If the Tide Turns by Rachel Rueckert 432 pages

When Kensington Books asked me to write a blurb for Rachel Rueckert’s debut novel, I jumped at the opportunity. Although I don’t read many romance novels, I do enjoy stories that take place
in or near the water. The feel of the salty breeze and the mist stinging your face---that sort of thing. Set during the waning days of the Golden Age of Pirates (1689-1718; who knew there was
such a thing?), If the Tide Turns is the “captivating true story of real-life pirate Samuel Bellamy, combining high seas adventure, star-crossed longing, surprisingly timely questions about social
justice and freedom, and the emotionally satisfying tale of one strong-willed young woman determined to choose her own path.”

This is the blurb I wrote: “Two lovers, separated by their stations in life, fight their way back to each other’s arms. On land and on the sea, Sam and Maria overcome the hardships of the mid-1700s. Rueckert’s new novel is a tale of daring, courage, aching loneliness and two people willing to face any obstacles to be together.”

It’s 1715 in Eastham, Massachusetts. Maria Brown is the beautiful, hard-headed daughter of a wealthy family who has arranged a marriage for her. She doesn’t want any part of the much older
(shall we just say old?), also wealthy and abusive John Hallett.

Maria has her heart set on a young, orphaned sailor, Sam Bellamy. They met as Sam had been laid-off (yes, laid-off from his previous ship when it docked and no longer needed his services) and searched for another ship. The two are drawn together. Sam to Maria for her beauty and her self-determination. Maria to Sam for his idealistic opinions. The two are smitten with each other. Sam wants to marry her, but her father forbids it, in fact banishing him from their home. Maria, characteristically, vows to wait for him, to wait until he can make his fortune and offer everything her father deems, she should have.

Eager for success, Sam becomes involved with a pirate ship. But Sam isn’t your ordinary run-of-the-mill pirate. He is only interested in taking other ships’ bounties, not lives nor ships. His reputation as a “nice” pirate precedes him. Maria leaves home, bent on following him from port to port. It’s a dangerous path she has chosen--- a woman traveling alone.

If the Tide Turns has all the aspects of a swashbuckling delightful read as Sam and Maria fight for their love. If the Tide Turns gets 6 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

The Wish Book Christmas

The Wish Book Christmas by Lynn Austin 304 pages

 

We may be a few days away from Easter 2024, but I stumbled upon a Christmas story that I love. As I was scrolling through my local library’s catalog looking for more Lynn Austin reads, I came across “The Wish Book Christmas.” Ah, I remember it like it was yesterday when the Sears Roebuck or Montgomery Ward Christmas would arrive, my brother and I would spend hours and hours wanting every pictured toy.

 

That is the premise of this Lynn Austin novel, but this one held an even bigger surprise for me! This is a sequel to Austin’s “If I Were You,” that I recently read and loved. I missed Audrey and Eve and wondered what happened to them.

 

It’s 1951, and Audrey and Even are still best friends. They have made a life for themselves in Connecticut after escaping World War II London with their sons. Both families are healthy and happy. Harry, Eve’s son, and Bobby are now five years old, and like me brother and I, were completely mesmerized by the color photos spreads that went on for pages and pages and pages that had arrived 20 days before Christmas. (I remember them arriving earlier though, I think).

 

This was fine, at first. When the boys start fighting about the toys, Audrey and Eve realize that they have not been teaching them that it is better to give than receive. Over the next 19 days, the two friends, nay sisters by this point, devise ways to teach their sons that Christmas isn’t about getting toys.

 

I can’t remember exactly how many “lessons” there were, but each was sweet. I highly recommend reading “The Wish Book Christmas” anytime of the year. It receives 6 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sinatra's Century: One Hundred Notes on the Man and his World

Sinatra's Century: One Hundred Notes on the Man and his World by David Lehman 278 pages

I have been a fan of Ol’ Blue Eyes since I discovered music as a teenager. None of that rock ‘n roll for me! I’ve read many books on Mr. S.; I love to learn more about him. One of the first

things I check out in a book about Mr. S., is who is writing it and how does he/she know this stuff?

The author, David Lehman, had no connections to Mr. S’s. inner circle as far as I can tell. Yet, the book is about one of my idols, so how could I resist at least not flipping through it. All I can say is thank God for libraries and their interlibrary loan service. I didn’t want to take the risk of missing something because I didn’t want to spend twenty-five bucks on a bad book. Lehman is a big, huge fan of Sinatra’s, and I’m glad that come through.

I love the style of this book. It’s one-hundred short reflections on the man, the legend, and his music. He touches on every aspect of Mr. S’s life from beginning to end. The reflections are short, ranging from a half-page to four pages.

Like I said, there is nothing new in this volume, and it’s not very well written for a man who is “one of the most prominent voices in contemporary American poetry.” Therefore, Sinatra's Century: One

Hundred Notes on the Man and his World gets 1 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

 

November 2023-February 2024 Totals

 

November 2023-February 2024 Totals

During the months of February 2023 through March 2024 reviewers read 35 books with 5868 pages.  Shirley read the most with a total of 18 books read, but Julie read the most pages with 5095.  Congratulations to both of them for jobs well done!

Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing

Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing by Matthew Perry 272 pages

 

It’s Saturday afternoon. I should be cleaning the house, but I want a break, so I turn on the television and about the only thing worth watching is “Friends.” First, I must say I am not in the series’ demographic. I was already middle-aged when it premiered. It’s an okay show, but after reading Perry’s story, I didn’t enjoy it as much as I might have a before I cracked the book’s cover.

 

Perry’s favorite movie was “Groundhog Day,” and it imitates an addict’s life to a tee. Trying to get the drugs/alcohol/sex/whatever puts a person on a never-ending loop. Addicts don’t think much pass the next hit. Also, it is the way this book is written. Perry has the same days over and over and over.

 

Unfortunately, due to his sudden death, most of us know Perry’s story. He successfully hid it, at least on television. But truthfully, I had no idea how bad it was. Heartbreaking to say the least.

Therefore, I don’t have the need to rehash his fears, anxieties, doubts and all the other negative emotions/thoughts here.

 

Instead, I’ll talk about some of the high (no pun intended) points. One, when he learned that God is real via the oceanic view from his home. Two, how he truly had gotten sober but couldn’t quite conquer all his demons. Three, his need to help others kick alcohol like he did. Four, how God helped him kick drugs/alcohol/cigarettes. (He craved cigarettes as much as, or more than, he craved opioids.) One day he couldn’t live without them, the next the cravings were gone---one bad habit at a time.

 

In the end, Perry sounded happy and hopeful, that he had truly turned his life around. I choose to believe that this is true, and his death was the unfortunate result of too many years of hard living. Everything caught up with him on the October night in 2023.

 

Therefore, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing gets 5 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

 

The Secret Life of Sunflowers

The Secret Life of Sunflowers by Marta Molnar 404 pages

 

I would say that most Americans from high school on up know who Vincent Van Gogh is: The creator of some of the world’s most beautiful paintings (Starry, Starry Night; Sunflowers to name a few) or the mad painter who cut off his ear and gave it to a prostitute as a sign of affection. There have been hundreds of books, movies, songs and tv shows that give readers/watchers an insight to this complicated man.

 

But this novel gives readers a new perspective, When Vincent dies in 1890 by suicide (gunshot to the chest), he leaves his paintings to his brother, Theo, and his wife, Johanna. After Theo dies in 1891, the paintings are left to Johanna. And Johanna is the subject of this powerful novel with the theme of inspiring women.

 

Even before Theo’s death from general paresis of insane in 1891, Johanna was trying to establish Vincent reputation in the art world. True she the money that his paintings would bring, but in the 1890s, women did not have many ways to earn a living, Plus she had her son to provide for.

 

Now then, this book takes on a dual narrative that is not quite interesting as Johanna’s story, yet Johanna becomes an inspiration to Emsley Wilson, who is the fictional granddaughter of Violet Valkyrie, a woman who was also a well-known artist. Emsley lives and works in LA as a Hollywood auctioneer. Violet had Johanna’s diary, which is the catalyst for the novel when Violet has her look into her blue box at the back of her closet and encourages Emsley to read it.

 

Bottom line: It is because of Johanna’s unrelenting ambition to make Vincent a household name that it is. Throw in some 2022 shenanigans from Emsley’s ex-boyfriend and best friend to take her business and an unexpected romance that create such a riveting. For me, the first four chapters were rather slow, but once I started Chapter 5, I couldn’t put it down. Therefore, The Secret Life of Sunflowers gets 5 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

 

The ABCs of Christmas

Shirley J.                Juvenile Literature          Something Christmas for every letter of the alphabet

A beautifully illustrated board book complete with raised sparkles throughout in which every letter of the alphabet shows a different Christmas concept, A is for Angel...E is for Elf...J is for Jesus..S is for Santa..W is for Wreath...  The book covers all aspects of Christmas, the religious side, the Santa side, traditional and pagan.   The illustrations are strikingly brilliant and listeners as well as kids through kindergarten will enjoy hearing the captions and looking at and discussing the pictures.   Parents, Grandparents, Teachers and Babysitters will enjoy sharing this book with children.  I recommend it for babies through kindergarten age.  

  

The Angel of Indian Lake

 The Angel of Indian Lake

Stephen Graham Jones

343 pp

The Angel of Indian Lake  by Stephen Graham Jones is the third entry into his trilogy starting with My Heart Is a Chainsaw.  In this series, Jade Daniels (real name Jennifer), is a horror movie fan with almost encyclopedic knowledge of the films in this genre.  As in the other books, the chapter titles are those of horror movies.  Jade uses the plots of movies she has seen to compare what is happening to her in real life to what happens to characters in these movies.  She also uses the behavior of the “final girl” to inform the way she reacts to situations, although she does not believe herself to be worthy of that title.

Jade is back after a stint in prison and is teaching history at the high school like her former teacher Mr. Holmes.  Instead of writing papers on the assigned topics, Jade always wrote about the horror movie.  She has given her class the assignment to do a report on the history of Proofrock and Indian Lake.  Unlike when she was a kid, the reports of today are high tech.  One of the reports even is filmed by drone.  During one of these reports, a missing Bronco is  shown with the bodies of two former Proofrock residents in it.  Then the drone shows teens from their school who have been brutally murdered.  Meanwhile, the local game warden sets a forest fire and the sheriff’s office must find him before things get worse.  The sheriff (Jade’s best friend’s husband) enlists Jade to watch over their daughter since he knows he will be busy.  Things get even busier for him when a parent waiting for their child in the pick up lane is beheaded.

Even though Jade has vowed not to get involved in figuring out any of the crimes, she just can’t help herself.  After she finds out more people in town have been killed she goes after the sheriff so she can tell him what is going on.  Once dropped off in that area, she does not have a lot of mobility since all of the boats have been tampered with.  Eventually, Letha (the sheriff’s wife and her best friend) comes to the rescue.  There’s even more after this, but I won’t spoil it.

To read this book effectively, you must have read the first two books.  There is too much that refers back to the first two “massacres” to comprehend the story otherwise.  I loved this book and am sorry to see the trilogy end.  I will be sure to recommend this to other horror lovers.  

Thanks to Simon & Schuster for giving me an advance reading copy.

P is for Pterodactyl: The Worst Alphabet Book Ever!

 Shirley J.                     Juvenile literature                                  The worst alphabet book ever!

P is for Pterodactyl: The Worst Alphabet Book Ever by Raj Haldar     40 pages

This book is hilarious!  At least for adults.  The English language has words with silent first letters like xylophone, oppossum,  knot, aisle, pterodactyl and so many more.   It is a wonder any of us learn to spell much less pronounce words correctly but that is part of the joy and wonder about this wonderful language of ours - there are surprises to keep us on our toes.   The book is like that all the way through and is really fun I think.   I recommend this book from birth to 9 year olds, and to adults, but, I think adults will truly find the humor in it.  Kids may be like, huh?  Say what?   Adults will be like, True!  True!  So true!  Hilarious!  

Merry Christmas Mom & Dad

 Shirley J.               Juvenile Literature            A little critter tries to do a bunch of christmasy things

Merry Christmas Mom and Dad by Mercer Mayer   24 pages

A little critter ( it is a series of books about this little fellow and his adventures) of indistinguishable origin, he might be a squirrel, or an opossum, or a porcupine, the book doesn't say and you can't really tell from the illustrations so critter is fitting.  He is some kind of critter.  Anyhow, he is little and he really has great intentions of being a good helper, but, intentions only go so far and his patience, endurance and skill are all laking that stick-to-itiveness to follow through and complete the task he has at hand ie, wrapping presents (the tape is too sticky), untangling the Christmas tree lights forget it - is anyone good at that? baking cookies, nope none of his attempts see the completion but his heart is in the right place, right?   Kids will like it and it is geared for the birth to 5 year old set.  It might amuse up to 8 year olds, I think.  Beyond that probably not. 

On the Night You Were Born

 Shirley J.             Juvenile Literature          All the magical things happening when you were born

On the Night You Were Born by Nancy Tillman   32 pages

Sweet book written in poetic loveliness describing all the magical things happening the night of every baby's birth.   Every horn and trumpet in heaven blew, all the geese in the air flew home, polar bears danced, the moon shone till morning because it was so happy and more.  The world and the heavens were delighted at everyone's birth.   Such a precious story/lyrical poem and all about You!  A great read and/or gift.  It is recommended for birth to 3 years of age but I think any one any age will get a kick  out of the idea of all the wonderful things that occurred because of how special your birth was to all being.  

The Gift of Family

 Shirley J.                Adult Fiction          A well-to-do couple can't have kids and adopt a family

The Gift of Family by Mary Monroe   208 pages

A very easy read.   A sweet story.   Eugene and Rosemary Johnson are doing well in their lives.  Rosemary runs a successful nail salon in Beverly Hills, California and Eugene is a successful lawyer with a lustrous list of celebrity clients.   They live a comfortable life, they love each other and enjoy partying with the A-list crowd.   The one thing they have been trying years for is a family with heart wrenching results.  Then Rosemary is told she needs an emergency hysterectomy and their hopes are crushed as now she will be unable to bear children.   They luck into finding the woman that worked for Eugene's parents, the woman who raised him and his brother , who was such an asset to Eugene's family. This woman, Ethyl Perkins has been struggling working 2 jobs for years doing her best to provide for her great-grandchildren who were left with her to raise them when their mother and grandmother died in the mean streets.  Ethyl is approaching 70 years old, the new owner of her building is making her move because his daughter wants Ethyl's apartment.  Ethyl has no extra money for first and last month's rent somewhere else not to mention the security deposit which she is sure the new owner doesn't plan to refund her due to the remarks he's made about her 2 grandsons tearing up the place.  They hadn't but Ethyl saw where this was going.  Meeting up with Eugene and Rosemary and being offered the job of taking care of Rosemary during her recovery from her surgery is a God send.  Little do any of them know, yet, just what a God send it will turn out to be.   Good story.  Very light reading.  I recommend this book to anyone who loves romance, children and happy endings.   

The Christmas Coat: Memories of My Sioux Childhood

 Shirley J.         Juvenile Non-Fiction              The story of a young Sioux girl wishing for a warm coat

The Christmas Coat: Memories of My Sioux Childhood by Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve   32 pages

Virginia, her brother and the other Sioux children have to walk through unbearably cold conditions to get to the school on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota.  The clothing, coats, shoes and boots the kids wear are received in donations from the church.  Since Virginia's father is the pastor, their family always has to go last when the donations come in.  Her mother tells her other people need it more than we do.  I disagree with that.  Give over your turn if that is your choice but don't force the kids to wait.  Geez, wear ashcloth but let the kids get warm clothes!  Its SOUTH DAKOTA!   But that is the life Virginia and her brother came up in, always getting the last, the leavings.  The other kids usually found something that fit.  Virginia's clothes were always too short and too tight.  She had to try to hold the coat she got together as much as possible because it wouldn't button.   The next time donations came in she saw a lovely shiny grey coat with silver fur.  It was long and had a hood and she knew it would be so warm and it looked big enough to fit her but as always her mother made her wait until everyone else had picked.  She was so excited it was still there until a girl who always treated Virginia and her brother mean came over picked it up, put it on and danced around.  Virginia was heartbroken.  The girl flaunted the coat until one of the boys started teasing her about the smell coming off the coat.  Turns out the smell was really bad and the girl had to get another coat.  Turns out the only other coat was a brown one that Virginia had gotten.  Her mother made her give it to the girl.   I think the mother should have given her own coat to the girl but I wasn't there to protest.   The good news is, the church asked the pastor and his wife if there was anything they and their family would like for Christmas and the mom told them her daughter would love a warm red coat with a hood and the church sent it, along the presents requested by the mother for her son, her husband and herself.   That Christmas was a wonderful memory for Virginia.  I recommend this book to listeners up to 3rd grade.

Merry and Hark

 Shirley J.          Juvenile Literature               The story of Merry an owl and Hark its tree friend

Merry and Hark: A Christmas Story by April Genevieve Tucholke    32 pages    

A different take on the story about the little owl taken in the tree that went up in Rockefeller Center New York.   This story does not mention New York City, nor Rockefeller Center just that the owl's tree, Hark, was cut down and taken to a big city where Merry, the owl, is confused and afraid, but in this story, Merry the owl is returned to her forest and friends.  If only...I recommend this book to listeners through third grade.

Song of the Stars: A Christmas Story

 Shirley J.   Juvenile Literature    The animals on earth hear the song in the stars proclaiming Jesus' birth

Song of the Stars: A Christmas Story by Sally Lloyd-Jones   32 pages

While the earth sleeps the animals make their way to the manger as the stars sing them the song that the savior of the world is about to be born!  While people go about their daily lives, the animals on land, sea and in the air hear the song of the angels shared with shepherds in the field to go to Bethlehem to see the child who is Christ the Lord!  I recommend this one to listeners up to 2nd grade.

Tough Cookie: A Christmas Story by Edward

 

Shirley J.               Juvenile Literature                       A new take on the story of the gingerbread man

Tough Cookie: A Christmas Story by Edward Hemingway   40 pages

This is a cute story about a gingerbread cookie that a fox decides to eat.  However, the cookie is so tough the fox practically breaks his teeth trying to get a bite and it tastes terrible!  Instead of being mad about it, the fox tries to help the cookie find a way of improving his taste.   Long story short, they discover while he is shaped like and looks like a cookie, it turns out he is actually a christmas ornament!   I recommend this one to listeners up to 2nd grade.