REVIEW - The Atlas Maneuver ebook

 The Atlas Maneuver by Steve Berry (ebook)

OVERVIEW

This is the eighteenth book in the Cotton Malone series with some novellas and a spin-off. I'm worried that Steve Berry will become like James Patterson and farm out his writing to secondary authors.  

This book is basically about missing Axis treasure hidden since the end of WWII along with a current timeline about Bitcoin. I still don't understand the appeal of Bitcoin even after reading this book. As always, Steve does a lot of research about historical events that I knew nothing about which is fun to learn about. 

This book has short chapters that make it easy to take a reading break and return to read later.

OVERALL REVIEW: 3.5 stars

Writing: 3.5 stars

Steve can write really well. But as this series has continued, the writing isn't as strong as the earlier novels in this series. 

This is a published novel (not an ARC), but there were numerous spelling errors and typos. It was as if this book wasn't proofed or edited properly. These errors do ruin the joy of reading this book. 

Character development: 3.5 stars

The two main characters, Cotton (retired Justice) and Cassiopeia (Cotton's girlfriend) are on interconnected covert missions for a friend. 

The secondary character, Koger (CIA), is the friend with the favor. 

There are a few tertiary characters who are integral to the story including a bank head and a programmer. 

Storyline:  3.0 stars

Steve makes so much about history fascinating! However, this topic of Axis hidden treasure and the contemporary Bitcoin storyline wasn't my favorite.

The storyline about finding the missing treasure was great, but the Bitcoin storyline just didn't work for me. Also, there was an irritating cliffhanger!

The main locations were Switzerland, Morocco, and Luxembourg with the beginning of the book taking place in the Philippines.

Memorable/Informative:  3.5 stars

It was okay, but just not my favorite.  

Book cover: 4.0 stars

Very pretty.

Book title: 5.0 stars 

A strong choice. 

Recommend

BOOK INFORMATION

The Atlas Maneuver by Steve Berry

405 pages 

Grand Central Publishing

Release date of 02/20/2024

INFORMATIONAL LINKS

Steve Berry

My Goodreads review

Grand Central Publishing

LAPL (Los Angeles Public Library)

Happy reading, 

Dorothea 💜

P.S. I was just starting to review this book when my desktop crashed!!

TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES

Hi, everyone!!

I have been silent since Saturday, April 6th because my desktop died. But, I cannot complain as it lasted over NINE years!!

My new desktop arrived late yesterday afternoon (and hubby set it up last night)! It is way smaller, faster, and powerful! Actually, it is the size of a small wristlet! 

So here is my first official post on my NEW desktop!! 

Happy reading 📚

Dorothea 💜

 

My next ebook is...

 

The Atlas Maneuver by Steve Berry

Happy reading 📚

Dorothea 💜

March 2024 - Monthly Wrap-up

Hi, everyone!

Well, this has been a strange month with few books read. But, no biggie! I did not find a good biography or memoir to listen to for the last few weeks of the month (listened to the Harry Potter audiobooks AGAIN). Additionally, I tried to ration my favorite book of March which was silly.

March is the weakest ratings month for 2024 ratings so far with a total rating of 3.88 stars. I had two books that received the HIGHEST recommendation (5.0 stars) and the majority remaining were RECOMMEND (3.5 stars). There is always something interesting about books!!

 

2^nd ANNUAL “booksbydorothea” BEST BOOKS OF 2024:

All We Were Promised by Ashton Lattimore 

(January) 5 stars

Miss Morgan's Book Brigade by Janet Skeslien Charles 

(February) 5 stars

The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer 

(March) 5 stars

 

GOODREADS READING GOAL:

As of 03/31/2024, I have read 33 books, or 33% of my goal.

 

MARCH 2024 STATISTICS:

8 total books

5 e-books; 3 audiobooks; 0 physical books

3 books were an ARC (Advance Reader Copy)

4 books were library books

0 books were purchased

1 book was an Amazon First Reads

0 books were a Book Club Girl

Audio listening time in March:  36 hours, 56 minutes

Pages read in March:  2, 16 pages

Average review rating: 3.88 stars

 

MARCH BOOK RATINGS with BOOK COVERS: 

5.0-star books (2)

Still Just a Geek by Wil Wheaton LINK

The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer LINK

 

4.5-star books (0)

 

4.0-star books (1)

Lovers at the Museum by Isabel Allende LINK

 

3.5-star book (4)

Middletide by Sarah Crouch LINK

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner LINK

The House of Hidden Meanings by RuPaul LINK

The 24th Hour by James Patterson; Maxine Paetro LINK

3.0-star books (1)

Here's The Story by Maureen McCormick LINK

If you want to read my full review of any of these books, there are individual review posts for each ebook or audiobook next to the title and author.  

 

Happy reading 📚

Dorothea 💜

 

P.S. For more information about my book ratings, you can find out more HERE.

REVIEW - The Lost Story ebook

The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer (ebook)

 

OVERVIEW

This is the second book written by Meg Shaffer. Her first book, The Wishing Game, was one of my favorite books of 2023. So I was very excited to read her next book! This book, The Lost Story, is definitely my favorite book of March 2024. 

This book is hard to describe without giving too much away. This amazing book is like a fascinating combination of The Chronicles of Narnia, Alice in Wonderland, and Peter Pan, but isn't those books. Of course, my favorite Music Goddess, Stevie Nicks, is liberally spread throughout!! What's not to love???

This book took a few chapters to set up which is what I expect in a great book! But, once it got to the meat of the story, I could not put this book down. It was that good. 

OVERALL REVIEW: 5.0 stars

Writing: 5.0 stars

Meg is an amazing writer. It is shocking how good her writing is as this is only her second book. I predict a long writing career in front of her and hope to enjoy her beautiful books for years to come.

My favorite part was all the clues, bits of beauty, and interesting pieces that Meg spreads like fairy dust throughout the book!

This book would make an amazing series or movie! Fingers crossed!

Character development: 5.0 stars

The four main characters - Rafe (friend), Jeremy (friend), Emilie (younger sister), and Shannon (older sister) are the primary focus of the entire story. 

Rafe's mom, Jeremy's mom and dad, and "The Storyteller" are the secondary characters. 

There are also a few tertiary characters who help move the story along. 

*Please note that I am not sharing much detail to avoid spoilers.*

Storyline:  5.0 stars

Rafe and Jeremy, best friends, disappeared for about six months in Red Creek Park. Unfortunately, they have no contact after their return.  

In the ensuing fifteen years, Rafe becomes an artist and Jeremy finds missing persons. Emilie tracks down Jeremy and asks him to help her find her missing older sister. Then the story takes off. 

My favorite part of the storyline was the diversity of the characters including LGBT+ folks. 

The main location was "West, by God!, Virginia!". (inside joke from the book)

Memorable/Informative:  5.0 stars

It was unique, fun, and full of fantasy. 

Book cover: 5.0 stars

Gorgeous.

Book title: 5.0 stars 

Very appropriate. 

HIGHEST recommendation

BOOK INFORMATION

NetGalley ARC (ebook)

The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer 

336 pages 

Ballantine Books

Release date of 07/04/2024

INFORMATIONAL LINKS

Meg Shaffer

My Goodreads review

Ballantine Books

NetGalley

Happy reading,

Dorothea 💜

My next ebook is...

 The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer

Happy reading! 📚

Dorothea 💜

DNF - Not Your China Doll ebook

Not Your China Doll by Katie Gee Salisbury (ebook)

I will not be finishing this book, unfortunately. I have been reading this book for over a week and only read 100 pages. 

The book is dense, plodding, and just too full of details about other characters that Anna May meets as an actress. Yes, many of them were famous, but I wanted to know about Anna May. 

This book just didn't work for me which doesn't mean it won't work for you! 

Happy reading! 📚

Dorothea 💜

REVIEW - Here's The Story audiobook

Here's The Story by Maureen McCormick (audiobook)

OVERVIEW

Growing up, I loved The Brady Bunch and Friday night television on ABC. It was THE night!! I read this book hoping to learn some background information about The Brady Bunch cast and their interactions together, but I was disappointed. I knew little about them as individuals as this was all before the internet. Sadly, I learned very little about Maureen, Marcia, and her castmates, but much of the book was about her faith. It was almost too much religion for me. 

OVERALL REVIEW: 3.0 stars

Writing: 2.0 stars

The writing could have been better. Maureen could have used help from a professional ghostwriter. 

Narration: 3.0 stars

The narration was blah. There was no real feeling and this was Maureen's life, trauma, and experiences. It was as if she separated herself from what she was reading and was emotionless. 

Character Arc: 3.5 stars

Maureen comes off as cold, lost, and scared before her mental health issues are diagnosed near the end of the book. Sadly, much of this is learned behavior from her family of origin.

She writes the book in a very chronological manner which flows very nicely for the reader. I wish there was more of Maureen's later life as this book was published in 2008. 

Memorable:  3.0 stars

Maureen had a rough time growing up in a very dysfunctional home while being a childhood star. This would scar anyone as this is a huge issue with child actors and truly needs to be addressed.

One thing that seriously grated on me was Maureen's use of the word, "retarded" to describe her older brother. Since the book was written in 2008, I hope that she now uses more appropriate terminology. 

Entertaining:   3.0 stars

It was not entertaining at all. 

Book cover: 4.5 stars

A beautiful portrait.

Book title: 4.0 stars 

On point! 

LUKEWARM recommend

STATISTICS

Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL) borrow (audiobook)

Here's The Story by Maureen McCormick

HarperAudio

5 hours, 58 minutes

Release date of 01/01/2008

INFORMATIONAL LINKS

Maureen McCormick

My Goodreads review

HarperAudio

Los Angeles Public Library

Happy reading 📚, 

Dorothea 💜

My next audiobook is...

 Here's The Story by Maureen McCormick

For some reason, I forgot to post this to my blog. I started this book a couple of days ago.

Happy reading,

Dorothea 💜

My next ebook is...

 Not Your China Doll by Katie Gee Salisbury

Happy reading,

Dorothea 💜

REVIEW - Lovers at The Museum ebook

Lovers at the Museum by Isabel Allende (ebook)

OVERVIEW

This was a VERY short novelette or even short story about the discovery of two lovers in the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. It is a weird, supernatural story that only the incredible Isabel Allende could or should write. It reminds me of the La Mariée painting by Chagall which is so crazy that it is beautiful!

It was funny, at times, and extremely quirky, but an easy read. This short story has an opportunity to be a full-length novel and I hope this happens. To be fair, I have loved everything that I have read by Isabel Allende. She is one of the greatest Hispanic and female authors of our age. 

OVERALL REVIEW: 4.0 stars

Writing: 5.0 stars

Isabel writes so incredibly with such passion and description. Yet, her stories and books read so easily that you can imagine the book in your mind. Isabel's writing is pure poetry for all of the senses.  It is a perfect style for this type of story. 

Character development: 4.0 stars

There were three characters - Bibiña (female lover),  Indar (male lover), and Aitor (investigating detective).

Of course, the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao was a secondary character.

A lot was missing from the story including the couple's relationship afterward and the detective's future discoveries in the museum. 

Storyline:  4.5 stars

Bibiña was discovered in a wedding dress and Indar was in his birthday suit in the locked and secure museum by a cleaning woman. Then the incident was investigated by a detective. There are secrets in the museum almost as if it is sentient. 

The above storyline is a complete novel just waiting to be written by Isabel Allende.  

The main location was the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in Spain.  

Memorable/Informative:  4.0 stars

It was just a unique and escapist short story! 

Book cover: 5.0 stars

Gorgeous.

Book title: 5.0 stars 

Very appropriate. 

DEFINITE recommend

BOOK INFORMATION

Amazon First Reads Kindle ebook

Lovers at the Museum by Isabel Allende

25 pages 

Amazon Original Stories

Release date of 04/01/2024

INFORMATIONAL LINKS

Isabel Allende

My Goodreads review

Amazon Original Stories

Amazon First Reads - December 2023

Happy reading,

Dorothea 💜