At a German estate in 1938 a summer party turns serious when a group of men discuss their determination to stop Hitler from his ascent to power. Marianne von Lingenfels is the wife of the group’s leader and she makes a promise to take care of the wives and children of the men in the group if they die in their efforts to stop Hitler. They do fail in their assassination ... Read More...
It’s Monday, April 17th: What Are You Reading?
Another Monday, a new week and a new start to my reading. I'm not going to get all pessimistic, but my April reading has been less than stellar so far. Lots of reading, but not a lot of things that I loved so much I couldn't wait to share them. Backlist, previously released books, continue to be my best reading. Having said that, I'm heading off into two very different reading ... Read More...
It’s Not You, It’s Me: Mini-Reviews
Back for the first time in 2017, it's the It's Not You, It's Me review extravaganza. All right, maybe not an extravaganza, but I do have two books I read recently that did not ring my bell but might be just right for other readers. Parallel stories of family, art, and loss are at the center of Ellen Umansky’s new novel, The Fortunate Ones. In the present, ... Read More...
February Reading Wrap-Up
Month two of 2017 is a wrap and I'm happy to report that by-and-large my reading mojo is returning. Whether that's due to better books coming out or the fact that I've doubled the amount of time I spend working out to keep myself mentally sound while trying to deal with the toxic levels of fear and absurdity in our government right now, who knows? February was still ... Read More...
News of the World
Jefferson Kidd is a reader. Not like you or me, but an elderly, retired Army captain who earns his living by riding through Northern Texas in 1870, stopping in towns to read the major newspapers to the townspeople. His is a solo act until he meets a man in Wichita Falls who has recovered a little girl kidnapped four years ago by the Kiowa Indians after they killed her ... Read More...
A House Without Windows
Author Nadia Hashimi’s family is from Afghanistan and her time spent listening to their stories and travelling in Afghanistan herself gives her novels the weight of truth. Her last novel, The Pearl that Broke its Shell, was a blend of the modern day with the story of the fabled women who guard an ancient shah’s harem. In A House Without Windows she stays firmly in ... Read More...
