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As this is November 1st, I wanted to share this GREAT 2023 Gratitude Challenge!! Personally, I am going to use this as a prompt for my daily journaling.
Whatever you choose to do or choose not do with the 2023 Gratitude Challenge, I hope that your November is filled with much gratitude!
Happy reading,
Dorothea💜
Hi, everyone!
I hope you all have had a great September and have read lots of very good books!! I know that I definitely did!
BEST BOOK OF 2023
There are now ELEVEN books vying for MY Best
Book of 2023.
It will be so very interesting to determine which book I decide on as MY
Best Book of 2023! I have so many good choices and it gets harder the more books that I read. This may be a
photo finish!
My first audiobook made the 5.0-star qualifying - it was well written, beautifully narrated, and just lovely - Making It So by Patrick Stewart!
I hope that the quality of books in November continues to be
good for me! I have had at least one 5.0-star book every month since I
restarted this blog in May 2023 so that is quite the run!
GOODREADS READING GOAL:
My Goodreads reading goal keeps increasing in 2023! In May, it
increased from 50 to 60 books; in September, it increased from 60 to 80 books; and in
October, it increased from 80 to 100 books! This may be a bit of a stretch goal as I have never read this many books in one year, but I will do my best to meet it!
Currently, 81 books out of 100 books GOAL. 19 books to go by December 31,
2023.
STATISTICS:
10 total books
7 e-books; 3 audiobooks
3 books were an ARC (Advance Reader Copy)
7 books were library books
0 books were purchased e-book
0 books were an Amazon First Reads
0 books were a gifted physical book
Audio listening time in October: 28 hours, 2 minutes
Pages read in October: 2,045 pages
BOOK RATINGS with BOOK COVERS:
5.0-star books (3)
Finding Margaret Fuller by Allison Pataki REVIEW
The Leftover Woman by Jean Kwok REVIEW
Making It So by Patrick Stewart REVIEW
4.5-star books (1)
4.0-star books (4)
Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth REVIEW
The Woman In Me by Britney Spears REVIEW
The Connellys of County Down by Tracey Lange REVIEW
3.5-star book (1)
So Fetch by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong REVIEW
3.0-star books (1)
23½ Lies by James Patterson REVIEW
If you want to read my full review of any of these books, there are individual review posts for each e-book or audiobook below the picture of the book. You can just click on the specific book link to get to that book review!!
Happy reading,
Dorothea 💜
P.S. For more information about my book ratings, you can
find out more HERE.
OVERALL REVIEW: 4.0 stars
Writing: 4.0 stars
The writing for this memoir was fun! It was interview style which was different and was not really writing. But, I still really enjoyed it.
Narration: 4.0 stars
The narration was good. It was "curated" by Dolly's niece, Rebecca Seaver. She asked the questions and Dolly would answer in her own words.
Character Arc: 4.0 stars
The memoir covers the time from Dolly's birth (and before) to the current time. It covered a lot and it was fun to see Dolly's style evolve through time!
Memorable: 4.5 stars
Dolly is just a beautiful human. She "tries to be a better person every day" and it shows. I want to be LIKE Dolly!
Entertaining: 4.5 stars
It was highly entertaining! I wish that it had been longer as it was so much fun!
Book cover: 4.5 stars
So Dolly - perfection!
Book title: 4.0 stars
A very cute "punny" title!
Suggestions:
There were some interviews with Dolly's collaborators that were difficult to understand as the recording quality was poor or there was a lot of background noise. This could be improved to improve the experience.
DEFINITE RECOMMENDATION
STATISTICS
4 hours, 21 minutes
Listened to as an audiobook from the Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL)
Release date of 10/17/2023
INFORMATIONAL LINKS
Happy reading,
Dorothea 💜
So I am AGAIN increasing my goal and this time to 100. It is going to be a big stretch goal so we will see how I do!!
Interestingly, this is DOUBLE my original goal of 50!!
Happy reading,
Dorothea 💜
P.S. Here is my updated goal (and I am already two books behind):
FULL DISCLOSURE:
I only read the first 112 pages of this book. Unfortunately, the cover (as you can see above) indicates that it is part of the Women's Murder Club series. However, this ebook included a total of three novellas in three different series - Women's Murder Club, Texas Ranger, and Watch Your Back.
This seemed to be very misleading to the consumer which irritated me as the cover did NOT indicate this. So I only read the Women's Murder Club series novella because I do not want to get sucked into another James Patterson series.
OVERVIEW
This a novella in the Women's Murder Club series. I have read all of the novels in this very long series.
The story is about Lindsay Boxer, a sergeant/detective in the SFPD (San Francisco Police Department).
You have to read the previous novels in the Women's Murder Club series to get the full backstory and understand the characters.
OVERALL REVIEW: 3.0 stars
Writing: 3.0 stars
The writing is just blah to me now. It has been a very long series with at least 24 books. The writing feels very formulatic and it appears that James Patterson doesn't even write these books anymore. He has "assistant" writers such as Maxine Paetro on this particular serie.
Character development: 3.0 stars
There wasn't much learned about the characters except for some additional family members in Lindsay's family.
Storyline: 3.0 stars
I cannot say much as there are big spoilers in this book. But, it is apparent that the novella is purely to set up the series.
All of the main locations were in the San Francisco Bay area.
Memorable/Informative: 2.5 stars
This series is getting tired. I would like it to come to a conclusion so I know how all of the characters end up.
Book cover: 2.5 stars
Misleading.
Book title: 3.0 stars
Typical for this series.
LUKEWARM recommend
BOOK INFORMATION
LAPL (Los Angeles Public Library) Kindle ebook
23 1/2 Lies by James Patterson with Maxine Paetro
112 pages
St. Martin's Press
Release date of 09/12/2023
INFORMATIONAL LINKS
Happy reading,
Dorothea 💜
OVERALL REVIEW: 4.0 stars
Writing: 3.0 stars
The writing for this memoir is good, but it is not great. It didn't ring true to me that Britney actually wrote this book. The writing voice was not hers and obviously was the ghost writer's.
Narration: 5.0 stars
OMG! Michelle Williams is a narration superstar.
At times, I completely forgot that Britney was not narrating this audiobook! I see a Grammy in Michelle's future for this audiobook!
Character Arc: 3.5 stars
The memoir covers the time from Britney's birth (and before) to the current time. It covered a lot, but there were a lot of big gaps in time. This was a short audiobook so it could have been much more in-depth.
Memorable: 4.5 stars
It was a memorable memoir due to the issue of women's mental health that it raises. If someone as famous as Britney Spears can be under a conservatorship for THIRTEEN years against her will then something is wrong with our legal system. It is terrifying!
Entertaining: 4.0 stars
It was more informative and horrifying than entertaining. The trauma that Britney endured is so horrible and unnecessary.
Book cover: 4.0 stars
It is okay.
Book title: 4.5 stars
Very strong!
Suggestions:
I didn't know all of the individuals that Britney mentioned in different life settings, but it didn't really matter to the flow of the audiobook.
DEFINITE RECOMMENDATION
STATISTICS
5 hours, 31 minutes
Listened to as an audiobook from the Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL)
Release date of 10/24/2023
INFORMATIONAL LINKS
Happy reading,
Dorothea 💜
This is the first book I have read by Erica Bauermeister. I loved it!!
The basic story is about an author who writes a novel and nine specific lives impacted by the book. So creative and beautifully done.
The characters are fascinating when the impact of the book makes various changes or epiphanies in their lives.
This book was REALLY good! Now I need to go back and read Erica's previous works!!
OVERALL REVIEW: 4.5 stars
Writing: 4.5 stars
The writing took me a few pages to get into it as the writing seemed choppy and stilted to me (I have been listening to a lot of audiobooks lately so this could be why). But, after a few more pages, Erica hit her stride which she kept throughout the entire book.
Erica is beautifully descriptive without being fussy or over-wordy. She just really wrote a beautiful novel that hooked me big time!
Character development: 4.5 stars
The ten characters were just lovely. It wasn't a book with a real main character - there were TEN!! They all had their own dedicated chapter which was lovely. It was a unique way to set the book and the characters made it so interesting! They were varied as to age, gender, work, and life story. It was like reading ten mini-novellas that were linked together beautifully!
Storyline: 4.5 stars
The storyline didn't totally make sense to me until I read the table of contents and saw where this story was going.
This was such a different way to tell this story especially as it had to do with books, the life of a book, and how each person reads a book their own way!!
All of the main locations were in the United States.
Memorable/Informative: 4.5 stars
This novel makes a strong point about how no two people read the same book even when it IS the same book!
Book cover: 4.5 stars
Creative.
Book title: 5.0 stars
Perfect.
HIGHLY recommend
BOOK INFORMATION
LAPL (Los Angeles Public Library) Kindle ebook
No Two Persons by Erica Bauermeister
301 pages
St. Martin's Press
Release date of 05/02/2023
INFORMATIONAL LINKS
Happy reading,
Dorothea 💜
P.S. This book was recommended by one of my favorite authors, Camille Di Maio! Thank you, Camille!! Please read her amazing historical fiction!!
