Svetlana's Reads and Views

Title of the book:  Left to their own devices; How digital natives are reshaping the American dream Author:  Julie M. Albright Publisher: Prometheus Books Publishing Date: 2019 ISBN: 978-1-63388-444-1 Summary: A sociologist explores the many ways that digital natives' interaction with technology has changed their relationship with people, places, jobs, and other stabilizing structures and created a new way of life that is at odds with the American Dream of past generations. "Digital natives" are hacking the American Dream. Young people brought up with the Internet, smartphones, and social media are quickly rendering old habits and norms a distant memory, creating the greatest generation gap in history. In this eye-opening book, digital sociologist Julie M. Albright looks at our device-obsessed society, and the many ways in which the post World War II American Dream is waning for the Millennial generation. Albright notes that in the former age of tradi...

Name of Book: The Goodbye Cafe Author: Mariah Stewart ISBN: 978-1-5011-4512-4 Publisher: Gallery Books Part of a Series: The Hudson Sisters Trilogy Type of book: Hidden Falls Pennsylvania, modern times, sisterhood, motherhood, maturity, making decisions, running a restaurant, ex-spouses relationship, new beginnings, uncovering secrets, working Year it was published: 2019 Summary: California girl Allie Hudson Monroe can't wait for the day when the renovations on the Sugarhouse Theater are complete so she can finally collect the inheritance from her father and leave Pennsylvania. After all, her life and her fourteen-year-old daughter are in Los Angeles. But Allie's divorce left her tottering on the edge of bankruptcy, so to keep up on payments for her house and her daughter's private school tuition, Allie packed up and flew out east. But fate has a curve-ball or two to toss in Allie's direction—she just doesn't know it yet. She hadn't an...

Title of the book: The Power of Context; How to manage our bias and improve our understanding of others Author:  Daniel R. Stalder Publisher: Prometheus Books Publishing Date: 2018 ISBN: 978-1-63388-401-4 Summary: A social psychologist focuses on a very common yet rarely discussed bias called the "fundamental attribution error," showing how being aware of this bias can improve our day-to-day understanding of others. Social life involves making judgments about other people. Often these snap judgments turn out to be wrong when we overlook context. Social psychologists call this pervasive bias the "fundamental attribution error." This book explores the many ways in which this error creeps into our social interactions, frequently causing misunderstanding, hurt feelings, and negative treatment of others. Psychologist Daniel R. Stalder examines common examples of this error, from road rage and misinterpreting facial expressions to "gaydar,"...

Name of Book: My Lovely Wife Author: Samantha Downing ISBN: 978-0-451-49172-5 Publisher: Berkley Type of book: Modern times, Florida, husband-and-wife relationships, murder, thriller, domesticity, family, marriage, victims, seeking out victims, cat-and-mouse game Year it was published: 2019 Summary: Dexter meets Mr. and Mrs. Smith in this wildly compulsive debut thriller about a couple whose fifteen-year marriage has finally gotten too interesting... Our love story is simple. I met a gorgeous woman. We fell in love. We had kids. We moved to the suburbs. We told each other our biggest dreams, and our darkest secrets. And then we got bored. We look like a normal couple. We're your neighbors, the parents of your kid's friend, the acquaintances you keep meaning to get dinner with. We all have secrets to keeping a marriage alive. Ours just happens to be getting away with murder. Characters: Main characters include the unnamed husband as well as his be...

Name of Book: The Way of Glory Author: Patricia J. Boomsma ISBN: 978-1-7326820-0-9 Publisher: Edeleboom Type of book: Second Crusade, 1147-1153, English village life, Medieval Times, Queen Maude and Stephen, religion, muslims, christians, travel, Spain, Jerusalem, wars, siege, fighting, healing, learning from each other, morality Year it was published: 2018 Summary: Cate, a teenaged girl from twelfth century England, joins her brothers and aunt on a crusade to save Jerusalem that stops in Hispania to battle the Moors. Life on a battlefield strains the family's closeness as they confront the terror and contradictions of holy war. Cate's dreams of sainthood change to those of a husband and children when she falls in love with a soldier, but she finds no peace even after the family settles on land taken from the Moors. Cate's friendship with a conquered Moor soon leads to impossible choices as she faces the cost of betrayal and the loss of all she's kno...

General Information: Name of Book: From An-Other Land; Making Home in the Land of Dreams ISBN: 9789385854736 Publisher: Readomania Year it was published: 2018 Summary: Given The chance, would you be ready to immigrate.A majority would probably answer ‘Yes’. Yet, immigrants are looked at with either contempt or segregation and rarely compassion, in their motherland and abroad. Post The 2016 US elections, The rhetoric is further reverberating. From cancellation of refugee protection, zero tolerance and undercurrent crackdown on H visas to racism, profiling and discrimination—the resurgence of nationalism is hitting The globalised population head-on.But what is immigration today. A question of life or death. A fleeing of persecution. A compulsion. Or a mere pursuance of privilege. And, what is USA today, especially for Indians.From An-Other Land is a reality check and an emotional guide for anyone who wants to understand modern-day immigration to USA. Author: Tanushree Gh...

Name of Book: Brandon Tudor Knight Author: Tony Riches I SBN: 9781790733163 Publisher: Preseli Press Type of book: The Tudor family, King Henry VII, King Henry VIII, princess/commoner marriage, 1505-1537, work, family, duty, loyalty, alliances, marriages, sacrifices, debts, Queen Catherine, Anne Boleyn, Bessie Blount Year it was published: 2018 Summary: From the author of the international best-selling Tudor Trilogy: Handsome, charismatic and a champion jouster, Sir Charles Brandon is the epitome of a Tudor Knight. A favourite of King Henry VIII, Brandon has a secret. He has fallen in love with Henry’s sister, Mary Tudor, the beautiful widowed Queen of France, and risks everything to marry her without the King’s consent. Brandon becomes Duke of Suffolk, but his loyalty is tested fighting Henry’s wars in France. Mary’s public support for Queen Catherine of Aragon brings Brandon into dangerous conflict with the ambitious Boleyn family and the king’s new right-hand...

Name of Book: Trials and Trails Author: Jim Halverson ISBN: 9781732619401 Publisher: Gail Force Publishing Type of book: 1870s and 1880s? Legacy of slavery, diversity, lessons,  Maslow's hierarchy of needs, travels, episodic, wandering, rarely settling down, job, business, finances, friendship, bromance Year it was published: 2018 Summary: With a past of slavery and compliance, LeRoy has learned to pick his battles carefully. Johnny B, a quick-tempered Sioux, is still learning to control his anger. When dangerous circumstances bond them together, the pair learn to navigate Reconstruction Era America and all its prejudices. They save an innocent man from hanging, reunite two old friends, assist in an honorable death for an elder Indian, and discover their worth as they steadily assimilate self-respect into their lives. From Jim Halverson's debut novel comes a tale of adventure, purpose, and the pursuit of self-actualization. Cowboys and psychology ride hand ...

Title of the book:  Claiming my place; coming of age in the shadow of the Holocaust Author:  Planaria Price and Helen Reichmann West Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux Publishing Date: 2019 ISBN: 978-0-374-30529 Summary: Young adult nonfiction about a young Jewish woman who survived the Holocaust by moving into Nazi Germany and hiding in plain sight. Gucia Gomolinska grew up comfortably in Piotrkow, Poland, a devoted student, sister, daughter, and friend. Still, even in the years before World War II, she faced discrimination as a Jew—but with her ash-blond hair she was often able to pass as just another Pole. When her town was invaded by Nazis, she knew her Aryan coloring gave her an advantage, and she faced an awful choice: stay in the place she had always called home, or leave behind everything she knew to try to survive. She took on a new identity as Basia Tanska, and her journey led her directly into Nazi Germany. Planaria Price, along with Basia's daugh...

Name of Book: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid ISBN: 978-1-5011-3923-9 Publisher: Atria Books Type of book: 1950s-2000s, Hollywood, glamour, LGBTQ+ romances, acting, Oscars, the system, interview, family, friends, hiding self, California, New York, secrets Year it was published: 2017 Summary: Aging and reclusive Hollywood movie icon Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life. But when she chooses unknown magazine reporter Monique Grant for the job, no one is more astounded than Monique herself. Why her? Why now? Monique is not exactly on top of the world. Her husband has left her, and her professional life is going nowhere. Regardless of why Evelyn has selected her to write her biography, Monique is determined to use this opportunity to jumpstart her career. Summoned to Evelyn's luxurious apartment, Monique listens in fascination as the actress tells her story. From making her way to Los...

Hey everyone, we are already in March, and I can't believe that its the month where spring begins. Interestingly enough, spring and summer are the least of my favorite seasons, therefore its an irony that my child was born just as the spring has began; March 23rd, 2016. Also, I have been blogging for 9 years and have blogged, well, a thousand or so books. Expect a lot of book reviews in March, which I'm excited about. Without further ado, here are the book tours and possible reads: Book Tours/Spotlights:  Claiming my place; coming of age in the shadow of the Holocaust by Planaria Price with Helen Reichmann West (March 6th, 2019) Trials and Trails by Jim Halverson (March 7th, 2019) Brandon Tudor Knight by Tony Riches (March 18th, 2019) The Way of Glory by Patricia J. Boomsma (March 19th, 2019) From An-other land by Tanushree Ghosh (March 25th, 2019) My lovely wife by Samantha Downing (March 26th, 2019) The Goodbye Cafe by Mariah Stewar...

A House Divided-Pearl S Buck SR: March 11th, 2016 FR: N/A The Way of Glory-Patricia J. Boomsma SR: March 9th, 2019 FR: March 25th, 2019 Little Faith-Nickolas Butler SR: March 1st,. 2019 FR: March 10th, 2019 Promised Land-Martin Fletcher SR: March 17th, 2019 FR: Drops of Cerulean-Dawn Adams Cole SR: March 10th, 2019 FR: Wunderland-Jennifer Cody Epstein SR: March 24th, 2019 FR: Crimson Lake-Candice Fox SR: March 9th, 2019 FR: From An-other land-Tanushree Ghosh SR: February 27th, 2019 FR: March 11th, 2019 Mother Country-Irina Reyn SR: March 28th, 2019 FR: Brandon Tudor Knight-Tony Riches SR: February 24th, 2019 FR: March 5th, 2019 The Things We Cannot Say-Kelly Rimmer SR: March 6th, 2019 FR: March 28th, 2019 The Island of Sea Women-Lisa See SR: February 28th, 2019 FR: March 17th, 2019 Goodbye Cafe- Mariah Stewart SR: February 16th, 2019 FR: March 5th, 2019 Nonfiction: Tree of Souls-Howard Schwartz SR: February 10th, 2014 FR: N/A Left to their o...