MARCH READS

[rapa]

As Ogden Nash said:
"Indoors or out, no one relaxes in March,
that month of wind and taxes,
the wind will presently disappear,
the taxes last us all the year."

Are you ready for March Madness, Daylight Savings Time, St. Patrick's Day and Easter? They're a'comin'!!!

I'm currently reading Dean Koontz's latest book, ASHLEY BELL. In the beginning we learn that Bibi Blair, a fierce, funny dauntless young woman is told by her doctor that she has one year to live. She replies, "We'll see."
Take it from there!

What's on your plate for March?

[Eaglewoman]

Just finished "Being Mortal" By Atul Gawande. It is book club selection for April- my 1st thought was this is going to be boring and who choose it. As it turned out it was very interesting- about how we warehouse the elderly today, how nursing homes and assisted living came about and a lot about hospice care.

[rapa]

Excellent book! I thoroughly enjoyed reading his thoughts! I find nothing about dealing with the end of life boring; mainly instructive and helpful.

[Mandy Muffin]

Having my life turned into being a full time care giver for my mate for the past nine months, I think I need to read this book.  I have been paraded through more hospitals, nursing homes and medical facilities that I can count and need to make some serious decisions in the very near future.  Thanks for the recommendation.  

[Mandy Muffin]

Great read that dispelled some conventional perceptions about end of life medicine.  He calls traditional nursing homes a prison and says its ok to want to be alone and not participate in group activities and/or want your privacy. As average life expectancy is moving into the 80s, being disabled or infirm for long periods of time is more and more common.  Just a century ago the average length of life was into the early 50s, now we are living 30 years longer. Are we just warehousing people until they die?  Etc.  Essential information for aging and dealing with complex choices for ourselves and our spouses.   

[rapa]

Mitch Albom's latest book THE MAGIC STRINGS OF FRANKIE PRESTO is currently at the top of my list of best reads! Magic story it is! Albom is a verstile writer and grabs you in unexpected ways. Highly recommend this read!

[Carci]

Just picked it up, rapa... thanx for the recommendation...

I finished the Union Street Bakery by Mary Ellen Taylor a couple of days ago and really enjoyed it: 

Daisy McCrae's life is in tatters. She's lost her job, broken up with her boyfriend, and has been reduced to living in the attic above her family's store, the Union Street Bakery, while learning the business. Unfortunately, the bakery is in serious hardship. Making things worse is the constant feeling of not being a "real" McCrae since she was adopted as a child and has a less-than-perfect relationship with her two sisters.

Then a long-standing elderly customer passes away, and for some reason bequeaths Daisy a journal dating back to the 1850s, written by a slave girl named Susie. As she reads, Daisy learns more about her family - and her own heritage - than she ever dreamed. Haunted by dreams of the young Susie, who beckons Daisy to "find her," she is compelled to look further into the past of the town and her family.

What she finds are the answers she has longed for her entire life, and a chance to begin again with the courage and desire she thought she lost for good.

[Carolyn Tewell]

EASTER GREETINGS...and so fun that former Jewish neighbor's always send over a Jacquie Lawson card to us...such fun people that I continue to email back and forth all things Political after 12 years since they moved to California. Gotta love the Internet!

RAPA...ASHELY BELL...well, I had to abandon after 3 discs. Action Man is still listening, I think?

MANDY...will check on A God in Ruins at Library
LORUACH...same thing for Playing With Fire. Not a fan of Tess Gerritsen...but I am desparate.

Our Library gets a Publication called BOOK BITES. They recommended The Outlander by Gil Adamson (not to be confused with Outlander series) it is supposed to flow like early Cormac McCarthy. I have an affection for survivalist endeavors (must be a control thing) so I'm slogging through it. Takes place in Canada back in like 1908 Or something? Full analysis when I finish.

Trying a Martha Grimes mystery and an older Sue Grafton...N is for NOOSE. 1998publish date.

See, I am desperate! Pulled the camper out of storage so have something to look forward to!~Carolyn

[rapa]

Carolyn, didn't care for ASHLEY BELL. May have skipped to last chapter.

Did finish Judy Blume's IN THE UNLIKELY EVENT. It's based on the 3 plane crashes in Elizabeth, NJ, in the early 1950's; all within a few monthsl Novel based on true events. Now reading Lisa Gardner's FIND ME.

Hubby just finished THE WRIGHT BROTHERS. Enjoyed it as he worked in aerospace.

I dearly loved Mitch Albom's THE MAGIC STRINGS OF FRANKIE PRESTO.BTW, I don't do audio so don't know how that would translate. Hope you find something that grabs you soon!!!!

[rapa]

Oops, the Lisa Gardner book is FIND HER! It deals with a former kidnapped victim who turns vigilante.

[Mandy Muffin]

I did the entire alphabet on Grafton a few years back.  I'm sitting on X right now, seeing what Y and Z will bring.  Grafton is in her mid-70s and will probably place her last two book in a nursing home, with "Z is for Zero Books I Have Left to Write" finishing off the series. It has been a fun romp through Kinsey Millhone's PI career as you meet her ex-husbands and quirky relatives and friends.   

[Mandy Muffin]

As the month ends, I look back on some excellent reads but my pick of the month is "Truman's Spy: A Cold War Thriller" by Noel Hynd. It has all the elements of intrigue with Sen. Joe McCarthy, J. Edgar Hoover and a compliment of American and Russian agency characters at the dirty game of spying and accusations. There is the classic struggle between the FBI and CIA, real and imagined planted Soviet agents, Truman and his enemies and bad actors in the Hollywood crowd that make the novel irresistible. Mix in a love story and enjoy.  

[Slopok]

Finished, Killing Reagan by Bill O'reilly. It gave me a new perspective of Reagan, as well as his wife, Nancy.

Starting The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto.