Familia

 This seemed to be an easier read for December.....I will start it tonight.  Here is the synopsis:

What if your most basic beliefs about your life were suddenly revealed to be a lie? In this compelling, emotional novel, two young women are brought together by a genealogy test and a haunting question that shakes their understanding of what family is and who they truly are …

As the fact checker for a popular magazine, Gabby DiMarco believes in absolute, verifiable Truths—until they throw the facts of her own life into question. The genealogy test she took as research for an article has yielded a baffling result: Gabby has a sister—one who’s been desperately trying to find her. Except, as Gabby’s beloved parents would confirm if they were still alive, that’s impossible.

Isabella Ruiz can still picture the face of her baby sister, who disappeared from the streets of San Juan twenty-five years ago. Isabella, an artist, has fought hard for the stable home and loving marriage she has today—yet the longing to find Marianna has never left. At last, she’s found a match, and Gabby has agreed to come to Puerto Rico.

But Gabby, as defensive and cautious as Isabella is impulsive, offers no happy reunion. She insists there’s been a mistake. And Isabella realizes that even if this woman is her sister, she may not want to be.

With nothing—or perhaps so much—in common, Gabby and Isabella set out to find the truth, though it means risking everything they’ve known for an uncertain future—and a past that harbors yet more surprises …

“Familia has it all: An old crime, unsuspecting victims, a genetic mystery that will explode a family. By page 30, I would have walked on coals to finish reading this story.”—

Devil Water

 I started this book and I do like it ....but I think I might choose something else for the month of December.  Here is the synopsis:  

This fiercely beautiful novel tells the true story of Charles Radcliff, a Catholic nobleman who joined the short-lived Jacobite rebellion of 1715, and of his daughter, Jenny, by a secret marriage. Set in the wilds of Northumbria, teeming London, and colonial Virginia—where Jenny eventually settled on the estate of the famous William Byrd of Westover—Jenny’s story reveals one young woman’s loyalty, passion, and courage as she struggles between living in the Old World and the New. This vividly powerful novel, like its predecessor The Winthrop Woman, combines thoroughly documented history with superb storytelling.

So I really do have interest in following the story.  I am going to put it away until after the holidays.

Daisy Jones and the Six

 At one point I wondered what I was doing reading this crazy book and almost quit reading...Who recommended it to me?  But when I finished listening last night I was happy that I had read it.  That was my era.  I liked how the author told the story in the voices of the band.  It is fiction.  But I wished to have listened to their music.

One of the reviews captures my feeling:

• In Daisy Jones & The Six, Taylor Jenkins Reid imagines an oral history of the band’s rise and fall. It’s fictional—though Reid was inspired by Fleetwood Mac and others—but the band and the era are so fully realized you’ll think you’re reading a true story.

  REAL SIMPLE

The Teller of Small Fortunes

 I have had a particularly busy fall and decided that I needed a light read.  So far I am enjoying this book.  Here is the synopsis:

ABOUT THE TELLER OF SMALL FORTUNES

A wandering fortune teller finds an unexpected family in this warm and wonderful debut fantasy, perfect for readers of Travis Baldree and Sangu Mandanna.

Tao is an immigrant fortune teller, traveling between villages with just her trusty mule for company. She only tells “small” fortunes: whether it will hail next week; which boy the barmaid will kiss; when the cow will calve. She knows from bitter experience that big fortunes come with big consequences…

Even if it’s a lonely life, it’s better than the one she left behind. But a small fortune unexpectedly becomes something more when a (semi) reformed thief and an ex-mercenary recruit her into their desperate search for a lost child. Soon, they’re joined by a baker with a “knead” for adventure, and—of course—a slightly magical cat.

Tao starts down a new path with companions as big-hearted as her fortunes are small. But as she lowers her walls, the shadows of her past close in—and she’ll have to decide whether to risk

The Haj

 After several very crazy weeks, my life slowed down this past week.  Summer 2024 has been the year of the drought in our area.  HOT!  DRY!  And this past Wednesday it began to rain.  No golf on Tuesday because there was state senior men's tourney and then it has rained steadily since Wednesday morning so no golf.  That frees up a lot of hours.  And then Sarah and Mark came for a visit and that leads to hours sitting on the porch.   A very nice respite after a bunch of craziness.  

But last night we sat on the porch after dinner and our talk ended up being influenced by the book Jason is listening/reading right now:  

Mark actually knows quite a lot about the middle east as he flew in and out of the area for many years.  And has first hand knowledge of places such as:  Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, the Dead Sea, Jordan:Amman, , Jericho,  Petra (Mark says Petra is amazing)., Pyramids in Egypt as well as seeing Cairo, Alexandria, within Iraq:  Baghdad, Mosul, Erbil, Kuwait, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: Riyadh, Jeddah, Damascus in Syria.

Mark was an army jet pilot who did VIP transport.  His job was to provide air transport to the US military and US government top brass and elected officials.

We talked about believers and infidels....and Mark commented that the only place he felt somewhat safe was in Jordan

I found myself thinking about the areas that Mark talked about and remembered that I had read the book The Haj by Leon Uris many years ago and liked it a lot at the time....could I walk right to the book now?  Yep....there it was on the shelf in the living room.  So I picked it up to give to Mark.  But before I gave it to Mark, I decided to take photos of the maps on the front and back covers.  And needed a place to put the maps....so here they are.

And a simple map that I took from the internet:

I can't remember much about the book.  I read it many years ago.  So I looked on Amazon for a synopsis.

The story of a Palestinian Arab family during the historic events of the 1920s-1950s as seen through the eyes of Ismael, the youngest son. Of the intent of the book, Uris said," It is urgent that we know what goes on behind the door of an ordinary Arab family…only by such understanding will we have the clues to mutual survival"

and

“The narrative is fast paced, bursting with action, and obviously based on an intimate grasp of the region, its peoples, their tradition and age-old ways of life.”—John Barkham Reviews

Remarkably Bright Creatures

 This book had a bit of a silly plot.  That is the word that springs to my mind when everything fits together so neatly.  And in this book there was a crazy amount of "stuff" to fit together.  But it was a pleasant read and that is what I had asked for when I finished by last book.  I had a busy month and I needed a book that didn't take much brain power.  I won't tell the basic story because that would ruin the read.  One of the main characters was an octopus who was stuck in an aquarium.  Another main character was Tova who cleaned the facility at night....and you could not help but like Tova a LOT....

Only the Brave

 

I can not seem to get away from the WWII books.  As soon as I finished the Words We Whisper, I downloaded Only the Brave.  This time the setting is Berlin itself.  Here is the synopsis on Amazon:

Sophia Alexander, the beautiful daughter of a famous surgeon in Berlin, has had to grow up faster than most young women. When her mother falls ill, Sophia must take charge of her younger sister, Theresa, and look after her father and the household, while also volunteering at his hospital after school. Meanwhile, Hitler’s rise to power and the violence in her very own town have Sophia concerned, but only her mother is willing to share her fears openly.

After tragedy strikes and her mother dies, Sophia becomes increasingly involved in the resistance, attending meetings of dissidents and helping however she can. Circumstances become increasingly dangerous and personal when Sophia assists her sister’s daring escape from Germany, as Theresa flees with her young husband and his family. Her father also begins to resist the regime, secretly healing those hiding from persecution, only to have his hospital burned to the ground. When he is arrested and sent to a concentration camp, Sophia is truly on her own, but more determined than ever to help.

While working as a nurse with the convent nuns, the Sisters of Mercy, Sophia continues her harrowing efforts to transport Jewish children to safety and finds herself under surveillance. As the political tensions rise and the brutal oppression continues, Sophia is undeterred, risking it all, even her own freedom, as she rises to the challenge of helping those in need—no matter the cost.

The Words We Whisper

 Continuing the theme of WWII books, I began this book tonight.  It is about WWII in Rome.  I have not explored that location yet.  Here is the publisher's summary:

As a hospice nurse, Zara Mitchell has already seen more death than most people will experience in a lifetime. So when her older sister asks her to help care for their ailing grandmother, Zara agrees - despite strained family relationships.

Though pale and tired, Nonna has lost none of her sharp mind. She’s fixated on finding something long forgotten, and she immediately puts Zara to work cleaning out the attic. Unexpectedly, amid the tedium of sifting through knickknacks and heirlooms, Zara also reconnects with a man she’s attracted to but whose complicated past makes romance seem impossible.

But then Zara finds what Nonna was looking for: a wooden chest, an emerald broach, a leather-bound journal. As she immerses herself in stories of heroism and loss set against the backdrop of war-torn Italy in 1943, Zara finds answers to questions she didn’t know she had. And they change everything she thinks she knows about love, regret, and seizing the day.

I finished the book at the end of Crazy August.  Very entertaining....and a complicated finale.  But I did like the book and found it to be a good read.

Silver

 Kind of crazy, random book.  Dee Dee has had an exceptionally terrible life yet seems to be an exceptionally positive human being.  And the friendship between her and her employer that leads to the drive from Key West with destination of Disney World is crazy serendipity.  

The Women

 This has been a book that has stuck with me after I listened to the last word.  The first half of the book about the Vietnam War and Frankie McGrath's experience as an Army Nurse in Vietnam was the kind of listen/read that one just can not put down nor quit thinking about.  The second half of the book about her problems after returning to the shores of the USA was not as fascinating.  However, it was of interest to know the stories of those who returned and suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and the suffering of the returning veterans.  And the end of the book offered hope that Frankie would have a happy life and a complete recovery.  I liked the fact that Kristin Hannah left the ending to each reader's imagination with just a suggestion of what might happen next. 

Winter Solstice

Oscar's grandmother's grand estate is now a hotel, but the former estate manager's house is vacant and still belongs to the family. It is in this house, on the shortest day of the year, that the lives of five people will come together and be forever changed. Rosamunde Pilcher's long-awaited return to the page will warm the hearts of readers both old and new. Winter Solstice is a novel of love, loyalty and rebirth.

A nice book....not very exciting....but a good book when one's life is very busy....and I was not tempted to stop reading.  No surprises.

Hello Beautiful

I am having trouble explaining all of the ins and outs of this book.  So I am going to copy and paste an excerpt from the description on Amazon:  

William Waters grew up in a house silenced by tragedy, where his parents could hardly bear to look at him, much less love him—so when he meets the spirited and ambitious Julia Padavano in his freshman year of college, it’s as if the world has lit up around him. With Julia comes her family, as she and her three sisters are inseparable: Sylvie, the family’s dreamer, is happiest with her nose in a book; Cecelia is a free-spirited artist; and Emeline patiently takes care of them all. With the Padavanos, William experiences a newfound contentment; every moment in their house is filled with loving chaos.

William's love of the sport of basketball is a highlight of the book.  

Oh, wow, I was not expecting to like this book so much.  I have barely started, but already I am drawn into the story of a young girl who has lost her mother.....and a relationship that has begun between this child and her grandmother.  

Here is a published review:

According to Confucius, "an educated woman is a worthless woman," but Tan Yunxian—born into an elite family, yet haunted by death, separations, and loneliness—is being raised by her grandparents to be of use. Her grandmother is one of only a handful of female doctors in China, and she teaches Yunxian the pillars of Chinese medicine, the Four Examinations—looking, listening, touching, and asking—something a man can never do with a female patient. 

From a young age, Yunxian learns about women's illnesses, many of which relate to childbearing, alongside a young midwife-in-training, Meiling. The two girls find fast friendship and a mutual purpose—despite the prohibition that a doctor should never touch blood while a midwife comes in frequent contact with it—and they vow to be forever friends, sharing in each other's joys and struggles. No mud, no lotus, they tell themselves: from adversity beauty can bloom. 

But when Yunxian is sent into an arranged marriage, her mother-in-law forbids her from seeing Meiling and from helping the women and girls in the household. Yunxian is to act like a proper wife—embroider bound-foot slippers, pluck instruments, recite poetry, give birth to sons, and stay forever within the walls of the family compound, the Garden of Fragrant Delights. 

How might a woman like Yunxian break free of these traditions, go on to treat women and girls from every level of society, and lead a life of such importance that many of her remedies are still used five centuries later? How might the power of friendship support or complicate these efforts? Lady Tan's Circle of Women is a captivating story of women helping other women. It is also a triumphant reimagining of the life of a woman who was remarkable in the Ming dynasty and would be considered remarkable today.

I finished the book the first week of February, 2024.  I liked it as much at the end as I did in the beginning. Quite a bit of gore and "bad stuff", but done in a way that I didn't have to put the book down and leave it alone for a while as I have so many of the WWII books.  I find myself wishing for more pages and haven't yet started a new book.