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Julienne DesJardins's avatar

Rafflecopter?! Let's go! Ha! Gorgeous photo. My kiddo just wrapped up the American Girl Molly books. He enjoyed them. I just finished listening to The Testaments, actually.

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Abbigail Kriebs's avatar

I forgot about American Girl books! I'm going to have to check one out next time I'm at the library. How was The Testaments? Or rather, how was listening to wild dystopian fiction while living in seemingly wild-dystopian reality?!?

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Julienne DesJardins's avatar

I know! I forgot about them, too, to be honest. And wasn't sure how my boy would like them. But he enjoys them. We've done Caroline, Addy, Molly, and Kit. We're reading Felicity right now. -- The Testaments...not as bad as I was expecting. But agreed - alarming to see it reflecting our reality, certainly.

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Anna Saxton's avatar

I just finished In the Woods by Tana French, which is a mystery that’s also the story of a friendship and a bit of a character study. It does involve the death of a child if that’s not something you want to read, but I tore through it even though it’s not short. I also LOVE the Thursday Murder Club books - they’re about a group of retirees who solve murders in their retirement community, and you’ll likely love every single character. Maisie Dobbs is also a fantastic choice! I started reading those in high school, and my mom and sister and I would all pass them around when a new one came in from the library.

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Abbigail Kriebs's avatar

Thanks for all the recommendations! Is Tana French scary/a thriller at all? I've never read her, but I've heard only good things. I actually have TWO mystery squares, so if I can read two of these ideas I will!

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Anna Saxton's avatar

I didn’t find it scary, but it was mildly graphic? Not a ton of on-page violence but definitely descriptions of autopsies that don’t shy away from details, that kind of thing. I found those parts relatively easy to skim, and I’m pretty sensitive but didn’t find myself unable to sleep or anything.

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Abbigail Kriebs's avatar

I placed Thursday Murder Club #1 and Maisie Dobbs on hold yesterday morning... and they both arrived within hours and I picked them up yesterday afternoon. Here's to finding a mystery I enjoy!

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Anna Saxton's avatar

Can't wait to hear what you think!

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Sarah Lang's avatar

Once niece says the sequel to Better Than the Movies is even better, one says no way. I have yet to read it the sequel.

I have 5 days to start and finish God of the Woods by Liz Moore before it’s due at the library. I believe falls into the mystery category! Many of my friends have read it and loved it but I haven’t opened it yet as I tend to get super absorbed into that sort of genre and stay up far too late to finish, which is tricky to do with teens in town for the week!

Excited to follow your substack, I am officially just finally understanding how to use substack and utilize it. It’s really just old school blogging but with some payment incentives, yes? Here for it.

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Abbigail Kriebs's avatar

Ooo... love a book that demands I ignore reality for a few days. I think the last book where I flat-out ignored my children for was The Book of Essie which was not *good* per se, but completely absorbing. Goodreads describes God of the Woods as a "a quiet mystery/drama" which is the only kind I really enjoy. I like the Inspector Gamache books, but I can only read one at a time. And thrillers hold almost no draw for me. They always feel clunky? Maybe I'm not reading the right ones. Is there such a thing as a literary thriller?!?

Substack IS old-school blogging but with (thankfully) less pop-up ads. Welcome to the retro internet!

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Kimberly Knowle - Zeller's avatar

Holden village is a dream vacation for me!!! I’ve known so many who’ve gone!!

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Abbigail Kriebs's avatar

KIM! We should coordinate next time! Get all our favorite people to go to Holden at the same time. DREAM TRIP.

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