The Queens of Crime by Marie Benedict (eARC/eBOOK)
Happy reading,
Dorothea 💜
Wednesday, January 1, 2025
My next audiobook is...
The Girl on the Balcony by Olivia Hussey (audiobook)
Happy reading,
Dorothea 💜
My next audiobook AND Review - Me by Elton John (audiobook)
Me by Elton John (audiobook)
OVERVIEW
So I have begun listening to part of my selected audiobook before posting here on my blog and Goodreads. Normally, the audiobook sample provided by the library is not enough to get a feel for the audiobook. So that is how I missed posting about this particular audiobook.
But, I did have the benefit of it being my first audiobook of 2025. As I was finishing it way after midnight on New Year's Day, fireworks were going off which was appropriate for this autobiography! Outlandish, outrageous, and wild!
Thank you to my friend, Becky, for recommending this book. For some reason, I had returned it and barely read it! I am so glad that I checked it out from the library again!
NOTE: I have been a huge fan of Elton John since the early 1970s. Also, I even attended one of his concerts with my husband which included me knocking out one of his contact lenses. I guess I got a little too excited! LOL!
TRIGGER ALERT: Alcohol abuse, drug usage, foul language
OVERALL REVIEW: 5.0 stars
Writing: 5.0 stars
Elton writes beautifully. He was honest, real, and raw. The strong writing doesn't surprise me as Elton is a child of the British school system, but he may have had a ghostwriter, too. Who knows and who cares?
Narration: 4.5 stars
It was good narration by Taron Egerton who played Elton in the movie, Rocketman. He is a great mimic and did fantastic voices. Taron and Elton have similar voices, but not identical.
Normally, I choose to read memoirs or autobiographies narrated by the author. It gives more emotion and character to the audiobook. So it was a little disappointing not to be narrated by Elton.
Character Arc: 5.0 stars
The audiobook is primarily chronological with some flashbacks to fully explain important parts of the story. This is my preferred choice for memoirs and autobiographies.
Memorable: 5.0 stars
Elton really spills the tea so to speak. He is a huge gossip which is so hilarious! However, he is a very loyal and devoted friend to his long-term friends including many celebrities and friends from his childhood.
His life has been a series of ups and downs with a difficult childhood, drug and alcohol addiction, health issues, and family of origin issues. I related to Elton and his life especially the working class upbringing and difficult family life. He set boundaries and kept them for himself, his husband, and his children. This is important to me as I have done the same. Thank you for the validation, Elton!
Entertaining: 5.0 stars
Oh, my goodness! Elton is a hoot! He told real and hysterically funny stories! Also, he really enjoyed sharing his life with such a dry sense of humor. Elton is another celebrity I could enjoy a meal, but enjoy the conversation even more!
Book cover: 5.0 stars
Perfect.
Book title: 5.0 stars
It sums Elton up!
HIGHLY recommend
STATISTICS
Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL) borrow (audiobook)
Me by Elton John
Macmillan Audio
12 hours, 28 minutes
Release date of 10/15/2019
INFORMATIONAL LINKS
Happy reading,
Dorothea 💜
My next eBOOK AND Review - The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern (eBOOK)
The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern by Lynda Cohen Loigman (eBOOK)
OVERVIEW
I forgot to post about reading this ebook because I was on a social media and blog hiatus. My mistake!
This was a lovely and sweet book to begin 2025. I originally thought it would be my last book of 2024, but life got in the way. So instead I finished after midnight on New Year's Day!
This was my first book by Lynda Cohen Loigman and won't be my last. It combined magical realism, Jewish culture, mystery, and a dual timeline with historical fiction. Perfection!
The two timelines are 1920s Brooklyn and 1980s Florida. The two periods dovetailed beautifully into a satisfying novel. The Brooklyn timeline included a family pharmacy, Jewish gangsters, love and loss, and a changing socioeconomic period. The Florida timeline was about a retirement home with eclectic and eccentric retired Jewish folks - they were a hoot!
OVERALL REVIEW: 5.0 stars
Writing: 5.0 stars
The writing was descriptive, fascinating, and authentic. It reflected the language of the two times and used great Yiddish words interspersed throughout. The characters still used the phrasing and slang of their youth in their eighties which was adorable!
Character development: 5.0 stars
The main character is Augusta "Goldie" (daughter/retired pharmacist). Her name is in the book title so it is evident that the book revolves around her. She is the kind of elderly woman I want to be when I grow up!
The secondary characters are Solomon (Augusta's father), Irving (Augusta's friend), Bess (Augusta's sister), Esther (Augusta's great-aunt), and Jackie (Augusta's niece).
The tertiary characters are the Brooklyn neighbors, Brooklyn pharmacy customers, and Florida retirees.
As is true for most historical fiction, many characters are necessary for the detailed storyline. But the main characters and secondary characters are fully developed and so fascinating.
Storyline: 5.0 stars
The first part of the storyline is about Augusta's family, their pharmacy, and their life in Brooklyn which is upended when Aunt Esther comes to live with them. The second part of the storyline is about Augusta retiring to Florida and the wild and crazy lives of retirees.
The main locations were Brooklyn, New York, and Florida.
Memorable/Informative: 5.0 stars
I always enjoy learning about different times and cultures. So the Jewish part of Brooklyn in the 1920s was a very close-knit and wonderful community. The food descriptions alone make me want chicken soup with kreplach!!
What intrigued me was the similarities to the local Boyle Heights community here in Los Angeles. The neighborhood is now primarily Hispanic, but remnants of the former large Jewish community remain!
Book cover: 5.0 stars
Very pretty!!
Book title: 5.0 stars
Combination of the plot. Excellent choice!
HIGHLY recommend
BOOK INFORMATION
Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL) borrow (audiobook)
The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern by Lynda Cohen Loigman
317 pages
St. Martin's Press
Release date of 10/8/2025
INFORMATIONAL LINKS
Happy reading,
Dorothea 💜
Back from Holiday Break
Hello, everyone!!
Happy New Year!!
As predicted, I'm back from Holiday Break early and looking forward to an amazing 2025 reading year!
Now, get ready for some ebook and audiobook reviews!! I've been reading for the past few days!!!
Happy reading!
Dorothea 💜
Thursday, December 19, 2024
Holiday Break
Hi, everyone!!
I will see you on the other side of the Holidays in 2025. However, I most likely won't be able to resist reading after the New Year so don't be surprised if I come back early!!
Happy Holidays and Happy Reading!!
Dorothea 💜
booksbydorothea 2024 Annual Book Blog Wrap-up
Hello, all!
This is the booksbydorothea 2024 Book Blog Wrap-up!
SPECIAL NOTE: Many books I read are ARCs (Advance Reader Copies). ARCs are usually published many months after I have read and reviewed them. It also means some books could be read and reviewed in one year and published the following year. The books that I have included in the booksbydorothea Best Books of 2024 are books I have read in 2024 regardless of when the book has or will be published.
booksbydorothea BEST BOOKS OF 2024
If you want more specific and detailed information about the Nominees, Finalists, and Winners, you can check it out HERE.
18 total books vied for booksbydorothea Best Books of 2024.
EBOOK WINNER:
All We Were Promised by Ashton Lattimore
AUDIOBOOK WINNER:
Somewhere Beyond the Sea by TJ Klune
2024 GOODREADS STATISTICS
2024 Goodreads Book Goal: 100
2024
Goodreads Book Total: 93
I will continue with a goal of 100 for 2025 as it is a good stretch goal. My biggest issue is that my Pages Read differs greatly from the Goodreads calculation. Also, audiobooks are not included in the calculations at all.
2024 MONTHLY WRAP-UPS
Here are all of the links to the 2024 Monthly wrap-ups!
January 2024: LINK
February 2024: LINK
March 2024: LINK
April 2024: LINK
May 2024: LINK
June 2024: LINK
July 2024: LINK
August 2024: LINK
September 2024: LINK
October 2024: LINK
November 2024: LINK
December 2024: LINK
HELPFUL LINKS
Glossary: LINK
Book Ratings: LINK
2024 TOTAL STATISTICS:
Now for all of the statistics of 2024!
It is all so fascinating to me, but you may find it boring so feel free to skip
this!
Biggest Takeaway
This is the first year I have read more audiobooks than any other type of book. I really enjoy listening to memoirs and autobiographies as audiobooks.
2024 total books (ALL book types)
TOTAL: 93 physical, ebooks, and audiobooks
2024 Ebooks
TOTAL: 38 ebooks
2024 Audiobooks
TOTAL: 55 audiobooks
2024 Personal Books
TOTAL: 0 personal books
2024 Library books (ebooks/audiobooks)
TOTAL: 53 Library ebooks
2024 Amazon Prime First Reads books (First Reads) (also counted as ebooks)
TOTAL: 10 First Reads ebooks
2024 ARCs (Advance Reader Copy) (also counted as ebooks)
TOTAL: 30 ARCs
2024 Total Listening Time (audiobooks)
TOTAL: 365 hours, 56 minutes Listening Time
2024 Pages Read
TOTAL: 21,956 Pages read
2024 BOOK RATINGS
Overall book rating
4.24 stars
5.0-star books
4.5-star books
TOTAL: 27 books
4.0-star books
TOTAL: 23 books
3.5-star books
TOTAL: 11 books
3.0-star books
CLOSING
I hope I have been helpful by
suggesting and recommending the books I have read. If you think so, please share booksbydorothea with anyone who would enjoy it!! I would appreciate any referrals to friends or family to share my love of reading more broadly!
Note: I will be on a holiday break from social media and blogging from December 20, 2024, through January 5, 2025. I will resume blogging and social media on January 6, 2025.
Please join me in 2025 for more adventures in reading!!
Happy Holidays and Happy Reading!
Dorothea 💜
Wednesday, December 18, 2024
December 2024 - Monthly Wrap-up
Hello, everyone!!
I am cutting the book reading month and book reading year short this year with the culmination of the Goodreads challenge results! My monthly wrap-up for December 2024 ends today, December 19th.
December was a month
for audiobooks ONLY! There were so many good audiobooks released towards the
end of the year I needed to take a break from ebooks.
My best book for December 2024 is an audiobook – On Living by Kerry Egan.
2nd ANNUAL
booksbydorothea BEST BOOKS NOMINEES OF 2024:
All We Were Promised by Ashton Lattimore (January) 5
stars (ebook)
Miss Morgan's Book Brigade by Janet Skeslien Charles
(February) 5 stars (ebook)
The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer (March) 5 stars
(ebook)
How To Read a Book by Monica Wood (April) 5 stars
(ebook)
Here One Moment by Liane Moriarity (May) 4.5 stars (ebook)
The Friday Afternoon Club (June) 5 stars (audiobook)
The Bookstore Wedding by Alice Hoffman (July) 5 stars (ebook)
The Briar Club by Kate Quinn (August) 5 stars (ebook)
The Moment of Lift by Melinda Gates (September) 5 stars (audiobook)
When We Flew Away by Alice Hoffman (October - TIE) 5 stars (ebook)
Junie by Erin Crosby Eckstine (October - TIE) 5 stars (ebook)
The Unexpected Diva by Tiffany L Warren (November – TIE) 5 stars (ebook)
Somewhere Beyond the Sea by TJ Klune (November – TIE) 5 stars (audiobook)
On Living by Kerry Egan (December) 5 stars (audiobook)
GOODREADS READING GOAL:
My goal is to read 100
books in 2024. As of December 19th, I have read 93 books, or 93% of my goal. So I did really well this year with a big goal!
DECEMBER 2024 STATISTICS:
5 total books
0 ebooks; 5 audiobooks; 0
physical books
0 books were an ARC
(Advance Reader Copy)
5 books were library borrows
0 books were purchased
0 books were an Amazon
First Reads
0 books were a Book Club
Girl
Audio listening time in December:
52 hours, 23 minutes
Pages read in December:
0 pages
Average review rating: 4.15
stars
DECEMBER BOOK RATINGS with
BOOK COVERS:
5.0-star book (1)
On Living by Kerry Egan (audiobook) LINK
4.5-star book (2)
Lovely One by Ketanji Brown Jackson (audiobook) LINK
Cher: The Memoir (Part I) by Cher (audiobook) LINK
4.0-star book (1)
If Jewels Could Talk by Carol Woolton (audiobook) LINK
3.5-star book (1)
Brothers by Alex Van Halen (audiobook) LINK
3.0-star book (0)
If you want to read my
full review of any of these books, there are individual review links for each
ebook or audiobook next to the book title and author. Click on the link to get to that specific book review!!
Please note that my Best Books of 2024 and my Annual Wrap-up for 2024 will be posted shortly.
Happy reading and Happy
Holidays!
Dorothea 💜
P.S. You can find out more about my book ratings HERE.
My Year in Books 2024 Goodreads
Hi, everyone!!
The end of 2024 is coming fast and furious! The Goodreads "My Year in Books 2024" has been updated. So here are my results!
There were a few interesting statistics:
- Pages read: 28,937 which is less than last year.
- Books read: 93 - the same as last year.
- Shortest book: 25 pages
- Longest book: 550 pages
- Average book length in 2024: 311 pages
- Average book rating in 2024: 4.1 stars - the same as last year
Note: Goodreads does not include the time listened to audiobooks. This would be a nice feature to add!
If you want to check out booksbydorothea "My Year in Books 2024" data, it is available HERE.
What an honor to be among the "Top 10% Reader"! NOTE: This is based on the NUMBER of books.
Not surprisingly, my top genres are: Historical Fiction, Nonfiction, and Memoir!!
Check out YOUR Goodreads "My Year in Books 2024"!! To find it:
- Go to your Goodreads app on your phone or to the website on your computer.
- Log in, if necessary.
- FOR COMPUTERS
- Click on the "Your Year in Books 2024" banner towards the top-middle of your screen.
- Your 2024 information will populate the screen.
- In the upper left corner under "Your Year in Books 2024" is a small "Go to previous year" link. Click on this to compare and/or contrast to previous years!!
- FOR PHONES
- Click on the Home icon (little house) and then click on the My Books icon (little book).
- Scroll all the way down to "2024 Year in Books". Click on it.
- Your 2024 information will populate the screen.
- In the upper left corner under "Your Year in Books 2024" is a small "Go to previous year" link. Click on this to compare and/or contrast to previous years!!
My ebooks and audiobooks are complete for 2024. The Goodreads "My Year in Books 2024" was a perfect stopping point with the approaching holidays. However, I will be back at it in January 2025.
Tomorrow, I will publish my December 2024 blog wrap-up! Please look for it!
Happy reading,
Dorothea 💜
Tuesday, December 17, 2024
REVIEW - Lovely One (audiobook)
Lovely One by Ketanji Brown Jackson (audiobook)
OVERVIEW
This audiobook was an incredibly dense, deep, and thorough memoir. It was long coming in at over 18 hours. So as I usually say with most long audiobooks, it could have used some editing as she will probably write another memoir when she retires from the Supreme Court many years from now.
Kentanji opens with her origin story by discussing both sides of her family and ends with her swearing-in as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. She covers her career thoroughly from childhood in Miami, education at Harvard, multiple law clerking jobs, law practice, and her judgeships. Additionally, she talks fondly of her parents, brother, husband, and children throughout the book.
When she was discussing her friends or family, this memoir shined and sparkled. Unfortunately, her detailed explanation of her law precedents and rulings didn't interest me. This is where some editing could have happened. Yes, she is the first Black, female Supreme Court Associate Justice; however, the intense legal detail was unnecessary to tell her amazing life story.
OVERALL REVIEW: 4.5 stars
Writing: 4.5 stars
Ketanji writes really well, but not beautifully in the literary sense. She writes like an attorney and judge except when discussing her friends and family. I would have preferred the friends and family writing style throughout the entire memoir.
Additionally, she is a person of faith. So she shared her religious beliefs, scriptures, and Bible commentary which was not my cup of tea.
Narration: 4.5 stars
She is an exceptional narrator. Kentanji has the perfect narration voice with such a lovely tone.
Her narration was stronger and more relatable when speaking of her friends and family versus the law. When discussing the law, it was more dry and unemotional.
Character Arc: 4.5 stars
This audiobook was primarily chronological with some asides for clarity or explanations of an event. But, it was very easy to follow.
I thoroughly enjoyed learning about both sides of her parents' families and her husband's family.
My real issue is that this memoir could have been edited, especially in the law sections from over 18 hours which is long.
Memorable: 5.0 stars
I loved that Ketanji was so real. She is a daughter, sister, wife, and mom, but she has the same insecurities most moms do. I relate to her work-life balance as a stay-at-home mom because my life wasn't balanced when I worked.
I love how she wears chunky, unique, and beautiful necklaces with her judicial robes. It gives her a spark of joy that shines through!
Ketanji comes across as warm, loyal, and relatable. I would love to have dinner with this amazing and strong woman!!
Entertaining: 4.5 stars
It wasn't entertaining per se. It was more of a true memoir where I learned about her life rather than being super funny.
Book cover: 5.0 stars
Perfect!
Book title: 5.0 stars
Just a "lovely one" - an inside joke from the book.
STRONG recommend
STATISTICS
Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL) borrow (audiobook)
Lovely One by Ketanji Brown Jackson
Random House Audio
18 hours, 26 minutes
Release date of 9/3/2024
INFORMATIONAL LINKS
Happy reading,
Dorothea 💜
Thursday, December 12, 2024
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