Recent Reads - Bridges

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Bridges by Linda Griffin - Neil, a middle-aged chauffeur, and Mary Claire, a blind college student, have little in common when they meet, but they both love books and Mary Claire finds Neil an ally in her grandfather's household. Mary Claire and Neil don't even share similar faith as he claims to be an atheist and she is a devout Catholic. She has been summoned from her college to be with her grandfather during his final hours.  Mary Claire's aunt, who has been running the grandfather's household, is rude and condescending and bullies Mary Claire, and Neil wants to protect her. Mary Claire appreciates that Neil always treats her with respect and recognizes that she is intelligent and capable.

When the grandfather's will is read, he leaves his mansion and most of his wealth to Mary Claire . . . with two provisions. She must allow Aunt Edna to live at the mansion, and she must marry within a year and stay married. If she does not, everything will go to the state. Mary Claire has no desire to be married, and has trouble standing up to her aunt, and frequently talks to Neil about her dilemma. When Aunt Edna insists on arranging a marriage to a man Mary Claire can't stand, she finally pushes back, refusing her aunt's choice, and instead she arranges a marriage of convenience to Neil so that Mary Claire can keep the house and continue to employ all the servants.

What neither of them expects is that they could learn to truly love each other. And if they act on that love, what will it mean for their friendship and for their other relationships?

While this short novel tells an intriguing and sweet May-December love story, the narration is spare and the relationship moves very quickly from respectful distance to trusted confidantes. The dialogue moves the story along effectively, but given that this is a shorter story I had a sense that the characters lacked some dimension. Neil is the viewpoint character and it's through his perspective that we see how Mary Claire matures, and how Neil grapples with his changing attitude towards her. He struggles with the idea that he could be romantically involved with a girl so much younger, but doesn't seem to give much thought to any other personal dilemmas. Aunt Edna's role is rather like a stereotypical wicked stepmother, and other supporting characters are little more than names on the page. Overall, I enjoyed this story as a quick read with a new twist on the marriage of convenience theme, and I liked that the ending was left somewhat open as to how Neil had come to terms with himself and his choices.

From the Publisher:

In 1963, Neil Vincent, a middle-aged World War II veteran and "Christian atheist," is working at Westfield Court as a chauffeur. He spends most of his spare time reading.

Mary Claire DeWinter is a young, blind, Catholic college student and reluctant heiress. To secure her inheritance, she has to marry within a year, and her aunt is pressuring her to marry a rich man who teased and bullied her when she was a child.

Neil and Mary Claire shouldn't even be friends, but the gulf between them is bridged by a shared love of books. Can they cross the bridge to more?

I received a digital copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This book features an inheritance (#2) for The 52 Book Club's 2023 Reading Challenge

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©2008-2023 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/ 

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Recent Reads - It Happened In Ohio

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It Happened In Ohio by Carol Cartaino - On my very first trip to my local library here in my new home state of Ohio, I wandered up and down several shelves, including the section where one would find books on the history of the state. I picked up this easy-to-read overview of many of the events and people that have been important in Ohio's history.

Author Cartaino is herself a transplant to the state, having lived here since 1978. She admits in the Introduction that she knew very little about Ohio when she first arrived, and even "wondered . . . whether you could take a state with only four letters in its name seriously". Her research and the years spent here getting to know Ohio personally combine in the book with brief history lessons presented almost like a series of short stories. The history starts with a discussion of the Serpent Mound and other similar sites attributed to ancient Indians, and then jumps forward to the time of the French and Indian War. From there the stories march through Ohio's history touching on armed conflicts, founding of towns, westward migration, crime stories, and student and worker protests of various types. Sprinkled throughout are one-page biographies of famous Ohioans including Ulysses S. Grant, Jesse Owens, Paul Newman, and Erma Bombeck. 

When I was partway through the informative book, I began to bemoan the lack of a map so I could see where all the historic sites are in relation to where I live. And then discovered, there is indeed a map in the front matter, but on the back side of one of the Table of Contents page, which is why I initially missed it. I would have appreciated a summary of museums and other sites that can be visited today, as that would save much of the guesswork. Overall, an interesting history in short chapters, all presented in a conversational and unbiased tone.

This title starts with the letter I (#5) for The 52 Book Club's 2023 Reading Challenge

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 ©2008-2023 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/ 

 We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Scripture and a Snapshot - One Body With Many Members

For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

~Romans 12:4-8~

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 We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Friday Fun - The Friday 56 and First Lines for January 20, 2023

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Usually I'm not drawn to novels set during WWII, or during the twentieth century in general, but this one intrigued me when it was offered for review. I'm just getting started. 

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I thought this would be a fun adventure, but I'm having second thoughts. All I know is that I can't run home and admit to Mom and Jay that they were right and that I was crazy for wanting to come here. I may not find out anything about where I came from and who my ancestors were. I may not find out anything about what it means to be Jewish.

~from page 56 of What I Would Tell You by Liz Tolsma

Determined to resist the invading Nazis, a Greek Jewish woman's greatest dream has become her worst nightmare, and now she faces an impossible choice whose consequences echo across the generations.

1941 - The pounding of Nazi boots on the streets of Salonika, Greece, reverberates in Mathilda Nissim's ears, shaking her large community of Sephardic Jews to its core and altering her life forever. If only her people would rise up and resist their captors. At great risk to herself and those around her, she uses the small newspaper she publishes to call them to action, all to no avail. Her husband encourages her to trust God to watch over them, but God has once again deserted His people. Amid the chaos, Mathilda discovers she's expecting a longed-for child. Still, nothing stops the occupier's noose from tightening around their necks, and she may have to resort to desperate measures to ensure her daughter's survival.

2019 - College student Tessa Payton and her cousin take a popular DNA heritage test only to discover they don't share any common ancestors. In fat, the test reveals Tessa is a Greek Sephardic Jew. This revelation threatens her tenuous faith. Always the overlooked child in her family, she empties her savings account and jets off on a journey to Greece to discover where she belongs and which God demands her allegiance. The enchanting curator at the Jewish museum guides her as she navigates life in Thessaloniki, helps her with her genealogical research, and loans her a fascinating journal written by a Jewish woman during WWII. Tessa's search, however, may open old wounds and uncover long-hidden secrets that could fracture her family forever and leave her with more question than when she started.

Based in part on true accounts of Jews in Salonika, Greece, What I Would Tell You traces two women's journeys, delving into what faith looks like and where it leads us as they navigate difficult circumstances and impossible choices that have ripple effects across the years.

The Friday 56 is hosted at Freda's Voice

*Grab a book, any book.

*Turn to Page 56 or 56% on your e-reader.

*Find a snippet, short and sweet.

*Post it, and share in the Linky.

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Sunday, April 6, 1941

Salonika, Greece

This is the day I dreaded, the day I feared might come, the day I prayed never would. Greece will never be the same. Will the Nazis treat the Jews here the same way they are treating them in Poland and in Czechoslovakia?

~From the beginning of What I Would Tell You by Liz Tolsma

Book Beginnings on Fridays is hosted by Rose City Reader.

*It's Book Beginnings on Fridays! Time to gather with our fellow book lovers and share the opening sentence (or so) of the books we are reading this week. Or share from a book that is on your mind right now -- whatever catches your fancy.

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First Line Fridays is hosted at Reading is My SuperPower

*Share the first line or two of the book closest to you, then visit other FLF participants.

*Please keep posts family friendly or clean reads.

*Link back to Reading is My SuperPower within your post or grab a button.

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And here is the weekly bookish question in the Book Blogger Hop, hosted by Billy at Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer.  

This Week's Question: Do you use social media to keep up with your favorite authors?

My Answer: I do follow several of my favorites on Facebook and a couple on Instagram. I don't interact directly with them very often though. 

Book Blogger Hop

 ©2008-2023 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/ 

 We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Recent Reads - The Wendy

This post contains affiliate links - using affiliate links from Just A Second helps supply books and coffee. 

The Wendy by Erin Michelle Sky and Steven Brown - In this reimagined version of the tale of Peter Pan, Wendy Darling is the adventurous protagonist, and many of the familiar characters from the classic make appearances in slightly different - yet recognizable - roles.

Wendy is an orphan in London in 1789, and more than anything else she wants to be a ship's captain. Despite her intelligence, determination, and aptitude for science and swordplay alike, she is ridiculed by her peers and dismissed as a silly girl. She is fortunate enough to find a seasoned sailor who is willing to teach her and prepare her for the Navy, but when the time and opportunity comes she doesn't win a posting in the Navy after all. She is recruited for a secret mission and finds herself at a lonely post in Dover studying and watching for any sign of the greatest threat to England - magic! Magic in the form of the "everlost" beings who are kidnapping children from the streets of London.

With the help of new friends Michael and John, and the faithful dog Nana, Wendy does indeed sniff out the arrival of magical forces in Dover, and confronts the everlost. Surprisingly, the leader of the everlost, who calls himself Peter Pan, seems willing to negotiate with Wendy and even wants to win her favor. When Wendy submits her report to the Home Office, she is summoned to meet with the formidable Captain Hook and hopes she can impress him with her military skills and earn a spot on the crew of his ship in order to continue the hunt for the everlost.

Unfortunately for Wendy, Hook is arrogant and erratic, and wants only to destroy Peter Pan and his kind. He doesn't listen to Wendy, and tries to keep her safely imprisoned at his country estate, believing that she will eventually give him more information about Pan's whereabouts.

This very well-written retelling does an excellent job of making Wendy the hero of the story, and although written for a modern Young Adult audience, the style seems like it could have been written alongside J.M. Barrie's work. The presence of magical elements such as fairies and flying ships and the everlost boys that cannot be killed puts this firmly in fantasy territory, yet the historical research was thorough enough that the story has a historical setting feel. There are hints of romantic feelings, and all the main characters are young adults, with all the young men wanting Wendy's attention in some way, but Wendy is focused on her mission and quite innocent of how they are attracted to her. In a sense, this story is Wendy's coming-of-age tale, with a conclusion that is satisfying while also leading inevitably to the sequel.

This is a book about secrets (#11) for The 52 Book Club's 2023 Reading Challenge

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©2008-2023 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/ 

 We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Scripture and a Snapshot - Comfort

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those who are in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.

~II Corinthians 1:3-5~

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Thank you for joining Scripture & A Snapshot. Leave a link to your own post sharing a Scripture and a Snapshot. Take time to visit some of the other links and bless each other with comments.

Please note: Scripture and a Snapshot will be co-hosted at my new blog A Fresh Cup of Coffee starting today. Beginning in February, the link-up will be at A Fresh Cup of Coffee ONLY. Watch for the new button code soon. Thank you so much for joining in and I hope to continue to see you at A Fresh Cup!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

I also link up at the Sweet Tea & Friends Monthly Link-up Party hosted by Simply Coffee & Jesus.

©2008-2023 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/ 

 We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Friday Fun - The Friday 56 and First Lines for January 13, 2023

This post contains affiliate links - using affiliate links from Just A Second helps supply books and coffee. 

This week I'm featuring lines from a YA novel I've just started on my Kindle. I've had it for a little while, and can't remember why I purchased it, but it's quirky and interesting so far. Tell me what you think - have you read it?

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Hook grinned at Wendy Darling's report - a wicked grin that promised vengeance for the king, vengeance for England, and vengeance for his own right hand all at once. Whatever game she thought she was playing, she would be no match for him.

~at 56% of The Wendy by Erin Michelle Sky and Steven Brown

When the world doesn't want

you to be who you are,

you must become more yourself

than you knew you could be.

London. 1789. More than anything in the world, Wendy Darling wants to be the captain of a ship, but women aren't allowed in the Royal Navy. When she learns the Home Office is accepting a handful of women into its ranks, she jumps at the chance, joining the fight against the most formidable threat England has ever faced. Magic.

But the secret service isn't exactly what she hoped. Accompanied by a reimagined cast of the original Peter Pan, Wendy soon discovers that her dreams are as far away as ever, that choosing sides isn't as simple as she thought, and that the only man who isn't blinded by her gender . . . might be her nation's greatest enemy.

 

The Friday 56 is hosted at Freda's Voice

*Grab a book, any book.

*Turn to Page 56 or 56% on your e-reader.

*Find a snippet, short and sweet.

*Post it, and share in the Linky.

***************

By the year 1780, London was bursting at the seams. Almost a million people had been stuffed into every nook and cranny, and a good number of these had no idea where they had come from. Nestled in baskets and swaddled in rags, they had appeared overnight on the doorsteps of almshouses all over the city.

~From the beginning of The Wendy by Erin Michelle Sky and Steven Brown

Book Beginnings on Fridays is hosted by Rose City Reader.

*It's Book Beginnings on Fridays! Time to gather with our fellow book lovers and share the opening sentence (or so) of the books we are reading this week. Or share from a book that is on your mind right now -- whatever catches your fancy.

***************

First Line Fridays is hosted at Reading is My SuperPower

*Share the first line or two of the book closest to you, then visit other FLF participants.

*Please keep posts family friendly or clean reads.

*Link back to Reading is My SuperPower within your post or grab a button.

***************

And here is the weekly bookish question in the Book Blogger Hop, hosted by Billy at Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer.  

This Week's Question: Are there any new books you're excited to read in 2023?

My Answer: I don't watch for new releases very often, so I'm not usually right on top of all the newest books about to hit the shelves. I do usually pre-order novels from a couple of favorite authors (Anna Lee Huber, Connilyn Cossette, and Deanna Raybourn) as soon as I know about them, but I've fallen behind and haven't yet read the most recent releases from those ladies, even though I own them! Of those, the next one I plan to read is A Perilous Perspective by Anna Lee Huber. The next in that series, A Fatal Illusion, will release this summer and I'm looking forward to getting my hands on it! The next novel in Deanna Raybourn's Veronica Speedwell series will release in spring, and there's a new Connilyn Cosette novel expected in late summer.

Since I also occasionally review books, that's where most of my brand new releases come from, but I'm not always familiar with the books or even the authors when they become available.

Book Blogger Hop

 ©2008-2023 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/ 

 We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.