Romanov  by Nadine Brandes

Oh, that is could be so. This is a wonderful reimaging of what happened to Anastasia Romanov!  Everyone knows that the story ends in tragedy but not here. There have been many people who have claimed to be the last living relative of the Romanovs. All of the clams have been disproven but Ms. Brandes has written a story that made Anastasia come alive into a person who is comfortable in today's world. 

The second half of the book was, for me,  more interesting. The first half deals with the known story and that is interesting. It sets the stage for how the author imagined that the Romanovs were, and it does paint a picture of a free soul that is Anastasia. The author brings the story alive after the family is executed. Magis, spellbinding and love all come into their own with this author. Anastasia is portrayed as a young girl who is kind, loving and fierce! In this retelling of the tragedy, love is triumphant and all ends well. As I said, if only it could be so! I enjoyed reading this book!

What Lies Around Us by Andrew Croft

This is a clever title for a short book that really drives the point of lies home. This is the story of a ghostwriter who has been commissioned to write the biography of a movie star. As with the movies, nothing in this book is real and after awhile neither the main character or the reader. is sure where the truth starts and ends. The book is extremely topical it short and to the point but does make you stop and think about the world that we live in. For all of its modern conveniences, there is a price to be paid, and not in dollars and cents. I enjoyed it. Will want to read more by this author.

I received this book from the publisher through Netgalley.com

Big Time Dreams, Small Town Grifters

What's not to like in this book ! It really has it all, a cast of characters that are relatable and a plot that has all of them shining. Gillespie Texas is a town that is being gentrified and Carel Geische aims to make his dream come true because of it ! Fate however has other plans for him. The county fair is setting up and with it an entire town is either helping him get the reward he thinks be deserves, or is conspiring to keep it from him. At times he's not sure which fate is waiting for him ! And this is what makes the novel fun to read. Along with the characters already in town, someone from his past comes back just in time to stir things up ! Of course, no story set in Texas would be complete with big hearted women, and Marc Hess has written them beautifully ! The story is well told and is fun to read ! You will not be disappointed

A Book in Need of a Story

The Gray Heron by John Wilde is a book in need of a story ! Don’t get me wrong, I really wanted to like this book, but there are too many undeveloped stories here. To show you what I mean. The book opens up introducing the reader to a semi-retired CIA Operative and quickly jumps into a special op mission in Nicaragua which has the potential to be a really good read. The book then quickly devolves into the story of his family and this is where ninety percent of the book stays. In the very end the reader is returned too Nicaragua to tie up the lose ends of the special op mission that the book opened with. Both of these stories have the potential to be developed into really good full bodied stories. Unfortunately, that is not  the case here. The book suffers from lack of a good editor and that is a shame because Mr. Wilde can tell a good story. I just wish he had picked one and fully developed it. I will look for more books by him because I do believe that he will improve with time.

The World we Knew

I love Alice Hoffman's books and read them whenever I can. Alice Hoffman has written a  story that we all need to read. Many of the dark forces that lead to WW2 are once again creeping over the world. This is not just another story about WW2 and the horrors of the Holocaust. It is the story of hope and love that succeeds because Ms. Hoffman has written a story that will capture your heart. She makes you want to feel what she is writing about and to care about what happened. The story starts in Berlin when everything is becoming difficult for the Jews. People are disappearing and life is becoming unbearable. A mother, desperate to save her daughter  Lea from the Nazi's, seeks help from a renowned rabbi. However, it is his daughter. Ettie offers her a solution and together with Ettie's sister, they create a  mystical Jewish creature a special golem which they name Ava. Ava's job is to protect Lea "as a mother would ". Her act is truly a gift and hope for the future. The four girls leave Berlin and head to France, where they believe that they will be safe. The world that they are in is torn apart by forces of evil that have been unleashed by the Nazi's.  As the horrors get worse Ava's job becomes more urgent.  Love and hate, hope and despair exist in the same house and Ava must find a way to fulfill her charge. Ava is mystical and speaks the language of the birds and fish and all things in nature. Ava knows what will happen and she manages to keep Lea safe but she cannot stop the horrors going on around them. Throughout the book, people resist, pay the price, fall in love and die. Ms. Hoffman weaves the natural world into the story in a mystical way. Ava is more a part of that world than the human world and her story is beautiful! The story ends with hope and love. I wanted to keep on reading, I wanted to know more of how the future would be for the characters that she created. I also want to believe that the things that happened can never happen again anywhere in the world.

Coming Back !

Today is the day that I finally am able, and willing to sit down, and start this blog again ! It has been over three years since I have done this and I must say that I have missed doing it. While my life has been full, there has not been much time for fun. I made a decision in April to change that and I am glad that I did. In July, I decided to go on the path that I am on and let go of the other. It was a wise decision. So back to reading and sharing !

The Job
By Janet Evanovich

What a breath of fresh air this book was ! No more heroines who couldn't find their way of a closet with the door opened ! I am so happy that she has aco-author who is not afraid to portray female protagonist who are not afraid of taking care of themselves ! Kate knows how to defend herself and is not afarid too ! Yeah ! Enough of my waxing poetic ! This is a good story. It is cross and double cross and is really well writen. I can see this as a TV series that I would gladly recorded and re-watch. Kate O'Hare and Nicolas Fox, the main characters in the story, make great team. In this story, they team up to bring down a vicious killer who has changed his body to avoid capture, or recognition. Nick knows human psychology and is not afraid to use it, to catch a killer. He uses a universal truth, you can change your exterior, but you will always be the same on the inside. He s so right, if you like wine, you will always like wine and so forth. A person can change their face, their hair color, the color of their eyes, but they will always like wine.  This works well in the story. Of course it helps that are supported by a cast of characters straight out of central casting, not that that is and thing, it works really well.

The story is fast paced and well plotted and is a joy to read. This is anew series that has potential and I look forward to reading more of their escapades ! If you are tired of Stephanie Plum never growing up and loping in the same old, same old, read this one ! You will be pleasantly surprised, I know I was  ! Thank you Janet !

The Killer App
by John Writher

What would you do if the world was on the verge of becoming unsustainable ? What if you could die and go back and live your life again ? Only this time you would be more productive because you could avoid the mistakes that you made the first time around ? Would you do it ? What if you had the chance to be the first, not really knowing what would or could happen ? Would you ? These are the questions that the author asks  in this book and it really makes  you think about our world and your choices.

The story is set in the not to distant future when on country, Great Britain, is facing very difficult times. Science has lengthened our life spans but not our ability to remain productive members of society. This is really not so fictions, it is happening now. Young workers are working at lower paying jobs and  paying into a system that supports an aging population. In this work of fiction, three people realize that they have the means to reverse this. They realize that people, as they age, might just want to go back and be young again. They could be more productive, they could ease the burden on the younger generation by doing so. The story never examines too closely the moral implications of such a decision, rather these decisions are left to a population, that they know will prize youth above all. The author handles this well. He does not become judgmental about such a choice. The main characters devise a way to see if people can be persuaded to go back and start all over again.
The  main characters in the story are not particularly likeable, they all have their ulterior motives and agendas For the story to work, they need to be this way. Mr. Writher presents us with a world where decisions are made on a cost effective basis, not all that far from real life.
The ending is mixed, the plan does not go exactly as hoped for , but then again not that far off. The last page is a cliff hanger, I will not spoil it here.

This book should make you think about some important questions facing human kind. I do not recommend this way but it makes for fascinating reading. I can envision this book for book clubs because there is so much here to discuss. Well done !

Janie

The Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust
by Alan Bradley

Flavia doe it again, and with her usual charm and style ! Bravo Flavia. The story opens up where we left her.  Flavia is now on her way to a school for young women in Canada. She is  totally alone in a brave new world which she is totally unprepared for ! The stage is for murder, mystery and mayhem when a body falls out of the chimney in her new room. What a way to start ! Flavia must negotiate the challenges of a new school, new mates, new everything while she outs her best detecting skills to use to solve the mystery of the corpse ! Along the way she meets new friends and discovers things about herself that she would never have discovered had she stated in England.

I have to say that I did miss the interaction between her and her sisters, whom are absent  from this book. They always brought out her poisonous side. None of the new characters do the job as well.

We are lead to believe that the corpse that falls out of the chimney is old and that the mystery may never be  solved. However, Flavia is at her best and this is not the case at all. During the course of solving this mystery, Flavia is introduced in to the world of spy craft, and that is all I will say about that ! I hope that these new skills that she is learning will be put to good in use in future adventures !.

The murder, it turns out,  was committed and covered up for the most basic of human reasons, the human heart.

Mr. Bradly has done it again, a great story with a great heroine !

Janie

Mrs. Kaplan and the Matzoh Ball of Death
by Mark Reuthlinger


This is simply a mystery, well plotted and delivered. I finished this is one setting and for me that is unusual. I do however appreciate a fast read every now and again.

What did I like abut the book ? Well for openers I liked the fact t hat he used older characters to be his detectives and solve the mystery. The story is set in a retirement facility so  there are plenty of older characters to choose from. And I'm glad that for the most part he did.  He only brought in younger characters when it was absolutely necessary, and when he did, they were well written and likeable. Bravo. The story actually revolves around solving a mystery. There are no current event headlines to push their way in to the story as happens in so many stories. Of course we call those thrillers now a days ! This one stays true.

What I really disliked about the book was the constant insertion of Yiddish and the necessary translations. It took away from the flow of the story and stereotyped older Jewish people. Both of which I found unnecessary and offensive. He didn't need this to move his story along.

Notwithstanding, the book has its charms. It is well written, plot and characters and I think that you will enjoy it. It is book club material, but it will satisfy the need for  a good who done it !

Janie

The Gift of a Legacy 
by Jim Stovall

This book is a fairly  quick read because the story flows easily, This is a great thing for an authorto be able to do. The story is fairly simple. A young man is left a legacy by his great grandmother but cannot claim it until he learns some life lessons. To accomplish this. his great grandmother en lists the help of her attorney and a another friend whose  son had to learn the same lessons. To say the lessons start of badly would be an  understated. With the help of someone who has  walked in his shoes, he learns the life lessons that he needs.

The author paints a one sided picture of wealth, portraying it as selfish and self serving. This is all to true in today's world. The book is well  written and will hold your trimester.  For those of you looking for a summer book club read, this book fills that bill. This is much to discuss and think about. Overall a really good read.