The Next Best Book Club discussion
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What Are You Reading - Part Deux
currently midway through The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye (Millennium, #5), and also been listening to Michelle Obamaºs book (via audible)
An excellent legal thriller, my review of A Killer's Alibi by William L. Myers Jr.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I just finished An American Marriage which I highly recommend. I am now reading The Body in the Library. This is my first Agatha Christie mystery to read and I am enjoying it so far.
Won and started reading Dangerous Dreams: A Story of the Lost Colony of Roanoke. I'm not very far into it but so far it's good. I saw a documentary on the lost colony of Roanoke and wonder if the book will have a possible ficitional answer to the disappearance since so far in real life there is no answer just suppositions.
A murder mystery in an exotic location, here's my review of Food of Ghosts by Marianne Wheelaghan
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
A wonderful time travel book, here's my 4 star review of The Lost Girls by Jennifer Spence
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules – Catharina Ingelman-Sundberg – 3***
Martha Andersson is 79 years old and lives in a retirement home whose new management is cutting corners. Martha and her friends – the League of Pensioners – aren’t going to take this lying down. These characters are a hoot! As outlandish and ridiculous as many of their schemes are, I found it great fun to watch them unfold. This is the first in a series. Wonder what the League of Pensioners will get up to next?
LINK to my review
An incredibly well done psychological thriller.. which book am I talking about?Click here to find out!
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
What is it about penguins that is so cute? This little Not-So-Brave Penguin surprises herself when her friend is lost. Another lovely Steve Smallman children's picture book.
4★ Link to my review with pictures
I've always enjoyed Maggie O'Farrell's mysterious stories, but I'd never read her debut After You'd Gone until now. Glad I found it! Good book and well worth a read.
4★ Link to my review
Another intriguing thriller from Robert Goddard, One False Move
My 4 star review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Where the Crawdads Sing – Delia Owens – 2.5**
I wanted to like this. I found it intriguing and interesting. I loved Owens’ descriptions of the marsh and the marvels of the natural world. I was invested in Kya’s story from the beginning, and her loneliness was practically tangible. I marveled at her resilience and intelligence. However, as the novel progressed things got a little too unbelievable and soap-opera-ish for me. After all the drama of the murder and trial, the ending seeming rather anti-climactic.
LINK to my review
Finally, I've read a Bosch mystery, The Black Echo, the first of the popular series by Michael Connelly. In 1992, LA cops fought crime with payphones and state-of-the-art pagers and faxes. And guns. Always guns. Looks like I'm in for a long ride!
4.5★ Link to my review
Dangerous Dreams: A Story of the Lost Colony of Roanoke needed editing by a professional. Too much repetition to emphasize certain things which made this book way too long. It's sad because it was a really interesting premise, just not presented very well. So, I am unfortunately reading another book which I looked forward to and am tired of reading. 400 pages in and about 100 to go and I just want it to be over. Sad really since it's about one of my favorite authors. Agatha Christie: A Mysterious life
FBI Special Agents Are Real People by Al Zupan. I picked this up both as research and to understand some of the SAs I've known myself. There is humor in law enforcement, even at the Federal level!FBI Special Agents Are Real People: True Stories from Everyday Life of FBI Special Agents
An okay psychological thriller, my 3 star review of The Lost Night by Andrea Bartz
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
A cool little book Sai King put out last year called 'Elevation'. I'm halfway through it and love it.
An excellent psychological thriller, my review of The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
TERRIBLE! Terribly tempting free previews of new books! Prepare to restock your To Be Read lists after browsing through Buzz Books 2019: Spring/Summer: Excerpts from Next Season's Best New Titles by LIV Constantine, Karl Marlantes, Moby, J. Ryan Stradal, Ocean Vuong and More.
5★ Link to my link review
Evan S. Connell created the socially proper, but uncomfortable, Mrs. Bridge in a book that is a new favourite for me.
5★ Link to my review
Dark and delicious, here's my review of Hunter by Jack Heath
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Polar Bear Waltz – By the Editors of Outside magazine – 3***
The full title and subtitle is all the synopsis you need: The Polar Bear Waltz and Other Moments of Epic Silliness: Comic Classics from Outside Magazine's "Parting Shots." I thought this would be interesting to look at, but I found many of the shots seemed “staged” to me. Still, it’s a nice treat and a way to spend a few minutes on a snowy day indoors.
LINK to my review
A Breath Of Snow And Ashes – Diana Gabaldon – 3***
Book six in a time-travel series I swore I’d never read, but have become strangely addicted to. This one is heavy on the history of the years leading up to the American colonies declaring independence from Britain. I wanted more of the loving relationship between Jaime and Claire, and yet was happy to see the younger generation play a bigger role. Still, I think I’ll give the series a rest for a year or so. Don’t want to get too far ahead of the TV series.
LINK to my review
I just finished The Body in the Library and I really enjoyed this - my first Agatha Christie book. There are definitely more in my future. Next on deck is The Nightingale. I have heard alot of good reviews of this book so can't wait to start.
AN okay psychological thriller, my review of Before She Knew Him by Peter Swanson
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Dead Ringer by Lisa ScottolineShe's one of my favorite authors.
An okay book with an exotic setting, here's my 3 star review of The Lost Letter From Morocco by Adrienne Chinn
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I recently read In Blossom, a very attractive children's picture book by Cheon Yooju about making friends. I have misgivings about sharing lunch, though!
3.5~4★ Link to my review with illustrations
Mr. Bridge (1969) is the husband of Mrs. Bridge (1959), quite a pair of books by Evan S. Connell. Excellent portrait of a difficult man, which explains a lot about her. (Read hers first.)
4.5★ Link to my review
I'm 50 or so pages into The Night Visitor by Lucy Atkins and enjoying it so far.
The End of the Affair – Graham Greene – 3.5***
Maurice Bendrix recalls the affair he had with the married Sarah Miles. Bendrix is a writer, and he uses his experience exploring characters’ motivations and emotions to look at the attraction, passion and ultimate love-hate relationship he had with Sarah. That push-pull of the love-hate relationship is at the center of this little novel. And this pretty much describes my relationship with this novel. On the one hand I love the way Greene writes, and the way he draws these characters. On the other hand, I really disliked all of them.
LINK to my review
An excellent psychological thriller in an exotic location, The Other Couple by Sarah J. Naughton
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
300 Days Of Sun – Deborah Lawrenson – 3***
Journalist Joanna Millard goes to Faro, Portugal to escape a relationship and a career that are both going nowhere, and winds up embroiled in an investigation into criminal child kidnapping that goes back to World War II. This started out slowly but picked up steam as small revelations led to bigger discoveries. Lawrenson uses a dual time line that can sometimes be jarring, as the reader is yanked from one story arc to another, but that serves to increase suspense.
LINK to my review
An interesting look at 1920's Shanghai, The Shanghai Wife by Emma Harcourt
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Another excellent psychological thriller from Sarah A. Denzil, Only Daughter
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
A Year in Provence – Peter Mayle – 4****
This is a re-read and I enjoyed it just as much as the first time I read it. What a delightful diversion! Mayle's accont of his and his wife's first year owning a house in Provence is entertaining, relaxing and inspiring - it inspires me to enjoy life - good food, good wine and the siesta.
LINK to my review
Later tonight I'm going to start reading A Ladder to the Sky by John Boyne. He is one of my favourite authors so I'm really looking forward to it.
Midnight At the Bright Ideas Bookstore – Matthew Sullivan – 4****
A puzzle, wrapped in an enigma, wrapped in a mystery. Sullivan’s novel kept me guessing and off balance with some very interesting twists. It took me some time to get really caught up in the story because it was so fractured at the beginning. The multiple puzzles and flashbacks to Lydia’s youth and the horrific events surrounding “The Hammerman” had me wondering where this was going. Still, Sullivan’s inventive narrative did eventually capture my attention and kept me turning pages and staying up late to finish.
LINK to my review
I highly recommend this one, Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Wish by Chris Saunders is a very attractive children's picture book about figuring out what to wish for if you ever get those magic three wishes!
3.5~4★ Link to my review with illustrations
Any youngsters who want to backpack around the world (and their parents!!) should read this cautionary tale See You In September by (now) NZ author Charity Norman. New Zealand, but not as you know it. Don't let my 3★ put you off. 
3★ Link to my review
I finished Elevation and The Troop.Now I'm reading House of Leaves. It's been a little difficult to figure out the writing style at the beginning.
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The Next Best Book Club
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Graham Brack,s first two in the series:
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