Laura Lippman is the author of My Life As A Villainess. This is a book of 16 essays about her childhood, her education, and the influences on her career as a journalist. She writes about marriage and motherhood, aging, sexism, accomplishments and regrets. She is a very talented writer who normally writes crime novels.
The Californians, a book written by Brian Castle, spans 100 years in California. One hundred years earlier Klaus Aaronsohn, a Jewish German immigrant, reinvented himself as a silent film director by the name of Klaus Stiegl. He becomes a famous movie director. His granddaughter, Di Stiegl grows up in Palm Springs. She becomes a successful artist in New York City. In 2014 Tobey, a college dropout currently working as a waiter, looses all his belongings in a Northern California wildfire. He steals three of Di Stiegl's paintings from his father to fund a new beginning for himself. This was an interesting story to read.
The Last Camellia is a book written by Sarah Jio. The story revolves around two women living in a manor house in England. The first woman is Flora. Flora lives with her parents and helps them run a bakery. Financially the bakery isn't doing well. Her father insists on giving bread away for free is people are impoverished. A man offers her a large sum of money if she will go to England and pose as a nanny at a manor house. This is before World War Two. She takes a boat to England and gets the job as a nanny to four young children who just lost their mother. She is being paid to find a rare camellia. There is no way to find it unless it blooms. The man who hired her is putting pressure on her to find it. Eventually she learns that her father is ill and she goes back to New York City. Fifty years later Addison comes to the manor which is now owned by her parents-in-law. She tries to figure out the history of the people in this house. She comes across Flora's artwork. But she is in danger from a boy she lived with in her childhood. He is a sociopath and he is bound and determined to hurt her. Eventually she finds a locket. Inside that locket is a seed for that rare camellia. The seed is still viable so now there is another camellia tree growing. This was a good mystery and historical fiction story.
John Green is the author of The Fault In Our Stars. This story revolves around a 16 year old girl named Hazel Grace. Hazel Grace is forced to attend a support for cancer patients. Hazel suffered from thyroid cancer and now she has lung issues. She has to have supplemental oxygen day and night. At the support group she has a friend named Issac who had cancer in his eye. Issac bring another friend, Augustus, who had osteosarcoma. He had a leg amputated. Hazel and Augustus fall in love. They give each other books. Augustus takes Hazel and her mother on his "Make A Wish" trip to Amsterdam so she can meet her favorite author. This was a very nice story to read.
Christina Lauren is the author of The Paradise Problem. This story is told by two characters, Anna Green and Liam (William) Weston. While attending college at UCLA, Anna agrees to a fake marriage with Liam so they can get into subsidized family housing. Once they graduate Anna expected they would divorce. Years later Liam comes back into her life asking for a favor. Liam is from a wealthy family. The only way he can get his grandfather's inheritance is by staying married for 5 years. Liam's sister is getting married in an expensive resort near Hong Kong. Liam asks Anna if she will go to the wedding with him and pretend to be his loving wife. Anna is living paycheck to paycheck because she has to pay for her father's chemotherapy. She doesn't know how the rich live. Liam will pay her a boatload of money to do this. Will she pull it off?
I have been to Kenya so naturally I like reading books about Kenya. Paula McLain is the author of Circling The Sun. The story is about Beryl. Beryl was born in England but her family moved to Kenya when she was a baby. At age 4 her mother left with her older brother to go back to England. Beryl grew up with her father who eventually remarried. Her father raised race horses and Beryl is good with horses too. Her father encouraged her to marry at age 16 which she did but the marriage didn't work out. Beryl becomes the country's first licensed horse trainer. Later in life she became the first female pilot. Beryl is quite the woman and this is quite the book.
Harry Turtledove is the author of the dystopian novel called Powerless. Charlie Simpkins lives in the San Fernando valley of Los Angeles, part of the west coast's People's Democratic Republic. In this country people must obey orders. One day Charlie gets a notice to hang up in the window of his produce store. He doesn't want to hang up the propaganda notice in the window. So he doesn't. At first things go badly for him. He looses his job. His wife thinks he should have hung up the notice. His son gets kicked off his sports team. His daughter looses the chance to be in a girls group. Charlie gets another job that takes a longer bus ride and pays less. Eventually the family is told they must move to another town 30 miles away. Suddenly things start going better for Charlie and his family all because he stood up for himself and didn't hang that notice.
Laura Lippman is the author of My Life As A Villainess . This is a book of 16 essays about her childhood, her education, and the influence...
