#TheMusicShop – Rosepoint Publishing

Rosepoint Reviews – October Recap – All the News That’s Fit to Print

Rosepoint Reviews October Recap

I mentioned last recap that I moved my water garden critters inside as the weather took a cool turn and these can’t tolerate cold water. Inside, I have no lid, no light, no heater. So far, they’ve done well, but I had read that cool water (between 64-68 degrees) will keep the female snails from laying eggs. Nope. Now I have a clutch of eggs despite the temp. I’m wondering what colors they will produce, however, as I have both orange and ivory and don’t know which female laid the eggs. Always something!

In order to attend the local library American Mahjong games (they also have Chinese games), I’ve been studying any free apps I can find. Most have introductory games then a monthly fee. The games are several hours long and held weekly—no way I can do that—but was hoping to learn enough not to embarrass myself. Do you play?

Also, last recap I mentioned that Punkin the Pom would have her birthday in October, and she did, but it was her eighth, not the seventh. She continues to stretch her boundaries with us, finally getting comfortable enough with us to do so and continues to be a picky eater.

As usual a very busy month in which I take on far more than capable of accomplishing, but do it anyway, so, yes, my reviews have suffered. In the middle of trying to get a review to post during the month, discovered I could no longer use the Classic Editor without upgrading. The “happiness engineers” were pretty thrilled, I wasn’t. I paid for the basic and still getting used to it. The biggest problem for me is opening but not being kept in the dashboard. Despite the trauma and much gnashing of teeth, the CE and I read and reviewed four ebooks and six audiobooks in October.

I’m woefully behind reviewing audiobooks, with five read and sitting out there waiting for much needed attention. If I can get those caught up, it’ll go a long way towards my Goodreads goal for the year.

#RosepointPublishing - October Recap

EBooks

Secrets of the Artis Zoo by Paulette Mahurin (CE review)
Lady Reid’s Legacy by Jean Grainer
The Seagull by Wes Snowden (CE review)
Conspiracy by Colleen Coble

Audiobooks

Forget You Saw Her by Noelle W Ihli
Too Old for This by Samantha Downing
The Music Shop by Rachel Joyce ( book club selection)
He Started It by Samantha Downing
Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

Favorite Book of the Month

I liked both Too Old for This and Lady Reid’s Legacy but have to give the nod to Too Old for This because it was unique, shocking, and fast-paced. Never a dull moment there!

Favorite for October – Too Old for This

My Reading Challenges page…Once again, just too much going on with aquatic critters, cleaning up the yard, and trying to learn Mah Jong. Goodreads now at 107 books of a 125 book challenge, putting me at 86%. Also wrestling with my Amazon Vine goal and it’s looking like it’s going to be a squeaker.

To my readers and fellow bloggers: I appreciate every view and like and thank you so much for taking the time to check out my posts and leave your comments. You still remain the reason I keep posting and now own a two-year subscription.

Halloween books

The Music Shop: A Novel by Rachel Joyce #AudiobookReview #bookclub #TBT

Best Literature & Fiction

Another book I’d have never chosen, but a book club selection for September. An older book, albeit one that caught a lot of attention including a star rating of 2 (Kobo) to 4.3 (Amazon-US), that, once again, I struggled with. Being honest, it moved so slowly I might have DNF’d it, had it not been a book club pick we would be discussing at our October meeting.

My Thoughts

The glacial pace, for me at least, was occasionally moved to cruise when discussing the nuances of a particular portion of a popular song, whether contemporary or classic. The ensuing discussion often led to a new understanding of the lyrics and what they might really have meant. Not that the author was just happy at that point that the lines rhymed.

The Music Shop by Rachel Joyce — The Music Shop – US cover

Frank has a gift…no, not a gift, as he’s had a lifetime to build that acute sense of music and the acquired expertise, memory for songs instilled in him by a mother consumed by music. More devotion to her music than even for a son, longing for acknowledgment, love, and respect by devouring everything from old to new pieces, artists, and genres.

His loss is palpable. Sad. But his talent is in hearing a customer’s story and recommending the one song that will absolutely resonate with them, bring them back to joy and heal.

There were times when I got annoyed with Frank and his insistence on staying with vinyl. I could imagine, and knew, he’d be left behind with new technology and changes with the delivery of music and that he’d be woefully left behind times. Not that his whole neighborhood wasn’t changing, battling new ideas for development that didn’t include him.

So when Ilse is introduced to the storyline, I couldn’t see where in the world she’d fit in the scenario and what her angle might be. Frank has his secrets, so does she, and both so stubborn they’d lose twenty-one years of what might have been. ARGH!

I perked up near the conclusion and the flash mob idea with Handel’s Messiah Hallelujah Chorus. Still, even that disappointed and I had to search YouTube for a better version.

Book Club Thoughts

Once again, the book provided many a lively discussion, often times getting off topic with music providing such a wide arc for thought and conversation. Lots of sharing favorites—those songs that resonate deeply, personally, the lyrics that spoke to you. A variety of questions, most from author suggestions rather than the publisher.

A few of the questions specifically examined were:

► Why is Frank so insistent on staying with vinyl?

He inherited his mother’s huge collection; that is where his heart is.

► What did the people on Unity Street mean to him?

He was left alone after his mother passed and they were what constituted his family.

► What does Frank’s gift tell us about himself, his childhood?

He had absorbed the absolute meaning and feeling that music represented and could interpret what was most appropriate for the one seeking solace.

► Do you listen to music a little differently now?

Yes.

Reflecting on the music that gives me goosebumps, I can’t listen to Elvis singing, You Gave Me a Mountain without getting them. Of course, there are others. Having lost my brother during the ‘Nam war, it’s hard not to cry when I hear Bring Him Home (Josh Groban).

The book stirred some emotions, but, mercy—slow and sad just doesn’t do it for me. What did you think of the book? Your favorite song?

Book Details:

Publisher: Random House Audio
Narrator: Steven Hartley
Publication Date: January 2, 2018

Title Link(s):

Amazon-US | Amazon-UK | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

The Author: Rachel Joyce is the author of the Sunday Times and international bestsellers The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, Perfect, The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy, The Music Shop, the instant New York Times best seller Miss Benson’s Beetle, Maureen Fry & the Angel of the North and a collection of interlinked short stories, A Snow Garden & Other Stories. Her latest novel The Homemade God will be published in April ’25 in UK, and June ’25 in US and Canada.

Rachel’s books have been translated into thirty-seven languages and sold millions of copies world-wide. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Book prize and longlisted for the Man Booker Prize. The critically acclaimed film of the novel, for which Rachel wrote the screenplay, was released in 2023 starring Jim Broadbent and Penelope Wilton, and in 2025 the musical will open in Chichester Festival Theatre, for which Rachel also wrote the script. Miss Benson’s Beetle won the Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize 2021, Rachel was awarded the Specsavers National Book Awards ‘New Writer of the Year’ in December 2012 and she was shortlisted for the ‘UK Author of the Year’ 2014. In 2024 she was given an honorary doctorate by Kingston University.

Rachel has written many original afternoon plays and adaptations of the classics for BBC Radio 4 and she is currently adapting Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen which will be aired later this year. You can follow her on Instagram at rachelcjoyce.

The YMCA Bookclub