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What have you just read? Opinions, recommendations, reviews Part 2
Sulari Gentill's exceptional Rowland Sinclair historical mystery series takes her four Australian characters to 1930's Shanghai in Shanghai Secrets. What a terrifying place it was - but a great read!
5★ Link to my Shanghai Secrets review
This is a great one for kids and music lovers. Elton John by Mª Isabel Sánchez Vegara is bright and interesting and real.
5★ Link to my Elton John review with several illustrations
Catchup on latest 2 reads:C J Sansom, 4th Shardlake novel Revelation - reviewed - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2981055801
and
A Merritt's Dwellers In The Mirage - reviewed - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1954250587
Only two titles off my Netgalley shelf this week:
Weekend Pass by Paul Cavanagh https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...
And:
Ask No Questions by Claire Allan https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...Plus an audiobook,
Murder in Paradise: Thirteen Mysteries from the Travels of Hercule Poirot by Agatha Christie https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... And
The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn which I read for the Crime, Mystery and Thriller group read. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Finished reading Kintu by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi. A wonderful Ugandan historical family saga.My review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I finished a classic Russian short story:The Captain's Daughter by Alexander Pushkin, review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
and a manual of Tibetan Buddhism:
Start Where You Are: A Guide to Compassionate Living by Pema Chödrön, review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Both were excellent!
My review of The City in the Middle of the Night by Charlie Jane Anders
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Psychedelic dreaming for toddlers, anyone? Alice In Wonderland by words&pictures has some inventive artwork by Cynthia Alonso, including holes in the pages for peeking and for little fingers.
4.5★ Link to my Alice review with illustrations
How could I not love The Kalahari Typing School for Men, the 4th book in the series of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith? These are always enjoyable and a gentle reminder that life in rural Botswana is a far cry from that of most readers.
4★ Link to my Kalahari Typing School for Men review
My review of The Uncollected Stories of Allan Gurganus by Allan Gurganushttps://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I read The Door by Magda Szabó. This is the second book I've read by this author. There is a haunting quality about her writing that lingers with me long after I turn the last page of her novels. I think she is an amazing writer.My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
PattyMacDotComma wrote: "How could I not love The Kalahari Typing School for Men, the 4th book in the series of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith? These are always enjoy..."Yes, this is the series by him that I love :).
My review of The Lost Carousel of Provence By Juliet Blackwell
3 and a half stars
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
My review of A Million Little Lies by Bette Lee Crosby
4 and a half stars
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
My review of Pressing the Issue by Daryl Wood Gerber:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
4 stars
My review of You Have Arrived at Your Destination by Amor Towles
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
January books:The Art of the English Murder: From Jack the Ripper and Sherlock Holmes to Agatha Christie and Alfred Hitchcock
by Lucy Worsley.Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Velveteen Daughter
by Laurel Davis Huber.Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Fiction Can Be Murder
by Becky ClarkReview: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Magic Fishbone
by Charles DickensReview: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Speaking of Murder
by Edith MaxwellReview: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
My review of The Fires of Vesuvius: Pompeii Lost and Found by Mary Beardhttps://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
My review of The Wonder Boy of Whistle Stop by Fannie Flagg
4 stars
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I found some very interesting new-to-me voices in this essay collection:
The Fire This Time: A New Generation Speaks About Race edited by Jesmyn WardReview: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I finished American Dirt earlier today, which is the fiction group read, Gave it five stars as I really enjoyed it and made me think long after I finished it.
Kathleen wrote: "I found some very interesting new-to-me voices in this essay collection:
[book:The Fire This Time: A New Generation Speaks..."This sounds really interesting Kathleen. I think I will add it to my list.
Shuggie Bain, the autobiographical novel by Scottish-born author Douglas Stuart, tells of a loving, queer, little boy who adores his beautiful, alcoholic mum. It is heart-breakingly wonderful! Well-deserved winner of the 2020 Booker Prize.
5★+ Link to my Shuggie Bain review
I've not read any of Jeffery Deaver's work before, so his short story Turning Point was my introduction. Loved it! Finding RDK, the Russian Doll Killer, was cleverly done.
4.5★ Link to my Turning Point review
Just finished Thomas Hardy's Far from the Madding Crowd - reviewed - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3791026882.
My review of Julian Bond's Time to Teach: A History of the Southern Civil Rights Movement by Julian Bondhttps://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Read Abigail, another book by Magda Szabó. I enjoyed it but I didn't think it was as good as the other two books of hers I've read--Iza's Ballad and The Door.My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Books mentioned in this topic
Dark Mode (other topics)Critical Mass (other topics)
The Go-Between (other topics)
One, Two ... He Is Coming for You (other topics)
Death at Hungerford Stairs (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Ashley Kalagian Blunt (other topics)Daniel Suarez (other topics)
Willow Rose (other topics)
L.P. Hartley (other topics)
Luis Alberto Urrea (other topics)
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The circumstances that led four African women to become sex workers in Belgium. Graphic scenes of violence and sexual assault.
A compelling story told in unadorned, straightforward diction.
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...