| Author |
Message |
Mamie316
Member
07-08-2003
| Saturday, May 22, 2021 - 8:11 am 
Ric, I wanted to let you know that with the Jodi Picoult books, you will find that she has a formula and I guess if it ain't broke, don't fix it but....it does wear on you with some of the books. It seems to be some kind of medical crisis and then a lawsuit. It doesn't always work in all the stories.
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Sugar
Member
08-15-2000
| Saturday, May 22, 2021 - 9:08 am
I think about every other Jodi Picoult book is good.
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Sugar
Member
08-15-2000
| Saturday, May 22, 2021 - 9:13 am
The Funny Thing About Norman Foreman by Julietta Henderson was a nice read. If you enjoyed Be Frank with Me this might be something you like as well.
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Uncle_ricky
Member
07-02-2007
| Saturday, May 22, 2021 - 3:10 pm
Thank you Mary and Sugar! She’s now at 26 books so it’ll be interesting to see which ones I’ll love and which ones I don’t. This debut took me a little bit of time getting the hang of (what with the reverse chronology and all) but I’m hooked and very curious to see how it ends. After that, only 25 books to go. 😜
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Uncle_ricky
Member
07-02-2007
| Sunday, May 23, 2021 - 7:28 pm
Another treat of writer-interaction, thanks to Twitter!
____________________________________________
Ric Munoz
@munoz_ric
.
@jodipicoult
It’s *so* embarrassing to admit that this is my first time reading such a terrific novelist — she’s only been writing for 30 years. I loved #songsofthehumpbackwhale (published 1992) - a complete triumph. I look forward to reading the two dozen she’s written since then!
____________________________________________
Jodi Picoult
@jodipicoult
Replying to
@munoz_ric
Thanks!
____________________________________________
Ric Munoz
@munoz_ric
Replying to
@jodipicoult
You’re welcome! I hope it doesn’t take me 30 years to read the rest of your collection!
One of the things I really appreciated about SOTHW was the near-absence of F-bombs (I think there were half-a-dozen, maybe less) — very refreshing! Next on the list: #HarvestingTheHeart.
____________________________________________
Jodi Picoult
@jodipicoult
Replying to
@munoz_ric
I can’t promise no f-bombs. But they’re never gratuitous!
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Sugar
Member
08-15-2000
| Monday, May 24, 2021 - 11:33 am
What fun Uncle_ricky. I may have to start tweeting and following authors.
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Jimmer
Board Administrator
08-29-2000
| Monday, May 24, 2021 - 12:23 pm
I love the way they respond to you. Of course, it helps that your tweets are intelligent and kind.
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Uncle_ricky
Member
07-02-2007
| Monday, May 24, 2021 - 7:34 pm
Thank you both— I love Twitter for that reason — the writer responses sometimes arrive almost immediately. Some are quick and some don’t respond at all. It’s fun to sit back and wait to see who does and who doesn’t. I was surprised to get responses to the Picoult tweets from people who are huge fans of hers assuring me how much I’m going to enjoy her books, so that was quite interesting. Other (very popular) writers (Liane Moriarty, John Irving) don’t have Twitter accounts — it makes me wonder how many book sales, if any, they’re missing out on as a result of snubbing Twitter.
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Mamie316
Member
07-08-2003
| Tuesday, May 25, 2021 - 8:13 am
Sugar, you should. I have had great conversations with authors about their books. I also have had conversations with actors, etc.
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Sugar
Member
08-15-2000
| Tuesday, May 25, 2021 - 1:14 pm
I shall mull that over. I have, by design, no social media presence and wish to keep it that way. This is only place I post.
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Teachmichigan
Member
07-22-2001
| Sunday, May 30, 2021 - 1:29 pm
After The Distant Echo, I listened to the short Beginner's Mind - a wonderful combination of book and music by Yo Yo Ma. I'm now listening to The Guest List by Lucy Foley - full cast, set in Ireland and very good.
I also read The Friend Zone in a day last weekend. It was exactly the fluff I needed.
Graduation is done, I *thought* I was done w/testing, but I just got an e-mail saying some test books were not sent back. They're the accommodated books, so I'll have to check w/our SpEd coordinator back at work. One class is also done, and I'm two papers away from being done with the second one. Wednesday is my goal date. I WANT TO BE DONE! Then it's only 11 days until school is done, and I am FRREEEEE!!!! (Well, for the summer at least! LOL)
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Uncle_ricky
Member
07-02-2007
| Wednesday, June 02, 2021 - 4:30 pm
I’m pleased to report that Watching You is Lisa Jewell’s best novel (of the 16 of hers I’ve now read). Suspenseful and extremely well-plotted. She’s written three others after this one and I’m very anxious to see if any of them exceed the quality she delivered with Watching You.
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Rieann
Member
08-26-2006
| Wednesday, June 02, 2021 - 5:33 pm
That was a good one. 
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Uncle_ricky
Member
07-02-2007
| Monday, June 07, 2021 - 6:58 pm
Yesterday I finished Homeland Elegies by Ayad Akhtar. Released last year, the only thing I knew about it was that President Obama listed it as one of his favorites of 2020. I took the risk of reading a writer I knew nothing about and this time it worked out nicely. His writing is very conversational in tone and that makes it easier to read (and understand) some of the more complex topics he covers. It’s very, very well written — as I was reading it I kept thinking “why can’t everyone write this clearly (and not wander all over the place?”). It’s a novel but it’s also heavily based on the writer’s own personal life and experiences. (He won the Pulitzer Prize for a play - “Disgraced” — he wrote a few years ago, so his pedigree is quite impressive.)
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Kappy
Member
06-28-2002
| Friday, June 11, 2021 - 5:07 pm
Finished The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman and thoroughly enjoyed it. I look forward to book #2 in the series coming out in the fall. At the center of the book is a group of four intelligent and clever seniors living in a retirement community who meet once a week to look over cold case files and attempt to solve what the police were not able to. Just when you think you know who did it, there's yet another twist. Think Doc Martin moves to a retirement community and attempts to fit in.
I've only just begun The Stars Are Fire by Anita Shreve and I am already completely drawn in.
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Sugar
Member
08-15-2000
| Friday, June 11, 2021 - 6:13 pm
I also enjoyed The Thursday Murder Club.
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Sugar
Member
08-15-2000
| Sunday, June 13, 2021 - 6:38 pm
I recently read The House We Grew Up In by Lisa Jewell. I liked it until the end. I didn't think I had read any of her other books, but I did read The Girls in the Garden a few years ago and did not like it either. I may try another of her titles but the 2 I have read were meh for me.
Find You First by Linwood Barclay was ok, a bit predictable but still not a bad read.
The Holdout by Graham Moore was pretty good for the most part. Things that were supposed to be big shockers in the story were fairly easy to divine for the most part but I liked his style.
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Heckagirl631
Member
09-08-2010
| Monday, June 14, 2021 - 2:21 pm
I read a short story compilation headlined by Fern Michaels called Silver Bells. Short, sweet stories set around Christmas.
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Mak1
Member
08-11-2002
| Monday, June 14, 2021 - 3:41 pm
I finally read The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah. She is an excellent writer and with her rich descriptive writing had me feeling I really was in Alaska. It was a tough read with such vivid descriptions of domestic violence and the associated constant fear. I was wishing for the book to end because it was that disturbing to me. Even though it is fiction, I know there are many families who are living that actual horror. I held out hope, along with the abused women, and am glad I finally did read this compelling story.
Now I have started The Children's Blizzard by David Laskin. This is historical fiction, telling a tale of the unexpected, sudden, monstrous blizzard that hit the Great Plains in 1888. I can barely put this one down. It's another emotionally charged book. I'll need to look for something really light to read next!
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Sugar
Member
08-15-2000
| Monday, June 14, 2021 - 6:50 pm
I read The Children's Blizzard by Melanie Benjamin a few weeks ago and thought it was a good read. I think she often writes fictionalized stories based on actual events. I recall starting g but not finishing The Swans of Fifth Avenue a few years ago.
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Mamie316
Member
07-08-2003
| Tuesday, June 15, 2021 - 9:16 am
The First Day of Spring by Nancy Tucker is a heart-wrenching fantastic book! It isn't for everyone. It is a tough read about an 8 year old girl who kills a 2 year old boy. It is told in alternating chapters of Chrissie as a child and Chrissie as a mother later on. It probably won't be for everyone but it is wonderfully written and hard to put down.
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Mak1
Member
08-11-2002
| Tuesday, June 15, 2021 - 5:26 pm
I finished The Children's Blizzard today. This is yet another piece of US history that I had never heard about. I find it interesting that the author Melanie Benjamin cites a nonfiction book of the same title as one of her sources. I thought it was odd to use the same title for her own book. I don't think I've read any of her other books, Sugar, but The Aviator's Wife has been on my TBR list for years.
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Kappy
Member
06-28-2002
| Tuesday, June 15, 2021 - 6:10 pm
Mak1, I know what you mean about Kristin Hannah's writing. One of the books I'm currently reading is The Four Winds which takes place in Texas in the 1930's during the dust bowl. I was so wrapped up in the book yesterday and the dust storms they were experiencing that I was taken back at seeing green grass when I walked outside. It's rare when books literally pull me into another world. I feel lucky to be reading two of them right now.
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Mak1
Member
08-11-2002
| Tuesday, June 15, 2021 - 7:48 pm
Kappy, I love it when that happens....escapism at its best!
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Mamie316
Member
07-08-2003
| Tuesday, June 15, 2021 - 10:09 pm
The Four Winds is Kristin Hannah's newest book. It gives you that same feeling like in The Great Alone. You feel as if you are there.
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