Book Nook Cafe discussion

Another great year to read!

New Year of Reading!

Books From the 1990s

1. 1990- The Solitaire Mystery by Jostein Gaarder 3/5 stars 1/22/2025
2. 1991- See Jane Run by Joy Fielding 4/5 stars 4/14/2025
3. 1992- The Patron Saint of Liars by Ann Patchett 4/5 stars 5/4/2025
4. 1993- Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes by Chris Crutcher 3/5 stars 5/16/2025
5. 1994-Bridie and Finn by Harry Cauley 3/5 stars 6/4/2025
6. 1995- Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts 4/5 stars 6/24/2025
7. 1996-Evening Class by Maeve Binchy 3/5 stars 7/11/2025
8. 1997-Night Train by Martin Amis 4/5 stars 7/21/2025
9. 1998- A Widow for One Year by John Irving 3/5 stars 8/5/2025
10. 1999- Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem 3/5 stars 8/31/2025

Non-Fiction Books
11.The Great Pretender: The Undercover Mission That Changed Our Understanding of Madness by Susannah Cahalan 3/5 stars 1/5/2025
12. Spitfires: The American Women Who Flew in the Face of Danger During World War II by Becky Aikman 5/5 stars 8/2/2025
13. Sick Houses: Haunted Homes and the Architecture of Dread by Leila Taylor 3/5 stars 8/6/2025
14. Wiseguys and the White House: Gangsters, Presidents, and the Deals They Made by Eric Dezenhall 4/5 stars 8/11/2025
15.Ghost Ship: The Mysterious True Story of the Mary Celeste and Her Missing Crew by Brian Hicks 4/5 stars 8/18/2025
16. The Story of ABBA: Melancholy Undercover by Jan Gradvall 4/5 stars 8/26/2025
17. Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection by John Green 4/5 stars 9/3/2025
18.
19.
20.

Mysteries
21. Going Rogue: Rise and Shine Twenty-Nine by Janet Evanovich 4/5 stars 1/20/2025
22.Murder in G Major by Alexia Gordon 4/5 stars 3/7/2025
23. Deception by Jonathan Kellerman 3/29/2025
24. Murder on Black Swan Lane by Andrea Penrose 4/4/2025
25. Gun Games by Faye Kellerman 4/5 stars 4/18/2020

Books On Film and Entertainment
26. The Moose That Roared: The Story of Jay Ward, Bill Scott, a Flying Squirrel, and a Talking Moose by Keith Scott 3/5 stars 1/29/2025
27.Daughter of Daring: The Trick-Riding, Train-Leaping, Road-Racing Life of Helen Gibson, Hollywood’s First Stuntwoman by Mallory O'Meara 5/5 stars 3/25/2025
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.

Science Fiction
36. Water Moon by Samantha Sotto Yambao 3/5 stars 5/9/2025
37. The Unworthy by Agustina Bazterrica 3/5 stars 6/14/2025

Biographies/Memoirs
38.I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy by 4/5 stars 2/21/2025
39. Find a Way by Diana Nyad 4/5 stars 4/9/2025
40.How Did I Get Here?: A Memoir by
Bruce McCall 3/5 stars 4/25/2025
41. Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith by Deborah Heiligman 4/5 stars 5/22/2025
42. Every Day Is a Gift: A Memoir by Tammy Duckworth 5/5 stars 5/23/2025
43. Damn Glad to Meet You: My Seven Decades in the Hollywood Trenches by Tim Matheson 4/5 stars 5/28/2025
44. Queen of All Mayhem: The Blood-Soaked Life and Mysterious Death of Belle Starr, the Most Dangerous Woman in the West by Dane Huckelbridge 4/5 stars 7/16/2025
45. My Next Breath by Jeremy Renner 5/5 stars 9/5/2025
46..
47.

Horror Novels
48. The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by
Stephen King 4/5 stars 8/13/2025
49. Fairy Tale by Stephen King 3/5 stars 8/22/2025
50.

A Banned Book
51.

Sports
52.
53.

Fiction
54. Sweet Tooth by Ian McEwan 3/5 stars 2/28/2025
55. The Children Act by Ian McEwan 4/5 stars 1/13/2024
56. The Country Girls by Edna O'Brien 4/5 stars 1/31/2025
57. The Lonely Girl by Edna O'Brien 4/5 stars 2/6/2025
58. Girls in Their Married Bliss by Edna O'Brien 2/7/2025
59. Epilogue by Edna O'Brien 4/5 stars 2/9/2025
60. Sand in My Bra and Other Misadventures: Funny Women Write from the Road by Jennifer L. Leo 4/5 stars 3/14/2025
61.The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman 3/5 stars 3/19/2025
62. Strange Bedpersons by Jennifer Crusie 3/5 stars 6/4/2025
63. Twist by Colum McCann 3/5 stars 7/5/2025

Books Off My Reading List
64. When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi 3/5 stars 6/21/2025
65. Elphie: A Wicked Childhood by Gregory Maguire 4/5 stars 7/25/202
66. Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison 4/5 stars
67. Deep Cuts by Holly Brickley 4/5 stars 7/30/2025
68.
69.
70.


50/70

Love how you do this, Julie! Thanks for sharing it all with us!

The Great Pretender: The Undercover Mission That Changed Our Understanding of Madness
Susannah Cahalan
4/5 stars
This is an older book but it still holds up. It is the true-life story of a doctor that convinces 8 healthy people in the 1970's to enter into a mental hospital and eventually had to prove their sanity to get out of the hospital. Was the study legitimate or did it really happen? Very interesting! Non-Fiction

I think I read about that study in another book.

The Goodread reviews are mixed, it seems. Overall, most felt she needed an editor. Surprised?

Thanks for the title, Julie. I liked reading the variety of opinions in other reviews, as well as your own comments.

Julie wrote: "
[book:The Great Pretender: The Undercover Mission That Changed Our Understanding of Madnes..."

the study was legitimate for the time because there were few ethics rules....what Rosenhan wanted to study was labels, and how getting a label can affect the way people, even medical professionals, can view a person. What the study showed was that once the doctors labelled the "patients" as, say, schizophrenic, they "found" evidence from their case histories to "prove" they were correct, even though the subjects told the truth about everything EXCEPT the initial symptoms. We spend a half day or so studying the case when we start the mental health unit in AP psych to discuss the impact of labelling and also sociocultural biases in diagnosing.

Thanks for that additional information, Denise. Your point about the results sounds solid. Labeling impacts lives.

Thanks, Denise. I think that phenomenon probably plays out in other ways too. In the doctor example, they pigeonholed the patient into a diagnosis even when objectively it was wrong. That's kind of scary.

A parent labels a child, for example, joey is bad in math, acts out or is shy. That usually then plays a big part in a persons opinion of themselves.

Going Rogue: Rise and Shine Twenty-Nine
Janet Evanovich
4/5 stars
This is the 29th book in the series and in this book, Connie, the office manager of Vinnie's Bail Bonds gets kidnapped. Of course, Stephanie is on the job along with all the other characters in the series. I enjoyed it. Mysteries

Wow! I can't believe there are 29 books in the series.

Alias Reader wrote: "Wow! I can't believe there are 29 books in the series."

I think there is 30 books in the series and Evanovich has other series that she is writing.

Amazing. I did read the first few in the series. However, they became too similar to me. Still, I can see how they are a nice change of pace to mix up ones reading with a light funny read.

Alias Reader wrote: "Amazing. I did read the first few in the series. However, they became too similar to me. Still, I can see how they are a nice change of pace to mix up ones reading with a light funny read."

I like the characters and the books are a light read!

Good work, Julie.

Light read, is true, as far as this series goes. Like Alias, i read many of them initially. I gave them up, as i do any series where the female MC is "torn between two lovers". I'm not there for that part of the mysteries & they detract, for me. Clearly, i am in the minority on this point, as her output continues to be read & relished. I know she gave me many belly laughs, though!

Lately my lighter mysteries have been about a bakery in Ashland, Oregon, site of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, a regional repertory theatre. The series is written by Ellie Alexander. I am, however, getting tired of it and her "perfect" life. Yawn.

The Solitaire Mystery
Jostein Gaarder
3/5 stars
A father and his son take off on a European trip to find his mother and wife who had left them years ago. Each chapter is one card of a deck of cards. Interesting book. 1990

The Children Act
Ian McEwan
4/5 stars
Wonderful book about Fiona Maye, a judge who has to decide a case of whether or not a young man who is sick should decide his fate of living or dying. Books Off My Reading List

You are off to a great start, Julie. Another 2 prompts done.

Julie wrote: "
The Solitaire Mystery
Jostein Gaarder
3/5 stars
A father and his son take off on a European trip to find his mother and wife wh..."

I read this a few years ago & liked it. I haven't followed up on any others, though. It was clever, using a deck of cards as he did.

Julie wrote: "
The Children Act
Ian McEwan
4/5 stars
Wonderful book about Fiona Maye, a judge who has to decide a case of whether or not a young..."

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this one. I have enjoyed many of McEwan's books in the past. His first The Cement Garden was iffy for me but his writing was spot-on.

Congratulations on completing two new prompts, Julie.

The Country Girls
Edna O'Brien
I enjoyed the first book in the series. Kate and Baba are two young Irish country girls who have spent their childhood together and are now looking forward to living the rest of their lives. Books On My Reading List.

Well done on another prompt, Julie !

I love that you often come up with titles and authors that I am not familiar with.

Julie wrote: "
The Country Girls
Edna O'Brien
I enjoyed the first book in the series. Kate and Baba are two young Irish country girls who have spen..."

Terrific, Julie. My mother liked that book, too. She was a fan of O'Brien's but i just didn't click with her, despite trying.

The Lonely Girl
Edna O'Brien
4/5 stars
Caithleen and Baba, first encountered in The Country Girls are now living in Dublin, where they discuss men, drink gin, and try to look fast. Cait, in the pursuit of true love, becomes involved with the fanatically domineering Eugene Gaillard. Painful disillusion and occasional moments of bliss in her life make this a bittersweet tale, and it is told with all the perception and wit that is the hallmark of Edna O'Brien. I am really enjoying this series Synopsis From Good Reads/ Books on My Reading List

Well done on another prompt, Julie. Glad to see it was a good read.

How neat that you continued with the O'Brien series, Julie. I'm pleased to see that you continue to enjoy the series, too.

Girls in Their Married Bliss
Edna O'Brien
4/ 5 stars
I think this was my favorite of the series which included the epilogue. "Kate and Baba are in London, playing out the tragicomedy of their married lives to its surprisingly level-headed conclusion. Kate, feeling trapped in her grey stone house with her increasingly cold husband, tearfully looks for her dreams of romance elsewhere. And when Eugene takes terrible, implacable revenge, she naturally turns to her brazen friend Baba for help. But Baba, the bored trophy wife of builder Frank, vulgarly flashing his wealth and ignorance to the world, has her own problems without Kate drooping self-pityingly over her. And both women find unsuspected qualities in themselves as they learn to face reality." Synopsis from Audible Books On My Reading List

Well done on another prompt, Julie.

Great epilogue! Thanks for taking us with you on this series, Julie.

I’m Glad My Mom Died
Jennette McCurdy
4/5 stars
Jeanette McCurdy was a child/teen actor in iCarly and other series. She talks about her career and life with her overbearing mother. Interesting read but sad because of her life with her mom. Biographies/Memoirs

Julie wrote: "
I’m Glad My Mom Died
Jennette McCurdy
4/5 stars
Jeanette McCurdy was a child/teen actor in iCarly and other series. She t..."

I also gave this debut memoir 4/5 stars. The author is quite candid about her dysfunctional and traumatic upbringing.

Good selection for the prompt, Julie. The book doesn't call to me but i've seen it mentioned several places, in addition to this board.

Sweet Tooth
Ian McEwan
3/5 stars
Serena Frome gets involved in the intelligence community during the Cold War. She then meets with the writer Tony Haley but can she trust Haley. Fiction

Well done on another prompt, Julie !

Somehow i missed this McEwan. He's been a mixed bag for me, but mostly i like reading his stuff, regardless. Thanks for the title.

And kudos on your continued work for your Challenge.

Murder in G Major
Alexia Gordon
4/5 stars
Gethsemane Brown, who is African American has no choice but to accept a job at an Irish all-boys' school. A ghost appears in her home and she learns that he has supposedly killed himself and his wife. The ghost begs her to help him clear his name. This is a series that I found on Goodreads and I plan to read more of her books. Mystery

Intriguing premise. Thanks for the introduction to the series & author, Julie.

Sand in My Bra and Other Misadventures: Funny Women Write from the Road
Jennifer L. Leo
This is an anthology of women's true stories. Writers include Ellen DeGeneres and Annie Lamott. I enjoyed it and I believe there is a couple other books in the same genre. Books Off My Reading List

Cool! Thanks for sharing about this one, Julie.

That sounds like a fun read. Thanks for the title.

The Invisible Library
Genevieve Cogman
3/5 stars
Interesting book about an Invisible Library! Irene is a spy and along with her assistant Kai, they try to find a book that is very dangerous. Irene and Kai are not the only ones looking for this book but it has been stolen. Secret societies abound to try to get the book. Interesting. Fiction

Well done on another prompt, Julie.

I see there are 8 books in this series.

Sounds neat! Thanks for sharing, Julie.

Daughter of Daring: The Trick-Riding, Train-Leaping, Road-Racing Life of Helen Gibson, Hollywood’s First Stuntwoman
Mallory O'Meara
5/5 stars
What a wonderful book about Helen Gibson, the first stunt performer/actress in Hollywood. This was a great story and a fast read. Books On Film and Entertainment

What a coincidence, Julie. Reading your comments on Gibson, i looked on the wall of our hotel room, seeing a photo of a woman standing atop a horse. Nope, not Gibson. Mine is Tillie Baldwin, “Lady bronc, riding champion and trick and fancy writing champion Pendleton round up 1912. National cowgirl Hall of fame to thousand rodeo Hall of Fame 2004.”

Lovely! Ride ‘em, Cowgirl!!

Great selection. Thank you for sharing about this one.

Deception
Jonathan Kellerman
4/5 stars
Alex Delaware is on the case of the death of Elise Freeman who was beaten and battered to death. Milo Sturgis is to figure out who killed Elise among the staff and students of Windsor Prep. Mystery

Way to go, Julie. You are clearing out your list with impressive reading. Continued success.

Julie wrote: "
Deception
Jonathan Kellerman
4/5 stars
Alex Delaware is on the case of the death of Elise Freeman who was beaten and battered to death. M..."

I used to read the Alex Delaware series all the time. I would purchase the hardcover as soon as it came out. I really liked his writing. I should put one on my TBR.

Well done on the prompt. I'm glad to see you gave it a good rating.

Murder on Black Swan Lane
Andrea Penrose
3/5 stars
The Earl of Wrexford, is a scientist who has been accused of murder. Along comes the widow Charlotte Sloane who takes over her dead husband's persona to help solve the murder of Josiah Holworthy and tries to clear the Earl. Mystery