THOUGHTS ON THIS 'n THAT

  Eleanor Quinn was America’s sweetheart. In CYNTHIA STARTS A BAND (PRbythebook) by Olivia Swindler, the lead singer in a wildly successful band is dating the most beautiful man in America and she lives a life most could only dream of. Then on the night of her engagement, she vanishes, leaving the world to wonder where and why she has gone. Eleanor sets out on a journey to regain agency in her life, to be something other than “Eleanor Quinn”.  She moves to Seattle determined to find herself again. Riddled with self-doubt, she realizes the only way she can ever be free is to share her side of the story. Although starting over is not as simple as she imagined as the ghosts from her past force their way to her.  Cynthia Starts a Band  tells the story of starting over and discovering who one is when the world isn’t looking. Olivia Swindler was raised in Spokane, Washington but resides currently in Grenoble, France, where she eats approximately a baguette a day. She serve...

  Robert Dugoni once again delivers a spy thriller that's extraordinary! In THE SILENT SISTERS (ThomasandMercer), former CIA case officer, Charlie Jenkins is in his sixties, has a family and a business on the brink of imploding, but is once again sucked into field work by his handler, Matt Lemore. Jenkins is off to Russia, where it's not too easy for a black man to blend in, but with his share of disguises, courtesy of Langley that should alleviate the problem. Jenkins is on his third trip to Russia and he's a priority on the Russians "kill list." THE SILENT SISTERS is the third book of the Charlie Jenkins trilogy, but you can read any of the books alone. This time, Jenkins goes to Russia to extricate two women left in country who have been spying in Russia for decades and may have finally had their covers blown. They are the two women left from the so called CIA op-called "the seven sisters." Two have made it out of Russia, three are presumed dead after...

  Are you a little too comfortable with self-loathing? Tired of feeling like you are not enough? This book is for you. Carrington Smith  spent a lifetime trying to be someone else—to fit in, to be loved, to keep the peace, and to make others happy. Until finally, Carrington discovered that her own path to happiness wasn’t based on fitting in but on standing out—celebrating her uniqueness and owning her past. Candid and raw,  Blooming  takes you on a treasure hunt to discover the gifts in the _hit. _hit is quite literally fertilizer. It is in the messes, failures, trauma, and difficulties of life that we discover what we need to bloom into our greatness. From trauma to triumph, through the depths of sexual assault, religious mind-manipulation, family rejection, body dysmorphia, mid-life metamorphosis, physical scarring, and death into happiness, forgiveness, empathy, purpose, belonging, and joy,  Blooming  is a poignant, powerful account of finding your way ...

  Based on true stories about two women and two countries with nothing in common, but a call to fight. The novel, SISTERS of NIGHT and FOG (Berkley) by Erika Robuck brings together an American socialite and a British secret agent whose stunning acts of courage collide in   the darkest hours of World War II.   1940 . War has ignited, and   in spite of her American family’s wishes, Virginia d’Albert-Lake decides to stay in occupied France with her French husband. She’s sure that if they keep their heads down, they’ll survive. But is surviving enough?   Nineteen-year-old Violette Szabo has seen the Nazis’ evil up close and is desperate to fight them. But when she meets the man who changes her life, only for tragedy to strike, Violette finds her life unanchored. Until she enters the radar of Britain’s secret war organization—the Special Operations Executive—and a new fire is ignited in her and she enlists. But how much is willing to risk?   As Virginia and Viol...

  “I am a work in progress, just like everyone else.” The Dea Vitae cult might be gone from Thalia Island, but Lara and her grandfather's eco-utopia remains in peril. Rupert’s ongoing lymphoma treatment deposits Lara at Thalia’s helm with no idea of what to do with the problems ahead. Finan may be back from the mainland after two weeks of silence, but the sting lingers. Beyond the grind of running her own “planet”—while privately grieving the loss of her beloved grandfather and worrying if the cancer will take Number Two—Lara must contend with the reappearance of Jacinta Ramirez, a fugitive Clarke Innovations has been shielding all these years. Jacinta unveils disturbing secrets that reshape the history Lara’s been fed about her late mother’s past—and how much that past threatens to derail their cumulative future. When overwhelming stress sends Lara to the bottom of the whisky bottle, Finan gently reminds her that slipping into old habits won’t fix what’s broken. As she tries to pu...

  I absolutely loved Adele Myers debut novel, THE TOBACCO WIVES (WilliamMorrow). I learned so much about the history of Big Tobacco in North Carolina and its relevance today. Also, the book cover is fabulous.  Sixteen year-old, Maddie Sykes' life has been difficult. Her father was killed in the war, her mother has basically checked out and is on the hunt for a new rich husband and Maddie was dumped off at her Aunt Etta's, in Bright Leaf, without any explanation. Bright Leaf, North Carolina is the heart of Big Tobacco. It's also where Maddie's Aunt Etta has a thriving business sewing gowns for the Tobacco Wives - the rich, powerful wives of tobacco executives. Maddie also has quite a sewing talent herself and since she's going to be in Bright Leaf, for who knows how long, she's going to help her aunt. But Maddie doesn't plan for Aunt Etta to be hospitalized leaving her with the extremely large task of fitting, creating and finishing the gowns for these demand...

  The day All-American Joey Blade turns 18, he learns his ex-girlfriend is pregnant, is betrayed by his new girlfriend, and is arrested for the attempted murder of two police officersin Ken Joy's new novel, DRY HEAT (BQB). But then things get bad. The high school bonfire is supposed to be the kickoff to a great night: Joey has just won a football scholarship and he's hoping for a sex breakthrough with his new girlfriend. Then his true love--but ex-girlfriend--Mallory tells him she's pregnant. He's reeling from that news when the bonfire explodes. Joey, his new girlfriend and her drug dealer friend TJ, flee in her truck. When the police pursue, TJ shoots at the cop's car. It crashes and in the ensuing chaos TJ slips away undetected. Joey, the only adult in the truck, is hauled off to jail. Joey is charged with attempted murder and released on bail. TJ is nowhere to be found. When Joey discovers that Mallory's father is pressuring her to terminate the pregnancy, J...

  Author, Anita Abriel's, third historical novel, A GIRL DURING THE WAR (Simon&Schuster/Atria) is a love story in the hills of Tuscany, during the final years of WWII. It starts in Rome, is situated for the majority of the novel in Tuscany and ends in South America. Rome: 1943, Marina Tozzi is on her way home with anchovies for her father's pasta, when she finds him dead, along with the Jewish artist he's been hiding in their basement. Worrying about retaliations against her, Marina flees to the Florence villa of her father's American business partner, Bernard Berenson and his partner, the famed JP Morgan Librarian, Belle da Costa Greene.  Florence is full of partisans and Germans fighting for control over the city. Art expert, Marina starts helping Bernard catalog his extensive library of rare books he's hoping to protect from the looting Nazis. But war makes for strange bed fellows and soon Marina finds herself in a relationship with partisan Carlos. Marina sh...

  "Ever since my mom died, I cry in H Mart. H Mart is a supermarket chain that specializes in Asian Food." Michelle Zauner honors the life and memory of her late cancer stricken mother and their mercurial relationship, in her memoir, CRYING IN H MART (Knopf). She works through grief by learning how to cook Korean food, which helps her cope and connect with her Korean heritage. Zauner's is half Korean and the founding member of the band, Japanese Breakfast, which has received two Grammy nominations. Her mother was Korean and her father American. CRYING IN H MART straddles the journey of a complex young woman and the two cultures she grows up in. She was raised in the predominantly white neighborhood of Eugene, Oregon, where she says she was slowly "suffocating from boredom." After college, she left for New York City to pursue her artistic ambitions. She returns to Eugene when her mother starts to experience the effects of chemotherapy.  Zauner's early relat...

  "How far would you go to follow your passion? Would you steal for it... kill for it... or risk everything to save it?" Author, Lisa Barr's new novel, WOMAN ON FIRE (HarperPaperbacks) has so many twists and turns, I couldn't put it down. The protagonist is strong, young ambitious female journalist, Jules Roth, who will follow the facts wherever they lead her - even risking her life. In the decades leading up to WWII, the Nazis stole hundreds of thousands of pieces of art from private collections, museums, churches, synagogues, art galleries and universities. Art theft today remains the third most profitable business worldwide after drugs and weapons sales. In WOMAN ON FIRE, green journalist, Jules is given a very secret assignment from well-known investigative reporter, Dan Mansfield. Jules is to recover the painting, Woman on Fire by Ernst Engel which was stolen by the Nazis seventy-five years earlier. There are personal reasons why Jules and Dan have to locate the ...

  I'd say the only relationship as complicated as a mother and daughter is sisters. Both have the potential for absolute love and hatred. THIS MIGHT HURT (Berkley) by Stephanie Wrobel explores the bonds of sisterhood threatened by a cult. Two sisters, Natalie and Kit are raised in the same family by a sadistic father and passive mother. To say they are both damaged is an understatement. They haven't talked in months, since Kit went off the grid to a secluded island off the coast of Maine and joined the self-help group, Wisewood. Wisewood promises to "maximize selves" through some very controversial techniques. Huh? Exactly. When Natalie receives an unnerving email about secrets between the she thinks something isn't right and she leaves Boston for Maine. There is no welcome wagon when she arrives. After being kept by group leaders from seeing Kit, Natalie is finally reunited with her sister and what can go wrong, goes very wrong. Kit is no longer the little sister...