Recipes and Books
{Book Review}
The Starless Sea
By Erin Morgenstern
One day, Zachary Ezra Rawlins takes a book out of the library… and suddenly finds himself reading about a moment from his childhood – a moment when he stands before a painted door and chooses not to open it. That library book changes the trajectory of his life. Why was he in this book? What did it mean?
{Book Review}
The Paris Architect
By Charles Belfoure
Lucien Bernard is a struggling architect. Germany occupies France, and work was scarce. Then one day Bernard is offered a job – he is to create a hiding place for a Jew. In return, not only will he earn a handsome some of money but he’ll also be granted a commission to build a factory. Bernard debates the offer – holding no affinity for Jews but intrigued by the money, the idea of outwitting the Nazis, and the promise of a job that could make him famous some day, so he accepts.
That decision will not only change his future, but alter his way of thinking in a manner he never thought possible.
{Book Review}
The Last Romantics
By Tara Conklin
The Last Romantics is a story “about love, true love. Imperfect, wretched, weak love….” (p. 352) It is the story of 4 siblings – Renee, Caroline, Joe, and Fiona Skinner – who grew up with a difficult childhood, marked by tragedy. Their father dies; their mother withdraws for years in a period the children call The Pause, during which, they fend for themselves. But they all get through it and grow up, each seeking love and companionship, and each finding that in their own unique way. But like their childhood, the siblings’ early adulthood years are marked by tragedy – the death of Joe. For the sisters, The Pause and Joe’s Death would be defining moments in their lives, up until the end.
{Book Review}
My Dear Hamilton: A Novel of Eliza Schuyler Hamilton
By: Stephanie Dray & Laura Kamoie
Eliza Schuyler Hamilton may have been the wife of one of our nation’s Founding Fathers, but she was a formidable woman in her own right. She had a front line seat to the American Revolution, the creation of our government, and the creation of a united nation. If that’s not enough, she was faced her husband’s infidelity and as a result, was a victim of the nation’s first sex scandal. She struggled with loss after loss; she coped with mental illness hitting close to home at a time when those with “disordered minds” were immediately instituted; she fought to keep her family close and safe. She protected her family close and throughout her life, continued to rebound to fight for the new nation and her morals – to include a dedication to both her husband’s memory as well as equality and charity work.
{Book Review}
The Tattooist of Auschwitz
By Heather Morris
What would you do to survive in a Nazi concentration camp? When Slovakian Jew Lale Sokolov ends up in Auschwitz-Birkenau, he swears that some day, he’ll walk free. Lale is smart, cunning, determined, and seems to have a way with people.