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Showing posts from January, 2023

Book Review: Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth

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Mad Mabel  by Sally Hepworth  is a domestic thriller about the youngest person convicted of murder in Australia, Elsie Mabel Fitzpatrick. Now 81 years old, Elsie is living on Kenny Lane and has been for the past sixty years. When a mother named Roxanne moves into Mabel's neighborhood with her seven year old daughter, an unlikely friendship forms between Elsie and the seven year old child named Persephone. As Elsie's secrets come to light, her world comes crashing down.  Having read quite a few novels by Sally Hepworth, I requested an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of Mad Mabel  without reading the synopsis of the story. I was thrilled when NetGalley and St. Martin's Press approved my request. The expected publication date of the book is April 21, 2026. Not knowing anything about the storyline before I started reading Mad Mabel  made the story much more interesting to me as I had no preconceived ideas. The tale was told from Mabel's perspective in alternating timeli...

Book Review: Going Rogue, Rise and Shine Twenty-Nine (Stephanie Plum, #29) by Janet Evanovich

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Going Rogue: Rise and Shine Twenty-Nine (Stephanie Plum, #29) by Janet Evanovich was published on November 1, 2022.  The novel opens with Stephanie Plum arriving at the bonds office on a Monday morning, and office manager Connie Rosolli isn't there.  When Stephanie finally gets into the office, the file room has been tossed.  Then comes the ransom call, which sends Stephanie on the hunt for a mysterious coin that she needs to get Connie released. The Stephanie Plum book series is one that I've come to love and enjoy when I need a light read that will give me some laughs.  Right off the start, this edition has yet again made me think it's now being ghost written because Lula is asking if one of the people bonded out by Vinnie is Joe Morelli's grandmother.  Lula already know who she is, so this is what made me think that it's ghost written.  If the author just wanted to reintroduce Bella, there had to be a better way to do this. With that being said, I absol...

Book Review: Hedy Lamarr (Little People, BIG DREAMS) by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara, Illustrated by Maggie Cole

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Hedy Lamarr (Little People, BIG DREAMS) by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara, Illustrated by Maggie Cole is a biography for the Austrian born, American actress and inventor.  This is a children's book for kids aged three through eight.  It was published on January 3, 2023. I'd like to thank NetGalley, Quarto Publishing Group, and Frances Lincoln Children's Books for the Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of Hedy Lamarr .  I was delighted to be approved to receive this book for free in exchange for my honest review. Well written and informative, Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara does a phenomenal job of telling the story of Hedy Lamarr in a child friendly way.  I'll admit that I had no idea who she was and what she contributed to science.  It made me want to learn more about her.  Additionally, the illustrations by Maggie Cole were fantastic as well.  I love the fact that take away from the book is that you can be anything you want to be and have more than one type of ca...

Book Review: The Nazi Conspiracy, The Secret Plot to Kill Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill by Brad Meltzer and Josh Mensch

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The Nazi Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill by Brad Meltzer and Josh Mensch is about the first ever meeting between Franklin D. Roosevelt, Joseph Stalin, and Winston Churchill in Iran.  When the Nazis find out about it, they create a secret plan to assassinate the Big Three.  The expected publication date of this book is January 10, 2023. I'd like to thank NetGalley and Flatiron Books for the Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of The Nazi Conspiracy .  I never learned about this secret plot in school, and I wanted to learn more about it.  When I learned that I had been approved to receive a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review, I was thrilled. This non-fiction book was an informative read as well as mostly interesting.  There was a slow stretch in the book where approximately fifty of the pages read like a text book, but overall, it was a learning experience.  There is so much that was never taught in my histo...