Book lover, collector, and reviewer
This was an overall fun, sweet book, and I liked how it was narrated by the main character looking back over his life and telling his story to an unnamed (until the end) interviewer. If you’re looking for something fast, easy, and relatively feel-good, give this one a go. In some ways, it reminded me … Read More “Better Luck Next Time by Julia Claiborne Johnson” »
This book received a lot of publicity, and I think I had it built up in my head more than was completely realistic. There’s a lot going on in this book, and I think it just got a bit bogged down. Cussy Mary Carter, age 19, lives alone with her father in Depression-era Kentucky, following … Read More “The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson” »
For those who have read Lisa See’s The Island of Sea Women, you’ll be familiar with the haeneyo, the women who are deep sea divers in Korea. But, this is a very different story. Told in two parts, divided between post-WW2 Korea and present-day United States, we learn about Junja, a teenage girl who has become … Read More “The Mermaid from Jeju by Sumi Hahn” »
Over and over again, Lake Union Publishing releases books that I really enjoy and want to recommend to others, and The House at Mermaid’s Cove continues this pattern. Set in WWII, Alice washes ashore in Cornwall after her Ireland-bound ship is torpedoed by the Germans. Jack, the lord of the nearby manor rescues her, but … Read More “The House at Mermaid’s Cove by Lindsay Jayne Ashford” »
This was a sweet love story, split between 18-year-old Betty set in 1951 and 84-year-old Boop in modern time. Young Betty lives with her Jewish grandparents at their South Haven resort, where she dreams of being crowned a beauty queen, going to college in NY, and having a successful career as a fashion magazine editor. … Read More “The Last Bathing Beauty by Amy Sue Nathan” »
This one sat on my shelf for a while, and I struggled to pick it up, but I should have started it the day I received it since so far it’s in my top three books published in 2020! This book begins in 1947, when Janey Everett, war photojournalist confronts Irene Lindquist (aka Irene Foster) … Read More “Her Last Flight by Beatriz Williams” »
Set in Chawton — where Jane Austen lived while writing three of her famous books — right after the second World War, a group of eight people come together to create the Jane Austen Society. The characters have very little in common, but for their love of Jane Austen, but it’s enough for them to … Read More “The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner” »
Another great book by Lisa Wingate. Mostly set in Louisiana (with a bit of Texas thrown in,) the chapters alternate between Benny Silva’s story in 1987, and Hannie Gossett in 1885. Hannie is a young woman who is a freed slave but still working for her former master and his wife in basically the same … Read More “The Book of Lost Friends by Lisa Wingate” »
The Operator is a book primarily about Vivian, a nosey switchboard operator in the Midwest, although we also get snippets of life from her daughter, Charlotte, and Flora, a local woman who has just robbed a local bank (yes, really) and fled to Canada. Vivian always tries to measure up to those around her, including … Read More “The Operator by Gretchen Berg” »
This book is told in a dual time frame, with Elaine’s story set in London during World War II and Jen’s story set in present-day Spain. Elaine is a typist for the military, typing letters written by POWs and looking for secret messages, when she meets — and falls deeply in love with — famed … Read More “The Forgotten Girls by Lizzie Page” »