The Next Best Book Club discussion

Scott wrote: "I decided to read Gone Girl before I see the movie."

I read this book and saw the movie. Then I read the book The Good Girl by Mary Rupica, which I liked even more. A new book is being published, The Woman on the Train which is supposed to be another winner.

I am reading (very fun) and (confusing)

Patricia wrote: "Nancy, I'm still reading it. I made it through Landline, I can do this one lol!

Melissa, I've read every book by him so I can't really let this one go unfinished. It just wouldn't be right!"

I hope you like it. I've been looking forward to reading this book, just as I have all his others. He's a great author so I just hope it's a slow start.

Joshua wrote: "This book looks really good. What do you think of it so far?"

Not too far in but it is good so far.

I have started The Eyre Affair, The first in the "Thursday Next" series. I have heard lots of good things about this series.

Scott wrote: "I decided to read Gone Girl before I see the movie."

I can't wait to read it. I hope to do it before I see the movie. It just came out on dvd today.

Nancy from NJ wrote: "I read this book and saw the movie. Then I read the book The Good Girl by Mary Rupica, which I liked even more. ..."

If you mean The Girl on the Train, I think it just came out. It looks interesting.

Melissa wrote: "I can't wait to read it. I hope to do it before I see the movie. It just came out on dvd today."

That's what I was thinking also.

Finally back to reading a cozy mystery, The Disappearance of Mavis Woodstock. Still waiting on Orphan Train, last I checked I was #10 on the list with 13 copies.

Scott wrote: "Nancy from NJ wrote: "I read this book and saw the movie. Then I read the book The Good Girl by Mary Rupica, which I liked even more. ..."

If you mean The Girl on the Train, I thi..."

Yes, that is the title I meant to type in but there is a book titled The Good Girl which I thought was super - better than Gone Girl.

Just finished reading the first in the series featuring Detective Gamache from Still Life by Louise Penny. It was an ok read - three stars. But I do plan on reading another book by this author to see if she grows on me.

Katherine wrote: "I am reading ... and (confusing)"

I was looking forward to reading it, Katherine! Please let me know if it gets any better?

yesterday i finished and it was pretty good. I am now reading (since i started school today i am reading this ebook between classes), ( at home) and ( since this is so big it is my book that i read before i got to bed).

I am currently reading House of Silence for an online book group. It was recommended by Amazon and so fair it's OK. I am also listening to the Last Night at the Blue Angel which is surprisingly quite good. I didn't know much about this book but thought I'd try it when it was available at the library.

Nancy from NJ wrote: "Scott wrote: "Nancy from NJ wrote: "I read this book and saw the movie. Then I read the book The Good Girl by Mary Rupica, which I liked even more. ..."

If you mean [book:The Girl on the Train|22..."

This book looks good! I need to add this to my list.

I have finished Gray Mountain! I think it's the first Grisham book I've read that had SEX in it lol! It made me laugh because the sex scenes were just a quick paragraph and it just wasn't Grisham lol! It was like they kissed, they did it, they were done.

I'm reading One Plus One now. Jess is starting to annoy me, she says one thing and does another. This is my first JoJo Moyes book so I will give it a chance since it's had so many good reviews.

Patricia wrote: "I have finished Gray Mountain! I think it's the first Grisham book I've read that had SEX in it lol! It made me laugh because the sex scenes were just a quick paragraph and it just..."

This is the only John Grisham book that I ever rated so low. I din't find the plot interesting.

I decided not to read Jaffa Beach at this time and am now reading House of Silence which is just OK so far. Reminds me a bit like The Thirteenth Tale which I didn't much care for either

Friends, Lovers, Chocolate by Alexander McCall Smith – 3*
Book # 2 in the Isabel Dalhousie series has our philosopher investigating mysteries of the heart – both literally and figuratively. I enjoy the philosophical / ethical / moral dilemmas (both real and imagined) that Isabel contemplates. And I really like her relationship with the various characters. But it is a gentle, thoughtful read with endearing characters and some food for thought. Davinia Porter does a fine job performing the audio.
Link to my full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Stephen wrote: "I have started The Eyre Affair, The first in the "Thursday Next" series. I have heard lots of good things about this series."

I really like the series ... the more widely read you are the more literary references you pick up.

I'm reading The Murder of Susan Reed: A Val & Kit Mystery.

Annalie wrote: "Katherine wrote: "I am reading ... and (confusing)"

I was looking forward to reading it, Katherine! Please let me know if it gets any better?"

Got to page 175 and couldn't bring myself to read any further, very confusing time line, story..for me

Stephen wrote: "I have started The Eyre Affair, The first in the "Thursday Next" series. I have heard lots of good things about this series."

I really have enjoyed every book in this series. Love the oddness of the characters and what a cool concept!

I am reading (enjoying), the 1st book in the newest series by Charlaine Harris (so far..so good) and trying to finish

The Bartender’s Tale by Ivan Doig – 4****
Ivan Doig has a way of exploring the everyday events of a person’s life and making them seem epic in scope. In this marvelous novel he gives us a precocious, if worried, twelve-year-old narrator who hero worships his father. Rusty is a great observer and while his imagination can get ahead of the facts, he can also be pretty astute when judging character. I loved reading about these two and the family unit they create. I really love the way Doig paints the landscape; the sense of place is so strong that the setting is practically a character.
Link to my full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Book Concierge wrote: " The Bartender’s Tale by Ivan Doig – 4****
Ivan Doig has a way of exploring the everyday events of a person’s life and making them seem epic in scope. In ...

I really enjoyed this one also

I´m reading after finishing , gotta say that both books got me really into the stories. Julie Johnson is quite the author.

Katherine wrote: " ... ... Got to page 175 and couldn't bring myself to read any further, very confusing time line, story..for me "

Thanks for letting me know, Katherine! & I agree with you about abandoning a book if you don't enjoy it. There are so many wonderful books out there!

I finished One Plus One and actually enjoyed it. I'm now reading Woman in Red. I'm not sure if I'm going to like it, there's alot going on. Her son was killed, she tried to kill the man who killed him, there's an alcoholic, a rapist, the mystery of the painting of the woman in red, and more! It's not helping that the only time I've had to read is late at night when I'm tired and should be sleeping. I'll give it 100 pages. I have the Paying Guests and The Good Girl from the library I need to read and return.

About to finish To Kill a Mockingbird. Such a great book!

The Paper Magician by Charlie N Holmberg – 2*
Book #1 in a series that is clearly meant to ride the coattails of The Night Circus. A strong heroine doesn’t save the poor plotting or simple writing. Mostly I was bored.
Link to my full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Just finished reading Horns by Joe Hill and now reading City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

Reading the 3rd book in a cozy mystery series, Death in Door County: A Val & Kit Mystery.

I am currently reading The Name of the Rose and Sprezzatura: 50 Ways Italian Genius Shaped the World.

I finished The Book of Unknown Americans. It was a quick read about families coming to America for a better life. Next up is Everything I Never Told You.

Anne, What a good idea it is to read together a fiction and a non-fiction of the same period.

Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin – 4****
Someone is murdering children in 12th-century Cambridge England. King Henry II sends for a medical expert from Salerno; he doesn’t expect to get a woman – a mistress of the art of death. This is not only a great mystery, and but a fine work of historical fiction. I was invested in the story and in Adelia’s work from the beginning. The murders are pretty ghastly, and there are a few scenes of real terror and graphic violence. But the strong central character is what really held my interest and I’ll definitely read more of the series. Rosalyn Landor does a fine job performing the audio book.
Link to my full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

The Sugar House by Laura Lippman – 3***
Book # 5 in the Tess Monaghan series has the former reporter turned private investigator taking on a job as a favor to her Dad. I like this series and I really like Tess. She’s intelligent, strong willed, confident, resourceful and tenacious; and she doesn’t rely on some “strong, handsome type” to get her out of a jam. Lippman fills the books with local references giving the reader a definite feel for the location. And, since Tess was an English major, the novel is also full of references to books. All in all, a solid mystery read.
Link to my full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Yesterday I started reading The Martian by Andy Weir. I'm only about 80 pages in, but so far I enjoy it a lot. The story is more technical/strategic than I expected but it's very entertaining nonetheless.

In case you have not heard of it yet:
Astronaut Mark Watley is left behind on Mars after a failed mission, while his crew returns to Earth believing that Mark is dead. All communication systems are down, and Mark tries to find a way to use the available resources to survive long enough until the next crew will arrive on Mars, scheduled for a couple of years into the future.

I started Orphan Train this morning and finally tore myself away at 1:00. I'm really loving this book.

Karen M wrote: "I started Orphan Train this morning and finally tore myself away at 1:00. I'm really loving this book.

I just finished it last week and loved it.

Paula wrote: "Karen M wrote: "I started Orphan Train this morning and finally tore myself away at 1:00. I'm really loving this book.

I just finished it last week and loved it."

I read it a few months ago, it was very good. Another book that's somewhat along the same lines is The Language of Flowers.

Astrid wrote: "Yesterday I started reading The Martian by Andy Weir. I'm only about 80 pages in, but so far I enjoy it a lot. The story is more technical/strategic than I expected but it's very en..."

In case you didn't know, Ridley Scott is making it into a movie. Excellent book. Best that I read last year.

Scott wrote: "In case you didn't know, Ridley Scott is making it into a movie. Excellent book. Best that I read last year."

I read that somewhere yesterday and I'm already excited! It really is a fantastic book..

I recently read and enjoyed City of Masks: by new Aussie author, Ashley Capes - 3.5★s.

Here is my review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I just finished reading David Pandolphe's Jump When Ready series and LOVED it. Highly recommend all three books!
Jump When Ready

Karen M wrote: "I started Orphan Train this morning and finally tore myself away at 1:00. I'm really loving this book."

Thanks for the recommendation - just added it to my shelf because it sounds great!

I've recently finished several classic mystery short stories and a novella, Elusive Isabel, by Jacques Futrelle, and am currently reading another classic novella, The Wendigo, by Algernon Blackwood. Next up will be Poisoned Prose by Ellery Adams, followed by A Passage To India by E.M. Forster.

I have read all of Christina Baker Kline's - author of Orphan Train - and while I loved all of them, my all time fave was a This Is the Way Life Should Be.

I just finished One Of Us by Tawni O'Dell. A man who grew up poor in a coal mining town with an abusive, alcoholic father and a mentally ill mother who was accused of murdering her week old baby comes back to town to help his grandfather. By now the main character, Dr. Sheridan Doyle is a forensic psychologist who is still haunted by his past. He discovers some dark truths about his family and some of the townspeople during his visit.

Right now I am reading one of Mike Lupica's greatest hits, Miracle on 49th Street.