THOUGHTS ON THIS 'n THAT

  When a blaze takes both a neighbor’s home and his life, Emily Dickinson and her maid Willa have a burning desire to crack the case in Amanda Flower's, I DIED FOR BEAUTY, Book 3 of 3: An Emily Dickinson Mystery (Berkley). Amherst, 1857. The Dickinson family braves one of the worst winters in New England’s history. Trains are snowbound and boats are frozen in the harbor. Emily Dickinson and her maid, Willa Noble, have never witnessed anything like it. As Amherst families attempt to keep their homes warm, fears of fire abound. These worries prove not to be unfounded as a blaze breaks out just down the street from the Dickinson in Kelley Square, the Irish community in Amherst, and a young couple is killed, leaving behind their young child. Their deaths appear to be a tragic accident, but Emily finds herself harboring suspicions there may be more to the fire than meets the eye. Emily and Willa must withstand the frigid temperatures and...

  A woman’s confession about her husband sparks a dangerous cat-and-mouse game in author Cate Rays domestic thriller, THE YOUNGER WOMAN (ParkRow). Gabby and Fred have just begun to adapt to their new life as empty nesters when Gabby makes a stunning realization: she can’t stand her husband. One night at a bar, Gabby meets an enigmatic younger woman named Ellis, and in a haze of drunkenness, she confesses that she wishes Fred dead. Surely she didn’t expect anything to come of it, but when she tries to track Ellis down again, she realizes that Ellis might not have been who she said she was. As Gabby begins to unravel the truth about Ellis, and what Fred might be hiding, she is thrown into a whirlwind of lies and manipulation. How much is she willing to risk to expose the truth? And who is the real target? Cate Ray writes smart suspense thrillers that are easy to read yet full of empowering messages. Her stories pack an emotional punch, shining a light on power imbalances, inequality,...

  A new book follows photographer, Victoria Amelia documenting the War in Ukraine. LOOKING AT WOMEN, LOOKING AT WAR  (StMartinsPress) is a diary of war and justice.  When Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Victoria Amelina was busy writing a novel, taking part in the country’s literary scene, and parenting her son. Now she became someone new: a war crimes researcher and the chronicler of extraordinary women like herself who joined the resistance. These heroines include Evgenia, a prominent lawyer turned soldier, Oleksandra, who documented tens of thousands of war crimes and won a Nobel Peace Prize in 2022, and Yulia, a librarian who helped uncover the abduction and murder of a children’s book author. Everyone in Ukraine knew that Amelina was documenting the war. She photographed the ruins of schools and cultural centers; she recorded the testimonies of survivors and eyewitnesses to atrocities. And she slowly turned back into a storyteller, writing what would bec...

  When she learns she has a big Italian family she never knew about, a lonely woman travels to Sicily for a life-changing summer in the new romance from  New York Times  bestselling author Jennifer Probst. Aurora York had it all together: loving parents, a steady relationship, and a promising career. But after she loses both parents unexpectedly, she can’t seem to stay on track any longer. Lonely and lost after a public meltdown that threatens her professional credibility, she’s shocked when DNA test results show a blood relative in Sicily. When her cousin reaches out online and begs her to come to Italy to meet everyone in person, Aurora makes the leap. Aurora arrives in Sicily for a month, and there she meets a colorful, dynamic family steeped in tradition. The younger generation is fascinated by her social media fame in America, and even though her grandparents have more traditional viewpoints, Aurora begins to heal from her grief…and enjoys the attention of a kind and...

  Bestselling author, Anne Tyler's new novel, THREE DAYS IN JUNE (Knopf) is destined to be an instant classic: a socially awkward mother of the bride navigates the days before and after her daughter's wedding. Gail Baines is having a bad day. To start, she loses her job—or quits, depending on whom you ask. Tomorrow her daughter, Debbie, is getting married, and she hasn’t even been invited to the spa day organized by the mother of the groom. Then, Gail’s ex-husband, Max, arrives unannounced on her doorstep, carrying a cat, without a place to stay, and without even a suit. But the true crisis lands when Debbie shares with her parents a secret she has just learned about her husband to be. It will not only throw the wedding into question but also stir up Gail and Max’s past. Told with deep sensitivity and a tart sense of humor, full of the joys and heartbreaks of love and marriage and family life,  Three Days in June  is a triumph, and gives us the perennially bestselling, Pu...

  Two women. Two pivotal moments. One dream for justice and equality. It’s 1959, and Freda Gilroy has just arrived at Nashville’s Fisk University, eager to begin her studies and uphold the tradition of Black Excellence instilled in her by her parents back home in Chicago. Coming from an upper-middle-class lifestyle where Black and white people lived together in relative harmony, Freda is surprised to discover the menace of racism down South. When a chance encounter with an intriguing young man draws her into the burgeoning Civil Rights Movement, Freda finds herself caught between two worlds, and two loves, and must decide how much she’s willing to sacrifice in the name of justice, equality, and the advancement of her people. In 1992 Chicago, Freda’s daughter Tulip is an ambitious PR professional on track for a big promotion, if workplace politics and racial microaggressions don’t get in her way. With the ruling in the Rodney King trial weighing heavily on her, Tulip feels increasin...

  Lily Tuck has written a historical fiction book based on fact. THE REST IS MEMORY (WWNorton&Co) is the story of 13-year old, Polish-Catholic girl, Czeslawa Kwoka, scene here on the cover. She is one of over 40-thousand photographs of Auschwitz camp victims taken by Wilhelm Brasse, a Jew himself.  Once the victims arrived at the camps, they were shoved off cattle trains, their clothes ripped off by the guards who chose the ones who appeared strong enough to perform forced labor. The others were sent to the "showers" which were the gas chambers where they were killed. Those picked to live (for now) were hosed down, hair shaved. given prison rags to wear and had their prisoner identification numbers tattooed on their arms before being photographed by Wilhelm Brasse. The photos were nothing more than mug/head shots. Young children who looked Aryan enough were ripped from their parents arms and sent to Germany to be "Germanized." It would be many years before these...

  Etta Shiber and Kate Bonnefous are the unlikeliest of heroines: two seemingly ordinary women, an American widow and an English divorcée, living quietly together in Paris. Yet during the Nazi occupation, these two friends find themselves unexpectedly plunged into the whirlwind of history. With the help of a French country priest and others, they set out to rescue British and French soldiers trapped behind enemy lines—some of whom they daringly smuggle through Nazi checkpoints hidden inside the trunk of their car.  Ultimately the Gestapo captures them both. After eighteen months in prison, Etta is returned to the United States in a prisoner exchange. Back home, hoping to bring attention to her friend Kitty’s bravery, she publishes a memoir about their work.  Paris-Underground  becomes a publishing sensation and Etta a celebrity. Meanwhile Kate spends the rest of the war in a Nazi prison, entirely unaware of the book that has been written about her—and the deeds that ...

  London, 1953.  Louise is still adjusting to her postwar role as a housewife when she discovers a necklace in a box at a secondhand shop. The box is marked with the name of a department store in Paris, and she is certain she has seen the necklace before worked with the Red Cross in Nazi-occupied Europe —and that it holds the key to the mysterious death of her friend Franny during the war.    Following the trail of clues to Paris, Louise seeks help from her former boss Ian, with whom she shares a romantic history.  The necklace leads them to discover the dark history of Lévitan—a once-glamorous department store that served as a Nazi prison, and Helaine, a woman who was imprisoned there, torn apart from her husband when the Germans invaded France.   Louise races to find the connection between the necklace, the department store and Franny’s death. But nothing is as it seems, and there are forces determined to keep the truth buried forever. Inspired ...

  The Memory Library(Avon) is a brand new, must-read novel of family and friendship which will leave you feeling hopeful and inspired. It's one of those books I wish I could read again for the first time. I love reading books about complicated mother-daughter relationships and THE MEMORY LIBRARY doesn't disappoint. I can relate to Ella's story somewhat. I have a mother issue which is similar but of course, different. A misunderstanding is the cause of estrangement between Ella and her mother, Sally for 21 years. Ella leaves England for Australia after discovering something that raged her against Sally. But she's still important to her mom who creates an unexpected treasure which celebrates Ella's birthday - a memory library which she yearly adds a book to with a special inscription. Ella receives a phone call which will change her life. Sally has been in accident and she needs her help. Ella returns and they learn more about each other than ever imagined. THE MEMORY...