Come, Tell Me How You Live by Agatha Christie

 

What has been your favorite memoir?

Come, Tell Me How You Live is a lighthearted memoir about Agatha Christie’s adventures in Syria while her husband, Max, was on an archaeological dig in the1930s.  She gathered together her notes and vignettes afterwards to put together this interesting memoir.

My thoughts on this novel:

·       I read Come, Tell Me How You Live by Agatha Christie in July as part of #ReadChristie2025.  The overall theme this year is to explore Christie’s works through the canon of characters and their careers.  The career for July was archeologists.

·       Christie’s second husband Max Mallowan was a renowned archaeologist.  He was thirteen years younger than her, and they traveled the world together.  I love this for Agatha Christie after her disastrous first marriage.

·       There was not much in the memoir on actual archaeology, but more on the people, places, and trying to make a home in a new and foreign place.

·       My favorite vignette was unforgettable and disturbing.  Christie woke up one night to find her and her husband covered with mice.  He could sleep fine, but she could not so their beds were moved outside.  A cat was hired the next day who efficiently and methodically killed the mice.  Christie called it a “professional cat.”  I would have loved to see this cat.

·       Christie chronicled a lot of hatred between different groups of different religions against each other.  Some were told with humor such as driver that tried to run over people of a particular religious group whenever he saw them, but I didn’t think it was funny.  Sadly, this conflict hasn’t changed with time in the Middle East.

·       Christie did write this memoir with a lot of wit and humor throughout.  It was nice to read a different genre from Christie rather than a mystery.

·       I wanted to travel with Christie as she seemed like a very fun and charming person.  The site conditions didn’t sound so fun, however.

·       It was sad thinking about all these archaeological treasures being found and carted away from their homeland.

Overall, Come, Tell Me How You Live by Agatha Christie was a great memoir filled with wit and humor.  This book gives one the experience of what it would have been like to live through an archaeological dig in the 1930s.

Book Source:  The Kewaunee Public Library.  Thank-you!

Don’t Let Him In by Lisa Jewell

 

Which genre often takes you out of your comfort zone?  Thrillers also take me out of my comfort zone, but I love it.

Nina Swann lost her husband a year ago.  She receives a card from Nick Radcliffe, an old friend of her husband.  They connect and Nina feels like she may have a second chance at love.  Her daughter, Ash, feels, that something is wrong and starts digging into Nick’s past.  Is he who he says he is?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       The story has three primary points of view – Ash, Nina, and Martha.  Martha is a florist with the perfect husband, Alistair, who seems not so perfect as he keeps disappearing.  Other points of view, also pop up include Nick’s and other various people that he interacts with.  It could be confusing at times, but I thought it was very intriguing.

·       This novel was a bit repetitive and slow in the middle, but I couldn’t put it down for the last 1/3 of the book.

·       I really liked the ending.  Everything came together at the end and there were a few surprises left.

·       It’s a disturbing story about love and trust.  What happens in your life if your lift partner is not the person you think they are?

·       The villain in this novel was one of the best villains I’ve ever read.  One that seems like the nicest guy you’ve ever met until you let him into your life.

·       I don’t want to give too much away on the plot as I really enjoyed it!

Overall, Don’t Let Him in by Lisa Jewell was an intriguing domestic thriller that kept me reading too far into the night.  Can you trust the one you love?

Book Source: Thank-you to NetGalley for a review copy of this novel.

 

Mob Queen by Erin Bledsoe (Bibliolifestyle Book Tour)

 

Title:  Mob Queen

Author:  Erin Bledsoe

Narrated by:  Brittany Pressley

Publisher: Blackstone Publishing

Length: Approximately 12 hours and 3 minutes

Source: Thank you, Partner @bibliolifestyle @blackstonepublishing for the review copy of physical book copy of Mob Queen by Erin Bledsoe.  Thank-you to NetGalley for the audiobook and e-book review copies.

Are you addicted to a particular genre, or you read all sort of genres?  I read all sorts of genre, but historical fiction is my addiction.

Virginia Hill is struggling to make ends meet in 1930s Chicago.  She has recently divorced her husband and is looking for her missing friend, Madeline.  Madeline disappeared into the Mafia.  Virginia is recruited into the Mafia but has her own secret mission to find Madeline.  As she climbs the ranks, she finds the type of power she never realized she wanted.

My thoughts on this novel:

·       I loved how the intriguing man she met at the beginning of the novel, Ben, turned out to be Bugsy Siegel.  I had heard the name Bugsy Siegel before, but I didn’t know anything about him.

·       The reality of what the mafia actually did (horrific murders, kidnapping girls from the country into prostitution, etc.) was hard for Virginia to deal with.

·       Brittany Pressley was a great audiobook narrator.  She was Virginia to me.

·       Virgina was very sassy and had great comebacks.

·       Now I want to watch the movie Bugsy.  Virginia Hill is known for being Bugsy’s girlfriend, but she had a fascinating history of her own. 

·       There was intense chemistry between Virginia and Ben.  They seemed to go from desire to hate to desire to hate throughout their entire relationship.

·       A brief author’s note about the real Virginia Hill was interesting.

·       The book had a nice epilogue.

Overall, Mob Queen by Erin Bledsoe was a fascinating look at one powerful woman as she made her way in the man’s world of the mob. 

The Communist’s Secret by Suzanne Parry (Get Red PR Book Tour)

 

What is the most action-packed book that you have read lately?

Katya Karavayeva has a secret.  In a moment of weakness, she complained about her husband at work.  Little did she know that this information would be used to arrest her husband and throw their entire family out of the communist party.  Katya joins the war effort to prove her loyalty.  Her camp is attacked, and she escapes with Svet, a young woman also working at the camp.  Will they be able to survive in the wild and keep themselves save from the Nazis?  Will Katya be able to forgive herself for the betrayal of her husband?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       The author of this novel, Suzanne Parry was a former Pentagon arms control negotiator and studied Russian in Moscow.

·       This historical fiction novel was action packed.  It pulled me into the story right away and kept me enthralled throughout the book.

·       This is book two in the Leningrad series.  I haven’t read the first novel.  This can be read as a stand-alone.  I need to read the rest of this series!

·       I always enjoy stories of living off the land, but also trying to hide from the Nazis and keeping yourself on the right side of your own government really pushed up the thrill level of this book.

·       There were themes of betrayal and forgiveness throughout this novel.

·       Katya really grows as a character throughout the story to realize that her own government isn’t perfect and doesn’t treat its citizens with care.  It also looks at the communist system.  For example, a successful farmer had their farm taken away and it no longer produces as well under the new communist system.

·       The ending was perfect.  It was unexpected and hopeful.

·       This book really got me thinking – how did families that were split up in WWII find each other again?  Katya’s daughter and mother-in-law were in Leningrad while Katya was all over the place.

·       It also made me think - what would I do to stay alive?  Katya has a relationship with a Nazi commandant at one point in the novel.  Would you be friendly with the enemy?

The Communist’s Secret by Suzanne Parry was a unique and very engaging WWII story set in Russia with an unforgettable main character in Katya.   

Book Source: Thank-you to She Writes Press for a review copy of this novel as part of the Get Red PR Book Tour.

Six Weeks by the Sea by Paula Byrne (Austenprose PR Book Tour)

 

Do you like to vacation by the sea?  Do you have any favorite seaside vacation spots?  I don’t really vacation by the ocean, but by the Great Lakes. I live in a Lake Michigan community in Wisconsin with a seasonal view of Lake Michigan.  I love to walk by the water.  Growing up in Michigan, I loved South Haven and Holland, also on Lake Michigan. 

In Six Weeks by the Sea by Paula Byrne, Jane Austen has just had to leave her beloved family home in Steventon after her brother takes over as the rector.  Before her family settles in Bath, they spend six weeks by the sea in Sidmouth, Devon, England.  There with her mother, father, and sister Cassandra, they are reunited with her beloved brother Frank who has a brief break from his naval adventures in the Royal Navy.  He has also brought along his friend, Captain Parker.  While sparks begin to fly between Captain Parker and Jane, Jane also feels herself very annoyed by a new young lawyer in town, Samuel Rose.  As she gets to know Mr. Rose and Captain Parker better, will she find true love?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       This was a short, but beautifully written novel.  It had almost a dream like quality to it as I read it.

·       I was intrigued to discover that Paula Byrne had written the nonfiction book, Belle:  The Slave Daughter and the Lord Chief Justice.  I had watched the movie Belle in the past and just recently rewatched it.  Six Weeks by the Sea had elements in it that reminded me of Belle.

·       Reverand Swete’s son has returned home with his child, a daughter who doesn’t speak and who is half black.  Jane is intrigued by the girl and uses her skills as an aunt to get to know her better and draw her out.  She also notices the kind behavior Mr. Rose has towards the young girl.  This also had shades to me of Miss Georgiana Lambe, Austen’s biracial character in her unfinished novel, Sanditon.

·       Jane has prejudice against Mr. Rose at first because he is a lawyer, and she hates lawyers.  She learns over the course of the novel just what types of cases that Mr. Rose works on, and it aligns with her own opinions on the fight against slavery.  I loved how Jane’s feelings on Mr. Rose changed through the course of the novel.

·       I loved the inclusion of William Cowper’s poetry.  I didn’t know that he had written anti-slavery poetry.

·       This time period has always been a mystery in Jane Austen’s life.  Did she have a mysterious love who died?  I loved how this story filled in the gaps.  I would love to imagine that even though she never married, she had a great love of her own.

·       I always enjoy a good love triangle.  I also love thinking about Austen finding love with someone who could match her wit. 

·       This novel had small moments with the family getting together for meals, going for walks, balls, etc.  The pacing and these small moments reminded me of a Jane Austen novel.

·       I enjoyed quotes showing up from Austen’s letters and novels within this book.  Even the fictional conversations carried the same sparkle and wit one sees in an Austen novel.

·       There is a great author’s afterword at the end of the book that delves into what was real and what was fictional.  Captain Parker was a fictional character, while Samuel Rose was a real person.

Overall, Six Weeks by the Sea by Paula Byrne was a fascinating novel and look into a period of transition and change for Jane Austen that may have also included love.  I enjoyed the look into social issues at the time that Austen cared about and wrote subtle about in her novels.

Book Source: Thank-you to @paulajaynebyrne @pegasus_books @austenprose for a review copy of this novel as part of the Austenprose PR Book Tour.

The Shakespeare Secret by D.J. Nix (Austenprose PR Book Tour)

 

Was Shakespeare a woman?  Author D.J. Nix’s son pitched the idea to him and he then read Elizabeth Winkler’s article in the June 2019 edition of The Atlantic, “Was Shakespeare a Woman?”  This inspired D.J. Nix into writing a compelling story.

Three women in Elizabethan England share a secret – they are the true authors of Shakespeare’s sonnets and plays.  Mary Herbert, the Countess of Pembroke is a frustrated poet who has suffered a loss.  Emelia Bassano is a court musician and mistress to the Lord Chamberlain.  Jane Daggett is a seamstress for the Queen’s men’s players and invents stories of her own.  As one of the Queen’s spies (Robert Cecil) zeroes in on them, they hire an actor named Will Shakespeare to be their “face.”  Will they be discovered?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       I’ve been down and out without my computer for the past couple of weeks, so I am sadly behind on reviews.  Now that my computer is repaired, I will work on getting caught up.

·       The Shakespeare Secret has short engaging chapters and was a fast-paced historical fiction read.

·       Robert Cecil thinks the three ladies are plotting to kill Queen Elizabeth.  How do they get out of this accusation?

·       I really loved the Elizabethan time period and setting.

·       This novel made me want to read Shakespeare.  I took a Shakespeare class in high school and in college, but it has been a while.  We have a play slotted for next year for my Back to the Classics Book club.  I am looking forward to it.

·       I loved the strong women characters during this perilous time in history.

·       It was fun to read the process of them writing the plays, such as Taming of the Shrew.  I can get behind the reimagining of a terrible play and making it into a better story.  It sounds like fun.

Overall, The Shakespeare Secret by D.J. Nix was a great historical suspense novel with a feminist twist.

Book Source: Thank-you to @david.nix.author @alcovepress @austenprose for a review copy of this novel as part of the Austenprose PR Book Tour.

No Stone Unturned by Jenelle Hovde (Austenprose PR Book Tour)

 

What's a book that you wish more people knew about?

Bridget Littleton is a vicar’s daughter and loves history and antiquities.  She is very excited to find a Roman mosaic in a neighborhood farm field.  Capitan Rafe Hawthorn has returned from fighting in the Napoleonic Wars, and he is the new viscount in the neighborhood.  He confronts Bridget as he believes she is excavating on his land.  Will Bridget be able to prove she is actually on the Peterson farm, and will she be able to convince Rafe that the work is worthwhile?  Will love bloom?  Who else is trying to steal the mosaics?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       This was a sweet Regency romance and a clean read.  It has a slow burn and enemies to lovers’ romance.

·       I loved Bridget. She is an educated woman who knows her own mind.  She has a passion for archeology and Roman artifacts.  She loves to read Gothic fiction and she is kind to others.

·       I also love Rafe.  Rafe had a broken childhood filled with abuse.  His mother was able to escape with him.  He also suffered a grave wound and loss of a friend in the war.  He has returned with his terrible memories to the estate, and he wants to repair the estate and help the tenants.

·       Bridget and Rafe had great banter and dialogue between them.

·       Roman archaeology is fascinating to me.  I loved reading about the dig, their finds, and early Christianity amongst the Romans.

·       I enjoyed the quotes at the start of each chapter.  Many are from Lord Byron, Seneca, and John Wesley amongst others.

·       The novel is told through a dual narrative between Bridget and Rafe. The story is told through the first-person point of view.

·       There were mysteries throughout the novel that kept me intrigued.

·       There is a great author’s note on the real Roman discoveries that occurred in England in the 18^th and 19^th century.

·       There are also great discussion questions at the end to challenge yourself with or use at a book club.

·       This was an excellent debut novel!  I can’t wait to see what Jenelle Hovde writes next!

Favorite Quote: “Leave no stone unturned.  How can we learn or grow if we do not understand the past?  How can we heal if we do not fully examine what happened to us?”

Overall, No Stone Unturned by Jenelle Hovde was a beautifully written Regency romance with great main characters and growth, interesting mysteries, and Roman archaeology. I greatly enjoyed this novel.

Book Source: Thank-you to @jenellehovdeauthor @tyndalehouse @austenprose for a review copy of this novel as part of the Austenprose PR Book Tour.

A Lesson In Proprietary by Jen Turano (Austenprose PR Book Tour)

 

What is the last comedy you’ve read or watched and enjoyed? 

Drusilla Merriweather has had a terrible time.  Her father has died, and his business partner stole his fortune.  Her fiancé dumps her, and she and her family are now cut direct by the four hundred.  Her eccentric aunt left her and her sister a castle in Chicago.  Drusilla decides to use her strengths and make it a school to teach propriety.  When she, her mother, and her sister arrive, they find a castle full of goats with an eccentric guard.  Will she be able to turn the castle around in time to keep her family afloat?  Will they find the man who stole their family fortunate?  Where is their aunt?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       This was a funny and fun novel that reminded me of a madcap rom com from the 1930s.

·       Drusilla is an independent young woman who is determined to make her dream of a school become reality and to save her family.  I enjoyed her as a character.

·       The criminal underworld is trying to get the prime property that is on Lake Michigan.

·       I thought Rhenick Wittenbecker was a great romantic lead.  He is the only brother in a family of girls and seems a lot more understanding of ladies than other men of the time period.  Although he comes off the wrong way to Drusilla at their first meeting and must work to understand her.  I loved his mother and family.

·       Annalise, Drusilla’s sister, is also eccentric and loves animals.  She has three attack ferrets who also wan to help rid the castle of rats and snakes.  I laughed out loud at parts of this novel.

·       I really enjoyed the haunted castle.  Who is haunting it and why?  It reminded me a Scooby Door mystery.

·       This is the first book in a new series.  I’m interested to see where it goes next.

A Lesson In Proprietary by Jen Turano is a fun, lighthearted, historical romance with Gothic elements.  I really enjoyed this novel. 

Book Source: Thank-you to @jenturanoauthor @bethanyhousefiction @austenprosefor a review copy of this novel as part of the Austenprose PR Book Tour.

Lincoln on the Verge: Thirteen Days to Washington by Ted Widmer

 

Title:  Lincoln on the Verge:  Thirteen Days to Washington

Author:  Ted Widmer

Narrated by:  Fred Sanders, Ted Widmer

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Length: Approximately 16 hours and 53 minutes

Source: Thank you @simon.audio for the audiobook version and #LincolnOnTheVerge #HistoryBuffsBookClub @History_In_Five for the physical book review copy.

What is your favorite, book, movie, or show that features Abraham Lincoln? I loved the movie Lincoln starring Daniel Day Lewis.

The United States was at a crossroads when Abraham Lincoln won the presidential election in 1860.  Southerners had vowed that his inauguration would never take place.  Lincoln boards a train to Washington DC and over the next thirteen days, he wows crowds, while also trying to foil assassination attempts.  How did he make it safely to Washington DC?

My thoughts on this book:

·       This was a truly fascinating book.  I really liked how the reader received a full snapshot of what life was like at this moment in history and through these perilous times.

·       At this point in time, democracy was on the verge of ending as it had ended in so many places before like Greece and Rome.

·       This book provided good overview of history and everything happening at that time.  I also loved the history of the cities as he traveled through them such as Cincinnati, Cleveland, etc.

·       Railroad and telegraph were transforming the nation and how information was disseminated at the time.

·       Dorothea Dix had traveled through the south and had details of a conspiracy to kill Lincoln as he traveled to DC for his inauguration.  The South would rather declare their own nation.

·       Kate Warne was a female spy who played an unsung role (like Doreathea Dix) on protecting Lincoln on the way to his inauguration.

·       Civil engineers were discussed such as who designed the bridges and tunnels for the railroad.

·       There was a sad discussion included of a real-life enslaved woman who killed her own child rather than have the child be captured and enslaved just like what happened in the fictional Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

·       The end of the book also goes through Lincoln’s train journey back to Springfield after his assassination.

·       The audiobook that had good narrator and it was very interesting to listen to. 

·       This new paperback version had a great preface by Liz Cheney on the importance of this book and of Abraham Lincoln.

·       There is a great notes section at the end of the physical book.

·       The physical book also has interesting pictures inserted throughout the text.

Overall, Lincoln on the Verge by Ted Widmer is a great history nonfiction book that tells not only the story of the perilous journey Abraham Lincoln took through America to his inauguration, but also the story of America at that time and the fight to keep our democracy.

The Collector of Burned Books by Roseanne M. White (Austenprose PR Book Tour)

 

If you could save one book from being burned, which book would you pick?

German expatriate authors gathered in Paris after Nazis started to burn books in Germany.  They opened a library that has collected together all of the banned books on the Nazis list.  When the Germans enter Paris, Christian Bauer, a former literature professor that has been drafted by the Nazis is sent to close the library of banned books and to relocate France’s other libraries.  Once there he meets Corinne Bastien, a professor and patron of the library who has been using it to help to spread these forbidden ideas.  What will happen to the library?  Will Christian be able to protect the literature that he secretly loves?  Will love blossom between the two?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       I thought this was an interesting look into an aspect of WWII that I have always found disturbing, the burning of books and limitations put on the spreading of ideas.

·       I enjoyed both the characters of Christian and Corinne.  I loved their banter and witty conversations about literature.

·       Everyone seems confused that Corinne is a professor.  They think she looks younger than she is.  The Nazis tell her she should be trying to get married and having children.  They also say that this type of job should be left to the men. Unfortunately, this rhetoric seems prevalent still to this day.

·       This novel expressed the importance of books and ideas.  If you feel you need to suppress ideas and books in order to control people, what does that say about your ideology?  We’ve seen a rise in book banning over the last few years in the United States and is concerning.

·       This book did make me ponder, what would people do if this started to happen? If a politician told you that a book was “bad”, would you throw it away or burn it and go along with the crowd? Would you hide the book?  Would you help keep the word alive?  I have consistently been against book banning when it has unfortunately cropped up in my life.

·       Christian was a complicated character.  Further into the story, his motivations are revealed.  Why would a man who loves the written word like him go along with the Nazis?  He wants to help his friends, but he also has a much deeper and more personal reason.

·       The ending of this book was perfect.

·       There is a great authors note and discussion questions at the end of the novel.  It was so interesting that there really was a library of burned books in Paris.

Overall, The Collector of Burned Books by Roseanna M. White was a thought-provoking historical fiction novel with an intriguing story and wonderful characters.

Book Source: Thank-you to @roseannamwhite @tyndalehouse @austenprose for a review copy of this novel as part of the Austenprose PR Book Tour.