The Club
Where American Women Artists Found Refuge in Belle Époque Paris

By Jennifer Dasal

So far I’m enjoying it. This place must have been a dream come true for women artists back in these times!

a free speech advocate.

Reading Body & Soul: a novel by Frank Conroy. "As a boy, Claude Rawlings looks up through the grated window of his basement apartment to watch the world go by. Poor, lonely, supported by a taxi-driver mother whose eccentricities spin more and more out of control, he faces the terrible task of growing up on the margins of life, destined to be a spectator of that great world always hurrying out of reach. But there is an out-of-tune piano in the small apartment, and in unlocking the secrets of its keys, as if by magic, Claude discovers himself. He is a musical prodigy." Totally pulled into this story from the start.

I like books about music.

"Bristling with character and invention, Body & Soul is Dickensian in its range and richness. This is a novel with all the emotional appeal and moral gravity of a classic bildungsroman, but with a tone as contemporary as a jazz riff -- an unforgettable achievement by one of the great writers of our time."

Had to look up "bildungsroman":

In literary criticism, a bildungsroman is a literary genre that focuses on the psychological and moral growth and change of the protagonist from childhood to adulthood.

my wife bought for me to read during recovery. I really enjoyed it.

It involves the concept of nonlocal consciousness; the theory that our consciousness doesn’t exist in our brains, but outside of our bodies.

https://www.thomasperryauthor.com/

Thomas Perry was the bestselling author of thirty-three novels, including the critically acclaimed Jane Whitefield series, The Butcher's Boy, which Parade included in its 2021 list of 101 Best Mystery Books of All Time, and Metgzer's Dog which NPR listeners selected as one of the 100 Best Killer Thrillers of All Time.

​His book, The Old Man, inspired the television series starring Jeff Bridges, John Lithgow, and Amy Brenneman.
Murder Book was published in 2023.
Hero arrived on January 16, 2024.
Pro Bono was published on January 14, 2025.

“The fact is, there are probably only half a dozen suspense writers now alive who can be depended upon to deliver high voltage shocks, vivid, sympathetic characters, and compelling narratives each time they publish.
Thomas Perry is one of them.” ––Stephen King

"Thomas Perry is, quite simply, brilliant. . ."––Robert Parker

Carol Starkey’s story. LA bomb tech who was blown up and died. She’s trying to figure out how to live with trauma and scars and the loss of her partner. Now a detective, she’s after a terrifyingly stealthy clever bomber.

‘White hot crossover thriller.’

‘Like a string of firecrackers.’

"Witty and knowing. A brand-new cozy mystery from a bestselling author!PUT THE KETTLE ON AND DISCOVER AN UTTERLY CHARMING MURDER MYSTERY SET IN A SLEEPY ENGLISH SEASIDE TOWN."

I love the series, and someone on here told me there were books. BOOKS?!, I said.

Halfway through, "Blackout," by David Rosenfelt. Another good recommendation from this forum.

I was aware of the Magdalene Laundries in Ireland, I had no idea that they existed here, in this case, Buffalo, NY, up until 1970.

Have a good week dear readers.

A curious priest uncovers a mystifying secret... One that leads to a long-buried relic some will do anything to possess. Can he outwit adversaries who will stop at nothing to keep him from revealing an object that challenges history as we know it? Father Michael Dominic discovers a strangely constructed 13th-century puzzle hidden deep within the Vatican Secret Archives. With the help of his brilliant colleague, investigative journalist Hana Sinclair, solving the puzzle exposes a cleverly concealed map that marks the hiding place of a sacred artifact—one with shocking implications. From Rome to France and Switzerland, his search for the object finds Dominic pitted against deadly agents and a ruthless Russian oligarch. Desperate, he must choose between trusting an unlikely collection of possible allies—or certain death. As his enemies close in, can he survive and bring this staggering new secret to light, or will his pursuers bury it beside him in the cold, dark earth of a long-forgotten cave? Sure to please fans of the bestselling novel The Magdalene Deception, this second entry in The Magdalene Chronicles series is impossible to put down. Packed with historical events and non-stop action, readers will be burning through pages late into the night.
This one is starting out as good as the first one. Bonus for me is the cave trip which opens the book.