The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden FIC Ard

At the conclusion of the first book in this trilogy (The Bear and the Nightingale), Vasya ran from her home village leaving behind the death and destruction she felt she caused.  Determined to see the world, she rides away on her magnificent stallion, Solovey.  She might be traveling alone but the frost-demon, Morozko, looks after her, protects her and often comes to her aid.

Disguised as a boy (because girls just don't ride alone), Vasya stumbles upon a village which has just been burned and raided by bandits who also took three young girls with them.  Responding to the pleas of the villagers and aided by the household spirits it seems only she can see, she sets out to find the girls and return them to their families.

As a result of this venture, she is hailed as a hero and reunited with her brother and sister.  It seems the bandits have been killed and disbanded but have they?  Who is Kasyan Lutovich and who is the ghost who roams her sister's palace in Moscow?

This book is a combination of fiction and fantasy set in medieval times.  I loved the first book but could barely put this one down.  Fantasy isn't necessarily my "thing" but I loved the blend of mystical with reality.  Vasya is a heroine to root for.  She is determined not to live the life normally prescribed for girls of her time - marriage or the convent.  In trying to forge her own path, she must also come to terms with how her actions affect those around her.

I can't wait for the final book in this trilogy which comes out in August.

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The Wages of Sin by Kaite Welsh FIC Wel

It is 1892 and Sarah Gilchrist has escaped her scandalous past in London to become one of the first female medical students at the University of Edinburgh.  Disowned by her parents and forced to live with her strict aunt and uncle and not welcomed by the male medical students, Sarah walks a tight line, as do the other female students.

One morning in dissection class, Sarah recognizes the person she is working on as Lucy, a young prostitute she met while volunteering at a hospital in the slums.  Unable to get the image of Lucy out of her head, she is convinced that Lucy didn't really die of a laudanum overdose (as the autopsy says) but was, instead murdered.

As she searches for the truth about Lucy, she manages to annoy almost everyone - from her medical school professors to her fellow students to the woman with whom she volunteers.  And it goes without saying that her aunt and uncle are always annoyed with her.  Gradually, as more of Sarah's past is revealed, she inches closer to the truth.

I enjoyed this book a lot.  Sarah's courage, both in going to medical school and in trying to reshape her life, is admirable.  The descriptions of what life for women was like at that time made me cringe - at times, I wasn't sure much has changed.  Sarah is very likable and I'm looking forward to a sequel.

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The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah FIC Han

Often an author will write a book that I love (The Nightengale) and I can't wait for the next one.  Usually that one is good too but not quite as wonderful.  That did not happen in this case!  What a book!

It is the story of Cora and Ernt.  They fell in love at a very young age and had a daughter named Leni.  Their bond was strong and they were happy.  But then Ernt is sent to fight in Vietnam and ends up in a POW camp.  When the book begins it is after Ernt has returned to his wife and young daughter who really doesn't remember the early years.  Ernt is not the man who went away.  He is tortured by nightmares, unable to hold a job and has a violent temper.  But Cora still loves him as much as ever.  So whenever he has an idea to move somewhere and start over, she follows.  They do not have an easy life.

Then one day a letter catches up with Ernt.  He finds out that one of his buddies who died in Nam has left him a cabin and some land in Alaska.  So they buy an old VW bus and head north.  They arrive in the spring when days are getting longer and longer.  It is quite an adjustment to live in a run-down shack and to have to find food to eat and to get ready for the winter when the darkness seems to go on forever.  It isn't a good scenario for a man who is mentally unstable.

A fantastic read that is hard to put down.  The descriptions are vivid and the lives of these 20th century pioneers makes me so grateful to live a much less adventurous life!  Read it!

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The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning 648.5 Mag

I have always loved organizing and decluttering books because I spent decades trying to find the secret to success in these two areas.  I hadn't read any for a year or so because I think I found the secret. (I got old enough that I am just not interested in dealing with stuff and it lead to a lot of cleaning out!).  So, why did I read it?  I loved the title and had to find out more.

Margareta Magnusson writes a great book!  We don't know how old she is (she always says "between 80 and 100") but she has a lot of knowledge that she is willing to share.  She quickly points out that despite the 'death' word it doesn't mean that you have to wait until your time is almost up!  The idea is to do it sooner rather than later so that someone else doesn't have to deal with your stuff!

It isn't a long book at all.  I think everyone could benefit by spending a couple of hours reading it and then begin to 'let go'.

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As Bright as Heaven by Susan Meissner FIC Mei

 

If you like historical fiction I think you will enjoy this book.  A little more than a hundred years ago the United States entered WWI.  The young, eager boys went to Europe to fight the enemies.  It was easy to see those enemies.  But there was a sneakier enemy that was invisible.  It was called the Spanish Flu (even though it didn’t start there!) and it spread like fire through the troops.  And when troops returned to the U.S. it started ravishing the general population.  One of the cities that was particularly hard hit was Philadelphia which is the setting for this novel.

Thomas Bright and his wife Pauline have three daughters, Evelyn, Maggie and Willa.  They live in the small town where Pauline grew up.  They are all thrilled when Pauline gives birth to a son, Henry.   He is an easy baby - but that is because he is has a heart issue and only lives for six months.  This loss led Pauline to finally saying yes to her husband who wants to accept an offer to move to Philadelphia.  That is where Thomas' uncle Fred runs a very successful funeral home.  Fred has no other family and needs help to run the business.

The family moves into Fred's very large home/funeral home.  Things are going well until the flu arrives and Thomas is drafted.  This is the story of a mom and her daughters trying to survive in a world that seems to have gone out of control.

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The Fifth Letter by Nicola Moriarty FIC Mor

Joni, Deb, Eden and Trina have been best friends since high school.  They had a strong bond that got them through the tough school years.  After that they still saw each other frequently but as they married and had children some things begin to change.  But there is one thing that is sacred.  Once a year they have a mini vacation together.  Joni is the childless one so she is the one that won't listen to excuses and keeps up the tradition.  As always there is a great deal of alcohol and sometimes some pot and sometimes that leads to some really bad decisions.  They come up with the insane idea of having everyone write an anonymous letter and tell things they have kept secret.  It was supposed to be a fun and supportive exercise.  It doesn't turn out that way.  And it seems that someone wrote a fifth letter.  Whoever wrote it had a lot of hatred towards someone in the group.

An intriguing book with parts of it written by the author of the fifth letter with no hints to her identity.

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Winter Sisters by Robin Oliveira FIC Oli

If you read Oliveira's previous book, My Name is Mary Sutter, you will be happy to be reunited with Mary who is living in Albany, New York and practicing medicine along side her husband, William.  It is 1879 and even though it is March, Mother Nature is not done with her winter fury.  Bonnie and David O'Donnell have two daughters - Emma and Claire.  The last time they saw their children was when they left them at school on the way to their jobs.   It was only a few snowflakes at first and then it turned into a blizzard.  The parents were among the many victims.  That is how Mary and  William found out that their dear friends were dead.  But what about the girls?  They went to the O'Donnell's apartment but they weren't there.

They spend weeks searching for the girls and harassing the police to keep searching.  It is six weeks later when the frozen river thaws causing devastating floods.  Mary and William are treating victims for hours.  When they get home they find a policeman waiting for them along with Claire and Emma.  The little girls are in bad shape emotionally and the older one has been raped.  The story that finally comes out from the girls leads to a sensational trial.

I loved the book.

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