No Two Persons by Erica Bauermeister
I am reading this due to the recommendation of one of my favorite authors, Camille Di Maio!! I hope it is a GOOD one!!
Happy reading,
Dorothea 💜
Saturday, October 21, 2023
REVIEW - The Connellys of County Down
OVERVIEW
This is the second book by Tracey Lange and I thoroughly enjoyed it!!
The basic story is about three siblings who are left to fend for themselves after their mother dies and their father abandons them. The three of them are tight-knit even though they experience the worst and best of life.
The character development is very strong which I love! Additionally, the fairy tale that the mother tells her three children is enchanting. It was a lovely part of the book!
This book was very good and I really look forward to Tracey Lange's NEXT novel!!
OVERALL REVIEW: 4.0 stars
Writing: 4.0 stars
Tracey has a really crisp yet descriptive way of writing. You can visualize the scenes and be "in it", but it doesn't get bogged down by over-wordiness.
Character development: 4.0 stars
This book has three main characters: Tara, Eddie, and Geraldine. They each take their "assigned roles" in the family and in their mother's fairy tale. They are hard-working people who have been dealt a very poor hand in life. The characters are flawed like all of us. I like that there is still so much growth for the characters in the future.
The secondary characters are Brian and Hank (police officers), Conor (Eddie's son), and other assorted town characters.
The tertiary character is the symbiosis of the three siblings - it is like a real character!
Storyline: 4.0 stars
Wow, the story gets off to a start very quickly and continues from there. Tara is released from prison for drug trafficking and then it is set up and fast-paced very quickly!
All of the main locations were in the state of New York.
Memorable/Informative: 4.0 stars
This novel makes a strong point about how quickly one's life can spiral out of control because of one bad decision.
Book cover: 4.0 stars
Pretty.
Book title: 4.5 stars
Perfection.
DEFINITE recommend
BOOK INFORMATION
LAPL (Los Angeles Public Library) Kindle book
The Connellys of County Down by Tracey Lange
288 pages
William Morris
Release date of 10/10/2023
INFORMATIONAL LINKS
Happy reading,
Dorothea 💜
Thursday, October 19, 2023
UPDATED Goodreads Review Ratings
So with this update (10/07/2023), this is how I will be reviewing books going forward. I just feel like some consistency is needed as I am working hard to make this blog useful and fun for me and my readers!
First off, I really wish that Goodreads had 1/2 stars, but unfortunately, they do not. However, I do include 1/2 stars in the books that I review in the "review section" of Goodreads, NetGalley, and in this book blog. Here is my breakdown of reviews:
5-stars are the best of the best! These are the books that I cannot stop recommending to my friends!! They have moved me deeply and are books that I will think about and remember forever. Also, these are the books that I normally buy for my personal library and are the "HIGHEST Recommendation"! I also will call some of them masterpieces and expect them to be read for years to come.
4.5-stars are outstanding books. They were great reads and very enjoyable, but these books didn't reach into my soul like the 5-star books. These are "HIGHLY recommend" books!
4-stars are excellent books. Please, don't get me wrong, they are definitely worth reading and are books that I would "DEFINITE Recommend". They are great books and I thoroughly enjoyed them.
3.5-stars are very good books. But, I would definitely read them as I enjoyed them. A lot of these are more "fast food" reading, but these are not the mainstay of my reading choices. These are "Recommend".
3-stars are okay, but just okay. I enjoyed the book, but it wasn't memorable to me. Something missed the mark - plot line, character development, or writing. These are "LUKEWARM recommend".
2-stars or 1-star are normally books that I would "DNF" (Did Not Finish). These are also books that I would not review, period. I don't like leaving negative reviews - instead, I just don't review the book.
Happy reading,
Dorothea 💜
REVIEW - Making It So AUDIOBOOK
OVERVIEW
This is Sir Patrick Stewart's memoir at the age of 83 years old young!! It is the best memoir that I have listened to in 2023 so far. That is a huge achievement as I have listened to a lot of great audiobooks this year! The biggest bonus was listening to his melodious voice - fabulous!
Patrick Stewart grew up in Yorkshire, England the youngest son of a former Sergeant Major in the British Army and a homemaker/weaver. He grew up in borderline poverty which has impacted him to this day. Sir Patrick worked hard and had some serendipitous events happen to make him the huge theater, movie, and television star that he is today.
The amazing thing to me was Sir Patrick's long-life friendships, kindness, modesty, and humbleness. He sounds like the perfect person and his wife to enjoy appetizers and wine while talking for hours and hours!! I have not watched his biggest hits and now want to watch them!
This memoir is for you especially if you like theater, Shakespeare, Star Trek TNG, and/or X-Men!!
OVERALL REVIEW: 5.0 stars
Writing: 5.0 stars
The writing for this memoir is top-notch!
This memoir is poignant and hysterically funny. Sir Patrick is very self-effacing and tells stories with just perfect timing - he is a magical storyteller. The Sting and Honda Prelude stories make me chuckle every time I think of them!!
Narration: 5.0 stars
OMG! Who could narrate his own memoir better than a trained Shakespearean actor? No one! Sir Patrick has a lovely, rich and beautiful voice that I could listen to him read the newspaper out loud and I would love it!!
Character Arc: 5.0 stars
The memoir covers the time from Sir Patrick's birth (and before) until the present day. It was such a satisfying memoir as he covered everything I wanted to know about him! He is quite a multi-dimensional person!!
Memorable: 5.0 stars
It was a memorable memoir. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about Sir Patrick and his life. It was fascinating to learn so much about Great Britain during and after WWII.
Entertaining: 5.0 stars
It was educational as I knew next to nothing about Great Britain after WWII. I learned how much the war impacted his family life and Great Britain as a whole. Additionally, Sir Patrick is a hoot - he constantly made me laugh. But, he also brought me to tears as he read about his losses. It was just so well done.
Book cover: 5.0 stars
Perfection.
Book title: 5.0 stars
Excellent!
Suggestions:
I didn't really know all the individuals that Sir Patrick mentioned in different theater settings, but it didn't really matter.
HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION
STATISTICS
Making It So by Patrick Steward
18 hours, 50 minutes
Listened to as an audiobook from the Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL)
Release date of 10/03/2023
INFORMATIONAL LINKS
Happy reading,
Dorothea 💜
P.S. Listen to the very end of the audiobook as Sir Patrick reads a selection of Dicken's A Christmas Carol - AMAZING!!
Sunday, October 15, 2023
REVIEW - The Leftover Woman
OVERVIEW
Every single book of Jean Kwok's book is good, but this is a GREAT book!!
The best part is that I learn more and more about Chinese culture. I married into a Chinese family about 25 years ago and still don't know everything about the culture and never will.
I truly thought that I knew what the ending was going to be. Um, I was totally wrong, wrong, wrong!
After going through the review, this is ANOTHER 5-star book for 2023!! YES!!
OVERALL REVIEW: 5.0 stars
Writing: 5.0 stars
Jean has a beautiful, poetic way of writing that still is easy to read. What a gift that she has to tell stories in such a gorgeous way.
Jean also tells the stories that need telling like THIS book. There is so much about unethical adoption, human trafficking, and undocumented "social" clubs that needs exposure to stop it once and for all!
The amazing thing is that English is not Jean's first language plus she also speaks Chinese and Dutch fluently. Impressive writing from an immigrant - they really do contribute to our society!!!
Character development: 5.0 stars
This book had three main characters: Jasmine, Lucy, and Rebecca. These three women learn and grow so much during the course of the book. Their back stories are interestingly developed from the two poor immigrants from China to the one wealthy American. The three characters intersect in a huge crescendo that is a huge bombshell!
The secondary characters are Fiona, Wen, and Brandon. A child and two men who have shared pasts and differing views of the future. Another huge bombshell!
The tertiary characters are the co-workers, relatives, friends, and assorted others.
Storyline: 4.5 stars
It was a very good storyline, but it took me a little bit to get into the book. The very beginning was exposition and it was quite a bit to set up. But, once I got past that, I tried to "ration" this book and just couldn't do it. I stayed up late last night reading the end of the book. Typical of me.
The main locations were New York City and China.
Memorable/Informative: 5.0 stars
One of the horrible realizations was the intrinsic bias in society toward parents who adopt children from a different race. I have encountered comments about my bi-racial daughter but it was very rare compared to what these adopted parents and children must endure. So, so wrong!
Book cover: 5.0 stars
Gorgeous.
Book title: 5.0 stars
Perfection.
HIGHEST recommendation
BOOK INFORMATION
LAPL (Los Angeles Public Library) book
The Leftover Women by Jean Kwok
268 pages
William Morris
Release date of 10/10/2023
INFORMATIONAL LINKS
Happy reading,
Dorothea 💜
Wednesday, October 11, 2023
My next read is...
The Leftover Woman by Jean Kwok
So two books that I want to read came in about eight hours apart, so I will read this one first as I have been so excited to read it. A book by one of my favorite authors!!
Happy reading,
Dorothea 💜
Monday, October 9, 2023
REVIEW - So Fetch: The Making of Mean Girls
FYI - Okay, this book is NOT a memoir, but it is more memoir-like than novel-like. So I am using the memoir review format!!
OVERVIEW
This book is about the making of Mean Girls as an adaption from the incredible book by Rosalind Wiseman (which I read and loved) to the movie and screenplay to the musical. This book has it all - the good, the bad, and the ugly.
If you are a Mean Girls junkie, this book is for YOU! I love the movie so this book was intriguing for me!
OVERALL REVIEW: 3.5-stars
Writing: 3.5-stars
The writing was very good. I was surprised because I expected an in-depth analysis of this movie to be a tell-all that would have been ghost-written by a National Inquirer writer.
The author wrote a very good book with interviews and lots of annotated research detailed "Notes" in the last 20% of the book. Thankfully, there were NO footnotes to distract me! Impressive!
This was a lot of fun to read!
Character Arc: 3.5-stars
The story begins with Rosalind Wiseman's amazing book which was the basis for the screenplay. Tina Fey adapted this amazing book into a screenplay and was involved in the entire process of the movie from writing to casting to almost everything!
I really enjoyed learning about how Tina Fey's real life was included in the screenplay. From the jokes to hard and difficult stories. It was very interesting.
Memorable: 3.5-stars
It was a memorable memoir because I really loved the movie. Finding out about what happened to make this movie so fantastic was really fun.
Entertaining: 3.0-stars
It was a fun read. The book did get a bit bogged down to me when it was talking about the theater production of Mean Girls as I really was only interested in the movie.
Book cover: 3.5-stars
Cute.
Book title: 3.5-stars
Cute.
Gut feeling: 3.0 stars
I had no clue as to how I would feel about this book. I was very pleasantly surprised!!
Suggestions:
A listing of the characters and who held the part (in the movie and theater production) would have been great!
Recommend
STATISTICS
NetGalley ARC (Advance Reader Copy)
So Fetch: The Making of Mean Girls by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong
272 pages
Dey Street Books
Release date of 01/16/2024
INFORMATIONAL LINKS
Happy reading,
Dorothea 💜
Friday, October 6, 2023
My next read is...
So Fetch: The Making of Mean Girls by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong
Happy reading,
Dorothea 💜
REVIEW - Darling Girls
OVERVIEW
Wow! Sally Hepworth can definitely write a good mystery thriller! I have read all of Sally's books and have enjoyed them all. All of her books are so full of twists and turns until the final BAM!! This book was no different.
I was so excited that I thought that I had figured out the plotline early in the book and I had until the end! Sally tricked me again with her devious plotline! Very well done!!
OVERALL REVIEW: 4.0 stars
Writing: 4.0 stars
As I have read all of Sally Hepworth's books, I get her writing and try to figure out the final twist and I am always WRONG!! A well-done mystery thriller again!
Character development: 4.0 stars
This book had three main characters that were set in the before/after timeframes. In the beginning, it took me about 20% of the book to get it all straight. But each main character was really well developed so we understand WHY they were who they were in the present.
The main characters are Jessica, Norah, and Alison. They are foster children being raised in rural Australia.
The secondary character is Miss Fairchild who is the foster mother of the girls. It was fascinating to observe the interaction between her and the foster girls. Sad, but true lifelike stories that many foster kids must go through.
The tertiary characters are the significant others, lawyers, police, and townspeople.
Storyline: 4.0 stars
It was a very good storyline and had me hooked. It was a very sad storyline; however, this is not fiction for many of the kids in foster care. Sally Hepworth got me again with the ending!!
The main locations were Melbourne and the fictional Port Agatha, Australia.
Memorable/Informative: 4.0 stars
This novel was very thought-provoking as foster care is horrible, period.
Book cover: 4.0 stars
It was okay.
Book title: 4.5 stars
Excellent title.
Gut feeling: 3.0 stars
I assumed that I would like this book as I have liked other books by Sally Hepworth.
Suggestions:
As I am not Australian, a glossary of Australian terms used in the book would have been helpful.
DEFINITE RECOMMEND
BOOK INFORMATION
NetGalley ARC (Advance Reader Copy)
Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth
368 pages
St. Martin's Press
Release date of 04/23/2024
INFORMATIONAL LINKS
Happy reading,
Dorothea 💜
Thursday, October 5, 2023
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