I opened up my Fire HD 8" tablet for the first time in many months, updated it, and with my prime membership I joined their Kindle Unlimited Book Club. I get to read thousands of books for free to lend just like a regular library. After downloading a bunch of books I spent Friday and Saturday reading 4 of them. I'm so glad I got back into reading again. I usually do not read these kind of books but got interested in the WWII, WWI and 40's era. Here are the four I read. Starting from the Best, Good, Okay and ending with Cute.
The Beantown Girls
This is the first book I've read by this author, and found it to be the best historical novel set during World War II that I have ever read. Healey's descriptions are so vivid, I felt I was right there among the cast of characters. I could envision everything so easily. This is a heartwarming story about the sacrifices many young women made by leaving their homes and families to volunteer with the Red Cross to be Clubmobile Girls in Europe. These women provided a service to the soldiers in the field and were a welcome site to the soldiers as they served them coffee and doughnuts, while bringing them a taste of home. There were actually a few Clubmobile Girls that received the Bronze Medal for their sacrificial service when the war ended. This is an amazing story about the adventures these girls experienced, along with persevering through challenges and hardships, and along the way, making life-long friends. At the end the author lets us know what part of the book was real and true and what few parts were fiction. This was the best of the bunch.
Girls in the Line is a thoroughly charming novel about the experiences of a young American woman who volunteers to serve in the U.S. Army Signal Corps during World War I. It is also a book that gives insight into the social changes that would sweep through American society in the wake of that conflict. The author does an excellent job describing the challenges that women on the front lines in this war faced, but also showed how friendship and commitment allowed them to transcend society's beliefs about women's limited capabilities. The book is well written and the characters are likable and interesting. There is romance but no explicit sex scenes. While the realities of war are described the author does not immerse the book in gruesome details. The book is not, by any means, the greatest novel about World War I, but I finished the book in one sitting and enjoyed it. I would recommend the book to anyone who enjoys
light historical fiction.
In Farleigh Field
The story revolves around a stately home and three (well four but one is a ditz) aristocratic daughters who each in their own way become involved in World War 2 spy work. My mind compared them to the sisters in Downton Abbey but the book is original enough not to be any more of a copycat than others of that ilk. Still, anyone who enjoyed Downton Abbey will probably enjoy this one. There is danger and some allusions to sex but in the main the book relies more on suspense. If you are looking for a serious World War 2 spy novel, this is not it.
The Christmas Town: A Time Travel Novel
Cute story and not really a Christmas story. There are two female lead characters in The Christmas Town: Jackie and Megan. Jackie and Megan were very different from each other but their temperaments complemented each other perfectly: Megan makes impulsive decisions based on her feelings, and Jackie is rational, and thinks everything through. Watching the two women move from acquaintances to dear friends was my favorite part of the story. I liked that Jackie and Megan's relationships were not the focus of the book, but they were an important part of the plot. The time-travel aspect added a fun layer of depth to the story, and with much of the book taking place in 1943. The ending was predicable in my opinion.
Well there you go. I am back to blogging but not every day. I have enjoyed my time away from it but have missed posting and visiting. I'm sorry to see a few friend bloggers have stopped blogging often and hope they don't decide to give it up altogether.
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Until the next time dear family and friends be blessed
