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What have you just read? Opinions, recommendations, reviews Part 2
I loved Aussie author Christian White's latest novel Wild Place. The local Neighbourhood Watch group gets a little too active during the 1989 Christmas holidays when a teen disappears. 
5★ Link to my Wild Place review
Jeffery Deaver's short story, Captivated, is a prequel to his Colter Shaw series. Shaw is using some old-school tactics - actual maps and interviews - to find a missing wife.
3.5★ Link to my review of Captivated
I finished reading the fantastic debut of short stories Dance of the Happy Shades by the brilliant Alice MunroMy review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I read The Return: Fathers, Sons, and the Land in Between by Hisham Matar. A haunting memoir about Matar's search for the truth concerning his father's fate after his incarceration in Libya's notorious prison during the Ghaddafi regime. His language eloquently describes the trauma experienced by family members of the disappeared.
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
My review of You Don't Know Us Negroes and Other Essays by Zora Neale Hurstonhttps://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Read Annotations by John Keene. It was wonderful and unusual, my review:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Mod
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."
Looks interesting Raul!
Greg wrote: "Raul wrote: "Read Annotations by John Keene. It was wonderful and unusual, my review:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."
Looks ..."
It is Greg! It made me sweat and work at it but it was a good read.
I read The Heroine with 1001 Faces by Maria Tatar.Tatar interrogates Joseph Campbell's definition of the hero and heroic quest. She argues it is masculine-centered and ignores the heroism of women because they operate under a different paradigm. Women use words as weapons through storytelling. And when denied voice, they will spin, weave, and write to demand justice and warn others. Tatar's examples are wide-ranging, from mythology to social media.
I thought it was great.
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I loved Geographies of the Heart by Caitlin Hamilton Summie. She writes wonderful short stories, but this is her first novel.
4.5~5★ Link to my review of Geographies of the Heart
How disappointing. I have enjoyed many of Aussie author Di Morrissey's historical fiction novels, but this contemporary one, Before the Storm, seems embarrassingly amaeurish as well as preachy. Could do better.
2.5★ Link to my review of Before the Storm
I am reading the Left Behind Series. So far I am on book 12 of 13. I just found out there is a Series I could have read for before they were Left Behind and a series for after the Left Behind Series. I will read the before they were Left Behind Series, Then the Series to read After They Were Left Behind Series, and The Kids that Were Left Behind Series. So pretty much I will be reading most of Tim Lahaye and Jerry B Jenkins books.
My review of Baggage: Tales from a Fully Packed Life by Alan Cumminghttps://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I knew nothing about Letters to Camondo or Edmund de Waal, but just happened upon this fascinating biography, written as letters to "you", Count Moïse de Camondo, who lived in Paris during WWII.
4.5★ Link to my review of Letters to Camondo with a few photos and a link to more
Mod
having loved A Little Life and considered it one of the most beautiful novel of the last years, I immagined it couldn't be that good.
Still I had hoped for something more.
Here's my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
So disappointed that I couldn't finish To Paradise. Just too many characters with the same names by the 3rd story and I just couldn't propel myself forward. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Mod
I'm afraid is a common sensation
My review of The Black Joke: The True Story of One Ship's Battle Against the Slave Trade by A.E. Rookshttps://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I have missed Mick Herron's spies, the Slow Horses. These two novellas slot neatly into his much-loved Slough House series but can be enjoyed together without reading the rest.The List is #2.5 and shows John Bachelor doing 'the milk run', babysitting retired, elderly spooks. Tricky!
4.5★ My review of The ListThe Drop is #5.5 and follows the action from The List. Old-school tricks are recognised by old-school spooks!
4.5★ My review of The DropThese are also available as a single book.
The Drop & The List
I read In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez.Blending fact with fiction, Alvarez tells the story of the Mirabel sisters and their heroic struggle against General Trujillo, the former military dictator of the Dominican Republic.
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
My non-review shows why book reviewers are important. I also link to a very informative real review by a scientist and the interesting NZ article that sent me down this rabbit hole! Please avoid this book, though.Charles Darwin: Victorian Mythmaker by A.N. Wilson
1★ (for the cover) Link to my non-review and reasons I posted it
Got a bit behind with posting links to reviews already done - decided to continue tackling some of the books on my Kindle:Dead on Demand by Daniel Campbell - reviewed - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4509924195
Self-Printed: The Sane Person's Guide to Self-Publishing: How to Use Digital Self-Publishing, Social Media and Common Sense to Start Earning A Living ... or Shouting 'Down With The Big Six!') by Catherine Ryan Howard - reviewed - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4509951029
Writing the Blockbuster Novel by Albert Zuckerman - reviewed - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4522382054
and finally The Case of The Shrinking Shopkeeper & Other Stories by TG Campbell - reviewed - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4522379309
Two books that were enjoyable enough but, in different ways, failed to achieve their full potential - 4 stars
The Once and Future Witcheshttps://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Twyford Codehttps://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Mod
by Billy Teare5 stars
My review:www.goodreads.com/review/show/4532419105"
This looks good Amalia, and it definitely looks like the sort of book I would enjoy. Thanks for your review!
Edgware Road by Yasmin Cordery Khan tells the story of an international banking scandal and how an English-Pakistani family living in London got caught up in it, to the point that someone ends up dead. Excellent!
4.5~5★ Link to my Edgware Road review
The only short story Toni Morrison ever wrote, Recitatif, has been reissued with an introduction by Zadie Smith. It is a real mind-bender. Which girl is black, which white? I loved it.
5★ Link to my review of Recitatif with a link to an article by Zadie Smith.
Finished The Violinist of Auschwitz. A beautiful, tragic story. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
All About Books
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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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https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."
I love this series!!