THE JAMES MASON COMMUNITY BOOK CLUB discussion
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WHAT BOOKS HAVE YOU FINISHED?
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by Vicki DelanyIn this addition to the 'Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Mysteries', bookstore manager/amateur sleuth Gemma Doyle investigates murder at a séance.
Good cozy mystery. 3 stars
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
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by David JoyA North Carolina town is roiled by racial tension when a visiting Black co-ed from Atlanta focuses light on past injustices to African-Americans. The book morphs into a mystery thriller.
Very good story. 4 stars
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
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by Jeffery DeaverIn this addition to the 'Lincoln Rhyme' series, the quadriplegic forensic expert is on the trail of an old enemy, the devious deadly Watchmaker.
Action packed thriller. 3.5 stars
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
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by Jessica GeorgeA young, single Ghanaian woman in London shoulders big family responsibilities while she's still 'growing up.'
Compelling and entertaining story. 3.5 stars
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
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by Nita ProseIn this sequel to the award-winning cozy mystery, The Maid, Molly Gray (who's now Head Maid at a luxury hotel) helps investigate the death of a mystery author.
Enjoyable cozy mystery 3.5 stars
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
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by Susan PageThis biography of Barbara Walters tracks her personal life and her career over the decades. Barbara was a fearless pioneer who paved the way for women in a profession that men thought was just for them.
Interesting and informative book.....with plenty of gossip. 🙂 4.5 stars
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
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Cindy De La HozThis is a pictorial biography of the great comic actress Lucille Ball. It would probably make a nice coffee table book.
4 stars
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
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by Robert DugoniSeattle defense lawyer Keera Duggan defends a millionaire accused of murdering his wheelchair-bound wife.
Dugoni is a fine 'suspense' author and this is a good legal thriller. 3.5 stars
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
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by Kristin HannahFrankie McGrath serves as an Army nurse during the terrible war in Vietnam, then comes home to the protests and contempt for Vietnam veterans.
Excellent novel about females who were in Vietnam during the fighting. 4.5 stars
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
A few days ago, I finished reading "My Travels with Mrs. Kennedy" by Clint Hill and Lisa McCubbin Hill.
My Travels with Mrs. Kennedy is a life affirming, informative, and photo-rich book in which Clint Hill, a Secret Service Agent, was in charge of the security detail for First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy from 1961 to 1964.
Hill shares with the reader his impressions of Mrs. Kennedy and the people in her circle whom he encountered during the travels she took to France (a state visit with President Kennedy), India, Pakistan, the UK, Latin America (state visits to Venezuela and Mexico with President Kennedy), Italy, Morocco, Greece and the Aegean islands, Middleburg VA where Mrs. Kennedy could indulge her love for horses and horseback riding, to the home in Wexford VA which the Kennedys had rented as a weekend getaway from the White House, as well as the various places where Mrs. Kennedy traveled or spent time within the year following the assassination of President Kennedy.
This book also contains photos never before published that came out of Mr. Hill's files, which he had locked away for decades, owing to the trauma he lived with for years following the Kennedy Assassination. (He had been the Secret Service Agent who had jumped onto the presidential motorcade in Dallas on November 22, 1963 in what proved to be a vain attempt to save President Kennedy's life.)
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[bookcover:My Travels with Mrs. Kennedy|60..."
It would be interesting to see the previously unpublished photos.
The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How it Changed America
by David Hajdu 4.0 starshttps://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
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by Jojo MoyesA mix-up at the gym results in two women exchanging gym bags - one bag contains red Louboutin high heels and the other contains inexpensive black pumps.
Plenty of drama and comedy in this novel. 3.5 stars
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Girlfriend on Mars
by Deborah Willis (2023) 3.5 stars. A quirky little story.https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
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by Sharon VirtsIn this historical mystery, based on a true story, a woman is suspected of killing her entire family (one or two at a time). She's finally put on trial for murdering her youngest daughter.
Good mystery with fine evocation of the Reconstruction Era. 4 stars
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Girl Who Handcuffed Houdini
by Cynthia von Buhler 3.0 starshttps://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
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by David MarkWhen Detective Inspector Aector McAvoy is invited to his frosty mother's birthday party, he's really expected to investigate a possible homicide.
Good atmospheric thriller. 3.5 stars
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
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by Lucy FoleyA current 'golden couple' plan a big glitzy wedding on a little island off the coast of Ireland.....and things turn tragic. This is a 'locked island' mystery with plenty of clues for the armchair detective.
Interesting array of characters. 3.5 stars
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I finished reading "The Secret Life of John le Carré" by Adam Sisman a few days ago. 
Reading The Secret Life of John le Carré confirmed for me a quote I read recently that is ascribed to Jackie Kennedy: "I have three lives - public, private, and secret." So it was with David Cornwell (better known as John le Carré).
This proved to be one of the most engaging books it was my pleasure to read this year.
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Reading The Secret Life ..."
This sounds good. I might have to get hold of it. 🙂
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by Mark O'ConnellThis nonfiction book is about Irish intellectual Malcolm Macarthur, an heir who murdered two people in 1982 and brought down the Irish government.
Very interesting story. 4 stars
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
KOMET wrote: "I finished reading "The Secret Life of John le Carré" by Adam Sisman a few days ago. Reading The Secret Life ..."
I enjoyed it quite a bit.
The Pericles Commission
by Gary Corby (Athenian Mysteries #1) (4.0 stars)https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Without Trumpet or Drum
by John Sanders (Nicholas Pym #3) 2.5 starshttps://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
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by Janet EvanovichIn this comical 'Stephanie Plum' cozy mystery, the bail enforcement agent chases a diamond thief. A dog named Bob tags along with Stephanie during most of her hijinks.
This is a fun addition to the series. 3.5 stars
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
A Murder Is Announced
by Agatha Christie (Miss Marple #5). Another excellent Miss Marple mystery (4.5 stars)https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
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by Patricia CornwellDr. Kay Scarpetta, the Chief Medical Examiner of Virginia, helps investigate a high tech murder.
Very current themes in this book. This is an uptick in the series, which had been waning for a while. 3 stars
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
A few days ago, I finished reading "From Spitfire to Focke Wulf: The Diary and Log Book of Pilot H. Leonard Thorne, 1940-45" by H. Leonard Thorne.
From Spitfire to Focke Wulf: The Diary and Log Book of Pilot H. Leonard Thorne, 1940-45 is a rich and engaging story (with lots of photos) of the author's wartime experiences as a fighter pilot in the Royal Air Force (RAF). Thorne (1920-2008) flew Spitfires in combat over Occupied Europe during 1941-42 and, from May 1942 to the end of the war, test flew a variety of single-engine and dual engine combat aircraft, including a captured Focke Wulf FW 190, the Hawker Typhoon, and the Gloster Meteor fighter jet. It's a highly fascinating account of a wartime pilot's multi-faceted service in the RAF.
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by Toshikazu KawaguchiA small coffee shop in Tokyo allows people to go back in time for a brief interval. In this book, four people want to go back to make amends.
Quirky and touching book. 3.5 stars
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Philip K. Dick: The Last Interview and Other Conversations
by David Streitfield & Philip K. Dick 3.5 stars. An interesting serieshttps://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
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by Paula HawkinsThe death of a young London man reveals grudges and bad behavior amongst people in his circle.
Good suspense novel. 3.5 stars
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
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by Patrick StewartIn this memoir, Stewart traces his life and career starting in his hometown, up through the Royal Shakespeare Company, Star Trek: The Next Generation, X-Men....and much much more.
Highly recommended. 4 stars
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
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by Keigo HigashinoIn this mystery, set in Japan, legendary detective Kyoichiro Kaga helps investigate a woman's murder in Tokyo.
Twisty police procedural. 3.5 stars
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
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From Eternity to Here: The Quest for the Ultimate Theory of Time by Sean Carroll In this book, physicist Sean Carroll addresses many current topics in physics, especially the nature of 'time' which seems to be very elusive.
Interesting book. 4 stars
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
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by M.V. MelcerIn this space opera, a human colony on a distant planet stops communicating with Earth, and a rescue ship is dispatched to see what happened. Meanwhile, a secret agenda profoundly affects the mission.
Compelling story but a bit derivative. 3 stars
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Finished reading earlier today the new novel, "The Book of Everlasting Things" by Aanchal Malhotra.
This novel is a multi-generational saga spanning a century and across continents (from the India of the British Raj - which gave rise to Partition and the emergence of India and Pakistan in August 1947 following the end of British rule - to Europe).
Much is also discussed in the novel about perfumery and how perfumes are developed and marketed.
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by Jacqueline WinspearIn this suspense novel, a Belgian female helps the underground resistance during World War I and World War II.
Good historical thriller. 3.5 stars
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
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by Donna LeonIn this addition to the 'Commissario Guido Brunetti' series, the Italian policeman investigates the murder of an immigrant from Sri Lanka.
Great setting in Florence. 3.5 stars
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Spare by Prince HarryMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
A troubled childhood as told by a angry, hurt young man. He should be allowed his view of his life.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Barbara wrote: "So Shall You Reap by Donna LeonIn this addition to the 'Commissario Guido Brunetti' series, the Italian policeman investigate..."
I love this series.
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THE JAMES MASON COMMUNITY BOOK CLUB
Books mentioned in this topic
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Eliot Pattison (other topics)Karen Rose Smith (other topics)
Holly Black (other topics)
Amy Tintera (other topics)
Rachel Hawkins (other topics)
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