Weekly Reading Thread: September 20-26

I read Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Modern Royal Family by Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand. It was total fluff, which I knew it would be going in, but I had a long plane ride and I couldn’t help myself. The first half of the book read like Harry and Meghan had approved each and every word, and added many of their own. They were absolutely perfect, especially her. At one point, the author mentioned that she took a cab the first time she visited Harry at his home on the grounds of Windsor Castle and that she tipped the cab driver, just like she always did. I thought “what a wonderful person, she tips cab drivers.” Who doesn’t tip cab drivers?

The second half of the book wasn’t much better, but it was a tiny bit more real. It was told completely from Harry and Meghan’s point of view, but it didn’t seem like Harry and Meghan had done such heavy handed editing. For example, the authors said that many staffers complained about Meghan’s meltdowns.

The one interesting takeaway from the book for me was the manner in which royal brides select their wedding day tiaras. Apparently the queen and her jeweler select five tiaras from her private collection for the bride to choose from. The bride then selects the tiara she will wear from among the five the queen chooses. I thought that tidbit was fascinating.

I’ve just started the new biography of JFK.

I read Playing Nice and liked it! I am now reading The End of Her - Shari Lapena and it's one of my favorites! I hurt my back really bad Tues. night, so I stayed in bed reading for a few days! It usually takes me 1-2 weeks to read a book.

I finished One Plus One by JoJo Moyes. It was predictable but mildly entertaining.
Also read Still Life by Louise Penny. Her books came highly recommended to me, and it was ok for a fluffy mystery.
I'm most excited about The Evening and the Morning by Ken Follett - it's the prequel to Pillars of the Earth, which is an all time favorite. I'm about 1/3/ of the way through, and it's good so far.

I read 2 this week, both which get enthusiastic recommendations from me. First was The Comeback by Ella Berman. It was a Jenna Bush Hager book pick for August. I would guess that if you find this summary appealing, you'll enjoy the book. "The Comeback is a powerful and provocative story of justice in the #MeToo era—a true page-turner about a young woman finding the strength and power of her voice." I believe the author started writing this fictional book in 2017, over 6 months before the #metoo movement took foothold.

Next, I listened to Anxious People by Fredrik Backman. This was narrated by Marin Ireland who did his Beartown books and I think she is just marvelous. I have to say that Frederik Backman is an auto-buy author for me and he just keeps writing stories that rank up there as favorites. This was no exception. This book is a bit farcical which may be off-putting to some, but I thought it created a great counter balance to a heavy subject. This book is about a group of people that are held hostage after a botched bank robbery. And just like Beartown is not about hockey, this book is not about a robbery. He once again makes the most astute commentary about people in the most back handed of ways. I could have highlighted a passage from every chapter of this book. Whenever I finish one of his books, I immediately want to reread it because I know I'd look at it through a different lens.

I read The Widow and the Wife. This had kind of a cool twist. Still, for some reason, I didn't connect with the characters or the book the way I would've liked. 4/5 stars.

Lisa

I get in bed at 10 and read until 11. that's when we turn out the lights. Rarely do I read much longer. One night though, I had about 25 pages in a thriller to finish it and went into another room to do so. The ending was so shocking that I couldn't get to sleep for a few hours. I wished I had saved it for the next day!

Finished...
With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo - This is YA and it was recommended to me by an acquaintance on FB. It didn't really do much for me. I recently read Clap When You Land by the same author and I thought that one was better.

The Authenticity Project by Clare Pooley - This is billed as the "feel-good novel of 2020". And that's pretty much what it was - light and fun .

Started...
Friends and Strangers by J. Courtney Sullivan...

I think they did...and that's now going to get them into trouble in her lawsuit about the media publishing her letter to her father.
You can't contribute to a book like this giving every detail of your private life and then start a lawsuit based on wanting privacy.

I just finished the other book on this Meghan and Harry: The Real Story by Lady Colin Campbell...that they definitely did not co-operate with! An interesting read and along the lines of what I have thought about these two for quite some time, although a few odd theories I hadn't heard about...apparently there were lots of rumours that she wasn't really pregnant (the book doesn't claim that - it just points out that these rumours existed).
I've got Finding Freedom Freebies   as well and will give that a listen at some stage too.

Two for me last week.

ANXIOUS PEOPLE (2020) BY FREDRIK BACKMAN  :  3 STARS
Description:  Looking at real estate isn't usually a life-or-death situation but an apartment open house becomes just that when a failed bank robber bursts in and takes a group of strangers hostage.
Review:  Prior books by this author for me were A Man Called Ove (4 Stars), Bear Towns (5 Stars) and Us Against You (5 Stars).  I started a sample of this book first because I heard there were a lot of characters.  It was easy to keep them straight.  I like how this author develops his characters.  Little pieces of this puzzle are coming together constantly.  The author himself calls these characters "idiots"; I can see why.  At 65% the conversations between Zara and her psychologist are sooo stupid, they're driving me crazy; maybe there just above me.  Somehow I finished this book but don't know why.  I was frustrated & disappointed while reading.  I was happy with the outcome but the whole journey to get there was a waste for me.  After pondering, I think the moral of this story was to take notice of what you have in life.  Because of that thought, I gave it a 3.

EVEN IF WE BREAK (2020) BY MARIEKE NIJKAMP  :  3 STARS
Description:  A group of friends tied together by a role-playing game and the deadly weekend that tears them apart.
Review:  First book by this author for me was This is Where It Ends which I gave 5 Stars.  This book was very different than her first.  One of the main characters "Ever" has chosen not to be called he or she (nonbinary).  Ever is referenced as their, they or them.  Until I caught-on I thought it was bad writing/editing.  I never read a book that had a nonbinary character and found it difficult the the entire book.  I liked the lesson of finding family wherever it comes together and taking one golden moment at a time and hoping for another.


Have a great day !

Interesting. I read the Dutch House and was underwhelmed. I certainly didn’t get the hype. Maybe i would have liked the audible better. 

I finished The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams on audio a male read all the parts so it felt like the book was told more from the husband's perspective but the wife was there just as much. The idea of the bromance book club was different and alright, in a light fluffy beach read style book. The marriage problem was just one thing that headed them for divorce then was resolved just like that - insert eye roll - 

It was so good on audio. 

That was a good book! Very creepy and not her usual type of book.

I am listening to The Passengers by John Marrs....Loving it! I think someone here suggested it- thank you! I read The One by same author-- and really like that there are twists that I do not expect in his books!!

What types of books do you like? I have a crazy long list of books I want to read, and I'm happy to go through it and see if I can find any you might like.