October 23, 2020
Today”s post is a list of ten books (five newer and five older releases) with main characters that are fifty plus. Recently, I’ve read several titles with older characters and it’s been delightful!
Do you love older characters?
***Titles are Amazon affiliate links.
October 22, 2020
Genre/Categories: YA Historical Fiction, Fictionalized Biography, Jewish, WW11, Holocaust
This year as part of Blog Audit Challenge 2020 I’m going back to update older review posts. On Thursdays, I’ll be re-sharing a few of these great reads, and today I’m sharing my review of The Librarian of Auschwitz, brave…inspirational…courageous…feisty…determined….daring……
I’m linking up today with Davida @ The Chocolate Lady’s Book Review Blog for #throwbackthursday.
*This post contains Amazon affiliate links.
“During the darkest hours of the Holocaust in an Auschwitz concentration camp, a young girl, Dita Kraus, risks her life to keep the magic of books alive. Imprisoned along with her mother and father, Dita finds meaning and purpose as the Librarian of a secret library within a secret school in the “family camp” section of Auschwitz, caring for eight precious volumes that have been smuggled in past the guards.
Be sure to read the author’s Afterward as he speaks of his interview with the real Dita Kraus about her incredible life, courage, and survival.”
QOTD: Have you read The Librarian of Auschwitz or is it on your TBR?
October 21, 2020
Genre/Categories: Middle Grade Realistic Fiction, Family Issues, Poverty, Homelessness, Grief, African American
*This post contains Amazon affiliate links.
Isaiah is the older brother and is grieving the loss of his father. Isaiah feels the burden of holding the family together. The most important people in his life include his four-year-old sister who never stops asking questions, his mother who is depressed and drinking too much, and his best friend Sneaky. Because of her grief, Mom has taken a leave of absence from her job and they lose their apartment when she has difficulty paying the rent. As the pressure mounts, Isaiah gets in trouble at school and fights with his best friend. Isaiah’s one true comfort is reading the stories in his dad’s journal that his dad wrote for him, and his safe place is the library. In his dad’s stories, Isaiah is a hero and Isaiah ponders how he can be a hero and help his family.
October 16, 2020
Genre/Categories: Southern Fiction, Magical Realism, Family Drama
*This post contains Amazon affiliate links.
Blue Bishop lives in the charming small town of Buttonwood, Alabama, and she has a sixth sense for finding lost things. The magical buttonwood tree in the woods is important in the community because people can leave their life questions in a rabbit hole of the tree and the next day the tree will leave an answer for you. One day as Blue is walking in the woods, she discovers an abandoned baby south of the magical tree. In solving the mystery of the abandoned baby, long-held secrets are revealed, lives are altered, and family is redefined.
A Buttonwood Tree
October 15, 2020
Genre/Categories: Contemporary Fiction, Japanese Culture, Conformity, Short Fiction, Book in Translation
This year as part of Blog Audit Challenge 2020 I’m going back to update older review posts. On Thursdays, I’ll be re-sharing a few of these great reads, and today I’m sharing my review of Convenience Store Woman, the story of self aware and determined Keiko who is torn between self fulfillment and cultural conformity…
I’m linking up today with Davida @ The Chocolate Lady’s Book Review Blog for #throwbackthursday.
*This post contains Amazon affiliate links.
“Keiko Furukura grows up labeled a “strange child,” and her parents worry about her ability to function in the real world and about her future success. While at university, Keiko begins a job at a local convenience store. After eighteen years, her parents and friends worry that she doesn’t have a real career and has never had a boyfriend. Even though Keiko is successful as a convenience store worker and enjoys her job, she feels the pressure to live up to her parents’ cultural expectations. What will she do?”
Quirky character…Japanese culture…finding your niche……conformity…
QOTD: Have you read Convenience Store Woman or is it on your TBR?
October 13, 2020
Genre/Categories: Non Fiction, Biographical, Music, Feminism
*This post contains Amazon affiliate links.
Thanks #NetGalley @ScribnerBooks for a complimentary e ARC of #SheComeByItNatural at my request. All opinions are my own.
Sarah Smarsh uses examples from her grandmother and facts from a previously published Dolly Parton title to reflect on the message of Parton’s songs, how Parton’s music resonated with women of Smarsh’s grandmother’s generation, and Parton’s contribution to Feminism.
October 9, 2020
Genre/Categories: Contemporary Fiction, Uplit
*This post contains Amazon affiliate links.
At first glance, Arthur shares certain things in common with Ove (A Man Called Ove): each is an older, mature character, each is a widower grieving the loss of a beloved wife, and each finds “family” in unexpected ways.
On one of Arthur’s routine trips to the cemetery to have lunch and conversation with his wife, he meets Maddy, a troubled teenage girl who hides in the cemetery to avoid school. She discovers that Arthur is a friendly, understanding, trustworthy, and positive person and gives dear Arthur the nickname “Truluv.” Arthur and Maddy develop a friendship and when Arthur’s nosy neighbor, Lucille, becomes involved, they discover the joys of “found family.”
Uplit: If you’re looking for an uplifting, heartfelt story of friendship, found family, second chances, unconditional love, and kindness, you’ll find it in The Story of Arthur Truluv. Amidst lockdown conditions (COVID-19), dire weather reports (hurricane season in the Gulf of Mexico), inner city violence, or political battles (2020 Election), this might be your next soulful, escapist, feel-good read!
Arthur: Older but less curmudgeonly than Ove, Arthur will win your heart from page one with his gentlemanly and friendly ways and compassionate heart. What a difference kindness can make in this world! How many of us would show compassion for a teenager and take them into our home? We would all be fortunate to know an Arthur.
Themes: Thoughtful and poignant themes include grief, loneliness, friendship, second chances, unconditional love, hospitality, acceptance, found family, and good people.
Recommended: The Story of Arthur Truluv is highly recommended for readers looking for light, quick-reading uplit; for fans of A Man Called Ove and The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett, and for book clubs.
Content Considerations: grieving the loss of a spouse
My Rating: 4 Stars
The Story of Authur Truluv Information Here
Elizabeth Berg won the NEBA Award for fiction for her body of work, and was a finalist for the ABBY for Talk Before Steep. Her writing has appeared in numerous publications, including Ladies’ Home Journal, Redbook, and the New York Times Magazine. She has also taught a writing workshop at Radcliffe College. She lives near Boston, Massachusetts.
Is The Story of Arthur Truluv on your TBR or have you read it?
Do you enjoy an occasional “uplit” read
“Ah, how good it is to be among people who are reading.”
~Rainer Maria Rilke
“I love the world of words, where life and literature connect.”
~Denise J Hughes
“Reading good books ruins you for enjoying bad ones.”
~Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
“I read because books are a form of transportation, of teaching, and of connection! Books take us to places we’ve never been, they teach us about our world, and they help us to understand human experience.”
~Madeleine Riley, Top Shelf Text
Thank you for visiting and reading today! I’d be honored and thrilled if you choose to enjoy and follow along (see subscribe or follow option), promote, and/or share my blog. Every share helps us grow.
Find me at:
Twitter
Instagram
Goodreads
Pinterest
***Blogs posts may contain affiliate links. This means that at no extra cost to you, I can earn a small percentage of your purchase price.
Unless explicitly stated that they are free, all books that I review have been purchased by me or borrowed from the library.
Book Cover and author photos are credited to Amazon or an author’s (or publisher’s) website.
© ReadingLadies.com
October 8, 2020
Genre/Categories: Contemporary Fiction, Sports, Hockey
This year as part of Blog Audit Challenge 2020 I’m going back to update older review posts. On Thursdays, I’ll be re-sharing a few of these great reads, and today I’m sharing my reviews of Beartown and Us Against You by Fredrik Backman, atmospheric stories of sports, small towns, and community…
This week’s Throw Back Thursday is a bit different because I’m throwing back to TWO books: Beartown and Us Against You. They are a series and Us Against You cannot be read as a stand-alone.
I read Beartown before I started blogging, so I don’t have a full blog review for linking ….I’ll include a brief review of it below and then link to my Us Against You blog review.
I’m linking up today with Davida @ The Chocolate Lady’s Book Review Blog for #throwbackthursday.
*This post contains Amazon affiliate links.
As the author develops characters and establishes the setting in his unique style, tension builds like the distant rumbling of an approaching severe thunderstorm The action is a bit slow in he beginning but once it picks up, the tension is sustained as the story plays out. Hockey fans will find this story particularly enjoyable. Filled with fascinating characters and infused with complex and important themes of family, parenting, competition, loyalty, courage, community, belonging, friendship, small town struggles and values, hope, and a girl’s “no.” This multilayed, thoughtful, and challenging read would make a highly discussable book club selection.
TW: a rape storyline and some crude locker room language and humor
A few favorite lines from Beartown include:
“People are standing in silent lines with their eyes half-open and their minds half-closed.”
“We’re not supposed to develop ‘products.’ We don’t manufacture anything at all. We nurture human beings. Those [hockey] guys are flesh and blood, not business plans and investment targets. The youth program isn’t some factory, regardless of what some of our sponsors seem to think.”
“Being a parent makes you feel like a blanket that’s always too small. No matter how hard you try to cover everyone, there’s always someone who’s freezing.”
“Bitterness can be corrosive; it can rewrite your memories as if it were scrubbing a crime scene clean, until in the end you only remember what suits you of its causes.”
“In the summer the rain seeps into the cracks in the bricks, then when the temperature slips below zero the moisture freezes to ice, and the bricks break. She will remember that that’s how it felt to grow up as the little sister of a dead big brother. A childhood that was one long, desperate attempt not to be liquid, not to seek out the cracks in your parents.”
“Maya knows all too well that this silence can be like water. If you let it make its way too far in, it can freeze into ice and break your heart.”
“And when enough people are quiet for long enough, a handful of voices can give the impression that everyone is screaming.”
“Sometimes life doesn’t let you choose your battles. Just the company you keep.”
“She and the girl rest their foreheads together. Say nothing, because they couldn’t have heard anything anyway, the echo of the screams in their hearts is deafening.”
“In this sequel to Beartown, Fredrik Backman continues to cause readers to care deeply about the Beartown community and hockey (yes, it’s important to read Beartown first). After the act of violence in Beartown, the community has to figure out how to trust each other again and restructure its hockey team. Many of the star hockey players have left the Beartown team and now play for the rival team in Hed. In fact, in Us Against You, the entire community is at risk economically and on the brink of losing everything. In addition to many returning characters from Beartown, readers are also introduced to a manipulative and cunning politician and become better acquainted with The Pack.
Us Against You is a multi-layered, compelling story filled with danger, heartbreak, and sadness as it addresses themes of prejudice, bullying, secrets, parenting, sexism, friendship, loyalty, community support, competition, politics, courage, violence, conflict, leadership, and hope. This is not a stand-alone story; reading Beartown first is essential.”
So much more than hockey….
QOTD: Have you read Beartown or Us Against You or are they on your TBR? Are you a Backman fan?
October 2, 2020
(A.K.A: Eudora Honeysett is Quite Well, Thank You in the UK)
Genre/Categories: Women’s Fiction, Family Drama, Friendship
*This post contains Amazon affiliate links.
Eudora Honeysett is eighty-five, has endured her share of suffering, has experienced a lot of life, and is ready to die….but on her own terms. She contacts a clinic in Switzerland which will help her facilitate her well thought out decision. Before she can get to Switzerland, she meets ten-year-old Rose, a highly spirited and friendly child who becomes Eudora’s fashion consultant and introduces her to the joys of life as seen through ten-year-old eyes. Rose also includes Stanley, a recently widowed neighbor, and they form a companionable trio. As these three new friends spend time together, it triggers Eudora to have flashbacks of her past life. Suddenly, her newfound enjoyment, friendships, and meaningful activities cause her to feel conflicted about her Switzerland decision. Now that she has found some joy will it be possible to say good-bye?
(***This post is republished from earlier because of a publishing glitch in the previous post which I cannot fix #bloggingproblems sorry for the duplicate)
October 1, 2020
Genre/Categories: Crime Fiction, Mystery, Detective, Suspense, Australian
I’m linking up today with Davida @ The Chocolate Lady’s Book Review Blog for #throwbackthursday.
This year as part of Blog Audit Challenge 2020 I’m going back to update older review posts. On Thursdays, I’ll be re-sharing a few of these great reads, and today I’m sharing my review of Force of Nature by Jane Harper, an atmospheric whodunit…
*This post contains Amazon affiliate links.
“Five women go on a hike in the Australian forested wilderness and only four return. As the women grab their backpacks and reluctantly set out, not one of the five women attending this three-day, mandated, corporate, team-building retreat is thrilled about the prospect. When four of the five women emerge from the woods battered and bruised, an investigation is launched to find the fifth woman. Federal agent Falk returns to help the investigation, and the story alternates between the present day investigation and the women’s experiences as the hike unfolded a few days earlier. Was the fifth woman murdered?”
Lost in the Australian Bush….what would you do?
QOTD: Have you read Force of Nature by Jane Harper or is it on your TBR?
