My Name Is Iris by Brando Skyhorse

My Name Is Iris  by Brando Skyhorse

Published by Avid Reader Press ISBN 9781982177850

Hardcover, $28, 257 pages

One of  the best things fiction can do is create empathy on the reader. Brando Skyhorse's new novel, My Name Is Iris does that masterfully.

Iris Prince is a second-generation Mexican-American. She has a good job, a young daughter she loves, and she is getting a drama-free divorce from her husband. Iris and nine-year-old Mel are moving into a new home in a nice neighborhood.

Iris's mother has always taught her to follow the rules to living in  America- speak English in front of strangers, walk far from gringos on a sidewalk until they acknowledge you, call them "sir or ma'am", and never ever cry in front of anyone. Iris always tries to follow the rules.

But suddenly the rules were changing. A company created "the Band", something a person wears on their wrist that had their identity on it. You would use this band to get a drivers license, pay your utility bills, basically anything you need to do, you need the Band to be able to do it.

In order to get a Band, you have to show proof of not only your citizenship, but also of your parents' United States citizenship.  This is something Iris in unable to do, and her life was shrinking because of it.  Eventually, the government required employers to prove their employees each had a Band. 

While the Band was becoming a part of American life, Iris notices a wall in front of her house. This wall appears to be growing, and no one else seems to be concerned or even acknowledges that it is there. Her neighbors (who are all white and pepper Iris with microagressions in each encounter) and even her ex-husband make no mention of this huge wall growing in front of Iris' home.

Iris doesn't understand what is happening. She has always followed the rules, she believes that if she works hard and raises her daughter to work hard, she will be justly rewarded with a good life. But now those rules mean nothing.

Brando Skyhorse has created a character in Iris Prince who is unforgettable. The reader has empathy for a woman who is doing everything right only to be told that it doesn't matter, it only matters where your parents came from. My Name Is Iris is such a timely and relevant novel, a great companion to Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale. I found myself shaking my head in disbelief and yet also thinking that this is something that frighteningly could be a reality. I give My Name Is Iris my highest recommendation, it is truly a superb piece of fiction.

Thank you to TLC Tours for putting me on Brando Skyhorse's tour. The rest of his stops are here:

TLC tour schedule:

Monday, July 31st: @marensreads

Tuesday, August 1st: @tialala001 on TikTok

Tuesday, August 1st: @librarywhore

Wednesday, August 2nd: @wendysbookclub – review

Thursday, August 3rd: IG: @anovelkingdom and TT: @anovelkingdom

Thursday, August 3rd: @nissa_the.bookworm

Thursday, August 3rd: @mikaylasbooknook_  on TikTok

Friday, August 4th:  @exclusivepalmbeachliving on TikTok – review

Friday, August 4th:  @page_appropriate 

Saturday, August 5th:  @storytimewithshelbs on TikTok 

Sunday, August 6th: @bethanys_books on TikTok 

Monday, August 7th: @andrea.c.lowry.reads 

Tuesday, August 8th: @nurse_bookie

Tuesday, August 8th: @spaceonthebookcase

Wednesday, August 9th: @thatreadingmom on TikTok

Thursday, August 10th: @aneedleinmybookstack 

Thursday, August 10th: @ambershelf – review

Friday, August 11th: @suzylew_bookreview

Friday, August 11th: @ems_rxlibrary on TikTok

Friday, August 11th: @donasbooks – review

Saturday, August 12th: @gallaghergirlreads

Sunday, August 13th: @jadeelawson on TikTok

Sunday, August 13th: @the.caffeinated.reader  

Monday, August 14th: @kelly_hunsaker_reads 

Monday, August 14th: Bookchickdi – review

Tuesday, August 15th: @bookoholiccafe 

Wednesday, August 16th:  @laura_cover_stories 

Wednesday, August 16th: @kayewiththebooks – review

Thursday, August 17th: @thepoetscorner_ on TikTok

Thursday, August 17th: @subakka.bookstuff and Subakka.bookstuff

Friday, August 18th: @finding_joyathome

Friday, August 18th: @allthebooksalltheways

Saturday, August 19th: @pineshorelittlefreelibrary – review

Sunday, August 20th: @ohmynameiskaylee on TikTok 

Monday, August 21st: @book_boss-12

Tuesday, August 22nd: @booksandcoffeemx

Tuesday, August 22nd:  @wovenfromwords – review

Wednesday, August 23rd: @books.inreallife on TikTok

Wednesday, August 23rd: @secretreadinglife

Thursday, August 24th: @totahlybooked

Friday, August 25th: @bookswithniki on TikTok

Saturday, August 26th: @backporchpages

Saturday, August 26th: @bookgirlbrown_reviews

Sunday, August 27th: @books_n_yogapants

Sunday, August 27th: @oilycaffeinatedmama  

Monday, August 28th: @angiearoundwonderland

Monday, August 28th: @ataleoftwolitties – review

Tuesday, August 29th: @blackbiracialandbookish – review

Wednesday, August 30th: @rickys_radical_reads

Wednesday, August 30th: Eliot’s Eats – review

Thursday, August 31st: @bookdragon217 – review

Friday, September 1st: @djreadsbooks

The Secret Recipe of Ella Dove by Karen Hawkins

The Secret Recipe of Ella Dove by Karen Hawkins

Published by Gallery Books ISBN 9781668018309

Hardcover, $28.99, 368 pages

Coming from a small city, I enjoy a good book in a small town setting, and if you throw in a food theme along with recipes at the end, I am definitely in. Karen Hawkins' enjoyable The Secret Recipe of Ella Dove has all that and more.

Ella Dove has become famous on social media for her wonderful baked goods. She sold her company and after a stint in Paris and New York, she returns to her hometown of Dove Pond (named after her ancestors) for what she hopes is a brief visit with her sisters. She can't stay there, she will become bored.

She also hopes to confront a longtime family friend to get to the bottom of a controversy. Ella was accused of stealing The Book of Cakes, a family heirloom belonging to the Stewart family that contained recipes going back to 1792. Worse, she was accused of using those recipes to create her popular recipes.

The Stewart family have owned a popular local restaurant for many years, now run by Jules and her son Mark. Her other son Gray has had an unrequited love for Ella who broke his heart twice many years ago. Jules not only has to deal with seeing the woman she believes stole her family's heirloom book, she now has to see Ella and Gray growing closer again, knowing it will end badly.

Jules' mother Angela has also returned to Dove Pond following the death of her second husband. Angela is determined to repair her relationship with Jules, which fractured after she divorced Jules' father, even if she has to resort to some deceit to do so.

The characters in this novel are wonderful. Angela is delightful, using everything in her power to get what she wants. She convinces her grandson Gray to help her hide the truth from Jules, and their playful grandmother-grandson banter and relationship is adorable. Angela manages to get Ella to do her bidding as well.

Jules is a helicopter mom, and I think many of us know someone like her. She is fiercely loyal to her family. I found it an interesting character development that Gray has an anxiety disorder, and it's dealt with compassion. 

I also found the social media angle intriguing, as it has become ubiqitous in today's world. We get a peek behind the curtain there. There is a bit of a magical element here too, as Ella's baked goods cause people to remember specific good times in their lives when they eat them. I'll have to make some of the recipes in the book to see what happens.

After reading the third book in the series, I am going to read the first two books- The Book Charmer,  about Ella's sister Sarah, a librarian who can give the perfect book to someone in need (isn't that every librarian's special power?), and A Cup of Silver Linings, about Ava Dove's tea shop and her magic tea leaves. I can't wait to return to Dove Pond. 

Thanks to Simon & Schuster for providing me with a book in exchange for an honest review.

In A Quiet Town by Amber Garza

In A Quiet Town by Amber Garza

Published by MIRA ISBN 9780778334255

Trade paperback, $18.99, 336 pages

In Amber Garza's new suspense novel In A Quiet Town, Tatum is a pastor's wife who has begun to question her direction in life.

Her pastor husband is consumed with his job and her every move in their small Californian town is monitored closely the members of his congregation. Their adult daughter Adrienne is estranged from them, something that troubles Tatum. Adrienne struggled under the overly strict rules of her father and moved out.

Tatum has begun to secretly visit Adrienne's place of work, a bar just outside town. She goes every Wednesday when Adrienne is working, and it appears that her efforts are being rewarded. At first wary of her mother, lately Adrienne has been friendlier to her mother, and even agrred to an appointment for a mother-daughter mani-pedi day.

When Adrienne fails to show up for work and misses her appointment with her mother, Tatum becomes worried. She goes to Adrienne's empty apartment, and her texts are unanswered. Convinced that something bad happened to Adrienne, she goes to the police who, after a cursory look around, decide that Adrienne probably just went away with a boyfriend.

Tatum's concerns grow when she notices a man following her. She confronts the man who says that he is  Adrienne's fiance Seth, and he too is worried that something happened to Adrienne. They were to go away for a weekend trip and she didn't show up. They team up to find her.

What happened to Adrienne? And why doesn't anyone know about Seth, Adrienne's coworkers or her best friend Mara? 

In A Quiet Town is a twisty suspense story, told from the viewpoints of Tatum, Adrienne, and her fiance. There is a a big twist at the end, and while I found parts of the ending a little too unbelievable, you can't deny that a mother will find the strength do anything for her child.

Tatum suffers from a medical issue that her husband seems to have no patience or understanding for, and I think many people will be able to relate to that. Readers of John Searles' recent pyschological suspense novel, Her Last Affair, and fans of Dateline and 20/20 will want to put In a Quiet Town on their list to read.

Thanks to Harlequin for putting me on their 2023 Summer Blog Tours.

My review of Amber Garza's Where I Left Her is here.

My review of Amber Garza's When I Was You is here.

Friday 5ive- Napa Valley Visit

Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a weekly-ish post featuring five things that caught my attention this week. There was no post last week because I was in Napa Valley for our biennial trip to wine country. We always have a great time there, with excellent food and wine. It was very hot there (like everywhere else in the country), so we spent a lot of time poolside.

1) The scenery in Napa is just beautiful, filled with mountains and vineyards and gorgeous flowers. 

Outside Clos du Val Winery

The pagoda at Chateau Montelena

The view of Opus One Winery's vineyards

2)  We had some amazing meals in Napa, including the pizza at Ciccio, which was a big hit with everyone. We always put that restaurant on our list when we are in Napa. 

At Stag's Leap Wine Cellars we partook in their Summer 2023 Cellarius Kitchen Experience, where Executive Chef Travis Westrope created a four course luncheon for us. I liked the West Coast Corn Dog, which was filled with shredded tiger prawn with a delicious plum sauce on top, and served with a plum and cucumber sunomono (a Japanese salad) on the side. 

3) The highlight of our trip is always the Del Dotto Barrels and Beasts Dinner. Their winery is so incredible, and this year we were once again able to go into their caves and taste wines directly from the barrel. The dinner was so elegant, with passed hors d'oerves (caviar on top of an everything seasoned sable with smoked sturgeon mousse, pork belly spiedinis, and lamb chops), hamachi tartare with fresh diced peaches and marcona almonds and the highlight of the meal, a Cape Cod Bay Scallop on top of the tastiest corn pudding. They had entertainment from three members of the San Francisco Opera and a DJ wrapped up the evening with a $20 song- "Sweet Caroline". It's always unforgettable (unless you drank too much of the wine-LOL).

4) On our last evening in Napa we visited Mustard's Grill, recommended to us by more than one person. Perusing the most extensive wine list we've ever seen at a restaurant, we found a Pinot Noir from a winery named LaRue. Of course we had to try it and it was wonderful. We even brought the empty bottle home.

5) When we returned home, we took a helicopter ride back to NYC from JFK airport from Blade. It was pretty cool, flying over the Statue of Liberty and it only took 10 minutes to get back to the city (when it would usually take nearly an hour in traffic). I wish they landed on the East side because it took me almost an hour to get from the West side to the East side in an Uber. But it was still pretty cool.

I hope you can stay cool in this heat. Until next time.

Women of the Post by Joshunda Sanders

Women of the Post by Joshunda Saunders

Published by Park Row ISBN 9780778334071

Trade paperback, $18.99, 368 pages

Historical fiction enlightens readers by expanding our knowledge of times and events through the lens of fictional characters (who are often based on real people.) Joshunda Sanders novel, Women of the Post, takes readers back to WWII and shares the stories of the Six Triple Eight Battalion.

The Six Triple Eight Battalion was an all-Black unit of women Army Corps recruits who were assigned to sort through the over one million pieces of mail that was backlogged. Their assignment took them to England where they were to catalog and get mail to and from the armed services members fighting in the war. It was felt that getting mail to these men and their families would boost morale at a critical time in the war.

Judy Washington is a newlywed whose husband is fighting overseas. At first she received regular letters from him, but that soon stopped, along with the small amount of money he was able to send home.

 Whereas white women could find factory jobs while the men were fighting overseas, Judy and her mother could only find work at what was commonly called the Bronx Slave Market.  Judy and her mother would go to the Bronx and wait for wealthy white women from the suburbs to drive up and offer a paltry amount of pay for a day's work cleaning their homes. When one woman stole money from Judy's own wallet to pay her, that is when Judy had had enough.

 Judy saw an opportunity to join the Six Triple Eight Battalion as not only a chance to make a decent wage, but also to be closer to finding out what has happened to her husband. We follow Judy through basic training in Kansas, where she makes friends with three other women, and we meet Second Officer Charity Adams, who will lead the battalion overseas. (Charity Adams was a real person, the highest ranking Black female officer in WWII.)

Each of the characters is interesting and has her own reasons for being there. Charity is hiding a relationship with a fellow female officer, and Mary Alyce discovers a secret that her family kept from her for years that changes her life forever.

I learned so much from Women of the Post. I had heard of the Six Triple Eight before, but reading of their accomplishment and how they managed to not only complete the task of getting the mail but create a cataloging system for doing so was so interesting. Joshunda Sanders takes us right into their day-to-day life in basic training, and what it was like to be an almost forgotten part of the military. I was intrigued by her characters and bond of friendship they formed.

I had never heard of the Bronx Slave Market, and I wish more people knew about this part of New York City history. It was shocking to me and yet not so unbelievable that it would exist. I'd like to read more about it. I will also be looking for more information on Charity Adams.

If you are a historical fiction fan, Women of the Post is a book to put on your list. Fans of Lauren Willig's Band of Sisters and Margot Lee Shetterly's nonfiction Hidden Figures will enjoy it, and I give it 5 stars.

Thanks to Harlequin for putting me on their Summer 2023 Blog Tours.

Friday 5ive- July 14, 2023

Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a weekly-ish post featuring five things that caught my eye this week. We took a week off to go to Florida, I hope you didn't miss me.

1)  We were excited to see two projects completed at our home in Florida. New bookshelves were put in, along with a desk in the office, so you know I enjoyed organizing the books. The only thing that would have been better is if my my two favorite book organizers Anna and Allison were there to help. We also had a new bar area put in the kitchen, and both projects turned out so wonderful.

2)  Our JetBlue plane from JFK to Florida was called Bear Force One, with the Boston Bruins logo and colors. I'm not a hockey fan, but I know a few Bruins fans so I sent them a  photo.

3) I was on my own for dinner a couple nights this week and when I was debating what to have, an article from CNN popped on my phone about "Girl Dinner". Apparently when women are having dinner on their own at home, pulling out fruit, cheese and crackers for dinner is the latest fad. So I picked up burrata, some grapes and pineapple and added some crackers and proscuitto from my neighborhood Italian grocery store and had a lovely little dinner. Girl Dinner will on my regular rotation- no cooking is involved and in this heat that is a good thing. 

4) I ended up spending an extra two days on Florida due to flight cancellations so I made the best of it by catching up on the last season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel on Amazon Prime. All I can say is Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino know how to wrap up a show. They gave us a glimpse into the future for all the characters and Alex Borstein (Susie) and Rachel Brosnahan (Midge) put on a tour-de-force of acting in the last few episodes that stunned me. If they don't get all the awards, there is no justice. If you've never watched this series, do yourself a favor and watch it now. I loved Midge's Joan Rivers-like NYC massive apartment, a nice tip of the hat to Joan.

5) I read some terrific books lately. Kelly Rimmer's WWII novel, The Paris Agent, tells the story of ordinary British people who became spies to save the world from the Nazis. It is intense and so gripping. My five-star review can be found here. 

Speaking of spies, Beatriz Williams' novel, The Beach at Summerly, also has at its core a spy story,but this one is set in the Cold War and with Russians. Emelia's parents have been caretakers for a wealthy New England's summer family home on Winthrop Island on the Long Island Sound. She and her siblings grew up with the sons of the family, and Emilia had a crush on one of the boys. After WWII, the boys' widowed Aunt Olive comes to stay with her young children, and Emilia ends up taking care of the children and growing close to Olive. Her relationship with Olive brings her to the attention of FBI agent Sumner Fox who is looking for someone who is passing along information to the Russians. This one is for fans of the late, great TV show The Americans. I love how Williams' ties this book into her previous terrific novel, Our Woman in Moscow. 

I also read Isabel Allende's debut novel, The House of the Spirits. This one was my July Blind Date With a Book -Banned Book Club edition gifted to me by my wonderful daughter-in-law Anna. I can't believe I never read this book before! It's an epic family story, set in an unnamed South American country. Esteban Trueba works hard to build a life of wealth and privilege for his family. He is tough, and sometime violent. Esteban loves his ethereal wife Clara, who is able to connect to the spirits of those who have passed on. Their daughter Blanca falls in love with a man her father forbids her to see, a man whose politics are the complete opposite of Esteban's. As Esteban's political power grows, Blanca grows further apart from her father. Blanca's daughter Alba is the light of Esteban's eye, but as she grows up, she sees the world in a different light than her grandfather and wants to change things in her increasingly volatile country. Written in 1985, ostensibly about Chile, this book resonates with much that is happening right now in the United States. This book is one of the best I have ever read, it has earned a permanent place on my Staff Recommends shelf at the Book Cellar. 

Have a safe, healthy week- stay cool.

The Paris Agent by Kelly Rimmer

The Paris Agent by Kelly Rimmer

Published by Graydon House ISBN 9781525826689

Trade paperback, $18.99, 352 pages

As Kelly Rimmer's fascinating novel The Paris Agent opens, four women who are British spies in 1944 were captured by Nazi forces and are now on a train being transferred somewhere unknown.

Flash forward to 1970 Britain where Charlotte and her father Noah are grieving the death of Charlotte's mother, Noah's wife. Charlotte believes that her father was a plane mechanic during WWII, and she is stunned to discover that Noah was actually a top secret SOE spy operative in France during the war.

Noah has been disconsolate lately; he wants to track down the man Remy who helped him when he suffered a serious head injury during the war. He has memory loss from that time and he believes that Remy can help fill in the gaps. 

Charlotte finds a professor who is working on a history of the SOE operatives. Perhaps he can find Remy for them, but Noah seems reluctant, even more so when it appears that there was a double agent working for the Nazis who endangered the lives of SOE operatives.

As the story moves back to 1944, we meet two female spies- Chloe and Fleur- as they narrate their stories of how they came to be spies for the British government and the dangerous missions they undertook. Rimmer writes an incredibly tense scene as Chloe and Noah's mission to destroy a Nazi weapons factory is detailed. It's a real nail-biter.

These brave heroes put their lives on the line for the safety of others back home, knowing they could be captured or killed. Those who came home often wanted to put that part of their behind them or were forever haunted by it. Noah was able to put it behind him until he could no longer do so.

I was pulled deep into this story, and although at first it is difficult to keep the characters straight because they use their spy names and real names interchangeably (a chart in the beginning of the book would have been helpful), I could not put this book down.

The characters are so well drawn, we feel deeply for them when they face unspeakable danger and as we draw closer to discovering their fates, I found my heart racing. If you are a fan of WWII novels, like Kristin Hannah's The Nightingale, you'll want to read The Paris Agent.

Thanks to TLC Tour for putting me on Kelly Rimmer's tour. The rest of her stops are here:

TLC review tour schedule:

Monday, June 26th: @poisedpen 

Tuesday, June 27th: @nobookmark_noproblem

Wednesday, June 28th: @marensreads 

Thursday, June 29th: @andrea.c.lowry.reads 

Thursday, June 29th: @readthisandsteep and Read This and Steep

Friday, June 30th: @mrs._lauras_lit 

Monday, July 3rd: @wendysbookclub

Wednesday, July 5th: @megsbookclub

Thursday, July 6th: @laurasnextchapter 

Friday, July 7th: Bookchickdi

Saturday, July 8th: @addictedtobooks86

Monday, July 10th: @page_appropriate 

Tuesday, July 11th: Helen’s Book Blog

Wednesday, July 12th: @bigskybooks

Friday,  July 14th: @diveintoagoodbook

Monday, July 17th: @charliegirl.loves2read

Wednesday, July 19th: @finding_joyathome

Friday, July 21st: Girl Who Reads

Friday, July 21st: Books Cooks Looks

Monday, July 24th: @nurse_bookie

Wednesday, July 26th: @subakka.bookstuff and Subakka.bookstuff

Friday, July 28th: Eliot’s Eats