Megan’s Comments (group member since Jun 23, 2013)

Megan’s comments from the Reading Buddy Style group.

The year is 1896, the place, New York City. On a cold March night New York Times reporter John Schuyler Moore is summoned to the East River by his friend and former Harvard classmate Dr. Laszlo Kreizler, a psychologist, or "alienist." On the unfinished Williamsburg Bridge, they view the horribly mutilated body of an adolescent boy, a prostitute from one of Manhattan's infamous brothels.

The newly appointed police commissioner, Theodore Roosevelt, in a highly unorthodox move, enlists the two men in the murder investigation, counting on the reserved Kreizler's intellect and Moore's knowledge of New York's vast criminal underworld. They are joined by Sara Howard, a brave and determined woman who works as a secretary in the police department. Laboring in secret (for alienists, and the emerging discipline of psychology, are viewed by the public with skepticism at best), the unlikely team embarks on what is a revolutionary effort in criminology-- amassing a psychological profile of the man they're looking for based on the details of his crimes. Their dangerous quest takes them into the tortured past and twisted mind of a murderer who has killed before, and will kill again before the hunt is over.

Fast-paced and gripping, infused with a historian's exactitude, The Alienist conjures up the Gilded Age and its untarnished underside: verminous tenements and opulent mansions, corrupt cops and flamboyant gangsters, shining opera houses and seamy gin mills. Here is a New York during an age when questioning society's belief that all killers are born, not made, could have unexpected and mortal consequences.

Please add nominations for the July group read.

Books can be any genre, you may nominate as many books as you wish, or second (or third, etc) any nominations.

Please check the group's bookshelf to make sure you are not nominating a book that has been a previous group read.

All book suggestions will added to a poll around May 20 and members will be able to vote for the book they wish to read until the poll closes on May 31.

Partners will be randomly assigned. Each partner will chose a book from their partner's to-read shelf (or any other shelf you choose, such as "owned", "ebooks", etc.,) to read for the month.

If you wish to participate for June, please comment below. Partners will be announced on or around May 20.

Partners are:
Tammie and Karin
Judy and Gina
Wyllow and Christine
Maggie and Ema

Please contact your partner through a personal message or on this discussion with your book choice(s) for them. Please discuss which book you are reading and how you like it!

I loved this book, read it all in one wonderful day spent down the shore.

I know this book got a lot of rave reviews and I was looking forward to it, but I just couldn't get into it, I was too bored with the background story and wanted to hear more about Callie/Cal's story.

This is an old discussion from a monthly partner pair up. If you sign up for the May partners in the announcement section, you will be given a partner and they will chose a book from your to-read shelf.

I moved this message to the member recommendations folder.

Christine picked The Firebird for me and I chose The Distant Hours for her. We are waiting to hear from Praveen.

Please add nominations for the June group read.

Books can be any genre, you may nominate as many books as you wish, or second (or third, etc) any nominations.

Please check the group's bookshelf to make sure you are not nominating a book that has been a previous group read.

All book suggestions will added to a poll around April 20 and members will be able to vote for the book they wish to read until the poll closes on April 30.

Partners will be randomly assigned. Each partner will chose a book from their partner's to-read shelf (or any other shelf you choose, such as "owned", "ebooks", etc.,) to read for the month.

If you wish to participate for May, please comment below. Partners will be announced on or around April 20.

Tammie wrote: "I'm in, if it's not too late"
Tammie, the partners have already been chosen for April, but you can sign up for May partners.

Partners are:
Karin and Maggie
Lorraine and Ema
Arena and Judy
Praveen, Christine and Megan

Please contact your partner with a personal message or this discussion with your book choice for them. Please choose a book from your partner's to-read list unless they specifically request another shelf. Please post all books selected and how you liked them on this discussion.

I just finished Me Before You. I'm usually not into contemporary romance, but I had heard so many great reviews about this book and author that I was excited to read this, and I was not disappointed. This is a really great story. It may not have been the best choice for a book to read during bouts of third trimester insomnia. I don't want to put in any spoilers, and maybe it is just hormones, but this book might break your heart!

I recently finished listening to this. I really enjoyed listening to the audiobook because each character had his or her own voice. I'm not sure if it would have the same effect if I had read it. I think the author did a wonderful job writing as a 5 year old boy. I think if this story had been told from Jack's Ma's point of view, it would have been much more depressing and tragic.

I read this last year and really enjoyed it!

The Saga of Kasakh by O V Vijayan

thanks,
Praveen

1. Vernal Equinox-
The Wind in the Willows

2. Listening Weekend-
Guess How Much I Love You

3. April Fool's-
4. DEAR Day-
How Eskimos Keep Their Babies Warm: And Other Adventures in Parenting

5. Earth Day-
Flight Behavior

6. Holocaust Day-
Skeletons at the Feast

7. Beltane-
A Midsummer Night's Dream

8. Mother's Day-
The Nursing Mother's Companion

9. Mint Julep Day-
Whistling Past the Graveyard

10. Father's Day-
Burial Rites

All books for this challenge must be read between March 20 and June 20. Books can be fiction or nonfiction.

1. March 20 is the vernal equinox. Read a book with a springy cover such as flowers, pastel colors, baby animals, etc., or a book with the word "spring" or a spring month in the title.

2. March 28-29 is Listening Weekend. Listen to any audiobook of your choice OR read a book to someone else.

3. April 1 is April Fool's Day. Read a book that makes you laugh.

4. April 12 is DEAR Day (Drop Everything and Read Day). Read any book of your choice.

5. April 22 is Earth Day. Read a book with an environmental/ecological theme, a book with a character with a profession in this field, or a book with trees, flowers, wildlife, or a green cover. For some suggestions, check out: https://www.goodreads.com/search?utf8...

6. April 27 is Holocaust Remembrance Day. Read a book about or that takes place during the Holocaust. For suggestions: https://www.goodreads.com/search?utf8...

7. May 1 is Beltane or May Day. Read a fairy tale, fairy tale retelling, or a book with fairy or wiccan characters.

8. May 11 is Mother's Day. Read a book which the main character is a mother or a word like "mother", "mom", "mama" etc are in title.

9. May 30 is Mint Julep Day. Read a book that takes place in the southern US. For suggestions: https://www.goodreads.com/search?utf8...

10. June 15 is Father's Day. Read a book which the main character is a father or has a word like "father", "dad", "papa", etc., in the title.

Please copy and paste below:

1. Vernal Equinox-
2. Listening Weekend-
3. April Fool's-
4. DEAR Day-
5. Earth Day-
6. Holocaust Day-
7. Beltane-
8. Mother's Day-
9. Mint Julep Day-
10. Father's Day-

Paulo Coelho's enchanting novel has inspired a devoted following around the world. This story, dazzling in its powerful simplicity and inspiring wisdom, is about an Andalusian shepherd boy named Santiago who travels from his homeland in Spain to the Egyptian desert in search of a treasure buried in the Pyramids. Along the way he meets a Gypsy woman, a man who calls himself king, and an alchemist, all of whom point Santiago in the direction of his quest. No one knows what the treasure is, or if Santiago will be able to surmount the obstacles along the way. But what starts out as a journey to find worldly goods turns into a discovery of the treasure found within. Lush, evocative, and deeply humane, the story of Santiago is an eternal testament to the transforming power of our dreams and the importance of listening to our hearts.