Book Club

[icezeus]

Happy New Year readers.  

Let's share our likes and dislikes. 

I am currently reading three different books. I will not bore you with the details regarding how this came about. As soon as I finish one of them I will leave a brief review.

[Still Raining]

Finished Legacy by Uche Blockstock MD.  A little preachy to me, but a look at medical discrimination from the inside.  

Just starting The Dark Queens by Shelley Puhak.  So far it is keeping my interest.  Who knew about the two queens holding power amidst the division of Europe?  Not me.  

[Ainhisg]

I am reading From Here to the Great Unknown by Riley Keough. Lisa Marie Presley was going to write a memoir and had recorded her thoughts and experiences.  She had asked Riley to help her write the book, but before it could be written, Lisa Marie died.  So Riley used the tapes to write a biography about her mother.  It is written very cleverly.  Riley uses her mother's exact words in one font, and then when she adds what she remembers, she uses a different font so that you know who is "talking." 

I thought Elvis and Priscilla were messed up, but wow...Lisa Marie wins on that one, and how could she not be with those two as parents?  Don't get me wrong, I am a huge Elvis fan, but there was just something very not right about his relationship with his mother (which started his issues imo), and then with Priscilla's problems, Lisa Marie did not stand a chance.  And because she didn't know what a normal family looked like, she was in no way prepared to create a normal family for herself. Yet she considered herself to be a great mother.  I have no doubt she loved Riley and Ben, but her definition of a great mother and my definition of a great mother are two different things.  And Riley says more than once that her childhood was perfect.  Well, when that's all you know, that's all you know.  I just hope she's able to be a more stable parent to her own child than Lisa Marie was to her.

I am almost done with the book, and I'm glad I read it.  The lifestyles of the rich and famous are beyond what I can even imagine, but many times, they are not happy or satisfied.  I wouldn't trade places with them for anything.

[Big Joanie]

I'm not usually of reader of Pat Conroy .. except The Prince of

Tides of course ... but I saw mentioned somewhere his book

South Road ... It's turning out to be a doozy ....

[jlkz]

@Big Joanie 

Agree: South of Broad is really good.

Another of Pat Conroy's you will chuckle out loud at:

Beach House.

I first read the Great Santini and thought: Nope don't like his writing.  Then hearing and reading about his early up bringing, I realized that it was his model for his father.  The father figure in Prince of Tides was drawn on his own father.

[Big Joanie]

Actually the book I meant to comment on was South of

Broad ... really good ...

[CarolinaGirl88]

I'm currently reading The Devil at his Elbow: Alex Murdaugh and the Fall of a Southern Dynasty by Valerie Bauerlein. There are a lot of books about this case, but this is the only one that I've read. The author writes for the Wall Street Journal but she graduated from Duke and lives in Raleigh, which interested me since I also live in NC. It's excellent; she did a lot of research. I love her writing style and she explains things well. True crime isn't for everyone, of course, but for those who are interested, I highly recommend this book. 

[FranandZoe]

I just finished the Winter Street series by Elin Hilderbrand.  Four books - Wintrer Street, Winter Stroll, Winter Storms, and Winter Solstic.  Wonderful books.  

[Lilysmom1]

@icezeus  And readers, welcome to 2025.  May your year be filled with great titles!

Just finished The Widow's Lie by Melanie Price.  Let me spare you a bad read.  2.75/5*.  I am surprised I finished it!

[Lilysmom1]

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@Ainhisg wrote:

I am reading From Here to the Great Unknown by Riley Keough. Lisa Marie Presley was going to write a memoir and had recorded her thoughts and experiences.  She had asked Riley to help her write the book, but before it could be written, Lisa Marie died.  So Riley used the tapes to write a biography about her mother.  It is written very cleverly.  Riley uses her mother's exact words in one font, and then when she adds what she remembers, she uses a different font so that you know who is "talking." 

I thought Elvis and Priscilla were messed up, but wow...Lisa Marie wins on that one, and how could she not be with those two as parents?  Don't get me wrong, I am a huge Elvis fan, but there was just something very not right about his relationship with his mother (which started his issues imo), and then with Priscilla's problems, Lisa Marie did not stand a chance.  And because she didn't know what a normal family looked like, she was in no way prepared to create a normal family for herself. Yet she considered herself to be a great mother.  I have no doubt she loved Riley and Ben, but her definition of a great mother and my definition of a great mother are two different things.  And Riley says more than once that her childhood was perfect.  Well, when that's all you know, that's all you know.  I just hope she's able to be a more stable parent to her own child than Lisa Marie was to her.

I am almost done with the book, and I'm glad I read it.  The lifestyles of the rich and famous are beyond what I can even imagine, but many times, they are not happy or satisfied.  I wouldn't trade places with them for anything.

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 @Ainhisg , great review, thanks!