This family saga follows Maria Lagana from Mussolini’s Italy to 1940s Los Angeles. As a child in Rome, her father takes her to the cinema instead of church and she develops a lifelong passion for films. When Giuseppe is arrested and imprisoned by for subversive activities against the fascist regime, Maria and her mother Maria immigrate to safety in Los Angeles. Maria rises from the typing pool to associate producer at Mercury Pictures, a creator of B-movies. The studio is always on the verge of bankruptcy and under the thumb of the Production Code for affronting the sensibilities of the movie-going public. “I can’t show a husband and wife faithfully […]
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Amy’s August 2022 Picks and Pans
I spent much of August traveling, so I am a trifle embarrassed by my monthly total. It was an interesting month of reading; no 5-stars books, and more 3-stars novels than is typical. Maybe it was a post-vacation let-down? Still, I suspect every reader will find something to add to his or her TBR list here. My blog will have a major renovation later this fall. First, it will have a new name: “Gourmet Bookworm” to highlight my two favorite pastimes… cooking and reading. The format will also change. Not only will I be reviewing the books I read each month, but some posts will also include author interviews […]
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Total Power Book Review
Total Power is my 19th installment in the CIA super-agent Mitch Rapp series created by fellow Minnesotan Vince Flynn. Since Flynn’s untimely death in 2013 of prostate cancer, author Kyle Mills has taken the helm. The Mitch Rapp saga isn’t as good, but these thrillers still have great storylines and are fun to read. In Total Power, Mitch captures ISIS’s top technology expert while he is on his way to meet a man who claims he can take down the American power grid. Despite the Agency’s best efforts, the terrorist accomplishes that very thing; computers and communication networks crash, fuel doesn’t flow from gas stations, water and sanitation systems are […]
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The Sisters Sweet Book Review
The vaudeville era of US entertainment history took place in the early 1920s and featured a variety of specialty acts: singers, dancers, trained animals, ventriloquists, magicians, clowns, etc. Comic giants Laurel & Hardy were among the biggest names on vaudeville stages, as were renowned celebrities Mickey Rooney, Jack Haley, and the Marx Brothers. The Sisters Sweet by Elizabeth Weiss takes place between 1918 and the early 1930s. It’s about Harriet and Josie, two sisters who perform for eleven years as conjoined twins at the behest of their parents, former stars. When they are exposed as frauds, Josie runs away to Hollywood and her family falls on hard times as the […]
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Two Nights in Lisbon Book Review
“Nothing is more important to democracy than holding the powerful accountable for their transgressions.” ― Chris Pavone, Two Nights in Lisbon My inner detective worked overtime trying to solve the mystery in this riveting thriller. Ariel Pryce is excited to join her new husband on a business trip to Lisbon, Portugal. While he is in meetings, she can explore the beautiful city. But on day 2, she wakes up alone in their hotel room. John is gone, and he’s not answering his phone. Something is wrong. Hotel security, Lisbon police, and the American embassy, has a lot of question, questions she can’t answer. What exactly is John doing in Lisbon? […]
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Deep Water Book Review
Many of us dream of getting away from it all, selling everything, and sailing around the world, so the premise of this book was captivating. Deep Water fell flat given the promising synopsis of the book. When a Royal Malaysian Navy vessel receives a mayday message, the captain orders they rush to a yacht adrift in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Captain Danial Tengku orders his ship to rush to its aid. On board the yacht is a British couple: a horribly injured man, Jake, and his traumatized wife, Virginie, who breathlessly confesses, “It’s all my fault. I killed them.” Through flashbacks, Virginie tells a harrowing tale about when […]
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The Sweetness of Water Book Review
“Yet sometimes—just sometimes—hope was enough.” In his debut novel, author Nathan Harris shares the story of brothers Prentiss and Landry who’ve been freed by the Emancipation Proclamation. They plan to save money for the journey north to find their mother, who was sold when they were boys. George and Isabella Walker hire them to work at their neighboring farm, hoping to stanch their grief over the loss of their only son to the Civil War. Parallel to their story runs a forbidden romance between two Confederate soldiers. The young men, recently returned from the war to the town of Old Ox, Georgia, hold their trysts deep in the woods. The […]
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22 Seconds Book Review
Murders abound in the latest installment in the Women’s Murder Club series. A young girl’s body is found in a ditch, former police officers are murdered, their lips stapled shut and “You talk, you die” written on their foreheads, an inmate is hanged in his prison cell. A huge shipment of guns and drugs is on its way from Mexico. There are shootouts. The end… meh. The ratings for this book are sky high, so if you’re a diehard James Patterson fan and have been hooked on the Women’s Murder Club series, you’ll likely enjoy the latest installment. I surely didn’t. The author, not James Patterson, but Maxine Paetro, attempted […]
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The German Wife Book Review
“Hell is simply the place where hope is lost.” ~ Kelly Rimmer, The German Wife This gripping novel was inspired by the true story of Operation Paperclip: a controversial secret US intelligence program that employed former Nazis after WWII. Berlin, 1930—Although Sofie von Meyer Rhodes and her husband Jürgen do not share the social views growing popular in Hitler’s Germany, his position with its burgeoning rocket program changes their diminishing fortunes for the better. Twenty years later, as part of Operation Paperclip, Jürgen is one of the many German scientists offered pardons for their part in the war and taken to America to work for its fledgling space program. Sofie looks forward […]
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Love & Saffron Book Review
Love & Saffron by Kim Fay novel follows two women in 1960s America as they discover that food really connects us all, and that friendship and laughter are the best medicine. When twenty-seven-year-old Joan Bergstrom sends a fan letter, as well as a gift of saffron, to fifty-nine-year-old food columnist Imogen Fortier, a life-changing friendship begins. As the two women commune through their letters, they build a closeness that sustains them through the Cuban Missile Crisis, the assassination of President Kennedy, and unexpected tragedies in their own lives. In their letters, Joan and Imogen explore their experiences and their thoughts about love, joy, sadness, and death, and the result is […]
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