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The Stolen Life Of Colette Marceau
by Kristin Harmel
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This was another amazing book by Kristin Harmel. It’s a dual timeline set in the time leading up to WWII and WWII itself in Paris and 2018 in Boston. It explores an intriguing theme of moral ambiguities. What if someone is doing what’s considered immoral but for a good cause? In this book, the main character, Collette’s family is descended from the legendary Robin Hood. They have succeeded in following Robin Hood’s mission from stealing from the rich to give to the poor. At the age of 10, Collette learns the family trade of being a jewel thief. It all seems to go well for her and her mother Annabel until a tragic event that shakes the family to the core during WWII. It was a mission to steal some jewelry back for their Jewish friends who were sent away to the death camp. But, it ends up going horribly wrong and has Collette losing her mother and 4 year old sister, Liliane in one instant. Flash forward to 2018 in Boston and at 89, Collette is still a successful jewel thief, still stealing from evil people with wealth, to benefit the disadvantaged or for a mission to fund a Holocaust education center in Boston. What she didn’t expect was one of the bracelets of the dear friends her family lost in the war on that tragic night to turn up again. The same one her sister had on her person all those years ago when she disappeared. This leads to the mystery of where it came from and the story flashes between two timelines to fill in the gaps of what happened all those years ago. Like many of her other books, this was a quick read. In fact, I finished it in a day. It’s a testament to her engaging characters and compelling storytelling that tugs at your heartstrings. I highly recommend this book.
1984
by George Orwell
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I read this book in high school and remember enjoying it. I wanted to re-read it to see how it compares with the actuality of life now, in terms of the technological "advances" that were used in the book. It turned out that I remembered scenes from the book that I guess I fabricated; only one thing that I recalled actually took place in the novel. The book did not hold my attention, and I wouldn't recommend it. I imagine it meant more when the Cold War was still in effect.
The Giver
by Lois Lowry
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The Giver, is about a person who holds the memories of the true joys and pain of life in the world that is described as a futuristic one. And the twist is that he is the ONLY one who has this capacity to keep memories, and saves his world from the pain they might bring. The novel follows a 12-year-old boy named Jonas who experiences shocking truths, revelations, and hidden philosophies about the world around him as he has been SELECTED to be the next GIVER. The one who shall hold the memories for the entire world around him. Memories of joy, love, happiness, enjoyment, safety, danger, sorry, surprise, admiration, disgust or fear. The writing is so lucid that when you read about an emotion (Memory - in case of this book), you visualize all the small elements that go into making and feeling an emotion. The innocent and ingenuous way that the young protagonist tries to understand the new JOB profile he has been assigned is very thought provoking. A very GENIUS book!
My Friends
by Fredrik Backman
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Fredrik Backman has a way to write broken people that you fall in love with. A priceless painting is gifted to a runaway foster kid by the artist himself. Can Luisa handle the responsibility of having such a priceless gift? As she travels with the artist’s best friend to sell the painting, the full story of the artist, his friends and growing up in a poor neighborhood is unfolded. This book weaves past and present together creating an intriguing story.
The Silence Of The Girls
by Pat Barker
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This retelling of the Iliad from the point of view of a female Trojan captive has an interesting concept but I felt it went on way too long.
The Guncle
by Steven Rowley
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this is a sad as well as a heart warming story. children losing a parent at such and young age and while they are grieving the other parent needs to go to rehab. the children manage to get through the summer with the help of there uncle. the children also help the uncle who is still grieving the loss of his partner 4 years later. by the end of the summer Patrick is ready and get back to living I cried at the end of the book
Being Henry
by Henry Winkler
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Enjoyable autobiography.
The Novel Life Of Jane Austen
by Janine Barchas
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Very well researched and illustrated graphic novel about Jane Austen which is full of fun facts, lesser known facts, a unique viewpoint, and with some embellishments. I enjoyed this book because it was a different way of learning and reading about someone through comic book format.
Happy Place
by Emily Henry
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This book is an adult romance novel about Harriet and Wyn, who have been the “perfect couple”, but they break up. However, they still pretend they are dating because they don’t want to ruin their friends’ last trip at the cottage. I give this book a three out of five stars because it was a good read. I didn’t hate it, but it was not exactly my type of read. For an adult romance, the problems and fights that the characters had felt very teenager like arguments. I liked the friendship dynamic and how there were multiple characters all with their own internal problems so overall it was a good read, just not my favorite.
The Dark Maestro
by Brendan Slocumb
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I have enjoyed this author’s previous books so I decided to try this one. The musical parts are very interesting, but it goes off on a weird comic book adventure that ruined it for me.
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