A classic book updated for the digital age. My favorite chapters:

Listen Longer
Leave Others a Little Better
Never say, "You're Wrong"
Surrender the Credit

In Listen Longer, this is profound - ask 15 questions per day. Five for family, five for co-workers, and five on social media. Read posts closely, reply with questions and genuine care. You‘ll connect and stay connected on common ground.

I got this audiobook on #SkipTheLine via #Libby.

I loved the historical premise woven in with a more modern-day quest: grown daughter searches for clues of her father‘s past during WWII. The first part had me glued. Unfortunately, once she travels to Italy the story gets bogged down. So much space dedicated to details of the food they prepared, the ingredients, the tastes, mundane conversation… I had to start skimming just to get through it. Ending was predictable.

Betrayal, neighbors, panic, and murder. To me, it was like a well-worn soap opera and I figured out part of the ending early on. The only way I could get through it was to listen to the audio at double speed. I will say it‘s quite amusing to listen to melodramatic people at 2x the normal speed.

While reading this book I was acutely aware of every bite of food I ate, every cup of real coffee I enjoyed. It‘s painful to think of the starvation and torture they suffered during occupation in WWII. Great historical read.

Pino Lella, a teenage boy from Milan, Italy, was instrumental in helping the Allies defeat the Germans in WWII. Based on a true story, this incredible tale of heroism, heartache, and triumph is told beautifully and emotionally.

I highly recommend getting lost in the pages of this book!

#PrimeReading

With so many available words to depict the gravity of a thought, constant overuse of the f-bomb instead is maddening.

This could have been a very important book on grief. I‘ve been there, thought those thoughts, and said the same things while processing the pain. I get that, and it‘s comforting to know it‘s normal. But the crude writing was so distracting, the tragedy of the story behind the grief got lost somewhere.

Not what I was expecting. This is the product of an angry far-left mind, attempting to make the right come off as frightening and extreme totalitarian monsters. Pure propaganda from the start. I couldn‘t get through it all because it‘s so painfully derisive. What I did read was corny and unbelievable with more holes than a colander.

I never got to the ending that so many have described as flat, rushed, and a big letdown. Just as well.

This quote is under the heading, “Jump Start the Elimination of Inflammation Without Changing Your Diet.”

If you have chronic inflammation (don‘t we all, with today‘s prolific and bad convenience food choices?), this is a fantastic book for you! It‘s relatively short and has recipes for food swaps, so you never have to feel as if you‘re being denied.

#hoopla

A young unwed mother in 1950 Quebec has an agonizing choice forced upon her by her family. Based on true events, this story of loss and longing will leave you angry, happy, and shaking your head at the depths of cruelty suffered by orphans.

I‘ve honestly never wanted to slap a nun until now!
Great read. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Ooh, some of these will definitely make an appearance in my To-Read stack. How about you? #LibraryReads

You know that voice in your head that narrates your life, with its incessant questions and observations? When I read a Sophie Kinsella, I feel I‘ve been given access to someone‘s internal voice, and it always has a British accent!

Katie Brenner is talented and witty, and wants the perfect Londoner life. All around her, others live in ways she can only dream of. She has to get back to her roots to find her own truths. Engaging and funny book!

But... isn‘t that how you‘re supposed to drive??? 😂 I love Sophie Kinsella but haven‘t picked up one of her books in years. I don‘t know why, and will surely add more to my stack. She‘s always relatable, and I adore that British humor. Or rather, humour. 😊

Really looking forward to this e-book. I have osteoarthritis in my neck and a pinched nerve that sends an agonizing sensation down my left arm. My doctor wants to send me to a spine surgeon but I‘m going to try natural pain relief methods first.

Have any of you heard of or tried the MELT Method? (Myofascial Energetic Link Technique.)

How long do you give a book before you bail? What‘s the deciding factor?

I‘m 25% in and struggling. The storyline is ok, reviews from Amazon make me think I‘m due for a twist or turn that will morph this into something I can‘t put down. But I don‘t like any of the characters. They‘re annoying and one-dimensional so far. Ugh. I hate to bail after 25% but life is too short to read boring text.

🎼Should I stay or should I go? 🎶

True Story.

“I didn‘t do it.”

They all say that. But sometimes, it‘s true. The bigger the political foe, the worse the revenge. Injustice makes me angry and the levels of it in this story made me livid. There‘s a fascinating look at prisons‘ internal “political” hierarchy here. It‘s a legal thriller with a touch of Shawshank Redemption.

Loved this book first page to last.
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

If you like stories about the legal system and injustice, you‘ll love this one. Reminds me of a John Grisham for sure. ❤️ I‘m 65% in and totally gripped by this story.

Currently free to read with #AmazonPrimeReading

Truly some laugh out loud moments with great characters in a dreamy east coast setting. There was bit of crude and immature banter a couple of times, and I really dislike the overuse of endearments - if I‘d had to read “sweetheart,” “honey,” or “sweetie” just one more time...

Altogether a fun read though. And Harry Potter fans will love the many references to the series.

I don‘t usually laugh out loud at events in fiction. There has to be a level of reality with believable characters. The gathering referenced in this quote made me gasp, and literally LOL. I don‘t want to adult today, I just want to keep reading this!
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

I read this in middle school sometime in the 70s. Will I cry at the end now like I did then? 😢

It‘s currently free for Kindle download through #AmazonPrimeReading.

“For obvious reasons, we were immediately suspicious of Mr. Lanigan, and our task was twofold: first, to find him and the money, and, second, to determine how he had pulled the heist.”

For some people, it‘s the word “moist.” For me, it‘s “heist” [shivers uncontrollably for a moment].

This was my first James Patterson and I thought it was just ok. When you‘ve read a lot of this type thriller/mystery, you get a feel for who to suspect, as the ones who are intended to be not-so-obvious are actually pretty obvious.

I‘m not a fan of portraying the good guy as a humble, yet almost larger-than-life hero. I prefer more realistic thrillers. I‘d read another Patterson, but probably not in the Alex Cross series.

Confession. I‘ve never read a James Patterson novel.

Until now! Just got one via Libby.

Set in Britain in the near future with lots of angst and political division due to a terroristic event. It would have been more interesting if written in a different format, and easier to follow.

The whole book was a series of interviews about current events. The interviewer isn‘t really present, as if on the phone and we can‘t hear them. You aren‘t even told who‘s speaking each time - you have to figure it out.

Not my kind of book.

A good short history reference, highlighting key events along the way. Many crucial elements are missing, but you can't pack the entire U.S. metamorphosis into a quick and easy read.

I did find several things I either never knew or forgot, which made it interesting. There were a few syntax errors, but they weren‘t terribly distracting. As of right now the Kindle version is still free on Amazon.

...when you write a novel you get to rewrite it, but when you live with someone for twenty years, that is the novel, and you can never write that novel with anyone again.”

This line really spoke to me. How true-choose your words and actions carefully the first time because there is no backspace key in real life.

“Daisy wore a clingy black dress with a neckline so deep it could tutor philosophy.”

An opening line that‘s so great it deserves to be read in a Humphrey Bogart voice. You just know it‘s going to be a page turner.

Without a doubt, one of the best books I‘ve ever read. It spans 30 years in the life of a Russian who was forced to live the remainder of his years inside the luxury hotel where he‘d been staying.

This was a book I had a hard time putting down, but wanted to read slowly so it would last longer. I‘ve actually added the old beloved word, “Gadzooks!” to my vocabulary.

They‘re making a television series based on the book too. Looking forward to it!