The Great Carpezio
Pearl Clutcher
Something profound goes here.
Posts: 2,900
Jun 25, 2014 21:50:33 GMT
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Post by The Great Carpezio on Feb 11, 2019 2:58:37 GMT
Hello readers. I didn’t finish a book this week, but I’m looking forward to hearing what you read.
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Post by maryland on Feb 11, 2019 3:15:21 GMT
Reading Gracie's Secret - Childs and almost finished. It's pretty good.
Next I am reading Baby Teeth - Zoje Stage. It takes place in Pittsburgh, and Oakland, (where Univ. of Pittsburgh is located) is mentioned. We live in Pgh. and am at Pitt all the time, so it will be nice to read places I know about! Also have Anatomy of a Scandal - Vaughan to read.
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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 Feb 11, 2019 3:24:20 GMT
I just finished a really good double biography called Romantic Outlaws: The Extraordinary Lives of Mary Wollstonecraft and Her Daughter Mary Shelley by Charlotte Gordon. So, Mary Wollstonecraft was probably the first real feminist political philosopher. She wrote A Vindication of the Rights of Women in the 1780s, among other books. Her daughter, Mary Shelley, wrote Frankenstein and was married to the poet Percy Shelley. To say these women lived extraordinary lives is an understatement--they thought, wrote, read, and lived in ways very few women have ever been able to do in history.
The author goes back and forth between the two Marys from chapter to chapter, and it's a little confusing for a while since both women were named Mary, but I got the hang of it after a while. Their lives parallel each other in interesting ways. They never knew each other--the mother died of childbed fever two weeks after giving birth to the daughter. But the daughter had all her mother's books to read and knew her and was inspired by her that way. The books honestly reads like fiction in places--you can't believe all the things that happened to these women, adventures and tragedies. It's very well written and presented. I highly recommend it; it's one of the best biographies I've read, and I've read many.
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edie3
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,453
Jun 26, 2014 1:03:18 GMT
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Post by edie3 on Feb 11, 2019 3:31:30 GMT
I read an awful (to me) book. It was like wading thru molasses upstream. My old Kindle died, and it was all I had on my new Kindle. It was Genuine Fraud by E. Lockhart.
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Post by coffeetalk on Feb 11, 2019 3:32:41 GMT
I read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith 4.5/5- A favorite comforting read that I turn to every few years. There is always a waiting list for this classic at my library.
Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner 4.5/5- I wasn't familiar with Stegner's work, but I'm eager to read more of his novels and I'm certain to read this again. "Tracing the lives, loves, and aspirations of two couples who move between Vermont and Wisconsin, it is a work of quiet majesty, deep compassion, and powerful insight into the alchemy of friendship and marriage. " -Goodreads
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purplebee
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,725
Jun 27, 2014 20:37:34 GMT
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Post by purplebee on Feb 11, 2019 3:44:45 GMT
I read "Henry's Sisters" by Cathy Lamb, about a family of three sisters and a handicapped brother raised by a desperate (due to extreme poverty and depression) and abusive mother. I really like Cathy Lamb's books, and this one grabbed me from the first chapter. I read it quickly and enjoyed it immensely, even though parts of it made me cry!
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Post by birukitty on Feb 11, 2019 4:57:07 GMT
Today I finished reading The Lady Elizabeth by Alison Weir which was a historical fiction novel about Queen Elizabeth I and her early life. The novel starts when she is three and ends when her sister Queen Mary has just died and Queen Elizabeth inherits the throne when she is 25. I enjoyed this book immensely from the first page to the last. I gave it 5 stars on goodreads.
Next up I'm reading a novel that closely follows this one in time. It's called The Marriage Game: A Novel of Queen Elizabeth I by Alison Weir. This book starts exactly where the above book ends. Elizabeth is 25 and has just recently inherited the throne. Is inherited the right word? Anyway, although I have two more books from the library I'm anxious to read it makes sense to me to read this one first. I'm on page 6-like I said I've just started with this one.
I really like Alison Weir as a writer very much but I think after this one I'm going to take a break for a bit and read other books.
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hutchfan
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,077
Jul 6, 2016 16:42:12 GMT
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Post by hutchfan on Feb 11, 2019 5:07:37 GMT
I read The Clockmaker's Daughter by Kate Morton. This book goes back and forth between decades and has many characters telling the story and how it connects to them. There were a lot of characters to keep track of.
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gottapeanow
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,732
Jun 25, 2014 20:56:09 GMT
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Post by gottapeanow on Feb 11, 2019 5:33:32 GMT
I read two books.
My Mother's Secret - What an amazing YA book based on real-life events. In Poland, during WW2, Franciszka and her daughter, Helena, hide two Jewish families and a soldier defecting from the Nazi in different spots on their farm for 16 months. And none of the three groups knows about the other. 5/5 stars.
The Widows by Jess Montgomery - This is set in the 1920s and binds two widows together after the death of the husband of one and the best friend of the other. The second woman has already lost her husband as well. The pair is solving the mystery of Daniel's death. The backdrop includes mining and unionization. Beautifully written with wonderful characters and a great plot. 5/5 stars.
Lisa
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Post by ~summer~ on Feb 11, 2019 5:39:08 GMT
This week I finished The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society which I gave 4 stars. I just started The Dinner List.
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hannahruth
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,602
Location: Adelaide, Australia
Aug 29, 2014 18:57:20 GMT
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Post by hannahruth on Feb 11, 2019 5:45:53 GMT
I read The Clockmaker's Daughter by Kate Morton. This book goes back and forth between decades and has many characters telling the story and how it connects to them. There were a lot of characters to keep track of. I started reading this and just found it heavy going so at about chapter 6 I closed the book and gave up. Too many books to read to be reading something I can't get into.
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Post by littlebee0408 on Feb 11, 2019 10:40:40 GMT
Hi All
Two for me this week:
I’ll be gone in the dark by Michelle McNamara. I like true crime, but I just didn’t get into this one as much. It seemed to get a bit bogged down in the small details. 3/5
And I just finished The Gown by Jennifer Robson which I loved. A very quick read focussing on the lives of 2 embroiderers who worked on (now) Queen Elizabeth’s wedding dress, and their secrets. Loved the characters and the story. 4.5/5
Now on to The Golden Tresses of the Dead by Alan Bradley. This will be the last “Flavia De Luce” mystery, so I am savouring it so far. I will miss her!
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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 Feb 11, 2019 10:46:43 GMT
I read Once Upon a River and very much enjoyed it. On a dark, wet night a stranger enters a pub along the Thames with a dead child in his arms. Hours later the child is found to be alive, but who is she? That question is central to the entire novel. The book begins a bit slowly because the author is building up layers of characters and back stories. The novel drifts along very much like a river and it was such an enjoyable ride.
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Post by candygurl on Feb 11, 2019 13:22:13 GMT
Still reading A LADDER TO THE SKY by John Boyne. So far so good! Hoping to finish it by next weekend but haven’t had much time to read.
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Post by ruralgirl on Feb 11, 2019 13:40:57 GMT
Finished The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell and absolutely loved it and all the characters (except for David Bateman). 4.8 out of 5
On the hunt for something good to read now. I read the samples of Anonymous Girl and Watching You, which I'd like to continue reading but don't want to pay the Kindle price so I'll wait on those. Beneath a Scarlett Sky, the full version, was free on Amazon and was highly reviewed so I think I will likely read that next. Has anyone read/recommend it?
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kelly8875
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,390
Location: Lost in my supplies...
Oct 26, 2014 17:02:56 GMT
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Post by kelly8875 on Feb 11, 2019 13:49:08 GMT
This week I read the first 3 books in the Wizard of Oz book series. The Wizard of Oz, the Land of Oz, and Ozma of Oz. These were written in 1900, 1904, and 1907. I loved them all. They’re all fairly close to 275-300 pages, so for children’s books, they’re what I would consider more advanced.
I’m going to switch to a couple other books before contribute series.
Next is going to be one I started forever ago, and I don’t know why I didn’t finish it. Now I need to finish it for a new book club I’m going to try next week. It’s called The School of Essential Ingredients, I need a book with a food theme.
The book club picks a theme to read about each month, and this month is food. Not sure if I’ll like this format, but it’s the only existing club I can find right now, so I’m giving it a try.
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NoWomanNoCry
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,856
Jun 25, 2014 21:53:42 GMT
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Post by NoWomanNoCry on Feb 11, 2019 14:44:27 GMT
Just finished Colleen Hoover- Verity. It was soooooo good!
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lisaknits
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,337
May 28, 2015 16:14:56 GMT
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Post by lisaknits on Feb 11, 2019 15:05:34 GMT
This week I read A Week in Winter by Maeve Binchy. This book was published posthumously and for some reason I never knew it existed. She is one of my favorite authors and is especially great at developing characters that come to life. The book is set on the western shore of Ireland and I immediately want to go there! 4.5/5
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Post by cadoodlebug on Feb 11, 2019 15:32:13 GMT
I finished An Anonymous Girl by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen. It was a wild, fun read trying to figure everything out! 4.5/5 stars.
Now I'm reading Crime Scene by Jonathan and Jesse Kellerman. So far I'm enjoying it.
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Post by lynnek on Feb 11, 2019 15:48:05 GMT
I only finished one last week - Becoming by Michelle Obama. There has been quite a bit of talk about this book and I agree with many of the reviews. It is a great book. I think she is just filled with grace but also is honest and caring. I really enjoyed the book and am guessing it will for sure be one of my favorite non-fiction books of the year and probably one of my overall favorites.
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Post by kckckc on Feb 11, 2019 16:22:30 GMT
This week I finished:
The Listener by Robert McCammon. Two small time con artists attempt a big time kidnapping. Set in New Orleans during the depression, there's a little bit of supernatural thrown in too. Excellent book. 5/5
The New Iberia Blues by James Lee Burke. The latest in the Dave Robicheaux series. Very good. 5/5
The Choice by Robert Whitlow. This one was awful. It was given to me by a friend whose reading tastes I usually like otherwise I would not have finished it. A contrived yet predictable plot with flat and stereotyped characters all wrapped up in a very preachy sermon about the evils of abortion and pro choice advocates. I feel fairly sure this will go down as the worst book I will read this year. 0/5
Advice for Future Corpses (And Those Who Love Them) by Sallie Tisdale. A book about death and dying. There was a lot of practical advice for those who are caregivers to the dying. Because of the title, I was expecting a little lighter book than this turned out to be. I was rather depressed by this one, although that might be because of some things going on in my own life. 4/5
Slow: Simple Living for a Frantic World by Brooke McAlary. This one was okay, there wasn't really much here that I hadn't heard before. 3/5
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Post by mnmloveli on Feb 11, 2019 16:48:14 GMT
Last week I finished...………..
ALL WE EVER WANTED BY EMILY GRIFFIN. 3.5 STARS "mrgiedrnkr" enjoyed this one also. I found a sale for $3.99 (reg 14.99) and took a chance. First book by this author for me. It did keep me turning the pages. I didn't agree with the outcome but tried not to hold it against my rating. Summary: Perfect rich lives are destroyed by a social media picture.
HERO BY JENNIFER LI SHOTZ. 3 STARS Cute "boy gets a dog" story. I will continue the series if I find them on sale or free.
TURNING POINT BY DANIELLE STEEL. 3 STARS Typical Ms. Steel book. I've skipped her past few books since they always seem to have the same plot. This description sounded a little different so a took a chance. It just plodded along. Summary: Four doctors from the U.S. are sent to Paris for a special training program. An act of terrorism will force them to make touch decisions about their own lives going forward.
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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 Feb 11, 2019 16:54:38 GMT
This week I listened to 2.
First wasYou Think It, I'll Say It by Curtis Sittenfield. I really enjoy short stories, much more than the piddly number that I've read would suggest. I thought this was a good collection of stories especially Prairie Girl. My only issue is that that many of the stories were not different enough and with the same narrator they kind of bled together and not sure I could give you a good summary of each of the stories. So my suggestion would be to skip the audio and read this with breaks between each story.
Then I listened to a book that I couldn't wait to get my hands on- On the Come Up by Angie Thomas. She wrote The Hate You Give which was my favorite book of the year in 2017. I'm giving this 4.5/5. Loved this. It is narrated by Bahni Turpin who narrated the other book and once again she is perfect. I'm not sure how Angie Thomas can tell a story of a girl who raps and make this 50 year old white suburban mom so invested, but she sure can. Once again, race is a big theme. Other topics she hits on are teen friendships, parent relations, addiction, poverty, black culture, family, and more which are all touch upon under the larger story of a 16 year old girl who is trying to establish herself as a rapper. These could make for a very serious book and many parts are, but Angie Thomas immerses so much humor thoughout, there's a great balance. I'm not sure why this isn't a 5 star-maybe because it didn't take me completely by surprise like THUG, but this is a book that did not disappoint and Angie Thomas will continue to be a preorder author for me.
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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 Feb 11, 2019 16:56:45 GMT
ALL WE EVER WANTED BY EMILY GRIFFIN. 3.5 STARS "mrgiedrnkr" enjoyed this one also. I found a sale for $3.99 (reg 14.99) and took a chance. First book by this author for me. It did keep me turning the pages. I didn't agree with the outcome but tried not to hold it against my rating. Summary: Perfect rich lives are destroyed by a social media picture. I agree and think I rated it the same. I think the author started strong and hit on an very relevant topic and then took the easy way out for a resolution.
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Post by misadventurous on Feb 11, 2019 17:19:54 GMT
Over the past two weeks I've made good progress on my backlog of unread/partially read books. Thanks to my goal of finishing those before purchasing anything new, I finally read All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. I was several years late to the party on this one, but better late than never. That was hands down one of the most beautiful pieces of writing I have ever experienced. It was like a novel-length poem with some of the most vivid descriptions that he somehow managed with just a few carefully-chosen words. It's been ages since I read a book whose characters I truly cared about, and worried about. I was so taken in by this book that I looked up Saint-Malo on Google Maps and found #4 Rue de Vauborel and it was like I had actually been there before because it was exactly the way he described it. I also loved the structure with short chapters and shifting narrators and timelines. In some books, this makes the story difficult to follow, but here I felt like it had the effect of keeping me completely immersed in all the parts of the story at once. One of the best things I've ever read. 5+/5
Ajax Penumbra 1969 by Robin Sloan - This was a Kindle Single prequel to Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore, telling the story of how Mr. Penumbra came to work at the store. I'm hoping there is a sequel on the way. 4/5
Scythe (Arc of a Scythe #1) by Neal Shusterman - A YA story set in a future where humans have achieved immortality and population growth is managed by a group of sanctioned killers called Scythes. Not great, not terrible, but I won't continue with the series. 3/5
The Ledge: An Adventure Story of Friendship and Survival on Mount Rainier by Jim Davidson - I enjoy mountaineering and outdoor adventure stories, but I didn't find this one particularly engaging. If you like this sort of thing, I recommend Touching the Void by Joe Simpson, which is freaking amazing. 3/5
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro - Bleeaaarrrgghhhhhhh... I'm not sure how such a compelling story idea could be made so dull. Holy cow - I did a LOT of skimming just to make it to the end to see what happened. 1.5/5
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Post by cindyupnorth on Feb 11, 2019 17:19:56 GMT
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Post by Heidi on Feb 11, 2019 17:42:08 GMT
Finally finished Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry and I feel sad and lost and have no idea what to do with my life now. I'm now reading You Can't Iron a Wrinkled Birthday Suit by Sharon Phennah which was our book club choice for February. The writing is as lame as the title.
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Post by NanaKate on Feb 11, 2019 18:12:46 GMT
Finally finished Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry and I feel sad and lost and have no idea what to do with my life now. Good to know. I’ve had this one in my stack for a while.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Apr 18, 2024 3:07:54 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Feb 11, 2019 18:26:14 GMT
Thanks to insomnia I read three books this week! All three were pretty dreadful, I think I'm done with psychological thrillers that promise a shocking twist.
The Perfect Child by Lucinda Berry Spare Room by Dreda Say Mitchell The Birthday by Carol Wyer
I forgot to share last week
Silent Child by Sarah Denzil
The Good Sisters by Helen Phifer
I downloaded The Generation Game by Sophie Duffy to start tonight.
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Post by alsomsknit on Feb 11, 2019 18:27:11 GMT
I only finished one last week - Becoming by Michelle Obama. There has been quite a bit of talk about this book and I agree with many of the reviews. It is a great book. I think she is just filled with grace but also is honest and caring. I really enjoyed the book and am guessing it will for sure be one of my favorite non-fiction books of the year and probably one of my overall favorites. It was a fantastic book! I’m not much for hearing people speak. Yet, I would love to hear her speak at some point. Having come from a ridiculously dysfunctional family, I found her family experience fascinating.
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