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

Kudos to Quarto publishers and the author for another informative, appealing and enjoyable entry in the Little People, Big Dreams series. This time it is the story of Josephine Baker, a dancer and entertainer, who moved far from her segregated hometown to find renown in Paris and beyond. I discovered things that I did not know about Ms. Baker in this short book. While I knew about her performances and the large family that she created through adoption, I just now learned that she helped the French Resistance during WWII and was active in the Civil Rights movement.
This book will appeal to both children with dreams and the adults who encourage them. As always, the illustrations add to the appeal of the book.

Thanks NetGalley and the publisher for publishing these inspiring stories.

There is a short piece on the author in today’s Mail on Sunday.  She acknowledges how anxiety had kept her from learning to do or try many things.  The first new skill that she tackled (no surprise) was swimming.  Ms Page comments on how she had only been doing things that she knew that she could do well.  It was liberating for her to realize that she did not need to continue this pattern.  Lucky for the reader that she tried her hand at a novel!

AJ Pearce grew up in Hampshire, England. She studied at the University of Sussex and Northwestern University. Pearce collects vintage magazines, and the idea of a writing a novel set in wartime London was born when she came across a 1939 copy of a weekly women’s magazine. She lives in the south of England and is at work on her second book.

Dear Mrs. Bird: An irresistible debut set in London during World War II about an adventurous young woman who becomes a secret advice columnist—a warm, funny, and enormously moving story for fans of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and Lilac Girls.

Libby Page graduated from The London College of Fashion with a BA in fashion journalism before going on to work as a journalist at The Guardian and then a brand executive at a retailer, then a charity. The Lido was born out of her love for outdoor swimming and her passion for community and its role in our towns and cities.

The Lido: In the tradition of Fredrik Backman’s A Man Called Ove, The Lido is a charming, feel-good novel that captures the heart and spirit of a community across generations—an irresistible tale of love, loss, aging, and friendship.

Please note:  the above information is re-printed from an e-mail that I received from the publisher.  I have blogged on both of these novels and found them to be special and appealing, so decided to give them one more “shouout.”  Please let me know what you think should you read them.

This book, written by a seventh grade English teacher, is replete with the biographies of those who faced significant challenges in reaching their goals.  Just a few of those featured are Nelson Mandela, Rosa Parks, J. K. Rowling, Oprah Winfrey, (the horse) Seabiscuit, Vincent Van Gogh, Christopher Reeve, Albert Einstein and Hillary Rodham Clinton.  Each entry starts with a fantasy description of how things went before, more accurately, detailing the setbacks that were faced along the way.  The author believes that it is important that young people focus, not on being perfect, but on risk taking and learning.  He tells his own story of having been a poor student and then turning things around.  The author offers comments to students suggesting coping mechanisms when they face challenges.  This book is broad and expansive.  It would be an excellent resource for students and school libraries.

Sophie Hannah has been writing novels about Hercule Poirot for several years.  She has had the blessing of the Agatha Christie estate in doing this.  The Monogram Murders was first, followed by Closed Casket.  The third in the series, The Mystery of Three Quarters will be published at the end of August.  Personally, I prefer the original novels but these have gotten good press so I draw your attention to this, in case you would like to get started.

From the Back Cover

Those of you who read my blog already know that I love Anne Perry’s historical mystery series.  Thanks to NetGalley, I am currently reading Dark Tide Rising, the newest Monk title.  The book comes out in September.  I can already tell you that it is very good, raising many issues about love and loyalty.  But…in the meanwhile these two Anne Perry novels are currently out as bargains.  Discover a very enjoyable series or add to your collection.

From Publishers Weekly on Silence in Hanover Close

From the Inside Flap

“When Anne Perry puts Thomas and Charlotte Pitt on the case, we are in exemplary Victorian company.”
THE NEW YORK TIMES
When Charlotte Pitt, well-born wife of Thomas Pitt, the police investigator, learned of her mother’s distress in losing a locket with a compromising picture, she did not know it was the beginning of several bizarre events that would end in sudden death. For hidden behind the sumptuous elegance of Ruthland Place were terrible secrets. Secrets so horrifying that only murder could conceal them. And only the dogged persistence of Charlotte and Thomas could reveal them….

Have you ever tried to visit an art museum with a child?  Were you ever a child who found art museums to be boring?  Would you like to find your own adventures in a museum, even if they create some chaos?  If any of these could be true, read this picture book to a child in your life.  As an extra bonus, there are reproductions of famous artworks in the story with a chance to learn more about them and the artists.  A clever book and one that is well executed with enticing illustrations.

When I saw the cover for this book, I thought that it would be a typical, light, women’s fiction read. That is not the case at all! This book is much more than that. Protagonist Loveday, who does work in a bookshop, is a unique, idiosyncratic, hurt young woman who does not trust easily. There are reasons for this as the reader learns. She is tattooed with quotes from her favorite novels, has a painful backstory, is bright and someone the reader hopes for. All of the characters from Nathan, to Rob, to Annabel, to Archie, to Loveday’s family are vividly portrayed and each has an important role in her life. This book is definitely worth reading in my opinion. I was inspired to look for the author’s other novels upon completing this. Thanks NetGalley and St. Martin’s for this excellent read.

#TheLostForWordsBookshop #NetGalley

Early Bird Books is having a huge e-book sale.  It is a site worth looking at.  I found a number of mysteries to buy.

This was the first book that I read by Jojo Moyes who, of course, went on to write Me Before You, Me After You and Still Me.  I enjoyed this novel with its dual narratives taking place in 1960 and 2003.  The 1960 story centers on a lost love letter, its author and its intended recipient.  In 2003, the protagonist is working out her own love story.

Kirkus Reviews calls the novel, “a prize-winning, cross-generational love story of missed connections and delayed gratification [that] hits a seam of pure romantic gold. . . . A cliffhanger-strewn tale of heartache in two strikingly different eras [and] a tour de force.”

Praise from Paula McLain, author of The Paris Wife and Love and Ruin:

“Crafting a love story that feels not just compelling but true is a very difficult thing indeed—and yet, with The Last Letter from Your Lover, Jojo Moyes has done it twice. I found myself utterly transfixed by both sets of lovers in this marvelous novel. Moyes is a tremendously gifted storyteller, and I’m all admiration.”
—Paula McLain