The Girl In The Letter by Emily Gunnis

 

Available on Amazon

Rating (1-5) - 📘📘📘📘📘
Genre - Historical Thriller, Historical Mystery
Format - Paperback
Length - 384 pages


*Amazon Blurb*

In the winter of 1956 pregnant young Ivy is sent in disgrace to St Margaret's, a home for unmarried mothers in the south of England, run by nuns, to have her child. Her baby daughter is adopted. Ivy will never leave. Sixty years later, journalist Samantha stumbles upon a series of letters from Ivy to her lover, pleading with him to rescue her from St Margaret's before it is too late. As Sam pieces together Ivy's tragic story, terrible secrets about St Margaret's dark past begin to emerge. What happened to Ivy, to her baby, and to the hundreds of children born in the home? What links a number of mysterious, sudden deaths in the area? And why are those who once worked at St Margaret's so keen that the truth should never be told? As Sam unpicks the sinister web of lies surrounding St Margaret's, she also looks deep within - to confront some unwelcome truths of her own...

*My Review* 

 

This book reminded me a lot of one of my favorites, What She Left Behind by Ellen Marie Wiseman. Although the book is fiction, it's hard to to think about how many people it really did happen to especially "back in the day" when mental illnesses weren't understood as well as today.

 

The book goes back and forth between Sam (a reporter) and Ivy, present day and the past. Sam's grandmother comes across some letters that she finds herself unable to just read and put down. She becomes almost obsessed with find out who the girl in the letter is. 

 

Ivy is a young girl in love, but she's in love with the wrong guy. She finds herself pregnant and refuses to abort the baby. Once the baby is born she is forced to give it up. I can't imagine anyone being kept in an asylum with people that truly are crazy when they are perfectly sane.

As you read Sam's story you want to know what happened to the people and St. Margaret's. While ready Ivy's, you'll be shocked at what she went thru and how she "escaped".

MyLibook

 

I was extremely fortunate to have been contact by Estelle Bardon to review her MyLibooks with my daughter. They are a series of books personalized for your child with their name (you even get to choose a color). Their objective is to help your child learn to read. The first page contains some sight words to help with what they'll be reading. With 5 different levels to choose from, you'll easily be able to find a book that works for your child's reader level.

0 - Letter Awareness

1 - Early emergent Reader

2 - Emergent Reader

3 - Early Fluent Reader

4 - Fluent Reader

My daughter is 6 years old and though she shares my love of reading if I read to her, she doesn't enjoy reading on her own at all. Not until she received her MyLibooks anyways. When we first opened them she was so surprised to see her name on the cover of a book and told me that it was even spelled correctly, which meant so much to her. 

 

Much to my surprise my daughter wanted to sit right down and check out her book. I couldn't have been more proud....she read the entire book by herself. This was the very first time she didn't need my help. She was so excited. She has now read 2 more in the set and has only asked for my help once. It makes her feel good to be able to read without help and without getting frustrated with bunch of words she doesn't know.

 

Check out MyLibooks on their website or one of the following social media platforms

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Esty

Speaking in Tongues by Jeffery Deaver

 

Available on Amazon

Rating (1-5) - 📘📘📘📘
Genre - Suspense, Psychological Thriller
Format - Hardcover
Length - 336 pages


*Amazon Blurb*

The disappearance of his teenage daughter pits prosecutor Tate Collier against Aaron Matthews, a Harvard-educated psychiatrist consumed with revenge

*My Review* 

 

I have quite a few books by Jeffery Deaver, but this is the 1st one I've read by him. I am trying to down size my personal library and so I made a deal with myself. I figured I'd read one of his books and if I didn't like it, I'd get rid of them all. Well, it looks like they are all staying.

This book was so good that I couldn't believe who the kidnapper turned out to be. The book was a bit strange at first, but I found the characters quite likeable and I enjoyed how the story went back and forth between them.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

 

Available on Amazon

Rating (1-5) - 📘
Genre - Magical Realism, Historical Fantasy, Holiday Romance
Format - Paperback
Length - 516 pages


*Amazon Blurb*

The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night. But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway: a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them both, this is a game in which only one can be left standing. Despite the high stakes, Celia and Marco soon tumble headfirst into love, setting off a domino effect of dangerous consequences, and leaving the lives of everyone, from the performers to the patrons, hanging in the balance.

*My Review* 

 

I was super excited to start this book. I loved the cover and had seen lots of 5 star reviews on Instagram. At first it just seemed to go slow. I figured it just needed some time to pick up speed. At almost 1/2 way threw I contemplated making it my second DNF (did not finish), but I don't like to think of myself as a quitter when it comes to reading. I thought if I keep going I've got to be able to figure it out. Finally I did, but the whole book make no sense to me and when I thought it should have ended....it kept going with even more nonsense. 

This is one I will not recommend at all (sorry to those who enjoyed it).