Tricia Nelson

One of the reasons I enjoy book clubs is that I read books I might not otherwise have picked up. This is one of those books. The author does a wonderful job of explaining what happened to the Basque people in Spain and France right before and at the start of WWII, but he uses characters and settings to do so. The reader is quickly invested in the characters and their story. If I am every lucky enough to visit Spain and the town of Guernica, it will hold more meaning for me.

I finally was able to pick up this book, and I'm sorry I didn't sooner. If you are looking for a twisty mystery that keeps you guessing until near the end, this is for you. I flew through this book in just a few days, as it was easy to pick up and get back into the story. This is written well enough that you are rooting for the main character, while all the while wondering who is good, who is bad, is all this in her head? The author does a satisfying job of keeping you guessing (I only guessed a few things) and then wrapping it all up with answers. Trigger warnings for emotional abuse, divorce, and npd.

I am officially a Katherine Center fan. :) I've read two of her most recent books and then found out that they were making a movie from this backlist title of hers! I went online to the library and was able to borrow the ebook to read before watching the movie, which is being released to video streaming during this time of Covid-19. I liked this story a lot. There were some predictable parts, but there was enough left unknown that it kept my attention. The story deals with grief in different forms - relationships, family, death, loss, lifestyle, parenting - and does it in a way that makes the reader think about things without taking you out of the story. The author nails it about losing someone in that it is unbelievably hard and horrible, but that over time you realize that the loss just becomes part of your story, and doesn't compete with what happens to you after the loss. It makes you stronger in a way. Great book, looking forward to streaming the movie!

I got hooked on this trilogy last fall, and was so excited for the final installment that I preordered it to be delivered to my kindle on release day. :) It did not disappoint. The characters all found their paths in a way that made sense to me, without being overly cheesy or implausible. The story of St. John and the community there made me reminisce about a small community I used to live in outside of Boston, and the challenges but also the benefits of such. The author also ties up the series with the devastation that the island endured from a hurricane, but also with hope from a community that is ever resilient. This trilogy is a quick read, and I highly recommend it. You will enjoy it more and get more from it by reading all three of the books in order. It provided a respite from all things political and Covid for a few days. It was also interesting to note that the author quarantined in St. John this spring during the Covid shut-downs.

I've been searching for a few feel-good books lately (it's been quite the year, hmmm?) and this fits that niche perfectly! Cricket is a woman starting over after her husband leaves her. She runs a fledgling senior-care business in her little town and is doing her best to make it successful. The story is full of great characters, a romantic interest, and the author gives you a great sense of community, quirky characters to love and root for, and hope. We could all use a little hope, I think! This book drew me right in, kept my interest, and made me laugh. I'm so happy that it is the first in a series about this little town. Highly recommend!

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This book has been on my radar since it was published last year, and I'm so glad it was! The story is about new beginnings at any age, the value of friendship, and the ways family can grow apart and then come back together as different people. There is plenty to laugh at, including 79-year-old spunky Eileen who is figuring out smartphones, London tubes, and online dating with a little help from friends. I listened to this book on audio, and it was great - the narrators did a great job! There were different voices for different characters, but it didn't distract from the story - it added to it. This was a fun fun read.

Thank you #netgalley and @macmillanaudio for an advance listening copy of #theswitch in exchange for an honest review.

This was just the right story at just the right time. I needed something light, funny, and with lots of hope, and The Felicity Theory delivered. This book had me laughing and rooting for the characters as they navigated their own past challenges and figured out what future made sense. Felicity and Oliver are the type of people that we would all love to have in our lives, for different reasons. Felicity brings hope, joy, and the ability to not take herself so so seriously. I loved her perspective on life - her theory of living so to speak. Oliver is dependable, maybe a tad too serious, but a good person through and through. This book is definitely an open door romance, so if that is something that you seek out or avoid, it is good to know. Great great story, quick read, and highly enjoyable!
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This book is the Community Read choice for my local library this spring, and it was very interesting. It tells the story of what happened to the Brooklyn neighborhood of Charlotte, NC in the 1960s from a few different viewpoints. The primariliy black neighborhood was torn down and the residents displaced by the city as the city expanded. The story follows a single mother, a local pastor and a wife of one of the city planners through the period of time where all the changes were happening. I learned a lot about what happened, and have a better understanding of the city I call home right now.

Quick and easy summer read that had a few plot twists to add to the interest for the book. I didn't find the characters likable, but they were interesting for sure.

I was so happy to read the story about the pink-haired friend of Felicity from The Felicity Theory! Evie is a sculptress and takes on a gig to create some pieces for an installation at a rock star's country home. This is a fun open-door romance about two people who have been hurt by fame in different ways. They find out that although they drive each other crazy, they understand each other more than many others do. The banter between Evie and Byron is half the fun, and it has the reader rooting for them as individuals as well as a couple. I gratefully received this as an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This is a comprehensive how-to kit for anyone getting started with NetGalley or looking to improve their NetGalley experience. The document covers so much helpful information:
... How to request books and maximize your chance of approval
... Best practices for book reviews, and platform specific review suggestions
... Content planning and strategies, hashtags and writing for accessibility
I wish I had had this document to refer to when I started using NetGalley - it is well written, easy to understand, and extremely helpful.

I picked this up expecting a lighthearted feel-good story and got so much more. What a great ride - I was quickly invested in the characters in all their flawed realness, laughed often at the situations they found themselves in, and didn't want to put it down. The extended ‘family' in the story that come together around a baby that needs them is the perfect example of a family that is both by blood and by choice. Loved this book- you will smile- you will laugh - you will relate!

I read this with some friends as a summer read, and I'm so so glad I did. It's a substantial read that took a minute to get into, but once I did, I loved it. If you are interested in reading a story about ordinary lives and interesting characters, this is for you. I read Zadie Smith's essay about the book “Middlemarch and Everybody” from her book Changing My Mind, and it's absolutely correct. Middlemarch is about everybody, about small town life, about love and career choices and moral choices. There is something here for everyone to relate to and think about.
Note to readers - if you have trouble reading it, try listening to it while reading it at the same time. It made all the difference to me. The Juliet Stevenson version of the audio book is fantastic.

As a book club organizer, the BEST thing that you can find is a set of resources provided by the author for the book you are discussing. This book club kit for By the Book is a wonderful example of the best kind of book club kit. It includes an author interview, with insight into the inspiration for the book and the author in general. The discussion questions provided are specific to the book and generate a great discussion about the story and how each of us in book club reacted to it. There is also a guide and interview about the cover design of the book, which is something my book club doesn't always talk about, so that was a new idea for us to discuss. There were fun items in the kit like quizes, bookmarks, and writing prompts. For the host for the evening, there are suggestions about snacks and drinks, which is always so fun to tie to the book you are discussing. Overall, this book club kit made our book club discussion richer and more fun than we would have had otherwise.

I saw an interview with this author when this book was first published and it has been on my TBR list ever since. I found it compelling how a family activity of walking the Richmond Slave Trail led her to the stories that inspired Yellow Wife. The author is a wondeful storyteller, and I devoured this book in a few days. It is difficult to learn about the history of the slave trade in the United States, but cannot compare to the suffering endured by so many. While this story is fictional, it is well researched and based on real places and real people.

I expected this book to be a light read about friendships. It delivered on that, but more. The author's style of writing, skipping from one perspective to the next and letting the reader figure out for themselves things that in other books are spelled out was refreshing and fun to read. In some ways it encouraged me to engage in the story more because every word was important.

The three women the book centers around were wildly different in personality and their friendship over time stood firm and felt real. The other characters in the book felt more like bit players. They were important, but the underlying three women were the major players.

My only criticism, and it's not even a criticism but more an observation is that when the book ended, I felt like it was abrupt, but once I thought about it, I don't know how the author would do differently without changing the writing style of the book. We are given a glimpse into three lives over a period of time and when we draw back, the glimpse is done, but those lives would continue.

The name of the book is curious, as it doesn't seem to fit the book. It refers back to a tiny scene. Having said that it is entirely possible I completely missed the meaning of the duck in that scene.

I received an autographed copy of this book from a good friend who knows the author, and I'm so so happy I read it! The premise is that a woman returns home from a trip early and discovers that her house is on fire, and her husband is caught on scene with another woman. Her husband is a politician, causing the fire and a photo of the situation becoming big news overnight. The woman is also shown in the photo with a period stain on her pants, and overnight also becomes famous for sparking a movement that people should no longer be ashamed of their menses. I enjoyed the story and the journey the woman goes on over the course of the month after the fire. The book encourages the reader to think a little deeper about the effect that social media, news media, and cancel culture have on all of us and our families. It's a unique story and one I enjoyed reading. There is a lot to think about and spark conversation with the story, and this would be a great book club book.

I read this for book club this past month, and loved it. We read a variety of books for our book club, and everyone agreed that the writing in this book was exceptional. Stegner is skilled at seamlessly telling a story between places and times without giving the reader whiplash, at describing location in a way that allows the reader to ‘visit' and understand, and in developing characaters that are real and relatable and complex. I became invested in the characters and the story, and this will be a book I keep to re-read in the future.

We read this for book club and it was great! There is so much to discuss, from Christie's legacy of mystery writing to the well-crafted storyline, to the discussion of the motives and morality of the characters. I can see why Agatha Christie is so well regarded and considered such a great writer.

It was a hard book for me to get into, but once I did I really enjoyed it!

I'm so glad I read this book. We read it for book club and discussed it tonight, and almost everyone felt the same. One member suggested that it should be required reading in middle or high school. The conflict in Palestine/Israel is a topic that I know too little about, and this story of a Palestinian doctor who grew up in Gaza and raised his children there for a long time gives the reader enormous insight into what some of the more modern history of the area is. It is embarrassing that I was so unaware of the realities of Palestinians, and I'm very grateful for that history lesson in reading the book. I'm also grateful to read about the amazing outlook of this man who has every reason to hate, but instead chooses to love and look for peace and finding a way to live side by side. Great book. Great story. Great book club discussion.

I was disappointed with the ending and really ended up disliking all of the characters.

This book was a great read, and made for a great book club discussion. There was so much in it that I wanted to underline and remember, and I wasn't alone in that.

This book has been on my bookshelf for at least three years. I picked it up for the kids at the middle school book fair but the premise and initial hook always intrigued me. I was looking for a quick read while waiting for my book club book to come last week and thought, why not? I was glad I picked it up. I really enjoyed it!

Really enjoyed this book, told from the perspective of four very different women who meet at an all-girls college.