Jennifer’s Comments (group member since Dec 03, 2021)

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

Oh, really glad you liked them!!

Ugh. I hate being browbeaten by an author's passion, be it religion, politics or why everyone should collect stamps.

I used to listen to Simon Brett in the car when I commuted from Gainesville to Daytona every day (it's about 100 miles one way)... You're making me want to check them out again.

Five stars AND a cool cover? Win!

I'm so glad, Joy! I think Lewis gets short shrift sometimes.

Another in my giant list of "picked for me somewhere along the line and I haven't read it yet" challenge books.

Denise wrote: ""

I read this a year or two ago and liked it a lot more than I expected to. I hope you like it.

Hi, everyone! This is the thread for the "Commit to one book monthly" challenge. In this thread, post one book you intend to read in April, so everyone else can see your pick. When you finish reading it, we'd love for you to come back and post your opinion. I expect everyone's TBRs to suffer because of this monthly reading challenge, but I'm prepared to make that sacrifice. Are you? :-D

The colors for April 2024 are bright deep green (not neon: think emerald or green crayon) or pewter gray. Looking forward to seeing your picks!

In for five, please!
PIFM

Hi, everyone!

For anyone unfamiliar, this is a monthly challenge where you post a link to a shelf you created. It can be named "PIFM" or "Pick It For Me" etc, if you want one dedicated only to this challenge, or you can use an existing shelf you already have, as long as it has 100 or fewer books on it. The link must be to the specific shelf, or you will not be partnered.. Indicate how many books you would like to have picked for you from that shelf for the month in question. There is no lower limit as to how many books you can have on your shelf, but, of course, they should be books you are interested in reading during the next month and have ready access to.

On or about the 25th of each month, I will post who picks for whom. In order to accommodate an uneven number of participants, pairs will not be reciprocal -- in other words, it won't be Joanne picking for Jennifer and Jennifer picking for Joanne. It may be Joanne picks for Jennifer, Jennifer picks for Herman, and Herman picks for Suzanne, and someone else entirely picks for Joanne.

If anyone has not been "picked for" by the 30th, I will pick for them if the designated picker can't be contacted by PM.

When you are assigned someone to pick for, note the number of books in parentheses after that person's name in the pick list, go to the link for their shelf, and pick that number of books for them. Post the books in a new message here. That person has the entire following month to read his/her picks. Someone will be picking for you the same way. We all like to see what people think about their picks, so we hope you will keep us posted in this thread!

Example: "In for five, please!
PIFM"

The HTML template for linking your shelf can be found HERE and if you have trouble, PM me and I will help you.

Your designated shelf must be set so that others can see it. To set up a PIFM shelf for those who would like to, go to the "MY BOOKS" link in the GOODREADS toolbar, scroll down below your shelves on the left until you see the "add shelf" button, and click that. Name it PIFM or Pick It For Me. Add books to it, and post the link to it in this challenge as described above. Again, if you need help, please don't hesitate to PM me!

If you are in for April, post your shelf and the number of picks you'd like to have below. See you on picking day!

April Pairs:
Jennifer picks 1 for Jackie
Denise picks 1 for Martha
Martha picks 1 for Denise
Lance picks 3 for Joy
Joy picks 5 for Jennifer
Jackie picks 3 for Lance

Lindsey, I’m choosing to think it’s no accident that I’d never even heard of the first one but the second is already on my list. :-)

Ugh. That's a tough thing about libraries: if they don't have the book when I'm in the mood to read it, will I still be in the mood when they finally do?

The winner of the poll for the nonfiction group read for 2Q24 is

The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession
Michael Finkel

One of the most remarkable true-crime narratives of the twenty-first century: the story of the world’s most prolific art thief, Stéphane Breitwieser.

In this spellbinding portrait of obsession and flawed genius, the best-selling author of The Stranger in the Woods brings us into Breitwieser’s strange world—unlike most thieves, he never stole for money, keeping all his treasures in a single room where he could admire them.

For centuries, works of art have been stolen in countless ways from all over the world, but no one has been quite as successful at it as the master thief Stéphane Breitwieser. Carrying out more than two hundred heists over nearly eight years—in museums and cathedrals all over Europe—Breitwieser, along with his girlfriend who worked as his lookout, stole more than three hundred objects, until it all fell apart in spectacular fashion.

In The Art Thief, Michael Finkel brings us into Breitwieser’s strange and fascinating world. Unlike most thieves, Breitwieser never stole for money. Instead, he displayed all his treasures in a pair of secret rooms where he could admire them to his heart’s content. Possessed of a remarkable athleticism and an innate ability to circumvent practically any security system, Breitwieser managed to pull off a breathtaking number of audacious thefts. Yet these strange talents bred a growing disregard for risk and an addict’s need to score, leading Breitwieser to ignore his girlfriend’s pleas to stop—until one final act of hubris brought everything crashing down.

This is a riveting story of art, crime, love, and an insatiable hunger to possess beauty at any cost.

Charlie Hustle made it onto my TBR, Lance, and I'm blaming you.

Finished —

It was riveting and extraordinarily moving.

Word.

Yes, that's the one. I really liked it. But I was at a point in my life where my book budget was tiny and a lot of my reading was academics-driven. :) By the time those two things changed, other things were tempting me at the bookstore.

Good to know about the Tan. I read her breakout book right after it came out but I don't know if I've read anything else by her. Which means I probably haven't.