Svetlana's Reads and Views

Name of Book: Exposed Author: Jean-Philippe Blondel, trans. Alison Anderson ISBN: 978-1-939931-67-2 Publisher: New Vessel Press Type of book: Painting, relationships, aging, artist, fame, family, moving on, France, friendship, model/artist relationships Year it was published: 2019 (original in 2018) Summary: A French teacher on the verge of retirement is invited to a glittering opening that showcases the artwork of his former student, who has since become a celebrated painter. This unexpected encounter leads to the older man posing for his portrait. Possibly in the nude. Such personal exposure at close range entails a strange and troubling pact between artist and sitter that prompts both to reevaluate their lives. Blondel, author of the hugely popular novel The 6:41 to Paris, evokes an intimacy of dangerous intensity in a tale marked by profound nostalgia and a reckoning with the past that allows its two characters to move ahead in to the future. Characters: M...

Name of Book:   It's Murder, My Son Author: Lauren Carr ISBN:  B003TU1ZIO Publisher: Acorn Services Part of a Series: Mac Faraday Mysteries Type of book: Spencer Maryland, heritage, wealth, money, murder, mystery, twists, clues, pets, disappearances, false identities Year it was published: 2010 Summary: What started out as the worst day of Mac Faraday’s life would end up being a new beginning. After a messy divorce hearing, the last person that Mac wanted to see was another lawyer. Yet, this lawyer wore the expression of a child bursting to tell his secret. This covert would reveal Mac as heir to undreamed of fortunes, and lead him to the birthplace of America’s Queen of Mystery and an investigation that will unfold like one of her famous mystery novels. Soon after she moves to her new lakefront home in Spencer, Maryland, multi-millionaire Katrina Singleton learns that life in an exclusive community is not all good. For some unknown reason, a str...

Name of Book: Free Pizza Author: G.C. McRae ISBN: 978-0-9939183-8-4 Publisher: Self published Type of book: Canada, coming of age, 90s, young adult, hi-jinks, friendship, adoption, birth family, adopted parents, history, stamps Year it was published: 2019 Summary: Brian McSpadden is always hungry. Does he have a disease? Worms? Does it have something to do with his being adopted? He spends his days at his crazy friend Danny's house, hoping for snacks, but nothing seems to fill the void. Then Brian receives a mysterious birthday card that says, Free Pizza. He soon discovers the card has nothing to do with food and everything to do with the big questions in his life: where did I come from, why did my mother give me up and is there anyone out there who will like me the way I am? Characters: Main characters include Brian, the oldest and adopted son of an old couple who later on had two sons. There is also Danny and his wacky family of siblings and parents. In f...

Name of Book: Alvar the Kingmaker Author: Annie Whitehead ISBN: 978-1-78610-688-9 Publisher: FeedARead.com Publishing Type of book: 956-983 ME, England, Mercia, Alvar, King Edwy the Fairchild, King Edgar, other kings, church, rivalry, politics, unrequited love, survival, relationships, ruling, life in mid 10th century England/Merica, descendants Year it was published: 2016 Summary: The story, based on true events, begins when the king is caught in bed with his wife and her mother, and ends with the murder of another king, a crime attributed to his stepmother, the queen. Central to the story is Alvar, earl of Mercia. Having helped King Edgar to secure the throne, amid great unrest he must fight to clear the queen’s name, bring the country back from the brink of civil war, and stabilise the monarchy for Edgar’s son, Æthelred the Unready. He does this at great personal cost, and his enemies will stop at little: Abbot Dunstan, banished, recalled, and in no mood to forgiv...

Title of the book: The Pale Facecd Lie, A True Story Author:  David Crow Publisher: Sandra Jonas Publishing Date: 2019 ISBN: 978-0-997487176 Summary: Growing up on the Navajo Indian Reservation, David Crow and his siblings idolized their dad. Tall, strong, smart, and brave, the self-taught Cherokee regaled his family with stories of his World War II feats. But as time passed, David discovered the other side of Thurston Crow, the ex-con with his own code of ethics that justified cruelty, violence, lies—even murder. A shrewd con artist with a genius IQ, Thurston intimidated David with beatings to coerce him into doing his criminal bidding. David's mom, too mentally ill to care for her children, couldn't protect him. One day, Thurston packed up the house and took the kids, leaving her nothing. Soon he remarried, and David learned that his stepmother was just as vicious and abusive as his father. Through sheer determination, and with the help of a few angels alon...

Seems I've been truly kicked out of something that I have been a long time part of. Only person at fault is me, but knowing the fact doesn't make it any easier to accept it. May seems to be a long and lonely month. I want to sound optimistic, but I feel as if I cannot. Book Tours/Spotlights The Pale Faced Lie by David Crow (May 10th, 2019) Free Pizza by G.C. McRae (May 13th, 2019) Exposed by Jean-Phillipe Blondel (May 21st, 2019) It's Murder My Son-Lauren Carr (May 24th, 2019) Scheduled Reviews: Alice and Gerald; A Homicidal Love Story by Ron Franscell (May 3rd, 2019) Alvar the Kingmaker by Anne Whitehead (May 5th, 2019) Wunderland by Jennifer Cody Epstein (May 7th, 2019) Planned Reads: Does Anybody Else Look Like Me? A Parent's Guide to Raising Multiracial Children by Donna Jackson Nakazawa Washington's Spies; The Story of America's First Spy Ring by Alexander Rose The Sharecroppers by Den...

Exposed-Jean Philippe Blondel SR: May 1st, 2019 FR: May 21st, 2019 A House Divided-Pearl S Buck SR: March 11th, 2016 FR: N/A Cape May-Chip Cheek SR: April 20th, 2019 FR: May 1st, 2019 Promised Land-Martin Fletcher SR: March 17th, 2019 FR: May 1st, 2019 The Summer of Ellen- Agnete Friis SR: May 21st, 2019 FR: The Southern Side of Paradise-Kristy Woodson Harvey SR: May 1st, 2019 FR: May 21st, 2019 All the Winding World-Kate Innes SR: May 29th, 2019 FR: The bookshop of the broken hearted- Robert Hillman SR: April 17th, 2019 FR: May 1st, 2019 Vintage 1954-Antoine Laurain SR: May 7th, 2019 FR: May 30th, 2019 Free Pizza-G.C. McRae SR: May 1st, 2019 FR: May 21st, 2019 On the edge of sunrise-Cynthia Ripley Miller SR: May 10th, 2019 FR: May 29th, 2019 Eternally Artemisia-Melissa Muldoon SR: May 30th, 2019 FR: What we do for love-Anne Pfeffer SR: May 21st, 2019 FR: The exile- Gregory Erich Phillips SR: April 13th, 2019 FR: May 7th, 2019 The Revolutionist...