Judy's bookshelf: all en-US Fri, 06 Jun 2025 20:12:49 -0700 60 Judy's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg The Best Is Yet to Come 59911514 When a woman alone in the world bravely chooses to open her heart, two lost souls have a new chance at belonging, in this intimate novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber.

A new beginning in charming Oceanside, Washington, is exactly what Hope Godwin needs after the death of her twin brother. There are plenty of distractions, like her cozy cottage with the slightly nosy landlords next door, and a brewing drama among her students at the local high school.

Despite having settled quickly into the community, something is still missing for Hope. That is, until her landlord convinces her to volunteer at his animal shelter. There she meets Shadow, a rescue dog that everyone has given up on. But true to her name, Hope believes he’s worth saving.

Like Shadow, shelter volunteer Cade Lincoln Jr., is suffering with injuries most can’t see. A wounded ex-marine, Cade identifies with Shadow, assuming they are both beyond help. Hope senses that what they each need is someone to believe in them, and she has a lot of love to give. As she gains Shadow’s trust, Hope notices Cade begins to open up as well. Finding the courage to be vulnerable again, Cade and Hope take steps toward a relationship, and Hope finally begins to feel at peace in her new home.

But Hope’s new happiness is put to the test when Cade’s past conflicts resurface, and Hope becomes embroiled in the escalating situation at the high school. Love and compassion are supposed to heal all wounds. But are they enough to help Hope and Cade overcome the pain of their past and the obstacles in the way of a better future?]]>
304 Debbie Macomber 1984818848 Judy 3 3.94 2022 The Best Is Yet to Come
author: Debbie Macomber
name: Judy
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2025/06/07
date added: 2025/06/06
shelves:
review:
Light read, outcome predictable from the beginning.
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The Butterfly Collector 61407937 A botanical illustration of a butterfly, a missing baby, and a twisty mystery fifty years in the making.

1868, Morpeth. Theodora Breckenridge, still in mourning after the loss of her parents and brother at sea, is more interested in working quietly on her art at the family’s country estate than she is in finding a husband in Sydney society, even if her elder sister Florence has other ideas. Theodora seeks to emulate prestigious nature illustrators, the Scott sisters, who lived nearby. She cannot believe her luck when she discovers a butterfly never before seen in Australia. With the help of her maid Clarrie and her beautiful drawings, Theodora is poised to make a scientific discovery that will put her name on the map. Then Clarrie’s newborn son goes missing and everything changes.


1922, Sydney. When would-be journalist Verity Binks is sent an anonymous parcel containing a spectacular butterfly costume along with an invitation to the Sydney Artists Masquerade Ball the same day she loses her job at The Arrow , she is both baffled and determined to attend. Her late grandfather, Sid, an esteemed newspaperman, would expect no less of her. At the ball, she lands a juicy commission to write the history of the Treadwell Foundation, an institution that supports disgraced young women and their babies. As she begins to dig, her research quickly leads her to an increasingly dark and complex mystery—a mystery fifty years in the making. Can she solve it? And will anyone believe her if she does?

The Butterfly Collector is USA TODAY bestselling author Tea Cooper at her best.]]>
400 Tea Cooper 1867239183 Judy 4 3.85 2022 The Butterfly Collector
author: Tea Cooper
name: Judy
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2025/06/03
date added: 2025/06/02
shelves:
review:
I loved this story... great development, great characters, interesting location. My two hesitations are an odd introduction of facts regarding the sisters late in the story and the incomplete account of them.
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Hang the Moon 62195643 368 Jeannette Walls 147115498X Judy 5 3.59 2023 Hang the Moon
author: Jeannette Walls
name: Judy
average rating: 3.59
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2025/05/27
date added: 2025/05/27
shelves:
review:
Great story, well-written with wonderful characters and compelling story line. Nice to read that Sallie was loosely based on a real person and situations drawn on actual events.
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<![CDATA[The Dark Heart of Florence (Lady Emily #15)]]> 53138032
In 1903, tensions between Britain and Germany are starting to loom over Europe, something that has not gone unnoticed by Lady Emily and her husband, Colin Hargreaves. An agent of the Crown, Colin carries the weight of the Empire, but his focus is drawn to Italy by a series of burglaries at his daughter’s palazzo in Florence―burglaries that might have international ramifications. He and Emily travel to Tuscany where, soon after their arrival, a stranger is thrown to his death from the roof onto the marble palazzo floor.

Colin’s trusted colleague and fellow agent, Darius Benton-Smith, arrives to assist Colin, who insists their mission must remain top secret. Finding herself excluded from the investigation, Emily secretly launches her own clandestine inquiry into the murder, aided by her spirited and witty friend, Cécile. They soon discover that the palazzo may contain a hidden treasure dating back to the days of the Medici and the violent reign of the fanatic monk, Savonarola―days that resonate in the troubled early twentieth century, an uneasy time full of intrigue, duplicity, and warring ideologies.

Emily and Cécile race to untangle the cryptic clues leading them through the Renaissance city, but an unimagined danger follows closely behind. And when another violent death puts Emily directly in the path of a killer, there’s much more than treasure at stake…]]>
320 Tasha Alexander 1250622069 Judy 4 3.76 2021 The Dark Heart of Florence (Lady Emily #15)
author: Tasha Alexander
name: Judy
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2025/05/19
date added: 2025/05/19
shelves:
review:
4.5 stars. Really interesting history included in the story, just the 2nd Lady Emily story I have read. Thoroughly enjoyed it once I got my head around the two different stories and time frames.
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Into the storm 219832701
The boy survives, but Enya goes to pieces. She leaves her husband, her son, and everything she knows to start a new life in remote rural Ireland.

But even in the quiet of Abbeydooley, beneath the boughs of an ancient tree, Enya is still haunted by that night in the rain. Can the stories of strangers and a land steeped in legend lay the ghosts of her past to rest? Or will the storm she's outrunning finally catch up with her?]]>
480 Cecelia Ahern 000819503X Judy 4 3.96 2024 Into the storm
author: Cecelia Ahern
name: Judy
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/05/12
date added: 2025/05/12
shelves:
review:

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<![CDATA[Behind the Shattered Glass (Lady Emily Mysteries)]]> 29250613 336 Tasha Alexander 1472108590 Judy 5 3.90 2013 Behind the Shattered Glass (Lady Emily Mysteries)
author: Tasha Alexander
name: Judy
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2013
rating: 5
read at: 2025/05/01
date added: 2025/05/01
shelves:
review:

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<![CDATA[Sparring Partners (Jake Brigance, #4)]]> 60148895 #1 New York Times bestselling author John Grisham is the acknowledged master of the legal thriller. In his first collection of novellas, law is a common thread, but America’s favorite storyteller has several surprises in store.

“Homecoming� takes us back to Ford County, the fictional setting of many of John Grisham’s unforgettable stories. Jake Brigance is back, but he’s not in the courtroom. He’s called upon to help an old friend, Mack Stafford, a former lawyer in Clanton, who three years earlier became a local legend when he stole money from his clients, divorced his wife, filed for bankruptcy, and left his family in the middle of the night, never to be heard from again—until now. Now Mack is back, and he’s leaning on his old pals, Jake and Harry Rex, to help him return. His homecoming does not go as planned.

In “Strawberry Moon,� we meet Cody Wallace, a young death row inmate only three hours away from execution. His lawyers can’t save him, the courts slam the door, and the governor says no to a last-minute request for clemency. As the clock winds down, Cody has one final request.

The “Sparring Partners� are the Malloy brothers, Kirk and Rusty, two successful young lawyers who inherited a once prosperous firm when its founder, their father, was sent to prison. Kirk and Rusty loathe each other, and speak to each other only when necessary. As the firm disintegrates, the resulting fiasco falls into the lap of Diantha Bradshaw, the only person the partners trust. Can she save the Malloys, or does she take a stand for the first time in her career and try to save herself?

By turns suspenseful, hilarious, powerful, and moving, these are three of the greatest stories John Grisham has ever told.]]>
320 John Grisham 0385549326 Judy 4 3.61 2022 Sparring Partners (Jake Brigance, #4)
author: John Grisham
name: Judy
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/24
date added: 2025/04/26
shelves:
review:
3 short stories. The first and last were good, usual, John Grisham style, but the second one I didn't enjoy.
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<![CDATA[The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club]]> 196845474 Major Pettigrew's Last Stand

It is the summer of 1919 and Constance Haverhill is without prospects. Now that all the men have returned from the front, she has been asked to give up her cottage and her job at the estate she helped run during the war. While she looks for a position as a bookkeeper or—horror—a governess, she’s sent as a lady’s companion to an old family friend who is convalescing at a seaside hotel. Despite having only weeks to find a permanent home, Constance is swept up in the social whirl of Hazelbourne-on-Sea after she rescues the local baronet’s daughter, Poppy Wirrall, from a social faux pas.

Poppy wears trousers, operates a taxi and delivery service to employ local women, and runs a ladies� motorcycle club (to which she plans to add flying lessons). She and her friends enthusiastically welcome Constance into their circle. And then there is Harris, Poppy’s recalcitrant but handsome brother—a fighter pilot recently wounded in battle—who warms in Constance’s presence. But things are more complicated than they seem in this sunny pocket of English high society. As the country prepares to celebrate its hard-won peace, Constance and the women of the club are forced to confront the fact that the freedoms they gained during the war are being revoked.

Whip-smart and utterly transportive, The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club is historical fiction of the highest order: an unforgettable coming-of-age story, a tender romance, and a portrait of a nation on the brink of change.]]>
432 Helen Simonson 1984801317 Judy 3 3.84 2024 The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club
author: Helen Simonson
name: Judy
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2025/04/23
date added: 2025/04/22
shelves:
review:
3.5 stars. An amusing and enjoyable read, however I felt the characters, although likeable, lacked depth and the storyline was at times quite disjointed.
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Finding Dorothy 40265841 A richly imagined novel that tells the story behind The Wonderful Wizard of Oz , the book that inspired the iconic film, through the eyes of author L. Frank Baum's intrepid wife, Maud--from the family's hardscrabble days in South Dakota to the Hollywood film set where she first meets Judy Garland.

Maud Gage Baum, widow of the author of the book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, met Judy Garland, the young actress playing the role of Dorothy on the set of The Wizard of Oz in 1939. At the time, Maud was seventy-eight and Judy was sixteen. In spite of their age difference, Maud immediately connected to Judy--especially when Maud heard her sing "Over the Rainbow," a song whose yearning brought to mind the tough years in South Dakota when Maud and her husband struggled to make a living--until Frank Baum's book became a national sensation.

This wonderfully evocative two-stranded story recreates Maud's youth as the rebellious daughter of a leading suffragette, and the prairie years of Maud and Frank's early days when they lived among the people--especially young Dorothy--who would inspire Frank's masterpiece. Woven into this past story is one set in 1939, describing the high-pressured days on The Wizard of Oz film set where Judy is being badgered by the director, producer, and her ambitious stage mother to lose weight, bind her breasts, and laugh, cry, and act terrified on command. As Maud had promised to protect the original Dorothy back in Aberdeen, she now takes on the job of protecting young Judy.]]>
351 Elizabeth Letts 0525622101 Judy 4 4.14 2019 Finding Dorothy
author: Elizabeth Letts
name: Judy
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/14
date added: 2025/04/20
shelves:
review:
Book club read. 4.5 stars. Well-written and entertaining.
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The Royal Windsor Secret 70240512 Sisters of the Resistance, a young woman seeks to discover the truth about her mysterious past.Perfect for readers of Shana Abe, Bryn Turnbull, and Marie Benedict.

Cleo Davenport has heard the the murmured conversations that end abruptly the second she walks into a room.Told she was an orphan, she knows the rumor—that her father is none other than the Prince of Wales, heir to the British throne. And at her childhood home at Cairo’s Shepheard’s Hotel, where royals, rulers, and the wealthy live, they even called her “The Princess.�

But her life is turned upside down when she turns seventeen. Sent to London under the chaperonage of her very proper aunt, she’s told it’s time to learn manners and make her debut. But Cleo’s life can’t be confined to a ballroom. She longs for independence and a career as a jewelry designer for Cartier, but she cannot move forward until she finds out about her past.

Determined to unlock the truth, Cleo travels from London, back to Cairo, and then Paris, where her investigations take a shocking turn into the world of the Parisian demi-monde , and a high-class courtesan whose scandalous affair with the young Prince of Wales threatened to bring down the British monarchy long before anyone had heard of Wallis Simpson.]]>
352 Christine Wells 0063268248 Judy 3 3.54 2023 The Royal Windsor Secret
author: Christine Wells
name: Judy
average rating: 3.54
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2025/04/07
date added: 2025/04/06
shelves:
review:
3.5 stars. I enjoyed some parts of this book, at other times I didn't want to continue reading. I would rather it was all written without any elements of truth as, although some facts are recorded in history, others are supposition.
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The Silk House 52972463
Australian history teacher Thea Rust arrives at an exclusive boarding school in the British countryside only to find that she is to look after the first intake of girls in its 150-year history. She is to stay with them in Silk House, a building with a long and troubled past, where the shadows hide more mysteries than she could ever imagine.

In the late 1700s, Rowan Caswell leaves her village to work in the home of an English silk merchant. She is thrust into a new and dangerous world where her talent for herbs and healing soon attracts attention.

In London, Mary-Louise Stephenson lives amid the clatter of the weaving trade and dreams of becoming a silk designer, a job that is the domain of men. Arriving in the market town of Oxleigh, she brings with her a length of fabric woven with a pattern of deadly plants that will have far-reaching consequences for all who dwell in the silk house.

Intoxicating, haunting and inspired by the author's background, THE SILK HOUSE is the exceptional new gothic mystery by Kayte Nunn.]]>
384 Kayte Nunn 0733643256 Judy 4 3.79 2020 The Silk House
author: Kayte Nunn
name: Judy
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/29
date added: 2025/03/28
shelves:
review:
Interesting read and overall I enjoyed this book but some elements and themes were not really to my liking.
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The Ballroom 27993225
A RICHARD AND JUDY BOOK CLUB PICK AUTUMN 2016]]>
352 Anna Hope 0552779474 Judy 2 3.60 2016 The Ballroom
author: Anna Hope
name: Judy
average rating: 3.60
book published: 2016
rating: 2
read at: 2025/03/26
date added: 2025/03/25
shelves:
review:
Book club read. 2.5 stars. I had no problems with the way the story was written or the character development but I simply didn't enjoy it. Managed to read past half way then the characters seemed to lose their way, or the narrative changed direction, so I skimmed to the end.
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Angels of the Pacific 58329297 Their survival would depend on sisterhood and service.

Inspired by the extraordinary true stories of World War II's American Army nurses famously known as the Angels of Bataan and the unsung contributions of Filipinas of the resistance, this novel transports us to a remarkable era of hope, bravery, perseverance, and ultimately--victory.

The Philippines, 1941. Tess Abbott, an American Army nurse, has fled the hardships of the Great Depression at home for the glamour and adventure of Manila, one of the most desirable postings in the world, but everything changes when the Japanese Imperial Army invades with lightning speed and devastating results. Tess and her band of nurses serve on the front lines until captured as prisoners of war and held behind the high stone walls of Manila's Santo Tomas Internment Camp for four long years.

As the Japanese occupation of her beloved homeland commences, Flor Dalisay, a Filipina university student, will be drawn into the underground network of resistance and discover reserves of courage, resilience, and leadership she never knew she possessed.

The war and its aftermath will lead Tess and Flor to find each other to uncover secrets and reveal relationships they would never have predicted, as they work together to defeat the Japanese.]]>
384 Elise Hooper 0063068907 Judy 4 4.15 2022 Angels of the Pacific
author: Elise Hooper
name: Judy
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/18
date added: 2025/03/20
shelves:
review:
Enjoyable story based on true events. It's great to see events exposed that many people aren't aware of and Elise Hooper wrote of them in an easy-to-read manner, filling in gaps in a plausible way.
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Light at Lavelle 223963957

TORN BETWEEN WHAT THEY CANNOT HAVE AND WHAT THEY CANNOT LIVE WITHOUT.

It is 1929. The world is about to change.

Finn Evans is a successful Boston banker harboring a secret that threatens to unravel his carefully constructed idyllic life. Isabelle Lazar, a young Ukrainian farmer, endures unspeakable hardships in her homeland as she fights to save her family from the Soviet Union's iron grip. Barely escaping the Terror-Famine, she washes up alone on America's distant shores.

Fate throws Finn and Isabelle together just as the stock market crash causes a devastating collapse of his world. Amid the Great Depression and the trials of their new lives, an undeniable connection grows between them that they both must hide.

As their intertwined destinies hang in the balance, they discover that even those who have lost everything still have something left to lose. Light at Lavelle is the breathtaking epic love story from the worldwide bestselling author of Tully and The Bronze Horseman . Paullina Simons weaves an unforgettable tapestry of love, hope, and fate, showing us that sometimes the greatest battles are fought within our own hearts.]]>
512 Paullina Simons 1504096460 Judy 5 5.00 Light at Lavelle
author: Paullina Simons
name: Judy
average rating: 5.00
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/16
date added: 2025/03/15
shelves:
review:
I have read most of Paullina Simons' books and love them all. This one didn't disappoint. Writing style that is exciting and gripping, characters that come alive and a unique story line.
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Island in the Sun 177660326
But she soon discovers she has more on her plate than photographs, as the remote island has just been hit by a severe hurricane, leaving mass destruction in its wake.

And then she meets Ranulph who it turns out is a bit of an expert in finding the rare rock carvings her father wants her to photograph.

Ranulph insists they must first help the locals in clearing the island and re-building it before they begin their own expedition.

Their journey leads Cass down a path of bravery and self-discovery, and she soon falls for the handsome Ranulph who has been by her side every step of the way.

But does he feel the same?

A tale of friendship, courage and romance, the new Katie Fforde novel is here.]]>
371 Katie Fforde 1529136180 Judy 2 3.33 2024 Island in the Sun
author: Katie Fforde
name: Judy
average rating: 3.33
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2025/03/04
date added: 2025/03/04
shelves:
review:
I struggled to give this a 2-star rating. I didn't enjoy the writing style, the characters lacked depth and the storyline was too hazy and had big holes in its development. I did finish it, though, as it was a quick and easy read.
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A Distant Shore 56898078 The #1 New York Times bestselling author and “inspirational fiction superstar� (Publishers Weekly) presents this high stakes love story of danger, passion, and faith.

She was a child caught in a riptide in the Caribbean Sea. He was a teenager from the East Coast on vacation with his family. He dove in to save her, and that single terrifying moment changed both of their lives forever.

Ten years later Jack Ryder is a daring undercover agent with the FBI and Eliza Lawrence still lives on that pristine island. She’s an untainted princess in a kingdom of darkness and evil, on the brink of a forced marriage with a dangerous neighboring drug lord, a marriage arranged by her father. This time when Jack and Eliza meet, there’s a connection neither of them can explain. Both of their lives are on the line, and once again, the stakes are deadly high.

Can they join forces in a complicated and dangerous mission, pretending to have a breathtaking love…without really falling? Sometimes miracles happen not once, but twice…along a distant shore.]]>
384 Karen Kingsbury 1982104368 Judy 4 4.26 2021 A Distant Shore
author: Karen Kingsbury
name: Judy
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/27
date added: 2025/03/01
shelves:
review:
Some interesting insights into child-trafficking in particular. Not sure that it is all likely but a quick and enjoyable read.
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Daisy and Kate 198216625
Jealousy destroyed their friendship decades ago, but now they need each other more than ever ...

Once upon a time Daisy Miller and Kate Hannaford were the best of friends, sharing the woes of shift work and nursing, the delights of days off together in their small country town, and the joys of blossoming romances. They couldn't imagine not being the best of friends. Until they weren't.

Now bearing down on their 70s, life hasn't gone the way either woman expected. Daisy is back in town, homeless and reduced to couch-surfing at her granddaughter's place. Meanwhile, a recently widowed Kate is facing the harsh reality that the home and lifestyle she worked so hard for is hollow comfort when there's no one to share it with.

More than three decades have passed since the demise of their friendship. Although neither will admit it, they are lonely and in desperate need of a friend. But they can't agree on anything, most of all what it was that brought about the unravelling of their friendship all those years ago.

Will Daisy and Kate find it in themselves to finally face the past, rediscover what drew them together in the first place, and forgive each other for how it all went wrong for the sake of a new and lasting friendship?

A compelling exploration of the waxing and waning of friendships; how precious they are, and the heartbreak that happens when it all comes undone.]]>
416 Meredith Appleyard 1867271184 Judy 4 4.00 Daisy and Kate
author: Meredith Appleyard
name: Judy
average rating: 4.00
book published:
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/03/01
shelves:
review:
Easy read, interesting and amusing story with a difference. Lessons to be learned regarding friendships. Overall, probably a bit unrealistic but enjoyable anyway.
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<![CDATA[The Roads We Follow (Fog Harbor, #2)]]> 181857763
Raegan chooses to keep the tell-all a secret from her scandal-leery sisters as they embark on a two-week, cross-country road trip at their mother's request and makes it her mission to expose the identity of the author behind the unsanctioned biography. But all is complicated when she discovers their hired bus driver, Micah Davenport, has a hidden agenda of his own--one involving both of their mothers and an old box of journals. As they rely on each other to find the answers they seek, the surprising revelations they unearth will steer them toward their undeniable connection and may even lead them down the most unexpected of paths.]]>
384 Nicole Deese 1493445162 Judy 5 4.32 The Roads We Follow (Fog Harbor, #2)
author: Nicole Deese
name: Judy
average rating: 4.32
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/05
date added: 2025/02/19
shelves:
review:
I loved this book. Easy reading, amusing with great character development.
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<![CDATA[The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules (League of Pensioners, #1)]]> 19135360 435 Catharina Ingelman-Sundberg 1447250990 Judy 3 3.17 2012 The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules (League of Pensioners, #1)
author: Catharina Ingelman-Sundberg
name: Judy
average rating: 3.17
book published: 2012
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/19
date added: 2025/02/19
shelves:
review:
Amusing and ridiculous... really enjoyable for a good laugh but so improbable on many levels.
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The Lost Jewels 52219016 From the author of The Song of the Jade Lily comes a thrilling story of a family secret that leads to a legendary treasure.

Why would someone bury a bucket of precious jewels and gemstones and never return?

Present Day. When respected American jewelry historian, Kate Kirby, receives a call about the Cheapside jewels, she knows she’s on the brink of the experience of a lifetime.

But the trip to London forces Kate to explore secrets that have long been buried by her own family. Back in Boston, Kate has uncovered a series of sketches in her great-grandmother’s papers linking her suffragette great-grandmother Essie to the Cheapside collection. Could these sketches hold the key to Essie’s secret life in Edwardian London?

In the summer of 1912, impoverished Irish immigrant Essie Murphy happens to be visiting her brother when a workman’s pickaxe strikes through the floor of an old tenement house in Cheapside, near St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. The workmen uncover a stash of treasure—from Ottoman pendants to Elizabethan and Jacobean gems—and then the finds disappear again! Could these jewels—one in particular—change the fortunes of Essie and her sisters?

Together with photographer Marcus Holt, Kate Kirby chases the history of the Cheapside gems and jewels, especially the story of a small diamond champlevé enamel ring. Soon, everything Kate believes about her family, gemology, and herself will be threatened.

Based on a fascinating true story, The Lost Jewels is a riveting historical fiction novel that will captivate readers from the beginning to the unforgettable, surprising end.

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368 Kirsty Manning 0062882023 Judy 5 3.70 2020 The Lost Jewels
author: Kirsty Manning
name: Judy
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/10
date added: 2025/02/19
shelves:
review:
Loved this book... well-written with great character development.
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Facing The Music 3316756 304 Mary Nickson 1846053846 Judy 2 3.55 1996 Facing The Music
author: Mary Nickson
name: Judy
average rating: 3.55
book published: 1996
rating: 2
read at: 2025/01/15
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves:
review:
Not much to enjoy about this book except the speed of reading.
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Wish You Were Here 57975066
But then a virus that felt worlds away has appeared in the city, and on the eve of their departure, Finn breaks the news: It’s all hands on deck at the hospital. He has to stay behind. You should still go, he assures her, since it would be a shame for all of their nonrefundable trip to go to waste. And so, reluctantly, she goes.

Almost immediately, Diana’s dream vacation goes awry. Her luggage is lost, the Wi-Fi is nearly nonexistent, and the hotel they’d booked is shut down due to the pandemic. In fact, the whole island is now under quarantine, and she is stranded until the borders reopen. Completely isolated, she must venture beyond her comfort zone. Slowly, she carves out a connection with a local family when a teenager with a secret opens up to Diana, despite her father’s suspicion of outsiders.

In the Galápagos Islands, where Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection was formed, Diana finds herself examining her relationships, her choices, and herself—and wondering if when she goes home, she too will have evolved into someone completely different.]]>
336 Jodi Picoult 1761062824 Judy 4 4.15 2021 Wish You Were Here
author: Jodi Picoult
name: Judy
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/05
date added: 2025/01/04
shelves:
review:
4.5stars. I haven't read a Jodi Picoult novel since I disliked the topics she wrote about but this one seemed different. It was. Writing style is still the same and very readable and engrossing. Picoult's perspective on the Covid pandemic in not exclusive, therefore quite acceptable as taken from her point of view. But what I enjoyed most is the narration regarding what coma/drug induced patients see/dream as I can relate to that and it is the first time I have read or even heard about situations with similarities to my own.
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<![CDATA[The Book Woman's Daughter (The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek, #2)]]> 58803339 New York Times and USA Today Bestseller

Bestselling historical fiction author Kim Michele Richardson is back with the perfect book club read following Honey Mary Angeline Lovett, the daughter of the beloved Troublesome book woman, who must fight for her own independence with the help of the women who guide her and the books that set her free.

In the ruggedness of the beautiful Kentucky mountains, Honey Lovett has always known that the old ways can make a hard life harder. As the daughter of the famed blue-skinned, Troublesome Creek packhorse librarian, Honey and her family have been hiding from the law all her life. But when her mother and father are imprisoned, Honey realizes she must fight to stay free, or risk being sent away for good.

Picking up her mother’s old packhorse library route, Honey begins to deliver books to the remote hollers of Appalachia. Honey is looking to prove that she doesn’t need anyone telling her how to survive, but the route can be treacherous, and some folks aren’t as keen to let a woman pave her own way. If Honey wants to bring the freedom that books provide to the families who need it most, she’s going to have to fight for her place, and along the way, learn that the extraordinary women who run the hills and hollers can make all the difference in the world.]]>
336 Kim Michele Richardson 1728242592 Judy 0 to-read 4.16 2022 The Book Woman's Daughter (The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek, #2)
author: Kim Michele Richardson
name: Judy
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/27
shelves: to-read
review:

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<![CDATA[The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek (The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek, #1)]]> 40914165 An alternate cover edition for ISBN 978-1492671527 can be found here.

In 1936, tucked deep into the woods of Troublesome Creek, KY, lives blue-skinned 19-year-old Cussy Carter, the last living female of the rare Blue People ancestry.

The lonely young Appalachian woman joins the historical Pack Horse Library Project of Kentucky and becomes a librarian, riding across slippery creek beds and up treacherous mountains on her faithful mule to deliver books and other reading material to the impoverished hill people of Eastern Kentucky.

Along her dangerous route, Cussy, known to the mountain folk as Bluet, confronts those suspicious of her damselfly-blue skin and the government's new book program. She befriends hardscrabble and complex fellow Kentuckians, and is fiercely determined to bring comfort and joy, instill literacy, and give to those who have nothing, a bookly respite, a fleeting retreat to faraway lands.]]>
309 Kim Michele Richardson Judy 4 4.17 2019 The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek (The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek, #1)
author: Kim Michele Richardson
name: Judy
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/28
date added: 2024/12/27
shelves:
review:
4.5stars. Book club read. Very readable, informative and eye-opening, I really enjoyed reading about a way of life that I had little idea existed. The country was well-described for someone not likely to ever visit and the characters were real, although I really have no notion of that way of life.
]]>
<![CDATA[Sing (The Homeward Trilogy, #2)]]> 6973799 384 Lisa Tawn Bergren 1434767078 Judy 3 3.91 2010 Sing (The Homeward Trilogy, #2)
author: Lisa Tawn Bergren
name: Judy
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2010
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/22
date added: 2024/12/21
shelves:
review:
An easy but not compelling read as I thought there were many bits missing from the story and the characters didn't really "pop". I did finish it but won't bother with the 3rd book of the trilogy.
]]>
<![CDATA[Breathe (The Homeward Trilogy, #1)]]> 6321983
It's Colorado, 1883. A publishing heiress is on the brink of life.and death. Her beautiful, younger sister is called to the forbidden stage. Her brother and troubled guardian is raging inside. A veiled treasure map leads to a hidden silver mine while a threatening villain hovers in the shadows. And a hero is bent on saving his bride.

JUST BREATHE.]]>
416 Lisa Tawn Bergren 1434767086 Judy 0 to-read 3.89 2009 Breathe (The Homeward Trilogy, #1)
author: Lisa Tawn Bergren
name: Judy
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2009
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/21
shelves: to-read
review:

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<![CDATA[Camino Ghosts (Camino Island, #3)]]> 199550833 292 John Grisham 0385545991 Judy 4 3.91 2024 Camino Ghosts (Camino Island, #3)
author: John Grisham
name: Judy
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/04
date added: 2024/12/04
shelves:
review:
4.5 stars. Really enjoyed reading a John Grisham novel again after several years. Characters are great, storyline easy to follow and an interesting story - no idea if it's based on any facts or not.
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In a Country Garden 40674091 'Wonderfully entertaining . . . Maeve is on cracking form' - Jilly Cooper

Lifelong friends Claudia, Ella, Laura and Sal celebrated sixty as the new forty, determined not to let age change things. But now they are looking at the future and wondering how to make growing old more fun.

Why not live together and have sunny afternoons on the lawn, helping and supporting each other when any of them need it - and still keep enjoying life? Joined by Claudia’s reluctant husband and Sal’s energetic new fiancé, they ignore the protests of their children and pool their resources in a lovely manor house in the country. Only Laura holds out, determined she still has some living to do, especially now she has met the dashing Gavin through an online dating app.

But life still has plenty of surprises in store plus a little romance in what the locals dub a New Age Old Age Commune. But are your best friends the last people you should end up living with?

In A Country Garden is a heartwarming, hilarious tale of growing old not-so-gracefully, from the bestselling author of The Time of Their Lives, Maeve Haran.

]]>
432 Maeve Haran 1509866507 Judy 3 3.21 In a Country Garden
author: Maeve Haran
name: Judy
average rating: 3.21
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/27
date added: 2024/11/27
shelves:
review:
Light-hearted and easy read but story lacked depth and credibility.
]]>
Rebel with a Cause 9399291 268 Ray Avery Judy 5 4.15 2010 Rebel with a Cause
author: Ray Avery
name: Judy
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2010
rating: 5
read at: 2024/11/20
date added: 2024/11/19
shelves:
review:
Book club read. Well-written, informative and inspirational. Incredible life story of an extraordinary man.
]]>
Happiness 44644536
Attila has arrived in London with two tasks: to deliver a keynote speech on trauma, as he has done many times before; and to contact the daughter of friends, his "niece" who hasn't called home in a while. Ama has been swept up in an immigration crackdown, and now her young son Tano is missing.

When, by chance, Attila runs into Jean again, she mobilizes the network of rubbish men she uses as volunteer fox spotters. Security guards, hotel doormen, traffic wardens--mainly West African immigrants who work the myriad streets of London--come together to help. As the search for Tano continues, a deepening friendship between Attila and Jean unfolds.

Meanwhile a consulting case causes Attila to question the impact of his own ideas on trauma, the values of the society he finds himself in, and a grief of his own. In this delicate tale of love and loss, of cruelty and kindness, Forna asks us to consider the interconnectedness of lives, our co-existence with one another and all living creatures, and the true nature of happiness.]]>
312 Aminatta Forna Judy 2 3.70 2018 Happiness
author: Aminatta Forna
name: Judy
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2018
rating: 2
read at: 2024/11/03
date added: 2024/11/09
shelves:
review:
Book club read. The only thing I enjoyed about this book was the writing style and descriptive passages. The story line was so hard to follow and there were too many of them. The people were confusing and, mostly, shallow. Unusually, for me, I actually didn't finish reading the book.
]]>
The Peasant King 123185814 Jemmah has always thought of herself as perfectly ordinary . . . until she faces extraordinary circumstances.

When her mother, the Persian king's famous senior scribe, is kidnapped, Jemmah and her sister must sneak undetected into enemy territory to rescue her. But infiltrating their adversary's lands proves easier than escaping them. Fleeing through dangerous mountain passes, their survival depends on the skills of a stranger they free from prison: a mysterious prince named Asher.

Asher is not who the world believes he is. Despite his royal blood, he has had to climb his way out of poverty to forge success from nothing. A manufacturer of some of the best weaponry in the East, Asher has only one goal: to destroy his father. But following his escape from prison, Asher is irresistibly drawn to Jemmah, unaware that she guards her own secret.

Jemmah must convince Asher to give up everything he has worked for, all for the sake of a higher purpose he's not sure he believes in. The fate of the Persian empire--and possibly the Judean people--hang in the balance and in the persuasive power of one ordinary woman.

Bestselling author Tessa Afshar delivers another adventurous novel filled with romance and imagination, reminding readers of what Publishers Weekly calls her "amazing talent for packing action and intrigue into the biblical setting for modern readers."
Full-length historical romance novel set in biblical times
Compelling, clean romance
Can be read as a standalone or as a companion to The Hidden Prince

Includes discussion questions for book groups]]>
384 Tessa Afshar 1496458273 Judy 3 4.32 2023 The Peasant King
author: Tessa Afshar
name: Judy
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2024/07/01
date added: 2024/10/11
shelves:
review:
I enjoy Afshar's Biblical accounts but this one was a little confusing regarding names of people and the places they went.
]]>
<![CDATA[With This Pledge (Carnton, #1)]]> 38915861
When a fourteen-year-old soldier dies in Lizzie's arms that night, the boy's final words, whispered with urgency, demand that Lizzie deliver them to their intended recipient. But all she has is the boy's first name. And, as she soon discovers, there's no record of him ever having enlisted. How can she set out alone across a land so divided by war and hatred to honor her pledge? Even more, does she dare accept Captain Jones's offer to accompany her? As he convalesces at Carnton, romance has blossomed between him and Lizzie—a woman already betrothed to a man she does not love.]]>
448 Tamera Alexander 0718081838 Judy 4 4.35 2019 With This Pledge (Carnton, #1)
author: Tamera Alexander
name: Judy
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/01
date added: 2024/10/11
shelves:
review:
Easy read but well-written with interesting information regarding the American Civil War (I think.)
]]>
The Happy Camper 46125016
But just when things are finally beginning to run smoothly, Dillon's noncommittal ex-boyfriend shows up with roses . . . and a ring.]]>
352 Melody Carlson 0800737237 Judy 3 3.61 2020 The Happy Camper
author: Melody Carlson
name: Judy
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2024/08/01
date added: 2024/10/11
shelves:
review:
3.5 stars. A light, enjoyable read.
]]>
<![CDATA[To Win Her Favor (Belle Meade Plantation #2)]]> 22608027 A gifted rider in a world where ladies never race, Maggie Linden is determined that her horse will become a champion. But the one man who can help herhas vowed to stay away from thoroughbred racing for good.


An Irish-born son far from home,Cullen McGrath left a once prosperous life in England because of a horse racing scandal that nearly ruined him. He’s come to Nashville for a fresh start, hoping to buy land and start a farm, all while determined to stay as far away from thoroughbred racing as possible. But starting over proves harder than he’d wagered, especially when Maggie Linden’s father makes him an offer he shouldn’t accept yet cannot possibly refuse.


Maggie is certain that her mare, Bourbon Belle, can take the top purse in the annual Drayton Stakes at Nashville’s racetrack––the richest race run in America. Maggie only needs the chance to prove it. To give her that chance, and to save Linden Downs from being sold to the highest bidder, Maggie’s father––aging, yet wily as ever––makes a barter.His agreement includes one tiny, troublesome detail––Maggie must marry a man she’s never met. A man she never would have chosen for herself.


Cullen and Maggie need each other in order to achieve their dreams. But their stubborn, wounded hearts––and the escalating violence from a "secret society" responsible for lynchings and midnight raids––may prove too much for even two determined souls.

]]>
370 Tamera Alexander 0310413168 Judy 4 4.57 2015 To Win Her Favor (Belle Meade Plantation #2)
author: Tamera Alexander
name: Judy
average rating: 4.57
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/01
date added: 2024/10/11
shelves:
review:
Easy reading and enjoyable though rather predictive.
]]>
If I Should Lose You 30408420 214 Natasha Lester 1921888938 Judy 5 4.00 2012 If I Should Lose You
author: Natasha Lester
name: Judy
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2012
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/10/11
shelves:
review:
AS with all Natasha Lester's books, I found this compelling reading with much thought-provoking.
]]>
Ross Poldark (Poldark, #1) 25170731
Thus begins the Poldark series, a heartwarming, gripping saga set in the windswept landscape of Cornwall. With an unforgettable cast of characters that spans loves, lives, and generations, this extraordinary masterwork from Winston Graham is a story you will never forget.]]>
400 Winston Graham Judy 4 3.93 1945 Ross Poldark (Poldark, #1)
author: Winston Graham
name: Judy
average rating: 3.93
book published: 1945
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/01
date added: 2024/10/11
shelves:
review:
I read this many years ago and loved the TV series but decided I'd reread while in "Poldark territory" (Cornwall). I enjoyed it as much this time as the first.
]]>
Anatomy of a Scandal 34466492
Sophie’s husband James is a loving father, a handsome man, a charismatic and successful public figure. And yet he stands accused of a terrible crime. Sophie is convinced he is innocent and desperate to protect her precious family from the lies that threaten to rip them apart.

Kate is the lawyer hired to prosecute the case: an experienced professional who knows that the law is all about winning the argument. And yet Kate seeks the truth at all times. She is certain James is guilty and is determined he will pay for his crimes.

Who is right about James? Sophie or Kate? And is either of them informed by anything more than instinct and personal experience? Despite her privileged upbringing, Sophie is well aware that her beautiful life is not inviolable. She has known it since she and James were first lovers, at Oxford, and she witnessed how easily pleasure could tip into tragedy.

Most people would prefer not to try to understand what passes between a man and a woman when they are alone: alone in bed, alone in an embrace, alone in an elevator� Or alone in the moonlit courtyard of an Oxford college, where a girl once stood before a boy, heart pounding with excitement, then fear. Sophie never understood why her tutorial partner Holly left Oxford so abruptly. What would she think, if she knew the truth?]]>
392 Sarah Vaughan 1501172166 Judy 4 3.57 2018 Anatomy of a Scandal
author: Sarah Vaughan
name: Judy
average rating: 3.57
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/01
date added: 2024/10/11
shelves:
review:
Book Club read. Well-written quite compelling. A few details I would rather have omitted but characters were well-portrayed.
]]>
<![CDATA[The Seven Lives of Lady Barker: Author of Station life in New Zealand]]> 2254498
Betty Gilderdale captures the rich variety of Lady Barker's life, from military outposts in India, to pioneer adventure in rural Canterbury. Momentous historical events of the period, such as the Indian Mutiny (Revolt) and the Zulu Wars, all directly impacted upon her personal life and resulted in huge domestic upheavals.]]>
312 Betty Gilderdale 1869532899 Judy 4 3.72 1996 The Seven Lives of Lady Barker: Author of Station life in New Zealand
author: Betty Gilderdale
name: Judy
average rating: 3.72
book published: 1996
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/01
date added: 2024/10/11
shelves:
review:
Book club read. I really enjoyed this book. It was well-written and Lady Barker's lives well-captured. It was a little long-winded in parts and a few details could have been omitted.
]]>
Requiem 16129309 “Remarkable . . . Requiem delicately probes the complex adjustments we make to live with our sorrows. . . . [A] perfectly modulated novel.”�The Washington Post

An extraordinary researcher and scholar of detail, Frances Itani—author of the best-selling novel Deafening—excels at weaving breathtaking fiction from true-life events. In her new novel, she traces the lives, loves, and secrets in one Japanese-Canadian family during and after their internment in the 1940s.

In 1942, in retaliation for the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Canadian government removed Bin Okuma’s family from their home on British Columbia’s west coast and forced them into internment camps. They were allowed to take only the possessions they could carry, and Bin, as a young boy, was forced to watch neighbors raid his family’s home before the transport boats even undocked. One hundred miles from the “Protected Zone,� they had to form new makeshift communities without direct access to electricity, plumbing, or food—for five years.

Fifty years later, after his wife’s sudden death, Bin travels across Canada to find the biological father who has been lost to him. Both running from grief and driving straight toward it, Bin must ask himself whether he truly wants to find First Father, the man who made a fateful decision that almost destroyed his family all those years ago. With his wife’s persuasive voice in his head and the echo of their love in his heart, Bin embarks on an unforgettable journey into his past that will throw light on a dark time in history.]]>
336 Frances Itani 0802121233 Judy 3 4.09 2011 Requiem
author: Frances Itani
name: Judy
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2011
rating: 3
read at: 2021/01/10
date added: 2024/08/15
shelves:
review:
3.5 stars Book Club read. Interesting and enlightening. Easy read, however, I found the initial chapters a little confusing.
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<![CDATA[The Boys in the Boat: An Epic True-Life Journey to the Heart of Hitler's Berlin]]> 18621446 For readers of Laura Hillenbrand's Seabiscuit and Unbroken, the dramatic story of the American rowing team that stunned the world at Hitler's 1936 Berlin Olympics

Daniel James Brown’s robust book tells the story of the University of Washington’s 1936 eight-oar crew and their epic quest for an Olympic gold medal, a team that transformed the sport and grabbed the attention of millions of Americans. The sons of loggers, shipyard workers, and farmers, the boys defeated elite rivals first from eastern and British universities and finally the German crew rowing for Adolf Hitler in the Olympic games in Berlin, 1936.

The emotional heart of the story lies with one rower, Joe Rantz, a teenager without family or prospects, who rows not for glory, but to regain his shattered self-regard and to find a place he can call home. The crew is assembled by an enigmatic coach and mentored by a visionary, eccentric British boat builder, but it is their trust in each other that makes them a victorious team. They remind the country of what can be done when everyone quite literally pulls together—a perfect melding of commitment, determination, and optimism.

Drawing on the boys� own diaries and journals, their photos and memories of a once-in-a-lifetime shared dream, The Boys in the Boat is an irresistible story about beating the odds and finding hope in the most desperate of times—the improbable, intimate story of nine working-class boys from the American west who, in the depths of the Great Depression, showed the world what true grit really meant. It will appeal to readers of Erik Larson, Timothy Egan, James Bradley, and David Halberstam's The Amateurs.]]>
404 Daniel James Brown 023076889X Judy 3 4.47 2013 The Boys in the Boat: An Epic True-Life Journey to the Heart of Hitler's Berlin
author: Daniel James Brown
name: Judy
average rating: 4.47
book published: 2013
rating: 3
read at: 2021/07/28
date added: 2024/07/21
shelves:
review:
3.5 stars. Book Club read. A very inspiring true story which was, for me, a little long-winded with much unnecessary narrative.
]]>
<![CDATA[The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind]]> 34992622 0 William Kamkwamba 0545591880 Judy 3 4.29 2009 The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
author: William Kamkwamba
name: Judy
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2009
rating: 3
read at: 2018/05/11
date added: 2024/07/16
shelves:
review:
A story of an amazing achievement in one young person's life. William's accomplishments defintitely warrant 5 stars but I found the initial chapters hard to read, the telling of the famine long, heart-wrenching and, actually, arduous and I nearly gave up reading altogether while struggling through the descriptions of the process of building the windmills. However, I skim-read several chapters and found some interesting snippets in the final chapters.
]]>
A Castaway in Cornwall 51270862
When ships sink, wreckers scour the shore for valuables, while Laura searches for clues to the lives lost. She has written letters to loved ones and returned keepsakes to rightful owners. She collects seashells and mementos, and when a man is washed ashore, she collects him too.

As Laura and a neighbor care for the castaway, the mystery surrounding him grows. He has abrasions and a deep cut that looks suspiciously like a knife wound, and he speaks in careful, educated English, yet his accent seems odd. Other clues wash ashore, and Laura soon realizes he is not who he seems to be. Their attraction grows, and while she longs to return the man to his rightful home, evidence against him mounts. With danger pursuing them from every side, will Laura ever find the answers and love she seeks?]]>
392 Julie Klassen 0764234226 Judy 2 3.91 2020 A Castaway in Cornwall
author: Julie Klassen
name: Judy
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2020
rating: 2
read at: 2024/07/02
date added: 2024/07/03
shelves:
review:
I have read most of Julie Klassen's books with much enjoyment so anticipated that this story would follow. I was very disappointed... the book didn't flow, there was little depth to it, and the characters just didn't "come alive."
]]>
<![CDATA[I Am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban]]> 17851885 I come from a country that was created at midnight. When I almost died it was just after midday.

When the Taliban took control of the Swat Valley in Pakistan, one girl spoke out. Malala Yousafzai refused to be silenced and fought for her right to an education.

On Tuesday, October 9, 2012, when she was fifteen, she almost paid the ultimate price. She was shot in the head at point-blank range while riding the bus home from school, and few expected her to survive.

Instead, Malala's miraculous recovery has taken her on an extraordinary journey from a remote valley in northern Pakistan to the halls of the United Nations in New York. At sixteen, she has become a global symbol of peaceful protest and the youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

I Am Malala is the remarkable tale of a family uprooted by global terrorism, of the fight for girls' education, of a father who, himself a school owner, championed and encouraged his daughter to write and attend school, and of brave parents who have a fierce love for their daughter in a society that prizes sons.]]>
327 Malala Yousafzai 0316322407 Judy 4 4.15 2012 I Am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban
author: Malala Yousafzai
name: Judy
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/01
date added: 2024/07/03
shelves:
review:
Book Club read. Very enlightening and well-written, if a little long and detailed in parts.
]]>
Anne of Windy Willows 2452559 224 L.M. Montgomery 0207157197 Judy 3 3.92 1936 Anne of Windy Willows
author: L.M. Montgomery
name: Judy
average rating: 3.92
book published: 1936
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/06/23
shelves:
review:
3.5 stars. I enjoyed this story more than "Anne of the Island" but some of the narrative failed to hold my attention.
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A Simple Wish 58168820 400 Rosie Goodwin 1838773533 Judy 2 4.21 A Simple Wish
author: Rosie Goodwin
name: Judy
average rating: 4.21
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2024/03/09
date added: 2024/06/18
shelves:
review:
I didn't enjoy the style of writing and felt the story was too unbelievable. I only finished reading it because I had begun it but, although it was a lovely ending, it just became more unbelievable as it progressed
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Anne of the Island 5859482 Anne of the Island 4-18-6 221 L.M. Montgomery 0207155445 Judy 3 4.25 1915 Anne of the Island
author: L.M. Montgomery
name: Judy
average rating: 4.25
book published: 1915
rating: 3
read at: 2024/05/31
date added: 2024/06/01
shelves:
review:
3.5 stars. Enjoyable but rather long-winded, slow-moving and not such a fun read as previous books in series.
]]>
<![CDATA[Anne of Avonlea (Anne of Green Gables, #2)]]> 6535755 252 L.M. Montgomery 0207155429 Judy 4 4.26 1909 Anne of Avonlea (Anne of Green Gables, #2)
author: L.M. Montgomery
name: Judy
average rating: 4.26
book published: 1909
rating: 4
read at: 2024/05/30
date added: 2024/05/30
shelves:
review:
Lovely descriptive writing, sometimes a bit too wordy, but otherwise a delightful story.
]]>
<![CDATA[The Hollow (Hercule Poirot, #26)]]> 16303 384 Agatha Christie 0007121024 Judy 4 3.80 1946 The Hollow (Hercule Poirot, #26)
author: Agatha Christie
name: Judy
average rating: 3.80
book published: 1946
rating: 4
read at: 2024/05/21
date added: 2024/05/20
shelves:
review:
4.5 stars. Great re-reading an Agatha Christie mystery. As enjoyable as I expected.
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<![CDATA[The Disappearance of Astrid Bricard]]> 198970480
1917. Parentless, sixteen-year-old Mizza Bricard, at a party surrounded by the most scandalous women in Paris - including Coco Chanel - sees what society expects of a woman alone in the world. That night, she vows to never be gossiped about because of who has paid for her pearls, a vow that drives her through decades and couture houses until finally her name is remembered and a legend created.

1970. Astrid Bricard arrives in New York determined to change the fashion world forever. But when she meets fellow designer Hawk Jones and they embark on a passionate love affair, she finds herself cast in the role of muse, her own talent ignored. Then comes the Battle of Versailles, a competition between American and French designers which marks the making of Hawk's career, and the end of Astrid Brichard.

Present Day. Blythe Bricard is determined not to be anyone's muse - even if that means turning her back on her own designing dreams. Until she's invited to a French chateau where, upon arrival, she discovers that there may be more to her mother and grandmother's stories than she'd thought...

Set in the opulent world of luxury fashion, The Disappearance of Astrid Bricard is a heart-wrenching story of love, courage and betrayal, from the internationally bestselling author of The Paris Secret. Perfect for fans of Rachel Hore, Lucinda Riley and Tracy Rees.]]>
439 Natasha Lester 0733647243 Judy 5 4.34 2023 The Disappearance of Astrid Bricard
author: Natasha Lester
name: Judy
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/05/05
date added: 2024/05/07
shelves:
review:
I love Natasha Lester's style of writing and the genre she choses. I became a little confused with names and dates at the beginning of this story, sorted them out, then decided the narrative was rather long-winded and facts and situations over-explained. However, as I progressed I could see why Lester included what she did and I loved the story - facts and fiction included. Very cleverly intertwined.
]]>
<![CDATA[Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine]]> 35900387 No one’s ever told Eleanor that life should be better than fine.

Meet Eleanor Oliphant: She struggles with appropriate social skills and tends to say exactly what she’s thinking. Nothing is missing in her carefully timetabled life of avoiding social interactions, where weekends are punctuated by frozen pizza, vodka, and phone chats with Mummy.

But everything changes when Eleanor meets Raymond, the bumbling and deeply unhygienic IT guy from her office. When she and Raymond together save Sammy, an elderly gentleman who has fallen on the sidewalk, the three become the kinds of friends who rescue one another from the lives of isolation they have each been living. And it is Raymond’s big heart that will ultimately help Eleanor find the way to repair her own profoundly damaged one.

Soon to be a major motion picture produced by Reese Witherspoon, Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine is the smart, warm, and uplifting story of an out-of-the-ordinary heroine whose deadpan weirdness and unconscious wit make for an irresistible journey as she realizes. . .

The only way to survive is to open your heart. ]]>
390 Gail Honeyman 0008172145 Judy 4 4.17 2017 Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine
author: Gail Honeyman
name: Judy
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2024/04/16
date added: 2024/04/17
shelves:
review:
Book club read. 4.5 stars. Well-written and very enjoyable. Different, shocking and amusing with just a couple of points that stopped me giving it 5 stars.
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Where the Lost Wander 50001299 In this epic and haunting love story set on the Oregon Trail, a family and their unlikely protector find their way through peril, uncertainty, and loss.

The Overland Trail, 1853: Naomi May never expected to be widowed at twenty. Eager to leave her grief behind, she sets off with her family for a life out West. On the trail, she forms an instant connection with John Lowry, a half-Pawnee man straddling two worlds and a stranger in both.

But life in a wagon train is fraught with hardship, fear, and death. Even as John and Naomi are drawn to each other, the trials of the journey and their disparate pasts work to keep them apart. John’s heritage gains them safe passage through hostile territory only to come between them as they seek to build a life together.

When a horrific tragedy strikes, decimating Naomi’s family and separating her from John, the promises they made are all they have left. Ripped apart, they can’t turn back, they can’t go on, and they can’t let go. Both will have to make terrible sacrifices to find each other, save each other, and eventually� make peace with who they are.

]]>
348 Amy Harmon 1542017963 Judy 5 4.28 2020 Where the Lost Wander
author: Amy Harmon
name: Judy
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2024/04/12
date added: 2024/04/11
shelves:
review:
I loved this book, the second I've read by the author, and I'll look for more. Plenty of action, easy to read, emotions, actions and scenes well-described. Nothing to dislike about it!
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<![CDATA[The Bookshop of Second Chances]]> 58107844 A woman desperate to turn a new page heads to the Scottish coast and finds herself locked in a battle of wills with an infuriatingly aloof bookseller in this utterly heartwarming debut.

Thea Mottram is having a bad month. She’s been let go from her office job with no notice—and to make matters even worse, her husband of nearly twenty years has decided to leave her for one of her friends. Bewildered and completely lost, Thea doesn’t know what to do. But when she learns that a distant great uncle in Scotland has passed away, leaving her his home and a hefty antique book collection, she decides to leave Sussex for a few weeks. Escaping to a small coastal town where no one knows her seems to be exactly what she needs.

Almost instantly, Thea becomes enamored with the quaint cottage, comforted by its cozy rooms and lovely but neglected garden. The locals in nearby Baldochrie are just as warm, quirky, and inviting. The only person she can’t seem to win over is bookshop owner Edward Maltravers, to whom she hopes to sell her uncle’s book collection. His gruff attitude—fueled by an infamous, long-standing feud with his brother, a local lord—tests Thea’s patience. But bickering with Edward proves oddly refreshing and exciting, leading Thea to develop feelings she hasn’t experienced in a long time. As she follows a thrilling yet terrifying impulse to stay in Scotland indefinitely, Thea realizes that her new life may quickly become just as complicated as the one she was running from.]]>
448 Jackie Fraser 1398500542 Judy 2 3.80 2020 The Bookshop of Second Chances
author: Jackie Fraser
name: Judy
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2020
rating: 2
read at: 2024/03/20
date added: 2024/03/20
shelves:
review:
I was disappointed in this book. Easy, relaxing narrative but after the initial chapters the storyline focussed on sexual themes, past, possible or predictable, and threw in too much swearing and blasphemy for me to continue reading. I was disappointed as I will be visiting the area this year from abroad and did enjoy doing a little research.
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A Girl Called Samson 62213803
Twenty years later, as the American colonies begin to buckle in their battle for independence, Deborah, impassioned by the cause, disguises herself as a soldier and enlists in the Continental Army. Her impressive height and lanky build make her transformation a convincing one, and it isn’t long before she finds herself confronting the horrors of war head-on.

But as Deborah fights for her country’s freedom, she must contend with the secret of who she is—and, ultimately, a surprising love she can’t deny.

From New York Times bestselling author Amy Harmon comes the saga of a young woman who dares to chart her own destiny in life and love during the American Revolutionary War.]]>
411 Amy Harmon 1542039746 Judy 5 4.28 2023 A Girl Called Samson
author: Amy Harmon
name: Judy
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/03/17
date added: 2024/03/17
shelves:
review:
Well-written, compelling reading, I loved this book. It became even more interesting when I read that it was based on real characters and true events (although author took liberties with facts which I appreciated.)
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Becoming Mrs Mulberry 75650231 From bestselling author Jackie French comes a book about the secrets we carry, those that we unearth - and those that are too dangerous to tell.


The once impoverished medical student Agnes Glock is now the fabulously wealthy Mrs Mulberry. Her estate in the mountains is magnificent, a haven for those too ravaged by the Great War to cope with the society that first condemned them to battle and which now shuns them.

The War has, however, stolen Agnes's chance to graduate as a doctor, as well as the fiance she adored. Her husband, Douglas Mulberry, remains shellshocked and unable to speak. Their scandalous marriage is a farce, an act of kindness to keep Douglas's fortune from his uncle's grasp.

A chance visit to a circus brings about a mystery in the form of a fairylike child whose guardians claim was brought up by dingoes. The child cannot speak and seems deformed. But Agnes is inexplicably drawn to her and believes she can be cured.

The decision to save the child will bring Agnes's lost fiance into her life again, as well as awaken the love of her husband who finds his voice as the three try to solve the mystery of the 'dingo girl'.

Agnes has put aside her own life and the dreams she once had. But now she has choices, with the main question the Who is Mrs Agnes Mulberry?

PRAISE FOR JACKIE FRENCH

'a master storyteller ... [she] gives women a rich, strong, and brutally honest voice' Better Reading

'Heartwarming, heartbreaking and hard to put down' Australian Women's Weekly on If Blood Should Stain the Wattle]]>
460 Jackie French 1867243512 Judy 5 4.32 2023 Becoming Mrs Mulberry
author: Jackie French
name: Judy
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/02/25
date added: 2024/03/03
shelves:
review:
I love Jackie French's books and this one didn't disappoint. I felt it was quite different to her others but entertaining reading anyway.
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The Invitation 40048387 Tuscan Rose and White Gardenia

Sometimes the ties that bind are the most dangerous of all ...

Paris, 1899. Emma Lacasse has been estranged from her older sister for nearly twenty years, since Caroline married a wealthy American and left France. So when Emma receives a request from Caroline to meet her, she is intrigued. Caroline invites Emma to visit her in New York, on one condition: Emma must tutor her shy, young niece, Isadora, and help her prepare for her society debut.

Caroline lives a life of unimaginable excess and opulence as one of New York's Gilded Age millionaires and Emma is soon immersed in a world of luxury beyond her wildest dreams - a far cry from her bohemian lifestyle as a harpist and writer with her lover, Claude, in Montmartre.

Emma hopes for an emotional reunion with her only family, but instead she finds herself in the vice-like grip of her charismatic and manipulative sister, who revels in the machinations of the ultra rich. As Emma begins to question her sister's true motives, a disaster strikes, and New York society is stripped bare - beneath the glittering exterior lies a seething nest of deceit, betrayal, moral corruption ... and perhaps even murder.

From the bestselling author of Tuscan Rose comes a mesmerising tale of two sisters and the dangers and seductions of excess.]]>
416 Belinda Alexandra 0732296455 Judy 5 3.78 2018 The Invitation
author: Belinda Alexandra
name: Judy
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2024/03/01
date added: 2024/03/03
shelves:
review:
A different theme to most of the author's book but I love her style of writing and plot progressions.
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No Place to Hide 25279223 544 Susan Lewis 0345549554 Judy 4 3.84 2015 No Place to Hide
author: Susan Lewis
name: Judy
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2024/02/20
date added: 2024/03/03
shelves:
review:
This story improved as it progressed. I didn't like the jumps in time frames initially but could see the reason for them as I kept reading. The reasons for doing so become obvious right till to the conclusion.
]]>
Angels (Walsh Family, #3) 22722 482 Marian Keyes 0140295984 Judy 1 3.62 2002 Angels (Walsh Family, #3)
author: Marian Keyes
name: Judy
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2002
rating: 1
read at: 2024/02/08
date added: 2024/02/07
shelves:
review:
Easy read which I managed to get half way through before deciding it was too much trivia and inconsequential nonsense to continue.
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<![CDATA[The Last Secret of the Secret Annex]]> 102187968 The extraordinary, never-before-told story of Bep Voskuijl, Anne Frank’s closest friend during the 761 days she spent in the Secret Annex. Bep was just twenty-three when the Franks went into hiding and she risked her life to protect them, plunging into Amsterdam’s black market under the noses of German soldiers and Dutch spies to source food and medicine for the Annex. In those cramped quarters, Bep and Anne’s friendship blossomed. As this book reveals, while she was sharing meals with Anne Frank, Bep’s sister Nelly � whose name was scrubbed from Anne’s published diary � was collaborating with the Nazis.Written by Bep’s own son, The Last Secret of the Secret Annex interweaves her story with Anne Frank’s and Nelly’s to show us the Secret Annex as we’ve never seen it before. We follow Bep after the war as she struggles to build a life in the shadow of her past, unable to get over losing Anne nor put to rest the horrifying suspicion that she had been betrayed by her own flesh and blood. Captivating and unsettlingly suspenseful, The Last Secret of the Secret Annex is a portrait of ordinary families caught between the victims and persecutors, in which collaborators and resisters often lived under the same roof. With a moving mother-son relationship at its heart, it explores how historical trauma is inherited from one generation to the next, and how sometimes keeping a secret hurts far more than revealing a shameful truth. ____________________________________________________________________‘Fascinating . . . not only conveys the quiet heroism of what his mother contributed to Anne Frank’s story, but a sad playing-out of a family’s dysfunction, of the pain of survival, of the ripples of trauma flowing into succeeding generations� Daily Telegraph'Devastating, compelling' Daily Mail 'Superbly well-written, intimate, engrossing, and heartrending' Booklist (Starred)'A riveting read� Peter Hayes, author of Why? Explaining the Holocaust]]> 288 Joop van Wijk-Voskuijl 1398518220 Judy 3 4.14 The Last Secret of the Secret Annex
author: Joop van Wijk-Voskuijl
name: Judy
average rating: 4.14
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2024/01/31
date added: 2024/01/31
shelves:
review:
This book was informative and enlightening but I felt the information was somewhat disjointed and a little confusing.
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After the Party 7531723 After the Party Jewell, Lisa 437 Lisa Jewell 1846055733 Judy 3 3.43 2010 After the Party
author: Lisa Jewell
name: Judy
average rating: 3.43
book published: 2010
rating: 3
read at: 2024/01/11
date added: 2024/01/13
shelves:
review:
Easy read but story was rather drawn out and, therefore, got quite boring.
]]>
<![CDATA[Babylon's Ark: The Incredible Wartime Rescue of the Baghdad Zoo]]> 2320493
When the Iraq war began, conservationist Lawrence Anthony could think of only one the fate of the Baghdad Zoo, caught in the crossfire at the heart of the city. Once Anthony entered Iraq he discovered that hostilities and uncontrolled looting had devastated the zoo and its animals. Working with members of the zoo staff and a few compassionate U.S. soldiers, he defended the zoo, bartered for food on war-torn streets, and scoured bombed palaces for desperately needed supplies.

Babylon's Ark chronicles Anthony's hair-raising efforts to save a pride of Saddam's lions, close a deplorable black-market zoo, run ostriches through shoot-to-kill checkpoints, and rescue the dictator's personal herd of Thoroughbred Arabian horses. A tale of the selfless courage and humanity of a few men and women living dangerously for all the right reasons, Babylon's Ark is an inspiring and uplifting true-life adventure of individuals on both sides working together for the sake of magnificent wildlife caught in a war zone.]]>
272 Lawrence Anthony 0312382154 Judy 4 4.22 2007 Babylon's Ark: The Incredible Wartime Rescue of the Baghdad Zoo
author: Lawrence Anthony
name: Judy
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2023/12/28
shelves:
review:
4.5stars. Book club read. Excellent account and well-written! Hard to believe the lengths some dedicated people go to to save animals!
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It's That Time of Year 53029045
Three strangers arrive home to Ireland to the house that gave each of them refuge when they needed it most. They are there to celebrate the winter wedding of their beloved Annie, the woman who fostered them in their childhoods.
Now Julia is a world-famous singer living in luxury in Paris and Eddie is a chef in London, while Steph spends her days on a remote Greek island, running a writers' retreat with her older lover.
All three have moved on from the past, but as the wedding celebrations get underway, certain truths come to light. It turns out that some hurts last longer than others ...
As Annie says 'I do', with an unexpected twist for her wedding party, will Julia, Eddie and Steph discover their own happy-ever-afters in time for the big day?


A spellbinding, warm-hearted novel from one of Ireland's best-loved writers.]]>
335 Roisin Meaney 1529375185 Judy 3
Merged review:

Light-hearted, easy read.]]>
4.24 2020 It's That Time of Year
author: Roisin Meaney
name: Judy
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2023/01/10
date added: 2023/12/15
shelves:
review:
Light-hearted, easy read.

Merged review:

Light-hearted, easy read.
]]>
The Language of Flowers 11736833
The Victorian language of flowers was used to express emotions: honeysuckle for devotion, azaleas for passion, and red roses for love. But for Victoria Jones, it has been more useful in conveying feelings like grief, mistrust and solitude. After a childhood spent in the foster care system, she is unable to get close to anybody, and her only connection to the world is through flowers and their meanings.

Now eighteen, Victoria has nowhere to go, and sleeps in a public park, where she plants a small garden of her own. When her talent is discovered by a local florist, she discovers her gift for helping others through the flowers she chooses for them. But it takes meeting a mysterious vendor at the flower market for her to realise what's been missing in her own life, and as she starts to fall for him, she must decide whether it's worth risking everything for a second chance at happiness. The Language of Flowers is a heartbreaking and redemptive novel about the meaning of flowers, the meaning of family, and the meaning of love. Beautiful, original and utterly unforgettable, it is set to be the fiction sensation of 2011.]]>
400 Vanessa Diffenbaugh 1742610153 Judy 3 3.86 2011 The Language of Flowers
author: Vanessa Diffenbaugh
name: Judy
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2011
rating: 3
read at: 2023/12/14
date added: 2023/12/13
shelves:
review:
3.5 stars. Book club read. Interesting story though rather confusing with switches in time frames with big gaps in years. Would have helped to begin each chapter stating the age of Virginia at the beginning. I enjoyed the different characters, though again, found Elizabeth and Renata a little confusing as they had similarities and love for Virginia.
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Can't Help Falling 29430781
Emelia Mason has spent her career finding the dirt on the rich and famous. But deep down past this fearless tabloid-reporter façade, there’s a nerdy Narnia-obsessed girl who still can’t resist climbing into wardrobes to check for the magical land on the other side. When a story she writes produces tragic results, she flees to Oxford, England—home to C.S. Lewis—to try and make amends for the damage she has caused.

Peter Carlisle was on his way to become one of Great Britain’s best rowers—until he injured his shoulder and lost his chance at glory. He’s determined to fight his way back to the top even if it means risking permanent disability to do so. It’s the only way he can find his way past failing the one person who never stopped believing in his Olympic dream.

When Peter and Emelia cross paths on her first night in Oxford, the attraction is instant and they find common ground in their shared love of Narnia. But can the lessons from a fantasyland be enough to hold them together when secrets of the real world threaten to tear them apart? Cobblestone streets, an aristocratic estate, and an antique shop with curious a wardrobe bring the world of Narnia to life in Kara Isaac’s inspiring and romantic story about second chances.]]>
373 Kara Isaac 1501117343 Judy 4 4.14 2016 Can't Help Falling
author: Kara Isaac
name: Judy
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2023/12/07
date added: 2023/12/06
shelves:
review:
I didn't really expect to enjoy this book but the further I read the more I did enjoy it. Rather unlikely storyline and characters but amusing and attention-holding.
]]>
Betrayal 56442276 Randall Arthur Judy 3 3.89 Betrayal
author: Randall Arthur
name: Judy
average rating: 3.89
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2023/11/25
date added: 2023/11/24
shelves:
review:
Compelling reading and good description of characters but I'm unsure of actual possibility of entire narrative or, at least, some elements of it. And I didn't like the ending.
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<![CDATA[The Bookseller at the End of the World]]> 60296308
Ruth Shaw weaves together stories of the characters who visit her bookshops, musings about favourite books, and bittersweet stories from her full and varied life.

She's sailed through the Pacific for years, been held up by pirates, worked at Sydney's Kings Cross with drug addicts and prostitutes, campaigned on numerous environmental issues, and worked the yacht Breaksea Girl with her husband, Lance.

Underlining all her wanderings and adventures are some very deep losses and long-held pain. Balancing that out is her beautiful love story with Lance, and her delightful sense of humour.

This will make you weep and make you laugh and make you want to read more books - and make you want to visit Ruth and her two wee bookshops.]]>
320 Ruth Shaw 198854775X Judy 4 4.26 2022 The Bookseller at the End of the World
author: Ruth Shaw
name: Judy
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2023/11/15
date added: 2023/11/15
shelves:
review:
4.5 stars. Book Club read. I loved this autobiography. Well-written, amusing and sad; fast-moving and inspirational. Amazed with how much honesty Ruth revealed her life's story and without bitterness or regret.
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In the Time We Lost 42424329 The BRAND NEW NOVEL from Sunday Times bestselling author Carrie Hope Fletcher, coming October 2019.

'Reminded me so much of Cecelia Ahern' Ali McNamara
'Our go-to for spellbinding stories with a magical edge' Heat


Luna Lark used to love her name, but that was before people started saying it differently .

I'm so sorry, Luna.
Are you alright, Luna?
Everything will be okay, Luna.

Now Luna is taking back control by starting again in the most remote place she could find: Ondingside, a magical little town with barely a hundred and fifty people in the middle of nowhere important. She'll finally finish her latest novel, get herself back to normal, maybe even find love (and continue being a hopeless romantic).

But on her first night in Ondingside a freak July snow fall freezes the town. Snowed in, the town stands still. Can Luna break out of the monotony and do what she came to do?


Available to PRE-ORDER now in hardback and ebook!

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400 Carrie Hope Fletcher Judy 1 3.30 2019 In the Time We Lost
author: Carrie Hope Fletcher
name: Judy
average rating: 3.30
book published: 2019
rating: 1
read at: 2023/11/11
date added: 2023/11/10
shelves:
review:
Only redeeming thing about this story is that it was an easy read so I could finish it quickly. Actually put it down part way through but picked it up again in the middle of the night... and, yes, it put me back to sleep. Rather ridiculous storyline and ending was incomplete, unexplained and odd.
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Love Letters from Montmartre 48590077 For fans of Nina George, Elena Ferrante, and Valentina Cebeni, a charming, uplifting novel about a man who sets out to fulfil his dead wife’s last wish.

Julien Azouly, the famous French writer of beautiful romance novels, has stopped believing in love. When his beloved wife, Hélène, dies at the age of thirty-three, leaving him alone to raise their young son, Arthur, he is so devastated that he loses faith in the happier side of life—and along with that his ability to write.

But Hélène was clever. Before her death, she made her husband promise to write her thirty-three letters, one for each year of her life. Six months after the funeral, Julien finds himself standing in the most famous cemetery in Paris, the painful first letter in his hand. Little does he know that something strange—and wonderful—is about to happen.

An ode to love, Paris, and joie de vivre, Love Letters from Montmartre brings the reader down narrow streets, past the cozy red bistro on Rue Gabrielle, and all the way to Montmartre cemetery with its beautiful stone angels, where we will discover the truth we all hope to find: that love is real, that miracles can happen and that—most of all—it’s never too late to rediscover your dreams. Empathetic and wise, this is the deeply profound yet very human story of a man who finds love just when he thinks all is lost.]]>
264 Nicolas Barreau 1950691527 Judy 3 Just re-read this book... can't have been very memorable cos I didn't remember it! But my review would be the same.]]> 3.70 2018 Love Letters from Montmartre
author: Nicolas Barreau
name: Judy
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at: 2023/11/06
date added: 2023/11/05
shelves:
review:
3.5 stars. Easy read with some interesting concepts and situations. The most disconcerting factor for me was that a new relationship happened so quickly.
Just re-read this book... can't have been very memorable cos I didn't remember it! But my review would be the same.
]]>
<![CDATA[The Queen's Secret: A Novel of England's World War II Queen]]> 54246736 If you love Jennifer Robson or The Crown you will love New York Times bestselling author Karen Harper’s novel about Elizabeth, The Queen Mother.

1939. As the wife of the King George VI and the mother of the future queen, Elizabeth—“the queen mother”—shows a warm, smiling face to the world. But it’s no surprise that Hitler himself calls her the “Most Dangerous Woman in Europe.� For behind that soft voice and kindly demeanor is a will of steel.

Two years earlier, George was thrust onto the throne when his brother Edward abdicated, determined to marry his divorced, American mistress Mrs. Simpson. Vowing to do whatever it takes to make her husband’s reign a success, Elizabeth endears herself to the British people, and prevents the former king and his brazen bride from ever again setting foot in Buckingham Palace.

Elizabeth holds many powerful cards, she’s also hiding damaging secrets about her past and her provenance that could prove to be her undoing.

In this riveting novel of royal secrets and intrigue, Karen Harper lifts the veil on one of the world’s most fascinating families, and how its “secret weapon� of a matriarch maneuvered her way through one of the most dangerous chapters of the century.]]>
351 Karen Harper Judy 3 3.12 2020 The Queen's Secret: A Novel of England's World War II Queen
author: Karen Harper
name: Judy
average rating: 3.12
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2023/10/29
date added: 2023/10/29
shelves:
review:
3.5 stars. Informative and interesting but too much information regarding the King & Queen's "secret" and the Queen's secret regarding her relationship with David, the previous king. But easy to read and many snippets of lesser-known, presumably fairly accurate personal accounts regarding WW2 and Winston Churchill.
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The Orchard 60324185
For generations, Ellie Hostetler's family has tended their Lancaster County orchard, a tradition her twin brother, Evan, will someday continue. Yet when Evan's draft number is called up in the lottery for the Vietnam War, the family is shocked to learn he has not sought conscientious objector status, despite their Old Order Amish belief in non-resistance. The faraway war that has caused so much turmoil and grief among their Englisher neighbors threatens too close to home.

As Evan departs for boot camp, Ellie confides her disappointment to Sol Bontrager, the brother of her best friend and cousin to her new beau, Menno. In contrast to Evan, Sol is a conscientious objector. Despite Ellie's attraction to Menno, she finds herself drawn to Sol's steady presence as they work together in the orchard. Suddenly, it feels as if everything in Ellie's world is shifting, and the plans she held so dear seem increasingly uncertain. Can she and her family find the courage to face a future unlike any they could have imagined?

"This [book] serves as a reminder of why Lewis continues to top bestseller lists."-- Publishers Weekly

" The Orchard is a peaceful, heartwarming romance novel set amid the quiet solitude of an Amish family's orchard during the Vietnam War."-- Foreword Reviews starred review]]>
346 Beverly Lewis 0764237535 Judy 2 4.19 The Orchard
author: Beverly Lewis
name: Judy
average rating: 4.19
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2023/10/19
date added: 2023/10/19
shelves:
review:
A very shallow story with unbelievable characters and situations. I have read several of Beverly Lewis's books and they are all very light reads but this one was simply too child-like.
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The Language of Food 58294567
Told in alternate voices by the award-winning author of The Joyce Girl, and with recipes that leap to life from the page, The Language of Food by Annabel Abbs is the most thought-provoking and page-turning historical novel you’ll read this year, exploring the enduring struggle for female freedom, the power of female friendship, the creativity and quiet joy of cooking and the poetry of food, all while bringing Eliza Action out of the archives and back into the public eye.

England 1837. Eliza Acton is a poet who dreams of seeing her words in print. But when she takes her new manuscript to a publisher, she’s told that ‘poetry is not the business of a lady�. Instead, they want her to write a cookery book. England is awash with exciting new ingredients, from spices to exotic fruits. That’s what readers really want from women.

Eliza leaves the offices appalled. But when her father is forced to flee the country for bankruptcy, she has no choice but to consider the proposal. Never having cooked before in her life, she is determined to learn and to discover, if she can, the poetry in recipe writing. To assist her, she hires seventeen-year-old Ann Kirby, the impoverished daughter of a war-crippled father and a mother with dementia.

Over the course of ten years, Eliza and Ann developed an unusual friendship � one that crossed social classes and divides � and, together, they broke the mould of traditional cookbooks and changed the course of cookery writing forever.]]>
416 Annabel Abbs 1398502227 Judy 4 3.98 2021 The Language of Food
author: Annabel Abbs
name: Judy
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2023/10/14
date added: 2023/10/14
shelves:
review:
4.5 stars. I really enjoyed this book. A novel approach and well-written but it surprised me by ending rather abruptly. I was interested to find, at the conclusion of the book, that the story is based on truth.
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Daughters-in-Law 9293224 336 Joanna Trollope 1451618387 Judy 3 3.43 2011 Daughters-in-Law
author: Joanna Trollope
name: Judy
average rating: 3.43
book published: 2011
rating: 3
read at: 2023/10/10
date added: 2023/10/11
shelves:
review:
Book Club read. Easy read. Enjoyable but not specifically delightful or particularly engrossing.
]]>
The Rose and the Thistle 61137156
No sooner has Everard Hume lost his father, Lord Wedderburn, than Lady Hedley arrives with the clothes on her back and her mistress in tow. He has his own problems--a volatile brother with dangerous political leanings, an estate to manage, and a very young brother in need of comfort and direction in the wake of losing his father. It would be best for everyone if he could send this misfit heiress on her way as soon as possible.

Drawn into a whirlwind of intrigue, shifting alliances, and ambitions, Lady Blythe must be careful whom she trusts. Her fortune, her future, and her very life are at stake. Those who appear to be adversaries may turn out to be allies--and those who pretend friendship may be enemies.]]>
416 Laura Frantz 080074067X Judy 4 4.13 2023 The Rose and the Thistle
author: Laura Frantz
name: Judy
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2023/10/04
date added: 2023/10/04
shelves:
review:
4.5 stars. I loved most of this book but found the beginning chapters a little confusing with names and places and politics. The large middle section was compulsive reading and I found it hard to put the narrative down. Although the ending was delightful, I felt it happened a little too quickly with missing details.
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Loop Tracks 57958363
Loop Tracks is a major New Zealand novel, written in real time against the progress of the Covid-19 pandemic and the New Zealand General Election and euthanasia referendum.]]>
332 Sue Orr 1776564251 Judy 3 4.15 Loop Tracks
author: Sue Orr
name: Judy
average rating: 4.15
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2023/09/27
date added: 2023/09/27
shelves:
review:
Book club read. Well-written and characters are generally portrayed well. An interesting account with many true examples included, especially towards the end. I found some of the middle section rather tedious but the biggest "problem" I had with this story was the one-sided attitude throughout... though I guess that's the author's prerogative.
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Daughter of Rome 49401714 A woman with a devastating secret. A man bent on proving his worth. A chance encounter that catapults them into the heart of history.

When the daughter of a prominent Roman general meets a disinherited Jewish immigrant, neither one can dream of God's plan to transform them into the most influential couple of the early church. Nor can they anticipate the mountains that will threaten to bury them. Their courtship unwittingly shadowed by murder and betrayal, Priscilla and Aquila slowly work to build a community of believers, while their lives grow increasingly complicated thanks to a shaggy dog, a mysterious runaway, and a ruthless foe desperate for love. But when they're banished from their home by a capricious emperor, they must join forces with an unusual rabbi named Paul and fight to turn treachery into redemption.

With impeccable research and vivid detail, Daughter of Rome is both an emotive love story and an immersive journey through first-century Rome and Corinth, reminding readers once again why Debbie Macomber has said that "no one brings the Bible to life like Tessa Afshar."]]>
416 Tessa Afshar 1496428706 Judy 5 4.32 2020 Daughter of Rome
author: Tessa Afshar
name: Judy
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2023/09/21
date added: 2023/09/21
shelves:
review:
Light, easy read but storyline is another lovely one by Afshar.
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<![CDATA[Anne of Green Gables (Anne of Green Gables, #1)]]> 6327266 256 L.M. Montgomery 0207155437 Judy 5 4.48 1908 Anne of Green Gables (Anne of Green Gables, #1)
author: L.M. Montgomery
name: Judy
average rating: 4.48
book published: 1908
rating: 5
read at: 2023/09/14
date added: 2023/09/17
shelves:
review:
Loved this story... again. It was even more interesting after watching "Anne with an 'E' " on Netflix (although there are many differences).
]]>
<![CDATA[Harvest of Rubies (Harvest of Rubies, #1)]]> 13160611
Not bad, for a woman living in a man's world. But a devastating past has left Sarah believing that God doesn't love her and her achievements are the measure of her worth—a measure she can never quite live up to.

Darius Pasargadae is accustomed to having his way. A wealthy and admired aristocrat, the last thing he expects is an arranged marriage to the queen's scribe, an intelligent woman who scorns him.

Can two such different people help one another overcome the idols that bind them?]]>
342 Tessa Afshar 0802405584 Judy 5 4.40 2012 Harvest of Rubies (Harvest of Rubies, #1)
author: Tessa Afshar
name: Judy
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2012
rating: 5
read at: 2023/09/06
date added: 2023/09/09
shelves:
review:
My favourite of Afshar's book that I have read so far. Easy read, good narrative.
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The Lacemaker 35069201
Though her own life seems in order, colonial Williamsburg is a powder keg on the verge of exploding, and her fiancé's cousin Noble Rynallt carries the flame of revolution in his heart. Those with connections to the British nobility are suspected as spies, and Liberty soon finds herself left with a terrible choice. Will she stay true to her English roots? Or side with Noble and the radical revolutionaries?]]>
413 Laura Frantz 0800726634 Judy 4 4.11 2018 The Lacemaker
author: Laura Frantz
name: Judy
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2023/09/01
date added: 2023/09/01
shelves:
review:
3.5 stars Interesting story set in 1700s in USA. Storyline was enjoyable and characters okay but the plot lacked depth. I enjoyed the Christian aspect and lack of swearing and sex scenes.
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Where the Crawdads Sing 43323704
But Kya is not what they say. A born naturalist with just one day of school, she takes life's lessons from the land, learning the real ways of the world from the dishonest signals of fireflies. But while she has the skills to live in solitude forever, the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. Drawn to two young men from town, who are each intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new and startling world–until the unthinkable happens.

In Where the Crawdads Sing, Owens juxtaposes an exquisite ode to the natural world against a profound coming of age story and haunting mystery. Thought-provoking, wise, and deeply moving, Owens’s debut novel reminds us that we are forever shaped by the child within us, while also subject to the beautiful and violent secrets that nature keeps.

The story asks how isolation influences the behavior of a young woman, who like all of us, has the genetic propensity to belong to a group. The clues to the mystery are brushed into the lush habitat and natural histories of its wild creatures.]]>
370 Delia Owens 1472154665 Judy 4 4.26 2018 Where the Crawdads Sing
author: Delia Owens
name: Judy
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2023/08/25
date added: 2023/08/24
shelves:
review:
Easy reading style... short chapters and plenty of conversation. I felt there were some too-large gaps in the story and some aspects were not quite believable.
]]>
The Alice Network 32051912
1947. In the chaotic aftermath of World War II, American college girl Charlie St. Clair is pregnant, unmarried, and on the verge of being thrown out of her very proper family. She's also nursing a desperate hope that her beloved cousin Rose, who disappeared in Nazi-occupied France during the war, might still be alive. So when Charlie's parents banish her to Europe to have her "little problem" taken care of, Charlie breaks free and heads to London, determined to find out what happened to the cousin she loves like a sister.

1915. A year into the Great War, Eve Gardiner burns to join the fight against the Germans and unexpectedly gets her chance when she's recruited to work as a spy. Sent into enemy-occupied France, she's trained by the mesmerizing Lili, code name Alice, the "queen of spies", who manages a vast network of secret agents right under the enemy's nose.

Thirty years later, haunted by the betrayal that ultimately tore apart the Alice Network, Eve spends her days drunk and secluded in her crumbling London house. Until a young American barges in uttering a name Eve hasn't heard in decades, and launches them both on a mission to find the truth...no matter where it leads.]]>
503 Kate Quinn 0062654195 Judy 4 4.30 2017 The Alice Network
author: Kate Quinn
name: Judy
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2023/08/19
date added: 2023/08/18
shelves:
review:
Book club read. 4.5stars. Very enjoyable and well-written. I didn't, initially, like the jumps of time-frames but realised that the style was necessary. Not keen on the explicit sexual descriptions or the violence but they, too, did add understanding.
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The Duchess 71515395
Arriving in 1928, Wallis was a divorced, penniless, middle-aged foreigner with average looks and no connections. Yet, just eight years later, a king renounced his throne for her. How did a woman from nowhere capture the heart of the world's most glamorous bachelor? Wendy Holden tells the amazing story.]]>
0 Wendy Holden 1787396258 Judy 4 4.00 2021 The Duchess
author: Wendy Holden
name: Judy
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2023/08/08
date added: 2023/08/08
shelves:
review:
4.5 stars. I nearly put this book down after the initial few chapters as it seemed that the author was guessing the facts. However, after reading her "Acknowledgements" I decided she had done her research and the details were probably factual enough. From then I really enjoyed the book... written in very readable style my one criticism would be the insertion of the funeral details throughout the story... I would have preferred to read them, uninterrupted, at the end.
]]>
<![CDATA[The Three Lives of Alix St Pierre]]> 59543964
1943. After spearheading several successful advertising campaigns in New York, PR wizard Alix St Pierre comes to the attention of the US government and finds herself recruited into a fledgling intelligence organisation.
Enlisted as a spy, Alix is sent to Europe where she is tasked with getting close to a Nazi who might be willing to help the Allied forces - but there's also the chance he might be a double agent.

1946. Following the war, Alix moves to Paris to run the Service de la Presse for the yet-to-be-launched House of Christian Dior. But when a figure from the war reappears and threatens to destroy her future, Alix realises that only she can right the wrongs of the past and bring him to justice.

The Three Lives of Alix St Pierre is a thrilling, sumptuous work of historical fiction told in three timelines: before, during and after WWII. This completely immersive story takes readers from the dangerous, intrigue-filled rooms in Switzerland where elites of both sides mingled and schemed during the war, to the glamorous halls of the House of Dior in the golden age of French fashion and journalism.]]>
432 Natasha Lester 0733647227 Judy 5 3.94 2022 The Three Lives of Alix St Pierre
author: Natasha Lester
name: Judy
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2023/07/30
date added: 2023/08/01
shelves:
review:
A little confusing initially but then became the great read as per Natasha Lester's books.
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Hothouse Flower 10151892 For fans of The House at Riverton and 𳦳�a debut spanning from the 1930s to the present day, from a magnificent estate in war-torn England to Thailand, this sweeping novel tells the tale of a concert pianist, Julia, and the prominent Crawford family whose shocking secrets are revealed, leading to devastating consequences for generations to come.

As a child Julia Forrester spent many idyllic hours in the hothouse of Wharton Park, the great house where her grandfather tended exotic orchids. Years later, while struggling with overwhelming grief over the death of her husband and young child, she returns to the tranquility of the estate. There she reunites with Kit Crawford, heir to the estate and her possible salvation.

When they discover an old diary, Julia seeks out her grandmother to learn the truth behind a love affair that almost destroyed Wharton Park. Their search takes them back to the 1930s when a former heir to Wharton Park married his young society bride on the eve of World War II. When the two lovers are cruelly separated, the impact will be felt on generations to come.

Lucinda Riley skillfully sweeps her readers between the magical world of Wharton Park and Thailand during World War II with irresistible and atmospheric storytelling. Filled with twists and turns, passions and lies, and ultimately redemption, Hothouse Flower is a romantic, poignant novel that became an instant bestseller in the UK and Germany.

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577 Lucinda Riley 0141049375 Judy 5 3.86 2010 Hothouse Flower
author: Lucinda Riley
name: Judy
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2010
rating: 5
read at: 2023/07/18
date added: 2023/07/19
shelves:
review:
I loved this book. Time changes blended well, great characters, surprises along the way and outcome not so predictable. Definitely one of my favourite authors.
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The Lady's Mine 58389761
New York Times bestselling author Francine Rivers returns to the California frontier in this sweeping, romantic tale of a displaced New England suffragette, a former Union soldier disinherited by his Southern family, and the town they join forces to save.

1875. When Kathryn Walsh arrives in tiny Calvada, a mining town nestled in the Sierra Nevadas, falling in love is the farthest thing from her mind. Banished from Boston by her wealthy stepfather, she has come to claim an inheritance from the uncle she never a defunct newspaper office on a main street overflowing with brothels and saloons, and a seemingly worthless mine. Moved by the oppression of the local miners and their families, Kathryn decides to relaunch her uncle’s newspaper―and then finds herself in the middle of a maelstrom, pitted against Calvada’s most powerful men. But Kathryn intends to continue to say―and publish―whatever she pleases, especially when she knows she’s right.

Matthias Beck, owner of a local saloon and hotel, has a special interest in the new lady in town. He instantly recognizes C. T. Walsh’s same tenacity in the beautiful and outspoken redhead―and knows all too well how dangerous that family trait can be. While Kathryn may be right about Calvada’s problems, her righteousness could also get her killed. But when the handsome hotelier keeps finding himself on the same side of the issues as the opinionated Miss Walsh, Matthias’s restless search for purpose becomes all about answering the call of his heart.

Everyone may be looking to strike it rich in this lawless boomtown, but it’s a love more precious than gold that will ultimately save them all.]]>
450 Francine Rivers 1496447573 Judy 5 4.11 The Lady's Mine
author: Francine Rivers
name: Judy
average rating: 4.11
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2023/07/12
date added: 2023/07/16
shelves:
review:
Probably not quite 5 stars. I love all Francine Rivers' books especially as they are without swearing or unnecessary sexual scenes. This one is not based on a Biblical theme and makes a delightful romance which is somewhat predictable. An easy but very enjoyable read.
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Days are Like Grass 31142030
Debut novel from New Zealand author.]]>
240 Sue Younger 0994104766 Judy 5 3.96 2016 Days are Like Grass
author: Sue Younger
name: Judy
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at: 2023/07/08
date added: 2023/07/08
shelves:
review:
Book club read. I loved this book... easy to read, interesting issues, characters well-described, good dialogues.
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Second Thyme Around 442957
Lucas in disagreeable, curt, arrogant, and smolderingly gorgeous. He's also the new chef at Grantly House, Perdita's number-one customer. Worse, Mr. Grantly has the insane idea of starting a television cooking show that will put Lucas and Perdita together as "The Gourmet and the Gardener."

Now, things are heating up in the kitchen--and elsewhere. With the bright lights blazing and old feelings stirring the pot, it could be a recipe for disaster...or absolute delight.]]>
384 Katie Fforde 0312335407 Judy 4 3.81 1999 Second Thyme Around
author: Katie Fforde
name: Judy
average rating: 3.81
book published: 1999
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2023/07/06
shelves:
review:
Light-hearted easy read. Positive, fun characters and nice story-line.
]]>
The Last Concerto 50829440 From the acclaimed author of Four Hundred and Forty Steps to the Sea and Under a Sardinian Sky comes a lyrical new novel set against a stunning Italian backdrop.

Famed for its natural beauty and rich history, Sardinia in 1968 is notorious, too, for the bandits who kidnap wealthy landowners for ransom. Eleven-year-old Alba Fresu's brother, and her father, Bruno, are abducted by criminals who mistake Bruno for a rich man. After a grueling journey through the countryside, the two are eventually released--but the experience leaves Alba shaken and unable to readjust to normal life, or to give voice to her inner turmoil.

Accompanying her mother to cleaning jobs, Alba visits the villa of an eccentric signora and touches the keys of a piano for the first time. The instrument's spell is immediate. During secret lessons, forbidden by her mother, Alba is at last able to express emotions too powerful for words alone. Ignoring her parents' insistence that she work in the family's car dealership and marry a local boy, Alba accepts a scholarship to the Rome Accademia. There she immerses herself in a vibrant world of art--and a passionate affair. But her path will lead her to a crossroads, where Alba will have to reconcile the past she fled with her longing for love and family to fully convey the music of her heart . . .]]>
384 Sara Alexander 0008273715 Judy 5 3.89 2019 The Last Concerto
author: Sara Alexander
name: Judy
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2023/07/01
date added: 2023/07/01
shelves:
review:
Probably not quite 5 stars but I did love this story. It developed nicely, the characters were quite relatable and, although I am not a pianist or classical musician, I could relate to the musical themes.
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The Wisdom of Sally Red Shoes 40544992 Run Time = 9 hours and 32 minutes

A “warm and wise� listen (The Guardian) from the author of The Keeper of Lost Things: Still reeling from a long-ago tragedy, Masha lives a quiet life � until the fabulously colorful Kitty and mysterious Sally open up her world. A “compelling� and “powerful� tale that “fans of Karen White and Marian Keyes will especially enjoy� (Booklist).

Once a spirited, independent woman with a rebellious streak, her life has been forever changed by a tragic event twelve years ago.

Unable to let go of her grief, she finds solace in the silent company of the souls of her local Victorian cemetery and at the town's lido, where she seeks refuge underwater - safe from the noise and the pain.

But a chance encounter with two extraordinary women - the fabulous and wise Kitty Muriel, a convent girl-turned-magician's wife-turned-seventy-something-roller-disco-fanatic, and the mysterious Sally Red Shoes, a bag lady with a prodigious voice - opens up a new world of possibilities, and the chance to start living again.

Until the fateful day when the past comes roaring back...]]>
326 Ruth Hogan 1473669006 Judy 2 3.74 2018 The Wisdom of Sally Red Shoes
author: Ruth Hogan
name: Judy
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2018
rating: 2
read at: 2023/06/24
date added: 2023/06/23
shelves:
review:
Book club read. 2.5 stars. Easy to read but only moderately amusing, rather sad and also quite confusing.
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Sunset Ridge 17905453 Nicole Alexander's new bestseller is an epic historical novel that takes three brothers from the drought-stricken outback of Queensland to the horror of the trenches in World War One.

They went to war and fought for love ...

Although Madeleine has grown up in the shadow of her grandfather, the renowned artist David Harrow, she knows little about him. For David died long before she was born, and his paintings sold off to save the family property, Sunset Ridge.

Now, decades on, with the possibility of a retrospective of David's work, Madeleine races to unravel the remarkable life of her grandfather, a veteran of the Great War, unaware that his legacy extends far beyond the boundaries of the family property�

It's 1916, and as Europe descends further into bloodshed, three Queensland brothers -Thaddeus, Luther and David Harrow - choose freedom over their restricted lives at Sunset Ridge. A ‘freedom' that sees them bound for the hell of the trenches.

With the world on fire around them, the brothers bear witness to both remarkable courage and shocking carnage. But they also come to understand the healing power of love � love for their comrades, love for each other, and love for the young, highly spirited girl they left back home�

This is a story of bravery and misadventure, of intolerance and friendship, most of all it is the story of three young men who went to war and fought for love.]]>
448 Nicole Alexander 1864712775 Judy 2 3.99 2013 Sunset Ridge
author: Nicole Alexander
name: Judy
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2013
rating: 2
read at: 2023/06/14
date added: 2023/06/13
shelves:
review:
This book had elements of a good story but I found the changes in times and characters and situations confusing. I didn't find any of the characters really developed personalities and many situations were too brief or lacked depth.
]]>
Consequences 2360575 Lorna's decisions and their unforeseen consquences come to shape the lives first of her daughter Molly, and then of her granddaughter Ruth.]]> 305 Penelope Lively 0141021284 Judy 3 3.54 1910 Consequences
author: Penelope Lively
name: Judy
average rating: 3.54
book published: 1910
rating: 3
read at: 2023/05/31
date added: 2023/05/30
shelves:
review:
3.5stars. I enjoyed the theme of the novel but found the emotions of the various consequences were lacking and there were some rather tedious descriptions that were unnecessary.
]]>
When All is Said 43727686 ‘I’m here to remember � all that I have been and all that I will never be again.�

At the bar of a grand hotel in a small Irish town sits 84-year-old Maurice Hannigan. He’s alone, as usual -though tonight is anything but. Pull up a stool and charge your glass, because Maurice is finally ready to tell his story.

Over the course of this evening, he will raise five toasts to the five people who have meant the most to him. Through these stories � of unspoken joy and regret, a secret tragedy kept hidden, a fierce love that never found its voice � the life of one man will be powerfully and poignantly laid bare.

Heart-breaking and heart-warming all at once, the voice of Maurice Hannigan will stay with you long after all is said.]]>
266 Anne Griffin 1473683025 Judy 4 4.02 2019 When All is Said
author: Anne Griffin
name: Judy
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2023/05/17
date added: 2023/05/18
shelves:
review:
Book Club read. Not a book I would choose to read normally but I enjoyed Maurice's summaries of the main people in his life. Easy to read but quite thought-provoking at times.
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The Girl on the Cliff 12376077 A beautiful drama spanning decades, from international Number One bestselling author Lucinda Riley

Why has a secret from 1914 caused a century of heartache?

Troubled by recent loss, Grania Ryan has returned to Ireland and the arms of her loving family. And it is here, on a cliff edge, that she first meets a young girl, Aurora, who will profoundly change her life.

Mysteriously drawn to Aurora, Grania discovers that the histories of their families are strangely and deeply entwined . . .

From a bittersweet romance in wartime London to a troubled relationship in contemporary New York, from devotion to a foundling child to forgotten memories of a lost brother, the Ryans and the Lisles, past and present, have been entangled for a century. Ultimately, it will be Aurora whose intuition and remarkable spirit help break the spell and unlock the chains of the past.

Haunting, uplifting and deeply moving, Aurora's story tells of the triumph of hope over loss.]]>
543 Lucinda Riley 0241954975 Judy 4 4.11 2011 The Girl on the Cliff
author: Lucinda Riley
name: Judy
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2023/05/08
date added: 2023/05/10
shelves:
review:
I found this story a little confusing at first with so many characters and changing time frames, however, with the inclusion of a family tree, I found the book hard to put down. Interesting characters, some who became more familiar than others, and easy to read.
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<![CDATA[The Last Voyage of Mrs Henry Parker]]> 50138995
But when Henry goes missing, Evelyn sets off to search every part of the ocean liner to find him; misadventures are had � all new to Evelyn. If only she could remember the events of the night before as clearly as she can recall the first time she met Henry on a passage from England to Australia in 1953 and fell in love � abandoning her dreams to become a midwife to be a wife instead � and the long-ago painful events that left Evelyn all at sea.

Why is it so hard to remember some things and so hard to forget others? And where is Henry?]]>
324 Joanna Nell 0733640370 Judy 4 3.88 2019 The Last Voyage of Mrs Henry Parker
author: Joanna Nell
name: Judy
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2023/04/26
date added: 2023/04/26
shelves:
review:
4.5 stars. I enjoyed this book. Easy to read with humour and insights into life on board a cruise ship plus understanding of dementia/Alzheimers. Character descriptions were great and characters themselves were delightful.
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<![CDATA[Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood]]> 29780253
Trevor Noah’s unlikely path from apartheid South Africa to the desk of The Daily Show began with a criminal act: his birth. Trevor was born to a white Swiss father and a black Xhosa mother at a time when such a union was punishable by five years in prison. Living proof of his parents� indiscretion, Trevor was kept mostly indoors for the earliest years of his life, bound by the extreme and often absurd measures his mother took to hide him from a government that could, at any moment, steal him away. Finally liberated by the end of South Africa’s tyrannical white rule, Trevor and his mother set forth on a grand adventure, living openly and freely and embracing the opportunities won by a centuries-long struggle.

Born a Crime is the story of a mischievous young boy who grows into a restless young man as he struggles to find himself in a world where he was never supposed to exist. It is also the story of that young man’s relationship with his fearless, rebellious, and fervently religious mother—his teammate, a woman determined to save her son from the cycle of poverty, violence, and abuse that would ultimately threaten her own life.]]>
289 Trevor Noah 0385689225 Judy 4 4.48 2016 Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood
author: Trevor Noah
name: Judy
average rating: 4.48
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2023/04/26
date added: 2023/04/26
shelves:
review:
Book club read. Enjoyed this book. Gave an excellent insight into another life and culture and a great example of what one can do with one's life if the ambition is there.
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At the Water's Edge 23209927
To Maddie’s horror, Ellis decides that the only way to regain his father’s favor is to succeed in a venture his father attempted and very publicly failed at: he will hunt the famous Loch Ness monster and when he finds it he will restore his father’s name and return to his father’s good graces (and pocketbook). Joined by their friend Hank, a wealthy socialite, the three make their way to Scotland in the midst of war.

Each day the two men go off to hunt the monster, while another monster, Hitler, is devastating Europe. And Maddie, now alone in a foreign country, must begin to figure out who she is and what she wants.

The novel tells of Maddie’s social awakening: to the harsh realities of life, to the beauties of nature, to a connection with forces larger than herself, to female friendship, and finally, to love.]]>
348 Sara Gruen 0385523238 Judy 4 3.63 2015 At the Water's Edge
author: Sara Gruen
name: Judy
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2023/04/15
date added: 2023/04/14
shelves:
review:
Not a deep story and a rather improbable situation set during the 2nd WW, and I wouldn't be at all sure the characters are likely but it was well-written and easy to read.
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Tiny Pieces of Us 56235205 My heart is less than 1% of my body, it weighs hardly anything; it is only a tiny piece of me, yet it is the part everyone finds most interesting.

Vivi Palmer knows what it's like to live life carefully. Born with a heart defect, she was given a second chance after a transplant, but has never quite dared to make the most of it. Until she comes face-to-face with her donor's mother, Grace, who wants something in return for Vivi's second-hand heart: her help to find all the other people who have tiny pieces of her son.

Reluctantly drawn into Grace's mission, Vivi's journalist training takes over as one by one she tracks down a small group of strangers. As their lives intertwine Vivi finds herself with a new kind of family, and by finding out more about all the pieces that make up the many parts of her, Vivi might just discover a whole new world waiting for her...

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309 Nicky Pellegrino 1409179001 Judy 4 3.79 2020 Tiny Pieces of Us
author: Nicky Pellegrino
name: Judy
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2023/04/07
date added: 2023/04/07
shelves:
review:
I enjoyed this book... it was easy to read, good character descriptions and interesting story line.
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The Hidden Prince 60507875
The beloved daughter of Jewish captives in Babylon, Keren is sold into Daniel’s household to help her family survive. She becomes Daniel’s most trusted scribe, while taking lessons and swordsmanship training alongside Daniel’s sons and their best friend, Jared.

But after a tragic accident changes the course of her life, Keren finds herself in a foreign country, charged with a mysterious task: teaching a shepherd boy how to become a lord. When she overhears whispers that hint at his true identity, she realizes she must protect him from the schemes of a bloodthirsty king.

Jared cannot forgive Keren. Still, he finds himself traveling over mountains to fetch her back to the safety of home. When he discovers the secret identity of Keren’s pupil, Jared knows he must help protect him. Love battles bitterness as they flee from the king’s agents, trying to save the boy who could one day deliver their people from captivity.]]>
396 Tessa Afshar 1496458222 Judy 4 4.50 2022 The Hidden Prince
author: Tessa Afshar
name: Judy
average rating: 4.50
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2023/04/01
date added: 2023/03/31
shelves:
review:
4.5stars. Really enjoyed this story. As the author explained, she used her imagination to fill the many gaps from the Bible narrative about Daniel, but I enjoyed her interpretation of the life and times of the day.
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Because of You 53370467 THE EAGERLY AWAITED, LIFE-AFFIRMING AND MOVING SUNDAY TIMES TOP 10 BESTSELLER FROM NUMBER-ONE BESTSELLING AUTHOR DAWN FRENCH
__________

Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock . . . midnight.

The old millennium turns into the new.

In the same hospital, two very different women give birth to two very similar daughters.

Hope leaves with a beautiful baby girl.

Anna leaves with empty arms.

Seventeen years later, the gods who keep watch over broken-hearted mothers wreak mighty revenge, and the truth starts rolling, terrible and deep, toward them all.

The power of mother-love will be tested to its limits.

Perhaps beyond . . .

Because Of You is Dawn French's stunning new novel, told with her signature humour, warmth and so much love.
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352 Dawn French 0718159314 Judy 4 3.97 2020 Because of You
author: Dawn French
name: Judy
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2023/03/27
date added: 2023/03/27
shelves:
review:
4.5 stars. Wow! This one took me by surprise. I thought it was going to be humorous but after the first few chapters I was going to stop reading. I skipped to the end briefly and then decided to continue reading. 3/4 of the way thru I couldn't put it down... finished reading it well into the night. Quite different and thought-provoking!
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Be Frank With Me 28259098 A sparkling debut combining the charming pluck of Eloise, the poignant psychological quirks of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and the page-turning spirit of Where’d You Go, Bernadette.

Reclusive literary legend M. M. “Mimi� Banning has been holed up in her Bel Air mansion for years, but now she’s writing her first book in decades and to ensure timely completion her publisher sends an assistant to monitor her progress.

When Alice Whitley arrives she’s put to work as a companion to Frank, the writer’s eccentric son, who has the wit of Noël Coward, the wardrobe of a 1930s movie star, and very little in common with his fellow fourth-graders. The longer she spends with the Bannings, the more Alice becomes obsessed with two questions: Who is Frank’s father? And will Mimi ever finish that book?

Full of countless only-in-Hollywood moments, Be Frank With Me is a heartwarming story of a mother and son, and the intrepid young woman who is pulled into their unforgettable world.]]>
287 Julia Claiborne Johnson 0062413724 Judy 4 3.91 2016 Be Frank With Me
author: Julia Claiborne Johnson
name: Judy
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2023/03/23
shelves:
review:
Book Club read. I enjoyed this story largely because it was so different. The characters were well-described and the narrative followed a logical sequence. It was also a bit of a learning curve regarding personalities, especially autism.
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Truly Madly Guilty 27831371 The electrifying new novel from the international bestselling author, Liane Moriarty

Despite their differences, Erika and Clementine have been best friends since they were children. So when Erika needs help, Clementine should be the obvious person to turn to. Or so you'd think.

For Clementine, as a mother of a two desperately trying to practise for the audition of a lifetime, the last thing she needs is Erika asking for something, again.

But the barbecue should be the perfect way to forget their problems for a while. Especially when their hosts, Vid and Tiffany, are only too happy to distract them.

Which is how it all spirals out of control...

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517 Liane Moriarty 1250069815 Judy 3 3.59 2016 Truly Madly Guilty
author: Liane Moriarty
name: Judy
average rating: 3.59
book published: 2016
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2023/03/20
shelves:
review:
Easy, light-hearted read, a little too long though and it did get a bit boring towards the end.
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Thief of Corinth 36534238
Ariadne po rokoch prežitých u matky v Aténach ujde späť do korintského domu milovaného otca. Zakrátko však odhalí tajomstvo, ktoré zničilo manželstvo jej rodičov.

V snahe ochrániť otca je otrasená Ariadne ochotná riskovať všetko � dobrú povesť, slobodu aj lásku milovaného muža � a dáva sa na riskantné chodníčky spolu s otcom. Dobrodružstvo ju vzrušuje, hoci vie, že sa zahráva s ohňom: všetko visí na vlásku, a ak sa tajomstvo dostane do nesprávnych rúk, ju i otca čaká skľučujúca budúcnosť.

Keď im potom do života vstúpi židovský rabín Pavol, všetko, čomu Ariadne a jej otec verili, rozmetá svojím radikálnym učením na prach, no zároveň ponúkne niečo, v čo by sa nikdy neodvážili dúfať.]]>
368 Tessa Afshar 1496428668 Judy 4 4.30 2018 Thief of Corinth
author: Tessa Afshar
name: Judy
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2023/03/14
date added: 2023/03/14
shelves:
review:
4.5 stars. Easy read but very enjoyable. Good character descriptions and interesting story-line.
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