Book Club

[Lilysmom1]

Just finished Big Lies in a Small Town by Diane Chamberlain.  3.75/5* for me.  I found it too long.

[Lilysmom1]

@nwbabs Just read the storyline for The Devil's Highway.  Not for the faint of heart!  The experience sounds harrowing.

[nwbabs]

Finished listening to Knife Creek (Mike Dowditch, #8) by Paul Doiron last night. This was my first full-length read in Doiron's Maine game warden series and it was excellent.

It is a fast paced crime mystery, if you enjoy that genre. Not a cozy mystery by any means. Knife Creek is my second 5-star read of the 2024 along with Table for Two by Amor Towles.

Happy Reading and Have a Great Week All!

[SWEET]

Just finished What You Do To Me by Rochelle Weinstein.  Her books are either hit or miss for me and this was a definite hit.  5 stars.  Since I can hardly explain how I feel about this book, here's my review from Goodreads:

"I love books about songs since I love music. Each chapter was a song and artist I was either familiar with and recognized songs.

I read the backstory from the author on her FB page and knew I had to read this. I also love the song which the it was based on, Plain White T's “Hey There Delilah.”

Cecelia was a writer for The Rolling Stone in the late 90s and was conceived at Woodstock with parents who loved the music of the 70s and involved in music, so she was immersed too. A lot happens in this book not only with her writing life but with her feelings about her father who abandoned her to live with his new wife and kids when she was a teenager and her late mother and her relationship with her boyfriend Pete who she's been seeing who's about to give up on her for many reasons. Cecelia was only in her late 20s but married to her job and he couldn't handle that and I can understand why.

The other plot was about Sara Friedman, in 1979, in Miami who spent a lot of Jewish holidays and summers there with her extended family. She meets Eddie but her parents (especially her mother) don't approve because he's not Jewish. Yes, there's a connection between the title of this books song).

I'm a sucker for a good epilogue where I cry sometimes, and this was it."

[abbalulu]

I read Goodnight Nobody by Jennifer Weiner which is about a Connecticut housewife who lives in a community where she is a misfit. One of the local mothers is murdered and she decides to try and look into the murder on her own as she is the person who found the body.

I also read a novella by Taylor Jenkins Reid called Evidence of the Affair about a woman who gets in touch with a man who's wife had an affair with her husband.

Rules of Civility by Amor Towles

The Woman in the Window by AJ Finn

And finally Mrs. Queen Takes the Train by William Kuhn which had a cute premise but wasn't able to follow through effectively, The idea was what would happen if Queen Elizabeth decided to go on a little jaunt to visit her old Royal Ship which is now a tourist spot on her own. It seemed like fun idea but the story jumped around too much and was hard to follow. It just proves that you can have a good idea but you also have to be able to follow through.

[teganslaw]

I finished 'The River We Remember." by William Kent Krueger. 

Premise: 1958 in the small town of Jewel, Minnesota. Wealthy landowner, Jimmy Quinn, is found dead from a shotgun blast, and Sheriff Brody Dern is in charge of the case. An Indian veteran of WW11 , Noah Bluestone, is thought to be the killer. He is an outsider who, with his Japanese wife has never been accpeted into the community. Dern has to come to terms with his own past while finding out who killed Quinn. 

Wonderful book.It's more than a mystery, is also a characterization of the town's residents and goes deep into the small town's  prejudices and society of that time. The author hasn't disappointed and this is another gem. Highly recommended. 

[mildoo]

This morning I finished 

[mildoo]

This morning I finished THE GUEST by B.A. Paris.  I really like the book, it got good reviews but somehow I was expecting more.   I think this book may have been reviewed here earlier and maybe I am late to the dance, but I found it to be anit-climactic.

A married couple returns home from a trip only to find a friend of theirs has moved herself into their home and doesn't seem to care to leave.   Within a short time other people come into their circle and as the story progresses, everyone has a secret.  It's never boring, moves quickly and I didn't waste my time, but I did expect more.

[beckyb1012]

I started days and days ago The New Couple In 5B, by Lisa Unger.   About half way through and this morning I only read about five pages and picked up another book. 

I will finish it but the book is beginning to feel like copy cat in so many ways to Rosemary's Baby.  Young new couple in the building whom are being watched, listened to and being gaslighted.  Only half in and not sure if my suspicions of the husband are on point or if there is an evil presence somewhere amongst them all.  

I usually adore all Lisa's books and plow right through them.

[Lilysmom1]

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@teganslaw wrote:

I finished 'The River We Remember." by William Kent Krueger. 

Premise: 1958 in the small town of Jewel, Minnesota. Wealthy landowner, Jimmy Quinn, is found dead from a shotgun blast, and Sheriff Brody Dern is in charge of the case. An Indian veteran of WW11 , Noah Bluestone, is thought to be the killer. He is an outsider who, with his Japanese wife has never been accpeted into the community. Dern has to come to terms with his own past while finding out who killed Quinn. 

Wonderful book.It's more than a mystery, is also a characterization of the town's residents and goes deep into the small town's  prejudices and society of that time. The author hasn't disappointed and this is another gem. Highly recommended. 

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@teganslaw , I really enjoyed this one as well.  I rated it 4.25/5* (high for me) and my comments were "deeply layered and connected stories".  It will be one of my favorite reads of 2024.