5 Stars • "James" by Percival Everett is a novel that reimagines Mark Twain's "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" from the perspective of Jim, the enslaved character. It has received widespread acclaim, winning the 2024 National Book Award for Fiction and being shortlisted for the 2024 Booker Prize. The novel explores themes of identity, freedom, and the harsh realities of slavery with both humor and profound seriousness.

Now that‘s what I call a silent book club!

#OUABC Once Upon a Book Club November 2024 Monthly Box (The Fabric of her Life)

4 Stars • The Memory Dress by Jade Beer is a touching novel centered around a missing husband, Meredith Chalis, a former dressmaker for Princess Diana; Jayne, a neighbor who helps unravel the mysteries surrounding Meredith. and a dress once owned by Princess Diana. It interweaves stories of two women whose lives are transformed by this discovery. ⬇️

4 Stars • Cameron Winter, a former journalist turned private detective, is hired to find a missing woman named Sarah, who has vanished under mysterious circumstances. As Winter delves into the case, he uncovers layers of deception involving politics, crime, and personal secrets. His investigation leads him into the underbelly of society, from the streets of New York to the corridors of power, where he encounters various dangerous characters.

3.5 Stars • "The Taken Ones" by Jess Lourey introduces detectives Reed and Steinbeck in Edina, Minnesota. Two women vanish during a snowstorm, leading to an investigation that uncovers a link to historical disappearances. The duo navigates community secrets and personal histories, confronting a possible serial abductor. The novel blends thriller elements with themes of trust, past trauma, and small-town secrets.

4 Stars • 4th in the series • In The Mistress of Bhatia House, Perveen Mistry, Bombay's only female solicitor in the 1920s, investigates the suspicious death of a resident in a women's boarding house. Amidst personal challenges, she unravels secrets and navigates societal norms to solve the mystery.

#TheMistressOfBhatiaHouse #PerveenMistry #SujataMassey

5 Stars • "Illuminations" by Mary Sharratt is a historical novel about Hildegard von Bingen, a medieval abbess and visionary. It explores her life from childhood in a monastery to becoming a leader and composer, highlighting her struggles against religious and societal constraints. The book is noted for its vivid historical detail and lyrical style.

The zombie apocalypse has begun! You have an SUV and a baseball bat. Where are you going first?

5 Stars • Loved this old sci-fi book. "One" depicts a future where humanity merges into a collective consciousness called "One." This unity eradicates loneliness but raises questions about individuality. The protagonist navigates the benefits and drawbacks of this system, leading to a conflict between those advocating for unity and those for personal identity.

3.5 Stars • This book delves into themes of love, secrecy, and the impact of history on personal lives, set against the backdrop of Scotland's rich historical landscape.

1707: Lily Aitken, a servant, falls in love with Adam Williamson amidst Scotland's political turmoil over the Union with England.

Present Day: A writer researches Lily's life, finding personal echoes in her own.

#TheVanishedDays #Slains #SusannaKearsley #Bookstagram

3 Stars • Just a bunch of random trivia. Totally my bag.

5 Stars • The Echo Chamber by John Boyne satirically follows the Cleverley family. It delves into miscommunication via social media, public image vs. reality, cancel culture, and identity. George, a has-been novelist; Beverley, a TV star; Elizabeth, an influencer; and Nelson, transgender, navigate fame and personal life, often clashing due to their echo chambers. ⬇️

3 Stars • Alice, a pregnant Mohawk woman, navigates her fear of inheriting or passing on mental health issues linked to her Indigenous heritage. Her journey involves visions or hallucinations that blur the lines between cultural legacy and personal psyche. The novel explores themes of identity, trauma, and the weight of history on present-day Indigenous life, leading Alice towards a tentative reconciliation with her past and heritage.

Thank you #Atria Books and #NetGalley for providing this #ARC Advance Reading Copy. Expected publication date is April 8, 2025.

4 Stars • Murder at Gulls Nest by Jess Kidd is a cozy mystery set in 1954. The story follows Nora Breen, a former nun who leaves her convent to investigate the sudden disappearance of her pen pal, Frieda. ⬇️

Read in November 2024...
16 Books
Three 5-Star reads this month:
• The Spellshop
• Dead Souls
• The Importance of Being Earnest

#Goodreads #Bookstagram #OUABC #Litsy #Libby #Everand #Audible #Kindle

Bowie Book Club Podcast 💫 November 24, 2024

4.5 Stars • The Buddha of Suburbia by Hanif Kureishi is about Karim Amir, a mixed-race teenager growing up in 1970s suburban London. His father, Haroon, becomes a pseudo-spiritual guru, leading to family disruptions. ⬇️

3 Stars • The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea is about Noboru Kuroda, a 13-year-old boy in a nihilistic gang, and his mother Fusako, who starts an affair with Ryuji Tsukazaki, a sailor. Initially, Noboru idolizes Ryuji for his adventurous life at sea. Ryuji's decision to settle down and marry Fusako is seen by Noboru and his friends as a betrayal of the sea's romantic ideal. The gang plots against Ryuji, leading to his murder by boys.

3.5 Stars • Cameron Winter, an ex-spy now teaching English, investigates the brutal murder of a wealthy family and their nanny in Chicago's suburbs. The only survivor is the family's young son. The police initially focus on the daughter's boyfriend as the suspect, but Winter, using his unique crime scene reconstruction ability, uncovers corruption and hidden truths.

4 Stars • This novel follows Frank Szatowski, who reconnects with his estranged daughter Maggie for her wedding. The event is set at a luxurious estate, where she's marrying Aidan, son of a tech billionaire. Frank feels out of place and grows suspicious of Aidan and his family due to their evasiveness and the locals' hostility. His investigation reveals dark secrets, blending themes of family, class, and the protective instinct of a parent.

3.5 Stars • Front to back terrifying • A pilot's heart attack leads to a plane crashing into Waketa, Minnesota's nuclear power plant, causing an explosion and meltdown risk. This disaster is initially a Level 7 on the nuclear event scale, but its severity prompts the unprecedented classification as a Level 8. The story follows the immediate aftermath, the desperate efforts to contain the catastrophe, and its national and global repercussions.

2.5 Stars • Meh • This Will Be Fun follows four friends - Clare, Beatrice, Elowen, and Galwell - who reunite at a wedding. Each is dealing with personal issues: Clare with divorce, Beatrice with commitment fears, Elowen with work stress, and Galwell with career woes. Their reunion stirs up past dynamics, leading to humorous and poignant moments as they navigate their friendships and life's challenges together.

The Ones We Choose centers around Paige Robson, a genetic scientist focused on discovering the genetic basis for paternal empathy. Her personal life is complicated by her upbringing. Paige has always felt the absence of her father, leading her to research genetics, possibly in an attempt to understand why her father left and how much of our personality is determined by genetics.

5 Stars • After her library burns down in the city, Kiela, a librarian, escapes with several priceless spellbooks along with her self-aware spider plant, Caz. They flee to Caltrey, her remote childhood island home. She opens a secret spellshop to help restore the island's magic. This is a story full of tender-hearted moments and whimsical creatures.

3 Stars • The Future centers around a tech billionaire, Lenk Sketlish, who prepares for an apocalypse by building a survival ark on an island. The narrative explores themes of survival, technology, and power, with characters like Martha Einkorn, a survival guru, and Jimi, a hacker activist, playing pivotal roles. The story critiques societal structures and the ethics of who gets to survive a global catastrophe.

4 Stars • The Coworker by Freida McFadden is a psychological thriller centered around two women, Dawn Schiff and Natalie Farrell, who work at Vixed, a nutritional supplement company. The story begins when Dawn doesn't show up for work one morning, prompting concern from Natalie. ⬇️

4 Stars • Elizabeth, from the Thursday Murder Club, receives a letter from her supposedly dead ex-husband, Douglas, claiming he's in danger due to a diamond theft from a past heist involving a criminal named Marcus Carmichael. The club, including Joyce, Ibrahim, and Ron, investigate after a local drug dealer's death seems linked to the diamonds. Their sleuthing involves navigating local crime, corruption, and espionage.

4 Stars • "The Latecomer" by Jean Hanff Korelitz focuses on the Oppenheimer siblings, Harrison, Lewyn, and Sally as they deal with their parents' academic obsession and emotional detachment. The story delves into themes of identity and parental influence, showing how each sibling grapples with their place in the world.

#TheLatecomer #JeanHanffKorelitz #Bookstagram

3.5 Stars • "What the Hell Did I Just Read" by David Wong (Jason Pargin) is a collection of short stories and essays, not a novel like the first two books in the "John Dies at the End" series. It showcases Wong's signature blend of horror, humor, and social commentary in a variety of standalone pieces, offering readers a look into his creative process and thoughts rather than continuing the main narrative of John and David.

5 Stars • Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol follows the cunning Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov as he travels through Russia, buying "dead souls"—serfs who are deceased but still listed in government records. His scheme aims to use these souls as collateral for a loan, exposing the corruption and moral decay of Russian society through his interactions with various landowners. Each character represents a satirical critique of societal flaws.

5 Stars • "The Importance of Being Earnest" by Oscar Wilde is a comedic play that satirizes the Victorian era's societal norms and values, particularly focusing on marriage, identity, and the notion of "Bunburying," a term Wilde coined to describe the act of creating an alter ego to escape social obligations.

Read in October 2024...
19 Books
Two 5-Star reads this month:
• Murder Road
• The Lightning Bottles

#Goodreads #Bookstagram #OUABC #Litsy #Libby #Everand #Audible #Kindle

2.5 Stars • Pell is an engineer and excavator, dedicated to uncovering and restoring the intriguing relics of the Ancients on the arid planet Tampere. Her mission is to aid her village's survival and decode the mysteries of the past. Heartwood and Moses are custodians of a daunting tower located near Emgarden village, which houses remnants of sophisticated machinery unfamiliar to Pell.

3 Stars • "Lights on the Sea" by Miquel Reina follows Mary Rose and Harold Grapes, an elderly couple forced to leave their cliffside home due to its instability. A storm causes their house to float away, leading them on a literal and metaphorical journey across the sea. This fantastical event becomes a backdrop for their emotional healing from the loss of their son.

3 Stars • The Boyfriend by Freida McFadden is a psychological thriller about Sydney Shaw, who begins dating Tom, seemingly the perfect man. The story unfolds in dual timelines: one where Sydney and Tom's relationship develops, and another revealing Tom's obsessive past with a girl named Daisy, linked to a murder. This book deals with themes of obsession, hidden truths, and the darker aspects of human relationships.

3 Stars • We'll Prescribe You a Cat by Syou Ishida, translated by E. Madison Shimoda, centers on the Kokoro Clinic for the Soul in Kyoto, which uniquely uses cats for healing. This book blends magical realism with themes of companionship, showcasing how cats can profoundly affect human lives. ⬇️

3.5 Stars • Second book in the Cameron Winter series • Cameron Winter, an ex-spy turned English professor, investigates the suspicious suicide of his former student, Kemp, which leads him to Gerald Byrne, a Big Tech billionaire with a mysterious personal life and control over a vast social media empire named Byrner. This novel explores power and manipulation through technology, personal demons, and the fine line between genius and malevolence.

#OUABC Once Upon a Book Club September 2024 Monthly Box (They Were the Music)

5 Stars • The Lightning Bottles by Marissa Stapley follows the story of Jane Pyre, a musician from the grunge era, as she embarks on a journey across continents to uncover the truth about her partner in music and love, Elijah Hart, who mysteriously disappeared. ⬇️

3 Stars • First book in the Cameron Winter series • After a confession of murder, a sleuthing English teacher will need a Christmas miracle to prove a condemned man innocent. Colorful Christmas lights dapple the family homes in the idyllic lakeside town of Sweet Haven when Jennifer Dean, a young librarian at the local elementary school, is brutally murdered. ⬇️

4.5 Stars • Violet Sorrengail, a young woman with a non-combat background, is forced into the deadly Basgiath War College, where cadets train to become dragon riders. Despite her unsuitability for warfare, Violet possesses a rare ability to hear dragon thoughts, which could either be her salvation or her downfall. The story follows her brutal first year at the academy, where she must survive harsh training and navigate complex relationships.

4 Stars • Avery Grambs, a high school senior, inherits a billionaire's fortune from Tobias Hawthorne, a man she never met. She must live in his mansion with his four grandsons—Nash, Grayson, Jasper, and Xander—while solving puzzles to uncover why she was chosen. The book explores family secrets, rivalry, and Avery's journey to understand her unexpected legacy, leaving many mysteries for subsequent books in the series.

3 Stars • The last book in the Aunties trilogy. • The Good, the Bad, and the Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto focuses on family, cultural identity, and humor, set against the backdrop of Chinese-Indonesian traditions. During Chinese New Year in Jakarta, Meddy and her family face chaos when an ex of Second Aunt tries to win her back, leading to a dangerous gift mix-up. The family must navigate comedic and risky situations to retrieve the gift.

5 Stars • Murder Road by Simone St. James involves a newlywed couple, April and Eddie, who encounter supernatural horror on Atticus Line, a haunted road in Michigan. After helping a mysteriously bloodied woman, they're drawn into local legends about the "Lost Girl," a ghost believed to possess people to kill. ⬇️

#FirstLineFridays
@ShyBookOwl

4.5 Stars • In "What Have You Done?", Beth Aldridge discovers a letter suggesting her husband Noah had an affair and a secret child. As Beth investigates, she uncovers Noah's hidden past, leading to distrust and paranoia. Their teenage son Sebastian adds complexity with his own issues. The story climaxes with revelations of Noah's double life, resulting in dramatic confrontations and decisions.

4 Stars • Lost Gods by Brom follows Chet Moran, who after a tragic attack, finds himself in Purgatory. Here, he must navigate a world of forgotten gods, demons, and souls to find a key that might save his wife and unborn child, as well as redeem his own soul. The story blends themes of redemption, love, and survival in a dark fantasy setting, where Chet's journey through this afterlife tests his character amidst a backdrop of mythological turmoil.

SciFi • 1972 • 4 Stars

Roadside Picnic is set on Earth after alien "Visitations" leave mysterious Zones with bizarre artifacts. People called Stalkers, like Redrick Schuhart, illegally enter Zones to collect these artifacts, which have extraordinary and often hazardous properties. The narrative focuses on Redrick's life, from financial gain to personal loss and existential questioning, as he deals with the Zone's effects on society and himself.

3 Stars • "Awopbopaloobop Alopbamboom: The Golden Age of Rock" by Nik Cohn is a pioneering book on rock 'n' roll, tracing its evolution from the 1950s to the early 1970s. Cohn highlights key artists like Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, and Jimi Hendrix, detailing how their music and personas shaped not just musical trends but also youth culture and societal norms. ⬇️

4 Stars • The Castle of Crossed Destinies by Italo Calvino (published in Italian in 1973) where characters, unable to speak, use tarot cards to tell their stories. The novel explores themes of fate, chance, and storytelling through the symbolism of tarot, challenging traditional narrative structures by suggesting stories are like cards, reshuffled and reinterpreted endlessly. ⬇️

Thank you #StMartinsPress and #NetGalley for providing this #ARC Advance Reading Copy. The expected publication date is February 11, 2025 • 4 Stars

“The Queens of Crime” by Marie Benedict is a historical fiction set in 1930s London, where five renowned women mystery writers secretly form the Queens of Crime to solve an actual murder mystery, inspired by real events. ⬇️