Sara Reads Things

Title: The Queen's Almoner By: Tonya Ulynn Brown Genre: Historical Fiction Pages: 330 Release Date: June 30th, 2020 Rating: ★★★★☆ Summary from Goodreads: Sometimes loyalty to the queen comes at a cost. Thomas Broune is a Reformer and childhood friend of the young queen, Mary Stuart. When Mary embarks on a new life in her estranged homeland of Scotland, Thomas is there to greet her and offer his renewed friendship. But the long-time friends grow closer, and Thomas realizes his innocent friendship has grown into something more. Yet he is a man of the cloth. Mary is the queen of the Scots. Both of them have obligations of an overwhelming magnitude: he to his conscience and she to her throne. When he must choose between loyalty to his queen or his quiet life away from her court, he finds that the choice comes at a high price. Driven by a sense of obligation to protect those he loves, and crippled by his inability to do so, Thomas must come to terms with the c...

Hey Monday, welcome back. It has been a long week. A wonderful week. A busy week. I'm glad that it's over... but, dang... This weeks read is Once Upon a Dream by Liz Braswell. I've been making my way through this series and so far, I've liked most of what I've read. Lets get on with the good stuff, enjoy!   MENU   Monday Instant Pot Philly Cheesesteak Tuesday Avocado Chicken Burgers Wednesday Pancakes Thursday Taco Bowls Friday Chicken Yakitori Saturday 4th of July Sunday Leftovers Night

Sunday! Another week of confessions. I can't believe we made it this far. Sunday Confessions #49 ~ Weekly Menu #357 And The Book Of The Week ~ Book Review: The Unready Queen by William Ritter ~ Book Review: An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon ~ Book Review: The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi ~ Book Review: The Girls with No Names by Serena Burdick Weekly Menu #358 And The Book Of The Week ~ Book Review: Look Me in the Eye by John Elder Robison ~ Book Review: White Fragility by Robin Deangelo ~ Sunday Confessions #50 Nothing new this week. 45/50 Books in my Read Around the Country challenge ~ 17/196 in my Star Wars Legends challenge ~ 6/20 in my Scotland challenge ~ 40/341 Gilmore Girls challenge ~ 39/100 in my 100 books before you die challenge Back to reading. I hope you have a wonderful start to your summer. I know the weather is nice and warm here in Oregon for a change, but the rain will soon retur...

Title: The Girls with No Names By: Serena Burdick Genre: Historical Fiction Pages: 336 Release Date: January 7th, 2020 Publisher: Park Row Rating: ★★★★★ Summary from Goodreads: The Girls with No Names  pulls readers into the gilded age of New York City in the 1910s, when suffragettes marched in the street, unions fought for better work conditions—and girls were confined to the House of Mercy for daring to break the rules. Not far from Luella and Effie Tildon’s large family mansion in Inwood looms the House of Mercy, a work house for wayward girls. The sisters grow up under its shadow with the understanding that even as wealthy young women, their freedoms come with limits. But when the sisters accidentally discover a shocking secret about their father, Luella, the brazen older sister, becomes emboldened to do as she pleases. But her rebellion comes with consequences, and one morning Luella is mysteriously gone. Effie suspects her father has made good on his thre...

Title: The Henna Artist By: Alka Joshi Genre: Historical Fiction Pages: 368 Release Date: March 3rd, 2020 Publisher: Mira Books Rating: ★★★★★ Summary from Goodreads: Vivid and compelling in its portrait of one woman’s struggle for fulfillment in a society pivoting between the traditional and the modern,  The Henna Artist  opens a door into a world that is at once lush and fascinating, stark and cruel. Escaping from an abusive marriage, seventeen-year-old Lakshmi makes her way alone to the vibrant 1950s pink city of Jaipur. There she becomes the most highly requested henna artist—and confidante—to the wealthy women of the upper class. But trusted with the secrets of the wealthy, she can never reveal her own… Known for her original designs and sage advice, Lakshmi must tread carefully to avoid the jealous gossips who could ruin her reputation and her livelihood. As she pursues her dream of an independent life, she is startled one day when she is confronted by ...

Title: An Echo in the Bone By: Diana Gabaldon Genre: Historical Romance Pages: 1149 Release Date: January 21st, 2010 Publisher: Orion Rating: ★★★★☆ Summary from Goodreads: Jamie Fraser, former Jacobite and reluctant rebel, is already certain of three things about the American rebellion: The Americans will win, fighting on the side of victory is no guarantee of survival, and he'd rather die than have to face his illegitimate son--a young lieutenant in the British Army--across the barrel of a gun. Claire Randall knows that the Americans will win, too, but not what the ultimate price may be. That price won't include Jamie's life or his happiness, though--not if she has anything to say about it. Meanwhile, in the relative safety of the twentieth century, Jamie and Claire's daughter, Brianna, and her husband, Roger MacKenzie, have resettled in a historic Scottish home where, across a chasm of two centuries, the unfolding drama of Brianna's p...

Title: The Unready Queen By: William Ritter Genre: Urban Fantasy Pages: 320 Release Date: June 23rd, 2020 Publisher: Algonquin Young Readers Rating: ★★★★★ Summary from Goodreads: Human and goblin brothers Cole and Tinn are finding their way back to normal after their journey to the heart of the Oddmire. Normal, unfortunately, wants nothing to do with them. Fable, the daughter of the Queen of the Deep Dark, has her first true friends in the brothers. The Queen allows Fable to visit Tinn and Cole as long as she promises to stay quiet and out of sight—concealing herself and her magic from the townspeople of Endsborough. But when the trio discovers that humans are destroying the Wild Wood and the lives of its creatures for their own dark purposes, Fable cannot stay quiet. As the unspoken truce between the people of Endsborough and the inhabitants of the Wild Wood crumbles, violence escalates, threatening war and bringing Fable’s mother closer to the fulfillment of a de...

It's been another crazy week out there in the world, but life inside the home must go on, no matter how hard it gets.  I read nearly a book a day this week, blowing my mind with some great stories. Also attempting to write again, but life had other plans for me. Time just doesn't seem to be on my side lately.  But this weeks read is The Prisoner's Wife by Maggie Brooks. I love a emotional World War 2 story and I'm hoping this one will be just that. I hope you enjoy this weeks menu. It looks delicious!   MENU   Monday Cheese Burgers and Corn Salsa Tuesday Sesame Chicken Salad Wednesday Taco Soup Thursday Creamy Gnocchi Mac and Cheese Friday Greek Salmon Gyro Saturday Garlic Chicken and Corn on the Cob Sunday Leftovers Night

It's confession time! I've been distracted this week with the things going on out in the world. There is so much information being thrown around and it takes a lot of time for me to sift through that information to make sure I am understanding and learning correctly. It has taken a lot of time away from my books, but I have made it a mission to read more books on racism and equality this month. Unfortunately, these kinds of books are also very popular at the library and are hard to get my hands on. With all this, life still must go one, so here is a recap of the weeks posts. Sunday Confessions #48 ~ Weekly Menu #356 And The Book Of The Week ~ TV Show Review: Penny Dreadful ~ Book Review: Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte ~ 6 Books to Read You Around the Country ~ Book Review: Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy Weekly Menu #357 And The Book Of The Week ~ Book Review: The Unready Queen by William Ritter ~ Book Review: An Echo in the ...