Lori & Julia's Book Club

Definitely one of our top 10 books of 2019. This coming of age story takes place in mid-1970’s Missouri and has been described as “Stand By Me” meets “To Kill A Mockingbird” (and we agree with that description)! Racism, class and a murder mystery are all explored in this very poignant story The title comes from the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. quote “Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity”. Now we want Michael B. Jordan to option this book and make a movie!

This is a story about Dan Mayrocks and his life - which is at a crossroads. He loves his wife, he quit teaching to open a bookstore, they are having a baby, the store is failing and he has not told his wife….and the story is told entirely in lists. Hilarious, profound and delightful. Highly recommended. 4 stars

The work of Mike Nichols pervades American cultural consciousness—from The Graduate and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? to Angels in America, The Birdcage, Working Girl, and Primary Colors, not to mention his string of hit plays, including Barefoot in the Park and The Odd Couple. If that weren’t enough, he was also one half of the timelessly funny duo Nichols & May, as well as a founding member of the original improv troupe. Over a career that spanned half a century, Mike Nichols changed Hollywood, Broadway, and comedy forever. Most fans, however, know very little of the person behind it all. Since he never wrote his memoirs, and seldom appeared on television, they have very little sense of his searching intellect or his devastating wit. They don't know that Nichols, the great American director, was born Mikail Igor Peschkowsky, in Berlin, and came to this country, speaking no English, to escape the Nazis. They don't know that Nichols was at one time a solitary psychology student, or that a childhood illness

Be careful who you let in. Soon after her 25th birthday, Libby Jones returns home from work to find the letter she’s been waiting for her entire life. She rips it open with one driving thought: I am finally going to know who I am. She soon learns not only the identity of her birth parents, but also that she is the sole inheritor of their abandoned mansion on the banks of the Thames in London’s fashionable Chelsea neighborhood, worth millions. Everything in Libby’s life is about to change. But what she can’t possibly know is that others have been waiting for this day as well --- and she is on a collision course to meet them. Twenty-five years ago, police were called to 16 Cheyne Walk with reports of a baby crying. When they arrived, they found a healthy 10-month-old happily cooing in her crib in the bedroom. Downstairs in the kitchen lay three dead bodies, all dressed in black, next to a hastily scrawled note. And the four other children reported to live at Cheyne Walk were gone (summary courtesy of Reading Gr

From the author of Girls Like Us, comes another great biography. This time about Carrie Fisher. This book is so good! Weller explores the life and career of this badass writer and actress. Carrie had bipolar disorder and is recognized for her legacy in being the groundbreaker in destigmatizing that in a very strong way. She threw the most sought-after parties in Hollywood. She was only 22 when she got together with Paul Simon who was 47. She played Princess Leia like a feminist hero when she was 19. Reads like fiction and is hard to put down. 3 stars

“Christopher is seven years old. Christopher is the new kid in town. Christopher has an imaginary friend.” So begins this story and this is the best set-up we can give you on this truly wild story which is equal parts heart, horror and hope. If you are a Stephen king fan (think the shining, the stand) you will love this book. NOTE: Stephen is the author THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER (& directed the movie version). This is his 2nd novel. **The audible book is directed by the author and is recommended if u do not want to read that many pages…. 4 stars

The 18th novel from best-selling author Lisa Unger. This is a tight psychological thriller more “whydunit” than “whodunit”! The novel follows a new stay-at-home mom living what seems like a picture perfect life. With one small problem – a very dark secret from her past is about to be unearthed and with that we are introduced to a very compelling story. What happens with trauma and the deep seated idea of revenge? Hard to put down this book. 4 stars

One of the best thrillers of 2019! It all begins on a Monday when 4 people get on an elevator in a Manhattan office tower. Everyone presses a button then the elevator proceeds non-stop to the top. Once there it stops for a few seconds and then plummets. Right to the bottom of the shaft. It seems like just a random horrible accident until the same thing happens the next day in a different skyscraper. And then the next day in another building. Obviously, this is a bid to terrorize the city but why and who? Great characters, diabolical twists and heart pounding suspense. 4 stars

This is his first stand-alone book since 2013’s best-selling, award winning ORDINARY GRACE, and tells the epic story of four kids (all orphans) who embark on one helluva journey during the long summer of 1932. Unforgettable storytelling and so beautifully written. The themes of family, loss, love, forgiveness and being connected to the land and water are intertwined. 4 stars

The Gifted School is definitely one of our favorite books of 2019. Set in the fictional town of Crystal, Colorado - the novel tells the story of 4 friends who have good intentions as their parenting and high ambitions for the kids collide. Funny, smart, sharply observed and very juicy. We agree with the Wall Street Journal that this is the book that predicted the college-admissions scandal. It has been optioned as a TV series!! 5 stars

Picking up where he left off in his memoir “Sting-Ray Afternoons”, Steve shares more coming of age stories set in Bloomington MN. It is the time of MTV, mixed tapes and classic 80’s high school movies. Nostalgic, funny and a hilarious reminder of the agonies of your late teens and twenties and in what would be the end of an era – the 80’s.

We loved this book. The book starts out slow but the storytelling builds and it is wonderful. The backdrop is Bethelhem, PA and is about two steel executive’s and their families that spans from the giIlded age to the 1960’s. A family secret starts with a mother and a wife… in the course of this novel is a wonderful story of forgiveness and love with achingly real portrayals of every single character.

From the NY Times best-selling author of In a Dark, Dark Wood & The Woman in Cabin 10 comes Ruth Ware’s 5th book. A child is dead, Rowan is in prison and her story is told as flashbacks to a lawyer she is begging to take her case. Part thriller, part revenge and part ghost story with a poignancy that underlies Rowan’s storytelling. Also, like all of Ruth’s books, she always saves the best for the last page!

4 stars

The thriller of 2019! This author has a Cinderella story and the book has been optioned by Paramount Pictures. To quote the author Don Winslow “this book is Jaws for parents.” And it is that as well as original, clever, empowering and twisty! Trust us when we say that you have never read anything like this book. 5 stars