Svetlana's Reads and Views

Name of Book: Betrayal at Iga Author: Susan Spann ISBN: 978-1-63388-277-5 Publisher: Seventh Street Books Part of a Series: Hiro Hattori Mysteries #5 Type of book: 1565. Shinobi clans, shinobi culture, Koga, Iga, deceit, murder, mystery, betrayal, believing not seeing, foreigner, religion, mute girl, family, high stakes, Japan, alliance, high stakes Year it was published: 2017 Summary: Autumn, 1565: After fleeing Kyoto, master ninja Hiro Hattori and Portuguese Jesuit Father Mateo take refuge with Hiro s ninja clan in the mountains of Iga province. But when an ambassador from the rival Koga clan is murdered during peace negotiations, Hiro and Father Mateo must find the killer in time to prevent a war between the ninja clans. With every suspect a trained assassin, and the evidence incriminating not only Hiro s commander, the infamous ninja Hattori Hanz, but also Hiro s mother and his former lover, the detectives must struggle to find the truth in a village where

Title of the book:  Bonjour Kale; a Memoir of Paris, Love & Recipes Author: Kristen Beddard Publisher: Sourcebooks Publishing Date: 2016 ISBN: 978-1-4926-3004-3 Summary: A memoir of love, life, and recipes from the woman who brought kale to the City of Light The story of how one expat woman left her beloved behind when she moved to France-her beloved kale, that is. Unable to find le chou kale anywhere upon moving to the City of Light with her new husband, and despite not really speaking French, Kristen Beddard launched a crusade to single-handedly bring kale to the country of croissants and cheese. Infused with Kristen's recipes and some from French chefs, big and small (including Michelin star chef Alain Passard) Bonjour Kale is a humorous, heartfelt memoir of how Kristen, kale, and France collide. Author Info: (From France Book Tours) Kristen Beddard is the American author of Bonjour Kale: A Memoir of Paris, Love and Recipes and a contributing author

Name of Book: A Twisted Vengeance Author: Candace Robb I SBN: 978-1-68177-452-7 Publisher: Pegasus Crime Part of a Series: Kate Clifford Mysteries Type of book: 1399, England, daily life, mother/daughter relationship, being a nun, heresy, confessor, secrets, war, knighthood, running a business, independent woman Year it was published: 2017 Summary: 1399. York is preparing for civil war, teeming with knights and their armed retainers summoned for the city’s defense. Henry of Lancaster is rumored to have landed on the northeast coast of England, not so far from York, intent on reclaiming his inheritance—an inheritance which his cousin, King Richard, has declared forfeit. With the city unsettled and rife with rumors, Eleanor Clifford’s abrupt return to York upon the mysterious death of her husband in Strasbourg is met with suspicion in the city. Her daughter Kate is determined to keep her distance, but it will not be easy—Eleanor has settled next door with the

Title of the book: A Paris All YOur Own; Bestselling Women Writers on the City of Light Author: Eleanor Brown, J. Courtney Sullivan, Michelle Gable, Ellen Sussman, Susan Vreeland, Megan Crane, Paula McLain, Jennifer L. Scott, Cara Black, M.J Rose, Jennifer Coburn, Cathy Kelly, Rachel Hore, Julie Powell, Lauren Willig, Therese Ann Fowler, Maggie Shipstead, Meg Waite Clayton Publisher: G.P Putnam's Sons Publishing Date: 2017 ISBN: 978-0-399-57447-4 Summary: A collection of all-new Paris-themed essays written by some of the biggest names in women's fiction, including Paula McLain, Therese Anne Fowler, Maggie Shipstead, and Lauren Willig, edited by Eleanor Brown, the New York Times bestselling author of The Weird Sisters and The Light of Paris. "My time in Paris," says New York Times-bestselling author Paula McLain (The Paris Wife), "was like no one else's ever." For each of the eighteen bestselling authors in this warm, inspiring, and ch

Name of Book: The Woman Behind the Waterfall Author : Leonora Meriel ISBN: 978-1-911079-34-7 Publisher: Granite Cloud Type of book: Ukraine, motherhood, mother/daughter relationship, depression, alcoholism, refusing help, friendship, death, alternative choices, love, shapeshifter, fantasy, magical realism, protection, struggles Year it was published: 2011, 2016 Summary: Heartbreak and transformation in the beauty of a Ukrainian village For seven-year old Angela, happiness is exploring the lush countryside around her home in western Ukraine. Her wild imagination takes her into birds and flowers, and into the waters of the river. All that changes when, one morning, she sees her mother crying. As she tries to find out why, she is drawn on an extraordinary journey into the secrets of her family, and her mother's fateful choices. Can Angela lead her mother back to happiness before her innocence is destroyed by the shadows of a dark past? Beautiful, poetic and

Name of Book: Lilli de Jong Author: Janet Benton ISBN: 978-0-385-54145-9 Publisher: Nan. A Talese Type of book: motherhood, mother/daughter bond, babies, children, 1883, house for single mothers, work, money, finances, scrupulous people, cheating, coping, self, wet-nursing, friendship, betrayal Year it was published: 2017 Summary: A young woman finds the most powerful love of her life when she gives birth at an institution for unwed mothers in 1883 Philadelphia. She is told she must give up her daughter to avoid a life of poverty and shame. But she chooses to keep her. Pregnant, abandoned by her lover, and banished from her Quaker home and teaching position, Lilli de Jong enters a charity for wronged women to deliver her child. She is stunned at how much her infant needs her and at how quickly their bond overpowers her heart. Mothers in her position have no sensible alternative to giving up their children, but Lilli can't bear such an outcome. Determined to c

Title of the book: Madeleine Project; Uncovering a Parisian Life Author: Clara Beaudoux, Alison Anderson Translator Publisher: New Vessel Press Publishing Date: 2016 ISBN: 978-1-939931-49-8 Summary: "Simply magical. . . . Words and images, magnified in this book, are woven together in small strokes to create two moving portraits of women." —Lire "A beautiful book that bears witness. An original compilation of traces, thoughts and photos . . . that form the strata of our collective memory." —Télérama A young woman moves into a Paris apartment and discovers a storage room filled with the belongings of the previous owner, a certain Madeleine who died in her late nineties, and whose treasured possessions nobody seems to want. In an audacious act of journalism driven by personal curiosity and humane tenderness, Clara Beaudoux embarks on The Madeleine Project, documenting what she finds on Twitter with text and photographs, introducing the world to an

Name of Book: Infinity Author: Tabitha Lord ISBN: 9781634899451 Publisher: Wise Ink Part of a Series: Horizon Series Type of book: Space, Almagest, genetic testing, love, fighting, freedom, help, technology, alliance, friends, friendship, loyalty Year it was published: 2017 Summary : In the second installment of the award-winning Horizon series, Dr. Caeli Crys returns to her war-torn world to fight for those she left behind. Almagest, Caeli’s home, stands on the brink of revolution. Long hidden from the rest of the galaxy, the once-peaceful planet suffers under a regime that grows more violent and oppressive by the day. Marcus, Almagest’s dictator, is building an arsenal of alien weaponry by selling empathic children into slavery. A resistance has risen, but they are outmanned, outgunned, and in hiding. Joined by Commander Derek Markham and his elite squadron of operatives, Caeli embarks on a dangerous mission to find the Resistance, rescue her captive peopl

The Service of the Dead by Candace Robb Paperback Publication Date: May 9, 2017 Pegasus Books Paperback; 256 Pages Series: Kate Clifford Mysteries, Book One Genre: Historical/Mystery/Thriller Expertly recreating the social and political upheavals of late medieval Europe, Candace Robb introduces a new series starring Kate Clifford, a woman forged on the warring northern marches of fourteenth century England. Political unrest permeates York at the cusp of the fifteenth century, as warring factions take sides on who should be the rightful king--Richard II or his estranged, powerful cousin in exile, Henry Bolingbroke. Independent minded twenty-year-old Kate Clifford is struggling to dig out from beneath the debt left by her late husband. Determined to find a way to be secure in her own wealth and establish her independence in a male dominated society, Kate turns one of her properties near the minster into a guest house and sets up a business. In a dance of power,

Name of Book: Appointment with Yesterday Author: Christopher Stratakis ISBN: 978-0-9977212-1-8 Publisher: Indie reader Type of book: Greece, WWII, America, immigration, school, sea, dreams, fantasies, mother/son relationship, tumult, disease, death 1930s-1960s? marriage, culture, bad blood, small island living Year it was published: 2016 Summary: A poignant and compelling first novel, Appointment with Yesterday tells the story of Yanni, a cheeky and delightful Greek boy growing up in a small town on an island in the eastern Aegean. Left in the care of his loving grandparents, Yanni endures the deprivation and terror of the German occupation during World War II and finally leaves his beloved homeland and family to rejoin the parents who had left him behind to make a better life for themselves in America. “With a touch of nostalgia and a lot of good humor, Appointment with Yesterday by Stratakis celebrates the passage of time as Yanni reflects back on his life and

Name of Book: The Babe Ruth Deception Author: David O Stewart ISBN: 978-1-4967-0200-5 Publisher: Kensington Type of book: Baseball, Babe Ruth, 1920s, interracial romance, white female/black male, mystery, money, portrayal of Jews, society, prohibition, scandal Year it was published: 2016 Summary: “David O. Stewart is rapidly becoming one of our best new writers of historical mysteries . . . [Fraser and Cook] have plenty of fraught challenges, but none more engaging and human than the swaggering, generous, profligate Great Bambino.” —Washington Times, September 22, 2016 As the Roaring Twenties get under way, corruption seems everywhere—from the bootleggers flouting Prohibition to the cherished heroes of the American Pastime now tarnished by scandal. Swept up in the maelstrom are Dr. Jamie Fraser and Speed Cook . . . Babe Ruth, the Sultan of Swat, is having a record-breaking season in his first year as a New York Yankee. In 1920, he will hit more home runs than