Winston and the Windsors

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Winston and the Windsors: How Churchill Shaped a Royal Dynasty by Andrew Morton

This book was a great way to look at British history from 1985 to 1964 from the view point of Winston Churchill, his experiences, and his interaction with the Windsors. A bit lengthy, but that seems appropriate given his long life and large impact on Great Britain and its allies.

Young Winston was one of the last cavalry officers, and had quite an adventure during the Boer War in South Africa, which is covered in depth in Hero of the Empire: The Boer War, a Daring Escape, and the Making of Winston Churchill by Candice Millard. He wrote a book of military history while stationed in India, and had a very uneven political career before the second World War, and was known for being both arrogant and charming. During and after World War II, Winston served the Windsors as Prime Minister, through Edward VII and the abdication crisis over Wallis Simpson, World War II with George VI, and postwar Great Britain with the young Queen Elizabeth II. I found it especially interesting to read about Churchill’s work during World War II during this very unsettled time. Other than Winston’s experience in South Africa, I was mainly familiar with the Churchills from two historical novels: That Churchill Woman by Stephanie Barron about his mother, American Jennie Jerome Churchill and Lady Clementine by Marie Benedict about Winston Churchill’s wife and their children. Morton has clearly been fascinated by several generations of the Windsors, but this was less gossipy than most, including Elizabeth & Margaret: The Intimate World of the Windsor Sisters, and he has clearly done his research on Churchill’s life and the four British rulers who preceded King Charles III. Suggested for fans of 20th century British history or the Windsors.

Brenda

The Astral Library

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The Astral Library by Kate Quinn

Known for her historical fiction including The Rose Code, the author now turns to magical realism. This novel has been highly publicized, and Quinn has the storytelling chops to lure a reader into The Astral Library and make them not want to leave.

This is definitely not a cozy fantasy, but compelling settings, a fast-paced and twisty plot, and memorable characters make this a book to cheer for. Alix Watson is desperate, and her past as a foster child and her present as a twenty-something working three part-time jobs are both rather bleak. Where Alix feels most at home is in the library, re-reading a favorite book.

Then she gets invited into a very special library, where she can finally say yes to the question: “Have you ever wanted to live inside a book?” Only the Astral Library and its Patrons are threatened, and it’s up to the Librarian, Alix, and struggling costume designer Beau to save the day, along with the Library itself.

While the opening is reminiscent of early 20th century novels by Grace Livingston Hill in which a young, poor heroine does a good deed and then gets a good job and meets a gentleman, Alix is not exactly sweet and kind, and swears rather a lot. Once Alix enters the Library, I was reminded of the Thursday Next novels by Jasper Fforde, beginning with The Eyre Affair, set in Book World, and also of humorous fantasy novels by Terry Pratchett set in the Unseen University’s library, with a librarian turned orangutan.

Daughter of a librarian, Quinn has created a magical library for book lovers and library fans to dream about. More, please!

Brenda

The First Time I Saw Him

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The First Time I Saw Him by Laura Dave

If you read the 2021 bestselling thriller The Last Thing He Told Me, this sequel is a sure bet. A thriller/beach read that you can’t put down, it is sweet, tender, tense, anxious, and full of plot twists with an intensifying pace. Don’t start this at bedtime or you won’t get much sleep!

Hannah and stepdaughter Bailey are a team, along with Bailey’s grandfather Nicholas, who has not always done the right thing. Owen, Bailey’s dad, disappeared several years ago, to keep them safe. Hannah and Bailey go on a journey together, sudden but not unexpected. They learn that Bailey’s grandfather has died, and they are no longer safe. Going back and forth in time, we learn that Nicholas and Owen worked together to make contingency plans to protect Bailey. While this is a plot-driven novel, the settings really enhance the story, moving from the California coast to Miami, Hawaii, Paris, and the south of France. Love and loyalty are key here, along with figuring out who is trustworthy and when it’s time to move on. The love of family, the emotions of missing loved ones, and very appealing main characters make this memorable read well worth the thrill ride.   

Brenda

This Book Made Me Think of You

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This Book Made Me Think of You by Libby Page

This was a special and memorable book for me. Love and loss, starting over, bookstores and reading, re-connecting and making new memories, learning to live and love again; full of adventure, travel, and self-reflection.

Set mostly in London, in a small, cluttered flat and in a charming bookstore; Tilly Nightingale has spent the last six months grieving for her late husband, Joe. She hasn’t tidied his desk or even put away his running shoes. Especially sad for a book editor, Tilly hasn’t been reading, other than the celebrity memoirs she works on.

Then Tilly gets a phone call from Alfie at Book Lane. Joe had met with Alfie last year and arranged for the gift of one book a month for a year. Alfie isn’t allowed to give Tilly all the books at once. It’s almost February before Tilly gets around to reading the first title, a children’s book. She discovers that each book, a variety of fiction and non-fiction, includes a letter from Joe, which are shared with the reader.

Tilly’s heart slowly thaws and starts to heal. She goes to Paris and at a bookstore there, connects with a group of others struggling with loss. There are other trips, including to New York City. Tilly re-connects with a few people, has a falling-out with another, takes up new hobbies, and becomes friends with bookseller Alfie.

While the plot is slightly predictable, Tilly’s journey makes for wonderful, feel-good reading. That much of the story is set in a bookstore is an extra bonus. A list of book recommendations for each month adds to the appeal.

Brenda

Nine Goblins

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Nine Goblins: A Tale of Low Fantasy and High Mischief by T. Kingfisher

A perfect novella for readers of Travis Baldree. Self-published in 2013, this was Kingfisher’s first book for adults. Under the pen name of Ursula Vernon, she’s published wonderful fantasies for children that are a bit on the dark side but still charming, including Minor Mage and A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking. As T. Kingfisher, she’s now known for dark fantasy/horror novels including Swordheart and Nettle & Bone. I’ve enjoyed all four of these works, so I was delighted to find Nine Goblins.

Goblins don’t usually star in books. They are not much to look at, complain a lot, some are not that bright, and they tend to be smelly. But in Kingfisher’s world, they are not evil or cruel. They are, frankly, great fun to read about. Nessilka is the sergeant of the Nineteenth Infantry. She doesn’t like being in charge, though she’s very good at it, having experience as the oldest of six goblin siblings. The Nineteenth is known as the Whinin’ Niners, and includes Corporal Murray, a technical genius who likes to invent things, and Corporal Algol who is tall (59 inches!) and likes animals. The Niners are on the march, ready for battle, when they’re not complaining about the terrain or their food. A battlefield encounter with a human wizard has Nessilka, the wizard, and eight other Niners transported to the edge of a forest, near farms and a village.

In the forest lives Sings-to-Trees, a handsome elf who cares for every ill or injured animal for miles around. He is currently helping an ungrateful unicorn give birth, when not petting a coyote, feeding a gargoyle, or raising a baby raccoon. Not a big fan of unicorns, Sings-to-Trees really prefers trolls. When the goblins meet up with the elf, they find something terribly wrong in the village, and have to deal with an even more frightening wizard. This part does get rather dark, though the tragedy has already happened before the goblins arrive.

A colorful cast of goblins, the untidy elf, a clever teddy bear, a kitten, and a magical deer skeleton make for a memorable story, as the goblins seek a way to get home again. Funny, sad, dangerous, and poignant, readers will root for Sergeant Nessilka, the Niners and the elf. Some illustrations are included.

Brenda

The Stolen Queen

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The Stolen Queen by Fiona Davis

The Stolen Queen

I enjoyed this compelling pageturner, set in 1978 and 1936. In 1978, Charlotte Cross works as an associate curator for the Metropolitan Museum’s Department of Egyptian Art. Her main research focus is the (fictional) female pharaoh Hathorkare. Her time in Egypt in the 1930s ended in tragedy and she hasn’t been back.

When Charlotte recognizes an artifact from her time in Egypt and another Egyptian artifact is stolen, she heads back to Egypt. Annie, 19, loves the Met and lucks into a job assisting Diana Vreeland set up a costume exhibit. Annie and Charlotte keep crossing paths and travel to Egypt together for a very adventurous visit. I found this dual timeline novel to be an enthralling read. It’s a bit dramatic, but the drama fits in here. I especially liked the descriptions of the Met as they’re preparing for the Treasures of Tutankhamen exhibition. I remember being thrilled by visiting the exhibit in Chicago as a girl, and named my Abyssinian kitten Little Tut.

Brenda

Turning to Birds

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Turning to Birds: The Power and Beauty of Noticing by Lili Taylor

Actor Lili Taylor, who lives in Brooklyn and upstate New York, has been a birder for about fifteen years. She took a break from work and started hearing, then seeing birds all around her. Most of her observations are in New York City or on location where she’s working, with a few trips just to bird, often in company with other birders.

Each chapter is an insightful essay about her experiences with a different species of bird, beginning with pigeons. Each type of bird features an illustration by Anna Koska. The book begins with Lili as a novice birder, eager to learn about and observe more birds in their natural habitats, from Brooklyn parks to Albuquerque and Santa Fe, with birding trips to northern Ohio and the Platte River in Nebraska to see sandhill cranes. Each chapter has just the right amount of description to make me feel as if I’m sharing her birding experience. Her writing about the sandhill cranes sent me to maps and online to see just where and when the cranes spend time on their great migration, as I’ve seen them in smaller numbers in Illinois and Indiana.

I only differ from Lili in my fondness for house sparrows, for which she has a strong dislike, as they are aggressive towards eastern bluebirds. Fair, but I don’t see any bluebirds in my area. A slightly melancholy essay is set in Lombard, Illinois, featuring swifts which roost in tall chimneys. Lili has turned her newfound love of birds into a passion, and now serves on the boards of three birding organizations. I really liked how birding made her feel alive and at home in new and temporary work locations.

Brenda

The White Octopus Hotel

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The White Octopus Hotel by Alexandra Bell

Imagine visiting a luxury hotel in the Swiss alps, reached by ferry or, in winter, a sleigh. The hotel has a wonderful aquatic spa, numerous fountains, and is decorated with white octopuses and clocks. Also, the hotel is probably haunted. Add in time travel, and the scene is set.

Eve Shaw has a small, quiet life, ever since a family tragedy when she was a little girl. She feels haunted by rabbits and apples, with a nod to Alice in Wonderland. Eve is an art appraiser and loves music. She meets an elderly composer, then travels to the White Octopus Hotel in 2015. Her room is designated for time travelers, and she opens her door and steps into 1935 and 1918, still at the hotel, as well as the present. She meets some of the same people in each time, and participates in a treasure hunt which may give her a prize to change her past.

Eve meets Max, who is haunted by his friends who never made it home from World War I. They explore the hotel and its grounds together, and Eve even glimpses herself as a child, along with her mother. No money is collected from Eve for her stay; her payment is the memories of her time at the hotel. Octopuses are everywhere, including on a unusual tattoo on her leg. Her hotel room has a magical wardrobe, which opens to reveal just the right outfit she’ll need for the next adventure, which fits perfectly.

Magical, often melancholy, and luxurious, the White Octopus hotel is a wondrous setting for a compelling read.

Brenda

Turns of Fate

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Turns of Fate: An Isle of Wyrd Novel by Anne Bishop

“Words have power. Intentions matter.”

The Arcana allow visitors on the Isle of Wyrd from the Spring Equinox until the Fall Equinox. They will need a coin for the Ferryman, and can have their fortunes told. In Destiny Park uncanny statues can be glimpsed and the most daring venture through a Moon Gate. Read and heed the signs, and don’t fall in the water.

Turns of Fate begins a new dark fantasy series which will have strong appeal for readers of The Others series by Bishop. Young Detective Beth Fahey loses a coin toss and makes her first visit to Wyrd on official police business, and meets Lucas Frost at the dock. She will return again, drawn to the island, and for information on missing people. The Arcana may show antlers after dark, or webbed hands. There are even purple cows, and llamas. Well, sort of llamas.

People who need refuge may find it, traveling far or transforming their lives. Some overly curious or violent men will regret their visit. Creative, amazing, uncanny, and occasionally very dark, this long novel is a pageturner for the right reader.

Brenda

Close to Home

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Close to Home: The Wonders of Nature Just Outside Your Door by Thor Hanson

Conservation biologist Thor Hanson has done field research in Alaska, Tanzania, Costa Rica, and with mountain gorillas in Uganda, as well as writing a number of books, including some for children. Here, Thor explores his own yard, on an island in Washington state. Along with his wife and teen son, their acres house a wide variety of plants and wildlife, most of which he hadn’t previously observed.

This book is about how to observe nature in your own yard or neighborhood and what you might discover, from ponds and trees to soil, insects, birds, flowers, and much more. The book describes how and why to attract more wildlife and plants to your yard. The author also zooms, calls, or visits scientists around the world to learn about their projects and how citizen scientists have helped them, especially with iNaturalist and Zooniverse.

This book about observing nature and creating biodiversity was lovely to read to start or end my day, especially in mid-winter when springs feels too far away. I also enjoyed the black and white illustrations and photos. My gardening is mainly containers on the deck and doorstep, but I live near a creek, a neighborhood park, and other natural areas. I hope to spend more time soon being still in nature and just seeing what’s nearby.

Brenda