Great books...and wine. March 4, 2014

I have steadily received Advanced Review Editions from sources such as the Goodreads Firstreads program, LibraryThing and most recently NetGalley.  Almost always this provides me with an excellent opportunity to explore different genres and new authors.  Tonight, I finished a truly great book that I am very excited to review.  A great read…along with another stack of promising books…along with a glass of wine.  I am not sure it could be better. 

Currently Reading:

 

One Summer by Bill Bryson
My Life in Middlemarch  by Rebecca Mead
We Are Called to Rise by Laura McBride (received through NetGalley)

On Deck:

The Johnstown Girls by Kathleen George (received through NetGalley)

Partials: Book One in the Partial Sequence by Dan Wells
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Colonel Roosevelt by Edmund Morris

Recent Reviews:

Last Night at the Blue Angel  by Rebecca Rotert

Five Stars

Sophia watches from the wings as her beautiful and evocative mother, Naomi, sings at the Blue Angel night club in front of adoring men and women.   This is the world that Rebecca Rotert creates in this beautifully written novel.  Told alternately from Sophia and Naomi’s point of view, the story includes a completely compelling cast of characters and a plot that enriches as it unfolds and the pieces start to come together.  Naomi is not always a likable character, a fact that she even alludes to during her part of the story but I still found myself routing for her to find love and success.  Sophia may be one of the most interesting and well developed pre-adolescent characters and her story is both remarkable and heartbreaking.  One of her quirks is to write down every appliance that would need to be rebuilt in the event of a nuclear blast (a very real fear during the Cold War sixties) which I found absolutely believable and charming. 

Overall, I rate this as one of the best books of 2014 so far.  Flawlessly written, great characters and an emotionally charged plot…it is definitely one that I recommend.  I am grateful to have received this ARC through the Goodreads Firstreads Program.