I enjoyed this story about a german woman immigrant to the US. I was saddened and shocked to find how immigrants were treated in Ellis Island! I have family who came to Ellis island. The fact that this Eugenics program existed is very disturbing to me. I found that I learned a lot from this work of historical fiction. I enjoyed Lena and Ella’s story and that of the people who lived by Blue ridge in Va. It is shocking how they threw them off their land. I recommend this book. Irlt is very informative.

I admit that I never read The Diary Of A Young Girl by Anne Frank. To coincide my visit to the Anne Frank Exhibition at the Center of Jewish History. it was time to read it, It is harrowing the story that a teenage girl tells that she managed to capture a part of life that should not have been experienced by anyone of any age. Even knowing the ending, I was gripped that there is going to be/should be,/there will be a happier ending. as in real life, which is exactly that this diary is, there are not always happy endings.

Very nice Light summer read.

Awesome Read. If you like the twists and turns that Freida McFadden uses in her book, you will love this read.

Another intriguing historical mystery by this author. Haven, a researcher of shipwrecks discovers something called the Amalfi Curse. We learn about it through two timelines , the present and 1820s. I was hooked from the beginning to the end. Highly recommend.

This novel was definitely one of my favorite recently read books. it is very well written. I was not expecting the ending at all. I actually thought I had the plot figured out but at the very end was surprised. I highly recommend this book.

I really liked this one. Sloane is a self proclaimed liar. She doesn't lie to intentionally hurt people, but more to make herself seem more important and interesting. Unfortunately, she does manage to get herself into trouble.

It feels so good to have a new Adriana Triggiani book to get lost in this summer. Jess Capodimonte Baratta is part of a big, messy, loving family that lives in Lake Como, NJ. Triggiani weaves her story full of wonderful characters between life in New Jersey and life in Lake Como in the Tuscany region of Italy. The work includes lots of Italian food and cultural descriptions that were so important in Triggiani’s prior stories. Jess works for her uncle Lou who owns a company that supplies white and blue marble sourced in Italiy for customers in NJ. We learn about the process of removing the marble from the hilltops. There is romance, culture, possible criminal involvement and amazing word pictures describing the beauty of the people, food, hills and lakes. I did not want this book to end.

Wilkerson's follow-up to "Black Cake" centers on a wealthy Black family, the Freemans, who live on the Connecticut coast. The family's prized possession is a 20 gallon stoneware pot they call "Old Mo" made by an enslaved ancestor. This jar was broken by masked intruders during a horrible home invasion which resulted in 15- year old Baz being shot to death in the presence of his 10-year old sister Ebony (Ebby). As we meet Ebby she has suffered a second trauma : In 2018, her rich White husband- to -be,ditched her on their wedding day for reasons that take a while to emerge.

I wanted to like this book. But it (ironically?) shows that the sequels are not always necessary. In the first book the story was compelling but the ending felt muddy, and unfulfilling. Now we pick up with Anna, a character from the first book, who was kind of an anti-hero, but now she is more difficult to root for. She has gone from tragic victim to paranoid sociopath with a high kill count. Just not a compelling story.