Coffee & Books discussion

I finished my book called Penelope by Bernadette Marie

I finished my book called Heinous by Debra Webb

My review for Mistake Creek by Rachel Amphlett

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

My review for Wolfhunter River by Rachel Caine

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

I finished my book called See Him Die by Debra Webb

I finished my book called See Her Die by Melinda Leigh

I finished my book called Letter to My Daughter by Maya Angelou

The Women’s March – Jennifer Chiaverini – 4****
The novel focuses on the women who risked their liberty, and their lives, to win the vote for women, including women of color. Chiaverini focuses on three of the most important suffragists of the day: Alice Paul, Maud Malone, and Ida B Wells-Barnett, to tell the story. The chapters alternate between these three central figures, showing how each approached the issue and the unique challenges each faced. The scenes of the march itself, and the near disaster it became are harrowing. While the novel itself is interesting and engaging, I really enjoyed the author’s notes, where Chiaverini gives more details on what happened after the march. As of this writing, the Equal Rights Amendment is NOT yet ratified.
LINK to my full review

Thirteen Hours – Deon Meyer – 4****
This is a hard-hitting, fast-paced, police procedural with a complicated plot, a second, unrelated (or is it?) killing, and multiple twists: drugs, human trafficking, the music industry, and, of course, Benny’s continuing struggle as a recovering alcoholic. He's also been named as a mentor to a group of younger investigators, and Griessel is having a hard time with his recent assignment: Inspector Mbali Kaleni, a black woman, a Zulu, a feminist. This is an interesting pairing, and I’d like to see it continue in future books.
LINK to my full review

I finished my book called The Price of Passion by Maureen Child

Latest Kim Harrison’s In the Hollows series, Trouble With The Cursed.

Our Lady of Perpetual Hunger – Lisa Donovan – 3.5***
Donovan is a chef and award-winning essayist who has worked in a number of celebrated restaurant kitchens throughout the South. This is her memoir. Her passion and focus has been on desserts but she knows her way around the entire kitchen. Her journey from Army brat to single mother to just-another-restaurant-worker to pastry star is interesting, and she tells her story with insight and honesty.
LINK to my full review

I finished my book called Best Man for the Wedding Planner by Donna Alward

I am reading , Torrey Peters. So, far interesting. It is about several different characters at different points in their lives. It is more then a book about being Transgender.

I am reading Secrets of the Deep

Interior Chinatown – Charles Yu – 3***
Yu’s inventive novel won the National Book Award for Fiction in 2020; he uses a second-person narrative voice and writes as if this were a screenplay. Personally, I found the structure off-putting. It seemed to me that Yu was trying too hard to be clever. Be that as it may, he had a pretty good story to tell, and eventually I came to appreciate his message.
LINK to my full review

Eye Of the Needle – Ken Follett – 4.5****
Wow. Just, WOW. Fast-paced and engaging, this WW2 espionage thriller was Follett’s first successful endeavor as a novelist; he wrote it when he was only 27 years old! Follet uses three story arcs – the German spy, the British intelligence team on his trail, and the innocent woman who holds the key to success for one side or the other. Virtually every chapter ends in a cliffhanger, and Follett keeps the tension high, with the three storylines converging in a heart-stopping scenario.
LINK to my full review

I finished my book called Christmas Joy by Nancy Naigle

How the Penguins Saved Veronica – Hazel Prior – 3.5***
Veronica McCreedy is an eighty-five-year-old woman who is inspired by a documentary on penguins to visit Antarctica. After all, she can’t leave her fortune to her recently discovered grandson, as he is an unemployed pot-smoker! The plot is outlandish and unrealistic but completely engaging and heart-warming. Veronica reminds me of many other cranky, outspoken elderly main characters (Ove and Olive Kitteridge, to name two). Everyone learns a lesson or two about cooperation and teamwork, and about opening one’s heart to the possibility of love.
LINK to my full review

I am reading The Power of One

I am reading The Latecomer. Hide. Survive the Night well listening and I am am trying to read 2 it's impossible.

I finished my book called The It Girl by Ruth Ware

Taking a break from the heat and humidity and enjoying a little Christmas in July!

An Amish Christmas – Cynthia Keller – 2.5** (rounded up)
A family living the American dream in North Carolina discovers they’ve lost everything. With little more than the clothes on their backs, they head for a family’s home in Maine, only to crash their car in the midst of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, where they learn what’s really important in life. It’s a sweet, and somewhat sappy, holiday story.
LINK to my full review

Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda – Becky Albertalli – 3.5***
The story of this high-school drama centers on Simon Spier, a gay 15-year-old, who’s not yet out to his family or friends. Ah, the drama of high school relationships. There’s a lot to digest here, from family dynamics to first love to what it means to be a true friend, and Albertalli handles it pretty well. I can see why this would be a popular YA title for any teen.
LINK to my full review

I finished my book called The Boy in the Barn by Ciana Stone

Murder 101 – Maggie Barbieri – 2.5**
Alison Bergeron is an English professor at a small, private college on the banks of the Hudson River in the Bronx, who finds herself the focus of a murder investigation when the body of one of her students is found in the trunk of her Volvo, which she reported stolen a few days previously. As a mystery, this was not very well plotted, and I found the reveal completely unrealistic and dissatisfying. But I did find the nascent romance between Alison and Crawford interesting. And I might read another book in the series just to see how that pans out.
LINK to my full review

Gorky Park – Martin Cruz Smith – 2.5**
As the snow begins to melt, three frozen bodies are found in Moscow’s Gorky Park. This is the first in a series, and Smith gives us an interesting cast of characters, including a dwarf who does reconstructive sculpture from bones to help identify crime victims, and a rich, ruthless and well-connected American mogul. Investigator Arkady Renko will have to battle the KGB, FBI and New York City police to solve this case. It started with a bang, but I began to lose interest with all the subplots and political intrigue. And I found the ending disatissfying.
LINK to my full review

State Of Terror – Hillary Rodham Clinton & Louise Penny – 3.5***
Clearly Clinton provided the behind-the-scenes information on the workings of government on this scale, while Louise Penny crafted the plot, which was fast and furious and held my attention throughout. I wish Clinton hadn’t relied so much on taking digs at # 45, because the basic plot would have worked without that, and it just makes the book seem like a thinly veiled criticism of our former leadership.
LINK to my full review

I finished my book called All We Ever Wanted by Emily Giffin

To Be Continued – Charmaine Gordon – 3***
I wasn’t expecting much from this coming-of-middle-age book, but I found it to be pretty entertaining. Oh, I did have some issues with the main character, but she eventually got her act together, found a new therapist, a new best friend, a new guy, and a new career. It was a fun, fast read.
LINK to my full review

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The Winds of War – Herman Wouk – 5*****
Book # 1 in the Henry Family saga introduces us to Commander Victor Henry, his wife Rhoda, and their children: Warren, Byron and Madeline. Victor wants a battleship, but he’s been selected to serve as Naval attache in Berlin. It’s 1937 and he’ll have a front-row seat to history. This is a larger-than-life story to tell, and Wouk captures the reader’s attention from the beginning, weaving the family’s personal soap opera drama into the fabric of history. This was a re-read for me, but I found it just as engaging and thrilling as the first time. I’ll probably give in and re-read the sequel as well.
LINK to my full review

A Fistful of Collars – Spencer Quinn – 3***
Book # 5 in the Chet and Bernie mystery series, has Bernie Small hired to “babysit” a notorious bad-boy Hollywood actor who’s the star of a movie being shot on location in his area. Of course, Bernie goes nowhere without his partner, Chet, who is a dog and also narrates the tale. I just love this series. I never get tired of Chet’s way of interpreting what he witnesses.
LINK to my full review

The Upright Piano Player – David Abbot – 3.5***
This work of literary fiction is a striking debut. Abbott gives us the story of Henry Cage, a successful businessman who seems to have it all: a fine home, a successful career, and a reputation for being a principled and upstanding man. But his outward success hides personal failure. Although I liked it, the structure of the book left me feeling dissatisfied, and with more questions than answers.
LINK to my full review

I just finished the Audio 🎧 , by Jenny Lawson. Good book about an author I hadn’t known about. Funny, but also addresses her mental health and several auto immune disorders.

I just finished reading , by Christy Lefteri. The was an exceptional book about a Syrian couple who are forced to leave Aleppo and become refugees.

This is my review if anyone is interested in the book:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

The Kill Artist – Daniel Silva – 3***
This is the first in a series starring Gabriel Allon, whose cover is that of an art restoration specialist. The action is fast and furious and sometimes confusing, as is to be expected in an espionage thriller. There are more twists and turns than a casual reader can keep track of. And a basic knowledge of of Israeli / Palestinian relationships and politics is necessary. This is a long-running series, with over twenty books, but I doubt I’ll pick up another. Just not my cup of tea.
LINK to my full review

A little Christmas in July ...


Dashing Through the Snow – Debbie Macomber – 3***
Last minute plans to travel from San Francisco to Seattle nearly thwart Ashley Davison and Dashiell Sutherland. Stranded at the airport they decide to share the last remaining rental car. Their road to HEA includes several detours: an abandoned puppy, a pair of petty thieves, and an FBI agent who has mistakenly identified one of them as an international terrorist. But never fear. It’s a holiday rom com and a lovely distraction, so curl up in a comfy chair, with a warm blanket and the beverage of your choice and enjoy.
LINK to my full review

Much Ado About You – Samantha Young – 3***
Evie Starling, a thirty-three Chicagoan who’s just broken up with her boyfriend and been disappointed one time too many at work, decides to take a Bookshop Holiday in England to re-evaluate and regroup. She doesn’t expect to meet the devastatingly handsome local sheep farmer (and his even cuter dog). A charming rom com with all the usual tropes. Perfect for a light holiday read.
LINK to my full review

The Mummy Case – Elizabeth Peters – 3***
Book three in the popular Amelia Peabody cozy mystery series. Amelia and her handsome husband, Radcliffe Emerson, want permission to dig in a specific area for a long-lost pharaoh’s tomb. But the authorities were not pleased with Emerson’s past behavior and give him a site far from the desired pyramids of Dahshoor. They bring along their incredibly precocious son, Ramses, who wants a dig of his own. Peters writes these books as if they were Amelia’s memoirs and uses a formal style of writing that helps transport the reader to the late 19th century.
LINK to my full review

American Gods – Neil Gaiman – 2.5**
Gaiman is a hit-or-miss author for me. I’ve loved some of his works, others, not so much. This one clearly falls into that last category. In fact near the beginning I was tempted to DNF it entirely. Am I glad I persevered? Not exactly.
LINK to my full review

My review for Last Bridge Before Home by Lily Malone

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

I finished 3 books and they were called Sleigh Bride by Neve Cottrell and Good Neighbors by Sarah Langan and Not a Happy Family: A Novel by Shari Lapena

Balzac And the Little Chinese Seamstress – Dai Sijie – 5*****
During China's Cultural Revolution, three young men are sent to a mountain villages for re-education. One of them has a secret horde of books. The other two are captivated by the books and also by the little seamstress, daughter of the district’s tailor. Sijie gives us descriptions of the harshness of the terrain and of their forced labor. The scenes in the coal mine were particularly harrowing. But there are many humorous scenes, as well. I have read this little gem of a novel several times. It is luminously written. For me, it answers the question, "Why do you read so much?"
LINK to my full review