Books, More Books, and Shows
I think I left off around book #44.
I read What You Did, by Claire McGowan, which was OK, which equates on Goodreads to two stars (of five). Most of the things I've read this year have been "OK." This is a modern tale about sexual assault. You can give it a pass.
Next, was The Rabbit Girls, by Anna Ellory, which garnered four stars from me. It's a compelling and powerful story that kept me guessing throughout. It's set in Berlin, shortly after the Berlin Wall came down, but it's really an enduring love story. Here is the beginning of the description from Goodreads: "Berlin, 1989. As the wall between East and West falls, Miriam Winter cares for her dying father, Henryk. When he cries out for someone named Frieda – and Miriam discovers an Auschwitz tattoo hidden under his watch strap – Henryk’s secret history begins to unravel." This was a good read.
Letting Everything Become Your Teacher: 100 Lessons in Mindfulness, by Jon Kabat-Zinn was more of a day-book, but I read it in a sitting or two. Not a lot that I haven't already learned, but I've got Mr. Kabat-Zinn's book Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness waiting for me on my shelf, and wanted to see what this small book would be like. It's OK.
The Designer, by Marius Gabriel was next for me. This one was set in 1944, just after the war, in Paris. Similar to Beautiful Exiles, historic figures made appearances - it's about Christian Dior - even Hemingway make a few appearances, but this time, they were not intrusive and did not detract from the story. Another 4-star review from me. :-)
And most recently, I picked up the Melanie Travis series again, by Laurien Berenson. #19 is called Live and Let Growl. Yes, they are a bit formulaic. But I know these characters after following them through 19 books, and I'm invested in them. Moreover, I like them. :-) It's a 4-star from me.
I'm currently reading A Beginner's Guide to Free Fall. This is an Amazon first of the month freebie I'm not sure about it yet - guess we will see. :-)
I continue to be glad that I set myself a reading goal for 2019. I never expected to read so many books this year, but I'm really happy that I have. I was thinking on the train this morning that I've averaged nearly one a week. This is pretty amazing to me. Obviously some were short and most were for entertainment, but at least I read them and my reading mojo seems to keep going forward. I still have books on the shelves and still a few on my Kindle app to read, so I hope to continue in the new year. I also hope to get some books from the library, rather than purchasing them. It will help with the budget ;-)
I've started watching The Crown, which is a Netflix series. I'm into season two. So far, there are three seasons. It's awfully good.
I thought I should do a better picture of my little tree :-)
I was quite gung-ho to get Christmas decorations going right after Halloween, but I lost my steam somehow, and this is about all I've done other than a few holiday cushions and door hangers. Some years are like that, I guess.
I've never been a jazz fan, but for some reason, I really like Vince Guaraldi. It's probably because of A Charlie Brown Christmas. :-) This was my ring tone for every cell phone I've ever had until my current one. I think I'm going to have to get my cousin to help me rectify that . . . ;-)
I read What You Did, by Claire McGowan, which was OK, which equates on Goodreads to two stars (of five). Most of the things I've read this year have been "OK." This is a modern tale about sexual assault. You can give it a pass.
Next, was The Rabbit Girls, by Anna Ellory, which garnered four stars from me. It's a compelling and powerful story that kept me guessing throughout. It's set in Berlin, shortly after the Berlin Wall came down, but it's really an enduring love story. Here is the beginning of the description from Goodreads: "Berlin, 1989. As the wall between East and West falls, Miriam Winter cares for her dying father, Henryk. When he cries out for someone named Frieda – and Miriam discovers an Auschwitz tattoo hidden under his watch strap – Henryk’s secret history begins to unravel." This was a good read.
Letting Everything Become Your Teacher: 100 Lessons in Mindfulness, by Jon Kabat-Zinn was more of a day-book, but I read it in a sitting or two. Not a lot that I haven't already learned, but I've got Mr. Kabat-Zinn's book Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness waiting for me on my shelf, and wanted to see what this small book would be like. It's OK.
The Designer, by Marius Gabriel was next for me. This one was set in 1944, just after the war, in Paris. Similar to Beautiful Exiles, historic figures made appearances - it's about Christian Dior - even Hemingway make a few appearances, but this time, they were not intrusive and did not detract from the story. Another 4-star review from me. :-)
And most recently, I picked up the Melanie Travis series again, by Laurien Berenson. #19 is called Live and Let Growl. Yes, they are a bit formulaic. But I know these characters after following them through 19 books, and I'm invested in them. Moreover, I like them. :-) It's a 4-star from me.
I'm currently reading A Beginner's Guide to Free Fall. This is an Amazon first of the month freebie I'm not sure about it yet - guess we will see. :-)
I continue to be glad that I set myself a reading goal for 2019. I never expected to read so many books this year, but I'm really happy that I have. I was thinking on the train this morning that I've averaged nearly one a week. This is pretty amazing to me. Obviously some were short and most were for entertainment, but at least I read them and my reading mojo seems to keep going forward. I still have books on the shelves and still a few on my Kindle app to read, so I hope to continue in the new year. I also hope to get some books from the library, rather than purchasing them. It will help with the budget ;-)
I've started watching The Crown, which is a Netflix series. I'm into season two. So far, there are three seasons. It's awfully good.
I thought I should do a better picture of my little tree :-)
I was quite gung-ho to get Christmas decorations going right after Halloween, but I lost my steam somehow, and this is about all I've done other than a few holiday cushions and door hangers. Some years are like that, I guess.
I've never been a jazz fan, but for some reason, I really like Vince Guaraldi. It's probably because of A Charlie Brown Christmas. :-) This was my ring tone for every cell phone I've ever had until my current one. I think I'm going to have to get my cousin to help me rectify that . . . ;-)
Comments