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#thebibliophage2018
review
BarbaraTheBibliophage
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Pickpick

If you remember a day when your President appeared Presidential, then this is a book for you. Obama is a reader, a scholar, and an orator. He knows how to reach an audience, even through the written word. I admit, I can almost hear his voice in my head as I read. So, yeah, I‘m a fangirl.

I think the editors did an effective job of choosing speeches that illustrate his career and our world.

Full review www.TheBibliophage.com
#thebibliophage2018

Valeka I miss him so much! ❤️ 5y
Amiable 🥰 5y
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LaraReads Such a fangirl! 💕🙌🏻 It's impossible to believe how far we've come. Or I guess I should say how far back we've gone. 💔 5y
Djspens I miss him and Michelle! And the bromance with Joe 💕 (edited) 5y
BarbaraTheBibliophage @Amiable @LaraReads @Djspens You guys really would love this book. It‘s like he‘s in your living room. 👊🏻 5y
Amiable @BarbaraTheBibliophage I‘m going to look for the audiobook—then it will sound like he‘s in my room! 🙂 5y
BarbaraTheBibliophage @Amiable Double check me, but I don‘t think he reads this. 😰 5y
Amiable @BarbaraTheBibliophage Really? They couldn‘t put together audio of Obama giving his own speeches — for a book about his speeches? That‘s ... odd. ☹️ 5y
BarbaraTheBibliophage @Amiable I know, right? It may be a matter of copyrights or something related to the fact he gave many of the speeches while President. Don‘t really know ... 5y
123 likes14 stack adds10 comments
blurb
BarbaraTheBibliophage
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My four favorite books of 2018. Three with 2018 pub dates, and one backlist choice. I didn‘t have many 5-star books, but had a large list of four-star choices. As usual, I also divided my full “best of” list by my blog categories: Resist, Relax, and Learn. Check out the post for more stats, including my reading challenges. Whew! Now, I can proceed with 2019.

Full blog post at www.TheBibliophage.com
#thebibliophage2018

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Marina_h A Little life is heart breaking but I loved it when I read it a few years ago! I hope to read it again this year. 5y
BarbaraTheBibliophage @Marina_h It is the very definition of heartbreaking. Enjoy your reread! 5y
bookandcat A Little Life is my favorite book ever! And I stayed up til 2 or 3 am finishing Becoming. Have you read Shantaram? I found it sweeping and heartbreaking the way A Little Life is 5y
BarbaraTheBibliophage @bookandcat I read Shantaram this year also! It was really good, but not quite as much a favorite for me as A Little Life. 5y
Marina_h @bookandcat I read Shantaram some years ago but remember it as a book I really enjoyed. It's another one I want to reread this year and a comparison to A Little Life makes me want to read it even more! 5y
BarbaraTheBibliophage @Marina_h Sounds like a good plan! 5y
cathysaid A Little Life 💙💔💙💔. It is now imprinted on my soul. 5y
nomadreader Becoming and The Great Believers made my list too! And the other two are on my TBR. 5y
Graywacke Listening to Becoming now, puts me in a good mood. 5y
126 likes13 comments
review
BarbaraTheBibliophage
Vox | Christina Dalcher
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Pickpick

As I started this book, all I could think about was Margaret Atwood‘s The Handmaid‘s Tale. Vox felt derivative, which did not enhance the reading experience. And then, all of a sudden, Dalcher stepped up her game. Jean became more fully formed, and less like Serena Joy. Plus, the plot intensified. By the book‘s end I was wanting more and wishing for an adaptation to the screen.

Full review www.TheBibliophage.com
#thebibliophage2018

GripLitGrl Great review! 5y
Gezemice Sounds interesting! Great review! 5y
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razmanda Hmmm, I might give this a chance then. I worried it would be Atwood Light and didn‘t want to bother with it. 5y
BarbaraTheBibliophage @razmanda It‘s hard to do a female-restrictive speculative fiction book without Atwoodian comparisons! 5y
donnamartinreads I agree 100%! 5y
BarbaraTheBibliophage @donnamartinreads Yay—glad to know I wasn‘t alone! 5y
BookBabe Great review! When I read the book description, all I could think of was The Handmaid‘s Tale. Glad it‘s not just me then! But based on what you said, maybe I‘ll give it a try. 5y
BarbaraTheBibliophage @BookBabe Thanks! It‘s not just you. I hope you like it, when you get to it. 5y
123 likes3 stack adds9 comments
review
BarbaraTheBibliophage
Becoming | Michelle Obama
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Pickpick

This is not a political memoir. It‘s the story of a woman who wasn‘t interested in politics marrying a fellow civic-minded lawyer who became a politician. But mostly it‘s about two people trying to do good things for their family, their country, and the world. She dishes plenty of scoop on her life‘s biggest moments. But it‘s the small things that will stick with me. Read it!

Full review www.TheBibliophage.com
#thebibliophage2018

HOTPock3tt ♥️ 5y
Susanita “If you‘re a hater, just move along to another Ann Coulter book.” 🤣 5y
BarbaraTheBibliophage @Susanita Haha. Glad you appreciated my sense of humor and truth telling. 👊🏻😆♥️ 5y
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Ashley_Nicoletto This is a great review. 5y
Jess_Read_This I have to get a copy of this. ❤️❤️❤️ 5y
161 likes4 stack adds7 comments
review
BarbaraTheBibliophage
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Pickpick

River Queens is about a voyage through America, and it‘s the story of Alexander Watson, Dale Harris, their dog Doris Faye, and their boat the Betty Jane. They‘re Dallas landlubbers who seize the opportunity to restore a vintage wooden boat. They‘ve restored houses, but this is entirely different. Escape into their often hilarious life on the water!

Full review www.TheBibliophage.com
#thebibliophage2018 (see everything I‘ve reviewed this year!)

90 likes3 stack adds
review
BarbaraTheBibliophage
The Beauty Myth | Naomi Wolf
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Pickpick

I‘ll never look in the mirror the same way. Naomi Wolf is a scholar, philosopher, and feminist. She analyzes the details of women‘s lives across the centuries, focusing on the 20th. She discusses how the expectations of “being beautiful” have changed through the eras. And Wolf explains why a patriarchal society develops a construct like the “beauty myth.”

Full review www.TheBibliophage.com
#thebibliophage2018 #pop18 #fromacelebritybookclub

Riveted_Reader_Melissa Great review! I‘m so glad you finished before the holiday too! 5y
BarbaraTheBibliophage @Riveted_Reader_Melissa Thank you! Yes, now I‘m hoping the ARCs I‘m reading will be funny and/or light. I did decide to bag The Help and count the John Lewis book. So all my challenges are finished. Merry Christmas to me!! 5y
Riveted_Reader_Melissa @BarbaraTheBibliophage That‘s a wonderful Christmas gift to yourself! Good for you!!! Maybe we can both read The Help next year! 5y
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BarbaraTheBibliophage @Riveted_Reader_Melissa I‘d be up for that! After Sapiens and Unmentionables...right? 🤪 (edited) 5y
Riveted_Reader_Melissa Sounds like a great plan to me! Just let me know if you have to shift any for Booked2019 to other seasons.😉 5y
BarbaraTheBibliophage @Riveted_Reader_Melissa I think I picked one of our books for first quarter. I just need to double check which one ... 5y
Riveted_Reader_Melissa @BarbaraTheBibliophage Probably the first, Sapiens was the first one you mentioned for January. 5y
BarbaraTheBibliophage @Riveted_Reader_Melissa Noooo. What I mean is I picked one from our list for my Booked2019 picks. Might have been 5y
Riveted_Reader_Melissa @BarbaraTheBibliophage Oh, ok...let me know when you remember and we‘ll move it up in line 👍 (edited) 5y
BarbaraTheBibliophage @Riveted_Reader_Melissa 👍🏻👍🏻 I‘ll check when I go back upstairs. 5y
Riveted_Reader_Melissa @BarbaraTheBibliophage Ok, no rush! As long as you let me know by February 5y
LauraBeth I‘ve enjoyed seeing your posts about this book! 5y
BarbaraTheBibliophage @LauraBeth Thanks! Hopefully it gives you a taste of it! 5y
TiredLibrarian I loved reading your quotes from this. Thanks for sharing. 5y
BarbaraTheBibliophage @TiredLibrarian You‘re welcome! I‘m glad to know you enjoyed it. ♥️ 5y
117 likes3 stack adds16 comments
review
BarbaraTheBibliophage
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Mehso-so

Lydia‘s a bookseller trying to live an uneventful life. One of her customers takes his own life in the store, during her shift. And Lydia is pulled into his mysterious life. Which is ironic, because her own past is actually quite cumbersome also. The characters were well-developed, but the plot just wasn‘t as complex and twisty as I wish it had been.

Full review www.TheBibliophage.com
#thebibliophage2018 #pop18 #setinabookstoreorlibrary

review
BarbaraTheBibliophage
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Panpan

What a disappointment! Good enough to stick with, but really nothing like Steig Larsson‘s original Millennium Trilogy. Lisbeth Salander is just a cardboard cutout. Mikael Blomkvist plays a bigger part, but there are so many other characters at play. We know none of them well by the end. The action is improbable and not especially captivating.

Full review www.TheBibliophage.com
#thebibliophage2018 #pop18 #nordicnoir

BarbaraTheBibliophage @KOTK @taraWritesSci Here‘s my review. 👎🏻 5y
KOTK Thanks for that. I decided to try something else instead as just couldn't bring myself to it and even less so now. Reading 13 ways of looking instead as been meaning to get round to 5y
Cinfhen I think I‘ll pass ~ thanks 5y
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CampbellTaraL Such a bummer to hear, but sadly, I'm not surprised. The source material is so good, how do they keep botching it so badly?! Thanks for remembering I'd inquired though! 5y
larah17 I don‘t think I‘ll read any of the books after Larsson‘s original trilogy... I haven‘t heard great things 😔 5y
Bookzombie Thank you for confirming I don‘t need to read this or the others. Love the original trilogy! 5y
BarbaraTheBibliophage @Bookzombie @larah17 @Cinfhen @KOTK You‘re welcome. Nothing to see here. Now you can move along to better books. 5y
BarbaraTheBibliophage @taraWritesSci You‘re welcome! This book wasn‘t based on Larsson‘s partially finished book. That‘s in the possession of his partner/widow. If she should ever sanction a completion of it, I‘ll definitely give it a whirl. But she hasn‘t, probably due to all the acrimony with his family. 5y
BarbaraTheBibliophage @Cedar_and_Grapefruit Yeah, its time we‘ll never get back ... sadly. 5y
91 likes1 stack add10 comments
review
BarbaraTheBibliophage
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Pickpick

I almost bailed after the second story, which was wildly chauvinistic. So glad I didn‘t because the rest were charming, thought-provoking stories that play with time and place in unique ways. All published in the mid to late 20th century, Finney‘s tales are evocative of that era and some earlier ones. It felt very nostalgic to me!

Full review www.TheBibliophage.com (who knew I had so many watches!)
#thebibliophage2018 #pop18 #timetravel

Velvetfur I love that photo! 5y
BarbaraTheBibliophage @Velvetfur Thanks! It holds so many memories for me. 🙂 5y
TrishB Lovely pic 💕 5y
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erzascarletbookgasm Great pic 👍 5y
abbielistenstobooks I love time travel stories. I should check this out. Thanks! 5y
BarbaraTheBibliophage @abbielistenstobooks I‘d be happy to send you this copy. PM me your address and I‘ll drop it in the mail. 5y
abbielistenstobooks How kind! Will do! 5y
Louise Jack Finney is one of my favorite writers for time travel, escape, and fun! I‘ve collected all his books that I know about, even the obscure ones! Glad you enjoyed this one. 🤓 (edited) 5y
BarbaraTheBibliophage @Louise I think I saw some reviews of his work that you‘d added here. He is a treasure! 5y
Louise He really is! I love his enthusiasm. He has influenced how I think about time and the wonder of being here in our own time in history. 5y
113 likes1 stack add10 comments
review
BarbaraTheBibliophage
Salt to the Sea | Ruta Sepetys
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Pickpick

Salt to the Sea is a story of refugees during World War II. It‘s part of the author‘s family history, and her research into real-life events is meticulous. And yet, this is a story of people, not just history. The history is the why and the how, but the people in the novel are its heart.

This is a YA book so grounded in history—and tragedy—that it feels like an adult book.

Full review www.TheBibliophage.com
#thebibliophage2018 #pop18 #setatsea

PatienceFortitude I read it before Litsy and I couldn‘t have said any of this better 5y
LiteraryinLawrence Great review, Barbara! I don‘t usually gravitate toward war stories because I am easily upset by them. Do you think I‘d be ok with this? I‘d like to try it. 5y
BarbaraTheBibliophage @LiteraryinLititz Hmmm. Did you read my full review? I‘m not usually bummed out by books, even when they‘re sad. But this one was tragic with a small side of hope at the end. So, you might find it too much. 5y
mcctrish I loved this book! You are right about it‘s YA that reads ‘adult‘ 5y
162 likes5 stack adds5 comments