CALLING ALL WIZARD OF OZ FANS!

February 23, 2019

Meet the Author: Elizabeth Letts

FINDING DOROTHY

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This richly imagined novel 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.

“A breathtaking read that will transport you over the rainbow and into the heart of one of America’s most enduring fairy tales.”—Lisa Wingate, author of Before We Were Yours

Hollywood, 1938: As soon as she learns that M-G-M is adapting her late husband’s masterpiece for the screen, seventy-seven-year-old Maud Gage Baum sets about trying to finagle her way onto the set. Nineteen years after Frank’s passing, Maud is the only person who can help the producers stay true to the spirit of the book—because she’s the only one left who knows its secrets.

But the moment she hears Judy Garland rehearsing the first notes of “Over the Rainbow,” Maud recognizes the yearning that defined her own life story, from her youth as a suffragette’s daughter to her coming of age as one of the first women in the Ivy League, from her blossoming romance with Frank to the hardscrabble prairie years that inspired The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Judy reminds Maud of a young girl she cared for and tried to help in South Dakota, a dreamer who never got her happy ending. Now, with the young actress under pressure from the studio as well as her ambitious stage mother, Maud resolves to protect her—the way she tried so hard to protect the real Dorothy.

The author of two New York Times bestselling nonfiction books, The Eighty-Dollar Champion and The Perfect Horse, Elizabeth Letts is a master at discovering and researching a rich historical story and transforming it into a page-turner. Finding Dorothy is the result of Letts’s journey into the amazing lives of Frank and Maud Baum. Written as fiction but based closely on the truth, Elizabeth Letts’s new book tells a story of love, loss, inspiration, and perseverance, set in America’s heartland.

Advance praise for Finding Dorothy

“In some ways reminiscent of Jerry Stahl’s excellent I, Fatty, Letts’ Finding Dorothy combines exhaustive research with expansive imagination, blending history and speculation into a seamless tapestry. . . . It’s a testament to Letts’ skill that she can capture on the page, without benefit of audio, that same emotion we have all felt sometime over the last 80 years while listening to ‘Over the Rainbow.’”—BookPage (starred review)

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CLOUD WARRIORS by Rob Jung

February 22, 2019

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This is Rob Jung’s first published book and it is a good introduction for the new author. The book is a fast read, has a very interesting theme and incorporates several factors that normally do not appear in most novels.

Terry Castro, an anthropology professor has been leading summer school programs into the Peruvian rain forest. In his latest trip he literally stumbles upon an unknown tribe of tall, white skinned people. They flee the site where the quick contact takes place but not before a freak accident causes Terry to become infected with the poison that the tribe uses to facilitate hunting when he touches a dart aimed near him to scare him off. He is airlifted from the area and put in the hospital back home.

As the infection he received via the dart is analyzed it is found that an interesting side effect of the poison used could be to prolong life. Terry is too sick to leave the hospital but the pharmaceutical company examining the poison arranges another expedition to Peru in order to obtain samples of the material used by the white skinned tribe. The novel brings in many factors that cause the story to become a very wide spread tale of high adventure. First, and of great importance a medium is brought into the picture in order to try and make contact with the comatose Terry Castro. Carrie Waters, the medium, does make the connection and even beyond that a connection to the tribe in Peru. A beautiful love story takes place literally between Terry and Carrie’s minds and even succeeds when Terry’s ex-wife shows up to help take care of him.

We meet the arch villain of the piece, Vikter Glass, who is managing the pharmaceutical company and only wants to milk the drug for great profits and a personal fortune. He actually brings in the Russian mob sending some of their agents to Peru to get a sample of the poison first and deliver it to him.

Jung manages to tie all the factors he brings into the story quite well. The book is one that will keep the reader glued to the pages until finished. He or she will come to the realization that they have read the first novel of a man with an excellent imagination and be ready for more in the near future.

2/19 Paul Lane

CLOUD WARRIORS by Rob Jung. Roundfire Books (February 22, 2019). ISBN 978-1785359187. 312p.

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BECOMING by Michelle Obama

February 21, 2019

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From the publisher:

An intimate, powerful, and inspiring memoir by the former First Lady of the United States

In a life filled with meaning and accomplishment, Michelle Obama has emerged as one of the most iconic and compelling women of our era. As First Lady of the United States of America—the first African American to serve in that role—she helped create the most welcoming and inclusive White House in history, while also establishing herself as a powerful advocate for women and girls in the U.S. and around the world, dramatically changing the ways that families pursue healthier and more active lives, and standing with her husband as he led America through some of its most harrowing moments. Along the way, she showed us a few dance moves, crushed Carpool Karaoke, and raised two down-to-earth daughters under an unforgiving media glare.

In her memoir, a work of deep reflection and mesmerizing storytelling, Michelle Obama invites readers into her world, chronicling the experiences that have shaped her—from her childhood on the South Side of Chicago to her years as an executive balancing the demands of motherhood and work, to her time spent at the world’s most famous address. With unerring honesty and lively wit, she describes her triumphs and her disappointments, both public and private, telling her full story as she has lived it—in her own words and on her own terms. Warm, wise, and revelatory, Becoming is the deeply personal reckoning of a woman of soul and substance who has steadily defied expectations—and whose story inspires us to do the same.

When this book came out last year, I knew I would read it eventually, but I had to get myself into the right frame of mind. As regular readers know, I am not happy with the current administration. I look at this book, a great deal of which is about the Obama presidency, with longing and admiration.

It was like taking a journey back to a kinder, gentler time, at least during the Obama administration. Mrs. Obama is pretty candid and open about her foibles, her successes, and why it all mattered so much. She talks a lot about their marriage, their problems and how they solved them. She talks about her struggles with her career and juggling work and family. She explains why she’ll never forgive Trump for endangering her family and why she didn’t smile at his inauguration. She talks about Sandy Hook, the only day in Obama’s eight year presidency that he requested his wife’s presence in the Oval Office. She is as open and forthcoming as she always seemed to be while she was the First Lady. Her voice rings true.

Michelle Obama embodies the quintessential American story. We learn about her upbringing on the South Side of Chicago, her close knit family living in their small apartment. We learn about her education and the opportunities she was lucky to receive, the guidance from her parents, her close relationships with them, her brother and her extended family. The values that were instilled in her as a child have lasted a lifetime and how she passed those values on to her children, despite their growing up in the White House.

This was a very emotional read for me. I have been a great admirer of Mrs. Obama since she came on to the national stage and this book just reinforced those feelings. Her story made me laugh and made me cry, but most of all made me remember a better time in America. And best of all, hope of that happening again.

2/19 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

BECOMING by Michelle Obama. Crown Publishing Group; First Edition edition (November 13, 2018). ISBN 978-1524763138. 448p.

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THE POLAR BEAR EXPEDITION by James Carl Nelson

February 20, 2019

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The Heroes of America’s Forgotten Invasion of Russia, 1918-1919

Nelson is a historian by profession and his book is a well researched study of a little known invasion of Russia by American soldiers occurring from the end of World War I for about a year. The American Expeditionary Force cold weather chapter, took place along with troops from England, France  Japan and Czechoslovakia.  There are several  versions of the reason for U.S. intervention but the one used by Nelson was in order to defend the enormous amount of supplies, including weaponry, against use by the Bolsheviks.  Russia was in the midst of a civil war, and the Reds (Bolsheviks) were fighting the Whites (those opposed to the socialism advocated by Lenin and Trotsky).

The foreign soldiers were landed in both Murmansk and Archangel both cities that enjoy bitter winters for most of the year. From there the Americans and their allies fought the Bolos (as the Bolsheviks were termed) in towns and villages along the northern portion of Russia. The Armistice ending the war between the allies and Germany was declared on November 11th, 1918. The not so small war in Russia dragged on for several more years with the troops involved wondering why they couldn’t join their fellow soldiers in going home.  The men could not find a reason to enter into this conflict, experienced low morale and just wanted out.

Dry and dusty this book is not.  Most of the Americans came from Detroit, Michigan and the research there by the author found many actual writings by the soldiers.  Most probably descendants of the troops readily made available diaries, letters and other writings.  Plus local Michigan newspapers in their archives would definitely  have had coverage of the conflict including references to the local men taking part in it.

The book is a description of a little known conflict occurring a century ago and mainly using the words of the combatants to describe it. The only reference to politics taking part in sending soldiers there is to lay blame on President Woodrow Wilson for allowing himself to be talked into sending soldiers with no real idea of what to do with them. Maybe so but Wilson is the president who campaigned for reelection in 1916 using the slogan “He kept us out of war” and than getting the United States into a blood bath in Europe shortly after his reelection. In any event, his blase attitude permeated the entire adventure into Russia with nothing really accomplished.  Moreover, Mr Nelson in summing up his book suggests that the Russian attitude towards the U.S for the invasion in 1918-19 is one of the reasons that America has been kept at a distance for more than a century.

2/19 Paul Lane

THE POLAR BEAR EXPEDITION by James Carl Nelson. William Morrow (February 19, 2019). ISBN 978-0062852779. 320p.

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THE MAGNOLIA INN by Carolyn Brown

February 19, 2019

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From the publisher:

New York Times bestselling author Carolyn Brown brings together two wounded hearts in a Texas romance of second chances and twice-in-a-lifetime true love.

Inheriting the Magnolia Inn, a Victorian home nestled in the East Texas pines, is a fantasy come true for Jolene Broussard. After living with the guilt of failing to rescue her self-destructive mother, Jolene knows her aunt and uncle’s B&B is the perfect jump start for a new life and a comforting place to call home. There’s just one hitch: stubborn and moody carpenter Tucker Malone. He’s got a half interest in the Magnolia Inn, and he’s planting his dusty cowboy boots squarely in the middle of her dream.

Ever since his wife’s death, Tucker’s own guilt and demons have left him as guarded as Jolene. The last thing he expects is for his new partner to stir something inside him he thought was gone forever. And as wary as Jolene is, she may have found a kindred spirit—someone she can help, and someone she can hold on to.

Restoring the Magnolia Inn is the first step toward restoring their hearts. Will they be able to let go of the past and trust each other to do it together?

Amazon.com offered this book free to Prime members so I gave it a read. This author was new to me, but her name was familiar; she blurbed a book I really liked, another cowboy romance, THE LAST TRUE COWBOY by Laura Drake. This book is set in Texas but isn’t really a cowboy story. But it is a home renovation story, another trope I enjoy, which was another reason I read it.

It was a very good read. The characters are skillfully brought to life and their interactions were believable. I highly recommend this.

02/19 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

THE MAGNOLIA INN by Carolyn Brown. The Dial Press (February 5, 2019).  ISBN 978-1524799014.  448p.

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THE MOROCCAN GIRL by Charles Cumming

February 18, 2019

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Cumming’s novel is a throwback (and a welcome one) to the spy and espionage stories of the near term past. Kit Carradine is an author who’s forte is writing well received spy novels. He is known for researching locales for the books he writes. He is also known for being bored with his sedentary life and envies the spies he creates for their extremely active existences Instead of writing about them he would really enjoy being one of them. And that is where he is taken.

Kit is approached by an officer in MI6 who he has never met before with a proposition. He is asked to travel to Morocco and find a woman MI6 wants and just point her out to that officer. She has last been seen in the city of Marrakesh. ​Kit is offered a large sum of money for the job which is indicated as being one with no real danger involved. He jumps to take it and journeys to Morocco. Upon arrival he quickly is made aware that the woman,Lara Bartok, is actually a fugitive with ties to international terrorism. She is apparently a member of the “Resurrection” terror group that has attacked persons and places all over the world with murder as part of the scenario.

The author depicts Kit traveling all over Morocco after arriving in Casablanca as well as other cities in that country in order to locate Lara. The action is typical of the stories and happenings in many of the best spy novels of the past. Danger, a lot of it, with other spy agencies as well as “Resurrection” relentlessly after Lara.
There is a vast difference between Kit and other principals involved in spy and espionage tales. He is not infallible, he can be hurt, is bewildered by the actions of the different groups after Lara. He does have moments when he responds to a situation as many people would do if confronted with it showing strength and bravery. All and all Cumming gives us a good picture of a real hero in others. He has created a real person moving into the world of spies and agents and coming to grips with it as realistically as most of us might do in a like situation.

I am like most people in expecting leading characters in spy novels to behave like supermen. But certainly the change in pace depicted in “The Moroccan Girl” is a welcome one. The reader is of course faced with the question of what would they expect in a future novel about Kit Caradine in a situation again involved with spying and espionage. The ability of the author to create a book that is concerned with a situation involving spy-craft leads me to think that he would have Kit adapt to situations as they arrive; again as a normal individual, but with more real experience under his belt.

2/19 Paul Lane

THE MOROCCAN GIRL by Charles Cumming. St. Martin’s Press (February 12, 2019). ISBN 978-1250129956. 368p.

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THE WAY YOU LOVE ME by Miranda Liasson

February 17, 2019

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Angel Falls, Book 2

From the publisher:

From the award-winning author who writes with “humor and heart” (Jill Shalvis, New York Timesbestselling author), comes a charming small town where hope, friendship, and family leads an unlikely couple to their happily ever after.
Gabby Langdon has always tried to make people happy. She even went to law school to please her father, and now she’s a highly successful-albeit bored-attorney. But Gabby secretly dreams of being a writer, so for once she does something for herself-she signs up for a writing class taught by best-selling novelist Caden Marshall. There’s only one problem: her brooding, sexy professor is a distraction she can’t afford if she’s finally going to get the life she truly wants.
Recently divorced and suffering from the world’s worst case of writer’s block, Caden is in Angel Falls to get his life back on track. He’s focused on teaching and providing a stable and loving home for his young daughter, Ava. The last thing he needs is to jeopardize his new job, which means keeping plenty of distance between himself and his talented new student-no matter how tempted he is by Gabby’s beauty, kind heart, or the sparks that fly whenever they’re together.

 

I read the first book in this series, Then There Was You, and really liked it so I was excited to read this one. I liked this one too, but not quite as much as the first one. The series is set in the small town of Angel Falls, and it’s a good little town and the setting works for these types of stories. The people in the first book are briefly mentioned but this story revolves around other characters in the town.

Gabby and Caden have their difficulties, there would be no plot otherwise. Caden went through a horrible divorce, and is now a single dad raising his daughter mostly on his own. Gabby is a woman who is constantly searching for something. She’s taken all types of classes over the years, to the point where her family teases her about it. Losing her mother at a fairly young age left her with more questions than answers, especially when she finds out her mother was writing a book. Gabby’s always wanted to write and finding that out gives her the impetus she needs to take a step in that direction, especially when a renowned author is teaching the course. It’s a sticky situation when a professor gets involved with a student, no matter the age, and Caden is about as ethical as they come.

This story is sweet and meanders along with an occasional hiccup along the way. I enjoyed the escape to Angel Falls.

2/19 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

THE WAY YOU LOVE ME by Miranda Liasson. Forever (January 29, 2019). ISBN 978-1455541829. 496p.

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I OWE YOU ONE by Sophie Kinsella

February 16, 2019

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From the publisher:

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Sophie Kinsella comes an irresistible story of love and empowerment about a young woman with a complicated family, a handsome man who might be “the one,” and an IOU that changes everything.

Fixie Farr has always lived by her father’s motto: “Family first.” And since her dad passed away, leaving his charming housewares store in the hands of his wife and children, Fixie spends all her time picking up the slack from her siblings instead of striking out on her own. The way Fixie sees it, if she doesn’t take care of her father’s legacy, who will?

It’s simply not in Fixie’s nature to say no to people. So when a handsome stranger in a coffee shop asks her to watch his laptop for a moment, she not only agrees—she ends up saving it from certain disaster. To thank Fixie for her quick thinking, the computer’s owner, Sebastian, an investment manager, scribbles an IOU on a coffee sleeve and attaches his business card. Fixie laughs it off—she’d never actually claim an IOU from a stranger. Would she?

But then Fixie’s childhood crush, Ryan, comes back into her life, and his lack of a profession pushes all of Fixie’s buttons. As always, she wants nothing for herself—but she’d love Seb to give Ryan a job. No sooner has Seb agreed than the tables are turned once more and a new series of IOUs between Seb and Fixie—from small favors to life-changing moments—ensues. Soon Fixie, Ms. Fixit for everyone else, is torn between her family and the life she really wants. Does she have the courage to take a stand? Will she finally grab the life, and love, she really wants?

It took me a little while to warm up to this book. The main character, Fixie, grew on me eventually but I found her sort of stupid and irritating for the first 15 chapters. But I stuck with it and I’m glad I did. Once I got there, the rest of the book just flew for me and I ended up loving her. I guess I liked watching as she grew as a person, got smarter about herself and her world. The romance aspect was one of those back and forth, back and forth things but it worked. The secondary characters were fairly well developed but I never quite got a handle on Fixie’s sister for some reason, but maybe that’s just me.

I enjoy Kinsella’s humor and there were many laughs to be found among the necessary angst. I ended up really liking this book and if you are a Kinsella fan, don’t miss it. If not, give it a try anyway!

02/19 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

I OWE YOU ONE by Sophie Kinsella. The Dial Press (February 5, 2019).  ISBN 978-1524799014.  448p.

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WHEN YOU READ THIS by Mary Adkins

February 15, 2019

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From the publisher:

A comedy-drama for the digital age: an epistolary debut novel about the ties that bind and break our hearts, for fans of Maria Semple and Rainbow Rowell.

Iris Massey is gone.
But she’s left something behind.

For four years, Iris Massey worked side by side with PR maven Smith Simonyi, helping clients perfect their brands. But Iris has died, taken by terminal illness at only thirty-three. Adrift without his friend and colleague, Smith is surprised to discover that in her last six months, Iris created a blog filled with sharp and often funny musings on the end of a life not quite fulfilled. She also made one final request: for Smith to get her posts published as a book. With the help of his charmingly eager, if overbearingly forthright, new intern Carl, Smith tackles the task of fulfilling Iris’s last wish.

Before he can do so, though, he must get the approval of Iris’ big sister Jade, an haute cuisine chef who’s been knocked sideways by her loss. Each carrying their own baggage, Smith and Jade end up on a collision course with their own unresolved pasts and with each other.

Told in a series of e-mails, blog posts, online therapy submissions, text messages, legal correspondence, home-rental bookings, and other snippets of our virtual lives, When You Read This is a deft, captivating romantic comedy—funny, tragic, surprising, and bittersweet—that candidly reveals how we find new beginnings after loss.

 

I was hooked as soon as I saw “for fans of Maria Semple (love!) and Rainbow Rowell (LOVE!) So I had high expectations that were just barely met. I liked this book a lot but I didn’t love it.

I do love epistolary novels. My all time favorite is Last Days of Summer by Steve Kluger. If you haven’t read it, click through, buy this book and thank me later.

Back to this one. I enjoyed the email aspect of the book, but it took a while for me to warm up to the characters. But eventually I did, and even the secondary characters were good. I admit it took me a little while before I realized that Smith was a man. Guess I should have continued reading the synopsis, I stopped after the Rainbow Rowell comment. Carl, Smith’s assistant, lent comic relief and many funny yet cringe worthy moments to a book that is essentially about life, death, and how we deal with it all. Heavy topics that needed that relief.

Kudos to the illustrator and to Amazon; Iris’s blog has many drawings and I loved that I could tap on them on my Kindle and blow them up to see the fine details. They added another layer to the blog and the book.

Taking a difficult topic and turning into a romance is no easy feat, and Adkins achieved her goal. I would have liked a bit more ending in the book, it barely made it to where it needed to be. Maybe an epilogue? All in all, like most epistolary novels, this is a very fast read and I think it is one that will stay with me for a while.

02/19 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

WHEN YOU READ THIS by Mary Adkins. Harper (February 5, 2019).  ISBN 978-0062834676.  384p.

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ONE FATAL MISTAKE by Tom Hunt

February 13, 2019

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Karen Mayo, estranged from her husband has taken her life into her own hand, studied and became a nurse. She has also watched her beloved son Joshua moving away from the divorce between his parents, now ready to graduate from high school and  accepted to Clemson University. He is also a member of his school golf team and plays frequently with his father.

Suddenly fate takes a hand in the Mayo family’s affairs.  Joshua and his father decide to drive golf balls off a cliff facing a river and located in a large wooded area north of their home.

They finish the driving a little after dark and are on their way back to Joshua’s home when they accidentally hit a man walking alone in the woods. They quickly go over to see how the person is when the man jumps up and attacks Andrew, Joshua’s father. Appearing possible that Andrew could be killed, Joshua picks up a rock and strikes the man on his head. Checking him it is found that he has died from the blow.

There is another half of the events in this well done novel. Three individuals, two men and the wife of one of them have planned and executed a robbery of a bank.  One of the men is purposely left at the scene of the robbery and the other two flee the area with a bag of money stolen from the bank.

The two halves are expertly tied into a very ingenious whole by the author. What happens when the two groups meet and how the events reach a conclusion for all of them is the theme of a very engrossing novel by an author that is a master of developing characters in his books.

The accidental murder in the woods and its consequences is tied very neatly into the actions and fate of the bank robbers, including the one that was stranded at the scene of the crime by the other two. A compelling all-nighter by an author completing only his second book. Certainly one to continue looking for in the  future.

1/19 Paul Lane

ONE FATAL MISTAKE by Tom Hunt. Berkley (February 5, 2019). ISBN 978-0399586439. 320p.

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