Svetlana's Reads and Views

Name of Book: The Bookshop of the Broken-Hearted Author: Robert Hillman ISBN:  9780525535928 Publisher:   G.P. Putnam's Sons Year it was published: 2019 Summary: A gorgeously written, tender, and wise novel about love and forgiveness in 1960s Australia, in which a lonely farmer finds his life turned upside down by the arrival of a vibrant librarian. Can one unlikely bookshop heal two broken souls? It is 1968 in rural Australia and lonely Tom Hope can’t make heads or tails of Hannah Babel. Newly arrived from Hungary, Hannah is unlike anyone he’s ever met—she’s passionate, brilliant, and fiercely determined to open sleepy Hometown’s first bookshop. Despite the fact that Tom has only read only one book in his life, when Hannah hires him to install shelving for the shop, the two discover an astonishing spark. Recently abandoned by an unfaithful wife—and still missing her sweet son, Peter—Tom dares to believe that he might make Hannah happy. But Hannah is a ha...

Name of Book: The Queen of Hearts Author: Kimmery Martin ISBN:  9780399585890 Publisher: Berkley Year it was published: 2019 Summary: Zadie Anson and Emma Colley have been best friends since their early twenties, when they first began navigating serious romantic relationships amid the intensity of medical school. Now they’re happily married wives and mothers with successful careers—Zadie as a pediatric cardiologist and Emma as a trauma surgeon. Their lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, are chaotic but fulfilling, until the return of a former colleague unearths a secret one of them has been harboring for years. As chief resident, Nick Xenokostas was the center of Zadie’s life—both professionally and personally—throughout a tragic chain of events during her third year of medical school that she has long since put behind her. Nick’s unexpected reappearance at a time of new professional crisis shocks both women into a deeper look at the difficult choices they made at t...

Name of Book: Kings of Broken Things Author: Theodore Wheeler ISBN:  9781503941472 Publisher: Little A Year it was published: 2017 Summary: With characters depicted in precise detail and wide panorama—a kept-woman’s parlor, a contentious interracial baseball game on the Fourth of July, and the tragic true events of the Omaha Race Riot of 1919—Kings of Broken Things reveals the folly of human nature in an era of astonishing ambition. During the waning days of World War I, three lost souls find themselves adrift in Omaha, Nebraska, at a time of unprecedented nationalism, xenophobia, and political corruption. Adolescent European refugee Karel Miihlstein’s life is transformed after neighborhood boys discover his prodigious natural talent for baseball. Jake Strauss, a young man with a violent past and desperate for a second chance, is drawn into a criminal underworld. Evie Chambers, a kept woman, is trying to make ends meet and looking every which way to escape her che...

Name of Book: The Hidden Light of Northern Fires Author: Daren Wang ISBN:   9781250122353 Publisher:  Thomas Dunne Books Year it was published: 2017 Summary: A novel rooted in the remarkable, but little-known, true history of the only secessionist town north of the Mason Dixon Line. When escaped slave Joe Bell collapses in her father’s barn, Mary Willis must ward off Confederate guerrillas and spies, Joe’s vengeful owner, and even her own brother to help the handsome fugitive cross to freedom. Mary has always been an outcast, an outspoken abolitionist woman in a town of bounty hunters and anti- Union farmers. Helping runaways is the only thing that makes her life in Town Line bearable. As the countryside is riled by the drumbeat of civil war and the promise of an extravagant bounty for the wounded fugitive, Mary finds herself drawn to the stranger in forbidden ways. When rebels cross from nearby Canada intent on killing him, they bring the devastation o...

Title of the book: The last outlaws; the lives and legends of Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid Author: Thom Hatch Publisher: New American Library Publishing Date: 2013 ISBN: 978-0-451-23919-8 Summary: The Old West was coming to an end.Two legendary outlaws refused to go with it. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid—as leaders of the Wild Bunch, they planned and executed the most daring bank and train robberies of the day, with a professionalism never before seen by authorities. For several years at the end of the 1890s, the two friends, along with a revolving cast who made up their band of thieves, eluded local law enforcement and bounty hunters, all while stealing from the rich bankers and eastern railroad corporations who exploited western land. The close calls were many, but Butch and Sundance always managed to escape to rob again another day—that is, until they rode headlong into the 20th century. Fenced-in range, telephone lines, electric lights, and new cri...

Name of Book: The Revolutionist Author: Robert Tucker ISBN: 9781944056520 Publisher: Wise Words publishing Part of a Series: Prequel to Burton Blake Type of book: 1890s to 1900s, corruption, escape, Chicago, race, racism, getting ahead, philosophy, socialist, immigrants, lessons Year it was published: 2017 Summary: Two different families escape from the political tyranny of their respective homelands, the Josephsons from Sweden and Matias and Kurt Bauman, brothers from Germany and Austria Hungary, with the aid of a Viennese opera diva, Sophie Augusta Rose, and Jean Guenoc, a former Jesuit priest, family friend and protector and partisan of the French underground. Their journey brings them to America in the throes of the industrial revolution during the 1890s and early 1900s. Ingrid and Olaf Josephson settle on a small wheat farm in North Central Minnesota to raise their children, Newt and Julie. Among the Jewish entrepreneurs forced to leave Germany and Austr...

Title of the book: Ripples Along the Shore Author: Mona Hodgson Publisher: Water Brook Publishing Date: 2014 ISBN: 978-0-307-73114-2 Summary: Once a week, Elsa Brantenberg hosts the Saint Charles Quilting Circle at her farmhouse on the outskirts of the riverside town of St. Charles, Missouri. The ladies who gather there have all experienced heartache related to the intense hardships of the Civil War, and together, they are facing their painful circumstances with friendship and prayer. Can the tattered pieces of their hearts be stitched together by God’s grace? Ripples Along the Shore Change is brewing in St. Charles. A group of brave souls are preparing to head west on the Boone's Lick Wagon Train, led by the mysterious and handsome Garrett Cowlishaw, who served as a Confederate soldier in the war that killed Caroline’s husband. Despite her dislike for him, Caroline is tempted to join the wagon train and start fresh somewhere new, but when Mr. Cowlishaw forbid...

Title of the book: Dandelions on the Wind Author: Mona Hodgson Publisher: Water Brook Publishing Date: 2014 ISBN: 978-0-307-73114-2 Summary: Once a week, Elsa Brantenberg hosts the Saint Charles Quilting Circle at her farmhouse on the outskirts of the riverside town of St. Charles, Missouri. The ladies who gather there have all experienced heartache related to the intense hardships of the Civil War, and together, they are facing their painful circumstances with friendship and prayer. Can the tattered pieces of their hearts be stitched together by God’s grace? Dandelions on the Wind When Maren Jensen took a job on Elsa Brantenberg’s St. Charles, Missouri farm, she never expected to call the place her home. As she grows to love Mrs. Brantenberg and her granddaughter, Gabi, Maren is transformed from a lonely mail-order bride-without-a-groom to a beloved member of the Brantenberg household. But when Gabi’s father, Rutherford “Wooly” Wainwright, returns to the farm un...

Name of Book: The Ghost Author: Henry Kellerman ISBN: 978-1-56980-822-1 Publisher: Barricade Type of book: 1958,  revenge, Holocaust, Krav Maga, documents, Simon Wisenthal, history, no time limit or expiration, secrets, travel Year it was published: 2018 Summary: Summary Assassinations, a love story, a kidnapping, and many twists and turns characterizes this riveting novel of historical fiction, circa 1958, thirteen years post World War II. Events are uncovered where The Ghost, a powerful Vatican Bishop, is sending assassins to retrieve a secret tailpiece - a hidden extension of the 1942 Wannsee Conference Papers that underpinned the Holocaust against Jews. Only two copies of this tailpiece remain where names of thousands of high level Nazis such as Eichmann and Mengele are listed along with their future destinations - should Germany lose the war. At the same time, New York City detectives working with British M16 secret service, and Israeli Mossad agents, get N...

Name of Book: The Wild Inside Author:  Jamey Bradbury ISBN:  B072HLSF56 Publisher: William Morrow Year it was published: 2018 Summary: A promising talent makes her electrifying debut with this unforgettable novel, set in the Alaskan wilderness, that is a fusion of psychological thriller and coming-of-age tale in the vein of Jennifer McMahon, Chris Bohjalian, and Mary Kubica. A natural born trapper and hunter raised in the Alaskan wilderness, Tracy Petrikoff spends her days tracking animals and running with her dogs in the remote forests surrounding her family’s home. Though she feels safe in this untamed land, Tracy still follows her late mother’s rules: Never Lose Sight of the House. Never Come Home with Dirty Hands. And, above all else, Never Make a Person Bleed. But these precautions aren’t enough to protect Tracy when a stranger attacks her in the woods and knocks her unconscious. The next day, she glimpses an eerily familiar man emerge from the tree...

Name of Book: DOOM, GLOOM AND the PURSUIT of the sun Author:  ANTOINE f. GNINTEDEM ISBN: 978-1-9834-2127-3 Publisher: Self published Type of book: Cameroon,  Africa, America, education, talent, government, corruption, favors, relationships, 1970s to 2000s, family, ambitions, Mississippi, teaching, degrees, college Year it was published: 2018 Summary: The town is famous in the region for its chronic stillness…Consequently, every ambitious person who grows up there eventually leaves in search of better opportunities. Life in Mbengwi, Cameroon, is not easy for Austin—or for anyone else. While growing up, he bears witness to the worst parts of life and the cruelties of human nature. These things keep his homeland trapped in a cycle of misery and suffering. In a country overrun by poverty, death, unrest, and corruption, he sees no future for himself. The only way to escape the cycle is to flee to a place Austin believes to be free of all these troubles, a plac...

Name of Book: Bitten Author: Alan Moore ISBN: 9781980200895 Publisher: Self published Type of book: Italy, gore, mosquitos, art authentication, secrets, demanding sex drive, disturbing scenes, mafia, connections, two parallel stories Year it was published: 2018 Summary: In the not-too-distant future, Italy is in disarray. It has voted to leave the EU in an attempt to regain control of its laws, finances and commerce. Even so, the country's economy is shrinking and its national debt rising. There is a marked escalation, too, in unemployment, bank loans and immigration. Production and service companies are in difficulty. The only thriving business areas are the black market and organised crime. There is discontent and protest on all sides. In Florence, the local Mafia boss, more accustomed to gunrunning and trading in plutonium, is involved in organising a silent auction for the sale of one of the world's most valuable lost paintings - a sixteenth-century mas...

Title of the book: Bending toward the sun Author: Mona Hodgson Publisher: Water Brook Publishing Date: 2014 ISBN: 978-0-307-73114-2 Summary: Once a week, Elsa Brantenberg hosts the Saint Charles Quilting Circle at her farmhouse on the outskirts of the riverside town of St. Charles, Missouri. The ladies who gather there have all experienced heartache related to the intense hardships of the Civil War, and together, they are facing their painful circumstances with friendship and prayer. Can the tattered pieces of their hearts be stitched together by God’s grace? Bending Toward the Sun Dedicated to her education and to helping her father in his general store, Emilie Heinrich is convinced she doesn't have time for love. But when a childhood friend returns to St. Charles, Missouri, after serving in the Civil War, his smile and charm captures Emilie’s eye and her heart. Will she be forced to choose between honoring her father and a future with a husband and family of he...

Title of the book:  Life and death behind the brick and razor-code red diamond Author:  Isaac Alexis MD Publisher: Self published Publishing Date: 2017 ISBN: 978-1-5353-4715-0 Summary: Enter The Fast Paced World Of Correctional Medicine where Split Second Decisions Are Made preventing A Patient From Bleeding To Death. Also Get Health And Wellness Tips as Well. Also Great Points are Reviewed in Detail to Strategically Assist Teenagers in Defense against Bullying, Peer Pressure, Drug Abuse, Gang membership, STD's And So Much More! Author Info: (From iRead Book Tours) Buy the Book: Amazon Add to Goodreads ​ Meet the Author: Isaac Alexis, MD, completed an internship in trauma surgery at Cornell University at New York Hospital of Queens, and he cross-trained in family medicine and anesthesiology. Dr. Alexis served as medical director at the Department of Justice as well as director of infection control and chair of the quality improvement medical committee....

Name of Book: Long Black Veil Author: Jennifer Finney Boylan ISBN: 978-0-451-49632-4 Publisher: Crown Type of book: Transgender characters, pretentious, Maine, Pennsylvania, religion, forgiveness, 1980, staying the same, never growing, reunion, death, secrets, friendship Year it was published: 2 017 Summary: From the New York Times bestselling author of She’s Not There, a new novel about a woman whose family and identity are threatened by the secrets of her past. Long Black Veil is the story of Judith Carrigan, whose past is dredged up when the body of her college friend Wailer is discovered 20 years after her disappearance in Philadelphia’s notorious and abandoned Eastern State Penitentiary. Judith is the only witness who can testify to the innocence of her friend Casey, who had married Wailer only days before her death. The only problem is that on that fateful night at the prison, Judith was a very different person from the woman she is today. In order to defen...

Name of Book: Hunters in the Dark Author: Lawrence Osborne ISBN: 978-0-553-44736-1 Publisher: Hogarth Type of book: Cambodia, white male/Asian female relationships, Khmer, tutoring, identity, karma, exploring the jungles, ghosts, money, thievery, travel, aimlessness Year it was published: 2015 Summary: From the novelist the New York Times compares to Paul Bowles, Evelyn Waugh and Ian McEwan, an evocative new work of literary suspense Adrift in Cambodia and eager to side-step a life of quiet desperation as a small-town teacher, 28-year-old Englishman Robert Grieve decides to go missing. As he crosses the border from Thailand, he tests the threshold of a new future. And on that first night, a small windfall precipitates a chain of events-- involving a bag of jinxed money, a suave American, a trunk full of heroin, a hustler taxi driver, and a rich doctor s daughter-- that changes Robert s life forever. Hunters in the Dark is a sophisticated game of cat and mouse re...

Name of Book: The Mortifications Author: Derek Palacio ISBN: 978-1-101-90569-2 Publisher: Tim Duggan Books Type of book: Cuba, breast cancer, broken family, Catholicism, nun, promises, secrets, memories, death Year it was published: 2016 Summary: Derek Palacio’s stunning, mythic novel marks the arrival of a fresh voice and a new chapter in the history of 21st century Cuban-American literature. In 1980, a rural Cuban family is torn apart during the Mariel Boatlift. Uxbal Encarnación—father, husband, political insurgent—refuses to leave behind the revolutionary ideals and lush tomato farms of his sun-soaked homeland. His wife Soledad takes young Isabel and Ulises hostage and flees with them to America, leaving behind Uxbal for the promise of a better life. But instead of settling with fellow Cuban immigrants in Miami’s familiar heat, Soledad pushes further north into the stark, wintry landscape of Hartford, Connecticut. There, in the long shadow of their estranged pat...

Name of Book: Beneath the African Sun Author: Maria Lynch ISBN: 9781460274866 Publisher: FriesenPress Type of book: Africa, Portugese Goa, racism, clothing, business, children/young adult novel, 1913-1970s, family, settling down, roots, married life, relationships Year it was published: 2015 Summary: When Sabby Mendes leaves Portuguese Goa aboard the dhow Monsoon Wind bound for British East Africa in 1916, he has one dream-to find work as a tailor in the relatively new capital of Nairobi. Sabby is a young man, still a teenager, but he is determined to build a life for himself, and he knows that the opportunities in the British Protectorate are better than those facing him at home. A bright, affable young man with a genuine passion and talent for tailoring, he is not prepared for what he is about to find beyond the Arabian Sea. The Protectorate, which will become British Colony of Kenya, is a highly segregated society with the British firmly ensconced at its top; bel...