Rekesha’s Comments (group member since Dec 23, 2013)

Rekesha’s comments from the CPL's Book a Week Challenge group.

I'm listening to Murder on Waverly Place by Victoria Thompson. I'm enjoying listening to the book on my smartphone while I knit or crochet.

I'm reading Not the Killing Type by Lorna Barrett.

Liz wrote: "Rekesha, I haven't read The Monuments Men, but I heard it's good, and it covers a lot of interesting stuff. (The movie was really good!)

Museum of the Missing also looks pretty interesting."

Thanks for the suggestions!

My least favorite book so far has been Death Come Quickly by Susan Wittig Albert. Although I enjoy the China Bayles series, this one seemed a bit half-hearted and too preachy to me.

I'm having a hard time with this challenge. Does anyone have any suggestions for nonfiction books on this topic?

The 5 books that I would like to read this year are:

This week I finished reading Murder on Gramercy Park and Murder on Washington Square by Victoria Thompson. I am currently reading Murder on Mulberry Bend by the same author. The Gaslight Murder series has sparked my interest in true crime stories from the Victorian era and the early 20th century. I picked up The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher by Kate Summerscale.

Ann wrote: "This week I'm reading (the last I'm 3/4 of the way through):


I just picked up Murder on Gramercy Park and I have abandoned my other two books for now. I am really enjoying the Gaslight Mystery series. Thanks for recommending this series, Ann!

This week I'm reading:

I just finished the fifth book in the Booktown Mystery series. In Sentenced to Death, one of Tricia's friends is killed in an apparent accident during the Founder's Day celebration. Tricia doesn't think her friend's death was accident and she does some investigating to find out what really happened. During the investigation, Tricia finds out some unsavory details about her friend and other citizens of the town.

I just picked up The Yard by Alex Grecian and I plan to start it today.

Jesus Land is pretty much what I expected, but that almost makes it harder to read. It's infuriating to read about the things these kids went through and that their parents just allowed (and even encouraged) it. Apparently the school they were sent to only just closed in 2011. A Showtime documentary called Kidnapped for Christ is currently running and documents the experiences of students who were at the school in more recent years: http://www.kidnappedforchrist.com/

I plan to check out Kidnapped for Christ on Showtime. I would definitely like to learn more about Escuela Caribe and the students who were forced to attend. I am surprised to learn that the school was open until 2011.

Ann wrote:
...the book it is from is We Two: Victoria and Albert: Rulers, Partners, Rivals by Gillian Gill. Among other things I learned was that Prince Albert's last act of diplomacy (done while dying of typhoid) was to keep Britain out of the American civil war. It was an interesting book, and an interesting look at not only Victoria and Albert but their families as well as those people who influenced them.

We Two: Victoria and Albert: Rulers, Partners, Rivals sounds interesting. I just added it to my to-read list.

Frank looked up and gasped in surprise at the house sitting on the rise before him. It seemed enormous, large enough to accommodate the inhabitants of an entire block of tenements. Myriad windows glittered in the blinding sun and the red bricks glowed. The grounds rolled away gently on every side, the grass newly green in the warm spring sunshine. From a distance, everything looked perfectly peaceful and serene, and why shouldn't it? The murder had taken place far from here, in that other world he'd left behind this morning when he'd boarded the train at Grand Central Station.

This quote is from Murder on Astor Place by Victoria Thompson. This historical mystery is my challenge book for July, and I am enjoying the first book in the series so far.

My hold for Wonder came in and I started reading it during lunch today.

I am also reading Death Come Quickly by Susan Wittig Albert. I am enjoying being back in the setting of Pecan Springs, TX with China and Ruby.

Liz wrote: "Jesus Land sounds really interesting. I just put a hold on it. The description made me think of Jesus Camp, which is a horrifying documentary about children of the evangelical Christian faith..."

The abuse and humiliation that Scheeres, her brother, and the other students have to endure is heartbreaking and difficult to read.

I have also checked out Jesus Camp from the library and I hope I will be able to watch it this weekend.

Ann wrote:"Our book club book for this month is one of Victoria Thompson's Gaslight mysteries, set in 1880s New York City and the main characters are a widowed midwife and a police detective. It's a great series."

I just placed a hold on the first book in the Gaslight Mystery Series, A Murder on Astor Place.

This week, I am reading Jesus Land by Julia Scheeres. In this memoir, Julia Scheeres recounts the time she and her adopted brother spent at a Christian reform school in the Dominican Republic.

I am also reading the fourth installment of the Booktown Mysteries, Chapter and Hearse.

Liz wrote: "I just reread The Fault in Our Stars because I want to go see the movie. Just as sad as I remembered it, but still a good book.

I placed a hold on The Fault in Our Stars a while ago. It will probably take forever for me to get it from the library.

I'm reading Bookplate Special by Lorna Barrett. This is book is part of the Booktown Mystery series that I have been reading over the last few weeks. In this installment of the series Tricia finds her former college roommate suffocated to death in the trash bin behind her sister's new restaurant.

Liz wrote:Off to Be the Wizard is a wonderfully light-hearted, humorous tale about a young man who discovers that the world is really just a part of a huge computer program. Once he learns he can edit the program, he sets off to become the greatest "wizard" known to mankind. Very fresh and contemporary, this is the perfect choice for someone who likes computers, Harry Potter and Medieval times. "

Just added Off to Be the Wizard to my to-read list.

I think I may read the Friday Society by Andrienne Kress for my adventure/action/thriller book.

From Amzon.com:
Set in turn of the century London, The Friday Society follows the stories of three very intelligent and talented young women, all of whom are assistants to powerful men: Cora, lab assistant; Michiko, Japanese fight assistant; and Nellie, magician's assistant. The three young women's lives become inexorably intertwined after a chance meeting at a ball that ends with the discovery of a murdered mystery man.

I also plan to read Bookmarked for Death by Lorna Barrett. I love my cozy mysteries!