🟣 :::READING THREAD::: Week of August 27th

I finished The Library Book about the huge fire that burned the LA library and about the library in general. 3.5 stars.

I'm now reading Tom Lake by Ann Patchett. It's great so far.

Lisa

I really enjoyed all the history about libraries in this one and the role they play in different communities. The number of books destroyed was truly mind-boggling.

I haven't posted in over a month, which surprises me, and I've read a number of books since then, but I'll just mention the good ones to keep it brief. Lol.

A Shilling for Candles by Josephine Tey. This is one of those classic mystery novels from the 1930s, and those are a mixed bag, but I enjoyed this one. An actress's body washes up on a deserted beach, and Scotland Yard Inspector Alan Grant has too many suspects who wanted her dead.

A Winter Murder in Berlin by Sean McLachlan. A Kindle Unlimited mystery (which seems to be set as the first in a new series) that takes place in 1929 Berlin. The protagonist is a young American woman who has come into a large inheritance and started a European tour--only to arrive in Berlin the day after the U.S. stock market crash. A man who was very attentive to her on the Atlantic voyage turns up dead in her hotel room, so she has multiple problems to solve for herself in a strange city where disturbing groups are taking power. This is the typical Kindle Unlimited book with dumb mistakes and zero editing, but despite that, I still found the heroine and the setting interesting and I'll definitely read the next book when it comes out.

A Madness of Sunshine by Nalini Singh. I got this one at the library; it was recommended in a listicle of mysteries that take place in isolated locales. This one takes place in a tiny town on the coast of New Zealand, and I like reading books about that part of the world. I liked the mystery and the characters, too. Apparently this author has written one or two well-loved fantasy series and this is her first attempt at a mystery.

City Under One Roof by Iris Yamashita. This was also recommended in the above-mentioned listicle. The setting is an Alaskan town that exists in one high-rise building left over from an old army base. There's only one way in and one way out. A teen discovers a severed hand and foot washed up on the beach. The author is a screenwriter, and you can often tell when screenwriters write novels--they read like movies, for better and for worse. I did like the setting and overall it was pretty good.

The Villa by Rachel Hawkins. I think this book was recommended by a Pea...? It's about two friends who rent an Italian villa together in the present day, and then the story of a famed murder that took place at the villa in the 1970s, and of course the two storylines converge. This trope is beyond old, but I still really enjoyed the twists and turns of this story. There was a little more snarkiness and humor than these types of stories usually have.

Paradise by Patricia Wolf. This was definitely recommended here (by pjaye ?) a few weeks ago. I was eager to read it because I'd read the author's first book in the series, Outback, in February. These were both Kindle Unlimited books, I believe. Both are mysteries that take place in Australia, and though not perfect, I do really enjoy the main character and the setting. Both stories feature violent crimes against women and this one also has a serious threat against a child, so just a trigger warning there. I'm pretty sensitive to that stuff but I did okay with it.

The Woman They Wanted: Shattering the Illusion of the Good Christian Wife by Shannon Harris. My only non-fiction read in quite some time! This just came out and I got my pre-ordered copy yesterday. Shannon is the ex-wife of Joshua Harris, who is well-known in evangelical Christian circles for his 1997 book I Kissed Dating Goodbye, which codified "purity culture" for a couple generations of Christian kids. (Thankfully, I'm far too old to have been impacted by it.) Shannon writes about coming to a Christian mega-church as a young woman, falling in love with Josh, and trying to cram herself into a deeply misogynistic world where her dreams did not matter, only her support role as a pastor's wife. In the late-2010s, their marriage ended, she deconstructed her faith, and this is sort of a loosely-structured recounting of her experiences. It's an easy read, the chapters are very short, and I'm really glad she is telling her story, and that maybe other people who have been harmed by the church will hear what she has to say. Her discovery of feminist thought wasn't terribly interesting to me because I've read all the books she cites decades ago, but I know it will be new information to other readers just as it was to her. Her ex-husband has also left the Christian faith and renounced his books but he is very much a non-character in her story, he mostly just represents the world that she had to break away from. She wrote about him as if he were an acquaintance or even a stranger. Maybe he was, even though they were married almost 20 years. I'd say it's worth reading if you were impacted by the American evangelical culture of the 1990s and 200s.

Read two last week: “The Lager Queen of Minnesota” by J. Ryan Stradal, a quirky tale of a family misunderstanding and the breweries they own and run. Interesting w/lots of beer brewing info, a but fluffy, and I enjoyed it. I think this one was recommended here but quite a while back.

Second was “Promise Me” by British chick-lit writer Jill Mansell. Another fluffy but enjoyable story of a women who is hired as a housekeeper by the town grump, an old man who also is a millionaire. Light but a fun way to pass the time.

Very good reading week for me………..



NONE OF THIS IS TRUE (‘23 - 5 STARS) BY LISA JEWEL
DESCRIPTION: Celebrating her forty-fifth birthday at her local pub, popular podcaster Alix Summers crosses paths with an unassuming woman called Josie Fair. Josie, it turns out, is also celebrating her forty-fifth birthday. They are, in fact, birthday twins. A few days later, Alix and Josie bump into each other again, this time outside Alix’s children’s school. Josie has been listening to Alix’s podcasts and thinks she might be an interesting subject for her series. She is, she tells Alix, on the cusp of great changes in her life. Josie’s life appears to be strange and complicated, and although Alix finds her unsettling, she can’t quite resist the temptation to keep making the podcast. Slowly she starts to realise that Josie has been hiding some very dark secrets, and before she knows it, Josie has inveigled her way into Alix’s life—and into her home.

REVIEW:
pjaye gave it 4 Stars and said “It's a bit unsettling & creepy and had me hooked”. sudie First book by this author, loved it and gave 5 stars. sawwhet Lisa Jewell fan, favorite book of the year and 5 stars. I initially planned to hold-off on this book since her last 2 books (The Night She Disappeared ‘21 - Read ‘22 & The Invisible Girl ‘20) for me were slow & boring (3 Stars) but due to the good 2Peas reviews, I jumped on it. All others I have read by her received 4 stars (The Girls in the Garden (‘20), I Found You (‘17 - Read ‘20), The Family Upstairs (‘19), Watching You (‘18 - Read ‘19) and Then She Was Gone (‘17 - Read ‘18).

Enjoyed the slow reveal of what is really going on in Josie’s strange life. The alternating of the actual podcast with Josie’s real actions kept me interested. At about 60% when the recording of the podcast seems basically over with Josie, I’m getting nervous where this could go. WOW! I won’t ruin for anyone and stop right here. Best Lisa Jewell book yet! 5 STARS!



A TWISTED LOVE STORY (‘23 - 4 STARS) BY SAMANTHA DOWNING
DESCRIPTION : Wes and Ivy are madly in love. They've never felt anything like it. It's the kind of romance people write stories about. But what kind of story? Because when it's good, it's great. Flowers. Grand gestures. Deep meaningful conversations where the whole world disappears. When it's bad, it's really bad. Vengeful fights. Damaged property. Arrest warrants. But their vicious cycle of catastrophic breakups and head-over-heels reconnections needs to end fast. Because suddenly, Wes and Ivy have a common enemy--and she's a detective.

REVIEW :
First book by this author for me was My Lovely Wife (‘19 - 4 Stars), which is an upcoming movie on Netflix (no date yet). This tale jumps right in with no introduction of characters. Learning about their relationship from the present going backwards. A dark & twisted relationship that I’m sure will not end well for someone especially when an incident from their reckless past is hinted at. I’m starting to like Detective Karen Colglazier and her investigative skills. An original start to get to the main case. Well done. A better ending could have earned 5-stars from me.



Hope everyone has a great reading week & Labor Day Weekend !

Seven Sisters by Katherine Kovacic
Set in modern day Australia. Mia is a grief counsellor, and on Thursday evenings she runs a support group for 6 women who have all had sisters impacted by domestic violence. Naomi is the last to join the group and at first she thinks it won't be for her...until she discovers the real agenda of the group.
I love a good feminist revenge novel and I really enjoyed this one.
4 stars

The Torrent by Dinuka McKenzie
A debut novel from this author and the first in the Detective Kate Miles series. The second book "Taken" was published this year (I'll get the audiobook which is out tomorrow)
Also set in Modern day Australia. Detective Kate Mills is pregnant and a week away from going on maternity leave, when a teenage girl is injured in a robbery and then Kate is also asked to review a closed case of the drowning of a local man during a flood instead of winding down and handing over her cases she gets involved in both and puts her life in danger.
An entertaining mystery with a likeable main character. I'm looking forward to the second book.
3.5 Stars, rounded up to 4 on GR/

I needed something lighter after the crime books, so I picked another crime book...lol, but this is one with a difference...
A Most Agreeable Murder by Julia Seales.
Set in the fictional English town of Swampshire in the early 1800s this is a tongue in cheek Regency era muder-mystery.
If you love Jane Austin, then you'll appreciate the humour of this book.
Goodreads sums it up better than I can:
"Swampshire is a swampy little township that no one has heard about, with its key features being swamps, frogs, and hail. Nevertheless, it has its set of loyal
residents who follow the set of rules laid down by the founding father Baron Ashbrook a long time ago.
One such family is the Steele family, whose eldest daughter Beatrice Steele is burdened with the responsibility of having to marry well. Sadly, she is terrible
at needlework, has absolutely no musical ability, and her artwork is so bad it frightens people. The only interest that she has is an unhealthy passion for
true crime cases, which she reads on the sly in newspapers, quite against the guiding rules about acceptable behaviour for ladies.
When a person drops dead at a ball the Steele family is attending at Stabmort Park, Beatrice sees it as a great opportunity to employ her detective skills."
This was a fun, campy romp, with lots of references to Jane Austen, and it made me laugh out loud.
4 stars

"A Better Man" by Louise Penny. I'm working through all 18 Inspector Gamache novels this year. This is book 15 and I gave it 4 stars. There is something comforting about returning to Three Pines and the same characters every few books

"Looking for Jane" by Heather Marshall. This was interesting. I went into this with no background. I assumed Jane would be a missing women but it's about the underground abortion network in Toronto during the 60s and 70s. Fascinating stuff. The Jane network is still alive and well in areas where abortion is illegal. Janes=doctors who will provide illegal abortion services. It's categorized as historical fiction (based on true events).

"Evidence of the Affair" by Taylor Jenkins Reid. This was a nice little novella. I listened to it while cleaning. If you want to catch up with your reading goal or just get through a quick story, this one is pretty good. The audio version is 1 hour 19 minutes.

Presently reading "The Third to Die" by Allison Brennan. This is the first of the Quinn and Costa series. I did read book 4 a few weeks ago which was fine on it's own.

I love Jill Mansell - is she Sophie Kinsella's pen name (or vice versa)?

This is one of my favorite books! I listened to the audiobook and I had a smile on my face the entire time.

Thanks!

I read AMERICAN DIRT Lydia lives in Acapulco. She has a son, Luca, the love of her life, and a wonderful husband who is a journalist. And while cracks are beginning to show in Acapulco because of the cartels, Lydia’s life is, by and large, fairly comfortable. But after her husband’s tell-all profile of the newest drug lord is published, none of their lives will ever be the same.
Forced to flee, Lydia and Luca find themselves joining the countless people trying to reach the United States. Lydia soon sees that everyone is running from something. But what exactly are they running to?

It was heartbreaking to read some parts, I enjoyed it. 5/5

I also read HELLO BEAUTIFUL William Waters grew up in a house silenced by tragedy, where his parents could hardly bear to look at him, much less love him—so when he meets the spirited and ambitious Julia Padavano in his freshman year of college, it’s as if the world has lit up around him. With Julia comes her family, as she and her three sisters are inseparable: Sylvie, the family’s dreamer, is happiest with her nose in a book; Cecelia is a free-spirited artist; and Emeline patiently takes care of them all. With the Padavanos, William experiences a newfound contentment; every moment in their house is filled with loving chaos.

But then darkness from William’s past surfaces, jeopardizing not only Julia’s carefully orchestrated plans for their future, but the sisters’ unshakeable devotion to one another. The result is a catastrophic family rift that changes their lives for generations. Will the loyalty that once rooted them be strong enough to draw them back together when it matters most?

It was interesting how the characters were woven together in a dysfunctional family of love. 5/5

I finished A Gentleman in Moscow: A Novel by Amor Towles. I'm late to the party but I really enjoyed it. 4/5 stars because sometimes I got slogged up in all the names and history that I don't know.

Now I'm reading Dark Matter which I'm pretty sure I read in 2016 but don't remember how it ends.

Thank you! I thought one of them had a pen name. I like all three authors!