Community Chat

[lainey1]

This book thread is started on the first of each month.

Some suggestions for posting here:

~ underline, bold or CAPITALIZE the name of the book you're reading - it makes it easier for us readers to see what it is

~ include the author of the book - there are so many books with the same title (if you are recommending a book we want to make sure we read the right one!)

~ post a few words about the book - would you recommend it or not

~ tell us the book genre - is it mystery, romance, historical, biography, etc.

***There is no obligation to do any of the above.

As always, all posters are welcome here!

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I'm getting a late start posting this month - can't believe it's April already!

Right now I'm reading Gone For Good by Harlan Coben.

Happy reading all! lainey

[abbalulu]

I just finished Don't Try This At Home-Culinary Catastrophes From The World's Greatest Chefs by Andrew Friedman and Kimberly Witherspoon. Each chapter was written by a specific chef about an accident or something funny that happened in the kitchen or restaurant at some point in their career. Some of the incidents were interesting or funny and some not so much. It was a pretty easy read though and if one chapter wasn't very interesting the next might be; so it went quickly.

[skyblue]

I finished The Rosie Project which I loved, and The Rosie Effect which was fine, but not as good as the first.

I am now reading Paper Towns by John Green.

[sandy53]

I have found a new mystery series! And I am a sucker for a good series. This was recommended on NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast. The author is Julia Spencer-Fleming and I just finished the first one published back in 2002 called In the Bleak Midwinter. The main characters are the chief of police and an Episcopal priest (female) in an upstate New York small town. This book starts with a newborn baby found on the steps of the church, involves two murders, and chemistry developing between the chief and the reverend. Very Good! There are eight books in the series and I think I will binge read them all.

[Colinka]

I am reading "A Pleasure and a Calling" by Phil Hogan. Quite an unusual book in that you actually find yourself rooting for the narrator, who is kind of a creepy voyeur. If you've ever read "The Talented Mr. Ripley" you know what it is like to have the main character be sneaky and malicious, but also sympathetic, in a strange way.

Here's part of a review of it from "Goodreads": Rarely do you read a book which is totally original, creepy, delightfully and darkly funny and enjoyable from cover to cover. I am pleased to say that this is such a book. Estate agent William Heming lives in a leafy and prosperous community. He is successful, self employed and adept at reading people. However, Heming has a secret – he has the keys of every house he has sold and he is more familiar with his clients lives, and their properties, than you might expect..

You can't put it down!

[Judaline]

If you loved The Paris Architect like I did, Charles Belfoure has a second novel premiering in December. It's called House of Thieves.

sandy, your series sounds good. Will get the first one.

[LoriLori]

Finished "I Am Half-Sick of Shadows", the latest in Alan Bradley's Flavia series. Loved it!!! Flavia fans know how much there is to love. Anyone who has not tried this cozy series (should be read in order) is missing out on a delightful, amusing mystery series.

And now for something completely different: I'm reading "FROM LANDFILL TO HALLOWED GROUND: THE LARGEST CRIME SCENE IN AMERICA" by Ret. NYPD Det. Frank Marra. He worked the Staten Island Landfill, where the debris from the collapsed World Trade Center and surrounding areas was brought. LE from every borough sifted through it, uncovering everything from intact cars and fire trucks to a finger with a ring, for example, which if identified would be returned to the family. It is a short, deeply sad and fascinating book, expensive (self-published), but worth it, to me. No part of the person I lost on 9/11 has been recovered, but not for lack of trying. The firemen and officers who lost their lives on 9/11 have been heralded, as they should be; those who did this job, in the landfill, did it quietly, earnestly, twelve hours a shift, and I for one had no idea the scope until this book.

[Judaline]

lori, did it mention the dogs that died trying to find people? I have heard stories and I just wondered if they're true. I'm sorry you lost someone. I have a friend who went to the site after the fact and it said she felt so at peace standing there, on the outside looking in. I don't understand that. I think I would be very sad and not want to be there. She said she wanted to be-I guess so because she made the trip.

[LoriLori]

Jud, the dogs were at the actual site looking for survivors, and finding a few. I don't remember hearing any of the dogs died but I know initially NYC did not provide the dogs with protective gear for their feet. There was a huge and rightful outcry and that changed, private money was raised and I seem to remember Canada sending things for the dogs.

But there were no survivors possible at the landfill in Staten Island where everything was barged over, sifted through, marked as evidence, described, photographed, DNA testing of body parts, there were even pieces of bodies where they could not tell what part of the body it was. One widow took the ferry with her kids so they could sit in her husband's car. LE also went through the contents of every trunk and glove compartment of every car, truck and fire engine.

An amazing book and I'm only on page 30.

As for peace, most of his family feels peaceful and centered at the memorial, but not all of them.

Sorry this post is so long!

[Judaline]

God have mercy.