Jennifer’s Comments (group member since Dec 03, 2021)

Jennifer’s comments from the On The Same Page group.

Hi, everyone!

Please nominate a genre for October 2025 in this thread, if you would like to. The only rule for genre nominations is that you cannot nominate a genre that we've already read this calendar year. Below is a list of the genres that have already been chosen this calendar year, which are therefore ineligible.

List of Ineligible Genres

Historical Fiction
Romantic Comedy
Police Procedural Mystery
Short Stories
Cozy Mystery
Banned Books
Domestic Suspense
Summer Reads
Mystery
Young Adult
Literary Fiction

Not planning to be a huge stickler on the "genre vs subgenre" thing. If it's a recognized book category (i.e. you can reasonably expect the average Goodreads reader to know what it is), post it.

Nominations open until 9/14, poll to follow.

A Murder of Magpies
Judith Flanders

A whip-smart, impeccably crafted debut mystery, A Murder of Magpies takes readers on a whirlwind tour of London and Paris with an unforgettably original new heroine

It's just another day at the office for London book editor Samantha "Sam" Clair. Checking jacket copy for howlers, wondering how to break it to her star novelist that her latest effort is utterly unpublishable, lunch scheduled with gossipy author Kit Lowell, whose new book will dish the juicy dirt on a recent fashion industry scandal. Little does she know the trouble Kit's book will cause-before it even goes to print. When police Inspector Field turns up at the venerable offices of Timmins & Ross, asking questions about a package addressed to Sam, she knows something is wrong. Now Sam's nine-to-five life is turned upside down as she finds herself propelled into a criminal investigation. Someone doesn't want Kit's manuscript published and unless Sam can put the pieces together in time, they'll do anything to stop it.

With this deliciously funny debut novel, acclaimed author Judith Flanders introduces readers to an enormously enjoyable, too-clever-for-her-own-good new amateur sleuth, as well Sam's Goth assistant, her effortlessly glamorous mother, and the handsome Inspector Field. A tremendously entertaining read, this page-turning novel from a bright new crime fiction talent is impossible to put down.

The focus genre poll for September 2025 yielded a tie -- the winning genres are Young Adult and Literary Fiction. Looking forward to reading with you!

Excellent choices -- thank you, Joy!

Jelena, I'm picking for you. I liked it, and Picoult has a way of making you think differently about highly charged situations that's very appealing.

Time to pick! Pairs are here.

The colors for the September color challenge are green and coffee. Looking forward to seeing your picks!

In for five, please!
PIFM

Hi, everyone!

For anyone unfamiliar, this is a monthly challenge where you post a link to a shelf you created. It can be named "PIFM" or "Pick It For Me" etc, if you want one dedicated only to this challenge, or you can use an existing shelf you already have, as long as it has 100 or fewer books on it. The link must be to the specific shelf, or you will not be partnered.. Indicate how many books you would like to have picked for you from that shelf for the month in question. There is no lower limit as to how many books you can have on your shelf, but, of course, they should be books you are interested in reading during the next month and have ready access to.

On or about the 19th of each month, I will post the next month's challenge.

On or about the 25th of each month, I will post who picks for whom. In order to accommodate an uneven number of participants, pairs will not be reciprocal -- in other words, it won't be Joanne picking for Jennifer and Jennifer picking for Joanne. It may be Joanne picks for Jennifer, Jennifer picks for Herman, and Herman picks for Suzanne, and someone else entirely picks for Joanne.

If anyone has not been "picked for" by the 30th, I will pick for them if the designated picker can't be contacted by PM.

When you are assigned someone to pick for, note the number of books that person wishes to have picked, go to the link for their shelf, and pick that number of books for them. Post the books in a new message here. That person has the entire following month to read his/her picks. Someone will be picking for you the same way. We all like to see what people think about their picks, so we hope you will keep us posted in this thread!

Example: "In for five, please!
PIFM"

The HTML template for linking your shelf can be found HERE and if you have trouble, PM me and I will help you.

Your designated shelf must be set so that others can see it. To set up a PIFM shelf for those who would like to, go to the "MY BOOKS" link in the GOODREADS toolbar, scroll down below your shelves on the left until you see the "add shelf" button, and click that. Name it PIFM or Pick It For Me. Add books to it, and post the link to it in this challenge as described above. Again, if you need help, please don't hesitate to PM me!

If you are in, post your shelf and the number of picks you'd like to have below. See you on picking day!

September pairs:
Joy picks 5 for Jennifer
Lance picks 2 for Madeline
Jackie picks 5 for Joy
Denise picks 4 for Lance
Jelena picks 1 for Jackie
Lindsey picks 1 for Denise
Jennifer picks 1 for Jelena
Madeline picks 1 for Lindsey

I've read some good nonfiction lately so I'll nominate a few:

Clementine: The Life of Mrs. Winston Churchill

Debs At War: How Wartime Changed their Lives, 1939-1945

The Brilliant Abyss

Do No Harm: Stories of Life, Death and Brain Surgery

It's time to nominate non-fiction books for our third quarter 2025 NF group read. The nominations thread will be open through the 31st.

On September 1st or thereabouts, I'll put up a poll. The winner will be announced on September 16th, which should give everyone who is interested some time to get the book if they wish to read it starting on October 1st.

Looking forward to seeing your ideas!

True Crime

Joy D wrote: "Finished book 1 of 5 for August - a great book for the time it was published (1944):

Pastoral by Nevil Shute - 4* - My Review"

I remember really liking this too, and it's not the book he's really famous for so it's a sleeper.

Hi, everyone! Good grief, September already?

Please nominate a genre for September 2025 in this thread, if you would like to. The only rule for genre nominations is that you cannot nominate a genre that we've already read this calendar year. Below is a list of the genres that have already been chosen this calendar year, which are therefore ineligible.

List of Ineligible Genres

Historical Fiction
Romantic Comedy
Police Procedural Mystery
Short Stories
Cozy Mystery
Banned Books
Domestic Suspense
Summer Reads
Mystery

Not planning to be a huge stickler on the "genre vs subgenre" thing. If it's a recognized book category (i.e. you can reasonably expect the average Goodreads reader to know what it is), post it.

Nominations open until 8/14, poll to follow.

Jelena, I'll go ahead and pick for you because Jackie is out of pocket at the moment.

I really enjoyed and and they are certainly a good variety, so those are your picks. Enjoy!

August's focus genre poll winner is Mystery. This should be a lively one! Looking forward to seeing your picks!

Razorblade Tears
S.A. Cosby

Goodreads Choice AwardNominee for Readers' Favorite Mystery & Thriller (2021)
A Black father. A white father. Two murdered sons. A quest for vengeance.

Ike Randolph has been out of jail for fifteen years, with not so much as a speeding ticket in all that time. But a Black man with cops at the door knows to be afraid.

The last thing he expects to hear is that his son Isiah has been murdered, along with Isiah’s white husband, Derek. Ike had never fully accepted his son but is devastated by his loss.

Derek’s father Buddy Lee was almost as ashamed of Derek for being gay as Derek was ashamed his father was a criminal. Buddy Lee still has contacts in the underworld, though, and he wants to know who killed his boy.

Ike and Buddy Lee, two ex-cons with little else in common other than a criminal past and a love for their dead sons, band together in their desperate desire for revenge. In their quest to do better for their sons in death than they did in life, hardened men Ike and Buddy Lee will confront their own prejudices about their sons and each other, as they rain down vengeance upon those who hurt their boys.

My picks:

I love these picks, Lindsey! Thank you!

Joy D wrote: "Five for me, please:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list..."

Joy! Always a pleasure to pick for.