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Little Thoughts about Book Club Reads - April-June

So besides the library book club meetings, I also was able to make it to a Meetup group book club since I hosted it! 

Title: Orphan Train
Author: Christina Baker Kline
Rating: 5 of 5 stars

Review: I loved this book, even though I felt it used too many stereotypes and the ending felt rushed.  The connection between Viv and Molly was great and the idea of portaging and Viv's pack rat attic was a nice device to weave the stories together.  I also liked how with each change in her live Viv had a new name, reminded me of The Girl with Seven Names.

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Author: Alexander McCall Smith
Rating: 3 of 5 stars

Review: This was a bit too slow moving for me, even though it was a good reflection of the culture. I did like how the stories were about the people and not so much about the cases she was solving. I enjoyed the description of working in a mine, around the time we read this book, I had just finished The Power of One which also talks about working in a mine but from the white man's pov. 

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Author: Dianne Freeman
Rating: 4 of 5 stars


Review: This was my selection for the Meetup group book club.  I'm not normally a fan of cozy mysteries but this was really well done.  The characters didn't really go out of their way to solve the case, they made the 'investigation' part of their daily lives. I didn't figure out the one crime, so that is always a plus for me when reading a mystery.  I'm looking forward to book 2. 

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Author: Helene Wecker
Rating: 2 of 5 stars


Review: This book was just too long and too slow for me, the last 1/3 of the book was the best and what saved this book from being a 1 star.  I kept reading because the writing was good and the character development and world building was beautifully done. 

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