THE JAMES MASON COMMUNITY BOOK CLUB discussion

I'm reading by Stephanie Hanes for two reasons: Ms. Hanes will be a guest on Book Hound, a radio show I co-host, and so I was given a book. But, secondly I was interested in reading White Man's Game because I had watched a documentary on PBS about Gorongosa Park in Mozambique and was interested to know what this author had to say about it. The book is engaging and somewhat eye opening. I've learned a lot!

It's been a long time since i post here is what i read since then

American Gods & Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman I am really loving his books I am so glad someone post about his books on the Horror Book group. His writing remind me alot of Stephen King.

Corrupted by Lisa Scottoline I am not really loving her newer books in this series like her older one IMO was best! Her new ones its like she not trying anymore


Heartless by Marissa Meyer I am so glad when my library got this book I loved it but i love Alice in Wonderland too! OFF WITH HIS HEAD!

On Borrowed Time by David Rosenfelt Another great author! I am really loving his writing

Night Watch by Iris Johansen & Roy Johansen Not really care for this one it was okay but they both have writing better books IMO

No Way Back & The Dark Tide by Andrew Gross You know I never knew he wrote books by himself I knew he wrote books with James Patterson so I though i would give him a shot and I am loving his writing. IMO I think his wirthing is better then James Patterson

L.A. Outlaws by T. Jefferson Parker Okay of book but I have read better books

I finished 99 Red Balloons by Elisabeth Carpenter

A schoolgirl is abducted from a sweet shop in England and her family despairs as the police try to find the child. In a different city, on the other side of the country, a woman still grieves the kidnapping of her granddaughter 30 years ago. Are the events connected somehow? Good psychological thriller. 3.5 stars

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

I finished The Little Book of Hygge: The Danish Way to Live Well by Meik Wiking

Hygge, the Danish art of living well, is trendy right now. So....since I like to keep up with things, I read this book to get the inside scoop on how to live a hygge life. It's a good treatise about the basics (which really just amounts to common sense - a nice home; good food; good friends; etc. ).... but the book gets VERY repetitive. 3 stars.

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

I just got done reading these

A Wanted Woman by Eric Jerome Dickey I read this before but couldnt remeber it. I liked it but its not the best

The Sleeping Beauty Killer by Mary Higgins Clark It was Okay but IMO its not the best in the series and I was not shock who the real killer was

Odd Child Out by Gilly Macmillan I loved this book I won on a giveaway its 2nd book in What she knew series. If you like the first book you will like it

Sister Sister by Sue Fortin Bought at walmart on the 3rd first book From her i read and I loved it I was sad though too at the ending

Since We Fell by Dennis Lehane It was okay but IMO Shutter Island & Mystic River Is his best book

15 Seconds by Andrew Gross I loved this book but i hate who was to blame for everything

Disney after Dark by Ridley Pearson I read this before about 5 years ago and I Loved it as a big fan of Mystery books and Walt Disney I loved this book but I hard it was a series of this so i decide to give the first book a reread and I loved it I am going be buying the rest in the series. Yes its a young adult book but its a book for anyone who loved Mystery and Disney. It makes you feel like a kid at heart!

Now I am reading
&

I am reading The Establishment by Howard Fast. A Mccarthy era story.

Anybody out there to review it with me?

I finished Anatomy of a Scandal by Sarah Vaughan.

A British member of parliament is caught up in a sexual scandal, leading to an accusation of rape. This has wide-reaching ramifications for himself, his wife, and the prosecuting attorney. Good suspense novel.....but too much naval-gazing by the characters. 3 stars.

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

I finished Leonard: My Fifty-Year Friendship with a Remarkable Man
by William Shatner

This book, written after Nimoy's death, is a tribute to the actor by his friend and
Star Trek co-star, William Shatner. It's a brief biography of both men, and I found it interesting, informative, and moving. 4 stars

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

I finished The Establishment by Howard Fast. It was not as historically fact-based as Citizen Tom Paine, which I consider to be his masterpiece. There is not as much depth in The Establishment and there seems to be a great deal of propaganda.

Okay I got done with this
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie Simply one of her best! I read it before but this time i decide to listen to the audio book! Its still one my fav from her!

One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson I found this book very boring and it took me long time to read it

Shadow Prey by John Sandford I really loved this book I am slowly trying to read the whole series

Two Nights by Kathy Reichs I really loved this book its great standalone then her Bones series. If You like her bones series you will like this one too

Prince of Thieves by Chuck Hogan It was okay of a book not one my favs

New Author for me and I won this on a giveaway. It was very good book and I so be reading more from this person!

Gonna go to the library today to see what i can find.

I finished Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher

In this memoir, Carrie combines amusing stories about her life with the more serious story of her drug/alcohol addiction and bipolar disorder. Good book for Carrie's fans and people interested in mental illness. 3.5 stars

You can follow my reviews at https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I finished The Accident by S.D. Monaghan

David, a new husband (and soon-to-be father) sees his wife Tara canoodling with another man. David confronts the lothario and a deadly accident ensues. But someone calls it murder! And wants money to shut up! Pretty good psychological thriller. 3 stars.

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

I finished The Fireman by Joe Hill

An epidemic called Dragonscale is causing victims to spontaneously combust and incinerate to death. Harper Grayson is a pregnant woman who's contracted the illness. Determined to give birth, she joins a secret community of victims who seem able to survive the infection. Plot involves a classic battle between good and bad people. Good horror/thriller. 4 stars.

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

I finished Dog Dish of Doom by E.J. Copperman

Kay Powell, a talent agent for animal acts, gets her dog client Bruno a gig as Sandy in 'Annie.' Next thing Kay knows Bruno's obnoxious owner is stabbed to death. Kay and her showbiz parents help investigate. A unique, fun cozy mystery. 4 stars.

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

I finished Emma in the Night by Wendy Walker

The story is about two sisters, Cass and Emma, who disappear one night. Cass shows up again three years later and tells a harrowing story about their imprisonment on an island. The fact that the girls' mother has narcissistic personality disorder is central to the story. Okay psychological thriller. 3 stars

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

Just got done reading these
My Sister's Bones by Nuala Ellwood It was an okay of a book not one i could reread again

The Girl Who Was Taken by Charlie Donlea New Author for me and I loved the book I couldnt put it down. I bet this will end up as a series

The Red Hunter by Lisa Unger This IMO was not one of her best book

Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough I really didnt like this as much as I though I would

Now I am reading The French Girl by Lexie Elliott I won it as a giveaway on goodreads

Also gonna be going to the library too

I finished Skinny Dip by Carl Hiaasen

I always like Hiaasen's comic novels, which usually have a message about humans damaging our environment.

In this book, biologist Chaz Perrone throw his wife (Joey) off a cruise ship because he thinks she found out about his pollution scam. Joey survives....and plots a diabolical revenge. Fun story. 3.5 stars

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

Blame 2: Trial by Firing by Cam Carson

Tatya and Kris are teammates on a Miami Beach volleyball team and in a romantic relationship. But things get tense when Kris loses her job. Entertaining characters and good food in this lesbian romance. 4 stars

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

Began reading yesterday on the subway, the new book "Blitzkrieg: Myth, Reality, and Hitler's Lightning War: France 1940" by Lloyd Clark, which offers a new view of the German military campaign against the Allies in Western Europe early in the Second World War which yielded a great victory for the Third Reich. Highly fascinating.

I finished Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil deGrasse Tyson

The well-known astrophysicist presents an infomative (and fun) overview of cosmology. He talks about the big bang, dark matter, dark energy, galaxies, planets ..... hot cocoa and Chuck Berry (among other things). 3.5 stars

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

I finished Syndrome E by Franck Thilliez

Five mutilated bodies in France - with their skulltops sawn off - are connected with insidious movies in Belgium....films that contain subliminal messages. Detective Lucie Hennebelle and Chief Inspector Franck Sharko investigate. Good thriller. 3.5 stars

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

I finished This Is Just My Face: Try Not to Stare by Gabourey Sidibe

Gabourey writes about being the child of a professional singer mom and polygamist dad; being a phone sex worker; not dating Liam Hemsworth; meeting President Obama; starring in 'Precious'; and much more. Excellent fun memoir. 4 stars

My complete reveiw: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I finished Murder in the Courthouse by Nancy Grace

In this third book in the "Hailey Dean" mystery series Hailey is set to testify at the trial of Todd Adams, accused of killing his nine-months-pregnant wife. While Hailey's in Savannah, Georgia for the trial, she gets to investigate a couple of other murders. Nice atmospheric, cozy(ish) mystery with interesting characters. 3.5 stars

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

I finished Into the Water by Paula Hawkins

The English town of Beckford lies alongside a river that has a bend called 'the drowning pool'....where women tend to die by murder or suicide. When two deaths occur close together, much drama ensues. Very complex plot with a LOT of characters....but it's a pretty good story. 3.5 stars

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

I finished Stay with Me by Ayobami Adebayo

This book was shortlisted for the 'Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction.'
In the story, a Nigerian Yoruba couple have trouble conceiving in a culture where that is completely unacceptable. This leads to deception and heartache. Excellent story....with an interesting look at the Yoruba culture. Very good book. 4 stars

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

Yesterday, I finished reading the novel "Why We Came to the City" by Kristopher Jansma, who is a writer to be watched.

The novel is centered around 4 people who had forged familial bonds of friendship during their university days in the late 1990s. It takes the reader into the heart of New York at an annual holiday party at the Waldorf Astoria in December 2008 (in the immediate aftermath of the financial crisis), where the 4 reunite and continues up to early 2011. Themes of love and tragedy attest to the preciousness and fragility of life and friendship. I'm normally not a great fan of contemporary fiction. But this novel caught me unawares and I'm glad I read it.

I finished The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women by Kate Moore

This is the chillling true story of the women who worked in watch factories in the 1920s, manufacturing 'glow in the dark' watches using radium. The radioactive element slowly poisoned the women, resulting in horrific injuries and death. And their fight for compensation.....very very hard.
Well-researched and well-written. 4.5 stars

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

The Broken Window by Jeffery Deaver

Quadriplegic forensic expert Lincoln Rhyme and his partner Amelia Sachs have to clear Linc's cousin of a murder charge. The real culprit uses data mining to lure victims and frame innocent people. Pretty good mystery. 3 stars

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

I finished I See You by Clare Mackintosh

Zoe Walker is shocked to see her photo on a 'dating ad' in the London Gazette. Soon enough, Zoe realizes women featured in the ad become crime victims. Interesting premise about our 'oversharing' culture. Pretty good mystery. 3 stars

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

Earlier this week, I finished reading a wonderfully candid and revelatory book written by a U.S. air hero of the First World War who deserves to be more widely known.

Combat Report by Bill Lambert



Lambert (1894-1982) had been working in Canada at the time he was accepted into the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) in the Spring of 1917. (Aviation, by Lambert's own admission, had fascinated him from the time he saw a Wright Flyer at a county fair in his home state of Ohio in July 1910. On that occasion, the pilot took Lambert up for a flight, which thrilled him to no end.)

Lambert went on to receive advanced flight training in Britain, earned his wings, and arrived in France in March 1918, where he was assigned to serve in one of the RFC's oldest and most distinguished fighter squadrons. He served bravely in combat, shooting down several enemy aircraft in combat til he was wounded in August 1918. He emerged from the war as America's No. 2 ace after the famous U.S. ace Eddie Rickenbacker (who had flown exclusively with the U.S. Air Service).

But unlike his contemporaries, Lambert had turned down numerous offers from publishers to have his story told. It was only 50 years after WWI, upon the urging of a friend in Britain, that Lambert (made aware of the newfound public interest in WWI aviation at that time) decided to write about his combat experiences. Truly, this was one of the best WWI pilot memoirs I have ever read. As a reader, you get a real sense of what the stresses, dangers, and thrills of combat flying over the Western Front were like, as well as the fun many a soldier, sailor, and airman enjoyed while on leave in London. (Those folks knew how to PARTY!!!)

WWI aviation is a subject that has fascinated me since I was a preteen in the mid-1970s. This is a book I recommend to anyone who loves human interest stories.

I finished The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye by David Lagercrantz

Lisbeth Salander learns about cruel experiments that were perpetrated upon her when she was a child and gets Mikael Blomkvist to help her investigate.....so she can get revenge! Complex plot in this good addition to Stieg Larsson's 'Millenium Series'. 4 stars

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

Started have enjoyed his books in the past especially so wanted to give this book a go before hitting his latest novel.

Astonish Me by Maggie Shipstead

Young professional ballet dancers sometimes have to cope with heartache and disappointment. Part expose of the ballet world, part coming of age story. 3 stars

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

Miles wrote: "Started have enjoyed his books in the past especially so wanted to give this book a go before hitting his latest novel."

I like Grisham :)

Began reading on the subway this morning "The Years of Change" by Mollie Hardwick, who is a fantastic writer. I've read some of her other novels over the years and have never been disappointed.

This particular novel is set in Britain shortly before the outbreak of the First World War. It is centered on the Bellamys, a family of considerable affluence and influence. James (the son) had left the Army, returning home from India, and through his family, is able to secure a job as a clerk for a trading company in London. Nevertheless, he is bored and discontented with life. His search for fun and pleasure puts the head butler, Mr. Hudson, in a very difficult situation when James' parents go out, leaving James with the run of the house. James, casting aside discretion and risking scandal, invites over a young lady he fancies to spend some time with. Britain, to Mr. Hudson's way of thinking, is changing in ways that are not to his liking.

I grew up watching 'Upstairs Downstairs' in the 1970s and this book is loosely based on that drama. I have a certain fascination with the British class system as it was 100 years ago.

I finished The Blackbird Season by Kate Moretti

When a popular high school teacher and baseball coach, Nate Winters, is accused of sleeping with a student, his life falls apart. Then the student vanishes, and Nate is suspected of being involved. Good story about high school culture and a marriage in crisis (among other things). 3.5 stars

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

I just finished reading a memoir Craps and the Showgirl by Barbara Riiff Davis. I'll have to add it to the Goodreads record since it doesn't appear here. I really enjoyed it. Barbara is now in her nineties and resides in Vegas, but she has seen a lot of the world, first as a showgirl flying to Rio and marrying a shady Marquis, then her path took her to my town Reno Nevada. I enjoyed learning some of my local history. Ms. Davis and I also share an early background coming from Burbank California. Her writing is clear and straightforward. I got a kick out of some of her descriptions of the casino floors and the gambler's who parked themselves there. I recommend this book for anyone who likes history of a bygone American era.

April wrote: "I just finished reading a memoir Craps and the Showgirl by Barbara Riiff Davis. I'll have to add it to the Goodreads record since it doesn't appear here. I really enjoyed it. Barbara is now in her ..."

Sounds like Barbara Riff Davis had quite an interesting life!

The Redeemer by Jo Nesbø

In this 6th book in the series, Harry Hole and his team are trying to stop a Croatian hitman who's after a Norwegian Salvation Army worker. Lots of action in this thriller. 4 stars

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

Barbara wrote: "April wrote: "I just finished reading a memoir Craps and the Showgirl by Barbara Riiff Davis. I'll have to add it to the Goodreads record since it doesn't appear here. I really enjoyed it. Barbara ..."

Oh my goodness, yes, she did! She seems a remarkable lady.

I finished Song of the Lion by Anne Hillerman

In this addtion to the 'Navajo Tribal Mysteries' - being continued by author Anne Hillerman - Bernie and Chee (with help from Joe Leaphorn) investigate a deadly car bombing. Pretty good mystery, but not quite up to Tony Hillerman's standards. 3 stars

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

He, She and It by Marge Piercy

In a near future devastated by war and pollution the creation of an artificial being leads to questions about 'what is a real person'.
Good book. 4 stars.

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

A couple of nights ago, I began reading "The War to End Wars" by Mollie Hardwick, which is the fourth novel in the 'Upstairs, Downstairs' series.

The novel sees the Bellamy family and their servants at 165 Eaton Place through the First World War. These are very challenging years, with fleeting moments of happiness offset by soul-searing tragedies.



++++++++++++++++
Speaking of Marge Piercy, who happens to be a fellow Michigander, I highly recommend her novel, "Gone to Soldiers."

The Alphabet House by Jussi Adler-Olsen

In WWII, two British flyers get shot down and - by dint of luck and cunning- are able to disguise themselves as Germans in a German mental hospital. They have to endure electroshock and other 'therapies'....and things get dicey. Intense psychological drama....rather graphic. 3 stars

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

Thanks for the suggestion Komet. Maybe i'll get hold of the other Marge Piercy book :)

The Cat-Nappers by P.G. Wodehouse

Bertie Wooster gets drawn into a scheme to kidnap a cat in order to throw a horse race. Very funny. 4 stars

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

The Upright Thinkers: The Human Journey from Living in Trees to Understanding the Cosmos by Leonard Mlodinow

Very entertaining (and amusing) book about human progress from cavewoman/man to technowoman/man. Highly recommended. 4.5 stars

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

I'm now a few pages away from finishing the novel "On With The Dance" by Michael Hardwick. It is a continuation of the 'Upstairs, Downstairs' series and carries the Bellamys and their servants from the summer of 1919 to 1923.

Reading this novel gives some palpable sense of what the post-World War I era in Britain was like, as well as an insight into the wartime changes wrought on the British class system.

Nutshell by Ian McEwan

In this modern take on 'Hamlet' an exceptionally smart and knowledgable) fetus becomes aware that his mother and uncle are planning to murder his father. Very creative story. 4 stars

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

A Death in Vienna by Daniel Silva

After a bombing in Vienna, Israeli spy/art restorer Daniel Allon makes it his business to go after the bomber and expose a Nazi war criminal living under an assumed name. Lots of action in this well-written thriller. 3.5 stars

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