Book Review: The Girl You Left Behind by Jojo Moyes

Title: The Girl You Left Behind by Jojo Moyes
Published August 20, 2013
Source: library book
Rating: 4.5/5

It was then I realized he was still looking at the painting....
He kept staring at it. Behind him, his men had begun to leave, their voices loud and harsh, bouncing across the empty square. I shivered a little ever time the door opened.
"It looks so like you." (ch. 3)

A painting of Sophie, done by her husband who is a prisoner of the Germans during WWI, hangs in her hotel  in a small French town. It is being admired by the German commandant who has requisitioned the hotel dining room and ordered Sophie and her sister to cook for his men. This painting being marveled at by the commandant causes no end of trouble for Sophie in 1916 and continues to create problems later in modern London, ninety years later, when the newest owner of the painting, Liv, fights to keep possession of it.

The arresting quality of the woman in the painting reminds me of Vermeer's 17th century painting, "Girl with a Pearl Earring."  Liv, in the 21th century, is entranced by the woman in her own painting, "The Girl You Left Behind," and must fight to prove that her ownership is valid and that the painting is not a spoil of war that must be returned to the painter's family.

The novel focuses on restitution, especially in the art world, when lost and stolen art are being reclaimed and returned to their original owners, and where current owners of art are required to provide a history of its ownership or its provenance.

Well written and engrossing, the novel is part historical fiction and part romance. I read the book in about two days, caught up in the story, the characters, and the issue of stolen art, provenance, and recent history. I'd recommend this as an excellent book for readers.

Any particular book caught your interest lately?
  

Book Review: The First Phone Call From Heaven by Mitch Albom

Welcome to the Sunday Salon! Also visit The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer, and It's Monday: What Are You Reading? at Book Journey. Also, Mailbox Monday hosted by Rose City Reader this month.

The First Phone Call From Heaven was published November 12, 2013 by Harper. I won't call this a book review but a commentary on the novel, which I received from the publisher as an uncopyedited manuscript. The manuscript started out as an article of faith, with numerous people from a small town receiving phone calls from their deceased loved ones. The story then becomes a kind of mystery when one member of the town, who is still grieving a lost wife but who has never received a phone call from heaven, decides to look into a rational explanation for the calls. The story then turns into something more sublime. And I won't let on what the ending is, of course.

The manuscript was a quick and easy read but so gripping that it had me wanting to know the final outcome of this strange phenomenon of phone calls from heaven.  I rated it 5 stars on goodreads.

I am now reading a library book, The Girl You Left Behind by Jojo Moyes, a novel of occupied France in the 1910s, when a German commandant tempts a young wife into indescretions to save the life of her imprisoned husband, an artist. This novel is also gripping, and I am anxious to see the outcome.

Books I received for review include Books 1 and 2 in the Beautiful series by Jamie McGuire -
Beautiful Disaster and Walking Disaster, YA novels, and
The Deepest Secret by Carla Buckley, a family drama,
Savage Girl by Jean Zimmerman, an historical romance and mystery
The Caravaggio Conspiracy by Alex Connor, thriller, art mystery

What are you reading these days, and what arrived last week in your mailbox?

Book Beginnings: 1001 Ideas That Changed the Way We Think, edited by Robert Arp

Friday 56 Rules: *Grab a book, any book.

*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader  *Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it) that grabs you. *Post it. *Add your (url) post in Linky at Freda's Voice.

Also Book Beginnings by Rose City Reader.

1001 Ideas That Changed the Way We Think edited by Robert Arp
Published October 29, 2013; Atria Books
Genre: reference, nonfiction

page 56:

Megalithic Monuments:Unknown (origin)

Huge Neolithic and Bronze Age structures of undressed stone. The exact chronology of the spread of enormous stone monuments is unknown, but it is generally agreed that the earliest such structures, dating from around 4500BCE, were the dolmens of the Mediterranean coast. 

Book beginning:

Introduction by Robert Arp
I am a philosopher by training, so, as philosophers seem naturally to be attracted to ideas of any kind, it makes sense that I would be the editor of a book liked this one. The word "philosophy" is derived from the Greek words ,philo, meaning "love" or "desire," and sophy, meaning "wisdom" or "knowledge." Philosophy is therefore the "love of wisdom," and an important way to attain knowledge is by exposing yourself to plenty of ideas. 

Publisher description:
How was the universe created and what is the place of humans within it? How should a person live? And how can we build a just society? 1001 Ideas That Changed The Way We Think is a comprehensive guide to thoughts from the finest minds of the past three thousand years, brought together in this latest book in the "1001" series. Ranging from the ancient wisdom of Confucius and Plato to today’s cutting-edge thinkers, it offers a wealth of stimulation and amusement for everyone with a curious mind.

Thanks to the publisher for a review copy of this book.

Home of the Braised by July Hyzy

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted weekly by Jill @ Breaking the Spine. Let us know what new releases you are eagerly awaiting. Link your post to Breaking the Spine.

 Home of the Braised: A White House Chef Mystery by Julie Hyzy is the seventh in the series of cozy mysteries by the author. It's due out on January 7, 2014.

Here is the publisher's description:
"With the pressure of an upcoming state dinner that could make or break the president’s foreign policy, White House executive chef Olivia Paras has little time to focus on her wedding plans—or to catch a murderer…

Tensions are running high as the White House staff adjusts to a new chief usher and prepares for a high-stakes state dinner. But things go disastrously wrong when the secretary of defense is found dead in his home, seemingly killed during a break-in.

 At the same time Olivia’s fiancé, Gav, is looking into the mysterious murder of an old friend. Is there a connection? Despite an increase in security following the secretary’s death, Ollie learns the president is in imminent danger at the dinner and must do everything to get to him—before it’s too late…" (Amazon)

 What new release are you waiting for? 

TUSCAN ROSE by Belinda Alexandra

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by MizB; choose sentences from your current read and identify author and title for readers.  First Chapter, First Paragraph is hosted by Bibliophile by the Sea.

Title: Tuscan Rose: A Novel by Belinda Alexandra
Published November 19, 2013; Gallery Books
Genre: historical fiction
Source: publisher review copy

First chapter/Prologue:

Florence 1914
The man pauses in a doorway, swaying on his feet, before lunging again along the crooked street in the direction of the river. The distance he has covered across the city leaves him panting. But the fate of the infant he has hidden among the folds of his coat depends on him, and he is terrified that if he does not deliver her to safety, and return before his absence raises suspicion, they will both be lost. 

Teaser:

Signor Lagorio shook his head."This is the end of all Europe. Germany has marched into Poland."
Rosa was in too much pain to take in anything more. (ch. 17)

Publisher book description:

"FLORENCE, 1914. A mysterious stranger known as The Wolf leaves an infant with the sisters of Santo Spirito. A tiny silver key hidden in her wrappings is the one clue to the child’s identity.
FIFTEEN YEARS LATER, young Rosa must leave the nuns, her only family, and become governess to the daughter of an aristocrat and his strange, frightening wife. Their house is elegant but cursed, and Rosa—blessed with gifts beyond her considerable musical talents—is torn between her desire to know the truth and her fear of its repercussions. All the while, the hand of Fascism curls around beautiful Italy, and no citizen is safe. Rosa faces unimaginable hardship: her only weapons her intelligence, intuition, and determination . . . and her extraordinary capacity for love."

Based on the opening paragraph and the teaser, would you read on?

Sunday Salon: Book Tours

Welcome to the Sunday Salon! Also visit The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer, and It's Monday: What Are You Reading? at Book Journey. Also, Mailbox Monday hosted by Rose City Reader this month, and Stacking the Shelves at Tynga's Reviews.

What I definitely have on my reading list for next year are the books I agreed to review for tours in January, almost all through TLC.

Brady Needs a Nightlight - Jan. 8

Short Leash: A Memoir of Dog Walking - Jan. 13

My Mother's Funeral: A Memoir - Jan. 20

A Different Sun: A Novel of Africa - Jan. 22

While We Were Watching Downton Abbey - Jan. 24

Last Train to Paris - Jan. 28

The schedule is a little tight toward the end of January, but I hope to read ahead to avoid a crunch. Curious about the books? Click on the covers for the book details.

Do you have any book tours coming up? 

The Yoga Face; and The Big New Yorker Book of Dogs

I didn't intend to buy this book when I went to the health section of the bookstore recently. I had another book in mind, which they didn't have. So I walked away with this one instead, looked it over while sipping hot chocolate, and landed up buying it as an early Xmas gift to myself.

The Yoga Face describes itself as "a new and completely natural alternative anti-aging regimen that women can do anytime and anywhere-and in just minutes." Who could resist that? I am taking notes so that I can get this facial exercise regimen down pat and do it in "just minutes."

Mylie Cyrus AMA 2013 Performance courtesy of Bing Images

Besides pouting, throwing kisses to the ceiling, grimacing, sticking your tongue out a la Mylie Cyrus, and pressing on creases that may have formed on your face to smooth them out, there are exercises to firm the muscles around the lips, etc.The book also describes the poses that will bring oxygen to the face - the standard yoga postures you would do in a regular class while seated, standing, or lying down.

So now I grimace, stick my tongue out, and hum out loud - when I'm alone, of course.

Another book I couldn't resist was one I bought as a gift for a relative who is dog lover and owner of two rescue dogs -both pit bulls.

The Big New Yorker Book of Dogs  is "illustrated in full color, features articles, fiction, humor, poems, cartoons, cover art, drafts, and drawings from the magazine’s archives." There are articles on dogs by the likes of E.B. White, Arthur Miller, John Updike, and a foreword by Malcolm Gladwell. I would love to keep this book for myself! By the way, it's a hardcover that is 416 pages and almost the size of a coffee-table book.

What have you bought as gifts for yourself or for someone else?