Friday, December 18, 2015

Book Review: The Forgotten Room by Karen White, Beatriz Williams, & Lauren Willig




Members of the Vise Library were selected to review The Forgotten Room.  We received a copy of this book for an honest review.






About the book:

New York Times bestselling authors Karen White, Beatriz Williams, and Lauren Willig present a masterful collaboration—a rich, multigenerational novel of love and loss that spans half a century....

1945: When the critically wounded Captain Cooper Ravenal is brought to a private hospital on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, young Dr. Kate Schuyler is drawn into a complex mystery that connects three generations of women in her family to a single extraordinary room in a Gilded Age mansion.

Who is the woman in Captain Ravenel's portrait miniature who looks so much like Kate?  And why is she wearing the ruby pendant handed down to Kate by her mother?  In their pursuit of answers, they find themselves drawn into the turbulent stories of Gilded Age Olive Van Alen, driven from riches to rags, who hired out as a servant in the very house her father designed, and Jazz Age Lucy Young, who came from Brooklyn to Manhattan in pursuit of the father she had never known.  But are Kate and Cooper ready for the secrets that will be revealed in the Forgotten Room? 

The Forgotten Room, set in alternating time periods, is a sumptuous feast of a novel brought to vivid life by three brilliant storytellers.
When I found out that three of my favorite authors were writing a book together, I was totally on board.  The Forgotten Room is a great time period book that spans three generations of women (Olive from the 1890s, Lucy from the 1920s & Kate during WWII) that are somehow all connected (sorry, not telling).  All three women are pushing the boundaries for women during their time and they also find that they have an unexplained deep connection with someone that they meet in the book.  Each women tries to understand some aspect of their past and to set right the wrongs of that past along the way (some characters succeed while others do not).  This is a story of regrets (sometimes having to live with them, sometimes undoing those regrets and sometimes being the cause of them) and how choices set certain events in motion.  This book is heartbreaking at times, but it also gives hope for the future.  Trust in other people and the trust the women have inside themselves is an important aspect of this book as well.  I found that after reading this story I was devastated for certain characters but felt elated for other characters.  You will not be able to walk away from this book unaffected.  However, you realize that because certain unpleasant outcomes happen that there are possibilities for even better experiences.  Even though there are three distinct characters, the three authors write this book in such a way that it is a seamless transition between each story (which author wrote which character???).  You will become invested in each of these characters and try to guess the mystery surrounding the three women.  I sincerely hope these three authors team up again, because this was a fantastic story.  This book will be available for checkout from our Popular Collection when it is released in January.  Make sure you give it a chance and enjoy!
Buy the book:
     Amazon
       Barnes and Noble
      Parnassus Books






About the author Karen White:



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    About the author Beatriz Williams:



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    About the author Lauren Willig:



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Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Fall Reading Challenge: Put a Ring On It by Beth Kendrick #FRC2015




This fall, members of the Vise Library are going back to school by participating in a Fall Reading Challenge. We have received copies of several books from publishers for honest reviews. We hope that you enjoy these reviews (and books)!



The book for our Commitment Crash Course class is Put a Ring on It by Beth Kendrick.


About the book:

The author of New Uses for Old Boyfriends returns to the Delaware seashore town of Black Dog Bay, where one woman learns to put passion before practicality…

Brighton Smith doesn’t do outrageous. As an insurance actuary, it’s her job to assess risk and avoid bad investments. But when her fiancĂ© calls to confess he’s married someone else on a whim (“I looked at her and I just knew!”), she snaps…

That night, at a local bar, Jake Sorensen—hot, rich, and way out of her league—buys Brighton a cocktail. At midnight, she kisses him. And by dawn, they’re exchanging vows at a drive-through chapel.

Brighton knows Jake is a bad bet, but she doesn’t care. After a lifetime of playing it safe, she’s finally having fun. Until the whirlwind romance gives way to painful reality...and Brighton finds out the truth about why a guy like Jake married a girl like her. With her heart on the line and the odds stacked against them, Brighton must decide whether to cut her losses or take a leap of faith that this love affair is one in a million.


Put a Ring on It continues Kendrick's series in Black Dog Bay.  Even if you haven't read the other books, don't let that discourage you: you can easily pick up any of the books.  You do get glimpses of past characters, which is always fun.  This book centers around Brighton, an actuary that memorizes statistics and is following her ten year plan to a capitol T.  Her fiance breaks up with her and she decides flees to Delaware.  She is there visiting a friend and meets Jake, the residential rebound guy.  That same night she gets a call from her (now) ex-fiance that he met someone that day and married the girl.  Brighton is obviously mad and seeks out Jake to get her revenge.  They drink a lot and fly to Vegas for a very impromptu wedding.  So, SURPRISE, they are married now.  Brighton agrees to stay with Jake for two weeks before ending the marriage and returning to her real life.  Brighton tries to uncover a lot of Jake's past, but can't quite figure out why he agreed to marry her or what he is all about.  Eventually, she gets hit with a bomb that is Jake's past.  I won't get into anymore than that, since you need to read it for yourself and bask in the greatness that is this story!  You will love seeing Brighton getting to do something she actually enjoys and seeing the layers of the mysterious Jake unravel.  If you enjoy fun reads, make sure and add this one to your TBR list, you will be so glad that you did! 


Buy the book:
·    Parnassus Books
·        Amazon








About the author:

Author of twelve women's fiction novels, including the Black Dog Bay series and "Nearlyweds," which was turned into a Hallmark Channel original movie. Loves rescue dogs, red wine, and the Chicago Cubs. 

Connect with the author:
·        Facebook
·        Twitter
·       Website

Sunday, December 6, 2015

Book Review: Sword and Verse by Kathy MacMillan





Members of the Vise Library were selected to review Sword and Verse.  We received a copy of Kathy MacMillan's book for an honest review.






About the book:

In a sweeping fantasy that award-winning author Franny Billingsley calls "fascinating and unique," debut author Kathy MacMillan weaves palace intrigue and epic world-building to craft a tale for fans of Rae Carson and Megan Whalen Turner.

Raisa was just a child when she was sold into slavery in the kingdom of Qilara. Before she was taken away, her father had been adamant that she learn to read and write. But where she now lives, literacy is a capital offense for all but the nobility. The written language is closely protected, and only the King, Prince, Tutor, and Tutor-in-training are allowed to learn its very highest form. So when she is plucked from her menial labor and selected to replace the last Tutor-in-training who was executed, Raisa knows that betraying any hint of her past could mean death.

Keeping her secret guarded is hard enough, but the romance that's been blossoming between her and Prince Mati isn't helping matters. Then Raisa is approached by the Resistance--an underground rebel army--to help liberate the city's slaves. She wants to free her people, but that would mean aiding a war against Mati. As Raisa struggles with what to do, she discovers a secret that the Qilarites have been hiding for centuries--one that, if uncovered, could bring the kingdom to its knees.
Sword and Verse is an interesting read that takes you to the Kingdom of Qilara through the eyes of Raisa.  Raisa lives as a slave in a place that does not allow certain people to be read or write (BOOOOOOOOOO).  However, as luck would have it (or not, depending on how you look at it), Raisa finds herself in the only job that allows a slave to read or write: the tutor-in-training.  Her job is not super secure since the last person that held this position was executed for aiding a group of slave rebels.  The Resistance actually approaches her for help and Raisa's world is thrown upside down.  If she does decide to join them she will have to betray Prince Mati (her in secret beau) or betray her kind by not helping them.  I won't give much more away, but Raisa has to learn who to trust and who can earn her trust (throughout the book I kept wondering "is this person or that person good or bad??" keeps you on your toes!)  Raisa learns how to be strong in her own right and how vital it is to do the right thing.  She is clever and is able to bring the unlikeliest of forces together.  As I read this book I felt sorry for everything she experienced, but Raisa never let that keep her down.  This book has a lot of great lessons lurking within the story and I love books like that (especially ones that can apply to everyday life)!  If you enjoy fantasy novels, make sure you check this one out in 2016 when it is released!  It is so much fun and something to get you through the first few weeks of freedom January before the Spring semester starts (our copy will be made available for checkout when it releases, and yes we are open through winter break, yay!).  Also, Kathy MacMillan is a librarian, so how can we not love this book???  

PS if you preorder MacMillan's book you will receive your name written in the language from the book!  Click here for more info!
Buy the book:
     Amazon
       Barnes and Noble
      Parnassus Books





About the author:

Kathy MacMillan is a writer, American Sign Language interpreter, consultant, librarian and signing storyteller. She holds National Interpreter Certification from the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf.  Her diverse career includes working as a children’s librarian at public libraries, working a school librarian at the Maryland School for the Deaf,  leading the Eldersburg Library Bookcart Drill Team, and performing as Scooby-Doo, Velma, and a host of other characters at a theme park.  Kathy presents American Sign Language storytelling programs through her business, Stories By Hand, and also runs the storytime resource website Storytime Stuff.  She is a volunteer director and board president of Deaf Camps, Inc., a nonprofit organization that provides camps for deaf children.  Kathy holds a Master of Library Science from the University of Maryland, a Bachelor of English from the Catholic University of America, and a Certificate of American Sign Language Interpreting from the Community College of Baltimore County. She lives in Owings Mills, MD with her husband, son, and a cat named Pancake.


Connect with the author:
   Twitter
   Website