Author: drbethnolan

Review: The Forgotten Girls by Sara Blaedel

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I’m a huge fan of Nordic crime novels and when I saw this one come up on Net Galley, I was excited to get it.

THE FORGOTTEN GIRLS starts with a young woman being found, dead, in a forest in Denmark. She looks unkempt – almost feral – but she has no identification on her. Investigator Louise Rick gets a tip that the girl is a twin that used to live in a nearby institution, only thing is, that girl is officially deceased. Other murders and attacks on local women get Louise to thinking that the crimes may all be related and go back for years. However, until she can figure out who this first girl is, and what she was doing in the woods, the key to whole mystery will remain hidden.

I really enjoyed this fast-paced, well-plotted novel. This is my first Sara Blaedel book, but apparently the Louise Rick series is quite popular and there are several other books. This story does have passages of graphic violence and the overall premise, once it’s all figured out, is fairly disturbing; however, I did like it and look forward to reading more books by Blaedel. Rick is a multi-layered character – far from perfect – and I rooted for her as the protagonist.

Thank you, Net Galley and Grand Central Publishing, for my review copy!

GIVEAWAY for DREAMING SPIES by Laurie R. King!

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Publishing on the 17th, is this fun book which I loved (review coming on Feb. 14).

DREAMING SPIES is the latest in the series of mysteries featuring Sherlock Holmes and his wife, Mary Russell.

Here’s a book trailer via You Tube:

I’ve been sent a beautiful hard cover copy from Random House marketing to give to a winner.

To enter, please leave a comment and also let me know how to contact you if you are the winner.

I’m afraid it has to be US only since I’m footing the bill for shipping.

I will use random.org to choose a winner.

Giveaway will be open until 12:01 am 2/21/15. One entry person.

Review: The Butterfly and the Violin by Kristy Cambron

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While I received THE BUTTERFLY AND THE VIOLIN through Net Galley, I was never able to access it as it had been archived, so I got a copy through my local library. This was a haunting read that goes back and forth between current day and WWII. This book is subtitled “A Hidden Masterpiece Novel” so I am assuming it is the start or part of a series.

THE BUTTERFLY AND THE VIOLIN starts with modern-day Sera, an art dealer in New York, as she searches for a painting she saw when she was young: a beautiful girl playing the violin in Auschwitz.  Sera has spent years looking for the original and just when she thinks she is close to finding it, complications occur in the form of a young business man from San Francisco who is also seeking the portrait. The story switches to the past so we  can see how the painting came to be. Young Adele is “Austria’s sweetheart”, a violinist whose father is a high-ranking officer in the Third Reich. She is in love with a fellow musician and together they try to help Jewish families to hide or escape to safety. Adele is caught and sent to Auschwitz where she is put into the women’s orchestra, a group of musicians who provide daily music at the camp while prisoners are sent to work or are taken off the incoming trains. Much of Adele’s story is how she and the other women work to stay together and stay alive, even though they find their task gruesome and disturbing.  Sometimes the story has us in Auschwitz, sometimes back before Adele was arrested, and sometimes current day with Sera and William as they look for the portrait.

This book is listed as Christian Historical Fiction. There are strong messages in it about God’s gifts to us and using the gifts we have, along with finding God’s presence through embracing life.

If I could change one thing in this book it would be to make the “past parts” more in order chronologically. I found it somewhat jolting to go from past to present to past but four years earlier than the last time we were in the past to present, etc. I also was troubled by how easily Adele’s parents sent their only child, barely more than a teen, off to a concentration camp.

If you like WWII reads and enjoy strong Christian messages in your story, along with some romance, you should read this book! The historical note at the end talks about the real life women’s orchestras in camps at that time.

You can find it at an indie — I am an Indie Bound affiliate (or find it at the library, like I did!):

Find it at an Indie!

Cookbook Review: A Good Food Day by Marco Canora with Tammy Walker

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I received this cookbook through Blogging for Books. I’m a bit of a cookbook junkie and I love checking out new recipes!

The premise of this book is that food that is good for you doesn’t need to be bland or unexciting — it can taste good. That way, you can make every day a “good food” day!

At the beginning of the book, author/chef/restaurateur Marco Canora goes into his back story for a bit, telling how he really didn’t eat well or take care of himself until suddenly, in his 40’s, all his numbers were off and he was overweight and on his way to Type II diabetes. He moved to eating clean, wholesome foods – with lots of fresh veggies – and this book is chock full of his yummy recipes! (For instance, tomorrow for dinner I am making his pork tenderloin medallions, cook with a pan gravy that includes fennel, garlic, and white wine, with roasted lemon asparagus with pesto). His recipes are easy to follow and include what I would consider basic kitchen ingredients, assuming you have a well-stocked pantry/fridge. I haven’t seen anything I couldn’t pick up at my local grocery store or any recipe that should take hours to prepare (yes — some soups simmer for a while, but I don’t need to stand over them).

I’m so glad I chose this selection as it will be a staple in our kitchen!

Thank you Blogging for Books for my copy!

Find it at an Indie near you — I am an indie-bound affiliate:


Find it at an Indie!

A Look Back at January..

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January was a busy month for me!

Over the course of the month I posted reviews on:

BLACKWATER BEN by William Durbin (kids)

NORA WEBSTER by Colm Toibin (fiction)

VERONICA MARS #2 by Rob Thomas (YA/new adult/mystery)

WHEN by Victoria Laurie (YA)

THE BLOOD OF THE FIFTH KNIGHT by E.M. Powell (HF)

THE DIABETES SOLUTION and THE ACID REFLUX SOLUTION by Dr. Jorge Rodriguez (self-help/diet)

MY THINNING YEARS by Jon Derek Croteau (memoir)

DEATH OF A DISHONORABLE GENTLEMAN by Tessa Arlen (HF)

SOMETHING BORROWED, SOMEONE DEAD by M.C. Beaton (cozy)

DOWN BY THE RIVER by Lin Stepp (Christian/fiction)

THE DARING LADIES OF LOWELL by Kate Alcott (audiobook – HF)

THE SCHOOL OF NIGHT by Colin Falconer (HF)

THE WICKED AWAKENING OF ANNE MERCHANT by Joanna Wiebe (YA)

THE AFTER HOUSE by Phillip Michael Cash (Supernatural/suspense)

THE NIGHTINGALE by Kristin Hannah (HF)

I also did a few Saturday Snapshots:

NYC for New Year’s

More NYC

Blizzard of 2015

And posted on a giveaway for Dreaming Spies!

Review: THE NIGHTINGALE by Kristin Hannah

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Publishing on February 3 is a book that is destined to be one of my top picks for 2015. THE NIGHTINGALE is a story of two French sisters during WWII. Each sister does whatever she can to survive, and their story is both riveting and heart-breaking. I could not put this book down!

Without giving away the whole story line, this novel basically follows two sisters throughout the occupation of France in WWII. One sister, Viann, has a young daughter and her husband is sent to fight. She is determined to keep their family home going and to keep her daughter safe until her husband returns. The other sister, Isabelle, has always been the black sheep. She is young and impetuous, but she is also strong and courageous. She joins the Resistance and works to bring downed allied airmen over the Pyrenees into Spain. The sisters clash and fight and are so completely different, yet at the same time they love each other and want to help each other. Each faces the horrible reality of the war with her own way of coping.

I have to say that when I read this, I identified so strongly with Viann. When I was younger, I might have been more of an Isabelle, but Viann’s struggle to just get by and keep going and to protect her daughter at all costs — I could just imagine myself in her shoes. She was willing to suffer at great lengths as long as it meant that her daughter was safe. However, that doesn’t mean that she did nothing or just went along with the atrocities she was witnessing. One thing I loved about this book is that these characters were so multi-layered. There’s a whole back story involving their mother, which I won’t go in to, that had shaped them, as well as their relationship with their father in Paris. I truly loved these characters even though their story made me weep at times.

If you like WWII novels, and especially if you enjoy reading about ordinary people doing extraordinary things, pick up a copy of THE NIGHTINGALE. This was my first Kristin Hannah book, but it won’t be my last!

Thank you, Net Galley, for my ARC!

Review: THE AFTER HOUSE by Michael Phillip Cash

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I pulled this ghost story from Net Galley as I thought it looked intriguing. The main character is a young mother who is trying to rebuild her life after a terrible divorce from an abusive husband. She gets a place on Long Island not far from her parents, but the historic cottage comes with the ghost of a sea-captain. Remy is trying to start a new life, make new friends, work, be a mom, and she also starts up a romance with a local historian who has all sorts of information about the house and its past occupants. Then in the middle of all this, someone is trying to kill her.

This one is a bit tough for me to review as I really liked some parts of it and was confused by others. I liked the main premise: starting over, new life, “you can do it!” theme. I liked the chapters covering the past with the sea captain’s life. I had known of Nantucket and New Bedford as centers for whaling, but I didn’t realize that whalers went from Long Island, too. I would have enjoyed even more of the past with historical facts, etc.

Here’s what I struggled with: Remy’s parents, especially her father, were incredibly over-protective. They treated her like she was 15 not in her thirties. Perhaps there are parents like that out there, but it seemed odd to me that they were treating their adult daughter who has a daughter of her own like she was a teenager. They also kept saying terrible things about her ex-husband (e.g. “I never liked that guy” etc)  which seemed juvenile and a little unrealistic to me. Then the ghost was a bit confusing — on one hand he was kind of scary, but then that didn’t work well so he turned nice. It almost seemed like the poor ghost was having an identity crisis. Added onto this were two additional ghosts or spirits or angels or something. To be honest, when they weren’t in the story (as observers) I’d forget they were even there, then a chapter would pop up with them discussing what they were looking at in terms of humans and sea-captain ghost. I’m not sure what their role was as it seemed like one was earning her wings, so to speak — maybe help get the sea captain to eternal rest after all these years? I don’t know.

Anyhow, I think this is one of those books that most will either like or not finish. I finished it but am mixed in how much I liked it.

Thanks, Net Galley, for my copy!

YA Review: THE WICKED AWAKENING OF ANNE MERCHANT by Joanna Wiebe

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Last year at this time I read and reviewed THE UNSEEMLY EDUCATION OF ANNE MERCHANT (see review here: https://drbethnolan.wordpress.com/2014/01/19/ya-review-the-unseemly-education-of-anne-merchant-by-joanna-wiebe/).

I liked it, so when the folks at Ben Bella Books offered me the next book in the series, I said yes please!

This novel, book 2 in the trilogy, picks up whether the first one left off. Anne is still fighting for her life, so to speak, and trying to work out her relationship with Ben and save him, too. This installment spends a lot of time giving more background and fleshing out the story of Anne and her family, her powers, etc. To be honest, I didn’t care for this book as much as the first, largely because I felt there was a lot of dialogue. Whenever there was action, though, especially at the end, I could scarcely put it down. I also got confused about what characters were what, given that some used more than one name. And to be honest, this story had a lot more about the demons in it, and demons really aren’t my thing (though I have lots of friends who love paranormal type reading with demons, etc.). I’m more of a ghost or psychic powers person.

Anyway, just wanted to be honest! I still look forward to the next and final book in this series to see how intelligent and fiery Anne will solve her problems!

Thank you for my review copy (I love the cover)!