Scan barcode
rachels_booknook's reviews
213 reviews
The Jazz Club Spy by Roberta Rich
3.0
The Jazz Club Spy takes place in 1939, on the eve of World War II. Giddy is a Russian Jewish immigrant living with her family in the tenements on the Lower East Side, working as a cigarette girl at a Manhattan jazz club. Giddy’s family fled Russia 19 years earlier, following a pogrom that killed many from her village, including some of her own family members. When, on a streetcar in NYC, she sees one of the Cossacks that attacked her family, she makes it her personal mission to track him down and confront him. It soon becomes clear that she’s not the only one looking for him, and she teams up with the Chief Commissioner of Immigration at Ellis Island, who is hunting the same man. He suspects the Russian is involved in an assassination plot that will destroy American and Soviet relations, and he enlists Giddy to moonlight as a spy for him.
I was surprised at how into this book I ended up getting. It was confusing at times, trying to keep track of all the espionage and who was spying on who and who was on which side, but I got the jist of it. And it was definitely a bit far-fetched. Giddy is basically convinced by those that enlisted her as a spy that her actions to will help stop an international crisis and ultimately stop American from entering World War II in 1939.
However, there were certain points in the book where I almost felt like I was supposed to feel sorry for the Russian that participated in the pogroms in Russia, or at least try to understand him more. And that made me really uncomfortable. So for that reason, I’m giving this book 3 stars, where I might have otherwise rated it a little bit higher.
Same Time Next Summer by Annabel Monaghan
3.5
I loved Annabel Monaghan’s debut novel, Nora Goes Off Script. I didn’t love this one quite as much but I still enjoyed it. In Same Time Next Summer, Sam and her fiancé, Jack, are heading to her parents’ beach house on Long Island. Sam doesn’t know that her former boyfriend and beach house next-door neighbour, Wyatt, who she hasn’t seen since she was 16, is also there for the summer. Obviously seeing Wyatt again brings up so many feelings and questions she wasn’t able to fully deal with as a teenager and she starts questioning everything she has with Jack.
Normally, I love a second chance romance. However, with this one, I found it a little bit unbelievable that a 30-year-old was pining over her boyfriend from when she was 16, that she hadn’t spoken to in 14 years. It also becomes clear that Sam has no clue who Wyatt is as an adult, which did make it a bit interesting for the reader because we got to learn about him along with Sam, but also made it kind of weird that she was still in love with teenage Wyatt, as a fully grown adult.
But, that being said, I do love Annabel Monaghan’s writing. And she was definitely able to draw me into the story. I loved finally finding out what went wrong between Sam and Wyatt all those years ago, and I had some theories that didn’t even pan out so she definitely kept me guessing. I also loved reading about Sam coming back into herself the more time she spends on the beach.
Overall, I can’t wait to keep reading Annabel Monaghan’s novels.
Normally, I love a second chance romance. However, with this one, I found it a little bit unbelievable that a 30-year-old was pining over her boyfriend from when she was 16, that she hadn’t spoken to in 14 years. It also becomes clear that Sam has no clue who Wyatt is as an adult, which did make it a bit interesting for the reader because we got to learn about him along with Sam, but also made it kind of weird that she was still in love with teenage Wyatt, as a fully grown adult.
But, that being said, I do love Annabel Monaghan’s writing. And she was definitely able to draw me into the story. I loved finally finding out what went wrong between Sam and Wyatt all those years ago, and I had some theories that didn’t even pan out so she definitely kept me guessing. I also loved reading about Sam coming back into herself the more time she spends on the beach.
Overall, I can’t wait to keep reading Annabel Monaghan’s novels.
The Whisper Sister by Jennifer S. Brown
4.5
I almost didn’t make it through this because it was so emotional. The next day I knew I had to keep reading so I powered through and I’m glad I did. I could not put it down in the second half.
The Whisper Sister is a Jewish immigrant story on the Lower East Side of New York City in the 1920s. It reminds me of books I read as a teenager, when these were the Jewish stories that were being told. While I am immensely grateful for the Jewish joy in many more recent novels, I still love a Jewish immigrant story, and I think they are important to tell.
Minnie’s story is probably similar to many immigrant stories at the time. She goes through some traumatic events and becomes determined to succeed, which was challenging in depression-era NYC. I love all the side characters that really become Minnie’s found family and ultimately, I think this really a story of finding where you belong.
I’ve never read a book about a speakeasy during prohibition, much less one owned by a Jewish woman. You know I enjoy reading about female entrepreneurship and this was no exception, even if it was a century ago, in a dangerous time and place. I loved it. I also loved all the Jewish rep and references.
The Whisper Sister is a Jewish immigrant story on the Lower East Side of New York City in the 1920s. It reminds me of books I read as a teenager, when these were the Jewish stories that were being told. While I am immensely grateful for the Jewish joy in many more recent novels, I still love a Jewish immigrant story, and I think they are important to tell.
Minnie’s story is probably similar to many immigrant stories at the time. She goes through some traumatic events and becomes determined to succeed, which was challenging in depression-era NYC. I love all the side characters that really become Minnie’s found family and ultimately, I think this really a story of finding where you belong.
I’ve never read a book about a speakeasy during prohibition, much less one owned by a Jewish woman. You know I enjoy reading about female entrepreneurship and this was no exception, even if it was a century ago, in a dangerous time and place. I loved it. I also loved all the Jewish rep and references.
Lady Tan's Circle of Women by Lisa See
4.0
Thank you @simonschusterca & @netgalley for sending me this review copy. Opinions are mine.
I didn’t expect to get so into this book. I love historical fiction but I generally prefer 20th century. Although I’ve enjoyed some of her previous novels, I was surprised that I stayed up late to finish this.
Lady Tan’s Circle of Women is based on the true story of a woman doctor, Yunxian, in the Ming dynasty, 500 years ago in China. In 1511, at age 50, she published a book of her medical cases involving women and girls. Lisa See says on the @momsdonthavetimetoreadbooks podcast, “she was a remarkable woman in her time and would probably be still considered remarkable today. Many of her remedies are used in traditional Chinese medicine today.”
The novel follows Yunxian through her childhood and teenage years with her grandparents, learning to become a doctor for women under her grandmother’s tutelage, and into her marriage into a prominent family. We read about her struggles to produce a son, deal with her strict in-laws, and fight to be able to practice medicine to heal the women and girls around her. We also follow her close friendship with the local midwife, Meiling, and learn about the differences in their practices, as well as status in society.
There’s a lot of talk about foot binding for the higher classes of women in China. I’ve read about it before but could never really picture it. Through this book, and some googling, I finally understand what it looks like.
I love that this book touches on class, status and gender roles, and how these women rose to prominence through their respective careers, earning respect. I enjoyed reading about the different cases Yunxian attended to. The descriptions of medical issues are in different words, but some were still recognizable today.
I often remark on books that have infertility representation and, while the treatment was obviously different in 15th century China, infertility is definitely a central topic in this novel, demonstrating that women have been struggling with infertility for centuries.
I didn’t expect to get so into this book. I love historical fiction but I generally prefer 20th century. Although I’ve enjoyed some of her previous novels, I was surprised that I stayed up late to finish this.
Lady Tan’s Circle of Women is based on the true story of a woman doctor, Yunxian, in the Ming dynasty, 500 years ago in China. In 1511, at age 50, she published a book of her medical cases involving women and girls. Lisa See says on the @momsdonthavetimetoreadbooks podcast, “she was a remarkable woman in her time and would probably be still considered remarkable today. Many of her remedies are used in traditional Chinese medicine today.”
The novel follows Yunxian through her childhood and teenage years with her grandparents, learning to become a doctor for women under her grandmother’s tutelage, and into her marriage into a prominent family. We read about her struggles to produce a son, deal with her strict in-laws, and fight to be able to practice medicine to heal the women and girls around her. We also follow her close friendship with the local midwife, Meiling, and learn about the differences in their practices, as well as status in society.
There’s a lot of talk about foot binding for the higher classes of women in China. I’ve read about it before but could never really picture it. Through this book, and some googling, I finally understand what it looks like.
I love that this book touches on class, status and gender roles, and how these women rose to prominence through their respective careers, earning respect. I enjoyed reading about the different cases Yunxian attended to. The descriptions of medical issues are in different words, but some were still recognizable today.
I often remark on books that have infertility representation and, while the treatment was obviously different in 15th century China, infertility is definitely a central topic in this novel, demonstrating that women have been struggling with infertility for centuries.
Blush by Jamie Brenner
3.5
“The Hollander women discover that the scandalous books of the past may just be the key to saving their family’s future.”
I love books that take place on a winery. I don’t even know why because I’m not really a big wine drinker. But something about the setting and the challenges of a winery always seems to pull me right in.
Blush is about three generations of women, all with different connections to the family-owned winery, Hollander Estates. Vivian moved with her husband out to the North Fork of Long Island in the 1970s to establish the first winery on the east coast. Her daughter, Leah, for whom the winery was a lifelong dream, was basically cast out of the family business in favour of her brother, due to her father’s feelings about only involving men in the winery. And Leah’s daughter Sadie, an academic bookworm, ends up at the winery for the summer when she hits some road blocks at school.
I love multigenerational stories and, in Blush, the way the way these women, along with a few others, come together to work to save the winery. However, the attitude of some of the men toward the women and just being completely unwilling to adapt was really frustrating and felt like it was a bit too one-note for the purpose of the story.
In her acknowledgements, Jamie Brenner writes “Blush is a story about the transformative power of books.” I thought it was fun that she connected romance novels of the 1980s and a women’s book club to the work on the winery. Admittedly, I haven’t read the novels of Judith Krantz and Jackie Collins so I found that harder to relate. But I understood that the women drew strength from these stories and that there are lessons to be learned from these books as well as the more academic literature.
The Women by Kristin Hannah
5.0
Thank you @netgalley and @stmartinspress for sending me this book for review. Opinions are mine.
Everyone told me to read this book and they were right. I couldn’t put it down. I read this almost 500-page book in three days. It’s the first full Kristin Hannah book I’ve read, not being able to get through The Nightingale because it was too heartbreaking.
Quoting Kristin Hannah on the @momsdonthavetimetoreadbooks podcast, “The Women is about the nurses, the young women in the 1960s who volunteered to serve in the Vietnam War. It’s their story of both going to war and coming home and what it was like.”
This is a long book. But it was a long war. I think what this book drives home even more is that those who were lucky enough to come home never fully recovered – mentally, physically, emotionally.
Frankie is a young American woman whose life has been changed by the Vietnam War. She enlists as an army nurse, trying to make her father proud, but having no clue what she’s getting into as Americans were lied to about the war for years – the harsh conditions, the death tolls, and even who exactly was fighting the war and why.
The war chapters were of course hard to read, but riveting. I’ve never read a book set during the Vietnam War – a very different kind of war in the jungle. But when Frankie comes home, that’s when she really starts to feel the effects of the War and realizes that many Americans not only didn’t support the war, but also the veterans, and they especially didn’t believe any women had been in Vietnam at all. Frankie questions how she’s supposed to put her life back together when her service isn’t even acknowledged.
Overall, this book is really about the enduring friendship of people who go through the same things together. While there were romantic relationships and those were extremely compelling, the central relationship in this novel was really Frankie, Ethel and Barb, nurses together during the war.
Under the Influence by Noelle Crooks
3.5
Thank you @netgalley and @simonschusterca for sending me this book for review. Opinions are my own.
“The Devil Wears Prada meets The Assistants in this compulsively readble debut following a young woman who takes a job working for an enigmatic influencer and quickly discovers there’s a dark side to being a #girlboss.”
Noelle Crooks’ debut novel is described as having The Devil Wears Prada vibes and it definitely does. I was immediately intrigued by the description. After struggling to find a publishing or writing job in NYC, Harper is offered the opportunity to work for a self-help influencer in Nashville. The catch – she needs to move ASAP, but she’ll be compensated beyond her dreams.
Soon Harper is caught up in the influencer world, working night and day for a demanding boss, and with a group of people that seem to have drunk the kool-aid. Dance parties every day, a never-ending online chat, mandatory Instagram posts, and problem solving for a challenging boss and her even more challenging husband are just part of Harper’s new life. But how far is Harper willing to go for brand loyalty and a paycheck?
This job seemed terrible right from the start. The author was smart to put Harper in a situation where it seemed like this was her best option, because it was pretty crazy. I was exhausted reading about trying to keep up with all the team unity and praise. It really seemed almost like a cult. And it definitely seemed fake. I don’t think I would follow an influencer like that – she was definitely too gushy for me. Eventually, though, I loved how Harper’s story ended.
I think a couple plot points could have been expanded, but I think this was a good debut novel by Noelle Crooks. I flew through it and it kept my attention. I would be interested to see what she writes next!
“The Devil Wears Prada meets The Assistants in this compulsively readble debut following a young woman who takes a job working for an enigmatic influencer and quickly discovers there’s a dark side to being a #girlboss.”
Noelle Crooks’ debut novel is described as having The Devil Wears Prada vibes and it definitely does. I was immediately intrigued by the description. After struggling to find a publishing or writing job in NYC, Harper is offered the opportunity to work for a self-help influencer in Nashville. The catch – she needs to move ASAP, but she’ll be compensated beyond her dreams.
Soon Harper is caught up in the influencer world, working night and day for a demanding boss, and with a group of people that seem to have drunk the kool-aid. Dance parties every day, a never-ending online chat, mandatory Instagram posts, and problem solving for a challenging boss and her even more challenging husband are just part of Harper’s new life. But how far is Harper willing to go for brand loyalty and a paycheck?
This job seemed terrible right from the start. The author was smart to put Harper in a situation where it seemed like this was her best option, because it was pretty crazy. I was exhausted reading about trying to keep up with all the team unity and praise. It really seemed almost like a cult. And it definitely seemed fake. I don’t think I would follow an influencer like that – she was definitely too gushy for me. Eventually, though, I loved how Harper’s story ended.
I think a couple plot points could have been expanded, but I think this was a good debut novel by Noelle Crooks. I flew through it and it kept my attention. I would be interested to see what she writes next!
What Does It Feel Like by Sophie Kinsella
5.0
In What Does It Feel Like? the main character Eve describes what her life was like before and after she received the diagnosis of a grade four glioblastoma and undergoes an eight-hour surgery to remove the tumor from her brain. We see Eve’s struggles and triumphs, and coming to terms with her diagnosis in the days, weeks, and months that follow her surgery.
What Does It Feel Like? Is written through Eve’s eyes, with emails from other characters filling in some of the blanks. Sophie Kinsella writes that “it poured out of me in the form of vignettes and snippets and slices of life.” I read this novella basically in one sitting as I flew through Eve’s story and the beautiful writing.
In the book, Eve gives the advice, “Write the book you would like to read yourself. Write the truth about life, whatever genre you’re in. Write what you know and do it convincingly.” In her most autobiographical book yet, Sophie Kinsella seems to have done just that. And in doing so, she has shared her remarkable story with the world.
Eve’s (and Sophie’s) diagnosis is devastating, for her, her husband, her children, and their family and friends. Along with that, I think this story is strangely also unexpectedly hopeful, with every obstacle Eve conquers. Ultimately, it’s also a beautiful love story between Eve and her caring husband Nick.
The Greatest Lie of All by Jillian Cantor
4.5
Advanced Book Review! Thank you @htpbooks, @parkrowbooks and @netgalley for sending me this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
“A glamourous romance novelist and an aspiring starlet share an unexpected secret in this addictive story about love, ambition and how far we’re willing to go to protect our hearts.”
I really enjoyed this book – couldn’t put it down. It definitely has Evelyn Hugo vibes, which is one of my favourite books.
Actress Amelia Grant is coming off of a really terrible couple of months, with the death of her mother and catching her tv star boyfriend cheating on her. She gets the opportunity of a lifetime to portray the world’s biggest bestselling author, The Queen of Romance, Gloria Diamond, in her biopic. Amelia heads to Seattle to spend a week living at Gloria’s house, getting to know her before shotting the movie. Amelia, a method actor, says that “to play Gloria, I would have to become Gloria, understand what she was truly like beneath her dazzling, but always guarded, public persona.” However, Gloria, values her privacy “above everything else.”
I’m a big fan of dual timelines so I loved getting Gloria’s backstory throughout the novel along with Amelia and Gloria’s son, Will, in the present day trying to figure out her secrets. And I obviously knew it was leading to something but I wasn’t fully sure what. It kept me fully absorbed and on the edge of my seat right up until the end.
While I did feel that some of the aspects of the plot probably could have been beefed up a bit, I thoroughly enjoyed it and stayed up late to finish.
The Greatest Lie of All was my first book by Jillian Cantor, but it definitely won’t be my last.
Nora Goes Off Script by Annabel Monaghan
4.5
Nora is a single mom who wrote a movie script based on her divorce. To her surprise, it gets filmed on location at her small town house, complete with a starring role for massive movie star, Leo Vance. When filming wraps, Leo asks to stick around for a week, paying Nora, who as a single mom needs the money, to stay. Of course, as it happens, Nora and Leo grow closer until we all can guess what happens between them.
I loved reading the growth in this relationship between two people in their late 30s/early 40s. Kids are involved and of course Leo’s celebrity status, and it’s not straight forward for either of them. Watching Leo react to Nora’s children, of course she fell in love with him. Annabel Monaghan writes in the Q&A at the end: “Nora’s being a mother adds this dimension to the story – it’s one thing to have a thrilling affair; it’s quite another to watch it impact your children. Nora moves through this story bearing the risk of having three hearts break, not just one.”
I also loved watching Nora become more confident in herself and her career. The scenes of her getting ready for and going to glamorous parties and the Oscars were some of my favourites.
Of course, there has to be a twist in Nora and Leo’s relationship, something that breaks them apart so they can get back together. I don’t think this is a spoiler because romance novels are pretty predictable in that sense. So I have a great appreciation when the author crafts this in a way that I don’t see coming. And that’s what Annabel Monaghan did here.