You'll love this one...!! A book club & more discussion
note: This topic has been closed to new comments.
Closed Discussion Topic
>
What are You Reading - 2023
message 501:
by
PattyMacDotComma
(new)
Sep 15, 2023 06:36AM
Almost everyone, whether they're aware of it or not, has heard music by Mozart. This children's introduction by Mª Isabel Sánchez Vegara is another in the Little People, BIG DREAMS series. He was an amazing child prodigy.
My review of Mozart with several illustrations
reply
|
flag
The Innocent was great, so read all the 5 books in David Baldacci's Will Robie series. The first three books were rated 5, however the last 2 dropped to 3 ratings. Overall- a staisfying thriller series!
If you enjoy good writing, history, mystery and complex characters, join me in my love of C.S. Harris's Sebastian St. Cyr historical murder mystery series.
When Falcons Fall
is #11, (but do start with #1).
My review of When Falcons Fall
I'm reading Moxyland and surprised at how good it is. It is set in an alternative futuristic Cape Town, if anyone is looking for a book set in South Africa.
I finished Paper Doll for the monthly challenge and started Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil for my face-to-face book club. I'm only about 13% in, but so far it's just information about a bunch of different people and I'm having difficulty staying focused on it. It's supposed to be true crime, but no murder has occurred yet. I'm hoping things pick up soon. If not, I may have to sneak by with the movie.
Kristie, you are hoping someone gets murdered???
Sandra wrote: "Kristie, you are hoping someone gets murdered???"It's supposed to be a true crime about a murder, so there should be a murder that is discussed at some point. lol
A good true crime is always an excellent topic of conversation.
Princess Diana may have been the last truly shining light in the British royal family. Children's author Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara doesn't shy away from the divorce and bulimia - unusual for a children's picture book - but focuses on her well-known kindness to all.
My review of Princess Diana with several illustrations and a bit of a whinge
Known during the Depression as "the most violent woman in Sydney",
Iris
Webber led a rough and ready life as a thief and prostitute. Aussie author Fiona Kelly McGregor paints a vivid picture of the underworld and extreme poverty of the 1930s.
My review of Iris
Joe Hill's The Pram is one of the Amazon Original Stories in the Creature Feature Collection. Good creepy read that comes to quite a sudden stop!
My review of The Pram
Reading David Baldacci s Camel Club series. There are 5 books, started with the first one. Planning to read all five as the series comes highly recommended by fellow thriller lovers The Camel Club
I hope
The Incredible Hotel
actually exists somewhere, exactly the way Kate Davies and Isabelle Follath describe it. Lovely story and gorgeous artwork. 
My review of The Incredible Hotel with several of the wonderful illustrations
I just finished In the Lives of Puppets, finally. I'll start Bone White on audiobook tomorrow.I'm currently reading Stillborn Armadillos
The Sebastian St Cyr historical mystery series by C.S. Harris is just terrific. Searching for missing street children takes Lord Devlin to
Where the Dead Lie
and some truly evil men.
My review of Where the Dead Lie
Ankle Snatcher, by Grady Hendrix, is NOT a bedtime story, unless you want to be awake all night with the lights on! 
My review of Ankle Snatcher
I haven't updated for a while. I finished Paper Doll for the monthly challenge. I thought it was ok, but very forgettable.I also finished The Paris Apartment for my F2F book club meeting tomorrow. It was good, but I didn't love it. It was almost exciting, but just fell short for me. It seemed like she saved all the excitement for the last 10% of the book.
I DNF Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. It wasn't what I was expecting at all. I was expecting true crime and this was more of a memoir of the author's time in and love for Savannah. I ended up watching the movie, which was pretty different from the book and I thought that was just ok too.
I am now reading The Bell in the Fog, which I was really enjoying, but it has hit a lull. I think the issue that is slowing it down is about to be resolved (fingers crossed!) so the end will hopefully be better again.
I am also reading Cleopatra's Daughter for the yearly challenge. It's not been fabulous yet, but I'm just starting and I still have hope for it.
Since I've had a string of somewhat mediocre books, I've also just started People We Meet on Vacation, also for the yearly challenge, as a sort of palate cleanser. I've enjoyed Henry's books in the past, so I'm hoping this will be a quick, easy, enjoyable read.
If a child seems a bit nervous about confronting An Unexpected Thing, a cheerful friend can help. Ashling Lindsay shows how in her cute book.
My review of An Unexpected Thing with some of the illustrations
When heroin is discovered on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota, Virgil Wounded Horse goes after the cartel in Winter Counts by David Heska Wanbli Weiden. Excellent reading and perfect audio.
My review of Winter Counts
I finished Bone White on audiobook for the group themed reads. Tomorrow I will start Nala's World: One Man, His Rescue Cat, and a Bike Ride around the Globe for the puzzle challenge. I'm also reading Homicide at Whiskey Gulch on Kindle for the puzzle challenge.
After loving The Yellow Wallpaper I checked out Herland, The Yellow Wall-Paper, and Selected Writings form the library and started reading it. I know a lot of people think The Yellow Wallpaper is the only thing worth reading by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, but I am very curious, and so far I like the short stories. There is also a novella and poetry in this collection. We'll see. I'm also starting Zong! for my Comparative Literature course. It is a book long poem inspired in the Zong massacre, which occurred in 1781, when the captain of the slave ship Zong ordered that 150 Africans were thrown overboard. The thing was due to some mistakes and bad decisions the journey that should take 6 weeks ended taking 18 weeks, the water and supplies were scarce, and many of the enslaved Africans started to die of dehydration. The captain decided then to throw 150 of them overboard since if the "cargo" die of "natural causes" (how can you call this natural causes???) the owners of the ship were economically responsible, but if they drown then the insurance company would.
The poem is also written in an experimental way (see picture below) so I am very curious to get to work on this one.
I read the first chapter of People We Meet on Vacation, but didn't realize I'd had it so long and someone else has a hold on it so I need to return it to the library. I'll restart it later in the month when I can get it back. Instead I'm going to finish up The Bell in the Fog and start The Great Catsby for the group read.
Kristie wrote: " didn't realize I'd had it so long "This is happening to me very often. Those 3 weeks feel like only 1.
Sandra wrote: "Kristie wrote: " didn't realize I'd had it so long "This is happening to me very often. Those 3 weeks feel like only 1."
They really do. September just flew by.
I finished The Bell in the Fog. It was pretty good, but had some minor issues IMO. The middle was a little slow for me due to some repetitive thoughts of the MC and knowing a chunk of what happened before the MC figured it out. However, it was overall a good story. I also finished Cleopatra's Daughter for the annual challenge. It was ok. I think the story was good, it's just not my thing. A lot of the story is ancient Roman politics and it's not something I find interesting. However, as far as books about the Roman Empire go, I think it was pretty good. I'm probably not the best audience to judge it.
I started The Great Catsby and I'm not initially loving it, but I'm not very far in at all, so it's too soon to say how it'll turn out.
I'm also about to start Grin and Beard It for the yearly challenge. After a few mediocre books, I'm really hoping this one is just what I'm going for. I'm listening today while cleaning the house, but I don't know how far I'll get on it because I am going to put it aside tomorrow for different books while taking a road trip with the hubby.
On our looong car ride tomorrow, I am hoping to listen to both 'Twas the Bite Before Christmas for review and Making Rounds with Oscar for the yearly challenge. Andy Carpenter books are always entertaining, so I'm looking forward to that one.
Sandra wrote: "Kristie wrote: " didn't realize I'd had it so long "This is happening to me very often. Those 3 weeks feel like only 1."
Unfortunately, I returned my copy and put a new hold on it, but the other person who was supposed to return theirs did not. Now I'm waiting for someone else to be a good library sharer and return another copy so I can read it, but I'll have to wait to read it when I get back from my trip instead of taking it with me.
Kristie wrote: "Unfortunately, I returned my copy and put a new hold on it, but the other person who was supposed to return theirs did not. "Our local library stopped fining patrons during the pandemic, and fines still haven't been reestablished, which is totally fine with me, but it is true that more people return books after the due dates now. It is not a majority, not even close to that, but it was rare before but very common now. We had the common situation of someone keeping a book a couple more days to finish it, but now it is many more days than that. We were forever waiting for a book with my kids that was returned when it was more than 2 weeks overdue.
I decided to wait to start Grin and Beard It until after this weekend. Instead I finished Gender Queer: A Memoir for banned book week. I understand how it can be a lot for some people, but I thought there was a lot to learn from this one person's journey.
Sandra wrote: "Kristie wrote: "Unfortunately, I returned my copy and put a new hold on it, but the other person who was supposed to return theirs did not. "Our local library stopped fining patrons during the pa..."
I just find it so rude. I understand occasionally being a little late, but some people completely ignore the due dates. For this particular book there was a copy due on the 2nd, but also one that was due in 2022 and one due in 2021. When I see that, I just hope nothing happened to those people.
I finished Nala's World: One Man, His Rescue Cat, and a Bike Ride around the Globe on audiobook. This cat has got quite the personality.I started Vampires of El Norte on audiobook for the monthly challenge. I'm also reading the group themed read The Great Catsby on Kindle.
I finished 'Twas the Bite Before Christmas, The Only One Left, and Making Rounds with Oscar over the past few days. I am starting Grin and Beard It for the yearly challenge now and going back to The Great Catsby.
I finished Vampires of El Norte for the monthly challenge. It was a disappointment and I didn't feel like I got my horror fix for halloween. I will start The Secret Letter tomorrow.
Big Cat for Little Wandle Fluency ― THE WOLF WHO CRIED BOY is a twist with an environmental bent on the folk tale of the Boy Who Cried Wolf. I like this version by Bali Rai better.
My review of The Wolf Who Cried Boy with several illustrations
It Waits in the Woods is reason enough not to venture down that way. Josh Malerman has added his creepy short story to Amazon's Creature Feature Collection.
My review of It Waits in the Woods
Finished The Last Letter: A Father's Struggle, a Daughter's Quest, and the Long Shadow of the Holocaust
My Review: www.goodreads.com/review/show/5846145468
Still available on NetGalley for a couple of days is another Amazon Original Story, A Night at the Tropicana by Chanel Cleeton. Short romance, Miami and Cuba, 1939 and 1969.
My review of A Night at the Tropicana
Just finished Outback by Aussie author Patricia Wolf, whose exciting thriller is about a hot, dry part of the world that she knows well but that these unfortunate tourists didn't.
My review of Outback
This topic has been frozen by the moderator. No new comments can be posted.
You'll love this one...!! A book club & more
Books mentioned in this topic
The Lost Metal (other topics)Therapy (other topics)
Prophet Song (other topics)
Crochet Your Own Dog: 14 Lifesize Amigurumi Pups to Make & Love! (other topics)
The Temple of Fortuna (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Paul Lynch (other topics)Mieko Shindo (other topics)
Jane Porter (other topics)
Paul Auster (other topics)
M.R. James (other topics)
More...
