PattyMacDotComma’s Comments (group member since May 18, 2015)

PattyMacDotComma’s comments from the Aussie Readers group.

Tara Lynn Masih has a new historical fiction on NetGalley, The Silent Women, inspired by the unseen women involved with the Manhattan Project of WW2.

Her previous My Real Name Is Hanna had great author's notes about her research, and I gather this does too.

https://www.netgalley.com/catalog/boo...

My introduction to Roald Dahl was not through children's books, but through his (very) adult short stories. I just enjoyed The Way Up to Heaven again recently.
My review of The Way Up to Heaven with a link to the story online

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans is told through handwritten letters sent in beautiful stamped envelopes - conversations mostly started by Sybil. She is an old-fashioned letter-writer, but she 'stoops' to using email and online 'research' to search for answers to a family secret. Entertaining and bittersweet.
My review of The Correspondent

Country People is a sometimes amusing, sometimes thoughtful novel by acclaimed author Daniel Mason. The story, like its main character, digresses, gets sidetracked, and goes down rabbit holes, some of which I enjoyed.
My review of Country People

The Saint is an entertaining short story by V.S. Pritchett about a young fellow in conflict with his family's new religion.
My review of The Saint including a link to the story online

I don't know what Oprah's Book Club will make of Douglas Stuart's latest novel, John of John, but I loved it. After graduating from university in Edinburgh, John-Calum (Cal) returns home to the harsh Scottish isle and his strict Calvinist father. Cal is gay, but his is just one of many fascinating secrets in this complex little community that's barely surviving the cllimate and the ancient, feudal system of land ownership.
My review of John of John

Sharah wrote: "Hi everyone! Thanks very much for the birthday wishes. I had a wonderful day, but it was the first birthday in about 25 years where I wasn't gifted one single book..... I think my family must think I own too many already..."

You sound like that husband whose wife wanted to go into a bookstore, and he said "Why do you want to go in there? You already have a book."

Happy birthday, Sharah. Hope it's the start of a good reading year! 🎂🎉📚🎁🎈

I enjoy English author Matt Haig's interesting take on the What-Ifs? of life. The Midnight Train is his latest, which is a companion (not a sequel) to his very popular The Midnight Library. This is my kind of ghost story. 😊
My review of The Midnight Train

I finally tackled the imposing Middlemarch by George Eliot and found it enjoyable and not imposing at all. Rather, it's a series of linked stories of relationships, manners, and mystery in an English village in the 1830s. Grapevine gossip then was every bit as effective as Twitter (X).
My review of Middlemarch

Happy birthday for Monday ANGELA. I hope you enjoy your special day. 🥳🍰🎈🎁🎉

I am one of many fans of Irish-born Aussie author Dervla McTiernan's mysteries, and I really like her brand new character. Jude is a Melbourne cop trying to find who has Three Reasons for Revenge and why she might be a target herself. Hey! Who trashed her big motorbike, too? New series? I hope so.
My reviews of Three Reasons for Revenge

Hope you had happy birthdays, Krysta d Steve (glad you got a day off, Steve)

Happy Sunday birthday to Sharon Hill! Hope it's a great day to celebrate! 🥳🎉🎈🍰🎁🎈

I've never read Walter Mosley before, so I decided to try Devil in a Blue Dress, which became a popular Denzel Washington movie 30 years ago. I got quite fond of Easy Rawlins, but he sure could pick better friends!
My review of Devil in a Blue Dress

Andrew Sean Greer, who won a Pulitzer Prize for Less, introduces Villa Coco by asking:

"Whatever happened to the 'charm novel'? You know, the kind of warm and funny story packed with characters and incidents and descriptions ...

We've certainly needed them the past few years. At least, I've needed them. But I couldn't find many modern ones.

So I decided to write one."

It's inspired by his own life living between the US and Italy with a colourful group of people, including an elderly baronessa.

Thank you - I enjoyed this delightful respite from the news.
My review of Villa Coco

Here's my bit.
Finished Swallow the Air by Tara June Winch AA- 151 pages

and Three Reasons for Revenge by Dervla McTiernan AA 118 pages

Started The Midnight Train by Matt Haig - 77 pages

TOTAL = 346 pages

Thanks very much, all. I was born in the US, so today (the 3rd here) is my American birthday - I get two for the price of one! (but not double the age, I hope). I had a nice celebration even earlier on Sunday with family. Sunshine at last!

I’m in!

Careless People: A Story of Where I Used to Work, by a former employee, New Zealander Sarah Wynn-Williams, details what happened in the Facebook inner circle while she worked there.

A media platform that was once a relatively safe place for people to stay in touch was monetized into a monstrosity that has warped politics and endangered the lives of minorities in susceptible countries. She tried to stop it, but the monster just got bigger. Compelling and appalling.

My review of Careless People, A Cautionery Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism

I like most of Jess Kidd's quirky work. She often uses magical realism, but she started a straight (so far) cosy crime series about a former nun who finds she has a knack for detective work. Good plot, "bracing" atmosphere on England's Kent Coast, and warm-hearted humour.

Murder at the Spirit Lounge Nora Breen Investigates #2 , follows Murder at Gulls Nest, #1. It's easy enough to start with this one if you can't find #1.
My review of Murder at the Spirit Lounge