Review: Outrageous

Outrageous by Minerva Spencer
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A witty and sexy rom-com--impetuous young girl, war hardened older man, a sworn bachelor with lots of secrets find themselves in a compromising situation. Of course, they fall in love but not before getting stranded on muddy roads and accosted by robbers, among other hurdles and hassles. On top of that, the reader will know everything they've ever wanted to know about the process of horse breeding!

View all my reviews

Review: The Girl in His Shadow

View all my reviews The Girl in His Shadow by Audrey Blake
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Received a copy of this book to discuss on BookBrowse. I found it incredibly interesting for many reasons. As a pre-med grad and a teacher of Anatomy and Physiology for about 30 years the history of women in science and the restrictions on their opportunities to study and practice medicine, while not unfamiliar to me, was presented in a very personable way. It was very easy to identify with Nora and her interest in and fascination with the human body and its diseases. To have a mentor such as Dr Croft was such a gift to her. And yet, though she is as talented and bright as any male med student she could not legally apply her knowledge nor be certified to practice medicine. In this regard, Italy was far ahead of its time in being supportive of the life of a woman in a professional capacity, beyond the kitchen and nursery. That actually was a hallmark of Italian society well before the 19th century!
Besides the story of Nora and women's place in society, is the revelation of the rudimentary practice called medicine only a bit more than a century ago. Sometimes, we forget just how far the knowledge of the human body and its functions has come in a relatively short time. The conflict of egos among the men practicing is also interesting to learn. Though, truth be told, that hasn't change d much as evidenced by all the doctors, epidemiologists etc that have come out of the woodwork during this latest pandemic. Each of them sure of their positions and each of them happy to grandstand and proclaim them loudly--despite the confusion their cacophony has produced among the people of the world.
The characters are all very well drawn and the personality of each is easy to envision. From the housekeeper who is the only mother Nora has really known to the young doctors who find her appealing, each of them is three dimensional and relatable. Considering the story could have been bogged down in textbook style presentation of the experiments and surgeries and treatments described, it is a joy to say, none of it is boring or overly descriptive--just enough for reality but not so much to repel. Well done, ladies!

View all my reviews

Review: The Narrowboat Summer

The Narrowboat Summer by Anne Youngson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Received this copy from BookBrowse to discuss. How delightful to read a book about mature women navigating changes in their lives.
Eve, single and an engineer, has been fired by the company in which she has worked most of her life. Through dedication to the work she rose through the ranks of men to a prominent administrative position only to be found redundant and unnecessary.

Sally, a married woman with grown children, has found her life in the suburbs boring and unsatisfying. She has decided to leave her husband and, when revealing this bit of news to her hairdresser, has found that most people find that unacceptable and her reasons trivial.

Both women find themselves walking the towpath along the side of a canal in opposite directions, but both headed home with no idea of what they are going to do now that their lives have changed so drastically. As they meet, alongside a narrowboat named Number One, they come to a halt at the sound of distress emanating from the seemingly empty vessel--but for the thing wailing so distressingly, of course. They look in the windows and doors --finding no easy means of entrance, Eve breaks the window in the door, opens it and is almost bowled over by dog racing by and off into the distance.

Approaching along the path is an irritated older woman, the owner of the boat. She has left to do errands and the dog, Noah, as usual raised a racket to bring attention to his desolation as being locked up for the duration. And, as usual, some helpful soul came along to release him or at least commiserate as they berated his mistress, Anastasia, for her inhumane treatment. And, as usual, once free, he took off for parts unknown--not worrying her in the least--he always returns.

Since the women are already aboard, Anastasia invites them for tea--sort of--and so begins the tale. A woman, sick possibly dying, needing someone to take her narrowboat through English canals to a man's shop for repairs and maintenance. Two women, strangers to her and to each other, at loose ends, knowing not what they want to do with the path of unknowns rising before them. And so, Eve and Sally embark on a weeks long voyage in more ways than one or even two or three, as Anastasia, too, remains behind to face her unknown future in the form of medical tests and possible surgery.

Noah, returns and off they all go--meeting so many others along the canals, familiar to and with Anastasia--who is not easily known nor abided. As the narrowboat travels ups and down through the locks of the beautiful countryside and into tunnels long, dark and dank, so too the adventures of these women and others move slowly to a satisfying end.

Loved it so much, I'm off to find Meet Me at the Museum. Enjoy!

View all my reviews

Review: The King of Torts

The King of Torts by John Grisham
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Those ads on TV put out by law firms asking people to contact them if they've been exposed to asbestos or used some drug have always made me uncomfortable. The implied promise of great wealth and compensation any illness or negative impact--listed in great detail as possible side effects ect--seem too good to be true. And as the old saying goes--if it seems too good to be true, it probably is. Having read this book about a young 32 year old attorney getting inside info on a drug that causes its users to become violent and murderous and then setting up a firm to file a class action suit against the corporation behind it, I've learned that my gut reactions were accurate. In actuality, the game of class action suits and the concomitant wealth accrued by the attorneys involved is far beyond what I imagined. To say the greed and manipulation, the indifference to the clients, the ruthlessness of the attack on the company involved, no matter its size is nauseating and frightening.

View all my reviews

Starting Over

Sorry I Missed You by Suzy Krause
My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Three women find themselves renting apartments in the same large Victorian mansion in Regina. Each of them has just experienced the end of a relationship. Maude, a spinster in her sixties has been left at the alter.She is irascible and humorless and has the top floor apartment. Summa,around 35, has left the big city of Toronto to get as far from her former friends, Brett who has ghosted her. She is on the ground floor,works nights, is,in her mind at least more sophisticated than Maude. She is ,therefore, impatient with and rude to her. In the basement apartment is McKenzie, who has made a break from her overprotective parents and from the ghosting by her boyfriend,Jared. The house is owned by a middle aged museum janitor, Larry. He is socially inept, attracted to Summa and yearns for he good old days when Punk music was all the rage. Within a few days of the women's taking up residence a note,sopping wet from the rain and missing a signature is found in the mailbox. It simply says"sorry I missed you.". For whom is the note intended? Each woman hopes it is she. They decide to spend each afternoon in a local coffee shop on the assumption that the writer will show up there eventually. How these women reveal their losses histories and how their relationships evolve are at times hilarious and at others hear trending,but always engrossing,touching and real.

View all my reviews

Corruption and Secrets in the Catholic Church

Quietly in Their Sleep by Donna Leon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



As usual much is going on in Venice and the life of Commissario Brunetti.

.His daughter is acing all her courses except religious study but will not reveal why. His wife who has no use for religion has agreed to keep her opinions to herself but obviously would just as soon have the girl drop the class. At work, Guido has had a visit from a young woman who has recently left the convent. She was the nun who'd cared for his mother in the nursing home,where at least four residents have recent!y died. In Marie Test as view the deaths were suspicious. She has no proof,just a gut feeling. Because she is so competent and inflatable,Brunette thinks her misgivings are worth investigating. Neither f them have any idea of the web if intrigue they are entering or the danger in which they will find themselves.If the in any weakness to the book it lies in the unsatisfactory ending.

View all my reviews

Review: The Widow Queen

The Widow Queen by Elżbieta Cherezińska
My rating: 1 of 5 stars



View all my reviews The Widow Queen by Elżbieta Cherezińska
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Received this ARC from BookBrowse to review. Got half way through the book and had to stop. The times in Northern Europe were chaotic in the 9th Century--politically and religiously. Christianity was moving in and causing all kinds of unsettling re-evaluation of the multiple gods that had been worshiped for centuries. Not only were many of them to be discarded but multiple wife practices with children from most of the relationships became outlawed. This caused problems for alliances made with these offspring used as pawns. Add to this the struggles for the reins of various kingdoms when younger non-Christian sons tried to overthrow the older converted fathers who were determined to introduce the new ways. Even without the influx of Christian values, the territorial battles were wide-ranging. Add to the expanse of the lands in question the long list of characters bearing names totally unfamiliar to modern English speakers and the book became as chaotic as the times and places it was trying to portray. Finally, it became too much and it was tossed aside to make room for other books waiting to be read with more ease and enjoyment.

View all my reviews