Review: Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark T. Sullivan

Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark T. Sullivan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Listened to this audiobook and very much enjoyed it.

I have a very strong interest in WWII, but most of what I've read is set in France. I know very little about the war in Italy, despite having visited the country a few times. This story is set mostly in Milan, a city I've visited once, and loved, though I only spent a day there. Was interesting to imagine the action taking place in the areas near the Duomo and La Scala.

I found this story fascinating because it's told from the viewpoint of a young man who was forced into the war. He was going to the movies one evening, waiting and hoping for the woman he'd asked out earlier to show up and next thing he knows he's in the midst of bombing.

The story traces his involvement in the war, which spans about two years. From his time of helping Jews to escape to working for the Allies as a spy among the Nazis. There's also a bit of a love story.

Not entirely sure I would have liked this book as much if I'd read it rather than listened because when I read, I notice that I skim over details relating to war, and this is fairly descriptive. But listening to the story, that wasn't an issue at all.

Would definitely recommend to anyone interested in WWII or Italian history.

I was telling students about the book the other day and someone says, they should make that into a movie. Had no idea until a few minutes after I finished listening to the book that there is a movie in production. Looking forward to seeing that.


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Review: Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Issacson

Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I very much enjoyed this book. For years, I've had something of a crush on Leonardo - as weird as that sounds. I'm an artist and an art teacher, so yes, I'm a Leonardo fan girl. The more I learn about him, the more I like him.

While most of us are familiar with his greatest work and achievements, this book provides the stories behind that work, and all the work that didn't get finished or receive the kind of recognition of Mona Lisa or The Last Supper. What I like the most are the parts of the story that portray him as just a normal person - a very intelligent, talented, interesting person - but in a lot of ways, normal. He had friends, he had family, they had drama - he adored his friends and family, he fought with them, he stopped speaking to them, he reconciled with them - you know, just like normal people. He had ideas - some that worked out, some that didn't. He didn't accomplish everything he wanted to accomplish. Like all artists, he was always striving for more. I think this book does a great job of presenting him as a whole, complex person, not simply a genius.

Some of the less interesting parts for me, were when the story got very analytical about his sketches, in particular, the scientific and military based sketches. Important topics, of course, but listening to this, I would sometimes find my mind drifting during those parts. That probably wouldn't have happened as much if I had the book with the images with me. (A pdf is provided for the audiobook, and I downloaded it, but was never near a computer while listening.)

Overall though, I loved the book. Because I checked it out from the library, and there's a huge wait list (I think I've been on the list since October) I could only have it for seven days. So I was listening every chance I got, sometimes when I maybe wasn't able to pay as much attention as I wanted. As a result of that, I plan to buy a copy of the book soon. (I'd planned to buy a copy after Christmas, knowing I would be getting book store gift cards, but after Christmas, the cost of the book increased - so I decided to wait on the library copy - anyway, after listening to the book, I'm now going to go ahead and buy a copy.)

This is one of those books that makes me wish I knew other art people, so that they could read this and we could discuss this. Quite a few things in this book that I'd not known that I found fascinating.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in Leonardo or art history. Very enjoyable and interesting story.


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Review: The Italian Party by Christina Lynch

This is what I wrote immediately after finishing the book:

This is a really good book. I spent most of today in bed reading it because I'm sick, and I liked it enough that it took my mind off of how awful I was feeling.

Very well written, I never wanted to put the book down. And such great characters, these could have been characters that a person hated - with all their lies and secrets - but they are written in such a way that their behavior makes sense, at least in the moment. I really liked them and was a little sad when the book ended because I wanted more of them.

The Italian setting is wonderful, with quite a bit of information about the political situation during the 50s. I kept grabbing my ipad to look up names, only to realize that if I'd read another line or so, it would have been explained.

Overall, a great book, I highly recommend it.

Will try to write a more thorough review later, when I get over this sinus infection and can think more clearly. (Now that I'm done reading the book, I'm very aware of how bad I feel.)

I received a copy of this via Netgalley.

That was months ago and I never returned to write a more thorough review. I am so very behind on writing book reviews. I've been reading the books and rating them on goodreads, but not writing the reviews in a timely manner.

Anyway, I liked this book a lot. I think what I liked most about it was that it's very much a love story, but not a romantic love story. The people involved, they aren't in love with each other, but do, in fact, despite their strange circumstances, love each other. I think the author did a really wonderful job of showing how their relationship developed and how they grew to care so much about each other.

That's really all I have to add to my initial review. I think I had planned to expand more on the idea of a platonic love story or something like that. But really, just read the book. It's a good one.

Review: The Vampire's Protector by Michele Hauf

I loved The Vampire's Protector. It has all my favorite things in it - vampires, demons, musicians, Paris setting, complex characters battling personal demons (both figurative and literal) of their own and a very steamy love story. I love this world Michele Hauf has created and the characters that inhabit it.

I think the last time Summer Santiago made an appearance in a book I read, she was just a baby in her dad's arms, calling Stryke a puppy (Moonlight & Diamonds). Now though, she's all grown up and working for the Council. On this particular job she accidentally resurrects the musician, famed violinist, Nicolo Paganini. I don't want to give away what happens, but he was an actual person, known as the Devil's violinist, so that should give you a clue.

This book was the perfect way to spend the rainy Memorial Day weekend.

Highly recommend to any fans of paranormal romance.

Review: Castelli's Virgin Widow by Caitlin Crews

I liked this book lot. Caitlin Crews write some great romances.

This book involves the same family from Unwrapping the Castelli Secret - which involved step siblings having a secret relationship. In this story, the other brother falls for his dad's wife after his dad dies. The wife was one of his dad's many young brides. The situation is strange, and their father sounds like a complete creep. He married her to help her out, but they don't have sex (hence the title) so it's supposed to seem like she's not really a gold-digger. But if you marry someone for money? Anyway.

Luca strongly dislikes Kathryn - his step-mom. But because she was his dad's wife at the time of his death, she inherited a part of the family business and he's forced to work with her and be around her. Soon it becomes clear that the animosity is largely due to his attraction to her.

The chemistry between the two is intense. This book is so sexy, steamy and the story moves quickly. I finished the book in one sitting.

For a moment though, I sort of hated this story. I notice with a lot of Harlequin Presents that their is a very specific formula, which for the most part is fine. But sometimes the "black moment" or the moment when everything takes a turn for the worse and begins to fall apart feels too forced and obligatory. This story was one of those instances. This character who had previously been so kind and gentle upon discovering the woman he was with was a virgin the first time they had sex, morphs into a complete jerk, throwing out wild accusations upon receiving another bit of surprising news. It didn't seem to fit with his previous behavior at all. It simply felt like, "oh this is the part of the book where things have to go badly" so character must act in bizarre way to fit formula. That part of the story made me very angry.

He redeems himself fairly quickly though, so my hatred went away equally quickly. By the end of the book, I was pretty much loving this story again.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. There are few things better than a good Harlequin Presents to provide the perfect weekend escape when you're stuck at home. This did exactly that.

I received a copy of this via NetGalley.

Review: Unwrapping the Castelli Secret by Caitlin Crews

I liked this book a lot.

Be warned, the characters are more than a little bit messed up.

While the rest of the world watched wealthy Rafael Castelli hook up with D-list celebrities, he was having sex with his college age step-sister, Lily, on the side. In public, he treated her as the awkward, brainy little sister, but in dark corners and hidden rooms, he couldn't get enough of her. And she couldn't seem to give him up either. She viewed this an addiction that was bound to destroy her.

When she's involved in a horrible car accident, she thinks she finally has an escape. People begin to assume she's dead, and she allows it.

Then she runs into Rafael five years later. He demands answers as she makes a weak attempt to pretend she doesn't know who he is. Then he catches sight of her son and knows he's the father.

Rafael has been consumed with guilt and grief for years, but now his main priority is his son. He may not be able to win Lily's heart, but he's not going to let her disappear with his son again. I liked the way Rafael and Lily worked through their issues. There isn't any immediate forgiveness. They both need to move past the people they were when they were younger and figure out how they're going to proceed with their future, for the sake of their son and for each other.

Their relationship isn't by any means healthy, and I appreciate that the author made no attempt to gloss over how twisted both characters are in some of their actions
. They're both deceptive and cruel to each other, with clear control issues. I also really liked that the end is not an immediate, "oh, I love you, let's get married" and everything becomes magically perfect.

One thing that bothered me though was the frequent and inconsistent mention of Lily's hair color. Sometimes isn't strawberry blonde and other times it's honey gold. I see those as two different colors. Maybe it wouldn't have bothered me so much if it hadn't been mentioned so often. But her hair color is mentioned every time she is looked at.

Other than the inconsistent hair color, I really liked this story. This story may not appeal to those seeking more traditional or fairy tale like stories, in which the good and bad guys are well defined and their transformations obvious. But for those wanting a story with complex characters and emotions, this works pretty well.

Highly recommend if you're wanting a sexy, steamy holiday read with a bit more (okay, a lot more) angst than a Hallmark holiday movie. These characters had a very rough beginning and have a lot to work through before getting their happy Christmas.

I received a copy of this via NetGalley

Review: Christmas in Venice by Joanne Walsh

I enjoyed this quite a bit. Exactly what I want in a quick holiday romance. It's short, nice, descriptive setting, with just the right amount of emotion, romance and steam. I sometimes feel like Goldilocks in my quest for holiday romances - too sappy, not romantic enough, not enough or too much drama, too much or not enough sex,  But this one was just right.

Ashlynne's plane is routed to Venice during a snow storm near Christmas. She was on her way to London to spend the holiday with her family. Instead, she runs into her ex-husband, Lorenzo, who she hasn't seen in five years. He offers to let her stay with him, in the home they once shared, until the airport re-opens.

Their marriage ended bitterly, with Ashlynne heartbroken and grieving, convinced her husband was cheating on her. During their five years apart, the two have both matured some and learned more about themselves and what they did wrong during their time together. What they think at first is nothing more than lingering sexual chemistry eventually turns into emotional breakthroughs for each of them. Together they begin to realize that he hid his feelings while she clung to her anger causing their marriage to fall apart.

I enjoyed the way the characters finally learned to communicate with each other and forgive the misunderstandings of their past, all while strolling along the beautiful alleyways of Venice or riding along the canals.

Very nice story with a happy ending.

I received a copy of this via NetGalley. 

Review: Last Summer on Chelsea Beach by Pam Jenoff

I devoted a significant portion of my day to reading this book - when I really needed to be doing other things - and in the end, I didn't even like it very much.

It did hold my attention, but the main character and her frequent running away got to be a bit much, and she sounds so meek and plain and yet these wonderful men are crazy in love with her. (To the author's credit, at one point a character does very bluntly say to her that she can't quite figure out why it is two great guys are falling all over themselves for her.)

I would have liked the book much better if it had ended before part three. I could have handled the book ending with the conclusion of part 2, it was sad, but it made sense to me and made Addie seem like a stronger character. But part 3 is what sort of ruined the rest of the story for me. It just made me angry.

What I did enjoy about this book was the London setting during WWII and the characters' involvement in the war. That's what kept me reading. The writing really brought this era to life. Overall the story is okay. Other people may not feel the same sort of disappointment I felt at the way the story ended.

**** possible spoiler ****


In the acknowledgments, the author mentions this story being somewhat influenced by Little Women and it figures because even though I love Little Women, it's one of my favorite books, I get so angry about Jo not ending up with Laurie and him marrying Amy and Jo settling for some boring old man. The romance twist in this story created very similar feelings of anger within me. I dislike the ending so much. Parts of this book were leading up to being a great love story. I would have been okay with the love story not ending well and Addie going off on her own, but instead she ends up in a relationship that to me, seemed very much like settling for damaged leftovers. It was like she'd learned nothing from all of her experiences. So disappointing.

I received a review copy of this via NetGalley.

Review: Stealing Venice by Heather Redding

This is one of my new favorite books.  I loved this book. I have been talking about this book to anyone who will listen to me. It's such a good story, so interesting and complex and I want people to read it. For the past few weeks, anytime someone says, I'm looking for a book to read, I mention this one.

This book is about Venice and love and art and history and heartbreak and figuring out what you want in life and getting older and accepting what you have and what you can and can't change and it is just so very, very good.

Also, there's a bit of a Susanna Kearsley time slip happening throughout the story, so I think this book will appeal to fans of hers (and everyone I know is a fan of hers because her books are amazing.)  There are two story lines happening. In present time, Anna goes to Venice to visit her more adventurous friend.  Anna's taken the safe route, gotten a job in finance and a flat in London, remaining close to her family, while her two best friends have taken risks, one living with a boyfriend in Venice while teaching English and the other in Paris, writing crime novels.  After a series of events - a death and a breakup and the realization that her job isn't her whole life - Anna decides to take her father's advice and travel, beginning with an extended stay in Venice.

In another story line, Ginerva who lived centuries before Anna, during a time when women had much less freedom.  She's struggling to pursue her interests. Despite the many years separating their lives, we see similarities in their lives and the two are connected by a painting. The painting will play an important role in both their lives, as it ties them to their loved ones, and reflects their losses and they both try to preserve this work of art, in different ways for different reasons.

The author does a wonderful job of bringing Venice to life, both past and present.  I recently returned from a trip to Italy, which included a stop in Venice, which is why I wanted to read this book. I was happy with how vividly the city is described and it felt as if I was allowed to extend my trip beyond the three days I spent wandering around this beautiful city. I was also impressed with the depth of art history included in this book, I kept my iPad next to me, looking up paintings as I read.

Along with the history and art though are some very real, heartbreaking stories about love and friendship. These characters don't have neatly tied up happily ever afters. This book has a very harsh element of real life to it. It made me angry and sad, but then hopeful. There's something powerful about the way these characters overcome the heartaches and put their lives back together and move on.  In the end, it all returns to art, and as artist an an art teacher, I very much appreciated that.

I will admit, my one qualm about the story, I thought Anna forgave a bit too easily at one point, I didn't feel as if the extent of her forgiveness was deserved - because I'm the type who stays angry forever. But upon further reflection realized she was in a position in which she didn't have anything to lose. Even if it ended up not working out, she'd still probably be right back where she began, not any worse off than before and she'd made sure she was in a pretty good place to begin with.

I highly recommend this book. It has everything a great story needs - art, history, love and heartbreak.

And the ebook is only 99 cents on amazon at the moment. I like this book so much, I'd seriously consider buying copies for all my friends if I could be certain they'd read it.

I received a review copy via NetGalley.

Review: Leonardo and The Last Supper by Ross King

I was talking to my tour guide in Florence about books about the city.  She mentioned Ross King's Brunelleschi's Dome, which I think I may have a copy of, but have never read, and then someone else mentioned that Ross King had also written a book called Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling. That's when I remembered that I had an unread copy of Ross King's Leonardo and the Last Supper on my kindle. Well, I felt like a fool because in the weeks leading up to my trip, I was trying to find books that might enhance the trip and didn't even think of these.  And days earlier I'd visited The Last Supper in Milan. So I debated between downloading Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling and trying to hurry and read it before visiting the Sistine Chapel (Rome was the next stop after Florence) or going ahead and reading Leonardo and the Last Supper.

I went with the book on Leonardo because, well, I've developed something of a fixation on Leonardo da Vinci over the past couple of years.  The more I learn about him, the more interesting he becomes and the more I want to know.  Also, I decided to read this because I already had it. Duh. I ended up really enjoying this book.  I think part of the reason I liked it so much is because I had recently viewed The Last Supper and spent some time in Milan and Florence - both cities that feature in this story.  So I almost think I got more out of it by reading the book after viewing the work rather than before. The book reinforces the things I'd learned from my tour guides and I could more easily recreate what I'd recently seen as I was reading the book.

I'd also visited an amazing da Vinci exhibit in Milan, and during that saw a lot of the work the book mentions, especially the model and sketches for the horse sculpture Leonardo wanted so much to make. 

But at the same time, I do not by any means think you need to make a trip to Milan to view The Last Supper in order to appreciate this book.  There are quite a few photos and illustrations in the book to provide you with necessary visuals.

  

This is a great book. So much information, presented in a way that is accessible to someone, even if they don't have a strong art history background. It's nonfiction, but written in such a way that it is thoroughly entertaining and reads like a story, not a history lesson. (Not that there's anything wrong with history lessons, but you know what I mean.) King brings da Vinci to life and discusses, not only the Last Supper, but also the events in the artist's life that led him to that point, and the circumstances of the area in which he was living.  I thought I was fairly knowledgeable about da Vinci, but I learned a lot I didn't already know. Reading this also made me realize that quite a few scenes in the show da Vinci's Demons that I thought were pure fiction are actually based on facts.

I was on vacation while reading this, and supposed to be spending most of my time out sightseeing, the book was just for times when I was waiting on trains or planes or something to read before going to bed at night. But I found myself staying up later than I should, or taking longer at breakfast or lunch than necessary to get in more reading time because I didn't want to put this book down.  

I highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in art history or Leonardo da Vinci or Italian art and/or history.  Very enjoyable read.

I received a review copy of this via NetGalley.

Review: Season of Storms by Susanna Kearsley

I liked this book quite a bit, which isn't that much of a surprise, being that I've liked everything I've read by Susanna Kearsley.  It did take me a while to get through this book, which was a bit frustrating.  I think part of the reason it took me so long to read was because I started it right before school started up again, so I was busy finishing up my summer errands and getting ready to return to the classroom.  Also, I felt like not a whole lot happened until about halfway through the book.  I felt like I was still being introduced to the characters and setting and realized I was almost at 50%, according to my kindle.

However, I did still enjoy the book, not everything needs to be a fast paced, can't-finish-quick-enough, thriller.

As is often the case with Kearsley's books, the setting is described beautifully. This book takes place at a villa in Italy with a lot of history and ghosts lingering on the villa's grounds.  There are quite a few interesting characters inhabiting these grounds.

Alex, the owner of the villa has decided to stage a play - one written by his grandfather many years earlier.  The play was never performed because the woman for which it was written - his grandfather's lover - died before the play opened.

Celia Sands, a young actress from London, has been offered the starring role, and just so happens to have the same name - though no relation - to the original actress cast for the part, many years earlier.

Rupert, the man who raised her is directing the play, and looking forward to spending time with Celia and directing her in her first starring role.  However, he seems a bit annoyed with the choice of stage manager, which is confusing to Celia as she tries to figure out what kind of history the two men have.

Then there's Madeline, an older actress, with whom Celia has a vague connection, clouded with her own guilt over what she feels was her role in breaking up Madeline's marriage.

Those are just a few of the characters.  There are plenty of others to round out the story, but no need give it all away in this review.  The mix of these people all in one place, working together to put on this "impossible" play makes for a very engaging story.  Maybe I took so long to read the book because I liked being around the characters and felt no rush to get away from them.

I was also pleasantly surprised that I was wrong in thinking I already knew what one of the big secrets was.  At one point, it seemed obvious to me, only later to discover that wasn't the case at all. I like it when the mysteries are not obvious.

Anyway, I enjoyed this book.  I'd recommend it to anyone who likes Kearsley's other books, enjoys a well written story with a bit of history, a touch of supernatural elements and some romance.

I received a copy of this via NetGalley.