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Reading Wednesday

    Reading Wednesday

    Book Review Act of Oblivion by Robert Harris

    Oh boy. I loved this engaging story for so many reasons. I had never heard of Robert Harris but he has several best sellers under his belt. And the exceptional storytelling of Act of Oblivion clearly shows why. Here is my book review Act of Oblivion by Robert Harris.

    I read a lot of historical novels that are part fiction and part fact. I love an author who can seamlessly combine the two. Robert Harris is one of those. I had never heard of the historical fact of the killers of King Charles I in England escaping to New England. This part is true. What Harris does so eloquently is imagine how the manhunt for these killers evolves over more than a decade.

    General Edward Whalley and his son-in-law Colonel William Goff sail to the new world after being involved in a brazen execution of the King…essentially ending the English Civil War between the parliamentarians and the royalists.

    While more than fifty men have been imprisoned or hung for their role in the King’s death, only two have escaped. Long time foe of these men, Richard Nayler will not sleep until he sees them dead, blaming them singularly for the death of his wife.

    Through the help of clergy and faithful in the colonies Goff and Whalley manage to stay hidden for more than a decade, but their life is lonely, cold, boring, humiliating. And most of all, they miss their wives and children back in England.

    How will Harris imagine the end to this years long manhunt? Through unprecedented storytelling, and realistic and heartfelt character development, Act of Oblivion unfolds like a symphony. Fans of Ken Follett, Maggie O’Farrell and Hilary Mantel will love this action packed historical novel.

    Thanks for reading my book review Act of Oblivion by Robert Harris.

    *****Five stars for Act of Oblivion byt Robert Harris.

    Read last week’s book review When We Fell Apart by Soon Wiley.

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    Reading Wednesday

    Book Review When We Fell Apart by Soon Wiley

    Strange but also heartfelt, this story of how family and identity can take someone to the brink, is sad and moving. A testament to mental stability, family expectations and the importance of being who we are. Here is my book review When We Fell Apart by Soon Wiley.

    Min, a Korean American man working in Seoul for Samsung, is devastated when he learns the Korean women he has been dating has committed suicide. He begins a long and dangerous search for answers.

    Yu-jin was a beautiful, ambitious, smart and happy young women, in love with Min…or so he thought. But the real Yu-jin was someone completely different. Someone playing a dangerous game in a country that does not accept anyone who is “different’.

    But an even greater danger to Yu-jin and then to Min as he searches for answers, is Yu-jin’s parent. Her father a high ranking government official and her mother who sets appearances above all else, will go to great lengths to keep Yu-jin’s secret under wraps…lengths that threaten the lives of Min and Yu-jins closest friends.

    It’s a novel that gives close inspection to the social expectations of South Korea, while also opening a window to understanding the Korean/American status in the United States. A very poignant story.

    Thank you for reading my Book Review When We Fell Apart by Soon Wiley.

    Read last week’s book review This Time Tomorrow by Emma Staub.

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    Reading Wednesday

    Book Review This Time Tomorrow by Emma Staub

    Meet Alice. Living a life not exactly that she imagined but she is happy with most things. Except for the fact her ailing father is not getting better…she loves him so much and can’t imagine life without him. But on her 40th birthday something incredible happens. Here is my Book Review This Time Tomorrow by Emma Staub.

    Fans of Oona Out of Order will love the story of Alice, as she discovers on her 40th birthday the ability to time travel. She wakes up and she is back to her 16th birthday in 1996. Her father is healthy, her friends are around her, and her choices are open to revisit.

    She learns she can go back and forth through time and revisits life-changing moments – her high school crush and their relationship, her choices in college and jobs. Can she relive these and change them for the better? Should she? And what can she do that will change the trajectory of her father’s illness.

    This Time Tomorrow is a fun book, much like Oona Out of Order, or other time traveling books like A Wrinkle in Time or The Time Traveler’s Wife. If you are a fan of this genre, you will love This Time Tomorrow.

    Thanks for reading my book review This Time Tomorrow by Emma Staub.

    ****Four stars for This Time Tomorrow by Emma Staub.

    Read last week’s book review The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd

    See this week’s top performing book review pin here Horse by Geraldine Brooks

    Reading Wednesday

    Book Review The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd

    Nell Young has spent her life loving maps. Raised by her father after the tragic death of her mother, Nell’s world revolves around cartography...until a mysterious map falls into her hands and her whole world turns upside down. Here is my Book Review The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd.

    Part mystery, part fantasy, part family saga, The Cartographers is a fun whodunit read with some unusual twists and turns.

    Nell Young’s father is a world renown legend in the field of Cartography. But when Nell finds a hidden map in a box labeled “junk”, Nell and her father have an irreconcilable falling out. What is it about this plain and simple gas station road map?

    When Nell’s father is murdered in his office in the New York Public Library, Nell will begin a mad hunt to solve the mystery of this nondescript map. Along with her former boyfriend and a cast of characters from her father’s youth, Nell will discover long held secrets, dangerous knowledge and powerful people behind this seemingly useless map.

    A mix of science and magic, The Cartographers is a perfect read for fans of The Night Circus, The Buried Giant or Anansi Boys. Thanks for reading my Book Review The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd.

    Four Stars for The Cartographers by Peng Sheperd

    Please read last week’s review of one of my favorites this year The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell

    See where our international travels are taking us next Away We Go – The Grand Adventure Begins Again

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    Reading Wednesday

    Book Review The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell

    Maggie O’Farrell is one of my favorite authors. Her books like Hamnet and The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox always make their way to my favorite reads of the year. And this brand new, beautifully told, story will also be a favorite of my reading year. Here is my Book Review The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell.

    Book Review The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell

    Like most of O’Farrell’s novels, she weaves real life characters and factual history with fictional persons and events to create a magical story. The setting is Renaissance Italy with the ruling Medici family of Florence. The story of the young duchess Lucrezia de’ Medici will captivate you as O’Farrell shares the young girls remarkable story from conception to adulthood.

    Lucrezia is unlike her sisters, less concerned about her looks or who she might marry than she is with nature and art. She never imagines a handsome husband or time at Court. But when her older sister dies unexpectedly, Lucrezia is betrothed to marry the man meant to be her sister’s husband…the ruler of Ferrara.

    Not What It Seems

    At only 15 years old she is thrust into an unfamiliar world, with a strange and mystifying husband, and his unusual family and courtiers. The marriage is not what it seems. Lucrezia is an outsider and from the beginning fears for what the future holds. Her only friend, a maid she brought from Florence.

    Lucrezia sits for a wedding portrait commissioned by her husband, but as the months go by and she does not conceive an heir, all she has given up and indeed her future hang in the balance. How can she protect herself from this man whose personality is unstable and erratic?

    Like her other works, O’Farrell’s beautiful writing brings the reader into the Italian Renaissance and the unusual plight of this young women. The story offers the reader brilliant imagery, prose and character development. Another O’Farrell masterpiece. Thanks for reading my Book Review The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell.

    *****Five Stars for The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell

    Read last week’s book review Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance by Allison Espach

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    Reading Wednesday

    Book Review Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance by Alison Espach

    Sad but also enlightening Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance is dramatic narrative of one girls life following the sudden death of her older sister. Here is my book review Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance by Alison Espach.

    It’s a parents nightmare, to lose a child. But it’s also a nightmare for a sibling. This is a story told in a unique voice, about the coping mechanisms, the grief, the guilt, and the hope of the people who loved Kathy.

    Kathy’s sister Sally survives the car accident that takes Kathy’s life. But the reality is it takes Sally’s life too…as the world will never be the same. Espach writes this novel in Sally’s voice, as she talks to her sister beyond the grave about everything and everyone and how Kathy’s death affects each one. Especially what it does to Sally’s parents, and the young man Billy who was driving the car.

    Sometimes funny, a bit quirky in the writing style, but believable and heartfelt. A tragedy that changes a sister, a family and a community forever.

    ****Four stars for Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance by Alison Espach. Thank you for reading my book review Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance by Alison Espach.

    See last week’s book review Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus.

    Reading Wednesday

    Book Review Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

    I loved this book. Super fun, inspirational and engaging. Even though I totally think they blew it on the cover…it looks like a YA novel. Don’t let the cover fool you. It is a wonderful grown up novel. Here is my book review Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus.

    Elizabeth Zott is an incredible chemist. She is smarter than everyone she works with. She is brilliant and could change the world. Except for the fact it is early 1960’s and she is a woman. Relegated to sexual harassment, stereotyping and zero opportunities. There are so few women in science.

    All the men Elizabeth works with ignore her or abuse her until she meets Calvin…a noble prize nominated, brilliant chemist who falls in love with her for her mind.

    They have a brief and amazing affair, but fate intervenes. Calvin’s sudden death will change the trajectory of Elizabeth’s life in hundreds of ways, most importantly through the birth of a daughter.

    The real story begins here…when Elizabeth finds both friend and foe due to her illegitimate daughter. Her career takes a sharp right hand turn, she becomes a famous TV celebrity and begins to unravel the complicated history of Calvin. And all of this as so many wonderfully developed and flawed characters in this novel come in and out of her life…including one amazing dog named 6:30.

    This was an amusing, entertaining and gratifying read. Easy and enjoyable. A must read. Thank you for reading my book review Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus.

    *****Five Stars for Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

    See last week’s book review This is Happiness by Niall Williams

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