Svetlana's Reads and Views

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...

Name of Book: A Wedding in December Author: Sarah Morgan ISBN:   B07L5Q893W Publisher:  HQN Year it was published: 2019 Summary: This funny, charming and heartwarming new Christmas novel is USA TODAY bestselling author Sarah Morgan at her festive best! In the snowy perfection of Aspen, the White family gathers for youngest daughter Rosie’s whirlwind Christmas wedding. First to arrive are the bride’s parents, Maggie and Nick. Their daughter’s marriage is a milestone they are determined to celebrate wholeheartedly, but they are hiding a huge secret of their own: they are on the brink of divorce. After living apart for the last six months, the last thing they need is to be trapped together in an irresistibly romantic winter wonderland. Rosie’s older sister, Katie, is also dreading the wedding. Worried that impulsive, sweet-hearted Rosie is making a mistake, Katie is determined to save her sister from herself! If only the irritatingly good-looking best man...

Name of Book: Renia's Diary; A Holocaust Journal Author: Renia Spiegel, Elizabeth Bellan, Deborah Lipstadt ISBN:  B07NYGJY26 Publisher:  St. Martin's Press Year it was published: 2019 Summary: The long-hidden diary of a young Polish woman's life during the Holocaust, translated for the first time into English Renia Spiegel was born in 1924 to an upper-middle class Jewish family living in southeastern Poland, near what was at that time the border with Romania. At the start of 1939 Renia began a diary. “I just want a friend. I want somebody to talk to about my everyday worries and joys. Somebody who would feel what I feel, who would believe me, who would never reveal my secrets. A human being can never be such a friend and that’s why I have decided to look for a confidant in the form of a diary.” And so begins an extraordinary document of an adolescent girl’s hopes and dreams. By the fall of 1939, Renia and her younger sister Elizabeth (née Ariana) were sta...

Name of Book: The Lost Daughter Author: Gill Paul ISBN:  B07G13Z9ZC Publisher: William Morrow Year it was published: 2019 Summary: If you loved I AM ANASTASIA by Ariel Lawhon you won't want to miss this novel about her sister, Grand Duchess Maria. What really happened to this lost Romanov daughter? A new novel perfect for anyone curious about Anastasia, Maria, and the other lost Romanov daughters, by the author of THE SECRET WIFE. 1918: Pretty, vivacious Grand Duchess Maria Romanov, the nineteen-year-old daughter of the fallen Tsar Nicholas II, lives with her family in suffocating isolation, a far cry from their once-glittering royal household. Her days are a combination of endless boredom and paralyzing fear; her only respite are clandestine flirtations with a few of the guards imprisoning the family—never realizing her innocent actions could mean the difference between life and death 1973: When Val Doyle hears her father’s end-of-life confession, “I didn’t wa...

Name of Book: The Reckless Oath We Made Author: Bryn Greenwood ISBN:  B07N5JS9X8 Publisher:  G.P. Putnam's Sons Year it was published: 2019 Summary: A provocative love story between a tough Kansas woman on a crooked path to redemption and the unlikeliest of champions, from the New York Times bestselling author of All the Ugly and Wonderful Things Zee is nobody's fairy tale princess. Almost six-foot, with a redhead's temper and a shattered hip, she has a long list of worries: never-ending bills, her beautiful, gullible sister, her five-year-old nephew, her housebound mother, and her drug-dealing boss. Zee may not be a princess, but Gentry is an actual knight, complete with sword, armor, and code of honor. Two years ago the voices he hears called him to be Zee's champion. He's barely spoken to her since, but he has kept watch, ready to come to her aid. When an abduction tears Zee's family apart, she turns to the last person she ever imagined-...

Name of Book: The Accidentals Author: Minrose Gwin ISBN:  B079DQMZDW Publisher: William Morrow Year it was published: 2019 Summary: Following the death of their mother from a botched backwoods abortion, the McAlister daughters have to cope with the ripple effect of this tragedy as they come of age in 1950s Mississippi and then grow up to face their own impossible choices —an unforgettable, beautiful novel that is threaded throughout with the stories of mothers and daughters in pre-Roe versus Wade America. “Life heads down back alleys, takes sharp left turns. Then, one fine day it jumps the track and crashes.” In the fall of 1957, Olivia McAlister is living in Opelika, Mississippi, caring for her two girls, June and Grace, and her husband, Holly. She dreams of living a much larger life--seeing the world and returning to her wartime job at a landing boat factory in New Orleans. As she watches over the birds in her yard, Olivia feels like an “accidental”—a migrato...

Name of Book: The Perfect Son Author: Lauren North ISBN:  B07KNSM9PM Publisher:  Berkley Year it was published: 2019 Summary: A disturbing and shocking debut novel of psychological suspense about a recently widowed mother, her young son, and the lengths she'll go to in order to keep him safe. When Tess Clarke wakes up in the hospital the day after her son Jamie's eighth birthday, she's sure of these things: She's been stabbed, her son is missing, her brother-in-law and her grief counselor are involved. But no one is listening to her. After her husband, Mark, died suddenly in a terrible accident a few months earlier, the only thing keeping Tess together is Jamie. As they struggle to make sense of their new life without Mark, they find joy in brief moments of normalcy like walking to school and watching television together. Life is hard without Mark, but Tess has Jamie, and that's what matters. But there in the hospital, confused and surrounded by...

Name of Book: The Way of Beauty Author: Camille Di Maio ISBN:  B074H94421 Publisher: Lake Union Publishing Year it was published: 2018 Summary: Vera Keller, the daughter of German immigrants in turn- of-the-century New York City, finds her life upended when the man she loves becomes engaged to another woman. But Angelo Bellavia has also inadvertently opened up Vera’s life to unexpected possibilities. Angelo’s new wife, Pearl, the wealthy daughter of a clothing manufacturer, has defied her family’s expectations by devoting herself to the suffrage movement. In Pearl, Vera finds an unexpected dear friend…and a stirring new cause of her own. But when Pearl’s selfless work pulls her farther from Angelo and their son, the life Vera craved is suddenly within her reach—if her conscience will allow her to take it. Her choice will define not only her future but also that of her daughter, Alice. Vera and Alice—a generation and a world apart—are bound by the same passionate...

Name of Book: Waisted Author: Randy Susan Meyers ISBN:  B07JYLR3F4 Publisher:  Atria Books Year it was published: 2019 Summary: In this provocative, wildly entertaining, and compelling novel, seven women enrolled in an extreme weight loss documentary discover self-love and sisterhood as they enact a daring revenge against the exploitative filmmakers. Alice and Daphne, both successful and accomplished working mothers, harbor the same secret: obsession with their weight overshadows concerns about their children, husbands, work—and everything else of importance in their lives. Scales terrify them. Daphne, plump in a family of model-thin women, learned only slimness earns admiration at her mother's knee. Alice, break-up skinny when she met her husband, risks losing her marriage if she keeps gaining weight. The two women meet at Waisted. Located in a remote Vermont mansion, the program promises fast, dramatic weight loss, and Alice, Daphne, and five other wom...

Name of Book: The Secret of Clouds Author: Alyson Richman ISBN:  B07DBQWYF7 Publisher:  Berkley Year it was published: 2019 Summary: From the #1 international bestselling author of The Lost Wife and The Velvet Hours comes an emotionally charged story about a mother's love, a teacher's promise, and a child's heart..... Katya, a rising ballerina, and Sasha, a graduate student, are young and in love when an unexpected tragedy befalls their native Kiev. Years later, after the couple has safely emigrated to America the consequences of this incident cause their son, Yuri, to be born with a rare health condition that isolates him from other children. Maggie, a passionate and dedicated teacher agrees to tutor Yuri at his home, even though she is haunted by her own painful childhood memories. As the two forge a deep and soulful connection, Yuri's boundless curiosity and unique wisdom inspires Maggie to make difficult changes in her own life. And she'll n...

Name of Book: The Woman in the Window Author: A.J Finn ISBN:  B06Y55Z36S Publisher: William Morrow Year it was published: 2019 Summary: Anna Fox lives alone—a recluse in her New York City home, unable to venture outside. She spends her days drinking wine (maybe too much), watching old movies, recalling happier times . . . and spying on her neighbors. Then the Russells move into the house across the way: a father, a mother, their teenage son. The perfect family. But when Anna, gazing out her window one night, sees something she shouldn’t, her world begins to crumble—and its shocking secrets are laid bare. What is real? What is imagined? Who is in danger? Who is in control? In this diabolically gripping thriller, no one—and nothing—is what it seems. Twisty and powerful, ingenious and moving, The Woman in the Window is a smart, sophisticated novel of psychological suspense that recalls the best of Hitchcock—an unforgettable thriller that Gillian Flynn calls “amaz...

Name of Book: After Anna Author:  Lisa Scottoline ISBN:  B073NZQ28Z Publisher:  St. Martin's Griffin Year it was published: 2019 Summary: From the New York Times bestselling author, a riveting novel of suspense and emotional justice. Nobody cuts deeper than family... Dr. Noah Alderman, a widower and single father, has remarried a wonderful woman, Maggie Ippolitti, and for the first time in a long time, he and his young son are happy. Despite her longing for the daughter she hasn’t seen since she was a baby, Maggie is happy too, and she’s even more overjoyed when she unexpectedly gets another chance to be a mother to the child she thought she'd lost forever, her only daughter Anna. Maggie and Noah know that having Anna around will change their lives, but they would never have guessed that everything would go wrong, and so quickly. Anna turns out to be a gorgeous seventeen-year-old who balks at living under their rules, though Maggie, ecstatic to hav...

Name of Book: The Patricide of George Benjamin Hill Author: James Charlesworth ISBN:  B0773BBVCT Publisher: Skyhorse Year it was published: 2019 Summary: All their lives, the children of George Benjamin Hill have fought to escape the shadow of their father, a dust-bowl orphan, self-made millionaire in bedrock American capitalism (fast food and oil), and destroyer of two families on his way to financial success. Now, they are approaching middle age and ruin: A failed ex-minor league ballplayer, divorced and mourning the death of his daughter in Miami; a self-proclaimed CIA veteran, off his meds and deciphering conspiracies in Manhattan; a Las Vegas showgirl turned old maid of The Strip, trying to stay clean; and an Alaskan bush pilot, twice un-indicted for manslaughter and recently thrown off his land by the federal government. While their father takes his place at the center of a national scandal, these estranged siblings find themselves drawn from their four c...

Name of Book:  The Only Woman in the Room Author: Marie Benedict ISBN:  B07FDHF7PH Publisher: Sourcebooks Year it was published: 2019 Summary: She was beautiful. She was a genius. Could the world handle both? A powerful, illuminating novel about Hedy Lamarr. Hedy Kiesler is lucky. Her beauty leads to a starring role in a controversial film and marriage to a powerful Austrian arms dealer, allowing her to evade Nazi persecution despite her Jewish heritage. But Hedy is also intelligent. At lavish Vienna dinner parties, she overhears the Third Reich's plans. One night in 1937, desperate to escape her controlling husband and the rise of the Nazis, she disguises herself and flees her husband's castle. She lands in Hollywood, where she becomes Hedy Lamarr, screen star. But Hedy is keeping a secret even more shocking than her Jewish heritage: she is a scientist. She has an idea that might help the country and that might ease her guilt for escaping alone -- if anyon...

Name of Book: Just Once Author: Lori Handeland ISBN:  B07K8XRJGX Publisher: Severn House Year it was published: 2019 Summary: What do you do when you are forgotten by the man you've loved for twenty years? What do you do if you are the one who is remembered? Frankie Sicari is roused from sleep late one night by a key rattling in the front door lock. It's her ex-husband, Charley Blackwell: a man she hasn't seen for nearly a quarter of a century. What's baffling is that Charley seems to think they are still married, and has no recollection of his current wife, Hannah. When medical tests reveal shocking findings, Frankie finds herself reluctantly caring for the man who left her twenty years earlier, while Hannah is relegated to the sidelines. How can Frankie forgive the man who abandoned her when she needed him most? And how can Hannah cope with the impending death of the man she's loved for the past twenty years - especially now she is faced with th...

Name of Book: The Last Thing She Said Author: Lauren Carr ISBN:  B07SJGJRCJ Publisher: Acorn Book Services Part of a Series: Chris Matheson Cold Cases Type of book: cold mystery, hidden identity, secrets, murder, true love, obligations, second chances, pets, dogs, family, friends, travel Year it was published: 2019 Summary: “I’m working on the greatest mystery ever,” was the last thing noted mystery novelist Mercedes Livingston said to seven-year-old Chris Matheson before walking out of Hill House Hotel never to be seen again. For decades, the writer’s fate remained a puzzling mystery until an autographed novel and a letter put a grown-up Chris Matheson on the trail of a cunning killer. With the help of a team of fellow retired law enforcement officers, each a specialist in their own field of investigation, Chris puts a flame to this cold case to uncover what had really happened that night Mercedes Livingston walked out of Hill House Hotel. Watch out! The clue...

Name of Book: The Root of Murder Author: Lauren Carr ISBN:   B07NLDJ9FQ Publisher: Acorn Book Services Part of a Series: Lovers in Crime #4 Type of book: West Virginia, marriage, running the farm, upcoming wedding, dreams, mystery, murder, hidden life, second chances, modern times Year it was published: 2019 Summary: Homicide Detective Cameron Gates learned long ago that there is no such thing as a typical murder case. Each mystery is special in its own right—especially for the family of the victim. The homicide of a successful executive, husband, and father seems open and shut when the murder weapon is found in his estranged son-in-law’s possession. The circumstantial evidence is so damning that when her step-son, J.J. Thornton, agrees to act as the defendant’s public defender, he assumes his first murder case will be a loss. Only the report of a missing husband proves that this case is not as open and shut as it seems. Strap on your seat belts for a wil...

Name of Book: Killer in the band Author: Lauren Carr ISBN:  B01M193ICR Publisher: Acorn Book services Part of a Series: Lovers in Crime #3 Type of book: mystery, farm, music, band, talent, animals, horses, loyalty, horse sense, marriage, crime, animal whisperer, older woman/ younger male relationship, making peace, lawyers, study, determination Year it was published: 2016 Summary:  It's a Summer of Love & Murder! Joshua’s eldest son, Joshua Thornton Jr. (J.J.) has graduated at the top of his class from law school and returns home to spend the summer studying for the bar exam. However, to Joshua's and Cameron's shock and dismay, J.J. moves into the main house at Russell Ridge Farm and Orchards, the largest dairy farm in the Ohio Valley, in order to rekindle a romance with Suellen Russell, the one-time leader of a rock who is twice his age. Quickly, they learn that she has a deep dark secret. The move brings long buried tensions between the fat...

Name of Book: Real Murder Author: Lauren Carr ISBN: B00KMMQT6K Publisher: Acorn Book Services Part of a Series: Lovers in Crime Type of book: Crime, West Virginia, small towns, second marriages, pets, families, cooking, secrets, getting along, mysteries Year it was published: 2014 Summary: When Homicide Detective Cameron Gates befriends Dolly, the little old lady who lives across the street, she is warned not to get lured into helping the elderly woman by investigating the unsolved murder of one of her girls. “She’s senile,” Cameron is warned. “It’s not a real murder.” Such is not the case. After Dolly is brutally murdered, Cameron discovers that the sweet blue-haired lady’s “girl” was a call girl, who had been killed in a mysterious double homicide. Meanwhile, Prosecuting Attorney Joshua Thornton is looking for answers to the murder of a childhood friend, a sheriff deputy whose cruiser is found at the bottom of a lake. The deputy had disappeared almost twenty ...