tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5264997012972028582024-03-15T18:12:22.967-07:00Terry Tyler Book ReviewsThanks for visiting :) You can find books in similar genres/with similar star ratings/by the same author by clicking on tags at the end of the reviews. These are my own reading choices only; I do not accept submissions. If you would like to follow me on Twitter, I'm @TerryTyler4. Comments welcome; your email will not be kept for mailing lists or any other use, and nor will it appear on the comment. For my own books, just click the cover for the Amazon link.Terry Tylerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15077413235902203848noreply@blogger.comBlogger676125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-526499701297202858.post-88235033107677584382024-03-11T03:31:00.000-07:002024-03-11T03:31:37.564-07:00HARD TO FORGIVE by Georgia Rose @georgiarosebook<p> <span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">5 o</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">ut of 5 stars</span></span></p><span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: verdana;"><br />On <a href="https://bookgoodies.com/a/B0BYTH14M5" target="_blank">Amazon (universal link)</a><br />On <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/124925400-hard-to-forgive?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=2P8BFSZtKz&rank=5" target="_blank">Goodreads</a><br /><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTl_hP_bKnr8VNGjQjqZR31qOSQOfJ6Fc0hKKPCHMlle6Jo18yVQVsGBjdJj6MrjbouFWHN9MAVVAuGH5nzb10jaGU-e_eNQvDFEyJwBXRfflMvrdWz-aLWW2hOE0DeeVrzrDvrsPxrzanOkFe2SXh_-jGnB2uQQnyc5Z-QVhntL6DuTsBq4nNHxUs64A/s466/rose%20htf.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #0c343d;"><img border="0" data-original-height="466" data-original-width="311" height="479" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTl_hP_bKnr8VNGjQjqZR31qOSQOfJ6Fc0hKKPCHMlle6Jo18yVQVsGBjdJj6MrjbouFWHN9MAVVAuGH5nzb10jaGU-e_eNQvDFEyJwBXRfflMvrdWz-aLWW2hOE0DeeVrzrDvrsPxrzanOkFe2SXh_-jGnB2uQQnyc5Z-QVhntL6DuTsBq4nNHxUs64A/w320-h479/rose%20htf.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="color: #0c343d;"><br /></span><div><span style="color: #0c343d;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: verdana;"><b>How I discovered this book</b>: I'd already read another in the series. This is Book 3 of A Shade Darker.</span><div><span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: verdana;"><b>In a Nutshell</b>: A woman alone, a life lived in obsession and regret...</span></div><div><span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: verdana;">I've read a few of Georgia Rose's books over the years. I liked the last one in this series, the most enjoyable <a href="https://terrytylerbookreviews.blogspot.com/2023/02/shape-of-revenge-by-georgia-rose.html" target="_blank"><b>Shape of Revenge</b></a>, but this is a different class, by far the best thing she's written. Loved it!</span></div></div><div><span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: verdana;">Dora Smith is 69 and lives alone in the cosy village of Melton, in which all these books are set. It's a close community, with all the advantages and drawbacks this brings, and Dora is involved yet sets herself slightly apart from her neighbours. She has secrets; conflicting in her head is a riot of heartbreak, loss, obsession and a sense of isolation that she reveals to no one. Sometimes she wears it well, and is content in her life. Other times the ghosts from the past as well as the present crowd in, tearing her sanity apart.</span></div><div><span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: verdana;">This is a short novel, probably around 50-60k words, which is just right for the story. Early in the book we're taken back in time to see Dora as a young woman and experience the tragedies that befell her - I found this absolutely gripping. Yet there was another surprise I didn't expect, near the end. The end itself made me need to know more. What happens to her? Hopefully we will see Dora again in another instalment of this twelve-book series.</span></div><div><span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: verdana;">So skilfully written is Dora's first person narrative that - even though she lives in her own head, rarely looking out - it allows the reader to see what the other people in the village think about her, opinions of which she is probably unaware. So clever! All the way through, Dora reminded me of Susan the vicar's wife in Alan Bennett's Bed Among The Lentils - if you like his Talking Heads monologues you'll love this, though it's considerably darker.</span></div><div><span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: verdana;">Well done, Georgia Rose, and I look forward to the next book!</span></div><div><span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #0c343d; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div>Terry Tylerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15077413235902203848noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-526499701297202858.post-43053390290083095452024-03-04T05:52:00.000-08:002024-03-04T06:00:43.666-08:00OUTBACK OUTBREAK by Frank Tayell<p> <span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">4 o</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">ut of 5 stars</span></span></p><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana;"><br />On <a href="https://bookgoodies.com/a/B07QGVG5W7" target="_blank">Amazon (universal link)</a><br />On <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44898719-surviving-the-evacuation?ref=nav_sb_ss_1_16" target="_blank">Goodreads</a></span><div><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk9EP1Exbuoe0-GrWrpRVJLsQP6PfCFCLYx8Mm0rNUKgOutd2uRuTPNSPV9mxlHVPbxamsRGVT63q9WpwSWsZyeLBnQJGI5cU5BR5yn1cDmH0gcATIDn9UYfOecEG3SZ2x3nJWlX__1_LYMBXqBVikwXjpSsoRaaO12H8-S2Fgzne7iT3JyogJig4J2Gg/s466/Tayell%20outback.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><img border="0" data-original-height="466" data-original-width="311" height="496" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk9EP1Exbuoe0-GrWrpRVJLsQP6PfCFCLYx8Mm0rNUKgOutd2uRuTPNSPV9mxlHVPbxamsRGVT63q9WpwSWsZyeLBnQJGI5cU5BR5yn1cDmH0gcATIDn9UYfOecEG3SZ2x3nJWlX__1_LYMBXqBVikwXjpSsoRaaO12H8-S2Fgzne7iT3JyogJig4J2Gg/w332-h496/Tayell%20outback.jpg" width="332" /></span></a></div><span style="color: #0b5394;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana;"><br /><b>How I discovered this book</b>: I've read a lot of books by this author, so Amazon recommends others!</span><div><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana;"><b>In a Nutshell</b>: Beginning of zombie apocalypse, in Australian Outback. </span></div><div><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana;">Frank Tayell has written extensively about the same zombie apocalypse, a main series (Suviving The Evacuation) that started about ten years ago and is up to Book 21, and the other related collections, set in different places. Kind of like The Walking Dead with all its spin-offs!</span></div><div><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana;">This first book of the Surviving The Evacuation: Life Goes On series is set in Australia, in which a carpet salesman from Indiana called Pete Guinn goes on a mission to find his oddly elusive sister, where she works mending fences in the Outback. The events of the first chapters were labelled as '18 hours before the outbreak', etc - the suspense building even though Pete didn't know it! As well as breakdown of civilisation and the zombies, rich evil cartel type people provide Pete, Corrie and their friends yet more headaches.</span></div></div><div><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana;">I very much liked going back to the beginning of the apocalypse (I've only read up to about Book 8 of the original series), and enjoyed Pete's shock at the reality of trying to exist in the Outback, even before the zombies appear. It's a good story and I did like it, but my interest waned with the original because the characters' conversations became too information-dump-ish, as though the dialogue is being used primarily as a vehicle for giving information to the reader, rather than as an expression of character, and I felt the same creeping in here. This can result in the characters coming across a bit one-dimensional, or all speaking in the same 'voice'. This wasn't the case in the earlier books (my review of Book 1, written 9 years ago, <a href="https://terrytylerbookreviews.blogspot.com/2015/04/surviving-evacuation-by-frank-tayell.html" target="_blank">HERE</a>).</span></div><div><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana;">Anyway, I still liked it! Mr Tayell is a fine judge of pace, creator of plot, builder of suspense, etc - and, in case you ever read this, Frank, I laughed at this: <i style="background-color: #f3f3f3;">He didn't know much about hotels, motels or any variation in between, but he knew carpet and the one beneath his feet was expensive. A hard-wearing, two-ply, eighty per cent wool mix with a polyester coating to ease cleaning.</i> I used to know a chap who sold carpets, and he was not dissimilar. We'd be watching telly and he'd point at the screen during a really dramatic scene, and say, "That's a nice bit of Worsted fibre bonded. Made by Danflor, if I'm not mistaken'.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div>Terry Tylerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15077413235902203848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-526499701297202858.post-425778082004439662024-02-24T08:33:00.000-08:002024-02-25T07:40:08.724-08:00THE SURFACING by Terrance Coffey @terry_coffey #RBRT<p> <span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">4 out of 5 stars</span></span></p><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana;"><br />On <a href="https://bookgoodies.com/a/B0CP3GQ4FS" target="_blank">Amazon (universal link)</a><br />On <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/202777284-the-surfacing?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=WxSEpOVcrK&rank=1" target="_blank">Goodreads</a><br /><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF27ww5P5GI-WNHPOvyAi4poSatZ9QNSgbG9lMLFlZ0dtarBE-3RMYoa1_0wBSf8h0RqBrnKXFKvcJ6uz6yvoqE4ElSAP4hjJ9FZGTRg8HiNgfbD49v7x2x1bhakmHSksW38LdxY8lQ9OyshLxKQc6An-M_vFoow4yEpVpokc7p6h9GXxmeoojxpLGV0s/s466/Coffey.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><img border="0" data-original-height="466" data-original-width="292" height="511" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF27ww5P5GI-WNHPOvyAi4poSatZ9QNSgbG9lMLFlZ0dtarBE-3RMYoa1_0wBSf8h0RqBrnKXFKvcJ6uz6yvoqE4ElSAP4hjJ9FZGTRg8HiNgfbD49v7x2x1bhakmHSksW38LdxY8lQ9OyshLxKQc6An-M_vFoow4yEpVpokc7p6h9GXxmeoojxpLGV0s/w321-h511/Coffey.jpg" width="321" /></span></a></div><span style="color: #0b5394;"><br /></span><div><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana;"><b>How I discovered this book</b>: it was submitted to <a href="https://rosieamber.wordpress.com/your-book-reviewed/" target="_blank">Rosie's Book Review Team</a>, of which I am a member.</span></div><div><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana;"><b>In a Nutshell</b>: Body snatchers, mind control, a supernatural race, in normal situations in small-town America</span></div><div><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana;">What struck me all the way through this book is that it would make a terrific Netflix series of the Stranger Things kind; I notice that the author is also a screenwriter, so I wondered if he'd imagined it in this vein as it was being written.</span></div><div><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana;">I like books set in small-town America; this takes place in Lynch, Kentucky and Appalachia, Virginia. In each close community, it becomes increasingly apparent that some people are not who they claim to be. Others are possessed of superhuman powers, while mysterious chasms appear in the land, and curious sightings are recorded. People disappear, or change personality overnight.</span></div><div><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana;">The story is written from many third person points of view; again, this would have worked if visual, when the actors themselves provide the characterisation, but when they're just names on a page it's not so easy to keep track of them all. Some, like alcoholic mine worker Clay and his wife Tara, were fully three dimensional, so I could remember who they were, but I had trouble with others; I kept starting a new chapter and thinking, "Who's this fella, again?" Aside from this, it was well-written and nicely paced, with the mystery of what exactly was going on unfurling slowly, not fully revealed until half-way through. I appreciated this, as a good plot (which The Surfacing undoubtedly has) is nothing without skilled pacing.</span></div><div><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana;">Nice piece of fantasy/paranormal type scifi, for those who love the genre.</span></div>Terry Tylerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15077413235902203848noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-526499701297202858.post-58548432398676522912024-02-17T04:21:00.000-08:002024-02-18T09:33:54.486-08:00A MATTER OF TIME by Judith Arnopp @JudithArnopp<p><span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #990000;">5 </span><b style="background-color: #f1c232;">GOLD</b><span style="color: #990000;"> stars</span></span></span></p><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;"><br />On <a href="https://bookgoodies.com/a/B0CSG8G8YR" target="_blank">Amazon (universal link)</a><br />On <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/205462089-a-matter-of-time?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=pnBPBPL50X&rank=1" target="_blank">Goodreads</a><br /><br /><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHruB1XB-CcC_kBRZBDi3plDPJouSoQkFJFNl0JTFc5uyiHDsNIHvSMzISBZlpT6ee6-Cfsm4IUrbxQH4XSbGnhMAmtotXdD4MP4Q2rQzF46uceEz_NxVIbwmLzQ2V8kxhlL1K91ZP6Y1rEWfE6XIjn3F39pRg5d3a0gGBN2XYYhhTLQ43ziZXTa8gq2c/s1500/Arnopp%20Henry%203.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #990000;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="952" height="567" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHruB1XB-CcC_kBRZBDi3plDPJouSoQkFJFNl0JTFc5uyiHDsNIHvSMzISBZlpT6ee6-Cfsm4IUrbxQH4XSbGnhMAmtotXdD4MP4Q2rQzF46uceEz_NxVIbwmLzQ2V8kxhlL1K91ZP6Y1rEWfE6XIjn3F39pRg5d3a0gGBN2XYYhhTLQ43ziZXTa8gq2c/w360-h567/Arnopp%20Henry%203.jpg" width="360" /></span></a></div><span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;"><b>How I discovered this book</b>: one I was waiting patiently for, after reading the first two in the series.</span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;"><b>In a Nutshell</b>: the life of Henry VIII in his own words, from the Anne of Cleves era until his death.</span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;">I <i>loved </i>this book! Marvellous series, quite unlike any other historical fiction I have read. Henry VIII in first person, present tense - a perfect choice, as the reader walks in his shoes with him, all the way. Not for a moment does Judith Arnopp succumb to a possible temptation to broaden the point of view, in order to provide more factual detail. It's totally Henry, all the way. In the last book I noticed how events that might be given great significance in other works are hardly mentioned, because Ms Arnopp remains completely faithful to Henry's eyes alone. </span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;">The question of Cromwell's lies about the infidelity of Anne Boleyn crops up a few times, as Henry is now able to step back and see the whole picture. My impression has long been that his whole life was coloured by what he did to her, George, Norris and his other friends, as though he'd opened a door to a dark place that could never be closed. One feels that Arnopp's Henry may not have actually believed Cromwell at the time, but convinced himself because he was so desperate for a son, exhausted by Anne and temporarily enamoured of Jane Seymour's timidity.</span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;">I found myself liking this older Henry, give or take the odd casually signed execution warrant or twenty. I loved the section about Anne of Cleves (including how he began to see the merest hint of a spark of something between them...), and his delight in Katherine Howard was almost 'sweet'. Karma or not, I felt so sorry for him when he was faced with the truth about her, the way in which his whole fantasy was torn away, revealing the relationship for what it was - and how it was the end of his fantasy about himself, too. For one so obsessed with his own image, to see himself laid bare, as others saw him. Saddest of all was his loneliness in his old age. If only he could have used that time to get to know his children more. And perhaps condemn fewer people to death...</span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;">Most ingenious of all, throughout the whole series, is that although ostensibly seen only through Henry's eyes, the thoughts of others and the truth about an event are often starkly apparent to the reader. Now that's what I called skilled writing. Bravo, Judith Arnopp!</span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;">Terrific series. Can't recommend too highly. I envy you if you have all three books yet to read!</span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;"><i>Both painted during the 16th Century by unknown artists.</i></span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfluLWIwRImTu5rOVxM7NpdvDF-fw3ZFg1ux8KAVgWzejVYC2iLmeUFIA81f-_dRVaMf_NkubW1J0JNN_SJfjxo-3ycEQVupcBTIXKBsFbSbwhQB74-6BG9V3zxTVXMu8PxoFvxb9M7WUr-3uUOESP13UW40eV0qj6Bx0HK0MjJYJ6xLwozwBFkGM1-Fg/s931/Screenshot%202024-02-12%20174534.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="931" data-original-width="757" height="355" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfluLWIwRImTu5rOVxM7NpdvDF-fw3ZFg1ux8KAVgWzejVYC2iLmeUFIA81f-_dRVaMf_NkubW1J0JNN_SJfjxo-3ycEQVupcBTIXKBsFbSbwhQB74-6BG9V3zxTVXMu8PxoFvxb9M7WUr-3uUOESP13UW40eV0qj6Bx0HK0MjJYJ6xLwozwBFkGM1-Fg/w288-h355/Screenshot%202024-02-12%20174534.png" width="288" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm7fmbXcsIf2Z6nQHpuw1-k5awL1hMDTKLhW_SXJz627qqSZJAn3H_saBwv8GoKe7usfWf2yOu0v-VMD34JuL0u0qsJwAAr21r-nBnUpo8wD7SHpnBukNUKAoNkVF_WSSzB9zmnOH16D4t0SWPEFTr5Q_7w_rVOG61_zH44HqpVW2CeT8vu9y4_15m3kY/s726/Screenshot%202024-02-12%20174802.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="726" data-original-width="550" height="455" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm7fmbXcsIf2Z6nQHpuw1-k5awL1hMDTKLhW_SXJz627qqSZJAn3H_saBwv8GoKe7usfWf2yOu0v-VMD34JuL0u0qsJwAAr21r-nBnUpo8wD7SHpnBukNUKAoNkVF_WSSzB9zmnOH16D4t0SWPEFTr5Q_7w_rVOG61_zH44HqpVW2CeT8vu9y4_15m3kY/w344-h455/Screenshot%202024-02-12%20174802.png" width="344" /></a></div><br />Terry Tylerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15077413235902203848noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-526499701297202858.post-91337051801414308992024-02-12T05:21:00.000-08:002024-02-12T05:21:39.641-08:00I, RICHARD PLANTAGENET: Book 2: Loyaulte Me Lie, by J P Reedman @stonehenge2500<p><span style="color: #783f04;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">5 out of 5 stars</span></span></p><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: verdana;"><br />On <a href="https://bookgoodies.com/a/B01ESBD2GA" target="_blank">Amazon (universal link)</a><br />On <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30041611-loyaulte-me-lie" target="_blank">Goodreads</a></span><div><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitThyJhrWtucJtzkr6GzewWDwm_cdgXu3jyI-vrnObX-KGCjbpvK3uT96GZUs8c6xJ2-cbc3SPbqo6AlEzCChqzXUt2K-uXy8WunT6ON5BRJPiR4CPIEPUmz2fZ7ElIesf1Vkz02x01Lcd23Zz91ojEj1vPMgE4dykf6NHw-C3DpOlg6zb7SGwBbyrQJY/s466/Reedman%20LML.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><img border="0" data-original-height="466" data-original-width="322" height="475" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitThyJhrWtucJtzkr6GzewWDwm_cdgXu3jyI-vrnObX-KGCjbpvK3uT96GZUs8c6xJ2-cbc3SPbqo6AlEzCChqzXUt2K-uXy8WunT6ON5BRJPiR4CPIEPUmz2fZ7ElIesf1Vkz02x01Lcd23Zz91ojEj1vPMgE4dykf6NHw-C3DpOlg6zb7SGwBbyrQJY/w328-h475/Reedman%20LML.jpg" width="328" /></span></a></div><span style="color: #783f04;"><br /></span><div><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: verdana;"><b>How I discovered this book</b>: Already reading this series</span></div><div><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: verdana;"><b>In a Nutshell</b>: The later life of Richard III</span></div><div><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: verdana;">Excellent book, this one. Probably my favourite of the series. It starts with the aftermath of Edward IV's death, and ends at the Battle of Bosworth Field.</span></div></div><div><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: verdana;">Much of this story deals with the fate of Edward V and his brother, the 'Princes in the Tower', and does much to dismiss early portrayals of Richard as a demonic fiend who probably murdered his own nephews and poisoned his wife. The scenarios put forward by this author are completely feasible and sound a good deal more likely. Of course the period of the Wars of the Roses was turbulent and dangerous indeed, with so much treason, nobles turning their coats according to whichever cause would benefit them the most; the impression I got was that Richard did what he had to do, but only when he really had to. Looking at the claims to the throne, it does appear that the Yorkist one was the most valid.</span></div><div><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: verdana;">The development of Richard's personality was so cleverly written, as he grew in confidence and became more comfortable within his role as king.</span></div><div><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: verdana;">I loved the research that has clearly gone into this book, particularly that about Northampton, near the beginning. I lived there for 40 years, and was most interested to see that names of some streets date this far back (Gold Street, Marefair, Sheep Street, the Drapery, Greyfriars). The 'Guild of the Holy Rood' (I have a friend who lives in Holyrood Road). The abbey of St Mary De La Pre (an area of the town is called Delapre). Oh, and the Bantam Cock pub, which kept its name until the end of the last century. In this area is the Queen Eleanor Cross, also mentioned; a marker on the funeral procession for Edward I's beloved wife.</span></div><div><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTJogoc4xZtQrJKlUcVMXybWAVb9Hng5dY3m6pRbJmPlAIVi2fZpfkS98YfMQVsOPuM3g_sLK-_eW_grkMBL40Ki9p-MylSaaI5LbFf8DMXYoHlZnAwVlNmUNf4WG9yz-HGkH4PE9ta0bJJE6zFxL9K7FZ4hvk_6G7kwvYlhapdbPe0pimOtiRONHNMZo/s1089/hardingstone-cross-900x1089.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1089" data-original-width="900" height="441" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTJogoc4xZtQrJKlUcVMXybWAVb9Hng5dY3m6pRbJmPlAIVi2fZpfkS98YfMQVsOPuM3g_sLK-_eW_grkMBL40Ki9p-MylSaaI5LbFf8DMXYoHlZnAwVlNmUNf4WG9yz-HGkH4PE9ta0bJJE6zFxL9K7FZ4hvk_6G7kwvYlhapdbPe0pimOtiRONHNMZo/w364-h441/hardingstone-cross-900x1089.jpeg" width="364" /></a></div><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: verdana;">This is a first class series, highly recommended if you are as fascinated by this period in history as I am. </span></div><div><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #783f04; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div>Terry Tylerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15077413235902203848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-526499701297202858.post-22531144666145486492024-01-29T03:29:00.000-08:002024-01-29T03:29:00.166-08:00THE KELSEY OUTRAGE by Alison Louise Hubbard #RBRT<p> <span style="color: #800180;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">4 o</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">ut of 5 stars</span></span></p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #800180;"><br />On <a href="https://bookgoodies.com/a/B0CLL1N2TY" target="_blank"><b>Amazon (universal link)</b></a><br />On <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/201540627-the-kelsey-outrage?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=DXMu3ihA7L&rank=1" target="_blank"><b>Goodreads</b></a></span></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPLRPa5Olib_te-1RtD5OPuhYFswkgmkB3ZBCVUALgiim1ZEyJediykansh_JVopSTTDwejFKev7CnhBzsTOO7a601pVIuIAOEi01g9q1zwtbmfW77TZsirJT90zfi_7RDRwuvMplpvTzvk_YO-uwrV7aQa60DVqvFzG7e4OYKEQFAGNI5zqw-7VoirI8/s466/Hubbard.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="466" data-original-width="315" height="451" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPLRPa5Olib_te-1RtD5OPuhYFswkgmkB3ZBCVUALgiim1ZEyJediykansh_JVopSTTDwejFKev7CnhBzsTOO7a601pVIuIAOEi01g9q1zwtbmfW77TZsirJT90zfi_7RDRwuvMplpvTzvk_YO-uwrV7aQa60DVqvFzG7e4OYKEQFAGNI5zqw-7VoirI8/w304-h451/Hubbard.jpg" width="304" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: #800180; font-family: verdana;"><b>How I discovered this book</b>: it was submitted to <a href="https://rosieamber.wordpress.com/your-book-reviewed/" target="_blank"><b>Rosie's Book Review Team</b></a>, of which I am a member.</span><div><span style="color: #800180; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #800180; font-family: verdana;"><b>In a Nutshell</b>: Fictional account based on a true crime story</span></div><div><span style="color: #800180; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #800180; font-family: verdana;">In 1872, Charles Kelsey, brother of Cathleen, goes missing. He has, for some time, been pursuing former love Lucy-Jane, now engaged to be married to another man: Sam Royals. Lucy insists Charles's obsession was one-sided; others know it was not.</span></div><div><span style="color: #800180; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #800180; font-family: verdana;">A talented poet, educated and striking in his unusual mode of presenting himself, Charles is a controversial figure in the neighbourhood. When he goes missing, Cathleen is determined to uncover the truth, with the help of a bumbling local constable and the few people not in cahoots with the wealthy Royals family. </span></div></div><div><span style="color: #800180; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #800180; font-family: verdana;">Cathleen and younger brother Danny are distraught when they discover that Charles was tarred and feathered; the crime divides the town.</span></div><div><span style="color: #800180; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #800180; font-family: verdana;">This story is well-written and researched, and I enjoyed reading it. I found main character Cathleen a little flat, though others, such as the likeable Sam and his feckless brother Reuben, manipulative Lucy and social-climbing Hank, came alive on the page to a far greater degree, and almost immediately. There is much entertaining detail aside from the main story, such as Sam's experiences working in his uncle's Manhattan store, with the ghastly manager.</span></div><div><span style="color: #800180; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #800180; font-family: verdana;">A solid four stars, though I felt it needed a little more oomph, perhaps by making Cathleen a more colourful character, or maybe editing it down; at times it felt slightly plodding, and it's a fairly long book. But I liked it. It was good, made more interesting, of course, because it really happened. Most impressive as a debut novel, too!</span></div><div><span style="color: #800180; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #800180; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #800180; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div>Terry Tylerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15077413235902203848noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-526499701297202858.post-79698758916535961802024-01-21T05:30:00.000-08:002024-01-22T04:54:03.087-08:00ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT by Erich Maria Remarque<p> <span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;">5</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #073763;"> </span><b style="background-color: #ffd966;">GOLD</b><span style="color: #073763;"> stars</span></span></span></p><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;"><br />On <a href="https://bookgoodies.com/a/B0045JKECG" target="_blank"><b>Amazon</b></a> (universal link)<br />On <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/355697.All_Quiet_on_the_Western_Front?ref=nav_sb_ss_1_17" target="_blank"><b>Goodreads</b></a></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-vhkdfXJJvviXc2cYOShyphenhyphenh4nPA6iI2weJ8i9YFuFgGAUAyrWsmZzL4P6J2yztsXRRYJntVgHoDSNjp8gVvtEJSZJV41HdIApxFblAoz8Id5VdZg-PF9aF7Vvg6LCCfkSi1KYDTI_HAYwHD0Hi0LgibVZrP4KbpcAHYyTC9gXp1K0dUPZUKglhimjA9ew/s2408/Remarque.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2408" data-original-width="1464" height="528" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-vhkdfXJJvviXc2cYOShyphenhyphenh4nPA6iI2weJ8i9YFuFgGAUAyrWsmZzL4P6J2yztsXRRYJntVgHoDSNjp8gVvtEJSZJV41HdIApxFblAoz8Id5VdZg-PF9aF7Vvg6LCCfkSi1KYDTI_HAYwHD0Hi0LgibVZrP4KbpcAHYyTC9gXp1K0dUPZUKglhimjA9ew/w322-h528/Remarque.jpg" width="322" /></a></div><br /><div><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;"><b>How I discovered this book</b>: Looked for it after re-watching the recent German remake of the film</span></div><div><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;"><b>In a Nutshell</b>: A young German man's experiences in World War I</span></div><div><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;">I was surprised, when I started to read this book. I expected it to be heavy going, a lengthy tome, but it's far from that. It's not very long (I would estimate about 70K words), and the first person point of view of Paul Bäumer, the protagonist, flows along in a highly readable fashion; it's like reading a diary. I'd finished it in just two days, couldn't put it down. </span></div></div><div><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;">It goes without saying that the novel illustrates the absolute evil of war, and reminds one of the pointlessness of all that those millions of poor men suffered on the Western Front, for nothing much at all apart from making those who profit from such carnage even richer and more powerful. Meanwhile, Paul and his friends gradually change from enthusiastic lads who were lied to by their teachers about the glory of war and how it was their duty to enlist, to shell-shocked and lost men who can relate only to each other; nothing prepared them for the horror of trench warfare, and no words can explain it to those back at home.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;">Echoing the cover, it's just the best war novel I've ever read. Read it!! (btw if you're buying off Amazon, be careful not to get an abridged version)</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="background-color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Merienda; font-size: medium;">'I am twenty years of age but I know nothing of life except despair, death, fear, and the combination of completely mindless superficiality with an abyss of suffering. I see people being driven against one another, and silently, uncomprehendingly, foolishly, obediently and innocently killing one another. I see the best brains in the world inventing weapons and words to make the process that much more sophisticated and long-lasting. And watching this with me are all my contemporaries, here and on the other side, all over the world - my whole generation is experiencing this with me.'</span></div><div><span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-family: Merienda; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-family: Merienda; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">This picture says so much, no matter which country's generals demanded you be sent off to kill and be killed by men just like you - the Cameron Highlanders, before and after WWI.</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-family: Merienda; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #073763;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv6klw_cFhbCs6SSRbI3pEWO28mAOxU9exMLbBxsxyICe8e2SZ4Qc0B2cqJ0u1wv9VzkAcLvbInLNN0Omz8hnkSJPMftrumP6Dg7s7-2_N4cfoY0RfcTi_FSl5PslPRoYhtJKPBeZzwKGzahHbrOR6bzYfOrreYwvziaV26WmvbdbCaPmgCvrFI5dDK3g/s960/Cameron%20Highlanders.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="958" height="498" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv6klw_cFhbCs6SSRbI3pEWO28mAOxU9exMLbBxsxyICe8e2SZ4Qc0B2cqJ0u1wv9VzkAcLvbInLNN0Omz8hnkSJPMftrumP6Dg7s7-2_N4cfoY0RfcTi_FSl5PslPRoYhtJKPBeZzwKGzahHbrOR6bzYfOrreYwvziaV26WmvbdbCaPmgCvrFI5dDK3g/w497-h498/Cameron%20Highlanders.jpg" width="497" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Merienda; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div>Terry Tylerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15077413235902203848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-526499701297202858.post-40456551440896707712024-01-14T09:51:00.000-08:002024-01-15T04:47:28.302-08:00NEW BEGINNINGS ON VANCOUVER ISLAND by Lorna Hunting<p><span style="color: #800180;"> <span style="font-family: verdana;">4 o</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">ut of 5 stars</span></span></p><span style="color: #800180; font-family: verdana;"><br />On <a href="https://bookgoodies.com/a/B09HR2SDCJ" target="_blank"><b>Amazon (universal link)</b></a><br />On <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59218938-new-beginnings-on-vancouver-island?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=ayQX4D9Fs1&rank=1" target="_blank"><b>Goodreads</b></a></span><div><span style="color: #800180; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeb93XoHc_ky4bpHpGa83BxrByW6meDUW4C2qPoH1sItQiaOhlYAdWx19GE3SqYnpwKTqYF-KToQJmEqI4PlMbK5xwnrQ8v0Ac8k_lpS4b_O2dF2J8oKEARKwAWD2mApdQGeNZswQJy3e7eIzwrwykQ42Z936nJD8fEVLIfrJGkLzLbBP08Yt8-wl12bA/s466/Hunting.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #800180;"><img border="0" data-original-height="466" data-original-width="302" height="473" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeb93XoHc_ky4bpHpGa83BxrByW6meDUW4C2qPoH1sItQiaOhlYAdWx19GE3SqYnpwKTqYF-KToQJmEqI4PlMbK5xwnrQ8v0Ac8k_lpS4b_O2dF2J8oKEARKwAWD2mApdQGeNZswQJy3e7eIzwrwykQ42Z936nJD8fEVLIfrJGkLzLbBP08Yt8-wl12bA/w306-h473/Hunting.jpg" width="306" /></span></a></div><span style="color: #800180;"><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><br /><b>How I discovered this book</b>: Twitter</span></span><div><span style="color: #800180; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #800180; font-family: verdana;"><b>In a Nutshell</b>: Historical drama set in late 19th Century NW England and Canada.</span></div><div><span style="color: #800180; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #800180; font-family: verdana;">This is such a 'readable' book, it flows so well and I galloped through it. Starting in Whitehaven in Cumbria, NW England, at the end of the 19th century, its main character is a coal miner called Stag who becomes embroiled in a nasty case of blackmail and considers that an offer to emigrate to Vancouver Island in Canada, to start a new life in the land of opportunity, might make for a sound move.</span></div><div><span style="color: #800180; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #800180; font-family: verdana;">As the families from Whitehaven wait to board ship in Liverpool, we meet the other main character - Kate McAvoy, the daughter of a schoolmaster who doesn't want to leave England. Once aboard, both the families in steerage and the middle class, like Kate, experience something of a rude awakening about life on board a ship for six whole months. Part two takes us to Vancouver Island, and the emigrants' first year.</span></div><div><span style="color: #800180; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #800180; font-family: verdana;">There's a romantic element to this novel, though it's woven into the story in such a way that it won't bother non-romance readers (like me!) - it's just part of what happens to the characters. In Part Two, affairs of the heart come up against some intriguing obstacles, which kept me interested - I'd say the primary genre of the story, though, is historical family drama. Despite a few tragedies, the mood of the book is quite light, and I think it would appeal to anyone who likes this genre as the writing itself is most accessible and it's clearly very well researched. I certainly enjoyed it and will be reading the sequel before I am much older!</span></div><div><span style="color: #800180; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div></div></div><div><span style="color: #800180; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div>Terry Tylerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15077413235902203848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-526499701297202858.post-54722584519781827152024-01-08T04:11:00.000-08:002024-01-08T04:11:26.938-08:00THE DRAU RIVER FLOWS TO SIBERIA: The Victims of Victory by Marina Osipova<p><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">5 o</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">ut of 5 stars</span></span></p><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;"><br />On <a href="https://bookgoodies.com/a/B0CJ7G6GTB" target="_blank"><b>Amazon (universal link)</b></a><br />On <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/199033741-the-drau-river-flows-to-siberia?ref=nav_sb_ss_1_14" target="_blank"><b>Goodreads</b></a></span><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTSgDrfammcfsM-qmvcsArp_lDA4LbJp1mYKRshiYp2j-X56aj5wUzDppOMh5A6T_11ipUpACHpkixM5O8cDdqt7Oi_THDxRxqUKfUJFaZWNsEf61FGXvuEREtOxupZyvV8BmV6OlAZ37jqOlM0pm1XwQn1mIG_tPYFzrEK0L5t-NslK7_rNc7hsa6gQo/s466/Osipova.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #990000;"><img border="0" data-original-height="466" data-original-width="298" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTSgDrfammcfsM-qmvcsArp_lDA4LbJp1mYKRshiYp2j-X56aj5wUzDppOMh5A6T_11ipUpACHpkixM5O8cDdqt7Oi_THDxRxqUKfUJFaZWNsEf61FGXvuEREtOxupZyvV8BmV6OlAZ37jqOlM0pm1XwQn1mIG_tPYFzrEK0L5t-NslK7_rNc7hsa6gQo/w292-h456/Osipova.jpg" width="292" /></span></a></div><span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;"><br /><b>How I discovered this book</b>: it was submitted to <a href="https://rosieamber.wordpress.com/your-book-reviewed/" target="_blank"><b>Rosie's Book Review Team</b></a>, of which I am a member.</span><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;"><b>In a Nutshell</b>: The story of two people who survived Stalin's Siberian gulags, and the fate of the Cossacks under the care of the Allies in WWII.</span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;">I feel quite exhausted having just finished this book, a lengthy novel in which I was engrossed throughout. It centres around what happened to anti-Soviet Russian nationals at the end of WWII - mostly the Cossacks of Ukraine and other 'enemies' of the Allies - at the hands of the victors: the British and Americans as well as Stalin's Red Army, who also assured Germans that they would remain in the hands of the Western Powers. All in the name of 'repatriation'. </span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;">Anna and Zakhary, finally set free from incarceration under the most brutal of regimes, are strangers who meet by chance on an isolated peninsula of the Ob River, in 1955. While waiting many hours for a boat, they tell each other their stories, immediately taking the reader back to the end of the war and the unforeseen dangers that lay along the paths they were about to walk. </span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;">Zakhary was a German national whose Cossack father had taken his family to live in Germany. Anna found herself separated from her family when the Wehrmacht occupied her town, and was offered the chance to work in Germany; sadly, she believed lies about what a good move this would be. At the end of the war, though, she finds that nothing she experienced in the last few years has prepared her for what is to come.</span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;">The slippery hand of fate takes both of them to the Siberian Gulags; although this is fiction, you cannot help but be aware, throughout, that everything Anna and Zakhary went through was experienced by hundreds of thousands, many of whom would never see freedom again.</span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;">This isn't just about the evils of Communism, or of war, but man's inhumanity to man. My only (tiny!) complaint is the occasional use of American English. Words like 'normalcy' 'cookies' and 'fall' (rather than autumn) never sit right with me when the book is about European or Eurasian people. But I doubt anyone will mind that as much as I do, if at all, and this really is a terrific book.</span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;">Here is an </span><a href="https://www.historicmysteries.com/lienz-cossack/" style="font-family: verdana;" target="_blank"><b>article about the Lienz massacre in Austria</b></a><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;">, in which the Cossacks were betrayed by the British army, and another one <a href="https://alexanderandsonsrestorations.com/end-honor-story-betrayal/" target="_blank"><b>HERE</b></a>. Below, a short video.</span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SvX9tUuQpM0" width="320" youtube-src-id="SvX9tUuQpM0"></iframe></div><br /><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><p><br /></p></div>Terry Tylerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15077413235902203848noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-526499701297202858.post-56235459767370756062023-12-31T08:30:00.000-08:002024-01-01T06:46:00.064-08:00THE PRICE OF ATONEMENT by Mae Clair @MaeClair1 #RBRT<p><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">4 o</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">ut of 5 stars</span></span></p><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: verdana;"><br />On <a href="https://bookgoodies.com/a/B0CCW59D94" target="_blank">Amazon (universal link)</a><br />On <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/195083280-the-price-of-atonement?ref=nav_sb_ss_3_17" target="_blank">Goodreads</a></span><div><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqBQXjnQRQCtcVsQNNnfAsYPeMnHfGwXbf7yl5gjIYCGAjEoc9Go2wnMFW7yyFOSp3A1kVMYaznyUa18BJGCU4ZCKHZ02QBA5aqDnHhPyBf5alnkWzSn8BfPKvLPMZpQr33t7x1xB63ozJIbR158D6JWired242m1Wdq97MGmqKUfUwnK5JBPIpn_Zr8g/s466/Clair%20POA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><img border="0" data-original-height="466" data-original-width="291" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqBQXjnQRQCtcVsQNNnfAsYPeMnHfGwXbf7yl5gjIYCGAjEoc9Go2wnMFW7yyFOSp3A1kVMYaznyUa18BJGCU4ZCKHZ02QBA5aqDnHhPyBf5alnkWzSn8BfPKvLPMZpQr33t7x1xB63ozJIbR158D6JWired242m1Wdq97MGmqKUfUwnK5JBPIpn_Zr8g/w250-h400/Clair%20POA.jpg" width="250" /></span></a></div></div><div><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: verdana;"><br /><br /><b>How I discovered this book</b>: it was submitted to <a href="https://rosieamber.wordpress.com/your-book-reviewed/" target="_blank">Rosie's Book Review Team</a>, of which I am a member.</span><div><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: verdana;"><b>In a Nutshell</b>: Ghostly mystery and secrets in 19th Century California</span></div><div><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: verdana;">The Price of Atonement is Book #1 of the Harbor Pointe series of 8 books, each one written by a different author. Isn't that a great idea?</span></div><div><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-style: italic;"><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: verdana;">'The Harbor Pointe Inn has loomed on California's cliffs for generations of Hawthornes. For some, it's been a blessing. For others, a curse. Travel through two centuries of stories to discover the old inn's secrets.'</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: verdana;">This is a delightfully atmospheric story about the mysterious Leviticus and his employee Wyatt, who turn up at Harbour Pointe one dark October night in 1887. Leviticus is haunted by his own personal tragedy, and now spends his time searching out tormented spirits unwilling or unable to move from this world to the next.</span></div></div><div><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: verdana;">The lighthouse and inn hold tragic history within their walls; once a thriving establishment of hope and the prospect of good fortune, the inn now receives few visitors, and Leviticus and Wyatt are soon to discover why. </span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: verdana;">The Hawthorne family has many skeletons in the cupboard, and every one of them is increasingly disturbed by the presence that wanders alone on the 'Widow's Walk', up at the top of the lighthouse.</span></div><div><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: verdana;">I liked Leviticus, and found that his own story was just as interesting as the one he investigated. This is such a well-written novella, fitting perfectly into the shorter format, and I enjoyed it very much. Good unpredictable plot. Now I must decide which one I would like to read next!</span></div><div><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div>Terry Tylerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15077413235902203848noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-526499701297202858.post-4198219533478508552023-12-31T06:57:00.000-08:002023-12-31T07:19:53.053-08:00My Top Ten Books of 2023<p> </p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-size: medium;">Never an easy task and I'm short on time ... here are those I have selected as my top 10 ten of the 40-ish books I read in 2023. In no particular order but an extra special mention for the last four, to which I gave my rare 5 </span><span style="background-color: #ffe599; font-size: medium;">Gold</span><span style="color: #741b47; font-size: medium;"> Stars rating :)</span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><b>~ 🕮🕮🕮 ~</b></span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl50cbzgwcXfU9mJ43JvWzPye9PvQ88kfaODICj2fkjkX_mX3G0G4809cyVUN9nfLHiar9sCtlLKpE_XUWvL0Fu358KIUQziePC_KJyFGC_BirlJ1YZ5yMKgvtYUTgkcDQNTDj0Y7qIHkcgB6K2kqI7KlSM_uTLuut3AX-DxsrhF3_IuFzNSNBIbm8oOQ/s442/Screenshot%202023-12-31%20145423.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="260" data-original-width="442" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl50cbzgwcXfU9mJ43JvWzPye9PvQ88kfaODICj2fkjkX_mX3G0G4809cyVUN9nfLHiar9sCtlLKpE_XUWvL0Fu358KIUQziePC_KJyFGC_BirlJ1YZ5yMKgvtYUTgkcDQNTDj0Y7qIHkcgB6K2kqI7KlSM_uTLuut3AX-DxsrhF3_IuFzNSNBIbm8oOQ/w359-h211/Screenshot%202023-12-31%20145423.png" width="359" /></a></span></div><p><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">To read my review of any of these ten, please click the title. All come highly recommended!</span></p><p><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><b><a href="https://terrytylerbookreviews.blogspot.com/2023/12/buried-in-past-by-anna-legat-legatwriter.html" target="_blank">Buried in the Past by Anna Legat</a></b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><i>WWII Historical, Poland</i></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTZjZLiVi-JjfSgelAe03D1GYzQOLM1oTpOCIbyXwYdTNfwtGrpqAv9CgZVTcrU2_GjBaJ88segPdUtT9VHFpmhU2nFynxJ_ljsA8ojAciwQzdGGypUmrRET6QLAo-HRuJr_ndOY0z9WO2_xP_j8L687tnY_1hW6930mf75JPkmkFLdJB1bP3fDJP-1KE/s466/Legat%20Buried.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="466" data-original-width="292" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTZjZLiVi-JjfSgelAe03D1GYzQOLM1oTpOCIbyXwYdTNfwtGrpqAv9CgZVTcrU2_GjBaJ88segPdUtT9VHFpmhU2nFynxJ_ljsA8ojAciwQzdGGypUmrRET6QLAo-HRuJr_ndOY0z9WO2_xP_j8L687tnY_1hW6930mf75JPkmkFLdJB1bP3fDJP-1KE/w251-h400/Legat%20Buried.jpg" width="251" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><b><a href="https://terrytylerbookreviews.blogspot.com/2023/09/you-can-take-girl-from-prairie-by.html" target="_blank">You can take the Girl from the Prairie by Darlene Foster</a><br /></b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><i>Memoir, rural Canada, 1950s and 60s. Short essays.</i></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS9czkPrf0RTL9NUXtff4vJ2iaj1gMWkvn_zweZwiydiwGujJG7vuUIPD0dnnAb8C8hxAgSoGtzSj0kALG0w1funUtjGMEWvi59NeaiDieZEfpPYuu9mpzRfZHvE_uEjos-hW1RjbfvsFC4iXxKd8Q7zr6DGgCAJRFNKTYLIZZ889aVWTFEOMK1hstLFM/s500/Darlene.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="314" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS9czkPrf0RTL9NUXtff4vJ2iaj1gMWkvn_zweZwiydiwGujJG7vuUIPD0dnnAb8C8hxAgSoGtzSj0kALG0w1funUtjGMEWvi59NeaiDieZEfpPYuu9mpzRfZHvE_uEjos-hW1RjbfvsFC4iXxKd8Q7zr6DGgCAJRFNKTYLIZZ889aVWTFEOMK1hstLFM/w251-h400/Darlene.jpg" width="251" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><b><a href="https://terrytylerbookreviews.blogspot.com/2023/10/i-richard-plantagenet-tante-le-desiree.html" target="_blank">I, Richard Plantagenet: Tante le Desiree by J P Reedman</a><br /></b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><i>Historical, England 15th Century</i></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8lKa1n11kqWBPYaY_DFbLKnGfFRhvHzX8IsqpYXqeXV3iShWT_8trFznt1MBfWdB48ionc7ZUJqqdChzqkaGOnuyQPus7snjcRoGYOuTnJ1XbWjP2vzWNI7KjHkKXuiELio-Swc1uwjn6RL2N7SM-sLz7V0EZ6OH_PMb74Siz-sTna_0advyXnKe-iXU/s400/Reedman%203.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="250" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8lKa1n11kqWBPYaY_DFbLKnGfFRhvHzX8IsqpYXqeXV3iShWT_8trFznt1MBfWdB48ionc7ZUJqqdChzqkaGOnuyQPus7snjcRoGYOuTnJ1XbWjP2vzWNI7KjHkKXuiELio-Swc1uwjn6RL2N7SM-sLz7V0EZ6OH_PMb74Siz-sTna_0advyXnKe-iXU/w250-h400/Reedman%203.jpg" width="250" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><b><a href="https://terrytylerbookreviews.blogspot.com/2023/07/a-moonlit-path-of-madness-by-catherine.html" target="_blank">A Moonlit Path of Madness by Catherine McCarthy</a><br /></b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><i>Welsh folklore, early 20th Century, supernatural</i></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8avLMdkeD3aRL9VxklwI0Ru0WGtaz6P6frjdEdNYAtkSNJGXdXqqvSPrabhcB0Lmwe5yhVzYrqszfxkIA2tU-7u_peBsJv1bHk4W3uHJu15URcNGMfuviwAyGxCtjjOWjywPGPKLjtfiM8fon-sCOw2UNROar1r9StekaUUN1JVsWc6LunlwWLrFaCQ4/s500/mccarthy%20moonlit.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="320" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8avLMdkeD3aRL9VxklwI0Ru0WGtaz6P6frjdEdNYAtkSNJGXdXqqvSPrabhcB0Lmwe5yhVzYrqszfxkIA2tU-7u_peBsJv1bHk4W3uHJu15URcNGMfuviwAyGxCtjjOWjywPGPKLjtfiM8fon-sCOw2UNROar1r9StekaUUN1JVsWc6LunlwWLrFaCQ4/w256-h400/mccarthy%20moonlit.jpg" width="256" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><b><a href="https://terrytylerbookreviews.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-fortune-keeper-by-deborah-swift.html" target="_blank">The Fortune Keeper by Deborah Swift</a><br /></b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><i>Historical, 17th Century Venice</i></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwibwtRtB78JbfUbVS8vUZJMWZzmYc5bUfJE-la8E2LoAU9O2XhUDS_4B5hBEhKSDCDx959VLvVcYNtNxKi5mrxBxylYyawY8LTvZMbv2qmGwU5sTwmUj5kIHILWy83fFvcdOl2VRZqHL1sYpOS7ADobz_qfzK9WUlY9xilF2f1ipwSs4F0ITmjrTLW9o/s500/swift%20fortune.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="329" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwibwtRtB78JbfUbVS8vUZJMWZzmYc5bUfJE-la8E2LoAU9O2XhUDS_4B5hBEhKSDCDx959VLvVcYNtNxKi5mrxBxylYyawY8LTvZMbv2qmGwU5sTwmUj5kIHILWy83fFvcdOl2VRZqHL1sYpOS7ADobz_qfzK9WUlY9xilF2f1ipwSs4F0ITmjrTLW9o/w264-h400/swift%20fortune.jpg" width="264" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><b><a href="https://terrytylerbookreviews.blogspot.com/2023/03/a-matter-of-faith-by-judith-arnopp.html" target="_blank">A Matter of Faith by Judith Arnopp</a><br /></b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><i>Historical, early16th Century England</i></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY4QQsbviB3bP2GxPJMPgOhZu5Ao6PYHe6r-fujmtadTpBZUHw1wp7qxbAT1diMk8SCekI-2spzzzVcH9ZfwFYjS2CEFcVQj9h1KvUVtMvSfiFGoPTJd4htvBNydiCBUJZ8ANUfPi_oNcknN_7emVptk4CPZWTAMCSdZ1EFAGLirOjI3Ynuv5tfc2zhmU/s500/Arnopp%20Henry%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="312" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY4QQsbviB3bP2GxPJMPgOhZu5Ao6PYHe6r-fujmtadTpBZUHw1wp7qxbAT1diMk8SCekI-2spzzzVcH9ZfwFYjS2CEFcVQj9h1KvUVtMvSfiFGoPTJd4htvBNydiCBUJZ8ANUfPi_oNcknN_7emVptk4CPZWTAMCSdZ1EFAGLirOjI3Ynuv5tfc2zhmU/w250-h400/Arnopp%20Henry%202.jpg" width="250" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><b><a href="https://terrytylerbookreviews.blogspot.com/2023/05/servant-of-death-by-gemma-lawrence.html" target="_blank">Servant of Death by Gemma Lawrence</a><br /></b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><i>Historical, early 16th Century England</i></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdjbsbNaDj0zUuR7R9TgSJAJPdBSfgU9MgNDPDjcar4Lu4gDoImQacOU7ROQZZwKYzR1dHQvTiPdBHn64n5zIt3P883eBCVFopy9JDpbqAUEFBSILBhcEtDv-FV_v8lNc0wW7evV0Hj1iqKu3VeJi4ffBjAatm2VvPmBlMAUeSi_-bI4x0C4agRNkABfw/s500/Lawrence%20Rochford%206.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="333" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdjbsbNaDj0zUuR7R9TgSJAJPdBSfgU9MgNDPDjcar4Lu4gDoImQacOU7ROQZZwKYzR1dHQvTiPdBHn64n5zIt3P883eBCVFopy9JDpbqAUEFBSILBhcEtDv-FV_v8lNc0wW7evV0Hj1iqKu3VeJi4ffBjAatm2VvPmBlMAUeSi_-bI4x0C4agRNkABfw/w266-h400/Lawrence%20Rochford%206.jpg" width="266" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><b><a href="https://terrytylerbookreviews.blogspot.com/2023/08/we-living-by-ayn-rand-aynrandorg.html" target="_blank">We The Living by Ayn Rand</a><br /></b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><i>Historical, early 20th Century Russia</i></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj_C_St-9jtIk3fXFUGwjM_marT86y5oG7dz78u0Mok2kwFrLcCN9SZjoHXIRFYvl66wZhCik90t4iJqASvVF5jwnDb22xxrEkvsuzfBWVsElPWtfC9mPmaPVBuDqyt4y3bHFeT35GDTsTfTROvzaGphgcEBDTUkkdr2HVnQ8JcxdUTS-_ah-6mjCSbCs/s350/41wVVlbUCsS._SL350_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="210" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj_C_St-9jtIk3fXFUGwjM_marT86y5oG7dz78u0Mok2kwFrLcCN9SZjoHXIRFYvl66wZhCik90t4iJqASvVF5jwnDb22xxrEkvsuzfBWVsElPWtfC9mPmaPVBuDqyt4y3bHFeT35GDTsTfTROvzaGphgcEBDTUkkdr2HVnQ8JcxdUTS-_ah-6mjCSbCs/w240-h400/41wVVlbUCsS._SL350_.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><b><a href="https://terrytylerbookreviews.blogspot.com/2023/01/my-lady-spy-by-gemma-lawrence.html" target="_blank">My Lady Spy by Gemma Lawrence</a><br /></b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><i>Historical, early 16th Century England</i></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTEaGVbukaVgvl1Mv608vT-7bDB56qz7c3CIj7sJRbEVwXNgYJGRFLecxmmILSXc_FNduGoX3uZ8TNa3sQpPv0T7-fyy0OHAItNy_OZyBffLkqcRHkymbe72YY0nVELQJhGNvrek1XOoJu_-H65NlwYzEcDzQ42p9ZLHrKFA03DnUT6Z6ETAf7PsobLyM/s500/Lawrence%20LJR%205.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="333" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTEaGVbukaVgvl1Mv608vT-7bDB56qz7c3CIj7sJRbEVwXNgYJGRFLecxmmILSXc_FNduGoX3uZ8TNa3sQpPv0T7-fyy0OHAItNy_OZyBffLkqcRHkymbe72YY0nVELQJhGNvrek1XOoJu_-H65NlwYzEcDzQ42p9ZLHrKFA03DnUT6Z6ETAf7PsobLyM/w266-h400/Lawrence%20LJR%205.jpg" width="266" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://terrytylerbookreviews.blogspot.com/2023/06/planet-of-head-breakers-by-zeb-haradon.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #741b47; font-size: medium;">Planet of the Head-Breakers by Zeb Haradon</span></a><br /></span></b></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><i>Post Apocalyptic, Sci-fi, Dystopian, set in a future US.</i></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgizvwNrgxTPLYKjcHsG7Jj3l-f8WVqJy1EbVHVyQclvFQAAY1B724SERQR5zBDtuiIl9oL7bCnuwRCsSELRY0ndAIOmsMVGB4mxJwqAmucPDrc1Z0L21k093szfvjvy0hUhNP61_xjaSulmIugWxuhjYAC6vF_ppgp4EiZ0CMTTXzEaWxqjrHwDHHwxng/s500/Haradon%20head%20breaker.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="313" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgizvwNrgxTPLYKjcHsG7Jj3l-f8WVqJy1EbVHVyQclvFQAAY1B724SERQR5zBDtuiIl9oL7bCnuwRCsSELRY0ndAIOmsMVGB4mxJwqAmucPDrc1Z0L21k093szfvjvy0hUhNP61_xjaSulmIugWxuhjYAC6vF_ppgp4EiZ0CMTTXzEaWxqjrHwDHHwxng/w250-h400/Haradon%20head%20breaker.jpg" width="250" /></a></div><br /><br /><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">A few other good ones from this year - review can be found by putting the title into the 'search' facility.</span><div><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigiE2gLD_QJCK9HQDYPcC8ddWhzSVA9ix_4UZWMAeQxuSNs5jkQBJUZ81lrXCJso48CMubuVH1_3cr2RvMKMPyuFdXge7sHWAvv12Btr0hKYpNb4y6tMknMnCo54QP2h8PscZxP22utmehmcyc52ohh3_Id_0TTCWzWl00mQcxGlyw8H8VLsoUq_9ymq0/s500/Keates.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="313" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigiE2gLD_QJCK9HQDYPcC8ddWhzSVA9ix_4UZWMAeQxuSNs5jkQBJUZ81lrXCJso48CMubuVH1_3cr2RvMKMPyuFdXge7sHWAvv12Btr0hKYpNb4y6tMknMnCo54QP2h8PscZxP22utmehmcyc52ohh3_Id_0TTCWzWl00mQcxGlyw8H8VLsoUq_9ymq0/w94-h150/Keates.jpg" width="94" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiftJGB2Vo37YVuwyW-SnmEaSMyNhsEPQJiIxV_J7XutoYaRP2AaqfmzT_Wq_LMwwRBVZn5dpWGC-cWd8NgRxx27n3BfXxTbSqQxhYWTtwpdYtK-ymkukFWTphBqRrafwPU8SboWQYcsrJSjpDjQ0rt7HoSxghQxJV_FvnfpmXx-w6Xsjo4PYB6OtaQBag/s500/Gallion.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="313" height="151" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiftJGB2Vo37YVuwyW-SnmEaSMyNhsEPQJiIxV_J7XutoYaRP2AaqfmzT_Wq_LMwwRBVZn5dpWGC-cWd8NgRxx27n3BfXxTbSqQxhYWTtwpdYtK-ymkukFWTphBqRrafwPU8SboWQYcsrJSjpDjQ0rt7HoSxghQxJV_FvnfpmXx-w6Xsjo4PYB6OtaQBag/w94-h151/Gallion.jpg" width="94" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2jAS8dixD30LY66QE_fkJeOOxWrZ3JlLT7VCk5YH1E9JGlW1ysoB9JZT_ijEp187U9O9vexHeWz0ve-6C4zDBXIrePhi0fu60qxNxhuKDOv4Vz7DH4GAzIL_wnRUb7errlPwWwWcANeb4qaUbBZysA7XdMT6z9vfVLsCRQjU7eNi1LBERg7APgGm2nhk/s500/Kaye.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="313" height="144" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2jAS8dixD30LY66QE_fkJeOOxWrZ3JlLT7VCk5YH1E9JGlW1ysoB9JZT_ijEp187U9O9vexHeWz0ve-6C4zDBXIrePhi0fu60qxNxhuKDOv4Vz7DH4GAzIL_wnRUb7errlPwWwWcANeb4qaUbBZysA7XdMT6z9vfVLsCRQjU7eNi1LBERg7APgGm2nhk/w90-h144/Kaye.jpg" width="90" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><b>Now, back to the TBR list....</b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><b>Happy New Year's Reading!</b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4xq39bhRFln-vvvKVXtmIiGkPGqZBe5qXgI9fFhmGJFnDlaJhTDUUe_jWr6ltMGwWlBlLLYucErjtyombP9VQEW6sNwUE8N18pySttFXyey-IlH8UkmiTip3yd7XzLRs_QIWZcIxhQxVBcnsHL814LorL48WJdP7UeBvRJNTL0iMkga44HOXB_R7qmtQ/s500/tumblr_m3ocw78neA1rvwuk0o1_500.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="235" data-original-width="500" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4xq39bhRFln-vvvKVXtmIiGkPGqZBe5qXgI9fFhmGJFnDlaJhTDUUe_jWr6ltMGwWlBlLLYucErjtyombP9VQEW6sNwUE8N18pySttFXyey-IlH8UkmiTip3yd7XzLRs_QIWZcIxhQxVBcnsHL814LorL48WJdP7UeBvRJNTL0iMkga44HOXB_R7qmtQ/w510-h239/tumblr_m3ocw78neA1rvwuk0o1_500.gif" width="510" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /></div>Terry Tylerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15077413235902203848noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-526499701297202858.post-79064817806454707502023-12-18T09:48:00.000-08:002023-12-18T10:09:36.934-08:00BURIED IN THE PAST by Anna Legat @LegatWriter<p> <span style="font-family: verdana;">5 o</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">ut of 5 stars</span></p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />On <a href="https://bookgoodies.com/a/B0CJCLXYJB" target="_blank">Amazon (universal link)</a><br />On <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/199324550-buried-in-the-past?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=8duF4sxixh&rank=8" target="_blank">Goodreads</a></span><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMvxt6lhM_sbtlSP36aLIFXvUtvUraO6TTsyzLXIg8hAoa_y3ZdPVBxdX0O_jPX3Cze9scnYkpKiECYzitwtjJkFcigE26tuZdrkxtA5CtLx4GCMTXHw3uSMWDIhNIcSo8lrysSplmZvR5l9RuKPvkMWwiQ3F2zUaWKdTaRunj8na3BE4cLJrELBw1NO4/s466/Legat%20Buried.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="466" data-original-width="292" height="467" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMvxt6lhM_sbtlSP36aLIFXvUtvUraO6TTsyzLXIg8hAoa_y3ZdPVBxdX0O_jPX3Cze9scnYkpKiECYzitwtjJkFcigE26tuZdrkxtA5CtLx4GCMTXHw3uSMWDIhNIcSo8lrysSplmZvR5l9RuKPvkMWwiQ3F2zUaWKdTaRunj8na3BE4cLJrELBw1NO4/w293-h467/Legat%20Buried.jpg" width="293" /></a></div><br /><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>How I discovered this book</b>: I've enjoyed others by this author so thought I'd try this one!</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>In a Nutshell</b>: A novel about the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_resistance_movement_in_World_War_II" target="_blank"><b>Polish partisans</b></a> of WWII, and a mystery surrounding an unmarked grave, waiting to be solved fifty years later. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">This is a terrific book that taught me much I didn't know about Poland eighty years ago - I didn't realise that, during World War II, Russia was considered as much an enemy as Nazi Germany, or why. I read the second half of the book in one afternoon; I was utterly gripped. </span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">The main timeline of the story concerns Edek and Szymon, two young lads wanting to join the partisans (or Home Army). Now and again, we move forward a few decades and meet Dorota, who is fascinated by and determined to solve the mysteries surrounding her family ... and the identity of a body in an unmarked grave.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">The mystery side of the story was well thought out and provided a completely unexpected outcome, but I found the chapters set during the war the most compelling. It is so hard for us to comprehend the hardship people endured in their daily lives less than a century ago, and what they were prepared to suffer for the sake of their country, what they would risk to help their friends; this novel really brought home the terror of Nazi occupation, and the bravery of the persecuted people of that time and place. The Warsaw uprising, the stealing of munitions from the local German garrison, a thrilling escape from one of the cattle trucks heading to Auschwitz, the annihilation of whole villages, the murder of so many innocents.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Highly recommended!</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD3n2quRmxk6BS6PfFZyrlO8btFtIN7ezaMvuSgqm3AGUuZ0PajYuuXFj2uQYytyRvwkyk7MmYZMMa6dJokVz-YL6iWfvEGSJwprTXpr4EDTBzQQAiQsyujxREaz-h1BPKKVca4OelpQyDJrzG4L7HX9X8JObITLhHuEFO6J30rXZrDkdyntDCczVA7Q8/s582/Screenshot%202023-12-18%20175757.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="478" data-original-width="582" height="363" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD3n2quRmxk6BS6PfFZyrlO8btFtIN7ezaMvuSgqm3AGUuZ0PajYuuXFj2uQYytyRvwkyk7MmYZMMa6dJokVz-YL6iWfvEGSJwprTXpr4EDTBzQQAiQsyujxREaz-h1BPKKVca4OelpQyDJrzG4L7HX9X8JObITLhHuEFO6J30rXZrDkdyntDCczVA7Q8/w441-h363/Screenshot%202023-12-18%20175757.png" width="441" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div>Terry Tylerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15077413235902203848noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-526499701297202858.post-65401800582797118482023-12-09T03:35:00.000-08:002023-12-10T11:07:07.261-08:00LONDON TALES by Tim Walker @timwalker1666 #RBRT<p> <span style="color: #674ea7;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">3 o</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">ut of 5 stars</span></span></p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><span style="color: #674ea7;">On <a href="https://bookgoodies.com/a/B0CKNDF2D5" target="_blank">Amazon (universal link)</a><br />On <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/199503377-london-tales?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=EyY9JvJsSL&rank=4" target="_blank">Goodreads</a></span></span><div><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_iVv2YUMYqMiM8CGVbXLR004Q4cWvdKvMIDzXvKNr-K5Rn1Z98ZOiaiXrZ3ExGb976xxLouJLRHPYfsWrD_zlLTG64RTsEam8BcgCK4l7MO034hJOwOcaMLQRUz80lnPdH1WDDmS2tI9wHv5lf8feUQcWfD78wIryx2xfp00pYf9l8CBOqFNFvc6QDIo/s466/Walker%20Tim%20London%20Tales.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #674ea7;"><img border="0" data-original-height="466" data-original-width="292" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_iVv2YUMYqMiM8CGVbXLR004Q4cWvdKvMIDzXvKNr-K5Rn1Z98ZOiaiXrZ3ExGb976xxLouJLRHPYfsWrD_zlLTG64RTsEam8BcgCK4l7MO034hJOwOcaMLQRUz80lnPdH1WDDmS2tI9wHv5lf8feUQcWfD78wIryx2xfp00pYf9l8CBOqFNFvc6QDIo/w251-h400/Walker%20Tim%20London%20Tales.jpg" width="251" /></span></a></div><span style="color: #674ea7;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: verdana;"><br /><b>How I discovered this book</b>: it was submitted to <a href="https://rosieamber.wordpress.com/your-book-reviewed/" target="_blank">Rosie's Book Review Team</a>, of which I am a member.</span><div><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: verdana;"><b>In a Nutshell</b>: Short stories set in London, from the Romans to the future.</span></div><div><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: verdana;">The mood of these stories varies a lot, from the early historical ones that are centred around actual historical events, to the more imaginative of the modern pieces. At least half of the stories are set from the 20th Century onwards.<br /><br /></span></div></div><div><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: verdana;">My favourite was the second story, about Wat Tyler and the Peasants' Revolt of the 14th Century, and I also liked the one set in 1666 to a ferocious backdrop of the Great Fire of London, about a gentleman being sought for his part in the murder of King Charles I, now that the Royalists were back in power. These were both atmospheric and well researched, as was the first one about the Roman soldier; taught me a few interesting facts!</span></div><div><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: verdana;">I was less keen on the stories from 1966 onwards; they didn't evoke the spirit of the times for me so much as I'd hoped. Also, some of the dialogue seemed a tad unlikely, particularly in the story about two forty-somethings on a bender around 2015 (I think), where the dialogue's main purpose appeared to be as a vehicle to convey the author's research. I would describe some of them as vignettes rather than stories.</span></div><div><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: verdana;">I did like the future story, set in 2050. It's always fun to read other people's ideas about how the years will pan out!</span></div><div><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div>Terry Tylerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15077413235902203848noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-526499701297202858.post-38132623663783806442023-12-03T07:44:00.000-08:002023-12-04T03:58:48.061-08:00THE DISPOSABLE SOMA by Zeb Haradon @ZebHaradon<p> <span style="color: #4c1130;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">4.5 o</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">ut of 5 stars</span></span></p><span style="color: #4c1130; font-family: verdana;"><br />On <a href="https://bookgoodies.com/a/B0CN4LPCRV" target="_blank">Amazon (universal link)</a><br />On <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/201980305-the-disposable-soma?ref=nav_sb_ss_1_19" target="_blank">Goodreads</a><br /><br /><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8d3CholOqadghCWueGRaVQwy_6z__vyVbmzEriLq6uqfz3Xkas8SRjsfQR0KrkOBLePwkjJo1v5NSC7jcE8-D4ePksZdbky0pk-ilW4vau39KHXW3YhUk3NjyE2xfiU0RCfWkDFkqFpBV176yZsNTSi3rXT8FHkVKhOnjWscBJLpDWXvA8a0XvFlCM1I/s1500/Haradon%20TDS.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #4c1130;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="938" height="530" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8d3CholOqadghCWueGRaVQwy_6z__vyVbmzEriLq6uqfz3Xkas8SRjsfQR0KrkOBLePwkjJo1v5NSC7jcE8-D4ePksZdbky0pk-ilW4vau39KHXW3YhUk3NjyE2xfiU0RCfWkDFkqFpBV176yZsNTSi3rXT8FHkVKhOnjWscBJLpDWXvA8a0XvFlCM1I/w331-h530/Haradon%20TDS.jpg" width="331" /></span></a></div><span style="color: #4c1130;"><br /></span><div><span style="color: #4c1130; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #4c1130; font-family: verdana;"><b>How I discovered this book</b>: One of my favourite authors, so I always get his books as they come out.</span></div><div><span style="color: #4c1130; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #4c1130; font-family: verdana;"><b>In a Nutshell</b>: Bonkers but clever look at US politics in the 22nd century.</span></div><div><span style="color: #4c1130; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #4c1130; font-family: verdana;">I haven't got a clue how to review this book, which is unlike anything else I have ever read, aside from other books by this author, but this is the most off-the-wall yet. I highlighted a lot of passages that made me laugh or that I thought were a particularly clever observation of human nature, or send-up of the current political climate/culture of the 21st century and where it could eventually head, but when I came to look at them they didn't feel like anything that might help me with a review. This made me think that I highlighted them for want of anyone to say 'ha ha, this is funny (or pertinent, or whatever)' to.</span></div><div><span style="color: #4c1130; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #4c1130; font-family: verdana;">It's around 2163, and it seems that society has deteriorated and become way more bizarre by today's standards, at the same time as being perfectly believable. It centres around election time - here is an extract from the blurb: </span></div><div><span style="color: #4c1130; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #073763;"><span face=""Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">'</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><i>...an upstart party called the Empathy Party blames all the world's ills on sociopaths. An assassination leaves the Empathy Party's candidacy wide open and a clown car of candidates vies for the nomination. One, hotel heir and failed comedian Jim Liu, stands out from the others when he chooses a genetically modified, super-intelligent, opium-addicted parrot as his running mate.'</i></span></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: verdana;">I</span><span style="color: #4c1130; font-family: verdana;">'ll admit that the idea of a genetically modified parrot as a running mate didn't quite work for me at first, even when considering its origin, i.e., Zeb Haradon's head, but it started to gel as the story continued, especially when coming from the viewpoint of the parrots, who see themselves as a marginalised sector of society, and are looking to Jim to help them fight for their rights. Betty is a hilarious character. </span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><span style="color: #4c1130; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;"><i>'It's quite a gamble. But come to think of it, Dan Quayle was vice president, so I guess Betty Parrot isn't such a stretch.'</i></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;"><i>'You really trust her with a wing on the button?'</i></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><span style="color: #4c1130; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><span style="color: #4c1130; font-family: verdana;">One of my favourite elements of this book is the concept of the last uncontacted people on earth, the primitive Centolese from Centos Island, who are unaware that their world has been turned into a reality show.</span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><span style="color: #4c1130; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><i><span style="color: #073763;">'Initially, it was an entertainment event financed by The Centolese Network, but as more and more Americans emulate the Centolese way of life and have come to identify as Centolese-Americans...'</span></i><span style="color: #4c1130;"> Row of laughing face emojis here! The historic timeline of Centos Island is extremely funny and clever.</span></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #4c1130;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #4c1130;">I also like the idea of bubble technology - think of Dr Who's Tardis, much bigger on the inside than the outside. Those financing Jim Liu's campaign are the innovators of the bubbles, which will revolutionise farming, housing, land tax and much more. And I liked the faux 'spirituality' of those getting off their faces at ayahuasca ceremonies; in this hedonistic tomorrow where religious doctrine and morality as we know them have ceased to exist, anything goes. Though I daresay the inner workings of political campaigns are no different now, give or take the odd parrot and 172-year-old candidate.</span></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #4c1130;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #4c1130;">The ending was perfect. I'll just hand this back to Kindle Unlimited, and download the next, in its place, to read before too long :)</span></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #4c1130;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #4c1130;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #4c1130;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div>Terry Tylerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15077413235902203848noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-526499701297202858.post-35514817038975144752023-11-11T09:26:00.002-08:002023-11-13T04:17:05.016-08:00MONSTERS IN THE MIST by Tom Williams @TomCW99<p> <span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">4 o</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">ut of 5 stars</span></span></p><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;"><br />On <a href="https://bookgoodies.com/a/B0CKLHKSH9" target="_blank">Amazon (universal link)</a><br />On <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/199614444-monsters-in-the-mist" target="_blank">Goodreads</a></span><div><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZn__PyvvBC6Km2iXRkFH5cXhfGKeeH0VGESUKv1KbgTy5AEe5kBEE7zPh-IlX91jMtxm7GwmkASD6TYF2299U0l7NEitxdYUvtX6ObqZR3ZWA6qmIMoigQzZ5-11_MimFZUf-FrKCX_kJs0oKoTSIjhJKEtI9y6Odn6f5xEo0IWO7DIzJGYD-wkMTNRo/s1500/Williams%20MITM.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #073763;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="998" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZn__PyvvBC6Km2iXRkFH5cXhfGKeeH0VGESUKv1KbgTy5AEe5kBEE7zPh-IlX91jMtxm7GwmkASD6TYF2299U0l7NEitxdYUvtX6ObqZR3ZWA6qmIMoigQzZ5-11_MimFZUf-FrKCX_kJs0oKoTSIjhJKEtI9y6Odn6f5xEo0IWO7DIzJGYD-wkMTNRo/w320-h480/Williams%20MITM.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="color: #073763;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;"><br /><b>How I discovered this book</b>: it was submitted to <a href="https://rosieamber.wordpress.com/your-book-reviewed/" target="_blank">Rosie's Book Review Team</a>, of which I am a member.</span><div><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;"><b>In a Nutshell</b>: murder mystery with humorous undertones and a vampire detective, set in rural Wales. As a further indication of writing style, if you like Carol Hedges' Victorian Detectives series, there's a good chance you'll like this too.</span></div><div><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;">First of all, although this is Book 3 of a series, it is a stand-alone. I can confirm this, as I haven't read the other two.</span></div><div><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;">Right. Okay. Urban fantasy, police procedural and vampires. All three are book genres I wouldn't normally go near, but I enjoy the historical novels of this author, so when I saw this on the review team list I thought I'd do that stepping-out-of-my-comfort-zone thing, which has brought about a pleasant surprise or two in the past. This was no exception.</span></div><div><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;">I can see why Tom Williams has mentioned that he writes these books as a kind of light relief from his historical works; <i>Monsters in the Mist</i> is <i><b>fun</b></i>, filled with the sort of subtly humorous observation I love. </span></div><div><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;"><i style="background-color: #f3f3f3;">'"You settle yourselves in and let me know later," the landlady suggested ... leaving Galbraith staring around him like Crusoe taking the measure of his desert island.'</i></span></div><div><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;">Galbraith is a fairly (intentionally, I imagine) stereotypical worn-down, jaded, middle-aged detective who eats unhealthy food and doesn't do hiking, the sort whose methods are unorthodox but produce results. However, this is where the stereotypes end, because he also has Columbo fantasies and his colleague Pole, from the mysterious, secret Department S is (wait for it) a vampire.</span></div><div><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;">I loved the sections from Pole's point of view. I wanted to know more about his centuries long life! </span></div><div><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;"><i style="background-color: #f3f3f3;">'<span>Pole gritted his teeth. He wondered what the man would say if he told him that he was a vampire and standing in front of a plate glass window, even late on a September afternoon, was causing him considerable discomfort. It was, he thought, probably best not to find out.'</span></i></span></div><div><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;"><i style="background-color: #f3f3f3;">'Back in the 17th century, alchemy was considered a science. Pole had lived (for a particular definition of 'lived') through the foundation of the Royal Society ... and now he felt himself moving back to a time when 'science' meant trying something to see what happened and then writing about it. Sometimes he felt that Mortal progress was entirely illusionary.'</i></span></div><div><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;">A body has been found, and Galbraith, Pole and Department S officer Ellis suspect something sinister afoot; Galbraith and Ellis go undercover, posing as a keen hill-walkers with an interest in local goings-on. The plot is entertaining, suspenseful, the writing tight and amusing. And the ending is kind of nice.</span></div><div><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;">At some point I must read the first book which (it says in the author notes), explains how Pole came to be working for the Met. That, I do want to know about.</span></div><div><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div></div>Terry Tylerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15077413235902203848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-526499701297202858.post-50806103540777492552023-11-05T11:19:00.000-08:002023-11-06T06:11:13.707-08:00HISTORICAL STORIES OF EXILE by Helen Hollick, Annie Whitehead and 11 others @HelenHollick @AnnieW History @abelfrageauthor<p> <span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">5 o</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">ut of 5 stars</span></span></p><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana;"><br />On <a href="https://bookgoodies.com/a/B0CLGGK74L" target="_blank">Amazon (universal link)</a><br />On <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/200316474-historical-stories-of-exile?ref=nav_sb_ss_2_27" target="_blank">Goodreads</a></span><div><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhws4MSwiqGtGmLJeJoTs4rNduEPcw-50hz71MaOeQdFWfjvBi_xwxCWlLmOfuPR-_nBlLYqhamA95DK9de3eaSlFoWp965t_01wfmryeqZ4s9sOA_sZVMZIXStSSGHE2C31_ba-z9nzRqypOshEOFwEL2s51KqjY2C913bUpVZ6oHnlsmKWwRYfO2rSVA/s466/Whitehead%20Swift%20and%20others.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><img border="0" data-original-height="466" data-original-width="291" height="574" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhws4MSwiqGtGmLJeJoTs4rNduEPcw-50hz71MaOeQdFWfjvBi_xwxCWlLmOfuPR-_nBlLYqhamA95DK9de3eaSlFoWp965t_01wfmryeqZ4s9sOA_sZVMZIXStSSGHE2C31_ba-z9nzRqypOshEOFwEL2s51KqjY2C913bUpVZ6oHnlsmKWwRYfO2rSVA/w359-h574/Whitehead%20Swift%20and%20others.jpg" width="359" /></span></a></div><span style="color: #0b5394;"><br /></span><div><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana;"><b>How I discovered this book</b>: Twitter. I expressed my interest in reading it when available, and one of the authors offered me an ARC :)</span></div><div><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana;"><b>In a Nutshell</b>: 13 historical stories of exile.</span></div><div><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana;">Deborah Swift, one of my favourite authors, has written a perfect introduction to this excellent collection, with a brief overview of the content as well as thoughts on the subject of exile itself.</span></div><div><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana;">I loved reading these stories, the standard of which is high throughout, though they are all so different, in subject matter and writing style. It is these two aspects that determine one's favourites in an anthology such as this, and can only ever be subjective; bearing this in mind, the story that stood out most for me (and stayed with me afterwards) was the heartbreaking <b><i>The Unwanted Prince</i> </b>by <a href="https://twitter.com/abelfrageauthor" target="_blank">Anna Belfrage</a>, about a 16th century heir to the Swedish throne forced into exile for his own safety - especially sad because the story is true, as I read at the end, with great fascination. I would have happily read a whole novel about the rest of his life, as outlined.</span></div><div><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana;">My other favourites:</span></div><div><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana;"><i><b>Wadan Wræclastas</b> (Tread the Path of Exile)</i> by the Lady of Saxon History, <a href="https://twitter.com/AnnieWHistory" target="_blank">Annie Whitehead</a> is set a few years before the Norman Conquest. The title comes from 10th century poem <i>The Wanderer</i>, and in this case refers to the much travelled Ealdgyth. Again, most of the events really took place, but what I loved most about this one was the glimpse into the Saxon world.</span></div><div><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana;"><i><b>On Shining Wings</b> </i>by <a href="https://twitter.com/marianlthorpe" target="_blank">Marian L Thorpe</a>, a beautiful story about a 13th century Norwegian falconer, telling his tale to his grandson.</span></div><div><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana;"><i><b>Betrayal</b></i> by <a href="https://twitter.com/cathiedunn" target="_blank">Cathie Dunn</a>: set in AD 900, it tells the story of the urgent flight of Rollo the Viking and his wife Poppa place from the part of modern day France then known as Neustria, to England.</span></div><div><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana;">I also liked <i><b>The Past, My Future</b></i> by <a href="https://twitter.com/L_Livingstone1" target="_blank">Loretta Livingstone</a>, which is a bit different as it involves time travel from a dark, dystopian future England, to an abbey in the 13th Century.</span></div><div><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana;">The book is beautifully presented, with notes about each story and a biography and links for each author. Congratulations to <a href="https://twitter.com/HelenHollick" target="_blank">Helen Hollick</a> for the original idea, and a big thank you to Annie for sending me an ARC when I said how much I looked forward to reading this! Historical Stories of Exile is available for pre-order now, and for sale on November 12th. Highly recommended, and a great way to dip into the work of authors yet to be discovered.</span></div><div><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div></div>Terry Tylerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15077413235902203848noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-526499701297202858.post-50389755814345769942023-10-29T08:46:00.000-07:002023-10-30T06:36:51.143-07:00THE LUCK OF THE DRAW by Marie Keates @marie_keates<p><span style="color: #660000;"> <span style="font-family: verdana;">4 o</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">ut of 5 stars</span></span></p><span style="color: #660000; font-family: verdana;">On <a href="https://bookgoodies.com/a/B0CBQF219X" target="_blank">Amazon (universal link)</a><br />On <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/184248573-the-luck-of-the-draw?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=AoHrvnWBje&rank=1" target="_blank">Goodreads</a></span><div><span style="color: #660000; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOfqKSw97_Q1UGbwYhQJ_hfe1CV9AgGmXDFoPhhy3-qb90GKhTqLzGc82WargqF2X2n7iAjFwd_4HW4qmej1Hil4mFz99Ve5F-HOF02ZH_odzFwRpZrw_pSKKCfEyNDeamHbZkSJb6mJ8ZdD9pBzdhz2HFen0jVU2-mUoSOUYICa3HXKUUUSeyRUxPKZ0/s466/Keates%20TLOTD.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #660000;"><img border="0" data-original-height="466" data-original-width="291" height="457" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOfqKSw97_Q1UGbwYhQJ_hfe1CV9AgGmXDFoPhhy3-qb90GKhTqLzGc82WargqF2X2n7iAjFwd_4HW4qmej1Hil4mFz99Ve5F-HOF02ZH_odzFwRpZrw_pSKKCfEyNDeamHbZkSJb6mJ8ZdD9pBzdhz2HFen0jVU2-mUoSOUYICa3HXKUUUSeyRUxPKZ0/w286-h457/Keates%20TLOTD.jpg" width="286" /></span></a></div><span style="color: #660000;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #660000; font-family: verdana;"><br /><b>How I discovered this book</b>: I've read Book #1 in this series.</span><div><span style="color: #660000; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #660000; font-family: verdana;"><b>In a Nutshell</b>: A missing girl, domestic troubles, the lure of gambling and the rumblings of war</span></div><div><span style="color: #660000; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #660000; font-family: verdana;">I read the first in this series, <a href="https://terrytylerbookreviews.blogspot.com/2023/02/plagued-by-marie-keates-mariekeates.html" target="_blank"><b>Plagued</b></a>, earlier this year, and thought it was time I tried another! The series is a continuing saga of the people who live in one area of Southampton between the two World Wars; it is their story, with the events of those tumultuous 21 years forming the ever present and always relevant backdrop. This is Book #5, taking place during the second half of 1937. I have a terrible memory so couldn't remember any of the characters; I can, thus, confirm that the book is a stand-alone as well as being part of a series.</span></div></div><div><span style="color: #660000; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #660000; font-family: verdana;">The story centres around a few plot threads: the missing Sophie Morales, the mysterious activities of unsavoury Norm McCartney, and a discovery that tests tram driver Walter's greatest friendship. I had in my mind an idea to write about how convincingly this was dealt with, but I've just re-read the blurb and realised that to do so would be a massive spoiler, so I'll just say that I thought Walter's private thoughts were so well written. Odd sentences absolutely nailed it.</span></div><div><span style="color: #660000; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #660000; font-family: verdana;">The other main storyline was that of Clara, a 20 year old young woman with an unhappy homelife, already with a broken heart. She unsure of herself, hoping for happy-ever-afters, and so different from her more confident, outspoken best friend Gladys.</span></div><div><span style="color: #660000; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #660000; font-family: verdana;">Although World War I finished almost twenty years before this story took place, it is still very much a part of all their lives. Older character Percy made a couple of memorable statements:</span></div><div><span style="color: #660000; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #660000; font-family: verdana;">'<i style="background-color: #fce5cd;">All the generals keeping nice and safe behind the lines, sending us infantrymen off to die. They saw it as a game of chess and us as expendable pawns.'</i></span></div><div><span style="color: #660000; font-family: verdana;"><i style="background-color: #fce5cd;"><br /></i></span></div><div><span style="color: #660000; font-family: verdana;"><i style="background-color: #fce5cd;">'Anyone who saw the things we did can understand why someone would desert. Those poor sods, just boys, some of them, were shell-shocked and terrified, but they shot them anyway ... How is that right? Those generals issued orders without ever setting foot on the bloody battlefield. If anyone needed shooting at dawn, they did.'</i></span></div><div><span style="color: #660000; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #660000; font-family: verdana;">If you like wartime domestic dramas, this will totally hit the spot for you. A very 'easy read', and it's clear how well the author knows her subject!</span></div><div><span style="color: #660000; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #660000; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: #660000; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div>Terry Tylerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15077413235902203848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-526499701297202858.post-44658874792217128642023-10-21T05:31:00.000-07:002023-10-23T03:09:26.806-07:00THE BOY FROM BLOCK 66 by Limor Regev<p> <span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">4.5 o</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">ut of 5 stars</span></span></p><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: verdana;"><br />On <a href="https://bookgoodies.com/a/B0BRY1FSFN" target="_blank">Amazon (universal link)</a><br />On <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/75858652-the-boy-from-block-66?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=mvzHweSNSM&rank=1" target="_blank">Goodreads</a></span><div><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqKzGvtKaTKhHyjX5fv8ePYNA-RdGfcEK__9PsGPQNYtFV2-ioIPAW0OMEMcxg9VQGG4Cjs8Dnd8SQZrIDoyW_IEHi326xG2w2stvteTqZMycifgMQn_xUDknEqS7zM5ICe42XP2j9mjvUrk8an0ZG3MPsomidS-oshyphenhyphenn23XZAhVoCt1J7R8O39_iUm3w/s466/Regev.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><img border="0" data-original-height="466" data-original-width="311" height="460" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqKzGvtKaTKhHyjX5fv8ePYNA-RdGfcEK__9PsGPQNYtFV2-ioIPAW0OMEMcxg9VQGG4Cjs8Dnd8SQZrIDoyW_IEHi326xG2w2stvteTqZMycifgMQn_xUDknEqS7zM5ICe42XP2j9mjvUrk8an0ZG3MPsomidS-oshyphenhyphenn23XZAhVoCt1J7R8O39_iUm3w/w308-h460/Regev.jpg" width="308" /></span></a></div><span style="color: #134f5c;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: verdana;"><b>How I discovered this book</b>: Amazon browse</span><div><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: verdana;"><b>In a Nutshell</b>: account of Moshe Kessler, a Hungarian Jew, in the Nazi death camps and afterwards ; it is written in the first person, as told to the author.</span></div><div><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: verdana;">While reading this I wondered why so many of us choose to read survivor accounts of the Holocaust. I think I do so because the 'how' fascinates me so much - how ordinary people would turn a blind eye to, or even join in with, the ill treatment of another group. How a few psychopaths could persuade thousands of soldiers to commit such atrocities. I've recently read most of a book on this subject, <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ordinary-Men-Reserve-Battalion-Solution-ebook/dp/B01G1F0F84/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3L95BKFMN4KCK&keywords=ordinary+men+christopher+browning&qid=1697889707&sprefix=Ordinary+men%2Caps%2C133&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Ordinary Men by Christopher Browning</a>, if you're interested in this aspect. Do all people have this potential evil within, a fire waiting to be lit? I don't believe so, but...</span></div></div><div><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: verdana;">Moshe Kessler had an idyllic childhood within his large, extended family. Many, many have asked, over the years, why the Jews allowed their persecution to take place, seemingly without protest. Moshe answers this question in detail; here is an excerpt I marked:</span></div><div><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: verdana;"><i style="background-color: #fce5cd;">'You must understand that our future in those days was completely uncertain, for better or worse. Our daily routine had gradually changed in the past two years, with each new directive or restriction by the Hungarian regime. We thought this was just another period of temporary worsening of conditions, and we would soon return to our homes. Information about what to expect next was concealed in a way that dispelled our suspicions.'</i></span></div><div><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: verdana;">Moshe was only 13 when he and his family were taken to Auschwitz. He escaped the gas chamber on the advice of a veteran prisoner, who told him to join the 'other queue' and say he was 16. This nameless prisoner was one of many who saved his life over the terrible fifteen months he survived there; another was Antonin Kalina, a true angel who was active in Buchenwald camp underground (Moshe was driven on a 'death march' from one camp to another), who established Block 66 for the children, and initiated many procedures to keep them alive.</span></div><div><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: verdana;">The author (a friend of the family in later years), writing as Moshe, describes much about the emotional repercussions, and the slow easing back into 'normal' life after the Americans liberated Buchenwald; many years passed before he found any sort of contentment. </span></div><div><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: verdana;">My only complaint about the book is the bad editing; there are occasional grammar errors, and duplication of facts, as though the process was a bit on the sketchy side. This was only mildly irritating; it's definitely worth reading.</span></div><div><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div>Terry Tylerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15077413235902203848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-526499701297202858.post-75197315598237851592023-10-16T09:53:00.005-07:002023-10-16T10:00:50.454-07:00I, RICHARD PLANTAGENET : Tante le Desiree by J P Reedman @stonehenge2500<p><span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">5 o</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">ut of 5 stars</span></span></p><span style="color: #660000; font-family: verdana;"><br />On <a href="https://bookgoodies.com/a/B0187RJR7E" target="_blank">Amazon (universal link)</a><br />On <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27868122-tante-le-desiree" target="_blank">Goodreads</a></span><div><span style="color: #660000; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy-q8JdDzNOrfYTbhY8Bim1_uJAbm81WBpttQlGjPG2sSK_qfUxNx_FmFZmuUIpsBbtI2uCD7lCxp5UiKF3YXL817h9AbC58JTEU-qyTNA0F2M8qxskjelHHqbGHDx8U7UIh2qKsEIgShIoFOi5BKYtdwLXAf4BquKhtwFE4oXIOdKbC0vb-795rwvwq8/s466/Reedman%203.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="466" data-original-width="291" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy-q8JdDzNOrfYTbhY8Bim1_uJAbm81WBpttQlGjPG2sSK_qfUxNx_FmFZmuUIpsBbtI2uCD7lCxp5UiKF3YXL817h9AbC58JTEU-qyTNA0F2M8qxskjelHHqbGHDx8U7UIh2qKsEIgShIoFOi5BKYtdwLXAf4BquKhtwFE4oXIOdKbC0vb-795rwvwq8/w250-h400/Reedman%203.jpg" width="250" /></a></div><br /></div><div><span style="color: #660000; font-family: verdana;"><br /><b>How I discovered this book</b>: I read and loved earlier books about Richard, Duke of Gloucester by J P Reedman, and finally decided this had been on my TBR list for long enough!</span><div><span style="color: #660000; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #660000; font-family: verdana;"><b>In a Nutshell</b>: Richard's life up until the age of 30.</span></div><div><span style="color: #660000; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #660000; font-family: verdana;">I loved this book, totally engrossed all the way through. There is so much detail about customs and the way people lived back then, that I found fascinating to read about.</span></div></div><div><span style="color: #660000; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #660000; font-family: verdana;">Throughout the years this novel covers, J P Reedman has cleverly developed the main characters as they age. Richard becomes harsher, more determined, and with an increasing sense of right and wrong, while the negative aspects of George's personality are magnified; his stubbornness, inconstancy and drinking. Edward the King becomes almost a parody of himself, and I was struck once more by how his grandson Henry VIII was all <i>him</i>, with few traits inherited from his father, Henry VII.</span></div><div><span style="color: #660000; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #660000; font-family: verdana;">The book is written in Richard's first person, but I was aware of how deftly the author has made clear to the reader the thoughts of other characters, too, even though they may not have expressed them verbally. How they thought of Richard, too, as he becomes more and more like the historical figure many perceive him as. Smart writing!</span></div><div><span style="color: #660000; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #660000; font-family: verdana;">This part of the story ends when Richard is 30, just after the complicated skirmishes with the Scots, and as Edward's health is failing. I look forward to reading the next episode very much.</span></div><div><span style="color: #660000; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-5BpHq4z15KIr9ZLl8M5aFaZD5bvkPosPu5KHwSfIqVfPkl5Wh2eWDBQlGhFMSu64rTI-23uHEGcZQ0-ceLVtJCIAS3M-1sW11Nj9bnb1L3yeHeNt4wCojX2pk49izu8YCSJcWR7COLUWbV0DqgpRBXZJSfCJJ5JzEGZwleQzlzZK2_kcRjsj1Ehj9bg/s846/face%20of%20a%20king%20846.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="606" data-original-width="846" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-5BpHq4z15KIr9ZLl8M5aFaZD5bvkPosPu5KHwSfIqVfPkl5Wh2eWDBQlGhFMSu64rTI-23uHEGcZQ0-ceLVtJCIAS3M-1sW11Nj9bnb1L3yeHeNt4wCojX2pk49izu8YCSJcWR7COLUWbV0DqgpRBXZJSfCJJ5JzEGZwleQzlzZK2_kcRjsj1Ehj9bg/w412-h295/face%20of%20a%20king%20846.jpg" width="412" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #660000; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div>Terry Tylerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15077413235902203848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-526499701297202858.post-20671577042436217652023-10-09T03:42:00.000-07:002023-10-09T03:42:05.164-07:00DAUGHTER OF THE SUN by Gemma Lawrence @TudorTweep<p><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">5 o</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">ut of 5 stars</span></span></p><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;"><br />On <a href="https://bookgoodies.com/a/B0CJFR2XTD" target="_blank">Amazon (universal link)</a><br /><br /><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicLl3AuqqG8k68PcHy-oJSLXFPju6SWvp6cnY1oqmh2rLLXf_f-5vy0HbLlxWBWL6XzuFN-ZiAsRuk4WiFCqCJPfItJcxt1bf3f5MdSfCRsSLpGXCaWW6fw3z0DjZFsPmMvrE2cpeKIuG_pUlvs4i3PqWXazlKHMhAEpvWISAebBPTB3IQwt5frlgRPes/s466/Lawrence%20Eleanor.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #990000;"><img border="0" data-original-height="466" data-original-width="311" height="434" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicLl3AuqqG8k68PcHy-oJSLXFPju6SWvp6cnY1oqmh2rLLXf_f-5vy0HbLlxWBWL6XzuFN-ZiAsRuk4WiFCqCJPfItJcxt1bf3f5MdSfCRsSLpGXCaWW6fw3z0DjZFsPmMvrE2cpeKIuG_pUlvs4i3PqWXazlKHMhAEpvWISAebBPTB3IQwt5frlgRPes/w291-h434/Lawrence%20Eleanor.jpg" width="291" /></span></a></div><span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;"><b>How I discovered this book</b>: a favourite author whose new releases I usually buy immediately.</span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;"><b>In a Nutshell</b>: the early life of Eleanor of Aquitaine</span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;">This reminded me of the beginning of Gemma Lawrence's series about Anne Boleyn, in that it gives so much detail about the less well known, early life of an exceptional historical figure, showing how she became a woman centuries ahead of her time.</span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;">Ms Lawrence's Eleanor is not always particularly likeable (she seems most pleased with herself, particularly for the first two thirds of the book, though some might say with good reason) but the fascinating beginning of this full and eventful life was a joy to read. I also enjoyed reading about how different the geographical borders of the world were then; countries, duchies, principalities and kingdoms that no longer exist, which does remind one that countries and borders are man-made constructs.</span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;">The part of the book I liked most was the second half, covering the period of the Second Crusade - this was absolutely riveting, throughout. Couldn't put it down, I was excited to turn each page, and the book is worthy of 5* for this part alone.</span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;">As is usual for this author's novels, it is written in the first person. Lawrence's Eleanor has much to say about the subjugation of women and the folly of men, though given her experiences this is hardly surprising. The book ends as she becomes close to her third cousin Henry, later to become Henry II, and whom she marries.</span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;">I am SO looking forward to reading the next book!</span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;"><i>'I would not have let him keep you prisoner,' growled the young idealist. 'By the eyes of God! I would not!'</i></span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;"><i><br /></i></span></div>Terry Tylerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15077413235902203848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-526499701297202858.post-54568831109309312012023-09-17T04:55:00.002-07:002023-09-17T04:59:50.232-07:00BROKEN by Anna Legat @LegatWriter <p><span style="color: #741b47;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">4.5 o</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">ut of 5 stars</span></span></p><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: verdana;"><br />On <a href="https://bookgoodies.com/a/B09SRCGYRQ" target="_blank">Amazon (universal link)</a><br />On <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60565365-broken?ref=nav_sb_ss_1_15" target="_blank">Goodreads</a></span><div><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOVq2ZIrrD-ZA2TvBL0HzesQZjDWiE3IAK1P-CZkhovxaMZbpinQhaBhGO7XgaTfKldH1xEGx_oPHDXN_QF5eOq4gB3rC17P3ug_30noo3v_Ajz9-88P5EXVKhoivtocTJmUDZ3h8Kjr9N-7N09BYuR6PbF6-hniuZPEWH8km7W97YQ_Q8tlx2MSnsU2I/s500/Legat%20broken.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="313" height="504" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOVq2ZIrrD-ZA2TvBL0HzesQZjDWiE3IAK1P-CZkhovxaMZbpinQhaBhGO7XgaTfKldH1xEGx_oPHDXN_QF5eOq4gB3rC17P3ug_30noo3v_Ajz9-88P5EXVKhoivtocTJmUDZ3h8Kjr9N-7N09BYuR6PbF6-hniuZPEWH8km7W97YQ_Q8tlx2MSnsU2I/w315-h504/Legat%20broken.jpg" width="315" /></a></div><br /></div><div><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: verdana;"><br /><b>How I discovered this book</b>: I've read another book by this author, <a href="https://terrytylerbookreviews.blogspot.com/2020/08/the-end-of-road-by-anna-legat.html" target="_blank">The End of the Road</a>, and loved it, so I wanted to read more. </span><div><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: verdana;"><b>In a Nutshell</b>: psychological thriller, murder mystery and ... paranormal</span></div><div><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: verdana;">This is the strangest book, but in a really good way! You know when people write 'kept me guessing until the very end' in reviews? This one absolutely did - even at past 90% I had no clue how it was likely to pan out, or how the points of view would come together.</span></div><div><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: verdana;">There's a serial killer, yes, and we don't know the identity, but this turned out to be almost secondary to the stories of Camilla, a middle-aged, middle class housewife, and Joseph, a motorbike and narrow boat loving priest. The way their stories mesh together is so clever ... and unexpected. Everything about this book is unexpected, all the way through. The paranormal element came as the biggest surprise, though to say any more would be to give spoilers. It creeps up, gradually; I'm not usually into that genre but this seemed curiously believable. Suddenly I found I was reading a different book from the one I started.</span></div><div><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: verdana;">The line 'the real monsters are disguised as humans' becomes increasingly relevant, as the true psychopath is revealed...</span></div><div><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: verdana;">Anna Legat's writing is a treat to read. Never jarring, intelligent, highly readable, the characters jumping off the page. Definitely recommend.</span></div><div><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div></div>Terry Tylerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15077413235902203848noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-526499701297202858.post-36892146443206386582023-09-06T04:28:00.001-07:002023-09-11T05:23:33.662-07:00YOU CAN TAKE THE GIRL FROM THE PRAIRIE by Darlene Foster @supermegawoman<p><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">5 o</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">ut of 5 stars</span></span></p><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;"><br />On <a href="https://bookgoodies.com/a/B0C399MHZP" target="_blank">Amazon (universal link)</a><br />On <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/138216877-you-can-take-the-girl-from-the-prairie?ref=nav_sb_ss_1_21" target="_blank">Goodreads</a></span><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDV0XySQ13Ry7DpH1gnZ6CbBozf5wy7MU0W85A8nrl7Yaa10U9xTzxn8o96PaQC6hlXGrVif7ZuXKuCd8U3svEjAJbDgqGkOMMr7VZnoVikrP_fu0dseEwaL4G4XbwYYtKs9gzbiF2CSzg18fv6IOPAj9JopOH4_flq6pyv_OqYcBcdyllSSXfbtbQ5GY/s500/Darlene.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #990000;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="314" height="470" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDV0XySQ13Ry7DpH1gnZ6CbBozf5wy7MU0W85A8nrl7Yaa10U9xTzxn8o96PaQC6hlXGrVif7ZuXKuCd8U3svEjAJbDgqGkOMMr7VZnoVikrP_fu0dseEwaL4G4XbwYYtKs9gzbiF2CSzg18fv6IOPAj9JopOH4_flq6pyv_OqYcBcdyllSSXfbtbQ5GY/w295-h470/Darlene.jpg" width="295" /></span></a></div><span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;"><br /><b>How I discovered this book</b>: Read about it on <a href="https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com/my-books-and-reviews-2023/" target="_blank">Sally Cronin's blog</a></span><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;"><b>In a Nutshell</b>: See cover!</span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;">This book is an absolute delight, and made me want to go back to the 50s and 60s to live Darlene Foster's childhood! It's unusual for me to give 5 stars to a short book of short stories, but I was completely absorbed by this, an insight into a world so different from my own. I could have easily carried on reading more, and was sad when it ended.</span></div></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;">Darlene grew up on a farm in the prairies of Alberta, and some of the stories tell of her family and how they got to be there in the first place (<i>A Tale of Two</i> <i>Katharinas</i> - fascinating). My favourite story was <i>A Hero in a Pickup Truck</i>, about her late father, which reminded me of my own. I also loved <i>Warm Hugs</i>, about her 10th birthday and her love for her grandmother.</span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;">Darlene's deep attachment to her family shines through in all the stories, which are so beautifully written. By the end of the book, when I read that they'd all, at different times, moved to the city, I felt nostalgic for a life I'd never known.</span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;">Loved it. It's a real gem - and you can make the family photos larger on the Kindle version, in order to study them!</span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhquu2w7vCOt3mZjd9DW7UUYxmGF7NY2ZiesoiUvdhkSo4Y9govc3SxR0Er613HIOfNJwAmRAFi7I8EzdHXC6v-jLeVhZ8F4FQ5bzZ934Wfe8JSrPEWeBHjxXiAD1UlFc23-BUtU_hmP7B_ZDVpvxtanre77C4x7xCTaerbUBnT61B2HQYiI3tdi5X2tMY/s1023/7776241276_66649de319_b.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="694" data-original-width="1023" height="323" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhquu2w7vCOt3mZjd9DW7UUYxmGF7NY2ZiesoiUvdhkSo4Y9govc3SxR0Er613HIOfNJwAmRAFi7I8EzdHXC6v-jLeVhZ8F4FQ5bzZ934Wfe8JSrPEWeBHjxXiAD1UlFc23-BUtU_hmP7B_ZDVpvxtanre77C4x7xCTaerbUBnT61B2HQYiI3tdi5X2tMY/w477-h323/7776241276_66649de319_b.jpg" width="477" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #990000; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div>Terry Tylerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15077413235902203848noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-526499701297202858.post-62310217858236700392023-09-03T06:56:00.002-07:002023-09-03T06:56:33.170-07:00THE SHADOWS WE BREATHE Vol 2 - an anthology by Sarah Brentyn @SBrentyn and others<p> <span style="color: #274e13;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">4 o</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">ut of 5 stars</span></span></p><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;"><br />On <a href="https://bookgoodies.com/a/B09LNNW5ZV" target="_blank">Amazon (universal link)</a><br />On <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59704896-the-shadows-we-breathe?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=0ubSbyNTmK&rank=3" target="_blank">Goodreads</a></span><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh46432dkyBaka193lN2UzoKsUhmMsc1A4TAXsybAMPWgjQ0GfngJ10ddlPW3t-LP9TZ8yH-zGyDht_ggxFuAwACiPgwGGwuf71ubVb-yr8g1W2ISDKbW5aiPp38cUtppAgrTPvuJ1F9ys0LWYpAamq9yO3gaoRYX32bXFYQYPP_LZ2ewTt_noktPn8T30/s500/Brentyn%202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: #274e13;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="320" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh46432dkyBaka193lN2UzoKsUhmMsc1A4TAXsybAMPWgjQ0GfngJ10ddlPW3t-LP9TZ8yH-zGyDht_ggxFuAwACiPgwGGwuf71ubVb-yr8g1W2ISDKbW5aiPp38cUtppAgrTPvuJ1F9ys0LWYpAamq9yO3gaoRYX32bXFYQYPP_LZ2ewTt_noktPn8T30/w256-h400/Brentyn%202.jpg" width="256" /></span></a></div><span style="color: #274e13;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;"><br /><b>How I discovered this book</b>: it was submitted to <a href="https://rosieamber.wordpress.com/your-book-reviewed/" target="_blank">Rosie's Book Review Team</a>, of which I am a member.</span><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;"><b>In a Nutshell</b>: an anthology of short prose, on the subject of health.</span></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;">Sarah Brentyn has edited as well as contributed to this collection; other contributors are D Wallace Peach, Georgia Bell, Ruth Daly, Ali Isaac, R A Kerr, S Mitchell-Jackson and Allie Potts.</span></div></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;">The first part is 'flash' fiction - short stories of 500 words each. All were emotive and beautifully written, my favourites being Sanity by D Wallace Peach, Bar Made by Sarah Brentyn, Barbed Wire in the Palm of my Hand by Ruth Daly and Extended Performance by Allie Potts. They cover subjects of both physical and psychological health, as do the shorter pieces.</span></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;">The second part is a section of 'micro' fiction: snappy 50 word stories. My favourites were The Fall by Sarah Brentyn and Reflection by Ali Isaac. After this is a collection of very clever 'microbursts' - stories of just 10 words. The group wrote with these prompts: Never, Insignificant, Discover, Lose, Reach, each of the microbursts including the relevant word. In a way I felt that these showed off the talent of the authors most of all; to be able to tell a story in such a controlled fashion is quite a feat, and so strongly illustrates the power of words. </span></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;">This is a lovely book to read all at once or dip into. There is not one weak contribution and it is beautifully presented, with a photo and bio of each author at the end. Well done, ladies!</span></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div>Terry Tylerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15077413235902203848noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-526499701297202858.post-9501315502700554722023-08-27T12:12:00.001-07:002023-08-27T12:22:01.952-07:00THE MIND'S EVIL TOY (The Life and Death of Amy Dudley) by Gemma Lawrence @TudorTweep<p><span style="font-family: verdana;">5 </span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;">o</span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;">ut of 5 stars</span></p><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;"><br />On <a href="https://bookgoodies.com/a/B0CF5VS5Z6" target="_blank">Amazon (universal link)</a><br />On <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/195995618-the-mind-s-evil-toy?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=rGAJYU3MyK&rank=1" target="_blank">Goodreads</a></span><div><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;"><br /><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYGtwOorF2q80dpsT5Uf0_DUdTwkA4pzvPTAGmQAvY4f1wFAZ4SW7CNGzDauSCmgPfR3nKIvhQGFFai9Kivods7zmX0AmHAdVPglWkMOE20xuxEXfqYb1UKIoibcuR4g9CxsDHO1Kz9rTa5eRhEOpirMqfbWxYgjbpQK_WoCS5hkl9kKJxLXvfczawloo/s500/Lawrence%20Amy.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="333" height="443" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYGtwOorF2q80dpsT5Uf0_DUdTwkA4pzvPTAGmQAvY4f1wFAZ4SW7CNGzDauSCmgPfR3nKIvhQGFFai9Kivods7zmX0AmHAdVPglWkMOE20xuxEXfqYb1UKIoibcuR4g9CxsDHO1Kz9rTa5eRhEOpirMqfbWxYgjbpQK_WoCS5hkl9kKJxLXvfczawloo/w295-h443/Lawrence%20Amy.jpg" width="295" /></a></div><br /><div><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;"><b>How I discovered this book</b>: A favourite author, was looking forward to it.</span></div><div><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;"><b>In a Nutshell</b>: Historical fiction with a fantastical element.</span></div><div><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;">Amy Dudley, neglected wife of Lord Robert Dudley, walks through the story of her life with him ... after she has departed this world. She is led from place to place, from situation to situation, by her companion: <i>Death</i>. The purpose of this journey is to uncover the truth, and thus allow her to rest in peace, behind not only her mysterious passing, but the crumbling of her once happy marriage, as the love between Dudley and Queen Elizabeth I deepens.</span></div></div><div><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;">I'm not into the genre of fantasy at all, but this book worked for me so well. I loved it. It didn't feel like fantasy as such, I think because the events portrayed really did happen. </span></div><div><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;">Amy and Death discuss the machinations of her husband and his ill-fated relationship with the queen, shown to them via their invisible presence in scenes from the past. I found this a perfect way to tell such a story; a straight fiction from the points of view of Elizabeth, Robert and Amy would not have been half so compelling.</span></div><div><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;">The twist on the likely truth behind Amy's demise is clever and interesting, written in the mode of any good murder mystery, though the notes at the back of the book reveal the author's actual thoughts on the matter (I too am in agreement with the general opinion). However, this is not all the book is about. It's the story of a love that couldn't be, of ambition and deceit, of the Queen's triumph of sense over passion; it makes one ponder an abandoned woman's lot in such times, and also the value of life itself, with some wise observations from the not-at-all-demonic Death.</span></div><div><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;"><i>'The wisdom of others should never be ignored, but it should also never be followed with such slavish abandon that we forget to use the matter of our own minds'</i></span></div><div><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;"><i>'All things must end, that is the way of things. But other beings than me, grief, bitterness, resentment, these are the true enemies, for they steal life still there to live. They make people think life, this precious and unlikely gift, is not worth living, and the worst of it is, it is a lie and people are tricked into believing it. I am not the enemy, just the end. Those who steal away life from those still living, they are the enemy'</i></span></div><div><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;">It is observations such as these that reiterate to me why Gemma Lawrence is so successful at her chosen profession. Well done.</span></div><div><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div>Terry Tylerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15077413235902203848noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-526499701297202858.post-86902245633432278292023-08-13T10:26:00.001-07:002023-08-14T03:18:30.308-07:00FAST CASH by J Gregory Smith #RBRT<p> <span style="color: #274e13;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">3.5 o</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">ut of 5 stars</span></span></p><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;"><br />On <a href="https://bookgoodies.com/a/B07FF2J25Q" target="_blank">Amazon (universal link)</a><br />On <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/162236515-fast-cash?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=r5I54izHIS&rank=1" target="_blank">Goodreads</a></span><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghqxTL6Cz7ix07Sj1SOsD4u0AD3XTq_AHAcGcjaORjulAVgyk1UlsLL0zv1InC7tBXsm3MGmmaiQI7zSu4kw37ALCqR2oTUAuOSRcPfunQczJNfhKG5sG-85NWxLPr4xaa8DaIEQzFzder11_88e16nXq68cZyo-bKD_mcuMSqx_OOmDRDWAX88zcUyzM/s500/Gregory%20Smith.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="313" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghqxTL6Cz7ix07Sj1SOsD4u0AD3XTq_AHAcGcjaORjulAVgyk1UlsLL0zv1InC7tBXsm3MGmmaiQI7zSu4kw37ALCqR2oTUAuOSRcPfunQczJNfhKG5sG-85NWxLPr4xaa8DaIEQzFzder11_88e16nXq68cZyo-bKD_mcuMSqx_OOmDRDWAX88zcUyzM/w250-h400/Gregory%20Smith.jpg" width="250" /></a></div><br /></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;"><br /><b>How I discovered this book</b>: it was submitted to <a href="https://rosieamber.wordpress.com/your-book-reviewed/" target="_blank">Rosie's Book Review Team</a>, of which I am a member.</span><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;"><b>In a Nutshell</b>: Vigilante justice to avenge scammers.</span></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;">This is book 4 in a series; a look back at my reviews tells me that I read and liked Book 1 back in 2018. I can't remember anything about it, as I read a lot and we're talking five years ago, so this was like being introduced to a completely new scenario. </span></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;">Did it work as a stand alone? Yes and no. I felt there were far too many characters mentioned in the first few chapters, to the extent that I couldn't keep straight in my head who they all were, and many of them were introduced with a quick backstory, but it was all too much information. It was like starting to watch a film half way through and having to keep nudging the person next to me and saying, 'So who's he again?'</span></div></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;">Main character Kyle is at the centre of a raggle-taggle group who operate outside the law, targeting scammers and other crooks. This time, they're up against some Indian call centre cheats and the extremely suspect Sweat Equity, a crooked pyramid scheme disguised as a great opportunity for those down on their luck. I loved reading about this, and the ghastly pair who run the outfit; I actually thought the story could easily have centred just around this. As it was, I felt there was almost too much plot, which necessitated much of the book being in dialogue, as one character explained stuff to another, and thus to the reader.</span></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;">Having said that, I did find all the scam info fascinating; how they operate, how Kyle's mate VP worked out systems to foil them. Also, I very much liked the writing style, which is conversational, intelligent and often amusing; it just needed a bit of paring down and sorting out, I think.</span></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div>Terry Tylerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15077413235902203848noreply@blogger.com1