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finder of missing girls from Erin Kate Ryan; and I'm listening to Dawnie Wilton's fictional musical history Ryan explores various alternate histories and life tracks for Paula Jean while "Mary" digs more deeply Sunny Shelton shapes an oral history of her two idols, tracing their family lives, youthful experiences

; the messy bonds of commitment and partnership; the precious building of inside jokes and a unique history

01 Our Woman in Moscow by Beatriz Williams In Beatriz Williams's historical fiction, Our Woman in Moscow In Williams's historical fiction mystery, four years later, Iris's twin sister Ruth finally receives

inspirations, influences, approach, pushing the limits, and storytelling through song; The Last Green Valley, historical life-and-death period in the life of an ethnically German family at the end of World War II in this historical Sullivan built this historical fiction around the true story of an ethnically German family running from Mark Sullivan also wrote Beneath a Scarlet Sky, another historical fiction book based upon a real person

Females are overshadowed, abused, and generally wronged throughout the book, a reflection of realistic, historic

Under, as well as two books about the English language, Mother Tongue and Made in America, and A Short History of Nearly Everything and A Really Short History of Nearly Everything.

The Books I'm Reading Now I'm reading Amy Harmon's Revolutionary War-set historical fiction about a young

This is the third Paulette Jiles Civil War-era historical fiction book I've read and adored. #historicalfiction, #civilwar, #southern, #fourstarbookreview, #thecoloroflightning

Now she must delve into the darkness of her history to try to save her mother--and uncover her own true women discover strange, unique powers as they rely on each other and attempt to unravel their shared history grave danger--and unlock remarkable freedom for each of the women long plagued by their complicated histories

Yara is put on probation at the college where she is an assistant art history teacher after calling out

#historicalfiction, #oldnewyork, #fourstarbookreview

The story explores cycles and links through history, considering how each of us may live on after we're

Harrow, with imperfect characters, a noble, messy quest, layers of history, and a captivating end.

If you like short stories, check out The Office of Historical Corrections--a very different short story

Certain elements of Strike's past, his family history, and his volatile relationships are resolved in

that play with time and alternate realities, you might also like the books on the Greedy Reading List Six

natural world, she explores three timelines of women connected through the ages by power and by society's historical

protagonist, a jazz pianist, is tasked with saving humanity; and I'm listening to This Other Eden, historical

Russell has also written Children of God (The Sparrow, #2); the character-driven historical fiction book about Doc Holliday), which I really liked; and other books set in the American West (such as Epitaph); historical

ICYMI: Wiley Cash's The Last Ballad explores race relations and the fight for dignity in a 1929 North Carolina mill camp community. “There is an old saying that every story, even your own, is either happy or sad depending on where you stop telling it.” Cash provides rich details of life in a mill camp in 1929 North Carolina. The Last Ballad explores race relations and complicated relationships within a largely segregated living but racially mixed working arrangement. An individual tragic end also serves as a heroic sacrifice within a larger and extremely important fight for the dignity and conditions afforded by a union. This heart-wrenching struggle for survival and for dignity was at the heart of the book. It took me a little time to get into Cash's Last Ballad. It was a slow build but worth riding Cash's wave to an affecting middle of the story and a powerful sequence of final events. I really wish I’d read the final author’s note about Cash's personal links to the story before reading the book--the information there was fascinating, and I think would have lent even more power to my reading experience. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? I read The Last Ballad with my book club, and this week I reviewed When Ghosts Come Home, Wiley Cash's character-driven mystery set in 1980s Eastern North Carolina. Next I want to read Cash's A Land More Kind Than Home and This Dark Road to Mercy. Have you read either of these? Wiley Cash's writing reminds me somewhat of that of Ron Rash, another wonderful North Carolina author.

The Books I'm Reading Now I'm reading A Restless Truth, the second book in Freya Marske's historical

Towles crafts a solid historical fiction adventure for his young-men protagonists, balancing weighty

The Books I'm Reading Now I'm reading Horse, the newest historical fiction novel by Geraldine Brooks; owner becomes obsessed with the mid-nineteenth-century painting; and 2019 Washington, DC, when two historians

oneself. 03 Evil Eye by Etaf Rum Yara is put on probation at the college where she is an assistant art history

Despite their history, her breathless reactions to Wes didn't feel built upon factors I could believe

is desperate to find her missing son--even if it means facing the painful truth of her own traumatic history

Adjei-Brenyah offers glimpses of characters' histories and their lives before the tragedies that led

review of Nobody Will Tell You This But Me. 07 Our Woman in Moscow by Beatriz Williams ​Williams's historical In Beatriz Williams's historical fiction, Our Woman in Moscow, it's 1948, and Iris Digby, her American The Rose Code is a wonderfully spun historical fiction story of three very different women who answer War II story about strong women making a difference, but I admit that I was curious as to how even a historical

Wilkerson is exceptional at laying out absurdities, horrors, disturbing historical events, shocking trends

The janitor is a cultural outsider with a complicated history, and what he lacks in training he makes

The Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, atmosphere of Shoulder Season was a standout element, but the characters' interactions and some of the transitions within the book felt jarring. Beautiful, sleepy Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, in 1981 feels like an unlikely setting for a Playboy resort. But for small-town teen orphan Sherri Taylor, the resort is an open door to a life of excitement and opportunity, an appealing shift from the dead-end, broke life path she'd be on without it. With plenty of youthful explorations of sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll, plus young women striving to strike the seemingly impossible balance of femininity and control within the male-controlled power structures of the time, Shoulder Season spans forty years, an important love triangle, and the course of a woman's life, from a modest Midwestern start to new beginnings in the California desert. I found some of the transitions and conversations in the book jarring, and I wasn't always clear about Sherri's internal motivations; some interactions between characters--and therefore their relationships--didn't ring true to me. I didn't really buy into Sherri having deep feelings for either of the men in her sights. I ultimately wished the story had ended with more about Sherri than her reactions to various men and their sometimes disappointing or shocking decisions. I very much enjoyed her vulnerability as a young woman and especially the glimpses we got into her self-assured modern-day self. The standouts of Shoulder Season for me were the atmospheric setting, the training and strict rules surrounding Bunnies' behavior (and even their allowed body movements), and the women's bonds and rivalries with each other. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Clancy's first novel, The Second Home, was published last year, when the author was 52. Shoulder Season was inspired by the actual Playboy resort (which predated what is now the Grand Geneva) that was once in the area, and she interviewed workers and guests from the Midwestern hub where hit musicians, family vacationers, single men, and Bunnies all came together for the promise of something bigger--or at least an escape from the expected.

I've reviewed lately include Sarahland by Sam Cohen, Half Wild by Robin MacArthur, and The Office of Historical

#historicalfiction, #fantasyscifi, #LGBTQ, #series, #fourstarbookreview

I learned about Deaf history, culture, and the politics that have disrupted and damaged those in the

When William's painful history resurfaces, it shakes the entire family with its repercussions.

Anyway, here are my six favorite (and varied!) reads of the first month of 2023.

#historicalfiction, #WWII, #fourstarbookreview

Bookworm 01 This Book Is a Planetarium by Kelli Anderson This unusual, usable, interactive book turns into six

#historicalfiction, #Western, #series, #threestarbookreview

#historicalfiction, #WWII

#mysterysuspense, #series, #historicalfiction, #london, #fourstarbookreview

#fantasyscifi, #oldnewyork, #magic, #historicalfiction, #timetravel, #threestarbookreview

#fantasyscifi, #historicalfiction, #siblings, #youngadult, #comingofage, #threestarbookreview

McLain had me hooked on the vivid Northern California setting, imperfect Anna's rich and rocky history McLain had me completely hooked on the vivid setting, Anna's rich and rocky history, her search for answers

by William Faulkner‘s story The Old Man and is set at the beginning of the worst flood in American history

I've got historical fiction/fantasy, royal historical fiction, and a compelling nonfiction story that

to avoid coping with the difficulties of life; and I'm listening to The Librarian Spy, World War II historical

of indigenous tradition into Daunis's everyday life, pivotal moments, and her personal and cultural history of indigenous tradition into Daunis's everyday life, pivotal moments, and her personal and cultural history

Coates took his time building the story, and I felt as though he deliberately kept us in a plodding pace to emphasize the unwavering, repetitive misery of The Tasked. Coates's The Water Dancer explores the relentless oppression and hopelessness of slavery, the resigned existence of the imprisoned, masters' willful brutality--although the horrors here are largely slow builds rather than violently wrought--and the spark to escape that persists. The Water Dancer traces the life of Hiram Walker, a "Tasked" man (the word "slavery" is rarely used in the book) living and working on a Virginia plantation. His mother died when he was young, and he has no memory of her. But the white master of the plantation is Hiram's biological father, and composed young Hiram is set up as a companion to his foolish white half-brother (his father's heir). Hiram's lineage is acknowledged, and he shows himself to be far more intelligent and capable than his white brother--as well as preferred company for his father--yet racial barriers are rigid and clear. He may not inherit, nor may he rise above his station as owned and commanded by his white master. Coates intersperses bursts of magical realism that promise an unexpected path to freedom, but in order to take advantage of these, Hiram must learn to understand and master his mysterious powers that allow for shifts in time and space. The Underground wishes to use his powers toward their own ends--which often coincide with Hiram's--but when their desired paths diverge, he must take ownership of his abilities for himself, reckoning with consequences and his own secure conscience. The white savior character of Corinne is faulted and imperfect, yet I found myself bristling at her presence in the story. The weight put upon Hiram's inability to remember early moments with his mother felt unfair and its resolution felt too convenient. The book was a slow mover; Coates took his time building the story, and I felt as though he deliberately kept us in a plodding pace to emphasize the unwavering, repetitive misery of The Tasked. There's a lot of thinking and considering and talking with short bursts of change or brief moments in which plans are enacted. The pacing suited the situation being explored, of the trapped and enslaved, but it was a struggle to read at times and made me impatient. The brief author's note mentions Coates's inspiration of the real-life Still family for the family portrayed in The Water Dancer but refers the reader to other sources for more information. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? I listened to this as an audiobook, and Joe Morton's narration was excellent. Ta-Nehisi Coates also wrote the memoir Between the World and Me. I mentioned this book (along with The Plot and Forgotten Kingdom) in the Greedy Reading List Three Books I'm Reading Now, 5/10/21 Edition.

Lucinda Williams's gritty, frank memoir about music, love, and life; The Trackers, wonderfully detailed historical In The Trackers, Cold Mountain author Charles Frazier offers historical fiction featuring a Great Depression-era