Rebecca has been on the to-read list for ages, and thanks to Book Club, it has been marked off (and was much enjoyed)! First, a short and spoiler-free synopsis: Late 1930’s. An unnamed protagonist narrates this story–a young woman training to become a lady’s companion. She meets a mysterious widower in Monte Carlo and before she knows it, she’s a… Read more »
The Hill Ghost by Callan McAuliffe In 19th century Scotland, a Tibetan mastiff sheep-dog and his eccentric seagull friend, Blue, team up to thwart a returning pack of wolves bent on savagery and revenge. Blue, an ex-seafaring bird, brings a nautical flamboyancy to the story, which culminates in a parallel tale in the Epilogue, leaving the reader to wonder if… Read more »
Born to the Badge by Mark Warren This is the second installment of Warren’s fiction trilogy based on the life of Wyatt Earp (read my review of Adobe Moon). While Wyatt’s youth is behind him, his experiences have left him with heartache and guilt. Nonetheless, he has gained wisdom and his innate ability to be the calming presence in difficult… Read more »
Adobe Moon: Wyatt Earp, an American Odyssey by Mark Warren The first in Mark Warren’s Wyatt Earp trilogy, Adobe Moon opens with a young Wyatt determined to strike out on his own, yet restrained by familial duty. Once his farming days are blessedly over, he goes through various professions, learning hard lessons along the way. The timeline in this novel… Read more »
The House of One Thousand Eyes by Michelle Barker Set in Cold War era East Germany during the 1980’s, this story follows 17-year-old Lena Altmann, who had lost her parents in a factory explosion and was living with her strict, party-observant aunt. Considered slow-witted due to her time in a psychiatric ward after the accident, Lena is given a job… Read more »
Sovrin’s Star Mississippi Connection, Book 1 by John Reyer Afamasaga www.johnreyerafamasaga.org This historical novella follows two unique characters through the post-Civil War South–a crippled orphan boy of 10, and his new friend, Tiker, a man of many trades, who was himself an orphan in England. Having grown up in the streets, he became a prizefighter, a negotiator, and a spy…. Read more »
Firsty, I’m not sure it needs to be noted, but there are spoilers here. If you’ve not watched the movie and wish it to be a surprise, you may want to move along. I read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society several years ago, and recently was inspired to reread it when I saw a preview of the… Read more »
Dear Mrs. Bird by AJ Pearce The idea for this story stems from a fascinating subject–the content of women’s magazines from the WWII era. What topics were they covering and what was the tone during this time of hardship? In Dear Mrs. Bird, the protagonist, Emmaline Lake, is a young woman planning to become a war correspondent, or a journalist… Read more »
The Other Alcott by Elise Hooper Abigail “May” Alcott, sister of Louisa May Alcott, is followed in this fictional biography which takes place in the 1870’s in Boston, London and Paris. May, whom Louisa had fictionalized as “Amy” in her Little Women series, had received negative reviews of her illustrations included in the books, and as such set out to… Read more »
In general I am not one to reread books–with the exception of audiobook versions. In this case, I was prompted to pick Guernsey up a second time because I caught the trailer for the new film and it intrigued me (I loved Lily James in Pride & Prejudice & Zombies). When I read this book some 8 years ago, I… Read more »
Bonnie & Clyde: Dam Nation Book 2 by Clark Hays & Kathleen McFall In this second installment of Hays & McFall’s Bonnie & Clyde series, the dynamic duo find themselves in Boulder City, Nevada at the site of the Hoover Dam (then styled Boulder Dam), with orders from the ever persistent government official, Sal, to discover the source of apparent… Read more »
While You Were Mine by Ann Howard Creel This story opens upon the protagonist, nurse Gwen Mullen, finding herself the subject of the famous LIFE magazine image that is so well known–the V-J Day sailor kiss–although this inclusion has little to do with the storyline, other than setting the tone and some other small details later. Gwen lives with a… Read more »
