2FAMeulstee
Happy new thread, Lynda!
3PaulCranswick
Happy new thread, Lynda. Great to see you chugging along nicely this year on your thread. xx
4figsfromthistle
Happy new one!
5PlatinumWarlock
Happy new thread, Lynda!
6LyndaInOregon
#96 - Scorched, Cam Torrens
Beta read
Beta read
7LyndaInOregon
#97 - The Greatest Man in Cedar Hole, Stephanie Doyon
2.5 stars
Almost DNF'd this several times. The story of a boyhood rivalry that extends through the rest of their lives (and beyond) in a small midwestern town never really takes off.
2.5 stars
Almost DNF'd this several times. The story of a boyhood rivalry that extends through the rest of their lives (and beyond) in a small midwestern town never really takes off.
8LyndaInOregon
#98 - One of Us Is Gone, Shauntel Anette
2.5 stars - LTER
This one just never grabbed me, possibly because I'm about as far from the main characters demographically as it's possible to be. Designed to be a mystery novel about the disappearance of a young college woman, there's way too much padding here and a cripplingly slow pace. If you're really interested, the full review is here.
2.5 stars - LTER
This one just never grabbed me, possibly because I'm about as far from the main characters demographically as it's possible to be. Designed to be a mystery novel about the disappearance of a young college woman, there's way too much padding here and a cripplingly slow pace. If you're really interested, the full review is here.
9figsfromthistle
>7 LyndaInOregon: >8 LyndaInOregon: Ouch! Hopefully your next read is much better!
10LyndaInOregon
>9 figsfromthistle: I know! August was a great month for me, but September is not looking too good so far!
12LyndaInOregon
#99 - The Joy of Yarn, Marie Greene
5 stars
This one isn't linking in Touchstones, though it does have an ISBN number. It's a new release, however, so eventually may make its way into the database.
It's essentially an organizing method for knitters, crocheters, or other hobbycrafters whose yarn stash is threatening to take over their living space. (Who, me?) Has some interesting ideas, but it lacks the one tip I would need to follow the other instructions -- how to get my hubby out of the house for at least a week in order to take the first step ... remove every single scrap of yarn in the collection and put it out into the open so you can see exactly what you have. (She suggests putting it on top of a bed. ***A*** bed! How about every bed, couch, tabletop, and countertop in the house?)
5 stars
This one isn't linking in Touchstones, though it does have an ISBN number. It's a new release, however, so eventually may make its way into the database.
It's essentially an organizing method for knitters, crocheters, or other hobbycrafters whose yarn stash is threatening to take over their living space. (Who, me?) Has some interesting ideas, but it lacks the one tip I would need to follow the other instructions -- how to get my hubby out of the house for at least a week in order to take the first step ... remove every single scrap of yarn in the collection and put it out into the open so you can see exactly what you have. (She suggests putting it on top of a bed. ***A*** bed! How about every bed, couch, tabletop, and countertop in the house?)
13LyndaInOregon
#100 - Anything Goes, Richard S. Wheeler
3 stars
This is an odd and unexpected book for the 100-book milestone. It's set in the mining towns of Montana and Idaho in the late 1890s, and is about a traveling variety show. More character-driven than plot-driven, it looks at the relationships among the entertainers and gives some interesting background on just what it took to keep these bare-bones groups going, especially as the giant Orpheum chain started taking over the industry.
Personal note -- my maternal grandmother traveled briefly in her teens with an itinerant theater group, married my grandfather on the stage after a show. They left the show at the end of the summer of 1923 and settled into "respectability", but I always wished I knew more about that portion of her life!
3 stars
This is an odd and unexpected book for the 100-book milestone. It's set in the mining towns of Montana and Idaho in the late 1890s, and is about a traveling variety show. More character-driven than plot-driven, it looks at the relationships among the entertainers and gives some interesting background on just what it took to keep these bare-bones groups going, especially as the giant Orpheum chain started taking over the industry.
Personal note -- my maternal grandmother traveled briefly in her teens with an itinerant theater group, married my grandfather on the stage after a show. They left the show at the end of the summer of 1923 and settled into "respectability", but I always wished I knew more about that portion of her life!
14LyndaInOregon
#101 - If That Was Lunch, We've Had It, D.J. Colbert
4 stars - LTER
This was a fun, quick read with lots of laugh-out-loud moments as a couple of young New Zealanders look for ways to "make a squillion dollars" without actually, you know, working for it.
Full review is over here.
4 stars - LTER
This was a fun, quick read with lots of laugh-out-loud moments as a couple of young New Zealanders look for ways to "make a squillion dollars" without actually, you know, working for it.
Full review is over here.
15LyndaInOregon
#102 - Thai Die, Monica Ferris
3 stars
An okay cosy mystery centering around a mysterious piece of antique silk. Part of the "Needlecraft Mystery" series.
3 stars
An okay cosy mystery centering around a mysterious piece of antique silk. Part of the "Needlecraft Mystery" series.
16LyndaInOregon
#103 - If You Tell, Gregg Olsen
4 stars
September selection for my Wish List Challenge
Listed as true crime (which it is) and a tribute to the power of sisterhood, it is more compelling as a study in abnormal psychology. Shelly Knotek's daughters had little defense against their mother's horrific physical abuse, backed up by insidious mind games, but she also abused and manipulated many of the adults around her.
I always wonder, when I read about people like Shelly, how it is that they manage to hone in on and perfect those manipulative skills which are reported time and time again in case studies of sociopaths. I mean, is there a school somewhere? How does a 14-year-old know how to convince a loving grandparent that her equally loving parents are monsters? As an adult, how does she locate the "friends" whose own insecurities make them prime targets for her abuse, and how does she convince the essentially normal people in her life to help carry out her vicious -- even fatal -- abuses?
None of these questions are answered in Olsen's book, but that wasn't the book he wanted to write, so he gets a pass.
4 stars
September selection for my Wish List Challenge
Listed as true crime (which it is) and a tribute to the power of sisterhood, it is more compelling as a study in abnormal psychology. Shelly Knotek's daughters had little defense against their mother's horrific physical abuse, backed up by insidious mind games, but she also abused and manipulated many of the adults around her.
I always wonder, when I read about people like Shelly, how it is that they manage to hone in on and perfect those manipulative skills which are reported time and time again in case studies of sociopaths. I mean, is there a school somewhere? How does a 14-year-old know how to convince a loving grandparent that her equally loving parents are monsters? As an adult, how does she locate the "friends" whose own insecurities make them prime targets for her abuse, and how does she convince the essentially normal people in her life to help carry out her vicious -- even fatal -- abuses?
None of these questions are answered in Olsen's book, but that wasn't the book he wanted to write, so he gets a pass.
17Cam_Torrens
>6 LyndaInOregon: Which has been incredibly helpful!!!!
18LyndaInOregon
#104 - The Way I Heard It, Mike Rowe
3.5 stars
Short collection, riffing on the old Paul Harvey "Rest of the Story" concept, enlivened by personal connections between Rowe and the people or events featured. It was a good pick up & put down book for times when you know you'll only have short spans of time to read.
3.5 stars
Short collection, riffing on the old Paul Harvey "Rest of the Story" concept, enlivened by personal connections between Rowe and the people or events featured. It was a good pick up & put down book for times when you know you'll only have short spans of time to read.
19LyndaInOregon
#105 - Eugene J. McGillicuddy's Alien Detective Agency, George Allen Miller
3.5 stars
LTER
If you are the kind of reader who needs to have a clear vision of what is happening in a novel, you’re going to want to give this one a pass. The breakneck pace never lets up as the major character, a 23rd-century human on an Earth that is being managed by a Galactic Congress, searches for the possibly mythical site of the very first alien contact with humans.
Miller has created an amazingly complex background, but the reader is never given a moment to really examine it or think about the ramifications. There are a couple of really funny ideas (a sentient parking meter?) and brilliantly original ideas, but it just verges on overload.
3.5 stars
LTER
If you are the kind of reader who needs to have a clear vision of what is happening in a novel, you’re going to want to give this one a pass. The breakneck pace never lets up as the major character, a 23rd-century human on an Earth that is being managed by a Galactic Congress, searches for the possibly mythical site of the very first alien contact with humans.
Miller has created an amazingly complex background, but the reader is never given a moment to really examine it or think about the ramifications. There are a couple of really funny ideas (a sentient parking meter?) and brilliantly original ideas, but it just verges on overload.
20LyndaInOregon
Just now getting around to the September report, and I can see why it almost got overlooked. I read 10 books, but nothing was really memorable.
Marie Greene's The Joy of Yarn gets top honors, but it's not going to be of much interest to folks who don't indulge in some kind of needlecraft hobby.
I also did a Beta read of Cam Torrens' upcoming Scorched, which isn't going to show up in the Touchstones. Won't review that, since it wasn't in final form, except to say that he's continuing to explore possibilities within the suspense/adventure genre.
Others, more or less in descending order, included
- If That Was Lunch, We've Had It, an LTER by David Colbert
- If You Tell, by Gregg Olsen
- The Way I Heard It, by Mike Rowe
- Eugene J. McGillicuddy's Alien Detective Agency, an LTER by George Allen Miller
- Anything Goes, by Richard W. Wheeler
- Thai Die, by Monica Wheeler
- The Greatest Man in Cedar Hole, by Stephanie Doyon
- One of Us Is Missing, an LTER by Shauntel Anette
Marie Greene's The Joy of Yarn gets top honors, but it's not going to be of much interest to folks who don't indulge in some kind of needlecraft hobby.
I also did a Beta read of Cam Torrens' upcoming Scorched, which isn't going to show up in the Touchstones. Won't review that, since it wasn't in final form, except to say that he's continuing to explore possibilities within the suspense/adventure genre.
Others, more or less in descending order, included
- If That Was Lunch, We've Had It, an LTER by David Colbert
- If You Tell, by Gregg Olsen
- The Way I Heard It, by Mike Rowe
- Eugene J. McGillicuddy's Alien Detective Agency, an LTER by George Allen Miller
- Anything Goes, by Richard W. Wheeler
- Thai Die, by Monica Wheeler
- The Greatest Man in Cedar Hole, by Stephanie Doyon
- One of Us Is Missing, an LTER by Shauntel Anette
21LyndaInOregon
#106 - The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock, Imogen Hermes Gowar
3.5 stars
For some reason, I was expecting a light fantasy -- boy, was I wrong. It's a dark fantasy, a morality tale, and an extended metaphor on desiring that which will ultimately destroy us unless we have the strength to set it free.
Thanks to Whisper1 for sending this to me. I will be chewing on its many meanings for a while.
3.5 stars
For some reason, I was expecting a light fantasy -- boy, was I wrong. It's a dark fantasy, a morality tale, and an extended metaphor on desiring that which will ultimately destroy us unless we have the strength to set it free.
Thanks to Whisper1 for sending this to me. I will be chewing on its many meanings for a while.
22LyndaInOregon
#107 - Boleyn Time, by Deborah Cohen
2.5 stars
LTER
This one just didn't work for me, as noted in my full review, here.
Anne Boleyn as a brilliant apprentice to Leonardo da Vinci rings about as true as Nuclear Physicist Barbie, and even the original characters peopling the modern portions of the novel don't have much depth. Maybe if I'd read "Book One" of this two-novel mini-series, I'd have understood their motivations, but I have this weird notion that a book -- even as part of a series -- really ought to be able to stand on its own.
2.5 stars
LTER
This one just didn't work for me, as noted in my full review, here.
Anne Boleyn as a brilliant apprentice to Leonardo da Vinci rings about as true as Nuclear Physicist Barbie, and even the original characters peopling the modern portions of the novel don't have much depth. Maybe if I'd read "Book One" of this two-novel mini-series, I'd have understood their motivations, but I have this weird notion that a book -- even as part of a series -- really ought to be able to stand on its own.
23LyndaInOregon
#108 - Dreaming Southern, by Linda Bruckheimer
3.5 stars
The first part of this book was great fun, as a somewhat scatterbrained Kentucky housewife sets off to drive her four kids and remaining worldly possessions to California to join her husband. Lila Mae's tendency to get sidetracked leads them into various adventures along a route that winds through Alabama, Louisiana, and Minnesota, among other places not normally appearing on a Kentucky-to-California road map. There's a climax, but not really a resolution, and then there's a novella-length epilogue about the character, decades later. Bruckheimer loses points for that distraction.
3.5 stars
The first part of this book was great fun, as a somewhat scatterbrained Kentucky housewife sets off to drive her four kids and remaining worldly possessions to California to join her husband. Lila Mae's tendency to get sidetracked leads them into various adventures along a route that winds through Alabama, Louisiana, and Minnesota, among other places not normally appearing on a Kentucky-to-California road map. There's a climax, but not really a resolution, and then there's a novella-length epilogue about the character, decades later. Bruckheimer loses points for that distraction.
24LyndaInOregon
#109 - Thief of Time, by Terry Pratchett
3.5 stars
As we wind up the Discworld group read for this year, I've come to the realization that I really prefer the pun-filled and off-the-wall humor of the Unseen University subseries and the social commentary of the novels like Moving Pictures and Pyramids.
I'm glad I did the group read, and will repeat it next year, when it looks at the Witches subseries, but left to my own devices, the Discworld re-reads I choose will always be the earlier ones.
3.5 stars
As we wind up the Discworld group read for this year, I've come to the realization that I really prefer the pun-filled and off-the-wall humor of the Unseen University subseries and the social commentary of the novels like Moving Pictures and Pyramids.
I'm glad I did the group read, and will repeat it next year, when it looks at the Witches subseries, but left to my own devices, the Discworld re-reads I choose will always be the earlier ones.
25LyndaInOregon
#110 - The Journal of Mortifying Moments, Robyn Harding
2.5 stars
October Wish List Challenge Book
~meh. Another one whose reason for being on my wish-list remains a mystery after it's been read. I'm really not the target audience for chick-lit, and this one fits firmly into that niche, unspooling the tale of a young woman who's been a doormat to her romantic partners all her life who finally grows a backbone. Predictable, trite, and just not that entertaining.
2.5 stars
October Wish List Challenge Book
~meh. Another one whose reason for being on my wish-list remains a mystery after it's been read. I'm really not the target audience for chick-lit, and this one fits firmly into that niche, unspooling the tale of a young woman who's been a doormat to her romantic partners all her life who finally grows a backbone. Predictable, trite, and just not that entertaining.
