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The Lost Book of the Grail
The Lost Book of the Grail: A Novel | Charlie Lovett
In an English cathedral city, obsessive bibliophile and Holy Grail fanatic Arthur Prescott works to uncover a long-lost secret about the cathedrals pastand its connections to King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. . . . Arthur Prescott is happiest when surrounded by the ancient books and manuscripts of the Barchester Cathedral library. Increasingly, he feels like a fish out of water among the concrete buildings of the University of Barchester, where he works as an English professor. His one respite from the never-ending committees is his time spent nestled in the library, nurturing his secret obsession with the Holy Grail and researching his perennially unfinished guidebook to the medieval cathedral. But when a beautiful young American named Bethany Davis arrives in Barchester charged with the task of digitizing the librarys manuscripts, Arthurs tranquility is broken. Appalled by the threat modern technology poses to the library he loves, he sets out to thwart Bethany, only to find in her a kindred spirit with a similar love for knowledge and booksand a fellow Grail fanatic. Bethany soon joins Arthur in a quest to find the lost Book of Ewolda, the ancient manuscript telling the story of the cathedrals founder that was last seen being carried away by a mysterious figure during one of Barchester Cathedrals most dangerous nights. As Arthur and Bethany peel back layers of history, they find themselves privy to important moments in the history of the Book of Ewoldafrom the earliest days of English saints to the Norman invasion, the Reformation, the English Civil War, and on to the Victorian era and the blitz. And when the future of the cathedral itself is threatened, Arthur and Bethanys search takes on grave importance, leading the pair to discover secrets about the cathedral, about the Grail, and about themselves that neither expected. From the Hardcover edition.
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suvata
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Pickpick

Pair up Dan Brown‘s Robert Langdon (The Da Vinci Code) with the adventures of Indiana Jones and you‘ll get some literary version of Arthur Prescott, an obsessive bibliophile. Arthur in on a quest through time to discover a missing manuscript, the unknown history of an English Cathedral, and the secret of the Holy Grail. I‘m a big fan of Charlie Lovett‘s “books about books” novels — a book nerds delight.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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CallMeIshmael
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Pickpick

Throw in some King Arthur, some Indiana Jones and an introverted Book nerd and you have quite the enjoyable book

annahenke Oh sounds great! 4y
25 likes1 comment
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CallMeIshmael
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Starting a new one

paper.reveries This sounds like a good one! 4y
CallMeIshmael @daisyheadmaesie just finished it and yes it was 4y
paper.reveries @CallMeIshmael Glad to hear it. :) 4y
19 likes3 comments
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Becker
Lost Book of the Grail | Charlie Lovett
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Pickpick

Generally a good story with lots of bookish references but I did find it quite slow and plodding. It may not appeal to someone who wants a quicker paced plot.

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JSW
Pickpick

I'm always satisfied with a Lovett book. They may not be great literary art, but the stories are pleasant, the characters real, and I can dependably like the experience. We all need authors and books that are comforting in these ways!

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Born.A.Reader
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Thank you so much @collegecatlady for my gifts!! I can't wait to dive into the chocolate with this fascinating sounding book! 📮🎄🎁❤
#jolabokaflodswap
@MaleficentBookDragon

25 likes1 comment
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ralexist
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Pickpick

As a bibliophile, I love books about books so when I learned of this bookish mystery which anchors itself in 1) the Arthurian legends, 2) the search for the Holy Grail, and 3) English academia, it checked all the correct boxes. This was really really great. Good pacing, well researched, loved the dual timelines, and I adore a book that lets me disappear in it for awhile.

cathysaid I listened to this on audio and thought I might not like it but as it turned out, I found it quite enjoyable! 5y
24 likes1 comment
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cathysaid
Lost Book of the Grail | Charlie Lovett
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Pickpick

What a delightful book! Intrigue, legend and lore, humor, and a bit of romance between two librarians on each side of the digitization divide. And the British narrator just adds a sumptuous layer. Recommended. 4/5 ⭐️ #audiobook #mystery

ReadosaurusText This looks awesome!!! I‘ve got a real #blameitonlitsy situation here. 🤣 6y
cathysaid @ReadosaurusText I believe the solution includes a visit to the bookstore/library/interwebz stat! Or in my case...Hoopla. (edited) 6y
52 likes1 stack add3 comments
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smilingshelves
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Yesterday's #bookhaul at Barnes & Noble. I also finally gave in and became a member. So now I need to buy more books to make that investment worthwhile, right? 😄

LeafingThroughLife Right! 📚😀 6y
31 likes1 comment
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TracyReadsBooks
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Pickpick

The past, present, & future collide in this fun book sure to be enjoyed by anyone who loves to spend time in dusty old libraries pondering legends straight out of history—in this case, the Holy Grail—while falling in deep annoyance or, perhaps, love with a vibrant & vivacious woman digitizing the dusty old library‘s books. Arthur for one is all about it—he‘s a great character & this book is a fun read I really enjoyed. Recommended.

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TracyReadsBooks
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😂

I‘m finding that I quite like Arthur and after a slow start, I‘m definitely enjoying the book.

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TracyReadsBooks
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😂

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TracyReadsBooks
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Love this description of libraries.

So much love for books and libraries in this story...it‘s fantastic.

Crazeedi I loved this book! 6y
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TracyReadsBooks
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Sunday afternoon.

JennyM The perfect way to spend a Sunday. Enjoy 😊 6y
CouronneDhiver 👏🏽👏🏽 6y
22 likes2 comments
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TracyReadsBooks
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Friday night reading...

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kspenmoll
Lost Book of the Grail | Charlie Lovett
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Pickpick

This novel is dense with historical detail, particularly of the bloody, brutal murders & desecration of churches from the time of Henry VIII to Cromwell.Cathedrals, libraries, friendship, book clubs, quest for the Holy Grail, history of a coded book, Guardians of the treasures, ecclesiastical music, a little romance- all with descriptions to fill the senses.Absorbing.Evidence that much was lost with the destruction wrought by warring religions.

Freespirit Looks interesting! 6y
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kspenmoll
Lost Book of the Grail | Charlie Lovett
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kspenmoll
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#fridayevening #booksandwine #booksandbooze #UCONN

Reading before dinner, then UCONN v Towson game (Women) a break from #MarchMadness games.
Not much reading this week; work & sleep took precedence.

Suet624 So fun!! 6y
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kspenmoll
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#Saturdaymorning #booksandcats #catsofLitsy
Not sure if Emmy wants to read with me or distract me from my book. 😸📚

Hope_a Aww she is so beautiful 😍 6y
Dragon 😻 6y
squirrelbrain She‘s gorgeous! 6y
See All 8 Comments
BiblioLitten Emmy is beautiful! 6y
Smrloomis 😻 6y
BarbaraJean Those eyes!! 😻 6y
readinginthedark What a beautiful kitty!!! 6y
kspenmoll @Hope_a @Dragon @squirrelbrain @BiblioLitten @Smrloomis @BarbaraJean @readinginthedark Thank you all, we do love her so. Yes, her eyes are such a beautiful green.❤️😻 6y
82 likes8 comments
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Insightsintobooks
Lost Book of the Grail | Charlie Lovett
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I've been wanting to read this for awhile and found it on sale.

#kindledeal #kindledeals #ebooksale

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Booksnchill
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Pickpick

I have now listened to 2 Charlie Lovett books and loved them both. This one is set in fictional Barchester Cathedral where a series of “guardians” have been keeping their secrets since the time of King Arthur. These books excite the historian and bibliophile in me and are the type of mystery I love- the search for a piece of ancient lore and how it translates to our modern age. This one tackles faith, scholarship and digitization. 4⭐️

Lcsmcat He‘s one of the authors I met at the Bookmarks Festival a few weekends ago. I loved hearing him speak and now have 2 signed books on my TBR! 6y
Booksnchill @Lcsmcat how great- was he promoting a new book?? 6y
Lcsmcat @Booksnchill I think this one is his most recent. He moderated a panel called Bookclub Essentials, where he and 3 other authors talked about what makes good discussion and what they do when they visit or Skype with groups. Then he was on an episode of NC Bookwatch (for PBS) about the Great American Read. (edited) 6y
Booksnchill @Lcsmcat thanks for the info! (edited) 6y
69 likes2 stack adds4 comments
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Expandingbookshelf
Lost Book of the Grail | Charlie Lovett
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Pickpick

If you love books about books (like me!) you have to check this out! Arthur Prescott is a bibliophile, a curmudgeon and a Luddite teaching at a small university in England and nurturing a secret passion of finding the Holy Grail. His solitary life is disrupted when an American shows up to digitize his library‘s manuscripts.

This book reads like a Diet Indiana Jones story (without 🐍) with fun, folklore, mystery and even a little romance.

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Bookquilter
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Weekend reading ....

Andrew65 Love The Grapes of Wrath. 6y
73 likes1 comment
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bookandbedandtea
Lost Book of the Grail | Charlie Lovett
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There is a chained library which is an important location in the tagged book. I've never seen one so I found the attached article very interesting.

http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20180706-the-ancient-library-where-the-books-ar...

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DuckOfDoom
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Pickpick

I bought this years ago when I joined Litsy and discovered what a 'book haul' ment. This was displayed on the Fantasy section (back when my bookshop had a fantasy display... It's gone now), but this book is more of a cozy archeological treasure hunt + a bit of romance. Definitely not what I expected and not what I wanted, but what I needed in this moment. I was really happy how it turned out and it did a great job relaxing me

PatriciaU This one found its way to the top of my bedside TBR sometime last winter. It was such a sweet little diversion from the hardcore crime I was reading at the time. I thoroughly enjoyed it! 7y
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ads0123
Pickpick

This one tipped over into a pick for me. I found the characters charming and the setting beautiful. I kinda wanted to live in that place for a while. This altogether less violent grail hunt story is worth a read. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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EmilyChristine
Lost Book of the Grail | Charlie Lovett
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Getting started on this one next. I originally checked it out for myself but then my dad had nothing to read. I thought he‘d enjoy this one too so he read it first. Now it‘s my turn. 😊

And I have a pretty bookmark from @Daisey ! I can‘t wait for flowers to arrive. We got a few inches of snow last night so it‘s not quite spring here yet.

Daisey Glad you like me it! Someone gave me some of the feather ones, so I decided to get a set of the plant ones to share. 7y
EmilyChristine @Daisey They‘re so pretty! 7y
Sophoclessweetheart What a perfect bookmark x 7y
24 likes3 comments
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bookandbedandtea
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Pickpick

I liked this book as well as his first (Bookman's Tale) and considerably better than his second (First Impressions). The snippets of the thousands of years of history of the churches dedicated to the fictional St Ewolda and learning about the individual Guardians were my favorite part. I was concerned after First Impressions but I'll keep watching for future books from him.

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BookswithTea
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New magnet 😊📚🍷❤️

rubyslippersreads I'm doing this right now. 😄 7y
22 likes1 comment
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BookswithTea
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I fully admit to buying this in hardback because the cover is so much prettier than the paperback edition! 😍

Heideschrampf The cover is gorgeous! It'd have been a #coverbuy for me too! 7y
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Redwritinghood
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Mehso-so

This book is like a cozy mystery version of a Dan Brown novel. There's no danger or wild conspiracy theories, but there is the grail & a lot of musty old books, libraries & churches. Many of the characters are quite charming, as well as the setting of a small English village. It was a little slow sometimes & there were some odd points in the narration, such as the narrator's inability to stick with one regional accent for the American character.

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Redwritinghood
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Starting a new audiobook at the gym. I love books about old books. 💕💕

EvieBee Nice! I look forward to your review. Wondering if this would be enhanced on audio. 7y
Redwritinghood @EvieBee The narration is good so far - I'm about 2 hours in. 7y
EvieBee Okay! Adding to my Audible wishlist. 7y
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LilithHomer
Lost Book of the Grail | Charlie Lovett
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Pickpick

Not deep, but a pleasant digression if you have a soft spot for cathedrals, medieval legends, old books, and old libraries.

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christineandbooks
Lost Book of the Grail | Charlie Lovett
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Next book... Due back at the library on the 26th so I need to get reading! Looking forward to this one...

MaureenMc I really enjoyed this one. 7y
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yvo_about_books
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Mehso-so

I really wanted to like The Lost Book Of The Grail and there were certain elements I did enjoy very much. The history of Barchester and its secrets is fascinating and I‘m sure many will appreciate the bookish quotes and references. The pace is incredibly slow though and the plot feels both a bit chaotic and lacks action. I also couldn't connect to the characters and felt they lacked character development or at least originality.

2,5/5 stars.

BookishMe I expect to read this soon. I greatly enjoyed his previous book and yes subsequent work has not been satisfactory. 7y
yvo_about_books @BookishMe I will look into his other book then! I hope you will enjoy this one. 7y
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AnnieErickson
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Pickpick

Took me a bit to get through this one but towards the end all I wanted to do was read it. Glad I pushed through some parts that were a bit out of my interest.

RadicalReader @AnnieErickson I adore this book cover so indescribably beautiful 6y
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yvo_about_books
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Made it to chapter 4 of Sister tonight, but back to my kindle and The Lost Book Of The Grail it is! Reading in Dutch is very tiring haha. 😅😆

#amreading #currentlyreading

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Jessicav
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@Liberty Did you recommend this book somewhere?! Because it's the best ever and I need more like it and no one reads like you read! I don't need a unicorn name! I need more book recommendations! (If you are so inclined, no pressure. Please and thank you you're the best. Love from Canada.)

Liberty Sorry, I haven't read this one. But you might enjoy THE INVISIBLE LIBRARY, INK AND BONE, A CURIOUS BEGINNING, and GOOSEBERRY BLUFF COMMUNITY COLLEGE OF MAGIC. 7y
Jessicav @Liberty Well shoot! Where the heck did I hear about it?! Thanks for the recs anyway. I've read 2 of them already, but will try the others! You're the best and Happy belated birthday! 7y
Liberty Thanks, kittenpants. 7y
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Jessicav
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Evening reading.

Eyelit Lovely cover! 7y
15 likes1 comment
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Freefallinmissy
Lost Book of the Grail | Charlie Lovett
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My TBR list keeps growing - just read BookRiot's post "Best books of 2017 (so far)." And I've added at least 5! Oy yoy yoy! Too many books not enough time :-)

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lamaman2boys
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I've read two heavy YA books in the last 2 days, so I needed a little change. From MMD's Summer Reading Guide.

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howjessicareads
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Pickpick

Finished my third book of the day! Apparently I'm accidentally having a readathon. Also I have made two pans of brownies and folded 1 load of laundry. So not TOTALLY a #lazySaturday. 😜 Anyway, I very much enjoyed this #audiobook! Delightfully fun.

BookishMarginalia 🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼 7y
howjessicareads Exactly! @BookishMarginalia! 🙌🏻📚🙌🏻📚🙌🏻 7y
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howjessicareads
Lost Book of the Grail | Charlie Lovett
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I got to listen to almost 7 hours of this book today while I priced & sorted ALL THE POCKETBOOKS into genres. (No processing happened yesterday bc of inventory, so there were about 1500 from Tues & Wed to process today!) #behindthescenesatbookmans

howjessicareads (And I'm loving it @LectricSheep & @specklife!) 🙂 8y
BethM Is the book as good as it sounds? 8y
howjessicareads @BethM - yes! So fun! A bit like A Man Called Ove meets Storied Life of AJ Fikry meets Indiana Jones. 😂 8y
LectricSheep Awesome!!! 👍🏻 8y
specklife Yaaaay!!! 8y
54 likes5 stack adds5 comments
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howjessicareads
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Got a new #audiobook downloaded, ready for work. Once I manage to get both eyeballs open...

LectricSheep This one is on my TBR too! Excited to see what you think. 😁 8y
specklife Yes!! Be sure to let us know! 8y
37 likes2 comments
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Pasaal
Lost Book of the Grail | Charlie Lovett
Bailedbailed

Just too much info and history of the Grail for me.

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MaureenMc
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Pickpick

Lost ancient manuscripts! The Holy Grail! A modern-day quest! A love story! A friendship story! The love of books! All the exclamation points!

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mjdowens
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I am about 1/2 way through The Lost Book of the Grail, but it is slow going. Wondering if I should start one of the others instead. Any suggestions?

Beckys_Books I haven't read any of them 8y
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janeycanuck
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Pickpick

Thoroughly enjoyed this one... kinda like the Da Vinci Code but with more wit/snark and fewer albino assassins.

Cinfhen 👍🏻 8y
SaraRosett I have to add it to my stack with a review like that! 7y
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