Topic: Book Lovers Club

Oct 18, 2020 01:02PM - edited Oct 18, 2020 01:06PM by magiclight

Minus: Don't give up on Penny, you might enjoy as have many others. Often I will return to an unfinished book and find it more enjoyable than first time around. Louise Penny is comfort food for me with all her endearing characters. The latest one, for me, is like a Snickers without nuts or nougat! The outside chocolate is good, but missed the rest

Camino Island by Grisham is an easy read, a nice sea side vacation.

Oct 18, 2020 04:11PM - edited Oct 18, 2020 04:12PM by MinusTwo

I confess I've never read Donna Tartt. The books seemed so long and then my niece said it was boring & she didn't even finish. Anybody like Tartt? I may have to revisit my decision.

Mommy - does your DH really listen to hints? I usually got things for the house like an electric frying pan.

Edited to add - VR, how are you doing? Miss you!!!

Oct 18, 2020 06:41PM M0mmyof2 wrote:

He does! He knows I am a huge Elvis nut! Usually when I drop hints like this, he listens.

Oct 18, 2020 09:11PM - edited Oct 18, 2020 09:12PM by voraciousreader

thanks Ruth....crazy coincidence...a few days after I broke my right wrist, my granddaughter broke her left wrist. For a.few weeks, we looked like BOOKENDS!

Oct 19, 2020 05:52PM Jelson wrote:

Really enjoyed Bruce Goldfarb's 18 Tiny Deaths The Untold Story of Frances Glessner Lee and the Invention of Modern Forensics. Lee was born in 1878 to a wealthy family in Chicago, think International Harvester. Her parents enjoyed the arts and classical music and built a house large enough that the Chicago Symphony could play for them at home. The house was designed by HH Richardson who I have only known as the architect for several amazing buildings here in Albany, NY so I was inspired to learn more about Richardson and learned that the Glessner house in Chicago is now a museum - which was a bonus. Anyway, Frances, as a middle-aged, divorced woman was inspired by conversations with her older brother's friend George Magrath, a Medical Examiner in Boston to devote the rest of her life, her energies and fortune to create a center for legal medicine at Harvard University and to advocate for the replacement nationwide of coroners with physician Medical Examiners. She also created a series of seminars for police personnel to educate them in forensics and especially scene of the crime observation. The 18 tiny deaths refers to the meticulously accurate 1;12 scale scene of the crime models she created to allow those participating in the seminars to view crime scenes in three dimensions. By her wits, charm, intelligence, persistence and incredible hard work, she accomplished some of her goals and although a woman who had not even attended college, gained the admiration of academics, physicians, lawyers, Erle Stanley Gardner! and perhaps was most loved and respected by those in law enforcement. Goldfarb was a journalist and the book reads well. Unfortunately, the quality of forensics is still haphazard across the US and even in Albany County we have 4 part/time coroners, with no medical training and legislation to replace this purely political system with a Medical Examiner keeps getting defeated.

Oct 24, 2020 05:58PM honeybair wrote:

Best thing I have done for myself is getting a Samsung tablet and getting Cloud Library through a local library. I have listened to and read many books, all without having to go to a library. Since Covid, I have stayed away from my local bookstore where hubby and I would drink coffee, visit with the friendly employees there and read to our heart's content. Books are such precious things and always have been to me.

Oct 24, 2020 08:08PM MinusTwo wrote:

Ruth - I always like Krueger. Thanks for the recommend.

Oct 26, 2020 05:17PM ruthbru wrote:

Oct 26, 2020 08:20PM MinusTwo wrote:

Oh wow - I got a 10. Yes, Ruth - thanks so much. Needed that today.

Interesting to see how I continue 'hoarding" books. The books I'm reading usually come from neighbors while I save my stash. Right now rereading - Lisa Scottoline Come Home. Next up Scott Turow The Burden of Proof. I can't find any Scott Turow on my shelves and I KNOW I would have saved some of his books along the way. Sigh.

Just ordered Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott - "Some Instructions on Writing & Life". I got the 25th anniversary edition. Review to follow down the road.

Nov 2, 2020 09:02AM JCSLibrarian wrote:

Just finished reading a wonderful book. I’ll Be Seeing You by Elizabeth Berg. It is a memoir about her parents as they decided to move from their home to an assisted living situation. She is very honest about the tangled emotions of her parents, herself and her siblings. While the subject matter can be sad, the book is heartwarming and very well written. Definitely looking for some escape reading for the next few days! Thanks for the suggestion Ruthbru.

Nov 3, 2020 06:09PM Valstim52 wrote:

Hello Ladies

I've been missing for a while, but lurking. I will pick up some Jo Nesbo next time i'm at the library. I love your suggestions. Sorry for those that are ailing. Waving to all. A special wave to Minus two, voraciousreader and Ruthbru

Val

Nov 3, 2020 08:17PM MinusTwo wrote:

Val - so glad to "see" you. Hope you are staying safe and everything is OK.

Nov 6, 2020 05:42PM - edited Nov 6, 2020 06:25PM by voraciousreader

a FANTASTIC documentary...The Booksellers.

I streamed it from my library via Kanopy.

Wow!

Nov 6, 2020 08:55PM MinusTwo wrote:

VR - That one is definitely going on my list. Should stimulate my brain - And maybe even some conversation when we can ever gather again.

Nov 12, 2020 10:26AM badger wrote:

Hello fellow bibliophiles! I've been off the boards for a while to focus on the pre-retirement push. It was a grueling slog due to too much work and not enough staff. In the past year, three supervisors left for greener pastures and a bunch of newbies were hired. Upper management was either overwhelmed or indifferent to the plight of the plebes so guess who was tapped to train and mentor the next generation. It's a youth culture now and I am no longer youthful. There was no real future for me there so I made plans to wrap up my projects, pass along my institutional knowledge, and ride off into the sunset. I feel good about my efforts but am delighted to be done.

So now I can sleep in, take afternoon naps, walk in the middle of the day, and read to my hearts content. Our local library closed for March & April due to the pandemic but started contactless curbside pick-up in June. One could request up to ten books at a time. In September they added in-person browsing three afternoons a week plus Saturday morning. One can check out up to 99 books at a time. I get six large-print books a week for my mom, who loves to read but whose library is still closed, and browse for myself. I see mom once a week, take her grocery shopping, and replenish her book fix.

I spent yesterday reading the 20-odd pages posted here to catch up since my last log-in. Got some great ideas, thanks all. Belated happy 10th anniversary to this thread. We still miss you, Elizabeth.

Someone asked about the Dean Koontz 'Jane Hawk' series. I read it and loved it. Great thrillers with a strong female protagonist premised on an interesting concept: nanotechnology-based mind control by evil elites. He's one of my favorite authors and this series did not disappoint.

Someone else asked about books that will make you laugh. I agree with the recs for anything by Carl Hiaasen. He is hilarious. In fact I just finished Skin Tight. From the back cover: "Somebody wants Mick Stranahan dead. Mick is sure of this, because he just had to dispatch a pistol-packing intruder with the help of a stuffed marlin head. But who would want to hurt a former Florida state investigator? The answer is plenty of people..."

Also agree with rec for Janet Evanovich's 'Stephanie Plum' series. The Grandma Mazur character is a hoot. The series is numerically ordered - One for the Money, Two for the Dough, etc. From Goodreads: "Stephanie Plum is a bounty hunter with attitude. In Stephanie's opinion, toxic waste, rabid drivers, armed schizophrenics, and August heat, humidity, and hydrocarbons are all part of the great adventure of living in Jersey. She's a product of blue-collar Trenton, where houses are attached and narrow, cars are American, windows are clean, and dinner is served at six. Out of work and out of money, with her Miata repossessed and her refrigerator empty, Stephanie blackmails her bail bondsman cousin, Vinnie, into giving her a try as an apprehension agent. And that's only the beginning of series that will set her on the trail of fugitives. Stephanie will have to sharpen her sleuthing skills, because she's got many a mystery to solve."

If you want dishy Southern wit, try Mary Kay Andrews. With titles like Little Bitty Lies and Hissy Fit, you can see why she's called Queen of the Beach Reads.

My recent reads include Total Power, the newest installment in Vince Flynn's Mitch Rapp series now written by Kyle Mills, 28 Summers by Elin Hilderbrand, The Girl with All the Gifts by M.R. Carey, One By One by Ruth Ware, and The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Daré. As you can see, I am an omnivore. :-)