The It’s Monday! What Are You Reading meme is hosted at BookDate
I’m also linking to The Sunday Post @ Caffeinated Reviewer
And the Sunday Salon @ ReaderBuzz
Life…
I hope you are all enjoying a wonderful holiday week, spending time with family and/or friends. We celebrated Christmas Day with lunch at my parents. Here they are with my four children. (Today, BTW is my youngest son’s 14th birthday – he is the one without the facial hair)
In keeping with tradition there was not a single book under the tree for me, however my oldest daughter surprised me with a planner which has my Book’d Out logo used as the cover, which was such a thoughtful gift!
Sign Ups for the 2020 Nonfiction Reader Challenge are live! I hope you will consider joining. You can sign up and choose from 3 levels *Nonfiction Nipper : Read 3 books, from any category *Nonfiction Nibbler : Read 6 books, from any category *Nonfiction Know-It-All : Read 12 books, one for each category
Wishing you a joyous 2020!
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What I’ve Read Since I last Posted…
Comfort and Joy by Kristin Hannah
Twas the Nightshift Before Christmas by Adam Kay
Bitter Wash Road by Garry Disher
Peace by Garry Disher
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New Posts…
Join the 2020 Nonfiction Reader Challenge
Wishing you a Happy Holidays & a Joyful New Year
Review: Twas the Nightshift Before Christmas by Adam Kay
Review: Aurora Rising by Amie Kauffman & Jay Kristoff
Review: Peace by Garry Disher
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What I’m Reading This Week…
Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
What happens when you do the right thing for the wrong reason?
Alix Chamberlain is a woman who gets what she wants and has made a living showing other women how to do the same. A mother to two small girls, she started out as a blogger and has quickly built herself into a confidence-driven brand. So she is shocked when her babysitter, Emira Tucker, is confronted while watching the Chamberlains’ toddler one night. Seeing a young black woman out late with a white child, a security guard at their local high-end supermarket accuses Emira of kidnapping two-year-old Briar. A small crowd gathers, a bystander films everything, and Emira is furious and humiliated. Alix resolves to make it right.
But Emira herself is aimless, broke, and wary of Alix’s desire to help. At twenty-five, she is about to lose her health insurance and has no idea what to do with her life. When the video of Emira unearths someone from Alix’s past, both women find themselves on a crash course that will upend everything they think they know about themselves, and each other.
With empathy and piercing social commentary, Such a Fun Age explores the stickiness of transactional relationships, what it means to make someone “family,” the complicated reality of being a grown up, and the consequences of doing the right thing for the wrong reason.
xxxxxx
Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Everyone knows Daisy Jones & The Six: The band’s album Aurora came to define the rock ‘n’ roll era of the late seventies, and an entire generation of girls wanted to grow up to be Daisy. But no one knows the reason behind the group’s split on the night of their final concert at Chicago Stadium on July 12, 1979 . . . until now.
Daisy is a girl coming of age in L.A. in the late sixties, sneaking into clubs on the Sunset Strip, sleeping with rock stars, and dreaming of singing at the Whisky a Go Go. The sex and drugs are thrilling, but it’s the rock ‘n’ roll she loves most. By the time she’s twenty, her voice is getting noticed, and she has the kind of heedless beauty that makes people do crazy things.
Also getting noticed is The Six, a band led by the brooding Billy Dunne. On the eve of their first tour, his girlfriend Camila finds out she’s pregnant, and with the pressure of impending fatherhood and fame, Billy goes a little wild on the road.
Daisy and Billy cross paths when a producer realizes that the key to supercharged success is to put the two together. What happens next will become the stuff of legend.
The making of that legend is chronicled in this riveting and unforgettable novel, written as an oral history of one of the biggest bands of the seventies. Taylor Jenkins Reid is a talented writer who takes her work to a new level with Daisy Jones & The Six, brilliantly capturing a place and time in an utterly distinctive voice.
Xxxxxx
The Mothers by Genevieve Gannon
What if you gave birth to someone else’s child? A gripping family drama inspired by a real-life case of an IVF laboratory mix-up.
Two couples. One baby. An unimaginable choice.
Grace and Dan Arden are in their forties and have been on the IVF treadmill since the day they got married. Six attempts have yielded no results and with each failure a little piece of their hope dies.
Indian-Australian Priya Laghari and her husband Nick Archer are being treated at the same fertility clinic and while the younger couple doesn’t face the same time pressure as the Ardens, the Archers have their own problems. Priya suspects Nick is cheating and when she discovers a dating app on his phone her worst fears are confirmed.?
Priya leaves Nick and goes through an IVF cycle with donor sperm. On the day of her appointment, Grace and Dan also go in for their final, last-chance embryo transfer. Two weeks later the women both get their results: Grace is pregnant. Priya is not.?
A year later, angry and heart-broken, Priya learns her embryo was implanted in another woman’s uterus and must make a choice: live a childless life knowing her son is being raised by strangers or seek custody of a baby that has been nurtured and loved by another couple.
xxxxxx
‘He strolled down Valley Road, only briefly, past the hairdresser and a small cafe. A warm wind stirred, carrying with it the faint smell of pies and horses, and the man paused for just a moment before he sat down. Benny Miller would have driven right past him in her station wagon on that bright and brimming day.’
On the first day of summer in 1993, two strangers arrive in the town of Cedar Valley.
One is a calm looking man in a brown suit. He makes his way down the main street and walks directly to Cedar Valley Curios & Oldwares, sitting down on the footpath, where he leans silently against the big glass window for hours.
The other is 21-year-old Benny Miller. Fresh out of university, Benny has come to Cedar Valley in search of information about her mother, Vivian, who has recently died. Vivian’s mysterious old friend, Odette Fisher, has offered Benny her modest pale green cottage for as long as she wants it.
Is there any connection between the man on the pavement and Benny’s quest to learn more about her mother? Holly Throsby is the perfect guide as Cedar Valley and its inhabitants slowly reveal their secrets.
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Thanks for stopping by!
What a beautiful gift from your daughter! You will enjoy using that next year.
Love the photo of your family. Happy birthday to your youngest.
I keep hearing about Daisy Jones, but I say to myself that it’s not my sort of read.
Here’s to a happy new year!
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I’m reading Daisy as it’s the starting book for the #6 degrees meme in January 🙂
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The planner is such a stunning and personal gift!
Daisy Jones is on my 2020 tbr, I hope you are enjoying it!
Have a great week and a happy New Year!
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You have a lovely family. That planner is amazing. What a perfect gift! Beautiful. Have a great week and Happy New Year!
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Your daughter had just the best gift for you!!! And you can be proud of your family!
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I love the personalized planner! What a clever and thoughtful gift!
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I love the planner, what a great idea and so thoughtful of your daughter. Happy belated birthday to your son.
Happy New Year, Shelleyrae, and I hope you enjoy the rest of your week.
Here’s my Sunday Post
Flora x
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Happy birthday to your son.
I love that planner with your logo, and I’m curious about The Mothers.
Enjoy your week. I am eager to start reading my nonfiction books.
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What a great gift from your daughter. The planner is both useful and thoughtful!
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That planner is totally cool and what a thoughtful gift. Happy New Year!
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That planner looks so awesome! That’s just so sweet of your daughter.
Happy New Year!
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Happy birthday to your son! That planner is awesome!
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I love the planner and that was thoughtful. Happy New Year!
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Gold star to your daughter for the custom planner. That is so cool.
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Great gift!
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That planner is such a great gift! Btw, how come no one gives you books for Christmas since you read so many each week? Just curious.
Such a Fun Age and The Mothers sound really good to me. Adding to wishlist.
I’ve joined your challenge, too.
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Generally because my family feel I already have too many books (as if that was actually a thing)., In all my years I have only gotten one book as a gift, it was from my grandparents and I asked for Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret by Judy Blume (I was 11) and instead they gave me Mister God, This is Anna – which had nothing in common with the book I wanted. Only once have I been given a gift certificate for a bookstore too, by the same grandparents. *Sigh*
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What a lovely gift from your daughter—so thoughtful!!! Happy birthday to your son!
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Hope you have a happy New Year! And happy birthday to your son! 🙂
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I hope you had a nice holiday and Happy Birthday to your youngest. I hope you’re enjoying Daisy Jones and the Six. I really enjoyed that book.
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Oh what a thoughtful and gorgeous cover for the planner. Well done to your daughter. I have resisted Daisy Jones and the Six but I know so many have enjoyed it.
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Such a great gift!!! It is so beautiful.
I have heard great things about daisy jones and the six. Hopefully you will enjoy it too.
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Happy Birthday to your son. My weekly update
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Merry Christmas! I’m glad you and your family had a good day. Love the planner! And happy birthday to your son.
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That planner is such an awesome gift!! 🙂 It sounds like you had a lovely holiday – and happy birthday to your son! 🙂 I think I will sign up for the Nonfiction challenge, since I am trying to read more nonfiction these days. 🙂 Probably as a nipper though. Lol.
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Wow on the planner. How lovely is that?! Happy new year to you and happy birthday to your son.
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Everyone is reading Daisy Jones. I guess I need to find the time to read it. This is the first year in a while that there were no books under the tree. My niece usually gets one or two, but she’s at that age where she’s transitioning between YA and adult so she’s finding it difficult to discover what she likes. Plus her favorite authors have recently completed their series and haven’t put anything new out. See what I’ve been reading at Girl Who Reads
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Lovely family photo, and your gift from your daughter is amazing! How sweet. Looking forward to your thoughts on The Mothers — sounds like such a nightmare situation. Happy New Year!
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What a lovely gift from your daughter. Love how the planner looks with your logo on it. And happy belated birthday to your son. Happy reading and have a wonderful New Year´s Eve and Happy New Year!
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What a great planner! I didn’t get any books under the tree either. Come see my week here. Happy reading and happy new year!
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That’s such a great gift from your daughter! I got a couple books under the tree but I wrapped them and marked them from my husband. lol. I don’t think he’d have any idea what kinds of books to buy! Have a wonderful new year!
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Mine either..he doesn’t read at all
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Love the planner. What a special gift.
I recently finished Such a Fun age, too. It definitely leaves you with a lot to think about.
Have a very happy New Year!
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What a wonderful pic of your family at Christmas – they are a good looking bunch! And that is a lovely gift by your daughter. Wishing you a very Happy New Year, Shelleyrae:))
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Happy birthday to your youngest! I love the planner. That’s a very thoughtful gift. I hope you’re having a great week!
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I’m glad you got at least one bookish gift! It looks like you have a lovely family and a nice holiday.
I have Daisy Jones & the Six from the library; here’s hoping I get to it.
Happy New Year and Happy reading!
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LOVED Daisy Jones!
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Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year! And wow, that’s really sweet of your daughter. I love that planner! Personally, I love bookish gifts as they are the only ones I usually accept – not a big fan of presents – and yours is so pretty! I have Kristen Hannah’s Nightingale and Kristoff’s Aurora Rising on my TBR. Have you read the former?
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I haven’t read Nightingale though it’s been on my list awhile
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Wow, that planner is stunning! What an amazingly personal and touching gift, perfect. That’s exactly what Xmas is all about 🙂
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True 🙂
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Love the planner! And thanks for sharing your wonderful photo. Here’s to a great new year!
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