Friday Focus: Weekend Reads

 

 

 It's Friday . . . time to share book excerpts with:

• Book Beginnings on Fridays hosted by Rose City Reader, where bloggers share the first sentence or more of a current read, as well as initial thoughts about the sentence(s), impressions of the book, or anything else that the opening inspires.  
• The Friday 56 hosted by My Head is Full of Books, where you grab a book and turn to page 56 (or 56% of an eBook), find one or more interesting sentences (no spoilers), and post them.
  

Today I'm featuring The Dressmakers of Prospect Heights by Kitty Zeldis. The excerpts shared are from a hardcover version borrowed from the library.

 

Book Beginning:  Chapter One

Catherine

Brooklyn, 1924

Catherine Berrill awoke to blood--again.

********************  

Page 56: Catherine was glad they were taking a different street on their route home and didn't have to pass the dress shop again.

********************  

My thoughts:  Bea and Alice leave a painful past in New Orleans to start a new life in Brooklyn. While focusing their energies on setting up a dress shop in Prospect Heights, they make the acquaintance of a local resident, Catherine Berrill, who visits the shop. As the story unfolds, decisions made by each of the women at crucial times unite and divide them in unexpected ways. Will each attain the fulfillment she longs for? Will their mutual relationship survive and deepen with time, or will they be forced apart by past and present circumstances? 

Told from different character perspectives, The Dressmakers of Prospect Heights explores the lives of women who experience loss, heartbreak, disappointment, setback, and the constraints imposed by their gender. This is a captivating story of resilience that initiated a thoughtful discussion at a recent book club meeting.

********************  

From Goodreads:  Mesmerizing historical novel about three women in 1920s New York City and the secrets they hold.

Brooklyn, 1924. As New York City enters the jazz age, the lives of three very different women are about to converge in unexpected ways. Recently arrived from New Orleans, Beatrice is working to establish a chic new dress shop with help from Alice, the orphaned teenage ward she brought north with her. Down the block, newlywed Catherine is restless in her elegant brownstone, longing for a baby she cannot conceive.

When Bea befriends Catherine and the two start to become close, Alice feels abandoned and envious, and runs away to Manhattan. Her departure sets into motion a series of events that will force each woman to confront the painful secrets of her past in order to move into the happier future she seeks.

Moving from the bustling streets of early twentieth century New York City to late nineteenth-century Russia and the lively quarters of New Orleans in the 1910s, The Dressmakers of Prospect Heights is a story of the families we are born into and the families we choose, and of the unbreakable bonds between women.

 

*******************

This Friday Focus: Weekend Reads post was originally composed and/or compiled and published by Catherine for the blog, bookclublibrarian.com. It cannot be republished without attribution.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

 

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place for bloggers to meet up and share what they've been--and are--reading over the week. It’s a great way to organize your books and an opportunity to visit, comment, and . . . add to your own groaning TBR pile!

This meme started on J Kaye’s blog and was subsequently hosted by Sheila from Book Journey until Sheila turned it over to Kathryn at The Book Date.

I love starting my reading week with a look at the books you have all chosen. I wish you a happy reading week ahead!

What I read last week . . .

What I'm reading now . . . 

What I'm reading next . . .

 

Now I'd like to know . . .

 What have you just finished reading? What are you reading now and next? 

This It's Monday! What Are You Reading? post was originally composed and/or compiled and published by Catherine for the blog, bookclublibrarian.com. It cannot be republished without attribution.

Friday Focus: Weekend Reads

It's Friday . . . time to share book excerpts with:

• Book Beginnings on Fridays hosted by Rose City Reader, where bloggers share the first sentence or more of a current read, as well as initial thoughts about the sentence(s), impressions of the book, or anything else that the opening inspires.  
• The Friday 56 hosted by My Head is Full of Books, where you grab a book and turn to page 56 (or 56% of an eBook), find one or more interesting sentences (no spoilers), and post them.
  

Today I'm featuring The Women on Platform Two by Laura Anthony. The excerpts shared are from a hardcover version borrowed from the library.

 

 

 

Book Beginning:  Chapter I

Dublin City, 22 May 2023

Saoirse

 

I have pee on my fingers. It's my own pee, but it makes me feel gross nonetheless. I've never taken a pregnancy test before and I wasn't expecting it to be this fiddly.

********************  

Page 56: Rita races toward the car, waving her arms above her head. "Doctor, Doctor, come quick!"

********************  

My thoughts: A chance encounter on a train from Dublin to Belfast is the setting for a conversation between two women from different generations with considerably contrasting experiences. What ensues is a discussion that illustrates the hard-won rights for women's bodily autonomy over the decades, particularly in conservative societies.

Told in alternating timelines and featuring strong female characters, this novel addresses the pertinent topic of a woman's right to determine her own future in a compelling story with courageous, heartbreaking, and uplifting moments.

********************  

From Goodreads:  In 1970s Dublin, all forms of contraception are strictly forbidden, but an intrepid group of women will risk everything to change that in this sweeping, timely novel inspired by a remarkable and little-known true story.

Dublin, 1969: Maura has just married Dr. Christy Davenport and they look forward to growing their family. But as her husband’s vicious temper emerges, Maura worries that her home might never be safe for a child. Meanwhile, her close friend Bernie, a mother of three, learns the devastating news that if she conceives again, her health complications could prove fatal.

Dublin, 2023: A close call makes Saoirse realize that she may never want to be a mother. Little does she know that only a few decades ago, a group of women made this option possible for her. And she’s about to meet one of them…

The Women on Platform Two is a haunting, powerful story of feminine resistance and resilience that reminds us all of where we started—and how far we still have to go.

 

*******************

This Friday Focus: Weekend Reads post was originally composed and/or compiled and published by Catherine for the blog, bookclublibrarian.com. It cannot be republished without attribution.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place for bloggers to meet up and share what they've been, and are about to be, reading over the week. It’s a great post to organize yourself and an opportunity to visit, comment, and . . . add to your groaning TBR pile!

This meme started on J Kaye’s blog and then was hosted by Sheila from Book Journey. and Sheila passed it over to Kathryn at The Book Date.

This meme is a fantastic way to organize and start off my reading week with a look at the books you all have chosen and to add my own. I wish you a happy reading week ahead!

What I read last week . . .

 

What I'm reading now . . .

 

 

What I'm reading next . . .

 

Now I'd like to know . . .

 What have you just finished reading? What are you reading now and next? 

This It's Monday! What Are You Reading? post was originally composed and/or compiled and published by Catherine for the blog, bookclublibrarian.com. It cannot be republished without attribution.

 

Friday Focus: Weekend Reads

 

 It's Friday . . . time to share book excerpts with:

• Book Beginnings on Fridays hosted by Rose City Reader, where bloggers share the first sentence or more of a current read, as well as initial thoughts about the sentence(s), impressions of the book, or anything else that the opening inspires.  
• The Friday 56 hosted by My Head is Full of Books, where you grab a book and turn to page 56 (or 56% of an eBook), find one or more interesting sentences (no spoilers), and post them.
  

Today I'm featuring The Most by Jessica Anthony. The excerpts shared are from a trade paperback version borrowed from the library.

 

 

Book Beginning:  Kathleen Beckett awoke feeling poorly. It was Sunday. November. Warm for this time of year.

********************  

Page 56 (actually page 55, because page 56 is blank):  She anchored her toes on the bottom, then moved her knees, watching her legs create waves underwater. All thoughts about the woman's phone call, and what might come of it, disappeared.

********************  

My thoughts: This portrait of a traditional 1950's marriage is, on the surface, the norm for the era. Behind the facade, however, are a flawed husband and wife, neither of whom has lived up to their full potential. They are keeping deep secrets from each other and living unfulfilled lives. Their inability and unwillingness to communicate honestly threaten the health and continuity of their relationship. With the phrase "living lives of quiet desperation" springing to mind, The Most is a concise, engrossing read.

********************  

From Goodreads:  It’s November 3, 1957. As Sputnik 2 launches into space, carrying Laika, the doomed Soviet dog, a couple begin their day. Virgil Beckett, an insurance salesman, isn’t particularly happy in his job but he fulfills the role. Kathleen Beckett, once a promising tennis champion with a key shot up her sleeve, is now a mother and homemaker. On this unseasonably warm Sunday, Kathleen decides not to join her family at church. Instead, she unearths her old, red bathing suit and descends into the deserted swimming pool of their apartment complex in Newark, Delaware. And then she won’t come out.

A riveting, single-sitting read set over the course of eight hours, The Most is an epic story in one single day, masterly breaching the shimmering surface of a seemingly idyllic mid-century marriage, immersing us in the unspoken truth beneath.

 

*******************

This Friday Focus: Weekend Reads post was originally composed and/or compiled and published by Catherine for the blog, bookclublibrarian.com. It cannot be republished without attribution.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place for bloggers to meet up and share what they've been, and are about to be, reading over the week. It’s a great post to organize yourself and an opportunity to visit, comment, and . . . add to your groaning TBR pile!

This meme started on J Kaye’s blog and then was hosted by Sheila from Book Journey. and Sheila passed it over to Kathryn at The Book Date.

This meme is a fantastic way to organize and start off my reading week with a look at the books you all have chosen and to add my own. I wish you a happy reading week ahead!

What I read last week . . .

What I'm reading now . . .

 

 

What I'm reading next . . .

 

 

Now I'd like to know . . .

 What have you just finished reading? What are you reading now and next? 

This It's Monday! What Are You Reading? post was originally composed and/or compiled and published by Catherine for the blog, bookclublibrarian.com. It cannot be republished without attribution.

 

Friday Focus: Weekend Reads

 

 

 It's Friday . . . time to share book excerpts with:

• Book Beginnings on Fridays hosted by Rose City Reader, where bloggers share the first sentence or more of a current read, as well as initial thoughts about the sentence(s), impressions of the book, or anything else that the opening inspires.  
• The Friday 56 hosted by My Head is Full of Books, where you grab a book and turn to page 56 (or 56% of an eBook), find one or more interesting sentences (no spoilers), and post them.
  

Today I'm featuring Katharine, the Wright Sister by Tracey Enerson Wood. The excerpts shared are from a hardcover edition borrowed from the library.

 

 

 

 

 

Book Beginning:  Wilbur

Kitty Hawk, North Carolina

September 1900

 

Wind. We chose a place where it abounded, in order to capture it and soar like the birds.

********************  

Page 56: I missed my friends from Oberlin, the thrilling discussions of world events, of traveling and gossip and the latest fashions.

********************  

My thoughts:  Katharine Wright played an integral part in the success of her brothers, Wilbur and Orville. She contributed important ideas that helped lead to the creation of their flying machine and their world-wide recognition. In addition to her practical ideas for perfecting the aircraft, she supported them behind the scenes—procuring materials and communicating on their behalf. Katharine was totally devoted to her brothers at great personal cost. She sacrificed her own desires and opportunities to make her brothers' dream of flight come true.

While the story includes an example of the age-old saying—behind every successful man there's a woman—I enjoyed a behind-the-scenes look at the dynamics of the Wright family and learning more about the historic events of their time.

********************  

From Goodreads:  She helped her brothers soar… but was the flight worth the fall?

 It all started with two boys and a bicycle shop. Wilbur and Orville Wright, both unsuited to college and disinclined to leave home, jumped on the popular new fad of bicycle riding and opened a shop in Dayton, Ohio. Repairing and selling soon led to tinkering and building as the brothers offered improved models to their eager customers. Amid their success, a new dream began to take shape. Engineers across the world were puzzling over how to build a powered flying machine—and Wilbur and Orville wanted in on the challenge. But their younger sister, Katharine, knew they couldn't do it without her. The three siblings made a pact—the three of them would solve the problem of human flight.

 As her brothers obsessed over blueprints and risked life and limb testing new models on the sand beaches of North Carolina, Katharine became the mastermind behind the scenes of their inventions. She sourced materials, managed communications, and kept Wilbur and Orville focused on their goal—even when it seemed hopeless. And in 1903, the Wright brothers made the first controlled, sustained flight of humankind.

What followed was the kind of fame and fortune the Wrights had never imagined. The siblings traveled the world to demonstrate their invention, trained other pilots, and built new machines that could fly higher and farther. But at the height of their success, tragedy wrenched the Wright family apart… and forced Katharine to make an impossible choice that would haunt her for the rest of her life.

 From internationally bestselling author Tracey Enerson Wood, Katharine, the Wright Sister is an unforgettable novel that shines a spotlight on one of the most important and overlooked women in history, and the sacrifices she made so that others might fly.

 

*******************

This Friday Focus: Weekend Reads post was originally composed and/or compiled and published by Catherine for the blog, bookclublibrarian.com. It cannot be republished without attribution.