The Hot Summer of 1968 by Viliam Klimáček (Author), Peter Petro (Translator)

May 27, 2021 By Leave a Comment


The Hot Summer of 1968 by Viliam Klimáček (Author), Peter Petro (Translator)
Publisher: Mandel Vilar Press
Genre: Historical, Fiction
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Lavender

In 1968, the Czechoslovakian Communist Party introduced “socialism with a human face” — known as the Prague Spring, citizens of Czechoslovakia suddenly enjoyed new freedoms, among them, an uncensored press, an end to arbitrary wiretaps, and the right to travel without prior authorizations. However, the Soviet Union rejected these reforms and sent half a million Warsaw Pact troops and tanks to occupy the country. Every citizen was faced with the choice to leave or stay. In celebrating the identity of a people, its folklore, its beauty, and its vitality, Viliam Klimáček — Slovakia’s foremost novelist and playwright —tells the story of ten people enmeshed in this difficult moment in history and reveals the dramatic impact of these events on his characters and the lives of their families.

This voyage back to 1968 during an exceptional event is eye-opening and sure to inspire a variety of emotions. Communists in Czechoslovakia decide to try something new and liberating. Refreshing freedoms are granted to the people. For example, now there is freedom of the press and freedom of travel.

The Hot Summer of 1968 is a brilliant novel featuring a handful of Czechoslovakian citizens who experience the Soviet invasion. Tanks and troops roll in, and freedoms vanish. Now, people must make the heart-breaking decision of whether to stay under the repressive regime or leave their homeland forever.

Here we meet interesting characters such as Petra, the young doctor, Tereza, a young Jewish woman, or Józef, a pastor, and their families. All of them have their own troubles and face these difficult times with strength, endearing them to readers. Readers will likely follow their stories, wondering about their fates. The danger is palpable.

The descriptions of the cities make it clear how these people lived. The experiences of these characters as immigrants and refugees paint a vivid picture and is enlightening. Eastern Europe comes to life in this touching novel. I would recommend this book to those who enjoy historical and vintage true stories.

Filed Under: Mainstream Fiction, Reviews Tagged With: , , , ,

The Christmas Box by Richard Paul Evans

May 6, 2021 By Leave a Comment


The Christmas Box by Richard Paul Evans
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Genre: Contemporary, Holiday, Fiction
Rating: 5 stars
Reviewed by Lavender

So begins The Christmas Box, the touching story of a widow and the young family who moves in with her. Rick, Keri, and their 4-year-old daughter, Jenna, are hired as caretakers and are welcomed into the Victorian home of Mary Parkins, an elderly widow, just before the holiday season. As the relationship between Mary and the family develops we learn that Mary’s past sorrows are compelling her to share an important message with Richard. But will he understand her message in time? A heartwarming story of parental love, healing, and Christmas.

There is more to this story than meets the eye. In The Christmas Box, we meet Mary, a widow who makes her home in a Victorian mansion. A young married couple and their little girl move in to care for her, but there is a problem.
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Richard is driven to succeed in his career and spends a lot of time at work, away from his family. During this time, Mary brings Christmas magic into the little girl’s world. Many sense details bring the season to life. The fairy-tale mood is created.

Meanwhile, something happens at work, and Richard is hit hard with reality. What he hears is heart-breaking, and the incident is sure to tug at the emotions of readers.

An important lesson is learned, but the tale is enchanting and memorable. Love is an underlying theme that brings the story home.

The Christmas Box is well worth reading and I highly recommend it.

Filed Under: Mainstream Fiction, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , ,

The Book that Matters Most by Ann Hood

April 22, 2021 By Leave a Comment


The Book that Matters Most by Ann Hood
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Genre: Contemporary, Fiction
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Lavender

Ava’s twenty-five-year marriage has fallen apart, and her two grown children are pursuing their own lives outside of the country. Ava joins a book group, not only for her love of reading but also out of sheer desperation for companionship. The group’s goal throughout the year is for each member to present the book that matters most to them. Ava rediscovers a mysterious book from her childhood—one that helped her through the traumas of the untimely deaths of her sister and mother. Alternating with Ava’s story is that of her troubled daughter Maggie, who, living in Paris, descends into a destructive relationship with an older man. Ava’s mission to find that book and its enigmatic author takes her on a quest that unravels the secrets of her past and offers her and Maggie the chance to remake their lives.

Nevertheless, one should never rule out the possibility of a more serious condition. buying viagra Going Here Soon after for their effective results in erectile dysfunction, there are many other advantages over viagra buy online etc. Also people must know that this product has been successful in most of the cases. effects of cialis (5) Addiction to highly stimulating video watching or similar. I know for myself and my children when we catch a cold that we cannot seem to shake with order sildenafil normal over the counter medicine we are prescribed Zithromax or ZPack. Want to hear some great insights about a few classic books while hearing an entertaining tale in its own right? The Book that Matters Most follows the life of Ava, who has lost her decades-long marriage. Her husband ran off with another woman. Ava’s grown children have left the country to follow their own lives. Ava becomes a member of a book club, where each member is asked to choose a book that had changed their lives and discuss it.

Ava chooses one that touched her deeply after the childhood trauma of losing her sister and her mother. She must hunt this book down and also find the author. The story of this search reveals hidden depths to Ava, and she grows in the process. She is a sympathetic character to get behind.

The novel is enhanced by the story of her troubled daughter, Maggie, who is living in Paris with a man who is no good for her. Maggie finds herself in life-threatening situations. What will happen to her, and will she and her mother ever settle things between them?

Between the wonderful setting details of Paris and other places and the emotional ride readers go along, are discussions of classic books that have affected lives. This is a nice touch and adds a lot to the story. The theme of overcoming great odds adds more depth and suspense to the book. For a contemporary woman’s story, this one will satisfy many a reader.

Filed Under: Mainstream Fiction, Reviews Tagged With: , , , ,

Surviving Savannah by Patti Callahan

April 8, 2021 By Leave a Comment


Surviving Savannah by Patti Callahan
Publisher: Berkley
Genre: Contemporary, Historical
Rated 5 stars
Review by Snapdragon

When Savannah history professor Everly Winthrop is asked to guest-curate a new museum collection focusing on artifacts recovered from the steamship Pulaski, she’s shocked. The ship sank after a boiler explosion in 1838, and the wreckage was just discovered, 180 years later. Everly can’t resist the opportunity to try to solve some of the mysteries and myths surrounding the devastating night of its sinking.

Everly’s research leads her to the astounding history of a family of eleven who boarded the Pulaski together, and the extraordinary stories of two women from this family: a known survivor, Augusta Longstreet, and her niece, Lilly Forsyth, who was never found, along with her child. These aristocratic women were part of Savannah’s society, but when the ship exploded, each was faced with difficult and heartbreaking decisions. This is a moving and powerful exploration of what women will do to endure in the face of tragedy, the role fate plays, and the myriad ways we survive the surviving.

You order viagra online can get pregnancy naturally by recommending the herbal pills to reverse the aging effects and enjoy intimate moments with her. He registers into a india viagra for sale surfing contest only to make it big while having fun. As time wears on, these physical signs worsen, but you attribute it to stress or getting continue reading over here now pfizer viagra pharmacy older. Depression is defined as pamelaannschoolofdance.com viagra buy best a medical illness. Author Patti Callahan assures us that stories are ‘best understood in the landscapes where they happen,’ and proceeds to bring us to a wonderful, novel place, that we recognize as if we’d joined her there. Throughout the book, she brings us subtly to new landscapes: to a wreck a hundred feet below the sea, through intricate iron gates to the family plot, to cities described so vividly we see them as if they were an entirely new concept. Somehow, although the main character is powerful and the tone of Surviving Savannah is endlessly enthralling, the places we move to and through become endlessly important.

The moment-to-moment interactions of the characters are unpredictable, and this is certainly true for the overall story. Everly is a strong main character, with surprising interests and skills, but more importantly, a depth of feeling she shares ever so gently. We feel her mourning even as she is moving forward. Events of the past filter in with Everly’s discoveries; they are somehow no less heart-wrenching for being part of the long-ago.

This has the flavor of the American south, and a hint of endlessly reminiscing. Surviving Savannah is one of those novels you will read, and then re-read as if touching the life of an old friend.

Patti Callahan’s writing is no less than simply brilliant. “Sunlight cast him in gold” she describes at one point, and I would say, reading casts this novel in gold.

Do read Surviving Savannah. This is a venture away from the common time and place, yet familiar: warming and wonderful and worth every one of those five stars.

Filed Under: Mainstream Fiction, Reviews Tagged With: , , , ,

Band of Sisters by Lauren Willig

March 30, 2021 By Leave a Comment


Band of Sisters by Lauren Willig
Publisher: William & Morrow
Genre: Historical, Fiction
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Nymphaea

A scholarship girl from Brooklyn, Kate Moran thought she found a place among Smith’s Mayflower descendants, only to have her illusions dashed the summer after graduation. When charismatic alumna Betsy Rutherford delivers a rousing speech at the Smith College Club in April of 1917, looking for volunteers to help French civilians decimated by the German war machine, Kate is too busy earning her living to even think of taking up the call. But when her former best friend Emmeline Van Alden reaches out and begs her to take the place of a girl who had to drop out, Kate reluctantly agrees to join the new Smith College Relief Unit.

Four months later, Kate and seventeen other Smithies, including two trailblazing female doctors, set sail for France. The volunteers are armed with money, supplies, and good intentions—all of which immediately go astray. The chateau that was to be their headquarters is a half-burnt ruin. The villagers they meet are in desperate straits: women and children huddling in damp cellars, their crops destroyed and their wells poisoned.

Despite constant shelling from the Germans, French bureaucracy, and the threat of being ousted by the British army, the Smith volunteers bring welcome aid—and hope—to the region. But can they survive their own differences? As they cope with the hardships and terrors of the war, Kate and her colleagues find themselves navigating old rivalries and new betrayals which threaten the very existence of the Unit.
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With the Germans threatening to break through the lines, can the Smith Unit pull together and be truly a band of sisters?

A war, women and danger…it’s all in this book.

I’ve never read anything by Lauren Willig before this book and I’m glad I rectified that. This was an interesting book. It’s not for everyone, in that it describes war times and could be a trigger for some readers, but honestly, it’s a fascinating read.

The plot moves along well and kept my attention. I rooted for these women. They’re in a difficult place trying to make the world better, in their own little fashion. I liked the variety of characters, despite the fact that there are a lot of characters and it can be a little confusing trying to keep them all straight. Still, the story plugs along just fine and kept me interested.

There is a lot of description about war and the destruction that comes with it. As I’ve noted, this might be a trigger for some readers, as there is mention of injury, death and the death of children. Read with caution, but do let the story take you away.

If you’re interested in a book that’s a good mix of history, war and a little bit of romance, then this might be the book you’re looking for.

Filed Under: Mainstream Fiction, Other, Reviews Tagged With: , , , ,

A Universe Less Traveled by Eric Von Schrader

March 3, 2021 By Leave a Comment


A Universe Less Traveled by Eric Von Schrader
Publisher: Weeping Willow Books
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Fiction
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Lavender

What if there were another world, almost like ours, but not quite? It brushes up against us, like the tail end of a dream, but stays just barely out of reach.

What if you found a way to go there?

Billy Boustany stumbles upon the ability to slip into a surprising new version of his sleepy midwestern city. He begins a journey that is most fun he’s had in years. Then it turns into an obsession that upends his life, his family, and everything he knows.

A Universe Less Traveled tells Billy’s story, framed by tales of other accidental travelers to this mysterious city, and provides a glimpse into an alternate history of the twentieth century.
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Looking for an escape from the troubles of his failing business, Billy discovers a teeming metropolis with iridescent skyscrapers and throngs of immigrants and tourists from all over the world. As he explores, he meets peculiar allies and experiences raucous celebrations. Billy questions his sanity as he struggles to make sense of this bizarre world. Though he fears screwing up his adventure, he lets his college student daughter in on the secret. Together they go further into this amazing place, until they reach the ultimate destination, a magnificent city of Native Americans that has sprung up at an ancient site. There she begins a relationship with a handsome young man with a startling plan.

Billy also meets a formidable enemy – the Knights, a shadowy organization with a mission to keep people like him out of their world. They reveal how the two worlds diverged a century ago and warn him to stay away at all costs.

When his daughter disappears at the hands of the Knights, Billy and his wife go on a frantic search to find her in the other city. It leads to heartbreak, then to a new beginning.

The story starts right off with amusing correspondence about mistaken identity in the early twentieth century. Then readers are brought to the year 2010 with Billy, the protagonist, who owns an electronics store. Little details bring his story and his world to life, and there are lot of them.

From Billy’s point of view, strange things are happening, places he clearly remembered are disappearing. How could that be?

We’re also brought into the world of Jim Hines, during the Crash before the Great Depression. However, after he falls off a building and then later wakes up from a coma, he notices that his world is…different. This is a second chance for him, but there is a downside to this changed history. He comes up with a brilliant idea to save the day, which in turn drastically changes the future.

The worlds of these two men are linked in an interesting way. John is Billy’s employee, and his story is just as interesting. There is a great subplot concerning Native Americans, and this is interwoven well with the story. The action picks up, and the characters experience all kinds of unknowns. How will they get out of their tricky situation? This is a fun story, a great way to escape and fire up the imagination.

Filed Under: Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , ,

Camino Winds by John Grisham

February 26, 2021 By Leave a Comment


Camino Winds by John Grisham
Publisher: Doubleday
Genre: Contemporary, Fiction, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Nymphaea

Welcome back to Camino Island, where anything can happen—even a murder in the midst of a hurricane, which might prove to be the perfect crime . . .

Just as Bruce Cable’s Bay Books is preparing for the return of bestselling author Mercer Mann, Hurricane Leo veers from its predicted course and heads straight for the island. Florida’s governor orders a mandatory evacuation, and most residents board up their houses and flee to the mainland, but Bruce decides to stay and ride out the storm.

The hurricane is devastating: homes and condos are leveled, hotels and storefronts ruined, streets flooded, and a dozen people lose their lives. One of the apparent victims is Nelson Kerr, a friend of Bruce’s and an author of thrillers. But the nature of Nelson’s injuries suggests that the storm wasn’t the cause of his death: He has suffered several suspicious blows to the head.
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Who would want Nelson dead? The local police are overwhelmed in the aftermath of the storm and ill equipped to handle the case. Bruce begins to wonder if the shady characters in Nelson’s novels might be more real than fictional. And somewhere on Nelson’s computer is the manuscript of his new novel. Could the key to the case be right there—in black and white? As Bruce starts to investigate, what he discovers between the lines is more shocking than any of Nelson’s plot twists—and far more dangerous.

Camino Winds is an irresistible romp and a perfectly thrilling beach read—# 1 bestselling author John Grisham at his beguiling best.

There are twists, turns and that’s just the storm! The story has it’s own punches and a thwack with a golf club!

I’d read the first book in the Camino series, Camino Island, and wanted to get back to Bruce’s world. Honestly, I liked Bruce, even though he’s portrayed as older than his seemingly 47 years. I got the idea he was in his sixties. Oh well. I liked him as the hero of this story. He’s got rough edges, he’s not perfect and he’s a bit of a pistol. I rooted him on.

Now I have to admit this book has so many twists and turns. There’s the hurricane that comes in and there is the dead body. Now a dead body in the midst of a storm isn’t all that shocking–it happens–but this is murder. I liked how the author wove the story of Nelson’s demise and kept me riveted throughout. I honestly didn’t see the end coming.

If you’re looking for a slower moving story with a cast of characters you’ll want to have as friends, then this might be the book for you.

Filed Under: Mainstream Fiction, Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , ,

The Code by Jacqueline Ruby and Marcellus Moses

January 19, 2021 By 3 Comments


The Code by Jacqueline Ruby and Marcellus Moses
Publisher: Tellwell Publishing
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Rated: 4 stars
Review by Rose

The story of the two entangled stars is well known.

Albert Collins, entomology professor, becomes a social media sensation; the sensation becomes a giant celebrity; the celebrity becomes the “Manliest Man” alive.

The small time gangster, Memphis Smith, becomes a prisoner; the prisoner becomes the new Tupac Shakur; the new Tupac takes the world by storm.

Their parallel rise to fame and their fateful meeting on the Tonight Show all played out in real time before their legions of fans and detractors.

Now, for the first time, their inside story, their secret story, is told by those who were closest to them.

Jacqueline (Jack) Ruby, super agent, reveals the methods that allowed Albert Collins to become the most desired man in the world. She takes us behind the scenes to the bankers, film producers and heiresses that made Albert into the very definition of manhood in the 21st. century.

Marcellus Moses does the same for Memphis Smith. He shows us the arrests and prison fights, the raw racism and brilliant talent that made Memphis Number One With A Bullet.

Jacqueline and Marcellus tell their insider accounts to the award winning novelist, Susan Brown, who weaves it altogether in the thunderous adventure of The Code.

This book purports to be an insider account, and the author does a great job at weaving these two very different stories together. The chapters alternate between Jaqueline Ruby’s story with Albert Collins and Marcellus Moses’ work with Memphis Smith. The voices in each chapter are distinct and there is absolutely no confusion about which is which.

I’ve heard before of people who “the camera loves” and Albert Collins is one of those people. It was intriguing to see his rise to fame and the issues it brings into his private life. He was already having issues, so it didn’t take much to convince him to jump wholeheartedly into all the glitz and glamour that Jack Ruby offered. Unfortunately, this read very real to me, because I know people just like Albert – unhappy with their own life and thinking that if they jsut do this, they will be happy.

Memphis, on the other hand, had a whole lot of anger issues. He too jumped at the chance to change his life, but soon found out that the grass may not really be greener on the other side.

The book as a whole raises a lot of questions as to what it means to be a man… two very different looks at what “the code” is… and two very different outcomes. Or are they all that different? This is a story that will stay with me for a long time. I could so see this on the screen. Hollywood, are you listening?

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A Lightness in My Soul by Annette Oppenlander

January 7, 2021 By Leave a Comment


A Lightness in My Soul by Annette Oppenlander
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Young Adult (14 – 18 y.o.), Historical
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Inspired by the incredible true story of a German teen taken prisoner at the end of WWII, determined to survive and to reunite with his mother – A Lightness in My Soul is a tribute to the triumph of hope and redemption against all odds.

Germany, October 2019: In a car repair shop an elderly man waits next to a woman. They begin to talk about the Great War, when he was just a teen. He tells her a story, one he has never shared—his own.

Bavaria, April 1945: For the last two years, fifteen-year old Arthur and his classmates have lived in a youth camp. Far from home and allied bombs they spend their days with lessons, hikes, play fights and helping local farmers harvest ever decreasing crops. They have been told that the war will be over soon and that they’ll return home to a victorious Germany.
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When the U.S. Army marches into camp, they are arrested and taken to the just liberated Dachau concentration camp. Everything they ever believed turns out to be false. They were lied to… not only has Germany lost the war, what they find is monstrous. But being a prisoner is only the beginning of their ordeal…

War is never easy for anyone, especially minors.

Arthur was a likeable character. He struck me as someone who was kind of hard on himself for the portions of his story that he would have done differently if he’d known all of the bends and twists in it from the beginning. His mistakes were generally minor ones like wishing for larger meals when rations were cut yet again or to no longer catch diseases like scabies that can spread so easily in institutional settings. These small moments humanized him. Honestly, I would have complained about them, too, if I’d been in the same situation. I kept hoping for a happy ending for him no matter how unlikely his chances of getting one might have looked at the moment.

The ending felt a little abrupt to me, especially considering all of the traumatic experience Arthur had been through during the last few years of World War II. There were some important subplots that were never resolved, especially as they pertained to some of the people he met along the way. While I definitely wouldn’t expect every single one of my questions to be answered due to this being loosely based on a true story that was set during such a turbulent era, it would have been nice to have a few more conflicts resolved.

This novella was filled with detailed descriptions of Arthur’s life at a Kinderlandverschickung, a rural camp set up for children and youth by the Third Reich to protect them from allied bombs, as well as his much more difficult experiences shortly after the war ended. Arthur observed more human suffering during these teenage years of his than many people know in a lifetime. I appreciated how honestly he shared his tale, especially the portions that he found painful to recount.

A Lightness in My Soul was an absorbing tale I’d recommend to adults and teens who are interested in what life was like for German civilians during World War II.

Filed Under: Reviews, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , ,

The Phone Booth in Mr. Hirota’s Garden by Heather Smith

December 7, 2020 By Leave a Comment


The Phone Booth in Mr. Hirota’s Garden by Heather Smith
Publisher: Orca Book Publishers
Genre: Middle Grade (8 – 12 y.o.), Contemporary
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

When the tsunami destroyed Makio’s village, Makio lost his father . . . and his voice. The entire village is silenced by grief, and the young child’s anger at the ocean grows. Then one day his neighbor, Mr. Hirota, begins a mysterious project―building a phone booth in his garden. At first Makio is puzzled; the phone isn’t connected to anything. It just sits there, unable to ring. But as more and more villagers are drawn to the phone booth, its purpose becomes clear to Makio: the disconnected phone is connecting people to their lost loved ones. Makio calls to the sea to return what it has taken from him and ultimately finds his voice and solace in a phone that carries words on the wind.

Grief can be a heavy burden to carry alone.
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I wasn’t aware of the true story of the wind phone in Otsuchi, Japan, before picking up this fictionalized version of what happened there, so it was nice to have the wind phone explained so fully in the plot. It was easy to imagine what it would be like to use such a device. The thought of picking up a phone that wasn’t actually plugged into anything and talking to a deceased loved one made me smile. What a nice way for people to make peace with their deaths but still feel like one could communicate with them in some way.

It was tricky to figure out which age group this picture book would work best for. While the tsunami that killed so many people was described gently enough for younger readers to hear, many of the themes in the storyline like how complicated and lonely the various stages of the grieving process can be seemed far more appropriate for kids who were well into their elementary school years. Had it been more specific about who the audience was supposed to be, I would have given it a five star rating.

Tragedies can affect the communities that go through them in so many different ways. It was bittersweet to see how Makio, Mr. Hirota, and all of the other survivors found ways to reach out to each other and deal with their grief after the cleanup from the tsunami ended and they had time to sit quietly with their thoughts. They seemed like such a loving and close-knit village. More than anything, I wanted everyone who lived there to find peace with what happened.

The Phone Booth in Mr. Hirota’s Garden was a heartfelt tale I’d recommend to adults and children alike.

Filed Under: Reviews, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , ,
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