Empowering Voices that Engage and Inspire

by Anna Russell

This is a book to dip into, to savor and to save. It will give girls and women a wonderful sense of what female speakers have talked about over the centuries. This title begins with a speech by Elizabeth I and ends with one given by Maya Lin. In between are many voices and authors with which readers are familiar and others that are new. To name just a few of those included: Sojourner Truth, Mary Church Terrell, Nellie MCClung, Nancy Astor, Eleanor Roosevelt, Hilary Clinton, Angela Merkel, and Emma Watson. I will want a hard copy of this title when it is issued as it is a book to return to time and again.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions are my own.

The Optimal Keto-Friendly Diet that Burns Fat, Promotes Longevity, and Prevents Chronic Disease

by Martina Slajerova; Thomas DeLauer; Nicholas Norwitz; Rohan Kashid

Pub Date 13 Apr 2021   

This is a cookbook that promises recipes for a healthy, keto based diet. That may well be true but, importantly, it is a book filled with good sounding food. There are chapters on breakfasts, snacks, salads & soups, lunches, dinners, sides and desserts. There are also a lengthy introduction, a section on basics and another on further reading. The photos show appealing looking foods.

A few examples of the recipes; these are from the breakfast chapter. There are green spinach & salmon crepes, Turkish egg bowl, sausage-avo-egg stack and creamy cinnamon porridge, among others. These recipes look easy to follow.

For readers who are intrigued, enjoy looking at recipes for the rest of the day and more. This cookbook looks like a very good resource.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title. All opinions are my own.

Artistic Places

by Susie Hodge

What a lovely title for armchair travelers who enjoy art. In this book, visit London with Whistler; Suffolk with Constable; St Ives with Barbara Hepworth; Guernica with Picasso; Giverny with Monet; Brussels with Magritte,; Florence with Michelangelo, Oslo with Munch; Polynesia with Gauguin; New York with Basquiat and more.

This title begins with an informative introduction on artists, the places that had meaning to them and the ways in which those places were interpreted in their art. Following this the sketches begin. Each is accompanied by an illustration; this is not a reproduction of the artist’s work but rather a rendition of the place by the book’s author. Each essay gives information about both the place over time and the artist. Readers may then well be inspired to look up the specific art works mentioned.

This is not a scholarly tome but a pleasant diversion. It offers a chance to contemplate places and art from one’s home and to enjoy spending time with artists both already loved and those new to the reader.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title. All opinions are my own.

by Courtney Sheinmel; Colleen AF Venable

Pub Date 13 Apr 2021  

This title is the third entry in the exciting children’s series about Piper and Cosmo. The books are best read in order as the adventures build. That said, readers new to the series are brought up to date in the first chapter.

Each chapter is fairly short, has illustrations and is engaging and entertaining. Beginning chapter book readers will delight in these stories. They have humor, suspense…and, of course, a rather surprising pet.

As this story opens, Piper, her grandmother, Cosmo (the pet slime), and Piper’s friend Claire are being held in at the headquarters of Ma La, a dangerous corporation. Will they escape? Who are the bad guys? Are there any good guys? How does Cosmo help the characters to figure this out? How do Piper and the others use their skills, including origami, to help themselves?

The novel will have readers racing through the chapters as they wait to see what happens. They will enjoy seeing how clever and empowered Piper is as she plots her escape. They will also be interested in what happens at Piper’s grandmother’s lab and more.

Adults will appreciate the bits of education in the novel. Children learn a little about Jackson Pollock and Banksy. They also find out a bit about Sally Ride, Albert Einstein and DaVinci. There are also science facts.

This book is recommended for young readers. It will entertain them as they also learn a little. In a section at the end of the book, kids will learn how a glass can help them to hear through walls, how to make an origami cup, who Sally Ride was and something about SpaceX.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title. All opinions are my own.

A Guide to Reading and Reflecting

by Mary Shelley; Karen Swallow Prior

This is the second title that I have read in this series, following on Jane Eyre. This edition includes the full, first edition of Frankenstein. (One thing that you will learn is that there were both an original and later Frankenstein). There is a lot of information in the sections that are included along with the full text of the novel.

Readers learn that Mary Shelley had a somewhat chaotic life and one that was filled with loss. Her bereavements included her mother’s death, deaths of her children and the death of her husband. In addition, readers learn about the free wheeling existence of Mary, Percy and those around them. There were many affairs and interconnections.

This edition also includes a good deal of insight into the novel itself. Those who have never read the book may be surprised to learn that Frankenstein was not the monster. They may also be surprised by who narrates the story. Some of the influences on Shelly in terms of death and its links with creation and birth are explored as are many others as well. In addition context about the Romantics and other influences of Shelley’s era and discussion questions..

This book is published by a religious publisher so there is a section on reading the book from that perspective. Overall, I feel that this edition will be welcomed by readers looking for some insight into Frankenstein before they read or reread it. There are even some questions for discussion included after each of the novel’s volumes.

by FAITH MARTIN writing as MAXINE BARRY

Faith Martin has written a number of mysteries in several series. Here she tells the story of a woman who goes to an Oxford College hoping to avenge her brother’s death by suicide. Is Dr. Lacey responsible? How will this turn out?

There is a secondary plot line as well about another student in the college. She is a young woman who is being harassed by her brother and his friends. What will happen to her?

This book has gotten middling reviews. I concur. I just was hoping for a bit more. I did enjoy the Oxford setting.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title. All opinions are my own.

by Karen Cushman

Pub Date 06 Apr 2021

I was drawn to this middle-grade readers’ title by the author and by the intriguing cover. It matches the book’s content. We see a girl on the beach which should evoke pleasant feelings and yet…there appear to be ominous planes and ships right off shore. This is the introduction to the story of Millie, a girl who lives in California during WWII and, more specifically, around the time of the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

This was a difficult time in American history and it is difficult for our protagonist. She is living her life with the usual issues of childhood including school, friendships, sibling rivalry and a grandmother’s death, but also with rations, Hitler in Europe and a sense that the U.S. is not safe. How will she cope? Who will help her?

Readers who pick up this book will find out. I hope that they will also discuss the book’s content with a trusted adult as the story is not always easy. It is, however, very well done by the author of Catherine, Known as Birdy.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions are my own.