An delightful and enlightening book about seven strong-willed women intent on fighting for necessary changes during the French Revolution.
SUMMARY RIBBAn delightful and enlightening book about seven strong-willed women intent on fighting for necessary changes during the French Revolution.
SUMMARY RIBBONS OF SCARLET is The French Revolution as seen through the eyes and voice of seven women who actively participate in the revolution. In the late eighteenth century women don’t have a place in politics, but as the revolution begins, these courageous women take up the fight, each with a different purpose.
The women are all from different backgrounds but each has a vested interest in this revolution. Salon hostess and philosopher, Sophie de Grouchy, is fighting for equality and education for women. Fruit-seller and revolutionary, Louise Audu is hungry and wants food for all. The king’s sister, Princess Elizabeth fights to defend her brother’s rule. Writer and Politician, Manon Roland puts her faith in the pen, writing speeches. Chocolate-maker Pauline Leon and the steely Charlotte Corday embrace violence as the only way to save the nation. But the fate of these women rests with the ability of the beautiful Emilie de Sante-Amaranthe to sway the one man who controls France’s fate.
REVIEW I loved the concept of this book and being introduced to these seven strong-minded women who actually stood up for change during the French Revolution. The subject was intriguing, even causing me to research the internet for more about each of these amazing women. The book is an inspiring tribute to this sisterhood who willingly put their lives on the line for change in their country. Each of women showed courage, dedication, and perseverance.
Ribbons of Scarlet is divided into six parts, each written by a different author. Authors Kate Quinn, Stephanie Dray, Laura Kamoie, Sophie Perinot, Heather Webb, and E. Knight also formed a sisterhood to pull off this delightful book. The writing is enlightening and the stories were creatively woven together by ribbons of scarlet.
Thanks to the authors for an advance reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
An delightful and enlightening book about seven strong-willed women intent on fighting for necessary changes during the French Revolution.
SUMMARY RIBBONS OF SCARLET is The French Revolution as seen through the eyes and voice of seven women who actively participate in the revolution. In the late eighteenth century women don’t have a place in politics, but as the revolution begins, these courageous women take up the fight, each with a different purpose.
The women are all from different backgrounds but each has a vested interest in this revolution. Salon hostess and philosopher, Sophie de Grouchy, is fighting for equality and education for women. Fruit-seller and revolutionary, Louise Audu is hungry and wants food for all. The king’s sister, Princess Elizabeth fights to defend her brother’s rule. Writer and Politician, Manon Roland puts her faith in the pen, writing speeches. Chocolate-maker Pauline Leon and the steely Charlotte Corday embrace violence as the only way to save the nation. But the fate of these women rests with the ability of the beautiful Emilie de Sante-Amaranthe to sway the one man who controls France’s fate.
REVIEW I loved the concept of this book and being introduced to these seven strong-minded women who actually stood up for change during the French Revolution. The subject was intriguing, even causing me to research the internet for more about each of these amazing women. The book is an inspiring tribute to this sisterhood who willingly put their lives on the line for change in their country. Each of women showed courage, dedication, and perseverance.
Ribbons of Scarlet is divided into six parts, each written by a different author. Authors Kate Quinn, Stephanie Dray, Laura Kamoie, Sophie Perinot, Heather Webb, and E. Knight also formed a sisterhood to pull off this delightful book. The writing is enlightening and the stories were creatively woven together by ribbons of scarlet.
Thanks to the authors for an advance reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
A psychological thriller about the extreme some girls will go to to get what they want.
SUMMARY
Goode girls don’t lie. Or do they? The Goode School is A psychological thriller about the extreme some girls will go to to get what they want.
SUMMARY
Goode girls don’t lie. Or do they? The Goode School is a prestigious prep school in Marchburg, Virginia. It’s the top choice for boarding schools of daughters of the rich and influential. The school only accepts the best and the brightest. It’s elite status and Honor Code is ideal for preparing young women for brilliant futures at Ivy League universities and beyond.
Students at Goode pretend to follow the rules. The honor code requires absolute honesty in both their work and personal relationships. But no one really questions the cruelties of the secret societies, or the dubious behavior of the privileged young women who expect to get away with murder. When a popular student is found dead the truth cannot be ignored. Rumors suggest she was struggling with a secret that drove her to suicide.
But look closely, because there is the truth and there are lies, and then there is everything that really happened.
REVIEW GOOD GIRLS LIE is a psychological thriller about the extreme and desperate lengths some girls will go to get what they want. It is full of teenage angst and well as sex, drugs and death. Within days of Ash Carlisle arriving at Goode, the beloved piano teacher is dead. Within weeks after her arrival a student commits suicide. Could Ash be responsible for these deaths? Will she stop at nothing to get what she wants.
It’s really hard to like or even trust Ash. It’s impossible to tell when she is telling the truth and when she is lying. But then, everyone seems to be lying at Goode, from the headmistress, Ford Westhaven to the head girl, Becca Curtis to Ash, the newest member of the sophomore class.
J. T. ELLISON’s story is clever with a slow build to the reveal. There is a continuous flow of staccato suspense on every page. My main concern is that the story is a little to incredible to be believed. This book would probably be enjoyed most by a young adult audience.
J. T. Ellison has written twenty novels and is an award winning New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. She lives in Nashville. Thanks to Netgalley, J. T. Ellison and MIRA for an advance reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
A poignant, thought-provoking and moving coming-of-age story steeped in mystery and suspense.
SUMMARY Frank Drum was thirteen years old in the Summer oA poignant, thought-provoking and moving coming-of-age story steeped in mystery and suspense.
SUMMARY Frank Drum was thirteen years old in the Summer of 1961. That was the summer that several people died in the small town of New Bremen, Minnesota. The first death was Bobby Cole, a simple boy with glasses who was killed on the railroad tracks near the Minnesota River on the outskirts of town. Bobby was the same age as Frank and they knew each other. Was Bobby’s death an accident or something evil? This is the first in a series of deaths that summer, each with a different cause; accident, nature, suicide and murder. Each death hammered away at Frank’s faith, but one inparticular hit very close to home.
Frank shares a bedroom with Jake, his eleven year old, younger brother. The two go just about everywhere together. Jake is often bullied in school because he stutters whenever talking in public. Frank and Jake also have an older sister, Ariel who is a piano prodigy and will soon be headed off to college at Juilliard. The Drum family is headed by their parents Nathan, a Methodist minister and Ruth, who manages the music ministry at the church, but has never relished the role of being a minister’s wife.
“He who learns must suffer. And even in our sleep pain, which cannot forget, falls drop by drop upon the heart, until, in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God. “
REVIEW ORDINARY GRACE is poignant, thoughtful and moving coming-of-age story steeped in suspense and mystery. It is beautifully written and brilliantly plotted with well-developed engaging characters that propel this story of family and community. The story is told from Frank’s perspective of the events some forty years later.
My favorite moment in the book was when young Jake rose up to say a prayer before a meal in front of a large gathering of people. It was a beautiful and poignant moment in time, one that will not soon be forgotten.
Another memorable and thought-provoking moment in the book was the inclusion of the above quote from Aeschylus referencing the “awful grace of God.” That phase stopped me in my tracks and I had to reread the quote several times. Frank’s father tells his son “I don’t think it is meant in a bad way. I think it means beyond our understanding.” I turned to the dictionary to discover awful doesn’t just mean extremely disagreeable, as it is most often used. But awful can also mean inspiring awe or filled with awe. It was only after reviewing these later definitions that I gain some slight insight into the phrase. But what did Aeschylus mean? I loved how this phase, which was also used by Robert Kennedy referring to his own grief at the 1963 murder of his brother John F. Kennedy, fit so well into the story of ORDINARY GRACE. The quote was later engraved on the headstone of Robert Kennedy.
Author WILLIAM KENT KRUEGER deftly captures a coming-of-age story during a summer of unspeakable loss. Krueger is a NYT bestselling author and his work has received numerous awards. He writes a mystery series set in the north woods of Minnesota, know as the Cork O’Conner series. His newest book is a fabulous stand-alone novel, published in September 2019, titled This Tender Land. Both Ordinary Grace and This Tender Land are must reads.
“The dead are never far from us. They are in our hearts, and on our minds and in the end all that separates us from them is a single breath, one final puff of air.”
LEE CHILD’s writing is skillfully descriptive and masterfully intense.
SUMMARY Reacher is on a Greyhound bus minding his own business with no particulaLEE CHILD’s writing is skillfully descriptive and masterfully intense.
SUMMARY Reacher is on a Greyhound bus minding his own business with no particular place to go. Ever observant, he notices an old man who is carrying a lot of cash in his pocket. At the next stop the man steps off the bus and someone else is following him. Reacher gets off too.
Reacher soon learns that the elderly couple has made a few well-meaning mistakes and now they owe some very bad people money. A lot more money than they have. Reacher offers to help and quickly finds himself in the middle of a turf war between rival Ukrainian and Albanian gangs.
He teams up with a waitress who knows more that she’s willing to talk about. Together they set out to take down the powerful gangs and make the greedy pay.
“This is a random universe,” Reacher says. “Once in a blue moon things turn out just right.”
REVIEW This is Jack Reacher #24 and I am happy to say I have loved every single one of Lee Child’s books in this series which started in 1997. Each book is a comfortable and fast read. You know what your going to get when you open the cover. The story is going to be gripping and intense and Reacher is going to make things right. He always does. You may not like how he goes about it, but his rationale makes total sense.
Jack Reacher at six-foot-five is his own man. He is smart, strategic and strong and empathetic. He has the ability to find trouble everywhere he goes. And he will never turn a blind eye to someone who needs help. You’ll want Jack Reacher in your corner when you need help.
LEE CHILD’s writing in Blue Moon is skillfully descriptive and masterfully intense. He makes it easy to visualize the old man with bulging pocket getting off the bus and walking down the street. Reacher takes us on a breathless ride of action and suspense, and easily juggles multiple plot lines before merging them together.
Evanovich’s clear and clever writing draws you in and then delivers a knockout punch.
SUMMARY
Bounty-hunter Stephanie’s Plum grandma just got married. Evanovich’s clear and clever writing draws you in and then delivers a knockout punch.
SUMMARY
Bounty-hunter Stephanie’s Plum grandma just got married. She married a local Trenton, New Jersey gangster named Jimmy Rosolli. But before the wedding day was even over Grandma Mazur was a widow. Jimmy dropped dead of a heart attack on the floor of the casino, right in front of the slot machine he was playing just 45 minutes after the nuptials.
Things turn dangerous for Grandma Masur when Jimmy’s former “business partners” the Lazy Boys, are convinced that his new widow has possession of the keys to a financial windfall. But the one thing these wise guys didn’t count on was Stephanie Plum. She’ll do anything to save her grandma, the one person who means the most to her.
“Grandma was in her mid-seventies and didn’t look a day over ninety.”
REVIEW Sometimes you just need a book that is light and easy and fun. This is it. While a book about a death is not necessarily funny, Stephanie Plum’s exploits certainly are. She can always make me laugh. We couldn’t be more opposite, but I love her, I closed the cover of Twisted Twenty-Six with a huge smile on my face. It was exactly what I needed.
Janet Evanovich’s clear and clever writing draws you in and delivers a knockout punch. All the regular characters in this epic series are, as always, delightful. You can’t help but fall in love with Grandma Mazur and her flaming red hair, or Stephanie’s full-figured sidekick Lula, and her spandex clothing. And you can’t blame Stephanie for not being able to decide between Ranger and Morelli. Evanovich makes reading a pleasure. The twenty-sixth book in this series is no exception.
“Notice he called us losers and not quitters. That’s on account of we never quit. In my mind that’s the difference between a loser and a winner. A winner is willing to look like an idiot for as long as it takes to get the job done.”
The significant historical events of 1969 are uniquely interwoven into the personal lives of the Levin family.
SUMMARY Summer of ‘69 is a family saga cThe significant historical events of 1969 are uniquely interwoven into the personal lives of the Levin family.
SUMMARY Summer of ‘69 is a family saga centered on four siblings. The mother Kate Levin has taken to drinking after her only son, Tiger is drafted and sent to Vietnam. Blair, the eldest sibling is pregnant with twins and escapes to Nantucket while her astrophysicist husband Angus, is consumed by his work on the the Apollo space launch. Middle sister Kirby, is spreading her wings on Martha’s Vineyard this summer after getting arrested for protesting and a recent breakup with a married man. Jessie is 13, and the youngest sibling and facing puberty. She has a crush on Pick, the grandson of the family’s longtime caretaker and is consumed with her brother’s absence.
REVIEW The Summer of ‘69 happens to be a significant time in the personal life of author Elin Hildebrand. That was the summer that she and her brother were born. This story serves as a historical capsulation of the significant events from that summer. The Apollo 11 mission, Chappaquiddick, Woodstock and the Vietnam war are all referenced in the book. Each of these events are interwoven into the personal lives of members of the Levin family. An interesting twist on the historical fiction genre.
The story is that of a privileged-family summer drama. The writing was good and this just may make a nice beach read if you are looking some something light and breezy. But you may find yourself easily distracted by the sand, the sun and the waves. The rock-and-roll era of the day is given a nod through the themed chapter titles which are drawn from songs popular at the time like: Born to Be Wild, Magic Carpet Ride, White Rabbit, and a Whiter Shade of Pale.
I listened to the audible edition of the story and enjoyed the narration....more
A deftly written and thought-provoking book that will stick with you long after the last page is turned.
SUMMARY Quincy Miller has spent the past twentA deftly written and thought-provoking book that will stick with you long after the last page is turned.
SUMMARY Quincy Miller has spent the past twenty-two years in prison for a crime he did not commit. He had no lawyer and no advocate until he wrote a letter to Guardian Ministries, a small innocence group based in Savannah, Georgia which handles only a few wrongful conviction cases at a time. Cullen Post, one of the founders of Guardian Ministries is a lawyer, and minister who travels the South investigating the evidence in innocence cases, and he has agreed to take Quicy’s case.
Quincy had been accused of murdering a young lawyer named Keith Russo. Russo was shot at his desk, while working late one night. The killer left no clues and no witnesses behind. But Quincy was framed, convicted and sent to prison for life for Russo’s murder. Powerful people murdered Russo and they will do whatever it takes to keep Quincy from getting exonerated. But Cullen Post will go anywhere and do whatever it takes to get Quincy’s name cleared.
“In at least half of the DNA exonerations of innocent men and women, bad forensics have been the cornerstone of the prosecution’s evidence.”
REVIEW THE GUARDIANS is a wrenching look at injustice in the legal system. I loved this book and could not stop myself from inhaling the pages. It reminded me of some of Grisham’s early legal thrillers.
Cullen Post’s character, who is based on a real person, was delightfully well developed. You will admire his dedication and diligence as well as his sensitivity and tirelessness in his efforts to clear Quincy’s name.
John Grisham’s writing is seamless and the story is compelling. He deftly captures the mood, the sense of urgency and the injustice of the wrongly convicted. You will feel the angst and the helplessness of both Quincy and Cullen. One of my favorite and funniest part of the book is when Cullen and Frankie, another Guardian Ministries employee, who had previously been exonerated, had quite an adventure in a haunted house.
THE GUARDIANS really makes you stop and think of the many men and women who have been wrongly convicted and are still serving time for crimes they did not commit. How many cases would and could be easily overturned by the DNA technology available today. Who will take up their cause? Who will fight for them as hard as Cullen fought for Quincy. This is the kind of thought-provoking book that will stick with you long after the last page is turned.
THE GUARDIANS is John Grisham 40th novel, and there is no doubt that the man can write a good story. His inspiration for this book came from two sources. Cullen Post’s character is based on Jim McClosky of Centurion Ministries in New Jersey, while the plot for The Guardians is based on the true story of Joe Bryan who was wrongfully convicted of murdering his wife in Texas. I listened to this compelling book on Audible and immensely enjoyed the narration of the story by Michael Beck.
A haunting yet deeply moving coming-of-age story swirled in prejudice, guilt and grief.
SUMMARY Boady Sanden is a freshman at St. Ignatius High School A haunting yet deeply moving coming-of-age story swirled in prejudice, guilt and grief.
SUMMARY Boady Sanden is a freshman at St. Ignatius High School in Jessup, Missouri. For the most part Boady is invisible, that is until he became a target of bullies, because he stuck up for an African-American girl in his class. When he is not at school or at work Boady loves to escape in the woods near his home on Frog Hollow Road fishing and exploring. Boady has no real friends, until Thomas Elgin and his family move in across the road and his life is changed forever. Boady soon come to realize the stark lines of race and class that divide his community and he is force to choose sides.
REVIEW NOTHING MORE DANGEROUS is part murder mystery, part coming-of-age story swirled in prejudice, guilt, grief and self-discovery in the mid 1970’s. The story is haunting yet deeply moving. It’s a perfect blend of characters, setting and story.
The main characters were delightful and totally drive the narrative. You will fall in love with Boady and want to protect him, you will cheer when his friendship with Thomas develops, you will wonder about his elusive next door neighbor Hoke, and you will despise the bully’s that taunt him.
My favorite part was when Boady and Thomas dropped through a pine tree. Not exactly sure exactly how that worked but that exhilarating escapade should come with a warning—folks do not try this at home!
This is the third Allen Eskens book I have read and they have all been wonderfully descriptive and fabulously written. Eskens is the best-selling author of six novels including The Shadows We Hide (2018) and The Life We Bury, (2014) which is being developed into a feature film. Eskens lives in Joely, Minnesota where he has practiced criminal defense law for 25 years
Thanks to Netgalley for an advance reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
A beautifully written and timely story that is suspenseful, compelling and deeply affecting.
SUMMARY In a pleasant Acapulco neighborhood, gunmen slaughA beautifully written and timely story that is suspenseful, compelling and deeply affecting.
SUMMARY In a pleasant Acapulco neighborhood, gunmen slaughter 16 people at a family barbecue. From a grandmother, to the young girl who was celebrating her quinceañera, they are all dead. The only survivors were Lydia, a young mother and her eight-year-old son, Luca. Lydia knew they must run as fast and as far as possible.
Among the dead is Sebastian, Lydia‘s husband, a well-known journalist who had just published a featured article on Javier Crespo Fuentes, the leader of the local cartel, Los Jardineros. That article is the reason that her entire family is dead.
Reeling from shock, Lydia know she has to leave Acapulco immediately, and go somewhere the cartels cannot reach. Lydia knows Fuentes, and actually thought he was a friend. But now she knows he will be looking for her. She trusts no one and is constantly looking over her shoulder. The cartel is everywhere. She will do whatever it takes to keep her son safe. Lydia and Luca’s harrowing 1,600 mile journey to el norte begins with a terrifying bus ride.
Along the way they meet sisters, Soledad and Rebeca, who teach them what they need to know to ride the trains. They also meet ten-year-old Beto, who was born in a dump in Tijuana, but has the uncanny ability to make them all laugh when things are at their worst. It’s unlikely that all of them will survive the journey.
REVIEW AMERICAN DIRT is a beautifully told story of the drastic lengths a mother will go to protect her child. The book was both terrifying and riveting. Lydia and Luca’s journey is harrowing and frightening.
I felt as if I walked every step with Lydia. The descriptions of her emotions brought out in the story was impressive. Her shock and panic during and after the massacre, her courage and vulnerability on the road, and her strength and intelligence to do what it took to keep her son safe was heroic.
One of life pleasure is when a book totally surprises you with how good it is. This is one of those books. It’s a story that enlightens and educate us about the dangers so many are facing in Mexico as the power of the drug cartels increases. The dangers are real and their lives are at stake. The choice is difficult, do they stay in the home they know and love and die, or do they want to survive.
Author Jeanine Cummins the wife of a formerly undocumented immigrant started the novel to give a face to the migrants at the Mexican border. She is the author of three other books: The Outside Boys (2010), and The Crooked Branch (2013) and her best-selling memoir A Rip in Heaven (2004). She lives on New York with her husband and two children.
Cummings is interested in characters who suffer inconceivable hardship, and people who manage to triumph over extraordinary trauma, characters like Lydia and Soledad. While writing this book she asks the questions: how would I manage if I lived in a place that began to collapse around me, and If my children were in danger, how far would I go to save them? Those are the questions this book answers.
A beautifully written, absorbing story of four children and their turbulent river journey searching for safety and security.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️This Tender Land
A beautifully written, absorbing story of four children and their turbulent river journey searching for safety and security.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
SUMMARY In 1932, four orphans are forced to flee the Lincoln School, home to hundreds of Native Americans boys in Minnesota, leaving a body in their wake. Odie O’Banion, his older brother Albert, their best friend Mose, and a little girl name Emmy, steal away in a canoe, heading toward the Mississippi River and the town of St Louis. The brothers have an aunt, Aunt Julia, who lives in St. Louis. Emmy and Mose have no family left, but the brother are hoping Aunt Julie will take them all in. They are all looking for a home, some place safe and loving, and far away from the cruel school superintendent Mrs. Brickman.
Their journey takes place during the Great Depression, and the four orphans, who are wanted by the law, cross paths with a struggling farmer who holds them captive, a faith healer who offers them a home, and many displaced individuals and struggling families. Their adventure, complete with peril, takes them through small river towns and big cities on their search to find out where they belong.
“With every turn of the river since I’d left Lincoln School, the world had become broader, it’s mysteries more complex, it’s possibilities infinite.”
REVIEW THIS TENDER LAND is a beautifully written, absorbing story of four courageous children, calling themselves the Vagabonds, who are just looking for love and safety. They poignantly form their own little family and valiantly take care of one another.
The story is told from Odie’s point of view. It touches on Native Americans, and their loss of their heritage, as well as The Great Depression and the suffering by so many. It’s also about the innocence of youth during turbulent times.
You will find yourself wanting to reach out and adopt Odie, Albert, Mose and Emmy. You will want to shelter and protect them from the Brickman’s and the other evils awaiting them around each bend in the river. You will feel their fear, and hopefulness, My favorite part of the book was when Odie would play his harmonica and tell the other stories to take their minds of their troubles, aiding in their survival, fortitude and resilience during the bleak and treacherous times.
THIS TENDER LAND is simply unforgettable and well worth the commitment of 450 pages or over 14 hours of listening pleasure. Author William Kent Krueger has written one of my favorite books of the year, reminding me somewhat of the Adventures of Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer. Krueger thoughtfully and skillfully transports us from the Gilead River in Minnesota onto the Minnesota River, and finally to the mighty Mississippi River on the adventure of a lifetime for these four children.
“Ask me, God’s right here. In the dirt, the rain, the sky, the trees, the apples, the stars in the cottonwoods. In you and me too. It’s all connected and it’s all God. Sure this land is hard work, but it’s good work because it’s part of what connects us to this land, Buck. This beautiful, tender land.
A unique and entertaining modern day gothic thriller.
SUMMARY Libby Jones just turned 25, and one day shortly after she returns from work to find a lettA unique and entertaining modern day gothic thriller.
SUMMARY Libby Jones just turned 25, and one day shortly after she returns from work to find a letter that will change her life forever. In this letter, she learns not only the identity of her birth parents, but also that she is the sole inheritor of their abandoned gothic mansion on the banks of the Thames River in London‘s fashionable Chelsea neighborhood. The house is worth millions.
Twenty-five years ago police were called to 16 Cheyne Walk with reports of a baby crying. When they arrived they found a healthy, happy ten-month old baby in a crib. Downstairs, in the kitchen, three bodies are lined up on the floor, all dressed in black. The four other children reported to live at the house were gone. What happened in this house? Were there other adults? Where are the other children?
REVIEW THE FAMILY UPSTAIRS is a complex psychological thriller. The writing was suspenseful and draws you into the story. The complexity comes from the story being told from three different perspectives with varying timeframes. Libby’s perspective is told in the current day as she become acquainted with the creaks and groans and history of her newly inherited house.
The second perspective is from Henry, who was one of the children who had disappeared from the house. Henry’s chapters take us into the gothic mansion in the late 1980’s. He tells us the story of how slowly and yet quickly his parents and house changed after “they” arrived. The story Henry tells is vexing and unsettling.
The third perspective is from Lucy, a homeless women in France, with two kids and a dog. She was another one of the children who had been in the house back in the day. Her story is also told from the current day perspective, and she is willing to do anything to get back to that house in Chelsea, even make nice with her violent ex-husband.
Initially, the reading was difficult, adjusting to the various perspectives, and the large number of relevant characters. With the exception of Libby, the characters were while well-developed, either weak, unlikable or downright creepy. It was a quick read for me once I got into it and I found THE FAMILY UPSTAIRS fairly original and moderately entertaining.
Thanks to Netgalley for an advance reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
An intriguing and richly told tale of a strong women with strong moral character
SUMMARY Eliza Schuyler Hamilton was a general’s daughter who comes of aAn intriguing and richly told tale of a strong women with strong moral character
SUMMARY Eliza Schuyler Hamilton was a general’s daughter who comes of age in the frontier of upstate New York during the American Revolution. When she meets Alexander Hamilton, Washington’s passionate aide-de-camp, she is captivated by his charisma and brilliance. She soon becomes his wife, but their union is far from perfect. When a duel ultimately destroys Eliza’s marriage, she fights her husband’s enemies to preserve Hamilton’s legacy. But long-buried secrets threatens everything Eliza believes about her marriage and her own legacy.
But the measure of a man, of a life, of a union of man and wife or even country is not in the falling. It’s in the rising back up again to repair what’s broken, to put right what’s wrong. Your father and I did that. We always did that. He never stop trying until the day he died. And neither will l.
REVIEW I was drawn like a moth to a flame by this intriguing and enlightening historical fiction book. Having read Hamilton’s biography by Ron Chernow and seen the Hamilton Broadway play, I looked forward to learning more about Eliza Hamilton and her contribution as one of the founding mothers of this nation. MY DEAR HAMILTON did not disappoint. It delivers a dramatic part-historical, part-fictional narrative of Eliza’s life during the years of 1775-1837.
Since very little historical source material exists for Eliza, the authors had an uphill battle and had to extrapolate much of what they wrote. Authors Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie did a stellar job capturing the woman, her character, her contributions and her place in history. The writing was smart and highly entertaining. In reading historical fiction it is always important to understand the liberties taken in the book, the author’s note at the end of the book are a must-read.
The story is a richly told tale of a strong woman with strong character, who led an interesting and challenging life. The book is long, at 652 pages. I listened to the audio book for over 23 hours. This book reminds me of one of my favorite historical fiction novels, America’s First Daughter, which was also written by Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie. Both books are delightful and bring strong and courageous women from America’s past to life.
“What a high-minded thing revolution had seemed when it started; but now I wondered if, in trying to bring about liberty, we’d instead opened the gates of endless war, bloodshed, and immorality.”
A creative and beautifully written story of a disfigured boy with a language all his own.
SUMMARY The ancient Nana Reja finds a newborn baby boy abandoA creative and beautifully written story of a disfigured boy with a language all his own.
SUMMARY The ancient Nana Reja finds a newborn baby boy abandoned under a bridge, and the lives of a family ina small village are changed forever. The baby was disfigured and covered in a living blanket of bees. Little Simonopio was thought by some to be kissed by the devil. But as he grows the Morales family who raises him, finds him to be incredible gifted. When he closes his eyes Simonopio can see visions of the future, both the beautiful and the dangerous. He is followed everywhere by his protective swarm of bees and together they help protect his adoptive family from evil and danger. The novel is set in Linares, Mexico against the backdrop of the Mexican Revolution and the Spanish Flu of 1918.
“He would have liked to discuss his bees and ask everyone why they didn’t hear them, given that they spoke to the others, too, as they did to him. Had he been able, he would have talked about the song the bees sang into his willing ear about flowers on the mountain, far away encounters, and friends that had not made it on the long journey home; about the sun that would beat down hard one day but be covered in storm clouds the next.”
REVIEW She had me when Simonopio was found under the bridge covered in bees. His story and that of his younger brother, Francisco Junior is poignant, thoughtful and moving. MURMUR OF BEES is a first rate journey back in time where we encounter the Mexican politics, the culture and a deadly fast-spreading epidemic. But the novel is much more personal than that. It’s about Simonopio, his brother and the adopted family he protects. Simonopio never speaks because of a cleft palate, but he has a language all his own.
It’s creative and beautifully written, with the charm of magically realism. And you won’t be forgetting Simonopio’s unique and sensitive character anytime soon. He can sense danger and evil, but has a deep heart-filled appreciation for the bounty of nature that surrounds him in the hills of the hacienda. My favorite part is that Simonopio is never without the company of at least one or two of his bees, appearing almost as moles on his face. While the story with multiple narrators meanders back and forth like a long and slow winding river, it is well worth the read. It’s a lovely book that ends way to soon, I just wanted more.
SOFÍA SEGOVIA is a best selling author who lives in Monterrey, Mexico. She has written three novels but this is her first to be translated to English. Murmur of the Bees was nominated for the 2019 National Book Awards.
“But let me tell you what I know, what I’ve concluded: it doesn’t matter whether time passes slowly or quickly. What you can be sure of is that, in the end, all you want is to have more.
Publisher AmazonCrossing/Brilliance Audio Published April 16, 2019 Narrated Xe Sands and Angelo Di Lorerto Review www.bluestockingreviews.com...more
A gripping tale of self discovery with great characters, descriptive writing and a fast paced story.
SUMMARY Joe Talbert,Jr. has never met his father. A gripping tale of self discovery with great characters, descriptive writing and a fast paced story.
SUMMARY Joe Talbert,Jr. has never met his father. While working for the Associated Press in Minneapolis, Joe comes across the story describing the murder of a man named Joseph “Toke” Talbert. Could this man be the father that abandoned him? Joe travels to the southern Minnesota blue collar town of Buckley, only to discover that the dead man was a lowlife auto mechanic, who was detested by everyone in the community. No one was surprised and most were glad he was gone. But if DNA results prove that Joe really is Toke’s son, he potentially stands to inherit quite a bit of money.
Joe’s investigation into his father and his murder, is further complicated by family secrets and the uncertainty in his personal life. His AP job is on the line for refusing to give up a source in a story, his girlfriend, Lila needs him to come back home immediately and he is irrevocable estranged from his addict mother.
“I want to believe that I am a better man than I am, but I know that I am not.”
REVIEW I first met Joe Talbert in Allen Eskins bestselling debut novel The Life We Bury in 2014. In this gripping sequel, Joe investigates the death of an unlikeable man and soon becomes a target himself. Eskins hits The Shadows We Hide out of the park, with robust characters, tight descriptive writing, and a fast-paced exciting story.
You will fall in love with Joe’s hardened yet sensitive character. You will become enmeshed in the lives of the various characters and the intricate story will keep your head in the book. The twists are as good as the pretzels in the ballpark.
Eskens easily juggles multiple family-related story lines in The Shadows We Hide. It is a gratifying tale of self-discovery, with themes of good versus evil, redemption, and forgiveness. I listened to the Audible version of this book and highly enjoyed it. While the book is labeled as a sequel, this is one that can easily be read as a stand-alone. But you are going to want to read the The Life We Bury, it’s being made into a movie!
A tender and triumphant tribute to a beloved Southern author.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
SUMMARY Cassandra King was leading a quiet life as a professor, divorced from aA tender and triumphant tribute to a beloved Southern author.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
SUMMARY Cassandra King was leading a quiet life as a professor, divorced from a preacher, and a debut novelist when she met Pat Conroy. Their friendship evolved into a tentative long-distance relationship. Pat and Cassandra ultimately married because Pat hated the commute from coastal South Carolina to Cassandra’s native Alabama. It was a union that would last 18 years, until the beloved literary author’s death from pancreatic cancer in 2016 at seventy years old.
REVIEW I approached this book a little skeptical, but was hooked from page one. It’s a beautiful love story of two mature broken lives that are intertwined to form a relationship that is as strong and real as the majestic South Carolina moss-draped oak trees.
Fans of Pat Conroy will absolutely adore this book. Reading about his personal relationships with family and friends and his sense of humor made me want to read all of his books all over again with this new perspective. TELL ME A STORY is a tender and triumphant tribute to a beloved Southern author.
CASSANDRA KING CONROY wrote from her heart and from her experiences in the Carolina Lowcountry with a man who was larger than life. Her writing was honest and direct and the book was impossible to put down. She shared with us intimate moments of her life with this funny, generous yet, wounded man. I laughed, and cried, and read pages out loud to anyone that would listen to me. In a word, the book is superb!
King Ray, as Pat called her, has written six novels including Moonrise. (2013), Making Waves (2004, The Sunday Wife (2005), and The Same Sweet Girls (2007).
Thanks to Edelweiss and William Morrow for an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
A great debut historical novel, easy and enjoyable to read.
SUMMARY Beatrice Bordeaux grew up in rural area of Pennsylvania. She’s never felt comfortablA great debut historical novel, easy and enjoyable to read.
SUMMARY Beatrice Bordeaux grew up in rural area of Pennsylvania. She’s never felt comfortable among the privileged women summering on Montauk, Long Island. It’s 1938, and New York City’s wealthy elite are staying at the Montauk Manor. Beatrice was hoping this vacation on Montauk would strengthen her five-year marriage with her husband Harry, and possibly result in a baby. But Harry, after depositing Beatrice on Montauk with the other wives, is spending the summer in the city pursuing other interest.
The more Beatrice learns about how the women of New York spend their time on Long Island, the more isolated she feels. She has nothing in common with these women, and doesn’t fit in. Instead she make friends with Elizabeth, the hotel’s laundress who reminds her of her Pennsylvania roots. Beatrice is particularly drawn to the Montauk lighthouse and it’s keeper who shows her the natural beauty and the community spirit of the island. She is torn between the life she has and the life she wants to have.
“No matter how perfect all these lives seemed from a distance, so full of possibilities and promise, we all wanted more.”
REVIEW Make sure you have plenty of tissues close by when you read this, because it’s a tear-jerker of a story. Author Nicola Harrison has written a beautiful debut novel, a story of love, loss and friendship. Montauk is a well written story in a historical period that allows you to feel and see the social norms of the time. The setting is so beautifully descriptive that I would love to visit to see what the Montauk Manor and the lighthouse are like today.
Beatrice’s makes the perfect character for the story. She is vulnerable and pushes herself to find the strength to do what’s right. She stands up for for herself as well as for the town people. I also liked Beatrice’s best friend, Dolly, who was a smart and intelligent business woman, well ahead of her time. Overall, Montauk is a light, easy and enjoyable read. Great for a day at the beach.
“As we drove up the tight and winding road, tree branches reached overhead toward each other like lovers’ hands desperate to connect...”
For anyone familiar with the real story, this is a book you may not really want to read...read it anyway!
SUMMARY Elwood Curtis lives in a segregated TaFor anyone familiar with the real story, this is a book you may not really want to read...read it anyway!
SUMMARY Elwood Curtis lives in a segregated Tallahassee, Florida during the midst of the Civil Right movement in the 1960’s. He’s a smart boy and takes the words of Dr. Martin Luther King to heart: He is “as good as anyone.”
Elwood, a senior in high school, is innocently on his way to take college classes at local black college, when the unthinkable happens and his future is destroyed. He is sent to the Nickel Academy, a juvenile reform school that provides “physical, intellectual and moral training.”
In reality, the Nickel Academy is a chamber of horrors where the sadistic staff beats and sexually abuses students, and sells the Academy’s food and supplies to corrupt officials and locals. Boys who step out of line are likely to disappear “out back.”
Elwood is startled to find himself in such a vicious environment. His friend, Turner, thinks Elwood is naïve, instead Turner says the world is crooked and the only way to survive is to scheme and avoid trouble. The tension between Elwoods ideals and Turners skepticism leads to a decision whose repercussions will echo for years to come.
The Nickel Boys is based on the real story of a reform school in North Florida that operated for 111 years and ruined the lives of thousands of boys.
“Over time, Elwood saw that he was always simultaneously at home in whatever scene he found himself and also seemed like he shouldn’t have been there; inside and above at the same time; a part and apart. Like a tree trunk that falls across the creek—it doesn’t belong and then it’s never not been there, generating its own ripples in the larger current.”
REVIEW THE NICKEL BOYS is a fabulously written book about a difficult truth. The read is wrenching, but it’s also enlightening and moving. The writing is straight forward with thought-provoking prose.
It’s a historical fiction account of the actual treatment of boys who were sent to the Dozier School for Boys in Marianna, Florida which was operated by the state from 1900 to 2011. Throughout it’s 111 year history, the school gained a reputation for abuse, rapes, torture and murder. Many boys simply “disappeared” from Dozier. Only now are researchers finding the unmarked graves.
THE NICKEL BOYS, beautifully written by COLSON WHITEHEAD should be required reading. It’s takes a horrible event in history and gives the reader a glimpse of the brutality, segregation, discrimination during the Jim Crow era through the eyes of a seventeen year old boy. The story is captivating, but the reality is simply infuriating. This is a book you may not really want to read...but read it anyway! You’ll be glad you did.
I enjoyed listening to this disquieting audiobook narrated by JD Jackson. Elwood Curtis’s spirit and his efforts to stand up to injustice will not soon be forgotten.
“You can change the law but you can’t change people and how they treat each other.”
“If it’s true for you, it is true for someone else, and you are no longer alone.”
A Delightfully Funny Tale of Family, Pie and Beer.
SUMMARY Edith Magnuson‘s pies are deliciously famous. Still she lays awake wondering how her life migA Delightfully Funny Tale of Family, Pie and Beer.
SUMMARY Edith Magnuson‘s pies are deliciously famous. Still she lays awake wondering how her life might’ve been different if her father had not solely left their family farm to her sister Helen, a decision that split their family in two.
With the proceeds from the sell of their family’s farm Helen Blotz, built her husband Orval‘s families soda business into the top-selling brewery in Minnesota. She single-handedly created the light beer revolution, but Helen dismisses IPAs as a fad and the Blotz fortune takes a turn.
In her late teens, Diane Winters, Edith’s grand-daughter is given a shot at learning the beer business from the ground up, just as IPA revolution begins. The stakes could not be higher. Just as she’s launching her own brewpub she’s due to deliver a baby girl. Then the unthinkable happens and it’s up to Grandma Edith and her cadre of friends to secure the next generations chances for a better future. Can Grandma Edith’s Rhubarb Pie in a Bottle save Diana‘s fledgling brewery?
“When you see a man falling off a ladder above you, Edith believed, you don't envision your arms breaking. You just hold them out.”
REVIEW Pour yourself a cold one and sit back and enjoy this delightful book about three women in the beer business. THE LAGER QUEEN OF MINNESOTA is warm and funny, and a totally enjoyable read. It’s about the love and support of family, just when you need it the most. Just like good beer, You will know it’s a good book when you begin telling all your friends about it before you are even finished.
The writing is easy to read and humorous. The Minnesota setting for the book is unique and perfect. The three main characters are all nicely developed. You’ll fall in love with Edith because of her moxie. Despite the roadblocks put in her way, she just keeps on forging her own way in the world without complaint. I can’t wait to taste her Rhurbarb Pie in a Bottle. You’ll worry about Diane, but she has a little bit of her grandma’s moxie too. After a rough childhood she gets a little “tough love” help and it’s just just what she needs. And then there’s Helen...who simply does what’s best for Helen. There’s one in every family, but we love them anyway!
Author J. Ryan Stradal lives in Los Angeles County California. He grew up in the Midwest, in the southern Minnesota town of Hastings his first novel was Kitchens of the Great Midwest (2015) which won numerous awards. Now I know why. I think I’m going to be reading that one next.
“She was as calm as a small town on Christmas morning.”
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