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The Last Cruise
The Last Cruise: A Novel | Kate Christensen
47 posts | 15 read | 21 to read
From the acclaimed PEN-Faulkner Award-winning author of The Great Man comes a riveting high-seas adventure that combines Christensen's signature wit, irony, and humanity to create a striking and unforgettable vision of our times. The 1950s vintage ocean liner Queen Isabella is making her final voyage before heading to the scrapyard. For the guests on board, among them Christine Thorne, a former journalist turned Maine farmer, it's a chance to experience the bygone mid-20th century era of decadent luxury cruising, complete with fine dining, classic highballs, string quartets, and sophisticated jazz. Smoking is allowed but not cell phones--or children, for that matter. The Isabella sets sail from Long Beach, CA into calm seas on a two-week retro cruise to Hawaii and back. But this is the second decade of an uncertain new millennium, not the sunny, heedless fifties, and certain disquieting signs of strife and malfunction above and below decks intrude on the festivities. Down in the main galley, Mick Szabo, a battle-weary Hungarian executive sous-chef, watches escalating tensions among the crew. Meanwhile, Miriam Koslow, an elderly Israeli violinist with the Sabra Quartet, becomes increasingly aware of the age-related vulnerabilities of the ship herself and the cynical corners cut by the cruise ship company, Cabaret. When a time of crisis begins, Christine, Mick, and Miriam find themselves facing the unknown together in an unexpected and startling test of their characters.
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Susanita
The Last Cruise: A Novel | Kate Christensen
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This was a “runner-up” in a recent mystery book club poll. I haven‘t read it, but it sounds interesting! #sundayfunday

BookmarkTavern That does sound interesting! Thanks for sharing! 6mo
29 likes1 comment
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GidgetsTreasures75
Happy Easter Day! | Wendy Watson
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3-31-24: Happy Easter from the newest little bunny in my world! My granddaughter, Ava Rosemarie💖📖😍

Leftcoastzen So cute! 9mo
marleed Oh what a beautiful bunny she is! 9mo
9 likes2 comments
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IMASLOWREADER
Happy Easter Day! | Wendy Watson
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too cute not to post…this is me to a tee #readinglife

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Born.A.Reader
Happy Easter Day! | Wendy Watson
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Happy Easter, Littens!! 💚💗🩵🐰🪺🐣📚

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Birdsong28
Happy Easter Day! | Wendy Watson
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Happy Easter 🐰🐣📚📖

ju.ca.no Happy Easter🫶🏽🐣🐰 9mo
julesG Perfect way to celebrate! 9mo
Gissy 🐣🐰🌸 9mo
tpixie 🐰 🐣 🌺 9mo
35 likes4 comments
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peaKnit
Happy Easter Day! | Wendy Watson
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To those who celebrate, I hope your Easter rocks! 🎸 🐣

AmyG Ha! Happy Easter 🐣 2y
FlowerFairy Hoppy Rocking Easter! 2y
21 likes2 comments
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Kshakal
Happy Easter Day! | Wendy Watson
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For those of you who celebrate!! 🐰

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Birdsong28
Happy Easter Day! | Wendy Watson
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Happy Easter 🐰🐣📚📖

IuliaC Happy Easter! 2y
AmyG Love this illustration. Happy Easter 🐣🐰🐇 (edited) 2y
42 likes2 comments
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CrowCAH
Happy Easter Day! | Wendy Watson
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Happy Easter, Littens! 📚

LeahBergen Happy Easter! 🐰 3y
Ruthiella Happy Easter. 🐣 3y
CrowCAH @LeahBergen @Ruthiella I “hop”e you had a wonderful Easter Day and the blessings will last you through the whole season! 🐑🐰🥚🐤 3y
51 likes3 comments
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GypsyKat
Happy Easter Day! | Wendy Watson
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Coconut raspberry Easter cake is all ready to go! In the background are my most recent flowers from Chris, gorgeous light and deep pink peonies and lavender carnations. The picture doesn‘t do the colors justice at all. Happy Easter, everyone! 💖🐰🐣🐇💐

rockpools That looks amazing! 3y
Dragon Happy Easter 🐣 3y
Nute That looks so yummy!😋🍰 3y
BookDragonNotWorm That sounds and looks so good that I'm googling recipes now!!! 3y
55 likes4 comments
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Kshakal
Happy Easter Day! | Wendy Watson
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Happy Easter everyone!! 🐰🐣🐰

JenReadsAlot Happy Easter! 3y
fredamans Happy Easter! 3y
23 likes2 comments
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Astroneman
Happy Easter Day! | Wendy Watson
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Pickpick
IuliaC Happy Easter! 3y
23 likes1 comment
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Branwen
Happy Easter Day! | Wendy Watson
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My sweet fiancee gave me an Easter basket filled with candy, pokemon, and BOOKS! 😍📚🐇🐣💖 I hope everyone is having a great day!

DaveGreen7777 Happy Easter, Becky! 😀💖 4y
TrishB Lovely ❤️ 4y
Leftcoastzen Adorable photo ! Happy Easter! 4y
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Branwen @DaveGreen7777 Happy Easter, Dave! 😃💖 @TrishB @Leftcoastzen Thank you so much! 🤗💖 4y
Crazeedi So sweet!! Happy Easter!🐣 4y
Avanders Awwww 🥰🥰 4y
Clare-Dragonfly Aww, how sweet! 😍 Winds of Fury is my current pre-bed read! 4y
Branwen @Clare-Dragonfly That's awesome! How are you liking it so far? 4y
Clare-Dragonfly @Branwen Well, I‘m not sure it holds up to my preteen memories but it‘s fun 😆 I‘m surprised the covers are still the same! 4y
58 likes9 comments
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SomedayAlmost
Happy Easter Day! | Wendy Watson
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Happy Easter, readers and writers! May all who celebrate enjoy this special day! #happyeaster #easterday #hope

Come-read-with-me Great picture! 4y
SomedayAlmost Thanks! Cropped out the unpacked box next to my typewriter. 😆 (edited) 4y
12 likes2 comments
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Lynnsoprano
Happy Easter Day! | Wendy Watson
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Wishing all who celebrate a Happy Easter! It‘s been great to spend it with family, especially our little egg hunter. #grandchildrenoflitsy

Smrloomis 😄 4y
AmyG How sweet! ❤️ 4y
Bookzombie So cute! 4y
Cathythoughts Doll💕 4y
69 likes4 comments
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Branwen
Happy Easter Day! | Wendy Watson
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Happy Easter, Litsy family! 🐇🐣💖 I hope everyone has a fun and relaxing day!

CoverToCoverGirl Happy Easter! 🐣 4y
Come-read-with-me Happy Eater to you and your fiancé as well! ? 4y
Branwen @CoverToCoverGirl @Come-read-with-me Thank you so very much! 🤗💖 4y
54 likes3 comments
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Kshakal
Happy Easter Day! | Wendy Watson
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Happy Easter everyone!! 🐰🐣

JenReadsAlot Happy Easter girl! 🐣 4y
32 likes1 comment
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Astroneman
Happy Easter Day! | Wendy Watson
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Pickpick
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GatheringBooks
The Last Cruise: A Novel | Kate Christensen
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#LitsySpringBreak Day 18: Found a number of titles with #Cruise, thanks to Goodreads.

TheKidUpstairs ❤❤❤🛳⛴ 4y
31 likes1 comment
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Sharpeipup
The Last Cruise: A Novel | Kate Christensen
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Bonfire and audiobook to stay warm this chilly night. #festiveflicks #beachread @Traci1

28 likes1 stack add
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SconsinBookyBadger
Happy Easter Day! | Wendy Watson
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Happy Easter to littens who are celebrating. A joyous Sunday to those who are not observing the holiday.

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Branwen
Happy Easter Day! | Wendy Watson
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Happy Easter, litsy family! 🐇🐣💕

Come-read-with-me I love the bunnies!! Happy Easter to you as well 😘 5y
CrowCAH Happy Easter 🐣🐰; love the pastel colored books! 5y
Ruthiella Great photo! Perfect!😀 5y
Branwen @Come-read-with-me @CrowCAH @Ruthiella Thanks so much, friends! 🤗💕 5y
59 likes4 comments
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Kati15
Happy Easter Day! | Wendy Watson
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Pickpick

Happy Easter To All My Litsy Friends! :)

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Hestapleton
Happy Easter Day! | Wendy Watson
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My goals are to:
1️⃣ Read 6 books fo finish up #bfc28 😳
2️⃣ Track my reading for the week by page count instead of hourly. I‘m always curious as to how much reading I actually do in a week, but I‘m horrible at tracking time, so I‘m going to try pages for my exploration.
3️⃣ Catch up in my reading journal. IM SO BEHIND.
#easterextravaganza

BethM Wow girl! Good for you! 5y
Andrew65 I much prefer tracking my reading by the amount of pages read, and so much easier to do. Great to have you with us, and good luck with the Readathon, and getting to your goals. 😊👍 (edited) 5y
Buechersuechtling Hmmm, maybe I should plagiarise page-counting instead of “stop-watching”, too, because I feel my head develops too much of pressure when I have time goals I want to meet. I will try page-goals for the next few readathons. 😃 5y
Hestapleton @Buechersuechtling yes I get way too in my head about! Plus I‘m a fast reader, so my page count is much higher than my time count any day lol. But I might try doing 2,400 pages for the next Dewey‘s readathon (which is usually 24 hours). We adapt!! 5y
49 likes4 comments
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cleoh
Happy Easter Day! | Wendy Watson
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Happy Easter everyone! What a fun way to pass the week! My goals are to catch up on the Lumberjanes series (volumes 10-14) and read at least 2 other books

#easterextravaganza @Andrew65

Andrew65 Great to have you with us, good luck with your goals 😊👍 (edited) 5y
55 likes1 comment
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Kshakal
Happy Easter Day! | Wendy Watson
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JenReadsAlot Happy Easter girl! 5y
peaKnit Have a wonderful day! 5y
Eggs Thanks- happy Easter 🐣✝️🐰✝️ @Kshakal 5y
34 likes3 comments
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Astroneman
Happy Easter Day! | Wendy Watson
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Pickpick
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La_Cori
Happy Easter Day! | Wendy Watson
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Happy Easter everyone!! ?
I'm totally in for a readathon.. thanks @Andrew65

My goal: READ 4 BOOKS! ???
?️finish "Anna Karenina" i'm around 75%, but there are 200 more pages to go..
?️read 2 other books, not sure which one;
?️read a graphic novel.

#EasterExtravaganza

Andrew65 Good luck with your goals. 😊👍 5y
31 likes1 comment
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erank58
Happy Easter Day! | Wendy Watson
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Happy early Easter to all who celebrate, and peace and good wishes to each and every one of my fellow Littens, regardless of which holidays you observe! Even if my fiance and I can't be with our extended family tomorrow, quarentine won't stop a festive meal (even if it's just for 2 this year)! Dinner will consist of my late grandmother's govadellis (that's South Philly for ricotta gnocchi 😉). May you all find comfort and joy during this time!

Freespirit Happy Easter😍 5y
erank58 @Freespirit you too!! 5y
58 likes2 comments
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maich
Happy Easter Day! | Wendy Watson
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Happy Easter Day to everyone who celebrate🐣🐰💕💐

#easterday #holiday #eastereggs #chocolateeggs

Bookwormjillk Pretty! Happy Easter. 5y
maich @Bookwormjillk Thank you❤ 5y
59 likes2 comments
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coffeewithbooks
Happy Easter Day! | Wendy Watson
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❤️🐣

Laura317 What a cutie! Happy Easter! 6y
coffeewithbooks @Laura317 Thank you !😊❤️ 6y
69 likes2 comments
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MemoirsForMe
Happy Easter Day! | Wendy Watson
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Happy Easter, Everyone! 🐰 I thought I‘d share this adorable statue I found on eBay.
Feeling so blessed to be a part of this kind-hearted, generous and FUN community. Enjoy your day! ❤️
#LitsyLove
#DearGodKids

Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks ❤️❤️❤️ 6y
43 likes1 comment
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GripLitGrl
Happy Easter Day! | Wendy Watson
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Wanted to wish all of my Litsy friends a Happy Easter 🐇🐣 & Happy Passover to my Litsy friends who celebrate! Just an over all Happy Sunday Funday to all!💕

Cathythoughts Thankyou! And to you ♥️👍🏻 6y
41 likes1 comment
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SomedayAlmost
Happy Easter Day! | Wendy Watson
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Happy Easter to my fellow Littens who celebrate! May the bunny leave books in your basket! #happyeaster #happyspring

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GypsyKat
Happy Easter Day! | Wendy Watson
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Happy Easter, Littens! Weather you celebrate or not, I hope you all enjoy a lovely day today! 💛💜💖

robinb Happy Easter!🐰 😊 6y
Avanders 🐰🐥🍫🍭🧺💜💗 6y
JazzFeathers Happy Easter! 6y
mrp27 Happy Easter! 6y
95 likes4 comments
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Makenziebrumfield
Happy Easter Day! | Wendy Watson

“It‘s Easter morning! Look — bunny tracks. And chocolates! And there‘s a jelly bean.”

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Makenziebrumfield
Happy Easter Day! | Wendy Watson

This is a great book to read to children around Easter time. Since this book has both simple and more complex poems included in it, this gives the children the opportunity to relate the two with one another.

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Makenziebrumfield
Happy Easter Day! | Wendy Watson
Pickpick

Genre: Poetry
I really enjoyed reading this book, especially since Easter is right around the corner. The book has simple poems in big text in the middle of the page, and more complex poems surrounding the text that relate to what is being said in the bigger text. I thought this was a really clever and interesting way to format the book, and gives different interpretations of what is being said.

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AlexGeorge
The Last Cruise: A Novel | Kate Christensen
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Kate Christensen is appearing at next year‘s Unbound Book Festival and I‘m reading this ahead of that to work out how she will fit in the program. About half way through. Tension has been slowly, brilliantly ratcheting up... a master at work.

18 likes1 stack add
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RealLifeReading
The Last Cruise: A Novel | Kate Christensen
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Pickpick

Warning: Do not, I repeat, do not read this book on a cruise. However if you‘re not planning to be on a cruise, this is a great read. The story takes place on final voyage of a 1950s ocean liner - no internet, no kids, a return to luxury cruising. It‘s told fr the perspectives of the sous chef, a member of a string quartet, & a farmer whose friend is writing about hidden workers (ie the crew). An entertaining thoughtful read. Just not on a ship.

JSW Good advice. 😂 6y
HKGirl Does this mean it's scary/creepy?? 6y
HKGirl Because it sounds really interesting but I can't handle too much scary 😮 6y
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RealLifeReading @HKGirl no it‘s not scary as in, it‘s not horror. Sorry if it sounded that way! It would be scary in that if you were on a cruise and this happened to you (stuck in the middle of the ocean) 6y
joshua828 What ereader is that?? 6y
RealLifeReading @joshua828 it‘s a Lenovo tablet 6y
joshua828 Ohh 😂😂 that‘s why its huge. Thought it was a kobo hahha (edited) 6y
HKGirl @RealLifeReading Okay, whew! Putting in on my TBR list then. 😊 6y
122 likes12 stack adds9 comments
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Michael_Gee
The Last Cruise: A Novel | Kate Christensen
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Mehso-so

She really captures what it feels like to be on a cruise, the gorgeous luxury of it, but also touches on the uncomfortable disparity between the experience of the traveller and that of the employee. This complex political issue is forgotten as they all face the challenges of life trapped adrift. The author is more focused on the characters finding fulfillment through romantic love. I do have to say the ending gave me chills.

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Michael_Gee
The Last Cruise: A Novel | Kate Christensen

Has anyone read Day Four? There are similarities to that one. Although I guess one stalled cruise ship has the same horrors as the next.

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lauraleebc
The Last Cruise: A Novel | Kate Christensen
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Pickpick

I don‘t quite know what to say about this book; please pardon the brain vomit. I found it to be funny, terrifying, and poignant. It was a harrowing read. A cautionary tale. A beautiful love story. It reminded me of Bel Canto. The ending was a good one, but I‘m not happy with it. I truly love some of the characters. Heroism figured in here in both large and small ways, as did hubris & cowardice & kindness. I will be thinking about this a while.

11 likes1 stack add
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Suetara
The Last Cruise: A Novel | Kate Christensen
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Pickpick

I will read anything that Kate Christensen writes. This one grabbed me and wouldn‘t let me stop until I‘d finished the book. (Thank goodness for the light on my paperwhite. My youngest has a migraine and light hurts her. So I‘ve turned down the light to where I can read and it doesn‘t bother her.)

Nute This sounds so good. I hope one day to go on a cruise so I don‘t know if I can read a book about things going wrong with a cruise ship.🚢 😳 6y
35 likes1 comment
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KikiLovesBooks
The Last Cruise: A Novel | Kate Christensen
Pickpick

I read this while on vacation and it was a great disaster vacation novel. Very well written with a dash of intrigue to make you think. If you enjoyed novels like Fierce Kingdom or Do Not Become Alarmed , you‘ll like this one.

9 likes2 stack adds
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ReadingEnvy
The Last Cruise: A Novel | Kate Christensen
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Pickpick

I read this novel about the last sailing of vintage ocean liner Queen Isabella while at sea, and had some interesting dreams! I did enjoy the story, particularly the crew members that are featured as events escalate. eARC from @randomhouse through Edelweiss, out July 10.

RealBooks4ever Just listened to a podcast about the disappearance of Amy Bradley from a cruise ship. Those ships scare me! 😱 6y
ReadingEnvy @RealBooks4ever oh is that a true story? 6y
RealBooks4ever Yes! Heard it on Redhanded, ep. 52. 6y
ReadingEnvy @RealBooks4ever thanks. Now that I'm home and safe I can listen to stuff like that. ;) 6y
69 likes3 stack adds4 comments