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A Book(s) Thread

Dee*Jay

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Lady D -- I have not heard of Scribd but will check it out!
 

zoebartlett

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I recently read Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight and Before You by JoJo Moyes. I just began After You, the sequel to Before You. It's good so far. I'm looking for others to read, so I'll have to go back a few pages and see what's been recommended.
 

december-fire

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Zoe|1454637962|3986972 said:
I recently read Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight and Before You by JoJo Moyes. I just began After You, the sequel to Before You. It's good so far. I'm looking for others to read, so I'll have to go back a few pages and see what's been recommended.

Hi Zoe,

The actual title of one of the books you mentioned is Me Before You, not 'Before You'. I hope you don't mind; I just don't want any confusion in case someone here does a search for the book.

I read JoJo Moyes' books Me Before You, After You and One Plus One.
One Plus One has nothing to do with the first two books I mentioned, but I thought it was a nice, light read.

I'm currently reading A Guide to the Good Life (the ancient art of stoic joy) by William B. Irvine.
Someone mentioned it to me during a discussion about how people vary in their view or handling of life's ups and downs.
As you can probably tell from the title, its not a novel. It begins by discussing philosophical thinking of the Greeks and Romans. I find it interesting.

I probably shouldn't mention this next book because I haven't started it yet. Although I'll have to start (and finish!) it soon because its the book for my Book Club meeting being held on Tuesday! Its really more of a 'Ladies with Wine Club', so no pressure from anyone except myself to read the book. :D

I don't know if there are any photographers out there, but I treated myself to a new camera last month and have read:
The Photographer's Eye - Composition and Design for Better Digital Photos by Michael Freeman
and Digital SLR Settings and Shortcuts for Dummies :lol:
 

TooPatient

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Just finished reading:

I Am Nujood
Brian's Winter
Brian's Return
Brian's Hunt


Starting:

The Martian
Go Set a Watchman


If you haven't read it, I Am Nujood is actually very interesting. It is the story of a little girl in Yemen whose father married her off at the age of 10 (generously, she may have been as young as 8) and the pain she went through from her abusive husband. She tells the story of her divorce well. It is very simple. Nothing fancy. (but as it is told from the point of view of an 8 year old who was maybe 16 when she wrote the book, I don't think that is bad!)
 

AGBF

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I've been completely offline for a couple of weeks due to some home construction. Today I got my computer back. I think that I am picking up where I left off in this thread. I know that I wrote about reading a lot of books by Brett Battles about Jonathan Quinn, "the Cleaner". I do not believe that I mentioned I started to read Jeffrey Deaver's series of Lincoln Rhyme novels, however. I did. So far I read the first one, but I liked it a lot and plan to continue to read them. The first book in the series is called, The Bone Collector. I also read Radiant Angel by Nelson DeMille, which features his protagonist John Corey, whom I usually love. This time I was disappointed in the plot of the novel, however. Well, there actually wasn't a plot, which was even worse. I think that I am now going to employ the same strategy that I do with John Sandford/John Camp: take the books he writes out of the library because there is a good chance that they are ghost written or so formulaic that one suspects that a computer wrote them. Too bad.

I also read Memory Man by David Baldacci. In that book he introduced yet another character. Good! He has a second novel featuring this protagonist coming out now.

I read Revival by Stephen King. It wasn't, in my opinion, his best work.

And I read, The Third Target by Joel C. Rosenberg which was quick paced but farfetched.

Deb :read:
 

AGBF

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I have not kept very good track of what I have read since I last posted, but I have a definite sense of having read far less than usual. Given the state of my father's health and, also the state of my daughter's mental health, I am sure that my feeling is based in reality. When I posted last I had just read the first of Jeffery Deaver's Lincoln Rhyme detection stories, The Bone Collector. I am now reading his second in the series, The Stone Monkey. I recently read The Good House by Ann Leary. It is a novel about an alcoholic woman in her 60's in a New England town and was very interestingly written and funny. It had memorable scenes that I have found myself relating to people like the incident when one mare gives birth to a foal and another mare steals it. The deft intervention of a woman looking at a house she is thinking of buying and the horses' handler makes a very moving intervention among the three horses. I also found myself actually laughing out loud at times.

I am sorry I gave Revival such short shrift the last time i posted. It may not have been Stephen King's best work, but it was very evocative. I have found myself thinking about it many times since I read the book. The character of the preacher who is obsessed with finding out what is on the other side of death is really well drawn and stayed with me, as did the character of the book's protagonist.

AGBF
 

AGBF

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I started rereading this thread from the beginning today and found all sorts of wonderful book recommendations in it. This is actually one of the places where I get many of the recommendations on what I will read since it is here that people write thoughtfully about what they have read. The other source of information for me tends to be Amazon, where I read lots of reviews by readers as well as professional reviews of books.

AGBF
 

VRBeauty

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I'm finally breaking out of my "comfort reading" torpor!

Recently finished:
Little Chapel on the River; a pub, a town and the search for what matters most, by Gwendolyn Bounds. This book was interesting because I was reading it in early September, and the whole memoir is set in motion by the events of September 11.

The Forgotten Garden, a novel by Kate Morton. Enjoyable, though somewhat predictable.

Now reading:
Love Warrior, a memoir by Ennon Doyle Melton.

On deck:
Being Mortal, by Atul Gawande.
The Woman Who Walked in Sunshine, by Alexander McCall Smith.
The Underground Railroad by a Olson Whitehead
On Fire, be John O'Leary.

That should hold me for awhile!
 

AGBF

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VRBeauty|1476526349|4087325 said:
I'm finally breaking out of my "comfort reading" torpor!

Recently finished:
Little Chapel on the River; a pub, a town and the search for what matters most, by Gwendolyn Bounds. This book was interesting because I was reading it in early September, and the whole memoir is set in motion by the events of September 11.

The Forgotten Garden, a novel by Kate Morton. Enjoyable, though somewhat predictable.

Now reading:
Love Warrior, a memoir by Ennon Doyle Melton.

On deck:
Being Mortal, by Atul Gawande.
The Woman Who Walked in Sunshine, by Alexander McCall Smith.
The Underground Railroad by a Olson Whitehead
On Fire, be John O'Leary.

That should hold me for awhile!

Thanks for posting. I love this thread.

The Woman Who Walked In Sunshine has been on my night table for a month. I bought it as soon as it came out in paperback. Maybe we will read it together? Did you read all the other books in the series? (I did.)

I am currently reading the second book in the Amos Decker series by David Baldacci, The Last Mile. (The first was Memory Man.)

Deb
 
Q

Queenie60

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Thank you for the book recommendations. Loading my Kindle for 7 days in Hawaii!!!!
 

VRBeauty

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AGBF|1476562895|4087484 said:
The Woman Who Walked In Sunshine has been on my night table for a month. I bought it as soon as it came out in paperback. Maybe we will read it together? Did you read all the other books in the series? (I did.)


Deb

I have kept up with this series. Still enjoying it - still waiting to see the changes each new installment brings to the lives of Precious Romotswe, JLB Matekone, Grace Makutsi, et al. Although I like the series's languorous pace, the opening chapters of this book were just a bit too slow when I first started to read it. I'll try sometime later this winter - it should be a good rainy day book!
 

AGBF

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VRBeauty|1476593787|4087591 said:
AGBF|1476562895|4087484 said:
The Woman Who Walked In Sunshine has been on my night table for a month. I bought it as soon as it came out in paperback. Maybe we will read it together? Did you read all the other books in the series? (I did.)

I have kept up with this series. Still enjoying it - still waiting to see the changes each new installment brings to the lives of Precious Romotswe, JLB Matekone, Grace Makutsi, et al. Although I like the series's languorous pace, the opening chapters of this book were just a bit too slow when I first started to read it. I'll try sometime later this winter - it should be a good rainy day book!

Thank you for answering. I already added Little Chapel on the River; a pub, a town and the search for what matters most to my Amazon wishlist. I read about it soon after you posted here. As I said, I get many of my best suggestions for what to read from this thread!


Deb :wavey:
 

VRBeauty

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AGBF|1476600480|4087600 said:
Thank you for answering. I already added Little Chapel on the River; a pub, a town and the search for what matters most to my Amazon wishlist. I read about it soon after you posted here. As I said, I get many of my best suggestions for what to read from this thread!


Deb :wavey:

I'd be happy to send you my copy (one way - it's in the donation bag). Do you have any DB or LT ads out there?
 

AGBF

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No. But thank you ever so much for the offer!

Deb
 

TooPatient

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I have been enjoying various Poirot books by Agatha Christie. Love them!

Curtain was spectacular. Poirot's last case was really the best of all.

So.... I know movies are seldom as good a the books, but we had a set of Poirot (with David Suchet) movies. All were pretty good. After reading Curtain, I had to have more. Found the complete series (13 seasons) on bluray. They are so true to the books!
 

mom2dolls

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Finished Chaos by Patricia Cornwell, disappointed. The last few books have lacked the intensity her previous books had. I used to be a big fan, counted the days until the new books come out each year. Hopefully the next will pick up again.

I also read Reconstructing Amelie, great book!

Reading Chip and Joanna Gaines book now. Lighthearted read. Do you watch Fixer Upper?
 

december-fire

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Just read and enjoyed Still Life with Murder by P.B. Ryan.

Its currently available as a free download if you sign-up with BookBub; its free to sign-up.

Once you sign-up, you can indicate the types of books that interest you, and you'll receive regular emails with about half-a-dozen suggested books you can download; some free and some at a cost of a few dollars. Download options include Amazon, Apple, Kobo, etc.
 

AGBF

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I wasn't going to post in this thread right now because I don't have anything to say to another poster who has just been sharing, but the book I am currently reading is one by an author about whom I learned on Pricescope. (I am not sure if it was in this book thread or in another one. There used to be a separate forum for the discussion of books.)

The book is Truly, Madly Guilty and the author is the Australian Liane Moriarty, who is someone whose work I would never in a million years have tried had it not been for these Pricescope discussions. I just never would have heard of her. Now she is one of my favorite authors. I devour her books. I do not know how I lived without her! But she just didn't fall into any genre that I read.

Bless these Pricescope threads where people actually discuss books. Not that i have done her latest book justice with this current posting, but perhaps I will share more later. I do not mean later today; I mean as I get farther along with the book. ;))

Deb :wavey:
 

december-fire

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Deb,

Thank you for mentioning Liane Moriarty and her book Truly, Madly Guilty. I haven't read this book yet, although I've read a few other books by this author; including The Husband's Secret and What Alice Forgot.

I had planned on reading Truly, Madly Guilty, but got sidetracked with other books and forgot about this one. :))
 

VRBeauty

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My latest read is "The Last Season" by Eric Blehm. It's the real-life story of a back-country ranger who goes missing during one of his patrols. The author does a good job of interspersing story of the search and rescue effort with the ranger's backstory and events leading up to his disappearance. This book held a real surprise for me - one of the rangers interviewed in the book is someone I've met! He's the older brother of someone I knew in college, and we had stayed with him during a cross-country ski trip in Yosemite!

I've read mostly fictional in the past few years, especially mysteries and historical mysteries. It was refreshing (though sobering) to read a real-life mystery for a change. It was good to be reminded that real life is often more complex, and can be far richer, than what is portrayed in even the best fiction.

Aside from the personal connection I mentioned above, this book was also interesting for me because a I have a good friend who's involved in search and rescue locally, so it gave me a glimpse into her world. (In fact, I got her a personalized copy for Christmas - shhh!)
 

december-fire

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VRBeauty,

The book I mentioned above, Still Life with Murder by P.B. Ryan, is a historical mystery set in Massachusetts in the 1860s. (You mentioned you like historical mysteries.)

I debated providing a brief description when I mentioned the book but thought my comments might inadvertently discourage someone from reading the book. Some people might not want to read a 'historical' book, but I think they'd probably still enjoy this one.

Prior to reading a book, I don't want to know much about it other than what type it is; mystery, biography, fiction or non-fiction, etc.

Recently, I read a book about a man searching for his missing daughter; fiction and book 1 in a series. I thought it was good, was interested in the character and curious to know whether or not he found his daughter, checked the internet for others in the series, and came across a list which included a brief description. The description of one of the books started with a sentence which gave away the results of the man's search. Really? :angryfire: I just quickly skimmed the list, and this sentence jumped out at me. :nono:

I'll probably read the rest of the series, but I was a bit annoyed that this piece of information was revealed in the book synopsis.
 

december-fire

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Back to suggest a couple of books which, by coincidence, are set in the 1800s, as was the last book I mentioned in the post above.

The books are the first and second in a series by M. Louisa Locke. I downloaded both when they were offered for free on BookBub (the second book is still available for free download from BookBub). I finished the second book last night and decided to buy the box-set of the first four. Just started the third book today.

These books are murder/mystery fiction, which I enjoy reading, and are set in San Francisco in the 1880s.
I'm finding that I quite like the historical setting of the books.
Thought I'd add that I consider these 'light' murder/mystery fiction.

Maids of Misfortune
(Victorian San Francisco Mystery, Book One)
M. Louisa Locke

Uneasy Spirits
(Victorian San Francisco Mystery, Book Two)
M. Louisa Locke
 

LLJsmom

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Ah, here is the book thread!!

I already mentioned I read To Kill a Mockingbird again. Cuts you to the core.

To Pixar and Beyond, by Lawrence Levy about the process of working with Steve Jobs and taking Pixar public. So cool and fun, and great writing, yet a super easy read. I would want every high school kid in economics to read it.

Love non-fiction so much now.
 

AGBF

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I'm glad this thread is so active again. I just finished Truly, Madly, Guilty. I found myself trying not to read it so quickly towards the end because I couldn't bear the thought of having to put it down. I really loved it that much. I have gone all day without picking up another book because I cannot decide what to read next. Nothing seems right. Nothing seems as if it will satisfy me!

I did just buy Killing a King by Dan Ephron, which I mentioned (I believe) in another thread. It is about the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, who is one of my heroes. I may try that one next. I read very little non-fiction and when I do it has to be very good and very engrossing. I think that this book will be. If I make this my next book, I guess I will soon see!

Good day to all you fellow readers!

Deb :wavey:
 

violet3

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I just returned from a break on here, so I haven't read through this thread, but I am excited to read it! I am currently reading "Bruce" by Peter Ames Carlin - it's a biography of Bruce Springsteen. It's pretty good - I'm hoping to finish soon so I can read Bruce's autobiography, which just came out.

I had a rough fall semester, so I didn't read a whole lot except the textbooks I was teaching, but I have a list from last spring of what I read and liked. I'll go back through my goodreads and come back. Super excited for this thread!
 

AGBF

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LLJsmom|1484196954|4114624 said:
I already mentioned I read To Kill a Mockingbird again. Cuts you to the core.

I don't know if I mentioned that I taught that to an eighth grade English class a few years ago. I loved doing it. I am a fellow admirer.

Deb :wavey:
 

TooPatient

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I never got back to share about Go Set a Watchman.

It was very well written and showed the challenges faced by different people and groups in that part of the south. I went in expecting a good-guy/bad-guy thing where there was clear right and wrong. She captured the difficulties and gray areas very well. The story was interesting in its own right even if you aren't big on historical dramas.
 

blackprophet

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I know SF doesn't get a lot of coverage here but I recently read "The Fifth Season" by N.K. Jemisin.

I was the 2016 Hugo award winner and I thought it was excellent. A good mashup of a number of different genres.

Disclaimer: This is the first in a Trilogy and the third book isn't out yet. I haven't even read the second and I can't wait until the third one is out.
 

missy

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AGBF|1484242042|4114746 said:
LLJsmom|1484196954|4114624 said:
I already mentioned I read To Kill a Mockingbird again. Cuts you to the core.

I don't know if I mentioned that I taught that to an eighth grade English class a few years ago. I loved doing it. I am a fellow admirer.

Deb :wavey:


LOVED the book. A masterpiece no matter how often you read it or how old you are when you read it. And the movie is excellent too!

Thanks for the recs here. I am feeling the urge to start reading again and will start with the recommendations in this thread. Thank you!
 

blackprophet

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I'd like to try something a little different, mostly because I am looking for some sure fire recommendations!

What is your favorite book that IS NOT A CLASSIC.[\b]
So something most people ITT haven't head of.
Or something you haven't mentioned yet, but has stuck with you.

I'll start: Glasshouse by Charles Stross
 
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