Five Book Reading Wrap-up March 2020 With Links to My YouTube Review

(There is an Amazon link to each book.  If you are interested in a bit more information, just click on the link.  I am an Amazon Affiliate.  If you click on the link and buy anything at all, I get a percent of the sale with no cost to you...thanks:-)
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Here is a scale on how I rate my books.

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Book 1 
The Memory Painter
by Gwendolyn Womack

Genre:Fiction, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Science Fiction, Mystery, Romance

Good Reads Rating-3.85/5

336 pages

My rating is 4/5 stars

                                                                  

                                                     

Overview I found on GoodReads

"At once a sweeping love story and a time-travelling adventure, Gwendolyn Womack’s luminous debut novel, The Memory Painter, is perfect for readers of The Time Traveler’s Wife, Life After Life and Winter’s Tale

Bryan Pierce is an internationally famous artist whose paintings have dazzled the world. But there’s a secret to Bryan’s success: every canvas is inspired by an unusually vivid dream. When Bryan awakes, he possesses extraordinary new skills . . . like the ability to speak obscure languages, or an inexplicable genius for chess. All his life, he has wondered if his dreams are recollections—if he is re-experiencing other people’s lives."

My Favorite Quote

“He painted until the hours towered above him, pressing down upon his body 
and begging him to stop.” 
― Gwendolyn Womack, The Memory Painter

My Thoughts Before I Read the Book

What drew me to this book?  The premise that you could travel back in time and whoever you were in that time period you would retain the skills and memory of that person when you returned to the current time.  That could be a wonderful thing.

My Thoughts After I Read the Book

This book follows the Memory Painter Bryan Pierce.  Bryan was an artist and his paintings of historical events felt all too real to those who saw his paintings.  Was he born with the ability to make his paintings so beautiful and alive?  Nope, he traveled back in time and reconnected with the person he was in the past and redeveloped his and skills. 

For some this ability to travel back to a former life seemed to come naturally for others this ability had to be chemically induced.  You will follow those who made it possible for people to chemically travel back to who they used to be.

Historical flashbacks will take you to places and events in 1837 Russia, 1982 and the present day. You will also visit 1782 Japan, The Roman Empire in AD 250, Egypt 10,000BC to name a few.

After making the travel through time and becoming a person of the past you have the benefit of retaining the languages and skills of this past person but you also bring home with you the traumas and emotional pain experienced. You follow the people who have traveled back in time and learn how they connect in the present day.
In reincarnation does the person you were in love with thousands of years ago meet you again in the future?  You will have to read the book to find out.

There is definitely a strong good vs evil component.  There is also a twist at the end.

This book received mixed reviews. The flow of the writing makes it an easy read.  The chapters are short which I like. At times some of the history was a bit tedious but for the most part, it is a good read.  

How can you go wrong with a love interest, good and evil battling across the centuries, reincarnation, and a good solid twist? The character development was such that I cared about the main characters and felt the pain of many of those from the past. Fun book.

My Final Thought

I came away with a greater knowledge of some historical events.  I would call it tidbits from a past time because it did not go into any in-depth historical descriptions.  

If I could go back in time and develop a skill it would be a musical one.  When I was on the praise team playing the keyboard and singing I realized it was my passion.  I could practice for literally hours and it seems like only minutes.  I was not exceptional in either skill but I was acceptable.  So, I would travel back in time to become amazing on the piano and maybe the violin and improve my alto abilities.  Everyone I would meet on my time travels would be happy and thus I would have no emotional side effects when I returned home.

Movie

I could not find anything about a movie related to this book.  I think it would make a great movie.
Here is a link to the book trailer...

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Book 2

Moon Over Manifest

by 

Clare Vanderpool

Genre-Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Fiction, Children's Middle Grade

4.03 stars on Goodreads out of 5 stars
I would give this book 3/5

                                                                   

                                                         

Overview From the Book Jacket

"Abilene Tucker feels abandoned. Her father has put her on a train, sending her off to live with an old friend for the summer while he works a railroad job. Armed only with a few possessions and her list of universals, Abilene jumps off the train in Manifest, Kansas, aiming to learn about the boy her father once was.
Having heard stories about Manifest, Abilene is disappointed to find that it’s just a dried-up, worn-out old town. But her disappointment quickly turns to excitement when she discovers a hidden cigar box full of mementos, including some old letters that mention a spy known as the Rattler. These mysterious letters send Abilene and her new friends, Lettie and Ruthanne, on an honest-to-goodness spy hunt, even though they are warned to “Leave Well Enough Alone.”

Quote 

“But I wondered. Maybe the world wasn't made of universals that could be summed up in neat little packages. Maybe there were just people. People who were tired and hurt and lonely and kind in there own way and their own time.” 

My Thoughts Before Reading the Book

I liked the cover with the young girl on the railroad track in her overalls.   The photo brought back memories of a younger me spending much of my time on outdoor adventures on hot summer days. After reading the overview on the cover I was interested to find out about her summer adventures.

My Thoughts After Reading the Book

This historical fiction novel follows Abilene Tucker a 12-year-old girl who is sent to Manifest Kansas by her father to spend the summer.  She stays with a man named Shady whom I really liked although at times he did seem a bit shady but in a good way. Shady was a pastor of sorts and I loved his interaction with the community and with Abilene.

This story is told from parallel timelines 1918 and 1936. Abilene spends her time in Manifest with newfound friends searching out the history of the town and her father's relationship to the town.

Abilene meets some interesting characters such as a Hungarian fortune teller,  and a newspaper editor, and others who shape her time spent in this small Kansas town. She gets very close to many of these characters and you learn of their history, their joys, and sorrows.

Historically many events are touched upon like WWI, The Spanish flu pandemic, the Great Depression, and the KKK.

The book is sweet in many ways but also sadly slow at times. The writing did seem to lose it's smooth flow a bit toward the end and I found myself skimming which I tend to do if I get bored or confused or when the storyline feels disjointed and hard to follow. 

I did care about the characters and found the history interesting.  I loved the backstories of many of the people that Abeline met. I liked how it is shown how history affects people's lives in the future and how everything is connected.  Overall an "ok" book that I gave 3/5 stars.

Moral of the Story

Don't judge a person right away.  Give it time.
What you see initially on the surface may hide the truth of what is really inside

Is there a Movie?

No, as of yet, I could not find anything about a movie but I found a book trailer....

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Book 3

"Lying in Wait"

Liz Nugent

Genre-Thriller, Mystery, Fiction, Suspense, Crime

3.81stars on Goodreads out of 5 stars
I gave this book a 3/5

From the Book Jacket

"On the surface, Lydia Fitzsimons's life seems idyllic. Her husband, Andrew, is a prosperous, respected judge; they live in the spacious, comfortable, well-appointed house where she was raised. And she is utterly, obsessively devoted to her son, Laurence—her adored only child, her pride and joy.
But Andrew's murder of Annie Doyle, accidental or not, sets into motion a dark downward spiral. It doesn’t take long for Laurence to suspect that something is very, very wrong in the Fitzsimons household—and he is determined to discover the truth."

Quote

I don't have a favorite quote although the one listed below sucks you into wanting to read the book.

My Thoughts Before I Read the Book

It sounds like a good murder mystery that got good reviews on Book Tube channels.  With that in mind, I thought it would make a good read.  Before I started I knew I did not like the wife in the story because of this quote
"My husband did not mean to kill Annie Doyle, but the lying tramp deserved it." Yikes!

My Thoughts After Reading the Book

This book begins with a murder. You know from the start who the murder/murders are. This book is set in 1980's Dublin.  You have a respected judge named Andrew, his wife Lydia, and their son Laurence at the forefront of the story.  And then you have Annie the girl who was murdered and her sister Karen who is searching for Annie because she has gone missing and no one knows why.
The mother and son relationship in the story is a bit disturbing but adds to the tension of this story as does the relationship between Andrew and Lydia.
What can you expect from this book?  A psychopath, a murderer, lies, an extremely dysfunctional family, a family desperate to find their daughter and other not so "normal" relationships along the way. 

Moral of the Story

             Never assume a family is perfect just because they look perfect on the outside.

Is there a movie?

I could not find anything about a movie based on this book.  There was a movie that came out with this title that came out in 2001 but it is not related to this book.  I could not find a book trailer.

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Book 4

"The Winters"

by Lisa Gabriele

Genre-Thriller, Fiction, Mystery, Suspense, Retellings (of Rebecca)

3.67 stars on GoodReads out of 5 stars.
I gave this one 4/5 stars.

                                                              

                                                               

Overview From the Book Jacket,

"After a whirlwind romance, a young woman returns to the opulent, secluded Long Island mansion of her new fiancé Max Winter—a wealthy politician and recent widower—and a life of luxury she’s never known. But all is not as it appears at the Asherley estate. The house is steeped in the memory of Max’s beautiful first wife Rebekah, who haunts the young woman’s imagination and feeds her uncertainties, while his very alive teenage daughter Dani makes her life a living hell. She soon realizes there is no clear place for her in this twisted little family.

As the soon-to-be second Mrs. Winter grows more in love with Max, and more afraid of Dani, she is drawn deeper into the family’s dark secrets—the kind of secrets that could kill her, too. The Winters is a riveting story about what happens when a family’s ghosts resurface and threaten to upend everything."

Quote

“But I had done this to myself. I had invited her in. In my darkest days, I sometimes had to remind myself that it started here, in that moment, and that it wasn’t Rebekah who came after me. I was the one who went looking for her.” 

My Thoughts Before I Read the Book

I did not select this book it came to me in a book subscription box called The Book Drop. This is one subscription box that I really enjoy.  I have liked every book they have sent me.
All I knew before starting the book was what I read on the book jacket and that it was a re-telling of the book Rebecca.

My Thoughts After Reading the Book

A struggling young woman stuck in a job that she did not like meets an older rich man named Max who appears to have fallen in love with her.  A fairy tale right?  Wrong.
I did not realize until I was far into the book that the female protagonist does not have a name.  I guess that pretty much sums up her importance in this relationship. So our unnamed young woman meets Max and is swept off her feet in love.  She will be whisked away to his sprawling mansion called Asherly.  All of her problems should be over now that she has been rescued from her dire circumstances but sadly this is not the case.  'Unnamed' will have to deal with an extremely difficult daughter named Dani, a lover and soon to be a husband that she thinks she knows, and of course, she has to compete with Max's dead wife Rebecca.
I enjoyed this book although many who loved the book Rebecca would not agree.  Although slow at times it kept its element of mystery throughout the book and had an interesting twist at the end.
I have bought the book Rebecca and I will be reading it soon and hope to compare the two books.

Moral of the story

Sometimes things are just too good to be true.

Is there a movie?

There is not a movie that I could find related to this book.
I could not find a book trailer either.

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Book 5 

"Silent Hearts"

by Gwen Florio

Genre-Fiction, Contemporary, Cultural, Adult Fiction 

3.96 stars on Goodreads out of 5 stars
I have to give this book 4/5

                                                                

Quote from GoodReads

"For fans of A Thousand Splendid Suns, “a rich, haunting, immersive story of cultures at the crossroads” (Jamie Ford, bestselling author of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet) that follows two women in Afghanistan—an American aid worker and her local interpreter—as they form an unexpected friendship despite their utterly different life experiences and the ever-increasing violence in Kabul." ​

Quote

I do not have a quote that stood out to me.

My thoughts Before I Read the Book

I did not select this book I received it through a subscription book box called The Book Drop.

Once I received the book I was intrigued by the beautiful cover and the relationship between two women from two different worlds.

My Thoughts After Reading the Book

This story begins post the 9/11 terrorist attack in America.  You will follow two families with two different perspectives.  Liv and her 'awful' husband Martain who travel to Afghanistan supposedly to help suppressed women in that country and Farida and her family who live under Taliban law in Afghanistan.  Farida is an interpreter for the Americans on this mission.  A friendship develops between the two women and through this friendship Liv finds herself in love with the country and the women she comes in contact with.

In this book, you will find arranged marriages, differing cultures with respect to the treatment of women and of course violence.  You will find love and respect and the extreme opposite of that.   You will also meet a bunch of crappy men from both cultures with little morals or virtues, I did not like any of them.

Luckily you will also meet some lovely people doing their best in a difficult time.

This is a beautifully written book that takes place predominantly in war-torn Afghanistan. 

My question after reading the book.

Why are the men in this book so awful?

Is there a movie?

I could not find anything in regard to a movie on this book neither could I find a book trailer.

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Check out my YouTube Video below

I would love to know what you are reading.  If you have read any of the above books did you enjoy them?  Drop me a note in the comment box.

Take care and happy reading!

KathieyV:-)