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The Teacher of Warsaw–hope in the middle of despair
The Teacher of Warsaw
by Mario Escobar
When a book leaves an impact on your soul after the covers are closed, you know you have read a treasure. I was a few chapters into The Teacher of Warsaw before I was captivated by Mario Escobar’s work of historical fiction. After I understood what this author with a master’s degree in Modern History had set out to share, I was repeatedly drawn back from my world into the sad and inspiring world of Janusz Korczak, a pediatrician and teacher with many talents who dedicated his life to the children in his orphanage. They suffered together as the Nazis made their lives and the lives of all Polish Jews a nightmare of starvation and deprivation. Thanks to Dr. Korczak and the dedicated group of tutors who worked alongside him, the children were given hope and taught to love even their enemies. Korczak was Jewish by heritage but had not been raised in a religious family. He admired and appreciated many things about the Jew Jesus and likened Him to the anticipated Messiah, but did not accept Him as the fulfillment of prophecies. Dr. Korczak described himself at various times as an atheist, an agnostic, and a seeker, but those around him would have been hard pressed to find a stronger, more sacrificial, more ethical, and more loving leader. In return the children loved him, and he was regarded with respect by all but the most evil of Nazis.
Dr. Korczak was encouraged by many, including Polish social worker Irena Sendler, to escape the Warsaw Ghetto and the extermination which was surely coming, but his answer was always the same: the children of the orphanage needed him and he would not abandon them. The Teacher of Warsaw is both horrifying and inspiring as it depicts the worst and the best of mankind and demonstrates the power of love.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Historical Fiction
Notes: 1. Translated from Spanish by Gretchen Abernathy.
2. Includes two sections that discuss the historical basis of the story, a timeline of the Warsaw Ghetto, and discussion questions for the reader.
Publication: June 7, 2022—Harper Muse
Memorable Lines:
“Can you think what would’ve happened to the boy had we not been passing by? Everything happens for a reason. Even the greatest misfortunes can become the sweetest blessings.”
“We labor to give them back their hope: but we cannot give what we do not possess. Therefore, be full of hope this morning. May your joy overflow because you do what you do out of love and service for the weakest ones. And when negative thoughts come to steal your peace and joy, don’t let them make a nest in your minds. We can’t avoid those kinds of thoughts, but we can keep them from controlling us.”
I had two hundred children whom I loved and who loved me. I was undoubtedly the richest man in the Warsaw ghetto.
Cajun Kiss of Death–competing Cajun restaurants
Cajun Kiss of Death
by Ellen Byron
Pelican, Louisiana, is home to some Creole/Cajun good food and party loving locals including the Crozat family who own the Crozat Plantation B&B. Cajun Kiss of Death opens with daughter Maggie’s New Year’s Eve wedding to Detective Bo Durand. The pair are saying their vows along with two other couples. Even the family basset Gopher gets some spotlight as he strolls down the aisle.
Maggie helps out at the B&B and works as a restorer and curator at a museum across the Mississippi River at Doucet Plantation. Things get tricky when the connecting bridge sustains structural damage, a celebrity chef tries to expand his restaurant empire to Pelican driving local restaurants out of business, a murder occurs, and Maggie has a stalker. There are even more threads to complicate this cozy mystery. Some focus on the close knit group of family and friends. Others are related to the murder investigation and the many employees of the dead chef who are staying at the B&B. For Maggie and Bo, it gets personal.
This cozy mystery is a page turner with new complications throughout. I particularly liked the emphasis on Maggie and her art. In this book, she has a major breakthrough as an artist, and her attention to detail plays a critical role in solving the crime. When all seems nicely tied up, there is yet another major twist which is well plotted and well written by author Ellen Byron. The Louisiana setting is replete with Cajun ambiance from the food and festivities to language unique to the area.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Mystery
Notes: 1. # 7 in the Cajun Country Mystery Series. Although this is the last book in the series, it could be read as a standalone.
- There is a helpful list of the people in this book.
- It ends with an Epilogue that summarizes the characters’ status 20 years later. It was a nice touch for the finale.
- There are recipes at the end of the book. One recipe that was mentioned often that you won’t find there is “Sugar High Pie.” It was featured in another book in the series, but you can find Byron’s recipe on YouTube.
- There are three animals in this book, but they really don’t have much of a role in the plot.
Publication: August 10, 2021—Crooked Lane Books
Memorable Lines:
She closed her eyes and scrunched her face to keep from bursting into tears. Gopher, as if sensing his human’s pain, released a sympathetic basset howl.
Vi picked up the bottle of bourbon. “Lets drink to that.” She handed Maggie a tumbler. “It’s not even noon,” Maggie said. “Honey, it’s New Orleans. We should be on our second drink by now.”
Pelican didn’t need a 5G network for news to travel fast.
Murder Most Fair–grief
Murder Most Fair
by Anna Lee Huber
What is the best way to grieve? Murder Most Fair weaves that theme throughout a captivating mystery by Anna Lee Huber. This novel has its basis in the spy and undercover operations of the Great War (WWI). The espionage secrets of that period are held close by those involved because of the Official Secrets Act which binds them through honor and legalities. It is in this atmosphere that Verity Kent, a spy, and her husband Sidney Kent, a war hero also engaged in undercover work, pursue what appears to be the frivolous, carefree lifestyle of the young rich.
In reality, like so many of that period, Verity and Sidney are working through grief—for Verity, the personal loss of her beloved brother Rob and for both of them, the witnessing of many soldiers and civilians killed or maimed in the conflicts. The couple is also struggling to avoid the clutches of the evil Lord Ardmore in a different type of war fallout. Meanwhile, we get a first hand view of the hatred many in England felt for all Germans. Verity’s great-aunt Ilse manages to obtain legal entry to Great Britain along with her German maid. Ilse is but a shell of her former self after surviving the war in a country where even if you had money, there was nothing to buy. Malnutrition and starvation were rampant.
The mystery becomes deadly as it progresses. Sidney and Verity are asked to investigate on the side as the local law officer has never handled a murder case. Verity’s relationship with her family is highly stressed as she has not been home in five years, including for her brother’s funeral. Her absence was quite painful for her mother.
Huber’s descriptions are outstanding, evoking a visual and emotional picture. She places the reader in the middle of the setting along with the characters. Her plot is intricately crafted with threads that seem to go nowhere…until they do. This is a good historical novel with suspense to keep you turning pages.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Historical Fiction, Mystery
Notes: #5 in the Verity Kent Mystery Series. I haven’t read all the books in this series, but Huber provides needed background information, so this book could be read as a standalone.
Publication: August 3, 2021—Kensington
Memorable Lines:
I wrapped my juniper-green woolen jumper tighter around me and breathed deeply of the air tinted with the smoke from the hearths burning inside, the earthy aroma of autumn decay, and a faint tinge of saltiness from the sea a short distance away. The breeze sawed gently through the trees overhead, rustling the leaves like castanets…
“Well, the Jerries weren’t happy to sit in their mudholes and cesspits any more than we were. We were both just cogs caught up in the higher-ups’ wheels of madness.”
Most of the war dead, of course, had not been repatriated, instead being buried in France, Belgium, Gallipoli, Palestine, and other far-flung places on the globe. But nonetheless I could feel their absence like the missing notes of a song or the lost verse of a poem.
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine–healing for the traumatized
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine
by Gail Honeyman
I had heard lots of chatter about Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine since before it was published. I found it to be one of those books that stays with you past the last page: the characters are unforgettable. It is Gail Honeyman’s debut novel, but it is so well written that you would think her an experienced author.
This is the tale of Eleanor Oliphant who clearly had a difficult childhood and then was shuttled off to a series of foster homes. She is very smart, but awkward socially. She endures her workweek in the accounting department at a graphic arts business, relieving her pain on the weekends with several bottles of vodka. Friendless, she decides to change her life by having a relationship with a singer she has a crush on from afar. Meanwhile, reality intervenes when she meets Raymond from the IT department. He is slightly unkempt, chews with his mouth open, and wears trainers (sneakers) all the time, but is also kind, understanding, and patient. Through Raymond and with help from a counselor, Eleanor learns what it can be like to have unconditional love and the physical touch of another human being.
She is tormented by weekly calls from “Mummy” who continues the verbal abuse and threats that Eleanor suffered during her childhood. The last part of the book centers around Eleanor facing the demons of her past. I was not expecting the ending in the way the story played out. It made me mentally revisit the plot and the trauma Eleanor had endured in a new light. In summary, it is a good book, but made for bad bedtime reading.
Rating: 5/5
Notes: 1. Blurbs about the book included “incredibly funny” and “hilarious.” I would label it “dark and sprinkled with humor.”
- If child abuse is a trigger for you, you might want to give this one a pass. Thankfully, there are not a lot of graphic descriptions, but it is an essential thread that runs through the book.
- Includes obscenities.
- This is a good book club read as there is so much to discuss. Penguin Books includes a Readers Guide comprised of an introduction, questions for discussion, and a conversation with the author.
Category: General Fiction, Women’s Fiction
Publication: 2017—Penguin Books
Memorable Lines:
His mother was still talking. “Denise was eleven when Raymond came along—a wee surprise and a blessing, so he was.” She looked at him with so much love that I had to turn away. At least I know what love looks like, I told myself. That’s something. No one had ever looked at me like that, but I’d be able to recognize it if they ever did.
It was halfway to dark by then, with both a moon and a sun sitting high in a sky that was sugar almond pink and shot with gold. The birds were singing valiantly against the coming night, swooping over the greens in long, drunken loops. The air was grassy, with a hint of flowers and earth, and the warm sweet outbreath of the day sighed gently into our hair and over our skin.
Was this how it worked, then, successful social integration? Was it really that simple? Wear some lipstick, go to the hairdressers and alternate the clothes you wear? Someone ought to write a book, or at least an explanatory pamphlet, and pass this information on.
A Time to Swill–bar, beach, and mysteries
A Time to Swill
by Sherry Harris
Chloe wants to settle current issues in her life, not find herself wrapped up in even more. These complications, however, are just waiting for her when she packs up her Chicago apartment into her little red VW beetle and returns to Emerald Cove, Florida, to begin her new life in earnest. A former children’s librarian, she is now part owner and an employee of the Sea Glass Saloon. She inherited part of the business and a house from Boone, a close friend who died in Afghanistan. He also asked her to take care of Vivi, the owner of the bar, who turns out to not be the helpless grandmother she expected.
While Vivi and Chloe’s relationship is gradually thawing, Chloe is also working on getting to know the “heritage” business owners, a tight-knit group whose families owned the original businesses dating back to the fifties or earlier. Other important characters include the handsome, but mysterious former lawyer Rhett (aka Rip), Joaquin the bartender and Michael his husband, and Ann the local “fixer” with secretive connections.
When Chloe discovers a boat adrift, she tries to save what sounds like a crying baby. In the process she faces danger herself in a terrible fog, but also uncovers some kind of illegal operation. To what lengths will the criminals go to stop Chloe’s snooping? Chloe and Vivi are also in danger of losing the bar to the smarmy Steve who suddenly appears with a will purportedly left by Boone. If it is proven valid, Chloe will also lose her home.
A Time to Swill is definitely a page turner. It ends each chapter with a hook to make you want to keep reading. Even when I had to attend to something else, I found my mind drawn back to the plot, wondering what would happen next. Author Sherry Harris is also very good with setting descriptions and atmosphere. Some humor and a tad of romantic interest are thrown in as well. There are some surprises as well as some unfinished business to be continued later in this cozy mystery series.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Mystery
Notes: #2 in the Chloe Jackson, Sea Glass Saloon Mystery Series. Although the first book sets up the background for the series well and is another good mystery, you could jump in with this second book as Sherry Harris does bring the reader up to date on the scenario.
Publication: July 21, 2021—Kensington
Memorable Lines:
A thin line of moonlight shone on the Gulf. The air smelled of the wood of the porch, salt, and pine from the trees around the house. The water whooshed and subsided, as if to say, Don’t worry. All is well. If only it were.
I remembered a story our minister had told about words being like nails. You can pound a nail in the fence and you can take it out, but the hole is still there.
“I’ll never get used to people down here calling all pop Coke.” “And trust me, no one will understand when you call Coke pop.”
Fatal Family Ties–genealogy mystery
Fatal Family Ties
by S.C. Perkins
Lucy is a genealogist with her own business in Austin. She is tracked down at lunch by Camilla Braithwaite, one of her “three least-favorite former coworkers” at a job she held four years prior at Howland University Library in Houston. She wants Lucy to disprove an article written in Chronology magazine about her ancestor Charles Edward Braithwaite who is accused of being “a coward, a deserter, and a charlatan.”
This project turns out to be a complicated task because records from the Civil War, especially from the Confederate army, are scarce, incomplete, and often inaccurate. Lucy’s expertise is just what this job requires. It is complicated further by a mysterious triptych and the sudden death of Camilla’s Uncle Charlie who was like a grandfather to her. He and Camilla each own a panel from the art set and no one seems to know who inherited the third panel.
Fortunately, as things get dangerous, Lucy’s boyfriend, Special Agent Ben Turner of the FBI, has most of a week off. His concealed carry license, law enforcement connections, and special training help keep Lucy safe. Her associations with the art restoration world through her college friend Helen help Lucy solve the murder and the triptych mystery.
I liked all the positive characters and enjoyed watching Lucy solve this puzzling case. The “mean girls” were clearly not going to give anyone warm fuzzies, but the author did not portray them in black and white terms. There was room for growth and self-realization for two of them. Suspicion landed on various characters and the ending was a surprise. My favorite minor character was Lucy’s mom. I particularly enjoyed the way she interacted with an elderly neighbor known for her grumpiness.
Genealogy is a field that has always confused me with phrases like “second cousin twice removed on your mother’s side.” Fatal Family Ties is dependent on those relationships, but I could follow the reasoning. Lucy even explains that the term “great aunt” instead of “grandaunt” is, in fact, confusing as it does not follow the established language pattern. That made me feel better! You can learn about genealogy and its importance through this book, but it is never pedantic.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 4/5
Category: Mystery
Notes: #3 in the Ancestry Detective Series, but can be read as a standalone. There is not a lot of personal character backstory to catch up on. The current mystery is the focus.
Publication: July 20, 2021—St. Martin’s Press (Minotaur)
Memorable Lines:
I certainly understood Camilla’s stress, and I had immense sympathy, but I didn’t need the attitude. If I was going to be snapped at, I deserved carbs.
“Wonders will never cease,” Mom said, and I smiled at her. I always loved how she said it as a statement she was stubbornly sure of rather than posing it as the traditional sarcastically surprised question.
“Though one thing you don’t need to change, Lucy, is your willingness to give people second chances. Too few people are open like that these days. Don’t give it up, okay?”
Read a Book, Help a Cowboy: Support the Justin Cowboy Crisis Fund with Shanna Hatfield #RABHAC #JCCF #rodeoromance @ShannaHatfield
Ever wonder what happens to a rodeo cowboy who is injured? It’s not like he has a boss and goes on disability for a work related injury. Author Shanna Hatfield did some research and discovered that Justin Boots in partnership with some professional rodeo associations created a fund to help. This post gives you a way to help while reading! What could be better? Between October 1 until December 24, she will donate 10% of her sales to the fund. If you are a social media fan, you can read this post to learn more about a special online event, but it is not necessary to participate in that. My thanks to Carla at carlalovestoread.wordpress.com for sharing the word!
Christmas Wishes at the Chocolate Shop: A Tale of Two Christmases
Christmas Wishes at the Chocolate Shop
by Jessica Redland
Charlee was raised by her grandparents. When they both passed away and her beloved mentor at the chocolate shop moved back to France, Charlee is encouraged by her live-in boyfriend Ricky to move to the city where he has just found a new job. She decides to open her own chocolate shop. Meanwhile, she continues to pay all of Ricky’s expenses because he is trying so hard to pay off his credit card debt and he puts in a lot of overtime. If you are less naive than I or Charlee, for that matter, red flags are probably fluttering high.
Charlee has one really good friend Jodie who moves to Charlee’s new town soon after Charlee and works in Charlee’s shop. Through their hard work and the friendship of other small business owners on lovely Castle Street, her new business prospers. Charlee meets the very kind, handsome, and engaged Matt who saves her shop from a plumbing disaster. She also takes the plunge to find her biological mother who abandoned her when she was a baby. It is not a step she is sure she wants to take nor does she know if she wants a relationship with this secretive woman.
In Christmas Wishes at the Chocolate Shop, the setting is very Christmasy including decorations, snow, and tree lightings. A major theme is the difference between Charlee’s first Christmas and the second in her new home of Whitsborough Bay.
There are many questions Charlee has to work through. The journey she takes is fascinating, and the reader will be rooting for Charlee to succeed both personally and professionally. As the book draws to a close, there are many surprises. You will be hoping for a happy ending for (almost) all of the characters.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 4/5
Category: General Fiction, Women’s Fiction, Romance
Notes: I am not generally a huge fan of the romance genre, but I occasionally like to mix in a few, especially when they are Christmas themed. As happens frequently in modern romances, in the beginning of this book, lust gets confused with love. So the first part has a lot of “steam,” but not graphic descriptions. Later in the book, the characters have for the most part worked out what love is, and the focus switches to relationships and making honorable choices.
Publication: August 3, 2021—Boldwood Books
Memorable Lines:
“And now my best mate in the whole wide world, the only person who I care about spending time with, has bogged off to live at the seaside, leaving Billy No Mates here with nothing to do except gorge on Spam sandwiches and watch the soaps every evening.”
Matt and I were obviously destined only to be friends and I was going to have to hope that I’d wake up one day and be over him. Was that a pig flying past my window?
Castle Street was the perfect setting for that magical Christmas feeling. Full of Victorian character buildings and old-fashioned lamps there was almost a Dickensian feel to the place.
Murder, She Edited–problematic inheritance
Murder, She Edited
by Kaitlyn Dunnett
Mikki Lincoln is a character I can immediately identify with. She has retired from teaching but is earning extra money as a freelance editor. She is good at identifying punctuation and grammar errors and feels a compulsion to correct them. When running out on an errand she trades her “lightweight sweatpants and somewhat ratty T-shirt for jeans and a clean T-shirt with no holes.” Sounds good to me!
The cozy mystery opens with Mikki receiving a letter from a law firm informing her that she has inherited land from an almost forgotten friend of her deceased mother. There is an odd stipulation that to receive the inheritance she must locate some diaries in the farmhouse, edit them, post them on the Internet, and produce an e-book with them—all in a short amount of time. Finding the diaries is a difficult and eventually dangerous task.
I like Mikki. In spite of beginning her marriage in a time when a woman could not get a mortgage or other credit in her own name, she is a strong, independent woman. She is very intelligent, and she approaches this challenge with the same tenacity as a dog with a bone. The puzzle of where the diaries are and who wrote them leads to a potential cold case of murder and the uncovering of secrets from the past and present. Someone was willing to kill to prevent their discovery. Mikki has several concerned friends who help and protect her, and she achieves the grudging respect of the law authorities.
There is also a subplot about a steamy romance author who was a teaching colleague of Mikki’s. She wrote under an assumed name. A fan of this author wants to meet her and wants Mikki to make it happen. This addition to the story provides a little comic relief and distraction from the intensity of the main plot.
I liked Murder, She Edited from start to finish. A cozy with the main character in her early 70’s appeals to me, and I am looking forward to the next book in the series.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Mystery
Notes: #4 in the Deadly Edits Series, but can easily be read as a standalone. I missed one of the books in the series, but it did not hamper my enjoyment of the others.
Publication: July 27, 2021—Kensington
Memorable Lines:
I bestowed what I call my “sweet but dithery little old lady smile” on him, the one I usually save for security officers at the airport and policemen who think I’m meddling where I shouldn’t.
I wondered what would happen if I didn’t correct all those silly errors. Would the Friends of the Library vote to replace me as editor? I doubted it. No one else wanted the job. Besides, I didn’t think I had it in me to spot a grammar, punctuation, or usage error and not fix it.
Ordinarily, I don’t like to badger people, but I was fed up with the runaround I’d been getting. I leveled my best former teacher’s glare at the young woman and waited for her to cave. She burst into tears.
Snowflakes Over the Starfish Café–a lost dog brings hope
Snowflakes Over the Starfish Café
by Jessica Redland
In the first part of Snowflakes Over the Starfish Café, the reader really gets to know the characters in this book and the story behind each one of them. Hollie and Jake are the main characters; both of them have pasts immersed in tragedies. Those two tell the story in their points of view. The timeframe bounces around between the present and various times in their pasts slowly revealing the details of the personal disasters that they don’t seem to be able to overcome. The changes in timeframes and narrators are clearly delineated and never confusing. There are a lot of supportive friends and a few you would like to kick to the curb. “Mr. Pickles” is a tiny homeless shih tzu who plays a huge role in this romance, but will he be big enough to bring Hollie and Jake together and help overcome their issues?
All of the action occurs in or near Whitsborough Bay on the North Yorkshire coast. The book is filled with Britishisms that I enjoyed immensely such as references to wearing their “waterproofs” or shops displaying bags of “candyfloss.” I also learned a lot about the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) with its amazing volunteers.
As frequently occurs in romance novels, Jake and Hollie inch towards resolution and a happily ever after. Then suddenly there is a twist that neither Jake, Hollie, nor the reader could have predicted. It seems they may be forced to retreat into isolation abandoning what they had together.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 5/5
Category: General Fiction, Romance
Publication: August 31, 2021—Boldwood Books
Memorable Lines:
Angry waves snatched at the deserted beach, spitting spray over the railings, while ominous grey clouds threatened rain.
“People can still be in love but not like each other very much and sometimes they can like each other but not be in love.”
“Then he’s not right for you, but one day you’ll meet someone who is. Someone who makes you laugh every day, hugs you simply because it’s Tuesday, holds you when you cry, and dances in the rain with you.”
education pathways 