Book Beginning: DISPLACED by Stephan Abarbanell

Displaced by Stephan Abarbanell

Published November 7, 2017; Harper

Genre: historical thriller

British-occupied Palestine, 1946: Elderly writer Elias Lind isn’t convinced by reports that his scientist brother, Raphael, died in a concentration camp. Too frail to search for Raphael himself, Elias persuades a contact in the Jewish resistance to send someone in his place.

Book beginning:

Dusk was already beginning to fall when the bus came to a standstill in a dip between Deir Ayub and Bab el-Wad. The driver struck the steering wheel with the flat of his hand, jumped up from his seat and grabbed a canister of water. He threw open the bonnet of the Dodge and tried to unscrew the hissing radiator with a handkerchief wrapped around his hand. None of the passengers on board said a word The fanning of newspapers and the chirping of crickets were the only sounds that broke the silence. Flies had found their way in through the open door, along with the heat that peeled away from the ground on June days. 

Page 56:

'....A postcard came from Berlin for my birthday, unsigned. But I knew his handwriting. A few weeks later, it was leaked that his last article was published under my name.'

What new books are you reading this weekend? 
Memes: The Friday 56. Grab a book, turn to page 56 or 56% of your eReader. Find any sentence that grabs you. Post it, and add your URL post in Linky at Freda's Voice. Also visit Book Beginning at Rose City Reader

Sunday Salon: Immigrant Stories and a Thriller

The snow has melted almost all the way, but wouldn't you know it. we're getting more precipitation tonight. Will it be snow or sleet? We'll wait and see.

New books:

Number One Chinese Restaurant by Lillian Li
Publication: June 19, 2018, Henry Holt
Genre: contemporary fiction
Setting: Maryland
A novel about a restaurant family, with themes of "youth and aging, parents and children, and all the ways that our families destroy us while also keeping us grounded and alive." (publisher)

Secrets We Kept: Three Women of Trinidad by Krystal A. Sital
Publication February 20, 2018; W.W. Norton Company
Genre: literary fiction,
 Set on the island of  Trinidad's plantations, in its growing cities, and in the family’s new home in America, this is a story of ambition and cruelty, endurance and love, and most of all, the bonds among women and between generations that help them find peace with the past. (publisher)

Let Me Lie by Clare Mackintosh
Publication March 13, 2018, Berkley
Genre: thriller
Anna, is struggling to come to terms with her parents’ deaths, unable to comprehend why they chose to end their lives. Now with a young baby herself, she feels her mother’s presence keenly and is determined to find out what really happened to her parents. (publisher)

My review: https://bookdilettante.blogspot.com/2018/03/book-review-let-me-lie-by-clare.html

What have you been reading during this wintery February?
The Sunday Post  hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer,  It's Monday, What Are You Reading? by Book Date., and Mailbox Monday.

Book Beginning: A Brush With Shadows by Anna Lee Huber

A Brush With Shadows by Anna Lee Huber
Published March 6, 2018, Berkley
Genre: historical mystery
Setting: 1831, England

Book beginning:

July 1831 Dartmoor, England
The first time I laid eyes on Langstone Manor, I could not blame my husband for having stayed away for over fifteen years. I'm sure it didn't help that the weather was far from hospitable. Heavy grey clouds filled the sky, releasing sheets of rain that obscured the horizon, all but concealing my view of the infamous moors rising to the east. But even on a bright, sunlit day, I struggled to imagine the house being more inviting. In truth, it appeared downright foreboding, even without the painful memories that plagues Gage. 

Page 56:

"I hardly think he climbed up here to put a snake in our bed."

Book description:
Sebastian Gage's cousin Alfred has suddenly vanished. He wandered out into the moors and never returned. The Viscount is convinced someone or something other than the natural hazards of the moors is to blame for Alfred's disappearance. Kiera and Gage set out to solve this mystery. (publisher)

Memes: The Friday 56. Grab a book, turn to page 56 or 56% of your eReader. Find any sentence that grabs you. Post it, and add your URL post in Linky at Freda's Voice. Also visit Book Beginning at Rose City Reader

Sunday Salon: New Books This Month plus a Review

New arrivals:
Plum Tea Crazy by Laura Childs, Tea Shop Mystery #19 set in Charleston, March 6, 2018, Berkley.
Genre: cozy mystery


How To Walk Away by Katherine Center, May 15, 2018, St. Martins Press.
Genre: romance, contemporary fiction

I finished and enjoyed reading the historical WWII novel set in Milan and the Italian Alps.

Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark T. Sullivan, published May 1, 2017 by Lake Union.
Genre: historical novel based on the real life experiences of Pano Lello during WWII in Italy.
My comments/review on goodreads: 

This was an intriguing WWII story based on the real life experiences of Pano Lello, who worked with the Catholic underground and the Italian resistance, in Milan and the Italian Alps during the Nazi occupation. Pano Lello was 17 when he first started leading fugitives across the Alps into Switzerland. He later became the driver to a German general so that he could report German movements (the slave camps and what they were working on, munitions locations, etc.) to the insurgents. I found the book important as I know of few books written by the Italians who went through the ordeal, about the partisans and other WWII insurgents in Italy. As they say, the Italians don't like to talk about the war but prefer to forget about it. Engrossing and suspenseful and full of historical information, this book was rated five stars by this reader.

What have you been reading during this wintery January-February?
The Sunday Post  hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer,  It's Monday, What Are You Reading? by Book Date., and Mailbox Monday.

Sunday Salon: Venezuela, New York City, and Korea

The snow is back after a short respite, though just a heavy dusting on the ground so far. More to come, I bet! How is the weather where you are?

I got three new books last week, hooray! The first is set in Venezuela, the second in NYC, and the third in Korea and Japan. All are historical novels or begin as historical novels.

Black Sugar

The Wicked City

Pachinko

I finished reading Fools' River by Timothy Hallinan, a pretty suspenseful mystery set in Bangkok. Read my brief review, here,
I also read the Man Booker prizewinner, The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy. My comments are here.
Other books I've read recently that I can recommend are The Confusion of Languages by Siobhan Fallon, and 
Everything Here is Beautiful by Mira T. Lee 

What are you reading this week?
The Sunday Post  hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer,  It's Monday, What Are You Reading? by Book Date., and Mailbox Monday.

First Chapter: Fools' River by Timothy Hallinan

Title: Fools' River by Timothy Hallinan
Published November 7, 2017; Soho Crime
Genre: mystery, thriller
Setting: Bangkok, Thailand

First paragraphs:
The blinds are drawn the way they've been drawn forever, with the inside edges of the slats tilted to block his view of the sky and the fall of sunlight through the window, which means he has no idea what time it is. Not that knowing would do him any good. 

He had a watch once, a gold one, French or Swiss or something like that, European, but he hasn't seen it since he got here. 
Wherever he is. 

Why are the blinds angled that way?

Book description:
The two most difficult days in Bangkok writer Poke Rafferty's life begin with an emergency visit from Edward Dell, the almost-boyfriend of his teenage daughter, Maiow. The boy's father, Buddy, a late-middle-aged womanizer who has moved to Bangkok for happy hunting, has disappeared, and money is being siphoned out of his bank and credit card accounts. (publisher)

Would you continue reading based on the opening paragraphs and other info?
MEME: Every Tuesday Vicki @ I'd Rather Be at the Beach hosts First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros, where readers share the first paragraph, maybe two, of a book that they are reading or plan to read soon

Sunday Salon: March Books

The Other Mother by Carol Goodman, March 27, 2018, William Morrow,
"a gripping novel about madness, motherhood, love, and trust."
Setting: the Catskills
Genre: thriller, suspense




The Baby Plan by Kate Rorick, March 20, 1018, William Morrow
Genre: contemporary fiction, comedy
Setting: Santa Barbara, CA
"Three women jump headlong into the world of modern day pregnancy -  gender reveal parties (with tacky cakes and fireworks); where every morsel you eat is scrutinized and discussed; where baby names are crowd-sourced and sonograms are Facebook-shared. And where nothing goes as planned...



Claws for Concern by Miranda James, February 20, 2018, Berkley
Genre: cozy mystery, Cat in the Stacks series #9
Setting: small town, Mississippi
" a mysterious man with a connection to an unsolved murder starts visiting the library" where librarian Charlie Harris and his Maine Coon cat Diesel preside. 

Currently reading, library books:
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy; winner of the Man Booker Prize

Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien, long listed for the Man Booker Prize

What are you reading this week?

The Sunday Post  hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer,  It's Monday, What Are You Reading? by Book Date., and Mailbox Monday.