Reader’s Corner

Songbird76

Well-Known Member
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I finished Emily Henry’s new book yesterday, and LOVED it! It may be recency bias, but I think this one may be my favorite of hers.
I haven't started it yet. I've had so many other things to get done that I haven't read in the last few days. And I found a notebook again that my mom wrote in about her childhood and such, and I've been reading that, and writing my own reflections down. I might start reading this today though....maybe.
 

lisak09

Well-Known Member
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Just finished this. It's the eight book in the "Romantic Escapes" series which are all set in different cities/places around the world. I haven't read any of the others, I only read this one because it's set in Ireland but I really enjoyed it so I think I will read the others. The first one is The Little Cafe in Copenhagen. I'll add it to my to read list.
 

Tiggerish

Resident Redhead
Premium Member
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Just finished this. It's the eight book in the "Romantic Escapes" series which are all set in different cities/places around the world. I haven't read any of the others, I only read this one because it's set in Ireland but I really enjoyed it so I think I will read the others. The first one is The Little Cafe in Copenhagen. I'll add it to my to read list.
I've read many of them and they are all very enjoyable. I read the Ireland one twice. ;) And the Iceland one, it's great too!
 

Songbird76

Well-Known Member
View attachment 856649
Just finished this. It's the eight book in the "Romantic Escapes" series which are all set in different cities/places around the world. I haven't read any of the others, I only read this one because it's set in Ireland but I really enjoyed it so I think I will read the others. The first one is The Little Cafe in Copenhagen. I'll add it to my to read list.
Let us know what you think...it's an interesting concept, romantic escapes all around the world. I'll have to look into it!
 

Songbird76

Well-Known Member
I just finished Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry. I liked it, but it's not my favorite of hers. Unpopular opinion, but I really liked People We Meet on Vacation. I know a lot of people didn't like that one, but I relate to the characters and I just thought it was really sweet. I also loved Book Lovers, so those are my two favorites of hers.
 

Songbird76

Well-Known Member
Just finished Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson for book club. It was ok, but not my favorite. Supposedly he wrote it because he watched The Princess Bride with his family and his wife said it was too bad Buttercup didn't really get to do anything but be rescued, so he wrote this story as kind of like a...what would it have looked like if Buttercup had gone out looking for Wesley rather than just assuming he died. But I did not get that vibe from the book at all, unfortunately. It's a relatively easy read, so it doesn't take a huge amount of time.

 

k8einwdw

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Just finished “The Breakaway” by Jennifer Weiner last night.

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I liked this one, but I can’t say I loved it. It involved the
cheating
trope, which I am never a fan of. I wanted to love and relate to the main character, but honestly I found her to be unlikeable for much of the book. 😕
 

ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
Just finished Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson for book club. It was ok, but not my favorite. Supposedly he wrote it because he watched The Princess Bride with his family and his wife said it was too bad Buttercup didn't really get to do anything but be rescued, so he wrote this story as kind of like a...what would it have looked like if Buttercup had gone out looking for Wesley rather than just assuming he died. But I did not get that vibe from the book at all, unfortunately. It's a relatively easy read, so it doesn't take a huge amount of time.


I tried reading that book, it was highly recommended by a friend who usually likes the same books as me. But I just couldn't get into it. I read about 100 pages but just couldn't go any further. Kudos to your for finishing it.
 

ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
Just finished “The Breakaway” by Jennifer Weiner last night.

View attachment 857715

I liked this one, but I can’t say I loved it. It involved the
cheating
trope, which I am never a fan of. I wanted to love and relate to the main character, but honestly I found her to be unlikeable for much of the book. 😕

The first couple of Jennifer Weiner's books were great and now it is kind of hit and miss. I just read her new one, "The Griffin Sister's Greatest Hits", it is worth a read. It's not a definite hit but not a big miss either. It seems like she needs to write a book where at least one female protagonist is either totally unlikeable or partially unlikeable. (Or maybe I'm a negative Nellie :))
 

Songbird76

Well-Known Member
I tried reading that book, it was highly recommended by a friend who usually likes the same books as me. But I just couldn't get into it. I read about 100 pages but just couldn't go any further. Kudos to your for finishing it.
Yeah, it was ok, but it's not one I'm likely to reread, and it hasn't made me want to read his other books. It was fine for book club, but definitely not one I'd have chosen myself. I didn't really like the characters.
 

lisak09

Well-Known Member
Screenshot_20250512-175234_Goodreads.jpgScreenshot_20250512-175246_Goodreads.jpg
My last reads. A very enjoyable series about a detective inspector and her team solving murders (involving some might say a disproportionate amount of serial killers)!

I was racing to finish as we're heading to Disneyland Paris tomorrow for a few days and I prefer less murder books on my holidays!
I've downloaded T.J Klune's "Somewhere Beyond The Sea" and Emily Henry's new book "Great Big Beautiful Life" for the trip. Although realistically I doubt I'll get through both, I'm thinking of starting with the T.J Klune one....
 

Songbird76

Well-Known Member
I just finished both Rachel Jeffs' book, Breaking Free and her brother Ammon Jeffs' book Texas Raid. Both of the authors are former members of the FLDS church and they are children of the FLDS leader Warren Jeffs. I'm going to start Charlene Jeffs' book, Tell Your Heart to Beat Again probably today. I've been interested in these stories for years now and there was a Netflix documentary series called Keep Sweet: pray and obey that was really interesting and it led me to other interviews and former members' stories. Obviously, this is all non-fiction, so I get that it's not for everyone, but I'm particularly interested in religious cult-like communities and those who have left them. I read Daughter of Gloriavale by Lilia Tarawa a few years ago, and it's about a group in New Zealand that is a similar very strict community where TV, books, movies, music are not allowed, etc. And I read Megan Phelps-roper's book Unfollow, and found that one really fascinating, because she talked about how her now-husband challenged her beliefs and how that led her out of the church. They had never met, but they played a game online....I don't remember if it was chess, or scrabble, or what, but as they played, they talked about her views, and he would challenge them and eventually it got her to change her thinking in a way that the more combative protesters never could. It was really fun to read about. Anyway, it's not for everyone, but if you like some non-fiction, there are TONS of books written by former members of these communities. I know a few of us read Educated by Tara Westover, and that's a similar situation and also a really interesting read.

I will say that Ammon's book was a bit difficult to follow at times. He writes in short bursts and there's not always a real flow to his stories and every once in a while he throws in a short memory that doesn't seem to relate to the anecdote he's sharing, but I still enjoyed the book overall.


 

Songbird76

Well-Known Member
I tried reading that book, it was highly recommended by a friend who usually likes the same books as me. But I just couldn't get into it. I read about 100 pages but just couldn't go any further. Kudos to your for finishing it.
E gave up on it, too. She got to the part where Tress gets onto the other boat and is scrubbing floors and just couldn't get into it. We have bookclub tonight to discuss it. Im curious to know others' opinions of it.
 

Songbird76

Well-Known Member
I finished Tell Your Heart to Eat Again by Charlene Jeff's. It's another FLDS memoir and it's considerably longer than the others I read. Her experience was horrific in a different way. Rachel and Ammon are both children of Warren Jeffs where Charlene was married to Warren's brother Lyle, who also went to prison, but for welfare fraud. Charlene is also a half sister to the Wall girls who eventually led to Warren's prison sentence. (Rebecca and Elissa) Charlene was "the basement wife", which is basically the lowest ranking wife, who always ends up in the basement, even though she was his first wife and the only one legally married to him. Anyway, it's very heavy and could be very triggering to anyone who who has experienced abuse. (Rachel and Ammon were also abused, but Charlene goes more into detail and the abuse. It's abuse in several forms... Financial, mental, etc and pretty much every memoir I've read from former members experienced the same abuse.

I'm reading pride and prejudice again for a bit of cleansing before I move on.
 

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