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Dead Girls
Dead Girls: Essays on Surviving an American Obsession | Alice Bolin
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review
MegCaldwell
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Pickpick

There were some really good essays in her and a few I didn‘t like as much. It was a super interesting look at “dead girls” in media and the trope they carry. I was on the fence about this one overall though.

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Reagan
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The library opens again this week! We have a new main branch that I have never been to and I am so excited! Theatres are also opening this week! Eeeek! Many of these have been on my library list for years so hoping to make some quick progress. What should I start with.

Alfoster The Bad Seed is creepy good (but probably dated)! They all look good!❤️ 3y
Kimberlone I went to the movies last week and it was glorious! 3y
45 likes2 comments
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Mitch
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Opening sentence ... “This is a book about books.” I think this is going to be a good one..👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

Crazeedi I love books about books, hope its good! 3y
61 likes3 stack adds1 comment
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AlizaApp
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Pickpick

Essays on dead girls in pop culture, revisiting noir in LA, and some memoir about the author‘s own family history. Sharp writing but some ideas felt repetitive rather than revelatory.

31 likes1 stack add
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DrLReads
Mehso-so

This book is more an ode to Didion‘s LA than a critical examination of the dead girl trope. Part personal essay, part dissertation, Bodin‘s writing is strong, but her critical analysis often felt obvious and her arguments tenuous. (My bias as a recovering academic may be showing here). This collection is at its best when Bodin probes her own privilege and use of the personal essay. At its worst, it is self-indulgent.

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BronwynMahon
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Not loving this so far - after reading reviews of it I was expecting that it wouldn‘t cover the “dead girl trope” as much I would want, and it doesn‘t it. But as someone from California Bolin‘s ideas, misconceptions and expectations about the place are so wrong and naive that she comes across as frankly stupid. I‘ll stick with it a bit more, but doubt I could ever recommend it to anyone.

Kimberlone I gave this one a “meh” 5y
11 likes1 comment
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WhatWouldJaneDo
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Bailedbailed

Call me old fashioned but I think a critical essay should have a thesis. Bolin had some interesting ideas, especially in the opening essays that did focus on the Dead Girls trope but she's quite meandering. Then the piece where she jumps back and forth between Dead Girls in Nordic Noir and... her father's autism? (He claims not to remember being diagnosed and does not identify as autistic). Tried to keep going but I'm doing too much skimming.

Megabooks I bailed as well. 5y
33 likes1 comment
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WhatWouldJaneDo
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When the author of the book of critical essays you are reading says, "I did not really pay attention or learn anything in college" and you think, man, that explains a lot about the structure (or lack thereof) of these essays... ?

You guys, I'm such a completionist but I just don't know if I can do it with this one...

Reviewsbylola Bail! Do it now, you won‘t regret it. 5y
Leftcoastzen Oh my! 5y
Hestapleton Oh nooooo. This is on my TBR. 😬 5y
See All 7 Comments
WhatWouldJaneDo @Hestapleton I know! It'd been on my TBR for ages; I'd seen some reviews that it does not really focus on the Dead Girl trope for much of the book but I was hoping to still enjoy the essays overall... 5y
Hestapleton @WhatWouldJaneDo yeah I was only in it for the Dead Girls trope, and based on reviews, I haven‘t seen the shows she talks about (Twin Peaks, True Detective, etc) and I haven‘t read Didion, so I might let this one go. 5y
WhatWouldJaneDo @Hestapleton yeah I've seen Twin Peaks and she talks about the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo some but I just didn't feel like she had a clear point most of the time. I was less than halfway but not by much, just posted a review. 5y
WhatWouldJaneDo @Reviewsbylola taking your advice! Life's too short to skim 150 pages especially when my TBR is this big. 5y
35 likes7 comments
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oddandbookish
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Panpan

Despite the title, this isn‘t really a book about dead girls. It‘s more a book about girls in pop culture, but also a book about the author‘s experiences in LA. However, even that doesn‘t seem to adequately describe this book. It‘s kind of just a collection of essays that are very loosely connected.

Full review: https://oddandbookish.wordpress.com/2019/07/21/review-dead-girls/

41 likes1 comment
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LoverofLit
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Panpan

This book was a false advertisement for what it said it was. The first maybe 15 percent stuck somewhat to the premise of covering female tropes represented in our pop culture but then it turned into this dreadful meandering of self introspection of the author's life in LA trying to make it. I eye rolled so many times during my listen of this and am mad I wasted my time on it. Two thumbs down 👎👎
#Booked2019 A Social Media focus

alisiakae Sorry it wasn't a great read, but at least you checked off a prompt!
5y
31 likes3 comments
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TheRomantiCate
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Pickpick

Overall, a fantastic book with some great stories. Bolin is quite masterful of finding the depth and nuance in, what is to others, shallow pop culture... it‘s certainly an eye-opener and definitely a love letter to Joan Didion ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 4.5 stars because the last chapter felt out of place and dragged a bit, but the ending was lovely 💖

11 likes1 stack add
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TheRomantiCate
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Didn‘t think I was starting this one today, but it kept calling to me lol 🤓🤓🤓

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Kimberlone
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Mehso-so

The Belletrist book club on Instagram put this book on my radar. I REALLY wanted to love this, but came out feeling kind of meh overall about this collection of essays. There were things that I liked, but many of the essays fell flat or rehashed things I‘ve read/watched elsewhere plenty. Ironically, the part that I related to most was not connected to the book‘s theme at all - Bolin‘s discussion of the intensity of female friendships.

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sandra888
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“Our cultural obsession with murder stories and the criminal justice system is a prime example of the impulse to narrativize a reality that is basically unexplainable.”

an apt description of a crime writer‘s raison d‘être from one of the many interesting essays in this. im just past halfway through.

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Kimberlone
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Reading this on my Kindle phone app while I treat myself to some yummy ramen for dinner #bookanddinner

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Nitpickyabouttrains
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Oh man, @BarkingMadRun , thank you thank you so much for this amazing #madhatterteapartyswap. I am so excited to try all these teas! And the hat is so cute!

hermyknee Love that fascinator! 6y
BeansPage 😍😍😍😍😍 6y
BarkingMadRead I‘m glad you like it!!! 6y
30 likes3 comments
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Nitpickyabouttrains
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Pickpick

Essays. They hit on some of my favorite things like Dead Girl Shows on tv. High recommend if you like Didion or LA or the pop culture obsession with dead girls.

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Hooked_on_books
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Mehso-so

I‘m really not sure how to review this essay collection. On one hand, I enjoyed reading it and most of the essays are focused on obsession and misogyny as revealed by pop culture (and Joan Didion). On the other hand, it felt like something was missing. 🤷🏼‍♀️

#ReadingUSA2019 #Idaho (author from)

#dogsofLitsy #Greta #Bindi #WeWontPoseToday

Librarybelle Nice! It seems like others who have read this have had similar reactions to it...it‘s okay, but something is missing. 6y
57 likes1 stack add1 comment
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Hooked_on_books
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This is what I get for eating while reading.

😂

#dogsofLitsy #Bindi #OneTrackMind

wordzie 😁precisely 6y
Reagan This picture 😂❤️ 6y
71 likes2 comments
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Jen2
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Mehso-so

I only liked about half of the essays.

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danimgill
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Bailedbailed

I haven‘t DNF‘ed a book in a very long time but this was insufferable. The first couple of essays were pretty good - they focused on the dead girl trope in crime fiction and true crime, which was what I signed up for. Then this collection turned boring and navel-gazing real fast when it switched to being essays about the author living in L.A. and being pretentious about ~struggling~ and reading Joan Didion 🙄

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Aaronlisa
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Panpan

This book was utterly disappointing. As I said on goodreads I should have DNF‘d this book. It‘s not even a case of disappointment because it‘s not as described. It is a self indulgent rambling collection of pointless essays. With one part of 4 essays that are somewhat ok.

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Actually_Perry
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Mehso-so

A little disappointed in this one. The title is a little misleading, most of the essays are more about LA culture and Joan Didion than the dead girl trope, which is the part I was most interested in. There are some standouts though and she makes a number of interesting points. I will say if you love reading about LA and celebrity culture you will probably really enjoy this!

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Actually_Perry
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In RI we have an amazing, magical book van called Twenty Stories that sells books throughout the Providence area. They thoughtfully handpick 20 titles a month and pop up to sell them all over the city. It‘s basically my dream come true! @bookriot #riotgrams Day 2: Local bookstore or library

Linsy Love this! 6y
3 likes1 comment
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Megabooks
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Bailedbailed

These aren‘t pop culture references I particularly care about. There are just too many other books.

If you like tv shows and books where women get murdered, you may like it more than I.

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Manoshgirl51
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Mehso-so

Belletrist July Pick #1

This book was so-so in my opinion. There was only about one or two essays that I liked. Of course, both of them had to do with true crime ;) if you like essay collections, this might be a good pick for you to read.

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Expandingbookshelf
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Panpan

Dead Girls is a bad title, it should have been called “How I Moved to LA But it Didn‘t Make Me Happy And By the Way Here‘s Everything Joan Didion Ever Wrote.” I wanted to read about what the blurb promised: Twin Peaks, Serial, True Detective and Britney Spears. I didn‘t sign up for a self-indulgent and meandering memoir.

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Megabooks
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The library bought a book for me!! This always makes me feel so special! Anyone else? 💃🏻💃🏻💃🏻

ferskner I just saw her speak yesterday! It sounds like such an interesting book. 6y
Megabooks @ferskner I previewed the first chapter and it has a really intellectual approach. I think I‘m going to enjoy it. 6y
Christine Yes!! I LOVE the “we bought you a book!” emails! ❤️ 6y
Megabooks @Christine 😁😁😁🎉🎉🎉 6y
80 likes1 stack add4 comments
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wallacereads
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razmanda
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Pickpick

This is between a pick and so-so for me. I really enjoyed the first group of essays but the rest of the collection is a little too referential for me. If you‘re not as specifically well-read as the author, it can be frustrating to follow and as someone uninterested in LA and Joan Didion, the last handful of essays left me cold. Up next: The Kiss Quotient.

31 likes2 stack adds
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VeganCleopatra
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1. I don't watch many so probably Thor: Ragnarok
2. Escape rooms, hiking, billiards, mini golf, eating
3. Not necessarily lucky but favorite is 7.
4. This is my most recent DNF, I've never had any qualms with abandoning books. I fail to understand why so many people are resistant to it.

#friyayintro

cherinium In response to your comment on bailing, my hangup is FOMO. I always agonize over whether I will miss out on some amazing revelation or turn of events if I stop. I struggled through the tagged book (and almost bailed) until the twist was revealed. Then, I decided that Lehane was brilliant for being able to manipulate my mind. I also don't feel like I can offer a fair assessment if I don't finish. I DO bail more often than I used to, though. 6y
VeganCleopatra @cherinium I get that but by a certain point if I don't care about the characters or plot then I don't care what the author comes up with by the end. IMO an ending isn't worth slogging through the rest. If I'm curious, I'll read the ending but generally have no FOMO haha. I've heard some people just HAVE to finish if they started a book, which seems like a terrible feeling to have if you aren't enjoying yourself. Life is too short for crap books. 6y
30 likes2 comments
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Jocelyn73c
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I'm helping* Mark while he works a beer fest at the Pirate's game and enjoying this INSANELY good book about our culture and media's obsession with the dead girl trope. It's fucking awesome. READ THIS!!!

*Helping (v): sitting awkwardly alone at a super crowded beer fest reading a book while hundreds of ppl get wasted around me and my fiance is working his ass off and also fills my cup when needed aka best life 📚🍺

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Pruzy
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Pickpick

I loved the essay collection Dead Girls by Alice Bolin. She expertly critiques the crime drama genre (mainly focusing on Twin Peaks and True Detective, but applicable to shows like The Killing). She also discusses finding herself in LA, understanding her father through the crime series he reads, and expertly critiques B-list horror films, Shirley Jackson and Octavia Butler. Fans of literary and pop-culture criticism take note!

83 likes1 stack add
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razmanda
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Library hold happiness!

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SkullyAnne
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Pickpick

Pick mostly for the first few essays, which are brilliant; as the book goes on they get tedious and navel gazing.

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SkullyAnne
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StephBengtson
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📚📬💕

ephemeralwaltz Woohoo! I need to read Dead Girls. 6y
40 likes1 stack add1 comment
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Travelinglibrarian
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7 likes1 stack add
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TheRomantiCate
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These are all the books I got on Prime Day!! Got some great ones... can‘t wait till next year!! 🤩🤩🤩🤩 #bookmail #bookhaul #primeday

blithebuoyant I just recently connected my twitch to my mom‘s Prime 😂 Free Twitch Prime 6y
TheRomantiCate @blithebuoyant is that where you watch people play Fortnite? I love video games but I just can‘t get into that game 😳 6y
blithebuoyant @TheRomantiCate you can! I‘m not really a battle royale girl so I don‘t play PUBG or Fortnite lol I watch Neverwinter streams! 6y
TheRomantiCate @blithebuoyant hmm interesting 🤩🤩 6y
20 likes1 stack add4 comments
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parasolofdoom
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Wut. The nicest possible way to interpret this sentence is that she meant Beloved and We Have Always Lived in a Castle should be celebrated outside of school required reading but what a bitchy way to say it (if that's even the case -- I find myself nitpicking now so I'm tryyyyying to find a new perspective but I'm still annoyed.)

parasolofdoom WASTED on teenagers. I read both as a teen and they still resonate strongly in my memory at 32. 6y
Pruzy I think she means in the way many high school students approach assigned reading and their applicable life experience to interpret the themes of the novel. Certainly, being an English teacher herself, she must be aware of individuals such as yourself who the book spoke to as a teen. 6y
12 likes2 comments
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parasolofdoom

😑 it doesn't say much for this collection when I can't even get into an essay examining Beloved, We Have Always Lived in the Castle, and White is for Witching, all three of which are 5* books for me. I think this author was probably someone described as 'precocious' a lot as a child.

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parasolofdoom

Meh this is getting more disjointed the further in I get anf further off the ostensible topic. Hoping it gets back on track after the LA section 😴. Deciding whether to send it back to the stack and pick it up again in the future or just press on now.

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parasolofdoom
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... having birthday money at all is a very different "survival" mode than I knew at 25 ?.

Pruzy How is this essay collection? It‘s high on the list of books I want to read 6y
parasolofdoom @Pruzy it's definitely interesting in that way that eloquently puts what you're thinking into words. The essay before this was kinda messy as she works through and justifies her dad's interest in crime novels featuring the dead girl trope and I wasn't very satisfied with it. But a third through, I think it's worth the read. 6y
Pruzy @parasolofdoom Great! I‘m going to try to get a copy soon! 6y
13 likes3 comments
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Twocougs
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Pickpick

Enjoyed her thoughtful analysis. I went to college (Go Cougs) just on the other side of the state line from where she grew up (Go Vandals), so I appreciated the references to Inland Northwest(even though many are tough to learn about). Certainly worth reading!

37 likes1 stack add
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DebinHawaii
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#HeatOfJuly #CaliforniaGurls

I just reviewed the tagged book-essays about America's obsession with dead women in literature & pop culture & also about the author's move to L.A. & experiences there. Bolin frequently mentions California icon, author Joan Didion & her books, novels & essays about California & Los Angeles. Bolin also notes the main reason she moved in with her second L.A. roommate was because she had a cat named after Didion.😽

Vertabrain Love Joan Didion...especially her earlier collections of essays, Slouching Toward Bethlehem and The White Album!! 6y
89 likes1 comment
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parasolofdoom

These essays are interesting but seem a little haphazard.

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DebinHawaii
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Pickpick

I didn't love every essay in this debut non-fiction collection that looks at our pop culture obsession with young women dead or in peril through feminist glasses as well as recounts the author's young adulthood & move to L.A.--but overall an interesting & engaging book to read at your indie ☕️house.

Paired with Deviled Eggs with Smoked Salmon for no great symbolic reason I'm afraid-just what I wanted to eat/make. Book tour review/recipe link👇🏻

Cathythoughts I make deviled eggs a lot too ... yours look delicious 6y
batsy Yum it looks so good... That's a great recipe to try. 6y
See All 9 Comments
ElaineHowlin Sounds like an interesting book. Those eggs look really tasty, I've never had deviled eggs... 6y
ephemeralwaltz Yummy! I'm actually just listening to @thereadingwomen's latest interview episode where they interview the author. They have a great conversation going on. 6y
DebinHawaii @Cathythoughts I love any excuse to make them! 😋😆 6y
DebinHawaii @batsy It is a good recipe--smoked salmon and eggs are a great pairing! 🥚😋 6y
DebinHawaii @ElaineHowlin Oh wow! You need to try them--if you eat and love eggs anyway. 😋The book is very interesting. 6y
DebinHawaii @ephemeralwaltz Oh cool, I'll have to listen to that. 👍 6y
108 likes5 stack adds9 comments
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Twocougs
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Lovin‘ my feminist #bookhookup from the #theStrand #strandbooks. Book subscriptions are the best💕

Weaponxgirl That all looks wonderful 😍 6y
Twocougs @Weaponxgirl it‘s always wonderful. I get both the feminist box and the literary one and still struggle saying which one I like the most😍 6y
45 likes2 comments
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parasolofdoom
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Ooh haven't read any Flynn except a novella but that is dead on. I've heard the basic sentiment countless times in conversation about sexual violence when a guy inevitably derails the main topic by bringing up the specter of false accusations.

mrozzz 😯 6y
14 likes1 comment