Week Four: Goodreads

Thoughts on Goodreads:

The Goodreads recommendations based on my shelves and to read list resulted in many not very appealing recommendations. Based on my fondness for Octavia Butler it recommended I read the African Immortals series which based on the title covers one of the few sci-fi areas I do not enjoy, i.e. rituals leading to never ending life. After spending some time exploring and updating my shelves, the generated recommendations did not improve. It seemed it got better selecting books I had no interest in reading. I have never used Goodreads to recommend books previously. I had seen the generated recommendations but failed to notice the function to recommend books to other people. A very big oversight on my part.

The Wonder Bread Summer by Jessica Anya Blau
Recommended to M'Lissa

I thought you might enjoy this book as you rated one of Blau’s earlier works as a three star book.  The Wonder Bread Summer is her third novel and the author has clearly hit her stride. The pace is much faster, the plot unpredictable and the humor is darker.  Just as a bonus the main character’s name is Alice as she too has fallen down the rabbit hole.

Stolen Lives: Twenty Years in a Desert Prison by Malika Oufkir
Recommended to Brenda

I thought you would enjoy this book to the degree anyone can enjoy a book detailing the torture and imprisonment of a family. As an avid reader of biographies and psychology you will appreciate the strength of author who manages to detail her imprisonment with as much clarity as her privileged up- bring. While the story is dark it manages to be insightful and illustrates the very real impact of humanitarian missions.

Week Three

Conversation I

The phrases that stuck out most were: draws me in, reflective but funny and inner thought. I would recommend Yes Please by Amy Poehler. This reader seems like she will enjoy another book by an interesting brave women with great divorce tips.

Conversation II

From this brief interaction I took away their hatred for the angst of teen drama.  I would recommend Jane Bites Back by Michael Thomas Ford. It is the first story in a trilogy that follows Vampire Jane Fairfax, former human Jane Austen, as she runs a book store in small town unable to collect royalist from her novels and all the tied in merchandise.  Where Twilight was all teen angst; Jane’s vampire tale is told from a comedic and insightful view.

Conversation III

The reader clearly wants to read another fast paced suspenseful adventure true story.  This reader will definitely enjoy The Ice Master: The Doomed 1913 Voyage of the Karluk by Jennifer Niven. It also chronicles a lesser known historical adventure. Captain Robert Bartlett, who happened to be an ice breaker for Robert Perry’s successful trip to the North Pole, who must save his crew and the scientific staff from certain death once the Karluk is trapped in the ice. And did I mention one of the crew members was traveling under an assumed name most likely to cover up his murderous past. Where the landscape is barren and sparse the author weaves detail upon detail creating chilling scenes.