| Author |
Message |
Mamie316
Member
07-08-2003
| Saturday, December 10, 2022 - 9:50 am 
I have Matthew Perry's book as well.
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Grooch
Member
06-16-2006
| Tuesday, December 27, 2022 - 4:34 am
If you liked Where the Crawdads Sing, you might find this blog post, I stumbled across, an interesting read.
The first half is a book review of a different Delia Owens book. BUT, the 2nd half is a story about her life and a murder. Who knew?
Cry of the Kalahari review
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Teachmichigan
Member
07-22-2001
| Tuesday, December 27, 2022 - 8:17 pm
I knew - after I read the book, though! LOL Someone asked me if I knew about the "scandal," so I looked it up. My complaints were always that the ending of the book was too abrupt, but boy howdy - after reading about the murder, I sure looked at it in a different light!
Finished Michelle Obama's audio version of The Light We Carry and am now listening to Ian Rankin's Standing in Another Man's Grave.
On Kindle, I've finished A Dark Matter, Desire and the Deep Blue Sea, Finlay Donovan is Killing It, Tiny House Big Love , and The Last Saxon King . Now I'm reading Celeste Ng's Our Missing Hearts. It is a dystopian world that reminds me a LOT of M. Clifford's The Book, but since I loved that book, I'm also enjoying this one. It is absolutely scary, though, how much more plausible the premise seems now than Clifford's seemed when I first read it a dozen years ago.
I have John Irving's The Last Chairlift in deadtree form, but I'm finding w/my new job and the winter darkness, I have no motivation to read on anything other than my Kindle. I love having the holiday lights on, but I loathe turning on the reading lamp in the evenings. Add in the fact that this particular book is a whopping 890 pages and it weighs 10 pounds (give or take! LOL), and yeah -- I'm going to go digital and return the big book to the library.
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Mamie316
Member
07-08-2003
| Wednesday, December 28, 2022 - 10:24 am
I have been having a hard time with regular books lately too. It has been too dark with the weather for me to see them well so I have been reading my Kindle more too.
I have The Last Chairlift on Kindle, thank goodness.
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Jimmer
Board Administrator
08-29-2000
| Wednesday, December 28, 2022 - 1:50 pm
I have to say that I'm kind of spoiled by e-books at this point. I love the consistent print size and that they aren't heavy and awkward to hold. My youngest DD is still a fan of paper books. She was reading Stephen King's "It" last summer and that thing is massive even with small print and the text all crammed together. 
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Mamie316
Member
07-08-2003
| Monday, January 02, 2023 - 11:24 am
My last book of 2022 was Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt and it was one of the best books! Who knew a story about an octopus and the woman who cleans the aquarium could totally fill your heart? It is a beautiful novel and I highly recommend it.
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Teachmichigan
Member
07-22-2001
| Wednesday, January 04, 2023 - 9:06 am
I just read the most gorgeous novella: The All of It by Jeannette Haien. It is tightly structured, has specific, beautiful prose, and a heartachingly touching message about human connections.
I've also finished Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng and Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel. Both were dsytopian like, but such good human stories that I didn't feel like they were "depessing" books.
I'm listening to Caste and now reading The Marriage Portrait and Small Things Everywhere on Kindle. I'm also starting The Mother-in-Law by Sally Hepworth in deadtree book style. (Dangerous job working at a library - I was reading shelves on Saturday and came home with THREE books from the H's and my MelCat book! LOL)
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Mamie316
Member
07-08-2003
| Saturday, January 07, 2023 - 11:11 am
Teach, I have The All of It too. The author Ann Patchett had an Instagram from Parnassus Books with her picks and that was how I got the Claire Keegan books. She said The All of It is one that she always tries to have on the counter of the store.
I read The Villa by Rachel Hawkins for my first book of the year. It was a decent mystery. I am now reading The House in the Pines Reese's first book club of the year book and Matthew Perry's book.
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Teachmichigan
Member
07-22-2001
| Wednesday, January 11, 2023 - 6:13 pm
LOVED, LOVED, LOVED Small Things Like These! Keegan just amazes me with the emotional punch she puts into such short novellas (70 pages for this one). I've already placed interlibrary orders for her books Antarctica and Walk the Blue Fields.
I finished Maggie O'Farrell's The Marriage Portrait and it was rather a disappointment. The last 20% was definitely better, but the pacing just seemed off throughout. The plot sounded better than it read.
I've started an ARC of The Celtic Deception, the second in the series after thoroughly enjoying The Last Saxon King. They are YA novels but well written and interesting. I started, but have zero intention of finishing, another ARC titled Murder at a Scottish Wedding. It's the 4th in a series (I'd not read the others) of cozy mysteries. That is not my favorite genre, but this is just horrific in its use of Scottish "dialect" - inconsistent with the narrator's voice and haphazard to say the least. If the other 3 were like this, I'm just blown away at their popularity.
ANYONE who does ARC - what have you done when you get one that is just awful? Write an honest critical but fair review (not mean - just pointing out the good/bad) or do you just leave it on your "shelf" unreviewed?
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Sugar
Member
08-15-2000
| Wednesday, January 11, 2023 - 9:45 pm
The honest critical fair review.
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Mamie316
Member
07-08-2003
| Thursday, January 12, 2023 - 9:52 am
I get ARCs all the time. I try not to post anything less than a three. I will put it as not finished and I will never tag an author if I didn't like the book. I hate when people do that.
I started Spare by Prince Harry. I am enjoying his writing so far.
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Teachmichigan
Member
07-22-2001
| Thursday, January 12, 2023 - 5:55 pm
Thanks, Sugar and Mamie. The website suggested only sending critical reviews to the publisher as 'notes' rather than rating and doing the teacher "sandwich" w/something good, the criticism, something good. I only read 16 pages, so the not finished is actually more accurate.
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Heckagirl631
Member
09-08-2010
| Friday, January 13, 2023 - 5:27 pm
Not familiar with ARC's. I finished Backlash by Lisa Jackson. It was just okay. It was mislabeled by Dollar General as a thriller. It was a typical romance, to me, not a thriller, or I would not have bought it. Oh,well.
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Mamie316
Member
07-08-2003
| Saturday, January 14, 2023 - 11:18 am
ARCs are advance reader copies usually sent by the publishers for people who review online.
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Heckagirl631
Member
09-08-2010
| Wednesday, January 25, 2023 - 5:10 pm
I finished "Bestial" by Ray Garton. I almost didn't read it at all. It started out gross, but got a little bit better.
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Teachmichigan
Member
07-22-2001
| Wednesday, January 25, 2023 - 8:02 pm
Since my last update, I've finished The Celtic Deception, A Love Letter to Whiskey, and Vacationaland on Kindle. I enjoyed all of them, though the "5th anniversary extended edition" of ALLTW was not all it was cracked up to be. I didn't need the entire story retold from the guy's POV, though the last couple chapters were helpful.
I also finished listening to Caste (what a make you think book!), listened to Firemaker (by Peter May - good, but I enjoy the novels he sets in Scotland more), and am now doing a re-listen of both A Breath of Snow and Ashes and An Echo in the Bone since S7 of Outlander will be out this summer.
On Kindle I'm reading A Winter Grave by Peter May. It's set in the future and deals with massive climate change effects, but it's also back in my favorite country, and I'm really enjoying his "vision" of the future. In deadtree books, I'm reading The Mother-in-law by Sally Hepworth, though I'm only a few pages in, so no opinion on this one yet.
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Mameblanche
Member
08-24-2002
| Sunday, January 29, 2023 - 12:04 am
Finished SPARE by Prince Harry. Read it in two days. Beautifully written. Was sad to see it end. I've been on Team Sussex from the outset, and this just solidified it. In my opinion his Achilles heel is his naivety but on the other hand, his sweetness is his saving grace.
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Mamie316
Member
07-08-2003
| Sunday, January 29, 2023 - 10:44 am
It is taking me a long time to read Spare. I am finally at Megan. I don't know how you read it in two days! Good on you!
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Jimmer
Board Administrator
08-29-2000
| Sunday, January 29, 2023 - 11:37 am
I’ve read the first couple of chapters and so far I’ve found it entertaining. Of course, it’s describing events based on Harry’s perspective. It’s written in a surprisingly colloquial manner and easy to read in that sense. It is taking me a while to get around to reading it though.
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Mameblanche
Member
08-24-2002
| Sunday, January 29, 2023 - 10:37 pm
Admittedly the middle section about his wartime adventures was a tough slog for me, so I skimmed through a lot of it.
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Teachmichigan
Member
07-22-2001
| Thursday, February 09, 2023 - 6:44 pm
Finished A Winter Grave, and it was excellent! On Kindle I've also read After I Do by Taylor Jenkins Reid. It was not one of my favorites of hers, to be honest.
On audiobook, I put Snow and Ashes aside for a week because I was able to get The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga. I'm doing a book a month "decolonize your bookshelf" challenge this year, and I thoroughly enjoyed this novel! I also listened to Britt Marie Was Here by Fredrick Backman and enjoyed it's quirky main character as well. Now back to Gabaldon.
On Kindle, I'm reading Val McDermid's A Place of Execution as well as an ARC of Funny Guy by Emma Barry. Both are holding my attention to the point that I'm annoyed when I have to actually do my day job!
I'm slow-going on my deadtree books, though. Still barely into The Mother-in-Law and just got another interlibrary loan: Hard Day for a Hangover by Darynda Jones - the third in her trilogy. The latter will be a 24-hour read, so I'm waiting until Sunday because I've got to play piano for solo/ensemble on Saturday! 
Happy reading, friends!
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Heckagirl631
Member
09-08-2010
| Friday, February 24, 2023 - 4:39 pm
I finished "Rattle" by Fiona Cummins. It was one of the better Dollar General books. I wish it had had a happier ending for both children though. Maybe she's planning a sequel? I don't know.
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Mamie316
Member
07-08-2003
| Saturday, February 25, 2023 - 10:23 am
I just read a couple of books that I really loved which hasn't happened in a while.
The Sweet Spot by Amy Poeppel. A ragtag group/family in a brownstone with a bar on the bottom floor. I just loved this group of people. Amy Poeppel really writes people that you root for even when they are not at their best.
The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz is one of the best psychological thrillers I have read in forever. Set in a mansion locked in by snow with no way to the outside world, it is twisty and claustrophobic and I don't think I have any fingernails left!
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Rieann
Member
08-26-2006
| Saturday, February 25, 2023 - 10:35 am
On my list! Thanks, Mamie. 
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Jimmer
Board Administrator
08-29-2000
| Saturday, February 25, 2023 - 12:48 pm
Same here. Those sound great!
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