<closed thread>What are you currently reading? Showing 5,201-5,250 of 6,642

[Joanne]

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress-

[Bea]

Finished: - 5*

I think I rated this so highly because I found so much of myself in the story. However, it truly is at least a 4* read.

[Bea]

Finished:
- 3*, - 4*, - 4*, - 4*, - 4*

Reading:
In the Belly of the Elephant: A Memoir of Africa - Kindle
The Address - Kindle
Bethlehem Road Murder

[Book Concierge]

Odd One Out – Nic Stone – 2**
A love triangle in high school, told in turn by each of the three principle characters. Clearly, I am not the target demographic for this YA novel about kids who are conflicted about their sexuality.
LINK to my review

[Bea]

Started: B is for Burglar

[Jayme(theghostreader)]

I finished "Naughty in Nice" by Rhys Bowen and going to start The Witch of Blackbird Pondby Elizabeth George Speare

[Bea]

Finished: - 3*

[Book Concierge]

Decaffeinated Corpse – Cleo Coyle – 3***
Book five in the Coffeehouse Mystery series, featuring Clare Cosi, the co-owner / manager of a Greenwich Village coffee shop, and an amateur sleuth. I really like this series. I enjoy learning more about the coffee business, though Coyle can be a little too detailed at times. Still, it’s a fast, enjoyable read and satisfies my yearning for a comforting cozy mystery.
LINK to my review

[Bea]

Finished: - 4*

[Book Concierge]

D Is For Deadbeat – Sue Grafton – 3.5***
I really like this series and its retro feel. There are no cell phones or computers; Kinsey has to rely on her intellect, her network of connections and good old-fashioned leg work. She’s smart, determined, self-sufficient and never has to rely on a man to get her out of a tight spot.
LINK to my review

[Bea]

Finishing today: - 4*

Reading:
In the Belly of the Elephant: A Memoir of Africa - Kindle

Next to start:
Art and Madness: A Memoir of Lust Without Reason
Scrublands
Crazy Ladies
The Ice Princess
Portrait of a Dead Guy

[Joanne]

Just finished The Gray Man-if you like a good fast paced Espionage story this series looks promising

[Jayme(theghostreader)]

Finished reading "The Witch of Blackbird Pond"

[Bea]

Finished: - 3*, - 4*

[Joanne]

Reading Deathless for another challenge group and was also able to slot it in here-very entertaining re-telling Russian folklore

[Bea]

Finished: - 5*, - 4*

Reading:
In the Belly of the Elephant: A Memoir of Africa - Kindle
Crazy Ladies

Next to start (6/8):
Grave Dance
Murder on the Flying Scotsman
City of Ashes
The Crossing Places

[Jayme(theghostreader)]

Reading Chicken Soup for the Soulby Jack Canfield

[Bea]

Finished: - 3*

[Book Concierge]

The Optimist’s Guide to letting Go – Amy E Reichert – 4****
I really liked this intergenerational story that follows Lorraine, her two daughters, Vicky and Gina, and Gina’s teen daughter May. Their relationships are fraught and characterized by discord and silence. It’s a delightful and heartfelt story. I find it interesting that once Lorraine loses her speech due to a stroke, the communication between her and her daughters becomes clearer. I also have to give a “warning” about the food descriptions here. Reichert’s books always have this element in them, and readers should be aware that they will find themselves craving all sorts of delicacies.
LINK to my review

[Bea]

Finished - 3*

[Joanne]

The Beginning of a new challenge in both my groups, so my night stand is loaded

Beneath a Scarlet Sky
The Children of Jocasta
The Killer Angels
Madame Fourcade's Secret War: The Daring Young Woman Who Led France's Largest Spy Network Against HitlerAssassin's Apprentice
DeathlessA Darkness at Sethanon

[Bea]

Finished:
- 4*, - 4*

Reading:
In the Belly of the Elephant: A Memoir of Africa - Kindle
City of Ashes
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Other Stories

Next to start:
State Fair

[Book Concierge]

The Antelope Wife – Louise Erdrich – 4****
I just have to say that Erdrich is one of my favorite writers. Her prose is luminous and poetic. Her use of magical realism seamless. It reminds me of listening to my grandparents, aunts and uncles tell stories of family lore, sitting on a dark porch of a summer evening. The novel weaves history, contemporary urban life, legend, and sacred myth into a marvelous tapestry of a story. There is birth and death, humor and tragedy, betrayal and forgiveness, broken people scattered on the battlefield of life, and others standing tall and moving forward.
LINK to my review

[Bea]

Finished: - 4*

Started: The Mapping of Love and Death

[Jayme(theghostreader)]

I finished "Chicken Soup for the Soul" and started "The Perfect Couple" by Elin Hilderbrand

[Bea]

Finished: - 3*

[Bea]

Reading:
In the Belly of the Elephant: A Memoir of Africa - Kindle
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Other Stories
The Mapping of Love and Death
Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind: Informal Talks on Zen Meditation and Practice
The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure
The Ghost and the Goth

[Joanne]

Fifty Things That Aren't My Fault: Essays from the Grown-Up Years-hilarious!

[Book Concierge]

Santa Cruise – Mary Higgins Clark & Carol Higgins Clark – 3***
The mother/daughter writing team gives us a cozy mystery featuring retired maid and lottery winner Alvirah Meehan, her husband, Willy, and their friends on a holiday cruise. The plot is suitably complicated, if somewhat outlandish. it’s a fun, fast, cozy mystery with a satisfying conclusion.
LINK to my review

[Book Concierge]

Murder Most Frothy – Cleo Coyle – 3***
Book four in the Coffeehouse Mystery series has Clare working for the summer in the Hamptons, helping a friend train the staff of his new restaurant. Their first Hamptoms event is marred, however, when one of her employees is shot and killed. It’s a fast read with a great cast of characters. I’ll keep reading the series.
LINK to my review

[Book Concierge]

Girl Waits With Gun – Amy Stewart – 4****
Based on the true story of one of America’s first female detectives, Stewart gives us a wonderfully atmospheric historical crime novel set in 1914-1915, and with a great cast of characters. I loved Constance – strong, determined, intelligent, and self-reliant. But also applaud Sheriff Heath, who not only worked to prove the case against the powerful factory owner but was astute enough to recognize the talent in Constance Kopp and offer her that ground-breaking opportunity. I’ll keep reading this series.
LINK to my review

[Bea]

Book Concierge wrote: "

Girl Waits With Gun
– Amy Stewart – 4****
"

This one is on one of my challenges. Glad to see your review.

[Bea]

Finished: - 4*, - 4*, - 3*, - 4*, - 3*

Reading:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Other Stories

Haven't started yet:
Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind: Informal Talks on Zen Meditation and Practice

[Book Concierge]

A Deadly Grind – Victoria Hamilton – 2.5***
I liked the basic premise of this new cozy series, including the small-town setting, the interplay between the sisters, and the cast of (potentially) recurring colorful characters. But the main character repeatedly made poor choices and took such obviously dangerous chances that I was just irritated with her. Still it was a fast read, and I’d be willing to try another in the series.
LINK to my review

[Bea]

Reading:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Other Stories
Rooms

Plan to start today:
Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind: Informal Talks on Zen Meditation and Practice
Prayers the Devil Answers
The Man in the Brown Suit
Don't Let Go

Looking through for ideas of places to explore:
Wild South Carolina: A Field Guide to Parks, Preserves and Special Places

[Joanne]

Picked up The Dead and Those About to Die: D-Day: The Big Red One at Omaha Beach for Task 25.3-an eye opening account of D-Day. Very rough reading, need to take it in small doses, will be a 5 star read for me

[Book Concierge]

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves – Karen Joy Fowler – 4****
A chance encounter with a fellow college student, causes Rosemary Cooke to briefly abandon the careful façade she’s adopted and has her reflecting on her childhood, and her lost siblings: her sister Fern and her brother Lowell. This is the kind of character-driven literary fiction that I relish. Fowler’s writing brings this wounded family to life.
LINK to my review

[Bea]

Finished: - 4*, - 4*, - 4*

Started: Look Alive Twenty-Five

[Book Concierge]

Hissy Fit – Mary Kay Andrews – 3***
Even before I read the jacket blurb, I knew I was in for a light, fun, fast, chick lit, beach read. And that’s exactly what I got. Mary Kay Andrews knows how to write in this genre and she does a fine job of it.
LINK to my review

[Bea]

Finished: - 4*

Reading:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Other Stories
Rooms
Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind: Informal Talks on Zen Meditation and Practice

[Joanne]

Just finished The Children of Jocasta a retelling of 2 Greek Myths-very enjoyable

Started League of Dragons-the final book in Naomi Novik's Temeraire series

[Book Concierge]

The Line Becomes a River – Francisco Cantú – 4****
Cantú studied international relations in college and joined the border patrol because, “I spent four years in college … learning about the border through policy and history. I want to see the realities of the border day in and day out.” In this memoir he writes with brutal honesty about what he experienced, looks at the policies and procedures, and explores the toll on humans – both migrants and native-born Americans.
LINK to my review

[Jayme(theghostreader)]

I finished The Perfect Couple

[Bea]

Started: Secondhand Souls

[Book Concierge]

Eleven Minutes – Paulo Coelho – 3.5***
Well this went in a direction I wasn’t expecting. Yes, of course, Maria winds up a prostitute and not a famous movie actress, but she comes to understand much about herself and the world. She ultimately takes charge of her life. Still, there were times when I thought that Coelho really doesn’t know women at all. And still, I was captivated by Maria and her journey.
LINK to my review

[Joanne]

Fruit of the Drunken Tree

[Book Concierge]

Isn’t It Romantic? – Ron Hansen – 3***
The subtitle of this little novel is “An Entertainment.” And that’s exactly what it is. Natalie and Pierre, a young Parisien couple, are stranded in Seldom, Nebraska, population 395. What follows is a farcical comedy, with messages gone astray, intentions misunderstood, love declared, and more than one mishap. It’s a fun romance, if totally ridiculous. Great beach read.
LINK to my review

--------- * * * * * * * * --------



Little Town On the Prairie – Laura Ingalls Wilder – 3***
Book seven in the popular classic Little House series, has Laura growing into a young lady. I love this series for the way the pioneer spirit is portrayed and the strong family relationships. THIS book, however, has a scene that is very uncomfortable for modern readers. I know this is historically accurate to the period, but I just cringed reading about it. If you are going to read it with your children, be ready for a serious conversation about what is and is not appropriate.
LINK to my review

[Bea]

Finished: - 3*, - 4*, - 4*

Reading:
Rooms - Kindle
Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind: Informal Talks on Zen Meditation and Practice - Own and a slow read
Insight
The Medusa Amulet
Black Cherry Blues
Bury Your Dead

[Book Concierge]

Divining Women – Kaye Gibbons – 3.5***
I like the way Gibbons writes her characters. There are some very unpleasant goings on, and much of it makes me in turns uncomfortable, despairing, and angry. Set in 1918, this is at a time when women had few rights on their own, and yet Mary refused to be cowed by her uncle. And her strength empowered Maureen to fight for the freedom and respect she was due. Brava, ladies!
LINK to my review

[Book Concierge]

Bittersweet – Colleen McCullough – 3***
A mini-series soap opera of a novel, following four sisters (two sets of twins) in early 20th century Australia. McCullough does a great job of crafting this sweeping novel. I was engaged and interested in the story and in exploring life in Australia at this time frame. However, I did get frustrated by the way that Grace and Kitty behaved, and felt that a few of the many story threads were abandoned and then quickly resolved just to wrap up.
LINK to my review