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Sisterhood Everlasting (Sisterhood, #5)
Sisterhood Everlasting (Sisterhood, #5)
Ann Brashares | 2011 | Fiction & Poetry
8
8.0 (6 Ratings)
Book Rating
I won this book from First Reads, failing to realize that it was another book in the series of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. I have not read any of the books in this series nor have a I seen the movies so I was worried that I would be totally lost. I was undeterred however & plunged in with fingers crossed.
I have to say it didn't really matter that I knew nothing about the series prior to this book. It was able to stand on its own. There was back story, but not knowing it didn't seem to effect my enjoyment of this book. It was a bit difficult to get into at first, but once I was in, I was in & invested in Lena, Carmen, TIbby, & Bee.
The book seems to be a final installment in the series. It opens with the 4 friends hardly speaking to each other as life has gotten in the way. 3 of them recieve letters from Tibby who is currently living in Australia. They contain requests to meet her in Greece & also the plane tickets to allow them to do so. The 3 head off, meet up in JFK airport, & fly off to Greece to get there. They mysetery begins when they arrive & Tibby is not there waiting for them as she said she would be.
This is a sad read, but it is also very real. The characters jump off the page & the writing plunges you deep into their lives. I love that in a book.
  
Killing Kennedy: The End of Camelot
Killing Kennedy: The End of Camelot
Bill O'Reilly, Martin Dugard | 2013 | Biography
10
8.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
I will be the first to admit that I am not a big fan of Bill O'Reilly's views on many things, but there is no arguing that he can write an excellent book. This is the second of his "Killing" series that I've read, the first being Killing Jesus. They were both wonderful & so easy to lose yourself in.
This particular book made me forget that I was reading about actual events. I was so immersed in the story. JFK & Jackie are fascinating people & their life together makes them all the more intriguing. This book isn't just about the assassination, but the years, months, & days leading up to that fateful day in November. Both for the Kennedy family & the Oswalds. I found myself at times, thinking, "No don't do that." Or, "Yes, listen to your gut & your advisors & cancel that trip." Almost hoping that somehow it would turn out differently, but knowing full well how it was going to end.
Despite knowing the end before even cracking the book open, I was hooked from the very first word. It is rare to read a non-fiction book that reads like a spy novel & political thriller. That's what makes the reader forget that the events really happened. It doesn't falter into all the conspiracy theories or speculation on the events leading up to it. It is remarkably well researched & based on the countless records, videos, transcripts, & documents from the era. This is a must read for anyone, even if you aren't fascinated with the Kennedys as I was.
  
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David McK (3185 KP) rated 11.22.63 in Books

Oct 31, 2022  
11.22.63
11.22.63
Stephen King | 2012 | Horror, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Thriller
6
8.8 (47 Ratings)
Book Rating
I don't know why, but for some reason I've never really taken to Stephen King's novels all that much.

I don't know whether that's because he's best known as a horror writer (with that being my least favourite genre), or whether because as a UK native I don't have quite the same cultural touchstones as King himself (or other American readers/writers), but there you have it.

(And, as an aside, I find that date format of 11.22.63 to be very disconcerting - I'm more used to dd/mm/yy i.e. 22/11/63 instead of 11.22.63)

Anyway, with all that said, I decided to give this a chance after it was recommended to me by a friend as 'a bit like Quantum Leap. I would have thought it was right up your street' (and I'm paraphrasing there somewhat).

I can see where he was coming from - this is a time travel novel, after all, here dealing with the JFK assassination - with the hero of the piece out to stop that assassination after finding a 'wormhole' back in time to the late 1950s.

Now that I've read it, I can say that it is definitely immersive with some solid world building, but boy does the middle section draaagggg: I was tempted, at one point, to just skip forward a good chunk (I didn't) to see if anything of note would happen ...

In short? Enjoyable enough, yes, but not enough to make me want to change my outlook on other King novels.