Little Thoughts About Books and Stuff

Book Beginnings on Friday from  Rose City Reader   The Friday 56 with  Freda's Voice . This week I'm reading:  Mindhunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit  by John E. Douglas, Mark Olshaker It Begins:   Prologue I Must Be in Hell I must be in hell.  It was the only logical explanation. I was tied down and naked. The pain was unbearable.  On Page 56: We were indoctrinated to be on the lookout for Soviet agents, who would try to compromise us and get out secrets. These agents could be anywhere. We were told particularly to beware of women! The brainwashing was so effective I turned down a date with an extremely good-looking woman who worked in the building who had actually asked me out to dinner. I was afraid it was a setup and I was being tested.  Verdict: I'm not that far into the book yet, just getting to the parts where he joins the Behavioral Science Unit, but it's really interesti...

Book Beginnings on Friday from  Rose City Reader   The Friday 56 with  Freda's Voice . This week I'm reading: Beartown  by Fredrik Backman It Begins:   1 Late one evening toward the end of March, a teenager picked up a double-barreled shotgun, walked into the forest, put the gun to someone else's forehead, and pulled the trigger. This is the story of how we got there. On Page 56: When Peter got his contract with the NHL and was about to move to Canada, his dad told him in no uncertain terms not to think he was "anything special." Verdict: This is a book club selection, I'm only a few chapters in doing an audiobook. So far I like it, and the description of the town and the importance of hockey reminds me the movie Mystery, Alaska.

Book Beginnings on Friday from  Rose City Reader   The Friday 56 with  Freda's Voice . This week I'm reading: The Library at the Edge of the World   by Felicity Hayes-McCoy It Begins:   The turquoise sky reflected the color of the ocean. There was a stone slab for a doorstep and beyond it a scrubby field sloped to the cliff's edge, where a stone wall marked the boundary. Beyond that was nothing more than a grassy ledge clustered with sea pinks and a sheer drop to the churning waves below. The little house stood at the top of a narrow field with its back to the road and its door opening to the ocean. On Page 56: There was a pause. Despite what she had just said about them getting on each other's nerves, Hanna had always seen herself as the sensitive one and her mother as too thick-skinned to be hurt. Now Mary looked at her shrewdly. "I'm not a fool, girl, even if I reared one, and I can do without my own daughter looking down on me d...

Book Beginnings on Friday from  Rose City Reader   The Friday 56 with  Freda's Voice . This week I'm reading:  Wicked Girls  by Stephanie Hemphill It Begins:   Salem January 1692 Silent, not even the twitter of insects. The wind stills against a distant sky of clouds. On Page 56: A sole stalk that survived the cruelest winter, I search for friendly, familiar terrain, where I can fashion my boots and trade in the temporary, ... Verdict: I wasn't sure about this Bookclub selection.  The host hadn't read it, just tried to pick something that would fit with Halloween. Then it was coming in at nearly 500 pages. So I was relieved when I realized it was written in verse.  I've been breezing through the book, though it's taken me a bit longer to read than usual.  I blame it on the fact that I'm reading it in the hoopla app and the app keeps crashing on me so I get frustrated and give up. 

Book Beginnings on Friday from  Rose City Reader   The Friday 56 with  Freda's Voice . This week I'm reading: Snow Flower and the Secret Fan   by Lisa See It Begins:   Sitting Quietly I am what they call in our village "one who has not yet died" -- a widow, eighty years old.  On Page 56: As women, we are told never to discuss our bound feet, that it is improper and unladylike, and that such conversation only inflames the passions of men. But we were girls and still in the process of our footbinding. These things were not memories, like they are for me now, but pain and suffering we were living at the time.  Verdict: I'm barely a quarter of a way into the book and there are so many emotions while I read.  I'm disturbed by the descriptions of footbinding, but moved by the friendship starting between Lily and Snow Flower. I'm heart broken for the women but also happy for their strength because of their positions...

Book Beginnings on Friday from  Rose City Reader   The Friday 56 with  Freda's Voice . This week I'm reading: Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI   by David Grann It Begins:   In April, millions of tiny flowers spread over the blackjack hills and vast prairies in the Osage territory of Oklahoma. There are Johnny-jump-ups and the spring beauties and little bluets. The Osage writer John Joseph Mathews observed that the galaxy of petals makes it look as if the "gods had left confetti." On Page 56: Money was the one means at Mollie's disposal that might induce the indifferent white authorities to pursue a killer of Indians.  Verdict: I'm almost done this book and I'm loving it!  As a true crime fan, I've been drawn into the case, one I've never heard of, as well as the formation of the FBI. 

Book Beginnings on Friday from  Rose City Reader   The Friday 56 with  Freda's Voice . This week I'm reading:  Window on the Bay  by Debbie Macomber It Begins:   Prologue Jenna Where It All Began "We need to talk," Maureen said, as we walked across the quad at the University of Washington's main campus. The cherry trees were in full bloom, and the fragrance filled the air. On Page 56: No need to pause - my reason were multiple. "First off, he's a surgeon." "That doesn't make him a serial murderer," Maureen pointed out.  Verdict: So far I'm really enjoying this book.  My mom and a friend have both finished it and said it's like a Hallmark movie, but sometimes that's just what you need to read. 

Book Beginnings on Friday from  Rose City Reader   The Friday 56 with  Freda's Voice . This week I'm reading:  Wanderers  by Chuck Wendig It Begins:   PRELUDE THE COMET The woman who discovered the comet, Yumiko Sakamoto, age twenty-eight, was an amateur astronomer in Okayama Prefecture, in the town of Kurashiki.  On Page 56: Shana reached down, massaged her calves through her jeans. Walking all night had left her exhausted. She asked Zig: "You bring me breakfast?" Verdict: As I said on Monday, the novel is a bit slow-moving but it's engrossing.  There are a number of storylines and I'm intrigued into how they are going to intertwine. Each time they get woven together it's another OMG or AHA moment that just adds to the story. I'm really enjoying it and I already know it's going to be my next 5 star book of 2019. 

Book Beginnings on Friday from  Rose City Reader   The Friday 56 with  Freda's Voice . This week I'm reading: Awkward:  The Science of Why We're Socially Awkward  and Why That's Awesome   by Ty Tashiro, PhD It Begins:   Preface I can feel everyone staring. The sharply dressed guests, all sipping their cocktails a safe distance from the pool, are surely wondering what I plan to do about the frail six-year-old struggling to stay afloat in front of me. I'm wondering the same thing.  On Page 56: They found that awkward participants performed just as well as non-awkward participants on the emotion recognition task, but imaging results showed that during these tasks, awkward participants had reduced activity in areas typically recruited for emotion recognition and they showed hyperactivity in regions usually associated with nonsocial problem solving.  Verdict: A friend gave me this book earlier this year for...

Book Beginnings on Friday from  Rose City Reader   The Friday 56 with  Freda's Voice . This week I'm reading: Matthew (Jaded Gentlemen, #2)   by Grace Burrowes It Begins:   In Matthew Belmont's world, a damsel in distress took precedence over an early morning inspection of the pear orchard, particularly when the damsel weighed close to a ton and had a foal at her side.  On Page 56: Jamie clamped the cold pipe between his teeth. "Our Mr. Belmont is a gentleman, and they had the child with them. Won't be any mischief with a child underfoot." Beck reached the end of the aisle and leaned on his rake. "How many brothers and sister do you have, Jamie?" "Thirteen, that I know of. Some of the publican's boys looked an awful lot like my younger brothers, when they had hair." "And you were raised in a three-room cottage. Children underfoot are no guarantee of propriety, thought I agree, Matthew Belmont is ...

Book Beginnings on Friday from  Rose City Reader   The Friday 56 with  Freda's Voice . This week I'm reading: A Lady's Guide to Etiquette and Murder   by Dianne Freeman It Begins:   Chapter 1 April 1899 Black - no. Black - no. Black crepe?  Oh, heavens no! On Page 56: "Regardless of any insurance issues," I said, topping off my coffee, "I think they should alert the police to the fact that there's been another theft. They need to put an end to this." Verdict: This book is my pick for a May book club since May is mystery month.  I'm not normally a fan of cozy mysteries but this on looked fun and I thought it would be a light read for the group.  We've been reading some heavy titles lately. 

Book Beginnings on Friday from  Rose City Reader   The Friday 56 with  Freda's Voice . This week I'm reading: The Truths We Hold   by Kamala Harris It Begins:   Preface Most mornings, my husband, Doug, wakes up before me and reads the news in bed. If I hear him making noises - a sigh, a groan, a gasp - I know what kind of day it's going to be.  On Page 56: At the heart of the program was my belief in the power of redemption. Redemption is an age-old concept rooted in many religions. It is a concept that presupposes that we will all make mistakes, and for some, that mistake will rise to the level of being a crime. Yes, there must be consequences and accountability. But after that debt to society has been paid, is it not the sign of a civil society that we allow people to earn their way back? Verdict: I'm about half way through the book and so far I'm liking it, it's an insight into Kamala's life and how that plays a par...

Book Beginnings on Friday from  Rose City Reader   The Friday 56 with  Freda's Voice . This week I'm reading: Inside the Empire: The True Power Behind the New York Yankees   by Bob Klapisch and Paul Solotaroff It Begins:   LOCKED AND LOADED: WELCOME TO THE BRONX POWER STATION The General Manager Meetings each fall are baseball's version of a buddies' fishing junket to Belize.  On Page 56: But now they were back, riding the star-child wave of Jeter, Pettitte, and Mo. That year they won the EAstern Division, beat the Orioles for the pennant (with a little divine intervention from a teenage fan name Jeffrey Maier), and stunned the lordly Braves in the World Series. It was bedlam the next morning in the Canyon of Heroes: seemingly half the city's census turned up on the Lower Broadway to throw kisses and confetti at the Yanks. even the Mets bent a knee in praise, buying an ad in the Daily News to congratulate the team and Geo...

Book Beginnings on Friday from  Rose City Reader   The Friday 56 with  Freda's Voice . This week I'm reading:  Orphan Train  by Christina Baker Kline It Begins:   Prologue I believe in ghosts.  On Page 56: The Milwaukee Train, 1929 Turning, I catch Dutchy looking at me.  "You're hair is pretty." I squint at him in the gloom to see if he's teasing, and he looks back at me sleepily. "That's not what you said a few days ago." "I said you'll have a hard time." (this is really page 57 in my edition because page 56 is blank) Verdict: This is our April book club selection.  I'm about half way through and I'm really enjoying the stories. 

Book Beginnings on Friday from  Rose City Reader   The Friday 56 with  Freda's Voice . This week I'm reading: When Katie Met Cassidy   by Camille Perri It Begins:   Katie left the stale pile of her pajamas behind her like a cow pie on the bathroom floor and put herself into the shower.  On Page 56: "Hi," Raquel extended her hand to Katie, "I'm Raquel." "Hello," Katie said. "Nice to meet you." "You ladies here for dinner?" she asked. "Yeah," Cassidy said. "I was thinking--" Raquel cut her off. "I've got you. I know what you like Cassidy." Raquel shot a malevolent glance at Katie and then raised her eyebrows at Cassidy.  Verdict: I haven't started this one yet, but it's up next when I finally  finish Master and Commander.   

Book Beginnings on Friday from  Rose City Reader   The Friday 56 with  Freda's Voice . This week I'm reading: Master and Commander  by Patrick O'Brian It Begins:   The music-room in the Governor's House at Port Mahon, a tall, handsome, pillard octagon, was filled with the triumphant first movement of Locatelli's C major quartet.  On Page 56: There were three things that everybody knew about the Sophie : one was that unlike almost all other brigs she had a quarter-deck; another was that sh had been Spanish; and a third was that she possessed an elm-tree pump on her fo'c'sle, that is to say, a bored-out trunk that communicated directly with the sea and that was used to washing her deck - and insignificant piece of equipment, really, but one so far above her station that no mariner who saw it or heard of this pump ever forgot it. Verdict: I've just started it for a Jane Austen Reading Group.  Since the region is reading...

Book Beginnings on Friday from  Rose City Reader   The Friday 56 with  Freda's Voice . This week I'm reading: Out of the Easy   by Ruta Sepetys It Begins:   My mother's a prostitute.  On Page 56: "I'm nothing like my mother," I told him, edging away from the stacks into the center of the store in order to be visible from the front window.  Verdict: This is the March book club selection for a group I'm a part of, they wanted a New Orleans theme for Mardi Gras.  So far I'm enjoying it, there's a murder and Jo wants to solve it and she wants out of New Orleans and the life she's currently living.