Coffee & Books discussion
Bookish!
>
What are you reading?
Chocolate Chocolate – Frances Park and Ginger Park – 3***
Subtitle: The True Story of Two Sisters, Tons of Treats, and the Little Shop That Could. It’s a charming memoir, but I found it repetitious. While I admit to self-medicating with chocolate, reading about that in chapter after chapter is less satisfying. Still, they have an interesting story to tell, and I really liked their relationship with their mother and with their customers.
LINK to my review
The Good Lord Bird – James McBride – 3.5***
McBride looks at John Brown and Harpers Ferry through the lens of a “freed” slave, Henry Shackleford (known as Onion). I’ve seen reviews that compare McBride to Mark Twain, and I guess I see that here – an adventure tale that is about a serious event / issue, but that includes room for humor.
LINK to my review
The Traveling Tea Shop by Belinda Jones.
I'm just starting
by Tahereh Mafi-- The cover is absolutely beautiful!
A Gentleman in Moscow – Amor Towles – 5***** and a ❤
Well this book cements Amor Towles in my list of favorite authors. I love the Count and the way he leads his life. His accommodations may be limited, and he may be confined to the hotel, but his life is certainly *not* limited. They may take his possessions, they may restrict his movements, but they cannot make his less a gentleman.
LINK to my review
My review for: Sixty Seconds: How long is the road to forgiveness? by Jesse Blackadder
5★https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
joyce g wrote: "Monster by A. Lee Martinez."I love A. Lee Martinez! How did you like Monster? Have you read any of his other books?
joyce g wrote: "Blameless by Gail Carriger."How are you liking the Parasol Protectorate series? I loved it. I haven't read any other series by Gail Carriger yet, but I'd like to.
I finished The Collapsing Empire and I loved it. I can't believe I have to wait until 2019 for the next book!I also finished Sense and Sensibility which I enjoyed a lot. I love Jane Austen.
In addition, I've also finished listening to Norse Mythology and A Wrinkle in Time. Norse Mythology was good. I didn't enjoy A Wrinkle in Time as much as I thought I would. I thought that the main characters seemed like caricatures of "awkward genius kids". It may be because we're now so saturated with those types of characters, but it took away from my enjoyment of the book. It would be a great book to discuss with the group.
I'm currently listening to Age of Myth which is great.
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout.
Mod
I also finished Sense and Sensibility which I enjoyed a l..."
I still want to read S&S. I have not read ONE AUSTEN BOOK AND IM THE WORST ENGLISH MAJOR EVER
My review for: Much Ado at Longbourn by Margaret Lynette Sharp
4★https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
TEXT –
Written in Stone by Ellery AdamsAUDIO in the car – None (while we drive my husband prefers music … so I listen just on MP3)
MP3 Player AUDIO –
The Birchbark House by Louise Erdrich
Rio Grande Fall – Rudolfo Anaya – 2**
Book two in the Sonny Baca mystery series is set during the Albuquerque NM Hot Air Balloon Fiesta. I like magical realism, in general, but this series has gone too far. I wasn’t interested and all the spiritualism detracted from the plot (what little there was of it).
LINK to my review
Love, Life And Elephants – Daphne Sheldrick – 4****
Subtitle: An African Love Story. This is a wonderful memoir that takes the reader from Sheldrick’s birth and childhood through her teen years, and first love, on to the love of her life, David Sheldrick, and the work they accomplished together. She writes in a frank and open manner, describing her missteps as openly as her triumphs.
LINK to my review
Christmas in Harmony – Philip Gulley – 3***
If the Christmas Eve service has become a burden, why not take Dale’s suggestion of a Progressive Live Nativity Scene. What could possibly go wrong? With Dale in charge … a lot. Funny and tender, but Sam always finds the true meaning of Christmas. A lovely holiday read.
LINK to my review
Imaginary Men – Anjali Banerjee – 1*
Lina Ray is a professional matchmaker in the San Francisco bay area who has yet to make her own match. But after blurting out news of her own (imaginary) engagement to save herself from a match to an Indian “bachelor from hell,” she has to find her prince in two months, so the family matriarch can approve the match. It’s chick-lit with a cultural nuance. A fast read. Total mind candy.
LINK to my review
--------- * * * * * * * * --------
A Man Of His Own – Susan Wilson – 3***
Three people connected by one dog, this is a kind of romance novel with a twist. There’s plenty of drama with three characters who are all emotionally fragile, and yet somehow are “guided” by this remarkable animal. That synopsis sounds trite and predictable, and in a sense the book is that, but I have to say that I was entertained and engaged by the story.
LINK to my review
Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight.
Just finished "Skipping Christmas" by Grisham and started "The Way of Kings by Sanderson
Queen of the Air – Dean Jensen – 4****
Subtitle: A True Story of Love & Tragedy at the Circus. This is a love story, a tragedy to rival Shakespeare, a history of early twentieth century America, and a thrilling adventure. Lillian Leitzel and Alfredo Codona were the biggest stars in the early twentieth century Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. I was completed engaged and enthralled by their story.
LINK to my review
--------- * * * * * * * * --------
Mr Miracle – Debbie Macomber – 2**
Book ten in the Angels Everywhere (a.k.a Angelic Intervention) series. Harry Mills is on his first assignment on earth and he rather smugly believes he’s got it all covered. But he didn’t quite count on human emotions. It’s a cheesy Christmas romance, and the plot is what you’d expect from that genre. It’s not great literature, but it’s perfect for the season.
LINK to my review
Hillbilly Elegy – J.D. Vance – 4****
Subtitle: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis. Vance is a former Marine, a graduate of Ohio State and Yale Law School. But getting to his current place in life was a struggle, given his family upbringing. He is brutally honest looking at his life and at the culture of the working poor. He reviews government policies, and offers insight into how the working poor, themselves, might take steps to give the next generation a fighting chance. This memoir is both brutally honest, and movingly tender.
LINK to my review
Mod
Hillbilly Elegy
– J.D. Vance – 4****
Subtitle: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis. Vance is a former Marine, a graduate of Ohio State and Yale Law ..."
Really enjoyed this one as well
Born a Crime – Trevor Noah – 4****
Trevor Noah had a white Swiss German father, and a black Xhosa mother, at a time when such a relationship was punishable by up to five years in prison. This is his memoir of growing up under Apartheid and the years as it was being dismantled in South Africa. Honest and interesting.
LINK to my review
--------- * * * * * * * * --------
The Winter Garden Mystery – Carola Dunn – 3***
Book number two in the Daisy Dalrymple series has our heroine traveling to Occles Hall to research her latest article for Town and Country on England’s country manor houses. Lady Valeria is none too pleased at this intrusion, and even less so when Daisy finds a body buried in the winter garden. A satisfying cozy mystery with an intrepid heroine, set in 1920s England.
LINK to my review
The Alchemist – Paulo Coehlo – 3***
This is Coehlo’s international best-selling classic tale of an Andalusian shepherd boy’s quest to find his own Personal Legend. It’s an allegorical fable about find your true self, wrapped in an adventure tale, with a little romantic interest added. I found it entertaining but not particularly inspiring.
LINK to my review
--------- * * * * * * * * --------
The Birchbark House – Louise Erdrich – 4****
What Laura Ingalls Wilder did for the pioneer families in 19th century plains states, Erdrich has done for the Native Americans in this same time period. Omakayas is a seven-year-old Ojibwa girl living on Lake Superior’s Madeline Island. The novel covers the four seasons of 1847. I was fascinated by this story of the life of the Native Americans during this time period.
LINK to my review
Written in Stone – Ellery Adams – 3***
This is book number four in the Books By the Bay Mysteries series. I like Olivia and her friends – the Bayside Book Writers. Of course the writers’ group includes the town Police Chief, handsome Sawyer Rawlings, which is convenient for the amateur sleuths.
LINK to my review
--------- * * * * * * * * --------
The Shape of Water – Andrea Camilleri – 3.5***
Book number one in the Inspector Montalbano mystery series, set in Sicily is an absolute delight! Montalbano is a wonderful character. He deals with the worst of human situations and yet still finds humor in his life. Camilleri’s writing is very atmospheric. I almost felt as if I were visiting Sicily. I look forward to reading more of this series.
LINK to my review
And the last two books I read in December ...
Catch Me If You Can – Frank Abagnale – 4****
Subtitle depends on the edition: The Amazing True Story of the Most Extraordinary Liar in the History of Fun and Profit! -or- The True Story Of a Real Fake. Frank Abagnale began his career as a forger, check-kiter and con-man when he was just sixteen years old. It’s a fascinating memoir of his years of crime, full of daring escapades, humorous situations, and outlandish lies.
LINK to my review
--------- * * * * * * * * --------
The Turn of the Screw – Henry James – 3.5***
A ghost story and psychological thriller. A young woman is hired to be governess to two young children, Miles and Flora. The governess is certain that some malevolent entity is intent on capturing the children in her care, and she is determined to prevent it from doing so. All the uncertainty and secrecy serve to increase the emotional tension in the story. It is dark, and puzzling, and disturbing.
LINK to my review
The Girl Who Fell From the Sky – Heidi W Durrow – 4****
Rachel, the daughter of a Danish mother and a black G.I., becomes the sole survivor of a family tragedy after a fateful morning on a Chicago rooftop. I found the book in turns horrifying, moving, disturbing, riveting, and confusing. The story moves back and forth in time, and with multiple narrators. I was moved by Rachel’s predicament. And empathized with her struggles to come to terms with what had happened to her, and to those she loved. All told, this is a great debut, and I look forward to reading future works by Durrow.
LINK to my review
Our House in the Last World – Oscar Hijuelos – 3.5***
Hijuelos’ debut novel spans five decades, telling the story of the Santinio family from 1929 in Cuba to 1975 in New York. Alejo is a man who has never met a stranger. He is exuberant and generous. Mercedes is a woman who lives in the past. She cannot let go of past glories of life in Cuba as a girl. She loves Alejo, but the man he has become is a stranger to her. Hijuelos’s writing is vivid and passionate, with scenes that are ethereal and full of mysticism contrasted with scenes of brutal reality. People yell in anger, whoop in celebration, and cry in despair.
LINK to my review
Oathbringer (Stormlight Archive #3), by Brandon Sanderson
★★★★★
A great third installment in an awesome fantasy series!
Click here for my full review
Starry Night – Debbie Macomber – 2.5**
It’s a typical Macomber holiday schmaltz novel. The characters are straight out of central casting and the plot is predictable. Still, it’s a fast and entertaining holiday read.
LINK to my review
The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King.
Killers of the Flower Moon – David Grann – 4****
Wow. I am ashamed to say that I knew nothing of this shameful episode of American history. Grann did a marvelous job researching and reporting his findings. He did more than simply report what the FBI managed to uncover, and that only emphasizes how institutionalized the racist attitudes were.
LINK to my review
Commonwealth – Ann Patchett – 4****
The novel follows the four parents and six children of the Cousins and Keating families over five decades. As children, the six kids are frequently left to their own devices, the adults in their lives too busy with their own drama to focus on the children. How the adult siblings each interpret and remember what has happened, and how they manage the guilt or shame is the main focus. Patchett really shines when exploring human relationships. She slowly reveals secrets, hopes, and fears until the reader feels she truly knows these people. Little by little events are revealed, and characters are fully realized. Like her other works, this would be a great choice for a book club discussion.
LINK to my review
Rebecca, by Daphne Du Maurier
★★★ and 1/2
A book that I didn't like at first, but found that it grew on me as I went along.
Click here for my full review
Elantris, by Brandon Sanderson
★★★★
A great debut fantasy novel by one of my new favorite authors.
Click here for my full review
Now working on these reads!
Coffee & Books
Books mentioned in this topic
The Day I Died (other topics)Summit Lake (other topics)
Under an Alaskan Sky (other topics)
Oxygen (other topics)
The House in the Pines (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Lori Rader-Day (other topics)Charlie Donlea (other topics)
Jennifer Snow (other topics)
Carol Cassella (other topics)
Ana Reyes (other topics)
More...
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...