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Menampilkan postingan dari Oktober, 2020

November Reads: Wait--It's November?! What?!

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  It's going to take me a week or so to realize November is here. 2020 is certainly a year which feels like it is endless. With two months to go, I don't have the mental energy to even contemplate what else is just around the corner.  I've been pretty low key the last week, staying home for a week of vacation and not doing much. I have realized the benefits of vacation the week of Halloween-I get to watch as many paranormal shows as I want, anytime of the day or night. It's also a good week to do some decluttering around the house to get ready for holiday decorating. I'm not one to put up my tree until after Thanksgiving, so I've still got some time to keep chipping away at the accumulated "stuff". Thankfully this time around my decluttering does not include cleaning out my home library.  October's reads were a lot of thrillers, and I will admit I got a little burnt out this last week. I realized I haven't been reading much historical fiction a

The Night Swim by Megan Goldin

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  My partner asked me yesterday if I planned on reading a book a day while on vacation this week. While I would love to, I told him I probably wouldn't be able to read quite that much--the lure (or my guilt feeling) of cleaning out closets and decluttering in preparation for the holidays has me feeling like I can't just read all day--I MUST do some kind of housework. Ugh.  However, I did finish The Night Swim last night and did spend a lot of Monday reading it. It's not an easy read in that the subject is about rape. Not just one rape, but the story about two women, 25 years apart, who were raped. One ended up dead, and the other has divided the town with her accusation against the town star athlete. Both take place in the same small coastal town of Neapolis, North Carolina.  Told mainly by Rachel, the host of a popular true crime podcast; and Hannah, the sister of the first victim, Jenny Stills, interspersed with podcast script episodes, it is a disturbing look at crimes

No Offense by Meg Cabot

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  I took a break from reading my haunting reads this month for a sweet romance between a children's librarian and a sheriff. It was what I needed to kick off vacation week! It's a staycation, of course. But I've got things to do around the house, and a big stack of books to read all week. I'm excited for a much needed break, and a little bit of solitude. I'll be working really hard to not give into my desire for a key lime pie, thanks to this book!  Molly Montgomery is the new children's librarian in Little Bridge Island, Florida. A pretty sweet tourist spot that is beautiful, surrounded by the ocean, and small town enough that everyone knows everyone's business. Molly loves her job, and one day finds an abandoned newborn in the women's bathroom. Not the usual librarian duties, for sure. The Sheriff arrives, and sparks fly immediately. John Hartwell is handsome and swoon worthy, even if he does clash a bit with Molly. Who's baby is this? Another case

Sanctuary by V. V. James

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  Shocking, I know--I finished two books in one weekend. Now I can't wait to dig into the other books I've got lined up for the rest of October. This novel continues the magical theme I have going for October. It's definitely getting darker out earlier, and now when I get up early to hit the gym, it's still dark when I leave the gym--and I do miss that sunrise on the drive home.  I first saw this novel pop up on Goodreads. I looked at what people had to say, and while I was interested, I wasn't running out to grab it. I was perusing the new release tables at B&N and saw it there, and decided I had to read it. I'm so glad I paid attention--usually when a book keeps popping up around me, I take it as a sign that I should read it. I wasn't disappointed in this magical suspense novel.  Dan Whitman is attending a high school party at a rented home when he falls to his death and a fire erupts, burning down the house and causing all the kids to flee in terror.

The Left-Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix

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  I've read a few Garth Nix novels over the years and he remains one of my favorite YA and children's authors. This novel got me just by the title. I was a bookseller for 25 years, and those many years sharing my love of reading and books gave me some of the best memories and made me feel like I made some impact, however small it might have been. Have you ever heard of a runner's high? That thing that happens when you hit a time during a run where it feels effortless and magical and you could run for hours? Well, I would  get that feeling at work when I talked to people about books. Not all the time, but boy, when it did happen, it was pretty awesome. I'd actually come home exhausted and feeling pretty drained from all of it. I still get that feeling sometimes when I talk to people about what I've read, or what I'm reading. It fills me up when I'm running low.  Anyhow, back to this novel. It took me a few weeks to read it, and I wish I'd just kept pluggi

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

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  I absolutely loved this book. It delivers a pretty simple message. We are so preoccupied with the "what ifs" and the "If onlys" that we sometimes forget to look at the lives we have and understand the gift they are-and continue to be as our lives unfold. Unfold in a way that should continually amaze us, but instead sends us sometimes into unhappy places. Has us trying to live a life that will make others happy, and not really make us happy.  This is Nora Seed. She's thirty-five, single, and works in a music store. She's depressed a lot and takes anti-depressants to get through her days. Her parents are dead and her older brother is very distant. The final straw is finding her cat dead. She realizes her life is empty of love and really anyone caring about her, so she decides she's done and drinks a bottle of wine and take a bunch of pills.  End of story, right? Kind of gloomy, you think? Nope. Nora wakes up in an amazing place: a library. It's a lib