Reese's Book Club x Hello Sunshine discussion

Our September Book Pick is THE SECRETS WE KEPT by Laura Prescott.

It's on sale today! We can't wait for you to read this book with us.

What Reese says:

I am a big fan of historical fiction. If you are too, you’re going to love the September book pick! This month for Reeses Book Club, we are reading “The Secrets We Kept” by Lara Prescott! Set during the Cold War, it tells the story of secretaries turned spies who are tasked with smuggling “Doctor Zhivago” out of the USSR and into the hands of Russian citizens. You’ll get to know Sally and Irina, two spies who risk it all for love and adventure. Follow along at @reesesbookclub on Instagram, I can’t wait to hear what y’all think.

I love historical fiction, I’m going to buy the book.

I'm a fan of historical fiction as well, looking forward to this read in September!

I just put it on hold at my library! It's showing as on order woot!

this book is SOOOOOO amazing. It is incredibly well written and I"m sucked in - and I'm not even finished reading yet. WOW!!!

I couldn’t put it down! Read it in two days! Incredibly well written, the author really puts you in the scene and I felt like I knew each character personally. I have to admit that without the accompanying audio book I wouldn’t have had a clue how to pronounce some of the names and places 😆

Do you all buy each book? I can never grab the book at the library in time to read for the month. I w!ant to read with the group. I will buy if necessary. But was wondering what you all do? I pretty new to the group. I love all the discussion! You guys are great!

Hi Candace,

I just joined the group but went ahead and ordered the audio book. I have a 40-45 minute commute each way to and from work and find this the easiest way to enjoy a book. But yes, it is pricey. If you join Audible I think its $14.95 per month and you get 1 free book plus some Audible Originals. A pretty good deal if you listen a lot. I can spend that on one lunch. Anyway, hope this helps!

Mary in Charlotte, NC :)

I love WWII books! I can't wait to read this!

Candace wrote: "Do you all buy each book? I can never grab the book at the library in time to read for the month. I w!ant to read with the group. I will buy if necessary. But was wondering what you all do? I prett..."

I typically do the audible version of the Hello Sunshine books during my commute. I belong to a neighborhood book group and sometimes I just don't have enough time sit down and read two in a month. With my audible subscription I get the one credit each month, so it's perfect for this selection.

I got lucky and I already had it on hold before it came out so I was first at my library to get it. I have been lucky on 2 picks like that so I guess I have similar tastes as Reese. i do go through new releases for every month and put them on hold my my library as soon as i can. i have one that comes out in October already on hold, I hope it will be a Reese pick too.

Meh... I think it could have been a great story. Unfortunately, I really didn’t like any of the characters except for Teddy. I was miffed by the ending of the book because it seemed as if the author just spent so much time stuffing so much in that when she got near the end she just ran out of steam.

I finally got my copy! Can’t wait to get into discussions. I also enjoy history as I see several of y’all put in your posts. Read on 😊

I enjoyed this book! So glad Reese's book club put it on my radar!

I know I'm late to the game on this one but just got my copy and fixing to start it tomorrow! I've heard only good things about it so can't wait to dive into it.

I agree that I am grateful that Reese put this on our radar. I loved it so very much. I loved Dr. Z and all things Russian...because my grandparent immigrated as “Germans from Russia” in 1905ish. So this book was so very satisfying for me.

Peekaboo wrote: "Meh... I think it could have been a great story. Unfortunately, I really didn’t like any of the characters except for Teddy. I was miffed by the ending of the book because it seemed as if the autho..."

I agree. It felt like she wasn't sure exactly how to end it knowing she had to weave together the truth of what happened to Olga and her daughter as well as the fictional characters she'd created, so she sat on it for awhile and then just threw together a tidy little ending that more or less wrapped things up but without much emotional connection.

That being said I really enjoyed the writing and the story, just felt the ending lacked the depth that carried the majority of the story.

I loved it.

Candace wrote: "Peekaboo wrote: "Meh... I think it could have been a great story. Unfortunately, I really didn’t like any of the characters except for Teddy. I was miffed by the ending of the book because it seeme..."

I agree with both of you. I was listening to the audible version and finished it this morning on my way to work. I just sat in the car for a bit thinking, "What the heck...?" It was so detailed and then the ending just fizzled. And I had a hard time liking the characters, too. I didn't even care for Teddy that much. He didn't really get enough "airplay" for me to think about him very much. All in all it just gets 3 stars from me--and that is because of the narration. I was expecting SO much more...

I loved this book! I couldn't put it down. I can't wait for next month's pick!

I absolutely loved this book. I love all things Zhivago, the book and the film. My favorite character is Olga who is the very essence of Lara. I thought it was rich in detail and history as I do remember the Cold War. I gave it 5 stars on Goodreads.

Unfortunately, I didn't care for this book at all. I wasn't able to read it for long periods of time, I was only able to do a few pages here and there so maybe that was the problem. I found it very hard to get into and I wasn't really interested in the majority of it. When it comes to books that alternate between people, I always have a hard time keeping people straight too. I really wanted to love this book as I am a huge historical fiction fan, but it wasn't until the last time 80-100 pages that I started to enjoy it. The only portion I enjoyed reading about in this book was Sally and her relationship with Irina. Olga/Pasternak's story had no appeal to me.

Wow
This is more than i expected
Waiting for next to pick up

In college, during the early 70s I took a wonderful course on Russian Lit. The second semester covered books like “Dr. Zhivago” still from the translated Italian and the first copies of
“The Master and Margarita “ by Bulgokov. This club’s selected reading really came close to our instructor’s fears for the writers left in then Communist Russia. The story is real, to this ex-student and I applaud his reading group for the choice!

Loved this book!

My reading and even TV watching have been having a common thread, even with different time periods. Starting with "A Gentleman in Moscow" to "The Secrets We Kept", and I've been binging on "The Americans". I've enjoyed them all. I do agree the ending could have been better. Now I want to read Dr. Zhivago (actually listen to on audio book).

I agree!!

this books sounds interesting got to check it out