Book Club

[Lilysmom1]

@Big Joanie Just downed loaded The Prince of Tides.  Thanks.

[SWEET]

Just finished Nora Roberts Brazen Virtue (1988).  How I missed this early mystery of hers I don't know.  It was a pretty good book too. 

[nwbabs]

Thank you @icezeus for starting the new year/new month thread. 

Finished my first audiobook of the new year this evening and it was worth the wait after months on the library hold list. The Dark Wives (Vera Stanhope #11) by Ann Cleeves (Janine Birkett, narrator). Fiction, crime, mystery genres.

I understand The Dark Wives will be the final new Vera episode when season 14 airs. Brenda Blethyn has done an outstanding job over the years as Vera. Also, I did enjoy the audiobook's narrator who did a great job on the Geordie voices.

And, of course, Ann Cleeves writing is a joy for a crime mystery reader to slowly savor and indulge. Cheers!

[roeroe1005]

Happy new year everyone!

I finished reading The Keeper of Happy Endings by Barbara Davis.  Still not sure how I felt about it.  The ending was pretty predictable.  

Last night I started Here One Moment by Laine Moriarty.  I think I read 5 pages before I fell asleep.  But the concept sounds interesting.

I'm not sure if I can mention this here - if not, please delete. 

I found a reading site Friends and Fiction on FB.  Four women authors meet with an author every week.  It's on Youtube and their FB site.  This week, Kristin Hamel and Patti Callahan Henry spoke w/Fiona Davis, whose book "Stolen Queen" is coming out this week.  I enjoyed learning the background of the book and Ms. Davis' research while writing it.  The podcast (or whatever it's called) is every Wednesday evening at 7p.  I assume you can catch it at other times.  P.S. I make no money off this plug!

Happy reading!

[SWEET]

Just finished my first book in January in 2 days.  Leslie A. Rasmussen's After Happily Ever After was a good book that was funny and sad at the same time. 

[dmod nj]

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@FranandZoe wrote:

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

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@FranandZoe  I loved them all, too.

[dmod nj]

@Ainhisg  thank you for the review. That book is on my tbr list.  ITA with you about Elvis and his mom.

[dmod nj]

Happy New Year everyone! 

Thank you @icezeus  for this month's thread. 

I'm not a holiday book reader, but my gf encouraged me to read or listen to  these in December. 

Take Me Home for Christmas, Miranda Liasson.  It was light, fun, sweet story. 

A Very Irish Christmas, Debbie Johnson. Light, happy, holiday themed, finding yourself and what you really want themes.

Christmas in Chestnut Ridge, Nancy Naigle. Beautiful setting, friendships, community coming together theme. I enjoyed this one.  

December Market, Rae Anne Thayne,  I got about halfway through and gave up. I'm not sure if I was Christmas themed books saturated, or it was the story itself. 

I listened to What We Keep, by Jennifer Millikin. She is a new author to me.   It was thought provoking, made me laugh and tear up, a roller coaster of emotion.  I recommend this book! 

I am currently listening to Kennedy Ryan's, Before I Go. So far, I'm invested in this book. 

[Ainhisg]

@dmod nj I hope you enjoy it. It was an easy read.

[Lilysmom1]

I just finished The Fortunate One, Ed Tarkington.  This is the storyline is below.  I rated this book 4/5* because of the good character development and storyline (from my public library site).

THE FORTUNATE ONES

When Charlie Boykin was young, he thought his life with his single mother on the working-class side of Nashville was perfectly fine. But when his mother arranges for him to be admitted as a scholarship student to an elite private school, he is suddenly introduced to what the world can feel like to someone cushioned by money. That world, he discovers, is an almost irresistible place where one can bend - and break — rules and still end up untarnished. As he gets drawn into a friendship with a charismatic upperclassman, Archer Creigh, and an affluent family that treats him like an adopted son, Charlie quickly adapts to life in the upper echelons of Nashville society. Under their charming and alcohol-soaked spell, how can he not relax and enjoy it all — the lack of anxiety over money, the easy summers spent poolside at perfectly appointed mansions, the lavish parties, the freedom to make mistakes knowing that everything can be glossed over or fixed?

But over time, Charlie is increasingly pulled into covering for Archer's constant deceits and his casual bigotry. At what point will the attraction of wealth and prestige wear off enough for Charlie to take a stand — and will he?