The Nature of Fragile Things

Susan Meissner is an author I have come to enjoy as they typically have a historical setting and strong female characters which creates a winning combination. Her newest novel, The Nature of Fragile Things, is set in San Francisco and includes the famous 1906 earthquake which decimated the city. Beyond the physical destruction of the city, the earthquake figures prominently in the story as it impacts how the main characters choose to deal with other situations they face.

Main character Sophie, an Irish immigrant, travels west as a "mail order" bride for a widowed man and mother to a five year old, selectively mute girl, Kat. Sophie and Kat hit it off but Sophie is a bit baffled by her new husband who travels extensively for work. Sophie soon discovers everything is not as it seems as Mr. Hocking is not forthright with Sophie or others. However, readers later find that Sophie has some secrets of her own. Throughout the book, Meissner uses flash forwards which depict main character, Sophie, being interviewed by a federal investigator. These scenes culminate later in the book when the truth comes out about both individuals. In addition to Sophie and Kat, there are two other strong female characters with prominent roles in the book as well. All three adult women demonstrate the strength that someone can muster in a devastating situation when needed.

The Nature of Fragile Things is not a warm, fuzzy story but does have a satisfying conclusion. Readers will want to add this to their reading list.

I received a complementary copy of The Nature of Fragile Things from Berkley Publishing Group via NetGalley. I am not required to provide a positive review.

Environmentally Friendly

The (Almost) Zero-Waste Guide, as the sub-title declares, shares "100+ Tips for Reducing Your Waste Without Changing Your Life." While some of the tips shared are familiar, others were new to me. Author Melanie Mannarino does a great job of explaining how and why each tip will help reduce waste and positively impact the environment. While encouraging readers to reduce their waste, Mannarino emphasizes implementing a few tips at a time rather than trying to implement all 100 tips simultaneously. Tips are grouped by topic which allows readers to focus on what area of their life at a time. Readers will find it useful to read the book from beginning to end and then select the section of life where they want to reduce their waste. Following the great advice given, readers will find they are able to reduce their waste substantially. This would be a great book to read and apply with a group of like-minded individuals.

I received a complementary copy of this book via NetGalley. I am not required to provide a positive review.

The Children's Blizzard

Many people who are amateur historians have heard of the horrendous blizzard of January 12, 1888 which killed over two hundered people across the Northern plains states. This blizzard is often called the schoolhouse blizzard or children's blizzard as many of those killed were children who had just been released from school. In the new book The Children's Blizzard by Melanie Benjamin, this blizzard takes on a personal tone as the story of several individuals unfolds with some becoming heroes/heroines and others becoming villains. Benjamin does a masterful job of providing a backstory of her five main characters which sets up what happens during and after the blizzard. In particular, she does not end the story when the blizzard is over but follow these characters for several years into the future showing how their experiences impacted their lives and communities. At first the stories seem quite disparate but soon the lives of several characters become quite intwined. It does not become apparent how the fifth character becomes involved until after the blizzard is over, but he has a large impact on the other characters.

The Children's Blizzard is a wonderful book but not for the squeamish as descriptions of individuals freezing to death and subsequent amputations are included. While the main character is female, the story will appeal to both men and women who enjoy historically accurate fiction based on true stories.

I received a complementary copy of The Children's Blizzard from Random House Publishing Group--Ballantine via Netgalley. I am not obligated to provide a positive review.

Melanie Dickerson is back with a brand new series entitled "The Dericott Tales" which is set in medieval England. The Court of Swans is the first book to feature the Dericott family which includes 7 boys and 1 girl along with the required wicked stepmother and dashing soldier. Knowing that Dickerson specializes in reimaginging fairy tales, I read trying to discern what fairy tale was the basis of this book without success. I later learned the underyling story is Hans Christian Anderson's "The Wild Swans," an unfamiliar story to me. Being unfamiliar with this story was helpful in that I could not foresee what was going to happen and was just able to enjoy the story.

Dickerson's characters continue to rely on God, pray, and recall scripture teaching as appropriate for individuals of their station and time period, but there is not an explicit "how to become a Christian" section. I find this clean but not overly religious approach opens up the series to a much larger audience. I did find The Court of Swans a bit edgier than some of the previous books I have read by Dickerson. Specifically, the main character Delia, has an unseemly encounter with a gentleman which could be upsetting to younger readers although it turns out fine. For this reason, I recommend this book for early high school readers or for a read-together. Of couse, Dickerson's books while aimed for a YA audience are equally enjoyable for adults.

I received a complementary copy of The Court of Swans from Thomas Nelson via NetGalley.

Best Books of 2020

2020 has been a whirlwind year but in the midst of all the highs and lows, reading has been my safe place. According to my tracking via GoodReads, I read 109 books although I am certain that I forgot to put some books on GoodReads. Some of the books were memorable and some were "meh", but all in all it was good year for reading. Here's to more books in 2021!

Best Non-fiction: The Dark Side of Our Digital World while written by a librarian can be read by a general audience and was eye-opening regarding how nefarious technology and the digital world really is.

Best Memoir: Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson. While not a new book, this book had been on my Kindle for sometime and I decided that I should read it before going to the movie. I am so glad I did as it was very eye-opening to the plight of the disproportional number of African-American men on death row and provided a lot of details the movie left out.

Best Biblical Studies: The Gospels as Stories opens your eyes to reading the Gospels and was particularly enjoyable as it used a variety of literary theory in addition to Biblical studies.

Best Bible study/Missions: Mission 3:16 by Paul Borthwick will blow open your understanding of John 3:16 and is a great resource for a small group or a sermon series.

Best Spiritual Formation: Be Kind to Yourself and A Feast for the Soul are two very different books but both are amazing. These are both books that I look forward to returning to during the coming year.

Best Biography:A Life of Alexander Campbell by Douglas Foster is required reading for anyone interested in the Stone-Campbell/Restoration Movement or American religious history and Becoming Elisabeth Elliot is required reading for anyone interested in missions.

Best Social Justice: Beyond Hashtag Activism is a wonderful book if you want to put your hands and feet to work regarding the issues that face our world today.

Best Business/Leadership Book: The Art of Being Indispensable at Work is a book that should be read by everyone who works with others.

Best Diverse Book: The Book Collectors

Best Historical Fiction: This is a very hard choice as historical fiction is my primary genre. However, The Prisoner's Wife, a riveting WW II story takes top billing with A Most English Princess as a close second and particularly if you enjoyed Victoria.

Best Political and Best Overall: Compassion (&) Conviction was a refreshing and marvelous read during this tumultuous election year. I highly recommend it to any Christian who engages with politics in anyway which should be everyone.

Power of 3

Robb Hiller combines personal stories of overcoming cancer and his own success in business and personal coaching to share his success model titled The Power of 3. Without giving away too much of his model, The Power of 3 focuses on Ask, Activate, and Advocate. Within each of these three parts, there are additional acronyms that are shared. Of the three parts, I found Ask the most useful particularly as Hiller flips the questions to de-emphasize the "why" that has been an emphasis in so many recent books. I found Activate interesting, but the accompanying acronym is quite long which makes it difficult to utilize easily. Advocate was a good reminder as well.

Hiller does mention faith quite a bit and assumes the audience is primarily Christian which given the book is published by Tyndale Momentum is probably accurate. However, if you subtract the faith element, the information and other examples is comparable to other self-help, business titles on the market and would be useful to anyone.

While interesting and providing some helpful information, The Power of 3 did not leave me with a "Wow! I need to do this right now!" Instead my reaction was more of a "There are some interesting things here to consider doing." The content provided isn't necessarily new but has been re-packaged in an interesting way.

I received a complementary copy of this book via NetGalley and Tyndale Momentum. I was not required to provide a positive review and all opinions are my own.

Renaissance Italy Mysteries

Malice in Milan by Ken Tentarelli
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Malice in Milan is somewhat like Law & Order but has been plunked down into the middle of Renaissance Italy. The description of the book sounded intriguing. Noting that the book was the third in a series, although they can be read as stand-alone books, I desired to read the others. I sought out book 1 The Laureate which was somewhat helpful in providing some useful background for this title. I did not have opportunity to read book 2.

In Malice in Milan, the young lawyer Nico is placed on a new committee and races off to Milan to help solve a crime. While solving the crime, he interacts with a wide variety of individuals from both the upper crust and the under belly of Milan. He also utilizes a variety of street smarts in addition to his legal acumen to wrap up the case. In addition to a moderately interesting plot, Tentarelli provides a variety of interesting tidbits regarding Renaissance Italy which makes the book mildly educational as well. Recommended with hesitation for readers who love the renaissance time period and enjoy mysteries. I would encourage readers to seek out a copy to borrow rather than buy.

I received a complementary copy of this book via NetGalley.