Svetlana's Reads and Views

Book Details: Book Title: Ralphie, Always Loved by Andrea Yerramilli Illustrated by: Samantha Van Riet Category: Children's Fiction, 32 pages Genre: Children's Picture Book Publisher: About Something Good, LLC Release date: October 28, 2017 Tour dates: April 9 to May 4, 2018 Content Rating: G Book Description: This is the story of the life, love, and adventures of a beloved family dog, and how he delighted and touched his family and everyone he met. Ralphie was born with a heart on his belly. He loves food, his family, his friends, his neighbors. He loves pretty much everything and everyone. And they love him back. And that's how it is all through his life. Read the book and fall in love with him too. Rambunctious and hyperactive, Ralphie had already been returned to the animal shelter three times, but when Andrea and her husband adopted him and gave him a loving home where he was understood, accepted, and taught, he learne...

Book Details: Book Title: All the Way to Italy: A modern tale of homecoming through generations past Author: Flavia Brunetti Category: Adult Fiction, 222 pages Genre: Women's Fiction (can fit into YA Fiction as well) Publisher: Ali Ribelli Edizioni Release date: April 21, 2018 Tour dates: April 23 to May 18, 2018 Content Rating: PG for the occasional use of "for God's sake" and a few religious references (though very mild). No violence, no swear words, and no sex scenes. Book Description: Until her dad died, Little considered herself a Californian. Now, thanks to half a letter, a symbol she can’t quite remember, and writer’s block, she finds herself back in Italy, the country of her birth. In a headlong rush to return to her beloved San Francisco, Little will journey throughout Italy, hoping to find the answers she needs to move on with her life so she need never look back. She’ll enlist the help of the woman who raised her, Sira, her ...

May will be more focused on book spotlights rather than book reviews, although I do promise that the books will be memorable and exciting, and yes, I can get extra reading time squeezed in. In some ways I accomplished some of my April goals, but in others not really. Let's hope in May I might accomplish more goals. Without further ado, here are book reviews as well as spotlights that will appear on my blog this month. Bonus: What do most of the books here have in common that relates to May? All the way to Italy; a modern tale of homecoming through generations past-Flavia Brunetti (Spotlight May 1st, 2018) Ralphie, Always loved- Andrea Yerramilli (Spotlight, May 1st, 2018) Sass, Smarts and Stilettos: How Italian WOmen Make the Ordinary Extraordinary-Gabriella Contestabile (May 7th, 2018) Ecstasy-Mary Sharratt (May 9th, 2018)  Degrees of Love-Lisa Slabach (Spotlight May 11th, 2018) Eyes Don't Lie-Crystal Dawn Mason (Spotlight May 14th, 2018)...

A House Divided-Pearl S Buck SR: March 11th, 2016 FR: N/A The secret to southern charm- Kristy Woodson Harvey SR: May 5th, 2018 FR: May 23rd, 2018 My mother's son- David HIRSHBERG SR: May 21st, 2018 FR: Doom, GLOOM, and the pursuit of the sun- ANTOINE F GNINTEDEM SR: May 23rd, 2018 FR: Eternal life- Dara horn SR: May 6th, 2018 FR: May 21st, 2018 The art of keeping secrets- Rachael John's SR: April 27th, 2018 FR: May 13th, 2018 The Dan Diaries-D.D. Marx SR: May 1st, 2018 FR: May 13th, 2018 The neighbors- Hannah Mary McKinnon SR: May 28th, 2018 FR: The perfect mother- AIMEE MOLLOY SR: May 13th, 2018 FR: May 28th, 2018 Bitten- Alan Moore SR: May 23rd, 2018 FR: Before I Let You go- Kelly rimmer SR: April 26th, 2018 FR: May 5th, 2018 Ecstasy- Mary Sharrat t SR: March 31st, 2018 FR: May 1st, 2018 Secrets and shadows- ROBERTA SILMAN SR: April 18th, 2018 FR: May 6th, 2018 The SUGARHOUSE blues- Mariah Stewart SR: May 13th, 2018 FR: May 23rd, 201...

Diverse Reads on my Blog #16 Luckily enough, certain things went far better than I thought they would, although just because something impossible has been achieved, it doesn't mean I still like or approve of the person. Still, as always in these times, new scandals are brewing and its up to us to take care of ourselves and to make sure to remember that we have more commonalities than differences. Blast from the Past Evelina by Fanny Burney Evelina, the first of Burney's novels, was published anonymously and brough her immediate fame. It tells the story of a young girl, fresh from the provinces, whose initiation into the ways of hte world is frequently painful, though it leads to self-discovery, moral growth, and, finally, happiness. Hilarious comedy and moral gravity make the novel a fund of entertainment and wisdom. Out of the graceful shifts from the idyllic to the near-tragic and realistic, Evelina emerges as a fully realized character. And out of its treatment of...

Title of the book: Bending toward the sun Author: Mona Hodgson Publisher: Water Brook Publishing Date: 2014 ISBN: 978-0-307-73114-2 Summary: Once a week, Elsa Brantenberg hosts the Saint Charles Quilting Circle at her farmhouse on the outskirts of the riverside town of St. Charles, Missouri. The ladies who gather there have all experienced heartache related to the intense hardships of the Civil War, and together, they are facing their painful circumstances with friendship and prayer. Can the tattered pieces of their hearts be stitched together by God’s grace? Bending Toward the Sun Dedicated to her education and to helping her father in his general store, Emilie Heinrich is convinced she doesn't have time for love. But when a childhood friend returns to St. Charles, Missouri, after serving in the Civil War, his smile and charm captures Emilie’s eye and her heart. Will she be forced to choose between honoring her father and a future with a husband and family of he...