I'm late again with my book recap! Life has just been a whirlwind of late. The good news is that I still managed to get a fair amount of reading in this month. Here are the recaps:
The Kommandant's Girl (The Kommandant's Girl, #1) - Pam Jenoff - historical fiction - three stars - Jenoff is kind of hit or miss for me. This one was more of a miss. It's one of her earlier books and I just think it doesn't have the polish that her later books have. This is another WWII book. It's about Emma wakes one morning to find out that her husband has disappeared. He is involved in the Resistance, and has left in order to work and to protect Emma who is now living in the ghetto with her parents. Emma's husband has the Resistance smuggle Emma out, along with a special little boy, to live with his non-Jewish aunt. Emma then becomes involved with the Resistance undercover as the assistant to the Kommandant. In the grand scheme of WWII historical fiction this was just so-so. I never really connected with the characters, I though it was pretty cliche and predictable, kind of a disappointment.
The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post - Allison Pataki - historical fiction - five stars - As the title suggests, this tells the story of Marjorie Merriweather Post. I loved hearing about her childhood - her father, the Post foods guy, was a self-made man, and he and Marjorie had a pretty fantastic relationship. He taught her all that she needed to know in order to run his company despite the fact that they lived in a time in which as a married woman she could not officially take part in the business. Still, she was a savvy, smart businesswoman who helped to grow the company and stretch it into new avenues. For example, she was behind acquisition of the Birdseye company. The book also covers her many marriages. Post lived through the turn of the century, both world wars, the rise of communism (a part of which she was the wife of the Ambassador to Russia). A really fascinating look at history and a very accomplished woman.
My Own Lightning - Lauren Wolk - juvenile historical fiction - five stars - This is the sequel to Wolf Hollow, a book that both Ellie and I loved, so I was so thrilled to see a continuation of the story. The book takes place just a few months after the events of Wolf Hollow. Annabelle is heading home one day during a thunderstorm and is struck by lightning. She is saved by someone who punches her in the chest to restart her heart, but she's not sure who that is. When she wakes up, she realizes that she has changed - she's able to communicate with animals, to sense what they are feeling and vice versa. Annabelle uses this new ability to help locate her brother's missing dog as well as make some new friends. The book also explores Annabelle's relationship with Andy Woodbery, one of the antagonists from Wolf Hollow. Highly recommend.
The Lost Girls of Willowbrook - Ellen Marie Wiseman - fiction - four stars - I am a huge fan of Wiseman, I think her books are really well done. This one is probably officially characterized as historical fiction, but since it takes place in the 80s, it feels more like just fiction to me. Anyway, it's about Sage Winters who discovers that her twin sister Rosemary did not actually die of pneumonia six years ago, she was actually committed to Willowbrook State School. The school calls her stepfather to tell him that Rosemary has run away. Sage heads to the school to see if she can help with the search, but when she gets there she is mistaken for Rosemary, and is committed in her stead. She then experiences first hand the horror of the institution. This was a disturbing read, but very much based on fact. The story itself required a lot of 'suspension of disbelief' which is why it's only a four, but I think that books that make me want to learn more about an event or thing do their job, and this one definitely had me looking up Willowbrook after I was finished reading.
Carrie Soto Is Back - Taylor Jenkins Reid - fiction - five stars - Another fantastic book from Reid. This one is about retired star Carrie Soto (37 years old) whose record is about to be broken, so she comes out of retirement to reclaim it. Carrie's father Javier is her coach, and I really loved their dynamic. The book covers their history, showing how Carrie became the star that she was, contrasting that with the grind and effort to get back to that form. I love Reid's writing style, it's a quick, easy, read and as always her characters are well developed and likable. I enjoyed the couple of twists and turns in the book and zipped through it, I think this one only really took a day and a half. Once I started, I didn't want to stop. Highly recommend.
Northern Spy - Flynn Berry - historical fiction - four stars - This one was really three and a half stars, rounded up. It's about sisters Tessa and Marian who live in Ireland when the IRA was active. Marian is caught on video robbing a gas station during an IRA raid. Tessa can't believe she is part of the IRA. She was supposed to be on holiday, and must have been abducted. When she is finally able to speak with her sister, she learns that in fact Marian is in the IRA and has been for years. I really haven't read much about this time period, so that was interesting, but in general I found the characters rather shallow, and the plot somewhat surface level. It just seemed a bit too pat/basic. The bones are there for a great story, but I think it ended up just being a good story.
Bronze Drum: A Novel of Sisters and War - Phong Nguyen - historical fiction - three stars - This book was a bit of a disappointment for me. It's about Vietnam in the first century. Vietnam was conquered by the Han Chinese, who have tried to impose their culture/customs on the Viet, doing away with their traditional matriarchal society. Two sisters, Trung Trac and Trung Nhi, who are polar opposites, unite the women from the local tribes to rebel against the Chinese, and become female kings. I wasn't aware that the ancient Viet were a matriarchal society, so that was really interesting. In their initial rebellion, the army was solely made up of women. Later on when the Han came back, they allowed the men to join. This one was rated pretty low because I just never really connected with the characters. The bones of the story were interesting, but it just didn't hang together well which is disappointing, because the underlying history is really interesting.
We Carry Their Bones: The Search for Justice at the Dozier School for Boys - Erin Kimmerle - non-fiction - four stars - If you read The Nickel Boys, then you're familiar with the Dozier school. This book tells about the excavation of the cemetery at the school. Kimmerle is a forensic anthropologist. She is a professor, but is also called in frequently to consult on human remains in homicides/criminal cases. After the school was shut down, she was asked to help map the cemetery, determine where the graves were, and who was buried there. This ran afoul of the state/locality's desire to sell the property for development. The book details all the legal wrangling required to get permission to dig as well as their findings. She also recounts the stories of some of the families whose siblings/uncles were sent to Dozier and never returned. I thought it was a very well done book.
Spy School Project X - Stuart Gibbs - juvenile fiction - five stars - As you all know we're big Stuart Gibbs fans, and Spy School is the girls' favorite of his series. In this latest book, Ben is on the run because Murray Hill put a hit out on him. He and his friends have to locate Murray to get him to call things off. Chaos ensues. There are lots of explosions and destruction, chase scenes, etc. We are also introduced to a new member of the Hale family. This was a fun one, lots of old characters (and enemies) were involved, and there's definitely an interesting cliffhanger for the next book. Extremely enjoyable as always.
The Marriage Portrait - Maggie O'Farrell - historical fiction - five stars - I loved Hamnet, and was excited to read another book by O'Farrell. This is the story of Lucrezia, the third daughter of the the Grand Duke of Florence, Cosimo de Medici. The book follows the story of her life, she was a bit of an outsider in her family, and was married at 15 to Alfonso D'Este, Duke of Ferrara. It was actually her older sister who was to marry him, but she died just before the wedding, so he settled for Lucrezia. We're told right off the bat, that less than a year after her marriage she died. The story then jumps to Lucrezia predicting that her husband will kill her. The book then jumps back and forth telling her back story as well as showing how the murder occurred. O'Farrell does a fantastic job building the tension and developing the characters, and I really loved the twist at the end. Must read.
If It Rains - Jennifer L. Wright - historical fiction - four stars - This is one that I picked up off the new books shelf at the library because it looked interesting. Kathryn is living in Oklahoma during the dust bowl with her father and stepmother. Her sister Melissa has just married into the wealthiest family in town leaving her very much alone at home. After her stepmother suffers another miscarriage, her father decides they will give up the farm and go to Indianapolis where his father-in-law lives. There Kathryn can also have surgery to repair her club foot. On the journey Kathryn is separate from her family and must try and make her way to Indianapolis on her own. Meanwhile Melissa discovers her marriage isn't what she thought it would be. Overall a solid read. The characters could have used a little more development, but there were some interesting turns to the story that I didn't expect, and that is always a plus.
This month's favorites were The Marriage Portrait and Carrie Soto is Back. I'm currently reading Red Thread of Fate. After that I'll start War and Peace (it was my 'classic' pick for the month, but only just came in at the library), and I'll probably also start Moth. Would love to hear what you guys have been reading!
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