A Paris Affair by Tatiana de Rosnay FIC Ros

   

I love this author (especially her book Sarah's Key!)  Because of that I checked out this book.  Normally I would have passed over this book when I found out that it was short stories - not my favorite.  Well I loved this book.  It is very short but inside are eleven stories all dealing with infidelity and bien sur they take place in France!  Of course they all have the common theme of men cheating on their wives but they all have a different take.  Some are really sad and some are rather funny.

I checked Amazon to see what others thought of it.  Apparently most people didn't like it as well as I do.  Perhaps I would have felt a bit cheated if I had paid $20 for the book - because it didn't take long to read.  But if you come to the library you get it for free and you can enjoy some great writing!


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The Invasion of the Tearling by Erika Johansen (FIC Joh)

At the close of the first book in this trilogy (Queen of the Tearling), Kelsea Glynn, the newly crowned queen, had liberated her country from the crushing burden of supplying slaves to the dominating neighbors on their border.  But as relieved and grateful as everyone was, this decision came at a cost.  And that cost is at hand - the dominating army of Mortmesne is gathered on the border ready to invade and achieve almost certain victory.

As Kelsea struggles to find her way in her new duties she also becomes entwined in the life of Lily Mayhew.  Lily lived more than three centuries before...before the Crossing that created the Tearling.  How and why are these visions appearing to Kelsea and why are they significant?

Kelsea is determined to save her kingdom but isn't sure which way to turn.  Will Lily's memories show her the way?  Is it the strange apparition that appears through fire that holds the key to victory?  Or the Fetch, the mysterious man who helped her in the past?  Or is the secret wrapped up in the two sapphires that she wears around her neck and whose powers she often doubts even as she feels herself changing and becoming more powerful?

I loved the first book in this series (it was one of my favorite books of 2014) and couldn't wait to dive into this one.  But it didn't grab me in the same way as the first one had.  I wasn't even sure I liked it.  Reviewers often say that sequels aren't as good as the first one....

And then all of a sudden, it all started to make sense.  Kelsea's attempts to find her way through the morass that she has created, her connection to Lily, all collided and I was hooked.  My 50 page goal turned into 150 pages read and then before I knew it I was done.  I like the book for the author's vision of a world where people are trying to right wrongs done in the past, for the strength of the main character and for the well-defined people who surround her.  I even like the elements of mysticism and magic which are not something I usually go for.

I can't wait for the conclusion.

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Those Girls by Chevy Stevens FIC Ste

This book was not my favorite by Ms. Stevens but it was still good.  It is divided into two parts separated by 18 years.  When the book begins the Campbell girls are called Jess (15), Dani (16) and Courtney (18).  Their lives have been horrific since the death of their mother.  They live in poverty working hard on their landlord's farm to earn some money.  Most of the time their father is away working.  And that is a good thing.  Because when he is home he is drunk and abusive to the girls.  One night he returns after an absence and he goes too far.  The girls are forced to take off and plan to go to a big city where they can start over with new names.  It won't be easy but at least they will be safe.  But the truck breaks down and they are "helped" by two guys.  The five days that follow will haunt them the rest of their lives.

Eighteen years later the girls are women named Jamie, Dallas and Crystal.  They were able to reinvent themselves with new names but the damage has been done to them.  Every day there is a reminder to what happened to them.  One of the sisters finally realizes that she will have no peace without revenge

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Remember Me This Way by Sabine Durrant FIC Dur

I love a good psychological novel!   The novel begins with Lizzie Carter taking a trip to lay flowers on the side of the road where her young husband, Zach, was killed.  It has been one year and she wants to mark the spot and go to the cottage where Zach would go to work on his paintings.  It is now time to clean it out and put it on the market.  When Lizzie arrives at the accident site she is shocked to find a bouquet of flowers already there - with a card signed by Xenia.  She has no idea who that is and she finds it unnerving.  When she arrives at the cottage things are just not right.  And so begins a nightmare in which Lizzie begins to believe that the body in the burned up car might not have been Zach.

As Lizzie's story is revealed we learn what kind of man Zach was and why he might want to drive her crazy.  They met on the internet.  She was always shocked that he would be interested in her.  But interested he was and soon he convinces her to put her mother into a home so that they can live together.  And he convinces her to spend less time with her sister - and her friends - and her colleagues at school.

Why are these things happening to Lizzie???  You will have to read the book to find out.

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The Dress Shop of Dreams by Menna Van Praag FIC Pra

 

Magical realism -  I don't know who came up with this term but it certainly fits this book.  It is a normal book with a little magic thrown in.  Etta owns a dress shop.  It may look like a regular shop but when Etta adds a stitch or two the dress takes on the ability to unleash the 'hidden desires' of the woman who wears it.

Etta raised her granddaughter, Cora, from the time she was a young girl.  Cora's parents (Etta's daughter and her husband) were brilliant scientists who were working on an important project when they died in a fire in their lab.  Cora, who often went with her parents, is saved when she is discovered in front of the building.  All grown up, Cora is a serious scientist.  But there comes a day she becomes suspicious of the way her parents died and decides to investigate.

Intertwined with this thread are some romances.  The only problem is that the wrong couples are together.  It is up to Etta to work her magic using her needle and thread.  It was a fun read.

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The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah FIC Han

 

I have read several of Hannah's books but I think this one is my favorite.  It is a novel in which most of the story takes place in France during WWII.  It begins in the United States in 1995 with a brief introduction to an elderly woman who was recently widowed.  In preparation of her final move she has gone up to her attic and opened a trunk that has been closed for decades.  In the bottom of it is a carte d'identité for a young woman named Juliette Gervaise.  And immediately we are transported back to 1939 in the Loire Valley, home to a woman named Vianne Mauriac.  She is living a happy life with her husband and their daughter, Sophie.  But soon things will change as war approaches and changes Vianne's life forever.  She is no stranger to the ways that war can change people.  Her father had come back from the previous war a different person.  When she was a teenager her mother died and she found herself with a needy four-year-old sister living in a foster home.  Isabelle is herself a teenager and has been kicked out of several schools.  She has gone to tell her father that she wants to help out in the war effort.  Her father insists that she flee Paris and go to help Vianne now that her husband is in the army.  On that journey she meets a young man who thinks she could be helpful.

This book will keep you engaged from beginning to end.  It is about war, love, bravery, sacrifice, friendship, loyalty and secrets.  Be ready to ignore the things you should be doing so that you can just keep reading - that's what I did!

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Wait by Antionette Portis JJ Por

 
Three words
32 pages
Huge message.


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