Pomegranate by Helen Elaine Lee

March 30, 2023

Pomegranate by Helen Elaine Lee

After four years of incarceration on a drug conviction, Ranita is about to be released. She longs to return to her two children, but release means leaving her partner Maxine behind. Once back in Boston, Ranita finds it increasingly difficult to avoid old habits and old companions. Ranita remembers her father giving her a pomegranate once. A pomegranate has chambers like a heart that are filled with beautiful jewel-like seed, full of juice that is sweet and tart at the same time, much like life.

Really slow moving story. I liked Ranita's visits with Drew but would have like to know more about why Geneva was the way she was, also about Maxine other than she is a militant black woman. I found the characters to be largely stereotypes. The characters and setting have been done before - nothing new here. Depressing.

Many thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

Daughter of Black Lake by Cathy Marie Buchanan

March 29, 2023

Daughter of Black Lake by Cathy Marie Buchanan

Set in Roman Britain, Hobble and her family are bog dwellers, living in a remote settlement. Called Hobble because she was born with a lame leg, Hobble has prophetic visions that are sometimes disturbing. Life revolves around the seasons of the year and respect for nature. When a Druid priest named Fox comes to their village ordering them to join a rebellion against the Roman occupiers, their family, their community and their way of life are threatened.

Historical fiction with elements of magical realism. The historical research and storyline are interesting until the last few chapters, where one of the main characters reveals her "mystical" pregnancy, then it just gets silly. I read Buchanan's previous novel The Painted Girls and enjoyed it, but this one left me wanting. Just average.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

Ruins of Roman Britain - even the characters who hate the Romans admit they were damned good road builders

A Sinister Revenge by Deanna Raybourn

March 28, 2023

A Sinister Revenge by Deanna Raybourn

Veronica Speedwell is back for her 8th adventure. Following a misunderstanding regarding her marital status, Veronica and her partner Stoker (nee Revelstoke V. Templeton-Vane) are temporarily estranged. With Stoker's brother Tiberius, Viscount Templeton-Vane, Veronica travels to Bavaria to find Stoker, who is himself in search of a wolpertinger for Lord Rosemarron's collection. At first, Stoker is reluctant to return to England, until Tiberius reveals that he has located a megalosaurus that requires restoration. Oh, and Tiberius has also been receiving death threats.

Fun series. I love me a mystery set at an English country house, so this one was definitely in my wheelhouse. My only problem with book #8 is that Stoker is not in the first half of the book very much, and one of the series major charms is the interplay between Veronica and Stoker. Unfortunately the next installment won't be out for probably about a year. Love the cover art on the Veronica Speedwell series.

Megalosaurus

A wolpertinger, a creature out of German mythology

Fifth Avenue Glamour Girl by Renee Rosen

March 22, 2023

Fifth Avenue Glamor Girl by Renee Rosen

At the height of the Great Depression, Gloria Downing's father is jailed for having swindled thousands of people out of their live savings in a Ponzi scheme. Broke, homeless and basically unemployable, Gloria takes a job as a shampoo girl at a beauty salon, where she meets an enterprising young woman named Estee Lauder. Estee has created a new cosmetics line and will stop at nothing to get her products into the finest department stores and become famous in the process. Both Gloria and Estee are hiding secrets - when those secrets start catching up with them, will they be able to outrun their pasts?

Very enjoyable story about two women forced to reinvent themselves at a difficult time in American history. I love novels about the fashion and beauty industry, so this one called my name. Fans of Fiona Davis, Marie Benedict, and Jeanne Mackin (The Last Collection) will enjoy this fictionalized biography of one of the icons of the cosmetics industry.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

Estee Lauder

A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty by Joshilyn Jackson

March 21, 2023

Ginny, aka Big, lives with her daughter Liza and Liza's daughter Mosey. Big was 15 when Liza was born, and Liza was 15 when Mosey was born, and Big is hoping that Mosey will break the family pattern now that she is about to turn 15. Liza had a stroke the year before, and Big is responsible for her care as well as working to support the family. When an infant's skeletal remains are found buried in their backyard, Mosey and her BFF Roger decide to investigate.

I love family secrets. My parents and grandparents worked very hard to be beige, boring and middle-classed. Their biggest goal was keeping up with the Joneses (or in their case, the Asches). And this book has lots of family secrets, and also a lot of family love and loyalty. I have read previous books by Jackson and enjoy her tangled family stories with a little mystery thrown in. Fans of Diane Chamberlain and Kate Morton will enjoy Jackson's novels.

And the Rest is History by Jodi Taylor

March 19, 2023

And the Rest is History by Jodi Taylor

The historians of St. Mary's are back for another adventure. Max, her husband Leon, and their baby son Matthew are together as a happy family, with the historians planning a trip back to 1066 to observe the battle of Hastings and the events leading up to it. Until arch-villain Clive Ronan shows up, that is, and throws a major spanner into the works, with the Time Police in hot pursuit of Ronan up and down the timeline. We lose a beloved character but several new characters are introduced, including a taxidermied dog named Colin.

This is book #8 in the Chronicles of St. Mary's series. Book #7 was really dark, so I took a break from the series (for several years, as it turns out). Taylor has no qualms about dragging her readers through the emotional wringer and book #8 is pretty dark, too, but there is hope and humor at the end (are Markham and Hunter really having a baby?? Are they really married??).

The Bayeux Tapestry, depicting the Battle of Hastings in 1066

Homecoming by Kate Morton

March 18, 2023

Homecoming by Kate Morton

Outside a small town in southern Australia, a young family is found dead on Christmas Eve 1959, following a picnic lunch. There is no obvious cause of death. Worse yet, the youngest child is missing, apparently taken from her crib by wild dogs (dingoes). Sixty years later, a journalist returns to Sydney to look after her ailing grandmother who was injured in a fall, and learns more about her own family history than she ever expected.

I have read all of Morton's previous books and was happy to get an eARC of her latest. Like her earlier books, this is a story of family secrets and tangled relationships, set at a country house. It's a book-within-a-book, with dual timelines set in 1959 and 2018.  A true crime book is set within the framework of the 2018 storyline. I suspected the family secret about halfway through and I was right (I watch way too much true crime TV). Morton's tale will appeal to fans of Joshilyn Jackson, Diane Chamberlain and Ann Patchett.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

Southern Australia

The Instructor by T. R. Hendricks

March 10, 2023

The Instructor by T. R. Hendricks

Derek Harrington, a retired Marine who teaches survival skills, is hired by a fringe survivalist group to teach advanced military tactics in a remote wilderness area. The group's leader has promised to pay him $20,000 for four weeks' work, which will go a long way toward Derek's delinquent child support payments as well as the care home for his invalid father. It sounds too good to be true but he takes the job anyway. He warns a friend in the FBI of his suspicions about the group, agreeing to update the FBI weekly. As Derek teaches extreme boot camp tactics, he gradually realizes that the group leader's influence extends a lot farther than just living off the grid and staying under the government's radar.

I'm not big on spy/covert ops books (too much fighting, shooting, beating, screaming, killing, and rather complicated plots), so this one wasn't for me. Anytime people deliberately go off the grid, you know it's not going to end well. And yet people continue to do it. First book in a planned series. Fans of Jack Reacher as well as readers who enjoy spy books and plots against the government should enjoy this thriller.

Many thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

A Dangerous Business by Jane Smiley

March 9, 2023

A Dangerous Business by Jane Smiley

In 1851 Monterey, California, there is one woman for every ten men. Two young women from the Midwest, Eliza and Jean, find work at the local brothels, serving a varied clientele, some odd, some kind, some female. It's a dangerous business to be in, but then, it's a dangerous business just being a woman. When a prostitute is found murdered, the two girls are astounded that no one is particularly interested in finding the killer. Both Eliza and Jean are fans of Edgar Allan Poe, so when the body of another murdered girl is found, they decide to do some amateur investigating.

I've read most of Jane Smiley's books, and this is a departure from her usual literary fiction. More historical fiction than mystery, there are wonderful historical details about life in what is basically a Wild West town in the mid-19th century, as well as prostitution at that time. For a pair of prostitutes, Eliza and Jean are quite respectable. The mystery is sort of secondary to the history. Disappointing overall.

Monterey, California in the mid-19th century

Doing Time by Jodi Taylor

March 9, 2023

Doing Time by Jodi Taylor

Three misfits find themselves as Time Police trainees, seemingly doomed to failure. They resolve to succeed in spite of the obstacles thrown in their path and the poor assignments they receive. But when another officer is found murdered, one of the team members is accused of being the murderer and the other two trainees resolve to rescue their partner.

A spin-off series from the author's Chronicles of St. Mary's series. Characters from St. Mary's make appearances with the usual resulting mayhem (if the bells are ringing, the dogs are barking, and a mob is chasing a group of people, you know St. Mary's is in town). The first book in a new series. Great fun, as always.

Juno Loves Legs by Karl Geary

March 5, 2023

Juno Loves Legs by Karl Geary

Juno and Sean (christened Legs by Juno) meet and immediately bond at the local Catholic grade school, where the parish priest abuses both of them. Neither child fits in anywhere, at home, at school, on the playground. Juno is from one of the poorest families in the parish and is distrustful, expecting constantly to be bullied. Even as a child, it's obvious that Legs is different from the other boys, and Father (the parish priest) is determined to beat his homosexuality out of him. The two children are inseparable until Legs commits a terrible act that will tear the children apart, only to find each other again many years later.

OMG, I loved this book!! I read Juno Loves Legs in a single day, it's that good, and I found it impossible to put down. I loved the characters and the story. Juno and Legs are so tender with each other. If I have a complaint, it's that the ending felt a little rushed. Read this book! As soon as it's available!

Many thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

Dublin in the 1980s

Camp Zero by Michelle Min Sterling

March 4, 2023

Camp Zero by Michelle Min Sterling

Set in the far north of Canada, in a virtual ghost town called Dominion Lake, three different groups of people are following different agendas: a group of glamorous prostitutes, a female paramilitary unit stationed at an abandoned meteorological post called White Alice, and a warehouse full of men who are doing some kind of manual labor that has to do with mining. Why? That question is barely answered and not in any kind of satisfactory way.

Interesting premise but too many themes: mineral rights, global warming/climate change, ecology, indigenous peoples, patriarchy, privilege, etc. I didn't connect with or care about any of the characters, and the three narrative threads barely came together at the end. It felt like the author was trying to write something like Station Eleven (which I loved) where seemingly separate stories are inextricably linked. Overall disappointing.

Many thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

The frozen northern regions of Canada

American Prison by Shane Bauer

March 3, 2023

American Prison by Shane Bauer

Investigative journalist Shane Bauer goes undercover for Mother Jones magazine as a corrections officer at a privately run prison in Louisiana to find out about conditions for both prisoners and guards. He details the fear he experienced daily, the brutal and often stupid rules that officers were expected to enforce, the poor living conditions, and how prisoners were routinely humiliated and denied basic needs such as meals and medical care. After four months as a guard, Bauer resigned when his cover was unintentionally blown by a photographer trying to get photos for the article. Although he himself had been a prisoner for almost a year in Iran, Bauer actually excelled as a guard and was singled out for a promotion and advanced training, gaining insight into how guards in concentration camps become detached from their actions and are able to commit increasingly horrific acts, in the name of following orders. He found the whole experience dehumanizing for both guards and prisoners, and details how both groups become institutionalized.

Like many other readers, I had no idea that there were privately run prisons in the U.S. - I thought all prisons were run by government, either federal, state, county or municipal. The privatization of prisons is largely so that they are run for profit, and many of the "skills" that they teach prisoners have no transferable value outside prison (did you know that virtually all Braille books are produced by prisoners? If there is no company outside of prison that makes Braille books, this is a useless skill with no value outside of prison). Bauer also discusses recidivism in the epilogue, following up with some prisoners to see how they are managing after being released from prison, finding that most convicts who had been in prison for lengthy sentences were released back into society with no resources for making the transition, often falling back into criminal activities.

Winn Correctional Center in north central Louisiana

Hang the Moon by Jeannette Walls

February 28, 2023

Hang the Moon by Jeannette Walls

Duke Kincaid has ruled the county for as long as most people can remember. Sallie Kincaid is the Duke's daughter from his second wife Ann, who died after a violent argument with the Duke. At age 17, Sallie begins working for Duke, driving around the county collecting rents and other debts, often accepting homemade whiskey in payment. When the Duke dies suddenly, other family members take over his business interests and begin making and selling illegal liquor, transporting it to urban centers in Virginia, even though it is prohibited by law. As she observes the marriages around her, Sallie vows she will never marry and fights for her rightful place in the Duke's kingdom, while learning about the meaning of family, whether it's the one we're born with or the one we create for ourselves.

I loved Walls' memoir The Glass Castle so I was looking forward to her latest book. This is a historical novel set in rural Virginia about the early days of bootlegging during Prohibition, about tangled family relationships and women who not only survive but triumph. Fun fact: auto racing like NASCAR got its start with illegal rum runners, who would strip down their cars to the bare bones so that they could carry as much liquor as possible, and then they would soup up the engines so that the cars would go as fast as possible.

Even though the novel is set in Virginia, I kept tripping over the Tudors. The Duke's real name is Henry, he was married four times (Belle, Ann, Jane, Katherine); he divorced his first wife, killed his second wife, his third wife died, and his last wife survived him. Duke even had an affair with Ann's sister, just like Henry VIII did with Mary Boleyn, Anne's sister. After he married his third wife, he banished his second daughter to Hatfield (Elizabeth I grew up at Hatfield House); after his son Edward dies, his first daughter Mary takes over his kingdom - Mary is married to a guy named Phillip, just like Mary Tudor was; after Mary died, Sallie takes over. There is also a Seymour and a Cecil, for god's sake.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

Storing illegal hooch in the basement, just like Duke and Cecil did

Excuse Me While I Disappear by Laurie Notaro

February 27, 2023

Excuse Me While I Disappear by Laurie Notaro

A collection of articles/essays on the joys of getting older. Laurie Notaro is known for her IdiotGirl series. I am in Notaro's age group so I feel her pain. When a woman turns 50, she gradually becomes invisible to others (this doesn't happen to guys). Especially if you stop coloring your hair like I did about ten years ago - most men don't color their hair, so why should I? Like all collections, so chapters are laugh out loud funny, others fall flat.

This isn't me, but it is my haircut and my hair color