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

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

***********SLIGHT CHANGE - WHEN YOU POST YOUR AUTHORS PLEASE ALSO POST TWO BOOKS BY THAT AUTHOR THAT YOU'RE CONSIDERING READING********

Most people are probably familiar with "series interactive" challenges, where someone posts multiple outstanding books from several series they are reading, and another participant picks which series they will read from in the following month, with the purpose of edging us all closer to being caught up in our favorite series.

This is the same idea, except we're doing it for authors who write multiple books that are stand-alones and **NOT** part of a series. Examples would be Marie Benedict, Jodi Picoult, Ron Chernow, etc. I find I get so focused on series books (in part because of challenges) that I forget to read these others and they pile up! I can't be the only person in this situation. :-)

How this works: on or about the 19th of the month (we're starting late but typically the 19th will be used), participants will be invited to post a list of three authors that they have at least two unread books by. On or about the 25th of the month, pairs will be posted. Everyone will pick the next month's "featured author" for the person they're assigned. I will pick for anyone who does not have a pick by the 30th if I cannot reach the member who is assigned the pick via PM.

The following month, participants should read at least one book by their chosen author. (If you don't get to it and have to backfill or skip it, that's fine -- the point is to whittle down that TBR and have fun!)

Books can be any length, and can be fiction or non-fiction -- they just CANNOT be part of a series, and you need at least two books by an author for that author to qualify for this challenge.


Come join us for April!

April Pairs:
Jennifer picks for Joanne
Denise picks for Jennifer
Karen picks for Denise
Lance picks for Karen
Joy picks for Lance
Joanne picks for Joy

Hi, everyone! April's colors are Tangerine or Lavender. Looking forward to seeing your covers!

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 3 for Joy
Desley picks 1 for Martha
Joy picks 1 for Denise
Martha picks 2 for KDBrand
Denise picks 3 for Lance
KDBrand picks 2 for Joanne
Lance picks 1 for Jackie
JoAnne picks 2 for Beth
Jackie picks 5 for Jennifer
Beth picks 4 for Desley

318 Leaving Atlanta
319 A Decadent Way to Die
320 The Fast and the Furriest
321 The Wars of the Roosevelts: The Ruthless Rise of America's Greatest Political Family
322 I Thought You Said This Would Work
323 The Madness of Crowds
324 The Husband Hunters: Social Climbing in London and New York
325 Insurgency: How Republicans Lost Their Party and Got Everything They Ever Wanted
326 The Plot Is Murder 254
327 The Tallulah Bankhead Murder Case 228
328 No Happy Endings 288
329 Ride the Devil's Herd: Wyatt Earp's Epic Battle Against the West's Biggest Outlaw Gang
330 Munich 1972: Tragedy, Terror, and Triumph at the Olympic Games 396
331 Fake Accounts
332 Endless Night
333 The Sign of Death
334 The Killing Season
335 When We Caught Fire
336 You Should Have Known
337 The King of Torts
338 Out of Focus
339 The Soul of a Woman
340 In a Holidaze
341 The Family

〰️Beth〰️ wrote: "Finished my second pick, An Undeniable Rogue by Annette Blair. This was a good start to a regency romance series. Just the right amount of romance, suspense and humo..."

I loved her Vintage Magic series. Am suffering serious PTSD that the long promised last book never came out.

Well that's a glowing review! (TBR growing more)

Finished the first of my picks: You Should Have Known. I really, really, really liked this book. Will get my second pick read this week!

Martha, I love that series too!

You're quite welcome. It's on my TBR too!

Beth, I’m glad you liked it. I suspect it will wind up on my TBR.

The non-fiction since Feb. 17:
Washington: A Life Chernow's comprehensive (960 pages) biography of Washington brings the sometimes stereotypically flat and stodgy father of our country to life. Solidly recommend this!

The Wars of the Roosevelts: The Ruthless Rise of America's Greatest Political Family Full of detail about the interfamilial (Hyde Park vs Oyster Bay) and intrafamilial conflict in one of America's great political dynasties. I knew the basic story but learned much about each side that I didn't already know. Recommend this for anyone interested in the Roosevelts.

Blood in the Snow: The True Story of a Stay-at-Home Dad, His High-Powered Wife, and the Jealousy that Drove Him to Murder Average true crime.

The Husband Hunters: American Heiresses Who Married into the British Aristocracy Interesting overview of a generation of rich American heiresses who were married off to largely poor but titled Brits. Each side gets what they set out to get but few were happy.

Insurgency: How Republicans Lost Their Party and Got Everything They Ever Wanted A review of the troubled recent past of the Republican Party.

Chasing History: A Kid in the Newsroom The early career of Carl Bernstein, who comes off as much nicer and more decent in this book than his reputation would have you believe. Plus I'm not usually all that interested in people's lives before whatever pivotal event drew me to their story in the first place, but this book really held my attention. Recommend!

Matriarch: Queen Mary and the House of Windsor Another recent bio that made the stodgy come to life -- I really liked Mary after this, and had found her difficult to like before.

No Happy Endings A memoir by a woman who lost her father, her husband, and her unborn child in the space of two weeks, written some time after it happened, and talking about picking up the pieces and fashioning a new life that neither forgets, diminishes, nor idolizes the old. One of the most useful books about dealing with personal tragedy I've ever read.

Oh wow, thanks for posting that, Lindsey!

Ioana wrote: "It is scary how many serious diseases, afflictions, hide under common symptoms and how difficult they are to be diagnosed. I enjoyed the book, the Dr.House similarities, but I wanted to know more a..."

Difficult when doctors are required by necessity or partnerships or affiliated practices or whatever to allocate only 15 minutes to a patient and move on to the next..... I was lucky enough to have a "REAL" doctor for several years - she was known to have you meet her at her office on a Saturday if she had an idea that might figure out what your issue was. But she and her husband retired a few years ago - I think because they couldn't practice the kind of medicine that was meaningful to them anymore.

Oh, so glad you liked it too, Rhonda!

Good grief don't tell your family and colleagues. They'll start looking around for something for you to do.

Karen wrote: "I am reading this book, which has a very yellow cover
."

it does indeed. :)

Excellent, Joy and Karen! I'm hoping to get to the first of my picks later this week.

Lance wrote: "I remember the 1972 Olympics well…was 10 at the time, but two events stuck in my mind. I was already playing basketball in youth leagues so I understood the game and was upset about the US-Russia g..."

I went looking for the Mckay broadcast on Youtube. It was chilling.

Thank you, gentlemen!