Book Concierge’s Comments (group member since Jan 13, 2016)

Book Concierge’s comments from the Book Chat - CLOSED by original moderator group.

Kimberly has official closed the facebook page due to drop-off in participation.

Founder / Original moderator has closed the facebook page now, due to fall-off of participation.

This site remains open to view. But without activity, the group is basically closed.

(I am posting only to alert others.)

Wow ... Do you know if this is actually official or whether someone has hacked into it to post the message?

L J wrote: "Thanks for your work.

Your reviews, which I read when you post, have helped me find books to read and books to avoid. I know it can be discouraging ..."

You're welcome, L J. If you "friend" me mention Book Chat and I'll accept your friendship. You'll be able to follow my reviews that way.

Participation here has dropped off drastically. I suppose most people have migrated to the Facebook group.

I will no longer be posting reviews or monitoring the group here.

Laurie wrote: "QUESTION- I completed my challenge, It never posts to facebook and that is fine. But in past your challenges listed stats, pages read, etc. I am not seeing that in my challenge. Any advice or has G..."

Not sure what you are asking, Laurie.

THIS group doesn't do challenges. We are a group run by volunteers, who also happen to be members of Goodreads.

If it's about Goodreads stats or a Goodreads challenge I'm afraid I can't help you. (I don't participate in any site-wide challenges, nor do I rely on Goodreads to track my reading.)

The Last Coyote –Michael Connelly – 3.5***
Book # 4 in the Harry Bosch series has our detective on ISL – Involuntary Stress Leave – after an “incident” involving an altercation with his supervising officer. This is a pretty dark episode in the series. But the reader gets to know much more about Harry and the way he operates, his background and what drives him. Despite the attention paid to his psychological problems, though, there is still a mystery to be solved with many clues, multiple suspects and enough twists and turns to keep any fan of thrillers interested and engaged.
LINK to my full review

How To Raise an Elephant – Alexander McCall Smith – 3***
Book # 21 in the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series set in Botswana and featuring Mma Precious Ramotswe and the other employees (partners?) of the agency, as well as friends and relatives. As is typical for this series, the mysteries are not murders, but a cousin who has some financial difficulties, or a woman with a straying husband, and also figuring out why the suspension in Mma Ramotswe’s beloved little white van seems to have gone bad … not to mention the peculiar smell coming from the back of the van.
LINK to my full review

Eight Perfect Hours – Lia Louis – 3***
Sam and Noelle meet when both are stranded in their cars during a blizzard. When the weather clears they part, strangers still and not expecting to see one another again. But you wouldn’t have a romance if they didn’t keep bumping into one another. It’s a fairly predictable story line and a fast read. NOT a holiday book, though, despite the cover’s promise. There are some serious issues these characters must deal with on the road to HEA.
LINK to my full review

Hope everyone is enjoying the Thanksgiving holiday!

Gobble Gobble ...

A Royal Pain – Rhys Bowen – 3***
Book two in Her Royal Spyness cozy mystery series, has Lady Georgiana Rannoch (Georgie to her friends) hosting a Bavarian princess as part of Her Majesty’s plan to get the Prince of Wales interested in a more suitable partner than that awful American woman. I like Georgie as a character, and love her grandfather, as well as her best friend, Belinda. But the plot here didn’t really capture my attention. Still, it did give an added dimension to Darcy O’Mara. He may be more than just an unreliable rogue…
LINK to my full review

Mansfield Park – Jane Austen – 4****
Ah, but I love spending time with Austen. Fanny is perhaps the ideal heroine, and reportedly Austen’s own favorite among her heroines. She is intelligent and thoughtful, pretty and graceful, keeps her own counsel, is modest and principled, and still has a loving heart. There is a certain predictable pattern to Austen’s novels, and this one is no exception. Our heroine will remain true to herself, and love will triumph.
LINK to my full review

Something Wicked This Way Comes – Ray Bradbury – 5*****
Bradbury was a master of suspense and sci-fi. Here he turns his imagination loose on every child’s dream – and nightmare. Who doesn’t love to be scared on a carnival ride? Like the best roller coaster, Bradbury S-L-O-W-L-Y drew me up the incline of suspense, dropped me into terror, and then evened out to let me catch my breath, only to realize there was another, steeper, incline ahead. When, finally, the ride was over I was giddy with relief … and wanted to “go again!”
LINK to my full review

Pied Piper –Nevil Shute – 4****
An elderly British man, John Howard, goes on holiday to France in April 1940, and must cut his visit short when Germany begins the invasion. He agrees to take two British children back to England with him, expecting a 2-day journey, but … This is a road trip and a suspense thriller with an undercurrent of family relationships and love. On the way he will encounter other refugee children, and of course, he takes them with him as well. Mr Howard is a marvelous character. Courage does not always involve fighting the enemy. Mr Howard and Nicole display the kind of quiet courage that comes from a deep conviction that what they are doing is correct, and a strong faith that somehow, they will prevail.
LINK to my full review

Lightning Men – Thomas Mullen – 3.5***
Book two in the Darktown series continues the story of a newly integrated Atlanta police force in the 1950s. There’s a lot going on here from the basic police procedural involving the crimes the officers are trying to solve, to the racism on the force, to the ugly and dangerous tactics of the Klan, to some personal marital issues, to political corruption. It certainly captured my attention. Mullen crafts a tight thriller, with complex characters, and a couple of stunning scenes. Still, I felt a little lost regarding the relationships between the characters because I hadn’t read the first book in the series first.
LINK to my full review

A Tale For the Time Being – Ruth Ozeki – 4****
This is Ozeki’s most widely-read work (if the Goodreads ratings are any indication). It was nominated for both the Booker Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award, and it won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. I don’t think I’ve ever read anything quite like this. Yes, I’ve read other books with multiple narrators and with multiple time lines. But there is an ethereal quality to Ozeki’s novel that I can’t remember ever encountering. I felt transported and immersed in these characters’ lives, even though I didn’t always want to be there. Nao’s story is particularly distressing with the bullying she endures, her family’s disastrous financial situation and her father’s deep depression.
LINK to my full review

Have a Little Faith – Mitch Albom – 3.5***
Albom explores what it means to live a life of faith by looking at two very different congregations and their preachers: Rabbi Albert Lewis and Pastor Henry Covington. These two men could not be more different and yet each exemplified what it means to life a life of faith. There were a couple of times when I bristled at the feeling of being emotionally manipulated, but in the end I found it moving and thought-provoking, comforting and challenging.
LINK to my full review

The Night Watchman – Louise Erdrich – 4****
Erdrich was inspired by the true story of her grandfather, who successfully fought against a US Senator intent on “eliminating” various Indian tribes to craft this novel, set in 1953, on the Turtle Mountain reservation in North Dakota. There are two main characters, Thomas Wazhashk and his niece Patrice Paranteau. Their parallel and interconnecting story lines highlight the life, struggles and triumphs of the Native Americans during this era. I loved these characters, Patrice, in particular, as well as the many supporting characters.
LINK to my full review

Ask Again, Yes – Mary Beth Keane – 5*****
This is the kind of character-driven literary fiction that I absolutely love. Keane focuses this decades-long story on two families living in a suburb of New York City. There is so much going on here. Family expectations. Alcoholism. Denial. Mental Illness. Betrayal. Forgiveness. Love. By the end of the novel I felt that I really knew these people. I cheered for them. Was dismayed by them. Worried about them. Forgave them.
LINK to my full review

The Pianist – Wladyslaw Szpilman – 4****
The subtitle is all the synopsis anyone needs: The Extraordinary True Story of One man’s Survival in Warsaw, 1939-1945. Szpilman was a Jewish pianist who managed – by luck, courage, tenacity, and the kindness of others – to stay hidden and survive in the bombed and war-torn city. I found it engaging and gripping. Even though I knew he survived, I simply could not stop reading.
LINK to my full review