April book club - open to all

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Very close to being done The Love Songs of W.E.B. Dubois. Planning to finish it tonight before bed - very long but totally engrossing. Might be my first five-star of the year on Goodread (and it's book 27 for me this year).

This ended up being a five star read for me in the end.

Since then I've read:

Trespasses by Louise Kennedy (4/5 stars) - set in Northern Ireland during the troubles, reminded me of a Sally Rooney book, a but too predictable
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (4/5 stars) - Cool concept, a little too much science for me (I didn't need the level of detail in some of the chapters)
On a Quiet Street by Seraphina Nova Glass (4/5 stars) - domestic drama, tied up a bit too neatly for my tastes

Despite my critiques they were all enjoyable reads and would recommend all of them!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I finally finished Empire of Pain - I did like it and it was a good companion read to Demon Copperhead which I read last month.

Then I got an advanced reader copy of the Five Star Weekend by Elin Hilderbrand and I loved it!!!!! My first ever advanced reader copy of a book - and it was all I ever dreamed of and more! I recommend it to everyone this summer!!! I might give it to all of my friends as a gift.

As a general matter - I love Elin's descriptions of food, clothing, decor, places, and just funny observations about people, etc. in all of her books. And, then I just loved the idea of the 5 Star weekend. From the book summary: "So when Hollis hears about something called a “Five-Star Weekend”—one woman organizes a trip for her best friend from each phase of her life: her teenage years, her twenties, her thirties, and midlife—she decides to host her own Five-Star Weekend on Nantucket." This book topic is just right up my alley - I love nostaglia, and friends, and thinking about your life story in friends. And, there are a lot of songs referenced in the book - I've even made my own 5 star weekend playlist - I love the idea of the soundtrack of your life too, and songs from the past bringing back memories, etc.

In full disclosure - I did go on Elin's winter Nantucket weekend, so I especially liked reading about places I went to like eating at Nautilus and dancing at the Chicken Box to the Maxxtones! I do believe they're hosting a 5 star weeekend themed one next year - I think you should contact the Nantucket Hotel if you're interested to get on their waitlist / mailing list about the next one.

I was confused at first because Hotel Nantucket was about trying to get a five star review! I look forward to reading the new one. I had read that last year's was the last Nantucket weekend but if it's revived that would be fun.

Ha, well I went because of the announcement it would be the last one! Apparently this past year was the last one as it had been. Now I finally found the link I had seen about the 5 star weekend one. It is a lot of Elin’s time and going forward she won’t be at so many of the events as in the past so that’s the change. But I think it could still be fun! I can’t go again for a while LOL. She is doing a book signing in DC on 6/16 and I wanted to go but it’s my kids last day of school so I feel like I can’t go that day…

https://www.thenantuckethotel.com/elin-hilderbrand-package/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow. Can’t put it down!

This one is the pick for my book group this month. Other people have the same reaction as you, but for whatever reason, I gave up on it. I'm not interested in gaming in any form so that could be it, but I just didn't find the characters or the writing style interesting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've been reading The Great Believers. The story is good, but the pacing is pretty slow. It had two major plot lines - one in the eighties during the AIDS crisis and another in recent times, and the eighties plot line is much stronger than the other. I would have kept going, but have too many books I want to read, so DNFd it. Still recommend if you don't mind a slower paced book.

My book group read this one a few years ago and I liked it. Recently read The Borrower by this same author (Rebecca Makkai) and found it very engrossing - it was published around 2011 I think.

[Anonymous]

Wrapping up House on Fire. Really enjoying both learning the history of the Richmond fire in 1811 as well as the multiple perspectives of the characters.

[Anonymous]

Just read Guns, Germs, Steel for the first time. Loved it and glad I finally managed to find time to get through it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just read Guns, Germs, Steel for the first time. Loved it and glad I finally managed to find time to get through it.

I read that during 2020, totally fascinating! Took awhile to get through it but worth it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I finally finished Empire of Pain - I did like it and it was a good companion read to Demon Copperhead which I read last month.

Then I got an advanced reader copy of the Five Star Weekend by Elin Hilderbrand and I loved it!!!!! My first ever advanced reader copy of a book - and it was all I ever dreamed of and more! I recommend it to everyone this summer!!! I might give it to all of my friends as a gift.

As a general matter - I love Elin's descriptions of food, clothing, decor, places, and just funny observations about people, etc. in all of her books. And, then I just loved the idea of the 5 Star weekend. From the book summary: "So when Hollis hears about something called a “Five-Star Weekend”—one woman organizes a trip for her best friend from each phase of her life: her teenage years, her twenties, her thirties, and midlife—she decides to host her own Five-Star Weekend on Nantucket." This book topic is just right up my alley - I love nostaglia, and friends, and thinking about your life story in friends. And, there are a lot of songs referenced in the book - I've even made my own 5 star weekend playlist - I love the idea of the soundtrack of your life too, and songs from the past bringing back memories, etc.

In full disclosure - I did go on Elin's winter Nantucket weekend, so I especially liked reading about places I went to like eating at Nautilus and dancing at the Chicken Box to the Maxxtones! I do believe they're hosting a 5 star weeekend themed one next year - I think you should contact the Nantucket Hotel if you're interested to get on their waitlist / mailing list about the next one.

Can't wait! I buy the newest Hildebrand every year for my daughter for her birthday and always love that I can read it too, sometimes first! I've read all of her books and she never disappoints.

[Anonymous]

Almost done with “Pineapple Street.” It’s really fun! Just finished listening to Tess of the D’Urbervilles which I’d never read. Earlier in the month read and enjoyed “Remarkably Bright Creatures”

[Anonymous]

I am just about to finish book #8 in the Slow Horses series by Mick Herron.

My assessment of the books is that #1,2,3 are all strong, #4,5,6 are the best, most hilarious and exciting and beautifully written, #7 & #8 sort of revert back to the strengths of 1 & 2 but don't reach the dizzying heights of the middle books at all.

9/10 for all 8 books.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow. Can’t put it down!

This one is the pick for my book group this month. Other people have the same reaction as you, but for whatever reason, I gave up on it. I'm not interested in gaming in any form so that could be it, but I just didn't find the characters or the writing style interesting.

There's a book group close to where I live that are doing this. I'm wondering if it's worth reading on Kindle?

[Anonymous]

You don’t have to be a gamer to be able to finish the book. I know nothing about the industry and found that part of the book fascinating - I love learning something new unexpectedly. With that said I did not like the last third part of the book.