Review: Her Quiet Revolution by Marianne Monson

Her Quiet Revolution by Marianne Monson

Publisher: Shadow Mountain

Pages: 368

Format: book 

Buy the Book: Amazon 

Goodreads:  As a young girl traveling to Utah by wagon in 1861, Martha, or Mattie as she was called, was deeply influenced by the early struggles her family endured as frontier pioneers, including the premature deaths of her baby sister and father. From those early experiences, she found her calling. Alleviating physical suffering and healing became her goals, and Mattie worked with astounding dedication and resolve to achieve those goals. She began teaching school at age fourteen and worked as a typesetter for the influential Women’s Exponent newspaper to pay for college where she graduated with a degree in chemistry.

 
In 1880, Mattie stepped into the lecture hall of the University of Michigan medical school, the only woman in the class and one of a handful of women to attend the school in its history. The room erupted at her entrance—laughter, scoffing, voices calling out, and more than one person muttering about the “hen medic.” Many male professors, thinking it indelicate, refused to discuss anatomy if women students were in the room, and they were often forced to observe from an annex area outside the regular classroom.  
 
Resolved and single-minded, Mattie graduated from medical school at the age twenty-three, the only female in her class. As a doctor, she returned to frontier Utah, set up a medical practice, and established classes for midwives where she lectured on obstetrics. As a suffragette, she was outspoken at the Columbia Exposition of Chicago, where she delivered a rousing speech on behalf of women’s rights. She married in secrecy at age twenty-seen, and later lived in exile for two years because her husband practiced plural marriage, which was illegal, and she didn’t want to testify against him.
 
She returned to Utah in 1888 and took an active part in politics and women’s suffrage. She ran for office as a Democrat against the Republican candidate, who was her husband and won, becoming the first woman ever elected as a state senator in the US.

Kritters Thoughts:  An intense look at one woman who had quite a grand life.  Martha Hughes Cannon had quite a vast life.  From breaking ground in medical school as one of a handful of women pursuing a doctorate degree to being the first female elected to state senator position in Utah, she had quite the life and I enjoyed reading a detailed focus on her life.  

Martha or Mattie as she was called had a life and there were so many moments where I kept looking up to confirm that this fictional novel was based in truth.  I appreciate books that walk the line and the reader can't figure out what is fact and fiction.  I love when fact seems so crazy that it could be fiction and it isn't!  

It feels weird to talk about Martha as a character because she was someone in real life.  I appreciated getting to know someone who is far different from who I am and in a time that is different from what I live in.  I liked seeing her interact or be in the presence of other historical characters that I have read and seen in other books, it helped place her in this time and place.  

I also enjoyed reading about the people that surrounded Mattie.  I think the author did a great job of allowing the reader to get to know Mattie's friends, family and co workers to even get a more round view of her and her world.  

After reading this book, it made me want to search more of these out.  I would love to read more books that are focused looks at people in history that probably haven't been highlighted in typical fashion.  Have you read any books like this that you would recommend? 

Rating: absolutely loved it and want a sequel

 Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Shadow Mountain.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

It's Monday, What are you Reading?

I don't know how I did it because this was a hard week, but lots of great reading done!

A meme hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date. 

Finished this past week:

Administrations of Lunacy by Mab Segrest

The Perfect Secret by Steena Holmes

The Wedding Chapel by Rachel Hauck

Sister Dear by Hannah Mary McKinnon

Dune Drive by Mariah Stewart

Currently Reading:

The Wedding Shop by Rachel Hauck

Next on the TBR pile:
Big Summer by Jennifer Weiner

Review: Dark Tomorrow by Reece Hirsch

  Dark Tomorrow by Reece Hirsch

Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Pages: 295
Format: eARC
Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  FBI special agent and cybercrime specialist Lisa Tanchik faces a deadly threat in this white-knuckle thriller.

FBI special agent Lisa Tanchik is skilled at handling cyber threats, having recently taken down a Dark Web black market worth billions. But ruthless hacker NatalyaX always seems to be a step ahead.

The government calls on Tanchik’s expertise when an email attachment causes a fatal seizure at US Cyber Command. But before she can get her feet under her, the entire East Coast goes dark. A sinister plan is unfolding before her eyes—and no one knows who’s behind it.

Tanchik plunges into chaos to hunt down the true source of the attacks. Close dealings with shadowy figures both online and off expose her to extraordinary danger as the country teeters on the brink of catastrophe.

A soldier on the front line of a cyberwar, Tanchik must nullify the threat before it deals a death blow to America’s institutions—and puts millions of lives in jeopardy.


Kritters Thoughts:  The second in a series and this is one of those series where I would stop here and read book one first.  There are some character developments that you will want to read before going into this one.  And to spoil my review book one and book two are so good, that you wouldn't want to skip either!

This book returns the reader to FBI Special Agent Lisa Tanchik and with her interesting skillset she is called on because something has infected the entire east coast with power failure and telecommunications are down.  She is brought in to help solve who has infiltrated their systems and to help take them down.  

It was kind of weird to read this book during the middle of the COVID-19 crisis.  I kept shaking my head with understanding the feeling of unrest that the citizens were having without power and phone and losing food supply, it all just felt too close to what i was personally experienced!    

I loved all the twists and turns in the book.  None of the twists or turns came out of left field and didn't work for the greater plot of the book.  

This author can do pacing.  I think I read this book in just two sittings because once I sat down to read just a bit, I had read half the book!  

I hope there are many more books with FBI Special Agent Lisa Tanchik because I love following her as a character.  She is smart but I never feel as though she is over my head.  It is written so anyone can understand where Tanchik is getting her clues and her thoughts at each turn.  It will be hard to wait for the next one!


Rating: absolutely loved it and want a sequel

 Ebook 2020 Challenge: 39 out of 100

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Netgalley.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Review: Hello, Summer by Mary Kay Andrews

Hello, Summer

by Mary Kay Andrews

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Pages: 432

Format: ARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  It’s a new season...

Conley Hawkins left her family’s small town newspaper, The Silver Bay Beacon, in the rearview mirror years ago. Now a star reporter for a big-city paper, Conley is exactly where she wants to be and is about to take a fancy new position in Washington, D.C. Or so she thinks.

For small town scandals...

When the new job goes up in smoke, Conley finds herself right back where she started, working for her sister, who is trying to keep The Silver Bay Beacon afloat—and she doesn’t exactly have warm feelings for Conley. Soon she is given the unenviable task of overseeing the local gossip column, “Hello, Summer.”

And big-time secrets.

Then Conley witnesses an accident that ends in the death of a local congressman—a beloved war hero with a shady past. The more she digs into the story, the more dangerous it gets. As an old heartbreaker causes trouble and a new flame ignites, it soon looks like their sleepy beach town is the most scandalous hotspot of the summer.


Kritters Thoughts:  An interesting combination of women's fiction, romance and mystery and executed really well.  Conley Hawkins thinks she is headed to the next career step on the ladder to a paper in Washington, D.C. until the eve of the move and news comes out that it has lost its funding, so home to the small town newspaper that her family started is where she goes.  She ends up in Florida living with her grandmother and trying to figure out what is next.  

I loved the dynamics between Conley and her grandmother and her sister.  I will always love a book with a great sibling situation in it.  I also loved the romance plot line.  It was sweet and nice and I loved that with the book being a little extra long, Mary Kay Andrews took the pages to develop the romance with ease - no instalove here.  I also loved that there was a heavy amount of the story devoted to Conley and her work.  I appreciate it when the author recognizes that normal humans have a lot of time spent on their jobs and therefore it should reflect that it in fiction.  

My one small complaint is in a minor plot line that came and went so fast.  It is hard to describe it without giving too much away, but towards the end our main character has some weird interactions that end up with a large incident and I felt as though this came out of left field and then resolved real quickly.  It just seemed odd and out of place.  I think the book could have been just fine without the entire plot line.

Mary Kay Andrews always does great plot and characters and this one lines up with the other books that I have read by her.  I would recommend this one to readers who already like her, but also to readers who maybe haven't tried her yet.  


Rating: absolutely loved it and want a sequel

 Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from St Martin's Press.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Review: The Paris Hours by Alex George

The Paris Hours 

by Alex George

Publisher: Flatiron Books

Pages: 272

Format:  eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  One day in the City of Lights. One night in search of lost time.

Paris between the wars teems with artists, writers, and musicians, a glittering crucible of genius. But amidst the dazzling creativity of the city’s most famous citizens, four regular people are each searching for something they’ve lost.

Camille was the maid of Marcel Proust, and she has a secret: when she was asked to burn her employer’s notebooks, she saved one for herself. Now she is desperate to find it before her betrayal is revealed. Souren, an Armenian refugee, performs puppet shows for children that are nothing like the fairy tales they expect. Lovesick artist Guillaume is down on his luck and running from a debt he cannot repay—but when Gertrude Stein walks into his studio, he wonders if this is the day everything could change. And Jean-Paul is a journalist who tells other people’s stories, because his own is too painful to tell. When the quartet’s paths finally cross in an unforgettable climax, each discovers if they will find what they are looking for.

Kritters Thoughts:  Told through a vast array of points of view (maybe too many) and in short chapters.  In Paris in one day, these people will go through some interesting circumstances that will eventually lead them to all interact in one location and the outcome after the culmination is interesting.

This book was good, but not great for me.  Out of all of the characters there were only three that I really enjoyed reading about and the rest were just ok for me.  I felt as though with the short chapters just as I was getting into one character's story, the chapter would end and it would hop to another.  I wanted longer chapters and fewer characters to follow.  I think with these two changes I would have loved this one so much more.  

The two characters that stuck out the most to me were Camille Clermont who ends up being a part of Marcel Proust's life in his later years.  I loved hearing through her eyes the behind the scenes of a writer's life and how she supported him.  The other character that stood out to me was Souren.  To hear his story of his life and leaving of his home country of Armenia was really intriguing to me.  I haven't read anything about the country of Armenia and the history that happened in that country and after reading the bit that was in this book, I want to search and read more.

One of the things that kept me reading was the time and place.  I don't read a ton of books set in between the two World Wars and Paris is always a fun city for a setting.  I thought it was unique to set the story in between the wars and to read about the unrest of the city as they are trying to settle from World War I.  

I liked this book, it was good, but not one that I would suggest to all of my friends.  I would suggest this book to the right reader, one who likes a large cast of characters and likes to skip around and loves to see how it will all come together!

Rating: enjoyable, but didn't leave me wanting more

  Ebook 2020 Challenge: 37 out of 100

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Flatiron Books.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Review: Summer Darlings by Brooke Lea Foster

Summer Darlings

by Brooke Lea Foster

Publisher: Gallery Books

Pages: 368

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  In 1962, coed Heddy Winsome leaves her hardscrabble Irish Brooklyn neighborhood behind and ferries to glamorous Martha’s Vineyard to nanny for one of the wealthiest families on the island. But as she grows enamored with the alluring and seemingly perfect young couple and chases after their two mischievous children, Heddy discovers that her academic scholarship at Wellesley has been revoked, putting her entire future at risk.

Determined to find her place in the couple's wealthy social circles, Heddy nurtures a romance with the hip surfer down the beach while wondering if the better man for her might be a quiet, studious college boy instead. But no one she meets on the summer island—socialite, starlet, or housekeeper—is as picture-perfect as they seem, and she quickly learns that the right last name and a house in a tony zip-code may guarantee privilege, but that rarely equals happiness.


Kritters Thoughts:  A historical fiction book set in 1962 on Martha's Vineyard as Heddy Winsome leaves the life she has had for a long time living off a very small income and barely getting by.  She leaves that life and enters Martha's Vineyard to enter a large home of a successful couple as their nanny for the summer.  She starts interacting with very different people and these moments will forever change her life.

I love a historical fiction book that is just meant to be a good story.  There are no lessons to be learned and there isn't really anything significant in regards to what is happening at this moment in time, instead it is just a good story that takes place in a different moment in time.  

Heddy was a great character to follow in this story.  Her innocence in the beginning was real and authentic and the journey of self discovery felt like a real story.  She reminded me of characters in movies that I have seen where you watch the character truly grow by getting outside of their comfort zone and having experiences.  

Martha's Vineyard was such a great location.  The author drew a great picture of a small place inundated with the elite during the summer and how they navigate the whos whos and create a hierarchy.  I love books with a bit of rich people problems and a little cat fighting, makes for great low grade drama.  

I loved Brooke Lea Foster's debut in fiction and I look forward to what she has coming next.


Rating: definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row

Ebook 2020 Challenge: 36 out of 100

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Simon and Schuster.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

It's Monday, What are you Reading?

Another week at home and another week of reading!

A meme hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date. 

Finished this past week:

The Sun Sister by Lucinda Riley

This is How I Lied by Heather Gudenkauf

Lake Season by Denise Hunter

Carolina Breeze by Denise Hunter

When the Emperor was Divine by Julie Otuska

Currently Reading:

Administrations of Lunacy by Mab Segrest

Next on the TBR pile:
The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris

April - the month of quarantine

source

This is the month that from start to finish I was working from home and life was different than it typically is.

1. A Criminal Justice by William L Myers, Jr.

2. Fighting for Space by Amy Shira Teitel (audio)

3. On the Horizon by Lois Lowry

4. Feels Like Falling by Kristy Woodson Harvey

5. The Socialite by J'nell Ciesielski

6. Master Class by Christina Dalcher

7. Summer Darlings by Brooke Lea Foster

8. The King and Mrs. Simpson by Erin Schulz

9. How to Be Fine by Jolenta Greenberg and Kristen Meinzer

10. The Paris Hours by Alex George

11. The Goodbye Quilt by Susan Wiggs

12. Hello Summer by Mary Kay Andrews

13. Postcards From a Stranger by Imogen Clark

14. Postcards From Christmas by Imogen Clark

15. Her Quiet Revolution by Marianne Monson

16. Dark Tomorrow by Reece Hirsch

17. My Kind of People by Lisa Duffy

18. Happy & You Know It by Laura Hankin

19. The Sun Sister by Lucinda Riley

20. This is How I Lied by Heather Gudenkauf

Total pages read, clicked and flipped: 7,173

Where having I been Reading?:
Philadelphia, PA

Hawaii

North Carolina

Paris, France (2) 

Washington, DC (2)

Martha's Vineyard

Wyoming

Florida

Yorkshire, England (2)

Utah

Massachusetts

New York City, NY

Kenya

Iowa

Review: Master Class by Christina Dalcher

Master Class

by Christina Dalcher

Publisher: Berkley

Pages: 336

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  The future of every child is determined by one standardized measurement: their quotient (Q). Score high enough, and they attend a top tier school with a golden future ahead of them. Score low, and they are sent to a federally run boarding school with limited prospects for future employment. The purpose? Education costs are cut, teachers focus on the best students, and parents are happy.

Elena Fairchild is a teacher at one of the state's elite schools. When her nine-year old daughter fails her next monthly test, her Q score drops to a disastrously low level and she is immediately forced to leave her top school for a federal school hundreds of miles away. As a teacher, Elena knows intimately the dangers of failure in their tiered educational system, but as a mother who just lost her child, all Elena wants is to be near her daughter again. And she will do the unthinkable to make it happen.


Kritters Thoughts:  Elena Fairchild is a teacher at one of the elite schools and she has two daughters, two very different daughters.  One daughter excels at school and loves living by the Q score.  Her other daughter has struggled for a bit and after a failed test is doomed to move to a state school where she will be put to work at a camp and life sounds more work than school.  

With hints of history repeating itself and without wanting to spoil a thing, I will keep my review short and simple.  I loved the plot and the ability for the author to make nods to the past and making the reader really think about how this society was set up and the good and the bad that can come from it.  I loved the characters.  The characters are amazing.  They have depth and they are put in crazy situations and their reactions are just so interesting to follow.  

The "world" in this book doesn't seem as far off from reality as her first book.  I think because it was closer to reality it was easier to get into this book and it flew by.  I read this in one sitting.    

I read Christina Dalcher's first book, Vox, and LOVED it, so the minute I heard about the second book, I was counting down the days.  I had very high expectations for this book and it outdid them all!  I love when a sophomore novel lives up to all the expectations, now I will read Dalcher's books without even reading a synopsis.  


Rating: absolutely loved it and want a sequel

  Ebook 2020 Challenge: 34 out of 100

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Berkley.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Review: Feels Like Falling by Kristy Woodson Harvey

Feels Like Falling

by Kristy Woodson Harvey

Publisher: Gallery Books

Pages: 400

Format: ARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  It’s summertime on the North Carolina coast and the livin’ is easy.

Unless, that is, you’ve just lost your mother to cancer, your sister to her extremist husband, and your husband to his executive assistant. Meet Gray Howard. Right when Gray could use a serious infusion of good karma in her life, she inadvertently gets a stranger, Diana Harrington, fired from her job at the local pharmacy.

Diana Harrington’s summer isn’t off to the greatest start either: Hours before losing her job, she broke up with her boyfriend and moved out of their shared house with only a worn-out Impala for a bed. Lucky for her, Gray has an empty guest house and a very guilty conscience.

With Gray’s kindness, Diana’s tide begins to turn. But when her first love returns, every secret from her past seems to resurface all at once. And, as Gray begins to blaze a new trail, she discovers, with Diana’s help, that what she envisioned as her perfect life may not be what she wants at all.


Kritters Thoughts:  I was already a Kristy Woodson Harvey fan going into this book and continue to be after!  

A great piece of women's fiction set in the south with a great main character that intrigued me so much that I couldn't help reading the book in two sittings!  Gray Howard is an older sister who is going through a divorce that unfortunately happened right after she lost her mother.  She is navigating maintaining her business while also co parenting and her ex already has a new woman in his life.  Summer is starting and she heads to her summer home for a change of pace and hopefully to regroup.

Diana Harrington is the other main character that shares her perspectives also.  Each chapter is divided between the two women as they push the story along.  Diana has had a rough go of it recently and has always landed on her feet, but this time she may need to accept a little help and maybe through a new experience she could find a new passion in life.  

I loved Gray and Diana, but I also loved the people they had around them.  They each had their own great storylines and enough drama, but not too much.  There are just enough moments of romance in Kristy's books that make you smile and giggle, but not enough to make you roll your eyes!  If you are looking for a book that has heart and soul, then you can read each of Kristy Woodson Harvey's books, but I can absolutely suggest you start here with Feels Like Falling.

This was a great book to read in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic as a breather from the news and real life.


Rating: absolutely loved it and want a sequel

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Gallery Books.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Review: The First Date by Zara Stoneley

The First Date

by Zara Stoneley

Publisher: One More Chapter

Pages: 400

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Right place.
Right time.
Wrong guy …

After breaking up with her childhood sweetheart, clueless dater Rosie has found herself in a boyfriend-drought. So when she finally swipes right on a guy who seems interested, she can’t wait to meet up IRL.

Until she’s left standing alone. In a bar. Ghosted.

Enter Noah. Confident, funny … and a serial first dater. Offering to give Rosie a crash course in seduction, this could be just what she needs. Until her matchmaker turns out to be the best date she’s ever had – and Rosie wonders if she wants the fake dates to be the real ones after all …

Kritters Thoughts:  Rosie, the main character, ends up at a bar hoping to meet up with an online date and dip her toes into the online dating world for the first time.  She doesn't end up meeting up with her intended date, but instead a man named Noah who has had a checkered dating past himself and dubs himself a serial first dater and will teach her the ropes of casual dating.  As this is a romance book, the reader knows that this story will only end with a happy ending, but there will be some bumps and bruises along the way.  

I liked this book, but didn't love it.  There were a few moments in the book where I felt as though the story was going in circles and getting a little repetitive, but the characters more than made up for it.  Rosie was just great.  I could believe that she had really not been deep in the dating world ever and was tentative about all things dating.  Noah was a great antithesis.  Although it took awhile to get to the heart of Noah and find out why he was the way he was, I still enjoyed learning about him and the journey.

This is my second Zara Stoneley read and I liked the other one better, but I would still continue to read her stories as they are great, easy reads to pepper between the heavy ones or the mind boggling mystery/thrillers that I read.  



Rating: definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row

Ebook 2020 Challenge: 31 out of 100

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Rachel's Random Resources.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Review: The Ingredients of You and Me by Nina Bocci

The Ingredients of You and Me

by Nina Bocci

Publisher: Gallery Books

Pages: 304

Format: ARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  After selling her famous bakery back in New York, Parker Adams visits Hope Lake, Pennsylvania, to figure out her next steps. And soon she’s wondering why she ever loved city life in the first place. Between the Golden Girls—the senior women who hold court—and Nick Arthur, her equally infuriating and charming former flame, Parker finds a community eager to help her get her mojo back.

But even though Hope Lake gives her the fresh start she’s been looking for, Parker discovers that it’s not so easy to start over again with Nick. Their chemistry is undeniable, but since Nick is a freshly taken man, Parker is determined to keep things platonic. With a recipe for disaster looming, Parker must cook up a new scheme, figuring out how to keep everything she’s come to love before she loses it all.

Kritters Thoughts:  The third in a series where I highly suggest you start at the beginning as each book builds on another.  In each book there are different main characters, but they show up in each other's books and they all take place in a small town.  

This book centers around Parker Adams who has just recently sold her bakery to a large company and isn't sure what she wants to do next.  She ends up in the small town that her best friend has just moved to and Charlotte is establishing herself as a florist and Parker decides its a good place to land for the time being.  Nick Arthur is a part of a friend group that has been together forever and to bring a girl into this group could be close to impossible, so Nick hasn't dated a ton, could Parker be the one to be his love and fit in the group.  

I have LOVED this series.  They are great storylines in a small town with minimal sexy times.  Each book has a great plot which I love even though its a romance and you know where the story will end, these journeys are so worth the read.  

I hope this series continues, I enjoy each one of the books in their own unique way.  


Rating: absolutely loved it and want a sequel

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from TLC Book Tours.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.