Three Outsider Moms at a Posh Private School

 

Parents want to give their tots the best possible start. In this Southern California community that means the Swan School. However, three moms are not the average sophisticated parents the school caters to. They meet at the Welcome Breakfast and quickly bond. Each has secrets that they fear will be exposed. Andrea is running from her East Coast life, Lauren has a postpartum depression that her husband wants her to hide, and Ronnie is hiding from a man who could ruin her life.

The women get notes in their children’s backpacks warning that they’re not wanted in the school. They decide that they need to meet with the school’s director, Piper. When they arrive at her office, she’s been brutally attacked. The three women are also knocked out making at least one of them the prime suspect. Now they must solve the mystery

I found the characters in this book difficult to like. Of course, they all want the best for their children, but their own egos and manipulative strategies made them seem most interested in themselves. As they strive for acceptance, as well as self-acceptance. they come across as mostly deceitful.

I thought the first part of the book was interesting. The setting in a posh school that I couldn’t imagine ever sending my children to was well done. However, after the attack and the subsequent quest to prove their innocence, the story became more diffuse. I’m used to reading mysteries and this wasn’t a hunt to solve a complex crime.. It seemed more like a voyage of personal discovery by rather unlikable women.

I received this book from Dutton/Plume for this review.

Strategies for Detecting Bullshit

 

Detecting bullshit is an important strategy for our time. Facebook, Twitter, major media, and television personalities all engage in some form of bullshit as do jewelers, car salesmen, and diet gurus. Arguments from authority are one way of persuading people to your point of view whether the authorities are correct or slanted.

The book is divided into two parts. The first part is anecdotal stories illustrating bullshit by personalities such as Deepak Chopra, Donald Trump, and others. It is very important when so much information is floating around to have a way to do critical thinking to separate what’s real from what’s being hyped.

The second half of the book, and in my view the most interesting, presents strategies and checklists for detecting bullshit. While not a prefect solution, it does give you a place to start and encourages you to sharpen your faculties to get a better handle on the truth. I particularly liked his suggestion of asking questions that require evidence based replies. Bullshitters make things sound wonderful, but they slide over what their pronouncements are really based on.

I recommend this book if you want to develop or bush up your skills in critical thinking for getting closer to the truth.

I received this book from St. Martin’s Press for this review.

Gentle Stories of Love and Romance

 

I have been a fan of Rosamunde Pilcher since I was a teen. Her books were always engaging with beautiful settings and attractive characters. This collection of fifteen short stories is the same. However, the stories are based in a different era and may not resonate with modern readers.

The women in the stories are engaged in some form of relationship or are single and looking for a relationship. Different types of love are described from the wife who tries to rekindle the romance in her marriage to a young woman realizing she’s along and then finding romance. The stories primarily involve a romantic couple. This works well for the era in which they are set. Whether right of wrong, at that time women were encouraged to look for a relationship with a man. Marriage was a goal and being single was often viewed as failure.

If you have read Roemunde Pilcher, before these stories are a wonderful find. The settings, as usual in her work, are breathtaking. You want to drop everything and go there. However, the characters, as I pointed out, are somewhat dated. Still, you can love the stories for a glimpse of a different time.

I received this book from Net Galley for this review.

Lessons for Achieving Success

 

Published in 1928, Napoleon Hill’s The Law of Success has been widely read and his principles followed by many people. The book contains fifteen lessons on such topics as self-confidence, enthusiasm, and imagination. While the book was published many years ago these topics are still relevant. The lessons are designed to make you think about how you approach your desires and how you present yourself.

This book is very detailed. Each lesson is rather long and considering that it was written many years ago it can be more difficult to read than current self-help books. However, the content is excellent. I think the fact that the it takes some work to read the book is good. It makes you think about what you’re reading. I particularly like that the lessons are process rather than outcome oriented. Process is what gets you to where you want to be. It can be hard work, but it is what brings the outcome of success.

The best way to use this book is to read each lesson and decide how you can use the material to fit into your plan for success.

I received this book from St. Martin’s Press for this review.

A Lasting, but Not Perfect Marriage

 

Peter and Jackie were high school sweethearts. Everyone thought they were destined to marry, but Peter was having second thoughts. He planned to end it until he was involved in an incident that changed the course of his life and their relationship. Although they later marry and have been married for more than thirty years, Peter has kept his secret until he finally tells Jackie.

As the story opens Peter and Jackie are in their seventies. He has just published his first novel which is a reason to celebrate, but Jackie has just had a cancer diagnosis and the prognosis isn’t good.

This is a story of choices and living with the results. Peter and Jackie didn’t have the perfect marriage, but they stayed together and now they’re facing an ending. The story moves back a forth between their past and the present decisions they have to make.

Peter is the primary narrator, and I have to admit I didn’t like him. I thought he was too self-centered. I had trouble warming up to Jackie also. She seemed depressed and remote, but perhaps that was intentional as a result of her diagnosis. The book starts slowly, but it picks up in the middle as we get to know the characters better and the crisis points become obvious.

I thought the author did a good job delving into the lives to two people who made a choice to be together and stuck it out even if they might not have been the right people for each other.

I received this book from Gallery Books for this review.

A Fictionalized Account of an Assassination Attempt in 1910 London

 

William Melville, Head of Special Branch, is tasked with keeping the royal family safe as well as catching anarchists and other criminals in London. William worked his way up to his position from his early years as a baker in Ireland. He has become not only the protector of the royal family but also their friend and confident.

Queen Victoria’s death is the signal for all the crowned heads of Europe to gather for her funeral. Among these is Kaiser Wilhelm II, Victoria’s favorite grandson. As the royals gather, Melville gets wind of an assassination plot. It is unclear who the intended victim is, but Melville suspects it may be the Kaiser. However, he also needs to stay aware of the danger to other royals, including the new king, Edward VII.

To keep the threat of assassination from becoming public knowledge Melville must work alone, but he enlists the help of a member of the German retinue, Gustav Steinhauer. He is very similar in temperament to Melville and the two men work together well to protect their monarchs.

I enjoyed this book particularly that it is based on actual historical events. Melville and Steinhauer are well drawn. The team works swiftly to identify the assassin and foil the plot. Although set in 1910, it’s an exciting spy thriller. The book also gives us a good picture of the era in Europe when the old order of royalty was being replaced. I thought the author did an excellent job with the historical background.

I received this book from Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.

Maggie Reunites with Her Ex to Solve a Murder in Los Angeles

 

It’s 1943. The war isn’t over, but in the US, they’re starting to see the possibility of victory in both Europe and Asia. Maggie is in Los Angeles at the request of her ex, John Sterling. John is in Hollywood working for Walt Disney helping to create war propaganda. Since his break with Maggie he’s become engaged, but tragically his fiance was found dead floating in the hotel pool where she was staying. John is convinced it was murder and he’s asked Maggie to investigate.

The setting in this the tenth book in the Maggie Hope series, is quite different from war-torn Europe. Everything is bright and sunny in California, but under the shiny exterior lurks the same evil Maggie faced in Europe. There’s glamour like Coconut Grove, but there’s also hatred and segregation, Nazis and the KKK. The author does an excellent showing the contrast between the surface and the darkness underneath.

I thought this was an excellent addition to the Maggie Hope story. Maggie is a terrific heroine. She’s brave, clever, and a caring person who wants to help her friends. I was delighted to see John back in Maggie’s life. I wasn’t happy when he took Disney’s offer to work in Hollywood. Sara is back also and working in the movies. A new character that added a great deal to the complexity of the story was Henri, a jazz musician.

If you’re a fan of Maggie Hope, this is a must read. If not, it’s a good time to get acquainted.

I received this book from Random House for this review.