Spring Edition Book Reviews

It's the Spring Season and my nose has been in multiple books that I have to share with you. In this edition of novels I have read lately, they are all Historical Fiction novels with their own unique story mixed between history. And no matter where I sat down with cup of coffee or tea and or even what city I was in, I was transported to another era of time. Let me tell you now, I love each one these three books individually and as whole set together if I inspire you read just one, I did my job right. Two of the three made me have a few outbursts of emotions without even realizing my own surroundings. I will get into that shortly but I do have to mention these novels are meant to be a slow burn kind of read. Meaning with novels like this, make you want to enjoy every word, every sentence that the author gave to each character and to step into the story yourself understand every detail about them.

But who's to say I am the expert here, I am just giving my little opinion. Let's get into these escapism novels.

The first novel that I finished back in February is by Laura Morelli called The Stolen lady.

Now the Stolen lady is a story behind the untold story of the Mona Lisa painted by Leonardo Di Vinci within the story of WW2 when works of art had to be hidden from the Germans who wanted the art or to destroy works of art. Throughout the novel you are be in-between five hundred years of history, two story lines and looking back at the novel ;I think that concept was the only understand the connections between the real Mona Lisa (Lisa Gherardini ), Bellina ( her ladies maid) and Anne Guichard ( archivist of the Louvre). Reading about each lady in their timeframe, I learned about each one of them more depth than what's just in our history books today. The feeling of losses what Lisa Gherardini had in her life. Bellina's character of taking care of Lisa deeply and yet yearning for love also the fight within her own beliefs. Then Anne's fight to help protect the works of art with everything she has and yet what's constantly on her mind is where her brother went. Which mind you when you find out where her brother was during the war. Things will come full circle. I found Anne's and Bellina's life's were the most similar in their own way. Protection over some very important secrets than what history books would never tells us at least. I loved learning about Leonardo Di Vinci's life and lifestyle while creating his famous art work pieces, architecture that we seen by millions every year to this day. I can honestly say I didn't know that much behind the story of the famous Mona Lisa and her own history of five hundred years of existing.

Upon finishing up the novel, I was captivated between the two worlds of France 1939 and Florence 1479 towards the end of the novel, I just didn't want the book to end. I only wanted more about these famous key people in history. And I also wanted to know more about the people behind the scenes that protected all the art in Anne's timeline. Can you imagine if it wasn't for the men and women whom saved all the art, how much we would have at all to admire, if they didn't save them? The only thing I would have to say for my as reader I felt there was some loose ends left unfinished in a way besides Vinci's and some of Bellina's story. I felt like Anne's story had more room for closure then what was given. Then again I just might be a lover of romanticism because I think Anne found her one and only. To also had once you discover Bellina's life after Lisa Gherardini will shock you to. And I going to stay tight lipped about all of that, you have to read to find out for more.

I did in fact give this novel a four and half stars, definitely a must read.

After I finished The Stolen lady, I started reading The Last Checkmate By Gabriella Saab in March.

Let me first tell before I get into some detail about this very special novel that it will take you on a roller-coaster of emotions from the beginning line of the novel to end. Once you learn about Maria Florkowska; a young polish daughter who was a skilled chess player and a underground resistance member in Warsaw against Germany, you want to know every detail of her life. If it wasn't for her mind and her one goal, she would have died in Auschwitz. She was beaten, burned, tortured but her goal was to win the end. Maria played her way through for her life against unbelievable evil. This particular novel, I loved how the story begins at the ending of her torment and at the beginning of her Success intertwined on the first page. You will understand how important that last moment is for her to have the last checkmate against Fritzsch. You will met the ones who became her family through her time in prison when she lost her own the day she arrived in that cruel place. I loved father Kolbe, the sweet gentle soul who was a real life person in history that no one mentions in history books. He saved so many lives to the day his ended. And that speaks to how much this novel pulls you in to each character. I came to love Irene in the end , trust me she was one character that made me question her personality here and there. But she did love Maria then what she really led on, I will tell you that. There are other key characters who played a key role in her life encampment and after her encampment.

There is one moment in the end about a certain box for Maria that threw me on the edge of emotions and once you read that part, get the whole box of tissues.

I loved how in the end this novel came in full circle for herself, for her family. That all the pain, suffering she went through worked out in the end and not only justice in her eyes but she learned more about her family that she never knew. This novel reminded me of Anne frank in her "own way" she had her writing and Maria had her chess. If you loved The Tattooist artist of Auschwitz and Queen's Gambit you would love this novel that much more.

I gave this novel a more than a five star review!

And my last and final book I would like to share is called I was Anastasia by Ariel Lawhon. Its not a historical fiction but a Fiction novel. I like to think It has a historical aspects to the novel in my opinion from the author and I encourage you all to read her authors note and acknowledgments for more information on her take of the real story of the Romanovs and her adaptation in the novel. I think this novel was written beautifully and in-depth as well, I will try my best to not give away anything because it makes you feel like you are apart of Anne's world, her friend in away. I felt so many emotions while reading to the point Anne did give the reader a "fair waring" at the beginning that the reader might end up feeling upset or mad at her. Which to be honest I did and I got so lost in the world created that the, "I told you so " got me. If you know the real story of the Romanov's legend, then you understand. I will say I was drawn to the others connect with the family, their stories and memories of their time together. I think Anne Anderson was Anastasia in so many ways the same person. I fell in love with Alexander and her mothers love for the family and keeping their family as protected as possible through every phase. I loved the idea of the daughters finding love through such tragedy that love exists in the darkest times of life. And I felt for little Alexey he went through so much is life time, besides falling ill and losing his favorite pets nearly broke is heart more. Each of Romanov's went through so much hurt, tragedy through the novel that it amazes me how much they continued to stay strong each day. And Anne was the fighter no matter much you had to control herself that family was first and any bruise was worth it. I would close with the opening quote from the novel ,"If history were taught in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten "-Rudyard Kipling (The Collected Works) An unsolved mystery of this family went on for decades and it should have a good outcome than a sad ending. I think the positive note should be that we still talk of them and remember then forget their story.

In closing these book reviews, I know a lot of you have been waiting on my next book reviews! And I am so sorry for the delay and here they are. I hope I have convinced you to read a novel or two. These novels are probably one of my favorite groups of reads in a row. When I tell you I love each one of them, I sat with these novels in my hands and in my heart. I see apart of each character in my real life and felt connected to them on so many levels. Please let me known if you decide to read one of them.

See you,

Misreaders.

A Round Of Many Book Reviews

Well here we are the long awaited Book reviews from Last Season that I ran out of time to share.

Let me first say this group of books are quite assortment of stories they don't all go together reading them in order that I read them in. But that's how I read them. Each novel have their own special touch to them in my eyes. I tried to read with a theme of the each season, starting with Magic lessons by Alice Hoffman for fall season then followed by The Book of Candlelight by Ellery Adams. Then I started with 365 days series by Blanka Lipinska which was a little saucy of the novels. And ended with A Virgin River Christmas by Robyn Carr for the winter season. With that being said let's get into the long waited book recommendations.

Magic lessons by Alice Hoffman

Magic Lessons by Alice Hoffman is the prequel to Practical Magic. Which if you loved the book and the movie version of Practical magic you are going to love Magic lessons to be completely honest, I say it's even better then Practical Magic in my opinion. It's one novel that you want to read every Halloween season by a warm fire. It felt rich in the sense, that you are back in the 1600s along side Hannah, Maria and Faith Owens. I thought each character bought into the storyline made a impact individually right where Practical Magic history began. Beginning with Hannah's story for Maria, Maria's path to her own discovery of lessons and ending with Faith's own twisted path. I liked how the novel was broken up into six sections; Transformations, Talisman, Divination, The Charm and The Remedy, Fate. The last two sections were by far my favorite sections of the novel because it seemed the story was unfolding still and yet coming full circle at the same time. "Gogo" was my favorite human character in the novel he truly loved Maria , in every way a woman should be loved from the very second they met. Maria saved him first and he saved her in return, time and time again ; they were fated match even Maria held back her love from him. Faith was a strong child to begin with and grew into a strong woman, that lost her way for a bit but she found her way through her own magic lessons. I can't forget to mention Cadin; Maria's familiar ,in my opinion he was closer to human than a crow and always shared his thoughts, his feelings in his own ways. Love is never a bad thing , love is fated and love conquers any force of the world. That's what I took from the beautiful novel. Also, who would've thought Maria and Ruth would be the best friends in the end. Yes, I gave a way a little hint. My favorite quotes from novel are

"Fall in love wherever you can " Page 387 Magic lessons

"Everything you do will comeback in threefold." Magic Lessons

The Book of Candlelight by Ellery Adams

The Book of Candlelight by Ellery Adams was chosen to finish up my theme of bookstore novels from my previous theme. And to be honest I might have collected a few more books about bookstores. This novel particularly apart of a five book series called Secret, Book & Scone Society. It's written in a way where you can pick up any part of the series and jump in ,which I love in it's self. This novel is definitely a cozy mystery novel that instantly falling in love with the characters and feel like you are right in Miracle springs. And by the end of the novel you would want to be part of the Secret, Book & Scone Society club. I particularly love Nora she's has the gift of Bibliotherapy which if you love book as much as I do. You know that books have power to heal people within , when they think no one in the world can understand what they are going through exactly. Book can be that silent understanding friend, we all need sometimes. I would say these characters seem like a unlikely group of friends but you can genuine relate to the ladies of Secret, Book & Scone Society club. And Miracle Springs is a place of a small town full of powerful people with stories and reading this novel was scratching just the surface of the little place. Chapter Seven :" The Greatest Secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places " Roald Dahl Another point I would like to share; each chapter had it's own quote about the inkling to what could happen in the chapter. The mystery part of the novel was about how Danny was killed the Clay pot maker that marked all his works with a little Red Bird. Let me say this, who would of thought the symbol of a Red Bird would caused such chaos between finding the killer and finding out unknown history to Danny about the full meaning behind that little Red Bird... One of my favorite things about the storyline is the story within the novel about Rose ,Chea and original meaning of the Little Red Bird. Chapter Seventeen: " Memory is the diary that we all , carry within us" Oscar Wilde I would of loved to meet Rose in another life, if that was possible.

365 Days series

365 Days series was the little dark and twisted saucy novels between novels. Let me be honest once I watched the first move I wanted to know more about the storyline in depth. And let me tell you the novel didn't disappoint at all once I had it in my hands . And once I had it in my hands I finished it between two days. It's the far edger version of fifty shades of grey in my opinion. More intriguing, steamer. Don Massimo is the type of untouchable and yet he knows exactly what he wants. But when it comes to Laura he comes undone professionally and personally , she drives him crazy. Laura is the women in his vision and whom made him want to live. Laura Biel is the prefect character to his opposite and his equal. She has a fighter sprit even though she thinks, she just a ordinally woman from Poland. I love how Laura was brought into the storyline to meet Massimo but maybe not exactly being kidnapped should of happened. But I think Massimo just wanted her in is hands quicker than she could slip away back to Poland. I think another character that I love and I can't forget to mention is Domenico, He's the perfect supporting character to a "T" specifically in pages 277 and 290. He brings a little comedy to all levels of the novel and turned to being Laura's best friend in Massimo world. I can't forget to mention Olga, we have that one bestfriend that you would anything for and you have most wildest memories with. From this book alone I loved the moment where Massimo left presents for Laura and showed her that he could gentle if she shows him how to. I am trying not to give away too much from the first novel.

This Day ( 365 days) Book two by Laura Lipinska.

This Day by Laura Lipinska took it up an notch in the steamy level and this one was more of a page turner then the last one was. Lipinska has the gift of absolute cliffhangers in both novels, leaves you wondering how, why. After finishing the second novel within a few day, I literally said ,"There has to be more", flipping through imaginary pages missing. I did gave you full warning in advance. Intoxicating is a perfect world to describe the novel at the beginning to end. I loved how the book picked up right where is the first cliffhanger was, without missing a beat you will feel like you right there in the same room. In the second novel you will find more in-depth information about each character. For Example Domenico is more of a firecracker then he was in the first one. Which I love seeing both sides of Domenico's full personally. Let me tell you there will be another family member besides Domenico and Massimo that you don't want miss out on. Ask yourself how would an Italian/Polish Christmas work out ? Let me tell you now, not how you think. The biggest twist of the novel is who turns out to be the mastermind behind kidnaping Laura and to be from the most unexpected person from from the first novel would also come full circle between the two novels. I would keep my lips sealed on who it is, you just have to read to find out for yourself! Side note another lovable new character is Nacho in the most wrong way; it's hard explain but you will love him. And you will ask yourself at the end , How many times can one women being so heavily guarded to be kidnapped multiple times?

P.s I don't agree with the reviews of people's perspective of Laura; I think they misread how the author wrote her to be emotionally in the second novel.

A Virgin River Christmas by Robyn Carr

My last book review from last year is A Virgin River Christmas by Robyn Carr that I read for Christmas. Every time I get my hands on A Virgin River novel by Carr, I instantly felt like I am home. It just has a home feel to it like you can relate to every single aspect of the series as if you lived in the same town you grew up in. This one was a special one to fall in love with, I couldn't put down the book and when I did, spent hours thinking about Marcie Sullivan and Ian Buchanan. Their story takes you through their emotions throughout the novel. Two broken souls with a special person ( Bobby Sullivan ) that binds them and their path together in the beginning, in the middle and to the ending of the beginning of them. A love between them was undeniable and they both knew it from the start. Through all the darkness they held between them brought their own light through each other too. Marcie is the type of character we all need in our lives and quite a firecracker of a strong woman. Meaning she knew he was the key factor to her healing, she tracked him, a Marine that didn't want to be found. Ian thought being "Dead" to the world would solve his problems and quiet his mind. And yet he was still himself in small doses without realizing it , He needed Marcie to pulled him back into the light and showed him that Bobby was proud of him to the very end. I think if she didn't get pass out in his outhouse in a middle of a snows storm, they wouldn't have the time they need to heal their missing piece of themselves. I would say the two most important tangible items the flipped the whole novel would be the baseball cards and her unread letters. I would also like to mention when they both got tipsy reading the letters together was a moment I wished I wrote. The was a bit of a tad cliffhanger in my opinion for Carr at the end which has been a first from the author that I have seen. If you never read a novel by Robyn Carr , I highly Recommend if you do. It doesn't matter which one you start with... I promise you will fall in love instantly.

I know this was long over over Due for me to post these book reviews. I hope my own little book reviews would intrigue you to pick one or two them to read this year. And each one of them are quite different in their own way and special. Please let me know which one or all them you picked up to read. Also I am reading another book currently The Stolen Lady by Laura Morelli which is a Historical Fiction based in the World War Two timeline. And that one would be the first book review of 2022. Again I hope you enjoyed these book reviews and more to come! If you haven't read my latest blog post of 2022 , it's linked below.

Love Misread.

The Book of Lost Names Book review

MORE Than a Five STAR Rating !!!!!!

This September month's Book Review is about The book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel. Yes it's another Historical fiction world world two novel. Let me just say I just finished this book and I still feel like I am part of the novel, living the story as my it's my own life in the sense ;maybe a past life. When I say towards the end of the novel it was part of me, I had dreams of living it. I don't know why I did but this novel stuck to me in the best ways, I will try to explain why. Bottom line before I get into it , you need to buy this novel ,end of story!

My very first thought starting the novel Kristin had me within the first few lines and I couldn't even put it down and when I had to my thoughts were about it. I was hooked completely and if you read my last book review, this one blew it out the water instantly. A little heads up there are two timelines through out the novel from May 2005 to back in June 1942 but as reader you barley even notice the changes between the two. Which is bonus in my opinion being such a well written novel. It feel like being right beside Eva Traube as a young graduate student through Eva Traube Abrams in her golden years.

This story is about Eva Traube in her golden years sees her book , The book of Lost Names on the front cover of the New York Times. The book that she risked everything for in her former life sixty- five years ago. And a secret to an answer that haunts her for all these years lies with the pages. Going back in time to rescue not only the book but who she was and when her story began forced out of Paris when her father was arrested. Also becoming a skilled document forger along the way to save the lost children.

"The book I last laid eyes on more than six decades ago.

The book I believed had vanished forever."-The Book of Lost Names

I wish If there was a real book of last names in every "War" in the past, in the present. So those have been lost, have been taken can be remembered. Given back to those who lost them the most. I can highly relate to that and I why I created Misread to never be forgotten. In the world we live now, there are stories that no one knew about war, I am hopeful that maybe someone was creative to do something like for the world to find eventually.

Before the last chapter or towards the ending, I had my own thoughts how she would write the end. And it tossed my thoughts towards the opposite direction because I didn't think she would of went there, its hard to explain. In the last three pages of the novel, I literally shouted, holy( fill in the blank here.) out loud. I had just no words, mind blown on how it finished. I don't even want to give away a word about it , I would spill everything in seconds. I only wish in the reality, could have a love, a story as Remy and Eva have. Kristin Harmel needs to a part two ( An extension) of their story. I need to know more about them as individuals and about their days apart to the days.

And if you were wondering , why this review is a bit short. I meant it to be like I said before I am trying very hard not to spoil one bit of the book because it's such a worthy read. So purchase a copy and see why I kept my book lover mouth shut as much as I could. I need someone that already read the novel so I can spill my thoughts fully .

Best wishes,

Misread.

P.s More is coming , Get Ready ! Prior Blog posts are linked down below.