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Getting ready to start Cloud Cuckoo Land. Has anyone else read this? The author is Anthony Doerr, wrote All the Light We Cannot See which won the Pulitzer for Fiction in 2015.
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gershun - I read forewards too. and am impressed with the amount of research a good author does.

dseag - I watched the news (which I rarely do) when that rescue took place. I found it most interesting - scary for the people involved but interesting. I would like to see the film.

I love reading on Kindle as I can so easily search locations, or whatever, as they come up in the books I am currently reading. Seeing images of the cities or landscapes, even checking out the foods mentioned, enhance my reading experience.

I am reading the series "Dark Yorkshire Crime Thrillers" by JM Dalgliesh who also wrote the "Hidden Norfolk series" which I have already read. I am enjoying them. Kindle unlimited is saving me a lot of money.
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Bridger, I'd appreciate your insights as you progress through the book.   The WWII  events are obviously of interest and concern, and although I've read a few (one required for a lit class), they're also very upsetting.  I'm wondering if I should even try to get through something this emotional.

I'm not yet reading anything after finishing Sisters in Arms (WWII Black Womens' Corps) but am looking for my James Herriot books.    I read the All Creatures Great and Small 4 book series  a few times decades ago,  but later discovered 2 more books (Every Living Thing and If Only They Could Talk).  

In addition the turmoil in the US and actually throughout many parts of the world motivates me to read something positive, amusing, healthy, and well written, and totally apolitical.

Only problem is that I might be tempted to get a cat and/or dog for company, and I'm not really in a position to care for animals at this stage of life.
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Finished the Coulter book. It was pretty good. Started “The Warsaw Orphan. About life in Warsaw, Poland ghetto during WWII.
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dseag2, thank you for the info on the tv series. I’ll check it out.

I shortened the long url to: https://tinyurl.com/v9bm5ab5.
I copied and pasted the long url and went to tinyurl.com and pasted the url in the box and clicked on “make tinyurl”. The short one popped right up.
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Since I retired in June 2020 I've been reading self-help books on how to be happier and (yes) how to control anger. They have made me much calmer and, overall, a better person in the crazy world we live in.

I also schedule Friday movie days where I try to watch something fulfilling that takes me away from the everyday worries of having a mother close to the end of her life. I know this is about books, but I saw "The Rescue" last Friday, which is about the 15 Thai boys that were rescued from the caves several years ago. It was inspirational and enlightening and put things into perspective for me.
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Hallah, I believe this book has been made into the ABC TV series Big Sky so you may want to check it out after you finish the book. There is a Cassie Dewell in the series.

https://www.google.com/search?q=big+sky&sxsrf=AOaemvLZ_Qv-ywgkksU3drFf1hkhA2PppQ%3A1635560087364&source=hp&ei=l6p8YYq1Et-wqtsPw5CgwAU&iflsig=ALs-wAMAAAAAYXy4p5L-WFZVbTtLXcVdaTlsBxYvmMRM&gs_ssp=eJzj4tVP1zc0zDI2Kc9OSqo0YPRiT8pMVyjOrgQAV8kHWg&oq=Big+Sky&gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EAEYADILCC4QgAQQsQMQkwIyCAgAEIAEELEDMggIABCABBCxAzIICC4QgAQQsQMyBQgAEIAEMgsIABCABBCxAxCDATIICAAQgAQQsQMyCwguEIAEEMcBEK8BMg4ILhCABBCxAxDHARCvATIICAAQsQMQgwE6BAgjECc6BQgAEJECOg4ILhCABBCxAxDHARCjAjoICC4QsQMQgwE6EQguEIAEELEDEMcBEKMCEJMCOgsILhCxAxDHARCjAjoFCC4QgAQ6CAgAEIAEEMkDOgUIABCSAzoLCC4QgAQQsQMQgwE6DgguEIAEEMcBEKMCEMkDUL8bWIooYN40aABwAHgAgAFkiAGFBZIBAzYuMZgBAKABAQ&sclient=gws-wiz
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Now I’m reading “The Bitterroots” by C.J. Box.
Former sheriff’s investigator Cassie Dewell is trying to start her life over as in private practice. She’s her own boss and answers to no one, and that’s just the way she likes it after the past few tumultuous years. All that certainty changes when an old friend calls in a favor: she wants Cassie to help exonerate a man accused of assaulting a young woman from an influential family. 

So far an interesting read.
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Some time back I read one of Baldacci’s books and thought he must have co-authored with someone. It definitely was not one of his best. I searched for the name of the other writer but David was the only one. Don’t ask me the title; I don’t remember!

James Michener wrote a lot of books with historical information. Texas, Hawaii, Centennial are examples of his work. I was saddened by his passing.
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I hear ya Willie. You know I've always thought I'd like to be a writer but when I think of all the research that it would involve I get daunted by the task.

I always read the foreword of all books and when I see how many people the author thx for research they provided I wonder where I would ever find these people for myself if I wanted to write an accurate book. Plus I find the books that are the most enjoyable to me are the ones where they provide a lot of historical information about the area etc. So I could never justify writing a non accurate depiction of anything.
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Oh these were blatant to me Gershun, that's why they annoyed me so much! I'll accept a lot of that when it's peripheral to the story but not when creating the atmosphere and the back story is fundamental.
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Willie, good for you for spotting errors. I tend to just gloss over them when I'm reading unless they are blatant.
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I just finished Black Irish by Stephen Talty that could have been good but between the glaring inaccuracies (including going to gamble in the "Indian" casino in Niagara Falls ON in the late 70's/early 80's, and a character with Alzheimer's who managed to write a multi page confession) and the nonsensical ending it fell flat.
If an author is going to make the setting of their book a big part of the story line I expect them to at least try to be accurate, I learned a lot of history and geography from well researched fictional books over the years.
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GA, The Coulter book is good. Fairly fast paced.
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Bridger, thanks for sharing info on Coulter's new book.  I've never read any of her works, but this one sounds like a real page turner.   I think I'll get it.

Hallah, Baldicci's novel also sounds like a good candidate, especially for the rainy days we're getting now and the soon (or maybe not) winter storms.
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I saw James Patterson and Bill Clinton pushing this book on a talk show and just the interview bored me so I'm not surprised the book wasn't good.
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Started new Catherine Coulter book “Vortex”. Seems okay. The James Patterson/Bill Clinton book wasn’t very good. Patterson should stick to writing by himself-much better that way.
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If any of you are into crime/thriller drama novels, I highly recommend David Badacci’s “Total Control”, if you can find it. I just finished reading it today. As Gershun mentioned in her original post above, it’s a crime/thriller drama. It definitely held my interest. Possibly, IMO, one of Baldacci’s best.
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What wonderful question! 😊

I'm reading The Magic, by Rhonda Byrne.

I'm also reading The Honeymooner, by Melanie Summers
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Golden, “shoveling clay” describes
”The Moonstone” perfectly.
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Golden, I am just reading “The Woman in White” right now! I wanted something with dark undertones to go with the time of year! So far the menace is building and I’m enjoying it.
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I started the new James Paterson/Bill Clinton book “The Presiden’s Daughter”
Easy reading. I’ve got a couple of other entertaining books to read. My concentration isn’t good since my last surgeries. I think I had too much anesthesia too close together.
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bridger - Reading "The Moonstone" is like shoveling clay. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins is much better. I enjoyed it. Having finished The Song of the Lark, I will read Oh Pioneers soon.

Hallah - "Read-Alikes" sounds useful. I have not read any of Baldacci's.

Bellerose - Steinbeck!!! Haven't read him for years, I love the film of Zorba and never thought of reading the book. Worth checking out.

MJ - thanks for the info on "West With Giraffes". I found it on Kindle Unlimited and am over half way through and really enjoying it.
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Currently reading "West with Giraffes," by Lynda Rutledge. It's about a 17-year-old boy who helps drive a truck with two giraffes bound for the San Diego Zoo across the country in 1938. It's based on true events, and it's just delightful.
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Just finished Cannery Row. It’s about individuals living in a depressed fishing industry neighborhood, their money-making exploits, care for one another and daily life. Working on Zorba The Greek. It’s a classic narrative of a very memorable personality.
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This was passed on to me recently. I haven’t tried it out yet but wanted to mention it to others. hallah

If you read a book that you really enjoyed, and would like to read something similar, here is a site to use.
 
‘Read-Alikes’ at BookBrowse    https://www.bookbrowse.com/read-alikes/
 
Here you can find handpicked read-alike recommendations for more than 4000 contemporary books and 3000 authors. Use the alphabetical lists below to look up a favorite book or author and then click "See Read-Alikes" to discover similar books.
Or scroll down to search.
 
"all works of fiction and narrative nonfiction are broadly made up of four experiential elements: 
story, character, setting, and language."
 
A book with story as its biggest doorway is one that readers describe as a page-turner, a book that they can't put down because they desperately want to discover what happens next.
 
A book with character as its biggest doorway is a book in which readers feel so connected with the characters that when the book is over they feel they've lost someone dear to them.
 
Readers of novels in which setting is most prominent say things like "I felt like I was there."
 
A book in which language is the major doorway leads readers to utter sentences like "I read more slowly because I wanted to savor the language."
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Good, glad to hear it Hallah! 😊
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Gershun, yes, I am enjoying it. It’s one of his better ones. It keeps me guessing and wanting to keep reading to see what happens next.

I don’t always get newer books as I tend to get books from The Little Free Libraries near me. I may get one or more and after reading them, return them and see what else is interesting. With the LFL’s I don’t have to sign them out.
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Hallah it's been a bit since I read that one. Hope you are enjoying it.
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I’m about half way through “Total Control” by David Baldacci.
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