The Bear And The Nightingale Book Review

The Bear And The Nightingale: Book Review by Dinh.

4 stars for The Bear and The Nigthingale

Synopsis:

At the edge of the Russian wilderness, winter lasts most of the year and the snowdrifts grow taller than houses. But Vasilisa doesn’t mind—she spends the winter nights huddled around the embers of a fire with her beloved siblings, listening to her nurse’s fairy tales.

Above all, she loves the chilling story of Frost, the blue-eyed winter demon, who appears in the frigid night to claim unwary souls. Wise Russians fear him, her nurse says, and honor the spirits of house and yard and forest that protect their homes from evil. Continue reading “The Bear And The Nightingale Book Review” →

Golden Prey Book Review

Golden Prey: Book Review by Dinh.

4 stars

Summary:

Lucas Davenport’s first case as a U.S. Marshal sends him into uncharted territory in the thrilling new novel in the #1 New York Times-bestselling series.

The man was smart and he didn’t mind killing people. Welcome to the big leagues, Davenport.

Thanks to some very influential people whose lives he saved, Lucas is no longer working for the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, but for the U.S. Marshals Service, and with unusual scope. He gets to pick his own cases, whatever they are, wherever they lead him. Continue reading “Golden Prey Book Review” →

Circling The Sun By Paula McLain

Please join us in reading Circling The Sun by Paula McLain for our monthly read.

We will be reviewing Circling The Sun, with our monthly book club discussion questions for July 31st, 2017.
Book Summary

Paula McLain, author of the phenomenal bestseller The Paris Wife, now returns with her keenly anticipated new novel, transporting readers to colonial Kenya in the 1920s. Circling the Sun brings to life a fearless and captivating woman—Beryl Markham, a record-setting aviator caught up in a passionate love triangle with safari hunter Denys Finch Hatton and Karen Blixen, who as Isak Dinesen wrote the classic memoir Out of Africa. Continue reading “Circling The Sun By Paula McLain” →

Commonwealth Book Review

Commonwealth: Book Review by Dinh.

3. 5 stars for Commonwealth

Summary:

One Sunday afternoon in Southern California, Bert Cousins shows up at Franny Keating’s christening party uninvited. Before evening falls, he has kissed Franny’s mother, Beverly—thus setting in motion the dissolution of their marriages and the joining of two families.

Spanning five decades, Commonwealth explores how this chance encounter reverberates through the lives of the four parents and six children involved. Spending summers together in Virginia, the Keating and Cousins children forge a lasting bond that is based on a shared disillusionment with their parents and the strange and genuine affection that grows up between them. Continue reading “Commonwealth Book Review” →

Commonwealth Book Club Discussion Questions

Discussion Questions:

1. The kiss at the beginning of the book is pivotal in setting in motion the fate and lives of the families involve. Do you believe that it was fate, like Bert Cousins, or choice?

2. How are the children affected by the divorce (of Fix and Beverly Keating, and Bert and Teresa Cousins) and re-marriage of Bert and Beverly?

3. What does the title of the book mean? And what does the title of the book suggest you about Patchett’s concept of family? Continue reading “Commonwealth Book Club Discussion Questions” →

The Woman in Cabin 10 Book Review

4.5 stars

Synopsis:

In this tightly wound, enthralling story reminiscent of Agatha Christie’s works, Lo Blacklock, a journalist who writes for a travel magazine, has just been given the assignment of a lifetime: a week on a luxury cruise with only a handful of cabins. The sky is clear, the waters calm, and the veneered, select guests jovial as the exclusive cruise ship, the Aurora, begins her voyage in the picturesque North Sea. Continue reading “The Woman in Cabin 10 Book Review” →

Liebster Award 2017

What is the Liebster Award?

For those that are not familiar with the Liebster Award, it is an online award that bloggers give to other bloggers. The award is to recognize the blogger’s work. From what I can gather in my research, it started in 2011 and continues to spread in the online blogging community, recognizing up and coming blogs online.

Once you get nominated, you are to answer the 11 questions the blogger has asked and then you nominate up to 11 new blogs that you like and ask them 11 questions. Continue reading “Liebster Award 2017” →

Q & A with Mark Sullivan, Author of Beneath a Scarlet Sky.

Conversation with Mark Sullivan, author of Beneath a Scarlet Sky, released May 1st, 2017, published by Lake Union Publishing, 524 pages in paperback.

Beneath A Scarlet Sky

Nearly half a million people were killed in the Nazi occupation of Italy during World War II. But among those staggering losses, an incredible number of the most persecuted—some 40,000 Italian Jews—made it out of the war alive. Some survived the death camps. Others evaded arrest. Still others fled, some of them aided by the efforts of everyday Italians who risked their lives to save their fellow countrymen. So many lives and so much sacrifice—and still, so little has been written about what happened in Italy that historians now call it “The Forgotten Front” of WWII. But all that is about to change.Based on the true story of the unlikeliest of heroes, BENEATH A SCARLET SKY is #1 New York Times bestselling author Mark Sullivan’s riveting new tale of extraordinary courage and tragic star-crossed love during the Nazi occupation of Italy. Continue reading “Q & A with Mark Sullivan, Author of Beneath a Scarlet Sky.” →

Commonwealth by Ann Patchett

Please join us in reading Commonwealth by Anne Patchett for our monthly pick.

We will be reviewing Commonwealth along with our book club discussion questions for June 30th, 2017.

One Sunday afternoon in Southern California, Bert Cousins shows up at Franny Keating’s christening party uninvited. Before evening falls, he has kissed Franny’s mother, Beverly—thus setting in motion the dissolution of their marriages and the joining of two families. Continue reading “Commonwealth by Ann Patchett” →

Lilac Girls Book Review

Lilac Girls: Book Review by Dinh.

4 stars

Summary:

New York socialite Caroline Ferriday has her hands full with her post at the French consulate but on the eve of a fateful war, her world is forever changed when Hitler’s army invades Poland in September 1939—and then sets its sights on France.

An ocean away from Caroline, Kasia Kuzmerick, a Polish teenager, senses her carefree youth disappearing as she is drawn deeper into her role as courier for the underground resistance movement. In a tense atmosphere of watchful eyes and suspecting neighbors, one false move can have dire consequences. Continue reading “Lilac Girls Book Review” →