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Some of us here have expressed an interest in a book club, myself, @mermadelove, @LCResz, @ZombieMetroAnt, @Mcakes. If you'd be interested in joining, reply below. My initial thought was to mail the books around but if it means that some people can't participate, then I'm all for dropping that requirement. I'd love this to be a place where we nominate our favorite book and others can read it and comment. Something fun for the new year! ETA: the booklist:
1. Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng (16)
1. Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie (16)
3. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (13)
4. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (11)
4. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson (11)
4. Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie (11)
7. Exit West by Mohsin Hamid (10)
7. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (10)
7. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (10) Discussion begins 8-13.
7. The Wedding Dress by Rachel Hauck (10) Discussion begin 9-2.
11. The Fault in our Stars by John Green (9) Time to discuss 9-26
11. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (9) Now discussing below.
11. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (9)
11. What Happened by Hilary Clinton (9) Now discussing below.
11. Fall of Giants by Ken Follett (9) Start reading now.
11. The Woman on the Orient Express by Lindsay Ashford (9)
11. milk and honey by Rupi Kaur (9)
18. A Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (8)
18. Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty (8)
18. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (8)
18. Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell (8)
18. Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D.H. Lawrence (8)
18. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen (8)
18. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (8)
18. The Paper Magician by Charlie Holmberg (8)
18. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien (8)
18. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo (8)
18. Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman (8)
18. The White Queen by Phillipa Gregory (8)
Participants in spoiler
Participants:
PrettyinPA
AlexaSteph
Beadshopgirl
LCResz
Kim888
SoBeautiful
Fatimamummy
ZombieMetroAnt
PalomaFoster
k617
bakeamuffin
Susubee
Skcfan
Lazybeautybeast
SpaceLlama
greeneyedgirl107
Mermadelove
Mcakes
Aaliaa
Serenely
Myinsidevoice
MissPuff
juliehnguyen
lmi82
Knowledgebeauty
Titian06
quspork
darlyndar
KellW
misscg
EuniceO
Elles117
ClassicallyFab
ShiraBT
melanito
Heylady14
ChicagoEngineer
Imightneedthis
PrettyPaint
rachface2921
I have loved reading since childhood. My grandmother taught me to do so. Now, I am a member of a book club at the university. We choose the books we will read together at the beginning of each quarter. My studies are intense, so I first select the books whose summaries fascinate me the most. Some books remain a mystery to me after reading them, so I use edubirdie.com to get a professional opinion on the primary purpose the author wanted to convey. This helps me a lot when I have to study for important exams and have little time for other things.
The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods
1920's Europe; present day Dublin
Genre(s): historical fiction; contemporary romance; magical realism
This book is similar to The Midnight Library (which I read earlier in the year after reading @Mellmars1185's review of that book) in that the magical realism elements interwoven in both requires the reader to suspend disbelief to some extent to move on with the storylines. The Lost Bookshop centers on 2 timelines and 3 main characters and their connection to ... wait for it ... a bookshop, with one storyline focused on the life of a woman in Europe in the 1920s and the other on the lives of a man and a woman in present day Dublin.
This is my second book from the magic realism genre and it's lighter on that theme than The Midnight Library which centers on the adventures of one protagonist. I found each of the 3 main characters in this book to be more relatable, and easier to empathize with and relate more to than the protagonist in The Midnight Library, and that kept me more engaged, as did the twist and turns in the storylines in The Lost Bookshop. Their stories contain themes of heartbreak and trauma, along with hope, and the author does a beautiful job of telling their stories. 3-1/2 stars.
Trigger warning:
Notable Quotes:
Recently I've finished up Bourne Supremacy, from the original Bourne trilogy by Robert Ludlum. I am a big Bourne fan, I love the movies and I read a few books in high school. But that was a long time ago. Way way different the books and movies. Only part similar is the backstory in the first movie and some character names ( I have to go rewatch them).
Anyways, I did enjoy the books for the most part. I actually had to peak to the back to make sure things turned out ok 🙊. There is a lot of repetition that got tiring. The books were wrote in the 80/90 time period so they can be rough to read. Violence against women and racism and slurs are common themes.
Reviews for the 3rd book, Ultimatum are not good. But I'll still read it. I also don't like how it's set many years in the future and Bourne is like in his 50's especially since a new author took over. Oh well.
@Samtian, it’s interesting that the third book received such poor reviews and the movie with the same title was remarked as being the best in the trilogy. They did say that the plot in the movie is “completely different” than in the book. That seems like taking “creative license” to the extreme.
Code Name Hélène by Ariel Lawhon
My library has this so I reserve it. I have a confession to make… I haven’t read any book since last time I posted on this thread. I’ve been lazy 😂🤣 thx giving just a month away so I hope lots of relaxation and eating and reading during that time @itsfi
@blackkitty2014, it's all good. Sometimes we just need a break. Or, life gets busy. Since we're confessing - I'm planning on taking a reading break, maybe an extra week, or two. And then, I may go with a shorter book. I've been finding it takes me longer to get through a book, not because the one I'm working through isn't interesting but distractions happen. Ha!
@itsfi @blackkitty2014 - I'm reading a book that's only about 250 pages and I skimmed some of it, but I still had to renew it! 🫣 How embarrassing!
Thanks, @itsfi ! I added this to my library wish list along with Frozen River. I read I Was Anastasia in 2019. Apparently it didn't leave an impression because I don't remember it. 😄
@Titian06, that's the third of the author's historical fiction pieces (and I believe the first one she wrote). For some reason, I haven't been motivated or inspired to pick it up, even though I really enjoyed the other two historical fiction pieces. I may read one of her other non-historical fiction novels, but I have a handful of books I need to work through first.
@itsfi Ooh those are good quotes! Sounds like a good book, I do hate timeline jumps.
There were some great quotes to choose from @Samtian. I usually pare down the number of quotes to a just a fewe but I really enjoyed these and decided to forego another round of edits with the quotes.
I tried hard to keep track of the different storylines to connect them in my mind based on time, chronologically. Then, at some point, I just gave up and read on through without even thinking about where in the timeline a chapter fell. I mean, in that regard, the woman on which the story is based lead an interesting and adventure-filled life but I couldn't tell you what happened when or which alias she was using or which spy organization she was a part of at any time. 🤣
Just finished reading The Only One Left by Riley Sager. This book has received a great deal of positive reviews, but mine may be a bit more critical.
I appreciated Sager’s writing. I found the book to be well written and it’s why I’d give it an overall rating of three stars out of five.
However, I think what I disliked about the book is what many enjoyed. I find the issue with many books in the thriller/mystery/suspense genres is that it’s too predictable. Either that or it’s so outlandish it’s no longer easy to suspend disbelief. The Only One Left feel slightly into the latter. While the outcome wasn’t predictable, it seemed like Sager kept throwing wrenches in to make it more shocking, but it got to the point where I was just like okay, let’s wrap it up now.
While my reviewing isn’t as enthusiastic as many others, I would recommend this book if you’re looking for a relatively good suspense. I just wasn’t crazy about the ending, but that is typically the case for me with these books.
Anyone else read this? What were your thoughts?
I read this one over the weekend. I'm watching the series on PBS and wanted to read the book since I knew there would be differences.
@Titian06, I looked up the book and read up a little on the plot; it sounds like a good series. 🔍
First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston
@greeneyedgirl107, the title is what initially caught my attention. 👍🏼
@itsfi This one piqued my interest when I was browsing some Kindle Unlimited books. I should definitely consider it then!