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Be Ready When The Luck Happens
by Ina Garten
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The beginning of the book was warm and informative; Ina was totally relatable. The middle of the book was interesting-learning about her foray into the food business; the failures and successes and lessons learned. At the end, I didn't want to read about her apartment in France and the interior decoration. Advice would have been good; bragging/name -dropping was a turn off. Although overall, the book was engaging, an editor should have removed many of the exclamation points!

The Kind Worth Killing
by Peter Swanson
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Two strangers meet in a London airport, but are they really strangers? She has secrets. He is unhappy. It all leads to murder. The book was ok, but not great.

Let's Make A Scene
by Laura Wood
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Cynthie Taylor and Jack Turner Jones are young actors who star in their first movie together and are tasked with pretending to be in a fake relationship for publicity purposes. The entire relationship implodes and both Cynthie and Jack vow never to speak again. Thirteen years later, the two more famous stars are offered to star in a remake of the original cult classic movie but with the stipulation of having another pretend relationship for publicity. The second time around with ground rules and more maturity, can Cynthie and Jack face the truth about each other? Read and find out. This was definitely a feel good read and I recommend it if you are looking for a little romance.

Atmosphere
by Taylor Jenkins Reid
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Ok so I'm not a huge space fan, to be honest it scares me but I am a big Taylor Jenkins Reid fan so I had to give this one a go. On the surface, as a reader I thought I was getting a novel about women in NASA's Shuttle Program, but that was only a piece of what this story was about. Pros: I'm going to be honest, I usually don't go for this kind of romance but it worked and I liked both of the main characters. I loved the dual storyline with Barbara and Frances as it added depth to Joan's character and who she was. I also loved the NASA aspect and the nods to history. Cons: I wanted more of the space aspect. The book started off on such a high note but then it dragged in the middle. Thankfully the last quarter of the book really picked up. Overall, I really enjoyed this one!

The Emperor of Gladness
by Ocean Vuong
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I'm not saying this book is awful, it actually draws some interesting parallels between Vietnam and the Holocaust. It is with sadness I say that the gladness was sucked right out of me with the repetition and long draw out story

How Does That Make You Feel, Magda Eklund?
by Anna Montague
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Magda's best friend Sarah dies and Magda makes a bucket list road trip. She takes Sarah's ashes with her. There are a lot of flashbacks to past experiences and conversations, plus letters and cards that Sarah sent over the years.

Ps: I Hate You
by Lauren Connolly
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This book started out as a sweet rom-com. Maddie's brother died and she is instructed to take his ashes to different places around the country. She is to be accompanied by Dom, her brother's best friend and the guy she had a crush on when she was younger. Then things changed, and there were a bit of graphic sex scenes, which did not fit into the story.

The Giver
by Lois Lowry
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The Giver, is about a person who holds the memories of the true joys and pain of life in the world that is described as a futuristic one. And the twist is that he is the ONLY one who has this capacity to keep memories, and saves his world from the pain they might bring. The novel follows a 12-year-old boy named Jonas who experiences shocking truths, revelations, and hidden philosophies about the world around him as he has been SELECTED to be the next GIVER. The one who shall hold the memories for the entire world around him. Memories of joy, love, happiness, enjoyment, safety, danger, sorry, surprise, admiration, disgust or fear. The writing is so lucid that when you read about an emotion (Memory - in case of this book), you visualize all the small elements that go into making and feeling an emotion. The innocent and ingenuous way that the young protagonist tries to understand the new JOB profile he has been assigned is very thought provoking. A very GENIUS book!

The Lies They Told
by Ellen Marie Wiseman
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I enjoyed this story about a german woman immigrant to the US. I was saddened and shocked to find how immigrants were treated in Ellis Island! I have family who came to Ellis island. The fact that this Eugenics program existed is very disturbing to me. I found that I learned a lot from this work of historical fiction. I enjoyed Lena and Ella’s story and that of the people who lived by Blue ridge in Va. It is shocking how they threw them off their land. I recommend this book. Irlt is very informative.

The Stolen Life Of Colette Marceau
by Kristin Harmel
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This was such a wonderful book, taking place in Paris during WWII and then in 1980s the US. A stolen bracelet, a jewel thief, the mystery of a murder, secrets of the past. And an amazing ending.
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