Jane Litte's Blog, page 25

REVIEW: The Excitements by CJ Wray

A brilliant and witty drama about two brave female World War II veterans who survived the unthinkable without ever losing their killer instinct…or their joie de vivre.

Meet the Williamson sisters, Britain’s most treasured World War II veterans. Now in their late nineties, Josephine and Penny are in huge demand, popping up at commemorative events and history festivals all over the country. Despite their age, they’re still in great form—perfectly put together, sprightly and sparky, and always in...

Review: Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

After Tova Sullivan’s husband died, she began working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, mopping floors and tidying up. Keeping busy has always helped her cope, which she’s been doing since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget Sound over thirty years ago.

Tova becomes acquainted with curmudgeonly Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium. Marcellus knows more than anyone can imagine but wouldn’t dream of lifting one of his eight arms...

REVIEW: Twenty-Seven Minutes by Ashley Tate

Phoebe Dean was the most popular girl alive and dead.

For the last ten years, the small, claustrophobic town of West Wilmer has been struggling to understand one thing: Why did it take young Grant Dean twenty-seven minutes to call for help on the fateful night of the car accident that took the life of his beloved sister, Phoebe?

Someone knows what really happened the night Phoebe died. Someone who is ready to tell the truth.

With Phoebe’s memorial in just three days, grief, delusion, ambition, ...

REVIEW: Canadian Boyfriend by Jenny Holiday

Content notes: disordered eating, death of a spouse, toxic parent, anxiety, panic attacks

Dear Jenny Holiday,

Aurora (Rory) Evans studied ballet in New York but left after realising that the demands of the ballet world had resulted in her developing disordered eating and anxiety. Her toxic mother was extremely disappointed that Rory quit and immediately ceased providing any financial support to her – unless she was prepared to go back to New York and ballet. Rory was not.  Now Rory is a  jazz/...

REVIEW: Weave Me a Rope by Jude Knight

He is imprisoned. She is cast out. But neither will give up on their love.

When the Earl of Spenhurst declares his love for a merchant’s niece, he is locked away in a tower. Spen won’t get out, the marquess his father says, until he agrees to an arranged marriage.

After the marquess unceremoniously ejects Cordelia Milton from his country mansion, she is determined to rescue her beloved, but it all goes horribly wrong.

She needs time to recover from her injuries, and Spen has been moved across ...

REVIEW: The Hobby Shop on Barnaby Street by Jillianne Hamilton

A forbidden wartime romance begins just as German planes fill the skies over London in 1940. A playful and heartfelt read perfect for fans of Dear Mrs. Bird, The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir, and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.

When Maisie Beckett steps into her brother’s struggling London hobby shop during wartime, she’s confronted with two harsh realities: the looming threat of a Nazi invasion and the shop’s dire financial situation. Determined to prove herself to her parents an...

REVIEW: When the Jessamine Grows by Donna Everhart

For readers of Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier and Enemy Women by Paulette Jiles, an evocative, morally complex novel set in rural 19th century North Carolina, as one woman fights to keep her family united, her farm running, and her convictions whole during the most devastating and divisive period in American history.

Talk of impending war is a steady drumbeat throughout North Carolina, though Joetta McBride pays it little heed. She and her husband, Ennis, have built a modest but happy life f...

REVIEW: The Foxhole Victory Tour by Amy Lynn Green

Based on true World War II stories of life in the USO variety shows, worlds collide when performers from around the United States come together to tour North Africa.

Vibrant and scrappy Maggie McCleod tried not to get fired from her wartime orchestra, but her sharp tongue landed her in trouble, so an overseas adventure with the USO’s camp show promises a chance at a fresh start. Wealthy and elegant Catherine Duquette signs with the USO to leave behind her restrictive life of privilege and to u...

REVIEW: Wild Life by Opal Wei

Content Note:  anxiety, panic attacks, neglectful parents, discussion of non-fatal cancer

Dear Opal Wei,

I’d heard good things about Wild Life and Olivia Dade blurbed it which is a meaningful recommendation to me in itself, but knowing you are also Ruby Lang* made me even more inclined to dive in. (*Not a secret, I checked.)

Davy Hsieh, former member of a C-pop band and current hermit, bumps into Zoey Fong at the university where she is a Phd student undertaking cancer research. Davy is hop...

REVIEW: Our Moon by Rebecca Boyle

An intimate look at the Moon and its relationship to life on Earth–from the primordial soup to the Artemis launches–from an acclaimed Scientific American and Atlantic contributor

Far from being a lifeless ornament in the sky, the Moon holds the key to some of science’s central questions, and in this fascinating account of our remarkable satellite, award-winning science journalist Rebecca Boyle shows us why it is the secret to our success.

The Moon stabilizes the Earth’s tilt toward the Sun, ...