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by
Ann Marie
(new)
May 23, 2019 08:25PM
I don't know hot to upload the book cover but I'm reading Still house Lake and even though I'm busy I already am halfway through. If it keeps going the same way, I am going to give it 5 stars. Even though it seems a bit e5 stars.arly yet, if it keeps going this way it will get
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Fascism: A Warning – Madeleine Albright – 4****
It’s said that those who refuse to study history are doomed to repeat it. I’ve studied some history, and yet I found much new information in this relatively slim volume. Albright clearly, methodically and logically lays out the foundations to bring understanding of Fascism. She cites numerous examples, using not only right-wing but left-wing and centrist ideologies to illustrate the concepts and realities.
LINK to my review
Odd One Out – Nic Stone – 2**
A love triangle in high school, told in turn by each of the three principle characters. Clearly, I am not the target demographic for this YA novel about kids who are conflicted about their sexuality.
LINK to my review
Decaffeinated Corpse – Cleo Coyle – 3***
Book five in the Coffeehouse Mystery series, featuring Clare Cosi, the co-owner / manager of a Greenwich Village coffee shop, and an amateur sleuth. I really like this series. I enjoy learning more about the coffee business, though Coyle can be a little too detailed at times. Still, it’s a fast, enjoyable read and satisfies my yearning for a comforting cozy mystery.
LINK to my review
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D Is For Deadbeat – Sue Grafton – 3.5***
I really like this series and its retro feel. There are no cell phones or computers; Kinsey has to rely on her intellect, her network of connections and good old-fashioned leg work. She’s smart, determined, self-sufficient and never has to rely on a man to get her out of a tight spot.
LINK to my review
My review for:They Gathered at the Bingleys: Derbyshire #4 by Margaret Lynette Sharp
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Optimist’s Guide to letting Go – Amy E Reichert – 4****
I really liked this intergenerational story that follows Lorraine, her two daughters, Vicky and Gina, and Gina’s teen daughter May. Their relationships are fraught and characterized by discord and silence. It’s a delightful and heartfelt story. I find it interesting that once Lorraine loses her speech due to a stroke, the communication between her and her daughters becomes clearer. I also have to give a “warning” about the food descriptions here. Reichert’s books always have this element in them, and readers should be aware that they will find themselves craving all sorts of delicacies.
LINK to my review
The Antelope Wife – Louise Erdrich – 4****
I just have to say that Erdrich is one of my favorite writers. Her prose is luminous and poetic. Her use of magical realism seamless. It reminds me of listening to my grandparents, aunts and uncles tell stories of family lore, sitting on a dark porch of a summer evening. The novel weaves history, contemporary urban life, legend, and sacred myth into a marvelous tapestry of a story. There is birth and death, humor and tragedy, betrayal and forgiveness, broken people scattered on the battlefield of life, and others standing tall and moving forward.
LINK to my review
Santa Cruise – Mary Higgins Clark & Carol Higgins Clark – 3***
The mother/daughter writing team gives us a cozy mystery featuring retired maid and lottery winner Alvirah Meehan, her husband, Willy, and their friends on a holiday cruise. The plot is suitably complicated, if somewhat outlandish. it’s a fun, fast, cozy mystery with a satisfying conclusion.
LINK to my review
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Murder Most Frothy – Cleo Coyle – 3***
Book four in the Coffeehouse Mystery series has Clare working for the summer in the Hamptons, helping a friend train the staff of his new restaurant. Their first Hamptoms event is marred, however, when one of her employees is shot and killed. It’s a fast read with a great cast of characters. I’ll keep reading the series.
LINK to my review
Girl Waits With Gun – Amy Stewart – 4****
Based on the true story of one of America’s first female detectives, Stewart gives us a wonderfully atmospheric historical crime novel set in 1914-1915, and with a great cast of characters. I loved Constance – strong, determined, intelligent, and self-reliant. But also applaud Sheriff Heath, who not only worked to prove the case against the powerful factory owner but was astute enough to recognize the talent in Constance Kopp and offer her that ground-breaking opportunity. I’ll keep reading this series.
LINK to my review
A Deadly Grind – Victoria Hamilton – 2.5***
I liked the basic premise of this new cozy series, including the small-town setting, the interplay between the sisters, and the cast of (potentially) recurring colorful characters. But the main character repeatedly made poor choices and took such obviously dangerous chances that I was just irritated with her. Still it was a fast read, and I’d be willing to try another in the series.
LINK to my review
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves – Karen Joy Fowler – 4****
A chance encounter with a fellow college student, causes Rosemary Cooke to briefly abandon the careful façade she’s adopted and has her reflecting on her childhood, and her lost siblings: her sister Fern and her brother Lowell. This is the kind of character-driven literary fiction that I relish. Fowler’s writing brings this wounded family to life.
LINK to my review
Hissy Fit – Mary Kay Andrews – 3***
Even before I read the jacket blurb, I knew I was in for a light, fun, fast, chick lit, beach read. And that’s exactly what I got. Mary Kay Andrews knows how to write in this genre and she does a fine job of it.
LINK to my review
Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain.
The Line Becomes a River – Francisco Cantú – 4****
Cantú studied international relations in college and joined the border patrol because, “I spent four years in college … learning about the border through policy and history. I want to see the realities of the border day in and day out.” In this memoir he writes with brutal honesty about what he experienced, looks at the policies and procedures, and explores the toll on humans – both migrants and native-born Americans.
LINK to my review
My review for: The True Story of Maddie Bright by Mary-Rose MacColl
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Eleven Minutes – Paulo Coelho – 3.5***
Well this went in a direction I wasn’t expecting. Yes, of course, Maria winds up a prostitute and not a famous movie actress, but she comes to understand much about herself and the world. She ultimately takes charge of her life. Still, there were times when I thought that Coelho really doesn’t know women at all. And still, I was captivated by Maria and her journey.
LINK to my review
Isn’t It Romantic? – Ron Hansen – 3***
The subtitle of this little novel is “An Entertainment.” And that’s exactly what it is. Natalie and Pierre, a young Parisien couple, are stranded in Seldom, Nebraska, population 395. What follows is a farcical comedy, with messages gone astray, intentions misunderstood, love declared, and more than one mishap. It’s a fun romance, if totally ridiculous. Great beach read.
LINK to my review
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Little Town On the Prairie – Laura Ingalls Wilder – 3***
Book seven in the popular classic Little House series, has Laura growing into a young lady. I love this series for the way the pioneer spirit is portrayed and the strong family relationships. THIS book, however, has a scene that is very uncomfortable for modern readers. I know this is historically accurate to the period, but I just cringed reading about it. If you are going to read it with your children, be ready for a serious conversation about what is and is not appropriate.
LINK to my review
My review for: The Handsome Stranger by Margaret Lynette Sharp
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Divining Women – Kaye Gibbons – 3.5***
I like the way Gibbons writes her characters. There are some very unpleasant goings on, and much of it makes me in turns uncomfortable, despairing, and angry. Set in 1918, this is at a time when women had few rights on their own, and yet Mary refused to be cowed by her uncle. And her strength empowered Maureen to fight for the freedom and respect she was due. Brava, ladies!
LINK to my review
Bittersweet – Colleen McCullough – 3***
A mini-series soap opera of a novel, following four sisters (two sets of twins) in early 20th century Australia. McCullough does a great job of crafting this sweeping novel. I was engaged and interested in the story and in exploring life in Australia at this time frame. However, I did get frustrated by the way that Grace and Kitty behaved, and felt that a few of the many story threads were abandoned and then quickly resolved just to wrap up.
LINK to my review
Book Concierge wrote: "
Maisie Dobbs
– Jacqueline Winspear – 2**
This is the first in a series featuring a former housemaid and Army Nurse. The book begins in 1929, and Maisie Dobbs has..."
Just got this for my Dad and he loves it. Want to read when he finishes
Rachel Skye wrote: "So, whatcha readin'?Cheers to the new year!"
I am reading ‘The Gown’, much more interesting then I expected.1/3 thru, so update when I finish.
I am currently reading A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin. It’s the monthly group read for another group I am in.
Riders Of the Purple Sage – Zane Grey – 3***
I hardly know what to write about this classic of the Western genre. It’s full of adventure, violence, strong men and women, tenderness, brutality and an abiding sense of justice. And, of course, there is the landscape, which Grey paints so vividly it is practically a character. The storyline and dialogue are a bit melodramatic. but Grey’s story still captured this reader’s imagination. I was reminded of the many western movies I watched with my Dad in the ‘50s and ‘60s. They were exciting and the good guys always won. Glad I finally read it.
LINK to my review
Honeymoon – James Patterson & Howard Roughan – 3***
Patterson and his team can sure churn out the fast-paced suspense/thrillers! The action is quick and the target ever moving. The writing may be simple, but the plot holds the reader’s attention. Good beach / vacation read.
LINK to my review
The Passover Murder – Lee Harris – 3***
Book number 7 in the Christine Bennett mystery series. I really like this main character. Christine is intelligent, calm, deliberate, tenacious and compassionate. She gains the trust of those she interviews and manages to ferret out information that even the police failed to uncover. I also like that the setting is in a time period before cell phones, computers and googling. The person doing the detecting has to rely on lots of tedious footwork and research, as well as keen observation and a well-honed intuition when interviewing suspects / witnesses.
LINK to my review
Turning Angel – Greg Isles – 2**
Book two in the Penn Cage series. Iles can write a compelling story with lots of suspects, many twists and turns in the plot, complicated motives and subplots, and a fast pace that keeps the reader turning pages. Penn’s background as a prosecuting attorney in Houston serves him well. Murder is always a violent crime, of course, and the sexual component herein is particularly disturbing. But I have a major problem with THIS book due to the basic underlying relationships. So the basic “thriller genre” gets 3 stars (even with the violence against women), but loses a star for the particularly distasteful – and disgraceful – underlying theme here.
LINK to my review
My review for: The Red Dirt Hymnbook by Roxie Faulkner Kirk
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Hero Of the Empire – Candice Millard – 4****
Subtitle: The Boer War, a Daring Escape and the Making of Winston Churchill. Millard writes an interesting and detailed biography of the young Winston Churchill. Serving as a war correspondent during the Boer War in South Africa, he was a young, somewhat rash man eager to make his mark in the world. It’s a fascinating story and gives a somewhat different picture of the man most of us know only from his prominence during WW2. Yet, the reader gets a sense of the man he will become.
LINK to my review
I just finished Middlemarch. Such an epic read- easily one of my favourites books this year! Currently reading Anne of Green Gables, just a few pages into it, but I think I'll really like this one as well.
The Great Train Robbery – Michael Crichton – 4****
What a rollicking good story! I was entertained from beginning to end. Crichton starts out with a recitation of the facts and sprinkles the text with details of Victorian life. The way he imagines the lead characters, especially Edward Pierce (the gang leader), is what really breathes life into the story. I first bought/read it in 1975; it’s one of my F2F book club selections, so I’m re-reading it for the 3rd or 4th time. And I still love it!
LINK to my review
The Sun Also Rises – Ernest Hemingway – 3***
One of Hemingway’s earliest novels, this was first published in 1926, and has never been out of print since that time. It is loosely based on the author’s own experiences with a circle of friends frequently known as “The Lost Generation.” In general, I am a fan of Hemingway, but this novel missed the mark for me. The ennui with which these people live their lives just doesn’t interest me very much.
LINK to my review
Arthur and Sherlock – Michael Sims – 3***
This is an interesting biography / history of Conan Doyle’s life as a young man. The reader learns of the people and events that influenced and inspired him when he created his most famous character: Sherlock Holmes.
LINK to my review
My review for: A Lifetime of Impossible Days by Tabitha Bird
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Coffee & Books
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