Svetlana's Reads and Views

Name of Book: Woman No. 17 Author: Edan Lepucki ISBN: 978-1-101-90425-1 Publisher: Hogarth Publishing Type of book: motherhood, fatherhood, families, complex relationships, mutism, speech, art, filming, drinking, comedy, humor, modern times, California, friendship, acting, secrets parenting, selfishness Year it was published : 2017 Summary : A sinister, sexy noir about art, motherhood, and the intensity of female friendships, set in the posh hills above Los Angeles, from the New York Times bestselling author of California. High in the Hollywood Hills, writer Lady Daniels has decided to take a break from her husband. She’s going to need a hand with her young son if she’s ever going to finish her memoir. In comes S., a magnetic young artist, who will live in the secluded guest house out back, care for Lady’s young toddler son, and keep a watchful eye on her older, teenage, one. S. performs her day job beautifully, quickly drawing the entire family into her orbit, and ...

Name of Book: Horizon Author: Tabitha Lord ISBN: 978-1-940014-79-1 Publisher: Wise Ink Publishing Part of a Series: Horizon Type of book: different worlds, future, science fiction, romance, genocide, empathy, healing, doctor, survival Year it was published: 2016 Summary: WINNER Writer's Digest Self-Published Book Awards FINALIST Next Generation Indie Book Awards FINALIST National Indie Excellence Awards Caeli Crys isn’t living—she’s surviving. On the run after the genocide of her empathic people, she witnesses a spaceship crash near her hidden camp. When she feels the injured pilot suffering from miles away, she can’t help but risk discovery to save his life. Commander Derek Markham awakens stranded on an uncharted planet. His co-pilot is dead, his ship is in ruins, and he’s only alive because a beautiful young woman is healing him with her mind. As Derek recovers, Caeli shares the horror of her past and her fear for the future. When Derek’s command ship...

Name of Book: Marion Hatley Author : Beth Castrodale ISBN: 978-1-940782-02-7 Publisher :Garland Press Type of book: 1931, family secrets, PTSD, teaching, boats, sea, pirates, sea yarns, stories, convention, romance, forbidden romance, strength, strong female protagonists, entrepreneurship Year it was published: 2017 Summary: To escape a big-city scandal, a Depression-era lingerie seamstress flees to the countryside, where she hopes to live and work in peace. Instead, she finds herself unraveling uncomfortable secrets about herself and those closest to her. In February of 1931, Marion Hatley steps off a train and into the small town of Cooper’s Ford, hoping she’s left her big-city problems behind. She plans to trade the bustling hubbub of a Pittsburgh lingerie shop for the orderly life of a village schoolteacher. More significantly, she believes she’ll be trading her reputation-tainting affair with a married man for the dutiful quiet of tending to her sick aunt. Und...

Traitor's Knot by Cryssa Bazos Publication Date: May 9, 2017 Endeavor Press eBook; 394 Pages Genre: Fiction/Historical England 1650: Civil War has given way to an uneasy peace in the year since Parliament executed King Charles I.Royalist officer James Hart refuses to accept the tyranny of the new government,and to raise funds for the restoration of the king@s son, he takes to the road as a highwayman.Elizabeth Seton has long been shunned for being a traitor@s daughter. In the midst of the new order, she risks her life by sheltering fugitives from Parliament in a garrison town. But her attempts to rebuild her life are threatened, first by her own sense of injustice, then by falling in love with the dashing Hart.The lovers@ loyalty is tested through war, defeat and separation. James must fight his way back to the woman he loves, while Elizabeth will do anything to save him, even if it means sacrificing herself.Traitor@s Knot is a sweeping tale of love and conflic...

Name of Book: Fatal Rivalry Author: Mercedes Rochelle ISBN: 978-0-9973182-3-4 Publisher:   Sergeant Press Part of a Series: The Last Great Saxon Earls Type of book: 1064-1080s, William the Duke of Normandy, the Battle of Stamford Bridge, brotherhood, loyalty, kingdoms, Battle of Hastings, deaths, friendship, family, England, France, fealty, siblings Year it was published: 2017 Summary: In 1066, the rivalry between two brothers brought England to its knees. When Duke William of Normandy landed at Pevensey on September 28, 1066, no one was there to resist him. King Harold Godwineson was in the north, fighting his brother Tostig and a fierce Viking invasion. How could this have happened? Why would Tostig turn traitor to wreak revenge on his brother? The Sons of Godwine were not always enemies. It took a massive Northumbrian uprising to tear them apart, making Tostig an exile and Harold his sworn enemy. And when 1066 came to an end, all the Godwinesons wer...

Name of Book: Waiting for Aegina Author: Effie Kammenou ISBN: 9780692825938 Publisher: Self Published Part of a Series: The Gift Saga Type of book: Greece, 1999-2005, friendship, loyalty, marriage, married life, family, Greece, choices, 9/11, devotion, loyalty Year it was published: 2016 Summary: Book Two in The Gift Saga: The continuation of Evanthia’s Gift … In 1961, five little girls moved into a suburban neighborhood and became inseparable, lifelong friends. They called themselves the ‘Honey Hill Girls,’ named after the street on which they lived. As teenagers they shared one another’s ambitions and dreams, secrets and heartaches. Now, more than thirty years later, they remain devoted and loyal, supporting each other through triumphs and sorrows. Evanthia's Gift follows the life of Sophia Giannakos. In Waiting for Aegina the saga continues from the perspectives of Sophia and her friends as the story drifts back and forth in time, filling in the gaps ...

Name of Book: Jorie and the Magic Stones Author: A.H Richardson ISBN: 978-0-692-35892-4 Publisher: self-published Type of book: Fantasy, different worlds, dragons, prophecy, children to teens, friendship, orphans, loyalty Year it was published: 2015 Summary: When Marjorie went to live with her frosty maiden aunt, she couldn't imagine the adventures she would have with dragons - good and bad - and all the strange creatures that live in a mysterious land beneath the Tarn. The spunky 9-year-old redhead forges an unlikely friendship with an insecure young boy named Rufus who lives with his crusty grandfather next door. When Jorie - for that is what she prefers to be called - finds a dusty ancient book about dragons, she learns four strange words that will send the two of them into a mysterious land beneath the Tarn, riddled with enchantment and danger. Hungry for adventure, the children take the plunge, quite literally, and find themselves in the magic land of Cabry...

Name of Book: Eye of the Storm Author: Frank Cavallo ISBN: 9781535327077 Publisher: Dark Serpent Type of book: Fantasy, other worlds, dinosaurs, magic, neanderthals, legends, myths, magical stones, mysteries, fighting, loyalty, Year it was published: 2016 Summary: On a research mission in one of the most remote regions of the world, former Navy SEAL Eric Slade and Dr. Anna Fayne are caught in a mysterious storm. Catapulted through a rift in space-time, they are marooned on a lost world. Struggling to survive and desperate to find a way home, they must confront the dangers of this savage land—a dark wizard and his army of undead—a warrior queen and her horde of fierce Neanderthals that stands against him—and a legendary treasure with the power to open the gateway between worlds, or to destroy them all: the Eye of the Storm. Characters: Main characters include Slade, who is a former Navy and is best described as a warrior who becomes dedicated to the newly app...

Diverse Reads on my Blog #10 So I've been thinking quite a bit about my Around the World Challenge, in particular about the books I chose at first, that of Bel Canto by Ann Patchett and Mary Queen of Scotland by Margaret George. I am thinking of switching the reads to two other books , which I will mention in my next Diverse Reads Challenge. Without further ado, here are today's reviews for Blast from the Past. I am not sure if The Girls by Emma Cline would qualify as a diverse read, but just in case I'll put it there. If it's not, one could let me know and I'll remove it. Until someone says otherwise, it's a diverse read. Blast from the Past The Man in the iron mask by Alexandre Dumas "You are about to hear," said Aramis, "an account which few could now give; for it refers to a secret which they buried with the dead..." So begins the magnificent concluding story of the swashbuckling Musketeers, Aramis, Athos, Porthos and D'A...

Title of the book :Back Pocket Coach; 33 Effective Communication Strategies for Work and Life Author:  Diane Brennan and Alexandra Ross Publisher: Self published Publishing Date: 2017 ISBN: 978-0-692-81715-5 Summary: Have you ever been in a situation that was emotionally charged and the stakes were high? And it was difficult to find the right words? Back Pocket Coach™ provides 33 power-packed communication strategies to support you in creating satisfying conversations that result in good outcomes for you and others. These just-in-time strategies will help you move through conversations masterfully--whether you're engaging with one person or a team of people. This book also introduces Game Changing Conversations, the 8-step process that prepares you for any difficult or high stakes conversation. Included in the book is a worksheet for your personal use. Author Info: (From iRead Book Tours) Meet the Authors: ​Alexandra Ross is an executive coach, team builde...

Unintentionally, my previous recommendations included historical fiction that focused on Caucasian experience in North America as well as historical fiction that takes place in Europe. I didn't include wonderful historical fiction that takes place elsewhere and in this list, in no particular order, I will recommend literature that is focused in Southeast/East Asia.  (For those who are wondering, I am not yet qualified to make recommendations that take place in Africa, Central and South America as well as other parts of the world.) I wanted to do 5 books that I enjoyed the most, but realized that I enjoyed 6 books instead of 5. In no particular order,  1.  A Light in the Cane Fields by Enrico Antiporda Summary: "This coming-of-age story chronicling a Filipino boy's wrenching passage from son of privilege to guerilla fighter is a stylistic tour-de-force. From its first lines, the saga of Jando Flores seizes readers with the same chilling intensity as ...