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Books You’re on the Fence About - 2023
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message 1201:
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Carol
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Dec 08, 2023 10:17AM
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Professor Platonic - Lucy Lennox - (Massachusetts)
Narrator: Michael Dean
4★
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
A Different Kind of Gone by Catherine Ryan Hyde
I am an outlier for this one, though CRH's books usually work for me.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Scorched Grace
had an interesting MC but lacked an equally engaging plot. My three star review:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I listened to
Murder Wears a Little Black Dress by Debra Sennefelder.My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
None of This is True- Lisa Jewell - (England)
Genera: Mystery & Suspense
3.5★
Review:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Diva
was an interesting subject but the writing was too basic for my taste. My three star review:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Rachel Incident
was an interesting but flawed book. My 3.5 star review:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Nowhere Ranch - Heidi Cullinan - (Nebraska)
Narrator: Iggy Toma
Genera: M/M Romance/Kink (Pony, Puppy and other types of Play)
3★
Review:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Innocent – Harlan Coben – 3.5***
Matt Hunter’s an ex-con working as a paralegal and making a go of it. He always maintained that the fight that led to his conviction for murder was really self-defense. Now a puzzling set of occurrences have the police suspecting Matt of another murder (or two). Coben knows how to craft a fast-paced thriller that kept me turning pages, though I nearly gave up in the first third, the plot was too convoluted. And I hated Matt’s wife, Olivia.
LINK to my full review
Across the River and Into the Trees – Ernest Hemingway – 3***
I’ve been a fan of Hemingway’s since I first read The Old Man and the Sea when I was about thirteen. This isn’t his best-known work, and I read it only to fulfill a challenge to read a book that was a bestseller the year I was born. Still, there is something about his writing that captures my attention. The short declarative sentences make the work immediate and bring this reader right into the story. But the older I get the more I’m disturbed by the way the women are portrayed … or more accurately, but the way Hemmingway writes the male/female relationships. Well, it fulfilled several reading challenges.
LINK to my full review
The Year of Goodbyes and Hellos by Kelly Irvin
A mixed bag for me, though it has its moments. The main character lowered my reading experience, as did the narrators.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous – Ocean Vuong – 3.5***
A young Vietnamese man, now living in America, writes a letter to his mother who cannot read. Vuong uses a nonlinear storyline but weaves an intricate tapestry from Vietnam to Connecticut, incorporating his thoughts on war, racism, drugs, love, and culture. The author is a poet and this novel has the ethereal feel of poetry, with some passages so beautiful as to take my breath away, and others so raw with pain as to make me wince, even cringe.
LINK to my full review
Either Side of Midnight - Tori de Clare
Genera: Mystery & Suspense
3★
Review: s://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6049122732
Here is my 3.12 rounded to 3 stars review of Secretly Yours
by Tessa Bailey:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Romantic Comedy
Opposites Attract
This is a funny and light read with several steamy scenes and well-developed characters. My main quibbles are that I wanted more tension and obstacles as well as some of the actions of Tessa were improper and unprofessional. Overall, this is an entertaining and light book, but not very memorable.
Mockingbird Summer
didn’t move me the way West with Giraffes did. Just a bit too YA in feel. My 3.5 star review:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Time Was Soft There – Jeremy Mercer – 3***
Several bad decision derailed Mercer’s journalism career in Canada, so he ran to Paris, where he stumbled upon Shakespeare & Co on a rainy afternoon and wound up being offered a bed in one of the many rooms of this crowded book shop. I found this very entertaining. I loved reading about his adventures scrounging for the cheapest food, picnics with friends along the Seine, the joys of free museums, and the eccentric residents of the shop, not least of which was the owner.
LINK to my full review
Candy Cane Murder – Joanne Fluke, Laura Levine and Leslie Meier – 2.5***
Three short novels make up this anthology. Candy Cane Murder (Fluke), The Dangers of Candy Canes (Levine) and Candy Canes of Christmas Past (Meier).
The first is a typical Hannah Swenson cookie cozy. I didn’t like the second at all. The last was light on the mystery but still a charming holiday tale.
LINK to my full review
The Dictionary of Lost Words – Pip Williams – 3.5***
”Some words are more important than others – I learned this, growing up in the Scriptorium. But it took me a long time to understand why.” Esme is a wonderful character, maturing from an innocent child to curious adolescent to determined young woman. And living at a time when the Women’s Suffrage Movement was very active in England, and World War I was looming. I like the way that Williams puts the focus on the “missing women” in history. She’s far from strident, but she is insistent and caused this reader to think about all the missing women is “HIS”tory.
LINK to my full review
Her Christmas Cowboy – Jessica Clare – 3***
Caleb is painfully shy around women, and not all that open even around his brothers. But the moment he saw new local school teacher Amy, he knew she was the woman for him. Of course, there’s at least one jerk in the picture, and Amy, recovering from a bad divorce, is vulnerable. But Caleb is just so sweet and considerate and it’s inevitable that they’ll get together and the sex will be incredible for both of them. Well, what did you expect? It’s a Christmas Cowboy Romance … capital ‘C’ and capital ‘R’. Fun to read and a great escape.
LINK to my full review
The Haunting Season – Bridget Collins, et al – 3.5***
Subtitle: Eight Ghostly Tales for Long Winter Nights. I enjoy short stories. I marvel at how much a talented author can cram into them. No wasted words. No over-the-top exposition. No cast of thousands. In this case they are, as the title hints, “haunting” tales featuring ghosts, monsters, witches, and evil spirits. All are set during winter months, with several being set around Christmas. But there is no holiday cheer here. They are Spooky with a capital ‘S’!
LINK to my full review
My review for Ghost Station
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
It was enjoyable but didn't blow me away.
Once Upon a December – Amy E Reichert – 3***
This is a delightful holiday rom-com set in a magical Julemarked in Milwaukee (my home town). Besides the wonderful fairytale at the heart of this story, I really enjoyed all the references to my city. Reichert is something of a foodie and an unabashed Milwaukee booster, so it’s no surprise that she takes her readers on a little culinary tour of Milwaukee. Good think I was out of state when reading it, or I would’ve been venturing forth to sample all those goodies she mentioned.
LINK to my full review
Aunty Lee’s Delights – Ovidia Yu – 2.5**
I had hopes for this first in a new cozy mystery series. I’ve visited Singapore and love the cuisine. And I love cozy mysteries with fun amateur sleuths. But this one just fell flat for me. I thought Yu was trying too hard to craft a complicated mystery and NOT doing enough to endear Aunty Lee and her trusty sidekick/maid, Nina, to the reader.
LINK to my full review
This morning I finished listening to
Nearly Departed in Deadwood by Ann Charles.My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Say When – Elizabeth Berg – 3***
I love how Berg writes about relationships. There are a lot of ups and downs here as the characters navigate the aftermath of one partner’s stated wish for a divorce. Griffin is the narrator, so we get less of Ellen’s thinking than of his. There are some heartbreaking scenes, and some very humorous ones (Griffin deciding to get a part-time job as a mall Santa leads to many of these).
LINK to my full review
Have to get in just a couple more Holiday-themed reads ... 'Tis the Season!
The Christmas Dare – Lori Wilde – 2**
Two immature people with lust in their hearts, but somehow think this is love. There are some nice steamy sex scenes to distract from all the drama of Kelsey’s unhealthy relationship with her narcissistic mother. I think Wilde was trying too hard to be “relevant.” Just give me schmaltz (and sex)… that’s all I’m looking for when I pick up books such as this.
LINK to my full review
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The Santa Klaus Murder – Mavis Doriel Hay – 3***
This is a classic locked-room mystery. There are plenty of suspects, not only family members, but two male guests, as well as Sir Osmond’s private secretary and other staff members. It moves a bit slowly by today’s standards for the genre, but I was engaged and interested throughout.
LINK to my full review
The Ship Of Brides – Jojo Moyes – 3***
In 1946 some 650 women embarked on a six-weeks long journey to Great Britain, leaving Sydney harbor aboard the HMS Victorious, a royal navy aircraft carrier. The women were married to British service men whom they’d met when those men were briefly stationed in Australia during WW2. This is fact. Moyes own grandmother was one of those women and her story inspired this novel. I enjoyed this story, though I thought it was a bit too long.
LINK to my full review
And I listened to
The Upside Down Christmas by Kate Forster.My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Stark Beauty of Last Things: A Novel by Celine Keating
A mixed bag for me. Loved the core theme, but didn't enjoy the clutter and the slow pace.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
You Sound Like a White Girl – Julissa Arce – 3.5***
Arce came to the USA from Mexico as an eleven-year-old. She learned English, excelled at school, finished college, and was hired by Goldman Sachs. But she never felt that she fit in. Her take on this is that the white people in power will never allow brown and black people to actually assimilate in the USA culture. Arce gives many examples of ways in which white people have harmed indigenous populations, but the tone of her arguments was so angry and uncompromising that it turned me off. She has some valid points to make in this book, but in the end, I think “she doth protest too much.”
LINK to my full review
Our House - Louise Candlish - (England)
Genera: Mystery & Suspense/Psychological Thriller
3★
Review:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Here is my 2.89 rounded to 3 stars review of The Busy Body
by Kemper Donovan:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Light and entertaining mystery
Somewhat slow-paced
Those who love Agatha Christie's novels will likely enjoy this one.
Happy new year everyone!
Christmas at Applemore by Rachael LucasMy review 3★
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
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Christmas at Applemore (other topics)Two for the Dough (other topics)
Something from Tiffany's (other topics)
The Busy Body (other topics)
Our House (other topics)
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Rachael Lucas (other topics)Janet Evanovich (other topics)
Melissa Hill (other topics)
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Celine Keating (other topics)
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