This might be the best book of the series and the most frightening. I must admit to having a nightmare or two from reading it at bedtime.
What is weird and special is that the author, Jacqueline Winspear, has taken historical events and shows us lessons we should have learned. In this particular book, the troubles of PTSD, homelessness, and depression are on display within the context of sophisticated British literature and history.
Orlagh Cassidy (Narrator) has the acting chops to keep the reader (listener) engaged with each character. She finds a way to make each person individual.
This series is one of the best. I thank my friend, Kay, for recommending it to me. I highly recommend all the Maisie Dobbs books so far!
This was a beautiful love story. It was so unique seeing two women, a white, Irish woman, I think, and a Lakota two-spirit woman. The author takes you into both points of view during a time in American history when the whites were on the westward ho, conquering and killing as they moved.
But here is what was happening to one particular woman and her tribe, and a little about their philosophy.
I think the only thing that might have made this story better would have been to have it narrated by a person who could speak the language. The problem with Text-to-Speech is how badly Kindle’s voice pronounces words that are not English.
Still, I am happy I finally got around to reading this story. I’ve had it in my ‘currently-reading’ shelf since 2016. I highly recommend this read.
One of my favorite things to do in life is to sing. All my life!
When I was a kid on the swing I was singing. My favorite swinging songs was To Dream the Impossible Dream.
I set up classmates to reinact the Wizard of Oz. Somewhere Over the Rainbow is still a favorite. I’m teaching myself a new version to play so I can sing with it later. In fact, Ash Grove, Beau Soir, Shilo, Just the Way You Are, God Bless the Child and Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man of Mine, among others are piano accomplishments I’m learning while I’m trying get my voice back. I’m doing the vocal warmups I learned in voice classes and lessons I took for a couple years.
Allergies are messing with my throat but I’m doing my best. I miss singing. I used to do solos in churches. I was terrified when I first started but I grew to love every minute of it. Whereas the piano playing with any audience made me feel I was going to die. But the singing would take me to another world.
Sunset beach diamond painting is nearly finished. Just a little piece of sky. (Why did I suddenly hear Yentl in my head?) And I sealed the smiling turtle. As soon as I can I will hang it in my bathroom.
My fingering weight socks are coming along. Not very fast as thin needles and skinny yarn take more caution, time, eye-strain, nimble fingers.Guess who got a new watch? I’m still learning my way around it. I haven’t figured out how to capture my stationary bike time, distance, or levels. But the work should get reflected in other health numbers.
My new air plants found pinecones for homes.
Some things like the bike are hard to show progress. But my feelings about the tasks should be the quantifiable attainment. The gold star sticker is the happy accomplished feeling.
I’ve been working on “Shilo” on the piano in honor of
Shiloh. She and Sammie find their places in Dar’s Dabbling Den at practice time. I like their company as I stumble through 4 or 5 pieces a day. Once I’m bored with a song it goes by the wayside. But sometimes a song challenges me to the point of playing itself in my sleep.
I keep a practice journal and some pieces shine with my own praise of how well it went, others I actually draw faces sticking out the tongue in raspberries. I keep promising another ‘warts and all’ session. Stagefright keeps stopping me. Soon.
Duolingo is still fun for me. I do it while on the bike as the 11AM local news plays. I think movement while learning helps.
This series is so fulfilling. Each book sees the character, Maisie, and her life progressing within a well-researched historical England. Equally, life continues as do illness, death, or personal conflicts. All of this kept me in another world, exploring life at another time. I hated leaving the book to go to sleep. I felt I could reach out and chat with the characters; that’s how well Jacqueline Winspear writes.
Orlagh Cassidy narrates in such a way that there is no confusion between characters, which helps increase the story’s realism.
If you get the opportunity to read this series, please give it a try. I highly recommend the Libby audiobook version. My friend, Kay, recommended it to me, and she rarely leads me to dull books!
I was fortunate to borrow this audiobook from Libby. And unfortunately, I didn’t quite finish before it was due back. And people were waiting to read it, so I had to let it go back. I put it on hold to finish the read. But I think I have read enough to review the book.
Surprised. I was surprised that I liked the book as much as I did. I felt I learned new things in many different areas of Mr. Clinton’s life, and how history played a part in our story. He wrote about his family life in ways that were remarkable, loving, and full of pride. I expected a lot of political jargon and boring, dry subject matter. I look forward to finishing the book later.
I nearly forgot that Steven Weber (narrator) easily and naturally lent his voice to President Clinton. I think this was a good choice. I’m sure the president’s voice would have been acceptable, but it might not have held up to the constant reading.
As I said from the beginning, I was surprised at how I liked this book. I thought I would be bored or lost, but I felt educated by the time I returned the book.
This series took me a while to read. A South African monster slayer, post-apocalypse, still in college in a time when monsters now roam. Kat Drummond is a ghost-inhabited student just trying to get by. She can be sassy, but mostly a new adult full of the normal insecurities we all have in our late teens and early twenties.
This was fun, if not downright bloody. The gross scenes were vivid and not the best for a bedtime read. But before long, the characters grow on you, and the story holds up over the scarier or grosser parts.
I can see young adults and new adults loving this series.
The coolest part of this book was that it took place in South Africa. It is a nice diversion from the usual books we can access here in the States. This is a fun series if you can handle monsters to learn about how real people operate in less than the best circumstances.
There’s a bit of month left over but by meandering through the alphabet I’ve hit Z. No more letters And…
Zero stitches to knit on Chris’s birthday socks!
A quick review of my favorite sock pattern:
Turkish cast-on starts the toe. Increase to width of foot. Work width until nearing the arch. Rib the arch. A couple inches of width-knit. Then start Fleegle Heel. Knit width of ankle for a couple of inches. Then rib desired cuff length. Jeny’s stretchy cast-off finished the sock. You can research this site or YouTube for each of the identified bits of the Chiaogoo Two At A Time Socks.
Now on to the other socks I started earlier but had to put away for the birthday socks. Yay!
Working on my series: Haven.
Doodler (zendoodle.com)
Music major: voice and piano
Mom of four great adults
Reiki II practitioner
I have been on disability/retired for 10 years now from depression, anxiety and fibromyalgia.
Books, games, music, and life — filtered through the mind of a writer, drummer, and philosopher who thinks too deeply about all of it. If it moves something in your chest, I'm interested.
Darswords 
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