The Christmas Bookshop by Jenny Colgan

I love Jenny Colgan's writing, so I jumped at the chance to read The Christmas Bookshop during the holiday season. And, I was every bit as charmed and heart-warmed as I expected. 

Carmen has been working at a department store for years but it's been slowly going downhill. When it closes permanently, she's at loose ends and has no choice but to return to her parents' home. Her sister Sofia lives in a perfect house in Edinburgh with a perfect husband and they have lucrative jobs, both lawyers. Sofia is expecting her fourth child and when their mother asks Sofia if she can possibly find a job for Carmen, Sofia realizes that Carmen might be the person who can help a small bookstore owner, Mr. McCredie, at least get his business in enough shape to sell it as a going concern instead of an empty storefront. Mr. McCredie is more of a bibliophile hermit than a businessman and has frittered away his entire inheritance. He's about to lose everything. 

Carmen is not interested in living with her accomplished sister in her fancy house but a bookshop sounds like a decent place to earn a little money. What she finds is a disaster. The bookshop is dusty with mostly antiquarian books, no organization, and no hint at Christmas decor. Carmen's a little overwhelmed, at first, but then she gets to work cleaning, organizing, decorating and creating events to draw people in. While doing so, she meets two men who appeal to her. One is a famous author with perfect teeth and lots of money. The other studies and lectures about trees. 

Can Carmen draw in enough traffic and sell enough books to help Mr. McCredie's shop keep going? Or, will Christmas be the end of her job and the bookshop, entirely. And, what about those two guys? Will she let the wealthy man who writes inspirational books sweep her away? Or, will she find herself with a sudden interest in trees and man buns? 

Highly recommended - A lovely tale of friendship and love in snowy Edinburgh at Christmas, worth buying to save for next year if you're a Christmas book fan or downloading right now if you need a little upper. There's a lot of tension between sisters Sofia and Carmen so this book fit the "sisters who learn to get along" theme that I love (because I have a sister with whom I have little in common) but there's so much else I loved about this book. I loved taking an armchair visit to Edinburgh. Because she mentioned a lot of sights, I had fun looking things up on my phone. I loved visualizing the quirky little shop and seeing in my mind's eye what Carmen did to make it lovely and grab the interest of people passing by. I loved how Carmen interacted with her nieces and nephew, encouraging the one who was most like her, who was experiencing similar frustrations as a sister and student. And, I really want to see the giant tree that drew Oke, the dendrologist, to study in Edinburgh. I'm pretty sure I've read about that same tree elsewhere (it's about 2,000 years old) and I enjoyed reading about it again. I also adored the relationship between Carmen and Mr. McCredie, a wounded soul whose emotional and work life Carmen improved. 

In fact, I loved the world she built in Edinburgh so much that I really didn't want to leave it. But, The Christmas Bookshop has a perfect, lovely, satisfying ending so I closed it with a smile on my face and I may have shed a few tears. 

Many thanks to HarperCollins for the review copy! I will hang onto this one for a reread. I'm not big on reading seasonal books otherwise, but Christmas is a big YES. 

©2021 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Band of Sisters by Lauren Willig

Band of Sisters by Lauren Willig is a fictionalized account of real-life events in which a group of Smith College graduates traveled to France during WWI to help the citizens who had been bombed out of their homes and were starving, lacking medical care, and often living in cellars of damaged buildings or barns. 

Kate Moran, a former scholarship girl from Brooklyn, is working a job she doesn't really like when her wealthy best friend from college, Emmeline Van Alden asks her to join the Smith College Relief Unit after another member dropped out. They will be going to France to help displaced and starving citizens, mostly women and children. Kate agrees for the change of pace but after being stung by the words of Emmie's cousin, many years back, she isn't sure she is interested in resuming her friendship with Emmie. 

Along with 15 other Smith grads, Kate and Emmie travel across the Atlantic Ocean and arrive in Paris to find that the proprietor of the place they planned to stay doesn't have enough rooms and some of their supplies have either gone missing or are stuck with nobody available to fetch them. Only a few of the women can drive and there are many complications but eventually they make it to a bombed-out village and set up to help the citizens get back on their feet. They are not far from the front line, relatively speaking, but they're able to set up their own lodgings and a store and provide for the villagers' medical needs and slowly branch out to aid those in the surrounding area. But, will the war stay far enough away from them or will the Germans break through and endanger the women and everything they've accomplished? 

Recommended - Excellent WWI fiction based on real events. Because the author stuck closely to the real-life events, much of Band of Sisters is about the friendships and backbiting, the difficulties acquiring supplies and dealing with automobile disasters, the dangers that single women face driving around the countryside, the touches of romance, and how the women overcome obstacles big and small. It's slow of pace in the first half to three-quarters but I was actually quite gripped by the everyday challenges the women faced and imagining how I would handle them if I'd been among them, wondering whether I would stick it out or run wailing back to the US in defeat. In the latter part of the book, it becomes fairly nail-biting and I particularly loved that bit. 

I really appreciated the fact (made clear in the author's note) that she fictionalized the characters but chose to use actual events within her work of fiction rather than making things up. As a result of that choice, there's an everyday feel to most of the book but I prefer accuracy of events, even if that means a book is a bit less action-packed. Even before I read the author's note, the Smithies' challenges seemed very realistic to me. Read Band of Sisters when you're in the mood to dip your toes into a unique view of WWI history and don't mind a quieter, slower-paced read (at least till near the end). 

I received a review copy of Band of Sisters from HarperCollins (many thanks!) in exchange for an honest review and have posed my copy on a news periodical from 1919. It's not in great shape and the pages have to be turned carefully or they'll crumble. The photos are amazing, though. I chose the spread above because the Smith women encountered ruins everywhere they went, although the photo above was taken in Belgium. Here's another photo that shows a Red Cross relief worker from Great Britain. The Red Cross is mentioned but as I recall the women worked with either the American or French Red Cross. You should be able to click on both images to enlarge them. 

©2021 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Almost Just Friends by Jill Shalvis (Wildstone #4)

It's been years since I've read a Jill Shalvis book. Anyone out there remember Harlequin Duets? They were paperback books that contained two romantic comedies and I loved them. I'm almost certain that's where I discovered Jill Shalvis's writing.

In Almost Just Friends, Piper raised her siblings, works in EMS, and is fixing up the Victorian lake house and nearby cabins they own in preparation for selling. Her plan is to split the proceeds, go back to school to become a physician's assistant, and help her sister pay for college and her brother get a nice place of his own.

Then, all of a sudden, things change. During a massive storm, Piper goes to check on her diabetic neighbor and meets his handsome son, Camden. Piper is a little stunned to find herself attracted to Cam. Then, both her brother and sister, Gavin and Winnie, return home to stay. But, everyone has a secret and nobody wants to let Piper know what's going on. So, while her younger siblings are trying to work out what's next for them and the handsome neighbor is keeping at least one of their secrets, Piper begins to realize that maybe she has some work to do on communicating with her family, especially when it turns out they don't want to sell out the property at all.

I had some issues with Almost Just Friends, the main one being Camden's job. I couldn't make heads or tails of his combination of jobs. He's in the Coast Guard but he also gets called away on active duty for something-or-other. Or, maybe he gets called out on Coast Guard missions that are dangerous? It just confused me. I would have been happier if Camden had just had a normal job in the Coast Guard instead of the two conflicting things. I kept puzzling over how on earth the things he did worked together and whether they even made sense. At some point, I decided to try not to think too hard about what Camden even did for a living.

What I liked best about the story was the relationship between Piper and Camden, which quickly became one of comfort friends with benefits. They genuinely felt comfortable together and I felt like their relationship worked. I also liked the way the siblings fought. Sometimes, it was a little uncomfortably familiar, but I thought their arguments felt pretty realistic, if ridiculous.

Recommended but not a favorite - I really enjoyed Almost Just Friends, don't get me wrong, but there were little niggling things about it that bothered me – Camden's job, the timing of Winnie's issues, the pointless secrets being kept. And, at some point, it felt like the author tried to turn Piper's trauma into something similar for Camden. In other words, I felt like the story was uneven. But, I liked the romance and wanted the couple to get together. So, while Almost Just Friends is not my favorite book by Jill Shalvis, I still enjoyed it enough that I'd read more by her.

I received my copy of Almost Just Friends from HarperCollins for review. Thank you! Almost Just Friends is the 4th book in the Wildstone series but I have not read any of the other books and it stood alone just fine. So, if you're interested in the storyline, don't worry about the fact that it's a series book.


©2020 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Mini reviews - They Were Sisters by Dorothy Whipple, Christmas Camp by Karen Schaler, and Her Other Secret by Helenkay Dimon

They Were Sisters is my first read by Dorothy Whipple, although I have several of her books because they come so highly recommended.

Just as it sounds, They Were Sisters is the story of three sisters, how their lives are shaped by the choices they make (particularly the choice of a spouse), and how the eldest is always the stabilizing force.

I don't know what I expected from a book by Dorothy Whipple but I confess I was a little surprised to find that the book was a bit of a soap opera and yet, in spite of the ups and downs of the characters, there was also something immensely soothing about the fact that Lucy's steadiness, her husband's sense of humor and the fact that they're so perfect for each other, and their idyllic cottage on a larger estate serves as a wonderful anchor for not only the characters but the story itself.

I also found it quite interesting that the males in the family are barely even mentioned. It's a story about women and the men in their immediate circle but Whipple isn't diverted by the larger family unit so much as they are satellites that orbit the women; the women are always at the forefront. In fact, you get the impression that travel was such a hardship at the time it was written that you could say goodbye to a brother who went off to seek his fortune and never see him again, at all, so why mention them once they're out of the picture?

Highly recommended - A fascinating story of the lives of three sisters, how their choices in marriage and childbearing affect their lives in both the short and long term, and the sister who is always there for the other two women and their offspring, whenever they need her. Loved it!

Christmas Camp by Karen Schaler is the story of a woman who has zipped up the proverbial ladder at an advertising agency and now, still young, has got a shot at becoming a partner in the Boston firm. But, she has competition and the one thing her boss has noted that she lacks is Christmas spirit. In order to secure the important account that will clinch her partnership, Haley needs that Christmas spirit. Otherwise, her boss says, it's very unlikely that whatever ad campaign she comes up with will succeed with the company she's targeting.

The fellow she's competing with has buckets of Christmas spirit and Haley tries, but she's just too bent on business. Christmas doesn't even interest her. The boss is firm. She needs to develop some Christmas spirit and he's going to make sure of it by sending her to Christmas Camp, where she'll do normal, Christmasy things and learn about the real joy of the season. Haley is horrified but she wants that partnership, so off she goes. What she finds is a lovely house run by a widower and his handsome son Jeff, who also happens to live in Boston and who is trying to convince his father to sell the house and move near him.

Haley and Jeff get off to a rocky start but there's clearly a spark between Haley and Jeff and they have a good bit in common. Will Haley be able to stick out the entire week of camp or will she get ants in her pants and hustle back to Boston? Will she discover the joy of Christmas? And, if she does, will she come up with the perfect advertising campaign and win the job she desires?

Recommended when you're looking for a fun, romantic, seasonal read - Christmas Camp reads like a Hallmark movie and-- what do you know? --it actually is one. In fact, the movie apparently came first and then Schaler, a screenwriter, was hired to write the book. I was disappointed that I couldn't find the movie for streaming. I liked the book and I'm pretty sure I remember getting a little teary at one point. I'll keep my eye out for the movie and hope I get lucky, next Christmas season.

Her Other Secret by Helenkay Dimon was an unsolicited gift from Avon Books and it sounded intriguing, so I gave it a shot when nothing else was appealing to me. Tessa and Hansen live on Whitaker Island, an island off the coast of Washington (the state) where people go to get a fresh start or just hide out for a time. Tessa has fled a scandal; Hansen won't talk about why he's there.

Tessa and Hansen are on the beach when a mysterious stranger emerges from the water and walks into the woods . . . fully clothed. Tessa suspects something fishy is going on. And, when the man turns up dead and Hansen admits he knows him, Hansen becomes a suspect. What happened to drive Hansen to the island? Why was someone Hansen knows nearby? Who murdered the stranger? And, why can't Hansen and Tessa stay away from each other?

Well, huh, not sure what to say about his one. It didn't work for me but I don't even remember why, so I'm hesitant to give it even a verbal rating. I do remember that I found it overly wordy and confusing. In fact, I was very surprised to find that the author has so many books under her belt. Beyond that, I'm not sure what I disliked about it. I've got the follow-up book (again, sent unsolicited) and I'll give it a shot but I'm not going to stick it out if it doesn't work. However, I think the author deserves a second chance.


©2020 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

25 Days 'Til Christmas by Poppy Alexander

In 25 Days 'Til Christmas Kate (widowed 4 years ago) and her son Jack are having a challenging Christmas season but she's doing everything she can to make Christmas as magical as possible. She's come up with daily activities to keep Jack busy and try to keep him from realizing just how poor they have become. Kate works at a department store on a rolling contract. Every year, it's possible she could lose her job and this year the boss is being particularly threatening. At school, Jack is having difficulties and the faculty wants to send him to what we Americans would call a reform school, although the book is set in Bristol, England so it has a different name. At the same time, her mother-in-law is running out of pension money for use in the care home, where she is deteriorating rapidly from Alzheimer's, and the government is threatening to pull her supplementary funds.

Daniel lost his sister Zoe, last year, and it still stings. The one thing that he's looking forward to, this year, is seeing the woman he privately refers to as "Christmas Tree Girl". He hasn't ever formally met Kate, but he knows that she will be there selling Christmas trees in her little elf costume. He wonders if she'll remember him and wonder what became of Zoe. When Daniel's not working as a chartered surveyor, he answers a help line and listens to people's problems, talks them out of suicide, or sometimes is just there for the lonely.

Daniel and Kate have a little trouble getting together, at first, but eventually they meet and start seeing each other. The problem is that Kate is utterly overwhelmed with all her problems and unsure she can or should replace Jack's father, Tom. Is there a way to solve her financial issues beyond her home jewelry-making? How will she deal with the bullying and sexual innuendo by her boss? Can she get Jack into a school that will meet his needs and keep him happy, rather than one that's set up for those with bad behavior? What will she do about her mother-in-law's draining finances when she has so little of her own?

Recommended but I advise skimming some parts if you find them dull - There is a LOT going on in this book. There were times it was a bit too much for me and, at some point, I decided I'd be best off skimming certain bits. For example, Kate is put in charge of a fundraising effort for the department store and has to come up with costumes for her child and his best friend on top of everything else. I found the fundraising meetings as dull as they are in real life (been there), so eventually I decided to skim those and some other bits of meetings in which Daniel was trying to help the shopkeepers of a cluster of shops called Christmas Steps — which actually exists; you can look up photos online.

I think the author created a few too many threads in this story. And yet, like a Hallmark movie, it came together beautifully in the end, almost too perfectly (as a romance should). I closed the book happy and satisfied. When I went to rate the book, I noticed that someone had given it 1 star because she found it too sad, thanks to Kate's overwhelming financial issues. I actually enjoyed reading about the realistic struggle she was going through. I found at least one of the resolutions a little too easy and pat, so I knocked off a point for that and the occasional stretch (meetings, ugh) that I found dull, but overall I loved 25 Days 'Til Christmas. I liked Kate's creativity and determination to make things as cheery as possible for her son, and I adored Daniel for his kindness and generosity. They're a couple that you can root for and they deserve a lovely ending. A sweet Christmas story about hardship, grief, and finding happily-ever-after when it seems like nothing is ever going to be right, again.


©2019 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

No Judgments by Meg Cabot

No Judgments by Meg Cabot is a fluffy romance set against the backdrop of a hurricane in the Florida Keys. Sabrina (Bree) left her home in New York after her boyfriend and mother failed to support her through two particularly difficult experiences and now she lives and works on the little island in the Keys where her family used to vacation.

When a Category 5 hurricane heads toward the Keys, Bree's wealthy ex and her mother both offer to help her escape in advance of the storm. But, Bree's cat can't travel and she's uninterested in getting any help from the two people who weren't there for her when she needed them most. Now, even though she's also on a mancation (like vacation, but a break from dating), Bree is frustrated to find herself falling for a local fellow named Drew who has a reputation as a lady's man.

Both Bree and Drew are stubborn. Bree plans to stay in her apartment, even after being told the building will undoubtedly flood due to storm surge since it's too close to the water. Drew is determined to ride out the hurricane in the home he's built on the beach.

When the hurricane has passed, Bree is stunned by the damage. And, when she finds out the person who was supposed to watch her neighbor's pets left without moving them to higher ground, she's horrified. Then, she discovers that a surprising number of people have left their pets behind but will be unable to return to the island for days. The task of taking care of people's pets is overwhelming. But, it turns out that Drew loves animals, too.

Recommended but not a favorite - Absolutely the right book for the moment. While it's not, in my humble opinion, Meg Cabot's best work and I had a lot of minor issues with this book, there's a lot that I liked about it. I liked the accuracy of the hurricane description (pre-, during, and aftermath) and the predictability of the romantic aspect. I was mostly in it for that predictability, as is often the case with romance. I also appreciated the mental break — no heavy plot, not too many characters to keep track of, nothing mentally taxing. The romance itself was nice but there was just something flat and lifeless about the storytelling in this book and I thought the descriptions of Bree when she was turned on were . . . eww. That could have been left out. The best thing about the attraction between Bree and Drew is the fact that the hero and heroine have a love of animals in common. If you're an animal lover, you'll definitely appreciate their mutual affection for animals and determination to care for all the abandoned pets on the island.

I received an ARC of No Judgments from HarperCollins in exchange for an unbiased review. Thank you!

©2019 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

After the Flood by Kassandra Montag

"I keep thinking grief feels like climbing a staircase while looking down," she said. "You won't forget where you've been, but you've got to keep rising. It all gets farther away, but it's all still there. And you've only got one way to go and you don't really want to go on rising, but you've got to. And that tightness in your chest doesn't go away, but you somehow go on breathing that thinner, higher air. It's like you grow a third lung. Like you've somehow gotten bigger when you thought you were only broken." 

~ fr. p. 282 of Advance Reader Copy, After the Flood (Some changes may have been made to the finished copy)

100 years in the future, after climate change has led to such widespread flooding that cities and mountains are buried, Myra and her daughter Pearl struggle to survive. Myra was abandoned by her husband — who took their daughter, Row, with him — during the early days of the Earth-drowning flood. She was pregnant at the time and has been traveling the world on a boat her grandfather built, Bird. Myra and Pearl fish and trade in the few small port towns at what used to be mountain peaks but now are the last remnants of land.

When Myra finds out Row (short for Rowena) is still alive but in danger of a new horror, she decides she must rescue her eldest daughter. But, that means traveling across the North Atlantic, which is prone to rough waters and deadly storms. Her boat isn't strong enough. Then, she and Pearl find another way. I won't spoil the plot point that lands them on a separate boat.

At first, it seems like they've found a fairly harmonious little group of people to sail with, but all is not as it seems. Myra lies about wanting to look for Row, instead saying she's heard The Valley, the place Row is located, is a great place for settlers. But, she knows it's been overrun by a group known as the Lost Abbotts and that she has little time to rescue her daughter. There are also the Lily Black to deal with, basically pirates who murder and plunder. It's a vicious new world. Pearl is going through a stubborn adolescent phase and has an odd affinity for snakes. Myra knows she could be kicked off the ship for lying. Daniel, a man Myra rescues, and the ship's captain, Abran, have dark secrets of their own. And, absolutely everyone has one or more losses they're grieving.


Recommended - I found After the Flood a slow-paced read, apart from the occasional heart-pounding action scene, and one of my biggest problems with it was that I didn't particularly like Myra. She was strong, resourceful, and had a lot of interesting survival skills, though, so what I did like was reading about how she and Pearl survived and thinking about that world and the what-ifs. What would I do if I was in this situation? Would I say or do the same things? Would I choose to live on land or go from port to port, like Myra? How would I survive?

In spite of the fact that I thought the book could have been tightened up a little, I enjoyed it. In general, I found the world-building fascinating and if a dystopian novel is readable enough (while slow of pace, the writing was solid enough to keep me going and I did want to know whether or not Myra and Pearl would find Row), I will finish a dystopian for the experience of imagining myself in that world. So, I most enjoyed After the Flood for the way it made me think and for some adventurous, heart-pounding scenes. It can be brutal but I love the way a dystopian novel makes me ponder.

I received an ARC of After the Flood from HarperCollins for review. Many thanks!

©2019 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Invisible as Air by Zoe Fishman

Either he did this all the time or he would make a one-time exception for a friend; she didn't care. She just wanted the pills. So badly. 

Just these few hours without them in her system, her world was too much. Edges were sharper, the sun was hotter, her unresolved emotions too present. Sylvie much preferred the alternative. She would do what she had to do. 

~ fr. p. 252 of Advance Reader Copy, Invisible as Air


Teddy stopped eating, his stomach suddenly full. His parents didn't so much argue when they argued; his mom just lobbed firecrackers while his dad retaliated with water balloons. 

~ fr. p. 260 of ARC


In Invisible as Air, Sylvie has been privately grieving her stillborn daughter for 3 years but she has been unwilling to even say Delilah's name aloud. She's become distant and snappish. Her husband, Paul, has channeled his grief in a different way, exercising vigorously and becoming a shopaholic. He's purchased so much unneeded exercise equipment that credit card debt has become a problem. Their son Teddy is on the cusp of turning 13 and Sylvie is nervous about planning his bar mitzvah while dealing with work, the PTA, homemaking, and a homebound husband who has broken an ankle in a biking accident.

As a newish health nut, Paul has decided to battle through the pain of his broken ankle rather than taking the prescribed painkillers and one day Sylvie decides to take one of his pills. Just this once, she'd like to feel a little lighter. The pill makes her feel relaxed, happy, and less stressed. It even makes her kinder to the people around her. So, she starts taking one a day and then two. It doesn't take long before she's hiding the pills and then stealing to keep from having to stop taking them. While she's sinking into addiction and spiraling out of control, her new attitude actually seems to be a good thing from Paul's perspective. But, when Sylvie can no longer bear the thought of doing without the pills, can she stop taking them? Or, will her family find out and intervene?

Recommended - Unputdownable. at least for this reader. An easy read with great flow, nicely paced, which is told from three separate points-of-view: those of Sylvie, Paul, and Teddy. While I was slightly surprised by some errors (bearing in mind that I have an Advance Reader Copy) that I tend to think of as typical of newer writers, which Zoe Fishman is not, they were blips. I just had to know what was going to happen with Sylvie and stayed up way too late finishing the book. There's also one possible research flaw that I consider significant. But, again, because I found Invisible as Air so gripping, I only knocked off a point for the things I found questionable.

I think it's worth adding that Invisible as Air could be triggering for anyone who has lost a child to stillbirth as it really digs into the lasting grief felt by each of the family members and how they responded to it.

I received a copy of Invisible as Air from HarperCollins in exchange for my unbiased review. The paperback has some extra features: a conversation with the author, reading group guide, and information about other books by the author. My thanks to HarperCollins!


©2019 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Meet Me in Monaco by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb

I just wrote four full paragraphs about Meet Me in Monaco by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb and decided it's far too plotty to summarize easily. I don't want to give anything away. So, I'll just refer you to Goodreads for the book summary (Meet Me in Monaco link) and tell you that it's about a perfumer named Sophie and a photographer named James who meet and fall in love against the backdrop of Grace Kelly's romance and marriage in France.

I primarily chose to read Meet Me in Monaco because of the backdrop. I've always found it fascinating that an American actress became a princess in a French principality but I've only read bits and pieces about Princess Grace, her rise to fame, and her marriage. So, it was Grace's story in the background that appealed to me, initially.

As it turned out, I loved both stories. There's enough about Grace Kelly becoming a princess to fill in some of the gaps in my understanding of her romance. But, the romance between Sophie and James is equally appealing, if a bit of a rollercoaster ride. James is divorced with a daughter in London and his job is based there. Sophie's true home is in a small village in France where her herbs and flowers are grown for use in the perfumes she creates. Her father started the business, kept a notebook of his formulas, and taught her about making perfume. It's the connection to her father and her profession that's most important to Sophie. And, therein the dilemma lies. Can either James or Sophie sacrifice what's most important to be together?

Recommended - Captivating, romantic, tragic, beautiful. Read Meet Me in Monaco when you're in the mood for romantic historical fiction or if you're dying to learn a bit more about Grace Kelly but don't mind if she's not the main character. She's there, dropping into scenes as she develops a distant but charming friendship with Sophie and there's enough about Grace to fill in the gaps if you only know about her remotely, as I did. Some of the descriptions of places she went and things she did sent me scrambling to find out more or look up images online. There is a video of her arrival in Monaco by ship (for her wedding) on YouTube! Cool.

Meanwhile, both of the main characters, Sophie and James, have a lot going on and the book is surprisingly more driven by plot than characterization. Still, there's always the "Will they or won't they end up together?" question about James and Sophie lingering. Will James find a way to connect with Sophie without losing his daughter? Will Sophie be able to escape the destructive relationship she's kept secret from James? Will Sophie's business survive or will she have to sell to the real estate agent who won't leave her in peace? What will happen when tragedy strikes? I had trouble putting the book down. It's surprising, sometimes heartbreaking and ultimately satisfying. I loved all the unexpected turns the story took.

I received an Advance Reader Copy of Meet Me in Monaco from HarperCollins in exchange for my unbiased review. Many thanks!


©2019 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Searching for Sylvie Lee by Jean Kwok

Sylvie and Amy Lee's grandmother is dying. Amy doesn't really know her but Sylvie spent the first 9 years of her life in the Netherlands, living with her aunt and uncle, her cousin, and her grandmother. Their parents live in the United States and Amy is still living at home, taking a break from school, when Sylvie takes off for the Netherlands to say her final goodbye.

Sylvie is the smart one, the pretty one, the successful daughter with a husband who comes from a wealthy background. Amy has dated around but lacks her sister's confidence and success. Sylvie has helped support her family. But, now she's disappeared in the Netherlands.

Mrs. Lee, known as "Ma" in the book, does not appear to be particularly happy. During her early years as a mother, she and her husband were struggling. So they sent Sylvie to live in the Netherlands and then brought her to the U.S. when her little sister was 2 years old. Ma still doesn't speak English well and keeps to herself.

When Sylvie disappears, Amy flies to the Netherlands to look for her. There, she discovers the strange relationships between Sylvie and their aunt and uncle are not at all what she expected and that their grandmother's treasure, a bag of jewelry she's kept for decades, has gone missing. During the weekend of their grandmother's death, Sylvie went on a quick trip to Venice. What happened in Venice? Could the people who traveled with her have anything to do with her disappearance? Did Sylvie take the gold? If she did, did someone kill her for it? What happened between Sylvie and her husband? Why was Sylvie taking music lessons in the Netherlands and what's the deal with the man who taught Sylvie and insinuated himself into Amy's life?

Through the voices of Sylvie, Amy, and Ma, we get to know the stories of 3 Chinese-American women, their experiences as immigrants in two different nations, the secrets they've kept, and how racism and family dynamics effected their lives, against the backdrop of a mystery.

Highly recommended - So many questions to keep the pages turning. I found Searching for Sylvie Lee utterly gripping. The only problem I had with it is the fact that what became of Sylvie is given away (but not in its entirety) about 2/3, or maybe 3/4, of the way into the book via a newspaper article. I'm not sure why the author chose to insert the news articles (there were 2 or 3) but that particular one was a little deflating and I took a point off for that. Still, there were plenty of mysteries remaining and by the end of the book, Amy and Ma's stories had become dominant as Amy's time away from home helped her build confidence and a surprising revelation explained much about why Ma behaved as she did. All of which is to say, Searching for Sylvie Lee was a very intriguing read.

I received an ARC of Searching for Sylvie Lee from HarperCollins in return for an unbiased review. Many thanks!


©2019 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Never Have I Ever by Joshilyn Jackson

Amy and her best friend Charlotte are preparing for the neighborhood book group when a stranger, the current occupant of the rental home down the street, barges in and takes over, sweeping up the women into a game in which they confess their dirtiest deeds. But, Amy has worked hard to bury her secrets and create a calm, ordinary life with her husband, a stepdaughter, and a baby boy.

Roux is beautiful but sinister. Amy is suspicious of her from the moment she walks in the door. And, she's right to be nervous. When Roux brings up one of Amy's two darkest secrets and tells her what she wants, though, Amy is not going to fold over like Roux's usual targets. Roux has no idea what she's gotten into. Because Amy is willing to play her game. And, she means to win.

I'm going to stop right here and tell you that I'm giving away next to nothing because I think it's best to go into Never Have I Ever knowing as little as possible so that you can enjoy the unfolding plot as much as I did. The only thing you really need to know is that Never Have I Ever is a fantastic read.

Highly recommended - Absolutely captivating! Never Have I Ever is next-level writing for Joshilyn Jackson, in my humble opinion. Not so much cat and mouse as two cats circling each other with their tales fluffed. Which will pounce? Who will flinch You are always aware, as you're reading, that either woman could win. Roux has clearly targeted people before. But, Amy is no ingenue. She has lived through the pain of knowing what she did wrong in the past; and, she's both tough and wily. A new favorite.

I received an ARC of Never Have I Ever from HarperCollins in exchange for an unbiased review (and without anticipation of the sleep it would steal). Many thanks!


©2019 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Map of the Heart by Susan Wiggs

Camille used to be a photographer but she put away her camera and her fearless lifestyle after her husband's tragic death. And, her daughter Julie may as well be packed in bubble wrap. Now, she processes found rolls of film, teasing out images that could easily be ruined. When Julie has an accident, in her rush to get to the hospital Camille ruins an important roll of film preserved from the Vietnam War, throwing her in the path of Finn.

Finn wanted a family but instead he ended up divorced. Now, he lives and works in France, not far from where Camille's father grew up. When something goes wrong at Camille's father Henry's French estate and a mysterious crate is exposed, a set of photos and a camera are sent to Henry in the United States and they pique Camille's interest. As frightened as she is to leave the safety of home, Camille's curiosity about her paternal grandmother convinces her to accompany her father and daughter to France for the summer, where once again she'll meet up with Finn. But, will she let herself dare to open her heart again?

There's also an unfolding mystery set during WWII, which I really enjoyed, but I think the contemporary romance part of the book dominates Map of the Heart.

Recommended but not a favorite - I don't know what it was about Map of the Heart that made it drag, but I had a terrible time getting into it. Once I did, though, I enjoyed it. A sweet, fairly predictable story of WWII combined with a present-day romance. Good for summer reading but not brilliant. I found the fact that Henry's estate just happened to be near the place Finn was working in France a bit too convenient.

I received a copy of Map of the Heart from HarperCollins for review (many thanks!) It's my second book by Susan Wiggs. While I found this one so-so, I absolutely loved the first book I read by her, Between You and Me, and will definitely give her another try.

©2019 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

It's funny to be writing about Good Omens just a week after a group of people got together to petition the wrong network to cancel the TV series because it means it's given me extra food for thought, which is always a very fine thing. Short version: Good Omens is a satire about the Apocalypse. Now the longer version.

Good Omens is about an angel, Aziraphale, and a demon named Crowley who have been on Earth since the dawn of humanity. There's a running joke about the flaming sword that Aziraphale loaned out when he was guarding the Garden of Eden (never returned), throughout the book. Aziraphale and Crowley have gradually become friends of the Odd Couple sort, dramatically different yet cordial and frequently thrown together so that they've become comfortable with each other's quirks and even playfully pick on each other a bit.

Now, the end of the world is coming. When the Antichrist is born, it's the demon's task to make sure he is placed with the right family (an underhanded, work-addicted American ambassador and his wife) so that he'll be brought up horrid and bring on the fight between Heaven and Hell. But, a little mix-up occurs and the Antichrist, Adam, is placed with the wrong family. They're a lovely, very British couple and Adam is brought up to be kind and curious if a little bossy. He has his gang of friends and is about 11 or 12 years old, as I recall, when the time comes and the Hound of Hell is brought to help him with his task.

Meanwhile, Aziraphale (who currently runs a book shop) and Crowley (who slouches about causing trouble and driving his beloved classic car) are not particularly thrilled about the coming apocalypse because they've grown quite fond of life on Earth and would prefer that it just continued on, as is. So, if it's possible to throw a spanner in the works, so to speak, they're going to do so. There's also a witch who is carefully counting down the clock to the end of the world and observing as the prophecies of her ancestor, Agnes Nutter, unfold, while a witchfinder who has failed at pretty much everything ends up tracking her down and finding that he's there primarily to fulfill the prophecies in Agnes Nutter's book.

The hilarious thing about people protesting the TV series is that Good Omens is not evil in any way. Rather, it points out the fact that people are basically awful but some are fairly pure and good. And, it's because of the inherent goodness in the parents of the misplaced Antichrist, Adam, that things turn out rather different than expected. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are in there, too.

Bottom line: This is really a book about how the good in the world can overcome the bad and a lesson that being surrounded by kindness and positivity turns out well, in the long run, although bad influences may try to thwart you. It's honestly quite a positive message in a tremendously funny, twisted satire. And, for crying out loud, it's just fiction. People need to get a grip.

Highly recommended - I'll talk about the TV series and how closely it follows the book, in a sec, but for now the book. The combination of Terry Pratchett's wit and humor and Neil Gaiman's wild imagination makes for an absolutely brilliant and immensely entertaining read. The dialogue is a hoot, the message that good influence can overcome evil intent well plotted, and the perfection of the writing a given. The only thing I had a problem with was that there was enough complexity that I had a little trouble getting it all straight in my head, at first. That was one reason I opted to go ahead and watch the Good Omens TV series while reading Good Omens, the book. I thought it might help me with some of the bits that I wasn't visualizing well. That worked out quite well.

How about the TV series? I went back and forth between book and series as I read part of the book and then watched an episode while eating lunch or supper (or split the viewing of an episode between both) and then went back to the book and read some more at bedtime, etc. Naturally, there are bits of the book that are left out because they're a little superfluous and that worked fine for me. Neil Gaiman did the screenwriting and he often chose to use the exact wording from the book, particularly in dialogue. So, it's not the kind of book that you feel like, "Ack! I can't bear it. So many changes!" It sticks pretty close to the book with just a few minor additions and deletions. The ending is where the biggest changes were apparent to me. Because the book was written and published in the 90s (then updated in the early 2000s), the technology is a bit dated. That just adds color, to be honest.

The Good Omens TV series can be gross, at times. There's one demon, for example, who has what appear to be festering wounds and flies buzzing around her head. I found myself cringing when that character appeared, but otherwise it's not too difficult to watch if you've got a weak stomach. The casting is fabulous. You can't beat David Tennant as a demon or Michael Sheen as a slightly incompetent angel; and, Jack Whitehall is absolutely perfect as the disastrous-with-electronics witchfinder. There's a bit of the bumbling, sweetly innocent Brit of Hugh Grant's romantic comedy days in Whitehall's performance. And, I adored Adam's parents. So, the TV series is highly recommended by me, as well.

I've read quite a few Neil Gaiman books and a couple of Terry Pratchett's Discworld series (my youngest son is a big fan of Pratchett, so I'm grateful that I had one of his books on-hand during one of those, "I'm bored and can't find a thing to read!" moments). Good Omens is definitely going on the favorites list for Gaiman, whom I've found iffy. I love about 60% of Gaiman's work, so far. The rest gets a meh. I like Pratchett but found his humor a little exhausting. I think it was nicely tempered by Gaiman's slightly darker bent.

I received a copy of Good Omens from HarperCollins (the TV series tie-in with the cover shown above) in exchange for an unbiased review. I had been thinking, "Oh, oh, oh, I've got to read that and watch the series!" before the offer to review arrived, so I was absolutely giddy when it arrived and I'm so glad I got to read and watch at the same time. I don't often advise people to read the book right away or watch the movie/series anytime soon if I've read and viewed both because the changes can be jarring but they really seemed to complement each other, in this case.

Many thanks to HarperCollins!


©2019 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters by Balli Kaur Jaswal

The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters is the story of three sisters who go to their ancestral homeland, India, to visit holy sites and perform various rituals in honor of their mother's dying wishes.

The beginning of the book reminded me of the first book I read by Jaswal, Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows. Although dying and in agony, the matriarch of the Shergill family is hilarious. She overhears the woman in the bed next to hers dictating a letter and gets the idea of doing something similar. Then, she realizes that if she asks her daughters to do something as a last request, they're much more likely to fulfill her wish because she's dying. So, she asks them to go to India together to do the things she longed to do, herself.

As we're getting to know the Shergill family, secrets are dangled. What's in the jewelry case Mrs. Shergill is afraid the nurses will find? What did Rajni do to cause her mother trouble when they made a trip to India, many years ago? Why did Jezmeen lose her job and what's up with her obsessive need to check for likes on YouTube? What drove Shirina into a marriage on the other side of the globe and what does her husband expect her to do before returning home from India?

Having written all that, I am suddenly realizing that I like this book more upon reflection than I did while reading it and that's absolutely not the author's fault. There were two things interfering with my enjoyment of reading The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters. One was that I was going through a slight reading slump and I probably should have just kept looking till I found something that broke the slump rather than continuing to read a book with the expectation that it would eventually pull me in. I think it was the fact that I so loved Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows and knew how beautifully Jaswal can pull together all the elements of a story that kept me going. And, she did indeed pull everything together to create a very satisfying ending.

The second problem I had was the fact that the mother was dying of cancer and then, after she died, the sisters kept reflecting back to her dying days and how much pain she was in. Since my mother died of cancer and I was there during her last months as caregiver, that hit a little too close to home. I would have had the latter problem regardless of when I read it. I just probably should have saved it for another day because of the not-grabbing-me thing. Having said all that, I enjoyed the elements and there were some wonderful scenes that I keep replaying in my head. Some of the secrets were a little too readily apparent, but I didn't care. Jaswal knows how to tell a story, how to keep you turning the pages and how to wrap things up in an immensely satisfying way. The timing may have been off for me, but I still appreciated The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters. And, I loved the ending.

Recommended - A story of three sisters getting to know each other, the family dynamics that led to the distance between them, and the imperfection of their journey versus the requests their mother made. While the way things went wrong was entertaining, I particularly enjoyed the growing relationship between the sisters as the book progressed and the way things were wrapped up in the end. One of the sisters had a problem that could have gone either way but the author chose the more satisfying ending for her, the one that required summoning a strength of character she didn't realize she had within her. Love Jaswal's writing and now that I've taken the time to look, I realize she has a backlist to delve into, as well. Wahoo for that!

I received an advance reader copy of The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters from HarperCollins. Many thanks! I'm labeling this a "road trip" book, although that's obviously a bit inaccurate since the sisters all have to fly to India and then they get local transport (taxis, the train, etc.) within India. It's about a journey, so . . . close enough. And, now that I've mentioned taxis I'm reminded of my favorite character in the book: Tom Hanks. You should read the book for Tom Hanks alone. He'll make you smile.


©2019 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

The Binding by Bridget Collins

In the world of The Binding by Bridget Collins, bookbinding is a magical art that one is born with. A binder is a person who takes someone's memories, puts them in book form, and wipes those memories away. If done badly, binding can turn someone into a bit of a zombie. There are also fictional books but the real books in The Binding (those that are filled with memories) are considered bad by most as they're about the terrible memories that people want to forget, often horrific things like being raped.

Taking away bad memories doesn't sound inherently bad, so when I read the book description for The Binding, I was intrigued and hoped to find it a story filled with magic and hope. Instead, the book really focuses on an LGBTQ romance (not what I was expecting, in other words). The magical binding process is actually secondary and there's really nothing positive about it. Instead of learning to live with memories, stopping bad people from doing bad things, and making the world a better place, binding is primarily used to abuse people in this story, particularly to allow one very bad man to continue abusing the girls in his employ.

I was feeling reading-slumpish and nothing at all was grabbing me when I went roaming around the house, grazing on various books to see if anything would hold my attention. The Binding was the only book that really managed to hang onto me and I appreciate it for that. It broke a dark spell. But, while I loved the beginning and the idea of the story, I found that the farther I got into it, the more I was dismayed by the fact that it was filled with darkness without light, terrible people (so many truly awful characters), and pure melodrama. Someone was constantly being hit by waves of nausea or dizziness, vomiting, blacking out. At the beginning, when the main character was recovering from a fever, it made sense to me. But, I really did grow weary of the melodrama, particularly the vomiting. Ew.

I also was irritated by the profusion of incomplete sentences in dialogue. People often do start a sentence and then stop, interrupting themselves or others in mid-thought. But, again, it was a conceit that was overdone to the point that I started to snarl at the characters to finish their %@*$! sentences. Similarly, the binder Emmett is sent to apprentice with, Seredith, is a character I expected to train him in the art of bookbinding. Instead, she gives Emmett busy work and keeps saying she'll get to the real teaching, later. The incomplete sentences in dialogue and the fact that Seredith keeps putting off the training gave the book a fragmented feel that I found annoyed me.

Neither recommended nor not recommended - Disappointing. More an LGBTQ romance than a fantasy and I believe the book requires trigger warnings for rape, abuse, and suicide. I peeked at Goodreads to see what the average rating is because I was curious how other people felt. It has a 4-star rating, so there are clearly plenty of people who enjoyed this book. Since I've found that Goodreads reviews are generally lacking in spoilers, I recommend flipping through a few reviews before making a decision whether or not to read The Binding. While I gave the book a low rating and found myself thinking I probably should have abandoned it, I will say that the ending was absolutely perfect and just what I'd hoped for. So, I'm glad I held out for the ending, even if the book didn't work for me, in general.

I received an Advance Reader Copy of The Binding from HarperCollins for review. Many thanks!


©2019 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Learning to See by Elise Hooper

Learning to See by Elise Hooper is a novelization of Dorothea Lange's life story. For those who aren't familiar with her, Dorothea Lange was a photographer who is probably best known for her Depression-era photographs, particularly "Migrant Mother".

Dorothea's story begins with a crime. She is 22 and has traveled to San Francisco intending to go on to Hawaii with her friend, Fronsie. But, then Fronsie discovers their money has been stolen and they realize they can go no further. Fronsie easily finds a job but Dorothea has to be a bit more clever finding work. With a leg damaged by polio and many employers unwilling to hire a "cripple", she has to pretend she has a minor injury to get a job. Later on, with experience working in a photography studio back East and money from her work locally, she starts her own studio and quickly builds a business photographing wealthy clientele.

This is the beginning of Dorothea's story and I realized, as I was reading it, that I knew little to nothing about her. I knew she was among the photographers hired to document the Depression, but that was about it. Learning to See illuminates her journey from portrait photographer to documentary photographer recording human struggle and how it affected her marriages and her children. If you're interested in photography, as I am, you may be slightly disappointed by the lack of technical description. There is pretty much none. Learning to See is about Dorothea's burning desire to bring light to human suffering, her need to keep moving and working, her hardships and triumphs. It's less about the photography than the photographer and her subject matter.

Recommended but not a favorite - Learning to See is great primarily for the examination of Dorothea Lange's life. I've admired Lange's photography and have seen "Migrant Mother" and other Depression-era photographs by Lange in various books for as long as I can remember, so I enjoyed learning about her. There was something about the book that kept it from being a favorite, though, and I can only describe it as feeling somewhat flat -- perhaps the dialogue didn't ring true to me or I didn't sense a depth of emotion? I'm not even certain I know what it was about the book that I didn't love. But, it was never anything that made me consider setting the book aside. I was enjoying learning about her life too much. I knew so little about Lange that I didn't even realize Lange was not her real name but her mother's maiden name.

Dorothea Lange hung out with other artists and photographers and was married to an artist, so I spent some time looking up the artwork and photography of her acquaintances during the reading. That may have been one of my favorite things about the book, finding artists and photographers who were new to me. The book appears to have been very, very thoroughly researched. At times, I bristled against certain aspects of her life and realized that I didn't want them to be true. Did she really think this, do that? I don't doubt that she did. One of the hazards of learning more about one of your minor heroes is that they always turn out to be human.

I received a copy of Learning to See from HarperCollins in exchange for my review. Many thanks!

©2019 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

The Feed by Nick Clark Windo

"Where are you going, Mark? What are you traveling for?"

He stares into the miasma, at the rain-ghosted trees as the drops prickle-smack around them. It seems he has ignored her and Kate turns away. But then, still staring at the rain, he says, "Because I've not found anywhere like home." 

~p. 139

In the near future, almost everyone has a chip implanted in his or her brain. The chip connects them to the Feed. Everything you can do on the Internet (in today's world) is done inside your brain via the Feed. It's so all-consuming and so good at thinking for you that when the entire system, the electrical grid, and society collapse, people don't know how to do much of anything.

Tom and Kate and their daughter have managed to survive for 6 years after the apocalyptic Collapse. They live with a motley group of survivors and they're still trying to figure out how to get power and grow food. When Tom is followed home after an expedition to find fuel and the children from their camp are kidnapped, others viciously attacked, Tom and Kate set out into a dangerous new world to find the children.

Recommended, especially to lovers of SciFi and thrillers - The Feed by Nick Clark Windo is the one book that I keep thinking about, this month. It took me quite some time to get into the story because it was initially confusing. The author doesn't baby you. He doles out information about what happened verrrrry slooooowly, so you're theorizing and trying to understand and sometimes just flat confused, at first. Eventually, though, the story of what caused the Collapse begins to come together and when it does, the cause is kind of surprising.

I had a little trouble with some of the world building in The Feed, but to describe it would give a bit too much away. I think it's best to leave the description somewhat sketchy. Even without fully buying into some elements, once I got into The Feed I was totally swept up in it. I wanted to know what it meant to be "taken" -- one of the things the author keeps you guessing about for quite a long time -- and how the Collapse occurred. Did I feel like I got all the answers? Nope, not entirely. Some minor aspects I felt like I was still guessing at, in the end, or just didn't buy into. It didn't matter. I was fascinated by this apocalyptic vision, I found the ending satisfying, and I can't wait to see what Nick Clark Windo comes up with, next.

Addendums:

Totallly forgot to mention that I received this book from the publisher. My thanks to HarperCollins! And, it's also worth mentioning that I didn't manage to write a Monday Malarkey post, this week, because I didn't have access to a computer, yesterday. I've got a busy week with some reviews already pre-posted, so I'm not going to do a substitute for the usual Malarkey post. Instead, I'll do two weeks' worth of Malarkey next Monday.


©2019 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

The Gown by Jennifer Robson

In the 1950s, two embroiderers, one of whom survived a Nazi concentration camp, work together on Princess Elizabeth's wedding gown in London. In the near present, a young woman's grandmother dies in Toronto and leaves her some embroidered flowers with beads and seed pearls but no explanation as to their origin. Where did the embroidered flowers come from and why did her grandmother leave them specifically for her? Heather's grandmother never shared how or why she ended up in Toronto. Why did she keep her past a secret? As Heather searches for the answers to the origin of the embroideries, the story of their creation and her grandmother's past unfolds in the historical timeline.

I was surprised how much I enjoyed The Gown. I thought it would be interesting (I obviously wouldn't have accepted it for review if I hadn't been intrigued by the storyline) but the concept of the historical/contemporary blend has been totally overdone in recent years and I often feel like they are more exhausting than enjoyable. That was not the case at all while reading The Gown. The focus is heavily on the two embroiderers, Miriam and Ann, how they came to work on the wedding gown, what it was like to be an embroiderer living during a time of strict rationing in post-WWII England, and what became of them after the royal wedding. Heather's story in contemporary Canada and England (where she travels in search of answers) is kept to a minimum, which keeps the back-and-forth sensation from becoming as tiresome as it often can be in a novel set in alternating time periods.

Throughout the reading, I occasionally found myself thinking the modern storyline could have been eliminated completely. But, it's not obtrusive and ended up adding a much-needed conclusion to the embroiderers' story, plus a surprisingly uplifting ending to the book. Because of that, I actually thought the book was better than it would have been if it had only focused on the historical.

Highly recommended - Charming characters, clearly well-researched historical setting, and a solid ending make The Gown a lovely, entertaining, and enlightening read. I enjoyed learning about the creation of Princess Elizabeth's gown, loved the vividness of the historical setting (definitely a "you were there" sensation to this book), and really appreciated the fact that the modern storyline ended up adding to the depth of the story rather than giving me the sensation of being repeatedly flung back and forth in time. An excellent read.

My thanks to HarperCollins for the Advance Reader Copy of The Gown.

©2019 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

13 Things Mentally Strong Women Don't Do by Amy Morin

13 Things Mentally Strong Women Don't Do by Amy Morin is the kind of book I don't usually read. I decided a long time ago that most self-help books just don't work for me. Either the advice doesn't quite fit my needs or it doesn't stick. I've got a few favorites that I reread on occasion (mostly from the "positive thinking" end of the spectrum) but I stopped buying self-help years ago. So, it's kind of surprising that I decided to read 13 Things Mentally Strong Women Don't Do. Maybe the backwards nature of the title appealed to me -- instead of 13 Things Mentally Strong Women Should Do, its opposite? I can't say. All I can tell you is that I was seeing the book everywhere and it had already piqued my interest when I got an offer to review the book.

I started reading 13 Things Mentally Strong Women Don't Do the day it arrived. I really was that excited about it. Subtitled "Own Your Power, Channel Your Confidence, and Find Your Authentic Voice for a Life of Meaning and Joy," this is actually the third in a series of books about things people who are mentally strong avoid and the first directed specifically at women and their unique challenges. I have not read the others and, in fact, had not heard of them.

A brief note on the challenges that are unique to women: Morin talks about how we're treated as children -- the origin of those challenges that are very specific to women -- impact us. She talks, for example, about research into how teachers respond to boys vs. girls:

[. . . ] teachers were more likely to give boys effort-based feedback when they fail and ability-based feedback when they succeed. So if a boy fails, a teacher may be more likely to say, "You need to study harder next time." But when a boy succeeds, the teacher is more likely to say, "You are smart."

Girls, however, are more likely to receive feedback that their failures stem from their lack of ability while their successes are due to good behavior. So a teacher is more likely to tell a girl, "Math comes hard to you," when she fails and is more likely to say, "You do well on tests because you pay attention in class," when she succeeds.

[p. 62]

The first few chapters of the book went quickly. 13 Things is an easy, breezy read with plenty of examples from the author's work as a clinical psychologist (a talk therapist). She describes each particular thing women don't do if they're mentally healthy, for example: Chapter 1: They Don't Compare Themselves to Other People. In Chapter 1, Morin describes how many women compare their looks to models and wonder, "Why can't I look like Christie Brinkley?" or whoever, and make themselves miserable by feeling too short, too fat, too un-blonde, etc. Morin then will talk about a specific patient and how she was comparing herself to someone else, why it was causing her problems, what the doctor suggested, and how she applied those suggestions or came up with something similar (sometimes, patients do come up with their own ideas after hearing that of the psychologist) to stop the mentally unhealthy behavior.

One thing that's great about this book: You won't just learn what you're doing wrong but what you're doing right. I don't compare myself to anyone else, for example. Instead, if I'm feeling fat or ugly or whatever, I tend to ponder what I can do to change myself to be the best me instead of longing to be something that is, in fact, physically impossible. So, you could say Chapter 1 doesn't apply to me at all. But I still found it an enjoyable and helpful read because it's encouraging to discover and ponder those areas in which you're mentally strong, rather than just reading about the weak areas. And, if you don't feel like you want or need to read about what you're doing right, you can always skim the chapters that don't apply to your needs. Only 2 of the chapters seemed to apply to my specific needs.

But, wow, those two chapters hit me hard. One was about something that I've known to be a challenge my entire adult life. Thinking about how it applied to me was painful. And, I think I'll probably need to reread those two chapters repeatedly in order to really work on not doing those particular things that are harmful to myself. But, I'm definitely glad I own a copy of the book so I can read those two chapters repeatedly.

Highly recommended - While only a couple of the chapters in this book applied to me personally, I found 13 Things Mentally Strong Women Don't Do both fascinating and helpful, and it's such an easy read that you can't possibly feel like you're wasting the time reading (or skimming) the chapters that don't apply. That's because those that do really make you evaluate your challenges and how to conquer them while the rest make you feel good about yourself.

I received a copy of 13 Things Mentally Strong Women Don't Do from HarperCollins in exchange for an unbiased review. My thanks to HarperCollins!


©2019 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

The Huntress by Kate Quinn

I'd like to think I jumped the gun reading Kate Quinn's The Huntress (a February, 2019 release) early because I was in a hurry to grab something out of the Guest Room when guests were coming (if Kiddo counts, I still have one guest) but I really think I was just in the mood for this particular story and neglected to look at the release date on the spine. At any rate, it sucked me in so thoroughly that by the time I discovered I was reading a February release in December, it was too late. I was hooked.

The Huntress is the story of three people who are Nazi hunters. Ian has lost a brother to the Huntress, a child-killer who has disappeared from Nazi Germany after WWII without a trace. Tony is his partner. And, Nina barely escaped from the Huntress when her plane went down in a German forest.

Across the ocean, Jordan McBride yearns to become a photographer but her father wants her to take over his antique business. When he brings home a German widow he's fallen in love with, Jordan captures a photo of an icy gaze that makes Jordan suspicious.

The Huntress jumps back and forth in time. You get to know Nina's story as she goes from being a peasant with an abusive father, living on the shores of Lake Baikal, to a pilot with the infamous Night Witches. In the second timeline, after the war, you're following Ian, Tony, and Nina as they search for the Huntress while across the Pond in America, you follow Jordan McBride as she goes from a teenager with a new stepmother to a young woman whose suspicions are renewed when she finds out Annaliese is hiding the truth. Will the team of Nazi hunters find the Huntress before it's too late for Jordan and her family?

Highly recommended - The Huntress is longish at a little over 500 pages but throughout, it remains absolutely gripping. Because it was the holiday season when I was reading the book and I always save my focus for the family when they're around, I only managed to read about 50 pages, most nights, so the book took about 10 days to finish. I didn't care. I enjoyed every minute of the reading. I was very impressed with the detail about the Night Witches, loved the exciting bombing scenes, and found Jordan's story very fitting for the time and place, in addition to enjoying the slow investigation into the whereabouts of the Huntress.

I received a copy of The Huntress from HarperCollins' William Morrow imprint for review. The Huntress is scheduled for release in February.

Addendum: I forgot to mention that this is my final review of books read in 2018, so tomorrow I'll post my full list of everything I read in 2018 (with links to all reviews or month-in-review posts in which I wrote about them).

©2019 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.