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? - 2021
Finished Beasts of a Little Land - I enjoyed this historical fiction set in North/South Korea in the 1900s. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show.... Started The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of a Donner Party Bride for this month's challenge and back in one of my favorite countries - Turkey - doing the audio of Madonna in a Fur Coat.
I just started The Sanatorium which I chose from one of GR's "Best Thrillers Coming Out this Summer" lists but it is set in the Swiss Alps and in the back of my mind I am thinking "Should I save this book in case next year there is another task to read a book set in Switzerland? It is always hard to find books I want to read set in Switzerland." Lol!I decided to just go ahead with it - but if there is a Swiss task next year I will kick myself!
Sandra wrote: "I finished Nine Perfect Strangers and gave it only 2 stars. Liane Moriarty is not for me. Second book I read by her and none of them were good IMO. I'm not reading a..."I think trying 2 books and not liking either of them is a reasonable time to say "not for me"
I have been iffy about reading any of Liane Moriarty's books as I thought they might not be for me even though they are highly rated in general. I think you and I Sandra have similar tastes in books so I am probably right in that. But it's good to try authors out anyway. I didn't think I would like Taylor Jenkins Reid but I love her.
Sometimes there's an author I really want to like and I keep trying and I just am not impressed every time. I am that way with Jeff VanderMeer. I have read three of his now and given them all 3 stars - like I don't hate them but they are never what I want them to be
I agree, Katrisa. I think my book club discussion will be good so it is not a complete waste of time, but not again. I also like Taylor Jenkins Reid, but never tried Jeff VanderMeer. I will take a look now, just out of curiosity.
Oh, right. I have ANNIHILATION in my TBR.
Sandra wrote: "Oh, right. I have ANNIHILATION in my TBR."I read that one and Hummingbird Salamander and City of Saints and Madmen. And I liked all of them well enough - and wanted to like them more - but they just didn't quite get there. City of Saints and Madmen was my favorite of the three.
I understand the feeling. Not bad but not enough.
Katrisa wrote: "I just started The Sanatorium which I chose from one of GR's "Best Thrillers Coming Out this Summer" lists but it is set in the Swiss Alps and in the back of my mind I am thinking "..."Note to self: Do not do a task set in Switzerland. I wouldn't want Katrisa to give herself and injury.
Come to think of it, I don't think I've chosen Switzerland all that much for tasks.
Janice wrote: "Katrisa wrote: "I just started The Sanatorium which I chose from one of GR's "Best Thrillers Coming Out this Summer" lists but it is set in the Swiss Alps and in the back of my mind..."Cheers! Lol!
Derek B. Miller has given Sheldon Horowitz, his elderly protagonist from Norwegian by Night, a great back story in How to Find Your Way in the Dark. Sheldon wants to kill his father's murderer, but he's only 12. Loved it!
5★ Link to my review of How to Find Your Way in the Dark
Indigenous Aussie author Adam Thompson's recent collection of short stories is spot-on. The fifteen stories in Born Into This take place in Tasmania, but the problems and challenges are nation-wide. Well worth reading.
4.5~5★ Link to my review of Born Into This
I must read more Jeffery Deaver! I enjoyed his latest Amazon Original Story, Cause of Death, which could easily have been deveoped into a novel. While the title may not be unique, the cause of death certainly is. 
5★ Link to my review of Cause of Death
My Name is Anton by Catherine Ryan Hyde will be enjoyed by her fans. I also think younger readers would like this story of a young man in love.
3★ Link to my review of My Name is Anton
I knew I'd enjoy Elizabeth Strout's latest book, Oh William!, and I was right. She knows people inside and out, and it is a delight to be caught up in her stories. This is Lucy Barton's memoir, but you don't need to have read My Name Is Lucy Barton first. It's a standalone.
5★ Link to my Oh, William review
I'm a fan of picture books that will prompt ongoing conversations between grown-ups and children. Together Again: A Story About Joy by Kochka is about a little boy who's about to burst with anticipation!
4.5★ Link to my review of Together Again with several of the exuberant illustrations
Finished Madonna in a Fur Coat - beautifully done. My review - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I finished The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion for the month challenge, and started now Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century
I started Too Many Murders the other day and every time I crawl into bed with it, I read 2 pages and then I'm snoring. I don't even remember turning off my reading light last night. I either have to read it sitting in my chair or give up on it.
I finished reading Assassin's Fate on audiobook. I feel so sad that the series is over. We've been buddy reading this series for the last couple of years.Tomorrow I will start A Duty to the Dead.
I finished Seven Perfect Things. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...I started Tell Me and The Noise. I'm looking forward to Tell Me because I really enjoyed our group read, Find Me. The Noise seems like its going to be a quick read because it is action packed and has short chapters. I'm sure I'll end up saying - just one more chapter...the chapters are short! - many times. It is co-written by James Patterson & J.D. Barker.
I loved Akwaeke Emezi's debut novel, Freshwater, but I think other readers will enjoy The Death of Vivek Oji more than I did. Love, sex, acceptance.
3.5★ Link to my . . . Vivek Oji review
"Revolutions never start at the top." Aussie social psychologist Hugh Mackay has studied and written about the Australian community for decades. The Kindness Revolution: How we can restore hope, rebuild trust and inspire optimism is a terrific resource for anyone wanting to make a difference, not only in Australia.
4.5★ Link to my Kindness Revolution review
I finished two books today. Tell Me is the follow-up to Find Me, which was the group read. I thought it was better than the first book, which I also enjoyed. 
Tell Me review 
Dark Roads review
I have started The Noise by James Patterson and J.D. Barker. I'm only 5% in, but it immediately grabbed my attention.I also started The Final Girl Support Group. I'm just at 11% and I'm not sure what to make of it yet. It was not at all what I expected it to be from the start.
I often admit that I have a soft spot for short stories, and I've just read two very different ones. Both are FREE and I've included links where you can find them.Well-known author Amor Towles wrote The Line about a simple Russian peasant, Pushkin, who finds contentment easily, while his wife keeps seeking greener pastures.
4★ Link to my review of The Line On a completely different and funny note -
Cost of Care by Betsy Robinson is an extremely short story that is bound to delight you! Spare a few minutes to see a pair of entitled folk get their come-uppance. Supremely satisfying!
5★ Link to my Cost of Care review
I loved John Boyne's latest novel, a satire about The Echo Chamber that is Twitter. The Cleverley family is less than clever, but oh, so funny, as they learn what being cancelled means.
4.5~5★ Link to my Echo Chamber review
I just finished The Perfect Police State: An Undercover Odyssey into China's Terrifying Surveillance Dystopia of the Future and I feel like everyone needs to read it. Tells how China is using real life minority report type tech to control the muslims and sheds light on why the world seems to look the other way from this modern day holocaust
I finished A Duty to the Dead. It was a much better WWI book than The Poppy Field. It was a mystery rather than a romance, and you got more of a feel for the war. It highlighted shell shock and how it wasn't recognized as being anything but cowardly. I will start Provenance. I didn't realize that it was in the same world as Ancillary Justice which was a dnf for me. It's touted as being a standalone, and all that I need to know is that the people are terrified of the Radich. I hope that's true and that I'm not adrift in a world I don't understand.
Janice wrote: "I finished A Duty to the Dead. It was a much better WWI book than The Poppy Field. It was a mystery rather than a romance, and you got more of a feel for the war. It ..."The rest of the Bess Crawford series is really good too. It's currently up to 1919 with the latest book. Which is #12. I just finished it a few weeks ago.
Dawn wrote: "Janice wrote: "I finished A Duty to the Dead. It was a much better WWI book than The Poppy Field. It was a mystery rather than a romance, and you got more of a feel f..."I've downloaded the next book from Audible. It's in the plus catalogue so free. :)
I finished Too Many Murders. I forced myself to finish this book. I think the principle of "less is more" applies in this case.I will start my themed read tonight, Spring Tide.
I am still reading The Noise and The Final Girl Support Group, but I have also started We Are the Brennans and I am hoping to read The Story of Arthur Truluv quickly because my RL book club is tomorrow night and I haven't started it yet! Lots of reading planned for today and tomorrow.
I have completely surprised myself! A few days ago I finished Walking on Thin Ice. I very rarely read romance but I have never read a m/m romance before and I was pleasantly surprised - I really enjoyed it! The book is very short, (only 134 pages), but the author managed to make me like all the characters, (apart from one) and I found myself really rooting for Spencer and Evan.
This is a feel good, heart warming, spicy Christmas book, (and I am not referring to too much nutmeg in the eggnog!).
This is a feel good, heart warming, spicy Christmas book, (and I am not referring to too much nutmeg in the eggnog!).
Anna's Reading Life wrote: "This is a feel good, heart warming, spicy Christmas book, (and I am not referring to too much nutmeg in the eggnog!). "This comment made me laugh out loud. :)
It made me chuckle too. :)
I thought this book was excellent. It was just what I was hoping for. I would recommend giving this one a try if you enjoy family drama, secrets, love, and mostly family coming together. 
We Are the Brennansmy We Are the Brennans review
I finished Provenance on audiobook today. It was an interesting concept especially when it came to gender neutral presentation. Actually, it was a bit confusing. Sometimes a person was referred to as "he", and other times "she". I thought it was kind of humourous in places.I will start Beneath a Scarlet Sky tomorrow, putting me one more book closer to finishing my 2nd badge. Just one left after this one.
Now we are back from vacations and I can link: I finished Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century. It wasn't as good as I was expecting, but it was ok. 3 stars.I started The Twelve, second book in The Passage trilogy.
I put aside a couple of books today. I was listening to The Inventor's Secret with G, but every time I asked if he wanted to put his book on he said no. It turns out he just wasn't very interested in it. So, I put it aside and we started listening to From the Desk of Zoe Washington instead. He seems to be enjoying this one more. We are also almost done reading My Life as a Potato, which he is enjoying. I also put aside The Final Girl Support Group. I was not enjoying it and it was due back to the library today. It had an unreliable & unlikable narrator. Plus, I just wasn't really engaged in the story. To make it worse, I chose the audio and I did not care for the narrator. Her voice was starting to grate on me. So, after reading 59%, back to the library it went. I may try to get a physical copy at some point to see if it's any better, but maybe not.
I am now reading Allie and Bea for our group read and The Noise.
I started Billy Summers. I like it. It pulled me in. I had one fear and it did come true. A little too heavy with the Trump mentions. King's books have been a little too much on the politics for about the past 5 years.Don't get me wrong it's always been clear he is quite left. I'm not bothered in the least by it. And it's fine when it's with the plot and fictional. But there's something about specific references to real people, in this case Trump that just annoy me.
Other than that I'm basically inhaling the book
Travis wrote: "I started Billy Summers. I like it. It pulled me in. I had one fear and it did come true. A little too heavy with the Trump mentions. King's books have been a little too much on the..."I'm planning to start that one as soon as I finish Allie and Bea, hopefully later today but maybe tomorrow. I'll be curious to see if it seems overly political to me. I've seen a few people complain about this with King, but it hasn't bothered me yet. I don't seem to mind a few references (and might not even notice if they're subtle), but I know authors can be heavy handed sometimes and it can distract from the story.
Travis wrote: "Other than that I'm basically inhaling the book"Glad you're enjoying it!!
I think Kristie if he didn't actually mention individuals specifically I wouldn't pay much attention. There aren't a ton of references. I don't think they add or take away from the story as much as just not necessary. If I wanted to hear about it I'd watch the media. Which I don't. Or try not to
This one's for dads, or rather kids with dads. My Dad by Susan Quinn shows a cute little kid with a dad who is a happy, fulltime parent. Warm, fuzzy stuff and nicely imaginative.
4.5★ Link to my My Dad review with selected illustrations.
The Story of Climate Change: A first book about how we can help save our planet by Catherine Barr is just what it says. Attractive and surprisingly informative for a children's book. Goes right back to before the dinosaurs. Cute cartoonish drawings.
4.5~5★ Link to my review of Story of Climate Change with several illustrations.
Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger is such a favourite of so many readers that I finally just had to read it. If you haven't yet, do! Great characters, family, mystery, tragedy - the works!
5★ Link to my review of Ordinary Grace
I finished Spring Tide for my themed read last night. Tonight I will start Blood Heir. It's a new release and the first book in an offspring of the Kate Daniels series. It features her daughter Julie who is now calling herself Aurelia Ryder.
Huh, guess she has a kid at some stage.
(Yes I know I am 15 years behind in everything!! lol)
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You'll love this one...!! A book club & more
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I'm starting The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion for the month challenge. I loved her Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe.