Book Club

[beckyb1012]

Woman Down, by Colleen Hoover.   This is Colleen's first book since all the hoop la between Blake and Justin. In the forward she says to please not even think this is her story. 

However, this is about and author, Petra whose book is turned inside out into a movie with characters being dropped that were in her book.  Her public does not like that she did not fight for her book and her popularity plummeted.  Petra has writer's block for her next book so she leaves her family for a remote area to try to get the next book going.  Petra meets a man and in an instant she sees he is everything the character from her former book is that was dropped by Hollywood.  Saint is her real life Cam.

[RetRN]

The Insomniacs by Allison Winn Scotch----follows four sleep-deprived people who form an online friendship then meet once a week at a 24-hour

diner to talk. An injured pro baseball player, an empty-nester, a retiree and widower, and an elusive 24 year old. 

[dmod nj]

Hi everyone,

Thank you, @icezeus , for this month's thread.  

Thank you for everyone's posts and suggestions.

I have not been reading much at all.  I've been catching up with DVRed shows, watching baseball and  hockey playoffs.   Seems, this happens every year around this time. lol  

I did listen to From the Embers, Aly Martinez. She is a new author to me.   I highly recommend this book.   As always Connor Crais, the narrator, hit a home run with his narration. 

There is love, suspense, overcoming life's obstacles, learning to love again after a tragedy, and finding yourself healed, all found in this story. 

I will be looking for more books by this author.  Any suggestions? 

[Carolina925]

Just finished, in the wee hours of the night, A Spark of Light by Jodi Picoult. It was shared with me and I didn't realize it was about a hostage situation in an abortion clinic. I am pro-life across the board but decided to read and see if I could gain some insight from the other side. I really like her writing and she went into depth with this one, interviewing and reading from both sides. It was an unsettling read but I just couldn't put it down. I highly recommend this one.

[Seminole2]

@dmeasy My friend just read this for their book club. She really liked it. It's on my TBR list.

[teganslaw]

I read "A Spark of Light" but was disappointed.The premise was good,  but I thought that the author could have done better. I never found out what happened to certain characters, and there were some parts that had no relation to the story. (My thoughts, anyway. Others probably feel different.) It was given good reviews, so don't let my negative review stop anyone from reading. This just didn't live up to my expectations. 

[icezeus]

@Seminole2 

I read this book either last year or the year before, and I did enjoy it. It was unsettling, but such is life. I think that Jodi Picoult was fair to both sides of the issue. 

[sandy53]

I tried to read This Story Might Save Your Life by Tiffany Crum.  I decided to give up about 1/3 of the way through.  I just could not relate to the characters and I got the feeling that no one was who they were portrayed to be.  That kind of book drives me crazy.  I am glad I got it from the library instead of buying it.  

[smoky22]

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@sandy53 wrote:

I tried to read This Story Might Save Your Life by Tiffany Crum.  I decided to give up about 1/3 of the way through.  I just could not relate to the characters and I got the feeling that no one was who they were portrayed to be.  That kind of book drives me crazy.  I am glad I got it from the library instead of buying it.  

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@sandy53  I just finished this book myself and I did finish it. 

I completely agree with you about not relating to (or caring about) the characters.  I was also not a fan of the style.  The female character's story started in the past and the male character was in the present. I gave it two stars. 

[beckyb1012]

The Belles, by Lacey Dunham.  It is 1951 and the start of a very secluded all women's college, Bellerton is about to begin a new school year which will also be the school's centennial birthday.  All the girls come from wealthy families or at the very least people think they are wealthy and well known. 

The freshmen class of '51 has the great granddaughter of the founders of the school in 1851.  Ava is the leader of the select group of girls she as chosen to be in her world.  They name themselves The Belles.  Everyone of these girls are living with secrets as well as the school itself.  Secrets in the here and now and secrets from the past that rise up and make themselves known in the dark hallways and the woods outside.  

Not all will graduate in four years just like so many in the past 100 years who disappeared never to seen or heard from again.