Genghis: Birth of an Empire

Courage cannot be left like bones in a bag. It must be brought out and shown the light again and again, growing stronger each time. If you think it will keep for the times you need it, you are wrong. It is like any other part of your strength. If you ignore it, the bag will be empty when you need it most. Ruthless. Intelligent. Murderous. Ingenious. Brutal. Intense. Courageous. Formidable. Charismatic. These powerful words describe one of the most powerful conquerors of all time: Genghis Khan. At the time of his death, Genghis Khan had united all Mongolian tribes, conquered the land mass extending from Beijing to the Caspian […]

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Book Review: The Vanishing Half

She hadn’t realized how long it takes to become somebody else, or how lonely it can be living in a world not meant for you. ― Brit Bennett, The Vanishing Half Most of us experience a time in our lives when we feel like we don’t belong, that we’re impostors in our own reality. Author Brit Bennett vividly portrays those feelings in her brilliant new novel, The Vanishing Half. It’s about twin sisters, inseparable as children, who choose to live in two very different worlds, one black and one white. The Vignes twin sisters will always be identical, but after growing up together in a small, southern black community and […]

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Book Review: The Paris Library

  I read quite a bit of WWII historical fiction and consider myself to be something of an expert in this genre. Imagine how excited to find a novel about a librarian (like me) during this tumultuous time in history! Paris, 1939: Young and ambitious Odile Souchet has it all: a handsome police officer beau and a dream job at the American Library in Paris. When the Nazis march into Paris, Odile stands to lose everything she holds dear, including her beloved library. Together with her fellow librarians, Odile joins the Resistance with the best weapons she has: books. But when the war finally ends, instead of freedom, Odile tastes […]

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Book Review: The Switch

  The last book I read was about the Vietnam War, so I opted for something a little less daunting and a lot more fun this time around.  I just finished reading a delightful book titled The Switch by UK author, Beth O’Leary. I breezed through it with a smile on my face; it’s a quirky, feel good book and I highly recommend it. Here’s a quick synopsis: When London-based overachiever Leena Cotton is ordered to take a two-month sabbatical after blowing a big presentation at work, she escapes to her grandmother Eileen’s house for some overdue rest. Eileen is newly single and about to turn eighty. She’d like a […]

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Book Review: The Mountains Sing

“Human lives were short and fragile. Time and illnesses consumed us, like flames burning away these pieces of wood. But it didn’t matter how long or short we lived. It mattered more how much light we were able to shed on those we loved and how many people we touched with our compassion.” – The Mountains Sing I was in junior high when Saigon fell. I remember little about the Vietnam war, other than that our black and white television droned statistics while I played with my Barbies. I don’t remember knowing anyone directly affected by the fighting, probably because my parents worked hard to insulate me from the ugly […]

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Sky Full of Stars: Book Review

    Synopsis A Sky Full of Stars: Learning to Surrender to God’s Perfect Plans is about blogger Meg Apperson’s poignant journey of pain and loss. As a young person, her suffering took the form of sexual abuse, a teenage marriage and divorce. As a mother, she watched two of her children fight rare diseases that nearly stole their lives. Meg Apperson grew up trusting God, but it wasn’t until her daughter was born with a litany of life-threatening birth defects that she began to truly comprehend what it means to trust Him with everything. Amid heartbreak, she not only discovered her own voice, she discovered that God is faithful. […]

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THE FOUNTAINS OF SILENCE – Amy’s Book Pick of the Week

Do you enjoy reading historical fiction? Are you looking for a novel set during a time other than WWII? If so, then this week’s book pick is perfect for you. Take a break from social media and Covid-19 prognostications and pick up a good book!     Synopsis Madrid, 1957. Under the fascist dictatorship of General Francisco Franco, Spain is hiding a dark secret. Meanwhile, tourists and foreign businessmen flood into Spain under the welcoming promise of sunshine and wine. Among them is eighteen-year-old Daniel Matheson, the son of an oil tycoon, who arrives in Madrid with his parents hoping to connect with the country of his mother’s birth through […]

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DAISY JONES & THE SIX – Amy’s Book Pick of the Week

Hi, friends! Since my favorite aspect of working at my local library is helping patrons discover new books, I thought I’d take this readers advisory service to cyber patrons like YOU! This week’s pick is Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid. Synopsis Everyone knows Daisy Jones & The Six: The band came to define the rock ‘n’ roll era of the late seventies. But no one knows the reason behind the group’s sudden split the night after a concert at Chicago Stadium on July 12, 1979. Daisy is a girl coming of age in L.A. in the late sixties, sneaking into clubs on the Sunset Strip, sleeping […]

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BOOK REVIEW: EDUCATED

  In 1986, Tara Westover was born into a Mormon survivalist family in the mountains of Idaho. She prepared for the end of the world by stockpiling home-canned peaches and sleeping with her “head-for-the-hills” bag. In the summer she stewed herbs for her mother, a midwife and healer, and in the winter she salvaged metal in her father’s junkyard. Her father distrusted the medical establishment, so Tara never saw a doctor or nurse. Gashes and concussions, even burns from explosions, were all treated at home with herbalism. The family was so isolated from mainstream society that there was no one to ensure the children received an education, and no one […]

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