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Posts by Jane J
As with many of the books that land on my hold shelf or in the digital queue on my phone, I'm not sure where I heard about this charming, heartwarming, a little heartbreaking, gem of a book. Wherever it was or whoever it was who suggested it? Thank you.
The hero and heroine of Courtney Milan's The Duke Who Didn't have known each other since they were children. And not only have they known each other for years, they have loved as well. But their very different personalities and coping mechanisms have meant that they haven't yet figured that last fact out and have been operating at cross purposes for a few years. Until now.
Micaela Vargas is a police officer in Stockholm. She struggles to gain respect from her mostly white, male colleagues. First because she's a woman, second because she's a Chilean immigrant whose family came to Sweden as political refugees, and third because she grew up in the projects and has a brother who is operating on the other side of the law. None of that stops her from trying. She's determined to move up in the ranks and thus is happy to be assigned to the team investigating the death of an Afghani asylum-seeker who had become a popular youth soccer coach.
What if instead of canceling NASA's Apollo 18 mission, Nixon had instead turned the funding question over to the military? And what if that military had decided that the mission was critical in order to prevent Russia from beating the US? Not just to control of the moon, but to getting the first spy stations and satellite's into the skies above earth? Those are the questions former astronaut Chris Hadfield uses as a jumping off point for his debut thriller, The Apollo Murders.
In book two of her series (after The Dark Lake), author Sarah Bailey transplants Detective Gemma Woodstock from a small rural Australian town, to Melbourne where she struggles to find her place, both in the large city and in her new job with the Melbourne police.
"Everyone knows this is a dangerous business, but between you and me, being a woman is a dangerous business, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise."
I've not read any of Beatriz Williams historical novels and might not have read this, her newest, if I hadn't been assigned it to review for someone else. This novel is an epic dive into the world of one of the most enigmatic couples in history, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. The famous couple (or perhaps infamous) - he for abdicating as King of England and she for being the divorcee for whom he gave up the kingdom - were sent to the Bahamas near the beginning of WWII. The Duke has been given the title of Governor of the Bahamas.
The National Book Foundation announced their longlists for a number of National Book Award categories.
Dominican-American Alba Duarte is trying to do it all and is in danger of completely losing it as On the Hustle by Adriana Herrera opens. Alba is putting in the work towards her dream of being an interior designer and instagram influencer, but she's doing so on top of a full-time job and being a support to her immigrant family. Something's gotta give. And when Alba decides it's giving up her job as assistant to the arrogant Theo Ganas and moving to Dallas? Well that sets in motion a whole new set of complications in this fast-paced, sexy and flirtatious contemporary romance.
The Macavity Awards are nominated and voted on by members of Mystery Readers International. The winners were announced at Bouchercon, an annual mystery convention which was held in Minneapolis this past weekend. The nominees were published in 2021, so here's your chance to find a great read that my not have a long waiting list.
