What Are We Currently Reading?

[Pickles Aplenty]

Finished Equal Rites, and now I'm reading Mort.  I think I might be a fan.

[dubbel zout]

I'm sorry to report that With Malice ended with a giant whimper. I hate it when mysteries/thrillers have such dud dénouements.

[Yogisbooboo64]

Currently reading a few autobiographies:

From Raj to Riches, by Ernest Thomas

Ernest Thomas played Raj on What Happening!!, Mr. Omar on Everybody Hates Chris and is a character actor.  

Janis, by Holly George-Warren

Great book about the legendary singer Janis Joplin

It's Not Raining Daddy, It's Happy, by Benjamin Brooks-Dutton

Mr. Dutton speaks of bringing up his son on his own, after his wife was killed in front of him by a car.

[proserpina65]

I just finished the most recent Bess Crawford mystery by Charles Todd, An Irish Hostage.  I felt the set-up for a little contrived, although I really liked that it included a huge callback to the sinking of the Britannic which began the very first Bess Crawford book.  The story itself was complex and quite interesting, and I enjoyed a lot of the characters and the setting itself.  Then there is the ending, which was huge for those of us hoping for a certain development:

Spoiler

NOOOO,  it can't end there!  So close, so, so close, damn it!

Now I'm anxiously awaiting the next installment, which will probably be a long time in coming given the death in the fall of Caroline Todd, who is one of the two co-authors.

[sugarbaker design]

1 hour ago, proserpina65 said:

I just finished the most recent Bess Crawford mystery by Charles Todd, An Irish Hostage.  I felt the set-up for a little contrived, although I really liked that it included a huge callback to the sinking of the Britannic which began the very first Bess Crawford book.  The story itself was complex and quite interesting, and I enjoyed a lot of the characters and the setting itself. 

I'm only up to the fourth installment An Unmarked Grave, but I'm happy to hear the quality holds up in later books.

1 hour ago, proserpina65 said:

Now I'm anxiously awaiting the next installment, which will probably be a long time in coming given the death in the fall of Caroline Todd, who is one of the two co-authors.

I read somewhere that the surviving other half, the son, will submit a new novel under the CT byline, and if the publishers deem it worthy, it will be published.  Fingers crossed!

[BlackberryJam]

All The Old Knives by Olen Steinhauer. There is a movie coming out with Chris Pine and Thandiwe Newton so I picked it up.

*sigh*

Spoiler

The ‘twists’ are painfully predictable. I’ll spoiler within the spoiler if anyone really wants to know. This will tell you everything. 

Spoiler

The main characters are having dinner at a restaurant, old spies discussing a terrorist incident. You know the male character has arranged for a hit on the female character. It’s not stated by easily inferred. The waitress fumbles with the male character’s meal, clearly upset. It’s so blatant. Then the male character coughs up pink, later hits the bathroom and pees pink. Obviously the female has arranged for him to be poisoned AND the waitress was trying to clue him in.

The book is this conversation/interview at dinner, with flashbacks to the incident, which resulted in the death of 120 people. You’re supposed to be guessing at which one of them was the one who turned traitor and helped the terrorists. Since she was poisoning him, and he had arranged a hit on her, I just didn’t care. I didn’t buy this massive love he had for her. Ugh. 

Ultimately, it’s revealed that he gave info to the terrorists to save her life. She discovered it the night all the people were killed. She then left him, moved to California and started a new life. He can’t let it go, that he did this for her and she left him. So he’s continued to investigate with the idea of framing her, and then killing her because he is so upset that she ditched him and moved on.

What the fuck ever. 

It ends with him dying in the restaurant taking a call from the hitman who is asking permission to take the kill shot on her. 

Just did not care.

 

Maybe it’ll be better as a movie.

[blackwing]

I just can't seem to get away from the plethora of Agatha Christie-like thrillers that have popped up in the past year or two.  You know the ones.  Where a group of friends/strangers/acquaintances are stranded on a remote island/chalet and cut off from the rest of the world.  All of them have secrets and none of them are exactly who they say they are.  People start dying, things get weird, and people get freaked out.

The latest is Reckless Girls by Rachel Hawkins.  A woman and her boyfriend are approached by two women who are best friends and want to hire the woman and boyfriend to take them to a remote island on their boat.  Once they arrive, they find that there is another couple that is already there.  And the island may not be as deserted as it seems.

I enjoyed this book overall, even if one of my big issues with this genre that I loosely call "women in jeop" is that many of the characters make such incredibly stupid choices.  It takes a while to build up, and I think I was maybe 3/4 of the way through before the first death even occurred, which seems odd for a murder mystery.

Also, I've been noticing more and more that in this type of book, the author seems to rely on the technique of the flashback to give us little morsels of details and clues.  Chapters often alternate between present and past.  I think it is effective because the reader learns a little bit more each time about the characters' secrets and motivations.  But now that I have seen this a few times, I wonder if I think this technique is getting old.  Agatha Christie didn't have to rely on flashbacks to reveal clues and her books do not lack in suspense.

[lasu]

I've continued on with The Kingbridge Trilogy, in for a penny in for a pound.  I will say it seems the first book has the highest violence content, but it's not like the latter ones are suddenly G-rated.  But, I was just so SHOCKED (I mean that!) when I starting reading the second one and there was a major election coming up, and then the plague rolled through, there was argument over whether or not masks were effective against it, and one side put out misinformation about mask-wearing, and then wearing or not wearing one became a sign of which candidate you supported.  It made me feel like I had to be hallucinating the words.  So freakin' weird!

Also, I have to agree with a previous poster who said Follett recycles his characters.  It started to annoy me, but I have now fanwanked that this is actually a story about a power couple being reincarnated over and over again.  So it's not that they seem like the same characters, they are the same characters!

[Minneapple]

I recently finished Smile and Look Pretty by Amanda Pellegrino, a fictionalized telling of the MeToo movement. It's not too bad but the characters were all kind of same-y to me. Also by the cover I thought it was going to be a thriller.

Got a plane ride tomorrow and I'm looking forward to The Paris Apartment, the new one from Lucy Foley.

[Spartan Girl]

I recently read The Truth About White Lies by Olivia Cole. It’s basically the white girl version of novels like The Hate You Give, and it is no easy read, but it is necessary. For everyone that may or may not have recognized a bit of Hailey in themselves, you need to read this.

[partofme]

4 hours ago, Minneapple said:

Got a plane ride tomorrow and I'm looking forward to The Paris Apartment, the new one from Lucy Foley.

I just read this last week and really liked it. I also really liked her other two books.  

[EtheltoTillie]

I am enjoying the Eve Ronin Hollywood detective series by Lee Goldberg.  A little like Rene Ballard, the new Michael Connelly character. 

[Haleth]

I just finished a peculiar book called Matrix by Lauren Groff.  It's the story of a 12th c royal bastard teenage girl who is sent to a religious community to become their next abbess.  It's a very interesting look at the life of medieval nuns and how a woman could amass a lot of power as long as she wasn't controlled by a husband.  It's the style that is peculiar.  In the whole narrative there are no quotes so the reader never really feels like they are watching the action.  It's a story being related by a narrator so you are removed from the story.  (Know what I mean?  It's hard to describe.)  I still liked it though.  It's a strong feminist book.  Marie is a smart, plucky character who overcomes the prejudices of being female and gently born, and she finds creative ways to overcome obstacles along her journey.

Edited March 26, 2022 by Haleth

[EtheltoTillie]

2 hours ago, Haleth said:

I just finished a peculiar book called Matrix by Lauren Groff.  It's the story of a 12th c royal bastard teenage girl who is sent to a religious community to become their next abbess.  It's a very interesting look at the life of medieval nuns and how a woman could amass a lot of power as long as she wasn't controlled by a husband.  It's the style that is peculiar.  In the whole narrative there are no quotes so the reader never really feels like they are watching the action.  It's a story being related by a narrator so you are removed from the story.  (Know what I mean?  It's hard to describe.)  I still liked it though.  It's a strong feminist book.  Marie is a smart, plucky character who overcomes the prejudices of being female and gently born, and she finds ways to overcome obstacles along her journey.

We read this with my book club, and it was indeed peculiar. I only read half. It jumps ahead with the narrative and I got no real feeling about the characters. Still it was interesting to learn about this apparently real person. 

[Luckylyn]

I'm currently enjoying A Week to Be Wicked by Tessa Dare which is book 2 in her Spindle Cove Series.  This book features Minerva and Colin.  Worried that her mother's determination that Minerva's sister Diana marry the womanizing viscount Colin will lead to unhappiness for Diana, Minerva attempts to intervene.  Since he's blocked from accessing his fortune until he either marries or reaches a certain age, she offers him the prize money from a geological competition if he will escort her to Scotland so she can present her findings.   So Minerva and Colin have the kind of trip where things go wrong while they deal with an attraction stronger than either anticipated.

[Starleigh]

Just got notified that both the newest Kate Quinn book, The Diamond Eye, as well as Simone St. James' new book Book of Cold Cases are ready for me to pick up at the library! I'm going to have a looong day at work tomorrow, so it's nice to look ahead to stopping off on my way tomorrow evening to pick them up:)

Edited March 30, 2022 by Starleigh

[Minneapple]

From my plane ride and beach reading:

The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley. It was ok.

Spoiler

I expected the big reveals to be a bit more shocking. It was more like “yeah yeah, old guys buying sex and mistreating women, blah blah blah.” And of course the girl was the concierge’s granddaughter, telegraphed from a mile away. Maybe I’m too desensitized and jaded. The early reveal about the apartment building residents all being family was actually the more interesting one for me.

Verity by Colleen Hoover. I really liked this one.

Spoiler

The twist was honestly one of the best ones I’ve read in a thriller in a long long time.

 

[Anela]

I am finally, really reading The House in the Cerulean Sea.  I keep picking things up, and putting them back down, and have too many library books downloaded.  

I need to finish The Final Girls Support Group.  I’m not sure how I feel about it.  I read a Riley Sager book, called Survive the Night, and it was bad.  

[Haleth]

I finished The Silence of the Girls yesterday.  While the different point of view (Briseis) of the Trojan War was interesting I'm not sure I liked it any better than The Song of Achilles.  

[Bookish Jen]

I currently reading Quinta Brunson's book of essays "She Memes Well." I like it so far.

[dubbel zout]

I'm reading André Leon Talley's second memoir, The Chiffon Trenches, and at bottom it's pretty sad. He was sexually molested as a child, and I don't think he ever went into therapy for it, so he never worked it out properly. 

As for the fashion side of things, well, I think the story of him and another Vogue editor not speaking to each other for FOUR YEARS because he got to write about a dress that she then couldn't use in a photo shoot says it all.

[sugarbaker design]

On 1/31/2022 at 3:26 PM, Grrarrggh said:

Re-reading Born to Rule: Five Reigning Consorts, Granddaughters of Queen Victoria by Julia P. Gelardi. Absolutely amazing women, especially Marie of Romania and Ena of Spain.

Halfway thru this immensely readable (multi?) biography.  While it adds nothing, so far, to the already familiar story of Tsarina Alexandra, the remaining 4 fifths of the book is fascinating.  Admittedly I knew next to nothing of the four queens.  Indeed, the only thing I knew about Marie of Romania was a line in a Dorothy Parker poem.  And yes, while Marie and Ena are amazing, I'm very invested in the fates of Maud and Sophie.  I'm loving the historical backdrop of WWI, the different palace intrigues, the diverse personalities of the cousins. and ultimately even though they're royals, they're still women in a man's world.  My copy is right on my nightstand, I read a chapter a night, approximately 10-15 pages.  It's even improving my sleep!

[krankydoodle]

I'm reading Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt. It's a horror novel with an interesting premise (a small town has been living under a curse for generations but now a group of teens are trying to use modern technology to try to circumvent it), but I was surprised that the location and references have been changed for the English translation so that it's set in New York instead of the Netherlands as in the original. To be fair, I haven't read much translated fiction so maybe this practice is more common than I know.

ETA: I finished the book and didn't like it much. In looking at other reviews, though, I found out that the ending in the English language version was also changed from the original. Maybe I would've liked that one more because the one we got was a mess.

Edited April 3, 2022 by krankydoodle

[andromeda331]

8 hours ago, sugarbaker design said:

Halfway thru this immensely readable (multi?) biography.  While it adds nothing, so far, to the already familiar story of Tsarina Alexandra, the remaining 4 fifths of the book is fascinating.  Admittedly I knew next to nothing of the four queens.  Indeed, the only thing I knew about Marie of Romania was a line in a Dorothy Parker poem.  And yes, while Marie and Ena are amazing, I'm very invested in the fates of Maud and Sophie.  I'm loving the historical backdrop of WWI, the different palace intrigues, the diverse personalities of the cousins. and ultimately even though they're royals, they're still women in a man's world.  My copy is right on my nightstand, I read a chapter a night, approximately 10-15 pages.  It's even improving my sleep!

That's a really good book. None of them lead boring lives. Although Maud seem to try and ended up Queen of Norway.

[Spartan Girl]

On 3/31/2022 at 7:19 AM, Haleth said:

I finished The Silence of the Girls yesterday.  While the different point of view (Briseis) of the Trojan War was interesting I'm not sure I liked it any better than The Song of Achilles.  

My gripe was that it was more like Briseis telling the story of Achilles in her own POV. Aside from the beginning there’s not much about herself or the other women at all.

[Haleth]

18 minutes ago, Spartan Girl said:

My gripe was that it was more like Briseis telling the story of Achilles in her own POV. Aside from the beginning there’s not much about herself or the other women at all.

Right. And a lot of chapters were from Achilles’s POV. 

[Spartan Girl]

1 hour ago, Haleth said:

Right. And a lot of chapters were from Achilles’s POV. 

I know! It felt like I was promised one thing and given another.

I guess the sequel The Women of Troy is a little better in that it actually sticks to the POV of the female characters this time, but overall I wasn’t a fan of either book.

[Ohiopirate02]

On 4/1/2022 at 6:57 PM, krankydoodle said:

I'm reading Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt. It's a horror novel with an interesting premise (a small town has been living under a curse for generations but now a group of teens are trying to use modern technology to try to circumvent it), but I was surprised that the location and references have been changed for the English translation so that it's set in New York instead of the Netherlands as in the original. To be fair, I haven't read much translated fiction so maybe this practice is more common than I know.

ETA: I finished the book and didn't like it much. In looking at other reviews, though, I found out that the ending in the English language version was also changed from the original. Maybe I would've liked that one more because the one we got was a mess.

I have read works in translation from around the globe, and have never encountered one where the setting and the plot were changed.  All of those books kept their setting be it Japan, Spain, France, Scandinavia, Mexico, Italy, Chile, or Argentina. 

[dubbel zout]

Isn't the point of a translation that you're reading the "original" text? It's crazy to me that something so fundamental as the location was completely changed.

[Ohiopirate02]

6 minutes ago, dubbel zout said:

Isn't the point of a translation that you're reading the "original" text? It's crazy to me that something so fundamental as the location was completely changed.

As close to the original text as possible.  Some sentences will be tweaked to help the story flow better, but that doesn't change the story's fundamentals.  If there is no direct translation available, I have seen footnotes by the translator to explain.  I did also read a story translated from French last year where the translator had a whole collaboration going on over Zoom with the author in order to get the mood/feelings/vibes right because the whole book was wall-to-wall puns and wordplay.  Liberties had to be taken due to a direct translation not being possible.  

[JustHereForFood]

On 4/2/2022 at 12:57 AM, krankydoodle said:

I'm reading Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt. It's a horror novel with an interesting premise (a small town has been living under a curse for generations but now a group of teens are trying to use modern technology to try to circumvent it), but I was surprised that the location and references have been changed for the English translation so that it's set in New York instead of the Netherlands as in the original. To be fair, I haven't read much translated fiction so maybe this practice is more common than I know.

I am not familiar with that book, but I've read a lot of translated books and even a few where I read both original and translation and I've never encountered that (at least that I'm aware of). A lot of translated names of locations in fantasy books, but that's a different thing.

[krankydoodle]

Something that really blew my mind was finding out that the Good Girl's Guide to Murder YA mystery series by Holly Jackson had its setting changed from England to Connecticut for the US edition. I enjoyed the books, but it was funny to come across things that had been missed (like when they used the word fringe instead of bangs). I don't understand why they thought that was necessary.

Ooh, I thought of another example: The Boy Who Could See Demons by Carolyn Jess-Cooke. It's written in English and set in Northern Ireland, but the US edition has a different ending which I really didn't like. I started reading Goodreads reviews and was confused about how people were talking about the resolution until someone finally posted that the endings are vastly different. So frustrating.

Edited April 5, 2022 by krankydoodle

[Crs97]

Showing my age, but I read First Among Equals by Jeffrey Archer and loved it.  Many years later a new unabridged version was printed, and the ending was completely changed.  I actually wrote him, and he said his US publisher made him change the book because the US audiences apparently wouldn’t understand the British political system.  When he switched publishers they let him print the original.  I must admit, I liked the abridged version better.

[SusanM]

11 hours ago, Crs97 said:

 I must admit, I liked the abridged version better.

I had that happen with a Readers Digest Condensed Book once.  I came across The Golden Rendezvous by Alistair Maclean in one of those and really liked it.  Years later I read the unabridged novel and while it was good it really had benefited from the pruning it had received by Readers Digest!  Or maybe it was because I'd read that one first, I don't know.  But the extra characters and plot points seemed superfluous to me.

[BlackberryJam]

Finished Something in the Water by Catherine Steadman. I listened on Audible and the narration is great. The first chapter is fantastic and hooked me. It starts with this question, "Have you ever wondered how long it takes to dig a grave?" 

However, as the book progressed, I became increasingly more annoyed with the protagonists lack of insight and poor decision-making. But I forgave a lot because of great narration. 

I'd still recommend if you're taking a long drive and looking for a thriller. 

[sugarbaker design]

1 hour ago, BlackberryJam said:

I'd still recommend if you're taking a long drive and looking for a thriller. 

I liked it too, it wasn't great, but I always love a snarky anti-heroine.  I liked it enough to request Steadman's next book from my library.

[Ceindreadh]

18 hours ago, Crs97 said:

Showing my age, but I read First Among Equals by Jeffrey Archer and loved it.  Many years later a new unabridged version was printed, and the ending was completely changed.  I actually wrote him, and he said his US publisher made him change the book because the US audiences apparently wouldn’t understand the British political system.  When he switched publishers they let him print the original.  I must admit, I liked the abridged version better.

I've read First Among Equals a number of times.  I'm curious as to what they changed in the ending. 

[blackwing]

On 4/4/2022 at 9:10 PM, Crs97 said:

Showing my age, but I read First Among Equals by Jeffrey Archer and loved it.  Many years later a new unabridged version was printed, and the ending was completely changed.  I actually wrote him, and he said his US publisher made him change the book because the US audiences apparently wouldn’t understand the British political system.  When he switched publishers they let him print the original.  I must admit, I liked the abridged version better.

 

17 hours ago, Ceindreadh said:

I've read First Among Equals a number of times.  I'm curious as to what they changed in the ending. 

Archer is one of my favourites.  I read the US version originally.  Then read the UK version when he switched publishers.  The US version completely eliminated the fourth contender who was named Andrew Frasier.

The ending changed as well. 

Spoiler

In the US version, Simon Kerslake is chosen as Prime Minister.  But in the UK version, Raymond Gould is selected.

There was a TV adaptation in the mid 80s.  James Faulkner, who is probably best known to US audiences as Pope Sixtus on "DaVinci's Demons" and the elder Tarly (who was burnt to a crisp along with Tom Hopper's Dickon Tarly by one of Daenerys' dragons) in "Game of Thrones", played Simon Kerslake.   Tom Wilkinson was also in it, he played Raymond Gould.

23 hours ago, BlackberryJam said:

Finished Something in the Water by Catherine Steadman. I listened on Audible and the narration is great. The first chapter is fantastic and hooked me. It starts with this question, "Have you ever wondered how long it takes to dig a grave?" 

However, as the book progressed, I became increasingly more annoyed with the protagonists lack of insight and poor decision-making. But I forgave a lot because of great narration. 

I'd still recommend if you're taking a long drive and looking for a thriller. 

I read this one and had the same complaint, which I find is a common complaint of mine with respect to the "woman in jeop" genre.  The main character invariably almost always makes incredibly idiotic choices and decisions of the "too stupid to live" variety.  

[blackwing]

On 3/30/2022 at 6:32 AM, Minneapple said:

From my plane ride and beach reading:

The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley. It was ok.

  Hide contents

I expected the big reveals to be a bit more shocking. It was more like “yeah yeah, old guys buying sex and mistreating women, blah blah blah.” And of course the girl was the concierge’s granddaughter, telegraphed from a mile away. Maybe I’m too desensitized and jaded. The early reveal about the apartment building residents all being family was actually the more interesting one for me.

 

I finished The Paris Apartment on audiobook, and the audiobook makes it a little more interesting, as the characters are narrated by different voices.  Overall, I disliked this book, and I've determined that I think Lucy Foley just isn't a very good writer.  For each of her books, she relies on the same techniques and "shocking twists" that really aren't so shocking.  After reading three of her books, this is how I think she writes.  "Oh, time to introduce a new character.  Let me think of something shocking about that character, something nobody would ever suspect.  And then slowly reveal the secret.  Readers will be SO surprised!"

I was one-third of the way through when I realised just how very bored I was.  For once, the main character in a "woman in jeop" book did not annoy me, in fact, she was the only one I did like.  But I found every other character to be incredibly annoying.

Among my many issues with this book is that there is very little action.  Probably at least two-thirds of the book is characters sitting in their apartments having inner monologues and remembering things about recent events.  I've commented before about how I think "the flashback" is a lazy trope that too many of these writers are almost always now relying on.  They think that "the flashback" is a way to reveal a secret in a way that will be surprising and shocking.  This didn't work for me when almost the entire book was a flashback.

Another weird thing is that Lucy Foley seems particularly proud of herself by throwing in French phrases and words all the time, but it's very odd to me when almost all of these characters are French.  I get that she is writing for an English-speaking audience, but it's a bit odd when these characters are having their inner monologues in English and still inserting their French phrases and words.  Or when the characters are meeting together and all of them are French, it is said they are speaking in French (which is written out in English) but they still point out the use of a particular French phrase or word.  As in "We have a saying in French, it is [phrase]."  If this character is thinking to herself in French, this sentence seems a bit odd.

I never quite understood the layout of the apartment building.  There is only one apartment on each of the five floors.  But there is a courtyard.  How is it that a character in the fourth floor apartment can look through the windows of the third floor apartment and see someone there?  Is the building L-shaped or U-shaped or O-shaped?  If so, these are enormous apartments, and there is no comment about the size except for the penthouse.

As for the plot itself, like with her other books, I thought that most of the elements were extremely predictable.  Spoilers which discuss all the supposed "twists":

Spoiler

I determined early on that everyone in the apartment knew each other or was related to each other or had some kind of connection.  After the father wasn't seen apart from his appearances in the flashback monologues, it was obvious to me that the father was the one who was going to be revealed as having been killed and that the main POV character's brother was alive.  The daughter being the granddaughter of the concierge was easily apparent.  The stepmother being a former prostitute in the father's wine/whorehouse business was obvious.  The one brother being gay was obvious.  The only "shocking twist" that I didn't call (which was truly inconsequential) was the daughter's roommate having an affair with the older brother's wife.  Like, who cares?

I think I am done with Lucy Foley.  I think she's a bad writer.  It continually amazes me that people can continue to churn out trash and yet they are always bestsellers.  Steve Berry is another one that I can never fully grasp why he is so popular.

Just for kicks, I found the post I made about "The Guest List" from a year and a half ago:

On 11/3/2020 at 12:57 PM, blackwing said:

I just finished The Guest List by Lucy Foley and I enjoyed it.  I do agree with others upthread who commented that it is similar to her earlier work The Hunting Party.  I liked Guest List a lot, whereas I found myself increasingly annoyed with Hunting Party, particularly how things got increasingly predictably ridiculous.

I do wonder though, since Foley made the switch from historical romance to mystery/thriller, two books in a row now have the same general plot.  A group of friends/acquaintances in a remote location.  All of them have secrets.  Some of them have grudges.  One of them ends up dead.  Judging from the book jacket, Foley seems to be embracing her characterisation as a modern day Agatha Christie.  But Christie didn't write the same plot repeatedly, her stories are diverse and creative.

Since I read Hunting Party and recognised the style, it wasn't that hard for me to deduce what the "secret" of some of the characters was.  I hope she mixes things up with her next book.  

So if I could go back and talk to year-and-a-half-ago me, I would say... nope, she doesn't mix it up, and yep, the "secrets" were just as easy to deduce.

[LegalParrot81]

The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave.  Keeps your interest and a pretty quick read.

[Spartan Girl]

I’m reading Sandy Hook: An American Tragedy and the Battle for Truth by Elizabeth Williamson. It basically goes into the depth how the parents dealt with the likes of Alex Jones and hoaxers that made their lives hell, specifically centering on Lenny Pozner and how he took them on, even trying to reach out to some of the more “conflicted” ones.

Lenny Pozner is a far more forgiving soul than I would be in his place. I will leave it at that.

Edited April 6, 2022 by Spartan Girl

[Annber03]

Oh, wow, yeah, I can imagine that would be a tough read. 

There's a special place in hell awaiting Alex Jones, no question. 

[babyhouseman]

1 hour ago, Spartan Girl said:

I’m reading Sandy Hook: An American Tragedy and the Battle for Truth 

I didn't know about that. I put it on library reserve. I've read several books about school shootings including one by the mother of one of the Columbine killers. She tried to present them as a normal family, but I wasn't buying it. 

I don't have anything new coming out until May so I'm reading older books like Daisy Jones and the Six. That book was pretty good. I'm reading A Man Called Ove which is amusing. He kind of reminds me of Archie Bunker from All in the Family.

[bmasters9]

Good Evening, Friends, a memoir by famed news anchor Dave Ward of KTRK ABC13 of Houston, TX (the ABC O&O of that Texas area), where he was an anchor and reporter for over 50 years; he takes us through his life and career, from his childhood starting in 1939 (he was born May 6 in that year), to his last newscast on KTRK Eyewitness News in 2017, and everything in between.

[Spartan Girl]

5 hours ago, Annber03 said:

Oh, wow, yeah, I can imagine that would be a tough read. 

There's a special place in hell awaiting Alex Jones, no question. 

Along with all the other subhumans that tortured those poor families. Seriously, reading about some of these people and their excuses and their complete and utter lack of empathy sends me into a Carrie White level of rage. 

[bmasters9]

Just finished that Dave Ward book (I'm a speed-reader), and, IMO, of all the memoirs/autobiographies I've read in my time on this Earth, I think his is by far the best one, even if it has some spelling and punctuation and printing errors, because I think Dave Ward is a dang good storyteller (and I think on those same grounds that his is far better than that of the late Regis Philbin; that Philbin one was pretty lackluster, and I don't think I ever finished it).

[Minneapple]

All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir (author of An Ember in the Ashes series). I think this is classified as YA but it’s so far beyond most YA books I’ve read. It’s a gut-punch over and over, so devastating and emotional and beautifully written. I actually cried reading this book, which I haven’t done in…forever over a book. 

I will say that as a South Asian Muslim I related to this book on a personal level, so maybe that colors my review of it a little. 

[Spartan Girl]

20 hours ago, Minneapple said:

All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir (author of An Ember in the Ashes series). I think this is classified as YA but it’s so far beyond most YA books I’ve read. It’s a gut-punch over and over, so devastating and emotional and beautifully written. I actually cried reading this book, which I haven’t done in…forever over a book. 

I will say that as a South Asian Muslim I related to this book on a personal level, so maybe that colors my review of it a little. 

Ooh I read it too! So brutal at times but great!

Edited April 9, 2022 by Spartan Girl

[isalicat]

I am just about finished with Karin Slaughter's Pieces of Her which is from about 4 years ago, I think. Not my usual, although I love crime/mystery I generally stick to English, Scottish and Nordic writers (with the exception now of Margaret Maron - I'm reading my way through ALL her mysteries - so good!). This is super, super violent which normally doesn't bother me (Jo Nesbo is one of my favorite authors)  but I think its because its only women that are being repeatedly brutalized its making me flinch a bit. Anyway, interesting premise!

[dubbel zout]

There is a Netflix adaptation of this starring Toni Collette. I started watching it, but I hate the way it's set up: The daughter knows nothing and the mom keeps telling her to let her (the mom) handle stuff. Of course the daughter ignores her and blunders into things and needs saving.