The Great Carpezio
Pearl Clutcher
Something profound goes here.
Posts: 2,930
Jun 25, 2014 21:50:33 GMT
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Post by The Great Carpezio on Jul 11, 2016 2:13:56 GMT
Hello reading refupeas,
I read one book this week (almost done with another)
Girls in the Garden: I enjoyed this "summer read" for its characterization but mostly for its very vivid and very British setting. It tells the story of a "currently" single mother and two daughters who move to a house in central London that backs up to a park. Something bad happens to one of the girls. Who did it and what were the variables that led to this moment?
It was a little too long in a few spots and too short in its resolution. Overall solid summer read. 4/5
What did you read?
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Post by cadoodlebug on Jul 11, 2016 2:20:04 GMT
I finished The Girls by Emma Cline and, to be honest, I was kind of meh about it. When I saw it was #1 on the best-sellers list, I really had high expectations. I really didn't care for any of the characters and, to me, it took too long to get to the *meat* of the story. I know this isn't the opinion of many people.
Now I'm about 1/3 of the way through In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware. It is the first book I have read of hers and I am really enjoying it. Can't wait to see where it goes.
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Post by annabella on Jul 11, 2016 2:26:53 GMT
I'm reading Every Little Step: My Story by Bobby Brown. He did an interview for the book where he revealed that he slept with Janet Jackson and Madonna. And confirmed that Whitney was bi. Figured this book would be full of scandalous stories or lies since he needs a paycheck.
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Post by hollymolly on Jul 11, 2016 2:31:27 GMT
I read After You by JoJo Moyes. I had high expectations, because I loved Me Before You so much. I was a little disappointed. It didn't seem to have a solid story. Through most of the book, I was as frustrated with Lou as her sister was. I mostly liked the ending. I wondered if she is angling for a trilogy, because there could be a good story in what happens next. I think I would rather read that than what happened in this book. I can't decide if I would have liked this more or less if it were a standalone book. On the one hand, I wouldn't have the first book to compare it to and be disappointed. On the other hand, I don't know if I would have cared about anyone in this book if I didn't have an established connection with so many of the characters.
Just started Attachments by Rainbow Rowell. It's about an IT security worker whose job is to read employee emails to make sure no one is violating company policy. Alternating chapters are email exchanges between a couple of women who intentionally flaunt the rules by carrying on very personal conversations. Apparently at some point the IT guy is going to fall in love with one of them, based solely on what he is reading in their emails. I find that fascinating, because I sometimes think about how well a stranger might know me strictly from my online presence, and especially just from what I post here.
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Post by peasapie on Jul 11, 2016 2:32:02 GMT
I am finally reading A Man Called Ove. It was a busy work week so it has been a bits and pieces kind of read, but I'm enjoying it. I like the way things are revealed slowly and not in chronological order. I'm about 60% through and enjoying it.
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marianne
Pearl Clutcher
Not my circus, not my monkeys. . . My monkeys fly!
Posts: 4,176
Location: right smack dab in the middle of SC
Site Supporter
Jun 25, 2014 21:08:26 GMT
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Post by marianne on Jul 11, 2016 2:46:08 GMT
Lord, I finally finished The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins. I liked it, but it took forever to read, mainly because of the Victorian style of writing. I spent more time than I liked going back and forth to make sure I understood what was being said. But it was a good story. I'm catching up on my series reads and am reading Cross My Heart by James Patterson. I needed a straight forward, easier read just to clear my brain.
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Post by cadoodlebug on Jul 11, 2016 2:50:43 GMT
Lord, I finally finished The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins. I liked it, but it took forever to read, mainly because of the Victorian style of writing. I spent more time than I liked going back and forth to make sure I understood what was being said. But it was a good story. I'm catching up on my series reads and am reading Cross My Heart by James Patterson. I needed a straight forward, easier read just to clear my brain. I love James Patterson for that reason. I love really short chapters. Back in the day I loved Sidney Sheldon, his books were so easy to read! First one I read was Rage of Angels and it got my attention!
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Post by Eddie-n-Harley on Jul 11, 2016 2:53:20 GMT
I feel like you are all reading such serious literature! Meanwhile, I read Blood and Ink, the second "Elementary" (aka, Johnny Miller and Lucy Liu's Sherlock Holmes) novel by Adam Christopher. (I've also read his first one, The Ghost Line.) It feels very much like the show to me, so if you like the show, I think you'd like the books. (I read very serious stuff at work all day, so when I read in my downtime, it's mostly fluff.)
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Post by cindyupnorth on Jul 11, 2016 2:56:11 GMT
I read After You by JoJo Moyes. I had high expectations, because I loved Me Before You so much. I was a little disappointed. It didn't seem to have a solid story. Through most of the book, I was as frustrated with Lou as her sister was. I mostly liked the ending. I wondered if she is angling for a trilogy, because there could be a good story in what happens next. I think I would rather read that than what happened in this book. I can't decide if I would have liked this more or less if it were a standalone book. On the one hand, I wouldn't have the first book to compare it to and be disappointed. On the other hand, I don't know if I would have cared about anyone in this book if I didn't have an established connection with so many of the characters. I felt the same way! I thought the whole long lost dd was lame, and cookie cutter. And I totally agree with you on the ending. It sure set it up for another book.
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Post by scrapmaven on Jul 11, 2016 3:27:07 GMT
I feel like you are all reading such serious literature! Meanwhile, I read Blood and Ink, the second "Elementary" (aka, Johnny Miller and Lucy Liu's Sherlock Holmes) novel by Adam Christopher. (I've also read his first one, The Ghost Line.) It feels very much like the show to me, so if you like the show, I think you'd like the books. (I read very serious stuff at work all day, so when I read in my downtime, it's mostly fluff.) No worries here. I'm reading Maureen Mccormick's, "Here's the Story" and will continue w/more autobiographies this week. Not exactly brain food, but good fluffy fun to read.
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marianne
Pearl Clutcher
Not my circus, not my monkeys. . . My monkeys fly!
Posts: 4,176
Location: right smack dab in the middle of SC
Site Supporter
Jun 25, 2014 21:08:26 GMT
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Post by marianne on Jul 11, 2016 3:30:05 GMT
I love James Patterson for that reason. I love really short chapters. Yep, he's one of my favorite authors... the short chapters are a bonus. I feel like you are all reading such serious literature! Not I! My usual reading is mainly mysteries; I throw in some serious lit every once and awhile when I feel the need to expand my horizons and challenge myself. I totally agree with you on the downtime thing. I read for enjoyment, I don't want to have to work at it.
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gottapeanow
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,752
Jun 25, 2014 20:56:09 GMT
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Post by gottapeanow on Jul 11, 2016 4:20:45 GMT
I have been insanely busy and am still reading Ender's Game. Normally, I would have whipped through it in about three days. I have been reading it now for two weeks. Sigh. I should finish it by tomorrow at the latest.
Lisa
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my3freaks
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,206
Location: NH girl living in Colorado
Jun 26, 2014 4:10:56 GMT
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Post by my3freaks on Jul 11, 2016 4:30:57 GMT
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Mary Kay Lady
Pearl Clutcher
PeaNut 367,913 Refupea number 1,638
Posts: 3,074
Jun 27, 2014 4:11:36 GMT
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Post by Mary Kay Lady on Jul 11, 2016 5:10:25 GMT
I read The Widow by Fiona Barton. It's about a woman who's married to a man who is accused of a crime. He dies and she no longer feels the need to keep his secrets. It's not revealed until the very end if he did it or not and I couldn't wait to find out if he did it. There were some twists along the way in order to keep the story interesting. It's advertized as a thriller along the lines of Gone Girl and The Girl on the train, but I liked this book much better than either one of those. In fact, I'd give it 4 1/2 stars. If you like thrillers/mysteries you might want to look into reading it.
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finaledition
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,896
Jun 26, 2014 0:30:34 GMT
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Post by finaledition on Jul 11, 2016 5:16:25 GMT
I was on vacation and didn't get as much reading done as I thought (translation: it was a really good vacation :-) ). I finished listening to Kate Morton's The Forgotten Garden. It was my third book of hers and another great audible narration.
Next I read One True Loves. It's the newest by Taylor Jenkins Reid. I've read all her books so far and they really fits the bill for a nice summer read. Not my favorite, but would recommend.
Finally I also read The Year We Turned Forty. This was on a summer reading recommendation list and I really enjoyed it. Here's the description- If you could repeat one year of your life, what would you do differently? This heartwarming and hilarious novel from the authors of The Status of All Things and Your Perfect Life features three best friends who get the chance to return to the year they turned forty—the year that altered all of their lives, in ways big and small—and also get the opportunity to change their future.
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Post by littlebee0408 on Jul 11, 2016 6:19:41 GMT
I read 2 books this week, both already mentioned in this thread, lol.
I finished The Girls, and I agree with cadoodlebug, I expected more and it was just ok.
I also read The Year we turned Forty, and it was a quick read that I enjoyed.
Now I'm starting on Bay of Sighs by Nora Roberts, the second book in the "Guardians" trilogy. I enjoy her books, and even though the trilogies seem to follow a "formula" they are usually a fun read, especially in the summer!
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Mystie
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,299
Jun 25, 2014 19:53:37 GMT
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Post by Mystie on Jul 11, 2016 6:59:22 GMT
I feel like you are all reading such serious literature! Meanwhile, I read Blood and Ink, the second "Elementary" (aka, Johnny Miller and Lucy Liu's Sherlock Holmes) novel by Adam Christopher. (I've also read his first one, The Ghost Line.) It feels very much like the show to me, so if you like the show, I think you'd like the books. (I read very serious stuff at work all day, so when I read in my downtime, it's mostly fluff.) My mom loves that show, I'm going to have to tell her there are books, too! Save
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Post by nitad on Jul 11, 2016 8:44:03 GMT
I just finished AFTER THE WAR IS OVER by Jennifer Robson. It's a sequel to SOMEWHERE IN FRANCE. I enjoyed both. Easy, enjoyable, if not a little predictable summer reads. The first is set during WWI (some Downton Abbey feel to it) and as the 2nd title suggests it takes place after the war is over but follows a different character.
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Post by pjaye on Jul 11, 2016 9:41:48 GMT
Thankfully I had a better reading week this week compared to last week.
I started with The Woman in the Photo by Mary Hogan. This is one of those fiction books that contains a real life event from the past and the real story is interspersed with the fictional one. This is told in two time frames, modern day California where Lee has just turned 18 and she gets access to some of her adoption paperwork which contains a photo from 1888. Then it goes back to 1888 where spoiled Elizabeth is spending the summer at the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club in Johnstown, Pennsylvania (this is the non fiction part of the story, the club and the disaster that occurred there are real). Along the way it also tells the story of Clara Barton who was the woman who founded the American Red Cross. I loved the true elements of the story and thought the whole book was interesting and well written, I enjoyed this and gave it 4 stars. Mystie - I think you might like this one.
Next was a quirky little book similar in style to A Man Called Ove - The Finding of Martha Lost by Caroline Wallace. This is one of those book where you have to suspend reality a bit and just enjoy it. Set in the Lime Street railway station, Liverpool (Britain) in the 1970s, Martha was left there 16 years ago as a 3 month old baby, and when no-one claimed her, the woman who runs the 'lost and found' kept her and she has spent her life there....still waiting for her birth mother to came back. There's an unusual cast of characters and a Beatles theme. I really liked this one as well. Another 4 stars.
I'm currently listening to Reckoning: A Memoir by Magda Szubanski. This is the autobiography of an Australian comedian who recently came out. It's also (I believe, although I'm not at that part yet) about her father who was Polish and an assassin in WW2 who targeted and killed Nazis. She writes well and does her own narration and I'm enjoying it so far.
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janeliz
Drama Llama
I'm the Wiz and nobody beats me.
Posts: 5,633
Jun 26, 2014 14:35:07 GMT
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Post by janeliz on Jul 11, 2016 12:25:52 GMT
I finished First Comes Love by Emily Giffin. It was a sweet and enjoyable summer read---much, much better than her last book.
I also read Ann Leary's The Children, about a blended family dealing with hidden resentments, secrets, and a newcomer to the family fold. It dealt with serious, relatable themes while also having moments of levity. I loved the characters and I loved this book.
I'm now reading Hissing Cousins: The Untold Story of Eleanor Roosevelt and Alice Roosevelt Longworth.
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tuesdaysgone
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,832
Jun 26, 2014 18:26:03 GMT
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Post by tuesdaysgone on Jul 11, 2016 13:02:27 GMT
Due to a busy holiday week, I didn't get much quality reading time.
I finally got around to reading H is for Hawk and enjoyed it very much. A women raises and trains a goshawk following the death of her father. She is brutally honest about her path thru grief and parts of the book are very raw. Overall, a fascinating read.
Currently I'm reading The Art of Hearing Heartbeats which is a novel about a young woman who travels from NYC to Burma in search of her father who suddenly left the family without explanation. The daughter finds an old letter which indicates her father had a secret life he never explained to his wife and children. It had me hooked right away.
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Post by not2peased on Jul 11, 2016 13:15:19 GMT
I read After You by JoJo Moyes. I had high expectations, because I loved Me Before You so much. I was a little disappointed. It didn't seem to have a solid story. Through most of the book, I was as frustrated with Lou as her sister was. I mostly liked the ending. I wondered if she is angling for a trilogy, because there could be a good story in what happens next. I think I would rather read that than what happened in this book. I can't decide if I would have liked this more or less if it were a standalone book. On the one hand, I wouldn't have the first book to compare it to and be disappointed. On the other hand, I don't know if I would have cared about anyone in this book if I didn't have an established connection with so many of the characters. Just started Attachments by Rainbow Rowell. It's about an IT security worker whose job is to read employee emails to make sure no one is violating company policy. Alternating chapters are email exchanges between a couple of women who intentionally flaunt the rules by carrying on very personal conversations. Apparently at some point the IT guy is going to fall in love with one of them, based solely on what he is reading in their emails. I find that fascinating, because I sometimes think about how well a stranger might know me strictly from my online presence, and especially just from what I post here. I felt the same way about After you! I just finished End of Watch by Stephen King and really enjoyed it-I was supposed to save it for vacation but I just couldn't wait I am listening to Natural Born Heros by the author of Born to Run and really enjoying it. lastly, I am reading a kindle book called Essie's Roses and to be honest, I don't know why I am sticking with it-the writing is rather terrible at times and the dialogue is really, really badly written-yet I keep slogging on. It could have been a decent read, but it seems like the writer just can't get out of her own way, lol
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Post by pjaye on Jul 11, 2016 13:39:17 GMT
No worries here. I'm reading Maureen Mccormick's, "Here's the Story" I listened to that last year and I was surprised by how 'weak' she was...I kept wanting her to toughen up and take control of her life instead of lurching from one disaster to another. That was one screwed up family.
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Post by kellybelly77 on Jul 11, 2016 13:54:19 GMT
I can't remember the last time I posted! I have several books finished. We're All Damaged by Matthew Norman. It was the Kindle First selection for June or May. I really did like it though! It was funny and quirky and kept my attention. My dd had this set of books she was reading. So I read the first 2 and felt like it would be irresponsible of me to not finish the series. They are true tween reading! Hunger Games meets The Bachelor. I finished the series of 5. Most recently: The OneThe HeirThe CrownI am actually reading like 3 other books at the moment. I don't know why I do that to myself. I need to just finish one!
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Post by Kelly_MR on Jul 11, 2016 15:45:30 GMT
Currently reading the Haven Point series by RaeAnne Thayne. These books (as most of hers are) I would describe as easy breezy summer reads. Nothing but girl is lonely, girl meets boy, hate each other,fall in love stories haha but with all going on in the world I find I need this type of escape right now.
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Post by Fidget on Jul 11, 2016 17:07:03 GMT
I just finished A Spool of Blue Thread - this was our book club read for July, I really enjoyed it 4 star book for me!
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Deleted
Posts: 0
May 20, 2024 13:48:21 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 11, 2016 18:56:08 GMT
I just started Secrets of a Charmed Life by Susan Meissner. I'm only a chapter in so I no opinion of it yet.
I finished Winter Journey by Diane Armstrong. It was tough to read because of the subject but overall an okay book.
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Post by birukitty on Jul 12, 2016 2:25:41 GMT
I missed last week so I have 3 to add:
First up is Most Wanted by Lisa Scottoline-I picked this up from an end cap at my library of new books. It was the first time I'd read by this author and the summery on the book flap intrigued me enough to give it a try. It's the story of a couple who have used donor sperm in an effort to finally have a child after many years of failed attempts. One day after the wife is finally happily pregnant she sees on TV a man getting arrested for murder, a man who looks so much like the photo of her sperm donor that it is shocking. I won't spoil the rest of the book but it poses the question-"What would you do if the donor of your child is a murderer?" It turned out to be a very good book, a page turner and an excellent thriller. I gave it 4 stars.
Next was Definitely Not Mr. Darcy by Karen Doorendos-This was a fun read for me. The main character Chloe Parker loves Jane Austen and feels she was born 2 centuries too late. She's a 39 year old divorced woman with a daughter and has a chance to go to England to be on what she thinks is a 3 week immersion documentary about Jane Austen. An expert on Jane Austen and the Regency period Chloe is hopeful she will win the $100,000 prize and save her failing antique letterpress business. But when she arrives she discovers it's instead a reality dating show set in 1812! Eight women are competing to snare Mr. Wrightman the heir to a gorgeous estate and the $100,000 prize but they most live the life of those who lived during the period in 1812. No cell phones, no showers, and the dress and manners of that time. I gave it 3.5 stars.
The last book I read was Once We Were Brothers by Ronald H. Balson-this is a historical novel about WW2, Poland, and current times in Chicago. I have read lots of non-fiction and historical fiction books about this time period, but this is one of the best books I've read. The book starts in present day Chicago with civic leader and philanthropist Elliot Rosenzweig in Chicago being accused of being a former Nazi SS officer named Otto Piatek, the butcher of Zumosc. Although the charges are dismissed as being prosperous, his accuser (Solomon) is convinced he is right and he engages a lawyer to take his case, revealing that the true Piatek was abandoned as a child and was raised by Solomon's own family only to betray them during the Nazi occupation. The book goes back and forth between the times of WW2 and current times. I liked it so much I gave it 5 stars which I hardly ever do.
Debbie in MD.
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Post by AussieMeg on Jul 12, 2016 2:55:23 GMT
I feel like you are all reading such serious literature! Hence the reason that I rarely post here. I've mentioned before how I feel a bit (inadequate? embarrassed?) that I'm not reading "serious literature", and we had a big discussion about it. People told me not to worry about it. I guess I don't really post much because pretty much everything I read is crime fiction, and even though the books are exciting and really grab me, there's not much "depth" to them. I can't go into an in-depth analysis of them. My only contribution would be "It was exciting and I loved it!" That being said..... I have finished the latest Kim Stone novel by Angela Marsons called Play Dead. And I am now reading the lasted Amos Decker novel by David Baldacci called The Last Mile. Both are exciting and I love them!
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Post by stingfan on Jul 12, 2016 3:03:17 GMT
I read Me Before You by JoJo Moyes. I liked it well enough. I liked how she developed the relationship. Now I'll watch the movie b/c I love Finnick . I just started After You today. Kind of disappointing to hear the reviews from pp's. We'll see how it goes...
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