The City of Brass Book Review

The City of Brass: Book Review by Dinh.
5 out of 5 stars

Synopsis:

Nahri has never believed in magic. Certainly, she has power: on the streets of eighteenth century Cairo, she’s a con woman of unsurpassed talent. But she knows better than anyone that the trades she uses to get by – palm readings, zars, and a mysterious gift for healing – are all tricks, both the means to the delightful end of swindling Ottoman nobles and a reliable way to survive.

But when Nahri accidentally summons Dara, an equally sly, darkly mysterious djinn warrior, to her side during one of her cons, she’s forced to reconsider her beliefs. For Dara tells Nahri an extraordinary tale across hot, windswept sands teeming with creatures of fire and rivers where the mythical marid sleep, past, past ruins of once-magnificent human metropolises and mountains where the circling birds of prey are more than what they seem, lies Daevabad, the legendary city of brass- a city to which Nahri is irrevocably bound. Continue reading “The City of Brass Book Review” →

Sharp Objects Book Review

Sharp Objects: book review by Dinh.
3.5stars

Synopsis:

Fresh from a brief stay at a psych hospital, reporter Camille Preaker faces a troubling assignment: she must return to her tiny hometown to cover the murders of two preteen girls. For years, Camille has hardly spoken to her neurotic, hypochondriac mother or to the half-sister she barely knows: a beautiful thirteen-year-old with an eerie grip on the town.

Now, installed in her old bedroom in her family’s Victorian mansion, Camille finds herself identifying with the young victims—a bit too strongly. Dogged by her own demons, she must unravel the psychological puzzle of her own past if she wants to get the story—and survive this homecoming.

Continue reading “Sharp Objects Book Review” →

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

Please join us in reading The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows for our monthly read!

We will be reviewing the book along with our discussion questions for April 30th, 2018.

January 1946: London is emerging from the shadow of the Second World War, and writer Juliet Ashton is looking for her next book subject. Who could imagine that she would find it in a letter from a man she’s never met, a native of the island of Guernsey, who has come across her name written inside a book by Charles Lamb…. Continue reading “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows” →

Playing With Fire Book Review

Playing With Fire: Book Review By Arlene.
5 out of 5 stars

Review:

I have been a devoted fan of Tess Gerritsen for many many years. In my opinion, her novels will keep you turning the pages until the final page of every book. Looking forward to her next novel was, and is, always something I look forward to reading.

I think Tess Gerritsen is an outstanding novelist and Playing with Fire as the Los Angeles Times wrote, “Will make readers drop everything to immerse themselves in its propulsive dual narrative.”

I found the story mesmerizing at its start. It all begins with a mysterious, loose sheet of music, the protagonist finds in an old book of music in a small old antiques shop on her last day in Rome. Continue reading “Playing With Fire Book Review” →

Playing With Fire Book Club Discussion Questions

Discussion Questions:

1. Have you read any or all of Tess Gerritsen’s books before reading Playing with Fire?

2. What did you think of the picture on the cover of the book jacket as it related to the story line and did it draw your attention to being interested in reading this novel?

3. Have you ever visited Venice and if so, did you think Tess Gerritsen did a good job relating Venice to the story? Continue reading “Playing With Fire Book Club Discussion Questions” →

Books To Movies 2018

I don’t know about you but I do love to read a good book and then watch the adaptation of the book on the big screen.

Invariably, I always prefer the book but it’s entertaining nevertheless to watch the movie.

Having said that, some of my favorite books turned into TV shows are done really well. These include A Game of Thrones, Outlander and The Walking Dead. The Walking Dead is based off the graphic novels. Both the graphic novels and adaptations are excellent!

Quite a few times I have discovered the great books after I’ve seen the show or movie. Who knew that there were so many books that become movies? Continue reading “Books To Movies 2018” →

The Breakdown Book Review

The Breakdown: Book Review By Dinh.
3.5stars

Goodreads Synopsis:

Cass is having a hard time since the night she saw the car in the woods, on the winding rural road, in the middle of a downpour, with the woman sitting inside—the woman who was killed. She’s been trying to put the crime out of her mind; what could she have done, really? It’s a dangerous road to be on in the middle of a storm. Her husband would be furious if he knew she’d broken her promise not to take that shortcut home. And she probably would only have been hurt herself if she’d stopped.

But since then, she’s been forgetting every little thing: where she left the car, if she took her pills, the alarm code, why she ordered a pram when she doesn’t have a baby. Continue reading “The Breakdown Book Review” →

Playing With Fire By Tess Gerritsen

Please join us in reading Playing With Fire by Tess Gerritsen for our suggested monthly read!

We will be reviewing Playing With Fire along with our book club discussion questions for March 31st, 2018.
Summary of Playing With Fire by Tess Gerritsen

In a shadowy antiques shop in Rome, violinist Julia Ansdell happens upon a curious piece of music—the Incendio waltz—and is immediately entranced by its unusual composition. Full of passion, torment, and chilling beauty, and seemingly unknown to the world, the waltz, its mournful minor key, its feverish arpeggios, appear to dance with a strange life of their own. Julia is determined to master the complex work and make its melody heard. Continue reading “Playing With Fire By Tess Gerritsen” →

Enchantress Of Numbers Book Review

Enchantress Of Numbers: Book review by Dinh.
4 stars

Synopsis:

The only legitimate child of Lord Byron, the most brilliant, revered, and scandalous of the Romantic poets, Ada was destined for fame long before her birth. But her mathematician mother, estranged from Ada’s infamous and destructively passionate father, is determined to save her only child from her perilous Byron heritage. Banishing fairy tales and make-believe from the nursery, Ada’s mother provides her daughter with a rigorous education grounded in mathematics and science. Any troubling spark of imagination—or worse yet, passion or poetry—is promptly extinguished. Or so her mother believes. Continue reading “Enchantress Of Numbers Book Review” →

Enchantress Of Numbers Book Club Discussion Questions

Discussion Questions:

1. In chapter 6, Sharp Is The Knife, And Sudden Is The Stroke, Ada’s grandmother dies and Wentworth estate goes to Lady Annabella Byron. Lady Byron’s annual income increased from five hundred pounds to four thousand five hundred pounds. Ada notes of her mother’s generosity in giving her aunt Augusta game from the estate, then and going forward. Later, Lord Byron dies and Ada’s mother gives the new Lord Byron two thousand pounds per annum.

Why do you think that Ada says? “I have always been proud of my mother for her generosity, even though as I regretted that she had not offered it more frequently to me.”

What does it say about their relationship? What do you think Ada means? Continue reading “Enchantress Of Numbers Book Club Discussion Questions” →