The Next Good Book
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 so i like to read- 

friends often ask for book suggestions so i created this site in 2014 to help me think about what i read and pass it on.  

I hope you find many good books here!


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the invisible life of addie larue by v.e. schwab

12/27/2020

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Recommended by Entertainment Weekly, Real Simple, NPR, Slate, and Oprah Magazine 
#1 Library Reads Pick--October 2020
BOOK OF THE YEAR (2020) FINALIST--Book of The Month Club

A “Best Of” Book From: Oprah Mag * CNN * Amazon * Amazon Editors * NPR * Goodreads * Bustle * PopSugar * BuzzFeed * Barnes & Noble * Kirkus Reviews * Lambda Literary * Nerdette * The Nerd Daily * Polygon * Library Reads * io9 * Smart Bitches Trashy Books * LiteraryHub * Medium * BookBub * The Mary Sue * Chicago Tribune * NY Daily News * SyFy Wire * Powells.com * Bookish * Book Riot * Library Reads Voter Favorite *
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The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab
442 pages


What’s it about?
 Addie is 23 years-old and lives in a small village in France in 1714.  She longs for a bigger life but she is destined to marry, work, and die in this same small village. "Her future will rush by the same as her past, only worse, because there will be no freedom, only a marriage bed and a deathbed and perhaps a childbed between, and when she dies it will be as though she never lived." On the eve of her wedding to a local widower she panics and runs away.  Not realizing that it has turned dark she prays to the old Gods.  A mysterious handsome stranger appears and makes a bargain with Addie.   She will have freedom but he gets her soul when she no longer wants to live.  Too late she realizes the cost of the bargain. She will live as she pleases, but no one will remember her. 
​
What did it make me think about?
Be careful what you ask for!  So this novel was part fantasy, part romance, part historical fiction and engrossing to the last page.   "A story is an idea, wild as weed, springing up wherever it is planted."  Who doesn't love a good story?

Should I read it?
 Yes.  This novel is for anyone who wants to suspend belief for a little while.  Not sure how to categorize it, but I do recommend it.

Quote-
"I gave you what you asked for, Adeline.  Time, without constraint.  Life without restriction."
"You cursed me to be forgotten"
"You asked for freedom.  There is no greater freedom than that.  You can move through the world unhindered.  Untethered. Unbound."

If you liked this try-
The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell
The Golem and the Jinni by Helena Wecker
The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish
The Enchanted by Rene Denfield

8 1/2 stars
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favorites of 2020

12/22/2020

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My favorites of 2020
1.  The Children's Bible by Lydia Millet
2.  Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill
3.  Deacon King Kong by James McBride
4.  Writers and Lovers by Lily King
5.  Memorial by Bryan Washington 
6.  What Are You Going Through by Sigrid Nunez
7.  The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson
​8.  How Much of These Hills is Gold by C. Pam Zhang
9.  Long Bright River by Liz Moore
10.  A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum

Can you leave it at 10?
11.  The Boy in the Field by Margot Livesey
12.  Hidden Valley Road by Robert Kolker
13.  Homeland Elegies by Ayad Akhtar
​14.  Hum if You Don't Know the Words by Bianca Marais
15.  Florence Adler Swims Forever by Rachel Beanland
16.  Olive Again by Elizabeth Strout
​17.  What Are You Going Through by Sigrid Nunez
18.  The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
19.  My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell
​20.  Reader Come Home by Maryanne Wolf


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    favorites from 2020 

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    some favorites of the last decade

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    best of summer 2014


    last spring favorites

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    A coming of age story set in Mexico. It certainly gives you a whole new view of all the people coming over the border. 9 stars
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    Quirky characters and the story told through letters to Richard Gere. Who could ask for more? 9 stars

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    “Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers.”
    ― Charles William Eliot
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     ratings

    1 to 2- I did not enjoy this book.
    3 to 4- I found some aspect of this book redeeming but would not recommend it.
    5 to 6- I really enjoyed something about this book (characters, plot, meaning etc.) but it was uneven. Some aspects were stronger than others.
    7 to 8- It was a good book.  I liked lots of aspects of this book.  I would recommend it.
    9 to 10- I was sorry to turn the last page.  I highly recommend this book!
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