The Great Carpezio
Pearl Clutcher
Something profound goes here.
Posts: 2,936 
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Post by The Great Carpezio on May 13, 2024 16:11:54 GMT
Hello readers!
I am about a 1/3 of the way through an almost 800 pager (sci/fi with a lot of "stuff" and people), so I didn't complete a book this week.
What did you read?
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gottapeanow
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,760
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Post by gottapeanow on May 13, 2024 17:26:16 GMT
My current read is A Calamity of Souls by Baldacci. This is one of his best novels in years. Shades of A Time to Kill by Grisham. I'm about halfway done and will rate it next week.
I finished two books this week.
Carolina Moonset by Goldman. This was excellent. A mystery with a dash of romance thrown in. Joey's father is dealing with dementia. Then a bitter enemy is killed just outside their home. And his father's whereabouts during that time cannot be accounted for. He couldn't have done it. Could he? 5/5 stars
Darling Girls by Hepworth. Three "sisters," raised together, tell their story of their foster home. What really happened to the darling girls? That ending, though. So twisty. I have read three books by Hepworth. So far, this is my favorite. 5/5 stars, and possibly one of my favorite reads of the year for that ending.
Lisa
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Post by coloradocropper on May 13, 2024 18:30:06 GMT
I read Fellowship Point by Allison Elliot Dark. I really liked it. It was almost a 5 star book for me. Definitely, worth the read and you might give it 5 stars.
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hutchfan
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,158
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Post by hutchfan on May 13, 2024 18:44:37 GMT
I read Funny Story by Emily Henry and it is my favorite book from her so far. I loved this beautiful, funny at times story and the characters!⭐⭐⭐⭐
Daphne always loved the way her fiance, Peter, told their story. How they met(on a blustery day), fell in love (over an errant hat), and moved back to his lakeside hometown to begin their life together. He really was good at telling it...right up until the moment he realized he was actually in love with his childhood best friend, Petra.
Which is how Daphne begins her new story:stranded in beautiful Waning Bay, Michigan, without friends or family but with a dream job as a children's librarian (that barely pays the bills), and proposing to be roommates with the only person who could possibly understand her predicament:Petra's ex, Miles Nowak.
Scruffy and chaotic-with a penchant for taking solace in the sounds of heartbreak love ballads-Miles is exactly the opposite of practical, buttoned-up Daphne, whose coworkers know so little about her, they have a running bet that she's either FBI or in witness protection. The roommates mainly avoid one another, until one day, while drowning in their sorrows, they form a tenuous friendship and a plan. If said plan also involves posting deliberately misleading photos of their summer adventures together, well who could blame them?
But, it's all just for show, of course, because there's no way Daphne would actually start her new chapter by falling in love with her ex-fiance's new fiancee's ex....right?
The second book I read was How To End A Love Story. This story was sad to me and I had a hard time liking most of the characters. ⭐⭐⭐
Helen Zhang hasn't seen Grant Shepherd once in thirteen years since the tragic accident that bound their lives together forever.
Now a bestselling author, Helen pours everything into her career. She's even scored a coveted spot in the writers room of the TV adaptation of her young adult novels, and if she can hide her imposter syndrome, surely the rest of her life will fall into place too. L.A. is the fresh start she needs. After all, no one knows her there. Except....
Grant has done everything in his power to move on from the past, including a life across the country. And while the panic attacks have never quite gone away, he's well liked around town as a screenwriter. He knows he shouldn't have taken the job on Helen's show, but it will open doors to developing his own projects that he just can't pass up.
Grant's exactly as Helen remembers him-charming, popular, and loveable in ways that she's never been. And Helen's exactly as Grant remembers too-brillant, beautiful, closed off. But working together is messy, and electrifying, and Helen's parents, who have never forgiven Grant, have no idea he's in the picture at all.
When secrets come to light, they must reckon with the fact that theirs was never meant to be any kind of love story. And yet....the key to making peace with their past-and themselves-might just be in holding on to each other in the present.
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Post by pjaye on May 13, 2024 19:12:35 GMT
Magic Pill: The Extraordinary Benefits and Disturbing Risks of the New Weight Loss Drugs by Johann Hari
I saw the author interviewed on a TV show and he was interesting, funny and seemed to have some sensible points of view...so I bought the book.
Despite the title it's about more than just diet drugs, although a chunk of it is about his own experiences of taking Ozempic.
He also investigates why the first world nations have such high rates of obesity, and looks at how the food industry contributes to that.
he talks about the side effects of Ozempic in a rational way & doesn't just scare monger. There's a section near the end where he goes to Japan, which only has a 4% obesity rate (USA is 42%) and how their food culture and way of eating differs from ours.
Lots of interesting facts along the way, he also narrates the audiobook and is very easy to listen to.
5 stars for a well-researched & balanced look at these drugs.
How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin
Set in England, dual timeline, 1965 & current day.
Back in 1965 3 teenage friends go to a fair, Frances has her fortune read, and is told she will be murdered...and she spends the rest of her life trying to work out who will do it & why.
In the current day, Annie, Frances' great niece is invited to France's country estate to go over some documents, but just as she arrives Frances is found dead, and now her potential heirs try to solve the murder in order to inherit her estate.
This got off to a great start, and then gradually fizzled for me. Too many characters and too complicated and the reveal at the end was not really believable.
3 stars
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Post by sawwhet on May 13, 2024 22:24:33 GMT
I spent the week reading The Courage to be Disliked by Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga. I read a description and thought it would be interesting. I wanted to give up after 100 pages but "forced" myself to move on.It was more of a comparison between Freudian vs Adlerian psychology. It was interesting and told as a mentor to a mentee. Overall, I gave it 3/5. Yeah, it was a bit boring but I really did learn a few things so my goal was achieved. I forced myself to leave my comfort zone and learn something new. I'm currently listening to " Everyone Here is Lying" by Shari Lapena, my comfort genre LOL I've downloaded a boatload of ebooks from Amazon and Kobo on sale for $1.99-$5 during the past few weeks. I have both a Kindle and Kobo. In Canada, the library system can only be used on a Kobo but I wanted the deals from Amazon and free books with my Prime membership so I have both. Lots to read this summer  |
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Post by lainey on May 14, 2024 11:21:03 GMT
I gave up on Her Majesty's Royal Coven by Juno Dawson. It started out really strongly, I liked the characters and there are lots of mentions of places I know irl (which I always love in books) but the plot just wasn't holding my attention.
I finished House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland 2 stars.
Seventeen-year-old Iris Hollow has always been strange. Something happened to her and her two older sisters when they were children, something they can’t quite remember but that left each of them with an identical half-moon scar at the base of their throats.
Iris has spent most of her teenage years trying to avoid the weirdness that sticks to her like tar. But when her eldest sister, Grey, goes missing under suspicious circumstances, Iris learns just how weird her life can get: horned men start shadowing her, a corpse falls out of her sister’s ceiling, and ugly, impossible memories start to twist their way to the forefront of her mind.
As Iris retraces Grey’s last known footsteps and follows the increasingly bizarre trail of breadcrumbs she left behind, it becomes apparent that the only way to save her sister is to decipher the mystery of what happened to them as children.
The closer Iris gets to the truth, the closer she comes to understanding that the answer is dark and dangerous – and that Grey has been keeping a terrible secret from her for years.
I had to laugh at the author giving herself 5 stars on Goodreads, why do they do that?
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Post by gramasue on May 14, 2024 11:55:13 GMT
I finally finished Last Night by Luanne Rice. I could not wait to finish this book, it was so convoluted with characters and suspects and plots, but I was curious to find out "whodunit". I just finished it 2 days ago and I seriously cannot remember right now who ended up being the ultimate bad guy. I am now about half-way through Same Time Next Year by Tess Bailey, another Amazon download. It started out as quite an interesting and cute story line and I was engaged with the plot and the characters right away. All of a sudden, it became an erotic novel, with sex scenes that are so graphic and detailed that I was cringing at some of them. As my dear old Mom used to say "I like a little sex, but that is too much for me". Don't worry, I will keep reading, as I want to see where these two characters end up! |
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Post by Tearisci on May 15, 2024 19:37:54 GMT
I just finished When She Returned by Lucinda Berry. I got it on Kindle Unlimted and it was a really good read 5/5
Here's the synopsis:
Kate Bennett vanished from a parking lot eleven years ago, leaving behind her husband and young daughter. When she shows up at a Montana gas station, clutching an infant and screaming for help, investigators believe she may have been abducted by a cult.
Kate’s return flips her family’s world upside down—her husband is remarried, and her daughter barely remembers her. Kate herself doesn’t look or act like she did before.
While the family tries to help Kate reintegrate into society, they discover truths they’ve been hiding from each other about their own relationships. But they aren’t the only ones with secrets. As the family unravels what happened to Kate, a series of shocking revelations shows that Kate’s return is more sinister than any of them could have imagined.
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Post by mnmloveli on May 15, 2024 22:45:17 GMT
I just finished When She Returned by Lucinda Berry. I got it on Kindle Unlimted and it was a really good read 5/5 Here's the synopsis: Kate Bennett vanished from a parking lot eleven years ago, leaving behind her husband and young daughter. When she shows up at a Montana gas station, clutching an infant and screaming for help, investigators believe she may have been abducted by a cult. Kate’s return flips her family’s world upside down—her husband is remarried, and her daughter barely remembers her. Kate herself doesn’t look or act like she did before. While the family tries to help Kate reintegrate into society, they discover truths they’ve been hiding from each other about their own relationships. But they aren’t the only ones with secrets. As the family unravels what happened to Kate, a series of shocking revelations shows that Kate’s return is more sinister than any of them could have imagined. This looks good ! I’ve read quite a few Lucinda Berry books that I’ve enjoyed. Previous 5/6 books by this author for me were 4 stars with only one 3 star: Off the Deep End (‘23 - 4 Stars), Saving Noah (‘17 - Read ‘23 - 4 Stars), The Secrets of Us (‘22 - 4 Stars), Under Her Care (‘22 - 3 Stars), The Best of Friends (‘20 - 4 Stars) and The Perfect Child (‘19 - 4 Stars). I did not enjoy her most recent book, Keep Your Friends Close (‘23 - Read ‘24 - 2 Stars); thought it was boring. Very unlike her. |
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edie3
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,497
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Post by edie3 on May 17, 2024 2:20:19 GMT
I read First Lie Wins and thought it was just okay. I had trouble keeping up with all the aliases.
Evie Porter has everything a nice, Southern girl could want: a perfect, doting boyfriend, a house with a white picket fence and a garden, a fancy group of friends. The only catch: Evie Porter doesn’t exist.
The identity comes first: Evie Porter. Once she’s given a name and location by her mysterious boss Mr. Smith, she learns everything there is to know about the town and the people in it. Then the mark: Ryan Sumner. The last piece of the puzzle is the job.
Evie isn’t privy to Mr. Smith’s real identity, but she knows this job will be different. Ryan has gotten under her skin, and she’s starting to envision a different sort of life for herself. But Evie can’t make any mistakes—especially after what happened last time.
Because the one thing she’s worked her entire life to keep clean, the one identity she could always go back to—her real identity—just walked right into this town. Evie Porter must stay one step ahead of her past while making sure there’s still a future in front of her. The stakes couldn't be higher—but then, Evie has always liked a challenge...
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