Tuesday Book Review on Wednesday

 

Five-star review for Where the Sea Lavender Grows by Kitty Johnson

 

A semisweet book about two sisters, Lilias and Ruth living in the countryside in England who take in a boy and his mother who were evacuated from London during WWII and the connection to a modern day young woman, Elise,  who is grieving the loss of her son and is restoring the house in North Suffolk where the sisters had lived. Each of the characters is lovingly written. The descriptions of the area pull the reader in. Add a bit of history, a touch of mystery, and even of architecture and you have a very good read. The back and forth in time wasn’t ever jarring. Definitely worth reading.

Tuesday Book Review on Wednesday

Four-star Review for Tom Lake by Ann Patchett

The every-day activities of a family at a cherry orchard in Michigan during the pandemic forms the basis for the mother to share the story of her life as an actress with her three grown daughters who are isolating with her and her husband. Her signature role was as Emily in “Our Town”, which led to a summer with an acting troupe at Tom Lake in Michigan and a romance with a young actor who became famous. She met her husband there, too, and his aunt and uncle who owned the cherry orchard. The writing style keeps the story interesting. The references to the stories of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town as well as Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard fit the story well. Meryl Streep’s reading of the story added to my enjoyment of the audible version. 

Tuesday Book Review

 

Four-star Review for Death at Paradise Palms (The Retired Detectives Club book 2) by Steph Broadribb

When former British detectives living in a retirement community in Florida team up with an American former cop there are bound to be murders and crimes to be investigated, in this case the missing husband of a former actress, and they’re bound to do what the local cops can’t. But there’s a lot more to this than that premise. The growing attraction between Rick, the American, and Moira, one of the Brits, and the cracks in the marriage of the other two English, Lizzie and Philip, are well written side plots as is the character of the actress who enlists their help. Good characters and an interesting take on a now familiar scenario.

Tuesday Book Review

Four-star Review for Murder by Design: A Thriller (Edison Bixby Book 1)  by Lee Goldberg

Edison Bixby’s brain was damaged by a bullet to his head, so he has no control over what truths he tells people, but his injury hasn’t affected his ability to prove the relationship between man-made physical surroundings and a person’s actions. He might no longer be on the police force but has been called upon to assist the police. It doesn’t hurt that he’s a billionaire. A would-be actor, Wally Nash, is hired as his assistant with the express purpose of keeping a figurative muzzle on his often rude mouth. In this first of a two-book series, they tackle more than one case. The premise of this series is almost more interesting than the actual cases. Well-written story and characters told in first person with deft humor by the assistant. I’ll read the second in the series when it’s published.  

Tuesday Book Review on Wednesday

 

Four-star Review of The Last Labyrinth by Gwendolyn Womack

Magellan Brightman was a musical prodigy who could play every instrument in every genre of music. With the world facing an imminent disaster from a polar shift, she is playing an organ at a friend’s wedding and is transported to regency England, where she’s found in a labyrinth. There in 1829 she learns it’s related to Merlin’s twin sister Gwynedd and what she wrote so long ago. The Labyrinth is on the property of Rhys Sherwood, Earl of Liron and his father was the one who had been translating Gwynedd’s writing prior to his death. Throughout Magellan and Rhys’ adventures I expected to give this book five stars, but the unsatisfactory ending with no indication there would be a sequel, disappointed me enough to downgrade the book.

Tuesday Book Reviews

Four-star review of The Magician’s Nephew by C. S. Lewis

 

This prequel to the Narnia stories, written after them, is as magical as those and as easy to read as the original books for middle-grade kids. It answers many questions about the origin of Narnia, including the way Aslan’s voice brought forth the world complete with the creatures everyone knows, as well as the origin of the White Witch. Diggory (the titular character) and his neighbor in London, Polly, are sent on a quest by Diggory’s uncle, a self-styled magician, using three enchanted rings. Their adventures are not what the magician expected and much better for the two children.

  

Tuesday Book Review on Thursday

Five-star review for Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

This lovely book is brimming with wonderful creatures, human and oceanic alike. I’m glad they’re making a movie of this and sad it will be on Netflix, which isn’t one of the streaming services I have. When the seventy-year-old widow, Tova, the thirty something young man who thinks he’s a failure, Cameron, and the wise old giant Pacific octopus, Marcellus, are brought together, we see magic because the ‘human’ connection is not restricted to people. The other people around them are also well-written, particularly Ethan, the grocery store owner. I listened to this on audio for my book group who all loved it as much as I did whether they read it or listened to it.