Marie Laure lives with her father in Paris within walking distance of the Museum of Natural History where he works as the master of the locks. When she is six, she goes blind, and her father builds her a model of their neighborhood, every house, every manhole, so she can memorize it with her fingers and navigate the real streets with her feet and cane. When the Germans occupy Paris in June of 1940, father and daughter flee to Saint-Malo on the Brittany coast, where Marie-Laure’s agoraphobic great uncle lives in a tall, narrow house by the sea wall.
In another world in Germany, an orphan boy, Werner, grows up with his younger sister, Jutta, both enchanted by a crude radio Werner finds. He becomes a master at building and fixing radios, a talent that wins him a place at an elite and brutal military academy and, ultimately, makes him a highly specialized tracker of the Resistance. Werner travels through the heart of Hitler Youth to the far-flung outskirts of Russia, and finally into Saint-Malo, where his path converges with Marie-Laure’s.
(thanks to his website)What a unique and spellbinding story! I loved following Marie-Laure and Werner's journeys and seeing how their paths crossed. It reminded me of The Book Thief, I enjoyed reading this a lot. I give it an A.
The Villa Nora Roberts
Sophia Giambelli has never worried about competition. For three generations, the Giambelli wines have been renowned for their quality throughout the world. The pride of the Giambelli family and a top PR executive, Sophia loves her job—and excels at it. But things are about to change at Villa Giambelli. And when acts of sabotage threaten both the family business and the family itself, Sophia’s quest will be not only for dominance, but also for survival.
(thanks to her website)
Not her best,I was not a fan of Sophia,something about her annoyed me. A bit too long,it dragged and a few too many characters. I give this a C.
You Caroline Kepnes
When a beautiful, aspiring writer strides into the East Village bookstore where Joe Goldberg works, he does what anyone would do: he Googles the name on her credit card.
There is only one Guinevere Beck in New York City. She has a public Facebook account and Tweets incessantly, telling Joe everything he needs to know: she is simply Beck to her friends, she went to Brown University, she lives on Bank Street, and she’ll be at a bar in Brooklyn tonight—the perfect place for a “chance” meeting.
As Joe invisibly and obsessively takes control of Beck’s life, he orchestrates a series of events to ensure Beck finds herself in his waiting arms. Moving from stalker to boyfriend, Joe transforms himself into Beck’s perfect man, all while quietly removing the obstacles that stand in their way—even if it means murder.
(thanks to amazon)
This book was not good at all. I basically skimmed the majority of it as it kept making me upset,just gross parts and unappealing characters. I give this a D.
Midnight Rose Lucinda Riley
Spanning four generations, The Midnight Rose sweeps from the glittering palaces of the great maharajas of India to the majestic stately homes of England, following the extraordinary life of a girl, Anahita Chaval, from 1911 to the present day …
In the heyday of the British Raj, eleven-year-old Anahita, from a noble but impoverished family, forms a lifelong friendship with the headstrong Princess Indira, the privileged daughter of rich Indian royalty. Becoming the princess’s official companion, Anahita accompanies her friend to England just before the outbreak of the Great War. There, she meets the young Donald Astbury – reluctant heir to the magnificent, remote Astbury Estate – and his scheming mother.
Eighty years later, Rebecca Bradley, a young American film star, has the world at her feet. But when her turbulent relationship with her equally famous boyfriend takes an unexpected turn, she’s relieved that her latest role, playing a 1920’s debutante, will take her away from the glare of publicity to the wild of Dartmoor in England. Shortly after filming begins at the now-crumbling Astbury Hall, Ari Malik, Anahita’s great-grandson, arrives unexpectedly, on a quest for his family’s past. What he and Rebecca discover begins to unravel the dark secrets that haunt the Astbury dynasty …
(thanks to her website)I really liked the first 3/4ths of this book,Lucinda does a great job of going back and forth between the characters and the settings and time periods.But the ending threw an odd twist at me,not terrible but just something a bit wacky. I give this a B.
The Look of Love Sarah Jio
Born during a Christmas blizzard, Jane Williams receives a rare gift: the ability to literally see true love. Jane has emerged from an ailing childhood a lonely, hopeless romantic when, on her twenty-ninth birthday, she receives a card from a mysterious woman. Jane must identify the six types of love before sunset on her thirtieth birthday, or face grave consequences. When Jane falls for a science writer who doesn’t believe in love, she fears that her fate is sealed.
(thanks to her website)
This is another cute,hard-to-put-down story. A bit fantastical but not too silly. I loved the endings for the couples! Sarah Jio captured me,again;I give it an A.
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