Bloomsbury Books is an old-fashioned new and rare bookstore that has resisted change for a hundred years. It is run by men and guided by the general manager’s unbreakable fifty-one rules, but in post-war 1950, the world is changing, especially the world of books and publishing. At Bloomsbury Books, the women who work in the shop have plans. Vivien Lowry: Brilliant and stylist, Vivien has been single since her aristocratic fiancé died fighting during World War II. A budding writer, she works in the shop’s fiction department. Grace Perkins: Married with two young sons, she’s been working to support the family following her husband’s mental breakdown in the war’s aftermath. […]
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Until Leaves Fall in Paris – Book Review
“Not everything God created is useful, but it’s all good. He didn’t have to create beauty, but he did. He didn’t have to create color, but he did. He didn’t have to create music, but he did. None of it useful. Then he created us in his creative image with the ability to make beauty and color and music. It might not be useful, but it’s good.” ― Sarah Sundin, Until Leaves Fall in Paris. When the Nazis march toward Paris, American ballerina Lucie Girard buys her favorite English-language bookstore to allow the Jewish owners to escape. The Germans make it difficult for her to keep Green Leaf Books afloat. And […]
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Life Flight – Book Review
Penny Carlton and FBI special agent Holten Satterfield have been on a few dates, but have secrets they don’t want to share. She is the daughter of a famous actress and served time in a juvenile detention center. Holt’s sister is in prison for murdering her husband. If their relationship is to move to the next level, they’ll need to be honest. As an EMS helicopter pilot, Penny is used to high-stress situations, but being forced to land on a mountain in a raging storm with a critical patient tests her skills and nerve to the limit. In the ensuing days, Penny finds herself under attack by an escaped serial […]
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Amy’s April 2022 Book Reviews
Sheesh, will I ever catch up on my book reviews? I read some amazing books in April, and I’m thrilled to share my reviews. Here goes! The Progeny By Tosca Lee Emily Porter is on a quest that will take her to the secret underground of Europe and the inner circles of three ancient orders—one determined to kill her, one devoted to keeping her alive, and one she must ultimately save. The Progeny is the present-day saga of a 400-year-old war between the descendants of “Blood Countess” Elizabeth Báthory, the most prolific female serial killer of all time, and a secret society dedicated to erasing every one of her descendants. The […]
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A Small Hotel – Book Review
It’s the summer of 1941. Europe is at war, but New York’s Thousand Islands are at the height of the tourist season. Kennet Fiskare, son of a hotel proprietor, is having the summer of a lifetime, having fallen deeply in love with a Swedish-Brazilian guest named Astrid Virtanen. But the affair is cut short. The rigors of military life help dull his heartache, but when Kennet’s battalion reaches France, he is thrown into the crucible of frontline combat. As his unit crosses Europe, from the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium to Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria, Kennet falls into a different kind of love: the intense camaraderie between soldiers. […]
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Run, Rose, Run – Book Review
Written collaboratively by the bestselling author in the world and one of music most beloved entertainers, Run Rose Run is a contemporary thriller about a singer-songwriter, AnnieLee, on the rise and on the run and determined to do whatever it takes to survive. Nashville is where she’s come to claim her destiny. It’s also where the darkness she’s fled might find her. There, she encounters ruthless, predatory agents and managers, but she is also taken under the wing of one of the successful artists in country music. Dolly Parton wrote and recorded twelve songs to complement the book. You have to say one thing about James Patterson. He is prolific! According […]
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Amy’s February 2022 Book Reviews
I love it when literary luck has me reading several genres in any given month. In February, I enjoyed historical fiction, contemporary fiction, memoir. My absolute favorite was The World Played Chess. Read on to see my reviews: The World Played Chess By Robert Dugoni In 1979, Vincent Bianco has just graduated from high school. His only desire: collect a little beer money and enjoy his last summer before college. So he lands a job as a laborer on a construction crew. Working alongside two Vietnam vets, one suffering from PTSD, Vincent gets the education of a lifetime. Now forty years later, with his own son leaving for college, the […]
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Apples Never Fall – Book Review
The Delaneys are fixtures in their Australian community. The parents, Stan and Joy, are killers on the tennis court, and off it their chemistry is palpable. But after fifty years of marriage, they’ve finally sold their famed tennis academy and are ready to start what should be the golden years of their lives. If only they had grandchildren. One night, a stranger named Savannah knocks on Stan and Joy’s door, bleeding after a fight with her boyfriend. The Delaneys are more than happy to welcome them into their home, and she becomes a permanent guest. When Joy goes missing on Valentine’s Day and Savannah is nowhere to be found, the […]
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The Tobacco Wives Book Review
This historical debut set in 1946 North Carolina follows a young female seamstress who uncovers dangerous truths about the Big Tobacco empire ruling the American South. Maddie Sykes has just arrived in Bright Leaf, North Carolina—the tobacco capital of the South—where her aunt has a thriving sewing business. She is dazzled by the bustle of the crisply uniformed female factory workers, the palatial homes, and, most of all, her aunt’s clientele: the wives of the powerful tobacco executives. But she soon learns the town isn’t quite the carefree paradise; it seems a trail of misfortune follows many of the women, including substantial health problems. Maddie wants to report what she […]
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Amy’s September Reads and Reviews
There’s not much I enjoy more than curling up with a book on a crisp autumn evening. I have a feeling some of you agree. When I write these posts, I intentionally include reviews of books I loved and others I didn’t. Why? Because we all like different things. Being a writer and editor makes me a tough critic, but I do my best to include both pros and cons on each book. Maybe you’ll find the perfect read in this month’s group. A Fall of Marigolds by Susan Meissner “The person who completes your life is not so much the person who shares all the years of your existence, […]
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