The German Girl: A Novel by Armando Lucas Correa
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Loved this book! A deeply moving family saga that tells the story of Hannah, a young German Jew from the second World War and her great niece, Anna, a young girl who lost her father (Hannah’s grandson) in the Twin Towers on September 11, 2011.

Much of the book was Hannah’s story which Anna was so drawn to. Hannah left Germany with her family on the St. Louis on route to Havana where they had bought residency visas. As the ship full of nearly 1,000 Jewish passengers sailed closer to Cuba, it was learned that Cuba didn’t plan to accept the entire passenger list and, in the end, less than 30 passengers disembarked for their new lives in Cuba. Hannah and her mother were among those who settled in Cuba. Her dad and best friend were sent back. Her dad ultimately died in Auschwitz.

Although their situation seemed dire through the entire book, I grew to love this cast of characters. Excellent book! I hope to read more from this author.

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Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Jodi Picoult is one of my favorite authors. The funny thing is, sometimes I read the blurb describing the book and think I won’t like it and end up loving it. This book surprised me as it’s told first through the eyes of a black person.

The book is about racism, very topical for today.

Ruth is an accomplished labor and delivery nurse with 20 years on the job in the same hospital. She’s the widowed mother of a 17-year-old son, Edison. She’s worked her whole life to be successful. Her mother was a maid until her death and her sister lives in the projects. She wants better for herself and her son. Her son is also a high achieving student-athlete on track for college.

When Ruth is removed from a baby’s care by his white supremacist parents, she finds herself monitoring him after his circumcision because she was the only one available to do it as the unit was short-staffed. When the baby starts having difficulty, Ruth is torn because of the parent’s wishes and her training and desire to be a good nurse. She tries to help the baby but he ultimately dies. The parents bring suit against her.

The book covers the trial through her eyes, the eyes of her attorney who is learning what it’s like to see things through Ruth’s eyes, and the baby’s father.

The book is very thought provoking and an excellent story. The characters are wonderful and there are twists and turns you don’t see coming. I highly recommend this book.

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A Shoe Addict’s Christmas by Beth Harbison
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved this book! I’m a big Beth Harbison fan but not normally a Christmas book fan but I’m glad I read this one. It was so cute!

Noelle works for an upscale apartment story and finds herself unexpectedly locked in during a snow storm on Christmas eve. She’d been so busy working that she didn’t realize that snow had started falling heavily and that the store had closed and everyone had gone home. After checking in with her boss and assuring him she’d stay safely there all night, she settles in. She shops and as she’s trying on a nightgown to wear for the night, she hears a loud crash.

When she goes into the shoe storage room, she finds an old woman, Charlie, who claims to be her guardian angel. Noelle is suspicious but over the course of the night, Charlie takes her through her past to see where she could have made choices that would have been happier.

This story is cute and like A Christmas Carol. I highly recommend it if you’re looking for a sweet, holiday read. 🙂

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The Wangs vs. the World by Jade Chang
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Loved this book! Funny, crazy, loveable.

The Wangs are a rather disfunctional, rich Chinese family living in LA. Charles, the dad, has made his fortune in cosmetics but made bad business decisions and ends up losing everything but his family. His wife Barbra, oldest daughter, Saina, youngest daughter, Grace, and son, Andrew.

Saina, is an adult, a respected artist that has had some business troubles of her own and has moved to an out of the way town in New York. When he realizes everything is gone, Charles loads up Barbra, Andrew and Grace and they head on a cross country trip to get to Saina’s house.

Ultimately, Charles has plans to regain family land in China that was taken over by the Communists. Charles grew up in Taiwain and has never set eyes on the land but feels it’s his destiny.

What follows is a madcap adventure of the four, and sometimes three, of them driving across the USA. In the end, after all of their troubles, the family draws close.

This is a fun book and I’d have finished it way earlier but I had trouble getting a copy in a format that I could easily read. Excellent book! Highly recommend. 🙂

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Pancakes in Paris: Living the American Dream in France by Craig Carlson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a cool book. It was fun to watch Craig find himself. It was also awesome to see his persistence to follow through on an idea he knew would be a really great one, all in another country.

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One Less Problem Without You: A Novel by Beth Harbison

I love Beth Harbison’s books and was very much looking forward to reading this one. It was good! A little different than her normal chick lit, a little darker.

Prinny, Chelsea and Diana are three women who are involved with the nasty Leif. What a horrible person he was. Leif was Prinny’s half brother who hated her just for being born and never stopped his whole life. Diana was Leif’s wife whom he betrayed and abused. Chelsea, who knew Leif as Lee, was also abused by him.

Prinny has a metaphysical shop where she sells crystals and gives readings. Leif is constantly trying to get her inheritance away from her but, fortunately, her lawyer Alex looks out for her. Prinny falls in love with her lawyer who is initially married. She brings him all manner of new ideas just so she can spend time with him. She had just made arrangements to expand her shop when Diana came to ask if she could stay there. She knew it was the one place Leif wouldn’t look for her and she had decided to finally leave him. Diana is excellent at making herbal teas and that is how they decide to expand the shop. Chelsea works at the shop, too, giving readings while she tries to become and actress.

This is a good book that draws you right in and that you won’t want to put down!

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From the Sideline by Amy Avanzino
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was a really good book. Given my work with concussion safety, I was a little nervous to read it, especially when I got to the part where Zachary got hurt.

Zachary is a ten year old who keeps to himself. After an abusive marriage, his mom Autumn throws his dad out and Zachary misses having a dad. He decides he wants to play football. Autumn is not real enthusiastic. She knows the dangers of concussion and doesn’t want her only child to be hurt. But she sees a real change in him so she lets him play.

Zachary eventually becomes “Zeke the Freak” loved by fans and his teammates alike. He grows and blossoms in his role on the team. Autumn starts getting into the whole football mom thing. She begs Zachary’s dad to come watch him play. Then Zachary gets hurt and that’s the week his dad comes to see him play. His dad acts like a complete jerk but Zachary sees him for what he really is and lets him go.

Autumn eventually realizes that Joaquin, who had been a mentor to Zachary, is good for both of them. This is a heartwarming story of growth. I give it two thumbs up!

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Fever at Dawn by Péter Gárdos

This was a good book about Miklos and Lili who both survived their respective concentration camp imprisonments. They were each being nursed back to health in rehabilitation centers many miles apart.

Miklos was determined to find a wife for himself and began a letter writing campaign to 117 girls who met the requirements he established for a wife. Lili writes him back and they communicate via letter for six months.

This is a fictionalized account of the author’s parents actual love story. It’s a sweet story and I found myself cheering for their relationship amidst the efforts of external situations and people to ruin it.

The book is light and easy to read. A love story.

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I Almost Forgot About You by Terry McMillan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved this book! As I was reading I realized taht the reason I love reading Terry McMillan’s books is that I would want to be friends with the main character. Georgia Young is no different.

Georgia is nearly 55 when she finds that a man she used to know has passed. This makes her re-evaluate her own life. She has been a successful optometrist but feels bored and that there’s more in life for her.

She decides to get in touch with the men she’s loved in her life to see where they are and how their lives have progressed. She wants to tell them she was glad to have been in their lives since they all taught her something. She manages to make peace with her two ex-husbands and then thinks pursuing the rest may not be the best idea.

While she’s trying to decide how to change her life. She puts her house on the market and makes plans to sell her share of her practice. Different events occur that make her realize that she really likes her home and she takes it off the market and decides to start making “art” from furniture in her garage.

Her friend throws her a party for her 55th birthday and invites a man she loved, but never even admitted that love to herself, in college. Eventually, in a rather short time, Georgia realizes this is where she’s supposed to be in her life.

I loved being part of Georgia finding herself. I’m glad she ended up with Stan, happy. I highly recommend this book. I couldn’t put it down! 🙂

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The Girl from Summer Hill by Jude Deveraux
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved this book. No, I LOVED it. Such a great story and I loved the way it ended. The book is a modern day take on Pride and Prejudice. I haven’t read Pride and Prejudice (I know I need to rectify that) but I’m not sure if it would have made me love the story any more.

At first I thought it was going to be a standard love story where Casey and Tate would be together and then split up over and over again. I probably would’ve been okay with that because I really loved the characters in this book. But that isn’t how it went. When the character of Devlin turned out to be such a bad guy throwing unexpected twists into plot, I was surprised and excited. It gave the book so much more depth.

Casey is a cook and she is planning to take care of the food needs for the play that’s being produced in Summer Hill for the summer. While standing in one day, she unknowingly gets her own part in the play. Tate came to Summer Hill to try and revisit his mother’s early life. Casey and Tate start out on the wrong foot but over the course of the story, they fall in love.

This is a wonderful book. I loved it so much I didn’t want it to end. Seeing the Book 1 in the title makes me happy because I can’t wait to read more about the folks from Summer Hill.

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