February reading and book groups so far...

 

Hello book friends!  Can you believe that February is already half over?  I can't.  The days are passing quickly.  I couldn't find a good picture from my morning walks (which have been a bit nippy this last couple of weeks), so I'm sharing a picture of my new library's 'Blind Date With A Book' display.  Have you ever tried one of those?  I've seen other libraries and bookstores have this type of event.  Books are gift-wrapped and a 'teaser' is taped to the 'gift'.  The patron decides on one to try, unwraps it, and begins reading their 'blind date'.  This library also included a nice bookmark.  After you try the book, you're asked to turn in a 'review' of your date.  It could be a 'dud' or you'll 'just be friends' or maybe 'love at first sight'.  Ha!  I had selected a book on Monday when I was volunteering and was going to check it out when I completed my 'shift' of shelving.  Well, someone else 'stole' my 'date'!  My second choice was a 'just friends' selection.  Or maybe a 'dud'.  I was nice in my 'review'.  (P.S. It really was a 'dud' for me!)  Oh, my 'blind date' was Milkman by Anna Burns.  Not for me.  Have you read it?

I've been busy the last couple of weeks with several things house related and we also were lucky enough to have an ice storm.  Most tiresome that was.  Not as bad as the big storm last year that Texas had, but we had to stay home for 2 or 3 days.

Reading:

My reading has been progressing, but not as fast.  I did complete the book for the new Mystery Book Group here (will talk about that in a minute).  I also read The Unheard by Nicci French and Greenwich Park by Katherine Faulkner.  Both the last two fell into the psychological thriller realm and, though I've read other books by Nicci French and liked them, this one was only OK for me.  Greenwich Park has been reviewed well and I think many have liked it, but the protagonist was way too anxious for me and I ended up thinking that I need a break from these type books.

I've decided to catch up on J.D. Robb's Eve Dallas series and have now completed Faithless in Death and Forgotten in Death.  Today, I started Abandoned in Death, her newest that just came out.  My reading feels much better.  I love Eve and Roarke.  

Book Groups:

Since it's been a few weeks, I'll talk about a couple of book group meetings.  When I last posted, it was the day before the 'Talking Texas' Book Group met and we discussed Land That I Love written by Gail Kittleson.  I'm going to share about this book and our meeting, which the author attended, next week.  Gail also was kind enough to write a guest post for the blog and it will be up next week as well.  Stay tuned!  We really liked the book, by the way.

The ice storm cancelled our 'Historical Fiction' Book Group discussion unfortunately.  We had read The Alice Network by Kate Quinn.  That one will be talked about quickly at our March 3rd meeting as well as the March book, These Is My Words by Nancy Turner.  Sadly, I'll have to miss the meeting as I'll be in Austin for a few days.  I read These Is My Words a number of years ago and liked it very much.  Have you tried that one?  Recommended.

The second week of the month is the 'Brown Bag' Book Group, which reads fiction/non-fiction.  We had a fun time talking about Lorna Landvik's newest, Chronicles of a Radical Hag.  Not many in the group had known of Lorna Landvik's books and another member and I recommended a few for them to try.  Ever read this author's works?  I've enjoyed what I've read.  Our book for March is The Library Book by Susan Orlean.  I'm looking forward to hearing what others think about that one.  And I think I'll re-read it. 

Have I confused you about my many book groups yet?  Ha!  Today's meeting was the 'Shrouded in Mystery' Book Group.  First book discussion and it was a lot of fun as well.  We talked about The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman. I personally liked the book a lot, though I have heard from other bloggers that it wasn't quite such a favorite.  This group definitely got the whole 'older people' sleuth vibe.  One member wanted to sign up to move into the retirement community that the characters live in.  We talked about how it might look if adapted for TV and who might play the characters.  The librarian has read the second book in the series, The Man Who Died Twice, and said she really liked that one too.  I felt like I could see Helen Mirren as Elizabeth, the character that was a spy 'back in the day'.  Thumbs up from that group for sure.  Our next discussion will be The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths.  I love that book!  I had a good time telling them about the Ruth Galloway series by the author as well.  Hope some will try that as well as her Magic Men series.  

That's all I have about book groups.  As I said, I'll share more about Gail Kittleson's Land That I Love next week, as well as her guest post about historical research.

Hope all of you are well.  Now if only spring would burst forth with those wildflowers!!!