June Read: Summers at the Saint by Mary Kay Andrews

 

I love Mary Kay Andrews and look forward to reading her summer novels every year. It took me a bit to finish this novel, but only because I couldn't stay awake at night for some good old-fashioned late night reading!

This novel takes place at the Saint Cecelia resort off the coast of Georgia. A family owned resort, it is grand, expensive, and a place where tradition is strong. Traci Eddings once worked at the Saint as a lifeguard in her youth, before meeting, falling in love, and marrying into the Eddings family, owners of the resort. Her happiness is short lived when her husband dies in a plane crash ten or so years into their happy marriage. Grief is still present four years later, as Traci works to run the resort, which seems to be in the red continuously--and she can't figure out why. 

Traci is up against her brother-in-law, Ric, who is one shady character. She convinces her niece Parrish to work at the resort for the summer, and that sets in motion a summer that will change the Saint for good. 

The novel's cover may give you an idea it's a light, breezy novel. However, there is a shocking murder, a twenty year old mystery to solve, and a whole lot of shenanigans happening around the Saint that will keep you turning the pages. Lots of characters, but you quickly get to know them and it wasn't hard to keep track of who was what. Surprises abound at the Saint! 

I throughly enjoyed this, and it is definitely a summer/vacation/beach read. I also, as always, completely enjoyed the epilogue. I'm a huge fan of seeing what the characters are up to in the future. The setting is lush and beautiful, and what I wouldn't give to ride around the grounds of the Saint in a golf cart!

Thank you to Edelweiss for the ARC! 

Rating: 4/6 for a contemporary novel full of shady characters, good people, mysteries old and new, and a spark of romance. Female friendships are a strong theme in this novel. 

Available in hardcover, ebook, and audio. 

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June Read: Summers at the Saint by Mary Kay Andrews

January Read: The Mitford Affair by Marie Benedict

 

First book of the new year, and it was my favorite genre, historical fiction. It was also a fascinating dive into the world of the Mitford Sisters. 

You may, like myself, have heard the Mitford name. Nancy Mitford is most famous for her two novels The Pursuit of Love and Love in a Cold Climate. She's also famous for being one of six of the Mitford Sisters, who were young, beautiful, and part of the "young bright things" group of the 1930's. So many books have been written about the Mitford Sisters because they were big and bold, and that fascination continues nearly 100 years later. 

The sisters: Nancy, Diana, Jessica, Unity, Deborah, and Pamela, were brought up in English society by parents Muv and Farve. Financial problems plagued the family and they had to keep downsizing, all the while maintaining ties to the movers and shakers of the time--Winston Churchill's wife Clemmie was their cousin. 

What's fascinating about the sisters during the 1930's and into the 1940's are the ardent belief in fascism and friendship with Hitler by Unity and Diana. Unity's obsession with Hitler led her to move to Munich, learn fluent German, and work to become his closest friend. Diana followed suit in her determination to keep her lover Mosley's British branch of fascism the BUF growing and gaining power. It's well documented the two sisters were thick as thieves with Hitler and the Nazi party. 

That relationship is the biggest part of this novel. Nancy is another large part of the plot, as she struggles in her marriage to an alcoholic, writes her novels, and sees her sisters (and eventually her mother and father) fall further into the Nazi fold, and the slow descent into war with England. Should Nancy do something to stop all of this?

This is fiction, but based on a lot of historical fact. What was frustrating for me was Nancy's inability to act on what she saw and heard in her family. Eventually she does put her feelings for her sisters aside when the enormity of what is happening in England makes it clear she must act. But holy heck! One of the quotes in the novel is "How personal is the political in the end". For Nancy and her sisters, they were so intertwined it became impossible to separate the two. 

The novel also focuses on Unity and Diana. Diana is beautiful, cold, brilliant, and obsessed with her lover Mosley. She'll do anything for him. Unity is obsessed with the Nazi ideal and Hitler. So much to that she goes to great lengths to get into the inner circle of Hitler and become his friend. 

Before reading this novel, I knew very little about the Mitford Sisters, and even less about their close connections to Hitler and the Nazi system. Wow. I'll say this novel got a bit heavy at times, especially the scenes where people dismissed the rise of Hitler's power and scoffed at what was being reported in Germany. 

This was a very good novel, and kept me turning the pages. I had to do a quick dive into the internet to look at photos of the Mitford sisters, and there is plenty of material out there if you decide you want to read more about them. One of the more popular books about the Mitford Sisters:

Honestly, the Mitford sisters are endlessly fascinating. You won't be able to resist exploring the wealth of articles, photos, and books written about them. 

Rating: 4/6 for a well researched historical novel about one of the most interesting families in England, at one of the most fascinating times. 

A big thank you to Sourcebooks for an advanced copy. This novel will be out in the U.S. on January 17th in hardcover, audio, and ebook. 

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January Read: The Mitford Affair by Marie Benedict

December Read: The Girl from Widow Hills by Megan Miranda

 

This was my third book for the Iowa High School Battle of the Books. While it was the shortest novel out of the three, it took me the longest! 

I enjoy suspenseful, thriller fiction, but I hadn't read any of Megan Miranda's novels until this one. My hopes were high...and darn it all they were a bit deflated. 

Arden Maynor became an overnight sensation as a small child when she disappeared from home one night and days later was found clinging to a storm drain in a drainage ditch. The story was that she was sleepwalking and was swept away by rainwater, and somehow miraculously survived days trapped in this drain. Arden and her mother became famous. 

Now the twentieth year anniversary is coming up, and Arden is now Olivia, living miles away from Widow Hills. She's an administrator at a local hospital, and still, to this day, her memories of what happened are fuzzy. She only wants to forget. That fame twisted her mother, who Olivia stopped speaking to a few years back. Now she is notified her mother is dead, and a box arrives with her mother's paltry collection of things. 

Olivia has trouble sleeping, and finds herself once again sleepwalking-and one night, she wakes up outside and stumbles on a body in her yard. WHAT? 

That's where this thriller starts ramping up. It takes a while for the action to get moving, and that was frustrating to me. Olivia is the ultimate unreliable narrator, because she just can't remember anything about the past, and she's chronically tired and drinks wine to help herself fall asleep. So is she paranoid, or does she have legitimate concerns when she feels like she's being watched? Living in a house out in the sticks, with only one close neighbor also adds to her sense of isolation. 

It was only after I'd finished the book, and discussed it with another person who also read it, that I began to think "okay, it actually was a better than I thought read." Before that, I was not that thrilled with it. The end seemed rushed, after the slooooow build up of action. Not only are you trying to figure out what the heck is going on in present time, but there are bits and pieces of the story of Arden's rescue from twenty years before sprinkled before chapters to help you get a better picture of what happened. It is important to read those!

So, I am on the fence with this one. I will probably read another Megan Miranda novel to see if this was just an off read for me. It's definitely a book you will have to discuss with someone else, and pick it apart. There's a lot going on here, and a lot of dots to connect. 

Rating: 3/6 for a thriller that has pacing problems, and an unreliable narrator that makes it feel like you're walking into walls trying to piece it all together and follow the story. That may be deliberate on the author's part, but I found it to be a bit too much. It's an interesting look at how the media can affect a life and the damage it can do to ordinary people. 

Available in paperback, ebook, and audio. 

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December Read: The Girl from Widow Hills by Megan Miranda

October Read: A Death in Door County (A Monster Hunter Mystery #1) by Annelise Ryan

 

The cover of this mystery caught my eye and led to me checking it out of my library. Then last week, I was at my book group and one of my friends talked about it--I made sure he didn't give the ending away because I wasn't quite done with it!

 I finished it and enjoyed traveling to Door County, WI. I'm putting it on my bucket list of places to visit. It's not terribly far from where I live now, and even though my family took vacations every summer to Rhinelander, WI when I was little, we never got to Door County. 

Anyhow. This was kind of like a cozy mystery, but one with a little more oomph to it. Morgan Carter owns a unique bookshop called Odds and Ends in Door County. Her hobby, inherited from her parents, is the study of cryptids. Crypids are creatures people are sure exist, but just have never had definitive proof: Bigfoot, Loch Ness, Abominable Snowman. New police chief Jon Flanders hires Morgan to investigate the possibility of a cryptid swimming around Lake Michigan, after two men are washed ashore drowned but showing signs of being crushed by something powerful. Could it be a lake creature? 

As Morgan begins to dig into her research, she uncovers more questions than answers. We also get to meet her employees Rita and Devon, her beloved and very protective dog Newt, and see her cautious relationship develop with Chief Flanders. There is some uncovering of Morgan's past that answers some questions of how she is an expert at cryptids, and why she has such an unusual bookstore. 

I was deep into this mystery pretty quickly. It's clear Annelise Ryan knows Door County. It sounds absolutely lovely and she painted a heck of a picture. I deliberately kept away from looking online so I could keep it all in my head. There are a few sad moments, but overall I just let the mystery reveal itself as I read. There's no "ooh, maybe this person did it" as there is in cozy mysteries. I truly had no idea until the end. 

I'm happy to say the last few sentences lead to the possibility of the next mystery in the series and I'll be picking that up--it involves Bigfoot! 

Rating: 5/6 for the vivid writing that brings Door County to life, along with a very interesting main character with a special knowledge unlike any other mysteries I've read. I like the slow development of Morgan and Jon's relationship which leaves something for more mysteries to explore. 

Available in hardcover, ebook, and audio. 

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October Read: A Death in Door County (A Monster Hunter Mystery #1) by Annelise Ryan

The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes

I am a fan of Jojo Moyes. I've read most of her novels, which are usually contemporary. She's written a few historical novels, and I love them just as much as the contemporary novels. The Giver of Stars is an historical novel focusing on a group of ladies who created quite a stir during the 1930's, and all these decades later, their stories are popping up again. I'm talking about the horseback librarians of Kentucky. These were some badass women. 

There is another novel out, that I've reviewed--as a matter of fact, I said it was one of the best novels I'd read in 2019, and it still is--The Bookwoman of Troublesome Creek. Click on the title and you can read my review from May. It is also about the horseback librarians of Kentucky, but this novel is quite different from Jojo Moyes' novel. There has been some kerfuffle about both authors writing about the same subject mere months apart, and how similar the novels appear to be. Well, I've read them both, and enjoyed them both, and I can say they are pretty different stories. 

The Giver of Stars has the delightful Alice, an Englishwoman who's been swept off her feet by Bennett Van Cleve, the handsome son of the local big-wig owner of the mines Mr. Van Cleve. She's married him and traveled to Kentucky to begin a new life far away from her old life--and she couldn't wait to escape the doldrums of her strict life in England. However, life in the small town of Baileyville is not at all what Alice expected, and she's just puzzled at Bennett's inability to seal the deal with her. She's pretty naive, but even Alice knows something is not right. People are expecting her to have a baby, and it's just not, er, happening.  Sitting in the big house, with nothing to do, Alice is becoming desperately unhappy. 

Until the day of the town meeting, when it's announced that a library service is coming to Baileyville, and volunteers are needed to deliver books to folks around town and up into the mountains of Kentucky, to those who live isolated, and often very poor lives in the harsh rural areas of Kentucky. Alice jumps up and volunteers, much to the anger of her father-in-law. She's bored, and has nothing to lose. 

Alice begins her journey from bored housewife to horseback librarian with the help of Margery O'Hare, a smart, self-sufficient, tough as nails woman who runs the library and knows the mountains of Kentucky like no one else. The two women soon become fast friends, and as other women join the library, it becomes a safe haven for Alice, who's home life is increasingly dire.

The cast of characters is outstanding. There are so many, yet it doesn't get confusing. Sven, Margery's steadfast partner, is a strong, solid man determined to wed Margery, even though she's completely against marriage. Fred, a gentle man who owns the property the library sits on, is quiet, loyal, and a shoulder for Alice to lean on in rough times. The other librarians: Izzy, Beth, Sophia, and Kathleen are all amazing ladies each in their own way, struggling to survive in a world that doesn't value education, strong women, or free thinking. Mr. Van Cleve is the bad guy--determined to shut down the library and bring Alice back around to behaving like a proper wife should. He's a real ass. 

The time frame of the novel is roughly a year; there is a lot that happens to the town, to Alice, Margery, and the other ladies. I enjoyed it all, and I loved the final chapter, which gave the reader a peak into the future. After spending time with Alice and the ladies, I was invested in their happiness, and I needed to know what happened after the story ended! 

So yes, read both novels. They are both very different; the only things they have in common are strong women and the pack horse librarian theme. I loved them both. 

Rating: 5/6 for a strong cast of characters that came to life swiftly and completely. A novel about the role of librarians in spreading literacy and changing lives during the Great Depression. Plenty of action. romance, and danger to keep you involved!

Available in hardcover, ebook, and audio. 

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The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes

Caroline: Little House, Revisited by Sarah Miller

For those of us who still keep our childhood copies of the Little House books on our bookshelves, this soon to be published novel about Caroline Ingalls is like a long lost friend returning for a brief visit.  

"Ma", as we all know and love her, was the gentle, firm, yet loving mother to Mary, Laura, Carrie, and Grace.  In many ways she has always been a bit one dimensional; seen through the eyes of her daughter, Laura, we only see Ma as the wise mother, always deferring to her husband. Well, hold your hat, because we see Ma as Caroline, pioneer woman, loving mother, and lover (yes, I said lover) in this retelling of Little House on the Prairie. Wonder where Laura got her moxie? Yes, some of it from her father, but pretty much 90% from her mother. 

The novel begins in Wisconsin, as Charles' wanderlust leads him and his family to pack their worldly goods into a wagon and head to Kansas.  Caroline is newly pregnant with Carrie, and doesn't want to leave everything and everyone she holds dear.  Yet, she must follow her husband; she knows Charles will be unhappy if he stays in an increasingly crowded Big Woods.  The scene where the Ingalls family say farewell to family and their beloved little cabin is really heartbreaking.  Caroline holds it together, but just barely.  Full of fear of the unknown, yet excitement to be starting new in Kansas, she is strong and mindful of the examples she must set for her two young daughters, who see everything.  

Charles' and Caroline's journey to Kansas in modern times would be so many hours in one day if they traveled by car.  But for them, it took weeks.  Dangerous creek crossings, horrible storms, loneliness, food rations and the dangers of one family traveling alone keep the tension up.  Caroline's growing fears for her unborn child set her on edge: when will the baby move; how will she give birth by herself out on the prairie? 

Caroline and Charles' relationship is one of mutual love and respect.  They know each other so well that just a look or a certain phrase signals how each other feels.  It's clear they adore each other, and support each other in every way.  Yes, I have to admit my 10 year old self cringed a bit reading the few love scenes, but they were appropriate and tasteful, and brought home again that Charles and Caroline are not just Pa and Ma, but two people who have come together to create a family and a future together. If you have ever shared hopes and dreams with a partner, you will completely understand this marriage.  

Once the Ingalls family arrives in Kansas, they quickly work to build a cabin and settle in before winter.  We meet Mr. Edwards, and Mrs. Scott, a neighbor who meets Caroline on the day she arrives to help deliver Carrie.  Caroline longs for her family during labor, but realizes the gift of Mrs. Scott.  Such an intimate time to meet someone for the first time, but a bond develops between the two women because of where they are--women need to stick together.  It reinforces the hardships pioneer women endured settling the American West.  Brave, brave women.  Hardworking women.  Women who endured so much sorrow, but kept on; so much to admire as I sit sipping my tea in my comfortable home.  I've got it good, because they did all the hard work.  

This novel follows Little House on the Prairie fairly closely, but told instead from the perspective of an adult woman. While the story may have been familiar, it was refreshingly different from Caroline's point of view.  Perhaps reading this as an adult with some life experience also gave it some weight.  In any case, this was a welcome return to childhood, with a bit of poignancy attached to it.  It was also a chance to get to know Caroline: a strong woman who constantly thought about how she could understand and adapt to her changing world. She faced fear and instead of bowing to it, she met it head on with courage.

Rating:  5/6 for a well written return to the Little House books.  The writing immediately reminded me of Laura Ingalls Wilder's writing style; I expect fans will embrace this novel and add it to their collections.  Since it does focus heavily on Charles and Caroline (two young married folks who, quite frankly, have a healthy lust for each other), I would recommend reading it first before passing it onto young readers.  It also shows racial tensions between white and Indians, and the prejudices and misinformation that were common at the time.  

Available September 19th, 2017 in the United States in hardcover, large print, ebook, and audio.

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Caroline: Little House, Revisited by Sarah Miller

The River of Doubt by Candice Millard: Audio Book Review

My attempts to get the names down of people and places in this adventure tale pretty much failed. That's the downside of audio books! So, to give you a brief overview of this historical tale I turn to Kirkus Reviews:

KIRKUS REVIEW

The 26th U.S. president, failing re-election, has an adventure that nearly kills him.

In an admirable debut, historian Millard records Theodore Roosevelt’s exploration of a hitherto uncharted river in the heart of the Mato Grosso. A confluence of circumstances, including a South American speaking tour and the eagerness of others to investigate the Amazonian headwaters, brought Teddy, aged 55 and still bold and plucky, to Brazil, then largely unmapped and unknown. When the opportunity came to change a planned route to follow the uncharted course of the ominously named River of Doubt, the former chief executive seized it eagerly. And so, with devoted son Kermit and truly intrepid Brazilian co-commander Cândido Rondon, along with a band of hardy recruits, the party plunged into the fierce, fecund jungle and its unknown dangers. (It’s an exploit that standard TR biographies generally treat lightly, if at all). With heavy, useless equipment and inappropriate provisions, the Roosevelt-Rondon Expedition ventured into the luxuriant wilderness where every life form threatened. There were pit vipers, piranhas and tiny fish that attack where a man is most vulnerable. There were poisonous plants, malevolent insect swarms and native warriors, ever present and never seen. The beefy former president must have embodied some prime cuts for the cannibals as he sat in his canoe. Eventually Colonel Roosevelt was downed by injury and fever. He ended his journey emaciated at three-quarters of the weight he started with on the watercourse now found in atlases as the Roosevelt River. Millard tells the story wonderfully, marshaling ecology, geography, human and natural history to tell the tale of the jungle primeval, of bravery and privation, determination and murder in the ranks as cowboy Roosevelt survived the Indians of the Amazon.

So now, for my review of the audio book.  I really did want to actually read the book, and spend time looking at the photos included in the book.  But, I had a chance to listen to the audio and decided the 11 discs were worth two weeks of commuting time.  The narrator was great; his different voices for Teddy, his son Kermit, Rondon, and others on the trip were fine.  I did get a bit distracted on occasion, and it seemed to drag a bit from time to time.  But, overall, it is an interesting adventure story to read, especially if you're a fan of The Lost City of Z by David Gran.  I'm a big fan of Amazon adventure stories; mostly because I'd never have the guts to do it.  After listening to the litany of bugs, plants, animals, reptiles, trees, and natives that could kill you in an instant, well, I came close to having nightmares!  

I was very interested in learning about Teddy Roosevelt and his relationship with his son, Kermit.  I am still, a week after finishing this audio book, astounded that these men survived. It really did take immense skill, willpower, and sheer luck.  The number of times the group were faced with rapids that required hauling everything up from the river and portaging through the rainforest was just exhausting.  I don't know how they didn't just sit down and give up.  Poor food planning (who brings mustard and chutney on a rainforest trek?!) on the part of one of the early organizers (he was blinded by the fact that an ex-president was on the trek) left the crew with the very real possibility of starvation.  The rainforest may look lush, bountiful and fruitful, but is the farthest thing from it.  Injuries, exhaustion, fear of attack by natives; being reduced to wearing rags as clothes were ripped, torn, and worn out by the sheer physicality of every day survival. They survived it all. Amazing. 

This book has been out for a number of years, and is still stocked in bookstores and libraries for a reason. It's a tale of survival, a quest, relationships, the changing tides caused by empires and greed, and one man's desire to have one last great adventure. 

Read the book, listen to the audio.  I will probably buy the book just to have it on my bookcase and to look at the pictures.  I would recommend it to anyone; teen boys may find it interesting, and anyone who loves to be an armchair traveler.  

Rating:  5/6 for a spectacular adventure into the Amazon.  Teddy Roosevelt was a pretty cool man.  This tale is colorful, nail-biting, and astounding considering it took place in 1914.  

Available in paperback, audio, and ebook.  

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The River of Doubt by Candice Millard: Audio Book Review

The Silver Witch by Paula Brackston

Oh Paula Brackston.  Ever since I read The Witch's Daughter a few years ago, I've eagerly awaited each of her novels.  I'm a bit behind, I do admit; but I have all of Paula's novels at home.  Paula manages to create a magical combination of history, witchery, Welsh mythology, pottery, and a bit of romance into a book that I couldn't put down.  In fact, I was lazy today and read all afternoon just because I couldn't wait to see what happened next in this novel.  

The Silver Witch is set in Wales.  Tilda has come home to live in the cottage she bought with her husband, Mat.  A tragic accident killed Mat on their way home from their honeymoon, and Tilda hasn't been able to live in what was to be their new home.  But she finally moves in, and is completely enchanted with the cottage, the view, and the seemingly potent atmosphere that surrounds her.  Tilda is a potter, and she hopes for inspiration after a year of grief and a lack of creativity.  

What Tilda gets is a cottage that keeps losing electricity, a mysterious lake that calls to her, and a growing knowledge that the area has awoken something magical inside her. Does this magic have a connection to Seren, the young witch and shaman who lived by the lake centuries ago?  

An archaeology site has sprung up near the lake, and it could be an exciting find:  there's a grave where there shouldn't be one, and it looks to be very, very old.  There's also the island set in the lake, that dates from 918 AD; it is the only man-made island in Wales.  What to they all have to do with Tilda in 2014?  Dark things are stirring, the legend of the sea horse in the lake persists, and Tilda may be the key to a centuries old curse that is coming to fruition.  

This is a back and forth novel between Tilda in present day, and Seren, Tilda's look-alike in 918 AD.  We see the ancient history of the area and the power in Seren to see visions and use the magic of the ancient Celts to protect Prince Brynach and his people on the island.  But trouble brews here, too.  Can Seren convince Prince Brynach her visions are true and danger is closing in on him?  

I grabbed this book off of one of my piles at home and I'm so glad I did!  I was sucked in pretty fast.  The setting is gorgeous, the mythology and Celtic magic will send you to the mythology section of your library or bookstore,  and the stories of Tilda and Seren will leave you wanting more Paula Brackston!

This has earned a spot in my top reads of 2015.  

Rating:  8/10 for a beautiful setting, an interesting historical background, and strong female characters.  A pinch of this, a pinch of that, all to make a wonderfully blended cocktail of a story.

Available in hardcover and e-book.

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The Silver Witch by Paula Brackston