I started The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride and I’m feeling conflicted. It’s not bad, but these characters don’t feel real. They feel like characters. Chona particularly is a little too “perfect” to be believable. I am going to try to stick with it because it got good reviews but so I’m far I’m not wowed.

Just finished listening to "The last Mrs. Parrish". It was well written, good narrator. I found the book unsettling. I rarely read books about creepy people being creepy to each other. But once in a while I get in the mood to do so.
The book was about a woman who wants to be rich. So she picks out a rich married man she wants and sets about trying to oust the current wife and be the new wife.


I also read a book that has been on my bookshelf for years. It was called "The Nine Lessons". It was about a young man who found out he was going to be a father and was feeling apprehensive about it. So his own father gives him golf lessons and imparts life lessons at the same time. It was okay. I can finally get it off my bookshelf now and donate it to goodwill.

Anonymous wrote:Can someone please recommend a fun read? I am literally reading Sandra brown and I am really liking it bc I just need simple.

Abby Jimenez books are super light and fun

Try Everyone Is Beautiful by Katherine Center, I thought it was pretty fun.

I'm currently reading Commonwealth by Ann Patchett, not too sure about it yet.

Can someone please recommend a fun read? I am literally reading Sandra brown and I am really liking it bc I just need simple.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Someone Else's Shoes by Jojo Moyes

I've only read a few chapters but I am already enjoying it. Two very different 40-something year-old women become intertwined in each other's lives due to a mix up in gym bags.

So far it is a fun read.

This book is so depressing. I wish I hadn't wasted my time.

I enjoyed her other books.

Me before you was pretty depressing too.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Fortunes of Jaded Women, by Carolyn Huynh. So far, so good! It's funny, engaging, and an easy read. The author uses a lot of Vietnamese words and phrases, but it's done in such a way that you can easily understand what she's getting at from context (I don't know a word of Vietnamese).

One of my pet peeves is authors using non-English words and phrases just for the heck of it. Non-speakers of the language should be able to infer what you're trying to say; a reader shouldn't have to break out Google Translate to figure it out. Huynh does a good job with it and the added Vietnamese makes you feel like you're really sitting in on a conversation between the characters.

I loved this book. And hard disagree on your second point. Readers can do some work when reading.

Fair enough. I don’t mind being challenged in my reading, and I think many authors who use this tactic do a fair to good job of weaving in other languages, including Huynh. But I don’t want to have to spend half the time on my phone looking things up; it breaks the flow and dampens the whole read for me. I DNF Katie Gutierrez’s More Than You’ll Ever Know for this reason; rather than enhancing the narrative and creating a sense of place, the Spanish was haphazard and distracting, and many goodreads reviewers concurred.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Bee Sting by Paul Murray
Also I've been making my way through a bunch of Sherlock stories as something shorter to read between other things. It's impressive how much of it still holds up very well compared to contemporary fiction in the genre.

This is on my list so let us know if you like it!

This is literally one of my favorite books I have read. I just adored it. Cannot recommend enough. I had the hard copy, but then also had to travel, so I got it on Kindle and on Audible, which I never do, because I didn't want to stop. I still think about those characters, and it's been a month.

Oh! It didn't quote the original - read The Bee Sting by Paul Murray.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Bee Sting by Paul Murray
Also I've been making my way through a bunch of Sherlock stories as something shorter to read between other things. It's impressive how much of it still holds up very well compared to contemporary fiction in the genre.

This is on my list so let us know if you like it!

This is literally one of my favorite books I have read. I just adored it. Cannot recommend enough. I had the hard copy, but then also had to travel, so I got it on Kindle and on Audible, which I never do, because I didn't want to stop. I still think about those characters, and it's been a month.

Anonymous wrote:The Fortunes of Jaded Women, by Carolyn Huynh. So far, so good! It's funny, engaging, and an easy read. The author uses a lot of Vietnamese words and phrases, but it's done in such a way that you can easily understand what she's getting at from context (I don't know a word of Vietnamese).

One of my pet peeves is authors using non-English words and phrases just for the heck of it. Non-speakers of the language should be able to infer what you're trying to say; a reader shouldn't have to break out Google Translate to figure it out. Huynh does a good job with it and the added Vietnamese makes you feel like you're really sitting in on a conversation between the characters.

I loved this book. And hard disagree on your second point. Readers can do some work when reading.

Just finished Tom Lake. It was just okay.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just finished the House on the Cerulean Sea. Really enjoyed it.

Up next: Unsheltered.

Really excited for Cerulean Sea! I’m like ninth on the waitlist…

Shut up 🤐

LGBTQ right?

Anonymous wrote:Someone Else's Shoes by Jojo Moyes

I've only read a few chapters but I am already enjoying it. Two very different 40-something year-old women become intertwined in each other's lives due to a mix up in gym bags.

So far it is a fun read.

This book is so depressing. I wish I hadn't wasted my time.

I enjoyed her other books.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:11/22/63 -guy time traveling back to save Kennedy.

I LOVED this book so much!

Why

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just finished the House on the Cerulean Sea. Really enjoyed it.

Up next: Unsheltered.

Really excited for Cerulean Sea! I’m like ninth on the waitlist…

Shut up 🤐