Follow:
Topics:
Browsing Tag:

Reading wednesday

    Reading Wednesday

    Book Review Night Watch by Jayne Anne Phillips

    April 9, 2025
    by
    /
    Leave a Comment
    /
    0 Comments

    Night Watch is a story of the chaotic aftermath of the Civil War. The novel won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Literature. Published in 2023 it is a work of historical fiction. Here is my book review Night Watch by Jayne Anne Phillips.

    Coming of Age

    This is another coming of age story. We meet 12 year-old ConaLee who tends to all aspects of her family in the rural cabin post Civil War. ConaLee cares for her sick mother and three baby siblings as well as her abusive and tyrannical “Papa”. ConaLee does not remember the time before the war, or when her mother was not ill.

    Mental Illness

    This novel looks at how trauma, abuse and grief can result in depression and mental illness. It explores through the eyes of ConaLee what life inside the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum might have been like.

    Memory Loss

    “Papa” drops ConaLee and Eliza at the door of the Asylum and drives off leaving them abandoned. The pair will be met by the Night Watch, a man named O’Shea. He wears an eye patch and has a serious head injury from The War. Unknown to ConaLee, he is tied to her and her mother in a very deep and surprising way. Can Eliza come out of her deep depression? Can O’Shea retrieve his lost memories? And can this happen in time for all to reconcile the past, the war and find a way forward?

    Book Review Night Watch by Jayne Anne Phillips

    There are some wicked characters in this book. Phillips has a great writing style to describe the horrors of war and the chaos that followed. There are also some endearing characters in this book, particularly the strong-willed and determined ConaLee. My criticism of the book is that there are several coincidences the move the plot forward. I found those coincidences a bit far-fetched. But the novel is a beautiful chronicle of surviving when all seems to be lost.

    ****Four stars for Night Watch by Jayne Anne Phillips.

    Thank you for reading my book review Night Watch by Janye Anne Phillips. See last week’s book review Long Island by Colm Toibin.

    We appreciate it when you comment and share our book reviews. Thank you.

    Share:
    Leave a comment
    Reading Wednesday

    Book Review Long Island by Colm Toibin

    April 2, 2025
    by
    /
    Leave a Comment
    /
    2 Comments
    Long Island by Colm Toibin

    I really wanted to love this book, and I assumed that I would. But I was disappointed in much of the story and it’s characters. Here is my book review Long Island by Colm Toibin.

    Eilis Lacey

    If you read Brooklyn by Colm Toibin or saw the movie you will be familiar with the protagonist in Long Island, Eilis Lacey. Long Island picks up with Eilis life about 20 years after she has returned from Ireland to her husband Tony in Brooklyn. With two teenage children, Eilis has chosen to have a job away from ‘the family” business. She finds Tony’s Italian family loud, intrusive and she feels suffocated by them, particularly her domineering Mother-in Law.

    Ireland

    When Eilis learns that Tony has been unfaithful Eilis is left in a quandary. The “family” negotiates without Eilis knowledge to have the child raised by Eilis and Tony. Eilis refuses completely and when Tony will not stand up to his mother or family, Eilis books a trip to visit her mother in Ireland. She has not returned to Island for nearly 20 years. What awaits her there is an aging and cantankerous mother, a gossiping town still talking about her twenty-years on, and Jim Farrell – her old lover.

    Why Didn’t I Love This Book?

    The plot is weak, based mostly on miscommunication or no communication at all between characters. I found Tony and his family to be manipulative, but Eilis also is unfaithful so making her a heroine did not feel right. Every character in this book is out for himself and I just couldn’t love any of them.

    Eilis will return to Brooklyn, but no resolution about the baby is determined in the end, leaving the door open of course to another book in the series. But I don’t think I will be reading it.

    Many people loved this book and this character. Sorry, but I can only give it ***three stars.

    Thanks for reading my book review Long Island by Colm Toibin. See last week’s book review Go As A River by Shelley Read here.

    We appreciate it when you comment and share our book reviews. Thank you.

    Long Island by Colm Toibin
    Share:
    Leave a comment
    Reading Wednesday

    Book Review Go As A River by Shelley Read

    March 26, 2025
    by
    /
    Leave a Comment
    /
    0 Comments

    This is a beautiful coming of age story set in the high mountains of Colorado post WWII. Here is my book review Go As A River by Shelley Read

    Love

    Love grows in many ways; between people, for the land, for family, for nature, for a way of life. At the heart of this story is love.

    Read introduces us to Victoria -Torie- a 17 year old girl. Following the death of her mother Torie is thrust into the role of running the household on her family’s peach farm in rural Iola Colorado. There is no way you can read this book and not fall in love with the protagonist Victoria, with her naivety, optimism and unbridled love for so many things.

    Wil

    Torie will meet Wil one random day on the street corner, and her life will be changed forever. Their short but intense love story will redirect Victoria’s life and the lives of her remaining family; father and brother. When Torie looses Wil, she will re chart her life with the resolution and will of an entire army on her solo journey into the future.

    Iola

    Based on events surrounding the real-life town of Iola Colorado, and the flooding and destruction of the town when a dam was built on the river in the 1960’s. Go As A River uses this event to showcase the determination and strength of one woman in the face of loss of everything she has ever loved.

    Book Review Go As A River by Shelley Read

    *****Five stars for Go As A River. Thank you for reading my book review Go As a River by Shelley Read.

    See last week’s book review The Briar Club by Kate Quinn.

    Thank you for sharing our book reviews.

    Go As A River by Shelley Read
    Share:
    Leave a comment
    Reading Wednesday

    Book Review The Briar Club by Kate Quinn

    March 19, 2025
    by
    /
    Leave a Comment
    /
    0 Comments

    I have read A LOT of Kate Quinn books.  I love her strong female characters who often are factual women from history.  I loved The Huntress and The Rose Code and others.  So I was excited for another story.  Here is my book review The Briar Club by Kate Quinn.

    Audible

    I listened to this book on Audible, as I have some of Quinn’s other novels.  Her books are always read by Saskia Maarleveld, who I think is excellent.  But despite how much I have loved past books, this one fell short for me.

    Quinn takes us the 1950’s, a women’s boarding house in Washington DC.  A collection of interesting and diverse characters living in the house.  When the story begins, we find the scene of a murder.  Is it one of the women? But which one?

    Whodunit?

    The book then jumps to each of the diverse group of women and we learn their back stories;

    Secretive Grace – who spearheads a weekly gathering for the women; proper English born Flis waiting for the return of her husband; Nora who loathes her family and get’s tangled up with a local gangster;  baseball star Beatrice recovering from an injury and figuring out what is next for her; and Arlene who everybody hates because of her sugar coated exterior and venomous ways.

    Who might have killed someone is the question throughout the book…and who is the victim?  All will be told in the end, with lots of twists and turns throughout.

    Definitely not my favorite Kate Quinn but a good read nonetheless.  ***Three stars for The Briar Club by Kate Quinn. 

    Thank you for reading my book review The Briar Club by Kate Quinn.  See last week’s book review Boy With Wings by Mark Mustian.

    We are so grateful when you share and comment on our book reviews.  Thank you.

    Share:
    Leave a comment
    Reading Wednesday

    Book Review Boy With Wings by Mark Mustian

    March 12, 2025
    by
    /
    Leave a Comment
    /
    0 Comments

    This book was introduced to me by Jackie Karnath with Books Forward. I have been lucky to receive several books in the past from Jackie, and this one might be my favorite. A beautifiul, touching, emotional story of what it means to be different. Here is my book review Boy with Wings by Mark Mustian.

    Publish Date March 15, 2025

    I held this review until publish week for this remarkable novel by Mark Mustian. Boy with Wings publishes March 15th. Mustian is known for his international best seller The Gendarme. After reading Boy with Wings I will definitely now read Mustian’s other work.

    Freak

    This is a story about an unlikely hero. Just a boy. A boy born with an abnormality to a single mother in the south in the early part of the 20th century. When anyone who was not white or “normal” was dehumanized, hunted, condemned and chastized. Johnny Cruel lives this life.

    From birth Johnny is called a devil child, due to an unusual growth on his back that looks like wings. His mother tries to protect him best she can, even going so far as to fake his death before running away with him. But she dies and leaves little Johnny alone and frieghtened.

    Mama Lo will try to help him and love him, but as a black women in the south she has little influence. Eventually Johnny will be sold to a freak show, where he will live for many years, amongst the other freaks and oddities. He will grow to manhood, find love, and lose it all.

    Hiding

    Johnny spends his life hiding his “wings”, trying to hold down a job, and always running from a strange one-armed man who won’t let him be. Is this man the father Johnny has never met?

    Despite his own problems Johnny attempts to save a young black man who is about to be lynched. This will set in motion a series of incidents that will, eventually bring Johnny face to face with his real father…a powerful man who wants Johnny dead.

    Captivating

    I was glued to this book and could not put it down. I loved all the characters, especially Johnny. Mustian has a delicious writing style and I embraced every beautiful word. So many characters pass through Johnny’s life, each well developed and believable.

    Book Review Boy With Wings by Mark Mustian

    This is one of the best books I’ve read this year. Masterful storytelling with true emotion and fraility. A tale of human nature and the desire to be accepted and loved, and the hard truths of how difficult that can be.

    *****Five stars for Boy with Wings by Mark Mustian. Definitely get your hands on this book.

    Thank you for reading my book review Boy with Wings by Mark Mustian. See last week’s book review The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell.

    We love it when you share and comment about our book reviews. Thank you.

    Share:
    Leave a comment
    Reading Wednesday

    Book Review The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell by Robert Dugoni

    March 5, 2025
    by
    /
    Leave a Comment
    /
    0 Comments

    What a great feel good novel.  This is a story of being different.  Being bullied because of it. And finding a way through it all to succeed and be happy. Here is my book review The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell.

    Sam Hill

    Sam is a tiny child born with red pupils.  Kids call him Devil Boy and Sam Hell.  His affliction, known as ocular albinism is said by his mom to be “God’s will”, and with her faith and his father’s guidance Sam tries to persevere is solitary childhood.  

    Sam’s mother refuses to allow the local Catholic school to deny Sam admission.  The nun says his “difference” would be a distraction.  But Sam’s mother, a devout Catholic and supporter of the church goes to the local television station.  Sam is admitted.  But finds few friends.

    Until another young boy arrives who is also different.  Ernie Cantwell is the only African American in Sam’s class and the two boys are drawn to each through their loneliness and their differences.  Ernie will go on to great success in sports and eventually Sam will succeed as an eye doctor.

    Different

    But Sam will be handed tragedy, one he can’t find a way through.  He will turn his back on everything and everyone and travel to far off places to serve as an eye doctor to those in need.  As he runs as far away from his pain, he encounters a young boy with ocular albinism.  For the first time in decades, Sam removes his brown contact lenses and shares his own red “Devil Boy” eyes – giving the child hope.  

    Sam embraces his own differences, accepts what has defined his life, and finds his way home.

    “There comes a day in every man’s life when he stops looking forward and starts looking back.”

    *****Five stars for The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell by Robert Dougoni

    Thank you for reading my book review The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell by Robert Dougoni.  See last week’s book review The Secret Life of Sunflowers by Dana Martan

    We appreciate it when you comment and share our book reviews.  Thank you.

    Share:
    Leave a comment
    Reading Wednesday

    Book Review The Echo of Old Books by Barbara Davis

    February 12, 2025
    by
    /
    Leave a Comment
    /
    0 Comments

    This book is one of my book club reads for 2025. I enjoyed the way the story is presented and found it to be an easy ready. Here is my book review The Echo of Old Books by Barbara Davis.

    Books

    Although I read much of my books on Kindle due to my travel life, I love a real book. The feel and smell of a book…particularly an old book – wonderful. So does Ashlyn Greer, the protagonist in The Echo of Old Books. Ashlyn had a unhappy childhood, and her escape was a rare book store where she spent hours. As an adult, she now owns and manages this little gem of a shop. It’s here where she has realizes she has a special touch with books. She can feel “echoes” in the books about the previous owners.

    A Discovery

    Ashlyn discovers two beautifully bound old books that seem to be a pair, but the books have no author. She can’t find a publish date either. Only two interesting inscriptions. Ashlyn begins a long and difficult search for more information about these unusual books that are giving her unusual vibe. Eventually she reaches out to the man who donated the books to the rare book shop. Eathan, the son of the owner of the books, is hesitant to get involved. He is busy on deadline for his own book he is writing. Eventually Eathan’s interest is peeked, as Ashlyn tells him about the characters in these books – Belle and Hemi. Together Ashlyn and Eathan begin to discover the true identities of Belle and Hemi.

    True Love

    This novel is both a mystery and a love story as we learn more about Belle and Hemi. A series of misunderstandings and malicious intent kept them from being together. This discovery also brings Eathan and Ashlyn closer. Soon they realize this love story research ha as become more than just about the mysterious Belle and Hemi.

    Book Review The Echo of Old Books by Barbara Davis

    A easy read with some fun twists and turns, though a bit predictable. The magic touch Ashlyn has with books seemed a bit contrived to me. I think the story could have progressed nicely without that somewhat silly addition.

    ****Four stars for The Echo of Old Books by Barbara Davis.

    Thanks for reading my book review The Echo of Old Books by Barbara Davis. See last week’s book review The Drowning Women by Robyn Harding.

    We love it when you comment, pin and share our book reviews. Thank you.

    Share:
    Leave a comment
    Reading Wednesday

    Book Review The Drowning Woman by Robyn Harding

    February 5, 2025
    by
    /
    Leave a Comment
    /
    0 Comments

    The first book I read in the new year fell pretty flat for me…despite it having descent reviews. It was very predictable and I struggled to even see it to the end. All that said, I know it is right up the alley for many readers, particularly if you love books like The Girl on the Train, The Wife Upstairs and Nine Perfect Strangers. Here is my book review The Drowning Woman by Robyn Harding.

    Homeless

    Despite her wildly successful restaurant, Lee finds herself living in her car after the pandemic shuts down her restaurant. Running from a investor who is threatening her, Lee is working at a diner and trying to save enough to rent a tiny apartment. This is not how she thought her life would turn out. Then she meets a guy who seems genuinely interested in her…could this nice guy be real?

    Unlikely Friendship

    While sitting in her car one cold and rainy morning Lee notices a women walking on the beach. She seems to be crying and yelling and then she flings herself into the cold water. Despite herself, Lee can’t let this women commit suicide and she drags her out of the water and onto the beach. They have a bit of a heart to heart and Lee learns, despite the wealthy house Hazel lives in, she is essentially a prisoner there thanks to her overbearing husband.

    Lee thinks she will never see Hazel again, but the next morning Hazel shows up with pastries and hot coffee. Could this women really be interested in being friends with her?

    All is Not What it Seems

    When Hazel asks Lee to help her disappear to get away from her husband, Lee gets caught up in a twisting story, with characters she soon learns she should never have trusted and a wild ride ensues as Lee tries to keep herself out of jail and out of harms way.

    Book Review The Drowning Women by Robyn Harding

    I definitely saw this plot unfolding long before it did…I found the book predictable and not believable and I did not like the ending either. Sorry fans of female thrillers – but this one did not do it for me.

    ***Three stars for The Drowning Women by Robyn Harding.

    Thanks for reading my book review The Drowning Women by Robyn Harding. See last week’s book review My Friends by Hisham Matar.

    We love it when you pin, comment and share our book reviews. Thank you.

    Share:
    Leave a comment
    Reading Wednesday

    Book Review My Friends by Hisham Matar

    January 29, 2025
    by
    /
    Leave a Comment
    /
    0 Comments

    I know right up front there are a collection of people who won’t like this book. And that’s okay. If you like something lighter and not political than maybe this isn’t for you. But I thought this was a beautiful story, astonishing, lyrical and profound. Here is my book review My Friends by Hisham Matar.

    Libya

    Hisham Matar is an American born British/Libyan with another book The Return, nominated for both the Booker Prize and the Pulitzer. I need to read that one. In My Friends Matar navigates the Libyan political scene under the Gaddafi regime and the life of a forced exiled Libyan man living in England.

    Read by the author, I was engrossed in this beautiful and difficult story that I listened to on Audible. The protagonist in the story, Khaled is also a writer, lover of poetry and a lover of the Libyan writer Hosam Zowa. Khaled hears a short story when he is just a boy in Benghazi by Zowa that will direct his entire life.

    United Kingdom

    Khaled will venture to Scotland for university, the pride of his father, mother and younger sister. Here he will meet another student and that relationship will change the projection of Khaled’s life when the two attend a protest at the Libyan Embassy in London. The events of that day, which Khaled barely survives, will keep him out of Libya and away from his family for decades to come.

    Friendship

    The heart of this beautiful book is about friends. How friendships can sustain us and also break our hearts. Khaled’s friends help him process the brutalities of the Gaddafi regime, even though they often disagree on what should happen in Libya. Khaled’s exile will test all aspects of his life; his complex feelings about his family still in Libya; how he sees his future as a Libyan man and the culture he was raised in; how his career unfolds; his love life; his personal regrets and fears and most of all his enduring yet multifaceted friendships.

    Book Review My Friends by Hisham Matar

    One of the best books I have listened to in a long time. I wonderful history lesson about Libya, a riveting tale of being in exile, and a beautiful story about the love of family, friends and country. I loved it.

    *****Five stars for My Friends by Hisham Matar.

    Thanks for reading my book review My Friends by Hisham Matar. See last week’s book review The God of the Woods by Liz Moore.

    Share:
    Leave a comment
    Reading Wednesday

    Book Review The God of the Woods by Liz Moore

    January 22, 2025
    by
    /
    Leave a Comment
    /
    1 Comments

    I listened to this on on Audible while we were home over the holidays and I was doing so much running around in the car. It was good. Read by Saskia Maarleveld, who reads many other Audible’s including the Kate Quinn books. Lots of family drama and a murder mystery too. Here is my book review The God of the Woods by Liz Moore.

    Location

    For me personally I enjoyed the region this book is placed in upstate New York and the Adirondacks. I enjoy this area very much. Moore’s description of the area, the summer camp and the geographical beauty was accurate and engaging.

    The Plot

    The novel is set in an area of up state New York where a family owns a remote but opulent summer home that employs much of the nearby town. The estate was originally a hunting and fishing lodge, and it retains a part of the land for a summer camp for wealthy kids. This is how we are introduced to the story. Like many books the mystique of the plot relies on jumping around between the mid 1950’s, an event that happens in 1961 and the current time of 1975.

    Parts of the plot are good, but other parts were a stretch as far as believable..despite the fact the story is set in the 1960’s and 70’s. Even back then I don’t think a missing person/murder investigation would be handled the way the one in this story was handled. I had my own set of suspects for most of the book…I turned out to be wrong. There are some intense moments, and plot twists I didn’t see coming, including the ending. You will encounter addiction, loneliness, poverty, corruption and wealth as well as gender issues during a time when women were only beginning to advance.

    The Characters

    There are a lot of characters in the book. I didn’t have any trouble keeping them straight in my mind, and most are well developed. Some are very annoying, but that was in keeping with the story line; a simpering wife who turns to alcohol; an overbearing husband who uses his wealth and prestige to get what he wants; a quiet hard working camp director who seems to be hiding something; and a female detective trying to solve the case despite the roadblocks thrown her way as the first women Investigator in New York.

    There are many more characters too who move the plot forward, some more believable than others.

    Book Review The God of the Woods by Liz Moore

    I liked but didn’t love this book despite the great reviews it has received from many other reviewers. I do recommend it for suspense and the topic of female characters navigating the changing times.

    ****Four stars for The God of the Woods by Liz Moore. Thanks for reading my book review The God of the Woods by Liz Moore. See last week’s book review A Sterling Life by Mark Hester.

    We love it when you pin, share and comment on our book reviews. Thank you.

    Share:
    Leave a comment