Book Club

[Alter Ego]

@teganslaw  I think a few others here didn't like it either. I did, but sometimes I think the Audible experience sways my opinion of a book one way or another.

I don't know if I would consider it a thriller, at least how I would define "thriller".  More cat and mouse to me.

[icezeus]

I have been very busy the last few weeks with work and I had a nasty cold that really cut down on my reading. 

I have finally finished "Blow Fly" by Patricia Cornwell. Next up "Becoming" by Michelle Obama.

[BirkiLady]

@icezeus Becoming is excellent!!  It was among the five best books read in 2019 (so far). 

[sunala]

I read Becoming straight through. I literally couldn't put it down! Also one of my favorite books of 2019. Loved it!

[BirkiLady]

The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack The Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold (5+ Stars)

Excellent!! This is an eye-opening, non-fiction book complete with maps, detailed footnotes and sources for the reader. The author, Hallie Rubenhold has done extensive research into the lives and routines of Polly, Annie, Elizabeth, Kate and Mary Jane, who are guily of being born female in the 1800's.

In the Victorian era, a woman's entire function was to support the males in their family and the needs of men. A woman's role was to care for the home and produce and raise children. A double-standard ensured that single, widowed and seperated women of the middle-classes were usually left without financial assistance, housing or means of support. Seldom were they able to provide for their own children; thus, family or adoption were often the only solutions. 

Today's society acknowledges "Jack the Ripper" so frequently that we fail to reconize that men like him walk among us daily. In 'People vs. Turner' (2015), Brock Turner, a Stanford University student was charged with rape and sexual assault of an intoxicated woman. His father complained, ". . . was a steep price to pay for 20 minutes of action" or the "Me, too" movement.  
Exploring the lives of Polly, Annie, Elisabeth, Kate and Mary Jane gives them humanity, personality and determination to stay alive in horrible conditions. They had worked and been part of society. These women were not "just prostitutes" (according to the newspapers); they were daughters, sisters, wives, mothers and lovers.

As Hallie Rubehold's research finds, there is no census or documentation that Polly, Annie, Elisabeth, or Kate worked as a prostitute. Mary Jane is the only woman to admit, and friends and neighbors verified, she had worked in the sex trade prior to her murder which occured in her own bed . . . not in as a streetwalker. All five women deserved the humanity and respectability society should have afforded them.

Very well researched and sadly, murders which could and do happen in today's world. Fortunately journalists are liable for their publications. They must be accurate in their reporting, which in 1888, they were not. Thus, the gossip continues centuries later.

One of the five best books of 2019!  

[roeroe1005]

Jinlei, thank you. I've started reading it. Like it so far.

[CareBears]

I just finished The Dark Side by Danielle Steel, what a disturbing book, it was so sick and very disturbing!

Next up Dead Voices by Katherine Arden, will post my review when I finish!

[CANDLEQUEEN]

Finished- LOCK EVERY DOOR and it was really really good, and not at all like I expected.......I am now starting on WORSE CASE by James Patterson........

I would love to read more books by Riley Sager.... 

[yellowrose]

Just finished "The Good Earth" by Pearl S. Buck

Glad I eavesdropped on the conversation between @sunala and @minkbunny 

about this book.   I enjoyed the story of Wang Lung very much.

[number one queen]

@teganslaw  I loved that book, I really got into it easily and thought it was a five star book.