The Break by Katherena Vermette

October 17, 2023

The Break by Katherena Vermette

In the middle of a snowy night, Stella McGregor witnesses a violent crime in the Break, an open field near her house. Stella is sure that a woman was being attacked by several people and calls the police. Although the police find a large quantity of blood in the snow, they doubt Stella's information, until two victims show up in the emergency room of the local hospital. While the family members want the police to find the perpetrators, they are reluctant to provide any information that might lead back to them.

This was one of my selections for Native American History month, something that I have been meaning to read for a while. Intense but extremely good. Violence against Native American women and girls often goes under-reported and unsolved. My only complaint with the story is that several of Stella's family members are critical of her because she didn't "do" anything to stop the crime or save the victim. Stella is a young mother home alone with two babies in the middle of the night - her husband is at work and there is deep snow outside. What was she supposed to do - leave her two children and run outside in her pajamas to confront the perpetrators? Other than that, it's great writing. Highly recommended for readers who enjoy serious literary fiction like Rene Denfeld's The Enchanted.

Don't Forget to Write by Sara Goodman Confino

October 17, 2023

Don't Forget to Write by Sara Goodman Confino

Returning home after her second year in college (which her father allowed her to attend primarily to find a husband), Marilyn Kleinman is confined to living under her father's rules again, which include attending services every Saturday. After being caught kissing their rabbi's son in front of the whole congregation, Marilyn finds herself shipped off to spend the summer with her great-aunt Ada who is the best-known matchmaker in Philadelphia. It's either that or marry the rabbi's son, who she barely knows. Marilyn isn't expecting much from the summer, but Ada turns out to be a lot different than she expected. In a good way.

Sweet and heart-warming, perfect for when you need something light and fun. This is a great choice for a beach or vacation read.

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

The Jersey Shore, circa 1960

The London Seance Society by Sarah Penner

October 15, 2023

The London Seance Society by Sarah Penner

After her sister was murdered on Halloween, Lenna Wickes travels to Paris to study with Vaudeleine D'Allaire, a famous medium who specializes in conjuring the ghosts of murder victims to solve their cases. In London, the head of the London Seance Society (a men's club) had coincidentally also been murdered on Halloween. The vice president of the society asks the two women to travel to London to conduct a seance to solve the man's murder, but the two women also plan a seance to solve the murder of Lenna's sister. But the more Lenna and Vaudeleine dig around, the more they suspect that the society is a fraud.

This was part of my seasonal reading for Halloween. I started with the eARC but switched to the audiobook, which I much preferred. The London Seance Society is loosely based on The Ghost Club, which still exists in London today. It took a long time to get to the seance and the solution wasn't that interesting, and the narrative dragged. There is also some LGBTQ tossed in rather casually. This is mainly historical fiction and anyone reading this expecting ghosts and scary things will be disappointed. It's about as creepy as that Long Island Medium television show.

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

19th century seance

Northwoods by Amy Pease

October 7, 2023

Northwoods by Amy Pease

After serving in Afghanistan, Eli Woods suffers from PTSD and self-medicates with large amounts of alcohol. He has a job as a sheriff's deputy only because his mother is the town sheriff. When a teenaged boy is found dead and his friend is missing, Eli partners with an FBI agent and joins the search. But the more answers he gets, the more tangled the mystery becomes.

The whole story here swirls around addiction. Although this is a decent mystery, the author tried to cover too many big topics: PTSD, alcoholism, addiction, the opioid crisis, big pharma, white collar crime, family relationships. The narrative would have benefited from less description involving extraneous characters (is it really important that the wife of the guy who owns the fishing camp wears a ton of make-up and has her boobs practically hanging out of her top?). 

Set in the North Woods of Wisconsin, this really could have been set in any small vacation town. I know this area - we vacationed there several times when I was a kid, and later with my husband. "Resort" is something of a misnomer - the term resort makes me think of luxury linens, spa facilities, golf, and fine dining. The resorts in the North Woods are more like fishing camps. Nothing bad about that, we loved them as kids. I've never seen a country club in this area like the one described in the book, but I do know the gangster John Dillinger had a hideaway in Wisconsin called the Little Bohemia Lodge (it's still there today).

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

North Woods fishing camp

A Gathering of Shadows by V. E. Schwab

October 6, 2023

A Gathering of Shadows by V. E. Schwab

Four months after the events of A Darker Shade of Magic, Lila Bard is living her dream life on The Night Spire, a privateer craft. Kell is living in Red London with the royal family, assisting with preparations for the upcoming magicians' tournament and trying to keep his brother Rhy from getting himself killed. But with all the great magicians gathered in Red London, it's only a matter of time before the situation gets out of hand and becomes explosive.

The second book in Schwab's Shades of Magic series. People seem to either adore or despise it on Goodreads. Like many sequels, this isn't as good as the first book, but it's not terrible either, although the last third did start to drag. There are lovely descriptions of magic, the settings, and the characters. While the first book can be read as a stand-alone, there is a cliffhanger at the end of this one. Not sure if I'm interested enough to read the third book. Recommended for hardcore fantasy readers.

Dueling wizards

Neferura by Malayna Evans

October 2, 2023

Neferura by Malayna Evans

Neferura is the daughter of the great female pharaoh Hatshepsut and Tutmose II. Her half-brother Tutmose III is co-ruler with Hatshepsut and hates her for a variety of reasons. Tutmose III is the son of one of Tutmose II's concubines, so to solidify his claim to the throne, he marries Neferura in order to produce legitimate offspring. Neferura fears that once he has an heir, Tutmose III will have no further use for her and will have her killed. She decides to save her own life with the help of a group of strong and talented women.

Very little is known about Neferura's life: she was the only known offspring of Hatshepsut, she was the high priestess of Amun (known as the god's wife of Amun), one of her tutors was a court official named Senenmut, and her name appears in a royal cartouche, indicating that she may have been a queen. She may or may not have been married to Tutmose III and they may or may not have had a child. Ancient Egyptian royals traditionally married their siblings to keep the dynasty in the family. Sometimes it was a symbolic marriage, sometimes it was a consummated marriage (Hatshepsut and Tutmose II were sister and brother). This is almost pure fiction, especially the "and they all lived happily ever after" ending, but readers who like strong women characters and want a happy ending will enjoy it.

(About 20 years after Hatshepsut's death, an organized attempt was made to erase her name and her reign from the historical record, probably by Tutmose III's son and co-regent Amenhotep II. For a long time, historians believed that Tutmose III was responsible, but he wouldn't have waited until 20 years after her death. It most likely wasn't personal but political, since Amenhotep II was not related to Hatshepsut and may have wanted to emphasize his legitimate claim to the throne.)

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

One of a number of surviving statures of Senenmut and Neferura

What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez by Claire Jimenez

September 29, 2023

What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez by Claire Jimenez

On a cold autumn night, 13 year old Ruthy Ramirez goes missing on her way home from track practice. Twelve years later, her sisters Jessica and Nina are convinced that a woman on a trashy TV reality show is their missing sister. They set out to learn if this could possibly be Ruthy after all these years.

This is a debut novel about a Puerto Rican family living in Brooklyn, whose middle daughter Ruthy goes missing. Not a missing person story or a mystery as much as the story of the fallout for the women in Ruthy's family following her disappearance. There is humor as well as sorrow. We do find out what happened to Ruthy on the very last page. Some readers may be put off by the foul language, but it didn't bother me. One of my selections for Hispanic American Heritage month.

Three Puerto Rican sisters