Christmas Sweets

 

Shirley J.      Adult Fiction       A love story, a murder mystery and a jewelry heist all at Christmas

Christmas Sweets (Large Print) by Joanne Fluke,  Laura Levine and Leslie Meier     489 pages

Three delicious stories (complete with recipes in the first one!) that will put you in the holiday spirit.  Joanne Flukes story is about a boarding school where some of the students must stay at school over the holidays for  varying reasons.   The two newest teachers are recruited to stay with them during the interim and suddenly find themselves falling for each other.   The kids have other ideas, though, and the boys set out to sabotage said blooming romance.   A good story with lots of great ideas on things to do with kids during the holidays that are fun and loads of recipes for sweets to prepare together.   

The second story as told by an not entirely jolly elf who gets stuck playing the role to a real jerk of a santa impersonator.   The universe has a way of dealing with the situation and a murder mystery takes place that just happens to be up the elf's skill set even though she is a suspect.     

The third story is about a working gal at a hotel during the holidays.  When her vacation home gets cancelled due to a rich muckety-muck booking the hotel for 4 days for 600 of his closest friends for a media blitz blow out blingle ball where the 47 million dollar jewels he just bought his former porn star wife will be displayed for all to see or will they?

Fun stories, excellent sounding recipes and holiday decorations a plenty.   Even help from unlikely places.  Thoroughly enjoyable and easy reads you won't want to stop reading till they are done.   I recommend this book to mystery loving middle-schoolers on up.

Make it Scream, Make it Burn: Essays

 Shirley J.             Adult Non-Fiction                         Essays on the life experiences of Leslie Jamison

Make it Scream, Make it Burn by Leslie Jamison    272 pages

Fourteen essays told in the best possible way - believably - and so believably that the author brings you in as a character into the setting of the piece then so perceptibly describes the emotion of the moment so perfectly that not only will you feel you are there,  you will be made to feel every emotion the author is through her deftly and precisely worded essays on each of her subjects.   Whether describing the loneliness of a whale whose song is at such a low decibel other whales cannot hear him nor realize he is there at all to the keenly felt emotions of children who describe past lives so adeptly and so finitely detailed there is no question they were linked to other places and times.   Research leads her all over the world for the pieces she writes and has perhaps seasoned her take on life and its many different people and unique experiences giving her the benefit of sharing special circumstances in tangible ways as her writing declares the emotions of the moment she shares in her writing so strongly they reach out and touch the reader.  She writes of war in Sri Lanka, lost love expressed in the museum of broken hearts, the challenges of committing solely to another person, the fear of becoming a parent to a little girl who lost her mother when she was 3 years old, to the fear of pregnancy, nearly losing her baby then reclaiming her through c-section.   So many stories are shared here and such a mixture of feelings from very high highs to extreme lows.   Jamison manipulates the reader like play-doh in her hands and brings you to the end a more rounded person for sharing the ride with her.   Excellent book.   I recommend it to mature middle-schoolers on up.

The Good Son

“The Good Son” by Jacquelyn Mitchard 352 pages

When Stefan Demetriou was seventeen years old, he got hooked on drugs. For each new drug he tried, he became addicted to it. One night, the drugs fueled a deeply hidden rage in Stefan that caused him to brutally murder his girlfriend, Belinda. However, Stefan has no memory of his actions. 

Sentenced to prison as an adult, the novel opens, three years later, when Stefan is released. To quote the back cover, “he’s released to a world that refuses to let him move on” and a world he does not recognize. Life on the outside is hard for Stefan. He wants to make amends for what he’s done, but the community doesn’t seem to want to help him. 

I have never read a novel that focused on the hardships convicted felons endure after their release. Stefan fails at first in his new venture, but I thought he succeeded too quickly. It was almost too easy. I don’t think it would be easy to do what he wanted to, even if he hadn’t been an ex-con. 

His mother, Thea, is also struggling. For the last three years, Belinda’s mother continues to lead a group who protests in front of Thea’s home who won’t let Belinda’s death be forgotten. It’s a daily reminder of what happened to her son. Thea isn’t so sure that what happened the night Belinda died is the truth. She teams up with the detective who initially investigated the murder in order to learn the facts.

 “The Good Son” receives 4 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world. 

 

Sister of the Great War

“Sisters of the Great War” by Suzanne Feldman 400 pages

Fans of the Civil War medical novel, “My Name is Mary Sutter” by Robin Olivia will love this World War I medical novel.

It’s 1914. America has yet to enter the Great War, but two American sisters, Ruth and Elise Duncan, are watching Europe implode in the Baltimore daily newspapers. They are desperate to unshackle the chains of conventional roles which society bounds them.

Ruth has grown up studying with her doctor father; she can make a diagnosis better then he…and most other doctors. However, society dictates that women cannot be doctors, so she is studying to be a nurse. She feels her talents are being wasted.

Elise is much like Ruth, but her talents lay in mechanics. She can take anything apart and put it back together. Elise is the household mechanic and keeps the family car her father needs for house calls in running shape. Her only prophecy for her future is to marry well and become a mother. 

As the war escalates, the girls want to volunteer to help. On his way to the front, Dr. John Doweling, the son of their father’s friends, stops to stay with the Duncan’s a few days before shipping out for Belgium. He gets to know the girls and encourages them to volunteer as American has yet to enter the conflict. 

Ruth goes as a nurse and Elisa as an ambulance driver. They are assigned to the front at Ypres. The conditions---living and working---are appalling. Author Feldman does an outstanding job in re-creating the Front. Be prepared to see, smell and hear the war as it unfolds around the sister. 

Each sister does have a love interest. For Ruth, it is the Englishman, Dr. John Doweling, who encouraged her to pursue her dreams. For Elise, it is Heda, another ambulance driver.

By the time I had reached the conclusion of “Sisters of the Great War,” I felt as if I had time-traveled back to this period and had participated in the war. Therefore, “Sisters of the Great War” receives 6 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world. 

 

 

Ian Celebrates Christmas

Shirley J.                 Juvenile Fiction                              A little boy named Ian's Christmas activities

Ian Celebrates Christmas by Pauline Oud   32 pages    

Very cute story to read to little ones about a little boy named Ian and all of his activities during the Christmas season.   The book includes how-to craft projects that will be fun projects for all ages.   I recommend this book to young children, parents, aunts, uncles, babysitters, librarians, teachers and grandparents, any one who likes to read to children.  

What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Blacker

 

Shirley J.              Adult Non-Fiction                            The Memoir of Damon Young 

What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Blacker: A Memoir in Essays by Damon Young

Damon Young tells the story of his life, from his life with his parents, and later his adult life with his wife and child.    Growing up as a black male has been an "extreme sport" in his words.   Contending with white people is frustrating, infuriating, and angst causing.  It has taught him survival methods from watching his neighborhood change from where he grew up to a gentrified group of Kens and Karens or as he terms them Beckys.   He strongly believes his mother who suffered with debilitating cancer did not receive the medical care she would have had she been white.   He explores how he has often been mistaken for being gay, how he plays hoops every Thursday with a bunch of older white republicans and while he hates the fact they are Trumpers it isn't like he ever invites them over to his house so he justifies his dislike of their whiteness with the fact that he enjoys playing hoops enough to endure.  Often funny, his take on life is well worth the read whether he is pondering "some more o' that white people sh*t" or describing a day in his life.    I recommend this one to adults.  

Tribes

 

Shirley J.                  Adult Non-Fiction                   How-To on getting people to follow you

Tribes:We Need You to Lead Us by Seth Godin    160 pages

Whether you are leading a movement, a company, a scout troop, a religious organization, etc. whatever group of like minded individuals, this book is for you.  It will tell you how to find your "tribe" - people working toward the same goal, whether PETA working toward saving animals, conservationists working toward saving the rainforest, Trekkies, etc.  social media has opened up the means to concur geography, time differences, inflated costs to allow people wanting to be a part of any ideal followed by others on the planet to make things happen and change the world.   Every tribe must have a leader - someone who is willing to take the lead so that the followers can amass and work toward solutions.  It all starts with the desire to change things.   Forming and leading tribes is easier than you think and Seth Godin explains how and encourages every reader to go forth and do.   Good book.   I recommend this to high schoolers on up.

          

A Warning

Shirley J.               Adult Non-Fiction                         Expose of the Trump white house and politics            

A Warning by Anonymous       272 pages        

An expose on Donald Trump's way of running the country and the political machine.  The book was written anonymously at the time but the name of the author has been revealed since.  Written by a senior official within the Trump administration in the white house during the Donald's four years in office.   Many revealing things were brought out in this book and it is a very good look at a very precarious time in the nation's history.  Interesting from beginning to end and even though Donald Trump is no longer in office it offers much information that is still good to know.   I recommend this to any politically oriented high school students on up though I suspect adults will find this of greater interest.     

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings: Who Guards My Sleep?

Shirley J.                    Juvenile Fiction                              Magical Beasts Who Watch Over Us

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings: Who Guards My Sleep? by Marie Chow    32 pages

Beautifully illustrated by Sija Hong with dazzling legendary creatures, a fox with 9 tales, a phoenix, a dragon and so many more creatures who all watch over us as we sleep and guard us.   The story talks of them as our spirit creatures who represent our personalities.   A lovely story, beautifully told and magnificently illustrated.   I recommend this for a night time story even adults might like to fall asleep to.

You Can Respect Differences: Assume or Find Out? (Making Good Choices)

Shirley J.               Juvenile Learning Tool                     Getting to know people who are different abled 

You Can Respect Differences:  Assume or Find Out? (Making Good Choices) by Connie Colwell Miller

24 pages

This is a choose your own ending book.  Aisha is a new girl at school who is in a wheelchair.  this makes Ben uncomfortable.  He wants to speak to her but isn't sure what to say.   He wants to ask her if she would like to play basketball - she is on the court after all talking to some other kids, but, he is unsure how to approach her.      Will Ben assume she has the other kids to talk to and go his way or will he get to know Aisha himself?  The reader gets to choose how Ben will deal with the situation and what happens after he makes his choice.   A good teaching tool on learning that it is fun to get to know other people and just because someone is different or differently abled than we are, it makes it that much more interesting to expand our horizons and get to know them.    A good story.  It is geared to the 5-9 year old set but I would recommend it  to anyone because everyone could learn from this encounter.  Parents, Siblings, Grandparents, babysitters, teachers, librarians, can all enjoy how this one turns out - after all - it is all about the choices we make.  

The Book of Magic

 

Shirley J.                      Adult Paranormal Fiction                        Witches, magic, family curses

The Book of Magic by Alice Hoffmann    400 pages

I love the Owens family, the quirky aunts, the magic afoot.  And finally a solution to the age old family curse.  There is such a need for balance in the universe and the sunshine must have its rain and so it is with the Owens family curse.  No free rides nothing comes easily nor without consequences.   I can only say I loved this story nearly as much as Practical Magic which I adored.   Every generation offers its sisterhood and this one is delightful and will please.   Lots of characters introduced and faraway places sought.  Another rich and delightful tale from Alice Hoffmann.  Bravo.   I recommend this one to middle-schoolers on up.

Yours, Cruelly, Elvira: Memoirs of the Mistress of the Dark

                                                             

Shirley J.                Adult Non-Fiction                     Memoir of Cassaundra Peterson (Elvira)

Yours Cruelly, Elvira: Memoirs of the Mistress of the Dark by Cassaundra Peterson   304 pages

I am a fan of Elvira.   She has a great sense of humor and I love the character developed by Cassaundra Peterson.   I was able to catch her movies macabre in California back in the 80s and met her at a personal appearance she did.  She is the whitest person I have ever seen.  Her skin is almost translucent it is like alabaster (how does she do that living in L.A.?)  Originally from Kansas via Colorado before going on a family vacation as a teen to Las Vegas, Nevada and leaving as a showgirl - that is the life of Cassaundra Peterson.  This is an in-depth, put all the cards on the table tell the naked truth (I say that figuratively and literally) and name names of big time folks who are household names we all know of and how said folks played roles in the life of a free-spirited young girl with visions of stardom.   The roles are good and bad and she does not pull punches on telling her truth.  You will be astounded, seriously.   Great book by a great lady.   The poor dear has had her troubles for sure but she keeps pressing on looking for that rainbow and sometimes finding it.  I recommend this one for adults. 

"This Was Toscanini: The Maestro, My Father, and Me" by Samuel Antek and Lucy Antek Johnson   184 pages

I have to admit that before I read this book, I was cognizant that Arturo Toscanini (1867-1957) was one of the greatest conductors who ever lived. However, I thought he was one of the old masters, from the 1800s. I had no idea that he headed up the NBC Symphony Orchestra from its first performance on November 13, 1937 until it disbanded in 1954. The Orchestra performed weekly radio broadcasts and served as the house orchestra for NBC.

This book was originally written by the man who played first violin, Samuel Antek. When it was originally published in 1963, it was a book about a musician written for musicians. I borrowed that copy from the library and it was too technical for my reading tastes.  It quickly fell out of print.

Now in 2021 Antek’s daughter has revived her father’s original work, but added her own memories and observations. This is more of a biography/biography/memoir book if I had to give it a genre.

Ms, Antek Johnson retained all the original photographs by Robert Hupka. They are striking and sometimes penetrating; sometimes I swear I could see Toscanini’s soul in those photographs as he strived to make beautiful music.

Ms. Antek Johnson’s take on the book was to reprint the photographs and her father’s words, but she wrote an introduction to each chapter. Written in a rather chatty style, I felt as if I was listening to an old friend reminisce about a grandfather and father.

 I really enjoyed this work and feel as if I’m a more rounded person because of it---or that could be that Toscanini was the answer to a recent “Jeopardy!” question that I would never have known the answer to otherwise.  I really struggled with Antek’s original last chapter, “Toscanini Conducts Oberon.” It was too technical for me. I ended up just reading the word without understanding their meanings. Never mind my failings, "This Was Toscanini: The Maestro, My Father, and Me" receives 5 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

 

A Woman of Intelligence: A Novel

 

Shirley J.                       Adult Fiction                                                 Dysfunctional marriage, spies    

A Woman of Intelligence: A Novel by Karin Tanabe       384 pages    

How do you go from a party-girl to a wife and mother to a spy for the F.B.I.?   Set in the 1940s and 50s, college educated Katharina Edgeworth had been an insanely happy party girl going out with friends every night sometimes partying so hard she went to work the next day in the same clothes as the day prior because she went straight from a night of drinking back to the office for a cup of coffee to start her day.  She spoke 4 languages and got her dream job at the United Nations as an interpreter.   Life was good and neither she nor her roommate ever wanted to get married until Katharina met the man of her dreams, a doctor, was swept off her feet and before she knew it she is the mother of two boys, her single friends no longer want to hang with her - they aren't into kids and her oldest is an absolute terror, kidding her, spitting on her, bolting into a run at the drop of a hat and she is overwhelmed and feeling in over her head when her husband keeps long hours at the hospital and they drift apart.   With no friends to talk to she is left to her own devices and feels she is not equipped for this mother role she finds herself in.  Her husband and his family (fabulously wealthy) look down their nose at her and verbally abuse her belittling her for her lack of parental skills.   She just wants to get away and cry.  Life just keeps speeding by on a downhill spiral when she is approached by the FBI and asked to join their ranks as an informant.   Seems one of her semi serious paramours from her college days is now a high-level Soviet spy working hand in hand with the KGB and no one has been able to get close to him.  Enter Katharina who is desperate for an ego boost, an adventure and to once again find that confident woman who ran her own life instead of the milk toast house frau she has become.   Let the adventures begin!   Good story.  She is such a likeable character and you feel her pain when that awful child spits in her face and gives her hell every day, then top it off with her husband who gives her crap over not being a good parent, not loving her children and accusing her of losing her mind altogether to the point he hires a psychologist to meet with her daily while putting her on psychological house arrest.   It will stir the reader to want to spank her child and punch her husband in the face but it will delight with the mata hari of it all.   I recommend this one to teens on up.   Get a good taste of the trials of motherhood and marriage young ones and decide to be strong and be your own person.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

The Moon, the Stars and Madame Burova

 

Shirley J.      Adult Fiction           Gypsy Fortune Tellers,  Seaside Entertainers and Entertainment

The Moon, the Stars and Madame Burova by Ruth Hogan     304 pages

Excellent story of a Gypsy Fortune Teller, Madame Imelda Burova, who reads Tarot cards, the Chrystal ball, palms and is also a clairvoyant who works out of a booth first used by her mother who taught her divination, on the Brighton, England seafront.    Just as she is preparing to retire, a young woman appears with a story of being abandoned as a baby back in the 1970s on the Brighton pier.   The young woman, Billie was adopted and never knew until her parents deaths that she was not their biological daughter.   Having lost her job, gotten divorced now finding out she was adopted and the way she had been left by her birth mother, having been handed a mystery, she begins searching for who her mother is and why she would have left her baby there of all places.   She turns up on Madame Burova's doorstep to find the answers she seeks.   Little does she know, Madame Burova knows a lot more about her than she is letting on.   An excellent story that will keep you guessing all the way to the end.   I recommend it to mature teens on up.  

Mozart's Magic Fantasy: A Journey Through the Magic Flute

 

Shirley J.                       Juvenile Fiction                  The story as told through a little girl's adventure

Mozart's Magic Fantasy: A Journey Through the Magic Flute by Classical Kids    40 pages

A little girl finds herself on a quest to help Tamino and a birdcatcher, Papageno, find the Queen of the Night's missing daughter.   While they think they are chasing an evil wizard who has kidnapped the princess it turns out he is not evil at all and is actually helping the princess escape her mother's clutches to live a happy life with her hero, Tamino.   Lots more to the story but a lovely retelling of Mozart's fanciful story, the Magic Flute,   and who can forget that amazing song of the Queen of the Night from Mozart's opera of the same name?  I think it must have inspired Wagner many years later to write the Ride of the Valkryies.  I recommend this story to the very young on up as it gives a clear understanding of the actual story behind the opera.   Well done.

Reading Lolita in Tehran

Shirley J.             Adult Non-Fiction                 Teaching and reading American classics in Iran under Sharia Law - the interpretation of Islamic religious texts applied to law particularly as applies to women

Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi   400 pages

Reading Lolita in Tehran is the true story of a courageous teacher who brought western titles to study in her classes.   Concepts in The Great Gatsby, Pride and Prejudice, Lolita, Washington Square, Daisy Miller and others were considered immoral by Islamic standards and were therefore considered dangerous ideas to be teaching.   Also, having lived in Tehran in the days before the Ayatollahs took power,  Nafisi and her family had experienced a time of greater freedom when women did not have to cover up with the chador the long scarf covering their hair, neck and arms so as not to entice men.   Nafisi refused to wear the chador in her classes and lost her job teaching at Tehran University though when she was asked to teach at another university in Iran she made it a stipulation that she did not have it during classes.  They argued she had to wear it grocery shopping and everywhere else why object to wearing it in class but it was a matter of principal to her and a small victory against the politics going on.  Though she still contended with a male student who fought against the immorality of the characters in the stories as the Great Satan.  It went so far that the Great Gatsby was actually put on trial with Nafisi defending his character.   The female students met at her home for greater security from prying eyes and ears so they could speak openly without fear of retribution for their boldness.  Though a male student stalked them trying to be allowed to be a member of the study group.   Not all of her students survived, some were jailed for their views, it is a very well told account of times prior to, during and after the rigid regimes in place in Iran and how the introduction of literature had a lasting effect on a group of women daring to read forbidden books.   I recommend this to mature teens, as it is a lengthy story, on up.    Well written by an exceedingly brave woman.

                                                                             

Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity

 

Shirley J.                           Adult Non-Fiction                   How to work smarter and accomplish more

Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen     288 pages       

Excellent tips and rules to make work and home more productive and functional while taking stress out of the equation.   Allen is big on making lists to keep on point and offers loads of ideas on how to make one's life smother and more efficient.  One particular rule he refers to often is do it, delegate it, defer it, drop it as the way to take care of all things quick.   He talks about making and keeping focused on lists every day to keep on track and to take care of the most important tasks in one's day first and not being distracted by lesser tasks nor allowing others to stall our accomplishing what we must.  As tasks, assignments, projects change we have to be able to reassess and refocus our attention on the current objective and not get bogged down in details that may not even apply anymore.  In today's information age we have to stay on top things quickly and having a daily plan for your day by mind mapping on an old school list helps clear the clutter from your mind, keep track of things you need to remember and helps to keep up with mental notes put down on paper whether it is meeting the boss at 10:00a.m. pulling reports together, setting up meetings with other staff noted by name or adding a note to pick up milk on the way home - it is all helping to keep up with everything you need to while decluttering your mind so it can work on the necessity at hand.   Good tips to be found here.   Good book.   I recommend it to teens on up.

Oresteia

Oresteia by Aeschylus, translated by Richard Lattimore, 171 pages

The Oresteia is a cycle of three plays relating the tragedy of the royal house of Mycenae in the aftermath of the Trojan War.  Agamemnon tells the story of the return of the king, accompanied by the captive Cassandra, and his murder by his wife Clytemnestra, who had taken his cousin Aegisthus as a lover during his decade-long absence.  The Libation Bearers continues the story as the son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra avenges his father by slaying his mother.  Finally, in The Eumenides, the goddess Athena stands as judge between the titular Furies and Orestes, in the process establishing Athenian jurisprudence and domesticating the goddesses of vengeance.

Robert Lowell once admitted that it is impossible to recover the power of Aeschylus' drama, "something no doubt grander than any play we can see."  Perhaps some intimation of that power is available to us in these post-Enlightenment times, for meeting it outside the cramped blood-soaked ground of the grand narrative of progressive history, what the reader is immediately struck by is its earnest religiosity.  It is certainly possible for a crippled soul to dismiss Apollo, Athena, and even the Furies themselves as dramatic contrivances and ignore the atmosphere that surrounds them in favor of shallow psychologizing.  It is likewise trivial to invert the tale, to turn Clytemnestra into the righteous avenger of her sacrificed daughter, inevitably ending with her liberation of Cassandra into an unconvincing sisterhood.  If Aeschylus does not have true religion, it is certainly more true than any of the modern simulacra.  Aeschylus' cycle is a real myth, his tragedy rooted in a legacy of crime and guilt inherited both by the sons of Atreus and the daughters of Leda, a shared fault that stretches back into remotest antiquity, where it assumes unknowable cosmic proportions, and which can only be expiated by cult and sacrifice.

Muskrat Ramble

“Muskrat Ramble” (Sequel to “A Sparrow Alone”) by Mim Eichmann 311 pages

After I finished “A Sparrow Alone,” I hoped that Hannah’s life get better. While “Sparrow” wasn’t the best book I’ve ever read, I did come to care about the characters and was eager to see what would happen.

Author Eichmann pickups the story in 1913 after the African-American school Hannah founded in Kansas closes. Hannah and her daughter, Alice, move to New Orleans as job opportunities abound there, but mostly, Hannah wants to find Emma. There are only two people in the world who know that Emma is Hannah’s biological mother, while Alice is a rescue.  Hannah took and raised Alice after her biological mother died.

Emma is now thirteen years old. She has no idea who Hannah is. Emma is concerned with becoming a jazz singer. Jazz dominated this novel and the greats of the time were minor characters. People like Louis Armstrong, Buddy Bolden, Sissieretta Jones, Honore Duetry and Jelly Roll Morton. The real person who was actually part of the novel was Edward “Kid” Ory. 

I’m sorry to say that this novel doesn’t feel like it was written by the same person. The style was completely different. It didn’t take long for me to not care about the characters any more when the storyline became redundant.  However, I had invested a lot of time with these people so I continued to read. I was dismayed when I reached one of the last chapters, at which time there was synopsis of what happened to the real folks, which was the most interesting part of the novel. 

The other, fictional, main characters lives were also explained, but the story read like a bunch of facts strung together.  And the final chapters read as if the author was tired of the story and wrapped it up. Therefore, “Muskrat Ramble” receives 2 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world. 

 

Lemon

“Lemon” by Kwon Yeo-sun; translated from the Korean by Janet Hong 168 pages

During the summer of 2002, eighteen-year-old Kim Hae-on was murdered. Although the police investigated and had two notable suspects, the cases quickly grew cold.

Cold that is for the police, but for Hae-on’s family and friends, the case burned white hot. Her sister, Da-on has been traumatized by the event and is unable to move past it. Seventeen years later, Da-on and two of Hae-on’s friends, who were also deeply affected, decide to conduct their own investigation.

This short novel moves between Da-on and the two classmate as narrators, but it is almost impossible to determine who is speaking. You can imagine how confusing this was to read! Still I was able to piece it together through the chapter titles. I think.

This is a crime novel which is unlike any other crime novel I have ever read. “But identifying the perpetrator is not the main objective here: Kwon Yeo-sun uses this well-worn form to craft a searing, timely exploration of privilege, jealousy, trauma, and how we live with the wrongs we have endured and inflicted in turn.”

Sometime I felt as if I had read this book twice by the time I was finished with it because I had to read most chapters twice to really understand what was happening. I was intrigued with the format.

However, by the end, I’m not sure if the killer was named, and if it was, who it was.  Therefore, “Lemon” receives 2 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world. 

 

The White Christmas Inn

“The White Christmas Inn” by Colleen Wright  288 pages

The Evergreen Inn in Vermont is the quintessential New England Inn. Add a blizzard, Christmas, people in desperate need of a miracle and you have a wonderful holiday tale. It’s especially heartwarming given the global pandemic that we have faced for the last two years. 

The Inn’s owners, Jeanne and Tom, have two major hurdles to overcome. First is their relationship, which seems to get more and more strained with each passing day. Second is the inn. Since a new luxury ski resort was built about twenty miles up the road, no one wants a charming B&B anymore. They can barely pay their bills and have made the tough decision to close after the new year.

But this holiday seems a little brighter. One of their long-time guests, Hannah, has been coming to the Inn since she was a little girl with her family. Now an adult, Hannah has chosen Evergreen Inn as the venue for her wedding. It will be a small affair, immediate family only, but at least the rooms are occupied.

Things go awry when Hannah’s finance gets cold feet and calls off the wedding. Hannah isn’t as devastated as she, and everyone else, thought she would be. Her summer’s crush, Luke, has dropped by the inn to check on his grandmother. who is the inn’s hostess. The sparks fly even before he gets in the door. Jeanne and Tom are sad that all the rooms aren’t going to be full after all, but mostly they are distressed about the wedding.

There is one other guest at the inn, Molly. She has checked in for a few days. She’s a writer and illustrator of children’s books. Her new book is due soon, but she has absolutely no story idea. Scrounging the internet, she fell in love with the inn.

Then the blizzard arrives. A real Nor’easter it is. The Highway Patrol has closed all the roads. A couple of stragglers manage to make their way to the inn to spend the night. One is Marcus, a widower with two small girls, and the other is grouchy Englishman who rubs on everyone’s nerves. Even Luke is forced to bunk down at the inn since he cannot get to his parents’ house.

 As the character’s stories intertwine, author Colleen Wright, mixes up a tale of romance and magic that is sure to set a sweet start to the holidays.

There is one thing that really irritated me though. I’m guessing that the novel’s title comes from the snowstorm on Christmas Eve, since it snowed in feet, not inches.  That seemed more like gimmick to get people to at least pick it up and, hopefully, buy it.  Therefore, “The White Christmas Inn” receives 4 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world. 

 

SLPL October Totals

 

This month three people read 22 books with a total of 7460 pages and three bonuses (all by Shirley).

Shirley rules again with 13 books and three bonus points!  

Thanks to everyone for continuing to post!

I Work at a Public Library: A Collection of Crazy Stories from the Stacks

Shirley J.                  Adult Non-Fiction:Humor                     Funny (real) stories of life at a public library 

I Work at a Public Library: A Collection of Crazy Stories from the Stacks by Gina Sheridan     160 pages

I loved these stories of real conversations that took place at public libraries Gina Sheridan has worked at.  Too funny from Library Fairies who are responsible for reclaiming books that suddenly disappear from homes (after the parent has read the book for the umpteenth time) to the child who put a book in the bookdrop right as the Librarian stubbed her toe and yowled in pain.  The child cried, "Oh, Mommy!  I think we hurt the book!" to the homeless lady behind the counter standing next to the Librarian who was 'helping out' by putting a newspaper away in a cubby hole, herself to the newly arrived foreign family who all just got their library cards and the youngest picked out the tiniest books she could find because she thought they would be cheaper for her parents to buy.   So many great stories, patrons distrustful of new faces waiting on them at the counter, and of course the encounters with the high and drunken.  Gina Sheridan takes it all with a sense of humor and a poker face until she gets out of view and hearing distance so she can laugh.     A fun read for library workers and the public.   I recommend this one to middle-schoolers on up.  

The Other Black Girl

Shirley J.                    Adult Fiction                                            Office Politics, Publishing Profession    

The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris   368 pages

Wow!  I did not see that twist coming!  A completely new take on office politics.  Personalities clash, backstabbing, job grabbing and be careful when the new employee comes on board she might just cut your throat with your boss to get YOUR JOB!    Beware the new work friend that talks sweet words to your face and is oh so helpful.  Be careful who is supporting you and pumping you up to go tell your boss or the company's client what you really think.   OMgosh!   Who would have thought?   I want so much to say more but I don't want to give the book's secret away but trust me this is a page turner you won't want to miss.   I recommend this for mature middle-schoolers on up.   Its never too early to learn how people can turn on you!