tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-48521432467819624362024-02-20T20:06:14.752-08:00 Jayne's BooksThoughts on books and
readingMelissa Wiebehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02657787882718834484noreply@blogger.comBlogger1467125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4852143246781962436.post-10163579586859452922023-04-15T19:28:00.001-07:002023-04-15T19:29:03.130-07:00What Strange Paradise - Omar El Akkad<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_oO6qEderDm0V7yO8Zqiu7HyYeInwXVE3wbKiXbiOqYqdUtTp9qAf0pbLg5odeu6cTNwAgeUuyKwou_efw4y9_PvMyEfzEgWFk4cQJ0Jax8337fwdquEo2hUCqE8Efqhg-aT-Ek5uDfUhdpcHOuOtvbwrnYWiqa73hDqSwpLM94yHBzeoPst4Ahk2Bg/s499/41ni7WECVYL._SX322_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="324" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_oO6qEderDm0V7yO8Zqiu7HyYeInwXVE3wbKiXbiOqYqdUtTp9qAf0pbLg5odeu6cTNwAgeUuyKwou_efw4y9_PvMyEfzEgWFk4cQJ0Jax8337fwdquEo2hUCqE8Efqhg-aT-Ek5uDfUhdpcHOuOtvbwrnYWiqa73hDqSwpLM94yHBzeoPst4Ahk2Bg/s320/41ni7WECVYL._SX322_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" width="208" /></a></div><br /> Title: What Strange Paradise (<a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/what-strange-paradise-omar-el-akkad/15533807?aid=92266&ean=9781984899248&listref=book-club-reads-7ebbfce1-2894-44f9-9383-ff8f1f1e29e7">Bookshop.org</a>)<p></p><p>Author: Omar El Akkad</p><p>Published: 2022 (first published 2021)</p><p>Genre: Fiction, Contemporary, Literary</p><p>Edition: Paperback</p><p>Source: Surrey Libraries</p><p><b>Thoughts: </b> I really wanted to like the book, as I thought, and the others in my library book club also thought, that it would be a good read. And it was a good read; it's just that I couldn't get into it with the two different timelines that the author gave for the book. The book really needs to be read either closely or multiple times to really understand the two main timelines. It is definitely a fairly quick read, if you just want to go through it once, but I think that if you really want to understand the book, you may want to read it many times.</p><p><b>Bottom line: </b>A really excellent read that needs to read multiple times to get a complete understanding of it. I just feel like there was something more to the book that I missed that would have completed my understanding of the book better. Recommended.</p><p><b>Rating: </b>3.5/5</p><p><b>Description: </b><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">From the widely acclaimed author of </span><i style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px;">American War</i><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"> a new novel--beautifully written, unrelentingly dramatic, and profoundly moving--that brings the global refugee crisis down to the level of a child's eyes.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">More bodies have washed up on the shores of a small island. Another over-filled, ill-equipped, dilapidated ship has sunk under the weight of its too many passengers: Syrians, Ethiopians, Egyptians, Lebanese, Palestinians, all of them desperate to escape untenable lives in their homelands. And only one has made the passage: nine-year-old Amir, a Syrian boy who has the good fortune to fall into the hands not of the officials but of Vanna: a teenage girl, native to the island, who lives inside her own sense of homelessness in a place and among people she has come to disdain. And though she and the boy are complete strangers, though they don't speak a common language, she determines to do whatever it takes to save him.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">In alternating chapters, we learn the story of the boy's life and how he came to be on the boat; and we follow the girl and boy as they make their way toward a vision of safety. But as the novel unfurls, we begin to understand that this is not merely the story of two children finding their way through a hostile world, it is the story of our collective moment in this time: of empathy and indifference, of hope and despair--and of the way each of those things can blind us to reality, or guide us to a better one.</span></span><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #183247; font-family: "Source Sans Pro", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Disclosure: I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org and I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.</span></div>Melissa Wiebehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02657787882718834484noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4852143246781962436.post-24507228118433600972023-03-30T15:21:00.002-07:002023-03-30T15:21:22.795-07:00Another update<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSTtCDhnfKcsEGBiIC8pXnT68smcWXAImNGkGS021lq5GM1XIbq9UiUMAqGMFitIvaMsDm0uuYyf8iBNZwnJvuLxlBQLet06U_FljilI1xgbZbEFiqcA5dKYwXmt8_TR5EI6VfqlPDVLXFMJOm9MzK9ds4ku-8xRU1Vb-PR0N7sbhDdbVk62rrRQIbqg/s400/download%20(1).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSTtCDhnfKcsEGBiIC8pXnT68smcWXAImNGkGS021lq5GM1XIbq9UiUMAqGMFitIvaMsDm0uuYyf8iBNZwnJvuLxlBQLet06U_FljilI1xgbZbEFiqcA5dKYwXmt8_TR5EI6VfqlPDVLXFMJOm9MzK9ds4ku-8xRU1Vb-PR0N7sbhDdbVk62rrRQIbqg/s320/download%20(1).png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I bet you are wondering why I am doing another update. This time there is a very specific reason and that is that I have decided to become an affiliate for Bookshop.org. A number of book sites that I frequent use Bookshop.org, as they raise money for local bookshops. For those in Canada, you can't do this but hopefully at some point there will be Canadian independent bookstores available for you to support.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So what does this mean for you? Other than supporting a local independent bookstore, nothing really. But it does mean that I can receive a small commission on each purchase that you make on the site, in addition to supporting your local independent bookstore. This is also to say that there will be now be links to books that you can go and purchase and I can get a little extra money, if you choose to do so. Also you can purchase lots of other books through my store and I will get a small commission on those purchases as well.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>If you are interested, I have posted a link on my sidebar, but you can click on the link below and save it to your links. Hope you find lots of wonderful books to read.<p></p><p><a href="https://bookshop.org/shop/jaynesbooks" target="_blank">Jayne's Books Bookshop</a></p>Melissa Wiebehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02657787882718834484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4852143246781962436.post-44759144374421762382023-03-21T11:59:00.003-07:002023-03-21T11:59:44.872-07:00It's been awhile<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaiXLokZbEajNAqCs0WepazLa8Wcmsw9_6qDpqh7irS8EzCGekwJYziVamTSH18-vBAzfU82OC9JVqTsp2L_L6QeE-7nYan85pYmi5BuSL7Syh4w-nzFozpSPVnq7HXaN97rUXHZXSL-RYT01wEinVFBhjRSO-T3-bs6g4YtqqmKQoRvq-fBwlG10u1A/s400/download%20(1).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaiXLokZbEajNAqCs0WepazLa8Wcmsw9_6qDpqh7irS8EzCGekwJYziVamTSH18-vBAzfU82OC9JVqTsp2L_L6QeE-7nYan85pYmi5BuSL7Syh4w-nzFozpSPVnq7HXaN97rUXHZXSL-RYT01wEinVFBhjRSO-T3-bs6g4YtqqmKQoRvq-fBwlG10u1A/s320/download%20(1).png" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p>When I came back to look at my blog a few days ago, I hadn't realized how long it had been since I had been here. The last 3 years have been chaotic to say the least. </p><p>Unless you had been living in a cave, Covid-19 was striking as I wrote my last post and my anxiety was really starting to spike to the point that I felt that I could do absolutely nothing and I lost a lot of weight super quickly; I couldn't eat a lot. But my parents came to my rescue and I went to live with them for a few months during those first few months of the pandemic. I had planned to go to Mexico for a birthday trip in May 2020, but that was put on hold until we could go down with no restrictions. </p><p>But the thing that took up a lot of my time in the last three years is my diagnosis of breast cancer in September 2021. I had been in a car accident in late July 2021 and a few days later, I had noticed a shooting pain in my left breast. I had a phone appointment with my family doctor the next day and mentioned to her what was going on. She had me come into the office for a breast exam and then referred me to the breast health clinic. After a series of tests and exams, it was determined that I had breast cancer that was locally advanced, meaning that it hadn't spread beyond my left arm pit and left breast area. Within a month of my diagnosis, I had started my chemotherapy treatments, which I went to once a week from October 8 until December 30, 2021 and then every three weeks until March 3, 2022. I then had my mastectomy on April 4, in which it was found that the cancer had gone from the size of my palm to the size of my thumbnail. Yes they got all of the cancer and then I was put onto tamoxifen and had my radiation treatments from about June 29, 2022 until August 8, 2022. I only recently got discharged from the cancer unit.</p><p>And now I wait for my second surgery to complete my reconstruction (I started it when I did my mastectomy last April) and when the healing from that is done, I will be able to move on with my post cancer life.</p><p>As for my reading life, I have been reading lots. In 2020, I read about 125 books and really enjoyed <a href="https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/the-giver-of-stars-a/9780143136149-item.html?ikwid=the+giver+of+stars&ikwsec=Books&ikwidx=0#algoliaQueryId=5f53b847bb75c2b5c186ebd11764d4ee" target="_blank">The Giver of Stars by JoJo Moyes</a> and <a href="https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/the-splendid-and-the-vile/9780385348737-item.html?ikwid=the+splendid+and+the+vile&ikwsec=Home&ikwidx=0#algoliaQueryId=263e0c73f1f053bbe4af15d61a779fd1" target="_blank">The Splendid and The Vile by Erik Larsen</a>. In 2021 I read 83 books and really enjoyed <a href="https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/the-rose-code-a-novel/9780063060449-item.html?ikwid=the+rose+code&ikwsec=Books&ikwidx=0#algoliaQueryId=77a2d85c30d8cc77ac51deae657b2b6c" target="_blank">The Rose Code by Kate Quinn</a>, <a href="https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/the-dictionary-of-lost-words/9781984820747-item.html?ikwid=the+dictionary+of+lost+words&ikwsec=Books&ikwidx=0#algoliaQueryId=2a0b893029e0d269ac748754ec7bd09e" target="_blank">The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams</a>, and <a href="https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/the-last-green-valley-a/9781503958746-item.html?ikwid=the+last+green+valley&ikwsec=Home&ikwidx=0#algoliaQueryId=7983c0ac181c19ed934a6867f9427422" target="_blank">The Last Green Valley by Mark Sullivan</a>.</p><p>2022 was a bit of a wonky year for reading. I got about 50 books read and there were some months in which I only got one book read. But surprisingly, there were a number of books that were standouts in 2022. Some of the standouts were: <a href="https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/beach-read/9781984806734-item.html?ikwid=beach+read&ikwsec=Books&ikwidx=0#algoliaQueryId=0a6df7d17d74941875e05d1f8ea61ed5" target="_blank">Beach Read by Emily Henry</a>, <a href="https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/the-midnight-library-a-novel/9781443455879-item.html?ikwid=the+midnight+library&ikwsec=Books&ikwidx=0#algoliaQueryId=1b5a47a77f55a5c651b1f9303d0a5958" target="_blank">The Midnight Library by Matt Haig</a>, <a href="https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/hamnet-and-judith-a-novel/9780735280175-item.html?ikwid=hamnet+and+judith&ikwsec=Books&ikwidx=0#algoliaQueryId=d769955db9603f2387362e55aa048679" target="_blank">Hamnet and Judith by Maggie O'Farrell</a>, <a href="https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/god-spare-the-girls-a/9780063020269-item.html?ikwid=God+Spare+the+Girls&ikwsec=Home&ikwidx=0#algoliaQueryId=331f95e563c1f25ce0b70a15174c1e51" target="_blank">God Spare the Girls by Kelsey Mckinney</a>, <a href="https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/jesus-and-john-wayne-how/9781631499050-item.html?ikwid=jesus+and+john+wayne&ikwsec=Books&ikwidx=0#algoliaQueryId=50292f3e42c6b6b97a2729d4823e4570" target="_blank">Jesus and John Wayne by Kristin Kobes Du Mez</a>, <a href="https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/where-the-crawdads-sing/9780735219106-item.html?ikwid=where+the+crawdads+sing&ikwsec=Books&ikwidx=1#algoliaQueryId=7f45604c71562ef156df8c44cbad7d1c" target="_blank">Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens</a>, <a href="https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/the-paper-palace-a-novel/9780593329832-item.html?ikwid=the+paper+palace&ikwsec=Books&ikwidx=0#algoliaQueryId=9d8f54b5ad9d0e56955447c1c1e971f6" target="_blank">The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller</a>, <a href="https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/booth/9780593331453-item.html?ikwid=Booth+karen+joy+Fowler&ikwsec=Home&ikwidx=0#algoliaQueryId=af82bf1e6f859c5231ca9d8268fb18f1" target="_blank">Booth by Karen Joy Fowler</a>, <a href="https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/greenwood-a-novel/9780771024481-item.html?ikwsec=Books&ikwidx=0#algoliaQueryId=46f08d66b626fd9e9f473e2903c27bf2" target="_blank">Greenwood by Michael Christie</a>, and <a href="https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/greenwood-a-novel/9780771024481-item.html?ikwsec=Books&ikwidx=0#algoliaQueryId=46f08d66b626fd9e9f473e2903c27bf2" target="_blank">The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton</a>. I suppose some years its not about the quantity read but the quality of the book that you have read (the Hamnet and Judith book is the same one that was published just as Hamnet; don't know why the Canadian publishers added and Judith).</p><p>I also joined The StoryGraph sometime last year and am really enjoying it over there (yes, I am still on Goodreads). You can find my StoryGraph account over <a href="https://app.thestorygraph.com/profile/mjreadings" target="_blank">here</a>. I am also quite active on <a href="https://www.litsy.com/web/user/melissajayne" target="_blank">Litsy</a> as well and continue to post my book reviews over on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/mjreadings/" target="_blank">Instagram</a>.</p><p>Anyways, I am off to do some reading for my book club that is meeting on Saturday. I really do loathe Order of the Phoenix and while it's not my least favourite book, it's my least favourite book in the Harry Potter series.</p><p>Happy Reading everyone! </p>Melissa Wiebehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02657787882718834484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4852143246781962436.post-29465178142280715002020-01-19T17:19:00.001-08:002020-01-19T17:19:50.465-08:00The Chaperone - Laura Moriarty<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR4LAu7Vn8nQl3CUZGDrRWt91m_ehc6eSlR9fzTXJFvojrKQxot9SoG2bxxEBDVhgwSrtJ4frC6pI7R6YOXtkF_tlE8xCm1NwNSCM98xJ78M6mvNjsmLN6lPx3lV854xHlTLDYuMVHql24/s1600/13056159.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="267" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR4LAu7Vn8nQl3CUZGDrRWt91m_ehc6eSlR9fzTXJFvojrKQxot9SoG2bxxEBDVhgwSrtJ4frC6pI7R6YOXtkF_tlE8xCm1NwNSCM98xJ78M6mvNjsmLN6lPx3lV854xHlTLDYuMVHql24/s320/13056159.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
Title: The Chaperone<br />
Author: Laura Moriarty<br />
Published: 2013 (first published 2012)<br />
Pages: 402<br />
Genre: Historical Fiction<br />
Edition: Paperback<br />
Source: Surrey Public Library<br />
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<b>Description: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Only a few years before becoming a famous silent-film star and an icon of her generation, a fifteen-year-old Louise Brooks leaves Wichita, Kansas, to study with the prestigious Denishawn School of Dancing in New York. Much to her annoyance, she is accompanied by a thirty-six-year-old chaperone, who is neither mother nor friend. Cora Carlisle, a complicated but traditional woman with her own reasons for making the trip, has no idea what she’s in for. Young Louise, already stunningly beautiful and sporting her famous black bob with blunt bangs, is known for her arrogance and her lack of respect for convention. Ultimately, the five weeks they spend together will transform their lives forever.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">For Cora, the city holds the promise of discovery that might answer the question at the core of her being, and even as she does her best to watch over Louise in this strange and bustling place she embarks on a mission of her own. And while what she finds isn’t what she anticipated, she is liberated in a way she could not have imagined. Over the course of Cora’s relationship with Louise, her eyes are opened to the promise of the twentieth century and a new understanding of the possibilities for being fully alive.</span></span><div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><b style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Thoughts: </b><span style="color: #181818; font-family: inherit;">I first read the book back in </span><a href="http://jaynesbooks.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-chaperone-laura-moriarty.html" style="color: #181818; font-family: inherit;" target="_blank">April 2013</a><span style="color: #181818; font-family: inherit;"> and in the almost 7 years since I had read the book, I had forgot large portions of the book, but reading it brought back quite a bit of it back. Reading it for the second time made me sympathize more with Cora and made me more aware of the actual </span><span style="color: #181818;">story line</span><span style="color: #181818; font-family: inherit;"> than I had been the first time I had read it and I think I enjoyed it more this time around, but really did feel that the third part was too rushed and made little sense.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><b>Bottom line: </b>I enjoyed the book just as much as I did the first time around, but I empthetized with Cora much more this time around and would recommend the book.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><b>Rating: </b>4/5</span></div>
Melissa Wiebehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02657787882718834484noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4852143246781962436.post-78172209717600870382019-06-25T20:04:00.000-07:002019-06-25T20:04:11.108-07:00Eternally Artemisia - Melissa Muldoon<br />
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<span lang="EN">Book Title:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Eternally Artemisia : Some loves, like some women, are timeless by
Melissa Muldoon<br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span>Adult Fiction (18+),<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>312
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</span>Matta Press<br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN">Release date:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>March 2019<br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN">Tour dates: June 3 to 28, 2019<br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN">Content Rating: PG-13 + M (The themes of the
book deal with rape and overcoming sexual abuse. It is a book about female
empowerment and how with the right tools, and support women may rise above past
tragedies to build a better future for themselves.)<br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN">They say some loves travel through time and
are fated to meet over and over again. For Maddie, an art therapist, who
wrestles with the “peculiar feeling” she has lived previous lives and is being
called to Italy by voices that have left imprints on her soul, this idea is
intriguing. Despite her best efforts, however, proof of this has always eluded
her. That is, until one illuminating summer in Italy when Maddie’s previous
existences start to bleed through into her current reality. When she is introduced
to the Crociani family—a noble clan with ties to the seventeenth-century Medici
court that boasts of ancestors with colorful pasts—she finally meets the loves
of her life. One is a romantic love, and another is a special kind of passion
that only women share, strong amongst those who have suffered greatly yet have
triumphed despite it.<br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN">As Maddie's relationship develops with
Artemisia Gentileschi—an artist who in a time when it was unheard of to
denounce a man for the crime of rape, did just that—Maddie discovers a kindred
spirit and a role model, and just what women are capable of when united
together.<br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN">In a journey that arcs back to biblical days
and moves forward in time, Maddie encounters artists, dukes, designers, and
movie stars as well as baser and ignoble men. With Artemisia never far from her
side, she proves that when we dare to take control of our lives and find the
“thing” we are most passionate about, we are limitless and can touch the
stars.<br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>Thoughts: </b></span>Having read Ms. Muldoon’s previous two novels, I knew that I
wanted to read her latest book. And having read this latest installment of her
Italy novels, I really enjoyed this book, although I had a thing or two that I
thought could have been done better.</div>
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For the things that I didn’t like about the book I didn’t
like how the book was concluded. I felt
that the author could have brought the book full-circle rather than just end it
where she did. Also I felt that the
first two parts could have been a little shorter or the final two parts could
have been a little longer.<o:p></o:p></div>
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But that being said, I really quite enjoyed the book,
especially the first two parts. I have
several reasons that I enjoyed the book.
The first reason that I enjoyed the book was that I felt that Ms.
Muldoon’s writing was much better from her first two books, even though I
really enjoyed those ones as well. But
you can really see the growth of the author’s writing over the course of the
three books. Secondly I enjoyed the book
because the author drew her main characters very well. One really felt that you were there right
beside Maddie as she went into these parallel lives. Finally I felt that I could just enjoy the
book and not really care about what was going on in the outside world.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Bottom line: </b>I quite enjoyed the read, despite having a couple of things that I felt could have been improved upon. Highly recommended.</div>
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<b>Rating: </b>4.25/5</div>
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<span lang="EN"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Praise for Eternally
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<span lang="EN">“A true Renaissance woman, Melissa Muldoon
weaves her passions for art and Italy into a stirring saga that sweeps across
centuries. As her time-traveling heroine Maddie reconnects with kindred souls,
we meet Artemisia Gentileschi, the 17th-century artist who overcame rape and
ignominy to gain respect and acclaim. Historic figures such as Galileo and
Mussolini also come to life in this intricately plotted novel, but the women who
defy all constraints to take control of their destinies are the ones who prove
to be eternally fascinating.” -- Dianne Hales<br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN">What a lovely story! Melissa weaves the lives
of 4 women across time, all with some connection to Artemisia Gentileschi, a
16th century Italy painter. They represent the feminine strength that arises
from life challenges, each with their unique intelligence. Underlying their
stories is the idea that love transcends all, even time, love is timeless. As
with her other books, Melissa fills the story out with interesting facts and
references to the Italian life, culture and it's history, her attention to
detail is immaculate . I loved all of the many connections in this story that
tied it all together, very cleverly done. Wonderful read, I would highly
recommend it. – Lize, Amazon Reviewer<br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN">Melissa Muldoon does a phenomenal job blending
fiction, romance, art history, and the Italian language into this gem. For fans
of historical fiction, romance, and time travel, I strongly recommend this
novel. –Exemplary <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/profile/amzn1.account.AHZXBA7IHNPJIHLH6GBI2VROIAZQ/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_gw_tr?ie=UTF8">Editing</a>,
Amazon Review<br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>To read reviews, please visit <a href="https://www.italybooktours.com/blog---current-tours/book-tour-eternally-artemisia-some-loves-like-some-women-are-timeless-by-melissa-muldoon" target="_blank">Melissa Muldoon's page on Italy Book
Tours</a>.</b><br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Eternally-Artemisia-loves-women-timeless-ebook-dp-B07PNS364N/dp/B07PNS364N">Amazon</a>
~ <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1130940053?ean=2940156294527">Barnes
& Noble</a></b></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44101090-eternally-artemesia?from_search=true">Add
to Goodreads</a></b></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-L-msALZcW5c/XO7EXN2Ue_I/AAAAAAAAGR0/G1Ebo-b-3DU_GvsOQXnY-EpJahnBLWXNgCLcBGAs/s1600/Melissa%2BMuldoon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="396" data-original-width="418" height="303" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-L-msALZcW5c/XO7EXN2Ue_I/AAAAAAAAGR0/G1Ebo-b-3DU_GvsOQXnY-EpJahnBLWXNgCLcBGAs/s320/Melissa%2BMuldoon.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span lang="EN">Melissa Muldoon is the author of three novels
set in Italy: “Dreaming Sophia,” “Waking Isabella,” and “Eternally Artemisia.”
All three books tell the stories of American women and their journeys of
self-discovery to find love, uncover hidden truths, and follow their destinies
to shape a better future in Italy.<br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN">Melissa is also the author of the Studentessa
Matta website, where she promotes the study of Italian language and culture
through her dual-language blog written in Italian and English (studentessamatta.com).
Studentessa Matta means the “crazy linguist” and has grown to include a
podcast, Tutti Matti per l'Italiano and the Studentessa Matta YouTube channel,
Facebook page and Instagram feed. Melissa also created Matta Italian Language
Immersion Programs, which she co-leads with Italian schools in Italy to learn
Italian in Italy. Through her website, she also offers the opportunities to
live and study in Italy through Homestay programs. Melissa has a B.A. in fine
arts, art history and European history from Knox College, a liberal arts
college in Galesburg, Illinois, as well as a master's degree in art history
from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana.<br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN">She has also studied painting and art history
in Florence. She is an artist, designer, and illustrated the cover art for all
three of her books. Melissa is also the managing director of Matta Press. As a
student, Melissa lived in Florence with an Italian family. She studied art
history and painting and took beginner Italian classes. When she returned home,
she threw away her Italian dictionary, assuming she’d never need it again, but
after launching a successful design career and starting a family, she realized
something was missing in her life. That “thing” was the connection she had made
with Italy and the friends who live there. Living in Florence was indeed a
life-changing event. Wanting to reconnect with Italy, she decided to start
learning the language again from scratch. As if indeed possessed by an Italian
muse, she bought a new Italian dictionary and began her journey to fluency—a
path that has led her back to Italy many times and enriched her life in
countless ways. Now, many dictionaries and grammar books later, she dedicates
her time to promoting Italian language studies, further travels in Italy, and
sharing her stories and insights about Italy with others. Melissa designed and
illustrated the cover art for Eternally Artemisia, Waking Isabella, and
Dreaming Sophia.<br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN">She also curates the Dreaming Sophia Art
History blog site and Pinterest site: The Art of Loving Italy, where you will
find companion pictures for all three books. Visit MelissaMuldoon.com for more
information about immersion trips to learn the language with Melissa in Italy,
as well as the Studentessa Matta blog for practice and tips to learn the
Italian language. <br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>Connect with the author:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="https://melissamuldoon.com/">Website</a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>~<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><a href="https://twitter.com/italiamelissa">Twitter</a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>~<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/studentessamatta">Facebook</a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>~<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><a href="https://www.pinterest.ca/dreamingsophia/">Pinterest</a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>~ <a href="https://www.instagram.com/studentessamatta/">Instagram</a></b></span></div>
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Melissa Wiebehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02657787882718834484noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4852143246781962436.post-61090893070768207862019-06-13T17:06:00.000-07:002019-06-17T22:30:42.151-07:00Burton Blake - Robert Tucker<br />
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<span lang="EN"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Book Details:</b></span><br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN">Book Title:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Burton Blake by Robert Tucker<br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN">Category:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Adult Fiction, 518 pages<br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN">Genre:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Historical Fiction<br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN">Publisher:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Tell-Tale Publishing Group LLC / Wise Words Publishing<br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN">Release date:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>1/06/2019<br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN">Tour dates: May 27 to June 28, 2019<br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN">Content Rating: G (Depictions of violence are
minimal. No bad language, religious expletives, sex scenes, drug use or
underage drinking.)<br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN">In this sequel to the well-received
<i>The Revolutionist</i>, the American journey of three generations
locks the neophyte company president, Burton Blake, in a vicious struggle with
corporate intrigue, financial greed, and social corruption. Born to a taxi
dancer at the beginning of the Second World War, Burton’s father, Elias Blake,
never knows his natural father, who is killed in the South Pacific. He is
raised by his mother and stepfather from her second marriage who makes his
fortune during the post-war real estate boom of the ’50s. Their untimely death
by his business partner leaves the boy Elias in the guardianship of his mother’s
best friend and her marine vet husband who introduces him to the macho culture
of guns and hunting.<br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN">Elias’s youth is influenced by the adult
world’s drive for personal material gain. Over the next decades, he expands his
parents’ original real estate empire into the diversified multi-divisional,
multi-national corporation that he leaves to his son, Burton. Upon his forced
return from traveling and working with oppressed third world people, Burton
learns increasingly more about the true nature of his deceased father as he
undertakes the challenges of leading the company in a new direction.<br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b>Thoughts:</b> </div>
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I quite enjoyed the book.
I can't really say what it was, but this book seemed to flow a bit more
than The Revolutionist did. I quite
liked Burton, as he definitely was a product of his great-grandmother Julie,
who was the main character in The Revolutionist. And Burton in his own way became a
revolutionist in trying to fight against the greed and corruption that had
enveloped his father’s company.</div>
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I also really liked the first section of the book, which
laid the groundwork for the second part and it really set up the conflict that
would eventually envelope the second half of the book.<o:p></o:p></div>
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What I would have liked to see more of would be of Burton
being able to connect his actions to those that Julie undertook herself back in
the early 1900s and to also find out the history behind his father in the
second half, as it was more about the conspiracy, which did get a little
cumbersome as the book came to its conclusion.
Also I would have tried to use a different title for the book, as I felt
it was misleading for the first half of the book and also done a bit more to
tie the first part with the second part.
The first part could have easily been its own book and completely separate
from the second part, which I felt had little to do with the first part and
ignored the first half of the book<o:p></o:p></div>
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I would have also liked to see the book edited a little
tighter, as I felt that there were too many details that didn’t make any sense
to the overall story and felt that unlike The Revolutionist, which was a continuous
story of Julie’s early life, this book felt like two separate stories that had
little to do with each other. I would
have liked to see more characters from the first half of the book interact with
Burton instead of just Lizzie.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Bottom line: </b>It was a good book overall. I would have liked to see more links between the first and second part of the book and few more callbacks to The Revolutionist.</div>
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<b>Rating: </b>3.75/5</div>
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<span lang="EN"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><a href="https://goo.gl/iB8SSg">Amazon</a> ~ <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/burton-blake-robert-tucker/1130003729?ean=2940161248812">Barnes
& Noble</a></b></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Add to <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43164529-burton-blake?from_search=true">Goodreads</a></b></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN">Robert is published by Tell-Tale Publishing
Group LLC / Wise Words Publishing under a multi-book contract. The author of
four previous earlier novels, Robert infuses his books with unique dynamic
stories and characters that portray social and cultural conflicts of their
time. His career encompasses many years as a business consultant that have
given him access to a wide range of organizations and an appreciation for
people in all areas of society. His life experience is reflected in the
literary quality of his work. Born and raised in the Middle-West, he has traveled
throughout the United States and abroad.<br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN">Now retired, he resides with his wife in
Southern California where he devotes full-time to writing. Robert is a graduate
of the University of California, Santa Barbara with a Masters Degree in
Communications at the University of California, Los Angeles where he received
the Samuel Goldwyn and Donald Davis Literary Awards.<br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN">An affinity for family and the astute
observation of generational interaction pervade his novels. His works are
literary and genre upmarket fiction that address the nature and importance of
personal integrity.<br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>Connect with the author:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="http://www.rmtauthor.com/">Website</a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>~ <a href="https://twitter.com/AuthorR_Tucker">Twitter</a> ~
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100017563538340">Facebook</a></b></span></div>
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<br />Melissa Wiebehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02657787882718834484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4852143246781962436.post-21730764653043434082019-06-03T22:54:00.000-07:002019-06-05T14:32:29.515-07:00The Revolutionist - Richard Tucker<br />
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<span lang="EN"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Book Details:</b></span><br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN">Book Title:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The Revolutionist by Robert Tucker<br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN">Category:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Adult Fiction, 649 pages<br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN">Genre:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Historical Fiction<br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN">Publisher:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Tell-Tale Publishing Group LLC / Wise Words Publishing<br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN">Release date:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>12/03/2017<br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN">Tour dates: May 27 to June 28, 2019<br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN">Content Rating: PG + M (This book does not
contain any gratuitous violence. Any depicted violence is relevant to the historical
period, as are scenes of white slave prostitution, sexual and physical abuse,
and one of an abortion mill. They are written with sensitivity as to time and
place and with appropriate literary language.)<br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Book
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<span lang="EN">Two different families escape from the
political tyranny of their respective homelands, the Josephsons from Sweden and
Matias and Kurt Bauman, brothers from Germany and Austria Hungary, with the aid
of a Viennese opera diva, Sophie Augusta Rose, and Jean Guenoc, a former Jesuit
priest, family friend and protector and partisan of the French underground.
Their journey brings them to America in the throes of the industrial revolution
during the 1890s and early 1900s.<br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN">Ingrid and Olaf Josephson settle on a small
wheat farm in North Central Minnesota to raise their children, Newt and Julie.
Among the Jewish entrepreneurs forced to leave Germany and Austria-Hungary,
Matias and Kurt Bauman re-establish their transportation company in Chicago,
Illinois. In search of a secret list of insurgent social democrats, the bounty
hunter assassin, Luther Baggot, tracks his victims to the American heartland.
Following the murder of their mother and father, Newt, Julie, and their
friends, Aaron and Beth Peet, hide from the killer in a Northern Minnesota
logging camp. Believing the children have taken possession of the list, Luther
tracks them down and they are forced to flee again, this time to Chicago where
a different world opens up to them as they are thrust into the turmoil and
violence of an urban society and economy careening into the new century.<br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>Review:</b></span></div>
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<span lang="EN">I didn't read the description, so I came into the book completely cold. I knew nothing of potential plot lines and so forth. So had I actually read the description of the book, my initial impressions of the book would have been a lot different than they actually were.</span></div>
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There were times I felt that the book was a bit clunky at times and that the author took too much time to introduce characters that had little to do with the actual plot line. While those stories were fascinating, I felt that they took away from the main crux of the book and those characters could have had less screen time than they did, as some of them had either very little or nothing to do with the actual story.</div>
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As for the main story line, I actually quite enjoyed it and found myself racing through the secondary storylines to get back to the main plot line. The author did an excellent job of drawing the reader into
the storyline, making one care for the characters as they navigated the world
they became involved with. One could
almost feel as though they were a fly on the wall as the characters made their
way from Minnesota to Chicago and the various other places that the book was
set in.<br />
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My favourite character was Julie in the book. I thought the character was well-written and she really captured my imagination and could actually see here at times.</div>
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I thought it overall was a pretty good book and with a few editing changes, it could have been a bit better. Recommended.</div>
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<b>Rating: </b>3.75/5</div>
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<span lang="EN"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><a href="https://goo.gl/AHzfLE">Amazon</a> ~ <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-revolutionist-robert-tucker/1127549698?ean=9781944056520">Barnes
& Noble</a> ~ <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Revolutionist-Audiobook/B07RRZ7DCY?" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Audible</a></b></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Add to <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36697209-the-revolutionist?ac=1&from_search=true">Goodreads</a></b></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN">Robert is published by Tell-Tale Publishing
Group LLC / Wise Words Publishing under a multi-book contract. The author of
four previous earlier novels, Robert infuses his books with unique dynamic
stories and characters that portray social and cultural conflicts of their
time. His career encompasses many years as a business consultant that have
given him access to a wide range of organizations and an appreciation for
people in all areas of society. His life experience is reflected in the
literary quality of his work. Born and raised in the Middle-West, he has traveled
throughout the United States and abroad.<br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN">Now retired, he resides with his wife in
Southern California where he devotes full-time to writing. Robert is a graduate
of the University of California, Santa Barbara with a Masters Degree in Communications
at the University of California, Los Angeles where he received the Samuel
Goldwyn and Donald Davis Literary Awards.<br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN">An affinity for family and the astute
observation of generational interaction pervade his novels. His works are
literary and genre upmarket fiction that address the nature and importance of
personal integrity.<br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><b>Connect with the author:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="http://www.rmtauthor.com/">Website</a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>~ <a href="https://twitter.com/AuthorR_Tucker">Twitter</a> ~
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100017563538340">Facebook</a></b></span></div>
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<br />Melissa Wiebehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02657787882718834484noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4852143246781962436.post-38860914665183848702019-05-17T21:16:00.004-07:002023-03-30T14:14:13.292-07:00Lilac Girls - Martha Hall Kelly<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwXb5WZpKglmYHMo6VqWYIulvRQwkn9Dg6x2tFwSFlDOwb2XbmWERHEHQrb6W4oTJH0z63eEYqSPmb6WkrKmbndzG3FUQ_VdWt4QWfY_H-nRMTotSJuPu68aJ6L7WbUaW21UsJcWgXLzLz/s1600/30825777.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="308" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwXb5WZpKglmYHMo6VqWYIulvRQwkn9Dg6x2tFwSFlDOwb2XbmWERHEHQrb6W4oTJH0z63eEYqSPmb6WkrKmbndzG3FUQ_VdWt4QWfY_H-nRMTotSJuPu68aJ6L7WbUaW21UsJcWgXLzLz/s200/30825777.jpg" width="129" /></a></div>
Title: Lilac Girls<br />
Author: Martha Hall Kelly<br />
Published: 2017 (first published 2016)<br />
Pages: 502<br />
Genre: Fiction, Historical Fiction<br />
Edition: Paperback<br />
Source Fraser Valley Regional Library<br />
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<b>Description: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">New York socialite Caroline Ferriday has her hands full with her post at the French consulate and a new love on the horizon. But Caroline’s world is forever changed when Hitler’s army invades Poland in September 1939—and then sets its sights on France.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span id="freeText13545635281274605680" style="color: #181818;"><br />An ocean away from Caroline, Kasia Kuzmerick, a Polish teenager, senses her carefree youth disappearing as she is drawn deeper into her role as courier for the underground resistance movement. In a tense atmosphere of watchful eyes and suspecting neighbors, one false move can have dire consequences.<br /><br />For the ambitious young German doctor, Herta Oberheuser, an ad for a government medical position seems her ticket out of a desolate life. Once hired, though, she finds herself trapped in a male-dominated realm of Nazi secrets and power.<br /><br />The lives of these three women are set on a collision course when the unthinkable happens and Kasia is sent to Ravensbrück, the notorious Nazi concentration camp for women. Their stories cross continents—from New York to Paris, Germany, and Poland—as Caroline and Kasia strive to bring justice to those whom history has forgotten.</span><span style="color: #181818;"> (via Goodreads)</span></span></span><b><br /></b>
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<b>Thoughts: </b> I was on Litsy when I saw Mrs. Kelly's most recent book being promoted by somebody a few months ago and when I look up information about that book, I saw that there was an earlier book. Knowing that there was an earlier book, I requested this particular book. I wasn't really sure about what the book was about when I picked it up, but once I started reading it, I was informed as to what the book was about. I looked at the pages at the end to get an idea as to what it was about, but I was still fairly clueless as to what it was about. But as I got into the book, I got quickly absorbed into the novel and also what had happened to these young women at Ravensbruck. The first time I actually had heard of Ravensbruck was when I read The Nightingale, but I may have heard about the concentration camp earlier.<br />
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I really liked how the author used the three different perspectives, two of which were actual people and one of which was a fictional person based on an actual person. I don't know how accurate the book is, but judging from the limited research that I did do while I was reading the book, it seems as though it is fairly accurate.<br />
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<b>Bottom line: </b>It was a really excellent book and I am most definitely going to be reading the next book that this author has written, Lost Roses. Don't let the title deceive you and don't go down the "rabbit hole". Highly recommended.<br />
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<b>Rating: </b>5/5<div><br /></div><div><div><br /></div><div> </div><div> </div></div>Melissa Wiebehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02657787882718834484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4852143246781962436.post-2115399873034756822019-05-15T01:24:00.004-07:002023-03-30T14:32:05.279-07:00God's Big Picture - Vaughan Roberts<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH4u6rsOcKXnTY-ES3P8O-_-SzFF5Wc50yGJ-JznwklirG4t_H8pxvdv75hn5tX92O3JzOj2UPEGeoHQhTdkbxDomLLGIWB2UpT7ZdvHBEnPlYNiNsTJLChX2sdmsbc0UfkOljLAEuRUMz/s1600/43453725.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH4u6rsOcKXnTY-ES3P8O-_-SzFF5Wc50yGJ-JznwklirG4t_H8pxvdv75hn5tX92O3JzOj2UPEGeoHQhTdkbxDomLLGIWB2UpT7ZdvHBEnPlYNiNsTJLChX2sdmsbc0UfkOljLAEuRUMz/s200/43453725.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>
Title: God's Big Picture: Tracing the storyline of the Bible<br />
Author: Vaughan Roberts<br />
Published: 2012 (first published 2002)<br />
Pages: 170<br />
Genre: Christian, Non-fiction<br />
Edition: Paperback<br />
Source: Personal collection<br />
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<b>Description: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sixty-six books, forty authors, written over nearly 2,000 years, in two languages and several different genres. A worldwide best-seller published in countless sizes and bindings, translations and languages. It has been sworn by in court, fought over by religious people, and quoted in arguments. The Bible is clearly no ordinary book. How can we begin to read and understand it as a whole?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">In this excellent overview, Vaughan Roberts gives the big picture -- showing how the different parts of the Bible fit together under the theme of the kingdom of God. He gives us both the encouragement and the tools to read it with confidence and understanding. He points us to the Bible's supreme subject, Jesus Christ, and the salvation God offers through him. (via Goodreads)</span></span><b><br /></b>
<b>Thoughts: </b>This was a book for a bible study class I was taking at my local church and while the author covers in a short book, with bible study questions at the end of each chapter, how the Bible is interconnected and how different parts of the Bible fit together. It is a nice introductory book for those wanting to go onto further study that could give them a much bigger look of the Bible with more depth.<br />
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<b>Bottom line: </b>This book is only a cursory look at how the Bible fits together and if you wish to have something that gives a bigger picture, this is not the book for you. Recommended.<br />
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<b>Rating: </b>3/5Melissa Wiebehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02657787882718834484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4852143246781962436.post-61278953564511279762019-05-09T23:21:00.000-07:002019-05-09T23:21:20.482-07:00The Unquiet Dead - Asuma Zehanat Khan<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMiqRUDDQnNej76LtgYmGVfU10I7UqJo3bFy_db9KDfzyNYkEwkk8TykjoU5kJjZxv4EaBYyThes7VhiGp9R2HdqBnIZPaE6IB69YBcIpJwIs_De1r2KavxIU_5zLBeX4aru3P4nr5V35G/s1600/25663952.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="267" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMiqRUDDQnNej76LtgYmGVfU10I7UqJo3bFy_db9KDfzyNYkEwkk8TykjoU5kJjZxv4EaBYyThes7VhiGp9R2HdqBnIZPaE6IB69YBcIpJwIs_De1r2KavxIU_5zLBeX4aru3P4nr5V35G/s200/25663952.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>
Title: The Unquiet Dead (Rachel Getty & Esa Khattak #1)<br />
Author: Asuma Zehanat Khan<br />
Published: 2015<br />
Pages: 368<br />
Genre: Historical Fiction, Mystery, Thriller<br />
Edition: Paperback<br />
Source: Surrey Public Libraries<br />
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<b>Description: </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Despite their many differences, Detective Rachel Getty trusts her boss, Esa Khattak, implicitly. But she's still uneasy at Khattak's tight-lipped secrecy when he asks her to look into Christopher Drayton's death. Drayton's apparently accidental fall from a cliff doesn't seem to warrant a police investigation, particularly not from Rachel and Khattak's team, which handles minority-sensitive cases. But when she learns that Drayton may have been living under an assumed name, Rachel begins to understand why Khattak is tip-toeing around this case. It soon comes to light that Drayton may have been a war criminal with ties to the Srebrenica massacre of 1995.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">If that's true, any number of people might have had reason to help Drayton to his death, and a murder investigation could have far-reaching ripples throughout the community. But as Rachel and Khattak dig deeper into the life and death of Christopher Drayton, every question seems to lead only to more questions, with no easy answers. Had the specters of Srebrenica returned to haunt Drayton at the end, or had he been keeping secrets of an entirely different nature? Or, after all, did a man just fall to his death from the Bluffs? (via Goodreads)</span></span><div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b>Thoughts: </b>I read this for my May library book club and I quite enjoyed it. It was weird reading a book that took place during an event that I very much remember seeing on the news in the mid-1990s. There is also a callback to Eichmann and how he tried to hide in Argentina after WWII. Despite the book being choppy in places (this is the author's first novel), I really liked it. I liked how Rachel Getty was drawn and how she basically put down when she has a gut feeling about something related to the case and her old male partner tries to quiet her down or dismiss her ideas in regards to the case.</span></span></div>
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<b>Bottom line: </b> While it isn't a strong first novel, I have heard that the second book in the series is a lot better. And with that in mind, I think she did an excellent job and acquitted herself quite well in writing a novel based on an event that happened less than 30 years ago. Recommended.</div>
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<b>Rating: </b>4/5</div>
Melissa Wiebehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02657787882718834484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4852143246781962436.post-819791933515590042019-01-22T22:17:00.003-08:002019-01-22T22:17:48.555-08:00Finders Keepers - Russ Colchamiro<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_kwEEuKuWIMkFfQyUvsooKEdDsa0iyi-OGaILt6uxcwB66WP3hR-hJ3Z4qFWxYtMiOeC_Q2aj5vijwEfYg0rRQnmujz2HcpaTiiI_yZ9RW2N561VU95dnpbQ1SEzXs8AJz8KZ5udmJeiI/s1600/Finders+Keepers.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1370" data-original-width="920" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_kwEEuKuWIMkFfQyUvsooKEdDsa0iyi-OGaILt6uxcwB66WP3hR-hJ3Z4qFWxYtMiOeC_Q2aj5vijwEfYg0rRQnmujz2HcpaTiiI_yZ9RW2N561VU95dnpbQ1SEzXs8AJz8KZ5udmJeiI/s200/Finders+Keepers.JPG" width="133" /></a></div>
Book Title: Finders Keepers: The Definitive Edition<br />
Author: Russ Colchamiro<br />
Category: Adult Fiction<br />
Pages: 310 pages<br />
Genre: SciFi/Fantasy<br />
Publisher: Crazy 8 Press<br />
Release Date: <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;">October 17, 2018</span><br />
Edition: Ebook<br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;">Content Rating</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;">: </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;">PG-13 + M</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;"> (A few f-bombs, and mild sex scenes + some casual drinking/pot smoking) </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">FTC Disclosure: I received this book for free in exchange for a fair and honest review. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><b>Description: </b></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">In the spirit of The Good Place, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, author Russ Colchamiro has gone back to the future to deliver his wildest, funniest novel yet--the new and updated Sci-Fi/Fantasy tale Finders Keepers: The Definitive Edition.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">When a jar containing the Universe's DNA falls from Eternity, bumbling backpackers Jason and Theo find their loyalties--and sanity!--put to the test. Unaware that a motley crew from another realm is chasing them across the globe to retrieve that radioactive vessel, these intrepid new friends are forced to contend with passion, responsibility, and their own mortality--and the fate of the Solar System, which hangs in the balance. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Traversing Europe, New Zealand, and the backbone of Eternity, Finders Keepers: The Definitive Edition ultimately asks one simple question: Is the life you're living the life you actually want . . . or does the Universe have more to offer than you can possibly imagine?</span></span><div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><b>Thoughts: </b></span></span><span style="color: #181818;">I really didn’t like this book, as I felt it was more of a chore than anything to read it. I felt that that there were a lot of things that I didn’t like about the book. The first thing was that I didn’t really find it funny. I had one small chuckle at one point during the read, but it seemed rather mundane for the most part. Secondly I felt that the plot of the book was all over the place and there were too many characters. I have read The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and that book was more polished and coherent than this one. For example, the book didn’t keep you with one set of characters for large periods of time and I wouldn’t get a sense of what the book was about. I would read about one set of characters for a bit and then a few chapters later, would read about another set of characters and that switch to yet another set of characters a few chapters down the line. I realize that the book is part of a series, but the number of characters in the book was way too much and too hard to keep track of to the point that I couldn’t tell who was who for the most part. The author needed to have a better editor that would make the book tighter and more readable and therefore more readable.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818;">It also needed to be shorter in terms of page length. If the book was at least 50 pages shorter, it would be a better read. There was too much to keep track to comprehend it properly.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818;">I can see where the author is going with it and while it’s a good idea, I doubt I am going to continue with the series.</span></div>
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<strong style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Buy the Book:<br /><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Finders-Keepers-Definitive-Russ-Colchamiro/dp/0998364126" style="color: rgb(36, 103, 141) !important; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">Amazon</a> ~ <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/finders-keepers-russ-colchamiro/1129757514?ean=9780998364124" style="color: rgb(36, 103, 141) !important; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">Barnes & Noble</a><br /><a href="https://play.playster.com/books/10009781386996286/finders-keepers-the-definitive-edition-russ-colchamiro" style="color: rgb(36, 103, 141) !important; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">Playster</a> ~ <a href="https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/finders-keepers-the-definitive-edition" style="color: rgb(36, 103, 141) !important; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">Kobo</a> ~ <a href="https://www.24symbols.com/book/x/x/x?id=2965906" style="color: rgb(36, 103, 141) !important; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">24symbols</a><br /><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42416380-finders-keepers?from_search=true" style="color: rgb(36, 103, 141) !important; outline: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">Add to Goodreads</a></span></strong></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk_Kp9qg3VlBT9JshtSOYpBw23QBW0ZKktZRugt1HJyupVK7QDsutiLPXjLQJxysxTzqn7bTOCo7mxpD9Lpi2OpxNJywBbmEx_NQpPVZbQVPk6h9lUbScpCzFMuLCXypbaB9X1jVoaYmdK/s1600/Russ+Colchamiro.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="409" data-original-width="265" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk_Kp9qg3VlBT9JshtSOYpBw23QBW0ZKktZRugt1HJyupVK7QDsutiLPXjLQJxysxTzqn7bTOCo7mxpD9Lpi2OpxNJywBbmEx_NQpPVZbQVPk6h9lUbScpCzFMuLCXypbaB9X1jVoaYmdK/s320/Russ+Colchamiro.jpeg" width="207" /></a></div>
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<strong style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Meet the Author:</span></strong><br style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;">Russ Colchamiro is the author of the rollicking space opera, </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 16px; position: relative; text-align: justify;">Crossline</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;">, the zany SF/F backpacking comedy series </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 16px; position: relative; text-align: justify;">Finders Keepers, Genius de Milo</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;">, and </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 16px; position: relative; text-align: justify;">Astropalooza</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;">, and is editor of the SF anthology </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 16px; position: relative; text-align: justify;">Love, Murder & Mayhem</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;">, all with Crazy 8 Press.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;">Russ lives in New Jersey with his wife, two children, and crazy dog, Simon, who may in fact be an alien himself.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;">Russ has also contributed to several other anthologies, including </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 16px; position: relative; text-align: justify;">Tales of the Crimson Keep, Pangaea, Altered States of the Union, Camelot 13, TV Gods 2, They Keep Killing Glenn,</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;"> and </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 16px; position: relative; text-align: justify;">Brave New Girls. </em><span style="background-color: white; color: #515151; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;">Russ is repped by The Zack Company.<br /><br /><strong>Connect with Russ: <a href="https://russcolchamiro.com/" style="color: rgb(36, 103, 141) !important; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">Website</a> ~ <a href="https://twitter.com/authorduderuss?lang=en" style="color: rgb(36, 103, 141) !important; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">Twitter</a> ~ <a href="https://www.facebook.com/RussColchamiroAuthor/" style="color: rgb(36, 103, 141) !important; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">Facebook</a> ~ <a href="https://www.instagram.com/authorduderuss/" style="color: rgb(36, 103, 141) !important; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">Instagram</a></strong></span></div>
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Melissa Wiebehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02657787882718834484noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4852143246781962436.post-3797098848114256322018-11-23T11:33:00.000-08:002018-11-23T11:33:12.952-08:00#csreadathon and 2018 Christmas Spirit Reading Challenge<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-HhRN5TOG8CqQlmbFmaypLpa1x7fXVqA_arNF2tcWcIv52YweC_unn7YY_k8tp3cfYg-fdNi09ijMEXiKyOew7pxr-BE2CZx-L7aRdjhggdDegfSUPjIb3Ta-2x620gk9mb6qNPigODuI/s1600/i.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="426" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-HhRN5TOG8CqQlmbFmaypLpa1x7fXVqA_arNF2tcWcIv52YweC_unn7YY_k8tp3cfYg-fdNi09ijMEXiKyOew7pxr-BE2CZx-L7aRdjhggdDegfSUPjIb3Ta-2x620gk9mb6qNPigODuI/s320/i.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
As you can see I am signing up for both the Christmas Spirit Readathon and Reading Challenge at the same time. <br />
<br />
For the readathon, I am going to read A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny and Washington Black by Esi Eugyan and the new Christmas book by Debbi MacComber.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfzfPpsnYbaLrzj5QIEEMUE0jszbeiHychQs5XGnbSLUtCRDbr__Bce6bLd8p0ctwV7C9XeW3rf1AsVdq29VBbJLH6eOM_GX4RyK_MWekyyRqunVv5tNftPIwEHGVrs54eAJuDxb311dxI/s1600/xmas+spirit+challenge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="266" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfzfPpsnYbaLrzj5QIEEMUE0jszbeiHychQs5XGnbSLUtCRDbr__Bce6bLd8p0ctwV7C9XeW3rf1AsVdq29VBbJLH6eOM_GX4RyK_MWekyyRqunVv5tNftPIwEHGVrs54eAJuDxb311dxI/s320/xmas+spirit+challenge.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
For the reading challenge I am to attempt the Christmas Tree level and Fa La La La Films<br />
<br />
You can find more information at the <a href="https://truexmasspirit.blogspot.com/2018/11/2018-christmas-spirit-reading-challenge.html" target="_blank">Christmas Spirit</a> blog.Melissa Wiebehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02657787882718834484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4852143246781962436.post-2167743065311227012018-11-22T12:48:00.001-08:002018-11-22T12:48:19.393-08:00Thankfully Reading 2018 #thankfullyreading<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzZUwzI6egmdSbW2s_j14cxyYfTb0AOZrxWFgyzwYa56uw9RP8LnuWnYGcaE6P5uOKbCnh6FoAXdTvj_kJpcGGO8eHZlZNIKPVSIuP1nuMjwtSSsPiydaMs8qtDtCi7Jq2UnI4EHremYBo/s1600/ThankfullyReading.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="219" data-original-width="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzZUwzI6egmdSbW2s_j14cxyYfTb0AOZrxWFgyzwYa56uw9RP8LnuWnYGcaE6P5uOKbCnh6FoAXdTvj_kJpcGGO8eHZlZNIKPVSIuP1nuMjwtSSsPiydaMs8qtDtCi7Jq2UnI4EHremYBo/s1600/ThankfullyReading.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
I realize that this is late, but I am joining the Thankfully Reading Weekend.Melissa Wiebehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02657787882718834484noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4852143246781962436.post-54325399424156617082018-08-18T16:00:00.001-07:002018-08-18T16:00:34.444-07:00China Rich Girlfriend - Kevin Kwan<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Title: China Rich Girlfriend (Crazy Rich Asians #2)<br />
Author: Kevin Kwan<br />
Published: 2015<br />
Pages: 400<br />
Genre: Contemporary Fiction<br />
Edition: Hardcover<br />
Source: Library<br />
<br />
<b>Description: </b><br /><span id="freeText2584935800358004000">On the eve of her
wedding to Nicholas Young, heir to one of the greatest fortunes in Asia,
Rachel should be over-the-moon. She has a flawless Asscher cut diamond
from JAR, a wedding dress she loves more than anything found in the
salons of Paris, and a fiancée willing to sacrifice his entire
inheritance in order to marry her. But Rachel still mourns the fact that
her birthfather, a man she never knew, won't be able to walk her down
the aisle. Until: a shocking revelation draws Rachel in to a world of
Shanghai splendor beyond anything she has ever imagined. Here we meet
Carlton, a Ferrari-crashing bad boy known for Prince Harry-like antics;
Colette, a celebrity girlfriend chased by fevered paparazzi; and the man
Rachel has spent her entire life waiting to meet: her father.
Meanwhile, Singapore's It Girl Astrid Leong is shocked to discover that
there is a downside to having a newly-minted Tech Billionaire husband. (via Goodreads)</span><br />
<br />
<b>Thoughts: </b>While I enjoyed this book, I didn't enjoy the book as much as I did the first one in the series. It took me longer to get into the book and I really didn't get the point of it. I really didn't like the focus on Kitty but when the book focused more on Rachel and Nick, I felt that the book was better. <br />
<b> </b><br />
<b>Bottom line: </b>I felt it was a decent sequel to the first book Crazy Rich Asians, but it suffered from what most second books do in that it was flat in areas. Sure there were areas that were funny, but it didn't have the introduction that Crazy Rich Asians had and it didn't really wrap any of the lingering story lines that the third book will likely have. And yes, I will be reading the final book in the series.<br />
<br />
<b>Rating: </b>3.5/5Melissa Wiebehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02657787882718834484noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4852143246781962436.post-10775615930138835552018-08-10T10:26:00.000-07:002018-08-10T10:26:23.883-07:00Bellevue Square - Michael Redhill<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNMQuoJJ-otYIdIibW1vSJBmPdH-vBQjPsOk4UUmeX_cRoSAY1K9pVQeAbYBGkw1qsbMiwWpUP8aLFaO9844CS-hXFZ_Sfpxe6C5afFsPwTl-dZhK1wXihxmakVOPSopjMhtmyaLIMxwyf/s1600/33595663.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNMQuoJJ-otYIdIibW1vSJBmPdH-vBQjPsOk4UUmeX_cRoSAY1K9pVQeAbYBGkw1qsbMiwWpUP8aLFaO9844CS-hXFZ_Sfpxe6C5afFsPwTl-dZhK1wXihxmakVOPSopjMhtmyaLIMxwyf/s200/33595663.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>
Title: Bellevue Square<br />
Author: Michael Redhill<br />
Pages: 262<br />
Published: 2017<br />
Awards: Scotiabank Giller Prize (2017)<br />
Genre: Fiction<br />
Edition: e-book<br />
Source: Personal Library<br />
<br />
<b>Description: </b><span id="freeText9907303588134898656">From award-winning and
bestselling author Michael Redhill comes a darkly comic literary
thriller about a woman who fears for her sanity--and then her life--when
she learns that her doppelganger has appeared in a local park. <br /><br />Jean
Mason has a doppelganger. At least, that's what people tell her.
Apparently it hangs out in Kensington Market, where it sometimes buys
churros and shops for hats. Jean doesn't rattle easy, not like she used
to. She's a grown woman with a husband and two kids, as well as a
thriving business, and Toronto is a fresh start for the whole family.
She certainly doesn't want to get involved in anything dubious, but
still . . . why would two different strangers swear up and down they'd
just seen her--with shorter hair furthermore? <br /><br />Jean's curiosity
quickly gets the better of her, and she visits the market, but sees no
one who looks like her. The next day, she goes back to look again. And
the day after that. Before she knows it, she's spending an hour here, an
afternoon there, watching, taking notes, obsessing and getting scared.
With the aid of a small army of locals who hang around in the market's
only park, she expands her surveillance, making it known she'll pay for
information or sightings. A peculiar collection of drug addicts, scam
artists, philanthropists, philosophers and vagrants--the regulars of
Bellevue Square--are eager to contribute to Jean's investigation. But
when some of them start disappearing, it becomes apparent that her
alleged double has a sinister agenda. Unless Jean stops her, she and
everyone she cares about will face a fate stranger than death. (via Goodreads)</span><br />
<span id="freeText9907303588134898656"><br /></span>
<span id="freeText9907303588134898656"><b>Thoughts: </b>I had purchased this book back in late 2017 after it had won the Giller Prize last fall. I bought it because it had won a literary award, not because I was interested in the book, and because it was something I had kept returning to the library unread. So fast forward to July of this year when my library book club picked this book as the book to read for our August meeting and I thought great; I can get one off my TBR pile</span><br />
<span id="freeText9907303588134898656"><br /></span>
<span id="freeText9907303588134898656">Well, I really didn't like it. The writing was very good and very descriptive, but quite honestly I couldn't quite get the story that the author was trying to tell. It felt convoluted, but I guess when you have a brain tumor, you do get convoluted and since this is to be part of a trilogy, maybe the answers will eventually come. I just had a hard time understanding what the premise of the story was and therefore didn't really enjoy it.</span><br />
<span id="freeText9907303588134898656"><br /></span>
<span id="freeText9907303588134898656"><b>Bottom line: </b>While the writing is good, I just didn't understand the story. The book really needs a reread at some point, but with books that I probably will enjoy more on my TBR list, I don't see myself getting back to this book, unless I am on a trip somewhere where I am desperate for a book. </span><br />
<span id="freeText9907303588134898656"><br /></span>
<span id="freeText9907303588134898656">If you enjoy books where the protangist is a bit loopy and trying to discern what is and isn't real, then I would recommend it.</span><br />
<span id="freeText9907303588134898656"><br /></span>
<span id="freeText9907303588134898656"><b>Rating: </b>2.75/5</span>Melissa Wiebehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02657787882718834484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4852143246781962436.post-47130791239711400722018-08-06T14:47:00.003-07:002018-08-06T14:53:29.882-07:00Bout of Books 23<div class="bout-of-books-button" style="margin: 0 auto; width: 200px;">
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<a href="http://boutofbooks.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><br /><img alt="Bout of Books" height="200" src="https://i.imgur.com/3PKyE93.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<br />
Well it is that time again and I am planning on doing this this time around, as I haven't done the last few for whatever reason.<br />
<br />
If you have forgotten what it is, here is an explanation:<br />
<br />
The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly
Rubidoux Apple. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am
Monday, August 20th and runs through Sunday, August 26th in whatever
time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are
challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are
completely optional. <b>For all Bout of Books 23 information and updates, be sure to visit the <a href="http://boutofbooks.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Bout of Books</a> blog. </b>- From the Bout of Books team<br />
<br />
If you can join me, that will be great and you will need to sign up over at their site.<br />
<br />
As for the books that I will be working on then, I don't really know, but I should have a list up the weekend before the read-a-thon starts.<br />
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If you wish to follow me during the readathon, I will be tweeting reading updates on my main twitter account, @melissawiebe.<br />
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Happy reading! Melissa Wiebehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02657787882718834484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4852143246781962436.post-59726354358025209352018-08-01T17:10:00.000-07:002018-08-01T17:10:19.972-07:00Heart Berries: A Memoir - Terese Marie Mailhot<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBRa3UHWOZNEptBfJbJ-qSxuGoXv1ofBJzxstP3fsEcgoLZO7hBQuBPr5S-GZowzRHw4RrsOHkwTcPoniyZdEMAyi4EJVXgAoHvh8dThydzEaZ8E8dQGhrUK7BR-JIr6TwhBMortYscBYo/s1600/35631383.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="446" data-original-width="318" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBRa3UHWOZNEptBfJbJ-qSxuGoXv1ofBJzxstP3fsEcgoLZO7hBQuBPr5S-GZowzRHw4RrsOHkwTcPoniyZdEMAyi4EJVXgAoHvh8dThydzEaZ8E8dQGhrUK7BR-JIr6TwhBMortYscBYo/s200/35631383.jpg" width="142" /></a></div>
Title: Heart Berries: A Memoir<br />
Author: Terese Marie Mailhot* <br />
Pages: 160<br />
Genre: Non-fiction, Biography, Memoir<br />
Edition: Hardcover<br />
Source: Library:<br />
<br />
<b>Description: </b><br /><b><span id="freeText5859278985439661543"><i>Heart Berries </i>is a
powerful, poetic memoir of a woman's coming of age </span></b><span id="freeText5859278985439661543">on the Seabird
Island Indian Reservation in British Columbia. Having survived a
profoundly dysfunctional upbringing only to find herself hospitalized
and facing a dual diagnosis of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and
Bipolar II, Terese Mailhot is given a notebook and begins to write her
way out of trauma. The triumphant result is <i>Heart Berries</i>, a
memorial for Mailhot's mother, a social worker and activist who had a
thing for prisoners; a story of reconciliation with her father--an
abusive drunk and a brilliant artist--who was murdered under mysterious
circumstances; and an elegy on how difficult it is to love someone while
dragging the long shadows of shame.<br /><br />Mailhot "trusts the reader
to understand that memory isn't exact, but melded to imagination, pain
and what we can bring ourselves to accept." Her unique and at times
unsettling voice graphically illustrates her mental state. As she
writes, she discovers her own true voice, seizes control of her story
and, in so doing, reestablishes her connection to her family, to her
people and to her place in the world. (via Goodreads)</span><b>
</b><br />
<br />
<b>Thoughts: </b>I really enjoyed this straightforward memoir of Ms. Mailhot's life up until this point. While the book isn't presented in a straightforward manner, it is straightforward in that you know what she is talking about in each chapter, as each chapter has a certain focus.<br />
<b> </b><br />
I also liked that she didn't sugarcoat her life in British Columbia (she grew up on the Seabird Island Indian Reservation not far from where I grew up and live; it is probably about an hour drive from my place) and that she acknowledges her dysfunctional as a cause for her depression.<br />
<b></b><br />
<b>Bottom line: </b>It is very short (under 200 pages) and very poignant. Warnings for description of suicide among other things. Highly recommended.<br />
<br />
<b>Rating: </b>4.25/5<br />
<br />
* the copy I had didn't include the introduction nor the afterwordMelissa Wiebehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02657787882718834484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4852143246781962436.post-29628996905735206052018-07-31T19:11:00.000-07:002018-07-31T19:11:28.324-07:00Providence - Caroline Kepnes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Title: Providence<br />
Author: Caroline Kepnes<br />
Pages: 384<br />
Published: 2018<br />
Genre: Thriller, Mystery<br />
Edition: Hardcover<br />
Source: Library<br />
<br />
<b>Description: </b><br /><span id="freeText13498163599645548153">G</span><span id="freeText13498163599645548153">rowing up as best
friends in small-town New Hampshire, Jon and Chloe are the only ones who
truly understand each other, though they can never find the words to
tell one another the depth of their feelings. When Jon is finally ready
to confess his feelings, he's suddenly kidnapped by his substitute
teacher who is obsessed with H.P. Lovecraft and has a plot to save
humanity.<br /><br />Mourning the disappearance of Jon and facing the
reality he may never return, Chloe tries to navigate the rites of
entering young adulthood and "fit in" with the popular crowd, but
thoughts of Jon are never far away. <br /><br />When Jon finally escapes, he
discovers he now has an uncontrollable power that endangers anyone he
has intense feelings for. He runs away to protect Chloe and find the
answers to his new identity--but he's soon being tracked by a detective
who is fascinated by a series of vigilante killings that appear
connected. (via <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35226186-providence" target="_blank">Goodreads)</a></span><br />
<br />
<b>Thoughts: </b>I had high hopes for this book. Had heard from a podcast that this was one to read this summer and I honestly I wasn't really impressed. Honestly I felt very confused with the plot of the book and even by the end of the book, I couldn't really figure out what the big mystery was or even what the book was about. It could have been that I left the book for a couple of weeks before I finished it, but still I could never seem to figure it out what Jon's power was.<br />
<b> </b><br />
<b>Bottom Line: </b>Didn't really understand the plot of the book. Maybe it was that the main characters were at least 15 years younger than me or maybe it was the genre. I really don't know. If you like urban fantasy/thrillers, you might enjoy it.<br />
<br />
<b>Rating: </b>2.75/5Melissa Wiebehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02657787882718834484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4852143246781962436.post-51762450657039714402018-07-27T19:55:00.002-07:002018-07-27T19:55:24.034-07:00Update on blog reviews<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I hope you can understand my reasoning.Melissa Wiebehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02657787882718834484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4852143246781962436.post-46489409155665047372018-03-02T00:10:00.000-08:002018-03-02T00:10:03.443-08:00Waking Isabella - Melissa Muldoon<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCgZOVhsPmFeCKtdTy8DDENDNFN9-Mw5gqryhWfFTLKoeYNDSS7kPfF46YP4hAax4A-S_bI7169EK3hdcDZRXyXJM5PdcdOzJkMvzZVd7Tt2c7nyrR00dPa-8szYAxBwO_Iva1HuDnHdAm/s1600/Waking+Isabella.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="759" data-original-width="500" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCgZOVhsPmFeCKtdTy8DDENDNFN9-Mw5gqryhWfFTLKoeYNDSS7kPfF46YP4hAax4A-S_bI7169EK3hdcDZRXyXJM5PdcdOzJkMvzZVd7Tt2c7nyrR00dPa-8szYAxBwO_Iva1HuDnHdAm/s200/Waking+Isabella.jpg" width="131" /></a></div>
<u>Book Title</u>: Waking Isabella: Because beauty can't sleep forever by Melissa Muldoon<br />
<u>Category</u>: Adult Fiction, 250 pages<br />
<u>Genre</u>: General Fiction<br />
<u>Publisher</u>: Matta Press<br />
<u>Release date</u>: December 2017<br />
<u>Content Rating</u>: PG-13 + M (<span>The
story begins with violent rape and murder scene, touches on themes of
miscarriage, murder, Nazi violence during war, adultery)</span><br />
<span>FTC Disclosure: I received this book for free in exchange for a fair and honest review. </span><br />
<br />
<span><b>Description: </b></span><span><span><em>Waking Isabella</em> is a story about uncovering hidden beauty
that, over time, has been lost, erased, or suppressed. It also weaves
together several love stories as well as a few mysteries. Nora, an
assistant researcher, is a catalyst for resolving the puzzle of a
painting that has been missing for decades. Set in Arezzo, a small
Tuscan town, the plot unfolds against the backdrop of the city’s antique
trade and the fanfare and pageantry of its medieval jousting festival.
While filming a documentary about Isabella de’ Medici—the Renaissance
princess who was murdered by her husband—Nora begins to connect with the
lives of two remarkable women from the past. Unraveling the stories of
Isabella, the daughter of a fifteenth-century Tuscan duke, and
Margherita, a young girl trying to survive the war in Nazi-occupied
Italy, Nora begins to question the choices that have shaped her own life
up to this point. As she does, hidden beauty is awakened deep inside of
her, and she discovers the keys to her creativity and happiness. It is a
story of love and deceit, forgeries and masterpieces—all held together
by the allure and intrigue of a beautiful Tuscan ghost.</span></span><br />
<span><span><br /></span></span>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Having read
Ms. Muldoon’s previous book Dreaming Sophia, I was really excited when I saw a
tour for a book by her again and was really intrigued with what this book was
going to be about.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">While the
book started a little slow, the book definitely picked up steam as the book
made its way through the storyline.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
particularly liked the parts about hiding the art work, as I had really enjoyed
the movie The Monuments Men when it came out a number of years ago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also consider myself to be a bit of a fan
girl when it comes to art and anything to do with the de Medici’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So this book was right in my wheelhouse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I
particularly liked how the relationship between Nora and Luca develops and that
it wasn’t too hasty and that it seemed to be at a pace that seemed to be fairly
realistic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some will say that it was
maybe a little too fast, but sometimes when the right person comes along, a
relationship develops a little quicker.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I am looking
forward to Ms. Muldoon’s next offering.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span><span><b>Bottom Line: </b>I really enjoyed the book, despite the
slowness of the start. If you enjoy stories about Italy or the
Renaissance or about art work, you will likely enjoy this book. Highly
recommended. </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Rating: </b>4.5/5</span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilyfrZsO1lsQSoGUfmcyiD64mVt2fDMY0_ErkipUtEtTWvvuZX_NaTdwCLEc_8ZHVr8ijB-KMyabZWJ2OzvO5THNdRWW_tyfH8qtLapseH86VgCkunHUZ5iE-zzI4DVtizUHFcnumF4sMN/s1600/Melissa+Muldoon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="419" data-original-width="409" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilyfrZsO1lsQSoGUfmcyiD64mVt2fDMY0_ErkipUtEtTWvvuZX_NaTdwCLEc_8ZHVr8ijB-KMyabZWJ2OzvO5THNdRWW_tyfH8qtLapseH86VgCkunHUZ5iE-zzI4DVtizUHFcnumF4sMN/s320/Melissa+Muldoon.jpg" width="312" /></a></div>
<br />
<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Meet the Author:</span></strong><br />
<br />
Melissa Muldoon is the Studentessa Matta—the crazy linguist! In Italian,
“matta” means “crazy” or “impassioned.” Melissa has a B.A. in fine
arts, art history and European history from Knox College, a liberal arts
college in Galesburg, Illinois, as well as a master’s degree in art
history from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. She has
also studied painting and art history in Florence.<br />
<br />
Melissa promotes the study of Italian language and culture through her
dual-language blog, Studentessa Matta (studentessamatta.com). Melissa
began the Matta blog to improve her command of the language and to
connect with other language learners. It has since grown to include a
podcast, “Tutti Matti per l’Italiano,” and the Studentessa Matta YouTube
channel. Melissa also created Matta Italian Language Immersion Tours,
which she co-leads with Italian partners in Italy.<br />
<br />
<em>Waking Isabella</em> is Melissa’s second novel and follows <em>Dreaming Sophia</em>,
published in 2016. In this new novel about Italy, the reader is taken
on another art history adventure, inspired by Melissa’s experiences
living and traveling in Italy, specifically Arezzo, as well as her
familiarity with the language and art. For more information about Waking
Isabella and links to Melissa’s blogs and social media sites, visit
www.MelissaMuldoon.com.<br />
<br />
As a student, Melissa lived in Florence with an Italian family. She
studied art history and painting and took beginner Italian classes. When
she returned home, she threw away her Italian dictionary, assuming
she’d never need it again, but after launching a successful design
career and starting a family, she realized something was missing in her
life. That “thing” was the connection she had made with Italy and the
friends who live there. Living in Florence was indeed a life-changing
event. Wanting to reconnect with Italy, she decided to start learning
the language again from scratch. As if indeed possessed by an Italian
muse, she bought a new Italian dictionary and began her journey to
fluency—a path that has led her back to Italy many times and enriched
her life in countless ways. Now, many dictionaries and grammar books
later, she dedicates her time to promoting Italian language studies,
further travels in Italy, and sharing her stories and insights about
Italy with others. When Melissa is not traveling in Italy, she lives in
the San Francisco Bay Area.<br />
<br />
Melissa designed and illustrated the cover art for <em>Waking Isabella</em> and <em>Dreaming Sophia</em>. She also curates the <em>Dreaming Sophia</em>
blog and Pinterest site: The Art of Loving Italy. Please visit the
Pinterest page for pictures of Arezzo, the Giostra del Saracino, and all
the places we go in Italy in both books. Visit MelissaMuldoon.com for
more information about immersion trips to learn the language with
Melissa in Italy, as well as the Studentessa Matta blog for practice and
tips to learn the Italian language.<br />
<br />
<strong>Connect with Melissa:<a href="http://melissamuldoon.com/" target="_blank">Website</a> ~ <a href="https://twitter.com/italiamelissa?lang=en" target="_blank">Twitter</a> ~ <a href="https://www.facebook.com/studentessamatta" target="_blank">Facebook</a> ~ <a href="https://www.pinterest.com/dreamingsophia/" target="_blank">Pinterest</a> ~ <a href="https://www.instagram.com/studentessamatta/" target="_blank">Instagram</a> ~ <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCepTyLosRahpE0OpyLywYqw" target="_blank">Youtube</a></strong><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPCIrelPO48Y-6YFe9Wvea-7b8FprqVMsLRu-chxiPGya1sGhraYAoGYNoEC8bCZvkndLuYzX9wUTWd8G9oaDnAQgvRWy2lr7aDNR-ArfyHQUs5SJYY7TdnLlLi3nm_DneZhTMx1N9dUpe/s1600/Italy+Book+Tours+Logo+jpeg+225+pixels.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="100" data-original-width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPCIrelPO48Y-6YFe9Wvea-7b8FprqVMsLRu-chxiPGya1sGhraYAoGYNoEC8bCZvkndLuYzX9wUTWd8G9oaDnAQgvRWy2lr7aDNR-ArfyHQUs5SJYY7TdnLlLi3nm_DneZhTMx1N9dUpe/s1600/Italy+Book+Tours+Logo+jpeg+225+pixels.jpg" /></a></div>
Melissa Wiebehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02657787882718834484noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4852143246781962436.post-3382124133497054552018-02-28T20:24:00.000-08:002018-02-28T20:24:55.992-08:00The Company Files: 1. The Good Man - Gabriel Valjan<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxBhbnZyVJKQbsz8B1j59MJ7C6lKNaXVOOB2vYDSjlRxg6LneXuidWz_F-QGi1yfMXl3kFdOWV5N_ARCGbzWZwrpXrNqNdBQpIQ0PzeNHg5bSKPbnM9A9Lxe8DNWM-Vs641TdI_WJixsSG/s1600/The+Good+Man+by+Gabriel+Valjan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxBhbnZyVJKQbsz8B1j59MJ7C6lKNaXVOOB2vYDSjlRxg6LneXuidWz_F-QGi1yfMXl3kFdOWV5N_ARCGbzWZwrpXrNqNdBQpIQ0PzeNHg5bSKPbnM9A9Lxe8DNWM-Vs641TdI_WJixsSG/s200/The+Good+Man+by+Gabriel+Valjan.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>
<div dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-6451890f-dfc6-c4f9-9bc1-ce227a8bc05a" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Book Title: The Company Files: 1. The Good Man by Gabriel Valjan</span></span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Category: Adult Fiction, 251 pages</span></span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Genre: Thriller, Historical Fiction, Crime Fiction, Espionage</span></span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Publisher: Winter Goose Publishing</span></span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Release date: December 2017</span></span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tour dates: Feb 12 to March 2, 2018</span></span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Content Rating: PG + M (No bad language but there is an attempted rape scene, and some violence.)</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Description: </b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><span id="docs-internal-guid-6451890f-dfc7-d5d1-a84b-c2388b2acdae" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In 1948, Vienna was divided among four powers: France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Jack Marshall had served with Walker during the war, and now, working together for The Company, they are tasked to do the inconceivable. Could former Nazis really be recruited to assist the U.S. in the atomic race? As their team moves forward, they quickly discover they are not the only ones looking for these men. And the others in the search may just have the objective of murder.</span></b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><span id="docs-internal-guid-6451890f-dfc7-d5d1-a84b-c2388b2acdae" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-6451890f-dfc7-fe10-530a-5c57ee9abed3" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In this tale of historical noir, of corruption and deceit, no one is who they say they are. Who is The Good Man in a world where an enemy may be a friend, an ally may be the enemy, and governments deny everything?</span> </span></b> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Thoughts: </b> </span></span></span><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</xml><![endif]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">To simply put it, I found this book to be a bit of a
slog.<span> </span>It had nothing at all to do with
the writing by the author, but mainly had to do with the content of the
book.<span> </span>While I do enjoy a thriller or
mystery from time to time, I found it difficult to get any sort of rhythm with
the book.<span> </span>And while it was an intriguing
book and the end of the book was easier to get through, as there was more
action going on in the book, I found that I was slogging through the book and
not really enjoying the book.<span> </span>I felt
that the author spent a little too much time in the quiet moments and that
there wasn’t enough action.<span> </span>Maybe
because I am used to similar movies to be a little more action oriented and
that maybe was why I didn’t really connect with the book.
</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">On the plus side, it is clear that the author has worked on
this book, as I didn’t find any really major errors in terms of grammar or
keeping the story line going or creating well-crafted characters.<span> </span>It just wasn’t my cup of tea.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Bottom line: </b>I found it to be a well-done book, but it just wasn't to my own personal liking.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Rating: </b>3/5 </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-6451890f-dfcc-a33f-2789-901ddf40bde9" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><b>Connect with the Author: <a href="http://www.gabrielvaljan.com/" target="_blank">Website</a> ~ <a href="https://twitter.com/gvaljan?lang=en" target="_blank">Twitter</a> ~ <a href="https://www.pinterest.com/GValjan/" target="_blank">Pinterest</a></b></span></span></span></span><br />
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Melissa Wiebehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02657787882718834484noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4852143246781962436.post-62571566387390784092017-11-25T15:03:00.000-08:002017-11-25T15:04:13.398-08:00Venetian Blood - Christine Evelyn Volker<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0NR-0vuRpwZv5UYU2TbM5pBLk9WwJ2ZwhRQvefLtLc4JnhqO6U_l238zG3lmlzvPy8mRQX00ktjm_l1PAlB5M9a2lJdf9yU_udnc_s_4Ud4zAzkZLX9gaZx4ojz0eA4h2ciLd7dnt9QEN/s1600/35801380.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="259" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0NR-0vuRpwZv5UYU2TbM5pBLk9WwJ2ZwhRQvefLtLc4JnhqO6U_l238zG3lmlzvPy8mRQX00ktjm_l1PAlB5M9a2lJdf9yU_udnc_s_4Ud4zAzkZLX9gaZx4ojz0eA4h2ciLd7dnt9QEN/s200/35801380.jpg" width="129" /></a></div>
Title: Venetian Blood: Murder in a Sensuous City<br />
Author: Christine Evelyn Volker<br />
Pages: 329<br />
Published: 2017<br />
Genre: Mystery<br />
Edition: E-book<br />
Source: Personal library<br />
<br />
<b>Description: </b><span id="freeText17556373966507151256">To escape a failing
marriage, Anna Lucia Lottol goes to Venice to visit an old friend-and
becomes a suspect in a brutal murder echoing a gruesome homicide that
happened decades ago. Fearful of foreign justice and hoping to prove her
innocence, she gathers clues before the real murderer comes for her. At
the climax of her journey, she discovers a secret that will change her
life. (via Goodreads)</span><br />
<span id="freeText17556373966507151256"><br /></span>
<span id="freeText17556373966507151256"><b>Thoughts: </b>I really enjoyed the engrossing nature of the book, but for whatever reason I just was unable to connect with the book in a way that I really wanted to. Partly I think it was that I felt that the beginning of the book happened a little too quick for my liking and I didn't like that there wasn't a set up for the murder. As a result, I felt lost from the get go, even though by the end of the book I was able to connect better with the story.</span><br />
<span id="freeText17556373966507151256"><br /></span>
<span id="freeText17556373966507151256">As I read the book, I really struggled to understand what was going on and therefore I struggled at time to get through it.</span><br />
<span id="freeText17556373966507151256"><span id="freeText17556373966507151256">Part of the reason that
I disappointed with the book and had frustrations with reading it was
that I had different expectations of the story that were clearly not
there. </span></span><br />
<span id="freeText17556373966507151256"><br /></span>
<span id="freeText17556373966507151256">But I did enjoy the description of Venice itself and felt as though I was there in the city myself, even though I have never been to Venice myself. I also liked that it wasn't just your standard mystery; there was emotional depth to the book and created empathy for Anna and how she wanted to move on with her life and have the ghosts of her past disappear.</span><br />
<br />
<span id="freeText17556373966507151256"><b>Bottom line: </b>It was an okay read, as there were time that the book dragged itself along, but there were also times that the book was engaging. I felt that the ending could have been a few pages shorter. But overall it was a decent read and something that may need a re-read in the future. Recommended.</span><br />
<span id="freeText17556373966507151256"><br /></span>
<span id="freeText17556373966507151256"><b>Rating: </b>3/5</span>Melissa Wiebehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02657787882718834484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4852143246781962436.post-4583328959737774552017-11-23T00:07:00.001-08:002017-11-23T00:07:09.508-08:002017 Thankfully Reading Weekend<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg82WIq42w19DQyhyphenhyphenrkKdvMRhTHEoRgJoeux7jYLMUeHHcSo0otC5NfIy-nS4N7WUf4NPtOHEwbzbfeVJNxTX-2uGohKx35AE3d1OLK6oJiTHJGKdLrC9iGjBTtufcFfFpxnBD8uZZqStJu/s1600/ThankfullyReading.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="219" data-original-width="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg82WIq42w19DQyhyphenhyphenrkKdvMRhTHEoRgJoeux7jYLMUeHHcSo0otC5NfIy-nS4N7WUf4NPtOHEwbzbfeVJNxTX-2uGohKx35AE3d1OLK6oJiTHJGKdLrC9iGjBTtufcFfFpxnBD8uZZqStJu/s1600/ThankfullyReading.jpg" /></a></div>
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<br />
<br />
<br />
I am going to do this again, since I have most of the weekend off (have bookclub on Saturday and a shift at my job on Sunday).<br />
<br />
I am going to work a few books, but mainly Venetian Blood by Christine Evelyn Volker and Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese. I will also read Outlander. <br />
<br />
I will read a combination of print and ebook, but mainly print.<br />
<br />
Hope you all have a great weekend of reading.<br />
Melissa Wiebehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02657787882718834484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4852143246781962436.post-52768869481958617382017-11-03T01:16:00.001-07:002017-11-03T01:19:35.835-07:00Wanderers No More - Michelle Saftich <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Title: Wanderers No More (Port of No Return Book 2)<br />
Author: Michelle Saftich<br />
Pages: 303<br />
Published: 2017<br />
Genre: Historical Fiction<br />
Edition: E-Book<br />
Source: <span class="a-size-base review-text" data-hook="review-body">I chose to read this book after receiving a free copy. All opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased.</span><br />
<br />
<span class="a-size-base review-text" data-hook="review-body"><b>Description: </b></span><span class="a-size-base review-text" data-hook="review-body"><span id="freeText6550460727264416606">The war may be over, but the fight to belong is just beginning. <br /><br />Left
homeless, starving, and almost killed by the Second World War, the
Saforo family are refugees fleeing Italy for a better life. The shores
of Australia are calling to them and they head off, packing dreams of
jobs, a home and … soccer. <br /><br />But from the moment they get off the
boat, adapting to the Australian way of life is harder than it seems.
Their family doesn’t speak right, eat right or even look right. As they
struggle to build a simple life against the backdrop of 1950s racism,
they start to wonder if they will be outsiders forever. <br /><br />A true family affair, Wanderers No More will make you laugh, remind you of your family, and warm your heart.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="a-size-base review-text" data-hook="review-body"><span id="freeText6550460727264416606"><b>Thoughts: </b>When I saw that there was a book for the sequel to Port of No Return, I knew I had to return to the loving Saforo family, who we last saw leaving for Australia at the end of World War II.</span></span><br />
<br />
This book spans about a 30 year time span and shows the
children of the Saforo family grow up and make their own way in the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It also shows the struggles of the family as
they slowly rebuild their lives after the ravages of World War II and migrating
to a new country, which has a different culture and language.<br />
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I liked that it was a heartwarming story of struggle and
sacrifice of a family landing in a country in which the language and culture
was different from their own.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
reminded me of my own family coming from Soviet Russia to Canada in 1926, as
they struggled and sacrificed to make a new life in a new country.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
While the family struggles to adjust to a new life in
Australia, there are also tender and touching moments that make the story that
much more human, especially when Nonna takes over the kitchen at one of the migrant camps.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Bottom line: </b>I really liked how the author brought the story full circle in concluding the story of the Saforo family. Highly recommended.</div>
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<b>Rating: </b>3.75/5</div>
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<b style="color: #515151; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Meet the Author:</span></b><br />
<br style="color: #515151; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;" />
<span style="color: #515151; font-family: "roboto"; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;">Michelle
Saftich resides in Brisbane, Australia. She holds a Bachelor of
Business/Communications Degree, majoring in journalism, from the
Queensland University of Technology.</span><br />
<br style="color: #515151; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;" />
<span style="color: #515151; font-family: "roboto"; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;">For
the past 20 years, she has worked in communications, including print
journalism, sub-editing, communications management and media relations.</span><br />
<span style="color: #515151; font-family: "roboto"; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;">Born and raised in Brisbane, she spent 10 years living in Sydney; and two years in Osaka, Japan, where she taught English.</span><br />
<br style="color: #515151; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;" />
<span style="color: #515151; font-family: "roboto"; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;">Her historical fiction novel, </span><i style="color: #515151; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;">Port of No Return</i><span style="color: #515151; font-family: "roboto"; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;">,
was inspired by a true family story. It was published by Australian
independent publishing house, Odyssey Books in 2015. Its sequel, </span><i style="color: #515151; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;">Wanderers No More</i><span style="color: #515151; font-family: "roboto"; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;"> was released in August 2017. Michelle is married with two children.</span><br />
<br style="color: #515151; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;" />
<b style="color: #515151; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;">Connect with the author: <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=http://www.michellesaftich.com/&source=gmail&ust=1509782501739000&usg=AFQjCNFvrc-bZrT5ZZt53XY1RLnByEgzTQ" href="http://www.michellesaftich.com/" style="color: #24678d; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Website</a> ~ <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://twitter.com/MichelleSaftich&source=gmail&ust=1509782501739000&usg=AFQjCNHJ12xLluWROrVb9QPc_kSJLBU8Ug" href="https://twitter.com/MichelleSaftich" style="color: #24678d; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Twitter</a> ~ <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.facebook.com/msaftich/&source=gmail&ust=1509782501739000&usg=AFQjCNGVtpEJbfb5SsdlrxLpaJdc9_xpAw" href="https://www.facebook.com/msaftich/" style="color: #24678d; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Facebook</a></b></div>
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Melissa Wiebehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02657787882718834484noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4852143246781962436.post-54811464007527249122017-10-21T05:03:00.000-07:002017-10-21T05:03:16.409-07:0024 Hour Readathon Opening Meme #readathon<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Good morning readathoners<br />
<br />
Hope everyone has their coffee/tea beside them and is ready to go.<br />
<br />
1) I am reading from Abbotsford, BC<br />
2) I don't know which book I am looking forward to the most to reading, but probably What Happened later tonight.<br />
3) Probably the golden arches that I will get later tonight or the homemade soup I made yesterday.<br />
4) Spent 2 years living in Brazil as a child<br />
5) I'll be working later this morning for a few hours and then volunteering at my church afterwards, which will hopefully give a little more jump later on this evening.Melissa Wiebehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02657787882718834484noreply@blogger.com0