I love to read, recommend books and open the world of reading to others. I tutor to ensure that the next generation of readers will know the joys of a good book because their reading skills have improved. I am an avid reader, especially of mysteries and fiction. I believe that two of the world's greatest inventions were the public library and eyeglasses!
Nancy Horan is the author of one of my favorite historical novels, Loving Frank, which was about Frank Lloyd Wright. The writing was so evocative and truly captured the man in all of his complexity. When I saw this book, I was eager to read it as a new novel by Ms. Horan is always welcome.
The House of Lincoln is, as its title suggests, partly about Mr. Lincoln. It is also about his wife and children. However, even more, it is the story of a woman who worked for the family. She witnesses both their lives and the lives of those in the world around her, especially her friend Callie. Through Callie, readers are offered insight into the fraught world of race during this time period. Note that there is a bit of romance to lighten things up.
Those who are interested in Lincoln, the time period and the women around historical events may want to give this title a look.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for this title. All opinions are my own.
My favorite part of this book was the illustrations that highlighted the text so well. They did a good job of showing the main character’s feelings.
Of course, adults know that the star of this book is a donkey but…he does not know this for quite a while. He lives with cats, imitates cats’ behaviors and thinks that he too is a cat. What will happen as this certainty fades? How will he find his place in the world and reconcile his identity? (hint: watch for his new description of who he is in his own vocabulary).
The author is, I think, writing about finding one’s place comfortably in the world. Perhaps this is something that the adult who reads this one with a child will choose to explore a bit.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Kids Can Press for this title. All opinions are my own.
I am so delighted to be part of the blog tour for this enjoyable summer read. Many thanks to Rachel of Rachel’s Random Resources and Boldwood Books for this opportunity.
About the book and more:
A Vintage Vacation
Clover Harrington might be sixty-one, but she’s still bossing it in the corporate world and can still run rings around her younger colleagues. And then she is made redundant….
Devastated and now suddenly the wrong side of sixty Clover doesn’t know what to do with her life or her corporate wardrobe! What does she wear if not red lippy and a power suit?! Rather than offer her any support, her partner, Jack announces he’s off on a golfing weekend, leaving Clover completely adrift.
Desperate to get away from it all, Clover decides to visit her cousin Zoe at her small taverna in the gorgeous Italian Lakes. There she can rest and recuperate and plan the next stage of her life.
Until Clover’s eighty-year-old mother, Eleanor decides to turn up for the holiday too! Instead of gentle ambles around the lake, Eleanor seems more interested in late night poker and swigging Prosecco and Clover can’t quite believe her mum is having more fun than she is. But as the saying goes – if you can’t beat em, join em!
Maddie Please is the #1 bestselling author of novels including The Old Ducks’ Club and Sisters Behaving Badly. Having had a career as a dentist and now lives in rural Devon where she enjoys box sets, red wine and Christmas. She will be taking a new direction in her writing for Boldwood with joyous tales of older women.
I was intrigued by this title as soon as I saw the cover. It just looked like such an inviting summer read.
I enjoyed that A Vintage Vacation features a protagonist who is sixty-one years old. It is a nice change from twenty and thirty somethings.
Unfortunately, Clover is made redundant. This is understandably very upsetting. Sadly (and frustratingly), Clover’s partner is off on his own vacation, leaving her quite adrift. Will her life stand still? No, it won’t! She decides to spend time with a cousin in the Italian Lakes. What will she find there? One thing will be her eighty-plus year old mother but there will be more than this. Watch (happily) as Clover comes to embrace life.
A Vintage Vacation, a title I love for its several meanings, is a delightful novel. Highly recommended to those who enjoy women’s fiction.
Anyone who read and enjoyed Last Call at the Nightingale will be delighted to get their hands on this next in the series. It is set within the speakeasy culture of Jazz Age/Prohibition New York, a time and place that are vividly brought to life in these pages.
Vivian, who is of working class background, thinks that she has finally found a way to improve both her own life and that of her sister. However, when a friend’s relative, a club bouncer, dies, Viv will risk so much to try to get to the bottom of things…and readers can feel pretty certain that she will. Still, on the way,Vivian will have to understand what happened to some missing money and will be forced to contend with mob bosses and more.
This is a novel that does a terrific job with its characters and setting. The people and times come to life. The plot is also involving. Recommended for those who enjoy historical mysteries and strong female protagonists.
Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur for this title. All opinions are my own.
As many may remember, Radcliffe was once the women’s college affiliated with Harvard University. As such, it was one of the prestigious seven sisters schools.
As this novel, set in the 1950s, opens four young women are enrolled as Radcliffe freshman. They each arrive at school with their own family history. Tess hopes to be a writer and is happy to leave an unhappy home life behind in order to be a scholarship student at the school. Tess’s roommate, Caroline, is a wealthy young woman with a voluminous wardrobe. She seems less interested in academics than in dating and having fun. There are then Merritt and Evie rounding out the group.
A new bookstore has opened in Cambridge. The slightly mysterious owner, Alice, is planning to have a monthly book group with the first selection being Jane Eyre. Our four protagonists join.
I enjoyed this book’s setting and the way that the gracious life of a 1950s women’s school was brought to life. I could completely visualize the common room’s sofas and the dorm dining room where waitressed meals were served. These details accurately reflect the novel’s time period. I also enjoyed and eagerly waited to see which book would be discussed each month.
Many things happen to and around these four young women. They go through some difficult times on their way to adulthood. No spoilers so those who are interested, put this one on your calendar.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for this title. All opinions are my own.
Four stars
Death Comes to Marlow is the next in a series, following on The Marlow Murder Club. I enjoyed this title even more than that first book. The author knows how to tell a story; he is also known for TV’s Death in Paradise.
Anyone who enjoys Richard Osman’s series is sure to enjoy spending time with Judith, Becks and Susie. They help the police and specifically Tanika to solve another case in these pages.
Judith is in her 70s and deliberately eccentric. Susie finds it hard not to blurt and has a dog walking business, while Becks is married to the local vicar but…who is she seeing now?
One day, a man named Sir Peter invites Judith to his posh engagement party. He has had an intimation that he will be murdered and indeed he is. There are many suspects in the pages that follow, including his son and daughter, and his new fiancee, or is it someone else?
The plot just rattles along and I liked spending time with Judith and Co. I highly recommend this title to those who enjoy cozy mysteries and women of a certain age. I am eager for the next book by this author.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this title. All opinions are my own.
Five Stars
And, this just in from PBS
New Series: The Marlow Murder Club
A four-part adaptation of Robert Thorogood’s The Marlow Murder Club is coming to MASTERPIECE! Find out all about the new mystery starring Downton Abbey and Home Fires favorite Samantha Bond as retired archaeologist Judith Potts, Jo Martin (Doctor Who) as local dog-walker and empty-nester Suzie, and Cara Horgan (The Sandman, Traitors) as unfulfilled vicar’s wife Becks.
I am a great fan of samplers; there is no better way to add to one’s reading list. In this title, there are excerpts from a number of upcoming mysteries that will intrigue readers. I look forward to reading just about every one.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, I have already begun reading A Traitor in Whitehall. It offers an involving read. Try out this title and the others that are included here, including one by Amy Chua (of Tiger Mother fame). Each sample is long enough to give a reader a good sense of the title. For each, there is a cover photo, description and a few chapters, while the end of the title includes the authors’ biographies.
Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur for this title. All opinions are my own.
