This book has a lot going on, a lot of different threads. It had ups and downs and was riveting at times and slightly less so at others (I do not thriThis book has a lot going on, a lot of different threads. It had ups and downs and was riveting at times and slightly less so at others (I do not thrill to reading about how financial scams work, but thankfully the detail wasn't intense here). At the end I went on instinct, how I felt after reading the final words, and it had to be five stars. ...more
I don't read a lot of mysteries, but this was kind of fun.
It felt a bit bleak in some ways as I thought about this wife spying on her husband, findinI don't read a lot of mysteries, but this was kind of fun.
It felt a bit bleak in some ways as I thought about this wife spying on her husband, finding out things she doesn't want to know and seemingly can't do anything about. A depressing situation with an inevitable outcome. Or was it? Well, there's the mystery, my friends.
This is a quick read for the short-attention-span-theater that is my life in 2020, and I'm here for it. It's a great story, never a dull moment, and left a satisfying feeling when it was all said and done....more
You want a short, sweet Christmas romance set in a winter wonderland? You want to listen while you fold laundry and walk the dog? What, you even want You want a short, sweet Christmas romance set in a winter wonderland? You want to listen while you fold laundry and walk the dog? What, you even want it to be fun, like a play, with different voice actors and sound effects to bring it to life? Ok, fine, you got it.
The light-hearted, hopeful Snow Day by Julie Lipson is a merry holiday tale. I'd call it more of an audio play than an audiobook. Runtime is just over an hour, so it's easy to fit in here and there.
It's free to paid Audible subscribers, and that's the only worthwhile way to acquire this. Amazon has it listed for about $13, which is freakin' ridiculous. Don't even consider paying that for this little story. But if you get it free with membership, it's an enjoyable listen.
This superb short story, on the surface, is about a woman giving birth to her first child. It describes the experience of that, both physical and emotThis superb short story, on the surface, is about a woman giving birth to her first child. It describes the experience of that, both physical and emotional, in a beautiful way that felt very real.
But it's also a story about love and relationships, both romantic relationships and especially the strained relationship between a mother and a daughter. It's about how those bonds can be complex, and how you don't always understand each other. It's about looking back and gaining new understanding of those people you love. It somehow explores these issues with impact and emotion in a short space (just 35 pages for the ebook or an hour and 15 minutes for audio).
A little icing on the cake came from the fantastic narration by Adepero Oduye (I listened to the audiobook)....more
This beautiful, moving short story depicts a life built around a long-hidden secret. A teenager puts her baby up for adoption in the '60s and this talThis beautiful, moving short story depicts a life built around a long-hidden secret. A teenager puts her baby up for adoption in the '60s and this tale explores the lingering impact for a woman who had few options in her youth. Well-written and thought-provoking....more
I've had breakups that brought me to my knees, endings that left me destroyed, crying, hopeless. I think I learned a little from each of them, but I nI've had breakups that brought me to my knees, endings that left me destroyed, crying, hopeless. I think I learned a little from each of them, but I never worked the inspiring magic trick poet Maggie Smith did with Keep Moving.
Somehow, she took the crushing, world-altering blow of a wrenching divorce and transformed it into hope for herself and others, not to mention writing a bestseller in the process.
Smith started by writing a brief, hopeful note of encouragement to herself daily and posting it on social media. Every post ended with her advice to herself (and all of us) to "Keep moving."
Here she collects those quotes along with essays about how she moved forward into the light after a dark time. It's beautiful and provides a lot of self-advice that I want to remember and hold close as I struggle with so many things in life myself.
Gems of wisdom include:
Focus on who you are and what you’ve built, not who you’d planned on being and what you’d expected to have. Trust that the present moment—however difficult, however different from what you’d imagined—has something to teach you. Set down your grief for the life you intended to have but won’t; the grief will be there when you’re ready to come back to it. Now focus your mind on the life you intend to have. Commit to the present. KEEP MOVING.
Stop expecting the worst: at least as many things could go right as could go wrong. Think of optimism as a way of sitting in the sun now, regardless of what the weather might be tomorrow or next week. KEEP MOVING.
Everything is temporary. You can’t keep a white-knuckled hold on what you love or on what has hurt you. Loosen your grip on your grief today, if only a bit. KEEP MOVING.
This powerful book delivers a lift of your spirits and outlook. Enjoy the gifts Smith offers here with an open, optimistic heart. And for the love of God, keep moving.
WTF? Hopefully Atkinson explains this sucker in an interview somewhere. Still, I enjoyed it right up until I hit the "Huh?" of it all.WTF? Hopefully Atkinson explains this sucker in an interview somewhere. Still, I enjoyed it right up until I hit the "Huh?" of it all....more
"Young people reading Jane Austen for the first time think that the stories are about love and romance and finding a partner. But a happy home is e
"Young people reading Jane Austen for the first time think that the stories are about love and romance and finding a partner. But a happy home is equally as much what all of her heroines don’t have, and yet desire."
Much more has been written about Jane Austen than she had time to write herself in her brief life. But in Jane Austen at Home, historian Lucy Worsley investigates the topic from a new slant: the homes in which Austen lived, and the insecurity she likely felt about not having a secure, permanent home to call her own.
We learn about her family, friends, and (possible) loves here, as well as the routines of her daily life and how chores expected of her surely took away from writing time. All of this is told as we are led through the many homes she lived in during her life.
Her family lived on the faded edges of gentility. They weren't exactly impoverished, but turning yourself out nicely for a dance or having a home with the proper hallmarks of the upper class was always a stretch for them, and something they often couldn't quite reach.
I really didn't know much about her life. That she struggled financially even as she wrote wonderful books is amazing and sad. That she fought hard to be published, and then didn't earn much when she was, is stunning. That she often hid that she was a writer from visitors, and even after she gained popularity her family praised her more for fulfilling womanly roles than her being a talented novelist, is even sadder. She earned only £650 from her novels while alive, though millions have surely been made off of them (and movie and TV adaptations) since her death.
If you love any of Austen books, or take an interest in writers' lives, or even just want to discover more about women's lives in past eras, you'll enjoy this book.
I'll admit I picked this book up not only for a bit of Austen, but for a bit of Lucy Worsley as well. In addition to being a writer, Worsley hosts several British programs where she offers up tales from history by weaving together stories of people and buildings and fashion and food, all with a glint in her eye (and often a bit of period clothing on her back). They're delightful to watch, and I encourage you to check one out (in the U.S., they're found on a wide array of platforms, like PBS, Amazon Prime Video, Hoopla, and more). A great one for the holidays is Lucy Worsley's 12 Days of Tudor Christmas, included if you subscribe to PBS Masterpiece or PBS Living on Amazon channels.
This series held up in Book 2, even if it felt more disturbing with the growing realization of the situation Lila was in and her continued destructiveThis series held up in Book 2, even if it felt more disturbing with the growing realization of the situation Lila was in and her continued destructive tendencies, and how Lenu's life and decisions were still as affected by her friend as the tides are by the moon.
A friend of mine who shares much of my taste in books loved Book 1 and wasn't as happy with Book 2. I feared I'd feel the same thanks to our similar reading habits, but I picked it up anyway to happy results. The difference for me may have been that I read it after having watched season 2 of the HBO show based on this series, so I knew about many of the jarring developments.
Reading the book fleshed out the motive for some of the storyline in a way the series hadn't. My friend had read the book before the series came out. I have no idea if it would've changed her opinion, but I think possibly it eased me over some plot lines I might have found rougher if I hadn't seen them already. The TV series was so well-done that maybe it made some rough storylines easier to swallow as well? I'm not really sure if any of it made a difference, I just know I went into it a wee bit leery of whether I'd like it, and I really did.
Fans of the first book, do yourself a favor and pick up this one, too. And if you can, check out My Brilliant Friend on HBO....more
I picked up this book a few years ago, read a chapter or two, then dropped it again. It just didn't spark my interest.
Cut to last year when I decided I picked up this book a few years ago, read a chapter or two, then dropped it again. It just didn't spark my interest.
Cut to last year when I decided to watch season one of the HBO series based on the book. It was dark, grim, hard for me to watch at times. But the friendship between the two girls was mesmerizing, and I hung in there. By the time I'd finished binging the series, I was in love.
I still didn't go back to the book, though. The memory of bored disinterest kept me away. Season two aired, and again I was enthralled. Finally, I recently decided to pick the book up again on the chance I'd merely tried it at the wrong time, when the mood wasn't right, when the muse of all printed things was pointing another direction at the moment. And this time, I loved the story, the writing. Everything.
My Brilliant Friend tells the story of an intense, all-consuming friendship that starts in childhood for two young girls. They push and pull the direction of one another's lives, for both better and worse. They compete, love and torment each other. It's all terribly unhealthy I'm sure, but riveting.
This passage reveals just a piece of that intensity, that influence:
"I missed only Lila, Lila who didn’t answer my letters. I was afraid of what was happening to her, good or bad, in my absence. It was an old fear, a fear that has never left me: the fear that, in losing pieces of her life, mine lost intensity and importance."
The HBO series was fantastic, and I highly recommend checking that out as well. Even still, the book manages to be even better (isn't that usually the way?). This novel would be out-of-sight for book club discussion, and the series would be a great watch with a friend (even if you have to view separately and catch up over Zoom later to discuss).
This wasn't as fun and fast a ride as its predecessor, but it still had the ol' Adams charm. I wish the sole female main character, Trillian, had moreThis wasn't as fun and fast a ride as its predecessor, but it still had the ol' Adams charm. I wish the sole female main character, Trillian, had more than a few meager throwaway lines, though....more
A forgettable title for a book that was mildly interesting. The book's a fluffy take that doesn't scratch beneath the service on people in2.5 actually
A forgettable title for a book that was mildly interesting. The book's a fluffy take that doesn't scratch beneath the service on people in its pages (especially Mary Tyler Moore herself) and glosses over a lot of things, but it does help you get a sense of the ways in which this show was important. Especially if you weren't old enough (or alive yet enough!) to watch it when it first aired, when you would've been able to see its impact and stark difference from other shows on the air at that time.
Watching episodes now, some of the storylines and what comes out of the characters mouths seems, well, old-fashioned and dull. But some of it does hold up and is funny. I've watched season 1 and am now skipping about watching episodes that make "best of" lists for the show, as I'm just not interested in watching the entire series (it's on Hulu, btw). I think it must've been much more striking if you watched it in the '70s when there wasn't anything else on the air quite like it, rather than looking back decades on. This book helps put into perspective the role of this show in forming the modern sitcom and of having women in the forefront of a show's cast and heavily involved in its writing room....more
This short, funny essay from the master of the form is a good way to chill out for a bit with an author who feels like an old, somewhat odd friend to This short, funny essay from the master of the form is a good way to chill out for a bit with an author who feels like an old, somewhat odd friend to his fans.
He shares tales from the book tour, many focusing on learning that women tend to take their bras off as soon as they get home (if not before!), as well as nurses' stories of men landing in the emergency room with something stuck in their bums. The dudes always say it's an accident (no surprise if you've ever seen "The Fusilli Jerry" episode of Seinfeld.)
This is the kind of book that if you just go with it and ignore anything that seems to not quite make sense, you'll have a good ride. Not that there wThis is the kind of book that if you just go with it and ignore anything that seems to not quite make sense, you'll have a good ride. Not that there was a lot here that felt unexplained by the end, but as with most mystery/thrillers, you have to let a few things slide.
The make or break moment for a lot of books comes as they head into the home stretch. Some novels that were great for the first half turn into a disappointing mess by the ending. With Then She Was Gone, I felt satisfied with the story and how the threads wrapped up as the tale wound down.
That's not to say there weren't a few plot flaws or that the actions of some characters didn't ring false here and there. But this tale grew on me and I just went with it.
I listened to the audiobook, which offered the opportunity to listen at an accelerated speed (which I took advantage of for most of the journey), letting me finish fairly quickly. When it got down to the last 30 minutes or so, I slowed down to normal speed so as not to miss the full impact of the narrator's reading for the ending. I'm glad I did as I got the full effect of an emotional finale.
That well-written finale is probably what bumped this book up from three stars to four for me. Sometimes it's about the feeling a book leaves you with, and this one did a good job wrapping up the story. Also, the fact that I did the audio version, and was able to get through it faster that way and do other things while listening, surely increased my score. I could easily see this book being something that at another time or mood, consumed in another format, would've gotten a three from me.
I saw my first Duran Duran video in the early '80s, and that was it, I was hooked. I was a superfan and a failed recruiter for my new-found obsession,I saw my first Duran Duran video in the early '80s, and that was it, I was hooked. I was a superfan and a failed recruiter for my new-found obsession, but one getting no respect, no pay, and no takers. I would not shut up about them. It's low-key embarrassing now the way I went on, but I thought they were the best thing in the world, ever. It started when I was 12 or so; I didn't have a lot to compare it to.
I would've turned into a shrieking wreck if I'd seen them in concert in the '80s, but I had to settle for waiting until around 2005 to catch them live, which I did for nostalgia's sake. I actually got to meet the band and get a picture, but it wasn't earth-shattering. If I could've gifted that experience to myself 20 years earlier, someone would've had to shoot me to calm me down. And I would've gladly taken a bullet if it got me a front-row ticket to The Fab Five.
So of course I wanted to read a book by their guitarist, Andy Taylor, or anyone in the band, really (I have bassist John Taylor's book, too, waiting patiently for a go). Andy was always the band member who seemed to least fit into the group in my mind, and I guess that was true because these days the other four are carrying on without him.
Wild Boy: My Life in Duran Duran came out in 2008, which just goes to show how much my lust for all things Duran has cooled over the decades. Had it come out in 1988, I would've been hovering outside the bookstore when they opened on the first day. Had it dropped in 1984, I would've camped outside overnight (in theory; no way my parents would've let me). I would've been alone on the pavement if I had, 'cause as big as this band was at the time, it seemed like everyone I knew in the small Southern town we'd recently moved to thought my fandom was silly. I was lonely in my nightmare, so to speak.
But as time cools all jets, I didn't pick up a copy until 2020. And I can tell you with confidence that if you are not now and never were a fan of Duran Duran, you can give it a pass. But if you were a kid in the '80s who acted like a damn fool over this band, you'll find it mildly interesting. If you bought insipid teen mags back in the day because the bouncing baby Brits were on the cover, only to discover the interview inside offered nothing more scintillating than their favorite colors, then I think you'll get a little more bang for your buck with Wild Boy.
The simple yet at times slightly stilted writing makes for an uncomplicated read. It was interesting to finally get an explanation of why various members left and returned over the years, why Roger left for a while, and why Andy finally legged it himself, never to return (as yet). Although the details on that last one involved a bit of this and that, and misunderstandings, and ... well, I couldn't explain the exact reasons for the breakup if I tried. Read the book, and you'll understand for the brief time you can hang onto all the muddle.
Reading about Andy's childhood was rather interesting, from the experience of his mother leaving the family, to what it was like in a working-class home in England of the 1960s (spoiler alert: they had an outhouse). I also enjoyed getting the scoop on how he started in music and how he wound up joining Duran Duran.
However, all in all Andy doesn't come off as the nicest chap in the world, if you're paying close attention – you'll notice times he downplays or fails to elaborate on details that may have revealed he wasn't always the greatest guy.
In fact, from how Andy tells it, you get the idea most of the guys had serious asshole tendencies (expect for Roger, who remains nearly as elusive in this book as he has throughout his career). Of course, that picture is painted from Andy's remembrances, and given he left the band and felt screwed over or hurt about a few things from the start, it's hard to say how accurate that portrayal is (though I could easily believe these guys weren't a bunch of perfect sweethearts). It's interesting, as a formerly obsessed fan, to pore over it all either way.
![Please Like Me [But Keep Away]](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1598040068l/55056088._SY75_.jpg)
Loading...
