Summer Reading Celebration

It was a great book and one of the first to actually surprise me!

I loved this book. Set during WWII in London during the year of the Blitz, this book shares so much more than a ring side seat to the Blitz. This was a fresh take on telling the story of the Blitz. Two friends are forced to set off for London when one is ousted from her place of rest (unfairly). In London they stay with the best friend of the ousted girls deceased mother, Mrs. Weatherford. Mrs. Weatherford is a kind soul and she gets Grace a temporary job in a bookstore with a cratchedy owner. Grace is great in business, but she isn't a reader. Enter a patron who introduces her to reading just before he goes off to eat. Grace falls in love with reading and the bookshop turns around under her able hand, as does the owner. But then begins the Blitz, and we follow this bookshop and the others in London throughout that harrowing experience.

I loved the movie. Read the book. Loved the book. Separately though. Is my brain fully formed?

Well written historical novel that portrayals what it might have been like for a woman in the medical profession in England in the 1800's.

Strong debut. I really wanted to like the characters....but they are so unlikable. And the killers reason -great- their crazy mentally unstable attitude....didn't really fit. I wanted them to be a bit more.....rational normal. The third act is a high emotion thing but I think having the killer be cool calm and collected would make it fucking CRAZY. I really did love it though. And the ending - epic loved them.

The Western Wind carries the changes that the Renaissance and Age of Enlightenment will bring to 15th century England through the microcosm of a small, backwater town called Oakham. The story unfolds in reverse, beginning with the last day and ending with the first which makes for a thought provoking premise from the start. But soon you realize that the narrator isn’t entirely reliable and as the storyteller he attempts to put himself in the best light. It’s a mystery but not a typical whodunnit. The small focus questions center on is it murder, a suicide, or an accident? The bigger questions grapple with the nature of sin and forgiveness, the perceived need for an intercessor between humans and God, the role of art and music in religious experiences. The motivations of the characters are as real as yours and your neighbor’s. There is much to chew on here.

The fascinating backstory of the creation of Disneyland in sleepy Anaheim California in the 1950’s and the influence it had on amusement parks and entertainment the world over. If you are a Disney fan this is a must read!

Runs over the basics of abnormal psychology that makes it easier to digest over a medical textbook so you can understand it on a more human level for anyone rather then where one might feel overwhelmed by a more advanced medical textbook. Feels more of a stepping stone if you wanted to dive deeper into specific chapters the book covers.

Yeah.....not for me. Especially because I really am interested in the history of the place.

These novellas should be made into larger stories. Especially water and earth, they are my favorite.