Novel Nerd Blog - Book Reviews by Smitha

MY THOUGHTS AND BOOK REVIEW A captivating Christian historical fiction novel of two girls Olive Alexander and Jo Hawthorne during the time of Roosevelt and the Trinity nuclear bomb test in 1945. Olive's father dies seven years ago in a farming accident. His brother, Olive's Uncle Hershel moves into the ranch house since then along with her brother Avery. Soon the Army takes her ranch house and the big house is no longer their own. The Alexander ranch was spilt into three parts during the project, the part of the land requisitioned for the test, part with the house - leased by the army to house construction crew and the smallest part left over for the family to use. Olive was not happy that she had to sacrifice by relocating to Alamogordo, because of war efforts while her mother and Uncle Hershel got to stay. She was not angry with the army but everybody else for pushing her out and treating her like a toddler rather than a useful part of the family. The US army promised t...

MY THOUGHTS AND BOOK REVIEW A wonderful historical fiction book where the author Ellie MidWood brings the fictional characters, Margot and Jochen's story inspired by real people who lived in Berlin during the Nazi Hitler rule. The novel shows how the hypocrisy of Nazi leadership, the bravery and selflessness of normal German citizens who would do anything to save their persecuted spouses.  Outstanding research study conducted by Ellie can be seen through out the novel. Margot an Aryan woman was married to a Jew named Jochen in those days where Jews were not welcome in the new Germany as they were considered minorities. Everyone in Babelsberg knew Margot's husband was Jewish. Margot found it just fine, for the reason why right after the Nuremberg law had been passed, prohibiting all relationships between Aryans and Jews, just stopped short of dissolving existing marriages - they had changed her from Margot and replaced it with Rosenberg - Margot Rosenberg....

MY THOUGHTS AND BOOK REVIEW Wow! I absolutely loved this crime mystery novel. It can be read as a stand alone novel from the series. This is my first book I have read of Lisa Regan's murder mystery. Detective Josie Quinn and her husband lieutenant Noah worked for the Denton police department, among the mountains in Central Pennsylvania. She and her husband was travelling from their honeymoon back home for twelve hours in the fog on widow's ridge road, they had to pull off their car seeing the figure of a girl running through the fog into the woods in front of their car followed by a scream. She was injured and bleeding. What was she running from? They found another teenage girl being attacked and murdered at the same spot and a man trying to run away from this scene. The suspect jumped into the roaring creek. The crime scene is secured by officers along with a vehicle they start to search for the man. The vehicle is registered to Guy Hale, Dina's father. Fr...

MY THOUGHTS AND BOOK REVIEW Wow! What a lovely real life Historical fiction novel. In the 1900's the British Cook sisters, Ida and Louise Cook travelled continuously to Austria and Germany because of their passion for Opera and Music.  As a result, they met and followed many of the prominent opera singers of the early to mid-20th century and developed friendships with them, including Maria Callas, Amelita Galli-Curci, Rosa Ponselle, Ezio Pinza, Elisabeth Rethberg, director Clemens Krauss, and soprano Viorica Ursuleac. It was at this period of thier life, when they helped refugees flee Nazi Germany and other nations under their influence, which was made possible by their connection with Krauss and Ursuleac. The extent to which they took their devotion to Galli-voice Curci's was one episode that revealed a spirit that would serve them well in the future. They heard Galli perform for the first time, her first British appearance - at a platform concert in the Albert Hall,...

  MY THOUGHTS AND BOOK REVIEW Rebecca Myers's "Inside Job" plunges readers into the heart of darkness within the walls of HMP Graymoor, one of the UK's most notorious prisons, where she bravely confronts the chilling reality of sitting face-to-face with convicted murderers, rapists, and child molesters. With unflinching honesty and raw emotion, Myers recounts her experiences as a young forensic psychologist thrust into the daunting role of navigating the complexities of the criminal mind. Myers draws on her own experiences as a psychologist working in a high-security prison to give readers an inside look at the world of murderers and sex offenders, and the unique psychological profiles and treatment approaches required for working with these individuals. Through a series of vignettes and case studies, she illustrates the complex and often disturbing nature of the crimes committed by these inmates, as well as the psychological issues that underlie their behavior. One o...

   MY THOUGHTS AND BOOK REVIEW I was absolutely absorbed by the blurb and its book cover. The author took me through an emotional roller coaster ride. I enjoyed reading this historical mystery novel, filled with dark family secrets and unusual things happening around at different timelines 1880's, 1840 and 2019. Henry Fox and his pregnant wife Josie, with their unborn daughter moves to her husband's ancestral home - The Helygen House in Cornwall, England. Built in the 19th century, The House at Helygen took Josie's breath away, astound by the stunning  architecture, beautiful grounds and countless rooms it had.  Having passed to Henry Fox as inheritance by tradition, Helygen house would be their daughter's. The house needed lot of work, especially the west wing was destroyed once by a fire long time ago. Josie was happy, at peace in the hut of "Little Hely" as she called it. She was excited to revamp the Helygen House as planned with her best...

  Publisher ‏ : ‎  Amazon Crossing (July 26, 2022) Language ‏ : ‎  English Paperback ‏ : ‎  317 pages

                                                                                                    MY THOUGHTS AND BOOK REVIEW What a fascinating read! Bill Jacquettes' s debut novel can keep a reader engrossed at looking deeply into how the Criminal legal system and Washington State Criminal laws works and how they were handled by the Hudson County Public Defenders. From Cindy Baker's charge with first degree trafficking in stolen property, Gilbert Martin's second degree robbery for stealing groceries from safeway, Ray Langus's sentence for a felony, second degree robbery, Lori Lucas's charge with first degree criminal mistreatment, Joe seller's conviction of second degree assault and the most complicated case of Walter for the c...

  MY THOUGHTS AND BOOK REVIEW A Christian southern family drama novel that takes place in the setting of Hickory Dock, North Carolina. It was a slow mover for me, but nonetheless a fascinating and a simple read filled with great characters....  f irst and foremost a story about a family  (and a multi-racial family…dad Fred Baldwin is Black and mom Paulette is white). McKinley their only son returns home from Philadelphia after he graduated from college  to dreadfully listen to the overheated conversations along the way, even though marriage conflicts arising in his mum and dad's relationship was present but what keeps them together is their faith towards God. I was feeling sympathetic towards each of them. McKinley's dad, Fred designed furniture for George & Company. He was truly a professional architect who thinks like a designer and was not interested in feelings of his friends or colleagues when it came to building a business. Mckinley...

 MY THOUGHTS AND BOOK REVIEW With a humorous touch author Rossi Anastopoulo has done her research well on writing of this book. I find this book very deeply rooted with insights into history of USA through different pies. American cuisine is vast, deeply and multicultural. Pie was a deeply and traditionally American - direct product of the United States. It was the symbol of American innovation and identity that if a Black American could eat pie at a lunch counter in North Carolina or anywhere else in the south, he or she might be considered just equal an American citizen as anyone else. From the Black Muslim on the streets of  Brooklyn to the Midwest housewife struggling through the Great Depression in San Francisco every person in the US has memory or association with pie. The author points out why pie is such a unique vehicle for this type of social study. Firstly, pie as we know is ate in the United States doesn't exist anywhere else. Secondly, pie is such a baro...

                                                                                                   MY THOUGHTS AND BOOK REVIEW I love mystery crime novels. This novel Treachery on the Tenth street was full of twists and turns and suspense until the end. It was surely a page turner which kept me guessing for the murderer from the beginning to last chapter. One would never guess the killer until the reader reach reading the last few chapters. A killer who is mad and called, Jack the Ripper is loose in the city, which left Genevieve doubting Bea's death was caused by - the murderer who crossed the Atlantic, the killer may be in New York. Genevieve's role at the society pages paper as a journalist had taken years to build reputation. S...

MY THOUGHTS AND BOOK REVIEW Very interesting and fun facts researched by Emma bland smith about Eiffel tower and the Parisians. Beautiful illustration along with proper descriptions. Eiffel tower, for the astonishment of Parisians watched the tallest structure in the world created by the Gustave Eiffel. Has promised by the maker it was magnificent. The tower was 1000 foot tall marked the entrance for the 1889 world's fair. Millions of people were invited in Paris to see it. The Parisians and officials thought the tower was quiet useless. In 1909, the tower would be torn down and sold for scrap metal, they figured out that it remain for 20 years. The iron lattice work was so modern, Monsieur Eiffel adored the tower when these Parisians hated the building. The 47 artisans and writers thought it was a ridiculous tower and the laughing stock of the world. Monsieur Eiffel was an engineer who constructed fine bridges in his career. He even built the interior framework for ...