The Trick: A Novel by Emanuel Bergmann
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow! What a great book! I couldn’t put it down.

The story starts in Prague before WWII and it about a Jewish boy who eventually grows up to join the circus. Moshe does the dirty work at the circus eventually learning how to be a mentalist. With the coming of the holocaust, Moshe adopts the moniker of the Great Zabbatini, has fake papers made, and actually goes about as if he’s truly Persian and not Jewish. This went on until he was turned over to the Gestapo in a revenge move by the owner of the circus where he learned his magic.

Alternately is the story line of Max a young boy whose parents are getting divorced. He’s devastated and wants them to remain together. When his dad is collecting his things to move out, he discovers a record album by the Great Zabbatini. Intrigued, he asks his dad if can keep the record and his dad agrees. As he listens he finds there is a love spell but is unable to understand it due to a large scratch on the album. So Max sets out to find the Great Zabbatini to learn the love spell to save his parent’s marriage.

Here is where the two stories intersect. This is a wonderful story with colorful characters and twists and turns that keep you turning the page. I highly recommend!

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Laughing out loud funny, I loved this book!

Jen has two college age daughters and, with her marriage, little Max who is starting kindergarten. She’s been through the class mom thing with her other two and has no desire to revisit that role. However, her best friend is the PTA president and pushes her into it. At the beginning, she decides she not having the parental power struggle that comes with the positions and sends the most hilarious communication to the other parents, some of whom can’t take a joke.

This is a great book. I love the humor and the storyline in general. Two thumbs up! 🙂

When We Were Worthy by Marybeth Mayhew Whalen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wowza. The VERY best book I’ve read all year. I feel like I need to sit and digest it before I’m ready to leave it behind.

Taking place in a small town where football rules, the story outlines the lives of four women after the death of three high school cheerleaders. One of the girls feels she should have been in the car with them except she was doing something terrible at the time. One is the mom of the boy who was driving the car that hit the girls. One is the mom of one of the girls. One is a high school substitute teacher who is targeted by the football players and loses her family because of it.

This is such a good book I didn’t want to go to sleep until I had finished it. I can’t recommend it more!

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Fashionably Late by Lisa Q. Mathews
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved this madcap mystery! It was so cute.

A model turns up dead at a fashion show and Summer and Dot are on the case to try and solve the murder. Dorothy (Dot) is an older lady and Summer is her young friend. Dot lives at a retirement home and, as it turns out, the model’s mom is there but it seems not of her own will.

The characters in this book are colorful and awesome. I couldn’t put the book down it was so fun! This book is the 3rd in a series and I’m planning to read the previous books. 🙂

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RADICAL NEW ME by P.K. Hrezo
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved this book so much. Calliope Crown has just learned that her father will lose everything in a malpractice case. She can’t continue going to college for summer school and, instead, will go to work at her aunt’s cupcake bakery. The only problem with this is that Calliope, formerly known as Callie Cow, has been on a weight loss journey and is incredibly attracted to buttercream frosting.

The story talks about the summer, the relationship with her aunt, and Callie’s growth through her experience. Through the use of her YouTube channel and the love of a certain handyman, she realizes that she’s more than the name Callie Cow that was bestowed upon her in high school.

Awesome story, great characters, highly recommend. 🙂

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The Sunshine Sisters by Jane Green
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Love Jane Green and loved this book!

These girls are seriously dysfunctional. Ronni Sunshine, the mom, is a movie actress. She spends her life making everything about her alienating her three daughters. Nell, the strong one, Merideth, the chubby one, and Lizzy the baby. The three girls can’t wait to get old enough to move out of the house and once they do, they rarely return or have much to do with their mom or each other.

Now Ronni seems to be really sick and calls them all home. Her idea is to connect the three girls again so that she can have them around her when she takes her own life.

There’s a LOT of drama in this book but it’s a great story and I loved to see how it ended. Highly recommend!

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To Look a Nazi in the Eye: A Teen’s Account of a War Criminal Trial by Kathy Kacer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I liked this book and read it straight through.

I am very interested in Holocaust history as Jordana is. I didn’t realize until the end of the book that this is a true account and not fictional. While I was reading, I thought it was fiction based on true events.

Jordana becomes interested in the Holocaust when she participates in the March of the Living when she is in high school. There she meets a Holocaust survivor, Hedy. As a college student, she learns that Hedy will be giving her testimony at the trial of Oskar Groening, one of the Nazi’s who worked at the Auschwitz concentration camp. Jordana is compelled to be at the trial and manages to arrange the trip and a place in the courtroom in a short time.

The book is an account of her experience there and the changes she goes through in the process. I think it’s a good book and happy it’s written with the YA audience in mind. This is a topic I worry will be forgotten and was happy to know of this book and to read it.

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Lowcountry Bonfire by Susan M. Boyer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Might I just start this review by saying I want to eat at Mamma’s house! I love this series and I loved this book. I’m pretty sure, if Mamma were a real person, I’d love her the most. 😀

Liz and Nate have another death to investigate when Tammy Sue’s husband is found, dead, in the trunk of his Mustang she has set on fire. While it would seem she should be the first person suspected, there are just too many other variables to consider.

Zeke, Tammy Sue’s husband, was a popular former high school baseball standout who liked to tell tall tales. He had left small town, Stella Maris, to join the Army after high school and the 20 intervening years are an additional mystery to solve.

The story is full of good food and an exciting investigation. I loved it and can’t wait for the next!

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The Simplicity of Cider by Amy E. Reichert
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I honestly did not think I was going to like this book. The first couple of chapters about Sanna, who seemed like an unhappy spinster content only to work with her apples, just wasn’t intriguing.

Until the story broadened with a company who wanted to buy the orchard and turn the land into a waterpark. Then lots of shenanigans begin to occur. Also, Issac and his son Bass come to work at the orchard and it’s clear that Issac and Sanna are made for each other.

I loved how Sanna’s character grew throughout the story. I loved the story, itself and felt really happy for Eva. Eva, the woman from WWW who was in charge of the purchase of the orchard, worked for her father along with her brother. They were unkind to her and always treated her as if she was less than. I loved that Sanna saw her business sense and hired her to market the orchard.

This is a good book. If you don’t like Sanna to start with, you will by the end! 🙂

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