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Any new hot reads? Going on vacation Friday and am loading up my Kindle!

 

Update on last post - finished the Philippa Gregory books, pretty good (Parr book I liked better than Pole). I did not like Killing Monica, sort of liked Primates of Park Avenue (the ending was crap and the blend of "science" and memoir made it seem too pseudo-sciencey - would have been much better as a straight comic memoir)

 

I'm finishing up Notes from a Small Island (Bill Bryson, memoir/essays) Have a couple of mysteries & romances loaded.....

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I've been reading the Neopolitan novels by Elana Ferrante. Although it's four books, it's really one very long story.

 

Ooh, my library has them in ebooks!

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The first book is the slowest so far, and I'm glad they are broken up because I need a break in between each one. Plus, the identity of the author is like a blind item, so right up our alley!

Edited by dixiedoodah

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Mindy Kaling on the Today Show this morning talking about her favorite books because everyone should read more in 2016. Great ideas. This book just went on my Amazon Wish List ;-)

 

http://www.amazon.com/Inside-Chefs-Fridges-Europe-refrigerators/dp/3836553538/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1451571989&sr=1-1&keywords=inside+chef%27s+fridges

 

(her picks were great - I've read half and the other half are mostly on my list already ;-)

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Reading The Residence about the White House behind the scenes with the full-time staff. Nancy Reagan does NOT come off well. Nor Lyndon Johnson. I'm about half through - it's fascinating. Might actually have to see The Butler ;-)

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Is freelancergirl still around?? I just picked up her new book - "in twenty years" - good so far! Realized I've missed a few of her books so I'll have to see what I can pick up for my kindle before my next trip :-)

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Picked up a great book at the library last week and am almost finished - The Gilded Years by Karin Tanabe. It's fiction but based on a true story of the first African American woman to graduate from Vassar by passing as white (back in 1897 - hence the title - smack dab in the middle of the Gilded Years) The plot is somewhat predictable (pretty sure I know what will happen despite having 80 pages to go ;-) but it's well written and evocative. I would recommend!

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Looking for any historical fiction recommendations that take place in Austria, Germany and/or Hungary area. Anyone have any suggestions??

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Ooh - do you like forensics at all? I've read most (current is loaded on my kindle for travel next week) Oliver Potzsch - I think originally written in German. First is The Hangman's Daughter. Great series, medieval Germany + mysteries & solving crime, which I love.

 

http://www.oliver-poetzsch.de/home/index.php/english-site

 

Did you read The Historian? That's Dracul, but close. I adored it but my mother hated, so....

 

I've read some about Marie-Therese - I'll have to go look and see what is on the edge of my brain....

 

I just finished The Fortune Hunter by Daisy Goodwin (she created/wrote Victoria that's on Masterpiece now) and it was half about Empress Sisi of the Austro-Hungarian empire, but it's more English 19thC history....

Edited by Hoyaheel
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Has anyone read Kevin Kwan's books? 3rd and final just came out last week and downloaded to my kindle today. Have to finish new Elizabeth Kostova first though.

 

Kevin Kwan: Crazy Rich Asians, China Rich Girlfriend, and Rich People Problems....

 

Kostova - Shadow Land is pretty good. A little depressing, but then, so is the history of Bulgaria....

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[Kevin Kwan] I read them when they came out (Lainey's recommendation) and downloaded them again from my library when I was traveling in Singapore in November. I love! Great summer/vacation reads. Also, they're filming the first book and the cast looks awesome!!!!

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I have to say I'm loving Lainey lately. I feel bad for hating on her for so long.

 

Anyway, I read The Hate U Give on her recommendation and it was really powerful. I generally try to stay away from YA novels cause there's so little time and so, so much I want to read, but I'm glad I made the exception.

 

I treated myself to a kindle for mother's day (if I don't treat myself, ain't no one else gonna do it) and I'm so glad I did! The Hate U Give was my first Overdrive loan :D

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People change and I think Lainey has improved drastically from when she first started. That's my story and I'm sticking to it - I definitely read her site every day. I don't necessarily agree on all her book choices, but I had planned to read Kwan anyway. Just finished Rich People Problems today. Loved it.

 

Next up - Picnic in Provence, the 2nd memoir from Elizabeth Bard. Her 3rd book just came out so I figured I should catch up since the 2nd has been on my To Read list for years....

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Hoya, good point re: change. I also read her site everyday. Her site and ONTD are really my only must-reads for gossip nowadays.

 

Her enthusiasm for Kwan's books are so infectious I see myself reading them soon.

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In an exclusive book excerpt, Curtis Armstrong, who would go on to co-star in 'Revenge of the Nerds' and 'Moonlighting,' reveals on-set raunch and shooting secrets ("Bible study and blow jobs," girls lined up outside Cruise's hotel room) of a teen classic made just before the birth of a megastar.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/my-wild-summer-tom-cruise-women-sean-penn-making-risky-business-1014670

 

 

Some of the photos in the link are pretty good :D

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Just started Party Girls Die in Pearls by Plum Sykes - I'm in heaven :-) I've read her earlier two novels - good dishy summer reads, about $$$$ New Yorkers (write what you know...) Anyway - her new book is a murder mystery that takes place in Oxford in the 80s (Sykes attended Oxford in the 80s....Write what you know ;-) Anyway - I am an anglophile with an Oxford obsession so it's so much fun to read!!! Esp the footnotes that are basically language explanations....)

 

No clue the quality of the murder mystery - I'm not there yet, and this is her first murder - I'm kind of critical when it comes to mysteries - I read cozies and forensics and historical - but right now I don't even care if I figure out the whodunnit right away ;-)

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[Kevin Kwan] I read them when they came out (Lainey's recommendation) and downloaded them again from my library when I was traveling in Singapore in November. I love! Great summer/vacation reads. Also, they're filming the first book and the cast looks awesome!!!!

Finished Crazy, Rich Asians and China Rich Girlfriend. I have Rich People Problems on hold at the library.

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Well, if you read 2 and have the 3rd on hold, I guess you liked it well enough ;-)

 

I'm back to Tudor history fiction - book#2 in series, Boleyn Deceit, Laura Anderson. Alternative history as if Anne Boleyn's son hadn't been stillborn and reigned after Henry VIII's death. Took a little time to get into but now it's faster. Went to a different library last week and stocked up on stuff my library doesn't have :-)

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I read primarily romance. And average two a week. I just finished The Hating Game and it went to the top of my all time favorite list (prior #1 held position for 15 years).

 

Told in first person and funny and just plain good....

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Starting "Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage murders and the birth of the FBI" by David Grann (true story).

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My gravestone will read "Just let me finish this chapter".....Always something new out there!!

 

Tomorrow I'm going to pick up The Painted Queen - posthumously published, last of Elizabeth Peters' AMelia Peabody mysteries. So even death won't stop my favorite authors, apparently ;-)

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