The Three of Us - Ore Agbaje-Williams

 The Three of Us - Ore Agbaje-Williams

Release Date: May 16, 2023

She read

One day in the life of a married couple in London and the wife’s best friend who always seems to be there annoying the husband.  Told from three point of views,  the wife, the husband, and the friend, Temi.  Temi and Wife are long standing friends; Temi thought Wife would never desert her by marrying, especially someone like Husband.  The negative feelings are mutual between Husband and Temi.  And there is a lot of wine.  

This is a quick, short read. I enjoyed Temi’s POV the most. Although irritating, she was quite humorous.  There was good insight into the cultural expectations of women and, in particular, Nigerian descended women.  The ending was quite abrupt and left me saying, “what?” This is yet another book in which I am seeing an increasing trend of not employing quotation marks.  

Thanks to #netgalley and #Penguingroup #putnambooks for the ARC.

***

The Summer Holiday - S.E. Lynes

 The Summer Holiday - S.E. Lynes

Release Date:  May 9, 2023

She read

Fiftiesh Kate and her very successful husband, Jeff, are vacationing at their holiday home in Spain when Kate spies Coco Moss, someone she knew at school.  Kate is reduced to a nervous, insecure wreck as Coco was THE girl everyone wanted to emulate.  Working up courage, she eventually approaches Coco and invites her to their home for drinks.  When Jeff and Coco encounter each other, their shocked expressions and edgy demeanor tell Kate there is something they are hiding.  Old secrets are slowly revealed that will affect all of their lives. 

This is a slow burn, with lots of ruminating from the three MCs differing POVs. A character driven psychological thriller with twists, many readers loved this book.  It missed the mark for me, perhaps because the three MCs were so unlikable. I thought that the mature Kate, mother and operator of her own business, a bit ridiculous with her seeming adolescent crush on Coco.  And Jeff and Coco were despicable.  

Initially, I had to force myself to stick with the book, but after about the the halfway point, I found I couldn’t put it down, wanting to quickly get through it to find out what would happen next.  

Again, many people will really like this book; it just wasn’t my favorite read.  

Thanks to #netgalley and # bookouture for the ARC

***

All The Pretty Places - Joy Callaway

 All the Pretty Places: A Novel of the Gilded Age - Joy Callaway

Release Date:  May 9, 2023

She read

I’ve been trying to read a bit out of my go to genres and choose this historical fiction/romance novel based on the life of the author’s great-great-grandmother.

Set during the Panic of 1893, it is the story of one of the first female business women of those times.  Sadie Fremd loves working at her family’s large nursery which services many of the Gilded Age families such as the Goulds.  Her garden designs are sought after and she hopes to someday take over the family business.  Her father has other plans for her. Fearing that his business could go bust at any time, he wants her to marry one of her wealthy suitors and be set for life.  Sadie, though, is in love with Sam, a talented employee with whom she would like to operate the nursery. 

This was a time when families lost their fortunes overnight, when the destitute were homeless or living in crowded fetid tenements. The disparity between the rich and the poor was heartbreaking, as it still is today.  Sadie is moved by their plight and the fact that public parks in those times were only for the rich.  She is determined to address that injustice.  

Beautifully descriptive and presenting a good portrait of the times, this is a sweet, almost magical story.  This was a fast read, mostly because I didn’t want to put it down. 

Thanks to #netgalley and #harpermuse for the ARC.

Close Her Eyes - Lisa Regan

 Close Her Eyes - Lisa Regan

Release Date: May 3, 2023

She read

This is the 17th Detective Josie Quinn mystery.  I have read more than half of them; it is one of my favorite series. Typically, I stay up late to finish each one because I can’t put them down!

In this case, a dead body is found in a nearby stream.  When the MO has ties to someone in Josie’s orbit, the plot thickens.  While Josie, her husband, Noah, and the team investigate, it seems this murder may be related to a cold case being researched by Josie’s twin sister, Tiffany, an investigative journalist.  When a second body shows up, the mystery deepens. Danger awaits the team as the book reaches a stunning conclusion.

I always enjoy revisiting the repeating characters in Josie’s life. She has an interesting backstory and the author @LisaRegan always does a good job filling in that information so that these books do work as standalones.  I do suggest, however,  going back and reading some of the prior in the series. Despite having had many travails in her life, Josie is a strong, capable, likable female protagonist.

 

If you like well written police procedurals/thrillers, and are not familiar with this series, I would recommend it.  I can’t wait for the next one!

Thanks to #netgalley and #bookouture for the ARC

*****

A History of Burning - Janika Oza

 A History of Burning - Janika Oza

Release Date:  May 2, 2023

He and She read. 

Beginning in 1898 with a young boy, Pirbhai, being tricked into traveling from India to Africa to help build the East African Railway, this sweeping saga traces the story of four generations told in snapshots through the years. This family is representative of Asians settling in Uganda during British Colonial Rule and, following the country’s independence and ascendence of Idi Amin, their expulsion in 1972 and worldwide resettlement.  

I wasn’t sure about this book.  It did take me a few chapters to settle in,  but once  I did, I couldn’t put it down; I was totally captivated by it.   Beautifully written, I learned a lot of history of which I was only vaguely aware.  There is so much here, but it is not overwhelming.  Well written, there is warmth, love, benevolence, brutality, resilience. 

Whenever I read books that tell stories like this one, I am left aghast about how helpless the world is when confronting dictators, the inhumanity of mankind in how it often treats others and how unwilling some are to assist refugees. This book will stay in my head for a while.

This is an incredible work from a debut author. 

Thanks to #netgalley and #Grandcentralpublishing for the ARC.

*****

Murder in the Parish - Faith Martin

 

Murder in the Parish - Faith Martin

She read

Release Date:  April 6, 2023

This is the twentieth in the DI Hillary Greene series and I have read a few of them.

Now retired, and due to her outstanding solve rate, Hillary has been hired by Thames Valley police as a consultant for cold cases.  Her partner has died and she is back living on her longboat, but still driving her beloved “Puff the Tragic Dragon”.  Her team consisting of an older investigator and a younger one who is a disabled veteran is charged with looking into the case of the murder of a handsome young vicar thirty years ago. Hillary is also having some medical issues that are of concern.

A solid police procedural, there are no real surprises here (although some will find the ending surprising!), yet it is an engrossing, entertaining read.  I particularly enjoy the humor displayed in Martin’s writing.  Hillary is a strong, capable, female leader and it is a pleasure following her as she solves this case. 

I recommend this book (and series) for anyone enjoying lighter police procedurals with enduring characters. I can’t wait to read the next in the series.

Thanks to #netgalley and #Joffebooks for the ARC

 ****

The Lost Daughters of Ukraine - Erin Litteken

 The Lost  Daughters of Ukraine - Erin Litteken

Release Date : April 14, 2023

She read

Inspired by the author’s family history, this book follows the lives of three women of Ukraine during World War II: Vika, Lilya, and Halya, along with a number of supporting characters.  It is an excellent companion piece to Litteken’s The Memory Keeper of Kyiv which was about the Holodomor (“death by hunger”)  in the late 1920s-30s when Stalin and the Soviets stripped the country of its food and terrorized its residents. 

First the Soviets demanded their food, executed people at will and conscripted men into the Red Army. As the Nazi’s invaded, the Soviets followed a scorched earth policy, destroying all in their path. It is now the 1941 and the people of Ukraine are at the mercy of the Nazis. Initially thought to be liberators, freeing them from the Soviets, they brought more horror, taking the Ukrainian’s food, stealing their children and young adults to work in factories, sending some younger Aryan looking children to Germany to be adopted, burning their villages, slaughtering innocents.   

Litteken is a good story teller and she portrays the horrors without being overly graphic. Despite all the terror, there is love, hope and resilience. A repeating and somewhat uplifting theme is the legend and importance of the kalyna bush, a symbol of Ukraine - with white representing hope, red, the bloodshed of Ukrainians defending their homeland and green for continual renewal and new generations.

One indication of a good book is that it makes you feel something.  Reading this book made me feel anger about what has happened in the past and what is going on in Ukraine now. How can one country have been subject to so much terror over such a long period of time and still exhibit resilience? Man’s inhumanity to man never ceases to astonish me.

This was a tough, but very important read.

Thanks to #netgalley and #boldwoodbooks for the ARC.

*****