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I'm not an outgoing person and I don't have much experience with dinner guests, so I would want someone who is talkative and bubbly. I would invite Anne Shirley from Anne of Green Gables.
I can picture Anne sharing lots of stories about growing up on Prince Edward Island, reciting poems, and just having a good time.
I would invite Eve and Roarke from Naked in Death and the In Death series.They are both very interesting characters, and I'd love to see if Roarke is as gorgeous in person in person as on paper.
Ohh, Anne Shirley is such a good choice. I think I'd want to invite Essie from When the Angels Left the Old Country. I think that we're similar in many respects and she would be fun to talk to.
Erica wrote: "If characters were real people, which character would you invite for dinner, and why?"I am so tempted to choose Murderbot, but I don't think dinner would be an appropriate venue.
So, I will choose Max from the St. Mary's Institute. Or really anyone from Just One Damned Thing After Another. I adore intelligent, snarky, and brave characters. Plus, if I signed a really long and detailed NDA, I bet her stories would be amazing to hear on person. And she could tell me about Troy!
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No, maybe not appropriate :)
I would invite Matt from Every Last Fear, he just lost his family and is feeling alone. I would have him join a family dinner followed by family games to show him support and that people care about him. It’s the mother in me that wants to make him feel less alone in the world.
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Easy! Diane Fallon from the One Grave Too Many series. She is one of my favorite characters from any fiction book. Runs a natural history museum, used to be a forensic archeologist, surrounds herself with other brilliant and fun friends and co-workers. And, of course solves crimes.
I just want to work in her museum.
Erica wrote: "If characters were real people, which character would you invite for dinner, and why?"I would want to invite Aibileen and Minny from The Help! I'm sure they would be quite entertaining and have some great stories share. I would also want to know Minny's secret recipe for Chocolate Pie🤣🤦♀
Donna wrote: "If you could choose a fictional character to be your best friend, who would you choose, and why?"Once again, I think I would choose Aibileen and Minny! They had such hard lives and knew the true meaning of love, kindness, friendship and loyalty!
Erica wrote: "If characters were real people, which character would you invite for dinner, and why?"The first character who pops into my head is Kate Daniel's father Roland - maybe her aunt too. It would be amazing to hear stories about the world and beliefs from hundreds/thousands of years ago.
Or Gandalf - I have many questions about his early life.
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Teddie wrote: "Or Gandalf - I have many questions about his early life"
Gandalf would be an awesome dinner guest! And he could do fireworks afterwards :)
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Fictional character as a best friend? Probably Harriet the Spy. I think we would have gotten along.
I think the Women's Murder Club ~ Lt Lindsay Boxer, Dr. Claire Washburn, Cindy Thomas & Yuki Castellano would be so much fun to hang out with. Though they might be cliquish, but I don't think so. And I love Mexican food!
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Please remember to include the question in your reply.
What was the last book you rated 5 stars? What did you love about it?Burned by Karen Marie Moning
I'm doing a reread of this series for recap purposes to finally read the ones I hadn't finished.
I have given most if not all of the books I've read in this series 5 stars. KMM does such an amazing job with character development and world building that I feel like I'm a part of the Ireland that she's built in her books.
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Mine was Sinners of Starlight City by Anika Scott.
It's a historical novel set at the 1933 Chicago World's Fair, and the writing is just gorgeous, so wonderfully descriptive it really brings that whole place and time alive. Loved the characters, especially the protagonist Rosa, and all parts of the plot just had me glued to the page.
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A few months ago I finally read Tuck Everlasting. The writing is beautiful. Very lyrical. Definitely 5 stars.
And I won't be watching the movie.
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I finished Less by Andrew Sean Greer in July and gave it 5 stars. The MC is a hapless nearly 50-year-old gay man trying to make sense of his life. He travels to several countries in an attempt to be away from the U.S. while his former lover marries another man. Arthur Less doesn't recognize his own strengths. The writing is both hilarious and poignant as he bumbles through several adventures. I will definitely read this again at some point.
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Please finish this sentence "It drives me crazy when a character..."
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It drives me crazy when a character lies. I understand the temptation to lie, especially when someone is in a precarious situation, but I don't like it in my books. I really don't like it when a MC begins a relationship with someone pretending to be someone they're not!
My favorite books are when the MC is honest even when it's tough.
Please finish this sentence "It drives me crazy when a character..."It drives me crazy when a character...is so in love with someone and then falls in love with someone else too. Ugh.
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It drives me crazy when a character..."Overhears a conversation about his/her significant other then, instead of having a talk with their lover they leave or ghost the person they supposedly love. Who does that? Why can't characters have a conversation to clear the air? No they prefer to go through most of the book believing a lie. It makes me crazy especially when the lie was stupid. Act like an adult for goodness sake.
What is your favorite series?I have a lot of series that I have followed for years...However,
based on genre here is what I think at the moment
Romantic suspense Nora Roberts as JD Robb's In Death series.
Historical Mystery - C.S. Harris's Sebastian St. Cry series
Romance - ja Huss' Rook and Ronin Series
Historical Romance Lisa Kleypas' The Ravenels Series
Police Procedural - Angela Marsons' DI Kim Stone series
Thriller - Gregg Andrew Hurwitz' Orphan X series
Donna wrote: "What is your favorite series?"Just one? Nope. Here are the top series that I am thinking about right this second (first book in series linked)...
Jodi Taylor's Just One Damned Thing After Another
Preston/Child's Relic
John Scalzi's Old Man's War
Beverly Connor's One Grave Too Many
Isaac Asimov's Foundation
Ask me tomorrow, and my answer may be different.
What is your favorite series?Karen Marie Moning's Fever Series & Highlander Series
I'm currently enjoying Patricia Briggs' Mercedes Thompson series
Marissa Meyer's Lunar Chronicles
Devney Perry's Clifton Forge series and others
Darynda Jones' Charley Davidson
Kristen Ashley's Rock Chicks and others
My favorite series is Alex Rider by Anthony HorowitzMy most recent favorite is Shatter Me Series by Tahereh Mafi
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I would have to say The Lord of the Rings with its precursor The Hobbit.
Also in love with Louise Penny's Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series.
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It might be fun at guess the book by the setting. If someone answers with Hogwarts, I would guess Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.
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Yikes! Um, no clue :)
My current nonfiction book takes place in Tokyo. It's about events that took place in 2000-2001 - and beyond, I suspect.I doubt that's enough for a guess, Lanelle - even if I mention it's true crime....
I've got a bunch of books going right now...Archenhold (view spoiler)
rural Fairbanks, Alaska (view spoiler)
Gallica but started at Castle Araluen (view spoiler)
Lake Placid after Frozen Four (view spoiler)
Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality (view spoiler)
Spaceships, Mars, Luna (view spoiler)
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Yikes! Um, no clue :)"
Lol. It's Shakespeare's Christmas, third in the Lily Bard series.
I just finished it but would be an island in Greece.
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I just finished:
Jonas Salk: A LifeThis book shocked me. I caught polio in the last polio epidemic . Thanks to Jonas Salk, my siblings were vaccinated and didn't have any issues. Unfortunately, Salk didn't get the recognition he should have due to colleagues led by Sabin, who always talked out against Salk and his accomplishments.
Salk's vaccine uses a dead, inactive vaccine which was successful, but Sabin believed in the live, active vaccine. Salk warned that it could cause an outbreak in people who were exposed to polio in the past. Sabin blasted Salk. However, Salk was proved right.
This book covers his strict childhood, how his parents bullied him because he wanted to do research, etc. It is a shame that he gets very little credit for all the good he did with his various vaccines. It was fascinating. For someone like me, who is grateful to Salk, it hurt to see how much his discoveries were bashed.
I am not a biography or memoir reader generally. I tend to not want to know anything about the lives of people whose work I admire, so I can continue to admire their work. I do make exceptions for biographies of dead people, but it is still not a favorite genre of mine.
However, I have had a lifetime crush on William Shatner, and I just read his latest-
I still have a crush.
What is your favorite biography or autobiography?I too am not much of a biography or even non-fiction reader. So I went to my GRs list and the 2 5 star reviews that I found:
and
But then I noticed that they were both religious biographies, so just to be more diverse, I looked for a non-religious biography...
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I finished
a couple of months ago and was thoroughly shocked at this woman's life. I'm not sure it's a favorite but it certainly had an impact. 
and
are also fascinating.
What is your favorite biography or autobiography?I don't read a great deal of biography or autobiography, but I've read two this year of which I thought very highly (although for very different reasons):
Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah
and
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
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I haven't gotten to The Year of Magical Thinking yet but it's on the list! And I might need to add Boldly Go: Reflections on a Life of Awe and Wonder...
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My two favorite autobiographies are Up from Slavery: an autobiography by Booker T. Washington and Letters to a Young Gymnast by Nadia Comaneci. Both excellent books!
I too liked Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood and Educated. They would've been my 4th & 5th books.I added
,
and maybe
. And
is already on my rampant TBR.I'm not sure I should thank you all, but next time I need a non-fiction for a reading challenge, I'll appreciate your input.
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My two favorite autobiographies are Up from Slavery: an autobiography by Booker T. Washington and [b..."
Two more for my list!!
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