Reader’s Corner

[Songbird76]

I finished The Book of Two Ways by Jodi Picoult. I really liked it. It was interesting with all the Egyptology. Sometimes I feel like I missed my calling. I feel like I would have loved something like Athropology or Archeology, but I wasn't really introduced to that kind of thing when I was younger. I love all the series from National Geographic about lost worlds and ancient cultures, so this book was right up my alley with that kind of thing. I'm not really sure I "got" the ending, though, but I liked it anyway.
It's basically centered around the Egyptian belief in the afterlife and how there are two ways to get to the final destination: water or land. Both bring you to the same place, but the journey, the people, and the obstacles will be different. The main character was a grad student studying the book of two ways when her mother got sick and she left the dig to go take care of her. That decision changes her life completely. And then she has to make a decision about whether to return to her old life or to continue on the path she's on.

There's a lot of discussion of different fields of science...a lot of Physics, some biology, but it's all explained. A lot of the concepts are things my daughter has already explained to me because of her major. She has learned a lot of the ideas that were talked about, so I already had a bit of a foundation for some of it, but I don't think it's necessary to understanding the book. It's just background info. But if sceince bores you, it's probably not your thing. I'm fascinated by it, I'm just not particularly good at it, but I really liked what was explained in the book. Mostly concepts of parallel timelines/universes.

Anyway, if you love Egyptian history, it's pretty interesting, and I'd recommend it.

 

[Songbird76]

I finished An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green. It was really good, but kind of leaves some things unknown, so now I'm reading the sequel: A beautifully Foolish Endeavor. I just started it last night, so I'm not very far yet, but I like it so far.

The first book is basically a sci-fi lite book...it's sci-fi, but not heavy on the sci-fi elements. Out of the blue, 64 statues appear in cities all over the world. No one knows where they came from, how they got there, what the purpose is. They are just there. But they don't seem to be made from elements that occur naturally on earth. Are they from another planet? Are they a message? Is it a threat or a peace offering? No one knows. And then people all start having the exact same dream. People all over the world work together to solve puzzles, trying to figure out what these statues are and why they appeared, and the is the main character somehow chosen as a sort of liason? Was she given powers or is she just a regular person who happened to be the first person to take interest in the statues? Is she a traitor to the world? Or are these statues non-threatening beings just observing?

And of course, people are divided. Some think the statues, if they were sent by aliens, must be trying to conquer earth and must therefore be destroyed. But so far, the statues haven't done anything, so other people think that if they wanted to hurt people, they would have already done it. They must be peaceful. Now there's a race to complete all the puzzles in the dream and prove who was right about these strange statues.

Book 2 starts where book 1 leaves off, but I don't want to spoil it in case anyone wants to read it.

An Absolutely Remarkable Thing (The Carls, #1)

"In his much-anticipated debut novel, Hank Green--cocre…

www.goodreads.com

 

[k8einwdw]

My first book of 2026 was “Before the coffee gets cold” by Toshikazu Kawaguchi. This was a quick read, I finished it in about three hours over the course of two nights. It is about a cafe in Tokyo where patrons can go back in time to meet with someone from their past, but they can only stay until their coffee gets cold. The book is split up between four chapters, each about one person who time travels in the cafe. This is an easy read, and I really enjoyed it!

 

[Songbird76]

I finished A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor by Hank Green, the sequel to An Absolutely Remarkable Thing. I really liked it, but it is much more sci-fi-y than the first one was. It was still good. Saying anything about the plot would kind of spoil things from the first book, so I won't go into that.

I'm re-reading Pride and Prejudice, which is my go-to comfort book when I need to escape real life. Sometimes I read it for fun, but this has been a doozy of a week. My Mother-in-law died on Saturday, and then my father-in-law ended up in the hospital the next day with pneumonia and influenza. They each had a room in the nursing home, so we've spent the last week juggling funeral plans, hospital visits, cleaning out mom's room, and cleaning dad's room for when he was released from the hospital, hopefully in time for the funeral. We got everything done this afternoon and my father-in-law was released this afternoon, so can spend the night in his own place and the funeral is tomorrow. But I haven't had much time for reading, and what I have had, I didn't want to read anything heavy or sad. So I decided to go with Pride and Prejudice because it's my favorite and it always makes me feel better.

 

[Minnesota disney fan]

I finished The Book of Two Ways by Jodi Picoult. I really liked it. It was interesting with all the Egyptology. Sometimes I feel like I missed my calling. I feel like I would have loved something like Athropology or Archeology, but I wasn't really introduced to that kind of thing when I was younger. I love all the series from National Geographic about lost worlds and ancient cultures, so this book was right up my alley with that kind of thing. I'm not really sure I "got" the ending, though, but I liked it anyway.
It's basically centered around the Egyptian belief in the afterlife and how there are two ways to get to the final destination: water or land. Both bring you to the same place, but the journey, the people, and the obstacles will be different. The main character was a grad student studying the book of two ways when her mother got sick and she left the dig to go take care of her. That decision changes her life completely. And then she has to make a decision about whether to return to her old life or to continue on the path she's on.

There's a lot of discussion of different fields of science...a lot of Physics, some biology, but it's all explained. A lot of the concepts are things my daughter has already explained to me because of her major. She has learned a lot of the ideas that were talked about, so I already had a bit of a foundation for some of it, but I don't think it's necessary to understanding the book. It's just background info. But if sceince bores you, it's probably not your thing. I'm fascinated by it, I'm just not particularly good at it, but I really liked what was explained in the book. Mostly concepts of parallel timelines/universes.

Anyway, if you love Egyptian history, it's pretty interesting, and I'd recommend it.

Songbird: Thanks for that report on The Book of Two Ways.
It is right up my alley of what I like to read about, so I am going to order one right away. We don't have a bookstore anymore in our town, so the supply of books is pretty limited.
Do you have any recommendations for other books like this ? You can just DM me if you want.

 

[Minnesota disney fan]

I finished An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green. It was really good, but kind of leaves some things unknown, so now I'm reading the sequel: A beautifully Foolish Endeavor. I just started it last night, so I'm not very far yet, but I like it so far.

The first book is basically a sci-fi lite book...it's sci-fi, but not heavy on the sci-fi elements. Out of the blue, 64 statues appear in cities all over the world. No one knows where they came from, how they got there, what the purpose is. They are just there. But they don't seem to be made from elements that occur naturally on earth. Are they from another planet? Are they a message? Is it a threat or a peace offering? No one knows. And then people all start having the exact same dream. People all over the world work together to solve puzzles, trying to figure out what these statues are and why they appeared, and the is the main character somehow chosen as a sort of liason? Was she given powers or is she just a regular person who happened to be the first person to take interest in the statues? Is she a traitor to the world? Or are these statues non-threatening beings just observing?

And of course, people are divided. Some think the statues, if they were sent by aliens, must be trying to conquer earth and must therefore be destroyed. But so far, the statues haven't done anything, so other people think that if they wanted to hurt people, they would have already done it. They must be peaceful. Now there's a race to complete all the puzzles in the dream and prove who was right about these strange statues.

Book 2 starts where book 1 leaves off, but I don't want to spoil it in case anyone wants to read it.

An Absolutely Remarkable Thing (The Carls, #1)

"In his much-anticipated debut novel, Hank Green--cocre…

www.goodreads.com

This kind of reminds me of those metal looking structures that have appeared all over in the wild areas. They look like thin shiny metal slabs of metal. I know that is repeating, but don't know how to describe them.

 

[Minnesota disney fan]

I finished A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor by Hank Green, the sequel to An Absolutely Remarkable Thing. I really liked it, but it is much more sci-fi-y than the first one was. It was still good. Saying anything about the plot would kind of spoil things from the first book, so I won't go into that.

I'm re-reading Pride and Prejudice, which is my go-to comfort book when I need to escape real life. Sometimes I read it for fun, but this has been a doozy of a week. My Mother-in-law died on Saturday, and then my father-in-law ended up in the hospital the next day with pneumonia and influenza. They each had a room in the nursing home, so we've spent the last week juggling funeral plans, hospital visits, cleaning out mom's room, and cleaning dad's room for when he was released from the hospital, hopefully in time for the funeral. We got everything done this afternoon and my father-in-law was released this afternoon, so can spend the night in his own place and the funeral is tomorrow. But I haven't had much time for reading, and what I have had, I didn't want to read anything heavy or sad. So I decided to go with Pride and Prejudice because it's my favorite and it always makes me feel better.

I'm so sorry to hear o f your MIL's passing and all that you have been going through. I know how much time and effort it takes to take care of an elderly loved one, even one in a nursing home.

 

[Minnesota disney fan]

Songbird: Thanks for that report on The Book of Two Ways.
It is right up my alley of what I like to read about, so I am going to order one right away. We don't have a bookstore anymore in our town, so the supply of books is pretty limited.
Do you have any recommendations for other books like this ? You can just DM me if you want.

I just received my copy of The Book of Two WAys. I only managed to read the first small chapter, because of a very busy weekend and week! The first chapter alone has held my attention. Can't wait for a chance to read the rest of the book
I might become a Jodi Picoult fan (I have never read her books before).

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

I just received my copy of The Book of Two WAys. I only managed to read the first small chapter, because of a very busy weekend and week! The first chapter alone has held my attention. Can't wait for a chance to read the rest of the book
I might become a Jodi Picoult fan (I have never read her books before).

I don't think I have read that book of hers but I have enjoyed many Jodi Picoult books.

 

[Songbird76]

I just received my copy of The Book of Two WAys. I only managed to read the first small chapter, because of a very busy weekend and week! The first chapter alone has held my attention. Can't wait for a chance to read the rest of the book
I might become a Jodi Picoult fan (I have never read her books before).

I really like her....I don't think I've read a single book of hers that I haven't liked. A lot of hers are centered more around court proceedings, but this one wasn't. I know some people really don't like that, but I like them a lot. I'm pretty eclectic in my reading. I don't like erotica, and I can't handle horror/thriller, but I like pretty much anything else. I'm not huge on sci-fi that involves a lot of weapons and alien invasions, but I don't mind a bit of it. I'm not likely to ever read star wars or star trek or anything like that, but I do like time travel, like the Outlander series. But I read a lot of historical fiction, romance, crime suspense, non-fiction, and some fantasy.

What genres do you usually read?

 

[Minnesota disney fan]

I really like her....I don't think I've read a single book of hers that I haven't liked. A lot of hers are centered more around court proceedings, but this one wasn't. I know some people really don't like that, but I like them a lot. I'm pretty eclectic in my reading. I don't like erotica, and I can't handle horror/thriller, but I like pretty much anything else. I'm not huge on sci-fi that involves a lot of weapons and alien invasions, but I don't mind a bit of it. I'm not likely to ever read star wars or star trek or anything like that, but I do like time travel, like the Outlander series. But I read a lot of historical fiction, romance, crime suspense, non-fiction, and some fantasy.

What genres do you usually read?

Wow, you've about covered all of the areas, lol.
I get hooked on one author and I read all they have ever written. I have the complete Harry Potter series. I have all that these authors have written (I think): Suzanne Brockman, The Pendergast series by Preston and Child (it's a different twist on an FBI agent who solves crimes the unconventional way), He also delves into some sci-fi strange twists on his investigations.
I like slightly quirky, not-by-the-book PI's. Most of these I list are quirky and can get into strange situations.
Robert Crais is another PI who is normal but has a quirky sidekick. They get into lots of dangerous stuff.
Janet Evanoch who is definitely Not a PI, lol, but I love her fun to read books.
Karin Slaughter who writes books with a lead PI who is not at all like a "normal" PI. good series
Faye and Jonathon Kellerman - good "normal" PI situations and adventures.
Dennis Lehane: He wrote the great thriller: Shutter Island, and he also writes about a pair of PI's.
I guess I'm in a rut here, lol, but I love these quirky characters.
Also, James Patterson (without all his assistant writers), Alex Cross series.
I have ventured out of the PI area.
Have you ever read anything by Pat Conroy? He wrote the Prince of Tides, South of Broadway. and more. He is the most poetic, well versed writer I have ever read. His writing is mesmerizing. You have to read it to see what I mean. His first one I read was The Great Santini, but I would recommend the others first.

I didn't mean to write a book, but I got to looking at my collections and I guess I have quite a few, LOL.
If I love an author I do buy all they have written. I read them over and over and they are never old. I hope you try one of these if you are interested in mysteries with quirky individuals.

 

[Minnesota disney fan]

I don't think I have read that book of hers but I have enjoyed many Jodi Picoult books.

I had just started that book and it's got me hooked. I will probably try more of her books. Always on the lookout for other good authors.

 

[Tiggerish]

@Minnesota disney fan, I've really enjoyed the mysteries of Katherine Hall Page's "Faith Fairchild" series. It's quirky in that the "detective"is a chef who's married to a minister, so they might be a bit cosy for you, although they definitely have their alarming moments

They can often be found "on sale" from Kindle, I haven't paid more than $6 for any of the stories, and I have 24 of the 26-book series. They don't have to be read in order, although naturally it flows better that way, but I have read them as I bought them, and they are all enjoyable.

 

[Minnesota disney fan]

@Minnesota disney fan, I've really enjoyed the mysteries of Katherine Hall Page's "Faith Fairchild" series. It's quirky in that the "detective"is a chef who's married to a minister, so they might be a bit cosy for you, although they definitely have their alarming moments

They can often be found "on sale" from Kindle, I haven't paid more than $6 for any of the stories, and I have 24 of the 26-book series. They don't have to be read in order, although naturally it flows better that way, but I have read them as I bought them, and they are all enjoyable.

View attachment 902591

They sound good. I will give one a try Thanks

 

[Songbird76]

Wow, you've about covered all of the areas, lol.
I get hooked on one author and I read all they have ever written. I have the complete Harry Potter series. I have all that these authors have written (I think): Suzanne Brockman, The Pendergast series by Preston and Child (it's a different twist on an FBI agent who solves crimes the unconventional way), He also delves into some sci-fi strange twists on his investigations.
I like slightly quirky, not-by-the-book PI's. Most of these I list are quirky and can get into strange situations.
Robert Crais is another PI who is normal but has a quirky sidekick. They get into lots of dangerous stuff.
Janet Evanoch who is definitely Not a PI, lol, but I love her fun to read books.
Karin Slaughter who writes books with a lead PI who is not at all like a "normal" PI. good series
Faye and Jonathon Kellerman - good "normal" PI situations and adventures.
Dennis Lehane: He wrote the great thriller: Shutter Island, and he also writes about a pair of PI's.
I guess I'm in a rut here, lol, but I love these quirky characters.
Also, James Patterson (without all his assistant writers), Alex Cross series.
I have ventured out of the PI area.
Have you ever read anything by Pat Conroy? He wrote the Prince of Tides, South of Broadway. and more. He is the most poetic, well versed writer I have ever read. His writing is mesmerizing. You have to read it to see what I mean. His first one I read was The Great Santini, but I would recommend the others first.

I didn't mean to write a book, but I got to looking at my collections and I guess I have quite a few, LOL.
If I love an author I do buy all they have written. I read them over and over and they are never old. I hope you try one of these if you are interested in mysteries with quirky individuals.

Oh, I've read the Harry Potter books about 15 times. I got them all on release day since book 3 I think. I have heard of the Pendergast series, but I haven't read it...I might have to look into those. I've got a few Janet Evanovich books, but I'm not sure if I've read them yet...I'll have to look. If you enjoy the PI/crime books, you might like some Nora Roberts, particularly the ones she wrote as JD Robb. Those were a bit too graphic for me and gave me nightmares, so I only read the first 5 or so. But I love her regular books written under her own name. She has some that are just romance, but some that are more romance with crime/suspense, and a few with fantasy/paranormal themes. I love her 3 sisters Island trilogy about witches, and the In the Garden trilogy about a ghost. And I love the Chronicles of the One, which was CREEPY because I read it in 2020 just as the pandemic was starting, and the whole series is about a pandemic that kills off a majority of the world and they can't seem to stop it, but certain people seem immune. And then people start getting powers....like they suddenly grow wings and can do magic, or they can fly, etc. And there's a light side of magic and a dark side, and the light has to defeat the dark.

I also like Maeve Binchy. Her books are all separate...not series, but certain characters and storylines appear in multiple books, like the owners of the restaurant Quentins, or the Italian teacher. So a lot of the characters are familiar and you can see what's happening in their lives even though they are only side characters. It's fun.

If you like historical fiction (which I LOVE) The Outlander series is great, but the books are huge. And I also like Phillipa Gregory, but her books tend to be pretty long as well, and some can be a bit repetitive. I didn't really like The Queen's Fool, but I've enjoyed all her others I've read.

Sandra Brown has some good ones...she's a lot like Nora Roberts....some just romance, and some crime/suspence romance ones.

And I read a lot of classics. Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters, Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, etc.

I have never read Pat Conroy...I might have to look into that as well, thanks!

 

[Songbird76]

Oh forgot to mention, I beta read for a friend of mine who finally got published a couple of years ago. She's only got a few out right now. It's a series set in a Dublin Drag club and it's murder suspense. The main character is friends with all the Drag Queens and she just happens to be kind of nosy and manages to solve the murders that the bumbling policemen can't solve or don't particularly want to.

And I forgot YA....I really like a lot of YA...John Green is always good, and I really liked his brother Hank's two books. I've enjoyed Erin Hahn's books, but she is strictly romance, and I know not everyone likes that. She's a good friend of my cousins, so I bought them to support her, but I've really liked them. I'm trying to think of more YA authors I've liked. I'll have to think on it. I do tend to like series so I can live a bit longer in that world once I've entered it. Libba Bray....I liked her Gemma Doyle series. And my guilty pleasure is Stephanie Meyers, but I know a lot of people don't like her books.

 

[Minnesota disney fan]

Oh forgot to mention, I beta read for a friend of mine who finally got published a couple of years ago. She's only got a few out right now. It's a series set in a Dublin Drag club and it's murder suspense. The main character is friends with all the Drag Queens and she just happens to be kind of nosy and manages to solve the murders that the bumbling policemen can't solve or don't particularly want to.

And I forgot YA....I really like a lot of YA...John Green is always good, and I really liked his brother Hank's two books. I've enjoyed Erin Hahn's books, but she is strictly romance, and I know not everyone likes that. She's a good friend of my cousins, so I bought them to support her, but I've really liked them. I'm trying to think of more YA authors I've liked. I'll have to think on it. I do tend to like series so I can live a bit longer in that world once I've entered it. Libba Bray....I liked her Gemma Doyle series. And my guilty pleasure is Stephanie Meyers, but I know a lot of people don't like her books.

Thank you for all the different authors that you read! I will definitely try some of them out. I admit I am not a big romance novel fan. I like some romance mixed in with the quirkiness of the detectives. I love Stephanie Meyers vampire books. I have all of them too. It's so nice to hear what others are reading and gives me a lot of ideas

 

[Songbird76]

Thank you for all the different authors that you read! I will definitely try some of them out. I admit I am not a big romance novel fan. I like some romance mixed in with the quirkiness of the detectives. I love Stephanie Meyers vampire books. I have all of them too. It's so nice to hear what others are reading and gives me a lot of ideas

Twilight is another of my go-tos when I'm feeling stressed and need something fluffy. Harry Potter is another, Nora Roberts, and then Jane Austen of course. Did you ever read The Host by Stephenie Meyer? It starts off really slow and it's kind of hard to get into, but once you get into it, it's fascinating. The movie didn't do it justice....it was sooooo rushed and you couldn't tell what was happening or why. I had already read the book more than once when the movie came out and I was so disappointed in the movie, and I heard other people in the theater asking "What's that about?" or "What just happened?". People were really confused, and at the end, during the credits, it must have said something about "Based on the best-selling novel by Stephenie Meyer" or something because I heard a few people saying "Oh....there's a book? I didn't know it was a book!" And there are a lot of people who prefer watching the movies to reading the books and they miss SO much. The Hunger Games was the same way. The books gave SO much more detail and background and explained everything that was happening, so everyone was confused watching the movies because they had no idea what was going on.

 

[Minnesota disney fan]

Twilight is another of my go-tos when I'm feeling stressed and need something fluffy. Harry Potter is another, Nora Roberts, and then Jane Austen of course. Did you ever read The Host by Stephenie Meyer? It starts off really slow and it's kind of hard to get into, but once you get into it, it's fascinating. The movie didn't do it justice....it was sooooo rushed and you couldn't tell what was happening or why. I had already read the book more than once when the movie came out and I was so disappointed in the movie, and I heard other people in the theater asking "What's that about?" or "What just happened?". People were really confused, and at the end, during the credits, it must have said something about "Based on the best-selling novel by Stephenie Meyer" or something because I heard a few people saying "Oh....there's a book? I didn't know it was a book!" And there are a lot of people who prefer watching the movies to reading the books and they miss SO much. The Hunger Games was the same way. The books gave SO much more detail and background and explained everything that was happening, so everyone was confused watching the movies because they had no idea what was going on.

No, I've not read "The Host" by Stephanie Meyer. I'll put it on my list though. I also didn't know there are Hunger Games books either BTW, I just found a new thrift store and bought 8 books and there were many more I will buy later on. It felt like I found a gold mine, lol. The books were some I was missing from the authors I mentioned. Can't wait to start reading them.

 

[Songbird76]

No, I've not read "The Host" by Stephanie Meyer. I'll put it on my list though. I also didn't know there are Hunger Games books either BTW, I just found a new thrift store and bought 8 books and there were many more I will buy later on. It felt like I found a gold mine, lol. The books were some I was missing from the authors I mentioned. Can't wait to start reading them.

The Hunger Games books are by Suzanne Collins. They were pretty popular about...15 years ago? Maybe a little less? But they are very good if you like Dystopian books. My daughter loves Dystopian fiction...The Handmaids Tale, 1984, etc, but she hasn't read The Hunger Games yet.