February 2023 Book of the Month Club. Choose Your Own.

Mamanyt1953

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LOL, thus far, I'm re-reading the entire Miss Fortune series, however, that will only last another week, at best. After that, I'll be reading a new-to-me series by Laura Childs, the Scrapbooking series, which I understand has crafting tips AND recipes. I'll probably do one of those.
 

rubysmama

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As always with the "choose your own" months, I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone reads, and hopefully finding some new books to put on my "to read" list. So the more books read the better. :)

Also, in case anyone missed it, and will need to put holds at libraries, or order the book, the March thread is up now.
March 2023 Book of the Month Club---Pretty Little Wife
 

gilmargl

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I'm quoting myself here - just to prove to myself that I was spreading lies at the beginning of January! :cringe:
I do have 2 Nicci French books and one by Charlotte Link waiting to be picked up, read and disposed of! I've read plenty by Nicci French, but Charlotte Link is new to me. None of them will be difficult reads so I may manage to read all three as I will certainly finish January's books today. :)
Well, I read "The Lying Room" by Nicci French - almost overnight, but wiil not use it as my February book of the month. If anyone is interested - a typical Nicci French masterpiece, which always seems to include a cat or other animal where the reader is wondering if this is going to be an innocent victim. In this case the animal is a pet guinea pig but the only dangers are whether or not the children and their mother will forget to feed him or perhaps he will escape. But, you can rest assured he survives! The story is rather unlikely but it's a thoroughly enjoyable read.
I discovered I had already read ""Complicit" and though I can't remember the whole story, I remember enough to spoil the suspense. So I won't be offering this Nicci French book as my book of the month either. I found Charlotte Link's book, "The Watcher", too ordinary to finish........ but I will comment on a book I've just reread, "The Moonstone" by Wilkie Collins as well as John le Carré's "Silverview" which is rather different from most of the books we are reading on TCS.

Looking forward to 22nd Feb. :)
 

Mamanyt1953

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I'm rereading the last of the Miss Fortune series now...there will be another out, probably in March. However, I'll almost certainly review one of my new Laura Childs Scrapbook mysteries. Of the last six, four are in my mailbox and the other two will arrive on Tuesday, so I can binge my widdle heart out!
 
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verna davies

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Only a couple more reading days left before discussion starts. Hope you have found some enjoyable books, looking forward to reading your opinions and maybe we will add a few more books to our list of ones to read.
 

Mamanyt1953

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Gonna do the first book of the Scrapbook series, "Keepsake Crimes," by Laura Childs. I'm so enjoying this one, and the recipes are GREAT! I might share one in my review!
 
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verna davies

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Its 22nd of the month which means discussion time. Hope you have read some interesting books this month and will share your thoughts on them.
Looking forward to reading all your reviews and get some new books to add to my reading list.
 

rubysmama

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Since I've been writing my reviews and saving them in a Word file as I finish each book, they've been just sitting and waiting for me to post, so I'll post them now.

You Must Remember This – Kat Rosenfield
This was a book I had on hold with my library, and when I was able to borrow it, I didn’t reread the description. So I went into it not knowing what to expect. I think this was a good thing, after I finished it, I saw it described as a “whodunnit”, which I don’t think it really was.

The story was told in 2 timelines. 1920’s to 1950’s, and then in the present time. The character in the earlier timeline was the grandmother, and the present time was the granddaughter.

The book seemed more of a family drama, than thriller, though it did have some twists and surprises. Some I guessed, some I didn’t. It wasn’t the best book I’ve ever read, but was still enjoyable.
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Edit: rereading this review now, I realize by keeping it vague and un-spoilery, it really tells nothing at all about the story. In fact, I can't even remember what it was about, so can't even edit to improve it. Sorry about that folks.


Love, Pam – Pamela Anderson
I enjoy reading memoirs, so when I saw this on my library site, decided to borrow it. In the acknowledgements, it says she wrote the book herself, with no ghost writers, collaborators or book doctors. Though impressive, the book might have benefitted from input from more than just an editor, as I found it seemed to lack substance at times. Several parts were also written as poetry, which I found I just skimmed over.

There were some stories of her life, including her younger years in Canada. Also stories about various abuse she received from strangers, the paparazzi, and the men she impulsively married. She also shared stories about her 2 sons she had with Tommy Lee.
Career wise, she talked about her involvement with Playboy, her time on Baywatch, but very little else about other acting roles she had over the years.

There was a lot about her activism for human and animal rights. And also a lot about authors and poets she read. Most of whom I’d never heard of.

It was a relatively short, thus quick read. But I didn’t feel like I knew her much more than I did before reading her book.
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Stranger in the Lake – Kimberly Belle
This was a domestic thriller by a “new to me” author. Like “You Must Remember This” there were 2 timelines in this book. One the present time where a new wife wonders if it’s just a coincidence that her new older husband’s first wife drowned in the lake by their property, and now another woman (the stranger) has also been found drowned in the lake. The second timeline is 20 years earlier, when the husband was in his late teens.

It was a good story, which kept me wondering whodunit. And surprisingly, I actually guessed one part, which I’m not sure means I’m a good detective, or the story was too obvious. LOL But I did read it to the end, and enjoyed it for the most part.
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Stay Awake - Megan Goldin
This is the final book I read for Choose Your Own Month, and it was my favourite. It was a thriller that starts with a young woman who wakes up in the back of a cab, with no memory of how she got there. Turns out she loses her memory every time she falls asleep. Her story takes place in 2 timelines, the present and 2 years ago which is the last memories she has. A third timeline, in the present, involves 2 police detectives investigating a murder in which the amnesiac woman appears to be involved.

The chapters were all short, which kept the stories moving along, and kept me wanting to read a little bit more. I did figure out the whodunit much earlier than the reveal, which is not something that happens often for me, but it didn’t spoil my enjoyment.

There were a couple unanswered questions at the end of the book, which I wish had been explained. But maybe they were just set up as red herrings.

This was my first book by the author, and I would read others. In fact I’ve put both The Escape Room and The Night Swim e-books on hold at by library.
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verna davies

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I went mad this month and have reviewed 4 books, the cold wet weather allowed me the time to read for hours.

Date Night by Samantha Hayes
This book is a thriller/ mystery, its about a married couple going for a meal and coming home to find the babysitter missing. I'm usually pretty good at figuring out who the baddy is but this book had me mystified. First I thought it was the husband, then the wife, maybe they were in it together, then the ex wife, then the babysitter's boyfriend. Eventually it had me bamboozled, I had no idea, there were so many red herrings.
The ending wasnt at all what I expected and there was a final twist. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Liar's Wife by Samantha Hayes
Because I enjoyed the first book I decided to read another by the same author. This one is a psychological thriller. Ella has an accident on her bike, wakes up in hospital after several days and is told her husband has been every day but she knows she isnt married. Her 'husband' has something over her that she doesn't want anyone to know so when he collects her to take her home she has no choice but to go along with it as she recognizes him and knows what her knows about her. The book goes on to tell of the way they live, what she has to do to plan her escape whilst convincing him she is happy to live as his wife.
As with most psychological thrillers there are twists and turns and one I wasnt expecting at the end.
⭐⭐⭐⭐

I'll write my other two reviews later.
 
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verna davies

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Here's my review of the other two books.

Remember My Name by Sam Blake
This is the first book I've read by this author, a mystery/thriller. Wife suspects her husband is cheating on her and needs proof before she confronts him as there is a lot of money involved and with no proof he will ensure she will end up with no money. She needs her rightful share for both herself and their daughter so a sister of a friend offers to help as her field of expertise is the in cybertech industry. In doing so she discovers a lot more going on than expected and her life could be in danger with the information she discovers. An easy and enjoyable read.
⭐⭐⭐

Gallant by V E Schwab

This book is by the same author who wrote The Invisible Life of Addie La Rue, a book club read a while back. As I really enjoyed that book I thought I'd try another by the author.
Not sure what genre I would put this book in but most probably Fantasy, the first part isnt fantasy but the bulk of the story is. I surprised myself by enjoying this book so much as I never read fantasy, just not my thing but I really enjoyed this one.
Its about a young mute girl in an orphanage, a letter arrives from an unknown uncle that completely changes her life. Interwoven is a diary she has that belonged to her mother who she doesn't know, a house named Gallant and the people that live there.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
 

gilmargl

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I'M POSTING THIS HOWEVER BAD IT IS - OR I WON'T GET ANYTHING DONE TODAY!!

I read 3 books but this was the shortest and it's going to be the hardest to describe! I hope this makes sense.

What book did you read?
The Young Man by Annie Ernaux
Why did you choose it?
I wanted to read something by the winner of the Nobel Prize for literature 2022 and this book was very short. Her critics accuse her of only writing her autobiography, but her supporters say that all writers do this to a certain extent and the details about her own life are treated very differently (uniquely) from a normal autobiography. I was also interested in the title: perhaps it would answer the question: Why does society accept men who take very young wives (one after the other) whereas women with their "toyboys" are ridiculed.

Evidently the author had covered most of her past life in her books but there were a few years she had omitted - shame, pain, embarassment? She believes that until events in her past life have been described in writing, they have not been brought to an end – but only experienced.

This is not a love story: passion and sex are obviously present but only mentioned in passing. The young man has no name, referred to only as A. and could be any disillusioned ex-student from a poor working class background in the state of no-man's land not daring to move to Paris and break into the more elite intellectual circles. He had been sending letters to the author for a whole year before their passionate affair began. He was middle 25, she middle 50's! He lived in a cheap cold apartment in Rouen, the city where she had studied in the 1960's. Coincidentally it looked over the now empty hospital where she had spent 6 days after a back-street aboortion in1963. For her, A. became the incorporation of her own working-class past. She initiated him by taking him to the cafés and university buildings she had frequented as a student, taking him also with her to places such as Venedig and Madrid, which she had more recently visited with other men, her husband or even with her sons. She accepted that he had initiated her in acceptance of her own past and turning her shame into triumph.

Sitting in Madrid watching A. eat French fries, she hears the song “Don’t Make Me Over” which reminds her of the time she spent alone in Paris in 1963 looking for a doctor willing to perform an abortion. Her boyfriend at the time had left her and this hit song always took her back to that scary time. In Madrid, she decides the time is right, she can now write about her scandalous life. She returned to Paris, A: to Rouen. Within a week of completing her book, her relationship with A. had ended. “Don’t Make Me Over” would now remind her of that day with A. in Madrid. Her miserable, shameful search in Paris in 1963 will be relegated to second place.

Not sure I feel happy with her almost final words on the topic: she had the feeling she had to rid A. from her body in the same way she had with the embryo so many years ago.

Finally at the turn of the century she was alone and free.

Were you pleased with your choice?
Yes! I could listen to it over and over again. It gave me more than enough to think about.

Was it a fast read or a challenge to get to the end?
It was an essay with 8 chapters so very quick to get through but packed with interesting comments and ideas about backgound, time and life. I had to listen to it 2 or three times to be able to write anything. I have deleted and rewritten this text at least 3 times!:)
I would definitely have prefered to see the text written down.
It is a very good book for discussion but it's not an easy book to describe. It's obviously not part of a series.

What was the format of the book?
I purchased an Audio Book – in German – I liked the sound of the reader’s voice, she was easy on the ear and she read it well.

How did you acquire the book?
Bought new

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
 
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