Svetlana's Reads and Views

  Name of Book: Mothers and other strangers Author: Gina Sorell ISBN: 978-1-938849-89-3 Publisher: Prospect Park books Type of book: secrets, relationships, religion, karma, mistakes, lies, mother and daughter, accidents, 1950s, 1987, Canada, USA, South Africa, death, coming of age, failure, eating disorder, rape, love, vanity  Year it was published: 2017 Summary: "My father proposed to my mother at gunpoint when she was nineteen, and knowing that she was already pregnant with a dead man’s child, she accepted." Thus begins this riveting story of a woman's quest to understand her recently deceased mother, a glamorous, cruel narcissist who left her only child, Elsie, an inheritance of debts and mysteries. While coping with threats that she suspects are coming from the cult-like spiritual program her mother belonged to, Elsie works to unravel the message her dying mother left for her, a quest that ultimately takes her to the South African family homestead she never knew exis...

  Name of Book: All the Winding World Author: Kate Innes ISBN: 978-0-9934837-4-5 Publisher: Mindforest Press Part of a Series: sequel to THE ERRANT HOURS  Type of book: Medieval Ages, 1292, 1294-1295, knights, loyalty, ransom, capture, Edward I, England, France, siege, surrender, finances, strength, journey, daily life, pets, companions, literature  Year it was published: 2018 Summary: England 1294 - The country is under siege, threatened by treachery and invasion. In the contested territory of Aquitaine, the incompetence of the English command has led to the capture and death of many of King Edward’s most trusted knights. Amongst the angry hostages, there is one who will choose to betray his country. Meanwhile in the Welsh Marches, resentment against crippling taxes and conscription boils over into rebellion. Lady Illesa Burnel, determined to protect her family and home, must find an ingenious way to free her imprisoned husband before Fortune’s Wheel tips them all into d...

Name of Book: Not Our Kind Author: Kitty Zeldis ISBN: 978-0-06-284423-1 Publisher: Harper Type of book: New York, 1950s, one year, fashion, religion, Judaism, class hierarchy, anti-Judaism, appearances, teaching, coming of age, Polio  Year it was published: 2018 Summary: With echoes of The Rules of Civility and The Boston Girl, a compelling and thought-provoking novel set in postwar New York City, about two women—one Jewish, one a WASP—and the wholly unexpected consequences of their meeting One rainy morning in June, two years after the end of World War II, a minor traffic accident brings together Eleanor Moskowitz and Patricia Bellamy. Their encounter seems fated: Eleanor, a teacher and recent Vassar graduate, needs a job. Patricia’s difficult thirteen-year-old daughter Margaux, recovering from polio, needs a private tutor. Though she feels out of place in the Bellamys’ rarefied and elegant Park Avenue milieu, Eleanor forms an instant bond with Margaux. Soon the idealistic young w...

Name of Book: An Observant Wife Author: Naomi Ragen ISBN: 978-1-250-26007-9 Publisher: St Martin's Press Part of a Series: Sequel to An Unorthodox Match  Type of book: Contemporary, orthodox Judaism, prayers, repentance, growing up, troubled teens, secrets, married life, love, beshert, life, sacrifices  Year it was published: 2021 Summary: From the joy of their wedding day surrounded by supportive friends and family, Yaakov and Leah are soon plunged into the complex reality of their new lives together as Yaakov leaves his beloved yeshiva to work in the city, and Leah confronts the often agonizing restrictions imposed by religious laws governing even the most intimate moments of their married lives. Adding to their difficulties is the hostility of some in the community who continue to view Leah as a dangerous interloper, questioning her sincerity and adherence to religious laws and spreading outrageous rumors. In the midst of their heartfelt attempts to reach a balance between ...

  Name of Book: A Heart Divided Author: Jin Yong, Gigi Chang, Shelly Bryant  ISBN: 978-1-250-25013-1 Publisher: St Martin's Griffin Part of a Series: Legend of Condor Heroes Type of book: China, politics, 1200s, duty, filial piety, martial arts, Mongols, Genghis Khan, blood, the Greats, fighting, contest, determination Year it was published: 1956 (2021) Summary: A Heart Divided is the next in the high stakes, tension-filled epic Legends of the Condor Heroes series, where kung fu is magic, kingdoms vie for power and the battle to become the ultimate kung fu master unfolds. China: 1200 A.D. In the fourth and final volume of Legends of the Condor Heroes, Guo Jing is at last forced to make a choice between loyalty to the land of his birth and keeping faith with Genghis Khan, who has been like a father to him. When it comes to matters of the heart, trouble waters stir there as well when Guo Jin's love for Lotus Huang is tested when he becomes convinced that her father has murdered ...

  Name of Book: On the Edge of Sunrise Author: Cynthia Ripley Miller ISBN: 978-1-910282-1 Publisher: Knox Robinson publishing Part of a Series: The Long-hair saga Type of book: 448 ME, 450-451 ME, Rome, Emperor Valentian, slavery, widowhood, barbarians, Frankish tribe, nobility, romance, diplomat, slow burn, Attila the Hun, politics, treachery  Year it was published: 2015 Summary: When love commands, destiny must obey. Against an epic background and torn between duty and passion, Arria Felix, a Roman senator’s daughter, must choose between Rome’s decadent world and her forbidden love—Garic, a Frank barbarian noble. The year is AD 450. The Roman Empire wanes as the Medieval Age awakens. Attila the Hun and his horde conquer their way across Europe into Gaul. Caught between Rome’s tottering empire and Attila’s threat are the Frankish tribes and their ‘Long-Hair’ chiefs, northern pagans in a Roman Christian world, and a people history will call the Merovingians. A young widow, Arr...

  Name of Book: In another life Author: Julie Christine Johnson ISBN: 978-1-4926-2520-9 Publisher: Sourcebooks landmark Type of book: Languedoc, history, Cathars, France, wine, rich imagery, widow, widower, modern day, romance, origins, time travel, beliefs, reincarnation, secrets, death, repairing the past 2010s, 1208-1209  Year it was published: 2016 Summary: Historian Lia Carrer has finally returned to southern France, determined to rebuild her life after the death of her husband. But instead of finding solace in the region's quiet hills and medieval ruins, she falls in love with Raoul, a man whose very existence challenges everything she knows about life--and about her husband's death. As Raoul reveals the story of his past to Lia, she becomes entangled in the echoes of an ancient murder, resulting in a haunting and suspenseful journey that reminds Lia that the dead may not be as far from us as we think. Steeped in the rich history and romantic landscape of rural France, I...

 In some cases, so far, book-wise, I have gotten a lot of gems at the end of September, a lot I'm surprised by! In December I am eagerly anticipating the Juhea Kim debut, BEASTS OF A LITTLE LAND, which I will possibly get as a late birthday gift. I am also excited about getting some awesome reads from January 2022 up until March 2022 and I will begin reading those soon. Without further ado, here are some planned reads.  Possible Reads: The Lost Girls of Paris by Pam Jenoff The Burgess Boys by Elizabeth Strout The Conscious Parent by Shefali Tsabary Room on Rue Amelie by Kristin Harmel  Jane Austen and Shelley in the Garden by Janet Todd Irma's Passport; One Woman, Two World Wars, and a Legacy of Courage by Catherine Ehrlich  The Last Rose of Shanghai by Weina Dai Randel Wheel of the Fates by J. Boyce Gleason The Eighth Girl by Maxine Mei-Fung Chung Dust off the Bones by Paul Howarth 

The master and the maid - Laura Libricz  SR: October 23rd, 2021  FR:  Sown in Tears- Beverly Magid SR: October 11th, 2021 FR: October 23rd, 2021 On the edge of sunrise- Cynhia Ripley Miller  SR: September 26th 2021 FR: October 11th, 2021 The quest for the CROWN of thorns- Cynthia Ripley Miller  SR: October 29th, 2021  FR:  An OBSERVANT wife- Naomi Ragen SR: September 28th, 2021 FR: October 23rd, 2021 The last rose of Shanghai- Weina Dai Randel SR: October 23rd, 2021 FR:    Jane Austen and Shelley in the garden- Janet Todd  SR: October 23rd, 2021 FR: October 29th, 2021 A Heart Divided- Jin Yong SR:  September 25th, 2021 FR: October 23rd 2021 Nonfiction: A history of the Roman people by Allen M Ward SR: August 1st ,2021 FR: Irmas passport- Caherine Ehrlich SR: October 23rd 2021  FR: October 23rd 2021    People love Dead Jews- Dara Horn SR: October 29th, 2021 FR: October 29th, 2021