75 Books...More or Less! discussion

This is the first year I have read so little (historically)...only 67 books. But between social media, very good TV, and putting out my adult coloring book, I have my excuses. We shall see what this year brings. Happy New Year to all!

TV/DVR is hampering my reading! lol

Me, too...so much good TV!

A good story is a good story, no matter the medium.

This is true...but I used to read more than I do now. I'm still a bookworm, but other forms of entertainment beckon.

Candy crush, Soda Crush, and Jelly - those are my issues...hahah

Andrea wrote: "Candy crush, Soda Crush, and Jelly - those are my issues...hahah"

haha! I'm more of Bejeweled and Flutter. lol

And for me...Word With Friends.

My sweet Siren is my Xbox... although the games that I play are heavy on the narrative, so it's not all bad, right? LOL

We can't just read endlessly so it's all good!

Elyse wrote: "Andrea wrote: "Candy crush, Soda Crush, and Jelly - those are my issues...hahah"

haha! I'm more of Bejeweled and Flutter. lol"

Candy Crush, Farmville 2, Pet rescue...

I have a great idea for a movie... Remember Pixels? Great concept, but I think they could have done something more with the movie. Well, for the sequel, the aliens come back and this time, they need people specializing in Candy Crush, Pet Rescue, etc... Moms! I think they could do a lot with that. I would like Sharon Stone to play my part...

Carol wrote: "I have a great idea for a movie... Remember Pixels? Great concept, but I think they could have done something more with the movie. Well, for the sequel, the aliens come back and this time, they need people specializing in Candy Crush, Pet Rescue, etc... Moms! I think they could do a lot with that. I would like Sharon Stone to play my part..."

haha sounds great!

I used to played Bejewled all the time! Before that it was Quebies!

Book # 1 The Nix 4/5 stars
I am rounding this review up from 3.5 to 4 stars because the quality of the writing is spectacular much of the time . But it is a very long book, and I don't think it needed to be quite that long. Nathan Hill is most certainly an author to watch, and he works many threads of complex storyline into this book.

The Nix is, at it's core, a nuanced exploration of a mother/son relationship. Both mother and son's stories are told with so much detail and care that the reader feels they know these characters. The story goes back and forth between 2011 and 1968.

Samuel Andresen-Anderson, a part-time professor at a small midwestern college (much is made of this strange hyphenated name) has not seen his mother in decades. She walked out of his life when he was a young boy, and never came back. But his mother, Faye, has reappeared, having committed a strange crime by throwing stones at a right-wing politician. This news goes viral and captures the public's imagination.

Samuel tries to save his mother, and the journey of these two characters takes the reader from college classrooms (including a rather hilarious subplot of a cheating student trying to take Samuel down) to the 1968 riots in Chicago.

This is a worthy read by a new and exciting author. I do think, however, that the book could have benefited by some sharper editing to trim it down.

Book # 2 Idaho 3/5 stars
This is a novel with lovely writing that left me quite perplexed. It is also unrelentingly sad and quite grim. It jumps around in time quite frequently which led me to hope that some resolution would be reached about motivation to a horrendous crime. I was only left with suppositions.

The story is mostly told from Ann's point of view, although other points of view are interspersed throughout the book. Ann is married to Wade, who is suffering from early-onset dementia. Ann is Wade's second wife, and she inherits the tragedy of his previous marriage. She also becomes the gatekeeper of his memories, as he begins to lose his.

My favorite chapters in this book were about the characters in the women's prison, which feature Wade's first wife, Jenny and her cellmate, Elizabeth.

In spite of the good writing, I was left with unresolved issues about the characters, and also felt the heaviness of the very sad plot.

Book # 3 Her Every Fear 3/5 stars
I really liked Swanson's previous book, The Kind Worth Killing. I thought he successfully channeled Patricia Highsmith in that one, and I was looking forward to reading his new book. Although it had a good start, it began fizzling as the book progressed, both in plotting and writing. The writing became more pedestrian, and the plot caused my interest to lag, especially towards the end.

Kate Priddy has been traumatized after a disturbed ex-boyfriend kidnapped her. And although she has survived this awful incident in her life, it has left her, understandably, full of anxiety. The book opens as we meet Kate in a taxi to an apartment in Boston, owned by a cousin she has never met. She has arranged an apartment swap with her London apartment with this cousin, who is now in London. She is doing this swap to try and move ahead with her life and calm her anxieties a little. But she discovers that a young woman who lived next door to her cousin has just been murdered. The book is told from multiple points of view.

How many creepy sadistic men are likely to pop up in one young woman's life? The odds are long against more than one. But even suspending belief, the story just sags despite some good writing in the first half and an interesting (at first) premise.

I had a similar experience. I enjoyed The Kind Worth Killing very much, so I found his previous book, The Girl With A Clock for a Heart and found it also fell short, for many of the same reasons you put forth about Her Every Fear.

I didn't read that one, as I had read quite a few negative reviews (such as yours). Let's hope he reverts back to the good writing we enjoyed in The Kind Worth Killing. I will give him another try, hoping for that.

Book # 4 Mary Astor's Purple Diary: The Great American Sex Scandal of 1936 4/5 stars
I am rounding my rating for this fun, beautifully illustrated book up from 3.5 stars. The whole package is unique and a pleasure to read...it is a very quick read. I have long enjoyed Edward Sorel's artwork (I believe he is 87 years old at this point), and the man can write!

After reading some reviews here, I see many of us were attracted to read this book by Woody Allen's very amusing book review in the NY Times:

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/22/bo...

Since his review is so much funnier than mine could ever be, I will let him speak for me. Suffice to say that this was a charming break from the other books I usually read.

Alecia, thanks for the link to the NYT review! This sounds like a fun and juicy read :)

Book # 5 The Dark Room 2.5/5 stars
The writing in this book was good, so I am rounding this up to 2.5 stars. It is the plotting that I take issue with. It was a little too convoluted, with a very huge coincidence tying in two cases, and there were too many characters and police to keep track of.

Gavin Cain, an SFPD homicide inspector is looking into the blackmailing of the city's mayor. When showing Cain the photographs, he denies he had anything to do with the girl shown in the photos. With the threat of worse revelations to come, Cain hunts for the blackmailer and the plot thickens (very much).

Book # 6 My Husband's Wife 2/5 stars

Honestly, I toyed with giving this one star. But the fact that I finished it (and it was overlong), and it had a fairly promising beginning, earned it 2 stars. But I only gave the 2 stars grudgingly, as the plot disintegrated into a hot, meandering mess. I can't even write the plot outline as it's so convoluted that it makes me weary.

It's basically divided into two sections: Lilly is married to Ed, with a presumably rocky start to their marriage. Lilly narrates her sections and it appears that something went wrong on their honeymoon, and they have an uneasy existence together. Carla's sections are told in the third person. She is a nine year old (I think) girl, ostracized at school, and she and her beautiful, single mother are neighbors of Lily and Ed. Somehow it evolves that Lily and Ed watch Carla on Sundays while her mother is "working" (actually having an affair with a married man), and so the story goes. The second part to the book gets preposterous, and I had to slog through it to finish.

Ohhhh that stinks! It looked so interesting and the title was intriguing!

Yes, I know, intriguing title, I thought so, too. But keep in mind many people liked it...so this is just one woman's opinion.

Book # 7 The Second Mrs. Hockaday. 3/5 stars

The writing in this book is quite lovely, and feels "period appropriate", as it is comprised of letters and diaries set in the Civil War. I was not aware that the book would be composed this way, as it is not my favorite format. However, I stuck with it, and, for the most part, I enjoyed it.

Placidia, an admirable young teenager, marries the widower Major Griffith Hockaday quite suddenly before he is called back to the front lines. It appears to be a love match, although they did not know each other for more than a few days, and there was a large age difference. She is left on her own to care for his three-hundred-acre farm and infant son from his previous marriage.

The thrust of the book is what happens to Placidia during the time her husband is away, and how it is resolved. For resolution, along with her notes, the book jumps to the future where her descendants pick up the story. It got a bit disjointed for me, especially if I had put the book down and picked it up again. I had to think about who was narrating, and sometimes I wasn't sure. But it was an interesting book, and a well-written one.

Book # 8 Behind Her Eyes 3/5 stars

This is a very readable "psychological thriller" and it's all about that crazy ending. I admit to being caught up in the marital drama of a cheating spouse, his crazy, vengeful wife (we know she's crazy from her narrated chapters right at the beginning), and the unwitting girlfriend to the troubled husband. The unwitting girlfriend is also a friend to the crazy wife. And so this triangle simmers along through the book, with Louise (the girlfriend), making lousy decisions and becoming more and more embroiled in David and Adele's life.

And now to the ending, which I cannot spoil here. It is very tricky and clever (in it's very tricky way), and I kind of liked it. But, of course, it is quite "out there" in terms of story resolution. But it is unique if the reader takes a giant leap of faith. The writing is quite good and very engaging.

Book # 9 Different Class 2/5 stars

All these lovely reviews caused me to use a gift certificate I received to purchase this book. The only other Joanne Harris book I had read years ago was Chocolat, which I enjoyed.

I think the only reason I finished this was because I did purchase it. The writing is lovely, but I found it to be repetitive, boring (in it's repetitiveness) and quite confusing with the characters. The story, which seemed interminable, took forever to get to a less than thrilling ending, with a twist I really did not care about.

The chapters jump back and forth from the early 1980's to 2005. The chapters are narrated by two different individuals, Roy Straitley, a St. Oswald's Grammar School Latin master, and another individual/former student who addresses his chapters to "Mousey". All of the characters have nicknames, which contributed to my confusion.

Because of the stellar reviews, I would think others might enjoy this one more than I did.

Alecia wrote: "Book # 9 Different Class 2/5 stars

All these lovely reviews caused me to use a gift certificate I received to purchase this book. The only other Joanne Harris book I had read years..."

I hate when that happens, it's like what am I missing?! But chances are you aren't the *only* one who didn't like it. lol. I plan on reading the other 2 books in the Chocolat series but I don't know about this one.

You might like it, she's a good writer. But it wasn't for me.

Book #10 Widowmaker 3.5/5 stars

I read this book as a stand-alone, so I was not familiar with the Mike Bowditch character. I didn't feel as if this was a problem, although I'm sure it would be a bonus to follow the character and get to know him.

Mike Bowditch is a game warden in Maine, and this fact alone sets this fast-paced, well-written mystery apart from others in this genre. The descriptions of animals and environment are very interesting apart from the plot.

A woman in distress appeals to Mike, claiming her missing son, Adam, is Mike's half brother. Adam is a convicted sex offender and he has vanished from a brutal work camp around the Widowmaker Ski Resort. Mike proceeds to explore this case, compelled by thoughts of his deceased, estranged father and potential half brother. This takes him through the Maine wilderness and provides encounters with variety of odd and deviant characters.

Doiron writes in a very clear, concise and also evocative way. I would give this book 3.5 stars and would be interested in reading another entry in this series.

Book # 11 Desperation Road 4/5 stars

The characters in Desperation Road don't lead lives of quiet desperation, rather their lives are portrayed as quite vividly desperate.

Russell Gaines has just been released after serving 11 years for vehicular homicide. While hoping for some peace after his incarceration, he instead finds family members of the man he killed out for vengeance. He has returned to violent intent towards him, and also a changed landscape of all that he knew before he left.

Maben and her young daughter are walking and walking, homeless, exhausted and hungry. When they come upon a motel in a truck stop, they stop and Maben spends what little is left of her money on a motel room to rest for the night. Events on this night propel these characters to meet up.

Coincidences sometimes work and sometimes not. In this book, I found that this set of circumstances worked very well. The beautifully drawn, gritty characters ring with truth, and a certain grace is achieved. This is a story of people in very sad, grim circumstances. But the writing is so good, and these characters are full of humanity making this book a very good read.

Book # 12 Lucidity: A Thriller 3/5 stars

If I can use the word "genial" to describe a style of writing, I would use that description to explain the feeling I got from the portrayal of the two main characters in this book. I also tended to mix up the two characters somehow throughout the book. Since both men's personalities are likable and felt similar to me, the only way I sometimes could tell them apart was by their environment or supporting characters. I think stronger and more apparent differences between these two might have made these better and more interesting personality characterizations.

The two main characters, who finally get to work together near the end of this story, are Detective Hank Madden and (self described) "book doctor" Max Fremmer. This bicoastal story involves an unsolved cold case and a missing husband, and includes a woman shoved in front of a car. It weaves in and out, has some good characterizations and surprises, and was generally a pleasant read.

Book # 13 The Association of Small Bombs. 3/5 stars

This is a tough book to rate for me. I like what the author did, examining the effects of terrorism on victims and perpetrators. It is not an easy book to read, although the writing is quite clear and good.

Delhi is a place where "small" bombings detonate on a regular basis. These bombings are unheralded around the world, but have a devastating effect on the victims and the lives of their friends and families. This book focuses on two Delhi schoolboy brothers and their friend, who are sent on a mundane errand to the market. The two boys perish in the bombing, but their 12 year old friend, Mansoor, is injured and survives. I thought the beginning of this book was very powerful, examining the grief, emotions and guilt of the two sets of parents.

The rest of the book follows the lives of the dead boys parents, and the survivor, Mansoor. It also delves into the lives of the terrorists who set off the bomb and tries to explore their thoughts and feelings. Not everyone wants to read about terrorist's thoughts and feelings, so this is not for everyone. I found the middle part of the book to be a little meandering, and I was not sure about Mansoor's thought process at the end. But. although I did not love the book, I found it to be a very interesting read.

Book # 14 Jane Steele 3/5 stars

Reader, I loved the first half of this book, based on the story of Jane Eyre. The narrator, Jane Steele, is a strong and feisty voice, and the writing is quite good. And the difference here is that Jane murders her tormenters, usually for good reason.

Then, when Jane becomes a governess for handsome Charles Thornfield's adorable ward, I found that the story got bogged down. The romance aspect of the book became kind of trite and treacly, with lots of "ironic scowls", and square-jawed, muscled descriptions abounding, bringing to mind the romance novels I read long ago. There is also a lot of historical exposition slowing the story down. I slogged through the rest, disappointed that a book with such a good start gave way to a mediocre ending.

Alecia wrote: "Book # 14 Jane Steele 3/5 stars

Reader, I loved the first half of this book, based on the story of Jane Eyre. The narrator, Jane Steele, is a strong and feisty voice, and the writi..."

This is in my TBR. Sounds like it becomes old-fashioned the second half! That stinks!

I know, with such a good start, too.

Book # 15 The Mother's Promise 3.5/5 stars

The enjoyment and ease of reading this book warrants 4 stars, but I am giving it 3.5 stars. Like many Lifetime movies, it was a guilty pleasure. I can actually see this book become a Lifetime movie.

Sally Hepworth's writing is very good, and it drew me in immediately. But my main issue with the story and plot was that coincidences abound here. Yes, these coincidences help tie up the story line neatly, but I found that they made the plot a bit trite and pat.

The main subject matter is very serious, and is treated with respect and professionalism. Alice, a single mother, finds she has ovarian cancer and her teenage daughter, Zoe, has crippling social anxiety. The peripheral characters also have their own issues, which are dealt with in separate chapters. This all works to make the characters very human and believable. This is a high level of chick lit, but I have to give it 3.5 stars because of the too-pat fitting together of story lines.

Book # 16 What You Don't Know 2.5/5 stars

I am actually giving this book a 2.5 rating and rounding it up to a 3 because it is a good first effort. And JoAnn Chaney can write. But to say I "liked" it would be stretching it.

It is a dark tale about a serial killer, Jacky Seever, now on death row, and the aftermath of his deeds. New murders are occurring in the same manner as the original, and the victims are somehow all connected to Seever. The original team of detectives ( an extremely unlikeable pair) are back together to try and solve this, as is Sammie, who was the lead reporter on the case.

The problem I had with this novel was that it was unrelentingly dark and grim, and the characters were uniformly unlikeable. Usually this doesn't bother me, but in this case, the cloud of gloom, mixed with perversity and sociopathic behavior was just too much.

Book # 17 All Things Cease to Appear 4/5 stars

With the lack of quotation marks around conversation, I wasn't sure I would like this book. But as I got into reading it, I enjoyed it...a lot. I got used to the writing style, and appreciated the many layers Brundage used to write this novel.

The story starts off with a horrific crime. George Clare comes home from his job as a professor to find his wife killed (with an ax in her head, no less) in bed and their three year old daughter alone in the house with her. In a rather mundane telling of events, the reader sees the police get involved, the emergency room, the in-laws coming, and all the goings-on that would take place after such a gruesome crime. But they do not have enough evidence to arrest George, who, as the husband, is the main suspect.

The rest of the book goes back in time, moving around and fleshing out the different characters, adding dimensions and understanding to the story. The writing is very good. And, although it is a bit long, I really enjoyed the read.

It is a very dark tale, touched by ghostly presences, but it also has some bright, human characters amidst the darkness. I had some quibbles with the ending, but it was a difficult one to wrap up. All in all, I found it to be a different, well-written book.

Book # 18 The Widow of Wall Street 4/5 stars

This is a very readable, well-written re-telling of the Bernie Madoff story. I had read so much about him (plus had seen a TV mini-series) that I noticed Meyers stayed very close to the real story. She changed some of the characters and small facts ( for example, a son and a daughter instead of two sons), but otherwise stayed pretty close to the actual story. What she did do, very successfully, is flesh out her idea of what fictional characters would be thinking/doing in this kind of awful situation.

The wife, here named Phoebe, is a fully realized character. The reader has an understanding of how she could have married Jake, and then when her world fell apart, stand by him, at least for a while. Jake's character is also delved into, as much as a sociopathic individual can be. The children are peripheral until the end, but are dealt with understanding and empathy.

The story is a modern tragedy. And although the material was very familiar to me, I thought the author did an excellent job of making the players in this saga very real and human.

Book # 19 Anything Is Possible 5/5 stars

I am a huge fan of Elizabeth Strout's writing. With this latest book of interlocked short stories (not usually my choice of reading matter) my admiration and enjoyment continues.

I did read My Name Is Lucy Barton, and all of the stories in this book refer to her, and one has her in it as an adult character coming back to visit her siblings. But I don't think reading Lucy Barton is necessary to enjoy this. This book is a stand-alone. However, it does make me want to re-read Lucy Barton to hear about some of these characters, even peripherally.

This book reminds me most of Olive Kitteridge, in it's superb and simple exploration of human nature. There is pathos and complexity contained in deceptively simple, yet beautiful prose.

I loved it, and did not want it to end.

Book # 20 Everything You Want Me to Be 3.5/5 stars

I was torn between 3 and 4 stars with this review, so a I am giving it a solid 3.5. This is a twisty-turny mystery/whodunit. It is told from three POVs, the most interesting being the main character's, Hattie. We learn Hattie is murdered early in the book, so her chapters are tinged with poignancy, as the reader knows of her ultimate outcome.

Hattie is a teenager who is leading a hidden life, and she has an agenda. It appears that all of her day-to-day doings are an act of some sort. She is an actress, after all, soon to be starring in a local production of Macbeth. And she desperately wants to get out of her town and get to NYC.

I was very engaged while reading this, and I thought it was well done. The ending, however, seemed a bit off to me, hence the 3.5 rating. But for fans of this genre, this is an enjoyable, well-crafted read.

Book # 21 Prince Charles: The Passions and Paradoxes of an Improbable Life. 3.5/5stars

I am rounding up my 3.5 rating to a 4 because of the well-researched readability of this book. I read this author's book on Diana years ago, and enjoyed it. Taking on Prince Charles is another thing altogether. He is not the shining star that Diana was, but this book paints her rather negatively.

There was much about Charles's past that I already knew: his lonely schooldays, the distant upbringing with a beloved nanny instead of close parenting. The author tries to portray a warmer side to Charles's relationship to his father, Prince Philip. But the strict authoritarianism of father to son is still there. Charles led a sad life in boarding school, being bullied and feeling alone and sad. It's hard not to see the childhood forming the man.

The sections involving Diana are the most interesting and poignant, of course. Diana's introduction in this book is in a chapter entitled, "Diana Snares Her Man". The meaning, of course, is that Diana set her cap for this eligible prince, and presented herself in a way to attract and "ensnare" him. Charles was pressured into marrying, and encouraged to find a (for want of a better description) virginal young girl with an unsullied past. He was always in love with the unavailable Camilla, and never in love with Diana. These things many readers already know, but the story told in this book does paint Diana as quite unbalanced, and tries to show Charles in a more sympathetic light. I was not crazy about some of this, although there may be truth to it. It seemed to me that Charles was a difficult man to be with, considering his idiosyncrasies, and rather obsessive choice of hobbies. Those two were certainly not soul mates.

There is much in the book about his beliefs on architecture, the ecology, and more. When he finally gets back with Camilla, he clearly becomes a happier man, and then the work begins to try and make the British people and his sons and family accept her.

Now that he is closer to being the King, after his very long wait, there is an explanation of that process, how his rule would be different from his mother's, and what Camilla's place might be in that next event. This is an interesting, well-written book about a complicated man who would be king.

Alecia wrote: "Book # 21 Prince Charles: The Passions and Paradoxes of an Improbable Life. 3.5/5stars

I am rounding up my 3.5 rating to a 4 because of the well-researched readability of this book..."

I can't believe he's never once in his life dressed himself. That's insane.

Don't you think they may have made him dress himself in that mean/rustic boarding school they sent him to (where he was bullied)? Or do you think they sent valets with him as a young boy, to?

Alecia wrote: "Don't you think they may have made him dress himself in that mean/rustic boarding school they sent him to (where he was bullied)? Or do you think they sent valets with him as a young boy, to?"

They probably sent him valets there as well!

I wonder if the valets were bullied, also ;-)?

haha we'll never know!

Book # 22 The Scientology Murders: A Dead Detective Novel 2/5 stars

This was predictable and a very pedestrian read for me. I love the title, which is what drew me to it.

Harry Doyle is the "Dead Detective". His mother (who has a featured role in this book) attempted to kill him and his brother when they were boys. She succeeded with his young brother, but Harry was brought back to life. He now can hear the last words or thoughts of people who have just been murdered. That's the gimmick.

In this book, an enforcer for The Church of Scientology has gone rogue, and instead of disciplining church adherents, he is murdering them. The head of the church is inexplicably sheltering him. (view spoiler)[What is also totally inexplicable is why a supposedly smart, savvy woman, whom the church hires to help them, would allow this known psychopathic murderer to spend the night at her place at the end. Big surprise he killed her, also. (hide spoiler)] So very predictable, it was annoying.

Alecia wrote: "Book # 22 The Scientology Murders: A Dead Detective Novel 2/5 stars

This was predictable and a very pedestrian read for me. I love the title, which is what drew me to it.

Harry Do..."

Oh that's too bad because it sounds so interesting!