Svetlana's Reads and Views

Name of Book: In the Heart of the Mustang Author: M.J Evans ISBN: 978-0-9966617-0-6 Publisher: Dancing Horse Press Type of book: Horses, healing, lies, serets, family, friendships, leadership, trouble, bond, Wyoming,  Year it was published: 2015 Summary: A boy is told that his father was a brave and virtuous man, a soldier who traded his life to save the lives of countless others. He was the man that Hunter needed to emulate. The only problem is the whole story is a lie, all of it. The truth, which Hunter discovers as he begins his sophomore year of high school, is that his father has actually spent the boy’s entire life in jail, paying his debt to society, but not mending his ways. A wild mustang mare, is rounded up by the BLM. The spring rains had been sparse, the forage on the plains even more so. The mare and her herd are rescued from certain starvation and placed for adoption. In a sandy corral at Promise Ranch, a home for troubled teenage boys, the boy and the mare meet. A we...

Name of Book: He started it Author: Samantha Downing ISBN: B07XJL1YSM Publisher: Berkley  Type of book: Road trip, psychological, thriller, USA, secrets, family, siblings, murder, crazy road trip, money, greed, sociopath, heroes, loyalty, antiheroes  Year it was published: 2020 Summary: Beth, Portia, and Eddie Morgan haven't all been together in years. And for very good reasons—we'll get to those later. But when their wealthy grandfather dies and leaves a cryptic final message in his wake, the siblings and their respective partners must come together for a cross-country road trip to fulfill his final wish and—more importantly—secure their inheritance. But time with your family can be tough. It is for everyone. It's even harder when you're all keeping secrets and trying to forget a memory—a missing person, an act of revenge, the man in the black truck who won't stop following your car—and especially when at least one of you is a killer and there's a body in the t...

THE WOMEN OF CHATEAU LAFAYETTE by New York Times bestselling author Stephanie Dray (Berkley hardcover; on-sale March 30, 2021) ABOUT THE BOOK An epic saga from New York Times bestselling author Stephanie Dray based on the true story of an extraordinary castle in the heart of France and the remarkable women bound by its legacy in three of humanity's darkest hours.   Most castles are protected by powerful men. This one by women... A founding mother... 1774. Gently-bred noblewoman Adrienne Lafayette becomes her husband's political partner in the fight for American independence. But when their idealism sparks revolution in France and the guillotine threatens everything she holds dear, Adrienne must choose to renounce the complicated man she loves, or risk her life for a legacy that will inspire generations to come.  A daring visionary... 1914. Glittering New York socialite Beatrice Astor Chanler is a force of nature, daunted by nothing--not her humble beginnings, her crumbling mar...

Title of the book: White Fragility; Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism Author: Robin Diangelo  Publisher: Beacon Press Publishing Date: 2018 ISBN: B07638ZFN1 Summary: The New York Times best-selling book exploring the counterproductive reactions white people have when their assumptions about race are challenged, and how these reactions maintain racial inequality. Referring to the defensive moves that white people make when challenged racially, white fragility is characterized by emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt and by behaviors including argumentation and silence. These behaviors, in turn, function to reinstate white racial equilibrium and prevent any meaningful cross-racial dialogue. In this in-depth exploration, anti-racist educator Robin DiAngelo examines how white fragility develops, how it protects racial inequality, and what can be done to engage more constructively. Author Info:  (From goodreads/wikipedia) Robin J. DiAngelo is...

Title of the book: American Dreamer; How I Escaped Communist Vietnam and Built a Successful Life in America  Author: Tim Tran (Tran Manh Khiem) Tom Fields-Meyer Publisher: Pacific University Press Publishing Date: 2020 ISBN: 978-1-945398-02-5 Summary: "American Dreamer" is an inspirational, first-hand account of the motivating power of an immigrant’s dream for a better life. From the rural Vietnam of Tim Tran’s childhood to his eventual escape to America and his rise as CFO of a multi-billion-dollar company, Tran’s memoir is a lesson in perseverance and ingenuity. After he initially left Vietnam in 1970 to attend American universities on a USAID scholarship, Tran’s sense of commitment led him home shortly before the fall of Saigon in 1975. Suspected of being a CIA agent, he found life under Communism increasingly difficult and dangerous, and was forced to flee. During multiple attempts to escape, he encountered deceit, betrayal, and even murder. Finally, in 1979 Tran and his ...

Title of the book: Bound; a Daughter, A Domme, And An ENd-Of-Life Story Author: Elizabeth Anne Wood Publisher: She Writes Press  Publishing Date: 2019 ISBN: 978-1-63152-630-5 Summary:  What happens when a forty-something, feminist sociologist who studies gender and sexuality learns that her mother—a charming, passive-aggressive, and needy woman who hasn’t had a lover in decades—has started seeing men who wants to be bound, whipped, and sexually dominated? What happens when that same mother, shortly after diving into her newly discovered sexuality, develops a cancer that forces her to accept radical changes to her body, and then another that forces her, and everyone around her, to confront her mortality? In Bound, Elizabeth Anne Wood addresses these questions as she chronicles the last eight months of her mother’s life—a period she comes to see, over the course of months, as a maternity leave in reverse: she is carrying her mother as she dies. Throughout their journey, Woo...

What else can I write besides the fact that I am living in a new COVID-19 hotspot and that I feel as if the world is over? I always admire Medieval Ages and have been fascinated by Black Death (Bubonic Plague), but I don't want to experience it firsthand, and never wanted to experience it firsthand. Disappointment weighs heavily on my soul that my four year old son is experiencing a year I never wanted him to experience and I feel helpless to do anything about it. What I learned about myself through these difficult terms is that I don't go with mob mentality; I can't do that. I am a questioner by nature, someone hungry for knowledge. I promise to post more reviews these upcoming months and hopefully there will be positive news. If not, I will be doing my best to stay safe. Pictures will be added later. (Blogger can't add pictures straight through links, which means I have to save pictures and then upload them...)  Books/spotlights:  Bound; A Daughter, A Domme, and an En...

THe takeaway men- Meryl Ain SR: July 29th, 2020 FR: In the heart of the mustang- M.J Evans SR: July 18th, 2020 FR: July 29th, 2020 Someone's Listening- Seraphina Nova Glass  SR: July 1st, 2020 FR: July 18th, 2020 When Christ and his saints slept-Sharon Kay Penman SR: May 1st, 2020 FR:  Salt Creek- Lucy Treloar  SR: June 4th, 2020 FR:  The woman before Wallis- Bryn Turnbull  SR: July 21st, 2020 FR:  Nonfiction: Tree of Souls-Howard Schwartz SR: February 10th, 2014 FR: N/A American Dreamer; How I escaped communist Vietnam and built a successful life in America-Tim Tran (Tran Manh Khiem, Tom Fields-Meyer) SR: June 4th, 2020 FR: July 1st, 2020 A multicultural america- Ronald Takaki SR: June 21st, 2020 FR: July 13th, 2020