Author: joycesmysteryandfictionbookreviews

I love this book!  If you are pregnant or know someone who is, this would make a great gift, for yourself of them.  This is a comic/graphic novel that shows a heterosexual couple falling in love, establishing a life together, experiencing a pregnancy and becoming parents with all of the ups and downs that this entails.  The illustrations are sooo adorable and emotive.  This is a sweet yet honest look at an important stage in life.  Highly recommended!  I give it five stars.

Thanks to NetGalley and AndrewsMcMeel publishing for this book in exchange for an honest review.

#Baby #NetGalley

Ironically, I started to read this book when I had ten minutes free before rushing off to do something. I came back again later and began to make the time to read this book and think about its messages and suggestions.

We all know that life is hectic, that many only feel okay while being productive and that it is hard to slow down. This book will help readers to think about what is important about slow living, as it helps you to understand why slow living is important. It is well worth your time to find out.

The book is divided into many chapters and is illustrated throughout with beautiful photographs. Readers can read straight through or look first at what makes most sense for them. There are sections on everything from creating rituals to explanations of what mindfulness and meditation are, to learning to listen to your body, pay and more. Hopefully, readers will take away the intended message and will begin to slowly enjoy life more.

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

I have not read this.  It comes highly recommended but with warnings about the violence in the novel.

I adored this book.  See the review in my archive.

A thriller

I have not read this but it received good reviews.

Some additional bargains:

It’s’ time for a science fair. Charlie, who has autism, is on a team with several other students. They choose to do their project on trains, a topic that Charlie knows well. How will their team fare ?

The story illustrates some of the ways in which autism is seen by others. For example, Charlie is literal, he can’t cope with loud noise, he knows a lot (!) about trains. These parts of the story do not receive undue attention but are presented in a matter of fact way. Charlie’s classmates do not tease him or give him a hard time. I am not sure that this is the experience of other children with autism but it definitely could be something to talk about.

This book is part of a series about children who have special education needs. The book includes suggestions for discussion, notes for parents and teachers and a section of tips for coping with autism,

This book was informative and it could be used to help children understand the needs of others. It might also be appealing to a child with autism as it normalizes the school experience.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this read in exchange for an honest review.

The British win here with books on Downton Abbey, Victoria, Princess Margaret and the Mitfords. There are a few other titles here as well.  I especially enjoy books by Donna Leon and Katherine Hall Page’s books are also great reads for mystery readers.

I admired both Sonia Purnell and Clementine Churchill even before I was (fortunately) approved by NetGalley for this book on Clementine Churchill . I learned so much from the biography written by Ms. Purnell. This book reiterates many important elements of this fascinating woman’s biography, from her troubled childhood throughout two World Wars and her life beyond. What makes this book different and special, at least to me, are the photographs. They are fascinating both in terms of Clementine and Winston’s lives and as illustrations of the lives of people who lived throughout the 1900s. The text and photos are perfect complements to one another and add to the depth of experience for the reader.

I am savoring this book as I read it. I highly recommend it and give it five stars.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this magnificent book.

From the Publisher

People have mixed feelings about Coco Chanel.  She is both known for her amazing fashion sense and for her apparent collaboration with the Germans during WW II.  However readers may feel about Coco, this book will provide an extensive look at who she was, what influenced her, the places she lived and, of course, her fashions.  It is an insightful and interesting look at a woman who lived a dramatic and creative life.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this read in exchange for an honest review.

#LivingWithCocoChanel #NetGalley

From the Publisher

The Country Girl

Gabrielle Chanel kept many facts about her childhood secret. She only offered hints about the poverty and the abandonment she had suffered, of the cloisters and chestnut trees of the Auvergne landscape that formed a backdrop to her early life. She was born on 19 August 1883, under the Leo star sign. Being superstitious, she chose the lion symbol for many aspects of her life – in her apartment in rue Cambon, Paris, on her creations and as a marker on her headstone in the cemetery of Lausanne. ‘I love everything that’s up high,’ she said. ‘The sky, the moon, and I believe in the stars. I was born under the sign of the Lion, like Nostradamus. I’d rather have a touch of the invisible than roast mutton every day.

Twenty-three-year-old Gabrielle Chanel in 1906.

Living with Coco Chanel: The homes and landscapes that shaped the designer

Bohemian Paris If there was one time and place that defined Coco Chanel, it was Paris in the 1920s, that exciting, frivolous era, known in France as les années folles. After the First World War, the city became a mecca for the beautiful and the talented looking to forget the horrors they had experienced. Coco was the fashion vanguard of the era, capturing the mood of the time and shaping the way women dressed. ‘I was working towards a new society,’ Coco said. ‘Up until then they had been clothes designed for women who were useless and idle, women whose lady’s maids had to pass them their stockings; I now had customers who were busy women; a busy woman needs to feel comfortable in her clothes. You need to be able to roll up your sleeves.’	Rue Cambon Towards the end of 1918, Coco Chanel signed a lease for 31 rue Cambon, where she registered for the first time in Paris as a couturière rather than a milliner. The building was set over five floors and it featured a boutique, a workroom, a salon for high-profile clients and Chanel’s own private apartment with three rooms – a hall, living room and dining room. Later on she would add a mirrored bathroom. Scented with Chanel N°.5 and traces of cigarette smoke, it would be a gathering place for the most influential people in Paris, all keen to experience Chanel and her style.	Riviera Chic From its position looking out over the green, rocky coastline of the northernmost Côte D’Azur, with the glittering, moneyed Monte Carlo in the distance to the west, the Italian border to the east, and the foothills of the Alps as a backdrop, La Pausa was Coco Chanel’s magnificent French Riviera sanctuary, located in Roquebrune Cap-Martin. With its painted shutters and terracotta roof tiles baking in the sun, it was an idyllic retreat that looked out towards the endless horizon. Chanel created the villa from the ground up, holding within its design the secrets of her childhood in Aubazine.

Read more

Beautifully illustrated, the book features designs, drawings, archive imagery and contemporary photography to provide an insight into Chanel’s life

Chanel’s jersey suits with loose belted jackets were much sought after during the First World War, as illustrated in magazine Les Elegances Parisiennes in March 1917.	A 1929 Vogue illustration depicting Chanel’s sports ensembles, which defined her British look of that period.	The autumn 1938 collection featured colourful, gypsy-inspired designs, as featured in Marie Claire, 23 September 1938.

Pierre & Paul tells the story of two friends with imagination. Read the book and look at the illustrations to get a sense of the avalanches at hand. This is a simple, amusing story of two young boys that switches between English and French. There are contextual clues to help with the language that a child may not speak. The book provides a way to expose children to bilingual text. I especially liked the illustrations.

Thanks to NetGalley and the ublisher for this book in exchange for an honest review.

FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

What a smart change of pace for Deborah Crombie in A BITTER FEAST (Morrow, $25.99), a classic village whodunit that challenges her sophisticated city sleuths, Detective Superintendent Duncan Kincaid of Scotland Yard and his wife, Detective Inspector Gemma James. This power couple is supposed to be enjoying a restful weekend in the bucolic Cotswolds, but a fatal road accident and a series of suspicious deaths swiftly shatter the peace at their host’s country house.

Crombie has a deft hand with plot, and this one is enriched by characters like Viv Holland, the gifted chef at the local pub, and Fergus O’Reilly, who becomes a person of interest because he looks good in a fedora. But the book’s beauty is in its descriptions of pastoral life: the handsome dogs, the luscious meals and, best of all, the glorious gardens. Murder has some damn nerve, disrupting the tranquillity of such a heavenly place.

MY REVIEW

I was thrilled to receive this novel from NetGalley and HarperCollins in exchange for an honest review. I have read every book in this series of very British mysteries that, surprisingly, are written by an American author who lives in Texas. A Bitter Feast is book 18 in this fine series that has deepened over time. If you can, read the books in order for the people, the history and the relationships but, if you can’t, this could be read as a standalone.

Detectives Duncan Kincaid and Gemma Jones, who married many books ago, are invited to the country with their three children (Backstories on the children appear in earlier books as only one is the shared child of both Gemma and Duncan). They are invited by another police officer, Melody Talbot (again backstory in earlier novels), to her parents beautiful Cotswold home for the weekend. The descriptions of the countryside and the house will make you wish that you could hop a plane, unless you already live in Britain.

Of course, there are murders. There is also lots of food as chefs are important characters in the story. Why was a famous chef murdered? Why was his demise followed by others? And of course, whodunnit? I thought that I knew but I was wrong.

My only regret upon finishing A Bitter Feast was knowing that I now have to again begin the wait for the next book by this author. If you like traditional British mysteries/police procedurals, I highly recommend.

A few examples:

-I move forward with confidence;

All is well in my life.

-I release the desire for control;

I accept things as they are.

-I am gentle and loving

toward myself and others.

In this book, I learned that Ani Trime was a motorcycle riding woman who became a Buddhist nun. Ani Trime died in her 80s when she was working on this book of affirmations. It was completed and illustrated by her students.

The book is a collection of 52 affirmations. The author’s intention was to have a reader, in a given week, say the same mantra each day. I will try that but, of course, could not wait 52 weeks to review this title.

If you are a person that follows a mindfulness practice or app, this book could/will enhance your experience. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this read in exchange for an honest review.