A
Thank you NetGalley for advanced copy of this eBook.
I am rarely excited to read books about talking animals but at work I found a copy of Animal Farm around the same time and read this as well. Now, I know those two do not have much in common other than talking animals and their work ethics, one is an allegory about Stalin (and his brutal regime) and the other one is about community environment and how companies can thrive by actually listening to their workers. Not all business sizes will function on the same level and they need to trust the input of all employees no matter how small their role in the company is. (I felt like this quote would describe the whole book – not from the book itself – but still appropriate: “There are no small parts only small actors.” ~ Constantin Stanislavski)
Summary: Lord Byron is a college student attending Trinity College. But he thinks he is better than his professors and consistently skips classes. Even when he attends, it is just to stick it to the academics and gloat how good he is. He also fancied himself a person filled with emotion and with keen eye for details that would make him an excellent investigator. In fact, he sort of became an investigator. A poet parading around attempting to solve a string of gruesome crimes that seem to plague the town.
My tidbits (with spoilers): It had an interesting story-line but the Lord Byron character was a bit to much to take in. He had an obsession with vampires and had terrible egoistic personality.
I decided not to explain to this gentleman that I was a poet and thusly, skilled at nearly every intellectual pursuit. He'd learn this for himself, soon enough. (p. 48)
I shook my finger at him. “I'm drunk right now, as it happens.”
“It's the middle of the afternoon, on a Tuesday.”
“Time is of little concern to me. I haven't slept in days.” For some reason, I was proud of this. “May I offer you some whisky?”
“Certainly not.” The furrows beneath his checks seemed to deepen.
“Very good.” I produced a silver flask from my waistcoat pocket and tipped it back. “More for me.” (p. 49)
I wasn't too crazy about this book. Don't get me wrong, it was well written (from a grammatical point of view) but the life of a story was not there. Maybe it was the suburbia or maybe something else, or maybe it is just me but I found this book rather boring...
“Laundry is my life, and meals, and school meetings and games and recitals.”
I read it as if in a haze the main character Mary Beth was said to be going through (the second portion of the book). I almost gave up on this book. I cannot say I did not feel sad about what happened to the characters, but that I did not feel connected to them. I understood the underlying lesson set to be taught by this book: that life is complicated, that things happen - things that are beyond our control, that we can only love our children and teach them right and only hope the lessons took, that even good kids lose their ways due to drugs, mental issues and who knows what... I put the pieces together in order to make sense of things but there were some holes in the story. Maybe as a reader I needed to know things from other perspectives...
Thank you GoodReads.com and Mr. Reece Hirsch for the autographed copy of the book.
A short summary: Will Connelly is a corporate lawyer who gets entangled with Russian mafia. He is a simple man, yet he gets suspected for insider trading and has his life hanging by a thread. How will be manage to get himself out?
I do not have a lot to say about it. Characters are believable. This is a well written book with good editing. I can imagine this being adapted into a movie.
This book took a lot of effort... to be read. I disliked that my digital version did not have actual page numbers and it felt like eternity reading this. I am starting to believe that the only good thing Paulo Coelho wrote is [b:The Alchemist 22715913 The Alchemist's Daughter Mary Lawrence https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1409514716s/22715913.jpg 42243160]. I tried to dismiss this notion and give his other works benefit of the doubt, but time after time I ended up disappointed. I cannot dismiss his effort in writing this book but the content just does not shine through words. I am sure there are people who liked this book but it is jut not my cup of tea. Simple Summary with possible major SPOILERS: Sherine (aka Sheerene aka Hagia Sophia) goes to search for something that she feels is missing from her daily life. She is a mother to a young boy and she gets a divorce and she goes on trips around the world. (Did I mention she was adopted?) She searches for her roots and discovers that she is a gypsy-witch. At no point of this book does the author refer to her culture as Romani. (Maybe once? He keeps calling her “gypsy” which is a derogatory term.) I think the book would have worked much better if he had focused on the cultural aspect rather than just mere dancing into the spirit world. I understand how the author wanted the audience to know that the characters came to a realization that they are all connected to the spiritual being Athena called “the Mother”. The book confused me towards the end where Athena becomes sort of multiple personality person rather than just sometimes possessed by other beings. Athena has gotten quite a cult following with her dance parties. However, she “got out” of that lifestyle once her message was spread but that message was widely misunderstood because she was bound to meet and influence a wide variety of people. For someone who kept looking for something “more” but got out once the going got though... it would have made more sense if Athena really died a death related to her message.
SUMMARY: A play that was short and to the point and quite shocking for its time period and filled with irony. This is a story about a woman who lived her life covering for her husband's indiscretions. However, she gets forced to spill all the dirty secrets when her son sets to marry his own sister.
I thought Oswald would have more time but his death was so sudden and gloomy and right on cue...(drama!) And it was disappointing to see that he was not as shocked about his father's past as one expected him to be. Also I thought Regina had a rather brief part when she quickly gave in (to her doomed fate) and went back to live with her adoptive father to work in his parlor (possibly as a prostitute rather than finding a decent man to marry – who is not a drunken sailor). I have to admit I am left with a bit more questions and will have to look for answers to them: Was the burning down the Orphanage done on purpose? How could a Holy man participate in such an act seeing how he always claimed he was only trying to do good and that he was not attracted to her 20(?) years ago (or now)? Did he later feel remorse for sending Mrs. Alving back into the arms of her disgusting and useless husband? Mrs. Alving is certainly one of the stronger characters and the one to be pitied because she ends up paying for her husband's sins.
A short summary: Frances, a Chinese-American high school girl, lives under the tight grip of her conservative mother. Her mother has plans for her future. But can Frances dare to have dreams of her own?
This is a book about growing pains. Frances gets torn between two worlds: the one being loyalty to family and the other pursuing her own dreams. I wished Frances sat down for a mediated conversation with her mom rather than acting out. The story ended abruptly making me wonder is there a book #2?
Thank you FirstReads for a copy of this book.
A short summary: Two people get brutally murdered in a small town. Time to find the murderer.
Ok I'm gonna admit it... this book stood on my “to read” shelf a little bit longer than I'd like to. It wasn't the most interesting and the most attention grabbing crime novel. At various parts it got a bit confusing character-wise (Fredrik, Rickard, Ricky, Elin, Sara, Christer, Gustav, Arvid, Kristina, Ninni, Jesper, ... who is who again?), and a bit boring; and perhaps that is why it took me a while to read it. I usually like mysteries but this one was not so good. Perhaps something got lost in translation (since this is a Swedish crime novel)?
THANK YOU GOODREADS for an advanced copy of this book! :)
A short summary:
Elderly French couple gets murdered while on vacation. MI6 chief officer goes missing right before her promotion. Intelligence service turns to an ex-spy to find her.
When I started reading I thought this story is going to be about a missing nanny. And it was a story about a missing woman who used to be a nanny. It started out slow and a bit confusing and then right before the middle it all made sense. I don't want to spoil too much. :) It makes for an interesting summer read.
This is a non-fiction book about a man named Kevin Maher. Kevin made some bad choices as a teenager and those bad choices ruined his dream of becoming a police officer. He therefore has to live his life with “might-have-beens” and so close to his dream. If we lose one dream, should we not dream another?
I think young people should read this book in order to see that an individual should grow up as a law abiding citizen. We are human and we make mistakes but we must learn from those mistakes and the mistakes and examples of those who lived before us. We must be open to change because that is the only way we can become better human beings. For Kevin, the people who changed his life for the better, were officers Jim Doherty and Bobby Colaneri.
A short summary:
Marjorie is a teen girl living in a small town. Her parents are a weird couple who isolate themselves from society and develop a funny dialect of English language. Marjorie goes to school but her parents are very strict. Because of the way she speaks kids in school make fun of her. Her father ordered her to get a job to support the family. That job is what saved her and took her off a crazy roller coaster she has been living in.
This book is a heartfelt novel about a young woman's journey to breaking free of her prison. I would recommend it to others.
I would, once again, like to thank GoodReads for providing me with a copy of this book.
Author Ariel Sabar wrote about a journey of discovery of his father's roots.
Ariel's father, Yona Sabar (born Yona Beh Sabagha), was a Kurdish Jew, and was born and grew up in the isolated, hidden part of northern Iraq. As the politics of the country changed so did the place where he was born. He was a bright student who got a scholarship and a chance to study in the US. He never considered himself an adventure seeker yet he moved half across the World to live his life doing something he loved: language learning (studying and teaching Aramaic).
Ariel, on the other hand, grew up a spoiled American ashamed of his roots blaming his father “for being Middle Eastern at a time when nothing was less cool”. It wasn't until Ariel had a son of his own that he finally got the need to understand where his father came from. This book shows us that journey.
Thank you “Book Studio” for this giveaway.
Thank you FirstReads for a copy of this book! I am very grateful.
A short summary: Theresa MacLean is a forensic scientist involved in investigating the old and new cases of Torso Killer mystery.
I actually liked this book. Story is based on a real case; although most of the story is fictional. It was interesting to involve sort of side-by-side storyline of police officer from the past investigating the murders, and Theresa investigating the murders.
