Joyce's mystery and fiction book reviews with some non-fiction too!

Salvador Dali is a painter whose name you probably know; it is also possible that you do not fully understand him or his work. If that is true for you, this book provides a welcome opportunity to spend time with Dali and his family and to better understand the artist in context. The reader learns about Dali’s parents’ lives before he was born and the death of their earlier son whom they also named Salvador. The author speculates that, in this, may lie some of Dali’s duality. Dali’s home village, the places he lived, the teachers and the schools that influenced him are all acknowledged. There are quotes from Dali’s own writings along with excellent painterly and photographic illustrations. If you would like to spend time with this enigmatic, surrealist, I encourage you to take a look at this book.

Thank you NetGalley and Quarto for this excellent read.

 

This is a simple story of a goose who becomes separated from her flock. Fox does his very best to help her catch up and the two have some adventures along the way. Fox is then invited to stay with the flock so the two friends can delay their good-byes. This is a nice tale of how friends help one another and stick together and about how groups can include those who are not like them. This book is enhanced with discussion questions and activities at the end making it a nice read for a toddler story hour.

Thanks NetGalley and Quarto!

Stephanie Barron has written in several genres. She is the author of the Nantucket based, Merry Folger mysteries which I read and enjoyed. She also wrote the Jane Austen mystery series and novels with JFK and Virginia Woolf as characters. In this book, That Churchill Woman is Jennie Jerome Churchill, the mother most famously of Winston, the wife of Randall and a lover of Charles Kinsky.

The novel moves back and forth in time allowing the reader to understand Jennie’s upbringing in the Gilded Age and her father’s influence on her life. The reader also learns about the traumas of Jennie’s early life, including the profound loss she faced, her father’s affairs, her move to Europe, etc.

Jennie glitters in British society. There are numerous appearances in the book of Bertie, the Prince of Wales and his wife Princess Alix. Other American women who married into the British aristocracy are also characters in the novel.

The reader empathizes with Jennie, especially during a time when a young Winston is quite ill. Further, as Jennie learns the truth about her husband, (I don’t want to include spoilers), one truly feels for her.

I highly recommend this novel for those who like historical fiction, those who are Anglophiles and those interested in the family in which Winston grew up.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this absorbing read.

#ThatChurchillWoman #NetGalley

I have truly loved the Inspector Banks series and have read all of the novels, except this one, the most recent.  I have been saving it, as I sometimes do when a book is by a favorite author.  I plan to read it soon.  In the meanwhile, you can add it to your TBR list as it is just $1.99 today.

These novels can be read out of order but, if you start at the beginning, you will see how the relationships between characters evolve.  Up to you.

Packed with twists and turns, heart and soul, this is another triumph from an author “at the top of his game” (LOUISE PENNY).

From Goodreads:

 

This is a short book with snappy rhyming text.  In it, young Riley and a relative, Joe, imagine some of the many jobs that Riley could potentially grow up to do.  The continuing refrain is that Riley can be anything.  For example:

“Riley thought for a little while

And then he gave a massive smile.

“A pilot, ” he said.  “Now that sounds great!”

“I’m so excited.  I can’t wait!…”

Joe smiled and said…”Riley, you can be anything!”

The story ends at school where the students all give a thought about a future career.

This book shows children that they can dream big.  For that reason, it is worth reading.

Thanks NetGalley.

 

This is a level 2 reader with a simple vocabulary and short sentences, appropriate for those who are mastering their reading skills. The book is illustrated with photographs of families enjoying the holiday.

The text explains the origin of Thanksgiving and many of the holiday’s rituals and customs. This book will help newcomers to the U.S. to learn more about an iconic holiday, while those who already celebrate, will be reminded of why they do so and what they most enjoy about the day.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this seasonal read.

I am waiting to read this one.  What you see below is courtesy of the publisher.

In Blood is Blood, a bombing injures private enquiry agent Cyrus Barker, leaving it up to his soon-to-be-married junior partner Thomas Llewelyn to find the person trying to murder them both before it’s too late―in the newest mystery in Will Thomas’s beloved Thomas Llewlyn series.

In 19th century London, Cyrus Barker and his associate Thomas Llewelyn are renowned private enquiry agents, successfully employed by the highest levels of Her Majesty’s government as well as private citizens. Their success, however, has led to their acquiring a powerful group of enemies, many of whom are determined to have their revenge.

At least one of those enemies is responsible for a bombing of their offices that puts Cyrus Barker into the hospital and endangers Thomas Llewelyn’s rapidly forthcoming nuptials. To add to the confusion, Barker’s long-lost brother Caleb turns up on the rubble of their doorstep not long after the not-quite-fatal bombing.

Unsure of Caleb and warned about him by Barker, Thomas reluctantly accepts Caleb’s help both with a new case that comes in as well as trying to pinpoint which of Barker’s enemies is making a move against them. As Thomas works his way through their enemy list, someone else is winnowing down that list: one by one those enemies are dying.

With time running out―and his bride-to-be reconsidering their marriage―Llewelyn must (with the sick-bed bound Barker’s help) uncover the killer and the plot before it’s too late.

This is a reassuring, optimistic, factual and supportive book that talks about gender identity.  Terms are clearly defined, children are encouraged to be who they are and all topics are clearly explained.  This book will be especially welcome to families whose children may not identify with the old girl/boy dichotomy of times past.  It will be a good resource for school library shelves.

Anne Perry has been writing Christmas novellas for many years; A Christmas Revelation is this year’s entry. This is a story about Worm, a precocious orphan, who lives at a shelter/ women’s clinic whose bookkeeper is a reformed criminal named Squeaky. Readers of the William Monk series will recognize the clinic as the one where Hester works and will also know that Squeaky is a regular series character.

Worm sees a beautiful woman on the street who appears angelic to him. When he realizes that she is in trouble, Worm wants to help. Because he cares for Worm, Squeaky becomes involved in a somewhat convoluted plot to help her. Their efforts form the plot of the novella.

In the fore and backgrounds of the story is the spirit of Christmas as is appropriate for this seasonal book. The reader observes as Worm learns the meaning of the holiday and has, what appears to be, his first true holiday celebration.

Long term fans of Anne Perry will want to read this book so as to be up to date with all of her series and characters. However, much as I love Anne Perry, I have enjoyed several of her holiday novellas more than this one.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher. I very much wanted to read this book.

If you like to doodle and would like to learn how to make adorable pictures of food, animals, landmarks, etc., this is most definitely the book for you! The creator of this volume, quit a job to become a full-time doodle artist. Kawaii is  explained as a particular kind of doodle which focuses on cheerfulness and sweet faces in the illustrations. Steps are provided for how to create many irresistible doodles on your own.  I woke up grumpy today and found that this book cheered me up and gave me lots of good ideas.  Highly recommended if you like to draw!

#KawaiiDoodleCuties #NetGalley