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

I subscribe to this author’s newsletter so had been hearing about The Lost and Found Bookshop for months before it was published.  I entered a number of giveaways in my enthusiasm, did not win the book and eventually got it from the library.

The story is about Natalie who suffers some losses from which she must recover.  The reader encounters those with whom Natalie is involved as she moves from a high powered, but unsatisfying career, to become the proprietor of her family’s bookshop.  There is Peach, clearly to be a romantic interest; a popular author who wines and dines Natalie; Dorothy, the precocious daughter of Peach; Grandy, who is slowly sinking into dementia and others.

Ms. Wiggs love of bookstores and what they offer to people and communities come across clearly.  The city of San Francisco is also painted by someone who is fond of both its history and what it offers now to those who live there.

The resolution of the story is satisfying but…somehow I had hoped for a little more from this novel.  Its insights were not unique although they were true.

If you enjoy women’s fiction, I recommend this title.  However, there are books by this author that I have enjoyed more including the Lakeshore Chronicles series, Map of the Heart and Just Breathe, to name a few.

Have you read this book?  What did you think?

 

So many good choices here.  Jude the Obscure is a book in which the characters frustrated me.  It is a free title today. I’ve reviewed The Fifth Avenue Story Society, The Perfect Couple and Meet Me in Monaco.  Both Circe and The Silence of the Girls are books that I want to read.  There are also many other good choices here including an excellent collection of short stories.

This year I have been reading more poetry.  Poetry lends itself to this time when there is leisure (at least for me while I go nowhere basically) to read and reread a poem in order to “get” it.  This collection is most welcome and part of a new ambitious project for me.

Of course everyone has heard of Shakespeare.  Dip into the many sonnets, some of which may be familiar and many of which may not.  All are worth some of your time.

Along with the sonnets, there is a good introduction in this book which can be read in any order or dipped into.  Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title in exchange for an honest review.

pub date:  September 29, 2020

This is a new entry in a series that I highly recommend.  Each title provides beginning chapter book readers with a readable and detailed story of a person’s life, in this case Barack Obama.  There are illustrations, timelines, questions to think about, a quiz and more to extend and enhance the reader’s experience.

Readers watch as Barack begins his life in Hawaii and goes on to live in many places including Indonesia, gets an education, finds love and makes his way in law and political life.  They learn about his white mom and his Kenyan dad and watch as he becomes the country’s first Black president. All of  this is done in a book that engages the reader.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title in exchange for an honest review.  I recommend all of the books in this series; they will help children to understand history and to dream of all they can do in the world.

The month is off to a good start.  Yes, I love Mary Oliver and Dream Work is here.  Invitation to Sociology led to my taking many Sociology classes in college.  Plus mystery and more here.  Enjoy!

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I reviewed Vesper Flights.