Latest Listening, Part 2

The reviews continue:

Fiction

The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom - Lavinia is an Irish girl of the late 1700s whose parents die on the voyage to America.  The ship's captain takes Lavinia to his home to be an indentured servant.  She is placed with a slave family on the captain's plantation.  A story of love, family, and loyalties follows.  It's not a happy book.

The Witch of Painted Sorrows and The Secret Language of Stones by M. J. Rose - These are books one and two of a three part series called "The Daughters of La Lune."  La Lune is a spirit who takes possession of some of her female descendants.  I don't believe in anything paranormal, so these books weren't high on my list.  

Sons and Daughters of Ease and Plenty by Ramona Ausubel - I liked this one.  It's about the mayhem that follows after a spoiled, rich couple spend piss away their trust funds.

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield - A famous writer, Vida Winters, has published a collection called Thirteen Tales of Change and Desperation.  The odd thing is that the book contains only twelve stories.  At the end of her life, the author invites the young daughter of a bookshop owner, to hear the thirteenth story - the true story of Vida Winters.

The Scandel of the Season by Sophie Gee - This is a story about Alexander Pope and his writing of the mock heroic poem, "The Rape of the Lock."

The Bird Sisters by Rebecca Rasmussen - Two spinster sisters, living on the family farm in Wisconsin, are known far and wide for their skill in fixing and rehabbing injured birds.  

The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri - An Bengali couple immigrates to the United States.  You would think they would have the harder time reconciling their cultural differences in their new home, but their American born children seem to struggle just as much.      

The Doll House by Fiona Davis - New York's Barbizon Hotel was where niece young ladies lived in New York in the 1950's.  It was converted to condominiums in 2005.  A condo resident goes poking into the back story of one of the building's long time residents, and this story unfolds.

Nonfiction

The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom - During World War II, in the Netherlands, Corrie Ten Boom and her family members helped save many Jewish people by feeding them, hiding them in the family home, and helping them travel to safer locations.  Corrie eventually got caught and spent time in a Dutch concentration camp.        

The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee -  The author is a physician.  The book combines the history of cancer treatment with Dr. Mukherjee's experience treating patients.  If you have had cancer or if you have ever been close to anyone treated for cancer, then you have to read this book.