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

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

Anything posted has been read.

*******FINISHED 03/06/2022********

1. A book you received as a gift. Death, Taxes, and a Chocolate Cannoli
2. A book that takes place in New York. A Catered Mother's Day
3. A book about: book clubs, book stores, libraries A Catered Book Club Murder
4. A book from Moderator Recommends https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/... Death on the Nile
5. A new release. The Last Bookshop in London: A Novel of World War II
6. A lesser known book written by any author. The Peacock Emporium
7. A book with a two word title. The Riesling Retribution
8. A book with a different culture than yours. I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter
9. A book about someone who is dead. The Mystery of Mrs. Christie
10. A book from a genre you don’t usually read. Leave Out the Tragic Parts: A Grandfather's Search for a Boy Lost to Addiction
11. Read two books by one author, name author. Muffin But Trouble Double or Muffin Victoria Hamilton
12. Book set in a fictional town. A Catered Tea Party
13. A light hearted or fun book. Savannah Breeze
14. A book about betrayal. You Made Me Kill You
15. A book written by an author who uses initials for his/her name. Magical Midlife Madness K.F. Breene
16. A book you own but haven’t read yet. Malibu Rising
17. A book from the bottom of your tbr list. Hounded to Death
18. A highly anticipated book. The Duchess: A Novel of Wallis Simpson
19. A book you picked up at the library. In the Name of the Children: An FBI Agent's Relentless Pursuit of the Nation's Worst Predators
20. A book you bought/borrowed with out reading the inside blurb. Magical Midlife Dating
21. A book that starts with the letter W, X,Y, or Z* (all words count) We Own This City: A True Story of Crime, Cops and Corruption in an American City
22. A book from a series. Killer Comfort Food
23. A book with a number in the title. One Lavender Ribbon
24. Read a book set in a state with a direction in its name: North, South, East, or West. (N.C, N.D, S.C, S.D, W.V) Killer Characters (North Carolina)
25. A book written by someone from The U.K. (N. Ireland, Scotland, England, Wales) The Collector's Daughter
26. A book with an Orange cover.

Huh, Alondra, my brother lived in Evanston at one time too! I fear we are in great danger of having a six degrees from Evanston situation here!

From Carolien:

Ethiopia:

The Shadow King

Beneath the Lion's Gaze

The Wife's Tale: A Personal History

Nega Mezlekia - various

In Ethiopia with a Mule

Cutting for Stone

The Barefoot Emperor: An Ethiopian Tragedy

From Carolien:

Somalia:
Black Mamba Boy (Somalia - also Lebanon, Egypt, England)

The Orchard of Lost Souls (Somalia)

Desert Flower (Somalia)

Born in the Big Rains: A Memoir of Somalia and Survival (Somalia)

Aman: The Story of a Somali Girl (Somalia)

The Mayor of Mogadishu: A Story of Chaos and Redemption in the Ruins of Somalia

Whoever Fears the Sea: An evocative nautical adventure set on the coast of Kenya (Kenya/Somalia)

A Moonless, Starless Sky: Ordinary Women and Men Fighting Extremism in Africa includes a section on Somalia

Nuruddin Farah - Various books

When There Was No Aid: War and Peace in Somaliland

Liberia

The House at Sugar Beach: In Search of a Lost African Childhood
by Helene Cooper

This Child Will Be Great: Memoir of a Remarkable Life by Africa's First Woman President by Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

Konkai: Living Between Two Worlds
by Mardia Stone

Quest for the Lost Prince: Samuel Morris by Dave Jackson

Journey Without Maps by Graham Greene

And Still Peace Did Not Come: A Memoir of Reconciliation
by Agnes Kamara-umunna

All from Carolien, by author

Crime:
Deon Meyer
Sally Andrew (Tannie Maria is as close to cozy that South Africa gets)
H.J. GolakaiH.J. Golakai (Liberian author, books set in South Africa)
Karin BrynardKarin Brynard
Ian Patrick
Margie Orford
Mike Nicol
Roger Smith
Irna van Zyl
Wessel Ebersohn
Peter Church
Peter Temple (South Africa and Australia)

General fiction:
Marita van der Vyver
Rehana Rossouw
Zakes Mda
Fred Khumalo
Niq Mhlongo
Zukiswa Wanner
Patricia Schonstein
Kopano Matlwa
Sindiwe Magona
Dalene Matthee
Simon Bruinders
Nadine Gordimer
Marguerite Poland
Rosamund Kendal
Rahla Xenopoulos
Sifiso Mzobe
Shaun Johnson
Rayda Jacobs
Es'kia Mphahlele
Thomas Mofolo
Lauren Liebenberg
Farida Karodia
Imraan Coovadia
Zoë Wicomb
Peter Abrahams
André Brinkmann
Marlene van Niekerk
Antjie Krog
Michiel Heyns
Ingrid Winterbach
Angela Makholwa (also crime)
J.M. Coetzee

Horror/fantasy
Lauren Beukes - Zoo City, Moxyland
Sarah Lotz
Louis Greenberg
S.L. Grey
Lily Herne
Henrietta Rose-Innes
Nerine Dorman
Rachel Zadok
Sarah Key
Melissa Delport
Andrew Salomon

Romance
Elsa Winckler- Love, In Writing, An Impossible Attraction (1st in trilogy)
Natasha Anders- The Wingman, 1st in trilogy
Jo Watson
Alissa Baxter

From Carolien:

Nigeria
Everything Good Will Come
The Opposite House
Double Yoke
Zahrah the Windseeker
In Dependence
I Do Not Come to You by Chance
Half of a Yellow Sun
AmericanahAmericanah
The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives
Bitter Leaf
The Spider King's Daughter
Happiness, Like Water
A Bit of Difference
Daughters Who Walk This Path
Butterfly Fish
Under the Udala Trees
Stay with Me
Welcome to Lagos
Easy Motion Tourist
The Death of Vivek Oji
Black Sunday
The Voice
Three Short Plays
A Particular Kind of Black Man
Season of Crimson Blossoms
Ogadinma Or, Everything Will Be All Right
Oil on Water
Measuring Time
The Fishermen
A Moonless, Starless Sky: Ordinary Women and Men Fighting Extremism in Africa includes a section on Nigeria
The Hangman's Game (also set in Guyana)
This House is Not for SaleThis House is Not for Sale
Speak GigantularSpeak Gigantular
Nudibranch

Any book posted has been read.

Read one book by:

One book by:
Agatha Christie Death on the Nile
Agee A Death in the Family
Alexandre Dumas
George Baxt The Tallulah Bankhead Murder Case
Booth Tarkington
Bromfield Bitter Lotus
Charlotte MacLeod/Alyssa Craig
Dorothy Cannell The Widow's Club
Edna Ferber
Elizabeth Von Arnim
Ellie Alexander Till Death Do Us Tart
Evelyn Anthony Far Flies the Eagle
Fern Michaels
Fitzgerald
Galsworthy
Jane Haddam
Harrod-Eagles
Joan Hess Damsels in Distress
Heyer
Keyes
Mary Daheim
Maugham
Ngaio Marsh Enter a Murderer
O’hara Ewings
Julia Spencer Fleming
Patricia Sprinkle Death in the Family Tree
Philip Barry In a Garden
Rex Stout
Richard and Frances Lockridge A Key to Death
Sinclair Lewis
Stephen Ambrose
Susan Wittig Albert
Terence Rattigan First Episode
Trollope The Eustace Diamonds
Wharton
Wodehouse Very Good, Jeeves!

The list: **Finished 12/02/2022

The Keepers of the House ***Finished 12/02
Rush **Finished 8/22 and I wasn't expecting this to be set in the south.
Notorious Finished 9/22 gossipy modern melodramas based on the famous stories of English kings.
The White Rose **Finished 03/20 I really like this author!
Housewife Chronicles ***Finished 05/22 interesting mystery.
You Made Me Kill You ***Finished 02/22 I like this author a lot but loathed this crummy book.
Under the Jeweled Sky ****Finished 04/22 interesting potboiler.
The Charleston Scandal ***Finished 11/2022
Leaving Atlanta ***Finished 2/22. Meh.
Honeysuckle Season *****Finished******
Home Fire ***Finished 7/22, really liked this!
I Thought You Said This Would Work *****Finished 03/22. Ok, this was heartwarming.
Priestdaddy ***FInished 04/22 3 stars, Meh.
Strange Weather in Tokyo ****Finished****
Deep Dish ***Finished 1/22. Not my favorite MKA, or even close, but still a good read.
The View from Penthouse B ****Finished 12/01

***Finished 11/20/2022*****

The list:

And Not a Penny More ***Finished 8/22
The Disposables **Finished 7/22, will read more of this series.
Death of a Messenger I think this is an OK mystery poorly served by sub-par narration. I'll have to read the 2nd to decide if that opinion is accurate. Finished 9/22
The Curious Case of Florence Winters ***Finished
Misjudged: A Legal Thriller **Finished 9/22
Cooked Goose Finished 01/07 and I just love Savannah. 4 stars.
Mint Condition Murder ****Finished 7/22, this is a go-to author for me.
An Unfortunate End ***Finished 04/22 4 stars and better than I expected.
Far Flies the Eagle Third book of the Romanov Trilogy and covers a Tsar I knew nothing about, and the Napoleonic Wars from an angle I was unfamiliar with. 3/17.
Bad to the Crone **Four stars, finished 4/22, I love Amanda M. Lee!
Arsenic in the Azaleas 3 stars, good quick read, finished 4/22
Stealing the Crown *****FINISHED 05/17/22 -- Great start to a series!
Cold Morning ****Finished 11/15
Dangerous to Know ***Finished 11/20
Devil Days in Deadwood. **FINISHED****
The Women of the Souk. **Finished 9/22****

The list -- harder to narrow down than I expected! ****Finished 12/02/2022

The Final Days **Finished 01/09. picks up where All the President's Men left off and is every bit as good.
I'll Have What She's Having: How Nora Ephron's Three Iconic Films Saved the Romantic Comedy *Finished 03/22 what a fun book!
Wild Bill: The True Story of the American Frontier's First Gunfighter Finished 7/22 -- rollicking good history!
The Great Task Remaining: The Third Year of Lincoln's War **Really interesting history, finished 11/20
The Comedians: Drunks, Thieves, Scoundrels, and the History of American Comedy Finished 6/13/22 good overview with lots of detail that I was completely unfamiliar with. 4 stars.
The New York Yankees 1936–39: Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, and Baseball's Greatest Dynasty **Finished 8/22 hard to read the first part when you know what's coming for Gehrig...
From Kristallnacht to Watergate: Memoirs of a Newspaperman ***Finished 11/2022 -- I love Watergate histories.
In Destiny's Hands: Five Tragic Rulers, Children of Maria Theresa ***Good but a little too long -- Finished 11/2022****
In Triumph's Wake: Royal Mothers, Tragic Daughters, and the Price They Paid for Glory ***Good, learned a lot about Ferdinand and Isabella I hadn't previously known ***** Finished 11/2022
Golden Holocaust: Origins of the Cigarette Catastrophe and the Case for Abolition *** interesting but longer than it needed to be, however, as an indictment of the industry it's a stellar document****Finished 11/22
Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City **Finished 7/22 3 stars
Ride the Devil's Herd: Wyatt Earp's Epic Battle Against the West's Biggest Outlaw Gang***Finished 03/22 Good history of the period following the OK Corral and the death of Morgan Earp.
Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded: August 27, 1883. Finished 01/22. Little heavy on the science but overall fascinating.
Concussion. **Finished 12/1***
The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.*******Read 01/22. Inspirational!
Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science ***Finished 01/02 This was excellent, 4 stars, and I can really see how he grew as a person between this book and Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End, which I read last year.

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 ## month, post your shelf and the number of picks you'd like to have below. See you on picking day!

Slovakia:

Siren of the Waters by Michael Genelin (Mystery)

The Brass Dolphin by Joanna Trollope (orig. pub under the name Caroline Harvey, and it's a really good book!)

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier

The Devil That Danced on the Water: A Daughter's Quest by Aminatta Forna

The Heart of the Matter by Graham Greene

Burundi:
Small Country
Baho!

Burkina Faso:

Outlaw
Burkina Faso: A History of Power, Protest and Revolution



Across the Red River: Rwanda, Burundi, and the Heart of Darkness by Christian Jennings

Libya:
The Return: Fathers, Sons, and the Land in Between
The Burning Shores: Inside the Battle for the New LibyaThe Burning Shores: Inside the Battle for the New Libya

Namibia:

Mama Namibia
The Purple Violet of Oshaantu
The Eternal Audience of One by Rémy Ngamije

Guinea:

Camara Laye's books including The Radiance of the King and The Dark Child

Another option is The Black Terrorist although it is mostly set in France

Aunty Lee's Delights and more in the series by Ovidia Yu

The Frangipani Tree Mystery by Olivia Yu (Crown Colony Series: colonial Singapore)

Inspector de Silva series by Harriet Steel starting with Trouble in Nuala

Novel set in Sri Lanka: The Scorpion-Fish

Uzbekistan

The Railway by Hamid Ismailov Cultural, HF

The Devils' Dance by Hamid Ismailov Cultural, HF

Samarkand by Amin Maalouf HF

A Carpet Ride to Khiva: Seven Years on the Silk Road by Christopher Aslan Alexander NF, Travel

The Possessed: Adventures With Russian Books and the People Who Read Themby Elif Batuman NF, Memoir

The Lost Heart of Asia by Colin Thubron NF, Travel

Ways to Hide in Winter by Sarah St. Vincent Mystery, Suspense (Also set in PA)


Postcards from Stanland: Journeys in Central Asia by David H. Mould NF, Travel (Also set in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan)

Cancer Ward by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Classic, HF

The Tale of Hodja Nasreddin: Disturber of the Peace by Leonid Solovyov Adventure, Fantasy, Humor

Making Uzbekistan by Adeeb Khalid NF, History

Mission To Tashkent by F.M. Bailey NF, Espionage, Thriller

Ghost Train to the Eastern Star by Paul Theroux NF, Travel, Memoir (Also set in Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia-USSR)

The New Woman in Uzbekistan: Islam, Modernity, and Unveiling under Communism by Marianne Kamp Religion, Women's History