"At The Table of Wolves"

"At The Table of Wolves" is the first book in the Dark Talents series by Kay Kenyon, an American science fiction and fantasy author from Wenatchee, Wa.  It was released in 2017 followed by the second book in 2018 and is the first of her work that I've read but it will not be the last.

Kim Tavistock is the daughter of an American woman and her father is English aristocracy.  When Kim's parents divorced, she went to America with her mother but has recently returned to England to live on her father's (Julian) estate.  Julian is rarely at home -- off tending to business affairs which Kim has her doubts about.  In reality he is part of a secret government organization and cannot share with Kim his real work.  Kim's only (and much loved)  brother was killed in the last war and she's still mourning his death.

This novel is set before the start of World War II when the Nazi's were coming to power in Germany.  Julian's organization is much worried about the possibility of another war but the government in power wants to pretend all is well and ignores their warnings.

The historical aspects of the book are interesting threaded in with the novel's "Bloom" theory.  New "talents" are appearing throughout the world and they will likely change the way the next war is waged.  Kim herself has the "spill" talent which means people confide in her and share information without meaning to which means Julian has to be very careful around his daughter.

Kim is also a freelance journalist and, using this as her cover, begins to investigate a woman her father has been seeing who has a German friend.  Kim thinks she might be a spy and is worried about her own father's political leanings.  When she spends a weekend at this woman's house and meets her brother and a German visitor, Kim's "adventure" begins as well as her own espionage work and fight for her life.  pazt

"The Theory of Everything"

My husband and I just watched the movie, "The Theory of Everything," which is the love story of Jane and Stephen Hawking.  They met at Cambridge as students and shortly afterwards he was diagnosed with an illness that was to have been fatal in 2 years.  As we all know, that proved not to be the case since Stephen Hawking died earlier this month at age 76.  (His illness was diagnosed at age 22.)

Although his family was concerned about Jane's ability (and strength) to cope with Stephen's progressive illness, they did marry - a marriage that would last 30 years until their divorce.  In the beginning their life was difficult but manageable and they found a lot of joy in one another but, as his care demands grew, life became more stressful for Jane as they did not have the finances at that time to hire additional help.  They did have three children, too, which also would have been another demand on Jane's time.

Someone who recommended the movie to me said they cried all the way through it but I did not (and I do often cry during movies) so it wasn't depressing as I thought it might be.

Eddie Redmayne does an incredible job of playing Hawking and Felicity Jones as his wife, Jane.  I highly recommend this movie.  pazt

"Into The Woods"

This past year my husband and I went to see the musical, "Into The Woods," performed by our local theater group.  I think the version we saw before this one was a children's theater production -- the adult version is a lot more risque!  About a month ago we decided to watch the film version with Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, and Johnny Depp to name just a few of the outstanding cast members of this movie.  Johnny Depp makes a wonderful "Big Bad Wolf" and Meryl Streep brings new meaning to the word witch.  I can't recommend it high enough!  pazt

"Smitten Book Club"

"Smitten Book Club" is the third book in a series written collaboratively by four authors:  Colleen Coble, Kristin Billerbeck, Diann Hunt, and Denise Hunter.  I suspect this may be the last book in the series since one of the authors has died.

If you read my post on the first book, "Smitten," you  may remember that the religious overtones/references were difficult for me.  However, I have enjoyed the series and tended to glide over and/or ignore them in this last book.

Again, as in previous books, each of the four sections is authored by one of the four authors and focuses on a romance.  Most of the romances in this book come with some serious challenges and how they are surmounted is part of the fun in reading about them.  If you're looking for some lighter reading, this might be a book you want to pick up.  Although I read the series in order, each works fine as a stand alone book, too.  pazt

"False Positive"

"False Positive" is a novel by Andrew Grant and the first one of his novels I have read.  Although I was tempted at times to read ahead in this book, I resisted the urge and read the mystery one page at a time from the beginning to the end and I'm so glad I did!

Alabama detective Cooper Devereaux has been paired with fellow detective Jan Loflin who has been working undercover in the vice squad and is a little burned out.  Together they have been tasked with finding a missing 7 year old boy who has been snatched from the home of the foster parents who adopted him.  Cooper and Jan are an unlikely pairing as they both have issues in the past with their home life and their work but this case will bring them together in unexpected ways.  What no one saw coming (including me) was the surprise ending.  Grant is a writer to watch and I'll be looking for his novel, "Run," next!  pazt

"The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo"

"The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo" is a novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid which I picked up on a shelf at my local library featuring some books.  When Evelyn Hugo wants to do a tell all about her life as a glamorous movie star and her seven husbands and other scandals associated with her career, she chooses a little known reporter, Monique Grant, to do the honors. No one knows why but the reason is unveiled at the end of her life story.

Since I knew what the book was leading up to and I was curious as to why Evelyn chose Monique, I started the book but impatiently scanned the various chapters about each of her husbands starting with page 61.  I read enough to get a picture of each of her relationships until I found what I wanted.  It is not a reading style I recommend but it served me well and I will look for other novels authored by Reid to check out.  It is a well written story and, without telling you my age, I will say that I'm old enough to decide not to read every word of every book so I can "read" more books in my lifetime.  pazt

"Secretly Smitten"

"Secretly Smitten" is the second book co-authored by Colleen Coble, Kristin Billerbeck, Diann Hunt, and Denise Hunter.  When I read the first one - a romance -, I was prepared not to particularly like it but I found it a quick and fun read so I decided to read "Secretly Smitten - Love Changes Everything" which is more romance in Smitten, Vermont, but this time there is also a mystery.

While the Thomas sisters are holding a bridal shower, one of the young guests finds a set of dog tags when she is exploring the attic.  The mystery is that the dog tags belong to a veteran who was once their grandmother's love but he was presumed killed and never returned to Smitten.  So...how did his dog tags get in the attic?

As the sisters go about their daily lives running their businesses and getting involved in their own romances, they also set out to discover how the dog tags came to be in the attic and what does that mean?  Why did they not know about this old boyfriend of their grandmother's?  This is one of those books that would be a fun summertime read!  pazt