BoulevardOfBrokenDreams

These early 20th-century novels by Theodore Dreiser are what came to mind for #boulevardofbrokendreams. In each, young hopefuls head to the big city in pursuit of the American dream, and things don't quite turn out as planned.
(It's been a while since I read them so the plot points are foggy. 😂)
#musicalnewyear @cinfhen @vivastory

Cinfhen These look good! And for some reason I‘m getting @LeahBergen vibes🤷‍♀️ 5y

ravenlee An American Tragedy was the first book I didn‘t finish for school - I ran out of time for a summer assignment - and had to bluff my way through. I ended up getting the highest grade in the class on the paper! Due to listening to the discussion and taking lots of notes, and a certain flair for BS. 5y

vivastory I've been meaning to read Dreiser, especially Sister Carrie 5y

merelybookish @ravenlee That's funny! Taking good notes in a lit class is always a good strategy! 5y

merelybookish @vivastory You should! It's gritty realism, if you like that kind of thing. 😉 5y

80 likes1 stack add5 comments

readordierachel

City of Thieves: A Novel | David Benioff

For some reason today's prompt made me think of this cover/book, which I have yet to read. Two prisoners in Nazi-occupied Russia on a literal egg hunt, tasked to find a dozen eggs for the wedding cake of colonel's daughter, making their way through "the dire lawlessness of Leningrad." Anyone read it?

#boulevardofbrokendreams #musicalnewyear
@Cinfhen @vivastory

vivastory I read it. I thought it was worthwhile. 5y

Amiable I really liked this one. 5y

Swe_Eva It was a really good read! 👍 5y

See All 14 Comments

Samreamer I love this book! I even got my husband to read it (he usually is only a non-fiction person), and he really liked it. 5y

cariashley It‘s so so good. Audio is fantastic. 5y

BookNerd9906 #stacked 5y

Cinfhen This book surprised me. It was well done and a different take on WWII which I enjoyed. 5y

erzascarletbookgasm I‘ve read it and liked it :) 5y

Reggie This sounds pretty good. Stacked. 5y

zezeki This is my tbr too. Heard only good things. 5y

minkyb I remember really liking this! 5y

readordierachel @vivastory @Amiable @Swe_Eva @Samreamer @cariashley @Cinfhen @erzascarletbookgasm @minkyb Glad to hear you all liked it! 5y

readordierachel @BookNerd9906 @reggie @zezeki It sounds interesting, right? 👍🏽😊 5y

BookNerd9906 @readordierachel Definitely! Lmk what you think. 5y

106 likes6 stack adds14 comments

litenthusiast

All the Stars in the Heavens | Adriana Trigiani

#MusicalNewYear #BoulevardofBrokenDreams This is my favorite book by Adriana Trigiani. I love her description about 1930s Hollywood and how she tells the story of Loretta Young. @Cinfhen @vivastory

Cinfhen I‘ve been curious about this title!! Thanks for sharing 5y

vivastory This sounds wonderful 5y

36 likes2 comments

vivastory

Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City | Matthew Desmond

One of the most important nf books I read last year; chronicling the hopeless situations, that too many individuals & families, find themselves trapped in due to evictions. Although he focused on Milwaukee, Desmond makes it clear that the situation is representative of urban poor across America. Rental regulations are overdue & new measures to address the crisis should be discussed & debated with the same attention as other public policy issues.

vivastory #BoulevardOfBrokenDreams #MusicalNewYear @Cinfhen 5y

Reggie Ughhh that whole section about getting evicted for fines incurred for dialing 911. It pissed me off so much. But I did like his proposed solutions to help the situations near the end of the book. 5y

Cinfhen Oh wow, I never knew that @Reggie I thought dialing 999 was free!!!! 5y

See All 6 Comments

Reggie @Cinfhen not in Milwaukee. If your tenants called 911 more than 3 times the landlord got fined in the thousands. The landlord had written a letter back saying she had talked to the tenant who had called because she heard her neighbor getting beat up by her boyfriend. The police said no dice and it wasn‘t until she proved that she evicted them that they dropped the fines. The woman who called was a single mother with 2 kids. WTH?!!!! 5y

Cinfhen What???? That‘s horrible!! I potentially see how someone who uses 911 as a personal service should be fined but a neighbor calling to report a crime!?!? It goes against everything we‘ve been taught as concerned citizens @reggie 😡 (edited) 5y

Suet624 One of the things that Bernie Sanders did In Burlington when he was mayor was work on affordable housing. Burlington is now an example of how to provide housing and home ownership to low income residents. 5y

103 likes3 stack adds6 comments

TorieStorieS

Last Woman Standing | Amy Gentry

pan

Narrator Dana, is a stand up comic returned from LA to TX, trying not to get stuck living on the #BoulevardOfBrokenDreams when she makes a new friend who changes everything... with more than a nod to Strangers on a Train, I kept waiting for this to take a more original turn, but the book splits its focus and loses its pacing as the book struggles to fall under the thriller that it‘s marketed as and being a societal commentary... #MusicalNewYear

Cinfhen, vivastory

Cinfhen Sorry this book didn‘t work for you. I wasn‘t a big fan of her first book

Good as Gone

TorieStorieS @Cinfhen Yeah- I had mixed feelings for her debut too... and when I realized I had overlooked this ARC, I felt bad for not reading it sooner... but in the end, I was just glad I made it to the end! 😬 5y

Jess7 This one didn‘t really work for me either. 5y

See All 10 Comments

vivastory Sorry to hear that this didn't work out for you. 5y

TorieStorieS @Jess7 Glad to know I‘m not alone!! 5y

TorieStorieS @vivastory Thanks- it just makes me all the more excited for my next read!!!😊 5y

vivastory That's true. Sometimes I think an occasional bad book is more worthwhile than a good one, because it is a reminder of everything that is important in fiction. 5y

Cinfhen I‘m always slightly relieved when I discover a book I can skip!!! 😝 5y

TorieStorieS @Cinfhen 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 5y

TorieStorieS @vivastory indeed!!! 5y

50 likes10 comments

emilyhaldi

The Petting Zoo: A Novel | Jim Carroll

This fictional portrait of one artist's plight to find inspiration for his work in late-1980's NYC feels fitting for #boulevardofbrokendreams
#musicalnewyear

Cinfhen, vivastory

KarenUK That cover! 😍 5y

vivastory I credit Jim Carroll with my passion for poetry. I started reading poetry after the adaptation of Basketball Diaries. When I attended the annual New Year's poetry reading at St Mark's Poetry Project in 2004, he read from this one. I'll never forget being there. 5y

emilyhaldi Wow how cool!! @vivastory I was just googling Jim Carroll bc I admittedly know nothing about him...I will have to check out his poetry 5y

Cinfhen Now I need to check him out too!! Great cover 5y

Reviewsbylola Sounds interesting! 5y

98 likes5 comments

Reviewsbylola

The Bishop's Pawn | Steve Berry

Given my current read, and that tomorrow is MLK day, #boulevardofbrokendreams immediately brought me here.

I plan on also reading Letter From Birmingham Jail. The kids and I have watched a kids cartoon about MLK to explain to them what he was all about and I have some books to read to them as well.

#musicalnewyear

Cinfhen, vivastory

Cinfhen That‘s perfect timing 5y

JaclynW Great! What cartoon was it? 5y

Reviewsbylola https://youtu.be/ALQeX7IFBcg @JaclynW 5y

vivastory That's wonderful! 5y

110 likes4 comments