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.