Weekly Reading Thread: January 16-22

I finally finished The Love Songs of W.E.B. DuBois by Honoré Fanonne Jeffers. It was excellent, but 800 pages! I didn't realize how long it was at first, because I mostly read on Kindle & didn't check the number of pages. It was so good, but it's a real committment.

Now I'm reading a fluff thing: London's Number One Dog Walking Agency by Kate MacDougall. I...kind of hate it. I love dogs! I love London! It's a memoir, so it's "true." But it's like Bridget Jones decides to take up dog walking with zero experience. Down to the annoying judgy mother. I'm going to finish it because I need to make sure the dogs are all okay by the end. I was hoping for something fun, but I'm finding myself very annoyed with the author, who starts a dog walking business with no experience, lies, fucks up, and fails up. It honestly isn't giving me a lot of faith in the dog walking industry! I guess I like the parts about the dogs enough to power through, and it's short and fast.

Now I need something else high-interest/lighter, because this one is stressing me out. LOL

😬

I am reading Hush Little Baby - Redfearn and it's good so far. Also have Brave Girl, Quiet Girl - Kathryn Ryan Hyde to read next.

I’m in the middle of several books and finished one.
I gave The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave 3 stars. I found it to be long and implausible.
I started Bill Summers by King and The Last Thing You Surrender by L. Pitts. Both are very good and I’m anxious to get back to both of them.

Billy Summers was one of my favorites from last year!

I listened to News of the World. It was ok, but not spectacular. I also read The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. I liked it. I didn't really connect with Monique but I thought there were a lot of good parts of the story that resonated with me. I'm listening to The Vanishing Half now and not sure how I feel about it so far.

I have several books that have come in from the library all at once. I was on Amazon reading the descriptions and reviews to determine which I want to read next, and am finding that sometimes the reviews are discouraging and then I don't want to read the book, even though there is an overall good rating. I also think it is interesting how it seems that any book that mentions race or gender identify in any way will inevitably have several reviews who say it is liberal propaganda, not for "conservatives" and so on.

I finished Project Hail Mary. It was okay. Andy Weir is definitely a talented writer but I don't think I'm the proper audience. My engineer husband really enjoyed it, though.

I started Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr. It'quite good so far, but may be a little more emotional than me and my anxiety disorder can handle this month. We shall see. Might need to find some fluffy mystery stories instead.

Mixed week; one very good read and one bomb.


THE LAST HOUSE ON THE STREET by Diane Chamberlain : 4 Stars
DESCRIPTION:  When Kayla Carter’s husband dies in an accident while building their dream house, she knows she has to stay strong for their 4 year old daughter.  When she is confronted by an old older woman telling her not to move-in, her nerves are now on edge.  It’s clear this woman has some king of connection to the area and a connection to Kayla herself.  Kayla’s elderly new neighbor, Ellie Hockley, is more welcoming, but it’s clear she too has secrets that stretch back almost 50 years.  Is Ellie on a quest to right the wrongs of the past?  
REVIEW:  Ms. Chamberlain’s last book, Big Lies in a Small Town (‘20), I gave 4 stars.  All her books that I’ve read received 4 stars with two 5-star reads (The Escape Artist and The Secret Lives of CeeCee Wilkes).  Ms. Chamberlain always manages to discuss very real topics in her stories and this book is no exception.  I liked the dual timeline (1965/2010) which kept me trying to figure out how the characters would connect.  Ms. Chamberlain always makes it so easy to visually see the characters and their environment along with feeling all their emotions too.  Her books are always an experience that leave me thinking.  


JUST MY LUCK (‘20) by Adele Parks : 1 Star
DESCRIPTION:  For 15 years, Lexi and Jake have played the same six numbers with two other couples.  Over drinks, dinner parties and summer barbecues, the 3 couples have discussed the important stuff - kids, marriages, career — and they’ve laughed-off their disappointment when they failed to win anything week after week.  But then the unthinkable happens and there’s a rift in the group.  Soon after their 6 numbers come-up and that changes everything forever.
REVIEW:  A Bookbub alert description grabbed me.  I see this author’s name a lot but it’s my first red by her.  At 35% I like her writing style.  I like the lotto winnings plot but I’m hoping it gets back to Lexi’s job at the Citizens Advice Bureau.  As the book went on (50%) the family who won the lotto are soooo ridiculous, I can’t read another word out of their mouths.  When the daughter Emily is more worried about planning a “winnings” party than the fact that she just found out she’s pregnant with her ex-boyfriend, I was done.  


Happy Reading !

I think A Little Life is a very slow burn. 

I finished Fifty-Fifty by Steve Cavanagh. I was disappointed in this one. I have loved everything I've read by him until this book. I just have such high expectations for his writing. It wasn't that bad but just not up to his usual. 3.5/5 stars 

I'm reading To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara. It's divided into three sections with three timelines, each 100 years apart. I'm halfway through. More next week. (I preordered this, only the second time I have ever preordered a book.) 

Lisa 

Someone asked the same question on last week’s reading thread and a few people gave opinions. I really enjoyed the book, but I’m not really bothered by thrillers. I don’t think it’s over intense. 

This week I read Reckless Girls by Rachel Hawkins. It is a thriller and was a quick read. I found it pretty engaging and enjoyed it. 

Went on a reading bender last week finishing 4 books:

Keeping Lucy by T. Greenwood. 4 stars. The premise of this one is a woman has a child with down syndrome in the late 60s. Her family convinces her to basically have the child committed to a mental hospital and 2 years later she realizes that this was a bad decision. I might've given it 3 stars, but I liked reading something a little different that was historical fiction but not your typical era.

The Summer I Met Jack by Michelle Gable. 3 stars. This book was LONG. I might've enjoyed it more if it'd been shorter. This was a fictionalized account of a real person, Alicia Corning Clark a woman who's rumored to have JFK's love child. The book was not very kind to the Kennedy's (although JFK was given the best edit) and almost idealized Alicia (everything that went wrong was always someone else's fault).

The Return by Nicholas Sparks. 3 stars. Wasn't expecting much of this one, I had it on the bookshelf and was looking for light and fluffy. It was a bit of a let down as it was mostly boring and the main character was supposedly a doctor but seemed not too bright. It was basically about an injured Navy vet who comes home after his grandfather, and only living relative, dies. As per normal Nicholas Sparks he of course meets a woman and there's also a side plot about a teenage girl.

Love and Other Consolation Prizes by Jamie Ford. 3 stars. I had so much hope for this as Hotel on the Corner of Bitter & Sweet is one of my favorite books and the premise sounded interesting, but I struggled to keep reading it. The general idea is the main character is a Chinese man who when he was young was raffled off at the World's Fair. The winning ticket is a brothel owner. The book bounces back and forth between the early 1900s and the 1960s. The 1960s part especially was unsatisfying I just couldn't imagine someone's children acting the way his did and I would've much preferred to see how the family evolved to that point.

Currently I'm reading The Tattooist of Auschwitz. Only 50ish pages in and it's alright. So many people love this one that I assume it's going to get better.

I found the same. I pictured Crow from MST3000, even though Dh tells me that is completely wrong!

I was the one that asked but didn't think there had been replies. Will go back and check that out!