Darlene's Digest

Pogrom: Kishinev and the Tilt of History by Steven J. Zipperstein My rating: 4 of 5 stars This book was all too timely as we see a new rise of anti-Semitism around the world and what it means for Jews in the United Kingdom, the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and especially in the former Soviet Republics. We all grew up knowing of the Kishinev Pogrom. It's still remembered during memorial services, and for some of my family from the Bessarabia region of Rumania/Russia/Moldavia it was part of our personal history. Zipperstein digs deep into the research, separating fact from myth to the best of his ability based on surviving material. Because the pogrom occurred in the early 20th c., technology in the form of telegraph lines, steamships, trains, and the modern press moved the story forward in a fashion that would have been impossible 100 or even 50 years earlier. The hate that led to the murders in Kishinev lives on, particularly in the sc...

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik My rating: 5 of 5 stars We've been asking for more diverse SF & Fantasy and Naomi Novik has brought us a fabulous tale with three strong women protagonists, set in a fantasy Russia that's far different than the traditional European settings of earlier fantasies. Miryem is a Jewish moneylender's daughter, but when her gentle father can't collect on the money owed him she sets out to force the people in her village to pay her, in produce and chickens if not in silver. However, she becomes so successful that she gains a reputation for spinning silver into gold...and that attracts the eye of the otherworldly Staryk, who crave gold. Wanda is the peasant girl with an abusive father and a hardscrabble life who goes to work for Miryem's family to pay her family's debts, and finds it may hold the key to her own survival and that of her brothers. Irina is a duke's daughter with the blood of the fey...

Portrait Of A Spy by Daniel Silva My rating: 4 of 5 stars A painfully moving tale of people trying to do the right thing, especially to help women who are held back by government and religious authorities. The Gabriel Allon tales are truly ripped from the headlines and catching up on them is a glimpse into recent historical events. I'm still enjoying them immensely, but sometimes they're so wrenching that I can't read them too close together. It will be a while before I'm ready for #12. View all my reviews

Lord Braybrook's Penniless Bride by Elizabeth Rolls My rating: 2 of 5 stars I liked the story and I enjoyed the characters, but I could barely read it because of the constant back-and-forth switching of POV. Within the same scene we'd jump from head to head and it made the narrative confusing and unnecessarily distracting. This is a shame, because I've enjoyed other Regency romances by Ms. Rolls and I don't recall them having this issue, or perhaps not to this degree. I'll continue to read her work and hope this was a one-off. View all my reviews

A Study in Honor by Claire O'Dell My rating: 5 of 5 stars In an all too real, all too dystopian near future, there are still people on whom you can rely, people who have your back. People like Dr. Janet Watson and Sara Holmes. Watson is a war veteran, scarred and damaged, unable to practice surgery with only one arm and a malfunctioning, ill-fitting bionic replacement for the arm destroyed in battle. Holmes is....Holmes. Enigmatic, elegant, owner of an outstanding DC property, in need of a roommate. And that's the beginning of the adventure as these amazing women team up to solve a mystery with broad implications. "Holmes and Watson" is one of the most enduring tropes of the last 150 years and O'Dell has put a fresh spin on it with characters who are so very different from the traditional canon, yet bring the sensibilities we've come to cherish in these partners in crime-solving. The mystery is engrossing, the action is non...

European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman by Theodora Goss My rating: 4 of 5 stars A fun read that explores many of our classic horror villains and tropes, but upends them by making the monsters women who cooperate rather than tear things up. Goss has delved deep into literature of the macabre to bring forward characters like Mary Jekyll and her half-sister Diana Hyde (who may be my new role model) Catherine Moreau, Justine Frankenstein and so on. However, it was especially delightful in this novel to figure out early on who the woman head of the secret society of mad scientists was. The clues were there, and... S P O I L E R since I'm one of the few people I know who actually read and enjoyed H. Rider Haggard, I knew it was She Who Must Be Obeyed! Great fun to see Ayesha again. The best part of these books is how girls are getting it done. No man swoops in to save them, they figure things out and take care of it. I'm looking forward to r...

“You underestimate the will of the American people, Doctor.” He poked his finger in the air for emphasis. “When you push us, we push back. Hard. John Bull cannot bully America into surrendering now any more than you could forty years ago. Have you already forgotten the lesson of Fort McHenry?” He rummaged in his desk and pulled out a tattered newspaper, much folded and creased. “My mother sent this to me with the letters, a newspaper from home. A Mr. Key wrote a poem about the battle, titled ‘The Defence of Fort McHenry.’ Look here—‘the land of the free and the home of the brave.’ That’s America, Charley! I won’t ask you to drink to an American victory, but you won’t mind if I have a tot?” David poured himself some rum while humming a tune. She listened, her head cocked to the side. “I know that tune—I heard it in the inn where I waited to board the Lady Jane . It is ‘To Anacreon in Heaven,’ is it not? I recall the people who attempted to navigate its melody often failed miserably.” “...

“You may have noticed I am wearing one of your shirts this morning.” “Oh yeah,” Rand murmured. He’d noticed. Looked like she had two puppies in a sack in there, tusslin’ when she moved. “The reason I am wearing your clothes is because the laundry needs to be done and you have not done it.” That statement took him out of his contemplation of how much fun it would be to undo the rest of the buttons on his shirt and give those pups some air. “What?” “I said, you have not done the laundry, Washburn.” Julia turned back to the grate to squat down and flip the cakes. “Yeah, well, that’s your job. You’re the wife.” She turned her head and looked up at him with raised brows. “Is that what you thought? That because that magistrate pronounced a few words over us I would take over all the domestic chores? Who did your laundry before you had a wife?” Rand shifted and ran his free hand through his hair. “I did my laundry. But I didn’t like it!” “No one likes it. Here is what I propose… I will conti...

Regency Christmas Gifts: Three Stories by Carla Kelly My rating: 4 of 5 stars A delightful break from summer's heat, with Kelly's trademark stories of rather ordinary people being extraordinary human beings. They're not only doing well, they're doing good, what's called tikkun olam --"repairing the world" among those of us who don't celebrate Christmas, but still enjoy a solid, weepy love story. Each of these tales has its own charm as lives are made better and love discovered during the holiday season. I miss the old Regency Christmas collections that used to come out each year, but it's nice to know some of the best authors in the genre continue to release their holiday best. View all my reviews