The Great Gimmelmans by Lee Matthew Goldberg – #BookReview – #HeistCrime

Book Blurb:

Middle child Aaron Gimmelman watches as his family goes from a mild-mannered reform Jewish clan to having over a million dollars of stolen money stuffed in their RV’s cabinets while being pursued by the FBI and loan sharks. But it wasn’t always like that. His father Barry made a killing as a stockbroker, his mother Judith loved her collection of expensive hats, his older sister Steph was obsessed with pop stars, and little sister Jenny loved her stuffed possum, Seymour.

After losing all their money in the Crash of 1987, the family starts stealing from convenience stores, but when they hit a bank, they realize the talent they possess. The money starts rolling in and brings the family closer together, whereas back at home, no one had any time for bonding due to their busy schedules. But Barry’s desire for more, more, more will take its toll on the Gimmelmans, and Aaron is forced into an impossible choice: turn against his father, or let his family fall apart.

From Jersey, down to an Orthodox Jewish community in Florida where they hide out, and up to California, The Great Gimmelmans goes on a madcap ride through the 1980s. Filled with greed and love and the meaning of religion and tradition until the walls of the RV and the feds start closing in on the family, this thrilling literary tale mixes Michael Chabon and the Coen Brothers with equal parts humor and pathos.

BUCKLE UP!

My Review:

Well, knock me over with a feather.

I’m speechless.

Well, almost.

Nothing here I expected. Caught off-guard, more than once, the way this very well crafted, fast-paced narrative followed the thoughts of middle child Aaron Gimmelman. Aaron has an older and younger sister. His younger sister Jenny is a bit (no—a lot) different than other folks. But then, so are his mother and father.

Having been a successful and upper middle-class family, Aaron’s father Barry lost his job as a stockbroker in the crash of 1987. Not prepared, no clue what to do, where to go, or how to proceed, Aaron takes it upon himself to steal a few things for the family.

But his father, seeing a success replace the failures, takes on more and Aaron discovers he cannot close that Pandora’s box. The 80s grips his mom and dad and creates a monster he could not have foreseen. Caught between his father and the family, he goes along for the ride—literally—as the only remaining asset they have left is used to escape, first to Florida (and relatives) and then to California.

There is humor, but the humor is permeated with pathos. My mind kept reeling as the plot continued to spiral down into ever-deepening crevices into which none would scale unscathed. Disbelief rises and the reader is rooting for some way out, hoping for sanity to win out—the children to prevail—but this dysfunctional family has already gone too far.

I read with horror wondering how the parents could have degenerated this completely. The youngest child is scary—in fact, the characters are very well developed. Perhaps that was the problem, so real, could this actually happen? The writing style is poignant, the tragedy searing, the humor genuine.

“The sun peeking over the horizon, an orange flame mixed with purple dust.”

It’s a strongly mixed emotional message, using coming-of-age, humor, noir and thriller elements in themes of religion and family. No ending would satisfy everyone and my heart was crushed, the injustice of it all. Or was it? I kept going through the “what ifs.” What would you have done with Jenny? This book will hook and grip through the last heavy sigh. Brilliant, captivating storytelling. I’ll look for this author again.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book. Recommended!

Rosepoint Publishing: Four point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Heist Crime, Heist Thrillers, Suspense
Publisher: Level Best Books
ASIN: B0CCSPZD8Z
Print Length: 442 pages
Publication Date: November 14, 2023
Source: Publisher and NetGalley

Title Link(s):

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

The Author: Lee Matthew Goldberg is the author of twelve novels including THE ANCESTOR and THE MENTOR along with his five-book DESIRE CARD series. His YA series RUNAWAY TRAIN is currently with actress Raegan Revord from Young Sheldon attached to develop his original written pilot. THE GREAT GIMMELMANS comes out in 2023. He is a finalist for an Anthony Award and nominated for the Prix du Polar. After graduating with an MFA from the New School, he’s been published in multiple languages and his writing has also appeared as a contributor in CrimeReads, Pipeline Artists, LitHub, The Los Angeles Review of Books, The Millions, Vol. 1 Brooklyn, LitReactor, Mystery Tribune, Monkeybicycle, Fiction Writers Review, Cagibi, Necessary Fiction, the anthology Dirty Boulevard, The Montreal Review, The Adirondack Review, The New Plains Review, Maudlin House and others. His pilots and screenplays have been finalists in Script Pipeline, Book Pipeline, Stage 32, We Screenplay, the New York Screenplay, Screencraft, and the Hollywood Screenplay contests. He is the co-curator of The Guerrilla Lit Reading Series and lives in New York City. Follow him at LeeMatthewGoldberg.com

His favorite authors are classic writers like F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Hermann Hesse, Emily Bronte, W. Somerset Maugham and Raymond Chandler. For modern authors, he’s been influenced by Jay McInerney, Bret Easton Ellis, Denis Johnson, John Irving, and Paul Auster.

Enjoy Your Sunday

Being Henry by Henry Winkler – #AudiobookReview – Actor & Entertainer Biographies

The Fonz . . . and Beyond

Best Biographies & Memoirs

Winner for Best Humor (2023)

Rosepoint Rating: Five (BIG) Stars

Book Blurb:

This program is read by the author.

“Kindhearted and approachable Winkler shines in his narration of his memoir commemorating 50 years of showbiz work…An engaging and endearing memoir by a genuine Hollywood treasure whose work spans generations.”—Library Journal

From Emmy-award winning actor, author, comedian, producer, and director Henry Winkler, a deeply thoughtful memoir of the lifelong effects of stardom and the struggle to become whole.

Henry Winkler, launched into prominence as “The Fonz” in the beloved Happy Days, has transcended the role that made him who he is. Brilliant, funny, and widely regarded as the nicest man in Hollywood (though he would be the first to tell you that it’s simply not the case, he’s really just grateful to be here), Henry shares in this achingly vulnerable memoir the disheartening truth of his childhood, the difficulties of a life with severe dyslexia, the pressures of a role that takes on a life of its own, and the path forward once your wildest dream seems behind you.

Since the glorious era of Happy Days fame, Henry has endeared himself to a new generation with roles in such adored shows as Arrested Development, Parks and Recreation, and Barry, where he’s been revealed as an actor with immense depth and pathos, a departure from the period of his life when he was so distinctly typecast as The Fonz, he could hardly find work.

Filled with profound heart, charm, and self-deprecating humor, Being Henry is a memoir about so much more than a life in Hollywood and the curse of stardom. It is a meaningful testament to the power of sharing truth and kindness and of finding fulfillment within yourself.

A Macmillan Audio production from Celadon Books.

My Review:

I love it when a well-known actor writes and narrates his own memoir. Who better to do “the Fonz” than Henry Winkler? So, yes, I was near that generation when it was easy to identify with that crowd, his character being iconic—the perfect “greaser.”

I was a fan before I listened to his self-deprecating audiobook; a bigger fan now. The man turned a type-cast character into the amazing role of a generous human being. His success actually becomes good for others.

As a cruelly dyslexic child of German Jewish parents who expected so much more from their son and never let him forget their disappointment, he managed to plod along with his ambitions and eventually do quite well with it. He finished high school and went on to Emerson College, eventually Yale.

Rather penurious, he carefully saved his money until he had $1,000 saved to go to Hollywood, as he was told that if he wanted to be known in the theatre, he could stay in New York but if he wanted to be known in the world, he’d need to move to LA. So, he did. And he stayed with friends, used their telephones, but managed to get a job within a week. You know where that led.

It was indeed difficult to emerge from the Fonz to play other parts, but he began to find those opportunities as well. He met his future wife, Stacy, with whom he has now been married for close to fifty years. He began writing books, collaborating on children’s books (thirty-nine), many about dyslexia. He and his wife work with troubled children and he has given “hundreds of these talks.”

He enjoys gardening—yeah—started with a descendant of the spider plant his aunt smuggled out of Germany. And dogs? He frequently spoke lovingly about his dogs. There is almost no industry name familiar to you that he hasn’t met, worked with, or counts as friends—and that includes Ron Howard, the lead, who he quickly eclipsed as the favorite on Happy Days.

So many stories. Such a storyteller!

And, you know, I might have sneered and said, oh come on, toot your horn some more. But I’m listening to his voice, and he sounds authentic, vulnerable, honest, kind, and sincere. His wife joins him in narrating a few short anecdotes and it’s interesting to note she’s a cancer survivor.

The man paid his dues—in spades. The audiobook is delightful; a road down memory lane of an amazing career. It’s fun, informative, immersive, and extremely entertaining. His success becomes a vehicle for the good he does, particularly for troubled children.

I downloaded a copy of this audiobook from my local well-stocked library. These are my honest thoughts. Wholly recommended!

Book Details:

Genre: Actor & Entertainer Biographies, Biographies of Celebrities & Entertainment Professionals, Memoirs
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
ASIN: B0BX7DW8LM
Listening Length: 9 hrs 22 mins
Narrator: Henry Winkler
Publication Date: October 31, 2023
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)

Title Links: Being Henry [Amazon]
Amazon-UK
Barnes & Noble
Kobo

The Author: Henry Winkler is an actor, producer and director. He is probably most famous for his role as the Fonz in the 1970s US television sitcom, Happy Days. But if you ask him what he is most proud of, he would say, “Writing the Hank Zipzer books with my partner, Lin Oliver.”

Henry Winkler will celebrate 50 years of success in Hollywood this year and continues to be in demand as an actor, producer, and director. He co-stars as acting teacher Gene Cousineau on the hit HBO dark comedy, Barry. For this role, he won his first Primetime Emmy Award in 2018 for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy as well as two Television Critics Choice Awards for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. A graduate of the Yale School of Drama, he was cast in 1973 in the iconic role of Arthur Fonzarelli, aka “The Fonz,” in the TV series Happy Days. During his 10 years on the popular sitcom, he won two Golden Globe Awards, was nominated three times for an Emmy Award and was also honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In recent years, Winkler appeared in a number of series, including Medical Police, Arrested Development, Children’s Hospital, Royal Pains, New Girl, and Parks and Recreation. He is the New York Times bestselling author of numerous children’s books, including Alien Superstar, A Trilogy andHank Zipzer the World’s Greatest Under-Achiever, a 28-book series inspired by Winkler’s own struggle with learning challenges. Of all the titles he has received, the ones he relishes most are husband, father and grandfather. Winkler and his wife, Stacey, have three children, Jed, Zoe and Max, and six grandchildren. They reside in Los Angeles with their two dogs.

Happy (Audiobook) Thursday

Where Butterflies Wander by Suzanne Redfearn – #BookReview – #TuesdayBookBlog

Happy Release Day!

Book Blurb:

From the bestselling author of In an Instant comes the moving story of a family grappling with grief and a woman with the power to help them through it—or stand in their way.

After a tragic accident claims the life of one of her children, Marie Egide is desperate to carve out a fresh start for her family. With her husband and their three surviving children, Marie travels to New Hampshire, where she plans to sell a family estate and then, just maybe, they’ll be able to heal from their grief.

Marie’s plans are thwarted when she realizes a war veteran known by locals as “the river witch” is living in a cabin on the property, which she claims was a gift from Marie’s grandfather. If Davina refuses to move on, Marie won’t be able to either.

The two women clash, and battle lines are drawn within Marie’s family and the town as each side fights for what they believe is right, the tension rising until it reaches its breaking point. And the choice is no longer theirs when a force bigger than them all—fate—takes control.

My Review:

Marie Egide and her husband Leo have lost a little member of their family and reeling from the tragedy decide on a desperate move to New Hampshire to “start new” and claim an old inherited property. They’ll take the summer at the house to clean and repair and then sell and move to Farmington.

They hadn’t counted on Davina Lister, however, known locally as the “river witch.” Invited to stay on the property as long as she wished by Marie’s grandfather, Davina has made a comfortable home and local reputation for herself.

Marie takes an instant dislike to the woman although it’s clear from the beginning that surviving daughters Hannah and Pen have engaged with her very quickly. Son Brendon sides with his mother. He carries secrets that keep him in an agitated state and directs his anger to any who crosses his path.

“Mom said I should take up a hobby like guitar or painting. I’d rather watch cheese melt.”

Davina is an amazing character. A combat veteran, she received devastating and disabling injuries on her last tour of duty and for the most part tried to stay quietly away from the public. She has learned to stay pretty independent, living off the land with some animals, and developing an expertise with the local flora and fauna. She has developed a gratifying and generous history with her healing powers of elixirs and potions.

The POV switches between the characters including the children, each dealing with the tragedy in their own way, and it’s touching that Pen has taken refuge in believing she sees her sister Bee in the butterflies on the property.

Marie’s character develops as the novel antagonist, demanding Davina leave the property as she has no properly written legal document to support her position. Marie is caught in her position and must doggedly pursue legal action with only Brandon supporting her which inevitably escalates tension and culminates in creating additional serious problems.

I really loved Davina’s character. She is so inviting and immersive, it’s hard to see any way this could end equitably for anyone. Each in the family is harboring guilt of some nature in the death of their loved one—it’s crippling—and obvious that if it is not resolved here, they’ll simply carry it, festering, to their next location.

The author has an emotional, sentimental writing style that plucks at tender feelings and spears the appropriate moral objective (own the mistake, vow not to repeat, forgive yourself, move on?).

Although I’ve read several of her books, all good, including the Moment in Time (’22), Hadley & Grace (’21), and In An Instant (’20), my favorite is still Hadley & Grace. I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the author and publisher through @NetGalley that in no way influenced this review. These are my honest thoughts.

Rosepoint Rating: Four point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Friendship Fiction, Small Town & Rural Fiction, Women’s Literary Fiction
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
ASIN: B0BX4M26PV
Print Length: 298 pages
Publication Date: February 6, 2024 Happy Release Day!
Source: Publisher and NetGalley

Title Link(s):

Amazon | Barnes & Noble

The Author: Suzanne is the bestselling author of five novels: Moment In Time, Hadley & Grace, In an Instant, No Ordinary Life, and Hush Little Baby.

Born and raised on the east coast, Suzanne moved to California when she was fifteen. She currently lives in Laguna Beach with her husband where they own two restaurants: Lumberyard and Slice Pizza & Beer. In addition to being an author, Suzanne is an architect specializing in residential and commercial design.

You can find her at her website, www.SuzanneRedfearn.com, on Facebook at SuzanneRedfearnAuthor, or on Instagram at SuzanneRedfearn.

#TuesdayBookBlog

Death in the Ozarks by Erik S Meyers – #BookReview – #TraditionalDetectiveMysteries

A Sally Witherspoon Mystery

Book Blurb:

A cross between Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple and a Cheers bartender, Sally Witherspoon, a 50-something accountant turned biker-bar owner, loves solving puzzles. Up to now, she has focused on helping neighbors and friends find lost jewelry, lost pets, and lost loves.

But when she finds her best friend and business partner, Bill Arnold, dead in a dumpster behind her bar on a Saturday night, she needs all her wits and grit to find out who did it.

And she won’t stop until she does.

His Review:

Berry Springs is a small Ozark town and is usually very peaceful. However, all that changes with a sudden spate of unexplained deaths. Sally Witherspoon owns a club called “Sally’s Smasher.” Some evenings a large profit is made which then has to go into inventory for continued operations. Also, Sally envisions herself as a detective who can augment the local overworked police department.

When someone close to her and associated with Sally’s Smasher is suddenly and brutally killed, she feels that she is the one to assist the local law enforcement professionals. The town of Berry Springs has a very close-knit community and Sally cannot think of anyone who could be culpable, however, the culprit had used an unusual method of murder.

The local police department considers Sally’s investigation of the crime meddling. She is reminded that she may be charged with impeding an ongoing investigation. She volunteers what information she has gathered and the police chief grudgingly shares some of the department’s findings with her. The victims begin to mount up though and they are all people associated with her establishment.

Meddling in police work and crime investigation can be very dangerous as Sally soon finds out. Can she solve the mystery or will she become the next victim? Read and enjoy this thriller. 4.5 stars – CE Williams

The first in a new series with promise for compelling characters and location. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book.

Rosepoint Publishing: Four point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Traditional Detective Mysteries, Amateur Sleuth Mysteries
Publisher: Level Best Books
ASIN: B0CKWT4FY2
Print Length: 298 pages pages
Publication Date: December 12, 2023
Source: Publisher and NetGalley

Title Link(s):

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

Erik S Meyers - author — Erik S Meyers – author

The Author: Currently in Austria, I’m an American abroad for years and years who has lived or worked in six countries on three continents, the longest in Germany. I’m an award-winning author and communications professional with 25 years of expertise in a variety of corporate roles, including a broad range of communications disciplines, technical writing and translation, and corporate strategy. Reading and writing are my passions, when I’m not hiking one of the amazing trails in Austria or elsewhere. My motto is “fight the hype” and I enjoy taking a unique, perhaps unorthodox, view of the current topics and trends.

https://www.erikmey.com

The Gem of Ireland’s Crown by Jean Grainger – #BookReview – #TuesdayBookBlog

Cullen’s Celtic Cabaret Book 4

Book Blurb:

The opportunity of a lifetime lands in Peter Cullen’s lap and nothing is going to stop him taking full advantage, not even the misgivings of his wife. Cullen’s Celtic Cabaret has been flying high, but the real goal, the secret desire of Peter’s heart, America, is finally, incredibly, looking like a reality.

The troupe are not at all prepared for what awaits them in prohibition era Atlantic City and they are dazzled by the bright lights. Keeping discipline and ensuring everyone remains focused drives Peter to the edge of his patience, but he soon realises that this is the least of his problems, as the gloss and sheen of the New Jersey shore reveals a dark side, and somehow his cabaret has fallen foul of it.

My Review:

When last we left Cullen’s Celtic Cabaret, the troupe was experiencing the dark side of the troubles between the Irish and the English during the twenties. Political tensions created drama for Peter’s brother and Nick acknowledged his aristocratic status with an extended visit to Brockleton.

Book four introduces the cautious decision to sail to America where they have an eye-opening introduction to prohibition era Atlantic City, New Jersey. Maud Flynn owns the theatre where the cabaret will play as well as the troupe’s residential accommodations. She has made extensive arrangements for them and laid down rules and expectations. It appears to be a clean, tight ship surrounded by sights and sounds, as well as slang and colloquialisms.

As “Oscar Wilde’s line in his short story ‘The Canterville Ghost’: ‘We have really everything in common with America nowadays, except, of course, the language.”

There were interpersonal struggles as well between those who found romance from within their group, but were not exactly free to act on their passions. May and Peter have a daughter now, Aisling, who has become somewhat of a darling of the troupe. Many of the members have discovered her intelligence and aptitude for learning either their particular skill or language. There may have been no booze, but the living was rowdy.

“The old Irish adage that ‘twas often a fella got his nose broken by his mouth’ was particularly true here.”

Despite the wildly successful splash they’ve made with their acts, their interpersonal relationships begin to force hard decisions. Tension escalates as each has to take a hard look at status quo. Additionally, there is an ever-darkening atmosphere as people and activities at arm’s length hide behind those bright lights and change the course of plans. Issues with Peter’s brother Eamonn become seriously tragic.

I can imagine that Atlantic City during prohibition was probably a wide-open port city during prohibition, entertaining everything from bootlegging, speak-easies, and the Boardwalk to summer resorts. There were bound to be gangsters as well.

The widely diverse characters are a strong hook in this series as well as the descriptive location in this installment. Any threads previously hanging were handled quickly in an Epilogue—almost too quickly—but settled the characters and issues.

I received a review copy of this book from the author who in no way influenced this review. These are my honest thoughts.

Rosepoint Rating: Four point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Women’s Sagas, Saga Fiction, Family Saga Fiction
ASIN: B0CNGFLT6R
Print Length: 354 pages
Publication Date: February 7, 2024
Source: Author

Title Link(s): Amazon (US)
Amazon (UK)

The Author: JEAN GRAINGER – USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR

SELECTED BY BOOKBUB READERS IN TOP 19 OF HISTORICAL FICTION BOOKS.

WINNER OF THE 2016 AUTHOR’S CIRCLE HISTORICAL NOVEL OF EXCELLENCE

Hello and thanks for taking time out to check out my page. If you’re wondering what you’re getting with my books then think of the late great Maeve Binchy but sometimes with a historical twist. I was born in Cork, Ireland in 1971 and I come from a large family of storytellers, so much so that we had to have ‘The Talking Spoon’, only the person holding the spoon could talk!

I have worked as a history lecturer at University, a teacher of English, History and Drama in secondary school, a playwright, and a tour guide of my beloved Ireland. I am married to the lovely Diarmuid and we have four children. We live in a 200 year old stone cottage in Mid-Cork with my family and the world’s smallest dogs, called Scrappy and Scoobi..

My experiences leading groups, mainly from the United States, led me to write my first novel, ‘The Tour’. My observances of the often funny, sometimes sad but always interesting events on tours fascinated me. People really did confide the most extraordinary things, the safety of strangers I suppose. It’s a fictional story set on a tour bus but many of the characters are based on people I met over the years.

[Truncated]

Many of the people who have reviewed my books have said that you get to know the characters and really become attached to them, that’s wonderful for me to hear because that’s how I feel about them too. I grew up on Maeve Binchy and Deirdre Purcell and I aspired to being like them. If you buy one of my books I’m very grateful and I really hope you enjoy it. If you do, or even if you don’t, please take the time to post a review. Writing is a source of constant contentment to me and I am so fortunate to have the time and the inclination to do it, but to read a review written by a reader really does make my day.

#TuesdayBookBlog

The Mongol Ascension by Andrew Varga – #BookReview – #YAFairyTale

A Jump in Time Novel, Book Three

Book Blurb:

MISSION: SAVE THE WORLD

DESTINATION: ANCIENT MONGOLIA

Seventeen-year-old Dan Renfrew leads a normal high school life full of all the usual challenges: homework, bullies, and the baffling world of dating. It would be enough for most teens, but Dan has a secret. He’s a time jumper, a member of a clandestine cadre tasked with journeying to the past to repair glitches in history that imperil subsequent events. This responsibility alone is daunting, but it’s even more crucial now. A band of rogue time jumpers is bent on taking over the world, and Dan can’t find any allies to join him in the fight to stop them.

In a last-ditch effort to foil the conspiracy, Dan and his partner Sam plunge into history together. Landing on the steppes of Mongolia in the year 1179, they meet a brave Mongol teen on a courageous quest to rescue his kidnapped wife. But Dan and Sam soon discover that there’s far more at stake than a stolen bride. They’re thrust into a desperate race against time to save the Mongol Empire—and the future of the entire world.

His Review:

As a child, I often dreamt of skipping through time and space. What a thrill it would be to watch the Roman legions march through the known world and conquering every foe. Or possibly being at the Roman Forum with a meeting of the Senators would fulfill my fantasies. Ah, if this were only possible!

Dan is a young high school student who has a strange ability. He belongs to a group that can skip back and forth in time with the use of a strange transmitter. The only problem is he could wind up dead on any of these time jumps. His goal is to correct glitches in time that may alter the future by altering the past. He and his friend Sam (Samantha) have the same devices and travel together. The device also assists in adjusting speech and other communications into understandable language.

Dan’s father died on one of the time jumps, so he learns to defend himself at the hands of Roman Gladiators among other professional fighting groups. One key to winning in battle is getting the upper hand or jump on the enemy. He has the opportunity to display this to a high school bully which gains him quite the reputation.

A time glitch has occurred during the 5^th to 7^th centuries and he and Sam decide to go back to save humanity and fix the glitch. The issue is: will they die trying or will they actually meet the group they need to help? This particular glitch centers around Gengis Khan! Gengis is considered one of the premier historical figures of all time. As history tells us, Gengis spent his life in battles; both in Asia and in Europe. How can a teenager from the 21^st Century become one of the Khan’s trusted allies?

This book moves well and seems historically accurate. I warn every reader to be sure they have time to devote to the book. You won’t want to put it down! 5 stars – CE Williams

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book.

Rosepoint Publishing: Four point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Teen & Young Adult Fairy Tales & Folklore, Teen & Young Adult Fantasy Action & Adventure, Teen & Young Adult Sword & Sorcery Fantasy
Publisher: Imbrifex Books
ISBN-10: ‎ 1955307040
ISBN-13: ‎ 978-1955307048
ASIN: B0CL7QLTHS
Print Length: 297 pages
Publication Date: September 3, 2024
Source: Publisher and NetGalley

Title Link(s):

Amazon-US | Amazon-UK | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

Andrew Varga - author — Andrew Vara – author

The Author: I am a YA historical fiction author who takes great pains to ensure historical accuracy in my books, while still ensuring that I tell a great story. Although I enjoy reading and writing about all history, I have a particular fondness for European history from Greco-Roman times until the crusades.

I hope you enjoy my stories.

Relax, it's Sunday

Netflix Series All the Light We Cannot See vs #eBook by Anthony Doerr– #Drama

Introduction

I was thrilled to learn that the book I was reading was also going to be a Netflix miniseries, so of course I had to stick around and view the screen adaptation of that powerful book. It’s always fun to compare the scenes with the visuals conjured from reading the narrative, putting the buildings, the location, and in this instance, the sea to reality.

The Netflix MiniSeries

Marie-Laure lives in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where her father works. When she is twelve, the Nazis occupy Paris and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure’s reclusive great uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. With them they carry what might be the museum’s most valuable and dangerous jewel. In a mining town in Germany, Werner Pfennig, an orphan, grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find that brings them news and stories from places they have never seen or imagined. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments and is enlisted to use his talent to track down the resistance. Deftly interweaving the lives of Marie-Laure and Werner, Doerr illuminates the ways, against all odds, people try to be good to one another.

My Thoughts

Sometimes when Netflix gets ahold of a popular, ground-breaking book, they manage to make hash of it. Not so this time.

While the novel is not based on a true story, it could so easily echo stories untold from WWII. Netflix managed to create such realistic scenes it was not uncommon to cringe or cry depending on the setting. The actors include newcomer Aria Mia Loberti and Louis Hofmann as well as Mark Ruffalo and Hugh Laurie. Apart from Ruffalo’s accent (now almost a running joke), all turned in remarkable performances.

Directed and executive produced by Canadian filmmaker Shawn Levy, it is described by Netflix as “an epic story of hope, love, and connection.” The story plays out in four parts inducing a binge watch.

Overall Impression

The scenes are explosive and brilliant, at times played against a peaceful sunrise or streetscape. War scenes or not, it’s a visual feast, often heart-pounding. Netflix smooths out the timelines a bit and creates a slightly more hopeful and palatable ending.

The eBook

Editors’ pick Best Literature & Fiction (Audiobook)
#1 Best Seller in War Fiction
Winner of the 2015 Audie Award for Fiction
Goodreads Choice Award Winner for Best Historical Fiction 2014

Book Blurb

*NOW A NETFLIX LIMITED SERIES—from producer and director Shawn Levy (Stranger Things) starring Mark Ruffalo, Hugh Laurie, and newcomer Aria Mia Loberti*

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award finalist, the beloved instant New York Times bestseller and New York Times Book Review Top 10 Book about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II.

Marie-Laure lives with her father in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where he works as the master of its thousands of locks. When she is six, Marie-Laure goes blind and her father builds a perfect miniature of their neighborhood so she can memorize it by touch and navigate her way home. When she is 12, the Nazis occupy Paris and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure’s reclusive great-uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. With them they carry what might be the museum’s most valuable and dangerous jewel.

In a mining town in Germany, the orphan Werner grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments, a talent that wins him a place at a brutal academy for Hitler Youth, then a special assignment to track the resistance. More and more aware of the human cost of his intelligence, Werner travels through the heart of the war and, finally, into Saint-Malo, where his story and Marie-Laure’s converge.

My Thoughts

I was lost to the book almost from the first page. The child, Marie-Laure, is going blind, and her thoughtful father finds a way to teach his daughter the streets of Paris. Picturesque, vibrant, breath-taking in the historic grandeur of the location, the buildings, the artsy atmosphere. But the tension is there. The world is changing. And so too, must Paris.

Beautiful writing style, emotional, powerful prose and it is the prose in the storytelling that drives the reader as well as the storyline and characters.

“If your same blood doesn’t run in the arms and legs of the person you’re next to, you can’t trust anything.”

The novel is set for the most part in Brittany, (St. Malo) France, however, and follows the plot line of the blind girl surviving in an ever-escalating Nazi environment. She spends a tremendous amount of time in hiding.

“A dozen pigeons roosting on the cathedral spire cataract down its length and wheel out over the sea.”

Werner Pfenning, a German orphan, discovers parts from a radio and curious, intelligent, and inventive manages to create a crude radio. That fascination grows into an expertise, one that he will use as an escape from being forced into the coal mines when he turns sixteen. Instead, he will be recruited into the Hitler youth using his proficiency with radios to find those in the French resistance sending communications. It will define his life but the results of his success wear on him.

A third thread—that of a German officer Von Rumpel rabid to find a stone worth “three Eiffel Towers” and said to have magical powers is the driving force in his collection of valuables from those the Germans occupy. The girl’s father who worked at the National History Museum where it was said to be housed may be in possession of that stone and von Rumpel will stop at nothing. When they fled Paris for St Malo—did he take it with him?

“You know the greatest lesson of history? It’s that history is whatever the victors say it is. That’s the lesson. Whoever wins, that’s who decides the history. We act in our own self-interest.”

The two and then the three are bound to collide. The author throughout has pulled no punches; it’s a war. There are shocking moments, the worse coming in the conclusion. My heart broke.

Nooo!…I’m still naively looking for the happy ever after.

The Author

Anthony Doerr has won numerous prizes for his fiction, including the Pulitzer Prize and the Carnegie Medal. His novel, ‘All the Light We Cannot See,’ was a #1 New York Times Bestseller and his new novel, ‘Cloud Cuckoo Land,’ published in September of 2021, was a finalist for the National Book Award. Learn more at http://www.anthonydoerr.com.

Book Details

Genre: War Fiction, Military Historical Fiction
Publisher: Scribner (Reprint edition May 2014)
ISBN: B084TPDQRR
ASIN: B00DPM7TIG
Print Length: 552 pages
Publication Date: May 6, 2014
Source: Local Library
Title Link: All the Light We Cannot See [Amazon-US]
Amazon-UK

Overall Impression

There is considerable discussion over the plot being divided between three POVs as well as the jump in timelines. It is disconcerting at first. But then the rhythm of the narrative begins a familiar pattern that actually draws the scenes together, and completes a total picture. The book is so compelling, the characters so well developed that there is considerable sympathy for the condition of the time and engagement with each child—caught in a circumstance neither can control–only attempt to survive. It’s suspenseful, hair-raising, alternately sad and triumphant in small victories. Von Rumpel provides the perfect foil, the antagonist easy to hate.

I absolutely loved the book and breezed through it as if it were a novella. I understood at some point reality would take a big bite, but it was still crushing nonetheless. Dramatic irony: The idea that we know what’s coming but are still unable to look away.

Conclusion

The book is a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel full of prose, beautifully written. It’s a lengthy read but one you won’t want to put down. It’s easy to become invested in the two main characters, one controlled by a disease that renders her blind in a treacherous and dangerous time in France. The other is an orphan using only his wits with a radio to keep him from following in his father’s deadly steps deep into a coal mine. The sub-plot adds a suspenseful line to the well-plotted and paced book but is hampered somewhat by introducing several POVs and non-chronological timelines. It’s easy, however, to be completely absorbed by mind-blowing prose.

The Netflix miniseries cinematography is stunning, the actors do an amazing job pulling at your heart and selling their roles. The leading actress, Aria Mia Loberti is legally blind. (She turned in a masterful inaugural performance in this series and we watched mesmerized. The series might be worth watching simply for her compelling presence.)

True, Netflix puts a softer Hallmark spin on the original novel, softening some of the blows and smoothing out an often confusing timeline switch. It crafts a beautifully compelling tale of the young caught in a conflict they may not survive only briefly experiencing what possibilities life might have held for them.

The book may be a challenge given the length and you’ll get a condensed Reader’s Digest version if you choose the series. Perhaps you are a reader, like myself, who enjoys seeing/reading and comparing the two. Either way, you can’t go wrong and please let me know which you choose.

#TuesdayBookBlog

Blurb Storyline courtesy IMDB
Netflix image in banner courtesy Lighthouse

Audiobooks! Great Books On Your Buds – #Audiobooks – Free!

Audiobooks Great Books On Your Bud--Free!

Tired of those old TV shows? Watched everything on Netflix? Well, the good news is that audiobooks work as well as an old radio show.

While you are too young to remember George and Gracie or the Encore Theater, audiobooks can fire your imagination and narrate some wonderful stories just like the “old” days. The best news is that I get my audiobooks free through my local library. There are a number of apps that allow you to borrow an audiobook–including Hoopla (you just need a library card)—mine used to be Overdrive (now Libby).

Our schedule lately off the rails, I managed to get in several audiobooks ahead of reviews that include a legal thriller, humorous fiction, and family life fiction. Links on thumbnails are to Amazon (but check with your library first!)

Resurrection Walk by Michael Connelly

Book 7 Lincoln Lawyer

Best Books of the Year 2023 – (The #1 TV show on Netflix) (Kindle)
#1 Best Seller in Legal Thrillers (audiobook)

Defense attorney Mickey Haller is back, taking the long shot cases, where the chances of winning are one in a million. After getting a wrongfully convicted man out of prison, he is inundated with pleas from incarcerated people claiming innocence. He enlists his half brother, retired LAPD Detective Harry Bosch, to weed through the letters, knowing most claims will be false.

Love it when Mickey Haller teams up with Harry Bosch (now retired LAPD detective) to work on his cases. These cases are complex, intelligent, and deeply involved legal battles seeking the release of a wrongly convicted man. It is a tension-filled, grinding investigation that is gripping and dramatic. The legal maneuvering is always fun—so many ways to work the law! It’s a legal thriller and half the fun is listening to Titus Welliver narrate in addition to Peter Giles and Christine Lakin.

ASIN B0BT24RVJH Released on November 7, 2023 by Little, Brown & Company

Easy 5 stars

Savannah Blues by Mary Kay Andrews

Eloise Foley, known to her friends as Weezie, has been through the divorce from hell. Her ex-husband Tal (aka Talmadge Evans III) was awarded their house in Savannah’s historic district, the house that Weezie had spent years painstakingly restoring to its original splendor. Weezie was awarded the two-bedroom carriage house on the same property…Weezie is running her antiques business out back.

Chocked full of down home, southern sensibilities, southern drawl, food, and a smashing good primer on the purchase and sales of antiques, the sense of humor is true to tickle your funny bone and bring relief from the trauma of the daily news.

“…my father always calls the obituaries, the Irish Sports Page.”

As in many unique businesses, there can be some dirty dealings afoot. It’s good that Weezie can sniff them out and save herself from becoming a distant memory at the same time. A delightful romp in the heat and humidity without the sweat and palmettos (cockroaches).

Narrated by Susan Ericksen ASIN B00WGRH25G Released on May 5, 2015 by Macmillan Audio

4 stars

The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer

Award nominee (Kindle)

Lucy Hart knows better than anyone what it’s like to grow up without parents who loved her. In a childhood marked by neglect and loneliness, Lucy found her solace in books, namely the Clock Island series by Jack Masterson. Now a twenty-six-year-old teacher’s aide, she is able to share her love of reading with bright, young students, especially seven-year-old Christopher Lamb, who was left orphaned after the tragic death of his parents. Lucy would give anything to adopt Christopher, but even the idea of becoming a family seems like an impossible dream without proper funds and stability.

But be careful what you wish for. . . .

A totally unique premise for me, Jack Masterson announces he’s written a new book—one copy. Lucy’s childhood idol creates a contest to be held at his home on the real Clock Island, site of so many of her treasured childhood books and master author. It would not only be a massive prize, but the chance to adopt seven-year-old Christopher with whom she has bonded and would change both her life as well as the boy. The contest, however, might be more difficult than she ever imagined.

Interesting vibe with the iconic island being so isolated. Others in the competition are cunning, sneaky, and provide scary issues. I could almost visualize Lurch lumbering through the dark halls of the castle. Different, but could be a bit slow in places and the conclusion became rather predictable.

Narrated by Rachel L. Jacobs, Paul Boehmer ASIN B0BNQXQK7Q Released on May 30, 2023 by Random House Audio

3.5 stars

Always something to look forward to—continuing a neat story! Next up is a historical fiction and a memoir—Henry Winkler. If you are still avoiding audiobooks, now’s the time to look into the possibilities. It’s a gargantuan library right in your own home that takes no space and gathers no dust.