Sunday Salon: Historical Fiction, Travel, and a Memoir

New books for spring!

Why Travel Matters: A Guide to the Life-Changing Effects of Travel by Craig Storti, published April 18, 2018


A Date With Murder: Murder, She Wrote by Jessica Fletcher, Donald Bain, Jon Land
Publication: May 1, 2018, Berkley Books


The Lost Family by Jenna Blum
Publication: July 3, 2018, Harper
Marriage, family, and the haunting grief of World War II in this emotionally charged story that spans a generation, from the 1960s to the 1980s. (publisher)

 
Another Side of Paradise by Sally Koslow
Publication: May 29, 2018, Harper
Theme: the romance between legendary gossip columnist Sheilah Graham and F. Scott Fitzgerald


The Perfect Mother by Aimee Molloy
Publication: May 1, 2018, Harper
Genre: psychological thriller

Finished reading:


Flat Broke with Two Goats: a Memoir by Jennifer McGaha
Published Jan. 23, 2018; Sourcebooks
Source: library ebook borrow
My comments: A five star book for just being such an unusual memoir about a couple going from being city dwellers to becoming farmers in a run-down cabin surrounded by forest and wildlife in Appalachia, the couple making their own goat cheese, rearing chickens and goats, and growing agricultural products for a living. The change from resisting the move with its hardships to accepting and loving her new life in the woods is the main theme of the author's memoir. Loved it! 

Also finished Sold on a Monday by Kristina McMorris

Publication: August 28, 2018, Sourcebooks Landmark

From bestselling author Kristina McMorris comes another unforgettable novel inspired by a stunning piece of history.

2 CHILDREN FOR SALE
The scrawled sign, peddling young siblings on a farmhouse porch, in 1931. 

Review to be posted soon.

Currently reading:
The Lost Family by Jenna Blum (see above); I'm enjoying the easy storytelling of the author's and the fascinating novel of a man surviving WWII to becoming a successful restaurateur, only to continue to be haunted by his past. 

What books 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.

Miss Burma by Charmaine Craig: It's Monday, What Are you Reading?

Miss Burma tells the story of modern-day Burma through the eyes of Benny and Khin, husband and wife, and their daughter Louisa.

Based on the story of the author’s mother and grandparents, the book is a portrait of how modern Burma came to be, and of the ordinary people swept up in the struggle for self-determination and freedom. It is a powerful novel of love and war, colonialism and ethnicity, and the ties of blood. (publisher)

Publication date: May 2, 2018.
Thanks to Grove Press for a review copy.

Memes: Visit It's Monday, What Are You Reading? by Book Date, and Mailbox Monday. 

Sunday Salon: Mystery in Cuba and Montana

Death Comes In Through the Kitchen by Teresa Dovalpage
March 20, 2018; Soho Press
Genre: mystery set in Havana, Cuba
Objective rating: 4/5

Matt travels to Havana to meet up with his Cuban fiancee, to get married, and hopefully persuade her to return with him to New Mexico, where he is a reporter for a small local newspaper. But nothing is as simple as it appears, and complications arise that floor Matt when he has to deal with the police and Cuban security all while he interacts with the various local people, learns about life and culture and religion in Havana, and tastes a variety of their food. This murder mystery is seen first through the eyes of Matt, then a detective turned private investigator, and then finally through the eyes of detective Martinez. We travel with Matt and learn about current Cuban culture and about the trends in relations with foreigners, including Americans. Eye opening, a cultural tour that I enjoyed taking. Book courtesy of  Soho Press

A Sharp Solitude by Christine Carbo
Publication May 29, 2018 by Atria Books
Genre: mystery set in northwest Montana
Source: NetGalley ebook

I was attracted to this book by the title and cover and the setting in the wilds of northwest Montana, not far from Glacier National Park. FBI investigator Ali Paige becomes involved in a murder case, interesting to her because the suspect is her former boyfriend Reeve, who is also the father of her five-year-old daughter. With all these complications, Ali has to tread lightly while she investigates on her own, thinking all the while of her daughter, who is close to her father.

I had thought that the plot was predictable, since the themes of gun control and journalism came up early in the book. But flipping through and reaching the end, I saw that the mystery is not what I had expected and there was a twist to the plot!

Objective rating: 3.5/5

Next, I'll be reading Sold on a Monday by Kristina McMorris, an historical novel based on true incidents.

Publication: August 28, 2018, Sourcebooks Landmark

What books are you reading this week?

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

Sunday Salon: A Kitchen in Havana and a Coffeehouse in NYC

Still waiting for spring. There is no new greenery to speak of in the yard, but the sun has come out the past few days!Hope for spring!

Two new books for review:

Death Comes In Through the Kitchen by Teresa Dovalpage
March 20, 2018; Soho Press
Genre: mystery set in Havana, Cuba
Set in Havana during the Black Spring of 2003, a charming but poison-laced culinary mystery reveals the darker side of the modern Revolution, complete with authentic Cuban recipes (publisher)


Shot in the Dark by Cleo Coyle
April 17, 2018; Berkley
Genre: Coffeehouse Mystery #17
A new smartphone dating game turns the Village Blend into a hookup hot spot, until one dark night, when a gunshot leaves a dead body behind and the landmark coffeehouse becomes the center of a whole new scene--a crime scene. (publisher)

Finished reading:

Blue Light, Yokohama, Inspector Iwata #1
Author: Nicolás Obregón
Setting: Tokyo
Genre: mystery, police procedural
Source: library book
My comments:

A new mystery series with a very sympathetic main character, Inspector Iwata of Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. A complex plot involving cults, murder, and corruption. I'm looking forward to the second in the series!

Elizabeth Is Missing by Emma Healey
June 10, 2014; Harper
Genre: mystery, thriller

My comments:

A surprising main character, Maud is in her late seventies or early eighties, is increasingly forgetful, and seems to get more disoriented as the book progresses. However, she remembers her childhood clearly, and her missing sister, Sukey, who left home and never returned. Maud is obsessed with finding her elderly friend, Elizabeth, who doesn't answer her phone and is not at her home. Between periods of forgetfulness, Maud clings to a few memories - her missing friend Elizabeth, and her memories of childhood and Sukey. She pieces bits of items and clues together and her persistence pays off, even after the police have written her off as just a forgetful, demented lady who has to be humored when she insists on finding Elizabeth. With her patient daughter Helen and her young granddaughter Katy, Maud eventually points the way to solving a murder. Engrossing and unusual. the book is being made into a TV movie by the BBC. Ebook borrowed from the library.

An Event In Autumn by Henning Mankell
August 12, 2014, Vintage
Genre: police procedural, crime fiction
Source: library book
My comments: 

Enjoyable police procedural with a Swedish policeman whose personal characteristics make him endearing. I have read two in the Wallander series and looking forward to the others.

What books 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.

The Girl in Times Square by Paullina Simons: Book Review

The Girl in Times Square, a novel by Paullina Simons,
December 19, 2017, William Morrow.
"(A) riveting novel about a young woman whose search for her missing friend turns into a life-shattering odyssey." Part mystery, part romance, part family drama . . . in other words, the perfect book.—Daily Mail 

Book beginning:

What happened to love? Lily whispered to herself. Has someone else taken all that was given out for the universe, or have I just not been trying hard enough? What happened to overwhelming, crushing love the kind of love that moves earth and heaven, the kind of love my Grandma felt for her Tomas half a century ago in another world in another life, the kind of love my father says he felt for my mother when they first met swimming in that warm Caribbean sea? Doesn't anyone have that kind of love anymore? Isn't anyone without armor, without walls, without pain? Isn't anyone willing to die for love? 
Obviously not tonight. 

Page 56:

"Your hand is still spontaneously bleeding, I see," he said.She looked around groggily. His partner was not with him. "Did you come here to tell me that?" She felt disgusting. 

My comments: 

I don't remember crying so much while reading a book! The protagonist Lily grabs at your heart and doesn't let go. The author writes in dramatic superlatives, be warned - great love, great tragedy, great illness, great addiction, and an intriguing mystery of a missing girl, Lily's roommate. Enjoyed the excellent storytelling and characterizations in this book and looking forward to other novels by the author.

Galley provided by William Morrow. 

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

Book Review: Let Me Lie by Clare Mackintosh

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 comments: 

Anna can't understand why her father would throw himself off a cliff, not why her mother would do the same seven months later, leaving her alone, devastated, and wondering. A retired cop decides to investigate the cold cases on his own, especially after Anna begins receiving anonymous notes suggesting her parents were not suicides, but murders. 

Plot twists and intrigue enliven this thriller, as we follow the clues to the very surprising end. Anna is believable and the old cop Billy is likeable, characters that engage the reader as the book moves forward.

I gave this thriller 4-5 stars. 

First chapter:

Death does not suit me. I wear it like a borrowed coat; it slips off my shoulder and trails in the dirt. It is ill fitting. Uncomfortable. 

Thanks to Berkley for a galley copy for review.

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: Mystery Novels Around the Globe

Recently borrowed:
I amazed myself with the type of books, the variety, though all mystery novels, that I came out with after a visit to the library yesterday.  I gravitate towards books set in other places. These are set in Tokyo, Moscow and Laos, and Australia. Armchair travel at its best!

Blue Light, Yokohama, Inspector Iwata #1
Author: Nicolás Obregón
Setting: Tokyo
Genre: mystery, police procedural
Tokyo Police Inspector Iwata, recently reinstated to a new post, is assigned to investigate a disturbing multiple murder.
Am so glad I get to read the first in a new mystery series set in Tokyo! This way, I hope to get more of the flavor of the great city, even if only from a novel. By a writer who fell in love with Japan.

And another thriller set in Tokyo:

Soul Cage by Tetsuya Honda
Published July 18, 2017, Minotaur Books
Setting: Tokyo
Genre: police procedural
This is the second in the series featuring the detective in Tokyo. A severed hand, a missing body, and a victim who was living under a false identity all add up to the most complex and challenging case yet for Homicide Detective Reiko Himekawa.

Setting: Laos and Moscow, Olympic Village

The Rat Catchers' Olympics by Colin Cotterill
Published August 15, 2017; Soho Press
Genre: mystery, Dr. Siri Paiboun series #12

1980: The Democratic People's Republic of Laos is proud to be competing in its first-ever Olympics.  Ex-national coroner of Laos Dr. Siri Paiboun begins to suspect that one of the athletes is not who he says he is. Fearing a conspiracy, Siri and his friends investigate, liaising in secret with Inspector Phosy back home in Laos to see if the man might be an assassin.

Setting: isolated bushland in Australia


Force of Nature: Aaron Falk #2 by Jane Harper
Published February 6, 2018; Flatiron Books
Genre: mystery, thriller
When five colleagues are forced to go on a corporate retreat in the wilderness, they reluctantly pick up their backpacks and start walking down the muddy path.

But one of the women doesn’t come out of the woods. And each of her companions tells a slightly different story about what happened.

I finished reading

Lie To Me by J.T. Ellison, Septemer 5, 2017, Mira Books
Genre: psychological suspense
My review: 

A married couple, both writers, have an ideal married life with success and fame until they begin to drift apart due to professional jealousy, betrayal, domestic fighting, and the sudden death of a child to SIDS. But what seems obvious on the outside is anything but, and as readers we plumb the depths of several twists and turns that land you in unexpected places in the story. Somewhat suspenseful and surprising, this was an enjoyable though not always believable read. A domestic thriller that is entertaining and easy to read.

What books 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.