Book Lovers Club

ruthbru

If you are interested in WWII, I just read a disturbing book called Nazi Wives: The Women at the Top of Hitler's Germany by James Wyllie. The author exams the woman in the lives of the Nazi leaders. Some ardent Nazis themselves, others born into the Nazi bubble and willfully ignorant of what was going on around them. None seem particularly repentant even after their husbands or lovers crimes were exposed after the war was lost. Very creepy.

kathindc

Ruth, I'll look into your suggested book. Have you read "The NaziOfficer's Wife" by Edith Beer? It's about a Jewish woman who eventually married a Nazi officer and what she endured.

ruthbru

I will check it out!

Celand

I have been reading The Light Within Me by Ainsley Earnhardt, an inspirational memoir of this news reporter's life and her path to a successful career and life. I have not been able to put it down.

Celand

badger

Welcome Celand and dreaming. It's always good to add more book lovers to the fold.

I've read through the Gideon Crew series by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child. There are five books, all good thrillers. See the authors' website or goodreads.

Just started The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett. It's been on the NYT best-seller list for a while and I wanted to read something that wasn't about Gideon Crew. :-)

MinusTwo

Badger - awaiting with bated breath your review of The Vanishing Half.

I had a wonderful time Wednesday night going back through my lists & lists of books I want read. Once a year after the paperbacks come out I try to add new books from authors I follow to my list & pick which to order with Christmas gift cards. Yes - Lee Child & Michael Connelly, but also John LesCroart, Elizabeth George, Deborah McCrombie, Louise Penny, Dana Stabenow, Greg Iles, C.J. Box, Nevada Barr, etc.

I'm using part of my indie book store gift card to pick up The Body on the Train by Frances Brody and Bad Habits by Amy Gentry.

SandiBeach57

Can anyone recommend a PD James book and do you have to read them in order?

JKL2017

SandiBeach, I love reading a series in order and I think it's a great way to enjoy PD James. If you choose to follow that route, I'll suggest two alternatives. If you want to plunge into a series that will give you fourteen books to read, start with Cover Her Face (it's the first of the Adam Dalgliesh series and this specific book is one of my favorites. The series gets darker over time so is probably best read in order.) If you prefer a much shorter series, start with An Unsuitable Job for a Woman. (It's the first book of James' two books featuring Cordelia Gray.) James also has several books of short stories, a couple stand-alone novels and even some non-fiction. So, if you don't want to commit to a series, you will still have many choices. Happy reading!

SandiBeach57

JKL2017...a big thank you!!

badger

I liked The Vanishing Half and may look for the author's first book. Twin sisters grow up in a small, southern Black community and run away to New Orleans when they're 16. One sister passes for White and marries into wealth. One sister keeps her Black identity. They live very separate lives but are drawn together because their daughters meet by chance. One of the girls knows about the twins and one does not. I won't spoil the ending but will say it's hard to keep family secrets!

badger

MinusTwo, sending warm thoughts your way. My SIL in Houston has been without power for the past 36 hours.

I picked up the new Reacher The Sentinel from the library today.

MinusTwo

Thanks Badger. I was w/o power for 48 hours, then power last night & then none again today. Still have no water, but I had prepared for that. It got to 44 degrees in the house. Luckily I have lots of sweaters & quilts - and a battery camping lantern. Also luckily I have a gas cook top so have been able to have such delicacies as grilled cheese and soup. But I've spent most of the last 3 days reading in my recliner with a flashlight. It's been a good excuse to ignore everything & just read. This is the first time I could get on the internet since my phone line has also been down. Hoping we can keep power through the night.

Thanks for the preview of the Vanishing Half. It's already on my list.

I love PD James but have not read them in order - or by any means all of them. That's a treat for down the road.

Just finished Two Days Gone by Randall SIlvis. Another one that kept me guessing until the end. I ordered a bunch of books from my Indie bookstore - courtesy of a Christmas gift card from my nephew. Not sure when I'll be able to pick them up.

voraciousreader

minus! Keeping you in my thoughts! What suffering! My friend’s grandaughter, in Houston has four kids, under four (a set of twins)...and just got her electricity back. Thankfully she has a fireplace and neighbors have shared their fire wood. Snow will be arriving here by daybreak. Am scheduled for my vaccine on Friday. Hope it happens. Not holding my breath. They have had to postpone folks already due to all of our storms. And tomorrow’s appointments have already been postponed..

ruthbru

Yikes, Minus! Thinking of everyone in harms way. We have been very, very cold but no snow, ice, or power outages; so I better not complain. My first vaccination shot is scheduled for 11:20 tomorrow morning. Whoo hoo!

badger

Thanks for checking in, Minus! My SIL's power came back on yesterday but as of last night they didn't have water yet. Their inside temp got down to 40 and they were huddled around a gas fireplace to stay warm. Our thermostat is set at 68 overnight and 72 during the day. It's not warm but we dress in layers. After hearing from our sisters to the south, I won't complain about the cold "up north" either.

VR & Ruth, hope you get your vaccines and do OK. My mom has had both doses (Moderna) and had some fatigue and tummy issues. My MIL had her first jab on Monday (Pfizer) and hasn't had any SE. My DH is over 65 but doesn't want to get the vaccine. I am patiently awaiting my turn.

Finished The Sentinel. Very good. Reacher helps a small-town IT guy figure out what's behind a ransomware attack. Of course there are bad guys with questionable motives whose butts need kicking. Picked up the new Jack Ryan Shadow of the Dragon but need to get some housework done before digging in or I'll read all day. :-)

ruthbru

I get my shot at 11:20 this morning. Whoo hoo! I am signed up for two exercise classes later in the day, so won't have time for side effects!

MinusTwo

I'm scheduled for my second shot tomorrow. Hope the power & weather & etc. align to make it happen. Some of the suburban hospitals have been closed due to lack of water, so we'll see.

Reading an old John Grisham novel, "The Guardians" about an innocence project group getting those out of jail who were never guilty in the first place. I haven't read Grisham in a long time.

kathindc

MinusTwo, you won’t be disappointed with the Grisham book.

badger

Our library is open for browsing! Picked up six books, very diverse reading. Here they are with a brief description taken from goodreads:

The Daughters of Yalta by Catherine Grace Katz. The story of the fascinating and fateful "daughter diplomacy" of Anna Roosevelt, Sarah Churchill, and Kathleen Harriman, three glamorous young women who accompanied their famous fathers to the Yalta Conference with Stalin in the waning days of World War II.

Half Moon Bay by Jonathan & Jesse Kellerman. Deputy coroner Clay Edison discovers that buried secrets can be deadly in this riveting thriller from a father-son team of bestselling authors.

Deadlock by Catherine Coulter. A new FBI thriller featuring Agents Savich and Sherlock.

Caste by Isabel Wilkerson. The Pulitzer Prize–winning, bestselling author examines the unspoken caste system that has shaped America and shows how our lives today are still defined by a hierarchy of human divisions.

A Bad Day for Sunshine by Darynda Jones. Sheriff Sunshine Vicram finds her cup o' joe more than half full when the small village of Del Sol, New Mexico, becomes the center of national attention for a kidnapper on the loose.

Troubles in Paradise by Elin Hilderbrand. The final book in the Winter in Paradise trilogy.

I'm still working on Shadow of the Dragon. Very good so far. A missing Chinese scientist, unexplained noises emanating from under the Arctic ice, and a possible mole in American intelligence are just some of the problems that plague President Jack Ryan in the latest entry in Tom Clancy's #1 New York Times bestselling series.

Shar2020

Hi everyone.

I don't think I have posted here previously, but I browsed and enjoyed many of your book recommendations in 2020.

This week I read The Girl From Widow Hills by Megan Miranda, Anxious People by Fredrik Backman and The End Of Her by Shari Lapena. Now I am reading Alex Trebek's book, The Answer Is...

Badger, that's great the library there is open for browsing! Ruthbru, MinusTwo, and Voraciousreader, I hope you are feeling well since your vaccinations.

Wishing everyone a pleasant weekend.

ruthbru

Thanks for asking Shar. I had the vaccine Thursday. That night my arm was sore and I was COLD. I slept most of Friday & feel fine today.

MinusTwo

Welcome Shar. It's always a treat get a new mamber posting recommends

ruthbru

I love this!

MinusTwo

Oh Ruth - that is BEAUTIFUL. Wouldn't that be perect!!!

badger

Welcome Shar!

Love it, Ruth. ♥

badger

I was not crazy about the new Elin Hilderbrand Troubles in Paradise. The chapters jumped around from person to person and it was hard to keep track of things.

ruthbru

badger

Came to the top of the queue for The Guest List by Lucy Foley so picked it up yesterday afternoon. Finished it late last night (early this morning?). There's a posh wedding on a remote island off the coast of Ireland. Every detail is expertly planned and it's going pretty well until someone turns up dead. Who didn't wish the happy couple well? And why? I couldn't put it down until I found out whodunnit.

ruthbru

That sounds good, Badger!

I have been immersed in women's history. I am trying to figure out the mindset of women in the Early National period. I just read a very interesting (to me) book that looked at the upper class women in the south. Next I am reading about Northern women during the same time frame. Lots of statistics, looking at and comparing diaries, letters and other documents of the time.

SandiBeach57

I recommend, as others have mentioned, The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides. This is a book that is hard to put down. A young wife savagely shoots her husband and afterwards, stops talking. That is all I am saying...