1950 London
This story is a delightful hodge-lodge of friendship, quirky characters, intense adventure and a dogged pursuit of living life to the fullest. Margery Benson felt the world was against her but one day she decided to do something for herself and travels to the South Pacific wilds of New Calendonia seaching for the elusive golden beetle. She advertises for an assistant and ends up with Enid Pretty, a free thinking polar opposite of Margery and clearly on the lam. They form an unlikely pair sharing the adventure of a lifetime and form a bond neither thought possible. The story is outlandish and is so much fun as it is a story of bravery and survival in a dangerous part of the world. Each woman will figure out what is really important to them and how important they have become to each other. I wish this book had continued for another 300 pages or more. MISS BENSON'S BEETLE will appeal to readers of historical adventures, female friendships and quirky characters that take over your heart. 5 stars
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A stunning collection of average people living in Minneapolis tied together by a slender thread - their connection to a group of passive activists calling themselves "The Sun Collective". They take in everyone - the lost, homeless, bored and curious with their goal of making the world a utopia. Brettigan and his wife are among the lost searching for more meaning in their golden years and the son who disappeared from their lives seemingly overnight. Both feel he is close by and conduct a daily search even if they aren't aware they are doing it but they are coming up empty. Alma has a medical event and when she starts getting advice from their cat and dog as well as getting more cozy with the collective, Brettigan starts to worry. The young couple from the collective seem harmless but much is unknown about Ludlow, a homeless illegal house sitter and his new girlfriend, Christina who is a drug addled bank teller. As all their lives become more intertwined more speculation is made about the members of the Sun Collective and their true intent. Told with snippets of dry Minnesotan humor, THE SUN COLLECTIVE is an interesting look at being lost and found. 4 stars
Ari and his family live a very devout life in an Orthodox Brooklyn neighborhood until Ari's dad uproots the family to Florida. Life could not be more different for Ari's senior year in the new privileged school he now attends as he makes his way into a new circle of friends and begins to date for the first time. The new group doesn't fret about breaking away from their Orthodox Jewish roots and for the first time Ari is given freedom. But, it comes with a price as he realizes too late. Their activities take on a more reckless and dangerous path led by Evan, the brightest and most erratic of the group. This stunning debut takes a look at old religious views and pits them against peer pressure and the natural tendency by the young to push the boundaries. The Hebrew phrases take a bit of time to master but it is well worth the effort and it further cements to difficult bridge that Ari must straddle in this poignant coming of age story. This is a good match for readers of Chaim Potok and coming of age stories with strong moral dilemmas. 4 1/2 stars The MAGPIE MURDERS left Susan Ryeland out of the publishing industry and finally done with the dead cantankerous author Alan Conway. But life in Greece is not all she expected so she jumps at the chance to return to London and help find a missing woman in a case that may be connected to one of Alan Conway's books. Susan travels to the luxury hotel to bring out her inner Atticus Pund and solve what happened and possibly clear an incarcerated man from an earlier murder. This is a complicated story within a sophisticated murder mystery and thank goodness you are given the manuscript that Susan rereads searching for clues. I won't lie, I took copius notes reading the Atticus Pund book hoping I would solve the mystery. Family, unruly hotel guests plus way too many secrets and one well staged mystery had me stumped. It is a diabolical name dropping jaunt and nod to all the classic mysteries that will not disappoint Agatha Christie lovers or Anthony Horowitz fans. 4 1/2 stars
Like most apocalyptic stories there are two groups - the leaders and the followers who must work together or perish. After a horrible event known as the Arrest small communities formed going back to the basics as machinery and tech stopped working. Farming, butchering, canning and moving these goods back and forth take up every day. Journeyman now lives in a small coastal town in Maine where his sister and her partner operate a farm and Journeyman has taken on the duties of UPS, mail and Amazon delivering goods and news. Life feels simple and less scary away from the chaos of the outside world until one day when an old friend and coworker shows up in a nuclear powered giant digger. His arrival does not sit well with the town or others that are hunting for him and begins to wedge the town apart. Jonathan Lethem's command of the English language is extraordinary and I found myself happily looking up new vocabulary. I enjoyed the parallel lives that Journeyman, his sister and Todbaum led in the past in Los Angeles and how misplaced Todbaum was dropped into the bucolic farming community. This is less of a science fiction nightmare and more a story of community in crisis. 4 stars
Never underestimate the power of a scheme concocted by a group of young guys in a bar. Chick is hanging out in his neighborhood bar reminiscing and discussing their buddies who are in far off Vietnam. All agree it would be great to buy those guys a beer and Chick does one better. He is a merchant mariner and ex-marine so he hops aboard a supply ship with a bunch of cold beer and thinks he will find everyone on the list and give them a cold beer and thanks. He has incredible good luck in finding most of them (blame it on his Irish roots) and is able to talk his way out of more than one setback (again, blame it on his Irish roots). He finds himself in foxholes, hitching ride after ride from military who are convinced he is CIA and is in Saigon as the V.C. take over the city. The sheer audacity of Chick's story and funnier moments balance nicely against the more horrific scenes of war.
To my great surprise, this memoir full of war stories, testosterone and beer will have a wider audience who will have a greater appreciation for the job that cost so many lives in a war we realized too late that we couldn't win. The audio narration was spot on. 4 1/2 stars When the Channel Islands were taken over by the Nazis two female artists living in Jersey decided to take on the Nazis headfirst by waging their own war of homemade propaganda and art. It was brave, maybe foolish and it created a great deal of angst for the German command. The author tells this story as if he too couldn't believe how long they kept this up before they were captured and imprisoned. These two women, Lucy Schwob and Suzanne Malherbe told everyone they were sisters but kept a much more dangerous secret - they were longtime lovers. Held in prison they were separated but still managed to communicate in unusual ways. It is an amazing story of the power of underground movement and more of WWII's unsung heroines. It is easy to read and includes photographs throughout to help illustrate just how avant-garde they were. 4 stars
Three girls- twins Carter and Kennedy and their friend Haley did everything together but in the end it was mostly Kennedy and Haley along with an older boy who introduced them to drink, drugs and much more. But their average teen experience life all changed on one drug crazed night when Kennedy finds Haley dead and isn't sure if she had something to do with it. She goes to prison for fifteen years and still doesn't know if she did it. Finally she gets out of prison and even though she has paid her debt to society the town lets her know that she still owes them and always will. This is a well written taunt thriller that doesn't hold anything back. It has all the complex family relationships , friendships, guilt and jealousy combined with the endless search for truth for some and justice for others. This will play well with fans of Lisa Jewell and kids who loved I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER. 4 stars Blended families can be difficult as one set of parents/stepparents discover after one of the teen's classmates is murdered. Jessica will do anything to keep her daughter's rise to track glory on the right path. Ted wants the best for his son. Stepbrother and stepsister can't stand each other but find themselves in an uneasy alliance. One murder will uncover too many secrets that no one was ready to reveal. A twisty plot with really unreliable witnesses and alibis with more holes than Swiss cheese. 3 1/2 stars
Peter the Great's wife began in poverty as a servant who seized an opportunity while being handed around Peter's generals by catching the eye of the Tsar. She was smart, manipulative and more than a bit lucky in her rise to the top and then staying in favor. In a world where the only way a woman could assure her place at court was to bear the Tsar a son, Marta as she was called, had a shrewd mind for battle and she didn't shy away from fighting dirty. That is what was needed to succeed in Peter's court where sex, violence and politics were part of every day life. This is a magnificent account of a woman who came from nothing and became one of Russia's most important leaders, succeeding in a man's world. A powerful debut for historical readers who love a little scandal, a bit of temptation and a healthy dose of politics - this book will satisfy on all counts. 4 stars
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