Even though Spain is on my travel bucket list, I haven’t read many books set in Spain. Fountains of Silence was a great historical novel set primarily in the years directly following Spain’s Civil War.
I started my Christmas reading early to pass this on to a friend. The Christmas Wedding Guest has all the warm, fuzzy feelings you want from a holiday read.
The ones that speak to me are those whose final pages admit there is no going back. That every good thing must end. That every bad thing does too, that everything does.
That is what I’m looking for every time I flip to the back of a book, compulsively checking for proof that in a life where so many things have gone wrong, there can be beauty too. That there is always hope, no matter what.
Nora Stephens’ life is books—she’s read them all—and she is not that type of heroine. Not the plucky one, not the laidback dream girl, and especially not the sweetheart. In fact, the only people Nora is a heroine for are her clients, for whom she lands enormous deals as a cutthroat literary agent, and her beloved little sister Libby.
Which is why she agrees to go to Sunshine Falls, North Carolina for the month of August when Libby begs her for a sisters’ trip away—with visions of a small-town transformation for Nora, who she’s convinced needs to become the heroine in her own story. But instead of picnics in meadows, or run-ins with a handsome country doctor or bulging-forearmed bartender, Nora keeps bumping into Charlie Lastra, a bookish brooding editor from back in the city. It would be a meet-cute if not for the fact that they’ve met many times and it’s never been cute.
If Nora knows she’s not an ideal heroine, Charlie knows he’s nobody’s hero, but as they are thrown together again and again—in a series of coincidences no editor worth their salt would allow—what they discover might just unravel the carefully crafted stories they’ve written about themselves.
My Thoughts
I read a lot of great books this month. So much so that I am planning on adding and honorable mentions post. Book Lovers took the honor because I felt the deepest connection. I love Hallmark movies, but I keep thinking that I want a twist where they don’t want to stay in the small town. That’s what this is, a look at the other side. The person who usually gets dumped in the movies because they love their jobs and city life. Even though I’m more of a small-town girl, I loved the way Nora and Charlie were so dedicated to helping their family. As someone dipping her toes into the writing world, I also really liked the behind-the-scenes view of the publishing industry.
What I liked about this book
Nora and Charlie are both great characters
The book is a good mix of humor and sentiment
Even though Charlie and Nora had bad first impressions of each other, they didn’t drag it out too long once they finally realized they had a lot in common
The relationship between Nora and her sister Libby
June Jones emerges from her shell to fight for her beloved local library, and through the efforts and support of an eclectic group of library patrons, she discovers life-changing friendships along the way.
Lonely librarian June Jones has never left the sleepy English village where she grew up. Shy and reclusive, the thirty-year-old would rather spend her time buried in books than venture out into the world. But when her library is threatened with closure, June is forced to emerge from behind the shelves to save the heart of her community and the place that holds the dearest memories of her mother.
Joining a band of eccentric yet dedicated locals in a campaign to keep the library, June opens herself up to other people for the first time since her mother died. It just so happens that her old school friend Alex Chen is back in town and willing to lend a helping hand. The kindhearted lawyer’s feelings for her are obvious to everyone but June, who won’t believe that anyone could ever care for her in that way.
To save the place and the books that mean so much to her, June must finally make some changes to her life. For once, she’s determined not to go down without a fight. And maybe, in fighting for her cherished library, June can save herself, too.
My Thoughts
There’s no lack of books featuring an introverted millennial who spends their life absorbed in books, avoiding real life. That is until their beloved bookstore or library comes under threat, and they must step out of their comfort zone to save it. Naturally, a handsome potential love interest will show up as well, and they must learn to risk their heart. While it might be turning into a cliche, there’s a reason these books are so popular. They leave you with a warm, fuzzy feeling and a sense of belonging with the reading community. The Last Chance Library was both funny and touching. I really liked the way it emphasized the role of a library in a community beyond just providing books.
What I liked about this book:
the group of “pensioners” occupying the library was so funny
the way June and Alex shared books with each other to convert the other to their favorite genre
even the minor characters were well developed and showed different sides
While the Titanic and Lusitania are both well-documented disasters, the single greatest tragedy in maritime history is the little-known January 30, 1945 sinking in the Baltic Sea by a Soviet submarine of the Wilhelm Gustloff, a German cruise liner that was supposed to ferry wartime personnel and refugees to safety from the advancing Red Army. The ship was overcrowded with more than 10,500 passengers — the intended capacity was approximately 1,800 — and more than 9,000 people, including 5,000 children, lost their lives.
Sepetys (writer of ‘Between Shades of Gray’) crafts four fictionalized but historically accurate voices to convey the real-life tragedy. Joana, a Lithuanian with nursing experience; Florian, a Prussian soldier fleeing the Nazis with stolen treasure; and Emilia, a Polish girl close to the end of her pregnancy, converge on their escape journeys as Russian troops advance; each will eventually meet Albert, a Nazi peon with delusions of grandeur, assigned to the Gustloff decks.
My Thoughts
Every time I think I’ve had enough of reading about WWII, I find a book with a book with a different perspective. I knew nothing about the Wilhelm Gustloff. I love learning about events that should be considered major historical events, but somehow get lost. This is listed as YA, but I would consider it adult. I think that teenagers could read and enjoy it. However only one of the four main characters is in the YA age range. I wouldn’t want an adult to miss out on the book thinking it wasn’t for them.
What I liked about this book:
It’s an event that hasn’t been written about a lot in historical fiction novels
The characters are complex, and their secrets aren’t revealed immediately, but they aren’t drawn out so long that it becomes frustrating to the reader.
I loved the shoemaker character. He is a minor character, but I love the way he adds touches of humor and sentimentality to scenes.
She knew that love was the answer, but it was more than love- or rather more than the marshmallow kind of love that people understood when they thought of the word. Sometimes love meant you had to take the hard line and had to force people to do things they didn’t want to do.
Dale Mayer, Aaron (Hathaway House, bk 1)
Goodreads Synopsis
Former Navy SEAL Aaron Hammond has no idea how he wound up at Hathaway House, Texas. Nor does he particularly care. All he can see is his anger. Anger at the betrayal that destroyed his physical body and at the loss of the future he wanted but that he’ll never have now. He’s a cripple, less than half a man, and all he can look forward to is a half life, alone with himself and his pain.
Dani Hathaway runs Hathaway House with her father, an ex-military man nicknamed the Major, and she knew Aaron and his brother SEAL Levi in another life. Levi was a good friend to her through her difficult teen years, but it was Aaron who caught her eye more than a decade ago. When she heard what happened to him, she moved heaven and earth to get him to Hathaway House, where she could help him regain his health and return him to the man he used to be.
Old feelings resurface as Dani continues to push Aaron to acknowledge that his life is not over, and that, if he chooses, he can find both love and a future at Hathaway House.
Welcome to Hathaway House. Rehab Center. Safe Haven. Second chance at life and love.
My thoughts
I downloaded the free ebook version of Aaron by Dale Mayer for a quick romance. Which it was, but there was more depth than I was expecting. Even though the story is primarily a romance, it is equally about healing. Like most people, Aaron doesn’t accept help easily. HIs time at Hathaway house helps him to realize that we all need help at times, and there’s no shame in accepting the kindness of others.
What I loved about this book:
Aaron and Dani were both likeable characters
I love the idea of Hathaway House, a full rehabilitation center for both veterans and animals
It was a great set up for future books in the series (there are 18 as of now)
“All this time, I’ve been afraid of my ability, when instead I should have been regarding it as a treasured weapon.”
Namina Forna, The Gilded Ones
Goodreads synopsis:
Sixteen-year-old Deka lives in fear and anticipation of the blood ceremony that will determine whether she will become a member of her village. Already different from everyone else because of her unnatural intuition, Deka prays for red blood so she can finally feel like she belongs.
But on the day of the ceremony, her blood runs gold, the color of impurity–and Deka knows she will face a consequence worse than death.
Then a mysterious woman comes to her with a choice: stay in the village and submit to her fate, or leave to fight for the emperor in an army of girls just like her. They are called alaki–near-immortals with rare gifts. And they are the only ones who can stop the empire’s greatest threat.
Knowing the dangers that lie ahead yet yearning for acceptance, Deka decides to leave the only life she’s ever known. But as she journeys to the capital to train for the biggest battle of her life, she will discover that the great walled city holds many surprises. Nothing and no one are quite what they seem to be–not even Deka herself.
My thoughts:
I haven’t read a book like this in a while. There’s enough craziness going on in the world, so I didn’t feel like reading anything with dystopian themes. This one appealed to me because of its “girl power” message. I enjoyed Deka’s journey as she discovered her own power. She is a dynamic character who changes greatly throughout the book.
This book is definitely on the older end of YA as it deals with issues of physical and sexual abuse. However, I found the overall message to be powerful for young girls. It shows strength and the power to overcome obstacles without downplaying the long-term effects of trauma. Above all, it showed the value of female friendship and standing together.
What I loved about this book:
Complex characters that are developed
Strong friendships
BIPOC and LGBQT+ characters as leads without race or sexuality being the main focus
I’ve been waiting for this one. I finished reading it on April 2, but already knew it was going to be my favorite read of the month. It’s not just my favorite read for April, it’s one of my favorite reads ever.
Goodreads Synopsis
When a reaper comes to collect Wallace Price from his own funeral, Wallace suspects he really might be dead.
Instead of leading him directly to the afterlife, the reaper takes him to a small village. On the outskirts, off the path through the woods, tucked between mountains, is a particular tea shop, run by a man named Hugo. Hugo is the tea shop’s owner to locals and the ferryman to souls who need to cross over.
But Wallace isn’t ready to abandon the life he barely lived. With Hugo’s help he finally starts to learn about all the things he missed in life.
When the Manager, a curious and powerful being, arrives at the tea shop and gives Wallace one week to cross over, Wallace sets about living a lifetime in seven days.
Under the Whispering Door is a contemporary fantasy about a ghost who refuses to cross over and the ferryman he falls in love with.
Things I loved about this book
Original concept: I loved this interpretation of the afterlife, where people are given time on Earth to adapt to being dead before crossing over
The characters: There are so many great, diverse characters in this book.
The message: the story has a great message about how to live your life and what really matters
Humor: When I read the description of this book, I had no idea how funny it would be. Not many books make me both laugh and cry, and this one did
Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.
Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.
Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha . . . and the secrets of her heart.
Shadow and Bone is the first installment in Leigh Bardugo’s Grisha Trilogy
My Thoughts:
This is the third book I’ve read by Bardugo. Her world building is so thorough that it can take a few chapters to understand. Once you understand the world, the books are amazing. Since Alina didn’t initially know about her powers, the reader is learning about the Grisha world along with her. There are so many twists and ambiguous characters and situations, that I couldn’t stop reading. I am especially fascinated by the Darkling and can’t wait to see how the character develops throughout the series.
A century-old treasure map of San Francisco’s Barbary Coast. Sacred riches from India. Two murders, one hundred years apart. And a love triangle… Historian Jaya Jones has her work cut out for her.
1906. Shortly before the Great San Francisco Earthquake, Pirate Vishnu strikes the San Francisco Bay. An ancestor of Jaya’s who came to the U.S. from India draws a treasure map…
Present Day. Over a century later, the cryptic treasure map remains undeciphered. From San Francisco to the southern tip of India, Jaya pieces together her ancestor’s secrets, maneuvers a complicated love life she didn’t count on, and puts herself in the path of a killer to restore a revered treasure.
My Thoughts:
This is the second full length book in the Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt Mystery series. The character relationships will make more sense if you’ve read Artifact, but it could be read as a standalone. All of her life, Jaya Jones has been told stories about her Great Uncle Anand who died rescuing a friend during the San Fransisco Earthquake. But, then a lawyer shows up at her door with a treasure map that implies he might not have been so heroic after all. When the lawyer is murdered, Jaya knows there’s more to the story. I really like Pandian’s storytelling technique. She alternates between Jaya’s investigation and flashbacks of her ancestor. It’s a light, cozy mystery series, but I also learned about Indian history and culture.
You might like this book if…
You prefer lighter mysteries without graphic violence
As the French revolution ravages the country, Desiree Clary is faced with the life-altering truth that the world she has known and loved is gone and it’s fallen on her to save her family from the guillotine.
A chance encounter with Napoleon Bonaparte, the ambitious and charismatic young military prodigy, provides her answer. When her beloved sister Julie marries his brother Joseph, Desiree and Napoleon’s futures become irrevocably linked. Quickly entering into their own passionate, dizzying courtship that leads to a secret engagement, they vow to meet in the capital once his career has been secured. But her newly laid plans with Napoleon turn to sudden heartbreak, thanks to the rising star of Parisian society, Josephine de Beauharnais. Once again, Desiree’s life is turned on its head.
Swept to the glittering halls of the French capital, Desiree is plunged into the inner circle of the new ruling class, becoming further entangled with Napoleon, his family, and the new Empress. But her fortunes shift once again when she meets Napoleon’s confidant and star general, the indomitable Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte. As the two men in Desiree’s life become political rivals and military foes, the question that arises is: must she choose between the love of her new husband and the love of her nation and its Emperor?
From the lavish estates of the French Riviera to the raucous streets of Paris and Stockholm, Desiree finds herself at the epicenter of the rise and fall of an empire, navigating a constellation of political giants and dangerous, shifting alliances. Emerging from an impressionable girl into a fierce young woman, she discovers that to survive in this world she must learn to rely upon her instincts and her heart.
Allison Pataki’s meticulously researched and brilliantly imagined novel sweeps readers into the unbelievable life of a woman almost lost to history—a woman who, despite the swells of a stunning life and a tumultuous time, not only adapts and survives but, ultimately, reigns at the helm of a dynasty that outlasts an empire.
My thoughts:
I love fiction that focuses on the lesser-known historical figures. Before reading this book, I knew almost nothing about Desiree Clary. She was engaged to Napoleon Bonaparte, until he met Josephine. Even after the engagement ends, Napoleon’s influence dominates her life. Yet, in the end, she is the one whose blood still flows through European royalty. I found her story fascinating.
You might like this book if…
…you are interested in French or Swedish history
…like stories centered on female characters and their relationships
….you like to read about people who were participants in major historical events, rather than the “main character”
