The Librarian's Husband's Book Club discussion

Welcome to The Librarian's Husband's Book Club!

Take a minute and introduce yourself to the group. There are lots of people here spanning lots of genres so you are sure to find someone who has similar literary tastes (or to find new ideas you hadn't considered).

Let us know your name, where you are from, a little about yourself including your favorite genre(s) and authors, and then something fun or unique.

Bonus question (not required) - Who is the character from one of your books you would most like to meet?

My name is John and I am from Virginia in the USA.

The son of two teachers (one who ALWAYS had a book in his hand) and the husband of a librarian (hence the group--she just shakes her head ruefully). Love reading a good book.

I read over 50 books a year, usually on a kindle but I also love print. I read a wide variety of genres but have a special love of mystery/thrillers, horror, and science fiction. Favorite authors include Jeffery Deaver, Brad Thor, Matthew Reilly, C. J. Tudor, Mark Greaney, Larry Correia, Brandon Sanderson, Peter Clines, Robert Jordan, and Andy Weir among others.

Something fun--I like to cook and during the height of the pandemic, I would have each member of my family pick a different country each week and then find/cook a dish common within that nation.

I would love to meet Scot Harvath (the protagonist in a long series of books by Brad Thor. Smart, loyal, good heart, would be a great friend and seems like a lot of fun to be around as long as he is on your side.

OK - here goes. I am Jan Zahrly, (female) and go by peacejanz on the internet. I started signing myself as peacejanz about 30 years ago after 2+ years as a Peace Corps Volunteer, representing my country, USA. I live in Florida -- am 79 years old and a retired educator. I have taught 7-12 grades (English, speech, journalism, reading) and in college, mostly Juniors and Seniors and grad students, masters, MBA, and Ph. D. The last 20 years or so, I was more involved in research than teaching. I have been a healthy person and traveled the world until about 1999; then I began falling and having problems seeing - had a dreadful diagnosis at Mayo clinic in Minnesota. Endured awful treatment for one year and expected to die. No doc would give me a prognosis - just said stuff like, "let's see how you tolerate the treatment; we don't quite know - never had a patient with the problem at your age (i.e., most people die young), etc. )" but I just took the poison drugs and lived and got better. One year later, I was still alive and declared in remission. Miracle? I think so. In remission for 20+ years. Now that I am retired, I read all the time, manage one book discussion club and attend several others when the book is interesting.
Ok - who is next? peace, janz

Peacejanz wrote: "OK - here goes. I am Jan Zahrly, (female) and go by peacejanz on the internet. I started signing myself as peacejanz about 30 years ago after 2+ years as a Peace Corps Volunteer, representing my co..."

Welcome to the group, Janz. :) Great intro--especially glad that you are a 20+ year survivor! Tenacity to spare.

Thanks for sharing and for participating!

John

I'm Kristen, also in Virginia, and I currently teach high school English, where Lord of the Flies is finally climbing higher among books I like. (I hated it in 10th grade; it was okay five or so years ago; it must be the group of students I teach it to because they're having good discussions and I'm into it because they're into it.)

I read a wide variety of genres. My favorites are historical fiction, literature, young adult, and memoirs.

Aside from reading, I enjoy going to concerts with my fiancé. We went to 7 of them this year; 3 of them rescheduled due to 2020. Mostly metal, the tamest one we went to was the Goo Goo Dolls/Blue October concert (and I'm a longtime fan of the Goo Goo Dolls, so this concert was mainly for me).

Character to meet: I'd love to hang out with Anne from the Anne of Green Gables series, but I'd also like to grow up with the neighborhood in Naples from the Neapolitan Novels series by Elena Ferrante - Lenu and Lila especially.

Kristen wrote: "I'm Kristen, also in Virginia, and I currently teach high school English, where Lord of the Flies is finally climbing higher among books I like. (I hated it in 10th grade; it was okay five or so ye..."

Welcome! My wife was an HS English teacher in VA before she became a librarian.

Peacejanz wrote: "OK - here goes. I am Jan Zahrly, (female) and go by peacejanz on the internet. I started signing myself as peacejanz about 30 years ago after 2+ years as a Peace Corps Volunteer, representing my co..."


Hi Jan, my name is Chrissie. I was born in Munich, Germany.
Since childhood I dreamed of living in the US. When I was 46 I was able to finally make that dream come true even though I had the best job at a German movie magazine in Hamburg. But I gave it up to live, love and work in the US.

After another unhappy marriage I met my soul mate in December 2006 and yesterday he was diagnosed with Parkinson's...we don't know if it will be a fast or slow developing Parkinson's.
I requested 12 books on Parkinson's plus 4 Michael J. Fox autobiographies to find out as much about the disease as possible and to help my husband as good as I can.

Reading and watching old movies and classic TV series are my hobbies. I sold half of my books in 2001 and immigrated with 1.500 books left in March 2002.
By now I have at least 2.000 books, but I sorted out several duds and donated them to our public library who builds up a German book section.
Meanwhile I read about 70% of the books in English and 30% of the books in German.

I'm a movie buff, so I read lots of movie books.
Other hobbies are photography and preparing our next trip to Europe which we post-poned twice because of the pandemic.

Cheers,

Chrissie

Hi everyone. I'm Erica. I am happily married and have two kids, a stepson and two wonderful grandchildren. We have a sassy Russian Blue cat named Pepper who tolerates my reading habit. Other things I love to do - play piano, knit, stitch, meditate and some yoga, and distance running. I also bake all of our bread, which isn't so hard to do and tastes MUCH better than the store-bought stuff.

I am not a teacher but have some English teachers in our family - which gives me the deepest respect for that profession. Sadly a vastly underpaid position in our country, which makes no sense to me at all.

I buy books. I get books from the library. I have books given to me. I have a Little Free Library that I maintain outside my cross-stitch store. No day is complete without some reading - although I'm very slow. I usually read multiple books at once. Favorite genres are biography, history, historical fiction and mystery. I also make regular visits to the children's section of our public library. Some of the best literature is there!

Hello, I go by Chompa. I am a book lover from way back. I read a lot of different genres, but mostly fiction. My favorite is likely urban fantasy with Jim Butcher, Steve McHugh, and Kevin Hearne being some of my favorites. Mysteries, thrillers, fantasy, sci-fi, and historical fiction are other favorites.

Hi, I'm Concha and I live in Spain. I have a lot of free time that I dedicate to reading, mainly mystery and thrillers but I don't mind anything. I have studied English and Italian which gives me access to many authors that perhaps in my country are not published.
I usually read a couple of books at a time in different languages. I start my day by reading and finish it by reading.
I also like to watch series and movies of all kinds, including Korean ones.
As a funny (and bittersweet) anecdote my husband took me to a bookstore when my mother died to cheer me up.
I don't think any character will exceed my expectations or the mental image I have of them, I prefer them to stay in my mind than to disappoint me.
I hope I have not bored you.
Greetings to all

Hello, I'm Fabi. I live in Texas, originally from Buenos Aires. I've always been an avid reader but I struggled to find books that kept my interest in 2022. I'm branching out in 2023 to try to get my reading mojo back.

Erica wrote: "Hi everyone. I'm Erica. I am happily married and have two kids, a stepson and two wonderful grandchildren. We have a sassy Russian Blue cat named Pepper who tolerates my reading habit. Other things..."



Hi Erica, regarding the children's section I can highly recommend the Famous Five books by Enid Blyton, "Good Night, Mr. Sam" by Michelle Margolian and "The Island Keeper" by Harry Mazer. "Cold River" by William Judson is another good one. They don't write children's books like that any longer.

Cheers,

Chrissie

Fabi wrote: "Hello, I'm Fabi. I live in Texas, originally from Buenos Aires. I've always been an avid reader but I struggled to find books that kept my interest in 2022. I'm branching out in 2023 to try to get ..."

Try older books, Fabi. The public library has tons of older books which often have much more interesting plots. These days so many books resemble each other.

Cheers,

Chrissie

Hello everyone ⭐️👋🏼🙂 my name is Daniela I live in claremont, Ca. I am currently in graduate school for physical therapy 🦴👩‍⚕️, I love doing yoga 🧘‍♀️✨, just started taking classes for ceramics/pottery 🥣🍶, and have been modeling with an agency in Los Angeles this past year. 📸🌆

Between all that, I’ve joined a few real life book clubs this past summer and have been hooked on reading 📚👓✨

Lately my reading choices have themes on: society/violence, strong & gritty female characters, and body image/perceptions or self worth. 🔎🥸

My favorite read of 2022 was Animal by Lisa Taddeo! I’d love to meet the main character in this book but maybe only for a moment or just see her from afar 🤭

So excited to join this book club!!!
🔖⭐️🙂❣️

Christine wrote: "Fabi wrote: "Hello, I'm Fabi. I live in Texas, originally from Buenos Aires. I've always been an avid reader but I struggled to find books that kept my interest in 2022. I'm branching out in 2023 t..."

Hi Christine. Yes! I always have several books checked out from my library. Mostly audiobooks or ebooks for me and physical books for my grandson. You're spot on with the older books. Those are the ones that worked for me this year. Thank you for your reply.

Thank you for the recommendations Chrissie! I will definitely add those to my list.

Hey everyone.
I'm Nicole from northern California. I used to drive ships but now I work in a dry dock fixing them. I love reading all genres but am partial to Science Fiction, Mystery/Thrillers and Horror. Some of my favorite series are Dune, Foundation, Hyperion Cantos, Song of Fire and Ice, and the Kingkiller Chronicles. A few of my Favorite authors are Ray Bradbury, Chuck Palahnuik, Brett Easton Ellis, Joe Hill, Stephen King, Gillian Flynn, Dan Simmons and Riley Sager... (I could probably go on for a while)

Can't wait to talk books with everyone!

Hi, I’m khadidja, I’m 23 I live in France and I mostly read romance books alongside mangas (adventure,action and even romance).

I don’t have much to say concerning authors and favorite book bc I can’t really choose I feel like is restraining to put stickers on things I like.

Apart from that I try to learn different language so that I can read books in their first language to better understand them and the authors.

Nicole wrote: "Hey everyone.
I'm Nicole from northern California. I used to drive ships but now I work in a dry dock fixing them. I love reading all genres but am partial to Science Fiction, Mystery/Thrillers a..."

I don't read horror much, but did read Stephen King's this year. Very interesting. I picked up his latest book recently. I'm looking forward to it.

I'm excited to see lots of intros since I was last on.

Welcome Chrissie, Erica, Chompa, Concha, Fabi, Daniela, Nicole & Khadidja!

I saw a few people mention horror. One author I read for the first time this year is C.J. Tudor. I think she is more well-known in the UK vs the USA. Her books aren't even shelved at my local Barnes and Noble but they are easy to get online. Stephen King said that if you like his stuff...you will like hers.

Hi Everyone,

My name is Jenny, and I live in Melbourne. I am passionate about people enjoying the wonderful world of reading. I work full-time as a librarian, but during my free time, I am always reading. I do read all genres. However, my favourites are Crime and Romantic Suspense.

I am looking forward to discussing books with you all. Take care and stay safe.

Hi everyone, Stuart from South Africa and author of 6 poetry book. As for reading choices, pretty much anything that catches my attention

Hi everyone, I'm Melinda from Vancouver, Canada. I work at a public library so am lucky to be surrounded by books all day!! The only struggle I have is to many new and amazing books cross my path daily that I can't read them all in this lifetime.

I'm a horror, thriller, and romance junkie. I will read just about anything though to increase my knowledge so I can try and be better at readers' advisory for my library customers.

I also loving knitting/crocheting, cooking and my fur baby Yoda!

Bonus question (not required) - Who is the character from one of your books you would most like to meet? SANDMAN! He's my perfect partner/soul mate!

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Hello~

I'm Lilly Lustwood and I write... erm, not sure if it's appropriate here lol. I write Feminization, Sissification, and Transgender Romances. Nice to meet all of you!

Hello and welcome to Jenny, Stuart, Melinda, and Lilly!

Lilly wrote: "Hello~

I'm Lilly Lustwood and I write... erm, not sure if it's appropriate here lol. I write Feminization, Sissification, and Transgender Romances. Nice to meet all of you!"

Hi Lilly. You are an author--nothing inappropriate about that. And while the kind of books/stories you write aren't the type that we will likely read/discuss in this group, in no way does that diminish your creativity or the work that you do.

Glad to have you here. Welcome to the group.

Jenny and Melinda--good to see more librarians in the group. My wife will be pleased :)

John wrote: "Jenny and Melinda--good to see more librarians in the group. My wife will be pleased :)"

Is your wife part of this group, John?

Chompa wrote: "John wrote: "Jenny and Melinda--good to see more librarians in the group. My wife will be pleased :)"

Is your wife part of this group, John?"

She is--though she isn't as active on Goodreads as many.

Hello everyone!

My name is Kaitlyn and I work in a public library in the Illinois. I like to read a variety of genres from romance, horror, sci-fi (especially ya dystopian), fantasy, fiction, thriller/mystery etc.

Growing up I read so much that it just fits that I am a librarian now. My all time favorite series that gives me all the feels and childhood memories is Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan. I have a huge love for history and mythology (hence my history bachelor's degree) and this series got me through some tough times even though its a "children's series." Much love for Rick and I would definitely want to meet Annabeth and Percy.

I have never been a part of a book club before so I am very excited for this new experience!

Hi all, a quick hello from me! I'm Theresa and I live in central Ohio. My job is in marketing for a commercial real estate team (think leasing and selling large office buildings and that's us). I love reading, always have since I was little, thanks to my mom. I also have a weakness for Stephen King, also thanks to my mom. She had every book he published back in the day. I'm continuing that tradition.

I tend to gravitate toward horror, mystery, thrillers, but I'll read anything that has well developed characters. I also love discovering new (to me) authors. It's fun posting reviews on GoodReads, Instagram, and Bookbub and getting to connect with the authors on a personal level as a result! That's something that would never happen with Stephen King as much as I love him! Haha.

I love to dabble in arts and crafts. I actually was enrolled as a fine arts major for a while in my younger years. A personal non-reading goal for 2023 is to get more comfortable with drawing on my ipad.

One last thing - even though I don't currently work in a library, one of my first "professional" jobs was as a circulation clerk in a small county library. I loved every minute of it! The only reason I'm still not doing it is because it was part time and minimum wage. That just can't pay the bills! :)

I'm Danielle, I live in North Dakota, and I'm a librarian at the university, for the College of Education.

My favorite genres are historical fiction like Sarah Cameron's Bluebird, speculative fiction like Margaret Atwood's Oryx & Crake, and fantasy that features strong female characters like Kristin Cashore's Graceling.

I ran a book club for many years in Syracuse NY, and belong to a local book club now - I like seeing a book I've read through someone else's eyes, they always mention something I didn't notice or didn't appreciate.

I don't buy books very often any more, I get almost everything I read from my library or the lovely local public library...

John - Happily married and living in VA. 5 kids and 3 grandchildren. Retired from the Army. Still trying to decide where to live after retiring from my current job.

Hi everyone. My name is Nanette. I am a high school teacher in New Jersey. I teach Spanish and Social Studies. I have a daughter in college and a son finishing high school. In addition to working and reading I am working on my doctorate in education.
Thanks for including me in this book club.
Happy New Year!

Hi everyone!
I'm Jannelies, from a small village in the Netherlands. I have a fulltime job as support staff member at a university, which is wonderful because there's people from all ages and all backgrounds. I've always been an avid reader although with my job, my husband and my 2 cats, I do not nearly have enough time to read everything I want to.

I read a lot of different genres: (international) literature (in Dutch of course, but also in English), Science Fiction, children's books (I have a collection of children's books from the fifties and sixties), horror, history, dystopian and thrillers/crime.
I stick to (translated) books in English (I just love Scandinavian authors but I sadly cannot read them in the original language) because I don't like reading books translated into Dutch anymore.

Some of my favourite authors:
SF: Asimov, Vance, Hamilton, Silverberg, Green, Brown, Dick, Nivens, Simons.
Dutch literature: Couperus, Voskuil, Wolkers, Hermans, Thijssen.
Russian literature: Dostojevsky, Solzhenitsyn.
American literature: Austen, Brontë, Steinbeck.
British literature: Dickens!
Horror: Poe, Lovecraft, King.
Crime/thrillers: my absolute favourite is John Connolly but Jo Nesbo and Start MacBride complete my top-3.

I still buy books in print, but only 10 or so a year, and I gave a lot of books away over the years, but I still have about 1.500 printed books. The majority of my books I read on my Kindle or via ReadEra; I think I own something like 850 digital books now.

Happy to be invited here!

Kaitlyn, Theresa, Danielle, John, Nanette, and Jannelies -- Welcome to the group!

Hello, my name is Dale and I'm from Raleigh NC.

I've been a reader all my life. My preference are thrillers, suspense, mysteries, some biographies, and science fiction. Favorite authors; Dean Koontz, Vince Flynn, Lee Child, Brad Thor, Lincoln Child, and several more.

I read on a kindle, some hardbacks, and listen to audiobooks when traveling. I collect signed 1st editions of Dean Koontz.
Due to limited space, I don't collect books by other authors, just ran out of room.

Thanks for the invite to the group.

-Dale

Hello Everyone,
My name is Kelvin, but please call me Kinder. I live in Fridley, Minnesota. I've always loved books, movies, tv and music.


I mainly read audiobooks. For my reading preferences they are all over the map, Sci Fi, Adventure, Fantasy, M/M romance, Suspense, Thriller, Mystery, Horror, and Young Adult.
Some of my favorite authors are: Stephen King, Dean Koontz, John Saul, Dr. Robin Cook, Sue Grafton, Agatha Christie, Robert B Parker, John Sanford, Mary Calmes, Rhys Ford, Lexi Ander, X Aratare, TJ Klune, Amy Lane, Richard Paul Evens, Frank Herbert, BV Larson, James Patterson, Christopher Paolini, jk Rowling, Isaac Asimov, Douglas Adams, John Sanford, Patricia Cornwell.

what the rating stars mean to me
5 - stars loved it I'll read it till I'm dead
4- stars loved it will read yearly maybe more
3- stars like it hope you give it a read
2- stars its ok not my interest but a fair book
1 - star its a book

thanks for the invite,
Kinder

Hello, my name is Jaleesa and I'm from Houston, Texas. I read pretty much everything, but majorly from the Fantasy, Suspense/Thriller, and Horror genres. I always have a book near me and although I read for enjoyment, I also am intentional about reading "harder" and challenge myself to read diversely. I'm a mood reader and this year I'm trying to be more focused and not have 15 books going at once (lol).

My favorite authors are Octavia E. Butler, N. K. Jeminsin, Robin Hobb, B.A. Paris, Janelle Brown, Mike Gayle, and Roxane Gay.

Something fun and unique about me...hmmm, I've enjoyed Stephen King's It in all forms. It's fun and unique from my social circle's viewpoint (lol). I love how it's more than just about a creepy clown.

If I had to choose one character to meet, it would be Hubert Bird from All the Lonely People by Mike Gayle.

Looking forward to reading with you all.

J

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Hi -I'm Pat from Atlanta, and so glad to be among a group of fellow readers. My favorite genre is literary fiction, but will certainly digress if the premise is interesting. I recently read Hidden Valley Road, a NF that was fascinating. My favorite book is A Prayer for Owen Meany, followed closely by The Heart's Invisible Furies and A Fine Balance. I will read anything written by John Boyne, Wally Lamb, Ian McEwan, Joyce Carol Oates, Rohinton Mistry, F. Scott Fitzgerald or Theodore Drieser (An American Tragedy is excellent). I look forward to everyone's recommendations.

A warm welcome to Dale, Kinder, Jaleesa, and Pat!

Hi Dale, Kinder, Jaleesa, and Pat!

Hi, I’m Diana from Melbourne Australia 🇦🇺. I turn 60 this year. I’m a single, never married, crazy cat lady. Only one cat but she rules my home. I’m a Library Technician at the local high school. I used to read up to 80 books a year but this year I’ve set a more modest goal. I want to enjoy my reading more. I’ll read most anything but not a fan of cosies or romance. Memoir and biography are my favourite genres. My other hobbies are cross stitch embroidery, quilting, op shopping (thrifting) and snail mail. Looking forward to joining you all in some reading.

Diana wrote: "Hi, I’m Diana from Melbourne Australia 🇦🇺. I turn 60 this year. I’m a single, never married, crazy cat lady. Only one cat but she rules my home. I’m a Library Technician at the local high school. I..."

You could be my sister! I'm also a single-cat crazy lady who loves cross-stitch. And our book interests are identical too...

Welcome, Diana!

Welcome Khushi!

Hi everyone,
Thanks for inviting me to the group! I am a Swedish author living in Washington, DC. My debut "It Came to Me on a Whim – The Story of Ingeborg Andersson, Child Murderess" was recently published in English and since last fall it is required reading in the Scandinavian Crime Literature course at UCLA. It tells the story of my great-aunt who killed her three children in 1929. Before publishing my first novel in 2018, I spent over 25 years in the field of international development. I love the Russian and French classics, but mostly read historical fiction. One of my favorite authors is Kjell Westö from Finland. When I don't read I like running and yoga.
I have two children

Welcome, Maria.

Christine wrote: "Peacejanz wrote: "OK - here goes. I am Jan Zahrly, (female) and go by peacejanz on the internet. I started signing myself as peacejanz about 30 years ago after 2+ years as a Peace Corps Volunteer, ..."

Sorry it has taken me so long to get back to you, Christine. Family, etc. Arthur Ashe said, "Never give up." And that is what I lived with. Never give up - each day, get up out of bed, take your medicine, and pick up your gratitude journal. For over 20 years, I have maintained one. Before the day begins and trouble starts, write down in the gratitude journal, five things that you are grateful for. Just five. Do not get carried away - that is a different journal. Ever day that I am alive, I write out five things I am gateful for. It really helps. Gets the day focused on what is good. It may be the same five things you wrote yesterday. No big deal. I live in Florida and have a wonderful sun room so I am often thanking God that the squirrels did not eat all the bird feed of for a lovely bird at my feeder, or my neighbor's lovely garden, maybe that my pineapple plant is still alive and the moles, racoons, birds, turtles have not eaten yet. Repeats are ok. Just list 5 things you are thankful for each morning. If you can not possibly think of five - go back to bed. This is really advice for your loved one. Every day, I am thankful that I can still get around. Walker, cane - but I can move around. In fact, now that I think of it, both of you should keep a gratitude journal - if you do it together, one of you may miss something important. This is a private journal - not for sharing with the world unless it will help someone. Good luck. peace, janz

Hello fellow readers!

I live in a small town in Alabama. I have lived all around the southeastern US. I don't want to live too far away from the beach:) I live in the woods with lots of wildlife that ventures into my yard. I have 2 sons, grown and married. And I have 2 wonderful granddaughters (11 and 6). We have lots of fun memories of reading together. I read a variety of genres including horror and sci fi but my favorites are mystery/thrillers. I don't read romance but I can tolerate it if the book is good otherwise. My favorite author is Allen Eskens.