Early this month we went to Utah for a short vacation. These are the books that I got while I was there. Most of them are from Barnes and Noble, one was a gift and the other two I picked up at the Farmer’s Market from the Author.
West From Home By: Laura Ingalls Wilder.
My youngest daughter gave me this book for Mother’s Day. I have read this book many times already, but I want this book for my collection.
In 1915, Laura Ingalls Wilder traveled by train from her home in Missouri to San Francisco. Laura’s westward journey to visit her daughter, Rose Wilder Lane, coincided with a spectacular event taking place in that city-the Panama Pacific International Exposition.
This was a great world’s fair celebrating the completion of the Panama Canal, and Laura was amazed by the attractions that had been gathered there.
Her husband, Almanzo, was unable to leave their Missouri farm, and it was Laura’s letters that gave him the chance to see what she saw during her visit to California.
These letters, gathered together here, allow the reader to experience Laura’s adventures and her intimate thoughts as she shared with her husband the events of her exciting sojourn.
Luna’s Rescue and Hoover’s Horn
By: Erica Richardson
These are the books that I bought from the author at the farmer’s market.
A tiny heroine is faced with an enormous task.
Luna is a crested gecko. Somewhat small and seemingly insignificant. She lives in a tank, in a house, on the edge of Cottonwood Forest, with five humans who call themselves the Robbins family. She likes the Robbins family very much. Her life is ordinary and repetitive, yet pleasant. She never expects that one day things will change.
When her human family disappears, she knows she is the one who must find them. She meets magical friends along the way who are determined to help her on her journey to rescue her family. But when things don’t turn out as planned, Luna must discover the magic that really counts. The magic that has been within her all along…
Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers
By: Jesse Q. Sutanto
First of the books I bought at Barnes and Noble.
Put the kettle on, there’s a mystery brewing…
Tea-shop owner. Matchmaker. Detective?
Sixty-year-old self-proclaimed tea expert Vera Wong enjoys nothing more than sipping a good cup of Wulong and doing some healthy ‘detective’ work on the internet (AKA checking up on her son to see if he’s dating anybody yet).
But when Vera wakes up one morning to find a dead man in the middle of her tea shop, it’s going to take more than a strong Longjing to fix things. Knowing she’ll do a better job than the police possibly could – because nobody sniffs out a wrongdoing quite like a suspicious Chinese mother with time on her hands – Vera decides it’s down to her to catch the killer.
Nobody spills the tea like this amateur sleuth.
The Emperor’s Soul
By: Brandon Sanderson
A heretic thief is the empire’s only hope in this fascinating tale that inhabits the same world as the popular novel, Elantris.
Shai is a Forger, a foreigner who can flawlessly copy and re-create any item by rewriting its history with skillful magic. Condemned to death after trying to steal the emperor’s scepter, she is given one opportunity to save herself. Though her skill as a Forger is considered an abomination by her captors, Shai will attempt to create a new soul for the emperor, who is almost dead.
Probing deeply into his life, she discovers Emperor Ashravan’s truest nature—and the opportunity to exploit it. Her only possible ally is one who is truly loyal to the emperor, but councilor Gaotona must overcome his prejudices to understand that Shai’s forgery is as much artistry as it is deception.
Brimming with magic and political intrigue, this deftly woven fantasy delves into the essence of a living spirit.
The Last Secret of the Secret Annex
By: Joop Van Wijk-Voskuijl and Jeroen De Bruyn
A riveting historical investigation and family memoir that intertwines the iconic narrative of Anne Frank with the untold story of Bep Voskuijl, her protector and closest confidante in the Annex, bringing us closer to understanding one of the great secrets of World War II.
Anne Frank’s life has been studied by many scholars, but the story of Bep Voskuijl has remained untold, until now. As the youngest of the five Dutch people who hid the Frank family, Bep was Anne’s closest confidante during the 761 excruciating days she spent hidden in the Secret Annex. Bep, who was just twenty-three when the Franks went into hiding, risked her life to protect them, plunging into Amsterdam’s black market to source food and medicine for people who officially didn’t exist under the noses of German soldiers and Dutch spies. In those cramped quarters, Bep and Anne’s friendship bloomed through deep conversations, shared meals, and a youthful understanding.
Told by her own son, The Last Secret of the Secret Annex intertwines the story of Bep and her sister Nelly with Anne’s iconic narrative. Nelly’s name may have been scrubbed from Anne’s published diary, but Joop van Wijk-Voskuijl and Jeroen De Bruyn expose details about her collaboration with the Nazis, a deeply held family secret. After the war, Bep tried to bury her memories just as the Secret Annex was becoming world famous as a symbol of resistance to the Nazi horrors. She never got over losing Anne nor could Bep put to rest the horrifying suspicion that those in the Annex had been betrayed by her own flesh and blood.
This is a story about those caught in between the Jewish victims and Nazi persecutors, and the moral ambiguities and hard choices faced by ordinary families like the Voskuijls, in which collaborators and resisters often lived under the same roof.
Beautifully written and unsettlingly suspenseful, The Last Secret of the Secret Annex will show us the Secret Annex as we’ve never seen it before. And it provides a powerful understanding of how historical trauma is inherited from one generation to the next and how sometimes keeping a secret hurts far more than revealing a shameful truth.
In an Orchard Grown from Ash
By: Rory Power
Twisted political games and heart-rending relationship drama abound in this stunning conclusion of a mythic epic fantasy duology.
The Argyros family is torn asunder, their nation betrayed and taken over by former allies, and twins Rhea and Lexos are left standing on opposite sides of the now full-blown rebellion. Will they be able to reconcile–or will there only be a reckoning?
Lore Olympus Volume Four
By: Rachel Smythe
Witness what the gods do after dark in the fourth volume of a stylish and contemporary reimagining of one of the best-known stories in Greek mythology, featuring exclusive behind-the-scenes content from creator Rachel Smythe.
“I don’t always get to do as I please.”
The rumor mill of Olympus is constantly churning, but Persephone and Hades are all anyone can talk about. With the constant gossip creating intense pressure on the pair, they decide to slow down their budding romance and focus on sorting out their own issues first.
But that’s easier said than done.
Hades struggles to find support in his personal life, with Zeus trivializing his feelings and Minthe resorting to abusive patterns in their relationship. And while Hades tries to create healthier boundaries where he can–like finally putting a stop to his sporadic, revenge-fueled hookups with Hera–he still feels lonely and adrift.
Persephone feels equally ostracized as her classmates shun her for her connection to Hades, and she can find no refuge at home, with Apollo constantly dropping by unannounced and pushing his unwelcome advances. And on top of it all, the wrathful god of war, Ares, has returned to Olympus to dredge up his sordid history with the goddess of spring, threatening to surface Persephone’s dark and mysterious past and ruin her tenuous position in the land of the gods.
Despite agreeing to take it slow, Persephone and Hades find themselves inextricably drawn toward each other once more amid the chaos. The pull of fate cannot be denied.
This edition of Rachel Smythe’s original Eisner-nominated webcomic Lore Olympus features exclusive behind-the-scenes content and brings the Greek pantheon into the modern age in a sharply perceptive and romantic graphic novel.
I used Good Reads for the synopsis of the books. I hope these will give you some ideas of what to read or think about reading. Have you read any of these books? If so, what did you think of them without giving away too much information. Whenever I go on vacation, I always enjoy going book shopping. Some areas have stores that I don’t have sometimes they have the same places. All but one these I haven’t read yet and hope to get them soon.
Well until next time, keep reading.
Debbie's Reading Corner 