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#ReadTheUSA2024
review
TheAromaofBooks
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Panpan

I enjoyed this little “return to the hometown“ romance to start with, but was skimming by the end. The male MC has worked for literal years to gain the work position he just got because it will allow him to live close to his mom and siblings. Female MC waltzes back into town and ends up with a job as his subordinate. I lost all respect for her when she got super pissy because he wouldn't sleep with her because of the company's rules, despite her ⬇

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) literally saying she wasn't interested in anything serious/long-term and that she's planning to bail out of town as soon as she can. I'm sorry, you're angry because he isn't willing to sacrifice his ENTIRE CAREER for a short-term fling with his high school ex??? I just found her to be so self-absorbed and annoying from the get-go, and she got more so as the pages went on.

#ReadtheUSA2024 - Rhode Island
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5mo
robinb Yikes!!! 😳 She sounds like a real winner of a person…not. 👎 3mo
TheAromaofBooks @robinb - It was one of those books where instead of the main character growing on me and growing as a person, she just got worse and worse! Plus their reason for their back-in-the-day break-up was her mom telling the guy that he “wasn't good enough“ for the daughter and if he really loved her, he would let her go blah blah blah so he did but of course pretended like he wanted to date other people etc. The MC's mom has died by the time the ⬇ 3mo
TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) story starts, but she also just sounds DREADFUL - she was obsessed with her daughter having a career in TV journalism/being a news anchor and consequently was always making her “fix“ her looks etc etc. It's supposed to be these heartwarming flashbacks to time she spent bonding with her mom, but all I could think was... this woman is HORRID, no wonder her daughter sucks! 3mo
60 likes4 comments
review
TheAromaofBooks
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Pickpick

Jolie has a severe underbite that has impacted her health and looks her entire life. She's going to have surgery in a few weeks and even though the chances of her dying under anesthetic are very tiny - there is still a chance! So she decides to complete a list of things she would have wished she'd done if she ends up dead haha It's a fun premise and Jolie is a likable characters. I loved her warm family, and I always appreciate the way Winfrey ⬇

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) sets her stories in Ohio and doesn't act like it's the worst place in the world to live (because it's actually lovely here!). But sometimes I read YA that makes me feel kind of old, and this was one of them. I found myself wondering if I would have gotten more from this book when I was a teen. Jolie spends a lot of time thinking about her looks and wishing she was prettier, and it's one of the big lessons from the story, but I found ⬇ 5mo
TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) myself getting a little tired of listening to her obsess over looks, since I have long been in the stage of life where I pretty much don't care what other people think about how I look.

Still, a not-bad read with plenty of fun banter and enough seriousness mixed in to keep things grounded, while still staying overall lighthearted.

#ReadtheUSA2024 - Ohio
#BookSpinBingo
5mo
shortsarahrose I definitely appreciate when the Midwest is portrayed in a good light (originally from Wisconsin, now in Iowa, worked in Ohio and Indiana in the past)! 5mo
49 likes3 comments
review
julieclair
Zorrie | Laird Hunt
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Pickpick

Zorrie is a beautiful example of quiet kindness and continuing to move forward, despite tragedy, sadness, loneliness and disappointment. Written in lovely prose, this novel is reflective and thought-provoking. Meant to be savored - a quick read would not do it justice. A wonderful selection for #SundayBuddyRead, @TheBookHippie . You really manage to find the gems! 👍💙
#Pantone2024 #ReadTheUSA2024 @aperfectmjk

blurb
DebinHawaii
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OK, I think this will be my May pick for #SeasonalCozies as it is set during Memorial Day. It also meets my criteria for being first in a series (Nantucket Candle Maker Mystery) & cheap/free (it‘s on Kindle Unlimited).

Still finishing up April‘s pick.

julieclair Oohhh… I need a Massachusetts book for #ReadTheUSA2024, and this looks fun! Added to my stack. 7mo
45 likes1 stack add1 comment
review
TheAromaofBooks
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Pickpick

Wow, reading the GR synopsis made me realize that my 1931 edition is LITERALLY an entirely different story from the later version! Maybe that's because this one didn't have a super cohesive mystery. It's mostly Nancy and her friends riding around mountains getting almost eaten by wild animals 😂 I was cracking up at the way some of the situations resolved themselves at the end (wife of husband with amnesia perfectly happy he's coming home with a ⬇

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) random little girl he adopted who is also an heiress and is going to have no complications or difficulty establishing who she is and I guess they'll just hand over the kid and all her money to this couple?!?!!? LOL)

BUT it's still great fun, even if I apparently missed out on a great phantom horse mystery in the later edition!!

@Librarybelle
(edited) 8mo
TheSpineView Awesome! 8mo
See All 6 Comments
Librarybelle That sounds so different from the 1960s version! 😮 8mo
bookandbedandtea I've been thinking the same thing! Others have mentioned aspects of the story that bear no relation to what I'm reading! I'm hoping to finish this today and then read the 60s version real quick. 🤞🏻 @Librarybelle 8mo
BarkingMadRead Oh wow! I have the 60s version, that‘s crazy! 8mo
68 likes6 comments
review
julieclair
Irish Parade Murder | Leslie Meier
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Pickpick

The Lucy Stone books always make me feel like I‘ve plopped right down into the middle of her life. This one centers around the town‘s upcoming St. Patrick‘s Day Parade, and includes work problems, a death in the family, possible corruption, a potential long-lost relative, and of course, a murder. Very entertaining!
#SeasonalCozies #ReadTheUSA2024 @aperfectmjk

review
TheAromaofBooks
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Pickpick

Not the tagged book, but by the same author. This horse story has languished on my shelves for decades, and I'm not sure why I've never read it. Published (and set) during the Korean War, a young man leaves for the armed forces. His younger brother, who has a club foot and is ineligible to fight, stays behind and raises the colt they're convinced can be a champion harness racer. While fairly typical horse book fare, I still really enjoyed this ⬇

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) this one and was rooting for Star the whole way.

#Roll100 @PuddleJumper
#100YearsofBooks
#ReadtheUSA2024 - Florida
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9mo
48 likes1 comment
review
TheAromaofBooks
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Panpan

I complained about this book at length on Goodreads, and on my blog. Short version: Emma Gatewood was amazing. Ben Montgomery's writing sucked, and the entire rhythm of this book made no sense. What I actually need are Emma's diaries.

#BookSpin - February
#ReadtheUSA2024 - Maine
#GottaCatchEmAll - Nature Featured Prominently @PuddleJumper
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Librarybelle Thank you!!! I completely agree with you on this, and honestly, people thought I was horrible for not thinking it the best book in the world. 9mo
TheAromaofBooks @Librarybelle - He just sounded so condescending and smug the entire time. I hated the parts where he talked about “following in her footsteps“ and all about HIS feelings blah blah blah. Like I care haha It just felt like he didn't actually like or respect Gatewood and was just here to make a buck on her accomplishments. And I couldn't stand the way he handled the sections about her husband abusing her - the way he would always end it on a ⬇ 9mo
TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) “cliffhanger“ - like “her husband beat her ten times that month“ CUT SCENE - Now we're in Maine, back on the hike! Ugh. He also had unlimited access to her diaries, and barely quotes them at all?? The format jumping all over the place in time was hard to follow and didn't really make sense. I just. Ugh. It made me mad because I am genuinely interested in Gatewood as a person - I'm from Ohio and have hiked the Buckeye Trail section ⬇ 9mo
See All 8 Comments
TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) named for her many times. There was a lot of potential here, but his sneering attitude just grated on me on every page. /end rant 😂 9mo
Lcsmcat Good to know. I‘m interested in her, but maybe I‘ll look for another source. 9mo
Librarybelle I was on a committee with individuals who thought his work was so good, and I was just flummoxed. I kept thinking I must be missing something - the writing was not engaging, & you bring up several of the points I thought. I also saw a shift in the writing style where I felt he almost went a little over the top with “fanboying” and the tone went very weird. Not a chronicle, per se, but something else. I‘m glad to find someone else who found issue! 9mo
ImperfectCJ Just popping in to say that I'm really enjoying reading this exchange. I haven't read this book, but it sounds like it hits one of my pet peeves---an author who centers their own experience while they're supposedly writing someone else's story. I will have to hike the Buckeye Trail section named for Gatewood next time I'm in the heart of it all. 9mo
dabbe #fanofthepan! 💚💙💚 9mo
47 likes8 comments
review
TheAromaofBooks
Celine: A novel | Peter Heller
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Pickpick

I had some trouble rating this book because the book itself can't quite seem to decide what it wants to be. It‘s also not exactly a novel, but somewhere in between. A novel with some thriller aspects. A slow-paced suspense with a lot of backstory. A spy story not about the spy at all. A missing person case with a long explanation as to why the detective takes on missing person cases. Something like that. The point is, I really enjoyed it. But⬇

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) I'm also not sure exactly why 😂

Great #LMPBC pick @bookandbedandtea !! @Jerdencon @robinb
#ReadtheUSA2024 - Wyoming
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9mo
Susanita My book club liked it more than I did, but I want to try the Dusty Miller sundae. 9mo
bookandbedandtea I like your analysis, Sarah. I can't properly describe the book, and couldn't nail down a genre for it, but I really enjoyed it. 🤷‍♀️ 9mo
robinb I enjoyed it as well, but it was definitely different. And I get what you say about the genre thing. At times it felt like a cozy, at times a book more about the mysterious Celine than a thriller/mystery. Celine was the focus, all else took a backseat. 😂 9mo
52 likes4 comments
review
TheAromaofBooks
Escape Into the Night | Lois Walfrid Johnson
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Pickpick

I originally read these back in the early 90s when they were being published and I was close to the same age as the middle grade protagonists. Libby has been living with her aunt and uncle since her mother passed away, but now her dad, a steamboat captain on the Mississippi in 1857, thinks she is old enough to come live with him again. Libby learns about the evils of slavery (a topic she's never thought deeply about) and finds out that the cabin ⬇

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) boy is a conductor for the Underground Railroad. This is the first book in the series - they'll spend the books helping a young slave their age rescue his mother and siblings from slavery, all while eluding his exceptionally evil owner. While not groundbreaking, these are good “starter“ books to introduce some concepts. I remember enjoying them as a kid, although they're pretty predictable as an adult haha Soft pick. 9mo
TheSpineView Well done! 9mo
sblbooks This looks good! You should join us for #middlegrademarch. 9mo
49 likes4 comments