This ultra-charming "new adult" book is about Alex, the First Son of the United States, and HRH ("his royal highness") Prince Henry of Wales falling head over heels in love with one another. It starts with a mishap with a wedding cake, resulting in a weekend of forced friendship that ultimately turns into a clandestine kiss in a garden. A secret relationship is formed, and love happens (along with sex and a whole lot of kissing!). But then, just as the campaign for his mother’s re-election as President is heating up, a horrific sex scandal causes chaos with the untimely outing of both Alex and Prince Henry!
Is a happy ending on the horizon for this royal couple? You’ll have to read it to find out!
I absolutely loved every minute of reading this book. It was adorable, witty, funny, heartwarming, and very well written. I couldn’t put it down!
In this graphic memoir, framed like a scrapbook, German ex-pat Nora Krug tries to answer a question that lives in the heart of many Germans: "What role did my family play in the Holocaust?"
To find answers, she delves into local archives and government records, as well as her relatives' memories and photo albums. Her ultimate hope is to alleviate her sense of inherited guilt, but of course nothing is ever so straightforward. On her journey, she meets new relatives, fact-checks family lore, and is eventually able to see her long-gone family members as real people with real lives and real emotions, and finally accept her heritage, mixed bag that it is.
Germany has always been a particular interest of mine, so I was completely fascinated by this first-hand, highly personal account of a modern German grappling with the guilt and shame of her country's past. While not graphically explicit, the story packs an emotional gut punch. Peppered with tidbits of German culture from toadstools to laundry detergent, this is an incredible read for anyone interested in a modern German perspective on World War Two.
One evening, Sarah, a midwife in late 19th century New York, is called to a boardinghouse to deliver the owner’s baby. A guest walks in during the delivery, and for an instant, Sarah thinks she recognizes her and calls out a name, startling the young woman. The guest leaves, and Sarah spends the next several hours delivering the baby. When she returns later to check on mother and child, she is surprised to learn that the young female guest has been murdered. Sarah becomes drawn into the investigation as she discovers a connection to the victim and her family, and though outside forces attempt to thwart the investigation, Sarah feels a personal compulsion to carry on and find the killer.
Historical mysteries have an extra layer of intrigue since all contemporary means of solving a crime are not available, and Murder on Astor Place has this with the added twist of a corrupt New York Police Department that was still attempting to rid itself of those unsavory practices. This story is a quick and light mystery that begins the Gaslight Mystery series. Recommended for cozy mystery fans, and especially readers of the Maisie Dobbs series.
By the time he was twenty-seven, Kwame Onwuachi had competed on TopChef, cooked at the White House, and opened and closed one of the most talked-about restaurants in America. In this inspiring memoir, he shares the remarkable story of his culinary coming-of-age. Growing up in the Bronx and Nigeria (where he was sent by his mother to "learn respect"), food was Onwuachi's great love.
This was a well-written memoir, with Onwuachi shaping and molding his story to both inform and entertain his readers. Each chapter ends with a recipe, which I found especially cozy. I enjoyed reading about his journey from the streets of New York, to Africa, to serving a prestigious dinner at the National Museum of African American History, to being a chef at his own restaurant. He seems to have an incredible work ethic, a fierce tenacity, and an incredible sense of street wise. His demeanor in his kitchen, never berating or belittling his staff, is very agreeable and makes me like him even more. Overall, I am most impressed, however, with his unwavering refusal to give in to clichéd stereotypes.
