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Trim Challenge 2024: Announcement and Community Thread
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Sue
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Apr 22, 2024 11:32AM

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It is short, thank goodness. I'm behind.

So, my #7 is Deliverance from Evil / Frances Hill


Don't think any fit the tag but I have been looking forward to Lessons in Chemistry which was a gift form a Colleague (the proper chemistry teacher who I am the backup for).

I don't think it is inherently bad, it's just typical. So I DNFed and just looked up the twist. Glad I didn't finish.
I think I am over thrillers for some time.


Yours Cheerfully – A.J. Pearce – 4****
This is book two about Emmeline Lake, a young woman who was introduced to readers in Pearce’s Dear Mrs Bird . I was completely charmed by Emmy in the first book and really like to see her continued growth as a woman and journalist. As Emmy meets the women on the line in a munitions factory she begins to identify the societal and industrial prejudices that women are suffering, and then to advocate for solutions.
LINK to my full review

Stephen Florida by Gabe Habash - 3+* - My Review
PBT Review: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

5 stars and a vale of tears - really excellent and a true retelling.
My review

My May pick is also short - about 200 pages - but also more literary and serious looking than I'm ready to read. I'm pushing them to the side for now, finishing my last Fantasy Romance book and diving into Crime for a bit. I'm hopefull after a couple weeks reading Crime I'll be ready for both of them!
Or.... I believe I have 2 or 3 books on my Trim list that actually have Crime tags. Might swap out if they do and they happen to spell for BWF.



Foreign Correspondence: A Pen Pal's Journey from Down Under to All Over - Geraldine Brooks
Rating: 5 stars
Review: Geraldine Brooks centers her memoir around a group of pen pals that she began writing to at age 10. She grew up in a lower-middle class suburb of Sydney, Australia always looking to explore the world beyond her narrow surroundings. She finds the collection of her pen pal letters among her father’s papers and through her remembrance of why and how she sought out these correspondents, she explores her life. Then goes looking for them (20 years after her last contact with any of them).
Very well done memoir. I have read most of her fiction and some of the nonfiction. All have left a satisfying impression.

Wayward by Blake Crouch - 4 stars
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Endeavour: The Ship and the Attitude that Changed the World by Peter Moore - 3.5* - My Review
PBT Review: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Endeavour: The Ship and the Attitude that Changed the World by Peter Moore - 3.5* - ..."
Haha! And the lovely Joanne is still reading....🙄

Endeavour: The Ship and the Attitude that Changed the World by Peter Moore - 3.5* - ..."
I have this book on my physical TBR piles.....so many books I want to read and never enough time.

Ghost of the Innocent Man: A True Story of Trial and Redemption by Benjamin Rachlin - 4* - My Review
This is the true story of Willie Grimes, a man unjustly convicted of rape, a crime he did not commit. It also covers the creation of the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission, and the work they did that eventually led to his exoneration. It starts with the crime, and this part is horrible but over quickly, then moves to the series of events that led to Grimes’s arrest. It proceeds to trial, which would be completely unbelievable if one did not know it is all true. The author then provides details of his long incarceration, how he maintained his sanity, and his attempts to get a new trial. This proved to be more difficult than it should have been, and calls into question how the US legal system could allow such a miscarriage of justice in the first place. It also, unfortunately, shows how difficult it can be for a person of color to be treated fairly. It showcases the difficulties involved in eyewitness testimonies. The sections on the NCIIC get a little tedious, but the parts about Grimes are well-told and heartbreaking. The trial occurred in 1989, before DNA evidence became part of the normal routine, so I am hopeful that these types of obvious mistakes can be minimized if not eliminated. Recommended to those interested in the American criminal justice system and its shortcomings.

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms by George R.R. Martin - 5 stars from me, unsurprisingly. Review is here!

The Exchange: After the Firm - John Grisham
3 stars
The Exchange is the sequel to John Grisham's book The Firm. Like many others I enjoyed the excitement related to the the earlier story. The Exchange follows Mitch McDeere again. He now works in New York City for a large law firm. He is very successful there and no one from The Firm is after him. Mitch has been given a new client and when starting the project one of his associates, Giovanna Sandroni, has been kidnapped. This happened while they were traveling in a different country and a $100 million ransom was set by the terrorist group who took her.
Mitch feels responsible for Giovanna and works with his law firm try to raise the ransom and get her returned safely. This is complicated and they are not sure if they can get it all to work.
It was nice to have Grisham write more about Mitch McDeere and see where he ended up. Mitch travels to various countries during this story. He is committed to his family and associates. He believes in doing the right thing. Although The Exchange may not have captured my attentions as much as The Firm; readers of Grisham thrillers will like this book.


This has me reading the Accidental Empress which might be a Buddy Read with Joy!

On This Day / Nathaniel Bellows


I haven't either. Between being away last week, and a 600+ page (good book, but also slow-going) book happening at the moment, I'm not sure if I will get to it this month! Still hopeful, but we'll see.

I haven't either. Between being away last week, and a 600+ page (good book, but also slow-going) book happening at the moment, I..."
Me neither. The pox and catching up again afterwards at work have distracted me from reading. My head is all over the place.
It certainly isn't the quality of the books putting me behind. When my head is straight enough to read I have really enjoyed this year's options.


My #17 is Coyote Songs.
This has been on my tbr FOREVER, so I am looking forward to reading it.


The Paris Apartment – Lucy Foley – 4****
Foley has crafted a mystery / thriller with more twists and turns than the most treacherous mountain road. Not a single character – including Jess – is to be trusted. Everyone has a hidden agenda, a secret they wish to keep hidden. Most are master manipulators and accomplished prevaricators. I was engaged and enthralled throughout and could not put it down.
LINK to my full review

I think I'm going to make June The Wild Hunt by Emma Sekel, though. I've got a short vacation coming up in June so maybe I can do some catch up reading then...

The Secret - Lee Child and Andrew Child
3 stars
Members of a science team from 1969 are suddenly showing up dead. A task force which includes Jack Reacher has been put together to figure out who is behind it. There is little information to go on; but they start to find clues and will soon uncover out how high up the chain of command the people involved are.
This thriller has the elements of other Jack Reacher books. There are fights, Reacher is put in with other military people who may not be looked on with the best regard. He has contacts that he uses for information and he is interested in what he sees as right versus wrong.
The beginning is not as exciting as some of the other Reacher books, but it picks up as you read farther. Reacher's intuition is always good; and how he follows his beliefs despite the odds is one of my favorite parts of this series.

Review- https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


I still haven't done my May book, either! Nor June...
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