The Song Of Achilles by Madeline Miller

 

The book takes on a modern approach to the Iliad, by transforming it into a novel versus the traditional translation of the epic poem by Homer. In this retelling Miller recounts the events of the life of Patroclus, the companion of Achilles. Patroclus is exiled from his home, where he meets Achilles in Pythia. The two become companions, and train for the events that unfold as the story progresses. Achilles is recruited for the war in Troy, and Patroclus follows.  While Achilles seeks glory in the battle, the fates have other plans for these two. I highly recommend this book if you have interest in Ancient Greece or retellings of classical text.

4.35 stars on Goodreads score, 4.5 on Amazon

Spitfire (Livy Nash Mystery #1) by M.L. Huie (2020)

 

How far would you go for vengeance?

World War II is over, and former spy Livy Nash spends her days proofreading an advice column for little ladies at home, and her nights getting drunk on black market vodka. During the war Livy was one of the toughest agents in France but everything ended when her cell was betrayed and the man she loved executed. When Livy meets the infamous Ian Fleming, she has the chance to go back to Paris as a journalist and track down the man who betrayed them all. She jumps at the opportunity. Once in Paris Livy realizes just how much the game has changed. With enemies on every corner and constantly shifting alliances, Livy must learn how to fight in this new war so she can conquer the past once and for all.

The second Livy Nash novel, Nightshade, will be available soon.

3.72 stars at Goodreads, 4.6 on Amazon

Troublemaker AND The Woman Left Behind (GO-Team 1 & 2) by Linda Howard (2016 & 2018)

 

The GO-Team is an elite paramilitary group. In Troublemaker, Morgan Yancy, an operative and team leader is ambushed and almost killed, and his supervisor, Axel McNamara, wants to know why and by whom. To keep Morgan safe, Axel sends him to his ex-stepsister Isabeau “Bo” Maran. Bo is the part-time police chief of a small West Virginia mountain town where Morgan is expected to lay low and stay vigilant. As to be expected, sparks fly between the two but when Morgan’s cover is blown, he will do whatever he has to to keep Bo safe. Bo’s dog Tricks serves as the comic relief.

3.8 stars on Goodreads, 4.2 on Amazon

Jina Modell works in Communications for the GO-Team and she is happy there. She likes the money and being able to kick terrorist butts without ever leaving the climate-controlled comfort of the control room. That changes when she is reassigned to work as an on-site drone operator in the field with the all-male teams. Jina, who hates to sweat, must learn how to run and swim for miles, jump out of a plane, and shoot a gun or else it’s the unemployment line.

Levi is the leader of Jina’s new team and is responsible for turning her into one of them. Much to everyone’s surprise Jina survives the training and the team heads to Syria on a mission. While the men are out in the field, Jina is left operating the drone from the base. The team is betrayed, and the base is destroyed. Jina must rely on her training to find her way to the exfiltration site on her own. Her team thinks she is dead, but Levi is determined to bring Jina home dead or alive.

4.10 stars on Goodreads, 4.6 on Amazon

The Girl You Left Behind by JoJo Moyes (2014)

 

Although I read this book several months ago, I can’t stop thinking about it. This is the story of Sophie Lefevre who lives in occupied France during World War I and Liv Halston in modern day London. The two women are connected by a painting of Sophie done by husband Edouard. The painting is called "The Girl You Left Behind".

While Édouard is fighting at the front the town is occupied by the Germans whom Sophie must serve every evening at her hotel. When the German Kommandant sees Sophie’s portrait he becomes obsessed with Sophie and determined to have both her and the painting for himself.

Fast forward to 2006 and the portrait hangs in the home of Liv Halston, a wedding gift from her young husband before his sudden death. After a chance encounter reveals the portrait’s true worth, a battle begins over its troubled history and Liv’s world is turned upside all over again. To whom does the painting truly belong?

3.99 stars on Goodreads, 4.6 on Amazon

The Sight of You by Holly Miller (2020)

 

Would you stay with someone you love knowing how they will die but not when?  Our hero, Joel. has the unwelcome gift of dreaming about the people he loves, and these dreams, sometimes good and sometimes bad, always come true. As a result, he backs away from all relationships but can’t resist the pull of Callie.  When Joel dreams of Callie’s death each must decide. Can Callie stay, knowing her fate? And if her days must be numbered, is this the life she is meant to live? Can Joel let Callie go? A host of secondary characters surround Joel and Callie and you will find yourself caring about all of them.

The Sight of You is Miller’s first novel. A second novel is expected in 2021 and is being billed as The Sight of You #2.

4.32 stars Goodreads, 4.6 on Amazon

Stephanie Plum Series by Janet Evanovich

 

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If you are looking for just a fun read, Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series is just the ticket. Stephanie and the cast of supporting characters are often laugh-out-loud funny. In book one, One for the Money, out-of-work Stephanie blackmails her bail bailsman cousin for a job and becomes a bounty hunter. Stephanie only goes over the more dangerous bail jumpers because that’s where the money is. Due to her lack of experience, Stephanie ends up in a lot of situations, but she always gets her person in the end.

Novels in the series all have the next sequential number in the title and follow much the same format as the one before but are all always entertaining.  Currently the series stands at 26 but Fortune & Glory Tantalizing: Twenty-Seven is due out in November 2020.

4.04 stars on Goodreads, 4.5 on Amazon

Woman Without a Past by Phyllis A. Whitney (1994)

Before the advent of psychological and romantic thrillers, there was the adult suspense novel. And one of the masters of that genre was Phyllis A. Whitney. It was refreshing to read a book that didn’t cover two generations, wasn’t told by the point of view of more than one character, and contained no sex. This story is told by the main character, Molly Hunt, as she reviews events that have already occurred.

Molly Hunt is a mystery writer in Long Island when she learns she was stolen from her aristocratic Southern family as a  baby and sold to her loving adoptive parents.  She also learns that she has an identical twin sister. Eager to meet her twin and learn about this newly discovered past, Molly travels to her family homestead in Charleston and finds herself surrounded by deceit, distrust, and mystery.

Phyllis Whitney wrote 76 books in her 65-year career, including 38 adult suspense novels. See a full list of her titles here.

3.71 stars on Goodreads, 4.4 on Amazon

Magic Before Liars by Sarah Gailey

 

Ivy Gamble never wanted anything to do with the world of magic. That world belonged to her sister. Instead Ivy is attempting to get by as a private investigator, with little money and a bit of a drinking problem. However, when a murder occurs at the private school for mages her sister works for, she is hired to solve the case. The book is an interesting take on meshing a magic school with a murder mystery. 

3.65 stars on Goodreads, 4 on Amazon  

Queen Victoria: Twenty-four Days That Changed Her Life by Lucy Worsley, B Victoria (2019)

 

Queen Victoria might be missing from the PBS schedule, but you can find her on the library shelves.  Drawing from Victoria’s own correspondence and other documentation of her life, Lisa Worley (Curator of the Historic Royal Palaces) recreates the 24 days in Victoria’s life that defined Victoria as a daughter, mother, widow, and sovereign.  I had a whole different impression of Victoria after reading it.

4.19 stars on Goodreads, 4.7 on Amazon

Mrs. Lincoln's Sisters by Jennifer Chiaverini (2020)

 

The book begins in 1875, ten years after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, when Mary Todd’s Robert has begun legal proceedings to have his mother declared insane and committed. Elizabeth, the oldest sisters of Mary’s four sisters, calls the sisters together to try to help Mary even though they have all been estranged from her for some time. Chapters go back and forth between sisters and 1875/1876 and earlier years to learn the back stories of all the sisters. I sometimes found it difficult to keep everything and everyone straight.

 I have read several of Jennifer Chiaverini’s other historical fiction novels and have been immersed in the characters and the story.  This one not so much. However, fans of Abraham Lincoln or those interested in learning more about Mary Todd’s’ life after the death of her beloved husband and three of her four sons will find this a good read.

 3.73 Stars Goodreads, 4.5  on Amazon

A Murder in Time (Kendra Donovan #1) by Julie McElwain (2016)

 

I love a good mystery and time travel romances.  This, the first of a series of five (so far), combines both genres.  Kendra Donovan, a rogue FBI agent, goes to a party at Aldrich Castle in the 21^st century bent on murder.  She enters a stairwell and emerges during a party in the same castle in 1815.  Fortunately for Kendra the owner of the castle, the Duke of Aldrich, is very open minded and he accepts her as his American ward.  A murder takes place on the grounds of the castle and the Duke and Kendra, with the able assistance of Bow Street Runner Sam Kelly, set out to solve the crime.  Without the aid of 21^st century technology, how is Kendra going to accomplish that? 

There have been five titles in this series and the EPL library has all of them.

3.75 stars on Goodreads, 4.4 on Amazon 

The Only Woman in the Room by Marie Benedict (2019

 

Hedy Lamarr was so much more than a famous actress.  She was also a brilliant, self-educated scientist who no one took seriously.  Hedy began life in Austria as Hedy Kiesler and married a Nazi arms dealer.  After her escape to America, she not only became a film star, she co-invented a radio guidance system for Allied torpedoes. The technology was hidden away by the military until it became the backbone for today’s Bluetooth technology. Hedy and her partner, who never benefited from the invention as the patent had expired, were posthumously inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2014.

If you enjoyed reading and learning about Hedy, you might want to check out Marie Benedict's only novels about Benedict's women.  The Eastpointe library does not have all of Benedict's book but one of the reference librarians will be happy to request it for you from an area library.

3.76 stars on Goodreads, 4.4 on Amazon

In Five Years by Rebecca Serle (2020)

 

Lawyer Dannie Cohan has a five-year plan for her life, and she is right on track to achieve it.  On the night her boyfriend proposes, she goes to sleep and wakes up, in a different apartment, with a different ring on her finger, and beside a very different man. The date on the TV news is December 15, 2025, five years in the future.   Dannie wakes again and is back in 2020 in her own apartment.  The dream feels like more than a dream, but Dannie doesn’t believe in visions. That is, until four-and-a-half years later, when Dannie meets the man from her long-ago vision. Reviews called this a book to read in one setting and I did just that.

3.87 stars on Goodreads, 4.3 on Amazon