The Second Empress: A Novel of Napoleon's Court
8.0
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After the bloody French Revolution, Emperor Napoleon’s power is absolute. When Marie-Louise, the...
Tube Map - London Underground
Navigation and Travel
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Tube Map is the award-winning navigation app that includes the official Transport for London (TfL)...
The Blue Pool
9.0
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What really happened that weekend? Four friends go to a remote cabin one summer. Only three return....
Ritz and Escoffier: The Hotelier, the Chef, and the Rise of the Leisure Class
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In a tale replete with scandal and opulence, Luke Barr, author of the New York Times bestselling...
Love and Death Among the Cheetahs
7.5
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Georgie and Darcy are finally on their honeymoon in Kenya's Happy Valley, but murder crashes the...
Kristy H (1252 KP) rated The Nightingale in Books
Aug 12, 2021
This was an excellent and informational portrayal of World War II. It's haunting and heartbreaking and hopeful all together. Hannah tells the story of the War through our two sisters--looking at how they approach the war, along with their father. Vianne is the practical older sister, who worries for her safety and that of her daughter. Meanwhile, Isabelle has felt betrayed most of her life after the death of their mother and perceived abandonment by her older sister and father. This feeling spurs her to join the Resistance. Following their different paths allows us to see many varied sides of this awful and terrifying War. As you form attachments to the characters, the snatching of Jewish families and children and the concentration camps become even more stark and brutal--it's horrifying.
While I cannot really know what happened during this time period, this book seemed realistic and authentic to me. It made me cry. It's sad and yet somehow sweet at times. It's a vivid look at loss and love--for sisters, family, and your country.
I read this book as part of my new reading project--choosing books off my shelves based on their Goodreads rankings. This is my first book of the project, forcing me out of my comfort zone and to try books in genres I don't usually read!
Death by Leprechaun: A Saint Patrick’s Day Murder in Dublin (Travel Can Be Murder Cozy Mystery #6)
9.0
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When an old friend is arrested in Dublin, tour guide Lana Hansen will need the luck of the Irish to...
Cozy Mystery Travel Cozy
ClareR (6067 KP) rated All the Broken Places in Books
Nov 4, 2023
In short chapters, flashing between the past and the present, we learn about 91 year old Gretel’s past, and what happened when she and her mother escaped Germany.
Gretel is very well off, living in an expensive block of very large flats in central London. She doesn’t really have any friends, and seems to keep her true self from everyone including her son.
She is confronted with the memory of her younger brother, Bruno, when a boy of his age moves in to the downstairs flat. She realises that his father is violent, and his mother is abused. Gretel can’t let this kind of violence happen again.
The characters in this were superb. Whilst the first book had its problems with historical accuracy, I feel that this book centred more around trauma, guilt and shame. Gretel carries all of these things around with her forever. She feels culpable for what happened in the camp - even though she was both a child and female. In retrospect, she is able to see what was wrong with the nazi regime, but at the time would have been brainwashed. She wouldn’t have known a time where Jews and other “undesirable” minorities would have been treated any differently. The wonder is that she went on to learn that this was wrong. The trauma that she carries with her from the death of her brother, learning about what her father was guilty of, and occurrences in Paris, is lifelong.
From Gretel’s life experiences to those of her downstairs neighbour, everything is handled with compassion and tact. Again, it’s not perfect, but then neither are humans. And that is what this book shows above all: that we can learn from our mistakes if we are willing to do so.
The King's Intelligencer: The Discovery of the Missing Princes in the Tower
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London, 1674: When children’s bones are unexpectedly unearthed in the Tower of London, England’s...
Historical Fiction Mystery
Lindsay (1793 KP) rated Bound to Happen (Bound #2) in Books
Jan 27, 2026
I am curious about her parents and, if she has any, her siblings. Suppose this is the same Fee that is mentioned at the end of book one. Her name is Aoife, but friends call her "Fee". Wonder what she's doing in London and who she works for.
We meet Gil, and we see his point of view. He seems interested in a woman who was on stage. What happened to him? What caused his death and exile to a theater in London? He has come alive this year when an ung woman came to visit and explore the stage.
Fee thinks she can pass on her leaking as if it were a choice. But what if she's soul, and she really does have a choice?
Will she help Gil? Her mother warned her, but she didn't take it seriously.
Where she is now, she has to forget her family, such as her brothers and parents. However, we have some memories of her mom and Papa, and of her brother, Michael, and the twins. Will her siblings have Souler, or is it just women in the family?
It's getting more and more interesting as the story goes on. Will Fee finally know that she found her healing? Did he see her?
Why can souls travel centuries? But somewhat struggling in the 21st century with life once they run into their leeches?
Will Fee and Gil have a few children at some point? Will they be souls as well?
Will Fee free her leating? Will she join him once she does? She's trying to learn her soul's past. But is it a family business, or something else? Did her mother not get all the help, or did she not know how to bring her ghost to her, and that is why Fee and her sibling were living in Paris, France, in the 1700s?