The Next Best Book Club discussion
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What Are You Reading - Part Deux
Gerda Saunders is remembering as fast as she can in Memory's Last Breath: Field Notes on My Dementia, an interesting combination of memoir and dementia journal. 
4★ https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
PattyMacDotComma wrote: "idiffer wrote: "Win Some, Lose SomeMy review"
idiffer - your link doesn't "link" to anything. Just post the post again (with the link of course! )"
Strange, the link should work...
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
idiffer wrote: "PattyMacDotComma wrote: "idiffer wrote: "Win Some, Lose SomeMy review"
idiffer - your link doesn't "link" to anything. Just post the post again (with the link of course! )"
Strange..."
Aha - there it is!
I'm nearly finished with Oliver Sacks' The Mind's Eye, with M.L.Stedman's The Light Between Oceans waiting in the wings.
The Complete Maus - Art Spiegelman – 3***
This book combines the two original graphic novels: Maus I and Maus II. In general, I am not a great fan of graphic novels. I usually find the artwork too dark and the text too minimal and simplistic. That’s not the case for this work. I thought it was easily accessible and a way to introduce the subject to an audience that might not read a traditional book. However, while I appreciate it, and understand why it has garnered such acclaim, it just didn’t work very well for me.
LINK to my review
Wendell Berry offers a taste of the good ol' (and not so good ol') days in Jayber Crow, a favourite of many readers. 
4.5★ Link to my review
Dreams of Joy - Lisa See – 3***
This is the sequel to Shanghai Girls, but this book really focuses on China and the results of the cultural revolution. The novel gives the reader an horrific look at the devastating results of Mao’s Great Leap Forward. I was already familiar with this episode in China’s recent history, but watching it unfold through these characters made is somehow “personal” and gave it much more impact. My main problem with the book was the central character: Joy. She was so immature and naïve … I just wanted to throttle her.
LINK to my review
,
,
,
and
...For someone who prefers to read one book at a time, I've let it get a little bit out of hand here.
Oct 08 - Currently ReadingTEXT –
The Illusion of Separateness by Simon Van Booy AUDIO in the car –
The Three Weissmanns of Westport / Cathleen SchineMP3 Player AUDIO –
Double Indemnity by James M. Cain
Death on the Nile - Agatha Christie – 3***
Hercule Poirot may be on holiday in Egypt, but his “little grey cells” are working overtime. There are plenty of suspects and almost as many motives.
LINK to my review
right now im reading It
im halfway through but i've gotten spoilers and i'm very much dreading the fucked up ending.
(view spoiler)
Loved Aussie author Michael Robotham's debut novel, The Suspect, (#1 in The Joe O'Loughlin Series), which was written 13 years ago, so I've got some catching up to do! 
5★ Link to my review
Reading The Lord of Opium by Nancy Farmer. It's a sequel. The book itself is about a teenager named Matt (in the first book he grows up from 0 years old to 14) who gains control of a fictional country called Opium, which is located on the present day US/Mexico border. He tries to destroy the country from within. Does he succeed? I don't know, I'm only a fifth of the way in.
The Lord of Opium
The Lord of Opium
Dracula - Bram Stoker – 5*****
If you’ve seen any of the movies, you know the basic plot, but the original novel is so much more! To begin there is the typical Victorian theme of strong men coming to the rescue of pure damsel in distress. However, Stoker turns the tables a bit when he gives Mina the intelligence, foresight and courage to fight the evil forces in her own way. The novel is wonderfully atmospheric; time and again Stoker puts the reader smack dab in the middle of the scenes.
LINK to my review
Avery wrote: "right now im reading It
im halfway through but i've gotten spoilers and i'm very much dreading the fucked up ending.
[spoilers removed]"
I KNOW! I love Stephen King. I really love his early books, where I guess an editor made him cut out some of the really fucked up stuff! Then there is the middle years, where the books are really long, really good, but also really out there at the end. Which made me stop reading him for a minute, but I just read "Full Dark, No Stars" and loved it!
I've started Rules of Civility by Amor Towles.
Finished The Mind's Eye and The Light Between Oceans. A bit disappointed in the first; sorely disappointed in the latter. Next up: The Bear and the Nightingale
I just finished Saving Charlotte: A Mother and the Power of Intuition and thought it was a beautiful story about a mother's love. Definitely a must read!
The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, 83¼ Years Old is a novel that reads like a real diary, but I believe Hendrik Groen is an alias. Old folks in the Netherlands may have slowed down but are still full of mischief as well as memories.
4★ Link to my review
Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor - Lisa Kleypas – 3***
I knew going in that this was a cheesy holiday romance. Despite the book jacket’s promised “magic” there isn’t much of it here … unless you count a child’s belief in fairies and Santa Claus as magic. But that’s okay, it’s still a fun read.
LINK to my review
The Bees by Laline Paull. So far so good. I am in a book challenge and this book fits the "book that is about conformity" All about Totalitarian Government.
I expect Rizzoli and Isles fans will enjoy Tess Gerritsen's latest I Know a Secret, which is still available on NetGalley for NetGalley readers.
3.5★ https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
In the Woods - Tana French – 4****
This is a stunning debut. Gripping and suspenseful, with many twists and turns. I guessed the culprit fairly early on, but was still enthralled by the psychology of the characters – whether police, victims or perpetrator.
LINK to my review
Oguzhan wrote: "Reading Zoo by James Patterson after being intrigued by the television series! Zoo
James Patterson"
I read it a couple of weeks ago. I would say the series was very loosely based on the book. I enjoyed both anyway and I was watching the last two episodes of ZOO on tv when I started reading it. There is also Zoo 2 which I haven't read yet.
I'm going to make a start on Good Me Bad Me by Ali Land.
Reading Nevernight. don't have a star rating yet, but I like it. This book is so different that it inspired me to write a review (I think my take on the book is not the most common):
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Jamie Quinn is back in #2 of The Jamie Quinn Mysteries, The Case of the Killer Divorce by Barbara Venkataraman.
3★ https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Finished A Hundred Small Lessons. 3.5 rounded up. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Living To Tell the Tale - Gabriel Garcia Marquez – 3***
This is the first in a planned three-volume autobiography, taking the reader from Marquez’s birth in 1927 to his young adulthood in the mid 1950s. In recounting his early life, the author also tells the history of Columbia – the politics, culture, troubles and triumphs of the people. Magical realism is a style that is ingrained in the oral story-telling traditions of Latin America, and I loved those little hints of magical realism in this work. Reminded me of listening to my grandparents recount tales of their own childhoods.
LINK to my review
i am currently reading because of winn dixie and the picture of dorian grey. i saw the movie the picture of dorian grey before i found out that it was a book. when i did i wanted to read it.
I read Red Shoes for Rachel: Three Novellas. 4 stars . My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
i'm reading "heaven's crooked finger" by Hank early i've had to restart this book at least 3 times already
Mallorie wrote: "i am currently reading because of winn dixie and the picture of dorian grey. i saw the movie the picture of dorian grey before i found out that it was a book. when i did i wanted to read it."Both good reads. Enjoy!
Eric wrote: "i'm reading "heaven's crooked finger" by Hank early i've had to restart this book at least 3 times already"why did you have to restart the book three times?
Just finished Katherine Arden's THE BEAR AND THE NIGHTINGALE. Quite good. I've been stalled a third of the way through J.T. Rogers' play OSLO and I'm going to tackle finishing that next.
Just read and LOVED Moonglow by Michael Chabon. Talk about passion and history and biography and imagination all mixed up - Whew!
5★ Link to my review
I just finished Pretty Girls by Karen Slaughter last night (Great psychological thriller) and started John Green's Turtles All the Way Down this morning. Talk about a voice change! :) Oh, and I just remembered I need to read Ursula LeGuin's Left Hand of Darkness for book club--anybody have any feedback on that one to motivate me! :0 Thanks.
PattyMacDotComma wrote: "Just read and LOVED Moonglow by Michael Chabon. Talk about passion and history and biography and imagination all mixed up - Whew! 5★ Link..."Thanks for the new add! This looks good!
The Three Weissmanns of Westport - Cathleen Schine – 3.5***
This is a charming re-telling of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility . I had great fun trying to match Schine’s characters with Austen’s, and trying to figure out how certain plot elements might play out. Despite my familiarity with the original, Schine surprised me more than once.
LINK to my review
I've just finished Laurie Lee's A Moment of War, an epic journey into the hell of the Spanish Civil War, which he realizes is just the first major conflict of World War 2.
I've just started
and can't wait to get back to it.
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The Next Best Book Club
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My review"
idiffer - your link doesn't "link" to anything. Just post the post again (with the link of course! )