The Death of Bees

The Death of Bees by Lisa O'Donnell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Blunt with a touch of humor. Grim and gritty. Edgy. Haunting. This is O'Donnell's first novel and from the very first page of the prologue - it's an eye-opener. I could not put this book down, although adult fiction, for the sheer horror of how Marnie, almost sixteen, and her little sister, Nelly, had to live with and without their drug addicted parents. Living in the projects of Glasgow, Scotland, the girls have never known any other kind of life than what they living - never known the sweetness of a happy birthday or a family filled holiday, let alone the true and bonding love from a parent/child relationship. From page to page you will learn how each sister copes with her loss and reluctantly cheer when their neighbor, Lenny, steps in to give a hand and guidance.

Not for the faint of heart - rough language/crude humor...


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The Icecutter's Daughter

The Icecutter's Daughter by Tracie Peterson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Merrill Krause is used to working from before dawn to late in the evening. Her dear mother had died ten years earlier and with her father and four older brothers still at home on the farm, Merrill has plenty of chores to do and make meals to boot. She doesn't have time to dress up, curl her hair, and catch a husband, unlike her petite cousin Corabeth. When Rurik Jorgenson rides into Waseca to help his Uncle Carl with his furniture making business, he is drawn to the lovely Merrill and her hardworking ways. Unfortunately Rurik's ex-fiancee and her brother also follow him to Waseca, declaring that the two are still to be wed. Can Rurik untangle the deceit and when will Merrill come to understand that it's time to start her family?

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Finding Zasha

Finding Zasha by Randi Barrow
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The book opens with 12 year old Ivan, his mother, and a few neighbors coping with the horrific 1941 Siege of Leningrad. When his mother's job sends her to work in the Ural Mountains, Ivan is not allowed to join her, but is sent with his "Auntie" to supposedly safety in the Russian north country. After a harrowing trip across the ice road of Lake Ladoga, Ivan's place of safety is occupied by the Germans and Ivan, by circumstance, ends up entertaining the Nazi commander Major Axel Recht. To his delight he also is told to take care of the commander's two beautiful German Shepherd puppies, Zasha and Thor. When Ivan, now a partisan, sees his chance of escape - he take the pups with him and Recht gives chase. Can Ivan ever find safety?

Notes in the back and an overview help fill in places and dates of World War ll. Finding Zasha is a prequel to Saving Zasha.

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News from Heaven

News from Heaven: The Bakerton Stories by Jennifer Haigh
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

News from Heaven returns to the once booming, coal mining town of Bakerton, PA and steps back into the lives of family members Haigh had written about in the Baker Towers. (an exceptional read)As with other small declining towns across America, Bakerton has yet to reinvent itself - the young are leaving or dreaming of leaving, the older unemployed are trying to hang on by the skin of their teeth, and the retired, those that aren't ill, are glad they made it this far but wondering what it would have been like if they left. Ten short stories are compiled into one book, all interrelated to each other - Haigh once again captures the allure and spirit of home and family, amidst depression and loss.

As with other readers, News from Heaven and Baker Towers, struck a chord with me - my once booming coal and ore mining town was a flurry with jobs locally and at nearby industrial plants that have now left for greener pastures. Our young people struggle to obtain work and earn a decent wage. At the middle of it all is family that bind us together...

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The Aviator's Wife

The Aviator's Wife by Melanie Benjamin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A look at the life of shy, young Anne Morrow, thrust into immediate fame when she married the world renowned and loved Colonel Charles Lindbergh in 1929. A mix of fiction and historical truth wrap around a solid story and keeps your interest as starry-eyed and newly married Anne learns to fly solo and run from photographers to learning more of her handsome husband's faults. It was extremely interesting to see how the media treated Anne, ignoring her accomplishments to only focus on Charles, forgetting that she was a brave, knowledgeable woman and the first licensed female glider pilot. The book leads off with Charles nearing the end of his life, works back to when Anne was a young woman just meeting him in Mexico City,and then ends with the family carrying out Lindbergh's wishes.

I've always been curious about the Lindbergh's, including the kidnapping of their young son, but had no clue of the lesser known details of their life until reading this book.

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The Valley of the Shadow, Cornish Mystery #3

The Valley of the Shadow by Carola Dunn
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

For those who love "Cozy Mysteries" this read is a winner. This is the third Cornish mystery featuring retired widow Eleanor Trewynn who has settled in a quaint Cornish village with her sweet Westie named Teazle. Eleanor must use her super sleuthing skills to help her niece, Megan - a Detective Sgt. with the local police force - find clues about the young man they rescued from the water while on a hiking trip near the Cornish coast. The man is near death and can only whisper something about family and a cave before he loses consciousness. Can Eleanor and Megan find the missing family, possibly refugees, in time?

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Christmas with Tucker by Greg Kincaid
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The prequel to A Dog Named Christmas, Christmas with Tucker is a wonderful companion read. George McCray goes back in time, when he lived on the McCray farm with his Grandma Cora and Grandpa Bo and became a man at the tender age of 12. George's beloved father had just died in a farming accident and he was torn between joining his mother and sisters in Minnesota or staying on the Kansas family farm and helping his grandparents. During his great loss and difficult choices, George remembers his father's simple rule, "No matter how much falls on us, we keep plowing ahead." A very touching and heartwarming book for everyone...

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