Prairie Silence--#48 finished

I really enjoyed this book, a memoir by a lady that grew up in small town North Dakota and came to realize she was gay but didn't come out until leaving for college and then Minneapolis.  She was worried about what people would think back in the small town.  She eventually decided to take a month and go home to help on the farm and sort of take a sabbatical to write and get reacquainted with the area.  She talked about her time growing up and her college time and trying to understand herself as well.  A good read and interesting perspective.

There are no WL or copies in system at PBS but will probably set aside for now--not sure if keeper book but don't want to mail off either.

The White Man in the Tree--#47 finished

This is a short story book by Mark Kurlansky, these are fiction stories.  I have enjoyed his non-fiction writing more in his books about the Basques, Cod and Gloucester.  These stories are a little different with the focus being the islands of the Caribbean.  Characters are interesting and stories are ones that at points make you think but overall more just okay.

There is 1 WL for the book so I figure I will get it posted & mailed off kind of soon but I have been mailing a bunch of books already so might be a week or two yet before I post it.

Mission Critical--#46 finished

This is the next in the Gray Man series, a fun shoot them out & blow stuff up kind of series.  A CIA very off the books spy along with another off books guy and sort of join up at times with the 3rd off books spy gal that came via Russia.  Bad things happening and all 3 follow leads into London & then Scotland where they sort of join up.  Gray Man and the gal are together from a book or two ago where he saved her & brought her to the states for a new life and into the CIA.  Her dad, who was supposed to have been dead for years, is found to be alive and running a revenge mission against the good guys spy networks that get together for a big meeting every year.  The 3 have to bust it up but she is mostly just wants to talk to dad and after talking then wants to just kill him.  My typing up something on this really doesn't do it justice.  This is a fun series if the whole spy thing is your thing.

There are around 25 WL for the book so I will get it mailed off at some point.

Unqualified--#45 finished

I really enjoy the TV show Mom and Anna Faris is the star on that show.  I saw she had a book out & got it through PBS.  I guess it hadn't soaked into me that she married Chris Pratt of Guardians of the Galaxy fame but he wrote the forward.  Anna has a podcast and I guess the book grew out of that where she gives out unqualified advice to people that send in or call in with questions.  Those parts of the book were not that interesting.  I enjoyed reading about her background and life.  After I finished the book I had to do the IMDB check on her & found out she & Chris Pratt are divorced, looks like about a year after the book came out.  That is really too bad, can tell in the book they loved each other--or maybe some was overcompensation because they were having problems??--my very unqualified guess.  Still they have a son together and it must have been rough time.

My youngest watches Mom too and she wants to read this book also so posting on PBS might wait a bit, I think there is 1 WL for it right now.

A Song for Nero--#44 finished

I finished this last weekend after way too long--I started at least in March & might have been end of February.  I am not sure why I pushed on with this book, I really didn't like it from the start.  I liked the idea of the book more than what I was reading and the reading I think needed an editor and this book could have been cut in half.  The idea that Roman Emperor Nero escaped and lived a sort of simple life on the move with most everyone believing he was killed, sounded like a neat idea for a book.  This book was way too long and just too much that just didn't make sense.  Because it was nearing 600 pages, there are some points where it was entertaining but overall just a waste of time.  This is a book that has been on my shelf for years and finally talked myself into reading it, I think that was why I had to stick with it since I had it for so long.

There is a minor stain on the book so I cannot post on PBS, it will go into my giveaway pile.

Immunity--#43 finished

I bought this book a few months ago from a library sale, the corona virus was probably then mostly in news for China at the time and had no idea it would morph into today.  This book starts off with a deadly virus that changed the world and forced relocation camps and government forced everything.  A former rich socialite is given the chance to have health coverage and earn some money which she needed but she had to get a procedure done--an implant that was supposed to keep the virus away.  The book is very much about the haves vs the have nots.  It started with that basic premise and seemed promising but then sort of switched to a super rich behind the scenes guy pulling the strings and going psychotic.  Oh well I am not a writer so probably shouldn't criticize but I would have preferred a different kind of change midway through this.  Still sort of entertaining but left me with a what could it have been feeling too.

There are 6 WL for this book on PBS so like others will get it mailed off at some point.

Sin Bravely--#42 finished

A different kind of memoir I guess.  Maggie Rowe is a writer, comedian and probably more in Hollywood.  I am not familiar with her really though, the title of the book is probably what hooked me to pick it up.  Growing up she had a real fear of going to heaven.  Her family is Evangelical but maybe not as committed as she is/was?  She kept saying all she had to do was believe to get to heaven but she was never sure if her belief was true enough.  She spent a summer after freshman year of college at an Evangelical help clinic and most of the book is about that.  The other people there the group sessions and the counselors she saw.  I didn't really find any of this that funny and really just felt sorry for almost everyone involved.  Not a fan of this book.

There are 6 WL for this book so I will be mailing it off at some point soon but like mentioned in other post, no big hurry to mail more off right now.

But Enough About Me--#41 finished

This is Burt Reynolds memoir.  I grew up in the 1970s and 80s and so of course know some of Burt Reynolds work from more serious roles like Deliverance and The Longest Yard to the happy funny things Smokey & the Bandit and Cannonball Run.  Boogie Nights was kind of a re-boot to his career, I think he was really good in that.  I didn't know much of his career that was before my time--his Tonight Show hosting, or his longtime relationship with Dinah Shore.  It was also interesting to hear about his growing up and playing football and then an injury in college forced him to look for something else & he found acting.  It is a fun read and nice memories of people and friends he mentions.

I will post at some point on PBS, there are 5 WL for it but I had just mailed off some books so should be okay for a little while on my PBS credits.

For Edgar--#40 finished

A detective story with the serial killer working off stories from Edgar Allen Poe.  Kind of gruesome and story is not the best or most clever that I have read.  Detective does her own thing too much.  Characters are hard to believe.  Not a great read but not bad either.  I guess if I was more of a Poe fan maybe would have enjoyed it more.

I have posted it on PBS but there are already 4 copies in system ahead of it so not likely going anywhere at this point.

Outliers--#39 finished

The author Malcolm Gladwell looks at success and delves a little deeper to see some of the random and not so random things that happened to help people to their success.  He starts by looking at rosters of ice hockey teams in Canada and sees that a Jan 1 cutoff date seems to give older by months kids a head start over kids born later in the year--a few months difference and they get selected on the better teams and better coaches and they succeed while kids born later in the year have a much harder time of getting those selections.  Also looks at Bill Gates and another computer guy that were both born and seemed to fall into the perfect time where they could access a computer and spend that 10,000 hours on it giving them a benefit/headstart over other computer people--he does still credit them for being very smart but also getting some breaks.  It goes on with other examples with the super rich of the 1800s and NY lawyers of the '70s & '80s, Chinese advantages to math & learning.  A very interesting read that makes you think about your life and how your kids were brought up.

There are no copies right now on PBS so I will probably go ahead and post it, I expect it should move hopefully sometime soon.  Also this is the first finished book in May.

Alternate Side--#38 finished

I really enjoyed this book, it seemed to really get into the lives of a husband and wife and the kind of tuck away neighborhood in New York City.  Their twin children are off to college but still around and the neighbors are interesting but you can see the husband and wife have drifted apart.  A conflict happens in the neighborhood and sides are taken and during this time they realize their marriage is at an end.  Not a big fight or battle, just an end to them being together.  I thought this was a very insightful book about relationships, again really enjoyed reading.

There are around 40 some WL for this book so I will post & mail off at some point.

Route 66 Lost & Found--#37 finished

This & the next book are actually April read books but just getting around to logging them in now.  This is probably more of a coffee table book--bigger size hardback & lots of photos.  The photos are for businesses & towns along Route 66 back when built or heydays and then what it looks like today. Motels, cafe/small gas station and main streets are the main subjects.  An interesting read about Route 66.  It cuts through St Louis so I have heard a bunch about it at least from around this region but haven't really paid a lot of attention to it other than the basic knowledge.  This book gave some interesting insights into it & good to see what was still there, at least when the book published 16 years ago--I have a feeling many places have changed more and probably not for the better.

There are 6 WL for this book and while it is a larger size, I will probably post & mail off, I don't really have a reason for keeping it.  St Louis was hardly mentioned or written about in the book so no really local interest reason for keeping it.