You'll love this one...!! A book club & more discussion

For September, we are taking the ball slightly out of your own court again. Mixing it up a bit and what not. You're going to do what you're told.

This month, you need to go and talk to a real life person in your life. I want you to chat to someone you have a relationship with - your partner, your family, friends, coworkers, the girl who makes your coffee every day, whatever. But someone more than a random you meet on the street.

I want you to read a book that they recommend to you, or have recommended in the past, as something they really enjoyed.

You can ask a couple of people if you need, I'm not going to limit you to one person depending on availability and accessibility and such. But as usual, honour system and spirit of the game etc. I don't want you to ask 40 of your nearest and dearest for window shopping ops.

Hopefully this will get us some more recs than Goodreads algorithms, get you a good read, or at least an insight into the person who recommended it to you. Warning though, that might not always be good...

Tell us:
- what you read
- who recommended it to you
- what you think (and are you now getting your coffee from somewhere else after the girl recommended The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York?)

Questions, comments?

General Rules:
1. The book may be in any format - paperback, ebook, audiobook.
2. The book may be in any genre.
3. The book may NOT be combined with the Year Long Serial Killer Challenge.
4. The book must be read between 1 September and 30 September (based on your own time zone).
5. The book must be over 150pp in length. If you are reading an e-book or audiobook, please go by the most popular version on Goodreads, ie. The first one that comes up when you search for the book.
6. The challenge is for one book. You may read more books if you chose, but only the highest scoring book will apply.

Re #6... but, there is no score, soooo read as many as you want and answer the three questions :0)

Hahaha... good catch, Cherie.

I read: The Bone Garden

It was recommended to be by a coworker. She has seen me reading the Rizzoli and Isles series by this same author numerous times and each time she brings up this book.

I loved this book and rated it 5 stars. It may not appeal to everyone, but I related a great deal to it. It is not what I expected at all. It actually ends up being more historical fiction than the thriller I was anticipating. It has a romantic story to it, but that is not what I found so fascinating. It follows a med student in the 1800 s in Boston. It delves a great deal into medical education and practices of the time period. It goes into the epidemic of childbed fever at that time. One of the main characters is Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olive....). He is a real life person who made the major breakthrough and figured out that the illness was being spread by the women's doctors and proposed that the wash their hands between patients ( which was a revelation at the time).

I am in the medical profession and take care of ill newborns. We still occasionally have mothers die from pregnancy complications, but it is a rarity now. It is crazy to know that as many as 3 out of 5 mothers who delivered in hospitals could die from this infection. At that time you were almost safer delivering at home without a doctor.

Added, Amanda!

The Bone Garden sounds very interesting. I added it to my TBR!

KimeyDiann wrote: "The Bone Garden sounds very interesting. I added it to my TBR!"

Yes, Dag Nab It, so did I!☻

Sorry guys, I didn't mean to start anything. ;). *evil laugh*

Could I use a recommendation from some time ago?

Mariab wrote: "Could I use a recommendation from some time ago?"

Yup!

I read Orphan Train.

It was recommended to me by my mom who read it because of the historical link between the children who were orphans and put on these trains and some of our distant family members.

I really enjoyed reading this book. It did take me a little bit to get into it because it has a dual time line and I am not a big fan of that type of writing, but once I settled in the story was captivating. The story centers on a teenage girl who is struggling in our present day foster care system and what she discovers when she helps out an elderly lady. The elderly lady was put on an orphan train when she is younger (not a spoiler) and the events in her life are very parallel to our young girl. It got me thinking about the value that we place on children. Do we really value them? It sure isn't evident 100 years ago or today if you go by the events in the book; however (view spoiler)[it does have a happy ending and I so needed a book with a happy ending (hide spoiler)]. Don't read the spoiler if you plan on reading the book :)
Tomorrow is the first day of school and this book reminded me that my classroom might be the safest place some of my students will know - a very timely read.

I must've read your mind! Just checked on the September challenge and realized I've finished it already! Yay!

I read Cries for Help, Various: Stories by Padgett Powell because my friends over at Burrow Press (www.burrowpress.com) said I should. Also, because Mr. Powell will be in Orlando on October 3, and I get to meet him.

Review --> https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I read Tallie's Knight by Anne Gracie.

My oldest daughter has been suggesting that I read it for awhile now. She knows how much I enjoy regency romances.

This story was different from the average regency romance. There wasn't much romance in the beginning. The two main characters had issues and hangups that they to work through together. Their trust and love grew because the healing. The author was able to add in some of the political conflict during that time period.

The sex scenes were too descriptive for me. I gave the book 3 stars.

I finished Crank over the weekend. It was recommended by a coworker. While it was an interesting read, I didn't exactly love it. Crank is a book about a teenager's downward spiral into drug addiction and was inspired by the author's daughter.

I never felt emotionally involved in the characters' lives. I couldn't relate to why the main character was making the decisions she did. But I suppose that is part of the reason for the book. Some people just fall into bad decisions with no real reasons for why. Good/smart people sometimes do bad/stupid things.

I just realized a couple of days ago that Crank is part of a series. I don't think I'll likely continue it.

I finished Long Lost early this morning and I am paying for it now. I am tired! I couldn't put it down after I started and basically read it in one long session.
This book was loaned to me by my friend and co-worker Teresa. She had asked me what I was reading one day and I told her about Six Years. She was excited and said that she had read several of the author's books and had liked them. She brought me the book the next day and said I could borrow it because she was reading other things and had not had time to get to it yet and I agreed to giver her my book after I was done. Long Lost is book #9 of the Myron Bolitar series. I liked the story although I think I figured out what was going on before the MC. I am interested in the series characters now and will add the series to my challenge.

I listened to Eyrie by Tim Wintonfor this challenge. I decided to ask for recommendations on my facebook page and this was one an old school friend suggested. I got lots of other great recommendations and ended up adding quite a few to my TBR shelf.
This is my third by this author and it's only been in the last few months that I've read them all. I'm not sure what took me so long to get around to it, but I'm glad I finally did.
I really like the way Winton writes, the way he captures the essence of Australian culture. The expressions his characters come out with have me laughing out loud. "He thinks you are the ducks nuts", and remind me so much of growing up in the bush. I enjoyed Eyrie more for the way it was written than for the story itself. Having read Cloudstreet earlier this month, I couldn't help comparing the two and feeling this one lacked something.

Kerri wrote: "I enjoyed Eyrie more for the way it was written than for the story itself..."

This is exactly how I felt about Crank.

Kerri wrote: "I listened to Eyrie by Tim Wintonfor this challenge. I decided to ask for recommendations on my facebook page and this was one an old school friend suggested. I got l..."

What a great idea - asking for a recommendation on Facebook. I think I'll give it a try for fits and giggles. I already have a rec for this challenge.

I've heard mixed things about Eyrie Kerri, so so glad you enjoyed it.

I read Three Men in a Boat. It was recommended by a friend when we were talking about our favorite 19th century novels. I had never read this one, and I'm so happy she put me on to it, because I loved it. I would've read it in half the time if I hadn't been stopping so often to read pages aloud to my daughter. Very funny book!

Janice wroteWhat a great idea - asking for a recommendation on Facebook. I think I'll give it a try for fits and giggles. I already have a rec for this challenge. .."

I got quite a few, so I hope you're prepared to be adding to your TBR shelf.

Looking forward to starting A Spool of Blue Thread today. Finished my other challenge.

Kerri wrote: "I got quite a few, so I hope you're prepared to be adding to your TBR shelf..."

Most of the recs I got are books that I've either read or have to read. I added one book to my wishlist. I decided to put it on twitter too, and the only reply I got there was from an author pushing his self-published book.

- I read
- It was recommended to me by my mother (who also lent me her copy)
- The writing was beautiful and really created a vivid set of characters with deeply felt lives. The author does much better writing about Mary's life, or maybe that was my focus? Perhaps it's because the woman who inspired her had so little personal notoriety in life.

A link regarding the iconic image and the real life mother from other reviews that I found fascinating:
http://cphmag.com/migrant-mother/

I read Traces of Absence by Susan Holoubek. A very good friend borrowed it from her mum, then passed it on to me because she thought I'd like it. (Ironic that she is enabling my book habit when she always gives me a hard time about buying books everywhere I go!) It is about a woman whose daughter went missing overseas without a trace and no evidence of foul play, and her quest to find out what happened to her. I found it very moving and loved the insight into the inner workings of the main character's mind, although I found it hard to understand some of the choices made. Definitely worth the read.

For this challenge I read If You Were Here by Alafair Burke. A young woman that I met while volunteering with a youth leadership seminar recommended it to me. She said it was full of mystery and suspense and she was right! It had some interesting plot twists and was a fairly interesting read.

I had three different people recommend The Red Tent to me, one even walked over to her bookshelf and handed me a copy. So perhaps I will try to fit that one in as well.

Susan, if you are interested, we did The Red Tent as a group read and there were some great discussions. You should be able to find the thread. Personally, I really enjoyed it.

The Red Tent is on my favorite book list.

Just deleting the other 3 times that posted Tammy. App issues? It does that so frequently.

Cherie and Tammy -- Thanks! Now it's definitely on my TBR list whether I get to it for this challenge or not. :)

I listened to The City of Falling Angels by John Berendt. The book was recommended to me by a friend. It's nonfiction and the main focus was the opera house - La Fenice - in Venice that was destroyed by fire on January 29, 1996 and subsequent investigation into the cause of the fire. Along the way the author provides interesting information about Venetian society and many of the prominent individuals who lived in Venice at the time - both Venetians and ex-pats.

Cool, Lilisa. You find the most interesying books to read!

Cherie wrote: "Cool, Lilisa. You find the most interesying books to read!"

:-)

I read The Tao of Martha: My Year of LIVING; Or, Why I'm Never Getting All That Glitter Off of the Dogat the recommendation of one of my best friends. She is a huge Jen Lancasterfan. I have read a couple of her other books and liked them, too. I listened to this one on audio, and it was read by the author, which always adds goodness. Lancaster's books are all memoirs and this one is about the year she tried to channel Martha Stewart in all situations in her life. I liked the book, but didn't love it. Jen Lancaster has a LOT of first world problems. After awhile it gets a little grating on the nerves...
All in all, 3 stars.

I read The Tilted World: A Novel by Tom Franklin which was recommended to me by my very dear friend Linda, who is a librarian. Linda and I often trade book recommendations.

The Great Flood of 1927, one of the greatest natural catastrophes in American history, tilts the world in the Mississippi Delta and creates a background for this novel. Federal revenuers Ham Johnson and Ted Ingersoll come to Mississippi to track moonshiners and to find the person responsible for the recent deaths of two other revenuers. Along the way, they stumble upon an orphaned baby, whom they aren’t quite prepared to deal with, but Ted feels great pity for the newborn since he was orphaned himself.

In the town of Hobnob Landing, Ted hears about Dixie Clay Holliver, a young mother who recently lost a child to scarlet fever, so he rides out to her home and hands the infant over to her. Dixie Clay is married to one of the biggest moonshiners in the state, Jesse Holliver, a womanizing, egotistical, fiercely ambitious man. In contrast, Dixie has an outstanding business sense which she capitalizes on enabling her to take over her husband’s moonshining operation since Jesse has other business interests.

A romance develops between Ted and Dixie, caused in part by Jesse’s indifference to his wife and child and his abuse toward Dixie. Jesse begins to make plans for a new life which involves dynamiting the levee, drowning the town, the townspeople, Ted, and even his wife and child.

It is an exceptional story that kept me engaged throughout the entire novel. I admire Dixie and her determination. I am glad that she found Ted because Jesse certainly didn’t deserve her, and she wanted an opportunity to change her life.

The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer was recommended to me by a friend. Our taste in books usually are not similar but I liked this one.

This was my first Heyer, and I might read something else by her.

Anna wrote: "The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer was recommended to me by a friend. Our taste in books usually are not similar but I liked this one.

This was my first Heyer, and I ..."

Georgette Heyer is one of my favorite authors. And The Grand Sophy is generally considered the most liked of her books. Another well-liked book is The Unknown Ajax. I gave it 4 stars and have read it 3 times :)

I read (actually listened to) Still Alice by Lisa Genova. This book was recommended to my by Sylvia, a former co-worker who is also on Goodreads. She rated this book 5 stars, and I agree with her.

As many of you probably know, this book (which was made into a movie by the same name) is the fictional story of a woman with Alzheimers disease. This touched me in so many ways. I work at a long-term care facility, and though I work in Finance, we still learn a lot about the residents in our communities.

Just last week, the local TV station aired a piece about Music and Memory, a program being tried with our residents with dementia and Alzheimers. The resident is given an iPod shuffle loaded with the type of music he or she enjoyed in the past. It was so touching to hear a resident's son speak of how much this has helped his mother. She has some lucid moments when listening to her songs, and even lets him hold her hand, something she had not done for a long time.

The book also brought to mind my own family members with similar problems. Grandma had dementia, and while she recognized me the last time I saw her before she died, her concept of time was distorted. Asked if my Mom had come with me, I had to remind her that Mom had passed away two years before. She said she was sorry, and that it was so sad that both my mother and hers were gone. Later she said that Margie (my Mom) would be home from school soon if I wanted to wait and play with her. It was so sad.

I could go on about an aunt with Alzheimers and another relative I'm starting to worry about. Suffice it to say I thought the book was very well done, and it really hit home with me.

I really liked Still Alice too, Theresa. It was very touching. It made me think how we are extending life, but the elders still suffer so many horrible diseases we are not able to manage or cure. I know in Alice's case it was an early on-set Alzheimer, though. But I thought about my grandpa, like you in your grandma and aunt.

I read Blood on the Moon: The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln which was recommended to me quite a while ago by my childhood friend, Jonathan. I'm not one to read much in the way of history books, and knew little about the Lincoln assassination and all the conspiracy theories out there. This book certainly puts all those theories but the original conspiracy to rest. If you read only one book about this subject, this one is a must.

I read: Ready Player One

This book has been recommended to me by many people since it first came out saying that I'd love it. I think the most recent recommendation was from Travis some months ago.

I really did love it :-) It is filled with references to just about everything I enjoyed growing up and still enjoy today. The Rush 2112 portion near the end was icing on the cake.

Lanelle wrote: "Georgette Heyer is one of my favorite authors. And The Grand Sophy is generally considered the most liked of her books. Another well-liked book is The Unknown Ajax. I gave it 4 stars and have read it 3 times :) "

Sophy was good but somehow I found myself liking Eugenia too, and I doubt it was Heyer's intention. >:D

I'll definitely check out Ajax, thanx.

:)

Marcus wrote: "I read: Ready Player One

This book has been recommended to me by many people since it first came out saying that I'd love it. I think the most recent recommendation was from Travis..."


This book has become one of my favourites I know I will read it many more times

I've just finished -book one- of The Last Juror / The Broker by John Grisham .. It was recommended by a very close friend, as I've been always reading adventures, fiction, and very few classics, this book was very different of what I usually read.
I found it a turning page for me, I couldn't stop with only few pages .. It had to be more than 10 pages at ones. Its about the life in a small town, and a young reporter / news paper owner who tries to do more than what he always does !
I didn't like all the charcters in the books, but that wasn't a big fuss for me for not liking it. It wasn't very detailed "as I love details" but I surely enjoyed the way things were.
Part one of the book was about a crim and court, part teo was more about the small town and the daily problems around there, part three is about going back to that crim and bringing more details into it more action and such an ending
It took me far away, some how I felt like I didn't want it to end, not yet ..
If you like a crime seen and law and reporters, then I would recommend this book.

- I read Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote
- This book was recommended to me by a co-worker
- I liked it. I didn't know it was a short story (which is not my favorite) but that's ok. I felt it is one of those stories that you struggle to finish and then, when you're finished, you think "oh, that was good". I had troubles with the writing though, which is why it felt a bit long I think. And I didn't like the girl in the book, she's a bit silly and selfish. I feel like I have to read another book by Capote to see if I would recommend it.

I read Angels & Demons

Recommended by my dad as its the only book he has read in the last 20 years and he loved it.

I liked it but as strange as it may seem I agree with most everyrhing that has been said about this book or Dan Brown in general from the 1 star to the 5 star ratings. I am not going to look into the accuracy of the science or religion. It was a page turner just suspend belief and go with the flow. Ah the flow? Yes Brown has a way of building tension then over explaining something and kind of killing it. A better writing method would have been using footnotes or having a section at the end of the book to further explain things rather than in the middle of a tense moment. I'll give it 4 stars I believe.

Travis of NNY wrote: "I read Angels & Demons"

Have you read Dan Brown before, Travis?

My first Dan Brown Rusalka

You've completely summed up my reading of the The Da Vinci Code.

My Mum says that if you read one Dan Brown you've read them all, but you really enjoy that first one. After reading Angels and Demons after Da Vinci, I completely agree with her.

Really glad you enjoyed it though. The first one you read is so fun.

Marcus wrote: "I read: Ready Player One

This book has been recommended to me by many people since it first came out saying that I'd love it. I think the most recent recommendation was from Travis..."

I really enjoyed Ready Player One as well. Not my usual genre, but it's like a great popcorn movie - thoroughly enjoyable!