You'll love this one...!! A book club & more discussion
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Chit Chat About Books
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What Are You Reading? - 2019
Out of Sight, by Elmore Leonard, is a popular cops and robbers escapade that was made into a film with George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez. Guess which was which.
Link to my review
I finished Flugangst 7A and I really liked it. You can find my very short review here: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...Now I think I will go with The Ice Cream Girls
I will be interested in what you think of The Ice Cream Girls, Wildgoose. It's been sitting on my TBR pile for about 84 years. Well, 6 years, but it feels a lot longer sometimes! Lol.
I am 44% of the way through The Bedlam Stacks. I'm liking it rather than loving it so far. I am also just starting The Doll Factory for the monthly theme read. There has been quite a bit of pre-release buzz surrounding this so I'm looking forward to reading it.
Just enjoyed Jo Spain's entertaining mystery about a murder and a gated neighbourhood of suspects, all with Dirty Little Secrets. A good read!
Link to my review
I agree with Sandra on Kristin Hannah, I think she can write relationships very well. But I don't think she can create a story. I loved the Nightingale which was a retelling of someone's life.But I do not care for the stories she tells in her other books. In particular Fire Fly Lane. Her characters are inconconsitent . She writes women who are supposed to be strong yet they crumple.
Her plats remind me of the soap operas of my childhood. If one of her char goes to college, they sleep with their professor, It happened in two books I read by her. If author repeats them selves why read more of their books>
Sandra wrote: "Peggy wrote: "I started The Great Alone. The author is hit or miss for me, but this book sounded like it could be a hit. I read two chapters and I'm already afraid that it won't be...."
I just finished The Stone Sky. The narration, by Robin Miles, was wonderful. I'm wavering between a 3 or 4 star for rating for the story. It was really well written with an original plot and well drawn characters BUT it was so complicated it made my brain hurt! I think it was the way the story told that made it so hard to follow - this has been my experience with the entire series. Maybe I should have added text.I am in the middle of a reread of The Thirteenth Tale and I started A Local Habitation today while grooming my dog. It seemed to relax him. Mary Robinette Kowal has another fan LOL
I finished The Hangman's Daughter, and I liked a lot. I am starting now The Murmur of Bees which happens to be set in Mexico, 1918 and have a very yellow cover, so I can use it for the monthly theme and the monthly challenge. My poor forgotten wall of fame is thirsty for a couple of badges. :)
Renee wrote: "I agree with Sandra on Kristin Hannah, I think she can write relationships very well. But I don't think she can create a story. I loved the Nightingale which was a retelling of someone's life.But..."
Lol, in my review of The Great Alone I wrote that it reminded me of a soap opera. Not because the MC was sleeping with a college professor, but because in soaps the characters often have so many things happening to them that normally don't happen all in one lifetime, and I felt the MC's life in this book was the same.
The last time I updated I had 5 books going and it was a little overwhelming for me. I finished all of those books, except for Sold on a Monday, which is really just sitting here waiting for me to have time for it. I am now reading The Book Thief for a RL book club and listening to Wolfhunter River for a review and to kill off the series (again). I am much more comfortable reading 2 books at a time, one for my eyes and one one for my ears.
I'm listening to Great House at the moment. It's bizarrely fascinating. Has anyone read/listened to it? It's 4 stories/narrations that are connected to each other by a desk that has been owned by each of them at some point in their lives. Really it's these narrators talking about the minutia of their lives/relationships/failures/fears/disappointments in great detail, sometimes with anger, resignation, or acceptance of all things. Normally I'd put a book like this down. So much angst where nothing really happens. But I can't stop listening. I especially like the father whose just buried his wife and is so angry with his son who showed up for the funeral.
Daytona to Dakar! This is one that car racing fans will buy for their kids because they really want it for themselves. : )Fast Forward by Adam Skinner covers major tracks, drivers, cars, and even incidents around the world.
Link to my review (with lots of pictures)
A good read! The Wife by Alafair Burke is a whodunnit where The Wife is caught between loyalty and the need for secrecy as her husband's life unravels. 
Link to my review
I finished The Stone Sky (and the trilogy) and have similar comments as Margo. I read through the write up of the plot on Wikipedia and understand it much better. I think the audiobook made it difficult to determine who was speaking which confused the context. Having said that, I think it was deserving of the awards it won. I will start The Girl in the Tower tomorrow. It will count towards my movie mania challenge and leftover stew challenge.
I've given up on Great House. What fascinated me in the first half, became tedious in the second. I got tired of listening to these characters whine or go on and on about some ridiculous event. Moving on.
Slowly reading the group read News of the World and The Gods of Gotham for a buddy read. Listening to Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda. All for yearly challenge tasks. I also started Zoe's Tale but it is on the back burner. I finished listening to the fourth Maisie Dobbs book, Messenger of Truth, for the monthly challenge. I really liked it. It was an interesting mystery story. The depression has really just started in the time period in London. I did not know that children with diptheria were removed from their homes!
I finished Once Upon a River. It took a while for me to get into the story, but it had a satisfactory ending.I went to the library today and picked up News of the World. I should be able to start it later today.
Margo wrote: "Doesn't sound like you loved Once Upon a River Janice?"I gave it 4 stars. I was so excited about this book, and I felt a little disappointed for the first half. Maybe my experience might have been different if I'd listened to the audiobook. Unfortunately, it's not available in Canada.
Janice wrote: "Margo wrote: "Doesn't sound like you loved Once Upon a River Janice?"I gave it 4 stars. I was so excited about this book, and I felt a little disappointed for the first half. Mayb..."
That is such a shame!
The last half of the book redeemed itself, so it's all good. It's still a solid 4 star read. :)
I finished, and loved, The Doll Factory. I read it for the monthly challenge. Here is my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...Next up for me is another new release, The Confessions of Frannie Langton. I am reading it for the Movie Mania challenge.
Janice wrote: "The last half of the book redeemed itself, so it's all good. It's still a solid 4 star read. :)"Good to hear, Janice. I am looking forward to getting into it, after my buddy read and group read books are done.
I finished A Local Habitation and didn't enjoy it nearly as much as the first one. Moving on to Identity Crisis for the monthly challenge and Ghost Wall just because.....
Janice wrote: "The last half of the book redeemed itself, so it's all good. It's still a solid 4 star read. :)"I think the biggest problem, at least for me, with the first half is that it took a little too long for all the threads to come together. I know a good story keeps you guessing at what comes next, but it also has to give you enough information to keep your interest. This one took a bit for that to happen. I gave it 4 stars as well though; so it obviously came around.
I agree, Tricia. There were too many threads that took a long time to connect and develop.
I just loved these early adventures of the exuberant child (who grew up to become the dashing Sir Robert Carey in his mystery series) in a couple of wonderful introductory works (free!) by P.F. Chisholm aka Patricia Finney. A Pest of a Boy and A Boy in Trouble.
4.5★ Link to my review of A Pest of a Boy
5★ Link to my review of A Boy in Trouble
I have put The Bedlam Stacks back on my TBR pile. I hadn't picked it up for over a week due to getting distracted by other books and now I'm just not in the mood for it. I will give it another go at some point down the line.
Lisa wrote: "I have put The Bedlam Stacks back on my TBR pile. I hadn't picked it up for over a week due to getting distracted by other books and now I'm just not in the mood for it. I will give..."Shiny new things ;-)
Margo wrote: "Shiny new things ;-)"Lol! What can I say, I'm easily distracted 😉😁
Beautiful! More than a picture book, it's a poignant story of a little girl in wartime. Captain Rosalie by Timothée de Fombelle and Isabelle Arsenault (illustrator) is out in June and still available on NetGalley.
5★ Link to my review with pictures
I finished listening to Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda and Sharp Objects over the weekend and started Save Me the Plums: My Gourmet Memoir. The author is the narrator. I love her gravely voice. I haven't decided what Movie Madness task I am going to use it for yet.
Cherie wrote: "I finished listening to Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda and Sharp Objects over the weekend and started Save Me the Plums: My Gourmet Memoir. The au..."Working your way through the alphabet? Hehehe!
Cherie wrote: "I finished listening to Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda and Sharp Objects over the weekend and started Save Me the Plums: My Gourmet Memoir. The au..."Earlier this year, I read Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise. At the very end of that book, Ruth Reichl (view spoiler) I liked that one a lot; so I'll be interested to hear what you think of Save Me the Plums: My Gourmet Memoir.
If you have not yet read Night, the 60-year old autobiographical account of Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel's time in Auschwitz (followed by a lifetime of teaching and the Nobel Peace Prize), it's time. Ignorance and silence are still responsible for killing people.
5★ (of course) Link to my comments
Finished Identity Crisis and enjoyed it. Full of sharp, observational humour that was vintage Ben updated for the digital age. Started The Knife of Never Letting Go.
Tricia wrote: "[book:Save Me the Plums: My Gourmet Memoir|41..."I'll let you know Tricia. She talks quite a bit about her time before she became the editor of Gourmet, in this one. It is really a lot of names back and forth. I recognize some of them, but others are just "bla, bla, bla". I remember reading some of the issues she talks about. I did not subscribe (too much fru, fru stuff for me), but I loved looking at the covers. I think she tells a great story.
David Bowie. Whether this makes you think of Major Tom or Ziggy Stardust, you've got to admit he was an artist like no other. Mª Isabel Sánchez Vegara's colourful addition to the "little people BIG DREAMS" series will introduce him to kids today. (And she explains his eyes.)
5★ Link to my review with pictures
I finished News of the World last night. The author's note recommends The Captured: A True Story of Abduction by Indians on the Texas Frontier, a nonfiction book about children captured by Native Americans. I've put in a request at the library. I'm fascinated by the subject.I will start Deerskin tonight. It will be a MM read.
I finished The Knife of Never Letting Go and really enjoyed the story. I never knew Ness was such a great world builder. The story was very dark and hard unexpectedly hard hitting for YA fiction. I will definitely continue this series.I have started The Red Tent for the MM challenge. I am also reading Fragile: Why we are feeling more stressed, anxious and overwhelmed than ever by Stella O'Malley who is a member of my live book club.
I like the books by Ness I've read so far. Always pitched as YA but dark and thought-provoking more often.
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You'll love this one...!! A book club & more
Books mentioned in this topic
The Ten Thousand Doors of January (other topics)Kim (other topics)
The Game (other topics)
The Darkest Night (other topics)
The Ten Thousand Doors of January (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Jeanine Cummins (other topics)Laurie R. King (other topics)
Graham Brack (other topics)
Rosario Lázaro Igoa (other topics)
Alice Hoffman (other topics)
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My Review: www.goodreads.com/review/show/2681604533