Coffee & Books discussion
Bookish!
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What are you reading?
The Winter of Frankie Machine – Don Winslow – 4****
Wow, what a ride! The action is fast and furious, and deadly. Retired Mob hit-man Frank Machianno (a/k/a/ Frankie Machine) is really on his own, with no one to trust. And the reader is pretty much on her own as well. There are more potential suspects than Carter has pills. The action is non-stop and there are surprises right up to the ending. This is the first book by Winslow that I’ve read. It won’t be the last.
My full review HERE
Just started The Venice Sketchbook by Rhys Bowen. Enjoying the book so far
"A History of Wild Things" by Shea Earnshaw
: This Time Together – Carol Burnett – 4****
Subtitle: Laughter and Reflection. In this memoir Carol Burnett chronicles her show business career, from her early roles in New York, to headlining her incredibly popular variety show and beyond. I love Carol Burnett. She is truly an American Treasure. I can’t remember the last time I read a book that had me both howling out loud in uncontrollable laughter (my husband came from the other side of the house to see what was going on), and crying to the point where I had to put it aside for a moment because I literally could not see the words on the page for my tears. That speaks, I think, to the genuine person Burnett is, and to her generosity of spirit to lay it all wout there.
My full review HERE
Caddie Woodlawn’s Family – Carol Ryrie Brink – 3.5***
This sequel to the popular Caddie Woodlawn book was originally titled “Magical Melons.” Set in the late 1800s, in Western Wisconsin, the books chronicle life in the Woodlawn family, primarily from the perspective of Caddie, who is almost 13 in this episode. She and her five siblings have great fun in and around their farm and the land surrounding it. Like the “Little House on the Prairie” series, these books provide a reasonable look at life in those pioneer days, though stories involving the native Indian population make me cringe.
My full review HERE
An Irish Country Village – Patrick Taylor – 4****
Book two in the popular Irish Country Doctor series, relating the trials and tribulations of young Dr. Barry Laverty as he begins his practice as a country GP in the mid-1960s in Ballybucklebo, a fictitious community in Northern Ireland full of eccentric and memorable residents. Taylor has a gift for making his character so alive they fairly jump off the page. I also love the descriptions he gives of the landscape; makes me feels that I’ve actually been to Northern Ireland. Will definitely keep reading this series.
My full review HERE
A Stab In the Dark – Lawrence Block – 3***
Matthew Scudder series, number four. Block writes a tight, fast-moving, noir police procedural. Scudder is something of a mystery himself. Oh, we know why he left the force and we’re privy to his demons, but he plays his cards close to the vest. Watching him ferret out the truth is engaging and fascinating.
My full review HERE
I finished my book called Ghost: The True Story of One Man's Descent into Madness and Murder by Glenn Puit
Both The Lavender Garden and The Deep End of the Ocean earned 5 stars.Next on:
The Rice Mother and Belfast Central (audio book)
The Bookshop Of the Broken Hearted – Robert Hillman – 3.5***
In 1968 in rural Australia, Tom Hope runs his farm, milks his cows, tends his sheep and tries to find a new purpose in his life after his wife, Trudy, left him and took her son, Peter, with her. Then he meets Hannah Babel, a survivor of Auschwitz and some 15 years his senior, who hires him to build bookcases for her new bookshop. I really liked how Hillman drew these broken-hearted people, how he revealed their pain and their efforts to heal and move forward. Yet, I wasn’t sure I understood Hannah all that well.
My full review HERE
Finding Dorothy – Elizabeth Letts – 3.5***
Letts mines history to go “behind the scenes” on the making of the 1938 movie that launched Judy Garland’s star - The Wizard of Oz - and, more importantly, the story of how L Frank Baum came to write the series that captured the imaginations of millions of readers. I was engaged and interested from the beginning and felt that I learned much about both the making of the movie and about the people Maud and Frank Baum were.
My full review HERE
The Accidental Tourist – Anne Tyler – 3.5***
Tyler excels at writing character-driven works that give us a glimpse of their lives in all their messy complexity and banal ordinariness. I love the scenes she creates that reveal so much of family dynamics; the Thanksgiving dinner is priceless, as is Rose’s wedding, and Christmas at Muriel’s mother’s house.
My full review HERE
The Hum and the ShiverThe Hum & the Shiver by Alex Bledsoe.
A Modern Southern Gothic/Magical Realism based on the Tufa fae people. Set in the Appalachian mountains.
Coffee & Books
Books mentioned in this topic
Springtime in Salt River / Love Thine Enemy (other topics)Ghosts of Burlington County:: Historical Hauntings from the Mullica to the Delaware (other topics)
Ghosts of Mount Holly:: A History of Haunted Happenings (other topics)
Haunted Massachusetts: Ghosts and Strange Phenomena of the Bay State (other topics)
Ghost Stories of Texas (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
RaeAnne Thayne (other topics)Jan Lynn Bastien (other topics)
Jan Lynn Bastien (other topics)
Cheri Farnsworth (other topics)
Jo-Anne Christensen (other topics)
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Bluffton – Matt Phalen – 4****
Subtitle: My Summers With Buster Keaton. This graphic novel explores the early 20th century era of Vaudeville, and one particular summer resort that catered to many of the era’s Vaudeville stars – including the Keaton family and their talented son, Buster. It’s a wonderful way to introduce young readers to this by-gone era.
My full review HERE