Book Club

[Alter Ego]

I’m not sure when I actually started it, but I finally finished reading THE INK BLACK HEART by “Robert Galbraith”. Kept picking up, putting down - hard for me to actually read a book. Anyways, even though the Cormoran Strike books are long (arguably longer than necessary), for the most part I appreciate the investigation. And I did like much of the book, but it just really began to drag for me at the end. In fact, my Kindle said I had less than two hours left and it may have been the longest two hours of my life (ended up twice that). May have started to skim and pretty much missed the actual reason WHY they realized who the bad guy was at the end. Threw out so many red herrings that I just wanted to know “who”. In general, I just didn’t like the ending at all. But, will likely preorder the next in the series whenever it goes on sale (have no idea when the next is scheduled to come out) and read it eventually, as I have the last two.

In addition to my usual Audibles, will try to read the latest Department Q on my Kindle next. Not sure how long that will take. I also won an ARC! My first Goodreads win - Emma Donoghue “Learned by Heart” that I’ll need to get to.

[dawg lover]

Here are my most recent reads:

KILLERS OF A CERTAIN AGE by Deanna Raybourn (liked it a lot!)

ALL THAT IS HIDDEN by Rhys Bowen (latest in the Molly Murphy series)

NOT THE ONES DEAD by Dana Stabenow (latest in the Kate Shugak Alaska series)

DARK ANGEL by John Sandford (better than the first Letty Davenport book, but still not as good as the Virgil Flowers and Lucas Davenport books.)

WHERE ARE THE CHILDREN? by Mary Higgins Clark  (I read this book many years ago, but now Alafair Burke has a sequel coming out soon with Nancy's children, so I re-read it.  It was MH Clark's first book and she improved a lot over the years.)

I am currently reading STANDING IN THE SHADOWS, the final book by the late Peter Robinson (the Inspector Banks series.)

[smoky22]

@dawg lover  did you read The Enigma of Garlic (Alexander McCall Smith)?  It was just released here in the US but I think it came out earlier in the UK.  If you mentioned that you read it I missed it.  I'm still on waitlist for it (of course).

[dawg lover]

Hi @smoky22 , Yes, I read the newest Bertie book a while back.  It was good as usual.  Unfortunately, the place where I have ordered British books in the past, Book Depository, has been bought out by the "A" mega-website (not sure if I can mention the name or not), and will be closing April 26th.  So, I don't know if I'll be able to get British books earlier in the future or not.

[maximillian]

Today I finished Hang the Moon by Jeannette Walls.  It's a page-turner.  Highly recommend.

[icezeus]

I have just finished Remember When by Nora Roberts and J.D. Robb. It was a two part book and I enjoyed it well enough.

For clarification J.D. Robb our her books that are set in the future 2058 or 2059. I can't remember. J.D. are the first initials of her two sons. 

I rated it 3/5 on Goodreads. 

[smoky22]

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@dawg lover wrote:

Hi @smoky22 , Yes, I read the newest Bertie book a while back.  It was good as usual.  Unfortunately, the place where I have ordered British books in the past, Book Depository, has been bought out by the "A" mega-website (not sure if I can mention the name or not), and will be closing April 26th.  So, I don't know if I'll be able to get British books earlier in the future or not.

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@dawg lover  I'm sorry to hear that.  I think it's ok to say Amazon as long as you don't provide a link to them.  They seem to be buying up everything.  They already own Goodreads. 

I looked this up on line and here were some suggestions for an alternative.  You may already know about them.

bookdepository top 5 competitors in March 2023 are:

betterworldbooks, thriftbooks, waterstones, wob.  

They have a dot com after them.       

[teganslaw]

Read "Pretty Baby" by Mary Kubica. First time author for me and she didn't disappoint.

Premise: Heidi Woods works for a nonprofit and does charitable work around Chicago. She meets a young homeless woman named Willow with a 4 month baby and lets them stay with her. Heidi's husband and 12 year old daughter aren't happy with the decision and barely tolerate them. 

Then things spiral out of control when signs of Willow's past began to evolve. Who exactly is Willow and what is she hiding? 

The book gets strange in parts, but kept my interest. I will read other books by Kubica. 

[CANDLEQUEEN]

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@abbalulu wrote:

@CANDLEQUEEN  could you please tell me the author of The Magpies, as there a couple of books with similar titles? Thanks so much.

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@abbalulu Mark Edwards! 

[abbalulu]

@CANDLEQUEEN  Thank you!