Cathy’s Comments (group member since Jan 28, 2010)

Cathy’s comments from the Bookmarks Subscribers group.

Just finished . A solid four star read that is currently nominated on the short-list for The Costa Book Award.

Beginning my book delivered by Amazon today... To Kill a Mockingbird: A Graphic Novel

Just finished the non-fiction read Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition four stars and the five star read Calling Major Tom.

Have begun The Death of Caesar: The Story of History's Most Famous Assassination for one of my choices for the designated prompts in the Nonfiction November group. The challenge consists of four books during this month that fall into the following prompts: Past Time/Pastime, Self/Shelf, Wander/Wonder, and Micro/Macro. If interested in participating please join many others in participating in the community group Nonfiction November 2018 started by Olive from the youtube channel a book olive and Gemma.

I just finished Florence in Ecstasy over the last two days. A very moving, and well-written story of woman struggling with an eating disorder. The beautiful Italian setting, the rowing on rivers, and connection with long forgotten saints, gives this a hypnotic quality that was extremely engaging to me as a reader. A full 5 stars.

Excited to be starting Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk. I will be attending a book signing/luncheon with Kathleen Rooney here in SC on Friday. Also, since it is National Poetry Month enjoyed Robinson Alone written by her about a little known poet of last century named Weldon Kees.

I loved the quiet strength and candor of Roxane Gay's important memoir: Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body. 5 stars

Up early this A.M. to finish The Changeling. A very dark, adult fairy tale that is a quick-read, and ladled with lots of magic and some horror to make this quite a fantastical read. After completing it I headed for the library to pick up Maurice Sendak's book Outside Over There. Though familiar with several of his children's books, this was a new title for me. This story is cleverly woven into the fabric of Mr. LaValle's latest novel. A very entertaining read for "The Changeling" 4 to 4.5 stars.

Earlier this year I got around to reading The Secret History after enjoying in 2014 by the same author. I loved The Secret History, and just finished another novel reminiscent of Donna Tartt's tremendous novel. M.L. Rio provides another exceptional read in her novel If We Were Villains. Highly recommend both to all. Five stars to both outstanding novels and the authors that shared their literary excellence with us.

Science fiction/dystopian reads are not my usual genre of first choice, but that being said, I just finished the wildly entertaining audiobook Dark Matter . 5 stars. I immediately began another sci-fi read that was highly rated that caught my attention because of the health/plague theme of the read. That book was The Genius Plague .Four stars, but both were the "I can't put this book down" type, and I raced through both in a week. Neither will disappoint. Now onto something for Non-Fiction November!

Recently finished News of the World, and enjoyed it very much. A short read with good historical presence; an exquisite gem of a book. 5 stars.

Have begun the young adult book Refugee after hearing strong, positive reviews for it.

I quickly read through Golden Hill. A truly excellent romp through old New York city in the mid-seventeen hundreds. An entertaining historical fiction read that I could not put down. Yes, initially some may be challenged by some of the old speech patterns, but your perseverance is richly rewarded in this wonderful novel. 5 stars!

Enjoyed the quick read .

Nancy wrote: "Just started re-reading Each member of our library book group chose a book and this was mine. I've read it at least twice before and it remains one of my all t..."

Nancy, this sounds good....ran out and picked it up at the local library after reading your post. My recommendation for this year's reads would be . Excellent along with the well-written, and moving memoir . Now onto Gail Tsukiyama's read. Thanks for the recommendation!

I finished a heartwarming and endearing audio read this week. A few books a year stand as cherished memories that I endeavor to add to my permanent hardcopy favorites collections that I wish to keep for many years to come. To that short list I now add The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper. I highly recommend the audio version, which is very well done. Otherwise, grab a print copy and curl up for a charming gem, possibly with a spot of tea.

Betsy wrote: "Finally received The Incarnations yesterday. This was one of the two from last year that I hadn't received."

So glad to hear that you finally received one of the books you were waiting on. I was starting to worry, myself, but received my won copy of My Name Is Lucy Barton. Now to write my review. Good reading to you, Betsy!

Betsy wrote: "Have any of you not received the book after winning? I've not received one of the books I've won and it's been about 2 months."

I am still waiting on my recent win, but I have always received books that I have won in the giveaways. Usually, I receive an email from the publisher, I think, to confirm that I have received my copy. I am not sure of what recourse there is for you if it does not arrive soon. Hoping you have a good book in the mail soon!

Began the audio on a new science fiction story...And Again.

I finished reading A Quiet Belief in Angels on audio. It had a difficult subject matter concerning a child serial killer. The narrator's southern accent took me a little time to settle into, but the author's penned words were exquisite. This is one of the best crime mysteries I have read in a very long time. It really reads more like fine literary fiction. The prose coupled with a very well-told and engaging story earned it a five star rating. The story and characters will stay with me for some time.