P.C. Cast - Moon Chosen - a rare 5 star review!

 

Moon Chosen 

by P.C. Cast

5/5 stars

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

A RARE 5-star review for me!

I loved this book and zipped through it in just a few days.

This story is about a different world, with different realities, and about halfway or so through I realized it was really a dystopian future. How "we" get there isn't explained in this book, but it looks to be the start of a series.

I have read other series (House of Night) by this author and for me, her writing just draws you in so easily. You really want to keep reading to find out what happens. 

In this book, she does an amazing job of crafting the world of the story and flushing out all the types of inhabitants.

Even though you could tell fairly early on where this story was going, it was still interesting to see how it gets there.

The main character, Mari, is a strong female lead, who must step outside her comfort zone to grow. Although some of the tropes are over-used, the story is still well-written and I really enjoyed it.

I can't wait to read the next one.

Finished reading iin Oct 2020

Where Butterflies Go - a compelling story

 

Where Butterflies Go

by Debra Doxer

4/5 stars 

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Where Butterflies Go is a story of the persecution and resistance of the Jews in Poland, and how some of them move on with their lives after the war ends.

Meira, the main character, her husband, and daughter live in Poland and are affected by the onslaught of Nazi violence and hatred. Meira has great skill as a seamstress since her Dad was a tailor. The Nazis discover this, and come to have their uniforms repaired. When the Nazis ship out the Jews, she is recognized and sent to a camp called Poniotowa to make uniforms for Nazi scum.

What happens at the end of the war is tragic, and Meira manages to escape and ultimately make it to America.

Her story of how she survives and comes to thrive in the US, and becomes a speaker for a Jewish organization is inspiring. 

WE MUST NEVER FORGET! She helps people to understand the true horrors of the war and the ugly details of Hitler's final solution.

BEWARE FASCISM - whether in 1939 or in 2020!

This was a very compelling story and I recommend it.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for this honest review

Finished reading Oct 8, 2020

 

A Flawed Scotsman

by Hildie McQueen

3/5 stars

⭐⭐⭐

This is a typical bodice-ripping type romance, but set in Scotland a bit before the Battle of Culloden, as the clan structure and frission are in full swing in this story. Also, there is a ton of "ye" and lass, etc in the verbiage of the book.

The story is about a Laird's nephew in Clan Ross who is asked to marry a Laird's daughter in Clan Fraser to strengthen ties against the savage and aggressive Clan Mackenzie.

The story moves along quickly enough and is fun to read, with some silly steamy passages.

It was a fast read for me, and I enjoyed letting the yarn spin out.

Although it is sort of historical fiction, there was less about everyday life and how things were different than in some of the best examples of HF (like Outlander). Also, some themes and thoughts were repeated unnecessarily, as though we forgot what we read in the beginning of the book. For example, Esme (the daughter) must mention that her mother thinks women should not involve themselves outside of home duties at least 4x.

Overall, as long as you understand the type of book this is going to be it can be fine to read, and I enjoyed it.

I received an ARC of this book at NC from NetGalley in exchange for this honest review.

Finished reading Oct 5, 2020

Life is Sweet - a fun bit of fluffy frosting

 

Life is Sweet 

by Elizabeth Bass

4/5 stars

⭐⭐⭐⭐

In Life is Sweet a former child star moves to a small town in Virginia and opens a cake shop/bakery.

Some of the action is centered around a horse ranch so equine -lovers should enjoy this book as well

This book was an easy and fun read. Although I could really see a lot of the action/plot points coming a LONG way off, I didn't know how it would get there, and it was fun to read.

Very light, and sometimes that's just what you need.

Finished reading Oct 2, 2020

The Scent Keeper - some delightful passages

 

The Scent Keeper 

by Erica Bauermeister

3/5 stars

⭐⭐⭐

I started this book, and then set it aside for a couple of weeks, and when I picked it up again, I blazed through it.

I enjoyed it pretty much, although, for me, some of the action was really a stretch.

Parts of the book were delightful, and the prose and descriptions are lovely.

I especially liked the parts where Emmeline is learning about scent and being a nose.

It was unrealistic to me how easy it was for Emmeline to find her mother.

I also think the ending was a bit predictable.

All in all, good to read, but slightly flawed.

Finished reading in Sept 2020

Bookshop of Second Chances - a fun book about books!

 

The Bookshop of Second Chances 

by Jackie Fraser

4/5 stars

⭐⭐⭐⭐

The book starts with Thea Mottram's husband of nearly twenty years leaving her for one of her friends, and she is let go from her office job--on Valentine's Day, of all days. She soon learns that a distant great uncle in Scotland has passed away, leaving her his home and a hefty antique book collection, and she heads up to a small town of Baldochrie in Scotland to deal with it.

Thea falls in love with the beautiful home, and loves the books. She meets Edward and Charles Maltravers, who are feuding brothers, and begins to work for Ed in his bookshop. Their relationship slowly develops with some bumps along the way.

I really enjoyed this book. It was refreshing to have a 40-something heroine, and not to have the ultimate goal be marriage and baby. The emotions seemed written very honestly and the story unfolded nicely. The author describes the countryside so beautifully that it makes one want to head to Scotland for a relaxing vacation. I also especially liked the setting of the bookshop.

I would recommend this book -it reminded me of Jenny Colgan's books.

Thanks to NetGalley for a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Finished reading Sept 27, 2020

The Book of V - a different twist on the Esther story

 

The Book of V 

by Anna Solomon

2/5 stars 

⭐⭐

The Book of V is a set of 3 separate but slightly related stories, based on the story of the Book of Esther - the Purim story.

The V in the title is Vashti, the queen who would not follow the request of the king to appear naked at his party. He then forsakes her and ultimately marries Esther who goes on to save the Jewish people from complete annihilation.

V follows Vashti's story, the story of Vivian, a senator's wife, and the story of Lily, a young mom living in NYC. Ultimately Lily and Vivian's stories intersect, and parallels are drawn to Vashti's story, which is told from a different viewpoint.

I did not love this book, altho I did like parts of Esther and Vashti's story.

I thought the modern-day characters were whiny and self-indulgent, and I did not understand their motivation a lot of the time. I did enjoy the description of the Purim Shpiel and could appreciate the challenges of sewing a kid's costume.

There is a magic thread in the Esther story that I also felt undermined her power and diminished what she actually accomplished.

I read this for a Jewish book group, so it will be interesting to hear what the other members thought of this book. I would not recommend this- it falls in the "waste of time" category for me, although it does make me want to read a good translation of the actual Book of Esther.

Finished reading Sept 22, 2020

The Song of the Jade Lily - great story about Jewish refugees in Shanghai

 

The Song of the Jade Lily

by Kirsty Manning 

4/5 stars

⭐⭐⭐⭐

This book is about a family of refugees from Vienna in the late 30's who go to Shanghai to avoid the Nazis. The book jumps back and forth from present-day to wartime, however, it is easy to tell what era you are reading about.

It was very interesting the way the action unfolded, and there was a surprising twist at the end, which I always like.

The book really held my interest and I pretty much literally read it in 1 day, which shows how interested I was.

It was nice the way the stories of different people were told, so you learned about Austrian Jews, Poor immigrants, Americans, Chinese people, and Japanese people.

I would recommend this book highly- it was very enjoyable.

Finished reading in Sept 2020

Ruby - an Oprah book, just a dud for me

 

Ruby

by Cynthia Bond

2/5 stars

⭐⭐

Ruby is the story of a young African-American woman living in Liberty, Texas.

Mental illness figures heavily in the story, as does some magic-type action, and "old-time" religion.

For me, although this was a powerful and sad story, it felt very, very slow to me.

It didn't take me that long to read, and except at the end, it just didn't feel like the action/story was moving along. I'm also not the biggest fan of magical realism, so I didn't love it.

I did like the ending, and a lot of the "side action" was so tragic and powerful.

It is hard to not feel affected by some of the actions, and what happens to young women in the book.

I think this book will speak more to others, but it was certainly eye-opening in parts.

Finished reading on Sept 14, 2020

The Bone Garden - a great read highlighting forensic pathologists!

 

The Bone Garden 

by Tess Gerritsen

4/5 stars

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Finished reading in Sept 2020

The Bone Garden was a great book for me. It's about a young woman who buys an old house, and while gardening finds a skeleton from the 1800's.

It covers the story of who it is and how it got there, going back and forth from the present to the 1800's.

I especially liked it because I am a Medical Lab Scientist, and it depicts how crucial pathologists can be to determining the cause of death and other important details.

It was a very fast read, and really kept me interested, so I really zipped through it.

I would recommend this book highly.

Inheritance- Dani Shapiro's memoir -just OK for me

 

Inheritance 

by Dani Shapiro

3/5 stars

⭐⭐⭐

Finished Sept 7, 2020

Inheritance is the story of a Blonde, blue-eyed Jewish girl who has heard all her life that she "doesn't look Jewish". Well, as it turns out her father was not. After taking an ancestry-type DNA test on a lark, it becomes apparent she is not related at all to her half-sister.

The story of how she searches for and ultimately connects with her biological father is kind of a detective story. It is not a bad story, but I guess I have been reading so much, that it takes a bit more these days to excite me.

It's not a bad book, but not a wow for me.

Eleanor Oliphant was a bit of a snooze...

 

Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine

by Gail Honeyman

3/5 stars

⭐⭐⭐

Eleanor Oliphant is the story of a young woman who has survived a mysterious tragedy.

At first, I thought it was the story of a woman on the spectrum. Maybe it was both.

It took me a long while to get into this story.

It starts very very slow, and then when it starts to pick up for a while it feels pretty predictable. There was an interesting twist at the end, but once you were about 2/3 of the way in, except for the twist, it felt like you really knew where it was going.

I guess I'm glad I finished because I really dislike abandoning a read, but I just felt lukewarm about this one.

Mea Culpa- been away so long...

 

Apologies to anyone who actually reads this for being away so long. 

I've still been reading, just lazy I guess

Going to try to catch up