Book Review - The Diamond Eye; Kate Quinn

 

The Diamond Eye; Kate Quinn

William Morrow and Harper Collins Audio - 2022

(combo - read/listen)

I don't read a lot of historical fiction but, I always seem to enjoy it when I do.  I was drawn to this recent release mostly because it was inspired by a true story about a female Russian sniper in WWII. Lydia Mila Mikhailovna, Pavlichenko known as "Lady Death", (Mila) in this story, was credited with killing some 300 Nazis in WWII.  She was just 16 years old when her son was born, subsequently divorced and a student of history at a Ukrainian University when she enlisted in the Russian Army and was given a rifle to fight.

This story was a nice blend of fact and fiction and the chilling winter setting in Kiev seemed ideal as well. The storyline gave much insight to what war is like on the frontline.  It made it impossible for me not to relate some of what happened in this story to the current ongoing crisis in Ukraine today.  I liked how former President Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor were written into The Diamond Eye. Mila came to the US on a goodwill tour and these two strong women were able to forge a lasting friendship.  A story featuring strong women is always a bonus for me. Although the storyline felt a bit heavy at times, war never being an easy topic to balance in fiction, this novel did have some lighter moments and even a bit of romance as well. The characters, Mila, her former husband Alexei and her partner Kostia were well crafted as well.

This was a combo read/listen for me. The eGalley was sent to my by the publisher at no cost and the audiobook was downloaded by me from the public library. I thought the audio reader - Saskia Maarleveld did a very good job.  I now look forward to trying Quinn's book, The Rose Code soon as well.

Rating - 4/5 stars

Book Review - A Great Earth Day Choice - Oceanarium: Welcome to the Museum; Loveday Trinick

Oceanarium: Welcome to the Museum; Loveday Trinick

Teagan White (Illustrator)

Big Picture Press - April 2022

A new addition to the Welcome to the Museum series , Oceanarium is a timely offering for Earth Day 2022.  This oversized book like the others in the series offers so much information (112 pages) for curious middle grade students (grades 3-7) and adults alike.  The book is filled with detail facts about every aspect of ocean life. The book is written by a marine biologist from England and more than 200 sea creatures are covered in considerable depth.  The illustrations are fabulous and appropriate and they generated a lot of discussion with my 10 year old granddaughter.  One of our favorite sections was was entitled, One Ocean which generated much discussion on humans and the ocean.  I loved that the index and references also included great information for future readings.  This book would make a perfect gift for the curious oceanic explorer in your life. It would also be a wonderful addition to  personal, public and school library collections.

Rating - 5/5 stars

NOTE:  This book was sent to me at no cost in exchange for my unbiased review by Candlewick Press.)

Book Reviews - Memorial Drive: A Daughter's Story; Natasha Trethewey and Margreete's Harbor; Eleanor Morse

 

Memorial Drive: A Daughter's Story; Natasha Trethewey

Ecco - 2021

I love a good memoir and and this one was recommended by Ti@BookChatter.  It also made the cut as one of our former President Obama's favorite books in 2020.

In 1985 when the author was a college student her mother Gwen was murdered by her former stepfather. For years she buried her memories of her beautiful mother and their life together. Now 30+ later she tells her story, her mother's story and the story of an unpredictable, possessive and hot headed former Vietnam Vet who killed her mother in her own home.

This was much more than an ordinary memoir, the author is a former US poet laureate and her talent shows through the beautiful passages throughout this book. A richly observed story of race, love, obsession and family.  Highly Recommended.

Quotes

• “Mommy," you say quietly, so as not to be overheard. "Do you know how, when you love someone and you know they are hurting, it hurts you, too?” 
• “What matters is the transformative power of metaphor and the stories we tell ourselves about the arc and meaning of our lives.” 

Rating - 5/5 stars (purchased)

Margreete's Harbor; Eleanor Morse

St. Martin's Press - 2021

Burnt Harbor, Maine is the beautiful small town setting for this multigenerational saga.  The novel takes place in the years (1955-1968).  Life in some respects was much simpler back then but families still faced some of the same life changing issues as we experience today such as caring for elderly loved ones. Life was tumultuous for other reasons as well: war (Vietnam),  race relations as well as the assassination of President Kennedy. his brother Bobby as well as Dr. Martin Luther King.

The story begins with Margreete, an elderly woman with dementia who lives alone and starts a fire in her home.  Her daughter Liddie, her husband Harry and their two children Bernie and Eva upend their lives in Chicago and move to Maine to live with Margreete as she is unwilling to leave her home or consider other options posed to her.  Over the course of the novel a third, unplanned child is born as well and, as life marches on the reader experiences both big and small moments in the lives of this family.

Margreete was an interesting character, married and widowed 3x, with 3 children, it was sad to see her once full life slip away by the loss of her memory. There are a lot of themes covered in this story: marriage, family, parenting, fidelity, homosexuality and more. I found the story to be quiet in nature yet rich in detail. This novel took my longer than I expected to read but, I did enjoy it.  I probably appreciated the story more having grown up during this time period when my own grandfather also lived in the same house with us. It was a time when family often care for family under the same roof.  Readers who enjoy multigenerational, small town stories might want to add this one to their list.

Thanks to JoAnn@ Gulfside Musing for reminding me I had this one on my Kindle (sent to me by publisher and NetGalley).

Rating - 4/5 stars

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros - The Mad Girls of New York; Maya Rodale

Welcome to First Chapter/Intros, hosted by Yvonne @ Socrates Book Reviews. Each week readers post the first paragraph (or 2) of a book we are reading or plan to read soon. Hoping to start this one soon.

The Mad Girls of New York;  Maya Rodale

Berkley - April 2022

Chapter One

Welcome to New York

I'm off for New York. Look out for me. 

               ----Nelly Bly

NEWSPAPER ROW

NEW YORK CITY, 1887

Nellie did not take New York by storm.  Not at first, not as she planned.  She had arrived in spring, when the city was bursting into bloom and the air full of promise, with a hundred dollars in her purse along with her clips from her days at the Pittsburg Dispatch and ambition to burn.  Of course she would get a job as a reporter for one of the big city papers (even though it was hardly done for a woman).  Of course she would become a sensation (even though it was wisely agreed that a woman should do no such thing).  Nellie was good at two things: asking questions and believing in herself.

Brief Children's Book Reviews - Hat Cat; Troy Wilson and The View From the Very Best House in Town; Meena Trehan

Hat Cat; Troy Wilson (Eve Coy-Illustrator)

Candlewick Press - 2022

(ages 4 - 8)

This is a touching story about growing old and caring for other living things both human and animals.

We meet a lonely, elderly man who lives alone. He enjoys the simple pleasures like leaving peanuts for the squirrels and watching them feast from his front porch.  One day the man realizes that he forgot to bring his hat inside and he finds a small kitten nestled underneath.  The old man begins feeding the kitten and even names him Hat. The cat named Hat becomes an indoor cat but misses its outdoor life.  When the man goes away for a bit and Hat seems to have been left alone.  I feared this story was moving to a dark place, perhaps too dark for young children but, it did not. While the man is away the neighbors step in to care for the cat until the man eventually returns home.

The colorful illustrations are well done and quite sweet, I liked the story about companionship and helping others in need.

 

Rating - 4/5 stars

The View From the Very Best House in Town; Meena Trehan

Walker Books - 2022

(Ages - 8 - 12)

Part thriller, part friendship story, this is a book that will make the reader think about what constitutes a "real friend and a real home."  The story features two good friends, Sam and Asha, who are on the autism spectrum.  Sam has just been accepted into a private school, Castleton Academy. It's his mother that wants to change things up for him and things get off to a rocky start for him when he is publicly referred to as the Miracle Boy.  Sam is faced with new classmates who may pretend to want to be his friend but their actions show something quite different. 

Sam and Asha's characters come across as both unique, complex and quite genuine.  I thought it was quite creative that a third character -- a mansion known as Donnybrook added a mystery element to the story as well as the girl named Prestyn, who lives at Donnybrook. She pretends to want to be a friend  to Sam but is anything but.

This is the type of story that should generate questions and conversation form the children who read this book.  I thought this debut story was well done and the ending satisfying as well.

Rating - 4/5 stars

NOTE: (Both of these books were sent to me at no cost in exchange for my unbiased reviews.)

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros - Lessons in Chemistry; Bonnie Garmus

Welcome to First Chapter/Intros, hosted by Yvonne @ Socrates Book Reviews. Each week readers post the first paragraph (or 2) of a book we are reading or plan to read soon. Today's pick is a book that's been on my Kindle for about a year. 

Lessons in Chemistry; Bonnie Garmus

Doubleday - 2022

Chapter 1

November 1961

Back in 1961, when women wore shirtwaist dresses and joined garden clubs and drove legions of children around in seatbeltless cars without giving it a second thought; back before anyone knew there'd even be a sixties movement, much less one that its participants would spend the next sixty years chronicling; back when the big wars was over and the secret wars had just begun and people were starting to think fresh and believe everything was possible, the thirty-year-old mother of Madeline Zott rose before dawn every morning and felt certain of just one thing: her life was over.

Despite that certainty, she made her way to the lab to pack her daughter's lunch.

What do you think -- read more or pass?

March Reading Wrap Up - April Reading Plans

March was a month where books were truly a welcomed escape and escape I did. It was my best month in 2022 with (18) books read. (2) were children's books, and (5) were books with 200 pages or less and (6) were NF. This month it was mostly the NF and children's books that I enjoyed the most.  

March Reads

1. The Paris Apartment; Lucy Foley - 3.5/5 stars (March)
2. French Braid; Anne Tyler - 4.5/5 stars
3. Very Cold People; Sarah Manguso -4/5 stars
4. Taste: My Life Though Food; Stanley Tucci - 4.5/5 stars (NF)
5. One Italian Summer; Rebecca Serle - 4/5 stars
6. Talking to the Dead; Helen Dunmore - 4/5 stars
7. In Love: A Memoir of Love and Loss; Amy Bloom - 4/5 stars (NF)
8. Greenwich Park; Katherine Faulkner - 3.5/5 stars
9. Recitatif; Toni Morrison - 4/5 (short story)
10. The Other Dr. Gilmer: Two Men, a Murder & an Unlikely Fight for Justice; Benjamin Gilmer - 4.5/5 stars (NF)
11. The Invisible Life of Addie Larue; V.E. Schwab - 4/5 (book group read)
12. Sanctuary, Kip Tiernan & Rosie's Place: The Nation's First Shelter for Women; Christine McDonnell - 5/5 stars (NF)
13. Funny Farm: My Unexpected Life with 600 Rescue Animals; Laurie Zaleski - 5/5 stars (NF)
14. The Book of Cold Cases; Simone St. James - 4/5 stars
15. Nine Lives; Peter Swanson - 4/5 stars
16. Fearless: The Story of Daphne Caruana Galizia Defender of Free Speech; Gattaldo - 5/5 stars (NF)
17. Notes on an Execution; Danya Kukafka - 4.5/5 stars
18. The Days of Afrekete; Asali Solomon - 3/5 stars

Tentative April Plans

1. Anxious People - Fredrik Backman - book group read  for April (read in 2020 but, need refresher on characters) (audio)
2. Dolphin House; Audrey Schulman (eGalley) - 4.5/5 stars
3. Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole;  Susan Cain (NF) (eGalley)
4. A Sister's Story; Donatella DiPetrantonio (eGalley) - sequel to A Girl Returned
5. Mad Girls of New York; Maya Rodale (eGalley) - 4/5 stars
6. Unlikely Animals; Annie Hartnett (eGalley) - 4.5/5 stars
7. Lessons in Chemistry; Bonnie Garmus (audio) - 5/5 stars
8. Children on the Hill; Jennifer McMahon (audio)
9. The Diamond Eye; Kate Quinn (audio/eGalley - combo) - 4/5 stars
10. The Long Weekend; Gilly Macmillan (eGalley)
11. Memorial Drive; Natasha Trethewey (NF) (my shelves - 5/5 stars)
12. Margreete's Harbor; Eleanor Morse - (eGalley - in progress) - 4/5 stars
13. Quartet in Autumn; Barbara Pym (my shelves)

(PLUS - a few children's books as well)

Happy April All!