The Great Carpezio
Pearl Clutcher
Something profound goes here.
Posts: 2,967
Jun 25, 2014 21:50:33 GMT
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Post by The Great Carpezio on Jul 21, 2019 18:04:22 GMT
Happy Sunday
I read two books this week:
A Gentlemen in Moscow I just really loved this charming book. I enjoyed the Rules of Civility, but I loved this one. I won’t say much about the book because I know it’s been mentioned before, but I put it off for a while. I wasn’t sure I would like the topic of an aristocrat stuck in a Russian hotel for years, but I truly did. 5/5 stars
American War By Omar El Akkad I started this one over a year ago and finally got back to it. It took me while to get into it, but it ultimately captured my attention. It isn’t The Road depressing, but it might be an even more disturbing post-apocalyptic near future because it weaves together America’s history, climate change, and today’s deeply divided America into something that seems like it could happen.
It’s a tough read because it doesn’t let up from its march towards an ugly conclusion (with just a tinge of hope), but it was an interesting format. 4/5 stars.
So, what did you read this week?
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Post by cadoodlebug on Jul 21, 2019 18:09:45 GMT
This week I read The Better Sister by Alafair Burke. I enjoyed it as it kept me guessing and had many twists and turns. 4/5 stars.
Now I'm reading an old book (2000) by John Gilstrap called Even Steven. Someone here must have recommended it because I don't know why I would have put it on hold otherwise. So far I'm enjoying it.
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The Great Carpezio
Pearl Clutcher
Something profound goes here.
Posts: 2,967
Jun 25, 2014 21:50:33 GMT
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Post by The Great Carpezio on Jul 22, 2019 0:00:43 GMT
Just bumping because I posted early and it was getting buried.
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Post by SockMonkey on Jul 22, 2019 0:06:53 GMT
Currently reading In Pain: A Bioethicist's Personal Struggle with Opiods by Travis Rieder. It's... upsetting. It's upsetting to know how the opioid crisis could possibly have been averted, but instead drug companies (Purdue Pharma, the Sackler family being tops) lined their pockets. Blood money. Also upsetting about the lack of training most doctors have in tapering off opioids or managing pain in general.
Next up will be Colson Whitehead's The Nickel Boys.
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Post by annabella on Jul 22, 2019 0:13:11 GMT
I’m reading The Cactus by Sarah Haywood which reminds me a lot of Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman. Both are Reese Witherspoon book club picks.
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Post by NicL on Jul 22, 2019 0:25:19 GMT
I finished Dear Wife by Kimberly Belle (She also wrote The Marriage Lie)
Good plot, easy read (only 328 pages) and satisfying thriller I gave it 4.5 stars
**Warning - Domestic violence triggers
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Post by vi on Jul 22, 2019 0:35:03 GMT
I read Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger. It was a mystery that was very well written. Loved it and loved the conclusion of the book.
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edie3
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,611
Jun 26, 2014 1:03:18 GMT
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Post by edie3 on Jul 22, 2019 1:22:47 GMT
Just started Mrs. Everything by Jennifer Weiner. I have liked her other books, so we will see.
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Post by cindyupnorth on Jul 22, 2019 1:28:55 GMT
About half way thru Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty. It's ok so far.
A Gentlemen in Moscow was one of my favorite books of all time. love it
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Post by cadoodlebug on Jul 22, 2019 1:53:28 GMT
About half way thru Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty. It's ok so far.
A Gentlemen in Moscow was one of my favorite books of all time. love it
I just looked it up on Good Reads and saw that Bill Gates loved it too. He cried while reading it. He and Melinda often read the same book and she evidently was behind and didn't know why he was crying.
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Post by maryland on Jul 22, 2019 1:55:25 GMT
Almost finished Drowning Girls and really like it! My daughter took the train back to her university today and started No Exit and said it's good so far. My other daughter started Verity. Can't wait to hear how that is.
Next may read Her Daughter's Mother.
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gottapeanow
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,810
Jun 25, 2014 20:56:09 GMT
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Post by gottapeanow on Jul 22, 2019 3:47:39 GMT
I finished a little book called The Body in Question by Jill Clement.
I loved the concept of this. Two jurors meet and have an affair. The trial ends. Now what?
The jacket of the book gives a bit too much away, IMO. But not everything.
This book could have gone soooooo many directions. But the path that Clement took and the ending were ... interesting. It's a super quick read. 4/5 stars. (TBH, I'm fascinated by the idea of about 10 authors taking this basic plot idea and writing 10 books. And seeing what they each come up with.)
I'm reading The Woman in the White Kimono right now. It alternates between past (1957 in Japan) and present. It's really good so far.
Lisa
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Post by ~summer~ on Jul 22, 2019 4:14:57 GMT
I've spent the last few days reading through my backlog of New Yorker magazines so I haven't made as much progress on my books...
That being said I read: Where the Crawdads Sing -- I did enjoy it but I did not LOVE it and I definitely wouldn't consider one of the best books of the year (soo many people here said it was). I thought it was a good beginning and ending, but overall just not as good as other books such as Pachinko, This is How it Always Is, The Hate You Give, The Great Alone etc.
and....
I just started We Were The Lucky Ones -- so far really enjoy it....
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Post by ~summer~ on Jul 22, 2019 4:17:19 GMT
Two books that I have started but not finished in the past are A Gentleman In Moscow and Educated. I am making it a goal to finish both of these this year - I'm not sure why I didn't finish them, I think I will end up really enjoying both of them.
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Post by NicL on Jul 22, 2019 4:28:10 GMT
I finished a little book called The Body in Question by Jill Clement. Added this to my TBR pile - sounds good
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Post by pjaye on Jul 22, 2019 4:31:31 GMT
Where the Crawdads Sing -- I did enjoy it but I did not LOVE it and I definitely wouldn't consider one of the best books of the year (soo many people here said it was). I thought it was a good beginning and ending, but overall just not as good as other books such as Pachinko, This is How it Always Is See, I thought Pachinko was just OK, and I didn't like This is How it Always Is at all, but LOVED ' Crawdads'
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Post by pjaye on Jul 22, 2019 4:56:15 GMT
Last week I listened to The Garden of Lost and Found by Harriet Evans, which is a dual time line family saga over 3 generations. I was torn by this, I liked the overall story and concept, but good grief the author wrote some of the most unlikeble and unforgiving characters! Everyone is generally horrible to everyone else and only look out for themselves. 3 stars
next was: Unsolved Australia: Lost Boys, Gone Girls Justine Ford, this is a new release nonfiction book that every Australian should read. It's real case studies of 16 people who have vanished here over the years and whose cases remain unsolved. The author wrote this (and a previous book) in the hope that someone reading might have some information which may lead to some of these cases being solved. Interesting and sad. How some of these people just vanish and are never heard from again and leave no clues is mind boggling.
The Things We Cannot Say Kelly Rimmer, this was recommended here (by leftturnonly I think). Another dual timeline book, set in Poland it tells the story of Alina & Tomasz, a young couple falling in love just as the Nazis began occupying Poland. Then in current times, busy mother Alice, whose Polish grandmother Hannah, has just had a stroke but wants her go back to Poland and trace her history before she dies. I liked this and really connected emotionally with the characters. 4 stars. Now I've just started A Nearly Normal Family by M.T. Edvardsson
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kelly8875
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,406
Location: Lost in my supplies...
Oct 26, 2014 17:02:56 GMT
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Post by kelly8875 on Jul 22, 2019 12:18:31 GMT
I finished my book club book “Station Eleven” on Wednesday last week, it was okay, but I wanted a certain storyline to be developed just a little more.
Saturday I read The Handmaid’s Tale, which was very good. I figured since I was about to start binge watching season 3, I’d read her version.
Then, continuing the theme of me already watching Hollywood’s version, I read Bird Box yesterday. Another good one!
It was fun to read a couple books I knew the story to, it’s been a while.
Not sure what I’ll start tonight...maybe something fluffy like Nicholas Sparks?
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Post by tara595 on Jul 22, 2019 14:47:12 GMT
I just finished Evie Drake Starts Over. It was a really charming story with lovable characters. 4 stars.
My library hold just came through - Under Currents by Nora Roberts. Ha s anyone read it?
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Post by auntkelly on Jul 22, 2019 16:18:26 GMT
I'm still trudging through Grant by Ron Chernow. I've been reading it for almost three weeks.
Chernow wrote the book which the musical Hamilton is based on. He really knows how to make history come alive. I took a course on the Civil War in college, but I have learned so much more about the Civil War and Reconstruction by reading this book than I ever learned in that semester long class.
This book gives me hope that the nation will get through our current division. It is comforting to read about how incredibly divided the country was after the Civil War and to see that it made it through those very tough times.
I had no idea how truly powerful the Ku Klux Klan was in the South after the Civil War. I always thought the Klan was a bunch of local organizations who committed random acts of horrific violence. This book has shown me the Klan was an extremely well organized terroist organization which systematically committed violence against society and had no scruples about murdering white judges and jurors to ensure that they would not be punished for their acts of terroism directed at blacks and Northern reformers. President Grant sent in the feds and successfully dismantled the Klan. (Unfortunately they emerged again in the next century).
I think I'll need to read something very light and entertaining when I finally finish this book.
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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 22, 2019 17:12:52 GMT
I read two books this week which truly proves what a dysfunctional reviewer I am of books. First I decided to read The Flight Attendant by Chris Bohjalian. I follow a book blogger on instagram and she put this author on her list of pre-order authors. I really want to like the suspense/thriller genre, I mean I keep trying. But I have yet to find a book that doesn't have a main character that makes the world's worst choices and therefore I tend not to have an ounce of sympathy for them. I'm not sure, but I am not able to suspend disbelief to believe that anybody is quite so stupid. I guess there has been a few exceptions, but please share a few titles which had smart main characters. 3 stars. And then just to prove that I can read a book in another genre and throw all my rules out the window I read The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren. I've pretty much read everything by this author and especially enjoy their rom-com/fluffy/mindless/trashy/smutty books What can I say, I like an easy read every now and then and I'm a great fan of snark so this totally fit the bill. 4 stars
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Rhondito
Pearl Clutcher
MississipPea
Posts: 4,783
Jun 25, 2014 19:33:19 GMT
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Post by Rhondito on Jul 22, 2019 17:33:02 GMT
This week I finished Riley Sager's latest, Lock Every Door. It's the story of a young woman who becomes an apartment sitter in a super-exclusive apartment building in New York, but mysterious things and disappearances begin to happen. The book is getting high ratings on Goodreads and while it's good, it seemed a little Nancy Drew / Scooby-Dooish to me at times. I gave it 3.5 stars.
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Post by mnmloveli on Jul 22, 2019 17:34:33 GMT
Two for me this week !
LOCK EVERY DOOR BY RILEY SAGER : 5 STARS Description: No visitors. No nights spent away from the apartment. No disturbing the other residents, all of whom are rich or famous or both. These are the only rules for Jules Larsen's new job as an apartment sitter. Review: Really creepy mystery. Suspenseful at just the right spots. My anxieties just kept building due to all the suspense the last 40% of the book. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough ! First book by this author for me but won't be my last !
WHISPER NETWORK BY CHANDLER BAKER : 3 STARS Description: Sloane, Ardie, Grace & Rosalita have worked at Truviv Inc for years. The sudden death of Truviv's CEO means their boss, Ames, will likely take over the entire company. Each of the women has a different relationship with Ames, who has always been surrounded by whispers about how he treats women. Those whispers have been swept under the rug, hidden away by those in charge. Until now ! Review: The flow of the book was a little choppy and slow for me. At 30% started to connect with the characters a little and by 40% was pretty good. Story coming together comparing the 4 women at different points in their lives, trying to get ahead while confronting male sexual abuse. This was the third new author for me off of Bustle.com's Summer 2019 Thriller List. Worth checking-out this list.
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Post by kristi521 on Jul 22, 2019 17:38:24 GMT
I finished, "The Night Olivia Fell" last night. I loved it. It was very reminiscent of "Reconstructing Amelia" for me. It got me to thinking how I parent my own girls and how they might view it in hindsight.
I also listened to "Only One Life" by Ashley Farley. It was decent, very predictable. There were many characters in the book that I disliked, though it was written that way.
Happy reading!
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gottapeanow
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,810
Jun 25, 2014 20:56:09 GMT
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Post by gottapeanow on Jul 22, 2019 18:00:55 GMT
NicL, I hope you like it! summer, I'm with you. I thought Crawdads was good, but not "best book of the year" by any means. I adored We Were the Lucky Ones. pjaye, my library doesn't have A Nearly Normal Family in yet, but it's scheduled to arrive soon. Realllllly looking forward to this one. Lisa
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Post by needmysanity on Jul 22, 2019 18:27:44 GMT
Where the Crawdads Sing -- I did enjoy it but I did not LOVE it and I definitely wouldn't consider one of the best books of the year (soo many people here said it was). I just started this a few days ago.
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Post by ntsf on Jul 22, 2019 20:26:58 GMT
auntkelly.. I looked at grant and it was a bit thick.. but I will probably read it. I'm currently reading the new Churchill bio by ?roberts? when you get done with Grant, read a short book that came out while he was in office --Democracy".. it was published without an author, but it came out later that it was written by Henry Adams, the historian, who was part of the washington scene at the time.
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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 23, 2019 22:29:47 GMT
auntkelly.. I looked at grant and it was a bit thick.. but I will probably read it. I'm currently reading the new Churchill bio by ?roberts? when you get done with Grant, read a short book that came out while he was in office --Democracy".. it was published without an author, but it came out later that it was written by Henry Adams, the historian, who was part of the washington scene at the time. Just wanted to mention that Grant is $1.99 today on Amazon.
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gina
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,291
Jun 26, 2014 1:59:16 GMT
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Post by gina on Jul 24, 2019 16:11:33 GMT
I finished Educated by Tara Westover and gave it 4/5 stars. I enjoyed this memoir. It was detailed and infuriating and despicable in places. I see some low-star reviews on Goodreads and many of them call the details of the story 'unbelievable'. I find that sad. Not once did I get the feeling that Tara Westover was a liar. She recalled most incidents in clarity and if she didn't, she would say that "these words are paraphrased and not 100% accurate" before continuing on.
Will I recommend this book on a whim to my next casual friend looking for a quick, easy read? Most likely not. Memoirs with awful childhoods are tough to read. Educated is a great choice for a fast-paced memoir if that's your thing (it's mine). I will say though, that I did enjoy Jeannette Walls' Glass Castle just a little bit more.
I just started The Dream Daughter by Diane Chamberlain last night. Only 4 chapters in, but I can tell this is going to be interesting!
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smartypants71
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,802
Location: Houston, TX
Jun 25, 2014 22:47:49 GMT
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Post by smartypants71 on Jul 24, 2019 16:34:38 GMT
Just finished The Marsh King's Daughter. I really enjoyed it and would give it 4.5 stars.
My next one is going to be The Silent Wife by ASA Harrison. Per the reviews, it is being compared to Gone Girl which I didn't just love. This one is supposed to be made into a movie with Nicole Kidman, so we'll see.
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