Coffee & Books discussion
Bookish!
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What are you reading?
I just finished
which I loved. Here is my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... Hope if you read it, you love it, too. On Audio, 🎧 finished:
, had book and audio hitch worked well. Brings up so much in 2020 when a new virus called Corona came to the world. Heart wrenching and profound. Covid has impacted the world’s so much, definitely a great book to read. My Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...Not up, not sure. Have so many. Reading
, just started. Deciding between
or
or
or
See what my mood calls out for since think all sound really good. Will try to read all these this month.
The Borrower – Rebecca Makkai – 1*
I remember seeing the author when she was on the book tour for this novel. I was intrigued by the premise: a young librarian working in the children’s section befriends a 10-year-old boy who seems to have some family issues, and then finds him “sleeping” in the library when he’s run away from home. But this book failed to deliver on every page. The librarian was an idiot, the kid was a pain, the parents were absent, and the “supporting” cast wasn’t given much chance to actually suport.
LINK to my full review
Reading Up a Storm – Eva Gates – 3***
Book number three in the Lighhouse Library Mystery series. Cozy mysteries are my go-to comfort reads and this doesn’t disappoint. They’re fast and fun and I love Lucy’s cat, Charles Dickens!
LINK to my full review
I decided to read
, definitely a 5* book by Carol Leonnig from The Washington Post. Riveting look at the Secret Service and some serious problems it now has leaving people’s safety very vulnerable. Here is my review if interested: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... So, just starting
and
now.
The Secret, Book & Scone Society – Ellery Adams – 2.5**
I really like Adams’ “Books By the Bay” mystery series and thought I’d give this series a try, though I was skeptical about the “comfort scones” and Nora’s ability to cure someone’s ills by recommending the right book. I didn’t understand why Nora and her friends decided to investigate the death of a total stranger. By the end of the book, we’ve learned each of the women’s terrible secret, and there are a couple of promising romantic relationships. But I just got the feeling that Adams was trying too hard. Still, I did really love all the book references!
LINK to my full review
I just finished The Latecomer, Jean Hanff Korelitz and for most of the book, just felt no connection to the characters. Their lives were never really explained. The last 80 pages were good and well written, but this book was 440 pages. My Review if Interested: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...I love Kate Quinn 💕 and she just released a Short Story on Amazon, Free if you have Kindle Unlimited and I think Prime, otherwise $1.99. It was really interesting
, also comes with Audio if you want to listen, too. Kate Quinn writes about the book and gives some information about Transcription Workers, Called Station Y, that were overlooked, yet essential.
The Creation of Eve – Lynn Cullen – 4****
Based on the true, but little known, story of Sofonisba Anguisola, the first renowned female artist during the Renaissance period, this is a captivating work of historical fiction. I knew nothing about this extraordinary woman, and only a little about the court of King Felipe II. Cullen crafts a compelling story that includes intrigue, romance, mystery, politics and the frustration felt by a woman shackled by society’s conventions.
LINK to my full review
I’m currently reading I’ll Give You The Sun by Jandy Nelson
My review for The Tricky Art of Forgiveness by Meredith Jaffe
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Unfriended – Rachel Vail – 2.5***
I found this in the YA section but it’s more middle-school than young adult, in my opinion. Vail gives each of the central kids a voice, changing narrators from chapter to chapter. Some are told as a series of text messages. All are told in first person, and I occasionally lost track of which kid was narrating. Being a middle-school drama there’s the expected “mean girl” behavior and cyber bullying, but I thought it took far too long for Vail to get to a positive message. Not my cup of tea, though I can see why some tweens might like it.
LINK to my full review
Outliers – Malcolm Gladwell – 3.5***
Subtitle: The Story of Success. Gladwell looks at hugely successful people who are “outliers” … far out of the norm. Examples include Bill Gates and The Beatles. He tries to explain how luck, opportunity, and the right birth year or month help these people succeed. Of course, ten thousand hours of practice is also a key element. I was interested in what Gladwell had to say and found the various essays easy to absorb and understand.
LINK to my full review
The Case of the Missing Books – Ian Sansom – 3***
This is the first in a new series starring Israel Armstrong, the librarian in charge of the mobile library van in the small Irish village of Tundrum. It was mildly entertaining and I did like all the book references, but I prefer more actual mystery in my cozy mysteries. I doubt I’ll read any more of the series.
LINK to my full review
Artemis – Andy Wier – 4.5****
I wondered if Weir could possibly top The Martian , or at least equal it. Well, now I know. And I love that this time he features a feisty, intelligent woman as the lead character. I love a good crime caper, and this is one. Lots of twists and turns that kept the action moving and my interest high.
LINK to my full review
I just started
, by Ellen Marie Wiseman. I really like this author and so far this book is good. Poor Sage Winters has set out to find out about her sister, Rosemary, who stays at The Willowbrook Institution. They are identical twins though and at this point no one no one believes she is not Rosemary in a delusional state, so she is locked up.
I started Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
Finished the secret soldier by Alex berenson. Def reading more from this author.
Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs? – Caitlin Doughty – 3***
Doughty, a funeral home director, answers questions posed by kids about death, dying and funerals. She’s forthright and honest, but also sprinkles her remarks with some lighthearted banter. It’s a pretty fast read, and quite informative.
LINK to my full review
The Confessions of Frannie Langton – Sara Collins – 4****
This work of historical fiction looks at slavery, colonialism, drug addiction, medical experimentation and lesbianism in early 19th century England. This is Collins’s debut novel and it’s an ambitious one. Frannie narrates her story beginning in 1826, when she is already jailed for a double murder, and going back to 1812 and her youth in Jamaica. Frannie is a marvelous character – educated, observant, loving, strong and yet vulnerable. The story was as addicting as the laudanum frequently prescribed for “nervous ladies.”
LINK to my full review
The Library of Lost and Found – Phaedra Patrick – 3***
A heart-warming and enjoyable read. Martha Storm volunteers at the local library and would love to have a permanent paid position there. She’s clearly unappreciated, but soldiers on. And then one day a book of fairy tales is left for her, and as she tries to puzzle out where the book came from and how it came to be in her possession, she uncovers family secrets. Patrick writes quirky characters with hidden secrets very well. These are nearly broken people who keep their heads down and try to exist without much support or joy in their lives. And yet …
LINK to my full review
Finished:
, Laurie Lico Albanese. Think my favorite Historical Fiction book this year. Really powerful book. Here is my review if interested: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I just finished:
. This one really has stayed with me. This is my review if any is interested in the book: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...I am reading
, Amor Towles. This is so different from The Man in Moscow which I just read. It is still a very interesting and well written book. I like it so far. Have read about 25%. Then still have
, Colin Baldwin to read. I started it, and seems good. Last: I have been trying to read
, Ruth Okeki ever since she won this year’s Women’s Prize for Fiction. So, need to get reading.
Klara And the Sun – Kazuo Ishiguro – 4.5****
Klara, the narrator of this extraordinary work, is an artificial friend (AF). She is a keen observer and tries to be a good friend to Josie, the young girl she’s ben bought to accompany. For all her intelligence and perceptiveness, Klara cannot quite understand emotion and she certainly doesn’t have feelings of her own. Her interpretations of what she observes are sometimes quite naïve. What does it mean to love? Can science duplicate that essentially human quality in an artificial intelligence being? Do we want scientists to try?
LINK to my full review
Miss Julia Rocks the Cradle – Ann B Ross – 3***
Book number twelve in the Miss Julia series, featuring a woman of a certain age who cannot help but get involved in the goings on in her North Carolina town. What I love about this series is Miss Julia, herself. She’s a real firecracker of a woman. The supporting cast of characters are wonderful as well. A fast, fun, comfort read.
LINK to my full review
Atomic Love – Jennie Fields – 3.5***
This work of historical fiction captured my attention from the beginning, and the twists and turns in the plot kept me turning pages. Set in 1950 Chicago, it focuses on Rosalind Porter, previously the only woman physicist working on the Manhattan Project, but now selling jewelry at Marshall Fields. It’s a fast-paced espionage thriller with a romantic triangle. It held my attention and I found it hard to put down at times.
LINK to my full review
Ordinary Girls – Jaquira Díaz – 4****
In this memoir, Díaz relates her childhood and teen years with brutal honesty. She grows up in Puerto Rico and Miami, with a mentally-ill and drug-addicted mother. And looks to her friends for the love and support she does not get at home. I found her writing gripping and enthralling. There were times when I wanted to turn away, because the scenes were so painful, but her writing kept me going. My heart went out to the young girl and struggling teenager. I applauded the woman she became.
LINK to my full review
Shards Of Honor – Lois McMaster Bujold – 3***
Book number 1 in the space-opera series Vorkosigan Saga introduces the reader to this family. We have a kick-ass heroine, Commander (later Captain) Cordelia Naismith and the leader of the enemy forces, Captain Aral Vorkosigan. Lots of intrigue, adventure, drama, danger, politics and plot twists to keep the reader turning pages. And witty banter to show the attraction between these two blossoming to romance. I doubt I’ll continue the series (just not my preferred cup of tea), but I’m glad I read it.
LINK to my full review
The Book of Lost Friends – Lisa Wingate – 4****
For this work of historical fiction, Wingate was inspired by actual “Lost Friends” advertisements that appeared in Southern newspapers after the Civil War, wherein newly freed slaves search for family members from which they’d been separated. She uses the ubiquitous dual timeline for this story, and while I’ve come to really dislike this device, I thought Wingate did a marvelous job in this case. I was interested and engaged from beginning to end, and I really appreciated learning about the “Lost Friends” advertisements.
LINK to my full review
I am reading The Last White Man, Mohsin Hamid. Interesting, but sort of strange. Also, been reading The Lincoln Highway, Amor Towles. Like the characters and the journey they are on. About 70% done.
Last, getting into A Soldier's Quartet, Colin Baldwin.
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind – William Kamkwamba – 4****
Subtitle: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope. This is the memoir of an extraordinary young man, the son of a Malawian farmer, struggling in poverty and through famine and drought, but following the spark of inspiration, his own thirst for knowledge, and a desire to help his family and community. William saw a need and thought, “What if?” As he explained to a TED conference, “I tried, and I made it.” It’s the not the best-written book I’ve read, but his story is inspiring and uplifting. Bravo!
LINK to my full review
The Cat Who Turned On and Off – Lilian Jackson Braun – 3***
Book three in Braun’s popular “The Cat Who…” cozy mystery series, starring Jim Qwilleran (known simply at Qwill), and his two Siamese: Koko and Yum Yum. I really like this cozy series. As a journalist for the local newspaper, Qwill has every reason to search out the story. There isn’t a lot of graphic violence, and Qwill is a gentleman when it comes to romantic interludes.
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
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
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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The Children’s Train – Viola Ardone – 3.5***
This is a story based on true events, set in post-WW2 Italy, when children from impoverished families in the south were sent north to wealthier communities / families who could care for them. How can the mother reconcile her decision to send her child to safety with the result of a child who is returned so different from the one she sent away? How can a child forgive his mother for her inability to provide more? I’m sure my book club with have much to discuss.
LINK to my full review