Susan's bookshelf: all en-US Sun, 24 Jun 2018 20:25:34 -0700 60 Susan's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg Beneath a Scarlet Sky 33143055 Alternate cover edition of ASIN B01L1CEZ6K

Based on the true story of a forgotten hero, Beneath a Scarlet Sky is the triumphant, epic tale of one young man’s incredible courage and resilience during one of history’s darkest hours.

Pino Lella wants nothing to do with the war or the Nazis. He’s a normal Italian teenager—obsessed with music, food, and girls—but his days of innocence are numbered. When his family home in Milan is destroyed by Allied bombs, Pino joins an underground railroad helping Jews escape over the Alps, and falls for Anna, a beautiful widow six years his senior.

In an attempt to protect him, Pino’s parents force him to enlist as a German soldier—a move they think will keep him out of combat. But after Pino is injured, he is recruited at the tender age of eighteen to become the personal driver for Adolf Hitler’s left hand in Italy, General Hans Leyers, one of the Third Reich’s most mysterious and powerful commanders.

Now, with the opportunity to spy for the Allies inside the German High Command, Pino endures the horrors of the war and the Nazi occupation by fighting in secret, his courage bolstered by his love for Anna and for the life he dreams they will one day share.

Fans of All the Light We Cannot See, The Nightingale, and Unbroken will enjoy this riveting saga of history, suspense, and love.

]]> 526 Mark T. Sullivan Susan 0 to-read 4.58 2017 Beneath a Scarlet Sky
author: Mark T. Sullivan
name: Susan
average rating: 4.58
book published: 2017
rating: 0
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date added: 2018/06/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[With You Always (Orphan Train, #1)]]> 32497018 359 Jody Hedlund 0764218042 Susan 0 to-read 4.14 With You Always (Orphan Train, #1)
author: Jody Hedlund
name: Susan
average rating: 4.14
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2018/06/24
shelves: to-read
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]]> Before We Were Yours 32148570 Memphis, 1939. Twelve-year-old Rill Foss and her four younger siblings live a magical life aboard their family’s Mississippi River shantyboat. But when their father must rush their mother to the hospital one stormy night, Rill is left in charge—until strangers arrive in force. Wrenched from all that is familiar and thrown into a Tennessee Children’s Home Society orphanage, the Foss children are assured that they will soon be returned to their parents—but they quickly realize the dark truth. At the mercy of the facility’s cruel director, Rill fights to keep her sisters and brother together in a world of danger and uncertainty.

Aiken, South Carolina, present day. Born into wealth and privilege, Avery Stafford seems to have it all: a successful career as a federal prosecutor, a handsome fiancé, and a lavish wedding on the horizon. But when Avery returns home to help her father weather a health crisis, a chance encounter leaves her with uncomfortable questions and compels her to take a journey through her family’s long-hidden history, on a path that will ultimately lead either to devastation or to redemption.

Based on one of America’s most notorious real-life scandals—in which Georgia Tann, director of a Memphis-based adoption organization, kidnapped and sold poor children to wealthy families all over the country—Lisa Wingate’s riveting, wrenching, and ultimately uplifting tale reminds us how, even though the paths we take can lead to many places, the heart never forgets where we belong.]]> 342 Lisa Wingate 0425284689 Susan 5 4.38 2017 Before We Were Yours
author: Lisa Wingate
name: Susan
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2017
rating: 5
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date added: 2018/06/24
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]]> <![CDATA[Analysis: Before We Were Yours: By Lisa Wingate, a South Carolina Lawyer, Researching Her Grandmother's Past, Learns about a Tennessee Orphanage That Kidnapped Children and Placed Them for Adoption with Wealthy People. Based on a Real-Life Scandal.]]> 36715334 James Zimmerhoff 1978261055 Susan 4 4.00 Analysis: Before We Were Yours: By Lisa Wingate, a South Carolina Lawyer, Researching Her Grandmother's Past, Learns about a Tennessee Orphanage That Kidnapped Children and Placed Them for Adoption with Wealthy People. Based on a Real-Life Scandal.
author: James Zimmerhoff
name: Susan
average rating: 4.00
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2018/06/13
date added: 2018/06/13
shelves:
review:
I am a voracious consumer of historical fiction and was glad to stumble upon this book. There are several good books focused on facts and interviews with a few of the 10s of 1000s affected that are well worth a careful read and sober reflection. I have not found a compelling whole book that is a memoir and would imagine many were taken and "adopted" so young they have no memory and for those as old as our character Rill, the story is simply too painful to recount and also worry for the loving families some found. This is where a novel from a first-person perspective can bring out not only the horrid evil, but also shine a light where many readers may not otherwise choose to go. I read this in one evening and it was well-worth every sleep-depriving minute! I wanted every chapter to go into more detail and lengthen the tale even more. Excellent!!!!
]]> <![CDATA[Love and Other Consolation Prizes]]> 36978935
“An evocative, heartfelt, beautifully crafted story that shines a light on a fascinating, tragic bit of forgotten history.”—Kristin Hannah, author ofĚý The Nightingale

For twelve-year-old Ernest Young, a charity student at a boarding school, the chance to go to the World’s Fair feels like a gift. But only once he’s there, amid the exotic exhibits, fireworks, and Ferris wheels, does he discover that he is the one who is actually the prize. The half-Chinese orphan is astounded to learn he will be raffled off—a healthy boy “to a good home.”

The winning ticket belongs to the flamboyant madam of a high-class brothel, famous for educating her girls. There, Ernest becomes the new houseboy and befriends Maisie, the madam’s precocious daughter, and a bold scullery maid named Fahn. Their friendship and affection form the first real family Ernest has ever known—and against all odds, this new sporting life gives him the sense of home he’s always desired.

But as the grande dame succumbs to an occupational hazard and their world of finery begins to crumble, all three must grapple with hope, ambition, and first love.

Fifty years later, in the shadow of Seattle’s second World’s Fair, Ernest struggles to help his ailing wife reconcile who she once was with who she wanted to be, while trying to keep family secrets hidden from their grown-up daughters.

Against a rich backdrop of post-Victorian vice, suffrage, and celebration, Love and Other Consolations is an enchanting tale about innocence and devotion—in a world where everything, and everyone, is for sale.

Praise for Love and Other Consolation Prizes

“Exciting . . . [Jamie] Ford captures the thrill of first kisses and the shock of revealing long-hidden affairs.” — Kirkus Reviews
Ěý
“Strong . . . A laudable effort that shines light on little known histories.”— Library Journal
Ěý
“Poignant . . . Vibrantly rendered.” — Booklist
ĚýĚý
“Combining rich narrative and literary qualities, the book achieves a multi-faceted emotional resonance. It is by turns heart-rending, tragic, disturbing, sanguine, warm, and life-affirming. Perceptive themes that run throughout culminate at the end. A true story from the 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition inspired this very absorbing and moving novel. Highly recommended.” — Historical Novel Society (Editors’ choice)

“Ford is a master at shining light into dark, forgotten corners of history and revealing the most unexpected and relatable human threads. . . . A beautiful and enthralling story of resilience and the many permutations of love.” —Jessica Shattuck, author ofĚý The Women in the Castle

“All the charm and heartbreak of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet . . .Ěý Based on a true story, Love and Other Consolation Prizes will warm your soul.” —Martha Hall Kelly, author of Lilac Girls]]> 336 Jamie Ford 0804176779 Susan 0 to-read 3.87 2017 Love and Other Consolation Prizes
author: Jamie Ford
name: Susan
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2017
rating: 0
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date added: 2018/06/13
shelves: to-read
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]]> The Fault in Our Stars 11870085
Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw, The Fault in Our Stars is award-winning author John Green's most ambitious and heartbreaking work yet, brilliantly exploring the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love.]]> 313 John Green Susan 0 to-read 4.13 2012 The Fault in Our Stars
author: John Green
name: Susan
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2012
rating: 0
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date added: 2018/06/13
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]]> The Map of Salt and Stars 36373417
Novecientos años atrás, Rawiya, otra joven de dieciséis años, emprende también un viaje en busca de fortuna que la lleva a través del mundo junto a un cartógrafo decidido a crear un mapamundi.]]> 360 Zeyn Joukhadar 1501169033 Susan 0 to-read 3.90 2018 The Map of Salt and Stars
author: Zeyn Joukhadar
name: Susan
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2018
rating: 0
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date added: 2018/06/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Legendary (Caraval, #2) 36329818
After being swept up in the magical world of Caraval, Donatella Dragna has finally escaped her father and saved her sister, Scarlett, from a disastrous arranged marriage. The girls should be celebrating, but Tella isn’t yet free. She made a desperate bargain with a mysterious criminal, and what Tella owes him no one has ever been able to deliver: Caraval Master Legend’s true name.

The only chance of uncovering Legend’s identity is to win Caraval, so Tella throws herself into the legendary competition once more—and into the path of the murderous heir to the throne, a doomed love story, and a web of secrets…including her sister's. Caraval has always demanded bravery, cunning, and sacrifice, but now the game is asking for more. If Tella can’t fulfill her bargain and deliver Legend’s name, she’ll lose everything she cares about—maybe even her life. But if she wins, Legend and Caraval will be destroyed forever...

Welcome, welcome to Caraval . . . the games have only just begun.]]> 451 Stephanie Garber 125009531X Susan 0 to-read 4.11 2018 Legendary (Caraval, #2)
author: Stephanie Garber
name: Susan
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2018
rating: 0
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date added: 2018/06/13
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]]> The End of the Affair 29641 "A story has no beginning or end: arbitrarily one chooses a moment of experience from which to look ahead..."

"This is a record of hate far more than of love," writes Maurice Bendrix in the opening passages of The End of the Affair, and it is a strange hate indeed that compels him to set down the retrospective account of his adulterous affair with Sarah Miles.

Now, a year after Sarah's death, Bendrix seeks to exorcise the persistence of his passion by retracing its course from obsessive love to love-hate. At first, he believes he hates Sarah and her husband, Henry. Yet as he delves deeper into his emotional outlook, Bendrix's hatred shifts to the God he feels has broken his life, but whose existence at last comes to recognize.]]> 160 Graham Greene Susan 0 to-read 3.91 1951 The End of the Affair
author: Graham Greene
name: Susan
average rating: 3.91
book published: 1951
rating: 0
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date added: 2016/11/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>