rachie3879

Emma Drives a Mini Cooper

Emma: A Modern Retelling by Alexander McCall Smith

August 28, 2018 by Rachie3879 Leave a Comment

I think it was earlier this year I read a modern take on Pride & Prejudice and mentioned there were a slew of authors of different genres who’d taken on Austen’s work. Alexander McCall Smith, known to me as the writer behind The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, took a stab at Emma, my second favorite Austen book. I was a little worried about a man taking on Austen’s work; part of her appeal when I was younger was her subtle (and not so) jabs at the patriarchy. Nonetheless I dove in. If you’ve lived under a rock, never took […]

8/28/2018 Rachie3879's CBR10 Review No:27 |

Jackson Brodie, P.I.

Case Histories by Kate Atkinson

August 8, 2018 by Rachie3879 1 Comment

I love British crime novels, I love Jason Isaacs, and the one time I’ve read anything by her, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed Kate Atkinson’s work – so, when Case Histories was a deal of the day for Kindle not long ago, I jumped on it. Case Histories introduces the world to Jackson Brodie, a former soldier and police inspector turned private detective. I first came across this in either Masterpiece Mystery or some Netflix perusal, as it was made a series starring Jason Isaacs as Jackson Brodie. It was some of my first interaction with him after knowing him so well […]

8/8/2018 Rachie3879's CBR10 Review No:26 |

Teenage Angst in the Future

The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson

July 26, 2018 by Rachie3879 Leave a Comment

I love throwing short, easy-to-read books in my rotation, especially after the doozy that was Ann Rule’s Ted Bundy biography. My young adult book club had the solution – Mary E. Pearson’s The Adoration of Jenna Fox. Jenna Fox has awoken from a really long coma with no memory of who she is or the accident that caused it. Her parents are incredibly attentive and protective. Her grandmother is oddly distant. And Jenna is incredibly isolated and alone. She begins to wonder what happened to make her parents so afraid of the outside world – and what they might be […]

7/26/2018 Rachie3879's CBR10 Review No:25 |

Don’t Go Hitchhiking

The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule

July 26, 2018 by Rachie3879 Leave a Comment

In the last few months I’ve been binging episodes of the My Favorite Murder podcast (which is super great if you like true crime and enjoy gabbing with girlfriends about it). In one of the earliest episodes the hosts mentioned Ann Rule’s book about Ted Bundy, The Stranger Beside Me, and I was immediately intrigued. Ted Bundy is one of those serial killers I know a little about and can actually remember related news stories and his execution. But I was 10 at the time and so I figured reading a book written by someone who knew him probably better […]

7/26/2018 Rachie3879's CBR10 Review No:24 |

Not Any Great Things

Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult

June 20, 2018 by Rachie3879 Leave a Comment

I’ve never read anything by Jodi Picoult. Her stuff always seemed a little cheesy to me. But, one of my book clubs is reading Small Great Things this month so I gave it a go. I was right. I hate read this in its entirety and you’ll enjoy my rambling, disconnected diatribe on why it sucked. Small Great Things is the story of Ruth Jefferson, a 40-something African-American nurse in New Haven, CT; she is a 20-year veteran of the L&D ward and quite good at her job. One day, she goes to treat newborn baby Davis Bauer and gets […]

6/20/2018 Rachie3879's CBR10 Review No:23 |

Nothing to do with turtles, really

Turtles All the Way Down by John Green

June 20, 2018 by Rachie3879 1 Comment

I don’t profess to be the picture of mental health, but overall I’d say I don’t have a lot of experience with depression, anxiety, or any other mental disorders. Maybe it’s my WASPy suppressive tendencies? In our YA book club, the woman who suggested John Green’s Turtles All the Way Down described it as “the best depiction of anxiety” she’d ever seen, so I was intrigued. Turtles tells the story of Aza, a young woman dealing (poorly, but trying) with serious anxiety and OCD. Aza’s best friend Daisy convinces her to help discover the location of a missing local billionaire […]

6/20/2018 Rachie3879's CBR10 Review No:22 |

Random Pennyroyal Green Selection

It Happened One Midnight by Julie Anne Long

June 20, 2018 by Rachie3879 1 Comment

I’ve read another book since having finished Julie Anne Long’s It Happened One Midnight, so I have forgotten some of the particulars, but I enjoyed another entry of the Pennyroyal Green series that seems so endless. This particular book, the eighth, is the story of Jonathan Redmond (third son of an aristocrat of unremembered rank) and Thomasina de Bellesteros, a popular, mysterious and attractive women who entertains in an eccentric Countess’ salon every week. Jonathan Redmond is a rake, or so his character description and narrative implies, though we have little evidence in the actual story. He mentions having been […]

6/20/2018 Rachie3879's CBR10 Review No:21 |

Pirates, Forbidden Love and a Quest

The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee

May 23, 2018 by Rachie3879 Leave a Comment

Mackenzi Lee’s The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue is ripe for film or TV adaptation and is something I totally would have loved reading as a teenager. However, I am older than Lee’s target audience and still enjoyed the ride, but with some prudish gasps and doubts interspersed here and there. Guide is the story of young Henry Montague, the oldest son of an earl, bound for the traditional continental tour young men would take prior to settling down, with his best friend Percy (with whom he is totally and secretly in love) and his sister Felicity (with whom […]

5/23/2018 Rachie3879's CBR10 Review No:20 |

Malin on Book Exchange Sign-up 2019 – Let’s Gift Books!I have been eagerly awaiting this post. Cannonball Book Exchange is SO much fun! Thank you, Katie and Rochelle for taking the time to organise...
narfna on Book Exchange Sign-up 2019 – Let’s Gift Books!Best.
BlackRaven on Book Exchange Sign-up 2019 – Let’s Gift Books!I flew threw the volume you gave me!!!! I am being VERY good and not buying Saga: Compendium One (the first nine volumes) and concentrating...
Mswas on The Country of MoneySame here! I think I gasped aloud when I saw it had been reviewed, and Ale - you make it seem so enticing (as if...
KimMiE" on Quick Questions with a Cannonballer: MarkAbaddonI can relate to the idea of reading and other activities to escape political stress. The cute doggie probably helps, also.

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