Reading lately

So I am currently reading my 25th book of the year.. that is a record for me, post children. Covid and being stuck at home obviously had a lot to do with it. 

The Kitchen God's Wife by Amy Tan

The Kitchen God's Wife by Amy Tan

Synopsis - Winnie and Helen have kept each other's worst secrets for more than fifty years. Now, because she believes she is dying, Helen wants to expose everything. And Winnie angrily determines that she must be the one to tell her daughter, Pearl, about the past—including the terrible truth even Helen does not know. And so begins Winnie's story of her life on a small island outside Shanghai in the 1920s, and other places in China during World War II, and traces the happy and desperate events that led to Winnie's coming to America in 1949.

Thoughts - This wasn't a really long book.. but sometimes it felt really long. Based in China during and before World War II it was not always fun to read about all the horrors people have to live through during war. But add all the injustices women have to suffer through just because they are women made me so angry and sad. Historically, I did not know anything about China's role in the World War so I learned a little.. but mostly the book was about one woman's journey from a unloved chilhood to an abusive marriage to finally migrating to America, where until a few years ago this was a land of opportunity, a home to people of all colors, races and walks of life. I did not love or hate this book.. it was a good read and Winnie was a colorful narrator, I could imagine her as many eldery relatives of my own.  

5th Horseman by James Patterson

5th Horseman by James Patternson and Maxine Paetro

Synopsis - It is a wild race against time as Lieutenant Lindsay Boxer and the newest member of the Women's Murder Club, attorney Yuki Castellano, lead an investigation into a string of mysterious patient deaths--and reveal a hospital administration determined to shield its reputation at all costs. And while the hospital wages an explosive court battle that grips the entire nation, the Women's Murder Club hunts for a merciless killer among its esteemed medical staff.  

Thoughts - This is my 5th in the Women's Murder Club series. I liked the idea of all these strong women at the top of their fields solving crime. They killed off some major characters in the earlier books made the books less predictable but I'm not so sure anymore. They don't compare to Karin Slaughter's crime thrillers, there are a lot more tame and that is probably the problem. I don't think I will continue with the series. They are easy reads though, something to read between more intense reads. 

All That Glitters by Gita Trelease

All that Glitters by Gita Trelease

Synopsis - Paris is a labryinth of twisted streets filled with beggars and thieves, revolutionaries and magicians. Camille Durbonne is one of them. She wishes she weren’t...When smallpox kills her parents, Camille must find a way to provide for her younger sister while managing her volatile brother. Relying on magic, Camille painstakingly transforms scraps of metal into money to buy food and medicine they need. But when the coins won’t hold their shape and her brother disappears with the family’s savings, Camille pursues a richer, more dangerous mark: the glittering court of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.
Using dark magic forbidden by her mother, Camille transforms herself into a baroness and is swept up into life at the Palace of Versailles, where aristocrats both fear and hunger for magic. As she struggles to reconcile her resentment of the rich with the allure of glamour and excess, Camille meets a handsome younge inventor, and begins to believe that love and liberty may both be possible.But magic has its costs, and soon Camille loses control of her secrets. And when revolution erupts, Camille must choose—love or loyalty, democracy or aristocracy, reality of magic—before Paris burns.

Thoughts - This was such a fun read. It had a bit of everything, Paris, magic and love. It was a perfect escapist read. 


My to read pile for next year is already quite tall.. new reads are always sneaking there way in and the pile never gets any shorter which brings a smile to my face. I buy books for the kids but I mostly use paperbackswap.com or bookmooch.com (a new discovery) to swap books and I have been lucky with goodreads giveaways and have managed to win quite a few. 



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Comments

  1. 25 books! You put me to shame! Double what I've read this year!

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  2. You have read a lot! Thank you for sharing your reviews!

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  3. You read a lot of books! Very inspiring:)

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  4. I read The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan years ago, but haven't read this one (that I can remember!). She tells a good story.

    I love that quote you shared and can totally relate to it! I've only read a couple in your TBR. Hope you enjoy A Man Called Ove as much as I did.

    Good job on 25 books!

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  5. i am not a reader, but i am sure those that are will appreciate this!!

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  6. Oh you are reading some great books here. I have not been reading as much been too stressed out to concentrate but I am reading a little here and there a book about pilots in WW11.


    Allie of
    www.allienyc.com

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  7. I'm not sure I'll make it to 25 books by the end of the year, so I'm applauding you. I thought I'd have more time to read, and it started quite well at the beginning of lockdown back in March, but over Summer my reading really went downhill. I've only just got into reading again this last month or so. That's a lovely pile of books you've got for next year. As I'm constantly picking up books in charity shops, my reading pile is really never ending :-) xxx

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  8. Gosh, this is how I used to be...reading all the time. But I love that you share this with us. I used to read a lot of Robert Patterson, but haven't in ages!!
    XOOX
    Jodie
    www.jtouchofstyle.com

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  9. They sound like interesting books and I'm impressed with the list you have! I need to count up how many books I've read this year, I've also been reading more thanks to my neighbour starting up book club in Iso but I haven't counted yet! It's nice to get back into reading, I used to do it a lot before kids :)

    Hope that you are having a great week! It's a wet and stormy one here, summer rains have arrived!

    Away From The Blue | Handbag Gift Guide

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  10. Looks like you've read some good ones, and lots of good ones on the way!

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  11. Thank you for the good book reviews. That first one reminded me of a show I started watching "Call the Midwives". The WWII stories that are shared are so heartbreaking.

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  12. Thanks for these book suggestions! Right now I'm into reading poetry.

    https://www.kathrineeldridge.com

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  13. A fellow book lover!
    I read James Patterson too, but only his Alex Cross series now.
    Loved this post, my friend.

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  14. All That Glitters sounds really interesting! Sometimes I like novels with a bit of fantasy in them!

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  15. Wow! You certainly read a lot!! I enjoyed both the book and movie The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

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  16. Oh wow! You read so much this year, Hena! Good for you:) And All That Glitters sounds like an awesome read. Thanks for the heads up!

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  17. All that Glitters sounds like a perfect holiday read!

    District of Chic

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  18. Oooh, All That Glitters sounds like a fun read!

    -Ashley
    Le Stylo Rouge

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  19. Oo I want to read All That Glitter! I need something Parisian!

    www.rdsobsessions.com

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  20. I read The Kitchen God's Wife many years ago and I think I had the same assessment as you did. Some of the hardships described were tough to read about but overall it was a good book.

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  21. Oh my goodness I have read more this year than I have since I was about 12! I read about 13 so that I could write reviews for magazines, and maybe 25 or 30 just for fun! It has been a busy year lol.

    Amy x wandering-everywhere.com

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  22. I haven't read a James Patterson book in forever. I didn't know he made a whole series like this.

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  23. 25 books? Wow! Way to go! And the year isn't even over yet. I haven't read any of these or heard of them, so I'll have to check them out. I've been getting a little more reading in, too!

    Carrie
    curlycraftymom.com

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  24. I love books set in Paris and All that Glitters sounds great!

    Jill - Doused in Pink

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  25. I love your to be read pile! Mine is about 100 books...sigh...I get distracted with new and shiny and don't read the books I picked up at library book sales (before covid of course)!

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  26. Oh, it's so wonderful that you read. Look at that stack of books! My daughter is a book lover too, but having a child and working from home, I'm not sure how much leisure reading she has been doing. Keep reading, my friend. It's something we can do for ourselves. : )

    ~Sheri

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  27. You're such a voracious reader!

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  28. Looks like you have a lot of great reads coming up in 2021. I really want to read that Chanel Cleeton book. I read two of her other books this year and thought they were incredible.

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  29. I love that you're reading more each year. The Paris one sounds like a good, entertaining one; added it.

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