Joyce's mystery and fiction book reviews with some non-fiction too!
Great reads for adults and children!
I have previously blogged on the Dorothy Simpson mysteries which have recently been reissued. They are traditional, British and perhaps a bit like the Inspector Wexford series by Ruth Rendell. It is the sort of series where the reader enjoys visits with the main characters in each novel. Today you can get these three books at a great price.
Today’s New York Times Saturday profile is on Louise Penny. Her Canadian set mystery series is gong strong. Article is worth a look.
Kathleen Ernst goes from strength to strength. I so enjoyed last year’s book, Mining for Justice, and was hoping that this new novel would be as absorbing. It is! The Lace Maker’s Secret, set in Belgium and Wisconsin, has a dual narrative structure. The modern part of the novel takes place in the 1980s while the historical narrative begins in the 1800s and moves through WW I. While the murder mystery was there, the remarkable parts of the novel are the sections where the author describes life for Belgian immigrants. The characters of Seraphine and her family members truly come to life and the hardships that they experience are heartbreaking. I did not know about this time in Wisconsin’s history and am amazed by what I learned. As always, it was good to spend time with protagonist, Chloe, and her boyfriend, Roelke. The relationship between the two continues to grow in this novel. I recommend all of the novels in this series with a special shout out for The Lace Makers Secret and Mining for Justice. Thanks for this one NetGalley!
Are you planning a summer vacation? Are you staying in the U.S.? If you are, think about visiting a National Park. This book will make you appreciate the rich natural heritage of our country.
Did you know that the National Park Service began under Ulysses S Grant? That is just one interesting fact that came from this book for children and their families. Divided by geographical regions and parks within each area, this wonderful book highlights when each park was founded, where it is located and what can be seen there. The illustrations are so appealing that the reader definitely enjoys exploring in this book. Highly recommended for travelers both real and armchair.
Happy Anniversary with WordPress.com!
I received this symbol from WordPress. It is to tell me that I have been blogging for one year on this site. It feels like quite a journey as I have thought and shared about so many books in the past year. Readers of this blog, thanks for spending time with me. I look forward to writing about many more good reads in the years ahead.
This is from NetGalley for having published 100 reviews. I feel honored to have been given access to so many wonderful reads and have enjoyed sharing them with all of you. Here’s to the next 100!
This is an important, painful, fascinating and uncompromising look at the life of Anne Frank, her family and the destruction of the Jews during the Nazi years. The narrative is readable and makes Anne and her family come alive. There are many photos of Anne’s daily life which serve as a painful reminder of all that was lost and the absurdity of one group of people despising and mistreating another. There are many asides in the book that answer historical questions. While not an easy read, this is a superb introduction to Anne, the horrors of WWII and antisemitism. The courage of those who hid the Franks is also noteworthy. While written for middle school to teen readers, adults can surely benefit from spending time with this book as well. I recommend it most highly.
I have loved everything that I have read in both of this author’s series; there is one set on Shetland with Jimmy Perez and the Vera Stanhope series. In addition to the novels, both have been made into series that are available on sites like Britbox and Acorn. I think that there are also some on Netflix and/or Amazon. The Crow Trap is the first book in the Vera series. I recommend it pretty highly. I earlier blogged the latest in the series, The Seagull and recommended it pretty highly. I am re-printing that blog entry below.
The Seagull is a Vera Stanhope mystery, a novel in one of Ann Cleeves’ two series, both of which are excellent. (The other books are the Shetland novels.) Both are also TV dramas available in the U.S. and originally from Britain.
I especially enjoyed this book because of the back story. The reader learns more about Vera’s parents and her childhood. I also enjoyed spending time with favorite characters, including Holly and Joe.
This novel is about an historical crime with implications for the present. The story is well told and the pages kept turning. Highly recommended.
What these books have in common is that they are all excellent mysteries. Each is quite different from the other but each is part of a series, so if you like one, you can keep going. We have British (Atkinson), historical (Todd), Australian (Harper) and in the Suzanne Chazin series excellent mysteries with a subtext that deepens one’s understanding of immigration issues. If you are looking for summer reading, here is a good beginning.
This is a praiseworthy entry in a praiseworthy series for young readers and their families. This short story about Harriet Tubman belongs in school and home libraries.
Slavery is not an easy subject to write about; it takes genuine skill to talk about the topic in a way that can help young readers to understand something unthinkable. The author does this factually and simply as she tells Harriet Tubman’s story is in an inspiring way. As always, in the Little People, Big Dreams books, the illustrations augment the story nicely. Add this to your collection.
Joyce's mystery and fiction book reviews with some non-fiction too! 