“Every sigh is breath stolen from life.” ~ Kali Fajardo-Anstine, Woman of Light Woman of Light is a multigenerational western saga of an Indigenous Chicano family. The book opens in the Lost Territory of New Mexico where Pidre Lopez, a Puebloan Indigenous person, settles in Animas, Colorado, where he runs a Wild West Show. The author the moves to 1930s Denver, where Luz “Little Light” Lopez, discovers she has clairvoyant gifts and reads tea leaves to help her aunt, Maria Jose and brother, Diego, a snake oil salesman and womanizer pay the rent. When her brother is run out of town by a white mob for dating a white […]
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The Water Keeper Review
“I don’t really understand it, but somehow, in some impossible way, love reached down inside me, took out all the old and dirty—the scars and the stains that no soap anywhere would ever wash out. And love didn’t just clean me but made me new.”—Charles Martin, The Water Keeper Author Charles Martin has a powerful way of sharing his faith that touches my soul. The Water Keeper is a story of God’s love encased in an action novel, and if you haven’t read it yet, you’ll want to. Retired priest Murphy Shepherd lives alone on an island off the eastern coast of Florida, tending the grounds of a church […]
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The Happiest Man on Earth Review
“Life can be beautiful if you make it beautiful. It is up to you.” Eddie Jaku, The Happiest Man on Earth. In this uplifting memoir in the vein of The Last Lecture and Man’s Search for Meaning, a Holocaust survivor pays tribute to those who were lost by telling his story, sharing his wisdom, and living his best life possible. Eddie Jaku was born in Leipzig, Germany, into a prosperous Jewish family. He was proud to be German. When Hitler came to power, he expelled all Jewish students from school. Since Eddie was a talented student, his father used his influence to get his son false papers so he […]
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Sister Stardust Review
“I knew now, what the rock and roll lifestyle entailed. As alluring as it was, it carried a darkness that could pull you under.”—Jane Green, Sister Stardust. Inspired by a true story, author Jane Green reimagines the glamorous and tragic life of Dutch fashion icon and socialite Talitha Getty through the eyes of Claire, a young woman in search of adventure who is drawn into Talitha’s orbit. It’s the swinging ‘60s when 19-year-old Claire gets kicked out of the house by her stepmother and moves to London to get a job. Her music manager boyfriend introduces her to his circle of friends, members of the Wide-Eyed Boys rock band. […]
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The Last Dress from Paris Review
London, 2017. When Lucille’s beloved Granny Sylvie asks her to go to Paris to retrieve a priceless Dior dress, Lucille is happy to oblige. What she finds in a small apartment sends her on a wild goose hunt through the City of Light that changes her life forever. Paris, 1952. Postwar Paris is full of glamour and privilege, and Alice Ainsley is in the middle of it all as the wife of the British ambassador to France. He showers her with expensive gifts, but not his affection. Alice yearns to follow her heart and becomes caught up in a love affair for the ages. The Last Dress from Paris is […]
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Marrying the Ketchups Review
“The thing about adult children is that they reach a point when they stop listening to their parents. They believe that they know best. They believe that they are the adults now and start to view their elderly parents as slightly ridiculous and maybe even a touch dangerous.” — Jennifer Close, Marrying the Ketchups. I’m really kicking myself for reading this book. When a publisher entrusts me with a review copy of a new release, though, I feel obligated to hang in there until the very last punctuation mark. Marrying the Ketchups is about a close-knit, albeit dysfunctional, Catholic family in Chicago. Within weeks, the beleaguered Chicago Cubs win […]
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Angels of the Pacific Review
I knew little about what took place in the Philippines during World War II—most of the books I’ve read about that era were set in the European theatre—so Angels of the Pacific was enlightening. Elise Hooper’s historical novel was inspired by the true stories of US Army nurses and the contributions of Filipinas of the resistance. Nurse Tess Abbott is posted in Manila and enjoys life in a tropical paradise near sandy beaches and exciting nightclubs and restaurants. But when the Japanese Imperial Army invades the island nation, the nurses escape to Bataan where they live in the squalor of a battlefield hospital. On April 9, 1942, the American forces […]
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Mercury Pictures Presents Review
This family saga follows Maria Lagana from Mussolini’s Italy to 1940s Los Angeles. As a child in Rome, her father takes her to the cinema instead of church and she develops a lifelong passion for films. When Giuseppe is arrested and imprisoned by for subversive activities against the fascist regime, Maria and her mother Maria immigrate to safety in Los Angeles. Maria rises from the typing pool to associate producer at Mercury Pictures, a creator of B-movies. The studio is always on the verge of bankruptcy and under the thumb of the Production Code for affronting the sensibilities of the movie-going public. “I can’t show a husband and wife faithfully […]
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Amy’s August 2022 Picks and Pans
I spent much of August traveling, so I am a trifle embarrassed by my monthly total. It was an interesting month of reading; no 5-stars books, and more 3-stars novels than is typical. Maybe it was a post-vacation let-down? Still, I suspect every reader will find something to add to his or her TBR list here. My blog will have a major renovation later this fall. First, it will have a new name: “Gourmet Bookworm” to highlight my two favorite pastimes… cooking and reading. The format will also change. Not only will I be reviewing the books I read each month, but some posts will also include author interviews […]
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Total Power Book Review
Total Power is my 19th installment in the CIA super-agent Mitch Rapp series created by fellow Minnesotan Vince Flynn. Since Flynn’s untimely death in 2013 of prostate cancer, author Kyle Mills has taken the helm. The Mitch Rapp saga isn’t as good, but these thrillers still have great storylines and are fun to read. In Total Power, Mitch captures ISIS’s top technology expert while he is on his way to meet a man who claims he can take down the American power grid. Despite the Agency’s best efforts, the terrorist accomplishes that very thing; computers and communication networks crash, fuel doesn’t flow from gas stations, water and sanitation systems are […]
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