tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38514657662459780242024-03-05T08:55:38.379-05:00Checking off the Bucket List"...never in my lifetime" becomes realitysaraphenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11901259134387926833noreply@blogger.comBlogger300125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851465766245978024.post-39646442379725295502018-04-07T19:05:00.000-04:002018-04-07T19:07:42.020-04:00Camilla's RosesCamilla's Roses by Bernice L. McFadden
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
There was a lot of pain in this story. The mother of the girls in the family gave each one a middle name of "Rose." First there was Maggie Rose who never seemed to grow up even after a tragic automobile accident that killed Lloyd, the love of her life. And there was Audrey Rose who could not shake her addiction. The mother, Velma wassaraphenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11901259134387926833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851465766245978024.post-68750340398771531072018-03-28T15:55:00.004-04:002018-04-07T19:05:45.366-04:00An American MarriageAn American Marriage by Tayari Jones
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
"An American Marriage" or "American Tragedy" or "American Triangle?" And it happened in the Piney Woods. Roy and Celestial decided not to stay at his Mama's house that night and went instead to the Piney Woods, where Roy went to get a bucket of ice and ran into a woman who needed help with her ice due to a rotator cuff. Roy cautioned saraphenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11901259134387926833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851465766245978024.post-22355439698218333682017-01-02T12:06:00.000-05:002017-01-02T12:08:23.944-05:00Small Great ThingsSmall Great Things by Jodi Picoult
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
BEFORE I READ THIS BOOK:
I just picked up this book yesterday (December 23, 2016) from the library, the Large Print edition. (The large print editions are usually available more quickly than the regular print.) My "white ladies book club" asked me to lead the discussion for this book when we meet in January. ("Damned if I do, damned if Isaraphenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11901259134387926833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851465766245978024.post-28193019693447610322016-11-12T14:55:00.000-05:002018-03-28T16:05:55.755-04:00Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This was another book club selection, following on the heals of "Peace Like a River." The common thread in the two books is faith, and belief in God during a summer in New Bremen, Minnesota, when too many people died. The story is told by young Frank Drum looking back over the years when he "came of age." Frank and his younger saraphenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11901259134387926833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851465766245978024.post-16404285464821540982016-10-18T09:22:00.000-04:002016-10-18T09:26:05.961-04:00News of the WorldNews of the World by Paulette Jiles
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Awesome little book of 209 pages. It reminded me a bit of True Grit, except that Jefferson Kyle Kidd is not a drunkard. When we meet him, he has lived through three wars and has reached his seventies. His new "job" has made him a reader of newspapers and journals from all over the world. He earns his living from the coins he receives saraphenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11901259134387926833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851465766245978024.post-32730434942364192562016-09-05T09:49:00.001-04:002016-09-05T09:50:18.537-04:00The Underground RailroadThe Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Colson Whitehead is one of the novelists whose books I have been meaning to read, but I couldn't quite pin down his genre. Besides being a Pulitzer Prize finalist, he also has a book about zombies. So when The Underground Railroad appeared (even before Oprah put her badge on it), I decided this was the time for me to read this saraphenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11901259134387926833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851465766245978024.post-87587447916646477172016-07-13T09:07:00.003-04:002016-07-13T09:07:57.107-04:00saraphenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11901259134387926833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851465766245978024.post-60893493714806472582016-07-13T09:07:00.001-04:002016-07-13T09:10:23.625-04:00HomegoingHomegoing by Yaa Gyasi
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I loved this book, but because I had to return it to the public library, I had to copy the family tree at the beginning of the book to help me remember all of the people.
The story takes us from 18th century Ghana, back and forth across the Atlantic to follow the lives of the descendants of two half-sisters, children of "Big Man," the Chief of the saraphenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11901259134387926833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851465766245978024.post-17086447899268887392016-05-20T09:26:00.001-04:002016-05-20T09:26:56.966-04:00The Book of HarlanThe Book of Harlan by Bernice L. McFadden
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Can we say six stars? This is Bernice L. McFadden's best book ever! Her prose is stunning, gliding over an epic of horrific proportions.
We meet Harlan's parents Sam Elliot, and Emma Robinson before he was conceived, while Emma was too innocent to protect herself. But they did the best they could, leaving Harlan with his doting saraphenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11901259134387926833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851465766245978024.post-62589619944376173842016-05-11T08:46:00.001-04:002016-05-11T08:47:10.124-04:00BrooklynBrooklyn by Colm Tóibín
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This was a selection from one of my book clubs, selected after it was made into a movie, and nominated for an Oscar. The movie didn't win, but many of the book club members saw the movie and read the book. Some read it before seeing the movie. I'm glad I read the book first.
Brooklyn is a coming-of-age story of young Eilis Lacey, whose sister saraphenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11901259134387926833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851465766245978024.post-33922129370543747702016-05-03T12:34:00.000-04:002016-05-03T12:34:49.201-04:00It Happened in Eighty-Eight by Bettye Griffin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Cornell Sebastian returns to the fictitious town of Eighty-Eight, Mississippi to handle the house her late uncle has willed to her. She hires kitchen and bath designer Ajay Vincent to upgrade the kitchen and spruce up the rest of the house. Ajay is enchanted by Cornell, takes her to meet his friends and family in the little saraphenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11901259134387926833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851465766245978024.post-2895399721436983152016-04-13T08:11:00.001-04:002016-04-13T08:11:26.751-04:00Purple HibiscusPurple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Kambili and Jaja Achike live what seems to be a privileged life. But their father Eugene is tyrannical, controlling and abusive. He is respected in their Catholic church due to his wealth and position in the community, owning a newspaper, and several factories that produce various goods. But he refuses to allow his father to saraphenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11901259134387926833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851465766245978024.post-10380191308536559662016-03-25T14:13:00.000-04:002016-03-25T14:13:57.261-04:00Baby GirlBaby Girl by Bette Lee Crosby
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Cheryl Ann falls in love with Ryan when she is a teenager, living with a mother who never has anything good to say about her. Cheryl's Daddy has died, and Cheryl sees so much of her Daddy in Ryan, that she falls in love.
When her mother puts Cheryl out of the house, Cheryl is determined to make her own way in the world, with Ryan by her sidesaraphenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11901259134387926833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851465766245978024.post-11360682491854397252016-02-02T21:33:00.000-05:002016-02-02T21:35:00.406-05:00Gone Crazy in AlabamaGone Crazy in Alabama by Rita Williams-Garcia
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I have fallen in love with Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern, the Gaither Sisters. I was late discovering this series for "Middle Grades" with great historical lessons.
It started with "One Crazy Summer," with the sisters visiting their wayward mother in Oakland, CA. Then the aftermath and return home to Brooklyn in "P.S. Be Elevensaraphenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11901259134387926833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851465766245978024.post-17303441437675979312016-01-24T14:30:00.000-05:002016-01-24T14:30:53.633-05:00Good Read for an Ice StormThe Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man by James Weldon Johnson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I completed reading The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man overnight. It is a short read at about 140 pages, and free on Kindle.
James Weldon Johnson first published this book anonymously in 1912, to avoid any controversy that might endanger his diplomatic career. And it is actually not an autobiography, but saraphenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11901259134387926833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851465766245978024.post-10391276685952508432016-01-13T16:37:00.000-05:002016-01-13T16:38:34.582-05:00Being black is bad for your healthBlack Man in a White Coat: A Doctor's Reflections on Race and Medicine by Damon Tweedy
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This was a book club selection for one of my Book Clubs. I would call it an outstanding book to read. When Damon Tweedy entered medical school at Duke University, he expected a promising career which would give him the opportunity to serve the community. What he learned repeatedly is, "saraphenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11901259134387926833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851465766245978024.post-27980239827954520172016-01-04T21:16:00.000-05:002016-01-04T21:19:23.504-05:00The Girl in the Spider's Web by David Lagercrantz
Men Who Hate WomenIt's been over five years since I first met Lisbeth Salander. After reading the first three books by Stieg Larsson, dubbed the Millennium trilogy, I was seriously hooked. But Larsson had died at age 50, leaving drafts of more books. Also leaving no will, no spouse to automatically inherit his work. His partner of 32 years, Eva Gabrielsson, continues to fight for "intellectualsaraphenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11901259134387926833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851465766245978024.post-208227868680008342015-11-26T06:22:00.000-05:002015-11-26T06:22:05.167-05:00Thanksgiving MorningI suppose most people in the United States, and many beyond have some kind of Thanksgiving tradition, even if it's a vow not to participate. Most of my life I went "home" for the holiday in some form or fashion. My mother died when I was 12 years old, but my older sisters carried on the tradition with turkey, oyster stuffing, and candied sweet potatoes. And even after I was away from home, I saraphenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11901259134387926833noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851465766245978024.post-9192370869183341872015-10-15T13:29:00.000-04:002015-10-15T13:29:14.004-04:00Me and Alexa
Amazon Echo, also known as Alexa, is a voice command device from Amazon.com that is always listening. Its functions include question answering, playing music and controlling smart devices. I first heard about Alexa in December 2014. At that time it was only available to Amazon Prime members, by invitation only. I received my invitation in January, and I jumped right on it. $199 with a $100 saraphenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11901259134387926833noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851465766245978024.post-8604090150982004222015-09-09T14:42:00.000-04:002015-09-18T07:55:43.496-04:00International Literacy Day was yesterdayThe graphic below comes from Grammarly:https://www.grammarly.com/plagiarism-checker
saraphenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11901259134387926833noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851465766245978024.post-51615786290309914512015-04-25T10:27:00.002-04:002015-04-25T10:27:40.356-04:00Blanche on the LamBlanche on the Lam: A Blanche White Mystery by Barbara Neely
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I would never have found this book, if not for one of my reading groups on Goodreads.com. It was first published in 1992, and first of a series of Blanche White mysteries. We're fortunate to have the series now available on Kindle, as the paperback and hardcover versions are out of print and available as used saraphenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11901259134387926833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851465766245978024.post-19624562590069234522015-03-29T20:34:00.000-04:002015-03-29T20:34:20.518-04:00The NightingaleThe Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I flipped back to find the last book I read by Kristin Hannah, and it was Winter Garden, and I see the similarities between that book and The Nightingale. Both are about two sisters who are as different as night and day. One stays home while the other chases her dreams.
The difference is that The Nightingale is historical fiction about saraphenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11901259134387926833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851465766245978024.post-43616364837455143672015-02-28T18:06:00.000-05:002015-02-28T18:06:15.528-05:00The Girl on the TrainThe Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
The Girl on the Train has been compared by many as being similar to Gone Girl. I read Gone Girl over two years ago, and I still remember it as being a tightly-crafted novel. The memory is probably fresher because I saw the movie. (I liked Ben Affleck more in Argo.)
But what makes the novels similar? They are both told by more than saraphenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11901259134387926833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851465766245978024.post-66165892186369574032015-02-16T21:11:00.001-05:002015-02-16T21:11:42.659-05:00The Life We BuryThe Life We Bury by Allen Eskens
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This was a selection for one of my book clubs. It was really slow starting, and I wondered if I would finish reading it in time for the discussion next week. But it improved as I got to know Joe, his autistic brother Jeremy, and Carl Iverson, the subject of Joe's biography assignment for his college English class. Carl is in a nursing homesaraphenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11901259134387926833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3851465766245978024.post-90279436644885664752015-02-09T20:14:00.000-05:002015-02-09T20:15:33.066-05:00Passing through PerfectPassing Through Perfect by Bette Lee Crosby
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is the second book I have read by Bette Lee Crosby. I enjoyed The Twelfth Child, and the author contacted me to read her latest book Passing through Perfect. She provided an ebook download for me to read and provide a review. I told her I was stacked up reading two other books, but once I read the first two pages, I moved saraphenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11901259134387926833noreply@blogger.com0