Sombody's Daughter

We read this for our Books And Brunch group. This year we selected all of the books for the year back before summer free read. None of us could remember who suggested this book and why we thought it was a good idea. All we could think of is that it won a lot of acclaim and awards. None of us could figure out why. It was disjointed and I think the main theme was how this girl’s life would have been better (?) if her father had not been sent to prison, but it also talked a lot about how rotten her relationship with her mother was and how she was raped as a young girl. Her father was in prison for rape and they never addressed that. The book also spent a lot of time talking about what a great writer this author is and I just wasn’t impressed with the writing. Again, disjointed. I will say, it was interesting coming off of Invisible Man that she spent a great deal of her time in grade school trying to be invisible, fly under the radar. 3 out of 5 stars - and we decided as B & B that we don’t need to read our vegetables. This was the February selection for Books and Brunch. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54860610-somebody-s-daughter

Invisible Man

I read this book back in 1996 for my first book club, the club I joined on Meet Up in Chicago. Wow, what a different time that was when you would find a social group on line, (in CHICAGO) be welcomed into their home and made new friends with nothing in common except a love of books and reading. I’m probably lucky I wasn’t murdered. Invisible Man - it was really good to revisit it. I remembered some of the story and the general impression of the book. At the time I read it in 1996, it was shocking how relevant it still was, being published in 1952. Now, more than 25 years later, if possible, it’s even MORE relevant. And that is truly disappointing from a societal point of view. However, the book is an amazing piece of literature and extremely effective in that you really want to know his name and you feel the reluctant trust of the land-lady and the reluctant distrust of the “organization”. We selected this book for our Business Resource Group book club and shortly after it was announced, DEIB let us know that we needed to issue a content warning and put one together for us. Again, one would hope that 70 years after it’s original publication the subject matter would have lost some of the power but it hasn’t and that is extremely sad. 5 out of 5 stars The 2022 Q1 (and Black History Month) selection for the All BRG book club https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16981.Invisible_Man

The People in the Woods

I really enjoyed this book up until the end. It was a good story and a good mystery. There was a lot of urgency to it and escalating suspense. The characters were interesting and realistic and I thought the relationship between husband and wife, interesting and believable. The book lost me in the last chapters. SPOILERS I don’t believe that he would so callously murder the main villian and get away with it to such a degree AND, surely the most disappointing part was that the entire focus of the book shifted to make the relationship between “town and gown” the most important part of the book. Though that was certainly central - it didn’t seem like that should be the moral of the story AND I really don’t think that he would abandon the topic for a new paper/new research in favor of being a liaison. Again, the book really had me and then just as quickly REALLY lost me. 3 out of 5 stars. This was the February selection for the Operations Book Club (and we all had a similar opinion of it) https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44334409-the-people-in-the-woods

The Scorpion's Tail

The Second book in a new Preston and Child series spinning off from the Pendergast books that I have been reading for… wow, almost 25 years! I enjoy these characters and like seeing them working together. I do think this book got a little convoluted at times, but the history was fun and it was a good story. I really like Nora Kelly and would rather spend time with her than Bill Smithback’s wayward brother who seems to be making more and more appearances in the main series. 4 out of 5 stars https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52933779-the-scorpion-s-tail

The Final Girl Support Group

As with every Grady Hendrix book that I have read, I always come in with preconceived notions that are immediately shattered. This book was not the exception. I did enjoy the book and I am sure that I enjoyed it more for a recent addiction to “The Last Drive In” with Joe Bob Briggs. We watched many of the referenced movies last fall and over the Christmas holidays, including the movie where a character is impaled on antlers. It was a fun conceit that the movie characters went on to live broken lives and that they actually had a ‘club’. I did sympathize with Lynette, but, like the other members of the support group, I had a hard time believing her - she seemed to go straight to “I’m positive THIS is the killer”, I understand that this was intentional, and it worked. I often thought she was a bit too reactionary. My favorite aspect of her character was her attachment to Fine (Final Plant) and the attributes she attached to him (Likes America's Funniest Home Videos) and when he stops speaking to her. Too funny. This is a good addition to the collection and I’m sure I will continue to read and recommend this author. It’s nice to know that a good title can still hook you into a whole new world of books. 4 out of 5 stars https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55829194-the-final-girl-support-group

The Constant Rabbit

This was an AMAZING book. I have always appreciated Jasper Fforde’s ability to build a thorough and, though fantastic, believable universe. The fact that he had footnotes to studies and papers that do not exist but support the plot - amazing. There was also SO much to unpack, I was glad this was a book-club book so that I will be able to talk about it. The way it dealt with issues of race without actually naming the reality of race relations - there was no question in my mind what area of society was referenced, but it was never said out-loud. I loved the characters, the relationships, the awakening of Pip and the culture sharing between the neighbors. I highly recommend this book and this author, he is so creative and many of his books are laugh out loud funny along with subtle lessons. 5 out of 5 stars January selection for our Books and Brunch book club https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53263304-the-constant-rabbit

The Moonlight Child

I really enjoyed this book. I believe I found it on a 'trending' list on Goodreads and it happened to be available from the library when I was looking. The author draws believable characters for the most part, I was most impressed with how visceral of a response I had to the mother. She was just awful! I can’t believe that the husband didn’t take action earlier. But I did like all of the other characters and enjoyed spending time with them, especially the relationship between Sharon and Niki. It is an interesting concept in this world where we don’t necessarily know our neighbors any more and outlines some of the complications with doing that! The end was exciting and I was happy with where it landed, though I would have liked to hear a final word from the Mother, was she redeemed? Did she continue to live with her delusions. 4 out of 5 stars https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54733883-the-moonlight-child