The Perks Of Being A Book Addict discussion
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Currently Reading 2024
Pete Prown has put together the perfect gift for you or any blues guitar enthusiasts in your life, The Ultimate Book of Blues Guitar Legends: The Players and Guitars That Shaped the Music. History, bios, photos, and plenty of anecdotes.
My review of The Ultimate Book of Blues Guitar Legends with several illustrations and photos
Alexander McCall Smith's wonderful little girl detective solves the second of her Very First Cases in Precious and the Mystery of Meerkat Hill. Reliably entertaing with a good moral, as expected. Cute!
My review of Precious and the Mystery of Meerkat Hill
Here is my 4.22 rounded to 4 stars review of Santa's Secret by Fern Michaels:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Women's Fiction / Romance
Light, Funny, and Entertaining
Set around the end of the year
Lots of wonderful descriptions of Italy and Italian food
Colum McCann's well-known novel Let the Great World Spin is a great read. Some of the characters are Irish (as he is known for writing about), but there are blacks, Latinos and others in this mixed NY neighbourhood where a tightrope walker crossed between the twin towers in 1974. YIKES!
My review of Let the Great World Spin
Why have I waited so long to read this classic? The Big Sleep is the first in Raymond Chandler's iconic private eye series featuring Philip Marlowe. I can sure see why it would have raised some eyebrows back then.
My review of The Big Sleep
A slow burn that develops into one wild ride of a thriller!
A Very Bad Thing by J.T. Ellison ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5 https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Here is my 4.67 rounded to 5 stars review of Out in the Cold by Steve Urszenyi:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Political Thriller / Espionage Action Thriller
Book 2 in the Special Agent Alexandra Martel series
Plenty of action, a couple of surprises, intense, occasionally over-the-top, sizzling pace
I finished my 96th book
Here is my 3.37 rounded to 3 stars review of A Legend in the Baking by Jamie Wesley:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Contemporary Romance
I fell in love with the cover of this book and the content took me by surprise, in the best possible way!
Lowcountry Lost by T.I. Lowe ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
A couple more fun ones from Amazon's Busybodies Collection, cosy mysteries.Crime of Fashion by Emma Rosenblum takes place at a fashion shoot where a minor underling is accused of stealing a necklace worth $3million! Poor kid.
My review of Crime of Fashion~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Nosy Neighbor is by Nita Prose, who wrote the popular The Maid, among other things. It seemed straightforward, but I should have known better. Nicely twisty.
My review of The Nosy Neighbor
An entertaining and easy read.
The Bookshop at the Cornish Cove by Kim Nash ⭐⭐⭐.6 https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I finished my 96th book
Here is my 3.84 rounded to 4 star review of The Jewel of the Isle by Kerry Rea:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Romantic Comedy / Action Adventure / Romantic Suspense
Grief, Romance, Murder, Treasure, and more on a remote island
⭐⭐⭐⭐.5 for
The Golden Thread by Tea Cooper Compelling and intriguing Australian historical fiction. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Michael Connelly has Harry Bosch and The Closers reopening unsolved murder cases using new testing technologies on old evidence. Another excellent story.
My review of The Closers
Switchblade by Michael Connelly is a Harry Bosch short story which I enjoyed as an audio. It's another cold case solved with the help of an unexpected tip and new DNA testing. 
My review of Switchblade
I recently enjoyed the third and fourth novellas from the excellent Wisdom Tree series of five by Aussie author Nick Earls.. It's worth having a look at his Goodreads bio. He's an interesting guy and a talented, insightful writer. The titles are the cities in which the stories take place.
My review of Vancouver~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My review of Juneau
Here is my 4.66 rounded to 5 stars review of Please Tell Me by Mike Omer:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Thriller / Police Procedural
Intense moments, Child therapy sessions, Family drama, some Action
- my Sunflower House reviewI'm currently reading Lady Tan’s Circle of Women. I'm more than halfway through, but I'm still not sure how I feel about it.
Brightly Shining is a translation of Ingvild H. Rishøi's short novel about two young girls and a very cold Christmas in Norway. The original was very popular, and now it's in English. Did I mention it is very cold?! Brrr
My review of Brightly Shining
I'd advise one to read The Age of Innocence (AoI) first, published in 1920, and The Glimpses of the Moon, published two years after. If the first book dealt with (feigned) naivete and ethical struggles, the second features a cast of characters who are unabashedly themselves, or use their shamelessness or blasé attitude to hide their woes, their callousness a shield.
This book is more jaded, missing the earnestness of true passion and forbidden love from AoI to induce sympathy from the reader. Instead, I felt...
full review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Stupendous book. Only David McCullough can make me interested in reading about construction projects LOL, because as is his writing mantra, he made the narration of its history about the people. Getting to know the different personalities and idiosyncrasies and genius of the makers of the Canal was just plain fun! These were men with infinite will and verve, whether they had a shovel in their hand, or penning legislation, making medical discoveries, crafting arguments, drumming up financial support or capturing the public's interest.
The Panama Canal is a...
full review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
My second Hardy book of the year, and seeing a pattern. Hardy women are martyrs, suffering so that other characters - and by that, i mean the male ones - can learn and grow. Not to say that Hardy's book wasn't feminist in its own way. Tess is strong and resilient, though it erodes over time, and maintains a quiet dignity (for awhile anyway), or is it just useless suffering in silence, and there's much critique of the arbitrary law of society that suppresses or shames natural feelings (see: institutional Christianity!!). The end result though, is....
full review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Good bones of a book, I even cried a little at times. I really believed in the closeness of the family, that even after tragedy, they leaned on each other instead of falling apart. However, after sitting with this book a couple days, I realized the main character is kind of...inconsequential to the story. He wasn't...
full review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I didn't expect it to be so philosophical, pleasantly surprised. Don't start it expecting sci-fi or horror. Rather, through Jekyll + Hyde's written confession, it ruminates on the dominant or budding psychological theories of its day, the ego vs the id. Couple that with the moody, misty London city and a crime, and strange things behind closed doors, you have one of the first detective novels. The idea of...
full review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Here is my 4.22 rounded to 4 stars review of Tooth and Claw by Craig Johnson:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Wilderness Adventure / Suspense / Historical Fiction
Fast-Paced with Dangerous and Intense Scenes
Set on the North Slope of Alaska
Prequel to the Walt Longmire series
⭐⭐⭐.6 for this sweet and sassy story of family and romance.
Coming Home to Paradise by Carolyn Brown https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
My review of It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas: A Novella by Julianna Keyes
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Here is my 4.09 rounded to 4 stars review of Robert B. Parker's Hot Property by Mike Lupica:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Mystery full of investigation and some occasional action
Enjoyable mystery with familiar characters
⭐⭐⭐.8 for legal thriller
Beyond Reasonable Doubt by Robert Dugoni https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Aussie author and former journo Chris Hammer writes complex mysteries with a broad range of characters. The Valley has gold mining, politicians, cops (straight and bent), hippie types, and a couple of favourite detectives. Another excellent read.
My review of The Valley
Finally set aside time to write my review for 
vThe Vikings: A History by Robert FergusonMy Review -- https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I finally pulled the Murderbot Diaries off of my TBR list -- starting with
All Systems Red by Martha Wells,I shouldn't have waited so long; these are great.
My Review - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
⭐⭐⭐.5 for a Christmas themed cosy mystery
A Holiday Homicide by Ellie Alexander https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Here is my 2.45 rounded to 2 stars review of Her Soul to Take by Harley Laroux:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Paranormal Romance / Horror / Supernatural Suspense
Here is my 4.67 rounded to 5 stars review of Summit’s Edge by Sara Driscoll:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
FBI K-9 Crime Thriller / Search and Rescue
I always learn something new when I read a book in this series.
Dynamic characters and fantastic world-building
Here is my 4.07 rounded to 4 stars review of The Witch Is Back by Angela M. Sanders:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Cozy Paranormal Mystery
Fun, relaxing, and entertaining
I recently finished the final two novellas in Amazon's Busybodies Collection of six cosy mysteries and especially enjoyed the last one. One Lucky Subscriber by Kellye Garrett features an imaginative YouTube celebrity hosting a tricky hide-n-seek with big prize money in the the American Dream Mall.
My review of One Lucky Subscriber~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A Classic Case by Alicia Thompson is my favourite - a delightful rom-com mystery with a nice twist. Good finish to an uneven collection.
My review of A Classic Case
Here is my 4.19 rounded to 4 stars review of Bellevue by Robin Cook:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Medical Thriller
Suspenseful, Vivid, Thought-Provoking, & Tragic
Here is my 4.40 rounded to 4 stars review of Bones Don't Lie by Melinda Leigh:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Crime Thriller, Mystery, Private Investigations, Romantic Suspense
⭐⭐.5 for Scottish crime thriller
Deadfall: The enthralling Scottish crime thriller https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I always enjoy Australian Aboriginal author Tony Birch's excellent writing, often short stories, and his recent novel, Women & Children is another winner. This takes place in a Melbourne suburb in the 1960s, and although he says this isn't him and his family, I suspect it's awfully close. Great read.
My review of Women & Children
I'm not a reader of Oscar Wilde, but I enjoyed his short fairy tale, or whatever you'd call it, The Fisherman and his Soul, which was a recent Goodreads group The Short Story Club choice.
My review of The Fisherman and his Soul
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The Perks Of Being A Book Addict
Books mentioned in this topic
The Do-Over (other topics)The Oligarch's Daughter (other topics)
The Oligarch's Daughter (other topics)
None of This Is True (other topics)
Too Young to Kill (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Christine Feehan (other topics)J.D. Robb (other topics)
Nnedi Okorafor (other topics)
Iris Johansen (other topics)
Robert Crais (other topics)
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https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Romantic Suspense
Entertaining