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Post by mom2luke on Jul 27, 2015 15:35:30 GMT
Two for me this week and I enjoyed them both.
The first was The Deep End by Julie Mulhern. It is the story of a woman that finds her husband's mistress while swimming laps during the pre-dawn hours at the country club. It takes place in the early 1970s. Total fluff and not something that I would normally read. But it was a great fun read for by the pool. I highly recommend!
The other was a YA book titled Since You've Been Gone by Morgan Matson. Its the story of a girl that lives in her best friend's shadow and then one summer her best friend disappears but leaves her a list to complete. Loved this story. Loved seeing the main character gain self-esteem and grow. I just loved it.
Thank you to everyone that contributes to this thread - it is one of the highlights of my week. I have more books on my "to-read" list than I will ever read but that's ok!
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Post by circusjohnson on Jul 27, 2015 15:42:28 GMT
I read Paper Thingsby Jennifer Richard Jacobson. An excellent middle reader about a homeless girl.
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anaterra
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Post by anaterra on Jul 27, 2015 15:52:00 GMT
I read paper town over the weekend.. also wanting to get it read before the movie... i just started 3 books by nora roberts i have never read... born in fire, born in ice, born in shame... 3 different sisters with hard heads n hard hearts.. who do whatever, find a great guy, live happily ever after... lol but i like them!!!
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gottapeanow
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Post by gottapeanow on Jul 27, 2015 15:57:22 GMT
lynnek, last year, I read 100 books, but this year, I am very behind on my reading goal. I can't blame it all on CC as other life issues, not all of them unwanted, have cut into my reading time. Even so, cutting down would make a difference. Lisa What is your Goodreads name? I am Lynnek there too. I am friends with several people from here but when the names are different I sometimes don't match them up very well. LOL! I know what you mean, it's hard for me to keep track, too. Sometimes I go backwards by looking at the books people read on GR and then matching them to the Weekly Reading Thread here. LOL. I think I am just LisaT over there. Lisa
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Post by kellybelly77 on Jul 27, 2015 18:21:27 GMT
I started the week listening to Ophelia by Lisa M. Klein. This is the Ophelia from Hamlet and it focuses on her side of the story. I found it interesting as I haven’t read the full Hamlet…just gleaned the basics of the story over time. Her character in the book is given a different ending to Shakespeare’s play but I thought it was plausible. It got a little too focused on religion for a section of the book and I thought that part got a little boring. Over all a good story and I gave it 3 stars. I also now have to audio version of Hamlet on hold at the library…probably about time I read the whole thing.
Next up were my first ever Kristin Hannah books…Firefly Lane and the sequel Fly Away. The story of two girls who meet and become best friends, one has a mostly absent alcoholic/drug addict mother and the other is a 'nice’ girl from a nice family who is an outsider at school. The first book is mostly the story of the ups and downs of their friendship over the years…one becomes famous and one is a SAHM. The second book looks at the lives of the other members of the family…esp the dug addict mother. Definitely chick lit and shades of “Beaches” but enjoyable. I painted the bathroom for a few days this week and these were the perfect books to listen to, not too many characters and an easy to follow story line. I gave them both 3 out of 5 stars…nothing great that will blow you away but still an engaging story to read/listen to. Haven’t decided what next yet, I’ve bought a few newish releases recently (Wolf Winter, The Little Paris Bookshop & The Other Daughter) so might venture in to one of those, I’ll see what I'm in the mood for tomorrow.
I read Firefly Lane and never knew there was a sequel! I'll have to add it to the list. thanks!
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Post by roundtwo on Jul 27, 2015 21:05:33 GMT
A nearby town runs a book sale during the summer months and I stock up whenever I am in the area. The deals are awesome - three hardcovers for $5 and six paper packs for $5. All that to say, that I am reading some older books right now since the new ones get picked up pretty quick. It's dangerous to keep looking for the new ones since I am always able to find at least $5 worth of other goodies when I am there, lol!
I just finished A History of the World in 10.5 Chapters by Julian Barnes. It didn't do much for me.
I've just started The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon while I am only about 3 chapters in, I am enjoying it so far.
I was reading Our Lady of the Lost and Found by Diane Schoemperlen. I am maybe a third way finished but I am not sure when I'll get back to it - it is just okay and I have a stack of about 20 other new to me books to read that look a lot more exciting at this point.
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shawsee2
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Post by shawsee2 on Jul 27, 2015 22:17:48 GMT
Just finished A Man Called Ove and I loved it...probably my favourite read of 2015 so far...got me good in the feels off and on throughout
I will be starting All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews tonight...have heard good things about this one so here's hoping...
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Post by birukitty on Jul 27, 2015 23:07:20 GMT
Oh my, I have missed this thread for the last few weeks and I have no idea why. So, I have some catching up to do. Here they are in the order they were read:
"Beneath The Surface-Killer Whales, Sea World and the Truth beyond BlackFish" by John Hargrove. I really liked this book. It was written by a man who worked for 20 years with 20 different whales at 2 different Sea World facilities. Since he was a child and saw his first Sea World show he knew becoming an orca trainer was all he wanted to do with his life. When two fellow trainers were killed by the whales Hargrove finally faced up to the fact that had been gnawing steadily at him for years-that the Sea World program was detrimental to the whales but now he also realized unsafe for trainers. His dream job was over-he quit. After his dream job was over he became one of the stars of the film, "Blackfish" This book goes into the nitty, gritty behind the film. It isn't a tell all Sea World is all bad expose. Rather it tells the story of a man who adores his job, explains how he does his job, what's involved and how he gets there. You will learn about the whales, what they go through, how they are taught and what they do.
It goes through the deaths at Sea World, the ones you know about, the the ones you've probably never heard of. You will learn everything you've ever wanted to know from this book-and it's a book I highly encourage anyone with an interest in this subject to read. A fascinating, well written book. 4 stars.
Night Road by Kristen Hannah. Whenever I finish reading nonfiction book I like to follow it with a light fiction read like Kristen Hannah. She never disappoints me. I sink into her stories like sinking into a bathtub full of warm water. Ahhh. This was a very good book, that kept me turning those pages well into the night. It's about a set of teen twins with the world's most perfect mother, and another teen who was raised by the world's worst mother who's just died from a drug overdose. This poor teen girl has just moved to town and becomes best friend's with one of the teens and it goes on from there. An excellent read, quite a few twisting turns but a great ending just the same. 4 stars. by
Stella Bain by Anita Shreve. This was a historical fiction book about the WW1 and I love that time period and haven't read very much at all about that war so I was very interested in reading this book. With Anita Shreve though I've found it's hit or miss. There were her earlier books which I thought were all hits like Resistance which I absolutely adored. Pilot's Wife was also good, as was The Weight of Water. These were all made into films, but of course the books were better. Also, Fortune's Rocks and Where or When. Lately I don't know what's happened. It's like she's lost her groove. Her spark. Something. The books just seem to fall flat. It was this way with A Wedding in December, and it was this way with Stella Bain. So sad too, because this book had such a great story line. But halfway through it just stopped. You're in the period right after WW1 ends and it's so interesting and then it just stops-and she goes into the 1930. Sometimes this works, this time it didn't. At all. 2.5 stars. For the first half of the book.
The Undertaking by Audrey Magee I loved this book! Another historical fiction book, this one is set in WW2, and is about a German solider desperate to escape the trenches on the Eastern Front so he enters into a marriage of convenience to a woman he's never met who lives in Berlin. For him he gains 2 weeks leave and a chance to visit his parents. For her she gets a she gets a pension if he should die in the war. They are both surprised by their attraction to each other and the passion that develops between them during the 2 weeks. Rather than being solely a love story however, I also liked this book because it showed me a side of the war I rarely get a chance to read about. What it was like for the German soldiers (the ordinary young men who were teachers, engineers ect. who wanted nothing to do with this war and weren't nazis but were forced to fight) to fight in the front lines in Stalingrad in the freezing winter. A very well written book that was a first novel for this writer. Highly recommended.
Home Front by Kristen Hannah while this wasn't really a light fiction read, it was still a very good book. This was about a family with a mother in the Army Reserves who gets deployed as a helicopter pilot to Iraq for a year. She tells her family she won't be in combat but will only be flying supplies back and forth since her children are a young teen and an elementary school son. But she and her best friend (also a helicopter pilot) know that isn't the truth. The book is about what happens to them and their families. Once again Kristen Hannah bats it out of the park!
The Night Lives On by Walter Lord this one I sadly didn't get to finish-and it was so good! Another person wanted it from the library and I couldn't renew it so I had to turn it back in. Darn it! Guess I'll have to put it back on hold and check it back out again. I was half way through and trying so hard to finish it. Walter Lord wrote the classic "A Night to Remember" about the Titanic first published in 1955. This was his follow up book to that classic. I'll review it when I finish it another time.
Whew! So, I'm all caught up for now. I've got to keep out a watch for these threads on Sundays. I've been missing all of your threads too, and all of the wonderful books you write about. It's so wonderful to add them to my Goodreads list.
Debbie in MD.
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tuesdaysgone
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Post by tuesdaysgone on Jul 27, 2015 23:31:36 GMT
I've just started The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon while I am only about 3 chapters in, I am enjoying it so far. One of my favorite books by one of my favorite authors. I hope you continue to like it and congratulations on all your great deals.
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Post by maryland on Jul 28, 2015 3:16:09 GMT
I read Night Night, Sleep Tight by Hallie Ephron. The book takes place in 1980's Beverly Hills and is about a woman who returns to her childhood home there and finds her screenwriter father dead in his pool. I whipped right through it, but wished it had reached a more exciting crescendo. The time and place of the story had so many great possibilities, especially the part of the story that borrowed a bit from the real life murder of Lana Turner's mobster boyfriend by her young daughter. I'm now reading Elin Hilderbrand's The Castaways. Loved The Castaways! But I love all of her books. That one was one of my favorites.
Read Every Day and liked it. Reading Finding Jake and enjoy it so far.
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Post by powderhorngreen on Jul 28, 2015 3:40:19 GMT
Lainey - I read Tampa last year. It was a disturbing look into the mind of a child molester. The fact that the molester was a woman and a school teacher made an incredibly indelible mark in my memory. I guess you can say that to enjoy the book is wrong, but I am so glad I read it and it makes me think about the issue of a sexual relationship with an underage teen regardless of the age of the other partner in a different light. Made me a supporter of inchoate rape laws.
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Post by powderhorngreen on Jul 28, 2015 3:57:17 GMT
The last week, I finished:
Finding Jake by Bryan Reardon - not much to add as it has been discussed here lots lately. I was hesitant as there have been quite a few books like this in the last couple of years and I figured it would be, at best, a mediocre regurgitation. I was wrong. The voice of the father was fresh and, while the outcome was predictable fairly early on, it was refreshing that he was a "good kid". I wish the trauma behind being the parent of a suspected shooter had been developed deeper. Overall, a good read.
Drunken Fireworks by Stephen King - this is a short story that has been released as an audiobook only. It is the story of two lake neighbors that get into an annual "pissing contest" over who has the better fireworks display. Of course, after several years the escalation ends in a tragedy. However, there is a fun little twist at the end - there has to be because it is Stephen King. A fun hour of so of my life.
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Post by mirabelleswalker on Jul 28, 2015 4:18:19 GMT
On the recommendation of one of my book club buddies, I picked up Andrew Meredith's The Removers. It's a memoir of a young man who takes a job picking up dead bodies for a local mortuary. I was expecting a "here's a funny story about the death business," treatment, but it was more like the work served as a metaphor for the emotional death he was working his way through, while the city he called home went through it's own death. It was short, but poignant. Have you read Smoke Gets in Your Eyes by Caitlin Doughty? It is also a memoir about a young mortician. Very interesting and has some funny stories about the death business.
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tanya2
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Post by tanya2 on Jul 28, 2015 4:34:20 GMT
I just finished The Summer Without You by Karen Swan & I LOVED it. I've enjoyed every book of hers that I've read actually. I just found out that Summer at Tiffany's just came out this month, which is a sequel to Christmas at Tiffanys which I also loved. I was about to start it - and realized I didn't remember enough of the first book, so now I'm rereading Christmas before I start Summer.
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Post by smokeynspike on Jul 28, 2015 5:48:56 GMT
I am currently reading Me Before You by Jojo Moyes.
On vacation last week I finished reading The Enemy by Charlie Higson. It is a YA zombie series set in London. I will be reading the rest of the series, eventually.
I also read Prisoner of Night and Fog by Anne Blankman. It was an excellent historical fiction YA novel set in 1930's Munich, Germany at the beginning of the rise of Hitler's power. I gave it 5/5 stars on GoodReads. I need to read the sequel now too. Anne Frank's Diary was the spark of my interest in WWII historical fiction. There are so many good books that I love set in this atrocious time period in Germany. I would recommend this book!
Melissa
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paigepea
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Post by paigepea on Jul 28, 2015 5:58:08 GMT
Next was The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. Normally, I find her books to be a bit syrupy sweet and can only take them in small doses. But, good for a fluff read. This book is not like that. I look forward to her next book and hope it is of this caliber. Highly recommend! Even though this has been highly recommended here many times I have been avoiding it. I have read a couple of other books by Hannah and found them to be predictable and very sappy. You may have convinced me to try it I also never liked her books - tear jerkers! But the nightingale had much more depth and was well worth the read!
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paigepea
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Post by paigepea on Jul 28, 2015 6:14:51 GMT
Hi everyone!
We're on vacation so I had a busy reading week.
I read WHAT SHE LEFT BEHIND by Ellen Marie Wiseman. I really enjoyed it - two stories at two different time periods. One girl is institutionalized by her parents, and one girl doesn't want to go to the institution where her mother is. It was an interesting, fast read, but the writing lacked an elegance. As a result, it felt a bit YA to me, which is ok. I'd recommend it!
Next I read THE SEVEN SISTERS by Lucinda Riley. I've been a fan of hers for some time - I loved The Orchid House and The lavender Garden. She has a strong elegance to her writing - her sentences flow and create vivd pictures that I can see, taste and smell. This book did not disappoint. I loved it and devoured it. First in her new series, it's about the 7 sisters all adopte and named for a star in the seven sisters constellation. Their father dies and leaves behind a hint for each of them to discover their past (remember they were adopted). This book was about the first sister's story. And so on. I can't wait for the next book to come out - in march. If anyone doesn't know Lucinda Riley, I've heard her compared to Kate Morton (the forgotten garden). She creates long, epic stories about families, secrets, love, etc.
I'm almost finished A FALL OF MARIGOLDS by Susan Meissner. She also wrote Secrets of a Charmed life, which I've read and enjoyed. Her writing isn't as elegant or flowery, but I'm enjoying this book a lot - more then Secrets/Charmed Life. The story is more interesting. It follows a scarf back and forth in time and describes the people and what's going on with them. One nurse survives a major building fire in NY and ends uo working on ellis island helping new immigrants while another woman is dealing with the 10th anniversary of 9/11 and how it affected her. They both have dealings with this scarf. I'm really enjoying it and will finish this post and then go finish the book.
Next up might be The Pearl That Broke Its Shell. Has anyone read this?
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paigepea
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Post by paigepea on Jul 28, 2015 6:17:39 GMT
I finished two last week. First was an ARC of Vanessa Diffenbaugh's second book called We Never Asked For Wings. Her first book was Language of Flowers and I enjoyed that one so much that when I saw her second available as an ARC I was sure to request it. And this one did not disappoint either!She has a way of writing about the underdog that has you rooting for them and wanting for things in their lives to work out. This is about a woman who has depended on her mother for really everything - including raising her children - for way too long. When her mother leaves and returns to Mexico, the woman is left to try to figure how to raise her kids and be the mother she should have all along. Be sure to read the afterword - good insight into an author's writing process! Next was Finding Jake by Brian Reardon. It had been on my to read list since before it was out and I even had checked it out from the library but it was returned unread. Then there was a thread about it here a few weeks ago so I got back on the hold list and read it. So glad I did! In this day that unfortunately, school shootings are not that uncommon, I found this to be a very interesting read. And it was written from a very interesting point of view - the family of one of the children possibly involved. A heart wrenching place to be in. I so identified with the father in general. As parents we are always questioning if we did this or that the way we should and what long lasting effects something will have on our kiddos. I would definitely recommend this one. Going to look up We Never Asked For Wings. I loved the language of Flowers!
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Post by pjaye on Jul 28, 2015 7:53:04 GMT
I read this a few months ago. Overall I liked it as it was set in a culture I don't know much about. I found the whole concept of the "Bacha posh" fascinating (although this book is fiction, that part of it is true). I thought the writing was a bit simplistic and like the other book you mentioned it did feel a bit YA, but I think that's partially due to cultural and language differences. Unfortunately the story probably isn't too far from the truth of what has/is happening to women in Afghanistan. I thought it was an interesting book.
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luckyexwife
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Post by luckyexwife on Jul 28, 2015 14:07:19 GMT
Oh my, I have missed this thread for the last few weeks and I have no idea why. So, I have some catching up to do. Here they are in the order they were read: by Stella Bain by Anita Shreve. This was a historical fiction book about the WW1 and I love that time period and haven't read very much at all about that war so I was very interested in reading this book. With Anita Shreve though I've found it's hit or miss. There were her earlier books which I thought were all hits like Resistance which I absolutely adored. Pilot's Wife was also good, as was The Weight of Water. These were all made into films, but of course the books were better. Also, Fortune's Rocks and Where or When. Lately I don't know what's happened. It's like she's lost her groove. Her spark. Something. The books just seem to fall flat. It was this way with A Wedding in December, and it was this way with Stella Bain. So sad too, because this book had such a great story line. But halfway through it just stopped. You're in the period right after WW1 ends and it's so interesting and then it just stops-and she goes into the 1930. Sometimes this works, this time it didn't. At all. 2.5 stars. For the first half of the book. I just got this book from the library, this review is not making me excited to read it! Have you read All He Ever Wanted by the same author? After I read that, I found out that Stella Bain is a sequel of sorts, which is why I got it from the library. The last few weeks, I have been reading summer beach reads. I read 3 Elin Hildebrand books. I enjoyed Barefoot and A Summer Affair, and I did not really like Nantucket Nights (well, I liked it most of the way through, then I really didn't like the ending ). I just finished The Wedding Circle, the third in The Cherry Cola Book Club series. It was a simplistic feel-good southern novel. I enjoyed it.
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Post by birukitty on Jul 28, 2015 17:35:39 GMT
Even though this has been highly recommended here many times I have been avoiding it. I have read a couple of other books by Hannah and found them to be predictable and very sappy. You may have convinced me to try it I also never liked her books - tear jerkers! But the nightingale had much more depth and was well worth the read! I've found her books to vary quite a bit. Some are sappy, soapy and a bit predictable. The one I'm reading right now is just like that, "True Colors", but I still enjoy reading them because she's a great story teller, and sometimes that's just the type of book I love to reach for interspersed with all of the WW2 non-fiction books I read, or the Titanic books I'm so fond of. But, some of them are not. "The Winter Garden" is a wonderful book about Russia in WW2 . It had a lot more depth than many of her other books. I haven't had a chance to read "The Nightingale" yet, the wait time at my library is a mile long. I think I'm just going to have to break down and buy it, but from the reviews I think it's going to be wonderful. Debbie in MD.
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Post by birukitty on Jul 28, 2015 17:44:28 GMT
Oh my, I have missed this thread for the last few weeks and I have no idea why. So, I have some catching up to do. Here they are in the order they were read: by Stella Bain by Anita Shreve. This was a historical fiction book about the WW1 and I love that time period and haven't read very much at all about that war so I was very interested in reading this book. With Anita Shreve though I've found it's hit or miss. There were her earlier books which I thought were all hits like Resistance which I absolutely adored. Pilot's Wife was also good, as was The Weight of Water. These were all made into films, but of course the books were better. Also, Fortune's Rocks and Where or When. Lately I don't know what's happened. It's like she's lost her groove. Her spark. Something. The books just seem to fall flat. It was this way with A Wedding in December, and it was this way with Stella Bain. So sad too, because this book had such a great story line. But halfway through it just stopped. You're in the period right after WW1 ends and it's so interesting and then it just stops-and she goes into the 1930. Sometimes this works, this time it didn't. At all. 2.5 stars. For the first half of the book. I just got this book from the library, this review is not making me excited to read it! Have you read All He Ever Wanted by the same author? After I read that, I found out that Stella Bain is a sequel of sorts, which is why I got it from the library. The last few weeks, I have been reading summer beach reads. I read 3 Elin Hildebrand books. I enjoyed Barefoot and A Summer Affair, and I did not really like Nantucket Nights (well, I liked it most of the way through, then I really didn't like the ending ). I just finished The Wedding Circle, the third in The Cherry Cola Book Club series. It was a simplistic feel-good southern novel. I enjoyed it. Luckywife-please don't let my review stop you. I was reviewing so many books last night that I was having trouble remembering how this book ended-I should have waited to finish the review-bad me! Actually now that I've slept on it, it wasn't that bad, but the story line had plot holes in it, and I hate those kinds of things. It just wasn't great, like some of her early books were, know what I mean? I still stand by my 2.5 stars. Well, I'll bump it up to 3. I do remember "All He Ever Wanted". I had no idea this was a sequel to that book. Give it a chance and let us know how you like it. I do remember closing the back cover and thinking, "Anita Shreve, what has happened to your early brilliance?" I have 14 of her books on my shelves so I'm pretty well versed in her writing. It must be difficult for a writer to hit the top early in their career and then write so many books and have the pressure to have that continued success. Debbie in MD.
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paigepea
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Post by paigepea on Jul 29, 2015 1:36:04 GMT
I also never liked her books - tear jerkers! But the nightingale had much more depth and was well worth the read! I've found her books to vary quite a bit. Some are sappy, soapy and a bit predictable. The one I'm reading right now is just like that, "True Colors", but I still enjoy reading them because she's a great story teller, and sometimes that's just the type of book I love to reach for interspersed with all of the WW2 non-fiction books I read, or the Titanic books I'm so fond of. But, some of them are not. "The Winter Garden" is a wonderful book about Russia in WW2 . It had a lot more depth than many of her other books. I haven't had a chance to read "The Nightingale" yet, the wait time at my library is a mile long. I think I'm just going to have to break down and buy it, but from the reviews I think it's going to be wonderful. Debbie in MD. I've looked at Winter Garden a few times ad have thought about trying it!
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paigepea
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Post by paigepea on Jul 29, 2015 1:39:18 GMT
I want to say that I finished A Fall of Marigolds (i mentioned it in my earlier thread) by Susan Meissner and I really enjoyed it. I hope some of you will check it out!
Paige
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paigepea
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Post by paigepea on Jul 29, 2015 1:40:36 GMT
I read this a few months ago. Overall I liked it as it was set in a culture I don't know much about. I found the whole concept of the "Bacha posh" fascinating (although this book is fiction, that part of it is true). I thought the writing was a bit simplistic and like the other book you mentioned it did feel a bit YA, but I think that's partially due to cultural and language differences. Unfortunately the story probably isn't too far from the truth of what has/is happening to women in Afghanistan. I thought it was an interesting book. Thank you for the info!
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Post by kellybelly77 on Jul 29, 2015 3:35:37 GMT
I finished up Unprocessed by Megan Kimble. She gave up all processed foods for one year and then wrote a book about it.
The stats were neat, the history of some of our food processing was neat, but she was way too freaking wordy. I bet she could have cut off about 40 pages just cutting out all these extra words! Plus, she barely talked about the day to day of this year. She focused each chapter on a different food and told why it was processed, a story about how she learned to make this food on her own and then how the reader could unprocess this area of their kitchen, like milk or chocolate. She spent an entire chapter on her old microwave and the history behind them. It was just so bizarre. I'd give it a 2/5.
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purplebee
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Post by purplebee on Jul 29, 2015 3:54:35 GMT
"Hi Readers, I finished Julia Pierpont's Among the Ten Thousand Things. It started off well, then jumped into the future to summarize the story, then went back to fill in more details. I wanted to enjoy the peek into the future, and think of it as a modern, youthful way of storytelling, but it fell flat for me. Read at your own risk." Yeah, I agree. Finished Among the Ten Thousand Things yesterday. This one sounded like it had potential. It got off to a pretty good start, but then went downhill fast. I hated the ending. Now I feel like I need to start another good Beach Read!
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Mary Kay Lady
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Post by Mary Kay Lady on Jul 30, 2015 8:12:16 GMT
Next was Finding Jake by Brian Reardon. It had been on my to read list since before it was out and I even had checked it out from the library but it was returned unread. Then there was a thread about it here a few weeks ago so I got back on the hold list and read it. So glad I did! In this day that unfortunately, school shootings are not that uncommon, I found this to be a very interesting read. And it was written from a very interesting point of view - the family of one of the children possibly involved. A heart wrenching place to be in. I so identified with the father in general. As parents we are always questioning if we did this or that the way we should and what long lasting effects something will have on our kiddos. I would definitely recommend this one. I read Finding Jake also, last week. It was well written and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I recommend it, too. This week I'm reading Girl Underwater. It's the story about a college student who's involved in a plane crash how she survived and her life after the crash.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Jun 2, 2024 7:39:33 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 30, 2015 14:01:54 GMT
I've in the middle of three right now, but while vacationing in Colorado, I started Home Front by Kristin Hannah and it's been really good. I haven't had a chance to read any of her books and I have several on my Goodreads to-read list.
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luckyexwife
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,067
Jun 25, 2014 21:21:08 GMT
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Post by luckyexwife on Jul 30, 2015 14:25:52 GMT
I just got this book from the library, this review is not making me excited to read it! Have you read All He Ever Wanted by the same author? After I read that, I found out that Stella Bain is a sequel of sorts, which is why I got it from the library. The last few weeks, I have been reading summer beach reads. I read 3 Elin Hildebrand books. I enjoyed Barefoot and A Summer Affair, and I did not really like Nantucket Nights (well, I liked it most of the way through, then I really didn't like the ending ). I just finished The Wedding Circle, the third in The Cherry Cola Book Club series. It was a simplistic feel-good southern novel. I enjoyed it. Luckywife-please don't let my review stop you. I was reviewing so many books last night that I was having trouble remembering how this book ended-I should have waited to finish the review-bad me! Actually now that I've slept on it, it wasn't that bad, but the story line had plot holes in it, and I hate those kinds of things. It just wasn't great, like some of her early books were, know what I mean? I still stand by my 2.5 stars. Well, I'll bump it up to 3. I do remember "All He Ever Wanted". I had no idea this was a sequel to that book. Give it a chance and let us know how you like it. I do remember closing the back cover and thinking, "Anita Shreve, what has happened to your early brilliance?" I have 14 of her books on my shelves so I'm pretty well versed in her writing. It must be difficult for a writer to hit the top early in their career and then write so many books and have the pressure to have that continued success. Debbie in MD. I finished Stella Bain last night, and as a sequel to All He Ever Wanted, I would give it 4/5 stars. I can totally see where the book would fall flat if it I read it as a stand alone book. I was reading through some Goodreads reviews last night, and those reviews seemed the same: as a stand alone it got much lower ratings than if the reviewer had read AHEW first. I do wonder why she didn't connect the books better? There is no mention of the first book anywhere in Stella Bain, I only found out from reading other reviews. I'm next on the list for Finding Jake at the library, and according to the online catalog, it was due 3 days ago, so I'm going to wait to start anything new until I get that one. From the reviews here, I'm excited to read it.
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