Opium and Absinthe - The Perils of Tillie- fun and misadventure

Opium and Absinthe
by Lydia Kang
4/5 stars
⭐⭐⭐⭐


In NYC at the end of the 18th century, the story starts when Tillie Pembroke breaks her collarbone following a fall in a failed horse jump. She is medicated for pain, and when she emerges from the haze a couple of days later, she finds that her beloved sister Lucy has disappeared. Lucy's body is ultimately discovered in Central Park, apparently killed by a vampire. (Bram Stoker's new tale Dracula is all the rage). Tillie vows to find out the truth, and the killer.

This book was a very quick read and a good study of the times. It was true to the times in that it really showed how restrained the movements of a young lady of breeding was. Women could not go anywhere alone, and other women of lower social standing were employed as lady's maids or companions because the women could not go alone or they would be "compromised" or perhaps unsafe. The correspondence of the main character was intercepted and reviewed by her mother and grandmother, and they decided whether she could receive or send the letters.

This was kind of a "Perils of Pauline" type tale, but there were some interesting sub-threads within the story. There were some of the stories of the "Newsies" and the strike by the news delivery kids, and they figured heavily in the end. Of course, the issue of drug addiction, to morphine, opium, heroin, and absinthe all figured into the story. It was a really interesting book, and in many ways sad, when you think of how restricted a woman's life was.

I enjoyed this book, and I thought the writing was good. I would recommend it to those who enjoy adventure and suspense within a historical setting.

Spinning Silver -An intriguing new Fairy Tale

Spinning Silver 
by Naomi Novik 
4/5 stars
⭐⭐⭐⭐



Spinning Silver is the tale of Miryem, who lives in Lithvas, a land that has descended into an unending winter because of the Staryk, ice people who live in an alternate universe.

The granddaughter of a famous and canny moneylender, on a sleigh ride home, Miryem boasts she can turn silver to gold and is overheard by the Staryk king. He sets her the same task, with the promise of reward upon completion, and the adventures are off.

This is an excellent story, well-written and well-told. The characters are described in-depth, and the reader can see their rough brown home-spun clothes, in contrast to the fine clothes of the nobility, and can feel the biting cold they travel through.

The pervasive anti-semitism is woven throughout the book, and the fact that it is mentioned so casually makes it all the more insidious.

I loved the strength of all the women characters in this story, even if there were parts where it was obvious that they needed the support of the male establishment.
The resolution of the story was a little unclear to me, why things worked the way they did.

I also have read Naomi Novik's other book, Uprooted. I liked this story MUCH MUCH more than Uprooted. It was way more woman-powered, and there was kind of a creepy older man-younger girl sexual vibe in Uprooted for me.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys fantasy adventure with strong women characters.

The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris - Ooh La La -Colgan

The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris

by Jenny Colgan

4/5 stars

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Another Jenny Colgan book for me... haha

Must be a pandemic thing, I am just enjoying these light fun reads,

although this one was a bit heavier than some of her other stories.

I also thought there would be more about Chocolate and Paris...

But C'est la vie!

It was a great fast read, albeit with some darker elements and moments.

It does help to know a smattering of French when reading this and to know the basics of Paris as well.

I did like the way the main character kind of soldiered on to overcome her challenges and the way it flashed back to the parallel storyline with her mentor.

Nice book, and some fun recipes at the end.

Lab Girl - What do Scientists need Most? MONEY!

Lab Girl 

by Hope Jahren 

4/5 stars 

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Lab Girl is the journey of Hope Jahren who is a paleobiologist, and basically studies plants and soil.

This was a very interesting book for me, but I must caveat that I am a medical scientist myself, so I liked hearing the journey of another female scientist.

One of the challenges for Hope was that she had some emotional issues until she found a good doctor and the right medications. I could understand how this would have made things very challenging for her.

It was basically a good book, and not too "science-deep" if you're not a scientist. I think it also gives the reader a good appreciation of what goes into study of things, and how hard it is to raise the needed funds, while the money continues to roll into the military machine year after year.

Publish or perish is a real thing in academia.

I have lost jobs due to grants running out, it's a common thing in science.

Good book, good read.

Casting Lots - Disjointed story of family building through adoption

Casting Lots 

by Susan Silverman

1/5 stars

⭐

Casting Lots is written by Rabbi Susan Silverman who has 3 biological daughters and then adopts 2 sons from Ethiopia. It is the story of how she builds her family, and her "faith journey" I guess.

I really did not care for this book at all, and honestly would not have finished it, except one of my book groups is doing it.

I found the storytelling to be so disjointed, and I can understand that, because really being a Mom of 5 kids, who has time to do anything, much less write a book? I suppose she followed the path that she felt was most important to her, and I can respect that people change what they think they want, but as a book, this just wasn't successful for me.

It was just the main character cooing over her adoptive son, and perseverating about how to convert him properly, and then after going on about that for like 3 chapters, she never even says why they changed their mind, from one faction to another, or how they ended up. It just was all over the place. I felt like the biological kids got short shrift in the story and it made me wonder if they did in real life too. Although they were supposedly "modern, reform" Jews, maybe this was why they needed to adopt boys, because they were so much more valued than their girls?

It just was not a satisfying read for me. I can't really recommend this book.

Under a Skellig Sky - A delightful trip to Ireland

Under a Skellig Sky 

by Breda Joy

4/5 Stars

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Under a Skellig Sky is about Carol, an artist from the small town of Glenosheen, who has been traveling about and returns home to help her Mom Mary run the family Inn, adding on AirBnB customers. The Inn is on the Wild (Wet) Atlantic Way, and Carol also finds herself painting the flowers and the nearby Skellig Islands which have gained fame and notoriety as the setting of the recent Star Wars movies. Carol and Mary take pity on some stray travelers, and Carol has some adventures of her own, learning to heal and grow from past hurts.

I really enjoyed this book. Although there were parts of it that were a bit predictable, the prose was lovely and having been to that part of Ireland myself, it was nice to revisit it as an armchair traveler. You could truly visualize the seacoast and sky and the little puffins as the author described them. The adventures were great, and the parts that were thrilling and scary were very well written. The other thing I liked about this book is that the characters in it showed growth. They changed over the course of the story and were not the same as when they started. That is one of the best things to find in a story for me. So I would recommend this book.

Thanks to Book Sirens for a free ARC of this book -my opinions are my own.