In the first book in a brilliant new fantasy series, books that aren't finished by their authors reside in the Library of the Unwritten in Hell, and it is up to the Librarian to track down any restless characters who emerge from those unfinished stories.

Many years ago, Claire was named Head Librarian of the Unwritten Wing—a neutral space in Hell where all the stories unfinished by their authors reside. Her job consists mainly of repairing and organizing books, but also of keeping an eye on restless stories that risk materializing as characters and escaping the library. When a Hero escapes from his book and goes in search of his author, Claire must track and capture him with the help of former muse and current assistant Brevity and nervous demon courier Leto.

But what should have been a simple retrieval goes horrifyingly wrong when the terrifyingly angelic Ramiel attacks them, convinced that they hold the Devil's Bible. The text of the Devil's Bible is a powerful weapon in the power struggle between Heaven and Hell, so it falls to the librarians to find a book with the power to reshape the boundaries between Heaven, Hell ... and Earth. (From the Book Blurb)

My thoughts:
When I read the blurb, I knew straightaway I needed to read the book. One of my favourite books ever -Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov- has a famous line: Manuscripts don't burn. The premise of this first book in a new fantasy series echoed Bulgakov's words- somewhere, in a place not governed by earthly laws of logic or order, there exists a library of stories that might or might not find their way into existence..
Claire Hadley is Head Librarian of the Unwritten Wing (there is also another wing called Arcane with its own head supervisor, but more about it later). She has been doing her job for three decades ever since her predecessor disappeared into nowhere. On surface Claire appears to be quite stern, even ruthless. In order to make a restless book character to return to its unwritten story she sometimes has to damage it with surgical precision and zero hesitation. When a nervous teenage demon Leto appears in the library with an order to track an escaped hero who has already made his way to the Earth, Claire knows she has no time to waste. Leto and Claire are given day passes, while Brevity (isn't it a fantastic name for a story like this?), Claire's assistant can leave and come back to the Library in a much more flexible manner. They succeed in tracking the fugitive, who they decide to call simply Hero, but on their way back things get complicated. A fallen angel Ramiel, who has been granted a possibility to enter the Heaven Gates again if he tracks a dark and dangerous artefact, confronts and accuses them of being in the possessession of the object he is searching for. Although Claire and Leto escape, on their return to the Library Claire launches her own investigation and realises she must retrieve the book, otherwise the world of Mortals might be destroyed in the war between Heaven and Hell. To do that she must enlist the help of the Head of the Arcane Wing, her former mentor.
Apart from a very original premise and meandering plot, the book has a great character cast. Claire Hadley, the Librarian, is very humane and willing (and able) to see the best in everybody she meets. In this world, souls judge themselves, so you will wonder why she ended up punishing herself by deciding she needed to pay for her sins by becoming a librarian in Hell ( tenant, not servant- the Library is located in Hell, but is not a part of it). You've got to admire the wit of the author who decided to give her apprentice such a wonderful name - Brevity. Brevity is a former muse and is charming beyond description. There's a lot more to Hero than just a pretty face and bravado. Leto...you have to earn his trust- will Claire succeed in proving herself to this half-demon/lhalf-sulky teenager?
There are twists and turns, traps and betrayals to watch out for. I loved the characters' brief soujourn in Valhalla and Claire's brilliant duel with the local bard, but there are other realms that get explored in this imaginative book. This is an adventure story and a quest, so it will be appreciated by fans of fantasy and paranormal fiction. The twist at the end promises an interesting sequel, where I hope we'll get to know what is hidden in Claire's past as well as finding out more about the Library itself.

Thank you to Edelweiss and Ace (Penguin Publishing Group) for the ARC provided in exchange for an honest opinion.

In New York Times bestselling author Nevada Barr's gripping standalone, a grandmother in her sixties emerges from a mental fog to find she's trapped in her worst nightmare

Rose Dennis wakes up in a hospital gown, her brain in a fog, only to discover that she's been committed to an Alzheimer's Unit in a nursing home. With no memory of how she ended up in this position, Rose is sure that something is very wrong. When she overhears one of the administrators saying about her that she's "not making it through the week," Rose is convinced that if she's to survive, she has to get out of the nursing home. She avoids taking her medication, putting on a show for the aides, then stages her escape.
The only problem is—how does she convince anyone that she's not actually demented? Her relatives were the ones to commit her, all the legal papers were drawn up, the authorities are on the side of the nursing home, and even she isn't sure she sounds completely sane. But any lingering doubt Rose herself might have had is erased when a would-be killer shows up in her house in the middle of the night. Now Rose knows that someone is determined to get rid of her.
With the help of her computer hacker/recluse sister Marion, thirteen-year old granddaughter Mel, and Mel's friend Royal, Rose begins to gather her strength and fight back—to find out who is after her and take back control of her own life. But someone out there is still determined to kill Rose, and they're holding all the cards.
(From the Book blurb)

My thoughts:
What Rose Forgot is an extremely entertaining fast-paced mystery. I fell in love with Rose's dry self-deprecating sense of humour from the very first scene. Rose wakes up in a wood and has no idea how she ended up in the place. has there been an accident? Then why is she wearing a hospital gown,and most importantly, why is she struggling to clear her mind from its foggy state. Two teenage boys find and report Rose to a nursing home nearby and we quickly understand that not everything is as innocent as it seems to be. The orderlies drag the poor lady, the relatives (whose names escape Rose) seem to be really angry, to say nothing of the home managers. Rose cannot remember being committed to this secure unit and she doesn't believe herself demented. Could she have been drugged? Rose pretends to take her medication and the hides her daily dose stash in a drawer of her cabinet. Slowly and painfully, the fog begins to clear away, while she is continuing to behave as if nothing has changed. When she hears two voices saying that she won't last this week, Rose knows her life is in imminent danger and hatches an escape plan.  Once out, Rose can count on very few people, partly because she still doesn't know who exactly wishes her harm to the extent of hiring a hitman, and partly because the kind soul she is, she doesn't want to risk the lives or freedom of people she loves.
The character of Rose is absolutely adorable. I might forget the exact details of this intricate plot, but I definitely won't forget its feisty protagonist, an eccentric artist, a Buddhist and a doting grandmother. Rose and her sidekicks- her recluse sister/ hacker Marion, wonderfully practical and elusive, and Mel, Rose's thirteen year old granddaughter, made an excellent team.
I believe the charm of this book lies in Rose's attitude to the events . The comments and opinions she voices in her head are hilarious. She is both humble and resilient, and won't go down without a good fight.
The pace is really fast and the author makes sure there is never a dull moment. The events are, of course, far-fetched, but the book is well-written and the protagonist is so endearing in all her kookiness, that you will readily suspend your belief and keep turning pages.
The big issues touched in the book- ageism and extended family relationships- are serious and need to be discussed more often. This light and funny read is quite insightful, without losing its entertainment value.
Thank you to Edelweiss and Minotaur/ St.Martin's Press for the ARC provided in exchange for an honest opinion.

From the book blurb:
An unexpected teenage pregnancy pulls together two families from different social classes, and exposes the private hopes, disappointments, and longings that can bind or divide us from each other.

Moving forward and backward in time, Jacqueline Woodson's taut and powerful new novel uncovers the role that history and community have played in the experiences, decisions, and relationships of these families, and in the life of the new child.

As the book opens in 2001, it is the evening of sixteen-year-old Melody's coming of age ceremony in her grandparents' Brooklyn brownstone. Watched lovingly by her relatives and friends, making her entrance to the music of Prince, she wears a special custom-made dress. But the event is not without poignancy. Sixteen years earlier, that very dress was measured and sewn for a different wearer: Melody's mother, for her own ceremony—a celebration that ultimately never took place.

Unfurling the history of Melody's parents and grandparents to show how they all arrived at this moment, Woodson considers not just their ambitions and successes but also the costs, the tolls they've paid for striving to overcome expectations and escape the pull of history. As it explores sexual desire and identity, ambition, gentrification, education, class and status, and the life-altering facts of parenthood, Red at the Bone most strikingly looks at the ways in which young people must so often make long-lasting decisions about their lives—even before they have begun to figure out who they are and what they want to be.

My thoughts:
Lyrical, poignant, powerful, Red at the bone by Jacqueline Woodson will mesmerize you with its spellbinding tale how people from different origins and backgrounds come together, love, create a new life, stay or go their different ways and continue living.
The book begins with a special kind of celebration- it is Melody's sixteenth birthday and her coming of age party. She is wearing a custom made vintage dress, a corset and silk stockings. The dress was sewn and paid for by her maternal grandparents for her mother Iris who never got her chance to wear it, because by the time she would have, she was already pregnant with Melody. As Melody is dancing in abandon with her friends, she is watched by her family. Her mother is wondering how things got so wrong between them. She is remembering how her own mother reacted to the news of the pregnancy, crying and cursing her daughter's foolishness that destroyed the bright future her parents had been hoping for.
Aubrey, Melody's father, was just a teenager himself. He remembers falling in love with Iris and discovering 'what love felt like- a constant ache, an endless need'.  He remembers hs own mother who was so light-skinned, she could pass for a white woman. People even asked her if Aubrey was her foster child. They were very poor, but it takes years for Aubrey even realize that. Above all, Aubrey remembers his mother's words:-'I believe in you, Aubrey. My love. My light. My light.'
Melody's grandparents have their own story. Her grandmother Sabe has been passing the story of the  Tulsa riot/ massacre and the fire that burned her grandparents' businesses and left a scar on her mother's cheek. She grew up with a special kind of philosophy geared towards survival. Her grandfather's lifestory is perhaps much simple, but it is all about love and family.
As we  follow the protagonists' stories, we learn more and more about Melody's family, the love they all give her, their sincerity, and their own search for identity. Starting from Aubrey's mother explanation for their very different looks- 'The black ancesors beat the crap out of the white ones and said, Let this baby on through- through Aubrey's mother helping  pregnant Iris re-kindle her ambition and passion for learning in order to finish her high school and go on to college to Sabe's inner voice 'Rise. Rise. Rise' refusing to let gossips dictate how she and her family should live.
Jacqueline Woodson's writing is exquisitely beautiful and I can see myself reding and re-reading this book again and again. Each character has a unique voice and a unique story to tell. Authentic, emotional, and poetic, Red at the Bone is a little gem of a book that you will keep thinking about long after you have turned the last page.
Thank you to Edelweiss and Riverhead Books for the ARC provided in exchange for an honest opinion.

Set in England, 1879, Bringing Down the Duke is an unusual historical romance. The main character, Annabelle Archer is a daughter of an impoverished country clergyman, which is fairly typical for the genre, but she is also among the first group of female students at Oxford University and is a political activist of the suffragette movement. Her task is to recruit men of power and influence to their cause and this is how she meets Sebastian Devereux, the Duke of Montgomery, her political opposite, who is using his political alliances to bring about more votes for the Tories in the following elections. There is a strong attraction between these two smart and strong-willed characters. However, Sebastian is aware that the bride he needs in order to secure a better position in society is somebody with money, social status and connections, somebody who is very different from the nearly destitute country girl he cannot afford to have any romantic feelings for.

The novel is very engaging and highly entertaining. I am always interested in strong female characters ( the whole series is called: A League of Extraordinary women – how can you resist a subtitle like  this?) and the fact that the story is set against the backdrop of the fight for the rights of women to vote just made it more fascinating for me.

Although the genre of historical romance is not something I often read, I will definitely be looking forward to the next title in this promising new series.

Thank you to Edelweiss and Berkley for the ARC provided in exchange for an honest opinion.

From the book blurb:From the bestselling, multiple prize-shortlisted novelist Catherine Ryan Howard comes an explosive story about a twisted voyeur and a terrible crime...

PLAY
Andrew, the manager of Shanamore Holiday Cottages, watches his only guest via a hidden camera in her room. One night the unthinkable happens: a shadowy figure emerges onscreen, kills her and destroys the camera. But who is the murderer? How did they know about the camera? And how will Andrew live with himself?
PAUSE
Natalie wishes she'd stayed at home as soon as she arrives in the wintry isolation of Shanamore. There's something creepy about the manager. She wants to leave, but she can't - not until she's found what she's looking for...
REWIND
This is an explosive story about a murder caught on camera. You've already missed the start. To get the full picture you must rewind the tape and play it through to the end, no matter how shocking...


















My thoughts:

Natalie O'Connor-Kerr, a lifestyle blogger and a rising Instagram star, a woman with a dream job, dream house in an expensive area of Dublin, and a dream husband, takes a bus to the middle of nowhere, a half-deserted village of Shanamore on the coast. She has a reservation for one of the cottages supervised by a young man Andrew, who immediately gives her if not creeps, at least a strange vibe. Once in her cottage Natalie starts looking through the drawers until she finds a poetry book with a blue cover and an expensive bookplate. You see inside the book there is a dedication 'For my M' in Natalie's handwriting. Natalie has never been to Shanamore and her husband Mike denies ever setting his foot in the place, so how would you explain an entry on Mike's credit card bill that corresponds to a letter with a receipt Natalie found in their mail box. The receipt printed out in Shanamore Cottages.

If you read the blurb, you know what follows. A woman is brutally attacked in one of the cottages and stabbed to death. This gruesome scene is captured on a video by one of the cameras instaled all over the cottage. As the manager watches in horror at what is happening, the killer, wearing a balaclava and black clothes, calmly walks towards the bedstand and switches off the camera. Who could have known Andrew's dirty secret and what is going to happen next?

It is quite difficult to discuss the plot without giving major spoilers. The way the story is narrated is quite original. There are several points of view (at least five, by my count), but the characters are very distinct and get more and more fleshed out as the story progresses. The narrattive is not linear, so we also get flashbacks/rewinds that explain the events and show us why the character ended up leading their life the way they do or why they made this or that particular choice. We also get pause scenes and fast forwards that show the consequences of their actions. All this might sound confusing, but Catherine Ryan Howard's writing skill makes the story hold together in an effortless way.

I was totally fascinated by the characters, both primary and secondary, the victim, the investigators and the villains, every single one of them has their unique voice and is well-developed. Some of them you will like or at least understand/relate to, while the others are really creepy, and no amount of background could make me understand their mentality and their propensities.

As the narrative is quite complicated, it helps that the setting is limited to Dublin and Shanamore. We get a glimpse into what Irish life is like after the downturn of the economy destroyed many illusions nurtured by the phenomenon of the Celtic Tiger. We see it in the description of Audrey, a graduate struggling to keep her badly-paid job in the Entertainment section of an online paper, a 'click factory', and Carla, Natalie's best friend, who feels left behind and a bit bitter towards the people like Natalie, people who found their social media niche and are cashing on it. It does come at a price, of course. We all know that the price is privacy and personal safety, although Mike and Natalie seem to think that the way she posts is going to allow her to keep their family life separate.

If you are like me, you might find yourself thinking about parallels with a few iconic films. Psycho and Memento are just two that spring to my mind. The reason for this is that the writing is smart and full of vivid images, and you have to put all the pieces of the puzzle together to work out the story of the woman on the tape. A clever whodunnit, told in an unusual but compelling way, Rewind will keep you glued to the pages until the end.

Thank you to Edelweiss and Blackstone Publishing for the ARC provided in exchange for an honest opinion.

A marvelous collection of short stories from my favourite authors: Natalia Ginzburg, Italian Calvino, Luigi Pirandello, Giovanni Bernard, Dino Buzzati and many many others. A wide variety of styles and topics to give the reader a glimpse into Italian life and culture beyond what can be seen by even the most curious of tourists..

The authors of these forty stories mostly worked in the twentieth century and thus provide a fascinating background into what the Italian contemporary society is based on. Not surprisingly, the issue of identity - linguistic, geographic, political, cultural- is among the most prominent questions discussed in this collection.

Although most of the writers represented here are among household names in Italy, not all of them are well-known in English speaking countries. My admiration and gratitude for the translators' hard work and love of Italian language with all its rich nuances that helped to create this wonderful book.

Thank you to Edelweiss and the publisher for the ARC provided in exchange for an honest opinion.

It was great to get transported to the world of Salvo Montalbano, his life partner Livia, his colleagues from the Vigata police station: Fazio, Cattarella, Mimi Augello. It always amazes me that Montalbano in the books is older, more tired and perhaps a bit more philosophical than the equally wonderful character created on screen by Luca Zingaretti. Inspector Montalbano series is one of those rare cases where I am in love with both the books and the TV adaptation. What I have always loved about the protagonist is his humanity, immense compassion and hate of hypocrisy. The book opens with the description of waves and waves of migrant boats arriving in Italy.. A political stance? Camilleri never shied away from expressing his views and his sympathy to the plight of the disadvantaged.

 I always look forward to meeting the permanent cast (especially Fazio), but every novel introduces new unforgettable characters. At the centre of this novel is the murder of Elena, a female tailor/seamstress, possessing both beauty and charming personality. The way she was killed with a pair of cloth cutting scissors suggests a crime of passion, and there are several suspects that might have had their reasons to commit this gruesome murder. As usual,  Camilleri's characters turn out to be flawed and complex, and we get to see Inspector Montalbano at work unravelling the mystery against the backdrop of a refugee crisis.

 Camilleri was rightfully considered one of the greatest modern writers  in Italy. His vivid images, masterful use of the Sicilian colloquialisms  (in my opinion Stephen Sartarelli does a great job translating  Camilleri's unique language) and quirky sense of humour make sure  Montalbano mysteries are a treat for the fans of the genre.

Thank you to Edelweiss and Penguin Books for the ARC provided in exchange for an honest opinion.

Publisher: Penguin Books
Publication Date: 3rd September 2019

 
Emily is used to putting other people's needs before her own. She dropped out of college to do two jobs and put her boyfriend through his expensive law school. He was supposed to help her after the graduation, but as soon as he got his new and shiny degree, he decided to break up with her and cancelled their flat lease. As Emily was desperately trying to sort her life out, her older sister April had a car accident and, of course, Emily is only happy to stay in Willow Creek and help out for a few months, until April is able to drive and work again. Emily's niece Caitlin would love to participate in the local Renaissance Faire, an accompanying adult/ volunteer is needed...and this is how Emily takes on the role of a tavern wench for six weeks. She quickly discovers that despite being hard work, this is something that makes her feel competent and appreciated, as well as a part of this friendly little community. She also discovers that the sulky and uptight organiser Simon Graham is very different, once he dons a pirate costume. His character Captain Ian Blackthorne rather likes the tavern wench Emma (Emily's character) to the point of agreeing to undergo a beautifully romantic ceremony of binding, a kind of temporary betrothal for a year and a day after which the couple may decide to part and go their separate ways or...declare a different kind of imtentions.


The book was so much fun. Emily is friendly, hard-working and helpful. She might be at the crossroads with her own future, but rest assured she will work it out. A lovely character, very easy to relate to and root for. Simon..well...If his character of a pirate doesn't do it for you, how about a quiet, responsible, and loyal teacher of English who is willing to woo his girl, and most importantly knows that she deserves to be the most important thing in his life, even if he has to let go of his past and make a lot of changes. The secondary characters are also kind and positive.

I loved the special atmosphere of a small town, where people not only would make casseroles for a neighbour in need, but would also go out of their way to change the schedule of their book club to give you an opportunity to join. If you want to...And if you don't, they won't hold it against you.

The book is charming in the best possible way. The pace is just right- the romance is neither too hurried, nor too slow to develop. It takes time to become a part of a community, but the feeling of belonging is worth it, that's why Emily's story is so great.

Thank you to Edelweiss and Berkley for the ARC provided in exchange for an honest opinion.