Lori & Julia's Book Club

We love Brian Freeman’s books (the Lt. Stride series!) but this new stand-alone story is really compelling. Great heroine and a compulsive page turner. Book summary courtesy of Goodreads: “Lisa Power is a tortured ghost of her former self. The author of a bestselling thriller called Thief River Falls, named after her rural Minnesota hometown, Lisa is secluded in her remote house as she struggles with the loss of her entire family: a series of tragedies she calls the “Dark Star.” Then a nameless runaway boy shows up at her door with a terrifying story: he’s just escaped death after witnessing a brutal murder—a crime the police want to cover up. Obsessed with the boy’s safety, Lisa resolves to expose this crime, but powerful men in Thief River Falls are desperate to get the boy back, and now they want her too. Lisa and her young visitor have nowhere to go as the trap closes around them. Still under the strange, unforgiving threat of the Dark Star, Lisa must find a way to save them both, or they’ll become t

We have been fans of Gigi with her other books (The Starter Wife). This is basically a roman a clef about her life as a wife when she was married to Hollywood uber producer, Brian Grazer. Just a fun book with hilarious storytelling about the crazy world of Hollywood. Summary courtesy of Macmillan Publishers: “In a world where therapist look like the Real Housewives of Equinox, where friends dispense Xanax like Pez, and where a woman’s status is directly linked to the how few carbs she eats…can one Hollywood wife take back her life? Agnes Murphy Nash is in big trouble. When she returns home one evening only to find the locks changed on the gates of their mansion, the security guard breaks the news: her famous producer husband has filed for divorce. And he’s not going to play fair. Trevor Nash wants custody of their tween daughter, Pep, but only for the sake of appearances. And Agnes can’t let him win. With the help of her ex-con sister, a Hollywood psychic, a ballsy female lawyer, and a host of friends and “f

A somewhat depressing story but life is sometime depressing and the actors world does not always end in stardom, does it? Maybe our feeling on this one is because we read at the start of corona…. Summary courtesy of GOODREADS: “From the Man Booker Prize–winner, a brilliant and moving novel about celebrity, sexual power, and a daughter’s search to understand her mother’s hidden truths. Katherine O’Dell is an Irish theater legend. As her daughter Norah retraces her mother’s celebrated career and bohemian life, she delves into long-kept secrets, both her mother’s and her own. Katherine began her career on Ireland’s bus-and-truck circuit before making it to London’s West End, Broadway, and finally Hollywood. Every moment of her life is a star turn, with young Norah standing in the wings. But the mother-daughter romance cannot survive Katherine’s past or the world’s damage. With age, alcohol, and dimming stardom, her grip on reality grows fitful and, fueled by a proud and long-simmering rage, she commits a bi

We loved (again) another suspense novel from Mindy! It was suspenseful, sexy and a great story (set in Mpls!). Left guessing until the end! Summary courtesy of Goodreads: “From the critically acclaimed author of Leave No Trace, the “nail-biting page-turner that grabs you early and never lets go” (The Real Book Spy), comes a visceral thriller where a high stakes crime triggers a woman’s complicated and potentially deadly search for the truth. Nora Trier catches thieves. As a forensic accountant and partner in her downtown Minneapolis firm, she’s unearthed millions in every corner of the world. She prides herself on her independence, the most essential currency of accounting, until her firm is hired by Strike. An anti-corporate, feminist athletic empire, Strike is owned by Logan Russo, a brash and legendary kickboxer, and her marketing genius husband, Gregg Abbott. They’re about to host a major kickboxing tournament with twenty million dollars in prize money, and the chance for the champion to become the n

We both loved this book and it is perfect for fans of ME BEFORE YOU and ONE DAY --- a striking, powerful and moving love story following an ambitious lawyer who experiences an astonishing vision that could change her life forever. Here’s the set up courtesy of Reading Group Guides: “Where do you see yourself in five years? When Type-A Manhattan lawyer Dannie Cohan is asked this question at the most important interview of her career, she has a meticulously crafted answer at the ready. Later, after nailing her interview and accepting her boyfriend’s marriage proposal, Dannie goes to sleep knowing she is right on track to achieve her five-year plan. But when she wakes up, she’s suddenly in a different apartment, with a different ring on her finger and beside a very different man. The television news is on in the background, and she can just make out the scrolling date. It’s the same night --- December 15 --- but 2025, five years in the future. After a very intense, shocking hour, Dannie wakes again, at the

This book was recommended by the author of the Sun Down Motel and we enjoyed this dark twisty book. *Note: If you watched THE ACT on Hulu starring Patricia Arquette this novel is inspired by the true story of Dee Blanchard and her daughter, Gypsy. Book summation courtesy of AP: “The phenomenon Munchausen syndrome by proxy — in which a parent purposely makes a child ill to gain sympathy and attention — receives a fresh update in Stephanie Wrobel’s excellent debut. The psychological thriller “Darling Rose Gold” works well as an intense look at a dysfunctional mother-daughter relationship, a tale of manipulation and how one person’s devastating secrets and lies reverberate through a community and a family. For nearly 18 years, Patty Watts portrayed to the world that her daughter, Rose Gold Watts, suffered from debilitating illnesses that doctors seemed unable to cure, and fed on the sympathy of her friends and neighbors in her midwestern town of Deadwick. Fundraisers were held for “darling” Rose Gold to defray m

This is a really good creepy story which blends a mystery with a ghost story! “The secrets lurking in a rundown roadside motel ensnare a young woman, just as they did her aunt thirty-five years before, in this new atmospheric suspense novel from the national bestselling and award-winning author of The Broken Girls. Upstate NY, 1982. Every small town like Fell, New York, has a place like the Sun Down Motel. Some customers are from out of town, passing through on their way to someplace better. Some are locals, trying to hide their secrets. Viv Delaney works as the night clerk to pay for her move to New York City. But something isn't right at the Sun Down, and before long she's determined to uncover all of the hidden secrets hidden!” Summary courtesy of Goodreads

Propulsive and addictive, and perfect for fans of “You,” THE OTHER MRS. is the twisty new psychological thriller from Mary Kubica, the New York Times bestselling author of THE GOOD GIRL. This book is also being adapted for a tv show on Netflix. “She tried to run, but she can’t escape the other Mrs. Sadie and Will Foust have only just moved their family from bustling Chicago to small-town Maine when their neighbor Morgan Baines is found dead in her home. The murder rocks their tiny coastal island, but no one is more shaken than Sadie. But it’s not just Morgan’s death that has Sadie on edge. And as the eyes of suspicion turn toward the new family in town, Sadie is drawn deeper into the mystery of what really happened that dark and deadly night. But Sadie must be careful, for the more she discovers about Mrs. Baines, the more she begins to realize just how much she has to lose if the truth ever comes to light.” Synopsis courtesy of Reading Group Guides

A very binge’able book! We promise, you will not want to put down once you start reading. There is no doubt this will be sold to Hollywood. “A wry and cleverly observed debut novel about the privileged bubble that is Liston Heights High--the micro-managing parents, the overworked teachers, and the students caught in the middle--and the fallout for each of them when the bubble finally bursts. Isobel Johnson knows helicopter parents like Julia Abbott--a stage mom whose world revolves around interfering in her children's lives--come with the territory. Julia resents teachers like Isobel, who effortlessly bond with students, including Julia's own teenagers, who have started pulling further away from her. Isobel has spent her teaching career in Liston Heights side-stepping the community's high-powered families. But when she receives a threatening voicemail accusing her of Anti-Americanism and a "blatant liberal agenda," she realizes she's squarely in the fray. Rather than cowering, Isobel doubles down on her so

We loved this dark twisted book! BOOK BLURBS…. “A dark, delicious tale that will creep its way into your brain and leave you examining your own soul for signs of moral rot. I downed it in one greedy shot.” —Jade Chang, author of The Wangs vs. the World and “Tiffany Tsao’s visceral debut…reads a bit like Crazy Rich Asians if the book began with familicide instead of romance. . . Why not start off the new year with the perfect tear-it-all-down read?” —CrimeReads “In this riveting tale about the secrets and betrayals that can accompany exorbitant wealth, two sisters from a Chinese-Indonesian family grapple with the past after one of them poisons their entire family. Gwendolyn and Estella have always been as close as sisters can be. Growing up in a wealthy, eminent, and sometimes deceitful family, they’ve relied on each other for support and confidence. But now Gwendolyn is lying in a coma, the sole survivor of Estella’s poisoning of their whole clan. As Gwendolyn struggles to regain consciousness, she desp

A mystery thriller from a first time novelist that kept us turning the pages as fast as we could! “It’s 1941 in small-town Alaska and Elisabeth Pfautz is alone. She’s living far from home, struggling through an unhappy marriage, and she spends her days tutoring her precocious young daughter. Elisabeth’s twin sister disappeared without a trace twenty years earlier, and Elisabeth’s life has never recovered. Cryptic visions of her sister haunt her dreams, and Elisabeth’s crushing loneliness grows more intense by the day. But through it all, she clings to one belief: That her sister is still alive, and that they’ll be reunited one day. And that day may be coming soon. Elisabeth’s world is upended when Alfred Seidel — an enigmatic German bush pilot — arrives in town and murders a local man in cold blood. Sitting in his cell in the wake of his crime, Alfred refuses to speak to anyone except for Elisabeth. He has something to tell her: He knows exactly what happened to her long-missing sister, but he’ll reveal thi

We loved this book so much. A drama and a mystery with incredible storytelling from one of our favorite authors. “North Carolina, 2018: Morgan Christopher's life has been derailed. Taking the fall for a crime she did not commit, she finds herself serving a three-year stint in the North Carolina Women's Correctional Center. Her dream of a career in art is put on hold—until a mysterious visitor makes her an offer that will see her released immediately. Her assignment: restore an old post office mural in a sleepy southern town. Morgan knows nothing about art restoration, but desperate to leave prison, she accepts. What she finds under the layers of grime is a painting that tells the story of madness, violence, and a conspiracy of small town secrets. North Carolina, 1940: Anna Dale, an artist from New Jersey, wins a national contest to paint a mural for the post office in Edenton, North Carolina. Alone in the world and desperate for work, she accepts. But what she doesn't expect is to find herself immersed in a

One of the most vivid first person accounts of wilderness survival we have read. The tale of six young men on a canoeing expedition in northern Canada—and the bear attack that almost killed one of them. “Messenger was 17 when he embarked on a journey with his comrades on a remote stretch of rivers and lakes in Nunavut, Canada. From the beginning, this chronicle is populated by original observations and salutes to a landscape rich with possibilities. The group spent the first few days getting used to the rhythm of outdoor life on the water, discovering a shortage in their food supplies, contending with heavy weather and swarms of insects, and making all the fundamental errors that mark the beginning of a trip. Messenger is equally comfortable describing flat water and rapids, great recycling whorls and standing waves of water studded with jagged rocks. It’s clear that the author and his buddies were immersed in the sheer effort of the undertaking. “We lost ourselves in the labor and exertion,” he writes. “We p