Hooked on Books discussion

YAY! It's almost time! Just 3 more days until our next month starts!

I plan to start this one on the first!

anyone else?

I will probably be reading my book club book on the 1st. Meeting is on the 3rd, so I should probably get on that. I'll try to start that early, but I have three books to finish in June still. Two are nearly done, and the third is 300 pages, so shouldn't be terrible, but I have family visiting, so limited reading.

Trisha wrote: "YAY! It's almost time! Just 3 more days until our next month starts!

I plan to start this one on the first!

anyone else?"

I'm going to start soon. First off is a historical that starts with "H" that I've been wanting to read. Libby is going to take it back on the 2nd, so that will be my first book.

I’ve started - thru 9 chapters. The mystery is really good so far.

For those doing audio - I didn’t check but . . . Is that Angela Lansbury?? Really enjoying the audio and all the narrators so far!

Ooh, I don't usually do audio, but I love Angela Lansbury!! Is it really her?

I really thought it was - but the audiobook doesn't say it's her.

She's also, like, a secondary voice - she's being interviewed in just a few chapters (as the. . .grandmother) so she's only a few chapters but I love her chapters!

Part 3 / through Chapter 25

I listened to this as a drove to camping and back

(view spoiler)[ wow, I am shocked! I went on the adventure for it to be every sister and then the cousin. Now the mom? Who we thought was 'home bound' but now know she roams at night? OMG I dn't know if we can believe the grandma now. . .

it's interesting how many layers of prejudice are layered into this story. It's heartbreaking and I like how it's really highlighted and our main character has to dig through his own prejudices but also his job that perpetuates it.

and wow, the debt of HIS sister, passed on to his niece. Ugh (hide spoiler)]

I started it this morning and am in the middle of chapter 14. Yeah, her name is Suzanne Toren. I think I've heard her narrate other books. And she does have a voice similar to Angela Lansbury - sort of melodic.

I'm really enjoying the mystery and I like the story's narrator, Detective Sullivan. All the background from that era is excellent, as is the racial and economic makeup of the Bay Area.

and I'm done

wow, the twists in this one
(view spoiler)[ I really do think every last person was lying - and it was almost always to cover someone else! lol

but when Miriam was sitting at that laundry shoot, my heart dropped. I was so glad Al was able to adopt her and take care of her - paying off her debt even though it made him give up his dream home. They still got a good home and were able to be a family. I was so sad his sister just left her daughter behind. Ugh.

and wow, the grandmother, the mother, Izzy - it really was hard to figure out who ended up killed him but the final confession was shocking! (hide spoiler)]

can't wait to see what you guys think!

I'm in the middle of chapter 29. (view spoiler)[It has to be hard for Det. Sullivan to do his job when virtually everyone is lying to him! (hide spoiler)]

Finished! And I agree with you, Trish.

Finished part 1, and I'm really enjoying the characters and the mystery - and learning more about early 20th century San Francisco.

After reading about the big 4 mansions on Nob Hill, I had to see some pictures - The Mark Hopkins mansion especially, was really something.



(from this article: https://www.opensfhistory.org/osfhcru...)

Early prediction: Sullivan's acute olfactory prowess will break the case - lol

Teddie wrote: "Early prediction: Sullivan's acute olfactory prowess will break the case - lol..."

😂😂😂 I might have spit out my drink laughing at that! lol

and I love the picture! What a beautiful overwhelming home! Could you imagine trying to clean that?!

Trisha wrote: "Could you imagine trying to clean that?!"

Seems like it might be worth it though :)

Up to page 98. It's been fast-paced so far, but is starting to get a little sloggy.

Such a busy book! I wasn't expecting so many twists and turns!

At first I struggled with keeping up with all the characters. It seemed everyone was lying to trying to cover there own tracks and those of everyone else as well. But I will have to say, the grandmother was probably my favorite character--the unreliable one LOL

I didn't realize either that some of the characters were fictional where others were based off of real people.

The author did a fantastic job describing the era--the politics, socio-economic divide, class distinctions and racism.

With the timelines, the book got a little bogged down and sluggish but not enough to distract me from the story--it worked to keep me guessing and unbalanced.

I found the author's note to be interesting. I learned quite a few things about the time period, the Golden Gate Bridge and the detention camps.

A little out of my norm as far as historical fiction goes, I did enjoy the story. I definitely had to stay focused--the story line does get messy and complicated. I would recommend this especially to those who enjoy the genre and hard boiled detective mysteries! 3 stars

Robin (Saturndoo) wrote: "I found the author's note to be interesting. I learned quite a few things about the time period, the Golden Gate Bridge and the detention camps...."

I agree! I love author notes on historical fiction - especially when they pull the research and the real names and tell us just why they chose this story this way. It's such a fun look into the work that goes into writing a book!

I really enjoyed that aspect of the book too - the setting came alive. I found myself googling many things while reading.

Yes! Me too.

Finished the book. Posted a review but summary of thoughts is that once the book started slogging, it didn't really pick up again. I liked the flashbacks and the written statement by the grandmother. Those helped the story along, for sure.

The author's note is really good reference material. I liked the mix of real life events with the fiction, and how the author explained that. I was disappointed there wasn't a section on the Bainbridge family, whether they were based on a real family or complete fiction, so I'm guessing they were fiction, apart from the references called out.

I gave this three stars. I couldn't really find myself invested in the characters. (view spoiler)[The Bainbridge family as a whole was too "rich, spoiled brats" for me, from the grandmother all the way to the granddaughters. I was briefly sad for them over the loss of Iris, but Genevieve, Sadie, and Issy were just so far off the deep end. Roger was pathetic. Wilkinson was too much of a disgusting human being to gain empathy, even before everything he did came out. Doogan and Greening represented the corruption in government and legal systems that are still enough to raise blood pressure. Al was the modern reincarnation of a hardboiled detective, and I've never been fond of that morally grey caricature, but I did appreciate seeing his humanity as he tried and struggled with Miriam and had compassion on the Japanese elderly. So in the end my favorite character was probably Miriam, for her work ethic and can-do attitude, even though she was also making bad life choices. (hide spoiler)] The story also wasn't so gripping to bring the rating up, so it was a "just there" book for me.

And I finally figured out what the creativity column was for, so here's a really bad attempt at a haiku, based on this story:

The past lives inside
The truth will always come out
The past eats away

Not in the teams reading this book but it sounded good so I am definitely picking it up. I have started it and find that this book is so different than any book I have read before with the interviews and side stories. I am liking it so far and I am tandem reading with audio. I do find myself not completely following along with the actual book as it is more entertaining listening to the book on it's own.

Spoiler if you haven't started.

(view spoiler)[Why was the Detective having a drink with one of the daughters?? I need to know!!(view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

I finished this one and gave it a 3 stars. I thought the author did a good job building the characters. I also researched a few things after I read the book. I can see where some people would think it was slow at times but I find historical fiction slow a lot of times and this one was a little faster to read for me. Now, let's talk about creepy dolls. I don't do creepy dolls....

Let's not talk about the creepy dolls. I don't do creepy dolls either. Or the creepy kid that did those things to the creepy dolls.

I just finished this book
I think I didn't read the precis correctly and went into it expecting a bit more psychological thriller.. I just couldn't get into the mystery part of the book.. It wasn't hooking me up enough, sadly
(view spoiler)[ Also, I guess that's how it might have been done those days.. But I just couldn't wrap my head around his relationship with his niece.. She's just 11, and he lets her do stuff like working to keep a roof on their head???? (hide spoiler)]

Char wrote: "I just finished this book
I think I didn't read the precis correctly and went into it expecting a bit more psychological thriller.. I just couldn't get into the mystery part of the book.. It wasn't..."

The time period was very interesting for (view spoiler)[child labor laws. We went from the Depression in the 30s where children did whatever they could to contribute to the household since some families didn't even have a breadwinner, into the early 40s with the war, so we had jobs, but the men were fighting so the women were working and children were still doing little or big bits to support the family or the war effort. It's very different from the modern concept today. Education existed then, but seemed less formal, like kids had more of an option to drop out and learn a trade. Mixed feelings on that, personally, since the idea of twelve years of schooling plus fourish years of college is mostly a modern construct. Yes, there were schoolhouses and colleges for centuries prior, but those were mostly for the intellectuals rather than for everyone, since a lot of people ended up in a hat we would consider blue collar jobs and higher education was seen as "pointless". Knowledge is power, but that attitude persists some today, especially with the burgeoning popularity of trade schools instead of colleges. (hide spoiler)]

I finished and the last few hours is crazy because your like ooh it is this person and that happens several times 🤪. I actually loved this book by the end. The audio has an interview with the narrator and author which was so fun to listen to. The actual story on Japanese and concentration camps is super hitting home for what’s happening today. But also super accurate to American history. It is so sad, and I felt the author did her research for this book. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

I finally started the book and am ignoring everyones remarks here. I’m a bit late to the party as reading/ listening English asks for a lot of concentration, so I waited for the time to be right.
Honestly, I really love the way it is read. It is easy to follow as she speaks very clear.

I’m about on fifth in the book and am curious where it is going to. I do enjoy the grandma who is telling it all at her own speed. She takes away my impatience by her remarks. This book gives an impression of an historic detective, but also talks about more difficult themes like racism, the way men and women were treated differently, the gap between poor and rich.

I love that we are all connecting and really appreciating the history in this one!

Claire wrote: "I finally started the book and am ignoring everyones remarks here. I’m a bit late to the party as reading/ listening English asks for a lot of concentration, so I waited for the time to be right.
H..."

Claire, I feel you; I would see notifications come up for this thread and I was like, no, no spoilers!!! 😝

Well over halfway and I have mixed feelings. The novel is interesting and I’m curious to see where it goes, but at the same time all the different characters and storylines create chaos in my head.

As to the historical part: bringing up too many inequality themes possibly devaluates the importance of each one of them. At a certain point I felt I was reading a catalogue of what was wrong at that time in the Bay Area (and the US as a whole) .
A unique opportunity to higlight one or two key themes and create a better and more in depth understanding of history is missed.

So a 4 star for the mystery, a 2,5 for the historical part. Curious to see where I end

Claire wrote: "So a 4 star for the mystery, a 2,5 for the historical part. Curious to see where I end..."

I love your midway star marker!! I'm curious to see where you land too!

I finished the book.
My midway star marker will stay the same I guess. I enjoyed the mystery, so 4 for that. For the history part I’d say 3 if I’m being nice. I really regretted the author put all problems together in one book. That spoiled it for me. I didn’t find a good way to connect with the characters as every time a new historical issue got in the way.
But overall I still enjoyed the book.

I'm 2/3 of the way through, and all I can say is things are an absolute shitshow.

Lol, Eunice, that opinion could be my spirit animal for this book lol. *chef's kiss* One thing I will say: hold on, it gets weirder. ;)

You're right, it does get weirder. It's just revelation, "but actually", new revelation and repeat.

My rating for this book is the opposite of Claire. I like the historical aspect more than the mystery. I liked reading about the societal issues during this time, which seem to center around the types of discrimination that probably hits close to home for the author. The author clearly did a lot of research and spent a lot of time on how to craft a story around all these different societal problems plaguing that time period. I do agree that it feels like she crammed so much into one story, and that's what made the mystery aspect become the chaotic shitshow that it is. It gives me the feeling that the author wanted to spread awareness about these issues through the palatable package of a murder mystery.

I disliked all the "seeing ___, I instantly knew". No, you don't. Y'all said that a bunch of times. Al is too much intuition, not enough evidence. "I could tell that when someone is lying to me" - No, you don't. Grrr

The biggest pluses to me for the historical fiction aspects was hearing that some Japanese escaped internment, and I didn't know that there were deportations to Mexico during the Depression, so there were some good learning moments. I'm still unsure whether the history added anything to the story though, because it did feel like a lot of distractions cum red herrings.

Eunice wrote: "I disliked all the "seeing ___, I instantly knew". No, you don't."

🤣😂 100% agree!!

I think I'm the last one on this group buddy read. The format is very different from what I am used to! I will either start it tonight or possibly tomorrow.

I love historical fiction and I live close (about 75 miles) to San Francisco. In 2019 my family of 4 of my 5 children, and 16 of my 22 grandchildren and 1 of my great grandkids (the only great at that time) walked the Golden Gate Bridge. It was so fun doing it with so much of my family.

That experience will make this an even more interesting read for me, I think. Sorry I'm so late to the game.

Godspeed, Vicki! I knew there would be at least one procrastinator lol! It just makes it more fun to feel the pressure, right? ;) I made myself pick up this book early so I wouldn't save it for the end, since I have book club next week and I haven't started that yet, and I can't do two pressure reads at once lol.

The book's not that related to the Golden Gate. I'm not even sure why that's the title. It was only given a few paragraphs of description.

I feel like that was the title because we would immediately associate the story with San Francisco. Maybe also juxtaposing the beauty and achievement that is the bridge with the prejudicial undercurrent in the city at the time. The dark side of the bridge building was briefly present, but yeah, there's not much about the bridge itself in the book, just in passing. If it wasn't in the book, we probably wouldn't miss it lol.

We did well everyone if we only had one procrastinator. The real question is how many books do people have left to finish before the end of the mont? I'm currently sitting on 2 and I'll take that as a win!

I've got 1 more - but then have a few reviews to do -oy.

Well, if I'm the ONLY procrastinator I guess I'll accept the honor. But I am disappointed to hear there isn't much about SF in the book. Oh well, how did everyone like/rate it?

Vicki wrote: "Well, if I'm the ONLY procrastinator I guess I'll accept the honor. But I am disappointed to hear there isn't much about SF in the book. Oh well, how did everyone like/rate it?"

There's a lot about SF in the book, just not much about the Golden Gate. There are many tidbits of SF's history scattered in the book, and the building where the mystery and murder happen is very real.

It's mixed opinions. Some liked reading about the historical context more than the mystery; for others, it's the opposite. Depends on your preferences, probably. If you're someone who derives your enjoyment from likeable and/or relatable characters, this book isn't it. Almost everyone is terrible.

I have one prompt left, and it's not looking good for it lol. I haven't stumbled over a social movement book, and I'm not likely to with what I have upcoming. :P

Chapters Prologue (the deposition) through Chapter 10:

I've been listening to the audiobook too and according to what I found, they are Robb Moreira, Suzanne Toren, and Tim Campbell, but I don't know if there are other editions of the audiobook.

I'm enjoying the murder mystery so far as well as some of the historical information. There's been some interesting facts included that I'd not read before or I had forgotten about.

Talk about pressure by Doogan on Mrs. Bainbridge during the Prologue! Jeez, pinpoint one of her granddaughters or she'd be implicating all three. Ugh

Al Sullivan is an interesting character and detective. Being of a multi-ethnic background and being able to pass as white might've played to his advantage back then.

Juanita, the Mexican hotel maid, I think highlights how non-whites were devalued despite critical roles in the narrative.

I find the ghost, or memory of Iris's ghost, a haunting presence too and I feel like it's symbolic but not quite sure in what way just yet.