LDS Ladies Book Club discussion

Pick a book from the winners and nominees of the Good Reads choice awards for last year. The results can be found here. If you click on a category, it will show you the nominees for each genre as well.

- What are you reading this week?
- In which category was your book nominated? Did it win?
- Is there another Choice Awards book you're very interested in?
- How was the book?

- What are you reading this week?
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
- In which category was your book nominated? Did it win?
It was nominated in Historical Fiction, but did not win.
- Is there another Choice Awards book you're very interested in?
Yes, several! Lilac Girls, America's First Daughter, Harry Potter & the Cursed Child, Bands of Mourning, (already read) Fire Touched, It Ends with Us, Where Am I Now?, Ghosts, When We Collided, A Court of Mist and Fury, Empire of Storms, (already read) Calamity, Heartless, and I read all of the picture book nominees.
- How was the book?
It was really good! At first I hated the way each chapter talked about a different character, but then I enjoyed the way it spanned so many generations and told such an encompassing story.

- What are you reading this week?
The Only Pirate at the Party by Lindsey Stirling

- In which category was your book nominated? Did it win?
It was nominated in Memoir and Biography but didn't win.

- Is there another Choice Awards book you're very interested in?
Lots! The underground railroad; Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (read); Are we smart enough to know how smart animals are?; Rebel of the Sands; The Hidden Oracle (read); Salt to the sea; A gathering of shadows; Sleeping Giants; The woman in cabin 10; All the missing girls; Lilac Girls; America's first daughter; Three sisters, three queens; The last days of night; A View From the Cheap Seats; Grit, the power of passion and perseverance; First women; Midnight in broad daylight; The Gene; Patient H. M.; The Star Touched Queen; Lady Midnight; The Raven King; Glass sword; Pax; Summerlost; The Bronze Key (Rad); Wolf Hollow

- How was the book?
I enjoyed it. I think Lindsey did a good job of telling her story. I listened to the audiobook, which was read by Lindsey,, which added another dimension into understanding her story. She discussed her struggle with anorexia, which I think is good for teens and young adults to read about.
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It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover
It won the Choice award in the romance category.

I'm not usually one who would pick a romance but this pregnancy has put me in the mood for mushy, clean-ish romances. And I'm pretty new to this Goodreads thing. So I haven't really checked out the other award winners and nominations. That being said, I'm sure I would enjoy many of the awarded and nominated books.

I read the book in an afternoon so if nothing else, it was a page turner. It reminded me why I don't read too much or too much fiction; I'm not good at having a healthy book-reading/good mom balance. I did enjoy it; I had a hard time sleeping that night because I couldn't stop thinking about. There were a few sex scenes unfortunately. But not as bad or as frequent as I have read before and the book is not dependent on them. There is some language too. And there was domestic violence. I appreciated reading this viewpoint of domestic violence, really getting into the head of someone who went through that, why it was so hard to leave, etc. the book, while fictional, was inspired by the author's experiences of growing up in an abusive home.
There are certain friends I would and have recommended this particular novel to and others that I don't depending on what they enjoy or put up with sex-wise.

Harry Potter and the cursed child. It won the fantasy category. I had originally picked The Lilac Girls in the historical fiction category. I got so far and felt a bit uncomfortable with where one of the characters were heading. I will go back and finish the book when I am more "mentally" prepared for it. Harry Potter was picked as lots of kids from my Ward owned the book, so I didn't need to buy it. I wasn't expecting it to be a play. It was ok, not really a fan of Harry Potter but a good quick read.

What are you reading this week?

Flora and the Peacocks

- In which category was your book nominated? Did it win?

It was nominated in Picture Books but did not win.

- Is there another Choice Awards book you're very interested in?

Not really. This was my 3rd try to find a book to read for this category in the group challenge. Most of the books are just not up to my personal standards.

- How was the book?

It was cute. It is a wordless book, and I would have preferred a book with words. But at least it fit my standards!

SamZ wrote: "Pick a book from the winners and nominees of the Good Reads choice awards for last year. The results can be found here. If you click on a category, it will show you the nominees for each genre as w..."

I read The Girl Before, by an already established author in another genre, and it is nominated as a finalist in the Mystery/Thriller category. I do not recommend it for conservative readers. Although there is little cursing, there is a lot of sexual inference and description. This would not sit well with most LDS readers I think. However, the plot is extremely unique and based on psychological testing currently used in the field. Out of the many current UK authors writing mystery, this is the first page turner I read all year.