Month: March 2020

Review: Work it, Girl: Become a Leader Like Michelle Obama

Title: Work it, Girl: Become a Leader Like Michelle Obama
Author: Caroline Moss, Sinem Erkas (illustrator)
Genre: Children’s, Nonfiction, Biography
Publisher: Frances Lincoln Children’s Books
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: March 3, 2020
Rating: ★★★★★

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Goodreads Synopsis:

In this imaginatively illustrated book from the Work It, Girl series, discover how Michelle became an inspirational leader, FLOTUS, lawyer, author, and role model in this true story of her life. Then, learn 10 key lessons from her work you can apply to your own life.

Michelle Obama grew up on the South Side of Chicago in a little bungalow with a close-knit family. She loved going to school, and she knew that, one day, she would use her voice to empower other young girls, just like her. Young Michelle was a brilliant student and wonderful daughter. With hard work and talent, she propelled herself into the universities of Princeton and Harvard. She qualified as a lawyer and life was going smoothly…Then she met a guy named Barack.

Work It, Girl is an empowering series of biographies featuring modern women in the world of work, from designers and musicians to CEOs and scientists. Each of these vibrantly illustrated books tells the story of a remarkable woman in 10 chapters that highlight transformative moments in her life, following the ups and downs that she faced on her road to success. At the end, 10 key lessons show what you can learn from these moments, and self-reflection questions help you apply these lessons to your own life. Brightly colored photo illustrations of 3-D cut paper artwork featuring inspiring quotes from these amazing women bring their stories to vivid life. Learn how to work it as you lay the foundations for your own successful career. 

Review:

This children’s book is about Michelle Obama’s life. The first half of the book covers her childhood and young adult life. She was very focused on school and continued to follow her dream of going to Princeton, even when her school councilors said she wouldn’t get in. In the second half of the book, Michelle meets Barack Obama and they raise their family.

I didn’t know anything about Michelle Obama’s childhood, so it was interesting to learn about her. She is even more inspiring after hearing that she was discouraged from following her dreams, but succeeded anyway. This book has made me want to read her memoir, Becoming.

The books in this series are beautifully illustrated. The graphics look like cut out pieces of paper, layered to make pictures. That technique makes the pages look textured. The illustrations are brightly covered, which is uplifting.

I really enjoyed this book!

Thank you Frances Lincoln Children’s Books for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What to read next:

Work it, Girl: Blast Off Into Space Like Mae Jemison

Work it, Girl: Run the Show Like CEO Oprah Winfrey

Other Books in the Series:

Have you read Become a Leader Like Michelle Obama? What did you think of it?

Top 5 Saturday – Books With Beautiful Covers

This is a weekly meme hosted Devouring Books. This week’s prompt is Books With Beautiful Covers. Here’s my list:

1. The Light Between Worlds by Laura E. Weymouth

2. All the Stars and Teeth by Adalyn Grace

3. Darling Rose Gold by Stephanie Wrobel

4. King’s Cage (Red Queen #3) by Victoria Aveyard

5. Ignite Me (Shatter Me #3) by Tahereh Mafi

(All book covers from Goodreads)

If you’d like to do this list too, consider yourself tagged!

Did you make a Top 5 Saturday list?

Review: The Forgotten Home Child

Title: The Forgotten Home Child
Author: Genevieve Graham
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Canada
Source: Publisher
Format: Paperback, Ebook
Release Date: March 3, 2020
Rating: ★★★★★

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Goodreads Synopsis:

The Home for Unwanted Girls meets Orphan Train in this unforgettable novel about a young girl caught in a scheme to rid England’s streets of destitute children, and the lengths she will go to find her way home—based on the true story of the British Home Children.

2018

At ninety-seven years old, Winnifred Ellis knows she doesn’t have much time left, and it is almost a relief to realize that once she is gone, the truth about her shameful past will die with her. But when her great-grandson Jamie, the spitting image of her dear late husband, asks about his family tree, Winnifred can’t lie any longer, even if it means breaking a promise she made so long ago…

1936

Fifteen-year-old Winny has never known a real home. After running away from an abusive stepfather, she falls in with Mary, Jack, and their ragtag group of friends roaming the streets of Liverpool. When the children are caught stealing food, Winny and Mary are left in Dr. Barnardo’s Barkingside Home for Girls, a local home for orphans and forgotten children found in the city’s slums. At Barkingside, Winny learns she will soon join other boys and girls in a faraway place called Canada, where families and better lives await them.

But Winny’s hopes are dashed when she is separated from her friends and sent to live with a family that has no use for another daughter. Instead, they have paid for an indentured servant to work on their farm. Faced with this harsh new reality, Winny clings to the belief that she will someday find her friends again.

Inspired by true events, The Forgotten Home Child is a moving and heartbreaking novel about place, belonging, and family—the one we make for ourselves and its enduring power to draw us home.

Review:

I loved this historical fiction novel!

The story follows Winny and Jack throughout two time periods. The first is set in the present, where Winny is telling her story to her granddaughter. The other time period is when Winny and Jack were sent to Canada from England as teenagers in the 1930s. Winny and Jack, along with some other friends, get separated into different homes and have to face some difficult times.

It’s unfortunate that we aren’t taught this part of Canada’s history in school. An estimated 12% of the Canadian population are descendants of the British home children. I recently found out that my own great-great-grandmother was one of them, though she came to Canada in the late 19th century, before this book is set. In the book, Winny’s great-grandson wonders why we aren’t taught about this in school. We aren’t taught much history in school, but this is an important part we should all learn.

This story was heartbreaking at times, but those scenes were quickly followed by optimism. I really enjoyed this story!

Thank you Simon and Schuster Canada for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What to read next:

Come From Away by Genevieve Graham

The Girls with No Names by Serena Burdick

Have you read The Forgotten Home Child? What did you think of it?

Bookish Friday – Scream About Your Favourite Thrillers

This is a weekly meme hosted by Laurie Reads and Niffler Reads. Every Friday, they post a list of bookish things based on the prompt they provided. The prompts for Feb to May can be found here.

This week’s prompt is Scream About Your Favourite Thrillers. Here’s my list:

Woman on the Edge by Samantha M. Bailey

The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell

Little Monsters by Kara Thomas

The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena

The Last House Guest by Megan Miranda

One of Us Is Lying (One of Us Is Lying #1) by Karen M. McManus

The Last Resort by Marissa Stapley

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder (A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder #1) by Holly Jackson

(All book covers from Goodreads)

Did you make a list for Bookish Friday?

Review: Please See Us

Title: Please See Us
Author: Caitlin Mullen
Genre: Thriller
Publisher: Gallery Books
Source: Publisher
Format: Paperback
Release Date: March 3, 2020
Rating: ★★★

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Goodreads Synopsis:

In this sophisticated, suspenseful debut reminiscent of Laura Lippman and Chloe Benjamin, two young women become unlikely friends during one fateful summer in Atlantic City as mysterious disappearances hit dangerously close to home.

Summer has come to Atlantic City but the boardwalk is empty of tourists, the casino lights have dimmed, and two Jane Does are laid out in the marshland behind the Sunset Motel, just west of town. Only one person even knows they’re there.

Meanwhile, Clara, a young boardwalk psychic, struggles to attract clients for the tarot readings that pay her rent. When she begins to experience very real and disturbing visions, she suspects they could be related to the recent cases of women gone missing in town. When Clara meets Lily, an ex-Soho art gallery girl who is working at a desolate casino spa and reeling from a personal tragedy, she thinks Lily may be able to help her. But Lily has her own demons to face. If they can put the pieces together in time, they may save another lost girl—so long as their efforts don’t attract perilous attention first. Can they break the ill-fated cycle, or will they join the other victims?

Evocative, eerie, and compelling, Please See Us is a fast-paced psychological thriller that explores the intersection of womanhood, power, and violence.

Review:

This was a dark, gritty thriller.

There are multiple perspectives in this book. Claire is a psychic, whose aunt starts setting her up with men to make money. Lily has moved back to Atlantic City, after a bad breakup in New York. Luis is a deaf, mute cleaner at the spa where Lily works, but he has a secret life. The last perspectives are of the “Janes” who are the women that are lying dead in the marsh. Lily and Claire work together to investigate the disappearing women who appear in Claire’s psychic visions.

This story was quite dark. There were serious issues in the story. There was substance abuse, prostitution, and physical abuse, as well as murder. I had to put the book down for a while because of how dark it was. However, that just shows that the writing was effective and descriptive.

I didn’t like the ending of the story. There were so many characters that had interesting backstories, which I would have liked to learn more about. A few subplots didn’t have a clear resolution. I didn’t get the closure I like at the end of a book, especially a thriller.

This was a great, dark thriller.

Thank you Simon and Schuster Canada for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What to read next:

The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James

The Other Mrs. by Mary Kubica

Have you read Please See Us? What did you think of it?

TBR Thursday – March 12

TBR Thursday is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly Faye Reads, where you post a title from your shelf or e-reader and find out what others think about it.

My pick this week is The Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas.

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Goodreads Synopsis:

There are no more cheerleaders in the town of Sunnybrook.

First there was the car accident—two girls gone after hitting a tree on a rainy night. Not long after, the murders happened. Those two girls were killed by the man next door. The police shot him, so no one will ever know why he did it. Monica’s sister was the last cheerleader to die. After her suicide, Sunnybrook High disbanded the cheer squad. No one wanted to be reminded of the girls they lost.

That was five years ago. Now the faculty and students at Sunnybrook High want to remember the lost cheerleaders. But for Monica, it’s not that easy. She just wants to forget. Only, Monica’s world is starting to unravel. There are the letters in her stepdad’s desk, an unearthed, years-old cell phone, a strange new friend at school. . . . Whatever happened five years ago isn’t over. Some people in town know more than they’re saying. And somehow Monica is at the center of it all.

There are no more cheerleaders in Sunnybrook, but that doesn’t mean anyone else is safe. 

Have you read this book? What did you think of it?

Review: Iphigenia Murphy

Title: Iphigenia Murphy
Author: Sara Hosey
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: March 10, 2020
Rating: ★★★★

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Goodreads Synopsis:

Running away from home hasn’t solved Iphigenia Murphy’s problems. In fact, it’s only a matter of time before they’ll catch up with her. Iffy is desperate to find her long-lost mother, and, so far, in spite of the need to forage for food and shelter and fend off an unending number of creeps, living in Queens’ Forest Park has felt safer than living at home. But as the summer days get shorter, it all threatens to fall apart.

A novel that explores the sustaining love of friendship, the kindness of strangers, and the indelible bond of family, Iphigenia Murphy captures the gritty side of 1992 Queens, the most diverse borough in New York City. Just like Iffy, the friends she makes in the park–Angel, a stray dog with the most ridiculous tail; Corinne, a young trans woman who is escaping her own abusive situation; and Anthony, a former foster kid from upstate whose parents are addicts–each seek a place where they feel at home. Whether fate or coincidence has brought them together, within this community of misfits Iffy can finally be herself, but she still has to face the effects of abandonment and abuse–and the possibility that she may be pregnant. During what turns out to be a remarkable journey to find her mother, will Iffy ultimately discover herself?

Review:

This was an intense story.

Iphigenia runs away from her abusive home to live in a park where she thinks she can find her mother. She becomes friends with a transgender woman and a young man who has been kicked out of his home. She also takes care of a homeless dog. Her new friends help her wander through the park and try to find her mother.

There were some very difficult scenes in this book. Iphigenia was abused by her stepmother and stepbrother, and her father didn’t do anything to help. Her friend Corinne was abused by her boyfriend. There was also an upsetting scene where a woman claims to be the owner of Iphigenia’s dog. As a dog owner, it was difficult to read, because both girls felt like they had a claim to the dog but neither wanted to give her up.

I thought by the title of the book that there would be more of a Greek mythology storyline. I loved the play Iphigenia at Aulis when I read it in school. There were some similar themes to the play, and it followed the story in an abstract way, but I wish it had more Greek mythology references.

This was a good story, though it dealt with some upsetting issues.

Thank you Blackstone Publishing for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What to read next:

Wildfire by Carrie Mac

Echoes Between Us by Katie McGarry

Have you read Iphigenia Murphy? What did you think of it?

‘Waiting on’ Wednesday – March 11

This is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine. In this post we highlight a book that’s highly anticipated.

The book that I’m waiting on this Wednesday is My Summer of Love and Misfortune by Lindsay Wong. The expected publication date is May 5, 2020.

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Goodreads Synopsis:

Anna and the French Kiss meets Crazy Rich Asians in this hilarious, quirky novel about a Chinese-American teen who is thrust into the decadent world of Beijing high society when she is sent away to spend the summer in China.

Iris Wang is having a bit of a rough start to her summer. In an attempt to snap her out of her funk, Iris’s parents send her away to visit family in Beijing, with the hopes that Iris will “reconnect with her culture” and “find herself.” Iris resents her parents’ high-handedness, but even she admits that this might be a good opportunity to hit the reset button.

Iris expects to eat a few dumplings, meet some of her family, and visit a tourist hotspot or two. What she doesn’t expect is to meet a handsome Mandarin-language tutor named Frank and to be swept up in the ridiculous, opulent world of Beijing’s wealthy elite, leading her to unexpected and extraordinary discoveries about her family, her future, and herself. 

What books are you waiting on this week?

Review: Truly Madly Royally

Title: Truly Madly Royally
Author: Debbie Rigaud
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Publisher: Point
Source: Purchased
Format: Ebook
Release Date: July 30, 2019
Rating: ★★★★★

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Goodreads Synopsis:

Fiercely independent and smart, Zora Emerson wants to change the world. She’s excited to be attending a prestigious summer program, even if she feels out of place among her privileged, mostly white classmates. So she’s definitely not expecting to feel a connection to Owen, who’s an actual prince of an island off the coast of England. But Owen is funny, charming…and undeniably cute. Zora can’t ignore the chemistry between them. When Owen invites Zora to be his date at his big brother’s big royal wedding, Zora is suddenly thrust into the spotlight, along with her family and friends. Everyone is talking about her, in real life and online, and while Owen is used to the scrutiny, Zora’s not sure it’s something she can live with. Can she maintain her sense of self while moving between two very different worlds? And can her feelings for Owen survive and thrive in the midst of the crazy? Find out in this charming romantic comedy that’s like The Princess Diaries for a new generation.

Review:

Zora attends a summer school at her local university. She’s a great student and an active member of her community, where she has created an after school program for children. While she’s at school, she meets Prince Owen, who is from an island in Europe. They become friends, but their relationship causes some problems in Zora’s personal life.

This story really reminded me of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s relationship. Zora is black and American, while Prince Owen is a red-headed royal prince. Owen’s brother is getting married to a mixed race woman, which Zora’s mother is so excited to see happen. Zora was also hounded by the press once they found out that she knew Prince Owen, much like Meghan was when she started dating Prince Harry.

I really enjoyed this fun, summer romance!

What to read next:

Royals (Royals #1) by Rachel Hawkins

American Royals (American Royals #1) by Katharine McGee

Have you read Truly Madly Royally? What did you think of it?

Top Ten Tuesday – Authors Who Have a Fun Twitter Presence

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish and it is now hosted by The Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s theme is Authors Who Have a Fun Twitter Presence. Here’s my list:

1. Laura Sebastian @sebastian_lk

2. Angie Thomas @angiecthomas

3. Eric Smith @ericsmithrocks

4. Karen M. McManus @writerkmc

5. Victoria/V.E. Schwab @veschwab

6. Victoria Lee @sosaidvictoria

7. Victoria Aveyard @VictoriaAveyard

8. Hannah Capin @tldaaollf

9. Stephen King @StephenKing

10. Sandhya Menon @smenonbooks

(All photos taken from Goodreads)

What’s your list of books on your Top Ten Tuesday?