It's August - what are you reading?

[Sílvia]

Annie, which Kindness of Strangers is that? There are tons of books by that name on good reads!

[mellenhead]

I finished 50 Shades of Grey. So awful.

I also read Perrys Lake Erie Fleet: After the Glory - we went on a boat tour while in Presque Isle and they had a whole spiel about the Battle at Misery Bay so I decided to read up on it a bit.

Next up is The Expats. I tried to read this once before and didn't have time before it was due back.

[Rowan]

I have The Expats in my current stack too. Also, my second time checking it out. Maybe I'll wait and see what you think before I start.

[Annie]

Sil, by Katrina Kittle.

[Rowan]

Last week:

Off the Menu - Stacey Ballis - this was ok, I've read her before and like how she puts recipes used in the story at the end
The Sometimes Daughter - Sherri Wood Emmons
Bones to Ashes - Kathy Reichs - I keep working my way through the series but they're getting increasingly "meh"

Yesterday:
The Next Best Thing - Jennifer Weiner - I actually liked this I mean it wasn't 5 star but it kept my attention; I"m glad she's moved away from the "fat miserable" leading lady

Monday, I found out that my library had bedbugs over the weekend. A patron called in an anonymous tip that she found a bedbug in a book but wouldn't say which book. They brought in dogs that found a couple areas of trouble; they treated the areas and baked the books; library opened again on Monday. Apparently nobody working in the library or cleanup has see a bug or egg. I probably shouldn't have but I still brought books home, checked them and didn't tell dh about it . Hopefully we'll be ok.

[Spudd]

Freaky library bedbugs!!

Rowan, Kathy Reichs was on the cruise Kenneth took with his mom (before I joined him). He rode an elevator with her.

[mellenhead]

I had no idea books could get bedbugs! Freaky.

Rowan I'm about 100 pages into The Expats and enjoying it. The writing is a beat offbeat, probably why I like it!

[Annie]

Great...there goes my interest in library books.

[Anna]

Bedbugs love wood so they were likely living in the shelves. Rowan after the heat treatment you should be good.

I finished "The Sociopath Next Door" it was ok. Not much I didn't really already know. I wish they'd have used more case studies and less filler. I can see it being usefull for someone like my Aunt who believes everything someone tells her. I have a pretty good bullshit meter and I would only ever loan money our parents, kids or my bff.

Going to see what else I can find on Kindle. Eric has Paradise Lost on there, I may read it.

[Annie]

I finished "The Sociopath Next Door" it was ok. Not much I didn't really already know. I wish they'd have used more case studies and less filler. I can see it being usefull for someone like my Aunt who believes everything someone tells her. I have a pretty good bullshit meter and I would only ever loan money our parents, kids or my bff.

Thanks for the review. I'll skip it. Sounds like it'd be too basic.

[Anna]

Yep, I wish I hadn't paid 11 bucks for it.

[Rowan]

I'm reading Kill You Twice by Chelsea Cain. This is the 4th (?) in her series about a female serial killer. I really like the series and this one as well.

My favorite was her dedication in the front:

For Carolyn Keene. I refuse to believe that you aren't real.

[Spudd]

Wow, I had no idea.

[Sílvia]

Sil, by Katrina Kittle.

Ah, ok. That seems intense!

Mellen, I'm curious about The Expats too. I read the first few pages at the store the other day. It seemed interesting, but I got suspicious when she started going on and on about "the life we left behind", "the people we used to be", blah blah blah. It seemed like one of those huge buildups that tend to lead to disappointment.

I"m glad she's moved away from the "fat miserable" leading lady

Good to know that. I like her, but I find the fact that her main character is always pretty much the same really annoying. Write about someone with no weight issues for a change already!

[Anna]

I'm reading My Year with Eleanor: A Memoir so far it's one of my favorites in a long long long time. I'll review when I'm done!

[Blush]

I finished "Half Blood Blues" last night and I thought it was an interesting take on WWII.

Now I need a break from heavy, so I started "Gossip: a novel" by Beth Gutcheon.

Loviah “Lovie” French owns a small, high-end dress shop on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Renowned for her taste, charm, and discretion, Lovie is the one to whom certain women turn when they need “just the thing” for key life events: baptisms and balls, weddings and funerals. Among those who depend on Lovie’s sage advice are her two best friends since boarding school days: Dinah Wainwright and Avis Metcalf. Despite the love they share for their mutual friend, there has always been a chilly gulf between Dinah and Avis, the result of a perceived slight from decades ago that has unimaginably tragic echoes many years later.

An astute chronicler of all that makes us human, Beth Gutcheon delivers her most powerful and emotionally devastating novel to date. Gossip is a tale of intimacy and betrayal, trust and fidelity, friendship and motherhood that explores the way we use “information” — be it true, false, or imagined — to sustain, and occasionally destroy, one another

[Annie]

Finished "The Book of Joe" by Jonathon Tropper. Next up is "Prophet's Prey"...about Warren Jeffs.

[Anna]

My Life with Eleanor:A Memoir by Noelle Hancock I loved it. First book I've really liked in a LONG time. And now I want to read all the books Eleanor Roosevelt wrote. I highly recommend it, it's a fast and easy and enjoyable read.

[mellenhead]

I finished The Expats and really liked it. Very twisty and the ending didn't piss me off, which I was afraid of. I'd recommend it.

I'm about 50 pages into Where'd You Go, Bernadette and I LOVE it. Its set in Seattle and is very black humor about family dysfunction. The writing is great.

[Rowan]

Mellen. I think this time around we're sharing a book pile as I ha ve both the Expats and Bernadette. I was hoping to start Bernadette today. Glad you're liking it.