🟣 :::READING THREAD::: Week of July 20

I read 2 last week and forgot to post them.

2 Stars for The Life of Chuck by Stephen King. If I'm honest, I didn't really get this one. It was ok, but not what I expected from King's short stories (when he gives us gems like The Body (aka Stand By Me), you just can't compare). Told in a backwards storyline, in 3 parts, the story starts with a couple dealing with an apocolyptic event. Because the story is told backwards, we start with Chuck who dies from a brain tumor at 39. As the end of the world happens, billboards are popping up celebrating Chuck's life. In Part 2, we see a moment of Chuck's life that he assumes God created the world for and in Part 1, we get Chuck's background of why he may have come to that conclusion. Part 1 was the most interesting, and typical King. But telling the story backwards really didn't help make the story any more profound, or interesting. I guess it was supposed to make you think but it just wasn't all that interesting.

4 Stars for The Griffin Sister' Greatist Hits by Jennifer Weiner. "when you hurt someone’s feelings, it’s the same as if you broke their leg. It’s even worse, because it takes longer to heal. Sometimes, it never does."

Sisters Cassie and Zoe Grossberg were born just a year apart but are polar opposites. Zoe is "the pretty one", blessed with charm and beauty, while Cassie is the overweight, painfully shy musical prodigy who never felt comfortable in the spotlight (think Wilson sisters from Wilson Phillips). Becoming a pop sensation the Griffin Sisters, the band abruptly breaks up.

Twenty years later, Zoe’s a housewife and Cassie’s completely disappeared. The sisters don't talk and no one knows why the Griffin Sisters’ broke up. Zoe’s teenage daughter, Cherry, is determined to break into the music industry herself, and is determined to learn the truth about what happened to the band all those years ago.

Many of the characters are not easy to like (especially Zoe, Cherry, and even the Grossman's mom). I sympathise with Cassie; her ackwardness is not comfortable to read. It also makes me really appreciate the acceptance I see in younger generations - they are so much better about embracing diversity, body positivity of all sizes, and that is something I find really inspiring.

I've read a bunch since the last time I posted. Or at least since the last time I *think* I posted. lol. I'm pretty sure I'm not repeating myself. This is for several weeks.

The Book Club for Troublesome Women by Marie Bostwick. A group of women living in Northern Virginia back in the days when women were supposed to stay home, cook, clean, and have kids. They decide to read "The Feminine Mystique" for their first meeting. The book takes place over decades and follows the women and their families as they age. I enjoyed it, and it led me down several rabbit holes -- things like googling to find out when women were allowed to get a credit card in their own name, etc. And I've put "The Feminine Mystique" on hold at the library because I've never read it.

Three of the Phryne Fisher mysteries by Kerry Greenwood. Ruddy Gore, Urn Burial, and Raisins and Almonds. I enjoy these books, partly because the main character is a young woman who does not follow along with society's expectations of a wealthy titled unmarried woman in the 1920s.

On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder. A very short book, one we all should read at this time.   

The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley. I normally do not like time travel but I picked this up because dd saw it on President Obama's summer reading list. Takes place in England. The Time Ministry's experiment is to bring people forward from the past, snatching them in the moment before they died. The theory is that by taking someone right before they died there is no chance of changing the future. It was pretty good. Up until they started talking about time/space and how time might be physical, and a bunch of other stuff that reminded me yet again why I don't like time travel. lol. 

The Cinnamon Bun Bookstore by Laurie Gilmore. Nope. Skip it. I noticed it because I needed a book with a door on the cover for one prompt in my book club this month. lol. Poorly written, no plot, etc.

The Women Could Fly by Megan Giddings. More or less our time, but in a society where women are expected to be married by age 30 or they have to register themselves with the government. And they'll likely be accused of being a witch, and maybe burned. Main character is a young woman whose mother disappeared after always being suspected of being a witch. It's probably a good book if you like this sort of stuff (magic) but I don't really, so.... This was one where I read about half, googled the end, then skimmed through the rest of it. 

The Sudden Appearance of Hope by Claire North. This is about a young woman who was gradually forgotten by everyone around her, starting when she was in maybe high school (I forget exactly). She would show up to school and the principal and teachers would think she was a new girl. She'd go through the day, go home, come back the next day and she was the new girl again. So she leaves school and takes up a life of high crime (stealing a princess's jewels, etc.), which she excels at because no one remembers her being at their party or wherever she stole from. The sub-plot is that there's an app called "Perfection" which is basically taking over people's lives. Hope's life and Perfection's life do intersect. I liked this book although it was sad to think of a life where absolutely no one would ever know and remember you.

So, I got to page 96 of Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy and decided I just wasn't enjoying it. Life is too short to not enjoy a book so I DNF.

Now I'm reading Count My Lies by Sophie Stava.

Finished listening to The Last Letter by Rebecca Yarros - Listened on Audible. I enjoyed the story. Kept me interested the whole way through.
SPOILER:

Up next for my book club is
We All Live Here by Jojo Moyes
I'm listening on Audible and it's set in London so the accent is a little different for me. The main character says "What?!" A LOT. When she doesn't quite believe she's hearing what she is hearing. It comes out like, "Whought?" It makes me laugh. I'm liking the story so far. Lots of parts and pieces to keep track of in the main character's life. It's got some interesting little surprises so far.

Last week I finished The Last Letter by Rebecca Yarros - Easy to read and engaging.

Spoiler Alert:

I just finished Dare Me by Megan Abbott. It was interesting. About the dynamics of a group of high school cheerleaders and their coach. It's dark. I just picked it up randomly at a small, independent bookstore in the beach town we were at for July 4th weekend.

I’m still reading:

Here One Moment and The Paris Apartment (same as last week) - really love the former.

Question - I finally got Great Big Beautiful Life from the library. Meanwhile my friend from my book club, said she HATED it. And she and I have similar taste. If you read it did you like it?
I need some good beach reads for trip in a couple weeks….

The last few weeks I read:

The American Heiress, by Daisy Goodwin 3 1/2 stars

Long Island, by Colm Toibin 3 1/2 stars. Lost a star for a disappointing, ambiguous end.

Long Bright River, by Liz Moore 5 stars. One of my favorites of the year. If you watched the Peacock show, I still recommend the book. Huge differences and the book is much better. Also, if you read The God of the Woods and didn't like it, and are hesitant to read another of Liz Moore's books, I recommend it. Trigger for addiction in the book.

The Queene's Christmas, by Karen Harper. This is a mystery series during the reign of Elizabeth I, she and her privy plot counselors solve murders. It was fun, different. 4 stars. Think there are several more in the series.

Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers, by Jessie Q Sutano. 4 stars

I also listened to Thorns, Lust and Glory: The Betrayal of Anne Boleyn, by Dr Estelle Paranque. This is the story of Anne Boleyn, from the time of the Great Matter to her execution, from the perspective of the French. 4 stars.

I read it, this was my review:  4 Stars for Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry. This book felt like my first summer read of 2025! Emily and Hayden are competing with each other to score the job to write socialite Margaret Ives' biography. They both signed NDAs, and are given separate days to interview her for a month, which leads up Margaret deciding who would write her story. So, we get a story with a story (very much reminding me of Evelyn Hugo) as we also navigate Hayden & Emily's budding romance. However, their relationship almost took a backseat to Margaret's story. Nevertheless, I was entertained and while I guessed a few things, I did not see the big "secret" coming.

I read Framed by John Grisham and Jim McCloskey. It is 10 cases of people wrongly convicted. Some of the cases were just incredible with the amount of coverup and mishandling. Interesting read.

Also read Out of the Woods by Gregg Olsen. It was a free book from Amazon, and I had such a hard time following the book. Too much switching in the timeline. Did not like.

I saw that Out of the Woods was True Crime and I just couldn't stomach it...

Im glad I'm not the only one either! 

You're not missing anything with the Long Bright River show. Now, to be fair, I only watched the first episode. I was at my friend's house, and she grew up in Kensington and has addiction in her family, so we stopped watching. That being said, they were going off on a tangent that's not in the book.