Donna’s Comments (group member since Nov 16, 2024)

Donna’s comments from the Mount TBR Challenge 2025 group.

#23 Pirenzi by Susanna Clarke

I loved Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrel, but I just didn't get this one.

#22 Summer People by Aaron Stander

First book in the Ray Elkins series. Are the four deaths coincidental or are they related in some way going back 20-25 years?

#21 The Great Mistake by Mary Roberts Rinehart

Published in 1940, it contains all the pluses and minuses of that time period.

#20 Rebecca by Daphne duMaurier

The book is better than the Hitchcock movie, even though it won the Best Picture Oscar.

#19 The Great Mistake by Mary Roberts Rinehart

Complicated plot, large cast of characters. All in the family, so to speak.

#18 Seeing with the Heart by Kevin O'Brien
A good companion to "An Ignatian Adventure" by this author.

#17 Oh Pioneers by Willa Cather

If you like My Antonia you'll like this one.

#16 Educated by Tara Westover

An inspiring story about breaking away from one's family in order to save yoursekf,

#15 The Mystery Guest by Nina Prose

Second in the series about a quirky maid whose notice of details helps solve crimes.

#14 The Singing Sands by Josephine Tey

I read this book ten years ago and again now for a book club discussion. I'd forgotten how the mystery is solved.

#13 A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

My fourth time reading this book, each time with a different discussion group and consequently I learned/understood things differently.

#12 One Long River of Song by Brian Doyle

What beautiful writing!! This book is a series of essays each one more perfect than the next.

I listened to this book on audible.Since the essays are not connected, each one deserves to be experienced with some time and thought in between. That's not how it happens with an audiobook which just keeps plowing on.

#11 The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore by Evan Friss

I loved this book, but then I love bookshops as much as I love books. On our second date my now husband took me to the library after dinner. I knew he was a keeper. Our town just lost an independent bookshop (very sad) but another opened...a little smaller, but bright and shiny new. I can't wait to go there,

#10 Smallbone Deceased by Michael Gilbert

1950s British classic, but I just didn't connect with any of the characters. I was supprised by the revelation of the murderer.

#9 Candide by Voltaire

Classic satire on the best of all possible worlds.

#8 Across that Bridge: A Vision for Change and the Future of America by John Lewis

This book is not just about the Civil Rights movement, but is a spiritual reflection that supported that movement throughout.

#7 Beastly Things by Donna Leon

I love Brunetti and his Venice. I'm so glad there are still more books in the series to read.

#6 Until I am Free by Keishan N Blain

This is the story of Fannie Lou Hamer who became a major supporter of civil rights protests in Mississippi.

#5 Joy in the Morning by P.G. Wodehouse

Jeeves and Wooster are quite a pair. This is the first one I've read and I just might have to get some others.

#4 The First Ladies by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray

The fictional account of how Eleanor Roosevelt and Mary McLeod Bethune became friends and worked together to model non-racist behaviour and bring about the hiring of African Americans in the US federal government.