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Reviews by Betty Taylor

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Good Me Bad Me
by Ali Land

Our Inner Demons (9/4/2017)

Be prepared – the last half of this book will keep you reading all night.

I think there are times that we all struggle with our inner demons. This is only natural. There’s the part of us that wants to please everyone, and there’s the part that wants to rebel against parents …more

The Rules of Magic
by Alice Hoffman

Love and Teen Witches (8/13/2017)

I have read several of Alice Hoffman’s books but this one was certainly different for me. I have not read “Practical Magic” so did not really know what to expect. While this book is a prequel to “Practical Magic”, it also stands alone. Ms. Hoffman is certainly versatile – …more

Emma in the Night
by Wendy Walker

Mother of the Year -- NOT! (8/8/2017)

I read Wendy Walker’s book “All is Not Forgotten” so was looking forward to reading this one. I love psychological thrillers.
Sisters Emma and Cass Tanner mysteriously disappear one night. Then three years later, Cass just as mysteriously returns home – alone. Cass describes …more

The Breakdown
by B. A. Paris

Can't put down until the truth is revealed (7/18/2017)

I loved her first book (“Behind Closed Doors”) so had high expectations for this one. The story is truly suspenseful. During a severe storm Cass comes across a car parked at the side of the road. She stops and waits for some indication that the female driver needs …more

The Necklace
by Claire McMillan

Unique Story (6/26/2017)

This book was a really slow start but it was worth staying with it. The writing isn’t the best, but the story is really good.

The chapters alternate between the 1920’s and the present (2009). Brothers Ethan and Ambrose Quincy want the same girl – May. It is 1925 and Ambrose …more

The Story of Arthur Truluv: A Novel
by Elizabeth Berg

Totally Delightful (6/21/2017)

What a truly delightful read! It's like "A Man Called Ove" but without the crabbiness. Arthur Moses, 85, has lunch each day with his wife Nola – at the cemetery. Nola has been dead six months. Arthur is a truly sweet man and has a positive attitude toward pretty much …more

My Last Lament
by James William Brown

Beautiful Writing (3/30/2017)

This book was a true joy to read. It was beautifully written, with interesting characters and some little known Greek history. Being Jewish I have heard about the decimation of the Jews in Thessalonica and Rhodes. While the main character Aliki is not Jewish, another major …more

Behind Her Eyes
by Sarah Pinborough

Nothing is as it seems (1/18/2017)

Wow! This book took me on a thrilling ride. I just finished it and am still trying to process that ending. Mind-blowing! If you loved “Gone Girl”, “The Girl on the Train”, and “Behind Closed Doors” you will love this one. I assure you that NOTHING is as it seems.

Louise, a …more

The Half Wives
by Stacia Pelletier

Two Women, One Man (12/27/2016)

"The Half Wives" describes a part of San Francisco's history that few people are aware of. San Francisco is actually a very small city. In the mid to late 1800s it was recognized that there wasn't enough room in San Francisco for the living and the dead. So the town of …more

Letters to the Lost
by Iona Grey

Eternal Love (12/15/2016)

It was a good story but it just didn’t grab me. I found I could easily set the book aside and not pick it up again for a few days. This story seemed to drag quite often, and then suddenly all the loose ends get wrapped up neatly near the end of the book.

But it wasn’t all …more

Victoria
by Daisy Goodwin

Historical Romance (12/1/2016)

I love Historical Fiction, so I was eager to read this story of the young Queen Victoria. I had seen the movie “Young Victoria” a few years ago and really enjoyed it. The first few chapters of this book reminded me very much of the movie.

Ms. Goodwin’s descriptions brought …more

Victoria
by Daisy Goodwin

Romance in the Kingdom (10/27/2016)

The Last Days of Night: A Novel
by Graham Moore

The Battle Over the Light Bulb (10/16/2016)

This is a part of history I was totally unaware of – the battle between Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse – over the light bulb. In the late 1800’s there was a major legal battle between these two powerhouses. Edison filed over 300 lawsuits against Westinghouse for the …more

Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk
by Kathleen Rooney

Worth the Wait (9/15/2016)

I was eager to read this book for its historical content and the "views" of NYC. However I found the book to be a struggle to get through. In my opinion, the writing style was quite stiff – perhaps to reflect the earlier historical period.

Fortunately I stayed with the book …more

Les Parisiennes: How the Women of Paris Lived, Loved, and Died Under Nazi Occupation
by Anne Sebba

New Details on the Life of Paris' Women During the Occupation (7/12/2016)

I was looking forward to reading this book. I read Kristin Hannah's "The Nightingale" which piqued my interest in how the women in France survived Nazi occupation. I also read CW Gortner's "Mademoiselle Chanel" which had a lot of information on how she and others like her …more survived.

This nonfiction book was well researched for the period 1939 – 1949. The majority of the book addresses the lives of "the rich and the famous" and, I admit, I scanned much of those sections. I was more interested in the everyday people, people like me. I also was not impressed with how much fashion – and entertainment to some degree - continued to be of prime importance during that time. Seems a bit shallow to me when people were just trying to survive.

Life did change for everyone, especially the women. Most of the men went away to war, leaving the women behind to carry on with live the best way they could. And it was indeed a difficult time. Food and other necessities of life were in very short supply. The Germans were the only ones that could afford food – or they just took it. Women faced daily humiliation as they had to queue for hours and then beg (and pay) for the few rations that were available.

Tremendous efforts were made to hide works of art – those in galleries and private Jewish collections. Part of Hitler's plan was the intention to destroy any sense of belonging by depriving Jews of what they owned. He planned to create his own art gallery.

The British were using women in combatant activities, although it was forbidden by the Geneva Convention. Thus, these women had no protection if they were captured. History has failed to note that many women were among those deported.

When the war was over people who survived were suspected of being collaborators with the Germans. Jews, political prisoners, and prisoners of war recently liberated from camps and prisons, poured into the city – a city in no way ready to accommodate them. Many returned with serious medical issues that Paris was ill prepared to deal with. Perhaps most devastating was that many returned to find that everything they had owned had been taken.

In an effort to try to return to "normal", women were encouraged to "return to a time of innocence and femininity, to stop making decisions, stop balancing cheque books, stop being aggressively punctual." This met with mixed responses.

I liked the discussion of what it takes to be a hero. I think I agree with this statement in the book: "Heroism isn't a matter of choice, but of reflex. It's a property of the central nervous system, not the higher brain." Heroes do not think; they act.

This is a book well worth reading, even though it does bog down at times. More and more people are now finally talking about what really happened during the Nazi Occupation. For a long time no one wanted to hear about it so the survivors kept quiet. Now their stories are being told – and heard. (less)

All Is Not Forgotten
by Wendy Walker

Suspenseful Story (6/19/2016)

With the various storylines – Charlotte’s affair, Sean’s unstable marriage, Tom’s boss and his interaction with the family, the drug dealer, Forrester’s son – a lot is thrown at you. I felt like some of it was too contrived, too many “red herrings”. I thought the author did …more

Consequence: A Memoir
by Eric Fair

Raw, brutal, honest, soul-baring (6/5/2016)

Raw, brutal, honest, soul-baring. Eric Fair was a contractor doing interrogations in Iraq – Abu Ghraib and Fallujah. Things he saw, things he did, things he didn’t do. There were consequences associated with his actions and inactions.

Eric Fair was a geek in high school. It …more

The Children
by Ann Leary

Had Potential but Did Not Meet It (5/4/2016)

I struggled with this book. It started out with great potential. I loved the part in Chapter 1 where the grandmother says she is going to go upstairs to die. Her grandson says "Gran, not die. You mean lie, not die." Then it continues "But Trudy had meant die. She walked up …more

Still Alice
by Lisa Genova

Tragic but Realistic (5/4/2016)

This book is an amazing look at the life of a highly intelligent college professor who is diagnosed with Early Onset Alzheimer's Disease. It was so tragic reading of the impact on her life, how others change they way they treat her, and how her husband and children deal …more

Ashes of Fiery Weather
by Kathleen Donohoe

Disappointing Read (3/31/2016)

The book appealed to me as it is the stories of seven women from fire-fighting families. However, even though the women were linked through generations of the same family the stories were too fragmented for me. The reader has to constantly jump back and forth through …more

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