“Adrenaline is the ultimate painkiller.”

#FirstLineFridays. @ShyBookOwl

Really liked this short story collection of the evolution of robots. Copyright date of 1950! Whoa! So interesting how robots start off as companions and end up running the world. There‘s a reason these books are classics..they still have a lot to say.
Fun read all the way around.

#ClassicLSFBC

1. Finished 3000 piece jigsaw puzzle without ever looking at the picture! Thinking of you WanderingLynn.
2. Received crate of mangoes from sister-in-law in Florida and they are magnificent! Thinking of you DebinHawaii.
3. Spoke to childhood friend whose husband had kidney transplant and all is going well.
4. Met daughter for lunch in old neighborhood where the kids grew up. The quesadillas in phyllo dough were amazing.

#5JoysFriday. @DebinHawaii

54 year old Rocky arrives at the annual week long vacation at the Cape Cod beach house. Her children are grown her parents are elderly and her relationship with her husband is up and down. But they‘re all there that week, and she loves them all fiercely. In fact this book seems like a love letter to all of them, interspersed with loads of anxiety. I laughed out loud once, but mostly found it repetitious.

This page cracked me up!

Here we have an unnamed teacher narrating one week of her life, alternating between school and home life. At school she thinks she sees an inappropriate action between a student and the principal. She discusses this with various other professionals at the school, but doesn‘t really get anywhere. Then we have the interactions at home between her and her husband and her and her children. Can‘t say this book went anywhere, but only 150 pages!

1. Hubby‘s tomato plant is coming along.
2. A couple of good quotes from 3000 piece puzzle
3. Finished 4th season of Fargo and started 5th.
4. Eye dr says my eyes are better than 3 years ago!
5. Beautiful weather to read on the deck.

@DebinHawaii #5JoysFriday

People in the future are color coded, determining their future. Took me forever to read the first 30 pages. Had the sequel ready to go too.

#hailthebail

Really liked this one! Picture Covid, but with lots of people being kept alive in small spaces while robot bodies take their places and live their lives. A couple of FBI agents are on the case of a couple of suicides directly connected to the neural connections of the bodies. Sounds confusing? It isn‘t really when you get into the story. Very entertaining read.

#litsyscifibookclub.

This story of a missing 4 year old girl draws you in immediately. The story is narrated by only two people in alternating chapters: her older brother who was with her the day she disappeared, and the girl herself, brought up as someone else. You can‘t help but be immersed in the lives of these two people, along with their respective families. Such a good story!

Three siblings come together for their mother‘s funeral and all the secrets make their way to the forefront. Lots of missing people, a VHS tape and sibling rivalry makes for an interesting story but nothing groundbreaking. A soft pick.

Nothing brings people together better than death.

#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

A sweet book about autistic high-schooler Marlowe and what happens when her in-crowd boyfriend of two years dumps her. She has two terrific supportive gal pals as she tries to make sense of what happened. Along the way she predictably meets a new guy and by the end has a much better understanding of herself.

Staycation swap has arrived!

#staycationintime24 @Chrissyreadit @DinoMom

This book was not doing anything for me. An inter-galactic con woman, a jilted sister, the mark being the jilter, and the guy‘s sister who is also a love interest. Sounded promising, but wasn‘t to be.

When Vera Wang discovers a body in her teahouse she sets out to find the murderer, and she meets four people with a connection to the dead guy. I just could not picture these characters, they all seemed one-dimensional to me. Only read to the end to see who did it.

Hot pink Superbells are in full bloom!
Saw the musical Beehive, all 60s and 70s music. Tina Turner, Janis Joplin, Lesley Gore and other fantastic female singers.
Had a clear mammogram..25 years out from breast cancer.
Walked in Botanic Garden with best friend
Started 3000 piece jigsaw puzzle with bookshop theme.

@DebinHawaii #5JoysFriday

Daphne and Miles meet cute and that‘s about it for 384 pages which is about 100 pages too long. Almost bailed multiple times as not much happens in this best seller. Predictable, not very funny, and too long.

I loved this book, a slice of life in a small town in Maine. Such richly drawn characters, some with secrets, some just living their small town lives. Beautifully written. The kind of book that when you‘re finished, you feel like you‘ve really read something.

#europacollective

1 and 2 Celebrated 21 years of bliss with hubby at favorite restaurant in Lake Geneva, WI
3 Saw Corpse Flower at Botanic Garden. Stinks!! But rarely blooms, every 10 years or so.
4 Also saw Butterflies & Blooms exhibit where they check you out before you leave to make sure there are no “hitchhikers”
5 Finished Endless Day puzzle. This girl needs a good book!

#5JoysFriday. @DebinHawaii

What can I say about Adina, an alien from the moment of birth, who moves through time as a human, continually sending messages to her home planet and receiving replies. I found her thoughts on humans and their everyday lives to be the most interesting parts of the book. She knows she‘s an alien and she knows her job is to explain humans and their emotions to her home planet, but she never quite feels anything. Thought provoking.

Really liked this book about the breakup of Andy and Jen, a couple who love each other, but Jen just can‘t be with him anymore. Andy narrates the book and it could seem too much about his life after the breakup but it doesn‘t. He‘s a standup comic and he‘s forever trying to be a good one along with making sense of the end of his relationship with the woman he loves. A great ending as well!

0. My daughter showed me how to put pictures in the #5JoysFriday square!
1. Actually last week but here are the funkopops of my daughter and her partner
2. Waldorf salad I made for Fathers Day
3. Book City jigsaw puzzle
4. Enjoyed my garden while reading on the deck
5. Me and the kiddos. Big family weekend!

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii

If you read Harlan Coben, you know how his books go. Murder, suspects, followed by a murderer you didn‘t suspect. This one‘s a serial killer with Myron Bolitar and his ginormously wealthy friend Win on the case. A quick satisfying read.

I have framed Edward Gorey jigsaw puzzles all over my office. Not to mention all the books, magnets and current calendar!
@Bookwomble

I liked this book but I‘m not sure what to make of it. A 45 year old artist (it‘s never clear exactly what her art is) sets out to improve her life, her sexuality and her knowledge about herself. She goes off on one tangent after another and has one complicated relationship after another. I‘m just not clear on where she stood at the end of the book, but it kept me reading so that‘s something.

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii

Do I get the award for first staycationintime24 in the mail? Please excuse the recycled Amazon box (don‘t judge a book by its cover, haha).
#staycationintime24

Tana French is a very good storyteller! This story continues The Searcher from about three years ago. A former cop retires to small town Ireland, where he gets dragged into murder mysteries. He‘s a terrific character and so are the two women in his life, a local landowner and a teenager who really needs his influence. Hope there are more of these down the road.

Just finished watching Fallout on Amazon Prime. Highly recommend to sci-fi watchers.
#CLSFBC

William Mandella narrates the story of his life over a space war that lasts 1150 years. Imagine the changes earth goes through, many of which you couldn‘t guess. This book was way ahead of its time, winning all sorts of sci-fi awards. And when he got to the origins of this war, all you can do is shake your head. Loved the ending!
#classicLSFBC

I started this book and thought “What a stupid idea for a book!” but I kept reading and it just got better and better and turned out that I really liked it. It‘s totally far-fetched, the premise being that the main character can send her husband up into the attic and he will come down a different guy. And her life will revolve around this new husband, until she gets him to go back into the attic. Lots of humor and a good story.

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii

This is one of those books where everything the narrator says and does sounds like real life, not a false word. It‘s a light hearted story tackling race, not easy to pull off. Layla and Andy fall in love and while she‘s light-skinned black and he‘s white, friends and family have their own thoughts and prejudices. Really liked where it started and where the characters ended up.

Went to get a covid booster and the pharmacist told me there‘s a new updated pneumonia vaccine so I got them both!
#WhatsNewWednesday @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Readforlife @TieDyeDude

1. The dirty car would have to be my choice. I once lived in a dirty house for so long, my boyfriend sent his cleaning lady over.
2. Rachel and James in The Rachel Incident.

#TwoforTuesday @TheSpineView

This one is not for the faint of heart. Five year old Kristine‘s mother is abducted from a mall parking lot, and she and her brother and her father have to live with that their whole lives. This true story grabs you from page one and continues to throttle you up until the end. Page after page, Kristine tries to make sense out of this senseless crime as it colors her every waking moment. It‘s a heartbreaker but a must read.

Best present my kids ever got me!
@Sharpeipup

Definitely J Robert Lennon. Really liked Broken River.
#SundayFunday @BookmarkTavern

I didn‘t think the characters were developed all that well in this mystery about multiple murders, kidnapped children, and the FBI agent on the case. But the big twist at the end makes this a soft pick. And I‘m not talking about the murderer.

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii

Highly recommend this book about a high school girl who dies at a house party. We read ten stories, each narrated by a girl/woman who knew her, and by the end we feel as though we knew her, and we have a feeling for what led to this tragedy. Each story feels very private, as though we‘re reading the author‘s diary. It‘s the kind of book that stays with you.

It‘s 1864 in Colorado and so begins this story about one Native American family, generation after generation. We live through massacres and shootings and drug addiction and alcoholism and cancer, never really knowing how it‘s going to turn out in the end. It‘s about one family‘s quest to understand their history and come to terms with it. A thoroughly engaging book about a slice of life with which you may not be familiar.

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii

Bread, cheese & fruit
Anything by Rebecca Serle
#Two4Tuesday @TheSpineView

Everything he writes is magical and this book is no exception. Not usually a fan of short stories but these six stories all have interesting characters with something to say. And the novella…each chapter is one character and how his/her life revolves around Evelyn who is a first time visitor to LA. You will love Evelyn, smart as they come and a great friend to have.

There were children, and then there were the children of Indians, because the merciless savage inhabitants of these American lands did not make children but nits, and nits make lice, or so it was said by the man who meant to make a massacre feel like killing bugs at Sand Creek.

#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

Really liked this story about Daphne who gets a note about how long the relationship will last, every time she meets someone new. She‘s so real, never a false note in her conversations with guys, friends, her family. In fact, a conversation she has with her dad near the end of the book made me cry. It‘s a book about the power of love and friendship and living the one life you‘ve been given.

1. Been living with pain in a tooth for 6(!) months and finally had it pulled and grafted for an implant.
2. Picked up new Amor Towles and Tommy Orange books at the library.
3. So excited for the family to get together on Mothers Day.
4. Stopped using a nebulizer twice a day after one year, a real milestone.
5. Son in Seattle sent me 5 new jigsaw puzzles and started the mystery one, no picture.

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii

This one‘s a page turner! Our narrator, Evie, is caught between her past and her future, doing jobs for a “Mr. Smith” while trying to stay alive herself. If she‘s going to get through this, she‘ll have to figure out his identity and work out a plan to come out on top. I was rooting for her every step of the way and you will too.