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

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.

Did you watch the PBS show on the young Victoria?  Would you like to know more about her and the times she lived in and molded?  If yes, today, the well written and absorbing biography of this fascinating woman,  Victoria the Queen,  is an e-book bargain at $1.99.

 

I blogged on this book in June 2017.  The review may be found in my archives.  I enjoy the Maggie Hope series and am currently reading the author’s soon to be released next book courtesy of NetGalley.  The Paris Spy is an e-book bargain today at $1.99.  You can catch up and then, later this summer, read The Prisoner in the Castle, the novel that I am currently enjoying.  If you like WW II mysteries with a female protagonist, the series could be for you.

I have read every novel that Elizabeth George has written, starting with A Great Deliverance.  I felt that, in recent years, the books were not nearly as good as their predecessors.  I thought about giving this one a pass and am very glad that I did not.  Ms George was in good form all the way through this almost 700 page novel.

Ostensibly the story is about what happened to a young man, Ian Druitt, a church worker, who dies while in police custody.  But…this is much more a story about parenting with too much intensity, especially on the parts of the story’s mothers.  There is the high up police officer who believes that her son may have committed a horrific crime, the mother who thinks she knows what her daughter should do and whom she should not marry and series character, Isabelle Ardery, whose toxic relationship with alcohol is poisoning her relationship with her children.  Who of them is the one who gets “The Punishment She Deserves?” What of the fathers?    How much can we or should we control others?  How is justice best served? Can police be corrupt?  You will consider these issues as you spend time with series regulars Thomas Lynley and Barbara Havers in a tale that, at times, is quite tragic.

This book can be read as a stand alone or embraced by series regulars.  I very highly recommend it.

Jenny Colgan is a talented writer of light, humorous women’s fiction.  I find that her novels are good reads for when I want to escape.  In this book, The Cafe by the Sea, the escape is to the fictional island of Mure in very northern Scotland.  The scenery is beautiful, the family life complicated and the romance eventually works ot as it tends to in this kind of fiction.  Recommended for a relaxing, stressfree read.

Do you know a child who has been afraid?  Do they have a fear that just seems to grow and grow?  In this short children’s book, the author personifies fear as an ever present companion to a school-aged girl.  Over the course of this story, the protagonist’s fear shrinks to manageable size.  She learns that many of her peers face fears as well and so she is not alone.  This is a reassuring book that maybe some of us adults could benefit from as well!

#MeAndMyFear #NetGalley

This short book provides the young reader with a painless grammar lesson.  With witty illustrations and a lack of pedantry, the author  demonstrates how to write clearly and effectively.  A bonus is that the profits from this book will be donated to charity.  A good book for teachers with a sense of humor.

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!

#TheLacemaker’sSecret #NetGalley