Similar
Posted on August 1, 2024
| 1 minutes
| 113 words
| Robert McLaughlin
A short while back I read a book called I’m Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid. If I didn’t rate that book a 9 at the time I would now, in hindsight, because I still think about how creepy it was. I thought about that book as I was reading We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer. We Used to Live Here had a similar unsettling feel and very good writing and storytelling.
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Fast Start
Posted on January 22, 2024
| 2 minutes
| 251 words
| Robert McLaughlin
2024 started as a fast book year. Seven complete - three books and four audio-books. Here’s a quick summary:
Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney - Good for a who-done-it and picked up at the end. Gave it a 6.
My Husband by Maud Ventura - I read a great review of this book. After finishing the book I don’t know what the reviewer was talking about. I think we read different books.
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La Dolce Casa
Posted on November 12, 2023
| 1 minutes
| 204 words
| Robert McLaughlin
We had a lovely time a La Dolce Casa (DiMaggios) in Tamaqua PA last night. For us it was a bit of a drive but it was middle ground for a family dinner and came highly recommended from a trusted source. Turns out it was a great choice.
I am unwilling (or unable) to describe ‘the subtle flavors of something gently melding with something else’ so you need to look elsewhere for that.
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Catch Up Again
Posted on November 9, 2023
| 3 minutes
| 431 words
| Robert McLaughlin
My technical issues from late summer have passed and the site is still up. My host and I had different opinions about the way something behind the scenes should work. I tried to do what they asked, it didn’t work, nothing bad happened and on we go.
My casual thought about completing 100 books in 2023 is looking more and more like reality. I’m working on 87, 88 and 89 now.
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Now, Where Were We?
Posted on July 19, 2023
| 2 minutes
| 253 words
| Robert McLaughlin
Time passes and stuff happens but first we talk about books. I am on a run of average books. I did have two that I rated 8, and I’m working on another that may also get a favorable rank.
The Hike by Drew Magary. I tend to favor books that I find original. This book was a little different than anything I read recently. No spoilers, but this book had a jolt that in hindsight I should have seen but entirely missed.
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Book Notes - 3 Books
Posted on June 4, 2023
| 2 minutes
| 306 words
| Robert McLaughlin
Priorities. Stuff gets in the way. We are having some exciting times around here but there’s always time for a few quick book notes:
It by Stephen King. I’m not intimidated by long books, but they do carry an extra burden of being good enough to carry the length. It was long enough that I tagged-teamed between the paper and audio books. I gave it an 8 and continue to stand by my opinion that Stephen King is a great writer.
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Book Note - Wish You Were Here
Posted on May 20, 2023
| 2 minutes
| 379 words
| Robert McLaughlin
This is unrelated to the Pink Floyd song. I recently finished Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult. This was my first book from this author and I choose it because I read good things online about this book. I read a few books based on online recommendations over the past while and most are ok. No recommendation can be taken on its own, and I’ve learned that you have to look at a lot of reviews by one person (or group) before taking one seriously.
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Book Note Bonus - 2 Books and Birthday
Posted on May 7, 2023
| 3 minutes
| 584 words
| Robert McLaughlin
I’m running behind a little bit. Maybe it’s my advancing age, or maybe I’m just noticing it more today than usual on the eve of another birthday. In order to do some catch up I’m doing a double book note.
I just finished book 29 of the year and the pace is a little faster than it has been in previous years. I don’t post about every book for a variety of reasons, including that there I some where I don’t have anything to say about them and some where I’m not sure what I want to say.
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Book Note - The Rumor by Elin Hilderbrand
Posted on April 25, 2023
| 2 minutes
| 319 words
| Robert McLaughlin
It’s harder today with ebooks but in my days of cruising the aisles of the library I always though that an author with a whole shelf of books had to write good enough books to fill that shelf. In the event I needed a book and my go-to authors were either out or didn’t have anything new, volume of volumes gave me a signal on who to try. This strategy paid off with authors like Clive Cussler and Brad Thor.
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TV Note - Black Sails and Rating TV
Posted on April 15, 2023
| 2 minutes
| 238 words
| Robert McLaughlin
While I prefer writing about books I do also come across some good TV. I just finished Black Sails and it was very good. I started watching this on Prime, but ended up finishing it on Starz, which we happened to have right now. 4 seasons x 10 episodes per season x about an hour an episode.
I’m going to use the same system I use for books for rating TV, plus a little extra.
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