DeBorchgrave Exhibit  April 2018

Fort Myers and Sanibel April 2018

Winter Park May, 2018 and 2021

National Navy Seal Museum  May 2018

Moody Beach,Maine Summer, 2018 

Palm City, Florida  2014…...

Heathcote Botanical Gardens Dec. 2018

Norton Museum  Feb. 2019

McKee Botanical Gardens….again.  Feb. 2019

Bok Tower and Gardens March,2019.

McKee Botanical Gardens…again, Feb. 2020 

Trees and Orchids of Monarch, Apr. 2020

Out West, Feb. 2022

Garden Tour, March 2022