1938, Rani - the bright and spirited daughter of an Indian Crown Prince - leads a privileged if lonely life. But everything is about to change. Longing for freedom and purpose, she escapes the confines of her father’s palace and meets Prasad – a poor young man – with whom she falls deeply in love. But her plan to gain her father’s approval for the match disastrously backfires.Estranged from her family and haunted by guilt, Rani’s path takes her from Cambridge to Bletchley Park and a new world of intrigue and secrets. Against the backdrop of war, Rani finds comfort and a sense of belonging with fellow codebreaker William and his young son. Could they heal her heart and become the family she craves?Then Prasad reappears – and past and present collide, shattering Rani’s fragile happiness. As retribution for the hurt she caused him, he demands she pass him secrets from Bletchley. But at what cost? Torn between her past and her present, love and loyalty, Rani must face up to a heart-wrenching sacrifice . . .
Reading Books Again
Book reviews of mysteries, historical fiction and graphic novels with a smattering of non-fiction books.
Thursday, May 8, 2025
The Secret Keeper
Wednesday, May 7, 2025
Can’t Wait Wednesday #43
Tuesday, May 6, 2025
The Great British Bump Off: Kill or be Quilt #1
When wildcat arson hits her new employer right where she lives, Shauna Wickle is drawn into the brutal and vindictive world of quilting, as sisterhood and community needlecraft deteriorate into internecine strife. With the promise of an end to all her financial worries, Shauna must cross enemy lines and infiltrate a cadre of “monsters in human skin”. But they seem…so nice
This is a light hearted cozy mystery in graphic novel format. Shauna Wickle is the main character. She is a bright, kind, peppy girl who embarks on a relaxing vacation, sailing down English canals in a boat she borrowed from her uncle. However, Shauna is not an experienced sailor and soon finds that the boat has run aground and needs to be fixed before Shauna can continue her vacation. She is lucky to land in Barton-on-Wendle, and gets a job working at a fabric shop in order to earn money for repairs. At the shop she learns what a fat quarter is and is delighted to see bobbins of thread organized by color. Because of her bubbly personality, the shop owner believes Shauna will scare off their customers. We have to wait for the next release to find out how she fits in with the employees.
Way, way over 5 out of 5 stars.
Monday, May 5, 2025
The Way of the Wicked
The publisher's summary:
Kendrick Wroe is found dead in the frozen Shill Brook.
Most suspect he has been poaching Lord Gilbert's fish, though Sir Hugh finds reason to believe this may not be so... Then one of Kendrick's friends is slain; another seems to be in mortal peril, and in an apparent attempt to throw Hugh off the scent, his comely daughter Bessie is abducted.
As the town drops all to find her, the tension steadily increases: a member of a plow team dies in mysterious circumstances, Kendrick's surviving friend is forced to flee for safety in Eynsham Abbey, and as events seemingly spiral out of control, it’s all Hugh can do to master his anxiety and uncover the killer...
Mel Starr's latest novel is a thoroughly enjoyable medieval murder mystery. It may be enjoyed as complete in itself, or as part of the Hugh de Singleton series.
I was surprised by how much difficulty I had in understanding all of the medieval words the author used. Some pages seemed to be written solely in old English. I was able to adjust but it took me at least a third of the book. For me that's unusual. Since I have read all of the sixteen prior installments of the series and never had this issue, I must wonder if the author changed his writing style. There is a lengthy glossary at the front of the book but since I read an ebook it seemed harder to keep going back and forth. I knew that the murders were coming soon so I kept on reading, assuming that I would like this whodunit. Thankfully, I did.
Why the title? In this story, two boys are murdered. The murderer fears that Hugh will find him out and finds wicked ways to distract him. I didn't quite catch the clues to the killer's identity. Hugh questioned a few people but was stumped throughoutmost of the story. Toward the end we read that he has figured out who the killer was but I have no idea how he came to his conclusions. Still, I enjoyed catching up with my favorite characters.
The author is a medieval scholar and brings authenticity to this era. However, I think a little less authenticity would be an improvement. 3 out of 5 stars.
Sunday, May 4, 2025
Shang-Chi
The comic-book saga of Shang-Chi and the legendary Ten Rings. An ancient and evil secret society has remained in hiding since the death of their leader, Zheng Zu. But now a successor has been chosen: Zheng Zu's son, Shang-Chi! In a fractious family reunion, Shang-Chi gets to know the siblings he never knew he had! But who among them can he trust - and who is trying to kill him? As Shang-Chi assumes his rightful place as the leader of the Five Weapons Society, his fellow super heroes - including Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four - start to see him as the bad guy! And when he gains control of the massively powerful Ten Rings, every bounty hunter and assassin in the Marvel Universe is determined to take them from him!
Saturday, May 3, 2025
Alienated #1
The Keeper of Lost Art
As Allied bombs rain down on Torino in the autumn of 1942, Stella Costa’s mother sends her to safety with distant relatives in a Tuscan villa. There, Stella finds her family tasked with a great responsibility: hiding nearly 300 priceless masterpieces from Florence, including Botticelli’s famous Primavera.With the arrival of German troops imminent, Stella finds herself a stranger in her family’s villa and she struggles to understand why her aunt doesn’t like her. She knows it has something to do with her parents—and the fact that her father, who is currently fighting at the front, has been largely absent from her life.
When a wave of refugees seeks shelter in the villa, Stella befriends Sandro, an orphaned boy with remarkable artistic talent. Amid the growing threats, Sandro and Stella take refuge in the villa’s “treasure room,” where the paintings are hidden. There, Botticelli’s masterpiece and other works of art become a solace, an inspiration, and the glue that bonds Stella and Sandro as the dangers grow.
A troop of German soldiers requisitions the villa and puts everyone to forced labor. Now, with the villa full of German soldiers, refugees, a secret guest, and hundreds of priceless treasures, no one knows who will emerge unscathed, and whether the paintings will be taken as spoils or become unintended casualties.
Inspired by the incredible true story of a single Tuscan villa used as a hiding place for the treasures of Florentine art during World War II, The Keeper of Lost Art takes readers on a breathtaking journey into one of the darkest chapters of Italy’s history, highlighting the incredible courage of everyday people to protect some of the most important works of art in western civilization.
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. The plot shows us what Italians had to deal with during WWII. This is a viewpoint I have never read about before. The families left behind by the Italian soldiers was fraught with food and gas shortages as well as fear of the Germans who were occupying their country. For Stella's family, they were tested beyond belief. Her uncle, zio Tino, and her aunt, zio Angela, allowed over 200 refugees to live in their wine cellar, for almost a year. Angela, Stella, and her cousins Livia and Mariasole did all of the cooking, using up the family’s private storage of food for these strangers. A representative of the Uffizi Gallery in Florence talks zio Tino into storing a few hundred paintings on the property. Tino is now responsible for preventing the Germans from taking them. Stella befriends a boy named Sandro who is skilled in drawing and they often seek out the paintings to copy. The Germans soon arrive and decide to stay at the villa. The family and refugees are terrified but they all dutily perform the labor that the German soldiers demand.
The main characters were all compelling. Zio Tino is a compassionate man who cannot turn away any refugees. He is mild mannered but is strong enough to handle the Germans. His wife zio Angela argues with him constantly over using up their food and other resources for people who aren't family. She is an unhappy woman who takes it out on everyone else in the family. Stella is an intriguing character and she is also the main character. Initially she is afraid of her aunt but Stella becomes more confident from learning how to cook, clean, and find new friends.
The Tuscany countryside is the setting. It affects the type of fighting that can be done as well as the recipes that the ladies cooked. The villa is located in a rural area of Tuscany so it's a much safer place to be than in the city. Life is easier here than in Florence which is hit hard by the armies. I was surprised that properties owned by British citizens became the property of Italy. I did not expect this but it was not any different from what the Germans did throughout Europe.
The Keeper of Lost Art was a wonderful coming-of-age story that historical fiction fans will enjoy. I am rating it 5 out of 5 stars.
Friday, May 2, 2025
The World's Fair Quilt
The publisher's summary:
As fall paints the Pennsylvania countryside in flaming colors, Sylvia Bergstrom Compson is contemplating the future of her beloved Elm Creek Quilts. The Elm Creek Quilt Camp remains the most popular quilter’s retreat in the country, but unexpected financial difficulties have beset them and the Bergstrom family’s stately nineteenth-century manor. Now in her eighth decade, Sylvia is determined to maintain her family’s legacy, but she needs new resources—financial and emotional.
Summer Sullivan—a founding Elm Creek Quilter—arrives to discuss an antique quilt that she wants to display at the Waterford Historical Society’s quilt exhibit. When Sylvia and her sister Claudia were teenagers, they had entered a quilt in the Sears National Quilt Contest for the 1933 Century of Progress Exposition, also known as the Chicago World’s Fair. The Bergstrom sisters’ quilt would be perfect for the Historical Society’s exhibit, Summer explains.
Sylvia is reluctant to lend out the quilt, which has been stored in the attic for decades, nearly forgotten. In keeping with the contest’s “Century of Progress” theme, the girls illustrated progress of values—scenes of the Emancipation Proclamation, woman’s suffrage, and labor unions. But although it won ribbons, the quilt also drove a wedge between the sisters.
As Sylvia reluctantly retraces her quilt’s story for Summer, she makes an unexpected discovery—one that restores some of her faith in this unique work of art, and helps shine some light on a way forward for the Elm Creek Quilts community.
I loved catching up with my favorite characters from the series. Sylvia's story is told through a 1937 narrative as well as through the current time period. I enjoyed the 1937 narrative the best because that time period in the prior novels was fantastic. Sylvia's nuclear family always had some drama going on. Sylvia couldn't stand her older sister Claudia, who her mother always sided with. Her younger brother Richard was barely five years old in 1937 and was not a prominent character. Sylvia's extended family were more likable and were prominent in the first few books of the series. Her grand-aunts were expert quilters and bakers and they were sweet characters as were her grand-uncles. All of these characters were charming and I loved them all. Their appearance in the story was heartwarming.
The rivalry between Sylvia and Claudia brings tension to the plot. This has been true for each novel. Here, we have them squabbling over creating an original quilt for the Sears quilting competition, which was a real event. Claudia's poor sewing skills kept them from winning at the regional and national levels of the competition but Sylvia never let her see the Judge’s critique of their quilt. Claudia was in denial concerning her skills and never gave in during an argument with Sylvia, arguments that Claudia always won.
If you have not read the Elm Creek Quilts series yet, I doubt that you would enjoy this book. You really need to understand who all of the characters are from the past 100 years of the storyline or none of it will make any sense. This is a cute cozy series but note that it's not a mystery.
I highly recommend the series to cozy fans, especially if they love quilting. 4 out of 5 stars.
Six Days in Bombay
When renowned painter Mira Novak arrives at Wadia hospital in Bombay after a miscarriage, she's expected to make a quick recovery, and her nurse, Sona, is excited to learn more about the vivacious artist who shares her half-Indian identity. Sona, yearning for a larger life, finds herself carried away by Mira's stories of her travels and exploits and is shocked by accounts of the many lovers the painter has left scattered throughout Europe. When Mira dies quite suddenly and mysteriously, Sona falls under suspicion, and her quiet life is upended.The key to proving Sona's innocence may lie in a cryptic note and four paintings Mira left in her care, sending the young woman on a mission to visit the painter's former friends and lovers across a tumultuous Europe teetering toward war. On the precipice of discovering her own identity, Sona learns that the painter's charming facade hid a far more complicated, troubled soul.In her first stand-alone novel since her bestselling debut, The Henna Artist, Alka Joshi uses the life of painter Amrita Sher-Gil, the "Frida Kahlo of India," as inspiration for the story's beginning to explore how far we'll travel to determine where we truly belong.
This novel offers the reader two trajectories to follow. Sona Falstaff, a 23 year-old nurse, has been coddled by her mother all her life. When her mother suddenly dies after she is fired, Sona has to come to terms with who she wants to be. Her mother wanted her to be more adventurous and do new things. Then there is the flamboyant Mira Novak, a patient of Sona's who died after spending six days in the hospital. Mira had a miscarriage at home and was admitted by her husband the same day. Sona was enthralled with Mira's stories about her friends as well as living in Prague, Paris and Florence as a painter. The title comes from the six days that Sona knew Mira.
These two characters were complete opposites. As the story goes along we see Sona branching out as well as discovering the truth surrounding all of Mira's stories. She is an insecure person, being the product of an Indian mother and a British father. Sona was taunted while growing up due to her skin color as well as being fatherless. Some in Bombay accuse her of being too Indian and others say she is too British.
While Sona travels throughout Europe she meets Mira's friends, all of whom make colorful secondary characters. The other secondary characters work at the Bombay hospital. They are the stereotypical people you would expect for the time and place. As Mira's life unfolds, Sona wonders whether she could live so boldly.
The ending ties up all the loose ends and is sweet. Six Days in Bombay is an engaging story that historical fiction fans will love. I am rating it 5 out of 5 stars.
Thursday, May 1, 2025
The Lost Girls
The publisher's summary:
Charleston, South Carolina. Four years ago. Three girls disappear into the night. One by one they go missing, never to be seen again. No witnesses, no leads, nothing. The only thing they had in common? An uneasy sense of being watched in the days before they vanished. Noises in the night, and boot prints in the flower beds outside their bedroom windows . . .
Today. One of the lost girls was Anna Klein's best friend. With no body, the case went cold. But Anna never stopped looking for Sylvie - or whoever took her. Now, four years later, Anna finally has a lead when a body turns up in an abandoned mansion. She has to know: is it Sylvie? But time is running out. As the storm of the century threatens the whole East Coast, the clock is ticking to find the answers before this trail goes cold.
Can Anna find Sylvie and the other girls before they're lost forever?
I was mesmerized by this story from the first page:
"Marble eyes. That's the rumor. A woman's corpse has been found with eyes like a doll. Anna thinks it sounds just strange enough to be what's she's after. The location is right. So is the body's estimated age."
I had alot of questions already about the plot from this first paragraph. It was so intriguing that I couldn't stop reading until I finished the book in one sitting. The pace was fast but the last quarter of the story was super fast.
Anna's job as a newspaper journalist was perfect for an amateur sleuth. She was assigned to covering a fast approaching hurricane but she felt that was beneath her. The murder story should have been assigned to her, not the newby reporter on staff. She was always ahead of the police but they didn't always know it. There are subtle hints throughout the book of Anna having intimate knowledge of the missing girls. While I was reading I was not sure whether this was a clue or red herring.
The secondary characters were all important to the plot. Anna worked with Justin at the newspaper and her favorite teacher Geller helped her with unscrambling the meaning behind the killer's poem. Her mother was awful. She was an unrepentant alcoholic but her importance is revealed toward the end. Anna's school friends Hannah, Tess and Sylvie have been missing for four years. They are the flash girls. The meaning behind "flash" was part of the killer's modus operandi and it was an intriguing part of the story.
The Charleston setting wasn't prominent until the latter half of the book as the hurricane approached. Here we read about famous buildings being ripped apart from the waves. The ending was a surprise I did not expect ur it was a satisfying feeling to finish the book.
I loved this book and mystery fans will want to read it, especially if they like psychological thrillers. 5 out of 5 stars.
The Lotus Shoes
1800s China. Tightly bound feet, or "golden lilies," are the mark of an honorable woman, eclipsing beauty, a rich dowry and even bloodline in the marriage stakes. When Little Flower is sold as a maidservant—a muizai—to Linjing, a daughter of the prominent Fong family, she clings to the hope that one day her golden lilies will lead her out of slavery.Not only does Little Flower have bound feet, uncommon for a muizai, but she is extraordinarily gifted at embroidery, a skill associated with the highest class of a lady. Resentful of her talents, Linjing does everything in her power to thwart Little Flower's escape.But when scandal strikes the Fongs, both women are cast out to the Celibate Sisterhood, where Little Flower’s artistic prowess catches the eye of a nobleman. His attention threatens not only her improved status, but her life—the Sisterhood punishes disobedience with death. And if Linjing finds out, will she sabotage Little Flower to reclaim her power, or will she protect her?
The Lotus Shoes is an engrossing journey through 19th century rural China. The lives people led were sad from living in abject poverty but for the most part they accepted their lot in life. Our heroine was the exception. Little Flower a compelling character. Every time her hopes are dashed she comes up with a new plan to better herself. Linjing, on the other hand, is spiteful and she relies on others to fix her mistakes. She is the villain of the story. Linjing constantly shoves Little Flower down because she can. Little Flower is her slave.
Little Flower's ups and downs provide the mystery for the story. You don't know if she can survive all the horrible things that happen to her. She is punished for running away from the Fongs by having a hand clubbed. Linjing is so jealous of Little Flower that she forces her to stop binding her feet. There will be no prospective marriage for her with normal feet. Linjing also makes her cut up a wedding quilt that Little Flower embroidered. At every turn Little Flower's upworldly mobile plans are dashed. After the two of them are kicked out of the Fong home, Little Flower asserts her independence. Her character is what saves her, though, as she is viewed sympathetically from her superiors.
The plot is revealed with a dual narrative from Linjing and Little Flower's perspectives. I like this type of format for a novel. The Chinese setting was prominent to the story as it detailed the harsh life of 19th century. It brought a sadness to me as everyone was poor, but we see different degrees of poverty.
The Lotus Shoes is a revealing look at women's lives of the era. 5 out of 5 stars.