Eco-friendly Book Buying

When I 'discovered' Discover books, I was excited to learn that they were selling used books in good condition in an effort to keep them out of landfills. They also donate children's books to communities that are in need. The books that are too damaged to donate or resell are recycled appropriately.

You can find pretty much any book you are looking for just by searching on their site. It is much less expensive than purchasing them new and the shipping is FREE! 

One option they have is to buy a mystery box of 10 adult books for $8.00. I decided to give it a shot, so once I receive the books, I will tell you what I got and then read and review each one. ( I still have 2 reviews to post here before those arrive, haha!) Click here for a coupon!

The Wicked City by Beatriz Williams

Title: The Wicked City
Author: Beatriz Williams
Genre: Historical Fiction

Synopsis: "When she discovers her husband cheating, Ella Hawthorne impulsively moves out of their SoHo loft and into a small apartment in an old Greenwich Village building. Her surprisingly attractive new neighbor, Hector, warns her to stay out of the basement at night. Tenants have reported strange noises after midnight—laughter, clinking glasses, jazz piano—even though the space has been empty for decades. Back in the Roaring Twenties, the place hid a speakeasy.
In 1924, Geneva "Gin" Kelly, a smart-mouthed flapper from the hills of western Maryland, is a regular at this Village hideaway known as the Christopher Club. Caught up in a raid, Gin becomes entangled with Prohibition enforcement agent Oliver Anson, who persuades her to help him catch her stepfather Duke Kelly, one of Appalachia’s most notorious bootleggers." - GoodReads.com

My Thoughts

There is a lot going on in this novel, thus the reason I had to borrow the official synopsis instead of writing my own, I could not sum it up any better. At first, I didn't realize that Ella was not living during 1924. Then the author described her as having left her husband, going for a run, and wearing a scrunchy. After that I went back to the beginning of the chapter to realize the scene had been set in 1998, makes much more sense.
Once I had oriented myself it was easy to differentiate which chapters were about Ella, and which were about Gin. The author had to stretch a bit to show how their lives were intertwined decades apart, but it doesn't feel totally forced.
The whole haunted basement thing is a little bizarre. It doesn't really play a major role at all and the story could have been complete even if it had been removed. Beyond hearing a few creepy sounds, nothing really happens in Ella's time that makes it relevant.
Overall, it is a fun quick read, nothing earthshattering, but has enough suspense to keep the reader engaged.
If you want more books by this author, I suggest you pick up A Certain Age, it was one that I enjoyed even more!

Comment below if you have read this book or have suggestions for others like it!


To buy this book from Amazon now, click on the image at the top of the post.
To see more from the author, visit the website linked above

The Fifth Avenue Artists Society by Joy Callaway

Title: The Fifth Avenue Artists Society
Author: Joy Callaway
Genre: Historical Fiction

Synopsis: Joy Callaway's debut novel tells a fictionalized version of a family story passed down through generations. The Loftins are a family of artists struggling to keep their Bronx home in the 1890s. Virginia Loftin wants nothing more than to be taken seriously as a writer and to marry her childhood friend Charlie. When Charlie proposes to another woman because of her wealth, Virginia (Ginny) is crushed and puts everything into writing a novel based on their love. To help her move on and share her work, Ginny's brother, Franklin, takes her to the home of a friend who hosts an Artists Society that actually allows women to attend and share their ideas. The friendships they make at The Society lead the Loftin's into a world unlike their own, and when tragedy strikes it threatens to tear their family apart.

My Thoughts
This book was nothing like I expected it to be, in the best way possible. I thought it was going to be a coming of age story for a young woman who realizes there is more to life than the man who proposed to someone else, but it was that and much more. It really reached into the complexity of family life of the upper middle class in the late 19th century; the epic battle between unconditional love and doing what is best for the family.
This novel also explores the art scene emerging in New York at the time as well as questionable medical practice that was then considered “state the art.” 
This story has twists and turns and the shock factor that can only be found in a story that has bits of truth and has been embellished over time as it was passed from generation to generation. It is so cool to read a story that has been in the author's family for so many years.
I really enjoyed reading this novel, I think it is unique in a way that allows it to resonate with many different readers.

Comment below if you have read this book or have suggestions for others like it!


To buy this book from Amazon now, click on the image at the top of the post.
To see more from the author, visit the website linked above

The Last Tudor by Philippa Gregory

Title: The Last Tudor
Author: Philippa Gregory
Genre: Historical Fiction

Synopsis: The late King Henry VIII's teenaged son, Edward VI, has died and left the inheritance of the crown in uncertainty with many possible heirs, all women. Many think it should pass to one of Henry's daughters, Mary or Elizabeth, but both of them had gone in and out of favor during his tumultuous reign. But the Dudley and Grey families had another idea. They wanted to pass over Henry's daughters in favor of the teenaged granddaughters of his youngest sister, Jane, Katherine, and Mary Grey. Putting the eldest, Jane, on the throne with her equally young husband changes everything for the Grey family, and not for the better. Henry's daughters will not be overlooked and they will never let the Grey girls forget it.

My Thoughts
I have never disliked a novel that I have read by Philippa Gregory, and this is no exception. The novel is broken into three 'books' each one written in the first person present-tense perspective of one of the Grey sisters. We hear from them in the order of their birth, the first book from Jane, the second from Katherine, and the third from Mary.
If you are looking for something light and uplifting, this novel is not a good choice for you. If you are interested in war over succession, the difficulties of inheriting and ruling as a woman in the 16th century, or the passive aggression of Queen Elizabeth I's jealousy, then you will be pleased. Don't get me wrong, there are scenes that depict joy and fun, but ultimately the Grey family does not prosper after they attempt to take the throne.
Gregory does an impeccable job, as usual, gathering information about lesser-known women of the time and giving them a voice. Jane Grey is well known and studied because of her stint as the "9 days queen" and her Protestant writings. Her sisters both have much less written about them and Gregory gives them equal, if not more, space in the novel. Interestingly, Mary Grey is documented as being a Little Person, standing at less than 4'4" and was so little is known about her that she doesn't even appear in the specialist histories of little people. 
Gregory also writes that The Last Tudor may be her last novel about the Tudors as she moves on to new projects. While I find that disappointing, she has written about so many of the important women of the time that she may have exhausted many historical resources and important female figures that there is nothing left to write.

If you are intrigued by the Tudors, British Royal history, or untold stories of women in history, then this book is for you!

Comment below if you have read this book or have suggestions for others like it!


To buy this book from Amazon now, click on the image at the top of the post.
To see more from the author, visit the website linked above

White Collar Girl by Renee Rosen

Title: White Collar Girl
Author: Renee Rosen
Genre: Historical Fiction

Synopsis: Jordan Walsh wants to be a reporter, but as a woman in 1950's Chicago she is going to have to write some fluff pieces and really fight to work her way up. With her family falling apart after the death of her brother Jordan wants to prove to everyone that she is just as good a reporter as her late brother and her retired father. When she gets information from a confidential source she will let nothing, not even personal relationships, get in the way of her first big break.

My Thoughts

What I like most about this novel is that it is not just about Jordan at the newspaper and the prejudice against women reporters that keep her writing the "White Collar Girl" column. While that is the main focus of the novel it also delves into what loss can do to a small, close family unit and the desperation that causes each of its members. There are also multiple romantic relationships depicted in this novel, but they are flawed like the people in them. There is also an element of mystery that goes along with several of the stories Jordan works to report, which keeps the reader engaged and provides an element of suspense.

If you are looking for a fast and interesting read focused on the many types of relationships in the human experience, newspapers in the 1950s, and women breaking free of traditional roles, then this book is for you!



Comment below if you have read this book or have suggestions for others like it!


To buy this book from Amazon now, click on the image at the top of the post.
To see more from the author, visit the website linked above

Mrs. Grant and Madame Jule by Jennifer Chiaverini

Title: Mrs. Grant and Madame Jule
Author: Jennifer Chiaverini
Genre: Historical Fiction

Synopsis: This story follows Julia Dent Grant and her slave/lady's maid, Jule, from the time they are children through the many eventful years of their lives.  Julia's courtship with Ulysses Grant, their marriage, and the birth of their children are just the beginning of a life that seems to never settle down for the Grant family. With the inauguration of Abraham Lincoln and the outbreak of the American Civil War, the Grants work to find time together as Ulysses goes off to fight for a cause his family has long believed in, the abolition of slavery. As an abolitionist's wife from a slave-owning Missouri family, can Julia let go of her roots and fight for the freedom of her beloved Jule? 

My Thoughts

This is the fourth novel I have read by Jennifer Chiaverini (Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker, The Spymistress, and Mrs. Lincoln's Rival) and it did not disappoint. I do not have official reviews on the first two listed, but you should seriously consider reading them both. The Spymistress is still my favorite of the four, but all of them are great Civil War novels from female perspectives. I particularly enjoy the fact that all of the novels take place at the same period of time but in different parts of the United States and from the perspective of the President's wife, a Union supporter living in Richmond, a woman trying to get her politician father elected as the next president, and the wife of a military man. The women all make at least brief appearances in all four novels as they cross paths. It is so well done.
 Following the life of Julia Dent Grant and Ulysses S. Grant gave an interesting insight into what life was like for them before and after the Civil War, in addition to the efforts they made to see one another during wartime. 
It is also fascinating that while her husband was fighting for and leading the Union forces that Julia continued to have a slave, Jule, as her lady's maid. Because Jule was owned by Julia's father and Missouri wasn't a confederate state, Jule had to remain a slave even after the Emancipation Proclamation gave freedom to the slaves in rebel territories. Both Julia and Jule have conflicting feelings about what granting slaves freedom would mean for each of them.

I am always impressed when an author can keep the reader engaged in a story in which one already knows the outcome. When Julia felt worried about Ulysses at war, I felt worried even though I know he survives to become the President of the United States (spoiler alert! but not really!) When he dies at the end I had tears rolling down my cheeks, even though I know he is dead. Literally, no one depicted in the novel is still alive today, but somehow Chiaverini gives her characters such depth that you are emotionally involved to the very end. I haven't even begun to touch on all of the interesting and important themes that run throughout this novel. I highly recommend it!

If you are interested in the perspective of wives of officers of the Civil War, Southern raised Union supporters, the emancipation of slaves in the United States,  recently freed women using their talents to thrive on their own, or just a good love story, then this book is for you.


Comment below if you have read this book or have suggestions for others like it!


To buy this book from Amazon now, click on the image at the top of the post.
To see more from the author, visit the website linked above

A Certain Age by Beatriz Williams

Title: A Certain Age
Author: Beatriz Williams
Genre: Historical Fiction/Mystery

Synopsis: New York City in the 1920's is a place where old and new are in constant competition. Theresa Marshall is finding this out as she has an affair with a man 20 years her junior, Octavian Rofrano. The problem is that she has fallen in love with him.
Confident that he has eyes for no one but her, Theresa asks Octavian to do a favor for her 39-year-old brother, act as his cavalier to propose to young Sophie Fortescue. Suddenly, Sophie realizes that maybe an older man is not for her after all, leading to an intense and uncomfortable love triangle. All the while, Octavian knows a secret that can change everything.

My Thoughts

When I read the back cover I thought that I would be reading a novel about an older woman and a younger man having an affair in the roaring 20's and her worrying about losing him to a woman his own age. This is a main component of the novel, but it is also so much more.
The novel begins with an article written by a reporter who is describing a courtroom scene. The reader doesn't know the characters yet but gets a small taste of what is to come. The novel then alternates between following Theresa, a 40-something wife of a wealthy businessman and Sophie, a 19-year-old woman whose father has new money from his many patents. 
Theresa's chapters are written from her first-person perspective. Sophie's chapters are from a third person perspective.  After hearing from both of these women for a few chapters, one almost forgets about the trial from the beginning until another article by the same reporter is snuck in between chapters. Suddenly, the trial is more relatable, the reader knows the characters, but still not why they are part of this trial.
The story kept getting more involved revealing not only the love triangle discussed on the back cover but also encompassing what a father will do for the love of his children, a murder mystery, a convenient marriage for money & power; young love, an estranged marriage that happened overseas; and soldiers lost, wounded, and emotionally scared after WWI. It really has it all.
This is an interesting story that is different enough to be intriguing and keep the reader guessing but also familiar enough that the reader can relate.

If you are interested in the roaring 20's, women fighting to make their own decisions, mysteries, or love stories this book is for you! 


Comment below if you have read this book or have suggestions for others like it!


To buy this book from Amazon now, click on the image at the top of the post.
To see more from the author, visit the website linked above.