Things in Jars

Things in Jars: A Novel by Jess Kidd     400 pages

Bridie (Bridget) Devine is a corncob pipe smoking Irish female known for her skills at locating people and things.   Having grown up in a life she prefers to forget Bridie was prized for her surgical skills at the age of 7 and her scientific mind that kept her from being squeamish.   Even though she meets a fellow Irshman in a cemetery who happens to be transparent she isn't afraid of him and they actually become friends.  Bridie is brought in on a case of a missing child that is rumored to be monstrously deformed and may have been taken by rabble hoping to sell her to a high society collector of oddities for a huge price.    The story is a good one and Jess Kidd is an excellent writer who draws you in from page one to the end.   I recommend this book to everyone from Middle School on up.

 - Shirley J.

The It Girls

The It Girls by Karen Harper                Audio Book: 9 hours, 36 minutes    Hardback Book:  384 pages                

Sisters Elinor and Lucille came from less than comfortable beginnings but did very well for themselves later in life.   Lucille, the stronger of the two is fiery and driven.   She has an eye for tasteful things and loves designing and sewing clothes.   Elinor is smitten with the idea of romance and is an avid reader who tries to make her romantic dreams come true just like in the books she reads.  Sadly, life doesn’t always work out the way we wish and dream for it to but then sometimes we get surprises in the twists and turns it brings.    Don’t want to give the story away but I have to say the way the author twines historical people and events into the story it makes it a lot juicier.    Lily Langtree, Charlie Chaplin, The Titanic, etc.    I liked this story a lot.