I believe this book would appeal to those who favor Sarah Addison Allen, Joanne Harris or Heather Webber 's magical realism. It was a wonderful surprise that I feel might be the best book that I have read in 2023. The writing was superb.

It was so gratifying to step in to the ebb and flow of this atmospheric tale of mothers and daughters and their magical gifts. The characters are written with true depth. Although each generation's story is unique and can stand alone; the story flows and ultimately comes full circle.

Not one of the characters or any of their stories is unforgettable. The writing is lyrical and moving and keeps the reader immersed in the tales , anxious to see how it will all end . This reader was sad to come to the end even though I believe that it was the perfect end point , I hated that it was time to leave this family . I doubted that I was going to enjoy my next read as much.

I highly recommend this to everyone.

FYI, for those who enjoy holding a book instead of an e-reader ( and I do read both), this book is a joy to hold. The paper quality is exquisite and the cover texture and look are beautiful. What excellent choices. It merely added to my overall enjoyment.

When I started reading this book, I thought "oh no, another middle aged woman going through a divorce". I didn't even connect with Ginny Splinter at first. But I have faith in Phaedra Patrick and I am so glad that I did. As we join the heartache misfit group in Italy, the story truly begins. The author has a magical way of revealing each character slowly like peeling the layers of an onion until you are so invested in each one that you do not wish for the story to end. Every character is unique in this story and comes alive. There are twists and unexpected revelations along the way. Partway through the book, I felt 'we' had all become so close, we can't let these friendships ends. How far do we live from each other, how should we plan on seeing each other or keep in touch after this journey? I believe there is no greater compliment to the author than to get lost in the story's reality to the point of suspending my own. Read this book and get lost in an Italian adventure - you will laugh and you will cry.
If you enjoyed Frederik Backman's Anxious People, I think that you will see a similar reveal of an odd collection of seemingly unrelated character's stories and enjoy this also.

A fascinating history of American Sylvia Beach and her bookstore, Shakespeare and Company. In Paris in the 1920s it became quite a hub for American writers living in Paris. This is also the story of how she became the first publisher of Joyce's "Ulysses" after it was banned in the US. It is quite an interesting tale.

Another fascinating aspect of the book is how the LGBQT community lived quite openly in the 20's since same sex relations had been decriminalized since the French Revolution. Many of these men and women took their lifestyles and the openness of those relationships for granted in a way that many today still cannot.

It was fascinating to explore other facets of the personalities of now famous authors :Ezra Pound, Ernest Hemingway,James Joyce , George Bernard Shaw to name a few.
It might not have been a book that pulled me in and didn't let escape until I had finished it but it was a fascinating and interesting read which would especially appeal to other literary minded readers. Sylvia Beach deserved this story to be written and I am glad that I was fortunate enough to have read it.

What an emotional , heart-rending rollercoaster. Early on there is a statement in the book that "sometimes angels end up in hell" and that most certainly happens here. This is story of a family- at times, a very dysfunctional one and at times a very supportive , loving one - but even more it is the story of a man, Stephen. A man who is so full of love and exuberance and joy . A man who also hits rock bottom believing that he has lost everything. It is also a tale of 2 siblings whose love for each other gives them both strength to live, to face their demons and ultimately, to live. It is a beautiful book; yet ,at times a difficult one to read. Although it is uplifting, it is also tragic and heart-rending. I learned a lot about bird-watching and found it quite fascinating. It added such dimension to the overall tale. I highly recommend it.

Daniel returns home to Palm Coast ,Florida after 7 years to search for the meaning of life or death upon hearing of a high school friend/love's death. The story hinges on how our memories shape us for good or bad and how the friendships of our youth may still define us years later. After time, are our memories factual or our they reconstructions of those times that we have told ourselves so many times that they have become the memories? Whether they actually occurred as we remembered or not, the memories help to define our outlook and may even hold us back from moving forward. Daniel had to 'remember' in order to let go.

The tale covers much of his youth and reminiscences of his high school years, his friends and his first love. Some of them were tender, some were grief-stricken, some were confused , as those years can be. All of them evoke this place he called home that taught him love but also taught him about poverty, homophobia sexuality and racism. One cannot always go back and apologize for things that they had done, but true friends are not waiting for that apology anyway. Ultimately, he had to learn this.

The book may be difficult for some to read because of the use of the local dialect and certain word choices. I do feel that if you let yourself flow in to the dialect, it does get easier and gives a more complete understanding of who these young people are. It also touches on racism, homophobia and class distinctions which may upset some people; but, this was or is a real part of being black in the American rural south. I believe that it makes you think and leads to thoughtful discussions that are necessary today. My only difficulty in reading it at the start was that I sometimes lost the thread of who was speaking and had to stop and re-read a passage due to the author's style and lack of quotes or he/she said. I did get used to his writing style after a while.

I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to others but as I stated at the beginning , it may not be for everyone.

What an emotional roller coaster. I usually do not enjoy books with children as narrators but this book was an exception. What a brave, capable, empathetic, resilient character we have in 10 year old Rae. You will be rooting for her and her dog Splinter throughout the story. I so do not want to give anything away since I would like you read this book and have it unfold for you naturally. I'll just say that it is a book of unconscionable grief, empathy ,friendship, love, and resilience. The on-going dialog in Rae's head is so heart-wrenching yet natural. Her developing friendship with the curmudgeonly older next door neighbor works beautifully and believably only because of the character of Rae. I hope to see more from Emily Spurr and will gladly read whatever she writes.

I received an ARC of this book and I am leaving an unbiased review.
#netgalley #AMillionThings #bookbrowse.com

Thank you to Netgalley for providing a copy of "The Last Garden in England " by Julia Kelly.

I had been reading quite a few books that take place during WWII and had even decided to take a break from this subgroup of historical fiction. I am quite glad that I was offered this book. This book actually covers 3 different time periods 1907, 1941. and present day. It is the tale of five strong women over 3 time periods whose lives are connected by one garden in England.

At first, it was a bit difficult to keep the people organized with the jumping from one era to another but as I got further in to the story, it all fell in to place and I actually enjoyed the time-jumping. It just took a bit of time for me to become comfortable with the actors or who-who's of each time period. Once I got to know each of the women, it was quite easy to get caught up in their lives. The story flowed well through the ages and restorations.Although each story was unique to its period setting, there were also similarities across their experiences, too. All of the women were fully fleshed characters who evolved quite organically . It was a quite fulfilling read to travel their evolution with them. It was impossible to read their stories without feeling empathetic to their plights and without cheering them on their final pages. All of the women are strong, independent ( even when they do not seem to be) women who tackle life's problems differently bit don't back down from a challenge. They would be women with whom you would wish to share a cup of tea.

I found the tale of the elaborate garden at Highbury House and its evolution over the decades to be interesting too. Not only its evolution, but the work going in to planting, tending and restoring it was fascinating to even a very amateur gardener such as myself. These English gardens are a fascinating piece of history in and of themselves.

I found this book to be an interesting addition to the historical fiction shelf. Even with WW2 books, it was nice to see a unique tale of the people left home rather than on the front. As I said, though, this is more than just the 1940's. It is interesting to see the lives and restrictions on women's lives and expectations and how they have changed over the years. Interesting to compare the differences yet similarities of women throughout time.

I would recommend this book to any who enjoy historical fiction, gardening and it's history and even women studies. I found it to be an enjoyable and even educational read. I learned much about gardens and the commandeering of estates during the wars in Britain.

For those readers who were anxiously awaiting Anne Youngson's next book after enjoying "Meet me at the museum": you will not be disappointed. If you are looking for a fast moving, action-packed thriller, this is not for you. I knew nothing of the canals and narrowboats of Britain and enjoyed learning quite a bit about them.

It is primarily a character study of Eve and Sally, two women who meet quite by accident at a time when both of their lives are at a crossroad. It tells of a summer when they meet Anastasia and decide to travel with her narrowboat while they decide the path for the rest of their lives. Anastasia, Trompette, Arthur, Jacob and Owen are also very interesting characters who have stories of their own. It is a tale of family : the family that we are born in to and the families that we create and how those families evolve.

I have read a few reviews that complain that it is too slow moving. I disagree. It is slow like a meandering ride on the canals. It is a summer trip and what occurs during those few months. The pace fit the story.

If you enjoy stories with interesting multi-dimensional characters and new environments or ways of life with which you may not be familiar, this tale is for you. I loved all of the characters and wanted to learn more about all of them. Although I would have been happy to learn more about their lives, I was also content with how the story ended. I felt it was perfect way to finish this tale..

It is always fun to read a book that breaks the usual mold and opens the reader up to new discoveries and insights.I highly recommend this book.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of "The Phone Booth at the Edge of the World" by Laura Imai Messina which is a fictional tale based on the real Wind phone in Japan.
" ... life decays, countless cracks form over time. But it was those very cracks, the fragility that determined a person's story: that made them want to keep going, to find what happens next" . To me this is the heart of the story. We meet Yui who loses both her mother and daughter in the 2001 tsunami that struck Japan. It explores the universal feeling of loss and the heart-rending grief that follows a loss. However , it also explores how different people handle that grief and how they choose to go forward , or not, in their continued existence. It is a story in the most part of great hope, resilience and love . We meet many people in the book who choose to visit the wind phone as a way to cope with their loss. People visit the beautiful gardens by the sea and enter a phone booth where they use a phone to send their words, their sorrow, their hopes in to the universe and to their loved ones. The writing is poetic almost to the point of meditative. The characters are memorable. The story is beautiful. It resonated with me on several levels but I do not think that you have to personally experience loss to sense its beauty.
I love that the writer states" that even when we are confronted by the subtractions, the things that life takes from us, we have to open ourselves up to the many additions it can offer too" This is so true yet so difficult at times to do in our lives. I love how even if you have a before and an after, there are things that may happen in both timeframes. Those experiences are different yet similar but you can enjoy equally the richness of each experience in their time. I believe this tender novel/love story can be enjoyed by many and would make a wonderful addition to the "Book Club Shelf. There are many situations and even characters in the book that would instigate a discussion.
I enjoyed learning more about Japan and Japanese culture. I appreciated the appendix at the back of book to identify and explain the Japanese words and holidays in the book. I also appreciated that the author included in the afterword, a website for those readers who were interested in the real BelGardia and who wished to learn more about it.

Footnotes by Caseen Gaines is the story of Noble Sissle, Aubrey Lyles, Flourney Miller and Eubie Blake and their musical careers from 1915 to 1952. I had no idea that there was a show on Broadway in the 20s with an all black cast or that originally both white and black performers wore burnt cork commonly known as "Blackface". The racism in the United States only 50 years after the Civil War was rampant in the south but was only mildly better in the north. Many talented black performers emigrated to Europe since they were lauded and considered as equals to whites in France. Even our black soldiers in World War I who were asked to join the infantry and form a band besides were treated so differently on European vs US soil. There is so much unknown history in this book. When Noble Sissle was asked why stay in the US and deal with all of this racism, he responded " We are evangelists. We want to do something for the Negro race to which we belong. ...we compel white audiences to listen to us and if we entertain them...even if one person hears us and thinks better of the colored man than in the past, we have done something that is even better than our salary." Despite all the obstacles, Black performers were capable of exceeding the expectations of whites had of them and overcoming all limitations placed upon them. These four men and Jim Europe, too, launched the careers of many of the twentieth centuries well known black performers.

I found this to be a wonderful history of ragtime, jazz and black theatre on Broadway for both the music buff and for a music history novice. Even though it follows primarily the 4 performers through the years, the reader encounters many other performers whose lives they touched such as Josephine Baker. Besides the musical history, it offers interesting insight into the pervasive racism of the time which unfortunately some of which still occurs today.

After reading this, one must wonder why we have not evolved farther than we have in equality. I recommend it for both of those lessons: Music history and Black History choices. It seems extremely well researched with extensive bibliography and footnotes.

Thank you to Bookbrowse and their First Impressions Program for an ARC of this title.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of "The Phone Booth at the Edge of the World" by Laura Imai Messina which is a fictional tale based on the real Wind phone in Japan.
" ... life decays, countless cracks form over time. But it was those very cracks, the fragility that determined a person's story: that made them want to keep going, to find what happens next" . To me this is the heart of the story. We meet Yui who loses both her mother and daughter in the 2001 tsunami that struck Japan. It explores the universal feeling of loss and the heart-rending grief that follows a loss. However , it also explores how different people handle that grief and how they choose to go forward , or not, in their continued existence. It is a story in the most part of great hope, resilience and love . We meet many people in the book who choose to visit the wind phone as a way to cope with their loss. People visit the beautiful gardens by the sea and enter a phone booth where they use a phone to send their words, their sorrow, their hopes in to the universe and to their loved ones. The writing is poetic almost to the point of meditative. The characters are memorable. The story is beautiful. It resonated with me on several levels but I do not think that you have to personally experience loss to sense its beauty.
I love that the writer state s"that even when we are confronted by the subtractions, the things that life takes from us, we have to open ourselves up to the many additions it can offer too". This is so true yet so difficult at times to do in our lives. I love how even if you have a before and an after, there are things that may happen in both time-frames. Those experiences are different yet similar but you can enjoy equally the richness of each experience in their time. I believe this tender novel/love story can be enjoyed by many and would make a wonderful addition to the "Book Club Shelf". There are many situations and even characters in the book that would instigate a discussion.
I enjoyed learning more about Japan and Japanese culture. I appreciated the appendix at the back of book to identify and explain the Japanese words and holidays in the book. I also appreciated that the author included in the afterword, a website for those readers who were interested in the real BelGardia and who wished to learn more about it.

Thank you to BrookBrowse.com for an ARC of this lovely book.
"The House on Vesper Sands" by Paraic O'Donnell may just be one of the best books of 2021 and it is only January. What doesn't it offer? It is Victorian supernatural with Gothic qualities with just enough humor to balance some of the darker material. The duo of Cutter and Bliss may be the best duo of thief-takers since Sherlock and Holmes. The epilogue seems to hint that there could be a sequel and I so hope that there is. I think that Octavia will be a welcome addition to make this a trio. The dialog among them is witty, clever and at times laugh out loud funny. Although her role was much smaller in this book, I believe that she could play a larger part in future installments in the story but also in illuminating more of Cutter's personality. Each and every character is nuanced and multi-dimensional. Every word is pitch perfect whether it be caustic, tender, unsettling or funny. The descriptions of nighttime Victorian London provide a creepy atmosphere befitting the tale. I am in awe of the author's inventiveness. His creativity has created possibly the best mystery of the year or at least the most enjoyable mystery that I have read in quite some time.

For those readers who were anxiously awaiting Anne Youngson's next book after enjoying "Meet me at the museum": you will not be disappointed. If you are looking for a fast moving, action-packed thriller, this is not for you. I knew nothing of the canals and narrowboats of Britain and enjoyed learning quite a bit about them.

It is primarily a character study of Eve and Sally, two women who meet quite by accident at a time when both of their lives are at a crossroad. It tells of a summer when they meet Anastasia and decide to travel with her narrowboat while they decide the path for the rest of their lives. Anastasia, Trompette, Arthur, Jacob and Owen are also very interesting characters who have stories of their own. It is a tale of family : the family that we are born in to and the families that we create and how those families evolve.

I have read a few reviews that complain that it is too slow moving. I disagree. It is slow like a meandering ride on the canals. It is a summer trip and what occurs during those few months. The pace fit the story.

If you enjoy stories with interesting multi-dimensional characters and new environments or ways of life with which you may not be familiar, this tale is for you. I loved all of the characters and wanted to learn more about all of them. Although I would have been happy to learn more about their lives, I was also content with how the story ended. I felt it was perfect way to finish this tale.
It is always fun to read a book that breaks the usual mold and opens the reader up to new discoveries and insights. I highly recommend this book.

What an amazing book. "Home is not a Country" by Safia Elhillo is marketed as a YA book but it is a book for all ages. It may be seen as not just a coming of age story but a story of finding one's true self which can happen at any age. How many times have we not wished to be someone else or felt we were living in the wrong body . In reality, we all could have been different people if a different choice had been made somewhere along our family tree or during our life. So many possibilities. The knowing that we could just as easily have been someone else in different circumstances with a different set of joys and sorrows might just be the basis of our empathy for others.What would it feel like to be those shoes instead of our current ones. It is written entirely in verse which is luminous and so befitting the magic of the story. The magic of finding our true self but also the magic of leaving a life and country behind to emigrate to a new life with all of its ups and downs.This is truly a story of immigrants too. People with the same needs and wants as everyone else. Individuals who are often shunned or denied those dreams because of different cultural practices, beliefs or accents. We are reminded to see each as a special and unique person worth knowing. I believe that everyone will gain empathy from its reading along with just pure enjoyment.It was so easy to fall in to the rhythm of the story and get lost in the tale. It has the potential to make either one person think or to make an entire class of book club stop , think and discuss. I highly recommend it to everyone. What a joy to read.

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Tiffanie DeBartolo's book "the God-shaped Hole" had affected me more that most books that I had read up to that time. I knew then that I would read whatever she would write and recommend her to my friends- which I have done. When I read that she was to have a new release, "Sorrow" , I couldn't wait for its release. Lo and behold, I was chosen by Bookbrowse.com to receive an early release copy and I was ecstatic. Receiving my autographed copy cheered me as little else could in 2020 and the book did not disappoint.

It is a love story yet it is also a coming of age story even though Joe Harper is in his thirties. It is a love story in the traditional sense yet it is also a concurring love story between 2 "blood brothers". The emotions are real and completely believable. It is warm, loving, frustrating , heart-breaking and heart-warming . It is everything you can ask for in a story. A story that seems so real that you will be wondering about the characters long after you turn the last page.I do not want to reveal the plot or plot twists so as not to ruin your enjoyment of its unfolding.Thus I will just leave you with a few examples of Ms. DeBartolo's luminous writing:

" You live like someone who doesn't understand how quickly all of this is going to be over. You don't realize how fast the sand moves through the hourglass. How much your dreams matter." p159

"the thing is , Harp, everyone is always one decision away from a completely different life." p171

" the way you saw me for exactly who I was but never asked me to be somebody else.. You believed in me. You changed me. You inspired me."

Trees..."the universal symbols of strength , perseverance, and survival. They're living poems in time."

"Everything we do and every moment we live can be a work of art"......"making the most mundane into something extraordinary" p27

There is so much more. Her discussions about the meaning of art, of the peace to be found in nature ,of giving of oneself, of being open to new experiences. But I hope that even giving you a taste of the writing will make you wish to read this book. As you can tell, I loved it and highly recommend it for your reading pleasure.

Thank you ,Bookbrowse.com and Woodhall Press for the early copy of the book, It was much appreciated.

This is a story for our time- a chronicle of the migrant's plight. So often the average person sees immigration through eyes of politicians. Often failing to perceive the migrants as individuals with individual hopes, dreams and a story to tell. We lose the sense of humanity in it all. Ms. Cummins brings several of these stories to the light. It is a tale of devastating loss and yet unmitigated hope for a child. It is tale of kindness and love while mired in a sea of evil, loss and depravity. It is a book that needed to be written of these times in which we live. It is book that we all need to read lest we lose our compassion and very humanity. Although it is a work of fiction, these characters will remain with reader long past the closing of the last page.