Svetlana's Reads and Views

Name of Book: The Road to Urbino Author: Roma Tearne ISBN: 9781910709481 Publisher: Gallic Type of book: Sri Lanka, England, Italy, 1990s?-2017? Art, relationships, painting, barrister, dreams, immigration, living in Italy, Pierro della Francesca, unrequited love, Sri Lankan male/ British female, perception  Year it was published:  2012, 2020 Summary: A story of obsession, love and art set in Tuscany, Sri Lanka and London. Ras, a Sri Lankan who fled his country as a child following the violent death of his mother and his father's disappearance, has committed a crime. Dogged by his past and unable to come to terms with the killing of his mother, he struggles to make a new life for himself in the UK. Alex has loved Dee since he was 19 but failed to realise that it was a love he wouldn't find again. After Dee's marriage, he too struggles to build a meaningful life for himself. But when Ras' and Alex's lives connect, each man takes a new path culmin...

Name of Book: Blood Author: Maggie Gee ISBN: 978-1-909572-12-6 Publisher: Fentum Press Type of book: England, violence, comedy, family, bonds, mystery, modern times, attraction, support, dentistry, shady, Year it was published: 2019 Summary: Who attacked Dad? When a corrupt, brutal dentist, Albert Ludd, is found battered and bloody after failing to attend a memorial party for his youngest son, suspicion falls on the dentist's other children. Especially on Dad's middle daughter, 37-year-old buxom bruiser Monica Ludd, who was heard 'uttering threats' against her absent father. How come her car is found outside Dad's house? Why did she buy a large axe? And yet, Monica's a deputy head teacher... Blood is a Gothic black comedy seen through the eyes of six-foot Monica, who cannot help speaking her secret thoughts aloud and who has been banned by the principal of her school, from using social media. '"Parents are sensitive to abuse." ...

Name of Book: David Lazar Author: Robert Kalich ISBN: 9781933480497 Publisher: Bunim and Bannigan Type of book: Gambling, New York, money, wealth, 1960s? To modern times, friendships, relationships, wealth, sports gambling, booking, addiction, favors Year it was published: 2019 Summary: Welcome to the world of David Lazar, the world of doubt and self-doubt, where life is lived as a novel and a novel is truer than life. At twilight of one’s life, mortality is no longer an abstract notion. David Lazar, now in his eighties, feels the need to piece together the arc of his life. Lazar’s thoughts drift from his happy childhood on Manhattan’s Upper West Side—his mother a child psychologist, his father a celebrated cantor—to his many friends and the women he had loved and lost, until he met Elizabeth Dunn, his soulmate and the mother of his teenage son. He has a decision to make… For many years, he lived two lives and he still harbours a deep secret. Haunted by his past...

Name of Book: Turn to Stone Author: James W Ziskin ISBN: 978-1-63388-552-3 Publisher: Seventh Street Books Part of a Series: Ellie Stone Mysteries Type of book: September 1963, mystery, Italy, Boccaccio, Decameron, quarantine, secrets, stories, trip, curiosity, women's rights, wealth, WW2, second chances Year it was published: 2020 Summary: This 1960s-era locked-room mystery takes Ellie Stone to Florence, Italy--a seemingly idyllic setting, which in this case has sinister undertones. Florence, Italy, August 1963. In Italy to accept a posthumous award for her late father's academic work, "girl reporter" Ellie Stone is invited to spend a weekend outside Florence with some of the scholars attending the symposium. A suspected rubella outbreak leaves the ten friends quarantined in the bucolic setting with little to do but tell stories to entertain themselves. Deciding to make the best of their confinement, the men and women spin tales, gorge themsel...

Name of Book: A Bottle of Rum Author: Steve Goble ISBN: 978-1-64506-003-1 Publisher: Seventh Street Books Part of a Series: Spider John Mysteries Type of book: 1723, pirates, insane asylum, mystery, violence, murder, cursing, Spider John, friendship, loyalty Year it was published: 2019 Summary: August, 1723 -- Spider John Rush believes he has escaped piracy forever. Enjoying rum and chess in a dark Lymington tavern, he dreams of finding passage to Nantucket to reunite with his beloved Em and to finally get to know the son he remembers only as a babe in arms, though the lad must be dreaming of going to sea himself by now. But when a lazy taverner is stabbed to death, one glance at the victim tells Spider the pirate life has followed him ashore and he cannot possibly ignore this bloody crime. The wise maneuver would be to run before authorities arrive, but Spider is denied that choice because he’s already deeply, connected to the crime—he fashioned the murder weapon ...

Title of the book: At least know this; Essential science to enhance your life Author: Guy P. Harrison Publisher: Prometheus Books Publishing Date: 2018 ISBN: 978-1-63388-405-2 Summary: This primer on essential scientific literacy gives readers the basics to understand themselves and the world around them, plus a glimpse of how much more science has to offer. Science tells us a good deal about who we are, where we come from, the nature of the universe, how our brains work, and much, much more. Unfortunately, most people are largely unaware of this treasure trove of information. As a result, we are more prone to do things like aim nuclear weapons at each other, inflate the meaning of cultural differences, lay waste to the land, poison and deplete the oceans, fill the sky with carbon, and generally make poor judgments that cause needless trouble. This book seeks to remedy this situation by providing scientific answers to the most basic yet important questions about ...

Title of the book: The shame factor; heal your deepest fears and set yourself free Author: Stephan B. POULTER, PhD Publisher: Prometheus Books Publishing Date: 2019 ISBN: 978-1-63388-522-6 Summary: A popular clinical psychologist explores an often misunderstood and unrecognized emotion that's the root cause of many self-defeating and harmful behaviors. Emotional paralysis, a distorted view of self, a feeling of being a fraud, lack of trust in others, fear of criticism resulting in underdeveloped talents, and a chronic sense of being worthless, invisible, or disposable--these are typical symptoms of shame. In this book, psychologist Stephan B. Poulter delves into this "primary emotional wound." Distinguishing it from commonplace guilt over a particular moral failing, he describes this toxic emotion as a pervasive but largely unrecognized "emotional cancer," with the power of undermining many aspects of life. Dr. Poulter guides the reader th...

Name of Book: the fragility of bodies Author: Sergio OLGUIN (translated by Miranda France) ISBN: 978-1-912242-19-1 Publisher: Bitter Lemon Press Part of a Series: Veronica Rosenthal Trilogy Type of book: Argentina, trains, mystery, journalism, 2000s, poverty, wealth, connections, South America, daily life, Buenos Aires, coca cola, soccer Year it was published: 2019 (original 2012) Summary: When she hears about the suicide of a Buenos Aires train driver who has left a note confessing to four mortal ‘accidents’ on the train tracks, journalist Veronica Rosenthal decides to investigate. For the police the case is closed (suicide is suicide), for Veronica it is the beginning of a journey that takes her into an unfamiliar world of grinding poverty, crime-infested neighborhoods, and train drivers on commuter lines haunted by the memory of bodies hit at speed by their locomotives in the middle of the night. Aided by a train driver with whom she has a tumultuous and reckles...

Name of Book: Promised Land Author: Martin Fletcher ISBN: 978-1-250-11882-0 Publisher: Thomas Dunne Type of book: Israel, 1950-1967, family, history, Mossad, Judaism, shaping, control, power, hidden secrets, wars, survival, travel, US Year it was published: 2018 Summary: "Promised Land is a great sweeping epic, reminiscent of Leon Uris’ Exodus." —Nelson DeMille, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Cuban Affair Promised Land is the sweeping saga of two brothers and the woman they love, a devastating love triangle set against the tumultuous founding of Israel. The story begins when fourteen-year-old Peter is sent west to America to escape the growing horror of Nazi Germany. But his younger brother Arie and their entire family are sent east to the death camps. Only Arie survives. The brothers reunite in the nascent Jewish state, where Arie becomes a businessman and one of the richest men in Israel while Peter becomes a top Mossad agent heading s...

Name of Book: The Devil's Wind Author: Steve Goble ISBN: 978-1-63388-484-7 Publisher: Seventh Street Books Part of a Series: Spider John Mysteries Type of book: 1723, pirates, mystery, love triangle, murder, seas, trap, islands, sailing, deductive reasoning, confrontation Year it was published: 2018 Summary: A historical mystery that blends nautical adventure in pirate waters with a locked-room murder mystery, featuring a pirate sleuth whose wits are as sharp as his blade. Spider John, longing to escape the pirate life he never wanted, has an honest seafaring job at last and a chance to return to his beloved Em and their child. But when Captain Brentwood is murdered in his cabin, Spider’s plans are tossed overboard. Who killed Redemption’s captain? The mysterious pirate with a sadistic past? The beautiful redhead who hides guns beneath her skirt? One of the men pining for the captain’s daughter? There are plenty of suspects. But how could anyone kill th...

Name of Book: The Bloody Black Flag Author: Steve Goble ISBN: 978-1-63388-359-8 Publisher: Seventh Street Books Part of a Series: Spider John Mysteries Type of book: pirates, sea life, murder, mystery, 1722, cursed ship, witch blood, superstition, Year it was published: 2017 Summary: Agatha Christie meets Patrick O'Brian in the first book in a new series of swashbuckling historical mysteries featuring Spider John Rush, a most reluctant pirate. 1722--aboard a pirate ship off the American Colonial Coast. Spider John Rush never wanted to be a pirate, but it had happened and he'd learned to survive in the world of cut and thrust, fight or die. He and his friend Ezra knew that death could come at any moment, from grapeshot or storm winds or the end of a noose. But when Ezra is murdered in cold blood by a shipmate, Spider vows revenge. On a ship where every man is a killer many times over, how can Spider find the man who killed his friend? There is no law here, ...

Name of Book: Queens GAMBIT Author: Bradley Harper ISBN: 978-1-64506-001-7 Publisher: Seventh Street Books Part of a Series: Margaret Harkness Mystery Type of book: 1881, 1897, communism, socialism, Great Britain, mystery, diamond Jubilee, Queen Victoria, Germany, diplomatic relationships, assassinations, family Year it was published: 2019 Summary: Spring, 1897. London. Margaret Harkness, now in her early forties, must leave England for her health but lacks the funds. A letter arrives from her old friend Professor Bell, her old comrade in the hunt for Jack the Ripper and the real-life inspiration for Sherlock Homes. Bell invites her to join him in Germany on a mysterious mission for the German government involving the loss of state secrets to Anarchists. The resolution of this commission leads to her being stalked through the streets of London by a vengeful man armed with a powerful and nearly silent air rifle who has both Margaret and Queen Victoria in his sigh...

Name of Book: The body in Griffith PARK Author:  Jennifer Kincheloe ISBN: 978-1-63388-540-0 Publisher: Seventh Street Books Part of a Series: Anna Blanc Mysteries #3 Type of book : California, 1908s, detective work, women, prostitutes, police matron duties, relationship, family, murder, humor, traveling, treatment of genders, Year it was published: 2019 Summary: Los Angeles, 1908. Anna Blanc is a former so-so socialite, a flailing police matron, and a killer detective. Ex-heiress, Anna Blanc, is precariously employed by the Los Angeles Police Department, reforming delinquent children and minding lady jailbirds. What she really wants is to hunt criminals and be alone with Detective Joe Singer--both no-nos that could get her fired. On a lover's tryst in Griffith Park, Anna and Joe discover the body of a young gambler. Anna can't resist. She's on the case. With a murder to solve and her police matron duties piling up, a young girl shows up at Central St...

Title of the book: The new evil; understanding the emergence of modern violent crime Author: Michael H. Stone, MD and Gary BRUCATO, PhD Publisher: Prometheus Books Publishing Date: 2019 ISBN: 978-1-63388-532-5 Summary: A CHILLING FOLLOW-UP TO THE POPULAR TRUE CRIME BOOK THE ANATOMY OF EVIL Revisiting Dr. Michael Stone's groundbreaking 22-level Gradations of Evil Scale, a hierarchy of evil behavior first introduced in the book The Anatomy of Evil, Stone and Dr. Gary Brucato, a fellow violence and serious psychopathology expert, here provide even more detail, using dozens of cases to exemplify the categories along the continuum. The New Evil also presents compelling evidence that, since a cultural tipping-point in the 1960s, certain types of violent crime have emerged that in earlier decades never or very rarely occurred. The authors examine the biological and psychiatric factors behind serial killing, serial rape, torture, mass and spree murders, and other severe...

Title of the book: Alice and Gerald: a homicidal love story Author: Ron FRANSCELL Publisher: Prometheus Books Publishing Date: 2019 ISBN: 978-1-63388-512-7 Summary: True-crime master Ron Franscell tells the grisly story of a cold case involving multiple murders committed by a husband-and-wife team. The appalling details are made even more vivid by the author's familiarity with the Wyoming times and places that formed the backdrop of his national bestseller The Darkest Night. Would you kill for love? After Alice, a desperate young mother in a gritty Wyoming boomtown, kills her husband in 1974 and dumps his body where it will never be found, she slips away and starts a new life with a new love. But when her new love's ex-wife and two kids start demanding more of him, Alice delivers an ultimatum: Fix the problem or lose her forever. With Alice's help, he "fixes" the problem in an extraordinarily ghastly way ... and they live happily ever after. T...

Name of Book: The Exile Author: Gregory Erich Phillips ISBN: 978-1-63393-765-9 Publisher: Koehler Books Type of book: Housing crisis, immigration, American dream, 2007-2008, South America, Columbia, secrets, romance, younger male/older female, white male/Hispanic female, Phoenix Arizona Year it was published: 2019 Summary: Leila stepped off the plane in Colombia, recognizing the familiar air. She couldn't believe she'd been deported. It had to be a mistake. She had to find a way back before it was too late, before the people she fled from years ago were aware of her return. It had all been going so right. A successful career working for one of the top mortgage brokers in Phoenix. Love. Leila had all the elements of her life just where she wanted them. Then everything began to unravel, precipitated by the 2008 mortgage meltdown, and a romance that quickly spiraled out of her control. The Exile is a heart-wrenching love story that crosses cultures and borders, s...

Name of Book :A knife in the Fog Author: Bradley Harper ISBN: 978-1-63388-486-1 Publisher: Seventh Street Part of a Series: Prequel to Queen's Gambit Type of book: Jack the Ripper, Sherlock Holmes prototype, Arthur Conan Doyle, England, 1888, Margaret Harkness, Joseph Bell, mystery, immigration attitudes, history, murders, friendship, mentoring, observation Year it was published: 2018 Summary: Physician Arthur Conan Doyle takes a break from his practice to assist London police in tracking down Jack the Ripper. September 1888. A twenty-nine-year-old Arthur Conan Doyle practices medicine by day and writes at night. His first Sherlock Holmes story, A Study in Scarlet, although gaining critical and popular success, has only netted him twenty-five pounds. Embittered by the experience, he vows never to write another "crime story." Then a messenger arrives with a mysterious summons from former Prime Minister William Gladstone, asking him to come to London i...

Name of Book: Vintage 1954 Author: Antoine Laurain ISBN: 9781910477670 Publisher: Gallic Type of book: 2017, 1954, relatives, France, 1954 France versus 2017 France, nostalgia, finances, humor, time travel, aliens, wines, mixology, romance Year it was published: 2019 Summary: 'The very quintessence of French romance...' The Times When Hubert Larnaudie invites some fellow residents of his Parisian apartment building to drink an exceptional bottle of 1954 Beaujolais, he has no idea of its special properties. The following morning, Hubert finds himself waking up in 1950s Paris, as do antique restorer Magalie, mixologist Julien, and Airbnb tenant Bob from Milwaukee, who's on his first trip to Europe. After their initial shock, the city of Edith Piaf and An American in Paris begins to work its charm on them. The four delight in getting to know the French capital during this iconic period, whilst also playing with the possibilities that time travel allo...

Name of Book: The Last Pier Author: Roma Tearne ISBN: 978-1-91070-930-6 Publisher: Aardvark Bureau Type of book: 1939, 1968, secrets, war, summertime, family, lies, spying, games, dancing, death, making peace, England, Italy, Arandora Star Year it was published: 2015, 2019 Summary: A  beautiful, atmospheric novel about family, love, loss, and regret by a critically acclaimed author How deep the summer had bitten into the land that last August, how cruelly it had burnt into earth and grass and air. What had started out as a pastel and water-faded spring turning so unexpectedly into a splintering, shimmering thing. All that had been required was a spark to cause a fire. Why had no one noticed? The summer of 1939 broke the Maudsley family. Cecily was only 13-years-old and desperate to grow up; desperate to be as beautiful and desired and reckless as her older sister Rose. Now, in her 40s, the family resemblance is uncanny, but Cecily is a shadow of her former s...

Title of the book: HIIT your limit; High Intensity Interval Training for Fat loss, Cardio, and full body health Author:  Dr. Len Kravitz Publisher: Apollo Publishers Publishing Date: 2018 ISBN: 9781948062244 Summary: Get lean, build muscle, and stay healthy in only ten minutes a day! A Fitness Hall of Fame inductee and world-famous exercise scientist explains the #1 new fitness trend and how to get and keep the body you’ve always wanted. High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is an extraordinarily effective form of training that mixes high- and low-impact activities during periods ranging from seconds to eight minutes. In HIIT Your Limit, Dr. Len Kravitz, who has been inducted into the National Fitness Hall of Fame and been an internationally-renowned exercise scientist for the past thirty-six years, and sold nearly100,0000 copies of his last fitness book, explains what HIIT is, how it effects your entire body (externally and internally), gives 50 workouts and a...