Not That Fancy

Author: Reba McEntire
Genre: Biography / Cookbook
Publisher: Harper Celebrate, 2023
Pages: 288
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: This book is everything Reba McEntire. With full-color photos, recipes, behind-the-scenes and more, it's perfect for any fan of the country music star, or fans of fascinating life stories in general.

Review: I'm not a fan of this genre, but I do enjoy Reba McEntire's music. I was impressed by some of the recipes she included, and even took photos of a few to make myself. I do not cook. 

I wanted more Reba and less preachy about "how and why I'm so successful," but it was a fun read.

The Incorrigibles

Author: Meredith Jaeger
Genre: Historical Fiction

Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group, 2024
Pages: 368
Rating: Recommend
 

Synopsis: 1890, San Francisco: Seduced by her employer's nephew, Annie Gilmurray, an Irish maid, is accused of stealing the ring he promised her. Sentenced to one year in San Quentin, Annie heartbroken and frightened among the inmates of the women's ward: prostitutes, murderers, and pickpockets. But Annie finds beauty and friendship in a brutal place, where the women look out for one another, dreaming of a better life after release. But their world inside San Quentin's walls is a dangerous one, and when the unthinkable happens, Annie makes a choice that will alter the course of her future forever.

1972, San Francisco: Aspiring photographer Judy Morelli is grappling with the searing betrayal of her husband's infidelity, subletting a San Francisco apartment while she pieces her life back together. When Judy discovers Annie's mugshot, she becomes fascinated and invested not just in Annie's fate but also in the history of her gentrifying South of Market Street neighborhood, joining the fight against redevelopment to maintain its right community.

Review: Dual-timeline novels are hit or miss for me, and when I do like them I generally love the past timeline and could do without the present-day. In this novel, however, I would have preferred a 1970s story from start to finish. I could identify and relate to Judy. Annie's story was difficult to read, and at times, spun its wheels.

Props to whomever came up with this creative and fitting title.

I enjoy Meredith Jaeger's novels, and this was worth the wait.

Other Meredith Jaeger Novels:
Boardwalk Summer
The Dressmaker's Dowry
The Pilot's Daughter

The Maid's Version

Author: Daniel Woodrell
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Little, Brown, and Company, 2014
Pages: 192
Rating: Do Not Recommend

Synopsis: Alma DeGeer Dunahew, the mother of three young boys, works as the maid for a prominent citizen and his family in West Table, Missouri. Her husband is mostly absent, and, in 1929, her scandalous, beloved younger sister is one of the 42 killed in an explosion at the local dance hall. Who is to blame? Mobsters from St. Louis? The embittered local gypsies? The preacher who railed against the loose morals of the waltzing couples? Or could it have been a colossal accident?

Alma thinks she knows the answer - and that its roots lie in a dangerous love affair. Her dogged pursuit of justice makes her an outcast and causes a long-standing rift with her own son. By telling her story to her grandson, she finally gains some solace - and peace for her sister. He is advised to "Tell it. Go on and tell it" - tell the story of his family's struggles, suspicions, secrets, and triumphs.

Review: I found this book browsing the library's shelves, and it sounded interesting. It was definitely interesting, but told from different points-of-view it felt disjointed.

Thin books continue to be a nemesis. I almost always find they take longer to read than longer ones.

The Act of Disappearing

Author: Nathan Gower
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Mira Books, 2024
Pages: 400
Rating: Highly Recommend

Synopsis: Julia White is struggling: her bartending job isn't cutting it and her first book has sold hardly any copies. She's broke, barely able to make ends meet while drowning in her late mother's medical bills and reeling after a one-night stand with her ex-boyfriend, who's now completely ghosted her. Enter Jonathan Aster, world-renowned photographer, with a proposal: he has a never-before-seen photograph of a woman falling from a train bridge, clutching what appears to be a baby. And he wants Julia to research the story.

Alternating between present-day Brooklyn and Kentucky as it enters the 1960s, the story unfolds as Julia races to find answers: Who was the woman in the photographer? Why was she on the bridge? And what happened to the baby? Each detail is more propulsive than the last as Julia unravels the mystery surrounding the Fairchilds of Gray Station and discovers a story more staggering than anything she could have imaged.

Review: I stayed up entirely too late reading, and then woke up early to finish. The story unfolds slowly through alternating timelines, but in such a way that I couldn't stop turning pages. This isn't a novel you've read before with a recycled plot.

The Chilbury Ladies' Choir

Author: Jennifer Ryan
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group, 2017
Pages: 432 (11.5 hours)
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: As England becomes enmeshed in the early days of World War II and the men are away fighting, the women of Chilbury village forge and uncommon bond. They defy the Vicar's stuffy edict to close the choir and instead "carry on singing," resurrecting themselves as the Chilbury Ladies' Choir. We come to know the home-front struggles of five unforgettable choir members: a timid widow devastated when her only son goes to fight; the older daughter of a local scion drawn to a mysterious artist; her younger sister pining over an impossible crush; a Jewish refugee from Czechoslovakia hiding a family secret; and a conniving midwife plotting to outrun her seedy past.

Review: I ran into the library at closing time desperate to choose an audiobook for a two-hour drive to Erie. I grabbed this off the shelf because I had heard good things about it. When I started listening, I thought maybe it was a mistake and I would have enjoyed the print book better, but I gave it a chance and fell in love with it. I loved that music is included at various points to enhance the story.

The author grew up listening to her grandmother's stories about World War II, and pursued a degree in writing to share them. I am so grateful she did.

A Trail So Lonesome

Author: Lacy Williams
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Lacy Williams Books, LLC, 2023
Pages: 274
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: Spending five months eating trail dust wasn't Leo Spencer's first choice. Or his second. He's not one to run away, but some situations can't be fixed and his family - two brothers and a sister - needs to start over. Which is how he finds himself on a westbound wagon train.

Evangeline has a secret, one that has sent her on a journey across the plains on the Oregon Trail. When her father is badly hurt, and she needs help, Leo is there. A deal is struck and the two unlikely friends form and alliance. . .that leads to more.

But Evangeline's secret looms over her, and Leo's family troubles are far from over.

Review: This novel took a bit of time to gain traction and forward momentum, but I enjoyed it. I can't get enough of Oregon Trail stories. I would continue with the series, but my library system doesn't have the second book, Trail of Secrets, so I'll need to see about ordering it.

Note: There is a bonus chapter available at LacyWilliams.com.

Daughter of Mine

Author: Megan Miranda
Genre: Triller
Publisher: S&S / Marysue Rucci Books, 2024
Pages: 368
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: When Hazel Sharp, daughter of Mirror Lake's longtime local detective , unexpectedly inherits her childhood home, she's warily drawn back to the town - and the people - she left behind almost a decade earlier. But Hazel's not the only relic of the past to return: a drought has descended on the region, and as the water level in the lake drops, long-hidden secrets begin to emerge. . .including evidence that may help finally explain the mystery of her mother's disappearance.

Review: This book was just what I needed after reading Kate Quinn's The Briar Club. I love historical fiction, but I needed a change of genre. 

The first chapter sucked me in, and I stayed up way too late reading.

I had meant to read more Megan Miranda novels following All the Missing Girls, and I cannot believe it's been eight years since I read that one. So many books, so little time.

Other Megan Miranda Novels:

All The Missing Girls