Michelle’s Comments (group member since Dec 08, 2021)

Michelle’s comments from the On The Same Page group.

Bonnie wrote: "Michelle wrote: "Starting Killers of a Certain Age next."

one of my few 5 star reads last year"

Good to know. I literally just started it but I'm looking forward to it.

#20 Verity This book was not terrible, I just didn't like it. From the first line I didn't like it. I didn't like the maybe unreliable narrator. I didn't like the creepy wife in a coma. I didn't like the either sinister or ridiculously stupid (depending on how you read it) leading male. I didn't like all the gratuitous sex scenes thrown in randomly. I didn't like the strange little boy running around in the middle of it all. I didn't like all the dead children. This is the second Colleen Hoover that I have found very disappointing. Maybe I am just over Colleen Hoover. It's a shame because I have enjoyed some of her books so much. 2 (maybe it should have been 3 but I just didn't like it) stars. Paperback. Suspense/Romance??

#21 The Heart Principle I enjoyed this sweet love story. I was just a little put off by the very graphic sex scenes. I didn't appreciate the message I felt it sent about women. I don't think the message I got was the one intended by the author. This was the third in this series that I have read. I don't think I will read a fourth if there is one. The trope is wearing thin for me. 3 stars. Audiobook. Romance.

#22 Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow A beautiful book about friendship, love and gaming. It wasn't a book with a perfect fairy tale ending but it was a book that made you happier for having read it. Well deserving of the Goodreads Choice Best Fiction of 2022 award. 5 stars. Audiobook. Contemporary Fiction

Star Tally 2023
5 stars - 4
4 stars - 12
3 stars - 4
2 stars - 2

Current
A Suitable Boy ebook. Of course.
Call Us What We Carry ebook. I'm slowly working through these poems. So good.
Killers of a Certain Age audiobook. Just started.
One Last Gift Paperback. Sweet and sad.

Starting Killers of a Certain Age next.

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow Overlooked and Overlooked and Overlooked.

This is above all the story of friendship and love. Not a romance but a love story just the same. The love of good friends for each other, the love of life and work that inspires. It was well written, beautiful and tragic. There was no happy ending but there was an ending the reader could be happy with.

This book was the winner of the Goodreads Best Fiction 2022 category and was definitely deserving. It is difficult to describe the story or categorize the novel so best fiction seems appropriate. I love a story that can take you on an emotional rollercoaster and this one did. I also love a story about real friendship and this was one. So glad I read this. It may have been overlooked by me but it will now be fondly remembered.

4 life afirming stars

Favorite Quote:
“Why wouldn’t you tell someone you loved them? Once you loved someone, you repeated it until they were tired of hearing it. You said it until it ceased to have meaning. Why not? Of course, you goddamn did.”
― Gabrielle Zevin, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

I think you will enjoy S A Crosby. I'll be watching for your review.

Exactly "romance disguised as something else " rather than a story that transcends both genre which is what I was hoping for. Don't waste your time.

Hope you love it. Happy reading!

I'm digesting it slowly right now

I'm enjoying it a lot and so far not a love story.

I think we can both move on without regret Lea.

Glad to see you liked it. That one is on my list.

I just started Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow seems promising.

Completed The Heart Principle by Helen Hoang.

When Anna's boyfriend announces that he wants an open relationship, she begins a journey of self-evaluation that will lead her to true love, test her family ties and help her better understand herself.

This is the third book in the Kiss Quotient series. I have enjoyed them all but this one maybe not quite so much. The story was good and really sweet but it seemed IMO to clash with the sexy content. I particularly did not buy into the heroine's "grand gesture". It just didn't ring true to me. And this is probably the boomer in me talking but I think the author meant for these scenes to seem modern and enlightened but to me they felt like they took women back a peg. Also (and again this is the boomer talking) these books should come with a warning label. "Warning: Listeners may experience extreme embarassment if content is played out loud. Check your bluetooth connection before starting the audiobook." I enjoy the stories but I'm not sure if I will go on with the series. The trope is wearing thin.

3 sexy/not sexy stars.

Favorite quotes:

“Perhaps this is what I’ve always needed without really knowing it, to love myself without shame and without reservation.”
― Helen Hoang, The Heart Principle

“He matters more to me than the voices in my head.”
― Helen Hoang, The Heart Principle

It is consistently good Bill and can occasionally make me laugh out loud when reading.

oops! Sorry Ioana I thought it was you. You are always a good source for excellent Nonfiction recommendations. Anyway whoever it was it was good. Less about the school shooting and more about the internet rabbit hole in the aftermath. Thanks GR friend who was not Ioana for the reccomend.

Just began The Heart Principle. This one's a scorcher. I'm trying to be very careful with my phone so that the audiobook doesn't blast out accidentally.

#16 Three to Get Deadly I'm loving Stephanie Plum and her zany cast of characters. I also love that the number of the book in the series is actually in the title. That saves a lot of time. These are light funny reads and its great to have a little book candy to turn to when things get too serious. Four stars. Paperback. Mystery/Suspense.

#17 Sandy Hook Wow!!! This was a recommendation from Ioana and I'm so glad I checked it out. This book begins with the Sandy Hook school shooting but focuses not on the original event but on the internet rumor/myth/falsehood that began to circulate almost immediately that the shooting did not really happen. The so-called hoaxers who promoted this rumor began a phenomenon that started at Sandy Hook and culminated in the January insurrection. One of the biggest promoters of the hoax theory and one who benefitted from it was Alex Jones, who was recently and successfully sued by some of the victims' families for his part in the debacle. There was nothing in the book that I had not heard of before, but the book brought all the separate pieces together and showed what a devastating effect it has wrought on so many people and on our country. Really glad I read this one. I won't laugh off the conspiracy theorists in the future. Not because I believe they are right but because I now see how dangerous they can be. 5 anti-conspiracy stars. Audiobook. Nonfiction.

#18 Razorblade Tears Two very different fathers join together to avenge the deaths of their two sons. This book was brutal yet stunning. I have become such a fan of S.A. Cosby. 4 stars. Audiobook. Contemporary Fiction/Thriller.

#19 Four to Score Stephanie Plum gets her ticket and breaks up a counterfeit ring in the process. I took my own prescription after the previous two heavy hitters and laughed through another Stephanie Plum. Who is better Grandma Mazer or Lula? I can't decide. 4 stars. Audiobook. Mystery/Thriller.

Star Tally 2023
5 stars - 4
4 stars - 11
3 stars - 3
2 stars - 1

Current:

The Heart Principle Audiobook. This one is melting my earbuds! Whew!
Call Us What We Carry ebook. Very good.
A Suitable Boy ebook. I'm just resigned to living with this one a while.
Verity Paperback. I really don't know about this one. More later.

Bill wrote: "My review of The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo (5.0 stars) Wow!

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Next in line is Tamsin by [author:Pet..."

Glad you liked it Bill. It was a beautiful book.

Bonnie wrote: "I listened to that, read by the author. The Covid days poems were especially good"

I'm reading those now. They really capture the feel of those days.

Just beginning Call Us What We Carry.