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    Reading Wednesday

    Book Review The Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman

    May 3, 2023
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    I’m a big fan of Alice Hoffman, one of my all time favorite books was The Dove Keepers a few years ago. And this novel for today’s review is an earlier work of Hoffman. I also really enjoyed it. Here is my book review The Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman.

    Coney Island in the early 20th century was a place of freak shows and mystics. Coralie Sardie is the daughter of a sinister man who runs the Museum of Extraordinary Things. As Coralie grows and is becoming a woman, she is also becoming aware that things are not perhaps as they seem. She begins to suspect her father does not have her well-being in mind.

    When Coralie turns 13, her father puts her in the freak show, as a mermaid. But one night while training in the frigid Hudson River Coralie stumbles upon a photographer bane Eddie Cohen and she falls in love. Eddie, who photographs the horrific Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire also becomes entangled in a mystery, and that mystery will bring him to Coralie’s door. And tragedy will nearly keep them apart.

    Hoffman always leans towards the mystical and magical and she does so brilliantly in The Museum of Extraordinary Things. A time in New York’s history when things were changing, the characters in this novel share the struggles and triumphs of worker’s rights, women’s rights, disabled rights and much more.

    *****Five stars for The Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman.

    Read last week’s book review Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks.

    Thank you for reading my book review The Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman. We love it when you pin and share our book reviews. Thank you.

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    Reading Wednesday

    Book Review Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks

    April 26, 2023
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    I recently read Geraldine Brooks most current book Horse and enjoyed it. I decided to try her first novel Year of Wonders and I am so glad I did. I actually enjoyed it even more than Horse, and I’m not sure why it did not receive more praise. Here is my book review Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks.

    Loosely based on Eyram Derbyshire, a real village that had to quarantine itself during the black plague. Brooks creates a fictional village in 1666. When an infected bolt of fabric makes its way to the isolated village from London, the protagonist Anna’s life will change forever.

    Brooks tells a beautiful but sad tale of loss, fear, love and superstition. Anna will find herself thrust into a caretaker and healer, while much of the village dies, mourns the dead, and reverts to long-held superstitions and witchcraft to try to ward off the plague.

    As the year of quarantine wanes and death visits every door, Anna, the local priest and his wife, will work themselves nearly to death trying to care for both the physical and spiritual bodies of the village folk.

    Brooks writes with a profound emotional voice, with great detail, sharing the journey of this period of history through the thoughtful heroine Anna will become. The ending was, for me, unexpected but fulfilling. I loved this character Anna, her strength and perspective on life. Thank you for reading my book review Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks

    *****Five stars for Year of Wonders

    See last week’s book review Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano

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    Reading Wednesday

    Book Review Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano

    April 19, 2023
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    This book was a national best seller before it even was available. So I was excited to read it. But I came away underwhelmed. I still recommend it, it was very good. But it wasn’t the spectacular read I was expecting from all the hype. Napolitano is the author of the highly acclaimed Dear Edward. This is her next novel. Despite some misgivings I enjoyed it nonetheless. Here is my book review Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano.

    Fissures in the Family

    Sisters. Sisters who are so closely bound together nothing could possible tear them apart…and yet…

    William – a lonely childhood ignored by his parents, basketball is the one thing that kept William sane…an yet

    When the eldest sister Julia meets William in college, she sets her sights on a future with him…manipulating him to be what she wants him to be. Meanwhile Julia’s three sisters are forging ahead with their own lives, finding out who they are individually without being under the constant watch and demands of eldest Julia.

    But when Charlie, the sisters father dies unexpectedly, the family ties begin to unravel even as Julia continues to try to control all aspects of her life, William’s life and the lives of her sisters. When mother Rose sells the family home and moves to Florida leaving the sister behind Julia continues to believe she can hold the shattered family together.

    But William is reaching his breaking point…after decades of neglect from his own parents, a hidden tragedy never spoke of and a career ending knee injury. William will walk away from the only family he has ever know.

    Regret

    This family is fractured…broken…and Julia will make a selfish and unexpected decision.

    Napolitano explores the issues of mental illness, gender identity, unmarried mothers and more than anything family ties in Hello Beautiful. The story is a long saga of selfish choices, and a sad narrative on pressure to be someone we can not be. How will love and loss reunite this broken world? Who will regret all they have done and everyone they have hurt? Find out in Hello Beautiful.

    Thank you for reading my book review Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano.

    Read last week’s Book Review The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

    What I’m reading today – The Probable Future by Alice Hoffman

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    Reading Wednesday

    Book Review The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

    April 12, 2023
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    I was a tiny bit hesitant to read this book. Because I LOVED Reid’s book Daisy Jones and the Six but wasn’t so impressed with her last book Malibu Rising. But so many people were loving on her new book so I decided to tackle it. And I am really glad I did. Here is my book review The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid.

    Evelyn Hugo, former Hollywood starlet turned recluse, has agreed to an interview. Vivant Magazine is the lucky publlication that will feature the first interview Hugo has done in years. But Evelyn Hugo, as always, has strings attached. She will only be interviewed by an unknown writer named Monique Grant. It’s Monique or nobody. But why?

    Monique spends weeks with Evelyn in Evelyn’s swanky apartment hearing Evelyn’s truth about her relentless pursuit of stardom, her loves and losses, scandals and triumphs. But as the long interview begins to wind down, Monique realizes that her own sorrowful past is connected to Evelyn in a way she could never have imagined. Will the truth set them both free? Evelyn from her burdens and Monique from her sorrow?

    Reid pulls this story together in a tidy package and I enjoyed this read way more than I thought I would. Daisy Jones is still my fav, but Evelyn Hugo gives her a run for her money. Of course she does…that is just the kind of women she is. Thank you for reading my book review The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid.

    *****Five stars for The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid.

    Read last week’s book review The Whale Bone Theatre by Joanna Quinn.

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    Reading Wednesday

    Book Review The Whalebone Theatre by Joanna Quinn

    April 5, 2023
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    Quinn brings to life a remarkable cast of characters in her debut novel, destined for every award possible. Here is my book review The Whalebone Theatre by Joanna Quinn.

    At the heart of this novel is the meaning of family. What is family? Is it blood or is it love? Joanna Quinn’s The Whalebone Theatre explores all ascpect of family in this unique and irresistable novel.

    What is Family?

    It’s 1928 and Cristable Seagrave is a young and headstrong girl on the barren coast of the English Channel where she lives in her family estate Chilcombe Manor. But most of her family is dead. Her mother died when she was a baby. Grief stricken, her father remarried but died soon after. And then step-mother married Cristable’s uncle and two more children are born. But Cristable is an outsider always, especially in the eye’s of her step-mother who is recklessly spending the family fortune.

    When a whale washes up on the beach 12-year old Cristable claims it as hers…and her life will never be the same. Through determination and creativity Cristable, her siblings Digby and Flossie (who are actually her cousins) and a collection of household staff and local community members create The Whalebone Theatre. Drawing guests from around the region the theater becomes the lifeblood of Cristable and her siblings as World War II rears it’s ugly head.

    WWII

    Cristable and Digby will be thrust into adulthood and become British Spies in the war while Chilcombe crumbles taking the Whalebone Theatre with it. Flossie will become the unsuspecting matriarch of the manor, finding ways to keep it afloat. The war will seem endless as Britian’s occupation creates hardship for everyone. As friends die, faith goes with them, and Cristable will hold out hope only for the safety of Digby and a future back at Chilcombe.

    A very clever take on the hardships of WWII through the eyes of the young and ambitious Cristable and her family. Heartbreaking and hopeful. Family is those you love and Quinn will bring this inventive story around to it’s satisfying conculsion for the reader…you will not want it to end.

    Thanks for reading my book review The Whalebone Theatre by Joanna Quinn.

    See last weeks book review Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley

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    Reading Wednesday

    Book Review Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley

    March 29, 2023
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    This book was excruciating to read at times because of the sheer pain of many of its characters. Here is my book review Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley

    As a beautiful 17 year old black women, Kiara should be living and loving her life. But circumstances have her nowhere near happiness. Her family life is in shambles with death, prison, drugs and poverty. Kiara has not where to turn – including to her brother who has been her one strength. Brother Marcus has his own demons, and is drifting farther away from Kiara.

    In a desperate decision to try to earn enough money to not be evicted, Kiara turns to the streets. A chance meeting with a local prostitute and an unexpected moment in a bar, will hurl Kiara into the life of a Nightcrawler in Oakland.

    The consequences of her choice will loose her friends but keep the rent paid, until she is caught up into a scandal inside the Oakland Police Department.

    Gut wrenching, horrific and brutal – Nightcrawling is a story of the failure in our society to protect minors, deal with drug abuse and mental illness. It is also the story of powerful abuse and occasional police brutality hidden deep and overlooked by the justice system. Based loosely on a real life event in Oakland years ago, Mottley’s fictional tale will take your breath away even as a story of survival.

    Thank you for reading my book review Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley

    Four stars for Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley

    Read last week’s book review The Hand That First Held Mine by Maggie O’Farrell

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    Reading Wednesday

    Book Review The Hand That First Held Mine by Maggie O’Farrell

    March 22, 2023
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    O’Farrell is one of my favorite authors, in fact three of my all-time best are by her; The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox, Hamnet and the Marriage Portrait. So I was sure I would like this older novel of hers…her very first. Here is my book review The Hand That First Held Mine by Maggie O’Farrell.

    O’Farrell is a master at character development. In this novel she creates some interesting characters in two parallel storylines across a fifty year time period. Of course you know these stories will interject at some point, but even when they do you will be taken aback. It is a story of three strong-willed women and their connection.

    The Women

    Lexie – wants so much more than the provincial life laid out for her in the country home of her parents post WWII. She plots her escape thanks to the love of her life Innes. But Innes has his own secrets that will, after his death, haunt Lexie forever.

    Margot – Innes daughter will do anything she can to ruin Lexie’s life. She is Lexie’s nemesis but as the story unfolds we realize that their connection will be greater than either could ever have imagined.

    Elina – present day a new mother struggling with her near death experience giving birth to her son, tries to navigate motherhood, while dealing with her husband Ted’s memory issues. Ted refuses to admit he is ill, and Ted’s parents – especially his mother – is secretive and aloof. What memories is she trying to suppress from Ted?

    The revelations will come to light in a painful way, but Elina will be the hero as she helps her husband grasp his new reality, recover from the shock and repair the fractured family through her never-ending love.

    The Hand That a First Held Mine

    Not her best work but a superb story nonetheless, in true O’Farrell fashion. I enjoyed the plot and the outcome. Thanks for reading my book review The Hand That First Held Mine by Maggie O’Farrell.

    ****Four stars for The Hand That First Held Mine by Maggie O’Farrell.

    See last week’s book review The Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead

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