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Post by conniej on May 22, 2021 2:36:25 GMT
I finished THE RUSSIAN by James Patterson. A good read for late at night when you are tired but can't sleep. Not a lot of twists and turns to figure out just a serial killer to catch.
I am now reading THE PERFECT GUEST. by Emma Rous. 1988. Beth Soames is fourteen years old when her aunt takes her to stay at Raven Hall, a rambling manor in the isolated East Anglian fens. The Averells, the family who lives there, are warm and welcoming, and Beth becomes fast friends with their daughter, Nina. At times, Beth even feels like she's truly part of the family...until they ask her to help them with a harmless game--and nothing is ever the same.
2019. Sadie Langton is an actress struggling to make ends meet when she lands a well-paying gig to pretend to be a guest at a weekend party. She is sent a suitcase of clothing, a dossier outlining the role she is to play, and instructions. It's strange, but she needs the money, and when she sees the stunning manor she'll be staying at, she figures she's got nothing to lose. In person, Raven Hall is even grander than she'd imagined--even with damage from a fire decades before--but the walls seem to have eyes. As day turns to night, Sadie starts to feel that there's something off about the glamorous guests who arrive, and as the party begins, it becomes chillingly apparent their unseen host is playing games with everyone...including her.
I believe there was a movie of this one and will have to check on this one. I am only into this one about 30 pages. so more later.
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Post by diane on May 22, 2021 14:06:13 GMT
Hi!
I really enjoyed the Wizard's Guide to Defensive baking. It was fun. The Midnight Library sounds intriguing. Hmmm..
I have about 7 books on my Kindle I want to read, though, and no time this morning to do any reading at all. Well, I may have to do a little....... Diane
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Post by conniej on May 22, 2021 14:21:07 GMT
NO Movie made of THE PERFECT GUEST. not sure where I thought I heard that!!
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Post by karen8787 on May 22, 2021 15:30:17 GMT
I'm currently reading Jody Picoult's Book of Two Ways. Sometimes i have trouble with her books but I'm really liking this one.
Also Ross Gay's, Book of Delights. He's one of my favorite poets and those are great small essays.
Yes. I'm waiting for another Julia Spencer-Fleming book to come out.
I've started reading Jacqueline Winspear's Maisie Dobbs books for some variety in subject.
And C. J. Box since I'm from Worming. Reminds me of years ago.
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Post by woolworker on May 22, 2021 20:51:00 GMT
Karen, every one of the books you mentioned has passed through this household; Jacqueline Winspear's via a very dear friend who reads ALL of her books. I have yet to dip in to C>J> Box and want to do so, but DH loves him.
My reading for today was newspapers and a quick re-read of Ruth Stout's No Work Garden. DH has been after me to use up all of the leaves I've stored in a humungus yellow container made from old lobster traps. He went off to help DD while I planted. I have a small patch devoted to vegetables in the front yard so planted some broccoli and cauliflower there and mulched the plants with some of the leaves. He doesn't like the way it looks in the front yard! Too Bad!
Midnight Library is coming along. It is an interesting read after The Book of Two Ways. Let us know your thoughts about the latter book, Karen. At least a couple of us have also read it. It had mixed reviews in my book group.
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Post by geritru on May 23, 2021 19:02:07 GMT
I didn't love the beginning of The Midnight Library, but after about page 40, it gets a lot better. I like the concept of the book, going back to "the Library" to see what would have happened if one made a different decision in life. It is a little reminiscent, only A LITTLE, of The Book of Two Ways, a look at choices at the time of death, and the passage of life to death. So far it isn't morbid, rather a curiosity. Ann, Thank you. I just started reading it and felt it was so negative, even though it got good reviews. You have given me the motivation to hang in there.
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Post by geritru on May 23, 2021 19:09:50 GMT
Connie, I don’t buy many books. I usually get them from the library, but during COVID I bought BIG SUMMER by Jennifer Weiner. I thought that was the book you meant when you said THAT SUMMER by Jennifer Weiner. It appears she has a new book out. Since I enjoyed BIG SUMMER I will put THAT SUMMER on my list. Thanks!
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Post by conniej on May 23, 2021 19:48:17 GMT
I bought quite a few when the Library was closed and then had so many restrictions. I will donate them this fall when they have the library sale. If I haven't given them all away. either way someone else will read them.
One of the books I got at the library I had already read and I really don't read books over again. I knew right away in about 10 pages.
I love CJ Box novels. I don't know if I have read everyone but the ones I have read I have enjoyed a lot. I liked the Book of Two Ways. and you are right lot of discussions on that one.
I just finished THE PERFECT GUESTS and found it to be a great read. It really took off at the end of the book and I enjoyed every page.
I am starting THE VINEYARD AT PAINTED MOON. by Susan Mallery. I like her books, good summer reads, or one to pick up after a really complicated novel. Mackenzie Dienes seems to have it all—a beautiful home, close friends and a successful career as an elite winemaker with the family winery. There’s just one problem—it’s not her family, it’s her husband’s. In fact, everything in her life is tied to him—his mother is the closest thing to a mum that she’s ever had, their home is on the family compound, his sister is her best friend. So when she and her husband admit their marriage is over, her pain goes beyond heartbreak. She’s on the brink of losing everything. Her job, her home, her friends and, worst of all, her family.
Staying is an option. She can continue to work at the winery, be friends with her mother-in-law, hug her nieces and nephews—but as an employee, nothing more. Or she can surrender every piece of her heart in order to build a legacy of her own. If she can dare to let go of the life she thought she wanted, she might discover something even more beautiful waiting for her beneath a painted moon.
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Post by conniej on May 25, 2021 15:44:28 GMT
Later by Stephen King The son of a struggling single mother, Jamie Conklin just wants an ordinary childhood. But Jamie is no ordinary child. Born with an unnatural ability his mom urges him to keep secret, Jamie can see what no one else can see and learn what no one else can learn. But the cost of using this ability is higher than Jamie can imagine - as he discovers when an NYPD detective draws him into the pursuit of a killer who has threatened to strike from beyond the grave. Later is Stephen King at his finest, a terrifying and touching story of innocence lost and the trials that test our sense of right and wrong. With echoes of King's classic novel IT, Later is a powerful, haunting, unforgettable exploration of what it takes to stand up to evil in all the faces it wears.
Have decided I need a break from the book I am reading and later will start this one. this book by Stephen King is only 250 pages. Not like his usual books that weigh a ton, and I don't mean the reading material. Like lifting weights. When I was cleaning had misplaced this one and was just about ready to order it again. but found it last night. Honestly not sure why I put this book where I did.!! Must of been tired at the time.
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Post by conniej on May 25, 2021 15:48:11 GMT
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Post by karen8787 on May 25, 2021 16:16:33 GMT
Greetings: We got home from an away weekend and I had only 50 pages to read in The Book of Two Ways. So, after dinner, I opened the cover to read it to the end. So many surprises! And then I turned the last page and there was ...... Yes, I can imagine this book would generate lots of conversation at book club.
As for CJ Box. I grew up in Wyoming, so I recognize a lot of his settings and lived in Sheridan which is a town in the Longmire books, written by Craig Johnson. I was really annoyed with something that CJ Box did and wrote to him telling him so. He wrote back literally the next day by email defending what he did but I think he probably heard from a lot of others about that, what I thought of as a bonehead move.
I've branched out into David Baldacci's series about The Memory Man. Amos Decker who had a brain injury that changed his brain. I just finished the 6th book. I like Amos. Then I'm also reading Karin Slaughter's Will Trent series. That series started a little complicated as she shuffled it around. My problem is that I'm reading up to the current book and then I need to go off in search of a new series! I read standalones intermingled, which I how I read Jodi Picoult.
I need to go through the posts and pick out some new authors!
Oh, and someone mentioned buying books from Thriftbooks. My favorite place to buy books, which I don't do very often, is through biblio.com. They are a big site that brings lots of indies together.
And, I've just learned about sellbackyourBook.com which I'm going to check out. I've logged on to their site. It looks fairly easy and they say they pay well. they do pay shipping which is huge. If you get approval for books, you have to send them in 7 days. So, I thought I'd check it out and see. There is a lot of caution about wrapping well. So, makes me wish I'd held on to a few Amazon boxes!
DH just got home from the grocery store! I'll be back to make some notes.
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Post by woolworker on May 25, 2021 17:41:08 GMT
I;m working my way through Midnight Library and hope to finish it today so I can start Half Finished, which sounds like a delightful, entertaining respite from these "heavier" books. Page 179 crystalizes the philosophy of the Midnight Library. I don't think the book is particularly well written, but I love the concept and love what p. 179 has to say, at least I believe the statements on p. 179. I would be interested in what others think about it, and what you think of it's connection to the Book of Two Ways. I think both books conclude that every choice has it's pluses and minuses, but, clearly, some choices are better than others...of course, sometimes we have no choice at all.
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Post by Gail in SC on May 26, 2021 2:44:47 GMT
Just had an excellent book club discussion of EXIT WEST by Pakistani author Mohsin Hamid. I believe I said something about this before. The booK does a powerful job demonstrating how "others," in this case refugees, feel. It focuses on a couple in a country in the Middle East which becomes more and more war-torn. Using some magical realism, the couple travels to different countries via portals. Immigration is a huge issue in the world and it is only getting worse with time. Great book to think about the topic and how it affects us all.
Ann, I am not sure what you mean about p. 179. Can you post it here?
Tomorrow is my last poetry class. Excellent selection.
Thursday a discussion of FREE THINKER, the book about Helen Gardener Hamilton, an amazing woman who was instrumental in the women's suffrage movement. This is the week of books!
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Post by conniej on May 26, 2021 10:35:25 GMT
did you see THE BLETCHLEY CIRCLE on PBS. ? I really got interested in this group of code breakers during WW2. Thanks for the heads up for the new ROSE CODE by Quinn. Just put that book on my list. This book came out in March and I missed it.
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Post by woolworker on May 26, 2021 14:08:43 GMT
Gail: On p. 179 of The Midnight Library, the author explains the philosophy of the book. I found it helpful and profound.
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