Literature What are you currently reading?

[Emma JC]

Kristen Ashley the River Rain series - I love Kristen and she writes a huge variety of books - this is probably the least "x rated" of all the books of hers that I have read - always a slightly different twist to a love story.

Emma JC
Find your vegan soulmate or just a friend. www.spiritualmatchmaking.com

 

[Chryssie]

I just finished "Everything She Forgot" by Lisa Ballantyne. I found it just browsing in the library. It is an older book, published in 2013. It had the little crime book sticker on it but it is not a typical whodunit or crime thriller. It is more about people, families, and trauma. It is told by switching perspectives between characters and jumps back in forth in time from 1985 to the present. Margaret is a 30 something teacher, married with two children leading a "normal" life in the UK. Then she is in a terrible multi vehicle car crash during a snowstorm and is rescued from her burning car by a strange man who appears to have burn scars on his face. After saving her, he disappears into the darkness. She is traumatized and very unsettled and forgotten memories start to resurface. She finds the man who saved her in the hospital in a coma and is drawn to him. Then there is George, the youngest son of a crime family who is so different from the rest of them. He grows up in a terribly abusive home and wants to escape. A little girl is kidnapped and an ambitious religious zealot reporter is determined to solve the case. This is the whodunit part. This book is really really good. The jumping back and forth slowly comes together at the end. It is an emotional ride through the lives of damaged and traumatized people. Had me in tears at the end. I will look for other books by this author.

 

[KLS52]

Sounds a bit dark. I have trouble with stories that are too dark/serious. The basic storyline does sound good though. I think I think just need it to be done in a lighter tone.

I like to feel good at the end and I need some levity interspersed throughout. I might give this one a try though.

Sometimes I have to read the ending first, though...otherwise it triggers my anxiety. I'm the same way with suspenseful movies. I need spoilers in order to know if I can handle it.

 

[KLS52]

I have four more books I can borrow on hoopla this month. I also have another account that gives me five/month. My daughter doesn't use hers much anymore so she lets me use it which saves me buying more credits from audible.

 

[Raven]

I read a good book yesterday on Amazon Prime Reading. I saw that I have another book ready at the library by the same author. A Game of Lies - Clare Mackintosh.

 

[Chryssie]

I read something much lighter the other day, "The Last Chance Library" by Freya Sampson. It was similar to the other book I read by her only this time it is a historic library that needs saving. Once again we have some quirky, lovable characters and romance. No big crime to solve but there is some big business corruption and family drama.

 

[KLS52]

Everything She Forgot was horrible in audio version. It really seemed like the storyline was good but the narration was off.

 

[SuicideBlonde]

Good girls guide had a twist I did not expect. I think I will read the series. I'm so going to watch the Netflix show sometime over this week next week.

 

[KLS52]

I read something much lighter the other day, "The Last Chance Library" by Freya Sampson. It was similar to the other book I read by her only this time it is a historic library that needs saving. Once again we have some quirky, lovable characters and romance. No big crime to solve but there is some big business corruption and family drama.

Oh Pooh...it's not on hoopla. I can get it on audible but it will cost me a credit. I'm putting it in my wish list for now. I listened to the preview and the narrator is ok so I may go for it at some point.

 

[KLS52]

I love the English accents.

 

[Lou]

Good girls guide had a twist I did not expect. I think I will read the series. I'm so going to watch the Netflix show sometime over this week next week.

I'm almost done - please no spoilers.

 

[Chryssie]

I read another Mary Kay Andrews book, "Spring Fever." This one was pretty much all romance and family drama. There was no crime to solve. It is about a family soft drink business in a small town in North Carolina. Annajane was married to the oldest son of the business owner but they divorced after she thought he was cheating. She stayed with the company and when he is going to get married again, all kinds of drama happens. It was entertaining as all Ms Andrew's books are.

 

[KLS52]

I read another Mary Kay Andrews book, "Spring Fever." This one was pretty much all romance and family drama. There was no crime to solve. It is about a family soft drink business in a small town in North Carolina. Annajane was married to the oldest son of the business owner but they divorced after she thought he was cheating. She stayed with the company and when he is going to get married again, all kinds of drama happens. It was entertaining as all Ms Andrew's books are.

I've actually had this one marked as a favorite in hoopla! I'll listen to this next.

 

[KLS52]

I'm listening to the Lemon Sisters. It's ok. A little weak in plot but entertaining enough.

 

[Lou]

I just finished listening to The Lost Bookshop

I started it as my bedtime story but it required too much attention. I have been mostly listening to it in the car.
there are three POVs in the book. they alternate by chapter. and they use a different narrator for each one.

It reminds me a lot of the Lost Apothecary.

The Lost Apothecary, besides have the word lost in the title is similar in that it also is told to you by people from different centuries. It also uses 3 different people for the narration.

The Keeper of Stories meets The Lost Apothecary in this evocative and charming novel full of mystery and secrets.
- www.usatoday.com

hmm. I may want to read Keeper of Stories next.

 

[KLS52]

I'm listening to the Lemon Sisters. It's ok. A little weak in plot but entertaining enough.

I ended up really liking this. It got better as it went along.

 

[Lou]

I got all the Enola Holmes books I hadn't read from the library.

I just finished the Disappearing Duchess and the Elegant Escapade.

they are very much YA - under 200 pages. fun and fast.

 

[KLS52]

I got all the Enola Holmes books I hadn't read from the library.

I just finished the Disappearing Duchess and the Elegant Escapade.

they are very much YA - under 200 pages. fun and fast.

I was debating on whether or not I wanted to read (listen to)some Nancy Drew mysteries lol. I think it's more for nostalgia because I read them as a kid.

 

[Lou]

I was debating on whether or not I wanted to read (listen to)some Nancy Drew mysteries lol. I think it's more for nostalgia because I read them as a kid.

oh they are great. I re-read some a few years ago and I really liked them. I also watched some of the adaptions. For some reason I didn't like the current CW show and didn't even finish the first season. but they are on like season 5 now so maybe I didn't give that one enough of a chance. (but it has very little similarities with the source material)
Anyway what prompted me going back and reading the books were the last movie release. I really liked the 2019 and that got me to go and find the 2007 one which is also good and that reawakened my fondness for Nancy.
Enola is definitely an ancestor of Nancy's.

 

[Second Summer]

I'm reading two books at the moment, one "creative nonfiction" and one IT/sysadmin:

Tribe, by Sebastian Junger. Mrs Summer got this for me in a thrift shop. Really liking it so far. The author says the book grew out of an article he wrote for Vanity Fair about PTSD. According to Wikipedia it's going to be about war veterans from an anthropological perspective, although I haven't come that far yet, and it seems to have important insights beyond that somewhat narrow topic.

Run Your Own Mail Server, by Michael W. Lucas. I pre-ordered this book (in e-book format) long before it was completed because I think it's such an important topic. The author is a legend in the open-source software community, and he's written several other well-received books in the IT/sysadmin category in the past. (Edit: He's also the author of the infamous short story (53 pages) Savaged By SystemD: an erotic Unix encounter which is just ... Well, the title says it all!)