Surviving Savannah by Patti Callahan ~ Book Review

In 1838 the steamship Pulaski sank about 30 miles off the shores of North Carolina losing 128 lives with only 58 surviving the disaster.  On board were some of Savannah's aristocratic high class bound for their summer homes farther north.  Years later it became known as the "Titanic of the South".  When the ship is finally located in the present day and artifacts start to be recovered, history professor Everly Winthrop is called upon to curate the museum collection focused on the families who were aboard the ship and the explosion that blew it up.  But Everly is hesitant to take on the task.  She is still getting over the drunk driving death of her best friend that has left her unmotivated in life.  But the draw of solving some of mysteries of that fateful voyage is too alluring.  

A story of disaster, survival and loss and the strength of women in the midst of it.  It explores how tragedy affects people and their behavior during and after and how grief changes people.  The dual timeline was interestingly woven together with the story of the museum's curation of the artifacts.  I found the story interesting as a whole but much preferred the historical side as it drew me in more emotionally.  The present day was good too but I found it didn't draw as much as the historical and slowed down is some parts.  All in all a great dual timeline that taught me a piece of history I has no idea about.

Rating:  8.5/10

September Reading Possibilities

Today is very gloomy and wet outside so it turns my thoughts to my reading.  Nothing makes me want to curl up more under a cozy blanket with a good book and a cup of hot coffee than the gloomier days of fall weather.  So perfect day to get my September reading choices post up.  I have to admit I am behind in my "numbers" goals but that is ok.  It is not a race, reading is supposed to be enjoyable.  So I'm trying to put that good reads goal to the back of my mind.  Septembers picks were all about continuing with my goal of pressing on through my purchased books.  I've got a couple of library books on there too because I just can't resist picking up a few for myself when I get the kids books.  And I have a book on there that will be my 3rd time reading through it.  I feel a need to reread at this time.  And a book my son's girl friend loaned me.  I don't usually borrow books from people but she was so sweetly insisted when I was asking her if she enjoyed it cause it was on my want to read list that I couldn't refuse.   So here's September's choices:

PURCHASED FICTION  (2024 Reading Goal)

          ~ A Piece of the Moon by Chris Fabry (finishing up from August)(finished)

          ~ When We Were Young & Brave by Hazel Gaynor

          ~ Code Name Helene by Ariel Lawhon

          ~ Surviving Savannah by Patti Callahan

          ~ The Last House on the Street by Diane Chamberlain

          ~ A Great Country by Shilpi Somaya Gowda

          

LIBRARY BORROWS 

          ~ The Happy Life of Isadora Bentley by Courtney Walsh (finished)

          ~ Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth 

FROM THE CLOSET STACKS

          ~ The Pearl That Broke It's Shell by Nadia Hashimi

          ~ Ribbon of Years by Robin Lee Hatcher (reread)

BORROWED BOOK

          ~ Jaqueline in Paris by Ann Mah

AUDIOBOOKS

          Present Over Perfect by Shauna Niequist (finished)

What are you reading this September?

Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto

Vera Wong's life is very routine.  Since her husband died her days rarely change.  She gets up at the crack of dawn, opens her tea shop and serves her one customer of the day, her faithful friend from down the street, and texts her lawyer son with advice that he does not want.  Though Vera is very proud of her tea shop and her formulas for every ailment and complaint made from ancient, quality ingredients that she imports, the customers for her tea are just not there anymore and she leads a very lonely life.  So when a dead man turns up in her tea shop and all of a sudden she has customers she has never seen before, Vera embarks on a mission to solve the mystery herself as she feels the police are just not doing a good job.  

I chose this book for a light  summer read and I got exactly what I wanted. Thoroughly enjoyed this story.   It's quirky and fun in spite of being a murder mystery.  The characters draw you in as you wonder what they're connection to the dead man is.  Vera is quirky and frustrating and lovable as an almost senior Asian lady (it's mentioned she's 60 and is called old throughout the book, I may or may not take offense to that 😄😁😕).  She brings her culture to the table as she takes it upon herself to bring this strange cast of characters together and pokes her nose into their lives so she can figure it all out.  There were many laugh out loud and heart warming moments as the story unfolds into more than just a mystery solved. While not the most mind blowing mystery I've ever read it was exactly what I wanted in a summer read.

I rated this 9/10

August Reading Possibilites

July has come and gone and here we are almost in the middle of August.  I finished 2 books off my 2024 reading goal pile and listened to 2 audiobooks.  Not bad.  For some reason I am not getting as much summer reading time as I would like so far, probably has to do with my glasses giving me issues,  but I'm going to try and remedy that in August.  The first week of August was lots of family over so that was a bust for a lot of reading but hopefully with the weeks left there will be some good reading time.  This month I mostly chose books that had some kind of summer theme or cover. I really miss reading when I can't get some in at least every day.  What about you?  Do you miss reading if you miss a lot of days in a row?

 

PURCHASED FICTION  (reading goal for 2024)

          ~ That Summer in Berlin by Lecia Cornwall (finished)

          ~ A Great Country by Shipi Somaya Gowda

          ~ A Piece of the Moon by Chris Fabry

          ~ This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger

          ~ Code Name Helene by Ariel Lawhon

OTHER OWNED FICTION

          ~ Ribbon of  Years by Robin Lee Hatcher (a favorite re-read I'm feeling the need to pick up)

          ~ The Summer Sisters by Sara Richardson

          ~ People We Meet On Vacation by Emily Henry

NON - FICTION

          ~ When You Love a Prodigal by Judy Douglass (continue as a study)

          ~ A Woman Who Trusts God by Debbie Alsdorf  (trust is my 2024 word) 

AUDIOBOOKS

          ~ The Divine Proverb of Struesel by Sara Brusnvold (finished)

          ~ Making it So by Patrick Stewart   DNF'd  (lost interest about 1/3 of the way thru when the 

                                                                     f-bombs started to fly and generally found it uninteresting)

Anything interesting on your list this month?

The Collector's Daughter: A Novel of the Discovery of Tutankhamun's Tomb by Gill Paul

Lady Evelyn Herbert was just a young woman when her father, the Earl of Carnarvon, decides to help fund the work of Egyptian archaeologist Howard Carter.  While her mother is pushing for her debut into society so that she can find a good marriage match, all Evelyn wants is to join her father and Howard on the expedition.   When she joins her father on the trip of a lifetime in 1922, they make the extraordinary discovery of the burial place of Tutankhamun.  Defying rules and convention of the time for archaeologists, the three decide to secretly enter the tomb on their own before announcing the discovery.  Lady Evelyn is the first to go inside.  But the thrill and joy of it soon turns to tragedy and she wonders if "the curse of Tutankhamun" has found her.  Fifty years later, as Evelyn as suffered yet another stroke, an Egyptian academic has found her and has questions about their discovery citing some missing artifacts.

I really enjoyed this novel based upon true events.  The trio's entering of the tomb before the official opening is common knowledge and there are written accounts in the form of journals and letters.  The story goes back and forth in the Point of View of Evelyn as a young girl and an older woman and that of her husband, Brograve.  The author based her character of Eve on the photographs and the written accounts and imagining what it must have been like.  Her historical afterword is very interesting knowing how she put her story together including the belief of a good percentage of the population in the curse of King Tut's tomb.  Her research into stroke and brain injury was also interesting as to what was available for scans and care in the mid century.  Though a touch slow in a couple of parts, all in all a great read.  

I rated it a 9/10

July Reading Possibilites

How is the first week of July already gone?  I didn't even get a reading possibility post done for June and I have to admit it wasn't a great reading month with only 1 book read.  I just have to much happening with other responsibilities.  But the one I did read was good and it knocked another off my purchased pile.  So new month, new start.

Again, for July, my focus is going to be on the purchased book pile in my closet with a few others thrown in along the way.  Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how I want to look at it, on our vacation last week we stopped in at a book store and 2 books came home with me.   What can I say?  They just jumped in my bag.  Wink, wink. 

For July, I picked a mix of summery sounding ones and a couple I really want to get to.  Four of the six are out of my purchased pile and the other two I found in Little Free Libraries.  Hopefully I'll finish more than one this month!

PURCHASED FICTION

          ~ Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto (finished)

          ~ For a Lifetime by Garielle Meyer (finished)

          ~ That Summer in Berlin by Lecia Cornwall

          ~  Code Name Helene by Ariel Lawhon

OTHER OWNED FICTION

          ~ The Summer Sisters by Sara Richardson

          ~ People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry

NON-FICTION

          ~ When You Love a Prodigal by Judy Douglass (continued as a study)

AUDIOBOOKS

          ~ Hello Stranger by Katherine Center (finished)

          ~ Go As A River by Shelley Read

          ~ The Invisible Husband of Frick Island by Colleen Oakley (finished)

          

What is in your summer reading pile?

The Apollo Murders by Chris Hadfield ~ Book Review

Kaz Zemechkis' dreams of being an astronaut came to an abrupt end when he had an inflight accident that left him with a glass eye.  Now he's a NASA flight controller and has been called in on Apollo 18's final mission to the moon.  But intelligence coming in of a secret Russian spy station has political leaders on edge and has just made the mission way more complicated.  When the suspicious death of one of the crew members occurs, NASA, and Kaz, are on a race against time to get Apollo 18 up and completing it's missions successfully.   With political tension at it's highest on earth, and unexpected occurences in space creating havoc, the Apollo 18 crew faces the uncertainty of no help or rescue and their return home hangs in the balance.  

Beloved Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield has added "fiction author" to his ever growing list of accomplishments with his first fiction novel.  Bringing his expertise as an astronaut, commander, engineer, and fighter pilot, he brings an alternate reality story of the end of the Apollo missions to the moon.  Filled with twists and turns, tension, mystery and politcal intrigue it was a definite page turner.  Being a big fan of reading all sorts of non-fiction books and watching documentaries and movies about the Apollo missions I thoroughly enjoyed this book.  It was fast-paced and had lots of detail of the technical aspects of what a moon mission entails without getting bogged down in those details.  All were significant to moving the story along with understanding for the reader.  It seemed authentic because the author's first hand experience and knowledge.  The story telling was fast paced and the romance in it didn't interfere with what the story was mainly about.  This story would make a great movie.

I rated it a 9.5/10

May 2024 Reading Picks

In April I finished 3 books, 2 of which were audiobooks, quite reading one (DNF'd) at 75 pages and got a few chapters into another book.  Not too bad.  I'm looking forward to May's choices.  They are total mood reads from my pile of purchased books I'm working through this year and I'm hoping to be out soaking up some sunshine while enjoying these books (she writes as she sits in the middle of a storm and rainfall warning).  I also have one newer release library book that came in and I'm still taking my time working through my non-fiction devotional/study book.

PURCHASED FICTION

          ~ Something Worth Doing by Jane Kirkpatrick (finishing from April) (finished)

          ~ The Collector's Daughter by Gill Paul  (finished in June)

          ~ Surviving Savannah by Patti Callahan

          ~This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger

          ~When We Were Young & Brave by  Hazel Gaynor

          ~ A Piece of the Moon by Chris Fabry

          ~ The Last House on the Street by Diane Chamberlain

PURCHASED NON-FICTION

          ~ When You Love a Prodigal by Judy Douglass (continuiing from April)

          ~ A Woman Who Trusts God by Debbie Alsdorf

LIBRARY HOLD

          ~ Just for the Summer by Melody Carlson (finished)

AUDIOBOOKS

          ~ The Woman They Could Not Silence by Kate Moore

          ~ Radium Girls by Kate Moore

What are you reading this month?

Universe of Two by Stephen P. Kiernan ~ Book Review

 Nineteen year old Brenda Dubie works in her parents organ store and her dream is to attend a music school.  Her young life is pretty easy, working at the store, practicing her organ and flirting with the young soldiers who are in town.  Then in 1943,  she meets Charlie Fish.  At first he doesn't leave much of an impression.  A Harvard educated mathematician, he is reserved and quiet, nothing like the fun loving soldiers she hangs out with.  But Charlie keeps coming around the store to see her.  In a short time they become a couple but his mild nature holds Brenda back from fully committing to him.  Then Charlie is drafted into a special top secret military project where he gets very little time off.

Working for the Manhattan Project, Charlie finds his life fully consumed.  Soon he is assigned the task of designing a detonator without knowing what it is for.  But as he continues to work on the project and the reality of what it is he is having a hand in building starts to become very real, Charlie starts to have reservations.  His highly ethical nature is rising up, yet he is not allowed to talk to anyone, including Brenda, about it.  As he struggles with his conscience, Brenda unaware of what the project is, urges him to be a man and step up to the task.  If it helps the war effort, then what could be the problem?  When the war is over Charlie ends up receiving a scholarship to get his PhD in physics, a dream as there is no way he could afford it.  But it comes at a cost.  As the guilt continues to lay ahold of both Charlie and Brenda of what they had a part of, Charlie quits school and the two build a life trying to make amends.

This is my second book by this author and I have loved both.  I didn't really know what it was about when I bought it a couple of years ago, but funny that I happen to pick it up right when the movie "Oppenheimer" is all the buzz.  The story is loosely based on the life Charles B. Fisk, who was a mathematician and world renowned organ maker.  It explores the guilt and remorse that followed him throughout his life for his part in the development of the atomic bomb.  It's a love story set in a time when payback and stopping the enemy was forefront in the minds of most Americans and most were willing to do what it took without really understanding or looking into the consequences of what producing such a weapon would have for the future.  I learned a lot about a part of the WWII effort that I've never really understood before and, if truth be told, never really thought of at all.  And that is the guilt that some of these ordinary people had to live with for their whole lives.  They were not soldiers or military but ordinary people who had been drafted into the making of a horrendous, top secret weapon just because of the skills they possessed.  In all honesty, I find it hard to believe why this book is not being talked about, or reviewed more.  I did read another story that dealt with the making of the atomic bomb last year, reviewed here, that explored the question of how the scientists working on the bomb could justify the end result.  This one took the angle of the guilt that plagued some of them as the revelation of what they were using their talents for comes to light and their struggle to make sense of it.  Very good read that held my attention with it's compelling and flawed characters and it's twists and turns based in history.  

I rated it a 9.5/10

April 2024 Reading Picks

Oh my goodness.  How can it already be the middle of the month and I haven't even done my post for my reading possibilities for April.  Oh well.  Better late than never and I'll still have a record of it for my own amusement no matter the date.  

I'm quite enjoying this year of making my books that I have actually paid for a priority.  Working through the stack and mood reading them has been fun.  I haven't read quite as fast as hoped but that is okay.  The goal is enjoyment.  So my picks this month reflect that again.  Totally by mood.  I also threw in a book from my stacks of Little Free Library stacks as it was calling my name.  

PURCHASED BOOKS

          ~ The Little Old Lady Behaving Badly by Catharina Ingelman-Sundberg  (DNF'd)

          ~ A Piece of the Moon by Chris Fabry

          ~ The Apollo Murders by Chris Hadfield  (finished)

          ~ Something Worth Doing by Jane Kirkpatrick

          ~ The Last House on the Street by Diane Chamberlain

NON-FICTION  (PURCHASED)

          ~ When You Love a Prodigal by Judy Douglas (continuing from last month)

          ~ They Turned the World Upside Down by Charles Martin

TBR PILE

          ~ The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper by Phaedra Patrick

AUDIOBOOKS

          ~ The Stranger in the Lifeboat by Mitch Albom  (finished)

          ~ In His Image by Jen Wilken  (finished)

          ~ The Woman They Could Not Silence by Kate Moore

What interesting books are capturing your eye this month?

The Last Exchange by Charles Martin ~ Book Review

MacThomas Pockets is part of the Scottish Special Forces and has been hired by a film director he met on a plane to help get some of the action scenes right.  Through this he meets Joe Sue, a recent Hollywood legend and her actor husband.  And from this he is hired to become Joe Sue's bodyguard.  As he gets to know Joe Sue, Pockets starts to see that the Joe Sue the public sees and the private Joe Sue are two very different people.  Discovered as a young woman, Joe Sue has come from a hard, traumatic childhood that didn't necessarily change when she became a star.  But her dream to have a child of her own is dwindling as she cannot carry a pregnancy to term. Trying to hide the past and present hurt she turns to pills to get her through the day.  After several stints in various rehabs, Joe Sue is still struggling with her hidden addiction.  As her husband's career is taking off, Joe Sue is left to deal with her present problems on her own.  But she isn't really alone.  Even after Pockets was no longer working for her, he kept up with what was going on with her and watched from afar.

This book asks the question "how far will you go in selfless acts to help someone you love?" and "are you willing to give up your own life to save that loved one?"    The story goes back and forth between Joe Sue's voice and Pockets' voice and between past and present.  At times I did have to reread a small portion when I wasn't paying attention.  It was a heart wrenching, tough story that presented a lot of moral implications in actions that were taken.  It definitely makes you think and there is a background thread of Christ sacrificing Himself for us woven into the story without it actually stating it outright but if you know, you know.  It's a story of deep friendship, of commitment even when one party no longer wants the relationship.  There is twists and turns that keep the story moving along.   Charles Martin is a favorite author and I rated this a 4/5 on Goodreads with their 5 star rating system but an 9/10 on my own.  What kept it from a 10 star read for me, was just the believability of some of the things that happened and a small, but still something that kept it from being that 10 star for me, was the odd names.  It took me a long time into the story to get used to all the odd names and that kept it from being enjoyable for me as I'd had to pause and think about who the character was again.  That's my own issue but it still detracted from the total enjoyment of the book for me.  But still a powerful story that, as is the norm for Charles Martin books, made it so I couldn't pick up another book for a few days as I pondered this one.

Rating 9/10

A Silken Thread by Kim Vogel Sawyer ~ Book Review

 

Laurel Millard is the youngest sibling in her family.  Her father passed away when she was three and her Mom had never remarried.  All her siblings are married with families of their own but Laurel still lives with her Mom (who is in her forties).  Unbeknownst to their mother the siblings issue Laurel an ultimatum that as the youngest without a family of her own she must forgo her dream of one day marrying and having that family in order to take care of their Mother.  In shock that they would expect that of her, Laurel holds out hope that she can actually find a good man who would not only love her but would also take her Mother under his household also.  When the Atlanta Cotton Exposition of 1885 comes to town, Laurel's mother encourages her to apply to work there in the hopes that maybe she can meet a suitor.  Laurel does meet a very wealthy Langdon Rochester who is heir apparent to his father's steam engine business.  He is charming and wealthy and sets his sights on Laurel in order to appease his own mother who is pushing him to get married.  Laurel also meets a young security guard named Willie who may not have two cents to rub together but has a good and kind heart.  In becoming friends with Willie and his black friend Quincey who is a groundskeeper at the exposition, Laurel starts to see first hand the the division of class and education and racism that is prevalent in her city.  As the exposition contends with some disasters the two young men Laurel has gotten to know are pitted against one another.

I really enjoyed this Christian fiction from a favorite author.   Under the historical setting of the exposition the author explores themes of racism and bigotry, the have vs the have nots, friendship and integrity, the desire in all humans to be loved and to belong, injustice and standing up for what is right.  The characters were interesting and though sometimes Laurel might have seemed a tad naive and therefore frustrating, it would come from her sheltered life as a younger sibling in those times.  Willie and Quincey's friendship was beautifully written, I thought, and the struggle, misunderstandings and turmoil that the situation they found themselves in really brought out what it might have been like back in that time.  The love to hate character did his job well, I loved to hate the character.  And though the ending was not a surprise the journey to get there was moving and thoroughly kept my attention.  

I rated this a 9.5/10