Tag Archives: Books

Apr10

Dust Child by Nguyen Phan Que Mai- Review

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A beautifully written story that will stay with the reader for a long while.

Several storylines converge in this book over the course of the tale. 1969 Vietnam and 2016 Vietnam are the main settings of the novel.

Two sisters leave their rice farm in the Mekong Delta for Saigon in order to earn money to help their parents out of debt. They become bar girls. Asking American soldiers to buy them drinks in exchange for a percentage of the money they spend. And there are more things at stake than merely drinking with American soldiers.

An American helicopter pilot stationed in Vietnam during the war who is now in his sixties returns to Saigon with his wife in order to help with his PTSD. Some of his friends have made the return trip and it has helped them. He’s keeping a big secret from his wife though and on the first day in the country, his secrets threaten to spill out and endanger his marriage.

A young black Amerasian man named Phong has lived a hard life as what the Vietnamese call a dust child. Seen as the child of the hated Americans, these children are treated abysmally and discriminated against in both education and employment opportunities. He’s desperate to get his family to America. He was abandoned at an orphanage as an infant and eventually lived on the streets of Saigon, raising himself from age twelve. An adult now with a wife and two children, he wants a better life for them.

The author of this book has a wonderful way with words. Her prose is smooth and easy to read. Many of the passages are very moving. The way she ties the various storylines together is well done. I can’t praise this book enough.

The hard issues that still haunt Vietnam as well as veterans from that era are faced with dignity and caring. The Vietnamese women who were used by the GIs for sex and comfort are depicted as three-dimensional and the product of the horrible wartime they lived in. The reader cared about them and their fates as well as the trauma they went through.

The Amerasian character was also someone who the reader could root for. He overcame so much in his life, the reader wanted him to succeed. From the poor child he was to the family man who wanted respect and happiness for his family, he was really a character that spoke to this reader’s heart. None of the circumstances of his birth were his fault, but his whole life was spent paying the price.

As to the American helicopter pilot, he was depicted as worthy of respect in some ways, but in some ways, not.  Portrayed realistically in the ways of how the war affected young men, he was someone the reader could feel for in some respects and not in others. The things these soldiers saw and did during their time in the jungle changed them and not for the better.

It was clear the author spent massive amounts of time interviewing people who actually lived these kinds of lives and she did an excellent job making those interviews into a novel that one can enjoy the story, but also learn some things about human nature and resiliency. An important read, in my opinion.

I don’t think I can do justice to this book in this review but I absolutely loved this book. I think it’s one everyone should read. For the lessons in love and forgiveness that are at the heart of this book are something we can all strive for in our lives.

Apr6

The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley- Review

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I love Paris. The architecture is amazingly beautiful and it’s a gorgeous city full of great things to do and wonderful art work (mustn’t forget the pastries either). When I saw the title of this book, I was immediately curious about what the premise of the story would be. Reading the back cover copy let me know it was exactly up my alley in the world of genre fiction.

The story is told from the point of view of six characters in alternating chapters. The girl who is seeking her brother; the matronly, dignified Parisian lady of leisure—and snobbery; a younger girl who is a bit of a lonely heart and loner; a man who is an old friend of the brother being sought; the building’s concierge; and another man who is a drunken lout.

All of the above people live in the same apartment building except the girl seeking her brother. He lives on the third floor and when she arrives to stay with him, he’s nowhere to be found.

Worried as her last communication with him was he’d be waiting up for her, she makes every effort to find him. His wallet, his keys, and his scooter are still where they belong.

As she makes her way to talk to each resident about where her brother might be, mysteries abound.  She finds a secret passage in the walls of the building and learns they were used by the Nazis when they occupied Paris.

She seeks out the police but they seem unconcerned even though she found blood in her brother’s apartment as well as on his cat. One of the residents returns to the police with her, as he is fluent in French and she is not, and they then promise to try to find him. But it still doesn’t seem to her that they are going to take any action.

As she investigates, weird things keep happening such as her getting locked in a wine cellar which may or may not have been an intentional act. Shenanigans at a Halloween party lead her to doubt who she can trust. Overheard conversations between other residents also cause her to worry. The questions deepen with every page and conversation. This is a great mystery story with a lot of twists and turns. It’s atmospheric and dark in places but all in all, it’s a very satisfying, suspenseful read. One big twist in the story was late in the game but it was an interesting turn and I quite enjoyed the premise as well as the journey to the solution

Feb26

Risky Whiskey by Lucy Lakestone – review

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This was a quick read with many things to like but also many things to wonder “what the heck?” 

First, the likes:

1. quirky, fun heroine with a unique view of life and a sad nuclear family history but an aunt who is supportive.

2. Hero who is strong and a rock for the heroine.

3. Unique premise with the cocktail convention location and bartenders as the main characters as well as the side characters.

4. Witty dialogue.

5. Wide cast of interesting characters.

6. Balance of danger and humor.

7. Good sense of place in descriptions of New Orleans. I’ve been there many times and the author was able to evoke the atmosphere well. 

The dislikes:

1. This reader figured out the culprit almost as soon as the person was introduced.

2. The red herrings didn’t fool this reader.

3. This reader was thrown out of the story by thoughts of how these people were functioning with the amount of liquor they ingested. I mean, they were at a cocktail convention in New Orleans and so drinking would be expected but they were also working and it seemed they were always buzzing.

4. Too much description of what everyone was wearing. Some is good but everyone’s outfit a number of times was too much for this reader.

5. The way the culprit tried to accomplish his crime was ludicrous. It would have been physically impossible. As someone who has experience with the weapon of choice (not that I’ve tried it on a person!), there is absolutely no way for someone to run and use that weapon. Can’t be done. I was laughing so hard at how insane it was. Definitely took me straight out of the story. 

In summary, good story with some issues but fun to read for the most part. Just be prepared to suspend your beliefs in that penultimate scene. 

Feb21

The Bitter Past by Bruce Borgos

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 I received this from NetGalley from St. Martin’s Press and Minotaur Books in exchange for an unbiased review.

I absolutely loved this book. The protagonist was smart, witty and genuinely likable. He was someone I could see myself hanging out with and enjoying a chat. His sense of humor is closely aligned with my own and it was as if he was an old friend.

The tale takes place in the Nevada Big Rocks area near Caliente as well as the surrounding areas. The atmosphere and desert play a large role in the tale. As well, the nuclear testing in the nearby areas that took place in the 1950s is also integral to the story. Russian spies and national security secrets create tension.

The opening scene is pretty gory but it sets the tone for the danger that hangs over the entire book. There are so many moving parts to this story, it’s a rich delight to the reader.

All the characters were well drawn and intriguing. I especially enjoyed the relationship the protagonist had with his father and sister. They seemed like a real-life family. Close but not afraid to be truthful with each other and even make each other angry but still have each other’s backs.

The hero had an interesting past and also had a bit of a handicap with night blindness that added a second layer of drama to the tale. He was definitely someone to root for and that’s always something this reader needs to have in a book. I’m definitely not a reader who likes anti-heroes.

The story was complex and satisfying. It moved seamlessly from the current time to the 1950s and the pace was well done. The mysteries unfolded at a good rate and kept me turning the pages.

I really enjoyed this book and thank the author for creating such a great character in the hero, a complex back story and a well done, intriguing plot. I hope there are more adventures in store with the sheriff of Lincoln County.

OFFICIAL BLUB

Porter Beck is the sheriff in the high desert of Nevada, north of Las Vegas. Born and raised there, he left to join the Army, where he worked in Intelligence, deep in the shadows in far off places. Now he’s back home, doing the same lawman’s job his father once did, before his father started to develop dementia. All is relatively quiet in this corner of the world, until an old, retired FBI agent is found killed. He was brutally tortured before he was killed and clues at the scene point to a mystery dating back to the early days of the nuclear age. If that wasn’t strange enough, a current FBI agent shows up to help Beck’s investigation.

In a case that unfolds in the past (the 1950s) and the present, it seems that a Russian spy infiltrated the nuclear testing site and now someone is looking for that long-ago, all-but forgotten person, who holds the key to what happened then and to the deadly goings on now.

Feb6

Finding Verity by Jenny Loudon

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The story of Verity is beautifully written and deals with a woman who made choices as a young lady that led her to a marriage where her own dreams were put on hold to raise her family and grow a business. She had an artistic soul and wanted to be like her father and be a landscape painter but went into interior design as a way to make a living.

Before her marriage, she met a man named Edward who was a free spirit. She was attracted to him but ultimately made the decision to marry a man named Matt. A man who subsumed her and her spirit.

The journey of Verity as she approaches fifty and becomes an empty nester is the bulk of the book. She and her husband live in London in the Fulham area. They had discussed for many years moving to the countryside when their children left home so she could follow her dream of being a painter. Now that the time is at hand, her husband is balking at the idea.

While I enjoyed the beautiful prose of the author and the story was well-told, (Ms. Loudon’s also has a lovely gift for description), I absolutely hated the character of Matt. And got pretty annoyed at Verity for her personality and how she allowed him to get away with treating her as he did. I don’t want to give any spoilers so I’ll leave it at that.

I did begin to skim through some of the story as I was so upset over the relationship between Verity and her husband. I think my own strong personality and innate sense of justice led me to the anger I felt for her and at him and that may have interfered with my 100% enjoyment of the story.

If you like stories of women finding themselves even at a later time in their lives, this one could be right up your alley. It didn’t fully sit well with me but it was well written and for the right reader, it’s probably a gem.

Jan6

The Other Guest by Helen Cooper, a Review

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I got this book in a book swap at a book club meeting. I may not have otherwise discovered it so I’m glad the luck of the draw was with me that night.

A domestic suspense novel set partially in Italy and partially in Derby, UK. Chapters alternate between three women. Leah, Joanna, and Amy each tell their stories in turn and we root for each one.

The death of a young woman nine months before the story starts is integral to the book. A family torn apart by death, suspicion of a bartender who left Italy after the death and an aunt who wants answers mix together in Italy. A woman nursing a broken heart and beginning to recover from it in Derby is another mystery as the book opens. What she has to do with the family in Italy is one of the conundrums the reader is faced with in reading the tale. Figuring out her connection to a place far away where she’s never been is part of the initial fun of the read.

I liked the way the author alternated the story with present day Leah and Johanna and wove what they were going through separately eventually to the denouement. The flashbacks with Amy added a poignant element to the tale.

Both Joanna and Leah get into dangerous situations in the book, some due to their own making which ramped up the anxiety on their behalf. Some were due to their natural curiosity and helpful natures. Each of them acted in a way to endanger themselves on occasion. This reader enjoyed the anxiety for their safety in those scenes. The author did an excellent job crafting the suspenseful parts of the tale. The way she tied the diverse elements together was very satisfying.

I read this one in part of an evening and part of a morning. It was a quick read, yet packed with fully drawn characters, suspense and convincing action.

Jan3

A Noble Cunning: the Countess and the Tower by Patricia Bernstein

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This novel is based on and inspired by the real life bravery of a Scottish countess in 1715. Her name was Winifred Maxwell, Countess of Nithsdale. She saved her husband from certain death by smuggling him out of the Tower.

The character in the book is Bethan Glentaggert, Countess of Clarencefield. When she was a child, her family fled to France with King James II (A Stuart king) when William of Orange and Queen Mary (Stuarts) took the throne. Her family was Catholic and lived in exile for many years. She married at age 27 and moved to Scotland with her husband. They lived happily for a while, having three children, but eventually, when the first Jacobite rebellion (to restore James to the throne) occurred, her husband joined in, taking many of his tenants with him into battle.

With the rebels’ loss at Preston, her husband was taken prisoner and held in the Tower of London awaiting trial. The countess sent her children to safety and traveled to London to try to save her husband.

We, as readers, make the journey with her. Through a terrible winter storm. One of the worst in years. The author did an excellent job with the descriptions and the travails of the trip. A lesser woman might have given up. The countess had to leave her companion at one point and continue on her own. As a modern day woman, I can’t even imagine how scary that was—first, with the weather and then when alone, worrying about cutthroats and robbers. A woman alone was very vulnerable, but she persevered.

Once she arrives in London, she visits her husband in the Tower and gets him legal counsel to try to fight the treason charges. She also tries to plead to the king to let him go free. She hatches a back-up plan to try to save him if the legal case doesn’t go well.

The book was full of historical details and the author did an excellent job of painting the reader a picture of the era. It was as if we were there with the intrepid countess in the snow and in the Tower. The feeling of fear she felt for her husband and what would happen to him read very real.

The only disappointment I had with the book was the ending. I wanted more information about what happened when the countess joined her husband at the culmination of her brave and daring plan. I guess I’ll have to read one of the books in the bibliography at the end of the novel to learn more about the real life lady who took on the British establishment.

Dec1

Review: Christmas by the book by Anne Marie Ryan

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I was attracted to this book by the blurb and, ultimately, it didn’t disappoint. It did take me a while to get into, though. The first chapters introduced a lot of characters in a short period of time. I’m someone who has a hard time with names in real life so it’s better for my reading enjoyment to be introduced with a cast of characters in a more drawn out process. I had to keep going back a few pages to recall who was who.

Once everyone was established in my head, though, things got better and I enjoyed the story more.

The protagonist’s mother founded a book shop in a small English village when the protagonist was young. The bookstore with the flat on the second floor is the only home she’s known for her whole life. She didn’t have a father in her life as she grew up.

The heroine’s husband was raised by a wealthy family in London and he’s always been a disappointment to his father as he chose to marry the heroine and help run the bookshop and not run the family business.

The husband had a heart attack a few months prior to the events in the book and the heroine has been babying him and keeping secrets from him about the health of the revenues of the business. They have one child who is on her gap year.

They bought a copy of the book that covers the Christmas Day soccer game between the Allies and Germany in WWI when they were very newly married. It has never sold. Until the day a man comes in looking for that very volume for his grandson who has leukemia.

This action plants the idea for them to give away six books to people in their area. They ask on Twitter for people to nominate a deserving recipient.

They choose books and wrap them.

When the six people are chosen, the wife randomly addresses the books without knowing which will go to whom.

The reminder of the book is introducing us to the people chosen and the impact on their lives of the book they were randomly gifted as well as how the heroine and her husband deal with the pending sale and closure of the store since they owe massive taxes.

The one issue I had with the book was the secret keeping the wife did. The store got in deep financial trouble over a period of many months and she didn’t tell her husband. That bothered me. A lot.  They seemed to have this perfect marriage which I thought made it completely unforgivable that she would keep such a big secret. That they were going to lose their home and livelihood based on her failure to be a good steward to the business and lying about it. It was a massive problem for me. And he forgave her way too easily.

The story itself, other than the lying to the spouse, was lovely and shows the power of the written word. How it can make a difference in a life. It was a worthwhile story as well as entertaining. A warm, fuzzy, Christmas read with life lessons for all six recipients as well as the bookshop owners.

4 stars.

Nov28

The Bookshop of Second Chances by Jackie Fraser

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This was another book I read quickly like the last one I reviewed. The main character’s (Thea) life implodes when she loses her job in the same week she finds out her husband has been having an affair with one of her friends. As she’s in the process of moving out of the home she’s lived in with him for fifteen years, she receives a letter from a lawyer in Scotland informing her that she has inherited her great-uncle’s house and contents along with a sum of money.

Taking this chance to leave Sussex where the shattered pieces of her life are causing her to continue to grieve and work herself into a stupor of not moving from her bed, she and her best friend decide to head to Scotland for two weeks to check out the house she inherited.

They arrive and find the cottage to be charming and filled with antique books, many first editions. She thinks she should sell some of them.

Thea gets the name of the owner of the local antiquarian bookstore who is the brother of the local lord. The store owner is the elder of the two but relinquished the title. The brothers are sworn enemies.

As the book moves along, Thea finds that she likes both brothers as people. The bookstore owner is a bit of a curmudgeon, but she finds ways to make him laugh. The lord is unfailingly polite and, even though he’d like to buy the cottage from her, he’s cordial and even invites her to a party at his home.

When it’s time for her friend to return home, Thea decides to stay a bit longer and takes a job in the bookstore when the young man who works there leaves for university.

The story is excellent. It felt like I knew this woman and the brothers. They were so realistically drawn and fully fleshed out. They all seemed like someone I’d like to have a drink or meal with. Like they could be my friends.

The banter between Thea and the bookstore owner was fun. Both were witty and smart. Once in a while, some of their dialogue was a bit too much, but overall, I really liked their scenes. Thea was a clever lady, but sometimes she spoke in a stream of consciousness way that made me wonder about her. LOL

Thea learns and grows over the course of the book. She becomes stronger and has more insight into herself.

The bookstore owner brother has a journey of his own and Thea is the catalyst for that growth. Even the lord brother has a mini character arc which was nicely done.

I enjoyed this one. Another 5 stars from me.

Sep8

Legacy Witches- by Cass Kay- A Review

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Vianna Roots is a reluctant witch from a Salem family with a long history of witchcraft.  She also sees the dead which is not a normal characteristic of a witch. She never fit in—either with the town or her family and had a bad relationship with her mother. As soon as she was able, she escaped in the middle of the night and had no intention of ever returning to her childhood home.

Fate had other plans for Vianna.  Her mother died and she had to return home to take part in the ritual of the burial of her mother. But Vianna has other plans than performing the ritual as it is supposed to go. She wants to tie her mother to the grave so she can’t come back and harass her like her other dead relatives do—especially her grandmother Susannah.

When Vianna arrives in Salem, she has an accident in her old truck with, of all things, a local policeman.  Then, when she gets to the house she inherited and can’t wait to sell off, the house won’t let her in and things continue to go downhill for her from there.

She doesn’t want to wear witch robes to the cemetery and chooses a red dress from her mother’s closet which turns out to be the dress her mother wore when she was initiated into her role as a witch. Something Vianna is determined not to let happen to herself.

At the cemetery, we meet a number of other characters who all have distinct personalities and who do not much care for the rebel Vianna. The scene is set for more drama in her life.

Vianna ties her mother to her grave and once she returns home, she starts to clear out some of the old things lying around. In searching a drawer, she finds a rotting hand. A vision of a woman reliving her death in the bathroom shows her where the hand originated. And now Vianna is on a quest to help this spirit to rest—a spirit she happens to know quite well. But she doesn’t plan to embrace her legacy as a witch. She is going to solve this issue with this spirit and sell the house and leave again as soon as she can.

Along the way to her goal, Vianna goes on a date with a man she had a crush on in high school. She finds, not only is he weird and possessive, but his mother has issues, too. He’s persistent and annoying. She’s mystified about why he’s suddenly attracted to her. Old school mates wreak havoc in her life, and, when danger arises, she even has to head back to the cemetery to dig up another ancestor and get a bone from her—not because she wants to embrace her legacy, but because it’s necessary to do so.

The cemetery caretaker is someone she knew in the past who is not welcome in the witching community either and they strike up a friendship. I loved their relationship. It was nice to have someone that the heroine could rely on and who was a great character. She offered some relief from the gloomy atmosphere and danger the heroine was in.

This book was delightful to read. A lot of great action, a mystery about some paintings and a dead girl in the bathroom as well as the friendship that arises between two people who don’t fit in makes for a great story. The author also gives us fans of the macabre and light horror a lot of great, descriptive scenes.  This is no white witch, light comedy type story that glosses over some of the darker sides of the craft. I quite enjoyed the change of pace from those type stories.  

I recommend this one as it is chockful of great scenes, some humor and a compelling story, not least of which is how misfits can find their place and make the home/family they need.