Once again I am working with MB Communications, who have provided this book to me gratis in exchange for my honest review.This novel was released March 10, 2026.
Served Him Right by Lisa Unger
This novel suffers from an identity crisis. Is it a murder mystery? Or fantasy magical genre? Or something right out of the Real Housewives? I didn’t hate this book, but I didn’t love it either and I had trouble following the plot at times.
Vengeance
At the core of the story is vengeance. When an innocent brunch with the girls turns into a whodunit. Ana Blacksmith starts her day with girlfriends, celebrating her recent breakup with boyfriend Paul. But when the police come knocking, Ana, well known for her bad girl traits, finds herself the key suspect in Paul’s unexpected demise.
Secrets and Lies
As the story unfolds we learn that others at the brunch and beyond may have held grudges against Paul. And through out the story weaves a secret network of ancient magical methods used to obtain justice. A family trait of the Blacksmith family puts Ana and her sister Vera in the middle of knowing too much and wanting to know who really killed Paul and why.
Whodunnit
Unger’s latest novel I am sure will be on the best seller list like much of her work. But it’s not my style unfortunately. That said, there are many readers who would not be able to put it down…the plot can be a page turner, for the right reader.
I am now seven weeks into my Total Knee Replacement (TKR) journey. Boy oh boy this is hard. If you are considering TKR, I recommend you talk to many different people, because everyone recovers differently. But if I can be of help by telling you my story, I am glad to. Let’s talk about Total Knee Replacement – My Journey.
Decisions, Decisions
What brought on my need for TKR? Well at 66 years old I can only assume it was a collection of many things; high school cheer leading, high heel shoes in my twenties and thirties, running half marathons in my fifties and sixties. All of these or just one of them could be factors in the onset of arthritis and the demise of the cartilage in my right knee.
Me in high school as a cheerleader
The pain in my knee began several weeks after I completed a half marathon. I did not have pain leading up to that run or during that run. It came on suddenly several weeks after. I rested, iced and stopped running for a few months. But the pain continued. Over a period of two years I had several cortisone shots and one hyaluronic acid shot and did a lot of physical therapy. My attempts to get back to running only brought the pain back. And so it was time to make some decisions.
I Love Running
The realization that I was no longer a runner was a mental and emotional blow to me. I love to run. It is therapy for me. It also provided me the activity I needed to lose and maintain weight loss. I felt healthier in my early sixties than I had my entire life. But the pain was too much. I decided on surgery.
Running in my fifties
Nearing the finish line, one of dozens of half marathons I ran
But as soon as I stopped running, and was doing long walks instead, most of the pain subsided. I kept wondering if I could delay surgery longer. How much longer? Since we travel so much, I was concerned about unexpected crippling pain while I was abroad. I just didn’t think I should take the chance. So, we blocked out six months for me to tackle the surgery.
I continued to golf last summer wearing a brace
I also did a lot of hiking on my favorite mountain last summer wearing a brace
Listen
Yes you should listen to your doctor. You should also listen to people you know who have been through TKR. And most of all you should listen to your body. Despite the fact that I am generally in very good shape, and have a normal positive outlook, I still have had a difficult recovery from surgery. Everyone is different. While some people are walking around at two weeks and driving at three, other people are still struggling at 4 months or more. Don’t assume anything, your body will tell you what kind of recovery you will have. Dig in and work hard. Don’t rush.
All smiles before the pain killers wore off on the day of my surgery
What I learned
I learned that my usual high pain tolerance would be put to the test with this invasive and difficult surgery.
I learned that the first 48 hours would be the easiest of the entire journey and that week two and three would be the worst.
I learned that pain killers are your friend, and don’t try to be macho and not take them. This surgery is by far the most painful thing I have ever done.
I learned working hard ahead of surgery on quad strength is imperative, and doing pre-hab physical therapy is a really good idea.
What my very swollen knee looked like on day two
I learned that everyone is different – a buckling of the knee post surgery has plagued me since the beginning. This is unusual but not unheard of and has caused me a longer recovery.
I learned how much I would need my home caregiver for so many things, especially in the first few weeks. My husband has been an angel and I salute those of you who have recovered without a live in mate.
My knee at week six
I learned that constant physical therapy starting immediately after surgery is painful but necessary. Slow but steady progress will come out of that work. I do PT at a clinic twice a week and at home 2-3 times a day. It’s important to be dedicated to this work no matter how much it hurts.
What’s Next?
I plan to continue my physical therapy into July…four months after surgery. Why? Luckily I have good insurance that will allow me that, and because I want to be as strong and as normal as possible by the end of the summer. We plan to start international travel again on September 1st. My entire focus is being ready by that date.
Week five trying to do normal things. That’s my son with me in Seattle.
I don’t expect to be perfect by then, generally recovery continues for most people up to a year. But by September 1st I want to be walking properly, hiking carefully and able to endure a long flight. These are my goals, for my travel life, my future health and a Total Knee Replacement- My Journey.
Total Knee Replacement – My Journey
I am grateful to all my friends and family who have reached out with love and kindness. And grateful to those of you who have inquired to my journey, asked questions and are interested in my story. This blog post is for you. Happy to answer any questions in the comments or in a private message.
Thanks as always for you continued love and support.
This is one of my upcoming books for book club. I hadn’t heard of it, so I am glad it was chosen for BC or I might have missed it. Loosely based on a true story in Dublin 1969, I found it fascinating and educational. Here is my book review The Women on Platform Two by Laura Anthony.
Ireland 1969
While much of the developed world was legally able to access contraception by 1969, Ireland remained stuck firmly in the laws of the Catholic Church. Despite the desperate situation for some couples trying to feed as much as eleven children on a small single salary, contraception remained illegal. Despite the chastised unwed mothers, cast out of family and home even if they had been raped, contraception remained illegal. This is where we find ourselves in the story The Women on Platform Two by Laura Anthony.
Present Day
Saoirse flees her apartment when she and her boyfriend again argue over having a child. Saoirse isn’t ready. Wandering the streets of Dublin she finds herself at the train station. She notices an older woman boarding the train, but she has dropped something….a photo. Saoirse picks up the photo and understand immediately the value this image has. She chases the woman onto the train, even though she doesn’t have a ticket. When Saoirse finds Maura, she sits with her as Maura weaves a tale of fifty years ago on this very date and train.
True Story
A small group of brave women will change the course of history in Ireland and help to bring rights and freedom of choice to Irish women. Based on a true story, though Anthony fabricates much for the novel, The Women on Platform Two brings to light a little known piece of history. Inspired to stand up for change, the women of Ireland banded together and quietly blazed a path for Ireland’s future.
Book Review The Women on Platform Two
It’s easy to forget how recently it was that women did not have the rights to contraception. And in this current world where women’s rights are constantly under attack, we should be reminded of how far we have come. Protecting freedom of choice, reproductive rights and equal rights for women is paramount, and The Women on Platform Two helps remind us of how precarious it really is.
****Four stars for The Women on Platform Two by Laura Anthony. Thank you for reading my book review The Women on Platform Two by Laura Anthony. See last week’s book review The Lincoln Moon by Michael Price Nelson.
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Post knee surgery my reading brain seemed to have disappeared. Until I found Lincoln Moon. I really loved the easy dialogue of this beautiful story. A perfect read during my recovery, and I am sure you would enjoy it too. Here is my book review The Lincoln Moon by Michael Price Nelson.
Illinois 1857
Told from the view of a nine year old boy, Truman “Scrump” Armstrong. Lincoln Moon places us in an bucolic farm family of Jack and Hannah Armstrong. From the start you believe these are good, moral folks with strong family and community ties. Scrump, idolizes his older brother Duff, and also understands the value of his contribution on the family farm.
When local Quaker neighbor approaches Jack and Hannah about helping hide runaway slaves on the Underground Railroad, life shifts. Jack and Hannah believe everyone should be free, but they are fearful their participation could cause trouble for the family. After much thought and discussion they concede to allow their barn as a hiding place for slaves being led to freedom through Illinois.
Murder
But when Duff is accused of the murder of Preston Metzker, son of the wealthiest land baron in the county, things become complicated. Duff is adamant that he is not guilty but the sheriff is holding him until a trial. Even though the only supposed eye-witnesses are two of the towns most unreliable men.
Duff’s family had no money for an attorney and so they write a letter to an old family friend from twenty years hence. A man names Abe Lincoln currently practicing law in Illinois.
Famous 1858 Trial
Loosely based on a historical and famous 1858 trail where Lincoln persuades a judge to take into evidence an almanac to contradict eye-witness testimony. Though not historically accurate in detail, Nelson brings the reader into the story through wonderful characters the reader sees and understands…from a bright and perceptive nine year old to Abraham Lincoln himself.
Book Review The Lincoln Moon by Michael Price Nelson
I really enjoyed the writing of this book, told in first person from Scrump’s point of view. Easy and quick to read, it should be on your TBR this spring. Thank you for reading my Book Review The Lincoln Moon by Michael Price Neson. See last week’s book review Invasive Species by Ellery Adams.
*****Five stars for The Lincoln Moon by Michael Price Nelson.
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Once again I am working with MB Communications, who have provided this book to me gratis in exchange for my honest review.This novel will be released on April 14th, 2026.
Invasive Species is set in the small, tightly knit community of Cold Harbor in Long Island NY. A town on a bay, where everyone is trying to live an idyllic life. Four female friends are close but also in constant competition with each other.
Also in the community is an ancient and falling apart mansion, home to Mrs. Smith. But no one ever sees Mrs. Smith. In fact most people can’t remember the last time she showed her face. Who is the mysterious woman living shut up in this creepy old house?
Mrs. Smith
Of course Mrs. Smith is not who or what people think she is. Living next door, 12 year old Jill and her Nanny Una both fear and wonder about the house and the woman. When one day Mrs. Smith finally re-emergizes into the community, Jill and Una know something bad is about to happen. The community, however embraces Mrs. Smith, including inviting her to a Bar Mitzvah where every child in town will be in attendance. Something mysterious and gruesome is about to happen and Jill and Una must use every ounce of courage they can to try and save the people of Cold Harbor.
Book Review Invasive Species by Ellery Adams
If you like mythical and magical stories Invasive Species will have you glued to the page. The novel launches April 14, 2026.
****Four stars for Invasive Species by Ellery Adams. Thanks for reading my book review Invasive Species by Ellery Adams. See last week’s book review Isola by Allegra Goodman.
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Isola by Allegra Goodman is a luminous and contemplative novel that explores exile, identity, and the fragile threads that bind people to one another. Here is my book review Isola by Allegra Goodman
Survival
Set against the stark beauty of an isolated island, the story follows a young woman cast out from the structures that once defined her life. Goodman’s prose is restrained yet evocative. It captures both the physical austerity of the landscape and the emotional turbulence of her protagonist. The island setting becomes more than a backdrop. It functions as a crucible in which questions of faith, survival, and selfhood are stripped to their essence. This poses a psychological story of human endurance through hunger, heartache, loneliness, and resilience.
Isolation
There are quiet and terrifying rhythms of isolation. Goodman’s story builds and places readers clearly in the visual and painful story. The story inhabits the slow passage of time alongside her characters.
Based on a Real Woman
Like many of my favorite books, Isola is a fictional tale based on a real woman. Marguerite de La Rocque was an orphaned French noblewoman from the 16th century who endured abandonment.
Ultimately, Isola is a meditation on what it means to endure—physically, spiritually, and emotionally. Goodman resists easy resolutions, instead offering a nuanced portrait of transformation shaped by hardship. The novel explores themes of friendship, love, abandonment, death, faith and a women’s strength against all odds.
Book Review Isola by Allegra Goodman
Thank you for reading my book review Isola by Allegra Goodman. ****Four stars for Isola by Allegra Goodman. See last week’s book review Pick a Color.
We are always grateful when you pin, share and comment on our book reviews. Thank you.
If you have ever been to a nail salon where the staff speaks another language, you will identify with Pick a Color. This short, easy to read, but profoundly intimate novel surprised the heck out of me. Here is my book review Pick a Color by Souvankham Thammavongsa.
The Susan’s
Ning owns a nail salon, but her clients think her name is Susan. In fact, every manicurist in the salon goes by the name Susan. It’s easy for the girls in the salon to be anonymous to the clients who come to be buffed and polished. Ning and the other Susan’s listen and agree to what the clients say, even when talking about the clients to each other in their own language.
Just Another Day
Pick a Color takes place over one day in the salon. Where we get to know Ning and her intellect and insecurities. A former boxer, Ning likes the rhythm of the salon, and spends her time shuffling memories and fears through her mind as she manages both her own clients and the rest of the Susans. Each of the other girls also managing their fears and trials of life as an immigrant.
The Immigrant Experience
Ning’s story, like so many others, is a daily grind of regret and hope, as she manages her expectations for her future, and processes the events of her past. Written in a fast-paced and intense dialogue, it’s an unusual setting with great characters who toll to the privileged clients who don’t even know their names.
****Four stars for Pick a Color by Souvankham Thammavongsa.
Pulitizer Prize winning novelist Elizabeth Strout is known for her novels with shared characters expertly developed and engaging. Although she has many more books, this is the fourth novel I have read of hers. And per usual Tell Me Everything reintroduces the reader to several of her most loved characters. Here is my book review Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout.
Unrecorded Lives
A theme in this book revolves around storytelling, and recognizing “unrecorded lives”. In the small Maine town where everybody knows your name, prominent and aging Olive Kitteridge begins a friendship with writer Lucy Barton. The two get together regularly to talk and Lucy tells Olive stories of people. Exceptional stories of unrecorded lives. Olive, a bit of crumudgion and nosy octogenarian of the town, sees a loneliness in Lucy.
The Kindness of Bob
While Olive is considered a little difficult, Bob Burgess is the local good guy. Bob has he lived his life taking the blame for an accident he did not cause, and yet he is always ready to help others. He is also is Lucy Barton’s close friend. The two seem to be headed to a romantic relationship out of shared stories and loneliness. Bob brings groceries every week to a shut- in, helps anyone and everyone who asks, and sits in the pew every week listening to his wife’s sermons in the local church. And yet something is missing in his life.
A Murder
Bob is an attorney and he agrees to take on a client who has been accused of murder. Here the novel continues to explore themes of empathy and loneliness, family secrets and love. Strout has a particular way of bringing to light the hidden stories of people in the community. She explores how tragedy and regret from childhood and young adulthood can define lives. She does this in a simple storytelling style through meaningful characters we can identify with.
Book Review Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout
I think I was in the right frame of mind for this book, and I enjoyed the most of the books I have read by Elizabeth Strout.
*****Five stars for Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout
Thank you for reading my Book Review Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout. Please see last week’s Book Review Her Cold Justice by Robert Dugoni.
As always your comments, shares and pins are very much appreciated.
Once again I am working with MB Communications, who have provided this book to me gratis in exchange for my honest review.This novel was released on January 27, 2026.
This is my third novel I have read by Seattle author Robert Dugoni. However, this is my first one of his legal thriller series featuring Keera Dugan. Here is my book review Her Cold Justice by Robert Dugoni.
Robert Dugoni
I absolutely loved Dugoni’s The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell and his fascinating novel Hold Strong which he co-authored with Jeff Langholz. Both made my top 15 list for last year! But Dugoni is more well known for his police series and legal thriller series. And this new novel is my first foray into his work in this genre.
Injustice and the Courtroom
Dugani, a self-proclaimed “recovering lawyer” knows his stuff when he writes about injustice and the courtroom. In Her Cold Justice, the third in a series, we meet attorney Keera Duggan. Following and living in the shadow of her famous attorney father, Keera is determined to prove herself. She is given the opportunity when she takes on a case of a young man accused of smuggling drugs, and also of murder.
It’s a huge case for the young attorney and she uses every bit of savy and wit to fight her way despite circumstantial evidence. Keera faces ruthless prosecutor Ann Tran, herself a victim of childhood violence, who is known for winning on much less evidence. Kerra is not deterred.
Keera Duggan
Throughout the novel you root for Keera, despite the difficulty of the case, the shadow of her father and her own personal demons. Will she save her client from life in prison?
Her Cold Justice by Robert Dugoni
Thank you for reading my book review Her Cold Justice by Robert Dugoni. See last week’s book review The True True Story of Raja the Gullible by Rabih Alameddine.
****Four stars for Her Cold Justice by Robert Dugoni. We are always grateful when you comment, pin and share our book reviews. Thank you.
Well I’ve put it off for three years, and now I just can’t wait anymore. I’m taking a break to have knee replacement surgery. I’m allowing myself about six months to recover, so I will be laying low at home. Our next international travel isn’t until September 1st.
Looking forward to being back on my mountain and healthy
Putting My Health First
I want to continue to be active well into my 80’s. I also want to continue to travel well into my 70’s. So I take my health seriously. We eat healthy and lead a very active life. After my 2021 surgery for diverticulosis, I swore I wasn’t going to put my body through a major surgery again. But, here I am. Ces’t la vie.
Taking a Break
So while I focus on my recovery through the summer, I am taking a break. You will continue to see book reviews, at least for a while as I have several already written and scheduled. But as for travel blogs, there won’t be many. Possibly a few local Pacific Northwest posts once summer is underway. It also is a good time for me to do a little background work on the blog, cleaning, fixing and updating.
Please Don’t Forget Us
We will be back. We have a wonderful itinerary of international travel planned September, October and November. You won’t want to miss it as we visit new to us places like Greenland, Svalbard, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Azores and more. So please don’t forget us.
Healthy is the goal
Until Then
Until then, I’m taking a break. Thanks for all your support, and we will talk soon. See last week’s post Let’s Talk Tamales here.
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